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Citt of the
Rev. Hebei- H. Beadle
11)17

THB

WORKS

REV. JOHN NEWTON,
LATE PASTOR OF THE UNITED PARISHES OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH AND ST. MARY WOOL-
CHUECH-IIAW, LOMBARD STREET, LONDON.

CONTAINING,

AN AUTHENTIC NARRATIVE, ETC. LETTERS ON RELIGIOUS SUBJECTS, CARDIPHONIA, DISCOURSES
INTENDED FOR THB PULPIT, SERMONS PREACHED IN THE PARISH CHURCH OF OLNEY,
A REVIEW OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISrORY, OLNEY HYMNS, POEMS, MESSIAH,
OCCASIONAL SERMONS, AND TRACTS.

TO WHICH AEE PREFIXED,
MEMOIRS OF HIS LIFE, &c.
BY THE REV. JOHN CECIL, A. M.

COMPLETE IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.

URIAH HUNT, No. 19 N. THIED STREET.
STEREOTVPED BY L. JOHNSON.
1834.

CONTENTS OF THE SECOND VOLUME.

A REVIEW OF ECCLESIASTICAL
HISTORY.
Page
introduction  1^
BOOK I.— OF THE FIRST PERIOD OF CHRIS
TIANITY.
Ctmp.1. TUe general Stale of the Heathens and Jews be
fore and at the Time of our Lord-s incarnation 17
S. The Character and Genius of the Gospel, as
taught and exemplified by Christ ... - . 21
3. The true Grounds of the Opposition he met with
in the Course of his Ministry, and the Objec
tions and Artifices his Enemies employed to
prejudice the people against him, and prevent
the Reception of his Doctrine  27
4, On the Calling and Characters of the Apostlea
and Disciples previous to our Lord's Ascension 32
BOOK IL— OP THE SECOND PERIOD OP CHRIS
TIANITY.
1. Of the Progress of the Gospel from our Lord's
Ascension to the Close of the first Century . . 40
2, Ofthe Life and Characterof St. Paul, considered
as an Exemplar or Pattern of a Minister of Je
sus Christ  82
3, Of the Irregularities and Offencea which appear
ed in the Apostolical Churches  94
4, Of the Heresies propagated by false Teachers in
' the Apostles' days  100

OLNEY HYMNS.
BOOK L— ON SELECT PASSAGES OF SCRIPTURE.
Byiim. GENESIS. Cluip. Page
I. Adaifa  3 . . Ill
2. Cain and Abet  4 . . . ib.
J ! Walking with God  5 ... 112
5. Lot in Sodom  .13 . . . ib.
6. \ Jehovah Jireh ; or. The Lord will
7. i provide  22 . . 112-13
a Esau  25 . . . ib.
9. Jacob's Ladder  28 . . . 114
}0. My name ie Jacob  32 . . . ib.
IL Plenty in Dearth  41 . . . ib.
13. Joseph made known to his Brethren 43 . . . ib.

115

EXODUa
13, The bitter Waters  15
14, Jehovah Rophi ; or, The Lord my
Healer  15 . . . ib.
15. Manna  16 . . . ib.
16, Manna hoarded  16 ... 116
17. Jehovah Nissi ; or, The Lord my Ban-
ner  17 . . . ib,
18. The Golden Calf  32 . . ib.
LEVITICUS. .
19. The true Aaron  8 ... 117

NUMBERS.
20. Balaam's Wish  23 . . . ib.

JOSHUA.
21. Gibeon  10 . , . ib.

JUDGES,
22, Jehovah Shallom; or, The Lord is
Peace  6 .

Hymn Chap. Page
23. Gideon's Fleece  6 , , . 118
24, Sampson's Lion  14 . . . ib.

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 ,
IL SAMUEL.
29. David's Fall  12 .
30. Ia tliis thy Kindness to thy Friend ? 16 .

3L-132. )-i
33. J

I. KINGS,

32. ^ Ask what I shall give you , ... 3,
34! The Queen of Sheba ... ,10.
35. Elijah fed by Ravens'  17,
36. The Meal and Cruse of Oil . , .17.
II. KINGS.
37. Jericho ; or. The Waters healed . . 2
38. Naaman  5 .
39. The borrowed Axe  / ,
40. More with ua than with them . . u .
I. CHRONICLES.
41. Faith's Review and Expectation . . 17 ,
NEHEMIAH.
42. The Joy of the Lord is your Strength 9 ,

43. O that I were aa in months past . . 29
44. The Change 

. 113
. 119
. ik
. ib.

120 ib.

(¦ib. 121
[ib. ib.
122 ib.

ib.
123 ib.ib.

. 124

PSALMS.
45. Pleading for Mercy ....
46. None upon earth besides thee
47 )
Jg- The Believer's Safety . .
49. He led them by a right Way
50. What shall I render, &c. , .
51. Dwelling in Meshech . .

PROVERBS.
52, Wisdom  8 ,
53. A Friend that aticketh closer than a
Brother  18 .

29 .

. ib.

29 .

6 .

, 125

73 .

. ib.

. 91 .

ib.ib.

107.

. 126

116 .

. ib.

120 .

. ita.

ECCLESIASTES.
54. Vanity of Life  1,
55. Vanity of the World  1 ,
56. Vanity of Creatures sanctified. . . 1,

127

ib.ib.
128

SOLOMON'S SONS.
37. The Name of Jesus 

ISAIAH.
58. O Lord, I will praise thee , . . . 12 .
59. The River, Refuge, and Rock of the
Church  32 .
60, Zion, or the City ofGod  33.
61, Look unto me, and be ye saved . . 45 .
62. The Good Phyaician  45 .
63. To the afflicted, &c.  54 .
64. The contrite Heart  37 ,
65. The future Peace and Glory of the
Church  60 .

ib.
129
, ib.
ib.
130 ib.

JEREMIAH.
66. Trust of the Righleoua and Wicked 17
67. Jehovah Taidkenu; or, the Lord our
righteouanesa . . , , . . . 23 .
68. Ephraim repenting  31 ,
3

ib.

131 ib

^fi^S., r . LAMENTATIONS.
89. The Lord is my Portion . .

CONTENTS.
Chap. Page Hymn PHILIPPIANS.
3 . . .131 131. Contentment 

EZEKIEL.
70. Humbled and silenced by Mercy . 16 .
71. The Covenant . . . . . . . .36.
72. Jehovah Shammah ; or. The Lord ia
"lere ... . 48 .
DANIEL.
73. The Power and Triumph of Faith 3, 6 .
74. Belahazzar . . , , 5 ,
JONAH.
75. The Gourd  4 .
ZECHARIAH.
76. Prayer for the Lord-a Preaence . 2 ,
TI. A Brand plucked out of the Flre . 3 .
78. On one Stone shall be aeven Eyes . 3 .
79. Praiae for the Fountain opened , , 13 ,
MALACHI.
80. They shall be mine, saith the Lord , 3 .
MATTHEW.
8L The Beggar  7
82. The Leper . , , ... 8 .
83. A sick Soul ... . 9 .
84. Satan returning . . ... 12
85. The Sower ... . 13 .
86. Wheat and Tarea  13 .
87. Peter walking on the Waters . . 14 .
88. The Woman of Canaan . . . 15 .
89. What think ye of Christ . 22 .
90. The foolish Virgins  25 .
91. Peter sinning and repenting . 26 .

MARK
92. Legion dispossessed . .
93. The Ruler's Daughter raised
94. But one Loaf . . .
95. Bartimeus ....
96. The House of Prayer
97. The blasted Fig-tree .

99.
100.
101. 102.103.
104.
105. 106,
107.108.109.110.

111.
112.113.114. 115.116.117.
118.119.

120. 121.122.123.
124. 125.

126.127.

128.

Safety

LUKE.
The two Debtors . .
The good Samaritan . .
Martha and Mary , . ,
The Heart taken , ,
The Worldling , .
The barren Fig-tree , ,
The Prodigal 
The Rich Man and Lazarus
The importunate Widow
Zaccheus 
The Believer's Danger and
Father, forgive them ,
The two Malefactors , ,

JOllN,
The Woman of Samaria
j The Pool of Bethesda .
The Disciples at Sea . .
Will ye also go away . ,
The Resurrection and the Life
Weeping Mary 
\ Lovest thou me ACTS
The Death of Stephen .' . .
The Rebel's Surrender to Grace
Peter released from Prison . .
The trembling Gaoler
The Exorcist 
Paul's Voyage

10 .
11 .
11 .

7 .
10 .
10 .
11 .

13 .
IS .
16 .
18 .
19 .

22 .
, 23 .
, 23 .

, 11 ,
, 20 ,

: 21 .

7 .
9 .
12 .
16 .

ROMANS.
The good that I would, I do not .
Salvation drawing nearer . . .
I. CORINTHIANS.
The Eock was Christ

II CORINTHIANS.
129. My Grace is sufiicient for thee
GALATIANS.
130. The inward Warfare ...

7
13 .

12 .
5 .

ib.
132

ib.
133

ib.

ib.ib.
134 ib.

ib.

135 ib.ib.
136 ib.
ib. ib.
137 ib.ib.
138

ib.
ib.
139 ib.
, ib.ib.

140 ib.ib.
141 ib.ib.
142 ib.
ib.
143 ib. ib.
ib.

144
jSb.
jib. 145 ib.
ib. ib.
I 146
I lb.

ib.
147 ib.
ib.
148 ib.ib.ib.

149 ib.

Chap. 4 .

HEBREWS.
132. Old Testament Goapel .... 4 .
133. The Word quick and powerful . . 4 .
134. Looking unto Jesus  12 ¦
135. Love Tokens  12 .

REVELATION.
136. Ephesus,
137. Smyrna . .
138. Sardis . .
139. Philadelphia .
140. Laodicea . ,
141. The Little Book

Page . 150

ib.
ib.
151 ib.

, 10 .

. ib.
, ib.
152 ib.ib.ib.

BOOK IL— ON OCCASIONAL SUBJECTS.
L SEASONS.
JVcM- Year Hymns.
1. Time how swift  153
2. Time how short  ib.
3. Uncertainty of Life  ib.
4. A New-year's Thought and Prayer  ib.
5. Death and War  154
6. Earthly Prospects deceitful  ib.
Before .Annual Sermcms.
7. Prayer for a Blessing  155
8. Another . ....  ib.
9. Another  ib.
10. Casting the Gospel-net  . ib.
11. Pleading for and with Youth  156
12. Prayer for Children  ib.
13. The Shunamitc  ib.
14. Elijah-a Prayer  ib.
15. Preaching to the dry Bones ........ ib.
10. The Rod of Moses  157
17. God Speaking from Mount Zion  ib.
18. Prayer for Power on the Means  ib.
19. Elijah's Mantle  158
.^fter Annual Sermons.
20. David-s Charge to Solomon  ib.
21. The Lord's Call to his Children  ib.
22. The Prayer of Jabez  ib.
23. Waiting at Wisdom's Gates . ".  159
24. Asking the Way to Zion  . . ib.
25. We were Pharaoh's Bondmen  ib.
26. Travailing in Birth for Souls . . . . . -ib.
27. Wc are Ambassadors for Christ  160
28. Paul's farewell Charge  ib.
29. How shall I put thee among the Children . . ib.
30. Winter ....  161
31. Waiting for Spring .  ib.
32. Spring  ib.
33. Another ...  ill.
34. Summer Storms  162
35. Hay-Time  ib.
36. Harvest  ib.
Christmas,
37. Praise for the Incarnation  163
38. Jehovah Jeaua  ib.
39. Man honoured above Angels  ib.
40. Saturday Evening  ib.
41. Cloae of the Year, Ebenezer . .... 164
42. Another  ib.
II. ORDINANCES.
43. Opening a Place for social Prayer .... ib.
44. Another  165
45. The Lord's Day  ib.
46. Gospel-privileges  ib.
47. Another  166
48. Praiae for their Continuance . . . . ib.
49, A Famine ofjthe Word  ib!
50. Prayers for Ministers  ih.
51. Prayer for a Revival  . . 107
52. Hoping for a Revival  j^,^
Sacramental Hymns.
53. Welcome to the Table 
.54. Cliriat crucified ... . . , ,
Sri. Jesua hasting to suffer . . ...
.56. It is good tn be here 
r,7. Looking at the Crosa 
-'58. Suppliea in the Wilderness 

ib.ib
108 ib.ib,
ib.

CONTENTS.

5

Jiynn
59, Commimion with Saints in Glory
Prayer.
CO, Exhortation to Prayer , .
61, Power of Prayer  Scnpture.
62. Light and Glory ofthe Word
G3. Word more precious than Gold .

IIL PROVIDENCES.
64. On the Commencement of Hostilities

Page 109

. ib.
. ib.

ib.
170

. ib.

Fast-Day Hymns.
()5. Confeasion and I'r.ayer  ib.
66. Moaea and Amalek  171
67. The Hiding Placo  ib.
68. On the Eartliciuakp, 1773  ib.
«9. Fire nt Olney, 1777 .... . . . ib.
70. Welcome to Chriatian Friends  172
71. At Parting  ib.
Funeral Hymns.
72. On the Death of a Believer . . . . ib.
73. Death of a Minister  ... 173
74. The Tolling Bell ... . . ib.
75. Hope beyond the Grave . ... , ib.
76. There tile weary are at rest ... . ib.
77. The Day of Judgment  ib.
78. The Dav of the Lord , . . . 174
79. The Great Tribunal  ib.

80.8L
8-2.83.84.8.5.
86. 87.88.89.90.
9L 92.
93. 94.
95. 96.97.
98. 99. 100.

rv. CREATION.
The old and New Creation . . ,
Book of Creation 
The Rainbow.
Thunder 
Lightning in the Night 
Eclipse of the Moon, 1776 . , . .
Moon-Light 
The Sea .
The Flood . , , .
The Thaw ...
The Loadstone . ... , . ,
Tlie Spider and Bee 
The Bee saved from the Spider
The tamed Lion . ...
Sheep . . . .
The Garden  .
For a Garden-Seat, or Summer-House .
Creatures in the Lord's Hands . ,
On Dreaming . ...
The World 
The Enchantment dissolved . . . .

ib
175 ib.ib.ib.
176 ib.ib.
177 ib.
ib. ib.
178 ib. ib.
ib.
179 ib.ib.
180 ib.

BOOK III.— ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, CHANGES,
AND COMFORTS OF THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.
I. SOLEMN ADDRESSES TO SINNERS.
1. Expostulation  180
2. Alarm  181
3. We were once as you are  ib.
4. Prepare to meet God  ib.
5. Invitation  182
II. SEEKING, PLEADING, AND HOPING.
6. The burdened Sinner  ib.
7. Behold I am vile  183
8. The shining Light , .  ib.
9. Encouragement ..... . . . • . ib.
10. The waiting Soul  184
11, 12, The Effort  ib.
13. Seeking the Beloved  ib.
14. Rest for weary Souls ... .... 185
III, CONFLICT.
15. Light shining out of Darkness  ib.
16. Welcome Cross  ib.
17. Afflictions sanctified by the Word . ib.
18. Temptation   186
19. Looking Upwards in a Storm ... . . ib.
20. Valley of the Shadow of Death . , , . ib.
2L The Storm Hushed ,  ib.
22. Help in Time of Need  187

Hymn Page
23, Peace after a Storm  . .187
24. Mourning and Longing  ib.
25. Rejoice tho Soul of thy Servant  ib.
20. Self acquaintance  183
27. Bitter and Sweet  ib.
28. Prayer for Patience  ib.
29. Subiniaaion  189
30. Why should I complain  ib.
31. Return, O Lord I how long  ib.
32, Cast down, but not destroyed  ib.
33. The benighted Traveller  190
34. The Prisoner  ib.
35. Perplexity relieved  ib,
36. Prayer answered by Crosses  ib.
37. I will truat and not be afraid  191
38. Questions to Unbelief  ib.
39. Great Efl-ects by small Means  -192
40. Why art thou cast down ? &c  ib.
41- The Way of Accesa  » , , ib,
42. The Pilgrim's Song  ib.
IV. COMFORT.
43. Faitli a new Sense  - . . 193
44. The happy Change  ib.
45. Retirement  ib.
46. Jesus my All  ib.
47. The hidden Life  194
48. Joy and Peace in Believing  ib.
49. True Pleasure  ib.
50. The Christian  ib.
51. Lively Hope and gracious Pear  195
52. Confidence  ib.
53. Peace restored  ib.
54. Hear what he has done  ib.
55. Freedom from Care  196
56. Humiliation and Praise  ib.
57. For the Poor . ... . . . . ib.
58. Home in View  197
V. DEDICATION AND SURRENDER.
59. Old things passed away  ib.
60. Power of Grace  ib,
61. MyToul thirateth for God  ib.
62. Love constraining to Obedience  198
63. The Heart healed and changed by Mercy . . ib.
eA. Hatred of Sin . , , ,  ib.
65. The Child  ib.
66. True Happineaa  . . . . ib.
67. Tlie happy Debtor  199

VI. CAUTIONS.
The new Convert 
True and False Comforts . .
True and False Zeal ....
Living and Dead Faith . .
Abuse of the Gospel , .
The Narrow Way 
Dependence . , . .
Not of Works 
Sin's Deceit 
Are there few saved . . .
The Sluggard 
Not in -iVord but in Power . .

. ib.
. ib.
. ib.
. 200
. ii).
. ib,
. ib.
, 201
. ib.
. ib.
. ib.
. 202
VII, PRAISE.
80. Praise for Faith  ib.
81, Grace and Providence  ib,
82. Praise for Redeeming Love  ib.
83. I will praise the Lord at all times  203
84. Perseverance .  ib.
85. Salvation  ib.
86. Reigning Grace ...  ib.
87. Praiae to the Redeemer  204
88. Man by Nature, Grace and Glojy  ib.
VIII. SHORT HYMNS.
89—95. Before Sermon  904-5
96—103. After Serraon .  , 205-6
104—107. Gloria Patri  107
POEMS,
The Paper Kite ; or. Pride must have a Fall . . . 207
A Thought on the Sea-shore . . . . . ib.
The Spider and the Toad  .,..!»
CONTENTS.

A TABLE
BY WHICH TO FIND ANY HYMN FROM THE
FIRST LINE.

Page . 147
. 151
. 142
. 178
. 175
. 179

. ]23
. 160
. 178
. 202
. 171
. 123
. 184
. 132
. 177
. 133130
. 146
. 129
. 172
. 197
. 136
. 142

A Believer free from care . .
Afllictiona do not come alone . .
Afflictionti, though they seem severe
A garden contemplation suits . .
A glance from heaven, with sweet effect
A shelter from the rain or wind .
AJi ! what can I do 
Alas! Elisha's servant cried . .
Alas ! by nature how depraved . .
A lion, though by nature wild . .
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 .
Aa parched in the barren sands
As some tall rock amidst the waves .
As the serpent raised by Moses .
As the sun's enlivening eye . . .
As when the weary traveller gains .
A word from Jesus calms the sea .
A worlding spent each day . . .
B
Before Elisha's gate . . .... 123
Begone, unbelief ....  191
Behold the throne of grace ... . .13]
Beneath tlie tyrant Satan's yoke  159
Beside the gospel-pool  144
Bestow, dear Lord, upon our youth  155
Be still, my heart! these anxious cares . . . 192
Bitter, indeed, the waters are . .' . . . 115
Bleak winter is subdued at length ... ... 161
Blinded in youth by Satan's arts  180
Breathe from the gentle south, O Lord  184
By various maxima, forms, and rules  151
By faith in Christ, I walk with God . . . . 112
By the poor widow's oil and meal  122
By whom was David taught  116

Cheer up, my soul, there is a mercy-seat .... 184
Chief shepherd of thy chosen sheep .... 166
Cbme, my soul, thy suit prepare . . . . 120
Confirm the hope tJiy word allows .... 204
Constrained by their Lord tn embark . . . 145
Could the creatures help or ease us . 138
Courage, my soul! behold the prize . . . . 173
D
Darkness overspreads us here  148
Day of Judgment, day of wonders  173
Dear Lord! accept a sinful heart  188
Destruction's dangerous road . . ... . 201
Does it not grief and wonder move . ... 156
Does the gospel word proclaim  185
E
Elijah's example declares  122
Elisha, struck with grief and awe  158
Encourag'd by thy word  135
Ensnared too long my heart has been  159
Ere God bad built the mountains  126

Far from the world, O Lord, I fiee  193
Father, forgive (the Saviour said)  143
Father of angels and of men  206
Fervent persevering prayers  147
Fierce passions discompose the mind ... . 150
Fix my heart and eyes on thine ... . 198
Forest beasts, that live by prey  190
For mercies countless as the sands .... 126
From Egypt lately freed  192
From pole to pole let othera roam  131
From Sheba a distant report  121
G
Gladness was spread through Israel's Iiost . 166
Glorious things of thee are spoken  ]29
Glory to God the Father's name . 206
God gives his mercies to be spent . . . 12.7

Pag€
God, with one piercing glance, looka through . . 174
God moves in a mysterious way ,  185
God of my life, to thee I call  186
Grace triumphant in the throne  201
Gracious Lord, our children see ....... 156
H
Happy are they, to whom the Lord  166
Hark, my soul! it is the Lord  MG
Hark! how time's wide-sounding bell  154
Happy the birth where grace presides  197
Heal us, Emmanuel, here we are  115
Hear what God the Lord hath spoken  130
Hear what the Lord, the great Amen  152
He who on earth as man was known . . . 128
Here at Bethesda's pool, the poor  144
His master taken from his head . . .... 173
Holy Lord God! I love thy truth  198
Honour and happiness unite  194
Honey though the bee prepares .  128
How blest the righteous are  117
How blest thy creature is, O Lord  193
How David, when by sin deceived  120
How hurtful was the choice of Lot  112
How kind the good Samaritan  140
How lost was my condition  129
How soon the Saviour's gracious call  202
How sweet the name of Jesus sounds  128
How tedious and tasteless the hours  125
How welcome to the saints when pressed .... 165
Hungry, and faint, and poor ....... 205
I
I am, saith Christ, your glorious head  145
I ask'd the Lord that I might grow  190
If for a time the air be calm  176
If Paul in Caesar's court must stand  148
If Solomon for wisdom prayed  131
If the Lord our leader be  114
If to Jesus for relief  191
Incarnate God ! the soul that knows  125
In evil long I took delight  168
In mercy, not in wrath, rebuke  125
In themselves, as weak as worms  169
In vain my fancy strives to paint  172
Israel in ancient days  150
I thirst, but not as once I did  197
I was a grovelling creature once  195
I will praise thee every day  128
I would, but cannot sing  148
J
Jesus Christ, the Lord's anointed  134
Jesus, to what didst thou submit  144
Jesus, who bought us with his blood  158
Jesus, whose blood so freely streamed . . 117
Jesus, where'er thy people meet . ... 165
Jesus is mine! I'm now prepared .... . 205
John, in a vision, saw the day  174
Joy is a fruit that will not grow  124
K
Kindle, Saviour, in my heart  188
Kindred in Christ, for his dear sake  172
L
Legion was my name by nature  138
Let hearts and tongues unite ... ... 164
Let us adore the grace that seeks  159
Let me dwell on Golgotha  igg
Let us love, and sing, and wonder  202
Let worldly minds the world pursue  197
Lord, my soul with pleasure springs  194
Lord, thou hast won, at length I yield  147
Lord, who hast suffer'd all for me  188
Lord, what is man ! extremes how wide .... 204
M
Manna to Israel well supplied  • 115
Martha her love and joy expressed  ]40
Mary to her Saviour's tomb  \ 145
May the grace of Christ our Saviour . . \ 206
Mercy, O thou Son of David  * 139
My barns are full, my stores increase . . ! ! ! 141
My forraer hopes are fled  133
My God! how perfect are thy ways ....*,' ! 131
My God! till I received thy stroke . . ! .' .' ib
My harp untuned, and laid aside . . ... 167
My song shall bless the Lord of all . . . . ](j:i
My soul once liad its plenteous years . . . ". U4

CONTENTS.

Page
My soul this curious house of clay  173
My soul is beset  183
My soul is sad and much dismayed  186
N
Nay, I cannot let thee go  114
No strength of nature can auflice  198
No words can declare . . . . ... 180
Not to Sinai's dreadful blaze ... . . 205
Now, gracious Lord, thine arm reveal . . . 155
Now let us join with hearts and tongues . 163
Now may fervent prayer arise  155
Now may the Lord reveal his face . . 203
Now, Lord, inspire the preacher's heart . . 205
Now may he who from the dead . . . 206

Of all the gifts thine hand bestows
Often thy public means ofgrace
on, 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 1 for a closer walk with God .
Oh! may the power which melts the rock
O how I love thy holy word . . .
Once a woraan 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 . .

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 will obtain . .
Preachers may, fVom Ezekiel's case
Precious Bible! what a treasure
Prepare a thankful song . . .

, 202
, 205 173
, 135
. 154
. 199
, 158
, 164
, 183
, 189
, 157
. 165
, 195
. 132
. 170
. 185
. 140
. 131
. 166
. Ill
. 177
. 139
. 192
. 127
. 149
. 142

Cluiet, Lord, my froward heart . .
R
Refreah'd by the bread and wine .
Rejoice, believer, in the Lord .
Remember us, we pray thee, Lord .
Return to bless my waiting eyes .

. 169
. 203
, 205
. 189

Safely through another week  163
Salvation I what a glorious plan  203
Saved by blood, I live to tell  195
Saviour, shine, and cheer my soul  124
Saviour, visit thy plantation  , . 167
See Aaron, God's anointed priest  117
See! another year is gone  153
i3ee! how rude winter's icy hand . . . 161
Seel the com again in ear ... .... 1G2
See the gloomy gathering cloud  171
See the world for youth prepares  180
Shall men pretend to pleasure  181
Sight, hearing, feeling, taste and smell  193
Simon, beware! the Saviour said  143
Sin, when viewed by scripture -light , . . . 201
Sinner, art thou still secure  181
Sinners, hear the Saviour's call  182
Sin enslaved me many years .... .198
Sin has undone our wretched race  156
Sometimes a light surprises . . . . 194
Son of God! thy people shield , . . 133
Sovereign grace has power alone , . ... 143
Stop, poor sinner! stop and think . . . .181

Page
Strange and mysterious is my life . . .149
Supported by the word  132
Sweet was the time when first I felt  124
Sweeter sounds than music knows  ]63
T
Ten thousand talents once I owed  199
That was a wonder-working word  174
That man no guard or weapons needs ... 125
The church a garden is  HI
The God who once to Israel spoke  L57
The grass and flowera vvhich clothe the field . , 162
The Lord, onr salvation and light . . . 164
The Spirit breathes upon the word  169
The gathering clouds with aspect dark . . . . 170
The book of nature open lies  175
The moon in silver glory shone  176
The moon has but a borrowed light . . . . ib.
The ice aud snow we lately saw . ... 177
The subtle spider oft.en weaves  178
The Saviour calls his people sheep  ib.
The water stood liice walls of brass  179
The billows swell, the winds are high  186
The Saviour hides his face  187
The new-born child of gospel-grace ... . V.i^
Tbe Lord receives his highest praise  200
The wislies that the sluggard frames  201
The saints Emmanuel's portion are . . . . 206
The peace which God alone reveals  ib.
The Father we adore ..... ... . ib.
The castle of the human heart  141
The evils that beset our path  127
The kine unguided went ... . ... 119
The Lord will happiness divine  130
The Lord proclaims his grace abroad ... . 132
The lion that on Samson roared  118
The manna, favoured Israel's meat  116
The raessage first to Smyrna sent  151
The prophets' sons, in times of old  123
The Saviour! what a noble flame ... . 168
The saints should never be dismayed  112
The Shunamite oppressed with grief  156
The signs which God to Gideon gave  113
The word of Christ our Lord  150
There is a fountain filled with blood  134
This is the feast of heavenly wine . . . . 167
Though Jericho pleasantly stood  122
Though in the outward church below . . . . 136
Though cloudy skies, and northern blasts .... 161
Though troubles assail  113
7'hough the morn may be serene  162
Though small the drops of falling rain  177
Though sore beset with guilt and fear  189
Thus saith the Lord to Ephesus  151
Thus saith the Holy One and true  152
Thy mansion is the Christian's heart . . . 139
Thy message, by the preacher, seal  160
Thy promise, Lord, and thy command ..... 205
Time, with an unwearied hand  153
Tirae, by moment^, steals away . . . . . ib,
'Tis a point I long to know  146
'Tis my happiness below  135
'Tis past,— the dreadful stormy night  186
To keep the lamp alive  ,.,.*. 300
To tell the Saviour all my wants  194
To thee our wants are known  206
To those who know the Lord I speak  184
Too many. Lord, abuse thy grace  200
U
Unbelief the soul dismays  , . 192
Uncertain how the way to find  190
Unless the Lord had been my stay  187
W
Wearied by day with toils and cares  171
We seek a rest beyond the skies  205
What a mournful life is mine  126
What contradictions meet  159
What thousands never knew the road  200
What think you of Christ? is the teSt ..... 137
What various hindrances we meet  169
When Adam fell he quickly lost ....... Ill
When fiirst to make my heart his own  U9
When first my soul enlisted  ib.
When Hannah, pressed with grief  118
When Jesus claims the sinner's heart  136
When Joseph his brethren beheld ....... 114
When Isiael, by divine command  l68

CONTENTS.

Page
When Israel's tribes were parch'd with thirst . 149
When Israel heard the fiery law . . . .136
When Israel was from Egypt freed . 126
When Joshua, by God's command . . 117
When Peter boasted, soon he fell . ... 138
When sinners utter lioasting words . 134
When the disciples crossed the lake . . 139
When the apostles wonders wrought , . 148
When descending from the sky . . . 137
When any turn from Zion's way . . 145
When the beloved disciple took . . . 152
When Peter through the tedious night . . 155
When Moses waved his mystic rod . . . . 157
When Paul was parted from his friends . . . 160
When on the cross my Lord I see . ... 167
When the sun- with cheerful beams . . . 175
When a black o'erspie ading cloud . ib.
When slumber seals our weary eyes  179
When darkness long has veiled my mind . . . 187
When ray prayers are a burden and task • . . ib.
When my Saviour, my Shepherd, is near . . 189
When the poor prisoner through a gate  190
When the wounded spirit hears . . 196
When Hagar found the bottle spent . ib.
While with ceaseless course the sun . . . 353
While Joshua led the armed bands . . 171
While I lived without the Lord . . . .196
Why should I fear the darkest hour . 193
Winter has a joy for me ... . . 203
With Satan, my accuser near . . . 133
With Israel's God who can compare . . 205
Write to Sardis, saith the Lord . . 152

Ye saints on earth, ascribe with heaven's high host 206
Ye sons of earth, prepare the plough . . 136
Yes! since God himself has said it . ... 195

Zaccheus climbed the tree  143
Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame . . 199
Zionl the city of our God .  159

MESSIAH, &c.
PART I.
SERMON I.— Tie Consolation.—'' Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, saith your God. Speak
ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and ciy 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. . . . .... 213
BERMON II.— TAe .Har&m^er.— " The voice of
Mm that crieth in the wilderness. Prepare ye the
ivay of the Lord, make straight in the desert a
highway for our God. Every valley shall be ex
alted, 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 ehall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it
together, for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken
it," Isaiah xl. 3—5. .  217
SERMON IIL— 7%fi Shaking of the Heavens and
Martk. — " Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Yet once,
it is a Uttle while, and I will 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 fill this house
with glory, saith the Lord of hosts," Haggai, ii.
6, 7  . . ... 222
SERMON IV.— TVic 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 righteouBness," Malachi, iii. 1-3. . 225
SERMON v.— /mmanweZ.— " Behold a virgin shall

Pag€
conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name
Lnmanuel" {Qod with us,) Isaiah vii. 14. . 230
SERMON VI.— Salvation pubUshed from the Moun
tains. — "O Zion, that bringest good tidings, 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!" Isaiah xi. 9. 234
SERMON VIL— r/ie 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
his glory shall be seen upon thee, and the Gen
tiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the
brightness of thy rising," Isaiah Ix. 1—3. . . - 237
SERMON Ylll.—The Sun rising upon a dark
World.— '' The people that walked in darkness
have seen a great light ; they that dwell in the
land ofthe shadow of death, upon them hath the
light shined," Isaiah ix. 2. . . . . . 240
SERMON IX. — Characters and JSTames of Messiah. —
" For unto us a child is born, unto us a child is
given; and the government shall be upon his
shoulder : and his name shall be called Wonder
ful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace." Isaiah ix. 6. . . 244
SERMON X. — The AngeVs Message and Song. —
" There were in the same country shepherds, abid
ing in the field, keeping watch over their flocks
by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came
upon them, and the glory ofthe Lord shone round
about them, and they were sore afraid. And the
angel said unto them. Fear not: for behold 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, praisingGod, and saying. Glory be to God in
the highest, on earth peace, good-will towards
men," Luke ii. 8 — 14. . . . . . 248
SERMON XI. — Messiah^s Entrance into Jerusalem.
— " Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ! shout, O
daughter of Jerusalem, behold thy king cometh
unto thee : he is just and having salvation, 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. . . . 251
SERMON Xll.— Effects of Messiah's Appearance.—
" Then the eyes ofthe 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 ofthe dumb sing," Isaiah xxxv. 5, 6. . . 255
SERMON XIIL— rAc Great Shepherd.— " He shall
feed his flock like a shepherd ; he shall gather the
lambs in his arm, and carry them in his bosom ;
and shall gently lead those, that are with young,"
Isaiah xl. 11. . . . . . 258
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. . . . . 262
SERMON XV.— Messiah's easy yoke.—'' Take my
yoke upon you, and leain 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," Matt. xi. 29, 30. ,

. 265

PART IL
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. . i
SERMON XVIL—" Messiah despised and rejected
of Men.— " He is despised and rejected of men ; a

CONTENTS.

Pdge
man of sorrows and acquainted with grief," Isa.
liii. 3  273
SERMON XVllV—VoUnta'i'y Suffering.—'* I gave
my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them
tliat plucked off the hair : I hid not my ftice from
shame and spitting," Isaiah 1. 6  276
SERMON XIX. — Messiah suffering and wounded
Jvr wa. — " Surely he hath borne our grief and car
ried our sorrows.— He was wounc^^d for our trans*
gressions, he was bruised for our iniquities ; the-
chastisement of our peace was upon him, and
with his slrijiea we are healed," Isaiah liii. 4, 5. 279
SERMON XX. — Sin charged upon the Surety. —
"All we like sheep have gone astray: we have
tumed every one to his own way, and the Lord
hath laid upon him the iniquity of ua all," Isaiah
liii. 6.  282
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 would deliver him;
let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him,"
Psalm xxii. 7, 8  286
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," Psal. Ixii. 20. 288
SERMON XXIII.— JVo Sorrow like Messiah's Sor
row. — " Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by ?
Behold, and see if there be any aorrow like unto.
my sorrow," Lam. i. 12.  292
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
tra;bsgressionofmy people was he stricken," Isa.
liii. 8  295
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  298
SERMON XXVI.'— rAe Ascension of Messiah to
Olojy.—" 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
Glory," Psalm xxiv. 7—10. ..... . . 30]
SERMON XXVIX.— Messiah the Son of Ood.—" For
unto which of the angels said he at any tirae.
Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee ?"
Heb. i. 5  -. ... 304
SERMON XXVIII.— Messiah worshipped by An
gels.— "Let all the angela of God worship him,"
Heb. i. 6  .308
SERMON XXIX.— Gz^ 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
Ijord God might dwell among them," Psalm
Ixviii. 18. .  311
SERMON XXX.— The Publication of the Gospel
— "The Lord gave the word, great was the com
pany of those that published it," {or of tlie
preachers,) Psalm Ixviii. 11  ' ... 314
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.
15   .318
SERMON XXXIL— The Progress qf the. Gospel.-
Vol. ij. B

Pagt
"Their sound went into all the earth, and their
words unto the end of the world," Rom. x. 18. . 321
SERMON XXXIII. — Opitoaition to Messiah unrea-
sonable, — " Why do the heathen rage, and tho
people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the
earth set theraselves, and the rulers take coun
sel together, against the Lord, and against hia
Anointed ; saying, Let us break their bands asun

der, and cast away their cords from us," Psalm ii.
1—3.

, 324

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. 328
SERMON XXXV .—Oppositim to Messiah ruin-
OILS. — "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron,
thou ahalt dash them in pieces like a potter's ves
sel," Psalm ii. 9  331
SERMON XXXVI.— rAe Lord rei^ne^A.-" Halle
lujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth,"
Rev. xix. 6  334
SERMON XXXVII.— TAe Extent of Messiah's Spi
ritual Kingdom.—" The kingdoms of this world
are become the kingdomaof our Lord, andof his
Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever," Rev.
xi. 15  337
SERMON XXXVIII.— i5n^ qf Kings and Lord of
Lords— [Plti^ he hath on his vesture, and on hii
thigh, a name written,] " King op Kinos jlnd Lord
OF Lords," Rev. xix. 16  .341

PART IIL-
SERMON XXXIX.— JoVs Faith and Ezpeetation.
- — "I know that my Redeemer livetlt, 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 1 see God," Job xix. 25, 26. 344
SERMON XL.— Tke Lord is risen indeed.— "Bat
now is Christ risen from the dead, and become
the firat fruits of them that slept," 1 Cor. xv. 20. 348
SERMON Xl,I.-~Death by Adam, Life by Christ—
"For since by man came death, by man came
also the resurrection ofthe dead. For as in Adam
all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,"
ICor. XV. 21,22  351
SERMON XLII.— TVie General Resurrection.—
"Behold, I show you a mystery. We shall not
all sleep, hut 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 muat put on incorruption, and
thia mortal must put on immortality," 1 Cor. xv.
51, 52  354
SERMON XLIII.— Death swallowed up in Victory.
—"Tlien shall be brought to pass the saying that
is written. Death ia swallowed up in victory 1"
1 Cor. XV. 54.  353
SERMON XLIV.— 7ViampA over Death and the
Chrave.—" 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 Christ," 1 Cor. xv. 55—57, . . . 361
SERMON XLV.— i>iwtnfl Support and Protection.
— " What shall we say then to these things ? If
God be for us, who can be against us?" Rom.
viii. 31  365
SERMON XLVI. — accusers challenged.—" Who
shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth," Rom. viii. 33  368
SERMON XLVII.— 7%c Intercession of Christ.—
" Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that
died, yea, rather, that ia risen again, who is even

10

CONTENTS.

Page
at the rigfit Iiand ofGod, who also maketh inter
cession for us," Rom. viii. 34  . . 372
SERMON XLVIII.— TVifi 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.  376
SERMON XLIX.— The Chimis of Angels.—" "Wor
thy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power,
iand riches, and wisdom, and strength, and ho
nour, and glory, and blessing!" Rev, v. 12. . . .381
BERMON L. — The ZTniversal Chorus. — [And every
creature which ia in heaven, and on the earth,
and under the earth, and such as are in the sea,
and all that are in them, heard T, saying,] " Bless
ing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto
him lhat sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb for ever and ever," Rev. v. 13  385

OCCASIONAL SERMONS.
7%e Subject and Temper of the Gospel Ministry. —
 ^"Speaking the truth in love," 
Ephesians iv. 15  390
The Guilt and Danger of suck a JVation as this.—
"Shall I not visit for theae things, saith the
Lord ? And shall not my soul be avenged ou such
a nation as this?" Jeremiah v. 29. ..... 393
On the Death of Dr. Cony ers. — " So being affection
ately desirous of you, we were vidlling to have
imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only,
but also our oWn souls, because ye were dear unto
us," 1 Thess. ii. 8  *  402

Page
The Best Wisdom.— "Ue that winneth eoula is
wiae," Proverbs xi. 30  409
The Great Advent. — " 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 flrst: then we whicb
are alive and remain, shall be cau^t up together
in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air ; and so
shaU we ever be with the Lord," 1 Thess. i v. 16, 17. 419
The imminent Danger, and only sure Resource of
this JVation.— "Vfho can tell if God yvill turn
and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger,
that we perislinot?" Jonah iii. 9  ^6
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
tumed 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
niidst of thee," Hosea xi. 8, 9  433

TRACTS.
Apologia; or four Lettera to a Minister, &c. . . . 442
A Plan of Academical Preparation for the Miniatry, 460
A Monument to the Lord's Goodness, and to the
Memory of Miss Eliza Cunningham,  473

REVIEW

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

INTRODUCTION.

TnotroH the actions of mankind appear greatly diversified from the influence
of particular circumstances, human nature has been always the same. The his
tory of all ages and countries uniformly confirms the scriptural doctrine, that man
is a depraved and fallen creature ; and that some selfish temper, ambition, 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-
cair 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
<To ^fcvnf^x Tw <r«f«o;,) tho wlsdom, 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 agree ; whether Greeks or Barba-,
rians, wise or ignorant, bond or free, the bent and disposition of their minds, while
unrenewed by grace, is black and implacable enmity against the blessed God.
To those who acknowledge the authority of scripture, St. Paul's express asser
tion should be sufficient proof of this poirtt, if we could produce no other ; but be
sides 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 succeeding 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 caress his
enemies, and to insult and abuse his servants, for no other offence than their at
tachment 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 1 Yet thus it is. — The carnal mind is not only desperately wicked,
but deeply deceitful ; it deceives others, and often it deceives itself. As the ma
gicians of Egypt, though enemies to MosesJ^ attempted to counterfeit his miracles,
and as Balaam could say, " The Lord my God," though he was wickedly en
gaged against the Lord's people ; so it has been usual with many who have hated

18 INTRODUCTION.
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.
The pure religion of Jesus cannot but be despised and rejected by the carnal
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 impossible 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 un
wearied malice, persecuted our Lord to the death of the cross ; and he forewarned
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 ser
vants 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 sometimes 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 at
tended 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 particular. 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 vindication, '
especially as no coercive methods are used ; for though some attempts have been
made to restrain the leaders from poisoning the minds of the people, yet no person
is injured, either in life or property, on account of his opinions, 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 persecution." The distinc
tion he makes in these words, is observable : — So much godliness as may be pro
fessed without a peculiar relation to Jesus, the world will bear; sobriety and
benevolence they will applaud ; nay, even prayers, fastings, and other external
acts, may be commended : — but, to live godly in Christ Jesus, — so as to profess our
whole dependence upon his free salvation ; to seek all our strength from his grace ;

INTRODUCTION, 13
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 Pro
testants. That nothing less than what I have mentioned can be the import of liv
ing godly in Christ Jesus, I shall in due time prove by a cloud of witnesses.
2. I acknowledge, with thankfulness to God, and to those whom he has placed
in just authority over us, that the interposition of stripes, imprisonment, tortures,
and death, in matters pertaining to conscience, has no place in our happy land :
- jacet (semperque jaceat !)

Divmi 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 recent instances in
which power has been strained to its full extent, it is notorious 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, sim
ply considered, but between the spirit of the world and the Spirit that is of God,
and therefore the manifestation of each will be in mutual proportion. The Lord
Jesus himself sustained the fiercest contradiction of sinners, because his character
was superlatively excellent : his apostles, though far inferior to their Lord, ex
pressed so much of his temper and conduct, that they were counted worthy to suf
fer shame in the next degree to him : As he was, so were they in 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 literature, when he showed himself determined to know nothing
but Jesus, and to glory only in his cross, he was accounted by J6w and Gentile, as
the filth and off-scouring of all things ; and thus it will hold universally. If, there
fore, 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 apostle's days, but because our zeal, faith, and activity are so much inferior to
theirs, and our conduct more conformable to the prevailing taste around us.
4. I confess, that (as our Saviour has taught us to expect by the parable of the
tares) revivals of religion have been generally attended with some incidental
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, what the world is ready to condemn. However, we cannot but complain
of a want of candour and ingenuousness in this respect also. Many who bring loud
charges against what is irregular and blameable, are evidently glad of the oppor
tunity to prejudice and alarm weak minds. They do not confine their reproofs to
what is erroneous and unscriptural, but endeavour, by ambiguous expressions, in
vidious names, and indiscriminate 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 distinguish between evangelical principles and the abuse of them; and
when 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 fpr themselves and
their adherents : they expect strict demonstrations from others, while, in their own
eause, they are not ashamed to produce slanders for proofs, and jests for argu
ments : — thus they triumph without a victory, and decide ex cathedra, without so
much as entering upon the merits of the cause. These methods, hovvever success
ful, are not new inventions : by such arts and arms as these, Christianity was op-

14 INTRODUeTION.
posed firom its first appearance : In this way Lucian, Celsus, and Julian employed
thfeir talents, and made themselves famous to future times.
i judge it therefore a seasonable undertaking to attempt the apology of -Evan
gelical 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 enumeTation of facts. I propose to give a brief delineation of Eccle
siastical History from our Saviour's time ; and, that the reader may know what tp
expect, I shall here subjoin the principal points I have in view.
1. I shall consider the genius and characteristic marks of the gosptel which
Jesus taught, and show that, so long as this gospel was maintained in its purity, 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 eqmally
strong against Christianity, as taught by Christ and his first disciples ; and that tlie
offences and irregularities which have been known to attend a revival of evangeli
cal doctrine in our time, were prevalent, to a considerable 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 sim
plicity 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 gradually eclipsed. Yet,
in the most degenerate times, God had a spiritual people, who, though partaking
in some degree ofthe general declension, retained so much ofthe primitive truth
and practice eis to incur the hatred and persecution of (what is called) the chris
tian 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 Pied
mont, Provence, &c. by Berangarius, 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 executed, 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 followed by errors, heresies, and a numerous train of abo
minations (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.
6. As it was not long before the reformed countries needed a second reforma-
raation, I shall give some account of the endeavours of many good men in Germa
ny 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 tothe present time, together with what has been most remarkable in
the history of the gospel in our American settlements.
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 of their plan, and the mistakes which, through infirmity, in
some degree blemished their undertakings.

INTRODUCTION. 15
. 7. Finally, to make it evident that the spiritual worshippers of God have al
ways been a sect every where spoken against, I shall enumerate some of the re
proachful names that have been successively fixed on them, as the mark of gene
ral 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 incidents 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 hav
ing 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 authentic
and interestingtopics, from the voluminous materials already published, 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 generally
understood, is little more than a history of what the passions, prejudices, and inter
ested views of men, have prompted them to perpetrate, under the pretext and sanc
tion of religion. Enough has been written in this way ; curiosity, nay, malice
itself, need desire no more. I propose to open a more pleasing prospect ; to point
out, by a long succession of witnesses, the native tendency, and proper influence
of the religion .of Jesus ; to produce the concurring suffrage of different ages, peo
ple, 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 constraining love of Christ is the most powerful motive to obe
dience ; 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 (teousouimm,) 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 casdes, ab ipso
Ducit opes ammumque ferro.

Olney, November, 1769.

*^* A REVIEW of Ecclesiastical History, upon the plan proposed
in this Introduction, was a subject the Author had vefy much at
heart; so much so, that he had begun to prepare materials, and en
tered some littlfe way upon it, several years before his admission into

16 INTRODUCTION.
the ministrj'. From the extent, however, and unforeseen difficulties
of the undertaldng, 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 intended, and with very little
variation will be found, to apply to every succeeding period. 2

A

REVIEW

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

BOOK I.
ON THE FIRST PERIOD OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER 1.
The Wisdom and Goodness of God conspi
cuous in the Period assigned for Christ's
Appearance. Illustrated by a Summary
View ofthe State of Manlcind, before and
at the time of his birth.
When the first man had fallen from the
happiness and perfection of his creation, had
rendered 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
communion with God, and earnestly sought
deliverance 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 worshippers of God. That the patri
archs and prophets of old were, in this sense,
• Christians, that is to say, that their joy and
trust centred in the promised Messiah, and
that the faith, whereby they overcame the
world, was the same faith in the same Lord
with ours, is unanswerably proved by St. Paul
in several passages (Rom. iv. ; Gal. iii. 16,
17;) particularly in Heb. xi., where he at
large insists on the characters of Abel, Enoch,
Vol. IL C

Noah, Abraham, and. Moses, to illustrate this
very point.
At length, in the fulness of time, as the
apostle 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 sub
ordination, 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 ac
complish the great work of redemption. For
these purposes, he was bom of a virgin of
the family of David, at the town of Bethle
hem, as the prophets had foretold. This great
event took place in the twenty-seventh year
of the reign of Augustus Ceesar, copiputing
from the battle 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 cavU with his Maker, and to dispute
when he ought to obey, have often objected
to the expedience and propriety of this ap
pointment. It has been asked. If Christ's
appearance was so absolutely necessary, why
was it so long deferred 1 Or, if mankind could
do without him for so many thousand yeara,
why not longer, or for ever'! In attempting
a solution of this difficulty, some well-mean
ing persons, from a too earnest desire to
render the counsels of God more acceptable
to the narrow apprehensions of unsanctified
reason, have given up the ground they ought
to have maintained, and made such conces-

• Bosauet, Univ. Hist. Prideaux, Connect.
17

18

STATE OP MANKIND

[book I.

sions, as (if extended to their just conse
quence) would amount to all that the most
hardened infidel can desire. The most direct
and proper answer is suggested by St. Paul
(Rom', ix. 20,) on a similar occasion, Who
art thou, O man, that repliest against God 1*
That the will and wisdom of the Creator
should direct and limit the inquiries of his
rational creatures, is a principle highly con
sonant to right reason itself. And there can
hardly be a stronger proof of human depra
vity, than that this argument is so generally
esteemed inconclusive. But waving this, a
sufficient answer may be made from the pre
mises already advanced.
God was not a debtor to sinfhl men. He
might have left them all to perish, as he left
the sinning angels, without the least im
peachment of his goodness ; but his mercy
interposed, and he spared not his own Son,
that sinners might be saved in a way con
sistent with his perfections. But though, in
compassion to us, he provided the means of
salvation, 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 tmmerited goodness. We may there
fore 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 insufiiciency of every other means of
relief demonstrated by the universal expe
rience of many ages.
What is the history of mankind but a dif
fusive exemplification of the scripture-doc
trines concerning the dreadful nature and
effects 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 escrly prejudice in favour
of heroes, conquerors, and philosophers. But
if we consider the facts recorded in the annala
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-bom 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

* It is observable in this passage, that the apostle fore
sees and states the great objection which would be made
to bis doctrine, but does not attempt to answer it any
Airther, than by referring all to the will of him wlio
formed the whole mass, and has a right to dispose of it.
Had succeeding writers and teachers imitated his exam
ple, declared the plain truth in plain words, and avoid
ed rain and endless reasonings, how many offences
would bare been prevented I

out ofthe world; and when his fear was set
aside, the restraints, dictated by the interests
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 dis
honourable lusts a-nd pleasures, living in
malice and envy, hateful and abominable in
theJnselves, and incessantly hating and wor
rying one another, Titus iii. 3.
It would be more easy than pleasant to
make out this charge by a long induction of
particulars ; and, without having recourse to
the most savage and uncultivated, the proof.
might be rested on the character of the two
most celebrated 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 improvements in arts and sciences,
in war and commerce, in philosophy and lite
rature ; and he says no more than is abundant
ly confirmed by their own poets and histori
ans, f Notwithstanding 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 princi
ples. Without natural affection, they fre
quently exposed their helpless infants to
perish. They bumed 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 simk so low as to glory in their shame,
and openly avow themselves the disgrace of
humanity. In their public concerns, not
withstanding their specious pretences, they
were covenant-breakers, implacable, unmer
ciful, and unjust. Guilty of the severest
oppression, while they boasted highly of
equity and rnoderation,^ as was particularly
manifested on the destruction of Carthage

* Enslaved. So the original term may be emphali.
cally rendered— At the controul of various and opposite
passions, hurried about by them all in theiv turns, and
incapable of resisting or refusing the motions of any.
t An affecting comment on this passage might be col
lected from Horace, Juvenal, Sallust, and Suetonius
t See Virgil, Eclog. 2.
5 See Acts xxvii. '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 Eomans so
much admired? Could there be a greater proof of
cruelty and injustice found amongst the most barbarous
nations, than to leave prisoners, who might possibly be
innocent, exposed to tbe wanton caprice of their keep
ers? *^

CH.\P.I.]

AT THE INCARNATION.

19

and Corinth; two memorable instances of
the spirit of a govemment so undeservedly
admired in after times. And as the Roman
power, so the Grecian eloquence, was per
verted to the worst purposes, — to palliate
crimes, to consecrate folly, and to .recom
mend falsehood under the guise and sem
blance 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 authority and splendour. A long expe
rience had shown the general depravity to be
not only inveterate, but incurable. Tor
during several preceding ages, a reformation
had been' desired and attempted. The prin
cipal leaders in this commendable design
were called philosophers, and many of their
writings are still extant. It must be ac
knowledged that some of them had a faint
view qf several important truths ; but as they
neither knew the cause and extent of the
disorder, nor the only effectual remedy, they
met with iittle 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 nearest the
truth, and were in earnest to promote it, were
very few. Even these were ignorant of some
things absolutely necessary to the attainment
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 propoundi they had no sufficient
authority or influence to impress upon the
consciences of men. And if, in a few instan
ces, they seemed to succeed, the advantage
was only imaginary. Where they prevailed
on any to relinquish intemperance, they made
them fuU amends by gratifying their pride.
The business passed from hand to hand, from
sect to sect, but all to no purpose. After
innumerable disputations, and volumes con
cerning the supreme good, the beauty of
virtue, the fitness of things, and 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 ofthe 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 them-

* Witness the prevarication of Socrates, and the ir
resolution of Cicero, towards the close of their lives.

selves ; he freed them from their captivity by
a series of illustrious miracles; he led them
through the sea andthe 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 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 favour
ed and honoured, should have been obedient
and thankful 1 Some of them were so ; his
grace always preserved a spiritual people
amongst them, whose faith in the Messiah
taught them the true meaning of the Levi
tical law, and inspired them with zeal and
sincerity in the service of God. But the bulk
of the nation was always refractory and dis
obedient. While in the wilderness they
murmured against the Lord upon every new
difficulty. 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 despised the good land, therefore their
carcases fell* in the wildemess, 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
every idolatrous practice ; they transgressed
every divine command. During a long suc
cession of warnings, chastisements, and de
liverances, they became worse and worse, so
that, in Jeremiah's time, they equalled or
exceeded the Heathens around tbem in igno
rance and wickedness. They mocked the
messengers of God, despised his words, and
misused his prophets, till his wrath rose
against them, and there was no remedy. At
length their land was laid waste, Jerusalem
burnt, the greater part of the people des
troyed, and the remainder carried captives
into Chaldea.
Upon their retum from captivity, they
seemed for a little while to retain a sense of
their duty and of the judgments they had
suffered. But all was soon forgot. Their
wickedness now put on a new form, and dis
covered the evU 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.

* They were overthrown (KMTEfl-T^wfisiirKi',) theyfell 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 thousanda
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 Red-Sea, had rejoiced in the destruction of the 'Egyji.
tians, and heen fed withmannaiiom heaven.

so

STATE OP MANKIND, &c.

[book I.

from a presumption that they were his pe
culiar 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 obe
dience, and by presuming to multiply their
own inventions and traditions,* and to hold
them no less, binding than the positive com
mands of God ; they, by degrees, attained
to a pitch of impiety unknown to former
times, and which was so much the more of
fensive and abominable, as it was covered
with the mask of religion, and accompanied
with a claim to superior 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
vemment was determined from that time by
, the wUl of the conquerors. At length He
rod, a foreigner, obtained it. In his reign
Christ was bom.
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 helpless 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 general 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, desti
tute 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 increasingclearness 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-

* See one instance. Matt. xv. 5. The expression is
rather obscure, but the sense is : " What you might ex
pect from me for your support, I 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
spirit has too often appeared in the (Christian cimrch.

thority ofthe Old Testament were confirme^.
and the wisdom, power, and -providence ot
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 tune, dis
posed the political state of mankind m such
a manner as to prepare the way for a speedy
and general publication ofthe gospel through
the world.
It would be pleasing to consider how the
rise and fall and change of empires were
made successively subservient to introduce
the kingdom of Jesus. But this would lead
me beyond 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 exten
sive conquests, divided amongst his succes
sors, laid the foundation of four powerful
monarchies, and opened an intercourse be
tween countries till then unknown to each
other. By this means the Greek tongue be
came famUiar and common to many nations ;
and, soon after, the Hebrew scriptures were
translated into that language, and the pro
phecies 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 imderstood, 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 common
language, became more closely united under
one dominion. Every province had a neces
sary 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 jof seventy
weeks, spoken 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 deliverance unsuitable to their
worldly notions, yet it made them solicitous
and eager for the appearance 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 exercises of faith and

CKAP.n.]

CHARACTEK OF THE GOSPEL, &c.

21

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 time 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 de
termination admirably suited to place the
most important trutlis in the strongest light.
In this way the depravity, misery, and help
lessness of man, the mercy, of Gcod, and the
truth of the scriptures, were unquestionably
proved to all succeeding times. The neces
sity of a Saviour was felt and aclmowledged ;
and the suitableness, all-sufficiency, and con
descension of Jesus, when he imdertook and
accomplished the great designs in which his
love engaged him, were more strongly illus
trated by the preceding contrast. He knew
the whole human race were sinners, rebels,
enemies 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 took on him the form of a servant, to
bring the glad tidings of salvation to men. In
effect, the gospel of Christ soon appeared to
be the great desideratum, and completely re
dressed the evUs which phUosophy had given
up as desperate. The genius and character
istic marks of this gospel wUl be considered
in the following chapter.

CHAPTER IL
The Character and Geni-us of the Gospel,
as taught and exemplified by Christ.
A SUCCINCT history ofthe life of our Lord
and Saviour is no part of our plan. This the
inspired evangelists have performed with the
highest advantage and authority ; and their
writmgs (through the mercy of God) are ge
nerally known and read in our own tongue.
It wiU 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
aftertimes. 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 bythe
gospel, especially as the professed followers
of Christ have been, and still are, not a little
divided 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 reco
very by the free grace ofGod, through faith,
unto holiness and happiness." The explana
tion and proof of these particulars, from our
Lord's express declarations, and the tenor of
his conduct, will sufficiently point out the
principal marks and characters of his gospel.
But, before 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
should be remembered, that whUst our Lord
was visibly conversant with men, he did not
ordinarily discover the whole system of his
doctrine in express terms. He spoke to the
multitude, for the most part, in parables,
(Matt. xiii. 10, 11,) and was not forward to
proclaim himself the Messiah upon every
occasion. Matt. xvi. 20. And even in hia
more mtimate discourses with his disciples
(John xvi. 12 — ^25,) he taught them with a
wise and gracious accommodation to their
circumstances and weakness.* The full ex
planation of many things he referred to the
time when, having accomplished his wish,
and returned victorious and triumphant into
heaven, he should send down, according to
his promise, the Holy Spirit, to enlighten
and comfort his people. Then, and not be
fore, 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 certainty
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
amazing variety in this respect. Where thia
doctrine is truly understood, though in the
lowest degree, it inspires the soul with a
supreme love to Jesus, and a trust in him for
salvation. And those who understand it best,
have not yet received- all the evidence, com
fort, and influence from it, which it is capable
of affording. The riches of grace and wis
dom in this dispensation are unsearchable
(Epll. iii 8,) and immense, imparted in dif
ferent measures, and increased from time to
time, according to the good pleasure (1 Cor.
xii. 11,) of the Spirit of God, who furnishes
his people with light and strength propor-

* Our Lord taught hisdisciples gradually ; their know
ledge advanced as the light, or (according to bis own
beautiful simile) flrst the blade, then the ear; first green
corn, then fully ripe. He considered their difliculties,
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 lo
others, in one discourse or interview, all that they have
attained theraselves by tlie study and experience of
many years.

22

CHARACTER OP THE GOSPEL

[book I.

tioned to theh* exigences, situation, and the
services or trials he calls them to ; not with
out respect to the degree of their diligence,
obedience, and simplicity, in waiting upon
him. For these reasons, it is not to be expect
ed, that every one who serves God with his
spirit in the gospel of his Son, shoiUd have ex
actly the same views of this sublime subject.
Neither do I presume to think myself capa
ble of displaying it in its full light and beauty.
I desire, therefore, to write with candour,
and entreat a candid perusal, as conscious of
my infirmities, and the imperfections neces
sarUy attending' the human mind, in this
present state of things. Yet I am not afraid
to express my just confldence, that I shall
advance no principle, 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 prevaUing
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.
Revelation was needful to discover sin, hi its
true nature and demerit ; and where this is
known, the awakened and wounded con
science is not easily persuaded, that a just
and holy God will pardon iniquity ; so like
wise the immortality of the soul, after all the
fine things said upon the subject, remained
a problematical 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 affairs of life, they forgot the force
of their own demonstrations.* But the gospel
of Christ is an express, complete, and infal
lible 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 Testament 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

* Cicero frankly confesses this: "Nescio quomodo,
dum lego, assentior; cum posui librum, et mecum ipse
de immortalitate animorum ccepi cogitare, assentio om
nis ilia elabiture." Tusc. <^st. lib. 1.

my Father which is in heaven," Matt. xvi.
16, 17. If Peter could read, and had the
scriptures to peruse, these were advantages
derived from flesh aud 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."*
2. It is a revelation in the person of Jesus
Christ. As a revelation, 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 a universal sinless obedience, and to point
out the efiicacy of a better Mediator; but
grace and truth, grace answerable tothe 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 ofthe 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 etemal 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 charac
ters and prerogatives which incommimicably
belong to God, is evident from the texts re
ferred to. He was a judge of the thoughts
and intents of the heart, (Matt. ix. 2, 3;)
he forgave sins ; he adopted the style of Su
preme Majesty rf his wonderful works were
proof of an almighty power ; he restored
sight, health, and life, with a word ; (Matt
viu. 3, 9, 30; John iv. 53;) he controlled
the elements, (Matt. xiv. 25 ; Mark iv. 39,)
and showed hunself Lord of quick and dead,
angels, and devUs, (John xi. 25, 44; Luke

* That babes should be admitted to this knowledge
and express a certainty, where the wiae are all per
plexity and darkness, is extremely mortifying to hu
man pride. But are not these the words of Christ ? How
arrogant, how dangerous, must it be to be displeased
with that dispensation at wbich he rejoiced I
t 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 eniov
any spiritual, clear, and comfortable views ofGod un
less our thoughts fix upon the Man Christ Jesus- he is
the door and the vail to the holy of holies; and there is
no coming to the Father by any other way.

CHAP. II.]

AS TAUGHT BY OUR LORD.

23

iv. 34; Matt, i v. 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 veiled. The Word
was made flesh: he assumed the human na
ture, and shaded in all its infirmities, sin ex
cepted. He was.born of a woman ; he pass
ed through the states of infancy, childhood,
and youth, and gradually increased in wis
dom and stature, Lulie ii. 52.' H6 was often,
yea, always afflicted; he endured hunger,
thirst, and weariness ; (Mark xi. 12 ; John iv.
6, 7 ;) he sighed, he wept, he groaned, he
¦ bled, he died ; (Mark vn. 84 ; John xi. 35, 38 :
Luke xxu. 44 ;) but, amidst all, he was spot
less and undefiled. He repelled the tempta
tions of Satan, (Matt. iv. 1, 10 ;) he a'Jipealed
to his most watchfiil enemies fbr his integ
rity ; he rendered universal, unceasing obe
dience to..the will of God, and completely
fulfiUed the whole law, John viii. 46 ; xiv.
30 ; xvii. 4.. In him the perfection of wisdom
and goodness shined forth. He bumed with
love to God, with compassion to men ; a com
passion which he freely extended to the most
necessitous, and the most unworthy. He
returned good for evU, wept for his enemies,
(Luke xix. 41,) prayed for his murderers,
Luke xxiu. 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, authority, and efficacy,
which rendered him every way worthy to he
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
recovery. It has already been observed, that
the full explication of these truths was defer
red tUl after his resurrection ; and the subse
quent writings of his apostles are useftil 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, (Matt. 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 xu. 32 ; x. 17 ;)
that he was, on this account, especially, the
object of his Father's complacency, because
he voluntarily substituted himself to die for
his people. He enforced the necessity of
believing on hhn -in this view, (John ui.
14 — 18 ;) and applied to hunself the prophe
cies of tbe 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
Surety ; his glorious holiness, and opposition
to all evil ; and his invariable faithfulness to
his threatenings • and his promises. Consi
dered in this light, our Saviour's passion is
the most momentous, instructive, and com
fortable theme that can affect the heart of
man. But if his substitution and proper
atonement are denied, the whole is unintel
ligible. We can assign no sufficient reason
why a person of his excellence was abandoned
to such miseries and indignities : nor can we
account for that agony and distress which
seized him at the prospect of what was
coming upon him. It would be highly in
jurious to his character to suppose he was
thus terrified by the apprehension of death or
bodily pain, when so many fraU and sinful
men have encountered death, armed with
the severest tortures, with far less emotion.
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
vengeance ; prostrate and. agonizing in the
garden; enduring the vilest insults from
wicked men; torn with whips, and nails,
and thorns ; suspended naked, wounded, and
bleeding upon the cross, and there heavUy
complaining that God had, for a se^on, for
saken 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 dreadfiil 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 expe
dient could have sufficed, his prayer, 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 for ever repeat as
the expression of his highest praise: "He
saved others, himself he cannot save," Luke
xxiii. 35. Justice would admit no inferior
atonement ; love would not give up the cause
of fallen mined man. Bemg therefore deter
mined to save others, he could not, consistent
ly with this gracious design and undertak
ing, deliver himself

24

CHARACTER OF THE GOSPEL

[book I.

Again, the means and certainty of a salva
tion proportioned to the guUt and misery of
sinners, and a happiness answerable to the
utmost capacity ofthe 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
jsake) I am well pleased," Matt. iii. 17. He
afterwards proclaimed his own authority and
sufficiency, that all things were delivered in
to his hands, and invited every weary, heavy-
laden soul to seek to him for refreshment
and peace, Matt. 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 circum
stance that should engage the hearts, and
confirm the hopes of sinners. He gave re
peated promises, that those who believe in
him shall never perish, (John x. 38;) that
neither force nor fraud should frustrate his
intentions in their favour ; that after his as
cension, 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, (Matt, 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
gospel proclaims by Christ, are invited with
out exception, and received without condi
tion. Though they have been the vilest of
fenders, they are freely accepted in the Be
loved ; and none of their iniquities shall be
remembered any more ; on the contrary, the
most respectable characters amongst men are
declared to be of no avail in point of accept
ance 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 Media
tor. This is an illustrious peculiarity of the
gospel, which the proud fallen 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 righte
ous, and to encourage all who felt and con
fessed 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 awaken
ed the hatred and dislike of the bulk of
mankind against his doctrine ever since. It

is necessary, 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 daUy 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
Pharisee boasting of his observance ofthe law :
He paid tithes, he fasted, he prayed ; he was
not chargeable with adultery or extortion ;
he could say more for himself than many
can who affecfr 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.
Another remarkable instance is that of the
ruler (Matt. xix. 16, Luke xviii. 18,) who
accosted our Lord in a -respectful manner,
asking him, What he should do to inherit
etemal life 1 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 refer
red him to the precepts ofthe law, he answer
ed 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 readUy 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 for
giveness; therefore she loved much, and wept
much.* She had nothing to say for herself;
but Jesus espoused her cause, and pronounced
her pardon. He likewise silenced the proud
cavUler by a parable, that sweetly illustrates
tho 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.

* She washed his feet with tears; ajJ^To Seixi", 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 tbe
heart to melt, and the eyes to flow.

CHAP. II.]

AS TAUGHT BY OUR LORD.

25

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
fave a general offence, he took occasion to
sliver 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-
mg. He afterwards, in the close, shows the
pride, stubbornness, and enmity of the self-
righteous Pharisees, under the character of
the elder brother.* WhUe his language and
deportment discovered the disobedience and
malice of his heart, he pretended that he had
never broke his father's commands. The self-
condemned sinner, when he first receives
hope of pardon, experiences a joy and peace
in believing. This is represented by the
feast and fatted calf ' But the religious order
ly 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 angry that the prodigal should
at once obtain those marks of favour which
he, who had remained with his father, had al
ways 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
perhaps he had been surprised into it, and
might, in other respects, have been of a
fairer character. 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 cir
cumstances, but that the death of Jesus bap-
pily coinciding with his own, aflbrded him
an advantage peculiar 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 pun
ishment, which was seldom inflicted but on
those who were judged the most atrocious
criminals, makes it more than probable that

* 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
(JVJatt. viii. 12,) he says, "The children of the kingdom
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.
Vol. IL D

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 show the
sovereignty and triumph of grace, contrasted
with the most desperate pitch of obdurate
wickedness. To show, on the oiie hand, that
the compassion and the power of Christ were
not diminished when his sufferings were at
th6 height, and he seemed abandoned to his
enemies ; and, on the other, the insufficiency
of any means to change a sinner's heart,
without the powerful efficacy of divine grace.
The one malefactor, brought at length to
deserved punishment, far frora repenting of
his crimes, regardle.ss of his immediate ap
pearance before God, thought it some relaxa
tion of his torments, to join with the barbarous
multitude in revUing Jesus, who hung upon
a cross by his side. He was not ignorant that
Jesus was put to death fbr professing himself
the Messiah ; but he upbraided him with his
character, and treated him as an impostor.
In this man we see the progress, wages, and
effects of sin. His wickedness brought him
to a terrible end, and sealed him up under a
fatal hardness of heart; so that he died des
perate, though Jesus Christ was crucified be -
fore his eyes.f 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,
answered the first desire of a malefactor at
the point of death : " To-day shalt thou be
with me in paradise." This certainly was
an instance of free distinguishing grace.
Here was salvation bestowed upon one of the
vilest sinners, through faith in Jesus, without
previous works, or a possibility of performing
any. And as such, it is recorded for the en-

* 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, were executed with
him. t Compare Matt, xxvii. 39. How can it be expected
that no more than a constant repetition of Christ's
death should be an invincible means of changing the
heart, when the actual sightof his sufferings was attend
ed with so little effect! Sin must be felt as the disease
aud ruin of the soul, and the sufferings of Jesus ac
knowledged as the only possible remedy, before we can
truly sympathize with him, aud say, "I am crucifled
with Christ."

2B

CHARACTER OF THE GOSPEL, &c.

[book I.

encouragement of all who see themselves
destitute of righteousness and strength, and
that, like the thief on the cross, they have
no refuge or hope, but in the free mercy of
Grod through Christ.
5. The medium by which the gospel be
comes the power of God unto salvation, is
feith. 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 lffe ; whereas the gospel-faith purifies the
heart, and overcomes the world. Neither do
we mean a confidence of the forgiveness of
sm, impressed upon the mind in a sudden
and instantaneous manner. Faith is mdeed
founded upon the strongest evidence, and
may often be confirmed by meffable mani
festations from the fountaui of light and
comfort ; but the discrimmating property of
true faith is, " a reliance upon Jesus Christ for
all the ends and purposes for which the gospel
reveals him ;" such as the pardon of sin,
peace of conscience, strength for obedience,
and etemal life. It is wrought by the opera
tion of the Holy Spirit, and presupposes a
knowledge of him, and of ourselves ; of our
indigence, and his fulness; our unworthi
ness, and his merits ;' our weakness, and his
power. The true believer buUds upon the
person and word of Christ (Matt. vii. 24;
xvi. 18) as the foundation of his hope. He
enters 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 righ
teousness as the wedding-garment (Matt.
xxii. 11 ; Rom. xiii. 14) whereby alone he
expects admission to the marriage-feast of
heaven: he derives all his strength and
comfort from his influence, 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, defects, 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 aU confidence in the flesh
(PhU. iiL 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 ftom 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 ex
ercise of it is various in different persons,
and in the same person at different times, as
has been already hinted ; but the principle
itself is universal, permanent, and effica-

cious m all that truly bdieve ; ^f ?f^g
less than this faith is ^^^^i^"*.^- J^^ "^^
man a right to the name of a Christian.
6 The final cause or great ends of the
ffospel, respectmg man, are holmess and
happiness (Matt. i. 21 ; xxv. 34 ; John xvu.
24 •) the complete restoration pf the soul to
the' favour and image of God, or eternal life
beo-un here, to be consummated m glory.
What has been already said renders it need
less to enlarge upon this head ; nor shaU we
concern ourselves here to vindicate the doc
trine we have laid down from the charge of
licentiousness: because it is our professed
design, in the progress of this work, to prove, .
from the history ofthe church, not only that
these principles, when rightly understood,
will infaUibly produce obedience and submis
sion to the whole will of God, but that these
only can do it. Wherever and whenever
the doctrines of free grace and justification
by faith have prevaUed in the Christian
church; and according to the degree of
clearness with which they have been en
forced, the practical duties of Christianity
have flourished in the same proportion.
"Wherever they have declined, or been tem
pered with the reasonings and expedients of
men, either from a well meant, though mis
taken 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 consequence has ai
ways been, an equal declension in practice.
So long as the gospel of Christ is maintain
ed 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 divine com
mands are made void, new inventions are
continually taking place, zeal is diverted
into a wrong channel, and the greatest stress
laid upon things either unnecessary or un
warrantable. Hence perpetual occasion is.
given for strife, debates, and divisions, till at
length the spirit of Christianity is forgot, ani
the power of godliness lost, amidst fierce
contentions for the form.
To sum up this inquiry in a few words:
the gospel is a wise and gracious dispensa
tion, 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 con
vinces a sinner, that he is unworthy of the
smallest mercy, at the same time that i'
gives hun a confidence to expect the greats
est ; it cuts off all pretence of glorying in
the flesh, but it enables a guilty sinner tl
glory m God : to them that have no might
it mcreases strength; it gives eyes to th«
blind, and feet to llie lame ; subdues the en
mity of the heart ; shows the nature of sm,
the spirituality and sanction ofthe law, with

CHAP. III.]

GROUNDS OP THE OPPOSITION TO, &e.

27

the fullest evidence; and, by exhibiting
Jesus, as made of God, wisdom, righteous
ness, sanctification, and redemption, to all
who believe, it makes obedience practicable,
easy, and delightful. The constraining love
of Christ engages the heart, and every fa
culty in his service. His example iUustrates
and recommends his precepts ; his presence
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 fiUeth 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.

CHAPTER III. .
Concerning the true grounds of the opposi
tion our Lord met with in the course of
his ministry : and the objections and
artifi.ces his enemies employed to preju
dice the people against him, and prevent
the reception of his doctrine.
If our knowledge of the history of Jesus
was confined to the e.xcellence of his cha
racter, and the diffusive goodness that shone
forth in all his actions, we should hardly con
ceive it possible, that any people could be
so lost to gratitude and humanity as to op
pose him. He went about doing good : he
raised the dead, healed every disease, and
relieved the distresses of all who applied to
him, without any difference of cases, cha
racters, 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 perfect and in-
'culpable.^ How natural is it to expect, that
a person so amiable and benevolent, so blame
less and exemplary, should have been uni
versally revered.*
But we find in fact it was far otherwise.
Instead ofthe 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
* 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 vve need not wonder, since it flatters the
pride of man without thwarting his passions. In the
Lord Jesus this great desideratumwas vouchsafed; vir
tue and goodness were pleased to become visible, were
manifest in the flesh. But did the experiment answer
to the ideas ofthe 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 bpar the light. They had m re com
passion and affactionfov the niost infamous malefactor;
therefore, when the alternative was proposed to them,
they released Barabbas, a robber and a muxderer, and
sailed Jesus and virtue to tbe cross.

Satan; he was branded as an impostor, mad
man, and demoniac ; he was made the sport
of servants and soldiers; and, at length,
publicly executed with every pofeible cir
cumstance of ignominy and torture, as a
malefactor of the worst sort.
What could be the cause and motives of
such injurious treatment t This is the sub
ject of our present inquiry. It might indeed
be answered very briefly, as it has been, by
ascribing it to the peculiar wickedness and
perverseness of the Jews. There is not a
fallacy more frequent or pleasing to the
minds of men, than, whUe they act contrary
to present duty, to please themselves with
imagining how well they would have be
haved in another situation, or a different
age. They think it a mark of virtue to con
demn the wickedness of 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 inno
cent blood, at the time they were thirsting
for the blood of Jesus, Matt, xxiii. 29, 3a
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 con
cerned 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 themselves have little less enmity
against his person 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 ofthe measures
employed against him, in order to show, 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 obscure manner, in any country
now called by his name, he would meet with
little better treatment, unless when the con
stitution and laws of a civil government
mifi^ht interpose to prevent it.
JBut 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 common and distinct motives, opposed
our Saviour's ministry, and cavilled at his
doctrine. These were the Pharisees,^ad-
ducees, and Herodians.f
The Pharisees, including the Scribes (who
were chiefly of this sect,) were professedly
the guardians ofthe law, and public teachers
ofthe people. They were held in high vene
ration by the common people, for the aus-

tSee Matt, xxiii; Mark vii. 13; and Luke xviii.
9—14.

28

GROUNDS OP THE OPPOSITION TO,

[book I.

terity of their deportment, the frequency of
their devotions, and their exactness in the
less essential parts of the law. They ob
served 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 so pleased with their own inven
tions, as to prefer them to the positive com
mands of God; and their studious punc
tuality in trifles, withdrew their regard
from the most important duties. Their spe
cious show of piety was a fair outside, under
which the grossest abominations were con
cealed and indulged. They were full of
pride, and a high conceit of their own good
ness : they fasted and prayed to be seen and
esteemed of men; they expected reverence
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 of them made their solemn exterior a
cloak for extortion and oppression ; and the
rest, if not hypocrites in the very worst
sense, yet deceived both themselves, . and
others, by a form of godliness, when they
were in effect enslaved by their passions,
and lived according to the corrupt rule of
their own imaginations.
The Sadducees, their antagonists and ri
vals, were equally, though differently, remote
from the true knowledge and worship of
God. They not only rejected the tradition
of the elders, but u great part of the scrip
tures likewise ; and admitted only the five
Books of Moses as of divine authority. From
this circumstance, together with the dif
ficulty (Matt. xxii. 23) they proposed to our
Lord, and the answers he gave them, it
appears, that they were persons, who, pro
fessing in general terms to acknowledge a
revelation from God, yet made their own
prejudices and mistakes, under the dignified
name of reason, the standard to determine
what books should be received as authentic,
and in what sense they should be under
stood. The doctrine of a resurrection did
not accord with their notions ; therefore they
rejected it (Acts xxiii. 8,) together* 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 satis
faction till our Lord resolved it. But the
whole difficulty was founded upon false prin
ciples ; and when these were removed, all fell

* 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 aense upon the scriptures
(whether in whole or in part,) which they did profess to
receive, 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
and tenor both of the law and the prophets.

tn the ground at once. From this, however,
we may learn their characteristic; they
were the cautious reasoners of those times,
who valued themselves on examining every
thing closely, refusmg to be influenced by
the plausible sounds of antiquity and au
thority. The Herodians (Matt. xxii. 16 ; Mark iii.
6) were those who endeavoured to ingratiate
themselves with Herod. It is most probable
that they received their name and distinc
tion, not so much from any peculiar senti
ments, as from attempting to accommodate
their religion to the circumstances of the
times. The Pharisees, boasting of their
privileges as the children of Abraham, could
hardly brook a foreign yoke ; but the Hero
dians, ftom 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 con
cerning tribute was proposed to our Lord
jointly by the Pharisees and Herodians, the
former designing to render him obnoxious to
the people, if he aUowed of tribute, the latter
to accuse him to the government, if he re
fused it.
From what has been said, it is evident the
leading principles of these sects were not
peculiar to themselves. They may rather
be considered universally as specimens of
the different appearances a religious profes
sion 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 can
not proceed from a nobler principle, or aim
at a nobler object than self These disposi
tions have appeared in every age and form
of the christian church, and are always ac
tive to oppose the self-denying doctrines of
the gospel upon different pretences. The
man, who, fond of his fancied attainments
and scrupulous exactness in externals, des
pises all who will not conform to his rules,
and challenges peculiar respect on account
of his superior goodness, is a proud Phari
see, His zeal is dark, envious, and bitter ;
his obedience partial and self-willed ; and
whUe 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 mo
dern Sadducee (like those of old) admits of
a revelation, but then, full of his own wis
dom 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 without hesitation, the epithets of
absurd, inconsistent, and blasphemous to
whatever thwarts his pride, prejudice, and
ignorance, and those paTts of scripture which
cannot be warped to speak his sense, lie dis-

CHAP. III.J

AND OFFENCES AGAINST OUR LORD.

29

cards from his canon as interpolated and
supposititious. The Herodian is the man,
however denominated or dignified, who is
governed by interest, as the others by pride,
and vainly endeavours to reconcUe the in
compatible services of God and the world,
Christ and Belial. He avoids the excesses
of religious parties, speaks in terras of rao-
deration, and is not unwUling to be account
ed the pattern and friend of sobriety and
religion. He stands fair with all who would
be religious upon cheap terms, and fair in his
own esteem, having numbers and authority
on his side. Thus he almost persuades him
self he has carried his point, and that it is
not so impossible to serve two masters as
our Lord's words seem to import ; but the
preaching ofthe pure gospel, which enforces
the one thing needful, and will admit of no
compliances with worldly interests, inter
feres with his plan, and incurs his resent
ment likewise, though, perhaps, he will
show his displeasure by more refined and
specious methods than the clamorous rage
of hot bigotry has patience to wait for.
We now proceed. — The first great cause
why Jesus was rejected by those to whom he
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 ofthe 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
increased by his manner of enforcing it. He
spoke with authority, and sharply rebuked the
hypocrisy, ignorance, amibition, and avarice
of those persons who were accounted the
wise and the good, who sat in Moses's chair,
and had hitherto been heard and obeyed with
reverence. But Jesus exposed their true
characters : he spoke of them as blind guides ;
he compared them to painted sepulchres,*
and cautioned the people against them, as
dangerous deceivers, Matth. xxiii. 27. It is
no wonder, therefore, that on this account
they hated him with a perfect hatred.

* 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
monument. Perhaps the visible creation does not affiird
any other image that would so strongly express the
true character of hypocrisy, and how hateful it appears
in the sight ofGod, who is of purer eyes than to behold
iniquity, and before whom all things are naked and
open.

Again, they were exceedingly offended
with the high character -he assumed aa the
Son of God, and tho Messiah. On this ac
count, tliey condemned him to die for blas
phemy. They expected a Messiah indeed,
who they professed was spoken of in the
scriptures; but they understood not what the
scriptures had revealed, either concerning
his divine nature or his voluntary humilia
tion, tha* he was to be the Son and Lord of
David, yet a raan of sorrows and acquainted
with grief They denied his divinity, and
themselves unwittingly fulfilled the prophe
cies that spoke of his sufferings; affording,
by their conduct, a memorable proof how
fatally persons may mistake the sense of the
word of God, whUe they profess highly to
esteem it.
What farther increased Oieir contempt of
his claims, and contributed to harden theii
hearts more implacably against him, was the
obscurity and poverty of his state. While
they were governed by worldly 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 corae in pomp and
power, to deliver them from the Roman yoke.
For a person truly divine, who made himself
equal with God, to be encompassed with
poverty and distress, seemed such profane
contradiction, as might justify every mark
of indignity they could offer him. And this
difficulty must equally affect every unen
lightened mind. If man had been left to de
vise in what manner the Lord of the universe
would probably descend to dwell awhile with
poor mortals in a visible form, they would
undoubtedly have imagined such a scene, if
their thoughts could have reached it, as is
described by the prophets on other occasions :
the heavens bowing, the earth shaking, the
mountains 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 assem
blage of all that we conceive magnificent, —
a pomp and splendour surpassing all the
world ever saw. Expecting nations crowding
to welcome his arrival, and thrones of gold,
and palaces of ivory, would have been judged
too mean to accommodate so glorious a guest.
But the Lord's thoughts and ways are dif
ferent from man's. The beloved Son ofGod,
by whom all' things were made, was born in
a stable, and grew up in an obscure and mean
condition. He came to suffer and to die for
sin, to sanctify poverty and affliction to his
people, 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 ap
pointment of divine wisdom; but so incredi
ble in the judgment of blinded mortals, thai

GROUNDS OF THE OPPOSITION TO,

[book I.

the apostle assures us, " no man can say that
Jesus is the Lord" (1 Cor. xii. 3,) can per
ceive and acknowledge his inherent excel
lence and authority, through the disgraceful
circumstances of his humiliation, " but by the
Holy Ghost." His enemies, therefore, thought
they sufficiently refuted his assertions by re
ferring to his supposed parents, and the re
puted place of his nativity.
Their envy and hatred were stUl more
inflamed, by observing the character of his
followers. These were chiefly poor and
Uliterate persons, and raany of them had been
notoriously wicked, or accounted so; publi
cans and sinners, whose names and profes
sions were vile to a proverb. And for such
as these, and almost these only, to acknow
ledge the person whom they refused, and by
professing themselves 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
daUy to increase, and therefore could not but
fear their own influence would ^oportion-
ably decline.
Once more: Mistaking the nature of his
kingdom, which he often spoke of, they op
posed him frora reasons of state. They feared,
or pretended to fear, that if they suffered him
to go on, the increase of his disciples would
give urabrage to the Romans, who would
corae and take away both their places and
their nation, John xi. 49. Some perhaps
reaUy had this apprehension ; but it was more
generally a pretence, which the leaders made
use of to alarm the ignorant. They were in
truth impatient of the Roman yoke, prone to
tumults, and ready to listen to every de
ceiver who promised 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 professed, they would have no other
king but Cassar.
These were some of the chief motives
which united the opposite interests, and jar
ring sentiments of the Jewish sects against
our blessed Lord, We are next to consider
the methods they employed to prejudice the
multitudes against him. The bulk of the
common people seldom think for themselves
in religious concerns, but judge it sufficient
to give up their understandings and con-
ficienees to their professed teachers.* They
are, however, for the most part, more un
prejudiced and open to conviction than their

* 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 imaffine they see, and the
latter are content to be Udl Alas for the people that are
irLsuch a easel alas for their guides!

guides, whose reputation and interest are
raore nearly concerned to maintain every
established error, and to stop up every ave
nue by which truth and reformation might
enter. The Jewish people, uninfluenced by
the proud and selfish views of the priests and
mlers, 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 hun tes^-
monies of respect. When Jesus caused
(Matth. XV. 31 ; Luke vii. 16) the dumb to
speak, the manned to be whole, the lame to
walk, and the blind to see, they glorified the
God of Israel, saying, " A great prophet is
risen up amongst us, God has visited his
people." Now, what was to be done in this
.case? would the Scribes and Pharisees stand
unconcerned? No; it is said in several places,
they were fUled with indignation,f and es
sayed every means to bring his person and
miracles into disrepute. The methods they
used are worthy of notice, having been often
repeated since (as to their substance) against
the servants,of Christ.
1. They availed themselves of a popular
mistake concerning his birth. Jesus was bom
in Bethlehem, according to the scriptures;
bu?being removed frora thence in his infancy
to avoid Herod's cruelty, and his parents
afterwards living at Nazareth in GalUee, he
was supposed by many, to have been bom
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 ob
jection, and thought it sufficient to invalidate
all his discourses and miracles; since, let
him say and do what he would, he could not
possibly be the Messiah, ff he was born in
GalUee. 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 oppor
tunity to hear our Lord vindicate himself.
They urged this vehemently against the force
of a notorious miracle, and not without some
colour, from the words of Moses himself
(Deut. xui. 2) who had warned them to be
ware of false teachers, though they should
confirm their doctrine hy signs and wonders.
3. They reproached the freedom of his
t It is a strong svmptom of hypocrisy and enmity to
the gospel, to be offended with any new and remarkabla
displays of divine grace.

CHAP, m.]

AND OFFENCES AGAINST OUR LORD.

31

conversation. 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 re
verenced for mortification, 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 mostly
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 acquainted 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 super-
stitiously attached to the Pharisees, suppose,
that these eminently devout men, who spent
their lives in the study of the law, would
have rejected Jesus, if he had been a good
man? 5. When, notwithstanding all their sur
mises, multitudes still professed high thoughts
of Jesus, beholding his wonderful works,
they proceeded with the most blasphemous
effrontery to defame the miracles they could
not deny, and maliciously ascribed them to
the agency of the devil, Matth. xii. 14. This
pertinacious resistance to the conviction,
both of their senses and consciences, was the
highest stage of impiety, and constituted
their sin, as our Lord assured them, unpar
donable. Not that any sin, considered in
itself, is too great for the blood of Jesus to
expiate ; but as they utterly renounced and
scorned his mediation, there remained no
other sacrifice, but they were judicially given
up to incurable impenitence and hardness 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 unrea
sonable 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 peo
ple from acknowledging Jesus, was the con

vincing argument of violence and Ul treat
ment. Having 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 syna
gogue (John ix. 22,) that is, excommunicated.
This decree seems to have been made by the
Sanhedrim, or great councU, and to imply,
not merely an exclusion from the rights of
public worship, but likewise a positive pu
nishment equivalent to an outlawry with us.
The fear of incurring this penalty (John xii.
42) restrained the parents of the man born
blind, and prevented many others who were
in their hearts convinced 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 re
mained sUent and neuter.
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 Imowledge was
by authority committed, disdained to use it
themselves, and those who were willing they
hindered. Had they been wise and faithful,
they Would have directed the people to Christ ;
but, on the contrary, they darkened the
plainest 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 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 operate universally,
where the grace of God does not make a dif
ference. To this hour tbe gospel of Christ is
opposed upon the same grounds, and by the
like artifices, as were once employed against
his person.
The doctrines which his faithful ministers
deduce and enforce from the written word,
are no other than what he himself taught,
namely, a declaration of his personal honourp
and authority, of the insufficiency of formal
worship, in which the heart is not concerned,
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 excep-

* Mark xii. 13. They sent nnto him certain of the
Pharisees to catch him. Ayjeuco expresses the art and
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 th«
question proposed, and is finely contrasted by the meek
ness and wisdom of his answer.

32

STATE OF THE CHURCH

[book I.

tions 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 erainent for their rank,
attainments, or morality, are prevailed on to
account all things but loss and dung, for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
their Lord, this, instead of removing their
first objection, excites their rage and con
tempt still raore.
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 im
portant 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 affect a high zeal in defence ofthe word
of God. They reproach the pure gospel as
licentious, because it exposes the vanity of
their singularities and will-worship, and are
desirous to bind heavier burdens upon men's
shoulders, which few of themselves will
touch with one of their fingers. They en
large 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 enthusiasra, infatuation, and
madness, ff not expressly to diabolical in
fluence. And, lastly, so far as Divine Provi
dence permits, they show themselves actuated
by the primitive spirit of oppression and vio
lence, in pursuing the faithful followers of
the truth with censures and penalties.
But let who wUl 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 tlie days of his flesh,
who beheld his glory, trusted on hun for sal
vation, and attended him amidst the many
reproaches and sufferings he endured frora
sinners. Of these his first witnesses, we are
to speak in the following chapter. His gos
pel likewise, though opposed by many, and
slighted 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 believed, and therefore are not ashamed
to appear in his cause against all disadvan
tages. Supported and encouraged by his
Spirit, they go on from strength to strength,
and are successively made more than con
querors, by his blood and the word of his
testirnony.

CHAPTER IV.

Observations on the caUing and character
of our Lord's apostles and disciples previ
ous to his ascension.
From what has been observed in the pre
ceding chapters, it is evident, that those who
assert a principle of free-will in man, suf^
ficiently enabling him to choose and deter
mine 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 ac
tions discovered a wisdom, power, and good
ness answerable to his high character; not
withstanding the time, manner, and design
of his appearance and sufferings had been
clearly foretold; yet, so far as a judgment
can be made from the event, he would cer
tainly 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 dis
posing the hearts of sinners to receive him.
In the account given us by the evangelists
of those who professed themselves his disci
ples, we may discern, as in miniature, the
general methods of his grace ; and, comparing
his personal ministry with the effects of his
gospel in all succeeding times, we may be
assured that the work and the power are
still the same. The choice he made of his
disciples, the manner of their calling, their
characters, and even their defects, and fail
ings; in a word, all that is recorded concern
ing them, is written for our instruction, and
is particularly useful to teach us the true
meaning of what passes within our own ob
servation. 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 multi
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 before
hand 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

* The word brethren here used does not prove thai
none but men were present at that time, any more tbaji

CHAP. IV.]

IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ASCENSION.

S3

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 whora he
had conversed in all the cities and villages
through which he had passed, preaching the
gospel, and performing innumerable miracles,
for more than three years ! Well might the
prophet say, foreseeing 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 dis
ciples, it may lessen our surprise, that his
gospel, though in itself the power and wis
dom of God, should meet with so cold a re
ception amongst men, as it has in fact always
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
rather struck with the power of his words
and works, than deeply sensible of their own
need of him. When, therefore, upon a cer
tain occasion, he spake of the more inward
and experimental part of religion, the lffe of
faith, and the necessity of eating his flesh,
and drinking his blood, so many were offended
at his doctrine, and fbrsook him (John vi.
66, 67,) that he said unto the twelve, " WUl
ye also go away?" which seems to imply, that
there were few but these remaining. There
fore, 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 pro
fession, and at length wholly return to their
former ways, we have the' less reason to
wonder or be discouraged, 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 follow
ers were GalUeans, 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
enraged his enemies, fills the hearts and
mouths of his poor people with praise. They
adore his condescension (Luke i. 52, 53) in
taking notice of the most unworthy, and ad
mire the efficacy of his grace in making
those who were once wretehed slaves to
Satan, a free and willing people in the day
of his power.

that, because tbe 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 baying any interest or concern

in the gospel-ministry
Vol. n.

E

4thly, But this was not universally the
case. Though not many wise, rich, or no
ble were called, there were some even of
these. His grace triumphed over every cir
cumstance of life. Zaccheus was a rich
man,* Nicodemus a ruler of the Jews, Jo
seph an honourable counsellor. We also
read of a nobleman or courtier, who believed,
with all his house. In every age, likewise,
there have been some persons of distinguish
ed eminence for birth, honours, and abilities,
who have cheerfully engaged in the profes
sion of a despised gospel, though they have
thereby incurred 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 ig
norant ; yet it has always been so small as to
make it evident, that the truth is not sup
ported by the wisdom or influence of men,
but by the power and providence of God.
5thly, It was farther observable, that se
veral 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,
seera to have been all of one town.f The
other James and Jude were also brethren.
So it is said, Jesus loved Mary, and her sis
ter, 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 discrunination of his grace, in
making the means effectual where and to
whom 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 bur
den and offence. It flourishes here and there
in a few places (Amos iv. 7,) while those of
the adjacent country are buried in more
than Egyptian darkness, and resist the en
deavours of those who would invite them to

* Zaccheus was a chief or principal publican, to
whom the rest were accountable ; a commissioner of
the public revenue. Jind he was rich. The Greek is
more expressive, And this was a rich man, Luke xix. 2,
perhaps alluding to what had passed a little before,
chap, xviii. 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 tarn it as he will.
I Compare Mark i. 16, Luke v. 10, with John i. 44,
45. These six, and more than these, were fishermen
(John xxi. 2,) and such they continued, only their net-
succesg and capture were so much changed, that it be
came a new calling ; he made them fishers of men. In
the fishermen's calling there is required a certain dex
terity, 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 re
membrance of former years (the years of ignorance)
becomes a rule and encouragement in future and differ
ent scenes of life.

34

STATE OP THE CHURCH

[book I

partake ofthe 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 dispute and cavil against this pro
cedure,* those who believe have cause to
adore his goodness to themselves. And a day
is at hand, when every mouth shall be stop
ped that would contend with the just Judge
of all the earth. The impenitent and unbe
lieving 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
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
wUl of God ; and yet, through misapprehen
sion, and the infiuence of popular prejudice,
they are, for a season, withheld from the
means that would relieve them. But at length
the preaching of the gospel explains to them
the meaning of their former exercises, ex
actly answers to the state of their minds, and
thereby brings its own evidence. Similar to
this was the case of jMathaniel. 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
vanished in an instant. There is little doubt
but Nathaniel had been praying under the
fig-tree, and probably desiring a farther
knowledge of the prophecies, and their ac
complishment in the Messiah. He had heard
of Jesus, but could not fully clear up the ob
jections made against him ; but now he was
convinced and satisfied in a moment.
* See RonT xi. 23. There are but few who dispute
upon the subject of the divine decrees with that rever
ence and caution St. Paul expresses. In chap. ix. when
an objection 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 to have followed the narrow winding
streams of human reasoning, till he finds himself un
awares upon tbe brink of an ocean that has neither
bounds nor bottom. And every word expresses the re
verence and astonishment with which his mind was
filled ; the wisdom of the divine 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 inaccessible, his proceedings
untraceable : all is wonderful in St. PauPs view. How
difibrent this from the; trifling arrogant spirit of too
many upon this topic I

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 easUy get over, and they are
ready to say. How can these things be ? Their
interests and connections in life are a farther
hinderance ; the fear of man, which bringeth
a snare, is a great restraint upon their in
quiries; but now and then when they can
venture without being noticed, they seek
farther instruction. Now, though this hesi
tating spirit, which pays so much deference
to worldly regards in the search of truth, is
highly blameable ; yet the Lord who is rich
in mercy, is often pleased to produce a happy
and abiding change from such imperfect be
ginnings. As they increase in knowledge,
they gain more courage, and in time arrive
to a comfortable experience and open profes
sion of the truth. Thus it was with Nicode
mus : he was at first ignorant and fearful ;.
but his interview with Jesus by night, had
a good effect. He afterwards ventured to
speak more publicly (John vii. 50) in his
favour, though still he did not join himself to
the disciples: but the circumstances of
Christ's death freed hira from all fear, and
inspired him to attempt the most obnoxious
service, when the apostles themselves were
afraid to be seen, John xix. 39.
Others are first prompted to hear the gos
pel from no higher motive than curiosity;
but going as mere spectators, they find them
selves 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
consciences, and seems addressed to them
selves alone. The sentiments they carry
away with them are far different from those
they brought ; and a change in their whole
deportment immediately 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
hira unobserved. 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 him
self to his house.
Some are drawii 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 hy the woman's de
claration, " Come and see a man which told
me aU things that ever I did ; is not this the
Christ?" (John iv. 43) had soon a more con
vincing testunony, and could say, " Now we
believe, not because of thy word, but we '

CHAP. IV.]

IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ASCENSION.

35

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 ; aa Saul, who was seeking his father's
asses, received the unexpected news of a
kingdom. A ray of truth pierces their minds
like lightning, and disposes them to leave
their schemes unfinished, to seek the king
dom of God and his righteousness only.
Thus our Lord passed by the sons of Zebe-
dee when mending their nets (Mark i. 16.
19,) and Matthew while busied at the receipt
of custom, Mark ii. 14. He only said, Fol
low me ; he used no arguments, he proposed
no rewards; but he spoke to their hearts,
and, by the constraining power of his love,
engaged them to a cheerful and immediate
obedience. Afflictions likewise are now, no less than
formerly, a happy means to bring many to
Jesus. He prepares them for heavenly bless
ings, 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 sub
stance, disappointments in life, or a near
prospect of death, constrain them in good
earnest to seek for one able to deliver thera.
In the time of their distress, they say, Arise,
and save us; not that afflictions in them
selves can produce this turn of thought.
Too many, in such circumstances, toss like
a wild bull in a net ; but when he sends af-
flictiona 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 relief of bodUy
disorders, experienced a double 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 know
ledge of his grace. A considerable part of
his followers were such as these, whom he
had graciously relieved frora distresses in
curable by any hand but his. Some had been
long and grievously tormented ; had assayed
every means, but found themselves worse
and worse, tUl they applied to him ; and hav
ing known the happy effects of his power and
compassion, they would leave him no more.
Lastly, We sometunes 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 hanJ, regardless of mer
cies, warnings, and judgments, till they
seemed past conviction, and given up to a
reprobate mind. Their state resembles that
lof the demoniac, Luke viii. They are so

entirely under the power of the devU (though
perhaps they vamly boast of freedom,) that
no arguments, 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 ser
vice of sin, though they feel themselves
miserable at present, and see inevitable ruin
before their eyes. Yet even this case is not
too hard for hira on whom the sinner's help
is laid. He can dispossess the legion with a
word; he can take the prey from the mighty,
and deliver the lawful 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 slavery ! when all the
powers and faculties of body and mind are
redeemed to the Lord's use, and the experi
ence of past evil is made conducive to fiiture
comfort and advantage! Such an instance
was that great sinner, that penitent, believ
ing, happy soul, of whom it is emphatically
reraarked, " She loved much, because much
had been forgiven her," Luke vii. 47. Some-
tunes the deliverance is deferred till near
the period of life. The poor wretch, labour
ing under the pangs or dread of death, and
trembling at the apprehension of falling into
the hands ofthe living God, is snatehed 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 received
an infallible assurance of salvation.
3. The characters of our Lord's disciples,
with the account we have of their defects
and faUings, may farther Ulustrate the history
of 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 wUl, purifies the affec
tions, regulates the passions, and corrects tbe
different excesses to which different perstms
are by constitution or habit inclined, yet it
seldom wholly changes the complexion ar
temper of the animal frame. It does not im
part any new natural powers, though it
teaches the use and improvement of those
we have received. 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 pro-

STATE OP THE CHURCH

[book I.

perty is subject to its particular inconve
nience. Perfection 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 arabition of pleasing God in all
things, are apt to overshoot theraselves, and to
¦ discover a resentment 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 op
posite; their gentleness degenerates into in
dolence, their caution into cowardice. The
principle of self, likewise, which, though sub
dued, is not eradicated, will in some instances
appear. Add to this the unknown access and
influence which the evil spirits have upon
our minds, the sudden and new emergencies
which surprise us into action before we have
had time to deliberate, with many other con
siderations of a like nature ; and it will be no
wonder that some things are always amiss*
in the best and most successful attempts to
proraote the glory of God and the good of
souls. And it is farther to be noted, that some
individuals will be found who, though seem
ingly engaged in the same good work, and
for a time pretending to much zeal, are es
sentially defective in their hearts and views;
and when at length tbeir true characters are
exposed, the world, who either cannot, or
will not distinguish, charge the faults of a
few upon a whole profession, as, in the forraer
case, they wound the character of a. good
raan for unavoidable and involuntary mis
takes. We shall therefere show, that either
the exceptions made, and so loudly rever
berated in our ears, against the gospel doc
trine, on these accounts, are unjust, or that
there was sufficient cause to reject and con
demn our Lord and his apostles for the same
reasons. The character of Peter is marked with ad
mirable propriety and consistency by the
evangelists. He every where appears like
himseff. Earnestly devoted to his Master's
person, and breathing an honest warmth for
his service, he was in a maimer 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 in
stance, his affection was Ul expressed, yet

* 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 ofGod 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.

his motive was undoubtedly praise-worthy.
His heart flaraed with zeal and love, aad
therefore he was always forward to distin
guish hiraself
But the warmth of Peter's temper often
betrayed him into great difficulties, and
showed that the grace he had received was
consistent with many imperfections. Though
he sincerely loved Christ, and had forsaken
all for hira, he was at one time so ignorant
of the true design of his incarnation, that he
was angry 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 showed him his own
weakness and insufficiency, yet his self-con
fidence revived and continued. When our
Lord warned him again and again of his ap
proaching fall, he thought, and boldly affirmed
that it was unpossible. He was sincere in his
protestation; but the actual experiment was
necessary to convince and humble him. Ac
cordingly, when left to himself, he fell before
the first temptation. And here the im
petuosity of his temper was still manifest.
He did not stop at a simple denial of Jesus,
he confirmed it by an oath,f and at length
proceeded to utter bitter imprecations 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 gar
den. Such was the weakness and incon
sistency of this prince of the apostles.
None of these excesses appeared in the
conduct ofthe traitor Judas. He was so cir
cumspect and reserved, that we do not find
any of the disciples had the least suspicion
of him. But, whUst his heart was full of
wickedness, he could find fault with others,
and charge their best expressions of love
with indiscretion. When Mary anointed our
Lord's feet with ointment (John xii. 5, 6,) he
was displeased at the waste, and professed a
warm concern for the poor ; but we are told
the true reason of his economy : It was not
because 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
misrepresentations 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

t 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 waa
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 followers.

Chap. IV.]

IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ASCENSION.

37

the motive from which he made it, should be
banded down together, that we may not be
discouraged at things ofthe 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 sur
prised if some, who have made a show in the
church, been chosen to important offices, and
furnished with excellent gifts, do in the end
prove hypocrites and traitors : " Let hira 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
unbecoming 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 ap
pearance of this is a blemish in the christian
character, and especially in a christian mi
nister; but if, on some occasions, and in some
degree, human infirmity has wrought this
way, 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 dis
covered itself in the apostles. They often
disputed who should be the greatest; and,
when our Lord was speaking of his approach
ing sufferings, two of them chose that un
seasonable time to preclude the rest, and
petitioned that they raight have the chief
seats in his kingdom. The first offence was
theirs; but when the ten heard it, they were
all moved with indignation, and showed
themselves equally desirous of superiority.
It is plain, therefore, that unless the apostles
were hypocrites and mercenaries, some tran
sient escapes of this sort (though confessedly
crirainal and indecent) are no sure proofs
that such a person is not in the main sincere,
disinterested, and triUy devoted to the ser
vice of God and his gospel.
No less contrary to the meek and gracious'
spirit of Jesus is an angry zeal, expressing
itself 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 example of Christ, to show bowels of
mercy and long-suffering to all raen, and by
perseverance in well-doing to overcome evil
with good. And a contrary behaviour (if
frequent and notorious) wUl, like a dead fly
in precious 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 provoca
tions do sometimes, in an unguarded mo
ment, extort from the disciples of Christ
such expressions and marks of displeasure
as in their cooler hours they wUlingly retract
and sincerely repent of before God, this
ought not to be exaggerated beyond bounds,
as an offence inconsistent with their profes
sion, at least not by any who would be afraid
to speak dishonourably of the apostles Jamea
and John, who once went so far in their an
ger* as to demand that fire might be sent
from heaven to devour their adversaries,
Luke ix. 54.
We might proceed to- other particulars;
but enough has been said to show the gene
ral resemblance which the preaching of the
gospel in latter times bears to our Lord's
personal ministry : the doctrine is the same,
the effects 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 evU principle of
pride, and the love of sin, which are latent in
every unrenewed heart: though the pre
texts are various, they may be reduced to a
few leading motives which are always at
work. The professors of this gospel have at
no time been very numerous, ff 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 imperfections. The tenor
of their conduct has proved them partakers
of a more exceUent 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 their 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 ques
tion is concerning the infirmities, or even

* They thought they were influenced by a commend
able zeal for their Master, and that their proposal was
warranted by an authorized 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
been accustomed to hate, then their hearts deceived
them, and they indulged their own corrupt passitins,
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 tbe
faults and mistakes of our own party, while we are all
zeal and emotion to expose, censure, and condemn
what is amiss in others.

STATE OF THE CHURCH

[book 1.

the vices of others, ahnost everyone is ready
to plead in their behalf; allowances are
freely and largely made for human frailty,
and none are wUling to be thought harsh or
censorious. But the believer in Jesus must
look for no abatement or extenuation ; even
the professed admirers of candour and cha
rity wUl not hesitate to put the worst con
struction upon all he says or does ; for they
are seeking occasion to wound the gospel
through his misconduct. They are sensible
that he is generally above them ; and there
fore rejoice to find or pretend a flaw, on
which they may expatiate, to reduce him as
near as possible to their own level ; though,
tf their censures are extended to their just
consequence, they will (as we have seen)
fell hard upon the apostles themselves.
I hope, that what 1 have said upon this
su'oject will neither be misunderstood nor
perverted. We do not defend even the in
firmities of the best men ; much less would
we provide a plea for persecution or ambi
tion. Let not the man, who supposes gain to
be godliness, who makes the gospel a ladder,
whereby to climb the heights of worldly 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
tremble at the reflection, that while they
manifest no part of the apostles' graces, they
are entirely 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 instruc
tions, shared in his reproach, and could not
be either enticed or intimidated to leave him.
Their 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 hira, and found re
lief; hence they learned by degrees to cast
all their care upon him. He corrected every
wrong disposition ; he pardoned their faU
ings, and enabled them to do better. His
precepts taught them true wisdom ; and his
own example, which, to those who loved him,
had the force of a thousand precepts, was at
once the model and the motive of their obe
dience. To make them ashamed of aspiring
to be chief, he himself, though Lord of all, con
versed among them as a servant, and conde
scended to wash their feet ; to teach them
forbearance and gentleness to their opposers,

they saw him weep over his bitterest ene
mies, and heard him pray for his actual mur
derers. 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,
residing in their Lord and Saviour : he ex
plained to them in private the difficulties
which occurred in his more public discourses;
by his observations on the common ,occur-
rences of life he opened to them the inyste-
rious 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 ap
proaching trials; particularly of his depar
ture 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
acted in their presence, was recorded by his
direction, and has been preserved by his
providence for the use and comfort of his
church. Though his enemies have raged
horribly, they have not been able to sup
press the divine volume ; and, though invisi
ble to mortal eyes, he is still near to all that
seek him ; and so supplies the want of his
bodily presence by the secret communica
tions of his Spirit, that his people have no
reason to complain of any disadvantage:
though they see him not, they believe, love,
rejoice, and obey ; their attention and de
pendence 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 righteous
ness ; and they find and feel that their reliance
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 a higher honour, than to be fellow-
sufferers with their Lord. When he propos
ed 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 for
sook him and fled. He permitted this, both
to exempt them from danger, and to let them
know that of themselves tbey could do no
thing. But it seems they did not go far.
When Thomas afterwards said, "Except I
shall see in his hands the print of the nails,

chap. IV.]

IMMEDIATELY BEFORE THE ASCENSION.

39

and put my finger 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 stUl saw him wounded
and bleeding. This catastrophe indeed al
most disconcerted them ; they had trusted it
was he that should deliver Israel ; but they
saw him oppressed and slain by wicked men.
Fron) that time to his resurrection was a
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 rejoicing. They were not
ashamed of their crucified Lord, or unwilling
to bear the contemptuous names of Galileans
or Nazarenes for his sake. They were not
afraid, as if left like sheep without a shep
herd in the midst of their enemies: they
knew, that though they could see hira no
more, his eye would be always upon them,
and his ear open to their prayer : they wait
ed, according to his command, for a farther
supply of bis Spirit, to qualify them for the
important and difficult services which were
before them. Nor did they wait long ; a few
days after his ascension, whUe they were
praying with one heart and mind, the place
where they were assembled was shaken as
with a mighty wind ; the Spirit of power
and wisdom was abundantly 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 tlie gospel history from that glorious
day of divine power. The contents of this
first book, namely, a brief view of the neces
sity and nature of the gospel-dispensation, 
the causes why it is and has been opposed, —
and the circumstances of the first believers,
— I have premised, as general principles, for
my own and the reader's assistance in the
progress ofthe 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
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 eamest
and assurance of eternal happiness; to reject
it, or remain wilfully ignorant of its charac
ters and properties, will leave the soul op
pressed with guilt, and exposed to the wrath
of God for ever. It highly concerns us, there
fore, to inquire, Whether we believe the
gospel or no, whether what we call the gos
pel 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 generally professed, and
we are reputed christians 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 de
nomination: but how many forget, that in a
little time all these divisions and subdivisions
will he reduced to two; the only real and
proper distribution by which mankind, as to
their religious character, ever was or will be
distinguished, and according to which their
final states wUl be speedily decided, — The
chUdren of God, and the children of the
wicked one.

BOOK II.
OF THE SECOND PERIOD OF CHRISTIANITY.

CHAPTER I.
Of the progress of the gospel from our
Lord's ascension to the close of the frst
century.
The natural weakness of man is conspicu
ous in his most important undertakings:
having no fund of sufficiency in himself, he
is forced to collect all from without; and if
the greatness 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 utraost
of his power, he is still subject to innumer
able contingencies, which he can neither
foresee nor prevent ; and has often the mor
tification to see his fairest prospects blasted,
and the whole apparatus of his' labour and
care only contribute to make his disappoint
ment 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 show
that the work is his own, he often proceeds
by such methods as vain men account weak
and insignificant; producing the most exten
sive and glorious consequences from small
and inconsiderable beginnings. Thus the
Lord of hosts hath purposed to stain the pride
of all human glory.
This observation might be confirmed by
innumerable examples taken from the com
mon history and experience of raankind ; but
the subject of our present undertaking ex
hibits the most Ulustrious 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 au
thority, learning, or influence; and since
their master, 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, for
sake their supposed delusions, and return to
their fishing, and other employments suited
to their capacities and talents.
40

They knew not that Jesus had arisen from
the dead, and had frequently shown 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
continued to assemble in his name. We do
not find that there was much notice taken of
thera till the feast of Pentecost, which waa
about ten days after his ascension. At this
season,* 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 ofthe world.
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 soleran day: they
were assembled with one accord ; no jars or
divisions had as yet taken place among them ;
they were animated with one desire, and
praying with one mind. Suddenly and won
derfully they obtained an answer: the place
they were in was shaken as by a mighty
wind (Acts ii;) their hearts were filled with
the powerful energy of the Holy Spirit, and
they were instantaneously enabled to speak
languages which till then they were unac
quainted 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, assimi
lating efficacy of the Spirit by whom they
spoke; whose operations, like the fire, are
vehement, penetrating, transforming, and
diffusive ; spreading from heart to heart, from
place to place, tUl the flame, which was now
confined within a few breasts, was com-

* [Tiberius, A. D. 33.] In fixing tbe dales of onr
history, I shall conforra 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. 1.]

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL, &;c.

41

municated to' many nations, people, and lan
guages. 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
assembled upon the report, and had been ac
customed to different languages, were there
fore greatly astonished to hear of the won
derful works of God, every man in his own
tongue. While some expressed their sur
prise at this, others ascribed it to the effects
of wine, and showed their scorn and despite
to the Spirit of grace, by reviling the apos
tles as drunkards. Thus they no sooner en
tered upon their public service, than they
began to find the same treatment whicb tbeir
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 judgment 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 several persons were speaking loud at
the same time, and each in a different lan
guage : since they account the operations of
the same Spirit, madness, and folly, even
where they are not attended with such extra
ordinary circumstances.
This weak and perverse slander was im
mediately refuted by the apostle Peter, who
addressed the people in a grave and solemn
discourse; and, having in few words ex
plained the nature of the fact, and shown
that it was an accomplishment of ancient
prophecies, he proceeded to apply himself
more closely to their consciences. He as
sured them that what they saw and heard
was wrought by the power of Jesus of Naza
reth, whom they had rejected before Pilate.
He informed them of that honour and glory
which he now possessed, and charged them
as accomplices in the murder of a person
whose character and dignity God had vindi
cated by raising him frora 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
wpuld naturally recall him to the remem
brance of those who had seen him in the
flesh, and led him to reflect how earnestly
and unjustly they had, at the instigation of
their priests, compelled Pilate to put him to
death. These reflections, the closeness of
Vol. IL F

Peter's address, and the power of the Spirit
of God, concurred to give them a deep con
viction 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 repentance, 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 tie 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
effectual to the conversion of many. But by
this tirae 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
regarded. 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
a girl, was not afraid to use the utraost 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 crucified,
and in direct answer to their question, as
sured thera 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 unlet
tered men; yet, being unable to deny the
fact, for the man who bad 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
* 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 cf the gospel. When the Lord is
pleased to raise up flt instruments to promote if, and lo
vouchsafe a season of refreshment from his presence,
then its influence cannot be restrained ; a spark be
comes a flame, a little one a multitude, and opposition
only makes the effects more visible and noticed.

42

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

not depart until they had protested against
this inhibition, and declared their resolution
to obey God rather than men.
The believers though numerous, amount
ing to many thousands, lived in harmony and
love, as children of one famUy. The greater
part of them were poor ; those therefore who
had estates, or money, wUlingly 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 en
joined as a precedent to be universally ob
served, since we have many proofs, that the
isual distinctions in civil life were retained
in other churches planted by the , apostles ;
and it soon gave occasion to discover, that in
the best societies there may be found some
finworthy intruders, and that very specious
actions may be performed from base and dis
honourable motives. Even under this richest
dispensation of grace, there were some pro
fessors influenced 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 pretenders, who seek to join or serve
the churoh 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 vindication of the apostles' in
tegrity and authority, and a seasonable ad
monition to others, to deter any from attempt
ing to associate with the disciples, who were
not in heart devoted to the Lord.
The numbers of the believers still in
creased, and the report of the apostles' doc
trine and miracles extended from Jerusalem
to the adjacent parts. The priests and Sad
ducees therefore soon renewed their efforts
to suppress them : they apprehended the apos
tles again, and put thera in the eoramon
prison as malefactors; but tbe Lord, to con
firm the faith and courage of his people, and
to show how easily he can protect those who
serve him, delivered them the same night by
bis angel. In the morning, when their ene
mies were met, and commanded them to be
brought to their tribunal, they were sur
prised to hear that the prison-doors were
found secure, and the prisoners all escaped.
They were, however, soon informed that
they were not gone far, but were preaching
boldly to the people, as tbe angel had directed
them, regardless of their adversaries' designs
against them. They were alarmed at this
* The apostolic censures were not like the papal ana
themas, bruta fulmina, words without effect ; they were,
accomplished in an instant.— See Acts xiii. 12.

notice, and began to be apprehensive of the
event ;t yet, hurried on by their enmity to
Jesus and his gospel, they once more sent
their officers to take them, which they at
tempted in the mUdest manner possible; for,
as the prosecution was groundless and ma
licious, 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 ashamed to con
fess his name in the face of danger. The
apostles, therefore, peaceably yielded them
selves, and being brought before the council,
were severely questioned for disregarding
the late prohibition they had received. Peter
and the rest answered with their usual firm
ness ; they avowed the fact, and their deter
mination to persevere,^ and charged them as
betrayers and murderers of Jesus in stronger
terms than before. The majority of the
council were exceedingly enraged at tbeir
boldness: they were cut to the heart, and
consulted to put them to death. But the
more moderate advice of Gamaliel prevailed.
He showed them, from sorae recent instances,
that if this new sect was no more than a hu
man institution, they need not give them
selves trouble to suppress it, for it would soon
sink and disappear of itself; but if it was in
deed of God, their opposition would be not
only in vain, but in effect a rebellion against
God himself: he therefore recommended
milder methods; and having considerable
repute among them for his wisdom, the rest
assented to him. In this manner the Lord,
who has the hearts of all in his power, de
livered the apostles a third time by raising
them an advocate from amongst their ene
mies; yet, to save appearances, and that it
might not be thought the council had pro
ceeded so far without good cause, they were
not dismissed till they had been scourged,
and again enjoined sUence. They departed,
rejoicing that they had the honour to suffer
disgrace for the sake of Christ,^ and re-

t 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.
X Peter and the apostles answered, " We ought to
obey God rather than men." It should seem tliat this (if
any) raay be called a natural maxim, and that the rudest
savage, or the least cJlild that can be made to under
stand the terms, must assent to the truth of the pro
position, as readily as they perceive that two and two
make four ; how strange Uien 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 christian church, in which those who steadily acted
upon tliis principle were not considereu as heretics of
the worst sort.
§ Here were faith and love in exercise: to suffer re
proach for Christ was in their esteem an honour and
privilege. It is mournful to observe how little of this
spirit is to be found amongst us How soon are we
offended and troubled when our names are reproached 1
how uneasy to lie under contempt! how impatient to
justify ourselves, and to be thought well of by all per
sons! Far from accounting it an honour to be made

CHAP. I.J

Af 'iiiiK iTii!; ASCENSION.

43

turned to encourage their companions; con
tinuing 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 affec
tion, sentiment, ordinance, and practice.
Their adversaries, though angry, and desir
ous to injure them, were powerfully restrain
ed 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 pro
perly so called, that is, natives and inha
bitants 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 observed, were at that
time in Jerusalem, and among the first con
verts of the gospel. As the multitude who
were supplied out of the common stock was
very great, it is no wonder if a few indivi
duals were overlooked : some unavoidable
instances of this sort gave rise to a com
plaint, not only of negligence, but partiality,
in the distribution of the money ; and the
Hellenists, or strangers, thought the others
had an undue preference shown them. The
apostles, though upright and impartial, were
unable to do every thing themselves; and
therefore to prevent such mistakes and sus
picions, and that they might devote their
whole time and attention to the more iraport
ant services of the rainistry, 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
men full of wisdom and the Holy Ghost : and
to them the care ofthe public money, and the
support of the poor, was peculiarly confided.
Some of them, perhaps all, were occasionally
pireachers ; but this was no part of their office
as deacons. By this expedient, the cause of
murmuring was taken away, and the peace
ofthe church confirmed.
Tiberius, a. d. 34.] Thus the gospel
flourished 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
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 characters more respectable than tbe first Christians,
nor is the world better reconciled to the things of God
now than it was then.

blinded passions hurried them to the last ex
tremities. Stephen, one of the seven dea
cons newly elected, was the first who receiv
ed the honour and crown of martyrdom. His
zeal for the truth did not begin with his new
office, though it is probable his undertaking
that charge might place him more in view,
and expose him more immediately to perse
cution. Promotions in the world are attend
ed with worldly advantages ; but such pro
motions in the church as are agreeable to the
Spirit of God, will rather 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. Stephen 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 un
able to resist the wisdom and spirit by which
he spake, they had recourse to more effec
tual methods to silence him ; they suborned
false witnesses, a main instrument of perse
cution, against him ; and having framed such
an accusation as was most likely to alarm
the prejudice, and inflame the rage of the
people, they brought him before the council,
and charged him, that he had spoken blas
phemous words against Moses and against
God. Stephen, though alone, and unsup
ported in the midst of furious enemies, ap
peared 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 tes
timony 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 that
all who sat in the council, looking upon him,
saw his face as it had been the face of an
angel. 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
Moses, David, and Soloraon, they had pa
tience to hear him ; but when he began to
make application to themselves, with that
warmth and plainness which the case re
quired, they could bear no more : his words
cut them to the heart : they no longer pre
served the exterior gravity of their stations
and characters, but gnashed at him with
their teeth, as though they would have de
voured him alive.
But vain are the attempts of men to inti
midate those whom the Lord is pleased to
comfort. He is always near to support his
faithful servants, and can manifest himself in

44

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

a way which the world knows nothing of
Such a seasonable and sufficient discovery
he made of himself to Stephen. As he looked
steadfastly up to heaven, silently appealing
from the injustice of his judges, he saw the
heivens 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,
h(! was not at leisure to drop a single word to
soften his incensed enemies ; he endeavour
ed to commimicate the glorious idea with
which his soul was filled, and, without re
garding the sure consequence of such a de
claration, he told them plainly what he saw.
This determined their resolves. Hitherto they
had been wUling to preserve the form at least
of a judicial process ; but now, renouncing
every restraint, and unmindful of their late
acknowledgment to Pilate, that it was not
lawful for them to put any man to death,
they stopped their ears to shut out any re
monstrance that might be offered, dragged
him violently out of the city, and stoned him
to death. His dying deportment, which
showed how eminently he was fUled with
the Spirit of Jesus, whom be saw, is record
ed as a fit pattern 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 com
mitted his departing 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 corapassion towards 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 raeasures, but gave
full vent to their cruelty, and raised a gene
ral 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 active instruments ; he had been a con
senting spectator of Stephen's death, and
kept the raiment of those that slew him.
Encouraged by their example, he soon enter
ed upon action himself, and made havoc ofthe
church, forcibly entering into their houses,
and dragging many to prison, both men and
women. The disciples, therefore, according
to their Lord's direction (Matt. x. 23,) gave
way to the storra, and dispersed themselves
throughout Judea and Samaria, spreading
the Imowledge of the gospel wherever they
went. Thus the methods taken to suppress
the truth proved (as they often have since)
the means of promoting its progress; yet the
Lord, who appoints limits beyond which the

fiercest attempts of men cannot pass, pre
served the apostlea in safety at Jerusalem,
where he had farther occasion for their ser
vice. 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 number received faith
and were baptized. Here the gospel tri
umphed over the illusions of Simon, surnam
ed Magus, or the Sorcerer, who, by his vain
arts and arrogant pretensions, had long held
the people in subjection and astonishment.
But the superior power of truth dispelled
the charm ; his votaries forsook him ; and
even the impostor himself was so far con
vinced that PhUip acted by that divine power
and authority to which he had only pretend
ed, that he professed himself a believer like
wise, and behaved so fairly, that Philip ad
mitted 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 imposi
tion of hands, Simon discovered his true
character : he offered money for a power to
impart the same gifts; a proposaT* which
showed his ignorance, wickedness, and am
bition in the strongest light, and proved him
an entire stranger to the grace of God.
From him the hateful practice of merchan
dizing in spiritual concerns has derived the
name of Simony; a crime which, though
condemned by the laws of every christian
country, as highly injurious and reproach-
fuVf to the gospiel of Christ, no laws or obli
gations have hitherto been able to suppress.
Peter severely rebuked his hypocrisy, yet
exhorted him to repentance and prayer. 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
enemy to the faith and purity of the gospel,
and the author of those wUd, absurd, and im-

* Acta 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 tbe advice and direction of the rest. Jobn had-once
desired to call for fire from heaven upon the Samari
tans; but he was now better instructed, and gladly
went to impart to them the best gifts he could bestow.
If the Lord is pleased to make any partakers of tbe
same precious faith with ourselves, though they were.
once enemies, we should gladly forget all that is past,
and receive them as dear brethren and intimate friends.
t In these abuses the church of Rome seems to de
rive rather from Simon Magus Uian 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
scandalously evaded, we need no oUier proof than the
shameful advertisements whicb frequently appear in
our public papers ; not to say, that thougb there is no
money in the case, yet all presentations, exchanges,
and advancements that are transacted upon interested
views, are so far simoniacal in tbe sight of him who
judges the heart.

CHAP. I.]
pure heresies which disturbed the first ages
ofthe church.
About this time an eunuch, or great of
ficer of Cftndace, Queen of Ethiopia, who
had been worshipping at Jerusalem (which
makes it probable that he was a proselyte to
the faith of the God of Israel) was returning
Homeward. Though this nobleman had been
at Jerusalem, 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
IjOrd, who is mindful of his people when
they think not of him, appoints the time and
the raeans 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 provi
dence. Philip, by the direction of an angel,
intercepted the Ethiopian upon the road : he
found him well employed, 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 mean
ing, and was desirous to discover it. Those
who have a just sense ofthe excellence of the
scripture, and peruse it as he did with a sin
cere intention to be instructed by it, may be
encouraged from this instance to persevere,
though they find it at present hard to "be un
derstood : he who gave them the desire will
in due tinfe provide them a teacher, and
make dark things plain to them. When Phi
lip drew near, and asked him, without cere
mony, if he understood what he read, he was
not offended with the abruptness of his ad
dress, but courteously invited him to sit with
him, confessing his ignorance and the need
he had of assistance. The passage which
had perplexed him afforded Philip a fair op
portunity of preaching Jesus: the eunuch
lielieved, and was baptized in a water they
were passing by. In this case there seems
to have been no exertion of an outward mira
cle to confirm the word. Nor was it neces
sary : 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 prophetical marks of
the Messiah exactly coincided with the his
tory of Jesus, afforded him sufficient evi
dence. The only extraordinary circumstance
was the sudden disappearing of PhUip, who,
having performed his service, was removed
by the power ofthe Spirit to Azotus, a place
thirty miles distant ; from whence, proceed
ing along the sea-coast, he preached at Joppa,
Lydda, and all the intermediate places, tUl
he came to Csesarea. In the mean time the
eunuch, rejoicing in the Lord's goodness,
pursued his journey to Ethiopia. We have
no farther account of him in the New Testa
ment; but some ancient writers assure us

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

45

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 fronTthe violence ofthe 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 mischief he had done at Jerusalem, he
StUl breathed 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 ff 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
raan who now thirsted for their blood, would
soon be their corapanion and leader ! The
Lord often permits those to whom he shows
mercy, to run great previous lengths in their
obstinacy and ig-norance: 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 undeserved favour they
have received, are usually more strongly im
pressed with a sense of divine 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, whom 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 ofthe 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 was much
more so, when, upon asking, " Who art thou.
Lord ?" he was answered, " I am Jesus the
Nazarene,* whom thou persecutest." So
nearly is the Lord interested in his people.

* This is the exact import ofthe Greek, ii»-.t o N»<»-
^c«iD?, Acts xxii. 8.

46

PROGRESS OP THE GOSPEL

[book h.

and so dangerous is it to injure them : he ac
counts their cause, their sufferings, their
enemies, hia own. The Nazarene was an
epithet of contempt affixed to the name of
Jesus by those who hated him ;* and it is pro
bable that Saul had often spoke of him in
these terms ; but now he found himself in
the Nazarene's power, and unable either to
escape or to plead ; he fell to the earth trem
bling 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 raoment,
if the glory of Jesus had not been tempered
with the mUder 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 hard
est 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 remerabered his distress,
and sent to him a disciple named Ananias,
who, from the character he had heard of him,
was at first greatly surprised at the com
mand he received to go to such a person ;
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
baptized. 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 sur
prise as he did; they knew enough of the
circumstances of the case to witness for him,
that he neither imposed upon others nor him
self; but we have no account that any of
them were converted, the most extraordi
nary 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 distin
guished himself amongst them : he now
knew by experience the wickedness and
danger of opposing the gospel, and was de
sirous to repair the mischief of his former
rage and ill example. A sense of the mercy
he had received, and compassion for the
souls of others, made him seek every oppor-

* And for tbis reason inserted in the title which Pi
late put over bis cross.

tunity to persuade and convince the Jews,
his former companions and brethren ; but he
soon found the sarae treatment, from them,
which he himself had often offered to the dis
ciples. They opposed and vilified him as an
apostate, and at length consulted 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 prevaU 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 ;t for though he nei
ther distrusted his cause nor his protector,
he was not unmindfiU to employ prudent
means for his preservation. But before this
he had made some excursions from Damas
cus, and visited Arabia ; for his own words
assure us, that it was not till the third year
after his conversion that he retumed to Je
rusalem. 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 office ; so that he could after- .
wards say, that he received neither his au
thority nor his information from men. When
he came to Jerusalem he would have joined
himself to the disciples ; but they, remem
bering 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 introduced by
Barnabas, he related to them the means of
his conversion, and the .occasion of his leav
ing Damascus. He continued for some
time in Jerusalem and the neighbourhood,
preaching and disputing in the name ofthe
Lord Jesus. The Jews, who hated all the ser
vants of Christ, could not but be particularly
enraged at him, who had forsaken their
party ; against him, therefore, they chiefly
set themselves, and making repeated at
tempts 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 rest.| The Jews, about this
t 2 Cor. xi. 33. " 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 whicii he delivers
his servants ; he permits violent oppositions, and great
preparations to be ma'de against them, and then discon
certs the combinations ofthe many and the mighty, by
feeble and unthought-of means.
X 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. 31. Some well-
meaning persons seem to forget this passage, wben
they take it for granted, that the work of God cannot
flourish, except there isa violent outward opposition
against it. The world will dislike the gospel ; hut it is
possible in some measure to put to silence the ignnr.ance
of foolish men by well-doing; and the Lord can, and
often rioes, favour his people with peace, and put their
enemies under restraint.

CHAP. I.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

47

time, were taken up with their own affairs.
Caligula, who had lately succeeded Tiberius
in the empire, presumed to arrogate divine
worship 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 temple at Jerusalem, the Jewish nation
engaged as one man to prevent it.* They
had rejected the Holy One and the' true, and
the troubles were now beginning to take
place, whicb ended at length in their total
ruin and extirpation. Against this first af
front and profanation intended to their tem
ple, they united in earnest' supplications to
Petronius, the governor of Syria, and with
much entreaty obtained permission to send
their deputies to the Emperor, who was,
though with great difficulty, prevailed on to
de'sist from his purpose as to the temple ; but
at the same time he forbade them, under the
severest penalties, to oppose the erection or,
dedication of temples to him, in any place
without the city of Jerusalem. This injunc
tion encouraged their enemies to affront
their ¦ religion wherever they pleased, and
laid a foundation for innumerable disturb
ances 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 seconded
the labours of Philip, the deacon, at Samaria,
he now visited those places where 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
invited to Joppa, he raised Tabitha, or Dor
cas, 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 com
municate 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.

* Josephus, de Bell. Jud. lib. 2.
t Acts ix. 32. " He came to tbe 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; itis
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
opprobriousnames. The world, wh^ch knows not Christ,
cannot distinguish his people, but will rather give the
title of saints to many who have hated and pei^secuted
the gospel.

When our Lord sent forth the apostles to
preach while he was yet upon earth, he ex
pressly confined their mission to the house of
Israel; and though, after his resurrection, hq
coraraanded them to disciple all nations,
they did not immediately understand the ex
tent of his raeanmg ; though they were under
an infallible guidance, they were not fully in
structed at once, but received intimations of
their duty from time to time, as circum
stances varied, and as the designs of Divine
Providence were successively opening. The
great Shepherd and Head of the church has
an appointed time and manner for the ac
complishment of all his purposes; nothing
can be effectually done but when and where
he pleases: but when his hour is come, then
hard things become 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 per
haps, till this knowledge is necessary, he
permits tbem to remain ignorant of what he
has designed them for. By this disciplme
they are taught to depend entirely upon him,
and are afterwards more fully assured that
he has sent and succeeded them. Peter was
hot yet freed from the Jewish prejudice, that
all intercourse with the Heathens was un-
lawftil ; or if he had been so himself, he could
not have easily convinced tlie many thou
sands of his brethren who laboured 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 CsEsarea, a city not far from Joppa,
and which was the ordinary residence ofthe
Roman governors; and therefore promiscu
ously inhabited by Gentiles and Jews. 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
rumour, in which the misrepresentations of
malice, 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
reception 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 observa
tion ; 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

48

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book il

was approved by God himseff: yet he lacked
one thing. But none who are made sincerely
desirous to know the wUl of God, shall be
left finally destitute : he wUl find a way to
give them necessary inforraation. Cornelius,
who had often waited upon God by fasting
and prayer, and had, doubtless, at times, felt
that suspense 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 him to send for Peter, who
should inform him raore fully of his duty.
It is observable, that though the angel was
so minutely exact in his directions, as to
mention the street and the very house where
Peter resided, he said not a word of the gos
pel to Cornelius, but referred him wholly to
Peter. The wisdom and goodness of God is
pleased to raake his people instruraental 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 who have been
in the very case of others, and can say ex
perimentally, that they have found it so.
Who so fit to commend the physician's skUl
and tenderness as those who have been them
selves cured by hira of a desperate disease ?
Peter had himself tasted that the Lord was
gracious ; he had greatly sinned, yet had been
freely forgiven; he had seen his excellent
glory upon the mount, and had received an
express commission from his mouth. In these
and other respects, he was a proper person to
proclaim him to others, more so than an an
gel from heaven. We may therefore safely
infer, a fortiori, that no man, however great
his talents may otherwise be, can be qualified
or fit to preach the gospel, until he has knotvn
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 exaraple and instructions
had been a blessing to his household, so that
he bad 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 in
vite Peter to his house.
When they departed ftom 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
related in this chapter. The minds of two or more per
sons are inclined, by different means, to concur in the
aame design, though perhaps they are far asunder, and

when it was necessary he should know the
extensive designs of God in favour of sinners
of all nations, people, and languages; and
that the partition waU between Jews and
Gentiles was broken down and taken away
by the death of Christ. He received this
intimation by a vision, which exactly cor
responded in its circumstances with the case
in hand. About noon the following day, when
the messengers were near to Joppa, he wag
retired to the top of the house, for the con
venient exercise of secret prayer ; and having
an appetite for food, he saw, as it were, a
large sheet or wrapper let down from hea
ven, suspended by the four comers, contain
ing all sorts of beasts, birds, and reptiles,
without any regard to the ceremonial distinc
tion of clean and unclean; this appearance
was accompanied with a voice directing him,
To slay and eat. When he answered, That
he had never yet transgressed the law, by
eating unclean food ; the voice replied, What
God hath cleansed, that call not thou conunon
or unclean. To impress the whole upon his
mind, and to convince hira that the vision
was real and signiflcant, it was repeated
three times. When it was finally withdrawn,
and whUe he was thinking what it might im
port, -f- the men sent by Cornelius were in
quiring for him at the door below: of which,
receiving previous notice by the secret sug
gestion ofthe Spirit ofGod, and being directed
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
longer ; 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 de
pendants against his coming; he received
Peter before them all with the greatest re
spect aiid cordiality; and gave him a particu
lar account of what had passed, professing
that both he and hia friends were reeidy to
receive and obey his instructions. Peter now
perceived and acknowledged the great truth
the Lord had pointed out by so many har
monising circumstances, that the blessings of
the gospel were no longer to be confiined to
the Jew§, but that Jesus was appointed to

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.
t Peter was faithful to the light he had already re
ceived, and did not hastily follow the first impulse 'upon
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 up 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.

CHAP. I.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

49

be a light to enlighten the Gentiles also,
Acts X. 34.* In his discourse to tliem, he
declared the person, character and offices of
Jesus, who had been lately crucified, affirm
ing himself to have been an eye-witness of
what he related ; he asserted 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 pro
phets, 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 preached at Jeru
salem upon and after the day of Pentecost,
and the same with what our Lord had de
clared concerning himself, a free and com
plete salvation by faith. He did not in the
least attempt to accommodate his subject to
any supposed prejudices of his new hearers,
but feithfuUy acquitted himseff of his mes
sage, and left the event to God. The mys
tery of Christ crucified, which was a stum
bling-block to the Jews, was by many of the
GentUes 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
usualliajposition 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
, outward 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
¦ * Few passages of scripture seem to have been more
misunderstood and misrepresented than this and the
following verse. As some have presumed, that St. Paul's
doctrine nf justification is corrected if not confuted, by
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 excusable in those who do not understand the
original; but those who do, ought not to avail them
selves of an ambiguous word. The Greek wgoo-wjros,
from whence ^j o(ru,^oA.iiwTit5 is derived, does not con
vey tbe same idea tbat an English reader receives from
the word -p, rson ; it does not properly signify a personal
identity, but the outward appearance and circumstance
of a person or thing. Thus it is sometimes rendered
face, as Matth. vi, 16, and many other places; and is
appljed 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 tbe same as in Coloss. iii. 25. The
Lord is not moved by the outward distinctions and dif
ferences 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 or female, but is rich in mercy to all who call
upon him.
Vol. IL G

did not thmk him infallible, or possessed of
that superiority over the whole church which
designing 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 expostula
tion seems to have been hasty and rough,
yet lie 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 ex
empted from mistakes and wrong impressions.
By this time the believers who had been
dispersed by persecution had spread the gos
pel beyond the bounds of Judea and Galilee
into Cyprus and Syria, and probably to more
distant 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
confined to the Jews till Peter's mission to
Cornelius 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 remsurkably prevalent to turn a great
multitude 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 au
thor, finisher, and fountain of salvation.
When the news of this good beginning Was
brought to Jerusalem, the apostles sent Bar
nabas to Antioch; who, being a good man,
and fiill of the Holy Ghost himself, was
greatly rejoiced when he saw the numbers
and sincerity of the converts, 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 prevaUed 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 re
ceived the general denomination of Chris
tians; a significant and instructive appella
tion, strongly importing their duty and
relation to Christ, and to each other, .and

50

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book IL

has therefore universally obtained, and wiU
probably subsist to the end of time. But
though this name be accounted honourable
with us, and has always been deemed, by
those who truly deserve it, the noblest title,
the highest style of man, it had not the same
general estiraation when first imposed: in
the mouth of unbelievers, whether Jews or
Heathens, it was a term of infamy and re
proach, and expressive of the highest con
tempt,* 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. 41.] 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 Baptist to death. This prince ex
perienced much of that vicissitude which
usually attends ambition: he had been de
tained in prison and chains by Tiberius,
greatly favoured and advanced by Caligula,
and now seemed to have attained the summit
of his wishes; but, employing his power to
persecute the church (Acts xii,) he was sud
denly cut off in the height of his prosperity;
for who can harden hunself against the Lord
and prosper? Herod was a professed zealot
for the law of Moses and the Jewish institu
tions, and "studied by every means to ingra
tiate himself with the people. He first ex
pended vast sums in the defence and ornament
of the city ; but it was in his power to attempt
a still more acceptable service, by exerting
his authority against the people of Christ;
and the motives of vanity and popularity, by
which he was governed, prompted him to
embrace the occasion. He began by appre
bending the apostle James, the son of Zebe-
dee, whom he hastily put to death ; and, find
ing 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 showed that
their miraculous powers, and high office,
afforded them no sure exemption from per
secution, but that they ventured and acted
upon the same principles of faith and love to

*  auos per flagitia invisos vulgus Christianos
appellabat: auctor nominis ejus Christus. qui, Tiberio
imperante, per procuratorem Pentium Pilatum sup-
pliciis affectus erat.— Tacit-us, Ann. 15.
t Josephus, Ant. lib. x.

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 farther services, was stil]
safe, though to an eye of sense he seemed^
marked out for a speedy sacrifice : incessant
prayer was made on his behalf by the disci
ples; and the united prayers of God's people
have an efficacy which can be withstood by
no human power : when he inclines them to
join with earnestness and perseverance in
prayer, it is because he has already deter
mined to grant their petition. In tibis case
the answer was signal, though not immediate.
The night before Peter was to have been
brought forth to suffer, he was sleeping be
tween his keepers with 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^ f '
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 deliverance. 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
examination,! being unable to give. an. ac
count of their prisoner, he commanded thenu
to be put to death: It is probable that Herod,.
or his advisers, might suspect a miraculous
interposition (as the apostles had been de
livered the same way a few years before :)
but to punish the keepers, as if they bad-been
guilty of conniving at his escape, was the
most likely method to stop farther inquiry,
and prevent the people from supposing any
thing extraordinary in the affair.
Herod did not long survive this event. He
lived and died a monument of the instabUity
of human greatness. He was much devoted
to his Roman masters, and had a taste for '. ,
their magnificence. This induced him to
celebrate games and shows at Cfesarea, in
honour 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 we^ compelled to supplicate peace.

X 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.

CRAP. I.]

AD'TJiJK TilJi ASCENSION.

51

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,
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 aveng
ing angel of the Lord smote him with an ir-,
resistible, though invisible stroke ; and, while
surrounded with the fancied insignia of ma-
. J.,, 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 forgot ;
biitjth^.word ofGod, which he had attempted
to. siip^ess, 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
) '.Sjn particular cases. In this way they had
'^been informed of an approaching dearth, and,
as seasons of scarcity would . severely affect
the disciples in Judea, who laboured under
peculiar difficulties, they cheerfully contri
buted to their relief, and sent the collection
to Jerusalem by Saul and Barnabas, who,
having'^fulfiUed their commission, returned
to Antioch about this time. [a.-d. 45.] These
two were soon afterwards (Acts xiii.) ap
pointed by an express revelation to propa-
H.-'^'gate the knowledge of the gospel in other
! countries : they were set apart to this ser
vice by the solemn prayers of the church,
and attended by John, surnamed Mark, who
had accompanied them from Jerusalem.
¦Thus they went forth, like Abraham, uncer
tain 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
likewise separated to preach the gospel in
the districts respectively allotted them by
the direction of the Holy Spirit ; and we
have some account from antiquity of their
several provinces, according to which they
divided arhong 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 commis
sion as apostles, and spread the gospel far
and wide ; but the particulars recorded of
their labours, sufferings, and circuits are not
transmitted with such authenticity and clear
ness as to give entire 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 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 ofGod 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 gra
tify our curiosity, to this plan we shall con
form ; and while we have the light of an
inspired writer, we shall not wander after
the glimmerings of tradition. I shall there
fore, in the progress of this chapter, confine
myself to the Evangelist's narration, so far
as it goes, and, when he leaves us, it will be
sufficient to comprise, in a very narrow com
pass, the most certain or most probable in
cidents which we can recover to complete
the records of the first century.
Saul and Barnabas embarked at Spleucia,
a sea-port in the neighbourhood of Antioch,
and saUed to Cyprus : they landed at Sala
mis, on tlie 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 go
vernor, Sergius Paulus, was desirous to hear
the apostles' doctrine : he was attended
by Elymas, a pretended magician and pro
phet, who fearing the discovery of his im
postures, laboured to divert the governor
from his purpose, and to prejudice him
against them. But Saul sharply rebuked
his wickedness, and, by the irapulse of the
Holy Spirit,* denounced a sentence against
him, suitable to his crime ; he Who endea
voured to detain others in darkness and ig
norance, was suddenly struck blind himself.
This punishment, which he could neither
foresee 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
carefiiUy to their words, and became soon a
partaker of their faith.
From Cyprus they sailed to Perga, in
* It is expressly said, Th.it 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
patience and huraility, than in this sineular instance.
The power- of God, which accompanied his words,
proved by what impulse a'nd authority he spoke. We,
who are not apostles, and who make no claim to apos.
tolio power, shall act more in character to conform to
the general rule St. Paul has given us, 2 Tim. ii. 24, 85,

52

PROGRESS OP THE GOSPEL

[book II.

Pamphylia; where their attendant Mark,
either already wearied with fatigue, or ap
prehensive of greater difficulties, or from a
fickleness and levity of temper, would pro
ceed no farther with thera, but retumed to
Jerusalem. By this indiscretion he not only
lost many valuable opportunities, which he
afterwards regretted, but in the end gave
occasion to a great difference between Bar
nabas and Paul. Such is the state of hu
manity, that those persons in a society who
cannot do rauch good, are often, by their
imprudence, the cause of rauch harra, even
where they intend otherwise. From Perga
they proceeded to Antioch, in Pisidia, and
entered into the synagogue, [a. d. 46.]
Their habit and manners bespoke them
Jews ; but, perhaps, the rulers of the syna
gogue were not apprised of their character.
When the ordinary service was finished,
they were desired to propound their senti
ments. Paul, who was usually the speaker,
addressed them in a long discourse, a valu
able 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 frora 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 whora alone, for
giveness of sin was to be obtained, and a free
justification frora 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 raade no great impres
sion upon the Jews ; but some of the Hea
thens who had been occasionally present,
desired 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
terras, that though their message was first
to them, yet, since they refused to receive it,
they would henceforth freely proclaim it to
the Heathens, frora 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
persons of influence, both men and women,
who were probably proselytes, and supersti-

* When the Jews saw the multitudes, they were
filled with envy. Among the clamours t;aised 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 provoked and instigated the enemies of Chiis-
tianity from the beginning, John vii. 40, 48. and xi. 48,
and xii. 9.

tiously devoted to their new profession, that
Paul and Barnabas were violently compeUed
to depart ; but they left behind them disci
ples, the fruits of their ministry, who were
filled with joy and the Holy Spirit, and
thereby enabled to maintain the faith, though
their teachers were forced frora them.
The apostles, shaking off the dust of their
feet (as our Lord had commanded,) for a tes
timony against the obstinate infidelity of the
Jews, went from thence to Iconium, the
chief city of Lycaonia, where they made
many converts, both Jews and Gentiles. But
the Jews who believed not, actuated by the
same spirit 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 in
fluenced by their enemies, who from thence
took occasion to represent them to the magis
trates as disturbers of the public peace; a
charge which has often been falsely urged
against the ministers ofthe gospel. At length
their adversaries prevailed, and violent mea-.
sures were resolved on; but they, having-
notice of it, withdrew in time to Lystra, in
the same province, where they pursued their
rainistry with their usual zeal and firmness,
without being deterred by the opposition they
had already met with, or were likely to meet
in every place. Among their hearers at
Lystra, there was one who had been a crip
ple from his birth. Paul, observing his atten
tion, 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 lirabs. It appeared, from
this instance, that though miracles have a
tendency 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 be
lieving the apostle's doctrine, on the evidence
of this miracle, that they endeavoured to ac
count for it on their own idolatrous princi
ples : 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, Jupi
ter, and Paul, Mercury ; imagining some
thing in them peculiarly characteristic of
those fabulous deities. In the warmth of

* Acts xiv. 2. " The Jews stirred up the people."
There is a natural enmity in the hearts nf some men,
but in many it is dormant ; they are engaged in busi
ness and pleasure, and would be content lo let the peo
pie ofGod atone, as unworthy their notice; these must
be stirred up by the more zealous to join in the com
raon cause : and accordingly no pains or miarepresenla-
lions are spared to rouse them from their indolence.

CHAP. I.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

53

their superstition, they assembled with their
high priest and victims,* and would have of
fered sacrifices to the men who came to turn
them from dumb idols to serve the living God.
But nothing gives tbe faitliful 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 had suffered persecution
and ill-treatment with patience, were trans
ported beyond their usual bounds at these
marks of ignorant applause ; they rushed in
among the people, confessed their own in
firmities, boldly reproved their blind idola
try, and directed them where alone their
thanks and worship were due ; yet with all
they could say, they hardly prevaUed 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 contrary extreme ; so inconstant is the
praise and regard of the unthinking many,
who are governed by appearances, and sus
ceptive of every new impression. Some of
the restless Jews followed the apostles from
Iconium, and, by their insinuations, pre
vailed on the same people to treat those as
malefactors, whom a little before they had
revered as deities: they tumultuously as
saulted Paul (who, being the chief speaker,
was usually tbe 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
himi and healed his bruises, so that he rose
up while the disciples were sorrowfully
standing round him ; and having entered
into the city, to show that he was neither
dead nor intimidated, he was enabled to ac
company 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, Antioch, 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 be
lievers in the nature of their profession, and
reminded them of an unalterable necessity.

* The high priest was probably willing to avail him
self of the superstition of the peiiiple, 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 as a legendary re
port of the app'^arance or miracles of some saint, or
angel, has been improved to procure a veneration for
particular cities or temples in Christian countries.

in the present constitution of things, that
through much tribulation we must enter
into the kingdom of God,f Acts xiv. 22.
After thia, recommending the new converts
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 con
versation, afford them but little entertain
ment; but it rejoices their hearts U> be
informed of new accessions to the Redeemer's
kingdom, and to see how his wisdom 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
people of God in every succeeding period,
mistakes, disputes, and divisions were, by
degrees, permitted to take place araong pro
fessed believers. If it had not been so, we
might not only have been discouraged by the
great disparity 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 va
rious errors which have appeared and been
revived during so many centuries : tbe Di
vine Wisdom therefore thought fit to suffer
every false and dangerous notion, whereby
the enemy of souls would at any time at
terapt to corrupt the simplicity of the faith,
to make its first entrance while the apos
tles 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 proper place, to
show, that no new opinion, either right or
¦wrong, respecting the faith in Christ, haa
been started since the close of the scriptural
canon. As the gospel, that good and per
fect gift, came down from the Father of
t That tbis was the case in the primitive times ie ge-
rally allowed ; but we have been told by some, that
things are now greatly altered in this respect ; tbey
would persuade us, that our Lord's words (Matt. 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, — tbe very characters he has
given us ofthe 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 unfaithfulness 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 ofGod.

54

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

lights complete, and has received no araend
ment from the hands through which it has
successively passed, — so, on the other hand,
the grand deceiver exerted all his force
against it, and avaUed himself of all his in
fluence on the ignorance and wickedness of
men from the very beginning, and has no
subtle devices in reserve now, having tried
his utmost resources over and over. It is
true, length of time, and change of circum
stances, have afforded hira 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 vigour, is the same individual
person that was once an infant, unable to
stand alone, so there neither is, nor has
been, any erroneous principle, however au
thorised or recommended, or perhaps ap
plauded as a new discovery, by those who
are ignorant of scripture and antiquity, but
we can, from express passages in the apos
tles' writings, show that the same existed in
their time, though in a more feeble and in
fantile state. This point we are to illus
trate more at large hereafter ; at present I
am only concerned to take notice of a dis
sension -that arose among the believers at
Antioch, not long after the return of Saul
and Barnabas, which made their presence
there particularly useful. This was occa
sioned" by some Judaising professors, who
came down from Judea, and taught the Gen
tile converts, that except they were circum
cised, and kept the law of Moses, they could
not be saved. This dangerous position,
arising from a misapprehension of the righ
teousness of Christ, as the only ground of a
sinner's acceptance with God, and tending
to substitute a quicksand for the foundation
of hope, instead of the imraoveable rock
which God has laid in Zion, was warraly
opposed by these apostles of the Gentiles ;
they had a double conviction of its falsehood,
both frora the nature of the faith they had
received themselves, and the effects of the
gospel they had imparted to others ; but
many weaker 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 apostles and elders at Jerusa
lem, [a. d. 49.] If this, as seeras 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 were cordially received ; and
having declared the happy fruits of their
preaching to the Heathens, though they had
not attempted to bind thera 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 justi
fied and repeated the obligation of the
ceremonial law upon all who embraced the
gospel. Upon this, a particular day was
named for the whole assembly to meet, and
discuss the question. In this convention
there was the highest room to expect, that
the Spirit of God would infiuence their re
solves, and guard them from giving their
sanction to an error ; and he did so ; yet not
by an audible voice or instantaneous un-
pulse, but by presiding over their debates,
and enabling them, in the conclusion, to col
lect and pronounce the true state of the
question with infallible evidence and cer
tainty. Here again it is plain, that Peter
little thought himself entitled to that su
preme prerogative, as the immediate vicar
of Jesus Christ, which his pretended suc
cessors falsely ascribe to him ; nor did his .
brethren remind him of his privilege, other
wise there could have been no debate, for
his declaration would have been decisive ;
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
declared 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 which
the ceremonial law exhibited no more than
the shadow; and which, in comparison of
the liberty of the gospel, he termed an un
necessary 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 Heathens.
The conference was closed, and the determi
nation given, not by Peter, but by James,
who asserted the Gentiles' fi-eedom 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 GentUe and Jewish con
verts, so long as these were indulged in ob
serving the Levitical institutions; and the
prohibition from fornication, though imme
diately belonging to the moral law, which
was of universal obligation, was added, to
give the GentUes a deeper sense of the
guilt and evU of a practice, which the most
civUized and virtuous Heathens considered
as almost, if not wholly, innocent.
This sentence was generaUy embraced;

OBAP. 1.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

55

and a letter to tbe same effect was written
to the believers at Antioch, confirming them
in their christian liberty. In this they
thought it a sufficient condemnation of the
opposite opinion to say, They had given no
such commandraent : a protestation the apos
tles .might have often repeated had they
lived to this day : but since their genuine
writings still subsist, we may, by parity of
reason, still infer, that we need not be afraid
of rejecting any thing that is enjoined as
binding upon the conscience, ff we can be
sure that the apostles, who were divinely
inspired to explain the christian faith and
practice, have given us no precept in its fa
vour. They likewise took care to assert
their firra persuasion, that their decision was
agreeable to the dictates of the Holy Spirit.
This convocation has generally been styled
the first christian council ; but indeed, when
we compare it with those which bore the
same name afterwards, aud were professedly
forraed upon this precedent, we shall be al
most 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 uncer
tainty or animosity in the issue ; but the
af&ir was conducted with freedora and rao-
deration, and the conclusion made by general
consent, and to the satisfaction of both par
ties. How different in these respects from
the spirit of after times ! But though this
answered the end in the present case, the
judgment of the apostles 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 continued, and gave
St. Paul occasion to write bis epistle to the
Galatians expressly on this subject ; 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
season, yet, when some brethren came down
from Jerusalem, he was so feajful to offend
them in this matter, that he separated hira
self 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 over
throw what he had before established, St.
Paul withstood him to his face : he did not
detract from his character by insinuations to
his prejudice behind his back, nor did he
content himself with reproving him in se
cret ; 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 GentUes by divine direc
tion, had seen the happy effects of his com
pliance, and vindicated his own conduct so
unanswerably upon a late occasion, should
now shrink and trifle, expose himself, and
grieve his brethren, through fear of those
who carae ftom Jerusalem ! To be deliver
ed from the fear of man is a deliverance in
deed ! 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 surprising that
any who have read this passage should
dream of fixing on Peter, above any otber of
the apostles, to be the supreme and infallible
head ofthe christian church.
Justus and SUas, 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.] This obstacle being removed,
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 repented
of his irresolution, v/as now desirous to pro^
eeed with them again. Paul warmly opposed
this, thinking him highly culpable for his in
constancy, and perhaps too much influenced
against him by a spirit of resentment not
wholly excusable. On the other hand, Bar
nabas undertook his apology; in which, be
sides his tenderness to his fault, he seeras 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 hira to consider his conduct hi
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, choosing 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.

