ST I THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY, 5 Princeton, N. J, BV A500 .V4 1829 Venn, H. 1725-1797. The complete duty of man THE COMPLETE DUTY OF MAN: OE, A SYSTEM OF DOCTRINAL AND PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY. WITH PRAYERS FOR FAMILIES AND INDIVIDUALS. BY THi;. ' REV. HENRY VENN, A. M. WITH AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY, BY THE REV. JOHN BROWN, EDINBURGH. GLASGOW: PRINTED FOR WILLIAM COLLINS; OLIVER & BOYD, WM. WHYTE & CO. AND WM. OLIPHANT, EDINBURGH; W. F. WAKEMAN ; AND WM. CURRY, JUN. & CO. DUBLIN ; WHITTAKER, TREACHER, & ARNOT ; HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO. SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL ; BALDWIN & CRADOCK ; AND HURST, CHANCE, & CO. LONDON. MDCCCXXIX. JO. J Printed bv W. Collins & Co, Glasgow, INTRODUCTORY ESSAY. The observation, vh-^ncrh trite and common-place, is just and important — I'hat Christianity, as a religious system of divine origin, carries its credentials within itself. The most valuable and availing portion of its evidence is not so much appended to it, as incorpo- rated with it. Indeed, so completely is this the case, that, on the one hand, any thing approximating to a fair view of the principles of Christianity, will be found even without direct intention, on the part of him who presents it, to embrace in it an exhibition of a large portion of its evidence, — and, on the other, the evidence of Christianity must necessarily be pre- sented in a sadly mutilated and distorted form, if there exist, on the part of him who states it, ignorance of its true principles, or important mistake in reference to them, or a systematic design to keep them out of the view of the mind, while encrafjed in scrutinizin^j the validity of its proofs. It is on these principles, we apprehend, that we are to account for the indisputable fact, that the persons who are not only best acquainted with the genuine principles of Christianity, but who are most deeply VI penetrated with a habitual and operative conviction of its divine origin, are to be found, not among those who, without any thing Hke a careful study of the Bible itself, have yet, under the influence of literary curiosity, or in prosecution of a branch of professional learning, devoted a good deal of attention to that numerous and able class of writings, in which the evidence of the genuineness, authenticity, and inspi- ration of the sacred Books, and of the divine origin, and consequent supreme authority, of the system which these Books unfold, is argumentatively stated, and presented to the mind, as much as possible, sepa- rated from the substance of the system itself, — but among that class, who, while they may never have had an opportunity of reading any humanly arranged conspectus of the proofs that the Bible is true, and that Christianity is divine ; and who, if furnished with such a conspectus, might probably, from want of the requisite intellectual training, very imperfectly relish, or even comprehend it ; have been led into an intimate knowledge of what Christianity is, by a serious perusal of the Holy Scriptures, and of those plain, affectionate, religious treatises, the avowed ob- ject of which is, luminously to state the doctrines, and powerfully to urge the duties, of a religion, the truth and divinity of which are understood to be already recognized by the reader. It has long been a fixed opinion with us, that the more the study of the Bible and its evidences, of Christianity and its proofs, are combined, so much the better. Their complete disjunction is impossible, and any attempt at it, is unnatural and mischievous. To a person professing to be anxious to have the Vll obviously important question, respecting the true character of Christianity, resolved, — Whether it be a " cunningly-devised fable," or a revelation from heaven, our first advice would be, Read with atten- tion those primitive records of the religion which lay claim to divine inspiration ; and, on his complying with this advice, we would put into his hands some simple yet systematized view of the principles, both theoretical and practical, of the Christian system. If the individual referred to, were really in earnest as to the object he professed to have in view, we should anticipate, with a good deal of confidence, that before entering at all on the specific work of examining evidence, he would have arrived at the point to which we wished to conduct him — a conviction that the Bible is true, and that Christianity is divine. And if he did so, we apprehend that he would reach that point in a far better vvay, than if he had been led to it through a long and intricate path of ratiocination, wliich almost necessarily produces on the mind an impression, as if what requires so many and compli- cated arguments to support it, is not at least very obviously, if it be certainly true ; and which, by the very active exercise into which it calls the merely intellectual part of our nature, draws away the atten- tion from the moral features of the subject, and from the intimate connection which the resolution of the question has with the most important interests of our immortal natures. Supposing the experiment as successful as could be wished, — this, we apprehend, is the stage at which books professedly on the evi- dence of Christianity may, with the greatest proba- bility of advantage, be introduced to the notice of an VI 11 inquirer. They are likely now to be of no inconsi- derable use to him, in enabling him to put into dis- tinct order and manageable form, the evidence which has already produced its most important effect on his mind. And even supposing that the desired impres- sion has not been made, the individual is now in far more advantageous circumstances for entering on the study of Christian evidence, than he formerly was. His knowledge of what Christianity is, forms, as it were, a solid ground on which to place the enginery of argument by which his unbelief is to be assailed, — which is utterly wanting in the case of the person who is either entirely ignorant of Christianity, or whose opinions, as to what C!)ristianity is, are mate- rially mistaken. With these general views we cannot help thinking, that those clear exhibitions of Christian truth, and affectionate enforcements of Christian duty, which form the staple of that Series of Treatises, by ' Select Christian Authors,' to which this Volume belongs, are well calculated to answer, not merely those infi- nitely important purposes for which they are directly designed, but are also even better fitted than works of a more argumentalive character, and more avow- edly devoted to the illustration of the evidence of Christianity, and the re!)utting the sophistical argu- ments of infidels, for bringing the thoughtful hesi- tating sceptic to the acknowledgment of the truth. Such a view, lor example, of the morality of Chris- tianity, as that contained in the excellent treatise, which we account oursulves honoured in being per- mitted to introduce to public notice in a new edition, seems admirably fitted — besides the direct and ob- xvu All religious duties are not only enjoined by Christ, as the " one lawgiver," but the object of these duties is God, as " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," and our God and Father in him. — " God in Christ reconciling the world to him- self, not imputing to men their trespasses; seeing he hath made Him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." In all our religious sentiments and feel- ings, we are required to have a reference to this glorious manifestation of Divinity '* in the face of Jesus Christ." Our veneration, our love, our confi- dence, our submission, our obedience, must be such as this display naturally produces, and such as nothing but this display can produce; and in all our religious exercises, there must be a respect to what Christ has done on earth, and is doing in heaven. Even the dutiful sentiments and habits directly referring to ourselves, and our fellow-men, are, as enjoined in the New Testament, closely connected with the peculiarities of Christian doctrine. The humility we are called to cultivate, is that sentiment which rises out of a deep conviction of our inex- cusable criminality, and desperate depravity, and of our entire and infinite obliijations to the sovereign mercy of God, manifested in consistency with his righteousness, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, for all that is safe and happy in our circumstances, and all that is estimable or amiable in our character. The love which Christians are required to cherish toward each other, is " love in the truth, for the truth's sake." If they are enjoined to be "gentle, and to show meekness towards all men," it is be- XVlll cause *' they themselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and plea- sures, living in malice, hateful, and hating one ano- ther," till the " kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared" to them. If chastity is enjoined on them, and every species of impurity forbidden, it is on the principle, that " their bodies are the members of Christ, and temples of the Holy Ghost." Husbands are required to " love their wives, even as Christ also loved the church," and wives are required to be " subject to their own husbands in all things, even as the church also is to Christ." The morality of Christianity thus appears not as an appendage, but as a constituent part of that reli- gion. The duties enjoined in the law of Christ cannot be performed, but by a person whose mind and heart are under the influence of the doctrines of Christ : and, on the other hand, these doctrines un- derstood and believed, naturally form a man to the religious and moral character and conduct which that law requires. The merely secular moral man, and the Christian moral man, apparently have a great many things in common. They are both honest and vera- cious, and humane and beneficent : but the honesty and veracity, and humanity and beneficence, of the man of the world, and of the Christian, are, in reality, very different things. They are two bodies which bear to each other a considerable resemblance, but they are animated by souls of very different char- acters. They spring from different principles — they are guided by different rules — they are directed to different ends. Another distinguishing feature of Christian mo- XIX rality is, its admirable adaptation to the constitution and circumstances of man. All the systems of morals which are the work of men, bear evidence of the limited and mistaken views of their authors. The attention is occupied with but a portion of human nature, and that portion often imperfectly appre- hended, and ill understood. Some of them treat man as if he were entirely ai)eing of intellect — others, as if he were altogether a creature of feelino;. The sense of obligation is the only principle to which appeal is made, in one system — the regard to indi- vidual interest, in another. All of them proceed on imperfect, most of them on erroneous views, of the original elements of human nature, and of the peculiar character which they have acquired, from the circumstances into which the introduction of sin has brought man. The Christian system of morals always treats man as what he really is. It looks at him in all his endowments, and capabilities, and relations. Whatever view we can justly take of mankind, as beings capable of thinking, feeling, and acting ; and whose opinions, and affections, and actions, are very intimately linked together; as beings, closely con- nected with God — destined to immortality — guilty — depraved — unhappy — redeemed — pardoned — -re- newed— imperfect — exposed to temptation — liable to suffering and death — connected with each other in an almost infinite diversity of relations, and placed in an endless variety of situation, — there is to be found an exactness of correspondence in the Chris- tian morality which is indeed wonderful. In conse- quence of this, it suits man wherever he is found. In no country is it foreign — in no age is it antiquated. XX From this amazing adaptation to the constitution and circumstances of man, it has a character of natu- ralness and practicabiUty, which distinguishes it most favourably from some of the finest ancient systems of heathen morahty, (for example, the Stoical,) which, however beautiful as speculations, were found irre- ducible to practice, in consequence of their overlook- ing, on the one hand, or doing violence, on the other, to some of the original principles of human nature. A system of morals which proceeds on the principle, that pain is no evil, is obviously a system which, whatever may be its excellencies, is utterly unfit for a beinij like man. There are no such incontjruities in the morality of Christ. It offers -violence to no- thing in human nature, but its depravity. It is not the principles of human nature, but their obliquities, which it opposes. It is in perfect harmony with all its essential elements ; and even in the manner in which it attacks man's depravity, and seeks its ex- tinction, it discovers in its Author a thorough ac- quaintance with these elements, which are all of them called in as auxiliaries, and subjected to an in- fluence, which, without interfering with the laws which govern their natural operations, converts them into the means of gaining the great end which is contemplated — the making men truly wise, and good, and happy. It is owing to this, too, that, to use the language of a sagacious writer, " men never get before the Bible."* Whenever any useful dis- covery is made in the science of human nature, it is found that, if not contained explicitly in the Holy * Bogue. XXI Scriptures, it is there in its germ, though it may hitherto have remained unnoticed. However newly- discovered facts may modify or overturn human sys- tems, they not only leave the system of Revelation unhurt, but supply the means of additional defence and illustration. The only other general character of Christian morality, to which we wish at present to call the reader's attention, is, that while accurately suited to, and manifesting a most intimate acquaintance with human nature, it, in no instance, enters into any thing like a coinpromise with any of its depraved principles, in order to gain more easily or certainly any of its objects. All mere human systems of mo- rality pay court, if I may use the expression, to de- praved human nature. They seem aware of the strength of some of its propensities, and of their own deficiency in the power of controlling them. They enter into terms with the enemy. They attempt to overreach where they dare not oppose. They negotiate, when they ought to fight; and en- deavour stealthily to gain, what, by direct means, with their limited resources, they perceive to be un- attainable. They, as it were, make a bargain with depraved humanity. They will allow it the pride of conscious worth, if it will give up with the gra- tification of the voluptuous and malignant passions. They offer the indulgence of selfishness in one form, as the price of the mortification of selfishness in ano- ther form. In this way, they attempt to coax or to bribe human nature into something like virtue, though the result always has been, and always must be, a strengthening of some depraved principle, even XXIV and interesting one, — Whether the doctrinal part of it be indeed true and divine ? He must feel, in re- ference to its claims, not as he would in reference to the claims of a mere stranger, far less of one whom he knows to be a fool, and has reason to sus- pect of being a knave, but as he would in reference to the claims of a person, of whose wisdom and worth he had reason to think highly. The claims are of such a kind, and the consequences of admitting them are so momentous, that, even with all these favourable presumptions, they are not to be admitted without sa- factory evidence. But they obviously deserve to be examined — and respectfully and diligently examined. Were the study of the morality of Christianity to do nothing more than this, its importance in reference to the examination of the evidence of Christianity would be very great indeed, as the unfavourable re- sult of such an examination is, perhaps, not more frequently owing to the mistaken manner in which it is conducted, than to the suspicious and uncandid spirit in which it is commenced and prosecuted. But an acquaintance with the morality of Chris- tianity is fitted to do much more than this. It fortifies the mind against the most plausible infidel attacks on the evidence of that religion. If a person is in a great measure ignorant of what Christianity is, an ingenious sceptic or unbeliever may, witliout much diflBculty, persuade him that that religion, like so many others, originated in imposture or delusion, or in a mixture of both. It is to the ignorance of Christianity, as the principal intellectual cause, that we are disposed to trace the fearfully extensive success of infidel philosophy among the nominal Christians of XXV tlic continent of Europe, in the period immediately preceding the French Revolution. But on a person well informed as to the moral part of Christianity, all such ingenious sophistry will be thrown away. He is in possession of information which satisfies him that all these hypotheses, on one or other of which the denial of the truth and divinity of Christianity must proceed, are altogether untenable. There is a character of uniform, sober, practical good sense belonging to the morality of the New Testament, which makes it one of the most improbable of all things, that its writers should have been the dupes, either of their own ima- gination, or of a designing impostor. And there is a sustained, and apparently perfectly unassumcd and natural air of simplicity and godly sincerity, which forbids us, except on the most satisfactory evidence, to admit that they who wear it were other than they seem to be. Of course, the power of the morality of the New Testament, in this way, will be ielt most strongly by those who have mo^t intimately studied it: but from a person of a candid mind, who had, even for the first time, read carefully our Lord's sermon on the mount, or the practical parts of the apostolical Epistles, we could anticipate but one answer to the question — Were the writers of these passages fools or knaves, or a compound of both? \\'ere they irrational fanatics, or wicked impostors ? — The thing is, in the very highest degree, improbable. Evi- dence tenfold more strong than infidel philosophy has ever dreamed of, would be necessary to give anv thing approaching to verisimilitude to any of these hypotheses, on one or other of which must be built B 53 XXVI the disproof of the claims of Christianity on the at- tention, and faith, and obedience of mankind. There is yet another way in which the morality of Christianity yields support to its claims to divine origin. Viewed in all its bearings, it seems to be of the nature of a moral miracle. Compare the mo- rality of the Bible with the morality of ancient phi- losophy. Compare Jesus with Socrates, and Paul and Peter with Epictetus, or Seneca, or Marcus Antoninus, — the difference is prodigious — the supe- riority is immeasurable ! Now, how are we satisfac- torily to account for this difference, this superiority ? On the supposition that the writers of the New Testament were uninspired men, we apprehend it is utterly unaccountable. Nothing but the admission that they were men who spoke and wrote as they were moved by the Spirit of God, can enable us rationally to explain the undoubted fact, that the purest and most perfect system of morality which the world has ever seen — the system which discovers the justest and widest views of the divine character and government, and the deepest insight into the recesses of human nature — proceeded, not from the philoso- phers of Egypt or of India, of Greece or of Rome, but from the carpenter of Galilee, and his uneducated disciples. If the study of the morality of Christianity be thus calculated to lead men, who are inquirers, for- ward towards a conviction of the divine origin of that religion, it is at least equally calculated to con- firm the faith of those who have already brought their inquiries on this subject to a satisfactory result, and who, on solid grounds, have counted it "a faithful xxvu saying, and worthy of all acceptation." It is, we be- lieve, equally true of the doctrines and of the precepts of Christianity, that, to be well understood, they must always be viewed with a reference to the intellectual and moral constitution of man. When they are so viewed, there will be found to prevail, throughout the revealed system, such a wonderfully extensive and minute correspondence with the leading features of man's character and situation, as a rational, depen- dent, active, free, accountable, religious, improvable, immortal, guilty, depraved, and, even when regene- rated, still imperfect being, as, just in the degree in which it is perceived, to compel the conclusion, that human nature and Christianity have a common au- thor— that a system so perfectly suited to man, could have originated only with Him who knoweth our frame, for he hath made us. This is a species of evidence, which, though from the very nature of the case scarcely at all apprehensible by the ignorant and the wicked, affords the most heartfelt satisfaction to the enlightened believer ; and the power of which over his mind will increase, just in proportion to his growth in " the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." To the complete development of this most satis- factory argument for the divinity of Christianity, it is obvious, that a more thorough acquaintance both with Christianity and with human nature is necessary, than the great body of even well-informed Christians are possessed of. It has long been a favourite opinion with us, that there is no department of human know- ledge from which more extensive and valuable con- tributions may yet be levied, for promoting the in- B 2 XXVlll terests of Christian truth, by illustrating at once its evidences and its doctrines, than the science of the human mind. When, by a rigid application of the principles of right interpretation, the Holy Scriptures shall be better understood, and by a strict adherence to those laws of induction which have introduced so much light and order into the regions of physical science, the facts in reference to man's intellectual, and moral, and social constitution, shall be satisfac- torily ascertained, and accurately classified, the beauty and excellence of the Christian system generally, and of its morality in particular, as suited to that constitu- tion, will be placed in a new and more striking point of light ; the natural consequence of which will be, that many of the boasted arguments and objections of infidels, which owed all their plausibility to mis- interpreted Scripture, or to deficient and mistaken views of man's nature and circumstances, will glare forth in all their intrinsic foolishness, and what has been imposed on multitudes for ages as profound philosophy, being stripped of its veil of flimsy so- phistry, will appear to be what it always was, not merely falsehood, but absurdity. While we are thus decidedly of opinion, that one chief recommendation of such a view of Christian morality, as is contained in Venn's Complete Duty of Man, is to be found in that tendency to produce and confirm faith in the divine origin of Christianity, which we have been endeavouring to illustrate, yet this, is by no means the only good and important purpose which it is fitted to serve. It is admirably fitted at once to guide and to stimulate XXIX the true Christian, in his onward course of well- doing; vvhile it alsoj by furnishing materials for self- examination, tends to facilitate the formation of a just estimate, as to the reality and rapidity of the movement which he is making towards " the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus :" and in all these ways, it is calculated to guard him against the dangers of that superficial, merely intellectual, or rather imaginative, kind of religion, the prevalence of which forms one of the least promising characters of the present age. It will be felt by intelligent Christians, as a high excellence in Mr. Venn's work, that, while it con- tains a very faithful and extended exposition of Christian duties, these duties are uniformly enforced on Christian principles. In this treatise, every thing is kept in its proper place : Christ's atonement, and the Holy Spirit's influence — justification, and sanc- tification — the ground of the sinner's hope, and the rule of the saint's duty — God's glory, and man's happiness. The work, as its title leads us to expect, is throughout practical ; but it is also throughout evangelical. It is written entirely in the spirit of the apostolic statement, and what can be a higher recommendation ? — " After that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; that, being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eter- XXX nal life. This is a faithful saying, and these things I will that thou affirm constantly, that they which liave believed in God might be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable unto men." J. B. Edinburgh, November, 1829. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. OF THE SOUL. Page Sect. T. — On the Excellency of the Soul, ... 47 Sect. II. — The Advantages of a just conviction of the Soul's Excellency, 55 A Prayer for a due Knowledge of the Worth of the Soul, 65 CHAPTER II. OF GOD. Sect. I The Scripture Character of God, ... 67 Sect. II — The Character of God Exemplified, . . 84 A Prayer for the right Knowledge of God, . . 97 CHAPTER III. OF MAN. Sect. I. — The Natural Condition of Man with respect to God, 100 Sect. II. — The natural Enmity of Man against God, . 113 A Prayer — Confession of Sin and Humiliation, . 123 CHAPTER IV. OF THE LAW. Sect. I — On the Perfection and Use of the Law, . 126 Sect. II. — Of the Law as preparing for the Reception of the Gospel 139 Sect. III. — The Evils arising from Ignorance of the Law, 149 A Prayer for a right Knowledge of the Law, . . 161 XXXll CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. OF FAITH. Page Sect. I. — Of the nature and extent of Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 164 Sect. II. — The advantages of a just Conception of the Na- ture of Faith, 176 A Prayer for true Faith, 192 Sect. Ill On the Foundation of Dependence on Christ for Pardon, 194 Sect. IV. — The Foundation of Dependence on Christ for Pardon and Instruction, ..... 202 Sect. V. — The Foundation of Dependence on Christ for Victory over Sin, 213 A PftAYER for Confidence in Christ, .... 222 CHAPTER VI. OF THE HOLY GHOST. Sect. I The Divinity of the Holy Ghost, . . 225 Sect. II.— The Office of the Holy Spirit, ... 2^1 Sect. III. — The Properties of the Spirit's Influence, . 249 A Prayer for the Influence of the Spirit, . . . 256 CHAPTER VII. OF repentance. Sect. I. — On the Nature of true Repentance, . . 259 Sect. II. — The Nature of true Repentance further ex- plained, 268 Sect. III. — The Universal Obligations of Repentance, and Directions to attain it, 276 A Prayer for true Repentance, 284 CHAPTER VIII. THE DISPOSITIONS OF A CHRISTIAN TOWARDS GOD. Sect. I. — Fear — Ready Obedience — Gratitude — Affiance — Glorifying God— Purity of Heart, .... 287 CONTENTS. XXXlll Page Sect. II.— Imitation of God— Love of God— Devotion- Self-abasement, ....... 299 A Prayer for right Dispositions towards God, . . 315 CHAPTER IX. THE TEMPERS OF A CHRISTIAN TOWARDS HIS FELLOW-CREATURES. Sect. I. — Sincerity — Justice, 319 Sect. II Mercy — Meekness, ..... 334 Sect. Ill — Candour — Forgiveness of Enemies — Humility, 346 A Prayer for proper Tempers towards our Fellow-creatures, 360 CHAPTER X. ON DUTY. Sect. I On the Duty of a Christian in a Married State, 364 Sect. II — The Duty of Parents towards their Children, 378 Sect. III. — On the Method of Instructing Children, . 389 Sect. IV. — The Duty of Children, and of Servants and Mas- ters, 403 A Prayer for the due discharge of Domestic Duties, 412 CHAPTER XI. OF SELF-DENIAL. Sect. I. — Intemperance, 416 Sect. II. — On Self-denial with respect to Impurity, . 424 Sect. HI. — On Self-denial, with respect to the Desire of Wealth, the Inordinate Affection for things Lawful, and the Love of Praise, 436 Sect. IV. — On Self-denial with respect to Shame, or Loss on account of Religion, Pride of Reason, and Self-right- eousness, ...... 452 A Prayer for Self-denial, 466 CHAPTER XII. ON PRAYER. Sect. I.— Its Object, Nature, and Subject, . . . 470 Sect, II. — The Necessity of Prayer, .... 481 b3 XXXIV CONTENTS. Page Sect. III. — The Requisites of true Prayer, and its Success, 489 A Prayer for a Spirit of Prayer, .... 504 CHAPTER XIII. ON THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURE, . . 507 CHAPTER XIV. ON CHRISTIAN JOY. Sect. I. — The Sources of Christian Happiness, . . 518 Sect. II. — The Reasonableness of expecting Christian Joy, 532 Sect. III. — The Certainty and Necessity of Christian Joy, 544 A Prayer for Spiritual Joy and Peace, . . . 557 FAMILY PRAYERS. A Family Movning Prayer, 562 A Family Evening Prayer, 566 For the Lord's Day Morniilg, ..... 569 A Family Prayer on the Evening of the Lord's Day, . 573 A Prayer to be used when any IMember of the Family is sick, 576 A Thanksgiving for the Recovery of a sick Member, . 579 PRAYERS FOR PRIVATE PERSONS. A Prayer for one convinced of Sin, 582 A Prayer for the Increase of Faith in Christ, . . 584 A Prayer for Chastity, 586 A Prayer for a young Person, ..... 589 A Prayer for a Student educating for the Ministiy, . . 590 A Prayer proper for one in Trade or Merchandise, . 592 A Prayer proper for a Person in Trade upon sustaining some great Loss, 595 A Prayer proper for a Person when aifairs of great impor- tance to him are in suspense, .... 597 A Prayer under the Pressure of some heavy Affliction, 598 A Prayer to be used before the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, 601 A Prayer before a Journey, for a Person who is to travel by himself, 603 A Thanksgiving after a safe Journey, .... 