56

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

I must venture to digress here a little for
the sake of two reraarks, of which the course
of our history may often remind the reader.
I. How small an occasion will discover hu
man infirmity even in the brightest charac
ters ! Not all the graces of Paul and Barna
bas, nor the remerabrance of the services and
difficulties they had jointly experienced, nor
the importance ofthe 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 fellow-sufferers, from contending and
separating about a trifle. 2. How wise is the
over-ruling providence of God, permitting
such things for the trial of some, the instruc
tion of others, and the better carrying on his
own designs! In succeeding revivals of re
ligion, the like differences* have sometimes
taken place among the main instruments, and
from as trivial causes ; and though they have
not obtained without fault in some, and in
convenience to many; yet the event has
proved them no hinderance upon the whole.
The work has become more diffusive, and
more incontestible, when persons of different
tempers, sentiinents, and talents, who seemed
to superficial observers as the heads of dif
ferent parties, have laboured with equal zeal
and success in advancing the one great de
sign 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 ex
tensive usefulness, are often first reared
within a little compass, within the sight and
knowledge of each other, where they are
sheltered and streiigthened, while tender, by
their mutual advices, prayers, and exaraples,
and seem to have only one heart and one
mind. But were they always to continue
thus closely connected, no one would have
roora to expand according to the measure of
giffe and services which the Lord has ap
pointed thera ; therefore they are thinned and
transplanted: either persecutions from with
out, 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
Lystra, he chose Timothy for his associate
and companion in his journey, who it is pro-

* To mention only one by anticipation, — the unhappy.
dispute between Lnthnr 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 vvere
real, important, and numerous, and would probably
have stifled the Reformation in its birth, if it had not
been so remarkably under an almighty protection.

hable had been converted by his ministry,
and a witness to bis sufferings for the gospel
when he was there before. Timothy was of
Jewish 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 gene
rally known to the Jews, and likely to ren
der him less acceptable among them, Paul,
to obviate their prejudices, directed him to
be circumcised ; thus showing his readiness
to become all things to all men, so far as was
consistent with a good conscience, and con
ducive to edification: for though, when the
observance of the Mosaic law was insisted on
as necessary to salvation, he steadUy 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 converts in their present situation,
and to accommodate himself to their weak
ness, 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 gospel-liberty : he proposed the cir
cumcision of Timothy himseff. The seeraing
inconsistence of his conduct vanishes, if the
difference of the two cases is rightly under
stood ; but those who act from the most en
larged principles, who know when and in
what points resolution is necessary, and when
and how far it is expedient to yield to others,
will always be thought inconstant and incon
sistent by the zealots of parties. In the
course of his progress, he delivered in every
city, the decree lately determined at Jerusa
lem, which, thoiigh primarily directed to
Antioch, was of enual force, as a rule and
bond of peace, in all places where there were
both Jewish and Gentile converts. Thus,
having watered his former planting, he pro
ceeded to preach in Phrygia and Galatia.
The route of the gospel was directed by the
Spirit of God, wbo restrained the apostle
from entering the province 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 afterwards with great
success (Acts xix. 10 ;) but the proper season
was not yet come, the Lord having an im
portant service for them first in another
place. For the same reason, and by the same
influence, they were prevented going into
Bithynia, which they had some thoughts of
attempting. Thus, in a manner undetermined
where they were to labour, they came to
Troas, a sea-port in the Archipelago; and
when their journey was now bounded by the
sea, they received a further intimation of the
Lord's wUl, and found that he had been lead
ing them in the right way; for they were
brought to a port proper for embarking to the

CHAP. I.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

57

place where the Lord had designed to send
them. A. B. 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 comraunicated 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 whence 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,seatof a flourish
ing church, was productive of certain in
teresting and important events.
On the Sabbatli-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, meetmg with some women,
as it should seem, before the rest were as
sembled, they spake freely of the great sub
ject wbich was always uppermost in their
hearts and mouths. One of them, named
Lydia, a native of Thyatira, and then resident
at PhiUppi, 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,
contracted, and averse to spiritual truths, so
that, without a divine interposition, the most
powerful speakers speak in vain. Lydia heard
to good purpose : she believed, and was im
mediately baptized, with her famUy, 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 evU spirit, who, as they passed by, cried
after them, These men are the servants of
the Most High God, who declare unto ue the
way of salvation, in like manner as the de
moniacs had sometimes confessed our Sa
viour's authority 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 confederacy, or to draw them into a
snare. However, when this had been often
r'epeated, St. Paul, who could not bear to be
spoken well of by a spirit which was not of
God, comraanded him, in the name of Jesus,
to quit his possession. The spirit, compelled
to obey, left the -woman instantly. But, tbis
opened a way to give them disturbance in
another manner. Her masters, to whom she
had formerly brought great profit by her
divining talent, finding she was no longer
wUling or able to procure them advantage
by that means, apprehended Paul and SUas,
Vol. n. H

as the chief instruments of their loss, and
brought thera before the magistrates with the
heavy charge (which is usually revived when
the preaching of the gospel interferes with
tlie views of interest,) that they exceedingly
disturbed the peace of the city, by attem]jt-
ing innovations contrary to the established
religion : they styled them Jews to the Ro
mans, on account of their open abhorrence
of idol-worship, wliich was carefully sup
ported by the Roman laws and customs. The
unthinking multitude soon joined in the
alarm, and the magistrates, easily prejudiced
by the terms of the accusation, instead of
acting as impartial judges, declared them
selves parties in the affair. Without examin
ing into particulars, they violently tore off
the clothes of Paul and Silas; and, haying
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 whicb are promised to those
who suffer for righteousness sake, and which
are able fo overpower the sense of every in
convenience. Paul and Silas were so little
discomposed by this cruel treatment, that
they joyfully sung hyrans of praise to God,
and were heard by the other prisoners, who
probably were surprised at the cheerfulness
they expressed in such circumstances. But
they were surprised much more at the testi
mony the Lord immediately gave in behalf
of his servants; for, whUe 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 fetters and bonds were instantly
loosed. The noise awakened the jailor, who,
supposing the prisoners were all escaped,
and dreadiijg 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 be
yond the grave, taught men to avoid the
pressure of present troubles by desperately
plunging themselves into an unlmown eter
nity. But St. Paul, though in another part
of the prison, and in the dark, was made ac
quainted with his purpose, and called out to
him with a loud voice, " Do thyself no liarm ;
we are all here." It increased his surprise
to find that his design was made knoivu to
thera, 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 hira, and convinced
him of the wrong he had done them, more
forcibly than the sharpest expostulations
could have done. ThJiS is indeed the peculiar
triumph of a christian, to overcome evU with

58

PROGRESS OP THE GOSPEL

[book II.

good. He immediately called for a light, and,
m an agony of guilt and terror, sprung in,
and cast himself at the feet of those over
whora he had so lately tyrannized. After
this expression of his respect, and compunc
tion 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
saveji'!" Paul and SUas, who had but one
answer to this question, suited to every rank
of life, and to sinners of every degree, direct
ed 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. Araongst other reasons,
it was on the account of this jailor, who would
otherwise have remained a stranger to the
gospel, if the Lord, in the unsearchable riches
of his mercy, had not thus sent it to him, and,
by the concurrent dispensations of his provi
dence, disposed him to receive it with thank
fulness, as life from the dead. It likewise
proved the vanity of all attempts to suppress
the truth. The magistrates and people abused
the preachers, and put them in prison; but
the effect was quite contrary to their inten
tions, for by this means the jailor, the instru
ment of their cruelty, with his household,
were converted, and thus the apostle's ene
mies, through the over-ruling hand of God,
became subservient to his design, and helped
him to some ofthe first merabers of this new
church. The jaUor, 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 suspense
on their account; for, in the moming, the
magistrates sent him orders to dismiss thera
from confinement. But St. Paul was wiUing
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 punished tUl 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 Roraan: he therefore as
serted his privilege. He might have insisted
on satisfaction; but he was a christian, a,
willing disciple of a suffering Saviour: he
had been once a persecutor himseff, and had
obtained forgiveness: therefore he found it
easy to forgive. His remonstrance made the

magistrates wUling to submit to his terms;
they carae themselves, and honourably dis
missed their prisoners, entreating them, that,
to prevent farther inconveniencies, they
would withdraw from the city ; which they
did, after they had taken leave of Lydia and
the other disciples.
A. D. 52.] From hence, passing through
Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to
Thessalonica, the residence of the Roman
governor. Here Paul, according to his usual
custom, applying himself first to the Jews,
discoursed and reasoned with them in their
synagogues three successive Sabbaths, out
of their o'wn scriptures, opening* the true
sense of the prophecies concerning the Mes
siah, and then showing 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 easUy 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 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 doc
trine in disturbing the false peace] of sin,
began to be sufficiently described, when
spoken of as men who tumed the world up
side down, and threw all into confusion
wherever they appeared, were come thither
also; that Jason had received and counte
nanced them; and that their fundamental
tenets were inconsistent with obedience to
government, since they professed and incul
cated subjection- to one Jesus, whora they
styled their King. By such misrepresenta-,
tions, the enemies of the gospel-doctrine
have often aimed to render it obnoxious to -
the civil powers. The rulers were alarmed
at this accusation; but being unwUling to
proceed to extremities, though obliged to

-^ Acts xvii. 3- Opening and alleging; first explaining
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 Sixvoiyaiv x»t „TxexTiiifitvoi. A proper model for
preachers and writers in divinity. How many contro
versies would cease, how much lime would be redeem
ed, how many offences would be avoided, ifit 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. t It is still thought a sufiicient and unanswerable ob
jection against the preaching of tbe gospel, to say,
These opinions cause divisions and separations, and
break tbe 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. 34—36? If
he did, then by what name are we to call that manner
of preaching, which has either no tendency, or no
power, to disturb the false and dangerous peace of a
wicked world ?

CHAP. I.J

Ai''i'i!i«, inri ASCENSION.

50

take some notice of what seemed to affect
the interest of Coesar, they took sufficient
security of Jstson and the rest for their good
behaviour, and dismissed them without far
ther 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
tlieir past dangers and sufferings, they pur
sued 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 Thes
salonica; for to be open to conviction and
information is tho mark of a noble mind : they
were of a more free and ingenuous temper,
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 thera be
lieved. But when the Jews 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 SUas 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 con
sent, 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
of God, and the welfare of souls: it grieved
him to see a city, so faraed for refinement
and phUosophy, wholly given to idolatry,
and, with respect to the most important con
cerns of life, quite upon a level with the most
imorant 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 philoso
phy, and centre of the fine arts: painting,
statuary, architecture, and elegance appeared
in every quarter : bnt the affecting observa
tion he had made of the state of the inhabit
ants, 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 highest improvements
of unsanctified reason afford little more en
tertainment than the trivial sports of chUdren,
or the more wretched amusements of lunatics.
He was so struck with the ignorance, super
stition, and wickedness of the people, that
he could relish none of the beauties of the
place; but, full of a different emotion, com
passionately laboured to inspire thera with
true wisdora. He was soon encountered by
the Epicurean and Stoic phUosophers, 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 raeasure ac
commodating himself to the prevailing taste,
he reasoned with the reasoners, and silenced
the wise men ofthe world, in their own way,
by dint of arguraent; but the conteat was un
equal; their syllogiaras soon failed thera; 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
triumphed without a victory, and expressed
their contempt of hira and his doctrine by a
word of the lowest and most despicable sig
nification, which our version not improperly
renders ababbler; but perhaps no term in our
language can sufficiently express the poign
ancy ofthe 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 Resurrection were deities they had not
before heard of; 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 he worshipped. And it is no wonder
that, from a half-attention to his words, they
should be induced to personify the Resur
rection as a deity, since the Heathens had
altars erected, not only to Honour, Virtue,
and Liberty, but to the vices and disorders
of huraan nature, such as Fear, Shame, Fa
mine, and Fevers.
This weak raistake 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
in high estimation for authority and wisdom,
and whose particular office it was to super
intend the public religion, and preserve it
from innovation. It does not appear, how
ever, that he underwent a formal trial before
them. His opponents seemed rather disposed
to gratify their curiosity than their malice :
their politeness, perhaps, made them some
thing avei'se to the severer forms of prose
cution, and content with the less invidious,
though to many not less formidable methods,
of scorn and ridicule. Their prevailing pas
sion was the love of novelty ; they spent
their time in telling or hearing sortie new,
or, as the Greek expresses it, some ne'wer
thing. T'he expected news lost its relish
the moraent it was known : and they were
always in search for something newer stUl ;
therefore the gospel, though the strongest,
as well as the most important news they had
ever met with, could not engage such vola-
tUe minds: whUe 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

60

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

little success as amongst this polite, leamed,
ignorant people; and wherever this Athe
nian spirit prevaUs, 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
religious rites and worship with attention,
and had selected from among their numerous
altars the one which was most fit for his pur
pose. The beauty of his exordium is ob
scured by the expression, too superstitious,
in our version : the Greek word to which it
answers is ambiguous, and suited to bespeak
a favourable hearing, rather than importing
an abrupt reprtjof ; q. d. " I perceive, indeed,
Athenians, that you are observant of the in
visible powers in an unusual manner ; for,
besides the variety of teraples and altars
which you have in common with other cities
of Greece, I observed one with a peculiar
inscription, to the unkkown god. This
God, as yet unknown to you, is he whora I
serve ; and the new doctrine, of which you
ask rae, relates to his will and worship."
This was the most happy and pertinent me
dium to enlarge from that could be imagin
ed. 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
displayed before their eyes, the excellence
and independence of their great Author, how
little 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 oinnipresence of God, that he was the
fountain of life and all its comforts, the su
preme disposer of all events, and the common
Father, of mankind, confirming this part of
his doctrine by a quotation from Aratus, one
of their own poets. He afterwards proceed
ed 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 oratory or reasoning can
change the heart. The effect was the same,
as may be observed amongst ourselves, when
much inferior instruments declare the truths
of God: some mocked, and accounted this

wisdora the merest folly ; others, pleased
with his manner, and perhaps affected with
sorae transient emotions of mind, expressed
a willingness -to hear him again ; and a few,
a very few, believed, araong whom was Dio
nysius, one ofthe Areopagite judges.
Having so little encouragement to pro
long his stay at Athens, the apostle pro
ceeded to Corinth, at that time accounted
the chief city of Greece. Here he unex
pectedly found corapanions prepared for him
(Acts xviii.) Aquila, a native of Pontus, by
birth a Jew, with Priscilla, his wife, had re
ceived 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 .uncer
tain : but as their Lord and Master had lived
in Judea, and the first preachers and con
verts were generally of that nation, perhaps,
likewise, because they asserted and proved
their doctrines frora those books for which
the Jews professed the highest veneration,
the christians were for some time consider
ed as Jews by most of the Heathens. This
happy pair, partners in faith and affection,
were led by that Divine Providence which
certainly, though secretly, guides the steps
of his servants, to seek a retreat in Corinth,
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,
afforded hira help and corafort ; for, as in na
ture so in grace, none are so sufficient to
themselves but they may be glad of asaiat
ance from others, even from such as are in
many respects their inferiors. They abode
and wrought together, being of the same
business; for though St. Paul well under
stood his liberty, and that, as a preacher of
the gospel, he had a right to expect a main
tenance frora those to whom be ministered,
yet he condescended to work as a common
handicraft, at the employraent of making
tents. One reason of his submitting to this,
he informs us himself, was a prudent pre
caution 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 incom
patible with a faithful and regular discharge
of the gospel-ministry, when the circum
stances of the times may so require. But
his main and proper business, to which he
always attended, in season and out of sea
son,* was preaching the gospel of Christ.

"^STim.iv.S. 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.

CIIAl". 1.]

AFTEK THE ASCENSION.

61

To this he addressed himself at Corinth, flrst
(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 confirraed and warmed
by the accounts brought hira by Silas and
Tiraothy, who rejoined him here from Mace
donia. Animated, rather tlian discouraged,
by the opposition he had formerly met with,
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, bad 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 thera, that
having discharged his duty and his con
science, 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 ^tlieir syna
gogues no more, but address himself to the
Gentiles. He accordingly preached in the
house of one Justus, near the synagogue,
and though most of the Jews were hardened
beyond the reach of conviction, yet the Lord
had a small remnant amongst them here
likewise. Crispus, a chief ruler, or presi
dent of the synagogue, believed with all his
house; and of the Heathens, many were
converted and baptized.
If Corinth was less celebrated than Athens
for philosophy and science, it 'was raore so
for riches and luxury, which are no less
powerful hinderances to the reception of the
truth. This consideration, joined to the vio
lent spirit of his opposers, might perhaps
have prompted 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, assur
ing him his labour should not be in vain ; for,
though present appearances might proraise
but little success, [a. d. 53] he had raany
people known to himself in that proud, sen
sual, idolatrous city. It signifies but little
what enemies or difficulties a faithful minis
ter may be threatened with, ff the Lord has
many people in that place ; he who sent him
to call them out of darkness into his marvel
lous light, will support and defend 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

Improve every opportunity that offers, not on the Lord's
dav only, but on any other; not only in a soemn and
fill discourse, but let the glory of God, and tbe good of
S'liils, 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
an'l by day, Acts xx. 20. 31. As a ph.vsician, beside- his
ordinary round of practice, is ready to afford his help
upon every sudden application, this should be the aim
of a gnspel-minister: he should be constant to all his
stated appointments, and willing to make the most of
every unexpected call to service.

of as his own, were no better, either by na
ture 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 encouragement, he
remained there a year and a half; and aU
the efforts of his enemies were insufficient
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 showed
that the safety of his servants depends on
himself When Gallic was proconsul of Achaia
(who, as it seems by Luke's expression, en
tered upon his government during the apos
tle's abode at Corinth,) the Jews appeared
tumultuously before the tribunal, with the
old accusation, that he subverted the laws
of Moses. Gallic 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 imraorality, he would readily have taken
cognizance of the affair, but should leave
them to settle their religious disputes be
tween themselves. With this reprimand he
dismissed, or rather drove them from his
presence. The conduct of Gallio, in this af
fair has been considered in different lights,
and praised or censured accordingly. His
tory gives him a fair character for equity
and moderation ; and it must be allowed he
judged right, in refusing to interpose the
civil authority to give sanction to persecu
tion : 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 scherae unworthy their
notice. He rather showed contempt than
impartiality : he would not hear either party,
because 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 synagogue, 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 regard to
justice, or he would not have suffered his
authority to be insulted, and a person (upon
his own principles innocent) abused before
his face. I suppose (though it is a contro
verted point) that the Sosthenes here men
tioned was at that time an enemy to Paul,
and joined in the prosecution attempted
against him. Perhaps he was afterwards
converted, and accompanied the apostle in
his travels, as this name is prefixed, with

PROGRESS OP THE GOSPEL

[book II.

his own, to his first epistle to the Corin
thians. 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 knowledge of the Messiah.
At this city he left his dear companions
AquUa and Priscilla, who would wUlingly
have detained him longer; but St. Paul
having formed the plan of his progress in
such a manner as he judged raost suitable to
his main design, readily sacrificed the dic
tates of affection to the calls of duty, and
persisted in his purpose to be at Jerusalem
on the approaching passover : he took leave
of tbem therefore, with a promise of return
ing at a proper time, and proceeding 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 brethren,
he revisited the places where he had for
merly preached, and went first to Antioch,
and from thence through the provinces of
Galatia and Phrygia. In this circuit he lost
no time, but published the glad tidings of
salvation, and confirmed the hearts of the
disciples wherever be came.
While he was on this service, there came
to Ephesus a Jew of Alexander, named
ApoUos: he had been as yet only instructed
in the rudiments of the faith, so far as was
communicated by the teaching and baptisra
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 con
cerning Christ with rauch freedom and earn
estness, according to the raeasure of light
he had received. Aquila and Priscilla were
amongst his hearers ; and having more ex
perience and knowledge than himself, they
easily perceived wherein he was deficient,
and, with candour and tenderness, instructed
him farther. This passage is worthy the
notice both of preachers and hearers. What
ApoUos had leamed, he willingly communi
cated; what he was yet ignorant of, he as
willingly received when proposed to him ;
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 will provide bun
both teachers and hearers ; he shall profit
others, and be profited himself every day.
The prudence and moderation of Aquila and
Priscilla are no less comraendable ; they did
not acquiesce in all he said, because he was
eloquent and mighty in the scriptures ; nei

ther did tbey reject and disdain him because
tbey knew more than he, much less expose
and revUe bun as a low ignorant preacher,
but they spoke to him in private ". they ap
proved what was right, and showed hun
mildly and faithfully wherein he was defec
tive ; they commended his zeal, and iraprov
ed his knowledge. With these advantages,
and letters of recommendation to the bre
thren, he went from thence to Corinth,
where he was highly serviceable to the
church, publicly maintaining and proving
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,
retumed, according to his promise, to Ephe
sus. Here he found some more disciples,
who, like ApoUos, though acquainted with
the doctrine and baptism of John, were
hitherto strangers to those peculiar gifts,
graces, and coraforts, which, as the fruits of
the Holy Spirit, were bestowed on the be
lievers in Jesus ; but by tbe imposition of
the apostle's hands, they were immediately
made partakers ofthe same benefits.
A. D. 55.] The apostle, unwUling to give
up his own people, the Jews, continued his
labours of love among them for three months,
if, by any means, be raight bring them to the
acknowledgment of the truth ; but at length
perceiving, that, instead of yielding, they
hardened theraselves still more, and obsti
nately laboured to traduce and defame the
author and way of salvation before the peo
ple, he finally desisted, and selecting those
who had received the gospel from the many
who might hinder and confuse thera, he
formed them into a society among them
selves. He continued 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 exhort
ations from house to house, and watering
the seed with many prayers and tears. His
labours were not in vain ; he had great suc
cess, not only in the city of Ephesus, but
amongst many, who, resorting thither from
other parts, and with different views, were
providentially led to bear him, and being
divinely convinced themselves, carried home
the joyful tidings with them: so that the
knowleiige of the gospel was generally
spread throughout the province. The atten
tion of the people was still farther excited,
and their prejudices softened, by the nume
rous displays and visible tendency of that
divine power by which the Lord confirmed
the words of his servant. Many striking
miracles, emblematical ofthe healing efficacy
of gospel-grace, were wrought by the most
inconsiderable means; so that persons af-

CHAP. I.]

AFTm THE ASCENSION.

63

flicted with various maladies, or pgssessed by
evil spirits, were perfectly restored to health,
by the application 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 acknowledgment
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
wUl always issue in the disappointment or
confusion of those who venture on thera. An
instance of this kind happened at Ephesus :
some vagrant Jews, who made claim to a
power of exorcising or dispossessing evil
spirits, struck with the miracles wrought in
the name of Jesus, presumed to adopt this
sacred name into the number of their pro
fessed mysteries; 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 in
fluence of the evil spirit, insulted and ex
posed them ; he acknowledged the authority
of Jesua, and the fidelity of Paul ; but, de
manding farther, who they were that durst
make free with these names f far from obey
ing their summons, he fiercely assaulted
them, and forced them, though seven in
number, to flee for their lives, naked, wound
ed, and terrified. Great indeed is the power
of the narae of Jesus; but when not pro
nounced by faith, it is spoken in vain : Satan
laughs at such vain pretenders, and prevaUs
against thera. So, when those who are des
titute of faith, undertake to write or preach
concerning Jesus, it will seldom prove to
more purpose than if they attempted to ex
orcise the people; instead of delivering
others from the power of Satan, they are
more and raore subjected to him themselves ;
and, unless 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 re
strained, 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) re
nounced their delusions, confessed their folly
and wickedness to the apostle, made a pub
lic profession of the gospel, and, in proof that
their faith and repentance were sincere,
brought the books containing the secrets and
principles of their pretended skill, and pub
licly committed them to the fiames. 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 low
est 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 va
riety of other disquisitions might possibly con
tribute 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 ofthe holy scrip
tures 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 de
voted themselves to the study of the scrip
tures alone, it is once more observed, so
mightUy grew the word of God and pre
vailed !
A. D. 57.] The apostle, of whom it may
be said with -more propriety than of CEesar,
that he accounted nothing done while any
thing remained to do, in the midst of his im
portant engagements at Ephesus, was still
meditating 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 raust also see Rorae : nor was Rome
the boundary of his views ; for frora thence
he proposed to proceed to Spain, Rom. xv.
24. We are taught ftom our infancy to ad
mire those, who, in the language ofthe world,
are styled great captains and conquerors, be
cause they bumed 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 destruc
tion of their species, while, this generous
spirit of St. Paul is almost totally overlooked :
unwearied 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 human race : h6 reaped no profit, be
sought no praise ; he rejected the allurements
of pleasure, to which the greatest conquerors
have often been irresolute slaves ; he endured
the 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 happiness which he enjoyed himself.
However, finding it necessary to continue
some time longer where he was, he despatched

64

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

his beloved Timothy to Macedonia, to ap
prize his friends of his intention, and to pre
pare them for his visit, when a proper op
portunity should perrait.
In the raean 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 show their resentment.
The Lord, who holds all hearts in his own
hands, had restrained them hitherto, that his
work of grace raight not be disturbed ; but
when the apostle was upon the point of de
parture, this restraint was in some raeasure
taken off. The teraple of Diana, at Ephesus,
was celebrated for its magnificence far and
near; so that raany shrines or models of it
were made for sale, and in rauch deraand.
This branch of business brought in consider
able gain to the silversmiths, and other me
chanics; 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
araongst them, convening his brethren and
dependants, and as many as he could, whose
interest seemed 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 con
cern; he reminded them, with a seasonable
frankness, that their gain was at stake :* this
was the main argument; 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 peace
ably suffered to persuade the people, that
they can be no gods which are made with
hands. An appeal to the two prevailing pas
sions of mankind, interest and superstition,
is seldom made in vain. The arguments of
Demetrius have been employed a thousand
times over against the gospel, though all op
posers have not had his honesty in avowing
their leading motive. The doctrine whicii
discountenances folly and wickedness, will
certainly be defamed and resisted by all who
find their account in proraoting them ; but as
? This is the main objection against the gospel, though
pretexts are industriously sought to hide it; it alarms
those who thrive by the ignora'nce 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 ofthe gospel, are
in them.selves injurious to the peace aud good order of
civil society.

this motive is rather invidious, ff msisted on
alone, tbey express likewise an earnest zeal
for whatever tenets have the sanction of au
thority, antiquity, or custora, with which their
private interest is inseparably connected. He
had said enough to inflame his hearers; and
these were sufficiently numerous to stimulate
the unthinking rabble, who, though quiet tUl
they are headed by artful leaders, are easily
roused to rage and tumult when thus in-
fiuenced, as the sea that has been long calm
obeys the impulse of the rising gale. The
outcry began by Demetrius, and his com
panions; Great is Diana of the Ephesians,
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, wai-mly concerned for his friends'
safety, and confiding in the goodness of his
cause, and the providence of his God, was 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 what they
Imew 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 thera sent to inforra him, that in the
present confusion, it was not in their power
to protect him frora 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
himself, he desisted. The mob, thus disap
pointed with respect to hira, and secretly re
strained from hurting the others, continued
in the utraost confusion, though few knew
why they were assembled, unless it was to
join in the cry. Great is Diana of the Ephe
sians, which they repeated without intermis
sion for two hoiirs. When they had thus
exhausted themselves, and their passions,
through weariness, began to subside, a public
officer of the city seized the favourable rao
raent to expostulate with thera concerning
their behaviour; he spoke with freedora and
address, but with that indifference which the
wise men of tbe world so frequently discover
in religious concerns. Many deserve com
mendation for their readiness to allow others
the peaceable possession of their own senti
ments, who, at the same time, deserve our
pity, that they have no inclmation or leisure
to inquire for themselves. He allowed, in

CHAP. I.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

65

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 de
clared the folly of idolatry in general, but did
not enter into direct confutation of any de
tached part of the Heathen mythology : he
proposed the plain truth of the gospel; and
when this was received, the whole system of
idol-worship fell to the ground of itself He
farther reminded them, that if they had any
just cause of complaint, they ought to seek
redress in a course of law ;f and then hinting
at the consequences they were liable -to, if
called to a strict account| for their riot, he
prevailed on them to separate and depart
quietly. Thus the apostle, though threatened
with a most imminent and formidable danger,
was preserved unhurt, and suffered neither
in his person nor character. An encouraging
proof that those who act in the path of duty,
and depend on the power ofGod, are equally
safe in all times and circurastances ; no less
safe when surrounded by enraged eneraies,
than when encircled by kind and assiduous
friends. He did not continue long at Ephesus after
this tumult'; but taking leave ofthe disciples,
went to Troas, and from thence (as he had
purposed) to Macedonia, Acts xx. We have
but little account bf this progress in the
history of the Acts; but frora sorae passages
of his epistles (2 Cor. u. 12, 13, and vii. 5,)
written about that time, we are informed,
that his exercises and trials, both uiward and
outward, 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. 5 He loved them in the
bowels of Jesus Christ; he could willingly
have devoted his labours and life to each of
them, but he could not be with thera all ; and

* The words robbers of churches, should rather be ren
dered 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.
t 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 pur
posely against them. In default of these, their adversa
ries 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 shown them if they came oft' with
their lives. In any other case, such a tumult would
have been deemed a high offence.
§2(;or. xi. 28. "Thatvphich cometh on me daily."
Tlie word is iwio-uirTatrifi, — and gives the idea of a camp
or castle hard beset with continual onsets and assaults ;
or of a man wbo bas 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 their behalf were so numer.
ous, urgent, and continual, that they found full em
ployment for bis prayers, bis thoughts, and his time.
Vol. IL I

knowing the weakness of the heart, the sub
tlety 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 whora he was absent
'with a godly jealousy, 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 gospel at Troas (2 Cor. ii. 12,
13,) his mind was not at liberty to improve
them; but he hasted to be in Macedonia, tbat
he might the sooner be satisfied. There, he
tells us himself, he had no rest, but was
troubled on every side ; without were fight
ings, within were fears ; but he speaks of it
as a seasonable and gracious interposition of
that God, whose character and prerogative it
is to be a comforter of those that are -cast
down (2 Cor. vii. 6,) that, in these circum
stances, he was comforted by the coming of
Titus, who relieved his fears by the favour
able account he brought him frora Corinth.
A. D. 58.] How long he staid in these
parts we are not told ; but, in general, that
he spent sorae tirae, and visited many places ;
and it seems to have been in this circuit that
he preached in lUyricum, a part of which
country borders upon Macedonia. He after
wards proceeded to Greece, where he staid
three months ; he intended to have erabarked
from thence at sorae port, and to have pro
ceeded immediately to Syria by sea ; but, upon
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
soleran assembly ; and St. Paul, v/ho 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 raidnight, 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 were met,
perhaps to remind us, that the first christians
were careful to conduct their assemblies -with
order and propriety, so as to give no just
cause of offence ; yet their enemies quickly

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[booh 11.

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 feU out of a window,
in which he was seated, from the third story,
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 thera till the break of day,* when he
cade them farewell.
His corapanions went along the coast by
snipping 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 subrait 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 to
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 faw days at Miletus. St.
Paul purposely passed Ephesus, that he might
not be detained or grieved by the raany dear
friends he had in that city ; for he was re
solved, if possible, to be at Jerusalem on the
approaching day of Pentecost ; but frora Mi
letus he sent for the elders or bishops of the
church of Ephesus, to receive his final charge
and benediction. When they came, he ad
dressed them in a solemn and affectionate
discourse. The substance of it, which is re
corded for our instruction, if considered only
as a piece of oratory, has been often admired
* 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 these
and other reasons, prove a cause of offence.

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 ani
mated the apostle's heart when he spoke it.
He began with an appeal to themselves
concerning his conduct whUe resident among
them, and reminded them of the dUigence,
fidelity, and tenderness which he had mani
fested in the course of his rainistry, 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 ofthe 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 ; 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 ;f 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 hira 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 hira 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 thera, that the
utmost circumspection would be needful ; for
that he foresaw, that, after his departure,
grievous wolves would enter amongst thera,
not sparing the flock; and also, that out of
their own number of professed disciples, men
should arise, speaking perverse things. This
double danger of false teachers from without,
and a restless curious spirit within the fold,

t 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 Jittle 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 whoni
the King shall say, " Well done, good and faithful
servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord," willnot
theu complain of tlie diflicultios tliej' met by tbe way.

CHAP. I.J

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

67

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
ratlier wrought with his own hands, that he
might not be chargeable to them : finally,
commending them to God, and the word of
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 sentiraent, so highly
expressive of the spirit of the divine author,
which had been hitherto preserved in the
hearts and raonths 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 hira 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 thera," well ex
presses the close union of their affections, and
the sorrow and reluctance whicii both sides
felt at parting.
When this struggle was over, St. Paul and
his corapany put to sea with a favourable
gale (Acts xxi ;) and, having touched at Coos
and Rhodes, two islands of note in the JEgean
sea, continued their course to Patara in
Lycia, where they seasonably met with a ship
upon the point of departure for Phoenicia ; and
embarking 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 Jerusalera, 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 probabUity of reaching Jerusalera within
his prescribed time, he consented to stay seven
days with some disciples* he found there.

* AuEvpowTf? Toug fix^i^TKq might be rendered, jindivg
out the disciples There seems no reason for suppress
ing the article, and the verb is used for finding out,
in consequence of some description or inquiry, Lukeii.
16. We readily suppose, from the apostle's character,
that bis first inquiry, upon coming to any place where

Acts xxi. 4. From some of these he received
an intimation, by a prophetic impulse, ofthe
dangers he would be exposed to if he went
to Jerusalem ; but he knew whora 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 the 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.f He
landed next at Ptoleraais, 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
spirit of prophecy.
During his stay at Caesarea, a prophet,
naraed Agabus, came down from Jerusalem ;
and, agreeable to the raanner 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 de
liver hira up as a crirainal to the Roraan
power. Upon these repeated premonitions of
what he was to expect, not only the disciples
of Caesarea, but those who had corae with
him, earnestly entreated him to desist from
his purpose. We may learn frora this passage
that the clearest intelligence of approaching
danger is not always a sufficient warrant to
decline it, even -ivhen, in the judgment of
our brethren, we might decline it without
sin. St. Paul was satisfied that, all circum
stances considered, it was right for him to
proceed : he had taken his determination upon
good grounds, was brought so far on hia way
in safety ; and to be told (though from an in
fallible authority) that his views of service
could not be completed without great risk
and trouble to hiraself, did not discourage
him in the least. He was less affected by the
prospect of sufferings from the Jews than by
the solicitations of his friends, and told them,
that though they could not shake his resolu
tion, their concern and importunity exceed
ingly distressed him. " What mean you to
weep, and to break my heart? I ara ready,
not to be bound only, but also to die for the
sake ofthe Lord Jesus." 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
raost tender feelings for his friends, ¦while he
contemplated the severest trials that might
affect himself unmoved, he was almost over-

the gospel had been preached, related to those who loved
the Lord Jesus, and how they were to be met with.
t Could many persons now living have seen this.
without doubt they would have said, they had seen s
s,trange .company of enthusiasts and fauatit^s.

68

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

powered by what he felt for others. But
when they saw that he was not to be dis
suaded, 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 dan
gers from which they could not divert him.
They were accompanied likewise by an old
disciple, named Mnason, of Cyprus, who re
sided at Jerusalem, and had offered his house
for their accoramodation. Their arrival was
welcome to the brethren ; and the next day
St. Paul introduced his friends to St. Jaraes
and the elders, who seem to have met to
gether on purpose to receive him. To them
he gave a succinct account of the success
with which God had honoured his ministry
araong the GentUes; which, when they had
heard, they unanimously glorified God on his
behalf, and rejoiced to hear of the accession
of such nurabers to the christian faith, Acts
xxi. But at the sarae time they gave hira to
understand that the bulk of the Jewish con
verts had received no sraall prejudice against
hira; that there were even raany 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 show
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 thera the prescribed course of purifica
tion 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 chris
tians, in the first and purest period of the
priraitive church, while under the care of the
apostles, had imbibed from hear-say, a degree
of coldness and dislike towards one of the
Lord's most faithful and most favoured ser
vants. 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 easUy
determined. The apostles, considered in one
light, as the penmen 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 con
duct they were strictly infallible; nay, we
have good warrant to conclude the contrary,
as St. Paul hiraself assures us, that, upon a
certain occasion, already mentioned, he with
stood Peter to his face, because he was to be
blamed. It is therefore no way derogatory
from the character and authority of St. Paul,

to inquire, whether, upon this occasion, the
tenderness of his spirit towards weak be
lievers, and his desire of becoming all things
to all men, when the foundation-truths ofthe
gospel were not affected, might not carry
him too far: for though a reserve was made
by James, in favour of tbe Gentile converts,
that they should not be burdened with the
observance of Jewish rites ; yet the express
end and design for which this step was pro
posed 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 Jewish ceremonies,
but that he likewise orderly and statedly prac
tised them himseff. A circumstance which
is far from being clear, or indeed 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
Rorae, is generally allowed to have been
written during his stay at Ephesus at the
latest, if not sooner; and further, that, for
sorae tirae past, his converse had been almost
wholly confined to the GentUe believers, or
to those churches of which they formed the
largest part. If he became as a Jew amongst
the Jews, it was, as he says hiraself (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
suppose that, in this instance, he was over-
persuaded to deviate from that openness of
conduct which he generally maintained,
seera to have some ground for their suspicion.
This, however, is certain, his temporising
did not answer the proposed end; but, in
stead of rendering him more acceptable, in
volved him in tbe greatest danger: for when
the seven days were almost fulfilled, some
Jews of Asia, seeing him in the temple,
pointed him out to the multitude as the dan
gerous man who had apostatized from his
religion, and was using his endeavours,
wherever he went, to draw people from the
worship of God according to the law of
Moses. To this they added, that he had pro
faned the holy place, by bringing Gentiles
with him into the temple. This they con
jectured 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 be appeared so publicly with them upon
other occasions, as to give sorae 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
Jewish 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

I.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

names and parties, we must expect to suffer
from the zealots of all sides.
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 teraple, 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,
ho came, down with a party of soldiers. The
evangelist observes, that when the Jews ran
to kUl 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 press-
in 't, relief is speedy. Lysias, though ignorant
of the cause of this turault, 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 hira removed to the castle, or Ro
man station. But such wets 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 fi-om the temple. Here Paul obtained
leave to speak for himself, the tribune inclin
ing rather to a more favourable opinion cf
him, when he found he could speak Greek;
and the people attended with sorae composure,
when they heard him address them in the
Hebrew, or Syriac language.'
In his discourse (Acts xxii) he told thera,
that he had been brought up amongst thera
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 dispensa
tion by which the Lord Jesus had conquered
his heart. This was St. Paul's usual raethod
of defence, and though no means are sufficient
to reach the heart without a divine influence,
yet humanly speaking, a siraple 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, tUl he proceeded
to Ultimate 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 ofGod, 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 deprive them of their reason.
Lysias, the tribune, secured him from their

violence, but commanded him to be examined
by scourging, that he raight know bis crime
from his own raouth, according to a barbarous
custom of putting tliose to torture against
whom there was no sufficient evidence, that
their own extorted confession might furnish
some grounds of proceeding against them : a
'custom stUl prevalent in most countries called
christian, though contrary to religion, to rea
son, and to the coraraon sentiraents of hu
raanity. Our Lord Jesus was exarained in
this manner before Pilate ; and though the
apostle was ready to follow the steps of hia
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 Ro
man citizen was not legally liable either to
be bound or scourged: therefore, when the
tribune understood his privUege, he stopped
farther proceedings, and was something ap
prehensive for himself, that he had in part
violated them already, by ordering him to be
bound;* but, being still desirous to know
what was laid to his charge, he convened the
chief priests, and the members of the San
hedrim on the next day; and brought him
again before them.
The apostle, fixing his eyes upon the high-
priest and councU, as one who was neither
ashamed or afraid to appear at their tribunal,
began (Acts xxiii) witii 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 re
buked his partiality, in perverting the cause
of justice, and warned him of the righteous
judgraent of God, the suprerae Judge, who
would surely punish his hypocrisy.] His re
ply to those who reproved him for speaking
in such terms to the high-priest, seems to
intimate, that the injurious treatment he bad
received had raised an undue warmth in his
spirit, though it may be supposed that he
denounced his future dqom under a superior
and prophetic impulse; but knowing that
the council was composed of Pharisees and
Sadducees, who were at variance amongst
themselves about 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 belief and hope in that doc
trine. The Pharisees immediately suspended
their present resentment, to embrace the
occasion offered of opposing their old antago-

* A Roman citizen might be bound with a chain, but
not tied with thongs, or beaten with rods: "Facinusest
vincere civem Roma num, scelus verberari "—Cicero.
t 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 dangetoua the
condition of such.

70

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

nists, and, upon this issue, espoused his
cause, declaring him innocent ; and said,
that ff a spirit or angel (the existence of
both which the Sadducees denied) had
spoken to hira, they ought not to fight
against God by refusing to hear hira. Upon
this a great dissension took place, and Ly
sias, fearing that Paul would be torn in
pieces between the contending parties, put
an end to the conference, and ordered the
soldiers to take hira 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 op
pose the gospel, are divided and subdivided
in other respects ; so that, for the sake of a
favourite passion, or to cross an opposite in
terest, they will sometimes protect those
whom they would otherwise willingly de
stroy. The next night he received full amends
for all he had suffered, and was confirraed
against the utraost efforts of his eneraies'
malice ; for the Lord Jesus, whora he served,
vouchsafed to appear to hira in a vision,
commanded him to be of good cheer, owned
his gracious acceptance of his late testimony
• in Jerusalem, and promised that none should
hinder him the honour of bearing witness to
his truth at Rome likewise. The world has
been soraetimes surprised at the confidence
which the faithful servants of Christ have
shown 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, impa
tient of delays, they resolved to destroy him
immediately. To manifest their resolution,
and to quicken their diligence, raore than
forty of thera bound theraselves, under the
penalty of the great curse, or anathema, not
to eat or drink till they had killed him.
They acquainted the priests and rulers with
their engagement, and proposed that they
should request Lysias to order hira once
more to appear before them in the council,
and that then those who had corabined in
this oath would be ready to assassinate hira.
But no counsel or device can stand against
the Lord ! This black design was, by sorae
means, providentially raade known to a
young man, who was Paul's sister's son,
who gave notice of it first to hira, and then,
by his desire, to Lysias, who, finding the
Jews implacably bent against Paul's life, de
termined to place him farther out of their
reach, and accordingly sent him away, that
same night, under a strong guard, who con
ducted him to CsBsarea, and delivered him to
Felix the Roman governor, together with a

letter from Lysias, importing his care to pre
serve the prisoner, because he understood
hira to be a Roman citizen, and that he had
commanded his accusers to follow. Thus the
conspiracy which his enemies had formed to
destroy him, proved the occasion of his deli
verance out of their hands.
In about five days afterwards, Ananias the
high-priest, with the elders of the council,
appeared before Felix against Paul, Acts
xxiv. The charge was opened by TertuUus,
a venal orator, or advocate, whom they had
retained for this purpose : who began with a
coraraendation of the governor, in terms
which might have suited the Ulustrious ac
tions 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
wUl 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 esta
blished religion, and a mover of sedition
against the governraent ; to which was add
ed, as a popular proof of the charge, that he
was a ringleader of the sect or heresy of the
Nazarenes, so called frora Jesus of Nazareth,
who was crucified by a forraer governor for
asserting hiraself to be a king. Thus much
seems iraplied in the terra Nazarene, as the ,
Jews used it. The apostle began his defence
with a protestation of his innocence, as to
any design of raoving seditioii or tumult,
which he said his enemies were unable to
prove by a single fact : he proceeded to in
forra the governor of the true raotives of their
enmity against hira, and acknowledged that
he worshipped God in a way which they
stigraatized with the name of heresy or divi
sion ; for the proper* meaning of heresy is
no raore than sect or party. By farther de
claring, that he worshipped the God of hia
fathers, and believed aU thmgs written in the
law and the prophets, he proved, frora the ob
ject and the manner of his worship, that he
was not guUty of any blameable innovations ;
he professed the hope of a resurrection,
which his eneraies could not but allow, and
that it was his constant study] (Acts xxiv.
* As the apostle only cautions Titus to reject or avoid
a heretic. Tit. iii. 10, but has not defined him expressly,
many writers and teachers have had a fair fleld to ex
ercise 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 word
quite away, as though the admonition to avoid a here
tic, was wholly unnecessary. Perhaps the advice to
Titus, is 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 contiary,,to the peace
able, forbearing, humble spirit ofthe gospel, who affects
to form a party, and to be thought considerable in it, is
so far a Iieretic.
t The Greek word («»-«.») here used, denotes tbe

CHAP. I.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

71

16,) and endeavour to maintain a con
science void of offence ; and, added, that it
was not he, but the Jews themselves, who
had raised the turault, by assaulting him,
when he was peaceably 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
likewise desirous of further inforination, de
ferred the full discussion ofthe affair till the
arrival of Lysias, and coraraitted Paul, in the
mean tirae, 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 provi
dentially delivered frora the blood-thirsty
Jews, and found an asylura in the Roman
power, which they had endeavoured to en
gage for his destruction.
A. D. 59.] He was sent for not long after,
by Felix, and discoursed before hira and his
wife DrusUla 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 horae application by enlarging
on righteousness, teraperance, and the im
portant consequences of a future judgment.
Th'ese were fit topics to press upon an unjust
and rapacious governor, who lived in adul
tery, DrusUla (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 raen
tioned ; and having renounced her religion
and her husband, for Felix, was, by the judg
ment of God, given up to hardness of heart ;
so that it does not appear that the apostle's
discourse made any impression upon her. It
was otherwise with Felix, who, though a
wicked man, had sinned against less light :
he trembled at what he heard, and not able
to conceal his concern, he cut short the in
terview, with a proraise to send for him
again, at a convenient season. So great
sometimes is the power of truth, when faith
fully enforced ! With this only advantage
on his side, Paul the prisoner triumphs over
a haughty governor, and makes him tremble.

study, diligence, and proficiency of a person who is de
sirous 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 and copies the beau
ties of others' works, and is continually retouching and
improving upon his own ; his acquaintance, reflections,
and recreations, are all accommodated to his main pur
pose ; and though his pncil 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
amination, and experience.

Great likewise is the power of sin ! Felix
trembled nt tho review of the past, and the
prospect of the future ; but he could not
stop; he found sorae avocation for his pre
sent relief, and put off his raost important
concerns to a future opportunity, which it is
probable never came. He saw and beard-
Paul afterwards ; but the same man had no
more the same influence ; the accompanying
force of the Spirit was vyithheld; and then
he had no farther view in conversing with
him, but the hope of receiving money for
his enlargement. When the apostle had
continued in this situation about two years,
Felix was recalled fi'ora his government. He
had governed the Jews with severity and in
justice, and had reason to fear they would
accuse him to the emperor : therefore, to in
gratiate hiraself 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
assault and murder him in the journey. It
seems they expected this favour would be
easily granted, as it is usual for governors, at
their first coming araong a people, to do some
popular act; but Festus refused, and com
manded them to follow him to Caesarea, where
he hiraself would judge in the cause. The
Jews accordingly exerted themselves in one
more effort, and when Festus was retumed
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 able to prove any thing against him,
or to invalidate his protestation that he had
committed no offence, either against the law,
or the teraple, or the Roraan govemment.
Festus, who had refused to send him to Je
rusalem before, was now willing to oblige
thera, perceiving the controversy was of a re
ligious kind, and what he had little knowledge
of; he therefore asked Paul if he was wUling
to be tried, in his presence, before the council
at Jerusalern. 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 propos.al of
being delivered up to those who thirsted for
his blood, he appealed to Cassar. This was
one privUege 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

72

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

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
Jesus, we learn that it is very allowable for a
christian to avail hiraself of the laws and pri
vileges of his country, when unjustly perse
cuted for righteousness sake; and perhaps,
in sorae cases, it would be blaraeable to orait
it. CivU liberty is a depositum with which
we are entrusted for posterity, and, by all
lawful raeans, should be carefully preserved.
Festus, after having consulted with his coun
cU and lawyers upon this unexpected turn,
adraitted the appeal, and determined he should
be sent to Rome. Paul had long had a desire
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, bnt 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 Roraans, came with
his sister Bernice, to congratulate Festus
upon his accession to his governraent : he was
a man of a fair character, a professed Jew,
but possessed of moderation and prudence.
During 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
concerning one Jesus, who was dead, and
whora Paul affirraed to be alive. To him the
life and the death of Jesus were points of
equal indifference ; not so to those who be
lieve be died for them, and who expect that,
because be lives, they shall live also. This
imperfect account made Agrippa desirous to
hear Paul himself; and accordingly, the next
day, Agrippa, Bernice, and Festus, being
seated in court,* attended by their officers
and train, and a number of the principal peo
ple, Paul was once raore brought forth to
speak in public for himself. Acts xxvi. On
this occasion he addressed himself particu
larly to Agrippa ; 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 pro
fessed 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 perse-
* The apology St Paul made for himself was not his
trial. He had already stopped all proceedings at law by
his appeal to Ceesar; nor was Festus then as a judge
upon his tribunal.
t Speaking of his past conduct towards the disciples,
he calls it madness, — being exceedingly, or (as we ex
press it,) raging mad against them. A man in this state

cutor to a foUower of Jesus, in his journey to
Damascus. His defence, therefore (as has
been formerly observed,) was rather experi
mental than argumentative, and made very
different impressions upon his hearers. Fes
tus, 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 nar
ration, and, with an air rather of pity than
indignation, said, " Paul, thou art beside thy
self; much learning hath made thee raad-."|
A similar judgment is passed by too many
upon all who profess an acquaintance with
the life of faith in an unseen Jesus ; but or
dinarily, 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 hazard in the
world's esteera, if his chimeras are set off
with a competent apparatus of literature.
Agrippa, however, was differently affected,
especially when Paul made a bold appeal to
hiraself, concerning the notoriety of the facts
which had lately happened, and the truth of
the prophecies with which they were con
nected. Here the power of truth triumphed
again, and Agrippa was so gtruck, that, with
out regarding the numerous assembly, or the
displeasure such a declaration might give
both to the Jews and Romans, particularly
to Festus, who had expressed his sentiment
just before, he gave way to the emotions of
his mind, and said aloud, " Almost thou per
suadest me to be a christian." Yet this was
but an involuntary conviction ; it did honour
to the apostle, but was of no benefit to him
seff. And the concession, which, at first view,
seems to proceed from an ingenuous spirit,
when closely exarained, amounts but to this,
that though Agrippa was indeed convinced
of the truth, his heart was so attached to the
present evU world, that he. had neither cou
rage 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 canvass on which it
is drawn, but only that the resemblance is
strong: so the alraost christian, however
specious in his professions, is stUl destitute
of that living principle which alone can en
able him to make them good, and is, in reality,
an utter stranger to true Christianity. In the

win attack any person he meets ; he waits for no provo.
cation, li,-tens to no entreaty, regards no consequences.
Thus the apostle judged of himself when a persecutor
ofthe church; and the spirit of persecution in every age
has been the same. May God restore those to their right
minds who are governed byit!
X His answer to Festus is expressed with much accu
racy and precision. " I am not mad, most noble Fes
tus; but speak forth (aa-of Siy^«^»,) 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 proper.
tionate.

CHAP. I.]

Ai'TJiiK 'iiiiii ASCENSION.

73

graceful return the apostle made to the king's
acknowledgment he hinted at this defect,
wishing that both Agrippa, and all who heard
hira, were not only almost, but altogetlier, 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 con
fidence he had tn his cause, the happy frame
of his mind, the engaging turn of his address,
and his unbounded benevolence: he could
wish nothing better than what he himself
felt, to bis dearest friends, and be wished no
thing worse to his greatest enemies; nay, he
wished that his enemies might, if possible,
experience all his coraforts, without any of
his trials. When Festus and Agrippa were
withdrawn, they agreed, in tbeir opinion,
that he had done nothing deserving of death,
or even of iraprisonraent, and that he might
have been released, if he had not himself pre
vented it by appealing to Caesar.
In consequence of the determination to
send him to Rorae (Acts xxvii,) he was cora
mitted to the custody of a centurion named
Julius, with whora 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 par
ticularly the evangelist Luke, who seeras 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 centurion gave him liberty to re
fresh himself and visit bis friends. At their
next port, Myria in Lycia, a vessel offering
which was bound directly for Italy, they
went on board her. In the beginning of this
passage they were retarded by contrary
winds. At length they reached the island of
Crete (now called Candia;) 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 iheet with raany in
conveniences and dangers if they ventured
to proceed any further. Long voyages were
seldom attempted during the winter in those
days, or, for raany ages after, till the know
ledge of the corapass raade way for those
great improvements in navigation wbich now
embolden the mariner 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 ofthe season,
but ;rather upon an extraordinary pre-intima-
tioU of what was soon to happen. But his
remonstrance was over-ruled, the centurion
preferring the judgraent 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 sprmging from the south,
determined their resolve, and they set sail
Vol. IL K

with a good confidence 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 occa
sions to speak of his Lord and Master to those
about' him; and as he had several corapa
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 raake it evident to all with whora 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, raost 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 common
distress that the truth and efficacy of vital
religion appear with the raost 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
confidence and peace, when there is nothing
but dismay and confusion around him, will
then extort some acknowledgment, 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 people
to be so often exercised with severe trials:
it is, to raanifest that their hopes are well-
grounded'; that they have not taken up with
words and notions, but have a real and sure
support, and can hope and rejoice in God
under those pressures which deprive others
of all their patience, and all their courage;
and, on the other hand, to evince that his
power and faithfulness are surely engaged
on their behalf; that he puts an honour upon
their prayers, is near to help thera 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
Lord, after having endured so many suffer
ings and hardships upon the land, was ex
posed, in the course of this voyage, to equa
dangers and difficulties upon the sea; foi
they had not long quitted their last port, be-

74

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[flOOK U.

fore 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 terapest
irresistibly overpowered the mariners, and
rendered their art impracticable and vain:
they were compelled 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 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 dis
tressed 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 hardship and
anxiety, and there was no human probability
of deliverance, the Lord manifested the care
he had of his servants. The seamen had not
seen sun or stars for raany days ; but his eye
had been upon Paul and his companions every
moment. No one on board could even con
jecture into what part of the sea the ship
was driven; but the Lord knew, and his an
gels knew : and now one was commanded to
appear, to comfort the apostle, and to give
him a word of comfort for aU on board. Upon
this he addressed the people in the ship, ex
horting them to take some food, and to be of
good courage ; for that the God to whora 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 Ctesar, which was
a sufficient earnest of his preservation ; for
who, or what, can disappoint the purpose of
God ! Amidst all these threatening appear
ances, 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;
BO that neither elements nor enemies can
hurt them, till the work he has appointed
tJiem is accomplished.
At length the seamen perceived indications
tha't 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 example, to eat a hearty meal, by which
their strength and spirits were recruited to
sustain the fatigue they were yet to under

go. 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 seam'en remained in the ship, they paid
so much regard to his judgraent as immedi
ately 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.
If this island,as is generally supposed, was tbat
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 pas
sengers, who were unexperienced in sea-
affairs, they might probably have let her drive
at random against the rocks where an escape
would, humanly speaking, have been impos
sible. In this view, we may observe, that the
apostle's firra confidence in the promise he
had received was connected with prudent
attention to the means in their power, from
which the promise received was so far from
dispensing thera, that it was their chief en
couragement to be dUigent in employing them.
This incident raay be applied to points of
more general importance : and, if carefully
attended to, might have determined or pre
vented many unnecessary and perplexing
disputes concerning the divine decrees, and
their influence on the contingencies of hu
man life. What God has appointed shaU
surely come to pass : but in such a manner,
that all the raeans and secondary causes, by
wbich he has deterrained to fulfil his de
signs, shaU have their proper place and sub
serviency. 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 reraained immoveable ; but her stem
or hinder part, was presently broken by the
violence of the surges. In the general con
fusion, 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 ff any of them
escaped ; but the centurion, who interested

* "They discovered a certain creek with a shore."
But there was a shore all round the island. AtytxKoi
does not express the sea-coast in general, or a rocky
craggy shore, but the skirts of an open bay, convenient
for launching, landing, or drawing a net for fish. See
Matth. xiii. 2. 48; Jolm xxi. 4. A mariner who under
stood Greek would perhaps render the sentence thus :
" They observed a certain bay, with a beach." And tbis
they chose as the most likely place to get safe to land.
I Towou St('xK^a-,rau is rendered in ourversion, a;i/ac«
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 bad a sufficient depth of water on either tide.

I.]

Af'I'ER I'Hi!; ASCENSION.

75

bimself 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 seventy-six person% came
safe to land.
The inhabitants (Acts xxviu,) though call
ed barbarians, received and accommodated
tbem with great humanity, and manifested a
tendemess too rarely found upon such occa
sions amongst those who bear the name of
christians : they brought them under cover,
and kindled fires to warm and dry thera. The
apostle, who cheerfully suited hiraself 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 thera, fastened itself upon his
hand. He had just escaped from storra 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 seldora
greatly apprehensive for ourselves, but when
sorae formidable appearance is before our
eyes. A tempest, pestilence, or earthquake,
alarms us, and not without reason ; but alas !
we are not such raighty creatures, 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
ofGod, to remove a king from the throne to
the grave, or to cut ofl' the conqueror 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; nei
ther storms, nor flood, nor flames, nor the
many unthought-of evils which lurk around
in the smoothest scenes of life, have permis
sion 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 off 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
marked out for destruction ; but when, after
expecting for some time to see him drop
down dead, they found that he had received
no • harra, they retracted their censure, and
conceived hira to be a god, or something
more than man. This event probably pre
pared them to hear him with attention.
The apostle and his friends were courte
ously entertained three days by Publius, the

chief person of the island, who resided near
tlie place of their landing : He requited the
kindness of his host, by restoring to health bia
father, who had been some time Ul of a fever
and dysentery. In the sarae manner he laid
his hands on many sick persons, who were
healed in answer to his prayers. These ac
ceptable 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 pro
visions 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 thence in two days, at Puteoli, near
Naples, where they disembarked, and con
tinued a week, at the request of the chris
tians of the place. Frora Puteoli to Rome
their journey lay about one hundred milea 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
fiaming with zeal and love, was not always
in the sarae frame. We learn frora his own
account of hiraself, that he had sometimes
sharp exercises of mind ; and perhaps thia
was such o time when his thoughts were
rauch engaged on what awaited hira upon
his arrival at Rome, and his appearance be
fore the cruel and capricious 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 him
self was revived and animated at this junc
ture by the sight of those who were in every
respect inferior to him ; it rejoiced him to
see that Christ his Lord was worshipped 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 Rorae, the centurion
delivered up the prisoners to the prpper of
ficer ; 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 hia
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 tha
gospel to them,) and acquainted them with
the cause of his prosecution and appeal ; he

76

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book It.

assured them that he had no intention, in
vindicating himsolf, 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 raany of thera carae to
him, and he spent the whole day, from morn
ing till evening, in proving, confirming, and
explaining, the nature and necessity of the
gospel and kingdora of Christ, from the books
of Moses and the prophets. His discourse
had good effect upon some, but others be
lieved not, and they departed with consider
able disagreement among themselves; the
apostle taking leave of thera with that so
leran warning, which our Lord had often
used in the course of his rainistry, frora the
prophecy of Isaiah (chap. i. 9, 10,) de
nouncing incurable and judicial blindness
and hardness of heart upon those who wil
fully 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 rauch
success, that his iraprisonraent evidently
contributed to the furtherance of the gospel,
enlarged the nuraber of believers, and ani
raated the zeal and confidence of those who
had already received faith and grace.
A. D. 63.1 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 raany refiec
tions which have raore or less a reference to
our raain design, and partly from a reluc
tance 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 extant, 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 want of in
genuousness 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 show, that a spirit of
* Among the Romans, the prisoner was always chain
ed to the soldier or soldiers who guarded him. St. Paul
spnaksofhis chain both to friends and enemies, with
an indifference that shows how well content he was to
wear it for his Master's sake. See Ephes. vi. 20; 2 Tim.
i. 16

credulity and superstition had very early
and extensive infiuence ; the evident traces
of which have given too fair an occasion to
some persons of more learning than candour,
to attempt to bring the whole of those re
cords into disrepute. But where the cha
racteristic genius and native tendency ofthe
gospel are rightly understood, and carefully
attend^a 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 cen
tury. St. Paul, after more than two years
confinement at Rome, having not yet finish
ed his appointed measure of service, was
providentially preserved from the designs
of aU his eneraies, 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. Tbat
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 supposing
that he was either in France or Britain.
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, be mentions
his purpose of seeing them, in company with
his beloved Timothy ; and writing to PhUe
mon, who lived at Colosse, he requests him
to prepare him a lodging, for that he hoped
to he with him shortly. And it was probably
in this progress that he preached in Crete,
and committed the churches be 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 Rorae, 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 retumed to Rorae, and there received the
crown of martyrdom.
In the accounts preserved of the rest of the
apostles, we likewise meet with great uncer
tainty : nor can any thuig be determined to
satisfaction, concerning either the seat of
their labours, or the tirae and manner of their
deaths. I shall therefore wave a detail of
what is not supported by sufficient proof I
only observe concerning St. Peter, that tho
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

CHAP. 1.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

77

only inconsistent with what is recorded of
him in the Acts, and the sUence of St. Paul
concerning him, in the epistles he wrote
from thence, but it is so far without founda
tion in ecclesiastical history, that it still re
mains a point of dubious controversy, whe
ther 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 suf
fered 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 Roraan 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
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 buming of Troy while Rorae was in
flames. Though he afterwards did many
popular things, and spared no expense in re
lieving the people and rebuilding the city,
he could not clear himself fromthe suspicion
of the feet, 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
subjoin a translation of it for the inforraation
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 riunour, charged the fact, and inflicted
the severest punishraent for it upon the
christians, as they were commonly called, a
people detestable for their crimes. The au
thor of this sect was Christ ; who, in the
reign of Tiberius, was put to death by
Pontius Pilate. The destructive supersti
tion, which was by this means suppressed
for the present, soon broke out again, and
not only overspread Judea, where it first
arose, but reached even to Rome, where all
abominations, frora every quarter, are sure
to meet and to find acceptance. Some who
confessed themselves christians were first
apprehended, and a vast multitude after
wards, upon their impeachment, who were
condemned, not so much for burning the
city, as for being the objects of universal
hatred. Their sufferings and torments were

heightened by mockery and derision. Some
were inclosed in the skins of wUd beasts,
that they might be torn in pieces by dogs;
others were crucified ; and others, being co
vered with inflaramable matter, were lighted
up as torches at the close of day. These
spectacles were exhibited in Nero's gardens ;
where he held a kind of Circensian show,
either mixing with the populace in the habit
of a charioteer, or himself contending in the
race. Hence it carae 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 re
covered strength, and spread far and near
soon afterwards; that they were so ex
tremely odious, on account of the supposed
absurdity and wickedness of their principles,
as to be thought capable of coramitting the
worst crimes, when no sufficient proof could
be found of their having coraraitted any;
that they were treated as the professed ene
mies pf mankind, and therefore, upon tbe
first occasion that offered, were promis
cuously destroyed, with the most unrelent
ing cruelty; that they did not suffer as
comraon 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,
ff we would form a right judgment of the
primitive church. It is possible many per
sons suppose that St. Paul's epistles to the
Romans, Corinthians, and Ephesians were
(like the pastoral letters of bishops in our
own times) addressed to the bulk of the in
habitants in those places ; but the case was
far otherwise. The Romans, to whom St.
Paul wrote, were inconsiderable for their
number, most of thera contemptible in the
sight of the world on account of their poverty
and low rank in lffe, 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 every where else.

78

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book n.

Tertullian expressly asserts that Nero en
joined 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 exaraple of Nero,
without his express injunctions, seems to have
been sufficient to awaken persecution against
a people so generally hated as the christians
Were. Multitudes upon this occasion had
the honour to seal their profession with their
blood; but the cause for which they suffered
triumphed over all opposition, and the mar
tyrs' 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
own bands, that he might escape the most
ignominious punishraent, he having been, by
a decree of the senate, justly and soleranly
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 war, which
ended in the final catastrophe and dispersion
of that nation, was at this time carried on
under the command of Vespasian, who, while
engaged in that service, was saluted emperor
by his army.
A. D. 70.] Upon this, leaving the conduct
ofthe war to his son Titus, he returned to
Italy, and, soon after the death of Vitellius,
was peaceably established on the government.
Titus having a secret commission frora God
(whom he knew not,) to execute his fierce
displeasure against the Jews, upon whom
wrath was now come to the uttermost, after
destroying the whole country of Judea with
fire and sword, laid siege to Jerusalera ; and,
having taken it at the end of five months,
with an incredible slaughter ofthe Jews, 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 who survived were reduced to slavery,
sold and dispersed into all parts, at the will
of the conquerors. Thus ended the Jewish
economy ; and the law of Moses having re
ceived the accoraplishment of all its types,
ceremonies, and precepts, in the person, life,
and death of Jesus the Messiah, was irre
vocably abrogated as to its observance, which
W£is rendered utterly impracticable, by the

destruction of the temple, and the cessation
of the priesthood.
A. D. 79.] Under Vespasian, and Titus,
who succeeded hira, the christian church en
joyed considerable peace and liberty, though
upon raany occasions they suffered from the
ill-will of their adversaries. Few, however,
were put to death publicly and professedly
for their religion, tUl Domitian, who came to
the empire after his brother Titus [a. d. 81,]
and who too much resembled Nero in his
teraper and conduct, imitated him likewise
in his employing his power against the fol
lowers of Christ, [a. d. 94.] Several are
mentioned in history, who suffered in his
time ; but as little of moraent, or that can be
fully depended on, is recorded concerning
them, I wave a recital of bare names. It is
generally believed that St. John was banish
ed to the isle of Patmos by this emperor,
where he wrote his Epistles to the churches
of Asia, and the Revelation of future events
which he had received from the Lord.
Sorae there are who place these events much
earlier, under the reign of Claudius ; but the
former opinion seems most probable, and best
supported by the testiraony 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 returned 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 consider
able space.
Domitian, having made the earth groan
under his cruelties and excesses, was assas
sinated in the sixteenth year of his reign.
[a. d. 96.] Nerva succeeded (a raan of much
fairer character,) who repealed the sanguin
ary edicts of his predecessor ; and it does not
appear that the christians were generally per
secuted 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 ofthe 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 raen vvho
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

CHAP. 1.]

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

79

persecution carried on against them in bis
reign ; and when Pliny (in an epistle still
extant) represented to him the greatness of
their sufferings, and the multitude and inno
cence of the sufferers, the emperor inter
posed no farther by his answer, than to for
bid informations against them, upon suspicion,
to be encouraged, but directed, tliat 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 Wets bishop of Antioch, being brought
before him, he condemned him, with his own
mouth, to be sent to Rome to be devoured by
wild beasts. But we shall resume the ac
count 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 mo
tives which influenced the Heathens so ea
gerly to embrace every occasion of showing
their displeasure against the professors of
Christianity. The original and proper cause of the inju
rious treatment the first Christians met with
from the Heathens, and particularly frora the
Roman governraent, which usually tolerated
every kind of religious worship that did not
interfere with tbe public tranquillity and the
obedience 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 wisdora and will
ofGod. This has been the secret source of
all the persecution which bas been the lot of
the true disciples of Christ in every age. The
sublime doctrines ofthe gospel were offensive
to tbe pretended wisdora of raen, and the spi
rituality of its precepts no less thwarted their
passions. Men, if only left to themselves,
cannot but oppose a systera, 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 whicb universally
prevaU, and brands many of the most allowed
and authorised practices with the hard names
of wickedness and foUy. But they are not
left to themselves, but are in a degree they
are little aware of, under tbe 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 dis
positions are thus instigated by the great
enemy of God and goodness, it is entirely
owing to the powerful restraints of the pro
vidence ofthe Most High, that his servants
can at any time, or in any place, enjoy an
* See Introduction, note.

interval of rest ; and though he has always
made good his promise in favour of his
church, that the gates of hell shall not pre
vail 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 attacks,
and subsists, revives, and flourishes, amidst
the changes which sweep away almost the
remembrance of the most prosperous human
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, amd those who are
sincerely devoted to him are evidently dis
tinguished from hypocrites and pretenders,
who join in an outward attachment to his gos
pel in times of prosperity, but are presently
wearied and disgusted when storms and trou
bles arise.
Araongst the more particular reasons why
Christianity was obnoxious to the Heathens,
not only to persons of vile character, as Nero,
but to such as Trarjan 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 easUy accommodated to similar
events, which stand upon the records of his
tory down to our own tiraes ; and their ef^
feet will probably be felt by many who are
yet unborn.
1. The doctrine of the cross was, and per
haps always wiU 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 malefector.
This, considered in one view, was thought
such a kind and degree of infatuation, as pro
voked the raost sovereign and universal con
tempt ; and, in another view, it raised a grave
concern for the interests of morality and vir
tue, in those whose pride was flattered by
their own erapty declamations on those
sounding topics. Every thing that was evil,
they thought, might be expected from men
who openly declared, that they hoped for
etemal happiness, not for their own works,
which in tbis connexion 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 tbe same time, conceal the principles
and motives on which they act, they might
perhaps corae off more easUy with the world;
for the justice, temperance, goodness, and
truth, which becorae their high calling, are
suited to conciliate peace with all men. But
their principles must not, cannot, be con
cealed. Those who know and love Jesus, and
are sensible of their immense obligations to
him, win glory in hira, and in him only ; they
wiU avow, that it is not by their own power

80

PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL

[book II.

or holiness that they escape the pollutions
of the world, but that they derive all their
strength frora 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 thera 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 intercommunity ; that is, every one had a
liberty to adopt what worship he pleased,
provided due honour was given to the an
cient establishments. The votaries of the
Egyptian, Roman, and Syrian deities, while
they paid sorae peculiar regard to their
own favourites, indulged each other in a mu
tual acknowledgment of the rest : but the
religion of Jesus was absolutely incompatible
with them all, would admit of no corapetition;
and his followers 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 effectually secure a raan in the peace
ful possession of his own errors, than his
pleading for the indifference of error in ge
neral, and allowing those who most widely
differ from him to be all right in their own
way ; and this lukewarm comprehension,
which is a principa> part of that pretended
candour and charity for which our own times
are so reraarkable, preserves a sort of inter
course 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 deviation
from it ; they are obliged to decline the pro
posed intercoraraunity, and to vindicate the
comraands and institutions of God from the
inventions and traditions of raen : they not
only build for theraselves 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 narae
given under heaven by which a sinner can
be saved ; and that none can have an interest
in this narae but by that faith which purifies
the heart, works by love, and overcoraes the
world ; therefore they always have been, and
always wUl be, hated, as uncharitable and
censorious, and are sure to be treated accord- '
ingly, so far as opportunity and circurastances
will permit those, who think themselves ag
grieved, to discover their resentment.
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 soUcitous to

preserve the old religion from innovations.
The history of raankind furnishes us with fre
quent proofs, that persons, in other respects
of the greatest penetration and genius, have
often been as blindly devoted to the absurdi
ties of a false religion as the weakest among
the vulgar ; or, if they have seen the folly of
many things that have the sanctions of anti
quity and custom ; yet the maxims of a false
policy, and that supposed connexion and al
liance between the established religion and
the welfare of the state, which has been in-
stiUed into them frora 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
seeras to have been infiuenced by these consi
derations ; 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 se
curity, ofthe governraent. The 'Christians,
therefore, were to be punished, not only for
their obstinacy in maintaining their own opi
nions, but as being eventually eneraies tothe
state ; for though their conduct was peace
able, and they paid a cheerful obedience to
laws and governors, while they did not in
terfere with that obedience they owed to
Christ, their supreme Lord, yet their doc
trines, which struck at the very root of idol
atry, made them accounted dangerous to so
ciety, and deserving to be exterminated
frora it.
4. These suspicions were strengthened by
the great success and spread the gospel
obtained 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 forraidable, 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
nurabers and constancy of the sufferers, and
the gentle spirit of meekness, forgiveness, and
love, which they discovered, often raade last
ing irapressions 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 extir
pate, if possible, these odious and dangerous
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 probably invented by those who
apostatized from the church, who, to justify
theraselves, as well as to evince their sin-

HHAP. I.]
cerity, pretended to make discoveries of horrid
evil^ that prevailed amongst 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 entertained of this pestilen
tial and despicable sect. But neither violence
nor calumny could prevaU against the cause
and people of God and his Christ. They were
supported by an alraighty arm : and though
many had the honour to lay down their lives
in this glorious cause, many more were pre
served, by his providence, in the most dan
gerous 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 ofthe earth. Chris
tians were to be found in every province
where the Roman power ruled, and in most
of their principal cities; and though not
many noble, mighty, or wise, were called,
yet some there were ; and the power of tbe
grace of Jesus was displayed in every rank
of life. Courtiers, senators, and comraanders,
notwithstandmg the difficulty of their situa
tion, were not ashamed of his cross ; and some
of the learned obtained that peace and hap
piness, 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 withift 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 collect
ed societies 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 la
bours, seem to have had the greatest number
of settled churches, in proportion to their ex
tent ; and their largest assemblies were pro
bably in their principal cities, such as An
tioch, Alexandria, and Rome. But we have
reason to believe, from our Lord's own decla
rationa, that real Chriatians, in the most
flourishing tirnes of the church, have been
very few, in comparison with the many who
choose the broad and beaten road which leads
to destruction (Matt vii. 13, 14 :) but these
few are under his conduct and blessing, as
the salt of the earth, and are therefore scat
tered far and wide, according to the disposal
of his wise providence, who appoints the time
of their birth, and the bounds of their habita
tion. Vol. IL L

AFTER THE ASCENSION.

81

If by the epithet primitive we mean that
period during which the professed churches
of Christ preserved their faith and practice
remarkably pure, and uninfluenced by the
spirit and maxims of the world, we cannot
C-xtend it far beyond the first century. We are
sure that a raournful declension prevailed
very early, and quickly spretid, like a conta
gion, far and wide ; and, indeed, the seeds of
those evils which afterwards produced such
a plentiful harvest of scandals and mischiefs,
were already sown, and began to spring up,
while the apostles were yet living- And we
shall show hereafter, that the first and purest
age of the church was not free from such
blemishes as have been observable in all suc
ceeding revivals of true religion. These
things are to be guarded against with the
utmost attention ; biit they will more or less
appear while huraan nature continues in its
present state of infirmity. WhUe the pro
fessors of Christianity were few in comparison
of their opponents, while they were chiefly
poor and obscure persons, and had sharp per
secutions to grapple with, so long they pre
served the integrity and purity of their pro
fession in general ; and the disorders whicli
appeared among thera were faithfully and
successfully opposed and corrected ; afflictions
and sufferings kept thera firmly united in a.
love to the truth, and to each other : but when
they were favoured with intervals of peace,
and the increase of numbers and riches
seemed to give them a more fixed establish
ment in the world, they were soon corrupted;
and that beautiful simplicity which is the
characteristic of genuine Christianity, was ob
scured by will-worship and vain reasonings.
Amongst the multitudes who abandoned idola
try, and embraced the christian faith, there
were several who had borne the specious
name of philosophers. Some of these, on the
one hand, laboured to retain as many of their
favourite sentiraents as they could by any
means reconcUe to the views they had formed
of the gospel ; 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 generally acceptable. Thus the doc
trines of the scriptures were adulterated by
those within the church, and misrepresented
to those without. Perhaps the first altera
tions of this kind were not atterapted with a
bad intention, or extended to the raost import
ant points; but the precedent was dangerous ;
for the progress of error, like that of ain, is
from small beginnings to awful and un
thought-of consequences. Gospel-truth, like
a bank opposed to a torrent, must be pre
served entire, 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

82

ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR

[book tt.

will quickly follow. In effect, a very consi
derable deviation from the plan ofthe apostles
had taken place in the churches before the de
cease 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
Roraans. This epistle is not unsuitable to
the character of the time when it was written,
and contains many usefiil 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 perforraance : it stands
first, both in point of tirae and merit, in the
list of those writings which bear the narae of
tbe apostolical fathers; for the rest of them,
if the genuine productions of the persons
whose names they bear, were coraposed in
the second century: for as to the epistle
ascribed to Barnabas, St. Paul's corapanion,
those who are strangers to the arguraents 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 tbe book called the Shepherd of Hermas,
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 prevaUed: for I think I may ven
ture to say, there are few, ff any of the pro
testant churches, but have furnished authors
whose writings (I mean the writings of some
one author) have far surpassed aU the apos
tolical 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 de
siring that distinguishing admiration, and
implicit submission, to aU their sentiments,
whicb were paid them by the ignorance and
superstition of after tiraes; yet they were
eminent for feith, 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 them
selves often extorted honourable testimonies,

even from their opposers. Could they have
transmitted their spirit, together with their
narae, to succeeding 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 undue regard to the names,
authority, and pretensions of men, introduced
those confusions, contentions, and enormities,
which at length issued in an almost universal
apostacy from that faith and course of prac
tice which alone are worthy the name of
Christianity. The prosecution of this subject,
raore 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 cen
sure or withstand the abuses of the times
they lived in, will be attempted in the fol
lowing volumes of this work,* if God, in
whose hands our times are, is pleased to
afford opportunity, and if the specimen pre
sented to the public, in this volume, should so
far meet the approbation of competent jiidges,
as to encourage the author to proceed.
Some particulars which raay conduce to
render the state of the church in the first
century raore evident to the reader, as well
as to give light into the true state of religion
amongst ourselves, and which could not be
well introduced in the course of our narra
tion, without raaking too frequent and too
long digressions, I have, for that reason,
treated of separately in the chapters thai
follow.

CHAPTER IL
An essay on the character of St. Paul, con
sidered as an exemplar or pattern of a
minister of Jesus Christ.
The success with which the first promul
gation of the gospel was attended, is to be
ultimately ascribed to the blessing and opera
tion 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 raen, is the subject-raatter of the gospel
itseff. 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 inef
fectual, unless accommodated to the princi
ples of revelation respecting the ruin of
human nature by sin, and the only possible
method ofits recovery by Jesus Christ.
And as the Holy Spirit bears witness to no
other doctrine, so he ordinarily restrains bis
blessing to those ministers who have them-

* See Introduction, note.'

CHAP. II. J v^r iT. iiiii^iKJij.
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 accept
ance : the want of that disinterested and de
pendent fi-ame of mind which the gospel
inculcates on all who profess it, will render
his labours insignificant; for the Holy Spirit,
on whose influence success entirely depends,
wiU seldom co-operate with any but those
who are sincerely 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 raen
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 connexion
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, frora his
situation in an evil world, the power and
subtlety of his spiritual enemies, and the in
fluence of the body of sin in hiraself, which,
though weakened and despoiled of dorainion,
is not yet destroyed. A minister of the gos
pel, besides these trials in common with other
christians, has many peculiar to himself: His
services are raore difficult, his temptations
more various, his conduct more noticed;
many eyes are upon him, — sorae 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 encouraged and accept
able, he is in danger of being greatly hurt by
popularity and the favour of friends; if op
posed and ill-treated (and this he must ex
pect in some instances if he is faithful,) he is
liable either to be surprised into anger and
impatience, or to sink into dejection ,and fear.
It is therefore a great encouragement to find
from scripture (and not from scripture only,)
how the grace of God has enabled others, in
equal circurastances of danger and terapta-
tion, to rise superior to all irapediraents, and
to raaintain such a course of 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
animating exemplar of a minister of Jesus

OF CHRIST.

83

Christ And if it should be thought a digres
sion from the design of an Ecclesiastica'
History, to allot a few pages to the considera
tion of his principles, and the uniform tenor
of his life, yet I hope the digression will not
be unprofitable in itself, or judged unsuitable
to ray general plan; for I proposed not to
confine myself to a dry detail of facts, but to
point out the genuine tendency ofthe gospel
where it is truly received, and the spirit by
which it is opposed, and to show the impos
sibility of reviving practical godliness by
any other raeans than those which were so
signally successful in the first age of the
church. Were I 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 sarae open
disingenuous treatraent 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 prevaUing taste of
the times, he is comraended 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
atterapting 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
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 his
tory which St. Luke has given us in the
Acts ; but I would now attempt a more exact
delineation of character, as it is farther ex
emplified in his own epistles, or may be U-
lustrated frora a review of what has beei)
occasionally raentioned 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
situation in life, and their earliest connex
ions: he watches over their chUdhood and
youth, and preserves them from innumerable
evils and dangers into which their follies,
whUe in a state of ignorance and sin, might
plunge them ; and he permits their inclina
tions to take such a course, that, when he is
pleased to caU them to the knowledge of his

84

ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR

[book II.

truth, many consequences of their past con
duct, and the reflections they make upon
them, may concur, upon the whole, in a sub
serviency to fit thera 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 thera
up so far to the effects of their own depravity,
that, in the judgment of men, none seem
more unlikely to be the sulijects of his grace,
than some of those whom he has purposed
not only to save frora ruin, but to raake in
struraental to the salvation of others. I
doubt not but some of ray 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 thera by those who know them. It
is, however, peculiarly exemplified in the
case of St. Paul : he was set apart frora the
worab, as he himself tells us (Gal. i. 15,) to
be a chosen instrument of preaching among
the GentUes the unsearchable riches of
Christ. The frarae of bis 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 erabraced it
^ The Lord's purpose was to show the insuf
ficiency of all legal appointments and human
attainraents, the power of his grace in sub
duing 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 ef
fectually answered, in a single instance,
than by making choice of our apostle, who
had been possessed of every advantage that
can be imagined exclusive of the gospel, and,
in consequence of these advantages, had
made the raost pertinacious efforts to sup
press it : he was born a Jew, bred up under
Gamaliel, a chief of the Pharisees (PhU. iii,)
the sect which professed the most peculiar
attachment to the law of Moses: his conduct
before he becarae a. christian was undoubt
edly raoral, if we understand morality in that
lean and confined sense wbich it too fre
quently bears among ourselves, as signifying
no raore than an exemption from gross vices,
together with a round of outward duties per
forraed in a mercenary, servile spirit, to
soothe conscience, and purchase the favour
of God. While he was thus busied in ob
serving the letter of the law, he tells us,
he was alive,— that is, he pleased himself in
his own attainments, doubted not of his
abUity 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
becarae 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 bis epistles; for,
though tbe Lord forgave him, he knew not
how to forgive bimself for having persecuted
and wasted the church of God (Gal. i. 13;
1 Cor. XV. 9 :) he made havoc of the disci
ples 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 tbe hateful spirit of persecution, which
is undistinguishing and unrelenting. The
raischiefs he could do in Jerusalem, not be
ing sufficient to gratify his insatiable cruelty
and thirst of blood, he obtained (as has been
formerly observed) a commission frora the
high-priest to harass the disciples at Da
mascus. 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 commission to the apostolic office,
he began to preach that faith whicb before
he had so industriously laboured to destroy.
In this new light we are now to consider
him ; and whatever may be reasonably ex
pected from a sense of such a display ofgrace
and mercy in his behaff, we shall find mani
fested in the subsequent course of his life.
Happy are those who corae the nearest to
such an exeraplary pattern.
I. Tbe characteristic excellence of St.
Paul, which was as the spring or source of
every other grace, was the ardency of the
supreme love be bore to his Lord and Sa
viour: it would not be easy to find many
periods throughout his epistles which do not
evidence the fulness of his heart in this re
spect: he seems delighted even with the
sound of the name of Jesus, so that, regard
less of the cold rules of studied composition,
we find him repeating it ten times in the
compass of ten successive verses, ICor.i.
1 — 10. He was so struck with the just claim
the Saviour had to every heart, that he ac
counted a want of love to him the highest
pitch of ingratitude and wickedness, and de
serving the utmost severity of wrath and
ruin, 1 Cor. xvi. 22. When he was con
scious that, for his unwearied application to
the service of the gospel, in defiance of the
raany dangers and deaths which awaited hira
in every place, he appeared to many as one

CHAP, n.]

OP A MINISTER OF CHRIST.

beside himself, and transported beyond the
bounds of sober reason, he thought it a suffi-:
cient 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 ourselves,
that he may be all in all: he had such a
sense of the glorious, invaluable excellence
ofthe person of Christ, of his adorable con
descension in taking the nature and curse
of sinners upon bimself, and his complete
suitableness and sufficiency, as the wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
of his people, tbat he often seeras at a loss
for words answerable to the eraotions 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 subject,
the height, and depth, and length, and breadth
of which are too great for our feeble capaci
ties 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 tilings 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 tlie gospel, and ap
pointed to everlasting salvation, was indeed
an instance of wonderful grace. So it ap
peared 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 hira who had loved him, and given
himself fbr him. Happily convinced of the
tendency and efficacy of this principle in
himself, be proposes it to others, instead of a
thousand arguments, whenever he would in
culcate the most unreserved obedience to the
whole wUl of God, or stir up believers to a
holy diligence in adorning the doctrine of
their God and Saviour in all things ; and his
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 hira whom he loved, and
bearing testiraony to his power and grace :
nothing could dishearten, or terrify, or bribe
hira from his duty; and this must, and wUl,
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 admired accomplishments, if he
is not constrained, and directed by the love of
Christ, he will either do nothing, or nothing
to the purpose : he wUl be unable to support

eilljer the frowns or the smiles ofthe world ;
-llia«ti|d-i]es..aji(l..endeavour8 will certainly be
ijsf|u83j<*a:iiy'ibw .and selfish views : interest,
of' a desire'of applause, may stiipulate him to
shine as a scholar, a crttic,or a' philosopher ;
but tUl 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
exhibits an instructive and affecting example ;
the warmth and cordiality of bis love to those
who loved his Lord and Master, appear in
every page of his writings ; he so rejoiced in
their prosperity, that, to bear 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 dis
couraged ; but when he had occasion to ex
postulate with some upon this account, he
adds, I will stUl gladly spend and be spent for
you, though the more I love you, the less I
am loved, 2 Cor. xu. 5. Of such a generous
temper as this, the world, would they observe
it, must acknowledge (as the magician- 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
with coldness and ingratitude. His epistles
to the Thessalonians abound in such expres
sions and strains of tenderness as would doubt
less be generally adraired (especially by those
who can read them in the original,) were they
not overlooked, through the unhappy disre
gard which too many show 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 bad
been frora abusing his authority, he says, We
were gentle among you, even as a nurse
(or mother) cherisheth 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 weU if all Who
have aimed to derive a plenitude of power
frora the example ofthe 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.

* 2 Cor. vii. 7, 13; see likewise Phil. ii. 28, which
iinely intimates his tenderness and affection. He was
oppressed with sorrow upon sorrow ; yet he felt njore
for the Philippians than for himself He mourned oyer
Epaphroditus, when sick for their sakes; and sent him
away for their comfort when recovered : and this he did
as the most effectual raeans to lessen his own burden,
by sympathizing in that jcy tiis friends would have in
the interview, though he could not directly partake with
them.

ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR

[book II.

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
frora you,' the original term* has an emphasis
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 be
yond 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 ha
bitual desire to be with Christ ; he could not
determine 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, PhU. i. 23, 24. In
the passage referred to, we see the_ happy
centripetal and centrifugal forces which car
ried hira on through the circle of duty, he
constantly tended and gravitated to his centre
of rest : but successive opportunities of use
fulness and service drew hira off, and made
hira willing to wait yet longer.
In this part of his character we are not to
consider hira exclusively as an apostle. All
who have truly known the gospel to be the
power of God unto salvation, are partakers
of the same spirit, according to the raeasure
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 hira. This is the immutable criterion
which our Lord himself has given, whereby
his real disciples are to be known and ac
knowledged, 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 rautual 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 propor
tionably filled with a spirit of love to all who
are fike minded. But especially this disposi.

tion is essential to a minister of the gospel;
and the apostle assures us, that all imagin
able qualifications are of no avail without it;
though we could possess the powers of a pro
phet, 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.
ni. 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 cor
rupted the word of God.J The word properly
signifies to adulterate, to imitate the practice
of dishonest vintners, who mix and sophisti
cate their liquors, so that, though the colour
is preserved and the taste perhaps nearly
counterfeited, the quality and properties are
quite altered and depraved. But he says, We
are not as they : he preached the gospel in its
purity and siraplicity, the sincere genuine
milkj of the word, neither weakened by
water, nor disguised by any artful sweeten
ing 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 supported and assisted by
inventions of his own ; he knew whose word
it was, and therefore cheerfully 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 declaration 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 candour and forbearance
is pleaded for and extended 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

* Asrof^avto-esi/Tf;, 1 Thess, ii. 17.

t Soundivg brass, without meaning, and without life.
Such are thp most specious gifts and performances, if
unaccompanied by a spirit of love; they may perhaps
be useful to others, as the sound of a bell gives notice,
and brings people together, but the possessor himself is
a lifeless instrument; he designs no good, and will rs
ceive nu reward.
J. K«ff,^ii.o»Ti5, 2 Cor. ii. 17.
§ A. ^01. >»/.», IPet. ii,3.

CHAP. II.]

OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST.

67

in the doctrine they had received from him ;
it was chiefly in one point: they had been
persuaded into an undue regard for the law
of Moses. This, some may think, was littie
more than a circumstantial : that it could not
have any great or direct influence upon their
moral practice ; and that they might be very
good men, and good christians, though, in
tills 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 scandalous im
moralities, he could hardly have expressed
his surprise and grief in stronger terms ; he
changes his usual raanner of address, and
speaks to thera as a senseless people (Gal. iii.
1,) under the power of sorae 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 effect, received another gospel, which
was, however, so enervated and despoUed of
efficacy, that it was, more properly speaking,
becorae no gospel at all, utterly 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 possible, it should be him
self, or an angel from heaven; and this de
nunciation he immediately repeats, lest it
should be thought that he spoke rather from
warmth of teraper than from a just sense of
the importance of the case. What would
some of ray readers think of a man who
should, at this time, express himself in terms
like these 1 But let it be remembered, that
our apostle, who was so ready with an ana
thema upon this occasion, and who, in an
other place (1 Cor. xvi. 22,) passes the sarae
severe judgraent upon any raan who does not
love the Lord Jesus Christ, was far frora
speaking thus frora emotions of anger and
ill-will ; the disposition of his own mind, the
tender concern with which he viewed the
worst of sinners raay be judged of from his
wUlingness to be made an anathema himself
(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
messenger of the Lord, he solemnly declared
what must, and wUl be, the awful conse
quence of neglecting or corrupting the word
of life.
Every faithful minister of the gospel is
possessed of a degree of the same attention
to the purity of the truth and feith once de
livered 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 raust 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 tliey act from principles of be
nevolence and love, and would rejoice in the
salvation of their greatest opposers. The
world perhaps would judge raore favourably
of them if they knew all ; if they were wit
nesses to the prayers and tears which they
pour out for thera in secret, and the emotions
of raind they feel when they are constrained
to declare the raore awful parts of their mes
sage; but as ministers, and in their public
work, they cannot avoid pointing out the
danger of those who venture their souls and
eternal hopes upon any other doctrine 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 thera, he exercised,
upon all occasions, a great tenderness to
weak consciences, in raatters that were not
essential to the faith, and when the scruples
were owing rather to a want of clear light
than to obstinacy. This was evident in his
conduct with regard to the great controversy
that soon took place between the Jewish and
GentUe converts, 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
iraraediately see was superseded by the gos
pel of Christ : He knew and asserted his own
liberty; yet, in condescension to the weak
ness of others, be often abridged hiraself of
it, and declared that, rather than grieve or
cause offence to a weak brother, he would
eat no meat while the world stood. His prac
tice herein wUl probably be of general ap
plication, mutatis mutandis, so long as the
present state of human infirmity subsists. A
defect in knowledge, the prejudices of educa
tion and custom, the remains of a legal spirit,
the influence of great names, and other causes
of a like nature, will probably always ope
rate, so far as to keep up lesser differences in
judgment and practice amongst those who
agree in the great and fundamental truths.
The eneiry gains too much advantage frora
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 extreraes, to exag
gerate trifles into points of great consequence,
and to render us averse to the healing ex
pedients of peace. From these sources, dis
cords and evils innumerable have been mtU-
tiplied and perpetuated among the various

88

ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR

[book II.

denominations under which the Lord's people
have been ranged, which have greatly hin
dered the welfare and progress ofthe common
cause, and exposed each contending party to
the scorn of their real enemies. But were
the spirit and conduct of our apostle more
adopted, raany debates would entirely cease ;
and in those things where a difference of
judgment would still subsist, the exercise of
patience, gentleness, and rautual 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 know
ledge, abUities, and usefulness, was eminently
superior to all those among whom he chiefiy
conversed, and, as an apostle, he had a
stronger right than any man since the apos
tle'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 exercise of tenderness to the
weakest of the flock.
It is not my present business to define what
are properly essentials m the christian reli
gion, and to separate thera clearly from the
less important points, which, for that reason,
and in contradistinction to the other, are
called circumstantials. 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 writ
ten (with little satisfaction) upon the subject
I foresee a future period in our history, when
a disquisition of this kind will be almost ne
cessary ; and if I am spared to reach so far,
I shall probably embrace the occasion. In
the mean time I would just hint an observa
tion or two upon this head, which the intelli
gent reader (if he thinks them just) may ap
ply as he sees proper.
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 narae even of 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 purpose of edifi
cation cannot be attained without them ; but

they seem not to deserve a place even among
the circumstantials of a religion which is of
divine institution. All the laboured argu
raents, whether for or against the colour of a
garraent the shape of a building, and a mul
titude of other things equaUy insignificaht,
seera to have occasioned a needless loss of
tirae 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 coraprised in two, Faith
and Holiness. These are essential to thebeinw
of a Christian, are only to be found in a chris^
tiai, are infallible tokens that the possessor
is accepted in the Beloved, and whoever dies
without thera must assuredly perish : These
are essentials, because they are absolutely
necessary ; for it is written, " He that be
lieveth not shall be daraned" (Mark xvi. 16,)
and " Without holiness no man shall see the
Lord" (Heb. xu. 14 :) and they are essential
likewise, because they demonstrate an inter
est 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 frora sin, and become the
servants of God, you have your fruit unto
holiness, and the end everlasting lffe," Rom.
vi. 22. These then are the essentials of re
ligion : 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 distinguished for the conviction
of those who 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 faith which is not evidenced by the fruits
of holiness, by gracious tempers, and a tenor
of life becoraing the gospel, is dead, delusory,
and destructive.
If the question is reraoved another step,
and it should be asked, Which, or how many,
ofthe doctrines of scripture are necessary to
produce the faith and holiness supposed re
quisite ] it raay suffice to say. That, in the
nature of things, no person can be expected
to believe in Christ, till convuiced of his
need of him, and of his abUity, as a Saviour,
fuUy to answer his expectations : and as a
supreme love to God, and a hatred of aU sin,
are evidentiy included m the idea of holmess,

A TJi'ir.V.

OF CHRIST.

it supposes a dispoaition of mind, whicb 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 raedia-
tory acts of Christ, the causes, ends, and
effects of his mediation, together with the
necessity of that change of heart which is
expressed by a being born again, appear to
be essentially necessary to that faith and
holiness wbich 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 certainty, with regard to
these -points, which though not essentially
necessary to tbe 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 raan
may live without an arra or leg, or several
members and organs, which, though highly
valuable for use and comfort, are not neces
sarily connected with life ; but ff we conceive
of him as deprived of his head, heart or lungs,
we can no longer consider him as living ; yet
it is desirable to have a body not only ani
mated, but organized. So likewise in reli
gion, those who are truly partakers of it will
not too curiouiJy inquire, how much know
ledge, 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 may have a suitable influence upon their
practice : But, in the mean time, a consola
tion 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 re
maining ignorance, they are yet subject to :
He will supply what is wanting, pardon what
ia amiss, and lead them on from strength to
strength; they are to walk by the light al
ready afforded, to wait on him for an in
crease, 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
Vol. il M

to no other ends than the glory of God and
the good of men. No raan had probably so
great an influence over his hearers, or could
have a juster claim, from the nature and
number of his services, to a suitable provision
for hiraself; but he could say with truth, 'V\'e
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 him
self to us a pattern in this respect ; fbr he tells
us (1 Cor. ix. 14,) that the labourer is wor
thy of his hire ; and that the Lord had ordain
ed, that those who preach the gospel should
live by the gospel ; and when he saw it ex
pedient, he did not refuse to be hiraself as
sisted by others. He showed, by accepting
such assistance frora some, that he under
stood his liberty, and did not act from a spirit
of pride or singularity, when he declined it ;
and, by his more general practice, he evi
denced that he was superior 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 well as to
suffer want, the latter seems to have been
more frequently his lot (Phil. iv. 12:) he
saw too raany false teachers, who, under the
sanction of a sacred character, made mer
chandize of souls; and he not only severally
censured them, but, by this self-denial, which
they were unable to imitate, he manifested
the vanity of their pretences in setting them
selves forth as the apostles of Christ. Tbis
seeras to have been the 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 much in
clined to listen to some of these teachers, to
his disadvantage. But whatever parade they
might make of gifts or zeal, or however they
might presume to equal themselves to him
in other respects, he knew they would not
atterapt to share with him in the glory of
preaching the gospel freely, which was dia
metrically inconsistent with their whole de
sign. 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 andvantages, and making
every thing stoop to the great ends of his
mission, he stands as a precedent to all chris
tian ministers in succeeding times. In those
* 1 Cor. ix. 18. That I may make the gospel of Christ
without charge. — A^wt^vo,' ^„(rw, that I may set it
before 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 tliat 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 inessage as they could in hearing
it, and found his reward in ilis employment.

so

ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR

[BOOK II.

passages of his epistles to Tunothy and Titus,
where the negative part of a minister's cha
racter, 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
constantly the word is corapounded with the
epithet filthy : " Not given to filthy lucre ;"
to intimate, that nothing can be more dis
honest or dishonourable than to make a traffic
of this service. Nor is this the jijdgment of
scripture only, but tbe general voice of raan
kind. Nothing is a greater bar to a minis
ter's usefulness, or renders his person and
labours more conteraptible, than a known at
tachraent 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 raan
to the lash of huraan 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 atill binding, a day will come when
mercenary preachera will wish they had beg
ged their bread frora 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
denunciations upon this head in the prophets
Jeremiah (chap, xxiii.) and Ezekiel (chap.
xui. and xxxiv,) with indifference, as sup
posing tbey only relate to the Jews who
lived at that time ; but they are equally ap
plicable 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
exemplified in our apostle. Hardly any word
in our language is more misunderstood, or
abused than zeal.* It is used in the New
Testament indifferently in a good or bad
sense; and it is considered as a vice or vir
tue, according to its object and principle. It
sometimes denotes envy,] indignation, or dis
dain, an obstinate and ignorant opposition to
* All religious parties profess a great regard to the
precept, Jude 3. "Contend earnestly for the faith."
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 tbeir obedience. But if the weapons of our warfare
are not carnal ; — if the wrath of man worketh not the
righteousness of God;— if the true Christian contention
can only be maintained by scripture arguments, meek
ness, patience, prayer, and an exemplary conversation ;
— if this is the true state of the case, where is the church
or party (may I not say, where is the person?) that has
not still much to learn and to practise on this point?
t 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
3 cor. ix. 2 ; Col. iv. 13; John ii. 17.

the truth, a misguided warmth in unneces
sary things, and a contentious, disputatious
temper. A zeal replete with these characters
has too frequently been the bane and oppro
brium 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 judg
raent is well informed, and the understanding
duly enlightened by the word of God, the
more warmth the better ; but this eamestness
in an ignorant or prejudiced person is dan
gerous, 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 inventions of
men ; it enforces its edicts by compulsion and
severity ; it would willingly caU for fire ftom
heaven, but, unable to do this, it kindles the
flame of persecution, and, if not providentially
restrained, wages war with the peace, com
fort, and liberty of all who disdain to wear its
chains, and breathes threatening, slaughter
and destruction with an unrelenting spirit
Its mUdest weapons (which it never employs
alone, except where it is checked by a supe
rior power) are calumny, contempt and hatred;
and the objects it seeks to worry are gene
rally 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 man
kind. A sense of the worth of souls, the im
portance of unseen things, and the awful
condition of unawakened sinners, makes it
indeed earnest and importunate, but this it
shows not by bitterness and constraint, but
by an unwearied perseverance in attempting
to overcome}: evil with good: it returns bless
ings for curses, prayers for Ul treatment;
and, though often revUed and affronted, can
not be discouraged from renewed efforts to
make others partakers of the happiness itself
possesses: it knows how to express a becom
ing indignation against the errors and follies
of men; but towards their persons it is all

X See Romans xxii. 20, 21. This practice the apostle
recommends by the metaphor of heaping coals of fire on
an enemy's head. As metals that endure a moderate
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 series, and
indefatigable heaping up of favours and obligation^.
This is a noble piece of chemistry, but almost as much
out of repute and practice as the search after the philo
sopher's stone. ;

CHAP. It]

OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST.

91

gentleness and compassion:* it weeps (and
would, if possible, weep tears of blood) over
those who will not be persuaded ; but, while
it plainly represents the consequences of
their obstinacy, it trembles at its own de-
clarations,t and feels for them who cannot
feel for themselves, it is often grieved, but
cannot be provoked. The zealous christian
is strictly observant of his own failings, can
did and tender to the feults of others: he
knows what allowances are due to the frailty
of human nature, and the temptations of the
present state, and wUlingly makes all the
allowances possible ; aiid though he dare not
call evil good, cannot but judge according to
the rule of the scripture, yet he will conceal
tbe infirraities of raen as much as he can,
frill not speak of thera without just cause,
much less will he aggravate the case, or
boast himself over thera. Such was the zeal
of our apostle. Bold and intrepid in the cause
of God and truth, unwearied in service, in
flexible in danger, when duty called, be was
not to be restrained, either by the threats of
eneraies, the solicitations of friends, or the
prospect of any hardships to which he might
be exposed: he cheerfully endured hunger
and thirst, watching and weariness, poverty
and contempt, and counteil not his life dear,
so that he might fulfil the great purposes of
the ministry which he had received of. the
Lord. But at the sarae tirae, in all his inter
course with men, he was gentle, mild, and
compassionate; he«tudied the peace, and ac
commodated hiraself to the weakness of all
about him : when he might command, he used
entreaties ; when he met with hard and in
jurious treatment, he bore it patiently, and,
if opportunity offered, requited it with kind
ness. 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 exaraine how far
their tempers and conduct are conforraable
to St Paul's. Are there not too raany who
widely differ frora himi Where he was im-

* When Pt. 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. iii. 2. His wish concerning these
sectaries has been often perverted, to give sanction to
the rage of persecutors ; Init lie 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.
t 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. 13; Mark ix. 43. — 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 Jesus; 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.

raoveable as an iron pillar, they are flexible
and yielding as a reed wavmg in the wind,
suiting their doctrines and practice to the
depraved state ofthe world, and prostituting
their talents and calling to the unworthy
pursuit of ambition an.i applause. On the
other hand, in things, less essential, or not
commanded, they invade the rights of private
judgraent, and attempt to bind heavy yokesf
and impositions upon those whora 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 rainisters: tbeir 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 infiuence in
their rainistrations, plainly demonstrate that
he neither sent them nor owns them.
VII. Having considered the subject-mat
ter, and the leading views of the apostle's
rainistry, it may not be improper to take some
notice of his raanner as a preacher. Tbis he
rerainds the Corinthians of They were re
puted a polite and ingenuous people. St.
Paul was aware of their character, and ex
presses hiraself as if he had been deliberating
before he saw them in what way he should
address thera with the fairest probabUity of
success. He tells them (1 Cor. ii. 2-— 4,)
that he determined to know nothing among
them but Jesus Christ, and hira crucified,
including in this one coraprehensive expres
sion, the whole scherae 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 wisdora, 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 raost admired orators, aa
may appear to any who have skill and can
dour to compare his epistles and discourses,
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 terra raan'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-
4 Matth x\]ii. 4. *' They hind 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
flngers." 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 yokes and basdj
upon others.

92

ST. PAUL AN EXEMPLAR

[book II.

strained to those who, sensible of their own
foolishness, are brought to believe in Jesus
Christ, the wisdom of GtDd ; and the enticing
words of man's wisdom may include all those
ways and arts which the wise men of the
world have used orapproved, as most effectual
to express, adorn,* or defend their ovra wise
sentiments and discoveries. These, and the
methods of setting them off to advantage,
have been divided into many branches, and
dignified with sounding naraes; 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 whicb 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 fiow of words to please and arause 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 speciraens of each frora
the works of the ancient and modern philo
sophers ; but if we had not other eraployment
in hand, it would be easy to show 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
taste and judgment of his hearers, he spoke
with authority, in the narae 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 siraplicity and truth. The success of his
preaching did not at all depend upon the soft
ness and harraony of his periods, and there-
* 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 tbey 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 tlieir purpose.
t 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 demonstiate the truth of his
doctrines, by ancient prophecies, by recent facts, and by
a present incontestible efficacy. Yet it is called " the
demonstration of the Spirit," to intimate that the
strongest and best adapted evidence is insnflicient to
the purposes of salvation unless accompanied with a
divine power.

fore he disdained an attention to those petty
ornaments of speech, which were quite neces
sary to help out the poverty of raan'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 deraonstration of the
Spirit: he knew that this alone could give
hira success ; and ministers may learn from
him what to avoid, and what to seek for, if
they would be useful to tbeir 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 tbe 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 raay reraark two ob
vious reasons, araongst others, why we have
so much unsuccessful preaching in our days,
either the gospel-truths are given up, or the
gospel-simplicity departed from. Where
either of these is the case, the Lord refuses
his power and blessing.
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 him
seff, 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 bad received, by comparing
himself to an untimely birth ;5 and though
his insight into the mysteries of the gospel,
the communion he maintained with God, by
faith in his Son, and the beauty of holiness
which shone in his conversation, were all
beyond the comraon 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

t 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 displaj'ed; 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 wilh those uncertain, unsatis
fying systems which men have agreed to honour wilh
the name of knowledge. See Ps cxi. 10.
§ 1 Cor. XV. 8. " As one born out of due time."
The original word is s-ATe„.ux, that is, an aborlion. He
speaks of himself under this despicable image (the true
sense of which is not easily perceived by an English
reader,) to show 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 wilh a call to the apostolic
ofiice.

n.l

OF A MINISTER OF CHRIST.

after.* WhUe, in the eyes of others, he ap
peared not only exemplary, but unequalled,
he esteemed himself less than the least of all
saints (Ephes. iu. 9;) and his patience and
condescension towards others, and his acqui
escence under all the trying dispensations of
providence with whicii he was exercised,
were a, proof that this was not an affected
manner of expression, but the genuine dic
tate of his heart To speak of one's self in
abasing terms is easy ; and such language is
often a thin veU, through wbich the motions
of pride may be easily discerned : but though
the language of humility may be counter
feited, its real fruits and actings are inimita
ble. Here again be is a pattern for christians.
An humble frame of mind is the strength
and ornament of every other grace, and tbe
proper soil wherein they grow. A proud
christian, that is, one who has a high con
ceit of his own abUities and attainments, is
no less a contradiction than a sober drunkard,
or a generous miser.. All otber seeming
excellencies are of no real value, unless ac
companied with this; and though a person
should appear to have little more than a
consciousness 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 wUl infallibly
thrive, as a tree planted by the water-side ;
for God, who resisteth the proud, has pro
mised to give grace to the humble, Jaraes
iv. 6. But, in an especial manner, humUity
is necessary and beautiful in a minister ; the
greatest abilities, and most unwearied dili
gence, will not insure success without it ; a
secret (if allowed,) apprehension of his own
importance, will deprive him of that assist
ance without which he can do nothing ; his
arm will be dried up, and his right eye will
be darkened (Zech. xi. 17 :) for tbe Lord of
hosts hath purposed to stain the pride of all
human glory, and will honour none but those
who abase themselves, and are willing to
give all the praise to him alone. If any man
hath ground to set a value upon his know
ledge, 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 ofthe known world ; though
he was received as an 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 frora assuraing an
undue superiority over his brethren. The
authority with which he was entrusted he
employed solely to their advantage, and ac-

* 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
place be would be at, and the remainder ofthe road that
leads to it.

counted himself the least of all, and the ser
vant of all. How very opposite has been the
conduct of raany since his tirae, who have
aimed to appropriate the narae of ministers
of Christ exclusively to themselves.
Such was our apostle ; and the sarae spirit
(tiiough in an inferior degree,) will be found
in all the faithful rainisters ofthe Lord Jesus :
they love his narae ; 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 proraote 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 ofGod, 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
maintaui the truth in its power and purity.
The knowledge of their own weakness and!
faUibUity 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 boimds, 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 iramortal 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 show
that they seek not to be men-pleasers, but to
coramend 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 weak influence the truths
they preach to others have upon their own
hearts, that their sufficiency of every kind is
ofGod, and not of themselves ; and therefore
they sit down asharaed, as unprofitable ser
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 mmistry
and example amongst their hearers, would

94

IRREGULARITIES AND OFFENCES

[book II,

secure tbem 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 disturbers of society: they are
not permitted to live in some places; and it
is owing to a concurrence of favourable cir
cumstances, if they are perraitted to speak
in any : The eyes of raany are upon thera,
watching for their halting ; their infirraities
¦ure aggravated, their expressions wrested,
their endeavours counteracted, and their per
sons despised. The design of our history is,
to show, in the course of every period of
the church, that those who have approached
nearest to the character I have atterapted to
delineate from St. Paul,* have always met
(vith such treatment ; and frora his declara-
vion, that all who will live godly in Christ
fesus shall suffer persecution (2 Tira. iu.
12,) we raay expect it will always be so,
while human nature and the state ofthe 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
abundantly than the rest; his person was
treated with contempt and despite, his cha
racter traduced, his doctrine misrepresented ;
and though his natural and acquired abilities
were great, and he spoke with power and
the deraonstration of the Spirit, yet he was
esteemed the filth and off-scouring of all
things, a babbler, and a madraan,-|- Acts xvii.
18.

CHAPTER III.
Of the irregularities and offences which ap
peared 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 ho
nourably of priraitive Christianity. In many

* 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 siilHcient to provoke
tbe rage and appetite of a wolf; Thus the spirit ofthe
gospel awakens the rage and opposition of the world;
tbey have an antipathy to it, and owe it a grudge
wherever they see it.
t 2 Cor. V. 13. See likewise Mark iii. 21. "And
when his friends heard it, they went out to lay hold of
him, for tbey said, He is beside himself:" That is to
aay, 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 lhat our
Lord's friends and relatives should thus think and speak
of him, since we are assured that even his brethren did
not believe on him, John vii. 3. And there seems to
have been no possible medium. All who were convpr-
sant with hira, must either receive hira as the Messiah,
or pity, if not despiss him as a madman. This was the
tnildest judgment they could form; the Pharisees in
deed went farther, and pronounced him an impostor
and a devil. Sucii was the treatment our Lord and

persons this is no more than an ignorant ad
rairation, 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 raen of the sarae nature
and infirraities with ourselves, but nearly in
fallible and perfect This is often taken for
granted in general ; and when particulars are
insisted on, it is observable that they are
seldom taken frora the records of the New
Testaraent, 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,
spirit, and conduct, from those- which were
indeed the primitive churches, had already
taken place, and there were evident appear
ances of that curiosity, ambition, and will-
worship, which increased by a swift progress,
till at length professed Christianity degene
rated into little raore than an empty name.
If christians of the early ages are supposed
to have been more exeraplary than in after
periods, chiefiy because they lived nearer to
the times of our Lord arid 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 con
verted and edified by the apostles' personal
rainistry: and though we cannot aUow the
assumption, (for the power of godliness de
pends not upon dates, periods, or instruraents,
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 reformation
of raanners, shall be admitted or rejected, as
they accord or disagree with the accounts we
have of the churches planted by the apostle's,
and during the time that these authorised
rainisters of Christ presided over them. We
can find no other period in which we can,
to so much advantage, propose the visible
churches 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
extraordinary manner, with zeal, wisdom,
and authority for their work, and God was
remarkably present with thera, by the power
of his Spirit. Besides, as all the information
we have concerning this period is derived
from the inspired writings, we have that cer
tainty of facts to ground our observations
upon which no otber history can afford.
We have a pleasing description of the
first of these churches, which was formed at
Jerusalem soon after our Lord's ascension.

Master found. Let not, then, his disciples and servants
be surprised or grieved that they are misrepresented
and misunderstood, on account of cheif attachment to
him ; but let Ihem comfort themselves with his gracioua
words, John xv. 18—21.

OHAP. III.]

1J\ THJ!; AruBiuijiO CHURCHES.

95

On the day of Pentecost, many who had
personally 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 (Acts iv. 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 stead
fastly in the aposties' doctrine and fellowship,
and in brectking of bread, and in prayers.
These were happy times indeed ! No inter
fering interests or jarring sentiments, no
subtle or factious spirits, no remissness in
the means of grace, no instances of a con
duct in any respect unbecoming the gospel,
were to be found among them ; it seemed as
if the powerful sense of divine truths, which
they had received, had overborne, if not ex
tirpated, every evil disposition in so large an
asserably; yet, even this (the difference of
numbers excepted,) is no peculiar case. The
like has been observable again and again,
when God has been pleased to honour mi
nisters, far inferior to the apostles, with a
sudden and signal influence, in places where
the power ofthe gospel had been little known
before. In such circumstances, the truth
has been often impressed and received with
astonishing effects ; raany, who before were
dead in trespasses and sins, having been, like
those of old, pierced to the heart, and then
filled with comfort from a believing know
ledge of him on whom 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 wbo wUl join them in
praismg the Saviour. Here indeed is a strik
ing change wrought : yet the infirraities in
separable from huraan nature, though for the
present overpowered, will, as occasions arise,
discover themselves again, so far as to prove
two things universally: 1. That the best of
men are still liable to mistakes and weak
nesses, for which they will have cause to
mourn to the end of their lives. 2. That in
the best times there will be some intruders,
who for a season may make a profession, 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;) grudg-
ings and murmurings arose in a little time
between tbe Jews and tbe Hellenists (Acts
vi;) and it was not long before they were
throvra into strong debates, and hi danger of

divisions, upon account of the question first
started at Antioch, Whether the law of Moses
was still in force to believers or not? Acts xv.
In these latter tiraes, when it has been at
terapted to vindicate and illustrate a revival
of religion, by appealing to the writings of
St Paul, and the delineation he has given
us of the faith and practjce of a christian, the
attempt has often excited disdain : it has been
thought a. sufficient answer, to enumerate
and exaggerate the faults, raistakes, and in
consistencies (or what the world is pleased
to account such,) that are charged upon the
persons concerned in such an appeal, as ne
cessarily 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 unac
countable 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 hands,
and are at liberty to judge for themselves. But
as there are not a few, even among Protest
ants, 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 pre
valence among the first christians, leaving
the application to the judicious reader. I ac
knowledge ray 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 at
tended, raore or less, with the blessing and
power of God, in turning sinners from dark
ness to light : I confess, tbat both ministers
and people who espouse this despised cause,
have sufficient 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 frora his word : we desire to be open
to conviction, not to contend for errors, or
even to vindicate any thing that can be proved
contrary to the scripture ; but if some things
not justifiable, which we must own have ac
companied what we verily believe to be a
work of the Spirit of God, are (as some
would represent them,) sufficient to discredit
this work, to impeach the truth of the doc
trines, or the sincerity of the instruments in
the gross ; then we are sure it will follow
upon the sarae principles, that the Jews and
Heathens had just ground and warrant to
reject the doctrine of the apostles, and to
treat their persons with contempt.
A competent knowledge and consideration
of the present state of man, in himself, and
of the circumstances in which he is placed,

96

IRREGULATIONS AND OFFENCES

[boos II.

are necessary to preserve us from being of
fended with the gospel of Christ, on account
of the imperfections that may be found in the
conduct of those who have sincerely received
it ; due allowances must be made for the re
mains of ignorance and prejudice, tbe power
of habit, temper, and constitution, in different
persons. The variqus 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 teraptations to the peculiar in
clinations and situation of every person, must
be taken into the account : and likewise the
iraraense variety of occasions arising from
without, such as, the provocations and arts of
enemies, the influence of mistaken friends,
the necessary engagements, connexions, and
relations of common 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 ex
ceeding difficult, especially to young begin
ners, who, so soon as they become sincerely de
sirous to serve the Lord, find theraselves
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 sanguine ex
pectations, little aware of the difficulties 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 will
be their guide and teacher ; but at first they
have but little acquaintance with the scrip
tures, and until they are humbled, by being
left to commit many mortifying mistakes,
they are too prone to lean to their own un
derstandings ; every day brings thera into
some new difficulty, wherein they can get
little direction frora what thpy have passed
through before, and often emergencies are
so pressing as hardly to leave room for deli
beration : in short, it seems to be the Lord's
pleasure, not so much to preserve thera from
mistakes and indiscretions at first, as to take
occasion to humble them upon this account,
and to show them how to correct thera when
made. Thus they are more confirmed in a
sense of theii: own weakness, and of his good
ness, and are trained up, by time, observa-
tiijn, and repeated trials, to a more perfect
exercise of every branch of christian wisdora ;
by degrees their judgments are formed to
greater maturity; they are more jealous of
themselves, more acquainted with Satan's
devices, more capable of distinguishing 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 becomes

the servants of Christ When his gospel is
faithfully preached and cordially received,
there always will be some who are able, by
the grace of God, to put to silence the igno
rance of foolish raen, and to deraean them
selves so, that if any will speak evil of them,
the sharae is retorted upon theraselves ; but
among the numbers who are forming in the
same schtxil, 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 corapared by our Lord to seed sown upon
rooky ground) will thrust themselves amongst
professors, be called by the same narae, and
accounted by the world the same people, who
at length discover themselves to be mere
hypocrites: these indeed will furnish occa
sion enough for exception ; and they who
are glad to have it so, will readily suppose
or pretend that they are all alike. It re
raains to show, that in this sense there is no
new thing under the sun. It was so from the
beginning. The apostle Paul bears an honourable tes
timony to the sincerity, zeal, and grace of the
believers araongst whora he had preached,
and to whora he had written ; he coraraends
their work of faith and labour of love ; he
styles thera his joy, his glory, and his crown,
and expresses his confidence, that the Lord,
¦who had begun a good work in thera, would
assuredly coraplete it : but though he knew
there were raany persons among thera who
were well established in the truth, and judi
cious in their conduct, his adraonitions upon
several occasions show there were others,
whose judgraents were weak and their be
haviour unwarrantable.
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 sarae spirit, it is probable they would
have despised and condemned those whom
tbe apostle loved, as much as they can possi
bly do any set of people now.
They had first received the gospel from St.
Paul, but it had been confirmed to them af
terwards 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
comraunicates a diversity of gifts, not all to
one person, but each has a talent given him
to profit withal ; one is fiivoured with a pecu
liar insight into the mysteries of the gospel;
another has a power and pathos of expres-

CHAP, in.]

IN THE APOSTOLIC CHURCHES.

97

sion ; and another is happy in a facUity 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 inclmations led
them; they formed imprudent comparisons
and preferences, were divided into parties,
and dra'wn into contentions upon this ac
count ; one saying I am of Paul ; another,
I am of ApoUos, or, I of Cephas (1 Cor. i.
12 ; and in. 4 :) they thought it a mark of
zeal to 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 raore or less observable ; and it is eagerly
observed, by the world, and araplified 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 showed a want of
solid judgment in the Corinthians, but was
no impeachraent of their sincerity: much
less did it prove that Paul, ApoUos, 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 nurabers of
these, they can find a few instances of persons
too much actuated by selfish, worldly or angry
tempers, it is eagerly objected : "These are
excellent people, ff you would judge of them
Vol. n. . N

by the length and frequency of their devo
tions, and by what they have to say of their
persuasion of God's love to thera ; but touch
them in their property, and they show thera
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 ofthe 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 yon not rather take wrong 1 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 enormity
among them, hardly to be heard of among
the Heathens, which, though the fault of one
person, brought dishonour upon them all, be
cause they had not explicitly disowned 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 prac
tices have been censured in the strongest
terras of disallowance, and the offenders pub
licly and notoriously disclauned, yet raany
wUl 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
hitherto complained of It appears that, far
from conducting their assemblies with de
cency and order, they were sometiraes in the
greatest confusion : different persons had a.
psalm, a doctrine, a tongue, a revelation, an
interpretation, many speaking together, and
sometimes in different languages ; so that the
apostle thought it very probable, that, if an
unbeliever 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 apostie, Every one taketh before another;
and one is hungry, and another is drunken,
1 Cor. xi. 21. I apprehend that these instances
of disorder cannot be paralleled by the raost
irregular proceedings in our time, amongst
any people that hold the principles which.!
am at present engaged to vindicate.
Many of the Corinthians, as well as the
Galatians,* had discovered great unsteadiness
towards St Paul, and had been subdued by
* Yet he says of the Galatians, that when he first went.
among them, they received him as an angel ofGod, 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 flesh and
blood. But alas I how great likewise is the inconstancy
of mortals! the apostle experienced it lo his grief; and
where he bad the greatest prospect, he was most iiaf-

IRREGULARITIES AND OFFENCES

[book n.

false teachers and pretended apostles. Inex
perienced minds are very liable to such de
ceptions : raeaning well themselves, they are
too apt to listen to the fair words and fine
speeches of those who lie in wait to deceive.
The love of Christ, and the love of holiness,
are the leading properties of a gracious heart,
and 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 recoramended, not
as the -source, but as a substitute for vital
experimental religion : or when sorae other
spirit is preached than that whose office it is
to testify of Jesus ; in either case the food of
;,he 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 adapted; 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 enthusiasra,
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 circurastances 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 dra'wn away, yet suffer unspeakable
loss ; the wood, hay, and stubble (1 Cor. ui.
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 lose much of their corafort 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
see them issue in 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
pointed : 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 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, Malth.
vii. 3—5. has always been too little regarded ; and few
are yet suflicienHy convinced of the folly and absurdity
of pointing out, and in an angry spiiitcondemning.the
mistakes and faults of others, while we indulge greater
in ourselves. Reformation (like modern charity) should
iiegin at liome 1

had their shaking and shiftmg times ; many
amongst them, who seeraed to begin in the
spirit, were stopped short in their course by
the arts of false teachers, to.their great hin
derance, and some to their final overthrow.
St Paul addresses no one church in terms
of greater tendemess and approbation than
the Thessalonians ; he comraends 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 Mace
donia and Greece. Yet even among these he
understood there were some who walked dis
orderly, and were busybodies, not working
at all ; he strongly disapproved their conduct,
declaring, that if any would not work, nei
ther should he eat, 2 Thess. Ui. 10, 11. When
persons are newly awakened to a concern for
their souls, and deeply impressed with the
importance of eternity, it is no wonder (con
sidering the animal frame) if their attention
is so engaged 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
gradually brought to peace and hope in be
lieving ; tbey recover their spirits, and their
civU- callings being now sanctified by a de
sire to glorify God in them, their dUigence is
not less, but frequently greater than befor*;
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 nuraber of people, natural temper, indiscre
tion, or inadvertance, may cause some to
deviate from the general 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
acknowledge, from the charge of leading
thera into this raistake, unless it cari be
proved that St. Paul's preaching was justly
chargeable with the sarae fault.
But these are sraall things compared to
what he says in another place. He complains
to the Philippians in this affecting language
(PhU. iii. 18, 19:) "Many walk (not some
only, but many,) of whom I have told you
often, and now tell you even weeping, that
they are enemies to the cross of Christ,J

t See James iv. 9. The word xasriipeiee rendered heavi
ness, answers nearest to dejection; the derivation im
porting 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 discern.
able when a real conviction of sin takes place in the
heart. The inspired apostle recommends this temper
and demeanour as most suitable to the case of sinners
who are destitute of faith and love, and cannot there
fore rejoice upon good grounds; and yet when any per
son begins to be impressed in this manner, and to see
the propriety of the apostle's advice, it frequently hap
pens, 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 ofthe worid 1
X What disagreeable things the apostle was apprehen
sive of meeting, when he should revisit Corinth, we
may learn ftom 2 Cor. xii. 20, 21.

CHAP. III.J

iiy xxiji Ai-vjoiOLiC CHURCHES.

99

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 1
Can even malice itself desire to fix a harsher
imputation 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: be spoke of it weeping; be would
willingly have hoped better things ; but he
knew what tempers and practices were in
consistent 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 dis
honoured the name of Christianity, and caused
the ways of truth to be evil spoken of. Now,
what is the consequence 1 Shall the apostle
bear the blame of the evils and abominations
ne lamented]* for, if he bad not preached,
these evils would not have appeared under
the christian name. Shall the wickedness of
his pretended followers be charged as the
necessary effect of that pure and heavenly
doctrine which he had delivered 1 By no
means. The grace of God, which he preach
ed, 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 maiie concerning the tendency of his
doctrine, he could appeal 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 like
wise true that they were still encumbered
with a depraved nature: they were in a
world full of temptations and snares ; and as
their numbers were very great, some in
stances 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
effect, to convince, humble, and restore the
offenders (2 Cor. vii. 9,) and to increase their
circumspection for the time to come. It was
true likewise that there were sorae srathered

* The apostle knew lhat some did, or would presume
to infer a liberty to sin from the doctrine which he
preached (Rom. vi 1,^ yet he would i)ot suppress or dis
guise the truths of God to prevent such a poor disin
genuous 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; therefore he thought it unnecessary to refute it
al large. Shall we continue in sin that grace may
abound? God forbid-! This is a sufiicient answer. Thus
abs'ird blas.:ihemy exposes and confutes itself; the terras
are inconsistent, impossible, and contradictory in the
hifihest degree.

by the preaching of the gospel into the num
ber of profesisors, 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 raade manifest,
and the chaff separated from the wheat; for
though the ignorant world would call even
those persons christians, whose conduct
proved them enemies to the cross of Christ,
yet time, the test of truth, unanswerably
evinced the difference. Thus St. John, wbo
lived some years after the rest of the apos
tles, and saw many tum 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 pretenders ; sorae things amiss
where the heart and views were right in the
main, and imperfections in the best: the
scorners and cavillers, who hated the light
of the gospel, and were always in search of
something to confirm 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 tbat prevaUed among the chris
tians, and the powerful effects of their public
ordinances, demonstrated that the truth was
on their side, and that God was assuredly
with them.
We offer the same apology, tiie same train
of reasoning in behalf of what is now so ge
nerally deemed the foolishness of preaching.
The iJoctrines 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 Wiekliffe,
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 salva
tion by grace through faith in his blood ; and
we are sure that they who receive this doc
trine 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
raistakes and indiscretions, and see raore
araiss in theraselves than their worst eneraies
can charge thera with ; but sin is their bur
den; they sigh to be delivered from it, and
they expect a complete redemption. We
cannot indeed say so much for all who out"

100

OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED

[book ii.

wardly avow a belief of this doctrme: there
are pretenders who, whUe they profess to
believe in God, in^ works they deny him.
But it has been so from the beginning. The
miscarriages of such persons are charged
indiscriminately 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 vindi
cate his own gospel, and his own people frora
all aspersions. St Paul observed such things
in his day, and he spoke of thera likewise, but
he spoke of thera weeping. The true state
of the mind may be determined from the
temper with which the miscarriages of pro
fessors are observed. The profane expatiate
on thera 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 con
cerned for the honour of the gospel, which
is defamed under this pretence; they are
grieved for the unhappy and dangerous state
of those by whom such offences come, and
they fear for themselves, lest the enemy
should gain an advantage over them like
wise, for they know they have no strength
nor goodness of their own ; therefore, avoid
ing unnecessary reflections on others, they
endeavour to maintain a watchful 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 thera to the uttermost,
and at length to present thera faultless before
the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy.

CHAPTER 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 blast
ed, and come to nothing : others are really
convinced in their judgment ofthe truth and
importance 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
v/hat they have not, the calls of business, or

the solicitations of pleasure, choke the -word
which they seera to receive, so tbat it brings
forth no fruit to perfection : a part hovvever,
(usually the sraaUest part) vfbo are compared
to the good ground, are disposed and en
abled, by divine grace, to receive it thank
fully, 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 season^
yet, having tbe love, proraise, and power of
God engaged in 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. ui. 12. This
is an epitome of the ecclesiastical 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 ofthe glorious gospel
should shine upon thera (2 Cor. iv. 4,) he
will take occasion, from the knowledge ofthe
truth, to insinuate a variety of errors. His
first atterapts in this way are often so specious
and 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 springing up with it demonstrated that
an eneray had been there. This, in fiict, has
been universally the case, in every country
and age where the gospel has been received ;
and we raay remark, tbat the sowing the
good seed was the occasion of the tares being
cast into the sarae ground. When a people
are involved in gross darkness and ignorance,
sleeping in a false peace, and buried in the
pleasures and pursuits ofthe world, they have
neither leisure, nor inclination, to invent or
attend to novelties in religion ; each one is
satisfied with that form (if even the forra of
godliness is retained,) which he has received
frora his parents, and neither pretends nor
desires to be wiser than those who went before
hira : but when the truth has shone forth and
been received, and seeras to bid fair for far
ther success, Satan employs all his power
and subtlety, either to suppress or counterfeit
it, or both. Much has been done in the forraer
way ; he has prevailed so far as to enkindle
the fiercest animosities against the nearest
relatives, 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 industrious
and successful has he been in practising
upon the passions and prejudices of mankind
to adrait 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, adapted to gratify the pride of those
who are wise in their own conceits ; others

IV.]

1J\ THE Af UisTjJlS' DAYS.

101

more gross and extravagant, suited to inflame
the imaginations, or to gratify tiie appetites
of such persons as have not a turn for specu
lation 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 doc
trines of truth have been charged as the
source and cause of those errors which have
only sprung from their abuse and perver
sion. When Popery, for a series of ages, de
tained mankind in darkness and bondage,
and deprived them of the knowledge of the
holy scriptures, the tide of error ran uni
formly in one great channel ; when dead
works were substituted in the place of living
faith ; and the worship and trust wbich 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
expected, not by the blood of Christ, but by
penances, pUgrimages, masses, and human
absolutions, by the repetition of many prayers,
or the payment of sums of money; while
things continued thus, the world was gene
rally in that state of stupidity and blind se
curity which is miscalled religious peace
and uniformity ; and the controversies of the
tiraes were chiefly confined to those points
which iraraediately affected the power, wealth,
or pre-erainence of the several religious or
ders by whom the people were implicitly
led. Some differences of opinion were indeed
known ; but the charge of heresy and dange
rous innovations was seldom so much as pre
tended 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 Imowledge 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 sow
ing of the good seed was followed by tares
in abundance. In the course of a few years,
the glory of the Reformation was darkened,
and its progress obstructed, by the enthusiasm
and infatuation of men, who, under a pre
tence of improving upon Luther's plan, pro
pagated the wildest, most extravagant, and
blasphemous opinions, and perpetrated, under
the mask of religion, such acts of cruelty,
vUlany, and licentiousness, as have been sel
dom heard of m the world. The papists
beheld these excesses with pleasure: raany
of them could not but know that Luther, and
the heads of the Reformation, did aU that
could be expected from them, to show the
folly and iniquity of such proceedings ; but.

against the light of truth and fact, they la
boured to persuade the world, that these
were the necessary consequences of Luther's
doctrine; and that no better issue couW be
justly hoped for when men presumed to de
part from the authorised standards of popes
and councils, and to read and examine the
scriptures for themselves.
This religious raadness, was, however, of
no long duration : the people who held tenets
inconsistent with the peace of society, were
deservedly treated as rebels and incendiaries
by the governing powers; the ringleaders
were punished, and the multitudes dispersed ;
their most obnoxious errors were graduaUy
abandoned, and are now in a manner forgot.
After the peace of Passau, the Eeformation
acquired an establishment in Germany, and
other places; and since that time error has
assumed a milder form, and has been sup
ported by softer methods, and more respecta
ble names.
In our own country, the same spirit of
enthusiasm and disorder has appeared at dif
ferent times, though it has been restrained
by the providence of God, from proceeding
to the same extremities, and has been most
notorious, when, or soon after, the power of
gospel-truth has been more eminently re
vived ; for, as I have already observed, when
religion 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 ofthe many,
we seldom hearof any errors prevailing, but
such as wUl 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 faitb in the
Son ofGod, 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 tbey 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 bis 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 bas
been really blameable, is, to show that it waa
even thus in the apostles' days ; and that, if
any arguments taken from these blemishes
are conclusive against what sorae choose to
call the novel doctrines now, they would,
with equal reason, conclude against the va
lidity 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 show, that the seeds of

102

OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED

[book ii.

aU errors and heresies, the fashionable as well
as those whicb are more generally despised,
were sown in tbe first age, and appeared so
early as to give occasion for the apostles'
censures against them. I do not mean by
this to parallel. every name and every singu
larity that a subtle head or a warm imagina
tion may have started ; but to assign, in
general, the principles to which all these de
lusions raay be reduced, the sources to which
these inebriating and dangerous streams raay
be traced : for, indeed, the operations of the
human mind seem to be much raore simple
and limited than we are ordinarily aware.
As there can be no new truths, though every
truth appears new to us which we have not
known before, so it is probable, that there
can be now no new errors ; at least it is cer
tain, that a corapetent knowledge of anti
quity, or even a careful perusal of the apos
tles' writings, will furnish sufficient evidence,
that some modem authors and teachers are
by no means the inventors 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 ap
proach and recess, and some of them have
appeared and been admired, have been with
drawn and forgot, over and over again.
Error, in the simplest forra, is a misappre
hension ofthe truth. Some part of the gos
pel raust 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 showed 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 narae 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
Mosbeim'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
shaU never prevaU, 1 Cor. u. 2 ; Gal. vi. 14 ;
1 Tira. ui. 15 ; Matth. xvi. 18. Mistakes in

this point are fundamental, dangerous, and
ff persisted in, destructive ; for as such s
knowledge ofGod as is connected with his
favour and communion is eternal lffe, so none
can come to the Father but by the Son (.lohn
xvii. 3 ; and xiv. 6,) nor can any know him,
but those to whom the Son will reveal him,
Matth. xi. 27. On tbis account Satan's great
endeavour (and on his success herein the
strength of his kingdom depends) is to dark
en and pervert the minds of men, lest they
should acknowledge and understand what the
scriptures declare of his person, character,
and offices, as well knowing, that if these
are set aside, whatever else is left of religion
wUl be utterly unavailing. Jesus Christ is
revealed in the scriptures, and was preached
by his first disciples, as God manifest in the
fiesh, a divine person in the human nature,
who, by submitting to ignominy, pain, and
death, made a fuU and proper atonement for
sin, and wrought out an everlasting righte
ousness in favour of aU who should believe in
his name ; and he is set forth in that nature
in which he suffered, as the object of our su
preme love, trust, and adoration. Other im
portant doctrines, largely insisted on in the
word of God, such as the demerit of sin, the
obnoxiousness of sinners 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 raost 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
rederaption. On the other hand, a know
ledge ofthe true state of mankind, in conse
quence of the fall, is necessary to obviate the
prejudices of our minds against a procedure,
which, thougb in itself the triumph of divine
wisdora, 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 ofGod, neither 6an 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 etemal 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 ; 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
in their conduct, but because they enforced

CHAP. IV.]

IN THE APOSTLES' DAYS.

10.3

tenets which were adjudged inconsistent with
the common sense of mankind.
But, notwithstanding these prejudices, the
energy of their preaching, and the miracu
lous powers with which it was accompanied,
made an impression upon raany persons, so
far as to induce them to profess the name of
Jesus, though they were not spiritually en
lightened 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 adapted to affect the minds of men in
their natural state. Few are so hardened,
but they have a conscience of sin, some fears
with respect to its consequences, and a pre-
intimation of immortality. Such are capable
of being greatly affected and moved by a pa
thetic declaration of the terrors of the Lord,
the solemnities of a future judgment, the joys
of heaven, or the torments of hell. We can
not doubt that these topics, when insisted on
with that strength of argument and warmth
of spirit, 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 im
mediately, the quickness of its growth, and
the suddenness of its decay, proceeding frora
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 narae,
endeavoured to accoramodate the doctrine to
their prepossessions, 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 raade
known, were adopted by others of the same
cast of thought : as they were differently in
clined, they directed their inquiries to dif
ferent points, and each found partizans and
adherents in their respective ways. Thus
errors, and in consequence, sects and divi
sions, were multiplied ; for when men depart
frora the unerring guidance of God's word,
there is no end of their iraaginations ; one
singularity produces another, and every new
leader is stimulated to carry his discoveries
farther than those who have gone before him.
Farther, as human nature 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 friend
ship, relation, (and when Christianity had
been of some years standing,) education,

custom, and human authority, is very consi
derable : nor is even persecution a sufficient
bar against hypocrites and intruders. They
who suffer for the gospel, thougb despised by
the world, are highly esteemed and consider
ed by their own side ; it procures them an
attention which they would not have other
wise obtained ; it may give them an imporU
ance in their own eyes, furnish thera 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, thougb, when
the trial comes very close, they will not en
dure to the end. In a word, there is no rea
son to doubt but that, amongst the numbers
who professed the gospel at first, there would
be found the same variety of tempers, cir
cumstances, 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
heresies, and that they should be in a raanner
the same as they have sprung up with, or
followed succeeding revivals ofthe truth. Nor
is it just cause of surprise, if sincere chris
tians have been, in some instances, entan
gled in the prevailing errors of the tiraes:
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 PhUo
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 ; araongst whora, as agents and raedi-
ators between their suprerae 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
puerile and absurd, and many of their reli
gious rites inconsistent with the practice of
public decorum and good morals. Some of
the philosophers 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 hew to attain
these desirable ends, they were entirely ig
norant.

104

OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED

[book ii.

The eastern phUosophy was solemn and
mysterious, and not less fabulous than the
other ; but the fables were of a graver cast. It
seemed to mourn under the sense of moral
evU, and laboured in vain to account for its
entrance ; its precepts were gloomy and se
vere ; and a perfect course of bodily mortifi
cation was recoraraended as the great expe
dient to purify the soul frora all its defileraents,
and to re-unite it by degrees, to its great
Author. St. Paul, in several passages (Col. ii. 8
1 Tira. vi. 20,) cautions the christians against
corrupting the siraplicity 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 directly ofthe
Gnostics, whose heresies were little more
than the fables of the eastern philosophy, in
a new dress, with an acknowledgment of
-Tesus Christ as an extraordinary person, yet
so as utterly to exclude and deny all the ira
portant truths revealed in the scriptures con
cerning him. They dignified their scheme
with the name of Gnosis, or Science ; but it
was falsely so called, and stood in direct op
position to the gospel. On other occasions
(Rom. i. 21—23 ; I Cor. i. 20—23,) he ap
pears to have had the Grecian phUosophy
chiefiy in view. But notwithstanding his
admonitions, it was not long before the errors
of philosophy 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
stUl thought might be useful to embellish
and recommend the gospel.
But to confine rayself to the apostles' times,
it is plain, frora 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 daranable heresies, even
denying the Ijord 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 epis
tle to the church of Ephesus (Rev. ii. 6,) our
Lord himself raentions a sect, who bore the
name of Nicolaitans, and expresses his dis
approbation of them in these awful terms:
" Whom I also hate !" The peculiar tenets
of the people condemned in these passages of
scripture are not expressly mentioned; but
frora these sources were raost probably de
rived the sects which, in the second century,
were known by the naraes of their several
leaders, Cerinthus, Saturninus, Cerdo, Mar-
cion, Basilides, Valentinus, and others: who
all, building upon the common foundation of
the eastern phUosophy, or Gnosis, superadded
their own peculiarities, and were differently,

though equally,'reraote from the truth. The
one thing in which they all agreed was, in
perverting and opposing the scripture-doc
trine 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 raan Jesus, and
nailed him to the cross, Christ returned to
heaven, and left him to suffer by himseff.
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 suffer.
Again, there were others who held the reality
of his human nature, yet maintained, that
Christ did not suffer at all, but that Simon 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 extrava
gancies is sufficient for my present purpose:
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 Testaraent. It was believed by
the ancients, that St. John 'wrote his gospel
with some view to these heresies; and it is
certain that, in his first epistle, where, put
ting 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 rerainds them, that as they had heard
Antichrist raust come, even so now there
were many Antichrists ; and that the name
was applicable to all who denied that Jesus
is the Christ. He adraits that these false
teachers went out frora amongst themselves,
that is, they had borne the christian name ;
but he refers to the doctrines 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 con
tinued 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 reforraation, we are not afraid that they
would prejudice our cause with any who will
allow due weight to the reasoning of St.
John; for if they had been really of us once,
they would have stUl continued with us.

CHAP. IV.]

iM xBK .tiPOSx'LES' DAYS.

105

But the truth is, tbe teachers in our time,
whose leading tenets most nearly symbolize
with these ancient heresies, are not charged,
or even suspected of having had any attach
raent to the doctrines which I am concerned
to vindicate ; nor is an apology expected from
them, for tbey gave but little offence. Since
the fabulous disguise, under which the Gnos
tics of old veiled their opinions, has been laid
aside, 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
thougb the sufferings of Jesus are not denied,
yet their proper causes and ends are openly
explijded; and the atterapt 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
- churches, and gave rise, in the issue, to dan
gerous heresies, subversive of the true faith.
Even those of them who had sincerely re
ceived the gospel, could not easily be per
suaded, that a law given to Moses by God
himself, with so much solemnity, from Mount
Sinai, was to be entirely abrogated ; and that
their obligation 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 people an everlasting righteous
ness commensurate to its utmost require
ments. The apostles, who, after the pattern
of their Lord, were gentle and tender to the
weak ofthe flock, bore with their infirraities
(Rom. xiv. 2. 6,) and allowed them to retain
a distinction of meats, and days, and other
observances, provided they did not consider
these things in such a point of view as to
interfere with God's appointed method of
justification by faitb 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 provinces, the
peace ofthe church was raore 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 received, and
obedience to the Levitical law rendered im
practicable by the destruction of Jerusalera
and the temple, Col. ii. 16. Tit i. 10. PhU.
iii. 2. 1 Tim. i. 7. From that period, it is
probable, the distinction of Jew and Gentile
believers ceased, and both parties were firmly
incorporated into one body ; but a great nura
ber ofthe zealots for the law separated them-
VoL. IL O

selves, and were known in the following age
by the narae of Ebionites, adopting for their
rule a mixture of law and gospel, so very
different from the gospel St. Paul preached,
that they openly expressed an abhorrence
both of his person and writings.
We have an account likewise of sorae pre
tended teachers,- who opposed the important
doctrine of the resurrection. Sorae expressly
maintained, that there was no resurrection,
whom St. Paul confutes at large, in the 15th
chap, of his first epistle to the Corinthians.
Others affirmed that the resurrection was
past already, 2 Tira. 18. Perhaps they pre
tended that a raoral change was designeii by,
the metaphorical expression of a resurrection.
The philosophers had used the word in this
sense : and this would be sufficient to gain it
admittcmce with some, who would willingly
reconcUe their profession to the wisdora of
the world. In either way the very founda
tions of hope were removed. If this point is
denied, the whole system of christian doctrine
falls to the ground ; and that dreadful train of
consequences 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 resur
rection 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 revival, but dies without
hope : but we may thank God for the scrip
tures, which brings corafort where philosophy
gives up the cause as desperate. Faith in
Christ is so closely connected with the doc
trine of a resurrection, that it is coraraon 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, that
it will never come, their motives, their de
sign, and their manner of reasoning, are the
sarae. 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
narae, it raust be confessed, of very indeter
minate application: it is an epithet, which
many would fix, indiscriminately, upon all
who preach a free salvation by faith in the
blood of Jesus. If it is all of grace, and ¦we
can do nothing of ourselves ; if it is not of
him that wUleth, nor of hira that runneth,
but of God that showeth raercy ; then we may
live as we please, endeavours are useless,
and obedience unnecessary, Rom. xi. 6, and

106

OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED

[book n.

ix. 16; 2Cor. iii. 5. These are the mferences
which the unenlightened heart charges as
unavoidable consequences from the gospel-
doctrine; and from hence we obtain a cor
roborating proof, that we do not mistake St
Paul's sense, or preach a gospel different
from his, because he foresaw that the sarae
objections would seera to lie against hiraself
(Rom. iii. 7, and ix. 19 ;) and he guards and
protests against such a perversion, " Shall
we continue in sin, that grace raay abound"!
God forbid," Rom. vi. 1. It seeras to have
been upon this account that he was slandered,
and by sorae affirraed 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 hira become stUl more
vile, and plunge into the raost atrocious
wickedness; for the greater the sinner, the
better qualified for raercy. 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, un
less God is pleased to give thera repentance
unto life, wUl 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 Antinoraians in the
worst sense of the word, men who have
pleaded for sin, and whUe they have laid
claim to faith, have renounced and blas
phemed that holiness, without which, no raan
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, hy the presumption
and wickedness of such pretended christians.
But 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
professed that they knew God, but in works
denied hira, being abominable, and disobe
dient, 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
, withereth, twice dead, plucked up by the
root; raging waves of the sea, foaraing out
their own sharae ; wandering stars, to whom
is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever ;
sporting themselves with their own deceiv-
ings, and beguUing unstable souls, 2 Pet. ii.
13, 14. In opposition to such deceivers, it is
written, If we say that we have fellowship
with hira, 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 command
ments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him,
1 John ii. 4. For every raan that hath thia
hope in him, purifieth himself even as he is
pure, 1 Jobn iii. 3. The foundation of God
standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord
knoweth thera that are his; and, Let every
one that nameth the name of Christ depart
frora iniquity, 2 Tim. ii. 19.
St Paul, writing to the Thessalonians con
cerning the raan of sin (2 Thess. ii. 3 — 10,)
who was to be fully revealed in the follow
ing ages, reminds thera, that the mystery of
iniquity, 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 Colos-
sians (chap. ii. 18 — 23 ;) such as a voluntary,
or self-devised humUity, in worshipping an
gels as mediators or intercessors ; a dogmatic
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 his
tory will show 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 Rorae,
were observable in St. Paul's tirae, and there
fore deserve a place in the list of those pesti
lent heresies by which the enemy of souls
attempted to defile the faith, and disturb the
peace ofthe 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 ofthe Nicolaitans, already
mentioned, we read ofthe 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 thera to the ut
most; and, as he gives different names, they
probably differed frora each other, though
their ultiraate tendency was the sarae, 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

CHAP. IV.]

IN THE APOSTLES' DAYS.

107

teaches all who 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 ; sorae are calculated to set aside the
whole frame of obedience which we owe to
our God and Saviour, and the most refined
and plausible will deliver the soul into the
power of some easy, besetting, and beloved
sin, and furnish arras and arguments to main
tain it. And this explains what would other
wise seem a very strange phenomenon. When
the truth is proposed with the greatest clear
ness, and the greatest advantages, its votaries,
at all times, and in all places, have been but
few; but whoever will stand up on the side
of error, however wild and absurd his opi
nions and conduct may be, will hardly fail
of obtaining adherents. It is because error
wUl tolerate those lusts and follies which
truth will not endure; and in the present
state of human depravity, more people will
be found wUling to give up tbeir understand
ings 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 con
cerning the depravity of human nature, the
real guilt of sin (1 John i. 8. 10 ;) the influ
ences of the Holy Spirit (Jude 19,) and the
terrors of a future judgment (2 Pet. iii. 9,)
though we cannot be sure that these doc
trines were opposed so openly and so strenu
ously as they are in our own days. But I have
enumerated enough to answer ray purpose
by way of apology for the evangelical doc
trine, the modern opposers of the last raen
tioned points not being under any suspicion
or charge of what is called enthusiasm ; and
all who are despised or persecuted for rest
ing 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 ; in
deed, they stand inseparably connected with
what they believe of his person, offices, power,
and grace. A conscience 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 without 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 sufferings 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 conditioii of every
chUd of Adam, would plunge an awakened
mind into hopeless despair, if it was not re
lieved by the gracious promise of the infalli
ble Spirit (John xiv. 26, and xvi. 7. 13,)
whose office is to teach, guide, comfort, and
seal the children of God unto the day of com
plete 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. vui. 16. 26,
27,) a source of succour and corafort answer
able to all our ignorance, weakness, neces
sities, and temptations, we are enabled in the
raidst of fightings and fears (2 Cor. vii. 5,) to
raaintain a humble confidence that we shall
not be ashamed before hira 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 arguraent 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
theraselves, they should treat all claims to
this assistance in others as enthusiasm and
folly. Nor can we be surprised, that many
who reject the scripture-testimony concern
ing Christ and the Holy Spirit, should use
all their address to prove, that the soul sinks
into sleep and inactivity at death, that the
resurrection of the flesh is improbable, and
that it is injurious to the goodness of God, to
suppose he wUl inflict eternal punishment
for sins coramitted within the corapass of a
short life. Such reasonings may be expected
from men who presume upon the sufficiency
of their own wisdora, who neither expect nor
desire divine teaching, and who find a littie
relief in these sentiraents, against the fears
and forebodings which will sometimes force
themselves upon their minds.
It appears, however, from the indisputable
evidence ofthe New Testament that in the
first age ofthe church, the enemy sowed the
tares of error and heresy in great abundance,
and that the figments published in that pe
riod by men who professed some regard to
the name of Christ, have not been surpassed,
either as to absurdity or wickedness, by any
attempts of the same kind, in any age or
country since. It is true the vigilance and
authority of the apostles restrained these ex
cesses from rising tothat height towhich they
afterwards attained ; but if the peopje who
now object to the variety nf naraes, sects, and
sentiraents, which have gTadually prevaUed
araongst us within these thirty years past.

108

OF THE HERESIES PROPAGATED, &c.

[book n.

bad lived in tbe primitive church, tbey would
nave 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
pretenders to the truth, purity, and power of
religion, there is little doubt but they would
have done 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 sin
cerely desirous to know the will of God, by
attending to these lively oracles will be en
abled to discern the path of truth and peace,
through the raidst 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 dUigently
for himself, would have paid as little regard
to the authority of the apostles, if he could
have conversed with them : nay, the advan
tage is on our side ; for, as the scriptures are
held in professed veneration, we run no ira
raediate risk of character or interest by con
sulting them ; or they may be perused in re
tirement, unobserved by our' nearest friends:
whereas the apostles, though highly spoken
of amongst us, were accounted whUe they
lived, the fflth and off-scouring of all things ;
they were despised for their poverty and the
meanness of their appearance, and detested
as bigots and enthusiasts ; so that it required
some degree of faith and grace not to be
asharaed of them.
Let not the reader be offended, if I close
this book, as I did the former, with entreating
him to reflect on the 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 frora the Imowledge of
his union and relation to his Redeeraer (Phil.
iv. 7,) he derives a peace which passes under
standing, and a power suited to every service
and circurastance of life: though weak in hira
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 bis wisdom, righte
ousness, sanctification, and expects from him,
in due time, a coraplete rederaption 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 wis
dora, power, and love displayed in the re
demption of sinners by Jesus Christ ; it is a
constraining principle (Gal. v. 6 ; Acts xv. 9 ;
1 John V. 4; Heb. xi. 1 ; 2 Cor. iii. 18,) that
works by love, purifies the heart, and over

comes the world ; it gives the foretaste and
evidence of things invisible to mortal eyes,
and, transforming the soul into the resem
blance of what it beholds, fiUs the heart with
benevolence, gentleness, and patience, and
directs every action to the sublimest ends,
the glory of God and the good of raankind.
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 ofthe Spirit, and to seek them in
God's appointed way, by faith in his Son, is
unworthy of the narae. 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
cannot please God, Heb. xi. 6. If you do not
count all things loss, and of no value (Phil.
iii. 8,) in comparison ofthe excellency ofthe
knowledge of Christ Jesus the Lord, you cer
tainly do not understand the word gospel in
St. Paul's sense ; ff 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, be denounces (1 Cor.
xvi. 22) against all who love not the Lord
Jesus 1 Search the scriptures, if you really
think that in thera you have eternal lffe, 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 raust leave it, and experience a
raoraent when the pleasures or honours of this
world will afford you no corafort ; but, if the
scriptures are true, you raust then appear be
fore the judgment-seat of Christ ; you must
stand either at the right band or the left,
2 Cor. V. 10. Iraportant alternative ! For to
those on the left hand the King wUl 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 wisdora foolishness,
and reproached the operations of his Spirit as
enthusiasra and raadness, — it is to be hoped
you have done it through ignorance; you
knew not what you did (1 Tim. i. 15 ; Luke
xxiu. 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 tbe throne of
judgment ! otherwise you are lost for ever.
My heart's desire and prayer to God, for my
readers wUl be, that not one of them may
fall under that awful sentence. Behold, ye
despisers, and wonder, and perish ; for I work
a work in your days, which you shall in no
wise believe, though a man declare it unto
you, Acts xiii. 41.

OLNEY HYMNS,

THREE BOOKS.

-Cantabitis, Arcades, inqait,

TWontibus htec vesti'ia, soli cantare periti
Arcades. O mihi tum quam molliter ossa qiiiescant,
Vestra meos olim si fistula dicat amoresi — VirgU, Eel. x 31.
And they sung as it were a new song before the throne;  and no man could learn that song, but tha—
redeemed from the earth. — Rev. xiv. 3.
As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.  2 Con vi. ]0.

PREFACE.

Copies of a few of these Hymns have already appeared in periodical publications, aj4d in
some recent collections. I have observed one or two of them attributed to persons who
certainly had no concern in them, but as transcribers. All that have been at different times
parted with in raanuscript are included in the present volume ; and (if the information
were of any great iraportance) the public may be assured, that the whole nuraber were
composed by two persons only. The original design would not admit of any otber associa
tion. A desire of proraoting the faith and corafort of sincere christians, though the principal,
was not the only raotive to this undertaking. It was likewise intended as a raonument 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 mys
terious 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 prevented, by a long and affecting indis
position, from affording me any farther assistance. My grief and disappointment were
great; I hung my harp upon the willows, and for some tirae thought myself determined to
proceed no farther without him. Yet my mind was afterwards led to resurae 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 judg
ment and desires of others, bas 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 easUy, attained by a versifier than by a poet. They should be
Hyrans, not Odes, if designed for public worship, and for the use of plain people. Per
spicuity, 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 pattems in this species of writ
ing, might, as a poet, have a right to say, That it cost hira some labour to restrain his flre
? Cowper
109

no PREFACE.
and to accommodate himself to the capacities of common readers. But it would not become
me to make such a declaration. It behoved me to do my best But though I would not
offend readers of taste by a wUful 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 bis flock, without
quite disgusting persons of superior discernment, I have reason to be satisfled.
As the workings of the heart of man, and of the Spirit of God, are in general the same in
.<. all who are the subjects ofgrace, I hope most of these Hyrans, being the fruit and expres*
sion of my own experience, will coincide with the views of real christians of all denomina
tions. But I cannot expect that every sentiment I have advanced wUl be universally
approved. However, I am not conscious of having written a single line, with an intention
either to flatter or to offend any party or person upon earth. I 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 knowledge 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 contro
versy : yet I do not think myself bound to conceal them. Many gracious persons (for many
such I ara persuaded there are,) who differ from me, raore 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 thera. I believe, impose a
like restraint upon theraselves, but think the iraportance of what they deem to be truth,
justifies thera 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 believe, 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 maintaining a gospel-conversation ; and
therefore I must not be ashamed of thera.
The Hyrans are distributed into three Books. In the first, I have classed those which
are forraed upon select passages of scripture, and placed them in the order of the books of
the Old and New Testament. The second contains occasional Hymns, suited to uarticular
seasons, or suggested by particular events or subjects. The third book is miscellaneous,
coraprising a variety of subjects relative to a life of faith in the Son ofGod, which have no
express reference either to a single text of scripture, or to any determinate season or inci
dent. 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 sirailar 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 blessing upon it, I
offer to the service and acceptance of all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, of
eyery 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 corafort and satisfaction with which the discharge
of my ministry among thera has been attended.
The hour is approaching, and, at ray 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 nrj' tongue speak, it will be the business and the pleasure of
my life, to aim at promoting their growth and establishraent in the grace of our God and
Saviour. To this precious grace I coraraend tbem, and earnestly entreat tbem, 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.
JOHN NEWTON.
Olney, Bucks, Feb. 15th 1779.

OLNEY HYMNS.

BOOK I.
ON SELECT PASSAGES OP SCRIPTURE.

GENESIS.

HYMN I.
Adam. Chap. iii.
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 descendmg Lord,
He walk'd in confidence.
3 But oh ! by sin how quickly chang'd !
His honour forfeited,
His heart from God and truth estrarig'd,
His conscience ffll'd with dread !
4 Now from his Maker's voice he flees,
Which 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 -^e the law transgress ;
Like him, unable to deny,
UnwUling to confess.
8 But when, by feith, the sinner sees
A pardon,, bought with blood.
Then he forsakes his foolish pleas,
And gladly turns to God. Ill

HYMN n.

Cain and Abel. Chap. iv. 3 — 8.
1 When Adam fell, he quickly lost
God's image, which he once possess'd :
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 fiU'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 band good Abel died,
Because the Lord approv'd bis faith;
And when his blood for vengeance cried.
He vainly thought to hide his death.
5 Such was 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 ofgrace we slight.
And in ortr own devices trust ;
Call evil good, and darkness light,
And hate and persecute the just.
7 The saints in ev'ryage and place.
Have found his history fulfiU'd ;
The numbers all our thoughts surpass,
Of Abels whom the Cains have kill'd.*
8 Thus Jesus fell— but, ob ! his blood
For better things than Abel's cries ;t
Obtains his murd'rers peace with God,
And gains them mansions in the skies.

? Rom. viii. 36.

t Heb. xii. 34.

112

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

HYMN m.
Walking with God, Chap.. v. 24.
I Oh ! for a closer walk with 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 t
3 What peaceful hours I once enjoyed !
How sweet their mera'ry still !
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.
4 Retum, O holy Dove, return,
Sweet raessenger 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 frora 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 rae to the Lamb. C.

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,*
My road is safe and pleasant too.
2 I travel through a desert wide,
Where many round rae blindly stray;
But he vouchsafes to be ray guide,f
And will not let me miss my way.
3 Though snares and dangers throng my path,
And earth and hell my course withstand,
I triumph over all by faith,J
Guarded by his alraighty hand.
4 The wilderness affords no food,
But God for ray support prepares ;
Provides me every needful good,
And frees my soul from wants and cares.
5 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 rae.
6 Some- cordial from his word he brings,
Whene'er ray feeble spirit faints ;
At once my soul revives and sings,
And yields no raore to sad complaints.
7 I pity all that worldlings'talk
Of pleasures that wUl quickly end :
Be this my choice, O Lord, to walk
With thee, my guide, my guard, my friend !
* Peal, xxiii. 4. t Psal. cvii. J Psal. xxvii. 1,2. | §2Pet. ii. 8. || 1 Sam. xxiii. 7 T Jon^iU i. I*

HYMN V.
Lot in Sodom. Chap. xiii. 10.
1 How hurtfiil was tbe choice of Lot,
Who took up his abode
(Because it was a fruitful spot)
With them who fear'd not God !
2 A pris'ner he was quickly made,
Bereav'd of all his store ;
And, but for Abrara's timely aid,
He had return'd no more.
3 Yet still he seem'd resolv'd to stay,
As ifit were his rest;
Although their sins from day to day}
His righteous soul distress'd.
4 A whUe he stayed, with anxious mind,
Expos'd to scorn and strife ;
At last he left his all behind,
And fled to save his life.
5 In vain his sons-in-law he warn'd,
They thought he told but dreams ;
His daughters, too, of them bad learn'd,
And perish'd in the fiaraes.
6 His wife escap'd a little way.
But died for looking back :
Does not her case to pilgriras say,
" Beware of growing slack !"
7 Yea, Lot himself could ling'ring stand.
Though vengeance was in view;
'Twas raercy pluck'd him by the band,
Or he had perish'd too.
8 The doom of Sodora wUl be ours.
If to the earth we cleave :
Lord, quicken all our drowsy powers,
To flee to thee, and live.

HYMN VI.
Jehovah- Jireh ; or, the Lord will provide.
Chap. xxU. 14.
1 The saints should never be dismayed.
Nor sink in hopeless fear:
For when they least expect his aid,
The Saviour wUl appear.
2 This Abram found — he rais'd the knife,
God saw, and said, " Forbear :
Yon rara 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 tbe wave,
He thought to rise no more;ir
But God prepar'd a fish to save.
And bear hira to the shore.'

HYMN VIII.] GENESIS.
5 Bless'd proofs of power and grace divine,
That meet us m his word !
May ev'ry deep-felt care of mine
Be trusted with the Lord.
b Wait for his seasonable aid,
And though it tarry, wait ;
The promise may be long delayed,
But cannot come too late. C.

113

HYMN vn.

1 Though troubles assail.
And dangers afiiight.
Though friends should all faU,
And foes all unite ;
Yet one thing secures us.
Whatever betide.
The scripture assures us.
The Lord will provide.
2 The birds without bam
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 vvill 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 wiU provide.
4 His call we obey,
Like Abram of old,
Not knowing our way,
But faith msikes us bold ;
For though we are strangers,
We have a good guide,
And trust in all dangers,
The Lord wUl 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 heart-cheering promise.
The Lord wUl 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.
Vol. n. p

7 No strength of our own,
Or goodness we claim ;
YetsinceiS"' have known
The Saviour's great narae,
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 corafort us through ;
No fearing or doubting,
With Christ on our side,
We hope to die shouting,
The Lord will provide.

HYMN VIIL
Esau. Chap. xxv. 34. Heb. xii. 16.
1 Poor Esau repented too late.
That once be 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
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 1
Its pleasures will speedily end.
Its favour and praise are but breath ;
And what can its profits befriend
Your soul in the moraent of death 1-
4 If Jesus, for these, you despise.
And sin to the Saviour prefer;
In vain your entreaties and cries,
When sumraoned to stand at his bar :
How wUl you bis presence abide 7
What anguish will torture your heart?
The saints all enthron'd by bis 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
To me belongs nothing but shame ;
The praise and the glory be thine.

114

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HYMN IX.

Jacob's Ladder. Clmp. xxviu. 12.
1 If the Lord our leader be,
We may follow without fear ;
East or west, by land or sea,
Home with him, is ev'ry where.
When from Esau Jacob fled.
Though his pillow was of stone,
And tbe 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 rear'd
Reaching to the heavenly throne ;
At the top the Lord appear'd,
Spake, and claim'd him for his own.
3 " Fear not, Jacob, thou art raine,
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 caU ;
Never will I thee forsake,
TUl I have accomplish'd all."
4 WeU does Jacob's ladder suit,
To the gospel-throne ofgrace;
We are at the ladder's foot,
Ev'ry hour, in ev'ry place :
By assuming flesh and blood,
Jesus heaven and earth unites ;
We by faith ascend to God,*
God to dwell with us delights.
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 stiU they come ;
Ev'ry spot is holy ground,
God is there — and he 's their home.

HYMN X.
My name is Jacob. Chap, xxxii. 27.
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 ;
Yet the question gives a plea.
To support my suit with thee.
8 Thou didst once a wreteh behold,
In rebeUion blindly bold,
Scorn thy grace, thy power defy ;
That poor rebel. Lord, was I.

? 2 Cor. vi. 16.

4 Once a sinner near despair,
Sought thy mercy-seat by prayer ;
Mercy heard and set him free;
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 :
Who could bold me up but thou ?
6 Thou hast help'd in 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 theTime of Dearth. Chap. xli. 56.
1 My soul once had its plenteous years,
And throve, with peace and comfort fiU'd ;
Like the fat kine and ripen'd ears,
Which Pharaoh in his dream beheld.
2 With pleasing frames and grace receiv'd,
With raeans and ordinances fed.
How happy for a whUe I liv'd,
And little fear'd the want of bread.
3 But femine came, and left no sign
Of aH the plenty I had seen ;
Like the dry ears and half-starv'd kine,
I then look'd wither'd, faint, and lean.
4 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 dearth foresaw,
And made provision long before :
That famish'd souls, like rae, might draw
Supplies from bis unbounded store.
6 Now on his bounty I depend,
And live ftom fear of dearth secure;
Maintain'd by such a mighty friend,
I cannot want tUl he is poor.
7 O sinners, hear his gracious call !
His raercy's door stands open wide;
He has enough to feed you all.
And none who come shall be denied.

HYMN Xn.
Joseph made known to his Brethren.
Chap. xiv. 3, 4.
1 When Joseph his brethren beheld
Afilicted, and trembling with fear,
His heart with compassion was fiU'd,
Frora weeping he could not forbear.
A while his behaviour was rough.
To bring their past sin to their mind ;
But when tbey were humbled enough.
He hastened to show himseff kind.

liYIIl.N XV.]

EXODUS.

115

2 How little they thought it was he,
Whom they had ill-trea'ted and sold !
How great their confusion must be,
As soon as his name he had told !
" I 'nf Joseph your brother," he said,
" And still to my heart you are dear ;
You sold me, and thought I was dead,
But God, for your sakes, sent me here."
3 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, whora we would have slain,
Forgive us the evil we did ?
And will he our household raaintain ?
O, this is a brother indeed !"
4 Thus dragg'd by ray 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 ray heart !
Expecting each raoraent to hear
Tbe sentence " Thou cursed depart !"
5 But, oh ! what surprise when he spoke,
WhUe 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 frora hell,
And raise thee in glory to reign.
6 " I 'ra Jesus, whora 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 '11 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 xm.
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
Tbat 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.
5 The cross on which the Saviour died.
And conquer'd for his saints ;
Tlds is the tree, by faith applied,
Which sweetens all complaints.
6 Thousands have found the bless'd effect,
No longer mourn their lot :
WhUe 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-Rophi ; 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.
And Saviour we are such.
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 the whole."t
5 Conceal'd araid the gathering throng.
She would have shunn'd thy view ;
And if her faith was firra and strong,
Had strong misgivings too.
6 Like her, with hopes and fears, we come,
To touch thee if we raay ;
Oh I send us not despairing home,
Send none unheal'd away ! 0.
HYMN XV.
Manna, Chap. xvi. 18.
1 Manna to Israel well supplied
The want of other bread;
WhUe God is able to provide,
His people shall be fed.
2 Thus, though the com and wine should fell.
And creature-streams be dry,
The prayer of faith will stiU prevail.
For blessings from on high. 

* Mark ix. 24.

t Mar^ v. 34,

116

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

3 Of this 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 o<vn 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 '11 strongly try.
6 Daily they savy 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 terapt the Lord ;
Israel must live by faith and hope.
And not upon a hoard.
HYMN XVL
Manna Hoarded. Chap. xvi. 20.
1 The manna, fevour'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 strffe,
But cannot cheer the heart.
6 Nor can the best experience past
The lffe of faith maintain ;
The brightest 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 XVn.
Jehovah-Nissi ; or, the Lord my Banner.
Chap. xvii. 15.
1 By whom was David' taught
To^aira 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 invader's camp,*
With arms of little worth,
A piteher and a lamp ?
The trumpets made his coraing known.
And all the host was overthrown.
4 Ob ! 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-vyill.
Self-righteousness, and pride.
How often do they steal
My weapon frora my side ?
Yet David's Lord, and Gideon's friend,
WiU help his servant to the end. C.

HYMN XVnL
The golden Calf. Chap. xxxu. 4. 21.
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 tbey 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 bad been,
He durst prepare the idol beast.
And lead thera on to sin.
4 Lord, what is man, and what are we,
To recompense thee thus !
In tbeir ofience our own we see.
Their story points at us.
5 From Sinai's top we beard thee speak,
And from mount Calv'ry too ;
And yet to idols oft we seek,
WhUe 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 raore be thine by halves.
But live to thee alone.

Judges vii. 20.

HYMN XXII.j

JUDGES.

117

LEVITICUS.
HYMN XIX.
The true Aaron. Chap. viu. 7 — ^9.
1 See Aaron, God's anointed priest,
Within the vail appear,
In robes of mystic meaning drest.
Presenting Israel's prayer.
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 tiie atoning blood he stands
» Before the mercy-seat ;
And clouds of incense from his hands
Arise with odour sweet
4 Urim and Thummira near his heart.
In rich engravings wom.
The sacred light of truth impart,
To teach and to adorn.
5 Through him the eye of faith descries
A greater priest than be :
Thus Jesus pleads above tbe skies.
For you, my friends, and me.
6 He bears the naraes of all his saints
Deep on his heart engrav'd ;
Attentive to the state and wants
Of all his-love has saved.
7 In hira a holiness coraplete,
Light and'perfectjpns 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 narae upon bis breast.
And see the Father smUe. \

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 share
In such a happy death.
2 "Oh ! let me die.^'said he,
" The death the r%hteous do ;
When life is ended, let rae be
Found with the faithful few."
3 Tlie force of truth, how great !
Wben enemies confess,
Nono but the righteous, whom they hate,
A solid hope possess.
:  .^ 
* Bbok III. Hymn Ixxi.

4 But Balaam's wish was vain.
His heart was insincere ;
He thirsted for unrighteous gain.
And sought a portion here.
5 He seem'd the Lord to know.
And to offend hun loth ;
But Mamraon 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 round.
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.
3 He from whose arm they ruin fear'd,
Their leader and ally appear'd ;
An erablera 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 ba^ no power to spare,
If he bad known from whence they were.
6 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 obtained ;
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 jiress'd on every side;
The cause is thine, they fight with me,
But every blow is aimed 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 XXIL
Jehovah-Shalom ; or, the Lord is Peace.
Chap. vi. 24.
1 Jesus, whose blood so freely stream'd,
To siitisfy the law's demand,
By thee from guUt and wrath redeem'd,
Befor.e tbe Father's face I stand.

118

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book l

2 To reconcUe offending man.
Make Justice drop her angry rod ;
Wbat creature could have form'd the plan,
Or who fiilfil it, but a God?
3 No drop remains of all the curse,
For wretehes who deserv'd the whole ;
No arrows dipt in wrath to pierce
The guUty, 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;
Confirra and gird me for the war,
They hate the soul that hates his sins.
6 Let them in horrid league agree !
They raay 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 bis own.
2 The dew which first the fieece had fUl'd,
When all the earth was dry around,
Was ftom it afterwards withheld,
And only feU 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 bis chosen plants alive ;
They shall, though in a thirsty land, ,-j
" Like willows by the waters thrive."*
6 But chiefly when his people meet.
To hear his word and seek bis face.
The gentle dew, with influence sweet, -
Descends, and nourishes their grace.
7 But, ah ! what nurabers still are dead,
Though under raeans ofgrace they lie !
Tbe dew stUl 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 raay live. /
HYMN ^XrV. /
Samson's Lion. Chap. xiv. 8.
1 The lion tbat on Sarason roar'd.
And thirsted for his blood,
* Isa. xliv. 4.

With honey afterwards was stor'd.
And fumish'd him with food.
2 Believers, as tbey pass along,
With many lions meet,
But gather sweetness frora 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 raake them love the word,
Stir up their hearts to prayer.
And many precious fruits aflord
Of their Redeemer's care.
6 The lions roar, but cannot kill ;
Then fear them not, my friends,
Tbey bring us, though against their wUl,
The honey Jesus sends.

I. SAMUEL.
HYMN XXV.
Hannah ; or. The Throne,.qf Grace.
¦^ Chap. i. 18.
1 When Hannaji, 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 ofgrace.
2 When sh^ 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 ;
sj 3 Thougb men and devils rage,
7 And threaten to devour,
/ Tbe saints, frora 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 ofgrace.
5 She was not flU'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,
StUl let us ply the throne of grace.
6 Men have not power or skill
With troubled souls to bear;

HYMN xxvra.]

I.SAMUEL.

119

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 morningjjttir.
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.
fiagon 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 mme
Contriv'd to set it up again.
3 Again the Lord his narae proclaimed,
And brougWthe hateful idol low;
Then self, like Dagon, broken, maimed,
Seemed to receive a mortal blow.
4 Yet self is not of life bereft,
Nor ceases to oppose his will ;
Thoiigh 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 roomlf
Oh ! let tbe fire of heavenly love
The very stump of self consume !
HYMN XXVIL
The Milch-kine Drawing the Ark: — Faith's
Surrender of all. Chap. vi. 12.
1 The kine unguided went
By the directest road,
When the PhUistmes 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, devoicr of thought.
Their Maker's wUl obey.
And we who by his grace are taught.
More stubborn prove than they?
4 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 wiU. reveal,
Let us ofl^y 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 niatchless 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 wiU provide,"
And faith replies, " Enough."
HYMN xxvra.
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 arraour on,
Soon fojjnd he could not wield it.
And ventur'd forth with none.
With only sljng and pebble,
He fought the i|ght of faith;
The weapons seerii'd butffeeble.
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 arra'd as tbey advis'd me.
My expectations fail'd ;
My enemy surpris'd me,
And had almost prevail'd.
4 Fumish'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,
WhUe 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;
Laugh'd at my vain endeavours,
Ajnd drove me frora the field.

* Book II. Hymn Ixi.

t Hosea xiv. 8.

t Job xli. 27.

120

OLNEY TTYMNS.

[book r.

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 '11 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 fiU'd his soul ;
He ventur'd on adult'ry next.
And murder crown'd tbe whole.
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 criraes frora public view.
Of God he littie thought
6 He neither would nor could repent.
No true compunction felt ;
TUl God in mercy Nathan sent.
His stubborn heart to melt.
6 The parable held forth a fact,
Design'd his case to show ;
But thougb 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 tbe 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 alraighty Friend ;
Jesus, the Saviour, is his narae ;
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 frora God,
And brought rae to his chosen fold.

3 He cheers my heart, my want supplies,
And says that I shaU shortly be
Enthron'd with bim 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 retums ;
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 aU my Friend can say.
6 He bids me always freely corae.
And promises whate'er I ask ;
But I am straiten'd, cold, and dumb,
And count my privUege 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 bis 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. V
HYMN XXXI.
Ask what I shall give Thee. Chap. iii. 5.
1 Comb, 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 coraing 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 ray heart appear,
Print thine own resemblance there'.
6 While I am a pilgrim here,
Let thy love my spirit cheer;
As my Guide, ray Guard, my Friend,
Lead me to my journey's end.
7 Show 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.
* Psalm lxxxi. 10.

RYMN XXXIV.]

L KINGS.

121

HYMN XXXIL

I Ir 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 stUl ;
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 p©)ve,
Could we our wretched choice obtain,
Before we feel the Saviour's love
Kindle our love to him again.
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 ftom 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 XXXin.
ANOTHER.
1 Behold the throne of grace !
The proraise calls me near ;
There Jesus shows 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 withhold ?
4 Beyond thy utmost wants,
His love and power can bless :
To praying souls he always grants
More than tbey can express.
5 Since 'tis the Lord''s comraand.
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 ,
Vol. IL O

I ask to serve thee here below,
And reign with thee above.
7 Teach me to live by faith,
Conforra ray wUl to thine ;
Let rae victorious be in death.
And then in glory shine.
8 If thoji these blessings give,
And wilt ray portion be,
Cheerful the world's poor toys I leave
To them who know not thee.
HYMN XXXIV.
The Queen of 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,
"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,
AU 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 bad inspir'd.
His bounty and greatness of soul ;
Of all the hard questions she put,
A ready solution he showed ;
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 wisdora for which he is fara'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 doubts and hard questions opposed ;
But he restor'd peace to ray raind,
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 rauch 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.

122

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book t.

HYMN XXXV.
Elijah fed by Ravens.* Chap. xvii. 6.
1 Elijah's exaraple declares,
Whatever distress may betide,
The saints may comrait all tbeir cares
To him who will surely provide :
When rain long withheld 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 raay 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 raany can say to his praise,
He sends tbem by ravens their food :
Thus worldlings, thougb 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 tbe temptations they feel :
This raven who thirsts for ray blood.
Has help'd me to raany a meal.
5 How safe and how happy are they,
Who on tbe good Shepherd rely !
He gives thera 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. xvii. 16.
1 By the poor widow's oil aad 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 bis 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-bouse they possess,
On which they can depend ;
* Book III. Hymn xlvii.

Yet have no cause to fear distress.
For Jesus is their friend.
5 Then let no doubt your mind assaU :
Reraeraber God has said,
" The cruise and barrel shall not faU,
My people shall be fed."
6 And thus, though faint, it often seems,
He keeps their grace alive;
Supplied by his refreshing strejims,
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 XXXVIL
Jericho ; 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 toU.
The water some property had,
Which poisonous prov'd to the ground ;
The springs were corrupted and bad,
The streams spread a barrenness round.
2 But soon by tbe cruise and the salt,
Prepar'd by Elijah's command,
The water was cur'd ofits fault.
And plenty enriched the land :
An emblem sure this ofthe grace,
On fruitless dead sinners bestow'd ;
For man is in Jericho's case,
TUl cured by the mercy of God.
3 How noble a creature he seems !
What knowledge, invention, and skill !
How large and extensive his scheme^ !
How much can he do if he will !
His zeal to be learned and wise
Will yield to no limits and bars ;
He measures the earth and the skies,
And numbers and marshals the stars.
4 Yet stUl he is barren of good ;
In vain are bis 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 wUl destroy or deceive.
5 But grace, like the salt in the cruise,
Wben cast in the spring of the soul,
A wonderful change wifl produce,
Difiiising new life through the whole ;
The wildemess blooms like a rose.
The heart wbich was vUe and abhorr'd.
Now fruitful and beautifi 1 grows.
The garden and joy ofthe Lord.

* laa. lix. 5.

HYMN XLI.J

I. CHRONICLES.

123

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 tiie 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 miss'd a cure ;
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 he set me free,
When first I heard his fame ;
Surely, thought I, my pompous train
Of vows and tears will notice gain.
5 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 sorae painful task enjoin'd,
I to perforraance seera'd inclm'd.
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 ray proud heart gainsay ;
I fear'd to trust this siraple way.
7 At length I trial made,
When I had much endur'd ;
The message I obeyed,
I wash'd, and I was cur'd :
Sinners, this healing fountain try,
Which eleans'd a wretoh so vile as L
HYMN XXXtX.
The borrowed Axe. Chap. vi. 5, 6.
1 The prophet's 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 ;
WhUe daily at Elisha's feet,
They grace and wisdom learned.
3 The prophet's presence cheer'd their toU,
They watch'd the words he spoke i
Whether they turn'd the furrow'd soU,
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 performs ;
It shows 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 metcy 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. 16.
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 frora the skies,
A fiery guard around the hill : —
Thus are the saints preserved stUl.
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 ray 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 ^ound)
That sav'd a wretch like me !
I once was lost, but now ara found,
Was blind, but now I see.
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 horae.
4 The Lord has promis'd good to me,
His word ray hope secures ;
He will ray shield and portion be.
As long as lffe endures.

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OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

5 Yea, when this heart and flesh shall feU,
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,
WUl be for ever mine.

NEHEMIAH. HYMN XLH.
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, tUl 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 faitb,
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 faU,
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 XLin.
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 mom 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 raore could charm ;
I lived upon my Saviour's smUes,
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 raom the light reveals,
No light to me retums.
7 My prayers are now a chatt'ring noise.
For JTesus hides bis face ;
I read, — the promise meets my eyes,
But wUl not reach my case.
8 Now Satan threatens to prevaU,
And make my soul his prey ;
Yet, Lord, thy mercies cannot fell,
O come without delay !

HYMN XLIV.
The Change.* Ibid.
1 Saviour, shine, and cheer my soul.
Bid ray dying hopes revive ;
Make my wounded spirit whole.
Far away the tempter drive ;
Speak the word, and set me free.
Let rae live alone to thee.'
2 Shall I sigh and pray in vain,
Wilt thou still refuse to bear ;
Wilt thou not return again,
Must I yield to black despair ?
Thou hast taught my heart to pray.
Canst thou tum thy face away ?
3 Once I thought my mountain strong,
Firmly fix'd, no more to move ;
Then thy grace was all my song,
Then my soul was fiU'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 '11 find a change,"^
I could see no cause for fear.
Vain tbeir 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 tme,
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 ;"
SUence, Lord, this cruel foe,
Let hira know I 'm bought with blood :
Tell him, since I know thy name.
Though I change, thou art the same.
* Book II. Hymn xxxiv. and Book III. Hymn xxivi.

HYMN XLVni.]

PSALMS.

125

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, fori am weak.
Regard my heavy groans ;
O, let thy voice of comfort speak,
And heal my broken bones.
3 By day, my busy beating bead
Is fiU'd with anxious fears ;
By night, upon ray restiess bed,
I weep a flood of tears.
4 Thus I sit desolate and raourn,
Mine eyes grow dull with grief;
How long, my Lord, ere thou return.
And bring ray soul relief?
b O, come and show thy power to save.
And spare my fainting breath ;
For who can praise thee in the grave,
Or sing thy narae in death .''
6 Satan, my cruel envious foe.
Insults me in my pain ;
He srailes to see me broufrht so low,
And tells me hope is vain.
7 But hence thou enemy, depart !
Nor tempt mo to despair ;
My Saviour comes to cheer my heart,
The Lord has heard my prayer.
HYMN XLVI.
None upon Earth I desire besides Thee.
Psalra Ixxiii. 25.
1 How tedious and tasteless 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 hia 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 XLVIL
The Believer's Safety. Psalm 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 bis net.
To draw tbem frora thy care ;
Thy timely call instructs their feet
To shun their artful snare.
4 When like a baneful pestUence,
Sin mows its thousands down
On ev'ry side, without defence.
Thy grace secures thine own.
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 hiraself is nigh
To them that love bis name ;
Ready to save them when they cry.
And put their foes to sbame.
8 Crosses and charges 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 weapon needs.
Whose 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 bis 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 ara blest,
¦ Secure whatever change raay come ;
Whether I go to east or west,
With him I still shall be at home.

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[book I.

6 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 :
6 Or if the desert's sun-burnt soil,
My lonely dwelling e'er should prove ;
His presence would support ray toil,
Whose sraUe is lffe, whose voice is love.
HYMN XLIX.
He led them by a right way. Psalra cvU. 7.
1 When Israel was from Egypt freed,
The Lord, who brought thera 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 Pharaoh march'd behind.
3 The desert fiU'd tbem with alarms,
For water and for food ;
And Amalek, by force of arms,
To check their progress stood.
4 They often raurraur'd by the way.
Because they judg'd by sight ;
But were at length constrain'd to say,
Tbe Lord bad 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's lifted hands.
7 The way was right their hearts to prove.
To make God's glory known ;
And show his wisdora, power, and love,
Engag'd to save his own.
8 Just so, the true believer's path.
Through many dangers lies ;
Thougb dark to sense, 'tis right to faith,
And leads us to the skies.
HYMN L.
What shall I render ?\ Psalm cxvi. 12, 13.
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 '11 make
For all he has bestowed,
Salvation's sacred cup I 'U take,
And caU upon my God.

* Exod. xiii. 17.

t Book III. Hymn Ixvii.

4 The best returns for one like me,
So wretched and so poor,
Is from bis gifts to draw a plea.
And ask him stUl 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 shaU owe him most.
HYMN U.
Dwelling in Mesech. PsaJm cxx. 5—7
1 What a moumfiil lffe is mine,
FUl'd with crosses, pains, and cares !
Ev'ry work defiled with sin,
Ev'ry step beset with snares !
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 bear thy name profan'd.
When I see thy Spirit griev'd.
4 When thy children's griefs I view,
Their distress becomes my own ;
AU I bear, 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 dispeU'd my grief.
Put to sUence ray coraplaints :
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 aU.
8 There, believers, we shall rest,
Free from sorrow, sin, and fears;
Nothing shall our peace molest.
Through eternal rounds of years.
9 Let us then the fight endure,
See our Captain looking down ;
He wUl make the conquest sure.
And bestow the promis'd. crown.
PROVERBS. HYMN LE.
Wisdom. Chap. viu. 22 — 31.
1 Ere God had buUt the mountains.
Or rais'd the fruitful hUls ;
Before he fiU'd the fountains
That feed the running rUls ;
In me, from everlasting,
The wonderful i am.
Found pleasures never wasting.
And Wisdom is my name.

HYMN LV.]

ECCLESIASTES.

127

2 When, like a tent to dwell in.
He spread tbe skies abroad,
And swaih'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.
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, slighted.
And naU'd thee to a tree ?
Unfathomable wonder,
And mystery divine !
The voice that speaks in thunder.
Says, " Sinner, I am thine !" C.
HYMN LHL
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
ReconcU'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 tbey 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 tbis glorious Friend and Brother
Loves us though we treat him thus :
Though for good we render Ul,
He accounts us brethren stUl.
6 O for grace our hearts to soften !
Teach us. Lord, at length to love ;
We, alas ! forget, tjio often,
What a friend we have above :
But when home our souls are brought,
We wUl love thee as we ought

ECCLESIASTES.

HYMN LIV.
Vanity of Life.* Chap. i. 2.
1 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 fiU'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 board will do your soul no good ;
Gold is a blessing only lent.
Repaid by giving others food.
2 The world's eateera is but a bribe ;
To buy their peace you sell your own ;
The slave of a vain-glorious tribe.
Who hate you whUe they make you known.
3 The joy that vain amusements give.
Oh ! sad conclusion that it bi*irigs !
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 beguUes.
5 God knows the thousands who go down
From pleasure into endless woe ;
And with a long despairing groan,
Blaspheme tbeir 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. C.

* Book II. Hymn vi.

128

OLNEY HYMNS,

[book I.

HYMN LVL
Vanity of the Creature Sanctified. Ibid.
1 Honey thougb tbe bee prepares.
An envenom'd sting it wears ;
Piercing thorns a guard corapose
Round the fragrant blooraing 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 spoU'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 ;
Wbat 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 ofgrace,
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 LVn.
The Name of Jesus. Chap. i. 3.
1 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
In a believer's ear !
It sooths his sorrows, heels his wounds,
And drives away his fear.
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, fiU'd
"with boundless stores of grace.
4 By thee my prayers acceptance gain.
Although with sin defil'd ;
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 tbe effort of my heart,
And cold my warmest thought ;
But wben I see thee as thou art,
I '11 praise thee as I ought
7 TiU 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 LVIII.
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
Frora 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 bis praises shall prolong,
WhUe I live, my pleasant song.
4 Praise ye, then, his glorious name,
Publish his exalted ferae !
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 ofthe Church.
Chap, xxxii. 2.
1 He who on earth as man was known,
And bore our sins and pains,
Now seated on the eternal throne,
The Grod of glory reigns.
I His hands the wheels of nature guide,
With an unerring skill ;
And countless worlds, extended wide,
Obey his sovereign will.
While harps unnumber'd sound his praise,
In 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 storras.
5 This land, through which his pilgrims go,
Is desolate and dry ;
But streams ofgrace frora hun o'erflow,
Their thirst to satisfy.
6 When troubles, like a burning sun,
Beat heavy on thei#head,
To this alraighty Rock they run,
And find a pleasing shade.

HYMN LXII.] ISAIAH.
7 How glorious he, how happy they
In such a glorious Friend !
Whose love secures thera 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,!
Zion, city of our God !
He, whose word cannot be broken,
Form'd thee for his own abode :J
On the Rock of ages founded, 5
What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls"surrounded,||
Thou may'st smile at all thy foes.
2 See ! the streams of living waters,
Springing from eternal love, IT
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 faUs from age to age.
3 Round each habitation hov'ring.
See the cloud and fire appear !**
For a glory and a cov'ring,
Showing that the Lord is near ;
Thus deriving, frora 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.ff
'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 meraber 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 me, and be ye saved.
Chap. xiv. 22.
1 As the serpent raised by Moseslt
Healed the buming serpent's bite :
Jesus thus himself discloses
To the wounded sinner's sight :
Hear his gracious invitation,
"I have life and peace to give.

* Book II. Hymn xxiv,
t Psal. cxxxii. 14. wjiki
f Isaiah xxvi. 1. ¦ '^
** Isaiah iv. 5, 6.
11 Numbers xxi. 9. .„
Vol. il R

t Psal. Ixxxvii. 3.
5 Matth, xvi. 18.
IT Peal. xlvi. 4.
ttRev.J.6.

129
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 'U wash you white as snow.
3 " I have seen what you were doing,
Though you little thought of me ;
You wore 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 oiitstretehed
To receive you to my heart.
4 "Well raay shame, and joy, and wonder,
All your inward passions move :
I could crush thee with my thunder
But I speak to thee in love :
See ! your sins are all forgiven,
I have paid the countless sura ;
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 Physicifm.
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 frora the grave';
To tell to all around me,
His wondrous 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.
3 From men great skill professmg
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 faU'd me.
And aU my hopes were cross'd.

ISO

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

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 ftom danger frees us,
And saves the soul frora death.
Corae, then, to this Physician,
His help he '11 freely give :
He makes no hard condition,
'Tis only — ^look and live.
 /
HYMN LXm.
To 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 moraent I withdrew,
And thy heart was fiU'd with pain ;
But ray mercies I '11 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.
4 " 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 tbe mountains leave their place.
Thou shalt be for ever mine.
5 " Though afflicted, tempest-toss'd,
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 rebuUt anew ;
And in thee it shall appear
What a God of love can do."

* Gen. ix. 13, 14.

HYMN LXrV.
The contrite Heart. Chap. Ivii. 15.
1 The Lord will happiness divine
On contrite hearts bestow ;
Then tell rae, gracious God, is mine
A contrite heart or no ?
2 I hear, but seem to hear in vain,
Insensible as steel ;
If aught is felt, 'tis only pain,
To flnd I cannot feel.
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 !
Decide this doubt for rae ;
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. Ix. 15—20.
1 Hear what God the Lord hath spoken,
O my people, faint and few,
Comfortless, afflieted, broken.
Fair abodes I build for you ;
Themes of heart-felt tribulation
Shall no more perplex your ways ;
You 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 undisturb'd possession.
Peace and righteousness shall reign ;
Never shall you feel oppression,
Hear the voice of war again.
3 Ye 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 LXVL
Trust of the Wicked and the Righteous
compared. Chap. xvii. 5 — 8.
1 As parched in the barren sands.
Beneath a burning sky,

BYMN LXX.]

EZEKIEL.

181

The worthless bramble with'ring stands.
And only grows to die :
2 Such is the sinner's awful case.
Who raakes the world his trust.
And dares his confldence to place
In vanity and dust
3 A secret curse destroys his root.
And dries his moisture up ;
He lives a whUe 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 bead.
7 It thrives though rain should be denied.
And drought around prevail ;
'Tis planted by a river's side,
Whose waters cannot fail.
HYMN LXVII.
Jehovah-Tsidkenu ; or, the Lord our righ
teousness, 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 narae,
When it returns to thee.
4 This heart a fountain of vUe thoughts.
How does it overflow!
WhUe self upon the surface floats,
StUl 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 LXVin.
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.
2 With grief my just reproach I bear.
Shame fiUs me at the thought ;

How frequent my rebellions were !
What wickedness I wrought!
3 Thy merciful restraint I scorn'd.
And left the pleasant road;
Yet turn me, and I shall be turn'd.
Thou art the Lord my God.
4 Is Ephraim banish'd from my thoughts,
Or vUe in my esteem ?
No, saith the Lord, with all his feults,
I still reraember him.
5 Is he a dear and pleasant child?
Yes, dear and pleasant stUl ;
Though sin his foolish heart beguil'd.
And he withstood my will.
6 My sharp rebuke has laid hira low.
He seeks my face again ;
My pity kindles at his woe,
He shaU not seek in vain. C.
LAMENTATIONS. HYMN LXIX.
The Lord is my Portion. Chap. iii. 24.
1 From pole to pole let others roam,
And search in vain for bliss ;
My soul is satisfied at home.
The Lord my portion is.
2 Jesus, who on his glorious throne
Rules heaven, and earth, and sea.
Is pleas'd to claim rae for his own,
And give himself to me.
3 His person fixes all my love,
His blood removes my fear ;
And whUe he pleads for me above.
His arm preserves me here.
4 His word of promise is my food.
His Spirit is my guide :
Thus daUy is my strength renew'd.
And all my wants supplied.*
5 For him I count as gain each loss.
Disgrace, for him, renown ;
Well raay I glory in my cross,
WhUe he prepares my crown !
6 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,
EZEKIEL,
HYMN LXX.
Humbled and silenced by Mercy,
Chap. xvi. 63.
1 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.

* Book III. Hymn lix.

132

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

2 Though Satan stiU his rule maintam'd,
And all his arts employed ;
That mighty word his rage restrain'd,
I could not be destroyed.
3 At fength 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 prorais'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 backsUdings heal,
And pardon all that's past?
Sure, if I ara 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 LXXL
The Covenant, Chap, xxxvi. 25 — 28.
1 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.
3 My truth the great design ensures,
I give myself away to you ;
You shall be mine, I will be yours,
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 '11 put a praying spirit there.
5 From the flrst breath of life divine,
Down to the last expiring hour,
The gracious work shall all be mine.
Begun and ended in my pqwer. C.
' HYMN LXXn.
Jehovah- Shammah ; or, the Lord is there.
Chap, xlviii. 35.
1 " As birds their infant brood protect,f
And spread their wings to shelter them,"
Thus saith the Lord to his elect,
" Thus will I guard Jerusalem."

• Ver. 37.

t Isaiah xxi. 5.

2 And what then is Jerusalem,
Tbis darling object of his care?
Where is its worth in God's esteem i
Who built it? who inhabits there !
3 Jehovah founded it in blood.
The blood of his incarnate Son ;
There dwell tbe saints, once foes to God,
The sinners whora 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 utraost 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 LXXm.
The Power and Triumph of Faith.
Chap. iii. 6.
1 Supported by the word,
Though in himself a worm,
The servant ofthe Lord
Can wondrous 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 to bow ;
The furnace could not make them fear.
Because they knew the Lord was near.
3 As vain was the decree
Which charg'd thera not to pray ;
Daniel stUl bow'd his knee.
And worshipp'd thrice a-day :
Trusting in God, he fear'd not men,
Thougb threaten'd with the lions' den.
4 Secure they raight refuse
Corapliance with such laws ;
For what had they to lose,
When God espous'd their cause ?
He made the hungry lions crouch,
Nor durst tbe fire his chUdren touch.
5 The Lord is still the sarae,
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 m 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 LXXVIL]

ZECHARIAH.

133

HYMN LXXIV.

Belshazzar. Chap. v. 5, 6.
1 Poor sinners ! littie 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 bis boasts control'd.
And hurabled all his pride.
3 He saw a band upon tbe wall,
(And trembled on his throne)
Which wrote his sudden dreadful faU
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 roU ;
His looks and loosen'd joints express
The terrors of his soul.
6 His pomp and rausic, 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.
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 WhUe 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 raurra'ring word ;
My folly I confess'd and pray'd,
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 ray gourd revive again.
6 Now, Lord, ray 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.

* Co . ii. 14

ZECHARIAH.
HYMN LXXVI.
Prayer for the Lordes promised Presence.
Chap. ii. 10.
1 Son of God, thy people shield !
Must we still thine absence mourn ?
Let thy promise be fuIfiU'd,
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
TUl 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 frora on high,
EvU from amongst us cease.
5 With thy love, and voice, and aid,
Thou canst every care assuage ;
Then we shall not be afraid
Though the world and Satan rage.
6 Thus each day for thee we '11 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 LXXVn.
A Brand plucked out ofthe Fire,
Chap. iii. 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,
WhUe 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.
4 " This is a band wbich 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 bead adorn,
I thought no shame or suff'ring hard.
But wore for thee a crown of thorn."

134

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book it.

7 O how I heard these gracious words !
They broke and heal'd ray heart at once,
Constrain'd me to become the Lord's,
And aU my idol-gods renounce.
8 Now, Satan, thou hast lost thy aim,
Against this brand thy threats are vain ;
Jesus has pluck'd it frora the flarae.
And who shall put it in again ?
HYMN LXXVni.
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 hira built : [guUt.
He delivers all who trust in him from their
2 Many eyes at once are fixed
On a person so divine :
Love, with awful justice mixed,
In his great redemption shine : [mine !
Mighty Jesus, give me leave to call thee
3 By the Father's eye approved,
Lo, a voice is heard frora heaven,*
" Sinners, this is ray beloved,
For your ransom freely given,
All offences for his sake shall he 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,J [shed.
When, to save us, on the cross 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 :{ [veal'd.
May this Saviour be to all our hearts re-
7 With desire and adrairation,
All his blood-bought flock behold :
Him who wrought out their salvation,
And enclos'd them in his fold ;|| [cold.
Yet their warmest love and praises are too
8 By the eye of carnal reason,
Many view him with disdain ;ir
How will they abide the season,
When he '11 come with all his train ? [vain.
To escape him then they '11 wish, but wish in
9 How their hearts wUl melt and tremble
Wben they hear his awful voice ;**
But his saints he '11 then assemble,
As his portion and his choice,
And receive them to his everlasting joys.

* Matth. iii. 17.
X John xii. 31.
{ 1 Pet. ii. 7.
•* Rev. i. 7.

t 1 Tim. iii. 16.
§ John iii. 15.
fr Psal. cxviii. 22.

HYMN LXXIX.
Praise for the Fountain opened.
1 There is a fountain fiU'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 ray sins away.
3 Dear dying Larab, thy precious blood
Shall never lose its power,
TUl 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 fiowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme.
And shaU be tUl I die.
5 Then in a nobler, sweeter song,
I 'U sing thy power to save ;
When this poor lisping stamm'ring tongue
Lies sUerit 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 ! ,
7 'Tis strung, and tuned, for endless years,
And form'd by pov/er 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 shanie ;
Tbe Lord, well pleas'd, an ear afforda
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 jojrfuUy expect,
When he, descending from the sky,
His jewels will collect :
4 Unnotic'd now, because unknown,
A poor and suffering few ;
He coraes to claim them for his own.
And bring them forth to view.
5 With transport then tbeir Saviour's care
And favour they shall prove ;
As tender parents guard and spare
The chUdren 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

HYMN txxxin.]
MATTHEW.

MATTHEW. 2

186

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 raen 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 ray very birth,
I 've been the poorest wretch on earth.
4 Nor can I dare profess,
As beggars often do,
Though great is ray distress.
My wants have been but few ;
If thou should'st leave ray 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 'U trouble thee no more :
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 :
O do not frown and bid rae go,
I must have all thou canst bestow.
7 Nor can I wUling be
Thy bounty to conceal
From others who, like me,
Their wants and hunger feel :
I '11 tell them of thy mercy's store,
And try to send a thousand more.
8 Thy thoughts, thou only wise !
Our thoughts and ways transcend,
Far as the arched skies
Above the earth extend :*
Such pleas as mine raen would not hear,
But God receives a beggar's prayer.
HYMN LXXXn.
The Leper. Chap. viu. 2, 3.
1 Oft as the leper's case I read.
My own describ'd I feel ;
Sin is a leprosy indeed,
Wbich none but Christ can heal.

* Isaiah Iv. 8, 9.

A whUe I would have pass'd for well,
And strove my spots to bide :
TUl 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 rayself to cure.
The more the plague increas'd.
5 While thus I lay distress'd, I saw
The Saviour passing by;
To him, though fiU'd with shame and awe,
I rais'd my mournful cry.
6 Lord, thou canst heal me if thou wilt.
For thou canst aU things do ;
O cleanse my leprous soul from guUt,
My filthy heart renew !
7 He heard, and, with a gracious look,
Pronounc'd the healing word ;
" I will, — ^be clean :" and whUe he spoke,
I felt my health restor'd.
8 Come, lepers, seize the present hour.
The Saviour's grace to prove ;
He can relieve, for he is power ;
He will, for he is love.
HYMN LXXXIIL
A sick Soul. Chap. ix. 12.
1 Physician of ray sin-sick soul.
To thee I bring my case ;
My raging malady control.
And 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.
3 I would disclose my whole complaint.
But where shaU I begin ?
No words of mine can fully paint
That worst distemper, sin.
4 It lies not in a single part,
But through my frame is spread,
A buming fever in my heart,
A palsy in my head.
5 It makes me deaf, and dumb, and blind.
And impotent and lame ;
And overclouds, and fills my mind
With folly, fear, and shame.
6 A thousand evil thoughts intmde,
Tumultuous, in my breast;
Which indispose me for my food,
And rob me of my rest.
7 Lord, I ara sick, regard my cry,
And set my spirit free ;
Say, canst thou let a sinner die.
Who longs to live to thee ?

136

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

HYMN LXXXTV.
Satan returning. Chap. xu. 43 — 45.
1 When Jesus claims the sinner's heart,
> Where Satan ruled before;
The evil spirit raust depart.
And dares return no raore.
2 But wben he goes without constraint,
And wanders irom his horae,
Although withdrawn, 'tis but a feint,
He means again to come.
3 Some outward change perhaps is seen.
If Satan quit the place ;
But though the house seem swept and clean,
'Tis destitute of grace.
4 Except the Saviour dwell and reign
Within the sinner's mind,.
Satan, when he returns again,
WUl easy entrance find.
5 With rage, and malice seven-fold.
He then resumes his sway,
No more by checks to be control'd.
No more to go away.
6 The sinner's former state was bad,
But worse the latter far :
He lives possessed, blind, and mad.
And dies in dark despair.
7 Lord save me from this dreadful end.
And from this heart qf raine !
O drive and keep a way ithe fiend.
Who fears no voice but thine !
HYMN LXXXV.
The Sower. Chap. xiii. 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 raercies, 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. xin. 37—42.
I 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 WUl it relieve their horrors there,
To recollect their stations here ?
How rauch they heard, how much they
knew,
How long amongst the wheat they grew ?
3 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 think 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 tbeir will,
Employs his counsels to fulfil.
6 But though they grow so tall and strong.
His plan wUl not require them long :
In harvest, when he saves his own,
The tares shall into hell be thrown.

HYMN LXXXVn.
Peter walking upon the Water.
Chap. xiv. 28—31.
1 A word from Jesus calms the sea.
The stormy wind controls,
And gives repose and liberty
To tempest-tossed souls.
2 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.
8 Then, fiU'd with wonder, joy, and love,
Peter's request was mine :
Lord, call me down, I long to prove
That I am wholly thine.
4 Unmov'd at all I have to meet
On life's tempestuous sea,
Hard shall be easy, bitter sweet,
So I may follow thee.
5 He heard and smil'd, and bid rae try:
I eagerly obeyed ;
But when frora hira I turn'd my eye,
How was ray soul dismayed. '
6 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 !"
7 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.
8 " Upon my proraise rest thy hope,
And keep ray love in view :
I stand engag'd to hold thee up,
And guide thee safely through."

HYMN xc]

MATTHEW.

137

HYMN LXXXVin.
Wtmum of Canaan, Chap. xv. 22 — 28.
1 Prayer an answer wUl obtain,
Though tbe Lord a whUe delay :
None shall seek his face in vain.
None be empty sent away.
2 When the woraan came from Tyre,
And for help to Jesus sought,
Though be granted her desire,
Yet at first he answer'd not
3 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."
4 She was not of Israel's seed,
But of Csmaan's wretched race,
Thought herself a dog indeed :
Was not this a hopeless case ?
5 Yet although frora Canaan sprung,
Though a dog herself she styl'd,
She had Israel's faith and tongue,
And was own'd for Abrah'm's chUd.
6 From his words she draws a plea :
" Thougb 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 l Chap. xxii. 43.
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 hira a creature to be,
A raan, or an angel at raost;
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.
3 Some call hira a Saviour, in word.
But raix their own works with his plan.
And hope he his help will afford, ^
When they have done all tbat they can.
If doings profre rather too light
(A little, they own, they may faU,)
Vol. IL S

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, tiie Saviour they kiss,
And, while they salute him, betray ;
Ah ! what will profession like this
AvaU in the terrible day ?
5 If ask'd, what of Jesus I think ?
Though still ray 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 frora 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 AVhen, 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 oU of grace.
2 Foolish virgins then wUl 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 oU 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 'U cry, we scorn to doubt.
Though in lies our trust we put ;
Now our lamp of hope is out.
The door of raercy shut.
4 If they then presume to plead,
" 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;
Depart, your doora 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 beguUe ;
Trusting to a dyuig lamp,
Without a stock of oil.

* Book III. Hymn lxxii.

138

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

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.
3 He said, " Whatever others do,
With Jesus I 'U abide ;"
Yet soon, amidst amurd'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 raore 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 raove.
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 iri 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 XCn.
The Legion dispossessed. Chap. v. 18, 19.
1 Legion was my name by nature,
Satan rag'd within ray 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,
FUl'd with raadness, sin, and woe.
2 Yet in this forlorn condition,
When he carae 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 tUl I consented,
I had been a captive stUl.

3 " Satan, though thou fein wouldst have it.
Know this soul is none of thine;
I have shed my blood to save it.
Now I challenge it for mine :*
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 ray 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 ray sins forgiven,
Why should I reraain 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,
WUl repent, and seek my face."
HYMN XCIIL
The Ruler's Daughter raised.
Chap. V. 39—42.
1 Could the creatures help or ease us,
Seldora 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,
StUl 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.

* Book in. Hymn liv.

HYMN XCVII.] MARK.
5 O thou meek and lowly Saviour,
How determin'd is thy love !
Not this rude unkind behaviour
Could thy gracious purpose move ;
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 raighty narae ;
He is able to deliver,
And his love is stUl the sarae :
Can his pity or his power
Suffer thee to pray iri vain?
Wait but his appointed hour,
And thy suit thou shalt obtain.
HYMN XCIV.
But one Loaf* Chap. viii. 14.
1 When the disciples crossed the lake
With but one loaf on board,
How strangely did tbeir 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 seeras they had forgotten too,
What their own eyes had view'd ;
How with what scarce suffic'd for few,
He fed a raultitude.
4 If five sraall loaves, by his coraraand.
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 sarae.
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-raorrow, if you trust and pray,
ShaU tiraely 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 rae afford thine aid."
Many for his crying chid him,
But he called the louder still ;
TUl the gracious Saviour bid him,
" Come, and ask me what you will."
2 Money was not what he wanted,
Though by begging us'd to live ;

139

* Book III. Hymn Ivii.

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 ho saw, and, won by kindness,
FoUow'd Jesus in the way.
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 hasteu 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,
O 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 this place ;
They steal away ray joys from rae,
And rob ray Saviour of his praise.
3 There, too, a sharp designing trade.
Sin, Satan, and the world raaintain ;
Nor cease to press rae, 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,
I 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 raake 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 XCVn.
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 show his anger thus?
He surely had a farther end.
To be a warning word to us.
3 The fig-tree by its leaves was known ;
But having not a fig to show.
It brought a lieavy sentence down,
" Let none hereafter on thee grow."
4 Too raany, who the gospel hear,
Whom Satan blinds, and sin deceives,
We to this fig-tree may corapare,
They yield no fruit, but only leaves.

140

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

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 raay bear,
And find acceptance in the end.
LUKE.
HYMN XCVni.
The two Debtors, Chap. viii. 47.
1 Once a woraan silent stood,
While Jesns sat at meat;
From her eyes she pour'd a flood.
To wash his sacred feet ;
Sharae 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 whora 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,
Wbich of them would you believe
Engag'd to love him best ?"
4 " Surely be who raost did owe,"
The Pharisee replied :
Then our Lord, "By judging so.
Thou dost for her decide ;
Simon, if, like her, you knew
How rauch you forgiveness need ;
You like her had acted too,
And welcora'd me indeed.
5 " Wben the load of sin is felt,
And much forgiveness known.
Then the heart of course wUl melt,
Thougb hard before as stone :
Blarae not then her love and tears.
Greatly she in debt has been ;
But I have reraov'd her fears,
And pardon'd all her sin."
6 When I read this woraan's case,
Her love and hurable zeal,
I confess, with shame efface,
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 !

HYMN XCIX.
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 heels 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 be whose narae 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 tbe ground,
Press'd rae to lean upon his arm.
And into every gaping wound,
He pour'd his own all-healing balm.
6 Into his church ray 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 etemal boundless days,
When nature's wheel no longer rolls.
How shall I love, adore, and praise.
This good Samaritan to souls !
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 ;
Tbe one to feast the Lord was led.
The other waited to be fed.
3 But Mary chose the better part,
The Saviour's words refresh'd her heart ;
While busy Martha angry grew,
And lost her tirae and teraper too.
4 With warrath she to her sister spoke.
But brought upon herself rebuke :
" One thing is needful, and but one.
Why do thy thoughts on manj^ run ?"

hymn cm.]

LUKE.

141

5 How oft are we, like Martha, vex'd,
Encumber'd, hurried, and perplex'd ?
While trifles so engross our tiiought
The one thing needful is forgot.
6 Lord, teach us this one thing to choose.
Which they who gain can never lose ;
Sufiicient in itself alone,
And needful, were the world our own.
7 Let grov'Uing hearts the world admire.
Thy love is all that I require :
Gladly I raay the rest resign.
If the one needful thing be mine !
HYMN CI.
The Heart taken. Chap. xi. 21, 22.
1 The castle ofthe huraan 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.
3 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
Frora the usurper's power.
6 " This heart I bought with blood," he says,
" And now it shall be mine :"
His voice the strong one arra'd dismays,
He knows be raust 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 cn.
The Worldling. Chap. xu. 16—21.
1 " My bams 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 whUe a worldling boasted once,
As raany 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 ! wbo can speak the vast dismay
That flUs the sinner's mind,
When, tom by death's strong hand away,
He leaves bis 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 cm.
The barren Fig-Tree. Chap. xiii. 6 — 9.
1 The church a garden is,
In which believers stanch
Like ornamental tree's
Planted by God's own hand ;
His Spirit waters all their roots,
And ev'ry branch abounds with fruits.
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 gro^nd.
3 The under gard'ner grieves.
In vain his strength he spends.
For heaps of useless leaves
Afford him sraall amends:
He hears the Lord his wUl 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 'U fresh manure apply.
My digging I 'U renew ;
Who knows but yet they fruit may yield t
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 '11 strike the threaten'd blow,*
And lay the barren. fig-tree low.

* Book II. Hymn xxvi.

143

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book I.

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 faraine 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 '11 go and tell him all I 've done.
And fall before his face ;
Unworthy to be call'd his son,
I '11 seek a servant's place."
5 His father saw him coming back,
He saw, and ran, and smiled ;
And threw his arras around the neck
Of his rebeUious child.
6 " Father, I 've 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 :
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 welcoraes all that come.
HYMN CV.
The Rich Man and Lazarus.
Chap. xvi. 19—2.5.
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 Abrah'm's bosora safely placed.
Enjoys an everlasting feast.
3 The rich raan also died,
And in a raoraent fell
From all his pomp and pride
Into the fiames of hell;
The beggar's bliss frora far beheld,
His soul with double anguish fiU'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 :
" Remeraber thou wast fiU'd with good,
WhUe the poor beggar pin'd for food.
6 " Neglected at thy door,
With tears he begg'd his bread :
But now he weeps no raore,
His griefs and pains are fled ;
His joys eternally will flow,
WhUe 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 !
HYMN CVI.
The importunate Widow,* Chap, xviii. 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.
3 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 ber he little ear'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 'U do her right,
For ray own quiet's sake."
7 And shall not Jesus hear
His chosen when they cry?
Yes, though he may a while forbear,
He '11 help thera 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 eamest be,
And never faint in prayer ;
He loves our importunity,
And makes our cause his care.

* Book II. Hymn ix.

HYMN ex.] LUKE.
HYMN CVn.
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 narae pronounce,
And does he know my case ?
Will Jesus deign with me to dine ?
Lord, I, with all I have, am thine."
3 Thus where the gospel's preach'd.
And sinners come to hear,
The hearts of sorae are reach'd
Before they are aware :
The word directly speaks to them.
And seeras 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 agaiu 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 fiUs 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.

143

HYMN CVIII.
The Believer's Danger, Safety, and Duty.
Chap. xxii. 31, 32.
1 " 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 rejoice,
Your help and danger view ;
This warning has to you a voice.
This promise speaks to you.
4 Satan beholds, with jealous eye,
Your privUege and joy ;
He 's always watchful, always nigh,
To tear and to destroy.
5 But Jesus livfes to intercede,
That faith may still prevail ;
He wUl support in time of need,
And Satan's art shall faU.

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 WhUe Satan watches, dare we sleep?
We must our guard maintain ;
But, Lord, do thou the city keep,
Or else we watch in vain.*
HYMN CIX.
Father forgive them. Chap, 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 whorii we thus defied ;
Nor where our guilty souls had been,
If Jesus had not died.
5 We knew not what a law we broke.
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 raake our peace with God.
7 My sin, dear Saviour, made thee bleed.
Yet didst thou pray for rae !
I knew not what I did indeed,
When ignorant of thee.
HYMN ex.
The two Malefactors. Chap. xxui. 39 — 43.
1 Sovereign grace has power alone
To subdue a heart of stone ;
And the moment grace is felt,
Then the hardest heart wUl 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 ovt?n the Lord,
Whom the scribes and priests abhorr'd.

* Psalm cxxvii. 1.

144

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book t.

5 " Lord," he prayed, " remember me,
When m glory thou shalt be." .
" Soon with me," the Lord replies,
" Thou shalt rest in Paradise."
6 This was wondrous grace indeed,
Grace vouchsaf 'd in time of need ;
Sinners, trust in Jesus' name,
You shall find hira still the same.
7 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 frora 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 Taugkt frora her birth to hate the Jews,
And fiU'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 ber neighbours round.
6 O corae, this wondrous raan behold.
The prorais'd Saviour ! this is he
Whora ancient prophecies foretold,
Born, from our guilt to set us free.
7 Like ber, 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 hira 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 ray helpless soul
Has waited for a cure.
2 How often have I seen
The healing waters move,
* Book III. Hymn vii.

And others, round me, stepping in.
Their efficacy prove !
But my complaints remain ;
I feel the very same,
As full of guilt and fear, and pain,
, As when at first I came.
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, frora day to day,
I '11 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 CXHL
another.
1 Here at Bethesda's pool, tbe 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 raove ;
Sinners in ev'ry age and clime
Their vital influence prove.
5 Yet numbers daily near them lie.
Who raeet 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
WhUe love of sin bears rule.
7 Satan their consciences has seal'd.
And stupified their thought.
For, were they wUling to be heal'd,
The cure would soon be wrought.
8 Do thou, dear Saviour, interpose.
Their stubborn wUl constrain ;
Or else to them the water flows
And grace is preach'd in vain.

HYMN CXVIl]

JOHN.

145

HYMN CXIV.
The Disciples at Sea,* Chap. vi. 16 — JI
1 Constrain'd by their Lord to embark,*'
And venture without hira to sea,
The season tempestuous and datk,
How griev'd the disciples Wust be !
But though he rerasjjn'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 hira on board,
His presence their spirits reviv'd.
The sea becarae calra at his word,
And soon at their port they arriv'd.
8 We, like the disciples, are toss'd
By storms on a perUous deep.
But cannot be possibly lost,
For Jesus bas charge of the ship.
Though bUlows and winds are enrag'd,
And threaten to make us their sport,
This pUot his word has engag'd
To bring us in safety to port.
4 If sometimes we struggle alone,
And he is withdrawn frora our view,
It makes us raore 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 stUl high ;
Dear Saviour, this moment appear,
And say to our souls, " It is I !"f
HYMN CXV.
Will ye also go away ? Chap. vi. 67 — 69.
1 When any turn from Zion's way,
(Alas ! what numbers do !)
Methinks I hear my Saviour say,
" WUt thoii forsake me too?"
2 Ah ! Lord, with such a heart as mine,
Unless thou hold rae fast,
I feel I raust, 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,

Vol. n.

* Book II. Hymn Ixxxvii.
t Book III. Hymn xviii.

' Who hast eternal life secur'd
By proraise and by blood.
5 The help of raen and angels join'd
Could never reach ray case,
Nor can I hope relief to find
But in thy boundless grace.
6 No voice but thine can give me rest,
And bid my fears depart,
No love but thine can make me blest,
And satisfy ray heart.
7 What anguish has that question stirr'd
If I will also go?
Yet, Lord, relying on thy word,
I hurably answer, No.
HYMN CXVI.
The Resurrection and the Life, Chap. xi. 25.
1 " I am," saith Christ, " your glorious Head,
(May we attention give I)
The resurrection of the dead,
The life ofaU that live.
2 " By faith in me the soul receives
New life, though dead before ;
And be that in my name believes,
Shall live, to die no more.
3 " Tbe 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 proraise, gracious Lord,
On us asserabled 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,
Frora 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 torab
Hasted at the early dawn ;
Spice she brought, and sweet perfurae ;
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?

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[book I.

Though at first she knew him not.
When he caU'd her by her name.
Then her griefs were a,ll 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 Jesu's sake,
He will wipe your tears away.
4 He who came to comfort her,
When she thought her all was lost,
WUl for you relief appear,
Though you now are terapest-toss'd,
On his word your burden cast,
On his love your thoughts eraploy ;
Weeping for a while may last,
But the moming brings the joy.

HYMN CXVin.
Lovest thou me t Chap. xxi. 16.
1 Hark, my soul ! it is tbe Lord,
'Tis thy Saviour, hear his word ;
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 wand'ring, set thee right,
Turn'd thy darkness into light
3 " Can a woraan's tender care
Cease towards the child she bare ?
Yes, she may forgetful be.
Yet will I reraember 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 shalt see ray glory soon,
When the work of grace is done,
Partner of ray 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 ! C.

HYMN CXLX.
another.
1 'Tis a point I long to know.
Oft it causes anxious thought,
Do I love the Lord or no ?
Am I bis, or am I not ?
2 If I love, why am I thus ?
Why this dull and lifeless frame ?
Hardly, sure, can they be worse.
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 ;
FUl'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 wUl,
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,
Choose the ways I once abhorr'd.
Find at times the promise sweet,
If I did not love tbe Lord ?
8 Lord, decide the doubtful case :
Thou, who art thy people's sun,
Shine upon thy work of grace,
If it be uideed begun.
9 Let me love thee more and more.
If I love at all, I pray ;
If I have not lov'd before.
Help me to begin to-day.

ACTS.
HYMN CXX.
The Death of Stephen, Chap. vii. 54 — 60.
1 As sorae tall rock araidst the waves,
The fury of the terapest braves,
WhUe 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 fiU'd his breast
A lustre on his face impress'd.
4 " Behold !" he said, " the world oflight
Is open'd to ray 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;
Calra, amidst showers of stones, he kneels,
And only for his murd'rers feels.
6 May we, by faith, perceive thee tims.
Dear Saviour, ever near to us !
This sight our peace through life shall keep.
And death be fear'd no more than sleep.

HYMN CXXIII.]

ACTS.

147

HYMN CXXI.
The RebeVs Surrender to Grace, Lord,
what wilt thou have me to do '! Chap. ix. 6.
1 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.
2 All that a wretch could do I tried,
Thy patience scorn'd, thy power defied,
And trampled on thy laws ;
Scarcely thy raartyrs at the stake,
Could stand more steadfest for thy sake,
Than I in Satan's cause.
3 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 !
4 If thou bad'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 ray sin.
5 Now, Lord, I would be thine alone,
Come, take possession of thine own,
For thou hast set rae free ;
Releas'd from Satan's hard command,
See all my powers waiting stand,
To be employed by thee.
6 My wUl conform'd to thine would move ;
On thee my hope, desire, and love,
In fix'd attention join ;
My hands, ray 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 sarae.
Who lately durst blaspherae thy name,
And on thy gospel tread ?
Surely each one who hears my case.
Will praise thee, and confess thy grace
Invincible indeed !
HYMN CXXIL
Peter released from Prison.
Chap. xu. 5 — S.
1 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.
2 WhUe he slept, an angel carae,
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'ry door wide open flew :
.Peter thought he dream'd at first,
But found the vision true.
3 Thus the Lord (jan 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 whora his narae is known.
Can never pray in vain.
4 Thus, in chains of guilt and sin.
Poor sinners sleeping lie ;
No alarra 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.
5 Glad the sumraons 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.
HYMN CXXIIL
The trembling Gaoler. Chap. xvi. 29 — 31
1 A believer free from care,
May in chains or dungeons sing.
If the Lord be with hira there.
And be happier than a king :
Paul and Silas thus confin'd,
Though their backs were torn by whips,
Yet, possessing peace of raind,
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,
O that you could likewise fear:!
Then the mention of his name
Would be music to your ear :
Jesus rescues Satan's slaves,
His dear wounds still plead, " Fcirgive f
Jesus to the utmost saves ;
Sinners, look to him and live.

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HYMN CXXIV.
The Exorcists, Chap. xix. 13 — 16.
1 When the apostle wonders wrought, •
And heal'd the sick in Jesu's 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, naraing Jesus preached by Paul,
They charg'd the spirit to depart.
Expecting he'd obey their call.
3 The spirit answered with a raock,
" Jesus I know, and Paul I know ;
[ raust have gone if Paul had spoke :
But who are ye that bid me go?
4 With fury then the raan he fiU'd,
Wbo 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 wbo 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 Ceesar's court must stand,
He need not fear the sea ;
Secur'd frora harra on every hand
By the divine decree.
2 Although the ship in which he saU'd
By dreadful storras was toss'd ;
The proraise over all prevaU'd,
And not a life was lost
3 Jesus, the God whom Paul ador'd,
who saves in time of need,
Was then confess'd, by all on board,
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 raain ;
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 ;
The world 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 'U 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,
GuUt 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,
TiU Jesus raake it soft.
4 I would, but cannot love,
Though wooed by love divine ;
No arguments have power to move
A soul so base as raine.
5 I would, but cannot rest
In God's raost 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 would,
Though I can nothing do ;
Yet the desire is something good.
For which my praise is due.
8 By nature prone to Ul,
TUl thine appointed hour,
I was as destitute of wiU,
As now I am of power.
9 WUt thou not crown at length
The work thou hast begun ?
And with a wUl, afford me strength.
In all thy ways to run?
HYMN CXXVn.
Salvation drawing nearer. Chap. xuL
1 Darkness overspreads us here,
But the night wears fast away ;
Jacob's Star will 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.
2 Let his people courage take,
Bear with a submissive raind
All they suffer for his sake,
Rich amends they soon will find :
He wUl wipe away their tears,
Near himself appoint their lot ;
All their sorrows, pains, and fears,
Quickly then will be forgot.
3 Though already sav'd by grace,
Frora the hour we first believ'd ;
Yet whUe sin and war have place,
We have but a part receiv'd ;
Still we for salvation wait,
Every hour it nearer coraes !
Death will break the prison gate,
And adrait us to our horaes.
4 Sinners, what can you expect?
You who now the Saviour dare,
Break his laws, his grace reject,
You raust stand before his bar !
Tremble, lest he say, Depart !
Oh the horrors of that sound !
Lord, raake every careless heart
Seek thee while thou raay'st be found.
L CORINTHIANS.

-HYMN CXXVm.
That Rock was Christ. Chap. x. 4.
1 When Israel's tribes were parch'd with
thirst,
Forth from the rock the waters burst,
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 [stream.
From whose pierc'd side all blessings
3 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, tom, and slain ;
The rock gave but a watery flood,
But Jesus pour'd forth streams of blood.
5 The earth is like their wildemess,
A land of drought and sore distress;
Without one stream from pole to pole,
To satisfy a thirsty soul.
6 But let the Saviour's praise resound ;
In hira refreshing streams are found ;
Which pardon, strength, and comfort give.
And thirsty sinners drink and live.
II. CORINTHIANS. HYMN CXXIX.
My Grace is sufficient for thee. Chap. xii. 9.
1 Oppress'd with unbelief and sin,
Fightings without, and fears within ;

149
WhUe earth and hell, with force combin'd.
Assault and terrify my raind :
2 What strength have I against such foes.
Such hosts and legions to oppose?
Alas ! I trerable, faint, and fall ;
Lord, save rae, or I give up all.
3 Thus sorely press'd I sought the Lord,
To give rae some sweet cheering word ;
Again I sought, and yet again ;
I waited long but not in vain.
4 Ob ! 'twas a cheering word indeed !
Exactly suited to my need ;
" Sufficient fbr thee is ray grace;
Thy weakness my great power displays."
5 Now I despond and mourn no more,
I welcome all I fear'd before;
Though weak, I'm strong, though troubled,
blest.
For Christ's own power 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 ara nothinar, Christ is all.

GALATIANS.

HYMN CXXX.
The inward Warfare, Chap. v. 17.
1 Strange and raysterious 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 thera 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 know not what I read.
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 WhUe 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 ray fears return again.
6 Thus diflfrent powers within me strive.
And grace and sin by turns prevail;

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I grieve, rejoice, decime, revive.
And victory hangs in doubtful scale :
But Jesus has his proraise past,
That grace shall overcome at last.
PHILIPPIANS. HYMN CXXXI.
Contentment,* Chap. iv. 11.
1 Fierce passions discompose the mind.
As tempests vex the sea ;
But calra 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 skUl.
3 Since at his feet my soul has sat
His gracious words to hear.
Contented with my present state,
I cast on him ray 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,
Corapare thy griefs with raine ;
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 shaU 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 ofgrace.
Have learn'd to be content C.
HEBREWS.
HYMN CXXXIL
Old Testament Gospel. Chap. iv. 2.
1 Israel, iri aricient 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,f
Seen with enlighten'd eyes,
And once applied with power,
Would teach the need of other blood,
To reconcile an angry God.

? Book III. Hymn Iv.

t Exodus xii. 13.

3 Tbe lamb, the dove, set forth
His perfect innocence,*
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 headf
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 went free ; J
The type, well understood,
Express'd the sinner's plea ;
Describ'd a guilty soul enlarg'd.
And by a Saviour's death discbarg'd.
6 Jesus, I love to trace,
Throughout the sacred page.
The footsteps of thy grace,
Tbe same in ev'ry age.
O grant that I may faithful be
To clearer light vouchsard to me! C.

HYMN CXXXin.
The Word quick and powerful.
Chap. iv. 12, 13.
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
Frora his all-piercing eyes ;
Each thought and purpose stands reveal'd.
Naked, without disguise.
4 He sees his people's fears,
He notes their raournful cry.
He counts their sighs and falling tears.
And helps them from on high.
5 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 thera soon,
For all the evil deeds they do,
And all they would have done.|l
Since all our secret ways
Are mark'd and known by thee,
Afford us. Lord, thy light ofgrace,
That we ourselves may see.

* Lev. xii. 6. t Lev. xvi. 21. JLev. xiv. 51 — 53.
§ 1 Kings viii. 18. || Matth. v. 28.

HYMN OXXXVIL]

REVELATION.

151

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 and 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 ara freed ;
This sight destroys the life of sin,
And quickens heavenly life within.
5 To look to Jesus as he rose,
Confirras ray faith, disarras my foes ;
Satan I shame and overcome,
By pointing to my Saviour's tomb.
6 Exalted on his glorious throne,
I see him raake ray cause his own ;
Then all ray anxious cares subside.
For Jesus lives, and wUl provide.
7 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.
8 By faith I see the hour at hand.
When in his presence I shall stand ;
Then it will be my endless bliss,
To see bim where, and as he is.
HYMN CXXXV.
Love-tokens. Chap. xii. 5—11.
1 Afflictions do not come alone,
A voice attends the rod ;
By both he to bis saints is known,
A Father and a God !
2 " Let not my children slight the stroke
I for chastisement send,
Nor faint beneath ray kind rebuke,
For still I am their friend.
3 " The wicked I perhaps may leave
A while, and not reprove ;
But all the children I receive,
I scourge, because I love.
4 " If, therefore, you are left without
This needful discipline,
You might with cause admit a doubt,
If you, indeed, were mine.
5 " Shall earthly parents then expect
Their chUdren to submit?
And will not you, when I correct,
Be humbled at my feet?
6 " 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.
7 " I see your hearts at present fiU'd
With grief and deep distress;
But soon these bitter seeds shall yield
The fruits of righteousness."
8 Break through the clouds, dear Lord, and
Let us perceive thee nigh ! [shine,
And to each mourning child of thine
These gracious words apply.

REVELATION.

HYMN CXXXVL
Ephesus. Chap. ii. 1 — 7.
1 Thus saith the Lord to Ephesus,
And thus he speaks to sorae of us : —
" Araidst ray churches, lo, I stand.
And hold the pastors in ray 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 whUe I approve ;
Where is thy first, thy fervent love ?
Dost thou forget ray love to thee ?
That thine is grown so faint to me !
4 " Recall to mind the happy days,
When thou wast fiil'd with joy and praise ;
Repent, thy former works renew,
Then I 'U 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 hira tbat overcomes by faitb,
" The fruit of life's unfading tree,
In paradise his food shall be."
HYMN CXXXVn.
Smyrna, Chap. ii. 11.
1 The message first to Smyrna sent,
A message full of grace.
To aU 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,
Perforra'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.

152

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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 CXXXVin.
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, reraember, seek, and strive,
Exert thy former pains ;
Let thy timely care revive
And strengthen what remains;
Cleanse thine heart, thy works araend,
Forraer tiraes 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 ray Father's face shall see.
And walk with me in white :
When in judg-ment I appear,
They forraine shall be confess'd:
Let ray faithful servants hear,
And woe be to the rest !" C.
HYMN CXXXIX.
Philadelphia, Chap. iii. 7 — 13.
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.
2 " I know thy works, and I approve ;
Though small thy strength, sincere thy love,
Go on, my word and narae 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 wUl soon be past ;
Rejoice, for, lo ! I quickly come,
To- take thee to my heavenly horae.
5 " A pUlar 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 'U spit thee frora me with disdain.
3 " Thou boasted, ' I am wise and rich,
Increas'd in goods, and nothing need ;
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 raay'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 ?
Q.uickly thy stubborn heart unlock.
That I may enter with ray train.
7 " 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 CXLL
The Little Book.* Chap. x.
1 When the belov'd disciple took
The angel's little open book,
Which, by the Lord's command, he ate,
It tasted bitter after sweet.
2 Thus when the gospel is embrac'd.
At first 'tis sweeter to the taste
Than honey, or the honey-corab,
But there 's a bitterness to corae.
3 What sweetness does the promise yield,
When by the Spirit's power seal'd !
The .longing soul is fiU'd with good,
Nor feels a wish for other food.
4 By these inviting tastes allur'd
We pass to what must be endur'd ;
For soon we find it is decreed,
That bitter raust to sweet succeed.
5 When sin revives, and shows its power,
When Satan threatens to devour,
When God afflicts, and men revile,
We draw our steps with pain and toil.
? Book III. Hymn xxvii.

HYMN IV.]

SEASONS.

153

6 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.
7 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 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 etemal state,
They have done with all below ;
We a Uttle longer wait,
But how little none can know.
2 As the winged arrow files,
SpeedUy 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 streara ;
Upwards, Lord, our spirits raise,
AU below is but a dream.
3 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,
FUl us with a Saviour's love ;
And when life's short tale is told,
May we dwell with thee above.

HYMN IL
Time how short.
1 Time, with an unwearied hand.
Pushes round the seasons past :
1 And in life's fraU 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 wUl open soon for us.
2 Daily sin, and care, and strife,
WhUe the Lord prolongs our breath,
Make it but a dying life.
Or a kind of living death :
Wretched they, and most fo'rlorn,
Who no better portion know ;
Vol. IL U

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 ;
Honour, riches, kindred, friends,
Cannot cheer a dying hour.
4 Happy souls, who fear the Lord ;
Time is not too swift for you ;
When your Saviour gives the word.
Glad you '11 bid the world adieu :
Then he 'U wipe away your tears,
Near himself appoint your place ;
Swifter fly, ye rolling years,
Lord, we long to see thy face.
HYMN m.
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 Sorae we now no longer see.
Who their mortal race have run,
Seera'd as fair for life as we,
When the forraer year begun :
Sorae, but who God only knows,
Who are here asserabled now.
Ere the present year shall close,
To the stroke of death must bow.
3 Life a field of battle is,
Thousands fall within our view,
And the next death-bolt that files,
May be sent to rae or you.
WhUe 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, tbe caU wiU 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 thera 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 :

154 Thus another year is flown,
Now it is no more our own, '
If it brought or promis'd good,
Than the years before the fiood.
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?
0 forbid it, gracious Lord !
Touch their spirits by thy word !
Now in mercy to thera 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!
Warra 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 beU
Strikes on each attentive ear !
Tolling loud the solemn knell
Ofthe 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 bas 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 ovra,
Suddenly he mow'd them down.
3 See, how war, with dreadful stride,
Marches at the Lord's command,
Spreading desolation wide,
Through a once rauch fevour'd land:
War, with heart and arms of steel.
Preys on thousands at a meal ;

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book II.

Daily drinking human gore,
StUl he thirsts and caUs for more.
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,
Frora the rage of every storra :
But we trerable for the youth;
Teach thera. Lord, thy saving truth ;
Join them to thy faithful few.
Be to them a refuge too.

HYMN VI.
Earthly Prospects deceitful.
1 Oft in vain the voice of truth
Solemnly and loudly warns;
Thoughtless, unexperienc'd youth.
Though it bears, the warning scorns.
Youth in fancy's glass surveys
Life prolong'd to distant years,
WhUe the vast iraagin'd space
FUl'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 whUe,
Live to weep o'er fency's cheat;
Find distress, and pain, and toU,
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 wUls,
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

hymn X.]

HYMNS

SEASONS. 2

156

BEFORE ANNUAL SERMONS TO YOUNO PEOPLE
ON NEW-YEAR EVENINGS.
HYMN vn.
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 aU the guUt 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 VIIL
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 shows,
And yields the sweetest fruit.
3 Ye careless ones, O hear betimes
Tbe 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 raade.
Oh! join the public prayer!
For you the sacred tear is shed,
O shed yourselves a tear !
6 We pray that you raay early prove
The Spirit's power to teach ;
You cannot be too young to love
That Jesus whora 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 frora the throne.

Bless, O Lord, the op'ning year.
To each soul asserabled here ;
Clothe thy word with power divine,
Make us willing to be thine.
3 Shepherd of thy blood-bought sheep !
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 leam to love and fear.
5 Show them wbat tbeir ways have been,
Show thera the desert of sin ;
Then thy dying love reveal,
This shall raelt 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 frora 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 efibrt own ;
We learri frora disappointments 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
^o break the rocks, and raise the dead !
5 Have mercy on our uum'rous youth.
Who, young in years, are old in sin :
And by thy Spirit, and thy truth,
Show 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 raoumers 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 wUt raise a people up,
To love and praise thee in our room.

KG

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book n.

HYMN XI.
Pleading for and viith Youth.
1 Sin has undone our wretehed 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 thera an attentive ear,
Lord, save them by thy truth.
3 Blessings upon the rising race !
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 whUe ourselves forget.
To pour out prayer for you.
5 We see, though you .perceive it not,
The approaching, awful doom ;
O trerable at the solemn thought
And flee the wrath to corae.
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 XIL
Prayer for Children.
1 Gracious Lord, our children see.
By thy mercy we are free ;
But shaU these, alas ! ren.ain,
Subjects still of Satan's reign ;
Israel's young ones, when of old
Pharaoh threaten'd to withhold ;
Then thy raessenger said, " No,
Let the children also go."*
2 When the angel of the Lord,
Drawing forth his dreadful sword.
Slew, with an avenging hand.
All the first-born of the land ;f
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'nous bird of prey
Stoop, and bear the brood away. C.
HYMN Xni.
The Shunamite,\
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.
? Exod. X. 9. t E'"'<'- ¦>:'> 13- t 2 Kings iv. 31.

2 He sent his servant on before.
To lay a staff upon bis 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
The mother saw a joyful hour, [faith.
She saw her chUd 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.*
1 Does it not grief arid wonder move.
To think of Israel's shameful fall?
AVho 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.
3 " O God, if T thy servant am,
If 'tis thy message fills my heart,
Now glorify thy holy name,
And show this people who thou art !"
4 He spake, and, lo ! a sudden flarae
Consum'd the wood, the dust the stone ;'
The people struck, at once proclaim,
" The Lord is God, the Lord alone."
5 Like him, we mourn, an awful day.
When more for Baal than God appear ;
Like him, believers, let us pray,
And may tbe God of Israel hear !
6 Lord, ff 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.
7 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.f
1 Preachers may, from Ezekiel's case.
Draw hope in this declining day ;
A proof, like this, of sovereign grace,
Should chase our unbelief away.

* I Kings xviii.

HYMN ..xviil]

SEASONS.

157

2 Wben 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.
3 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."
4 Like hira, around I cast my eye,
-And, oh ! what heaps of bones appear ;
Like him, by Jesus sent, I '11 try,
For he can cause the dead to hear.
5 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.''
6 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.
7 O make thera 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.
HYMN XVL
The Rod of Moses.
1 When Moses wav'd his mystic rod,
What wonders foUow'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 roU'd,
Lightning and hail his voice obeyed,!
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 raay to Jesus cry !
6 Make strearas 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 !

* Exod. xiv. 33. t Nurab. xx. IL { Exod. ix. 23.

HYMN XVIL
God speaking from Mount Zion.
1 The God who onqe 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 Jesu's blood,
Calling poor wand'rers home to God.
3 The holy Moses quak'd and fear'd,
When Smai'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."
5 What other arguments can move
The heart that slights a Saviour's love !
Yet, till alraighty power constrain,
This raatchless 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 XVIIL
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 stubborri 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.

» Numb. XX. 11.

t Joshua vi' 30

158

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book II.

6 Now, whUe we hear thy word of grace.
Let self and pride before it faU ;
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 Kings ii. 11 — 14.
1 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.
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
Frora 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 raelted 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 arra, confirra thy word,
Give us another Pentecost !
7 Assist thy messenger to speak,
And while he airas to lisp thy truth,
The bonds of sin and Satan break,
And pour thy blessing on our youth.
8 For thera we now approach thy throne,
Teach them to know and love thy name ;
Then shall thy thankful people own
Elijah's God is stUl the same.
HYMNS
AFTER SERMONS TO YOUNG PEOPLE ON NEW-
YEAR EVENINGS, SUITED TO THB 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.
* Acts.

3 Like David, when this life shall end.
We trust in thee, sure peace to find ;
Like him, to thee we now comraend
The children we must leave behind.
4 Ere long we hope to be where care,
And sin, and sorrow, never come ;
But, ob ! accept our humble prayer,
That these raay praise thee in our room.
5 Show them how -vile they are by sin,
And wash them in thy cleansing blood ;
Oh ! make thera willing to be thine.
And be to them a covenant-God.
6 Long may thy light and truth remain,
To bless this place when we are gone ,
And nurabers 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 Thougb, fiU'd with awe, before his throne
Each angel veils his face ;
He clairas 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 faitb.
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 choice.
7 If now we learn to seek thy fece
By Christ the living way.
We '11 praise thee for this hour of grace
Through an eternal day.
HYMN XXIL
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 Jabei;! a child of grief! the name
Befits poor sinners well;
For Jesus bore the cross and shame.
To save our souls from hell.

HYMN XXVI.] SEASONS.
3 Teach us, O Lord, like him to plead
For mercies from above ;
O come, and bless our souls indeed,
With light, and joy, and love.
4 The gospel's promis'd land is wide,
We fein woflld 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 raay no longer boast.
He can thy work control.
6 Oh ! may thy hand be with us stiU,
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 XXm.
Waiting at Wisdom's Gates.
Prov. viu. 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 Wisdora 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,
WhUe 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 rae seek in vain.
For all who trust his word
Shall everlasting life obtain,
And favour from the Lord.
5 Lord, 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.

159

HYMN XXIV.
Asking the way to Zion. Jer. 1. 5.
1 Zion, the city of our God,
How glorious is the place !
The Saviour there has his abode,
And sinners see his face !

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 hUl.
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 weary rest.
2 Jesus, in that important hour,
His mighty arm raade known :
He ransora'd us by price and power,
And claim'd us for his own.
3 Now, freed frora 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 to dwell
In yonder world above ;
And now we 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 hira 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.
HYMN XXVI.
Travelling in Birth for Souls. Gal. iv. 19.
1 What contradictions meet
In ministers employ !
It is a bitter sweet,
A sorrow full of joy :

* Luke ii. 29.

160

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book ii.

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.
We are Ambassadors for Christ.
2 Cor. V. 20.
1 Thy 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 thse to thy face,
He in rebellion stood too long,
And fought against thy grace.
3 But grace prevail'd, he raercy found,
And now by thee is sent,
To tell his fellow-rebels round,
And call thera to repent.
4 In Jesus God is reconcil'd,
The worst raay be forgiv'n ;
Come and he '11 own you as a child,
And raake you heirs of heaven.
5 O raay 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 ofgrace be past.

7 Think, ff you slight this embassy,
And will not warning take.
When Jesus in the clouds you see,
What answer wUl you make?
HYMN XXVm.
Paul's Farewell Charge. Acts xx. 26, 27.
1 When Papl was parted frora his friends.
It 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 bis 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 youaU,
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 7
Jer. iii. 19.
1 Alas ! by nature how deprav'd,
How prone to ev'ry Ul !
Our lives to Satan how enslav'd.
How obstinate our will !
2 And can such sinners be restor'd,
Such rebels reconcil'd?
Can grace itself the means afford,
To make a foe a child?
3 Yes, grace has found the wondrous means.
Which shall effectual prove,
To cleanse us frora 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 tbe hard heart begins to feel
A new and heavenly birth.

HYMN XXXm.]

SEASONS.

161

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,*
\ See how rude Winter's icy hand
Has strip'd the trees, and seal'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 reraain ;
When will the gentle spring return.
And bid my graces grow again ?
3 Jesus, my glorious Sun, arise !
'Tis thine the frozen heart to raove ;
Oh ! hush these storras, and clear ray skies,
And let me feel thy vital love !
4 Dear Lord, regard ray 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-coramanding wordf
Seasons their changing course maintain,
In every change a pledge affords,
That none shall seek his face in vain.
HYMN XXXL
Waiting for Spring.
1 Though cloudy skies and northern blasts
Retard the gentle spring a whUe,
The sun will conqueror prove at last,
And nature wear a vernal smile.
2 The proraise, 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.
3 The virtue of that first command,
I know still does and will prevaU,
That while the earth itself shaU stand.
The spring and summer shall not fail.
4 Such changes are for us decreed :
Believers have their winters too ;
But spring shall certainly succeed.
And all their former life renew.
5 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.
6 Though like dead trees a whUe they seem.
Yet, having life within their root.
The welcorae spring's reviving beam
Draws forth their blossoms, leaves, and fruit

* Book III. Hymn xxxi,
VoL.IL

t Gen. viii. 22.

7 But if the tree indeed be dead,
It feels no change, though spring return :
Its leafless, naked, barren head,
Proclaims it only fit to burn.
8 Dear Lord, afford our souls a spring.
Thou know'st our winter has been long ;
Shine forth, and warra our hearts to sing.
And thy rich grace shall be our song.
HYMN XXXII.
Spring,
1 Bleak winter is subdu'd at length.
And forc'd to yield the day ;
The sun has wasted all his strength.
And driven hira away.
2 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 eartii arrayed in green.
3 Where'er we tread, beneath our feet,
The clust'ring flowers spring ;
The artless birds, in concert sweet.
Invite our hearts to sing.
4 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
5 Oh ! would my Saviour frora on high
Break through these clouds and shine '
No creature then raore bless'd than I,
No song more loud than mine.
6 TiU then no softly-warbling thrush,
Nor cowslip's sweet perfurae,
Nor beauties of each painted bush.
Can dissipate my gloora.
7 To Adara, soon as he transgress'd.
Thus Eden bloom'd in vain ;
Not paradise could give hira rest,
Or soothe his heart-felt pain.
8 Yet here an emblem I perceive
Of what the Lord can do;
Dear Saviour, help rae 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 fiowers 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 ;

162

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book h.

TUl the Spirits gentle rain
Bids the heart revive again ;
Then the stone is turn'd to flesh,
And each grace springs forth afresh.
3 Lord, afford a spring to me !
Let rae 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,
StUl 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 smUe,
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 winter fear,
Where 'tis spring throughout the year,
How unlike this state below!
There the flowers unwithering blow;
There no chUling blasts annoy ,
All is love, and bloom, and joy.
HYMN XXXIV.
Summer Storms,*
1 Though the mom 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,
Ere 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 :
WhUe his new-felt joys abound,
All things seem to sraile around ;
And he hopes it will be fair,
All the day, and all the year.
3 Should we wam him of a change,
He would think the caution strange ;
He no change or trouble fears,
TUl the gathering storm appears ;f
Till dark clouds his sun conceal,
TUl 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 ;
StUls the thunder, stops the rain,
And his sun breaks forth again :
Soon the cloud again returns,
Now he joys, and now he mourns ;
• Book in. Hymn Ixviii. t Book I. Hymn xliv.

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 ere night.
Have their coraforts put to flight :
Ah ! what heart-felt peace and joy
Unexpected storras 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.
HYMN XXXV.
Hay-time,
1 The grass and flowers which clothe the
And look so green and gay, [field,
Touch'd by the scythe, defenceless yield,
And fall, and fade away.
2 Fit erablem of our mortal state !
Thus, in the scripture-glass,
The young, the strong, the wise, the great,
May see themselves but grass.*
3 Ah ! trust not to your fleeting breath,
Nor call your tirae 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 wisdora 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 srafle !
Harvest now is drawing near,
To repay the farmer's toil :
Gracious Lord secure the crop,
Satisfy the poor with food ;
In thy raercy is our hope,
We have sinn'd, but thou art good.
2 While I view the plenteous grain
As it ripens on the stalk,
May I not instruction gain,
Helpful to my daUy walk ?

* Isaiah xl. 7.

hymn XL.] SEASONS.
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 :
Thougb conceal'd, it was not lost.
Though it died, it lives again ;
Eastern storms and nipping frosts
Have oppos'd its growth in vain.
4 Let tbe praise be all the Lord's,
As the benefit is ours :
He in season still affords
Kindly heat and gentie 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 ;*
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.

168

HYMN XXXVII.
Praise for the Incarnation.
1 Sweeter sounds than music knows.
Charm me in Emmanuel's name ;
All ber hopes my spirit owes
To his birth, and cross, and sharae.
2 When he came the angels sung,
" Glory be to God on high !"
Lord, unloose niy 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 ray room.
And canst thou, ray tongue, be stUl ?
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 wUl love thee without end.
HYMN XXXVilL
Jehovah-Jesus.
1 My song shall bless the Lord of all.
My praise shall climb to his abode ;
• Hosea xiv. 7; Mark iv. 26—29.

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,
Ho shines eternal ages hence.
3 As much, when in the manger laid,
Alraighty ruler ofthe sky.
As when the six days' work he made
FUl'd all the morning-stars with joy.
4 Of all the crowns Jehovah bears.
Salvation is his dearest claira,
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 angels' 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 aU 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 faint 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, frora sin and darkness freed,
Shall see the God who died for raan,
And praise him more than angels can.J
HYMN XL.
Saturday Evening,
1 Safely through another week,
. God has brought us on our way ;

* Rev. V. t Heb. ii. 16.
X Book III. Hymn Ixxxviii.

164

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book II.

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 alraighty power,
Fed and guided by his hand,
Though ungrateful we have been,
J Only made retums of sin.
3 WhUe we pray for pard'ning grace.
Through the dear Redeemer's name.
Show thy reconciled face,
Shine away our sin and sharae ;
Frora 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 ofgrace abound,
Bring relief for all coraplaints :
Thus raay all our Sabbaths prove
TUl 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 raorning 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 ;
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 raet with us here,
And shown hiraself raighty to save ?
His candlestick has been remov'd
From churches once privileg'd thus;
But though we unworthy have prov'd,
It stUl is continued to us.
4 For so many mercies receiv'd,
Alas ! what returns have we made ?
1 Sam. vii.

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 thera deep m 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 XLH.
ANOTHER.
1 Let hearts and tongues unite.
And loud thanksgivings raise ;
'Tis duty, mingled with delight
To sing the Saviour's praise.
2 To hira we owe our breath,
He took us frora 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 wUl.
6 And since his name we knew,
How gracious has he been ;
What dangers has he led us through.
What raercies have we seen !
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 XLHI.
On opening a Place for social Prayer.
1 O Lord, our languid souls inspire.
For here we trust thou art:

HYMN XLVL]

ORDINANCES.

165

Send dovra a coal of heavenly fire,
To warra each waiting heart
2 Dear Shepherd of thy people, hear,
Thy presence now display ;
As thou hast given a place for prayer,
So give us hearts to pray.
3 Show us sorae 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 tbe troubled conscience ease,
The wounded spirit heal.
5 The feeling heart the melting eye.
The humbled raind bestow ;
And shine upon us from on high,
To make our graces grow.
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,
En forc'd by mighty grace.
Awaken raany sinners round,
To come and fill the place.
HYMN XLIV.
ANOTHER.
1 Jesus, where'er thy people meet,
There they behold thy raercy-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 hurable raind ;
Such ever bring thee where they come,
And going, take thee to their home.
3 Dear Shepherd of thy chosen few,
Thy forraer 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.
5 Behold, at thy commanding word,
We stretch the curtain and the cord ;*
Corae 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 arra, nor deaf thine ear :
O rend the heavens, come quickly down,
Arid make a thousand hearts thine own !
C.
HYMN. XLV.
The Lord's day.
1 How welcorae to the saints, when press'd
With six days' noise, and care, and toil,
* Isaiah liv. 2.

Is the returning day of rest,
Which hides them frora the world a while !
2 Now, frora the throng withdrawn away.
They seem to breathe a different air ;
Compos'd and soften'd by the 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 raakes amends, if they can come
To God's own house for heavenly bread.
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 arra 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 He help'd his saints in ancient days.
Who trusted in his name ;
And we can witness to his praise.
His love is still the sarae.
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 raines.
Or aught beneath the skies.
6 His presence sweetens all our cares.
And raakes our burdens light ;
A word frora hira dispels our fears,
And gilds the gloom of night
7 Lord, we expect to suffer here.
Nor would we dare repine ;
But give us stUI to find thee near.
And own us stUl 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.

166

OLNEY HYMNS.

[bode II.

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.
2 He calls them to his raercy-seat,
And hears their hurable prayer ;
And wben 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 thera frora 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 corafort brings.
5 Though men despise them, or revile.
They count the trial sraall ;
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 !
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 Corae, ye who trembled for the ark.
Unite in praise for answer'd prayer !
Did not the Lord our sorrows raark ?
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 raany trials prest.
In this we can and will rejoice.

* Wherever a separation is threatened between a
minister and people who dearly love each other, thia
Hymn may be as seasonable as it was once in Olney.

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.
HYMN XLIX.
A Famine of the Word.
1 Gladness was spread through Israel's host
When first they manna viewed ;
They labour'd who should gather most,
And thought it pleasant food.
2 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.
3 Thus gospel-bread at first is priz'd,
And makes a people glad ;
But afterwards too much despis'd.
When easy to be had.
4 But should the Lord, displeas'd, withhold
The bread his mercy sends,
To have our houses fiU'd with gold.
Would make but poor amends.
5 How tedious would the week appear.
How dull the Sabbath prove,
Could we no longer meet to hear
The precious truths we love !
6 How would believing parents bear,
To leave their heedless youth
Expos'd to every fatal snare,
Without the light of truth !
7 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.
8 Then sin, in this once-favour'd town,
WUl triumph unrestrain'd ;
And wrath and vengeance hasten down,
No more by prayer detain'd.
9 Preserve us from this judgment. Lord,
For Jesus' sake we plead ;
A faraine of the gospel- word
Would be a sfroke indeed !
HYMN L.
Prayer for Ministers.
1 Chief Shepherd of thy chosen sheep.
From death and sin set free ! ,
May ev'ry under-shepherd keep
His eye intent on thee !
2 With plenteous grace their hearts prepare
To execute thy will ;
Compassion, patience, love, and care,
And faithfulness, and skill.
3 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.
4 Oh ! never let the sheep complain
That toys, which fools arause,

HYMN LIV.]

SACRAMENTAL HYMNS.

167

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 arra,
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,
FUl'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 ;
Sorae, 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 nipp'd them in the bud !
Dearest Saviour, hasten thither,
Thou canst make thera bloom again ;
Oh ! permit them not to wither,
Let not all our hopes be vain !
5 Let our mutual love be fervent,
Make us prevalent in prayers :
Let each one esteem'd thy servant
Shun the world's bewitching snares :
Break the tempter's fatal power,
Turn the stony heart to flesh ;
And begin from this good hour,
To revive thy work afresh.

* Zech. xi. 17.

HYMN LIL
Hoping for a Re-vival.
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 Tirae was, whene'er the saintrl met,
With joy and praise my bosom glow'd ;
But now, like Eli, sad I sit
And trerable for the ark ofGod.
4 While thus to grief my soul gave way.
To see the work of God decline ;
Methought I beard my Saviour say,
"Dismiss thy fears, the ark is mine.
5 " Though for a time I hide my face,
Rely upon ray 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 wUl help and healing bring.
SACRAMENTAL HYMNS.
HYMN LIIL
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 vUe, the lost, he calls to them,
Ye trembling souls, appear !
The righteous in their own esteem
Have no acceptance here.
4 Approach, ye poor, nor dare refuse
The banquet spread for you ;
Dear Saviour, this is welcorae news,
Then I raay venture too.
5 If guilt and sin afford a plea,
And raay 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 nee,
Bleeding to death for wretched me.

168

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book u.

Satan and sin no more can move,
For I am all transform'd to love.
2 His thorns and naUs 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 ofGod,
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 ray cares and pauis ;
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.
6 Thy name dispels my guilt and fear,
Revives ray 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-wUl to raen, 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 hira on.
4 Lord, we return thee what we can ;
Our hearts shall sound abroad.
Salvation to the dying man,
And to the rising God !
5 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,
1 Let rae dwell on Golgotha,
Weep and love my life away :
WhUe I see bira on the tree,
Weep, and bleed, and die for rae.
2 That dear blood, for sinners spUt,
Shows my sin in all its guilt :
Ah ! my soul, he bore thy load ;
Thou bast slain the Lamb of God.
3 Hark ! his dying word, " Forgive,
Father, let the sinner live ;
* Luke xii. 50.

Sinner, wipe thy tears away,
I thy ransom freely pay."
4 WhUe I hear this grace reveal'd,
And obtain a pardon seal'd,
All my soft affections raove,
Weaken'd by the force of love.
5 FareweU, world ! thy gold is dross,
Now I see the bleeding cross ;
Jesus died to set me free
From the law, and sin, and thee !
6 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 LVIL
Looking at the Cross.
1 In evil long I took delight,
Unaw'd by shame or fear,
Till a new object struck my sight,
And stopp'd ray wild career.
2 I saw one hanging on a tree,
In agonies and blood,
Who fix'd his languid eyes on rae,
As near his cross I stood.
3 Sure never till ray latest breath -
. Can I forget that look ;
It seem'd to charge me with his death,
Though not a word he spoke.
4 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 hira there.
5 Alas ! I knew not what I did ;
But now my tears are vain ;
Where shall my trembling soul be hid.
For I the Lord have slain.
6 Another look he gave, which said,
" I freely all forgive ;
This blood is for thy ransora paid,
I die, that thou raay'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 fiU'd,
That I should such a life destroy,
Vet live by him I kill'd.
HYMN LVIIL
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 frora the heat ;
Frora the hard rocks the water flow'd,
And manna was their meat

HYMN LXII.]

ORDINANCES.

169

3 Like tbem, 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 ofgrace,
As once he was to thera.
5 His word a light before us spreads.
By which our path we see ;
His love a banner o'er our heads,
From harra 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.
3 If they behold hira face to fece,
While we a glirapse can only see ;
Yet equal debtors to his grace,
As safe and as belov'd are we.
4 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.
5 Though all the songs of saints in light
Are far beneath his matchless wortb,
His grace is such, he will not slight
The poor attempts of worms on earth.
ON PRAYER.
HYMN LX.
Exhortation to. Prayer.
1 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.
2 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.
3 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.
Vol. IL Y

4 While Moses stood with arms spread wide.
Success was found on Israel's side ;*
But when through weariness they faU'd,
That moment Amalek prevail'd.
5 Have you no words? ah! think again,
Words fiow apace when you complain.
And fill your fellow-creature's ear,
With the sad tale of all your care.
6 Were half the breath thus vainly spent,
To heaven in supplication sent.
Your cheerful song would ofl'ner be,
" Hear what the Lord has done for me." C.
HYMN LXL
Power of Prayer.
1 .In themselves, as weak as worms.
How can poor believers stand,
When teraptations, foes, and storms.
Press them close on ev'ry hand ?
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 whUe 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 whUe we live.
ON THE SCRIPTURES.

HYMN LXIL
The Light and Glory ofthe World.
The Spirit breathes upon the word.
And brings the truth to sight ;
Precepts and proraises afford
A sanctifying light.

* Exod. xvii. 11.

170

OLNEY HYMNS.

[booh tt.

2 A glory gUds 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 stUl supplies
The gracious light and heat ;
His truths upon the nations rise.
They rise, but never set.
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 hira I love ;
Till glory breaks upon ray view
In brighter worlds above. C.
HYMN LXHL
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 rae 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 rae quickly.
Healing med'cines here I find :
To the proraises I flee,
Each affords a reraedy.
4 In the hour of dark temptation,
Satan cannot make me yield ;
For the word of consolation
Is to me a mighty shield :
WhUe the scripture-truths are sure.
From his malice I 'm secure.
5 Vain his threats to overcorae 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 iu his word,
Food arid med'cine, shield and sword.
III. PROVIDENCES.
HYMN LXrV.
On 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,
FUl'd with fierce wrath, is pouring down
Upon our guUty 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 trerable too,
When God shall send it near.
7 So thunder o'er the distant bUls
Gives but a murm'ring sound ;
But as the terapest spreads, it fills,
And shakes the welkinj 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 wUl but mock
The God whom we profess to fear !
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 bast thou bestow'd thy care
On this indulg'd ungrateful spot ;
WhUe other nations, far and near,
Have envied and admir'd our lot.
4 Here peace and liberty have dwelt,
The glorious gospel brightly shone;
And oft our eneraies have felt
That God has raade our cause his own.
5 But, ah ! both heaven and earth have heard
Our vUe requital of his love !
We, whora like chUdren he has rear'd.
Rebels against his goodness prove. ||

* Rev. xvi. 1. 1 1 Sam. xxiv. 16.
§ Firmament or atmosphere.

t Numb, xvi, 46.
1 Isaiah i.2>

HYMN LXIX.]

PROVIDENCES.

171

6 His grace despis'd, his pawer defied
And legions of the blackest criraes,
Profaneness, riot, lust, and pride.
Are signs that mark the present times.
7 Tbe 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 ?*
8 Lord, hear thy people ev'rywhere,
Who meet to mourn, confess, and pray ;
T'he nation and thy churches spare,
And let thy wrath be turn'd away.
HYMN LXVI.
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 bad quickly fail'd,
And perish'd in the fight,
If Moses' prayer had not prevail'd
To put the foes to flight.
3 Wben 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.
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 LXVIL
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 hira 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 !

»lChron. xii. 32.

t Exod. xvii. 9.

" Come, and in ray charabers 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 chUdren spare :
While they perish in the flood.
You that bear my holy mark,f
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 8, 1775.
1 Although on massy pUlars built,
The earth has lately shook ;
It trerables under Britain's guUt,
Before its Maker's look.
2 Swift as the shock araazeraent spreads,
And sinners tremble too ;
What flight can screen their guUty heads,
If earth itself pursue ?
3 But mercy spar'd us while it warn'd,
The shock is felt no more ;
And raercy 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 frora his frown.J
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 Ul ;
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 toUs and cares.
How welcome is the peaceful night !
* Isaiah xxvi. 20. f P8ek. ix. i. J Rey. vi. IQ,

172

,OLNEY HYMNS.

[book II.

Sweet sleep our wasted strength repairs,
And fits us for retumuig Ught.
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 foresee nor shun.
3 'Tis ofthe Lord that we can sleep.
A single night without alarms ;
¦His eye alone our lives can keep
Secure araidst a thousand barras.
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 raidnight wear the face of day.
6 The throng and terror who can speak?
The various sounds that fiU'd the air —
The infant's wail, the mother's shriek,
The voice of blasphemy and prayer.
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 fiame.
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 bum with love !
4 Forgotten be each worldly theme,
Wben christians see each other thus ;
We only wish to speak of him
Who liv'd and died, and reigns for us.
5 We 'U 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 raoraents pass away,
We '11 love, and wonder, and adore,
And hasten on the glorious day,
When we shall meet to part no more.

HYMN LXXL

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.
3 From his holy mercy-seat
Nothing can their souls confine ;
Still in spirit they raay 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.
.5 Jesus, hear our humble prayer !
Tender Shepherd of thy sheep !
Let thy mercy and thy care
All our souls in safety keep.
6 In thy strength may we be strong,
Sweeten ev'ry cross and pain ;
Give us, if we live, ere long
Here to raeet in peace again.
7 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.
1 In vain my fancy strives to paint
The moraent after death,
The glories that surround the saints
when yielding up their breath.
2 One gentle sigh their fetters breaks ;
We scarce can say, " They 're gone !"
Before the willing spirit takes
Her mansion near the throne.
3 Faith strives, but all its efforts fail.
To trace her in her flight ;
No eyes can pierce within the vail.
Which bides that world of light.
4 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.
5 On harps of gold they praise his name,
His face they always view ;
Then let us foUow'rs be of them
That we may praise him too.
6 Their faith and patience, love and zeal,
Should make their mem'ry dear ;
And, Lord, do thou the prayers fulfil
They offer'd for us here !

HYMN LXXVL]

PROVIDENCES.

178

7 WhUe 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.
8 We pray, as in Elisha's case,
¦ When great Elijah went
May double portions of thy grace,
To us who stay be sent

HYMN LXXni.
On the Death of a Minister.
1 His master taken from his head,
Elisha saw hira 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 ApoUos 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 LXXIV.
The ToUing Bell.
1 Opt 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 fraU and fleeting breath
Preserves me frora the jaws of death :
Soon as it fails, at once I 'ra gone,
And plung'd into a world unknown.
3 Then leaving all I lov'd below,
To God's tribunal I raust 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 frora guUt, I need not fear;
Nor would the thought distressing be.
Perhaps it next raay toU for rae.
7 Rather my spirit would rejoice,
And long, and wish to hear thy voice.
Glad when it bids rae earth resign,
Secure of heaven, if thou art mine.

HYMN LXXV.
Hope beyond tlie Grave.
1 My soul, this curious house of clay,
Thy present frail abode,
Must quickly fall to worms a prey,
And thou return to God.
2 Canst thoU, by faith, survey with joy
The change before it come ?
And say, " Let death this house destroy,
I have a heavenly home !
3 " The Saviour whom I then shall see
With new-admiring eyes.
Already has prepar'd for me
A mansion in the skies."*
4 I feel this mud-v/all'd cottage shake,
And long to see it fall ;
That I ray willing flight may take
To hira who'is my all.
5 Burden'd and groaning then no raore.
My rescu'd soul shall sing,
As up the shining path I soar,
" Death thou hast lost thy sting.''
6 Dear Saviour help us now to seek
And know thy grace's power,
That we may all this language speak,
Befbre the dying hour.
HYMN LXXVI.
There the Weary are at Rest.
1 Courage, ray soul ! behold the prize
The Saviour's love provides —
Eternal life beyond the skies
For all whom here he guides.
2 The wicked cease frora troubling there,
The weary are at rest ;f
Sorrow, and sin, and pain, and care.
No more approach the blest.
3 A wicked world, and wicked heart.
With Satan now are join'd ;
Each acts a too successfiil part
In harassing ray mind.
4 In conflict with this threefold troop.
How weary, Lord, am I !
Did not thy promise bear me up.
My soul must faint and die.
5 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.
6 Then why, my soul, complain or fear?
The crown of glory see !
The more I toU and suffer here,
The sweeter rest will be.
HYMN LXXVII.
The Day of Judgment.
1 Day of judgraent, day of wonders !
Hark ! the trumpet's awful sound.

* 3 Cor. V. 1.

t Job iii. 17.

174

OLNEY HYMNB.

[book II.

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 caU the dead awaken,
Rise to life from earth and sea :
All the powers of nature shaken,
By bis 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 conderanation,
" Hence, accursed wretch, depart ! [part !"
Thou with Satan and his angels have thy
5 Satan, who now tries to please you.
Lest you tiraely warning take,
When that word is past, wUl 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, " Corae near, ye blessed,
See the kingdora I bestow :
You for ever shall ray 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 's in a blaze.
HYMN LXXVin.
The Day of the Lord.*
1 God, with one piercing glance looks thro'
Creation's wide extended frarae ;
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,
WUl find he has a day of doom.
3 As pangs the lab'ring woman feels,
Or as the thief, in midnight sleep ;
So comes that day, for which the wheels
Of tirae their ceaseless motion keep !
4 Hark ! frora the sky the trurap 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, whither wilt thou turn ?
6 The puny works which feeble men
Now boast, or covet, or admire ;
Their porap and arts, and treasures, then
Shall perish in one coraraon fire.

* Book UI. Hymn iv.

t 2 Pet. iii. 8—10.

7 Lord, fix our hearts and hopes above !
Since all below to ruin tends ;
Here may we trust, obey, and love,
And there be foimd amongst thy friends.
HYMN LXXIX.
The great Tribunal.*
1 John, in vision, saw the day
When the Judge will hasten down ;
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 awfiil looks ?
Shall I stand in judgment then.
When I see the open'd books,
Written by the Almighty's pen ?
If he to remerabrance 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 miseraployed ;
Conscience then, corapell'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 frora gilt and danger free,
Glad I 'U raeet him in the air :
That 's the book I hope to plead,
'Tis the gospel open'd wide ;
Lord, I ara a wretch indeed !
I have sinn'd, but thou hast died.f
5 Now my soul knows what to do ;
Thus I shall with boldness stand,
Nuraber'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 was 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 raass.
All nature sprung at his command !
Let there be light, and light there was.
And sun, and stars, and sea, and land.
* Kev. XX. 11, 12. f Horn. viii. 34. J Job xxxviii. 7

HYMN LXXXrV.]

CREATION.

175

3 With equal speed tbe earth and seas
Tbeir 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, deforra'd, and void, and waste.
5 The new creation of the soul
Does now no less his power display,*
Than wben 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 LXXXL
The Book of Creation.
1 The book of nature open lies,
With much instruction stor'd ;
But tUl the Lord anoints our eyes, «
We cannot read a word.
2 PhUosophers have por'd in vain,
And guess'd from age to age :
For reason's eye could ne'er attain
To understand a page.
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 ofthe schools;
To them his secrets. God reveals.
Though men account them fools.
6 To thera the sun and stars on high,
The flowers that paint the field,f
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.|
HYMN LXXXn.
The Rainbow.
1 When the sun, with cheerful beams,
SmUes upori a low'ring sky.
Soon its aspect soften'd seems,
And a rainbow meets the eye :
WhUe 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
FiUs the sky with clouds and fears.
He can wonders then perform,
Paint a rainbow on the storm.*
3 AU their graces doubly shine,
When their troubles press them sore ;
And the proraises divine
Give thera joys unknown before:
As the colours of the bow
To the cloud their brightness owe.
4 Favour'd John a rainbow saw,f
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 wiU still be seen.
HYMN LXXXin.
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 storra is heard within,
And conscience thunders too.
3 The law a fiery language speaks.
His danger he perceives ;
Like Satan, who his rum seeks,
He trerables 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,J
Shall aU 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 raay never hear thee say,
" Ye cursed ones, depart."
8 Believers, you raay 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
Sometiraes my pensive spirit cheers;
But ere I can my thoughts collect,
As suddenly it disappears.

» 2 Cor. iv. 6. f Matth. vi, 26—28. X It""' '¦ '

* Gen. ix. U.

t Rev. iv. 3.

X 2 Pet. iii. 10.

176

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book ii.

2 So lightning in the gloom of night
Affords a momentary day ;
Disclosing objects full in sight
Which, soon a^ 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 raurmur at relief?
Though short, it was a precious view
Sent to control ray 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 show'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 prevaU.
7 The Lord's great day will soon advance,
Dispersing all the shades of night ;
Tnen 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 fest 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 raany with unmeaning eye,
Gaze on thy works in vain,
Assist rae, Lord, that I raay try
Instruction to obtain.
4 Fain would ray thankful heart and lips
Unite in praise to thee,
And raeditate on thy eclipse
In sad Gethseraane.
5 Thy people's guilt, a heavy load,
(When standing in their roora)
Depriv'd thee of the light of God,
And fiU'd thy soul with gloora.
6 How punctually eclipses move,
Obedient to thy will !
Thus shall thy faithfulness and love
Thy promises fulfil.
7 Dark like the moon without the sun,
I mourn thine absence, Lord !
For light or comfort I have none.
But what thy beams afford.
8 But lo ! the hour draws near apace,
When changes shall be o'er.
Then I shall see thee face to face,
Arid be eclips'd rio more.

HYMN LXXXVI.

Moon-Light.
1 The raoon 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 beara 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 show one object plain,
Noi- 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 rOBe,f
And sin prevails no more.
HYMN LXXXVIL
The Sea.t
1 If, for a time, the air be calm.
Serene and smooth the sea appears,
And shows no danger to alarm
The unexperienc'd landsman's fears .
2 But if the terapest once arise.
The faithless water swells and raves;
Its billows, foaming to the skies,
Disclose a thousand threat'ning graves.
3 My untried heart thus seem'd to me
(So little of rayself 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.
5 But when I felt the tempest's power
Rouse my corruptions from their sleep,
I trembled at the stormy hour,
And saw the horrors of the deep.
6 Now on presumption's bUlows borne,
My spirit seem'd the Lord to dare ;
Now, quick as thought, a sudden turn
Plung'd me in gulfs of black despair.
7 Lord, save i/.o, or I sink, I prayed,
He heard, and bid the tempest cease ;
The aiigry waves his word obeyed,
And all my fears were hush'd to peace.
8 The peace is his, and not my own,
My heart (no better than before)
* 1 Cor. xiii. 1. t tsa. xxxv. 1. X Book I. Hymn cxv.

HYMN XCI.] CREATION.
Is StiU to dreadful changes prone,
Then let me never trust it more.

177

HYMN LXXXVm.
The Flood.
1 Though small the drops of felling rain,
If one be singly view'd ;
Collected they o'erspread the plain,
And forra a mighty flood.
2 The house it meets within its course
Should not be buUt on clay,
Lest with a wild resistless force,
It sweep the whole away.
3 Though for a while it seemed secure,
It will not bear the shock,
Unless it has foundations sure,
And stands upon a rock.
4 Thus sinners think their evU deeds.
Like drops of rain, are small ;
But it the power of thought exceeds.
To count the sum of all.
5 One sin can raise, though sraall it seems,
A flood to drown the soul ;
What then, when countless raUlion streams
Shall join to swell the whole?
6 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.
7 Oh ! then, on Jesus ground your hope,
That stone in Zion laid ;*
Lest your poor building quickly drop,
With ruui on your head.
HYMN LXXXIX.
The Thaw.
1 The ice and snow we lately saw,
Wliich cover'd all the ground.
Are raelted soon before tbe thaw.
And can no raore be found.
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 erablera ofthe power
By which he raelts the heart of stone
In his appointed hour.
4 All outward means, till he appears,
Will ineffectual prove ;
Thougb 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 frora woe,
His hatred, unbelief, and guilt,
All melt away like snow.
* Matt. vii. 24; 1 Peter ii. 6.
Vol. il Z

7 Jesus, we in thy name entreat,
Reveal thy gracious arra ;
And grant thy Spirit's kindly heat.
Our frozen hearts to warm.
HYMN XC.
Tlie 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 TUl 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 Friend.
6 Thus borne along by faith and hope,
We feel the Saviour's words are true ;
"AndL ifl be lifted up,
Will draw the sinner upward too."*
HYMN XCI.
The Spider and the Bee,
1 On tbe same fiower 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 fiowers 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 perfurae :
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 license draw,
To trifle with the holy law.
7 Lord, shall thy word of life and love
The means of death to numbers prove !
* John xii. 33.

ITS

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book II.

Unless thy grace our hearts renew,*
We sink to heU, with heaven in view.
HYMN XCn.
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 sorae 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 raeans of grace,
Where sweets I knew were stor'd.
5 Little I thought of danger near,
That soon ray joys would ebb.:
But ah ! I raet a spider there,
Who caught rae in his weh.
6 Then Satan rais'd his pois'nous sting,
And aira'd his blows at me ;
While I, poor helpless trembling thing.
Could neither fight nor flee.
7 But, oh ! the Saviour's pitying eye
Relieved me frora despair ;
He saw me at the point to die.
And broke the fatal snare.
8 My case his heedless saints should warn,
Or cheer thera if afraid ;
May you frora me your danger learn,
And where to look for aid.

HYMN XCm.
The tamed Lion.
1 A LION, thougb by nature wUd,
The art of man can tarae ;
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.
8 But man himself, who thus subdues
The fiercest beasts of prey,
And nature more unfeeling shows,
Aad far more flerce than they.
4 Though by the Lord preserv'd and fed,
He proves rebellious still :
And whUe he eats his Maker's bread.
Resists his holy wUl.
5 Alike in vain of grace tbat saves,
Or threat'ning law he hears ;
* Book III. Hymn Ixxi.

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, whUe they gaze.
Their rage and fierceness lose.*
8 Yet we are but renew'd in part,
The lion still reraains ;
Lord, drive hira 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.
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 narae,f
Then what have we, though weak, to fear ;
Our sin and folly we proclaira,
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 CEin defend, he will provide.
5 See the rich pastures of his grace,
Where, in full strearas, salvation flows !
There he appoints our resting place.
And we raay feed, secure from foes.
6 There, 'midst the flock, the Shepherd
The sheep around in safety lie ; [dwells,
The wolf in vain with malice swells.
For he protects them with his eye.j;
7 Dear Lord, ifl am one of thine,
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 fiil'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 :

''' Isaiah xi. 6. f Fsalm xxiii. 1. X Micah v. 4.

HYMN xcvin.J CREATION.
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 treraendous night.
6 His church as a fair garden stands,
Wbich walls of love inclose,
Each tree is planted by his hands,*
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.
8 Such themes, to those who Jesus love.
May constant joys afford,
And make a barren desert prove
The garden ofthe ^lOrd.
HYMN XCVI.
For a Garden- Seat or Summer-House.
1 A shelter from the rain or wind,f
A shade from scorching beat,
A resting-place you here raay find
To ease your weary feet.
2 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 utraost 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 narae you have not known,
0 seek him while you may !
Lest you should meet his awful frown
In that approaching day.
6 When the avenging Judge you see.
With terrors on his brow,
Where can you hide, or whither flee.
If you reject him now?

• Isa. ixi. 3.

t Isa. xxxii. 2.

179

HYMN XCVn.
The Creatures in the Lord's Hands.
1 The water stood like walls of brass.
To let the sons of Israel pass,*
And frora the rook in rivers burst,
At Moses' prayer,f to quench their thirst.
2 The fire, restrain'd by God's coramands,
Could only burn his people's bands :|
Too faint when he was with thera there,
To singe their garraents or their hair.
3 At Daniel's feet the lions lay,}
Like barraless larabs, nor touch'd their prey;
And ravens, which on carron fed,
Procur'd Elijah flesh and bread. ||
4 Thus creatures only can fulfil
Their great Creator's holy wUl ;_
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 instruraents of pain they prove,
StUl they are guided by his love,
As lancets by the surgeon's skUl,
Which wound to cure and not to kUL
HYMN XCVni.
On Dreaming.
1 When sluraber 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 farailiar, though unknown.
3 Sometiraes the raind beholds again
The past day's bus'ness in review,
Resuraes the pleasure or the pain.
And sometimes all we meet is new.
4 Wliat schemes we form! what pains we
We fight, we run, we fly, we fall ; [take,
But all is ended when we wake,
We scarcely then a trace recall.
5 But thougb 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 at distress.
When we are sleeping, who can tell?

* Exod. xiv. 2;
§ Dan. vi. 23.

t Numb. XX. 11.
1 1 Kings xvii. 6.

} Dan. iii. 27

180

OLNEY HYMNS.

[BOOfe 111.

7 One thmg at least, and 'tis enough,
We learn from this surprising fact.
Our dreams afford sufficient proof,
The soul .without the flesh can act.
8 This life, which mortals so esteera,
That many choose it for their all.
They will confess, was but a dream,*
When wakened by death's awful call.
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, tUl better taught,
By experience dearly bought.
3 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,
FUl'd with hopes and golden schemes,
Of a storm he little dreams.
5 But ere long the tempest raves,
Then he trerables 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 adrairing thee, untried.
Court thy pleasure, wealth, or pride.
7 Such a shipwreck had been raine.
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;
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 fiatt'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 rausic sweet,
The senses of the trav'ller meet.
And stop him in his way.
* Isaiah xxix. 3.

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 wUderness 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 follow him from day to day,
Assur'd of grace through all the way.
And glory at the end.

BOOK III.
ON THE RISE, PROGRESS, CHANGES, AND COM
FORTS OP THE SPIRITUAL LIFE.

I. SOLEMN ADDRESSES TO
SINNERS HYMN L
Expostulation.
1 No words can declare.
No fancy can paint,
What rage and despair,
What hopeless complaint,
FUl Satan's dark dwelling,
The prison beneath
What weeping, and yelling,
And gnashing of teeth !
2 Yet sinners wUl choose
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.
3 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 !

hymniy.J to SINNERS.
5 How oft have you dar'd
The Lord to his face ! ¦
Yet StUl 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 isjiot 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 hun you receive.

181

HYMN IL
Alarm.
1 Stop, poor sinner ! stop, and think,
Before you farther go !
Will you sport upon the brink
Of everlasting woe?
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 judgraent shall proclaim,
And the earth.shall melt away,
Like wax before the flame ?
3 Pale-fac'd death will quickly come,
To drag you to his bar ;
Then to hear your awful doom
Will fUl 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 raade of steel,
Your forehead lin'd with brass,
God at leng'th will make you feel,
He will not let you pass :
Sinners then in vain will call,
(Though they now despise his grace)
Rooks 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."f

* Kev. vi. 16

t Luke xiv. S

HYMN III.
Wis 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,*
Forget its wonted raotion,
And rage and swell no more ;
In vain your expectation
To fibid content in sin.
Or freedom from vexation,
While passions reign within.
3 Come turn your thoughts to Jesus,
Tf you would good possess ;
'Tis he alone that frees us
From guilt and from distress :
When he by faith is present,
The sinner's troubles cease ;
His ways are truly pleasant,
And all his paths are peace.f
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 raeasure,
And serve him with our aU.
HYMN IV.
Prepare to meet God.
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 raust either break or bow.
2 At his presence nature shakes,
Earth affrighted hastes to flee,
Solid mountains raelt like wax;
What wUl then become of thee
Who his advent may abide?
You that glory in your sharae,
Will you find a place to hide
When the World is wrapt in flame?

* Isa. Ivii. 20, 21.

t Prov. iii. 17.

182

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book iu.

3 Then the rich, the great, the wise.
Trembling, guUty, self-conderan'd,
Must behold the wrathful eyes
Ofthe 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 iraprove,
Listen to the gospel- voice ;
Seek the things that are above,
Scorn the world's pretended joys.
5 Oh! when flesh and heart shall faU,
Let thy love our spirits cheer ;
Strengthen'd thus, we shall prevaU
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 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.
2 Why art thou afraid to come,
And tell hira all thy case ?
He will not pronounce thy doom.
Nor frown thee from bis face :
Wilt thou fear Emmanuel ?
Wilt thou dread the Lamb of God,
Who, to save thy soul frora hell,
Has shed his precious blood ?
3 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, frora all his bursting veins,
Blood of wondrous virtue flow !
Shed to wash away thy stains.
And ransora thee frora woe.
4 Though his raajesty be great.
His raercy is no less ;
Though he thy transgressions hate,
He feels for thy distress :
By bimself 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 !
* Ezek. xxxiii. 11.

These, though sinners once like thee.
Have full salvation found :
Yield not then to unbelief!
WhUe 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 IL Hymn 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 35, 77, 78, 83.

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 hiraself 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 frora 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 ray own choice ;
Again, and again,
I slighted his voice,
His warnings neglected,
His patience abus'd.
His gospel rejected.
His raercy refus'd.
5 And raust I then go,
For ever to dwell
In torraents and woe,
With devils in hell ?
Oh ! where is the Saviour
I scorn'd in tiraes past ?
His word in my favour
Would save me at last.
6 Lord Jesus on thee
I venture to call,
Oh look upon rae,
The vilest of aU!

HYMN IX.]

SEEKING, &c.

183

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 wUl repine,
AU heaven will adore ;
If in condemnation
Strict justice takes place,
It shines in salvation,
More glorious through grace.
HYMN vn.
Behold, I am VUe!
1 O Lord, how vile ara I,
Unholy and unclean !
How can I dare to venture nigh
With such a load of sin ?
J 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,
I know not where I am.
1 If in thy word I look,
Such darkness fills my raind,
I only read a sealed book.
But no relief can find.
» Thy gospel oft I hear.
But bear it still in vain ;
Without desire, or love, or fear,
I like a stone reraain.
I Myself can hardly bear
This wretched heart of raine ;
How hateful, then, must it appear
To those pure eyes of thine ?
' And must I then indeed
Sink in despair and die ?
Fain would I hope that thou didst bleed
For such a wretch as I.
I That blood which thou hast spilt.
That grace which is thine own,
Can cleanse the vilest sinner's guUt,
And soften hearts of stone.
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 Vin.
The shining Light.
My former hopes are fled,
My terror now begins ;
I feel, alas ! that I am dead
In trespasses and sins.
Ah ! whither shall I fly ?
I hear the thunder roar j

The law proclairas destruction nigh.
And vengeance at the door.
3 When I review ray 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 afer ;
A beam of day that shines for me.
To save me from despair.
5 Forerunner'of the sun,*
It marks the pUgrim's Way ;
I '11 gaze upon it whUe I run,
And watch the rising day. '
HYMN IX.
Encouragement.
1 My soul is beset
With grief and dismay,
I owe a vast debt,
And nothing can pay :
I raust go to prison,
* Unless that dear Lord,
Who died and is risen,
His pity afford.
2 The death that he died,
The blood that be 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 rae,
Was nigh to despair ;f
He did not upbraid hira
With all he had done, i
But instantly made bim '
A saint and a son.
4 The jaUor, I read,
A pardon receiv'd :J
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 hira 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,}
Receiv'd hira to favour,
And made him a child.
6- A foe to all good,
In wickedness skill'd.

* Psalm cxxx. 6.
X Acts xvi. 13.

t Luke xxiii. 43.
§ 1 Tim. i. 16.

184

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book hi.

Manasseh with blood
Jerusalem fiU'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.
3 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.
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 '11 wait with humble prayer ;
And when he calls his exUe horae.
The Lord shall find him there.
HYMN XI.
The Effort,
1 Cheer up, my soul, there is a raercy-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 ara corae ! thy proraise is ray plea,
Without thy word I durst not venture nigh ;
But thou hast call'd the burden'd soul to
thee,
A weary, burden'd soul, O Lord, am I !
3 Bow'd down beneiith 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.
* 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, 13.

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."
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.
Lord, give me faith: — he hears: what
grace is this !
Dry up thy tears, my soul,- and cease to
grieve ;
He shows me what he did, arid who he is,
I raust, I will, I can, I do believe.
HYMN XIL
ANOTHER.
Approach, ra"y soul, the mercy-seat
Where Jesus answers prayer,
There humbly fall before his feet,
For none can perish there.
Thy promise is my only plea,
With this I venture nigh ;
Thou callest burden'd souls to thee,
And, such, O Lord, am I.
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.
Be thou my shield and hiding-place !
That, shelter'd near thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
And tell hira, "Thou hast died."
O wond'rous love ! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and sharae,
That guilty sinners, such as I,
Might plead thy gracious name.
" Poor tempest-tossed soul, be still,
My promis'd grace receive :"
'Tis Jesus speaks — I must, I will,
I can, I do believe.

HYMN XIII.
Seeking the Beloved.
To those who know the Lord, I speak.
Is ray beloved near ?
The bridegroora of my soul I seek,
O when will he appear !
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.
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.

HYMN XYII.]

CONFLICT.

185

4 He speaks— obedient to his call
Our warm affections move ;
Did he but shine alike on all.
Then all alike would love.
6 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.
6 Such Jesus is, and such his grace,
O may he shine on you !*
And tell him, when you see his face,
I long to see hira too. C.
HYMN XIV.
Rest for Weary Souls.
1 Dobs the gospel- word proclaim
Rest for those who weary be ?f
Then, my soul,- put in thy claim,
Sure tbat promise speaks to thee ;
Marks of grace I cannot show,
All polluted is my best ;
Yet I weary ara, 1 know,
And the weary long for rest.
2 Burden'd with a load of sin,
Harass'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 dovej:
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 be overpast.
4 Safely lodg'd within thy breast.
What a wondrous change I find !
Now I know thy proraised rest
Can corapose a troubled raind :
You tbat weary are, like me,
Hearken 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 n. 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 tbe storm.

•" Cant. V. 8.
Vol. il

t Matt. xi.
9. A

X Gen. Viii. 9.

2 Deep in unfathomable mines
Of never-failing skill.
He treasures up his bright designs.
And works his sovereign will.
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 hira for his grace ;
Behind a frowning providence,
He hides a srailing face.
5 His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour ;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower.
6 Blind unbelief is sure to err,*
And scan his work in vain ;
God is his own interpreter,
And he will make it plain.
HYMN XVI.
Welcome Cross.
1 'Tis my happiness below,
Not to live without the cross,
But the Saviour's power to know,
Sanctifying every loss :
Trials raust and will befall ;
But with hurable faith to see
Love inscribed upon thera all,
This is happiness to rae.
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 soU :
Trials make the promise sweet,
Trials give new life to prayer ;
Trials bring me to his feet,
Lay rae low, and keep rae there.
3 Did I raeet no trials here,
No chastiseraent 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 XVIL
Afflictions sanctified by the Word.
I 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.
3 Long unafflicted, undismayed,
In pleasure's path secure I strayed ;

* John xiii. 7,

t Heb. xii. a

186

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book III.

Thou raad'st me feel thy chast'ning rod,*
And straight I turn'd unto my God.
4 What though it pierc'd my feinting heart,
I bless thine hand that caus'd the smart ;
It taught ray tears a whUe to flow,
But sav'd rae from eternal woe.
5 Oh ! bad'st thou left me unchastis'd,
Thy precepts I had still despis'd ;
And still the snare in secret laid.
Had ray 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 XVin.
Temptation.
1 The bUlows swell, the winds are high,
Clouds overcast my wintry sky;
Out ofthe depths to thee I call,
My fears are great, my strength is small.
2 O Lord ! tbe pUot's part perform,
And guide and guard me thro' the storm ;
Defend me frora each threat'ning ill,
Control the waves, say, " Peace be stUl."
3 Araidst the roaring ofthe 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 Larab,
Wbo 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 ray shatter'd bark again. C.
HYMN XIX.
Looking upwards in a Storm,
1 God of ray life, to thee I call,
Afilicted at thy feet I fall ;t
When the great water-floods prevail,
Leave not my trembling heart to faU !
2 Friend of the friendless and the faint !
Where should I lodge my deep complaint ?
'Wbere 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 word stUl fix'd remain,
That none shall seek thy face in vain ?
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 ;

• Paal. cxix. 71.

t Psal. Ixix. 15.

They whom the world caresses most,
Have no such privUege to boast.
6 Poor, though I ara, despis'd, forgot,*
Yet God, ray 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 ApoUyon at their head,
My heavenly pilgrimage oppose !
2 See, from the ever-burning lake,
How like a smoky cloud they rise !
With horrid blasts ray soul they shake.
With storms of blasphemies and lies.
3 Their fiery arrows reach the raark,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 tbe Lord ;
Oh ! I would drive it from ray breast.
With my own sharp two-edged sword,
Far as the east is from the west.
5 Corae, then, and chase the cruel host,
Heal the deep wounds I have receiv'd !
Nor let the powers of darkness boast,
That I ara foU'd, and thou art griev'd. C.
HYMN XXI.
The Storm hushed.
1 'Tis past — the dreadful storray night
Is gone, with all its fears !
And now I see returning light,
The Lord, ray Sun, appears.
2 The tempter, who but lately said,
I soon should be his prey.
Has beard my Saviour's voice, and fled
With shame and grief away.
3 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 rae round,
I heard the lion's horrid roar,
And trembled at the sound.
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.

* Psal. xl. 17

t Eph. vi. 16.

HYMN XXV.]

CONFLICT.

187

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 XXII.
Help in Time of Need.
1 Unless the Lord bad been my stay.
With trembling joy my soul may say,
My cruel foe had gain'd his end :
But he appear'd for ray relief.
And Satan sees with shame and grief,
That I have an alraighty Friend.
2 Oh ! 'twas a dark and trying hour,
When, harass'd by the terapter's power,
I felt ray 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 show'd me ten times worse within.
4 'Twas all too true, my soul replied,
But I reraeraber Jesus died,
And now he fills a throne ofgrace :
I 'U go as I have done before,
His raercy 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 proraise too.
6 Then, whUe 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.
HYMN XXIII.
Peace after a Storm,
1 When darkness long has veil'd my mind,
And smUing day once raore 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 he
Thus prone to act so base a part,
Or harbour one hard thought of thee !
3 Oh ! let rae then at length be taught,
What I ara 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 ray feith is sharply tried,
I find myself a learner yet
Unskilful, weak, and apt to slide.
5 But, O ray 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 raine. 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 hira,
Pant for his presence, as the roe
Pants for the living streara.
3 What trifles tease me now !
They swarm like suramer-flies,
They cleave to every thing I do,
And swim before my eyes.
4 How dull the Sabbath-daj',
Without the Sabbath's Lord !
How toilsome then to sing and pray,
And wait upon the word !
5 Of all the truths I hea r,
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 ara but a worm,
Unworthy of his care,
The Lord will my desire perforra,
And ffrant rae all ray prayer. C.
HYMN XXV.
Rejoice tke Soul of thy Servant.
1 When my prayers are a burden and task,
No wonder I little receive ;
O Lord ! make me willing to ask,
Since thou art so ready to give :
Although I ara bought with thy blood,
And all thy salvation is mine,
At a distance from thee my chief good,
I 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 wrestle and plead,
With thera 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,

188

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book ni.

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 bosora repose !
Might this favour be granted to me,
I 'd sraile at the rage (5f ray foes.
4 I have heard of thy wonderful narae.
How great and exalted thou art ;
But ah ! I confess to my sharae,
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 rae with Thoraas descry
The wounds in thy hands and thy side,
And have feelings like his, when I cry,
" My God and ray Saviour has died !"|
6 But if thou hast appointed me still
To wrestle, and suffer, and fight ;
O make me resign to thy will,
For all thine appointments are right :
This mercy, at least, I entreat,
That knowing how vile I have been,
I, with Mary, may wait at thy feet,5
And weep o'er the pardon of sin.
HYMN XXVL
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 frora thee ;
And discontent would fain prescribe
How thou shalt deal with me.
4 While unbelief withstands thy grace,
And puts the mercy by,
Presumption, with a brow of brass,
Says, " 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 rae in a Saviour's blood !
Transforra me by thy power ;
And make me thy belov'd abode.
And let me rove no more. C.

HYMN XXVn.
Bitter and Sweet.

* John xiii. 25.
X John XX. 28.

t Matth. xvii. 16.
§ Luke vii. 33.

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 narae 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 raercy-seat.
While calling on thy name.
Swarms of evil thoughts I meet,
Which fill ray soul with shame :
Agitated in ray raind,
Like a feather in the air,
Can I thus a blessing find ?
My soul, can this be prayer ?
4 But when Christ, my Lord and Friend,
Is pleas'd to show 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 corae ;
Often, Lord, repeat this grace,
Till thou shalt call me home.
HYMN XXVIIL
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 with patience to endure.
2 The storm of loud repining hush ;
I would in hurable silence raourn ; [bush
Why should the unburnt, though buming
Be angry, as the crackling thorn ?
3 Man should not faint at thy rebuke,
Like Joshua felling on his face,*
When tbe curs'd thing that Achan took
Brought Israel into just disgrace.
4 Perhaps some golden wedge suppress'd.
Some secret sin^offends ray God ;
Perhaps that Babylonish vest,
Self-righteousness, provokes the rod.
5 Ab ! 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 rae not angrily declare,
No pain was ever sharp like mine,
? Joshua vii. 10, 11.

HYMN XXXn.]

CONFLICT.

189

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 wUl,
And make thy pleasure mine.
2 Why should I shrink at thy comraand,
WTiose love forbids my fears,
Or tremble at the gracious hand
That wipes away my tears ?
3 No, let rae rather freely yield
What most I prize to tiiee ;
Who never hast a good withheld,
Or wilt withhold from me.
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 ray 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 rae to thy sway ;
Else the next cloud that vaUs my skies
Drives all these thoughts away. C.
HYMN XXX.
Why should I complain ?
1 When my Saviour, my Shepherd is near,
How 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 controls,
I think I no more shall coraplain.
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 ara taught my own weakness to know ;
I am taught wbat my Shepherd can do,
And how rauch to his rnercy I owe :
It is he that supports nie through all ;
When I faint, he revives me again ;
He attends to my prayer wben I call,
And bids me no longer coraplain.
4 Wherefore then should I raurraur 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 rae frora all that I fear.
He was buffeted, terapted, and slain ;
And at length he will surely appear,
Though he leaves rae 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 rae removef
From this region of sorrow and pain.
To abide in his presence above,
And then I no more shall complain.
HYMN XXXI.
Return, O Lord, how long !
1 Return to bless my waiting eyes,
And cheer ray raourning heart, O Lord !
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 sraile.
3 Upon thine arra of love I rest.
Thy gracious voice forbids ray fear ;
No storras disturb my peacefiil 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 rae left alone.
5 My sun is hid, my comforts lost.
My graces droop, ray sins revive ;
Distress'd, dismayed, and tempest-toss'd.
My soul is only just alive.
6 Lord, hear my cry, and come again !
Put all raine enemies to sharae,
And let them see 'tis not in vain
That I have trusted in thy name.
HYMN XXXIL
Cast down, but not Destroyed.
1 Though sore beset with guilt and fear,
I cannot, dare not quite despair ;
If I raust perish, would the Lord
Have taught ray heart to love his word ?
Would he have given me eyes to see|
My danger and my remedy,
Reveal'd bis 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 ¦,\
The present, Satan, is thy hour.
But Jesus shall control thy power ;
His love will plead for my relief,
He hears ray groans, he feels my grief;

* Jer. i. 19.
X Judges xiii. 23.

t Rev, ii. 10.
§ Micah vii. 8.

190

OLNEY HYMNS.

[BOOK III.

Nor win 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 ;
Yet still his raercy he '1! reveal,
And all my wounds and follies heal :
Abounding sin 1 raust confess,*
But more abounding is his grace ;
He once vouchsaf 'd for me to bleed,
And now he lives ray cause to plead.
4 I '11 cast myself before his feet,
I see him 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 wUl pardon all who come,
And strike your fierce accuser dumb.
HYMN XXXIII.
The Benighted Traveller.
1 Forest beasts, that live by prey,
Seldom show themselves by day ;
But when day-light is withdrawn,f
Then they rove and roar till dawn.
2 Who can tell the trav'Uer's fears,
When their horrid yells he hears ?
Terror alraost 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 trav'Uer's case is mine ;
Lost, benighted, struck with dread,
Wbat 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 rae light
Put these beasts of prey to flight ;
Let thy power and love be shown ;{
Save rae, for I am thine own.
HYMN XXXIV.
The Prisoner.
1 When the poor pris'ner through a gate
Sees others walk at large.
How does be 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 ray Lord return.

• Rom. v. 20. t Psal. civ. :

X Psal. cxix. 94.

3 The beam of day, whicb 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 !
Wben I could triumph with the saints.
And join their songs of praise !
5 But now ray joys are all cut off,
In prison I ara cast,
And Satan, with a cruel scoff,*
Says, " Where 's your God at lasf"
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 ray soul shall sing to thee.
For liberty restor'd ;
And all thy saints adraire 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 ray lab'ring heart reliev'd,
And made my burden light ;
Then for a moraent I believ'd,
Supposing all was right
4 Of fierce temptations others talk'd,
Of anguish and dismay,
Through what distress 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 ray fears again
To raake rae 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 despair :
How could I dreara of drawing hope
FVora what I cannot bear?
8 Again ray Saviour brought me aid.
And when he set me free,
" Trust simply on my word," he said,
" And leave the rest to me."
• HYMN XXXVI.
Prayer answered by Crosses.
1 I ask'd the Lord, that I might grow
In faith, and love, and ev'ry grace ;

* Psal. cxv. 2.

t Psal. cxiii. 7,

HYMN XXXVIII.]

CONFLICT.

191

Might more of his salvation know,
And seek raore 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 alraost 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 rae feel
The hidden evUs of ray 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 schera'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.
7 " These inward'trials I employ,
From self and pride to set thee free ;
And break thy scheraes of earthly joy,
That thou raay'st seek thy all in me."
HYMN XXXVU.
/ will Trust, and not be Afraid.
1 Begone, unbelief!
My Saviour is near,
And for ray relief
WUl surely appear :
By prayer let me wrestle.
And he will perforra ;
With Christ in the vessel,
I sraile at the storra.
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.
3 His love in time past
Forbids me to think
He 'U leave rae 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 slaine,
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 frora 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 ray good.
The bitter is sweet.
The raed'cine is food ;
Though painful at present
'Twill cease before long,
And then, O how pleasant,
The conqueror's song !f
HYMN XXXVIIL
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 proraise pass'd ?
Will he then regardless stand,
And let me sink at last?
2 WhUe I know his providence
Disposes each event,
' Shall I judge by feeble sense.
And yield to discontent ?
If he worras and sparrows feed.
Clothe the grass in rich array, |
Can he see a chUd in need,
And turn his eye away ?
3 When his narae was quite unknown.
And sin my life employed,
Then he watch'd me as his own.
Or I had been destroyed ;
Now his raercy-seat I know,
Now by grace am reconcil'd
Would he spare rae while a foe,}
To leave me when a child?
4 If be all ray wants supplied,
When I disdain'd to pray,
Now his Spirit is ray guide.
How can he say rae nay ?
If he would not give rae up,
When my soul against bira fought
Will he disappoint the hope
Whicii he hiraself has wrought.

* Acts xiv. 22.
X Matt. vi. 20.

+ Rom. viii. 37.
§ Eom. V. 10.

192
5 If he shed his precious blood
To bring rae to his fold,
Can I think that raeaner good*
He ever wUl withhold !
Satan, vain is thy device !
Here ray hope resti well assur'd,
111 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 feith 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,f
Through the sea a path prepar'd ;
Jericho's devoted walll
At the trumpet's sound raust fall.
4 With a pitcher and a lamp,}
Gideon overthrew a carap ;
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 raakes 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 shaU 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 raake it grow.
HYMN XL.
Wliy art thou cast down ?
1 Be still, ray heart ! these anxious cares
To thee are burdens, thorns, and snares ;
They cast dishonour on thy Lord,
And contradict his gracious word.
2 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 ?
3 When first before his raercy-seat,
Thou didst to hira thy all commit ;
He gave thee warrant, from that hour,
To trust his wisdom, love, and power.
4 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 ?

• aom. viii. 32. f Exod. xiv. 21. X Josh. vi. 20.
J Judges vii. 22. J 1 Sam. xvii. 42.

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book III.

5 Like David, thou may'st comfort draw,
Sav'd from the bear's and lion's paw ;
Goliah's rage I may defy,
For God, my Saviour, stUl is nigh.
6 He who bas helped me hitherto.
Will help rae all my journey through.
And give me daily cause to raise
New Ebenezers to his praise.
7 Though roui'li 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 XLL
The Way of Access.
1 One glance of thine, eternal Lord !
Pierces all nature through ;
Nor heaven, nor earth, nor hell afibrd
A shelter from thy view.
2 The mighty whole, each smaller part,
At once before thee lies ;
And every thought of every heart
Is open to thine eyes.
3 Thougb greatly from myself conceal'd,
Thou see'st my inward frarae ;
To thee I always stand reveal'd,
Exactiy as I ara.
4 Since, therefore, I can hardly bear
What in myself I see ;
How vile and black raust I appear,
Most holy God, to thee ?
5 But since my Saviour stands between,
In garments dyed in blood,
'Tis he, instead of me, is seen,
When I approach to God.
6 Thus, though a sinner, I am safe ;
He pleads before the throne,
His life and death in ray 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 XLH.
The Pilgrim's Song,
1 From Egypt lately freed
By the Redeemer'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.
3 The promis'd land of peace
Faith keeps in constant view ;
How diff'rent from the wilderness
We now are passing through.
*2Cor.v. 2L

HYMN XLVI.]

COMFORT.

193

4 Here often from our eyes
Clouds hide the light divine ;
There we shall have unclouded skies,
Our Sun will always shine.
5 Here griefe, and cares, and pains.
And fears, distress us sore ;
But there etemal 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
WUl make amends for all.

SIMILAR hymns.
Book L Hymn 10, 13, 21, 22, 24, 27, 40, 43,
44, 51, 56, 6:3, 76, 88, 107, 115, 126, 130,
131, 136, 142.
Book IL Hymn 30, 31, 84, 87, 92.
IV. COMFORT.
HYMN XLHI.
Faith a New and Comprehensive Sense.
1 Sight, bearing, feeling, taste, and smeU,
Are gifts we highly prize ;
But faith does singly each excel.
And all the five comprise.
2 More piercing than the eagle's sight.
It views the world unknown,
Surveys the glorious realms of light.
And Jesus on the throne.
3 It hears the mighty voice ofGod,
And ponders what he saith ;
His word and works, his gifts and rod.
Have each a voice to faith.
4 It feels the touch of heavenly power,*
And from that boundless source,
Derives fresh vigour every hour
To run its daily course.
5 The truth and goodness ofthe Lord
Are suited to its taste ;f
Mean is the worldling's pamper'd board.
To faith's perpetual feast.
6 It smells the dear Redeeraer's name
Like ointment poured forth ;J
Faith only knows, or can proclaim,
Its savour or its worth.
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, with a single eye.
He views the lustre of thy word.
The day-spring from on high !

* Luke viii. 48. t Psalm cxix. 103.
1 Solomon's Song, i. 3.
Vol. IL 2 B

2 Through a,ll the storms that veU 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 soU no raore.
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 goal,
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 ;
FVom scenes wbere Satan wages still
His most successful war.
2 The calm retreat, the silent shade.
With prayer and praise agree,
And seera 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 nightingale, she pours
Her solitary lays.
Nor asks a witness of her song.
Nor thirsts for human praise.
5 Author and guardian of ray life,
Sweet source of light divine.
And (all harraonious 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,
Wben time shaU be no more. C.
HYMN XLVL
Jesus my All.
1 Why should I fear the darkest hour.
Or tremble at the terapter's power ?
Jesus vouchsafes to be ray tower.
2 Though hot the fight, why quit the field ?
Why raust I either flee or yield,
Since Jesus is ray mighty shield ?
3 When creature-comforts fade and die.
Worldlings may weep, but why should I J
Jesus stUl lives, and still is nigh.

* Isa. xxxv. 7.

194

OLNEY HYMNS

[book III.

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 wUl provide.
,6 Though SUI would fill me with distress.
The throne of grace I dare address,
For Jesus is my righteousness.
7 Though faint ray prayers, and cold my love,
My steadfast hope shall nqt remove,
While Jesus intercedes above.
8 Against me earth and hell corabine,
But on my side is power divine ;
Jesus is all, and he is raine.

HYMN XLVII.
The Hidden Life.
1 To tell the Saviour all ray 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 thousandshear,
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
Tbe Man who bore the cross ?
6 Trust rae, I draw the likeness true,
And not as fancy paints :
Such honour may be give to you,
For such have all his saints. C.

HYMN XLVHL
Joy and Peace in Believing.
1 Sometimes a light surprises
The christian whUe 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 cheerfuUy can say,

E'en let the unknown to-morrow*
Bring with it what it may.
3 It can bring with it nothing.
But he will bear us through ;
Who gives the lUies clothing,
WiU clothe bis people too :
Beneath the spreading heavens.
No creature but is fed ;
And he who feeds tbe ravens.
Will give his children bread.
4 Though vine nor fig-tree neither
Their wonted fruit shall bear,f
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 XLLX.
True Pleasures.
1 Lord, my soul with pleasure springs.
When Jesus' name I bear,
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
Tbe joys thy precepts give.
2 Cloth'd in sanctity and grace.
How sweet it is to see
Those who love thee as they pasa
Or when they wait on thee !
Pleasant too, to sit and tell,
What we owe to love divine,
Till our bosoms gratefiil swell,
And eyes begin to shine.
3 Those the comforts I possess,
Which' God shall stUl increase ;
All his ways are pleasantness,|
And all his paths are peace.
Nothing Jesus did or spoke.
Henceforth let rae 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 tbe christian's name a praise :
How fair the scene, bow 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.
3 Adorn'd with glory from on high.
Salvation shines upon his face ;
His robe is of the ethereal dyS,
His steps are dignity and grace.

* Matth. vi. 34
t Prov. iii. 17.

t Hab. iii. 17, 18.
§ Matth xi. 30.

HYMN LIT.]

COMFORT.

195

4 Inferior honours he disdains,
Nor stoops to take applause frora earth.
The King of kings hiraself raaintains
The expenses of his heavenly birth.
5 The noblest creature seen below,
Ordain'd to fill a throne above ;
God gives hira all he can bestow.
His kingdom of eternal love !
6 My soul is ravish'd at the thought !
Methinks frora 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'Uing creature once,
And basely cleav'd to earth ;
I wanted spirit to renounce
The clod that gave rae birth.
2 But God has breatb'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 fiy.
And there delighted stand.
To view beyond a shining sky
The spacious promis'd land.
4 The Lord of all the vast domain
Has prorais'd it to me ;
The length and breadth of all the plain.
As fer as feith can see.
5 How glorious is my privilege !
To thee for help I call ;
I stand upon a mountain's edge,
O save me, lest I fall !•
6 Though rauch exalted in the Lord,
My strength is not my own ;
Then let me tremble at his word,
And none shall cast rae 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.
2 As to all the doubts and questions
Whicb my spirit often grieve.
These are Satan's sly suggestions,
And I need no answer give ;
He would fain destroy my hope.
But the proraise 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 bis face by prayer :
After so much mercy past, :«f^^;^
WUl 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 raine would do.
5 In my Saviour's intercession
Therefore I will still confide !
Lord, accept ray 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 LIII.
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 throne.
And Abba, Father, cry ?
3 O, then, let saints and angels join.
And help me to proclaira
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 rae I was surely lost.
And, God had left raequite.|
5 Guilt raade me fear, lest all were true
The lying tempter said ;
But now the Lord appears in view,
My eneray is fled.
6 My Saviour, by his powerful word,
Has turn'd ray 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 rae, that I sin no more
Against such love as thine !
HYMN LIV.
Hear what he has done for my Soul.
1 Sav'd by blood, I live to tell
What the love of Christ bath done ;
He redeem'd ray soul from hell.
Of a rebel made a son :
Ob ! I tremble stUl, 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 rae by his Spirit's power,
And ray dang'rous slumber broke.
Then I saw and own'd my guUt,
Soon my gracious Lord replied :
* Isa. xlviii. 8. t Koro. viii. 34. I Psalm Ixxi. IL

196 " Fear not, I my blood have spUt,
'Twas for such as thee I died."

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book hi.

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," be 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 tbat you, as well as I,
May his wondrous raercy prove.
He has sent rae to declare,
¦ All is ready, all is free :
Why should any soul despair,
When he sav'd a wretch like rae ?
HYMN LV.
Freedom from Care.
1 While I liv'd without the Lord,
(Ifl might be said to live,)
Nothing could relief afford,
Nothing satisfaction give.
2 Empty hopes and groundless fear
Mov'd by tums 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 raine ;
He has promis'd to provide,
I have only to resign.
4 Wben a sense of sin and thrall
Forc'd me to the sinner's Friend,
He engaged to manage all,
By the way and to the end.
5 " Cast," he said, " on me thy care,*
'Tis enough that I ara nigh ;
I will all thy burdens bear,
I will all thy wants supply.
6 " Siraply follow as I lead,
Do not reason, but believe ;
Call on rae in time of need,
Thou shalt surely help receive."
7 Lord, I would, I do submit,
Gladly yield ray all to thee ;
What thy wisdora sees most fit.
Must be surely best for me.
8 Only, when the way is rough.
And the coward flesh would start,
Let thy proraise and thy love
Cheer and aniraate ray heart-
HYMN LVI.
Humiliation and Praise.
(Imitated from the German.)
1 When tbe wounded spirit hears
The voice of Jesus' blood,
• Psalm Iv. 22. 1 Peter v. 7.

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 show thy grace.
3 If, in one created mind,
The tendemess 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.
4 Wondrous raercy I have found,
But, ah ! how faint ray praise !
Must I be a curaber-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.
5 Heavy charges Satan brings,
To fill me with distress ;
Let me hide beneath thy wings,
And plead thy righteousness.
Lord, to thee for help I call,
'Tis thy proraise bids rae come :
Tell him thou hast paid for all.
And that shall strike him dumb.
HYMN LVIL
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 cruisef
Convince us at this day,
A gracious God wUl not refuse
Provisions by the way ?
3 His saints and servants shall be fed.
The proraise is secure ;
" Bread shall be given them," as he said,
" Their water shall be sure."!
4 Repasts far richer they shall prove.
Than all earth's dainties are ;
'Tis sweet to taste a Saviour's love,
Though in the raeanest fare.
5 To Jesus, then, your trouble bring.
Nor raurmur at your lot ;
While you are poor, and he is King,
You shall not be forgot C.
• Gen. xxi. 19. f 1 Kings xvii. 14. X Isa. xxxiii. 16

HYMN LXI.]

DEDICATION AND SURRENDER.

197

HYMN LVIII.
Home in View.

1 As when the weary trav'ller gains
The height of some o'erlooking hUl,
His heart revives, if cross the plains
He eyes his home, though distant still.
2 WhUe he surveys tiie rauch-lov'd spot.
He slights the space that lies between ;
His past fetigues are now forgot.
Because his journey's end is seen.
3 Thus, when the christian pilgrim views.
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 ray cares ferewell,
And he will wipe my tears away.
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 HYMNS.
Book I. Hymn 4, 7, 9, 11, 2.5, 35, 36, 39, 41,
46, 47, 48, 70, 95, 128, 132.
Book IL Hymn 45, 46, 47.

V. DEDICATION AND SURRENDER.

HYMN LIX.
Old Things are passed away.
1 Let worldly minds the world pursue,
It has no charms for me ;
Once I admir'd its trifies too,
But grace has set me free.
2 Its pleasures now no longer please.
No more content afford ;
Far from ray 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 raore divide ray 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 wUt own
A worthless worm like rae ?

* Acts XX. 24.

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 rae he bore,
No raore I toil for empty fame,
I thirst for gold no more.
3 Plac'd by his hand in this retreat,
I make his love my theme ;
And see that all the world calls great.
Is but a waking dream.
4 Since he has rank'd my worthless name
Amongst his favour'd few,
Let the mad world who scoff at them,
RevUe and hate me too.
5 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.
6 Thy wond'ring saints rejoice to see
A wretch like me restor'd ;
And point, and say, " How chang'd is he,
who once defied the Lord !"
7 Grace bid me live, and taught my tongue
To aira at notes divine ;
And grace accepts ray 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 !
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 raeaner fruit than I. C.
* Jer. xxxi. 3.

193

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book III.

HYMN LXIL
Love constraining to Obedience.
1 No strength of nature can sufiice
To serve the Lord aright ;
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 tbe precept to obey,
But toil'd without success.
3 Then, to abstain from outward sin
Was more than I could do ;
Now, I feel its power within,
I feel I hate it too.
4 Then all my servUe 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 fiilfill'd,
And hear his pard'ning voice,
Changes a slave into a chUd,*
And duty into choice. C.

HYMN LXIIL
The Heart healed and changed by Mercy.
1 Sin enslav'd rae raany years,
And led rae bound and blind ;
Till at length a thousand fears
Carae swarming o'er ray raind.
Where, I said in deep distress,
WUl these sinful pleasures end?
How shall I secure my peace,
And make the Lord my friend ?
2 Friends and rainisters 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 show my face abroad;
Fear'd, alraost, to speak or move,
A stranger still to God.
3 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 coraraandment slight,

• Kom. iii. 31.

Yet pierc'd by sin, tbe serpent's tooth,
I mourn the anguish of the bite.
2 But though the poison lurks within,
Hope bids rae stiU with patience wait,
TUl 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 raourn, were he condemn'd to wear
One link of all his former chain.
5 But, ob ! no foe invades the bliss,
When glory crowns the christian's head ;
One view of Jesus as he is,
WUl strike aU sin for ever dead. C.

HYMN IJTV.
The Child,*
1 Quiet, Lord, my froward heart,
Make me teachable and mUd,
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-raorrow may betide.
Calmly to thy wisdom leave :
'Tis enough that thou wilt care.
Why should I tbe burden bear ?
3 As a little child relies
On a care beyond bis own ;
Knows he 's neither strong nor wise ;
Fears to stir a step alone :
Let me thus with thee abide,
As my Father, guard, and guide.
4 Thus preserv'd from Satan's wiles,
Safe from dangers, free frora fears.
May I live upon thy srailes.
Till the promis'd hour appears,
When the sons of God shall prove
All their Father's boundless love.

HYMN LXVL
True Happiness.
Fix my heart and eyes on thine !
What are other objects worth?
But to see thy glory shine
Is a heaven begun on earth :
Trifies can no longer move ;
Oh ! I tread on all beside,
When I feel my Saviour's love.
And remember how he died !
* Psal. cxxxi. 2 ; Matt, xviii. 3, 4.

HYMN LXX.] CAUTIONS.
2 Now my search is at an end,
Now my wishes rove no more !
Thus my raoraents I would spend.
Love, and wonder, and adore :
Jesus, source of excellence !
All thy glorious love reveal !
Kingdoras shall not bribe me hence,
WhUe this happiness I feel.
3 Take my heart, 'tis all thine own,
To thy will my spirit frarae ;
Thou shalt reign, and thou alone.
Over all I have or ara :
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 ray choice,
I have nothing more to choose.
But to listen to thy voice.
And my wUl in thine to lose :
Thus whatever may betide,
I shall safe and bappy be,
Still content and satisfied,
Having all in having thee.
HYMN LXVIL
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 tbe Lord forgave my sin,
And blotted out my score,
Much raore indebted I have been
Than e'er I was before.
3 My guUt is cancell'd quite, I know,
And satisfection 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 aU can ne'er extend
To pay a thousandth part.
6 Nay more, the poor returns I make,
I first from thee obtain ;*
And 'tis ofgrace, tbat thou wilt take
Such poor returns again.
7 'Tis well, it shall my glory be
(Let who wUl boast their store)
In time and to eternity.
To owe thee more and more.

199

SIMILAR HYMNS.
Book I. Hymn 27, 50, 70, 93, 122.
Book n. Hymn 23, 90.

* 1 Chron. xxix. 14.

VI. CAUTIONS.

HYMN LXVIII.
The New Convert.
1 The new-born child of gospel-grace.
Like sorae fair tree when suramer 's nigh.
Beneath Eraraanuel's shining fece,
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 whora he owes
The strength and peace his soul enjoys.
3 But sin soon darts its cruel sting.
And coraforts sinking day by day.
What seera'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 be bring our spirits down.
And draw our ebbing comforts low,
That, sav'd by grace, but not our own,
We may not claira the praise we owe.
HYMN LXIX.
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 LuU'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 coraforts that reclaim
The soul from Satan's power,
That make me blush for what I am.
And hate my sin tbe more.
6 'Tis joy enough, my All in AU,
At thy dear feet to lie ;
Thou wilt not let rae lower fall.
And none can higher fly. C.
HYMN LXX.
True and False Zeal.
1 Zeal is that pure and heavenly flame
The flre of love supplies;
While that which often bears the name
Is self in a disguise. * Judges vii.

200

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book ni.

2 True zeal is merciful and mild,
Can pity and forbear ;
The false is headstrong, fierce, and wild,
And breathes revenge and war.
3 While zeal for truth the christian warms,
He knows the worth of peace ;
But self contends for names and forms,
Its party to increase.
4 Zeal has attain'd its highest aim,
Its end is satisfied,
If sinners love the Saviour's name,
Nor seeks it aught beside.
5 But self, however well employed,
Has its own ends in view,
And says, as boasting Jehu cried,*
" Come, see what I can do."
6 Self may its poor reward obtain,
And be applauded here,
But zeal the best applause will gain
When Jesus shall appear.
7 Dear Lord, the idol self dethrone,
And frora 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,
1 The Lord receives his highest praise
From humble minds and hearts sincere.
While all the loud professor says
Offends the righteous Judge's ear.
2 To walk as children of the day,
To mark the precepts' holy light.
To wage the warfare, watch and pray,
Show who are pleasing in his sight.
3 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.
4 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.
5 Easy, indeed, it were to reach
A mansion in the courts above,
If swelling words and fluent speech
Might serve instead of faith and love.
6 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 LXXn.
Abuse of the Gospel,
1 Too many, Lord, abuse thy grace,
In this licentious day ;
And wbUe they boast they see thy face.
They tum their own away.

? 2 Kings X. 16.

t Kxod. xxviii. 33.

2 Thy book displays a gracious light,
That can the blind restore ;
But these aie 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 tbey chew,
Proclaira thera what they are.
6 The liberty our hearts implore,
Is not to live in sin.
But still to wait at Wisdom's door,
TiU 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 ofGod
Will seek or choose 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 raore I ask, or hope to find
Delight or happiness below ;
Sorrow may ¦ ; well possess the mind
That feeds where thorns and thistles grow.
4 The joy that fades is not for me,
I seek imraortal joys above :
There glory without end shall be
The bright reviird of faith and love.
5 Cleave to the world, ye sordid worras!
Contented lick your native dust;
But God shall fight, with all his storms.
Against the idol of your trust. C.
HYMN LXXIV.
Dependence.
1 To keep the larap alive,
With oil we fill the bowl ;
'Tis water raakes. the willow thrive,
And grace that feeds the soul.
2 The Lord's unsparing hand
Supplies the living streara,
It is not at our own coraraand,
But stUl deriv'd frora him.
3 Beware of Peter's word,*
Nor confidently say,
" I never will deny thee, Lord,"
But grant Lnever may.
* Matth. xxvi. 33.

HYMN LXXVIII.] CAUTIONS.
4 Man's wisdom is to seek
His strength in God alone ;
And e'en 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,*
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.

201

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 bej
Fruits of pride (vain-glorious worm !)
Are the best he can perform.
2 Self, the god bis 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 bide
All bis works and all his pride !
3 Still the boasting heart replies,
What ! tbe 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 LXXVL
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,
VSTien I think how grace abounds.
When I feel sweet peace within.
Then I 'd rather die than sin.
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 whUe debarr'd,
When he finds me off my guard.
Puts his glass before my eyes.
Quickly other thoughts -arise.

Vol. IL

* John vi. 29.
2 0

5 What before excited fears,
Rather pleasing now appears ;
Ifa sin, it seems so Sraall,
Or, perhaps, no sin at all.
6 Often thus, through sin's deceit,
Grief, and shame, and loss I meet ;
Like a fish, ray soul mistook,
Saw the bait, but not the hook.
7 O my Lord ! what shall I say ?
How can I presurae to pray ?
Not a word have I to plead,
Sins like mine are black indeed !
8 Made by past experience wise,
Let me learri thy word to prize ;
Taught by what I 've felt before,
Let me Satan's glass abhor.
HYMN LXXVIL
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 choose the way that 's wide.
And strive to think it right.
4 Encorapass'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
Tbat men will right be found,
A few were sav'd in Noah's ark,*
For many millions drovm'd.
6 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 for safety flee.
HYMN LXXVm.
The Sluggard.
1 The wishes that the sluggard frames,|
Of course must fruitless prove ;
With folded arms he stands and dreamy
But has no heart to raove.
2 His field from others may be known.
The fence is broken through ;
The ground with weeds is overgrown.
And no good crop in view.
* 1 Peter iii. 20. t Luke xii. 32.
t Prov. vi. 10; xx. 4; xxii. 13; xxiv. 30.

202

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book m.

3 No hardship he, nor toil, can bear,
No difiiculty meet ;
He wastes his hours at home, for fear
Of lions in the street.
4 What wonder, then, if sloth and sleep
Distress and famine bring !
Could he in harvest hope to reap,
Who would not sow in spring?
5 'Tis often thus in soul-concerns :
We gospel-sluggards see,
Who, ifa wish would serve their turns.
Might true believers be.
6 But when the preacher bids them Watch,
And seek, and strive, and pray,*
At ev'ry poor excuse they catch,
A lion in the way !
7 To use the means ofgrace, how loth!
We call them stUl in vain ;
They yield to their beloved sloth,
And fold their arms again.
8 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.
Nat in Word, but in Power.
1 How soon tbe Saviour's gracious call,
Disarm'd the rage of bloody Saul !f
Jesus, the knowledge of thy name.
Changes the lion to a lamb !
2 Zaccheus, when he knew the Lord,[:
What he bad gain'd by wrong, restor'd ;
And of the wealth he priz'd before,
He gave the half to feed the poor.
3 The woman who so vile had been,}
Wben brought to weep o'er pardon'd sin.
Was frora her evil ways estrang'd,
And show'd that grace her heart had chang'd.
4 And can we think the power of grace
Is lost, by change of tirae and place ?
Then it was mighty, all allow,
And is it but a notion now ?
5 Can they whom pride and fashion sway,
Who Mamraon 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 ;
And they who no such fruit can show,
StiU on the stock of nature grow.
7 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.H

* 1 Cor. ix. 24; Luke xiii. 24.
} Luke xix. 8. § Luke vii. 47.

t Acts ix. 6.
ll Rev. iii. 1.

SIMILAR HYMNS.
Book I. Hymn 8, 20, 85, 87, 91, 104, 125,
139, 141.
Book n. Hymn 34, 49, 86, 91, 99.
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 Redeeraer's blood.
2 Faith, tgo, the blood-receivmg grace.
From the same hand we gain ;
Else, sweetiy as it suits our case.
That gift had been in vain.
3 TiU thou thy teaching power apply.
Our hearts refuse to see,
And weak, as a disteraper'd eye,
Shut out the view of thee.
4 Blind to the merits of thy Son,
What raisery we endure !
Yet fiy that hand, frora whicb 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 raakes hira precious too. C.
HYMN LXXXL
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 hira, 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, ff I feel .it heals again ;
From Satan's raalice shields my breast,
Or over-rules it for the best.
5 "Forgive the song that falls So low
Beneath the gratitude I owe !
It raeans thy praise, however poor.
An angel's song can do rio more. C
HYMN LXXXn.
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 :

HYMN LXXXVI.]

PRAISE.

203

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, •
CaU'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 teraptations
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 wUl bring us horae to God.
4 Let us wonder, — grace and justice
Join, and point to mercy's store !
When through grace in Christ our trust is.
Justice smUes, 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 hira before us.
Now their praises fill the sky :f
" Thou hast wash'd us with thy blood ;
Thou art worthy. Lamb qf God !"
6 Hark, the narae 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 corae to God.
HYMN LXXXIII.
I will Praise the Lord at all Times.
1 Winter has a joy for rae,
While the Saviour's charms I read,
Lowly, raeek, from blemish free.
In the snow-drop's pensive bead.
2 Spring returns, and brings along
Life-invigorating suns ;
Hark ! the turtle's plamtive song.
Seems to speak his dying groans !
3 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 bearas of railder day
Tell rae of his smiling face.
5 Light appears with early dawn ;
WhUe 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,
Shows an emblem of his grace,
Poijits to an eternal rest. C.

HYMN LXXXrV.
Perseverance.
1 Rejoice, believer, in the Lord,
Who raakes your cause his own ;
The hope that 's buUt upon his word
Can ne'er be overthrown.
2 Though raany foes beset your road.
And feeble is your arra ;
Your life is hid with Christ in God,*
Beyond the reach of harm.
3 Weak as you are, you shall not faint,
Or, fainting, shall not die,
Jesus, the strength of ev'ry saint,f
WUl aid you from on high.
4 Though soraetimes unperceiv'd by sense,
Faith sees him always near,
A guide, a glory, a defence ;
Then what have you to fear?
5 As surely as he overcame.
And triumph'd once for you,
So surely you that love his name,
Shall triumph in him too.
HYMN LXXXV.
Salvation.
1 Salvation ! what a glorious plan,
How suited to our need !
The grace that raises fallen man
Is wonderful indeed !
2 'Twas wisdora forra'd the vast design.
To ransora us when lost;
And love's unfathomable mine
Provided all- the cost
3 Strict Justice, with approving look.
The holy covenant seal'd ;
And Truth and Power undertook
The whole should be fulfiU'd.
4 Truth, Wisdom, Justice, Power, and Love,
In all their glory shone,
When Jesus left the courts above.
And died to save his own.
5 Truth, Wisdom, Justice, Power, and Love,
Are equally displayed ;
Now Jesus reigns enthron'd above.
Our Advocate and Head.
6 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.
1 Now, may the Lord reveal his face.
And teach our stamm'ring tongues
To raake his sovereign, reigning grace,J
The subject of our songs !
No sweeter subject can invite
A sinner's heart to sing.