605 PREFACE. Whatever disputes may have been raised coiicern- inor the nature of" savinfj faith, it is allowed on all hands to be one of the most important Christian vir- tues, and essential to the character of a Christian. I am ready to profess that, in conformity with the great lights of the primitive church, of our own church, and all the Protestant ones, at the Reforma- tion, and long after, 1 understand by it " a d£pen- dence upon the righteousness and death of Christ, as a full satisfaction to the justice of God for the sin of the world, in the breach of his law ; and the sole ground of our acceptance to the reward of eternal life." And if any explanation of this point, now so very offensive to many, should be demanded, the fol- lowing is humbly submitted to consideration : — Sin is the transgression of the law of the most high God ; which law, the moment it is broken, sub- jects us to its penalty. Of this the punishment of the first sin committed by the first man is a most memorable instance, and stands in the front of the Bible as a perpetual and most important lesson of in- struction to mankind, in a point of which they would otherwise have been ignorant; and which, notwith- standing the solemn manner in which it is related. 36 many are very apt to overlook. This fact ought to be particularly remarked, as designed to give us a clear insight into the nature of God, and the nature of sin ; and as being the key to all the subsequent discoveries of Scripture. For if the sin of eating the forbidden fruit cannot be pardoned, though its pun- ishment was so fatal in its consequences, and in- volved in them the whole race of Adam, it may fairly be presumed that sin must, in all cases, wear the same appearance in the eyes of an unchangeable God. " He is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever:" every sin therefore, as an act of disobedience and re- bellion against him, must be the object of his displea- sure at all timesj and will for ever separate from him every soul of man, in whom it is found unpardoned. If you are unwilling to admit this account of the nature of sin, and of the nature of God, as be- ing contrary to the idea you have framed of him, and derogatory, as you suppose, to his perfections, it is then incumbent on you to prove, in what age or pe- riod of the world, under what dispensation, or new discovery of the will of God, and in what part of Scripture, you find it recorded that God has revoked the decree against sin, and made a change in the law given to man at his creation, of life upon obedience, and death in case of transgression. The Scripture, on the contrary, in perfect harmony with itself, ac- quaints us, that, at the second promulgation of the law, God appeared in the same majesty and holiness, and with the same denunciation of wrath against sin- ners, as he did at the beginning: " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things vi'hich are writ- ten in the book of the law, to do them." On which. 37 let it be observed, that as more than temporal death was necessarily implied in the threatening and curse to the Jews — because that was unavoidably the doom of ail mankind, whether they obeyed or not — so it naturally suggests to us, that the first threaten- ing, " In the day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die," was of the same extent with the second, and its meaning precisely determined by it. In this second sentence, then, there is no relaxation of the first ; no contrary declaration concerning the case of offenders, nor the least intimation of any change in the will of God with respect to sin. Indeed, it would be strange if there should be any ; such a va- riation or inconsistency in the character of God, as given by himself, would be an argument of much greater force against the truth of the Bible than any yet alleged. The fact then is certain : " The wages of sin is death," and always will be so while God continues the same. What he published and de- clared at tlie giving of his first universal covenant to all mankind, in the person of Adam, he renewed and confirmed by the delivery of the law to Moses, which, as St. Paul observes, " was added because of trans- gressions," that the desert of them might be known, and " that the offence might abound," in its penalty and curse unto death, now once more solemnly awarded, against every offender and every offence. These two grand manifestations of the nature and will of God, of the odiousness and great evil of sin, and of the manner in which it is to be treated, are further exemplified in the judgments upon sinners recorded in Scripture. Very striking and awful in- deed they are; and here we must rest the point for 38 ever, unless we would take upon us, as too many with horrid presumption do, to estimate the guilt of sin from our own false notions of it ; to prescribe a law to God, to divest him of his sovereignty, to cavil at his wisdom, and to dethrone his justice. But let the reason of man, short as it is, be judge in the cause. The decree is gone out from the Almighty, and stands unrepealed in the revelation he has made of himself: " Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the law, to do them." Suppose now, for a moment, we are at liberty to call this decree in question, or to tamper with the threatening, by taking allowance for one sin. What is that sin ? And if for one, why not for two or more; and where will you stop? If once you take the right of judging out of God's hands, there will be no end for pleading for trans- gression, no dread of it, no sense of good and evil, no submission to God's rule and authority, no obe- dience upon earth. The conclusion is evident; if all have sinned, all stand condemned by the sentence of a just God. The expediency of the remedial covenant of gos- pel grace, in which mercy and truth meet together, righteousness and peace kiss each other, and God is both just and the justifier of him that believeth in Jesus, is here apparent : and the necessity of depen- dence upon the righteousness and death of Christ, is demonstrated from the preceding account of God's unalterable justice, and of the guilt of sin being the same in all ages of the world. One thing is need- ful : we must be declared free from guilt, and invested with a righteousness which shall stand before the law 39 of sinless perfection, and entitle us to the kino-dom of heaven. And if we have it not in ourselves, where must we look for it, but as existing in the person of Jesus Christ. Dependence therefore upon that righteousness, as wrought out by him for be- lievers, and appointed of God for sinners to trust in, is the precious faith of the gospel by which the soul is justified before God. As no other will reconcile the divine attributes, or answer the exigencies of mankind, concluded under sin, and always sinners; so nothing else must be the ground of our hope to- wards God. Not works. Alas ! we have none — none that will bear to be v;eighed in God's balance, or answer the demands of his justice. Look at what you think the best action of your life, or the most excellent grace of your soul; bring it to the touch-stone; ex- amine it by the straight rule of the commandments, considered in their whole spiritual extent, and as reaching the heart and all its motions. In the mat- ter or manner, principle or end, be assured you will find some grievous flaw, and condemnation instead of rev/ard will be your desert. Let the judicious and pious Hooker be heard on this head : " If God (says he) should make us an offer thus large; search all the generations of men, since the fall of our first father Adam; find one man which hath done one action, which hath passed from him pure, without any stain or blemish at all ; and for that one man's only action, neither man nor angel shall feel the torments prepared for both : do you think that this ransom to deliver men and angels could be found to be amonoj the sons of men ?" 40 Not sincerity. This has lately been adopted into our divinity, as if it were the gracious condition of the new covenant, in opposition to the law of perfect obedience. But it is no where nientioned as such in Scripture. So remarkable a variation, in a mat- ter of the greatest importance, from other revelations which God had made of himself, and of the terms of our acceptance with him, had need be very distinctly and expressly pointed out ; and yet when the proofs of it are called for, none are produced. It is indeed altogether a claim of human invention, and as it ac- knowledges defect of obedience, and therefore an absolute forfeiture, it delivers us up to justice, so long as the law of strict conformity to every com- mand of God stands in full force against us. And let the reader determine, after what has been said, whether that law was not designed to be the per- petual standard of the only obedience God will ac- cept from man, or if not, how or when it was abro- gated. Not faith and works, considered as co-operating to our justification, and both together making a claim of acceptance ; for works, which are confessed to have the nature of sin, by those who call in the aid of faith to supply their imperfection, cannot be ad- mitted to any share in our justification, and must be excluded from the idea of it, because the matter turns entirely upon another point, and the great difficulty is still to be removed. Justice must be satisfied, the law must be fulfilled ; with all our duties sin is found mixed ; and unless it could be supposed that the new covenant is a relaxation of every preceding one, in respect of God's judgment of sin; and that 41 now, in this last age of the world, he has exhibited himself as acting under a dispensing power, and dis- charging sin of its guilt, our case is left desperate. But this is a dangerous expedient, unwarranted by reason or Scripture; and we therefore believe, that " being justified by faith we have peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord :" and that the whole of what will be accounted our deliverance from the curse of the law, is the righteousness of Christ satisfying the divine justice by his obedience unto death, and, to the praise of the glory of his grace, imputed to sinners for salvation. This is the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast; our full security against all fears, our first and only justification. The notion of a Jirst and second justification is the offspring of pride opposing the truth of God. They who adopt it consider not the justice of God as still existing in all its rigour, and substitute in- stead of perfection what falls infinitely short of it. But the nature of God and the nature of sin remain always the same ; consequently we are as much un- done as ever, if gospel mercy extends no farther than to the first benefit of remission of sins, when we are admitted into the Christian covenant. Faith is not to be dropped after the beginning of conversion, as a thing of no further use. " The just shall live by faith ;" its utility is to be experienced not once, but always; in every step of our progress, at the hour of death, and at the day of judgment ; in hope, comfort, obedience here, and in heaven for ever. It is not meant that faith has any such effect, or justifies merely as a work or righteousness of our own. No, it consists in the denial of the merit of all works> 42 qualifications, or habits as inherent in man ; and the essence of it is an unfeigned humble submission to the righteousness of God, as accounted or given to us, and that not of debt but of grace. This may furnish an answer to those who ask, Why may not imperfect works justify as well as imperfect faith ? taking it for granted that one can be no more perfect than the other. The reason is, that the indispensable condi- tion of justification by works, is their perfection; con- sequently a claim founded on them must either be made good by an obedience entirely sinless, or the hope of salvation be wholly relinquished. Where- as faith, though it may be weak and imperfect, instead of exalting itself against the justice of God, and standing before him in the confidence of a lie, puts all from itself, and ascribes to God the whole glory of our salvation. We shall close this little argument with observing, that faith is not understood, much less possessed, if it is not productive of more holiness, and more gra- cious affections, than could possibly be attained in any other way. The charge of vacating the law as a rule of life, followed close upon the first preach- ing of salvation by faith, and a base suspicion of its being prejudicial to the interests of virtue, is hardly ever to be rooted out of the minds of men till they experience the power of faith themselves. But this can have no weight with those who remember the authoritative decision of Christ himself in this point, upon a remarkable occasion, in opposition to the se- cret conceit of a proud Pharisee : " to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little." It is acknowledged, it is strenuously maintained, that the heart of man 43 is exceedingly depraved, and our afFections corrupted to the very root : but you charge the nature of man with greater depravity than you are avi'are of, when you suppose the superabundant love of God, mani- fested in the plan of redemption, and especially in the wonderful manner of its accomplishment, can kindle no love, and excite no gratitude. On the contrary, it is the peculiar glory of gospel grace, to humble every believer in the dust, and to fill him with the most dreadful apprehensions of sin, in order to raise him from his dead state, and to establish him in obe- dience from love to God, from holy admiration of his perfections, and from an earnest desire to be par- taker of his blessedness. And if the gospel is not effectual to this end in the Spirit's hands, therein displayed and secured to every sinner who really be- lieves the gospel ; if the love of the holy Trinity does not touch every string of our hearts, and put all the powers of our souls in motion to make some suitable returns to the ever-blessed God, our condition is in- deed hopeless. We may venture to affirm, that a zeal for works truly Christian can be built on no other foundation ; and that a desire to perfect holiness will never have a place in the heart of man, but under a sense of redeeming grace, and of the complete salva- tion that it sets before us. It is, therefore, greatly to be lamented, that ne- glect of this doctrine shonld be so much the charac- teristic of our age; and that the gospel-motive to obedience should not be more generally inculcated in a Christian country. In vain do we hope to revive the decayed spirit of religion, and establish a pure morality on any other than Scripture grounds. A 44 spurious kind of it, outward, partial, founded chiefly on love of reputation, with little regard to God, na- ture itself can discern, and in some degree attain. Poor and low attainment ! Yet this is what we are prone to substitute in the place of inward spiritual renovation, to which nature is altogether averse. But true holiness, which consists in profound self-abase- ment and subjection to the God and Father of our spirits in love of nature and vvill, in heavenly-minded- ness, in ardent longings after purity of heart, is the genuine product of a lively faith: and I say again, no where to be found, till the ever-blessed name of Jesus, his grace and truth, his compassion, dying- love, and all-perfect obedience, are the meditation, delight, and confidence of the soul. In this view, and with these sentiments strong upon his mind, the author has endeavoured in the following Treatise to delineate " The Complete Duty of Man." His book bears this title not from any arrogant conceit he holds of its worth, but from its comprehending the doctrines as well as the precepts of the gospel, from its placing things in their proper order, and preparing the way to Christian practice by Christian faith, and to faith by conviction of sin. The attempt may appear to some unnecessary, as " The Whole Duty of Man," so called, has long been in possession of general esteem, and is to be found in almost every family. But it is evident that the great thing is wanting in that celebrated Treatise, towards obtaining the end for which it was written ; since Christ the Lawgiver will always speak in vain, unless Christ the Saviour is first known. Christian morality is produced and maintained by this principle, 45 " We love God, because he first loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins :" all treatises therefore, written to promote holiness of living, raust be deplorably defective, in which the cross of Christ is not laid as the foundation, and con- stantly kept in view, and every duty enforced as hav- ing relation to the Redeemer. This is the apostoli- cal method of inculcating Christian obedience; and all other obedience is pharisaical, a mere refined spe- cies of self-righteousness. It is proper to apprize the reader, that he is in- debted to Mr. Dickinson's Letters for several para- graphs in the chapter on the difference between " true and false repentance;" and to Mr. M'Laurin's Ser- mons for several fine sentiments in the chapter " On the foundation of faith." In a few other places also in the work, where a masterly argument, or a beau- tiful illustration of the subject on which the author was treating, occurred, he has taken the liberty of enriching his own work with it. Nothing further is necessary to be added, but an earnest request, in which the author begs every reader would join wuth him, to the Fountain of all good, that it would please Him to make the following sheets instrumental in giving, to those who peruse them, such a manifestation of the glory of God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as shall make sin and the world, with their bewitching charms, appear vain, despicable, odious — such a conviction of human ig- norance, guilt, and depravity, as may infinitely en- dear the name of a Redeemer and Sanctifier, and create tender compassion and humbleness of mind one towards another — such a knowledge of the par- 46 don and peace, the strength and power, the purity and holiness, which ennoble and bless those who have scriptural faith in Christ, as may manifest the empti- ness of deistical and formal religion, and excite an earnest desire to behold the meridian glory of Chris- tianity in the eternal world : where every creature breaks forth in fervent acknowledgment of infinite obligation, saying, Worthy is the Lamb that WAS SLAIN TO RECEIVE POWER, AND RICHES, AND WISDOM, AND STRENGTH, AND HONOUR, AND GLO- RY, AND BLESSING. THE DUTY OF MAN, CHAPTER I. OF THE SOUL. Sect. I. — On the Excellency of the Soul. It is evident that man is endued with an active prin- ciple, entirely distinct from his body. For, whilst his body is chained down, an unconscious mass of matter, to a spot of earth, his soul can soar and expa- tiate in contemplation ; can reflect, and, with variety almost infinite, can compare the numberless objects which present themselves before it. When his body- has attained maturity and perfect strength, his soul arrives not to a state of perfection, but goes on in- creasing in wisdom and knowledge; and when the body is feeble, or sinks into decay, the soul is often full of vigour, or feels grief and anguish all its own. To demonstrate the excellency of the soul, in its properties so singular and admirable, is of great im- portance : because, all that is comprehended under the word religion, respects the soul. And many 48 precepts in the book of God must be resisted as un- reasonable, or slighted as unnecessary, if the salva- tion of the soul is not considered as the greatest good man can attain : the ruin of it the greatest evil he can suffer. To prove the worth of the soul, I shall make ray- appeal to your own observations, and to the evidences of Holy Scripture, entirely waving all philosophical inquiries into its nature, and all abstract reasoning concerning it.* Observation, then, upon what passes before your eyes, powerfully proves the worth and excellency of the soul. For what is the case of thousands around you, if it has not already been your own ? Are they not mourning over some tender parent, some affec- tionate friend, or near relation ? One week, the dear deceased, how much was he valued ! What a sprightly entertaining, companion, in the prime of life, perhaps of personal comeliness ! The next, ah, sudden, bitter, prodigious transformation ! the de- sirable object is become a putrid mass; the desirable object is become insufferably loathsome, fit only for the grave. Do you ask, how it comes to pass, that what was lovely to admiration only a week or day * Let not this be tlioiight to proceed from any ignorant con- tempt of philosophical inquiries, when confined to their proper sphere ; since this is the determination of one of the greatest philosophers in whom our nation glories : — " All our inquiries about the nature of the soul," says Lord Bacon, "must be bound over at last to religion, for otherwise they still lie open to many errors. For, seeing the substance of the soul was not deduced from the mass of heaven and earth, but immediately from God, how can the knowledge of the reasonable soul be derived from philosophy ? It must be drawn from the same inspiration from whence the substance thereof first flowed." Advancement of Learning, Book iv. Cliap. 3. 49 before, should so soon be even hideous to look on ? The answer loudly proclaims the dignity and excel- lency of the soul. For, could the dead parent, friend, or relation, hold discourse with you on the subject, his answer would be to this effect : — ' Are you seized with afflicting surprise? Do you, with tears of ten- derness, bewail the frightful change you see, in a form long so familiar and so pleasing to you ? The cause is this : The immortal inhabitant, which, for a few years, lodged under this roof of flesh, hath re- moved its abode. My soul, by its presence, gave to my body all its motion, life, and beauty. The instant the one took its destined flight, the other began to turn into an offensive carcass, which must moulder into dust, and dust remain, till his voice, who is The Resurrection and the Life, unites it for ever to its former inmate.' From this most striking difference, therefore, be- tween a dear parent, friend, or relation, active, use- ful, lovely, and the cold, pale piece of outcast earth, which he instantly becomes upon the departure of his soul; understand what dignity and worth must ne- cessarily belong to the soul. And if from this fact, daily passing before our eyes, you turn to the page written by inspiration of God, it is impossible to remain ignorant of the ex- cellency of the soul. What can be imagined more grand than the ac- count of its creation ? Look up to the heavens; im- mensely high, immeasurably wide as they are, God only spake, and instantly, with all their host, they had their being. The earth, the sea, the air, with all their millions of beasts, birds, and fishes, were C 33 50 formed instantaneously by the breath of his mouth. But, behold ! before the human soul is formed, a council of the eternal Trinity is held. God said, " Let us make man in our own image, after our own likeness. So God created man in his own image ; in the image of God created he him." He formed his soul in its moral faculties and powers, a sinless, immortal transcript of himself. To deface this image, and ruin a creature which the love of God had so highly exalted, was an at- tempt equal to the execrable malice Satan bore against God, and against the favourite work of his hand. But no sooner did the devil, by his accursed subtlety, bring on the soul an injury, tending to its utter de- struction, than the most high God, by the method used to recover it, declared a second time still more loudly the exceeding greatness of its worth. For take a just survey of the majesty of Him, who only, of all in heaven, was able or sufficient to restore the soul to the favour and fruition of God. Before him, the depth of the unfathomable seas, the height of the loftiest mountains, the vast dimensions of the earth, and the immense circuit of the skies, are as the small dust of the balance. Before him, the vast multitudes which people the whole earth, with all their pomp, are less than nothing and vanity. This is He — behold him !* This is he who takes upon * The reader is desired, as he would not wish to dishonour and injure the Redeemer by mean and unworthy thoughts of him, to meditate deeply on the grand and divine things which are written of him. In the evangelical prophet Isaiah, you will find liis majesty set forth in the most lofty and affecting manner, and by a variety of such glorious images, as will more exalt your ap- prehensions of him than any train of abstract reasoning. In the 51 himself a work impossible for angels to effect — the redemption of the soul. He undertakes to replace it in the favour of God : not by the word of his mouth, as in the day that he made the heavens and the earth ; but by a contrivance infinitely costly and painful ; by a process of many steps, each of them mysterious to angels, as well as to men. To redeem the soul, he lays aside his glory. He is born poor and mean. He lives afflicted, insulted, oppressed. In his death he is made a sin-offering and a curse, presenting to the Father a divine obedience, and a death fully satisfactory to his broken law. Pause then a while, and duly consider who the Redeemer is, and what he hath done. Then will you necessarily conclude, that whatever the world admires as excel- lent, and extols as most valuable, is unspeakably mean when put in the balance against the worth of the soul. It is indeed a m.atter of the utmost difficulty to believe, that One, in every perfection equal with the eternal Father, should abase himself to the cross, and shed his blood on it, to ransom the soul. Here rea- son, with all its efforts, is lost in the unfathomable depth of mystery ; and, if left to itself, would lead into perpetual cavil, if not to a flat denial of the reality of the fact. The method used to prevent such a de- nial, which would be blasphemy against God, and perdition to ourselves, still more forcibly adds evi- dence to the worth of the soul. For the same eternal Spirit which, in the beginning, brought light out of 40th chapter, from whence the above description of his grandeur is taken, there is enough declared, both of his grace and divinity, to make him appear altogether glorious. c 2 5^ darkness, and order and beauty out of chaos, coraes down from heaven to bear witness of redemption. " He shall glorify me," saith the Redeemer, ** for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." In other words, it is his office so to display the glory of the person, righteousness, and salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ, that those truths, which are foolishness to the reason of the natural man, may be discerned in all their excellency. This eternal Spirit, (called " the Spirit of truth," because the only effec- tual teacher of divine truth,) is continually present with the church of Christ, by his illumination to make known the things which are freely given us of God. Judge, then, what must be the excellency of that immortal principle within you, which, in its original birth, is the offspring of the God of glory, and im- pressed with his own image : then the purchase of the blood of his Son; and now the pupil of the Holy Ghost. When nobility stoops to the office of teach- ing, no one of less dignity than the heir of a king- dom must be the scholar. How great then must be the excellency of the soul, which has the Spirit of God for its appointed instructor and continual guide? It will still further prove the worth of the soul, to consider that amazing elevation of glory to which it will be advanced, or that dire extremity of wo in which it will be plunged, hereafter. Soon as the few years allotted for its education and trial here on earth expire, if grace, and the offers of salvation, have been duly accepted and improved, it will gain admission into the city of the living God, where shines an everlasting day, where every thing is removed for ever that might but tend to excite fear, or for a moment 53 to impair the completeness of felicity. And whilst the soul possesses a magnificent habitation, eternal in the heavens, the company with which it will be associated, in excellency far surpasses all the glories of its place of abode. Man, by revolting from God, was banished from any commerce with the glorious spirits that people the invisible world. But when the designs of grace are accomplished in the soul, it becomes a partaker of all the invaluable privileges and dignities of the angels. It is clothed with a brightness of glory refulgent as the sun ; it is raised to such degrees of excellency as exceed our highest reach of thought; every defect and blemish inherent in its present condition is done away; and its moral perfections surpass in splendour the outward beauty with which it is arrayed. Now, if we estimate the grandeur of a person from the exalted station he is born to bear, and the possessions he shall one day call his own, how great must the worth of the soul be judged, which, unless ruined by its own incorri- gible sinfulness, is to inherit the riches of eternity; to stand before the throne of Jehovah on a rank with angels; to drink of rivers of pleasures which are at his right hand for evermore. It is, on the other hand, evidence equally strong of the value of the soul, though, alas ! of a very me- lancholy and distressing kind, with which the Scrip- ture account of the extreme misery it must suffer, if it perishes, furnishes us. If it is not counted worthy to be admitted, through the Saviour's mediation, into glory — O sad alternative ! — its doom, like the sen- tence pronounced on some offender of great dignity, whose distinction serves only to inflame his guilt, is 54 full of horror. It is cut off from all communion with God ; removed to an inconceivable distance ; sepa- rated by an unpassable gulph. It must have him for the avenger of its crimes, in comparison of whose strength all created might is weaker than a new-born babe. That arm is to be stretched forth against it, which shoots the planets in their rounds, and taketh up the isles as a very little thing. The soul that perishes, is to suffer the punishment prepared for the devil and his angels; to suffer punishment, the very same in kind with that of the avowed enemy of the blessed God; whose business, whose only joy, ever since his fall from heaven, hath been to defeat, if it were possible, all God's designs of grace; to under- mine his kingdom, and tread his honour in the dust; who has already seduced souls without number, and who will go on in his course of treason and enmity against God, till the day of executing full vengeance on him is come. Tiiough not in equal torment, yet in the same hell with this execrable being, is the soul that perishes to endure the wrath of God. Whether you regard, therefore, the felicity or the ruin which the soul of man, in a few fleeting years, must experience, you will find it hard to determine which of the two most forcibly bespeaks its grandeur. These evidences, obvious to every eye which reads the Scripture page, prove, in a manner not to be questioned, that the poorest beggar carries greater wealth in his own bosom, and possesses a higher dig- nity in his own person, than all the world can give him. The soul, that enables him to think and choose, surpasses in worth all that the eye ever saw, or the fancy ever imagined. Before one such immortal be- 55 ing, all the magnificence of the natural world appears diminutive, because transitory. All these things wax old as doth a garment, and all the works of na- ture shall be burned up ; but the years of the soul, its happiness or its wo, like the unchangeable God its Creator, endure for ever. From these evidences you will perceive, that the schemes which engage the attention of eminent states- men and mighty kings, nay, even the delivery of a nation from ruin and slavery, are trifles, when set in competition with the salvation of a single soul. You will see the propriety of that astonishing assertion, that in heaven, the seat of glory, and among angels, whose thoughts can never stoop to any thing little, '* There is joy over one sinner that repenteth." You will see why the Lord God Almighty is at so much pains (if the expression may be used) to awaken the children of men into a just concern for the salvation of their souls : why the warnings he gives them are so solemn, his calls so repeated and pressing, and his entreaties so affectionate. All these things follow as the just and natural conclusions from the match- less excellency of the soul. Sect. II. — The advantages of a just conviction of the SouVs excellence/. The incomparable excellency of the soul has been attempted to be shown by various proofs. A clear, strong, and abiding conviction of this excellency is the foundation of all real religion, and, on many ac- counts, is indispensably necessary. For want of a just perception of the worth of the 56 soulj the amusements of folly, and the pleasures of sin, are looked upon by the young as the chief sources of delight. They are shy of religion, notwithstand- ing its promises of peace, of joy, of eternal life, and they regard it as a malevolent enemy to their happi- ness. But no sooner do they once truly apprehend the excellency of the soul, than acquaintance with spiritual objects is sought after, and highly valued. Thus informed, the language even of youthful hearts is this : — ' The bloom of my days, and the vigour of my life, shall be devoted to my best, my everlasting interest. A. sight of the worth of my soul has de- livered me from the fascinating power of polluting lusts, and has broken all the magic force of their cruel enchantments.' The same knowledtje of the worth of the soul is absolutely necessary to preserve men inviolably honest amidst the temptations which abound in trade, and in every profession. For on the Exchange, in the University, the CofiPee-house, in almost every circle of private company, infectious discourse in praise of riches and honour is poured forth, and contaminates the principles of those who hear it. From the worldly lusts natural to man thus inflamed, spring all the dis- eases of trade. Hence the extortion, the falsehood, the imposition, the spirit of extravagant speculation, by which the character and the peace of thousands are ruined. They are endangered by a rage for money, and a boundless desire of filthy lucre. No- thing can control this wide-spreading evil, but a per- ception of the soul's inestimable worth. Let this take place, and immediately the deformity of the former false, defiling ideas of worldly advancement 57 and gain is discovered. Trade will then be carried on with temperance of aflPection. An enlightened conscience, like a vigilant sentinel, will sound an alarm in every hour of danger; it will keep the man of trade and merchandise punctually true to his best, his greatest interest, and enable him with ease to conquer those temptations which before led him away captive. " What," he will say, " what is a man pro- fited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" The necessity of a strong and abiding perception of the worth of the soul, appears also from this con- sideration, that it is the only ground of real prayer, and the cause of its success. In addresses from man to man hypocrisy is detestable : how much more in addresses from man to God ! But how is it possible prayer can be any thing more than hypocrisy, when the supplicant is not impressed with a due sense of the worth of his soul ! Who can deprecate the wrath revealed against sin, implore deliverance from its de- filement, or earnestly entreat a supply of his spiritual wants, who does not perceive the worth of the soul? In the nature of things, we can have no deep concern, where we apprehend no great misery if we fail of success, or advantage if we are crowned with it. We may indeed personate in our closets, or at church, a man in earnest pursuit of spiritual blessings; and be constant in the use of those very prayers which such a one, with the noblest sensibility, would pour out before his God : but unless we feel the same spirit, through the same knowledge of the excellency of the soul, we only act a part in the closet or in the church, c3 58 as a player does on the stage ; we appear in a char- acter which is no more our own, than that of the king or hero on the stage is his. Hence multitudes, con- stantly engaged in acts of devotion, remain grossly ignorant, and utterly unaffected by every thing which they profess to believe, and day by day seem to im- plore : their confessions are deceitful, their prayers void of fervour, and their thanksgivings without gra- titude. But such devotion must be as unsuccessful, as it is insincere. God is a God of truth. He must receive services just as they are ; and where nothing but outward homage and fine words are offered to him, nothing is obtained. Sin is not pardoned, nor evil tempers subdued. All the fruit of such feigned intercourse with the God of heaven, is to flatter self- love, and to harden men in presumption, till their hypocrisy is at once fully discovered and punished. On tlie contrary, are you conscious of the worth of your soul? This will dispose you for every de- vout exercise. Godly sorrow for sin will accompany the confession of it, when lamented as an enemy to your best, your immortal interest. Ardent and ur- gent will be the pleadings for grace and pardon, when their importance, as connected with a soul of ines- timable worth is seen and felt. Most hearty and affectionate will be the thanksgivings for mercies already vouchsafed, when every instance of favour from above is considered as a pledge of the eternal felicity of the soul. It follows, therefore, that, in the same degree in which it is necessary to resist temptations to evil, or profitably to engage in the solemn acts of religion, it is necessary also to be impressed with the worth of the soul. 59 The natural result of such an impression will be, a diligent care for the salvation of the soul. Now, the supreme wisdom of such carefulness is most evident, from comparing beauty, honour, know- ledge, riches, or whatever else is usually valued amongst men, with the soul. The elegant lovely form, which captivates the eye of almost every beholder, and fills the mind that pos- sesses it with perpetual vanity, ill rewards the anxious carefulness used to preserve it. No cautious atten- tion, no human power or skill, is able to protect it from the waste of time, the blast of sickness, or the untimely stroke of death. The place of honour, and the name of applause, for which thousands are glad to sacrifice their ease and sell their liberty, is of little value, since it is sub- ject to all the caprice of fickle-minded man. How many, once the favourites of a court, the idols of a kingdom, have lived to see all their blooming honours wither, and their names sink into oblivion, if not contempt ! Are you ambitious to climb the envied summit of literary fame, and shine without a rival in the ac- quisition of knowledge? In one fatal hour, a para- lytic stroke, a violent fever may disorder the struc- ture of your brain, rifle all the cells of knowledge, and wipe away from your memory the very traces of all that has been committed to its keeping. Thus you may be left the sad survivor of yourself. A mortifying spectacle to human pride; a melancholy, but irresistible proof, how much men may rate the attainment of human knowledge higher than its pre- carious tenure justifies. 60 If your great aim is to become rich, of chief emi- nence in your trade, able to command all outward things which can minister to your vanity or pleasure, still how unworthy of your supreme desire and care is such a condition, because absolutely insecure ! Life itself, the foundation of all temporary enjoy- ments, is but as a beauteous vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanishes away. Each day, we know, is translating some of the opulent sons of industry, into a world where not a mite of all their gain can follow them. Nay, if you are engrossed by the care of providing for those tender pledges of God's love to you, the offspring of your own body, whom you were a mon- ster of cruelty to neglect; yet here you may be sud- denly, be wholly disappointed. Your darling child, the living image of yourself, how unable are you to preserve its invaluable life from perils, and from fierce disease ! When parted from you on a visit or some business, you may, like Sisera's fond mother, be chiding its delay, and with all the impatience of love, asking, * Wherefore is my son or daughter, so long in coming?' whilst some appointment of God has taken away the desire of your eyes with a stroke. Thus, if you take a full survey of every thing which the children of men seek with greatest anxiety to enjoy, compared with a supreme concern for the salvation of the soul, and steady regard to its inter- ests, how vain is it ! Nay, whatever it be, except the soul, about which you are careful, it has this most degrading circumstance attending it — it has the con- dition only of an annuity for life; each successive year makes a considerable decrease in its value, and at death the whole is at an end for ever. 61 But if your principal care and solicitude is for the salvation of your soul, all the unexpected disasters, disappointments, and losses, which harass the sinful children of men, will become affecting proofs of the supreme v/isdom of your choice, and the unrivalled excellency of your pursuit. Even the tears that stream down the cheeks of the miserable, and the complaints of those who are disappointed in worldly schemes, will pronounce you blessed, who are athirst for your immortal soul's salvation. Are you con- scious of its worth ? Are you striving in daily inter- course with God, its Creator, Redeemer, and Sanc- tifier, to secure its eternal welfare ? Then you may set all the evils that terrify the human race at defiance. Your inferior dying part they may wound, but they cannot strike deep enough, or reach high enough, to hurt your soul. In the midst of what otherwise would prove ruin unsupportable, your wise choice will cover you like armour, and render you invulnerable. Are you poor, and treated with scorn by the sons of pride ? you will have examples and prospects more than sufficient to support you. You will see your own case in the instructive history of the saints of God, who were destitute and afflicted; and in that wonderful contrast of meanness and grandeur, ex- treme poverty and immense wealth, the dying Lazarus. With patience, with gladness of heart you vvill see, that the deepest distress, and the surest title to glory, may be for a small moment united. In every case where proper care for the soul hath prevailed, you will see that poverty, however extreme, sufferings, however long and grievous, add both to the weight and brightness of future glory. 6^ In sickness also, the supreme wisdom of having been careful above all things for your soul, will dis- play itself with peculiar lustre. For though health is absolutely essential to a sensitive happiness; though the least ache, or bodily disorder, deprives the proud and worldly-minded of their enjoyments, yet the soul, if with due care it has been exercised in the ways appointed by God, finds sources from whence to de- rive consolation under the most violent pressures ; consolation sufficient to banish both outward impa- tience and inward dejection from their accustomed throne, the chamber of sickness and pain. With a lovely and edifying meekness, you will regard such discipline, though trying to sense, and oppressive to the flesh, as prepared by the all- wise and merciful Refiner, to purge away every base mixture that still cleaves to and defiles your soul. The welfare of your soul, dearer to you than all external comforts, will induce you to welcome the visitations, which are of such sovereign use to promote its health. In short, in sickness the whole man is a miserable sufferer, where the soul has been forgotten ; where earnestly cared for, and instructed in divine truth, the inferior part alone feels the pressure. To advance still further; death, the detector of all cheats — death, the touchstone of all true worth, and therefore the king of terrors to those whose care every thing has shared but their souls, even death itself will confirm the supreme wisdom of your con- duct. The death-bed, on which the gay, the pros- perous, and the noble, lay down their heads appalled and confounded, is the theatre for displaying the fortitude of those who have sought, as the one thing 63 needful, the salvation of their souls. The former are confounded, because unprepared. The loss of all they valued is coming upon them ; their approach- ing change can promise them nothing; it is much if it forebode not dreadful consequences. But to the latter, every thing wears another aspect. Must the world be left by them ? it has been already renounced and vanquished. Must all temporal good be forsaken for ever? how placid, how calm the surrender, when the riches of eternity are theirs ! no striving, no querulous repining against the irresistible summons to depart, when that very departure has been habi- tually expected as a translation of the soul to its proper everlasting happiness. In fact, dying Christians, that is, all that have duly sought, in a right method, the salvation of their souls, have given proofs of the supreme wisdom of their conduct in the hour of nature's sorrow and dis- tress; so that those fine lines of Dr. Young are most justly descriptive of the happy few, whose souls have been more precious to them than every tem- poral concern or comfort : — " The chamber where the good man meets his fate Is privileged beyond the common walk Of virtuous life, quite in the verge of heaven ; Heaven waits on the last moment ; owns her friends On this side death, and points them out to men, A lecture silent, but of sovereign power." All these advantages, arising from supreme care- fulness for the salvation of the soul, are still more worthy of regard, because not at all uncertain. You may be braving the thickest dangers of the field of war, to get the name of valour and the place of com- 64 mand; yet fall an early victim in the bloody battle, or after it your services may be neglected. You may burn with inextinguishable ardour, to stand high in the rank of scholars, and ruin your health by intense study, yet die mortified at the littleness of your re- putation. Your labour to succeed in business may be incessant, yet, through a thousand circumstances which you have no power to prevent, you may re- peatedly suflPer disappointment, and poverty still re- main your portion. The favour of patrons, friends, relations, may be assiduously courted, and appear promising to your earnest wishes ; and yet others may supplant you, and, receiving the benefits you were grasping in idea, make the very name of patron, friend, relation, odious to you. The world is every day exhibiting instances of bitter disappointment in each of the cases above described. But if, with all the strength of desire, you have sought for the salvation of your soul through Jesus Christ, you have nothing to do with the changes ever incident to the things of time and sense. You have to do with the blessed God, in whom is no variable- ness, neither shadow of turning. You may be there- fore rich, or you may be poor; raised or depressed; beloved or slighted, by those on whom you are de- pendent; you may enjoy health, or be oppressed with mortal disease — whilst, in each state, were you to ask yourself. What course could I have best taken for my present peace and fehcity ? Reason, conscience, scripture will all reply, The very course you have taken — that of caring, in the first place, for the sal- vation of your soul. To say no more ; the quick succession of years, 65 which exceedingly impoverish, as they pass by, every man whose soul is not his chief care, will, on the contrary, be accumulating for you the true riches. Like a prudent factor, who, instead of lavishing his gain in present luxury, yearly remits it home, that he may return to enjoy life in his native country, after all his toils, with ease and honour: so will you be growing rich towards God ; sure to return, by death, to that happy country, where, amidst con- gratulating saints and angels, you shall enter upon the possession of an inheritance prepared for your soul, incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you. A Prayer yb/' a due Knowledge of the Worth of the Sold. Glory be to thee, thou Father of the spirits of all flesh, for creating man in thine own likeness; for breathing into him a soul capable of the knowledge of thy wondrous works, and thy infinite perfections. Glory be to thee, for so plainly revealing the worth of our souls in thy sight: for giving thine only Son to redeem them, when lost by the fall of our first parents : for his opening a new and living way through his flesh, whereby our guilty souls can have access to thee with confidence : be acquitted, purified, and ex- alted to dwell eternally in thy blessed presence. Glory be to thee, who didst promise and has sent down from heaven thy Holy Spirit, to enlighten, guide, and sanctify the souls of those who come to thee by Christ Jesus. We return thee, O God, our unfeigned thanks 66 for thy repeated promises of glory, reserved in heaven for every soul which departeth this life in the true faith and fear of thy name. We desire also to adore thy tender mercies towards us, in laying hell, as it were, open before our eyes ; that, fully apprized of that dreadful place of torment, the prison of lost souls, we may ever labour to escape it. We bless thee for all thy compassionate calls, warnings, and exhorta- tions, both in thy word and providence, designed to lead us to regard, above every thing, the salvation of our souls. And now, O gracious Father ! crown, we humbly beseech thee, all this thy goodness, by making it, through thy grace, effectual to work in us a lively and perpetual concern, for the salvation of our im- mortal souls. Deliver us, O God, from that gross ignorance, stupidity, and contempt of spiritual blessings, in which we are naturally involved. O ! rescue us from the prevailing power of things present and striking to our senses ; from the abuse of bodily health and strength ; from the enchantments of the pleasures of sin, or of any earthly comforts whatsoever; from anxious care concerning the body or things of this world ; which all act in confederacy against us, both to prevent and to extinguish a due solicitude to save our souls alive. Keep us also, O God of all power and grace ! from neglecting our souls through the infectious example of the multitude, or through fear of being had in derision for labouring fervently in the means of saving them. Wherever we are, whatever is our employ, still sound, O God ! in our ears, that momentous question, " What is a man profited, if he shall gain the 67 whole world, and lose his own soul? and what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?'' Continually do thou dispose our hearts to avoid every thing that would prove hurtful to our souls, to watch unto prayer for their preservation, and to obtain sure and certain proofs that they shall be saved in the day of the Lord. Finally, O God ! we beseech thee to have com- passion on the great multitude who set at nought their never-dying souls; who are secure and at ease, though on the point of being eternally lost : cause, O Lord! the scales to fall from their eyes; take away from them all their hardness of heart, contempt of thy word, and cruelty towards themselves; that they at last may inherit thy great salvation, prepared for the souls of the faithful in Christ Jesus. For his sake alone we beseech thee to hear us ; and in him we trust, our Mediator and Redeemer. Amen. CHAPTER IL OF GOD. Sect. L- — The Scripture Character of God, The first duty of a Christian is, to conceive of God only according to the revelation which he has given of himself: to meditate on this revelation with humility, diligence, and prayer, not daring to indulge fallacious reasonings, lest he should form an imaginary god, and then worship the creature of his own brain. Nor will such an absolute submission of the un- derstanding to revelation, in this matter, be thought 68 in the least grievous or dishonourable, when it is considered, that of ourselves, and in our present state of darkness and corruption, we are utterly unable to form any just conceptions of the divine nature and perfections. When once we forsake the guidance of Scripture, we are left to uncertain guesses; we put our- selves in the condition of the unenlightened heathens ; and their errors, on this most important subject, as universal as they were lamentable, are a sufficient evidence of the short-sightedness and vanity of un- assisted reason, and of the ignorance of man in the things of God. I shall therefore present you with a transcript of what the sacred oracles have delivered to us on this important point of beHef. In absolute submission to them, I shall endeavour to deHneate the character of the blessed God, as drawn by himself, and explain his nature and will, his acts and providences, his de- crees and purposes, as exhibited in the Bible. Thus, knowing the God with whom we have to do, may we be faithful to the light he hath given us, and regulate our conduct towards him, by the infallible standard of his own plain and positive declarations. And may he himself render them effectual to enlighten the un- derstanding; so that every reader, in the devout fer- vour of his soul, may cry out before him, " Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord God Almighty ; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints : who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name?" In the first place, the Scripture represents God as possessed of the incommunicable perfection of eternal existence. All other beings once were not ; there was a period when the most excellent of them first 69 began to exist ; and the same power which gave them life, could again reduce them to their original nothing. On the contrary, God has ever existed; the same in essence, felicity, and perfection : from all eternity he has been what he now is, and what he will eter- nally remain. The existence of things which are seen, compels us to acknowledge this incomprehen- sible truth ; and agreeable to it is his own account of his eternal power and Godhead : " I am," saith he, " that I am" — " The high and lofty One that inhab- iteth eternity," is his title. " Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever the earth and the world were formed, from everlasting to everlasting, he was God." Nearly allied to this perfection of eternal existence, is the unchangeableness of God. His love and hatred remain immutably the same towards their respective objects. " I am the Lord, I change not," is one of those sovereign titles by which he manifests himself to us : with him " is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." In proof of this excellency, God is called a Rock. This metaphor intimates, that as a rock continues steadfast and immoveable, whilst the surrounding ocean is in a perpetual fluctuation; so, though ail the creatures of God, from the lowest to the very highest of the intelligent kind, are subject to change — capable of new additions or alterations with respect to their knowledge, their power, or their blessedness — God alone is absolutely " the same, yes- terday, to-day, and for ever." " God is a Spirit." The distinguishing properties of spirit, are, understanding and will, consciousness and activity. By virtue of these properties, every 70 spiritual substance differs totally from dead matter or body, and is infinitely superior to it in its nature and essence. But though this difference between spiri- tual substances and those of matter, is sufficient to help our weak conceptions, yet we are taught in Scripture, that the ever-living God surpasses in ex- cellence all created spirits, infinitely more than they do, in their nature and properties, merely animal substances. For God not only declares of himself that he is a spirit, but that he is " the Father of spirits, and the God of the spirits of all flesh." It follows, therefore, that it is not sufficient merely to conceive that God is a spirit, meaning, by that name, a living, intelligent, and active being, essentially distinguished from the material frame our eyes be- hold: for though this is most truly aflSrmed of him, yet must you add to him perfections which no other spirits possess ; as well as separate from him every kind of imperfection which adheres to them. They exist within certain limits, they are ignorant of many things, they are defective in power; but the Father of spirits himself, is omnipresent, and infinite alike in knowledge and in power. God is omnipresent. The universe, which owes its formation and existence entirely to his creating power, is not only governed, but is continually sus- tained by him. The whole immeasurable frame of nature must therefore be pervaded by his all-enliven- ing influence. Accordingly, this most grand and majestic interrogation is put by himself to the chil- dren of men : " Do not I fill heaven and earth ? saith the Lord." And in the 139th Psalm, this perfec- tion of God is described with equal sublimity and 71 force. The enlightened and inspired prophet be- gins with making the inquiry, whether it was pos- sible for him to hide himself from the Author of his being and the Former of all things : " Whither shall 1 go from thy Spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven," into the re- gions above the firmament, " thou art there;" I should not only find myself still within the limits of thy sovereign dominion, but under thy immediate inspection. " If I make my bed in hell," that is, plunge myself into the unknown mansions of the dead, and the worlds invisible, where even imagina- tion loses itself in darkness, " behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea;" if, with the swiftness of the rays of the rising sun, I could in an instant con- vey myself to the uttermost part of the western world, the wings of the morning are not swift enough to carry me from thy pursuing hand; " even there shall thy hand lead me, and tliy right hand shall hold me;" I shall exist in thee, O God; thy presence will be diffused around me, thy enlivening power will support my frame. " If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yta, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day : the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." I myself, my actions and circumstances, are equally conspicuous in the thickest shades of night, as in the brightest splendours of the noon-day sun. The universe is the temple of the Lord, and every part of it is filled with his presence. And as the Scripture thus forcibly describes the pre- sence of God with all things actually existing, so it 72 expressly teaches us, that, vast as the dimensions of the creation are, they do not bound or circumscribe his being. With holy admiration, we are com- manded to say unto God, " Behold, the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee !" To this amazing perfection of God, his omnipre- sence, is joined almighty power. A human artist, or created agent, can only fashion his work from materials already prepared for him, and which he cannot make : but the glorious God commands things into being. He was not beholden to pre-existent matter in the formation of the world ; for ** the things which are seen were not made of things which do appear." On the contrary, all things, whether of a material or spiritual nature, stood up before the mighty God at his call, and were created at his plea- sure. The heavens, and all the hosts of them ; the earth, and all things which are therein, are not only the work of his hands, but by the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth : " I the Lord," saith he, " have made the earth, and created man upon it; I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded." The same almighty power of God, to which the whole creation owes its birth, is manifested also in the disposition and preservation of the world in order and harmony. Thus the exertions of the almighty power of God are continually placed before us : *' He watereth the earth, and blesseth the increase of it. He covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth : he giveth snow like wool, and scattereth the hoar-frost like ashes : he divideth the 73 sea with his power, and layeth up the depths in store-houses : fire and hail, storm and tempest, fulfil his word." The steady course of nature, which thoughtless and profane men are wont to consider as the effect of necessity, rather than of all-wise direction, is wholly owing, we are taught, to the almighty