• Eev. ii. 10.

t Rev. V. 9.

• Col. iii. 3.

t Isa. xl. 39.

\ Rom. T. SI.

204

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book III.

Or more display the glorious right
Of our exalted King.
2 This subject fiUs the starry plains
With wonder, joy, and love ;
And furnishes the noblest strains
For all the harps above :
WhUe the redeem'd in praise combine
To grace upon the throne,*
Angels in soleran chorus join,
And make the therae their own.
3 Grace reigns to pardon crirason sins.
To raelt the hardest hearts;
And from the word it once begins,f
It never more departs.
The world and Satan strive in vain
Against the chosen few ;X
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.
'Twas grace that call'd our souls at first ;
By grace thus far we 're come ;
And grace will help us through the worst,
And lead us safely home.
5 Lord, when this changing Ufe is past.
If we may see thy face.
How shall we praise and love at last.
And sing the reign ofgrace !}
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.
1 Prepare a thankful song
To the Redeeraer's name !
His praises should employ each tongue.
And ev'ry heart infiame !
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 be died,
Our debt of sin to pay ;
The blood and water from his side
Wash guilt and filth away.
4 And now he pleading stands.
For us, before the throne.
And answers all the law's demands
With what hiraself hath done.
5 He sees us, wiUing slaves,
To sin, and Satan's power ;
But, with an outstretch'd arra, he saves,
In his appointed hour.

* Eev. v. 9. 12.
X Eom. viii. 35—39.

t Phil. i. 6.
§ Psal. cxv. 1.

6 The Holy Ghost he sends,
Our stubborn souls to move,
To raake bis eneraies bis friends.
And conquer thera 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 The world and Satan rage.
But he their power controls ;
His wisdora, love, and truth, engage
Protection for our souls.
9 Though press'd, we wUl 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 fiight.
We on the field of battle sing.
And triuraph while we fight.
HYMN LXXXVin.
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 aUied,
The soul, immortal and divine !
2 Divine at first, a holy fiame,
Kindled by the Almighty's breath ;
TUl, stain'd by sin, it soon became
The seat of darkness, strife, and death.
3 But Jesus, oh ! amazing grace !
Assura'd our nature as his own,
Obeyed and suffer'd in our place.
Then took it with hira to his throne.
4 Now, what is raan, 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.
Book I. Hymn 57, 58, 59, 79, 80.
Book n. Hymn 37, 38, 39, 41, 42.
VIII. SHORT HYMNS.
BEFOEE 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 witii bread :

BYMN XCVIII.]

SHORT HYMNS.

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, mspire 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 XCL
1 Thy promise, Lord, and thy command,
Have brought us here to-day ; •
And now, we hurably waiting stand.
To hear wbat thou wUt say.*
2 Meet us, we pray, with words of peace.
And flU our hearts with love ;
That from our follies we may cease,.
And henceforth faithful prove.
HYMN XCIL
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.
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 XCm.
Psalm cvi. 4, 5.
1 Remember us, we pray thee, Lord,
With those who love thy gracious name.
And to our souls that good afford.
Thy promise has prepar'd for them.
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,f
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.
When thus together met
2 But we from such assaults are freed.
Can pray, and sing, and bear, and read.
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 ?

AJ'TER SERMON.
HYMN XCVL
Deut xxxiu. 26. 29.
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 arras, ,,
Thou art secur'd frora foes and harms :
In vain their plots, and false their boasts,
Our refuge is the Lord of hosts. >
HYMN XCVIL
Habakkuk ui. 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 felling crops.
Can hinder my eternal hopes; [same;
Tho' creatures change, tbe Lord's the
Then let me triumph in his name.
HYMN XCVin.
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 triuraph in bis name.
Our Saviour is the Lord.

.• Psal. Ixxxv. 8. t Heb. xii. 18. 22. J Isa. xii. 3. j

* Judges v. 11.

206

OLNEY HYMNS.

[book III.

HYMN XCIX.
Deut xxxU. 9, 10.
1 The saints Emmanuel's portion are,
Rgdeem'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 thera. safe from all their foes.
HYMN C.
Heb xUi. 20—24.
1 Now raay he who frora tbe 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 Redeeraer's praise,
Who the covenant seal'd with blood.
Let our hearts and voices raise
Loud thanksgivings to our God.
HYMN CI.
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 frora above !
Thus may we abide in union
With each other and the Lord ;
And possess, in sweet communion,
Joys which earth cannot afford.
HYMN cn.
The peace which God alone reveals.
And by his word of grace iraparts,
Which only the believer feels,*
Direct and keep, and cheer your hearts :
And may the Holy Three in one,
The Father, Word, and Comforter,
Pour an abundant blessing down
On ev'ry soul assembled here !
HYMN cm.
1 To thee our wants are known,
From thee are all our powers ;

* Phil. iv. 7.

Accept what is thine own.
And pardon what is ours :
Our praises, Lord, and prayers receive.
And to thy word a blessing give.
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.
E'en 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 Atthe 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 raen,
Saviour, who hast us bought.
Spirit by whom we 're born again.
And sanctified and taught !
2 Thy glory, holy Three in One,
Thy people's song shall be ;
Long as the wheels of time shall run.
Aid to eternity. HYMN CVI.
1 Glory to God the Father's narae,
To Jesus, who for sinners died ;
The Holy Spirit clairas the same,
By whora our souls are sanctified.
2 Thy praise was sung, when tirae began.
By angels, through the starry spheres ;
And shall, as now, be sung by man.
Through vast eternity's long years.
HYMN CVn.
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, and is, and evermore shaU be.

* Rev. V. 20.

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 bint that 's worth the keeping.
Lately I dreamt of one who cried,
" Beware of self, beware of pride ;
When you are prone to build a Babel,
Recall to mind 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 ray fiight above the steeple :
How would they wonder if they knew
All that a kite like rae 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 rae near the ground :
I 'd brave the eagle's towering wing,
Might I but fiy without a string."
It tugg'd and puU'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 fiutter'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 ?
My 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 wisdora for my lot assigris ?
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 THE SEA-SHORE.
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.
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.

THE SPIDER AND THE TOAD
Some author (no great matter who,
Provided what he says be true)
Relates he saw, with hostUe 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 coraraon venom
Provok'd an enmity between 'em.
Implacable, malicious, cruel,
Like modern hero in a duel.
The spider darted on his foe,
Inflxing death at ev'ry blow.
The toad, by ready instinct taught,
An antidote, when wounded, sought.
From the herb plantain, 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,
Arid thus the spider gain'd the day ;
For wben 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 !)
Wo 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.
From guUt and woe to set me free.
Is like the plantain leaf to me.
207

208

POEMS.

To him my wounded soul repairs.
He knows my pain and hears my prayers;
From him I virtue draw by faitb,
Which saves me from the jaws of death :
From him ftesh 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 would be stUl at hand ;
Though foolish men its worth deny.
Experience gives them all the lie ;
Though Deists and Socinians join,
Jesus stUl lives, and stiU 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 hUls shaU flee
And hide themselves beneath the sea,
Or ocean, starting frora its bed,
Rush o'er the cloud-topt raountains' head,
The sun, exhausted ofits light.
Become the source of endless night.
And ruin spread frora pole to pole,
Than Jesus fail the tempted soul

MESSIAH;

FIFTY EXPOSITORY DISCOURSES

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 Woolnath,
Lombard Street, London

• Ahl

Tantamne rem, tam negligenter, agerel— Ter.
Oh, that they were wise, that they understood this !— Deut. xxxii. i

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 per
sons, and his sohcitude for their welfare, when his present relation
to them, as their rainister, shall be dissolved.

PREFACE.
The following Sermons, as to the substance (for most of them are considerably
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 intelligible to persons of weak capaci
ties 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 ex
pected 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 mentioned '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
Vol. IL 2D 209

210 PREFACE.
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 several 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 impressed upon the mind, there are truths which can scarcely be in
culcated 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 repeated,
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 preceded 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 can
did 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 deserved well of the church of
God, he would do it with modesty : far from depreciating their labours, he would
be thankful for the benefit which he hopes he has received from them. It is a
great satisfaction to hira, that in all doctrinal 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 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 con
cerning the grand peculiarities of the gospel were forraed 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 con
scious that any material difference has taken place in his sentiments since he first
became acquainted with the religious world ; but, after a long course of expe
rience 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 meek
ness,) as for the faith once delivered to the saints, and certain secondary positions,
concerning which good men may safely differ ; and wherein, perhaps, we cannot
reasonably expect them to be unanimous during the present state of imperfection.
But if the exact boundary cannot be marked with certainty, he thinks it both de
sirable 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 comprehension,
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 neu
trality between truth and error which is so prevalent in the present day. As the
different rays of light, which, when separated by a prism, exhibit the various colours
of the rainbow, form, in their combination, a perfect and resplendent white, in
which every cojour is incorporated, so, if the graces of the Holy Spirit were com-
"lete in us, the result of their combined effect would be a truly candid, moderate,
and liberal spirit towards our brethren. The christian, especially he who is ad
vanced 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

PREFACE. 211
when such a law is broken, such a gospel is despised, and when the great and
glorious name ofthe Lord his God is profaned, would, by the occasion of his in
firraities, often degenerate into anger or contempt towards those who oppose them
selves, 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 limited in itself, and very faint
in its efficacy ; that his attainments are weak and few compared with his de
ficiencies ; that his gratitude is very disproportionate to his obligations, and his
obedience unspeakably short of conformity to his prescribed rule ; that he has no
thing 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 to
wards his fellow- creatures. He cannot boast, nor is he forward to censure. He
considers himself, lest he also be tempted, (Gal. vi. 1 ;) and thus he learns tender
ness and compassion to others, and to bear patiently with those mistakes, preju
dices, and prepossessions 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 import
ance. For the sake of peace, vvhich he loves and cultivates, he accommodates
himself, 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 ofGod, and essential to the life
of faith, which are the foundations of his hope and the sources of his joy. For his
firm attachn\ent 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 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 shibbo
leths of otheis, or of any nostrum of his own, under a pretence that he is pleading
for the cause ofGod and truth. His attention will not be restrained 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 rectitude, 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 crucified. 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 weapon 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. Messiah, 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, suffer
ings, and death; his ability and willingness to save to the uttermost; his king-
* These Serraons were originally printed in two volumes.

212 PREFACE.
dom, and the present and future happiness of his willing people are severally con
sidered, 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 regenefation, 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 endeavoured
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 re
maining differences of opinion among those who truly understand and cordially
believe the declarations of scripture on the preceding articles, are neither so
wide nor so important as they have been sometimes 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 ex
press 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 recep
tion his performance may meet with. The fashion of this world is pa.ssing away.
The voice, both of applause and of censure, will soon be stifled iu the dust. It is
therefore but a small thing to be judged of man's judgment, 1 Cor. iv. ii. But con
scious 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 sprious atten
tion. 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 whatever 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.
London, I5th April, 1786.

MESSIAH, &c.

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 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
godliness, 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 no
thing among you but this subject ; to preach
nothing to you but what has a real connexion
with 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 ofthe 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 tothe hearts of his people.
Such a plan has lately, and rather unexpect
edly, occurred to me. Conversation in almost
every company, for some time past, has
much turned upon the commemoration of
Handel ; the grand musical entertainments,
and particularly his Oratorio ofthe Messiah,
which have been repeatedly performed on that
occasion in Westminster Abbey. Ifit 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 ofthe 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 affect
ed 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 love 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
music, 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
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 tbe
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
combination and coincidence of all the divine
attributes and perfections, manifested in the
work of redemption; mercy and truth meet
ing together, inflexible righteousness corres
ponding 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 Spirit, applying the promises to the
heart, and sweetly inspiring a temper of con
fidence and adoption. These are joys which
the world can neither give nor take away,
213

214

THE CONSOLATION.

[ser. I.

which never pall upon the mind by contmu-
ance or repetition ; the sense of them is al
ways new, the recollection 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 christian 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,
informing 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 tbe 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
disposed, 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 they rebuilt their city and temple,
they met with many insults and much op
position, and continued to be a tributary and
dependent people. I shall therefore wave
the consideration 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
miserable world ; and before he describes the
circumstances of his appearance, he is direct
ed to comfort the mourners in Zion, with an
assurance, 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 Solo
mon, 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
impending, yet insensibility and security pre
vailed, and the words of many were stout
against the Lordr 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 peo
ple of the Lord, and to these the message of
comfort is addressed. Speak to Jerusalem
comfortably, speak to her heart (as the He
brew word is,) to her very case, and tell her
that there is a balm for all her wounds, a cor
dial for all her griefs, in this one considera
tion, Messiah is at hand. In the prophetic
style, things future 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 manifest
ation of Messiah, the accomplishment of his
great undertaking, and all the happy conse
quences of his obedience unto death for men,
as though he stood upon the spot, and with
John, the harbinger of our Lord (whose appear
ance he immediately describes,) was point
ing with his finger to the Lamb of God, that
taketh away the sin of the world.
This comfortable message consists of two
parts. First, the removal of evil, — "Her
warfare is accomplished, her iniquity is par
doned." Secondly, a promise of good, more
than equivalent to all her afflictions, — " She
hath received 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
dispensation. The spirit of that institution
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

SER. I.]

THE CONSOLATION.

215

to lead the people of Israel to expect peace
and hope from their best obedience to that
covenant^but rather to convince them ofthe
necessity of a better covenant, established
upon better promises, and to direct their
hopes to Messiah, who was prefigured by all
their sacriflces, and who, in the fulness of
time, was to make a complete atonement for
sin, by tbe sacrifice of himself Then their
legal figurative constitution would cease, the
shadows give place to the substance, and the
true worshippers of God would be instructed,
enabled, 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 whicb 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 beard 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 up
on him, of our obligations to him as our Crea
tor, Lawgiver, and Benefactor ; then we be
gin to form our estimate of duty, of sin, and
its desert, not from the prevalent maxims
and judgment of mankind around us, but from
the unerring standard of scripture. Thence
new and painful apprehensions arise — the
lofty looks of man are humbled, his haughti
ness is brought low, his mouth stopped, or
only opened to confess his guUt and vileness,
and to cry for mercy. He now feels himself
under the law ; it condemns him, and he can
not reply ; it commands him, and he cannot
obey. He has neither righteousness nor
strength, and must sink into despair, were it
not that he is now qualified to hearken to the
gospel with other ears, and to read the scrip
tures with other eyes (if I may so speak,)
than he once did. He now knows he is sick,
and therefore knows his need of a physician.
This state of anxiety, conflict, and fear,
which keeps comfort from his heart, and per-
haps~slumber from his eyes, is often of long
continuance. There is no common standard
whereby to determine either the degree or
the duration. Both differ in different persons;
and as the body and the mind have a strong
and reciprocal influence upon each other, it
is probable 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
salva.tion, in the means which he has direct
ed, 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
heaviness, Isa. Ixi. 3. This warfare is ac
complished, 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
revelation, 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 flrst 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
Abraham's faith. Therefore the apostle
teaches us, that when God set him forth as a
propitiation, through . faith in his blood, he
declared 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
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
lofiged for, than actually possessed, that ful
ness of light and knowledge concerning the
person, ofiices, love, and victory of Messiah,
which is the privilege of those who enjoy and
believe the gospel, Heb. xi. 39, 40. Yet great
discoveries of these things were vouchsafed
to some of the prophets, particularly to
Isaiah, who, on account of the clearness of
his views of the Redeemer and his kingdom,
has been sometimes styled the fifth evangel
ist. The most evangelical part of his pro
phecy, or at least tbat part in which he

216

THE CONSOLATION.

[her. I.

prosecutes the subject with the least inter
ruption, begms with this chapter and with
this verse. And he proposes it for the com
fort of the mourners in Zion in his day. We
know that the Son of God, of whom Moses
and tbe prophets spake, is actually come ;
(1 John V. 20 ;) that the atonement for sin is
made, the ransom for sinners paid and accept
ed. Now the shadows are past, the veil re
moved, the night is ended, the dawn, the day,
is arrived, yea the Sun of righteousness - is
arisen, with healing in bis wings, Mal. iv. 2.
God is reconciled in his Son, and the minis
ters of the gospel are now authorised to
preach comfort 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 be
lieve in him is freely and adundantly par
doned. 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 wiUing 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,
everlasting 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 suffer
ings. If we acknowledge ourselves to be
sinners, we have likewise cause to acknow
ledge, that he hath not dealt with us accord
ing to our iniquities. Nor can the words be
so applied to , Messiah, as to intimate, that
even his sufferings were more than necessary,
or greater than the exigence of the case re
quired. The efficacy of his atonement is in
deed greater than the actual application, and
sufficient to save the whole race of mankind
if they truly believe in the Son of God. We
read, that he groaned and bled upon the cross,
till he could say. It is finished, but no longer.
It becomes us to refer to infinite wisdom the
reasons why his sufferings 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 expression seems to be ellip

has' abounded, grace has much more abound
ed," Bom. 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 inward malady, which only Jesus could
discern, or pity, or relieve. I doubt not but
his conscience was burdened with guilt. An
assurance therefore that his sins were for
given, 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," Psalm xxxii. 1. Though he be
poor, afflicted, diseased, neglected or despised,
if the Lord imputeth 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 exceedingly joyful in
all his tribulations. For he who feels the
power of the blood of Jesus cleansing hig
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 commu
nion with God, and a gracious submission to
his will, he possesses a peace that passeth
understanding, and which the world can
neither give nor take away.
I shall close this preliminary discourse
with a few observations by way of improve-
I ment.
I 1. How justly may we adopt the prophet's
words, "Who is a God like unto thee!"
Micah vii. IS. Behold and admire his good
ness ! Infinitely happy and glorious in him
self; he has provided for the comfort of those
who were rebels against his government, and
transgressors of his holy law. What was
degenerate Israel, and what are we, that he

tical, and I apprehend the true sense is, that should thus prevent us with his mercy, re.

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 bless-
inors of the gospel are an unspeakably great
compensation, and over-balance, for all afflic
tions of every kind with which we have been,
or cari be exercised. Afflictions are the fruit
of sin, and because our sins have been many,
our afflictions may be many. " But where sin

member us in our low estate, and redeem us
from misery, in such a way, and at such a
price! Salvation is wholly ofgrace; (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 conceive ; yea, that he has done
exceedingly beyond what we could either ask
or thmk. Salvation is wholly of the Lord,

SER. n.]

THE HARBINGER.

217

(Psalm iii. 8,) and bears those signatures of
infinite wisdom, power, and goodness, which
distinguish all his works from the puny imi
tations of men. It is every way worthy of
bimself; a great, a free, a fiill, a sure salva
tion. 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 favour, to immor
tal life and happiness; or the means, the
incarnation, humiliation, sufferingsand death
of his beloved Son. It is free, — without ex
ception of persons or cases, without any con
ditions or qualifications, but such as he bim
self performs in them, and bestows" upon
them. It is full, — including every desirable
blessing; pardon, peace, adoption, protection
and guidance through this world, and in the
world to come eternal life and happiness, in
the unclouded, uninterrupted enjoyment 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 corafort to it, he
proposes one object, and only one, as the
necessary 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
affects the language of majesty — we do not
suppose the poor creature to be happy, be
cause he tells us that he is so ; but we rather
consider his complacence in his situation, as
an effect and proof of his malady. We pity
him, and, if we were able, would gladly re
store him to his senses, though we know a
cure would immediately 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 wQl, it must,
leave them without 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 acquaint
ance with God, no access to the throne of
grace, but being without Christ, are without
Vol. il 2 E

a solid hope of good hereafter, though they
are forced to feel tlie vanity and inconstancy
of every thing here. But they who know
Messiah, who believe in him, and partake of
his spirit, cannot be comfortless. They recol
lect 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 ofGod ; or sink them
into despondency, and all the melancholy
train of evils attendant on those who languish
and pine away under that depression of
spirits, 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 of
fended than comforted, by an offer of pardon.
This is one principal cause of that neglect,
yea contempt, which the gospel of the grace
of God meets with from the world. If we
could suppose that a company of people who
were all trembling under an apprehension
of his displeasure, constrained to confess the
justice of the sentence, but not as yet in
formed of any way to escape, were to hear
this message fbr the first time, and to he
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, an'd their real state in the sight
of him with whom they have to do, many
persons, who have received pleasure from
the music of the Messiah, have neither found,
nor expected, nor desired to find, any com
fort from the words.

SERMON IL

THE HARBINGER.

The voice of him that crieth in the wilder
ness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highioay
for our God. Every valley shalt be ex
alted, 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 re
vealed, and all flesh shall see it together :
for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.
— Isaiah xl. 3 — 5.
The general style of the prophecies is
poetical. The inimitable simplicity which
characterizes every part of divine revelation,

218

THE HARBINGER.

[ser. II.

is diversified according to the nature of the
subject ; and the magnificence and variety of
imagery which constitute the life and spirit
of poetry, evidently distinguish the style of
the Psalms, or Isaiah, and the other poetical
books, from that ofthe 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
usually consists either of parallel, or con
trasted sentences. The parallel expressions
(excepting in the book of Proverbs) are most
prevalent. In these the same thought, for
substance, expressed in the first member, is
repeated, with some difference of phrase, in
the following ; which, if it enlarges or con
firms the import of what went before, seldom
varies the idea. Almost any passage I first
cast my eye upon, will sufficiently explain
my meaning. For instance, in the fifty-ninth
chapter of Isaiah :
Ver. 1. Behold the Lord's band is not short
ened, 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. Iv. 2.
Wherefore do ye spend money for that
which is not bread ?
And your labour for that which satisfieth
not?
Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye
that which is good,
And let your soul delight itself in fatness.
So likewise in the second Psalm :
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 pre
sent purpose. The knowledge of this pecu
liarity of the poetical idiom, may often save
us the trouble of inquiring minutely into the
meaning of every single word, when one
plain and comprehensive sense arises from a
view of the whole passage taken together.
This observation applies to the first of the
verses in my text. Though it be true that
John the Baptist lived for a season retired
and unnoticed in a wilderness, and began to
preach in the wilderness of Judea, the ex
pression, The voice of him that crieth in the
wilderness, does not merely foretell that cir-

* Dr. Lowth,

cumstance. The verse consists of two paral
lels. The prophet, " rapt into future times,"
hears a voice proclaiming the approach of
Messiah, and this is the majestic language :
In the wilderness prepare ye the way of
the Lord,
Make straight in tbe desert a highway fbr
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 bim;
to enter into the gracious and wonderful de
sign of his salvation ; to acknowledge, admire,
and adore bim as the Lord, and humbly to
claim him as our God, must afford a pleasure
very different from that which the most ex
cellent music, however well adapted to the
words, can possibly give. The latter may be
relished by a worldly mind ; the former ia
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
obstacles. 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 sinnil
worm, he would fain be accounted great.
We read of their having actually filled up
valleys, and levelled hills, to make a com
modious road, for themselves or their armies,
through places otherwise impassable. The
prophet thus illustrates great things by small,
and accommodates the language and usages
of men to divine truth. Messiah is about to
visit a wilderness world, and those parts of
which he blesses with his presence, shall
become the garden ofthe Lord. Till then it
is all desolate, 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
appearance suggested by this sublime repre
sentation, 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 hdl diaU be made low."

SER. II.]

THE HARBINGER.

219

III. The inanner 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 tbat wil
derness 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 ofthe 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
unpleasing view at first. The spirit, and the
things of it, are congenial to our depraved
inclinations ; and especially in early life, our
unexperienced hearts form high expectations
from it ; and we rather hope to find it a pa
radise than a wilderness. But when the con
vincing power of 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 import
ant 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 ofGod, 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. 4.
Though they were not addicted to imitate
the idolatry of the Heathens, as their fore
fathers had been, they were no less alienated
from the true God; and their wickedness
was the more aggravated, for being practised
under a 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 become a den of thieves. They owned
the divine authority of the scriptures, and
read them with seeming attention, but ren
dered them of none effect, through the greater
attention tbey paid to the corrupt traditions
of their elders. They boasted in their rela
tion to Abraham as their father, but proved
themselves to be indeed the children of those
who had persecuted and murdered the pro
phets, Matt, xxiii. 30, 31. The Scribes and
Pharisees, who sat in the chair of Moses, and
were the public teachers ofthe people, under
an exterior garb of sanctity, of prayer, and
fasting, were guilty of oppression, fraud, and
uncleanness ; and while they trusted in them
selves that they were righteous, and despised
others, their real character was a combina

tion of pride and hypocrisy. Therefore he
who knew their hearts, and saw through all
their disguises, compared them to painted
sepulchres, fair to outward appearance, but
within full of filth and impurity. Matt, 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 wilderness 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 swell
ing words of vanity, cold, trifling, uncertain,
and without any valuable influence either
upon themselves 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 abominable wickedness equally with the
rest. The shocking effect of their idolatry
upon their moral principles and conduct, not
withstanding their attainments in arts and
science, is described by the apostle in the
close ofthe 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 of that kingdom which
Messiah was about to set up, and therefore,
as the event proved, directly disposed to with
stand his progress. But,
' II. Before his appearance a way was pre
pared for him in the wilderness.
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 ofthe earth
are so many detached parts of a complicated
but wisely-determined plan, of which the
establishment 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
mankind, to gratify their own interests and
ambition, 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, (Psalm Ixxvi. 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

220

THE HARBINGER.

[ser. n.

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 exe
cute his displeasure against the kingdom of
Judah, had, for a time, a rapid and uninter
rupted series of conquests ; (Isa. xxxvii. 26 —
29 ;) but his attempt upon Jerusalem was be
yond the limits of his commission, and there
fore 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 under
takings abortive, had he not been in the hand
of the Lord of hosts, as an axe or a saw in
the hand of the workman. By his conquests
the knowledge of the Greek language was
diffused among many nations ; and the He
brew scriptures being soon afterwards trans
lated into that language, an expectation of
some great deliverer was raised far and wide,
before Messiah appeared. When this service
was fulfilled, 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 for
ward 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
power, which had been gradually increasing
and extending in the course of several hun
dred years, was at its height about the time
of our Lord's birth. The greatest part ofthe
habitable earth which was at that time dis
tinctly known was united under one empire,
composed of various kingdoms and govern
ments, which, though once independent and
considerable, were then no more than Ro
man provinces ; and- as all the provinces had
an immediate connexion with Rome, a way
was thus prepared, and an intercourse open
ed on every side, for the promulgation 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 vvere at
hand. He who sent him accompanied his
mission with a divine power. A multitude
of persons, of various descriptions, were im
pressed by his message, insomuch tbat John
himself seems to have been astonished at the
numbers and characters of those who came
to his baptism.
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, was
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
expect opposition and ill-treatment, to walk
by faith, and frequently to be called to seal
their testimony with their blood, he was per
mitted to fall a sacrifice to the revenge of a
wanton woman ; and though we are assured
that none of the race of Adam was greater in
the estimation of God than he, his death was
asked and procured as the reward of an idle
dance, Matth. 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 minis
try, 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 was the
condition of most of our Lord's followers;
but his notice and fevour 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
salvation to persons of the vilest and most
despicable characters in human estimation.
Such, for instance, was the woman mention
ed by the evangelist Luke, chap. vii. 37, 38.
Tho 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 high
ly 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 male
factor 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 paradise
and glory. The world accounts the proud
happy, and honours the covetous if they be

SER. II.]

THE HARBINGER.

221

prosperous. But true honour cometh from
God. They who are partakers of the faith
and hope of the gospel, and have interest in
the precious promises, are indeed the rich,
the happy, the excellent of the earth, how
ever they may be unnoticed or despised by
their fellow-creatures. The honour of places
likewise is to be considered iu this light.
Bethlehem, though but of little note among
the thousands of Judah, was rendered more
illustrious by the birth of Messiah than Baby
lon 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 exeilted unto heaven, by the honour and
privilege of his presence, though some of
them were no more than fishing-towns. And
so at this day, if we have spiritual discern
ment, we shall judge that a little 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 to u-j/ii^of, or summit of their
boasted excellency, is worthless, yea, abomi
nation in the sight of God, Luke xvi. 1.5.
And by living himself in a state of poverty,
and associating chiefly with poor people, he
placed the vanity of the distinctions and af
fluence which mankind generally admire and
envy, in the most striking and humiliating
light. Such likewise was and will be the
effect of his gospel. When faithfully preach
ed, it is found mighty, through God, to the
pulling down of strong-holds, high thoughts,
and every species of self-exaltation. When
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
esteemed 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 uito 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 ^11
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 apparent obliquity to the straight and per
fect rule ofthe law ofGod, and deformed the
beauties jof holiness, binding heavy burdens,
and grievous to be borne, upon the con
science; 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,
could 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
in 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
accomplishment 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 coming,
when the frame of nature shall be dissolved.
Heaven and earth shall pass away ; but not a
jot or tittle of what he bath declared con
cerning 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 meaning. They are, however, the great
truths of God. May they engage your serious
attention, now they are thus set before you !

222

THE SHAKING OP THE

[ser. III.

SERMON m.

THE SHAKING OF THB 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 Desire of all nations shall come ;
and I will fill 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 descrip
tion, though very simple, presents to our
thoughts a scene unspeakably majestic, grand,
and awful. The mountain was in flames at
the top, and trembled to its basis, Exod. xix.
16 — 19. Dark clouds, thunderings and light
nings filled the air. The hearts ofthe peo
ple, of the whole people, trembled likewise ;
and even Moses bimself said, " I exceedingly
fear and quake." Then, as the apostle, re
ferring to this passage, observes, the voice
of the Lord shook the earth, Heb. xii. 26.
But the prophet 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, tbat 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 passages
and events, in which we are so nearly in
terested, that our hearts maybe duly affected
by them ! But, alas ! experience and observa
tion strongly confirm the remark ofthe 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,
especially 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, wUl 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
ancients, 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 bis 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 tigers gentle as lambs, from that
time forward. Thus I can allow, that they
who heard the Messiah might be greatly im
pressed during the performance ; but when it
was ended, I suppose they would retain the
very same dispositions they had before it
began. And many, I fear, were no more af
fected by tbis 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 cap
tivity, and undertook to rebuild the teraple 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 Zechariah were sent to
animate the people by a promise, that, in
ferior 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
spoken of was of a different kind. The pre
sence 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
consequences 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 kingdom of Messiah.
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."
III. 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 ofthe
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 tbe 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,

SER. 111.]

HEAVENS AND THE EARTIL

223

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 concerning 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 ex
pressing their own wants, nor of asking what
was good for themselves, 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
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 misera
bly bewildered. They had a thirst for hap
piness, which 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 reraedy.
They were so sensible, both of their guilt and
their weakness, that, being ignorant of the
character of the true God, and of that forgive
ness which is with him, in times of extremity
they frequently offered the most expensive
* Yirg. Eel. iv, I

sacrifices to the objects of their idolatrous
superstition, even the blood and lives of their
children, Micah vi. 6. When Messiah ap
peared, as he was the glory of Israel, so he
was a light to the Gentiles, as we shall have
opportunity of observing more at large here
after. He, therefore, who came purposely to
bless the nations, by turning them from dark
ness 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
figurative. Mountains and trees, land and
water, 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 ful
filled, superseded, and abrogated by Messiah,
which was solemnly signified by the rending
ofthe vail of the temple from the top to the
bottom at his death. And a few years after
wards 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 imprac
ticable. Their civil state likewise was dis
solved ; they were extirpated from the pro
mised land, and dispersed far and wide
among the nations of the earth. Though, in
one sense, they are preserved, by the won
derful 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 settlement nor
government, but living as strangers and
foreigners in every country where their lot
has been cast, Hos. 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

224

THE SHAKING OP THE HEAVENS, fee.

[ser. III.

succeeding prophets, is accomplished to a de
monstration 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
spoken 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 judg-ments
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 teraple, 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 aw
ful sentence, which was soon afterwards exe
cuted by the Roraans, 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 has been long
since destroyed. But he has still a house, a
house not raade 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 narae, where his ordinances are ad
ministered and prized, where his gospel is
faithfully preached and cordially received,
there he is present in the raidst of thera :
There his glory is seen, his voice heard, his
power felt, his goodness tasted, and the sa
vour of his name is diffused as a precious
ointment, which refreshes the heart of his
people, renews their strength, and comforts
them under all their sorrows and cares. The
glory and magnificence of the temple-wor
ship, even in the days of Soloraon, was faint
compared with the glory displayed to the
hearts of believers who worship him in spirit
and in truth, under the New Testament dis
pensation. But it can only be perceived by
an enlightened and spiritual mind. To out
ward appearance all may be low and humilia
ting. The malice of their eneraies has often
constrained his people to assemble in woods
and on mountains, in places under ground or

in the dead ofthe night, to secrete themselves
from informers. But vaulted roofs and costly
garments, the solemn parade of processions,
music and choristers, and the presence of no
bles and dignitaries, are not necessary to con
stitute 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 Spirit, 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 com
pensated for all their difficulties and hard
ships; 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 ap
proach by faith to the city of the living God,
the Jerusalem which is above, to the worship
which is carried on day without night, by the
innuraerable company of angels, and the
spirits of just men made perfect, Heb. xii. 22.
But every member of this raystical 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 concus
sion makes way for the perception of his
glory as a Saviour. In this day of his power
they are made willing to throw open the
gates of their hearts, that the King of glory
raay enter.
But as I do not stand here to amuse you
with a declamation on a subject m which you
are not immediately interested, and as my
office as a preacher both warrants and re
quires me to address myself not only to youi
understandings but likewise to your con
sciences, I must be allowed, before I conclude,
to propose this question to your consideration.
Is Messiah, the desire of all nations, the ob ¦
ject of your chief desire 1 How much da-
pends upon the answer^ Do you wish to
know your present state in the sight of God T
If you are faithful to yourselves you may be
satisfied, 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 tbe desire of your soul
is supremely directed to him, then you as
suredly possess the beginning, the foretaste,
and the 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 siraply to him, and to place
your happifltiss in his favour, then you are

m&. IV.]

THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE.

225

happy indeed ! happy even at present, though
not exempted frora a share in the afflictions
incident to this mortal state.- For your sins
are pardoned, your persons are accepted in
the Beloved : to you belong the promises of
guidance, protection, and supply through life,
victory over death, and then a crown of glory
whicii 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
yourselves that you are righteous and good,
at least comparatively so ; if your attachment
to the business or the pleasures of the world
engrosses 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 con
tempt. Many persons thus employed and
thus disposed, bear respectable characters in
civil life, fi-om which I do not wish to detract.
But however amiable you may be in the
judgment of your fellow-creatures, you are
a sinner in the sight of God, and will be
treated by him as an enemy to his govern
ment and glory, if you finally persist in a
rejection of his gospel. The great point
which will determine your state fbr 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 Anathema Mara
natha," 1 Cor. xvi. 22. He must and will fall
under the curse and condemnation of the
law, and be punished with everlasting de
struction from the presence of the Lord, and
from the" glory of his power. To-day, there
fore, 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 covenant in whom ye delight : be
hold, he shall come, saith the Lord of
Hosts. But who may abide the day of his
coming ? and who shall stand when he
appeareth 1 for .he is Uke a refiner's fire,
and like fuller's soap. — And he shall
purify the sons of Levi — that they may
offer unto the Lord an offering in righ
teousness. — Malachi iii. 1 — 3.
" Whereunto shall we liken the people of
this generation, and to what are they likel"
Luke vii. 31. I represent to myself a number
of persons of various characters, involved in
one common charge of high treason. They
Vol. n. 2 P

are already in a state of confinement, but not
yet brought to their trial. The facts, how
ever, are so plain, and tho ovidenci; against
them so stronp: auil pointed, thn !, thore is not
the least doubt of their nuilt being fully
proved, and that nothin;,' but a pardon can
preserve them from punishment. In this
situation, it should seem their wisdom t(;
avail themselves of every expedient m their
power for obtaining mercy. But they ar;;
entirely regardless of tlieir danger, an.l
wholly taken up with contriving methods of
amusin.e' theraselves, 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 subjects in this
way, they are particularly pleased with one.
They choose to make the solemnities of their
irapending 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 goodness. Undesired by them, he'
sends thera a gracious message. He assures
thera 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 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 taking 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 continue obstinate, is sung for their
diversion, accorapanied with the sound of
cornet, flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dul
cimer, 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 musical taste of these people, I
should commiserate their insensibility !
But is not this case more than a supposi
tion 1 Is it not, in the most serious sense,
actually 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 treason
and rebellion against the great sovereign
Lawgiver and Benefactor, and declares the

226

THE LORD COMING TO HIS. TEMPLE.

[ser. IV.

misery to which, as sinners, we are obnox
ious. But God is long-suffering, and waits to
oe gracious. The stroke of death, which
would instantly place us before his awful
tribunal, is still suspended. In the mean tune
he affords 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 narae. The cha
racter of this Saviour, his unspeakable love,
his dreadful sufferings, the agonies he en
dured in Gethsemane, and upon the cross,
are made known to us. And as his past
humiliation, so his present glory, and his
invitation to corae to him for pardon and
eternal life, are largely declared. These are
the principal points expressed in the passages
of the Messiah. Mr. Handel, who set them to
music, has been commemorated and praised,
many years after his death, in a place pro
fessedly devoted to the praise and worship of
God; yea, (if I ara not raisinforraed,) the
stated worship of God in that place was sus
pended for a considerable tirae, that it might
be duly prepared for the commemoration of
Mr. Handel. But, alas ! how few are disposed
to praise and commemorate Messiah hiraself!
The sarae great truths, divested ofthe 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, ofthe great impropriety of making
¦ the fundamental truths of Christianity the sub
ject 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 if wholly improper.
Malachi confirms and unites the prophecies
of Isaiah and Haggai, which were the sub
ject of our two last discourses. John is the
messenger, spoken of in the beginning ofthe
first verse, sent to prepare the way of the
Lord. Then the Lord himself shall corae sud
denly to his teraple, that is, immediately
after the appearance of his forerunner, and
with regard to the people in general, un
expectedly. The question, " Who may abide the day of
his coming 1" intimates the greatness and
solemnity of the event. If we take his coming
in an extensive sense to denote the whole of
his sojourning upon earth, from his incarna
tion 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 v.as displayed upon
Mount Sinai, and proved a closer and more
searching appeal to the hearts and con
sciences of men. To enter more into the
spirit and meaning of the question here pro
posed, we shall briefly take notice of the fol
lowing points, w'hich the words offer to our
serious meditation. May the Holy Spirit,
whose office it is to glorify the Saviour, en
lighten 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."
rv. 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 capital letters,
where it answers to Jehovah in the Hebrew,
and there only. The word here is not Jeho
vah, 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
connexion it is undoubtedly a divine narae.
The Lord is said to come to his temple, to
his own temple. It was a house consecrated
to the God of Israel. The flrst teraple he
honoured with tokens of his presence ; the
second he visited in person ; on which ac
count it exceeded the first in glory. Messiah,
therefore, who appeared in our nature, and
was known amongst men as a man, and who
is now worshipped both in heaven and upon
earth, is the God of Israel. He came to his
own. This doctrine of God manifest in the
flesh, is the pillar and ground of truth : the
only foundation 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 uni^titel-
ligible. To say that this doctrine approves
itself to human reason in its present fallen
depraved state, would be to contradici/ the
apostle, who asserts, that no man can say ithat
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 atonement as shall declare the righ
teousness of God, no less than his mercy, in
the forgiveness of sin ; who feel the necessity
of holiness in order to happiness ; -and are ac-

SER. IV.]

THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE.

227

quainted with the nature and variety of the
snares, temptations, and enemies to which
they are exposed. Such persons cannot ven
ture their eternal concerns upon the dignity,
or care, or power, or patience of a mere
creature, however exalted and excellent ;
they must be assured 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 hira with all their
heart, and soul, and strength, to devote them
selves absolutely to his service, and to expect
their suprerae happiness from his favour and
approbation, if they did not know that he is
over all, God blessed for ever.
With reppect 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. 1 ;) testifying to him by
a voice from heaven. This is ray beloved Son,
hear him ; in hira I ara well pleased. Mat.
iii. 17. To the sarae purpose our Lord spake
of hiraself He prefaced his gracious invi
tation to all, without exception, who are weary
and heavy laden, to corae to hira for rest,
(Mat. xi. 27,) with a declaration of his com
mission and authority, saying, "All things
are delivered unto me of my Father, and no
one (ouS-.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 ablu
tions, the way in which forgiveness was to
be sought and obtained ; — but grace to re
lieve us from the conderanation of the one,
and truth answerable to the types and shadows
of the other, carae by Jesus Christ.
It is &rther 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 hira,
as their consolation. The people at large
likewise professed to expect great things frora
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 hea'then 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
honours of the kingdom which he designed
to establish ; and therefore, their understand- j

ings being darkened by prejudice and prepos
session, they could not discern his character.
The prophecies which were read in their
synagogues every sabbath, marked out the
time and circumstances of Messiah's appear
ance, the places which he should principally
visit, tlie 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 suf
ferings and death, with such a minute punc
tuality, as if they had designedly taken the
prophecies for the rule of their conduct.
Thus, by giving neither more nor less than
thirty pieces of silver to his betrayer, by buy
ing the potter's field, and no other, with the
money afterwards ; by casting lots for one
of his garments, and making a distribution
ofthe rest; by piercing his side contrary to
the custora in such punishments, and by
omitting to break his legs, which, from their
treatment of the malefactors who suffered
with him, seeras to have been usual, in these
and several other instances, they acted,
though unwittingly, as if it had been their
design and study to accomplish the scrip
tures to their own confusion and condemna-
tion. II. This was the reason why his coraing
to his temple was to them sudden. Though
long foretold and long expected, and though
the precise time of his advent, and the ac
companying signs, were accurately defined
and described, yet when the season arrived,
he came suddenly, unlocked for, and un
known. He came upon them in an hour that
they thought not ofj 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 Jews,
in our Saviour's time, furnish us with a strik
ing instance, that it is possible for people
fatally to miscarry with the greatest advan
tages and means for information in their
possession. They accounted themselves the
people of God, raade their boast of his law,
and their relation to Abrahara. But they
hated Messiah, and crucified him, who was
the object of Abrahara's faith. The opposi
tion of their leaders and teachers was the
most malicious, for many of thern acted against
the light of their rainds, and were often con
victed in their consciences, though they re
fused to be convinced. But an ignorant
attachment to these blind guides was ruinous
to their blind followers, who, though they
sometimes, frora a view of his mighty works,
were struck with astonishment, and con
strained to say, " Is not this the son of
David?" were at length influenced by their
priests to prefer a marderer to him, and, with
a clamorous importunity, to compel Pilate
to put him to death. The like misapprehen-

228

THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE.

[ser. it.

sions produce the like effects among profess
ed christians at this day. We likewise have
the scriptures : but how many who admit their
authority in words, live willingly ignorant of
their contents, and act in direct contradiction
to their tenor ! The power of the Saviour is
likewise displayed araong us, his preached
gospel is daily made effectual to the great
purposes for which it is vouchsafed ; yet
multitudes 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 hiin till they actually find them
selves at his tribunal. And this not only
when they are cut off by a sudden stroke,
but often when their dissolution is most gra
dual, 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 thera
selves with hopes of amendment and recovery
to their last gasp; and a lingering death is
to thera 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, atrial which issues in the purification
ofthe work' of God in his church, and in the
detection and destruction of every thuig 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 araong them, John i. 12. The term in
the original alludes to the visible symbol of
the divine presence, which resided in the
tabernacle and temple. Thus for a season
he resided among them, in a temple not made
with hands, but formed, by the iraraediate
agency ofthe Holy Spirit, in the womb of a
virgin. This was a happy time to those who
received and acknowledged hira. But the
bulk of the nation could not abide the trial
which his appearance exposed thera 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 thera 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 re
jected him were rendered inexcusable. Their
great privilege of seeing his wonderful works,
and hearing his gracious words, being abused,
aggravated their guilt and conderanation, and
raade 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 corae 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, ex
cuse, or extenuation. And all their forraer
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 hira, he reraoved their guilt,
their fears, their ignorance. He gave thera
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
selfish tempers, which were not at once re
moved. He called them to a state of suffer
ing and self-denial, to forsake all, and to take
up their cross daily for his sake.
In another sense, his coming is not re
strained to a particular time. Wherever his
gospel is preached, the Lord is come. It is
by the gospel he rides forth prosperously,
conquering and to conquer. Psalm xiv. 4.
Thus he has promised to be present with his
ministers, 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 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
holiness of God, and that the religion they
pretend 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 ob
duracy, and leaves thera without excuse.
But it is life indeed to those who re'ceive it.
They are raised by it from a death of sin,
unto a life of righteousness and peace. Their
tempers, desires, pursuits, and hopes are
changed and elevated. Old things pass away,

SER. IV. J

THE LORD COMING TO HIS TEMPLE.

229

and all things become new to them, accord
ing as it is written, "If any man be in Christ
Jesus, he is a new creature," 2 Cor. v. 17.
He conies to individuals by the power of
his Spirit. This makes the word of his gos
pel effectual. For the kingdom ofGod 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 ara undone !" But in
this way their dross is consumed, their de
filement removed. When he thus wounds,
he likewise heals. He gives thera faith ; by
faith they look unto him, and are enlightened
and saved.
We surely expect that he will come again.
Not as lie once came, in a state of hurailia
tion. The Babe of Bethlehem, the Man of
sorrows, who hung, and bled, and died upon
the cro.'is 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 w-ell say, " Who may abide
itl" To those who have not been 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 trurap of God, will burn
like an oven, and all the proud, and all that
do wickedly, shall be as stubble, and the day
that coraeth shall burn tliem up," Mal. 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, ac
knowledge 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 purify
the sons of Levi, — ^that they may offer unto
the Lord an offering in righteousness." The
sons of Levi, the priests, the officiating min
isters ofGod, were gone out ofthe way, and
had corrupted the covenant of the Lord, and
thereby had caused many to stumble, Mal.
ii. 8, 9. They dishonoured their office, and
became themselves vile and contemptible.
Thus they went on from bad to worse, till
the men of that generation filled up the mea
sure of the iniquity of their forefathers, by
the rejection of Messiah. He also rejected
them. Ths blasted barren fig-tree, (Matth.
xxi. 19,) which withered to the very root at
his word, was an erablera of their condition.
In a little time, wrath came upon them to
the uttermost ; they saw the temple in which
thoy had trusted, and which they had profaned,

destroyed by fire, and the greater part of
thera 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 siraplicity and purity of worship,
principles, and raorals, was visible very early
in the church. The progress of it was rapid,
especially frora 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,
ecclesiastical history affords us little more
than a detail of such instances of pride, in
trigue, oppression, arid cruelty, under the
pretext of religion, as had not been known
among tlie heathens. 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 favoured with the gospel, and are eye
witnesses of its purifying power. It still
produces the effects which marked its pro
gress when it was preached by the apostles.
It enlightens the dark mind, softens the hard
heart, heals the wounded spirit; and many
persons who before were burdensome to
society, are rendered by it ornamental and
useful. When every other argument and
motive has failed of success, the considera
tion of the mercies of God in Christ, revealed
by the gospel, constrains the believing sinner
to present himself a living, willing, holy sa
crifice unto God. Thus, being purified by the
blood of Jesus, he offers to the Lord a sacri
fice in righteousness. Such principles and
aims are essential to a 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 reproached by the for
mal Jew and the sceptical Greek, is evidenced
by its efficacy to be the wisdom and power
of God. Such ministers raay be, and fre"-
quently are, depreciated and disregarded ; but
they cannot be contemptible, until integrity,
benevolence, and usefulness, are the proper
objects of contempt.

230

IMMANUEL.

[ser. r.

SERMON V.

IMMANUEL.

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 thera frora the feeble
iraitations of raen. Not only the splendour
of the sun, but the gliraniering light of the
glow-worm, proclaims his glory. The struc
ture 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 likewise he is inimitable. He has
a style and manner peculiarly his own. 'What
he is pleasS'd to declare of himself by the
prophet, raay be prefixed as a proper raotto
to the whole revelation of his will in the
Bible. " My thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways ray ways, saith the
Lord. For as the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are ray ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts,"
Isa. Iv. 8, 9. This superiority of his thoughts
to ours, causes a proportionable difference in
bis manner of operation. His ways are above
our conceptions, and often contrary to them.
He soraetimes produces great effects by
means which, to us, appear unsuitable and
weak. Thus he gave Gideon a complete
victory, not by providing him an array equal
to that of the eneray, 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, insu
perable to any power but his own, where our
narrow apprehensions, until enlightened and
enlarged by his teaching, can scarcely per
ceive 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 affect
ed by the evil of sin. But though he be rich
in mercy, no wisdora but his own could have
proposed an expedient whereby the exercise
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
together ; and his inflexible righteousness is
¦displayed in perfect harmony with the peace
•of sinners who subrait to his appointment ;
and thus God appears not only gracious but
just, ill 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 sum
marily expressed in my text.

I shall not take up your time in 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 ; (Matt. 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 in
jury to the honour of his law and governraent
(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
raen, 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
occurred 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 implanted in them by their Maker,
a whole species of intelligent beings would
have fallen short of the original law and de
sign 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 neces
sarily results from his relation to God, and
his absolute dependence on him as a creature.
Such a disposition raust undoubtedly have
been as natural to man before his fall, as it
is for a bird to fly, or a fish to swim. The
prohibitory form of the law delivered to Is
rael frora Mount Sinai, is a sufficient intiraa
tion that it was designed for sinners. Surely
our first parents, while in a state of inno
cence, could not stand in need of warnings
and threatening to restrain them from wor
shipping idols, or profaning the name of the
great God whom they loved. Nor would it
have been necessary to forbid murder, adul
tery, or injustice, if his posterity bad con
tinued under the law of their creation, the
law of love. But the first act of disobedience
degraded and disabled raan, detached him
frora his proper centre, if I may so speak,
and incapacitated him both for his duty and
his happiness. After his fall, it became im
possible for either Adara or his posterity to'
obey the law of God. But Messiah fulfilled
it exactly, as a raan, and the principles of it
are renewed, by the power of his grace, in all
who believe on him. And though their best

ser. v.]

IMMANUEL.

231

endeavours fall short, his obedience to it is
accepted on their behalf, and he will at
length perfectly restore them to their primi
tive order and honour. When they shall
see him as he is, they will be like him, and
all their powers and faculties wiU be per
fectly conforraed to his image.
Again, Messiah must not only be a raan,
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 ofthe 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
angels. Therefore, when God sent forth his
Son to be raade under the law, to redeera us
from the curse of the law, that we might re
ceive the adoption of children, (Gal. iv. 4, 5,)
and be re-ad raitted into his happy faraily, he
was raade of a woman. Thus he became our
Goel, our near kinsman, with whora the
right of redemption lay.
But farther, if he had derived his huraan
nature altogether in the ordinary way, from
sinful parents, we see not how he could have
avoided a participation in that defilement
and depravity which the fall of Adam had
entailed 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
becarae us, holy, harmless, undefiled, and
separate from sinners; (Heb. vii. 26;) who
needed 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
obedience was without defect, his nature
without blemish, and, having no sin of his
own, when he voluntarily offered himself to
make an atonement for the sins of his people,
bis sacrifice 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 appointraent. Thus
the Lord created a new thing upon the
earth !
II. But surely our admiration and.gratitude
will be raised still higher, if we rightly un
derstand the latter part of my text. This son
of the virgin shall be called Immanuel, God
with us. Though the huraan nature of Christ
was absolutely perfect, his obedience com
mensurate 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 would not have been equal to the
great undertaking of saving sinners. A due
consideration of the majesty, holiness, au
thority, and goodness of Grod will make sin

appear to be, as the apostle expresses it, ex
ceedingly 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 hirn 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
raan, and no more, he might have yielded a
coraplete 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 con
nected with a nature which is not thus ne
cessarily bound. A sinner, truly convinced
of his obnoxiousness to the displeasure of
God, must sink into despair, notwithstanding
the intimation of a Saviour, if he were not
assured by the scripture 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 iraraense value and
dignity to all that he did, to all that he suf
fered : thus he not only satisfied but honoured
the law. So that we may, without hesitation,
affirm, that the law ofGod was more honoured
by Messiah, in his obedience to it, during tbe
few years of his residence 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 unsin-
ning obedience of all mankind to the end of
time. But Messiah was not only to obey the law
for us, but he was''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 to
the universe, to angels, and men, as a con
sideration sufficient to vindicate the righ
teousness and truth of God in the remission
of sin, after he had deterrained 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 frora the apostle
in their judgraent, who think it very possible
for God, if he pleased, to forgive the sinner
who should offer a, bull or a goat, or even

232

IMMANUEL.

[ser. v.

without any offering, by the sovereign exer
cise of his mercy, may be reminded that the
question is not simply what God can do, but
what it becomes him to do, agreeable to his
perfections, and to his character as governor
of the world. Of this his infinite wisdom is
the only corapetent judge ; and we learn
from his word, that it is irapossible any blood,
but that of his own Son, can cleanse us frora
guilt, or save us frora misery. The blood of a
bull or a goat, of a raan or an angel, (if an
gels could bleed,) are all equally insufficient
to the great purpose of declaring his righ
teousness, of manifesting to all intelligent
creatures his inflexible displeasure against
sin, in the very act of affording mercy to sin
ners. 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 cmnot be removed ; and
obtaining forgiveness in this way, he likewise
obtains by it such a knowledge of the hein-
ousness 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 conforraity fo
his image. But neither this hope nor this
desire is natural to us. Our case requires the
help of an almighty arm, ofthe 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 weak
ness, the deceitfulness of our hearts, the
subtilty, vigilance, and power of our spi
ritual enemies, are so many and great, that
unless he, on whora 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;" th-tt is, unless he be
God, how can he answer the prayers, satisfv
the wants, and relieve the distresses of all
who trust in hira in every age, and of all who
in every place equally need his support at
the same raoment 1 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 con
cluded, that because the Lord was his shep
herd, he should not want, and had no reason
to fear, (Psalm xxiii. 1, 4,) not even when
passing through the valley of the shadow of
death. To us Jesus is made known as the
great shepherd of the sheep; but how can we
place the like confidence in him, unless we

likewise are assured that our shepherd is the
Lordi 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 re
vealed. It demands our assent upon the au
thority of God, who requires us to receive
this record which he bas given us of his Son.
Thus far it approves itself to our reason, that
however difficult it may be to our concep
tions, yet thus it must be, upon a supposition
that sinners can be saved without prejudice
to the honour of the divine governraent. If
we affirm, that he who was born in a stable,
and suffered as a raalefactor upon JJount
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 ofthe soul, and the love of
God.. We do not, hov/ever, say, that the hu
man 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 hinjself," 2 Cor.
V. 19. We believe that the human nature
was so intiraately and indissolubly united to
tho 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 judg
ment of the world is committed to a man,
and that God hath purchased his church with
his own blood, x^cts xvii. 31 ; xx. 28.
Behold then the character of Messiah in
this prophecy ! a raan ! a God ! a divine per
son in the human nature ! God manifested in
the flesh ! Immanuel, God witli 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
reverence, to engage our confidence, or pro
duce obedience to his will. His glory shines
in the heavens and fills the earth ; we are
surrounded by the tokens of his power and
presence; yet, till we are instructed by his
word, and enlightened by his Holy Spirit, he
is to us an unknown God. The prevalence
of idolatry was early, and (with an exception
to the people of Israel) soon became univer
sal. Men who boasted of their reason, wor
shipped 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 Imown, trusted, and served, by
those who know Messiah. To them his glory
is displayed in the person of Jesus Christ,
2 Cor. iv. 6. His agency is perceived in the ,

ber. v.] IMMANUEL.
creation, 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 like to retain hira in our knowledge.
Guilt is the parent of atheism. A secret fore
boding, that if there be a God, we are obnox
ious to his displeasure ; and that if he takes
cognizance of our conduct, we have nothing
to hope, but every thing to fear from him,
constrains many persons to try to persuade
themselves 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 huraan affairs. What a proof is this of
the enraity of the heart of man against him ;
that so many persons who would trerable at
the thought of being in a ship, driven by the
winds and waves, without corapass or pUot,
should yet think it desirable, if it were pos
sible, to be assured, that in a world like this,
so full of uncertainty, trouble, and change, all
things were left at random, without the in
terference of a supreme governor ! But this
enmity, these dark apprehensions, are re
moved, 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 princi
palities and powers, thrones and dominions.
Thus raan 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
ns 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 iraportant subject.
1. What a cold assent is paid to the doc
trine of the Godhead of Christ by many who
profess and receive it as a truth 1 They have
received from education, from books or mi
nisters, what is called an orthodox scheme of
religious sentiments, and wilh this they are
contented. They have not been accustomed
to doubt of it, and therefore take it for granted
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
Vol. IL 2 G

233
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 themselves
to his service. They will raake continual ap
plication to hira, 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 raore 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 doesthis 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 1" The
difficulties of our warfare are great, the ene
mies 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
almighty 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 4nvites sinners to come to
hira, 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 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
determined 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.

234

SALVATION PUBLISHED

[ser. ti.

SERMON VL

SALVATION PUBLISHED FROM THE MOUNTAINS.
O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee
up into the high mountains : O Jerusa
lem, that bringest good tidings, lift up
thy voice with strength, lift it up, be not
afraid : say unto the cities of Judah, Be
hold your God .' — Isaiah xl. 9.
It would be improper to propose an altera
tion, thougb 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
tidings is written with a feminine construc
tion. The sense may be thus expressed,
" Let her that bringeth good tidings to Jeru
salem and Zion, get up into the high moun
tains and lift up her voice." But the apostro
phe is more animated. That it was the
custom in Israel for the women to publish
and celebrate good news with songs and in
struments is well known. We have an early
instance in the book of Exodus. 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 timbrels and with
dances ; and Miriam answered them, " Sing
ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed glori
ously : the horse and bis rider hath he thrown
into the sea," Exod. xv. 20, 21. So after
wards, when David returned from the slaugh
ter of the Philistines, the women came out
to meet hira and Saul, with tabrets and in
struments of music ; and they answered one
another as they played, " Saul hath slain his
thousands, and David his ten thousands,"
1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7. Thus likewise Deborah,
in her sublirae song, represents the mother
of Sisera (Judges v. 28, 29) and her women
singing alternately, from a confident, though
vain expectation, that Sisera would return a
conqueror. In -my text, the prophet, in pros
pect of Messiah's appearance, speaks of it as
an event suited to excite a general joy. The
gospel (as the word imports) 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 shdU
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, sbme, for thy light is come !" The
welcome news is to be dispersed from Jeru
salem to Samaria, frora Jew to Gentile, from
one kingdom to another people, till all the
nations and ends of the earth shall see the
salvation ofGod, Psalm xcviii. 3.
The cause of this exultation arises from the
character of Messiah, corapared 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 raay 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, sub
mission, and obedience are incumbent on us,
as they must be upon all intelligent crea
tures, 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 subjection ; and the obligation is indis
soluble. But we have evidently broken this
law of our creation. We have violated the
order of God's government. We have im
plicitly, if not formally, renounced our alle
giance, disowned his right over us, and set
up for ourselves. A dependent creature af
fecting independence; a worm presuming
upon its own power, raaking itself its own
end ; a rebel against the divine government,
boasting of morality and goodness, and trust
ing to his own conduct to recomraend him to
the favour of his Maker ; a being formed for
imraortality, 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

S6r. VI.]
finally removed : these are solecisms which
strongly prove the depravity, degeneracy,
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
"determined purpose to avenge disobedience,
and to vindicate the honour of his govern
ment ; and we are assured that he is not an
indifferent spectator of our opposition to his
established order. His justice and truth are
engaged 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
declaration of this appointment is a part of
the good tidings contained in my text. Pro
claim it from the tops of the mountains that
there is forgiveness with him. Say unto Jeru
salem, Behold 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 ofthe 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 root
ed in our hearts. Therefore one part of our
natural character is, haters of God, Rom. i.
30. This is thought a hard saying. Many
who will admit that their conduct is blame
able, 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 commandments, they say it is their infir
mity, they are sorry, and hope to do better
some time or other. However, they are
willing to think that their hearts are tolera
bly 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 forra
of hira. If we can persuade ourselves, in
direct contradiction to 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 raercy upon us, because we are not
openly abandoned and profligate in our con
duct ; that he will accept of lip-worship, in
which the heart has no corcern, reward us
for actions in which we had, no intention of
pleasing him, perrait us to love and serve
the world with, all our mind, and soul, and

PROM THE MOUNTAINS.

235

strength, while we live, and raake 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 raind is and must
be enmity against God, (Rom. viii. 7,) accord
ing to the character he has given of himself
in his word. We have an inbred dislike to
all his moral attributes, 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 actually pursue and the sup
posed 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 unpleas
ing 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 opposition and ill-treat
ment which the servants of God have raet
with from the men of the world in all suc
ceeding ages; a cause which still subsists,
and will continue to operate upon posterity
yet unborn. Can we show 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 1 Such is the
prevailing enmity against God. For how
often do we see, that, when his grace enables
a sinner to forsake the spirit and practice of
the world, his former friends are immediately
offended, and perhaps those of his own house
hold become his inveterate enemies'!
But, O thou that bringest good tidings lift
up thy voice ! Say to poor sinners. Behold
your God ! He coraes to take this enmity
away ! The cross of Christ subdues it, when
every other expedient has been found ineffec
tual. The heart, too hard to be softened by
a profusion of temporal benefits, and too stout
to be subdued by afflictions, is melted by the
dying love of a Saviour, and by that discovery
ofthe divine perfections which is exhibited
in redemption. We have a striking instance
of this effect, in the case of Saul of Tarsus,
Acts ix. 1 — 20. His misguided conscience,
under the influence of prejudice, persuaded
hira, 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 threatenings and slaughter, he
journeyed towards Damascus, designing to

236

SALVATION PUBLISHED, &c.

[ser. VI.

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, and
commissioned him to preach the faith he had
laboured to destroy. How sudden, how evi
dent, how abiding was the change which
then took place in his heart and in bis con
duct ! From that moment he accounted " all
things loss and dung, for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus his Lord,"
Phil. iii. 8. Unwearied by labour and hard
ship, undismayed by opposition and danger,
he spent the remainder of his lffe in the
cause of his Master ; and like Cssar, account
ing nothing done while any thing remained
to do, his active and intrepid spirit was con
tinually 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 he
knew him not. And although the circum
stances attending the apostle's case were
extraordinary, the case itself, as to the sub
stance, is not singular. I trust many persons
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 evU
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 bur
den, and a foreboding of evil upon the con
science. And our alienation frora the fountain
of living waters, (Jer. ii. 13,) corapels us (for
we are insufficient to our own happiness) to
seek our resources frora broken cisterns, and
pits which will hold no water. Farther, sin
has filled the world with woe. The whole
creation travails and groans ; and natural evil
is inseparable from moral, as the shadow frora
the body. Though the earth be filled with
tokens of the goodness, patience, and forbear
ance 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. Disappointraent, dissatisfaction,
vanity, and vexation of spirit, are experi
enced by persons of every rank, and in every
stage of human life. How much more desir
able 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
propensities and the means of gratifying
them, are suited to their natures, adapted to
their powers, and conducive to the preserva
tion ofthe species. They neither regret the
past, nor tremble under apprehensions of the
future. 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
possesses, the more are the sources of his
anxieties multiplied and enlarged. And after
having been long wearied with a train of
mortifications, 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
involved. They commit all their concerns to
him, and he manages for them. Their fears
are removed, their irregular desires correct
ed, and all that is really good for them, is
secured to them by his love, promise, and
care. Afflictions still await them, but they
are sanctified. To them the nature of afflic
tion is changed. They are appointments
graciously designed for their advantage.
Their crosses, no less than their comforts,
are tokens of God's favour ; (Heb. xii. 6, 7 ;)
they have them only because their present
situation requires discipline, and they could
not be so well without them. They are as
sured 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

SER. vn.]

THE MORNING LIGHT.

237

upon a state of eternal, uninterrupted, incon
ceivable joy, Isa. Ix. 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, and give us stable
peace in a changing world, hope and triumph
m 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 corae 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
fulness are properly divine. Therefore the
apostle, speakmg of the riches of his grace,
uses the epithet, " unsearchable," Ephes. iii.
8. His treasury of life and salvation is inex
haustible, like a boundless, shoreless, bot
tomless ocean ; like the sun, which having
cheered the si}£cessive generations of man
kind with his bearas, still shines with undi
minished lustre, is still the fountain oflight,
and has always a sufficiency to fill innumer
able millions of eyes in the same instant.
Does the language of my text cause joy to
spring up in your hearts 1 or is it nothing to
you 1 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 hira," Rev. i.
7. — Prepare to meet thy God, Amos iv. 12.

SERMON vn.

the morning light.

Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the
flory ofthe Lord is risen upon thee. For,
ehold, darkness shall cover the earth, and
gross darkness the people ; hut 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 bright
ness of thy nsin^.— Isaiah Ix. 1 — 3.
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 tbe
God of Israel, as he is represented to us by
his servants the prophets 1 And if the hea
then philosophers, in some detached passages,
have sentiments not altogether unworthy of
hira, history honestly tells us how they ob
tained 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 hiraself known by a revela
tion. If such a description as we have in the
fortieth chapter of Isaiah, frora the twelfth
verse to the end, had been known only of
late years, recovered, we will suppose, out
of the ruilis of Herculaneum, there is little
doubt but it would have engaged the atten
tion and adrairation of the learned World,
For the most adraired writings of antiquity,
upon a candid comparison, are unspeakably
inferior to it. The inimitable sublimity ofthe
prophets is natural, just, and unforced, and
flows from the grandeur of their subjects, be
cause they were influenced by him who alone
can speak worthily of himself.
A song so vast, a theme so high,
Calls for the voice that tuned the sky.
With them, the whole compass of the crea
tion is but as dust upon the balance, in re
spect of the great Creator. His purpose is
fate, his voice is power. He speaks and it is
done. Thus he called the universe into being ;
and thus, as the great Lord and proprietor of
all, he still maintains and governs it, direct
ing the frame of nature, and every particular
event and contingence, 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
prophecies we have already considered an
nounce this event, with a gradual increase
of clearness and precision, as the period of
accomplishment is 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 appear
ance. 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
flll 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 receive him, and to re
joice in his light. They shall arise as from
sleep, as from the grave, and his light re
flected upon them shall cause them to shine
likewise. Darkness shall still cover those
who reject him ; yea, their darkness will be
increased. But the glory of the Lord shall be
seen upon all who believe, and their num
bers, from age to age, shall be enlarged.
Nations shall come to him, and kings shall

238

THE MORNING UGHT.

[see.

be subservient to the spreadmg of his king
dom. Such is the scope of the passage before
us. I shall briefly consider a few of "the lead
ing particulars contained in it.
L 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 foUowing 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 sometime
darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord :
walk as children of the light," Eph. v. S.
" When I sit in darkness, the Lord shall be
a light unto me," Micah viL 8. " Light is
sown for the righteous, and joy for the up
right in heart," Psalm xcviL 11. I select but
one instance of each kind ; an attentive reader
of- the scriptures will raeet with many ex
pressions of a like import. But there is like
wise an intermediate state ; light advancing
from the early dawn to the perfect day. This
twilight, no less than day-light is from the
sun. Such was the state of the Old Testa
ment 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 dispen
sation were a people saved of the Lord, they
were trained up under tvpes and shadows,
were influenced by a spirit of coraparative
bondage and distance, like children under
age, and rather longed for than actually pos
sessed the gracious liberty which the children
of God enjoy under the gospel. But the sun
arose, and the shadows vanished, when the
Son of God incarnate dwelt and conversed
with men, honoured his temple with his per
sonal presence, and superseded all the Leviti
cal sacrifices, by the one offering of himself
upon the cross. " The law was given by
Moses, but grace and truth carae by Jesus
Christ." But more especially we date the
beginning of his visible kingdom from the
day of Pentecost, which followed his ascen
sion. Then he signally bestowed the gifts
which, as mediator, he had received for men,
and, by tbe power of his Holy Spirit, au
thorized 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
himselfj that none bom of woman had been

greater than John his forerunner — and yet
he added, " the least in the kmgdom of hea
ven," that is, in the New Testament or gos
pel-church, " is greater than he," MattL xL
11. The apostles were happy in the peculiar
privilege 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
privileffes 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,
whether retired in secret from the view of
men, or assembled together in his name ;
(ilatth. vi. 6, xviii 20, xxviii. 20;) and
though the great events upon which their
hopes are founded, 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 iri his
beams, and tbey who have the eyes of their
understanding opened, enjoy a bright and
marvellous day. They see, admire, adore,
rejoice, and love.
n. 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. 13,) according to the raeasure and growth
of their faith. Two points may be observed
under this head.
1. The fact that they do thus shine. Though
tbey were once darkness, they are now light,
Eph. 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 him walk
in the light, as he is in the light. They have
knowledge, a good understanding, Psalm cxi
10. Perhaps the greater part of real chris
tians have little acquaintance with the litera
ture and science of the world : their moral
capacities may be weak, and not improved 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 philoso
phers 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 con
sists in, and how it is to be obtained. They
have leamed to endure affliction, to forgive
injuries, and to overcome evil with good.
They have attained a just sense ofthe vanity
of the world and the importance of eternity.
They are instructed to be contented and use-

SER. VII.]

THE MORNING LIGHT.

239

ful in their stations, to discharge their duties
in relative life with propriety, 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 con
formed to the spirit and temper of their Sa
viour, and therefore are different and dis
tinguished from the world around them. And
they have, at least, the beguinings of true
peace and solid happiness, iu 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 con
fess that they are wise only by his wisdom,
strong by his power working in them, and
that without him they have not sufficiency
to think a good thought, 2 Cor. iii. 5. Ex
perience has taught thera 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 commu
nications from him. But this their experi
ence and actoowledgment is the express
and current doclrine of scripture. There is
a real, though mystical union between Christ
and his people. He is the vine, (John xv. 1,)
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 strengthening me," 2
Cor. xii. 9. And our Lord hiraself, who cora-
forted Paul with that proraise, " My grace
is sufficient for thee," apprised all his fol
lowers of their entire dependence upon hira,
by saying, " Without rae ye can do nothing,"
Jobn XV. 5. The language of the Old Tes
tament is to the same purport. " They look
ed unto him and were enlightened," Psalm
xxxiv. 5. " In the Lord Jehovah I have
righteousness and strength," Isaiah xiv. 24.
" 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 m 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 salvation ; but they who,
from a proud conceit of their own wisdom
and sufficiency, disdain his instruction, being
left to theraselves, 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 bp found where the gospel
is despised.It is evident, that the raorality whicb is so
highly admired by the christian world, and
set in opposition to the gospel of Christ, is
much leaner and raore scanty than the mora
lity of the Heathens. I speak of the idea
only ; for neither have the Heatliens of old,
nor ofthe present day, acted up to their own
rules. But I do not hesitate to affirra, that none
of our modern raoralists who have disowned
the gospel revelation, have given us a sys
tem of morality equal to that of Tully the
Pagan. Many of the Heathens acknow-.
lodged 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, tbat 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 raet with but
in countries where the Bible is known. The
heart must have obstinately and repeatedly
resisted light and conviction, before it can
ordinarily proceed to these dreadful lengths.
But while the blind stumble in the noon of
day, Messiah's people shall walk in confi
dence and peace, (Psalm Ixxxix. 1.5, 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
ofthe 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
instrument, the apostle Paul, as he himself
informs us, preached the faith, which he for
merly laboured to destroy, " from Jerusalem
round about to lUyricum," (Rom. xv. 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

240

THE SUN RISING

[ser. viu.

though what was called the conversion of
heathen 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
spirit and blessings of Christianity as it found
them ; yet I cannot doubt, that wherever 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 tirae when the gross darkness,
which as yet covers a great part of the world,
shall be dispelled ; and the Redeeraer's king
dora, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, as a
stone cut out without hands, shall become a
great raountain, 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 frora
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 hira the face of nature pre
sents only a universal blank. But the light
of the gospel not only discovers the most im
portant objects to those who can see, but has
a marvellous efficacy 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 husband
man, 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 ten
der blade, and to ripen the corn. Equally
unsuccessful would the preaching of the
gospel prove to sinful raen, though in itself
it be erainently the truth and wisdora of God,
exactly suited to their state, and of the
highest iraportance to their welfare, if he had
not proraised that his word, where siraply
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. Iv. 10, 11. This promise,
together with the experience of its truth in
our own case, and our knowledge of its uni
form effects in every age and country where
the doctrine of the cross has been preached,
encourages rainisters to persevere in publish
ing the glad tidings, in defiance of all the
opposition and disappointments we meet with.
We laraent, but cannot wonder, that the
gospel is so generally neglected. As a dis
pensation of grace, it offends the pride of man,
as a dispensation of holiness, it contradicts
his desires and passions. His spirit is de
graded, his heart is pre-engaged, he loves
the present world, and has no raore taste or
inclination for a life of coraraunion with God
here, and such a heaven as the scriptures
propose 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 apply it
to the conscience, it is quick, powerful, pene
trating, and irresistible as lightning ; it con
veys 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 th6y 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 ev«nt must be left
with him in whose name we speak. We
must not suppress nor disguise what we are
commanded 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 tri
bunal, for the souls that have miscarried
under their ministry ; we dare not. Let
those be ashamed 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 ofthe Lord !" Ezek. xxxvii. 4.
The word of his salvation is sent to you.
The Lord is risen indeed ! Arise, shine, for
your light is corae ! In his narae we pro
claira pardon and peace to all who will seek
him. But seek hira to-day, while it is called
to-day ; to-raorrow is not yours. Seek 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 eising 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

SER. VIU.]
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
partakers of the inheritance of the saints in
light, (Col. i. 12, 13,) but they have been de
livered from the powers of darkness. Thus,
while they have coraraunion with God as a
father, they conteraplate their privilege with
a greater pleasure, than they probably could
do if they had never known a difference.
They reraeraber a time when they were afar
off, without hope, and without God in the
world ; and they reraeraber how carelessly
they then trifled upon the brink of destruc
tion. In this deplorable and dangerous situa
tion they were found of the Lord, when they
sought hira not, Isa. lxv. 1. He convinced,
humbled, and pardoned thera, and brought
them near to hiraself, into a state of adoption
and coraraunion by the blood of Jesus. The
adrairation, gratitude, and love, which they
feel for this undeserved grace, gives them a
more lively sense of the blessings they enjoy.
Yea, the thought of what they have been re
deemed from (of which they will then have
a much clearer perception 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 thera. 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
evangelist refers it expressly to hira, and
points out the time and manner of its literal
accomplishment, Matth. iv. 15, 16. I shall
first consider the literal sense and corapletion
of the prophecy, and then show how fitly it
applies 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
Vol. IL 2 H

UPON A DARK WORLD.

241

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 terra, is most happily
chosen, raay be sometimes decided by the
context. The two words, in the first verse
of this chapter, rendered lightly nfflicLed and
grievously afflicted, signify likewise, tho 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 esteeraed," 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 raore plain,
connected, and consistent to the following
purport, agreeable to the translation given by
Vitringa, and the present Bishop of London.
" Nevertheless there shall not be diraness [or
darkness] as in the tirae of her vexation or
distress. He formerly debased [made light
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 ofthe 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
ehar, Zebulon, and Naphtali, was chiefly
included in the province, which, upon a sub
sequent 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 affiicted, when the sins
of Israel brought the armies of their enemies
upon them, as frontier countries usually suf
fer most in times of invasion and war. Par
ticularly this part of the land, called Galilee
of the Gentiles, was the first, and most im
mediately exposed to the ravages of Tiglath-
Pileser and Sennacherib. And as the peo
ple there were likewise more mixed with
foreigners, and at the greatest distance from
the capital, Jerusalem, on these accounts
Galilee was lightly esteeraed by the Jews
theraselves. 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 content to be governed by popular
rumour, without inquiring attentively for
themselves) to have been born in Galilee.
He asked with an appearance of surprise,
" Can any good thing come out of Nazareth ¦!"
John i. 46. They were accounted a rude, ua-

242

THE SUN RISING

[sER. VIII.

polished, provincial people. And therefore,
when Peter would have denied any acquaint
ance 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
prophet Micah, that he was to be born in
Bethlehem of Judah, Micah v. 2. He was,
however, brought up at Nazareth, and lived
for a tirae in Capernaura, 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
transraitted to posterity.
3. But by his residence there, Galilee was
honoured and ennobled. He hiraself declared,
that on this account, Chorazin, Bethsaida, and
Capernaum (though probably none of them
were more than inconsiderable fishing-towns)
were exalted even to heaven, Matth. xi. 2l
— 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
attended to, that the glorious gospel of the
blessed God, when faithfully preached, and
thankfully received and improved, renders an
obscure village more honourable, and of more
real consequence, than the metropolis of a
great empire, where this light shineth not.
For what are the dark places of the earth,
however celebrated for nurabers and opu
lence, for the monuments of ambition and
arts, but habitations 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
darkness 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 ofGod. 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 theiri. They, as well as
the people of Judea, were under the guidance
ofthe Scribes and Pharisees in their religious
concerns, who were, if I may use a modern
phrase, the clergy of that time ; and tliese, we

are assured by him who knew their hearts,.
were generally corrupted, blind leaders of
the blind. Yet they were held in ignorant
admiration, 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 satisfled with their ministra
tions. As the disciple cannot, ordinarily, be
expected 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 people among whom Messiah chiefly con
versed; so that his enemies styled him a
Galilean and a Nazarene, as a mark of re
proach and contempt. Many of his apostles,
perhaps the raost of them, were Galileans
likewise. He seeth not as raan 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 call
ings ; publicans and sinners, fishermen and
Galileans. This was, among other reasons,
forthe encouragement ofthe poor, the desti
tute, the despised, the miserable, and the
guilty, in succeeding ages, who should desire
to put their trust in his name and to implore
his mercy. To those who received hira he
was the light, the true light ; he relieved
thera from the ignorance, wickedness, and
distress in which he found them. They, on
their parts, bore testimony to him. They saw
and acknowledged 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 restrained
to the first and raore iraraediate 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 pre
served 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 iraport. He is still the light of the
world, (John viii. 12,) though no longer visi
ble and conversant with men. By the in
fluence and power of his Spirit, he is still
present wherever his gospel is known. This
his word of grace and truth he sends where
he pleases, and with a discriraination 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 cot
tages. His condescension and favour to those
who are unnoticed by the world, cannot be
too highly extolled. That the others are ex
cluded from the same beneflts is more pro
perly to be ascribed to their obstinacy than
to his will. They exclude themselves. He

SER. VIII.]

UPON A DARK WORLD.

243

stands at the door and knocks, Rev. iii. 20.
His word is within their reach ; his ministers
are within their call. They might easily en
joy every mean and help which the gospel
provides for suiners if they pleased, but they
do not please. They are either engaged in a
round of sensual pleasure, or engrossed by
studies and pursuits which possess their
hearts and flll up their thoughts and time, so
that they have neither leisure nor inclination
to attend to the things which pertain to their
peace. Instead of inviting his gospel to them,
they too frequently employ their power and
influence to discountenance, and, if possible,
to suppress it. They have their choice. The
great and the gay will not receive his mes
sage ; it is therefore sent to the poor and to
the wretched, and they will hear it. Yet as
he visited Jerusalern 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 dark
ness 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 conceals
from us, not only distant, but the nearest ob
jects. A man in the dark cannot perceive
either fi:iend or enemy ; he raay be in great
danger, yet think hiraself 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, raove, and
have our being, though we are surrounded
with his presence, and proofs of his wisdora
and goodness are before us wherever we turn
our eyes, yet we live without hira 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 un
satisfying 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 comparod to that of
a person shipwrecked upon some desert, in
hospitable coast, suffering great horrors and
anxiety, frora his exposedness to perish, by
hunger, by enemies, or wild beasts — who, if
he saw, at no very great distance, an island,
and was, by some means, informed and as
sured, 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 inac
cessible to him, would but aggravate his
raisery, and make his despair raore eraphati-
cally pungent. Miserable indeed must we
be, if we clearly perceived that only he,
whose creatures we are, can raake us happy ;
and that, as sinners, we have forfeited his
favour, and are utterly incapable of regaining
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 hiraself provided the raeans
of reconciliation. For though a hope of par
don is easily taken up by those who are igno
rant of the holiness of God, and the malignity
of sin, yet nothing but a declaration from
himself, that there is forgiveness with hira,
can give peace to a truly awakened con
science. But Jesus dispels this darkness, and
brings life and iraraortality to light by the
gospel. For,
1. The office and agency of the Holy Spirit,
so absolutely necessary to make us duly sen
sible, either of our danger, or of the possi
bility of escaping it, is entirely the effect of
his mediation. The soul of raan, originally
formed to be the teraple 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 whom evil cannot dwell, return to
his sanctuary, thus polluted and profaned!
an answer is afforded in that gracious pro
mise, " I will sprinkle clean water upon you,
and you shall be clean : frora all your filthi
ness, and frora all your idols, will I cleanse
you : and I will take away the stony heart,
and I will give you a 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 ofthe woman, his only Son,
to be the mediator of sinners. By his atone
ment, to be manifested in due tirae, but which
had a virtual influence from the beginning,
the Holy Spirit returned to dwell with men.
2. His obedience unto death, when re
vealed by the Holy Spirit to the enlightened
conscience, affords a clear and satisfactory
discovery of reconciliation with God: it
shows, that on his part, every hinderance to
the free exercise of mercy is thereby re
raoved, the honour of his law vindicated, and
the demands of his justice answered. On our
parts, by opening a door of hope, it removes
that enraity and obduracy of heart, which are
nourished by .consciousness of guilt, and a
secret foreboding of deserved punishraent.
But when the dignity of the Redeemer'^

244

CHARACTERS AND NAMES OF MESSIAH.

[sEK. rz.

person, the causes, nature, and design of his
Bufferings are understood, emotions of admi
ration, love, and gratitude, till then unknown,
are felt, and obstinate sinners are made a
willing people 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 raind, 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 our
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 mis
taken judgment they formed of themselves,
of their state and their conduct, are corrected
by their knowledge ofthe cross : from thence
they derive a solid hope, a humble spirit, just
views of their duty and obligations, and rao
tives and prospects which aniraate them in a
course of cheerful, persevering obedience 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 attend
ed the vain pursuit of happiness in earthly
things, possesses present peace, and rejoices
in the expectation of future glory. It is re
leased frora the slavery of hewing out broken
cisterns, and introduced to the fountain of
living waters. Or, to close with the beautiful
iraage in my text. The people who once
walked in darkness, and the region of the
shadow of death, are translated into the king
dom of life and salivation. Col. i. 13.
How greatly are they to be pitied who re
ject the light ofthe gospel ! It is true, they
cannot see it ; but it is equally true, they will
not. But may I not hope that this is a day
of divine power, in which some of you shall
be raade a willing people 1 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 spi
ritually blind. Could you be sensible of your
disorder, the reraedy is at hand. If now, at
last, you are willing to seek him, he will be
found of you. But if you deliberately prefer
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 born, unto us a son is
given ; and the government shall be upon
his shoulder : and his name shall be called.
Wonderful, Couiisellor, the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father, the Prince of
Peace.— Isaiah ix. 6.
Such was the triuraphant exultation ofthe
Old Testaraent 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 oou-
sidered the gracious declarations ofthe faith
ful unchangeable God as already accomplish
ed, 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 consuraraate in the fulness of
time. It was the knowledge of his engage
ment on the behalf of sinners that gave life
and significancy to all the institutions of the
ceremonial law, which otherwise, though of
divine appointraent, would have been a heavy
and burdensome yoke, Acts xv. 10. Isaiah,
therefore, prepares this joyful song for the
true servants of God, who lived in his time ;
and though it was a day of trial and rebuke,
they were provided with a sufficient com
pensation for all their sufferings, in being
warranted to say, " Unto us a child is born,
unto 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

SER. IX.]

CHARACTERS AND NAMES OP MESSIAH.

245

glory. Little reason have the wise to glory
in their supposed wisdora, (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
christians, 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 subjection
to his gracious governraent, 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
related, that having suddenly discovered the
solution of a difficult problem while he was
bathing, he was so transported with joy, that
he forgot his situation, sprang instantly frora
the bath, and ran through the city, crying,
" I have found it, I have found it !" He is
not usually charged with raadness 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 veheraence
approaching to ecstacy, on alraost 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 rausic to which this passage is
set, would, at the sarae time, hazard his repu
tation for good sense, with sorae judges, if
he owned himself affected by the plain mean
ing of the words. Incompetent j udges surely !
who are pleased to approve of warmth and
eraotion of spirit, provided the object be tri
vial, and only conderan it in concerns of
the greatest iraportance ! 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 accorapany
our meditations upori it with his power and
blessing !
Every clause in this passage might furnish
subject for a long discourse; but ray plan
will only permit me briefly to touch upon the
several particulars, which will lead to a re
capitulation or summary of what has been al
ready considered more largely concerning the
person, offices, and glory ofMessiah. We have,
L His incarnation. — " Unto us a child is
bom ;" 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 raystery of godliness, (1 Tira. iii.
16,) the pillar and ground of truth. I shall
not repeat what I have already offered on
this point in the fit\h serraon. It is the cen
tral truth of revelation, which, like the sun,
diffuses a light upon the whole system, no
part of which can be rightly understood with
out it. Thus the Lord of all humbled himself,
to appear 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 adrainistration in the kingdoms
of providence and grace. At present, there
fore, I shall only observe, that the exaltation
ofthe Redeeraer infers the dignity and secu
rity of the people who are united to him by
faith. They have, in one respect, an appro
priate honour, in which the angels cannot
share. Their best friend, related to them in
the same nature, is seated upon the throne
of glory. Since he is for thera, who can be
against thera '! What raay they not expect,
when he, who has so loved them as to redeem
them with his own blood, has all power com
mitted 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
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 inex
haustible, his power infinite. No one know
eth the Son but the Father. But they have
a true, though not an adequate knowledge of
him, who trust, love, and serve hira ; and in
their view he is Wonderful ! The apostle ex
presses the sentiraent 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 ray Lord."

246

CHARACTERS AND NAMES OF MESSIAH.

[ses. ix.

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,
were established with him, and in him, before
the foundation of the world. And he is our
Counsellor or Advocate with the Father,
who pleads our cause, and manages all our
affairs in perfect righteousness, and with in
fallible 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 belongs to our duty, and the ho
nour of our profession in the present life. In
all our difficulties, 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 raay deem them weak and ignorant
as babes (and he teaches them to think thus
of themselves,) they have a cheering and
practical knowledge of many important sub
jects, 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 Ln 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
christians, who are enlightened and taught
by, the Holy Spirit, may, and do differ in
their views and explanations of some reveal
ed truths, I conceive they raust be all agreed
in this point. It is not only necessary to be
known as the only solid foundation of a sin
ner's hope, but it immediately respects the
object of divine worship. For if the Redeem
er is not possessed of the incommunicable
perfections of Deity, the New Testament,
in its most obvious and literal signification,
would be chargeable, not only with counte
nancing, but with expressly teaching and en
joining 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 huraan nature. But they
are also his children. They are born into
his family by the efficacy of his own word
and Spirit. From him they derive their spi
ritual lffe, being united to him by faith, and
receiving from first to last out of his fullness.
And he is an everlasting Father. Our fa

thers according to the flesh are subject to
death. But his relation to them subsists un
changeably, 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 succession 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 ofthe Psalraist : " Thou,
Lord, in the beginning hast laid the founda
tion of the earth, and the heavens are the
work of thy hands. They shall perish, but
thou remainest ; 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," Psalm cii. 25—27; Heb. i. 10—12.
5. Lastly, he shall be called the Prince of
Peace, — whose sovereign prerogative it is to
speak peace to his people ; (Psalm Ixxxv. 8 ;)
and there is no peace, deserving the name,
but that which he bestows. The scripture
expressly declares, that there is no peace
to the wicked, Is. Ivii. 21. By whatever
name vve call that thoughtless security and
insensibility, in wbich mankind generally
live while ignorant of God and of themselves,
we cannot allow it to be peace. It is the
effect of blindness and hardness of heart ; it
will neither bear reflection nor examination.
Can they be said to possess peace, however
fatally regardless they raay be of futurity,
who are at present under the dominion of
restless, insatiable, and inconsistent passions
and appetites'! But the kingdora 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 conse
quences of their sins, and see the impossi
bility of helping themselves, they will 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 storra, they are distressed
with guilt, fears, and teraptations ; but when
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.
Being justified by faith, they have peace with
God through our Lord Jesus Christ. He
gives them peace likewise in a changing
troublesorae 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 raanage and overrule
every thing for their good. In proportion as
their faith realizes his promises, they feel a

SER. IX.]

CHARACTERS AND NAMES OF MESSIAH.

247

composure and satisfiiction. 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 raoved by any
events, or disturbed by apprehensions, be
cause their hearts are fixed, (Psalra cxii. 7,)
trusting in the Lord. Farther, he teaches
thera (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 thera for their attachment to
hira 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 resigning tbeir souls into his hands. This
is the time, when, if not before, the false
peace of the worldling, will give way to ter
ror and dismay. But " mark the perfect man,
and behold the upright, for the end of that
man is peace," Psalm xxxvii. 37. It must be
allowed, that many of his people, through the
power of temptation and reraaining unbelief,
have, at sorae seasons, uncorafortable fears
concerning a dying hour ; but when the time
of their dismission actually arrives, we sel
dom 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
vouchsafed. They who have frequently ac
cess to the beds of dying believers, can bear
testiraony, as eye-witnesses, to the faithful
ness of their Lord. How often have we seen
them triumphing in the prospect of imraor
tality ! as happy, in defiance of pain and sick
ness, 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 whora we adore ; our alraighty, 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 admiration, gratitude, and .desire.
From hence spring a cheerful, unreserved
obedience to his comraands, and a deliberate
voluntary submission to his holy will. For
his people do not serve him or yield to him
by constramt ; at least it is only the pleasing
constraint of love, which raakes their duty
their delight, and their burden and grief is
that they can serve hira 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

carae 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 xiv. 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 ne
cessary if you wish to live comfortably.
While you are unfit to die, you can have no
true enjoyment of life. It were easy to prove
at large that procrastination is highly dan
gerous. 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 presurae upon'! Are you sure that you
shall not be suddenly cut off by an unexpect
ed and unthought-of stroke, or visited by a
fever which may quickly bring you 'into a
state of delirium or stupefaction, and render
your projected repentance impracticable?
Yea, it will in any circumstances be imprac
ticable, unless God is pleased to influence
your raind by his good Spirit. If you grieve
this Spirit now, by resisting his operations,
what reason have you to expect that he will
then return ? Do we not see raany instances
of what the poet, with great propriety, calls,
" A slow sudden death V How many people,
while pining away under the power of some
incurable disease, amuse themselves with the
hope of recovery to the last gasp ; and though
their acquaintance read death in tbeir coun
tenance for weeks or months, in defiance of
such repeated and long-continued warnings,
they die as suddenly, 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
wills than in obedience, to his commands !
Can the world give you such peace and satis
faction as I have attempted to describe 1 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 unwiUing to comply ?
If we set aside, for a moment, the considera
tion of a future state and a final judgment,

248

THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE AND SONG.

[ser. X.

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 reraorse 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
StiU open before you, pray to hira who is able
to bless you indeed, by delivering you frora
the guilt and frora the power of your iniqui
ties ; lest, if being often reproved, (Prov.
xxix. 1,) and still hardening your hearts, you
should suddenly be destroyed, and that with
out remedy.

SERMON X.
the angel's MESSAGE AND SONG.
There were in the same country shepherds
abiding in the field, keeping watch over
their flock by night. And lo, the angel of
the Lord came upon them, and the glory
of tlie 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 he to all people.
For unto you is born this day, in the city
of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord, And this shall he a sign unto you ;
Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swad
dling-clothes, lying in a -manger. And
suddenly there was with the 'angel a mul
titude 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 ofthe great, the wealthy,
and the gay was chiefly consulted in the late
exhibitions in Westminster-Abbey. But not
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 inforraatio.n
of the birth ofMessiah, enjoyed, at free cost,
a much more sublime and delightful enter
tainment. How poor and trivial is tho most
studied magnificence and brilliancy of an
earthly court compared with that effulgence
of glory which surrounded the shepherds!
The performers of this Oratorio, if I may be
allowed the expression, were a multitude of
the heavenly host. And though I do not sup
pose that the angel delivered his message in

the cadence which we call recitative, I have
no doubt but the chorus was a song, sweetly
melodious 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
our hearts be suitably affected by the con
sideration of them to-day ! The melody and
harmony of heaven are far above our concep
tions. The music of that happy land has no
dependence upon the vibrations ofthe air, or
the admirable structure of the human ear.
But we have reason to believe there is, in
the world of light and love, something analo
gous to what we call music, though different
in kind, and vastly superior in effect to any
strains that can be produced by the most ex
quisite voices or instruraents upon earth ; as
we readily judge the glory of an angel to be
unspeakably more excellent, both in kind and
in degree, than any thing that is deemed
glorious among mortals.
To consider this passage at large would
require raany discourses. I shall confine
myself at present to a few brief reflections
on the circumstances of this heavenly vision,
the message ofthe 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
previously 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, which yet, by too many persons, are
considered and treated as nonentities, be
cause 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 confirraed by our senses, is no less
irrational and unphilosophical than impious.
A man born blind can have no more concep
tion of light and colours, than we bave of
what passes in the world of spirits. And a.
nation of blind raen, if there were such a na
tion, V 'juld probably treat a seeing person as
a visionary madman, if he spoke to them of
what he saw. But he would be sure of his
own perceptions, though he could not satisfy
the inquiries and cavils of the blind. Our
senses are accommodated to our present
state ; but there may be a raultitude of ob
jects, as real in theraselves, and as near to
us, as any that we behold with our eyes, of
which we, for want of suitable faculties, can
have no idea. To deny this, and to raake 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

SER. X.]

THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE AND SONG.

249

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 in
visible state and invisible agents. The bar
rier between the inhabitants 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 probable they could easily
surprise us, since, upon special occasions,
they have been permitted to discover thera
selves. We have a natural dread of such
visitants, even though they should appear to
us, as they did to the shepherds, as messen
gers 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 1 It deserves our serious
thought. We are now encompassed by the
objects of sense, but we must be soon sepa
rated from them all. We live in a crowd, but
we must die alone. Happy are they, who, like
Stephen, shall be able to coramend their de
parting spirits irito 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
preached by an angel to Zacharias, to the
virgin mother of Messiah, now to the shep
herds ; and, perhaps, to none but these. The
angel, who appeared to Cornelius, said no
thing to him of Jesus, but only directed him
to send for Peter, Acts x. 4, 5. The glorious
gospel ofthe blessed God, with respect to its
dignity, 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 exceUency,
they could not, from experience, speak of its
efficacy. In this respect sinful worms are
better qualified ito preach to others, concern
ing him by whorii they have themselves been
healed and saved. Their weakness, likewise,
is better suited to show 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 comrait the ministry of his word, not to
angels, but to raen. They whom he is pleased
to employ in this office, however weak and
unworthy in theraselves, derive an honour
and importance frora the message entrusted
to them, and are so far worthy of the same
attention, as if an angel frora heaven spoke.
They are sinful men, and have reason to think
hurably of theraselves: 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
Vol. IL.^iB« 2 I

hearers to despise it. What the world ac
counts in us the foolishness of preaching, is
raade to those who siraply receive it, the
wisdom and power of God. To others, even
angels would preach in vain. They who hear
not Moses and the prophets, who submit not
to the ordinary methods and means ofgrace
which God has appointed, would not be per
suaded, though one should rise from the dead.
3. The angel was sent with the most in
teresting news that could be made known to
mankind ; not to Ciesar, 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 araong men
are not regarded by hirn. 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 frora the wise and the
great, and revealed unto babes. The raagi,
or wise raen who lived in the east, where the
knowledge of astronoray obtained, but where
the scripture was not known, were guided to
Messiah by the appearance of a new star or
raeteor. The shepherds, who were acquaint
ed with the prophecies concerning Messiah,
were inforraed of their accoraplishment by an
angel. Thus the Lord was pleased to suit
the different raanner 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 ofMessiah, " 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 ofthe state in which they would find
hira, was such, as could only be reconcUed to
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 amerely human judgment,
that the Saviour of sinners, the proraised Mes
siah, the Lord of all, should be a babe wrap
ped inswaddling-clothes, and lying in a man-

250

TLIE ANGEL'S MESSAGE AND SONG.

[SER< X.

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
bad foretold, he was despised and rejected of
men. Though he carae to his own, as a Lord
or Master to his own house ; yet, coraing 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
greatness of Messiah's clairas, and the state
of hurailiation in whicb he appeared when
upon earth, was the great stumbling-block
then, and continues to he so at this day. Be
cause he stooped so low, and made himself
of no reputation, too many still refuse to ac
knowledge his divine character. But they
who are willing to be taught by the word and
Spirit of God, see a beauty and propriety in
his submitting to be born in a stable, and to
live as a poor man, destitute of house or pro
perty. 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 cheer
fulness. 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 humUiation,
as the glory of the only begotten of the Fa
ther. 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 raany, who are governed by
the spirit and maxims of this world, are far
frora adrairing his love, in assuming our na
ture under those circumstances, which, from
his infency to bis death, exposed him to the
contempt of his eneraies, 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
creation 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 ador
able perfections, to the view of inteUigent

creatures, is the last and highest end of all
his works. Nor would it be worthy of the
infinite eternal God, in comparison with
whose immensity, the aggregate of all creat
ed 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 his own glory, as the ultiraate, final
cause of his designs. And in proportion as
any finite intelligences are conformed to the
will of their Creator, and irapressed with a
sense of his pre-eminence, their highest end
and aira will be the sarae with his. If, there
fore, we corapare 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 comraandraents. The former
is incoraparably 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 raay so speak, tbe. essen
tial difference of the divine operations ; the
latter, so far as consistent with it, is the result
of a glorious and efficacious property of his con
suraraate excellence. In the rederaption of
fallen man, both are displayed to tbe highest
advantage. " Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace, good-will towards men."
The glory of his goodness : — this shines
bright in the capacities and happiness he has
comraunicated to angels ; but it shines with
greater brightness in the raercy afforded to
raankind ; 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 ofthe 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 con
fesses himself unworthy of the very air that
he breathes, he is encouraged and warranted
to claim a participation in all the blessings
ofgrace and glory: — and finally, in proposing
motives, which, when rightly understood, are
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 ofthe
gospel. "''•

SER. XI.]

MESSIAH'S ENTRANCE INTO JERUSALEM.

251

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 car
rying on his work of grace, when once be
gun, in such feeble inconsistent creatures as
men are, in defiance of all difficulties and
opposition arising from within or without.
These are subjects whicb the angels de
sire 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 governraent. 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, with
out an express assurance from the Lord him
self, whora he has offended, that there is
forgiveness 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
himself The knowledge of this mercy,
when revealed to the sinner's heart, sub
dues his enmity, constrains him to throw
down his arms, and to make an unreserved
submission and surrender of himself; forms
him to a temper of love and confidence, and
disposes hira to habitual and cheerful obe
dience. Now mercy and truth are raet
... together, righteousness and peace have kiss
ed each other, (Psal. Ixxxv. 10 ;) and God is
glorified hi the highest, for peace proclaimed
upori the earth.
The expression of "good wUl 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 frora the
condemnation they have deserved, but are
y if united to their Saviour ; considered as one
with hira, his children, the membejs of his
body, and made partakers of his life, Mid his
.glory. God is their portion, and hg^en is
their horae. The Lord's satisfaction' in this,
as the greatest of all his works, is expressed

by tbe 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 hira ! We
believe, admire, and adore. " The Lord thy
God in the midst of thee is raighty : He will
save, he wUl .rejoice over thee with joy, be
will rest in his love, he will rejoice over thee
with singing," Zeph. 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 indiffer
ent to the glory of God, and strangers to his
peace. And some of us are still blind to the
excellencies ofthe gospel, and deaf to its gra
cious invitations. But we raust not expect to
sing with the great company ofthe 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, unwor
thiness, 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 his 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 seeing hira ere long as he is, and
that then they shall praise hira as they ought.
For heaven itself, as described in the word
ofGod, could not be a state of happiness to us,
unless we are like-rainded with the apostle,
to account all things loss and dung for the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus
our Lord.

SERMON XL
Messiah's entrance into Jerusalem.
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion ; shout,
O daughter of Jerusalem: behold thy
King cometh unto thee : he is just, and
having salvation ; lowly, and riding upon
an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass.
— And he shall speak peace unto the Hea
then. — Zech. ix. 9, 10.
The narrowness and littleness of the raind
of fallen raan are sufficiently conspicuous in
the idea he forms of magnificenceand gran-
deur. The pageantry and parade of a Roman
triumph, or of an eastern monarch, as de
scribed in history, exhibit him to us in what
he himself accounts his best estate. If you
suppose him seated in an imperial carriage,
arrayed in splendid apparel, wearing a crown

252

MESSIAH'S ENTRANCE

[ser. XI.

or tiara ornamented with jewels, preceded
and followed by a long train of guards and
attendants, surrounded by the unmeaning
acclamations of ignorant raultitudes, you see
the poor worra at the surarait of his happiness.
He has no conception of any thing greater
than this. And the spectators are generally
of the sarae 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-corapla-
cence, he could consider that he had the
very same regard 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 accora
plishment of which we read in the evangel
ists ! And how differently was he affected by
the objects around him ! He poured contempt
upon the phantom of huraan glory. This
King of kings and Lord of lords was raeek
and lowly, riding upon an ass's colt, Luke
xix. 35 — 33. And though a secret divine
influence constrained the raultitude 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. Lad the history of Jesus, like
those which we have of Socrates or Cyrus,
been merely the work of a human writer,
ambitious to ad«rn a favourite character with
the most splendid qualities of a philosopher
or a hero, we should never have known how
his raind was engaged in this situation. The
Saviour raust be divine, his historian raust be
inspired, the fact raust be true ; for raan
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 fUled with corapassion
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 I But now they are hidden frora
thine eyes."
An angel proclairaed his birth to the shep
herds ; and wise raen frora the east paid such
attention to the new-born Saviour, that the
jealousy of Herod was excited, and atterapts
made to destroy hira. But this wonderful ui-

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 ad
mitted 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
acknowledgment of his person and character,
was when he fulfilled this prophecy. And
still he was the same meek and lowly Sa
viour. 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 weep
ing for his enemies.
The passage of the Messiah which follows
the chorus ofthe heavenly host, is taken from
these verses. It does not include the whole
of them. In one clause there is a small al
teration in the expression, but it does not af
fect the sense. Instead of, " He is just,
having salvation," it is, " He is a righteous
Saviour." 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 the heathen."
I. The address, — "O daughter of Zion
and Jerusalera." 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 teraple-worship,
may denote the principal persons of the
ecclesiastical and civil state; and Jerusalem
¦may be expressive of the people at Iftrge, the
daughters of a place signifying, according to
the Hebrew idiom, the inhabitants. They
boasted that they were the Lord's peculiar
people ; they had the prophecies and promises
concerning Messiah in their hands, and were
professedly expecting and waiting for his ap
pearance. They are, therefore, called upon to
rejoice' in it. But when he actually came,
though he came to his own, to his own na
tion, city, and temple ; his own people, to
whose affection and allegiance he had the
justest claim, received him not, John i. 11.

SER. XI.]

INTO JERUSALEM.

S53

There were a few, however, who truly wait
ed for him as the hope and consolation of
Israel, at the time of his birth ; and many
more were afterwards convinced by his gra
cious words and works, that he only had the
words of eternal life, and became his follow
ers. 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 thera, as a nation, in the pu
nishraent, which Moses had likewise de
nounced against those who should refuse to
hearken to him. Thus their peculiar advan
tage 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 in
excusable, and their condemnation more
severe. I am bound to take every opportu
nity of noticing the striking parallel, in this
respect, between the Jewish nation in our
Saviour's time, and the nations, who, since
that period, have admitted the New Testa
ment as a revelation from God. By assum
ing the Christian name, and so far calling
the Saviour Lord, while they reject the spirit
and design of the gospel, and treat the mi
nisters of it with neglect 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
thera. 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 personswho can bear to hear of his pas
sion and his kingdom, when made the subject
of a musical entertainraent, but upon no other
occasion, deserves their serious consideration.
II. The exhortation can only be coraplied
with by those who are sensible of their need
of a Saviour, and his authority and abUity 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 Mes
siah, are .delivered frora going down into the
pit, from the dominion of the powers of
darkness, and are translated into the kingdora
of God, experience a joy far superior, in kind
and degree, to any satisfaction that teraporal
things can afford. It is a joy unspeakable,
and fuU of glory, 1 Pet. i. 8. Jesus, when
known and received by faith, is, in the high
est sense, light to those who sit in darkness,
health to the sick, food to the hungry, and
rest to the weary soul. Thus many rejoiced
in his goodness when hi^ was upon earth ;
and he still has a people, and wUl have to the

end of time, who do and shaU rejoice in him
upon these accounts, though every spring of
temporal joy should be dried up. They who
know his narae, and put their trust in him,
are warranted to appropriate those strong ex
pressions of another prophet : " Although the
fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit
be in the vine, the labour of the olive shal]
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 re
joice 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 hira 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 reraembrance 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 carae to establish
upon earth is not of this world, nor like the
kingdoras of the world. The raaxims, 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 bythe subjects of his spirit
ual kmgdom, who, though they are ui the
world, are not of it, but strangers and pil
grims upon the earth. Their a-o?.iT.o;<«, 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 departraenls 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 ;
and frora whence they receive, in answer to
their prayers, raercy and peace, the pardon
of all their sins, grace to help in every tirae
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 ene
mies, they cannot be overpowered, for the
Lord.himself is their king and their Saviour.
We have,
IV. Two characters of this King, — " He is
just, having salvation," or, as it is in the pas-

254

MESSIAH'S ENTRANCE INTO JERUSALEM.

[sER. Xt.

eage ofthe Messiah, "He is a righteous Sa
viour." 1. He is righteous. — His kingdom is found
ed m 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 proraise. " If ye shall ask any
thing in ray narae, 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 corapletely 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, corapassion, and deter
mined purpose, are all engaged to save them
fully, freely, and for ever ; to save thera frora
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 evU, 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 coraraunion with God.
V. His great design was not confined to
Israel after the flesh; "he shall speak peace
to the Heathen" also. His kingdora com
prises, besides the believing posterity of Abra
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, a great raultitude
gathered frora araidst all nations, people, and
languages, frora the east and the west, frora
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 reconcUe 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. xiv.
14,) their condemnation reversed, and they
shall be renewed, and accepted in the Be
loved, as the true children of Abraham. He
shall likewise concUiate peace between Jew
and Gentile, raake 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, circuracision
nor uncircuracision, 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 frora darkness
to light, and from the worship of dumb idols
to serve the living and true God. And we

expect a time when this promise wUl be
more extensively and literally fulfilled ; when
the kingdom 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 nations 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
(according to the measure of their faith) into
the sarae image. The incomraunicable per
fections of God, such as his sovereignty, and
all-sufficiency, can only produce in his people
correspondent irapressions of reverence, sub
raission, and dependence ; an attempt to be
like him in these respects would be highly
impious, 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 wUl 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 par
takers 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 hira to love righteousness and hate iniquity,
Psalra xiv. 7. Their principles are right,
drawn from the revealed truths of God. They
coraport themselves as becomes weak and
unworthy sinners, and ascribe the glory of
their salvation to the Lord alone ; and there
fore the general tenor of their conduct is
governed by the righteous rules of his pre
cepts ; of which they have the most endear
ing and animating exemplification in the
conduct of their Saviour; from him they
learn to frame their tempers, desires, and
hopes, and thus give evidence that they are,
Ln deed and in truth, a saved people. His
love, in proportion as it is realized in their
hearts by faith, teaches thera likewise to love
one another, and to .exercise benevolence to
all men. When they understand the true
nature of his spiritual kingdom, which con-
sisteth not in external distinctions and forms,
but in righteousness, peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost ; (Rom. xiv. 17 ;) and that it is
his great design to form to himself a people
frora araongst the nations of the earth, who
shall be one body, enlivened by one and the
same spirit, they acquire a large and com
prehensive raind. They rise above the in
fluence of names, parties, and divisions ; are

SfiR. Xli.]

EFFECTS OF MESSIAH'S APPEARANCE.

255

freed from the narrow views and interests of
self; and put on, as the elect of God, bowels
of mercies, kindness, humUity, meekness,
long-suffering, forbearance, and forgiveness,
(Col. iii. 12,) in conformity to tbe pattern and
will of tbeir 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 ofthe sanctuary.
They that are Christ's have crucified the
flesh, have put off the old man, and are re
newed in the spirit of their minds. If he be
indeed your King, your consciences wUl 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 righ
teous and a gracious Saviour ; seek hira as
such, and he will speak peace to you also.
His sure promise is recorded for your encou
ragement, " Him that coraeth unto me I will
in no wise cast out," John vi. 37.

SERMON XIL
EFFECTS OF MESSIAH'S APPEARANCE.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened,
and the ears of the deaf shall he unstop
ped : 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 ima
gery by which the prophet, in this chapter,
represents the effects of Messiah's appear
ance ! 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 wUderness, the face of nature is
suddenly changed by his presence. Foun
tains 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 Lebanon, and the richest pas
tures, which were the excellency of Carmel,
present themselves to the eye, where, a little
before, all was uncomfortable and dreary.
How is it, that so few of those who value
themselves upon their taste, and who profess
to be admirers of pastoral poetry in particular,

are struck with the elegance and beauty of
this description 1 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 authors ; but
descriptive paintings in this style, so exqui
sitely combining grandeur with simplicity,
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 adraire this passage as a de
scription of a pleasing change in outward
nature, but consider it as a just and expres
sive representation of a raore 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 thera 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 showing 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 providerice assume a different appearance.
Before, they lived without him in the world ,
but now, they see 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, PhU. i. 11.
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 tbe 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 clairas
when he was upon earth; and to these he
himself appealed in proof of his being the
proraised Saviour whom the prophets had
foretold, and that no other was to be expect
ed, Matt. xi. 3-6.
But tbe 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 o,pen the eyes of the mind ; to make
the obstinate will attentive and obedient to

256

EFFECTS OF MESSIAH'S APPEARANCE.

[ser. xii.

the voice of God ; to invigorate our benumbed
and paralytic faculties, that we may be active
and cheerful in his service ; and to open our
lips, that our mouths may show forth his
praise. I have a good hope that I may war
rantably say, " This day is this scripture ful
filled in your ears," Luke iv. 21. Sorae 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 necessari
ly 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 frora 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
upon 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.
Ixviii. 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
proraise ofthe seed ofthe woman appointed
to bruise the serpent's head, that there were
any gracious communications afforded to fal
len man, from the first entrance of sin irito
the world. But now the Redeemer's great
work is fulfilled, his salvation is more openly
revealed and applied by the publication ofthe
gospel, with the Holy Ghost sent down from
Heaven, and sinners hear the voice of God
and live. Then all the changes prefigured
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
of 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 fo his
greatness and his goodness, and inspire them .
with reverence and love. Their conceptions
of other things, in which they are most near
ly interested, are agreeable to the truth. Sin
appears to thera hateful in itself, as well as
raisChievous in its consequences; and holi
ness, not only necessary by the ordination of
God, but desirable for its own sake, as essen
tially belonging to the true dig'nity and hap
piness of man. They know themselves ; they
see and feel that they are such creatures as
the Bible describes them to be, weak, de
praved, and vile. Of course, they see the
folly of attempting to recomraend themselves
to God, and can no longer place any depend
ence on what they once accounted their wis
dom, power, or righteousness ; and therefore
they see the absolute necessity of a Saviour.
They see, likewise, and approve the method
of salvation proposed 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 au
thority engage their confidence, his love cap
tivates and fixes their hearts. They see the
vanity of the present state, and the vast im
portance of eternity. In these respects they
have all of thera a good understanding, how
ever inferior in natural capacity or acquired
knowledge to the wise men ofthe world.
2. Their knowledge, so far as they have
attained, is not merely speculative, cold, and
indistinct, like the light of the raoon. The
Sun of righteousness has shined into their
hearts. The light they enjoy is vital, cheer
ing, and effective. 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 lan
guage of raercy or judgraent. But now their
deaf ears are unstopped. Tliey are now at
tentive, subraissive, and willing to receive
his in.structions, and to obey his commands.
With them, one " Thus saith the Lord," has
the force of a thousand arguraents. They
desire no farther proof of a doctrine, no other
warrant for their practice, no other reason for
any dispensation, than Thus the Lord has
said. This he requires, and, This is his ap
pointment. 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 sometiraes 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
are restored, and God has wrought in them not

SER. XII.]

EFFECTS OF MESSIAH'S APPEARANCE.

257

only to will but also to do according to his
good pleasure, Phil. ii. 13. It is not more
wonderful that a cripple should suddenly re
cover the use of his lirabs, 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 wUling
and able. How burdensome was that which
they once accounted their religion ! how lit
tle comfort did it yield them ! how little did
it assist thera against their passions or against
their fears ! But all things are becorae 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, encourageraents,and pros
pects inspire thera with a holy vigour to run,
with patience and perseverance, the race
that is set before thera.
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 sullen, but, out of
the abundance of their hearts, their mouths
speak the language of gratitude, praise, and
joy. For though raost people have the fa
culty of speech, and can use, or rather abuse
their tongues fluently ; though we are suffi
ciently expert from our chUdhood, 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 ofthe gospel, any farther
than our consciences bear us witness, that it
has produced a real moral change in our tem
pers, conduct, and pursuits. For there is a
knowledge which is falsely so called. It puffeth
up, but edifieth not. Our Lord's declaration
deserves our raost serious attention: "For
judgraent I am come into this world, that
they which see not may see, and that they
which see, might be made bluid," 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; |
Vol. IL 2K

and there raay be an ability to prove and de
fend thom, in a way of argumentation, whilo
the heart is utterly a stranger to their salu
tary influence. Such characters are too com
raon. None raake a greater parade and boast
of seeing than these persons. None are more
fatally blinded. They smile with disdain
when they speak of a self-righteousness
founded upon prayers, alms-deeds, and sacra
raents, but are not aware that they them
selves live in the very spirit ofthe Pharisees,
(Luke xviii. 2,) so clearly described 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 wlio are stricter in practice than thera
selves, as ignorant and legal, and discover al
raost 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
furnishing them with excuses for the sins
they are unwilling to forsake. It is not sur
prising that they who are displeased with
the yoke of our Lord's precepts should seem
friendly to the idea of salvation without the
works 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 chris
tians, because they had some serious thoughts,
and raade some profession ofthe truth, many
years ago. So likewise, in what the scrip
tures 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 contradict the testimony. The
invitation and comraand to wait, and watch,
and strive in the ways and means of the
Lord's appointment, they evade, as they
think, with impunity, by confessing the
I charge, and saying, I am a poor creature in
deed, I can do nothing of myself aright, and
therefore to what purpose should I attempt
to do any thing! A minister may preach
upon these points, in general terms, and ob
tain their good word. But if he speaks plai n-
ly and faithfully to conscience; if he bears
testiraony not only against dead works, but
against a dead faith,— against spiritual pride,
evil terapers, evU speaking, love ofthe 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 ; hear
ers of this stamp wUl think they do God ser
vice by censuring all he can say as low and
legal trash. How awful ! that people should
be blinded by the yery truths which they pro
fess to believe ! Yet I fear such cases are too
frequent. God grant a delusion of this kind

258

THE GREAT SHEPHERD.

[see. xiii.

may never be found amongst us ! For if the
salt itself should lose its savour, wherewith
shall it be salted? Matt. v. 13. May we
come simply to the light, with a desire of see
ing more of ourselves, and more of our Sa
viour, that we may be more humble and spi
ritual, more afraid of sin, more watchful and
successful in striving against it, and, in our
whole conversation, more conformable to our
glorious Head !
But to retum : — From what has been of
fered upon this subject we may observe,
1. Tbat true Christianity is friendly to so
ciety, and to the comraon interests of man
kind. It is the source of peace, tendemess,
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 thera 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, exaraple, 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 tbis 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 stUl in a, state of alienation
from God, or at least prevent the eraotions of
anger and resentment towards them. They
know not what they do. Their danger should
excite our pity and our friendly endeavours
to recover 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 con
vinced and won (1 Pet. iii. 1) by the force of
our example. 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 possible make a swifter
progress in the christian life than we have
done. Thus, though Saul of Tarsus approach
ed Damascus as an enemy and a persecutor,
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 ofGod, 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 wUl in nowise cast
out."

SERMON XIIL

THE GREAT SHEPHERD.

He shall feed his flock like a shepherd ; he
shall gather the lambs with his arm, and
carry them in his bosom, and shall gently
lead those that are with young. — Isa. xl. 11.
It is not easy for those whose habits of life
are insensibly formed by the customs of mo
dem tiraes, to conceive any adequate idea of
the pastoral life, as it obtained in the eastern
countries, before that siraplicity 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 ofthe 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 corapare 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 !" 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 tender
ness, necessary to the due discharge of the
shepherd's office, have been frequently ap
plied in describing tbe nature and ends of

SBR. xni.]
government : and it has been esteemed a high
encomium of a good king, to style him the
shepherd of his people. This character Mes
siah, the Saviour, condescends to bear ; and
happy are they, who, with a pleasing con
sciousness, can say, " We are his people and
the sheep of his pasture," Psal. c. 3.
The passage will lead rae 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
fitithful ministers have the honour to be un-
der-shepherds ; he appoints, and qualifies
them to feed his tlock. They are the mes
sengers 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 re
spect 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-Testament church had a
shepherd, and their shepherd was Jehovah,
Psal. XXUL 1. Unless, therefore, the Shepherd
and Bishop of our souls likewise be Jehovah,
we fall unspeakably short of the privilege of
ancient Israel, if their Shepherd was almigh
ty, 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, es
tablished upon better promises ; (Heb. viii.
6 ;) since Messiah himself is expressly de
clared to be the 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 with
us, who are entrusted to the care of a dele
gated and inferior keeper, if Jesus be not Je
hovah ? Besides, who but Jehovah can relieve
the necessities of multitudes in all places, in
the same raoraent, 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 raillions at once, and
possessed of those incommunicable attri-
brutes of Deity, omniscience and omnipre
sence. Such is our great Shepherd ; and be
is eminently the good Shepherd also, for he
laid down his life for the sheep, and has re
deemed them to God by his own blood.
II. A shepherd is a relative name ; it has
reference to a flock. This great and good
Shepherd has a flock, whora he loved from
everlasting, and whom, having loved, he will
love to the end, John xiii. 1.
Formosi pecoris custos, formosior ipse "!
He humbled himself for their sakes, submit-

THE GREAT SHEPHERD.

259

ted to partake of their nature and their sor
rows, 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 thom from the curse
of the law, from the guilt and dominion of
sin, from the power of Satan, and to bring
them to God. 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
iraraediate protection and govemment.
Considered as individuals, they are fitly
described by the name of sheep. A sheep is
a weak, 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, we may be of good courage. If we
can say with David, ""The Lord is myHiep-
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 sraall part ofthe flock are known to each
other. But they are all equally knoWn to
hira, 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 lit
tle while, they shall be all brought together,
a nuraber without nuraber, to rejoice and to
join in worship, before his throne of glory.
For they have an inheritance reserved fbr
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- Ill. 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

260

THE GREAT SHEPHERD.

[ser. xiH.

what he actually does, for his people, as their
Shepherd, in the twenty-third Psalra. And
the subject is more largely Ulustrated in the
thirty-fourth chapter of Ezekiel's prophecy.
His sheep, from age to age, have been wit
nesses to the truth of his promises. He has
a flock at present who rejoice in his care, and
greater multitudes, as yet unborn, shall suc
cessively arise in their appointed seasons, and
call him blessed, Psal. lxxii. 17. For he is
the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever.
He feeds them. — He leads thera 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 a.nd 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 confirra or to vindi
cate it The knowledge they receive by faith,
of his incarnation and sufferings unto death,
of the naraes 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 thera, is agreeable to
the analogy he has been pleased to establish
between the natural and the spiritual life.
As the strength ofthe body is raaintained and
renewed by eating and drinking; so they
who, in this sense, feed upon hira in their
hearts by faith with thanksgiving, even they
live (John vi. 5'7) by him ; for his flesh is
meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed.
He guides thera. — First, by his exaraple.
He has trodden the path of duty and trial be
fore thera ; and they perceive and follow his
footsteps. Again, by his word and Spirit he
teaches thera the way in which they should
go ; and both inclines and enables them to
walk in it. Is. xxx. 21. He guides them, like
wise, 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 wisdora, so as finally
to. accomplish his gracious designs in their
favour. 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 raidst
of wolves, who ara restrained frora breaking
in upon thera, not by any visible inclosure,
but raerely by the power of the shepherd's
eye, which keeps them in awe and at a dis
tance, it will give us sorae idea of the situa
tion of his people. He provides them food
in the midst of many and raighty enemies,
(Psal. xxiii. 5,) who envy them their privi
lege, but cannot prevent it. If he should
withdraw 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 moraent ; therefore
their eneraies plot and rage in vain. Their
visible foes are nuraerous; but if we could
look into the invisible world, and take a view
of the subtUty, malice, machinations and assi
duity of the powers of darkness, who are
incessantly watching for opportunities of an
noying them, we should have a most striking
conviction, that a flock so defenceless and
feeble in themselves, 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 circurastance in their con
cerns escapes his notice. When they are
ready to faint, borne down with heavy exer
cises of mind, wearied with temptations, dry
and disconsolate in their spirits, he seasona
bly revives them. Nor are they in heaviness
without a need-be for it. »A11 his dispensa
tions towards them are medicinal, designed
to correct, or to restrain, or to cure, the mala
dies 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 likewise, who heals their bodily sick
ness, and gives them help in all their tempo
ral troubles. He is represented to us as
counting their sighs, (Psal. Ivi. 8,) putting
their tears into his bottle, recording their sor
rows in his book of remembrance ; and even
as being himself touched with a feeling of
their infirraities, (Heb. iv. 15,) as the head
feels for the members of the body.
He restores thera. — The power and sub
tUty of their enemies are eraployed to force
or entice them from his rule, and too often
prevail for a season. The sheep turn aside
into forbidden 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 thera to de
viate, he has a tirae to convince them, that it
was an evil and a bitter thing to forsake the
Lord their Shepherd, (Jer. ii. 19,) and to
hurable them, and to bring them back. Thus
they become more sensible of their own
weakness, and of their obligations to his gra
cious care ; for he wUl not suffer their ene
raies to triumph over them. He will not
lose one of his true flock ; not one convinced
sinner, who has, in deed and in truth, sur
rendered and entrusted his all to hira. They
raust, 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 his own name's sake.
The flock are not all sheep. There are
araong them lambs. These are especially
mentioned, and for these he expresses a pe
culiar tenderness. He wUl gather them in

i^'er. xiii.]

THE GREAT SHEPHERD.

261

his arm, and carry them in his bosom.
Though they are weaklings, they shall not
be left behind. This is a beautiful and pa
thetic image. If a poor lamb is weary, and
unable to keep 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 corapassion of the
good Shepherd, who has said, " Suffer little
children to come unto me, and forbid them
not, for of such is the kmgdom 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 famUy,
lambs in his flock. They are, as yet, weak,
unsettled, and unexperienced. Alraost every
day brings them into a new and untried
situation. They often raeet with opposition
and discouragement, where they have pro
mised themselves help and countenance. Per
haps their nearest friends are displeased with
them. They are liable, likewise, while they
are inquiring the way to Zion, to be per
plexed by the various opinions and angry
contentions prevailing among the different
religious persons or parties to whora they
may address themselves. They are frequent
ly discouraged by the falls and miscarriages
of professors, some of whom, it is possible,
they raay have admired, and looked up to, as
patterns for their own iraitation. Add to
these things, what they suffer frora new and
unexpected discoveries of the evil and deceit
fulness of their hearts ; the raistakes they
commit, in judgment and practice, for want
of a raore solid and extensive knowledge of
the scriptures ; 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 circurastances, if
their faithful Shepherd 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
wUl gently lead. If we take the word ac
cording to our version, it may signify a state
of conviction or trouble. Many are the af
flictions of the righteous, (Psal. xxxiv. 19,)
by which they are often wearied and heavy
laden. But when their spirits are over
whelraed 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 aniong his flock to be hurried and

tempted beyond what they are able, or what
he will enable them to bear.
But the word sio-nifies, those that have
young, rather than those that are with young.
Two sorts of persons in the Lord's flock, who
come under this description, feel an especial
need of his compassion, tendemess, and pa
tience. 1. He only knows the feelings ofthe 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 coramitted to them,
and to bring their children up in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord.
2. Ministers, likewise, have painful exer
cises of mind. The apostle Paul speaks of
travailing in birth again, till Christ be form
ed 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 thera forward, to corafort them,
to warn them against the devices of their
hearts, and of their enemies ! And how
piercing our grief and disappointraent, if they
raiscarry ! How rauch is felt in syrapathy
for the trials of the flock ! What wisdom,
faithfulness, courage, meekness, and unction
from on high, are necessary to the due dis
charge of what we owe to the flocks of which
we have the oversight ! Who is sufficient
for these things ! And when we have done
our best, our all, what defects and deflle-
ments have we to mourn over ! But this is
our great consolation, that he who knows us,
and leads us, considers our frame, and re
raerabers that we are but dust.
In this delineation of the character and
conduct of the great Shepherd of the sheep,
(Heb. xiii. 20,) we have an affecting exem
plar and pattern, for the iraitation of those
who act in the honourable office of under-
shepherds, and are called, by their profession
and engageraent, to feed his sheep and lambs.
Whether there be any ministers in our as
sembly, 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 pray
ers. 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, Matt. ix. 38. For it is his work
alone. It is not necessary, that a minister
of the gospel should be in the first line of
those who are admired for their abilities or
literature ; rauch less that he should be dis
tinguished by such titles, honours, and emo
luments as this world can give. Bui it is
necessary, and of the last importance to his
character and usefulness here, and to his ac
ceptance in the great day of the Lord, that
he should have a shepherd's eye and a shep
herd's heart. He must serve the flock, not

262

REST FOR THE WEARY.

[ser. xiv.

for filthy lucre, or by constraint (that con
straint, which the apostle attributes to the
love of Christ, only excepted,) but wUlingly,
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 as
an example to the flock ; not preaching him
self, (2 Cor. iv. 5,) perverting his sacred office
to the purposes of arabition or vain glory, or
the acquisition of wealth ; but preaching
Christ Jesus the Lord, and eraploying all his
powers to turn sinners frora the error of their
ways. He who winneth souls is wise, Prov.
xi. 30. If it be wisdom to propose the no
blest 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 imraortal
soul to the favour and image of God, is, and
will at length be found, a greater and more
iraportant event, than the deliverance of a
whole kingdom frora 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. Ifit 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 hiraself 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 proraised to thera
that love hira (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 rayself, so that I raay
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. Ivi. 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, wiUbe found likewise
in the visible church of Christ : men of cor
rupt minds (1 Tim. vi. 5 ; Rom. xvi. 18,) des
titute of tbe truth, who serve not the Lord
Jesus, 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 toUs at the galley-oar, nor
he that is doomed to labour in a deep mine,
where the light of the sun never reaches bim,
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 ofthe flock, but the
possession of the fleece, (Ezek. xxxiii. 7, 8 ;)
who intrudes into the post of a watchman,
but gives no alarm ofthe 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 ac
complishments of a scholar or a courtier : but
nothing less than repentance, and faith in the
Redeemer, whose name and cause he has
dishonoured, can finally screen him from the
full eftect of that terrible denunciation —
" Wo to the idol-shepherd that forsaketh (or
neglecteth) 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 POR THE WEARY.
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matt. xi. 28.
Which shall we adraire most, the majesty,
or the grace, conspicuous in this invitation ?
How soon would the greatest earthly monarch
be impoverished, and his treasures utterly
exhausted, 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 mUlions of millions of distressed sinners
seek to him for relief, he has a sufficiency for
thera all. His mercy is infinite to pardon all

sen. XIV.]

REST FOR THE WEARY.

263

their sins ; his grace is infinite to answer and
exceed their utmost desires; his power is
infinite, to help them in all their difficulties.
A number without number have been thus
waiting 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 stUl flowing, and stUl full. Thus the sun,
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 tbe course of nature shall faU. But
the true Sun, the Sun of Righteousness, has
no variableness or shadow cf turning; (Mal.
iv. 2 ; James i. 17 ;) and they who depend
upon hira whUe 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,
however excellent and glorious, use this
language ? Can a creature discharge the
debts, soothe the distresses, and satisfy the
desires of every individual who looks to hira?
Who, but the Lord God (Psal. cxlvi. 8 ; Isa.
Ixi. 2,) can raise up all that are bowed down,
and corafort all that mourn !
Again, as is his majesty, so is his mercy. In
acts of grace amongst men there are always
some limitations. Ifa king proclaims a par
don to a rebellious nation, there are still ex
ceptions. Sorae ringleaders are excluded.
Either their criraes were too great to be for
given, or their obstinacy or influence are
supposed to be too great to render their
safety consistent with the safety of the state.
But the Saviour excludes none but those who
wilfully exclude themselves. As no case is
too hard for his power, so no person who ap
plies to him is shut out from his compassion.
Him that cometh to him, whatever his former
character or conduct may have been, he wiU
in no wise cast out, John vi. 37. This glo
rious 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. 18.
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 pro
phecies 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

characters, as the great Restorer, and the
great Shepherd. The evangelist proposes
hira to our raeditation here, in a gracious
and inviting attitude, as opening his high
commission, proclaiming his own sovereign
authority and power, and declaring his com
passionate purpose, and readiness to give re
freshraent and rest to the weary and heavy
laden. The two principal points in the text are,
the invitation and the promise.
I. The invitation is expressed in very ge
neral terms : " Corae unto me, all ye that la
bour and are heavy laden." There is no quali
fying or restraining clause, to discourage any
person who is willing to accept it. Whoever
hath an ear to hear, let him hear. " Let hiin
that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let
him take of the water of life freely," Rev.
xxii. 17. I cannot doubt but these words
authorise rae to address myself to every per
son in this asserably. I speak first to you who
are spending your money for that which
satisfieth not, (Isa. Iv. 2;) who are wearied in
seeking happiness where it is not to be found,
and in digging pits, and hewing out cisterns
for yourselves, which can hold no water,
(Jer. ii. 13,) and have hitherto been regard
less of the fountain of living waters, which
is always near you. While you are pursuing
the wealth or honours of this world, or wast
ing your time and strength in the indulgence
of sensual appe'tites, and look no higher, are
you indeed happy and satisfied ? Do you find
the paths in which you are led, or rather hur
ried and driven on, to be the paths of plea
santness and peace? Prov. iii. 7. With what
face can you charge the professors of re
ligion with hypocrisy, if you pretend to satis
faction in these ways ? We have trodden
them far enough ourselves, to be assured that
tliere are feelings in your heart which con
tradict 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 crea
tion? Are you not heavy laden, burdened
with guilt, and fears, and forebodings, harassed
with crosses, disappointments, and mortifica
tions ? Are you not often, at least soraetiraes,
like children in the dark, afraid of being
alone, unable to support the reflections that
are forced upon you in a solitary hour, when
you have nothing to amuse you? And while
you seera 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 yourselves from your
selves, and of calling off your attention from
those thoughts which, like vultures, are ready
to seize you, and prey upon you, the moraent
they find you unemployed ' And how often
do your poor expedients fail you, especially
in time of trouble, or on a sick-bed ? What

264

REST FOR THE WEARY.

[ser. xiv.

comfort does the world afford you then?
What relief do you then derive from the
companions of your vain and gay hours ? Most
probably, at such a season, they stand aloof
fijom you ; the house of raourning, or the
chamber of sickness, is no less unpleasing to
them than to yourself They do not choose the
pain of being reminded, by a sight of your
distress, how soon the case may be their own.
Or, if they visit you, you 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 thing 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
longer ? The preaching of the gospel is his
appointment, and has a g-reat effect, when
accompanied with the energy of his Holy
Spirit, to raake 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
against it. He is weary of the yoke and
burden of the law, when he can neither an
swer its comraands with cheerful and accept
able 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 reraain at the sarae height,)
his fears return. If in such a favoured rao
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 hira no more ; but his
triumph is short, the next return of tempta
tion revives all his difficulties, and he is again
brought into bondage. For nothing but the
knowledge of the Saviour, and the supplies
of his Spirit, can give stable peace to the
mind, or victory over sin. A repetition of
these disappointraents and changes fixes a
heavy burden and distress upon the mind.
But here is help provided exactly suitable to '
the case. Comply with this invitation, corae
to hira 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 iraport. When
he was upon earth, many who came to him,
and even followed hira for a season, received
no saving benefit from him. Some came to
hira frora motives of malice and ill-wUl, to
ensnare or insult him. Sorae followed him
for loaves and fishes ; and of others, who 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 carae to him for relief, were not disap
pointed. To corae 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 proraised 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
word, and where his people assemble in his
name ; for he has said. There will I be in the
midst of thera, Matt, xviii. 20. They there
fore who read his word, frequent his ordi
nances, and pray unto hira, with a desire that
they may know hira, and be remembered with
the favour which he beareth to his own peo
ple (Psal. cvi. 4,) answer the design of ray
text. They corae to him, and he assures
thera, that whoever they are, he will in no
wise cast them out. If they thus come to
him, they will of course corae out from the
world and be separate, 2 Cor. vi. 17. If they
apply to him for refuge, they will renounce
all other refuge and dependence, and trust
in hira 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 helpless
and comfortless) findeth raercy," Hosea xiv. 3.
II. The proraise 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 corafort, which revives the weary
spirit, and proves itself to be that very satis
faction which 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-
bodingsjind distressing accusations of a guilty
conscience ; frora 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
tites ; and frora the dominion of pride and
self, which make us unhappy in ourselves,
and hated and despised by others. A freedora
likewise frora the cares and anxieties whicb,
in such an uncertain world as this, disquiet

SER. XV.]

MESSIAH'S EASY YOKE.

265

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 guidance
of infinite wisdom and the protection of al
mighty power ; he is permitted to cast all his
cares upon the Lord, (1 Pet. v. 7,) and is
assured that the Lord careth 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 iUustration of this rest of a
believer ; (Jer. xvii. 5—^ ;) 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 frora
the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in
the desert, and shall not see when good
cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places
of the wilderness, in a salt land not inhabited.
But blessed is the raan that trusteth in the
Lord, and whose 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 theheat cometh ; but her
leaf shall be green, and shall not be careful
in the year of drought, neither shall cease
frora yielding fruit."
But besides rest, there- is refreshment.
There are pleasures and consolations in that
intercourse and coraraunion With God to
which we are invited by the gospel, which,
both in kind and degree, are unspeakably su
perior to all that the world can bestow, and
suchastheworldcannotdepriveusof; forthey
have no necessary dependence upon outward
situation or circumstances ; they are com
patible with poverty, sickness, and sufferings.
They are often 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 sub
niit to from his hand) abound in us, so our
consolation in Christ also aboundeth," 1 Cor.
i. 5. The all-sufficient God can increase
these coramunications of comfort from him
self to a degree beyond our ordinary concep
tions, so as not only to support his people
under the most exquisite pains, but even to
suspend and overpower 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 faithfulness to thera by such an in
terposition. One weU-attested instance our
own martyrology affords, that of Mr. Bain-
ham, who suffered in the reign of Queen Mary.
When he was in the fire, he addressed him
self to his persecutors to tbis effect: "You
call for miracles in tlie proof of our doctrine ;
Vol. il 2 L

now behold one ; I feel no more pain from
these flames than if I was laid upon a bed of
rosesi" But in ordinary cases, and in all
cases, they who taste how good the Lord is to
them that seek him, how he cheers thera with
the light of his countenance, and What sup
ports he affords them in the hour of need, can
without regret part with the poor perishing
pleasures of sin, and encounter all the diffi
culties 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 haa
made thera ample amends.
Come, therefore, unto hira, venture upon
his gracious word, 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 faU, 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 fin?il farewell
of all you ever saw with your eyes, and an
awful, unknown, untried, unchangeable eter
nity is opening upon your view ? Such a mo
ment most certainly awaits you ; and when it
arrives, 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. O ! be persuaded !
May the Lord himself persuade you to be
timely wise, to seek him now while 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, Ihave stretched out my hand and
no man regarded ; I also will laugh at your
calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh,"
Prov. L 24, 26.

SERMON XV.

MESSIAH S EASY YOKE.

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. For my yoke
is easy, and my burden is light. Matth.
xi. 29, 30.
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 cir
cumstances of distress which it is designed
to relieve. No Israelite would think of flee
ing to a city of refuge, tiU, by having unwit
tingly slain a man, he was exposed to the re
sentment of the next of kin, the legal aven
ger of blood ; but then, a sense of his danger
would induce hira readily to avaU hiraself of

260

MESSIAH'S EASY YOKE.

[ser. XV.

the appointed method of safety. The skUl 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,
wUl be little regarded, till we really feel our
selves 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 in
fatuation, which renders us (like a person in
a delirium) insensible of our true state. It
is a happy tirae when the Holy Spirit, by
his convincing power, removes that stupor,
which, while it prevents us from fully per
ceiving our misery, renders us likewise in
different 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 necessarily painful and dis
tressing. It is not pleasant 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 wUling 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 hira, and cannot be happy without
hira ; 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, tbat we could be more happy
upon 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 rae." — As if he had said, " Be
not afraid of rae. Only make the experiment,
and you shall find, that what you have ac
counted ray yoke, is true liberty ; and that in
ray service which you have avoided as bur-
densorae, there is no burden at all ; for ray
ways are ways of pleasantness, and all my
paths are peace." I have a good hope, that
raany of ray 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 comraandraents.
They who know him will love him ; and they

who love hira wUl desire to please him, not
by a course of service of their own devising,
but by accepting his revealed wUl as the
standard and rule, to every part of which they
endeavour 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 hitn ac
ceptably, unless we are taught by him. The
philosophers of old had their disciples, who
imbibed their sentiments, and were therefore
called after their names, as tbe 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 rainisters and instruments ; but un
less he is pleased to superadd his influence,
what we seem to learn from them only, wUI
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
unspeakable advantages of being his scholars.
1. In the first place, this great Teacher
can give the capacity requisite to the recep
tion of his sublime instructions. There is no
prospect of excelling in human arts and
sciences, without a previous natural ability,
suited to the subject. For instance, if a per
son has not an ear and taste for rausic, he
will make but small proficiency under the
best masters. It will be the same with respect
to the mathematics, or any branch of science.
A skilful master may iraprove and inform the
scholar if he be rightly disposed to learn, but
he cannot^communicate the disposition. But
Jesus can open and enliven tbe dullest mind ;
he teaches the blind to see, and the deaf to
hear. By nature we are untractable, and in
capable of relishing divine truth, however ad
vantageously proposed to us by raen like our
selves. But happy are his scholars I he ena
bles 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 sublirae and interesting lessons
he proposes to thera. In this respect, as in
every other, there is none who teacheth like
hira, Job xxxvi. 26.
2. He teacheth the most iraportant things.
The subjects of human science are compara-

feBU. XV.]

MESSIAH'S EASY YOKE.

267

tively trivial and insignificant. We may be
safely ignorant of thera all. And we may
acquire the knowledge of them all, without
being wiser or better, with respect to the
concernments of our true happiness. Expe
rience and observation abundantly confirm
the remark of Solomon, That he who in
creaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow. The
eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear
with hearing, Eccles. i. 8, 18. Unless the
heart be seasoned and sanctified by grace,
the sum-total of all other acquisitions is but
vanity and ve.\ation of spirit, Eccles. ii. 17.
Huraan learning will neither support the
mind under trouble, nor weaken its attach
ment to. worldly things, nor control its im
petuous passions, nor overcome the fear of
death. The confession of the learned Gro
tius, towards the close of a life spent in lite
rary pursuits, is much more generally known
than properly attended to. He had deservedly
a great name and reputation as a scholar;
but his own reflection upon the results of fais
labours expresses what he learnt, not from
his books and ordinary course of studies, but
from tbe Teacher I am comraending to you.
He lived to leave this testimony for the ad
monition of the learned, or to this effect:
Ah, vitum prorsus perdidi nihil agendo
laboriose! "Alas! Ihave wasted my whole
life in taking much paijj's to no purpose." But
Jesus makes his scholars wise unto etemal
life, and reveals that knowledge to babes, to
persons of weak and confined abilities, of
which th'e wisdom of the world can forra no idea.
3. Other teachers, as I have already hinted,
can only infoYm the head ; but his instruc
tions influence the heart. Moral phUoso
phers, as they are called, abound in fine words
and plausible speeches, concerning the beauty
of virtue, tbe fitness of things, temperance,
benevolence, and equity ; and their scholars
learn to talk after them. But their fine and
admired sentiments are raere erapty notions,
destitute of life and efficacy, and frequently
leave thern as rauch 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 raorality which the world ap
plauds, that sorae of their most adraired sen
timental writers and teachers have deserved
to be numbered among tbe most abandoned
and despicable of mankind. They have been
slaves to the basest and raost degrading appe
tites, and the tenor of their lives has been a
marked contradiction to their fine-spun theo
ries. But Jesus Christ effectually teaches
his disciples to forsake and abhor whatever is
contrary to rectitude or purity ; and inspires
thera with love, power, and a sound raind.
And if they do not talk of great things, they
are enabled to perforra them. Their lives
are exemplary and useful, their deaths com-
fcrtable, and their memory is precious.

4. The disciples of Jesus are, or may be,
always learning. His providence and wis
dom 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
connected, have a tendency and suitableness,
if rightly improved, to promote their instruc
tion. Heavenly lessons are taught and Ulus
trated by earthly objects ; nor are we capa
ble of understanding them at present, unless
the mode of instruction be thus accomrao
dated to our situation and weakness. The
scripture (John iii. 12,) points out to us a
wonderful and beautiful analogy between the
outward visible world of nature, and that
spiritual state which is called the kingdora
of God; the former is like a book written in
cypher, to which the scripture is the key,
which, when we obtain, we bave the other
opened to us. Thus, wherever they look,
sorae object presents itself, which is adapted,
either to lead their thoughts directly to Jesus,
or to explain or confirra sorae passage in his
word. So likewise, the incidents of human
life; the characters we know, the conversa
tion we hear, the vicissitudes which take
place in famUies, cities, and nations; in a
word, the occurrences which furnish the his
tory of every day, afford a perpetual com
mentary on what the scriptures teach con
cerning tbe heart of man and the state of the
world, as subject to vanity, and lying in wick
edness; and thereby the great truths which
it behoves us to understand and remember,
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 thera, 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 impati-ence,
austerity, 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 per
verse. Even Moses, though eminent for his
forbearance towards the obstinate people
committed to his care, and though he loved
thera, 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 refracto
riness of those whora he deigns to teach, to
prevent their fears is pleased to say, " Learn
of rae, for I am meek and lowly." With
wbat meekness did he converse among his
disciples, while he was with them upon
earth? He allowed them at all times a gra
cious freedom of access. He bore with their
mistakes, reproved and corrected them with

268

MESSIAH'S EASY YOKE.

[ser. XV.

the greatest mildness, and taught them as
they were able to bear, with a kind accom
modation to their prejudices; leading them
on step by step, and waiting for the proper
season of unfolding to them those more dif
ficult points, which, for a tirae, 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 corapassions stUl
abound. 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 sarae patience and sympathy towards his
disciples now, which so signally marked his
character during his state of humiliation.
The compliment of the orator to a Roraan
emperor, though excessive and absurd. when
addressed to a sinful worm, that they who
durst speak to hira 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 raeek and gra
cious Saviour. If we duly consider his great
ness alone, it seems almost presuraption in
such creatures as we are, to dare to take his
holy name upon our polluted lips ; but then,
if we have a proportionable sense of his un
bounded goodness and grace, every difficulty
is overruled, and we feel a liberty of drawing
near to hira, though with reverence, yet with
the confidence of children when they speak
to an affectionate parent.
A person may be raeek, though in an ele
vated situation of life ; but Jesus was like
wise lowly. There was nothing in his ex
ternal appearance to intiraidate the poor and
the miserable frora coraing to hira. He was
lowly or hurable. Custom, which fixes the
force and acceptation of words, will not
readily allow us to speak of huraility as ap
plicable to the great God. Yet it is said. He
hurableth hiraself to behold the things that
are in heaven and in earth, Psal. cxiii. 6.
Huraility, in strictness of speech, is an at
tribute of raagnanimity ; an indifference to
the little distinctions by which weak and
vulgar minds are affected. In the view of
the high and holy One who inhabitetb eter
nity (Is. Ivii. 15,) all distinctions that can
obtain among creatures vanish ; and he hum
bles himself no less to notice the worship of
an angel, than the fall of a sparrow to the
ground. But we more usually express this
idea by the terra condescension. Such was
the mind that was in Christ, Phil. ii. 5. It
belonged to his dignity, as Lord of all, to
look with an equal eye upon all his crea
tures. None could recommend theraselves
to him by their rank, wealth, or abUities, the
gifts of his own bounty; none were excluded
from his regard, by the want of those things
which are in estimation among men. And

to stam the pride- of human glory, he was
pleased to assume an humble state. Though
he was rich, he made hiraself 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 (PhU. ii. 7,) a poor
and obscure man, to abase our pride, to cure us
of selfishness, and to reconcile 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 en
tirely pass it over here. He gives rest to our
souls, — by restoring us te our proper state
of dependence upon God ; as a state of recon
ciliation and peace, and deliverance from
guilt and fear; a state of subjection; for till
our wills are duly subjected to the will of
God, we can have no rest — by showing us
the vanity of the world, and thereby putting
an end to our wearisome desires and pursuits
after things uncertain, frequently unattain
able, always unsatisfying — by a communica
tion of sublimer pleasures and hopes than the
present state of things can possibly afford —
and lastly, by furnishing us with those aids,
motives, and encouragements, which raake
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 attach
ments 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 inquire, what 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 exami
nation to determine, whether 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 appointraent It is a rest
for the soul, it is a spiritual blessing, and
therefore does not necessarUy depend upon
external circurastances. Without this rest,
you raust be restless and corafortless in a
palace. If you have it, you raay be, at least
coraparatively, happy in a dungeon. To-day,
if not before to-day, while it is called to-day,
hear his voice ; and whUe he says to you by
his word, " Corae unto me, and learn of rae,"
let your hearts aliswer, " Behold, we come
unto thee, for thou art ' the Lord our God,"
Jer. iii. 22.

SER. XVI.]

THE LAMB OF GOD, &o.

26^

SERMON XVL

THE LAMB OF GOD, THE GREAT ATONEMENT.
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away
the sin ofthe world ! — Jobn i. 29.
' Great and raarvellous are the works of
the Lord God Almighty! We live in the
raidst of them, and the little impression they
raake upon us sufficiently proves our depra
vity. He is great in the very smallest ; and
there is not a plant, flower, or insect, but
bears the signature of infinite wisdom and
power.. How sensibly then should we be
affected by the consideration of the whole,
if sin had not blinded our understandings, and
hardened our hearts ! In the beginning, when
all was dark, unformed, and waste, his pow
erful word produced light, lffe, beauty, and
order. He commanded the sun to shine, and
the planets to roll. The immensity of crea
tion is far beyond the reach of our concep
tions. The innuraerable stars, the worlds,
which, however large in theraselves, are,
from their remoteness, but barely visible, to
us are of little more immediate and known
use, than to enlarge our idea of the great
ness of their Author. SmaU, indeed, is the
knowledge we have of our own system; but
we know enough to render our indifference in
excusable. 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 the
several parts and their general subserviency
to the accommodation of man, the principal
inhabitant, together with the preservation of
individuals, and the continuance of every
species of aniraals, are subjects not above the
reach of common capacities, and which afford'
almost endless and infinite scope for reflec
tion and admiration. But the bulk of raan
kind regard them not. The vicissitudes of
day and night, and of the revolving seasons,
are to them matters of course, as if they fol
lowed each other without either cause or de
sign. And though the philosophers, who pro
fessedly attach theraselves to the study of
the worksof nature, are overwhelmed by the
traces of a wisdom and arrangement which
they are unable to comprehend ; 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 raove, and have their
being in hun, 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 rainds a conviction of his
power over them and excite an occasional

raomentary application to hira; but iVhen
they thmk the danger over, they relapse in-to
their forraer stupidity.
What can engage the attention, or softeri
the obduracy of such creatures ? Behold one
wonder raore, greater than all tbe former J
the last, the highest effect of divine good-'
ness ! God has so loved rebellious, ungrafefoj
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 pre
sence 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 bur
den ; and to bless the weary with rest. But
this change 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 frora nothing ;
but far greater, to redeem sinners from mise
ry. The salvation, of which he is the Author,
thougb free to us, must cost hira dear. Be
fore the mercy of God can be actually dis
pensed to such offenders, the rightsof bis jus
tice, the demands of his law, and the honour
of his government must be provided for. The
early institution and long continued use of
sacrifices, had clearly pointed out the neces
sity of an atonement ; but the real and pro
per atonement could only be made by Mes
siah. The blood of slaughtered aniraals could
not take away sin, nor display tbe righteous
ness 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 corae," Psal. xl. 7. And
it was in this view, when John saw hira, that
he pointed hira out to his disciples, saying,
" Behold the Larab ofGod !"
Three points offer to our consideration :
I. The title here given to Messiah, — The
Larab of God.
II. The efficacy of his sacrifice, — He taketh
away sin.
III. The extent of it, — The sin of the
world. 1. He is the Larab 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 raany, they
were all insufficient (Heb. x. 10) to cleanse
the consciences ofthe offerers fi-om 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
bis name.
This title, therefore, the Lamb of God, re
fers to his voluntary substitution for sinners,
that by his suS"erings and death they who
deserved to die might obtain etemal life

270

THE LAMB

through him, and for his sake. Mankind were
universally chargeable with transgression of
the law of God, and were in a state of aliena
tion from him. A penalty in case of diso
bedience, 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 own, 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 confidently, and affirm, that it was not
consistent with his truth and holiness, and
the honour of his moral government, to do it ;
because this is his own declaration. We may
now be assured, tbat the forgiveness of one
sinner, and, indeed, of one sin, by an act of
mere mercy, and without any interposing
consideration, waie incompatible with the in-
flexibUity ofthe law, and the truth and justice
ofthe Lawgiver. But mercy designed tbe for
giveness of innuraerable sinners, each of them
chargeable with innumerable sins ; and the
declaration, that God is thus raerciful, was to
be recorded, and publicly known through a
long succession of ages, and to extend to sins
not yet coraraitted. An act of grace so gene
ral 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 show that the exercise of his
mercy was in full harraony, with the honour
of all his perfections. How God could be
just, and yet justify those (Rora. 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 aflbrded, the adequate, the only possible
expedient. He revealed to our first parents
his purpose, which in the fulness of time he
accoraplished, 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 beinousness of sin,
and the severe displeasure of God against it,
in a much stronger light than the execution
ofthe 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 hira
from suffering ; and that, though he was the
beloved of God, he was not spared. This is
what I understand by atonement and satisfac
tion for sin.
II. The efficacy of this atonement is com
plete, i'he Lamb of God, thus slain, taketh |

OF GOD, C^^- **^-
away sin, both with respect to its guilt and its
defilement. The Israelites, by lookmg to the
brazen serpent, (Numb. xxi. 9,) were saved
from death, and healed of their wounds. The
Lamb of God is an object, proposed, not to
our bodily sight, but to the eye of the mind,
which indeed in faUen man is naturally blmd ;
but the gospel-message, enlivened by the
powerful agency of the Holy Spirit, is ap
pointed to open it. He who thus seeth the
Son, and believeth on him, (John vi. 40.) is
delivered frora guUt and condemnation, is
justified from all sin. He is warranted to plead
the sufferings of the Lamb of God in bar of
his own ; the whole ofthe Saviour's obedience
unto death, as the ground and title of his ac
ceptance unto life. Guilt or obnoxiousness
to punishraent 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, wbo is the fountain of goodness, en
lightens all his intelligent creatures accord
ing to their capacity, unless they are by sin
blinded, and rendered incapable of communion
with hira. 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 warra 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 ofthe world.
Many of my hearers need not to be told, what
fierce and voluminous disputes have been
maintained concerning the extent of the
death of Christ. I am afraid the advantages
of such controversies have not been answer
able to the zeal of the disputants. For myself^
I wish to be known by no narae but that of a
christian, and iraplicitly 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, aU controversial points.
But as the subject now lies directly before
me, I shall erabrace the occasion, and simply
and honestly open to you the sentiments of
ray 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

6er. x^I.]

THE GREAT ATONEMENT.

271

be contradicted by fact. For it is certain that
all men wUl not be saved. Matt. 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 styled his sheep,
(John X. 11, 16,) for whom he laid down his
life ; his elect, (Mark xiii. 27,) his own ; (John
xiii. 1 ;) those to whom it is given to believe
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 chUdren of
wrath, even as others, (Eph. ii. 3,) and no
more disposed in themselves to receive the
truth than those who obstuiately and finally
reject it. Whenever they become willing,
they are made so in a day of divine power,
(Psal. ex. 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 conforraed to the image of
his Son, Rom. viii. 29. And though sorae
serious persons perplex themselves with need
less and pauiful reasonings, with respect to
the sovereignty of God in his conduct towards
mankind, Ibey all, if truly spiritual and en
lightened, stand upon this very ground, in
their own experience. 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 acktiowledge as readily as
we, that they were first found of him when
they sought bun not ; and that otherwise they
neither should nor could have sought hira at
all; nor can they give any better reason than
this vvhy 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 ofthe expression is sufficiently explain
ed, by saying, That the world, and the whole
world i» spoken of, to teach us that the sacri
fice of the Lamb of God was not confined,
like to Levitical offerings, to the nation of
Israel only ; but that it is available for the
sins of a determined number of persons, call
ed the Elect, who are scattered among raany '
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 raanner 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 thera that are lost, 1 Tira. i. 1.5 ; Luke
xix. 10. Upon this ground I conceive that
ministers have a warrant to preach the gospel
to every huraan creature, and to address the
conscience of every man in the sightof God;
and that every person who hears this gospel
has thereby a warrant, an encouragement,
yea, a command, to apply to Jesus Christ for
salvation. And that they who refuse, thereby
exclude themselves, and perish, not because
they never had, nor possibly could have any
interest in his atonement, but siraply because
they wUl not corae unto bim that they may
have life. I know something of the cavUs
and curious reasonings which obtain upon
this subject, and I know I may be pressed
with difficulties, whichi cannot resolve to the
full satisfaction of inquiring and speculative
spirits. I am not disheartened by meeting
with sorae 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. Iv. 8, 9. But I be
lieve, that vain reasonings, self-wUl, an at
tachraent to names and parties, and a dispo
sition to draw our sentiments from human
systems, rather than to form them by a close
and hurable study of the Bible, with prayer
for divine teaching, are the chief sources of
our perplexities 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 ex
piate the aggregate number of all the sins of
all the elect; that so much he suffered pre
cisely, and no more ; and that when this re
quisition was completely answered, he said.
It is finished, bowed Ifis 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 con
templation of the divine conduct in the na
tural world. When God waters the earth,
he waters it abundantly, Psal. lxv. 10. He
does not restrain the rain to cultivated or im
provable spots, but with a profusion of bounty
worthy of himself, his clouds pour down water
with equal abundance upon the barren raoun
tain, the lonely deser.t, and the pathless ocean.
Why raay we not say with the scriptures, that
Christ died to declare the righteousness of
God, (Rora. iu. 25, 26,) to raanifest that he
is just in justifying the ungodly who believe
in Jesus? And for any thing we know to

272 I'HE LAMB OF GOD, &c.
the contrary, the very sarae display of the
evil and demerit of sin, by tbe Redeemer's
agonies and death, raight have been equally
necessary, though the number of the elect
were much smaller than it wUl appear to be
when they shaft 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, tbe saine glo
rious sun, which is now sufficient to enlighten
and comfort the raillions 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 discove
ry of his justice and of his mercy, this could
have been done by no other method than that
which he has chosen for the salvation of the
innuraerable multitudes who wUl in the great
day unite in the song of praise to the Lamb
vvho loved them, and washed them frora their
sins in his own blood. As tbe 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, andthe 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 hira ; (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 hira,
that they may be saved, Isa. xiv. 22.
Under the gospel-dispensation, and by it,
God commands all men, every where, to re
pent. Acts xvii. 30. All men, therefore,
every where, are encouraged to hope for for
giveness, according to the constitution pre
scribed by the gospel ; otherwise repentance
would be both impracticable and unavaUing.
And therefore the command to repent, im
plies 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 natural
power, is to raock them. There is prescribed
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 ofGod 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 hiraself thought he had power to
sell thera 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, isa wantof power in the
strongest sense. Let none presume to offer

[ser. xvi.

such excuses to their Maker as they would
not accept in tbeir own concerns. It you say
of a man, he is such a liar that he cannot
speak aword of truth; so profane that he
cannot speak without an oath ; so dishonest
that be cannot orait 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 1
Surely you thirik, the more he is disinclined
to do good, and habituated to evU, 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
character indeed ! Judge not more favourably
of yourself ffy ou can love tbe world and sen
sual pleasure, but cannot love God ; if you can
fear a worm like yourself, but live without
the fear of God ; if you can boldly trample
upon his laws, but will not, and there
fore cannot humble yourself before him, and
seek his mercy, in the way of bis appoint
ment. 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 (Matt.
xxv. 16) with excuses for their wUfulness
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 eause 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 ot
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 hun, your blood will be
upon 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 wiU save rae, 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
with wisdora, and is regulated by the great
designs of his governraent. He can do in
nuraerable things whicb he wUl not do.
What he wiU do (so far as we are concerned)

SER. XVII.]

MESSIAH DESPISED, &c.

273

his word mforms us, and not one jot or tittle
thereof shaU fail, Matt. v. 18.

SERMON XVIL
MESSIAH DESPISED AND REJECTED OF MEN.
He is despised and rejected of men, a man
of sorrows, and acquainted with grief,
— Isaiah liii. 3.
The heathen moralists, ignorant of the cha
racter and perfections of God, the true digni
ty and immortality ofthe 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
of civil life. They expressed, indeed, occa
sionally, some sentiraents of a superior kind ;
but these, however just and valuable upon the
principles of revelation, were delusive and ira
practicable upon their own. And Brutus,
one of the raost adraired characters of anti
quity, confessed, just before he put an end to
his own lffe, that having long been enaraour
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 suppose, that if virtue should becorae visi
ble, it would necessarUy engage the esteera
and admiration of raankind.
There was, however, one remarkable ex
ception to this opinion. The wisdom of Socra
tes seems to have been, in raany respects, dif
ferent from that of the bulk of their philoso
phers. Socrates having expressed his idea of
a perfect character, a truly virtuous raan, 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 dissimUar to that
of other men, his testimony against their
wickedness so strong, and his endeavours to
reform them so importunate and unwelcome,
that instead of being universally admired, he
would be disliked and hated ; that mankind
were too degenerate and too obstinate, to bear
eitlier 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 Testaraent.
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 transgressoxs, des
pised and rejected, by the very people who
were eye-witnesses of his upright and be-
VoL. IL 2 M

nevolent conduct. And thus, in fact, it
proved. When Jesus was upon earth, true
virtue and goodness were visibly displayed,
and thereby the wickedness of man became
signally conspicuous. For they among whora
he was conversant, preferred a robber and a
murderer to him, John xviii. 40. They pre
served Barabbas, who had been justly doomed
to die for enormous criraes, and they nailed
Jesus, in his stead, to the cross.
When Messiah appeared, the Jews pro
fessed to blame the wickedness of their fore
fathers, who had opposed and slain the pro
phets. If they regretted the ill-treatraent
the servants of God had forraerly 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 raen.
Angels sung praises at his birth, but men de
spised him. He took not upon him the na
ture of angels, but of raan ; yet raen rejected
him. Sinful, helpless men rejected and
despised the only Saviour. He came to his
own, but his own received hira not. How
laraentable and fatal was their obstinacy !
Pretended Messiahs were eagerly regarded
and followed by thera, (John v. 43,) but the
true Messiah was despised and rejected of
raen !
Let us consider the clauses of the text
separately, 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 1 seen his wonderful works, and
heard him speak as never man spake : possi
bly 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 persecuting the prophets. Matt.
xxiii. 31. The prejudices whicb operated so
strongly against our Lord's mission and minis
try, were not peculiar to the people of one
age or country, but such as are deeply rooted
in the nature of fallen man. The same prin
ciples which influenced the Jews to oppose
and despise his person, still influence mul
titudes to slight and oppose the doctrine
which he taught, and which he commanded
his disciples to preach and perpetuate to tha
end ofthe 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 raen of that generation,
1. They despised hira for what they ac..
counted the raeanness of his appearance.