power of God. " It is he alone," saith the Scripture, *' who makes the day-spring know its place, and stretcheth out the shadows of the evening — that commands the sun to shine by day, and the moon by night — that prepares a place for the rain, and a way for the light- ning and thunder — that maketh the herbs to grow upon the earth. The hand of the Lord doth all these things." It must farther be observed, that the Scripture gives us the most awful idea of the boundless power which belongeth to God, by declaring, that he can in a moment dissolve the whole frame of nature. Human force is at much pains to demolish, what be- fore it toiled to erect : but the might of the most high God can, with greater ease than we can admit the thought, change the face of the creation, and destroy what seems to be built on the most stable foundation. " He removeth the mountains, and they know it not ; he overturneth them in his anger. He commandeth the sun, and it riseth not; and sealeth up the stars. He shaketh the earth out of its place, and the pillars thereof tremble. The pillars of hea- ven tremble, and are astonished at his reproof. The mountains quake at him, and the hills melt, and the earth is burnt at his presence." But in the attribute of mere power, however D 53 74 boundless and irresistible, there is no loveliness. We may indeed be astonished, and tremble before it, but to contemplate it with pleasure, and to con- ceive of it as the object of delight and of trust, we must behold it in union with other perfections. In union with such perfections it subsists in the blessed God ; for he is as infinite in knowledge as he is in power. More clearly does he discern his own eter- nity, than we our temporary duration ; more perfectly his own immensity, than we our limited condition of being ; more certainly his own extent of wisdom and power, than we the thoughts which are passing through our own minds. But if God knows himself, he must know also the work of his own hands ; for even the meanest artificer, though imperfectly acquainted with the nature of the materials on which he works, knows the effects of his own operations. Since, therefore, from the greatest to the least, from the utmost circuit of heaven to the centre of the earth, there is nothing which the hand of God has not formed, and which his providence does not direct; every thing must be thoroughly known to him. Wherever his power works, there his understanding must discern. The vast fabric therefore of the universe, with all its laws and furni- ture, with all events from first to last, are known unto him. The innumerable host of sinless angels, and the world of fallen apostate ones ; the long pro- geny of mankind, with all the thoughts, desires, and designs that have been in the mind of each indivi- dual, and all the words which have ever fled from their lips, fall under his continual notice. He, with the most exact and infallible comprehension, knows 75 all the active principles of the spirits he has formed ; how they will be moved upon the presence of every object which can come before them ; in what manner they will act upon every temptation which can try them, and in every circumstance in which they can possibly be placed. These ideas of the blessed God, his own oracles teach us to conceive. " The ways of man are before the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. The eyes of the Lord are in every place : he looketh to the ends of the earth, and seeth un- der the whole heaven. The Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts; he knoweth the things that come into our mind, every one of them. There is not any crea- ture that is not manifest in his sight ; but all things are naked and open unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do." And as God is perfect in knowledge, so is he in the attribute of wisdom, which is the best exercise and improvement of knowledge. By virtue of this quality he superintends, and so adjusts all the parts of the universe, that, whatever changes any of them may undergo, their usefulness and connection with each other may be uniformly maintained. By the exercise of the same attribute, he often accomplishes his designs, through means, to human apprehension, the most unlikely. He founds the manifestation of his glory upon what a depraved world despises and derides : and, in the glaring weakness of his agents, perfects, that is, displays his own praise. He en- tangles the rulers of darkness in their own nets, and ruins their designs by their own stratagems; the greatest cruelty of Satan and his instruments, he d2 76 makes subservient to the designs of his mercy, and over-rules even the apostacy of Adam, to display his own manifold wisdom to angels and to men. " He has established the world in his wisdom, and stretched out the heavens by his discretion. He is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. The foolish- ness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. He disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that they cannot perform their enterprises. His counsels stand for ever, and the thoughts of his heart from generation to genera- tion." These perfections, called, by way of distinction, the natural perfections of God, the more they are considered, the higher must they raise our wonder and astonishment. Who can meditate on eternity, omnipresence, omniscience, and almighty power, and not feel that they are subjects too big for any created understanding to grasp ! But the moral perfections of God, we can comprehend with greater clearness. And it is as possessed of these, that God claims from us the highest reverence, fear, love, trust, and obedience. The first of these perfections is his goodness. By this we mean that principle of good- will, by virtue of which his almighty power and infinite wisdom are exercised in the liberal communication of happiness to his creatures. His bountiful hand supplies their wants, and pours out his benefits upon them all. He makes no other distinction than what necessarily arises from the different qualities or capacities of the respective objects : no other difference than what his own most perfect character requires should be made. 77 ** The Lord," saith the Scripture, " is good unto all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. He openeth his hand, and satisfieth every living thing. He is the Father of mercies, and the God of all com- fort. The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." So strong is his goodness in its propensity, and so wide in its extent, as to bless not simply his crea- tures, but even rebels against his government, and enemies to his truth. " He causeth his sun to shine, and his rain to fall, on the evil and on the good, on the unjust as well as on the just. He en- dures, with much long-suifering, the vessels of wrath fitted for destruction." He allures them, and en- courages their return to him. " Let the wicked for- sake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abun- dantly pardon. Come now," says he, " and let us reason together; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow ; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." And, lest these asseverations should not be sufficient to remove sus- picions of his willingness to forgive the most enor- mous offenders, when they turn to him ; he swears by himself, ** As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." And that all the generations of men, who should ever receive his word, might form the highest conceptions of his glorious goodness, he passed before Moses, and pror claimed this to be his proper title, " The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth ; keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin." 78 But lest this goodness should be so misconstrued as to diminish our apprehensions of the evil of sin ; lest it should lead us to imagine, that, where so much favour is shown to the workers of iniquity, there can be no abhorrence of it; the Scripture is strong, full, and frequent in its representations of the holiness of God. By this holiness is meant, that disposition essen- tial to his perfect nature, which regards the honour of his own divine perfections ; and which therefore opposes the violation of his pure will, or the resis- tance of his just government. As the power of God is opposed to all natural weakness, and his wis- dom to the least defect of understanding; so is his holiness opposed to all moral imperfection or sin. It is not to be considered as a single perfection, but rather as the harmony of all the attributes of God ; it is therefore called the " beauty of the Lord." Separate from holiness, all other excellencies of the divine nature would be inglorious. His wisdom might be styled subtilty; his power be only consi- dered as dreadful. On this account those exalted spirits, who are best acquainted with the glories of the divine nature, dwell on this perfection. The courts of heaven resound with high adoration, whilst they cry, " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts." And such a particular regard do we find paid to this attribute by the blessed God himself, that he swears by it, in confirmation of the promises of grace: " Once have I sworn by ray holiness, that I will not lie unto David." Connected with this divine perfection of holiness in God, is the continual notice he takes of the beha- 79 viour of each individual towards himself and his law. On this part of his character the necessity of our absolute subjection depends. For were God either ignorant of what is done by men on earth, or did he judge it insignificant, we should have no more cause to retain any awe of him upon our minds, or to im- pose any restraint upon ourselves, than if there were no God. It is not the existence of a God, but his moral government of the world, that calls for our fear, and should excite us to obedience. To take away, therefore, all ground of suspecting any inatten- tion in our Creator to our behaviour, arising from his own infinite greatness, and our being less than no- thing compared to him — to root out this pernicious opinion, which the desire of sinning with impunity might lead us to cherish ; the glorious God teaches us to conceive of him, as taking the most exact cogni- zance of all our inward tempers, no less than our out- ward deportment, and that with an unchangeable pur- pose to deal with us accordingly. In the nervous language of his own inspired penmen, " His eyes be- hold, and his eye-lids try the children of men. The Lord is a God of knowledge, by him actions are weighed. I, the Lord, search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings." And lest, from the present outward prosperity of the wicked, any should be unreasonable and base enough to conclude, that God is not such an exact observer of our behaviour, respecting himself and his law ; the Scriptures are full of this alarming truth, which entirely removes the objection; that " God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret 80 thing, whether it be good or bad — that he hath appointed a day, in which he will judge the world in righteousness — that every man shall receive the things done in his body, whether they be good or bad.'' But it is not only at the conclusion of this world's duration, and in the day of universal judgment, that God makes a diflPerence between those that serve him, and those that refuse subjection to his laws. God represents himself as continually exercising peculiar and distinguishing love to his faithful and obedient people, whilst he is insupportably terrible to his ob- stinate opposers. He is not content with giving, to the former, assurances of his good-will towards them, and of their future glory in the eternal world : he declares, that he will maintain with them even here an intercourse of the most delightful kind. He will give them such views of the glory of his nature, the excellency of his truth, and the tenderness of his love, as the ungodly and careless neither know nor can conceive. In every season of extraordinary temptation, he is secretly enduing their souls with strength, and giving them power to return from every combat triumphing in conquest, and from every trial enriched with more grace. A considerable part of Scripture is taken up with representing the pecu- liar favour and loving-kindness of God to his faith- ful servants. A few passages will give us just con- ceptions of this part of the character of the most high God : " The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ear is open to their cry. The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and he delighteth in his way — though he fall, he shall ai not utterly be cast down; for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand; for the Lord loveth judgment, and forsaketh not his saints, they are preserved for ever. The Lord is a light and defence, he will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he with- hold from them that lead a godly life. The secret of the Lord is with them that fear him, and he will show them his covenant. The Lord sitteth above the water-floods, the Lord remaineth a King for ever. The Lord will give strength unto his people; the Lord will give his people the blessing of peace. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord." The substance of these inestimable mercies, is most emphatically expressed in the New Testament, and confirmed afresh, as the portion of all true be- lievers. " If any man love me," saith our Lord, " he will keep my commandments; and I and the Father will love him, and will come unto him, and make our abode with him." The enjoyment of such a peculiar manifestation of God's love, is used by the inspired St. Paul as a most cogent argument, to engage men, even at a time of extreme peril and approaching persecution, to forsake the idolatrous religion of their parents : " Wherefore," saith he, " come out from among them, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and be a father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Weigh well the import of these declarations of d3 82 favour to the children of faith, and you will see, in the clearest light, how much the God of heaven and earth regards the conduct of every individual of man- kind who faithfully receives his truth. He is not ashamed to call himself, in every instance, the friend of such, their portion, their father, their exceeding great reward. He is not ashamed to engage his own word and oath, that he will never leave them nor for- sake them ; but, on the contrary, that he will crown all his goodness towards them here, by calling them up hereafter into his immediate presence and glory. On the other hand, it is as striking a demonstra- tion of the notice which God takes of men's practice and deportment, that he will punish, in the most aw- ful manner, those who are enemies to his government, and despise his authority. Hear in what terms he proclaims his hatred of iniquity, and his unchange- able purpose to execute vengeance upon sinners ; and doubt, if you can, whether God is concerned to main- tain his own honour. " The Lord your God, is God of gods, and Lord of lords, a great God, a mighty and a terrible, which regardeth not persons, nor taketh rewards. If I whet my glittering sword, and my hand lay hold on judgment, I will render vengeance to my enemies, and will reward them that hate me. I will make my arrows drunk with blood. The adversaries of the Lord shall be broken in pieces, out of heaven shall he thunder upon them. God is angry with the wicked every day. If he turn not, he will whet his sword ; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. Upon the ungodly he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest ; this shall be their portion to drink : for the righ- teous Lord loveth righteousness, his countenance will behold the thing that is just. The Lord will come with fire, and with his chariots ; like a whirl- wind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire; for by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. And they shall go forth, and look upon the men that have transgressed against me ; for their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring unto all flesh." To comment on these nervous expressions would be to enfeeble them. To suppose them figurative expressions, in such a sense as not most emphatically to affirm God's utter abhorrence of sin, and his de- termined purpose to cast into hell those who die in their sins, is, in fact, to contradict them. Instead of cavilling at them, or vainly endeavouring to explain them away, let us receive them with awe and fear. This is the end which they are intended to produce. " Hear ye, and give ear, for the Lord hath spoken: behold, I will execute judgment ; vengeance is mine, I will repay." If any additional proof were wanting to confute the false and dangerous opinion of those who vainly suppose the Deity to be all mercy; and who pretend to be shocked at the notion of a God who will not let the wicked pass unpunished ; it may be derived from the attestations of our Saviour — yes, the only- begotten of the Father, who cannot deceive, who has shown the perfection of benevolence towards sinners, since he laid down his life for them on the cross : he has confirmed, by his own declarations, all the denun- 84, ciations of wrath above-mentioned. He declares, that, in the last day, all nations shall be gathered before him; and at that most solemn time, in the hearing of the whole rational creation, he will say to all them on the left hand, that is, to the vast mul- titudes of obstinate and incorrigible sinners, " De- part, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." Sect. II. — T/ie Character of God exemplified* In our last section, we have the character of God given by his own inspired penmen. We have seen that they represent him as a Being merciful and yet just, — merciful, even abounding in grace towards his obedient children; but justto those who despise him, in bringing upon them all the curses written in his book. By this disposition towards both, he appears infinitely holy and reverend, and his character gives the greatest encouragement to the exercise of faith in his name, and to the practice of righteousness for his sake. But if the character of God were only marked out to us by his own declarations, we should be apt (such is our nature) to be only faintly impressed by it. To give it weight sufficient to regulate our practice, the character must be made still more conspicuous by ac- tions. There must be facts, established upon such authority, that we can no more question their truth, than if with our own eyes we had seen them per- formed : facts expressive of the very same perfections in God, which his word declares he possesses. Ac- cordingly, the method of God's procedure, both with angels and men, is an additional, and the strongest S5 confirmation possible, that he is good, merciful, and holy; that he abounds in love towards his faithful people, but is the dreadful avenger of iniquity. With respect to the goodness of God, it shines forth in all the excellencies which angels possess; and all the bliss they inherit, who have never fallen from God, nor left that glorious habitation he of his bounty provided for them. On man, as he came immediately out of the hands of his Creator, and whilst he stood in his first estate, the signatures of the divine goodness were so strongly impressed, as to excite envy in one who had himself experienced the happiness of angels — Adam was created full of light and knowledge, of purity and peace, of delight and blessedness. He was formed in the image of God ; he was invested with dominion over the animal creation. He was not only con- scious of the favour of his infinitely powerful and be- neficent Creator, but he was admitted to hold personal communion with him. Thus was he made only a little lower than the angels themselves, who shouted for joy at the display of the goodness of God, mani- fested in the happiness of man. In this state of per- fection Adam stood ; he was put in possession of it for himself and all his progeny; incapable of forfeit- ing or diminishing it but by his own wilful apostacy. Now, who can consider this account of man's ori- ginal happiness, and not admire the benevolence of him who was the Author of it ? Who can survey the riches of the inheritance provided for Adam, com- pared to which, the glory of Solomon was but as the wretchedness of a captive exile, and not adore the in- finite goodness of the Creator? 86 Again, when Adam, through the envy and malice of the devil, operating in a manner too mysterious for us to comprehend, revolted against his Maker, and requited his bounty with the execrable insult of believing Satan to be a better friend to his welfare than God — though the hideous deed could not but draw innumerable miseries after it; yet, even then, behold the goodness of God shined brighter than it did ever at the first creation, and " where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.'* God instantly revives our most criminal and desponding parents with a pro- mise of salvation. He promises, O astonishing love ! to send an invincible deliverer into the world, even His OWN Son ! To send him into the world, not to re- ceive the worship due unto his name; not to be adored by every heart, as the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, but to be defamed as a confederate with Satan, crucified as a blasphemer, and to die, being made a curse for us. " Herein is love ! not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Could God say of his most corrupt and idolatrous people, " How shall I give thee up, Ephraim ? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? My heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together ?" What then must be the workings of his love towards his own Son, the perfect image of himself, when he delivered him up for our offences — when he seemed as it were to divest himself of the qualities of a Fa- ther towards his Son, and, for our sakes, to carry himself towards him only as a Judge ? " Herein God commendeth his love :" he places it in the most advantageous point of light in which it can possibly 87 be seen by angels or by men, " in tbat while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." The conclu- sion arising from this amazing demonstration of good- ness and mercy, the sending his Son " to suffer for the unjust, and to bear our sins in his own body on the tree;" — the conclusion is irresistible. " He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?" And as the great God has thus by his actions proved himself to be good and merciful, so has he in the same way demonstrated that he is a holy God. For once, his word informs us, there was war in hea- ven, Satan and his angels rising up in enmity against their Maker. The criminals, from the brightness of glory which they possessed, were called " stars of heaven ;" yet, no sooner did they sin, than they were stripped of all their honours, and clothed with shame and everlasting contempt : from the height of happi- ness they were plunged into an abyss of misery ; be- tween them and God an impassable gulf was fixed, so that no means of reconciliation will be ever found, no terms of peace be ever offered to them. " God," saith St. Peter, " spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment." This single fact is a sufficient demonstration that the Lord our God is holy. For should a king, famed for wisdom and for mercy, command persons of the first distinction around his throne to be cast into dun- geons, and loaded with fetters, refusing ever to look on them again with favour, or hear a word in mitiga- tion of their punishment ; must not all his subjects 88 conclude their offence was most detestable ? And can we draw any other conclusion, when we read that the God who delighteth in mercy has, in the greatness of his displeasure, cast down from their thrones, where his own hand had placed them, so many shining an- gels, and made them examples, suffering the ven- geance of eternal fire ? Another display of the holiness of God, in which all the children of men have been deeply interested, is the execution of the punishment threatened to Adam our first father. The threat was, that, upon disobedience, he should immediately suffer death. This death consisted in the loss of the image of God, in which he was formed ; his body, after some years spent in toil and sorrow, returning to the dust from whence it was taken ; and his soul, unless renewed after the image of God, enduring the pains of eter- nal death. The latter part of the penalty, we trust, he escaped, through the Mediator so graciously re- vealed to him; but of the accomplishment of the former part, we, alas ! are witnesses at this very hour. For what have we, in the place of Adam's original power, but weakness and helplessness ? What, for his divine light and knowledge, but brutish igno- rance? What, instead of his peace and communion with God, but natural dislike to him, and guilty fears about his intentions concerning us ? What, instead of his perfect purity, but a heart so deceitful, and so desperately wicked, that God alone can know it? And, in the place of an Eden, contrived by infinite wisdom for delight and spiritual happiness, what but a world of confusion and sin, a field of battle, a vale of misery ? 89 If you ask, whence comes this total reverse of cir- cumstances between the first man in innocence, and his posterity ? God, who in justice ordained it, gives you this awful account of it : " By the offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation— by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners." Ponder this in your heart, and you will not be able to refrain from crying out, " Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts." Further, the dreadful execution of God's wrath upon all the world, puts the holiness of his nature out of dispute. Before the death, even of all the children of those who saw Adam for his sin an out- cast from paradise, the fountains of the great deep are broken up, the windows of heaven are open to destroy the whole human race then upon earth, ex- cept eight persons. And lest this destruction should not be judged the act and deed of God himself, as the holy Governor of the world, and as a punishment for its sin, hear the God of all mercy, the Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Father of the spirits of all flesh — hear him declaring his awful purpose and assigning its cause. " And God saw that the wick- edness of man was great in the earth. And it re- pented the Lord that he had made man, and it grieved him at his heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them." There is one fact more, so demonstrative of the holiness of God, as to eclipse the destruction of the antediluvian world, the fall of man, the ruin of the 90 apostate angels. For, in all these cases, the suf- ferers were first actual transgressors and rebels against God. But if you look to the cross of Christ, there you will see the beloved of the Father, one infinitely more holy than the holiest of the angels in heaven, " set forth by God to be a propitiation for sin, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness, for the remission of sins that are past, that he might be just," might appear to the eyes of men and angels, glorious in holiness or justice, " and yet the justifier of them that believe in Jesus." We have appealed, and we shall again and again appeal to the death of Jesus upon the cross, yet we hope without tautology; since this marvellous fact, considered in different views, affords the strongest proof of various perfections in God. At present it is urged in demonstration of God's infinite hatred of sin. And in this light it may be well illustrated by a passage of sacred history. In the book of Kings, we read that the Moabites fled before the kings of Israel and Judah, and after a great slaughter were forced with their king to retire into their city. Here the king, finding himself besieged and reduced to the last extremity, had recourse to an astonishing act to show his distress, and his indignation against Israel. He took his eldest son, the heir of his kingdom, and in the sight of his enemies, offered him up for a burnt- offering upon the wall. The action succeeded to his wish : the kings of Israel and Judah were amazed and confounded at the fury which urged him to such a deed, and returned immediately with haste to their own country as if pursued by a conqueror. Now, this example, taken in one point of view, 91 may be applied to illustrate the subject before us. For the eternal Father, having used promise and threatenings, judgments and mercies, and still seeing our sins reach up to heaven, besieging, as it were, his almighty throne, expresses infinite indignation against sin. He takes his only-begotten Son, the heir of all things, the express image of his person, and, in the hearing of heaven and earth, he cries out, " Awake, O sword ! and smite my shepherd, the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts." Should not we, then, always remembering the death of his only-begotten Son for our transgressions, smite upon our breasts, and go and sin no more ? Should not we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear, feeling, from this fact, that, to impenitent sin- ners, our God will be a consuming fire. In the last chapter, we produced from Scripture many declarations of the peculiar love exercised by God towards each individual that walks before him faithfully. For instances to illustrate these we may appeal to the history of his providence, from the ear- liest ages. Enoch, the seventh in the line of direct descent from Adam, because he was unconquerably attached to the truth and authority of God, in the midst of his rebellious kindred, is taken from them in a way which at once immortalizes his name, and proclaims the love which God bears to his saints. Before this fact could grow faint or obscure, Noah is lifted up to our observation, like the ark in which he was preserved, for an everlasting memorial, that, in the most desolating judgments, the care of each in- dividual saint is with the Most High. In the case of righteous Lot, the same distinguishing love of 92 God is again manifested ; and two assertions are made by God upon this occasion, which are most expres- sive of his character towards his faithful people : the one is, that Sodom itself