274

™^ iv ""^ ."P '^^^^If' he became poor for
?ri . u,-'- ^"^^ '^'^ poverty made him con
temptible in their eyes. They expected Mes-
sian would appear with external pomp and
power. But when they saw him, they scorned
nim, saying, "Is not this the carpenter's
son?" Matt. xiii. 55. He who had not
money to pay tbe tribute demanded of him
(Matt. xvii. 27,) nor a house wherein to lay
his head, was of small esteem with those
who were covetous, proud of worldly distinc
tions, and fond of the praise and admiration
of men.
2. Their contempt was heightened, when
tbis poor man publicly asserted his proper
character and claim, demanded their atten
tion and homage, and styled himself in a pe
culiar sense the Son of God, the resurrection
and the life, John v. 18 ; xi. 25. For tbis
seeming inconsistence between the appear
ance he made and the honours he assumed,
they treated him as a demoniac and a madman,
John X. 20. Their language strongly ex
pressed 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, whUe they could
say," " Have any of the rulers or Pharisees
believed on him ?" John vii. 48.
4. They were further 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
sincerely desired his instruction. He received
them without exception, and treated them
with the greatest tendemess. But he vindi
cated the honour of the law of God, from the
corrupt doctrine and tradition of their pro
fessed teachers. He exposed and unmasked
the hypocrisy of their most admired charac
ters, and compared the men who were in the
highest reputation for wisdom and sanctity,
to whited sepulchres, warning the people
against them as blind guides and deceivers.
5. These blind guides strengthened the
prejudices of their blind followers against
him, by misrepresentation. They attempted
to avaU themselves of the scripture, when
they thought it would answer their purpose.
They eagerly raade the most of a prevailmg
mistake, that Jesus was born in GalUee, be
cause 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 sab-

MESSIAH DESPISED ^'^^^' ^^"'
corapassion as a breach of that strict obse^^
ance of the Sabbath ^hich was enjoined^y
the law of Moses, and that Werefore he could
not be of God, John ix. 16. And when they
were not able to deny the reality of his won
derful works, tbey ascribed them to the
agency of Sakn, Matt. xii. 24. We at this
dtstance of time, can easily perceive the
folly and madness of their attempts. Bu-
the Scribes and Pharisees were tbe public
authorized doctors and teachers of the people,
and were supported by the ecclesiastical and
civil power ; or, as we should now express it,
by church and state. The people were not
apt to suspect tbeir leaders, whom they
thought wiser and better than themselves;
or, if sometimes they hesitated, were im
pressed by the majesty of his words, or the
evidence of his miraculous works, and con
strained to say, " Is not this the son of Da
vid ?" (Matt. xii. 23.) They were soon intimi
dated and sUenced by canons and laws ; for
it was carefully enacted, in order to keep
thera in subjection, that whoever acknow
ledged him should be put out of flie synar
gogues ; (John ix. 22 ; xii. 48 ;) that is, ac
cording 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
rather taught and supported by the grace of
God, who could resist such arguments as
these. These things are easUy 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 pkinness, and the manner
of its proposal, adapted to the use and capar
city ofthe vulgar, offend those who are wise
in their own conceit, and proud of their un-
derstandmg and taste. At the same time
they are equally disgusted by the sublimity
ofits doctrines, which will not submit to the
test of their vain reasonings, and can only be
received by humble feith. The faithfulness
and freedom which its ministers are enjoined
to use, give great offence likewise. And be
cause they cannot comply with the humours
of those who wish them to prophesy smooth
things and deceits, they are accounted censo
rious, uncharitable, and disturbers of the pub
lic peace. Again, the dislike and opposition
it frequently meets with from persons of
great titles and high stations, deter multi
tudes from pursuing those uiquiries, which
some conviction of the truth would prompt
thera to, were they jiot discouraged by the
fear of consequences. How often has a
dread of the displeasure of doctors, bishops,
universities, councils, and popes, or an igno
rant, slavish deference to their judgment or
decisions, prevented- people from following

bath-day, they represented the effects of his I that light which had begun to force itself

SER. XVII.]

AND REJECTED OF MEN.

275

upon their consciences? How few among
those of reputation for wisdom and learning,
how few of the great and opulent, have en
couraged or espoused the doctrine of the
cross? It is, therefore, more properly a sub
ject for lamentation than for wonder, that this
way is despised, and almost everywhere spo
ken against, Acts xxvui. 22. Farther, as the
bulk of those who embrace it are of low con
dition, so manj^of them are as free to confess
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 gospel, their
characters and practices were vile. Lastly,
what unhappy subtilty has been employed, in
a way of reason and argument, with an ap
peal to detached and perverted passages of
scripture, to misrepresent tlie work of the
Holy Spirit, as folly, hypocrisy, or enthusiasm,
and even to charge the gospel itself with
giving encourageraent to a licentious con
duct ! In short, the spirit of the world, the
arts and influence of designing raen, are so
powerful, that what our Lord said in Judea,
holds equally true in Christendom, " Blessed
is he who is not offended in rae !" Matt. xi. 6.
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 raean, the scandal which
arises from the raiscarriages of those who pro
fess it. Offences of this kind must come, but
woe to them by whora they corae. Matt, 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 Lord, hate evil, Psal.
xcii. 10. There are many who watch fbr
your halting, and are ready to say, There !
there I so we would have it. It would be in-
vain for ministers to declare that the doc
trines ofgrace are doctrines according to god
liness, unless our testimony is supported by
the tempers 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 vvill 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 benevolent ; to find integrity in all your
dealings, and a punctual discharge of your
duty in every branch of a relative life. What
must the world think of our principles, if they
who avow them are fretful, envious, censo
rious, discontented, slothful, or unfaithful ;
or if the^ are niggardly and hard-hearted, or
voluptuous and dissolute, or implacable and

revengeful ! they who thus lay stumbling-
blocks before the blind, and confirm the pre
judices of the ignorant," will have much to
answer for.
II. It is further said, he was a -raan of sor
rows and acquainted with grief — He was
surrounded vnth sorrows on every side, and
grief was his intimate, inseparable corapanion.
Surely this consideration, if any, will aniraate
us to endure the cross, aud to despise tb«
sharae, 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, weariness, contempt, and oppo
sition. And though his resignation and pa
tience were perfect, yet he was truly a raan,
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 simUar circurastaaices;
and they were often painfully exercised.
Once and again we read that he was hungry
and had no food ; he was thirsty, (Matt. iv. 9 ;
xxi. 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
misrepresented. He was misunderstood even
by his friends, betrayed by one disciple, de
nied by another, and forsaken by the -rest,
John vii. 5. It is hardly possible for his fol
lowers to raeet with any outward trial, whicb
raay not remind thera of sorae part of the his
tory of their Lord and master, who left them
an exaraple of suffering, that they should
cheerfully follow his steps, 1 Pet. ii. 21.
2. His perfect knowledge and foresight of
those sufferings which we eraphaticaUy -call
his Passion. How often does he speak of
them, and describe the circumstances as if
they were actually present ? Futurity is, 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 yon
could have foreseen, many years ago, what
you have since been brought through, you
would probably have sunk under the appre
hension ; or the stoutest of us might sink no-w,
if we were certainly to know what may be
yet before us. But Jesus, long before be
raade atoneraent for our sins, had counted the
cost. And though his love deterrained hira
to save us, the prospect, which was continu
ally present to his view, of the approaching
unutterable agonies of his soul, of all that he
raust 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. ui. 13 ;) I

276

VOLUNTARY SUFFERING.

[ser. xvitt.

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 Sodora, (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 raen, can hear
and see what passes every hour ; how tbe au
thority of God is affronted, his goodness
abused, and his raercy despised, without
eraotions of grief and corapassion? If we are
spiritually-rainded, we raust be thus affected ;
and we should be more so, if we were more
spiritual. But the holiness of Messiah, and,
consequently, his hatred of sin, was absolute
ly perfect. His view of the guilt and raisery
of sinners, was likewise coraprehensive and
clear. How must he be therefore grieved by
the wickedness and insensibUity 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
evU heart, which is hidden frora us. In this
sense his sufferings and sorrows began with
early years, and continued throughout the
whole of his life.. He undoubtedly could
say, with an eraphasis peculiar to himself,
" I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved ;
rivers of waters run down my eyes, because
meri keep not thy law." Psal. cxix.156, 158.
We call ourselves the followers and ser
vants of him, who was despised of men, and
encorapassed with sorrows. And shall we
then seek great things for ourselves (Jer. xiv.
5,) as if we belonged to the present world,
and expected no portion beyond it 1 Or shall
we be trerablingly alive to the opinion of our
fellow-creatures, and think it a great hard
ship, if it be our lot to suffer sharae for his
sake, who endured the cross, and despised the
sharae for uS? Rather may we account such
disgrace our glory, and every loss and suffer
ing that we may endure for hira, a gain ;
while 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,
PhU. 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 raen for
resolution, and the proof of a noble, courage

ous 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 cir
cumstances, which have a greater influence
upon the conduct than any inherent prin
ciple. Thus many persons who appear to set
death and danger at defiance in the hour of
battle, while they are animated by the exam
ples of those around them, and instigated by
a fear ofthe punishment or shame they would
incur if tbey deserted their post ; upon a
change of situation, as, for instance, on a bed
of sickness, discover 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 contemptible pusillanimity,
that determined the celebrated Cato to de
stroy himself He was afraid of Caesar ; his
drecid of him, after his victories, was so great,
that he durst not look him in the fece ; and
therefore he kUled himself to avoid him. To
the same raeanness of sentiment we may con
fidently ascribe the pretended gallantry of
modem 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 feeble irresolute
raind. They live upon the opinion of their
fellow-creatures, and feel tiieraselves too
weak to bear the contempt tbey should raeet
with firora the circle of their acquaintance,
if they should decline acting upon tbe
false principles of honour which pride and
folly have established. They have not reso
lution sufficient to act the part which con
science and reason would dictate, and there
fore hazard life, and every thing that is dear
to thera as raen, rather than dare to withstand
the prevalence of an absurd and brutal cus
tora. A patient enduring of affliction, and espe*
cially of disgrace and conterapt, to which the
characters the world most adraire are confess
edly 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 obtainirfg 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 raind is essential and peculiar to
the character of -the christian, I mean the
christian who deserves the narae. His ends
are great and sublirae ; to glorify God, to ob- .
tain nearer communion with him, and to ad
vance in conforraity to his holy wUl. To
attain these ends, he eraploys the means pro
scribed by the Lord : he waits at Wisdom's
gates, (Prov. viu. 34,) and walks in the paths

SER. XVtiI.]

VOLUNTARV SUFFERING.

m

tjf dependence and bbediencei He therefore
Cannot conform to the prevailing maxims and
pursuits of the many, and is liable to be
bated and scorned for his singularity. !6ut
he neither courts the smUes 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 eannot 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
follower of him who said, " I gave ray back
to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that
plucked off tbe hair : I hid not my face from
shame and spitting."
We may observe, from the words, 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 this sense,
bound, and under obligation. But this com
pliance was likewise voluntary ; for he gave
himself 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, (Matt.
xxvi. 53,) had they been wanted, would have
appeared for his rescue. But if he was de
termined to save others, then his own suffer
ings were unavoidable. Men in the prose
cution of their designs, often meet jvith un
expected difficulties in their way, which,
though they encounter with sorae cheerful
ness, in hope of surmounting tbem, and
carrying their point at last, are considered as
impediments ; but the sufferings of Messiah
were essentially necessary to the accom
plishment of his great designs, precisely de
termined, and presentto his view beforehand,
so that (as I lately observed) there was not
a single circumstance that happened to hira
unawares. He knew that no blood but his
own could make atonement for sin, that no
thing less than bis humUiation could expiate
our pride ; that if he did not thus suffer, shi
ners must inevitably perish; and therefore
,> (such was hislove.!) he cheerfully and volun
tarUy gave his back to the smiters, and his
: cheeks' to them that plucked off the hair.
Two designs of vast importance fiUed his
mind ; the corapletion of them was that joy
set before him, for the sake of which he
made himself of no reputation, endured the
cross, and despised the shame. These were.

the glory of God, and the salvation of siri*
ners. 1. The highest end of his mediation was
to display the glory of the divine character in
the strongest light, to afford to all intelligefit
creatures (Eph. iii. 10) the brightesi mam-
festation they are capable of receiving, ofthe
manifold wisdom ofGod, his holiness, justice,
truth, and love, the stability and excellence
of his moral government, all muttrally illus
trating each other, as combined and sMning
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 providential 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 luiown by Jesns
Christ, and the revelation which dod 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 supereminently made
known to principalities and powers, in
heaven, by the dispensation of his. grace to
the church redeeraed from the earth.
2. Subordinate to this great design, closely
connected with it, and the principal effect for
which it will be adraired and magnified to
eternity, is the complete and everlasting sal
vation of that multitude of raiserable sinners,
wbo, according to the purpose of God, and by
tbe working of his mighty power, shall be
lieve in this Saviour ; and who, renouncing
every other hope, shall put their trust in him,
upon the warrant of the proraise and com
mand of God, and yield themselves to be his
willing and devoted people. Many are their
tribulations in the present life, but they shall
be delivered outof them all ; they shall over
corae, they shall be more than conquerors, by
the blood of the Larab, and the word of his
testimony ; (Rev. xii. 11 ;) 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 raay be adraired in them, and by
them, to the glory of God, who is all in all,
he voluntarily substituted hiraself to suffer
ings and death. He endured tbe cross, and
he despised the shame. He 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 be treated, first by the servants
in the haU of the High Priest, afterwards by

278

VOLUNTARY SUFFERING.

[ser. xvtit.

the Roman soldiers! Let us consider hira,
whp endured the contradiction of sinners
against himself, Heb. xii. 3. These words of
the apostle suggest some preliminary obser-
nations, to prepare our minds for receiving a
due impression from the several particulars
here mentioned.
When the apostle would dispose believers
by an arguraent or motive, (which, if we fully
understood it, would render all other argu
ments unnecessary,) to endure sufferings and
crosses patiently, he says " Consider hira" —
he uses a word which is properly a raathe-
matical terra, denoting the ratio or propor
tion between different 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
aggravated in proportion to the disparity be
tween the person who receives, and who
offers them. A blow from an equal is an of
fence, but would be still more deeply resented
from an inferior. But ifa subject, a servant,
a slave, should presurae to strike a king, it
would justly be deemed an enorraous 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 common soldiers, were not afraid to make
hira the object of their derision, and to ex
press their hatred in the raost sarcastic and
conteraptuous manner. It is said, that he
endured the contradiction of sinners. So,
perhaps, do we ; but we are sinners likewise,
and deserve much raore than we suffer, if not
immediately from the instruraents of our
grief, yet frora the Lord, who has a right to
employ what instruments 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 raalefactor. Their cruel and scorn
ful contradiction was likewise expressly and
directly against hiraself; whereas his people
only suffer from unreasonable and wicked
men, for his sake, and for their professed at
tachment to him. In the most violent perse
cutions, they who could be prevailed on to
renounce his name and his cause usually
escaped punishment, and were frequently
favoured and rewarded. .And this is still the
ground of the world's displeasure ; fierce and
bitter as their opposition may seera, the way
to reconcUiation is always open ; they are not
angry with us farther than we avow a de
pendence upon hira, and show ourselves de
termined to obey him rather than men. If
we could forsake hira, their resentment

would be disarmed, for they mean no more
than to intunidate us from his service. I do
no.t think that they who make peace with
the world upon these terms, are esteemed bv
them for their compliance, but they are sel
dom disturbed any longer. It is plain, there
fore, that if we suffer as christians, it is for
his sake. He likewise 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 whora our obliga
tions 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, unfeel
ing, unrestrained barbarity could suggest.
1. They began to spit upon him in the
High Priest's hall. The Roman soldiers Uke
wise did spit upon hira, when they had con
temptuously arrayed him in a scarlet robe,
and bowed tbe knee before bim, in mockery
of his title of King. Great as an insult of
this kind would be deeraed araongst us, it was
considered as stiU greater, according to the
customs prevalent in eastern countries.
There, to spit, even in the presence of a per
son, though it were only upon the ground,
conveyed the idea of disdain and abhorrence.
But the lowest of the people spit in tbe face
ofthe Son ofGod. No coraparison can fully
illustrate this indignity. There is some pro- '
portion between the greatest earthly monarch
and the raost abject slave. They did not spit
upon Alexander, or Cassar, but upon the Lord
of glory.
2. They buffeted and beat bim on the fece,,,
and when he meekly offered his cheek to
their blo.ws, they plucked off the hair. The
beard was in those times accounted honoura
ble : and when David's servants were sha\jed
by the command of Hanun, (2 Sam. x. 5,)
they were ashamed to be seen. But Jesus
was not shaven. With savage violence they
tore off the hair of his beard ; while he, like
a sheep before the shearers, was dumb, and
quietly yielded himself to their,; outrages.
3. His back they tore with ^fcourges, as
was foretold by the psalmist : " The plowers
plowed upon my back, they made lohg their
furrows," Psal. cxxix. 3. The Jewish council
condemned hira to death for blasphemy, be
cause he said he was the Son ofGod. Ston
ing was the punishment prescribed by the law
of Moses, in such cases. Lev. xiv. 16. But.
this death was not sufficiently lingering and
toi-menting to gratify their raalice. To glut*
their insatiable cruelty, they were therefore
wUling to own their subjection to the Roman'
pbwer 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 ;

SER. XIX.]

and thus wilfully, though unwittingly, they
fulfilled the prophecies. They preferred the
punishment which the Romans appropriafed
to slaves who were guilty of flagitious criraes,
and therefore insisted that he should be cru
cified. According to the Roraan custora,
those who were crucified were previously
scourged. Thus, when they had mocked
bira, and made him their sport, by putting
a crown of thorns on his head, and a reed
in his hand for a sceptre, in derision of his
kingly office, he was stripped and scourg
ed. 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 mer
ciless hands. The plowers plowed his back.
But more and greater tortures were before
him. He was engaged to make a full atone
ment for sin by his sufferings ; and as he had
power over his own life, he would not dis
miss his spirit, till he could say, "It is
finished." And now, to use the words of PUate, " Be
hold tbe raan !" Jobn xix. 5. Oh ! for a
realizing irapression of this his extrerae hu
miliation and suffering, that we may be
duly affected with a sense of his love to sin
ners, and of the evil of our sins, which ren
dered it nepessary that the surety should
thus suffer! Behold the Lamb of God,
mocked, blindfolded, spit upon, and scourged !
Let us add to all this the consideration of
his praying for his torraentors, (Luke xxiii.
34,) and we have an exaraple of perfect mag
nanimity. Shall we then refuse to suffer shame for his
sake, and be intimidated by the frowns or
conterapt of men, frora avowing our attach
ment to hira ! Ah ! Lord, we are, indeed,
capable of tbis baseness and ingratitude. But
if thou art pleased to strengthen us with tbe
power of thy Spirit, we will account such dis
grace our glory; Then we will not hang
down our heads and despond, but wUl rather
rejoice and be exceeding glad, if the world
revile us, and persecute us,' and speak all
manner of evU against us, provided it be
falsely, (Matt. v. 11,) and provided it be for
thy sake!' .,
Shall we' continue in sin, (Rom. vi. 1,)
after^^know what it cost him to expiate our
sms ? God forbid ! When Mark Antony ad-
dre^ged the citizens of Rome, to animate
therh^to revenge the death of Csesar, he en
larged upon Caesar's character, his great ac
tions, his love to the Roman people, and the
evidence he had given of it, in the donations
and bequests be had appointed them by his
will, the particulars 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 remember-

MESSIAH SUFFERING, &c.

279

ed them in his will, should be slain, Antony
threw aside a cloth, and showed them his
dead body covered with wounds and blood.
This sight rendered it needless to say more.
The whole assembly united as one raan, to
search out, and to destroy his raurderers.
The application is obvious. — May our hearts,
frora this hour, be filled with a determined,
invariable resentment against sin, the pro
curing cause of the humUiation and death of
our best Friend and benefactor !

SERMON XIX.
MESSIAH SUFFERING AND WOUNDED FOR US.
Surely he hath borne our grief and carried
our sorrows, — He was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our ini
quities ; 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 hira. Had we been inforraed ofthe in
terview only, we should probably have desir
ed to know the subject of their conversation,
as we might reasonably suppose it turned
upon very interesting and important topics.
The scripture raakes little provision for the
indulgence of our curiosity, but oraits nothing
that is necessary for our instruction ; and we
learn thus much frora 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 be 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
corapletion of his engagement for sinners ;
that is, his crucifixion and death. This is
the grand therae of heaven and heaven-born
souls. We lately considered the cruel in
sults Messiah subraitted to, frora the servants;
in the High Priest's hall, and from the Ro
man soldiers. The passage I have now read
leads our meditations to the foot of the cross.
May the Holy Spirit realize the scene to our
hearts ! The cross of Christ displays the di
vine perfections*with peculiar glory. Here
the narae of God is revealed, as a just God
and a Saviour. Here the believer contera-
plates in one view, tbe unspeakable evil of
sin, and the unse^chable riches of mercy.
This gives him the most affecting sense of
the misery which he has deserved, while at
the same time he receives the fullest assur
ance that there is forgiveness with God, and
discovers a sure foundation whereon he may
buUd his hope of eternal life, without fear of
disappointment. From the moment the apos-

280

MESSUH SUFFERING, &c.

[ser. xtx.

tie Paul Was enlightened to understand this
mystery of redeeming love, he accounted his
forraer gain but loss; his former supposed
wisdom no better than folly ; and became de
terrained 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
oratory ; and similar eraotions have often
been produced by a romance or a tragedy,
though the subject is known beforehand to he
entirely a fiction. But light in the under
standing is necessary to convince and influ
ence 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 unchanged. I hope many of my
auditory can assign these causes. You have
felt yourselves personally concerned in an
event whicb took place long before your
birth; and if you are asked, Why was Jesus
mocked, buffeted, and spit upon? and why
were his enemies perraitted to nail hira 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,
1, The cause ofthe 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
acknowledgment 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 authorized to consider hira as mind
ful of them, and making provision for them
in the day of his trouble. They who were
actually healed by' looking at the brazen ser
pent, 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 behaff. 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 of
fended God should enjoy health, peace, or
satisfection for a single houy; that we do not
draw every breath in the most excruciating
pain ; that we derive any comfort from crea
tures ; 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
respect, better than an image of hell, — must
wholly be ascribed to him. A sinner, as such,

is under the curse ofthe law ; and this curse
includes every species of misery that can afi
feet us, either in mind, body, or estate. But
he was appointed from the beginning, to sus
tain 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 ra ercy . Therefore he still affords us rain ,
and fruitful seasons, (Acts xiv. 17,) indulges
us with a variety of temporal blessings, and
gives us power to take corafort in thera. 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. Cheer
ed by such thoughts as these, his poor people
often enjoy their plain fere with a pleasure,
of which the expensive and dissipated sen
sualist has no conception. And how does it
add to the relish of all earthly comforts, to
think, while we are using them, that
There's not a gift his hand besf«ws.
But cost his heart a groan !
So, likewise, the reraembrance of what he
bore for them alleviates the pressure of all
their sufferings, and affords the.m a ground
whereon they may rejoice, yea glory, in tribu
lation also, Rom. v. 3.
But his crucifixion, and the whole of his
sufferings from wicked men, cannot give us
a just idea of what 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
his body, (Luke xxiii. 44,) before tbe hand of,
man touched hira. And when he uttered bia^jj
most dolorous cry upon the cross, it was not,, J
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 rae ?" Matt.
xxvii. 46. It is true his holy nature was not
capable of some part of the impenitent sin
ner's portion. Remorse of conscience, the
stings of the never-dying worm, 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
hira himself. Is. liii. 10.
The ground of all this was laid in his
voluntary substitution of himself from before
the foundation of the world, to obey and suf
fer 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 was wounded. — This word which
signifles pierced or stabbed, refers to this cru-

.^ER. Xix.]

AND WOUNDED FOR US.

281

cifixion. This punishment being unknown
to the Jews, tUl they were brought under the
Roman power, they had, therefoi-e, no express
name for, in their language. Yet it is plain
ly described by the psalmist, who, 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
under 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 was roasted; and by the brazen
serpent. 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 Jews should be led to
depart from tbeir own customs and purposes,
in order to their accomplishraent, though
they intended nothing less ! But it was the
deterrained counsel and appointment of God,
(Acts. ii. 23,) who 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 raay 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," Matt. xxvi. 38. No words can be
more selected and emphatical, 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 Jhose 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-
niended it to thera by bis own exaraple, he
died, merely to confirm the truth of his doc
trine, and to encourage his followers to faith
fulness under suffermgs ! Many of his fol
lowers, who were thus witnesses for the truth,
and, patterns of faithfulness to us, have met
death in its most terrible forms with com
posure, yea, with pleasure, yea, with trans
ports of joy. But is the disciple above his
Lord 1 If christians 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 we're given
up to them who only could kUl the hody ; but
Jesus suftered immediately from the hand of
God. One stroke of his mighty hand can
bruise the spirit of man more sensibly than
the united power of all creatures. Jesus
died. They that believe in him, are said to
sleep in hira, 1 Thess. iv. 14. To them death
comes disarmed of its sting, wearing a friend
ly aspect, and bringing a welcome message
Vol. il 2 N

of dismission frora 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 chastiseraent or the pUnishraent of
our peace was upon hira, that chastisement or
punishraent 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 exaraple to others. The two
forraer reasons could not apply to our Lord.
He had coramitted no evil, he was perfect
before, and in suft'ering. But standing in the
place of sinners, and engaged to expiate their
offences, he was made a public example of
the raisery and distress which sin deraerited.
Thus justice was vindicated in the exercise
of mercy, and sinners believing in his narae,
are exempted from punishraent, for his sake,
in a way which affords not the least encou
rageraent 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 chastiseraent 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
saw him in vision, before the throne, as a lamb
that had been slain. All these expressions
and representations, I apprehend, are design
ed to intimate to us, that though the death of
Messiah is an event long since past, yet the
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 beholdmg
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. TeU to others, as you have an oppor
tunity, what 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,

282

SIN CHARGED UPON THE SURETY.

[ser.

how greatly would his power and grace be
displayed ! They are all upon record, and wUl
all be known in the great day of his appear
ing. Some of them are occasionally publish
ed, and may be read in our own tongue.
And though they are not all related with
equal judgraent, nor attended with circum
stances equally striking, yet there is a suffi
ciency, in this way, to leave the world with
out excuse. Not to raention 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 systera of notions only,
but has a mighty power to enlighten the be
wUdered mind, to subdue the obstinate will,
to weaken the force of long confirmed habits
c^'evil, to relieve frora distressing fears, and
io effect a. real, universal, permanent, and
beneficial change of sentiment and conduct,
such as no sirailar instance can be found, in
the history of raankind, to have been pro
duced by any otber principles. But if you are
a true christian, in the circle of your connec
tions you will soraetimes have a fair oppor
tunity of giving a reason of the hope that is
in you. Pray for grace and wisdom to im
prove such seasons; and if you speak the
truth in simplicity and love, you know not
but the Lord raay give his blessing to your
testiraony, and honour you as an instru
ment of good. And to convert one sinner
frora the error of his way, is an event of
greater iraportance, than the deliverance of
a whole kingdora from teraporal evil.
Yet remember, ff you espouse this cause, a
certain consistency of character wUl be ex
pected frora you, without 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 the great truths we profess as mere
opinions, 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 afford
ing a cloak and an encourageraent to licen
tiousness. Beware, lest, by an iraproper con
duct, you lay sturabling-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 tiiat conversation is which only these
principles can produce, and always expect
it from those who avow thera. They will
make aUowances for others, and adrait human
infirmity as a plea for their faults, but they
will not extend their candour to you. If
your zeal for the truth, and your regular at

tendance upon the ministers who preach it,
are not accompanied with a spirit of humility,
integrity, and benevolence ; if you are pas
sionate, peevish, discontented, censorious, or
proud ; if they observe that you are greedy
of gain, penurious, close-fisted, or hard-heart
ed ; or even if you comply with their cus
toms and spirit, mingle with them in their
amusements, and do not maintain a noble
singularity by avoiding every appearance 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
ofthe gospel, and filling up your relations in
life to the glory ofGod, and the good of your
fellow-creatures; by thus well-doing, you
will put to silence the ignorance of foolish
raen, (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 con
strained to feel a secret reverence for you in
their consciences.
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 hira 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 ofGod ! The
Lord in raercy 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 raay live. Can you be proof
against these arguraents ? Nay, then, should,
you live and die thus obstinate, you must s;;;,
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 fre
quently to be understood with great limitation:
perhaps out of raany circumstances, one only
justly applicable to the case. Thus, when
our Lord says, " Behold I come as a thief,"
(Rev. xvi. 15,) common sense will fix the
resemblance to a single point, that he will
come suddenly and unexpected. So when
wandering sinners are compared to wander
ing sheep, we have a striking image of the
danger of their state, and of their inabUity to
recover themselves. Sheep wandering with-

6GR. XX.]

SIN CHARGED UPON THE SURETY.

283

out a shepherd, are exposed, a defenceless
and easy prey, to wUd beasts and eneraies,
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 frora whence they strayed. Whatever
they suffer, they continue to wander, and if
not sought out, will be lost. Thus far tbe
allusion holds. But sheep in such a situation
are not the subjects of blame. They would
be highly blamable, 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 hira, had wil
fully and obstinately renounced his protection
and guidance, and voluntarily chosen to
plunge theraselves into danger, rather than
to reraain with hira any longer. Thus it is
with man. His wandering is rebellious.
God made hira upright, but he has sought
out to himself raany inventions, Eccl. vii. 29.
God has appointed for all 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 consequences
of going astray, were repeatedly warned of
them, were fenced in by wise and good laws,
which they presumptuously broke through.
And when they had wandered from hira,
they were again and again invited to return
to him, but they refused. They mocked his
messages and his messengers, and preferred
the raisery they had brought upon them
selves, 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
j^ of this character ! .
'"""' 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
method which God has provided for their de
liverance and recovery. It contains a con
fession of their own guUt, a^id an acknow
ledgment of his mercy.
I. A confession of guilt and wretched
ness. — Sin has deprived us both of the know-
ledgb and presence ofGod. Inconsequence
of this, we wander, every one to his own
way. All are under the power of sin, and
all equally strangers to tbe paths of peace
and safety. The paths which sinners choose
for themselves are diverse frora 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 destruction. We may ob
serve 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 lffe, 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
constitution and frarae of our nature, render
happiness 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 swuns in the stream, are
each in their proper element. If you suppose
them to change places, tbey raust both perish.
But the brute creation have no propensity to
such changes as would destroy them. The
instincts iraplanted 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 iUustrate the folly of fallen man,
who, turned aside by a deceived heart, refuses
life, and seeks death in the error of bis ways.
For the will of God (if I may so speak) ie out
proper element ; and if we depart from it, our
sin unavoidably involves our punishraent. We
naturally indulge hard thoughts of God, and
think the rule he has enjoined us too strict
and severe, intended to restrain us frora real
good, and propose to ourselves sorae unknown
advantages by transgressing it. Thus Satan
persuaded Eve, and we derive from her : and
though we know that she only gained raisery
by the experiraent, we rashly repeat it for
ourselves. 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 conviction, and hurry on in a round of
continual disappointment. Are the proud,
the covetuous, the voluptuous, or the ambi
tious, happy? I appeal to conscience.
2. There is only one right way, but a
thousand ways of being wrong. If you are
not following him, who has said, " I ara the
way, the truth, and the life," (John xiv. 6,)
you are wandering, you are far from God ;
for none can come to the Father but by him :
and far firom peace, for there can be no true
peace in the mind unless he bestows and
raaintains it. The profane and the self-righ
teous, the open sinner and the hypocrite, the
lover of pleasure and the lover of gold, tbe
forraal Papist and the forraal Protestant,
thougb they seera to travel different roads,
though they pity or censure each other, will
meetat last (unless the grace of God prevent)
in the sarae state of final and hopeless misery.
It is grievous to a spiritual and benevolent
mind, to see those who are all wrong disputing
among themselves whicb of them is Tight.
Each one is ready to think hiraself wise, if
the folly in which he allows bimself be not

284

SIN CHARGED UPON THE SURETY.

[ser. xX.

precisely of the sarae kind with that which
he condemns in his neighbour. But the
scripture is the invariable rule, to which it is
your duty and interest to be conforraed now;
for it is given by the inspiration and authority
ofGod, 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, shaU 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,
untU, by the power of the Holy spirit, we are
stopped, and turned, and brought into the fold
of the good Shepherd. Oh ! the raisery 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, frora whence there is no rederaption.
And at present he is perpetually harassed
with cares and fears, with wants and woes,
without guidance or refuge ; and yet so
blinded as to think hiraself safe, and that his
crooked wandering ways will lead him to
happiness !
II. An acknowledgment of mercy. —
Where sin abounded, grace has much more
abounded. Man sinned, and Messiah suffer
ed. The Lord hath laid, or caused to meet
upon him, the iniquity of us all, that is, the
punishment due to thera. The evils we had
deserved were in pursuit of us, but Jesus in
terposed, and they all seized upon hira, and
he endured them, that we might be spared.
Do we ask upon what grounds ? It was on
the grounds of his voluntary substitution for
sinners, as their covenant head and repre
sentative. So much correspondent to this appoint
ment obtains araongst raen, as raay show that
the idea accords with our notion of justice.
If a man be unable to pay a debt, and the
creditor should exact the payment from a
third person who was no way concerned, it
would, with reason, be deeraed a very op
pressive action. But if it be known that this
person becarae freely bound and responsible
for the debtor, he is allowed to be justly lia
ble. But in the present case I raake no ap
peal to human customs. It is a divine ap
pointraent, and therefore is and raust be
right. It was a great design, the triumph of
infinite wisdom, the highest effect of the love
ofGod. It is revealed, not to be submitted
to our discussion, or that we may sit in judg
ment 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 illummated. For till we know this great
truth, and are able to see its influence upon
every thing we are related to, whatever at
tainments we may boast, we are in fact en
compassed with thick darkness, with dark
ness which may be felt. For the accomplish
raent of this design, the Son of God was so
manifested in the nature of man, that he, and
they who believe in hira, participate in a real,
though mystical union, and are considered as
one : he their living head, they his body, con
sisting of many members ; each of them re
presented by him, accepted in him, and de
riving 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. vUi. 31 ; Tit. i. 2,) for the redemption
of sinners. For the fell 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 iraraediately followed : but he re
vealed himself He showed mercy to Adam,
covenanted with Noah, walked with Abra
ham, 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. David ascribes (Psal. xxiii. 1) to the .
Shepherd of Israel the name of Jehovah, and
Isaiah declares that the Lord of Hosts is the
Husband of the church. These characters
of Shepherd, and Bridegroom, and Husband,
are appropriated to Messiah in the New
Testament. He therefore is Jehovah, tbe
Lord of Hosts, *Whom Abrahara, David, and
Isaiah worshipped, or his appearance upon
earth would be evidently to the disadvantage
of those who believe in him. If be were not
God, he would be a creature ; for there is no
medium ; and consequently our Shepherd
would be infinitely inferior to that Almighty
Shepherd who was the refuge, the trust, and
the salvation of his people, before Messiah
was raanffested in the flesh.
3. In the fulness of tirae he veiled his
glory. He who was in the forra of God, and
thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
took upon hira the form of a servant, and was
made of a woraan, made under the law, Phil.
ii. 6, 7 ; Gal. iv. 4. Then the union between
hira and the people whora he carae into the
world to save, was completed ; because the

Ser. XX.]

SIN CHARGED UPON THE SURETY.

285

children were partakers of flesh and blood,
he likewise took part of the same, Heb. ii. 14.
The Word, who in the beginning was God,
and was with God, was made flesh, John i. 1.
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
forraer ages, and in the forgiveness and sal
vation of all who should trust in him to the
end of tirae. 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 bim whicb be
lieveth 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
righteousness, 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 frora the tree whereon they
grow ; therefofe the apostle said, " I live, yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me," Gal. ii. 20.
This is the great raystery of Christianity,
which words alone cannot explain: it is a di
vine appointment, hidden from those who are
wise and prudent in their own sight, but re
vealed to all who, with the simplicity of chU
dren, are desirous of being taught of God,
and wait patiently upon him, in the use of
his prescribed raeans, for the light and in
fluence of his Holy Spirit.
From the subject, the substitution of Mes
siah for sinners, we may learn,
1. How to estimate the evil of sin. That
sin is a great evU, is evident by its effects. It
.r VWeprived 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 raisery with which the earth is now
filled ; it will kindle the last great conflagra-
, tion; yea, it has already kindled that fire
which shaU never be quenched. But in no
view does the sinfulness of sin appear so
striking as in this wonderful efiect — the
suffering and death of Messiah: that not
withstanding the dignity of his person, and
the perfection of his obedience to the law,
and that though he prayed in his agonies,
that if it were possible the cup might pass
from hira, (Luke xxui. 42,) yet, if sinners
were to be saved, it was indispensably neces
sary that he should drink it. This shows the
evil of sin in the strongest light ; and in tbis
light it is viewed by all who derive life frora
his death, and healing from his wounds. We
may be afraid of the consequence of sin from
other considerations, but it is only by look
ing to him who was pierced (Zech. xii. 10)

for our transgressions, that we can learn to
hate it.
2. The coraplete justification of those who
believe 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 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 raortification of sin yet remain
ing in them, and though, for the trial, exercise,
and growth of their faith, it is stUl needful
that they pass through raany tribulations ; yet
none of these are strictly and properly penal.
They are not the tokens of God's displeasure,
but fatherly chastiseraents and tokens of his
love, designed to promote the work of grace
in their hearts, and to make thera partakers
of his hoUness, Heb. xu. 6 — 11. Though ne
cessary at present, they will not be necessary
long, and therefore the hour is at hand when
all tears shaU be wiped away from their eyes,
and they shall weep no raore. His true ser
vants, in the midst of the storras 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 wbo have already escaped out of the
reach of every evil, and are now before the
throne. 3. The reason why believers are not wea
ried, 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 engaged for their support. When they
faint, he revives them; when they are
wounded, he heals thera; when their foot
slippeth, he upholdeth thera. He has said,
" because I live, ye shall live also." There
fore, 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 amiable and
endearing character of God displayed in his
mediation, is the source of their love, grati
tude, and cheerful obedience. It is tbis
makes bard things easy, and bitter things
sweet. The love of Christ constrauieth them,
2 Cor. V. 14. They look to him and are en
lightened. And when they consider who he
is, in what way, and at what a price he re
deemed them, and what he has prepared for
them; when they attend to his gracious
word, " Fear none of those things which thou
shalt suffer : be thou faithful unto death, and
I will give thee a crown of lffe ;" Rev. ii. 10 ;)
— they out of weakness, are made strong ;
they are inspired with fresh courage ; they
take up their cross with cheerfulness, and,
can adopt the language of the apostle, " None
of these things move rae, neither count I my
life dear, so that I raay finish my course with
joy," Acts XX, 24.

286

MESSIAH DERIDED UPON THE CROSS.

[ser. xxt.

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
would deliver him : let him deliver him,
freeing he delighted in him. Psalm xxii.
7,8.Fallen man, though alienated from the
life of God, and degraded, with respect to
many of bis propensities and pursuits, to a
level with the beasts that perish, is not whol
ly destitute of kind and compassionate feel
ings towards his fellow-creatures. While
self-interest does not interfere, and the bitter
passions of envy, hatred, malice, and re
venge, are not roused into exercise, he has
a degree of instinctive sympathy with thera
in tbeir sufferings, and a disposition to assist
them, if he can do it without much detriment
to himself The source of these social feel
ings we express by the term huraanity ;
whicii seeras to imply a consciousness that
they properly belong to our nature, and that
we ought, at least, to be always, and uni
versally affected in this manner, when occa
sions 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 nol wholly
extinguished. Were this the case, and were
the native evils of the heart left to exert
themselves in their full strength and without
control, earth would be the very image of
hell, and there could be no such thing as so
ciety. But to prevent things fi-om running
into utter confusion, God mercifully preserves
in mankind some social dispositions. They
are, however, so weak in themselves, so pow
erfully counteracted by the stronger princi
ples of our depravity, and so frequently sup
pressed by obstinate habits of wickedness,
that in the present state of things, we may
alraost as justly define man, (whatever irapro
priety 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 wbich sin and Satan have poisoned our
nature, never appear in so strong a light, as
when they assume a religious forra ; when
ignorance, bigotry, and blind zeal, oppose the
will and grace of God, under a pretence of
doing hira service. By this infatuation, every
hateful passion is sanctified, and every feel
ing of huraanity 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 mvent,
have frequently raised no otber emotions than
those of derision and scorn. My text leads
us to consider the highest instance of this
kmd. 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 hiraself, when he said,
" They pierced ray bands 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 eneraies 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 accoraplished their cruel designs.
We have already seen how he was treated by
the servants and by the soldiers, when con-
denmed by the Jewish councU, and by the
Roraan governor. Tbis 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 havff tom them in
pieces, before, and even after their trial, ff
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 wbo
wished tbem to escape, yet neither was one
found so lost to.sensibiiity, as to insult them
in their dying moments. But when Jesus
suffers, all that see him, laugh hira 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 cora-
raent upon this passage. They inform us by
whom he was thus scorned and derided ; they
mention some circumstances, which strongly
raark the peculiar and excessive contempt
with which he was treated ; and they take
notice of the special scope and object of their
insults, namely, the gracious purpose he had
often expressed towards sinners, and the
strong confidence he had vowed in God his
Father. I. The persons who scorned and derided
hira were various, and of different characters.
1. The chief priests, elders, and rulers of
the people. When these, who were held in
ignorant adrairation by the multitude, set the
example, we do not wonder that it was gene
rally followed. They had been his most
avowed and determined eneraies, they had
long conspired to take away his life, and in
the appointed hour their plots were permit
ted to succeed. They now rejoiced in their
success. By their office as teachers and ex
pounders of the law, they ought to have
pointed him out to the people as the object
of their reverence and hope ; but having re
jected him themselves, they eraployed all
their authority and influence to make bira

SER. XXI.]

MESSIAH DERIDED UPON THE CROSS.

287

the object of general contempt And lest
the extremity of his torments should awaken
sentiments of Commiseration in the multitude,
they were the first, and the loudest, in revU
ing him, as he hung upon the cross.
2. The populace derided him. They had
been instigated by the priests to deraand his
death of Pilate, when he was desirous of dis
missing him, and rather to insist that Barab
bas should be spared, Matt, xxvii. 20. The
populace, though no less ignorant, were less
malicious than their leaders. At different
times, when they heard his public discourses,
and saw his wonderful works, they had been
staggered, and constrained to say, " Is not this
the Son of David ?" and not many days be
fore, the popular cry bad been strongly inhis
fevour ; (Matt xxi. 10, 11 ;) though quickly
after, it was, " Crucify him, crucify him,"
Luke xxiii. 21. As the sea, though sorae
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 raisrepresenta
tions, work upon their passions and preju
dices, and stir them up to a corapliance with
their purposes. The priests by degrees
wrought the populace up, first to reject the
Messiah, and then to join their leaders in
mocking and deriding him.
3. The Roman soldiers, who had con
temptuously clothed hira with a scarlot robe,
and bowed the knee before hira in derision,
continued to mock him when hanging upon
the cross. The Romans, to whom many
monarchies were become subject and tributa-
, ry, affected to despise the name of king ; and
they held the Jewish nation in peculiar
conterapt. The title, therefore, of king of
the Jews, affixed to his cross, afforded them
a subject for the keenest sarcasm.
4. Yea, such is tbe hardness of the human
heart, that one of the malefactors, (Luke
xxUL 39,) who was crucifled by his side, un
affected with his own guUt, and insensible of
the just judgment ofGod, and ofthe account
he was 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 railing on the innocent Jesus, who
was suffermg before his eyes. Thus he was
the object of universal derision. They who
were at the greatest distance in character
and sentiment, who differed from, despised,
and hated each other, on other accounts,
united as one man, in expressing every pos
sible mark of hatred and scorn against him,
who had done nothing amiss.
II. They showed their scom in the most
pointed and cruel manner. Not only they
who had clamoured for his death derided bira,
but others who were only passing by upon

their ordinary occasions, could not pass on tUl
they had stopped a while to insult him, wao--
ging their heads, and rerainding him of what
he had formerly said, and charging him with
the supposed folly and arrogance ofhis claims.
They jested upon his wants ; when he said,
" I thirst," they gave him vinegar to drink,
mingled with gEul. They jested upon his
words ; when he uttered his dolorous cora
plaint, " Eli, Eli, lama sabacbthani, My God,
ray God, why hast thou forsaken me ?' some
of them, with a malicious turn, (whicb 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 tbe prophet, to corae
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 suprerae love, thus treated
by sinners ? But it behoved hira thus to suf
fer, (Luke xxiv. 26,) for he had undertaken
to expiate the sins of many ofhis raurderers,
and to offer such satisfaction to the justice
and law ofGod, 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 hea
venly world — thus he raust be tormented,
thus he raust be scorned, and suspended as a
spectacle to angels and to raen, till he had
paid the full price of redemption, and could
say, " It is finished." Then, and not tiU 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 showed, by bis 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.
IIL 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 principaUy con
cerned in procuring his death. Long before,
when they could not deny the reality of his
miracles, they ascribed them to the agency
of Beelzebub. By this malicious, wilful op
position to the strongest evidence of fact,
against the conviction of their own minds,
and by their violent determined rejection of
his mission, they committed tbe unpardon
able sin. They spoke and sinned against the
Holy Spirit This sin no one can have cora
raitted, while be is fearful lest he has com
mitted it ; for it essentially consists in a de-

MESSIAH UNPITIED,

[ser. xxit.

liberate and wUful refusal of tbe only raeans
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 raalice against hira in
his dying agonies, and there was a poignancy
in their insults, of which the ignorant raulti
tude were not capable.
1. They reproached his great design, for
whicb he came into the world, " He saved
others, himself he cannot save," Matt. xxvU.
42. How different is the force of the same
words, according to the intention of the
speaker ! 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 hira, and who derive all their
hopes and all their happiness from the appli
cation of his blood to their consciences. But,
to themselves, it proved the raost dreadful ira-
precation. So, it will be the grateful acknow-
ledgraent of bis people in tirae, and to eter
nity, that when he was resolved to save thera,
the difficulties in the way were so great, that
neither his prayers, nor his tears, nor his un
spotted innocence, could prevail to save hira
self But for this his love to sinners, his
enemies reviled hira. Nor would they have
offered to believe ff he would corae 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 tbey now demanded.
2. They reproached him for his trust and
confidence in God. He had said that God
was (¦? lov) his own Father ; (John v. 18 ;) and
they understood him to use the expression in
so high a sense, as thereby to raake himself
equal with God. Had they raisunderstood
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 forraal 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, whora they durst
not but acknowledge to have been a prophet,
and to his own raighty works, in support of
his claim? But having fastened him upon
the cross, they triuraphed, and unwittingly
expressed their exultation, in the very words
which David had foretold should be used to
Messiah. So exactly were the scriptures
fulfilled, by those who use their utmost en
deavours to evade them, and to prevent their
accomplishment But what is all this to us? It is very much
to us. Christ codd suffer but once, yet we
read of those who crucify hira 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
opposing him, and are influenced by the same

spirit which mstigated the unbelievmg 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,
wUl prevaU for their conversion. Whenever
their eyes are opened, they wUl be pricked to
tbe heart (Acts ii. 37,) and wUl 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
soraetiraes forced upon their minds, and who,
though convinced, will not be persuaded.
They who despise, calumniate, and scorn the
believers ofthe gospel, would certainly offer
the like treatment to the Author of it, if he
was within their reach. They are Ul-treated
for his sake, and he considers it as an affront
to hiraself Thus he said to Saul of Tarsus,
when breathing out threatenings against his
disciples, " Why persecutest thou me ?" They
who reject his ministers, reject hira, Luke x.
16. They who speak disdainfully of his dy
ing hiraself to save others ; they who reproach
or ridicule the humble confidence ofhis peo
ple ; who censure and revile their hopes and
comforts derived frora his good word, as en
thusiasm or hypocrisy ; who have no compas
sion for their distresses, but rather wound
thera as with a sword in fheir bones, saying
unto thera. Where is now your God ? (Psal.
cxv. 2,) are certainly treading, if not altoge
ther with equal veheraence, in the footsteps
of the Jewish rulers. — May the Lord in mer
cy show them the danger of their path, and
give them a timely apprehension of the de
struction to which it leads ! That they raay
humble themselves to his wUl, implore his
pardon, espouse his cause, and experience the
comforts and privileges of that gospel which
they have hitherto reviled and scorned.

SERMON XXIL
MESSIAH UNPITIED, AND WITHOUT COM
FORTER.
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 xix. 20.
The greatness of suffering cannot be cer
tainly estimated by the single consideration
of the iraraediate apparent cause ; the impres
sion it actually makes upon the mind of the
sufferer must likewise be taken into the ac-

SER. XXII.]

AND WITHOUT COMFORTER.

289

count 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, raay
be, and I doubt not often is, a state of tor.
ment to the possessor. On the other hand,
we know that the consolations with which it
has sometiraes pleased God to cheer his suf
fering servants, have enabled them to rejoice
in the greatest extremities. They have
triumphed upon the rack, and while their
flesh was consuraing 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 him
self 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 ac
knowledged that they derived all their
strength and resolution frora hira ? This dif
ference cannot be well accounted for by those
wbo deny that his sufferings were a proper
atoneraent 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 hiraself to us as an example of con
stancy and patience. But the great aggra
vation bf Messiah's suft'erings was the sus
pension of those divine supports w'hich ena
ble his people to endure the severest afflic
tions to which he calls thera. Perhaps sorae
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 nature.
It was indeed the dignity of his person 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 raere creature could sustain. I
would speak with reverence and reserve
upon a point which is too high for our weak
minds fully to coraprehend ; but in whatever
way the nature of man, which he assumed,
was upheld by his eternal power and God
head, we raay venture to affirra that he de
rived no sensible corafort 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 suffer
ed, and he suffered alone. Many of bis ser
vants" have rejoiced whUe they were tor
mented, because God overbalanced all they
felt with the light of his countenance ; but
the Saviour hiraself, deprived of this light
experienced to the uttermost, all that sin
deserved, that was not inconsistent with the
perfection 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
Vol. il 2 O

broke his heart, and when ho looked for pity
and corafort, he found none.
I. Reproach hath broken ray heart. — We
must not confine our thoughts here to the
reproach of his enemies. The passage in the
Messiah expresses it agreeably to the version
ofthe 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 ofthe law and
justice of God. The Holy Father, viewing
the Son of his love in this light as charged
with the sins of his ^jeople, forsook him.
God infinitely hates sin, and will have no
fellowship with it ; and of this he gave the
most awful proof, by forsaking his beloved
Son, when he took upon hira to answer for
the sins of raen. Then the sword ofthe Al
raighty awoke against him, and he spared
him not, Zech. xin. 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 raay be borne whUe
the spirit, the heart remains firra, 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;" (Matt xxvi. 37, 38; Mark
xiv. 33 ;) and he said to his disciples, " My
soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death."
The most emphatical words are used to de
scribe his sensation of the bitter conflict of
his soul in the garden of Gethseraane, when
as yet the hand of man had not touched him.
He began {s-^.ixf^it^rSx,') to be amazed or asto
nished. It properly signifies, to be struck
with terror and surprise by sorae supernatu
ral power, such as Belshazzar felt when he
suddenly saw the handwriting against him
upon the wall; (Dan. v. 6 ;) and (aJij^ovnv) to be
very heavy, sated with grief, full, so as to be
incapable of more. Sorae critics explain the
word, as importing such an oppression, of
raind as quite unfits a person for converse or
society. [Compare Job xxx. 29.] He said
" My soul is (^ifi^ujTos) exceeding sorrowful,"
surrounded, encorapassed with sorrows.
It is added, he was in («j-i«,>i«) an agony;
(Luke xxii. 44;) a consternation of mind,
such as arises from the prospect of some ira
pending, unavoidable evil, like the suspense
of mariners upon the point of shipwreck, who
tremble equally at the view of the raging
waves behmd thera, and the rocky shore be
fore their eyes, on which they expect in a
few moments to be dashed. The evUs he
was to bear and to expiate were now collect-

290

MESSIAH UNPITIED,

[ser. xxii.

ing to a point, and formed a dark and tremen
dous storm, just ready to break upon his de
voted head, and the prospect 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 un
der extremity of pain or terror, but' his ago
nies, 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 ofthe goodness and severity
of God (Rora. xi. 22) in the Redeemer's
sufferings, than to indulge conjecture and the
flights of imagination. What is expressly re
vealed we may assert, conteraplate, 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 we have but
feint views of the majesty, holiness, and good
ness of God, against whom it is coraraitted.
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 hiraself. Adam had sinned
but once when he lost all corafort and confi
dence in God, and sought to hide hiraself
We have but slight thoughts of the extent
of sin. Not only positive disobedience, but
want of conforraity to the law of God, is sin
ful. Every rising thought which does not
coraport with that reverence, dependence, and
love which is due to God from creatures con-
stjtuted, 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
scripture calls the sin of the world? What
then raust be the atoneraent, the considera
tion on the account of which the great God
is no less righteous than raerciful, in forgiv
ing the sins, which his inviolable truth, and
the honour of his governraent, engage hira to
punish. And they are punished, though for
given. They were charged upon Jesus ; they
exposed hira to a rebuke which broke his
heart. They filled him with heaviness.
When, therefore, we are assured that the
justice of God is satisfied, with respect to
every sinner of the race of raankind, who, in
obedience to the divine command, makes the
sufferings of the Saviour his plea for pardon,
and trusts in him for salvation, and that upon
this one ground they are freed frora all con
deranation, and accepted as chUdren ; when
we are told that the glory of the divine per
fections is displayed in tbe 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 innuraerable
sins, must have been mconceivably great in
deed;

IL 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 for
titude was very different frora a stoical hard
ness of spirit. All the affections of pure hu
raanity, 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
wUlingness, that he wished, ifit were possi
ble, for some reliefer alleviation ofhis mise
ry. He looked, as we do when we are in hea
viness, for sorae to have pity on him, and to
corafort 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
whora we can open our rainds, who wUl sym
pathize with us, and corapassionately attend
to our complaints, if they can do no more.
And to be neglected and forsaken in ex
tremity, especially by those who have pro
fessed great friendship, or are under great
obligations to us, will be felt as an aggrava
tion ofthe most distressing case that can be
iraagined. But thus it was with Messiah.
He had to coraplain, not only of the cruelty
of his enemies, but of the iusensibility and
inconstancy of those who had professed the
raost cordial attachraent to him. The im
pression thus raade upon him as a man was
such, that it is distinctly specified in the pro
phetical enuraeration ofthe ingredients whicli
coraposed the bitter cup of his sufterings.
He was not only apprehended by cruel
raen, but betrayed into their hands by one
whora he had adraitted into the number ofhis
select apostles, who had been eraployed in his
service, favoured with access to bira in his
raore 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 bis passion. It
was not an avowed enemy, but one of the
twelve who dipped with him in the dish, that
was guUty of this enorraous ingratitude and
treachery. How keen are our resentments,
if those to whora we have shown great kind
ness are discovered to have studied our ruin
whUe they wore the mask of friendship?
Though Messiah was incapable 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 Gethse
mane, he comraanded, may I not say, he en
treated, his disciples to tarry there and watch
with him. And to engage their utraost afy
tention, he spoke plainly to them of his dis
tress, saying, " My soul is exceeding sorrow
ful even unto death." Yet when he returned

SER. XXII.]

AND WITHOUT COMFORTER.

291

unto them, the first, the second, yea, the
third time, he found them sleeping. How
tender, yet how forcible was his expostula
tion! "Could ye not watch one hour?"
Matt xxvii. 40. What ! could they know
lhat their Lord was in an agony, wrestling
with strong cries and tears, and yet sleep !
as regardless of his sorrows as of their own
approachuig danger! Were our dearest
friends to show theraselves equally insensible
when we were in extreme anguish, would
not tbeir indifference 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, notwithstand
ing their forraer protestation of zeal and love,
they aU forsook hira 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 in
stance how little he could depend upon those
who were under the strongest obligations to
hira. But Peter foUowed his Lord to the hall of
the High Priest and there saw hira, with his
own eyes, insulted, arraigned, and unjustly
condemned. Might he not expect that Peter,
the raost 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 hira,
whorii 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 raean
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 bad heard him say, " Peter, is
this the pity I ara to expect frora thee ?"
When he was naUed to the cross, he was
surrounded only by eneraies. These, as we
have seen, far from pitying, or attempting to
comfort hira, derided and mocked him. How
haye sorae 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 ad
minister 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 hira in love ; and stUl raore, if there
be superadded a sense oY 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
rainds 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 ofGod involves
in it the very essence of misery. But should
death surprise them in their sins, tear them
frora all that they have seen and loved, and
plunge thera into an unknown, unchangeable
world, then (alas ! too late !) they wUl be sen
sible of their iraraense, 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 de
served, was the most dreadful part of the Re
deeraer'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 ofthe law for us,
he looked to God for pity and corafort, but
he found none.
In this glass we are to contemplate the de
merit of sin. But there are sorae sufferings
due to the irapenitent 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 sorae faint judgraent 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 you to the quick? What
smile can you expect will support you against
the terror of his frown ?
Should any of you hear the Messiah per
forraed again, then and there, if not before,
raay God irapress upon your heart the sense
of this passage. Then you will understand,
that the sufferings of the Son of God are by .
no raeans a proper subject for the arauseraent
of a vacant hour.

292

NO SORROW LEKE MESSIAH'S SORROW.

[ser. XXIIL

SERMON XXIIL

NO SORROW LIKE MESSIAh's SORROW.
Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by ?
Behold, and see, if there be any sorrow
like unto my sorrow ! — Lament, i. 12.
Although the 'scriptures of the Old Tes
taraent, the lav/ of Moses, the Psalms, and the
prophecies, (Luke xxiv. 44,) bear a harraoni
ous testimony to Messiah, it is not necessary
to suppose, that every single passage has an
iraraediate 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 raen 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 very slight grounds a proof has been at
tempted ofthe great doctrines of the gospel,
which may be proved, much more safely and
solidly, firora 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 atterapted to explain, they have perplexed
their hearers and readers, and led thera 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
wUl 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,
affirm, 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
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 frora a text which raentions the
manna or the brazen serpent, (John iii. 14 ;
vi. 31, 35,) because our Lord has expounded
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
literal sense is first clearly stated, to apply
the, passage, not directly to prove a doctrine
as if really contained in it, but only to illus
trate the doctrine expressly taught in other
parts of the scripture. Thus, for instance, if
the question of Jonadab to Amnon (2 Sam.
xiii. 4) were chosen for the subject of a dis
course, " Why art thou, being a king's son,
lean from day to day ?" tbe history of the
context directly proves the malignity of sin
ful inordinate desire, and tbe misery of those
who are under its dominion ; that it poisons
every situation in life, and renders the sinner
incapable 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 privUeges of
their adoption ; and to enquire how it coraes
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 intrpduced by way
of accoramodation, though they are not di
rectly deducible from the literal sense ofthe
question. The text I have just read to you has led
rae into this digression. I find it in tbe series
of the passages in the Messiah ; but I ara 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
considered as a woman, lately reigning a
queen among the nations, but now a captive,
dishonoured, 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 in
tention ofthe 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 wUling to leave it
out. The highest wonder ever exhibited to

eER. XXIII.]

NO SORROW LIKE MESSIAH'S SORROW.

293

the world, to angels, and men, is the Son of
God suffering and dying for sinners. Next
to this, hardly any thing is raore astonishing
to an enlightened mind — than the gross and
stupid insensibility with which the sufferings
of the Saviour are treated, and the indiffer
ence with which this wonderful event is re
garded by creatures who are so nearly con
cerned in it If they believe in him, they
wUl be healed by his wounds, and live by his
death. If they finally reject him, they raust
perish; arid their guilt and misery wUl 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 person
here? Can I, with propriety, say to sorae
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 raurderers,
who had put him to ^eath in the raost cruel
manner, would it not be soraething to you ?
Could you avoid irapressions 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 becorae to you as a
worn-out tale. I am wUling to take it for
granted that you allow the fact. You believe
that Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius
PUate, was condemned by the Jews, and
crucified by the Romans, And is it possible
this should be nothing to you ? Is it too insig
nificant to engage or deserve your attention ?
And yet, perhaps, you have wept at a repre
sentation or a narrative which you know was
wholly founded hi fiction. How strange !
What ! the sorrow 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 sensi
bUity ! 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
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 aft'ected by the thought of his
crucifixion, is it possible that you could cru
cify him afresh, and put hira to open sbame,
by bearing the narae of a christian, and yet
living in a course unsuitable to the spirit and
precepts of his gospel ? But if you are indif
ferent 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 ?" Matt 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 sinfiUness of many
actions. But this stupid unbelief of the heart
is, ff I may so speak, the sin of sins, it is the
root and source of every evU, 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 raore 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 hesita
tion. 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 ofhis dig
nity and excellence treated in such a man
ner? Job considered his forraer state as a
great aggravation of his sufferings. He en
larges upon the respect which had been
shown hira in his prosperity. "When I
went out to the gate, through the city, the
young raen 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, ofthe vUest of the earth,
he adds, "Now ara 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, they come upon mo
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 degraded from
his throne, and exposed to the derision of
slaves, this would be a small thing compared
'vvith the hurailiation .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 hia

294

NO SORROW LIKE MESSIAH'S SORROW.

[sER. XXIII.

peace. Lev. x. 3. A little before he had
been guilty of making the golden calf The
remembrance of this offence coraposed his
mind under his great trial. He saw that he
deserved a still heavier punishraent and was
silent In like manner, David, when his re
bellious son Absalom conspired against bis
life, was patient; he remerabered the adul
tery and murder he had coraraitted ; and,
though he mourned under his afflictions, he
durst not complain, 2 Sara. xvi. 11. The
malefactor upon the cross submitted to his
sentence, because he was a raalefactor, say
ing, " And we indeed justly," Luke xxiv. 41.
It is, thus with all who know theraselves.
Under their severest afflictions, they adrait
the propriety ofthe prophet's question, " Why
should a living raan coraplain ?" Lam. iii. 39.
And tbey acknowledge, that it is of the
Lord's great mercy they are not utterly con
suraed. 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 raouth. 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
mitigation, sorae mixture of mercy. At the
worst, we have stUl 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 claira, is stUl 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 sarae raoraent, 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 worra
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 sins
of many. His sufferings were indeed tem
porary, 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
deprived 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 consol
ation to his believing people. In his suffer
ino-s 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 suffermg to
glory. (1.) His atonement, apprehended by fa.ith,
delivers them from guilt and condemnation,
gives thera peace with God, and access to
hira with liberty as children, Rom. v. 1, 2.
Being thus delivered from their heavy bur
den, and frora the power of Satan, and having
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 subraitting to such sor
rows for their sakes, attaches their hearts to
hira. 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 hira 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 enlightened.
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, tf they
will be his servants, by the treatraent he raet
with ; and they are content. He who en
dured the contradiction of sinners against
hiraself for thera, is worthy that they should
suffer likewise for him. It is their desire,
neither to provoke the opposition of men nor
to dread it Tbey coramit themsel ves 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 iraraediately from
the hand of the Lord, a lively thought of hia
sorrows reconciles thera to their own. Thus
by his stripes they are healed, and are com
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,) tbey know that
their Lord passed through sufferings to glory.
And they know (for they have his own gra
cious proraise) that if they suffer with him,
they shall also reign with hira, 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 wUl then be
revealed ; and that when Christ who is their
life, shaU appear, they also shall anpear with

SER. XXIV.]

MESSIAH'S INNOCENCE VINDICATED.

295

him in glory; (Col. iii. 4 ;) and therefore they
are comforted in all their tribulation, and can
say, " None of these things move me, neither
count I my life dear unto rayself, 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 judg
ment; and who shall declare his genera
tion ? 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, be
cause there are difficulties in the prophetical
parts of the scripture, and because transla
tors and expositors sometimes explain them
with some difference as to the sense. What
ever directly relates to our faith, practice,
and comfort may be plainly collected frora
innumerable passages, in which all the ver
sions, and all sober expositors, are agreed.
That there are some differences, will not ap
pear strange, tf we consider the antiquity of
the Hebrew language, and that the Old Tes
tament is the only book extant that was
written during the time that it was the cora
raon language of the people. For this reason
we meet with raany words which occur but
once ; and others, which do not occur fre
quently, are evidently used in more than one
sense. If we suppose that a time should
corae when the English language should be
no longer spoken, and no more than a single
volume in it be preserved, we raay well con
ceive that posterity might differ as to the
sense of many expressions, notwithstanding
the assistances they might obtain by com
paring the English with the French, Dutch,
and other languages, which were in use at
the same period. Such assistance we derive
from the Chaldee, Syriac, Greek, and other
ancient versions of the Old Testament, suf
ficient to confirm us in the true sense of the
whole, and to throw light upon many pas
sages otherwise dark and dubious; and yet
there will remain a number of places, the
sense of which the best critics have not been
able to fix with certainty. Farther, the pro
phecies are usually expressed in the style of
poetry, which, in all languages, is reraote
from the coraraon forras of speaking. The
grand evidence, to a hurable mind, that the
holy scripture was originally given by inspi
ration ofGod, and that the version of it which
by his good providence we are favoured with
is authentic, is the effect it has upon the
heart and conscience when enlightened by
, the Holy Spirit And without this internal,
experimental evidence, the learned are no
less at a loss than the vulgar.
An acquaintance with the Hebrew will

fierhaps suggest a meaning in this verse (the
atter 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 govemment? For
though he was cut off, made an excision and
a curse, from amongst raen, 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 assuraed by bim who is
over all, God blessed for ever, Rom. ix. 5.
But he was justifled in the Spirit and suffi
cient care was taken, that in his lowest hu
miliation, 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 bave treated
him with peculiar reserve, or to have kept
hira more at a distance than the other apos
tles; for when he told them, "One of you
shaU 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 hira
in Gethsemane before be 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
I 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-

296

MESSIAH'S INNOCENCE VINDICATED.

[SEB. xxir.

das, on the contrary, was corapeUed by his 1 through the persuasion of the Jews, the apc»-
conscience, to retum his Ul-gotten gain to tie Paul was stoned and left for dead, (Acts
fi.„ „u:.<. _ . . ... B, „ xiv. 12, 19,) by the very people, who, a httle
before,could with difficulty be restramed trom
paying 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 ofhis enemies, suffer all tbe
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 bis character. The frarae 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 bottora ; the earth
trerabled greatly ; the rocks were rent ; the
graves opened, and the dead arose. These
events, in connexion 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
hira; the Jewish ¦ councU, which could not
find sufficient ground, even though they em
ployed false and suborned witnesses to pass
sentence upon hira; Herod, who derided him;
Pilate, who conderaned hira; the malefactor,
who suffered with hira; and the commander
of the soldiers who crucified him, all com
bined in a declaration ofhis innocence: God
hiraself confirming their word, by signs and
wonders in heaven and upon earth.
It raay seem quite unnecessary to prove
the innocency of hira, who, in his human na
ture, was absolutely perfect, and in whom the
presence and fulness of God dwelt; and it is
indeed unnecessary to tliose who believe in
his narae. It is, liowever, a pleasing contem
plation to thera, and has an important influ
ence upon their faith and hope. In this they
triumph, that he wbo knew no sin himself,
was made sin, was treated as a sinner for

the chief priests and elders, and to confess,
" I bave sinned, in that I have betrayed the
innocent blood," Matt xxvu. 4. Consider
ing the time of making this declaration, wben
he saw tbat he was already condemned, and
the persons to whom he made it, even to
those who had condemned hiin, 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 PUatelikewise condemned Mes
siah to death, to gratify the importunity of
tbe Jews, be repeatedly declared his firm per
suasion of his innocence ; and he did it with
great solemnity. " He took water and wash
ed his hands (publicly) before the multitude,
saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just
person," Matt xxvii. 24. He laboured for
his release, though tbe fear of man prevailed
upon hira 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 entire
ly groundless. And farther, when the Jews
proposed such an alteration of the title af
fixed to his cross, as might imply that the
claims our Lord had made were unjust and cri
minal, Pilate 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 hira, I adrait the objection.
Be it so, that this malefactor had little per
sonal knowledge of our Lord. Then his opi
nion of his innocence raust have been found
ed upon public report ; and, therefore, it seems,
he spoke not for himself only ; but his words

them, that they might be made the righteous-

may be taken as a proo^ that the people at ness ofGod in him. The High Priest of our
large, though they suffered themselves to be profession needed not as those who typified
mfluenced by the chief priests, to demand his his office of old, to oflfer up sacrifice, flrst for

death, and to prefer Barabbas, a robber and a
murderer, to him, were generaUy conscious
that he had done nothing amiss. Many of
those who now said, " Crucify him. Crucify
him," had, not long before, welcomed hira
with acclamations of praise, saying, "Hosan
nah to the son of David." This inconsistence
and inconstancy is not altogether surprising
to those who are well acquainted With the
weakness and wickedness of huraan nature
in its present state; and who consider the
effects which the misrepresentations and ar
tifice of persons of great narae, and in high
office, have often produced in the minds of the
ignorant and superstitious. Thus, at Lystra,

his own sins, and then for the sins ofthe peo
ple; for he was perfectly holy, harmless, and
undefiled. And had he not been a lamb with
out spot or blemish, he could not have been
accepted on our behalf It was the perfection
of his voluntary obedience to the law of our
nature, under which he submitted tobe made
which, conjoined with the excellency of his
character as the Son ofGod, made him meet
able, and worthy, to expiate our transgres
sions. By the one offering of hiraself, once
ottered, he has made an end of sin, brought
m an everlasting righteousness, and havin<'
appeared with his own blood within the vaih
m the presence of God for us, and ever living

SER. XXIV.]

MESSIAH'S INNOCENCE VINDICATED.

297

to make intercession for all who come unto
God by hira, he is proposed in the gospel as
the author of etemal salvation to all who obey
hira. In hira, 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 Abraham, shall be saved, saved to the ut
termost, saved with an everlasting salvation ;
they shall not be ashamed, nor confounded,
world without end.
But who that knows these things can suf
ficiently coraraiserate the fatal effects of that
unbelief wbich blinds and hardens the hearts.
of multitudes ! especially that more learned
and inforraed, and therefore more inexcusable
unbelief, which characterizes the modern
patrons of scepticism. They read and admire
ancient history. There is no old story so
frivolous or improbable, but it is sufficient to
engage their attention, and to exercise their
acumen, if it be found in Herodotus or Livy.
They spare no pains, they perplex them
selves, and weary their readers with their
attempts to decypher an ancient inscription,
or to fix the date, or reconcile the circura
stances of a supposed event which, after all,
perhaps never had place but in the iraagina-
tion ofthe writer. Their iraplicit 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 vvas only received upon the footing of
the rest, as merely a human composition, the
facts which it relates, and the manner in
which they are related, the admirable sim
phcity of narration in some parts, the un
rivalled sublimity of description in others ;
the justness and discrimination of charac
ters ; the views it unfolds of the workings of
the human heart, and the springs of action, so
exactly conformable to experience and ob
servation, might surely recoraraend it to their
notice. And possibly, if it did claim no
higher aiitbority than a huraan composition,
men who have any just pretensions to taste,
would admire it no less than they now un
dervalue it But because it does not flatter
their pride, nor give indulgence to their cor
rupt 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 wU
lingly ignorant of its contents, or the know
ledge they discover of it is so very super
ficial, that a weU instructed chUd of ten
years of age may sraile at the mistakes of
critics and philosophers. That such a book
is extant, is undeniable. How can they ac
count for its production? A view of what
they actually have done, will warrant us to
assert that the wisest raen of antiquity, nei
ther would have written such a book if they
could, nor were they able, had they been
ever so wUling. And yet we have as good

ten by plain and unlearned raen, as we have
for any fact recorded in history. How could
such raen invent such a book? and how
should they without seeraing directiy to de
sign it, but incidently as it were, represent
that persons of such various fcharacters, who
concurred in putting Jesus to death, should
all equally concur in establishing the tes
timony of his innocence.
True christians, when they suffer unjustiy,
may learn, from the exaraple of their Lord,
to suffer patiently. The apostle presses this
argument upon servants, (1 Pet. ii. 18, 20,)
who in those days were chiefly bond ser
vants, or slaves.- He, therefore, evidently
supposes, that the knowledge of the gospel
was sufficient to qualify people in the lowest
situations of human life, with a fortitude and
magnanimity of spirit of whicb phUosophy
could scarcely reach the conception. In ef
fect, 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 proper
ties and tokens of a little and narrow mind.
It requires no energy, no sacriflce, no resolu
tion, to acquire such a disposition ; for it is
natural to us, and powerful and habitual in the
weakest and least respectable characters. But
to act uniformly as the servants of God, satis
fied 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 benevo
lence and meelmess, not only tothe good, but
also to the froward ; this indicates a true noble
ness 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 threat
ened not. He was crucified by wicked men :
but he prayed for thera while they were
nailing hira to the cross. This was an emi
nent branch of the raind 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 ?
Undoubtedly, so far as we are partakers in the
doctrine of his sufferings, and have real fel
lowship with him in his death, we shall re
semble hira. If we say we abide in him, we
ought to walk, even as he walked, 1 John ii.
6. But they, who, calling themselves Chris
tians, are fuU of the spirit of self-justifica
tion, contention, and complaint wliUe they
profess to believe in him, deny him by their
works. The apostles Peter and John, deeply
affected by their obligations to him, and by the
exquisite pattern of meekness and tenderness
which he had set before thera, departed from
the presence of the councU, not swelling with

evidence, tbat the New Testament was writ- anger, nor hanffins down their heads with
Vol. IL 2P

298

MESSIAH RISING PROM THE DEAD.

[SER. XXV.

grief, but rejoicing that they were counted
worthy to suffer 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 wilt not leave my soul in hell;
neither wilt thou suffer thy Holy One to
see corruption., — 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 divest
ed of prejudice and prepossession, as to read
the history of Jesus Christ recorded by the
evangelists, with attention, and iu order to
form his judgment of it, simply and candidly,
as evidence should appear, I think be must
observe many particulars in his spirit and
conduct, so very different from the prevailing
sentiments of mankind, as to convince hira,
that man, in his present state, could not pos
sibly have conceived the idea of such a cha
racter. Poets and historians have often era
ployed their powers in delineating what ap
peared to thera the great and the excellent
in human conduct. But how different are the
pictures of their adraired heroes, sages, and
legislators, from the portrait of the Saviour,
as it is drawn with the utraost siraplicity by
plain unlettered raen, who, without art or af
fectation, only describe what they profess to
have seen and heard. I fix at present upon
a single consideration, which perhaps cannot
be expressed raore 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 huraan policy and go
vernraent, and therefore totally unconducive
to any worldly purpose whatever. All others,
Mahomet, Numa, and even Moses hiraself,
blended their religious institutions with their
civil, and by thera obtained dorainion over
their respective people. But Christ neither
airaed 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 endea
voured to impose on. the world pretended

? Jenyn's Internal Evidence of the Chi-jstian Re
ligion, p. 33, 34. edit. 3.

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 show 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
actually did ; he foresaw, foretold, declared
their necessity, and voluntarUy endured them.
The death of our Lord was indeed essen
tial 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 bim dead, buried, and the se
pulchre sealed, they triumphed in their suc
cess, and expected to hear of hira no more.
But the scriptures, which were read in their
synagogues every sabbath-day, foretold his
resurrection frora tbe 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 Testaraent since it is
expressly applied to him by the aposties Pe
ter and Paul.
The word in the Hebrew text rendered,
in our version, soul, is used in different
senses. According to the connexion in
which it stands, it signifies breath, life, soul,
or spirit, and sometimes the dead body. The
corresponding Greek word, where the apos
tle quotes this verse, (Acts ii. 27,) has like
wise various significations. And the original
words answering to heU, signify both the in
visible world, or the state of the dead, and
sometimes the grave. Notwithstanding this
seeraing diversity, we are at no loss here for
the precise sense. Scripture is the best in
terpreter of itseff. It is evidently the apos
tie's design to prove that the psalmist fore
saw, and foretold, the resurrection of that
body which was taken down dead from the
cross, and laid in Joseph's tomb. With this
body our Lord arose on the third day, ac
cording to the scriptures.
Though Messiah was, for our sakes, treated
as a raalefactor, all who were immediately
concerned 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 frora 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 ;)
perfect and pure, and therefore naturally not
mortal, though subject to death fpr us. In
this nature the son of God was charged with
sins not his owra ; he becarae willingly re
sponsible for many, Matt. xx. 28.- .'What
ever was necessary on the behalf of sinners,
to render their forgiveness consistent with
the honour ofthe law, justice, truth, and go-

SfiR. XXV.]

MESSIAH RISING FROM THE DEAD.

299

vernment of God, was exacted of him, and he
performed, and paid to the utraost. He made
a full atonement for sin; and though he had
power over his life, he hung hour after hour
in agonies upon the cross, till he said, " It is
finished." Then he resigned his spirit into
the hands of his heavenly Father. He was
afterwards buried. But having finished his
whole undertaking, destroyed death, and hira
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 possi
ble that he should be detained in the grave,
Acts ii. 24. He had power likewise to re
sume 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 ira
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, 1 Cor. xv. 17.
And though it was not necessary that his
resurrection should have been so publicly
known, at the time, as his crucifixion, the
evidence for it is strong and decisive. No
one point of ancient history is capable of such
clear accumulated proof The apostles fre
quently saw him, conversed with him, ate
and drank with him, and were assured that it
was he by raany infallible proofs. They could
not be deceived theraselves, 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 rairacles, which they
performed in his narae. They persevered in
this testimony, in defiance of the malice of
the Jews and the scorn of the Heathens.
And by this doctrine of a crucified risen Sa
viour, though unsupported by the patronage
of huraan power, yea, though opposed by it in
every place, they effected that change in the
moral world, wherever they went which the
philosophers had not been able to produce, by
all their instructions, in a single instance ;
turning men, whom they found under the
strongest prejudices of education and habit,
frora darkness to light, and frora the worship
of durab idols, to serve the living and the
true God, 1 Thes. i. 9.
But there are proofs of this point which
depend 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 aU circurastances.
These are the effects which this doctrine pro
duces on the hearts of those who truly re
ceive it upon the authority of scripture, un
der* the influence of the Holy Spirit whose
office it is to^ open tho eyes of the mind, to
takeofthethingsof Jesus, (what the scripture
reveals ofhis person, offices, and glory,) and
to present thera, with infallible light and

evidence, to those who humbly yield them
selves to his teaching. These are made
partakers of the power of his resurrection,
PhU. Ui. 10. It delivers them frora guilt and
fear, animates them with confidence towards
God, weans thera frora 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 prolong
ed to proceed so far) appear under the. disad
vantage of a repetition of the same thoughts.
Indeed, I know not how to place the proof of
this capital doctrine in a light entirely new.
The most satisfactory proofs are the raost ob
vious ; and it would be folly to substitute
weaker in their place for the sake of novelty.
But if I should live to resurae the subject,
sorae 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 rainds that the Lord is risen indeed !
Luke xxiv. 34. I ara not preaching to Jews
or Mahoraetans, 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 raay 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 hira !" 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 raention
a few. 1. As Messiah was delivered, that is de
livered up, as a hostage to the deraands of
justice for our offences ; so they know that
he was raised again for our justification,
Rom. V. 25. By virtue of that union whicli
subsists between Messiah, as the head ofhis
body the church, and all his members; that
is, all in the successive ages of the world,
who believe in him by a faith of divine ope
ration ; he is their legal representative ; he
and they are considered as one. His suffer
ings, his whole humiliation and obedience
unto death, is so imputed to them, that they
thereby are exempted frora conderanation ;

300

MESSIAH RISING FROM THE DEAD.

XXT,

and though not from all sufferings, yet from
all that is properly penal, or strictly a punish
ment _ What they suffer is only in a way of
discipline or chastiseraent; and to them a
token, not of wrath, but of love. On the
other hand, as he by his resurrection was
vindicated, justified from the reproaches of
his enemies, declared 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 narae 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 Beloved. And
after this state of discipline is ended, they
shall be treated as if they had never sinned.
For if their sins are sought for in that day,
they shall not be found. If any charge should
be brought against thera, it shall be over
ruled — by this comprehensive unanswerable
plea — Christ that died, yea, rather 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 crirainal raay obtain a
pardon, raay escape the sentence he has de
served, and yet be left in a destitute and
miserable condition. But justification is
God's raanner of pardoning sinners, accord
ing to the sovereignty and riches of his grace,
in the Son of his love. Those whora he par
dons, he also justifies ; and whom he justifies,
he also glorifies. 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 en
tered into the heart of man to conceive 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 provoca
tions, 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 approach 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
theraselves unworthy 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 with all his cora-
raunica,ble fulness, and to claira hira as their
everlasting portion.
2. The resurrection of Christ frora the
dead is a pledge and speciraen of that almigh

ty power which is engaged on their behalf, to
overcorae all the obstacles, difficulties, and
eneraies 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
delivered from the dominion of sin, and from
the spirit and love of the world, is attributed
to the exceedmg 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 ov/n right hand, far above all
principality and might, and every name thatis
naraed. And often the church, collectively, in
its militant state, and the individuals which
compose it, in their personal concerns, have
been brought, to outward appearance, exceed
ing 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 hiraself 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
among raen, but they successively perished
in the atterapt ; 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. Matt. xvi. 18. 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 theraselves, has
proraised that none shall pluck thera out of
his hands, John x. 28. And while he re
raains 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 I,ord 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, tbe 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
overcloud their prospect ; and that which he
has said he wUl surely do for thera, appears
for a season, to the judgment of sense, im
practicable and hopeless. We might Ulus
trate this point at large from the history of
Abraham, of Israel in Egypt, of David, and

SER. XXVI.] THE ASCENSION OP MUSSIaH TO GLORYv

of the rebuilding of the second temple ; and I
doubt not but it might be iUustrated fromthe
history of many m 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 Ul yourself, and you are sure that the
help of raan cannot relieve you ; but while
your help is in the name of the Lord who
made heaven and earth, (Psal. cxxiv. 8,) and
while you are warranted to trust in him who
taiseth the dead, you have no just reason to
despond. It was a dark season with the dis-
eiples, when their Lord, whom they loved,
and in whom they trusted, that it had been
he who should have redeeraed Israel, (Luke
l£xiv. 20, 21,) was conderaned, 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 coraing. 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, PhU. in. 21. This corruptible raust
put on incorruption ; and the body, which is
sown in dishonour and vveakness, be raised
in power and gfory. Flesh and blood, in its
present state, cannot inherit the kingdora of
God. The body, in this life, is a clog and
a burden to those who place their chief hap
piness in the service ofGod, and in corarau
nion with bira. It is a vUe body, defiled by
sin, and it defiles their best desires and no
blest efforts. Even the grace of the Holy
Spirit, by wbich they live, though perfectly
pure in itself, is debased, when communi
cated to them, and exercised under the disad
vantages 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
prison, in which the soul, confined and pent
up, is liraited in its operations, and irapeded
in its perceptions of divine things. Though
we are probably surrounded by the glorious
realities 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 thera, but for the
good report of the word of God. Farther,
the body, as it is the seat of innumerable in
firmities, and the raedium which connects us
with the calaraities incident to this mortal
state, is often a great hindrance to our most
desirable enjoyments. Pain and sickness call
off the attention, and indispose our faculties,
when we wish to be most engaged in prayer.

* Another and yet the same.

801
detain us frora the ordinances, or prevent the
pleasure we hope for in waiting tipon the
Lord in thera. But our new, spiritual, and
glorified bodies will be free from all defile-
raent 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 XXVL
the ASCENSION OF MESSIAH TO OLORY.
Lift up your heads, O 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, O ye gates, even lift up, ye ever
lasting 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 ofthe Levitical law were
a shadow or sketch of good things to come.
They exhibited a faint and general outline
ofthe mediation and glory of Messiah. They
raay be corapared to the delicate engravings
on a seal, the beauty and proportions of wbich
cannot be plainly discerned without the as
sistance of a glass. The gospel answers to
such a glass. Beheld through this medium,
the miniature delineations ofthe law, which
to the eye of unassisted, unhumbled reason,
appear confused and insignificant, display a
precision of arrangement in the parts, and an
importance of design in the whole, worthy of
the wisdom of their great Author.
From the similarity of the subject of thi?
psalm and the sixty-eighth, it is at least pro
bable that they were both composed upon the
sarae occasion, the reraoval of the ark of the
Ijord from its last stationary residence to its
fixed abode in Zion, when the king, the
priests, the singers, and the harpers, all as
sisted in the procession, attended by a great
concourse of the people. The language of
the latter part of the psalra is evidently alter
nate. 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 an
swered by those who were waiting within to
receive it " Who is tbe Kmg of glory ?"
To which question the proper reply 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 transac-

803

THE ASCENSION OI* MESSIAH TO GLORY.

[SBR. XXVt.

tion. But it was at the same time a type of
an event unspeakably more glorious. They
who know that the scriptures ofthe Old Tes
tament testffy of Christj|that it is he of whom
Moses in the Law, David in the Psalms, and
all the succeeding prophets, did write, wUl, I
think, agree in considering this peissage as
referring to his ascension, in the nature in
which he suffered, into the true holy place in
the heavens, as the representative and high-
priest of bis people ; when, after having by
his own self purged our sins, he sat down at
tbe right hand ofthe Majesty on high. Then
having spoiled principalities and powers, he
triuraphed over thera openly, though not in
the view of raortal eyes. He lifted up his
hands, and blessed bis apostles, and while in
this attitude he was parted frora them, Luke
xxiv. 51. He ascended gently and gradually,
and they, admiring and adoring, beheld him
with fixed attention, till a cloud concealed
hira frora their sight. Acts i. 9. The pomp
and triumph of his ascension were displayed
in the invisible world. But this description,
accomraodated to our apprehensions, is given
to assist the faith of his people, that their
hearts may be comforted, their meditations
enlarged, and tbat in the exercise of grateful
love, they may follow him in their thoughts,
ascend with hira into the heavenly places,
and rejoice in his glory.
We conceive of him, therefore, from this
sublime passage, as ascending to Ids Father
and our Father, to his God and our God, ac
companied with a train of worshipping an
gels, who deraand adraittance for Messiah,
the Saviour and friend of sinners, as the King
of glory. The question is asked. Who is he
that claims this honour ? An answer is given,
asserting his character, his victories, and the
justice of his claims — "The Lord of Hosts,
the Lord strong in battle, he is the King of
glory." The principal points which offer to our
consideration are,
I. His title, — The Lord of hosts.
II. His victories, iraplied in the expression,
— ^The Lord strong and raighty 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 tbe husband of the church, and the husband
ofthe church is the Lord of hosts, Isa. liv. 5.
It was the Lord of hosts, whom Isaiah saw,
seated upon a throne, high and lifted up, and
his train filling the teraple, Isa. vi. 1. The
vision filled him with astonishment, and he

cried out "Woe is me, I am undone;-— for
mrae eyes have seen the King, Uie Lord ol
hosts." But the apostie John assures us,
that when Isaiah said these things, he saw
his glory, and spake of him, John xu. 41. This
is the titie of God in the Old Testament; or,
as some choose to speak, of tbe Supreme
Being. And it is ascribed to Messiah in
many places. Therefore, if he were not the
Lord of hosts, the scripture would be charge
able with authorizing, 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 nothing to fear.
il. He is the Lord strong and mighty in
battle. It was in his human nature he en
gaged in battie 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
Ixiii. 3,) his owm arm brought hira salvation.
He is conqueror of sin, Satan, and death.
We were under the power of these ; there
fore, 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 ofthe law,
and sustaining the penalty due to our trans
gressions. 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 pri
soners, delivered the prey out ofthe 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 apostie 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 dark
ness, in the hour of his lowest humiliation,
when he hung and expired upon the cross,
and triuraphed over them, gloriously leading
captivity captive, when he ascended on high,
Ps. Ixviii. 18. Satan, thougb still an enemy
to his church and cause, is despoUed ofhis do
rainion ; his power is only perraissive, and in
his fiercest assaults be is limited by bounds
which he cannot pass, by a chain which he
cannot break ; and all his atterapts are con
troUed and over-ruled, to the furtherance of
the cause which he would suppress, and to
the good of the persons whom he would
worry and destroy. They are made ac
quainted with hie devices, furnished with ar
mour sufficient to repel him, and they fight
under encouragement of a sure promise, that

SER. XXVI.]

THE ASCENSION OF MESSIAH TO GLORY.

303

the God of peace will shortly and finally
bruise Satan under their feet As Messiah,
their King, has conquered for thera, so they,
in due time, shall be made more than con
querors, by faith in his blood, and in the word
of his testiraony.
IIL The titie 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 tbe human nature, a narae that is
above every narae, Phil. ii. 9. He suffered
as a man, yea, as a raalefactor ; there was 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 sarae man who was crucified,
dead, and buried, received glory and autho
rity at his resurrection, and was highly ex
alted to the administration of all dominion
and government. Perhaps the word glory is
not easily defined. We conceive it as ex-
pressmg brightness and splendour. The
glory of Solomon was the combined effect of
his wisdom, power, and riches; which dis
tinguished hira in his character, conduct, and
appearance, frora other men. The glory of
the sun is his effulgence and influence. The
word glory, when applied to the blessed God,
seems to denote that manifestation of him
self, by which his inteUigent creatures are
capable of knowing him ; for in hunself he is
infinite, inaccessible, and incomprehensible,
a'nd dweUeth in that light which no man,
which no creature, can approach unto, 1 Tim.
vi. 16. Of this manifestation there are va
rious degrees. His glory shines in the crea
tion. Not only do the heavens declare it by
their imraensity, (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 irapression of his wisdora and goodness.
an iniraitable criterion ofhis wonder-working
hand, which so fer displays his glory. To an
attentive and discerning mind, his glory
shines in his providence ; in his preserving
the world which he has made ; in supplying
the various wants of his creatures, and par
ticularly in his moral government of man
kind. Here, besides his wisdom, power, and
general goodness, we discover some traces
ofhis character as the righteous Judge of the
earth. But to our limited capacities and
views this glory is obscured by many difficul
ties. Though righteousness and judgraent
. are the habitation of his throne, yet clouds
and darkness are round about him. Psalm
xcvii. 2. By his holy word, his revealed will,
we are favoured with a stUl brighter display

of his glory, in the perfections of holiness,
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
express imago of his person, Heb. i. 3. No
one hath seen God at any tirae, but the only-
begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Fa
ther, (John i. 18,) intiraately 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 lffe 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
knowledge of God but by him. In the person
and work of Messiah, the light of the know
ledge of the glory of God, the brightness and
harmony 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 scrip
ture, we see the glory of God. Other dis
coveries of it are but scattered rays and ema
nations 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
kingdom.; but he clairaed and took possession
in their narae, Heb. vi. 20. Hence he is
styled their forerunner, because by virtue of
their relation to him, and their interest in
him, they shall surely follow him. This is
the encouragement of believers. He is the
head ofhis body the church : and though the
church, whUe in this world, is in a suffering
perilous state ; yet as the body of a man is
not in danger of drowning while his head is
out of the water, so our forerunner and head
being in heaven on their behalf, he will as
suredly draw all his living members to him
self He bas said, " Because I live, ye shall
shall live also," John xiv. 19. And he has
stipulated for them, that they shall, each in
his appointed time, lie with hira 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 them
selves, and thougb their best services are
polluted, they find a liberty of access; and
because he ever liveth, thus to make inter-

304

MESSIAH THE SON OF GOD.

[ser. XXVI'I.

cession for all who come unto God by hira,
(Heb. vii. 25,) they know that he is able to
save them to the uttermost
3. Thougb 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 powej- of his
Spirit, he is present with them below. He
comforts their hearts, enlivens their assem
blies, and manages their concerns. He is
their Shepherd, who gives them food, con
trols their enemies, revives their fainting
spirits, and restores their wanderings, Psalm
xxiu. His ear is open to their prayers, his
eye is upon them in every situation, and his
arm stretched forth for their relief There
fore, though persecuted, they are not for-
.saken ; though cast down, they are not de
stroyed. And he has proraised that he will
not leave thera, until he. has done all that for
them which his word has taught thera 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
glory, who is seated on the throne of heaven,
dweUeth also in the hurable 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 ofhis power. Behold! he
stands at the door, and knocks ; (Rev. iii. 20 ;)
and because he is as yet unknown, he is for
a whUe rejected. The bolts and bars of pre
judice and unbelief withstand his entrance.
But when he coraes on a purpose of grace, he
wUl take no denial. For a season he waits to
be gracious. But^ie has an appointed hour,
when he reveals his great narae, and makes
tbe soul sensible who he is ! Then the gates
of brass and bars of iron are broken before
hira. His greatness and his goodness, what
he is in hiraself, and what he has done and
suffered for sinners, are raotives which can
not be resisted when they are truly under
stood. Satan, who, as the strong one armed,
long laboured to hinder hira frora his right
ful possession, is himself dispossessed. The
soul laments its forraer 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
experienced, out of whom Jesus cast a legion
of evU 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
wretched was his state then, miserable in

himself, and a terror to others ! But what a
wonderful and happy alteration, when he sat
quietly at his Saviour's feet clothed and in
his right mind !
I close the subject with the apostie's in
ference, " 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
profession." Heb. iv. 14. Let not- those who
know him, be asharaed of their attachment to
hira. You will not repent in a dying hour,
that you once thought too highly of him, or
expected too much from him, or devoted
yourselves with too much earnestness to big
service. Nor yield to unbelief and fear.
Though your enemies are raany and mighty,
and your trials great, greater is he that is
with 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 effectuaUy to
harm you ? Continue instant in prayer, per
severe in well-doing. Our ascended Lord
wUl 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 raeet
hira. But alas ! how shall they stand before
hira ? Or whither shall they flee frora him
whose presence fiUeth 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 proclairaed by the gospel,
a Saviour, seated upon a throne of grace,
stretching forth the golden sceptre of his love,
and inviting sinners to be reconciled. Now
is the accepted time. Hereafter he wUl be
seen upon a throne of judgment, to take ven
geance ofhis eneraies.

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 J
begotten thee ? — Hebrews, i. 5.
Though every part of a revelation frora
God raust of course be equally true, there
may be a considerable difference even araong
truths proposed by the. sarae authority, with
respect to their iraraediate iraportance. There
are fundamental truths, the knowledge of
which is essentially necessary to our peace
and holiness : and there are others of a se
condary nature, which, though very useful in
their proper connexion, and though the right
¦apprehension of them is greatiy 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
thera. Thus our Lord pronounced Peter
blessed, (Matt. xvi. 17,) for his acknowledg-

AER. XXVII.]

MESSIAH THE SON OF GOD.

305

ment of a truth, which had been revealed to
him, not by flesh and blood, but from above,
though he was at that tirae very deficient in
doctrinal knowledge. It is not easy to draw
the line here, and precisely to distinguish be
tween fundamental and secondary truths ; yet
some attention to this distinction is expedient;
and the want of such attention has greatly
contributed to foment and embitter contro
versies in the Church of Christ ; while fal
lible men, from a mistaken zeal for the faith
once delivered 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 ex
perienced by all, of every nation, people, and
language, who are taught ofGod ; (Is. liv. 13 ;)
for they, and they only, are Christians in
deed, who are thus taught And therefore it
seems to follow, that no doctrine, however
true in itself, which humble and spiritual per
sons, 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 endeavour to express
their meaning to each other.
However, tf 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 eminentiy so. Mistakes upon tiiis point
must necessarily be dangerous. It cannot be
a question of mere speculation, whether the
Saviour be God or a creature; he must
either be the one or the other ; and the whole
frame of our religion is unavoidably depend
ent upon the judgment we form of hira. If
he be a man only, or tf he be an angel, though
of the highest order, and possessed of excel
lencies peculiar to himself; stiU, upon the
supposition that he is but a creature, he must
be infinitely inferior to his Maker, in com
parison of whose immensity the difference
between an angel and a worm is anni
hilated. Then all they who pay divine wor
ship 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,"^ohn
XX. 28,) are involved in tiie gross and heinous
crirae of idolatry, by ascrilSng to him that
glory which the great God has declared he
wiU not give to another, Is. xiii. 8. On the
contrary, if he be God over all blessed for
ever, Jehovah, the Lord of hosts, then they
who refuse bim the honour due unto his
name, worship they know not what, John iv.
22. For there is but one God ; and, accord
ing to this plan, they who know him not in
Vol. IL 2 Q

Christ know him not at all, but are without
God in the world, Ephes. ii. 12. The judg
raent we form of the Saviour demonstrates
likewise how far we Imow ourselves. For
it may be fairly presumed, that they who
think a creature capable of raaking atone
ment 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
huraan heart
We ascribe it therefore to the wisdom and
goodness of God, that a doctrine so impor
tant, the very pillar and gTOund 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 skUl m 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 testffy of
Him, who was styled the Son of God in so
peculiar a sense, that the apostie, in this
passage, considers it as a sufficient proof
that he is by nature superior to all crea
tures. The form of the question implies the
strongest assertion of this superiority ; as if
he had said, -Conceive of the highest and
most exalted of the angels, it would be ab
surd to suppose that God would say to him,
" Tliou art my Son, this day have I begot
ten tliee."
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
improper to indulge flights of imagination, or
a spirit of curiosity or conjecture upon this
occasion. These are the deep thmgs 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 sarae 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 affordmg us
his holy scripture, is 'to make us wise unto
salvation, 2 Tim. iii. 15. His manner of
teaching is therefore accommodated to our
circurastances. He instructs us in heavtmly
things by earthly. And to engage our confi
dence, to excite our gratituae, to aniraate ua
to our duty by the most affecting motives ,
and t'na': :iie reverence we owe to his great

306

MESSMH THE SON OP GOD.

[ser. xxvii.

and glorious Majesty, as our Creator and Le
gislator, may be combined with love and
cheerful dependence, he is pleased to reveal
himself by those names which express the
nearest relation and endearment amongst
ourselves. Thus he condescends to style
himself tbe Father, the Husband, and the
Friend of his people. But though in this
way we are assisted in forming our concep
tions of his love, corapassion, and faithfulness,
it is obvious that these naraes, when applied
to hira, must be understood in a sense agreea
ble to the perfections of his nature, and in
many respects different frora the raeaning
they bear amongst men. And thus, when we
are inforraed 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 comfort, we are to consult, not our own
preconceived ideas, but the further declara
tions of his word, comparing spiritual things
with spiritual, attending with the siraplicity
of chUdren to his instructions, and avoiding,
as much as possible, those vain reasonings,
upon points above our coraprehension, which,
though flattering to the pride of our hearts,
are sure to indispose us for the reception of
divine truth. A distinction in the divine na
ture, inconceivable by us, but plainly revealed
in terms, must be admitted, upon the testi
mony and authority of him, who alone can
instruct us in what we are concerned to know
of his adorable essence. " 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 overwhelraed,
jf we atterapt to represent to ourselves how
or in what manner three are one, and one are
three, may be easily accounted for, if any
just reason can be given, why a worra cannot
comprehend infinity. Let us first, if we can,
account for the nature, essence, and proper
ties 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
ofthe Trinity to ray hearers, I rather wish to
leave an irapression upon your rainds, that it
is to us (and perhaps to the highest created
intelligence) incomprehensible, But if it be
contained in the scripture (which I raust
leave to your own consciences to determine
in the sight ofGod,) it is thereby sufficiently

proved, and humble faith requires no otiier
proof Allow me to confirm my own sentiments,
by an observation of a celebrated French
writer,* to the following purport: — "The
whole difference, with respect to this subject,
between the coraraon 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 tbe 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 baptisra prescribed by out
Lord for the use of his church, is thus ex
pressed, " Baptizing thera its the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost" Matt xxvui. 19. It is evident, by
comparing this sentence with that which I
before recited from the Epistle of John, that
the Word and the Son are synonymous terms,
expressive of the same character. They are
both the titles of Messiah. Of him John
spoke, when be 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 begotten 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 iu. 16. It was undoubtedly his de
sign, 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 mediura ofthe acts and sufferings ofMes
siah: but he who assumed it was the Word,
who was before aU, and by whom all things
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 the beginning, God with God, was
given to appear, obey, and suffer, in the na
ture of man, for us, and for our salvation.
And to him are ascribed the perfections and
attributes of Deity ; for which the highest
angels are no more capable than the worms
which creep upon the earth.
I cannot, therefore, suppose, that the title

' Abbadie.

SB&. xxvii.]

MESSIAH THE SON OP GOD.

of Son of God is merely a titie of office, or
belonging only to the nature which he as
sumed ; but that Messiah is the Son of God,
OS he is God and raan in one person. If the
forraing a perfect and spotless raan, like
Adara when he was first created, could have
affected our salvation, it would have been a
great and undeserved mercy to have vouch
safed tbe 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 per
son of Christ was sent came forth frora the
Father. The manhood was the offering;
but the Word of God, possessed of the per
fections 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
father. I feel and confess myself at a loss
here. I raight take up your time, and per
haps conceal my own ignorance, by borrow
ing from the writings of wiser and better
men than rayself, a detail of what have been
fenerally reputed the raore prevailing ortho-
ox sentiments on this subject. But I dare
not go beyond my own ideas. I shall not,
therefore, attempt to explain the phrase, eter
nal generation, because I must acknowledge
tiiat I do not clearly understand it rayself
Long before time began, the purpose of con
stituting the Mediator between God and sin
ners was established in the divine counsels.
With reference to this, he hiraself speaks, in
the character of the Wisdom of God ; " The
Lord possessed rae 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
Drought up with him, rejoicing 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, according to an ever
lasting and sure covenant, to assurae our na
ture, and to accomplish our salvation, before
the earth was formed, he would not have ap
peared afterwards ; for we cannot with rea
son, conceive of any new deterrainations
arising in the mind of the infinite 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 begotten Son
ofGod from eternity; that is, set up and ap
pointed from eternity for the office, nature,
and work, by whicb, in the fulness of time,
he was raanifested to men. But if the terras,
begotten or eternal generation,he used to de
note the raanner of his eternal existence in
Deity, I must be sUent I believe him to be
the eternal Son; I believe him tobe the eter
nal 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, evi
dently applies the purport of this phrase, " I
have begotten thee," to transactions which
took place in time, This day, and particular
ly to two principal events.
1. His incarnation. — Thus the angel to
Mary, "The Holy Ghost shall corae upon
thee, and the power of the Highest shall over
shadow thee ; therefore also the holy thing
which shall be born of thee, shaU be called
the Son ofGod," Luke i. 35. So the apostie,
" In the fulness of tirae 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 aU the angels of God wor
ship him."
2. His resurrection. — To this purpose our
text is quoted frora the second Psalra. " The
proraise which was raade 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
ray 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 tbe
Son of God with power, according to the
Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection frora
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 rauch by
inquiry and study on our part, as by a gra
cious manifestation on his part. Prayer, at
tention to the great Teacher, a hurable pe
rusal of the scripture, and a cpurse of siraple
obedience to his known wUI, are the rae-
thods which he has prescribed for our growth
in grace, and in the knowledge of hiraself.
Thus even babes are made wise ; while they
who are wise and prudent in their own sight
the raore they endeavour to investigate and
ascertain the sense of scripture, are frequent
ly involved more and more in perplexity.
He has given a promise and direction, for
the encouragement of those who sincerely
seek hira. "He that hath ray command
ments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth
me ; and he that loveth me shall be loved of
my Father, and I wUl love him, and will
manifest rayself unto hira." John xiv. 21,
This is he with whora 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 (Jur hope, that God hath given us
eternal life, and this life is in his Son ; who
is so much better than the angels, as he hath
by inheritance obtained a more oxQellent
name than they, Heb. i. 4,

308

MESSMH WORSHIPPED BY ANGELS.

[ser. XXVIIL

SERMON XXVHL
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 Elijah, (1 Kings xix. 10,) that like hira they
have been tempted to think they were left to
serve him alone. But God had then a faith
ful 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 pub
lic ordinances, and perhaps nd opportunity of
conversing with those who are like-minded
with themselves. But even thougb the nura
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 raore with
us than against us, 2 Kings vi. 16. And such
a power is attributed to faith. It is the evi
dence of things not seen, (Heb. xi. 1,) because
it receives the testiraony of scripture, and
rests upon it, as a certainty, and a demonstra
tion ; requiring no other proof, either of doc
trines 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 mis
represented in yonder land oflight as in this
dark and degenerate world. Though too
many here, like Festus, treat it as a mat
ter of great indifference, whether Jesus be
dead or alive ; (Acts xxv. 19 ;) and ask them
with a taunt. What is your Belovod more
than another beloved ? they are not ashamed,
for they know whom they have believed ;
and if raen wUl not join with thera in ad
miring and praising him, they are sure that
they have the concurrence of far superior
beings. By faith they behold hira seated
upon a throne of glory, adored by all holy and
bappy 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 sarae. 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
,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 incarna
tion, or to his resurrection. I apprehend it
rather designs the whole of his exhibition in
the flesh. At his ascension, having finished
the work appointed for him to do, he was
soleranly invested 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 ofhis divine
person is the same, yesterday, to-day, and
for ever. He was always the proper object
of worship. It was agreeable to right, and
to the nature of things, and a command wor
thy of God, that all the angels ofGod should
worship him.
The holy angels that excel in strength,
(Psalm cui. 20,) always do his command
ments, hearkening to the voice of his word.
We might be certain, therefore, that this
highest and most coraprehensive 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 co
vered his face, and with twain he covered
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," Isa. vi. I see not how the force of
the argument arising frora this passage, to
prove that Messiah is tbe proper object of the
most soleran adoration which creatures can
offer to the Most High, can be evaded ; un
less any were hardy enough to assert, either
that the prophet was himself imposed 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 apostie likewise had
a vision to the same effect, in whicb, while
his people redeeraed from the earth by his
blood cast their crowns at his feet, the angels
were also represented as joining in the cho
rus of their praises, saying with aloud voice,
" Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to re
ceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honour, and glory, and bless
ing," Rev. V. 12. In brief, he is tbe 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 ser
vants, that, at his command, they are sent
forth to minister unto, and to attend upon his
believing people. Are they not all minister
ing (xs.Tousy.«», worshipping) spirits, adoring
the divine Majesty, yet sent forth to minister
(ms j.««o»i«i., for service) to the heirs of salva-

SER. XXVIII.]

MESSIAH WORSHIPPJED BY ANGELS.

809

tion ? Heb. i. 14. He is .likewise the head
of angels, though they are not in the same
near relation to him as the sinners whora he
has redeemed with his blood ; for he took not
on him then: nature. There was no redemp
tion appointed for the angels who kept not
their first habitation. But the confirmation
of those who continue m holmess and happi
ness, is in and through him, " For aU things
both which are m heaven, and which are on
earth, are gathered together in one («»«"•?•-
>..i«ir«ir8«i, reduced under one head into ono
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 hira. 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 sorae de
gree, witnesses and proofs of his abUity and
willingness to save. He lived, he died, he
rose, he reigns for us. Therefore, hurably
depending upon his proraised 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 bis disposal, to entrust our
all to his care, and to place our whole hap
piness in his favour. I hope, in speaking
thus, I speak the language of raany of your
hearts. Sorae reflections easily offer from this sub
ject with which I shall close it.
1. They who love hira, raay rejoice in the
thoughts of his glory. They have deeply
sympathized with him, when reading the his
tory of his humUiation 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 ofhis word and by the light ofhis Holy
Spirit, he has been set forth as crucifled be
fore their eyes, and they bave been crucified
with hira, and have had fellowship with him
in bis death. From hence they derive their
indignation against sin, and their indifference
to the world which treated him thus. But
now he is no raore a man of sorrows ; his
head, which was once crowned with thoms,
is now crowned with glory ; his face, which
Was defiled with spittle, shines like the sun ;
his hands, which were manacled, wield the

sceptre of universal government; and, instead
of being surrounded by insulting men, he id
now encircled by adoring angels. Therefore
they rejoice with jov unspeakable, expecting
soon to see hira as he is, and to be with him
for ever, according to the gracious promise
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 littie re
gard to thera : they are slighted, or seemed,
or pitied, and, in proportion as they manifest
his spirit experience a degree of the treat
ment which he raet with ; they are accounted
visionaries and hypocrites ; many of them are
great sufferers, and few of them, compara'
tively, are distinguished araong men by abi
lities, influence, or wealth; they are pUgrims
and strangers upon earth; yet this God is
their God. He who is worshipped by angels
is not asharaed to call them brethren, Heb. ii.
11. They are nearly related to bim 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 king
dom of their Lord. They shall stand before
hira with confidence, and not be ashamed
when he appears. 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 salvation," (Isa.
xxv. 9 :) whUe the others, however once ad
mired or feared by mortals, the kings of the
earth, and the great raen, 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 conceal them
selves, and shall say to the mountains and
rocks, " Fall on us, and hide us from the face
of him that sitteth upon the throne, for tho
great day of his wrath is come," Rev. xvi.
15, 16. In that hour, the striking descrip
tion in the book of Wisdom (which, though
apocryphal, is in this passage quite consonant
with the declarations of authentic scripture)
will assuredly be realized. " Then shall the
righteous man stand in great boldness before
the face of such as have afflicted him, and
made noaccount of his labours. When they
see it, they shaU be troubled with terrible
fear, and shall be amazed at the strangeness
of his salvation, so far beyond all that they
looked for ; and they, repenting, and groan
ing for anguish of spirit shall say within
theraselves, This was he whom we bad some
times in derision, and a proverb of reproach.
We fools counted his life madness, and his
end to be without honour. How is he num-

810

MESSIAH WORSHIPPED BY ANGELS.

[sElt. XXVIU.

bored among the chUdren ofGod, and his lot
is among the saints !" Wisdom, v. 1 — 5.
3. We may well admire the condescension
of this great King, who hurableth hiraself
even to notice tbe 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 pol
luted lips. If we know ourselves, we must
be conscious of such defects and defilenient
attending our best services, as are sufficient
to affect us with shame and humUiation.
What wanderings of imagination, what
risings of evU thoughts, what unavoidable
though unhallowed workings of self-compla
cence, raingle with our prayers and praises,
and disturb us in our secret retireraents, in
the public asserably, 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 positive transgressions ofhis will, but
for our sincerest warmest and most enlarged
attempts to render hira the glory due to his
name ! Yet we are incompetent and partial
judges of ourselves ; we know but littie of the
evil of our own hearts, and have but a slight
sense of the malignity of that evU which is
within our observation. But the Lord searches
the heart and the reins ; to hira all things are
naked, without covering, open, without con
cealment Heb. iv. 13. He understandeth
our thoughts afar of, and behold eth us exactly
as we are. Our dislike of sin is proportion
able to our attainments in holiness, which are
exceedingly short of the standard. But he is
infinitely holy, and therefore evil is unspeak
ably 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 raajesty
and purity to accept any services or prayers
at our hands, if we presuraed to offer them in
our own name. But now there is an atone
ment provided, and a way of access to a
throne of grace, sprinkled with the blood
which speaketh better things than the blood
of Abel. Now that we have an Advocate,
Intercessor, and High-Priest to bear the ini
quity of our holy things, we are accepted in
the Beloved. Now the great and holy God
vouchsafes to admit such sinners into com
munion with himself He invites us to draw
near with boldness ; and because of ourselves
we know not how to pray as we ought, (Rora.
viii. 26,) he favours us with the influence of
his Holy Spirit. It is a great instance ofthe
power of faith, that, reraerabering what we
have been, and feeling what we are, and
having some right apprehension of him with
whom we have to do, we are enabled to ap
proach him with confidonce, and to open our
hearts to hira with greater liberty than we
can use to our dearest eartiily friends. His
people know, by many infallible proofs, that

his presence is with them in their secret re
tirements, and in their public assemblies, ac
cording to his promise. He hears and an
swers their prayers, he revives their spu-its,
he renews their strength; he gives them
reason to say, that a day m his courts is bet
ter than a thousand of the world's days. Such
are their expectations, and such, in the ex
ercise of feith, is their experience. They
worship bira 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 m glory, by
virtue of their relation to him, who is Lord
both of angels 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
creation, and other representations, which
denote it can be effected only by divine
power. TUl we are the subjects of this ope
ration, we are incapable of enjoying, or even
of seeing the kingdom of God, Jolm iii. 3. .
Though to outward appearance the congre
gation 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,
tiiough custora, or a regard to your connec
tions, brings you 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 hira. You are soon
weary and uneasy ; and you wish to throw
the blarae of your uneasiness upon the
preacher. You regard his method, his man
ner, his expressions, with no friendly inten
tion, in hopes of noticing 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 tf you will be
feithful 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 tbe angels worship. There are
assemblies more suited to your taste, and
there are public speakers to whom you can
probably afford a wUling ear, for a much
longer time than we detain you; because
there you are at home. You are of the
world, and you love the world. The amuse
ments, the business, the converse, and the
customs 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,
tiiere are persons in the same' seat with you,

sfiS. xxtt.] GIFTS RECEIVED POR THE REBELLIOUS.

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 like
wise would be pleased ; and a preacher of
very moderate powers would fix your atten
tion, and gain your esteera, if he preached
this gospel. But what ideas do you forra of a
future state? Surely you cannot suppose,
that in the eternal world you will meet with
any ofthe poor expedients you have recourse
to now, for filling up your time, which other
wise would hang heavy upon your hands.
To attempt a detaU of the round of vanities
which constitute a worldly life, would be un
suitable to tbe dignity of the pulpit. Let it
suffice, that death will remove you from them
all. If they are now necessary to what you
account your happiness, 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 admiring 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
tirae to seek his face ; and trerable 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 frora
your eyes!

SERMON XXIX.
GIFTS RECEIVED FOR THE REBELLIOUS.
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 IxvUi. 18.
When Joseph exchanged a prison for the
chief honour and government of Egypt, (Gen.
xiv. 4, 5,) the advantage ofhis exaltation was
felt by those who little deserved it His
brethren hated, and had conspired to kiU him.
And though he was preserved frora death,
they were permitted to sell hira for a bond
servant He owed his. servitude, imprison
ment, and sufferings to them ; and they were
afterwards indebted to him for their lives,

311

subsistence, honour, and comfort ; God in a
wonderful manner over-ruling their evil con
duct for future good to themselves. Thus
Jesus was despised, rejected, and sold ; and he
was actually slain. But he arose and as
cended. The man of sorrows took possession
of the throne of glory ; and not for himself
only. His honour is the source of happiness
to tiiose who were once his enemies, and re
bellious against hira. For the sake of such
he lived and died. For their sakes he lives
and reigns. He fought conquered, and tri
uraphed over their eneraies. As their repre
sentative, he received gifts to bestow upon
thera : such gifts as their necessities re
quired, 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
thera to the favour of God, and revive his
iraage in their hearts ; so as to make it suit
able to his holiness and truth, for the Lord
God to return to his polluted temples, and to
dwell in thera and among thera.
I observed, in a former discourse, that this
psalm and the twenty-fourth were probably
composed and first published on-the memora
ble 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
passage, (Eph. iv. 8,) authorises us to con
sider that transaction as typical of our Lord's
ascension. Jesus is the true ark. The holy
law of God was in his heart ; his obedience
unto death was fully comraensurate to the
deraands of the law, (Rom. iii. 25,) as tbe
raercy-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
highly exalted upon the throne of glory, and
administers all power in heaven and in earth.
From hence is the honour, safety, and hap
piness of those who believe in him. They
have nothing to plead for themselves. But
unworthy 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 tbe text, suggest
a convenient raethod for our raeditations, and
will lead me briefly to consider four points —
His ascension — his victories — the gifts he
received for men — and the great end for
which he bestows them.
I. His ascension — "Thou hast ascended
on high." — God formed man originally for
himself, and gave him an answerable capa
city, so that no inferior good can satisfy and

312

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR THE REBELUOtTS.

, xxtx.

fiU his mind. Man was likewise, by the con
stitution and wUl of his Maker, imraortal,
provided he persevered in obedience. But
sin degraded and ruined him, shut the gates
of paradise and the gates of heaven against
him. Man destroyed himself; but wisdom
and raercy interposed for his recovery. A
promise was given ofthe seed ofthe woman,
who should bruise the serpent's head, defeat
his policy, destroy his power, and repair the
mischiefs he had introduced by sin. Mes
siah fulfiUed this proraise. And when he had
finished all that was appointed for him on
earth, as the second Adam, the head and re
presentative of his people, he ascended on
high, and opened the kingdom of heaven to
all believers. As an illustrious proof to the
universe, that God is reconciled ; that there
is forgiveness with him for sinners who ira
plore his mercy; one in our nature, and on
our behalf, has taken possession of the king
dom. The series of texts in this part of the
Oratorio recaUs 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 subliraest joys, and the sufficient the
only sufficient answer to all the saggestions
by which guilt, fear, vuibelief, and Satan,
fight against our peace. Surrounded as we
are with. eneraies and difficulties, we plead
against every accusation and threatening,
that our Head is in heaven; we have an ad
vocate with the Father, a High-Priest upon
the throne, who, because he ever liveth to
make intercession, is able to save to the ut
termost This is all our plea, nor do we de
sire any other. His ascension on high, is a
sure pledge that his servants shall follow
hira, John xii. 26. And even at present, by
faith they ascend and are seated with hira in
the heavenly places, Eph. ii. 6. They behold
invisibles with the eye of their raind ; they
realize the glorious scene, frora which they
are separated by the vail of flesh and blood.
They know that even now, day and night,
day without night rayriads of golden harps
and happy voices resound his praise. The
Babe of Bethlehem, the Man who pnce 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 hira,
and because they expect shortly to be with
him. II. His victories — "Thou hast led cap
tivity captive." The expression is emphati
cal. He has conquered and triuraphed over
all the powers which held us in captivity, so
that captivity itself is taken captive. The
spirit and force of it is destroyed ; and his
people, when released by hira, and walking
in his ways, have no raore to apprehend frora
those whose captives they were, than a con
queror has to fear frora 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 vic
tory." Man by nature is a captive, in a state
of confinement and bondage, from which he
cannot escape by any address or efibrt of his
own. He is a captive to sui: 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,
while he is the servant, the slave of corrup
tion. He is not always, and in every sense,
a wUling captive. Conscience soraetimes
remonstrates, fills hira with fears and fore
bodings, which make hira struggle to be free.
And there are many sins, which, besides be
ing offences against the law of God, are di
rectly contrary to the sinner's present in
terest 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 Persons enslaved to habits of lewd
ness, or drunkenness, need not be told from
tbe pulpit, that the courses they pursue are
injurious to their health, their business, or
stibstance, their reputation, and tbeir peace.
They know it and feel it, without a monitor.
There are seasons, when the Ul consequences
they bring upon theraselves, make them sick
of the drudgery, and excite sorae efforts to
wards a reform. But in vain. The next re
tum of temptation bears down all their re
solutions like a torrent, and, afler every at
tempt to amend, they usually become worse
than before. For none can escape, unless
the Son makes them free. His grace can
overcorae the most obstinate habits of licen
tiousness, and implant the contrary habits
of purity and temperance. But they who ara
not delivered by him must die in their chains.
III. The gifts he received for men —
" Thou hast received gifts, even for the re
bellious." To bestow gifts upon the miser
able is bounty; but to bestow them upon
rebels, is grace. The greatness of the gifts
contrasted with tbe characters of those who
receive them, displays the exceeding riches
of the Redeeraer's grace. He came to save,
not the unhappy only, but the ungodly. He
gives pardon, peace, and eternal lffe, 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 from hira. They live long in con
terapt of tbe law and authority of God ; and
though justly obnoxious to his displeasure,
while left to theraselves, they despise and
reject the proposals of his raercy. If they
soraetimes acknowledge themselves to be
sinners, they still presume that they are able
to procure his favour by their own perform
ances. They strangely imagine they bave a
sufficient ground of hope, so long as it ap
pears to themselves that they are not alto
gether so bad as others. And when, by the

BER. XXIX.]

GIFTS RECEIVED FOR THE REBELLIOUS.

313

gospel, the Lord treats them as suiners al
ready justiy condemned by the tenor of his
holy laws, and informs them ofthe exigency
of their case ; that nothing less than the re
sources of his infinite wisdom, and the most
expensive e.xertion of his unspeakable love,
can possibly save them from destruction ; the
pride of their hearts rises against his decla
rations. 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 whom I am well pleased, hear ye
him;" but the language of their heart is,
" We will not have hira to reign over us,"
Luke xix. 14. They revUe and oppose the
messengers of his grace, account thera ene
mies, charge them as troublers of their peace,
and as those who turn the world upside
down : and, when not restrahied by the pro
vidence of God, inflict upon them, besides,
reproaches, stripes, imprisonment, tortures,
and death. If their dearest friends, and those
who are connected with them by the nearest
ties of relation, submit to the testiraony of
God, and yield themselves to the appointed
Saviour, tiiey are treated as apostates from
the general opinion. This defection frora
the common cause, is often sufficient to can
cel the strongest obligations, to dissolve the
closest intimacy, to raise a person foes in his
own household, and to excite envy, hatred
and malice, in those who once professed es
teem and love. Can the spirit of rebellion
rise higher, than when they who have in
sulted the authority, defied the power, and
resisted the government and wUl of the
great God, proceed at length to trample
upon his tenders of reconciliation, and to af
front 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 exag
gerated representation. Such is the disposi
tion 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 concur to set
bounds to its exercise; education, a natural
gentleness of temper, and even interest, may
keep it within limits of decorum, especially
towards some mdividuals; but I affirm, or
rather the scriptures declare, that enmity
against God, a disaffection to his gospel, 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 sorae
persons for a season, would operate vigor
ously, if circumstances were so to alter as to
afford a fair occasion. For, as of old, he that
was born after the flesh persecuted hira that
was bom after the Spirit (Gal. iv. 29,) even
¦Vol, IL 2 R

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 Tira. iii. 12,) shall, in one
degree or forra or other, suffer persecution
frora 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 in
solence and presumption; and a heart of
stone, (Ezekiel xxxvi. 26,) insensible to the
softest methods of persuasion, incapable of
receiving tender, kind, and generous irapres
sions, though they are wooed and besought
by the consideration of the mercies of God,
of the dying agonies of Messiah, unless that
mighty power be displayed in their favour,
which brought forth streams of water from
the rock in the wUderness.
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 ofthe Holy Spirit.
He said to ms sorrowing disciples, "It is ex
pedient for you that I go away ; for if I go
not away, the Coraforter will not corae unto
you ; but if I depart I wUl send hira unto
you," John xvi. 7. Soon after his ascension,
this proraise was fulfilled. The disciples
were filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts U. 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
believing. 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, 11,) and to glorify Messiah. He opens
the eyes of the understanding, subdues the
stubborn will, softens, or rather removes the
heart of stone, and gives a feeling, tender
heart, a heart of flesh. Then the rebels re
lent 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 ultiraate design in favour of re
bellious men, the great final cause ofhis me
diation, and particularly of his bestowing on
them the gift ofthe Holy Spirit, is " that the
Lord God may dwell among them." Man
was created in the image of God, who formed
hira for himself But he sinned and was for
saken. God withdrew his light and love; from
bira, and raan 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

314

THE PUBLICATION OP THE GOSPEL.

[ser; xxx.

merciful purpose, to return in a way worthy
of his perfections. Without hira, 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,
fruitiess, and comfortless. But the linow-
ledge of Messiah, like the sun, enlightens the
world and the heart
When in the day pf 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
of Jesus, and anointed with the holy unction,
becomes a consecrated temple of the Holy
Ghost This persuasion, though now by many,
who have not renounced the name of chris
tian, deemed the essence of enthusiasm, was
once thought essential to Christianity ; so that
the apostle speaks of it as an obvious incon
trovertible fact, with whicb no true Christian
could be unacquainted. " Know ye not that
your body is the teraple ofthe 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 teraple of the
living God, as God hath said, I will dwell in
them, and walk in thera," (2 Cor. vi. 16,)
agreeably to his promise by the prophets. He
liveth in them, as the principle of their life,
wisdora, and power; therefore the apostle
says, " I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in
me," Gal. ii. 20. There is a mutual indwel
ling between the Lord and his people ; they
in him as the branch in tbe vine, and he in
them as the sap in the branch ; he in them as
in his teraples, 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 Itfe,
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,
coraprising all the members of his mystical
body, built upon the foundation of the apos
tles and prophets, form a buUding fitly framed
together, a palace, a holy temple for the Lord,
the great King. He dweUeth likewise in
every particular society who walk by his
rule, and adorn the profession of his truth by
a conversation becoraing the gospel. He is
a wall of fire round about thera, and a glory
in the raidst of thera, Zech. ii. 5, 10. When
they meet together in his name, he is there.
He walks in the midst of the golden candle
sticks. It is his presence that gives life and
efficacy to all his ordinances, and comrauni
cates a power to his word, by which the
minds of his worshipping people are en-
.ightened, strengthened, healed, and com
forted. Here he manifests himself to thera,
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 thousand." To
his presence they owe their peace and in
crease, 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
aniraated 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 de'file them ;
(Hebrews xii. 15 ;) men arise from among
themselves, speaking perverse things, and
fierce wolves break in, not sparing the flock
(Acts XX. 29, 30,) if the good Shepherd sus
pends his influence and presence.
I trust he dwells and walks in the midst
of us. He is here as an observer, and as a
gracious benefactor. He sees who draw near
hira with their lips, while their hearts are
far from him ; and he likewise takes notice
of tbem that fear and love him, and who es
teem the light of his countenance to be bet
ter than life. The high and lofty One who
inhabitetb eternity, who dweUeth in the
high and holy place, dweUeth likewise with
those that are of a contrite and humble
spirit, to revive and bless them, Isa. Ivu. 15.

SERMON XXX.
THE PUBLICATION OF THE GOSPEL.
The Lord gave the word, great was the
company of those that published it, (or oJ
the preachers,) Psalm Ixviii. 11.
Perhaps no one psalm has given greatei
exercise to the skUl and the patience of cora-
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, whicb probably were at
that time generally known and understood.
The first verse is the same with the stated
form of benediction which was used when
ever the ark of the Lord set forward whUe
Israel sojourned in the wilderness, (Numb. x.
35,) which confirms the prevaUing opinion,
that the psalm was primarily designed as an
act of thanksgiving, to accompany the re
moval 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

8sa. XXX.]

THE PUBLICATION OF THE GOSPEL.

316

would do for his people, under and by the
gospel dispensatjonrin consequence of Mes
siah's exaltation to receive gifts for rebel
lious men. This verse, though the particular
occasion is not specified, probably refers to
some season of deliverance or victory, when
the women, according to the custom of the
nation, assembled to praise the Lord, with
tirabrels, songs, and dances, Exod. xv. The
songs and responses of Miriara and her com
panions, and of the women who welcomed
Saul and David after the defeat ofthe Philis
tine, (1 Sam. xviii. 6, 7,) I have forraerly
mentioned as instances. The word which is
rendered, Those who published or preached,
being expressed with a feminine terraina
tion, leads the mind to this sense. But we |
are not necessarily confined to it ; for the
word rendered preacher in the book of Ec
clesiastes, is likewise in the feminine form,
though we are sure the person intended by
it was Solomon.
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, when 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
Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the
earth. And he who said, " Lo, I am with
you always, even to the end of the world,'"
(Matt xxviii. 20,) has, by the same Spirit,
perpetuated his word, and a succession of
preachers, to our time, and has promised to
perpetuate and work by the same means, tUl
tirae 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 equal
ly 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
called and sent forth by him. — The Lord
gave the word or command ; in consequence
of which word, the nuraber of preachers was
great, as when in the beginning he said,
" Let tiiere 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 obsti
nate, 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 appointment, and we cannot expect
that he wUl do it in any other way. This mean
is the gospel, which, fbr its admirable suitable
ness and efficacy, is comraended 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 successful. He has said concerning
it " As the rain cometh down and the snow
I frora heaven, and watereth the earth, and
maketh it bring forth and bud, tbat.it raay
give seed to the sower, and bread to the
eater; so shall ray word be,. that goeth forth
out of my mouth; it shall not return unto
me void, but it shall accomplish that which I
please ; it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it" Is. Iv. 10, 11. It has been con
firmed by the experience of ages, that no
mean but this can produce the desirable ef
fect It is confirmed by observation in tbe
present day. If the wisdora of raan, if learn
ing, if oratory, if animated descriptions of the
beauty of virtue, and pathetic 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 raany ingenious ser
raons and treatises upon this plan are admired
and praised, wickedness prevaUs and tri
uraphs. They have little influence upon the
conduct of civU 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 wUl and command. .
Nothing will do this but the gospel, the word
which the Lord has given. This alone shows
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 teraptations and dif
ficulties with which we have to conflict.
When this word is siraply and cordially re
ceived, an imraediate and wonderful change
takes place. The sinner abandons his false
hopes and vain pursuits, is freed frora his
former slavery to the loveof the vyorld and
the fear of raan, and becomes the willing
servant of him who redeemed hira with his
own blood.
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
deemed invidious and assuming; and it is
supposed by many, that a sermon, if delivered
frora a pulpit and if the text be taken from
the Bible, must of course be the gospel. It ^s

316

THE PUBLICATION OF THE GOSPEL.

[sEK. xxx.

undeniable, however, that there are a variety
of different and opposite sentiraents delivered
from pulpits ; and surely the gospel cannot
be opposite, contrary, yea contradictory to it
self! It is a mournful consideration, that raul
titudes of people are not qualified to judge of
tbis point Not properly for want of ability,
for many of thera are persons of good sense
and discernment, and can judge and talk well
upon other subjects ; but for want of attention.
Their application is engrossed by the de
mands of business or pleasure, and they have
neither leisure nor taste for a careful perusal
of the scriptures, nor for the examination of
religious sentiments. If the language and
elocution of the preacher be good, and if
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, wisdora, righteousness, sanctification
and rederaption, 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 raankind as al
ready in a state of condemnation ; it declares
their utter inability to save or help thera
selves ; and it gives assurance of pardon and
salvation to all who believe in the Son of
God. That they raay be encouraged and
enabled to believe, it describes the dignity of
his person, the necessity and greatness of his
sufferings, the completeness ofhis atonement,
the prevalence of his intercession — his love,
authority, power, and faithfulness. These
truths, revealed and applied to a guilty con
science, 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 Saviour by the eye of his
mind, with desire and admiration, and derives
life frora his death, healing frora his wounds,
as the Israelites, when wounded, were healed
by looking upon the brazen serpent. And not
only is the conscience relieved by this know
ledge of Christ crucified — the understanding
is likewise enlightened, the judgraent is
formed, the affections regulated and directed
by it. Then old things pass away, all be
comes new. The love of sin departs, and the
future life is devoted to hira, who therefore
died and revived, that he might be Lord both
of the dead and the living, Rora. xiv. 9.
There is likewise a certain energy or
power which accorapanies the gospel when it
is truly preached, which sufficiently charac
terizes and distinguishes it from all other re
ligious schemes and systems. Our Lord,
during his personal ministry, frequentiy gave
proofs that he knew the heart of man. When
Zaccheus thought himself unknown and un
seen, he called him by his name, Luke xix. 5.

He remmded Nathanael of what had passed
in secret under the fig-tree ; (John i. 48 ;) and
by a few words, brought to the remembrance
of the woraan of Saraaria, all that she had
done in her life, John iv. 29. A similar effect
accorapanies the preaching of his gospel to
this day. The gospel is preached, when
they who are present find the secrets of their
hearts are made manifest; when the preacher,
who perhaps never saw them before, rerainds
thera of what they have done, or said, or
thought, possibly of things transacted long
ago, and alraost forgotten by theraselves; and
likewise describes the very feelings of their
hearts whUe he is speaking to them. It is
usually in this way that conviction of sin first
takes place ; and in this way, that a con
vinced burdened sinner meets with season
able support and direction, so exactly suited
to his case, that he almost thinks the preacher
is speaking to none but hiraself No preachers
but those who speak in conformity to the word
which the Lord gave, have this power over
the heart and conscience.
II. It is owing to the word, the appointment,
and power ofGod, 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 Tira. iv. 5. They may profit
theraselves, according to their low views,
and may obtain such honours and emolu
ments 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 raay deliver truths
occasionally, which are valuable and useful
in their proper places ; but for want of know
ing how to connect thera with what the apos
tle 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 thoughtless are not alarmed, nor the ig
norant instructed. 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
conterapt of the Lord's day, and by their cus
tomary manner of absenting theraselves from
their appointed teachers, give sufficient proof
that they have neither found, nor expect to
find, so much benefit or pleasure, as to make
thera think it worth their while to attend
them.

6GR. XXX.]

THE PUBLICATION OP THE GOSPEL

817

It will appear to corapetent judges, that
faithful preachers are caUed and prepared for
their office by the Lord, the head of the
churoh, and not by huraan institutions, frora
the following considerations : —
I. That ^e gospel cannot be rightly un
derstood but by divine teaching. The natural
man, however distinguished by abilities or
literature, cannot receive the things of the
Spirit of God; (1 Cor. U. 14;) nay, he cannot
even discern them. He may, mdeed, luiow
something of the gospel system, considered
as a raatter of science ; he raay know how to
defend 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 tiie inward power and life,
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 leam
by experience. The first lesson received and
learnt by those who are taught of God, is a
conviction of guilt, ignorance, and misery —
and then they begin to learn the importance,
necessity, 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
hesitation, 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 raouth,
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 lffe. And speaking
from the fulness of his heart, with an earnest
ness inspired by the greatness and importance
of his subject he speaks to the hiart and
feelings of his hearers, and impresses a mani
festation of the truth upon their minds.
2. That the desire of preaching this gos
pel, when known, if it be a right desire, must
likewise be given. If a man should attempt
the service, without counting the cost, or con
sidering the consequences, he will most pro
bably be disgusted and wearied. And if he
seriously 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 tbe prospect and direct his thoughts to
some- other employment, unless his call and
support be from oh high. What courage,
wisdora, meekness, and zeal, appear requisite,
in the view of such an inquirer, to qualify a
man for preaching, aud continumg 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 chooses, to serve him in
the gospel. In themselves they are quite
unequal to what is before thera, but they obey
his voice; thev trust in his promises for
guidance and jiBltoction, and are not disap
pointed. We are therefore directed to pray,
that the Lord of the harvest would send, or
rather (according 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 thera to persevere. It is a
service of continual exertion and expense,
and requires a continual supply. The oppo
sition of the world, and the power of terapta-
tion, acting upon the weakness and depravity
of the heart, would quickly prevaU against
the best ministers, if tbey were left to carry
on the warfare at their own charges. They
are at times, yea, frequently, in situations and
circumstances which teach thera feelingly
the meaning of the apostle's words, " 'We
were pressed out of measure, above strength,
insomuch that we despaired even of me,"
2 Cor. i. 8. Besides the trials incidental to the
christian profession, which they are exposed
to in common with others, they have many
which are peculiar to their calling as preach
ers of the gospel. Their chief pre-eminence
over christians in private life is a painful
one ; they have the honour of bearing a dou
ble share of the heat and burden of the day,
and of standing in the foremost ranks of the
battle, to provoke and receive the fiercest
assaults of the enemy. ? Their only resource
and hope is in the faithfulness and compas
sion 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
wwld." 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 bis labours, since
he has not promised to own any but those
whora he sends.
We must however allow, and observe, that
to preach salvation to others, and even to be
instrumental in saving souls, wUl not abso
lutely prove that the preacher is in a state of
salvation himself; we hope it is generaUy so ;
but there are exceptions and instances which
should awaken our circumspection, and keep
us constantly looking to tbe Lord in a spirit"
of humility and dependence. There was a
Judas among the apostles ; and we are assured
that at the last day, some, yea, many, wUl
plead having done great things in the narae

318

THE GOSPEL-MESSAGE, GLAD TIDINGS.

[ser. XXXI.

of -Christ, whom he wUl notwithstanding
disown, as workers of miquity, Matt vii.
22, 23. Even the apostle Paul was impress
ed by this thought, and he has recorded the
improvement he made of it for our instruc
tion : " I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection, lest that by any means, after
I have preached to others, I myself should be
a cast-away, 1 Cor. ix. 27.

SERMON XXXL
THE GOSPBL-MESSAOE, OLAD TIDINGS.
(_As it is written,} How beautiful are the feet
of 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
idolatry. His preaching, accorapanied 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
transaction was past and the scene at a con
siderable distance, yet by the manner of his
representation, the fact was realized to their
minds ; and they could have been no raore
affected, had they been actually upon the
spot at the time. Jesus Christ was exhibited
to thera as crucified before their eyes, Gal.
iii. 1. By the same divine energy they were
instructed in the knowledge ofhis character,
who he was, and why he suffered ; and hke
wise 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 tbat he said to thera-
flelves. They heard, they believed, and they
rejoiced. The apostle reminds them, that
they had not received a cold speculative doc
trine, but such a one as imparted a blessed
ness to them. This, indeed, many of thera
afterwards lost, when they were unhappily
seduced by false teachers. But, for a time,
the knowledge of a Saviour so exactly suited
to their circumstances, made them happy ;
and while they were so, they felt very strong
emotions of gratitude and esteera for the
messenger who brought thera these glad ti
dings ; though he was by many accounted and
treated as the off-scouring and filth of all
things, the Galatians received hira as an an
gel of God, and attended to hira, as if the
Lord, who sent him, had.spoken to them in
person. And although he had tUl then
been an entire stranger to them, bis message

opened a way to their hearts, and they gave
him every testimony of the most cordial
friendship ; insomuch that had it been pos
sible, 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 great
joy" in that city. Acts viii. 8. But when the
gospel is thus gladly received, there must be
a suitable disposition of raind. It is sent to
the poor. It is designed to heal the broken
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 freedora, cannot possibly judge either
ofthe truth or of the iraportance of the gos
pel doctrine. As the Lord waters the earth
with a profusion worthy of his magnificence
and bounty, and does not confine his rain to
cultivated soils ; so the good seed of his word
often falls upon the highway, upon the rocks,
and araong 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 ofthe
word, when it brings forth fruit unto life
etemal. It undeceives those who were for a
tirae deluded with vain hopes, and convinces
thera that they are poor, and blind, and
wretched, 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 beautfful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth
good tidings!" Isa. Iii. 7. Imagine a dis
tressed people, at the will 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
messenger should inforra them, that, instead
of the punishment they deserved, the king
vouchsafed them a free pardon, was ready to
receive them with favour, and to bestow
honours and possessions upon all who applied
to bira, without excepting the most guilty,
even the ring-leaders in rebellion : how wel
corae would this messenger be to them !
This, indeed, is beyond the manner of men.
No earthly monarch has either magnanimity
to make, or power to make good, so gracious
and unlimited a proclamation to a whole na
tion of rebels. But this is the manner of the
great God. Such an act of grace is the gos
pel. An act of grace to sinners, yet founded
in righteousness, and displaying 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 procured by his blood.
The messengers of this grace are thus wel
comed and honoured by those who believe

SER. XXXI.J

THE GOSPEL-MESSAGE, GLAD TIDINGS.

319

their report and are esteemed very highly
in love for their work's sake, 1 Thess. v. 13.
We may observe,
1. The message of the gospel is glad ti
dings of peace and good things.
II. The ifiessengers, or preachers, find
ample reward in their success and accept
ance. I. According to the Hebrew idiom (which
frequentiy obtams in the New Testament)
aU good things are coraprised 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 conscience; and are enabled to say,
Though thou wert justiy angry, thme anger
is turned away, Isa. xii. 1. It dispels their
fears and forebodings, and inspires them with
liberty to ceme to God as chUdren; conse
quently, on their parts, alienation and en
mity 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 wUling
people. They yield themselves to him.
They cultivate peace in all their connec
tions. The forgiveness and bounty they have
received, teaches them likewise to forgive,
and be kind as they have opportunity. T"hey
possess such good things as the world can
neither give nor take away: communion
with God ; grace, wisdom, and power. They
serve him with their all, and are supported
by his good Spirit in every trying circum
stance ; 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 ex
emplified in the Bible, and if we could forget
that this obstinate perverseness was once our
own character, we should find it difficult to
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 conterapt
and opposition. Can the world afford a peace
wbich shaU abide and cheer the heart under
aU the changing circurastances incident to us
in this mortal state ? Can it propose any good,
any honours, proflt, or pleasures, worthy of
being compared with the honour whicii
cometh from God only, the light of his coun
tenance, and the riches of glory? Can the
influence of the world preserve us from trou
ble, or support 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 con
fidence and joy, in the contemplation of that
approaching day, when we must all appear
before the tribunal of the suprerae Judge ?
That the world, if we possessed the whole of
it, cannot do these things for us, is acknow
ledged by many, and felt by all. The gos
pel proposes a cordial for every care, a balm
for every wound ; and none who make the
experiment of its efficacy are disappointed.
In other cases, they who have received great
obligations may speak highly of their bene
factor ; and they who, beyond hope, have been
recovered from a dangerous malady, may
commend the skUl and care of their physi
cian, to those who are labouring under the
sarae disease, without giving offence. But
if they who have obtained life and peace by
believing in Jesus, proclaira his goodness,
and point him out to their fellow-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, whUe left to them
selves, wUl not corae to hira that they may
have life. The god of this world so worka
upon their prejudices, pride, and passions,
that thougb the light of truth shines around
thera 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, corapara
tively, 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 bad cause to adopt the prophet's
complaint, " Lord, who hath believed our re
port?" Is. Uii. 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 bear again and again ; there
are others whose hearts are opened to re
ceive 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
compensated for all the opposition tbey meet
with from the many ; and this on a twofold
account : —
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 wereblind
admiring his excellency ; to see those who
were so far off from God brought so nigh ;
to see those who were wretched rejoicing in
his goodness ; to hear those whose lips were

320

THE GOSPEL-MESSAGE, GLAD TIDINGS.

[ser. XXXI,

filled with folly, falsehood, or blasphemy,
proclaiming his praise ; such salutary effects
of their mmistry fill them likewise with
praise and joy : and when their hearers ex
press the power and spirit of the gospel in
their terapers 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 ofthe people who
are thus benefited by their rainistry. This
is the popularity which alone is desirable.
It would be a sraall thing to be able raerely to
hold a multitude by the ears : but to be ap
proved and loved by those to whora the Lord
has raade thera useful, is a high honour, and
a source of sublirae pleasure. When Peter
and John (Acts iii. 11) had healed the larae
man, I doubt not but they were raore affected
by the siraple honest testiraony of his grati
tude, than by the unmeaning wonder of all
the surrounding multitude. If a true servant
ofthe Lord, by any advantage of abilities or
elocution, should attach a large congregation
to a personal regard for hiraself, should be
adraired and beloved by them, and yet disco
ver no attachment in them to the Saviour
whom he preaches, their partiality to hira
would give him but little pleasure. He
would be more ready to weep over thera,
than to rejoice in the preference they gave
him. For he seeks not their applause, but
their edification ; and he airas not to proraote
his own glory, but the glory of hira who sent
hira, John vi. 18. He is, indeed, glad to see
thera attending upon the raeans which God
has promised to bless. But the faithfulness
and closeness of his addresses to their con
sciences, by which raany are sooner or later
disgusted and driven away, is a proof that
he does not want thera raerely to raake up
a number about hira. They who raake the
office of a preacher an occasion whereby to
proraote their own interest or reputation,
raay, perhaps, obtain tbe reward they seek ;
but it is such a reward as can only satisfy a
weak and raercenary mind ; and from him,
whose name they prostitute, they can 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
accept a faithful ministry, as a balance to the
trials they meet with in coraraon life. There
are many poor and many afflicted people,
who have Uttle comfort in the things of this

life, and in their own houses. Some are
pinched by penury, and sorae who live in
opulence, yet dwell, as the psalraist expresses
it (Psalm Ivii. 4,) in the^fire and araong lions.
They suffer not less than the others, though
in a different way, frora the unkindness and
opposition of their nearest connections. But
in the house of God, they are satisfied and
coraforted. And, according to the words of
the prophet, though the Lord is pleased to give
thera the bread of adversity, and the water of
affliction, (Is. xxx. 20,) yet since their teachers
are not raoved into corners, but they have
free access to the preaching ofhis word, and
can attend upon a minister who careth for
their souls, and meets them, when they are
weary, with aword in season, they bear their
appointed cross with cheerfulness. Though
they have rauch 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 thera for good, be re
raoved, and they are deprived of these oppor
tunities, the regard they bore hira is mani
fested by their sorrow for losing hira ; 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 who must give an
account, Heb. xiii. 17. And because they
love him, they do all in their power to raake
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 dis
cussion 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 discovers 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 offend
ed with his plain dealing, they love hira the
better for it.
3. By their tenderness and sympathy with
hira in all his exercises ; and by their care,
according to their ability, to make his situa
tion comfortable, and to avoid every thing
that raight give hira just occasion for cora
plaint or grief The trials of a faithful min
ister are neitiier few nor small. His work is
great ; he is sure to meet with enemies and
discouragements. He travails in birth for
souls ; (Gal. iv. 19 ;) he is pained by the op
position of the wicked, the inconstancy of
the wavering, and the inconsistency of many
who make profession of the truth. He feels
many anxieties for those who are inquiring
the way to the kingdom, lest they should be
turned aside and hindered ; and too often the
hopes he had indulged, of some who disco-

ser. xxxii.]

THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.

321

vered a concern for religion, are disappoint
ed. His inward conflicts are many. He often
walks in much weakness, fear, and trem.
bling, 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 what he endures for their
sakes and in their service ; they love hira,
pity him, and pray for hira, and their kind
attention comforts him under all his tribula
tions. Sometimes their regard is rather impro
perly expressed ; as when they not only value
his ministry, but hold him so highly a favour
ite, that they can hardly hear another. ' A
preference is certainly due to the person who
is made especially useful; but no faithful
preacher should be slighted. Though gifts
and abUities 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 iraplicitly to him, to be
governed by his will. So fer as we speak
agreeably to the scripture, which is the rule
and standard of faith and practice both to you
and to us, we are authorised 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 devo
tion, and expect an implicit compliance with
their injunctions, by virtue of their office and
personal influence. But a true minister will
account it his honour and pleasure to preach
to an enlightened people who love and study
the Bible, and, like the Bereans, search the
scriptures, (Acts xvii. 11,) to see if things are
so as represented. We have no dominion
over your feith, but wish tobe helpers of your
joy, 2 Cor. i. 24. Nor do we pretend to do
minion over your purses, though we are to
remind you of the apostle's charge, " To do
good, and to communicate, forget not" He
brews xiU. 15.
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 wUl be a sa
vour of death. It will aggravate your guilt and
condemnation, and leave you utterly hope
less and inexcusable. If you continue im
penitent and obstinate, tbe hour is coming
when you will wish you had never heard of
the name of JesuS. 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,
Vol. il 2 S

if you finally reject the counsel ofGod against
yourselves !

SERMON XXXIL
the progress of the GOSPEL.
 Their sound went into all the earth,
¦ and their words unto the ends ofthe world.
Roraans, x. 18.
The heavens declare the glory of God,
Psalra xix. 1. The grandeur of the arch over
our heads, the number and lustre of the stars,
the beauty ofthe 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 wisdora and power, that the scrip
ture attributes to them a voice, a universal
language, uitelligible to all mankind, accom
modated to every capacity. There is no
speech nor language where their voice is
not heard. The combined effect of the visi
ble 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 proudly 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 admi
ration and praise, is abundantly sufficient to
convict him of stupidity and ingratitude, and
to leave hira without excuse, Rotp. i. 20.
This passage, taken frora that sublime ode
of David, the nineteenth psalm, is applied by
the apostle to illustrate the character and the
progress of the stUl raore wonderful display
ofthe divine perfections, which God has made
known by the glorious gospel. A variety of
truths shine (like stars in the firmament) in
the systera of revelation. But principally
Jesus, the Sun of truth and righteousness, the
source of spiritual light and lffe, 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,"
Psalm xix. 6.
But the fulfilment ofthe proraises respect
ing Messiah's kingdom is progressive. So
far as this prophecy has been accomplished,
the arm of the Lord has been revealed.. It

322

THE PROGRESS OF THE GOSPEL.

[ser. xxxii.

is his doing and may justly be marvellous in
our eyes. The truth of the prophecy wUl be
proved by its final corapletion, which, though
not likely to take place in our time, we raay
be assured that it cannot faU, 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 tbe 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
publication. 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 ofhis power, is so
admirably adapted to the necessities of man
kind, that the obstructions it bas met with
must be ascribed to their wickedness and ob
stinacy. Not that they could resist the will
of God. Had he intended to give it univer
sal success from the beginning, the event
would bave 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
tbe heart of man. This point is so much rais
understood and misrepresented, that though
itis 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 raan.
¦When the Sun of righteousness, after a
long night of darkness, arose upon the world,
there appeared a strong probabUity 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
multitudes, through the greatest part of the
Roman erapire, and beyond its liraits. But,
perhaps, for about seventeen hundred years
since that period, the boundaries of his king
dom, thougb they have been altered, have not
been much enlarged. If he has since in some
measure enligbted tbe more western parts of
the globe, the eastern regions, which once
rejoiced in his light, are now overwhelmed
with gross Mahommedan darkness. And if
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 wbo profess
edly call him Lord, and are not unwUling to
be themselves called Christians, a greater
proportion than five out of six, are no less
strangers to his power and grace, than tbe
Mahommedans who reject hira, or the
Heathens who never heard of hira.
There is not, perhaps, a darker chapter in

the book of divine providence, nor a medita-
tion which calls for a more absolute subjec
tion and submission to tbe holy wUl and un
searchable wisdom of God, than this. The
first spread ofthe gospel proved itto be a di
vine expedient, fully capable of producmg all
the great purposes which the prophets had
foretold, and whicb the state ofthe world re
quired. It reconciled men to God, to them
selves, and to each other. It subdued their
passions, regulated their affections, freed
them from tbe guUt 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 produced that salu
tary change of conduct whicb philosophy had
long attempted in vain ; and raised men to
that life of communion with God, of which
phUosophers had no conception. Such was
the bright morning of the gospel-day. But
in tirae, yea, in a little tirae, dark clouds ob
scured its light; its progress was irapeded,
and in a manner stopped. On one hand, the
profession and name of the gospel gave oc
casion to mischiefs and abominations which
had been unknown among tbe Heathens ; so
that the part of the world which received the
narae of Christendora, was little distinguished
from the rest, in a religious view, but by a
fierce and rancorous superstition, which ty
rannized over tbe consciences, liberties, and
the lives of raen. 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 beard of it to this day ;
and many who once professed it, have re
nounced 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 in
vincible objection against the truth. They
say, " If the gospel you speak of be so salu
tary and necessary, ifit be indeed the greatr
est effect of the divine goodness, why has
not God, who is the coraraon Father of man
kind, afforded 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 con
fession of the obstinacy and ungrateful folly
of mankind. When the world saw the happy
tendency and effects of tbis gospel in the age
ofthe apostles, why did they not universally
receive it ! We know that when tiie use of
the mariner's compass, the art of printing,
and many other inventions that might be
named, were discovered in one country, they
were presently adopted by the surrounding
civilized nations. Even the recent attempts
to venture through the air with a, balloon,
hazardous as they certainly are, and insig
nificant with respect to real usefulness, are
likely in a little time not only to engage the
notice, but to excite the imitation of Europe.

SBR. XXXII.]

THE PROGRESS OP THE GOSPEL.

828

Why then was the gospel, the most bene
ficial and important discovery the world has
been fevoured with, the only one that has
been treated with general conterapt? Cer
tainly our Lord has assigned the true reason,
"Lifht is corae into the world, but raen
love darlmess rather than light, because their
deeds are evil," John iii. 19. "They bate the
light they will not some to it, nor will they
permit it to come to them if they can possibly
prevent it This glorious gospel ofthe blessed
God has been and still is shunned and dread
ed, and every human precaution and exertion
has been eraployed to withstand and suppress
it as though, like the pestilence, it was bane
ful 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 has
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, frora age to
age, to publish these glad tidings. The re
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 raore
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 araong the
Heathen ? The providence of God has. fa
voured us with peculiar advantages for this
service. Our arms and comraerce have open
ed us a way to the raost distant parts of the
globe ; and of late years, the enterprising
spirit of our navigators has added almost a
new world to the discoveries of former tiraes.
How far bave our plans been formed with a
subserviency to the great design of evan
gelizing the Heathen ? How rauch have we
done to promote it in Asia, where our in
fluence and opportunities have been the
greatest? What impression of the narae and
spirit of Christianity 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 incorporated society for propagating
the gospel in foreign parts, and we hear of
missionaries; but ofthe good effects of their
missions, as at present 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 without success. But I
fear this is all the honour we can claim. Sorae
pood has been done by the Danish mission to
Tranquebar; but I believe our influence in it
has been rather nominal than effective. The
extent and effects of the labours of the Uni-

tas Fratrum,* compared with their circum
stances and resources, must not be omitted
on this occasion. They doubtless excite ad
rairation, and thankfulness to God, in every
serious raind acquainted with the subject
But excepting in these instances, I believe
the Heathens have derived but little know
ledge of the Gospel from their connexions
with Christendora for some ages past. And
I think none of the coramercial nations in
Europe have had the propagation of Chris
tianity less at heart than the English. What
obligations the natives of Africa are under to
us, for instruction or exaraple, may be es
tiraated, in part, by a cursory survey of the
state of our West- India Islands!
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 wilful
ness of raen. Undoubtedly, he to whom all
things are possible, who has absolute power
over the hearts of his creatures, could make
a way for the universal reception of it. And
we trust that in his own time he will do so.
But power 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 be
coraing of his perfections and holy govern
raent, we can know no farther than he is
pleased to inform us. But it certainly be
comes us to lay our hands upon our mouths,
and our mouths in the dust when we con
template his conduct; or, if we do speak, to
adopt the apostle's language, " Oh the depths
of the riches, both of the wisdom and know
ledge ofGod ! How unsearchable are bis judg
raents, and his ways past finding out! For of
hira, and through him, and to him are all things.
To whom be glory for ever," Rora. ix. 36.
However, my text is fulfiUing, 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 civUization which
Christendora enjoys, are reraotely 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 Ceesar. Yea, our modern phUosophers
would make but a poor figure, were they de
spoiled of all the plumes they have borrowed
form 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-

* More generally known amongst us by the name o{
the Brethren, or Moravians.

324

OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE. [ser. xxxin.

ercises toward such a world as this. And
some iraperfect traces of this design, trans
mitted by tradition, are probably to be found,
though wofuUy disfigured, araong 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 ofhis 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
vernraent. Or if he had permitted them to
multiply, and left thera wholly and absolutely
to themselves, without interposing some re
straints upon their depravity, I believe the
inhabitants of the earth would have been no
better than incarnate fiends.
The prophecies, both of the Old and New
Testament, encourage us to hope for a tirae,
when the light of gospel-truth will break
forth with raeridian brightness, the glory of
the Lord be revealed, and all flesh shall see
his salvation. As a pledge of this, and of
the truth of the whole scripture, we have
what may be called a standing miracle con
tinually before our eyes ; I raean the state of
the Jews, who, though dispersed far and
wide araong many nations, are every where
preserved a distinct and separate people.
The history of the world affords no other in
stance of the like kind. The great monarchs,
by which they were successively conquered
and scattered, have successively perished.
Only the names of thera reraain. But the
people whora they despised, and endeavoured
to C-Xterminate, subsist to this day ; and
though sifted like corn over the earth, and
apparently forsaken of God, are still pre
served by his wonderful providence, unaf
fected by the changes and customs around
thera ; still tenacious of the law of Moses,
though the observance of it is rendered ira
practicable. Many days, raany ages they have
lived, as the prophets foretold they should,
without a teraple, without sacrifice or priest,
Hos. iii. 4, 5. As yet raany heathen nations
are perraitted to walk in their own ways.
But at length the fulness of the Gentiles
shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved,
Rora. xi. 25, 26. The revolutions and com
motions in kingdoms and nations, which
astonish and perplex politicians, are all bring
ing forward this great event The plan of
the human draraa, to us, who only see a sin
gle scene, is dark and intricate ; but the ca
tastrophe is approaching ; and in the close of
the whole, the manifold wisdora of God will
be admired and adored, and all hojy and
happy intelligences wUl acknowledge with
transport. He has done aU things well.
But the point I am chiefly to press upon
my hearers, is, that this word of salvation is
sont to you. Acts xiii. 26. How the great

Judge wiU deal with tiie Heathens, who were
never favoured with it he has not seen fit
distinctly to inform us. But thus far he has
assured us, that it will be more tolerable for
Tyre and Sidon, yea, for Sodom and Gomor^
rah, than for those who have the privUege of
knowing the gospel, if they reject it, Matt
xi. 20 — 24. To them much is given, and of
them much wUl 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 at
tention. Do you ask for our authority and com
mission ? Ask your own consciences. If, like
Felix, when you mean only to indulge your
curiosity by hearing us, you are constrained
to tremble (Acts xxiv. 25 ;) tf we force upon
your raind the reraerabrance of what you bave
said or done ; if our message makes yon un
easy and dissatisfied with yourselves; if you
cannot avoid feeling at some times the truth
of our principles, and the necessity of the
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 ap
pear araongst us — then you have a sufficient
proof, that the rainisters are sent and author
ized to speak to you, and we take your con
sciences to witness that we preach the truth.

SERMON XXXHL
OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE.
Why do the Heathen rage, and the people
imagine a vain thing ? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and rulers take coun
sel together, 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 adraitted, that the institutes
of Christianity, as contained in the New
Testament, do at least exhibit a beauttful and
salutary system of morals ; and that a sin
cere compliance with the precepts of our I-ord
and his apostles would have a good effect
upon society. Few infidels have ventured to
contradict 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 perfection, by his own conduct, the
precepts which he enjoined to his followers.
WhUe he lived as a man amongst men, the
tenor of his behaviour was such as became

SER. XXXIU.] OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE.

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 raerely for
his own relief But the wants and calarai
ties of others continuaUy excited his compas
sion 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 tiiey, having nothing
to eat should have fainted by the way. Nor
did he confine his acts of benevolence to his
followers, but was easy of access, and granted
the request of aU, indiscriminately, who ap
plied 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 con-
thiued unwearied and determined in the same
cause, bestowing benefits on all around him,
as occasions offered, and returning good for
evU. May we not with reason ask. Why
then did Jews and Heathens, priests and peo
ple, scribes and Sadducees, rage so furiously
against him, who did nothing amiss, who did
all things well? Why did persons ofthe raost
opposite interests, parties, and sentiraents,
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 frora the worship of
dumb idols to serve the living and true God.
It taught and enabled thera to renounce un
godliness and worldly lusts, and to live sober
ly, righteously, and godly ; (Titus ii. 12;) and
it still produces tbe same effects. The world
now bears the name of Christian ; but under
this new and honourable .name it retains the
same spirit as forraerly. Many who are called
Christians, are no less under the power of evU
tempers and evU habits, than the Heathens to
whora the apostles preached. But where the
gospel ofthe grace of God reaches the heart,
a real and observable change is produced.
The profene person learns to fear an oath,
the libertine is reclairaed, the drunkard be
comes sober, and the miser kind. Wherever
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 con
science, from the dominion of headstrong pas
sions, from the slavery of habitual wickedness,
and made peaceful, useful, and exemplary
members of society, by what the apostle calls
the preaching of the cross. And we challenge
history to show that an abiding, consistent
reformation was ever effected by any other

doctrine, in a single province, or city, or vil
lage, 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 sarae oppo
sition and resentraent in those who do not.
The actings will be different as circumstances
vary, but the principle is universally the
sarae. In this island, which the good pro
vidence of God has distinguished by many,
signal and peculiar favours, the spirit of our
constitution and government is friendly to
liberty of conscience and the rights of pri
vate judgment ; so that our religious profes
sion does not expose us to the penalties of
fire and sword, stripes or tortures, imprison
ment or banishment Such trials have been
the lot of our forefathers, when the servants
of God, under the names of Gospellers or Puri
tans, were treated as heretics ofthe worst sort.
We are bound to acknowledge with thankful
ness 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 unrestrain
ed, and out ofthe abundance ofthe heart the
mouth will speak. The gospel offends the
pride of men, by considering them all on a
level, as sinners in the sight ofGod; and by
proposing only one method of salvation, with
out admitting any difference of plea or cha
racter. It offends them likewise by its strict
ness. Like Herod, they might perhaps con
sent 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 wiU not subrait to be
controlled ; and therefore they are much dis
pleased with the gospel, which, by afibrding
no allowance or connivancetothe least known
sin, but prescribing a rule of universal holi
ness, crosses their inclinations and favourite
interests. When Paul preached at Ephesus,
Demetrius and his companions perceived that
their craft was in danger. This was the real
cause of their anger, but they were ashamed

* Sermon, xvii.