should have been spared for the sake of only ten righteous, if but so small a num- ber had been found within its walls. The other is, that Lot is hurried away from thence with this de- claration, " Haste thee, escape ; for I cannot do any thing till thou be come thither." And in what other light than as confirmations of the character of God, that he approveth the way of the righteous, and hath in all ages the most tender and affectionate regard for their welfare — in what other light are we to consider the surprising history of the faithful Joseph ? the favour showed to Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneb, and to them only of all Israel who came out of Egypt, or the remarkable and numerous deliverances of David from the snares and persecutions of Saul ? In what other way are we to improve Elijah's miraculous as- sumption into heaven, before the eyes of his succes- sor in office, the prophet Elisha? What other con- clusion are we to draw from the preservation of Daniel in the den of lions, and of Shadrach, Meshech, and Abednego in the fiery furnace ? What are these but witnesses chosen of God, and held up to notice by miracles wrought in their favour, that every obedient servant of God, who copies the pattern they set be- fore him, might know he is, as certainly they were, the object of God's singular care and special love ? And though we see not now the course of nature over-ruled for the deliverance of the faithful, still the comprehensive promise of the unchangeable God 93 abideth sure: " He knoweth them tliat are his,'* and will " make all things work together for good to them that love him." Nor are the facts which attest God's utter hatred of the sin of each individual few in number, or of doubtful import. On the contrary, the record of his actions furnishes us with many awful instances of the immediate execution of justice on daring offenders. There is scarcely a sin which has not been singled out as the object of his wrathful displeasure. Thus Ham, that could mock his father, surprised by acci- dent into intoxication, is accursed ; Lot's wife, full of worldly cares, and looking back upon the loss of her property with regret and repining, is turned into a pillar of salt. Envy and aspiring pride bring down immediate destruction upon Corah, Dathan, and Abi- ram. In Achan's fate, and in Gehazi's leprosy, we see how God abhorreth the covetous. Behold, thou infamous advocate for fornication, the javelin of Phi- nehas avenging God's quarrel upon Zimri and Cosbi; renounce thy fond conceit, that whoremongers will not be judged by God; for see, three-and- twenty thou- sand persons are cut oflp by him for this sin in one day. Be astonished at the patience of God towards thee, thou false and lying tongue, when thou readest that Ananias and Sapphira perished with the breath of falsehood in their lips ! Take notice, thou despiser of Jesus, of the doom of thy fellow-criminal Elymas the sorcerer, and of the judicial blindness with which he was smitten while he perverted the way of truth. Understand, ye vain and haughty, from the ignomi- nious death of Herod, that a proud heart is an abo- mination to the Lord, and that self-exaltation on 94 account of gifts or pre-eminence of any kind, is what he cannot endure ; for behold, the royal deified ora- tor, after the shout of blasphemous applause from the multitude, is immediately smitten by the angel of the Lor36 Now, to live in the world, and thus, in direct op- position to its favourite taste, to preserve true chas- tity of mind, is a fruit of faith in Christ, and a part of self-denial indispensably required from all Chris- tians. Sect. III. — On Self-detiial, with respect to the Desire of Wealth, the Inordinate Affection for Things lawful, a?id the Love of Praise. It is a remarkable proof of the corruption of hu- man nature, that all the passions which are natural to the human race require to be restrained and mor- tified. If we look into the world, we do not find men in general so impressed by love to God, by delight in spiritual things, by ardent benevolence, that atten- tion and caution are required lest those virtues should be carried to excess, (if there could be excess in them,) and lest the business of this life should be ne- glected. As the bias lies on the other side, the dan- ger is, lest religion should be neglected; lest the love of the world and the lusts of the flesh should be cherished. Religion therefore supposes human na- plays are intolerable, and not fit to be permitted in any civilized, much less a Christian nation. They do most notoriously minis- ter both to infidelity and vice. By the profaneness of them they are apt to instil bad principles, and by their lewdness to dispose to lewd and dissolute practices; and therefore I do not see hoio any person pretending to sobriety and virtiie, and especially to the pure and holy religion of our blessed Saviour, can, without great guilt and open contradiction to his holy profession, be present at such lewd and immodest plays ; much less frequent them, as too many do, ^vho would yet take it very ill to be shut out of the communion of Christians, as they would certainly have been in the first ages of Christianity." — Sermon on the Evil of Corrupt Communication. 437 ture to be corrupt. It is in fact nothing but a system of restraint upon man : it prevents his doing what he is strongly inclined to do, and requires him to do what else he would not think of performing. We have already seen how much self-denial is requisite with respect to the natural appetite for food, and the love of women ; we now observe, thirdly, that corrupt self must be denied in its propensity to covetousness. This propensity there is in us all : for though we may feel no inclination to be fraudulent, in order to increase our gain, still are we naturally apt to desire wealth, and to place our happiness in amassing money. Commerce and custom perpetually cherish this cor- rupt principle: and the world sees no evil in being intent on getting as much as it is possible to gain with a fair character. By this means, what at first setting out in trade was no more than an innocent de- sire of providing honestly for ourselves and our family, soon grows into a very mischievous and wicked pas- sion. This propensity to love money it is the duty of a Christian to resist in its first workings : for it is en- tirely opposite to the temper of mind required in a Christian, and it is declared by Scripture to be ruin- ous to the soul wherever it prevails. It is opposite to the temper of mind required in a Christian ; for he is called to seek after a better, that is, a heavenly country, and to stand always ready for an immediate separation from all things visible. But the propensity to covetousness, unless denied, will, on the contrary, utterly benumb all feeling of futurity, suffering him to think of nothing with frequency or earnestness, but wealth and its present advantages. 438 It will possess his mind with a strong delusion, that money is the chief good of man on earth; and ut- terly exclude all just apprehensions of the religion which Cometh from God, whose characteristic is, that it overcometh all worldly lusts. Besides, the gospel is revealed to fix us, through our knowledge of the grace of God, in a state of full resignation to his will; so that in want or in affluence we should be able to say, We know " how to be abased, and how to abound ; every where and in all things we are instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound -and to suffer need." But a covetous spirit can only conform itself to the will of God so long as his providence is favourable. If God gives prosperity, then a man, tinctured with covetous- iiess, may possibly find himself inclined, in some de- gree, to serve and adore his Maker; but should mis- fortune upon misfortune scourge him, he will be fretful, murmuring, and inconsolable. The gospel makes the truth and substance of reli- gion to be a firm trust in God, and a delight in him as our chief happiness. But avarice says unto gold, * Thou art my confidence ; thou art the god whose presence brings with it the greatest blessing, and whose absence is the greatest curse.' The gospel is given on purpose to raise our desires with increasing fervour towards God, to fix our afFections with im- moveable steadfastness on things above, and to engage us in the constant pursuit of them with an ardour in some degree suited to their worth. The covetous person, by making wealth the object of his chief de- sire, has no warmth of affection left for God ; he retains nothing more than the husk of heartless du- 439 ties; he forms no idea of the blessedness of being with God, in any other view tlian as a sort of refuge when death comes, and riches can be no longer possessed. And, to mention no more instances of the con- trariety of a covetous spirit to the state of a real believer, it hardens the heart towards our fellow- creatures; and, either from a fear of lessening our treasure, or a desire of increasing it, will construe charity to be a low subordinate duty, and leave our neighbour, partaker of our own flesh, to struggle with sickness and with want, and to perish unas- sisted. Directly opposite to this selfish one is the disposition of a Christian : he is ready to give, and glad to distribute, putting on bowels of mercy, and feeling love unfeigned. He remembers with joy, that it is the v^ill of God that those who are rich should give plenteously, as stewards and not proprie- tors of their wealth ; that thus the great abundance of some may prove a supply to the want of others ; that those who have m.uch should have nothing over, and they that have nothing should feel no lack. In this view, the contrariety of covetousness to the temper of a Christian, respecting either God or man, is most evident, and by consequence the duty of self- denial, in withstanding every motion we feel tending towards covetousness in our own breasts. To enforce this self-denial, it is necessary to con- sider further the Scripture representation of covetous- ness, as a temper ruinous to the soul. And here it is remarkable, that the covetousness against which we are so earnestly warned in God's word, is not of the kind generally deemed scandalous, but such as may govern the heart of a man who is 440 esteemed virtuous and excellent by the world. In the tenth Psalm, the covetous, whom the Lord is there said to abhor, are the very persons of whom the wicked speak well; which could never be the case, did their love of money make them either villanous in their practice, or miserably penurious in their tem- per; for men of this stamp none commend. The same thing is observable in that solemn caution given by our Redeemer: " Take heed, and beware of co- vetousness." By which it is evident, that he meant no more than a desire, springing from a rooted persua- sion, that the comfort of life consists in abundance, to be rich: this was the covetousness our Lord con- demns. And that his admonition might sink the deeper, he represents the workings of that avarice which he condemns, in a case which passes every day before our eyes. It is this : a man grows rich in his business, not through fraud or extortion, but by the blessing of God upon his own labour and skill. As is usual, he is highly delighted with his success; he exults in the prospect of being master, in a few years, of an independent fortune ! In the mean time he is determined to be frugal and diligent, till he takes his final leave of business, to enjoy all the sweets of ease and splendour, Luke xii. 1 9. Now, who, that are governed by the common maxims and principles of human nature, can see any thing to blame in this man's sentiment or conduct? Is it not what they applaud and imitate themselves? Yet this very man our Lord sets before our eyes, as the picture of one engrossed by a covetous desire of the things of this world. This very man he represents as summoned, in the midst of all his golden hopes, to appear a 441 guilty criminal at the bar of his Maker. Lo ! this is the man whom our Lord exposes as a miserable wretch for all others to take warning by, and resist covetousness. So, such a fool and such a sinner as this, is he that layeth up treasure for himself; that is, every earthly-minded man, who seeks after wealth, as if it were the foundation of happiness ; and is not rich towards God ; rich in faith, hope, and holiness. St. Paul, in perfect harmony with his Lord, for- bids the desire of wealth as a criminal effect of avarice. " Let your conversation be without covet- ousness, and be content with such things as ye have; for He hath said, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." And where, instead of this self-denied tem- per, a desire of increasing in wealth is cherished, there snares, defilement, and ruin, are declared to be the certain consequences. For " they that will," the original signifies the simple desire, *' be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil ; which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves throuo-h with many sorrows." Now, however easy it may seem to despise that sordid spirit of avarice, which only meets with con- tempt from the world; the accumulation of riches by every dirty method ; and, for fear of expense, the re- fusal afterwards to make any use of them ! yet to resist the workings of covetousness, according to the Scripture definition of that depraved disposition, must be confessed to be a most heroic instance of self- denial. For, suppose men to be engaged in business, t3 442 how strong are tlieir natural fears of failing, and their desire to prosper ! how dependent must they be at first on those who employ them ! Consider the constant language of tiie world in caUing wealth a blessing and a reward; its custom of treating men with respect, and paying court to them, exactly in proportion to their monied worth ; weigh these things, and then say whether any thing can be more contrary to our natural selfishness than to renounce all love of money? than to be quite satisfied with using con- stant industry and all our skill, which God commands us to do, in our trade or profession ; and when that is done, to cast all our care upon him, cheerfully leaving it to his own most wise and gracious will in what de- gree we shall grow rich, or whether ever at all; as- sured that if we dwell in the land, and are doing good, by a uniform subjection to God's word, he will bring it to pass, that upon the whole our condi- tion shall be appointed to us in richest mercy? What more difficult self-denial can be conceived, than to live in the temple of the god of riches, (as this world may too justly be called,) hearing high and low, priests and people, all paying their adoration to this mammon of unrighteousness, and yet remain un- infected by thirst for money? This can be obtained only by unintermitted discipline exercised over our own hearts, and by possession of the true riches in the knowledge of God and Christ. If it should be said. Do you mean then to affirm, that it is wrong for any man to rise to a state of great wealth? The Scripture, I answer, condemns only the desire of riches and the passion for them, as de- fifing and sinful. Therefore, if, whilst your whole 443 heart is given to God, he is pleased to prosper what- ever you take in hand, and to give you an abundant increase; then your wealth is evidently as much the gift of God, as if it came to you by legacy or inheri- tance. It is God's own act and deed to call you up, who were content to sit down in a low place, to a higher one, and to intrust you with more talents to improve them for his glory. Now, the difference be- tween possessing wealth, thus put into your hands, and desiring to grow rich, is as great as that between a worthless, ambitious intruder into a place of hon- our, seeking nothing but his own base interest; and a man sought out for his worth, and invested with the same office, for the public good. And those who can see no material, no necessary distinction in the two cases, are already blinded by the love of money. Nor let any one deem it useless or severe to ex- ercise so strict a self-denial over the covetous pro- pensity of his heart. Useless it is not, because we can never be secure from the dominion of sin, unless we guard against its first plausible insinuations to gain admission. But if we were allowed to give place to wishes and desires of being richer than the providence of God, unsolicited by us, sees fit to make us, what a suspicion must this imply of his love for us, and how soon must it insensibly betray us into sin- ful schemes of gratifying our predominant desire ! Whereas, by commanding us to rest with a full affiance on his providential goodness and fatherly affection, in a way of diligence and duty, all the avenues, by which temptation would approach to en- slave us, are shut up, and by resolutely refusing all 444 correspondence with the enemy, we are safe from his treachery as well as from his open assaults. Neither is such strict self-denial, as forbids our entertaining a wish or desire to have more than is sufficient for our present provision, severe and irksome to practise. Because, as sin is most powerful, and grace most weak, when we are but just within the verge of salvation, and the limits of what is lawful; so is the liberty and pleasure of the soul enlarged in proportion as it moves out of the neighbourhood of sin : when, instead of turning back to its paths of pleasantness, we flee from them as utterly destestable, as the ways of destruction and misery. Add to this, so far is the desire of riches from constituting the pleasure of them, that it really fills the mind with anxiety ; so far from augmenting the comfort of those who ^cherish such a desire, that it turns every little loss or disappointment into a grievous burden, and creates a vexation of spirit on a thousand occasions without cause or end. Fourthly, Self must be denied also in the use and enjoyment even of things lawful. Intemperance, lewdness, and covetousness, are in every degree de- filing and sinful: nothing can be urged in their de- fence by those who will reason justly, or who believe sincerely the word of God. But when we have sub- dued these corruptions of the heart, there still remains much exercise for self-denial with respect to the com- forts and conveniences we possess. We must be careful to use them as not to abuse them. We must keep our hearts disengaged from those temporal blessings which have no intrinsic worth, and which others, better than themselves, often want. By this 445 self-denial we shall receive all the benefit outward comforts were intended to confer on their possessors, without putting our peace in their power, in case the providence of God should deprive us of them. Now, ' considering how very uncertain all our outward com- forts are, and how impossible to be absolutely secured to us for any time, to sit loose towards them is cer- tainly wise and necessary. Amongst these lawful things in which self must be denied, our nearest and dearest relations are in- cluded. For though much love is due to them, and a tenderness of affection which will make our con- nection a source of true pleasure, still God alone must possess the supreme place in our hearts. But unless we are much upon our guard, and very jealous of ourselves, where we love as we ought, we shall soon love as we ought not. The affection which should be kept subordinate, will entrench upon what we owe to God, and render us by degress cold to- wards him. What neither intemperance, nor lust, nor covetousness could effect, a passionate fondness for a husband, a wife, or a child will often produce. It will alienate the affections from God, by substi- tuting an idol in his place; an idol which we shall more studiously seek to please, and be more fearful to offend, than our God : an idol, in whose precari- ous life all our happiness will centre, and whose death will prove a stroke too heavy to bear with Christian submission. The danger of this inordinate affection is men- tioned in Scripture, and self-denial in this instance is peculiarly enjoined. " If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and chil- 446 dren," that is, so far as they would interfere with a supreme affection for Christ, and hinder faithfuhiess in his service; if he does not as much renounce all fondness for them, as if he had an actual hatred to- wards their persons, " he cannot be my disciple;" he cannot stand when brought to the fiery trial ; and though that should never be the case, his heart can- not be whole with me, Luke xiv. 26. The same doctrine of self-denial is inculcated by St. Paul, and founded upon an abiding reason. "Brethren," says he, "the time is short: it re- maineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they re- joiced not; and they that buy, as though they pos- sessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away." Short-lived as we are ourselves, and still shorter in duration as our best earthly comforts so often prove, we only act according to the truth of our condition, as well as in obedience to God, when we limit our affections towards them. Thus we shall still be happy in a separation from them, no less than in their possession. God, who is without any variableness, will be our joy, and the failure of the cisterns too many hew out for themselves, will the more enhance to us the Fountain of living waters. To perceive the excellency of being thus disengaged from inordinate affection towards objects which it is not unlawful to regard with peculiar love; look upon the fond mother, stupid and dumb with grief; like Rachel, weeping for hertihildren, and refusing to be comforted because they are not; observe the set- 447 tied melancholy by which thousands are oppressed, through a separation from the husband or wife of their youth, with whom they promised themselves a length of joyous years. Behold all their happiness shivered in pieces, all interred with the idol on which they doted ! The whole creation is now become as the barren wilderness, and no prospect of ease be- fore them, but in the gloomy thought of dying soon them.selves. Consider this afflicting scene occurring daily, and you will be compelled to ov/n, that no self-denial can be more reasonable or more necessary, than that of suppressing all inordinate affection towards those dear objects which m.ay be torn in a moment from us; and v/hich, when delighted in beyond measure, are sure to pierce us far more deeply with anguish by their loss, than they ever could repay our exces- sive love with joy by their presence. Fifthly, Corrupt self must be denied in our love of the PRAISE of men. It is evident, that unless something nobler than what earth can give, be the grand object of pursuit, the praise of men is as de- lightful to the mind as sounds exquisitely harmonious are to the ear, or the most delicious flavours to the taste. The heathens avowed the love of praise to be the spring of all that gave a lustre to their names. Thus, Themistocles owned, that being pointed at in the public meetings, afforded him a pleasure which amply rewarded him for all the great exploits he had done for his country. And Tully is not ashamed to publish to the v/hole world his vanity, that he rose up in defence of Rome against her unnatural conspi- rators, not from a spirit of patriotism, but to erect 448 to himself a monument of glory. The same prin- ciple gave birth to the austerities of the Pharisees, and to the duties of religion they performed ; all their works they did to be seen of men. That in this respect human nature is always the same, is evi- dent from the pain men feel whenever they meet with expressions of disgrace and scorn; how keenly do they pierce, how greatly provoke ! It is evident also from the visible pleasure with which men gen- erally listen to their own commendation, and incite every designing flatterer to offer them his incense. Now, this strong innate love of the praise of men it is the duty of a Christian to deny. He must not suffer it to direct his actions. Were so false a prin- ciple to govern him, the judgment of the world would be his rule of life, in contempt of God, his Maker and his Judge. He would judge of the extent of his duty, not from the plain command of God, but from what was reputable or otherwise. ' What will the world think of me ?' would be an alarming sutj- gestion, fatal to every purpose- of living as a real Christian : and the fear of an appearance of enthu- siasm, in abstaining from fashionable vices, would reconcile him to practices glaringly opposite to his duty. Whatever knowledge and conviction of the truth he might have more th an others, fondness for applause from men would compel him to hold the truth in unrighteousness, and to be worse, even in spite of his convictions, than the world, in order to enjoy its approbation. Further : This principle, if not effectually resisted, not only leads to evil, but corrupts what has the appearance of being good. It influences you to do 449 all things from mere selfishness, that you may stand high in reputation. In a word, as base parasites at court know no other standard of good or evil than their prince's humour, so the love of praise, if not mortified, will suffer you to avow neither doctrine, sentiment, nor practice, but vvhat is in good repute with the world, however strongly it may be enforced in Scripture as the truth, and inwardly believed by you to be such. The love of praise, therefore, being so opposite to our obedience to God, all its soft treacherous in- sinuations must be denied. For as there is nothing necessary to our salvation but what is taught us in the Bible, and nothing there enjoined but what is necessary, and infinitely beneficial too, we must con- form to that infallible rule. This must be our only ambition, this our single aim, to walk before God to all well-pleasing, regardless of our character amongst men, whether approved or condemned, whilst we act conscientiously. If, in the discharge of our duty, we meet with praise, as we certainly shall from all real Christians, we may take encouragement from it, and be thankful to God for his grace: if, on the contrary, with obloquy and detraction ; unmoved by it, we must steadily persevere to give offence to those who are distempered enough to take it on account of our fide- lity to God. Whatever reluctance we feel, we must bid defiance to all the mortifying methods used to make our love of character operate to the suppress- ing or damping our zeal for the truth of God. This is a noble species of self-denial, of which none but Christians in reality have any knowledge. But though the love of praise is naturally as sweet to 450 them as to others, they have sufficient motives to wean them from seeking after it. Jesus Christ, the great object of their hope and affiance, of their love and dehght, ever since they believed, is present to their minds. Tiiey frequently meditate on his life, who was not only despised, but suffered outrage for their sakes ; who hid not his face from shame and spitting, who gave his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them that plucked off the hair. In contemplation of this amazing fact, the love of the praise of men loses its bewitching power ; whilst a deep veneration and a most affectionate regard for one who was despised and rejected of men, though infinitely deserving of the highest adoration, reconciles the believer's mind to abstain from seeking praise from the world. Besides this weighty motive to deny self in not seeking the praise of men. Christians are taught to expect contempt on account of their religion, and exhorted in no degree to marvel at it, or to be dis- couraged by it. In the thirty-seventh Psalm, writ- ten when all the professing people of God used the same religious mode of worship, when there was no opposition on account of any supposed innovation in religious tenets ; in this Psalm, full of consolation to the faithful, the enmity incurred by a truly con- scientious behaviour is thus strongly marked : " The wicked seeth the righteous, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The wicked have drawn out the sword, and bent the bow, to slay such as be of up- right conversation." As the publication of the gos- pel drew near, the Almighty exhorts all who should be disposed to receive it, not to suffer their love of praise, or their fear of shame, to make them conceal 451 or dissemble their faith : " Hearken unto me," saith the Lord, " ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law ; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings." When Jesus himself appears, and publishes a complete de- lineation of the tempers of all his faithful followers ; that humility, meekness, and zeal for God ; that purity and mercy which were to rule in their hearts, and to constitute their essential character; he imme- diately declares, how insupportable the character, lovely as it is in itself, would prove to men of corrupt minds. He assures his followers therefore, that they are blessed who are slandered and even persecuted for the sake of this righteousness ; a righteousness the imitation of his own, therefore upbraiding and galling to men of partial and superficial virtue. Now, these instructions come strongly in aid of a sense of duty to love the praise of God, and to seek only that honour that cometh from him. They are of great efficacy to cool the heart, that would otherwise burn for reputation. And whilst Chris- tians are only studying to be found approved of God, their " eye being thus single; their whole body," according to that gracious promise, will be " full of light," of the light of truth, holiness, and comfort : in this they will enjoy more than a counterbalance to the loss of human praise, more than a recompense for all aspersions cast upon their understanding, choice, and conduct. 452 Sect. IV. — On Self-denial imth respect to Shame, or Loss on account of Religion, Pride of Reason, and Self righteousness. We have seen the necessity of exercising self-de- nial with respect to our sensual appetites, with respect also to the inclinations natural to man for wealth, the comforts of life, and the praise of our fellow- creatures: — Religion, which teaches us the neces- sity of self-denial in general, is itself the occasion of opening to us a new scene for its exercise : it creates new duties, and requires self-denial in cases which do not come within the notice of the world in gene- ral. Thus the profession of a higher degree of re- ligion than is common in the world, subjects us to a loss of reputation, to bear which, without being ashamed or hurt, will require no trifling exertion of self-denial. We all naturally follow the custom and fashion of the world around us, and though not fired with the love of fame, we still feel it grievous to be reproached as bigots, fools, or enthusiasts. When, therefore, we observe that our attachment to Scrip- ture principles, in condemnation of corrupt practices and fashionable errors, will render us disagreeable and unfit for the company of the polite : pride will begin strongly to urge us to dissemble, and not to appear more attached to religion than others: it will be swaying us to seem at least to approve what all the company approves, though we condemn it in our hearts. Therefore, Sixthly, This evil shame, in all its workings, must be denied; because nothing can be more base, 453 more encouraging to wickedness, or more destructive to our own souls. Nothing can be more base than such a dastardly obsequiousness to the opinions of men ; since, besides the reigning cowardice it betrays, what a return is this for the inestimable blessing of the knowledge of the truth ? Was it for this end, do you think, that God gives to you the knowledge of his truth, to which others are strangers, only that you might show him the greater indignity, by preferring to his favour your reputation? Was the light of life kindled with- in you, that you should industriously conceal it, choos- ing to appear dark in your understanding, rather than bear the censure or ridicule of those who, you well know, are enemies to the light, only because their deeds are evil? Were an officer to be found thus ashamed of his king or his service, how must he ap- pear? yet what fidelity does he owe to his king, or what advantages does he receive in his service, worthy to be named with the benefits God pours out upon us? Hence both gratitude and justice require us all, as far as we know the truth, and our duty towards God, to avow religion, and not to be ashamed of being counted righteous over-much, by those who neither have nor can bear more than the senseless form of godliness. Indeed, unless we deny ourselves, and, in a man- ner suited to our station in life, appear open advocates for the cause of God, we contribute to the increase of wickedness: for where there is no opposition, sinners both grow bolder and multiply the faster. What all men either do themselves, or express no abhorrence against in others, it is naturally concluded, 454< can have no great barm in it : thus all sense of the necessity of real religion is banished from society, and pvofaneness, from its general prevalency, loses its guilt in the judgment of men. But such a gen- eral prevalency of evil would be prevented, if the appearance of it were resolutely checked by a disap- proving silence and cool reserve; or, where age or condition of life authorize it, by an open rebuke. This would serve to keep up the distinction between good and evil: this would remind men of their de- pendence upon God, and often prove, through divine grace, an effectual monitor to awaken the conscience, and produce a change of sentiments and manners. But if, through a mean fear of injuring our paltry reputation with ungodly men, we refuse to signify, by any of these methods, our sense of God's author- ity and government, of his hatred to sin, and his love of Christian holiness, we are then accessaries to the abounding of iniquity, we become sharers in the guilt by being tame spectators of the insult offered to our God, and by listening without expressing our dissent to the hard speeches which ungodly sinners are wont to speak against him. But if neither a sense of gratitude, nor a fear of contributing to the propagation of iniquity, can pre- vail with us to overcome our natural cowardice in the cause of God, let us at least consider the destruction it will bring upon our souls — let us therefore oppose fear to fear, and weigh the insufferable pain of con- tempt from God and angels, against the shame of being branded for religion here before men. For immediately after the injunction of that self-denial, without which it is impossible to follow Christ, the 455 trying instance of being content to lose our character for his sake is pointed out : " Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adul- terous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny be- fore my Father which is in heaven." Seventhly, Self-denial must be exercised with re- spect to the FEAR OF SUFFERING for the sake of God and his truth. In the inferior ranks of life, all per- sons are called, more or less, to this exercise, through their necessary dependence upon the rich. For when a person begins business, or enters upon his profes- sion of law, physic, or divinity, how desirable is the favour of the great and opulent to him ! to have their smile, to be admitted a guest at their table, is deemed an honour; and whilst their interest procures preferment, their custom brings the tradesman the largest return of gain. Hence a violent temptation arises, to be esteemed no more religious than is agreeable to the rich, or to their principal domestics, on whose favour so much depends. Are they there- fore profane? every dependant will be tempted to say, why should I appear a friend to godliness? Are they lewd and intemperate? why should I hurt my interest by refusing to join with them in excess of wine, or in lasciviousness, or by appearing to condemn such vile practices? ' Should conscience remonstrate, self-interest will lead a man industriously to stifle every conviction, afraid of losing the best of his customers, or his only patron, by being offensively religious. 456 Every one knows bow much the principal inhabi- tants, in all places, keep their inferiors in awe by the tie of worldly gain : and where their example is pro- fane, they spread on every side a dreadful contagion. In such a situation, Christian self-denial displays its energy. The believer will dare to show a con- scientious regard tp the law and truth of God in the view of his superiors, though sensible that his con- duct will gall and irritate. Fear of poverty will not make him belie his better judgment, or deny his God in order to gain favour with men. And whilst dis- cretion and humihty on one hand, set bounds to his advice or reproof, and direct him as to the time and manner of applying them ; his fear and love of God, on the other, will certainly lead him to discover his true character, and his abhorrence of all iniquity. The weight which eternal things have upon the believer's mind, the sting which he has often felt in his conscience for seeming to approve what God condemns, the express command to make a public profession of godliness, and the disinterested manner in which the Redeemer has suffered to purchase his everlasting salvation, all join their influence, and are of great force to enable him to risk the loss of all things, sooner than be ashamed of God and his word. Now, though such an opposition to custom, and to our natural fear of suffering in our worldly cir- cumstances, extremely terrifies the mind of man, yet those who deny themselves, and forsake all, leaving it to God in the way of diligence and truth to pro- vide for them, generally prosper even in this world. And no wonder; for they are heirs of that all-suffi- cient promise: " Wherefore come out from among 457 them, and be ye separate — and I will receive you ; and I will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." And if any man, professing himself a Christian, dare not thus rely upon God for a temporal provision, when it seems to be endangered by his adherence to duty, it is certain that man can place no trust in his God for eternal salvation ; but whilst he makes professions of believing in God, he is an infidel in his heart. Nay, further, he entertains an idea of the character of God, such as, if any one were to conceive of him- self, he would esteem most degrading, namely, that God can, unconcerned, see his own children brought into distress, through a dutiful attachment to him, when all power is in his hands to reward and bless such fidelity. Such a God as this, thou fearful unbelieving professor, thou conceivest the God of heaven and earth to be. Eighthly, Self-denial must be exercised with re- spect to the PRIDE OF REASON, in submitting with- out disputing to the written word of God. A kind of restraint this no less difficult for men of superior understanding to practise, than for the sensual to be chaste, or the covetous charitable. Yet in requiring such submission to his bare authority, God requires from us nothing unreasonable; because the objects he reveals to us are both above human comprehen- sion, and at present only revealed in part. *' We preach," saith the apostle, " the wisdom of God in a mystery ;" and therefore the doctrines of Scripture must not be rejected, under a pretence that they contradict common sense. Instead of indulging, we must repel that insolent query : How can these U 53 4.58 thin OS be? For, as ignorant creatures, it is our duty, and as Christians, our profession, to rest satis- fied with what God has declared to be the truth. When this declaration is once known, vve are to shut our eyes against numberless difficulties relating to the truth, which human wit or human ignorance may start. This is our duty, though infinitely mortify- ing to the proud and arrogant. This is also rational ; for how can any one reasonably deny that to be true, if it involves no palpable contradiction, which hath this decisive evidence, that God in his revelation has declared it? And how can any one be sure that there is a real contradiction in things, which it is con- fessed he cannot thoroughly comprehend ? Though reason therefore is of signal service in teaching us, to a certain degree, the knowledge of causes and effects ; and, within its proper limits, not to be dis- paraged : yet, when it is puffed up with a false con- ceit of its own power, it must be mortified, no less than any other depraved part of our frame. Other- wise we shall soon think ourselves at liberty to dis- dain implicit faith even in God himself. Instead of proving doctrines to be unscriptural, it will lead us to urge their apparent absurdity as sufficient reason to reject them. Thus one part of revealed truth after another will be renounced : first the Trinity, then the doctrine of Christ's atonement, next our fail and natural corruption ; till at length there will be noticing in the Bible allowed to be true, but what a pagan might subscribe, and a deist receive. If it should be said, such implicit obedience will expose us to receive real absurdities under a pretence of reverence for the authority of God : the answer 459 is obvious; a distinction must be made between our obedience before we are persuaded the Bible is the word of God, and after. Before this firm conviction, the human understanding has the fullest libert}^ to canvass, and put to the severest trial, all the argu- ments which demonstrate Jesus to be the Christ, and the Bible to be the revelation of God. Every- man of capacity for this work, should do this; be- cause these proofs depend on incontestable maxims, and make their appeal to that faculty of judgment concerning facts, which is less impaired by the sin of the fall than any other. During the whole time therefore that these out- ward evidences are under consideration, reason is to sit sole arbitress, and in the full extent of her liberty. But when once the Scripture record is received, as it always must be if men inquire honestly, it im- mediately claims an absolute submission. Then, should reason offer to cavil at any thing contained in the book it acknowledges to be of God, it is self- condemned ; because it is the height of arrogance to urge our want of comprehending the fitness of what is taught, against the veracity of an infallible teacher. On the contrary, it immediately becomes the highest act of reason wholly to rely upon the testimony of Scripture, and to receive implicitly all it declares. That it is the duty of a Christian in this manner to mortify his intellectual pride, there are many scriptures to prove. To this purpose is that remark- able declaration of God ; " I will destroy the wis- dom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the un- derstanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of tbis u2 460 world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" To the same purpose is that positive assertion of the absolute contrariety of Scripture truth, to what the wisest men in their natural state conceive is fit for God to reveal : " The wisdom of God is foolishness to men." In confirmation of the same doctrine, so mortifying to the pride of the hu- man understanding, our Saviour, we are assured, rejoiced in Spirit, that whilst men who idolized their own reason were incapable of beholding the truth of God, those who submitted their understanding to him enjoyed the unspeakable blessing of it : "I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes;" that is, to such as, with humble acquiescence, like little children, receive what is taught them of God. St. Paul inculcates the same species of self-denial, when he declares, " If any man think himself wise, let him become a fool," (that is, in his own estima- tion, as much in need of teaching,) " that he may be wise." With the same view he assures us, that the effect of the apostolic preaching, wherever it suc- ceeded to the salvation of the hearer, was to " cast down imaginations," {koyi(T[/jOvg, corrupt reasonings ; corrupt, because impious, where the word of God has once decided,) " and every high thing that ex- alteth itself against the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Such scriptures evidently control that sceptical and daring spirit, which too many dignify as the pri- vilege and just exercise of reason. Nor would such 461 scriptures have been given to us, unless we had a propensity, when we possess an understanding or learning superior to others, to make a creed for our- selves, when in fact we can know nothing of the things of God, but as we are taught them by himself. Against this pride of reason, believers must be constantly upon their guard, and not dare, through difficulties which may be started, to dispute or question the plain doctrine of God's word. The absolute necessity of this submission of the understanding to the authority of God's revelation, is most evident. A man cannot be a Christian with- out it; since all the doctrines which, by way of dis- tinction, are called Christian, have confessedly great difficulties in them. From our fall in Adam, to the complete salvation of the soul by Christ at the last day, there is abundant room to cavil, if men choose to erect themselves into judges upon the counsel of God. A small degree ol" wit, with much pride, will furnish endless matter for arraigning the Scripture, in its account of the origin of our misery — in the character it gives of the Redeemer and his incarna- tion, in the way of receiving benefit from him — in the Spirit's influence on the heart — in the penalty denounced upon every degree of disobedience — and the punishment of the damned. These several im- portant articles of our creed, which are the very soul of Christianity, must be received upon the mere cre- dit of their voucher — the word of God. And those who disdain to be persuaded by such evidence, do in fact give up the faith of Christ, though it may be convenient for them to retain the name of Christians, and to remain in the bosom of Christ's church. 46^2 Lastly, Self-denial must be exercised with respect to our opinion of our own righteousness ; a se- verer instance of mortification to all tiian any yet mentioned. But it must be submitted to. What- ever our good qualities are, we must confess ourselves criminals before God, whose condemnation would be inevitable, should he execute justice, instead of show- ing compassion towards us. How is it possible we can honour the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, as God would have it honoured, if we imagine our goodness can absolve us from guilt? How can we flee for refuge to the Saviour, unless our hearts con- demn us as lost, without his merit? Or how abide in this city of refuge, unless we perceive ourselves exposed to the avenger of blood ? How can we bow down in self-abasing gratitude to God, for imputing to us the righteousness of another, if we renounce not our own as utterly insufficient to answer for us? How place our full dependence on the Beloved of the Father for acceptance through him, unless we are conscious of the defilement of our corrupt nature, cleaving to us to the very last moment of life on earth, and rendering us in ourselves unworthy of notice from God ? Upon all these accounts, it is a necessary part of Christian self-denial to renounce all confidence in our own virtues and attainments, as if they could justify us in the sight of God, or bear the trial of his holy law. This kind of self-denial, directly op- posite to every earth-born system of religion, is of the essence of the religion of Jesus. And thouijh this very humbling estimation of our moral excellence be most difficult to attain, yet Scripture, both by 463 example and doctrine, strongly urges it upon us. Thus Job, in the bitterness of self-reproach, cries out, " Behold, I am vile — I abhor myself!" Upon inquiry into the character of this complainer against himself, we learn that he had no equal in goodness upon the whole earth, even in the judgment of the Omniscient ; but the fault which he here bewailed, and the guilt that extorted this confession, was too high an opinion of his own character; he had said, " I am clean without transgression, I am innocent ; neither is there iniquity in me." For thus over- rating his spiritual attainments Job abhors himself. And who, after Job, that receives the Scripture re- cord, shall think himself less sullied in his character, or less defective in point of practical holiness, than this illustrious servant of God ? What Job was in old time, St. Paul appears to have been under the New Testament. For who, in labours or in sufferings for the glory of God and the good of man — who, in purity of heart, and extensive usefulness, was to be compared to him ? Yet so far was this most distinguished saint from confiding in his own goodness, as a fit object of the divine com- placency, that he mentions both what he had attained in moral and religious obedience, and what he had suffered for Christ's sake, on purpose that he might pour contempt upon it all; that he might call it " loss and dung," in comparison of being found in Christ, "not having his own righteousness, which is of the law," that is, not trusting in his own per- sonal obedience for justification before God, but " having that righteousness which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." 464 What these, and others of the most excellent of the earth, by their own confession, declare in dis- couragement of human righteousness, as a title to justification before God, or as a ground of self-con- ceit, is confirmed by many places of Scripture. Thus the poor and needy are represented as the only ob- jects of the Redeemer's grace, Psal. Ixxii. 13. whilst the good and virtuous in their own sight are " scat- tered in the proud imaginations of their hearts, and sent empty away." Lowliness of mind is described as the only temper becoming our Christian profes- sion ; whilst the haughtiness which prompts men to plead their own righteousness as a title to God's favour, is exposed as the cause of excluding from sal- vation those who had even a zeal for God, Rom. ix. Both by doctrine and example, therefore, the dis- ciple of Jesus is led to call himself vile in the midst of his highest attainments, and constantly to regard himself as a needy impotent vessel of mercy, who has nothing to boast of but the name of the Lord, and no ground of confidence towards God, but his righteousness only. Such is Christian self-denial ; compare it in this extensive view with what either enthusiasm or su- perstition have, under that name, enjoined, and the contrast is striking indeed. How frivolous and de- spicable is it to make self-denial (as weak enthusiasts do) consist in the shape or colour of our clothes, in demure looks and precise behaviour, or only in ab- staining from fashionable diversions ! These things hypocrites may do, and shine as patterns of such mortification, whilst self, in its worst tempers, is fully indulged. The self-denial which stern super- 465 stition enjoins is worse : it imprisons for life men and women, endued with active powers, and formed for society; it makes them move Hke clock-work, in a round of reHgious rites ; it clothes them with sack- cloth, and orders them to practise many useless se- verities upon the body ; it calls them to desert the station in which Providence had fixed their lot, and buries even the excellencies they possess in a cloister and a cell. Examined by the rule of Scripture, how mistaken, how pitiable, how unprofitable is the zeal of such devotees ! On the contrary, what a just understand- ing, what fortitude of mind, what personal and public benefits are conspicuous in Christian self-denial ! It teaches us to use the plenty of meats and drinks given us by divine bounty, without any abuse of them ; thus confronting, by our example, and se- verely condemning all excess. It teaches us to en- joy the rich comforts of the marriage-state, and the various pleasures which spring from the chaste union of the sexes, and a well-governed family; pleasures infinitely outweighing all that lust, enthroned in a filthy heart, can boast. It enables us to carry on trade without covetousness, though every incitement to that sordid passion surrounds us. In the recipro- cal exercise of tender affection between dearest rela- tions and friends, it secures the supreme love of the heart for God. It emboldens us to avow his cause, and adhere to it, in contempt of our worldly interest, our honour, and our character. It teaches us to sacrifice our prying curiosity, and our desire of com- prehending fully the truths of God before we believe them to the veneration we owe his oracles. And, u3 466 after an intrepid venture of all for his sake, it requires us, instead of eyeing with self-coraplacency our moral excellence, to cry, " Enter not into judgment with thy servant, O Lord !" This extensive, this most noble self-denial, is suffi- cient. Away then with the unnatural life of the convent — away with the inventions of will-worship, silence, and total solitude, hair shirts, iron girdles, and the coarsest food — away with whimsical singu- larities in dress, and the fashion of the exterior man, v^hich enthusiasts so vehemently affect. It is far severer self-denial, to mortify every evil and corrupt desire natural to the heart. It is more courageous to fight till we die, than flee from the battle. It is more profitable to mankind to shine a light before their eyes, than to be immured with a select com- pany, as if piety could not live in the commerce of the world. And it is infinitely more for the glory of Christ, that the new heart and new spirit which he hath given should be known and seen of all men, than be buried in perpetual concealment. Most useful, honourable, and excellent are they, who deny all the cravings of corrupt self in the midst of for- bidden objects. They, and they alone, prove the efficacy of the Saviour's prayer in their behalf: ** Fa- ther, take them not out of the world, but keep them from the evil," A PRAYERybr Self-denial. Worthy art thou, O Lord God, almighty and everlasting ! to receive from us all honour and praise, 467 all love and obedience; for thou liast created all things, and for thy good-will and pleasure they are and were created. Thou hast an absolute right over us, for thou art our continual Preserver, as well as the Author of our very being; thou hast redeemed us out of the hands of our enemies, that we should be a people to serve thee : we cannot therefore ques- tion thy absolute claim to the diligent use and im- provement of our souls and bodies in thy service. But we confess, O Lord, our shame, our sin, and misery, that we have dared to set up our will against thine, and to act as if we were independent of thee. With all humility we confess, that though we have professed ourselves believers in Christ, we have not been ready to deny ourselves, and take up our cross. We have, alas ! cherished and indulged the cravings of our corrupt nature: we have encouraged those sinful affections of our hearts, which it was our duty to oppose with violence, and, through divine grace, strangle in the birth. We have even thought the happiness of man's life to consist in fulfilling the lusts of the flesh and of the mind. In consequence of such blindness and depravity, we have been sinning against thee, our God, not only by some gross acts of rebellion, but in the general aim and business of our lives; by a carnal mind, which was enmity against thee, and would not brook the control of thy au- thority. Hold up, O Lord, our guilt in this respect before us, till confusion of face and a holy shame overwhelm us ; till we return unto thee, our God, with tears and supplications, to have the sin of a headstrong will blotted out, for his righteousness' sake who pleased 468 not himself. And O give unto us, we beseech thee, our God, thy holy Spiiit, that through him we may mortity all the deeds and lusts of the body of sin. Inspire us with a godly jealousy, lest our table should ever become a snare to us, and our plenty lead us into surfeiting, drunkenness, or intemperance of any kind. May we eat for strength, not for gratification ; and drink for thirst, not to inflame ourselves with liquor, wherein is excess. Through thy grace may we continually keep our bodies under, and suppress every sensual rising within us which vvould lead us to pamper them. Keep us by thy mighty power, O God, from walking in the lusts of uncleanness, as the im- pulse of our nature would prompt us to do. Fill us with a constant dread, not only of the practice of adultery and fornication, but of every expression of impurity by the eye, the tongue, or the heart. Main- tain within us an invincible aversion to all foolish talking and filthy jests, to all sights, books, and amusements, however fashionable, which defile the mind and war against the soul. Enable us to withstand and vanquish our natural desires after riches and worldly greatness. Make us content with such things as we have; and let our whole conversation be without covetousness. Inspire us with the will and the power to resist and conquer, in its first appearances, the love of money, which is the root of all evil; and to watch, with a suspicious eye, the complacency we take in the prosperity allotted us. O keep us satisfied with thyself, O God, as our all-sufficient portion, and never suffer us to in- dulge so much as a single wish for any thing of this world more than food and raiment. 469 Mortify, O Lord, the pride of our hearts, which thirsts for praise and honour from men : which would lead us into base compliances and unchristian confor- mity to the world, to preserve its esteem of our char- acter. Let our ambition be to please thee; and let us willingly give up our name to be abused by the men of this world, rather than forfeit the praise of God. Conquer, O Lord, not only our corrupt love of the praise of men, but our selfish dread also of their reviHngs and resentment against us for right- eousness' sake. Make us bold as lions for thy truth and honour, and ready, on all fit occasions, to witness a good confession with our mouths of what we verily believe in our hearts. Give us a complete victory over our natural cowardice and unbelief, which would lead us to swerve at any time from any command- ments, through fear of loss or want. Cleanse us, O God, from all inordinate afFection to every created good and comfort. Effectually con- trol our hearts, and keep them from that sinful at- tachment to our nearest and dearest relations and friends, of which we are always in extreme danger, when we love them as we ought, and are beloved by them : never may they usurp the throne of our affec- tions, never may we be suffered to put them in the place of God, and make them, instead of himself, th« chief spring of our delight and joy. Help us to mortify our pride, which would make us wise in our own eyes, which would join us with the disputers of this world in cavilling at those truths that have the sanction of thine infallible word. Finally, O God, we beseech thee, incline us by thy grace to think soberly of ourselves^ in opposition 470 to the innate pride and haughtiness of our hearts. Teach us to oppose every suggestion that would make us trust in ourselves as righteous, or to ima- gine we can be justified in thy sight, but through the merits and righteousness of God our Saviour. What- ever we have done for thee, whatever we have received from thee, let this, living and dying, be our request : God be merciful to us sinners, through the atone- ment and for the sake of Him, who was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification. Amen. CHAPTER XII. ON PRAYER. Sect. I. — Its Object^ Nature, and Subject. Whenever the practice and tempers essential to believers in Christ Jesus are explained, many, instead of attempting to acquire them, object. If these be absolutely requisite, who then shall be saved ? But there is really no place for this desponding objection in the Christian scheme; because, though the natural weakness and corruption of man is much greater than such objectors believe, still the obedience required as the fruit of faith, grows from a root which is able to produce it : for such light and power are promised by God to all who properly seek them, as are very adequate to maintain all Christian tempers in the measure indispensably required. The means, which must be diligently used in or- 471 der to obtain the continuance of those supernatural supplies, are by way of distinction called Devotional Duties; and they are so essential to religion, that it cannot subsist without them. Their importance is indeed generally allowed, yet through sad abuse these exercises are frequently turned into a mere relitJ-ious formality, by which God is dishonoured, nominal Christians lulled into a false peace, and the profane hardened in their contempt of devotion. To guard against this error, so pernicious to the Christian church, I shall treat at large on the nature of devotional duties, and the proper method of dis- charging them ; principally confining myself to treat of secret prayer, and reading the word of God ; leav- ing it to the reader to apply what is said of them to all the other public ordinances and means of grace. 