326

OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE, [sea. xxxiil

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 rauch
trouble to proraote or preserve the gain of
the craftsmen ; but a pretended regard for
the worship wliich had been long established,
was a popular topic, which wrought power
fuUy upon the superstition of the ignorant
multitude, and thousands were presently in
duced to join with thera in the cry, " Great is
Diana of the Ephesians."
The like arts are still practised with the
like success. The sarae secret motives are
disguised by the sarae plausible pretences.
Tbe deceitfulness and wickedness of the heart
appears in no one instance more plainly than
in the cavils which are repeated and multi
plied against the grace ofthe gospel. When
we preach a free salvation by feith in Jesus,
and propose his obedience unto death as the
sure and only ground of acceptance with God ;
wben we say, in the words of the apostle, to
tbe vilest of sinners who feel the burden, and
fear the consequences of their sins, " Believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved," (Acts xvi. 31,) an alarra is raised,
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 coraparatively sober
and decent should speak thus, while they are
ignorant of the strictness of tbe holy law of
God, and the depravity of their own hearts.
But I sometiraes wonder that they are not a
little disconcerted by the characters of raany
(so different from what they suppose their
own to be) who join with them in the objec
tions tbey make. For in this point with the
sober and decent, the licentious and profligate
readily concur; and whoreraongers, adulte
rers, drunkards, and profane swearers, almost
equal them in gravely expressing their ap
prehensions that the doctrine of salvation by
grace will prove very unfavourable to the
practice of good works. How very reraark
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 commenceraent of Messiah's kingdom :
kings, rulers, priests, and people, all conspired
nnd raged against hira. Herod and Pilate,
the Jewish elders and the Roraan soldiers,
the Pharisees and the Sadducees thus differed,
and thus agreed. They bated each other tUl

he appeared ; but their greater common hatred
to bim made them act in concert and they
suspended their mutual aniraosity, 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 yourselves.
If I confined myself to prove that the enemies
of our Lord, when be 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 raay be persons present who, though
they little ¦ suspect themselves, are equally
misled by prejudices ; and under a semblance
of zeal for a forra of godliness, oppose the truth
and power of it, upon the same principles and
in the sarae spirit as the Jews and Heathens
did of old. The Jews who condemned Mes
siah to death, blaraed their forefathers for
persecuting the prophets who foretold his ap
pearance, (Matt xxiii. 30, 31 ;) but their own
conduct towards hira 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 raany, who bear the
Christian narae in this day, discover against
the doctrines of the gospel, and against the
people who profess thera, is a proof that they
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 raade to the person and king
dora ofMessiah by tbe powers of the world;
that tbey would eraploy their force and policy
to withstand and suppress the decree and ap
pointraent of God. The question, Why ? im
plies that their opposition would be both
groundless and ineffectual.
1. It was entirely groundless and unrea
sonable. Messiah was indeed a King, and be
came to set up a kingdora that should endure
for ever. But his kingdom is not of this
world ; and, if rightly understood, would give
no umbrage to huraan governments. It does
not interfere with the rights of princes. His
subjects are indeed primarily bound by the
laws of tbeir immediate King, and they must
obey God rather than raan, (Acts. v. 39,) if
man wUl presume to enjoin such laws as con
tradict his known will. But with this excep
tion, it is a part ofthe duty they owe to their
Lord, to obey those whora he has placed, by
his providence, in authority over them. The
kingdom of Messiah has little to do with what
we call politics. His people are taught to
render to Csesar the things that are Caesar's,
(Matt. 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.

BER. xxxiil] OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH UNREASONABLE.

327

(1 Pet ii. 11,) their citizenship, treasures, and
conversation, are in heaven ; and they have
no raore direct concern with the'' intrigues and
parties of politicians, than a traveller has in
the feuds and disturbances which raay hap
pen in a foreign country through which he
is passing. 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 whora tribute, custora to whom cus
tom, honour to whom honour, Rom. xiii. 1 — 7.
But where they cannot comply with the laws
of govemment without breakmg tbe laws of
God, then they are not to obey, but to suffer
patiently, comraitting their cause to hira
whom they serve ; well knowing that he is
able to protect or relieve them, so far as his
wisdora judges it fit, and to make them abun
dant amends for all they can suffer for his
sake. I am not a direct advocate for the doc
trines of passive obedience and non-resistance
in the largest sense. I set a great value upon.
the blessings of civil and religious liberty, I
reverence the constitutional rights of nations,
particularly of our own. But they are all
dependant upon the will of our Lord ; and I
know not by what raeans they can he pre
served to a people, when their sins have raade
them ripe for judgraent. But let the dead
bury their dead, Matt viii. 22. God will
never want instruraents, when it is his plea
sure to relieve the oppressed, or to abase the
proud. For these purposes, he over-rules the
councUs and affairs of men, pours contempt I acted, as they thought, with precaution anS

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 facilita
ting its progress ; for true christians will as
suredly be good subjects. Impatience of sub
ordination, contempt of lawful authority, tu
mults, riots, and conspiracies, are evils which
would have no place if the gospel was gene
rally received. But princes have been usually
exposed to the flattery of designing men, who,
by their arts and raisrepresentations, have
seduced thera to act contrary to their true
interests. 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
involved theraselves and their famUies in the
calamities with which they unjustly punished
those who 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
the Jews build when they rejected the founda
tion-stone which God had laid in Zion ? They

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 hira, to ob
serve and to admire his management. Their
best interest is always safe. And even the
troubles they meet with, are appointed for
their good. But if they so far conform to
the world, as 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 leadmg of his providence, in a post
of high political importance, as he did Joseph
and Daniel, but I believe such instances are
few ; and tf 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
word, as those who are quiet in the land,
(Psalm xxxv. 20,) and such should be their
deportment We are sure it was thus, in the first and
golden day s of Christianity. The Roman go
vernment was then absolute, arbitrary, and
oppressive. Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, and
otiiers who presided over it, and bore the name
of Roman emperors, were beyond measure
vUe and abominable : one of them was, by a

foresight They said, '.' If we let hira thus
alone, all men wUl believe on him ; and the
Romans shall corae 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 carae upon them. Or rather,
being abandoned of God to tbeir own counsels,
they brought it upon themselves. In a fev/
years the Romans, with whom they appeared
so desirous to keep upon good terms, destroy
ed their city with an unheard-of destruction.
and exterramated them from the land. This
was an erablera of the inevitable, total, irre
parable ruin, which awaits all those who per
sist in rejecting the rule of Messiah. The
nation, the individual, that wiUnotserve him,
must surely perish.
Ah! if sinners did but know what tha
bonds and cords are, which they are so deter-
mmed 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 theraselves, by refusing his easy
yoke, they would throw down their arras and
submit. They think, tf they yield to the
gospel, they must bid adieu to pleasure. But
what wUl become of their pleasure, when,
the day of his forbearance being expired, be
will speak to them in his wrath, and fill them
with hopeless horror and dismay?

328

OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH IN VAIN.

[sEft. XXXIV.

Bless the Lord, ye favoured few, whose
eyes are opened, whose hearts are softened,
and who are become the wiUing people of
this Saviour. Yet a little whUe, and he will
appear again, and then you also shall appear
with him in glory !

SERMON XXXrV.
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
sense, 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 prevaUed
in all ages, sufficiently prove the wickedness
of raen to be very great But the opposition
which they who have rebelled against the
governraent of their Creator, make to the
proposals of his grace, is a proof still more
striking. If sin has so hardened their hearts,
and blinded their eyes, that of themselves
they neither can nor. wUl 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 overtures of reconciliation, and to invite
them tb receive pardon, they would gladly
attend to his gracious declaration ; especially
when they are informed, that to preserve
them from perishing, he gave up his only
Son to sufferings and death. But when they
not only defy his power, but insult his good
ness ; when they reject and blaspherae the
Saviour whom he commends to thera ; when
they are but the more exasperated by his
tenders of mercy ; when they scorn his raes
sage, and persecute his messengers by whora
he intreats them to be reconciled ; this raad
and ungcateful carriage shows such a rooted
enmity against God in fallen men, as even
the fallen angels are not capable of dis
covering. For Messiah took not on him the
nature of angels, nor did he make proposals
of mercy to them. But he did take upon hira
our nature: He visited us in person, for us
he lived a suft"erer, and died that we raight
live. The prophets foresaw and foretold the
reception he would raeet with, and their pre
dictions were fulfilled. The Jews who pro
fessed to expect hira, and the Heathens who
had not heard of hira, united their utraost 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 hiraseff against
the Lord and prospered?" Job x. 4. He
whora they opposed, and against whom they
thought they had prevailed when they saw him
dead upon the cross, soon resuraed his glory
and his throne. The text therefore princi
pally respects the opposition made to his gos
pel and to his kingdora 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 consola
tion of those who love him, and for the timely
consideration of those who have hitherto dis
regarded hira.
I. That he sitteth in the heavens.
II. The notice he taketh of his enemies ;
he smiles at their rage, and treats both their
power and their policy with contempt.
I. He whora 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 imraovably seated on
his throne, at the right hand of the majesty on
high, Heb. i. 3. He is tbe Head, King, and
Lord of principalities, dorainions, and powers,
possessed of all authority, unchangeably fixed
over all, God blessed for evermore, Rom. ix.
5. In this character he is the Representative,
High-Priest, Advocate, and Shepherd of all
who put their trust in him. He is ever mind
ful of thera. While he is preparing a place
for thera near himself, by the power of bis
Spirit, be maintains an intercourse with them,
and manifests himself to them as he does not
to the world. By his providence, which ruleth
over all, he manages their concerns upon
earth, supplies their wants, and gives them
present and effectual help and support in theii
tirae of trouble. To him their eyes and hearta
are directed, they look to hun and are en
lightened, (Psal. xxxiv. 5,) strengthened, and
comforted. And under his protection they ars
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
raake intercession for thera. 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 ray strength, and ray song, and my
salvation," Is. xii. 2. Whether you have in
deed fled to hira 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

SEK. XXXIV.]

OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH IN VAIN.

329

you have, he knows it for he enabled you to
do it; and he wUl not disappoint the hope and
expectation which he hiraself has wrought in
you. If you have, methinks you must know
It likewise. Have you not done it more than
once ? Do you not daUy repeat this surrender
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 seera
ing 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 flg-tree, (John i. 48,) when
he thought hiraself alone. Do not I reraind
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
ofhis own word, devote yourselves to his ser
vice, resign yourselves to his disposal, and
entrust yourselves to his care? Then fear
not. He that sitteth in the heavens is on
your side. If the premises be well grounded,
the inference is sure. And though many may
rise up against you, they shall not prevaU ; for
he wUl teach your hands to war, and your
fingers to fight, will cover your head in the
day of battle, and in the end make you more
than conquerors. For the battle is not yours,
but tbe Lord's. Your eneraies 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 m which he notices their pro
ceedings; he holds them in derision, he
laughs them to scorn. He has them per
fectly under his control, holds them in a
chain when they think themselves raost at
liberty, appoints the bounds beyond which
they cannot pass, and can in a moraent check
thera, and raake them feel his hook and bridle,
when in tbe 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 ene
mies for a season to try if they can prevent
his designs. For a season, things take such
a course that their attempts seera to prosper ;
they threaten, they boast, and confidently ex
pect to carry their point But the contest
always issues in their shame and confusion:
He not only disconcerts their schemes, but
makes them instrumental to the promoting
of his own designs. Thus when he sent
Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt, Pharaoh,
instead of complying with his comraand, in
creased their burdens, added to the rigour of
their bondage, and though rebuked by a suc
cession of severe judgraents, he hardened
Vot IL 2 T

himself the more, and was determined to de
tain them if he could. But he could not de
tain thera a day or an hour beyond the ap
pointed time which God had long before
made known to Abrahara, Exod. xii. 41, 42.
Then they were delivered, and Pharaoh and
his host overthrown in the Red Sea. Hereby
the name of the God of Israel was more
known, noticed, and magnifled, than it would
have been, if Pharaoh had dismissed the peo
ple without reluctance or delay.
In like raanner, when Messiah left the
earth, his foUowers were considered as sheep
without a shepherd. The world conspired to
suppress his cause, and to root out the re
membrance of his people. But the methods
they employed counteracted their own de
signs. They who were dispersed by the per
secution that followed 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 un
equal 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 show
ed how entirely the lives and the hearts of
his adversaries were in his hands. The
haughty Herod was suddenly smitten by an
invisible band, with a loathsorae and mortal
disease, Acts xii. 23. He fell, devoured by
worms ; but the success of the gospel, which
he had presuraed to withstand, greatly in
creased and spread. The furious zeal of Saul
of Tarsus, (Acts ix.) against the truth, was
sUenced in a different raanner. Jesus, whom
he ignorantly persecuted, appeared to hira in
the way to Daraascus, when he was breath
ing out threatenings and slaughter against
the disciples, disarmed his rage, made hira a
monument of his mercy, and an earnest and
successful preacher of the faith whicii he had
laboured to destroy.
From the Jews, the business was trans
ferred to the Heathens, whose opposition was
no less unavailing. Though they sometimes
affected 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 em
perors were alike industrious, and alike un
successful, in their endeavours to stifle the
work ofGod. At length, in the reign of
Constantine, the Christian religion obtained
the sanction and protection of imperial au
thority. But it soon appeared that the religion of
the New Testament gained little advantage
by this revolution. Though the worship of
heathen 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

.330

OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH IN VAIN.

[ser. xxxi*.

persecution. 'When the name of Christian
ceased to be invidious and despicable, new
names were soon invented to stigmatize the
real servants ofGod ; and ecclesiastical power
gradually increased, till the mystery of ini
quity reigned for ages in the temple of God.
The persecutions of Popery equalled and ex
ceeded those of Paganism. And they who
aspired to be Christians indeed, were con
strained, like the worthies of old, to wander
on mountains and in deserts, to» hide them
selves in dens and caves of the earth, Heb.
xi. 38. Yet, under all disadvantages, there
was still a reranant according to the elec
tion of grace, who could not be compelled to
wear the mark of the beast And whUe per
secutors, who could only kill the body, seem
ed to weaken the church mUitant, they in
creased the number and the songs of the
church triumphant.
To appearance the church of Christ was
often brought Ipw. It was very low at the
time of the Reforraation. 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 tbe same spirit as their Popish and Pagan
predecessors bad been. The form of Chris
tianity was professed and protected, and the
power of it denied and opposed. And to this
day it reraains a truth verified by experience,
that all who wUl live godly in Christ Jesus,
must, in one way or other, suffer persecution,
1 Tim. iii. 12.
Of late years the sanguinary spirit, which,
under pretence of doing God service, de
stroyed his people by fire and tortures, is
much subsided. We live in a time when
great pretences are made to candour and
moderation. We have reason to be thankful
for our religious liberty, to the good pro
vidence of God. But so far as men are con
cerned, we are not indebted for it to a just
sense and acknowledgment of the right of
private judgment but to the prevalence of
sceptical indifference and infidelity. The re
ligion ofthe gospel was, perhaps, never more
despised and bated 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 aU the arts and assaults of
men, whether open enemies or pretended
friends the Bible is still extant, the gospel is
stUl preached, yea, is stUl spreading. The
Lord has always had a people, though they
have been often hidden from the general no
tice and observation of men. He that sitteth
in the heavens laughs his opposers to scom,
and maintains his own cause in defiance of
them aU.
Surely if this work was not of God, the
united efforts of kings, councils, popes, phUo

sophers, the great the wise, the decent and
the profligate, must have overthrown it long
ago. If a miracle be demanded in proof of
Christianity, behold one ! Though the world
has been raging and plotting against it from
its first appearance; though it has been
fiercely assaulted by those without and
shamefully betrayed by many within, it still
subsists, it still flourishes. And subsist it
shall, for it is maintained by him who has
the hearts of aU men in his hands, and can
control or change tbem as he pleases. He
can, and he will, support and strengthen hia
people under all their sufferings. He can
disappoint his adversaries by unexpected
events, divide them among theraselves, and
so manage them by his providence, as to
make them protect and promote the very
cause which they hate. And whenever he
pleases, he can, as it were, frora the stones,
(Matth. iu. 9,) raise up instruments to carry
on his work, and to show forth his praise.
Therefore, 1. Let not his people trerable for the ark.
Our eyes indeed should affect our hearts. It
becoraes us to be jealous for the Lord of
hosts, to be concemed for the contempt and
dishonour that is cast upon his government
and grace, to be grieved for the abounding
abominations ofthe 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 raust stand or fall together. It is a cause
dearer to him than it can be to us. The
manifestation 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 frarae of
nature is preserved. He will work, and none
shall let it The kingdoras of tbe earth shall
becorae the kingdoms of the Lord and of his
Christ. The fulness of the Gentiles shall
come in, and the dispersed of Israel shall re
turn 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 im
possible. But the Lord of hosts hath purposed,
and who shall disannul it ? His hand is stretch
ed out, and who shall turn it back ? Is. xiv. 27.
2. Think it neither strange nor hard, tf
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, tf com
pared with the lot of many who have lived
before us. We 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

xxxv.]

OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH RUINOUa

831

side? His is the strongest side, and must
prevaU. If you have yielded yourselves to
him, and taken upon you his yoke, your best
interests are safe, your final happiness is se
cured. Nothing can separate you from his
love. You shall be kept by his power through
faith, and no weapon formed against you shall
prosper. But if you are against hira, trem
ble, for the day of his wrath will corae ; " it
will burn like an oven, and all the proud, and
all tbat do wickedly, shall be as stubble, and
the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith
the Lord of hosts, and shall leave them nei
ther root nor branch,'' Mal. iv. 1. Turn
therefore in time from your evil ways, sub
rait yourselves unto hira, and iraplore his
mercy whUe 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 shalt dash them in pieces like a pot
ter's vessel. Psalm ii 9.
There is a species of the sublirae in
writing, which seeras peculiar to the scrip
ture, and of which, properly, no subjects but
those of divine 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 among 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 adrait of any heightening representation.
We conceive raore forcibly of sraall things
by illustrations borrowed from those which
are greater ; but the scripture frequently il
lustrates great things, by contrasting thera
with those which in our estiraation are trivial
and feeble. One instance, out of many which
might be mentioned, is that truly sublime
passage ofthe prophet : " And all the host of
heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens
shall be rolled together as a scroll ; and all
their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth
off from the vine, and as a falling fig frora
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 forras
of expression are becoming the Majesty of
the great God, before whom the difference

between the great and the sraall in our judg
ment, 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 tirae, the siraplicity of these Ulus
trations, 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 ofGod, in subduing and punishing
his eneraies, they would probably have la
boured for a siraile 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 beauttful.
Messiah ascended on high, and received gifts
for raen. The first and imraediate conse
quence of his exaltation in our nature, is the
publication 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 describes its extensive progress — the
sound went forth into all the earth. The
opposition awakened by it is then described.
First, as unreasonable — Why do the Heathen
rage? Secondly, as ineffectual — the Lord
laughs at his opposers ; he sits upon his im
movable throne, and derides their attempts.
Thirdly, the final issue of their mad resist
ance, their 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 eneraies shall perish, his kingdora shall
be established and consumraated. And then
all holy intelligent 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 eneraies with a rod of iron,
(Rev. xix. 15,) I shall avail myself of this va
riation, in order to give you a raore coraplete
vie w of the dreadful state of those who oppose
Messiah and his kingdora. He rules thera at
present with a rod of iron, and hereafter he
will dash thera 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 atterapt (in vain) to withdraw
from his subjection; they oppose his holy
wUl; they refuse to submit to his golden
sceptre: he wUl therefore rule them with a
rod of iron. For though they boast of their
liberty, and presume to say, Who is Lord

332

OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH RUINOUS.

[sEB. X3UCV.

over us? (Psalm xii. 4,) yet in the thing
wherein they speak proudly, he is above tbem,
(Exod. xviii. 11.) They cannot hide them
selves from his notice, nor avoid the intiraa-
tions ofhis displeasure.
1. One branch of his iron rule over them,
consists in that certain and inseparable con
nexion 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 wUling obe
dience 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 con
trary, 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 dread
ful end to which it leads. Could you see
what passes within the breast of a raan who
disdains to be governed by the rule of God's
word, you would seo his heart torn to pieces
by the claraorous, insatiable demands of the
various, violent, inconsistent appetites and
passions, which, like so many wild beasts, are
continually preying upon hira. 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 gnaw
ings of envy, the thirst of covetousness, the
anxieties attendant on pride and arabition,
raust make the mind that is subject to them
miserable. There is no peace to the wicked ;
there can be none. Farther, their evil tem
pers and irregular desires produce outward
and visible effects, which publicly and mani
festly prove, that the service of sin is a hard
drudgery, and that whatever pleasure it raay
seem to proraise, its pay is raisery and pain.
" Who hath woe, contentions, and wounds
without cause?" (Prov. xxiu. 29.) The
drunkard. Lewdness and drunkenness are
high roads, if I raay so speak, leading to in
famy, disease, penury, and death. Such per
sons do not live out half the days which their
constitutions might have afforded, if they had
not sold themselves to do wickedly. Again,
look into their houses. Where the Lord does
not dwell, peace will not inhabit How fre
quently raay we observe, in their faraily-con-
nexions, discord and enraity between man
and wife, unkind parents, disobedient chil
dren, tyrannical masters, and treacherous
servants? Thus they live, hateful in them
selves, and hating one another. Tit. iii. 2. If
they have what the world accounts pros
perity, their hard master Satan, so works
upon their evU dispositions, that they can
derive no real comfort frora it. Every day,
almost every hour, puts some new bitterness
into their cup. And in trouble they have no
resource : having no access to God, no pro
mise to support them, no relief from him |

against their anxieties and fears, they either
sink down in suUen, comfortiess despondency,
or in a spirit of wild rebellion, blaspheme him
because of their plagues, Rev. xvi. 21. In
society they are dre^ed and avoided by tiie
sober and serious, and can only associate with
such as theraselves. There indeed, they will
pretend to be happy ; they carouse, and make
a noise, and assist each other to banish re
flection; 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 re
fuses them his blessing. Nothing more is
necessary to render them miserable than to
leave them to themselves.
2. He rules thera 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 wUl, we are sure that there are sea
sons, when, like him whom they serve, they
believe and trerable, Jaraes ii. 19. They can
not always be in corapany, they cannot al
ways be intoxicated ; though this is the very
reason why raany 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 !
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 wU-
lingly 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
consider, before it be too late. There is yet
forgiveness with God. Your case, though
dangerous, is not desperate, if you do not
make it so yourself I would direct your
thoughts to Jesus. Look to him, and im
plore his mercy His blood can cleanse
from all sin. He is able to save to the ut
termost. 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
soundly. I feel none of the qualms of con
science 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 witii

SER. xxxv.]

OPPOSITION TO MESSIAH RUINOUS.

333

such acquaintance as I like best As to an
hereafter, I do not think of it ; but I ara de
termined to live now." In answer to sen
timents of this kind, which I am afraid are
too common, I observe,
3. That tbe amazing hardness and blind
ness of heart to which some sinners are given
up, is another, and the raost terrible effect of
that iron rod with which the Lord rules his
enemies. Pharaoh could say as positively as
you, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey
him?" Exod. v. 2. But because, being often
rebuked; he persisted in his obstinacy, the
contest terminated in his destruction. If
you are obstinate like him now, I believe you
were not always so. You raust have laboured
hard, you must have resisted the light of truth,
and have stifled many a conviction, before
you could arrive to mis pitch of obduracy.
You have fought against the Holy Spirit;
and woe unto you, if he be gone, gone for
ever, and wUl strive with you no raore.
To be thus given up of God to a reprobate
mind, is the heaviest judgraent that a sinner
can be visited with on this side of hell. I ara
at a loss what to say to a person thus dis
posed, and I hope there are none such present.
But I would warn those, who, though they
have sinned with a high hand, are not yet al
together past feeling, lest" you fall into such a
state of conflrmed disobedience and unbelief
Take heed lest you be hardened through the
deceitfulness of sin, Heb. ui. 13. If under
the light of the gospel you can go on in a
course of wilful, wanton, deliberate wicked
ness, you are upon the very edge of the un
pardonable 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, reraera
ber you have been this day warned of the
consequences of despising it If you wUl
perish, I am clear of your blood.
IL I proceed.to consider the final issue of
this unequal contest between the worms of
the earth and their Maker. He wUl 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 fVaU, easUy
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
fearfully and wonderfully made, Psal. cxxxix.
14. The texture of the human frame is ad
mirable. The natural capacities of tbe mind
of man, the powers ofhis understanding, will,
and affections, the rapidity of imagination, the
comprehension of memory, especially in some
instances, 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
reraaining, sufficient to denominate him in

tbe words of the poet " majestic though in
ruins." But if you suppose him rich, power
ful, wise, in the common sense of the words,
he is brittle as a potter's vessel, and while
possessed of every possible advantage, he is
but like the grass or the fiower of the field,
which, in its most flourishing state, fells 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 flnds its way
through a crevice, may be an overmatch for
the strongest man, and bring him down
hastUy to the grave. By a small change in
the brain, or some part of the nervous system,
he who now prides himself in his intellectual
abilities may soon become 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
raight possibly endure for raany ages, if care
fuUy preserved from violence. But the seeds
of decay and death are sown in our very
frarae. We are crushed before the moth,
and moulder away untouched under the
weight of time. How surely and inevitably,
then, raust 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 fraU 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 ha,nd, where
with 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, suc
cessively, of many powers, and of many per
sons who have presumed to oppose his de
signs. For a while they were permitted to
rage, and plot and strive ; but at length they
stumbled and fell, and their memory is pe
rished. But it is proper to bring the consideration
nearer home. I have been informed, that the
rausic 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. Tbey
who live in sinful habits, regardless of the
gospel, would be startled, indeed, tf 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, tf 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 proceed
ings, " before the judgment-seat of Christ"
"Behold, he cometh in the clouds, and every
eye shall seo him, and they also who pierced
him !" He wiU descend with a shout, with

334

THE LORD REIGNETH.

[sEB. XXXVI.

the voice of the archangel, and with the
trump of God, and before him shall be gather
ed all nations. Where then shall the sinner
and the ungodly appear ? What wUl then be
come of those who despise, and those who
abuse the gospel ofthe grace of God ? The
libertine, the infidel, the apostate, the hypo
crite, the profane scoffer, and the false pro
fessor, how wUl they stand, or whither wUl
they flee, when the great Judge shall sit up
on his awful throne, and the books shall be
opened, and every secret thing shall be dis
closed ! Alas for them that are full, and that
laugh now, for then they shaU pine and
mourn, Luke vi. 25. Then their cavils will
be silenced, their guUt, 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 frora rae, ye cursed, into everlast
ing fire, prepared for the devU 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
delightful, and his voice welcome. You
shall not be asharaed. This awful God is
yours. He will then own and accept you be
fore asserabled worlds, and will say, " Corae,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the king
dom prepared for you." Then the days of
your mourning shall be ended, and your sun
shall go down no more, Matt xxv. 34. Is.
Ix. 20.

SERMON XXXVI.

the LORD REIGNETH.

Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth! Rev. xix. 6.
The book of the Revelation, being chiefly
prophetical, will not perhaps be fully under
stood, tUl the final accomplishraent of the
events shall draw near, and throw a stronger
light upon the whole series. But while the
learned coraraentators have been hitherto di
vided and perplexed in their atterapts 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 ofthe happiness and worship ofthe 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, tbe songs of the redeemed, and the
chorus ofthe angels, he receives such an im
pression of glory, as awakens his gratitude,
desire, and joy, and excites hira likewise to
take up the same song of praise, to him who
has loved hira, and washed him frora his sins
in his own blood. He is content to leave the
discussion of hard questions to learned men,
whUe he feeds by faith upon those simple
truths whicb can only be relished by a
spiritual 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
ofthe opposition against the kingdom of the
Lord Christ. But Babylon sinks like a mUl-
stone in the mighty ocean, and is no more
found. So must all his enemies perish. The
catastrophe of Babylon, Uke 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 therae for a song of tri
umph to his praise. This may be properly
styled sacred music indeed. It is command
ed, inspired, and regulated, by the Lord him
self The performers are all interested in
the subject, they who fear God, and are de
voted 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
company. Their united voices are here
compared to the voice of many waters, and
of mighty thunders, and this is tbe solemn
close, the 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 fiights 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
moraent 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 tf they
really believed that the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth? Rather do not the greater part of
thera 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-

sfitt. XXXVI.]

THE LORD REIGNETH.

335

rived. Babylon is not yet feUen. 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 raay rejoice that tbe Lord God oranipotent
reigneth, and that Jesus is Kmg of kings, and
Lord of lords. I raust consider ray text as
referring to him. Many ofthe 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 coraraitted all things into his
hands," John ui. 35. And thus our Lord,
after his resurrection, assured his disciples,
" All power is committed unto me in heaven
and in earth," Matt xxviii. 18. He has al
ready taken to himseff his great power and
reigneth. His right of reigning over all is
essential to his divine nature ; but the adrai
nistration of government in the nature of man,
is the effect and reward ofhis obedience unto
death. But in the union of both natures, he
is one person, Christ Jesus the Lord. All
the riches and fulness ofthe 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 wiUing 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 dis
tances from us and from each other, and the
amazing swiftness, variety, and 'regularity
of their motions, our minds are overwhelraed,
our thoughts confounded, by the vastness and
the wonders ofthe scene. But he spoke them
into being,, and they are preserved in their
stations and revolutions by his power and
agency. If we fixourthoughts upon the earth,
though in comparison of the immensity of his
creation it is but as a point or a grain of sand,
it is the object ofhis incessant care. AU its
various inhabitants derive their existence and
their support from hira. 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 uner
ringly instructed in whatever 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 hira. He teaches the
birds to build their nests, the spider to weave
his web, and instructs the comraunities of
bees, and insignificant emmets, to form their
admirable policies and government among
theraselves. If we speak of intelligent be
ings, he does what he pleases in the armies
of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the
earth. He directs and overrules the coun
sels and purposes of raen, so that though they
act freely, the event of all their different in
terfering scheraes, is only the accomplish
raent of his purposes. When they are era
ployed as his instruraents, frora small begin
nings, and in defiance of difficulties apparently
insuperable, they succeed beyond their own
expectations. When unhappily engaged
against his designs, in vain they rage and
plot. He takes the wise in their own crafti
ness, pours contempt upon their power and
policy, and all their great preparations melt
like a mist, or like snow before the sun, and
leave no trace behind. Still more wonder
ful, to the eye of faith, is his control over
Satan and the powers of darkness. What
ever, for wise reasons, though unknown to
us, he may perrait thera to do, they cannot
with all their subtlety or strength, detain one
soul in their bondage longer than till his ap
pointed tirae of release ; nor recover one soul
back to their dorainion, of which he is pleased
to undertake the care. On the contrary, he
breaks the heads of these leviathans in pieces,
turns their counsels against theraselves, and
raakes thera 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 sha
dow are safe ; for all things are in his pow
er, and he always careth for them, and keep
eth them, as the pupil ofhis eye; and there
fore, 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. He has a peculiar kingdom, which he
has established distinct from the kingdoms of
this world, though diffused and extended
among them, and which, in due time, like
leaven, will pervade and assimUate tbem all
to himself This is the kingdom of the gos
pel, his church. It is founded upon a rock,
and though the gates of hell continually war
against it they cannot prevaU. For he is a
waU of fire round about it and the glory in
the midst of it Zech. ii. 5.
Here he reigns upon a throne of grace. He
possesses and exercises unlimited authority

336

THE LORD REIGNETH.

[sEB. XXXVt.

ae a sovereign, to save whom he pleases, to
pardon all manner of sins and offences, and
to admit rebels and enemies, when they sub
mit theraselves and bow to his golden scep
tre, into 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 clog
ging it with exceptions. Either they feel a
resentment against 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 tbeir 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, agree
able 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 partof 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 adrait and enjoy the gos
pel-revelation. The church, in this sense,
includes many nations. But it is a sraall
thing to belong only to the visible church, for
it is corapared to a corn-floor, (Matt. 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,
Matt xiii. 24, 47. But a tirae of discrimi
nation will come. . The chaff and the tares,
and whatever is evil, wUl 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 raore ?
My heart is pained with the apprehension,
lest some of you have joined in the same
public worship with true believers, have sat
in the sarae seat, and lived in the same fami
lies, should at last see them, with whom you
have been very nearly connected in this
world, received 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 com
prises all who agree in the profession of the
fundamental truths of the gospel, anff whose
conversation is regulated by its precepts; or
in the apostie's words, "AU who love the
Lord Jesus Christ m 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 desirable union amongst true
christians, which would promote their peace,
comfort, and increase, and would contri
bute more than a thousand arguments to put
their adversaries to sharae and to silence.
That sharaeful contention for denorainations,
parties, and favourite preachers, for which
the apostle reproved the Corinthians, (1 Cor.
iii. 4,) is still greatly to be laraented. But
though they are too backward in acknow
ledging and assisting each other, the Lord is
merciful to their weakness, and bears with
thera all. And as they grow in grace, and
drink raore into his Spirit, their hearts are
enlarged, and they approach nearer to his
pattern of long-suffering, patience, and ten
derness. 4. The word church is applied to particular
societies of christians, who are connected by a
participation in the sarae ordinances of the
gospel, and who raaintain a scriptural separa
tion from the sinful spirit and customs of the
world. And though there may be pretenders
amollg them, as there were among the apos
tolic churches, they are denominated by the
better 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 profess to be, are living merabers
of the mystical 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 ordi
nances. He releases his subjects frora all au
thority, iij point of conscience, but his own, and
enjoins thera to call no one raaster but him
self. Matt, 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
bis royal law of doing to others as they would
that others should do unto them, they wUl not
attempt to exert an undue autbority, or wish
to be called masters themselves, so as to as
surae a dograatical carriage, or to expect a
universal and absolute submission. But it
must be owned that in our present state of

SER. xxxvn.] EXTENT OF MESSIAH'S SPIRITUAL KINGDOM.

inflrraity, this privUege is not sufficiently
prized, nor this coraraand duly coraplied with,
there being scarcely a raan who does not
either arrogate too rauch to himself, or allow
too much to others. A fault in the one or the
other of these respects, raay be assigned as a
principal cause of raost of the evils which
deform 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 raen, frora the fetters of custora and tra
dition, of superstition and wUl- worship; that
they may enjoy in his service, a state of per
fect freedora.
For it is the principal glory of his kingdora,
that he 'reigns in the hearts of his people.
There he writes his precepts, irapresses his
image, and erects his throne; ruling thera,
not merely by an outward law, but by an in
ward secret influence, breathing his own life
and Spirit into thera, so that their obedience
becoraes, as it were, natural, pleasurable, and
its own reward. By the discoveries he affords
thera of his love, he wins their affections,
captivates their wills, and enlightens their
understandings. They derive from hira the
spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind,
(2 Tira. i. 7,) and run with alacrity in the way
ofhis comraandraents.
It is impossible therefore to make this song
our own, and cordially to rejoice that the
Lord God oranipotent reigneth, unless we are
the willing subjects of his government ; un
less we are really pleased with his appointed
way of salvation, approve ofhis 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, too wise in our own conceits to desire
his instruction, too obstinately attached to the
love and practice of sin, to be capable of re
lishing the beauty and spirituality ofhis com
mandments. 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 attempt to be our own carvers. We are
unthankful when he bestows, impatient if he
withholds, and if he sees fit to resurae the
gifts of which we are unworthy, we repine
and rebel against bis wiU. This enmity must
be subdued, before we can be pleased with
his government In other words, we must be
changed, we raust be made new creatures.
To produce this change, this new creation,
the gospel is the only expedient ; and wben
revealed and applied to the heart by the power
of tbe Holy Spirit the miracle is wrought
The sinner who is first convinced of his guilt
and raisery, and then reconcUed to God by
faith in the great atonement wUlingly yields
to his administration. He owns and feels the
Vol. Ii. 2 U

337
propriety of his proceedings, is ready to ac
knowledge, in his sharpest afflictions, lhat the
Lord is gracious, and has not dealt with him
according to the desert of his iniquities. He
considers hiraself as no longer his own, but
bought with a price, and brought under the
strongest obligations to live no longer to him
self, but to him who loved hira, and gave him
self for hira. 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 raust 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
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.
The kingdora of our Lord in the heart,
and in the world, is frequently compared to a
building or house, of which he hiraself is both
the foundation and the architect, Isa. xxviii.
16 ; liv. 11, 12. A building advances by de
grees, (1 Corinth. iU. 9. Ephes. U. 20 — 22,)
and whUe it is in an unfinished state, a
stranger cannot by viewing its present ap
pearance, 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 proper season will be taken
away ; and by scaffolding, which, though use
ful for carrying on the building, does not
properly belong to it but wUl likewise be re
moved when the present temporary service
is answered. But the architect himself pro
ceeds according to a determinate 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 thera, but as yet every part of
it is iraperfect and unfinished ; and there are
not only defects to be supplied, but deformi
ties and incumbrances that must be reraoved.
Many of tbe dispensations and exercises
which contribute to form their religious
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 corae, the rest shaU be done
away.

338

THE EXTENT OF MESSLVH'S

[SER. XXXVII.

And thus, although the growth and extent
of his kingdom is the great scope and object
of his providence, to which aU the revolu
tions that take place in the kingdoms of this
world shall be finally subservient; yet the
steps by which he is carrying forward his de
sign, are, for the most part, remote frora the
common apprehensions of mankind, and there
fore seldora 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 detached and inconsiderable parts of the
plan are as yet visible, and tbe beauties are
everywhere obscured by attendant blemishes;
but his counsel shall stand, and he wiU do all
his pleasure. Princes and statesmen seldom
think of him, are seldom aware, that in prose
cuting their own schemes, they are even
tually fulfilling his purposes, and preparing
the way to proraote the cause which they
despise, and often endeavour to suppress. But
thus it is. Sometiraes he employs thera, raore
directly, as his instruraents; and when they
are thus engaged in his work, their success
is secured. So Cyrus, whom Isaiah men
tioned by name (Is. xiv. 1 — 5,) long before
his birth, as the appointed deliverer of Israel
frora their captivity, prospered in his enter
prises, being guided and girded by hira whora
he knew not, and established his own power
upon the ruins of the Assyrian monarchy.
The Roraan 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
posterity will see, that the principal events
of the present age, in Asia and America,
have all a tendency to bring forward the ac
complishraent of my text ; and are leading to
one grand point, the spreading and establish
ment of the church and kingdom of our Lord.
His plan is unalterably fixed. He has said
it, and it shall be done. Things will not al
ways remain in their present disordered state ;
and though this desirable period may be yet
at a distance, and appearances very dark and
unpromising, the word ofthe Lord shall pre
vail over aU discouragements 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 expected to take place. But they are so
divided in their judgments, and with regard
to several of the most erainent who thus dif
fer, the support their opinions derive from
the character and abUities of the proposers is
so nearly equal, that those who consult them
are more likely to be embarrassed than satis
fied. For myself, I think it becomes me to
confess my ignorance, and my inabUity, either
to reconcUe the conjectures of others, or to

determine which is the more probable, or to
propose better of my own. I do not, there
fore, undertake to give the precise sense of
this passage, as it stands connected with the
rest of the chapter. Nor should I, perhaps,
have atterapted to preach frora it, but upon
this occasion. It is introduced, with great
propriety, in the Messiah, as a close to the
second part, which begins with a view of the
Larab of God taking away the sins of the
world, by the power of his priestly office; and
concludes with an account 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 ray way. There are
many prophecies in the Old Testaraent, that
speak in magniflcent 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 re
strained, as some commentators would re
strain it, to the restoration of Israel to their
own land, from their captivity in Babylon.
Vet it must be allowed, that the highly flgu-
rative language in which many of these pro
phecies 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 alraost a thousand con
jectures, concerning a raillennian 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
whicb, the Lord will personally reign with
his people upon the earth, when purified by
fire, and restored to its primitive perfection
and beauty. If so, earth will be heaven ; for
the state of happiness believers are taught to
hope for, depends not upon local circum
stances, but chiefly consists in the enjoyment
of his unveUed imraediate presence, and in
beholding his glory. Others seem to con
ceive of the millenniura, nearly in the same
manner as the Jews forraed their expecta
tions of Messiah's kingdom. They think that
teraporal honours, dominion, prosperity, and
wealth, wift 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 allowances 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 description is to be understood strictly,
according to the letter. The personal pre
sence of Messiah with his people, is not ne
cessary to such degrees of happmess as are
compatible with the present state of mortality

SER. XXXVII.]

SPIRITUAL KINGDOM.

339

and imperfection. It is sufficient, if he vouch
safes to dwell with them by his Spirit Much
less are temporal dominion and wealth ne
cessary to the prosperity and honour of his
spiritual kingdom. • But what then are we
encouraged to expect, beyond what bas been
hitherto known, with regard to this point?
Let us consult the scriptures, which alone
can guide and determine our inquiry. I wUl
select some express passages, a few out of
many wbich 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
dora, is described by the prophets in terms
which cannot be justly applied to any period
ofthe church already past. They sometimes
represent it by a variety of beautiful pastoral
images, and sometiraes in plainer language.
Thus Isaiah : " And it shall corae to pass in
the last days, that the mountains of the Lord's
house shall be established on the top of the
mountains, and shall be exalted above the
hiUs; and all nations shaU 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 wUl 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 their swords into ploughshares, and their
spears into pruning hooks : Nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall
they learn war any more," Isa. ii. 2 — 4.
Again, "The wolf also shall dwell with the
Lamb, and tbe leopard shall lie down with the
kid; and the calf, and the young lion, and the
fatling together, and a little chUd shall lead
thera. And the cow and the bear shall feed,
their young ones shall lie 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 raight 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 destruction 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. The sun shall no raore go down,
neither 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 hi-anch trf

my planting, the work of my hands, that I
may be glorified. A little one shall becorae
a thousand, and a small one a strong nation ;
I the Lord will hasten it in his tirae," Isaiah,
Ix. 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 tbeir 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 thera 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 wUl I give you, and a new spirit
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
ray Spirit within you, and cause you to walk
in my statutes, and ye shaU keep my judg
ments, and do them. And the desolate land
shall be tilled, whereas it lay desolate in the
sight of all that passed by. And they shall
say. This land that was desolate is becorae like
the garden of Eden ; and the waste, and de
solate, and ruined cities, are become fenced
and inhabited," Ezek. xxxvi. 25 — 27, 34, 35.
The prophet Zechariah speaks to the same
effect : " Sing and rejoice, O daughter of
Zion ; for lo, I come, and I will dwell in the
midst of thee, saitib the Lord. And ma«y
nations shall be joined to the Lord in that
day, and shall be my people ; and IwiU dweU
in the midst of thee; and thou shalt know that
the Lord of hosts hath sent rae unto thee.
And the Lord shall be king over all the earth;
in that day shall there 'he 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 naraes of Israel, Jacob, Zion, or Jeru
salera, we are eertain they were not fulfilled
to the nation of Israel while, their civU go
vernraent subsisted. Their national pros
perity and glory were greatly dirainished be
fore any of these prophecies were revealed.
They were an inconstant and a suffering
people, during the reigns of the kings-of Ju
dah and Israel, till at length tbeir -city and
teraple were destroyed by the Chaldeans.
And though they returned from their capti
vity, and their city and temple were rebuilt
they continued tributary and dependent, and
were successively subject to the Persian,
Macedonian, and Roman power. Their ob
stinate rejection and crucifixion of Messiah,
filled up the measure of their iniquities, and
brought wrath upon them to the uttermost

340

THE EXTENT OF MESSIAH'S

[ser. xxxvif.

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 chris
tian church. The greater part of the earth,
to this day, is unacquainted with the name
of Jesus. And the general face of Christen
dom, whether in Popish or in Protestant
countries, exhibits little raore of the spirit
and character of the gospel, than is to be
found araong the Heathens. If Christianity
be compatible with pride or baseness, with
avarice or profusion, with raalice and envy,
with scepticism in principle and licentious
ness of conduct then christians abound; but
if humUity, integrity, benevolence, and a
spiritual mind, are essential to a christian ;
if we judge by the criterion which our Lord
hiraself 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 promises of
the Lord fail? By no means. Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but not one jot or tittle
ofhis word shall fail of accora plish raent.
It is not necessary to suppose that every
individual 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
heritance, and the uttermost parts ofthe earth
for his possession. At present (as I have
formerly observed, Ser. xxxii.) if the whole
of Christendom were inhabited by real Chris
tians, tbey would bear but a sraall proportion
tothe rest of mankind. Large countries in
Europe, Asia, and Africa, where the gospel
was once known, have been for many ages
involved in Mahomraedan darkness. The
scattered remnants of the Greek church in
Turkey are so miserably depraved and igno
rant that they scarcely deserve to be raention
ed as an exception. The rest of Asia knows
little of Christianity, unless they have learnt
it in the eastern parts frora the cruelty and
tyranny of raen who bear the narae of chris
tians. The like raay be said of Araerica, ex
cepting the northern provinces of our late
dorainion there. For the zeal of the Span
iards and Portuguese has produced few other
effects than rapine, slavery, and deluges of
huraan blood. The interior parts, both of
Africa and America are unknown. The

countries and islands lately discovered in the
southren hemisphere, are left, as they were
found, in gross ignorance. The exertions of
our navigators to supply thera with sheep
and cows, and useful implements, from Eu
rope, were humane and laudable. But it
does not appear tbat the least attempt was
made to impart to thera the knowledge of
our holy religion. The only missionary they
have from us (if he be yet living,) is the
rauch-spoken-of Omiah. This man was
brought to England, almost from the Anti
podes ; he spent sorae tirae araongst us, and
was then sent back to tell his countrymen
what he had seen and heard. But if he gave
a faithful accountof our customs, morals, and
religion, so far as they fell within the circle
of his own observations, the relation would
certainly be little to our honour, and I am
afraid much to their hurt. In brief, a large
part of Europe, alraost the whole of the otber
three continents, with the islands in the
Eastern and Southern Oceans, are destitute
of the true gospel. But there is a time ap
proaching, called the fulness ofthe GentUes,
when the Redeemer's glory shall dawn and
shine upon all nations. And though we can
not see when or how tbis happy change shall
be effected, yet in the Lord's hour, raoun
tains shall sink into plains. Nor is it more
improbable to us now, than it would have
seemed to an inhabitant of Rorae in the time
of Julius Csesar, 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 prevaU 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
to Protestants. But the bulk of the Protest
ant countries are equally overspread with
scepticism and wickedness. Few compara
tively, among Protestants, are friendly to
that gospel whicb the apostles preached;
and much fewer are they who are influenced
by it. Perhaps no nation is favoured with
greater advantages for knowing the truth
than our nation, nor any. city more fevoured
than this city. I doubt not but there are
persons now living, who would have been
thought erainent christians, if they had lived
in the first and happiest age ofthe church ; and
I trust their number 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 littie does it
appear in the lives, tempers, and pursuits of
the raost who hear the gospel ; but the time
will come when christians shall again be

SER. XXXVIII.]

SPIRITUAL KINGDOM.

341

known by their integrity, spiritual-minded
ness, 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 va
rious forms, and the calling of the Jews, are
events which are positively foretold, and
which, when they corae to pass, will have
great effects. Zion, as yet, is only buUding,
but it shall be built.
3. That the animosities and disputes which
prevail araong christians shall cease. The
observations of a late ingenious writer, which,
it is to be feared, he was confirraed in by his
own experience, is too rauch founded in
truth: — "We have just religion enough to
raake us hate one another." The spirit of
party, prejudice, and bigotry, and interest, a
zeal for systeras, forras, raodes, and denorai
nations furnish men with plausible pretences
for indulging their unsanctified passions, and
deceive them into an opinion, that whUe they
are gratifying their pride and self-will, they
are only labouring to promote the ca,use of
God and truth. Hence often the feuds which
obtain araong religious people are pursued
with greater violence, and to greater lengths,
and are productive of raore raischievous 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 cowards, by the angry combat
ants on all sides, while the world despises
and laughs at them all. It was not so in the
beginning, nor wUl 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 to
wards each other, if in some points of sraaller
importance, 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, Isa. xi.
13. 4. That it will be a tirae of general peace.
At present the kingdoras, which, by their
profession, should be subjects ofthe Prince of
Peace, are perpetually disturbing, invading,
and destroying each other. They live in
habits of mutual fear and jealousy, and raain
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 hum.an 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 glatify the malignity of Satan and the

powers of darkness, if they were permitted to
appear and act amongst us in human shapes?
Could such enormities possibly obtain, if the
mild and merciful spirit of the gospel gene
rally prevailed ? but it shall prevail at last
and then the nations shall learn war no more,
Isa. ii. 4.
How transporting the thought ! that a time
shall yet arrive, wben the love of God and
man, of truth and righteousness, shall obtain
through the earth. The evils (and these are
the greatest evUs of human life) which raen
bring upon theraselves, and upon each other,
by their wickedness, shall cease ; and we
may believe that the evUs in the natural
world wUl be greatly abated. Sin wUl no
longer call down the tokens of God's dis
pleasure, by such pubUc calamities as hurri
canes, earthquakes, pestilence and famine.
And if some natural evUs, as pain and sick
ness, should reraain, subraission to the will
of God, and the compassion and tendemess
of men towards the afilicted, will render them
tolerable. If this prospect be desirable to us, surely it
will be the object of our prayers. The Lord
wUl 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
desirable. The glory and extent of the Bri
tish governraent has been eagerly pursued,
and the late diminution of our national gran
deur and influence has been much laid to
heart; whUe the glory of the Redeemer's
kingdom, and the conversion of the Heathens,
are considered by the politicians and mer
chants of the earth, as trivial concerns, un
worthy of their notice, or rather as obstacles
to the views of arabition and avarice. But it
is said of Messiah, and of his church, The
nation and kingdora that will not serve thee
shall perish, Isa. Ix. 12. The word of God
may be slighted, but it cannot be annulled ;
and it is more a subject for lamentation thaii
wonder, that our national prosperity should
decline, when we are indifferent yea, ad
verse to that cause which the great Governor
of the world has engaged to promote and es
tablish.

SERMON XXXVIIL
KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.
{And he hath on, his vesture and on his thigh,
a name written,) KiMO of Kijras, ajvo
Lord of lords. Rev. xix. 16.
The description of the administration and
glory of the Redeemer's kingdom, in de
fiance of all opposition, concludes the second
part of the Messiah. Three different pas-
saoes from this book are selected to form a

343

KING OP KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS. [seb. xxxvilfc

grand chorus, of which his title in this verse
IS the close; a titie which has been some
times vainly usurped by proud worms of the
earth. Eastern monarchs, in particular, have
affected to style themselves King of kings,
and Lord of lords. In the scriptural lan
guage, 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 an
swerable to the idea they have of their own
importance, without intrenching upon tbe
divine prerogative. Thus sovereignty, ma
jesty, holiness, and grace, and other attributes
whicb properly belong to God alone, are par
celled out ainong 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 meditations.
I. How he is represented as wearing his
title. It is written, or inscribed, upon bis
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 raankind possess, is derived
from hira, and absolutely subject to his con
trol. 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 outward garraent, to be read, known, and
acknowledged by all beholders. And it is
upon bis bloody garraent upon the vesture
stained with bis own blood', and the blood of
his eneraies; 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
naraes attributed to Messiah. He has a narae
which no one knows but hiraself (ver. 12,)
agreeable to what he declared when upon
earth: "No raan (""Js/t, no one, neither man.
nor angel) knoweth the Son, but the Father ;"
this refers to his eternal power and Godhead.
A second name. The Word ofGod, (ver. 13,)
denotes the mystery of the divine personality.
The narae in ray text imports his glory, as
the Mediator between God and man, in our
nature, which, when he resumed it from the
grave, becarae the seat of all power and au
thority ; 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 deatli, 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 inspirea.,.
them with confidence and joy, under the
many tribulations tbey 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. xiv. 3.
By this erablera we are taught, that he will
assuredly maintain and exercise the right
which he has acquired. As be has a just
claim to the title, he wUl 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 infiuence. He is styled King
of kings, and Lord of lords, because he reaUy
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 inhabitants of the earth, with an absolute
and uncontrollable sway, so that none can
stay his hand, or say unto him, Wbat 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 theraselves against hira, (Ps.
ii. 4,) saying, Let us break his bands asunder.
But he sitteth in the heavens, and has thera
in derision. He has his hook in their nose,
and his bridle in their lips, and the result of
all their contrivances is neither raore nor less
than the accoraplishraent of his will.
1. The rage they discover, and tbe 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.
He was often warned and rebuked, but be
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 tbe nature of the case would
have admitted, if Pharaoh had made no op
position to their departure. Yet the obstinacy
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 again, lhat

SBR. XXXVIII.] KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.

God cannot be tempted with evil, neither
tempteth he any raan, (James i. 13,) and the
scripture is to be -interpreted consistently
with itseff. It would be absurd to ascribe
darkness or ice to the agency of the sun,
though both inevitably follow, if tiie light and
heat of the sun be withdrawn to a certain 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 ratiier 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 he 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 tbe secret influence
of the Father and Fountain of light ; and if he
is pleased to withdraw his influence, nothing
raore is needful to its complete induration.
2. The kings of the earth are continually
disturbing the world with their schemes of
ambition. They expect to carry every thing
before thera, and have seldora any higher end
in view than the gratification of their own
passions. But in all they do they are but ser
vants of this great King and Lord, and fulfil
his purposes, as the instruraents he employs
to inflict prescribed punishment upon trans
gressors against him, or to open a way for the
spread of his gospel. Thus, under the Old-
Testament dispensation (for he was King
from everlasting,) the successes of Senna
cherib and Nebuchadnezzar, and the exalta
tion of Cyrus were entirely owing to their
being employed by him, as an axe or a saw
in the hand of the workman, Isa. x. 15. And
they acted under a limited coraraission, be
yond which they could not go. They had
one thing in view, He had another; and when
his design was accoraplished, 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 frora the
perusal of modern history. It is well known,
with respect to that great event, the Reforma
tion 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 raeasures, as the King
of kings over-ruled to produce consequences
which they neither intended nor could fore
see, and which, wben they did apprehend,
they would have prevented if they could, but
it was too late. Future writers, I doubt not
wiU make the like reflection upon the Ame
rican war, in the origin and progress of which
there was such an evident disproportion be
tween the apparent causes and the effects
produced by thera, between the first designs
and expectations of the principal actors on

343
both sides and the final event, that 1 think
they who do not perceive a superintending
Providence conducting the whole affair, as a
preparation to still greater and more im
portant revolutions, must be quite at a loss to
account for what has already happened, upon
any principles of human policy or foresight
3. That he is King of kings, and Govemor
araong tbe nations, is farther evident frora
the preservation of his people ; for the world
is against thera, and they have no protector
but him. The wrath of raan, like the waves
ofthe sea, has bounds prescribed to it which
it cannot pass. So far as he is pleased to
over-rule it to his own praise, be will perrait
it to operate, but the reraainder, that is not
subservient to the accoraplishment of his
purpose, he wUl restrain. Psalm IXxvi. 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*hophel to give that counsel to Absalom,
which, though wicked, was, in the political
sense of the word, prudent; that is, it was
the probable method of putting David into the
power of his rebellious son. David had prayed
that the Lord would turn Ahithophel's coun
sel into foolishness, 2 Sara. xv. 31. Had the
Lord instantly deprived Ahithophel ofhis rea
son, 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 Absalora, (2 Sam. xvii.
14,) rendered the other abortive. Sometimes
the enemies of his church divide and wrangle
among theraselves, and then one party, to
raortffy and oppose the other, will protect
those whora otherwise they wish to destroy.
Thus Paul escaped from the malice of the
Jewish councU, by the sudden disagreement
which arose between the Pharisees and
Sadducees, (Acts xxiii. 7,) though i they
came together equally determined to destroy
him. At other tiraes, kings and statesmen
act so inconsistently with their professed
airas, and take steps so directly calculated to
prevent what they wish to obtain, or to bring
upon theraselves what they mean to avoid,
that we can only say they are infatuated. A
very small corapliance 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 en
gaging 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 effected, the wonder
ceases. Very observable, likewise, was the
coincidence of circumstances which preserved
the Jews in Persia frora the destructive de
signs of their adversary Haman, If the king

344

JOB'S FAITH AND EXPECTATION.

fsER. XXXIX.

had slept that night,, as usual, or if his at
tendants 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, hu
manly speaking Haman would have carried
his point, Esther vi. 1. In this raanner, by a
concurrence of circurastances, each of thera,
if considered singly, apparently trivial, and
aU of them contingent with respect to any
huraan foresight or prevention, 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 theraselves success.
Many salutary and corafortable inferences
may be drawn from the consideration of this
subject Sorae of thera I raay perhaps have
formerly raentioned, 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
against 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 raore dear to hira. 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 hira. The very hairs of your
head are nurabered. Matt x. 30. There is a
hedge of protection around you (Job i. 10,)
which none can break through without his
perraission; nor will he permit you to be
touched, except when he designs to make a
teraporary and seeming evil conducive to
your real and permanent advantage.
2. It should affect us with an admiring and
thankful sense ofhis condescension. " Lord,
what is raan that thou shouldest be so mind
ful of him?" He hurables himself to behold
the things that are in heaven, Psal. cxiii. 6.
But he stoops stUl 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 felling tear escapes
his notice. He pities thera as a father pities
his chUdren ; 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 unnecessarUy, nor in
vain. 3. How great is the dignity and privilege
of true believers ! Is the raan congratulated
or envied whom the king delighteth to ho
nour ? Believers are raore frequently despised
. than envied in this world. But they may
congratulate one another. The King of
kings is their friend. They have honours

and pleasures which tbe world knows nothing
of; Their tities are high, they are tiie sons and ¦ ¦ ¦
the daughters of the Lord Almighty, -2 Cor.^
V. 18. Their possessions are great, for air ' ' "
things are theirs, 1 Cor. iu. 21. They- are
assured of what 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 acknowledged and owned by him - - -
before assembled worlds. They who now
account the proud happy, will be astonishedvT.TT'
and confounded when they shall see the
righteous, whom they once undervaliied,
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 thera for a season, the hour is approach-^j^,^,-
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 frarae
of nature shall he dissolved, when the Judge
shall appear, the books be opened, and all
mankind shall be sumraoned to his tribunal !
Will not you trerable 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 will 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 sumraons? If not, seize the present op
portunity. Attend to the one thing needful.
Seek his face, that your soul raay live. If
not, remember that you are warned ; your
blood will be upon your own head. We have
delivered our message, and if you finally re
ject it you must answer fbr yourselves to hiin
whose message it is.

SERMON XXXIX.
job's faith and EXPECTATION.
/ know ihat 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 Gad.
Job xix. 2.5, 26.
Christianity, that is, the religion of
which Messiah is the author and object, tbe
foundation, life, and glory, though not alto
gether as old as the creation, is nearly so.
It is coeval with the first promise and inti
mation of mercy given to fallen man. When

SBR. XXXIX.]

JOB'S FAITH AND EXPECTATION.

Adara by transgression bad violated the order
and law of his creation, his religion, that is,
tbe right disposition of his heart towards
God, was at an end. Sin deprived him at once
of feith and hope, of love and joy. He no
longer desired, he no longer could bear the
presence of his offended Maker. He vainly
Bought to avoid it ; and when compelled to
answer, though he could not deny his guift,
¦- *- instead of making an ingenuous confession,
he atterapted to fix the blarae upon the wo
man, 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 already become ob
durate and desperate. A promise was given
him of the seed of the woman, (Gen. iii. 15,)
which virtually contained, as the seed con
tains the future plant the substance of all
the subsequent promises which were fulfilled
, , by the incarnation ofthe Son of God, and by
'all that he did, or suffered, or obtained for
'* * sinners, in the character of Mediator. For
a sinner can have no comfortable intercourse
with the holy God, but through a Mediator.
Therefore the apostie observes of the patri
archs 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 trusting
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 feith, resting all their hope upon hira, who,
by his obedience unto death, is the end of the
law for righteousness unto every one that be
lieveth, Rora. A. 4. We have greater advan-
faiges, in point oflight and liberty, than those
of old. The prophecies concerning Messiah,
which, at the tirae of delivery, were obscure,
are to us infallibly interpreted by their accora
plishment And we know that the great
atonement typically pointed out by their sa
crifices, has been actually made ; that the
Lamb ofGod 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. Abrahara 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 probabUity, 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 leamed are far frora being agreed
either in the translation, or in the explanation
Vol. il 2 X

345
of this text. The word worms and body beinc
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 orait these words, something will be evi
dently wanting to raake 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 rae, 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 raeet in the house of God, by giving
you a detail of controversies and criticisras,
which after all are rauch 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 fbr one we must exclude the rest.
I shall content myself with the words as I find
them. And I hope, that if we should raiss
some of the precise ideas which Job might
have when he spoke, we shall not greatly
mistake his general meaning, nor wander far
wide from the scope ofthe 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, 1, The title. There is no name of Mes
siah more significant, comprehensive, or en
dearing, than the name Redeemer. The narae
of Saviour expresses what he does for sinners.
He saves thera frora guilt and wrath, frora
sin, frora the present evil world, frora th«
powers of darkness, and from all their ene
mies. He saves them with an everlasting
salvation. 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 he saved his disciples when in jeopardy
upon the lake, by saying to the winds and the
seas, "Peace, be still : and there was a great
calra ;" (Mark iv. 39 ;) but by price, by pay
ing a ransora for them, and pouring out the
blood of his heart as an atonement for their
sins. The Hebrew word for Redeemer,
Goel, primarily signifies, a near kinsman, or
the next of kin ; he with whora the right of
rederaption lay, (Nurab. xxxv. 19, 21. Ruth
iv. 1 — 3,) and who, by virtue ofhis nearness
of relation, was the legal avenger of blood.
Thus Messiah took upon him our nature,
and by assuming our flesh and blood, be
came nearly related to us, that he might
redeem our forfeited inheritance, restore us
to liberty, and avenge our cause against
Satan, the enemy and murderer of our souls.

346

JOB'S FAITH AND EXPECTATION.

[ser. xxxix.

But thus he made hiOiself also responsible
for us, to pay our debts, and to answer the
demands of the justice and law of God on
our behaff. He fulflUed his engagement
He suffered, and he died on this account
But our Redeeraer, 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 whora 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 hiraself,
the sarae yesterday, to-day, and for ever, Heb.
xiii. 8. Such was his own language to the
Jews, " Before Abrahara was, I ara," John
viii. 58. Therefore the Redeeraer 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. ex. 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 wUl or a deed, which
he reads with no farther design than to un
derstand the tenor and import of the writing,
will neither save nor corafort the soul. The
believer reads it, as the will is read by the
heir, who finds his own narae in it, and is
warranted by it to call the estate and all the
particulars specified his own. He appro
priates the privileges to himself, and says, the
promises are raine ; the pardon, the peace,
the heaven, of which I read, are all raine.
This is the wUl and testaraent of the Re
deeraer, of my Redeemer. The great Testa
tor remembered me in his will, which is con
firraed, and rendered valid by his death,
(Heb. ix. 16,) and therefore I hurably claim,
and assuredly expect, the benefit of all that
he bas bequeathed. But how shall we ob
tain this corafortable persuasion, and preserve
it against all the cavils of our eneraies, who
wUl endeavour to litigate our right ? I seem
to have before me a proper occasion of dis
cussing 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 hap
pily experienced by many believers, and
which all are exhorted and encouraged to
seek after, in the raethods of God's appoint
ment But my plan will only permit me to
offer a few brief hints upon the subject.
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 easUy be de
nied, by those who are competent judges in
the case, that there are persons to be found,
who give these evidences that they are be
lievers, and yet are far from the possession
of an abiding assurance. They hope they
love the Lord, but there is such a dispropor
tion between the sensible exercise of their
love, and the conviction they have of their
obligations to him, that they are often afraid
they do not love him supremely ; 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 desire to love him, but
they dare not go farther. But there is a
weak and a strong feith ; they differ not in
kind, but only in degree. Faith is corapared
to a grain of raustard-seed, (Matt xvii. 20,)
which, under the cultivation of the heavenly
Husbandman, who first sows the seed in the
heart grows up to assurance. But in its in
fant and weak state it is true and acceptable
faith. Far from breaking the bruised reed,
(Is. xiii. 3,) he wUl strengthen it He wUI
not quench the smoking flax, but will in due
time fan it into a flame.
2. I will go a step farther. Were I to
define the assurance we are speaking of, I
should perhaps say, it is, in our present state,
the corabined effect of faith and ignorance.
That assurance which does not spring from
true faith in the Son of God, wrought by the
operation of the Holy Spirit is no better than
presuraption. But I believe what we call
assurance, even when it is right is not en
tirely owing to the strength of our faith, but
in a great raeasure to our having such faint
and slight views of sorae truths, which, if we
had a raore powerful impression of them, un
less our faith was likewise proportionably
strengthened at the same time, might possi
bly raake the strongest assurance totter and
trerable. I wUl explain rayself Admitting
that I had a right to tell you, that I am so far
assured of my interest in the gospel-salvation,
as to have no perplexing doubt either of my
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 tbe strictness and spirituality of
the holy law, or ofthe awful majesty and ho
liness of the great God with whom I have to
do. If, in the moment whUe I am speaking
to you, he should be pleased to irapress these
soleran realities upon my mind, with a con
viction and evidence tenfold greater than I
have ever known hitherto (which I conceive
would StUl be vastly short of the truth,) un
less my faith was also strengthened by a ten-

"ser. xxxix.]

JOB'S FAITH AND EXPECTATION.

347

fold clearer and more powerful discovery of
the grace and glory of the Saviour, you would
probably see my countenance change and my
speech falter. The Lord, in compassion to
our weakness, shows us these things by littie
and littie, as we are able to bear thera; and
if, as we advance in the knowledge of our
selves and of our dangers, our knowledge of
the unsearchable riches of Christ advances
equaUy, we raay 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 wUl 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, whUe their terapers 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 ara better
pleased .when persons of this character cora
plain of doubts and darkness. It proves at
least that they are not destitute of feeling,
nor, as yet, lulled into a spirit of careless se
curity. And there are professors, whora, in
stead of endeavouring to comfort in their pre
sent state, I would rather wish to make still
more suspicious of theraselves 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 sanctification 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. xu. 14,) it must
likewise be true, that without holiness no
man can have a scriptural and well-founded
hope of seeing hira.
4. But to give a direct answer to the in
quiry. How shall I know that he is ray Re
deeraer ? 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 actually inserted in the Bible, but our
characters are described there. He is the
Redeemer of all who put their trust in him.
You wUl 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 your
self 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 gra
cious invitation, believing that he is able to
save to the uttermost; and if you really in
clude holiness and a deliverance from sin, in
the idea of the salvation which you long for,
then he is your Redeemer. If, among us, an
act of grace was published, inviting all

criminals to surrender themselves, with a
promise of mercy to those who did ; though
no one was mentioned by name in the act
yet every one who complied with it, and
pleaded it, would be entitled to the benefit.
Such an act of grace is the gospel. The
Lord says, " This is ray beloved Son, hear
hira," Matt. iii. 17. If you approve him, he is
yours. If you are still perplexed with doubts,
they are owing to the weakness of your faith.
But there are means appointed for the growth
of feith. 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 unfruitful works of dark
ness. Live not in the omission of known duty.
Do not perplex yourself with vain reasonings,
but believe and obey, and the Lord shall be
with you. There are sorae peculiar cases.
Allowances must be made for the effects of
constitution and temperaraent Sorae sincere
persons are beset and followed, through life,
with distressing teraptations. But in general,
simplicity and obedience lead to assurance.
And they who hearken to the Lord, and walk
in the way ofhis 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 Redeeraer, 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 beheld
the promises afar off. Thus Messiah was the
consolation of his people of old, as he who
was come. And it should be our consolation
to know that he is come. His standing upon
tiie earth raay include the whole of his ap
pearance in the flesh ; his life, passion, and
resurrection. The manner of expression in
timates soraething 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 extra
ordinary predicted by saying he shall stand
upon 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,
should condescend to visit his creatures, to
dwell with men for a season, to stand and
walk upon the earth with thera, clothed in a
body like their own, is an event which never
could have been expected if it had not been
revealed frora heaven. It vvas the object of
Job's faith, and well deserving the solemn
preface with which he introduces his firm
persuasion of it " Oh ! that my words wero
graven with an iron pen in the rock for ever !"
When Solomon had finished" the temple of
the Lord of Hosts, instead of admiring the
magnificence of the buUding, he was struck

348

THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED.

[ser. XL.

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? Be
hold 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 compared with the glory of the only be
gotten Son of God, when he tabernacled in
our flesh ! The huraan nature of Christ is that
true temple, not raade with hands, in which
God is manifested upon a throne of grace,
that sinners may approach him without dis
may, and receive, out of his fulness, grace
for grace. To him all the prophets gave wit
ness, on hira 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 will be,
adraired, adored, and trusted in, by all his
believing people, to the end of time.
IV. Frora the Redeeraer'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
teraptations, reproached by his friends: out of
all the troubles the Lord his Redeeraer de
livered him, and his latter days were raore
prosperous than his beginning. But he knew
that he raust 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 hiraseff,
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 ultiraate
happiness in seeing God. His words are not
very different from those of the apostle,
" When he shall appear, we shall be like
him, for we shall see him as he is," 1 John
iii. 2. To behold the glory of God, as our
Redeemer, to be in a state of favour and
communion with him, and according to the.
utinost capacity of our nature, to be conform
ed to him in holiness and love, is that felicity
which God has promised and to which all his
servants aspire. Some foretastes of it they
enjoy in the present life, which cheer thera
under their trials, and raise thera 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. 15. Then, and not
till then, they shall be completely satisfied.
The expectation of Job, therefore, affords a
sufficient proof that the doctrines of an ira
mortal 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 ofthe 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 hira as your Redeemer; and
have you a good hope that you shall see him
to your comfort, when he shall return tojudge
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,"
PhU. iii. 21.

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. 20.
As, in the aniraal economy, the action ofthe
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 respect to the salvation of a sinner. And
though they are distinct in themselves, we
cannot determine which of them is of raost
iraportance to us ; for unless we .know, ap
prove, and receive thera 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
Bible. Such, likewise, is the doctrine ofthe
atonement For, if we could know how to
tally we are lost, without knowing the gra
cious method which God has appointed for
our recovery, we raust unavoidably sink into
despair. Again,. if we were sensible of our
state as sinners, and even if we trusted in
Christ for salvation, yet the apostle observes
in this chapter, that unless he be indeed risen
frora the dead, our faith in hira would be in
vain and we should still be in our sins. The
resurrection of Christ, therefore, is a doctrine
absolutely essential to our hope and corafort;
and it is likewise a sure pledge, that they who
believe in hira shall be raised frora the dead

SER. XL.]

THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED.

849

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 thera that slept" Let us at present
consider his resurrection. — The sure conse
quence of it that his people shall be raised
from the dead, wiU offer to our meditations
from the following verses.
The resurrection of Christ, being, as a fact,
the great pUlar upon whicb 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 cavUs 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 subtUties of
sceptics, are sometimes pestered with difficul
ties and objections in their owm minds, per
haps raore shrewd and powerful than such as
are commonly found in books, or retaUed 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
scripture, and of this araong the rest And
many persons who have been so well con
vinced that our Lord rose frora the dead, as
to venture their souls and their all upon it,
have found theraselves at a loss how to an
swer the eneray in an hour of sharp and press
ing temptations.
Let us suppose, then, that we had lately
received the news of some extraordinary and
almost incredible event and let us consider
what evidence we should require to satisfy
us that the report was true, and apply the
sarae kind' of reasoning to the point in hand.
That there was, a great while ago, a person
naraed Jesus, who gathered disciples, and
died upon a cross, is universally acknow
ledged. Both Jews and Heathens, who lived
at the tirae, and afterwards, not only adraitted
it but urged it as a reproach against his fol
lowers. Many testimonies of this kind are
still extant.
Tbe turning point between his enemies and
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 corapetent number of
his followers, to whora he showed himself, and
satisfied them, by many infaUible 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 upon their relation, may be involved
in their mistake, or deceived by their artifice.
But if neither of these suppositions can pos
sibly be true, if they were competent and im
partial witnesses; then we are not only jus
tified in giving credit to their testimony, but
it raust be unreasonable, and (in a case of this
iraportance) presumptuous and dangerous to
reject it.
1. That they were competent judges of
what they asserted, is evident,
1. Frora 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 tirae were
StiU living, and would readily have contra
dicted him, if he had declared an untruth.
Five hundred concurring witnesses are suf--
ficient 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 persons would appropriate
the word demonstration to mathematical evi
dence, yet moral evidence may be in raany
cases equally conclusive, and compel assent
with equal force. I am so fuUy satisfied by
the report of others, that there are such cities
as Paris or Rome, though I never saw them,
that I ara not raore able seriously to question
their existence, than I ara to doubt the truth
of a proposition in Euclid which I have seen
demonstrated. 2. Frora the nature ofthe fact, in whicb it
was not possible that so raany persons could
be mistaken or deceived. Some of thera saw
hira, not once only, but frequently. His ap
pearance to others was attended with peculiar
striking circumstances and effects. His
disciples seem not to have expected his re
surrection, though he had often foretold it
previous to his sufferings. Nor did they
hastUy credit the woraen who first saw
him in their way frora the sepulchre. Tho
raas refused to believe the report of all his
brethren, to whora our Lord had shown him
self He would see for hiraself; he required
more than ocular proof, for he said, "Except
I put ray finger into the print ofthe nails,
and thrust my hand into his side, I wUl 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 tbe
language of adoration and love, " My Lord,
and mv God !" But his forraer conduct

350

THE LORD IS RISEN INDEED.

[seb. xt.

showed that he was not credulous, nor dis
posed 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 raistaken or deceived them
selves. For,
1. If we judge of thera by their writings,
we must at least allow them to have been
weU-meaning men. They profess to aira at
proraoting the knowledge and honour of the
true God, and thereby to proraote the rao
rality and happiness of raankind. Their con
duct was uniformly consistent with their pro
fession, and their doctrines and precepts were
evidently suited to answer their design. The
penmen of the New Testament were con
fessedly men in private lffe, most of them
destitute of literature, and engaged in low
occupations, till they became the disciples o*"
Jesus. Is it probable that men, who speak so
honourably ofGod, who inculcate upon their
fellow-creatures such an entire devotedness
to his will and service, should be impostors
theraselves ? Is it at all credible, that a few
raen, in an obscure situation, should form a
consistent and well concerted plan, sufficient
to withstand and overcome the prejudices,
habits, and customs, both of Jews and
Heathens ; to institute a new religion, and,
without the assistance of interest or arras, to
spread it rapidily and successfully in a few
years throughout the greatest part of the
Roman erapire? Or is it possible that such
men could, at their first effort, exhibit a
scheme of theology and morality, so vastly
superior to the united endeavours of the phi
losophers of all ages? A leamed man in
France attempted to prove (for what wUl
not leamed men attempt ?) that most of the
Latin poems which are attributed to those
whora we call the classic writers, and par
ticularly the iEneid of Virgil, were not the
production of the authors whose naraes they
bear, but gross forgeries, fabricated by raonks
in the dark ages of ignorance, and success
fully obtruded 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
reality written by an ignorant plowraan, 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, frora their own resources,
capable of writing such a book as the New
Testament ; the whole of which raust stand

or faU with the doctrme of our Lord's resur
rection. 2. But farther, they could not possibly pro
pose any advantage to themselves in their
endeavours to propagate tbe christian re
ligion, 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 whora they had
believed, filled with a constraining sense of
his love, and depending upon his proraise 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 every where to put their
trust in hira ; otherwise they had nothing to
expect but such treatment as they actually
raet with, for professing their belief of his
resurrection, and especially for the pains they
took to publish it, first araong the people who
had put hira to death, and afterwards araong
the Heathens. It required no great sagacity
to foresee that this doctrine would be an
offence to the Jews, and foolishness to the
Greeks, 1 Cor. i. 23. They wore in fact
despised, hated, opposed, and persecuted,
wherever they went ; and those who espoused
their cause were iraraediately exposed to a
participation in their sufferings. Nor was
there the least probability that the event could
be otherwise. Impostures there have been
many ; but we cannot conceive that any set
of raen would deliberately, and by consent,
contrive an imposture, which, in the nature
of the thing, could procure nothing to them,
or to their followers, but contempt, stripes,
iraprisonraent, and death.
3. Even if we could for a raoraent suppose
them capable of so wild and wicked an un
dertaking, as, under pretence of the service
of God, to provoke and dare the hatred of
raankind, by asserting and propagating an of
fensive falsehood, it would be irapossible 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 raulti
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 too frequent and universal to be
styled miraculous, 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 incorporated with the frame of civil go
vernraent, and guarded, for ages, not raore by
popular veneration than for reasons of state,

SER. XLI.]

DEATH BY ADAM, LIFE BY CHRIST.

351

were very soon shaken, and in no great space
of time subverted. Within about two hun
dred years after Tacitus had described the
Christians as the objects of universal con
tempt and hatred, Christianity becarae the es
tablished religion of the erapire. And in a
letter of Pliny to Trajan on the subject we
have indisputable evidence, that even in the
time of "Tacitus, hated, vUified, and perse
cuted, as the Christians were, their religion
so greatiy prevaUed, that in many places the
idol temples were almost deserted.
4. But the proof of the resurrection of
Christ, which is the most important and satis-
fectory of any, does not depend upon argu
ments and historical evidence, with which
multitudes of true christians are unacquaint
ed, but is, in its -own nature, equally con
vincing in all ages, and equally level to all
capaciBes. They who have found the gospel
to be the power of God to the salvation of
their souls, have the witness in theraselves ;
and are very sure that the doctrine, whicb
enlightened their understandings, awakened
their conscience, delivered them from the
guUt and dominion of sin, brought thera into
a state of peace and coraraunion with God,
and mspired them with a bright and glorious
hope of etemal lffe, must be true. They
know that the Lord is risen indeed, 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 raany be
lievers, though not qualified to dispute with
philosophers and sceptics upon their own
learned ground, can put thera to sharae and
to sUence, by the integrity and purity of their
conduct by tbeir patience and cheerfulness
under afflictions ; and would especially sUence
them, if they were eye-witnesses of the cora-
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 to my hearers to seek after.
If the resurrection of Christ be a truth and a
feet, much depends upon the right belief of it.
I say a right belief; for though I have offered
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
apostle did on another occasion, " I know that
thou believest?" Acts xxvi. 27. But so
powerful is the effect of our depravity, 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 deraonstrate 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 ofthe certainty
of death, and (which is equally undeniable)
the uncertainty of life? So in the present
case — If Christ be risen from the dead ac
cording to the scriptures, then all that tbe
scripture declares ofthe necessity and design
ofhis sufferings, of his present glory, and of
his future advent, must be true likewise.
What a train of weighty consequences de
pend upon his resurrection ! If he rose frora
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 bim for yourself, and
appear at his tribunal — then, it is he with
whora you have to do — and then, finally, un
less you really love, trust, and serve him,
unless he is the beloved and the Lord of your
heart, your present state is awfully danger
ous and miserable.
But let those who love his name be joyful
in him : your Lord who was dead, is alive,
and because be 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 XLL
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 frora what I
have heard of his great taste and success in
adapting the style of his rausic to the subject,
I judge that this passage afforded hira a fair
occasion 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 otber.
Surely the most solemn, the most pathetic
strains must be eraployed, if they accord with
the awful words, " By raan carae death," —
" In Adara 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 ray text would excite
in our hearts, if we are interested in it, pro
vided we were capable of comprehending the
full force and meaning of the expressions,
" By man carae 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

392

DEATH BY ADAM, LLFE BY CHRIST.

[seb. XLt.

order and beauty. "God saw everything
that he had raade, and behold it was very
good," Gen. i, 31. Adara, happy in the iraage
and favour of his raaker, breathed the air of
iraraortality in paradise. While raoral 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 raan. He sinned against his Creator,
Lawgiver, and Benefactor, and thus, by hira,
carae 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 hira. He doubt
less could have prevented it, for to omnipo
tence every thing that does not imply a con
tradiction is possible, is easy. But he per
mitted it and therefore it must have been
agreeable to his wisdom, holiness, and good
ness 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
farther. 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 presumptuous attempt. In proportion as his
grace enlightens our minds, convinces us of
our ignorance, and humbles our pride, we
shall be satisfied, that in whatever he ap
points or permits, he acts in a manner be
coraing 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, in
stead of reasoning, we believe and obey, a
way is set before us, by which we raay finally
overcome every evil, and obtain a happiness
and honour, superior to what belonged to man
in his original state. They who refuse his
gospel must be left to their cavUs and per
plexities, until the day in which the great
Judge and Governor of all shall arise to plead
his own cause, and to vindicate his proceed
ings from their arrogant exceptions. Then
every mouth wUl 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,
tf corapared with the iraraensity of God's crea
tion. Unless we could know the whole, and
the relation which this very sraall part bears
to the rest of his governraent, we raust be ut
terly incorapetent to judge how it becoraes
the great God to act. We are infected with
the sin, and we are subject to the death, with
all its concomitant evils, which came into the
world by the first raan. But we are likewise
invited to a participation of all the blessings

which tbe second Man has procured, by his
atonement for sin, and by his victory over
death. " For as by man came death, so by
raan carae also the resurrection from the
dead." Let us take a survey, first of the malady,
and then of the reraedy.
I. The raalady, 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 coramandraent which was given
as an especial test of Adara's obedience, and
which affects all his posterity, is thus ex
pressed, " In the day that thou eatest — thou
shalt surely die," Gen. ii. 17. But raan was
not, ordinarUy, 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 terapers 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 whicb they terminate. Even
the earth and the elements partook in the
effects of man's disobedience. Thorns and
thistles were not the produce of the ground
tUl after he had sinned, Gen. iii. 18. Nor can
I suppose that hurricanes, floods, and earth
quakes were known in a state of innocence.
But had the whole earth been a paradise, raan
having sinned raust have been raiserable. It
is not in situation to make that heart happy,
which is the seat of inordinate passions, rage,
envy, malice, lust, aud 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 persons 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 rainds are tortured with disap
pointraents and anxiety. Thus the outward
afflictions which every where surround and
assail the sinner, and the malignant pEissions,
which, like vultures, continually gnaw his
heart, all combine to accelerate the execu
tion 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
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. Aa
the soul is the life of the body, which becomes

BER. XLI.]

DEATH BY ADAM, LIFE BY CHRIST.

353

a carcase, a prey to worms and putrefaction,
when the soul has forsaken it, so God is the
life ofthe 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 raoraent 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, tUl revived and restored
by tbe promise of grace. And thus his pos
terity derive from him what may be called a
living death. They are dead whUe they live,
dead in trespasses and sins, (Eph. ii. 1,) 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 bis 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 ; tbat when he
formed him for himself, arid endued hira 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 sa
tisfaction 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 crea
tion ; and they who do not acquiesce in the
cause which the scripture assigns for the in
consistences and contradictions which are
found in bis character, wUl 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 affirraed of raan. His
faculties and powers are proofs of his original
greatness ; his awful raisapplication of thera
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 stUl
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 im
penitent 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, it follows of course in the very na
ture of things, if we admit the soul to be im
mortal, a resurrection both of the just and
the unjust, and that there remain no other
sacrifice for sin, in favour of those who reject
the gospel. For to be disowned of God in
Vol. IL 2Y

the great day, to be separated from his
favourable presence, and conscious of his
endless displeasure ; to be abandoned to the
unrestrained rage of sinful dispositions and
hopeless despair; to be incessantly tormented
by the stings of a remorseful conscience, must
be, upon the principles of scripture, the una
voidable consequences of being cut off by
death, in an unhumbled, unpardoned, un
sanctified state.
II. But, blessed be God, the gospel reveals
a relief and remedy fully adapted to the com
plicated misery in which siii has involved us.
"As by man carae 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 d ead shall live. John xi. 25.
For he is the resurrection ofthe dead, and the
life ofthe 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 hira, Col. iii. 1. Their spiritual life is
renewed, 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. vu. 12 — 19,) yet they are renewed but
in part. They feel a law in their members
warring against 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 con
scious of a defect and a defilement attending
their best services. Their attainraents are
unspeakably short of the desires which love
to the Redeemer has raised in their hearts.
They are ashamed, and sometimes almost
discouraged. They adopt the apostle's lan
guage, " Oh, wretched raan that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death?
But withhim 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 raake thera more than conquer
ors : yet, while the conflict lasts, they have
rauch to suffer, and much to lament.
(2.) They are subject, like other people, to
the various calamities and distresses incident
to this state of mortality; and they have,
raore or less, troubles peculiar to themselves,
arising from the nature of their profession
and conduct (if they are faithful to their
Lord) while they live in a world that Ueth in

354

THE GENERAL RESURRECTION.

[ser. XLII.

wickedness. But the curse and stmg is taken
out of their afflictions, and they are so mo
derated and sanctified by the wisdom and
grace of him whora they serve, that in the
event they work for their good. But though
they yield the peaceable fruit of righteous
ness, (Heb. xii. 11,) in themselves, and at the
time, they are not joyous, but grievous.
(3.) They are stUl subject to the stroke of
death, the separation of soul and body. But
this death has lost its sting as to thera. And
therefore they are said not to die, but to sleep
in Jesus. Death is not their enemy, but their
friend. To thera, instead of being an evil, it
proves a deliverance frora all evil, and an en
trance 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 whUe he liveth. They
only shut their eyes upon the pains and sor
rows of this world, to open them iraraediately
in his presence, and so they shall be for ever
with the Lord. How wonderful and happy
is the transition ! Frora disease and anguish,
frora 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 im
mortality, to a mansion in the realms of light
to a seat near the throne of God. In the lan
guage of mortals, this ineffable honour, and
happiness is shadowed out to us, by the era-
bleras 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 diaraonds, but
a crown of life. Such honour have all the
saints. However afflicted or neglected, de
spised or oppressed, while upon earth, soon as
their willing spirits take their flight frora
hence, they shine like the sun in the king
dom of their Father. Thus Lazarus lay for
a tirae, diseased, necessitous, 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 Abrahara's bosom, Luke xvi. 22. The
Jews thought very highly of Abrahara, the
father of their nation, the fether of the faith
ful. Our Lord therefore teaches us by this
representation, that the beggar Lazarus was
not only bappy after death, but highly exalted
by him who seeth not as man seeth ; for he
was placed in Abrahara's bosom, a situation
which, according to the custora of the Jews,
was a mark of peculiar favour, intimacy, and
distinction. Thus the beloved disciple was
seated in the bosora of our Lord, when he
celebrated his last passover with his disci
ples, John xui. 22 — 25.
3. Their dead bodies shall be raised at the
great day, not in their forraer 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 ofhis own glorious
body. So that his own resurrection is both
the pledge and the pattern of theirs. I have
only farther to observe upon tiiis subject at
present, that as Adam is the root and head of
all raankind, frora whence they all derive a
sinful and mortal nature ; so Jesus, the
second Adam, is the root of a people who are
united to hira, planted and engrafted in hira
by faith. To these the resurrection, con
sidered as a blessing, is to be restrained.
There wUl be a resurrection of the wicked
likewise, (John v. 29,) but to condemnation,
shame and everlasting conterapt, Dan. xu. 2.
But the connexion 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 hira, 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 wUl 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 honourable of the earth)
who shall behold him with horror, and in the
anguish of their souls shall call (in vain) to
the rocks and raountains to fall on them and
hide thera frora his presence, saying, " The
great day of his wrath is corae, and who
shall be able to stand ?" Rev. vi. 16, 17.

SERMON XLII.
THE general resurrection.
Behold, I show you u, 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 incor
ruptible, 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 ex
ample, 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 ofthe sun. Distance
of tirae has an effect upon us, in its kind,
sirailar to distance of space. It dirainishes
in our mind the idea of what we are assured
is, in its own nature, of great magnitude and

SER. XLII.]

THE GENERAL RESURRECTION.

importance. If any of us were informed that
we should certainly die before this day closes,
what a" sudden and powerful change would
take place in our thoughts ? That we all must
die, is a truth, of which we are no less cer
tain, than that we are now alive. But be
cause it is possible that we raay not die to
day, or to-raorrow, or this year, or for several
years to corae, we are often little more affect
ed by the thoughts of death, than if we ex
pected to live here for ever. In like manner,
if you receive the scripture as a divine reve
lation, I need offer you no other proof, that
there is a day, a great day, approaching,
which wiU put an end to the present state of
things, and introduce a state unchangeable
and eternal. Then the Lord wUI 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. Tho great
Judge will appear, the tribunal be fixed, the
books opened, and all the huraan race must
give an account of themselves to God, and,
according to his righteous award, be happy
or miserable in a degree beyond expression
or conception, and that for ever.
If we were infaUibly assured, that this
tremendous scene would open upon us to
morrow ; 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 overspread 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 with 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 con
sideration 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 arause
my hearers. The principal subject before us
is the resurrection of the dead, in the most
pleasing view of it; for ray text speaks only
of those who shaft change the mortal and cor
ruptible, for incorruption and immortality.
I. The introduction, — " Behold I show you
a mystery." IL What we are taught to expect^
" We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be
changed." IIL The suddenness of the event, — " In a
moment in the twinkling of an eye."
IV. The grand preceding signal, — " The
trumpet shall sound."

am
I. The apostie apprizes the Corinthians
that he is about to show them a mystery. As
the word raystery has been treated with no
small contempt, I shall embrace this occasion
of offering 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
assures us, that great is the mystery of god
liness, (1 Tim. iii. 16,) many persons will
scarcely bear the application of the word to
religion. And, u, late ingenious writer, who
has many admirers in the present day, has
ventured to affirra in print, that where rays
tery begins, religion ends. If the frequency
of the case did not, in sorae degree, abate our
wonder, this raight seem almost a mystery,
that any persons who profess to believe the
scripture, should so openly and flatly contra
dict what the scripture expressly and re
peatedly 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 opposition to all the
rules of analogy, conclude, that the gospel,
the most iraportant concern of raan, and
which is comraended to us as the most erai
nent display of the wisdom and power of God,
is the only subject so level to our apprehen
sions, as to be obvious, at first sight, to the
most careless and superficial observers. That
great nurabers of people are very far from
being accurate and diligent in their religious
inquiries, is too evident to be denied. How
often do we raeet with persons of sense who
talk with propriety on phUosophical, political,
or coraraercial subjects, and yet, when they
speak of religion, discover such gross igno
rance, as would be shameful in a chUd of ten
years old, and amounts to a full proof that
they have not thought it worth their while
to acquire even a slight knowledge of its first
principles. Can we even conceive the pos
sibility 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 rea
sons. 1. Because the discovery of them is be
yond the reach of fallen man, and they nei
ther would nor could have been known with
out a revelation from God. This is eminently
trueof 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
tion. The men of wisdom .at Athens, the
Stoic and Epicurean philosophers, who dif
fered widely in raost parts of their respective

856

THE GENERAL RESURRECTION.

[ser. XLII.

schemes, united in deriding this sentiraent
and contemptuously styled the apostle Paul a
babbler, (Acts xvii. 13,) for preaching it. But
this secret is to us raade 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 raind, by
the influence of his Holy Spirit Otherwise,
how can the secret ofthe 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 graramatical 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 have not
a suitable capacity and taste for thera: or who
do not apply themselves to study thera with
dUigence, and patiently submit to learn gra
dually one thing after another. If you put a
treatise on raathematics, or a system of music,
into the hands of a plowraan or labourer, you
wUl 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, whUe another
peruses them with admiration and delight ?
Shall these require a certain turn of mind,
and a close attention ? and can it be reason
ably supposed, that the Bible is the only book
that requires no peculiar disposition, or de
gree of application, to be understood, though
it is designed to make us acquainted with
the deep things of God ? 1 Cor. ii. 10. In
one respect, indeed, there is an encouraging
difference. Divine truths lie thus far equaUy
open to all, that though none can learn them
unless they are taught of God, yet all who
are sensible of their own weakness may ex
pect his teaching, if they humbly seek it by
prayer. Many people are, perhaps, incapa
ble of being matheraaticians. 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 necessary for their reception.
And while his mysteries a,re hidden frora the
wise and prudent, who are too proud to wait
upon him for instruction, he reveals them
unto babes.
It raay perhaps be thought, that a belief of
the doctrine ofthe resurrrection does not re
quire the sarae 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 aniraate the

heart must be given us from above, for we
cannot reason ourselves into it Nay, this
divine teaching is necessary to secure the
mind from the vain reasonings, perplexities,
and imaginations which wUl bewilder our
thoughts upon the subject, unless we learn
to yield, in sunplicity of faith, to wbat the
scripture has plainly revealed, and can be
content to know no farther before the proper
tirae. 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
suppose that the whole huraan race wiU die,
and fail from the earth, before the resurrec
tion. Some will be living at the time, and
araong them some ofthe Lord's people. Of
the living, it cannot properly be said that
they will be raised frora the dead : but they
will experience a change, which will put
thera exactly in the sarae state with the
others. Their mortality shall be swallowed
up in life. Thus we conceive it to have been
with Enoch and Elijah. 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 pre
sent state cannot inherit the kingdom ofGod,
neither can corruption inherit incorruption ;
but the dead shall arise, and the living shall
be changed. Here is a wide field for specu
lation, but I mean not to enter it Curiosity
would be glad to know how our bodies, wben
changed, shall stUl be the same. Let us
first determine how that body, which was
once an infant is the very sarae when it be
comes a full grown man, or a man in ex
treme old age. Let us explain the transmu
tation of a caterpillar or silk-worm, which
from a reptile becoraes a butterfly. What a
wonderful change is this both in appearance
and in powers? Who would suppose it to
hethe sarae creature? Yet who can deny
it? It is safest and most comfortable for us,
to refer to the wisdom and power of God the
accomplishraent of his own word.
III. These great events will take place
unexpectedly and suddenly — "In a moment,
in the twinkling of an eye." We have rea
son to believe, that a part at least of mankind
wUl 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, builduig, and planting ;
having nothing less in their thoughts than
the calamity and destruction which shall
overwhelra them without warning. For
while they are promising themselves peace,
the day of the Lord shall come upon thera
like a thief in the night, unlooked for, and
like the pangs of a labouring woraan, una
voidable. " In that day the lofty looks of
raan shall be hurabled, and the haughtiness of
raan shall be bowed down, and the Lord

SSR. XLII.]

THE GENERAL RESURRECTION.

857

alone shall be exalted," Isa. ii. 6. So large
a part of divine prophecy remains yet to be
fulfllled, that I apprehend it is not probable
that any of us shall be alive when this great
and terrible day of the Lord shall be revealed.
But are not some of us exposed to a sirai
lar dreadful surprise ! If you die in your
sins, the consequences will be no less deplo
rable to you, than if you saw the whole frarae
of nature perishing with you. Alas, what
will you do, whither wUl 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 gospel is not charged with any crimes
of peculiar enormity. It is not said that he
ground the feces of the poor, or that he, by
fraud or oppression, kept back the hire of the
labourers who had reaped his harvest ; he
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, sooner or later, with all
whose hearts and portions are in this world,
but not rich towards God ! Consider this,
you that are like minded with him. Trem
ble at the thought of being found in the num
ber of those who have all their consolation
here, and who, when they die, raust leave
their all behind them. Now is the accepta
ble tirae, the day of salvation. Now, if you
wUl seek the Lord, he wUl be found of you.
Now, if you pray for grace and faith, he wUl
answer you. But when once the Master of
the house shall arise, and with his own so
vereign authoritative hand shall shut the door
of his raercy, it will then be in vain, and too
late to say, " Lord, Lord, open unto us,"
Luke xiu. 25.
IV. The great scene wUl 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 conde
scension to our weakness, iUustrates things in
themselves too great for our conceptions, by
coraparing them with those which are raore
farailiar to us.
It will indeed be comparing great things
with small, if I attempt to iUustrate this sub-
liine idea, by local customs which obtain in
this kingdora. At a time of assise, when the
judges, to whom the adrainistration and
guardianship of our laws are entrusted, are
making their entrance, expectation is awake,
and a kmd 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 con
course of people, the order ofthe procession.

and the sound of the trumpet, all concur in
raising an emotion in the hearts of the spec
tators. Happy are they then upon whom
the inflexible law has no demand ! But who
can describe the terror with which the sound
of the trumpet is heard by the unhappy cri
minal ; and the throbbings ofhis heart if he
be already convicted 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 wUl 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, sraall and great,
shall stand before the sovereign Judge, the
one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to
destroy. But the concourse, the solemnity,
the scrutiny, the event in the raost weighty
causes that can corae before a huraan judica
ture, are mere shadows, and trivial as the
sports of children, if corapared with the busi
ness of this tremendous tribunal. "The
Lord himself will descend with the voice of
the archangel, and the trurap ofGod." 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. 11,) the heavens
and the earth shall flee frora his presence ;
but the whole race of mankind shall be as
serabled before him, each one to give an ac
count of himself, to him, from whose pene
trating knowledge no secret can be hidden,
and frora whose unerring inflexible sentence
there can be no appeal. " Where then shall
the wicked and the ungodly appear ?"
But it will be h, joyful day to believers :
they shall be separated as the wheat from the
tares, and arranged at his right hand. When
the Lord shall corae, attended by his holy
angels, his redeemed people will reassume
their bodies, refined and freed from all tbat
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 as
serabled worlds. Every charge that can be
brought against thera wUl be over-ruled, and
their plea, that they trusted in hira for salva
tion, be adraitted and ratified. They wUl be
accepted and justified. They wUl shine like
the sun in his full train, and attend, as as
sessors with him, when he shall pass final
judgraent upon his and their enemies. Then
he will be admired in and by them that be
lieve. Their tears will be for ever wiped
away, wben he shall say to thera, " Come, ye
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdora
prepared for vou from the foundation of the
world," Matt. xxv. 34.
Beloved, if these things are so, what man
ner of persons ought we to be in all holy

858

DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY. [ser. xliii.

conversation and godliness? 2 Pet iii. 11.
Should we not give all dUigence to raake our
caUing and election sure, that we may be
found of him in peace? He who wUl then be
seated upon tiie throne of judgment is to us
made known as seated upon a throne of grace.
It is time, it is high tirae, and blessed be God
it is not yet too late, to seek his mercy. StUl
the gospel invites us to hear his voice, and to
humble ourselves before hira. Once more
you are invited, some of you perhaps for the
last time: how knovv you but sickness or
death raay 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 XLHL
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, siraply considered, is no raore than
a private idea, signifying a cessation of lffe,
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 al
ready swallowed up all the preceding genera
tions of men ; all who are now living are
marked as his inevitable prey ; he is still un
satisfied, 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 hiraself in victory. Thus
the scripture accoraraodates itself to the lan
guage and apprehensions of mortals. Farther,
the metaphorical usage of the word swallow
stUl enlarges and aggrandizes the idea. Thus
the earth is said to have opened her raouth
and swallowed up Korah and his accoraplices.
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 thougb they had never been,
Rev. xvui. 21. Such shall be the triumph
ant victory of Messiah in the great day
of the consummation of all things. Death in
its cause and in its effects, shall be utterly
destroyed. Man was created upright, and
lived in a paradise, tUl, 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" of sin, to de
stroy death, and hira that hath the power of
it, to repair every disorder, and to reraove
every misery ; and he will so fully, so glo
riously accompUsh his great undertaking in
the final issue, that every thing contrary to
holiness and happiness shall be swallowed up
and buried beyond the possibUity 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 Redeera
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 king
dom. 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, whicb,
though it shall not hurt the believers in Je
sus, (Rev. ii. 11,) will finally swallow up the
impenitent and ungodly. We live in an age
when there is, if I raay so speak, a resurrec
tion of raany old and exploded errors, which
though they have been often refuted and for
gotten, are adraired and embraced by some
persons as new and wonderful discoveries.
Of this stamp, is the conceit of a universal
restitution to a state of happiness of all in
telligent creatures, whether angels or raen,
who have rebelled against the will and go
vernraent of God. This sentiment contradicts
the current doctrine of scripture, which as
serts 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. Matt 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," Matt.
xxvi. 24. If I could consider this notion as
harmless though useless, and no worse than
many mistakes whicb raen of upright minds
have made, through inattention and weakness
of judgment, I should not have mentioned it.
But I judge it to be little less pernicious and
poisonous, than false. It directly tends to
abate that sense of the evil of sin, ofthe in
flexible justice of God, and the truth of his
threatenings, which is but too weak in the
best of raen. Let us abide by the plain de
clarations ofhis word, which assures us, that
there remaineth no other sacrifice for sin,
(Heb. A. 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 everlasting salvation, and shall
one day sing, " Death is swallowed up in
victory."

SER. XLIII.]

DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.

859

I would farther observe, that many prophe
cies have a gradual and increasing accom
plishment and may be applied to several pe
riods ; though their full completion will only
be at the resurrection and last judgraent
This passage, as it stands in the prophecy of
Isaiah, (chap. xxv. 8,) from whence the apos
tle quotes it, appears to have a reference to
the comparatively brighter light and glory
ofthe gospel-state beyond what was enjoyed
by the church under the Levitical dispensa
tion ; and especially to the privileges of those
happy days, when the fulness ofthe Gentiles,
and the remnant of Israel shall be brought in,
and the kingdoms of this world shall become
the kingdoms 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
violated the holy order of his government,
and stood exposed to his righteous displea
sure, and to the heavy penalty annexed to
the transgression of his comraandraents. But
mercy interposed. God so loved them, that
he gave his only begotten Son to raake an
atonement for their sins, and to be their wis
dom, righteousness, sanctification, and re
deraption, 1 Cor. i. 30. They received grace
to believe in this Saviour, and now they are
delivered frora conderanation. They are ac
cepted in the Beloved. They are considered
as one with hira, and interested in all that he
did, and in all that he suffered. Now they
are the children of God, and heirs ofhis king
dora. Though they were afer off, they are
brought nigh, and admitted to a nearer re
lation than the holy angels, to hira who sil-
tethupon the throne. For he txiok upon him,
and still he pleased to wear, not the nature of
angels, but the huraan nature. Their forraer
guilt is cancelled, blotted 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 wUl never lose a
consciousness of what they were by nature
and practice while in this world. But this,

so far from abating their joy, wUl heighten
their gratitude and praise to him who loved
thera, and washed them frora their sins in his
own blood. Rev. i. 5. Their happiness prin
cipally consists in a perception of his love to
them, and in their returns of grateful love to
him. And they love him rauch, 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.
8,) to inordinate, sensual, unsatisfying plea
sures. They lived in raalice 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 frora 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 pUgriraage, but now they reap injoy,
Psalra cxxvi. 5. This death is also swal
lowed up in victory. They are now entirely
and for ever freed frora every clog, defect, and
defileraent. By beholding their Lord as he
is, in all his glory and love, without any in
terposing veil or cloud, they are raade like
hira, and to the utmost raeasure of their ca
pacity conforraed to his image. Now they
are absolutely spotless and impeachable ; for
though mutability seeras no less essential to
a creature than dependence, yet they cannot
change, because their Lord is unchangeable,
for their life is hidden with Christ in God,
Col. iii. 3. They cannot fall frora their ho
liness or happiness, 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 tirae
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
hira according to his will for the most part
without resistance, or, if they attempted to
resist, they found it was in vain. But in his
own hour their Lord, who had bought them,
dispossessed their strong enemy, and clairaed
their hearts for hiraseff. Yet after they were
thus set free from his ruling power, this ad
versary was always plotting and fighting
against 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 atterapts to deceive them under

360

DEATH SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY.

[seb. XLiir.

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
victory 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 perraitted 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 their advantage. Such exer
cises were necessary, then, to discover to
them more of the weakness and vileness of
their own hearts, to make them more sensible
of their dependence upon their Saviour, and
to afford thera 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.
W. 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 mortal state : which, as they are the
fruits and effects of sin, and greatly contribute
to shorten the life of man, and hasten his re
turn to dust, are, as I formerly observed, pro
perly 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 tri
bulation, John xvi. 33. This is so inseparable
from their calling, that it is mentioned as one
special raark of their adoption and sonship,
Heb. xii. 6 — 8. If the prosperity of the wicked
soraetiraes continues for a season without in
terruption, their day is coming, (Psal. xxxvii.
13 ;) but the righteous raay expect chastise
ment and discipline 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 exeraplary believer frora
participating in the heaviest calamities in
coraraon with others, and they have raany
trials peculiar to themselves. Thus, while
upon earth, they endure hardship for his sake.
Because he chose thera out of the world, and
they would no longer comply with its sinful
maxims and custoras, the world hated thera,
John XV. 19. Many of them were the mark
of public scom and malice, accounted the
offscouring of all things ; they were driven
to deserts, and mountains, and caves ; they
suffered stripes, iraprisonment, and death.
Others had trials of pains, sickness, and
poverty, of sharp bereaving dispensations.

Their gourds withered, and the desire
of their eyes was taken away, with a
stroke. They had fightings without, and
fears within. So that- if their pressures and
troubles were considered, without taking into
the account their inward supports . and the
consolation they derived from their hopes be
yond the grave, they might be deemed of all
raen the raost raiserable, 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 raourning are ended. Is. Ix.
17. They now confess, that their longest af
flictions 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 upon.
Sorrow and sighing have taken their ever
lasting flight, and joy and gladness have
corae forth to meet them, and to dwell with
thera 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 raisunderstood 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 thera
into little parties and separate interests, the
chUdren 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 sarae table of the
Lord. But now grace has triumphed over
every evU ; sin and death are swallowed up
in victory. Now all is harmony, love, and
joy. They have one heart and one song,
which wUl never more be bleraished by the
harshness of a single discordant note.
May this prospect animate our hopes, and
awaken, in those who have hitherto been afar
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 impenitent hearers? "Wo unto
you that are rich ; for you have received
your consolation. Wo unto you that are full ;
for ye shall hunger. 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 ofhis forraer state,
that he once had his good things, (Luke xvi.
2.5,) but that they were gone, for ever gone,
could only be a keen aggravation of his
raisery. Dreadful will be the condition of all
who die in their sins; but the case of those

BER. XLIV,]

TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE.

361

who are now frequently envied by the ig
norant in the view of a mind enlightened by
the truth, must appear doubly and peculiarly
pitiable. They have, the raost to lose, they
have the raost to account for. Alas, how
terrible, how sudden the change ! From a
state of honour and influence amongst men,
to fell in a moment under the contempt and
displeasure of the holy God — to pass, from a
crowd of dependents and flatterers, to the
corapany of Satan and his angels ; from gran
deur and opulence, to a state of utter dark
ness and horror, where the worra dieth not
and the fire cannot be quenched, Mark ix.
44, 46, 48. These are sensible images, it is
true ; the things of the unseen world cannot
be described to us as they are in theraselves ;
but we raay 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,
(Matt xiii. 30,) — reraorse, rage, despair, a
total and final exclusion from God the foun
tain of happiness, with an abiding sense of
his indignation : — this complicated misery
cannot be expressed in the language of mor
tals — like the joy of the blessed, it is more
than eye hath seen, or ear hath heard, or can
possibly enter into the heart of raan to con
ceive, 1 Cor. ii. 9. Add the ideas of un
changeable and eternal to the rest, that it
will be a misery admitting of no interraission,
abatement, or end ; and then seriously con
sider, what can it profit a raan should he
gain the whole world, if at last he should
thus lose his soul ? Matt. xvi. 26. No longer
make a mock at sin : it is not a sraall evU ;
it is a great evil in itself, and, unless par-
iToned and forsaken, will be productive of tre
mendous consequences. No longer make
light of the gospel : it points out to you the
only possible method of escaping the damna
tion 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 corafort you m
the hour of death, or profit you in the day of
wrath, Prov. xi. 4. Waste not your tirae 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 judgraent
unless in this day of,grace you humble your
selves 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 Sa
viour, by his agonies and bloody sweat by his
cross and passion, by his precious death, and
by the consideration of his future glorious
appearance, to subdue all things to himseff.
*|VoL. IL 2Z

SERMON XLIV.
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 Christ.
1 Cor.' XV. 55—57.
The christian soldier may, with the great
est 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 ofhis
salvation. Though he be weak in himself,
and though his enemies are many and mighty,
he raay do that which in other soldiers would
be presumption, and has often been the cause
of a defeat; he raay 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 eneraies
under his feet Such a persuasion, when
solidly grounded upon the proraises and en
gageraent of a faithful unchangeable God,
is sufficient, it should seem, to make a cow
ard bold. True christians are not cowards;
yet, when they compare themselves -with
their adversaries, they see much reason for
fear and suspicion on their own .parts; but
when they look to their Saviour, they are
enlightened, strengthened, and coraforted.
They consider who he is, what he has done ;
that the battle is not so rauch theirs as bis;
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 op
posed, they can say, " Nay, in all these things
we are raore than conquerors, through him
that loved us ?" Rom. viii. 37. The whole
power of the opposition against thera is sum
med up in the words Sin and Death : but these
eneraies 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 thera. They raay therefore meet
it with confidence, and say, " Thanks be to "
God who giveth us the victory through our
Lord Jesus Christ"
We have here iwo unspeakably different
views to take of the same subject — Death
armed with its formidable sting ; and Death
rendered harraless, 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

362

TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. [seb. xliv.

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 re
luctance to tbat dissolution of the intimate
union between soul and body, whicb we call
death, seems natural to man. But if there
was no hereafter, no state of judgment and
retribution to be expected ; if there was no
consciousness of guilt no foreboding of con
sequences upon the raind ; if we only con
sidered death as inevitable, and bad no
apprehensions beyond it ; death would be di
vested of its principal terrors. We see that
when conscience is stupified, or when the
mind is poisoned with infidelity, many people,
notwithstanding the natural love of life, are
so disgusted with its disappointments, that a
fit of impatience, or the dread of contempt,
often prevails on tbem 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 tUl they
feel it tiU they are stung by it past recovery.
But usually, and where the heart is not
quite hardened, men are unwUling and afraid
to die. They have sorae 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 coraforts of life,
even in the time of health ! Perhaps some of
you weU know this to be true. But in health
people can in some measure run away from
themselves, ff I may so speak. They fly to
business, company, and amusements, to bide
themselves ftom their own reflections. Their
fears are transient occasional, and partial ;
they would tremble indeed, if they knew all ;
or if they were steadfastly and deliberately to
contemplate what they do know. How sin is
the sting of death, is best discovered when
conscience is alarmed in a tirae of sickness ;
when the things of the world can no longer
amuse, and death is approachuig with hasty
strides. These scenes are mostly kept secret ;
and very often tbey are not understood by
those who are spectators of thera. Perhaps
the unhappy terrified sinner is considered as
delirious, because tbe 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, is now
seen and felt as a reality. Such cases, I am
afraid, are raore frequent than we are in
general aware of But they are suppressed,
ascribed 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 lffe but a single day.

The relation is in print of another, who,
pointmg to the fire in his chamber, said. If
he were only to lie twenty thousand years in
such a fire, he should esteem ita mercy com
pared with what he feft, and with what he
saw awaiting him. It is not always thus.
Many persons die insensible as they lived,
and can, perhaps, trifle and jest in their last
moments. But the scripture Eissures 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 tiraely re
moved by faitb in Jesus, wUl fill the soul with
anguish for ever. It derives a strength, an
efficacy, and a continuance 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
xvU. 28. And our revolting from him, and
living to ourselves in opposition to his wUl,
is such an affront to bis wisdom, power, au
thority, and goodness, as must necessarily
involve misery in the very idea of it ff his
perfections, the capacity of our souls, and our
absolute dependence upon bim, be attended
to. And they must be attended to sooner or
later. Though he keep long sUence, and the
sinner presumes upon his patience, and thinks
him such a one as himself, he wUl at length
reprove him, (Psalra 1. 21,) and set his sins in
order before him, in contrast . with the de
mands of his law. The nature, authority,
extent and sanction of this law, all combing
to give efficacy to tbe sting of death.
1. The law, to which our terapers and con
duct ought to be conforraed, is not an arbi
trary appointment; but necessarUy results
from our state as creatures, and the capaci
ties and powers we have received frora our
Creator. It is therefore holy, wise, and good ;
indispensable, and unchangeable. To love
God with all our heart and strength, to de
pend upon him, to conform to every intima
tion of his wUl, was the duty of man from
the first moraent of his existence ; was the
law of his nature, written originaUy 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 became necessary after his fall,
to restrain hira from evU, and to convince hira
of sin ; but could not properly increase bis
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

SER. XLIV.] TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE.

us. His eye is always upon us, and we are
surrounded by his power, so that we can nei
ther avoid his notice nor escape his hand.
Men are usually tenacious of their authority ;
they seldom allow their dependants to dispute
or disobey their comraands with impunity. It
is expected that a son should honour his fa
ther, and a servant his raaster, Mal. i. 6. And
when men have power to execute the dic
tates of their pride, they frequently punish
disobedience with death. But how wUl these
haughty worms, who trample upon their fel
low-worms, and think they have a right to
the most implicit obedience from their in
feriors; how will they trerable when they
shall appear before God, who is no respecter
of persons, to answer for their conterapt 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, perhaps, be allowed as a
speculative truth ; but whoever will uniforraly
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, authority, and power
belong to God. He is the Governor of the
universe, and his throne is established in
righteousness. He is long-suffering, and
waits to be gracious, but he will not forego
his right. Sin is the sting of death indeed,
when the authority of him against whom it
was committed is perceived by the con
science. 3. The extent of the law adds to the
strength by which sin acts as the sting of
death. Human laws can only take cogni
zance of words and actions. But the law of
God reaches to the thoughts and inward re
cesses of the heart. It condemns what is
most specious and most approved amongst
men, if not proceeding frora 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 condemns the sinner not only
for the evil which he has actually committed,
but for every sinful purpose formed in his
heart and which was only rendered abortive
for want of opportunity. Matt v. 28. It like
wise takes exact notice of every aggravation
of sin arising from circumstances, from the
abuse of superior light and advantages, and
from the long train of consequences, in
creasing in proportion to the influence which
the rank, wealth, or .extensive connexions of
the offender give to his example.
4. The sanction o^ the law, which thus
strengthens the maligni^ of sin, is the very
point if I may so express rayself, 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
fevour. They raust be miserable, unless they
are reconcUed and renewed by the grace of
the gospel.' They must be separated from

363
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 frora all their attachments
pleasures, and possessions, having no longer
any thing to divert them from a fixed atten
tion 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 wUl be to lose the only good which
can satisfy a soul : to be shut out from God,
whose fevour 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 unquenchable, and a never-
dying worra, are but feint emblems of that
despair and reraorse which will sting the
sinftil 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, wUl for ever desire to die,
and death wUl for ever flee from them,
Rev. ix. 6.
II. Let us turn our thoughts to a more
pleasing therae, and atterapt to take a view
of death as softened into a privilege by him
who has brought life and imraortality 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 sharae of
his crucifixion were preceded and accom
panied by unknown agonies and conflicts,
which caused hira to sweat blood, and to
utter strong cries and groans. Death stung
him to the heart; but (as it is said ofthe en
raged bee) he lost bis sting. The law having
been honoured, and sin expiated, by the
obedience and sufferings «f 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 thera 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
thera in possession of their faculties and
speech, we are seldom disappointed. Yet I
believe a full knowledg-e of this subject can
not be collected frora what we observe of
others, or hear from them, when they are
near death. We must be in similar cir
curastances ourselves, before we can see as
they see, or possess the ideas which they en
deavour to describe, and which seem too
great for the language of mortals to convey.
We know, by the evidence of undeniable
testimony, that many feithful servants ofGod,
when called to suffer for his sake, have not

364

TRIUMPH OVER DEATH AND THE GRAVE. [seb. xliv.

only been supported, but coraforted, and
enabled to rejoice, under the severest tor
tures, and even in the raidst of the flaraes.
We suppose, I think with reason, that such
communications of light and power as raise
a person, in such situations, above the ordi
nary feelings of huraanity, 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-sufficient, and always near, has pro
mised to give his people strength according
to their day, and in the time of trouble they
are not disappointed. A measure of the like
extraordinary discoveries and supports is often
vouchsafed to dying believers, and thus the
gloora which raight otherwise hang over
their dying hours, is dispelled ; and whUe
they contemplate the approach of death, a
new world opens upon thera. Even whUe
they are yet upon earth, they stand upon the
threshold of heaven. It seems, in many
cases, as if the weakness of the bodily frarae
gave occasion to the awakening of sorae
faculty, till then dorraant in the soul, by
which invisibles are not only believed, but
seen, and unutterables are heard and under
stood. 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 consi
derable 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 sraall 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 expectations 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 aniraating and en
couraging, than that of the raost established
and best informed believers. Thus, out ofthe
mouths of babes and sucklings the Lord or
dains strength, and perfects his praise. Psalm
viii. 2. In a few hours, under the infiuence
of his immediate teaching, they often learn
more of the certainty and importance of di
vine things than can be derived frora the or
dinary methods of instruction in the course
of many years. In the midst of agonies and
outward distress, we hear them with adraira
tion declare that they are truly happy, and
that they never knew pleasure in their hap
piest days of health equal to what they enjoy
when flesh and heart are feinting. For death
has lost its sting as to them, and while they
are able to speak, they continue ascribing
praise to him, who has given them the vic

tory, through our Lord Jesus Christ Every
word in this doxology is emphatical.
1st. Thanks be to God. — This blessedness
is aU his work. The raeans are of his gra
cious appointment. The application is by his
gracious power. He gave his Son for theni,
he sent his gospel to them. It was the agency
ofhis 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, Psalm cxix. 49.
2d. Who giveth us the victory. — This is
victory indeed ; for it is over the last enemy;
and after the last eneray 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
again, 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 de
ciding battie; and when to an eye of sense,
he seeras to fall, he is instantly translated to
receive the plaudit of his Coraraander, and
the crown of life which he has prepared for
thera that love hira.
3d. This victory is through our Lord Jesus
Christ. — They gained it not by their own
sword, neither was it their own arra that
saved them, Psalra Ixiv. 3. He died to de
liver thera, 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," Psalra cxv. 1.
And this consideration enhances their plea
sure ; for because they love him above all,
they rejoice not only in the victory they ob
tain, but in the thought that they are in
debted to him for it. For were it possible
there could be several methods of salvation,
and they were left to their own choice, they
would, most gladly and deliberately, choose
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 redeeraed shall be coUected together
to sing it with one heart and voice at the
great resurrection-day. Lot was undoubtedly
thankful, when be' was snatched frora the
irapending destruction of Sodora. Yet his
lingering, (Gen. xix. 16,) showed, that he
had but an imperfect sense of the greatness
ofthe mercy afforded hira. His feelings were
probably stronger afterwards, when' he stood
in safety upon the raountain, and actually
saw the smoke rising, like the smoke of a

BER. XLV.]

DIVINE SUPPORT AND PROTECTION.

d6S

furnace, from the place where he had lately
dwelt At present we have but very feint
ideas of the misery from which we are de
livered, of the happiness reserved in heaven
for us ; or of the sufferings of the Redeemer ;
but if we attain to the heavenly Zion, and see
from thence the sraoke of that bottomless pit,
which might justly have been our everlast
ing abode, we shall then more fully under
stand what we are delivered from, the raeans
of our deliverance, and the riches of the in
heritance of the saints in Ught. And then we
shall sing in mora 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"

SERMON XLV.
divine support and protection.
( What shall we say then to these things ?)
If God befor us, who can be against us ?
Rom. 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 feint to express thera ; and the person
is either lost in silence, or feels soraething
which, after his most laboured efforts, is too
big for utterance. We may often observe
the apostle Paul under this difficulty, when
atterapting to excite in others such sensa
tions as filled bis own heart, while contera-
plating the glories and blessings of the gospel.
• Little verbal critics, who are not aniraated by
his fervour, are incapable of entering into the
spirit of his writings. They coldly examine
tbem by the strictness of graramatical rules,
and think themselves warranted to charge
him with solecisms, 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
tothe frigid exactness of grammarians, though
the taste of a raere gramraarian is unable to
admire or relish it. When he is stating the
advantage of being with Christ as- beyond
any thing tbat can be enjoyed in the present
life, he is not content with saying, as his ex
pression is rendered in oi?r version, " It is far
better," PhU. i. 23. In the Greek another
word of coraparison 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 be had of himself, great as
his attainments were in our view, he thinks

it not sufficient to style hiraself, " The least
of all saints," but " less than the least,"
Eph. iii. 8. Such phrases do not iraply tbat
he was igrtbrant ofthe rules of good writing,
but they strongly intimate the fulness of his
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 consum
raated in glory, in this verse, instead of study
ing for words answerable to his views, he
seeras to corae to a full stop, as sensible that
the strongest expressions he could use would
be too faint He raakes an abrupt transition
from describing to adrairing. He has said
ranch, but not enough ; and therefore sums
up all with, "What shall we say to these
things ?" Surely they who can read, with the
utraost coolness and indifference, what he
could not write without rapture and astonish
ment, do not take his words in his sense. If
the apostle's phraseology is now become ob
solete, and sounds uncouth in the ears of too
many who would be thought christians, is
there not too much reason to fear that they
are christians only in name ?
Though this short lively question is omitted
in the musical composition, I am not wUling
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 swal
lowed up in victory. Sinners, who were once
burdened with guift, 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 ?" What shall we, or can we,
or need we say more than tbis? what cause
can we have for fear, or our eneraies for
triuraph, if God he for us?
We raay consider,
I. What is iraplied in the supposition.
II. The nleaning of the inference.
I. The forra of the question is hypotheti
cal. If the assuraption be right, that God is
for us ; the conclusion, that none can he ef
fectually against us, is infallibly sure. Many
serious persons will allow, that if God be in
deed 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 rae ? I would offer you a few considera
tions 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
justiy displeased with them. The intercourse
and coraraunion with God, which constitute
the honour and happiness of the human na-

366

DIVINE SUPPORT AND PROTECTION.

[s&R. XLV.

ture, were no longer either afforded or de
sired when man rebeUed agamst his Maker,
except to the few who understood and em
braced his gracious purpose of resoncUiation,
the first intimation 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 recon
cUiation 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 this sense, that having provided
and accepted a satisfaction to his law and
justice, he can now, in a way worthy of him
self, receive and pardon the returning sinner.
And he accompanies the word of his grace
with the power of his Holy Spirit, to make
sinners willing to be reconciled to hira. If
we be for God, he is assuredly for us. If we
seek him, he has been beforehand with us:
for, iu the first instance, he is always found
of those who seek him not. Is. lxv. 1. If we
love hira, it is because he first loved us. True
believers walk with God. But two caimot
walk together, with confidence and comfort,
unless they be agreed, Amos iii. 3. This
agreement is chiefly 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 ofthe agreement; this is
Messiah, the Mediator between God and
man. When he entered upon his office, a
voice from heaven comraended him to sin
ners. "This is my beloved Son, in whom I
ara well pleased," Matt iii. 17. And they
who are enlightened to behold the glory of
God in his person and engageraent, accept
hira as the beloved Saviour in whom and
with whora 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 smner'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 U. 6;) and to presume to build
our hope upon any other, is to build upon a
quicksand. In this point reason, in its present
distempered state, would lead us, if followed,
directly contrary to the simplicity of faith.
Reason suggests, that if we have acted wrong,
we raust repent and amend ; and what can
we do more ? But the law against which we
have sinned makes no provision for repent
ance. Nor is such a repentance as includes
a change of heart (and nothing short of this
ideserves the narae,) 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 hira, and inv
plore 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 misery. 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 respects, they agree
in cordially receiving Christ Jesus the Ixird,
(Col. ii. 6,) as he is raade of God for us wis
dom, righteousness, and salvation.
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 per
severing obedience, Luke i. 74, 75. A de
liverance from the power of sin and Satan, a
devotedness to God, and a conformity to the
mind and pattern ofhis dear Son, are included
by every true believer in the idea of salva
tion. 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
punishraent, which, though distressing to the
conscience, leave the heart and affections
unchanged. They who are thus impressed,
if no farther, would be satisfied with an as
surance of pardon. But the grace of God
which bringeth salvation, (Tit ii. 11, 12,)
teaches us to renounce, to abhor all ungodli
ness in the present world ; to give ourselves
unto hira who gave hiraself for us, that he
might redeem us from all iniquity ; and to
walk worthy ofGod, who calls us to his king
dom and glory, 1 Thess. ii. 12. This is the
will of God, even our sanctification. And
this is the desire ofhis people, that they may
be sanctified wholly ; that their whole persons
spirit, soul, and body, maybe preserved blame
less; that they may be filled with the fruits
o? righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ;
that they may walk as the sons of God with
out rebuke, and shine as lights in the world,
Phil. ii. 15. Though tbeir attainments are
imperfect, in tbeir judgment and desires,
tbey 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 ofhis grace, Eph. i. 6. That the lofti
ness, high looks, and proud pretences of men
raay be abased, and the Lord alone may be
exalted, and that he who glorieth may glory
only in the Lord, 1 Corinthians, i. 31. Sal
vation is of the Lord in every sense; the
plan, the price, the power, the application, the
consuraraation. He is the Alpha and the
Omega, the author and the object of it. The
praise therefore is wholly due to hira, 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

SEB. XLV.]-

DIVINE SUPPORT AND PROTECTION.

367

be extolled ; 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, Psalm 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 tbem in their
true light or incline our hearts to embrace
tbem. Who then con be against us?
II. We are not to understand the ques
tion, " Who can be against us ?" as designed
to encourage us to expect that they who have
the Lord on their side will meet with no op
position, but that all opposition against them
wftl be in vain.
1. They whom God is for, wUl on that
very account have raany opposers.
(1.) The raen of the world. — This our
Lord expressly teaches us to expect. " If ye
were of the world, the world would love its
own. But because you are not of the world,
but I bave chosen you out of the world,
therefore the world hateth you," John xv. 19.
And his apostle, " Marvel not my brethren,
if the world hate you," 1 John iii. 14. Till
we declare for him, the world wUl bear with
us, but no longer, as the Gibeonites were in
a state of honour and friendship with the
neighbouring cities tUl they subraitted to
Joshua ; (Josh. x. 1 — 4 ;) but when they ob
tained peace frora hira, they were irarae
diately involved in war with their former
friends. While Saul persecuted the church,
the world smiled upon hira, and he seeraed to
be, as we say, in the way of preferraent
But when he yielded hiraself to the service
of Christ and his defection from the coraraon
cause became generally known, bonds and
afflictions awaited him in every place ; and
they who before had employed and caressed
bim 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
spirit of the world, and thereby increase their
own difficulties. The gospel, when rightly
understood, inspires a spirit of benevolence,
and directs to a conduct which is suited to
conciliate good-wUl and esteera. And when
the apostie exhorts us, If it be possible, and
as much as in us lies, to Uve peaceably with
all men, (Rom. xii. 18,) he gives us hope that
much may be done to soften prejudices, to
put to silence the ignorance of foolish raen,
and to raake them at least ashamed, by a pa
tient perseverance in weU doing. A con
sistent christian, whose integrity, huraUity,
and philanthropy mark his character and
adom his profession, will in time coraraand
respect; but his attachment to unfashionable
truths, andof his separation from the maxims
and pursuits of the many, will render bira, in
tbeir eyes, singular and precise, weak and
enthusiastic, ff they say, " He is a good

sort of raan, but has sorae strange peculiari
ties," 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 thougb a religious cha
racter may be formed, which even the world
will approve, yet all who wiU live godly in
Christ Jesus must sufier 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 forsake the path of duty.
It is difficult to stem the torrent or to avoid
the infection of the world, and to live supe
rior to the fear of raan, as becoraes us, if we
know whose we are, and whora we serve.
But though difficult, it is practicable and at
tainable, and actually attained by believers ;
for this is the victory that overcoraeth the
world, even our faith, 1 John v. 4.
(2.) The powers of darkness. — Satan will
not ordinarily trouble while he bears rule.
He is indeed an enemy to his own servants,
and seeks their destruction, both soul and
body, by pushing them on in sin, which if
persisted in will prove their ruin ; but while
they make no resistance, he gives them no
disturbance. It is otherwise with those whom
the Lord has freed frora his bondage. He
will pursue thera 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 ofGod
may be known by two marks. Satan by him
self and by his instruraents fights against
thera, and they also fight against hira. The
forraer 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
corae too close. It may feed their vanity, and
give them a sort of consequence, by having
sufferings to talk of. But I would entreat
ray hearers seriously to examine. Is your
heart really against sin, which is the strength
of Satan's kingdora? Are you against bis
will and interest in the world? Have you re
nounced bis service ? If so, fear not God is
for you, and none can harm you. For,
2. No opposition can prevaU 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, aU things seem against us. But
though we believe not, he continueth faith
ful, and wUl not forsake those whom he once
enables to put their trust in him. Job was S

ACCUSERS CHALLENGED.

[seb. XLVr.

faithful and approved servant of God, yet for
a season his trials were great, and his con
fidence was sometiraes shaken. But he was
supported, and at length delivered. There
are many instances recorded in scripture to
confirm our faith, and to teach us, that God
manifests himself to be for his people, and in
different ways renders them superior to aU
their difficulties and eneraies.
At one tirae he prevents the threatened
danger. They only see it or expect it, for he
is better to them than their apprehensions
and fears. Thus, when Sennacherib was
furious against Jerusalera, and supposed he
could easily prevaU, he was not suffered to
corae near it, Isa. xxxvii. 29, 33. When he
thought to destroy it, he felt a hook and a
bridle which he could not resist, and was
corapeUed to retire disappointed and ashamed.
At another tirae the enemies go a step
ferther. His people are brought into trouble,
but God is with them, and they escape un
hurt. So Daniel, though he was cast into the
den of lions, (Dan. vi. 23,) received no raore
harra frora 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
people to be thus treated, still they are not
forsaken. Their death is precious in his
sight Psalra 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 pre
sence, and then to take them home to him
self, they can desire no more. Stephen,
thougb apparently given up to the power of
his adversaries, and crueUy stoned to death,
was no less happy than those who die in com
posure upon their beds, with their friends
around them. Nor was he less coraposed ;
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 dependence ; they may afford fair occa
sions of evidencing our sincerity, the g'ood-
ness of our cause, and the power of that God
who is for us. — Such are the benefits that
the Lord teaches his people to derive frora
their sufferings, for he will not let thera suf
fer 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 tbe .rebeUious
Jews to the prophet " 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 raouth," Jer. xliv. 16, 17.
And there are others who plainly say, Let us
then continue in sin that grace may abound.
They do not so expressly reject the gospel as
to take encourageraent frora it to go on in their
wickedness. The case of the forraer is very
dangerous, that of the latter is still worse.
But grace, though long slighted, though often
abused, is once more proclaimed in your hear
ing. 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 raay reverse the
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 tiraely wise, and flee for refuge to the
hope set before you !

SERMON XLVL
ACCUSERS CHALLENGED.
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of
God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
Rora. viii. 33.
Though the collating of raanuscripts and
various readings, has undoubtedly been of
use in rectifying some mistakes which,
through the inadvertency of transcribers, had
crept into different copies of the New Tes
tament ; yet such supposed corrections ofthe
text ought to be adraitted with caution, and
not unless supported by strong reasons and
good authorities. The whole scripture ia
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 possibly disguise or al
ter the genuine sense of the passage. Some
fancied emendations might be pointed out
suggested by very learned raen, 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 leamed be as

SER. XLVI.]

ACCUSERS CHALLENGED.

ingenious as they please in correcting and
amending the text of Horace or VirgU, for it
IS of little importance to us whether their
criticisms be well founded or not, but let
them treat the pages of divine revelation
with reverence.
But the pointing of the New Testaraent,
though it has a considerable influence upon
the sense, is of inferior authority. It is a
human invention, very helpful, and for the
most part I suppose, well executed. But in
some. places it raay admit of real amendraent
The most ancient raanuscripts are without
points, and some of thera are even without a
distinction ofthe words. With the pointing,
therefore, 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 received sense, but, as some
critics judge, will make it raore striking and
emphatical. If two clauses should be read
with an interrogation instead of a period, the
apostle's triumphant challenge raay be ex
pressed in the following brief paraphrase.
Who shall lay any thing to the charge of
God's elect? ShaU God hiraself? So far
from it it is he who justifieth. Who is he
that condemneth ? Shall Christ ? Nay, he
loves thera, and accepts them. ShaU 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 maketh intercession
for them ? There is not the least ground to
fear, that he who has proraised to justify them
wUl lay any thing to their charge ; or that he
wUl condemn them, who died to deliver them
from condemnation, nor can any charge of
their eneraies prevail to the condemnation of
those whora 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
IL Their great privilege, they are jus
tified. — 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 connexion between peace
and truth. Yet a raistaken zeal for truth has
produced many controversies, which have
hurt the peace of the people of God among
themselves ; and at the same time have ex-
ppsed them to the scorii 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 purchased. Every branch of doc
trine, belonging to the faith once delivered
to the saints, is not equally plain to every
believer. Some of these, doctrines the apos-
VoL. IL 3 A

tie compares to milk, the proper and neces
sary food for babes, (Heb. v. 13, 14 ;) others
to strong meat, adapted to a raore advanced
state in the spiritual life, when experience is
more enlarged, and the judgment more esta
blished. 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 sufficiently 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, dis
tinctions, and disputations. But though a
judicious minister will endeavour to accom
modate himself 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 which
have obtained among real christians, have
not so much affected the truth as it lies in
scripture, as the different explanations, which
fallible men of warra 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
terra of reproach. They would insinuate
that Calvin invented the doctrine ; or at least,
that he borrowed it fi-om Austin, who accord
ing to thera, was the first of the Fathers that
held it. It is enough for rae that I find it in
the New Testament. But many things ad
vanced 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 under
stood, to promote the hurailiation, 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 conceive) on acknow
ledged principles of scripture, that they can
not 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. AU mankind are sinners, (Rom. iii. 23,)
by nature and practice. Their lives are
stained with transgressions, their hearts are
depraved, 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, I might transcribe one
half of the Bible. Nay, it is fully proved by
experience and observation. The Heathens
felt and confessed it My present subject

370

ACCUSERS CHALLENGED.

[sER. XLVI.

does not require me to account for it or to
reason upon it That it is so, I appeal to
fact 2. The inestiraable gift of a Saviour, to
atone for sin and to mediate between God
and man, (John in. 16 ;) that there might be
a way opened for the comraunication of raercy
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, (Rora. v. 6, 8,) no less unthought
ofj 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 coraraand 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 ofthe wisdora
and goodness of God. Designed to give us,
in one and the same transaction, the most af
fecting sense of the evU of sin, and the strong
est assurance imaginable, that there is for
giveness with God, Rora. ui. 24, 25.
4. Men, whUe blinded by pride and preju
dice, enslaved to sinful passions, and under
the influence of this present evil world, nei
ther can nor wiU 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 raany people
in this favoured nation, who, when the gospel
is proposed to them in the raost unexception
able raanner, not only disiegard, 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 raen by
nature ; consequently they who receive the
gospel are no better in theraselves, (Eph. ii.
3,) than they are wbo reject it The apostle
writing to the beUevers at Corinth, having
enumerated a catalogue, in which he com
prises some of the most flagitious and infa
mous characters, (1 Cor. vi. 9 — 11,) and
allowed to be so by the comraon consent of
mankind, adds, "such were sorae of you."
Surely it cannot be said, that they who had
degraded theraselves below the brutes, by
tbeir abominable practices, were better dis
posed than others to receive that gospel,
which is not more distinguished by the sub
limity of its doctrine, than by the purity and
holiness of conversation which it enjoins !
6. It seems, therefore, at least highly pro
bable, tbatall 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 cordiaUy 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 bis raistaken
views, thought himself bound in conscience
to suppress those who embraced it. He
breathed out threatening, and slaughter, and,
as be expresses it hiraself, was exceedingly
mad against them, (Acts xxvi. 11,) and made
havoc of them. His mind was fllled with
this bitter and insatiable rage, at the moment
when the Lord Jesus appeared to him in his
way to Damascus. Is it possible that a man
thus disposed should suddenly become a
preacher of the faith which he bad long la
boured to destroy, if his heart and views had
not been changed by a supernatural agency ?
Or that the like prejudices in other persons
can be removed 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
minds of sinners, and, as in the case of Ly
dia, (Acts xvi. 14,) opens their hearts to un
derstand and receive the truth, in the love
of it.
8. But who wUl 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 corapel thera to accept it by an act
of his invincible power. If he does thus in
terpose in favour of some, it is an act of free
mercy to which they have no claira. For if
we had a claira, the benefit would be an act
of justice, rather than of raercy. May not
the great Sovereign of the world do what
he wUl with his own ? Matt xx. 15. And
nothing is raore peculiarly and erainently his
own than his raercy. 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 impenitence and unbelief We have
all deserved to be so left ; but he, as the pot
ter over the clay, has power and right to make
a difference, as it seemeth good in his sight.
And who will say unto liim, What doest
thou ? Job ix. 12.
9. When sinners are effectually caUed 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. V. 17. Their hopes and fears, their
companions and pleasures, their pursuits and
airas, are all changed. The change in these
respects is so evident, that they are soon no-

SER. XLVI.]
ticed and marked, pitied or derided, by those
frora whom they are now separated. And I
think tiiey who really experience this change
will wUlingly ascribe it to the grace of God.
10. But if they are thus chosen in time, it
follows of course that they were chosen from
everlasting. Both these expressions, when
applied to this subject, araount to the sarae
thing ; and the seeming difference between
them is chiefly owing to our weakness and
iornorance. To the infinite and eternal God
our little distinctions of past, present and fu
ture, are nothing. We think unworthily of
the unchangeable 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 design in favour of that sinner yes
terday, at the day of his birth, a thousand
years before he was born, and a thousand ages
(to speak according to our poor conceptions)
before the world began. For that mode of
duration which we call tirae, has no respect
to him who inhabitetb eternity, Is. Ivii. 1.5.
With regard to those who reject the de
claration of the raercy of God, who though
called and invited by the gospel, and often
touched by the power ofhis Holy Spirit, will
not come to the Saviour for life, but persist
in their deterraination to go on in their sins,
their ruin is not only unavoidable, but just in
the highest degree. And though, like the
wicked servant in the parable, (Matt xxv. 24,)
they cavil against the Lord, their mouths wUl
be stopped, (Rom. iii. 19,) when he shall at
length appear to plead with them face to face.
Then their cobweb excuses wHl fail thera,
and the proper ground of their condemnation
will be, that when he sent thera light, they
turned from it, and chose darkness rather
than light because their deeds were evil,
John iii. 19.
II. 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 atoneraent 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 be
tween the Protestants and Papists. Luther
deeraed it the criterionof a flourishing or a
falling church ; that is,'he judged the church
would always he 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, raany of
whom sealed their testimony to it with their
blood, may be known by the writings of Cran
mer, Latiraer, Philpot, and others : and by

ACCUSERS CHALLENGED.

371

the articles ofthe Church of England, which
are still of so much authority by law, that no
person can be admitted into Holy Orders
araongst us, till he has declared and sub
scribed his assent to thera. But I hope never
to preach a doctrine to my hearers which
needs the names and authority of men, how
ever respectable, for its support. Search thp
scriptures, (John v. 39,) and judge by theoi
of the importance of this doctrine. Judge
of it by the text now before us. The apostie
speaks of it as sufficient to sUence every
charge, to free from all conderanation, and
inseparably connected with eternal life ; for
those whora God justifles he will also glorify,
Rora. viii. 30. Though voluraes 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 according to the tenor
of his holy word. By the law no flesh can
be justified, for all have sinned : (Rom. iii. 19,
20 :) but they who believe the gospel will be
justified frora all things, (Acts xiii. 39,) for
which the law would otherwise condemn
thera ; and as they who believe not are con
deraned already, (John iii. 18,) so believers
are already justified by faith, and have peace
with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ,
(Rom. V. 1,) 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
for righteousness to every one that believeth :
(Rom. X. 4 :) and this plea is accepted. " To
hira that worketh not, but believeth on him
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is coun
ted for righteousness," (Rom. iv. 5,) and his
sins are no more reraembered against him,
Heb. viii. 12.
This justification, in its own nature, is au
thoritative, coraplete, and final. It is an act
of God's raercy, which, because founded lipon
the raediation of Jesus, raay, with no less
truth be styled an act of his justice, whereby
the believing sinner is delivered frora the
curse of the law, frora the guilt and power
of sin, and is translated into the kingdom of ,
his dear Son, Col. i. 13. It includes the par
don of all sin, and admission to the state of
a child of God. It is a passing from death
unto life, John v. 24. By faith of the opera
tion of God, the sinner, once afar off, is
brought nigh, is accepted in the Beloved, and
becomes one with hira, as the branch is
united to the vine, and the raembers with the
head, John xv. 15. The sanctification of a
believer is imperfect and gradual; but his
justification, in this sense, from the moment
when he begins to live a Ufa of faith in the
Son of God, is perfect and incapable of in
crease. The principle of life in a new-born
infant, and the privUeges dependent upon his

372

THE INTERCESSION OP CHRIST.

[seb. xLvn.

birth, (if he be the heir of a great faraily,)
are the same from the first hour, as at any
future time. He is stronger as be grows up
to the stature of a man, but is not more alive ;
he grows up likewise more into the know
ledge and enjoyraent of his privileges, but
bis right to them admits of no augmentation ;
for he derives it not ftom his years, or his
Stature, or his powers, but frora the relation
in which he stands as a chUd to his father.
Thus it is with those who are born frora
above ; they are immediately the chUdren and
heirs of God, though for a time, like minors
while under age, they may seera to differ but
little frora 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
corafortable perception of it in our own con
sciences is proportionable to the degree of
faith. In young converts, therefore, it is usu
ally weak. They are well satisfied that Je
sus is the only Saviour, and they have no
doubt of his abUity and sufficiency in that
character, in favour of those who put their
trust in him ; but they are suspicious and jea
lous 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 believer is a child of God ; and
true faith, though at first like a grain of raus
tard-seed, is interested in all the proraises of
the gospel. If it be true, it will grow, (Mark
iv. 26,) it will attain to a more simple depen
dence upon its great object, and will work its
way, through a thousand doubts and fears,
(which, for a season, are not without their
use,) till at length the weak christian be
comes strong in feith, strong in the Lord, and
is enabled to say, " I know whom I have be
lieved," 2 Tim. i. 12. Who shall lay any
thing to my charge? Who shall conderan? It
is God who justifieth. It is Christ who died
for rae 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 judgraent against thera
(Is. liv. 17,) shall be put to silence. Then
Satan will be utterly confounded, and many
wbo despised them on earth will be astonish
ed and say — " These are tbey whose lives we
accounted madness; and their end to be with
out honour. How are they nurabered araong
the chUdren 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 pow
ers of the soul, and produces a habit of cheer
ful and successful obedience to the whole
will of God. But it raay be, and too often is,
misunderstood and abused. If you receive
it by divine teaching, it will fill you with those
fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus

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 ofthe powerful expe
rience of it in your heart, it wUl have a con
trary 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 vir
gins, (Matt xxv. 1 — 12,) of having the lamp
of your profession expire in darkness for want
of the oU of grace ; lest when the bridegroom
cometh, you should find the door shut against
you.

SERMON XLVIL
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 intercession for us. Romans,
viii. 34.
The redemption of the soul is precious.
Fools make a mock of sin, Prov. xvL 9.
But they wUl not think lightiy of it who duly
consider the majesty, authority, and goodness
of him against whom it is committed : and
who are taught by what God actually has done,
what sin rendered necessary to be done, be
fore 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 de
sign in favour of sinful raen could have been
effected by inferior raeans. But as be, in the
office of Mediator, was the hope of raankind
frora the beginning; so the great work he
has accoraplished, and the characters he sus
tains, when made known to the conscience, are
in fact, sufficient to relieve in every case, to
answer every charge, and to satisfy the be
liever in Jesus that there is now no condem
nation to fear. There are many (as we have
observed) ready to accuse, but it is in vain ;
the charge raay be true, but it is overruled.
Who shall dare to conderan, if things be as
the apostle statesthem in this passage ? Who
ever would impeach the hope of a true be
liever, 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 unmind
ful of his proraise, to make intercession for
all who corae unto God by him. For if these
points are indubitable and sure, it is irapos
sible that tbe 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

SER. XLVII.]

THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.

373

glory, seated on the right hand ofthe Majes
ty on high, as the High-Priest of our profes
sion, 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 passa
ges, but shall chiefly confine myself to the
subject of his intercession, which has not, until
now, expressly occurred to our meditations.
The word the apostle uses here, and in
Heb. vii. 25, — " Seeing he ever liveth to
make ihtercggsion," occurs likewise in Acts
xxv. 24, where Festus speaks of the process
managed by the Jews against Paul ; and also
in Rom. xi. 2, of Elijah's making intercession
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 concerns,
he answers our enemies. Who then shall
condemn those for whom tbe Lord Jesus
thus eraploys his power and his love ? He is
our advocate, (1 John ii. 1,) he takes upon
nim our whole concern. He pleads as a
Priest, and raanages as a King, for those
wbo come unto God by him.
I. He pleads as a Pries't. — ^His office of in
tercession has a plain reference to his great
instituted type, the high priest under the Le
vitical dispensation ; who, according to the
appointment of God, entered within the vail,
to present the blood of the sacrifice before
the raercy-seat. Lev. xvi. We have a clear
and infallible explanation of the design of this
institution. " Now when these things were
thus ordained^ the priests went always into
the first tabernacle, accoraplishing the ser
vice of God. But into the second went the
high priest alone once every year, not with
out blood, which he offered for hiraself and
for the errors of the people. The Holy Ghost
this signifying, that the way into the holiest
of all was not yet raade 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 raake him that did the service
perfect, as pertaining to the conscience ;
which stood only in meats and drinks, and
divers washings, and carnal ordinances, im
posed on them untU the tirae of reformation.
But Christ being corae 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 buUding"; neither
by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood, he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained 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 pre
sence there, in our nature, with the marks
of his sufferings for us, as the Lamb that has
been slain, is an unceasing virtual interces

sion on our behalf I meddle not with cu
rious questions on this subject, as to the man
ner in which his intercession is carried on :
it is sufficient to know that he is there, and
there for us, as our representative. This con
sideration is of continual use, to animate and
encourage sinners in their approach to God.
There are three cases particularly, in which
the heart that knows its own bitterness must
sink, were it not for the relieving thought
that there is an advocate with the Father, a
High Priest who, by his intercession, is able
to save to the uttermost.
1. When the raind 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 ofthe prophet, " Wo
is rae, I am undone ! Isa. vi. 5. He dares
not draw near to God, nor does he dare to
keep any longer at a distance frora 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 in
viting 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 to him and think
you hear him in effect saying, "Father,
there is another sinner who has heard of my
name, and desires to trust in me. Father, I
wUl, that he also may be delivered from go
ing down into the pit, and interested in the
ransora which I have provided."
2. When we are deeply conscious of our
defects in duty. If we corapare our best
perforraances with the deraands of the law,
the majesty of God, and the unspeakable ob
ligations we are under ; if we consider our
innumerable sins of omission, and that the
little we can do is poUuted and defiled by the
mixture of evil thoughts, and the working of
selfish principles, aims, and motives, which
though we disapprove, we are unable to sup
press, we have great reason to confess, " To
us belong sharae and confiision office," 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 ofhis mediation, and washes
our tears in his own blood. This inspires a
confidence, that though we are unworthy of
the least of his mercies, we may hurably hope
for a share in the greatest blessings he be
stows, because we are heard and accepted,
not on the account of our own prayers and
services, but in the beloved Son of God, who
raaketh intercession for us. Thus the wisdom
and love of God have provided a wonderful
expedient, which, so far as it is rightiy un
derstood, and cordially erabraced, while it

374

THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.

[seb. xlvii.

lays the sinner low as the dust in point of
humUiation and self-abasement fiUs him at
the same time with a hope full of glory, which,
with respect to its foundation, cannot be
shaken ; and with respect to its object can
be satisfied with nothing less than all the ful
ness of God. There are favoured seasons in
which the believer, having a lively impres
sion ofthe authority and love ofthe Interces
sor, can address the great Jehovah as his Fa
ther, with no less confidence than if he was
holy and spotless as the angels before the
throne, at the very moraent that he has abun
dant cause to say, " Behold I am vile ! I ab
hor myself, and repent in dust and ashes !"
Job xl. 4 ; xiii. 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 in
sufficiency to order our own cause before the
Lord, to specify our various wants, and to fill
our mouths with such arguraents, as raay en
gage the attention, and enliven the affections
of our hearts. " We know not how to pray as
we ought," Rora. viu. 26. And though the
Holy Spirit teaches believers to forra peti
tions, which, in the raain, are agreeable to the
will of God, yet we often mistake and ask
amiss ; we often forget what 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
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 narae
is upon our polluted lips ! It is well for us,
that God is both able and gracious to do raore
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 hiraself was aware
ofhis danger. Have we not soraetiraes been
as it were surprised and shamed by the Lord's
goodness, when he has condescended to be
stow special and needful raercies upon us, be
fore we thought of asking for them ? These
are affecting proofs of our Intercessor's at
tention and care, and that he is always mind
ful 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 be possesses all authority and power. And
it belongs to his ofiice 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 sprmgs are in hira. 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," Jobn xiv.
14. '?Not merely, I will present your petitions,
but i wUl fulfil them myseff. For all things
are committed into his hands, and it is he
with whom we bave to do, Heb,.iv. 13. He
therefore enjoins us, if we believe or trust
in God, to believe also in him, John xiv. 1.
His invitations, " If any man thirst, let him
come unto me and drink ;" (John viL 37;) —
" Whosoever wiU, let him take ofthe water
of lffe freely;" (Rev. xxii. 17;) equally ex
press 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 bis
bounty diminished by all that he has distribu
ted, for it is unsearchable and inexhaustible,
like the light ofthe sun, whicb gladdens tbe
eyes of millions at once, has done so from the
beginning, and wUl 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 skUful gardener had the cora
raand of the weather, he would not treat all
his plants, nor the sarae 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
providence, he so proportions the rain and the
sunshine to each other, that the corn is usual
ly 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 soraetiraes makes the
heavens over our head brass, the earth un
der our feet iron, (Deut xxviu. 23,) and turns
a fruitful land into barrenness. So, in his
kingdom of grace, he trains his people up by
various exercises. He delights in their pros
perity, and does not willingly grieve them.
But afflictions in tbeir present state are ne
cessary, and bis blessing makes them saluta-
tary. But this is their great privilege, that
their comforts and their crosses are equally
frora his hand, are equally tokens of his love,
and alike directed to work together for their
good. He appoints the bounds of their habi
tations, numbers the hairs of their heads, and
is their guide and guard, their sun and shield,
even unto death. Here they meet with ma
ny changes, but none that are unnoticed by
him, none that can separate thein from his
love, and they all concur in leading them on
to a state of unchangeable and endless joy,
2 Cor. iv. 17.
3. He is the Captain of their salvation,
Heb. ii. 10. They afre his soldiers, and fight
under his eye ; yet the battle is not theirs
but his. Israel of old were to mufiter their

SER. XLVII.]

THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.

375

forces, to range themselves for the fight, to
use every precaution and endeavour, as
though success depended entirely upon them
selves. Yet they obtained not the victory by
their own sword, but it was the Lo|i^|ilgho
fought for them, and trod down their enenfies
before thera ; and they had little more to do
than to pursue the vanquished, and to divide
the spoil. And thus it is in the warfare
which true christians raaintain, not against
flesh and blood only, but against principalities
and powers, (Eph. vi. 12,) against the spirit
of tiie world, and against Satan and his le
gions. They fight in his cause, but he upholds
them and conquers for them. Their eneraies
are too many and too mighty for them to
grapple with in their own strength ; but he re
bukes thera, and pleads the cause of his people.
His gracious interposition in their favour is
beaatifuUy set forth, together with its effects,
in the vision which the prophet saw, when he
was sent to encourage the rulers and people
of the Jews against tbe difficulties they raet
with when rebuUding the temple. He saw
Joshua the high priest, who, in that character,
represented th^, collective body of the people,
standing before the Lord, clothed in filthy gar
ments, and Satan standing at his right hand to
resist hira, Zech. iii. 1 — 4. Such is our attire
as sinners, allourrighteousnesses areas filthy
rags ; and such are the atterapts of our enemy,
to deter us frora approaching to hira who alone
can relieve us, or to distress us when we ap
pear before hira. But when Joshua could not
speak for hiraself, the Lord spake for him,
claimed hira for his own, as a brand plucked
outof the fire, silenced his adversary, clothed
him with change of raiment, and set a fair
mitre upon his bead. Thus David acknow
ledged the Lord's goodness in providing him
a table in the raidst of his eneraies, (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 com
forts and feeds his people, while waiting on
him in secret, or attending his public ordi
nances ; 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 darkness surround us ; their raalice
against us is heightened by the favour of our
good Shepherd toward us ; they rage, but in
vain ; for though they could presently de
prive us of peace, and fiU us with anguish,
if we were left exposed totheir assaults, they
are under a restraint and can do nothing
without bis permission. When he is pleased
to give quietness, who then can make trou
ble? Job xxxiv. 29. He preserves and pro
vides for his sheep in the raidst 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 suita

ble, 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, frora the first step to the last he
is all in all. If he had not died and risen
again, we raust 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 behaff. If he was
not on our part, engaged to keep us night and
day,our eneraies would soon be too hard for us.
May we therefore give hira the glory due to his
name and cleave to him,and trust in him alone.
2. How safe are tbe 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 hiraself has caused them
to hope ; while he retains that faithfulness
which encouraged them to coramit their souls
to him, it is impossible that any weapon or
stratagem formed against them can prevail.
There are many, it*is true, who wUl 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
theraselves liable to many charges ; but since
Jesus is their head, their security, their inter
cessor, no needful good shall be withheld
from thera, no charge admitted against them,
none shall condemn thera, 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? WUl 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 thera admitted into the king
dom of God, and you yourselves be thrust out;
your present advantages would then prove an
aggravation of your guUt 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 wUl be justified. Consi
der who will condemn them, God himself, Ps.
1. 6. Frora bis inquisition there can be no
retreat; frora his sentence there can be no
appeal. And consider what the condemna
tion will be; a final exclusion from bis fe
vour ; a never-ceasing sense of his awful
displeasure ; a state of eternal horror and
despair, without mitigation, without the
sraaUest ray of hope ! Can you deliberately
give up all claim to happiness, and determine
to rush upon the thick bosses of God's buck
ler, (Job XV. 26,) to defy his power, and to

376

THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED.

[sER. XLVIII.

dare his threatenings, rather than forego the
transitory and delusive pleasures of sin ? And
can you do this with the gospel sounding in
your ears ? May the Lord prevent it ! How-
eyer, observe you are once more warned,
once more invited. If now at last, after so
many delays, so much perverseness on your
part you will honestly and earnestly 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 OP 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 cre
ation, proclaira the glory of God. He is like
wise maximus in minimis. The sraaUest 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 irapression 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 sraaller
parts, analogous to what we observe in the
visible creation, and answerable to what an
enlightened and hurable raind raay expect in
a book which bears the character of a divine
revelation. A single verse, a single clause,
when viewed (if I raay so speak) in the mi
croscope of close meditation, is often found to
contain a fulness, a world of wonders. And
though a connected and comprehensive ac
quaintance with the whole scripture be desi
rable and useful, and is no less the privUege
than the duty of those who have capacity and
time at their disposal to acquire it ; yet there
is a gracious accoraraodation to the weakness
of sorae persons, and the circumstances of
others. So that in many parts of scripture,
whatever is iraraediately necessary to con
firra our faith, to aniraate or regulate our
practice, is condensed into a small corapass,
and comprised in a few verses; yea, sorae
times a single sentence, when unfolded and
examined, will be found to contain all the
great principles of duty and comfort 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 raay lead us to a
compendious recapitulation of the whole sub
ject, and by the Lord's blessing, may prepare
us to join in the following ascription of praise
to him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the
Lamb ; I propose to consider it in, its proper
connection as a part of the leading song of

tbe redeemed before the throne, in which tbe
angels cannot share, though from their love
to redeemed sinners, and from their views of
the, manifold wisdom and glory of God in vi
siting such sinners with such a salvation, they
cheerfuUy take a part in the general chorus.
The redemption spoken of, is suited to the
various cases of sinners of every nation, peo
ple, and language. And many sinners of di
vers descriptions, and from distant situations,
scattered abroad into all lands, through a long
succession of ages, will, by the efficacy of
this rederaption, be gatiiered together into
one, John xi. 52. They wUL constitute one
feraUy, 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 remerabrance
of what tbey once were, their sense of the
happiness they are raised to, and ofthe great
consideration to which they owe their deliver
ance and their exaltation, wUl excite a per
petual 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 num
ber, sweet as from blest voices, " Thou art
worthy — for thou wast slain, and hast redeem
ed us to God by thy blood, out of every kin
dred, and tongue, and people, and nation."
But though this song, and this joy, will
only be consumraated in heaven, the com
mencement takes place upon earth. Believ
ers, during their present state of warfare,
are taught to sing it ; in feebler strains in
deed, 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 rehearsal ? They are now learning
their song, and advancing in meetness to join
in the chorus on high, which, as death suc
cessively reraoves thera, is continually in
creasing by the accession of fresh voices. All
that they know, or desire to know, aU they pos
sess 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
nation. I. Thou hast redeemed us to God. — Re
deraption or ransora is applicable to a state of
iraprisonraent for debt, and to a state of bond
age or slavery. Frora these ideas taken to
gether, we raay "form sorae estiraate of the
misery of our fallen state ; a theme, which,
if I cannot insist upon at large in every dis
course, I would never wholly omit For we
can neither understand the grace, nor enjoy

8GR. XLVUt.]

THE SONG- OP THE REDEEMED.

577

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 theraselves whole, know
not their need of a physician, (Matt ix. 12,)
but to the sick he is welcorae.
If a man, shut up in prison for a heavy
debt which he is utterly incapable of dis
charging, should obtain his liberty, in consi
deration of payment made for him by another,
he raight be properly said to be redeemed from
imprisonment 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
surety 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 trerable under the appre
hension of an irapending doora. 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
understands that all his great debt is forgiven,
blesses bis deliverer, obtains his liberty, and
departs in peace.
We are likewise in bondage, the servants,
the slaves of a harder task-raaster than Pha
raoh was to Israel. Satan, though not by
right, yet by a righteous perraission, tyran
nizes over us, till Jesus makes us free, John
viii. 34, 36. The way of transgressors is
hard, Prov. xiii. 15. Thougb the solicitations
and commands of that eneray who worketh in
the children of disobedience (Eph. ii. 2,) are
in some respects suited to our depraved incli
nations, 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 mle 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 raade 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 prodi-
VoL. n. 3B

gality for pride. The strong one armed wUl
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 vir
tue of the redemption-price, the prey is taken
from the mighty, and the captive is delivered.
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 raind, Mark v. 15. He becoraes the
Lord's freed-raan.
For he is not only delivered from guilt and
thrall, he is redeeraed to God. He is now
restored to his original state, as an obedient
and dependent creature, devoted to his Crea
tor, conformed to his will and iraage, and ad
mitted to coraraunion with him in love. These
are blessings which alone can satisfy the
soul, and without which it is irapossible for
man to be happy. WhUe he is ignorant of
his proper good, and seeks it in creatures, he
is and must be wretched. Madness is in his
heart, a deceived, disordered imagination
turns hira aside, and he feeds upon ashes, and
upon the wind. Is. xiv. 20. But by grace be
is renewed to a sound judgraent, his raind re
ceives a right direction, and he is turned from
darkness to light, frora the power of Satan
to God, Acts xvi. 18.
II. What unspeakably, and beyond con
ception enhances the value of this deliver
ance, 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 raere mercy, but of mercy harmonizing
with justice. It is not an act of power only,
but of unexampled and expensive love. —
" Thou has redeeraed us by thy blood !"
The sentence denounced by the law against
transgressors, was death. And therefore when
Messiah becarae our surety, to satisfy the law
for us, he raust die. The expression of his
blood, is often used figuratively for his death,
perhaps to reraind us how he died. His was
a bloody death. When he was in his agony
in Gethseraane, his sweat was as great drops
of blood, falling down 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 thoms into his
temples. His blood streamed from the
wounds made by the spikes, wbich pierced
his hands and his feet when they fastened
him to the cross. When he hung upon the
cross, his body was full of wounds, and cover
ed with blood. And, after his death, another
large wound was made in his side, from
which issued blood and water. Such was
the redemption-price he paid for sinners, his
blood, the blood of his heart Without shed
ding of blood there could be no remission.