1. With respect to prayer, the object of it is God only. The end of prayer is, to obtain deliver- ance or preservation from evil, or the possession and continuance of good. Our application, therefore, must be made to Him, who is the almighty Source of every good and perfect gift; who orders all things according to the counsel of his own will; who, in spite of all opposition, can completely bless us; and with- out whose favour, every being in the whole creation, thouo;h leai^ued in our defence, could afford us no protection. He also to whom prayer is addressed must be omniscient and omnipresent. Otherwise, how is it possible that, amidst so many constant sup- plicants, none should be overlooked ; amidst so many millions of petitions offered up in the same instant throughout the world, none be lost; amidst such a numberless variety of complicated cases, the things 472 best for each individual, and those only, should be conlerred. The most transcendent mercy and love also, ought to be inherent in him to whom we offer our prayers, in order to forgive our sins, to overcome our fears, and to encourage our petitions, conscious as we must be of our own vileness, when we are most fit to pray. It thus appears, from the nature of things, that God alone can, on account of his essential perfections, be the object of true prayer. We find him, there- fore, constantly represented in Scripture under this most glorious character : " Praise waitetii for thee, O God, in Sion : and unto thee shall the vow be performed. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come." " I am the Lord thy God, ^hou shalt have none other gods but me: thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image, nor the like- ness of any thing that is in heaven above, nor in the earth beneath, nor in the water under the earth ; thou shalt not bow down to them, nor worship them; for I, the Lord thy God, am a jealous God.'' A truth this so plain, so important, and so often repeated in Scripture, that it calls for our astonish- ment as well as our lamentation, to see the monstrous corruption of worship introduced by popish innova- tions. The papists, instead of making God the only object of their trust, have besides him innumerable angels and saints in heaven, in whom, they tell us, we are to repose confidence ; to whom we are to ad- dress our prayers, not only for temporal blessings, but for the pardon of our sins, for our increase of grace, and even for the gift of eternal life. They tell us, that there are in heaven particular advocates for 473 all exigencies and occasions, protectors against all sorts of dangers and diseases, patrons for all graces and virtues. They tell us, that we are to apply to these patrons, without presuming upon every occasion to make our immediate address to God or the Re- deemer, who is God over all, blessed for ever. In full confutation of this horrid superstition, it is enough to know what perfections are requisite in him who is the proper object of our prayer. For, if almighty power, omniscience, omnipresence, and the most transcendent mercy, are essential to such an object, then what can be more absurd or more impi- ous, to call on those for help, who by nature are no gods ; who are so limited in the excellencies imparted to them, as to be necessarily incapable of knowing what we want, or of bestowing what we ask ? To follow exactly the Scripture plan as we ought to do, the tenor of our prayer should be generally * addressed to the Father, in dependence upon the merit and intercession of the Son, and the influence and grace of the Holy Spirit. By this manner of address, the distinct part which each person of the blessed and undivided Trinity bears in the salvation of sinners, is justly acknow- ledged; to the inviolable holiness of God due homage * I say generally, for there are numerous instances of prayer addressed to Jesus Christ. The disciples prayed to him, "in- crease our faith" — the dying malefactor, to save his soul. Stephen, with his dying breath, commended himself into his hands. Paul besought hinn thrice to take away the thorn in his flesh, and styles him Lord over all, rich in mercy to all that call upon him ; for, whosoever calleth upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. These are precedents (never to be set aside) proving that each member of the Christian church may and will say, as Thomas did unto Jesus, "My Lord, and my God." 474 is paid, and our guilt, even in our best state, is humbly confessed. These are points of such mo- ment, that all Scripture labours to impress them on our minds. 2. Now, as God is the only object of prayer, so its nature consists in offering up to him the wants of the heart. Unless the heart is engaged, the best chosen petitions, punctually repeated morning and evening out of a book, or the most fluent addresses in language of our own conception, are no more than the mimicry of prayer : a sort of devotion, which pride and self-sufficiency can practise; on which for- mality and superstition can erect their absurd pre- tences to religion, whilst the spirit and the truth of prayer are unexperienced and neglected. For as the needy only can stoop to ask the relief of an alms, so then only can we begin to pray when we feel our- selves necessitous creatures ; when we long to receive from God what we beg of him, knowing that without the gift of it we must be miserable. This sensibility of our real want, both scripture representations and scripture examples prove essential to true prayer. The scripture representations in- struct us thus: *' If thou shalt seek the Lord, thou shalt find him, if thou seekest him with all thy heart, and with all thy soul. — -Trust in God at all times; ye people, pour out your hearts before him. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth." When the in- spired Solomon exhorts us to pray for spiritual wis- dom, he takes care to mark, with the utmost energy of expression, the need we must at the same time feel of it in our hearts : " If thou criest," says he, " after 475 knowledge, and Ilftest up thy voice for understand- ing ; if thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures." The same feeling of our wants our Lord points out as essential to prayer, de- scribhig it by the united terms of asking, seeking, knocking; terms most expressive of an urgent need of immediate succour. And St. James leads us to the very same conception of the thing, by ascribing success to fervent prayer, James v. 16. What the Scripture thus defines to be prayer, is fully illustrated by the practice of the most approved servajits of God recorded in it. They were pene- trated with a feeling of their necessities, v/hen they came before the throne of grace. " With ray whole heart," says one, " have I sought thy favour." " At evening, and at morning, and at noon-day will I cry unto thee, and that instantly," says David, " and thou shalt hear me." Another makes his supplica- tion with all the heart-felt importunity of a distressed petitioner: *' Out of tlie depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord : Lord, hear my voice. O let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication." Li the address also of Daniel, the greatly beloved, every syllable breathes a sense of want, which scarcely knows how to bear with denial or delay : " O Lord," says he, " hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not for thy name's sake, O my God." From this scripture representation of prayer, that it is the want of the heart oflered up to God, it ap- pears plain, that all men naturally stand upon a level with respect to their ability of praying truly. Out- ward circumstances in this case makes no difference. The ignorant clown and the polished scholar, those 476 who have been most piously trained, and those who have been miserably neglected in their education, those who have been restrained from sinful ex- cesses, and those who have plunged the deepest into them, remain alike incapable, without the grace of God, of real prayer. Notwithstanding the grossest ignorance, the worst education, and the most pro- fligate hfe, yet as soon as ever the guilt, and strength, and tyranny of sin, are felt to oppress the soul, we shall flee to God for refuge, and prayers and cries, like incense, will ascend up before him from the troubled and the humbled heart. On the contrary, if the guilt, the strength, and defilement of sin are not felt and lamented, neither learning, nor the most pious education, nor abstinence from every gross vice, nor even all these united, can create the least measure of the spirit of prayer. In many instances, these advantages flatter and blind with their specious appearance, instead of producing any just sensibility of the guilt of sin, or any alarming apprehension of its issue, unless pardoned and subdued. In fact, all true knowledge, and all just apprehensions of sin, wherever found, are owing to an infinitely higher cause: they are the effect of a firm belief in God's word declaring the sinfulness of sin, and of a heart humbled so as to plead guilty to the charge of it. But this firm belief of God's word, and this convic- tion of sin, are in no instance the fruits of education, much less the effect of learning, but the inestimable gifts of God : gifts no sooner received than all im- pediments to prayer are removed. Want will im- mediately make the stammering tongue of the most unlearned, or of those who have been in time past 477 the most abominably wicked, speak plain enough in the ears of God. Want will make the heart, which was before too gross to conceive any excellency in the things of God, seek after thera with strong cries and lasting importunity. And whatever difference a good understanding, a pious education, or general abstinence from vice, (which are, on other accounts, invaluable blessings,) may make in the matter of con- fession, in the degree of guilt, or in the choice of devout phrases, still the prayer, by which God is honoured and the soul blessed, will be exactly the same in the little sinner as in the great, in the poor as in the rich, in the very lowest and weakest of the people, as in the most accomplished preacher of God's truth. May this scriptural account of the nature of true prayer, undeceive those who presume that they stand accepted with God merely on account of their mul- tiplying exercises of devotion; whilst, at the same time, instead of feeling themselves the poor, guilty, impotent creatures their own prayers represent them to be, they swell with conceit of superior excellence, or fancy themselves righteous, because they pray so punctually after their formal manner ! May this encourage all who are humble and contrite, to pour out their complaints before God when they feel their own vileness, though their utterance and their know- ledge may be in the sight of man very contemptible, and their past lives may have been awfully profligate ! May this also convince the poor, that there can be no excuse more frivolous than to pretend they can- not pray, because destitute of book-learning; since, in fact, nothing but contempt of God's written word, 478 nothing but a denial of the truth of our own condi- tion as represented in it, can leave either learned or unlearned under such hardness of heart, as to feel no want of the grace, mercy, and salvation of God, and consequently to remain incapable of real prayer. We may observe farther, from the very nature of prayer, as it means the offering up the wants of the heart to God, that whenever there is any real con- cern for salvation, it cannot be confined only to cer- tain set and stated times. It will be found in the midst of our business, and when we are in company, as well as when vve are alone and retired to our closet : frequent ejaculations, known only to Him who searcheth the heart, will discover what our de- sire is, and will prove that we feel the want of the one thing needful. 3. From the nature of prayer, we are led to con- sider the subject of it, or what it is we are to ask of God. Certainly it must be whal it becomes him to supply, what we are warranted by his own word to request, and assured by his own promise, either ab- solutely, or with some limitation, that he will grant. We may ask temporal blessings : for instance, ease when we are racked with pain, health when taken off from our employment by languishing sick- ness, or maintenance when we are left destitute. We may ask the continuance of our own lives and those of our dearest relations when sick, or in danger of death. For each of these benefits, prayer may be made to God, because instances of each kind are re- corded in Scripture; because by prayer for them, God is exalted as the sovereign Lord both of life and all its comforts; our dependence upon him as 479 such is confirmed, and our gratitude towards him is increased. But though we may pray for any of these benefits, we must always do it with entire submission to the will of God, whether he sees it best to give, to con- tinue, or remove them. We should always remem- ber that things of this kind are uot promised without limitation, but only upon condition that they are for our good, and for the glory of God. We should ask for them with a sense upon our heartSj that ease, health, maintenance, friends, and life itself, are things unspeakably mean, compared to spiritual and eternal blessings. Blessings of a spiritual and eternal nature must therefore make up the principal subject-matter of the prayer of Christians.- Let them request more know- ledge of the Lord that bought them, more depend- ence upon his name, pardon of their sins through his blood, mortification of their vile affections through his Spirit, and a more perfect conformity to his example. These are the things in general of which all Chris- tians feel their want ; which they pursue vvith a per- severing ardour of mind, and wait daily upon God to receive from him in a more abundant measure. But, besides this general matter of prayer, com- mon to the whole church of Christ, each private Christian finds particular matter of prayer suggested from his own peculiar trials, from the changing frame of his own mind, from the appointments of God's providence in his external condition. Every altera- tion in each of these particulars, produces some in- ward correspondent change in the man. By conse- quence, as real prayer is the want of the heart offered 480 up to God, the matter of prayer which may be very proper to-day, may be quite unsuitable to our case to-morrow; and those petitions which in certain cir- cumstances were sufficient, in opposite ones will be found greatly defective. The private matter, there- fore, of prayer in Christians, must take its mould from the objects and occurrences around us, and the impressions these make upon us. For, as different temptations present themselves, different will be the inward actings of corruptions : sometimes it will be felt in the risings of pride, envy, and self-preference ; at others, in discontent and peevishness; now, in a propensity to lust and impurity; then, in the love of money or of praise, in evil surmisings or uncharitable censures. According to these frequent and most important variations, our petitions must be adapted for pardon, and the immediate succours of grace. Particular assistances are also needful, according to our station in life, and the peculiar snares to which we are from thence exposed. The rich and the noble are liable to dangers from which others are iree; men of trade and merchandise have very much to fear from their employments; whilst pastors and teachers, in order to be innocent and pure from the blood of those committed to their charge, stand in need of extraordinary wisdom, zeal, and love. It is therefore by no means sufficient that we ask chiefly for spiritual blessings, or seek in general for the things we are taught to ask, and which God has promised to give, unless we also particularly specify what we want; unless we derive our petitions, not only from the Bible, or a knowledge of the things necessary for men, but from our own sense and feeling : for if the 481 state of our hearts does not thus dictate the matter of our secret prayer, there is little reason to believe that our corruptions give us any real concern, or that they are confessed with true humiliation. If they were, we should so feel them as to make a particular men- tion of them, and implore forgiveness; and little ground is there to hope those iniquities will be sub- dued in us, which do not appear odious enouo-h to ourselves to excite particular requests to God to be delivered from them. Besides, we cannot take a more effectual method to guard against formality in prayer, than by making its contents arise out of our present condition; than by making it a simple constant application to God for the supply of our own peculiar wants and necessities. And though very few, comparatively speaking, have ability to adapt the matter of prayer to their parti- cular circumstances in the presence and hearing of others, yet every one is sufficiently qualified to do this alone before his God, who seeth in secret; be- cause, in this case, frequent hesitations are not in the least either detrimental or inconvenient; nor phrases, at which men might be apt to take offence, improper when meant well. The same God, who prepares the heart to call upon him, will hearken thereto. Sect. II. — The Necessity of Prayer, The object, the nature, and the subject of true prayer, have already been considered : but ignorance, alas ! in this case, is but the weakest obstacle with which we have to contend ; the natural profaneness of the human heart, and its aversion to every truly X 53 48^ spiritual exercise, are far more difficult to overcome. However, for this purpose, let us consider in what manner the holy Scripture expresses the necessity of prayer. It is enforced there by the practice of the most venerable persons; it is laid down as the indispen- sable means of obtaining grace; it is required by the express command of the Lord God Almighty. It is enforced by the most venerable namies ; for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, David, Daniel, Peter, and Paul — in a word, all those who stand the high- est of the human race for their excellency in the sight of God, were most eminent and abundant in the ex- ercise of prayer; by this their graces were enlivened and brightened to superior lustre. Now, their dili- gence in prayer is recorded, not for their sakes, to give them the trifling honour of a posthumous fame, but for substantial use, as patterns whom we are to copy ; that if we hope to dwell with them in the end, we should walk in their good paths, and be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So that, whilst we have any real reverence for the word of God, it is impossible we should ne- glect and think slightly of a duty, which was of such unspeakable importance in the judgment of the chief saints of God. But if the example of all the Scripture saints proves the necessity of prayer, how much more the practice of the Saviour, before the brightness of whose glory, prophets, apostles, and martyrs are eclipsed, as the stars in the firmament by the risincr sun. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners; nevertheless, prayer still employed a 483 considerable portion of his time. Fatigued as he was wont to be by travelling from place to place to preach the gospel, and thronged by crowds who pressed upon him to hear the gracious words which proceeded out of his Hpsj always therefore in need of the rest of the whole night ; yet would he sometimes rise up a great while before it was day, to retire to a mountain or solitary place apart to pray: sometimes the moon and the stars beheld him through the whole night an ear- nest supplicant and devout intercessor, whilst the rest of the world were taking their full rest in their beds. After this record can any one, professing himself a Christian, admit a doubt of the absolute necessity of prayer ? If the master of the house, who had no guile nor slightest stain of depravity, prayed, how much more must they of his household, who are both weak and wicked? If the Lord from heaven, when he took upon him our flesh, hfted up his eyes and prayed, how much more must his servants ? Should any one imagine himself excused from this duty, what stronger reproof need to be given to his auda- cious impiety, than to reply, ' The prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, Jesus himself, our Redeemer, prayed: whom makest thou thyself?' Farther : The universal necessity of prayer will appear still more evident, by proving it to be the indispensable means of obtaining mercy and grace. Houses and possessions, honours and titles, health and long life, with all the glittering advantages the world covets, are given promiscuously, as much to those who never bend the knee to God, as to those who diligently seek him. But it is not so with any blessing pertaining to the life and salvation of the x2 484 soul. God never pardons sin, or delivers from its cursed tyranny, till prayer is made for such inesti- mable benefit. The unchangeable ordinance of heaven runs thus : " If thou shalt pray unto God, he shall be favourable unto thee." " Thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, and plenteous in mercy :" but observe to whom ; not to all persons indiscriminately, not to the profane, not to the self- sufficient, but " unto all them that call upon thee." Omniscient and full of compassion as the Lord Jeho- vah is, he takes no cognizance of our spiritual neces- sities to supply them, or of our dangers to interpose and save us from them, till by prayer and supplication we make our requests known unto him: " Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and miglity things, which thou knowest not." Our Re- deemer, in the fullest manner, teaches us that prayer is the necessary means of obtaining mercy and find- ing grace to help, when he gives us this exhortation: *' Ask, and ye shall have; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Which is as much as to affirm, that without asking, seeking, and knocking, we can receive of God no spiritual blessing. By consequence, not to pray, and to re- main utterly destitute of any share in the blessings which accompany salvation, is one and the same thing. Every one, therefore, who despises this channel in which God sees fit to convey to the soul its necessary supplies for eternal life, through a confidence in the sufficiency of his own strength, in the excellency of his virtues, or in the finished work of Christ, must unavoidably remain under the power and guilt of sin. 485 His fancied goodness, in which he confides, will ne- cessarily be scanty and partial : some ruHng passion will still prevail over him, witnessing the impossibi- lity of attaining real righteousness without divine aid. Thus you may frequently observe a profane man, who prides himself in his moral worth, and pours contempt upon devotional duties, miserably chagrined by every trifling disappointment, or for the least fan- cied provocation breathing revenge. You may fre- quently observe a contemner of prayer, who is much caressed, and self-applauded for good-nature and hu- manity, studiously injuring virgin innocence, for the gratification of corrupt animal appetites. Too often also you may see a warm advocate for the doctrines of grace, and the honour of Christ, deceitful, covet- ous, and a slave to sin, through an habitual neglect of prayer. The truth is, that the union of all virtues is wholly owing to the grace of God given to the prayer of faith ; therefore, he only of all the children of men can pay a uniform obedience, who goes out of himself, and places his dependence upon the aids of grace promised and given to him that asks for them. Lastly, The absolute necessity of prayer is put out of all doubt by the plain command of God. No man is left at liberty whether he will pray or not, or al- lowed to neglect prayer, without suffering any other loss than the want of those supplies he might pro- cure by it. He who does not pray, contracts addi- tional guilt, and sets at defiance the ordinance of God; since he has not more expressly required us to show mercy to our fellow-creatures, than to worship him- self. We are taught that " men ought always to pray, and to continue in prayer." In vain, there- 486 fore, do we plead a strict regard to the substantial duties of temperance, of justice, and of mercy, as any exemption from the obligation of prayer. To do so, is actually to live in the commission of the basest theft, defrauding our God of his due, by refusing to render to him that tribute of prayer which he de- mands. With equal reason, and with as little affront to him, may we refuse to obey his law in being just to men, as refuse to honour him by real prayer. This contempt of God, expressed by neglecting prayer for his favour, grace, and Spirit, is a sin, which no excellencies that the world applauds can at all compensate. Like rebellion in the state, wher- ever it is, it cancels all pretences to any good quali- ties. As the kings of the earth do not acquit a rebel, though rebellion may be his only crime, much less does the King of kings, whose name is jealous, over- look contumely thrown upon himself, because the person guilty of it abstains from fraud and injustice towards men. To imagine God will overlook such an affront, is to entertain the most frivolous idea af the divine character: it is, with the Epicureans of old, to enthrone God in heaven indeed, but at the same time to regard him as quite indifferent whether he is held in reverence or in contempt on earth. But such a God is no more like the God of the Chris- tians, than Baal or Moloch are. The God of Chris- tians is a God jealous and terrible ; jealous, not to allow his honour to be given to another, or denied to himself; terrible, to avenge himself on his adversaries, who withhold that homage which appertains to him as the Lord of the universe, in whom we all live, and move, and have our beinor. This God hath com- 487 manded his servants and messengers, by every form of expression that can engage the attention, to teach men, that to serve him with godly fear and reverence is the one thing needful. By consequence, a despiser and neglecter of prayer, though adorned with all the amiable qualities the world can admire, still wants that which must hallow his generosity, his benevo- lence, and all that is extolled as virtue. For though social good qualities are idolized by the multitude, they weigh nothing in the balance of the sanctuary, unless they spring from religious affections. " For them that honour me," says the Almighty, ** I will honour; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed." In other vvords, nothing shall excuse or palliate the guilt of attempting to supersede the necessity of devotional duties, by affecting to mag- nify moral honesty and social virtues as the sum and substance of man's duty. The profane, indeed, attempt to vindicate them- selves in a neglect of prayer, by attempting to sub- limer ideas of true religion than those who are go- verned by the simple declarations of God's own word. * The Supreme Being,' say they, * knows all things; what need is there then for us to tell him our wants? He is loving unto every man, therefore he will give us, without our request, that which is upon the whole best for us : he lays not a stress upon our making many prayers : pure and undefiled religion before him, is to do justice and love mercy.' From the confidence of this assertion, one would be tempted to suppose, that the persons who make it perfectly knew the mind of God ; when, in fact, it is not probable that they should have any just know- 488 ledge of it. For as skill in human sciences is only to be acquired by application to them, so the knowledge of God is only to be obtained by prayer and by me- ditation on his own revelation of himself ; both which these totally neglect : therefore, professing them- selves wise, they betray the most stupid ignorance in these objections against the necessity of prayer. If indeed we are called upon to pray, in order to inform God of what he knew not before, or to excite in him a benevolence to which his heart was a stranger till our petitions gave it birth, then the objections would be as pertinent and conclusive as they are common in the mouths of the profane. But how vain do they appear, when it is considered that our very encour- agement to pray, is the previous assurance that God knows all our wants, and that because he loves us, therefore he will hear us. The absolute necessity then of prayer remains in- disputable, on the grounds already mentioned, namely, as having been the practice of the saints of God and of the Saviour himself — as the indispensable mean of obtaining grace — as being enjoined by God's ex- press command. To these may be added one argu- ment more, that there is no other way to preserve in our minds a clear knowledge of our own wants, a lasting sense of our entire dependence upon God, or a lively gratitude for his mercies, than by such a so- lemn constant representation of our desires and neces- sities before him, as is always done in real prayer. The conclusion therefore is evident, that neither the multiplicity of business, nor the practice of social du- ties, must be pleaded, either in justification of a con- tempt of prayer, or an excuse for praying seldom or 489 coldly. Prayer must be habitually fervent and per- severing. Whatever the world at large may do, thus must every real believer in Jesus worship and serve the God of his salvation. Sect. III. — The Requisites of true Prayer^ and its Success. We have taken a view of the object, the nature, the matter, and the necessity of prayer : what further relates to this important subject respects the requi- sites of true prayer, and its infallible success where they are found. 