378

THE SONG OF THE. REDEEMED.

[see. XLVin.

Nor could any blood answer the great design,
but his. Not any, not all the blowly sacrifices
appointed 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 corae before the raost high God,
Micah vi. 6. But the blood of Messiah, m
whom were united the perfections of the di
vine nature, and tbe real properties of hu
manity, 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 righteousness, no less than
his mercy, in forgiving iniquities, (Rom. iii.
24, 26,) and shows hiraself just to the de
mands of his holiness, and the honour of his
govemment, when he accepts and justifies
the sinner who believes in Jesus.
If these things were understood and at
tended to, would it be thought wonderful that
this Saviour is very precious to those who be
lieve in bim, and who obtain rederaption 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 was filled and fired
with these considerations, when authenti
cating an epistle with his own hand, he sub
joined this emphatical close, "If any man
love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be
Anathema Maranatha !" 1 Cor. xvi. 22. Do
you think, 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
sinners, that he could thus consign them to
destruction by multitudes, for differing frora
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
narae and on the behalf of God. He knew
it must be, and he declared it would be so.
It was no pleasure to hira 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
anathema himself (Rom. ix. 3,) that they
might be saved. But upon the whole, he ac
quiesced in tbe will of God, and acknowledg
ed it to be just, right, and equal, that ff any
man would not love the Lord Jesus Christ,
after all that be bad done and suffered for sin
ners, he should be accursed. By this com
parison ofthe apostie's severe language with
his compassionate teraper, I ara led to digress
a little farther. It suggests an apology for
ministers of the gospel in general. When
we declare the terrors of tbe Lord, wben we
assure you that there is but one solid founda

tion for hope, and that, unless you love the
Lord Jesus Christ you must perish, some of
our hearers account us bigoted, uncharitable,
and bitter. But if you could see what passes
in secret, how faithful ministers mourn over
those who reject their message, how their dis
obedience cuts them to the heart, and abates
the comfort they would otherwise find in your
service; if you could believe us when we
say (I trust truly) that we are ready to im
part unto you, not the gospel of God only,
but our owm souls also, because you are dear
to us, (1 Thess. ii. 8,) and we long for your
salvation ; then you would think raore fa
vourably 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 perU 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 forraer occasion,* of
fered you ray sentiments concerning the ex
tent of the virtue of that blood wbich taketh
away the sin of tbe world. But the clause
now before us invites me to make a few ad
ditional observations upon a subject which, I
conceive, it much concerns us rightly to un
derstand. The redeemed of the Lord are those who
actually experience the power of his redemp
tion, who are deUvered from the dominion of
sin and Satan, and brought into a state of
liberty, peace, and holiness. That the people
of every kindred, nation, and tongue, are not
redeeraed 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 shaU see the Lord." Multi
tudes, thus disqualified, wUl be found trem
bling, on the left band of the Judge, at the
great day. But a remnant wUl 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 service of sin, do not make themselves to
differ, 1 Cor. iv. 7. It becoraes the potsherds
of tbe 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 thera his people
who were once not his people, Hos. u. 23.
Yet a way of conceiving of the doctrines of
the divine sovereignty, and of a personal elec
tion unto life, has often obtained, which seems
to have a tendency to render the mind narrow,
selfish, and partial, and to straiten the exer
cise of that phUanthropy which the genius
and spirit of the gospel powerfully inculcate.

* Sermon xvi.

SER. XLVm.]

THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED.

379

The best of us, perhaps, are raore prone than
we are aware of to assirailate the great God
to ourselvesj" and to frame our ideas of hira
too much according to our own image, go
that often much of a raan's natural disposition
raay be observed in the views he forras of the
divine perfections and conduct; as, on the
other hand, his conceptions of the character
of God strengthen and confirra hira in his
own tempers and habits. There are persons,
who being persuaded in their own rainds (we
would hope upon sure grounds) that they
themselves are of the elect appear to be lit
tle concerned what may becorae of others.
Their notions of God's sovereignty, and his
right to do what he will with his own, though
often insufficient to preserve thera frora re
pining and impatience under the common
events of human life, raise them above all
doubts and difficulties on a subject which the
apostle speaks of as unsearchable and un
traceable; where he acknowledges depths
which he was uiiable to fathom, (Rora. xi. 33,)
all appears to thera quite plain and easy ;
where he admires and adores, they arrogant
ly dispute, and determine ex cathedra, and
harshly censure all who are not so eagle-
sighted as themselves. Methinks they who
know the worth of a soul, from its vast capa
city for happiness and raisery, and its imraor
tal duration, cannot justly be blanied for al
lowing no limits to their benevolent wishes
for the salvation of mankind, but the will of
God, as it is plainly raade 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 day when he wUl condescend to
clear up every difficulty, and give us that sa
tisfaction which, in our present state of igno
rance and weakness, we are incapable of re
ceiving. Shall mortal man be more just, or
can he be more merciful than God ? It is a
false corapassion, founded in a blameable dis
regard 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 other
wise than they are. Yet it is a comfort to
think that his mercy, in which he delights,
in which he is peculiarly said to be rich, and
which is higher than the heavens, wUl, in its
exercise, far exceed the bounds which some
fallible mortals would peremptorily assign to
it 'We must not indulge conjecture and hy
pothesis ferther than the scripture will war
rant; but whUe we humbly depend upon this
infallible light we need not be afraid to fol
low it, though it should in some particulars,
lead us a little beyond the outiines of some
long received, and in the raain very valuable
. huraan systeras of divinity.
I have repeatedly expressed ray belief, that
many prophecies respecting the spread and
glory of the kingdom of Messiah upon earth.

bave 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 ofthe 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
apostles' days to the end of time. But while
only the leamed can so much as attempt to
ascertain from history the dates and facts to
which the prophecies already fulfilled refer,
or to offer probable conjectures concerning
the events as yet future (in which the most
judicious commentators are far frora being
agreed,) there are passages interspersed
which seem designed to administer consola
tion to plain believers, by representations suit
ed to raise their thoughts to the state of the
church triumphant Though they are unable
to explain the particulars of what they read,
there is a glory resulting from the whole,
which aniraates their hope and awakens
their joy. Of this kind I think is that vision,
(Rev. vii. 9, ad finem,) in which the apostie
saw the servants of God, who were sealed in
their foreheads, in number a hundred and
forty-four thousand ; and besides these a great
multitude which no raan could nuraber, of all
nations and kindreds, and people, and tongues,
stood before the throne, and before the Lamb,
clothed with white robes, and palms in their
hands, and cried with a loud voice, saying,
" Salvation to our God, which sitteth upon
the throne, and to the Lamb," &c. I confess
myself unable to expound this sublirae pas
sage, and to give the full or even the prin
cipal sense of it with certainty. But that it
has some reference to what is now passing
within the vaU, 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 be
fore you frora 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 justly 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 de
finite for an indefinite nuraber, which is fre
quent 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 tf were in tbeir foreheads, and

380

THE SONG OF THE REDEEMED.

[sER. XLVIII.

know to whom they belong, by their open and
habitual separation fromthe spirit and customs
of the world which lieth in wickedness. And
the exceeding great multitude, contradistin
guished from these, I conceive to be those who
are elsewhere styled the Lord's hidden ones :
and that these are a great multitude indeed,
gathered by him, who knows them that are
his, out of all nations, and kindreds, and peo
ple, and tongues. I may distribute them into
the following classes —
1. Infants. — I think it at least highly pro
bable, that when our Lord says, " Suffer little
children to corae unto rae, and forbid thera
not fer of such is the kingdom of heaven,"
(Matt xix. 14,) he does not only intiraate the
necessity of our becoming like little children
in. simplicity, as a qualification without which
(as he expressly declares in other places) we
cannot enter into his kingdora, but inforras
us of a fact that the nuraber of infants who
are effectually redeemed to God by his blood,
so greatly exceeds the ag'gregate nuraber of
adult believers, that, comparatively speaking,
his kingdora raay be said to consist of little
children. The apostle speaks of them as not
having " sinned after the similitude of Adara's
transgression," (Rora. v. 14,) that is, with the
consent of their understanding and will. And
when he says, " We raust all appear before
the judgraent 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 yet I suppose few are so
rash as to imagine it impossible that any in
fants can be saved. The same power that
produces this change in some, can produce it
in all ; and therefore I ara willing to believe,
till the scripture forbids me, that infants of all
nations and kindreds, without exception, who
die before they are capable of sinning after
the simUitude of Adam's transgression, who
have done nothing in the body of which they
can give an account, are included in the elec
tion 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 Larab, and they are admitted, 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 rae no pain to confess ray ignorance. —
The Lord knoweth.
2. A people hidden among the most de
generate comraunities, civil or ecclesiastical,
that bear the narae of Christian ; where ig
norance and superstition, or errors, which,
though moro refined, are no less contrary to

the gospel, have a prevailing dominion and
influence. What can be more deplorable, in
the view of an enlightened and benevolent
raind, 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 de
pendence upon masses, penance, and pilgrim
ages, upon legends and fictitious saints,
forra the principal features of tbe public re
ligion. Many nations are involved in this
gross darkness, but they are not wholly des
titute 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 individuals araong them
have been acquainted with the life and power
of true godliness, notwithstanding the disad
vantages and prejudices of their education.
There are likewise araongst Protestants
scheraes of doctrines, supported by learning
and by nurabers, which are not raore conform
able to the standard of the New Testament
than the grossest errors of Popery ; and yet
here and there persons may be met with,
who, by the agency of tbe Holy Spirit en
abling them to understand the scriptures, are
raade wiser than their teachers; and who,
though still fettered by some mistakes and
prejudices, give evidence in the raain, 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 raade by sorae persons
from the apostie Peter's words, that "God is
no respecter of persons, but in every nation,
he that feareth him, and worketh righteous
ness, is accepted with him," (Acts x. 34, 35,)
are, undoubtedly, rash and unscriptural. They
would conclude frora thence, that it is of lit
tle iraportance what people believe, provided
they are sincere in their way ; that the idola
trous 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 thera be darkness,
how great is that darkness !" Such a lax
candour as this tends to make the gospel un
necessary ; if they who have it not are there
fore excusable, though they neither love nor
fear God, and live in open violation of the
law of their nature. The declaration, that
" Without holiness no man shall see the
Lord," (Heb. xii. 14,) holds universally, and
without a single exception. But if we sup
pose a Heathen, destitute of the means of
grace, by which conversion is usually wrought,
to be brought to a sense of his misery, of the
emptiness and vanity of worldly things, to a

BER. XLIX.J

THE CHORUS OP ANGELS.

SSI

conviction that he cannot be happy without
tiie favour ofthe great Lord of the world, to
a feeling of ffuUt, and a desire of mercy ; and
that though he has no explicit knowledge of
a Saviour, he directs the cry of his heart to
the unknown Supreme to this purport " Ens
entium, miserere mei. Father and source of
beings, have mercy upon me!" — who will
prove that such views and desires can arise
m the heart of a sinner, without the energy
of that Spirit which Jesus is exalted to be
stow ? Who wUl take upon him to say, that
his blood has not sufficient efficacy to redeera
to God a sinner who is thus disposed, though
he has never beard of his name ? Or who has
a warrant to affirra, that the supposition I
have made is, in the nature of things, impos
sible to be realized? But I stop — I do not
often arause you with conjecture. And
though for want of express warrant frora
scripture, I dare not give the sentiments I
have now offered, a stronger narae than pro
bable, or 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 dogmatical spirit; and if, without abating
our reverend submission to the revealed wUl
ofGod, they have a tendency to confirra our
views of his goodness, and the power and
corapassions of the great Redeemer.

SERMON XLIX.

THE CHORUS OF ANGELS.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to re
ceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and
strength, and honour, and glory, and
.'— Rev. V. 12.

It was a good report which the queen of
Sheba heard, in her own land, ofthe wisdom
and glory of Solomon. It lessened her at
tachment to horae, and prompted her to un
dertake a long joumey to visit this greater
king, of whora she had heard so much. She
went, and she was not disappointed. Great
as the expectations were which she had
formed from the relation made her by others,
they fell short of what she saw and heard
herseff, when she was admitted into his
presence. Good, likewise, is the* report of
the gospel. It has a powerful effect upon
those who receive it by faith. It is abund
antly sufficient to convince them ofthe com
parative msignificance of all that they most
admired and esteemed in this world. From
that hour they becorae strangers and pU
grims 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 sub
ject, their song, and their joy, whUe 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 conceiv
ing the half, or the thousandth part of what
they read in the scripture, concerning his
wisdom, his glory, and his grace. We weak
en, rather than enlarge, the sense of such a
passage as this, by our feeble coraraents. We
raust 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 teaching of death wUl be too
late. Dreadful will be the condition of those
who cannot be convinced of their mistakes,
tUl repentance and amendment wUl be im
practicable. But death wUl be a great teacher,
indeed, to a believer; he will then know more
by a glance, and in a moraent, of the happi
ness he is now expecting, than by all he
could collect from the inquiry and experience
of a long course of years in this world.
The scenery of this chapter, if attentively
considered, is sufficient to snatch our thoughts
from the little concernments of time, and to
give us sorae 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
throne, surrounded by a multitude of bis 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 tbey are interested in the subject.
Their highest views of the njantfold wisdom
of God are derived frora the wonders of re
deraption. 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, wUl 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
indefinitely, ten thousand times ten thousand,
and thousands of thousands; myriads, and
mUlions ; to intimate to us, that with respect
to our capacities and conceptions, they are
innumerable. Their nuraber is known to him
who telleth the number ofthe stars and call
eth them all by their names, (Psalm cxlvii.
4,) and to him only. The scripture mtimates
a diversity of ranks and orders araong them,
Thrones, dominions, principalities, and pow-

383

THE 6hORUS of ANGELS.

[sER. XLIX.

ers ; but as to farticulars, there is littie said
that might gratify our curiosity. It is enough
for us to know, that tbe highest of them, and
that aU of them, worship him who is clothed
in our nature. My text expressly informs us,
that the object of their worship is the Larab
that was slain. Not that the huraanity of
Christ, whicb is but a creature, is siraply and
formally, the object of their worship; but
they worship hira who has assuraed the hu
man nature into personal union with him
self; God manifest in the flesh, God in
Christ Though the world censure or de
spise 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 com
mand. Whether men are pleased or not, we
will, we must, worship tbe Lamb that was
slain. To aniraate our devotion, let us thank
fully consider, Why he was slain, and How
he was slain.
I. Why he was slain. — The redeeraed say.
For us. " He loved us, and washed us frora
our sins in his own blood," Rev. i. 5. They
were sinners and eneraies ; they were slaves
to sin and Satan ; yet be loved thera, and
died to redeem thera. It is by virtue of his
blood and death that they are now before the
throne. Nothing less than his death could
have made thera duly sensible of their misery,
nothing less could have relieved them frora it
He was lifted up upon the cross, that by the
powerful raagnetisra of his dying love, he
might, in the hour of his grace, draw their
hearts to himself, John xii. 32. This was the
design, this was the effectof bis sufferings. A
crucified Saviour, though a stumbling-block to
the self-righteous, and foolishness to vain rea
soners, was to them the power and the wisdora
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 re
nounced the ways of sin, they warred the
good warfare, tbey overcarae the world, and
were at length made more than conquerors.
For his sake they endured the cross, and de
spised the shame. They raet with bad treat
ment from tbe world, but it was froni the
world that crucified him. While they were
here their characters were obscured by their
own imperfections, and by the raisrepresenta
tions and reproaches of their eneraies. But
now their reproach is reraoved, and they
shine, each one like the sun, in the kingdora
of their Father, Matt. xiii. 43. What an im
mense constellation of suns ! This their full
salvation was the joy set before hira, for the
sake of which he became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And now they
see hira as he is, they ascribe all their vic
tories and honours to him, and unite in one
song of endless praise to the Larab that was
slain.

IL Their praises are heightened, when
they consider. How he was slain. He did
not die a natural death. He was slain. Nor
did he fell like a hero, by an honourable wound
in tbe 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 lffe.
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 be was slam, 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
ofGod were displayed in their fullest lustre ;
and they are the perfections ofthe 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 bless
ing." 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 re
verence, confidence and love. The fulness
of expression may teach us, that every kind
of excellence is the indubitable right and
possession of the Larab that was slain. He
is worthy to have thera 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 have heard the sarae, 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 Larab. He styles hiraself
0 n«i.Ti>Kf«Ti«f, the Omnipotent, the Upholder
and Possessor of all things, Rev.i. 8, 11.
He exerciseth this power in the human
nature. Matt xxviu. 18. He doth what
he pleaseth in the armies of heaven, and
araong the inhabitants of tbe earth, (Dan. iv.
35 ;) and none can stay bis hand, or say unto
hira. What doest thou? He has, therefore,
aU sufficiency, and uncontrollable authority,
for the discharge ofhis office, as the Mediator
and head of his church. The divine perfec-
tiohs being infinite, are not distinct in them
selves, thoftgh the scripture, in condescension
to our weakness, authorizes us to speak of
them as distinguishable. God is one. And
the power which can preserve and govern
the world, involves in the idea of it every
other excellence, which is separately men
tioned in this passage.
2. Wisdora. — He is the only wise God, and
our Saviour, Jude 25. His knowledge is per
fect, his plan is perfect In himself he is

SEB. XLIX.]

THE CHORUS OF ANGELS.

38:1

essentially the wisdom ofGod, (Prov. viu. 22,)
and he is our wisdora, 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 whora he hath sent. For he is
the only way, and the only door to this know
ledge ; 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 repre
sents God to us, is so completely the bright
ness of his glory, and the express image of
his person, that whoso hath seen him, hath
seen the Father, Jobn xiv. 9. By him is
opened to us the unsearchable wisdora ofthe
divine counsels, particularly in the great
work of redemption. "No one hath seen
God at any time ; tbe only begotten Son, who
is in the bosom ofthe Father, he hath reveal
ed him," John i. 18. It is by wisdom cora
municated from bim, that his people are made
wise unto salvation. Though there are few
scholars and phUosophers among thera, and
many of them are despised for their igno
rance 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
obtained. They are instructed how to walk
and to please God, how to bear afflictions
with patience, and to meet death with com
posure. This wisdom is far superior to that
ofthe schools. But he bestows and maintains
it. The eyes of their raind are opened, and
tbey see by his light ; but they have no
light of their own, or in themselves. They
.wait upon him for direction in every diffi
culty, for the solution of every hard question
which perplexes their spirits ; and he makes
the crooked straight, teaches them to avoid
the snares tbat are laid for them, or extricates
them when entangled. Therefore in time,
and to eternity, they wUl 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 ofthe unsearchable riches of Christ, (Eph.
iii. 8,) gives us the idea of a mine, the height,
length, depth, and breadth of which cannot
be investigated, nor the iraraense wealth it
contains exhausted. Of this fulness the poor
are invited to receive freely, and multitudes
from age to age have been enriched, and the
treasure is still undiminished. None are sent
away erapty ; and when all have been sup
plied, it wiU be fuU as at first ^
4. Strength. — That energy and effifcacy of
his power, by wbich he accomplishes his holy
purposes. Who can conceive of this ? How
just is the psalmist's reasoning, " He that
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 wljom the strength of all creatures, if

collected into one effort would be as chaff
before the whirlwind ! The Lord of all power
and might spealts, and it is done ; he com-
mandeth and it standeth fast. Though the
waves of the storray sea toss theraselves, they
cannot prevail ; (Ps. xciii. 3, 4 ;) he checks
them in the height of tbeir rage, setting
bounds to their violence which they cannot
pass, saying, " Hitlierto shalt thou corae 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 raoraent, in any assignable circurastances.
He can make it happy in a dungeon, (Acts
xvi. 25,) or irapress 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 bis proraise and protection sur
rounds those who trust in hira, as with raoun
tains, and walls of brass and fire, impenetra
ble to the assaults of the powers of darkness,
unless so far as he, for wise and holy ends, is
pleased to give perraission. With the arm
of his strength he upholdeth thera that are
falling, and raiseth up thera that are bowed
down, (Ps. cxlv. 14,) and is, in one and the
sarae instant, a present and iraraediate help
in trouble to all who call upon hira, Ps. xlvi.
1. Therefore they that abide under his
shadow are safe ; they pass unhurt through
floods and flaraes, because their Redeem^ is
strong. And when, in defiance of all their
eneraies he has brought thera together in his
heavenly kingdora, they will, with one con
sent, 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
hira are opaque and obscure. Because his peo
ple are precious in his sight, they are honour
able. He clothes them with the garraents
of salvation, covers thera with a robe of righ
teousness as a bridegroom decketh himself
with ornaments, and as a bride adometh her
self with jewels, Is. Ixi. 10. But wbo can
speak of his own inherent honour, as God-
man and Mediator ! We must wait till we
see him, without a cloud or vail, receiving
the horaage and adoration of angels and raen.
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
receive all honour. Ab ! how different wUl
he then appear, from that humble form be
once assumed, when, for our sakes, he was a
raan of sorrows, despised, rejected, and naUed
to the ignominious cross!
6. Glory. — The manifestation ofGod, that
by which he is known and magnified, in the
view of finite inteUigences: the result, the
combined effulgence of his holiness, grace.

384

THE CHORUS OF ANGELS.

[seb. xlix.

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 Larab upon
the throne shines his glory, fuU-orbed. And
all in heaven, and all in earth, who behold it,
take up the song of Moses and the Lamb,
'i 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 Alraighty !
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, raay express that intercourse or com
munion which is between the head and the
mystical merabers of his body. He blesses
them effectually with the light of his counte
nance, with liberty, grace, and peace. He
blesses them daUy. His raercies are renewed
to thera every raorning. He will bless them
eternally. Blessed are the people who have
. this Lord for their God. They can raake
him no suitable returns, yet in their way they
bless him. They adraire, adore, and praise
him. They call upon all the powers of their
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 attainraents
in this delightful exercise of worship, love,
and gratitude, they enjoy a heaven upon
earth ; and to stand before him continually,
to behold his glory, to live under the uncloud
ed bearas of his favour, and to be able to bless
and praise him as they ought, without weari
ness, abatement, interruption, or end, is what
they mean when they speak of the heaven
they hope for hereafter. Such is the blessed
ness 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 foUowers of thera who,
through feith 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 wor
thy. Wisdora, 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 hiraself, and he is the life of all
that live ; the Lord and Head of the churoh
and ofthe universe. Can language express,
or can heart conceive, a higher ascription
and acknowledgraent than this ? Can all this
be due to a creature ? to one of a derived

and dependent character? Then surely the
scripture would have a direct tendency to
proraote idolatry. Far be the thought from
us! The scripture teaches us the know
ledge of the true God, and tbe worship due
to hira. Therefore Messiah, the Lamb tbat
was slain, is tbe 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 hira the honour due to his name.
Their raistake should excite, not our anger
cr scorn, but our pity and prayers. Are
there any such araongst us? Alas, my fel
low-sinners, you know not what you do!
Alas ! you know him not, nor do you know
yourselves. I am well aware lhat a thou
sand arguments of mine will not persuade
you ; but I can simply tell you wbat would
soon make you at least desirous of adopting
our sentiments upon this subject. If be 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 au
thority of God, and of your conduct towarda
him as his creatures, your strongest objec
tions to the high honours we attribute to the
Saviour would this moment feU ¦ to the
ground, and you would be immediately con
vinced, 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 righteous
ness and truth of God declared in his word,
and with the honour and purity of his moral
governraent. This would lead you to per
ceive the necessity of an atonement, and the
insufficiency of any atonement but that whicb
the Lamb of God has made by the sacrifice of
himself, (Heb. ix. 26,) and that the efficacy
even of his raediation depends upon his di
vine character. The scriptural doctrines of
the depravity of man, tbe malignity of sin,
the eternal power and Gpdhead of the Sa
viour, the necessity and efficacy ofhis raedia
tion, and the inevitable, extreme, and endless
misery of those who finally reject him, are so
closely connected, that if the first be rightly
understood, it will open the mind to the re
ception of the rest. But till the first be
known and felt the importance and certainty
ofthe others will be suspected, if not openly
denied. Though the doctrines I have enumerated
are, in these sceptical day.s, too generally dis
puted and contradicted, I am fully confident
that it is impossible to deraonstrate thera to
be false. Upon the lowest supposition, there
fore, they possibly raay be true; and the
consequences depending upon them, if they
should be found true at last, are so vastly mo-
raentousi that even the peradventure, the pos
sibility of their trutii, renders thera deserving
of your most serious consideration. Trifle

SER. L.]

THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS.

385

with yourselves no longer. If they be truths,
tbey are the truths of God. Upon the sarae
authority stands the truth of that gracious pro
mise that he will give his Holy Spirit to thera
that ask him. Let me entreat you to raake
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 wiUing to be taught. Read the scripture
with deliberation, and do not labour to fortify
yourselves against conviction. Break off frora
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 ifyouwUl sincerely foUow 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 wUl 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 I, saying,) Blessing, and ho
nour, and glory, and power, be unto him
that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the
Lamb for ever and ever ! — Rev. v. 13.
Men have generally agreed to dignify their
presumptuous and arrogant disquisitions on
the works and ways of God with the name of
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 forraation 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
defended with a magisterial tone of certain
ty, and an air of demonstration, by their re
spective authors, as though they had been
bystanders and spectators when God spoke
all things into being, and produced order out
of confusion by the word of his power.
They have, however, been rauch more success
ful in showing the absurdity of the schemes
proposed by others, than in reconciling their
own to the sober dictates of plain common
sense. Vol. il 3 C

But if, by indulgmg tbeir speculations on
the creation of the world, the causes of the
deluge, and similar subjects, their eraploy-
raent has been no better than weaving spi-
der's webs, the result of their reasoning on
raorals has been much worse. Here they
have^ith industry hatched cockatrice eggs ;
(Isa. lix. 5;) and their labours have been not
only fallacious, but mischievous. Their me
taphysical researches, while they refuse the
guidance of revelation, if pursued to their
just consequences, will always lead into the
labyrinths of scepticism, weaken the sense of
raoral 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 insuper
able 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 Ul the world, is felt and confessed uni
versaUy. The gospel points out an effec
tual raethod of deliverance from it; but alas,
the .simple and infallible reraedy is neglected,
and men weary themselves with vain in
quiries, And find no end, in wandering mazea lost.
The raore they reason, the raore they involve
theraselves in uncertainty and error, till at
last they make lies their refuge, and adopt,
wTth iraplicit credulity, as so raany undoubted
axioras, opinions, which are eqiially dis
honourable 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 raen, who are
in a state 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 dis
play ofhis wisdom 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 angels, 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 Larab ; but here
the ascription is unto Hira that sitteth upon
the throne, and unto the Lamb. I shall not
add to what I have already observed to you
frora the words of the doxology. A few re
marks, which offer from this verse taken m
connection with the former, will bring me to
a conclusion ofthe whole subject And oh !
for a coal of fire frora the heavenly altar to
warm your hearts and mine, that our love,

386

THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS.

[seb. I.

joy, and gratitude may be awakened into
lively exercise, and that the close of our rae
ditations on the Messiah raay leave us deeply
impressed with desires 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 Larab !
I. Tbe Lord Jesus is not only the Head of
the church redeemed from among men, but
of the whole intelligent creation that is in
wUling 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 hiraself, all things that
are in heaven and upon earth, Eph. i. 10. He
is the Lord and the life both of angels and of
men. MutabUity 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 frora those who
left their first habitation, and sunk into sin
and misery. Angels therefore constitute a
branch of that great faraUy which is named of
him in heaven and earth. And having made
peace by the blood ofhis 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 raany passages of scripture. They
are devoted to God, filled with zeal for his
honour, and wait but for his coraraand to exe
cute vengeance upon his enemies. When
Herod, infatuated by his pride, and by the
flattery ofthe multitude, received their idola
trous compliment with complacence, an angel
of the Lord smote bim, because he gave not
God the glory, Acts xii. 23. The pestilence
which destroyed the people towards the end
of Da'vid's reign, was under the direction of
an angel (2 Sam. xxiv. 16, 17,) and David
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 tbe earth. And stUl 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 majiy
a haughty worm would be recorded m words
to this effect — "And an angel of the Lord
smote him, because he gave not God the
glory." But, viewing sinners as the subjects
of rederaption, the angels copy frora their
Lord. They regard thera with benevolence,
and rejoice over every one that repenteth, Heb.
i. 14. They willingly attend on thera, 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-

pmg 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 jelated in
one eoramon 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 pome to the
innuraerable 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 tho very gate of heaven, to the holiest of
all. Men unacquainted with spirituality, are
soon weary even of the form of worship, un
less their rainds are araused by a splendid
cereraonial. The first rise and subsequent in
crease of that porap and pageantry, which in
sorae countries has quite obscured the simpli
city and beauty of gospel-worship, is to be as
cribed to this indisposition ofthe 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 wbich 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
ff they have nothing better to substitute in the
roora of what they reject as insignificant The
very appearance of devotion will languish,
they will grow reraiss, and neglect the sabbath
and public assemblies, for want of something
to keep up their attention. We have abun
dant proof of tbis 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
ofthe 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
wUl 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. Ixxxiv. 10,) because they
can take a part in the songs of heaven, and
in spirit and in truth, worship him that sit
teth upon the throne, and the Larab who i^

SER. I,.]

THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS.

387

deemed them to God by his blood. They.
know by happy experience, that his promise,
to be in the midst of those who asserable in
his name, is truth. Their worship is not a
mere bodily service, a lifeless form, a round
of observances, which neither warra the
heart, nor influence the conduct; but they
are instructed, coraforted, and strengthened,
by waiting upon God. Their spiritual senses
are exercised ; they behold his glory in the
glass of the gospel, they hear his voice, they
feel an impression of his power and presence,
tbey taste his goodness, and the virtue of
that name, which is as ointment poured
forth, perfumes their tempers and conversa
tion. 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
bim 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
bim, without being aware ofthe 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.
U. 12. There is a mistake likewise on the
«(tber hand, when, though the Deity of tlje
Saviour be acknowledged, yet what we are
taught ofthe 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 Ls likewise written, " The Word
was with God." This latter expression un
doubtedly has a meaning which though per
fectiy consistent is not coincident with the
former. The truth contained in it is propos
ed, not to our curiosity as a subject of specu
lation, but to our faith. 1 do not atterapt to
explain it. But wbat 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 econoray of
salvation is ascribed ; to each of thera 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, ifit be
contained in a revelation from God. If it be
simply received upon the authority ofthe 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 frora whicb all their sagacity and learning
cannot free them. In vain they labour by
singular interpretations, by the minutiae of
criticisra, and by an appeal to various readings
and aricient versions, which, in afew passages,
differ frora the copies raore generally received
— in vain they endeavour by these refinements
to relieve theraselves, when pressed by the ob
vious and natural sense of a thousand texts,
which confirm tbe faitii 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 assist
ance of such learning and such criticism as
we often see pressed into the service. But
the Holy Spirit graciously leads those wbo
pray for his teaching, into such views of this
high subject as are sufficient to comfort their
hearts, and to animate their obedience. The
faitb of those who are taught of God, is ex
ercised in their approaches to him under two
different modifications. 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 themsel ves, they bow their
knees in his name, Phil. ii. 10. Christians
are sufficiently distinguished and described by
saying. They corae to God by him, Heb. yii.
25. They come to God, they cannot live
without hira 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 thatthey 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 corae to God in Christ. He is
the great Teraple, 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 becoraes more frequent
and familiar as they advance in the knowledge
of their Lord and Saviour, 2 Peter iii. 18.
They who seek to him for deliverance from
sin and raisery, at first, I believe, chiefly con
sider him as the Advocate and High Priest,
who, by the virtue of his atonement, and the
prevalence ofhis 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 John ii. 4,) he speaks of a more
distinct and appropriate knowledge of him
who is from the beginning, as the peculiar
privilege and distinguishing attainment of
the fathers. He speaks of hira who is from
the beginning, so often that we can be at no

THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS.

[sER. i.

loss to determine whom he intends by the
.expression. He applies it to hira who was in
tiie beginning with God (John i. 1,) and whora
ne and the other apostles had heard, had seen
with their eyes, and touched with 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 pres
sures of the soul may obtain the most sensible
and immediate relief, by direct application to
the Saviour. But there are some believers
who find themselves alraost continually in
one or other ofthe situations which he raarks
as occasional. However this raay be, I ara
ready to take it for granted, that they who
really and cordially believe the Deity of
Christ, do at least at sorae seasons, and upon
some occasions, expressly direct their prayers
to him. If precedents be required to war
rant this practice, the New Testament will
furnish thera in abundance. I shall select
but a few. The apostle Paul bowed his
knees to the God and Father of our Lord Je
sus ; but he often prayed to the Lord Jesus ;
He prayed to hira in the teraple (Acts xxii.
17 — 21,) and when he obtained that answer,
" My grace is sufficient for thee," 2 Cor. xu.
9. To hira the prayer of the apostles and
disciples was addressed previous to the lot
which was to deterraine a successor to Judas,
Acts i. 24. And to hira Stephen coraraitted
his departing spirit (Acts vii. 59,) an act of
trust and worship of the highest kind, and at
the most soleran season. In short, it is a
strange inconsistence, if any, who acknow
ledge his Deity, question the propriety of
praying to hira. What is it, raore or less,
than to question the propriety of praying to
God? rv. This soleran worship and praise is re
ferred ultiraately to hira who sitteth upon the
throne — to the great and glorious God, thus
known and raanifested in, and by, and with
the Larab that was slain.
The raediatorial kingdom of Christ will
have a period. He will reign as Mediator,
till be has subdued all eneraies under his feet,
and perfected his whole work. Then his
kingdom in this sense will cease ; he will de
liver it up to the Father, that God may be all
in all, 1 Cor. xv. 28. This passage is diffi
cult, that is, the subject is too great for our
feculties in their present state of imperfec
tion 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 tbe Father : and
God is undoubtedly all in all, at present, and
from everlasting to everlasting. But his king
dom here is to be taken figuratively for the
subjects of his kingdom, his people, whora he
received as a trust and a treasure. These
he will deliver up, and the form of his ad

rainistration and governraent over tbem will
be changed. They will then have no more
sins to confess; there will be no more dan
gers requiring the care and tendemess of a
Shepherd, no enemies to be controlled, and
the ordinances and raeans of grace, accommo
dated to their wants and weakness, whUe in
this world, will be no longer necessary. But
Messiah, the Larab tbat was slain, will ever be
the head and Lord of the creation, the me
dium of communication ofthe light and love
of God to his people, and God in hira, the ob
ject of their eternal adoration and praise.
Then the grand, ultiraate, final cause of
all the manifestations of God will be com
pletely 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 wisdom and love, in over-ruling
it to the praise of his glorious grace.

* Dt. Owen, In bis Christolngla.

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 pas
sages, which are set to music in the Oratorio
ofthe Messiah. 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
sufficient 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
attempting this great subject was put into
my heart, and that having obtained help of
God, I have been preserved and enabled to
finish my design. Imperfect as my execu
tion of it has been, I cannot doubt that tbe
various topics I have been led to insist on are
the great truths of God. For what is pro
perly ray own, the defects and weaknesses
which raix with ray best services, I entreat
his forgiveness, and request your candour.
But I do not hesitate to say, that the sub
stance of what I have advanced deserves and
deraands your raost serious 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
musical compositions this is the most impro
per for a public entertainraent. But while
it continues to be equally acceptable whether
perforraed 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

SER. Ik]

THE UNIVERSAL CHORUS.

the character of this age of dissipation.
Though the subject be serious and solemn in
tbe 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 ofthe people who frequent the Oratorio,
are evidently unaffected by the Redeeraer's
love, and uninfluenced by his coramands, 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 wUl act accordingly. — Yet permit me to
hope and to pray, that the next time you hear
the Messiah, God may bring soraething that
you have heard in the course of these ser
mons, nearly connected with the peace and
welfare of your souls, effectually to your re
membrance. I would humbly hope, that some persons,
who were strangers to the power and grace
ofMessiah, when I entered upon this service,
are now desirous of seeking bim with their
whole hearts. Yes, I trust I have not la
boured wholly in vain. The gospel is the rod
ofhis strength, (Psal. ex. 2,) which, when ac
companied by tbe 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
feithful minister will account a single instance
of success a rich recompense for the labour of
a life. May this joy be raine ! May the Lord
encourage you to go on seeking him ! Then
he wUl surely be found of you. An open
door is set oefore you, (Rev. iu. 8,) and if

you are truly wUling to enter, none shall be
able to shut it.
But raay I not fear, that I am still speak
ing to others, who, to this hour, have no cor
dial adrairing thoughts ofthe great Saviour?
Alas ! should you die in your present frame
of raind ! let rae, once more, entreat you to
consider what your situation and eraployment
will be, when all his redeemed people, and
aU his holy angels, shall join in worshipping
and praising hira, in the great day ofhis ap
pearance. 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.
"Therefore, thus saith the Lord God, be
hold my servants shall eat, but ye shall be
hungry : behold ray servants shall drink, but
ye shall be thirsty ; behold ray servants shall
rejoice, but ye shall be asharaed : 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 filled with
envy and grief when the chUdren in the tem
ple sung Hosanna to the Son of David, (Matt.
xxi. 15,) what must be their anguish and re
raorse, 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 unless you re
pent, your lot must be with them hereafter.

OCCASIONAL SERMONS.

THE SUBJECT AND TEMPER OF THE GOSPEL-MINISTRY :
A SERMON
PREACHED IN THE PARISH CHURCH GF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH,
ON SUNDAY, DECEMBER, 19, 1779.
WHEN THE AUTHOR ENTERED ON HIS FIEST PUBLIC SERVICE IN THAT CHURCH.

-Speaking the truth in love. — ^Ephesians, iv. 15.

The words in the original have a more
comprehensive sense than in our version,
aj.»8suoi;t<5 ii> •yojrii. Tbcy cxtcud UO Icss to
conduct than to speech, and comprise, in one
short sentence, that combination of integrity
and benevolence, which constitute the cha
racter of a true christian. But, as our raorn
ing service has been already much prolonged,
I mean not to enlarge at present upon this
iraportant subject. I propose my text rather
as a kind of raotto, to introduce a brief account
of the feelings, desires, and purposes of my
heart, on this my first appearance before you.
The inhabitants of these parishes, to whom I
more iraraediately 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 un
dertaken the important trust lately coraraitted
to rae, and of the raanner and spirit in wbich
it is ray desire to discharge it. If these in
quiries be upon any of your minds, accept my
answer in th'e words I have read : I carae,
and, by the grace of God, I hope to abide
araongst 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
ebould presume to speak any thing amongst
you, but what I verily believe in my con
science to be the truth. The apostles were
ambassadors 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 conforra to the in
structions of our Lord and Master. The

Bible is the grand repository of the truths
which it wUl be the business and tbe pleasure
of my lffe to set before you. It is the com
plete system of divine truth, to wbich 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 tbe favour
of our fellow-mortals, must be an affront to
the majesty of God, and an act of treachery
to men. My conscience bears rae witness,
that I raean to speak the truth among you.
May the grace of God enable rae always to
do it. The principal branches of the truth as
it is in Jesus, according to St Paul's expres
sion, are summarUy contained in the Articles,
which I have just now read and given my
soleran assent to in your hearing. These I
acknowledge and adopt as a standard of sound
doctrine, not merely because tbey are the
Articles of our Church, but because, upon
mature and repeated examination, I am per
suaded they are agreeable to the scriptures.
I am to enlarge on the declaration of the
scripture and of the Articles concerning the
depravity of faUen man, the evil of sin, the
method of salvation by grace through feith in
our Lord Jesus Christ I am to bear tes
timony to the dignity and excellency of the
Redeeraer's person and characters, the suit
ableness of his offices, the efficacy of his
blood, and obedience to death on the behalf
of sinners, and his glory as Head of the
Church, and Lord of heaven and earth. 1 am
to set before you the characters, obligations,
and privileges of those who beUeve in his
390

SUBJECT AND TEMPER OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY. 391

name ; and to prove that the doctrines of the
grace ofGod are doctrines according to god
liness, which, though they may be abused by
men of corrupt mmds, have in themselves,
when rightly understood, a direct and pow
erful tendency to enforce universal obedience
to the commands of God, and to promote the
peace and welfare of civil society. I am like
wise to warn all who hear rae, of the sin and
danger of rejecting the great salvation re
vealed by the gospel. These wUl be the sub
jects of my ministry ; and if what I shall of
fer upon these heads be agreeable, not only
to tbe Articles which I have subscribed, but
to the scriptures, wbich we all profess to be
lieve, it must of course be adraitted that I
shall speak the truth.
But the cause of truth itself may be dis
credited by improper manageraent ; and there
fore the scripture, which furnishes us with
subject-matter of 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 tbe 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 unbounded
benevolence to all around hira. The servant
of the Lord, of that raeek and raerciful Sa
viour, who wept over his avowed enemies,
and prayed for his actual raurderers whUe
nailing him to the cross, learns at his Sa
viour's feet to bear a cordial love to all man
kind. Man, considered as the creature of
God, is the noblest and raost iraportant of his
works in the visible creation, formed by him
who originally made him for hiraself, with
such a vastness of desire, such a capacity for
happiness, as nothing less than an infinite
good can satisfy ; forraed tx) exist in an eter
nal unchangeable state. And even fallen
man, though depraved and perverted, guUty,
and, in his present state, obnoxious to eternal
misery, is yet capable of being restored to the
favour 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, aiid has known by his
own experience the need and the worth of
redemption, 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 td him, he will feel the warmest
emotions of friendship and tenderness, whUe
he beseeches them by the tender raercies of
God, (Rom. xii. 1,) and even while he warns
them by his terrors, 2 Cor. v. 11. Surely I
diirst not address you from this place, if I

could not with sincerity at least if not with
equal warmth, adopt the apostie's words, ana
say, " Being affectionately desirous of 'you,
we are wUling 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 ray 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 iraportance to the welfare of your
souls in tirae and in eternity. If I love you,
therefore, I cannot be content with delivering
ray message; ray 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 tbe love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge, (Ephes. iii. 19;)
that you raay 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 myseff, and them that hear
me, 1 Tira. iv. 16. These are the airas and
ends which I hope always to have in view,
and therefore love will prompt me to be faith
ful and earnest
Too often the due reception of the truth is
greatly impeded by the cares, the business,
or the amuseraents of the world. We find
many of our hearers, alas ! too happy, or too
rauch engrossed, to afford us that attention
we have a right to claira, considering the
weight of our raessage, and the authority
under which we speak. But God, in raercy
to the souls of men, frequently suits the ap
pointments of his providence, in subserviency
to the purposes of his grace. He prepares
for them what they do not desire for them
selves, seasons for leisure, retirement and
reflection. This is one gracious design of
the various afflictions of human lffe. When he
visits with sickness or pain, crosses and disap
pointraents — when our cisterns are broken,
and our gourds wither — when the desire of
our eyes is taken away with a stroke, (Ezek.
xxiv. 16,) or we meet with a thorn or sting,
where our fond hearts were expecting only
pleasure — then perhaps the truths which
were heard with too much indifference in
the hour of prosperity, may be more regard
ed. My love will prompt me to be always
near you, waiting for such seasons, and ready
upon the first intiraation (for I mean not to in
trude myself,) to offer my sympathy, my pray
ers, my best advice. Though I shall have but
little time for visits of mere ceremony ; to visit
you as a minister, and to assist you to the

392

SUBJECT AND TEMPER OF THE GOSPEL MINISTRY.

utmost of my power in making a right im
provement 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 araong you, because I am a stranger
to you all. But the scripture teaches, what
experience and observation abundantly con
firm, tbat the doctrines of divine truth are so
mysterious in theraselves, and so opposite and
mortifying to the opinion raortals are prone to
entertain of their own wisdora and goodness,
that persons of very amiable characters in
comraon life, are too often amongst the warra
est opposers of the ministers who dare faith
fully and plainly persevere in speaking the
truth. Should I have this trial to raeet with
from any of you, still 1 hope to speak the truth
in love, and to remeraber that I ara a follower
of hira who only returned kindness for hard
usage. I hope to consider, that if any oppose,
it is because they know not what they do ; and
to bear in mind, that 1 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 ray own case, to hope that the strongert
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 wUl not be soon forgotten. They will
be registered in the annals of eternity. As
surely as we are now met together, so surely
we raust all appear before the judgraent-seat
of Christ 2 Cor. x. 10. Then I must give
an account of ray ministry, and you of the
raanner 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, wUl prepare our hearts
to receive with meekness that engrafted
word, which is able to save our souls, James
i. 11. I only add my earnest request for a fre
quent and fervent remerabrance in your
prayers, that the Father of raercies, the God
of all wisdora, may so influence my spirit that
no part of my conduct raay be unsuitable to
what I have at this time profes.sed. That speak
ing 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
raay rest upon you, upon your persons, your
farailies, and upon all your concerns; and
more especially for the welfare and comfort
of your souls — that he may guide you by his
counsel through this life, and afterwards re
ceive you to his glory. Psalm Ixxiii. 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 Inot -visit for these things, saith the Lord ? And shall not my soul be avenged on such
a nation as fAis.'— Jeremiah v. 29.

Three tiraes (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 con
sciences, 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 afforded them.
But the forra of the question will not per
mit us to conflne the application to Israel or
Judah. The words are not " On this nation"
particularly, but "On such a nation as this."
The Lord, 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
thera, the raore reason they have to tremble
under the apprehension of the same or simi-
lar Judgments.
God brought Israel out of Egypt with an
outstretched arra, divided the Red Sea before
thera, led thera into the wUderness by a
cloud and pUlar of fire, fed thera with raan-
na, and gave tbem water from the rock.
He planted them in a good land, and though
they often sinned and were often punished,
they were distinguished by raany tokens of
his presence and effects of his goodness,
above any other nation. In the time of Solo
mon they possessed the height of human
prosperity, but they soon rebelled and in
volved theraselves in increasing troubles.
And, though the efforts and examples of
~~VoL. IL 3D

Hezekiah and Josiah produced a temporary
reformation, and procured a temporary re
spite, they went on, upon the whole, from bad
to worse, till the measure of tbeir 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 inha
bitants destroyed, and the survivors led cap
tives into a far distant land.
We likewise are a highly favoured people,
and bave long enjoyed privileges which excite
the admiration and envy of surrounding na
tions ; and we are a sinful, ungrateful people ;
so that when we corapare the blessings and
raercies we have received frora the Lord,
with our conduct towards hira, 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, aa
suitable to the design for which we are at
this tirae professedly asserabled.
Though the occasion will require me to
take sorae notice of our public affairs, I mean
not to arause you with what is usually called
a political discourse. The Bible is my sys
tem of politics. There I read, that the Lord
reigns; (Psal. xcvii. 1 ;) that he doeth what he
pleaseth in the arraies 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 nation, so sin is the reproach, and will even
totally be the ruin of any people, Prov. xiv.
34. Frora these and other raaxiras of a like -
iraport, I ara learning to be stiU, and to know
393

894

THE GUILT AND DANGER

that he is God. My part, as a minister ofthe
gospel of peace, is not to inflame, but, if pos
sible, to soothe and sweeten the spirits of ray
hearers ; to withdraw their attention from the
instrumental and apparent causes of the ca
lamities 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 gratitude for the civil and religious
liberty I possess. For the rest, political dis
quisitions, except iraraediately connected
with scriptural principles, appear to me ira
proper for the pulpit at all times, and more
especially unseasonable and indecent on a
day of public hurailiation. 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 irapress the con
sciences of all present, and to raake us atten
tive to our own iraraediate concerns, while I
endeavour, I. Briefly to delineate the state of the na
tion ; or to show you what a nation this is.
II. To consider in what manner tbe righ
teous Judge and Governor of the earth might
justly avenge himself of such a nation as this.
III. To inquire, 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 raercy
is to be sought and expected ?
I. In order to estiraate the state of the na
tion, we must attend to two views, which,
wben contrasted, Ulustrate 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
kingdoras recorded in the history of past ages,
— ^I mean our national privileges, and our na
tional sins.
With regard to the flrst head, — the pecu
liar privileges which, by the favour of Divine
Providence, we have enjoyed as a people, I
must be brief A full detail of thera would
require a volurae. Though the island of
Great Britain exhibits but a sraall spot upon
a map of the globe, it raakes a splendid ap
pearance in the history of raankind, and has
for a long space of time been signally under
tbe protection 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 knowledge ofthe gospel,
and God has had a succession of witnesses in
our land ; they have 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 ex
tirpated. In Luther's time, when the pUlars
of Popery were more publicly and generally
shaken, we were araong the first who were
animated and enabled to shake off the yoke
of Rorae ; and God has often since remark
ably interposed to preserve us from being
brought into that bondage a second time.
The spirit of persecution, under various forms,
has again and again attempted to resume its
power, hut has been as often restrained and
defeated. Civil conimotions likewise stand
upon record in our annals, and our forefathers
have felt raiseries of which we can forra but
a very imperfect idea. But they suffered and
struggled for us. The event of every contest
and revolution contributed gradually to estab
lish that happy basis of govemment which
we call The British Constitution ; and to
gether with these advances in favour of li
berty, an increase of comraerce, wealth, and
dominion, has been afforded us. From that
distinguished asra, the Revolution, and more
especially since the accession of the present
Royal Family, we have enjoyed such an un
interrupted series of peace and prosperity,
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 speedUy 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 eneraies tc
sharae. I call it uninterrupted, for though
we have been engaged as principals in sev
eral foreign wars, and the storra fell with
dreadful weight upon other countries, we at
horae knew little of the war but frora the pub
lic 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 bow few was he acknow
ledged!) gave to our fleets and armies. —
When the last war terrainated, we were at
the height of national honour and power.
Our arms were victorious, and our flags tri
umphant wherever our operations had been
directed in the most distant and opposite parts
ofthe globe. What an accession of empire
and riches did we then acquire, while we
were sitting (if I raay so speak) under our
vines and fig-trees undisturbed : and while
a considerable part of Gerraany, rather invol
ved, than properly interested in our disputes,
was alraost desolated by fire and sword ! And
notwithstanding our increasing provocations,
every succeeding year has afforded signal
proofs, that though the Lord is displeased
with us, he has not yet forsaken us. If in
sorae instances he has justly disappointed our
expectations, he has m others appeared no

OF SUCH A NATION AS THIS.

396

less remarkably in our favour, defeating the
designs of our eneraies, protecting our com.
merce, and affording us in general raore plen.
tiful harvests at horae, since the war has ren.
dered supplies from abroad more precarious
and difficult Add to our internal peace,
wealth and plenty, the inviolable imraunity
both of persons and property, in which we
are preserved by the spirit and adrainistration
of our laws ; and that unrestrained liberty
which people of all sentiraents and denorai
nations possess and exercise, of worshipping
God in the way they think most agreeable to
his wilL Must not a due consideration of
these thinga constrain us to say. He hath not
dealt so with any nation ?
What could the Lord have done raore for
his vineyard ? Isa. v. 4. Hq.w could he have
laid a people under stronger obligations to
his service? What returns might he not
expect from such a nation as this ? But alas !
we have requited him evil for good ! Such a
nation as this is very imperfectly described
by an enumeration of privUeges. 1 have a
more painful task now to attend to ; 1 should
enumerate (were it possible) our national sins.
It is but a sketch I can offer upon this iraraense
and awful subject But enough is obvious,
and at hand, to make us trerable, if we regard
the scripture, and do in our hearts believe
that there is a God that governs the earth,
(Psal. Iviii. 11.) I wish you to keep in raind,
as I proceed, the slight view I have given
of the favours God has bestowed upon us.
The recollection of bis 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 raore de
praved in morals and practice than the inhab
itants of France or Italy, or the other nations
of Europe. I much question the truth of this
plea. 1 am afraid that, in some instances at
least we are raore corrupt and profligate than
any nation now existing. But adraitting that
France or Italy equal, or even exceed us in
open and positive wickedness, if they fall
short of us in advantages for knowing the will
ofGod, if they are not equally enriched by
the bounties of his providence, if he has not
so signally appeared on their behalf as he has
on ours, their sins, however enorraous or nu
raerous, are not attended with equal aggra
vations; we must fix upon a nation (if such
could be found) that is upon a par with us in
the blessings of gospel-light of civil and re
ligious liberty, before we can properly form a
comparison, or have any just reason for sup
posing 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 raillions, yet we
can form some conception of it. But our na
tional debt of sin is beyond all the rules and

powers of arithraetical computation. The
holiness, authority, and goodness of God
(which are infinite) afford the only proper
raeasures by which to judge of the horrid evil
of the sins coraraitted against him.
The sin of a nation is properly the aggre
gate or sura-total of allthe sins coramitted by
every individual residing in that nation. But
those may be eraphaticaUy called national
sins which, by their notoriety, frequency, or
circumstances, contribute to raark the cha
racter of one nation, as distinct from another.
It is to be hoped that sorae species of sins
araongst us have not yet becorae 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
characteristic of this nation, and at this time.
1. The maxims and usage generally preva
lent araong a people, if contrary to the rule
of God's word, are national sins. If custom
ary, they are national ; if inconsistent with
the precepts of scripture, they raust be sinful.
A woe is denounced (Isa. v. 20,) against those
who call evil good, and good evil ; but this
dreadful abuse of language, sentiraent, and
conduct, can only be avoided by raaking the
inspired writings the standard of our judg
ment. In a land that bears the name of Chris
tian, adultery is deemed gaUantry; murder, in
some cases, is a point of honour ; avarice is
prudence ; profuseness wearsthe raask of gen
erosity ; and dissipation is considered as inno
cent arauseraent. On the other hand, raeek-
ness is accounted raeanness of spirit and
grace is branded with the opprobrious names
of melancholy and enthusiasm. Habituated
from our infancy to the effects of these pre
possessions, and more or less under their in
fluence, 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 ofthe Christianity we profess. It would,
I think, appear in a much raore striking light
to an inteUigent and unbiassed observer, who,
upon hearing that Great Britain was favour
ed with the knowledge of the true religion,
should visit us from sorae very remote coun
try with a view of sharing in our advantage.
Ifl could raake the tour ofthe kingdora with
such a stranger, and show him what is trans
acting in the busy and in the gay world, in
city, court, and country ; if I could describe
to hira the persons he would see at our thea
tres and public places, at Newmarket, at.con-
tested elections, and explain the motives and
aims which bring them together; if I could
introduce him into the families of .the great
the reputed wise, and the wealthy, — ^from
these data, together with the ignorance and
licentiousness of .the populace, which must
unavoidably engage his notice wherever he
went I apprehend he would not be long at a
loss to form a tolerable judgraent of our na-

396

THE GUILT AND DANGER

tional character. And if after this survey,
he were attentively to read the New Testa
ment, I think he raust allow, that admitting
it was a revelation from God, our national
character was neither raore nor less than the
union and corabination of our national sins.
He could not but perceive, that infidelity,
pride, sensuality, greediness of gain, strangely
coupled with thoughtless 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 raore than God, rendered
in a manner necessary by the sanction ofthe
egislature, these, and especially in a free
country, may be deeraed national sins. Here
I feel myself erabarrassed. As a private
member of society, full of respect and reve
rence for the authority to which, by the pro
vidence and wUl ofGod, I owe a wUling and
thankful subjection, I could wish to be en
tirely silent But I likewise bear another
character. As a minister of the gospel, I
stand here before a higher Master. In his
service I am coraraanded to be.bold and faith
ful, and I dare not in conscience, especially
at such a tirae and on such an occasion as
this, wholly suppress ray sentiraents. But I
wish to speak with all the tenderness and
delicacy the subject will admit.
In this land of liberty the measures of
government and of parliament are canvassed
with great freedom, often indeed with a very
offensive interaperance and indecency. It is,
however, 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 detriraenta! 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
objects of an address or petition from any
corporate body in the kingdora. This indif
ference of all parties to the cause of God,
when all are so attentive and feeling in cases
where they think their own teraporal con
cerns affected, warrants one to consider the
acts of the legislature, while no alteration is
desired by those on whora they are binding,
as the acts of the whole nation. Even the
edicts of an arbitrary prince, whose will sup
plies 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 raore then may laws, made
by the representatives of a free people, be
considered as acts of the comraunity, if they
excite no constitutional endeavour for relief.
I sra fer from supposing that any of our

laws now in force were formed with an in
tention of promoting sin. But some of them,
through the prevailing depravation of morals
araongst 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 hiraself for his office by receiving
the sacrament of the Lord's supper, would
occasion no sin, if men were generaUy in
fluenced by the fear of God, or even by a prin
ciple of integrity. They would then rather
decline places of honour or proflt, than ac
cept thera upon such terms, if they were con
scious that their sentiraents 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 dis
tinction or lucre is stronger than the dictates
of conscience, we frequently see professed
infidels and notorious libertines approach the
Lord's table as a raatter of course, and pros
tituting the raost soleran ordinance of Chris
tianity to their arabition or interest. The
great number and variety of appointments
civil and military, which cannot be legally
possessed without this qualification, render
the enormity almost as comraon as it is hein
ous. 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 con
temptuous 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 emi
nently be styled our national sin. Many of
them it is true, do not necessarily lead to sin,
because honest and conscientious men may,
and do strictly observe them; but it is to be
feared, the greater number deliberately and
customarily violate these solemn obligations,
and take them as often as imposed, without
hesitation, and without any design of com
plying 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 tendered, and must be taken as
a matter of form, when nothing more is ex
pected or purposed on either side. The num
ber of church-wardens and constables who
are yearly 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
kingdora. How many or how" few of them
act up to the letter and the spirit ofthe oaths
they have taken, wUl be known in the day
when the secrets of all hearts shall be re
vealed. But it is now evident, that, while
some, like sheep, tread without thought in

OF StrCH A NATION AS THIS.

897

the path of custom, content to forswear thera^
selves because others have done so before
them ; and while sorae are hardy enough to
trifle with God and raan for profit, the laws
which enjoin and raultiply oaths do thereby
furnish and raultiply temptations to the sin
of perjury. To this source we raay ascribe
much of that profligacy and conterapt of re
ligion, which we now are called to moum
over. The frequency of oaths, the irreverent
manner in which they are administered, 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 through the
land. Where the laws have expressly interposed
to enforce the coraraands of God, if they are
Buffered by general consent to lie dorraant,
and are not carried into execution, the enor
mities which flow frora such connivance,
corae under the denoraination of national sins.
The profanation of the Lord's day, drunken
ness, profejie swearing, are contrary, not only
to the precepts of scripture, but to the laws
of the land ; and yet they could hardly be
raore prevalent though there were no statutes
in force against thera. As these evils are
not apparentiy detriraental to the revenue or
to coraraerce, they are seldora taken notice
of, except when connected with some act of
trespass or injury to individuals. Very few
raagistrates are concerned to enforce the ob
servation of these laws ; and if private per
sons soraetimes attempt it by information,
they raeet but little success, they obtain but
little thanks. The arts of pleading, the rai-
nutise and niceties of forras are employed 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 al
lowed to be active ; but a man must have a
good share of resolution, or rather of divine
grace, wbo can withstand the reproach and
scorn he will bring upon hiraself, if he dare
to be active in the cause of God.
My subject alas ! is almost boundless !
But our time prescribes liraits 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 in
terest of the few; if the ravages of cruelty
and avarice, though notorious and undeniable,
have met with no public censure or punish
ment, may we not expect that God hiraself
will avenge the oppressed, and plead their
cause, not only against their actual oppres
sors, but against the comraunity that refused
to hear their cries and redress their wrongs ?
I am pamed likewise to observe how little

the calaraities 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, thrpugh 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 eneraies, the hearts of raany 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 the
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 araong us, which calls for hu
railiation — a thirst of revenge, an eagerness
for war, as affording opportunity for pillage
and plunder, and an indifference to the dis
tresses of our fellow-creatures, more answer
able to the idea we form of the savages in
America, than to that of a civilized and chris
tian people.
If we consider the nation with a raore 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 tbe
doctrines and spirit of tbe 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
published, is rejected by a great majority of
every rank. Yet by the mercy of God, it
has been considerably revived and spread
araongst us of late years, and (I hope) is stUl
spreading. There is a remnant amongst us
who sigh and mourn for the abominations of
the times, and have an humble and awful
sense of the judgraents of God declared
against sin. They see black clouds gather
ing apace around us, and their hearts trem
ble at the apprehension of what he may justly
inflict upon such a nation as this. But even
among the people of different denominations
who profess the truth, there is rauch to be
laraented. Alas ! what sinful conforraity to
the world ! what coldness and indifference
where we ought to be warm, and what un
christian heat and fierceness in enforcing or
exploding lesser differences in sentiraent or
in modes of worship! May we not fear,
lest, for the abatement of christian love, the
violence of party spirit and the abuse of re
ligious liberty, the Lord should visit his pro
fessing people with a rod, even though he

THE GUILT AND DANGER

were stUl to exercise patience towards 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 dis
pleasure, and avenge himself of such a na
tion as this ! Two obvious topics offer them
selves to assist our inquiries.
1. What we learn from scripture, and frora
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 instruraents of divine
vengeance ? The sins of the people against

whora they went and a secret coraraission
frora the Lord of hosts, directed their raareh,
and insured their success. He has appointed
a day when he will judge the world in righ
teousness, but the award of that final tribunal
will be personal to each one according to his
works. Comraunities, as such, in their col
lective capacity, are visited and judged in the
present life. And in this respect the scrip
ture considers nations aa 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. TUl this raeasure is
filled u^'^he patience of God waits for thera,
but then patience gives way to vengeance.
Such has been his uniform procedure from
the earliest tiraes, of which either sacred or
profane history affords us any inforraation :
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
displeased 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 thera
to themselves, withdraw his blessing frora
their counsels, and his restraint frora their
passions, their ruin follows of course ; accord
ing to the necessary order and connection of
causes and effects. The destruction of Jeru
salera affords a striking proof and illustration
of this remark. Our Saviour foretold, that
the calamities of that siege would be greater
and more aggravated than had ever been
known from the creation ; and infidels raust
confess, that the relation of Josephus, who
was an eye-witness of that catastrophe, ex
hibits such scenes of distress as cannot be

paralleled in any other history. Yet the Ro
raan armies, which were led on by an invisi
ble hand to accomplish the prediction, were
not headed by a Nero, or a Caligula, whose
savage disposition and thirst of blood might
have prompted them to unrelenting slaugh
ter ; but by Titus, who, for his singular mo
deration and clemency, obtained the title of
DelicicB humani generis, the friend and de
light of mankind. He desired not tbeir de
struction ; he entreated them to bave pity on
theraselves ; but in vain : they were judicial
ly infatuated, and devoted to ruin. If God
gives up a people to the way of tbeir own
hearts, they will, they raust perish. When
a general corruption of morals takes place,
when private interest extinguishes all sense
of public virtue, when a profligate and venal
spirit has infected every rank and order of
the state, when presuraptuous security and
dissipation increase in proportion as danger
approaches ; when, after repeated disappoint
ments, conterapt of God, and vain confidence
in iraagined 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 for
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 hard
ening ourselves against the Lord. How ra
pid the change we have seen ! Frora what
small beginnings to what extensive conse
quences ! The cloud which now overspreads
the heavens with blackness, was not long
since no larger than a man's hand. I sup
pose none who were actively concerned in
our public coraraotions during their early
stage, had the least apprehension 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 mis
carriage, for the first rise, and the long con
tinuance of the war. The connection be
tween us and the Araericans was too nearly
founded in relation, too closely cemented by
mutual interest to be so suddenly broken, if
their sins and ours had not concurred in ope
ration 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 pos
sible that every power in Europe, either is,
or soon will be, openly or secretly against us.
Nor can I omit, upon this occasion, the un
precedented violence of the late dreadfiil
hurricanes in the West Indies. Though
infidels and petty reasoners wUl doubtless
labour to persuade themselves that they pro
ceeded merely from natural causes, chris
tians, I trust, will acknowledge the voice of

OF SUCH A NATION AS THIS.

399

God speaking, and speaking to us out of the
whirlwind. It is-true, he spoke by thera 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, be can strike such a blow, as shall for
the time suspend our feeble hostilities, and
by involving us in a comraon calamity, make
us, notwithstanding our enmity, 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 wUl not see," is, alas !
fulfilled Ukewise, by the amazing insensibU
ity and infatuation wbich still prevails among
us. It follows, " But they shall see." 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 judg
ments yet impending over us, if he should
stUl proceed to plead his own cause, tUl he is
fully avenged on such a nation as this ! —
To relieve my thoughts, 1 gladly hasten to
inquire, ni. Whether there be any hope that such
a nation as this raay yet escape deserved
ruin; and if there be, in what way this
merw is to be sought and expected ? I con
fess Ihave little hopes of it, but upon one or
other of the following suppositions.
1. If tbe Lord be graciously pleased to
succeed the professed design of this day's
service, and to put forth that power whicii
accorapanied his message by Jonah to Ni
neveh, so that a general spirit of repentance
and hurailiation may spread throughout the
land — ^If he bow the hearts of both rulers and
people, to confess and forsake those sins
which have awakened his displeasure — If the
laws which concern his honour, will, and
worship, be speedUy and impartially enforced ;
and profaneness and iramorality discounte
nanced and suppressed — ^If, instead of trust
ing in fleets and armies, we acknowledge the
Lord of hosts, and look up to hira for a bless
ing — ^If men fearing God and hating covet
ousness, (Exodus xvui. 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
tbeir measures — should I live to see such a
happy intemal change, I should hope, that
notwithstanding our great provocations, the
Lord, whose mercies are infinite, would be
yet entreated for us ; that he would turn from
the fierceness of his anger, maintain our
tranquillity at home, and, by his wisdom and
his influence over the hearts of men, put an

honourable and satisfactory end to the un
happy war in which we are engaged.
2. However the bulk of the nation may
determine, if the reranant 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 bave a powerful
efficacy. The holy and benevolent importu
nity of Abrahara would have prevailed in
favour even of Sodora, if ten righteous per
sons had been found in it, Gen. xviii. When
Sennacherib invaded Judea, had overrun the
freatest part of the country, and thought
erusalem would be an easy conquest, Heze
kiah, though he took such precautions as pru
dence suggested, 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 raourning for sin in secret, and a faithful
testimony against it in public, wUl more es
sentially contribute to the safety and welfere
of the nation, than all our military prepara
tions without them. We boast of our navy,
and it has often proved, by the blessing ofGod,
our bulwark; but how easUy can he who
walketh 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 spirit of discord, or impress thera with a
sudden terror, so that the stoutest heart shall
tremble, and the mighty warriors turn pale and
drop their weapons ! A thousand unforeseen
events and contingencies are always at his
disposal, 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 people
are precious in his sight, and tbeir prayers
he will hear. Unknown and unnoticed as
they are in the world, he highly values them.
He has redeeraed thera by his blood. He in
habits them by his Spirit He has prepared
heaven for them, and the earth itself is con
tinued for their sakes, and shall be destroyed
when they are all reraoved from it. They
are the light, the salt, tbe strength, and the
safety of the nations among which they are
dispersed. Matt v. 13, 14. Except the Lord
of hosts had left a smaU remnant of these
among us, we should long ago have been as
Sodom, and made like unto Gomorrah, Isa. i.

400

THE GUILT AND DANGER

9. To hia attention to their prayers and con
cerns, I dohbt 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 wbich sorae 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 raany,
scenes equally distressing may present thera
selves before you are aware. O raay he in
mercy aniraate this reranant, now to stand in
the breach as one raan, and to wrestle for a
sinful land ! Then we raay at least arise to
the hope of the Ninevites, Who can tell but
the Lord raay 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 asserably as fear
the Lord. A part of you are poor and afflict
ed people, and by your obscure situation in
life, are precluded frora 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
whicb, in raany places, ensnare and erabitter
the spirits 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 privileges, civU and religious. But
though you are poor, and can serve your
country in no other way, you raay serve it
effectually by your prayers. You have ac
cess to the throne of grace. Intercede there
fore for a land that lieth in wickedness, be
concerned for the honour of his narae, for
the blindness and misery around you. It may
be tbe Lord will be entreated of you, and for
your sakes, and for the sake of such as you,
comraand the destroying angel to slay his
hand. Those of you who have better opportunity
of knowing the state of our public affairs,
have likewise a raore extensive sphere of
service. You will, I hope, improve your in
fluence in your families and connections, and
by your advice and example, endeavour to
awaken all 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 ofthe Lord,
the rich and the poor, the young and the
aged, to be feithful, circumspect, and zealous
in your several stations.
Should wrath be decreed, and there be no
remedy, at least you shall prevaU for your
selves. You shall know that the Lord whom
you serve is a strong-hold in the day of trou
ble, and is raindful of thera 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 he
well with him, Isa. Ui. 10. The Saviour, to
whom you have fled for refuge has all power
in heaven and earth. He will keep you as
the apple of his eye, and bide 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 ru
mours of' wars, see that ye be not troubled,
Matthew xxiv. 6. Fear not them who, at
the raost, can but kill the body. The Ught
of his countenance is sufficient to cheer you
in the darkest hour, and your best interest
your everlasting inheritance is safe beyond
the reach of enemies, in a kingdom, (how
unlike the kingdoms of the earth !) whiph
cannot be shaken, Hebrews xii. 28. Your
life is hid with Christ in God ; and wben
Christ who is our life, shall appear, then
shall you also appear with hira in glory, Col.
iii. 3, 4. Thither neither sin nor sorrow shall
be able to follow you. Then your sun shall
go down no raore, and the days of your
raourning shall be ended. In patience there
fore possess your souls. Be not raoved by
appearances, but reraember all your concerns
are in the hands of hira who loved you, and
gave himself for you. Let those who know
him not tremble when he ariseth to judg
ment and to shake terribly the earth ; but do
you sanctify the Lord God in yonr hearts,
raake him your fear and your dread, and he
shall be to you for a sanctuary, (Isaiah, viii.
13, 14 ;) and in a little time he will come to
receive you to himself, and to wipe aU tears
frora your eyes.
2. But what can I say to the rest of the
congregation ? Though they 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 im
portant distinction amongst us. He draws,
with infallible certainty, the line of separa
tion. 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 seera to assent to the con
fessions which have been made, and the
prayers which have been offered in your
hearing. To-morrow, I fear, will show that '
all your semblance of seriousness was but

OF SUCH A NATION AS THIS.

401

nypocrisy : and that though you drew nigh
to God with your lips, (Mark viii. 6,) your
hearts were far from him. But be not de
ceived, God will not be mocked. You have
contributed largely to swell the measure of
our national sin ; herein you have been hearty
and persevering. Do not think that the lip-
service of a single day wUl make any altera
tion either in your state or in your guilt.
Rather that pretended humiliation, by which
you act towards God as if you thought he
was altogether such a one as yourselves,
(Ps. 1. 21,) is an aggravation of your wick
edness, and no better than affronting hira to
his fece. 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 cannot 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 tbe power of his Holy Spirit,
and to give faith, repentance, and remission
of sins. Could 1 convince you of tbis, the
rest woiild 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 wUl you do in a day
of public calamity, should you live to see it
if you should be despoiled of your earthly
coraforts, and have no share in the consolation
of the gospel ? But should the Lord answer
prayer and prolong our national prosperity,
still you raust 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 oh that we may rather with one con
sent search and try our ways, and turn to the
Lord from whom we have so greatly revolt
ed ! To us, indeed, belong shame and con
fusion of face, but to the Lord our God belong
mercies and forgiveness, though we have re
beUed against Mm.

Vol. XL

3E

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
RICHARD 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 gospel of God only, but also our oion souls, because ye were dear unto tis. —
1 Thess. ii. 8.

An active undaunted zeal in the service
of God, and a peculiar tendemess of affection
towards bis people, were happily and emi
nently 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 heen
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 tumed, by grace, frora 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 aniraate and direct their con
duct. And he takes raany occasions of re
minding tbem, of the peculiar regard he had
home them from the first, and how near they
still were to his heart; that his love for them,
wbich had sweetened all his labours and
Bufferings when he was among them, raade
him still solicitous for their welfare, and en
abled hira to rejoice on their account, while
he was suffering bonds and iraprisonment at
Rome. The verse I have read is one passage, out
of many in the New Testaraent where our
translation does not fully corae up to the spi
rit and beauty of the original. Not tbat 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 tbe energy of the Greek
term '/n'ecfi.vci, which he uses in the begin

ning ofthe verse; and therefore our transla
tors have employed two, " Being affection
ately desirous of you." It denotes a desire
connected with the finest and most tender
feelings ofthe heart; not like the degrading
selfish desire of the miser for gold; but
such an eraotion (according to his own beau
tiful illustration in tbe preceding verse) as
that with which tbe nurse, the mother while
a nurse, contemplates her own child. Being
thus disposed towards you, " we were will
ing" — but the Greek KiSaxKi^m is more em
phatical. We esteemed it our pleasure, our
joy, the very height of our wishes, " to im
part unto you the gospel ofGod," to put you
into out own place, to comraunicate to you,
by the gospel, all that corafort and strength,
and joyful hope, which we have received
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
testimony with our blood, if this were need
ful to your establishment " because ye are
dear" («>'«5ri|To.,) exceedingly dear unto us.
The same word is used (for the language of
raortals will not afford a stronger,) Matt iii.
17. " This is my beloved Son."
When I thought of preaching to you this
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 improper choice. Another congregation
might have been led, from what I have al-
403

ON THE DEATH OP DR. CONYERS.

403

ready said, to sympathize with tbe Thessa
lonians, 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, strongly impress your
minds with the idea of my dear friend, your
iate pastor, and recal to your remerabrance,
his principles, actions, motives, and aims,
how he spoke, and bow he lived among you,
I could hardly have found a passage m the
whole scripture more directiy suited to my
purpose. I believe no minister in tbe present
age, nor perhaps in any past age, since the
apostie'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 hira : and it maybe
said of him with peculiar propriety, that in
this service of love, he imparted to you his
own soul, or life also. You have not forgot
ten, surely you never can forget, the very
solemn and affecting manner in which his
ministry among you closed. Whether, whUe
he was reading the apostle's farewell dis
course to the elders of the church of Ephesus,
(Acts XX. 18 — 36,) which occurred in the se
cond lesson for" the day, he bad a presage that
you would see his fece no more, we know not
Had he been certain of it, he could not have
taken your consciences more earnestly to
witness, tbat he was clear of your blood, and
that he had not shunned to declare unto you
the whole counsel 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 be had scarcely finished, before he was
called home to bis Master's joy. " Blessed is
that servant, whom his Lord, when he cometh,
ehaU find so doing," Luke xu. 43.
In considering the grounds ofthe apostle's
love to the Thessalonians, and the proofs
which he gave of it, the subject wUl fre
quently lead me to bear a testimony to the
grace ofGod, vouchsafed to your late minis
ter, of whom we may truly say, he was a fol
lower of St Paul, as Paul also was of Christ
1 Cor. xL 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 awa,ited him in every place, to pro
mote the happiness of mankind, raade him
appear to many who were unacquainted with
the motives of his conduct as though he were
beside himseff. The apology he offered was,
the love of Christ constraineth us, 2 Cor. v.

14. TUl 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 Jesua
whom he persecuted appeared to him in his
way to Damascus, convinced him of his sin,
vouchsafed him pardon, and commissioned
hira to preach the faitb which he had labour
ed to destroy, Gal. i. 23. From that time he
esteemed himself a chief sinner, (1 Tim. i. 15,
16,) and because much had been forgiven him,
he loved much. He devoted his whole future
life to proclaim the glory and grace of his Sa
viour, 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 conscious 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, instantly 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 con
vinced 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 tbem may
have been preserved from gross enormities.
I never heard that your minister was in
fluenced, like Saul of Tarsus, by a bitter
persecuting spirit ; and I believe his beha
viour was moral and exemplary from his
youth. When he entered upon his ministry
at his beloved Helrasley, 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 diligence he attempted the reforma
tion ofhis parish, which was of great extent,
and divided into several hamlets. He preach
ed frequently in them all. He encouraged his
parishioners to come to his house. He dis
tributed them into little companies, that he
might instruct thera .with more convenience;
he raet them in rotation by appointraent. In
this raanner, long before he fully understood
that gospel of God which of late years he so
successfully iraparted 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 reforma
tion took place. About the time I am speak
ing of, a clergyman in his neighbourhood
made very honourable mention of Dr. Con
yers, in a letter to the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, (which I have seen in
print,) as perhapa the most exemplary, in
defatigable, and successful parochial minister

404

ON THE DEATH OP DR. CONYERS.

in the kingdom ; yet in the midst of applause
and apparent success, he was far from being
satisfied with himseff. He did what he could :
he did more than most others; but he felt
there was something still wanting, though
for a time be knew not what; but he was de
sirous to know : he studied the scriptures, and
he prayed to the Father of lights. They who
thus seek shall surely find. Important con
sequences often follow frora a sudden involun
tary turn of thought. One day an expres
sion of St Paul's, "tbe unsearchable riches
of Christ" (Ephes. iii. 8,) engaged his atten
tion. 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 comprehension ; but the
apostle spoke of it as containing something
that was unsearchable. A conclusion there
fore 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 per
ceive, that his whole scheme was essentially
defective, that his people, however 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 apos
tle, to account bis former gain but loss : the
unsearchable riches of Christ opened to his
mind, he received power to believe, his per
plexities were removed, and he rejoiced with
joy unspeakable and full of glory. He pre
sently told his people, with that araiable sim
plicity which so strongly marked his charac
ter, that though he bad endeavoured to show
them the way of salvation, he had misled
them ; that what both he and they had been
building was not upon the right foundation.
He from that time preached Jesus Christ, and
him crucified, (1 Cor. ii. 2. i. 80,) as the only
ground of hope for sinners, and tbe only source
from whence they could derive wisdom, righ
teousness, sanctification, and rederaption. The
Lord so blessed his word, that the greater part
of the people who were raost attached to hira
soon adopted his views, and raany raore were
successively added to thera. This change in
his sentiraents and raanner of preaching,
though it added efficacy to his moral instruc
tions, and endeared him to his people at horae,
lost hira rauch of that high estiraation 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 beloved by thera ; and their
advance in corafort and holiness raade hira
ample compensation for the unkindness of
those who knew not what they did. And
thus, when the providence of God removed
hira hither, the constraining love of Christ,
which had long been the greaf principle of
his conduct, disposed him to love you before

he saw you ; and he came among you with
an earnest desire to impart unto you the gos
pel of God, and his own soul also, because
from the moment that he accepted the charge
over you, he was affectionately desirous of
you. The regard of tbe apostle to the Thessalo
nians was undoubtedly heightened in propor
tion as the Lord was pleased to give him
seals to bis ministry among them. And the
like cause had the like effect here. The mu
tual 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 Christ, (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 go
ing, when God sent you, by bim, the word of
salvation ? And what a happy change have you
since experienced? You were then dead in
trespasses and sins, without Christ, and there
fore without hope, and without God in tiie
world, Ephes. ii. 1, 12, 13. But now you, who
were some tirae afar off, are raade nigh by the
blood of Christ. Now being freed from the
slavery of sin, you have your fruit unto holi
ness, and the end everlasting life, Rom. vi.
22. You have now access to God, corarau
nion with him, an interest in his proraises,
and a good hope through grace that though
your rainister be taken from you, he who by
hira began a good work in you, wUl perform
it untU the day of Jesus Christ, Phil. i. 6.
Let this thought moderate your grief You
will see the face of your minister no more
here ; but you will meet hira again, ere long,
before the throne of God and the Lamb.
Then all tears will be for ever wiped away.
Again, during the apostle's continuance
with the Thessalonians, he and they had en
joyed precious seasons of worship together,
and of mutual coraraunion with God, in the
ordinances of his appointment. Wlierever
two or three are met in the Lord's narae,
(Matt xviii. 20,) he is mmdful of his promise,
and does manifest himself unto them as he
does not unto the world, (John xiv. 22 ;) and
these tastes of his loving kindness wonder
fuUy soften, spiritualize, and enlarge their
affections, and knit thera closer and closer
together in love. And though that power and
unction from on high, which makes the ordi
nances of the gospel truly delightful, and an
hour so eraployed preferable to a thousand
of the world's hours, (Psal. Ixxxiv. 10,) does
not altogether depend upon the gifts, or even
upon the grace of the minister; yet 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 expe-

ON THE DEATH OF DR. CONYERS.

405

rience has acquired the tongue of the learned,
(Isa. 1. 4,) who knows how to adapt hiraself
to the occasions of the people, to give every
one their proper portion, to obviate their
doubts, relieve their fears, point out their
dangers, and to speak a word in season to
thera that are weary Be thankful that you
were long favoured with such an able rainis
ter of the New Testament. As a public
preacher, he may perhaps have left some
equals behind him. But he had at Dept
ford, as formerly at Helrasley, stated seasons,
when he expounded the scriptures to a sraal
ler auditory in his house, or witiiin his own
premises. He supposed that on these occa
sions few persons were present but those
who either possessed tiie peace ofthe gospel,
or were sincerely seeking it. The siraplicity
and meekness of wisdora with which, as a
father among his children, he exhorted, com
forted, ttnd instructed these his raore select
hearers, seeraed peculiar to himseff. In this
branch of his ministerial office I always
thought bim unequalled and iniraitable. How
often have raany of you had reason 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 tlie
apostle loved the Thessalonians was, that
they were not only hearers, but doers of the
word, and he could speak of thera wilh plea
sure, and propose them to others as examples
of the efficacy and tendency of the gospel
v/hich he preached, (1 Thess. i. 8, 9 ;) so I
trust, yea I know, that some of you were ex-
' eeedingly 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 demonstrate by their conduct,
that the gospel which they professed was a
doctrine according to godliness. Those of you
who gave him this pleasure, raay, 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 affected with pungent grief,
when any whom he loved acted unsuitably to
tiieir profession, though they, perhaps, seldom
knew what their unfaithfulness cost him.
In his preaching he bore a strenuous ' and
faithful testiraony against every evil, not
only against gross sins, but against every
deviation, whether in teraper or practice,
from the spirit and rule of the gospel. But
there was something in his natural disposi
tion which made it difficult for him to expos
tulate plainly and strongly in private. — In
private, he could not easily reprove. But he

could mourn, he could wear out the day with
out pleasure, and the niffht without rest in
bemoaning those who had neither corapassion
for him nor for themselves. I can affirm this
of him, frora instances which have corae to
ray own knowledge. Perhaps sorae person
present raay think. Surely the preacher has
heard of rae, and means to 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. WUl not his la
mented and sudden death recal to your re
raerabrance 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 de
ceitfulness 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, "ac
cording to my gospel," Rom. ii. 16. It was
not a point of speculation with him : he pos
sessed 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 frora a pretended
gospel, such as the Galatians received from
false teachers, which he calls " another gos
pel," (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 Tira. i. 11. Frora whence we infer its
certainty, authority, and importance. It is
worthy of all acceptation : it is able to make
us wise unto salvation, if cordially embraced,
(2 Tim. iii. 15 ;) and to neglect it, is to re
fuse life, to choose death, to resolve to be
miserable, and to affront the wisdom and
goodness of God. When Paul preached this
gospel at Thessalonica, it awakened the spi
rit of envy, opposition, and clamour, in raany
who believed not ; but they who received it,
experienced it to be the power ofGod, to the
salvation of their souls.
Tbis gospel your late rainister preached
among you, and, I trust effectually imparted

406

ON THE DEATH OP DR. CONYERS.

to many of yon, as an instrument of tbe Holy
Spirit He owed all his success, and you de
rive all the light and comfort you obtained
under his instruction, to t'ne doctrine which
he delivered. It cannot with reason be ex
pected, that God wiU 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 bis
office, and he raay have sorae success in sup
pressing outward wickedness, though he does
not preach the gospel of God ; but he will not
reach the hearts of his people, wean thera
from tbeir secret sins, and win them to the
love and practice of universal holiness, unless
he'preaches St. Paul's gospel. I hope this
congregation has been better taught, than to
receive every thing indiscriminately for
truth because it is spoken from a pulpit.
You have the scriptures in your hands, and
by tbis standard you are warranted, yea,
coraraanded, to try the spirits, (1 John iv. 1,)
because many false prophets and pretended
teachers are abroad in the world : however,
I will take tbe liberty to remind you of sorae
plain and sure raarks by which you will be
able to distinguish a faithful rainister of the
true gospel.
He will preach Christ Jesus the Lord, and
propose hira 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 raade for sin, by his bloody
death upon the cross. He will give you no
encouragement to think you can do any
thing well-pleasing to God till you your
selves are first made acceptable in the be
loved; nor until his love is the motive of
your obedience, and your dependance is
fixed upon the promised communications of
strength and grace frora his fulness.
By a raanifestation of the truth, he will
comraend hiraself to your consciences in the
sight of God, 2 Cor. iv. 2. He wUl not a-
muse you with the discussion of some cu
rious point, in which you have little irarae
diate interest, or sorae cold general com
mon-place subject. Many serraons, ingeni
ous in their kind, may be compared to a
letter put into tbe post-office without a di
rection. It is addressed to nobody, it is own
ed by nobody ; and if a hundred people were
to read it, not one of them would think hira
self concerned in the contents. But the
word of the gospel, when faithfully dispen
sed, searches the heart (Heb. iv. 12,) and
tries the reins. You wUl wonder that the
preacher, who perhaps is a stranger to you,
can so exactly suit hiraself to your case.
He wUl sometimes bring to your remem
brance what you have done or said, or 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 ff you are a mourner in Zion,
distressed with fear and temptation, beset
with trouble, and know not which way to
tum, that tongue of the learned, which he
has acquired in the school of experience,
wUl frequently 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 bim the state of
your mind, and every particular of your
situation beforehand, he could not have de
scribed thera better. Such is the correspond
ence between the word ofGod and tbe heart
of man ; and such is the simUarity of the
workings of the human heart in similar cir
cumstances, that the preacher who is enlight
ened by the scripture, and by the Holy Spirit,
while he does little more than relate the
exercises of his own raind, 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
raade raanifest (1 Cor. xiv. 25,) by the preach
ing of the gospel All other preaching,
compared with this, is lifeless, distant, and
unaffecting, little more than declamation;
but the words of a scribe (Matt xiii. 52,)
well instructed in the mysteries ofthe king
dora of God, corae horae to our own business
and bosoras, and constrain raany to say, with
the woraan of Saraaria, " 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 Tbe general
tenor of his conduct will be such, that the
feeble attempts of slander to vilify him, will
be gradually suppressed, 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 be
haviour be unimpeachable and exemplary,
his principles will be misunderstood and
misrepresented; and by different persons
(soraetiraes by the sarae persons,) very dif
ferent and inconsistent things will be laid
to his charge. He will often be deeraed ri
gid, precise, uncharitable, enjoining a strict
ness in life and raanners to the extreme ; so
that to adopt his views, and to follow his
rules, a person must bid farewell to com
fort, and alraost renounce society; while in
the sarae day, and alraost in the same breath,
he will be represented as preaching doc
trines which, if generally received, would
be unfavourable to good raorals, and proraote
licentiousness. For the natural heart has
a dislike equaUy to the grace and to the

ON THE DEATH OF DR. CONYERS.

407

holiness of tiie gospel. Salvation by faith
in the blood of Jesus is thought too easy,
and abiding too much encouragement to
the unworthy ; and the simple grateful obe
dience which characterizes those who seek
salvation in this way, and in no other, is
thought too strict and scrupulous, and carry
ing 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 cla
mour is excited against them ; but a faith
ful minister will not be exposed to the woe
(Luke vi. 26,) denounced against those of
whom all men speak favourably. His in
firmities and raistakes (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 en
thusiast or branded by sorae narae to which
ignorance and prejudice have affixed a con
tumelious sense.
Such a one was your late minister. Like
the apostle, be laboured to impart to his
hearers tbe gospel of God : like him, he was
unmoved by the opposition of those who
knew not what they did, and ready to en
dure aU things for the elect's sake, that
they might be saved, 2 Tira. U. 10. He
loved you, and was willing to impart to you
his own soul also. His spirit was wUling ;
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 raay be thought
by some persons, that as, by his. counte
nance, he seemed to enjoy a tolerable share of
health, bis public services were hardly an
swerable to the zeal of a man who was
ready to pour out his very life for the good
of souls. He preached but once a week in
his parish church ; and no arguments, per
suasions, or entreaties, could prevaU on him
to enter any pulpit but his own. Even when
he has been expressly nominated by his dio
cesan to preach in another church, he has
declined the service, and disappointed crowd
ed auditories who wished to hear him. The
benefits of his singular abUities were there
fore confined to his own congregations. And
it was with the greatest difficulty, and but
seldom, that his most intimate friends could
engage him to lead in family-worship, where
he has been occasionally present. I have
frequentiy mentioned to him my concern
that the sphere of his usefulness should be
so much Umited ; and he lamented it himself;
but bis hindrance was constitutional and in
vincible. He had a continued hurry a,nd
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
uncomfortable at the same instant. In the

most important sense, he was a happy man.
He had peace with God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, enjoyed rauch of the light of
his countenance, and had no perplexing
doubts respecting either his acceptance in
the Beloved, or his perseverance in grace.
Yet through tiie agitation of his spirits, he
spent his days, and almost every hour, in
trepidation and alarm. The slightest inci
dents were sufficient to fill him with fears,
which, though he knew to be groundless,
he could not overcome. But upon no oc
casions did he suffer more from these pain
ful feelings, than when he had public preach
ing 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 hira to be a minister,
would sometiraes distress hira greatly, and
almost disable him from speaking. It may
seem very extraordinary, that a man of the
first abiUties as a preacher, highly respect
ed, and honoured with eminent usefulness,
should be intimidated by the presence of
those wbo were much his inferiors. But
such was his burden, wbich neither reflec
tion nor resolution could remove. What he
often suffered before he ascended this pulpit
and when he looked round upon a large con
gregation, and knew not how raany such
persons as he was afraid of might be among
them, gave him a right to say, in a singular
sense, that in iraparting the gospel of God
to you, he imparted his own soul also. Per
haps there have been martyrs, who approach
ed the rack or the stake with less distress
ing sensations, than he has frequently felt
when about to enter upon his otherwise de
lightful work. Yet, because you were the
people of his imraediate charge, and dear to
hira, be seldom declined your service on tbe
forenoon of the Lord's day, if be was well.
But this, I believe, was the reason, that at
other tiraes, instead of preaching in the
church, he confined hiraself to a place wbere
few, coraparatively, could attend him. I do
not know, that while he lived at Deptford,
he ever preached publicly in this neighbour
hood, excepting once, when he accepted an
appointment to preach at the archdeacons'
Visitation at Dartford. But he kept his in
tention a secret in his own breast ; and did
not raention 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 be
fore the time, he could scarcely think of
any thing else ; and that when the day ar
rived, bis spirits were so greatly agitated,
that for some minutes after he was in the
pulpit he was deprived of bis eye-sight
But the Lord whom he served, supported
him ; and he was, upon the whole, carried
comfortably through the service.

408

ON THE DEATH OF DR. CONYERS.

If we speak of death as the moment of
separation between soul and body, he was
not afraid of it ; for he knew whom he be-
, lieved ; and that to depart and be with his
Lord, was {^raww /.t^^xxtv tt^mnrav) Unspeakably
preferable to any thing that could be enjoy
ed in the present life, Phil. i. 23. But
though not afraid of death, be was often afraid
of dying. . His apprehensions of the possible
forerunners and concomitants of adying hour,
frquently made a painful impression upon his
spirits. Upon this account, they who loved
him, have reason to be reconciled to the
suddenness of his removal. His was an hon
ourable dismission indeed ! The messenger
that called hira horae, found hira actuaUy
and actively eraployed in his Master's ser
vice, with his loins girded up, and his lamp
buming, Luke xii. 35. It was likewise a
gracious condescension to his infirmity, and
saved him from an experience of any of those
conflicts, which he could seldom think of
without anxiety, and a degree of anguish.
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 wbo 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 preach
ed, 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
ofthe 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
apparent hindrances work to the help and
furtherance of faith. Be thankful that you

were so long fevoured with such a minister •
and rejoice tbat though you can see him no
more in this world, you shall meet him again
in the world of light In the meantime (need
I say) respect and honour his raemory ; and
the most effectual manner by which you can
show your regard to him, will be, by walking
as he walked, and maintaining a conversation
becoraing the gospel, (Phil. i. 27,) wbich he
so affectionately and faithfully imparted to
you. But there are, I fear, amongst you, those
who accounted the joyful sound of the gospel,
which he proclairaed, a burden ; have been
wearied by his earnest endeavours to pluck
you as brands frora the burning, and have
often wished to be freed frora 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, ybu remain likewise un
affected by his death, you are much more to
be pitied than those who lament his reraoval.
Alas ! when numbers in different and distant
places, who never saw you, are concerned for
you, wUl you not yet be concerned for your
selves ? 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 foUowing words should be ap
pUcable to you : " but now they are hidden
from your eyes!" Luke xix. 42. The Sa
viour, whom you have too long slighted, is
now once more preached to you. He is stUl
upon a throne of grace, able and wiUing to
save to the uttermost all who come unto
God by him. But hereafter he wUl appear on
a throne of judgment, 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 DAV OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE SOCIETY FOE PROMOTING RELIGIOUS
KNOWLEDqB AMONG THB POOR.

-He that winneth souls is wise. — Proverbs, xi. 30.

Onlv be, wbo redeemed the soul by his
blood, is able effectually to win it to hiraself
The work is his, and they who know him wUl
render the praise to him alone. But in this
respect as in many others, there is an ana
logy 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 con
ceals his operations under the vail of second
causes, that to a comraon and inattentive eye,
he seems to do nothing, when in reality he
does aU. Tbe^ raanna with which he fed Is
rael in the wUderness, though raore irarae
diately 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 pro
duce corn ; (Psalms civ. 14 ;) the discretion
ofthe 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 necessary to ripen the grain, and
to clothe the fields with plenty in the season
of harvest, (Matt v. 43,) is the influence of
him who worketh all in all. In this process,
the blessing which secures the desired event,
is whoUy from the Lord, though the labour of
man and the use of means are indispensable,
because his appointraent has raade thera so.
Thus in the great concern of winning souls,
though God, whose thoughts and ways are as
far above ours, as tbe heavens are higher than
the earth, may, sometimes, as in the instance
of the apostie Paul, (Acts ix. 6,) affect and
win the heart by an imraediate 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-
VoL. IL 3 F

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 mo
ral tendency and suitableness to awaken our
attention, and to convince us of our sin and
misery, and to recal us to our original state
of dependence upon his goodness, and obe
dience to his will. Fortheproof of this I may
appeal 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 depra
vity has been too obstinate to yield to convic
tion, they bave 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 bis people, however weak their
capacities, or however low their situations in
life, but may hope for a share in this honoiir,
if they are faithful to the light he bas giveji
thera, 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 iraportant 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 opportunity
before of preaching to so many of my brethren
in the ministry, and perhaps I never may
again. And at my time of lffe, it becomes
rae; whenever I stand in the pulpit, to con
sider 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
raore. Were I even sure of this, how could
I more properly close ray public services,
409

410

THE BEST WISDOM.

than by aiming with my latest breath, to im
press upon you, my friends and brethren, this
weighty aphorism, " He that winneth souls is
wise?" May it be written upon my own
heart whOe I live ! may it be written upon
aU our hearts ! Let the scholar, the philoso
pher, the politician, settle their several clairas
to wisdora araong theraselves; but may this
wisdora 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 show, that they are all exeraplified 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 in
fluenced by this wisdora in the sarae degree;
but unless it has an habitual and prevailing
influence on the plans and practice of a pub
lic teacher„we need not wonder if he be nei
ther faithful nor useful. My chief design is
to elucidate and confirm this first point; but
towards tbe close of my discourse, I shall, se
condly, address myseff to private christians,
and remind you of your coraraon interest with
us in this concern, and the advantages and
opportunities you have of showing 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
talents and abUities, we do not account him
wise, unless he eraploys thera properly ; a
life whUed away in low and trivial pursuits,
iraplies a want of wisdom. But he who airas
at winning souls, proposes an end which well
deserves his application, and will, so fer as
be succeeds, richly corapensate him for all
tbat 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. Tbe 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.
U. 2. Were the effects of this bondage con
fined to the present life, an attempt to free
the soul from that misery, mischief, and mad
ness, with which 'the world is filled, would
be honourable and important. But God, who
formed the soul originally for himself, has
given it such a vast capacity, that nothing
short of himself can satisfy its desires ; and
it is likewise, by his constitution, immortal.
This capacity 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 bis obedience unto
death, even the death of the cross. By this

adorable method of adjusting the demands of
hisjustice and the honour of his govemmefit,
to the purposes ofhis mercy, his wisdom and
glory are raore eminently discovered to his
intelligent creatures, than by all his other
works. If the only wise God commends to us
his gracious design of recovering souls ftom
the dominion of Satan, and of whining them
to himself, as the highest instance ofhis wis
dora and goodness ;. then, certainly, he who
proposes it as the great end of his life, that
by serving God in the ministry, he raay be an
instruraent of winning souls, is truly wise, so
far as concerns his leading aira and object
2. Wisdora directs us likewise to a con
sideration and choice of means proper to the
attainment 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
raove 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 pow
ers would he necessary. If he were unac
quainted with these, or disdained to employ
them ; if, without estimating or cqnsidering
the resistance to be overcome, and relying
solely on his personal strength, he should at
tempt to move the enormous stone with his
hands, or to burst the gates of brass and bars
of iron asunder with his feet, bis utmost ef
forts must issue in weariness and disappoint
ment and no one would think hira wise. The
experience of ages has demonstrated all en
deavours to win souls, to free them from pre
judice, 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 unsuccessful. The heathen
moralists laboured much in this way, but they
laboured in vain. Some of them felt and ac
knowledged that human nature wasdepraved ;
but not knowing the root, nor the extent, nor
the proper remedy of the disorders they wish
ed to curCf their best sentiments, however
specious in theory, made little more irapres
sion 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
choose to be called, have done, if possible, still
less. What a poet observed of the former,
is, at least equally, applicable to the latter :
Virtus laudatur et alget. Virtue is defined,
described, recommended, and praised, but
wickedness and folly rapidly increase under
their instructions ; and while in their pomp
ous declamations they propose liberty to
others, (1 Pet. ii. 19,) they are themselves
the servants, the slaves of corruption. The'
gospel of Christ, tbe glorious gospel of the
blessed God, (1 Tim. i. 11,) is tbe only ef-

THE BEST WISDOM.

411

fectual mean for reforraing mankind. To the
man who possesses, and Imows the use of this
grand, this wonderful machine, if I may be
allowed the comparison, what is otherwise
impracticable becoraes easy. The gospel
removes difficulties insuperable to human
power. It causes the blind to see, the deaf
to hear, (Isa. xxxv. 8 ; Matt. 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 frora 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 comraunicate motives, encourage
ments, and prospects; sufficient to withstand
and counteract all the snares and temptations
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 erabraced, will inspire the slothful
with energy, and the fearful with courage.
It will make the miser generous, melt the
churl into kindness, tanie 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
wUl and benevolence to raankind.
I shall not trespass upon your tirae, by de
lineating at large my idea ofthe gospel. Yet
it may be proper to raention 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
beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God: that this
divine Word assumed our nature into a per
sonal union with hiraself, lived and died in
behalf of sinners, and now reigns upon the
throne of glory, over all, God blessed for ever,
(1 Tira. iii. 16 ; John i. 1, 14 :) that he is the
proper 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 raiseries, are fixed, and
out of whose fulness they all receive life,
strength, comfort', and grace, to help in tirae
of need, Psalra xxxiv. 5 ; John i. 16. This
doctrine is the pillar and ground of truth,
1 Tim. iii. 15. They who have a right sense
ofthe guilt and power of sin, of the holiness
and majesty of God, and ofthe hosts of ene
mies combined against their peace, must sink
into despair, unless supported by the know
ledge of an Alraighty 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 dangerous exigences 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 corapassion of a crea
ture ; and therefore rejoice that they are war
ranted and encouraged to comraend them
selves to hira, as to a faithful creator, 1 Pet
iv. 19.
The second grand peculiarity of the gospel
is the doctrine of an atonement : That Christ
in bis 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 tbe 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 soleran proof to the
world, to the universe, no l«ss to angels than
to men, that God, in affording mercy to sin
ners, still shows his inflexible displeasure
against sin, and makes no relaxation in the
awful demands of his hoUness, justice, and
truth. A substitution capable of manifesting
the justice of God in the highest exercise of
his raercy, that he raight appear just in justi
fying the ungodly, (Rora. iv. 5,) was of such
vast importance to the honour of God's cha
racter and government, that if it could bav«
been effected by any inferior means, Christ
died in vain, Galat ii. 21. The interposition
of a raere creature, even if voluntary, (but
what creature would dare to draw upon bim
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 corae !" He hiraself, his
ownself, bore our sins in his own body oipon
the tree, (1 Pet ii. 24 :) he who knew no sin,
was made sin for us, that w« 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 discrirai-
nates it from all religious systeras of human
institution. There are few of these but con
tain some iraportant 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
influence and agency; an agency, which,
from the greatness of its effect, and. the uni
versality of its proposal (being proraised to all
without exception who desire it) must be
divine. The bodies of believers are the tem
ples of the Holy Ghost, (1 Cor. vi. 19,) that
God dweUeth 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. xni. 14;) these

412

THE BEST WISDOM.

truths are either expressed or strongly ira
plied in almost every page of the New Tes
tament The gospel then is a message from God.
It stains the pride of huraan glory, and with
out regarding the petty distinctions which_
obtain amongst men with respect to charac
ter or rank, it treats thera all as sinners in
the sight of God, and under the power of de
pravity strengthened by habit. As such, it
points them to a Saviour ; it invites and en
joins them to apply to hira, to subrait to hira,
and to put their whole trust in hira ; to re
nounce all pleas of their own, and to plead
his narae and his atonement for their pardon
and acceptance ; and proraises to all who
thus plead, that the Holy Spirit of God wUl
visit thera, dwell in thera, and abide with
them, to enable thera by bis gracious in
fluence, both to will and to do according to
his good pleasure.
I omit other particulars, nor shall I at pre
sent atterapt 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 the nature of the undertaking, and are too
wise to attempt it, or to expect success, by
any power or exertion of our own, unless we
faithfully and humbly make use of the instru
ment which God has appointed for the pur
pose. This instrument 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 wonder-working rod of Moses,
when held up in his name, though wielded
by a feeble arm, can perform rairacles. And.
I will venture to affirm, without hesitation,
and without exception, that no man, what
ever his abilities and qualifications may be in
in other respects, though he had the zeal of
a martyr and the powers of an angel, will he
able to force the strong-holds of Satan, to cast
down the lofty iraaginations of raen, and win
souls to- holiness and happiness, without it.
But if hebe called and taught ofGod to preach
this gospel, he will do great thuigs ; he wUl
be honoured and successful: he will win
souls ; he will be nurabered araong the wise.
Let lis appeal to facts. The apostle Paul
was erainently successful in winning souls.
He planted churches in raany different and
distant parts of the Roraan empire. Where-
ever he went power frora on high accompa
nied his word, and made it effectual, accord
ing to the coraraission he had received frora
the Lord, to open the eyes of the blinded
Heathens, to turn thera from darkness to
light, and from the power of Satan unto God,
Acts xxvi. 18. Can we propose a better ex
ample for our imitation ? Would we know the
subject-matter of that preaching which pro
duced such extensive and salutary effects?
He gives us full information. He preached

Christ crucified ; Christ the wisdom and pow
er ofGod, (1 Cor. i. 23, 24 ;) the unsearchable
riches of Christ (Ephes. iii. 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 master-buUder, he laid this foundation,
and declared, that other foundation can no
raan lay, 1 Cor. iu. 10, 11. He preached the
atoneraent, 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 Holy
Spirit as absolutely necessary and powerfully
efficacious, and ascribes that operation by
which Christ in his true character is re
vealed to the heart, to the same power
whicb coraraanded light to shine outof dark
ness, in the beginning,' 2 Cor. iv. 6. These
truths were the weapons of his warfere,
2 Cor. X. 4. He went forth conquering and
to conquer, not by the enticing words of man's
wisdora, but in tbe spirit of demonstration
and power.
I need not tell this auditory what were the
doctrines which shook the pUlars and foundsr
tions of Popery at the Reformation, and dif
fused a knowledge and practice becoming the
profession of Christianity, among raany 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 ofthe Reformation were
severely discountenanced. Particularly in
the reign of Charles II. they were opposed by
raethods whicb 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, imprison
ment, and death for conscience sake, be com
pared with the spirit and temper of those who
inflicted or approved thera, 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 consti
tution and govemment allows us a degree of
religious liberty unknown to our forefathers,
for which we cannot be sufficiently thankful^
and the doctrines of the Reformation and of
the aposties are still preached. Nor have we
reason to fear that sanguinary laws, and the
iron band of arbitrary power, will be em
ployed to silence us. Yet tbe doctrines
theraselves are far from being generally ac
ceptable. 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 prevail. It has triumphed over vio
lence and rage ; it is equally superior to the
arts of subtUty and reflnement. We are
not afraid to repeat the apostle's challenge :
" Who is he that overcometh the world, but
[he 1hat believeth that Jesus is the Son of

THE BEST WISDOM.

413

God?" 1 John V. 5. 'Which is the scheme
of religion in the present day, which produ
ces the most conscientious reverence to the
holy name of the Lord our God, the most
habitual and devout observance of his holy
day, and of family- worship ? What kind of
preacbing evidences itself to be a doctrine ac
cording to godliness, by the most numerous
and notorious instances of persons reclaimed
by it from habits of gross licentiousness, 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 peo
ple under afflictions, who, like Pharaoh,
harden themselves yet more; who value
theraselves upon a proud stoical resolution,
and deem it a weakness to coraplain.
But christian fortitude is a very different
thing. It is the teraper of a bumble pardon
ed sinner, who has entrusted himself and his
all to the Saviour, and, believing that he con
descends to direct all his concerns, submits
to his appointments, not by constraint, but
willingly, sensible that the wisdom and love
of hira in whom he confides will choose bet
ter for him than he could possibly choose for
himseff. I know, or . have read, that the
American Indians, when put to death by their
eneraies, in the midst of the raost excruciat
ing tortures that cruelty can invent,' will
sing their war-songs, and insult their tor
raentors, without uttering a groan or shed
ding a tear; and I have likewise 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 utinost
composure, committed his departing spirit
into the hands of his Saviour, whora he saw
ready to receive hira, and eraployed his
latest breath in prayer for his murderers!
Acts vu. 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
levity of a buffoon ; he is serious and recol
lected. Conscious of his unworthiness, but
knowing whora 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 language of plain people in
dying circumstances, fer superior to what
might be expected frora their forraer habits
of life : they seem to have new ideas and
new faculties ; heaven opened to them, and
opened in thera, whUe yet in the body. Ig
norant and profane persons, who are sorae
times spectators of such scenes, have been
astonished at effects which, though they could
not account for, have for the moment secretiy
extorted from thera the wish of Balaam,

" Let me die the death of the righteoUs, and
let my last end be like his," Num. xxiu. 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 raean of winning
souls to his favour and iraage.
If I have taken up too much of your time
with this second particular, let the importance
of it, and the state of religion amongst us,
plead my excuse. Thus far we have ad
vanced — If it be wisdom to aim at a great
design, and to adopt the most fit and proper
raeans for the accomplishment, the man my
text speaks of is wise. His end is great — to
win souls. The mean he employs is the gos
pel, which God has revealed and instituted
for this very purpose, and with which his
power and blessing are surely connected by
promise. 3. Yet the knowledge of a worthy end, and
of tbe raeans by which 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
easily diverted from it, but will rather hold
and manage every inferior concernment in a
due subservience and subordination to his
raain point. Sir Isaac Newton, when a child,
raight possibly have araused himself, as ma
ny other chUdren have done, by blowing up
bubbles in soapy water with a pipe. But it
was not a childish arauseraent in the hands
of this sublirae genius, when he applied it,
araong other experiments, to discover and
establish that theory of light and colours, by
which, in his adrairable System of Optics,
he enlightened the world. But if we speak
strictly, the most important employments and
discoveries of which mankind are capable, if
directed no higher than tothe concerns "of
the present life, are trivial and worthless as
the sports of children, or the wretched
amusements of lunatics, to an iramortal, wbo
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 righ
teous award, in a state of endless happiness
or raisery. The desire of pleasing God,
and of doing all to his glory, whicb should
be the ultimate end of a rational creature,
and will be, if be feels his dependence and
his obligations, this, like the fabled philoso
pher's stone, turns every thing into gold,
sanctifies the most common actions of life
which belong to the situation- in which Di
vine Providence has placed us, and gives
thera a subliraity and dignity. Consecrated
by this intention, they become acts of devo
tion. They have a very low idea of religion
who confine it to what we usually raean by
devotional exercises. The truly religious
raan does indeed bow his knees in secret be
fore the Most High God, he carefully con-

414

THE REST WISDOM.

suite his holy Word, he waits upon him in
his public ordinances. In these ways he de
rives fresh supplies from the fountain of wis
dom 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 goveming spring of his whole conduct
and according to the degree of his attainment
in faith and love, and allowing for the un
avoidable abstractions incidental to our
frames (which are too weak and limited 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 lffe,
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 raan seeth, and estiraates
them, not by tbeir comparative iraportance in
our view, but according to the principle of
love by which they are perforraed, and the
sublirae end to wbich they are directed.
But we, my brethren, who are ministers
of the gospel, have this great advantage (if
indeed we improve jt,) that our particular
calling as members of society, coincides with
our general calling as christians. The per
son 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 win
ning 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 at
tention to this very thing, Acts vi. 4 ; 1 Tim.
iv. 15, 16. If we are wise, we shall watch
and pray against being irapeded by any stu
dies and pursuits which have not an evi
dent tendency to proraote our success in
winning souls. You have probably heard
wbat is related of the address of whale-fish
ers, when the whale, irritated by the wounds
he has received, attacks tbeir boats. It is
said tbey bave a tub in readiness to throw
into the sea, and that while tbe whale furi
ously encounters 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 crirainal in theraselves,
will prove so to us,' if we suffer them, by
engrossing too much of ourtime and thoughts,
to divert us frora our principal object It
may be wrong, it may be comraendable, for
a minister to possess some general know
ledge of philosophy, history, criticism, and
other 'branches of literature, or of the con
troversies which have disturbed the peace
of the Church. But perimus in licitis. An
over-attachment to these studies, though less
scandalous, njay prove little less hurtful to

our- mmistry 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 littie leisure for sorting
shells or butterflies, for studying grammati
cal niceties, for poring over manuscripts
scarcely legible, for decyphering ancient in
scriptions, or entangling himself in the dry
uninteresting thickets of controversy. He
will be careful lest avocations of this kind
should prove like tbe 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 evU ways, to direct in
quirers into- the paths of peace, to point out
the snares and temptations to wbich they are
exposed, to exhort and charge those who pro
fess tbe 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, (Acta 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 ofthe ta
lents, opportunities, and souls entrusted to us,
and we should tremble at tbe thought of being
then obliged to confess, " while thy servant
was busy here and there, the man was gone,"
1 Kings XX. 40. If such an eminent man of
God as archbishop Usher, though possessed
of the faith and hope of the gospel, found
cause, when reviewing his past life on his
dying bed, to cry out repeatedly and earnest
ly, " Lord, forgive my sins of oraission !" how
jealous ought we to be of ourselves ! It be
hoves us to use the language of Nehemiah,
to raany proposals and pursuits which our in
clinations raay plead for, " I am doing a great
work so that I cannot corae down. Why
should the work cease, while I leave it and
come down to you?" Neb. 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 determined resolu
tion, to follow the avowed design of our call
ing as the one thing, in coraparison with
which every thing else is to be undervalued
and neglected, if likely to hinder us, is essen
tial to that wisdom which alone can qualffy
us for winning souls.
4. This wisdom implies fortitude also. If
we 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 ff we cannot, in sorae measure, say with
the apostle. None of these things move me
(Acts XX. 23,) we shall probably be soon dis
couraged. What should we think of a states
man, who, .having formed a wise and noble

THE BEST WISDOM-

415

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
aU competent judges, merely because he
could not bear to be misunderstood, or misre
presented, by the very lowest of the people,
or by the chUdren who play in the street?
His want of spirit upon such a supposition,
would doubtless be esteemed a want of wis
dom. But this is a faint representation of our
folly, if, believing 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, coraraitted to our trust
(1 Thess. ii. 4,) is the only possible raean of
their recovery ; a regard to the fear or favour
of men should prevaU on us to suppress or
soften our message, and to accommodate our
selves to their taste, instead of conforming to
our instructions, lest we should displease
them. Would an earthly king bear with an
ambassador who was guilty of such timid
treachery? We cannot my brethren, think
too humbly of ourselves, but we may magnify
our office, and we ought In this sense at
least, we are ambassadors for Christ, (2 Cor.
V. 20,) that the message 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 strongest obligations 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 re-
vUmgs, 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 that falls unperceived from the
bucket, orthe dust (Isa. xl. 15,) which cleaves
to the scales without affecting the balance.
The apostles were wise to win souls. They
tried the spiritof the world before us, and were
despised and insulted by it They were ac
counted 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 es
teemed shame, in such a cause, their highest
honour. Jesus endured the cross, and des
pised the shame for thera 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 meekness
of wisdora ; instructing those who oppose, not
rendering. raUing for raUing, but pitying and
praying for them : but let us be firm and un
moved, and not hesitate to speak the truth
in love, whether they wUl bear, or whether
they will forbear. We shall not speak wholly
in vain ; and tobe 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 ofthe i __
by debasing our zeal with the unhallowed
fire of an angry spirit : but we degrade our
character, if we appear too solicitous to con
ciliate the good opinion of men, or to depend
upon their fevour. The Lord who employs
us, wUl take care of us ; and to live in a spirit
of unreserved dependence upon him, wUI
Taise us to a noble independence with respect
to creatures. All hearts are in his handa.
He will protect our persons and characters,
supply our wants, control 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 be fears the
Lord. He will neither provoke nor dread
tbeir frowns, nor will he meanly court their
sraUes. 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 wUl use his utraost influ
ence to prevail on others to serve him like
wise ; so far as he succeeds, he feels a joy su
perior to the joy of harvest 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 steadfast
perseverance in well-doing, will gradually
establish his character, stop the mouth of ca
lumny, and extort a reverence to his person,
even frora those who cannot bear his doctrine.
5. I shall mention but one particular more,
which, though experience shows to be not so
absolutely necessary as those which I have
already 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.tbat wisdom, which, as ministers, we ought
incessantly to ask of God — I mean a due at
tention to the iraportance of union araong
those who are engaged in the sarae cause.
A great stress has indeed been often laid
upon uniformity of sentiment and modes of
worship ; but this, in the present state of hu
raan nature, can no more be effected either
by force or persuasion, than men can be forced
or persuaded to a uniformity of stature or
complexion ; 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 we 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 wbo are taught and
born of God agree, and should not be affected
by those in which they differ. The church
of Christ, collectively considered, is an army;

416

THE BEST WISDOM.

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 daUy removed to the
churoh triumphant, supplied entirely by those
who are rescued and won from the power of
the enemy, which is chiefly effected by the
gospel-ministry. This consideration should
remind ministers, that it is highly iraproper
(I might use a stronger expression) to waste
much of their tirae and talents, which ought
to be employed against the coraraon foe, in
opposing those, who, though they cannot ex
actly agree with them in every smaller point,
are perfectly 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 with
out assistance, wUl gladly accept of help frora
persons of all parties on whom he can prevail
to join with hira, and will not, at such a crisis,
preclude hiraself frora this advantage, by an
unseasonable discussion of more minute con
cerns, in wbich he Imows they 'must, and
will be against hira. When I see ministers
of acknowledged piety, and respectable abili
ties, very busy in defending. 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 falli
ble, they cannot be exactly of one judgment;
though I give them credit for their good inten
tion. I cannot but lament the raisapplication of
their zeal, which, if directed into another chan
nel, would probably raake them much raore
successful in winning souls. Let us sound
an alarm in the eneray's camp, but not in our
own ! I have soraewhere met with a passage
of. ancient history, the substance of which,
though ray recollection of it is but imperfect,
I will relate, because I think it very appli
cable to this part of my subject. It is an ac
count of two large bodies of forces which fell
in with each other in a dark night. A battie
immediately ensued. The attack and resist
ance were supported with equal spirit. 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 vic
tory ; when the day broke, and as the light
advanced, they soon perceived to their Eisto-
nishment and grief, that owing to the dark
ness ofthe 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 losses the opponent had sustained ;
and this was what proportionably aggravated
their lamentation and distress, when they had
sufficient light to show thera the mischief
they had done. Ah ! ray friends, if shame be
compatible with the heavenly state, as per
haps in a sens^ it may (for believers, when |

most happy here, are most sensibly ashamed
of themselves,) shall we not, even then, be
asharaed to think how often, in this dark
world, we mistook our friends for foes, and
that, whUe we thought we were fighting for
the cause of God and truth, we were wound
ing and worrying the people whora he loved,
and perhaps indulging our own narrow, self^
ish party prejudices, under 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 un
useful to the rest of ray auditory ; but you
who are not in the ministry, if you have tasted
that the Lord is gracious, have a desire; in
common with us, to win souls. And there is
not only ample room and scope for your en
deavours, in concert with ours, but without
concurrence 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 conflned
situations, may be greatly instruniental in
winning souls.
1. By your exaraple. — If you walk agree
ably to your profession, blaraeless 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, raisrepresent our doc
trine, as being unfavourable to the practice of
raorality, 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 coratoandments or not
We endeavour to convince them of their mis
take, and to prove, that as withoiit faith it is
impossible to please God, (Heb. xi. 6,) so it
is no less irapossible for any person to possess
true feith, without earnestly endeavouring to
please and obey hira 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 tbeir divine authority.
But many, yea, most people, are more likely
to be convinced by what they observe of you;
than by what they hear from us. We assure
thera 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 seve
ral relations in life, with integrity and dUi
gence ; to be cheerfully submissive to the
will ofGod under all changes; to be meek,
gentie, and benevolent, forbearing and for
giving: in a wordi to do, in all cases, to
others, as we would they should do unto us,
Matt. vii. 12. 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 doc-

THE BEST WISDOM.

417

trineS, shall we send them to you, that they
may notice, not only your serious and con
stant attendance upon public worship, but
the good order of your families, your be
haviour as husbands or wives, parents or
children, masters or servants, your punctu
ality in business, and to all your engage
ments and proraises, and the tenderness you
discover to the characters and concerns of
your neighbours? Shall we send thein to
you, when you are in trouble, when you are
visited with sickness and strong pain, or
when the desire of your eyes is taken away
with a stroke (Ezek. xxiv. 16,) that they
may see with tiieir own eyes and be satisfied
that you have neither followed cunningly
devised febles, nor contented yourselves with
mere lifeless notions of the truth ; but that
your religion is real and powerful, and not
only inspires you with a good hope respect
ing a future state, but is the source of your
comfort, and tbe spring of your conduct in
the present life? may. we venture, my
friends, to make this appeal ? then undoubt
edly you are wise to win souls. A pro
fession like yours cannot be without an in
fluence 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 wUl not say they love you, but be as
sured they secrotly reverence you. It is only
the trifling half-professor, who hears the gos
pel and talks about it, but dishonours it by
his practice, whora the world really despise.
And who can blarae them for despising such
characters ? But alas for those who, by thus
causing the ways of truth to be evU spoken
o^lay stumbling-blocks before the blind. Lev.
xix. 14.
The effects of a consistent conversation
becoming the gospel in those who profess it,
were remarkably exemplified in the first
Christian church at Jerusalem. They were
apparently 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 holi
ness, love, joy, peace, union and simplicity,
which animated their conduct irapressed an
awe upon the beholders, so that no poor pre
tender durst presume to join them ; (Acts v.
13 ;) and though divested of all outward ad
vantages and support the people were con
strained to magnify them. Were this spirit
more general amongst us, I believe it would
be more effectual to stop the mouths of gain
sayers, and to silence the cavils of infidels,
than all our books and sermons. And the
twelve apostles, were they now Uving
amongst us, would probably preach to little
purpose, unless a measure of this spirit were
discoverable in their professed admirers.
2. By your prayers. — You are not called
Vol. il 3 G

to preach the gospel, but in this way, you
may greatly assist those who are. Brethren,
pray for us. Our work is great; the diffi
culties we have to surmount the snares and
temptations which surround us, and our in
firraities, are many. Who is sufficient for
these things? The apostle Paul, distin
guished 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, with an
earnestness, like that of a needy beggar re
questing 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 Ood 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 ofgrace, by which every believer in
Jesus, like Israel of old, has power with God
and with man. In answer to effectual fer
vent prayer, the army of Sennacherib was
destroyed in a night (Isa. xxxvii. 21, 36,)
and Peter was delivered from a strong prison
and frora the raalice of Herod, Acts xii. 5,
12. The efficacy of prayer is still the sarae.
If the Lord were pleased to pour out a spirit
of prayer and supplication upon his people,
we should find our public ordinances more
lively and more fruitful. We should then
hope to be more successful in winning souls,
and you might justly claim a principal share
in the corafort 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 Spirit, nothing encourages a
faithful minister so much, as when he thinks
he can perceive that, while he is speaking,
bis hearers are drawing down a blessing
upon his words, by their prayers: it adds
wings to his zeal, gives him a double ira
pression upon his own heart of the weight
and iraportance of the truths he delivers ; and
enables him to dispense thera 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
win souls, from the dominion of sin, to the
service of God. Among these there are few
if any, which I can more warrantably cora
raend to your attention, than the laudable
and benevolent object of the Society for pro
raoting Religious Knowledge among the
Poor, — an institution, which it has pleased

418

THE BEST WISDOM,

God signally to prosper, both by the large in
crease of tbeir fund from year to year, and
the many instances of the known happy ef
fects which have followed the perusal of the
books they have distributed. Many raore
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,
they have, since the year 1750, when it was
first formed, distributed more than four hun
dred thousand books, upwards of one hundred
and five thousand of which were Bibles and
New Testaments ; the rest were small and
plain books, well adapted to the capacities
and circumstances of those who have, mostly,
but a confined education, and who have not
much time for reading. The number of books
bestowed 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 raeans of religious knowledge araong
people otherwise destitute, in these king
doras, in our Plantations, and in America,
wbo can say, who can even conjecture ? And
we hope, by the benefactions 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 nuraerous.
The much which has been done, is little cora
pared with what the Society might yet do
were their resources equal to their wishes. I
trust ray request, that you will strengthen
their hands at this tirae, 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 held of their generosity, I
need do no more. Nor will I suppose that it
is necessary to use any farther arguments to
prevail with you.
There may be some persons present, who
will kindly assist us in procuring the means
of religious knowledge for others, who are,
hitherto, unacquainted with the power and the
comforts of religion theraselves. May the
good Lord now awaken their desires to ob
tain the one thing needful, the pearl of great
price ! That knowledge which is necessary
for the poor is equally so for you, whatever
your situation 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 alienff'
tion frora God ; you raay have amiable quali
fications, which entitie you to the esteem of
your fellow-creatures, as you are members
of society, and be at the same time destitute
of the faith and hope of the gospel. _ Per
mit me, before we part to offer one considera
tion to your serious 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 dimensions of tbe ark, I think we
raay 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 sucb as afterwards perish
ed in it What an awful case ! To afford their
help to buUd an ark for the preservation of
others, and theii to remain out of the ark
themselves, untU the flood carae 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 perfect safety ;
he is already delivered from conderanation,
and shall stand before the Lord in humble
confidence, when he shall corae to judge the
world. Your concurrence in this charitable
design of distributing Bibles among the poor,
that they may be timely warned to flee from
the wrath to come is comraendable: — 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 raay be the in
strument Can you bear the thought of be
ing instrumental to the salvation of others,
and to lose your own soul, and be yourself a
cast-away at last, after all the means and op-
portunites you have been favoured with, af
ter all the warnings and calls you have had,
after all the good you raay have done as a mem
ber of society ? Alas 1 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 cannot be broken ; let us therefore
abide by the sure decision of that word which
cannot deceive or disappoint us. They are
truly wise, who are wise to win souls ; and
though they may be now obscured by mis
representations and reproaches, they shall
shine, ere long, as the brightness of the fir
mament, and they that turn many to righ
teousness, 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 OP GENERAL THANKSGIVING POR THE ICING'S HAPPY RECOVERY.

For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the arch
angel, 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 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
wiU, this day, make his public acknowledg
ment to God, who heard his prayer in the
time ofhis trouble. It will be a joyful sight
to thousands; and, perhaps, there is not a
person in this asserably who has not felt a
desire to be one of the spectators. But I ara
glad to meet you here. Many of you, I
doubt not earnestly and repeatedly prayed
for the recovery of our gracious Sovereign ;
and you- judge with me, that the most pro
per expression of our gratitude 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 large
ness of the congregation, that few who sta
tedly worship with us are now absent, those
excepted, who, residing in or near the line
of procession, could not attend with proprie
ty, noi- perhaps with safety.
If he in whose narae 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 evi
dence to things as yet future and unseen, to
reaUze the subject of my text to our minds,
we shall have no reason to regret 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, witii 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 conderan.
The tendency ofthe gospel is to mederate and
regulate, but not to stifle or eradicate the
feelings of huraanity. We raay sorrow, but
provision 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 advantag'e. " For
if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
even so they also that sleep in Jesus shall
God bring with hira." The change of ex
pression here ¦ is observable, Jesus died.
Death to hira, 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 passage to the grave, and to
open the kingdora 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 thera death
is no more than a sleep ; they sleep in Jesus
and are blessed. And when he who is their
life shall appear, as be certainly will, and
every eye shall see hLra, they also shall ap
pear with him in glory. Col. iii. 4. " For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven,
with the voice of the archangel and the
trurap of God : and the dead in Christ shall
rise first."
But I think I ara warranted to consider
the text in a more general view, and to ac
commodate it to the happy event which de
mands our especial thankfulness and praise
on this day. Let our thoughts rise from the
King's splendid, though solemn procession
to St Paul's, to contemplate that great ad
vent of the King of kings, the idea of which
419

420

THE GREAT ADVENT.

fiUed and fired the apostie's thoughts. Rev.
i. 7-. Behold ! he cometh in the clouds ! He
cometh in his own glory, in the glory of his
Father, with aU his angels, and with aU his
saints ! Matt 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 raade, by the raost striking
circurastances of the present day, it will, in
deed, be comparing great things with small.
In some respects comparison wUl utterly fail,
and I must have recourse to contrast. For
what proportion can there be between finite
and infinite, between the most important con
cerns 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
coraing; upon his train of attendants, and
upon the final event of his appearance, with
whicb 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 ofthe nobUity, 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 raore than
probable, it is absolutely certain, that if all
the glories ofthe invisible world were to open
upon the' view of those who feel their obliga
tions to the great Redeeraer, they could not be
completely happy, unless they were permit
ted to behold his glory. He has stipulated on
their behalf, " Father, I will that they whom
'thou hast given me, should be with rae where
I ara ;" (John xvii. 24 ;) and by his grace, he
qualifies thera 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 Ixxiii. 25.
Jesus is the light, the life, the sun of the
soul that knows hira, according to the revela
tion given in the scriptures of his person,
offices, and grace. And, as the raost raagni-
ficent palace would be but a dungeon, if it
had no apertures to adrait the light, so the
whole creation would be dark and dreary to
bis people, were it possible that they could
be excluded from his presence.
In this life, they can know but littie ofthe
particulars of that happiness which God has
prepared for thera that love him ; but in ge
neral they know, and this suffices them, that
they shaU see hira as he is, (1 John iii. 2,)
and shall be like hira, and with hira. They
love him unseen ; and, while he is yet absent
from them, the expectation, founded upon
his own gracious proraise, that he wUl short
ly descend himself to receive them, and to

avow thera for his own, before the assembled
world, is the food and joy of their hearts,
which soothes their sorrows, and animates
thera under every difficulty they are exposed
to, at present, for his sake.
Oh! the soleranity, the terrors, and the
glories of tbat approaching day ! Then, they
who have slighted bis mercy, and abused bis
patience and forbearance, will trerable. 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 hira; we wUl be
glad and rejoice in his salvation," Isa. xxv.
9. May we, my brethren, have grace " to
use all diligence, that we may be found of
hira in peace, without spot, and blaraeless,"
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
appearance 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 adrainistration upon
the public welfare. This influence we have
felt. It is true, we were too little sensible
of it, too little thankful for it until an alarra-
ing dispensation awakened our fears, lest we
should lose the privileges we bad not suf
ficientiy prized ; but then each man would
remind himself, how highly favoiired we had
been, as a people, for many years, under his
government ; then, we understood our great
obligations to the King, as the minister of
God to us for good. We were sitting peace
ably under our own vines and fig-trees, high
ly distinguished 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.
Again, because we loved him, we sympa
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 aii instance of the
dependent, precarious state of huraan life ;
such a proof, that no rank or situation is ex-
erapted from a share in the calamities which
sin has brought into the world, irapressed us
with compassion, blended with awe. And
not our compassion only, but our prayers
were engaged for tiie King, the Queen, and

THE GREAT ADVENT.

431

Royal Family. 1 am persuaded many per
sons could scarcely have prayed more ear
nestiy had it been 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 skUl of physicians,
they have been employed, and owned as in
struments of tbe merciful will of God ; but
we ascribe the praise for a recovery, so little
hoped for, and so criticaUy 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 tbis 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 bad taken hira from us, had proved true.
Let us praise God, who has preserved us
from knowing them. But the manner in
whicb 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
wUl live (long may he live !) to communicate
still greater benefits to the nation, as the
patron of true religion, the guardian of our
constitution, and an exemplar of piety and
virtue to his subjects. That God raay give
hira to reign in the hearts of an enlightened,
free, and affectionate people, and not to per
mit 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 hiraself will de
scend. He is the good Shepherd, who laid
down his life for the sheep, (John x. 11 ;) and,
therefore, 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 remeraber
what they were doing, and how carelessly
they were sporting in the path that leadeth
to destruction, when he first stopped them,
turned them, and led them into his fold. He
is, even now, their sun and shield, their wis
dom and strength; on him they cast their
cares, from him they receive their supplies ;
therefore they love him, though unseen, (2
Pet i. 8 ;) and rejoice in the hope of his ap
pearance. They know that he who will descend to
receive tbem, was once a man of sorrows,
and a corapanion of grief And though this
too little affected them in the time of their
ignorance, it has been otherwise since they
have derived life from his death, and healing
frora his wounds. They have sympathized

with him in the agonies which he endured
in Gethsemane, and upon Mount Golgothaj
They remember that his face was defUed
with spitting, his head crowned with thorns,
his back torn by scourges, bis 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 thera, Gal. ii. 10. Thus he
delivered them from approaching wrath ; and
this love has won their hearts. And they
are waiting for his retum from heaven, (1
Thess. i. 8 ;) that when they shall see hini
as he is, with all his angels, and with all his
saints, they raay join in nobler straifls 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 hira
for in this life, they have much more to ex
pect when he shaU descend. Their privi
leges are great, while here. They are already
delivered frora guilt and conderanation, they
have access by hira to a throne of grace, they
have fellowship with hira 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 tempta
tion ; they are stUl straitened and hindered,
in their best atterapts and desires, by an in
dwelling principle of evil. They are sowing
in tears, (Ps. cxxvi. 5,) but when their Lord
shall descend, they expect to reap with joy.
He is coraing to wipe away all tbeir tears,
and then they are assured they shall weep no
raore. The days of their mourning shall
cease for ever. He has prepared for them a
kingdom, " incorruptible, undefiled, and that
fadeth not away," 1 Pet i. 4. In that king
dora they shall shine forth, each like the sun
in the firraaraent (Matt xiii. 43,) an immense
constellation of suns !
The manner in which the Lord will de
scend can be but faintly illustrated by any
circumstances borrowed from the pomp of
this day. When the King enters St Paul's,
his arrival will be announced by the voice of
the multitude, the discharge of cannon, and
the deep-mouthed organ. But what are these
when corapared with the voice of the Arch
angel, the shout of all who love his appear
ance, and that trump of God, which wUl
shake the creation, and raise the dead ? Per
haps by the word Archangel,, in this connec
tion, we may understand, the Lord of angels,
the King himseff. "He shall call to the
heaven from above, and to the earth, that he
may judge his people," Ps. 1. 4. The hour
cometh, when the dead shall hear tbe 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 triuraphant shout of victory

422

THE GREAT ADVENT.

when the eneray is utterly defeated. Sucb
wiU be the shout when the Lord shall de
scend — His soldiers, who, fighting 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. 87. Their
shout shall proclaira his praise : for they got
not tbe victory by their own sword, neither
did their own arra save thera, Ps. xliv. 3.
The Lord leads them on, teaches them to
fight clothes them with coraplete arraour,
and supplies them with strength. He him
self subdues their foes — and when he shall
descend with glory, he will terminate the
contest His people will then utter a univer
sal shout, and shall hear the noise of war no
more. When the Lord descended upon Mount
Sinai, the trumpet of God was heard ex
ceeding 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,
eaid, " 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 raore im
portant and extensive. It will be heard, not
only in the neighbourhood of one mountain,
but from east to west, from pole to pole ; not
only by the living, 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
universal. 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 raany traitors disguised under the
profession of his narae frora age to age. He
will not bear with them always. He knows
them all, and not one of thera can escape his
notice. To them the language of the trurap
will be. Arise, and corae to judgment ! My
heart is pained to think, that possibly, sorae
of this description raay be now present in
our asserably. Yet I ara glad you are here,
that I may warn you to flee frora the wrath
to corae. What a dreadful day will it be,
when you, if unhumbled, unpardoned, un
sanctified, as you now are, shall be compelled
to stand before his tribunal ! For we are as
sured, that when he returns to bless his will
ing people, he will suraraon his eneraies, who
would not that he should reign over them.

Luke xix. 27. He wiU place them at his
left hand, and denounce that awful sentence
upon thera, " Depart, ye cursed, into ever
lasting fire," Matt xxv. 41. As yet he is
upon a raercy-seat. Oh ! seek him whUe he
may be found; call upon him while he is
near ! Isa. Iv. 6. There is forgiveness with
him. Humble yourselves before him, and
entreat for mercy. Entreat him to show you
who he is, and what he has done for sinners ;
that you may believe and be saved. Other
wise you must stand before his judgment-
seat Then his wrath will burn like fire.
But it is ofthe 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 whicb intimate, that the servants
of the Lord Christ, shall have the honour of
being in some manner beyond our feeble ap
prehension, assessors with their Lord in the
day of judgment, Luke xxii. 30,"»i Cor. vi.
3. They will witness and approve his pro
ceedings. In this state of infirmity, it be
coraes them, and is their duty, to pity and
pray for the wicked ; and to use all their in
fluence 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 impressed with
the justice and holiness of the sentence of
conderanation, that they will not hesitate to
say, " Araen — So let all thine enemies 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 moraent, in the twinkling of an eye,"^
at the last trump," 1 Cor. xv. 52. — They
wUl 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, ac
cording to the pattern of his glorious body,
(Phil. iii. 21,) and they, like Enoch and
Elijah of old, shall ascend, together with
those who are raised from the dead, to meet
hira in the air.
These wUl constitute his train. The re
deemed from the earth; they who lived and
died in the faith ofhis name, through a course
of successive generations; and they who
shall ba alive at his coming, shall be all col

THE GREAT ADVENT.

423

lected together, and prepared to welcome
him. Of the numbers who will rejoice to see
the King to day, many, tiiough loyal subjects,
wUlonly behold him at a distance; and the
fer greater part ofhis people will not behold
him at all. Few but the nobility and prin
cipal persons can gain admission into the
church; thougb the crowds in the street
wiU participate in the general satisfection.
Could we suppose, that instead of the com
mon people, the streets were filled, and the
wmdows lined by the great, that all the
sovereigns, potentates, and illustrious person
ages in Europe, were assembled to be spec
tators of the joyful event which now calls
for our thanksgivings; splendid as the con
course might appear in the eyes of men, they
would be unspeakably inferior, in rank and
dignity, to those who shaU meet the Lord.
Not one of his people will be absent ; and
however poor and unnoticed many of them
once were, tbey wUl then, every one, be
greater than the kings of the earth. They
wUl all claim the title, and the claim will be
aUowed, of sons and daughters of the Lord
Almighty, 2 Cor. vi. 18. They will all pos
sess that honour which cometh of God only,
John V. 44. The glorious company of apos
ties, the goodly fellowship of prophets, the
noble army of martyrs, wUl march in the
procession ; and besides these, an exceeding
great multitude which no man can number,
whose exultation and happiness are but im
perfectly represented to us by images bor
rowed 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, Uttle flock, it is your Father's
good pleasure to give you the kingdom,"
Luke xu. 32. May grace preserve you
from being ashame4<of your Lord now, and
you wUl not be ashamed of him nor wUl he
be ashamed of you, when he shall come to
judge the world. Matt. x. 32; Mark. viii.
38. 'When all mankind shaU be ranged before
this great Judge, he wUl own and vindicate
his people in the presence of assembled
worlds, and pass an irrevocable sentence of
exclusion and conderanation upon his ene
mies ; and then, be wUl say to those on his
right hand, " Come, ye blessed of my Fa
ther, inherit the kingdom prepared for you,"
(Matt. xxv. 34,) then, he wiU present thera
before the presence ofhis glory, with exceed
ing joy; (Judg 24;) then time shaU be no
more ; (Rev. x. 6 ;) they wiU no longer mea
sure their existence by the revolutions of the
sun and the moon ; they wUl enter upon an
eternal state. With this event the apostie

closes the description in my text Here he
stops; tiie 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 raust leave this world, and be admitted
into the inheritance of the saints in light, be
fore we can fully understand the import 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 willingly make all who shall see him
to-day, yea, all his subjects, in every part of
his dorainions, corapletely happy. But can
he take thera all with him to court? Can he
treat them all as his own children ? Can he
invest thera all with dignities and possessions
equal to the largest desires of their hearts 1
Could we, for a raoraent, conceive it possible
for an earthly king to do thus, still it would
afford but a very faint illustration of our sub
ject The highest effects ofhis favour would
be precarious and transient, conflned to the
terra of a short life, and in their nature, in
capable of answering the instinctive appetite
of the soul of man, formed for imraortality,
and endued with a capacity for good, which
nothing less than being 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," Matt xvii. 4. He would have
been glad to buUd tabernacles upon the mount,
and to return to the world no more. He
knew not indeed what he said ; there was
rauch 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 hiraself unto thera, as he does
not unto the world, (John xiv. 22,) and causes
his goodness to pass before them ; then, for
the tirae, they are raised above both the cares
and the comforts of this world, and could be
glad to reraain with him. But, like Peter,
they must return to fill up the duties of their
situation in life, till his appointed hour of
dismission. However, these foretastes con
vince thera, that they cannot be properly
happy till they are with him in bis kingdom,
where nothing will conceal hira for a moraent
frora their view.
Their nearest approaches to him now, are
likewise subject to abatements. Something
frora within or frora without stUl occurs to
interrupt, and too often to suspend their joys.
Their coraraunion with hira is indistinct,
through the medium of ordinances, and a

-©4

THE GREAT AD"VENT.

vail of flesh aiid blood. This vail hmders
them, iiot only as it is polluted, but as it is
weak, and subject to many infirmities. We
cannot see him, as yet and live, Exod. xxxiii.
20. If he did not accomraodate the disco
veries of bimself to the fraUty of our nature,
we should be overpowered. The beloved
disciple bad often conversed familiarly with
his Lord, and reclined on his bosom, during
his state of humUiation : but when he ap
peared in the isle of Patmos, though his ma
jesty was attempered with mildness 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 thera, " Let us go up to
tbe 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 frora his
ordinances. But when they shall raeet their
Lord in the air, they will be freed from
every defect, defilement, and impediment.
They wUl see him as he is, without any in
terposing vail or cloud. They wUl be out of
the reach of sin, temptation, pain, and grief
They are blessed now, though often called
to mourn, because they wUl then be comfort
ed. Matt. V. 3.
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 comraen
surate to the utmost grasp of our capacity ; if
it were only for a raonth, or a year, or an age,
or a thousand ages — the thought that this
happiness raust at length have an end, how
ever distant the termination might be, would
cast a damp upon the whole enjoyraent.
But to know that the happiness is eternal,
tbat they who are once with the Lord shall
be with him for ever ; this is, if I may so
speak, the Heaven of Heaven itself Such
honour awaits all the saints : for thus hath
the Amen, the faithful and true Witness,
already declared: "Him that overcometh,
will I make a pUlar in the house of ray God,
and he shall go no raore out" Rev. Ui. 12.
"Thy sun shall no more go down, neither
shall thy moon withdraw itself; for the Lord
shall be thine everlasting light, and the days
of thy mourning shall be ended," Isa. Ix. 20.
I hope I have not digressed from the de
sign of this day, by attempting to lead your
thoughts to the day of the Lord. I have
avaUed myself of every occasion, which my
views ofthe text have suggested, to impress
upon your hearts and ray 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 acknowledgment to the Most High,
and to revisit his affectionate people. But
never are our temporal mercies so sweet, so
valuable, nor so likely to be permanent, as
when they are thankfully contemplated in
immediate connexion with tbe hand of him
by whom kings reign, and who doth what
pleaseth him, in the armies of heaven, and
araong 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 chUdren, unless we can ac
knowledge, 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. Hip
wise, and holy providence ruleth oyer all;
and every movement has either a more re
mote or a more direct tendency to bring for
ward the glories of that day, when the Lord
hiraself shall descend to receive his own peo
ple, and to execute vengeance upon his ad
versaries. Knowing to whopi I ara 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 tbat thou shalt
come to be our judge." It is the Lord Jesus
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 aU things are
delivered unto him, all power committed to
hira, in heaven and in earth, Matt. 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. 1.
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
shortly 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.
WhUe I exhort you to rejoice, and join
with you in rejoicing, for tbe late instance of
his goodness to tbe 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 raay warrantably say, rejoice on these
accounts, but rather, especially, and above
all, "Rejoice that your naraes are written in
heaven," (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. Ixxiii. 24

( 425 )

A HVMN OP 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.
IL
Comets, or eclipses wake him,
Fbr a moment fix bis eye.
Hurricanes, or earthquakes shake him,
And extort an anxious cry;
While the sun, with gentle motion.
Spreading blessings iJrough the year.
Causes no devout emotion.
Neither gratitude nor fear.
IIL
God in mercy to this nation.
Has afforded us a King,
¦Whose benign administration,
Cheer'd us like the sun iu spring.

Truth and liberty were nourished.
By his mild auspicious rays :
Thus in peace, the kingdom flourished ;
But our hearts forgot to praise.
rv.
When a dark eclipse succeeded.
Fear a thousand iUs surmised ;
Then we felt how much we needed
What we had too little prized :
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, tbe 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 tiie sceptre wield.
For our good and with thy favour.
Thou his Wisdom, Strength, and Shield.

Vol. il

3H

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
perish not. — Jonah iii. 9.

How great is the power of God over the
hearts of raen ! Nineveh was the capital of a
powerful empire. The inhabitants were hea
thens. The raany prophets who, during a
long series of years, had spoken in the name
ofthe Lord to his professed people of Judah
and Israel, had spoken almost in vain. The
messengers were often mocked, and their
message despised. The inhabitants of Nine
veh, it is probable, had never seen a true
prophet till Jonah was sent to them. If they
had reasoned on his prediction, they might
i 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 over
throw within forty days. But it is said, in verse
5, " They believed God." The awful denun
ciation made a general, a universal impres
sion. The king arose from his throne, laid
aside his robes, covered himself with sack
cloth, and sat in ashes. A sudden cessation,
of business and of pleasure, took place ; be
proclaimed a strict fast, the rigour of which
was extended even to the cattle. His sub
jects readily complied, and unaniraously con
curred in crying for mercy, though they
had no encouragement but a peradventure :
" Who can teU if God will turn and repent
aiid 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 af
ford ground and room for repentance. Thus
in the prophecy of Ezekiel; (chap, xxxiii. 14,
15 ;) " 'When I say unto the wicked. Thou
shalt suTely 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 prop,heoy of Jeremiah, (chap. xviU. 7, 8,)

" At what instant I shall speak concerning a
nation, and concerning a kingdom to destroy
it ; if that nation against whom I have pro
nounced, 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 bim ?
Numb, xxiii. 19; Job xxUi. 13. Yet when
afflictive providences lead men to a sense of
their sins, to an acknowledgeraent of their
deraerits, and excite a spirit of hurailiation,
repentance and prayer, be often mercifully
changes his dispensations, and averts from
thera the irapending evil. Such was the ef
fect of Jonah's message to tbe Ninevites.
The people humbled themselves, and repen
ted of their wickedness ; and God suspended
the execution of the sentence whicb he had
pronounced against them.
My brethren, may we not fear, that the
men of Nineveh will rise up in judgraent
against us, (Matt xii. 41,) and condemn us,
if we do not iraitate their exaraple, and hum
ble ourselves 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 de
clared? God does not speak to us by the audible
voice of an inspired prophet, nor is it neces
sary. We know, or raay know from his
written word, that it shaU be well with the
righteous, and ill with the wicked, Is. iii. 10,
11. The appearance of an angel from heaven
could add nothing to the certainty of the de-
426

THE IMMINENT DANGER, &c.

42?

clarations he has already put into our hands.
He has likewise raised up, and perpetuated
a, succession of his ministers, to enforce the
warnings he has given us in the scripture ;
to remind us of our sins, and the sure and
dreadful consequences, tf we persist in them.
Nor are we left at an uncertainty as to the
event, if we humbly confess thera, and ira
plore forgiveness, 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 among
us. Gal. iu. 1. His blood cleanseth from all
sin; (1 John i. 7;) and they wbo believe in
him are freed from condemnation, and com
pletely justified, Rom. viu. 1 ; Acts xiii. 89.
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. U. 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 leam 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, 11. The great God has a controversy
with the potsherds of the earth. The point
te be decided between him, and many abroad,
an^, I fear, too many at home is, whether
he be the govemor ofthe earth or not? His
own people, to whora bis narae and glory are
dear, will hold all inferior concernraents in
subordination to this. If there be no other
alljemative, misery and havoc must spread,
men raust perish by millions, yea, the frame
of niiture must be dissolved, rather than God
be dishonoured and defied with impunity.
Buthe'wUl surely plead and gain his own
cause; land either in a way of judgment or
of mercy all men shall know, that he'is the
Lord. I believe there is no expression in the
Old Testament so frequently repeated as
this, Ye, or They shall know that I ara the
Lord, " Hath he said it and shall he not
make it goodV' Ezekiel passim.
' The rivers of huraan blood, and all the ca
lamities and hofror which overspread a great
part of the continent, the distant report of
which is sufficient to raake our ears tingle,
are all to be ascribed to this cause. God is
not acknowledged, yea, in sorae 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 raore dreadful judg
ment 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 distance ; it seems moving our way.

and we have reason to fear it may burst upon
us. But I would be thankful for the appoint
ment of this day ; for I should think the pros
pect dark indeed, if I did not rely on -the
Lord's gracious attention to the united pray
ers of those who fear and trust him, and who
know it is equally easy to him either to save
or to destroy, by raany or by few, 1 Sam.
xiv. 6. Our fleets and arraies may be well
appointed and well coraraanded ; but without
his blessing upon our councils and enter
prises, they will be unable to defend us. He
can take wisdom from the wise, and courage
from the bold, in the moraent when they are
most needful. He can disable our forces by
sickness or dissension. And by bis mighty
wind, he can dash our ships to pieces against
the rocks, against each other, or sink them
as lead in the mighty waters. Who is he
that saith, and it cometh to pass, if the Lord
coraraandeth not ? Lara. iii. 37.
Our Lord and Saviour, when speaking of
the eighteen upon whora the tower of SUoam
fell and slew thera, said to the Jews, " Think
ye that these raen were sinners above all
that dwelt in Jerusalera, because they suf
fered such things ? I tell you, Nay : but ex
cept you repent 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, hut there are
greater sinners than ourselves. It is true
the French Convention, and many others who
are infatuated by the same spirit, have ex
ceeded the ordinary standard of human im
piety and cruelty. But I hope there are mul
titudes in that nation, who, though they are
overawed by the oppressors, and dare not
speak their sentiments, yet are raourning in
secrecy and silence for the aborainations
which they cannot prevent. But the French
have not sinned against such advantages as
¦wc possess. They were long the slaves of ar
bitrary power, and the dupes of superstition,
and of late they have been the dupes of mad
men, assuming the name of philosophers.
We, on the contrary, were bom and educated
in aland distinguished from all the nations of
the earth by the eminent degree in which
we enjoy civil and reUgious liberty, and the
light of gospel truth. These privileges ex
ceedingly aggravate our sins ; and no just
comparison, in this respect, can be formed
between us and other nations, until we can
find a people v/ho have been equally favoured,
and for an equal space of tirae, by the provi
dence of God, and have likewise equalled us
in disobedience and ingratitude.
The roost dreadful enormities committed
in France, are no more than speciraens of
what human depravity is capable, when cir
cumstances admit of its full exertion, and
when the usual boundaries and restrictions
necessary to the peace and welfare of civil

^8

THE IMMINENT DANGER AND ONLY

society are judicially removed. The influ-
eiice of daring infidelity and profligate exam
ple, aided by the peculiar state of their public
affairs, have broken, in many instances, the
strongest ties of social and relative life, and
extinguished the common feelings of hu
manity. Yet the unhappy French, though our in
veterate 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 thera. Who can tell but God, to
whom all things are possible, and whose
mercies are higher than the heavens, may
give thera also repentance ? 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 hurable
ourselves before Almighty God, and to send
up our prayers and supplications to the Di
vine Majesty, for obtaining pardon of our
sins, and for averting those heavy judgments
which our manifold provocations have most
justly deserved, and imploring his blessing
and assistance on tbe arms ofhis Majesty by
sea and land, and for restoring and perpetu
ating peace, safety, and prosperity to hiraself
and to his kingdoms.* I hope these expres
sions 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 feith 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
feces 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 hira the whole of that praise and
homage which are justiy due to him. O that
by feith, 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 himself
would adopt the prophet's language. Or if
a corafortable hope in the gospel prevented
us from crying out. Wo is me, I am undone !
— we should at least say (the Hebrew word
might be so rendered,) I am silenced, I ara
struck durab ! I ara overwhelraed with con
fusion and sharae ; for I ara a raan of unclean
lips myself, and 1 dwell in the midst of a
people of unclean lips, for raine eyes have
seen the King, the Lord of hosts.
If we have a degree of this irapression, we
shall not be at leisure to perplex ourselves
* Title-page of the appointed form of pvayer.

concerning men or measures, the second
causes, or immediate instruments of our ca
laraities. Tbe evU of sin contrasted with the
holmess and glory of God, wUl engross our
thoughts. And we shall ascribe all tbe trou
bles 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 confession
suits us all, and is readily made by all who
know themselves. A person approaching
London frora the neighbouring hills, usually
sees it obscured by a cloud of smoke. This
cloud is the aggregate of the smoke, to which
every house fumishes its respective quota.
It is no unfit emblem of the sin and the
misery which abound in tbis great metropo
lis. The Lord said of tbe Amorites, at a
certain period. Their iniquity is not yet full:
(Gen. XV. 16 ;) I hope the measure of our
iniquity is not yet full ; but it is fiUmg every
day, and we are all daily contributing to fill
it True believers, though by grace delivered
frora tbe reigning power of sin, (Rom. vi. 14,)
are still sinners. In many things we offend
all, in thought v/ord, and deed. We are
now caUed upon to humble ourselves before
God, for the sins of our ignorance, and for
the more aggravated sins we bave committed
against light, and experience — for those per
sonal sins, the record of whicb isonly known
to God and our own consciences — forjthe de
fects and defilements of our best services —
for our great and manifold faUures in the
discharge of our relative duties, as parents,
children, husbands, wives, masters, or ser
vants, and as raerabers of the community.
Our dulness in the ways ofGod, our alertness
in the pursuit of our own will and way ; our
indifference to what concerns his glory, com
pared with the qiiickness of our apprehen
sions wben our own temporal interests are
affected, — are so many proofs of our ingrati
tude 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
tbem only, they could offer no other plea
than that which he has mercffuUy provided
for thera ; " If thou. Lord, shouldst raark
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 magni
tude of their own sins, can be competent
judges of what the prophet meant or felt,
when he said, I dwell in tiie midst of a peo
ple of unclean lips. We ought to be no less
concerned (thougb in a different manner) for
the sins ofthose among whom we dwell, than
for our own. We shall be so, if with the eyes
of our mind, we behold the King, tiie Lord
of hosts ; because his glory, which should be

SURE RESOURCE OP THIS NATION.

429

the dearest object to our hearis, is dishon
oured by them.
I think this nation raay 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 show
amongst us, such instances of his protection,
his fevour, 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 sera. But we do
know, that after the long dark night of
superstition and ignorance which covered
Christendom for many ages, the dawn of re
turning gospel light was first seen amongst
us. From the tirae of Wickliff, the morning-
star of the Reformation, the true gospel has
been known, preached, received, and per
petuated to this day. There have been tiraes
when they who loved this gospel have suf
fered for it They were preserved faithful^.
in defiance of stripes, fines, imprisonment
and death itseff. But those times are past.
We enjoy not only light, but liberty, and tbe
rights of conscience and private judgment,
in a degree till of late unknown.
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 inva
sions ; and when such have been attempted,
the winds and seas have often fought our
. battles. Our wide-spreading and flourish
ing commerce has raised us to a pitch of
opulence, which excites the adrairation 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 I looked for grapes,
brought it forth wild grapes? Isa. v. 4.
How is the blessed gospel improved araong
us ? This would be a heavy day to rae, 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 as
sembled in one place, I hope they would be
found a very considerable number: and for
their sakes, and in answer to their prayers, I
humbly trust that mercy wiU still be afforded
to Hs. But compared with the multitudes

who reject, despise, or dishonour it I fear
they are very few. Too raany hate it with
a bitter hatred, and exert all their influence
to oppose and suppress it. The great doc
trines of the Reformation are treated with
conterapt ; and both they who preach, and
they who espouse thera, are considered as
visionaries or hypocrites, knaves or fools.
The gospel of God is shunned as a pestilence,
or complained of as a burden, alraost where-
ever it is known.
Wisdora is indeed justified of all her chil
dren, Luke vii. 35. The gospel is the power
of God to the salvation of thera that believe,
Rora. i. 16. It recalls thera from error, from
wickedness, and frora raisery, 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 nuraber
of those who profess to receive it, there are
too raany who confirra and increase the pre
judices ofthose who speak against what they
know not. — Alas! what extravagant opin
ions, what fierce dissensions, what loose con
versations, what open offences, raay be found
araongst raany who would be thought profes
sors of that gospel which only breathes the
spirit of holiness, love, and peace !
What then raust be the state of those who
avowedly Uve 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 inforra 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 ofthe 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
behaff. I should be inexcusable, considering the
share I have formerly had in that unhappy
business, if, upon this occasion, I should orait
to raention the African slave-trade. I do not
rank this araongst our national sins ; because
I hope and believe, a very great raajority of
the nation, earnestly long for its suppression.
But, hitherto, petty and partial interests pre
vail against the voice of justice, humanity,
and truth. This enormity, however, is not
sufficiently laid to heart. If you are justly
shocked by what you hear of the cruelties
practised in France, you would perhaps be
shocked much raore, if you could fully con-

430

THE IMMINENT DANGER AND ONLY

ceive of the evUs and miseries inseparable
from this traffic, which, I apprehend, not
frora hearsay, but frora my own observation,
are equal in atrocity, 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 comraencement
of their revolution. There is a cry of blood
against us ; a cry accumulated by the acces
sion of fresh victims, of thousands, of scores
of thousands, I had almost said of hundreds
of thousands, from year to year.
It is but a brief and feint outline I have at
tempted to give of the present state of this
nation, in the sight of Alraighty God, and of
the sins for which we are this day assembled
to humble ourselves before hira.
II. Have we not therefore cause to say,
with the Ninevites, Who can tell ? — Is it not
a peradventure? Is there raore 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
being coraraitted against clearer light, and
the distinguished advantages we have long
enjoyed : if we have not only transgressed the
laws of God in common with others, but
daringly trampled upon the gracious tenders
of bis forgiveness, which he has long con
tinued to propose to us, with a frequency and
energy almost peculiar to ourselves : if all
the day long he has stretched out his hands
to a disobedient and gainsaying people, (Rora.
X. 21,) and, hitherto, almost in vain : if nei
ther the tokens of his displeasure, nor the
declarations of his love, have made a suita
ble impression upon our minds, — who can
tell if he wUl yet be entreated? 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. 1.5.
¦Where are now the raighty erapires, which
were once thought rooted and established as
the everlasting raountains? They have dis
appeared like the raists upon the raountain-
tops. Nothing of thera remains but their
naraes. They perished, and their memorials
have almost perished with them, Ps. ix. 6.
The patience of God bore with them for a
time, and until the purposes for which he
raised them up were answered; but when
the raeasure of their iniquity was full, they
passed away, and were dispersed, like foara
upon the waters. What security have we
from such a catastrophe? Or what could
we answer, if God should put that question
to us, " Shall not I visit for these things ?
ShaU not my soul be avenged on such a na
tion as this?" Jer. v. 9.
Where are now the churches whicji once
flourished in Greece, and in the Lesser Asia ?

When tbe'apostle Paul wrote to tbe 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
coraraendations given to them were applica
ble 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 faitb and
love are every where spoken of, and that we
are exaraples to all that believe? That our
works, and service, and feith, and patience,
are known, and the last to be more than the
first? Rora. i. 8; 1 Thess. i. 7; Rev. u. 19.
Or rather, may it not be said of too many,
that whUe they profess to believe in God, in
works they deny him ? Titus i. 16. — That
they are neither hot nor cold — That they
have a name to live, and are dead — That
they have at least forgotten their first love ?
Rev. iii. 1, 15 ; ii. 4. Wben these defects
and declensions began to prevaU in tbe first
churches, the Lord admonished and warned
thera ; but instead of watching and repent
ing, 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 ofthe temple should
depart from us. When the Israelites were
afraid of the Philistines, they carried the
ark of the Lord with them to battle. But
God disappointed their vain confidence. He
delivered the ark ofhis glory into the hands
of their enemies; (1 Sam. iv. 5, 11;) to
teach them, and to teach us, that formal hy
pocritical 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 mad
ness of our foreign enemies, we have rauch
to apprehend at home. A spirit of discord
has gone forth. Jeshurun has waxed fat
and kicked, Deut xxxiii. 15. Many Britons
seera weary of liberty, peace, and order.
Our happy constitution, our raUd govemment,
our many privileges, admired by other na
tions, are despised and depreciated amongst
ourselves : and that not only by the thought
less and licentious, by those who, having
little to lose, may promise themselves a pos
sibility of gain, in a time of disturbance and
confusion ; but they are abetted and instigated
by persons 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 blessing, no union can long subsist.

SURE RESOURCE OP THIS NATION.

431

"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 tiiine 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
emphatically describe the former and the pre
sent state of many of the French nation,
who have been despoUed, insulted, and glad
if tbey could escape (great nurabers could
not so escape) with the loss of their all, and
at the perU of their lives, to a raore hospita
ble shore. May tbeir sufferings reraind us of
our deserts ! Who can tell if the Lord may
yet be merciful unto us, and exempt us from
fiimUar calamities i
in. 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
confined 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 trem
ble for the ark, for the cause of God, whose
eyes affect 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 ;)
faut 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.
1; cxix. 114.
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,
Matt xxviU. 18. The Lord reigneth, let
the earth be never so unquiet Ps. xciix. 1.
All creatures are instruments of his will.
The wrath of man, so far as it is permitted
to act, shaU praise hira, shall be made sub
servient to the accomplishraent of his great
designs; and the remainder of that wrath,
all tiieir projected violence, which does not
coincide with his wise and comprehensive
plan, be wUl restrain, Ps. Ixxvi. 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 terapestuous sea, be
yond which it cannot pass, saying. Hitherto
shalt thou come and no farther, and here
ehall thy proud waves be stayed ; (Job xxxvUi.

10, 11 ;) so, with equal ease, he can stUl tbe
raadness of the people, Ps. lxv. 7.
You do well to raourn for the sins and
miseries of those who know him not But if
you raake hira your fear and your dread, he
will be a sanctuary to you, and keep your
hearts in peace, though the earth be removed,
and the mountains cast into the midst of the
sea. Is. viu. 13, 14. Ps. xlvi. 2.
2. Your part and mine, is to ijvatch and
pray. — Let us pray for ourselves, that we
may be found waiting, with our loins girded
up, and our lamps burning, (Mark xUL 35 ;
xiv. 38,) that we may be prepared to meet
his wUl in every event Let us pray for the
peace of Jerusalem, for his church, which is
dear to hira, as the pupil of his eye, for the
spread of his gospel, and the extension of
his kingdom, till his great narae be knowfl
and adored from the rising to the setting of
tiie sun, and the whole earth shall lie filled
with his glory, Mal. i. 11. Many splendid
prophecies are yet unfulfilled: and he is
now bringing forward their accomplishment.
Light would undoubtedly arise out of this
darkness. Let us earnestly pray for a bless
ing from on high, upon our beloved King and
his family, upon the counsels of government
and parliament, and upon all subordinate au
thority in church and state — that vve may
lead quiet and peaceable lives in all godli
ness and honesty, that religion and good order
may be established, and iniquity be put to
sharae and silence. Thus we may nope 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 nurabered, Matt. x. 30. Or if, for
the manffestation of our faith, and the power
of his grace, he should permit us to share in'
coraraon 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
sweetest consolations, 2 Cor. i. 5. ,
3. And let us pray in faith.. Let us re
member what great things the Lord has done
in answer to prayer. 'When sin had given
Sennacherib rapid success in his invasion of
Judah, 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 his vic
tories to his own prowess, and thought him
self equally sure of Jerusalera. 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, and the iron gate opened, whUe the

432

THE IMMINENT DANGER, &.C.

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 bis
people, in our own time. Much prayer, both
public and private, was offered for our be
loved King, during his late Ulness ; and how
wonderful, how sudden, how seasonable was
his recovery ! Surely this was the finger of
God ! When he thus removed our apprehen-
siong, 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 tumed like the
tide in the critical moment Then I think
the interposition of the Lord was 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
which 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 with
out his blessing our most powerful efforts,
and best concerted undertakings cannot suc
ceed. You, who have access to the throne of
grace, whose hearts are concemed for the
glory of God, and who laraent not only the
temporal calamities attendant upon war, but
the many thousands of souls who are yearly
precipitated by it into an eternal, unchange
able state, — you, I trust, will show your

selves trae friends to your country, by fceai'-'
ing your testimony, and exertuig your in
fluence against sin, the procuring ca,use 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 Sodora, it would bave escaped de
struction. Gen. xviu. 32.
IV. There may be some persons in this
assembly, who are little concemed 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 wam you. If you should live to
see a time of public distress, what will you
do ? To whom will you look, or whither wiU
you flee for help? AU that is dear to you
may be torn from you, or you from it. — Or,
ff it please God to prolong our tranquillity,
you are liable to many heavy calamities in
private lffe. And if you should be exempted
frora these, death is inevitable, and may be
near. My heart wishes you the possession
of those principles which would'support you
in all the changes of life, and raake your dy
ing pillow corafortable. Are you unwilling
to be happy ? or can you be happy too soon ?
Many persons are now looking 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 rightiy to him.
If you ask it of him, he will give it you ; ff
you seek it in the means of his appointment,
you shall assuredly find, Matt vii. 7. If
you refuse this, there remaineth no otber sa
crifice for sin, Heb. x. 22, 27- If you are
not saved by faith in his blood, you are lost
for ever. O kiss the Son, lest he be angry,
and you perish from tbe way, if bis wrath
be kindled, yea but a little. Blessed are
all tbey that put their trust in him. Psalm
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.

Horn shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? How shall I deliver thee, Israel ? How shall I make
thee as Admah ? Haw shall I set thee as Zeboim ? My heart is turned within me, my
repentings are kindled together, I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, I will
not retum to destroy 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
weakness of our conceptions. Heavenly
truths are represented by images taken frora
earthly things, John iii. 12. The metaphors
of eyes and hands are used in the scriptures
to raise our thoughts to sorae due apprehen
sion of his infinite knowledge, his oranipre-
sence, and his alraighty power, 1 Pet. iii. 12 ;
Ps. Ixxxix. 13. He is likewise spoken of, as
deliberating, repenting, rejoicing, and griev
ing; yet we are sure that passions like those
of which we are conscious in ourselves, can
not in strict propriety be ascribed to the holy
and blessed God. No attentive and serious
mind can be raisled by this figurative analo
gy. We learn from the same scriptures of
truth, that God is sovereign ; that with him
there is no variableness, nor shadow of turn
ing, (James i. 17,) that his counsel shall
stand, and he will do all his pleasure, (Is.
xlvi. iO;) and that all his works are perfect
ly known to him, from the beginning of the
world, Acts XV. 18. The more familiar modes
of expression are designed to teach us, not
what he is in himself, but how it becomes us
einful 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 de
bate, as it were, between his justice and his
mercy. Justice demanded that Israel should
be given up, delivered up to vengeance, to
such a destruction as that by which God
Vol. il 3 I

overthrew the cities in tbe plain of Jericho,
Sodora and Goraorrah, Adraah and Zeboim,
Deut xxix. 23. But Mercy interposed, plead
ed 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, ray heart is turned
within me, ray repentings are kindled.
Two reasons are assigned, in bis pathetic
expostulation, why he would still exercise
long-suffering towards those who so justly
deserved to perish : 1. I am God, and not
man. The patience of raan, or of any mere
creature, would have been overcorae long
ago by the perverseness of Israel; but he
who raade thera, and he only, was able to
bear with them stUl. 2. I am the Holy One
in the midst of thee. In that dark and de
generate day, when the bulk of tbe nation
was in a state of revolt and rebellion, there
were a hidden remnant who feared and wor
shipped the Lord, and who mourned for the
abominations which they could not prevent
Ezek. ix. 4, 6. Of these the Lord was mind
ful, and for the sake of these, deserved judg
ments were suspended frora falling upon the
rest. The people of Israel were for a tirae in a
state of hard bondage, and were severely op
pressed in Egypt. The Lord brought them
out frora thence with a mighty hand, and a
stretched-out arm. He afterwards drowned
Pharaoh and his host ui the Red Sea ; but he
led Israel safely through the deep as upon
dry land. In the barren wUderness he fed
them with manna, and brought tbem water
out of the rock. In the pathless wilderness
433

434

MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE.

he guided them, by a cloud in the day, and
by a fire in the night. He fought their bat
tles, subdued their eneraies, and put them in
possession of the land he had proraised to
their forefathers. They were a people whom
the Most High selected for hiraself, as his
peculiar treasure, Ps. cxxxv. 4. He was
their God and their King. They were the
only people who were at that tirae favoured
witii the knowledge of the true God, and
how to worship hira acceptably. He gave
tbem his laws and ordinances. He resided
among them, and honoured them with a visi
ble token of his presence in the tabernacle,
and afterwards in the teraple. They were
likewise under an especial care of his provi
dence. The fruitfulness of their land did
not depend upon the cliraate, but the early,
and the latter rain returned regularly at the
stated seasons, by his appointraent ; and
when, in obedience to his commands, all their
males from the most distant parts went up
three times in a year to Jerusalera, and left
their borders destitute of huraan defence, God
so irapressed the surrounding nations with
awe, tbat, though hostile in their dispositions,
they never availed themselves of that seera
ingly favourable opportunity for invading
them, Exod. xxxiv. 24. Under the reign of
Solomon, they enjoyed peace, plenty, pros
perity, 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 raore than the recital of a
long series of ungrateful murraurings, diso
bedience, and rebellion. They resisted his
wUl, broke his commandments, mingled with
the heathen, and learned their ways. Tbey
repeatedly forsook the Lord God of their
fathers, 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 tbem. The
Lord gave them up unto the hands of their
enemies ; they suffered by the sword, by pes
tUence and by famine. 'When he slew them,
then they sought him ; and when they sought
him, he was entreated of -thera, Ps. Ixxviii.
34. He delivered thera out qf their afflic
tions ; but they soon forgot bis goodness, and
returned to their evU ways. He sent raany
of his servants in succession, to adraonish
and warn them ; but they despised his words,
tbey mocked his messengers, and misused his
prophets, 2 Chron. xxxvi. 16.
Can we wonder, if justice demanded the
utter extirpation and ruin of a people so
highly favoured, so weU instructed, so often
chastised and delivered, and yet so incorrigi
bly tmgrateful, daring, and obstinate ! Is it
not ratiier wonderful to hear the Lord ex
pressing a reluctance to execute the sentence
so justly deserved, and saying of such a peo
ple. How shall I give thee up?

But can we read the history of Israel,
without remarking how strongly it resembles
our own ? Have we not been equally distm-
guished from the nations around us, by spi
ritual and temporal blessings, and by our
gross misimproveraent of them? We are
assembled this day to join in public thanks
givings 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 bave reason to temper
our joy with trembling (Ps. ii. 11,) when we
compare the state of things around us, with
that of Ephraim and Judah in the days ofthe
prophet Hosea.
'While too many persons lose their time
and teraper in political and party disputes;
and refer all the calamities we either feel or
fear to instruments and second causes, let us
acknowledge that the Lord God omnipotent
reigneth ! Rev. xix. 6. Let us consider sin
as the procuring cause of all our troubles.
Let us recognize bis hand in thera, and con
fess that, in all tbe distress he has brought
upon us, be bas not dealt with us as our ini
quities deserve. May our hearts be suitably
affected, while I attempt a brief sketch ofthe
abounding evils and abomuiations prevalent
amongst us, which raight juStly provoke the
Lord to sweep this land, so long the land of
peace and liberty, with the besom of destruc
tion ! and then we shall be prepared to praise
hira for those merciful and signal interposi
tions of his providence, which afford us some
ground to hope, that, notwithstanding all our
provocations, he wUl not yet give us up.
I. Offences of the same kind may be
heightened and aggravated by circumstances.
Thus an insult offered to a benefactor, a par
rent, 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 commit
ted against greater advantages and privileges
than any other people have enjoyed. May
not tbe Lord appeal to ourselves, as to Israel
of old, What could have been done more to
my vineyard, that I have not done ? Is. v. 4.
After the black night of Popish darkness, in
which Christendom had been for ages in
volved, Wickliff, the morning-star and har
binger of the Reformation, arose in our bor
ders. Frora his time, we have been fevoured
with a succession of preachers of the gospel,
and of witnesses to its truth and power. Not
a few of these sealed their profession with
their blood ; and a much greater number
suffered in the same cause, by fines, stripes,
banishment and imprisonment. But since
the Revolution, and especially since the ac
cession of King George L to the throne, the
spirit of persecution has been greatly re
pressed and chained up. We are not now
caUed to resist unto blood. Nor is tliere any

MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE.

435

Protestant country where religious liberty is
80 universally enjoyed, and with so littie re
straint as in the dorainions of Great Britain.
O fottunati nimium, sua si bona noiintl
Our constitution, the basis and bulwark of
our civU liberty, is the admiration or envy of'
our surrounding neighbours. It cost our
forefathers 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 obtained, or how only it can be pre
served ? Wo be to us, ff God should succeed
the desires and endeavours of those who are
disposed to exchange it for licentiousness !
Add to this our public prosperity. — While
we have been principals in raany wars, which
have spread devastation and raisery far and
wide abroad, we have had uninterrupted
peace at home; and know so little ofthe ca
lamities of war, that were it not for the in
crease of taxes, it is probable we should not
be soon weary of hearing of battles, and the
slaughter of thousands, provided victory de
clared on our side. Our arras and our cora
merce have, almost like the ocean, encora
passed the habitable globe, and we. are be
come the grand raart and eraporiura of the
earth. But what have been our retums to the
Lord for all his goodness ! May he not say of
us, as of Israel, I have nourished and brought
up chUdren, and they have rebelled against
rae ! Isa. 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 applica
ble 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 professors of the gospel, and those national
sins which strongly raark our character as a
people !
1. The true Christian sees much cause of
humiliation in himself Though he cannot
but take sorrowful notice of what passes
around hira, he is more ready to scrutinize
and blarae his own misconduct, than that of
other men. He confesses that his best is de
fective and defiled. Though he exercises
himself to maintain a conscience void of of
fence, 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 iraraense, and his sensations
of gratitude, and exertions in his service, are
vastly disproportionate to thera : yet having
accepted the atonement, and resting his hope
of salvation upon Jesus, though his imperfec
tions humble hira, they do not discourage
hiin. But he acknowledges, that if justice
were strict to mark what is araiss, his own
eins are so many and-so great, that he could

have no right to complain, though be had a
large share of the heaviest calamities inci
dent to this mortal life. They who are thus
minded are the chariots and horsemen ofthe
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 de
spised for their singularity, and unfashionable
preciseness ; but if this nation be spared from
destruction, 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 dis
persed up and down throughout the kingdom,
and are the salt ofthe 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 terra gospel to yourselves? Do
not all ministers preach the gospel ? Most
certainly not The doctrines from raany pul
pits are contrary, yea, contradictory. They
cannot be all right. Yea, the doctrines from
too raany pulpits in our established church
contradict the Articles and the Liturgy,
which the preachers have solemnly sub
scribed. The Articles and Liturgy bear ex
press testimony to the universal and total
depravity of human nature, the Deity and
atoneraent of the Saviour, 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, corafort, 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 espouse them are called
professors — a title which includes all those
whom I have already mentioned, but is ex
tended to many more, or at least is assuraed
by thera. Happy indeed would it be, if all
who seem to agree in principles, were united
in love among themselves, and exhibited in
the sight of men, in their terapers, practice,
and pursuits, a conversation becoming 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. 13 ; Titus i. 16.
We laraent, raore than wonder, that it should
be so now : for huraan nature is the sarae in
all ages ; and even araong those of whom we
hope better — contentions, divisions, the heat
of party-zeal, the coldness of brotherly love,
and a blaraeable conforraity to the spirit and

.36

MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE.

customs of the world, are but too visible.
The sins of professors alone, if duly consi
dered, might make us apprehensive that
judgment is even at the doors.
3. There are likewise sins so generally
prevalent, so famUiar and habitual in every
rank of life, that they may properly be called
national ; because, either by their nature or
their frequency, they mark and distinguish
our public morals. To enumerate tiiese,
would be a painful and arduous task : but
my subject requires me to notice some of the
most prorainent and notorious.
(1.) Infldelity. — Though the sophistry and
machinations of the philosophers in France,
and of those who style theraselves the lUu-
minati in Gerraany, have raore or less infect
ed the whole of Christendora with their scep
tical and dangerous sentiments, so tbat we
hold them in comraon with many other na
tions, and though we have not like tbe un
happy French, openly and avowedly re
nounced the governraent of God ; yet I fear
that the worst kind of infidelity (which is
BtUl rapidly spreading through the land) is
already becorae one of our national sins.
Formerly, most of our freethinkers assumed
the more modest narae of deists; and though
tbey rejected the scriptures, tbey professed
a regard to whatthey called natural religion ;
they wrote likewise chiefly for men like
themselves, of a speculative and inquisitive
turn, and did not appear much concerned to
proselyte the comraon people : they seeraed
to allow that the principles of Christianity,
though not necessary to persons of their sa
gacity, might be useful to preserve the peace
and order of society, and to keep the vulgar
within sorae bounds of good government and
subordination. I have myself known those
who, upon this ground, regularly, or at least
frequently, attended public worship ; not that
they desired or expected any benefit frora it
but to set a good exaraple to their wives,
children, and servants, whom they thought
aither not competent to understand their
.nore sublirae discoveries, or not fit to be en-
irusted with them. These champions like-
flfise went forth singly to the combat; but
flow there is a strong compacted confederacy
against all religion, both name and thing.
Neither the mortal nor the immortal deists
are much thought of at present Philoso
phers 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 be does not
take cognizance of huraan affairs. To relieve
the consciences of men frora those forebodino-
fears of a future judgment which are not
easily separable frora guUt, they boldly affirra
death to be an eternal sleep. Though these
and sirailar dreadful tenets, have not obtained
the publicity and authority with us which
thev have in France they have spread like a

contagion through the kingdom. Multitudes
in every degree of life, from the noble to tbe
peasant, have adopted them.
Not that I ascribe the progress of infidelity
chiefly to Thoraas Paine, or to writers of a
superior class in the same line ; but they have
brought it more into view. Long before the
raodern philosophers were bom, the fool had
said in bis heart, there is no God, Ps. xiv. 1.
Infidelity is congenial to huraan nature. In-
fidei writings, like tbe touch of Itburiel'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 scarce
ly knew it or for want of boldness were
afraid to own it Tbe effects are evident.
With many people of fashion, infidelity is
fashionable. Their dependents and servants
imbibe their sentiments, and, so far as their
ability reaches, iraitate their practice. Every
class of society downwards, tradesmen, por
ters, labourers, and hostlers, are no less
pleased with thinking and acting without
control, than their superiors. Thus the
bonds of society are weakened ; vice, idle
ness, impatience, murmuring, and insubordi
nation are seen, wherever we turn our eyes.
When will these things end? When men
agree to cast off the fear of God, they wUl
seldom long accord in any thing else. Man,
in his natural state, is a wild creature ; 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 restrained from
comraitting raany raore, and greater, to which
his corrupt propensities would otherwise in
cline hira, and frora which he would not be
deterred by raere huraan laws and penalties.
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 ex
plicitly 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 con
tested election, 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 readily believe that we had any ?
And yet we could not tell him that they were
all infidels. Many who live in tbe habitual
neglect or breach ofthe precepts of scripture,
would StUl be thought Christians, though they
have little, but the avowal of the name, to dis
tinguish thera from the most deterrained infi
dels. And it is to be feared, that such Chris
tians constitute a very great majority of the
people of England.
(3.) The contempt of the gospel of Christ,
will, I fear, be found a national sin, with the

MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE.

487

exception ofthe comparatively few who cor
dially erabrace it I have already explained
in what sense I understand the word Gospel.
When the doctrines of our estabUshed church,
which in the main are conformable to the
confessions and standards of all the protestant
churches in Europe, are feithfuUy preached,
and especially when first introduced into a
parish, they usually cause a genera! alarra,
they excite a general opposition. The gos
pel is shunned and dreaded like a pestilence,
and the strongest exertions are made to pre
vent its entrance, or to expel it if possible.
The ministers who preach it faithfully are
stigniatized 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 capable or guilty of the worst
crimes, though no proof could be brought of
his having committed any. The word Me
thodist has a degree of the Uke effect in our
day. It is not now, as wben first imposed,
the name of a particular sect or body of peo
ple, but is applied to all who preach and ap
prove the doctrines 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 tbe minds of many people
with prejudices against the truth. Neither
learning, piety, an exemplary conduct, nor a
regular compliance with the rules of the ru
bric, can always, or often, secure a minister
from contempt if the giddy world think pro
per to call hhn 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 shepherds, who have neither will nor
skUl 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 Araerica.
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
m the exercise of our ministry. But our
path is not the ordinary road to approbation
or preferment. There are not many evan
gelical clergymen who have benefices, and
these have been chiefly bestowed by private
patronage.* (4.) Because of swearing, the land mourn-
eth, Jer. xxiU. 10. This generaUy prevail
ing .enormity has two branches — First Cus
tomary profene swearing, blasphemy, and
execration, in comraon discourse. W^e can

* Upon the death of the late Mr. Romaine, Rector of
St. Andrew, Wardrobe, and St. Ann's, Blackfriars, tlie
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
ofhis Lordship, and of the parishioners.

seldom walk the length of a street without
having our ears pained, and our hearts wound
ed, by the bitter imprecations which thought
less creatures utter against themselves, or
each other. It might be expected that this
horrid wickedness would be confined to the
lowest and most abandoned of the coraraon
people. But it is far otherwise. Gentiemen
and noblemen make a point of distinguishing
theraselves from the vulgar by their houses,
their dress, their tables, and their equipage ;
but many of them in their language take a
strange pleasure in degrading themselves to
a level wto the vilest of the species ; so that,
were it not for their exterior, we raight be
led to think that they had spent their whole
lives among stable-grooms and postilions;
and thus by their own proficiency and exam
ple they harden and confirra in their wicked
ness those whom they imitate.
The insult offered to the majesty and holi
ness ofGod by common swearing, contributes
greatly to take off a sense ofthe heinous sin
of perjury, or false swearing ; an appeal to
the God of truth in confirmation of a lie.
This is the other branch of that swearing for
whicb the land ought to mourn, and, sooner
or later, must mourn. Perjury is eraphati
caUy one of our national sins. "The multi
plicity 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 ne
cessarily lead to sin, because honest and
conscientious raen may and do strictly ob
serve them ; but it is to be feared, a greater
nuraber deliberately and customarily violate
these soleran obligations, and take them as
often as imposed, without hesitation, and
without any desire of- complying with them.
Not a few of these oaths are either so word
ed or so circumstanced, that it is morally im
possible 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 tender
ed, 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 considerable part of the
middling people in the kingdom. How raany
or how few of thera 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 revealed. But it is now evi
dent, that while raany, like sheep, tread with
out thought in the path of custom, content to
forswear theraselves because others have done
so before them ; and some are hardy enough
to trifle with God and raan for profit: the
laws which enjoin and multiply oaths, do
thereby furnish and raultiply teraptations to
the sin of perjury. The frequency of oaths,

488

MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE.

the irreverent manner in which they are of
ten administered, and the impunity with
which they are broken, have greatly contri
buted 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 tbe west I pretend
not to say bow far they are founded in truth,
or exaggerated. I confine rayself 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
Comraons, is still carried on, and under the
sanction of the legislature. Though the re
peated atterapts to procure the abolition of
this trade have not succeeded, they have
doubtiess contributed to raeliorate the condi
tion of the blacks who are in a state of slavery
in our West-India islands. The mode of
their transportation 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, raen, women, and
children, brought off the coast, by the Euro
pean vessels of all nations, and that an equal
number lost their lives annually, by the wars
and other calaraities occasioned by the traffic,
either on shore, without reaching the ship,
or on shipboard before they reached the places
of sale. It was also supposed that raore than
one half, perhaps three fifths of the trade was
in tbe hands of the English. If the trade is
at present carried 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 against us. The pitiable state of
the survivors who are torn frora their nearest
relatives, connections, 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 ac
company it are now generaUy known ; and
though perhaps the greater part of the na
tion 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 there-

* See Sermon on the guilt and danger of such ^ nation
as this, p. 393.

fore petitions and renionstrances were pre
sented and repeated, till the tax was repealed.
Can we wonder that the calamities of the
present war begin to be felt at home, when
we ourselves wilfully and deliberately in
flict much greater calamities upon the na
tive 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 spoU
ed," Isa. xxxiii. 1.
(6.) A proud boasting spirit, and a vain
confldence 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 hu
miliation as was awakened in Nineveh by
tbe preaching of Jonah, so well becoming
our sins and our situation, we still boast in
our fleets and armies. Especially the Wood
en Walls of Old England are spoken of as
impregnable, and we still suppose ourselves
to be sovereign lords of the sea. Some late
providential dispensations were well suited
to show us, not only the sin but the folly of
this spirit : but the irapression, if any, was
transient; it soon wore off. The praise
justly due to our adrairals, officers, and sea
men was readily offered ; 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 spirit, and especially at such
a tirae as this, is no small aggravation of aU
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 re
lief? Have we any ground to hope that the
Lord wUl 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.
IL 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 proclaraation, to
join in spirit with our King, who, perhaps
whUe I ara speaking, raay 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 tha raost public and

MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE.

4.39

solemn acknowledgment of his dependence
on the providence and power of Almighty
God, and to ascribe to hira to whom it most
justly belongs, praise and thanksgiving for
the many interpositions he has favoured us
with as a people, in this season of danger and
distress; particularly, for the three signal,
critical, and decisive victories which he gave
us in succession, over the French, Spanish,
¦ and Dutch fleets. We remember with what
universal joy the King's forraer appearance
at St Paul's,after his recovery from his ill
ness, was entertained by his loyal subjects ;
and though the introduction of French prin
ciples and French poUtics, since that period,
has not been without mischievous effects, we
trust that tbe joy upon tbis occasion will at
least be general.*
Though I cannot suppose that every per
son in the procession, or araong the many
thousands spectators, felt the same sentiments
of gratitude to God, which induced the King
to appoint a day of thanksgiving — yet I con
sider it as a public and national act ; and in
this view, contrasted with the atheistical
rage and blaspheraies of the French Direc
tory and councils, who insult and defy, not
these kingdoras only, but the God whom we
worship, I indulge a hope, that, unworthy as
we are of his mercy, the Lord wUl put a
hook and a bridle in the mouths of these mo
dern Rabshakehs, and wUl not give us up as
a prey to their merciless rapacity and re-
venge^ 2. When the French formed the design of
invading Ireland, they thought themselves
sure of success. They probably would have
found encourageraent in one part of that
kingdom, if they could have reached it ; and
therefore they spoke like Pharaoh, who said,
I wUl pursue, I will overtake, I wUl divide
the spoU, — and they were disconcerted al
most in the same manner. The Lord blew
with his wind, and scattered them. Sorae
of their stoutest ships, and many of their
men, sunk as lead in the mighty waters,
Exod. XV. 9, 10. And tbe Lord God did it
himseff. We bad a strong fleet to watch
and oppose them. But they were not per
mitted to come near, or even to see one of
their ships. Nor had our boasted naval 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
ffeets, was so sudden, so unexpected, and at
the time when it was risen to such an alarm-

* I was not mistaken in my expectation. The order
and regularity with which thff procession was conduct
ed, 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 to
tal 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,

ing height that all resistance seemed vain,
that it can only be ascribed to the mercy and
power of God. Then, if ever, was the time,
when the proud and the boasters trembled. —
And while we were thus exposed and de
fenceless in every quarter, the providence of
God laid an embargo upon the fleets of our
enemies, so tbat they could not attempt any
thing against us. It is further to be observ
ed, that the mutiny at the Nore, which was
the raost forraidable, as the ships had the full
coraraand of the river, so that nothing could
pass or repass to or from London ; this threat
ening disaster, wbich painted terror and dis
may in the countenance of almost every per
son we met in the streets, in the event led to
that re-establishment of our marine disci
pline, without which the strength of our in
vincible 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 mono
polizers 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, raust have been abso
lutely destitute of bread. What must the
consequences have been if God had visited
us with a scanty or a wet harvest the follow
ing year? For our resource from foreign
supplies was cut off in many parts, and ren
dered very precarious 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 abundant harvest, and such a re
markable fine season for gathering in the pre
cious 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 increased taxes, the advanced price of
raost of the necessaries of life, are severely
felt by the industrious poor, and by many fa
mUies in the middling and lower classes of
society. It is well known that there is a
number of persons who unhappily eraploy
their abUities and influence, to aggravate the
sense of. these difficulties, to inflarae the
rainds ofthe sufferers, to work upon tbeir
passions, to alienate them from the govern
ment and to raake thera long, if possible, for
such liberty and equality as has already re
duced France to the most pitiable state of
anarchy and raisery. That such attempts
have not succeeded, that we are stiU pre
served, not only from foreign invasion but
from internal commotions, I ascribe to the
power of the great God over the hearts of

440

MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE.

the children of men ; and I consider it as a
farther ground of hope that he will not give
us up.
III. Why would he not give up degenerate
Israel, when strict justice deraanded their
destruction? Two reasons are assigned in
ray text for his forbearance, which are well
suited to encourage the prayers and hopes
of those araongst ourselves who love and
fear him.
1. I ara God, and not man. — If we had
offended raen, or angels, as we have offended
our Creator and Redeemer, and they had
permission and power to punish us, our case
would be utterly desperate. Only he who
made us, is able to bear with us. All the
attributes (as we speak) of the infinite God,
must of course be equally infinite. As is his
majesty, so is his mercy; Ecclesiastic us ii. 18.
What is the puny power of man, compared
with that almighty power which formed and
upholds the iraraense universe? The dis
proportion is greater than that between a
single drop of water and the boundless ocean.
Thus his thoughts are higher than ours, as
the heavens are higher than the earth. Who
can set bounds to the exercise of patience ?
When sentence was denounced againstNine-
veh, they hurabled theraselves before hira,
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 evU, I wUl repent of the evil that I
thought to do unto them," Jer. xviii. 7, 8.
We do not suppose that all the inhabitants
of Nineveh were savingly converted ; but
they humbled 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
mercy, this is our strongest ground for con
solation. The Holy One is still in the midst
of us ? Degenerate and wicked as we are,
God has a people, a reranant araongst us. I
have spoken of these already. Their nura
ber is small if compared with the bulk ofthe
nation ; but if they oould be collected to
gether, they would forra a considerable body
(I trust it is an increasing body,) who, though
distinguished by different names, and dis
persed far and wide into different parts of
the land, are united, by a faith of divine
operation, to one head, and in one common
interest and design. — They belong to that
kingdora which is not of this world, and
which (unlike all other kingdoms) cannot be
shaken. But their principles lead thera to
seek the welfare of the corara unities in

which they live. These are, under God,
decus et tutamen, the glory and the defence
of Great Britam. They are lights shining
in a dark place. They are believers, and
their faith worketh by love. But as they
follow the exaraple of their Lord and Master,
the world knows not them, because it knows
not hira. Here and there, individuals, by
an unblaraeable 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 sUence by well
doing, 1 Pet. ii. 15. But many persons de
spise them in the gross, and affect to deera
them (perhaps in defiance to the checks of
their own consciences,) either hypocrites or
visionaries, credulous fools, or designing
knaves. But their record is on high. Tbey
have access to God, and communion with
him, by the Son of his love. They have the
spirit of prayer, and their prayers are heard.
The ship in which Paul sailed to Italy, was
preserved frora sinking, though apparently
in the utmost danger, because tbe apostle
was on board her. Not only was tbis ser
vant of God as safe in a storm at sea as if
he had been on shore, but for his sake the
Lord preserved the lives 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 tempests, and her rowers
(Ezek. xxvii. 26,) are alraost at their wits
end; but there is a precious depositum on
board. A people dear to the Lord are em
barked in the same bottom with the rest,
and we hope their prayers wUl preVail for
the safety of the whole. The French, who
know little of Christianity but as they have
seen it through the corrupt mediura of po
pery, having triuraphed over and raelted
down the golden and silver iraages of their
tutelary saints, promise themselves an easy
victory over us. They know not that the
Holy One of Israel is in the raidst of us, and
that there are a people here who are under
his special protection. They know not that
like Sennacherib, their success is wholly
owing to their being instruraents ofhis will,
like saws or hararaers in the hand of the
workman ; and that when they have accom
plished his purpose, he can and he will say
to them. Hitherto thou shalt come, and no
farther. They have succeeded beyond their
own expectations, far and wide upon the
continent: but all their attempts and de
signs against our favoured land have hitherto
been rendered abortive. We hope they wiU
prove so.
At all events, it shall be well with the
righteous, Isa. iii. 12. Rejoice, believers, in
the Lord. You may be assured upon the
warrant of his faithful promise, either that
he will preserve you from the evils which
our sins give us such cause to apprehend ;
or if he should appoint you to share in a

MOTIVES TO HUMILIATION AND PRAISE.

441

common calamity, 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 wUderness towards your
heavenly home, shall prove very difficult and
rugged. Pray for grace to sit loose to the
world, and you wiU have nothing to fear.
The first christians rejoiced in the spoiling
of their goods ; and so shall you, if the Lord
calls you to the trial. You have tbe 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 consider even the loss of
life as comparatively of sraall iraportance,
when he says, Fear not them that can kill
the body, but can do no raore. They cannot
do that without his perraission. The very
hairs of your head are numbered, Luke xii.
4; Matt x. 39. And most of those who
have suffered death for him wbo 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. 1 do not wonder
if your hearts tremble like the leaves of a
tree when agitated by a mighty wind, Is.
vu. 2. You taiow not what raay come upon
you, but you forebode tbe worst : and should
it prove so, you have no resource, no hiding
place, no Almighty Friend to whom you may

with confidence apply for help in time of
trouble. Death, at least, is inevitable ; and
will you dare to die (yet die you raust) if
your hearts be unhurabled, and your sins
unpardoned? We preach to you a gracious,
powerful Saviour, who invites you to seek
hira, and has said, "Him that coraeth to me,
I will in nowise 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 hiraseff for you,
possesses and exercises all power in heaven
and earth, Matt. xxvUi. 18. Though clouds
and darkness are about his throne, and his
paths are untraceable by us, we are sure
that he is carrying on bis great designs, for
the glory of his great narae, and for tbe ex
tension and establishment of his church in a
way worthy of himself — worthy of infinite
wisdom and goodness. Make bis narae your
strong tower (Prov. xviii. 10,) of refuge.
Hold out faith' and patience. Yet a little
while, and we hope to meet, "where the
wicked cease frora troubling, and where the
weary are at rest," Job iii. 17. And to bear
those welcorae words, " Corae, ye blessed of
my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for
you from the foundation of the world," Matt
xxv. 34.

Vol. II.

3K

TRACTS.

APOLOGIA;

OR,

FOUR LETTERS TO A MINISTER OF AN INDEPENDENT CHURCH,
BY A MINISTER OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND.

Rum pere ?-

-Quid me alta silentia cogis

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 uncircumcision, hut faith which worketh by
love. Ron. xiv. 19. Gal. v. 6.

LETTER L
Mt Dear Friend and Brother, — You
have raore than once gently called upon rae
for the reasons which induced me to exercise
my ministry as a Clergyman of the Church
of England, rather than araong the Dissent
ers, where my first religious connections
were formed, and with many of whom I still
maintain a cordial friendship. Hitherto 1
have usually waved the subject, and content
ed myself with assuring you in general terms,
that as the preference I gave to the establish
ment was tbe result of serious, and, I trust,
impartial inquiry ; so I had never seen rea
son to repent of it, no not for a minute, since
the day of my ordination. I now purpose to
give ypu a more particular answer. And as
you are not the only person who has express
ed a friendly surprise at my choice, I shall
communicate my reasons frora the press, that
aU my friends who have been at a loss to ac
count for ray conduct, may have such satis
faction as it is in my power to give thera. I
shall, however, keep you particularly in my
eye whUe I write, that a just sense of the can
dour and affection with which you have
always treated me, may regulate my pen,
and preserve me (ff possible) from that harsh
and angry spirit into which writers upon
controversial points are too often betrayed.
I confess, that as in this business my con
science is clear in the sight of him to whora
alone I am properly accountable; I could
wish StiU to continue sUent, and submit to

be a little misunderstood by some persons
whose good opinion I prize, rather than trou
ble the public with what more immediately
relates to myself But soraething upon this
subject seeras expedient in the present day ;
not so much by way of apology for one or a
few individuals, as with a view of obviating
prejudices, and preventing, or at least abat
ing, the unhappy effects of a party-spirit
There was a time when the Non-conform
ists groaned under the iron rod of oppression,
and were exposed to fines, penalties, and im
prisonment, as well as to cruel mockings,
and the lawless rage of a rabble, for wor
shipping God according to the light of their
consciences. Yet I apprehend their non-con
formity was rather the occasional and ostensi
ble, than the real cause of the hard treatment
they met with. The greater partof the Non
conformist rainisters of that day were the
light and glory of the land. — They, were
raen full of feith and ofthe Holy Ghost, pene
trated with a deep sense of the Redeemer's
glory and love, and of the worth of souls.
Their ministrations were accompanied with
unction and power, and they were instru
mental in turning many sinners from the
evil of their ways. It is no wonder that the
world hated such men; that snares were
spread for their feet, their liberty abridged,
and that raany said. Away with them, tiiey
are not worthy to live ! It is probable that
if these servants of the Most High could
ha*e enjoyed that freedom for their persons
and assemblies, which, in answer to their
442

I.ET. I.J

APOLOGIA.

prayers, is now possessed by those wbo bear
the same name, they would have been well
satisfied tbat the Established Church should
Have remained in peaceful possession of its
own order and ritual. And several araong
them, not the lowest in repute for wisdora
and piety, continued long to worship occa
sionaUy in the Parish Churches, after they
had been ejected frora them as preachers.
But things were studiously carried against
them with a high hand. The exaction of
re-ordination, and the little tirae allowed for
subscribing the book of Coraraon Prayer,
which many of the ministers had not been
able to procure when the law called for their
assent to it were two circumstances wbich
greatly contributed to swell the Bartholo
mew-list It was well known to sorae ofthe
leaders in that unhappy business, that there
were araong the Non-conformists wise and
raoderate raen, who were not disposed to
quit their parochial cures, unless they were
constrained by the harshest and raost violent
measures ; such therefore were the raeasures
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
liberty to profess, preach, worship, or print as
he thmks proper. But it is stUl to be lamented
that they who are united upon the same
foundations, and agree in the sarae iraportant
leading principles, should lay so much stress
upon, their circumstantial differences in sen
timent as to prevent the exercise of rautual
love and forbearance, and that, instead of la
bouring in concert within their respective
departments to proraote the comraon cause,
they should be at leisure to vex and worry
each other with needless disputation and un
charitable censure. I hope, araongst us, the
High-Church principles which formerly pro
duced unjustifiable and oppressive effects,
are now generally exploded. But may we
not lay a claira in our turn, to that modera
tion, candour, and tenderness, from our dis
senting brethren, which we cheerfuUy exer
cise towards them? But as we (I think) are
no longer the aggressors, so they seem no
longer content to stand upon the defensive.
We wish to join thera with heart and hand
in supporting and spreading the great truths
ofthe gospel; and such as you, my friend, ap
prove our airas, and rejoice with us, if God is
pleased to give us success. But there are
those among you, whose persons and general
conduct we respect, frora whom we do not
find equal returns of good-wUl, because we
cannot join with them in the support of a
palladium wbich bears the name of tbe Dis
senting 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 naraes, views, and sentiments, which
obtain among those who form this aggregate,
styled tbe Dissenting Interest 1 ara at a loss
what sense to put upon the terra. May I
not say without offence, that it is, at least, a
very heterogeneous body f May I not hope,
without presuraption, that though you and I
are not agreed on the subject of Church Go
vernraent yet 1 ara related to yoil 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
depreciate tbe person and blood of the Sa
viour, and deny the agency and influence of
the Holy Spirit, or the total depravity of fall
en raan, 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 prac
tice, which both you and I include in our
idea of the Gospel, so far I can truly say,
though not a Dissenter myself, the Dissent
ing Interest is dear to my heart and has a
share in my daily prayers. And in this I ara
persuaded I speak the sentiraents of many
both ministers and laymen in the Establish
ment We are sorry, therefore (at least I am
sorry,) though not angry, wben books are
written, or declarations* (perhaps in the
raost soleran occasions of worship) unseason
ably raade, which seem not so much designed
to confirra Dissenters in tbeir own principles,
as to place those who cannot accede to them
in an unfavourable light; the ministers espe
cially, who, according to sorae representa
tions, must be supposed to be almost destitute
of coraraon sense, or else of common honesty.
When I write a letter, especiaUy to a
friend, I think myself released from that at
tention to method which I might observe if
I were composing a treatise. As my heart
dictates, my pen moves. I therefore hope
you will bear with me if I do not come di
rectly to what I proposed; which was, to
give you sorae account of the motives of my
own conduct It may not be improper to
premise a few preliminary observations. I
shall not weary you by attempting 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 tirae
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 sorae of these
habUiraents more or less suitable for a minis
ter, than the others. But perhaps a few
strictures upon establishments and liturgies
may not be wholly impertinent to my design.
That national religious establisbraents un
der the New Testament dispensation are

*Some of these letters were written in the year 1777.

444

APOLOGIA.

[let. r.

neither of express divme appointment, nor
formed in all points upon a scriptural plan, I
readily 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 con
sider hereafter. At present permit me only
to hope (for my own sake,) that such submis
sion is not absolutely sinful ; and in that view
to offer a word in favour of their expedience.
I plead not for this or that establishment, or
tbe administration of one preferably to ano
ther ; but chiefly for tbat circumstance which
I suppose is coraraon to thera all : I raean, the
parcelling out a country, the government of
which is professedly Christian, and certain
districts, analogous to what we call parishes,
apd fixing in each ofthose districts, a person
with a ministerial character, who by his ofiice
is engaged to promote the good of souls
within the limits of his ovni boundary. I
think the nuraber of parishes in England and
Wales is computed to be not much fewer
than ten thousand. The number of dissent
ing churches and congregations in England
and Wales (if those whom I have consulted
as the most competent judges are not mis
taken,) will not be found greatly to exceed
one thousand. In how many, or in how few
of these the old Puritan Gospel (if I may so
caU it) is preached or prized, I deem you a
better judge than myself It is certain, that
the number of Dissenting ministers who are
very willing it should be publicly known that
they differ widely frora the sentiraents of
tbeir forefathers, is not sraall. Howevej-, we
wUl take thera all into the estimate. Now,
let us for a moment suppose the establishment
with all its provisions removed and annihi
lated. In this case, some of the Dissenting
ministers might indeed change their situa
tions, and fix in places where they might
hope for more extensive 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 reUgion, and reduced in a short time
(for any relief the Dissenting interest could
afford) to a state little better than heathen
ism. 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 wbo are most dis
pleased with it For this reason, if I could
not conforra to the establishment myself, I
think I should speak respectfully of it, and
bless God for it. Some established form of
religious profession, with a full and free
toleration for all who think they can serve
God more acceptably upon a different plan.

raising constitution, for preserving the rights
of conscience, and for promoting the welfare
of souls. •! believe, 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 defects, and the faults of
individuals within its coramunity, has been
upon the whole, and will be, a blessing to the
nation ; and that its preservation 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
rubric and liturgy. For I cannot conceive
an established church, without including, in
my idea, sorae determinate rule or line re
specting doctrine and worship, by which it is
discrimmated from other churches which are
not 60 established. As to our liturgy, I am
far ftom thinking it incapable of amendment;
though, when I consider the temper and spi
rit ofthe present times, I dare not wish that
the improvement of it should be attempted,
lest the intended remedy might prove worse
than tbe disease. As I am not called to de
fend it, I shaU only say, what I believe will
be allowed by many candid persons on your
side, that the general strain of it is scriptura],
evangelical, and experimental. It recognizes
with precision the one great object of wor
ship, in his personal distinctions, and glorious
attributes: the honours and offices of the Re
deemer, the power and agency of the Holy
Spirit, the evU of sin, the depravity of man,
and all the distinguishing doctrines of the
gospel. As to the composition, I question if
any thing in the English language, (our ver
sion of the Bible excepted,) is worthy of be
ing corapared with it, for simplicity, perspi
cuity, energy, and comprehensive fulness of
expression. But I suppose the objection does
not lie so much against our liturgy in parti
cular, as in general against the use of litur
gies of any kind. And for aught I know, tf
the compilers of our liturgy could have ex
pected, that all the parishes in the kingdom,
and from age to age, would be supplied with
ministers competently acquainted with the
raysteries of the gospel, and possessed of the
spirit of grace and supplication, they might
have left them under less restraint in con
ducting public worship. I believe many of
the Dissenters take it for granted, that a con
siderable part of our clergy are not only
unable to pray in public to the edification of
their hearers without a forra, but are un
fit 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 re
gard to the glory of God, or love to the souls
of raen. But upon this supposition I should
I think an evangelical liturgy a great blessing ;

appears to me the most desirable and pro- 1 as it must secure the people, (that is the bulk

lET. I.]

APOLOGIA.

445

of the nation,) from being exposed to the
same uncertainty and disappointment frora
the reading-desk, as they are liable to from
the pulpit For they who cannot, or do not
preach tiie gospel, are not like to pray agree
ably 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 congregations,
that their ministers, not being confined to a
form of sound words, there is Uttle more of
Christ or ofgrace to be found in their prayers
than in their sermons 1 Is it not too hastily
taken for granted by many, that God cannot
he worshipped in spirit and in truth by those
who use a forra of prayer? or that he will not
afford thera who so approach him any testi
mony of his acceptance 1 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 readi
ness and fluency in diversifying expressions,
so that my prayer should always appear un
studied and new, yet if my spUit or the spi
rits of those wbo join with me, be not en
gaged in it though I may admire my own
performance, and be applauded by others, it
is no better than a mere lifeless forra, 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 forra, go so rauch in a beaten path,
that they who hear them, frequently can tell
with tolerable certainty, how they wUl begin,
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 forra does not restrain, rauch less pre
clude the exercise ofgrace. They know and
are sure that their Lord and raaster owns
and comforts thera in what their brethren
hastily conderan 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 wben it rested,
looses addressed the Lord, not according to
the varied emotions of his own spirit, but
statedly in the same deterrainate expressions,
Nurab. X. 35, 36. So Ukewise in the soleran
benediction which the high priest was to
pronounce upon the people, Nurab. vi. 23, 27.
Again, at the presenting of the first fruits,
though the heart of the offerer might be fill
ed with gratitude, he was not to express it
iu his own way, but the Lord himself pre- 1

scribed the form of his acknowledgment, con
fession, and prayer, Deut. xxvi. 12 — 15. But
it may be said,.these were enjoined under
the Levitical institution, which is now abro
gated, 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 de
votional 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 re
peat such Psalms as the 03d, 84th, or 86th, I
could feel, in the raanner I wish, the force of
every expression, I should think I prayed to
good purpose, though I were not to interrain-
gle a single word of my own. So likewise
with respect to that sumraary which our
Lord condescended to teach his disciples;
though I believe it had a peculiar 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 wisdom, it
is so coraprehensive, 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 im
pression of the raeaning of every clause. But
alas! such arc the effects of our unhappy dif
ferences, or rather of a wrongness of spirit in
maintaining thera, and so prone are we to
think we cannot be too unlike those whom
we are not pleased with, tbat even the words
which our Lord hiraself has taught us, are
depreciated and disused by many, I fear, up
on no better ground than because they are re
tained in the usage ofthe Church of England.
Though, besides giving us a pattern to pray
after that raanner, he has at least permitted
us to use it as a forra, directing us,, when we
pray, to say, " Our Father, which art in hea
ven," &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 sorae things upon which no sraall stress
is laid by our Dissenting brethren.
Some persons might possibly allege, that
if the use of scriptural forras of prayer were
adraitted, it would plead nothing in favour of
such forras as are of huraan composition.
But as I believe the raore judicious part of
the Dissenters would not make this distinc
tion, a few words raay suffice for an answer.
Most of us, when we preach, profess to preach
the word of God, and I think we are suffi
ciently authorised to use the expression, so
fer as our sermons are explanatory of scrip
tural truths, and agreeable to them. ^ For
though the systera of truth contained in the

446

APOLOGIA.

[lET. II.

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 frora scriptural preraises, raust be,
in whatever words it is expressed, (if they
are precise and clear,) as true as the preraises
frora which it is drawn. If I give a just de
finition or explication of a doctrine of the Bi
ble in my own words, the truth or iraportance
of that doctrine is not affected or weakened
by the vehicle in which I convey it; nor
would a hearer have a right to withhold his
attention or assent, from a pretence, that
though the proposition itself was true, he
was not concerned in it, because I had not
expressed it in scriptural phrases. It is only
upon this ground that the propriety and au
tbority of preaching can be maintained ; and
the like reasoning raay be applied to prayer.
A prayer is scriptural, if conformable to the
proraises, patterns, and truths of scripture,
though it should not contain one phrase taken
totidem verbis from the Bible.
May I not here appeal to the practice of
the Dissenters themselves? I suppose Dr.
Watts' Hyrans, and his iraitation of David's
Psalras, especiaUy the latter, are used, by a
large majority of Dissenting congregations,
in their public worship. Many of these pieces
are devotional, 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 asserably know beforehand
every word they are to sing. In sorae con
gregations the psalra or hymn is delivered
line by line, and in most, the bulk ofthe peo
ple are provided with 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 peti
tions of his heart to the Lord, he prays ; and
if he uses verses with which he was before
acquainted, he 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
entirely removed if the substance of the ob
noxious form be expressed in metre or rhyme.
Crito freely will rehearse
Forms of prayer and praise in verse ;
Why should Crito then suppose
Forras 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
tora to give out one line, and by the time tbe
congregation had sung the first he had a se-
ccaiQ ready for them, and so on, so long as he

thought proper to sing. These were not
forms, they were composed pro re nata. be
fore he had finished a second stanza, the
forraer (as' to the verse and cadence) was in a
raanner forgotten ; and the sarae hymn was
never heard twice. I know not what these
unpremeditated pieces were in point of com
position; but were I persuaded ofthe unlaw
fulness of forras of prayer, and, at the same
time, approved of the practice of singing in
public worship ; I should extremely covet the
talent of extempore hymn-making, as one of
the most necessary gifts a minister could pos
sess in order to maintain a consistency in his
whole service.
I here close what I intended by way of in
troduction. In my subsequent letters, I pur
pose to acquaint you more directly with the
reasons which deterrained my own choice,
and which stUl satisfy me, that in receiving
Episcopal ordination, and exercising my
rainistry in the established church, Ihave
not acted wrong. At present, I shall relieve
your attention, by subscribing myself
Your affectionate friend and brother.

LETTER IL
Mr Dear Friend and Brother, — As
such I address you; as such, notwithstand
ing our different views of church-govern
ment you acknowledge me. You have con
firmed your love to rae 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
iri a better world. With this thought upon
ray mind, it is irapossible that I should write
a single line with an intention of grieving or
offending you ; and I ara persuaded, the same
consideration on your part will dispose you
to a candid 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 ray conviction of the
importance of that divine aphorisra, "Tbe
wrath of man worketh not the righteousness
ofGod." How 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 allow
ances for the unavoidable influence of educa
tion, connection, and habit both in you and
in myself We generally ascribe the dissent
of those wbo 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 ofthe principles we raaintain have been

LET. II.]

APOLOGIA.

447

instilled into us from our chUdhood, and we
have been confirmed in what we say is right
by the instruction, advice, and exaraple pf
friends, exactly as others have been confirm
ed in what we call wrong; yet that positive-
ness, which in thera is the effect of ignorant
prejudice, is in us a very different thing; a
just attachraent to truth, and the result of
impartial examination and full conviction.
For my own part I dare not say that I ara
free from all bias and prepossession, but I de
sire and endeavour to guard against their in
fluence. 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 either the one or the other. By the
allotment of Divine Providence, I was born
in a nation where these things had taken
rface long before I came into the world.
Therefore, when the Lord gave me a desire
to preach his gospel, and it became necessary
to determine under what character I should
exercise my ministry; the question before
me was not. What form of church-govern
ment I might propose as the raost scriptural,
if all parties araongst us were willing to re
fer themselves to ray decision 1 But my in
quiry 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
indeed, I saw but little room for deliberation.
For, about six years after I was awakened to
some concern for my soul, my situation in
lffe had secluded me equally from every reli
gious party. During this period, in which I
walked alone, the Lord was pleased to show
me the way to the throne of grace, and to
lead me, to study and prize his holy word.
By his blessing, I made some advances in
knowledge, though slowly, under such dis
couragements and disadvantages, as tbey,
who frpm the beginning of their inquiries,
are favoured with public ordinances, and the
help of Christian conference, can have no
proper conception of At length I becarae
acquainted with some of his people, and had
frequent opportunities of hearing the gospel.
My first connections of this sort were chiefly
with Dissenters, and brought rae, as it were,
into a new world. For, tUl then, I had hard
ly an idea of the different names and modes
by which professing Christians were distin
guished and subdivided, nor of the animosity
with which their various disputes were car
ried on. But as I received benefit and plea
sure from my intercourse with my new
friends, it is no wonder that while my heart
was warm, and my experience and judgraent
urfformed, I should enter with readiness into
aU their views. Thi\s, together with the real
advantages I obtaiiied among thera, I imbibed
at the same tiuie a strong prejudice against

the established church, and hastily concluded,
that though I might occasionally communi
cate with it as a private person, it would be
irapossible to officiate in it as a minister with
out violating my conscience. Accordingly,
my first overtures were to the Dissenters ;
and had not the Providence ofGod reraarka
bly interposed to prevent it, I should probably
have been a brother with you in every sense.
But ray designs were overruled. 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 rayself; and the more I
considered the point, the more my scruples
against conformity gave way. Reasons in
creased upon rae, which not only satisfied me
that I might conform without sin, but that
the preference (as to ray own concern) was
plainly on that side. Accordingly, in the
Lord's due tirae, after several years waiting
to know his will, I sought and obtained Epis
copal ordination. And I seriously assure
you, that though I took this step with a firm
persuasion thai it was right I did not at that
tirae see so many reasons to justify my
choice, nor perhaps any one reason in so
strong a light, as I have since. Par 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 raerely as an account of the mo
tives which influenced me twenty years ago,
hut rather as the considerations which at this
minute call upon rae to be heartUy thankful
to the Lord, for leading me by a way wbich 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 corafort, and (I verily believe like
wise) for promoting my usefulness as a
minister. Sorae of our Dissenting brethren, who I
hope are willing to think as well ofthe awa
kened clergy as they can, kindly allow us to
be well-meaning people ; they believe we de
sire to be useful, and think it not impossible
but that in sorae instances we raay be so : but
they pity us either for not having more light
or for not having courage to foUow that light,
which tbey suppose must force itseff upon ue,
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 thera upon this supposition bow
we can reraain where we are. They are ex
pecting frcra day to day, that if we are en
lightened, as we profess, and honest men, as
they wish to find us, we shaU surely come
out from Babylon, renounce our slavery and
will-worship, and ppenly attach ourselves to

448

APOLOGIA.

[let. a.

the Dissenting Interest Could we do this,
and persuade our people to foUow 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 while
you read the paragraph I am now beginning.
You know many of our rainisters, 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 erainency in gifts'
and spiritual knowledge; in a word, able
ministers of the New Testaraent ; Men, who
thougb 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 tbeir fellow-creatures,
can in tbe integrity of tbeir hearts appeal to
all around thera, that their conversation is
not unbecoming the gospel whicb 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 considered the arguments, which are sup
posed sufficient to cenvert and reform us ;
but after all their endeavours to obtain in
formation, though they agree with the evan
gelical Dissenters in their views of the gos
pel (which yet they received not ftom them,
but from the holy scriptures) they are stUl
constrained to differ on the question of church
forra and order. Now why should this be
imputed to their ignerance and blindness?
Does it require a sharper eye to perceive the
precise delineation of a gospel-church in the
New Testament if it be really there, than
to apprehend and embrace what the scripture
teaches concerning the person and characters
of the Redeemer, the way of a sinner's ac
ceptance, or the nature of the lffe of faith ?
These things, we are assured by the apostle,
the natural man, however qualified, cannot
discern. Surely the external form of a gos
pel-church cannot be equally mysterious with
these doctrines ; especially as it is professedly
seen with the glance of an eye, by some persons
wbo declare themselves enemies to raysteries
of any kind. Or why should their not ac
ceding to you be iraputed to interested mo
tives? There are with us men whose in
tegrity and ingenuousness are in every other
respect unimpeachable ; and it is hard, that
without sufficient evidence, they should be
charged with prevarication in a business
which concerns the honour of tbeir Saviour,
and the uprightness of their consciences in
his sight Besides, what can be the power
ful motives for such hypocrisy ? Do they by
remaining in the establishment avoid the of
fence ofthe cross, and find a shelter from that
opprobrium and opposition which must be
their lot if they had the fortitude to unite
with the Dissenters ? Here at least how
ever, 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 resem
bles that of the Dissenters of the last century
than of the present It is true, we are no
more exposed to fines and imprisonment 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-matters, I
could name several of our clergy wbo are nol
so plentifiiUy provided for in the establish
ment, but that if they were to leave us, and
to go over to your side, it is very probable
the manner in wbich converts of such cha
racters and abUities would be received
amongst you, might prove considerably to
their emolument. 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 ministers show a cordial and li
beral spirit to the Dissenters, receive them
gladly into their houses, attend occasionally
upon their preaching, recommend and en
courage applications for tbe support of their
ministers, or places of worship, and are ready
to concur with them in every plan for useful
ness. And I believe tbis disposition would
be more general, had not experience shown
that the candour of some clergymen in these
respects, has been too often improperly re
quited by ungenerous attempts to prejudice
and perplex our people, and to weaken our
hands. Yet one or another, or aU these charges-
must be -insinuated against us, rather than
felUble men will suppose theraselves any
thing less than infallible, even in points of a
circumstantial nature; and though others
whora they have no reason to think inferior
to themselves either in judgment or inte
grity, are compelled to differ ftom them.
If not so frequent, would not this be strange?
That 'tis so frequent — ^this is stranger still !
Be assured, dear sir, tbat in thus apologiz
ing for my brethren, I write not only without
their desire, but without their knowledge.
I think I have now finished all my pream
bles, and I proceed immediately to acquaint
you with my reasons for conforming to the
Established 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 Law
giver of his Church. I do not mean that
this consideration obliges me absolutely to
prefer the forra of the church of England to
any other form, but only that it will not per
mit me to join with those who make dissent
ing from it necessary in point of conscience.
I cannot suppose that any true christian in
our land of light and liberty, will hesitate a
moment to acknowledge that Christ is the
one infallible, authoritative legislator and
governor ofhis church; that he is the Lord,

UGT. It.]

APOLOGIA

440

and the only Lord of conscience, and that
nothing inconsistent with his revealed will
should be practised, nothing that he has en
joined be omitted, by those who profess alle
giance to hira. But however generally ac
knowledged these principles are, I believe
the misconstruction aud misapplication of
them have contributed more to divide the
people ofGod, and to alienate their affections
frora each other, than any other cause that
can be assigned. It seeras reasonable to ex
pect that they whose hopes are buUt 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 with 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 aniraosity against their fellow
disciples, splits tbem 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 disriminating characteristic of
his religion, is scarcely to be fomid amongst
theiji in such 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 re
velation. It is a floor on 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 under
stand, and his rule is a spiritual rule, which
none can receive or obey, until born frora
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 number in any denomination, be
considered as detached from the visible
church, the reraainder is a mere caput mor-
tuum, differenced from the world whicb lies
in wickedness, in nothing but a name, and
in the privUege of having the oracles ofGod
committed to it But nominal christians,
though they have, or may have in their hands
the scriptures, which are able to make sin
ners wise unto salvation, are no less distant
and alienated from the life of God (untU he
is pleased to reveal his power in their hearts)
than Mabomedans or Heathens. And with
respect to these, the honour of the Lord Je
sus Christ is but little concerned with the
different ways in which they may think pro
per to constitute themselves into national or
particular churches, and please theraselves
Vol. IL 8L

with a lifeless form of worship, whUe their
hearts are in a state of enmity to his grace.
Adraitting that a plan of a gospel-church was
described with tho same precision in the
New Testament as tbe institutions of the
Levitical worship in the Old, and punctually
complied with to the minutest circumstance,
though the worshippers might applaud and
admire their own exactness, and censure
and despise all who differed a hair's breadth
from thera, yet ff 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 appointraent ; and the
people in the tirae of the prophets were not
so rauch charged with neglecting the pre
scribed forms, as with resting in them.
When this evil becarae general, and they
thought to corapensate for their want of spirit
uality, by their feasts, fasts, and sacrifices,
the Lord expresses hiraself as displeased
with his own institutions, Isa. i. 11 — 15.
Ixvi. 3, 4. Jer. vU. 8—14, 22, 23. They
could plead his prescription for their observ
ances ; but in vain they trusted to the tem
ple, and said, " The temple of the Lord, the
teraple of the Lord are we," when the Lord
of the teraple was departed from them. And
certainly he will be no more pleased with
a forra without the heart now, than he waa
then. I must, therefore, confine my inquiry to tha
church of Christ in a more liraited 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 whora
he is the head of vital influence, who have
fellowship with him in his death, and are
partakers of the power of his resurrection.
These are infallibly known only to bimselfi
They are scattered far and wide, separated
frora 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 bave not all equal de
grees of light or measures ofgrace, nor are
they all favoured with equal advantages for
knowing or enjoying the full extent of the
liberty of the gospel. But they are aU ac
cepted in the Beloved, and approved of God.
They are spiritual worshippers, joint par
takers of grace, and wUl 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
reraaining ignorance, and their zeal, though
right in its aira, is often warped and mis
guided by the corrupt influence bf self. For
they stUl have many corruptions, and they

450

APOLOGIA.

[let. It

live in a world which furnishes frequent oc
casions of exciting them; and Satan, their
subtle and powerful enemy, is always upon
his watch to mislead and ensnare them.
They are bom, educated, and called under a
great variety of circumstances. Habits of
lffe, Ideal customs, early connections, and
even bodily constitution, have raore or less
influence in forraing their characters, and in
giving a tincture and turn to their raanner
of thinking. So that thougb, in whatever
is essential to their peace and holiness, they
are all led by the sarae Spirit, and raind 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 uni
formity of judgment among them is not to be
expected while the wisest are defective in
knowledge, the best are defiled with sin, and
whUe the weaknesses of human nature which
are common to them all, are so differently
affected by a thousand impressions which are
from their various situations. They might,
however, raaintain a unity of spirit, and live
in the exercise of rautual love ; were it not
that every party, and almost every indi
vidual, 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 conforra. They are
coraparatively but few who consider this re
quisition to be as unnecessary, unreasonable,
and irapracticable, as it would be to insist, or
expect that every man's shoes should be ex
actly of one size.
Thus, though all agree in asserting the
authority and right of the Lord Jesus, as
King and Head of his Church, the various
apprehensions they frame of the rule to
which he requires them to conforra, and their
pertinacious attachraent to their own exposi
tions of it, separate them almost as much
from each other, as if they were not united
to him by a principle of living faitb. Their
little differences form them into so many se
parate interests ; and the heat with which
they defend their own plans, and oppose all
who cannot agree with thera in a tittle, makes
them forget that they are children in tbe
same family, and servants of the same mas
ter. And while they vex and worry each
other with disputations and censures, the
world wonders and laughs at them all. The
spirit of love is restrained, offences are mul
tiplied, and Satan is gratified by beholding
the extensive effects of his pemicious and
long practised maxim, Divide et impera.
1 ara far frora supposing that all the va
rious modes of churcb-governraent under
which spiritual worshippers are cast, are
equally agreeable to the spirit and genius of
the gospel, or equally suited to the purposes
of edification. Perhaps there is no consider
able body of people who profess theraselves
Christians, however erroneous in their plans

of doctrine or worship, among whom the Sa
viour has not some hidden ones, known to
hiraself, though lost to human observation in
the crowd of pretenders which surround
them. The power of his grace can break
through all disadvantages, and raake a few
individuals wiser than their teachers, by re
vealing his truth to their heart, sooner or
later, so far as is necessary to salvation. But
it must be owned, that sorae comraunities
which bear the name of Christian have depart
ed so very far from the simplicity ofthe gospel,
that if we reason a priori, we are ready to
conclude it as almost impossible for a convert
ed person to continue a single day in such a
communion. But hypotheses cannot be main
tained against plain facts. Thus the Church
of Rorae, not raerely by adopting an unmean
ing burdensome train of ceremonies, but by
ber doctrines of Papal infallibility, invocation
of saints and angels, purgatory, absolution,
the mass, and others of tbe like stamp, is be
come so exceedingly adulterated, that pos
sibly sorae persons who may read these
letters will forra 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 corrupt
church. Yet I should hope that they, who,
having theraselves tasted tbat the Lord ia
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
narae ? In tbe writings of these great men,
notwithstanding incidental errors, I meet
with such strains of experimental godliness,
such deep knowledge of the workings ofthe
Spirit of God, and of the heart of raan, and
sucb masterly explications of raany iraportant
passages of scripture, as might do honour to
the most enlightened Protestant. And yet
these men lived and died in the Popish com
munion ; and, to their latest hours, (for any
thing that appears to the contrary,) thought
they could not separate from it without sin.
And, though I have not equal means of in
formation, I can as Uttle 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 Rorae itseff.
However, I desire to be thankful that I am
not a Papist. I ara 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 alraost, yet is not altogether so
depraved and corrupt in its constitution as
the church of Rome. 1 am now in my track

r.BT. III.J

APOLOGIA.

451

and shall trouble you with fewer digressions
in the sequel. My next point wiU be to ex
amine the different clairas of Protestant
churches to the honour they all'assurae, that
their respective institutions are raost con
formable to the rules the aposties have laid
down on the subject of church-government,
and express the greatest regard to the autho
rity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the undoubted
Head and Lawgiver ofhis Church. And to
avoid as much as I can, encumbering what I
write in an epistolary way to a friend, with
the stiffness of argumentation, I shall con
tent myself with giving you a simple account
of what occurred to me upon this head, when
I made the inquiry for my own direction.
But it is time to conclude this letter by as
suring you that I ara,
Your affectionate friend.

LETTER m.
My Dear Friend and Brother, — If tbe
authority of men truly respectable for learn
ing, judgment and grace, were sufficient to
determine the question, Which of the va
rious forms of church-government now ob
taining araong Christians is raost agreeable
to the letter and spirit of the New Testa
ment ? a raodest inquirer, who wishes for the
sanction of those whom he esteeras wiser
and better than hiraself, would probably,
without hesitation, join hiraself to that pajrty
to which he raight be first led to apply for
direction. For whatever difference there
may be in the raerit of their several claims
for pre-eminence, the claira itself is raade
with an equal degree of confidence by thera
all. At a time when I was very sensible of
my own incorapetency to decide this point
for rayself, I received (as I hope) much bene
fit from the writings of Bishop Hall, Rey
nolds, Davenant Mr. Hooker, and other di
vines ofthe Church of England. I perceived
they were persons of strong sense, extensive
literature, sound in the faith ; and frora 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 perceive that any
of them were dissatisfied with the Establish
ed Church Ul whicb they lived and died ; and
some of them I found were very strenuous
in its defence, not only pleading that it was
lawful to maintain communion 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 priraitive
apostolical church. I own to you that I
thought sorae of their assertions upon this
head were too strong, and sorae of their
arguraents not fully conclusive. Yet I was
a little staggered, and it gave rae pain to be
forced to differ in any point from raen whom

I believed to have been full of feith and of
the Holy Ghost However, some general
idea I possessed of the liberty of the gospe],
a conviction that the Lord had a people and
a work in other countries where the forra of
the Church of England could not take place,
and the previous attachraent I had to the Dis
senters, with whora, 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
rayself 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 bet
ter than a Babylon, from whence all who
loved his name and salvation, were in duty
and conscience bound to withdraw.
Many books likewise came in my way
written by divines of the Church of Scot
land. In the writings of Durhara, Fleming,
Halyburton, and others, I found proofs that
they were not inferior in light, holiness, and
a sound spiritual judgment, to the most
eminent lurainaries of our own Church. In
what concerned the life and power of reli
gion, I could perceive no considerable differ
ence between them. As they were all taught
by the sarae Spirit, so they were all teachers
of the sarae truths. But in their sentiments
upon church-government they differed very
widely. Wherein they agreed, I could fully
agree with thera. Wherein they differed, I
was left in the uncertainty of a traveller,
who, inquiring his way of two persons, is
told by one to turn to the right and by tbe
other directly opposite, to the left. My
English guides would persuade me that the
forra of the church from the aposties' days
was Episcopal. My Scotch guides were ra
ther more positive that our prelacy was al
most equally with the papacy, a branch and
a raark of Antichrist If I compared the suf
ficiency of each to decide for rae, 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 general to be,
like myself, fallible, and liable to mistake.
Only in this one point both sides appeared
confident, that they could not be mistaken,
and yet their opinions were not only diverse,
but contradictory.
The suspense in which I was held by
these incorapatible clairaants, sent rae raore
readily and attentively to renew my inquiries
araongst my forraer friends of your denomi
nation. By these I was instructed, that I
need not trouble rayself with weighing a.nd
comparing the arguments which the English
and Scotch Churches had to offer in favour

APOLOGIA.

ftOT. Itt.

of their respective constitutions, for they
were both equaUy destitute of any founda
tion in truth or scripture : That I had only
to read the New Testament for myself, and
It must appear very plain, that the Lord
Christ had not left a concern of tbis iraport
ance undeterrained, but had directed his
apostles to leave in their writings a pattern,
according to which it was his pleasure all
his churches in future ages should be formed :
¦That the first churches were Congregational
or Independent, and tbat every other plan
was unscriptural, and a presumptuous devia
tion frora the declared will of the Lord. As
I had been a debtor to some of their writers
likewise, and was personally acquainted with
several of their rainisters, their representa
tion had so much weight with me as to in
crease my embarrassment.
My difficulties grew upon me, when I
found, by consulting different Independent
writers wbo hod professedly treated this sub
ject that though they were of one raind in
asserting tbat a plain and satisfactory pattern
for tbis Congregational order might be easUy
collected and stated from a perusal of the
New Testament ; yet when they came to
delineate and describe it according to their
own idea, they were far frora being agreed
among themselves as to the nature and num
ber of the officers, powers, and acts which are
requisite to the constitution and administra
tion of a regularly organized gospel-church.
I formerly eraployed rauch 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 raemory enter into a detaU of particu
lars. Nor is it needful. Of the fact I think
I may be confident, that there is not such an
agreement amongst them as raight be ex
pected, if the plan from which they all pro
fess to copy was clearly and expressly re
vealed in the New Testament as obligatory
upon all christians. Here I was at a loss
again ; for, ff I could have admitted their
principle. That every circumstance of wor
ship and government in a church ought to
have tbe warrant of a precept or a precedent
from the scripture, stUl I needed help to di
gest and put together the several regulations
which were dispersed in so many different
parts of the Gospels and Epistles; for 1
found myself unable to frarae the detached
materials into one orderly structure by my
own skUl. But wben they who professed to
have the light which I wanted were thera
selves divided upon the point, I was preclud
ed from the hope of any certain assistance ;
for as to probabilities and conjectures, I might
as well depend upon my own, as upon those
of anothef.
Nor was this the whole of ray difficulty,
I was honestly advised to read and exaraine
• for myself. I did so ; and it appeared to me.

by comparing what I read with what I saw,
that tbe Independents could not at least did
not keep closely to their own principles. I
thought I met with usages in tbe churches
planted by tbe apostles which did not obtain
in any of the Congregational churches I was
acquauited 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 priraitive churches. Permit
rae, 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 raore particular account of the
practices of their church than of any other. .
In chap. xiv. ofhis first epistle, after censuring
and correcting some iraproprieties wbich had
obtained in their public assemblies, he gives
them this direction : " Let the prophets speak
two or three, and let tbe other judge. If any
thing be revealed to another that sitteth by,
let the first hold his peace. For ye may aU
prophesy one by one, tl^t all may learn, and
all raay be coraforted." 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 assem
blies, especiaUy 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 evidentiy 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 encour
agement to hope for the presence of our Sa
viour, and the gracious influences of his Spirit
when we meet in his name, sufficient to en
able us to speak to his praise, and to the edifi
cation and corafort of our brethren, if not in
foreign tongues, at least in our own. And it
is probable 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
vvhat you had been hearing, or to indulge tiie
liberty you found in your mind upon some
other iraportant 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

ifiT. ni.]

APOLOGIA.

453

principles^have been justifled by the custom
of a New-Testament church, and the injunc
tion of an apostle?
But secondly, and chiefly, I answer, if itbe
admitted, that because the primitive churches
had extraordinary gifts, there are some things
in tbeir practice which are not proper for our
imitation,* who have not the sarae gifts ;
then I quite give up the hope of being able to
determine tiie exact and invariable form of
a church, by sucb lights as the Acts of tbe
Aposties and their Epistles afford me; unless
some raan or set of men be qualified and com
missioned to draw the line for rae, and to show
me distinctly how far, and in what instances,
the state of the first christians is liraited frora
being a pattern to us, by tbe extraordinary
dispensations of tbat age ; and how far, and
in what cases, their pattern is binding upon
us StiU, notwithstanding those dispensations
have long since ceased. To be directed to
study these churches as a raodel, and to be
told at the same tirae, that some parts of their
practice were not designed for the iraitation
of future ages, without distinctly specifying
which were, and which were not is rather the
way to perplex and bewUder an inquirer, than
to help him to information. Upon this ground,
though I might refuse to trust the assumed
infoUibUity ofthe Pope, I raust feel the^eed
of an infallible visible guide to reside sorae
where in the church ; for without such assist
ance I could not take a single step with cer
tainty, but raust be liable to sturable at the
very threshold of ray inquiry.
I think it is the usual practice in your
churches, to require from all persons who
wish tobe admitted into your communion, an
account either verbal or written, of what is
called their experience ; in which, not only a
declaration of their faith in the Lord Jesus, and
their purpose, by grace, to devote theraselves
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 hira 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 evU of super-
addmg 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 par-

* See Neale'a History of the Puritans. 'Vol. 1. p. 379.
Sd edit. 1733.

ticiilars of a like nature, appears to me to be
as merely huraan, as tbe 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,
especially for young women, to be corapeUed
to speak before a public assembly ; or ff that
be dispensed with for the sake of otber inter
fering expediencies, how far it is expedient
to trust to a written experience : otherwise I
could say a good deal upon this bead. 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 frora Daraascus, essay
ed to join hiraself to the disciples, it was Bar
nabas and not Saul* hiraself, who informed
them both ofhis conversion, and of the extra
ordinary manner in which it was effected,
subjoining a testimony of his conduct from
the time that he professed a change. But if
expediency may warrant a measure in your
churches not expressly commanded, why not
Ukewise in ours ? Be it either right or wrong
in one case, it must be so in both. And
therefore my reijiark 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 ofthe long and intricate
road which I travelled, to discover, ff 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 sorae of my readers, though
not you, tbat a considerable part of the con
gregational churches differ frora the rest, with
respect to the mode and subjects of baptism.
At the time when ray thoughts were most en
gaged about church-order, Hived in intimate
habits of friendship with several Baptists, who
were very wUling to assist me in setfling
my judgraent. These, though they would
have been pleased to see me yield to the ar
guments of their Peedobaptist 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 ofthe Congregational churches but their
own were agreeable to the mind of Christ.
They told me, that though I should acknow
ledge and embrace tbe Congregational order,
which undoubtedly was tbe only one counte
nanced by scripture, stUl 1 could not be right
till I had renounced what I called the bap
tisra I had received in ray 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
tbe example of our Lord himself, who whenhe
• See Dr. Guyse ou Acts ix. 27.

454

APOLOGIA.

[let. hi.

was baptized, said for our instruction, "Thus
it becometh 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 rae frora thera again, to join with the
Baptists. How they, who, raain taininginfant-
baptisra, press scripture precedent so strongly
upon me, answer the Baptists, who in this
point press it as strongly upon themselves, is
not ray concern. I did not stand upon the
sarae ground, and therefore the arguments
of the Baptist did not much affect me. I
thought tbe example of our Lord pleaded as
much for circuracision as for baptism. I ques
tion 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 baptisra and the christian baptisra were
different; and though the Baptists assured
me tbat they were the sarae, I was not con
vinced. I thought they were plainly distin
guished in Acts xix. 2-— 5. And I was griev
ed by the atterapts of some wise and good raen
to wrest a sense from that passage, so contrary
to its plain and obvious meaning, raerely to
support a favourite scheme. And as the
form of christian baptism is laid down in
express words. Matt xxviii. 19, I raust
continue to think it different frora the bap
tism of John, till I can have sufficient proof
that John baptized 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 thera,
w^re divided among themselves. Some of
tbem, whUe they practise what they think a
duty, do not so peremptorily prescribe it to
others, 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,
thougb they consider him, in strictness of
speech, as unbaptized. But others are rauch
hurt by this concession, and bear testimony
against it as unscriptural and wrong. Their
views are so strict that if they certainly knew
that a person who wished to communicate
with thera was the raost eminent christian in
the land, unless he was likewise baptized in
their manner, they could not they durst not
adrait him to the Lord's table, to eat of that
bread and to drink of that cup whicb is by his
command and appointment the privUege and
portion of all believers. This difference of
judgment between them has been thought so
important, that the reasons for and against
and their rautual censures of each other, have
been laid before the,public, by good raen on
each side of the question.
Now, my dear friend, upon this state of the

corapared 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 tbem, then they differed among them
selves. They all confessed they were fallible,
yet they all decided with an air of infaUibility ;
for they aU in their turns expected me to
unite with them, if I had any regard to the
authority and honour ofthe Lord Jesus as
Head of tbe 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 ofhis
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 — tbat they wUl give me
liberty to think as they think, and to act as
they act ; whicb to me, who claim the same
right of thinking for myseff 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^tbat 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 raaster
— in fine, that if others sought to honour him
bylaying a great stress on matters of doubtful
disputation, my way of honouring him should
be by endeavouring to show 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 uncircuracision, but a new creature,
and the faith which worketh by love. There
was a tirae when I could have joined with
the Dissenters, ff the providence of God had
opened my way to them ; but farther experi
ence and observation have so far altered
my judgment, that had I my choice to make
again, 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 rae to exclude any
whom I believe he has been pleased to receive.
Thus rauch for the first reason of my confor
mity. Yet in justice to the non-conformists
I must add, that if I wish 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 blarae rae
for conforming, though they could not in
conscience do it themselves. Particularly I
judge thus (from many ofhis writings) ofthe
truly great Mr. Howe, whose praise is in all

case, what could I do ? I had reviewed and I the churches. I ara sincerely yours &c

LET. IV.]

APOLOGIA.

455

LETTER IV.

My Dear Friend and Brother, — I have
given you the chief reason why I ara not a
Dissenter; and it appears to me a sufficient
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 uideed 1 be
gin to be weary of a subject whicb is not quite
suitable to my taste and inclination. But it
seems not unseasonable, and I hope may not
be unuseful to show you that the preference
I have given to the Church of England, is
not the effect either of inconsideration or
prejudice. My second reason for not being a Dissen
ter is, Because I highly value the right of
private judgment, and my liberty as a man
and as a Christian. Here again I think we
are agreed in principle. You rejoice in the
name of a Protestant Dissenter, as setting you
free frora the shackles and impositions of men;
and probably think of rae 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
wishes ; and we repay you in kind. As we
cannot think exactly alike, this seeras the best
method we can take. Harsh censures and
angry disputations would be unbecoraing our
profession, and hurtful to our spirits; but it
can do us no harra to pity and pray for each
other. Perhaps you are ready to say, " You
would surely pity me ff 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 raay say the
same, with the alteration of one word. If
you knew the evUs 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
tUl I ara 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 tbe service, and therefore it is no
burden to me to use it. I do not consider it
as faulfless, nor can I subscribe to any book
of human composition in the sarae absolute
raanner as I would to the Bible. But by as
senting to our church-ritual I give up less of
jny own private judgment for the sake of
peace, than I should by espousing the rules

and practices of any Dissenting churches I am
acquainted with. Again, having accepted a de
signation to the cure of souls, my public minis
try is thereby confined to parish churches,
and I cannot, consistently with what I
conceive to be the iraport of ray voluntary
engagements, preach at random, and in all
places without reserve. But this is no re
straint upon my conscience. While I have
the example of our Lord and bis apostles in
ray 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 sucb opportunities of
preaching in parochial pulpits as raay 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 hira for ordination, if I had not been
previously deterrained to submit to his au
thority and to the rules of the church. I
thought, and still think it my duty to preserve
a consistency 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 coramitted
to my charge. But I need not enlarge upon
this point, as I thmk the Dissenters do not in
general by their practice countenance what
we call irregularity, but are alraost 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 Testament.
Nor ara I under a'ny 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
forraer annually, the latter once in three
years. At these visitations the clergy (espe
cially in the country) are expected to attend.
On these occasions we answer to our names,
hear a serraon or a charge, and usually dine
together. There is nothing painful to rae in
paying these tokens of respect to ray acknow
ledged superiors, and receiving marks of
civility from them. At all other times, while
we keep within the limits whicb I have al
ready told you, I subscribed and consented
to ex animo, we scarcely know, at least we
do not feel that we bave any superiors. So
far as I am concerned, I have reason to ac
knowledge 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

456

to my own judgment : and I have done some
things whicb have not the sanction of general
custom, but I never met with the sraaUest
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 liberty. I am bound by no regulations
but what I rayself approve ; and withm these
boundaries I do as I please, no man forbidding
or controlling me.
Indeed I have often thought thati have as
good a right to the narae 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
advantage 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 par
ticular church is called independent, as pos
sessing and exercising every kind of church
power within itself, and not subject to the
control 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
ministers, which bas a greater effect than
some people are aware of and which I ap
prehend may in sorae instances be rather
unfriendly to the liberty you so highly prize.
Sorae of your rainisters, from their situation
or connection have more influence than
others. They have opportunities of assist
ing poorer ministers, and are, I suppose, in
many cases, the judges whether they shaU
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 in
fluence of connection ; and whether the
weight of a board of ministers may not be
occasionaUy felt by those who pity us for
being subordinate to a bench of Bishops. I
own, I have upon sorae occasions been led to
compare your ministers to a company of sol
diers in their exercise, where every one
must raove in a prescribed line, keep the
same pace, and make the like motions with
tbe rest on pain of being treated as refractory.
Ministers in the establishment knownothing
of these restraints. We are connected in'
love, but not upon system. We profess the
same leading prmciples and aims, but each
one acts smgly and individually for himself
I think we are likewise raore independent
of our people. The constitution of your
churches, which you suppose the only one
agreeable to the scripture, appears to rae
feulty, m giving a greater power to the peo
ple than the scripture authorizes. There is
loubtless a sense in which ministers are not
only the servants of the Lord, but for his

APOLOGIA. f^^' **•
to respect Thus tiie apostle says, " Obey
them that bave rule over you. Their office
is that of a steward, wbo is neither to lord it
over the household, nor to be entirely under
subjection to it, but to superintend and pro
vide for tbe famUy. Scriptural reguktiong
are wisely and graciously adapted to our
state of infirmity ; but I think the power
which the people with you claim, and attempt
to exercise, is not so. Many of them, though
truly gracious persons, may, notwithstand
ing, from their situation in life, their want of
education, and the narrowness of their views,
be very incapable of govemment; yet when
a number of such are associated according to
your plan, under the honourable titie of a
Church of Christ they acquire a great im
portance. Almost every individual conceives
himseff qualified to judge and to guide the
rainister; to sift and scrutinize his expres
sions, 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 contribute raost to the minister's
support who is ofl«n entirely dependent up
on his people for a maintenance ; their riches
likewise give thera sorae additional weight
and influence in the church ; and the officers,
whom you caU the Deacons, are usuaUy cho
sen frora among the more wealthy. But it
is not always found that the most wealthy
church raembers are the most eminent either
for grace or wisdom. We may be rather
sure that riches, ff the possessors 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 foUowed. The preaching must be
suited to their taste and sentiment ; and if
any thing is either enforced or censured
which bears hard upon their conduct they
think theraselves Ul-treated. Although a
faithfiil minister, in his better hours, disdains
the thought of complying with the caprice of
his hearers, or conniving at their faults, yet
human nature is weak, and it must be al
lowed, that in such circumstances, be 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 benefactors. I can truly say,
that my heart has been grieved for the oppo
sition, neglect and imkmdness, which some
valuable men araong you have to my know
ledge met with, frora those who ought to
have esteeraed them very highly for their
work's sake. The effects of this supreme
power lodged in the people, and of the un
sanctified spirit in which it has been exer
cised, have been often visible in the divisions

sake, the servants of the churches ; but it is and subdivisions whicb have crumbled larse
a service which implies rule, and is entitled I societies mto separate handfuls, if I may so

t*T. IV.l

APOLOGIA.

457

speak. And to this I am afraid, rather than
to the spread of a work ofgrace, may be as
cribed, in many instances, the great increase
ofthe 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 hearers
who assurae a right to direct us, or whom
we should ^tand in fear of, if they did. For
my own part 1 wish to bave a spirit willing
to profit by a bint, 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 disposed to find fault with theraselves
than with their minister, and to receive in
struction than to offer it. But should a con
formist to the world, or a zealot for a party,
expect me to accomraodate my preaching to
his practice, or to his Shibboleth, 1 could give
" him an answer without being afraid of con
sequences. I may add, that I apprehend we have more
liberty with respect to our pulpits. At least
I remember to have heard sermons frora some
of your pulpits, the strain of which has been
so very different from the professed senti
ments of the proper pastor of the church, that
I have thought to rayself, How came this mi
nister to preach in this place ? Upon inquiry
I have found at one tirae, that the gentleraan
belonged to the conneidon ; at another, that
he was asked to preach at the desire of a
principal person in the church or congrega
tion, 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
among your people wbo would wUlingly hear
us occasionally, were they not afraid of their
ministers; so I know some of your rainisters
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 ;
tf you are, equally pleased with yours, I ara
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.
The first concerned my conscience. For
though my regard to the authority of the
great Lord and Lawgiver of the church did
not directly oblige me to unite with the Es-
VoL. IL 3 M

tablishment, it discouraged me frora uniting
with any of the parties, who pretended an
exclusive right from him to enforce their own
particular church-forras. When conscience
did not interfere, ray second reason though
rather of a prudential kind, was of consider
able weight with me. I loved liberty, and
therefore gave a preference to the Church of
England, believing I might in that situation
exercise my rainistry with the most freedom.
I have made the experiment and have no
reason to repent of it These points being
cleared, ray way was open to attend to ano
ther consideration which had a ferther in
fluence in determining my mind. This, I
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, seeraed 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 la
mentably destitute of the proper means of
instruction. I hoped for opportunities in the
Establishraent of preaching to many who
could not hear the Dissenters. The chUdren
of God, known to himself, are scattered
abroad far and wide. And as faith more
usually comes by hearing, I admire his con
descension and goodness in permitting his
ministers to think differently on some exter
nal points, that they may with an upright
heart serve hira in the different departments
of his vineyard. They who are Dissenters
upon principle, would act against their judg
raents and consciences, were they to conform
for the sake of usefulness. • I ara well con
tent that they should reraain as they are.
But it has proved a raercy to thousands, that
all who are called and qualified to preach the
gospel, are not like-rainded 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 religion 'in an ignorant attachment to
our forms, and could' not easily be prevailed
upon to enter within the doors of a meeting
house. But their prepossession in favour of
our churches gives the minister who can con
scientiously raeet thera there a great advan
tage ad hominem, by confirraing the truths
of the gospel (which when first declared are
generaUy disliked and opposed) frora the
tenor of our liturgy and Articles, to which
they profess some regard. A large part of
our auditories, especially in places where the
gospel is considered as a novelty, consists of
persons of this description. But the Lord
has been pleased in very many instances to
honour our service amongst them with his

4*18

APOLOGIA.

[tET. f «

blessing. By the power of his spirit the
truth is made manifest to their hearts, they
are turned from darkness to light and frora
the bondage of sin, to serve the living God.
Then their forraer prejudices subside ; inso
much that many, who once despised and
hated the Dissenters, have been afterwards
persuaded to join with thera. The Dissent
ing interest would probably have been much
weaker than it is at present if it had not
been strengthened by the accession of raany
church-merabers, and more than a few of
your teachers and pastors, who had no incli
nation to hear your rainisters, until they were
first awakened under ours. The words of
our Lord may in this sense be applied to
many of your churches : " Other men la
boured, and ye have entered into the fruits
of their labours." The aim of my ministry,
I trust, is not to proraote 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 establish
ed by the blessing of God on our preaching ;
and that many of the most judicious and spi
ritual of our people, are proof against the in
sinuations which prevail on some to forsake
the Church of England in hopes of enjoying
a purer and more acceptable worship araong
the Dissenters. 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 huraility, raeekness, benevolence,
and deadness to the world, more araong you,
than they would have done araongst us, I can
sincerely rejoice. But I think your brethren
have nO just reason to be either displeased or
sorry, that God has raised up ministers to
preach to thousands to whora 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 Spjrit to the Church of England, which
I believe raany Dissenters thought he had so
utterly 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
success 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 ex
emplary conversation. But I believe you
will allow, that the general state of your
churches at present, is not so lively and fiour
ishing as it was in the days of the old non-
conforraists. I believe the best of your peo
ple 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 the way they ex
pected. A great and spreading revival of
religion took place, but the instruments were

not Dissenters. At the time when I was or
dained, there was a considerable number of
regular parochial rainisters 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 awakening
sinners, and in applying it with power to the
heart was raore evident and striking on this
side, than on yours. Not because 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 religion
will seldom stand long at their primitive
height, but will gradually subside and degen
erate, till things return in a course of time
nearly to their former state ; though a name,
perhaps first imposed as a stigraa by the
world, and a forra which owed all its value to
the spirit that once enlivened it, may stUl
remain. I wish I oould affirm that none who
were otherwise corapetent judges of a revi
val, have been prevented by their preposses
sions frora rejoicing in what God bas wrought
araong us. But I fear it has been otherwise,
and that a spirit of prejudice and party dis
covered itself upon the occasion, which
proved hurtful to some good men. When I
think of the abilities and characters of some
Dissenting ministers, I cannot but ascribe
the Uttle visible success they meet with, in
some measure, to their unwillingness to ac
knowledge a work of God in which they
themselves were not eraployed. Their ex
ceptions were not wholly groundless : A
lively zeal for the glory of God, and the good
of souls, in persons whose judgraents were
not fully ripened by observation and expe
rience, did not secure them from incidental
raistakes Eind blemishes. These were easily
seen and eagerly noticed. A desire of being
free from the least suspicion of giving coun
tenance to the unguarded, though well meant
sallies of active spirits, seems to have led
some of your ministers into a contrary ex
treme ; and their public discourses, though
solid and judicious compositions, lost that
animation in delivery, whicb is in some de
gree necessary to engage attention, and to
keep up an auditory. Thus, while preachers
rauch inferior to thera for learning and gene
ral knowledge in divinity have had crowded
asserablies, tiie pleasure with which I have
heard some of your most erainent rainisters,
has been often abated by observing that the
nuraber of the hearers has been much smaller
than the nuraber 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
teraper rather compliant, might insensibly
betray me into an over cautious spirit, 4amp
my zeal, or divert it into a wrong channet

tET. IV.]

APOLOGIA

459

and thereby prevent tbe success at which I
aimed. I rather chose to unite with those
people whora I thought the raost likely to
maintain and encourage what littie fervour I
possessed ; and where I saw the raost evident
tokens of a power frora on high accorapany-
ing the public ministrations. And as I had
my reasons likewise for not being an Itine
rant, a regular and stated charge in the Es
tablished church engaged my preference.
My fourth reason (the last I think it ne
cessary to mention) being rather a point of
experience, raust depend chiefly upon my
own testiraony, and therefore I need not en
large rauch upon it. Superadded, however,
to those which I have already stated, it great
ly contributed 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 hira. The first ex
plicit notice I gave of my desire to enter the
¦ministry, was to an intiraate friend in your
denomination, nearly six years before I was
ordained. In the course of this interval I
made, and I received a variety of applica
tions and proposals ; but every thing failed,
and every door by which I sought admission
remained shut against me. I have already
observed, that this state of suspense gave
me leisure to examine the subject of church
government raore. closely, and that the re
sult of my disquisitions was the gradual, and
at length the complete reraoval of the diffi
culties and exceptions I had at first hastily
irabibed against the Establishment. At length
the Lord's time came ; then obstacles appa
rently unsurraountable suddenly and unex
pectedly disappeared. Then I learnt the
reason of forraer disappointraents. My .way
had been mercifully hedged up with thorns,
to prevent me taking a wrong coufse, and to
keep me waiting until the place and service
of his own appointment were prepared and
ready for rae. The coincidence of many cir
curastances which I cannot explain to ano
ther, gave rae a very corafortable sense of
the Lord's guidance. I received ordination
in the Church of England with a >rA.«fo^of.«,
with wind and tide (if I raay so speak) in
my fevour, with the raost pleasing disposition
of outward events, and the raost assured per
suasion in my own mind, that I was follow
ing tbe call, and doing the will of God ; of
which I had at that time little more doubt
than if an angel had been sent frora hea
ven to tell me so. Nor have I hesitated
upon the point a single hour from that day to
this. I think you wiU not be sorry to find that
I ara drawing towards a close. Indeed I
should be ashamed to have written so much

merely on my own account. I began this
ideal correspondence with you about seven
years ago. More than the one half of it was
then written in a few weeks ; but I felt a
reluctance to proceed, because it seeraed to
be so much my own affair; but I have fre
quently thought since, that soraething upon
the subject, written in a raoderate and friend
ly spirit (which it has been my prayer and
endeavour to preserve) might by the liord's
blessing, be a raean of promoting candour
and benevolence among those, who, whatever
else they differ in, have one Lord, one faith,
one hope. A desire of being instruraental
in BO 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. 1 cannot give
you particular 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 privilege always to acknowledge,
though we cannot always distinctly discern
it. I shall be happy if the evpnt shall prove
that I have been led to choose 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 araong
men, and whatever body of people they are
united to, are engaged in one coraraon cause ;
they are opposed by the sarae enemies ; their
severest conflicts and their sweetest coraforts
are derived from the same sources ; and they
will ere long raeet in the same kingdom of
glory, and join in the same songs of eternal
praise, to hira who sitteth upon the throne,
and to hira who redeeraed us to God by his
blood. How desirable then is it, that while
we live here, we should be at peace araongst
•ourselves, and live in the spirit of that love
(the only infallible mark of our being truly
the servants of Christ) which seeketh not
its own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no
evU, but beareth, hopeth and believeth all
things. As what I wriie to you is to appear in
print I think it proper to add, foi- my own
sake, that my whole intention will be fulfilled
by the publication. I do not mean to enter
into controversy ; and therefore if these let
ters, contrary to ray 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 reraain, Yotir affectionate friend,
March 1, 1784.

A PLAN

ACADEMICAL PREPARATION FOR THE MINISTRY,

LETTER TO A FRIEND.

(^uin et piorum mentibus mysteria,
Contempta pravis, impie sapientibua
Occulta, Dominus luce proferet sua,
Et sacrosancti foederia scientiam
Docebit.  Bdch. Ps. xxt.
The wisdom that is from above, is first pure, then peaceable. Jaues iii. 17.

Dear Sir, — I am not the son of a prophet
nor was I bred up araong the prophets. I am
quite a stranger 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 la
boured 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 iraportant in ray view, that I
am wUling to come as near to your wishes as
I can. I raust not pretend to dictate a plan
for tbe business which is now in conterapla-
tion. But if you will allow me to indulge a
sort of reverie, and suppose rayself 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 raen for the ministry ofthe
gospel — in this way I am willing to offer you
my thoughts upon the subject with great
simplicity and freedora. And if any of the
regulations of ray iraaginary academy should
be judged applicable to your design, you and
your friends wUl be heartily welcome to thera.
I should then, suppositis supponendis, in
the first place, lay down two or three im
portant maxims, which I would hope never to
lose sight of in the conduct of the affair : ex
pecting that if I should begin without them,
I must stumble at the very threshold ; and

that whenever I should neglect them after
wards, all ray care and labour and expense
would be from that time thrown away.
My first maxira is, That none but he who
raade the world can raake a minister of the
gospel. If a young man has capacity, cul
ture and application raay make him a scholar,
a philosopher, or an orator. But a true
rainister raust have certain principles, mo
tives, feelings, and airas which no industry
or endeavours of men can either acquire or
coiSmunicate. They must be given from
above, or they cannot be received.
I adopt as a second maxira, That tbe holy
scriptures are both comprehensively and ex
clusively the grand treasury of all that know
ledge which is requisite and sufiicient, to
make the minister, tbe man of God, thorough
ly furnished for every branch of his oflice.
If indeed no other studies were of subordi
nate importance, in order to a right under
standing of the scriptures, and especially to
those who are not only to know for them
selves, but are appointed to teach others also;
then academical instruction would be need
less, and I might supply my young men with
every thing at once, by putting the Bible in
to their hands, and directing them to read it
continuallywith attention and prayer. But
my meaning is, that though there is such
a concatenation in knowledge, that every
branch of science raay, by a judicious appli
cation, be rendered subservient to a rainis-
ter's great design; yet no attainments in
philology, philosophy, or in any or aU the
460

A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION, &c.

461

particulars which constitute the aggregate
of what we call Learning, can in the least
contribute to form a rainister of the gospel,
any ferther than he is taught ofGod to refer
thera to, and to regulate thera by the scrip
tures 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 qualifled to perplex himself, and to
mislead his hearers.
My third maxim is an inference from tha
two former : That the true gospel-rainister
who possesses these secondary advantages,
though be may know the sarae things, and
acquire his knowledge by the like methods,
as other scholars do, yet he must know and
possess them in a manner peculiar to himself
His criticisras, if he be a critic, wUl discover
something which the greatest skUl in grara-
raatical niceties cannot of itself reach. If he
be an orator, he wUl not speak in the artifi
cial self-applauding language of raan's wis
dom, but in siraplicity and with authority;
like one who feels the ground he stands upon,
and knows to whora he belongs, and whora
he serves. If he raentions a passage of his
tory, it will not be to show his reading, but
to Ulustrate or prove his point ; and it wiU be
evident frora his raanner of speaking, that
though he raay have taken the facts frora
Tacitus or Robertson, his knowledge of the
springs of huraan action, and of the superin
tendency of a divine providence, is derived
frora the word of God. And so of other in
stances. In a word, if a young raan was to consult
me how be might be wise and learned in the
usual sense of the words, I raight advise hira
to repair to Oxford or Carabridge, or to twenty
other places which I could narae. But if I
thought hira really desirous of becoraing wise
to win souls, I would invite hira to ray new
coUege in Utopia.
From these general observations I proceed
more directly to my subject. You are then
to suppose that I have taken my deterraina
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. Tbe Place.
2. The Tutor.
3. The Pupils.
4. The Course of Education.
I. And first, (as preachers soraetiraes say,)
of the first. If the raetropolis 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 considera
ble ministers and Christians, should not be

rendered impracticable ; as they might fur
nish my young raen with opportunities oif
forming connections and raaking observations
that raight contribute to their usefulness in
future life. But procul ab urbe will be my
maxim. I should not only fear lest they
should be contaminated by the .vices which
too generally prevail where men live in a
throng: if they escaped these, I should stUl
have apprehensions, lest the notice that might
be taken of them, and the respect shown
thera by well-meaning friends, should imper
ceptibly seduce them into a spirit of self-im
portance, give thera a turn for dress and
company, and spoil that siraplicity and de
pendence, without which I could have little
hope of their success. I would wish it may
be their grand aira to please the Lord, and
under hira and for his sake to please their
tutor. They have as yet no business with
other people. Their tutor raust be to them
instar omnium. Him they raust love, re
verence, and obey, and accurately watch his
looks, and every intiraation ofhis will. But
to secure this point or even to have a rea
sonable prospect of attaining it methinks it
-seeras 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 raore upon this head. I therefore proceed,
II. To the choice of ray Tutor. — -Whoever
he raay be, when I have found hira, and fixed
hira, I will take the liberty to tell him, that
he is called to the most honourable and im
portant ofiice that raan, in the present state
of things, is capable of The sldlful 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 rainistry, in tbe 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 consequences, 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 raiscbief
raay be diffused. Unless, therefore, I can
procure a proper tutor, I raust give up my
design. It is better the youth should remain
untaught, than that they should be taught to
do wrong.
And I seera not easily satisfied on this
head. My idea of the person to whora I
could cheerfully entrust the care of ray aca
deray, is not of an ordinary size. He seems
to be one,
 Ctualem nequeo raonstrare, ac sentio tantum.
However, since we are upon Utopian

462

A PLAN OF ACADEMICAL PREPARATION

ground, where we may imagine as largely
as we please, I wiU 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 efiicacy
of the gospel. However learned and able in
other respects, he shall not have a single pu
pil from me, unless I have reason to believe,
that his heart is attached to the person of
the Redeeraer as God-raan : that as a sinner
his whole dependence is upon the Redeemer's
work of love, his obedience unto death, bis
intercession and mediatorial fiilness. His
sentiments raust be clear and explicit respect
ing the depravity of huraan nature, and the
necessity and reality of the agency of the
Holy Spirit, to quicken, enlighten, sanctify,
and seal those who, under his influence, are
led to Jesus for salvation. With respect to
the different schemes or systems of Divinity
which obtain araongst those who are united
in the acknowledgraent of the above funda
mental truths, I should look for ray tutor
amongst those who are called Calvinists ; but
he must not be of a curious, raetaphysical,
disputatious turn, a raere system-monger or
party-zealot I seek for one who, having
been him'self taught the deep things of God
by the Holy Spirit, in a gradual experimental
manner ; while he is charmed with the beau
tiful harraony and coincidence of all the doc
trines of grace, is at the same tirae aware of
the raysterious depths of the divine counsels,
and the irapossibility of their being fully
coraprehended by our feeble understandings.
Such a man wUl 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 capaci
ties. After the example of the Great Teacher,
he wUl consider what they can bear, and aim
to lead them forward step by step, in such a
manner, that the sentiments he instils into
thera raay be their own, and not taken up
merely upon the authority of his ipse dixit.
He will propose the scripture to them as a
consistent whole ; and guard them against
tbe extreraes into which controversial writers
have forced themselves and each other, in
support of a favourite hypothesis, so as, under
pretence of honouring sorae parts ofthe word
of God, to overlook, if not to contradict, what
is taught with equal clearness in other parts.
I wish ray pupils to be well versed in use
ful learning, and therefore my tutor must be
a learned man. He raust 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 raost pro
mising among thera raay feel he has a decided
superiority over them tn every part of their

studies. Besides an accurate skUl in the
school classics, he should be weU acquainted
with books at large, and possessed of a gene
ral knowledge of the state of literature and
religion, and the memorable events of histo
ry in the successive ages of mankind. Par
ticularly, he should be well versed in Eccle
siastical learning : for though it be true, that
the bulk of it is Uttle 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 forraing a right judgment of human na
ture, of true religion, of its counterfeits, and
of the abuses to which the narae of religion
is capable of being perverted. And he will
likewise be able to select for their use, such
authors and subjects as deserve their notice,
from the surrounding rubbish in which they
are alraost buried.
My tutor should likewise be competently
acquainted with the lighter accomplishments,
which are usually understood by the term
Belles Lettres, and a proper judge of them
with respect both to their intrinsic and their
relative value. Their intrinsic value to
creatures who are posting to eternity, is not
great ; and a wise man if he has not been
tinctured with them in early life, wUl seldom
think it worth his while to attend much to
them afterwards. Yet in such an age as
ours, it is sorae 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, under the direction of a
sound judgment and a correct and cultivated
taste. Otherwise, how can he assist and
form the taste and judgraent of his pupils,
or direct or criticise their corapositions 1
Natural Philosophy is not only a noble
science, but one which offers the raost inter
esting and profitable relaxations frora the
weight of severer studies. If the tutor be
not possessed of this, he will lose a thousand
opportunities of pointing out to bis pupils the
signatures of wisdora, power, and goodness,
which the wonder-working God has irapress
ed upon every part of the visible creation.
But at the sarae tirae, he should know where
to stop, and what bound to set to their in
quiries. It is not necessary that either he or
they should be nurabered amongst the first
astronomers or virtuosi of the age. A life
devoted to the service of God and souls, wUl
not afford leisure for this diminutive kind of
pre-erainence. A general knowledge wUl
sufiice even in the tutor. And when be lec
tures upon these subjects, he will caution
them against spending too much time and
thought upon those branches of philosophy
which have but a very reraote tendency to
qualify thera for preaching the gospel. They
are sent into the world and into the academy,
not to collect shells, and fossils, and butter-

FOR THE MINISTRY.

463

flies, 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, bis methods of communi
cating what he knows to bis pupUs, and his
manner of living with them as a father with
his children.
He must be dida'cticos, apt to teach. A
man may know much, yet not have a facUity
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 ofiice.
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 pupUs
are with him. And he will love to have
them always about hira, so far as their stu
dies and his own necessary avocations will
admit Two things he wUl aim to secure frora
them, reverence and affection. Without
maintaining a steady authority, he can do
nothing; and unless they love him, every
thing "wUl 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 exeraplary deportraent, his
wisdom and abUities, wUl command their
respect. His condescension and gentleness,
his tenderness for their personal concerns,
bis assiduity in promoting their comfort, and
doing them every friendly ofiice in his power,
wiU engage their love. These happy effects
wUl be ferther^promoted by their frequent rau
tual intercourse in prayer, by his expository
lectures, and by his public ministry, if he be
a preacher. Having his eye unto the Lord,
and his heart in his work, a blessing from on
high shall descend upon him and upon his
house. As huraan nature is the same in all places,
it is probable that the christians in Utopia
maybe divided araong theraselves with re
spect to rituals and modes of worship, in some
such manner as we see and feel araongst 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 unfformly judges and acts upon tbat
grand principle of the New Testament which
is likewise a plain and obvious maxira of com
mon sense ; I mean, that the Lord of all, the
Head of the church, is the alone Lord and
Judge of conscience. I suppose my tutor
has already taken his side, that he is either
m the Establishraent (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 shaU not have

a minute's debate about it, provided he acta
consistently with the principles which I have
assigned him. But as I myself, living in
England, ara ofthe Established Church, that
you may not suspect rae of partiality, I will
suppose, and ara ready to take it for granted,
that he will be found to be a Utopian Dis
senter. On this supposition, my imagination takes
a flight, hastens into the midst of things, and
anticipates as present what is yet future.
Methinks I see the tutor indulging his scho
lars (as at proper seasons he often will) with
an hour of free conversation ; and frora some
question proposed to hira concerning the con>
parative excellence or autbority of different
forms of church government taking occa
sion to open his raind to thera, soraething in
the following raanner :
" 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 custora to speak in a dog
raatical style. I have sometiraes intimated
to you, that though every part of the Levi
tical worship was of positive divine institu
tion, yet when the people rested and trusted
in tlieir external forms, the Lord speaks as
abhorring his own appointments. I have told
you, upon the apostle's authority, that the
kingdora of God consists not in raeats and
drinks, in naraes and forms, but in righteous
ness, 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 chil
dren 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 countries, under very differ
ent raodes of government, education, and
customs, it seems morally irapossible that
they should all agree, as by instinct, in one
eoramon raode of social worship. It is in
deed said, that there is a plan prescribed in
the New Testaraent to which all ought _to
conforra as nearly as possible. All parties
say this in favour of their own plans ; and
raen erainent for wisdora and holiness are to .
be found araong the advocates for each. But
is it not strange, that if the Lord bas appoint
ed sucb a standard, the wisest and best of
his people should differ so widely in their
views of it and deviate so fer from each
other when they atterapt to reduce it to prac-
lice 1 Let others dispute, but as for you my
children, and me, let us rather adore the wis
dom and goodness of our Lord. He who
knew the heart of man, the almost invincible
power of local prejudices, and what innu
merable circumstances in different periods
and places would render it irapracticable for
his people to tread exactiy in the same line,
has provided accordingly. The rules and

464

A PLAN OP ACADEMICAL PREPARATION

lights he has afforded us respecting the out
ward adrainistration of his Church, are re
corded with such a latitude, that his true
worshippers may conscientiously hope tbey
are#cceptable to hira, though the plans which
they believe to be consistent with his reveal
ed will, are far frora corresponding with each
other. It is sufiicient 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 which the Lord has establish
ed in many instances, between his works 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 exactly of the same shade, or all tu
lips variegated in the sarae manner, as if
painted from one common pattern, then, and
not before, expect to find true believers
agreed in their views and practice respect
ing the raodes of religion.
" Study therefore the scriptures, ray chil
dren, with hurable prayer, that the Lord raay
give 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 raaster, 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 theraselves in
conderaning all who differ frora thera. Pro
testants confess theraselves fallible, yet speak
the sarae pereraptory language.
" As to rayself, if I had thought it prefer
able upon the whole to be a rainister in our
Established Church, I might probably have
been one ; but I trust 1 am where the Lord
. would have me to be, and I am satisfied. My
desire for you is to see you able rainisters of
the New Testament. As to the part of the
vineyard in whicb you are to labour, wait
simply upon the Lord, and he in good tirae
will point it out tp 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 exaraple of your tutor. Should you de
termine otherwise, I shall still say. It is well
— provided I see you disinterested, hurable,
and faithful. Your being educated under my
roof is a circumstance not likely to facUitate
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 I thought it sinful. I 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 un
derstanding; in all thy ways acknowledge
hira, and he shall direct thy path."
Thus far my tutor. — Or, since I am in a
supposing humour, if you will give rae leave
to make one supposition more, that it is pos
sible there raay 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
congregation is the service which the Lord
has allotted rae, 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 related, I am no enemy to itinerant
preaching. My Lord and Saviour hiraself,
his apostles and first servants were all Itine
rants; and I believe that houses and ships,
hills and plains, the side of a river, or the
sea-shore, are all fit places for preacbing the
gospel, and sufiiciently authorized as such by
the highest precedents. I cannot therefore
censure, rauch less conderan, a practice which
the scripture warrants, 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 con
solation of many souls. I believe indeed, that
sorae persons not duly acquainted with their
own hearts, nor with what is requisite to
constitute a preacher, have too hastily sup
posed theraselves called to preach the gospel ;
when the event has proved that tbe Lord had
neither called thera to his service nor fur
nished 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 ap
probation of ministers more experienced than
themselves, many inconveniences may and
must follow. I could wish every young man
to be so irapressed with the force ofthe apos
tle's question, " Who is sufiicient for these
things'!" that he should rather need invita
tion and encourageraent to preach, than be
disposed to run hastily into the work, as the
horse rusheth into the battle. But I raust not
expect every thin^ wUl be managed accord
ing to my wish. I have mourned over the
raiscarriages of sorae Itinerant preachers, bnt
I have "been rauch coraforted 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 pro
perly instructed and qualified forthe ministry,
I should see any of you disposed to go forth
in the Itinerant way, should I be satisfied of
your prmciples and motives, and have reason

POR THE MINISTRY.

465

to hope your zeal was tempered with humil
ity, I know not that I durst refuse ray con
sent For, as I have often told you, the ho
nour of my Lord and Saviour, and the wel
fere of precious souls, are far dearer to me
than the detached interests of any party ;
and ff Christ be faithfully and successfully
preached, in whatever way, and by whatever
instruments he is pleased to work, " I do re
joice, yea, and will rejoice."
I think what I have said of the tutor, and
wbat he has just now said for hiraself, may
suffice to give you an idea of the person I
would choose, and that it is now tirae to con
sider, III. The choice of PupUs. — I would have
them all resident with the tutor, and there
fore their number at one time can be but
sraall ; especially as I should wish hira to
undertake every branch of their education.
He raight have an assistant to teach the ru
diments of the languages, a service that
would otherwise take up rauch of the tirae
which he could better eraploy, biit he must
do all the rest himseff. I suppose therefore
that ten, or at the most twelve pupils will be
a sufficient nuraber to be under his care at
once. The raan I have described would not
be mercenary, but the labourer is worthy of
his reward. As I shall find bira work enough
to take up his whole tirae, his pay ought to
be corapetent and liberal ; and, as I have sup
posed 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 sura
allotted for their board. I would fix the
boarding upon equitable and moderate terms
distinct frora his salary, which should be
handsorae, and always the sarae, whether he
had one pupil with hira, or ten, or twelve.
It would be ray part to keep the number up ;
but if I neglect it, he should be no loser ;
nor ought he to be dependent upon ray ca
price or negligence, but he should stand upon
an easy and settled footing, so as to be free,
not only frora want, but frora anxious care,
that he might be able to attend to his busi
ness without distraction.
And now my house is ready, where shall I
find young men to fill it 1 I must look around
me, and request my friends to look out for
me. When I have found two I wUl send
them, and the rest as tbey offer. Perhaps it
would be one of the chief difliculties attend
ing my scherae, to collect ten or twelve
youths worthy of such a tutor.
They raust be serious. I raeaj they must
have an awakened, experimental sense of the
trutii and goodness of the gospel. This is a
point not easUy ascertained, especially in
young persons. There is often a soraething
that resembles it, which, upon trial, does not
prove satisfeetory. However, my part will ;
Vol. il 3 N

be to look to the Lord for guidance, and then
judge as well as I can. But I hope no per
suasion or recommendation, no desire of
pleasing or obliging a friend, would prevail
on me to admit one who I did not verily be
lieve was a subject of tbe grace of God. Who
would undertake to teach a parrot algebra I
Yet this would be as practicable as to make
those able and feithful preachers, whom the
Lord has not first made Christians.
They raust 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 na
tural abUities, capable of being opened and
improved by education, seems almost neces
sary in the person who aims to be a minister
of the gospel. At least it wUl be necessary
upon ray plan ; for as ray tutor cannot take
many, I must give the preference to such as
may both do hira credit by their proficiency
under his care, and be qualified to profit
others when they leave him.
Ex quovis ligno Mercuriue non fit.
If the heart be changed and sanctified by
grace, a person of the weakest natural un
derstanding will acquire, under divine teach
ing, all that is necessary to enable him to fill
up his station in private life with propriety,
to overcorae the world, and to make his own
calling and election sure. But a preacher
must have gifts as well as grace, to be able
to divide the word of truth as a workraan
that needeth not to be ashamed. And there
fore, though the Lord was once pleased by a
durab ass to rebuke tbe foolishness of a pro
phet, I am not forward to acknowledge those
as ambassadors sent by hira (however well-
raeanuig they may be) who seem either to
have no raessage to deliver, or no ability to
deliver it
I would likewise be satisfied, as rauch as
possible, concerning the views and motives
which make them desirous of devoting them
selves to the ministry. Sorae 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 rauch affected. The obligations they
feel to the Redeeraer, a grief that he should
be so little known, so little loved, and a com
passion for their fellow sinners, whom they
see liable to perish for lack of knowledge,
make them often long to be employed, and
soraetiraes constrain them to run before they
are sent But if they are not really designed
by the Lord for this service, either their de
sires towards it graduaUy subside, and they
yield themselves to his appointment in other
paths of life ; or, if they unadvisedly venture
upon it they are seldora either corafortable
or useful. They soon feel themselves une
qual to the work; or, ff self-conceit prevents

/

466

A PLAN OP ACADEMICAL PREPARATION

them from feeling it, their hearers at least
are very sensible of it They often mistake
error for truth. They retaU scraps and shreds
of sentiments wbich they pick up frora others,
and, for want of judgment, misapply them.
Thus hypocrites are encouraged, and those
whom the Lord would have coraforted are
made sad. They think that preaching with
power consists in vociferation and distorted
attitudes; and that to utter every thing that
comes upon their rainds, without end or side
(as we say,) without any regard to text, con
text occasion, or connection, is to preach ex-
terapore. Too often Satan gains open ad
vantage over them : they are puffed up with
pride, taken in snares, and perhaps fall into
such woeful raiscarriages as at length ruin
their characters, and stop their mouths. It
is therefore of great iraportance to be workers
together with the Lord in this business ; to
choose those whora be chooses, to bring for
ward 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 blamable
for such consequences as we could not possi
bly foresee or prevent. If a candidate for
the academy appears to be of a self-diffident
and hurable spirit to have some acquaintance
with his own heart, a tolerable capacity, a
turn for appUcation, and an unblaraable cha
racter as to his personal conduct, I shall be
disposed to admit him. But I would leave
the final decision 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
absolutely and without reserve to the tutor,
who, if he answers my description, raust be
the most proper person to institute a plan for
hiraself, and would have no need of my
assistance. But if his humility and good
opinion bf me should lead hira to desire my
advice, he shall have it I do not mean as
to little circumstantials, but I would submit
to him in a general and misceUaneous way
such hints as may occur to me upon the
subject And I submit them to you before
hand. 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 edu
cation of young men. They are not called
to be gentlemen, but soldiers ; not to live

delicately, but to prepare for hardship. Thef
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 indul
gence either in the quantity or quality of
food, is a raeanness unworthy of a man, still
more unsuitable to the character of a chris
tian, and scandalous in a minister. I am no
advocate for a monkish austerity, or a scru
pulous, superstitious self-denial, which will
alraost starve the body to feed the pride erf"
the heart. It is, however, very desirable to
possess in early life, a habit of teraperance,
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 coramendable ; 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 trifling turn of raind, and exposes the fine
self-adrairing 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
favourable to study or devotion.' It Ukewise
cuts off the temptation to sitting up late, a
hurtful and preposterous custom, which many
students unwarily give unto, and which they
cannot so easUy break, when the bad effects -
of it upon their health convince thera too late
of their iraprudence.
Let them be guarded against the snares
attending a large acquaintance, and unneces
sary visiting. The tutor will doubtless raain
tain authority and good discipline in his
house, and not suffer any of bis pupUs to be
absent frora family worship, nor abroad after
a fixed hour, without his express permission,
which should not be given but for solid and
just reasons. And he cannot be too careful,
both by advice and vigUance, to prevent them
frora forraing any feraale connections while
under his roof, however honourable tbe views
or deserving the person may be. Love and
courtship are by no raeans favourable to
study, nor indeed to devotion, at a time when
their present engagements, and the uncer
tainty of their prospects in future life, render
a settleraent by marriage improper, ff not
impracticable. Much study is a weariness to the flesh,
and the body and the mind are so nearly con
nected, that what affects tbe one wUl have
an influence upon the other. Relaxation and
exercise are therefore necessary at proper
seasons, for those who wish to preserve

POR THE MINISTRY.

467

cheerfulness and strength for service, and
not to become old and disabled, through low-
ness of spirits, inflrraities, and pains, before
old age actually overtakes them. Riding is
a manly, unexceptionable exercise, where it
can be conveniently practised. But walking
is, I suppose, equally healthful, and requires
neither expense nor preparation. That the
students may have an object in view when
they go from home, the tutor wUl probably
point out to them some of the Lord's poor,
who live at convenient distances, whom they
may visit and comfort with their syrapathy,
advice, and prayers, as well as administer to
the relief of their necessities, according to
their abUity. Thus whUe they are consult
ing their own health, they may at the sarae
time imitate Him, who went about doing
good. And in such visits they may meet
with many hints from poor believers, concern
ing the Lord's wisdom and faithfulness in his
dealings with thera, and ofthe power of true
reUgion, to confirra what they read upon
these subjects, and probably some hints which
their books will not supply thera with. —
Farther, ff, when they are abroad together,
they will attempt such conversation as warm
ed the hearts ofthe disciples when walking
to Emmaus, and if, when alone, they adopt
the pattern of Isaac, who' went out into the
ffelds to meditate, then all the time they can
thus employ raay be set down to the account
of their studies ; for few of their hours can be
more profitably iraproved.
But what and how, are they to stady 1
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 aira at in placing
thera with my tutor are such as follow :
1. An orderly, connected, and coraprehen
sive knowledge of the coraraon places and
topics of divinity, considered as a whole : a
systera of truth, of which the holy scriptures
is the sole fountain, treasury, and standard.
2. A corapetent acquaintance with sacred
literature, by which I mean such writings,
ancient and raodern, as are helpful to explain
or elucidate difficulties in scripture, arising
frora the phraseology, from allusion to cus
toras and events not generally known, and
from sirailar causes, and which therefore
cannot be well understood without such as
sistance. 3. Such a general knowledge of philoso
phy, history, and other branches of polite
literature, 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 abUity to methodize, combine, dis
tinguish, and distribute the ideas thus col
lected 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 fer
accoraplished, then I shall hope,
5. That they will in good tirae 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 raemory. This abUity of
speaking to an auditory in a pertinent and
collected raanner, with freedora and deco
rum, 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 coraraand and engage
the attention. It likewise saves ranch tirae,
which might be usefully eraployed in visiting
his people. It is undoubtedly a gift of God,
but like raany other gifts, to be sought, not
only by prayer, but in the use of means.
The flrst essays will ordinarily be weak and
iraperfect ; but the facility increases, till at
length a habit is forraed, by diligence and
perseverance. I should not think my acade
my coraplete, unless my tutor was attentive
to forra his pupils to the character of public
speakers. General rules admit of exceptions. I have
rayself known persons, who, with plain sense,
true humility, and a spirit devoted to the
Lord, and dependent upon hira, have, with
little or no assistance frcMi men, proved solid,
exeraplary, and useful rainisters. Such in
stances convince rae, that however expedient
learning may be, it is not indispensibly ne
cessary for a rainister, especially for one
who is to labour in a retired situation, and
amongst plain unlettered hearers. I would
not therefore preclude my tutor frora all op
portunity of being useful to persons of this
description, who would be glad of such helps
from hira as they might receive in their
mother tongue, when the tirae of life, or
particular circumstances raight render the
study of languages and science inconvenient
And, in general, as the capacities, disposi
tions, 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 differ
ence of method as he should judge raost
suitable to each ; so as not to discourage or
over-burden the truly deserving, nor to per
rait (if it can be prevented) the more studious
and successful, to set too high a value upon
their superior accomplishments. For after
all it raust be owned, and ought to be re
membered, that grace and divine wisdom
are of unspeakably greater importance, than
scholastic attainments without them. We

A PLAN OP ACADEMICAL PREPARATION

are sure, that though a man had tbe know
ledge of all mysteries, the gifts of tongues
and miracles, and the powers of an angel, if
he has not likewise huraUity, spirituality,
and love, he is m 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 assem
bled. But to return to my professed students, and.
First, As to the study of Theology. — How
far it may be expedient to adopt some systera
or body of Divinity as a text or ground
whereon to proceed, I am not quite deter
mined; and which of these learned sum
maries is tbe 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 hira. Calvin, Turretine,
Witsius, and Ridgely, are those with which
I have formerly been raost 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 approve and admire
them all, I have at tbe same time my par
ticular objections to them all, as to this use of
them. The Bible is ray body of Divinity ; and
were I a tutor myself, I believe I should prefer
the epistles of St. Paul as a suraraary, to any
huraan systems 1 have seen, especially his
epistles to the Roraans, Galatians, the He
brews, and Tiraothy. There are few unin
spired writings, however excellent in the
main, but bear some raarks of the infirmities,
attachments, and prepossessions, which in a
greater or less degree are inseparable frora
the present state of human nature. I would
have ray pupils draw their knowledge as im
mediate from the fountain head as possible.
I care not how extensive and various their
reading of good authors may be under the
tutor's eye : the more so the better. He will
iraprove the differences they will find araong
learned and spiritual raen, into an arguraent
to engage thera to study the scripture raore
closely, and to bring every debated senti
ment to be tried and finally determined by
that unerring standard. He will teach them
to collect the detached portions of truth
wherever they meet with thera ; to borrow
frora all, but to give theraselves up iraplicitly
to the dictates of none. For I know no
author who is worthy the honour of being
foUowed absolutely and without reserve.
I ara told, (for I know nothing of acade
mies but from hearsay,) that it is customary
for pupUs to write after the tutor, who reads
his lecture. If I should adopt this custom, I
would not confine myself to it. Such writ
ten lectures, if well executed, must be good
pattems to form the students to closeness in
method and style. But I should likewise

wish the tutor to give them unpremeditated
lectures. Great masters of music (it is said)
frequently feel an irapetus in extempore play
ing, which enables thera to execute offhand
such strains as tbey wish to repeat but can
not ; their taste 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 bap
py raoment, when he will seem to possess
new powers. His thoughts and expressions
at such a time wUl have a peculiar precision
and force, and will possibly illuminate and
affect his hearers raore than his regular and
written lectures. When he has done speak
ing, let the pupils retire and comrait to wri
ting what they can recolkct of such dis
courses, keeping to his raethod, but using
their own expressions. These exercises
would engage their attention, eraploy tbeir
invention and ingenuity, accustom them to
consider the same subjects in different Ughts,
and contribute to make the knowledge tbey
derive frora hira, raore their own, than by be
ing always confined to transcribe, line by line,
what was read to thera.
I would not have the pupils put upon the
needless and hurtful atterapt of proving first
principles. May not a man read lectures
upon optics without previously proving the
existence of the sun"! My tutor will not
coldly lay before his students the arguraents
pro and con, and then leave them to decide
as evidence to them appears, whether there
be a God, or whether the scriptures be of di
vine inspiration or not So likewise with
respect to the different sentiments on the
primary points of scripture, as whether the
Saviour be raan or angel, or God manifest in
the flesh ; or, concerning tbe different ac
ceptations of the words Depravity, Guilt,
Faith, Grace, Atoneraent, and tbe like — ^he
will speak with a becoming confldence and
certainty on which side the truth lies. He
will indeed furnish thera with solid confuta
tions of error frora scripture and experience ;
but he will take care to let thera know that
these things are already settled ; and proposed
to them, not as candidates for their good
opinion, but as truths which demand and de
serve their attention. My tutor will not dog
matize, and expect them to adopt his opinions
without any better reason than because they
are his. He will endeavour to throw every
light he is master of upon the subject, but at
the same tirae he will speak as a teacher,
not as an inquirer ; 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 bis
pupils, as to suppose them competent judges

FOR THE MINISTRY.

when they have weighed and compared the
several argumentations. But he wUl rather
warn thera of their natural bias to the erro
neous side, and guard tbem against the arts
of those, .who with fair words and flne
speeches beguile the unprincipled and un
wary. A tutor is a guide, and if worthy of
his oflice, must be able to say, without hesi
tation : " This is the way, walk ye in it"
Should he be seduced, by the specious sounds
of candour and freedora of inquiry, to take
the opposite raethod, and think it his duty to
puzzle his scholars with all the waking
drearas, objections, and evasions by which
men reputed wise have opposed the simpli
city 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 ray consent, lay down
a scheme of what is coraraonly called Natural
Religion, as a substratum whereon to build a
Religion of Divine Revelation. It is needful
that he should give his pupUs a just idea of
the religion of feUen nature; but he will re
mind them that the few valuable sentiraents
occasionally found in the writings of the hea
then philosophers and moralists were not
their own. They are all represented as
having travelled for their knowledge, and all
in the sarae route, into Phoenicia or Egypt,
into the neighbourhood of the only people
who at tbat tirae were favoured with the
oracles of God : and raay, therefore, be justly
supposed to have derived the detached parti
cles of truth they acquired, from that people,
either by immediate converse with them, or
frora their inspired hooks ; especially from
the time they were translated into the Greek
language. He will point out to them the
strong probability that Epictetus and the later
philosophers were equally or raore indebted
to the Christians and the New Testaraent
With respect to the sceptical raoralists and
reasoners of modem tiraes, the proof will be
still clearer and stronger, that their best no
tions are borrowed frora the religion they at
tempt to depreciate. My tutor, in order to
satisfy them how far the powers of unassist
ed feUen nature can proceed in the investi
gation of religious and moral truths, wUl set
before them the progress which has actually
been made in this way by the negroes in
Africa or the American Indians. With such
a picture of natural religion in their view, I
should hope they would be led most cordiaUy
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 acaderay I would have no forraal
disputations upon points of divinity. If it be
necessary to sharpen or exercise their wits
by disputing, to which under proper regula
tions I should not object, there are topics in
abundance at hand. Let them dispute, ff

they please, for or against tbe raotion of the
earth. Let them deterraine whether Cassar
or Porapey was the better raan ; or, in wbat
respects (Jato, who chose to die rather than
venture to look Caesar in the fece, discovered
raore fortitude or true greatness of mind,
than the slave who elopes frora his master
for fear ofthe lash. Let thera contend whe
ther learning has upon the whole been pro
ductive of raost good, or of most mischief, to
raankind. My tutor can supply thera with a
thousand questions of this kind. But to set
a young raan to put hi^ 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 littie less
than a species of profaneness. What must
the holy angels, who with hurable adrairation
contemplate the wisdora and glory of God
displayed in the gospel, what must they think
of the arrogance of sinful worras, who pre
surae so far to trifle with the doctrines and
raysteries he has revealed, as to degrade
thera into subjects for school exercise and
logical prize-flghting 1 Can it be possible to
maintain a spirit of reverence and depend
ence araidst the noise of such malapert dis
cussions? And if the youth to whom the
wrong side of the question is committed,
should by superior address nonplus and si
lence bis antagonist ; ray 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 in
defensible, because the other was not able to
defend it.
Having been so long on the first article, I
raust endeavour to be more brief on those
which follow.
Secondly, By sacred literature I chiefly
mean Philology, Criticisra, and Antiquities,
so far as they are eraployed in the Ulustration
of scripture. In these studies, if there be a
proper application in the pupUs, little more
will be needful on the tutor's part, than to
put suitable books into their hands, to superin
tend their progress, and to obviate difficulties
they raay raeet with. I would wish thera not
only to read the scriptures in the Hebrew
and Greek originals, but to be tolerable raas-
ters of the construction in both languages.
This attainment is certainly not necessary to
a rainister ; but they who apply theraselves
to the study of divinity in early life, wUl have
tirae enough to acquire it, and the acquisition
will be well worth their labour. If not ne
cessary, it will be found very expedient and
useful, and when the difficulties of the first
entrance and rudiments are surmounted, wUl
be very pleasant The tutor wUl then enliven
their study and facilitate their advance, by
reading a chapter with them in each Testa
ment daily or frequently, intermingling cri
tical or expository strictures as he goes along.
And he will probably furnish those students

470

A PLAN OP ACADEMICAL PREPARATION

who have taste, with Dr. Lowth's Predec-
tiones dePo'esi Hebrcea, which wUl enable
them to judge of the style and idiom of the
Hebrew Bible, and particularly of the style
and beauties of the Hebrew poetry. Black-
wall's Sacred Classics may be added for the
Greek. Since the learned.have of late years con
descended to lay open the way to the Hebrew
and Greek Scriptures, by publishing Lexi
cons, Gramraars, and otber helps in the Eng
lish 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 raust
wish our pupUs so far acquainted with the
Latin language as to be able to read good
authors in it But as they are not to preach
in Latin, an accurate skUl is hardly worth
attempting, unless they have had a classical
school education before they come to the aca
demy. The raind is incapable of too raany
acquisitions : lffe is short and more impor
tant business awaits thera, in subserviency to
which every thing else raust be conducted.
Books of criticisra and on scripture-anti
quities are at hand in plenty. It will be im
possible to read thera all. The selection be
longs not to me, but to the tutor. The Sy-n-
opsis Criticorum, Godwin and Jennings, will
perhaps be of the number he will choose. A
good Ecclesiastical History seems to be still
a desideratum. A mass of materials, so far
as it goes, is already prepared in the Magde
burg Centuriators, which affords a striking
monument of the compiler's patience : but it
would likewise require some patience in the
reader who should undertake to go through
it. Mosheim is perhaps the best book we
have upon the subject if the reader knows so
much of hiraself and ofthe work of grace, as
to prevent him frora being misled by hira,
wben treating on subjects which he does not
appear to have rightly understood. But as to
facts, 1 believe he is in general worthy of
credit. Binghara's Antiquities may deserve
Inspection, if it be only to show how soon and
how generally the beautiful simplicity ofthe
gospel was corrupted by those who professed
it Dupin and Dr. Cave's Historia Literaria
Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum are still raore
valuable ; 'but the characters of the writers,
and their strong prepossessions in favour of an
tiquity, should be known and allowed for.
Thirdly, Much tirae cannot be allowed in
our acaderay for the pursuit of polite litera
ture. But an entrance raay be raade, and a
relish for it acquired, under the direction and
restraint ofthe tutor, which raay provide the
students with a profitable arauseraent for lei
sure hours in future life ; for in this know
ledge they raay advance from year to year.
A perusal 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 Ire
students. Other books will occasionally come
in their way ; for the tutor should have a
weU-chosen library for the accommodation of
his pupils ; but he will guard them against
spending too much time in this line of read
ing. For though it has its subordinate ad
vantages, it may, ff 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
ofthe heart of man, and the works, the ways,
the wisdom, and providence of God, other
wise reading will only tend to make them
wise in their own conceit I make short
work with this article, and hasten to con
sider. Fourthly, What may be helpfiil (by the
divine blessing) to enable the pupUs to com
municate tbe fruits of tbeir knowledge to
advantage in the public rainistry, that they
may appear workmen that need not be
ashamed. For this, as I have formerly inti-
raated, their chief and iraraediate dependence
must be on the Lord. He alone can give
them a raouth and wisdom for his service ;
and without the unction frora on high, the
study of divinity and every thing relative to
it will be but like learning the art of navi
gation on shore, which is very different from
the knowledge necessary to the mariner,
who is actually called to traverse the ocean.
But dependence upon the Lord should be
no discouragement to the use of means.
I would have ray students good logicians.
The logic of the schools is in a great measure
a cramp, forced, and forraal affair, and may
possibly have raade 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 divested it of the soleran impertinences
with which it was encumbered. As the rules
of gramraar are theraselves drawn from the
language they are designed to regulate, so
good logic is no more than the result of ob
servations upon the powers of the human
raind : and thus we see, that raany 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 reason
ing, and in disposing their thoughts in an
advantageous method, by rules judiciously
formed and arranged. In this view I judge
Dr. Watts's logic, with his subsequent treatise
on the Improvement of the Mind, to be very
valuable. And, together with the raore
scientiflc part ofthe subject, he will provide
ray pupUs with a great variety of hints for
their conduct and for distinguishing ~ the
principles and conduct of others. These
books should be frequently read, and closely
studied, and wiU afford the tutor an exten-

FOR THE MINISTRY.

471

sivS scope for their instruction. Unless a
man can conceive and deflne his subject
clearly, distinguish and enumerate the seve
ral parts, and knows how to cast them into a
convenient order and dependence, he cannot
be a raasterly preacher. And though a good
understanding may supersede the necessity
of logical rulesi it will likewise derive ad
vantage from them.
I have not so much to say in favor of ano
ther branch of artiflcial assistance, though
much stress has been sometimes laid upon it
We raust 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 flgures 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 them
selves. When be can repeat these hard
names, with their etymologies and signiflca-
tions, rhetoric can do but little more for him.
The rules it professes' to teach are in general
needless to those who have genius, and use
less to those who have none. If a youth has
not a turn for eloquence, stuffing his head
with the naraes of tropes and figures will not
give it hira. To know the names of 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 theraselves 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 on artificial orator, and rather
qualffy the student to set off hiraself than his
subject. The grand characteristic of the
gospel orator is siraplicity. 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 pupUs. It
reraains to inquire,
Fiflbly, How the pupils are to be assisted
and directed, tbat they may be able to preach
extempore : An ability which I suppose to be
ordinarUy attainable by all who are caUed of
God to preach the gospel, if they will dili
gentiy apply themselves to attain it, in the
use of proper means. I do not expect they
will succeed in this way to my wish, without
prayer, study, effort, and practice. For as I
have already 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
ftom various reading : and it would not be
improper to read some books, with the imme

diate design of comparing his style and
mariner with approved 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 written have Uttle else
to recomraend 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 compo
sition. Among writers in divinity I would
recomraend Dr. Watts and Dr. Witherspoon
as good models. By perusing such authors
with attention, I hope the pupils will acquire
a taste for good writing, and be judges of a
good style. Perspicuity, closeness, energy
and ease, are the chief properties of such a
style. On the contrary, a style tbat is either
obscure, redundant, heavy, or affected, can
not be a good one. But I cannot advise them
to copy the late Mr. Hervey. His. dress,
though it flts him, and he does not look amiss
in it, is rather too gaudy and ornamented for
a divine. He had a fine imagination, an
elegant taste, and shows rauch precision and
judgraent in his choice of words : but though
bis liLXuriant 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 sorae persons for writers, wbo, if
they could have been content with the plain
and natural raode of expression, might haye
succeeded tolerably well.
The pupil likewise must write as well as
read, and he should write frequently. Let
him fill one common-place book after ano
ther, with extracts from good authors ; this
method, while it tends to fix the passages or ^
their import in his mmd, 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 hira try his own
hand, and accustom hiraself to write his
thoughts, soraetimes in notes and observations
on the books he reads, soraetiraes in the form
of essays or sermons. He will do well like
wise to cultivate a correspondence with a
few select friends ; for epistolary writing
seems nearest to that easiness of manner
which a public speaker should aira At,
I would not have bis first attempt to speak
publicly be in the preaching tvay, or even
upon spiritual subjects. It might probably
abate the reverence due to divine truth, to
eraploy it in efforts of ingenuity. Suppose
the tutor should read to them a passage of
history, and require them to repeat the rela
tion to him the next day, in their own man
ner. He would then remark to them ff they
had omitted any essential part, or used im
proper expressions. Or they might be put
upon making speeches or declamations on

473

A PLAN OP ACADEMICAL PREPARATION, &c.

such occasions or incidents as he should pro
pose. By degrees such of them as are judged
to be truly spiritual and hurable, might begin
to speak upon a text of scripture, in tbe pre
sence of the tutor and pupils; and I should
hope this might, in due time, become a part
of the morning or evening devotions in the
family. But let them be especially cautioned
not to trifle with holy things, nor profene the
great subjects of scripture, by raaking them
mere exhibitions and trials of skill.
Thus by combining much reading and
writing with their atterapts to speak, and all
under the direction of a judicious tutor, I
shall have a cheerful hope that the pupils
wUl gradually attain a readiness and pro
priety of speech ; and when actually sent
out to preach, will approve theraselves scribes
well instructed in the mysteries ofthe king
dora, qualified to bring forth frora the trea-:
sury of their knowledge and experience,
things new and old for the edification of their
hearers. And now I raay draw towards a close.
There are sorae branches of science, or what
is so called, on which I lay but little stress.
I havte no great opinion of raetaphysical stu
dies. For pneuraatology and ethics I would
confine ray pupUs to the Bible. The re
searches of wise raen in this way, which
have not been governed by the word of God,
have produced little but uncertainty, futility,
or falsehood. My tutor will, I hope, think
it sufficient to show the pupils how success
fuUy these wise and learned reasoners re
ciprocally refute each other's hypotheses.
And ff he informs them more in detail ofthe
extravagances which have been started con
cerning the nature and foundation of moral
virtue ; or of tbe dreams of phUosophers,
sorae of whora would exclude matter ; and
others would exclude mind out of the uni
verse ; he will inform them likewise, that he
does not thereby mean properly to add to
tbeir stock of knowledge, (for we should in
reality have been full as wise ff these sub
tUties had never been heard of,) but only to
guard them against being led into the mazes
of error and folly, by depending too much on
the reveries of phUosophers.
After this delineation of my plan, it wUl
be needless to inform you, that 1 do not pro
pose ray academy to be a spiritual hot-bed, in
which the pupils shaU be raised, and ripened
into teachers, almost iraraediately upon their
adraission. I have allowed for a few except
ed cases ; but in general it is my design, that
their education shall be comprehensive and
exact I would bave them leam before they

undertake to teach ; and their sufficiency t*
be evidenced by a better testimonial than
their own good opinion of themselves. A
scribe well instructed, a workraan tbat need
eth not to be ashamed, an able minister ofthe
New Testament, are scriptural expressions,
intimating 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 tbe present day tbis caution
is very much disregarded by persons wbo un
doubtedly mean weU ; yet I believe the ne
glect of scriptural rules (which are not arbi
trary, but founded in a perfect knowledge of
human nature) will always produce great in
conveniences. I shall think a young man of
tolerable abUities makes a very good improve
ment ofhis tirae, if the tutor finds him fit for
actual service, after three or four years close
attention to his studies.
But wbat bave I donel — 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 par
ties who hold the Head, and agree in the
grand principles of our comraon faith ; I fear,
lest sorae of every party will be displeased
with rae. I rely on your friendship and your
knowledge of me to bear witness for me, that
I would not willingly offend or grieve a sin
gle person. And you can likewise testify,
that I did not set myself to work — that I was
rauch surprised when you proposed it to me ;
and that you have reason to believe ray re
gard for you, and for the design you informed
me of, were the only motives of my ven
turing upon the task you assigned me.
I have by no raeans 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 ray 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 subrait to the can
dour of you and your friends: adding my
prayers, that the great Head of tbe church,
the fountain ofgrace, and author of salvation,
raay direct your deliberations, and bless you
with wisdom, unanimity, and success, in
whatever you raay attempt for tbe 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,
aAd to the memory op
MISS ELIZA CUNNINGHAM,
THE LAST SURVIVING CHILD OP MR. JAMES CUNNINGHAM, OF PITTARTHIE, FIFESHIRE.

Jesus amor meus est ; si rideat, omnia vident.
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 fo
strangers appear trivial and impertinent. He therefore wrote only for his
friends ; and printed no more copies than he thought would be sufficient to dis
tribute within the circle of his personal acquaintance. But as the paper has
been much inquired 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 prevalence
of a spirit of investigation, Religion should, by many, be thought the only sub
ject-unworthy of a serious inquiry ; and that, while in every branch of science
they studiously endeavour to trace every fact to its proper and adequate cause,
and are cautious of admitting any theory which cannot stand the test of experi
ment, they teeat the use of the term experimental, when applied 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 im
possible 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 fore
bodings, 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 declare 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
Reader's hands. The fact is indubitable. A child under the age of fifteen did
thus rejoice in the midst of pains and agonies, tc the admiration of all who be-
Vofc. II. 3 0 473

474

A MONUMENT, &c.

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
whea she should be absent from the body, she would be present with the Lord.^
With this assurance, she triumphed in theprospect of glory, and smiled upon tbe
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 eraotions of my heart,
or to apologize for thera. I shall write siraply
and freely, as I might speak to a person, to
whose intimacy and tenderness I can fully
entrust myself, and who I know wUl bear
with all my weaknesses.
In May, 1782, my sister Cunningham was
at Edinburgh, chiefly on the account of her
eldest daughter, then in the fourteenth year
of her age, who was very ill of a consuraption.
She had already buried an only son, at the
age of twelve ; and while all a mother's care
and feelings were engaged by tbe rapid de
cline of a second amiable child, she was
unexpectedly and suddenly bereaved of an
affectionate 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 exeraplary. She walked with God,
and he supported her. And though she was
a tender and sympathizuig friend, she had a
happy firmness of temper, so that her charac
ter 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 An
struther 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 readUy ac
cepted my invitation to corae and live with
us. She was not only dear to me as Mrs.
Newton's sister, but we had lived long in the
habits 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 imagi
nation anticipated the time of her arrival,
and drew a pleasing picture of the addition
the corapany of such a sister, such a friend,
would raake to the happiness of our family.
The children likewise — there was no great
disparity between them either in years or sta
ture. From what I had heard of Eliza, I was
prepared to love her before I saw her ; though
she came afterwards 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
chUdren; 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 crea
tures, unable as we are to foresee the conse
quences of our own wishes, that if we know
and trust him, he often is pleased to put a
mercfful negative upon our purposes; and
condescends to choose 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 cheerfiilly comply
with his word, which says, "Be stUl, 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 reraoval, and nothing' reraained but to
take leave of her friends, of whom she had
many, not only in Anstruther, but in differ
ent 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 lipon the road in her way to London.

A MONUMENT, &c.

475

Bnt tbe information was, that in a little
journey she had made to bid a friend farewell,
she had caught a violent cold, which brought
oq a fever and a cough, with other symptoras,
which, thougb she described thera 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 in
creased, and she was soon confined to her
bed. Eliza was at school at Musselburgh.
TiU then she bad enjoyed a perfect state of
health ; but whUe her dear mother was
rapidly declining, she likewise caught a
great cold, and her life likewise was soon
thought to be in danger. On this occasion,
that fortitude and resolution which so strongly
marked my sister's character, was remark
ably displayed. She knew that her own
race' was almost finished ; she earnestly de
sired that Eliza raight live or die with us.
And the physicians advised a speedy reraoval
into the south. Accordingly, to save tirae,
and to save Eliza from the irapressions which
the sight of a dying parent might probably
make upon her spirits, and possibly appre
hensive that the interview might raake too
great an impression upon her own ; she sent
this her only beloved child from Edinburgh
directly to London, without letting her come
horae to take a last leave of her. She con
tented herself with committing and bequeath
ing 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 'com passion which ber iUness 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 corafort of
knowing, not only that she was safely arrived,
but was perfectly pleased with her new situ
ation. She was now freed frora all earthly
cares. She suffered much in tbe remaining
part of her Ulness, 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, 1783, 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-
a,ble. 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
iiave excelled in every thing she attempted
that required ingenuity. Her understanding,
particularly her judgraent and her sense of

was soraething in her appearance which
usually procured her favour at first sight
She was honoured by the notice of several
persons of distinction, which, though I thank
fully attribute in part to their kindness to
me, I believe was a good deal owing to some
thing 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 ber temper, ond a
heart formed for the exercise of affection,
gratitude, and friendship. Whether, when
at school, she might have heard sorrowful
tales from children, 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 understood since from
herself, that she did not come to us with any
highly raised expectations of the treatraent
she was to raeet with. But as she found (the
Lord in raercy 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 raore 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 alle
viate the afflictions which we were unable to
remove ; so we likewise quickly found, that
the seeds- of our kindness could hardly be
sown in a more promising and fruitful soU.
I know not that either her aunt or I ever saw
a cloud upon her countenance during the
tirae she was with us. It is true we did not,
we could not unnecessarUy cross her; but if
we thought it expedient to over-rule any
proposal she raade, she acquiesced with a
sweet sraile ; 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 answered you peevishly;
indeed I did not intend it ; ifl did I ask your
pardon ; I should be very ungrateful, if I
thought any pleasure equal to that of en
deavouring 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
relative life, and scope for their full play ;
and they are capable of yielding the sincerest
pleasures this world can afford, if held in
subordination 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 competition in the same kind.
ChUdren have the next claira ; and whether
there be one, or two, or raany, each one
seems to be the object of the wbole of the
parent's love. Perhaps my friends who have

propriety, was far above her years. There I children, may think that I who never had

476

A MONUMENT, &c.

any, can only talk by guess upon this subject
I presume not to dispute the point with them.
But when it pleased tbe Lord to put my dear
Betsey under my care, I seemed to acquire
a new set of feelings, if not exactly those of
a parent, yet, as I conceive, not altogether
unlike them. And I long thought it was not
possible for rae 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.. I found I bad 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, wben I saw that she entered into
my views, received and behaved to her cousin
with great affection, and ascribed many little
indulgences and attentions, which were
shown her, to their proper ground, the con
sideration of ber 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 respect so gra
ciously, that I could not perceive that any
jealousy or suspicion took place between tbem
on either side, frora 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 bad seldora any
severe pain tiU vi'ithin the last fortnight of
her life, and usuaUy slept well ; but when
awake she was always ill. I believe she
knew not a single hour of perfect ease ; and
they who intiraately knew her state, could
not but wonder to see her so placid, cheerful,
attentive when in corapany, as she generally
was. Many a time when the tears have
silently stolen down her cheeks, if she saw
that her aunt or I observed ber, she would
wipe thera away, corae to us with a smUe
and a kiss, and say, " Do not be uneasy, I
am not very U1,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 bad air and exercise, as the
weather and circumstances would permit
For the rest, she araused herself as well as
she could, with ber guitar or harpsichord,
with her needle, and with reading. She had
a part likewise, when able, in such visits as
we paid or received. And our visits were
generally regulated 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 con
venient 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

blessing of the Lord on his skUl and endea
vours, I ascribe the pleasure of having her
continued with us so long ; nor can I sufS-
ciently express my gratitude for his assiduous
unwearied attention, nor for his great tender
ness. She is now gone, and can no more
repeat what she has often spoken, of the
great comfort it was to ber to have so affec
tionate and sympathizing a physician ; but
whUe I live, I hope it will always be my
pleasure to acknowledge our great obliga
tions to him on her account. I should be
ungrateful, likewise, were I to omit mention
ing the kindness of Dr. Allen, of Dulwich,
who attended ber daily during her last stay
at Southampton. He was so obliging, like
wise, as to visit her, and to meet Dr. Bena
mor upon her case, after ber retum to Lon
don. Their joint prescriptions were carefully
followed. But what can the raost efficacious
medicines, or the best physicians, avail to
prolong life, when the hour approaches, in
wbich tbe 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 ray glory." This
was the proper cause of my dear Eliza's
death. The Lord sent this chUd to me ta be
brought up for hira ; be owned my poor en
deavours ; and when her education was com
pleted, and she was ripened for heaven, he
took her horae to himself He has richly
paid me my wages, in the employment itself,
and in tbe happy issue.
Dr. Benamor advising a trial of the salt
water, we passed the month of August 1784,
with her, partly at Mr. Walter Taylor's, at
Southampton, and partly at Charles Etty's,
Esq. of Priestlands, near Lymington. WhUe
she was with these kind and generous friends,
she bad every accoraraodation and assistance
that could hs thought of or wished for. And
the bathing was evidently useful, so far as to
give sorae additional strength to her very
weak and relaxed frame, which assisted her
in going raore comfortably through the last
winter. We' were therefore encouraged and
advised to repeat our visit to Southarapton
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 reraoving these
symptoms in about a fortnight, and she
bathed a few tiraes, she could not persevere.
However the advantages of situation, air, and
exercise, being much greater than she could
have in London, and as we were with friends
whom she, as well as we dearly loved, she
continued at Southarapton six weeks. But
she was unable to proceed to Mr. Etty's, who
was very desirous of repeating his former
kindness. The Lord strengthened her to
perform her journey home without incon-

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477

venience. She returned the 16th of Septem
ber; then she entered our door for tbe last
time, for she went out no more, tUl 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 pil
grimage. I now come to wbat 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 instilled into her frora her infancy. —
Their labours were thus far attended with
success, that no child could be more obedient
or obliging, or more reraote frora evil habits,
or evU terapers; but I could not perceive,
when she fu-st 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 minis-.
try, and was usually present when I prayed
and expounded the scriptures, morning and
evening, in tbe family. Friends and minis
ters were likewise frequently with us, whose
character and conversation were well suited
to engage her notice, and to help her to form
a right idea of the christian principles and
temper. Knowing tbat she was of a thinking
tum, I left her to make her own reflections
upon what she saw and beard, committing
ber to the Lord, from whom I had received
her, and entreating him to be her effectual
teacher. When I did attempt to talk with
her upon the concerns of her soul, she could
give me no answer but with tears. But I
soon had great encouragement to hope that
the Lord bad both enlightened her under
standing, 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 debarred 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 serraons, indicated a
sound scriptural judgment, and a spiritual
taste. — And my hope was confirraed by her
whole deportment, which was becoraing the
fospel of Christ So that had she died sud-
enly, 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
seldora prevaU with her to speak of herself;
if she did, it was with the greatest diffidence
and caution.
Soon after her return from Southampton,
she becarae acquainted with acute pain, to
which she had till then been rauch a stranger.
Her gentie spirit, which had borne up under

a long and languishing Ulness, was not so
capable of supporting pain. It did not occa
sion any iraproper temper or language, but it
wore her away apace. Friday, the 30tb of
Septeraber, she was down stairs for the last
time, and tiien she was brought down and
carried up in arms.
It now became very desirable to hear from
herself a more explicit account of the hope
that was in her ; especiaUy 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 convenient opportunity of intimating to
her the probabUity that tbe tirae of ber de
parture was at hand. The next raorning
(Saturday the 1st of October) presented one.
She found herself remarkably better, ber
pains were alraost gone, her spirits revived,
and the favourable change was visible in her
countenance. Her aunt began to break tbe
subject to her by saying, "My dear, were
you not extreraely ill last night !" She said,
"Indeed I was." "Had you not been re
lieved I think you could not have continued
long." " I believe I could not" " My dear, I
have been very anxiously concemed for your
lffe." " 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 bave been for some time very dif
ferent from what they were wben I came to
you. I have seen and felt the vanity of
chUdhood 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 assur
ance whicb is so desirable, but I have a hope,
I trust -a good hope, and I believe the Lord
wUl give me whatever he sees necessary for
rae, before he takes me from hence. I have
prayed to hira to fit me for himself, and
then, whetiier sooner or later, it signifies but
little." Here was a comfortable point gained.
We were satisfied that she had given up all
expectations of living, and could speak of
her departure without being distressed.
It wUl not be expected that a child at ber
age should speak systematically. Nor had
she learnt her religion frora a system or form
of words, however sound. The Lord himself
was her teacher. But from what_ little she
had at different tiraes said to rae, I was well
satisfied that she had received a true con
viction of the evil of sin, and 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

478

A MONUMENT, &c.

never be ashamed, was founded on his atone
ment, grace and power. As I do not intend
to put words into her mouth, which she
never spoke, I mention this, lest any person
ebould be disappointed at not finding a cer
tain phraseology, 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 becarae
worse, and before Sunday noon threatened
an absolute suffocation. When Dr. Benaraor,
who the day before had alraost entertained
hopes of her recovery, found her so suddenly
and greatly altered, he could not at the mo
ment prevent sorae signs ofhis concern from
appearing in his countenance. She quickly
perceived it, and desired he would plainly
tell her his sentiraents. When he had re
covered hiraseff he said, "You are not so
weU 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, sorae particulars of which he had
coramitted to writing, but he lost the paper.
— PVom tbat 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 alraost free
frora any complaint in her throat but there
was again an appearance of a mortification
in her legs, whicb was again repelled by the
means which Dr. Benamor prescribed. I
recollect 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 sarae position. But her mind
was peaceful ; she possessed a spirit of re
collection and prayer: and her chief atten
tion 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 ber own sufferings. 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 chUd would live
till morning. On Tuesday 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 sraile. I. re
peated to her raany passages of scripture, and
verses of hyrans, to each of which she made
the same kind of answer. Though sUent
her looks were more expressive than words.

coagulated phlegm, which 'she had not the
strength to bring up, made ber rattle violent
ly 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,
thougb StUl unable to speak, but expressed
her unwUlingness to take any thing, by very
strong efforts. However she yielded to en
treaty, and a tea-spoonful or two of some
liquid soon cleared the passage, and she
revived. Her pain however 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 recall rae, when I was so
happy and so near gone ! I wish you had not
corae ; I long to go horae." But in a few
minutes she grew coraposed, assented to
what the Doctor said, of her duty 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 cheerfiilly
took whatever was offered her, and frequentiy
asked for soraething 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 corafort. Yet when I
saw her agony, and heard her say, " Oh !
how cruel-to stop me !" I was for a moment
alraost of her mind, and could hardly help
wishing that the Doctor bad delayed his visit
a little longer. But if she had died then, we
should have been deprived of wbat we saw
and heard the two following days, the re
merabrance of which is now rauch more pre
cious to me than sU'ver or gold.
When the Doctor carae on Wednesday,
she entreated hira to tell her how long he
thought she might live ; he said, " Are you
in earnest, my dear V She answered, " In
deed I am." At that tirae there were great
appearances that a mortification was actuaUy
begun. He therefore 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 vivacity, and fixing
them on him with an air of ineffable satis
faction, she said, " Oh that is good news
indeed !" And she repeated it as such to a
person who carae soon after into the roora,
and said with lively emotions of joy, " The
Doctor tells rae I shall stay here but a few

Towards eleven o'clock, a great puantity ofl hours more." In the afternoon she noticed

A MONUMENT, &c.

479

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 Wed
nesday night, but was quite resigned anj
patient Our kind servants, who frora 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 tiianked
them for their service and attention to her.
Though sucb an acknowledgement was no
more than their due, yet coraing 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 they be coraforted
ofthe Lord in their dying hours, as she was,
and raeet with equal kindness from those
about them !
I was surprised on Thursday moming to
find her not only alive, but in some respects
better. The tokens of mortification again
disappeared. This was her last day, and it
was a memorable day to us. When Dr.
Benamor asked her how she was 1 She ans
wered, " Truly happy, and if this be 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 be
fore me !" She was several times asked, if
she could wish to live, provided the Lord
should restore her to perfect health; her
answer was, " Not for aU the world," and
sometunes, "Not for a thousand worlds."*
" Do not weep for me, my dear aunt ; but
rather rejoice and praise on my account I
shaU now have the advantage of my dear
Miss Patty Barbara (for whora she had a very
tender affection, and who had been long in a
languishing state,) for I shall go before h^r."
We asked ber ff she would chuse a text for
her own funeral serraon 1 She readUy raen
tioned, " Whom the Lord loveth he chasten
eth. That," said she, "has been my experience ;
my aflBictions have been many, but not one
too many ; nor has the greatest of them been
too great; I praise him for them all." But
atter 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. hjmm 72.
But I must check myself, and set down
but a small part of the gracious words which
* The last time she was asked this question, she said
(as I have since been informed,) ." I desire to have no
choice."

the Lord enabled her to speak in the course
of the day, though she was frequently in
terrupted by pains and agonies. She had
soraething to say either in the way of ad
raonition or consolation, as she thought most
suitable, to every one whom she saw. To
her most constant attendant 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 be has heard me. She spoke
a great deal to an intiraate friend, who was
with her every day, which I hope she will
long reraeraber, as the testiraony of ber 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, ray dear," she replied,
"But do you earnestly and with all your
heart pray to the Lord for if! If you seek
him, you shall surely find him." She then
prayed affectionately and fervently for her
friend, afterwards for her cousin, and then for
another of our family 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 desired me to pray with
her once more. Surely I then prayed from
ray heart When I had finished, she said,
Amen. I said, " My dear child, have I ex
pressed your meaning?" she answered, " Oh
yes !" and then added, " I am ready to say.
Why are his chariot wheels so long in com
ing ! 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 chUd ; which
is not to he 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 wag, I believe, the last anxiety tbat
remained with her. She said to those about
her, " Try to persuade my aunt to leave tbe
room; I think I shaU soon go to sleep, I
shall not reiiiain with you tUl the raorning."
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, weis be
low 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 atterapt it" She
smUed, and said, "It is very weU, I wiU
not" She was then within half an hour of
her translation to glory, but the love of our

480

A MONUMENT, &c.

dear Lord had so filled her with benevolence,
tbat 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 prayer
for her, when a servant carae to rae and said,
" She is gone." O Lord, how great is thy
power ! how great is thy goodness ! A few
days before, had it been practicable and law
ful, wbat would I not have given to procure
her recovery ? Yet seldora in ray life have 1
known a raore heart-felt joy, than when these
words. She is gone, sounded in my ears. I
ran up stairs, and our whole little famUy
were soon around her bed. — Though her
aunt and another person were sitting with
their eyes fixed upon her, she was gone per
haps a few minutes before she was missed.
She lay upon her left side, with her cheek
gently reclining upon her hand, as if in a
sweet sleep. And I thought there was a
smile upon her countenance. Never surely
did death appear in a more beautiful, inviting
form ! We fell upon our knees, and I re
turned (I think I raay say) ray most unfeign
ed thanks to our God and Saviour, for his
abundant goodness to her, crowned in this
last instance, by giving her so gentie a dis
mission. Yes, I ara satisfied. I ara corafort
ed. And ff one of the many involuntary tears
I hav^ shed, could have recalled her to life,
to health, to an assemblage of all that this
world could contribute to her happiness, I
would have laboured hard to suppress it
Now my largest desires for her are accora
plished. 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 is
before the throne ! she sees Hira whom not
having seen she loved ; she drinks of the
rivers of pleasure whicb are at his right band,
and shall thirst no more.
She was born at St. Margaret's, Rochester,
February 6, 1771. Her parents settled at
Anstruther, 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 October 6,
1785, aged fourteen years and eight months.
I shaU 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, aa Pharaoh's daughter Said
to the mother of Moses, "Take tbis ChUd,
and bring it up for me, and I wUl pay thee
thy wages'!" How solemn the trust! How
important 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 dUigently aim at fulfUliag
his wUl. Happy they who will say at the
last day, "Behold, here am I, and the chUdren
which thou hast given me."
The chUdren of my friends will likewise
see my narrative. May it convince them
that it is practicable, and good, to seek the
Lord betimes! My dear Eliza's state of
languor prevented her from associating with
young people of her own age, so frequently
and freely as she raight otherwise have done.i
But these papers will come into the hands of
sorae such, whom she knew and whom- she
loved. To them, I particularly comraend and
dedicate this relation. O ray dear young
friends, had you seen with what dignity of
spirit she filled up the last scene of her liffe,
you must have been affected by it ! Let not
the liveliness of your spirits, and tbe gaiety
of the prospect around you, prevent you from
considering, that to you likewise, days will
certainly corae (unless you are suddenly
snatched out of lffe) 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 raighty One, always near, always gracious
to those who seek Hira. May you, like her,
be enabled to choose Hira, as the Guide of
your youtii, and the Lord of your hearts.
Then Uke ber, you will find support and
comfort under affliction, wisdom 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, tbat a
blessing from on high may descend upon tbe
persons and farailies of all ray friends, and
upon all into whose hands this paper may
providentially corae.
JOHN NEWTON.
Charles's Square, Hoxton,
Oct. 13, 1785.

THB END.

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