1. The first requisite in acceptable prayer, is a real intention to observe and do what God commands. For if, out of regard to worldly interest, or for the sake of some evil gratification, we refuse to submit to his authority, flattering ourselves that multiplied de- votions, or obedience in all points, except where the darling iniquity interferes, is sufficient : then our prayers, instead of finding acceptance, will be re- sented as the highest provocation. For what can be more base than for a man to pretend to honour God by prayer, whilst he is giving the most substantial proof of real contempt of him in his wilful disobe- dience ? What can be more offensive than to pre- tend to implore pardon, when we are determined not yet to give up sin ; or to entreat to be set at liberty, as if we were unwillingly enslaved, when we really love our bondage ? If we thus regard iniquity in our heart, though we make many prayers, the Lord will not hear us ; though we are most passionate in our devotions, he will hide his face from us : *' for God X 3 490 heareth not sinners ; but if any man be a worsbipper of God and doetb bis will, bim be bearetb." It must bowever be observed, witb peculiar caution in tbis place, tbat no one, tbougb in actual subjec- tion to sin, ougbt on tbis account to be discouraged from praying, provided he longs for deliverance from it ; for at tbe throne of grace it is tbat be must re- ceive tbis blessing. Nor is any one unqualified to make acceptable prayer to God, tbougb during bis first seeking bis favour tbe combat witb old sins is severe and dubious ; and be may be once and again hurried into bis former wickedness. In tbis case, if the sinner finds shame, sorrow, and self-abhorrence, with a desire, notwithstanding the dreadful power of his corruptions, to serve God in truth, he is imme- diately to make his complaint to bim more bitterly, and to bewail bis miserable bondage more deeply : and then he will knovv there is a God, who looketh down from heaven to hear the groanings of such as are in captivity to their sins, and to deliver the souls in their own apprehension appointed unto death. Nay, where relapses are frequent, though it is in- deed a deplorable condition, yet let not prayer be dis- continued 5* for this would be forsaking our remedy, and giving up all hope. Wherever any really strive against sin, with undissembled prayer for deliverance as well as mercy, I would encourage such to maintain the fight, and to persevere in their humiliations, for they have assurance from tbe promises of God that he will hear their cry, and will help them. 2. A second requisite in prayer is humility. We must pray under a sense of our guilt and of our de- pravity, as well as of our weakness and wants. We 491 must pray with self-abasing sentiments, conscious that we are not worthy to lift up our eyes to God, much less to receive from him pardon, peace, and sal- vation : we must pray as mere supplicants for mercy, who would have no cause at all to complain of injus- tice, if our sins were avenged upon us. Great stress is laid in Scripture upon this humiliation in prayer : " The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." And when the divine Majesty is described with all possible sublimity, this requisite of an acceptable worshipper is specified : " Thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." St. James also very strongly urges the necessity of this humiliation : he addresses himself to those who were formalists in devotion ; constant enough in their prayers, but very easy and thoughtless about their guilt. After reproving them therefore for asking amiss, that they might consume it upon their lusts, he directs them to a successful manner of praying: " God," says he, " resisteth the proud ; but giveth grace unto the humble. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep : let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord," that is, with the lowest pros- tration and self-abasement confess your guilt and your desert in his sight, " and he shall lift you up." 3. This sense of your own vileness must accom- pany our prayer, in opposition to Pharisaic self-con- ceit, and in proof of our abiding consciousness that 49^ we can never be justified before God through our own works. But with this humihation must be joined an affiance in God, and a holy boldness in ap- proaching him. When we ask, we must not fluc- tuate between hope and despondency, but assure ourselves that we shall be as certainly succoured, and as certainly enriched with all that our souls need, as if the power and the blessings we implore were already in our possession. For instance, when we confess our sin with sorrow, shame, and humiliation, begging for mercy through the atonement, we must be fully persuaded that we do obtain mercy. When we pray for the mastery over our natural corruptions, we must assure ourselves they shall be subdued. When, in perplexity of mind and in great tribulation, we beg of God support and deliverance, we must not enter- tain a fear that perhaps he will not hear us. For by giving way to distrust, questionings, and jealousies, whether God will perform the gracious promises which he hath made to the poor and needy, we greatly dishonour him, and in the very act. of solemn address to him as the Almighty, betray a disbelief of his veracity, or power, or love to them that call on his name. For this cause we are warned in Scripture to take heed, that when we come to God in prayer we resist every doubt that may arise about his relieving our wants. " Jesus answering, saith unto them, Have faith in God," that is, depend upon his almighty power for the performance of every thing that he en- courages you to expect from him : " For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this moun- tain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea ; 493 and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he saith :" that is, how great soever any difBculty may seem, which you have to overcome in the way of duty, even though it were as unlikely to be effected as that you should root up a mountain by a word of command, it shall be brought to pass, provided that ye have an humble and un- shaken trust in the divine power and promises, Mark xi. 22, 23. And in proof that this confidence in prayer was not to be peculiar to the apostles, but a necessary requisite in all Christians, St. James gives this unchangeable direction to the Christian church : " If any one of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth, is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord." From these passages it appears, that affiance in God is a principal qualification in acceptable prayer ; that we ought to have recourse to God with the same liberty and confidence as to a father, a brother, or a bosom friend. The delightful communion carried on between him and believers is therefore thus em- phatically expressed : *' We have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear, but we have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God ;" that is, the law of worship and submission to the eternal Majesty is softened into a holy familiarity, and converted, 494 through the abundant manifestations of his grace, into a sweet and child-Hke dependence upon his care and love for us, Rom. viii. 15, 16. 4. It is indeed difficult to conceive how such con- fidence in God, such assurance of receiving from him whatever we ask for the good of our souls, can con- sist with a consciousness of our own vileness; or how we can conquer the fear that must arise from a sense of the multitude of our defects, so as not to ask with a faultering tongue. This difficulty is removed by another grand requisite of prayer, without which it can have no success: I mean the offering it up to God in dependence on the sacrifice, righteousness, and intercession of Jesus, as the great High Priest of his church. By this we acknowledge, that our own duties are so far from having any merit to procure for us a fa- vourable regard from God, that we do not even pre- sume to offer to him his due homage without having respect to our accepted surety, the all-perfect Me- diator between God and man. By this we confess, that the death of Jesus for our trangressions in vin- dication of the justice of God, and his appearance in heaven as our Intercessor, are our encouragement to draw nigh to God in full assurance of faith, notwith- standing the absolute purity of his nature, and the tokens of his indignation against sin. And when Jesus is thus our hope, and his atoning blood and righteousness all our confidence, we can see that there is no room for confusion or distrust, notwithstanding our own vileness. He is ordained of God for this very purpose, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. Both by office and by 495 love he stands engaged to mediate in favour of all who come to God by him, and to accomplish all their just and lawful desires. The command from heaven therefore is express, that we should, in consideration of his character and office, " come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in the time of need." The offering up of our prayers in the name of Christ is so necessary a requisite, that to omit it, is a capital offence in the sight of God. Should any man dare to say or think thus with himself: ' The essential mercy of God is a sufficient encouragement to me to pray; I esteem it a disparagement to his goodness to apply to him by a mediator : I need no one to intercede for me, nor will I be beholden to any thing but my own good qualities and fitness for pardon, to make my peace with God, and to give ac- ceptance to my devotions.' Prayer offered up by him upon such principles, would be as little accept- able as if he had blessed an idol. It would be an open censure of the divine constitution in the method of saving sinners and rebels : it would be a dethron- ing, as far as lies in man's power, the Son of God from that high office of unspeakable benevolence which he sustains and discharges in heaven for his church : it would be loading the revelation of God with scorn ; because the most conspicuous and im- portant doctrine in it, is undoubtedly this, that Jesus Christ is the one Mediator between God and man, an Advocate for us with the Father, and a propitia- tion for sin through faith in his blood, that God might be just, and yet the justifier of all that believe in Jesus. 496 There is an absolute necessity, therefore, that in all our approaches to God, we should honour the Son even as we honour the Father; that we should solemnly express our need of his favour, and of an interest in his righteousness and intercession, as the way to partake of the Father's love. Nor is it sufficient that we ask merely as disciples of Christ ; that is, as those who receive him as a prophet sent from God, without an humble and cordial trust in his atonement and intercession — for such an address, instead of meeting with acceptance, will be rejected as the effect of pride and infidelity reigning in our hearts. For nothing but pride and infidelity can lead us directly to contradict the Scriptures, which peremptorily affirm, that there is no other name given under heaven whereby we can be saved, but that of Jesus; and no way of coming to the Father but by him. Nothing but pride and infidelity can lead men to suppose, tliat they may come before God in their own name, provided they really intend to practise moral righteousness, and may be sure that they shall be accepted of God. Were such a doctrine univer- sally to prevail, it must in a short time root the gos- pel out of the earth. No wonder, therefore, that so much stress is laid in holy writ on this as a grand re- quisite in acceptable prayer, that it be offered up to God in the name of Jesus. From what has been now laid before you, it ap- pears that a real intention to obey God, an humble sense of our own polluted condition before him, a firm assurance we shall be heard, and a constant de- pendence upon the mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ, are requisites which must unite in all accept- 497 able prayer. In fact, they are found in the prayer of all real believers, though in different degrees : at first faintly, afterwards more distinctly perceptible, and, as they grow in grace, they are more and more conscious that in this manner they worship the God of their salvation. With the same spirit of true de- votion, they acknowledge it to be their duty; and they make it their practice to worship God in public as well as in private; and to be punctual in their at- tendance on every ordinance in which God has pro- mised to meet his faithful people, and to bless them. Believers are encouraged diligently to use all these means of grace, from the knowledge they have of the certain success of prayer. The infallible grounds on which this knowledge is built, are these which fol- low : the source of prayer in the heart of fallen man ; the promises of God; the intercession of his Son; and the experience of all the obedient children of God. 1. The success of true prayer is most certain, from considering the source of it in the heart of fallen man. We are taught in Scripture that we are not sufficient to think a good thought of ourselves ; it fol- lows, therefore, that no one can feel a real intention to glorify God by uniform obedience, or a holy shame and sorrow for sin ; no one can come to God as a child in want to his heavenly Father, or trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, without an actual gift of grace, without a divine influence and drawing from the Father. Now, can it be supposed that this gift is bestowed in vain ? Can it be thought that any one will be so much enlightened from above, as to desire to be kept from every wilful oflPence, to know and to 498 live in obedience to the gospel, and that he will be stirred up in prayer to make request unto God, that he may have power to do so, and yet not be heard? Can such a supplicant fall down on his knees before God, only to rise up covered with confusion at the rejection of his suit ? No, by no means. God, gracious and merciful, is not wont thus to grieve the contrite spirit, or to disappoint the holy expectations excited in the heart by his own divine agency. On the contrary, a real desire of receiving spiritual mercy, is a pledge of obtaining it : for, since " every good and every perfect gift," in every degree of it, '* cometh from above, from the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning, who of his own will begat us by the word of his truth;" we must assuredly conclude, that if he hath inclined our hearts to seek him, he will be found of us. 2. This most comfortable truth is positively esta- blished, by many declarations of God's delight to hear and answer all that call upon him. Thus, in one place, he describes himself as looking into the inmost recesses of the heart, waiting to see the first dawning of prayer, and to answer it before it has put on\he direct form of a petition : "And it shall come to pass, before they call, I will answer, and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." In another, he commands one of his prophets to publish the imme- d'ate acceptance of his own petition, the moment he steadfastly proposed to offer it unto him : " I said, I will confess my sins unto the Lord, and so thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin." And that we might harbour no suspicion of the success of prayer, 499 our Redeemer compares the readiness of God to succour the poor and needy, who call upon him, to that which parents feel with regard to their own off- spring : " What man is there," says he, " of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent ? If ye then being evil," corrupt and vitiated in your nature, are still, by the force of instinct, drawn gladly to supply the necessities of your children, " how much more shall your heavenly Father give good things to them that ask him ?" 3. If it should be objected, that the undutifulness which the very best men too often manifest towards their heavenly Father, and their violations of his law in time past, may well justify doubts whether God can hear them consistently with the honour of his perfections : this perplexity is removed by the assur- ance, that Jesus appears, with his own blood, in the presence of God, as an intercessor for all who call upon him in his nam.e. He appears as an advocate in the behalf of the guilty, alleging what satisfies the law, and absolves the humbled delinquent. The memorial of his abundant kindness in dying on the cross, is perpetually represented in the presence of God ; and the Mediator declares it to be his no less earnest than just request, that, for his sake, the penitent acknowledgments of those who believe on him, and their prayers, should be accepted ; their sins blotted out, and increase of grace bestowed upon them; "for he ever liveth to make intercession." In the book of the Revelation, there is a most magnificent representation of this truth, so very in- teresting to every member of the church of Christ. 500 The beloved John, we there read, was favoured with a vision of the things which are done in heaven : in this vision he perceived that all the melodious choir of angels ceased from uttering their heart-felt Alle- lujahs : " there was silence in heaven for the space of half an hour." But wherefore do the praises, for ever and for ever due, cease to ascend before the throne? In order that the whole attention of the heavenly host might be fixed on the angel, the mes- senger of the covenant, who, just as the high priest on the great day of atonement, was wont to carry a more than usual quantity of incense in a golden cen- ser, and burn it in the holy of holies before the Lord; so now Jesus, the glorious Angel of God's presence, appeared as the High Priest of his church, standing in a ministering posture before the altar of burnt-offering, to signify the atonement he had made by his blood. " And there was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with the prayers of all saints, upon the golden altar which was before the throne. And the smoke of the incense which came with the prayers of the saints, ascended up before God, out of the angel's hand ;" that is, as the perfuming smoke of incense, composed of the finest spices, ascended up like a cloud to heaven with the prayers of the congregation of Israel, that were offered at the same time, so a representation was made here of the virtue of Christ's sacrifice, which mingled, like the most fragrant odour, with the prayers of holy worshippers, and, like the incense which passed through the hands of the high priest, was presented together with them before God by the Mediator, to cover their imperfections, and to 501 procure for them the divine audience and acceptance. Rev. viii. 1 — 5. And what makes this magnificent representation of our great High Priest, a still more encouraging proof of the infallible success of true prayer, is this: It is purposely introduced just before the most de- solating judgments are going to be poured out on the apostate unbelieving world. God thus assurinc/ us, that, when he whets his glittering sword, and cries, *' Aha ! I will rid myself of my adversaries," there is not one supplicant who approaches him by Jesus Christ, who shall have cause to fear his prayers are not answered. How dishonourable then, how injurious both to the Father and the Son, to doubt of the success of prayer ! For if, as Jesus declared to his first and immediate followers, " the Father loveth you because ye have loved me, and believed that I came forth from him," how much more shall those who possess the same precious faith assure themselves they shall be regarded, when there is all the interest and intercession of Jesus at the right hand of God, employed in favour of those prayers suggested by the influence of the Holy Ghost ! 4. To strengthen our assurance of the success of prayer, nothing farther can possibly be added than the confirmation of fact and experience. If all who have made their prayer to God in the way he has himself appointed, and for the blessings he has promised, have ever received the things they asked from him, then there cannot be a more complete demonstration of any truth, than of the infallible success of prayer. Now, the word of God abounds with proofs of the Almighty's pleasure to make 50^ his power, as it were, tributary to the prayer of his faithful people. Thus the prayer of Joshua stopped the sun in his course, and that of EHjah, though a man of like passions with ourselves, opened and shut the springs which water the earth. The prayer of the three children preserved them from being hurt in the fiery furnace, and that of Daniel saved him from the devouring lions. The time indeed would fail to mention what we find recorded in Scripture of the wonders wrought through the power of prayer. Now if, in extraordinary cases, for the vindication of God's truth, and manifestation of his glory, the effect of prayer was thus miraculous, how much more may we conclude it to be effectual, when it only seeks deliverance from sin, and the gift of those graces by which God may be glorified on earth ? There is indeed no age without a cloud of wit- nesses of the infallible efficacy of prayer. Ask those distinguished persons in our generation, who really conform to the Christian rule, and copy the example of their Lord, what has given them such mastery over their passions, such sweet complacency and good-will towards all men, such a readiness to be directed and governed by the word of God, through unfeigned love to him and delight in his service, and they will unanimously declare, that not by their own power, wisdom, or resolution — not through any original better formation of their tempers, or the ad- vantage of education — but through the grace of God, obtained by prayer, they are what they are. They began in earnest, they persevered with importunity in calling upon the Lord, and according to his pro- 503 mise he heard them ; they made their appHcation to him, and were not disappointed.* On the contrary, there is not a slave to sin with- in the pale of the Christian church ; not one defiled by the lust of uncleanness or the love of money; not one tyrannized over by angry, peevish, or turbulent dispositions, but he is condemned in his own con- science either as an utter despiser of prayer, or as a mere formal trifler in it: such a one, therefore, ex- periences no deliverance from the power of evil tem- pers, nor gains the least ground against them. Real Christians, therefore, must value prayer, and be constant and unwearied in it: so will the same bountiful God, whose ears are ever open to the prayers of his faithful people, open in the end heaven to receive their persons. He will give them an abundant entrance into that kingdom, where petitions will be no more ; because neither weakness nor want, fear nor trial, will remain, but every feeling of the soul be perfect felicity, and every expression of it perfect praise. * INIany illustrious confirmations of the prevalence of Christian prayer with God, are to be found in the lives of the excellent of the earth : but a more pleasing and honourable one is scarcely to be met with, than that recorded in the life of the most cele- brated physician Boerhaave. A friend of his who had often ad- mired his patience under the greatest provocations, asked him by \Yhat means he had so entirely suppressed that impetuous, un- governable passion, anger? The Doctor answered, with the ut- most frankness and sincerity, that naturally he was quick of re- sentment, but by daily jirayer he attained that mastery over him- self.— Burton s Life of Boerhaave. It was his custom, never violated, to spend the first hour of every day in prayer, though patients from every country in Europe apphed to him for advice. 504 A Prayer Jbr a Spirit of Prayer, Most merciful and gracious God, who hast pro- mised to fulfil the desire of them that fear thee, and to give to every one that asketh of thee ; who, for our encouragement to come boldly to the throne of grace, has given thy Son to be a merciful and faith- ful High Priest; draw us, we beseech thee, by thy Holy Spirit to the devout exercise of prayer. Con- vince us deeply of our guilt and weakness, of our blindness and depravity, that so with great earnest- ness and constancy we may cry unto thee, the God of our life and of our strength, to enable us to per- form every Christian duty, to fill us with all know- ledge and with all goodness. Let not our prayer be a mere service of the lips, or be offered up only to pacify conscience. May it be the hunger and thirst of our souls after thyself, and after all those spiritual blessings, without which we must perish for ever. Create and maintain in us, O God ! a sensibility of the infinite worth of spiritual blessings, and a dread of spiritual evils, that we may pray always, and not faint. Let our wants be so pressing as to force us to pray. May we un- derstand that thy ear hearkens to the most stammer- ing tongue, and to the groaning of all that bewail their captivity of sin. And that we may never be at a loss for matter of supplication, confession, and thanksgiving, teach us to observe narrowly the vari- ous working of our evil nature, to know our peculiar duties and temptations, and to remember the daily mercies of our God to us sinners. 505 And as thou knowest the great corruption of our hearts; how apt we are, from the practice of the world and the suggestions of Satan, lightly to esteem the all-important duty of prayer; O Lord, impress with power upon our hearts the example of all thy honoured and glorified saints, and the practice of thy dear Son our only Saviour in the days of his flesh. Let their assiduity and earnestness in prayer make us always ashamed and self-condemned for any back- wardness we feel to the exercise of this duty. Give us an understanding to know that the prayer of faith is the only appointed means of obtaining the blessings which enrich the soul : the only instrument of pre- serving the connection of all the graces of the divine life ; and that no higher affront can be offered to thy name than to live without prayer. Do thou, O God, who requirest men to come be- fore thee with such dispositions as shall ascribe to thee the honour due to thy most holy name, prepare our hearts to pray, with a determined opposition to the whole body of sin, with steadfast purpose to cast away all our transgressions, and to have respect to all thy commandments. Convince us, O Lord, that if we regard iniquity in our heart, thou wilt not hear us; but if we call on thee in truth, thou wilt hear us, and bless us in our deed. In all our addresses to thee, may we draw nigh with a contrite heart and with an humble spirit. May a sense of our defilement and our sin, a knowledge of thine infinite purity, and a conviction of the dis- tance between sinners and the eternal God, fill our souls with humility and self-abasement. Deliver us, O God, from turning our very prayers Y 53 506 into sin, and provoking thy wrath by daring to ap- proach thee in our own name, trusting in our own goodness. To Jesus, who endured the cross, and ever liveth to make intercession, may we always look in all our prayers, and bring every offering unto him, as the only person in heaven or earth, for whose sake and from whose hands it becomes thee to receive our requests. And grant us full assurance of the success of all our prayers which have thy glory for their aim, an humble heart for their root, and the intercession of Christ engaged for their success. In all our devo- tions may we, through Christ and the Spirit's influ- ence, have access to thee with a firm dependence, and with an increasing delight in this holy exercise. And we beseech thee, O God, to fill our hearts with such conceptions of the truth of thy promises, made to all who call upon thee ; such faith in the name and power of Christ, employed in behalf of all believing suppli- cants who approach thee; and sucli a remembrance of the happy fruits of prayer, experienced by all the gene- rations of thy children, that we may esteem prayer our highest privilege, and be more and more fervent and diligent in the use of it, till all our prayers shall be completely answered,* and changed into everlasting praise. And as we beg for the spirit of prayer, so we re- quest also what is equally necessary for us, the love of thy blessed word. Thou hast caused all holy Scripture to be written for our reproof, for our cor- rection, for our instruction in righteousness ! O teach us, we beseech thee, the true meaning and interpre- tation thereof. Let us not go wrong, out of the way 507 of thy commandments, by leaning to our own under- standing, or by calling any man Master. Give us to delight in reading thy word, and pondering it in our hearts. And as we read, may we drink deep into its spirit, be moulded by it in all our sentiments, tempers, and practice; that, in the end, we may enjoy that eternal life which is revealed in thy word, and pro- mised to all them that obey it. Hear our prayers, and do abundantly for us above all we can ask or think, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. CHAPTER XIII. ON THE STUDY OF THE SCRIPTURE. Having considered the nature of prayer, as a principal exercise of devotion, I now proceed to state another duty equally important, equally binding upon Christians, and equally necessary to maintain a holy life — the study of the Holy Scripture. As the Scripture was given by inspiration of God, and its great design is to instruct men in the know- ledge of him, so it contains repeated commands to search into and meditate upon its sacred contents. " These words," says God, " which I command thee, shall be in thy heart, and thou shalt bind them as a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets be- tween thine eyes, and thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and upon thy gates," that is, thou shalt most familiarly converse with them, and most carefully treasure them up in thy mind. St. y2 508 Paul, speaking of the Old Testament, tells us, that '* whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning and for our admonition." Of the New Testament we are told, that it was writ- ten " that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing, we might have life through his name." St. Peter instructs us, that he wrote both his Epistles to stir up the pure minds of Christians by way of remembrance, and to put them in mind " of the words which were spoken be- fore by the holy prophets, and of the commandments of the apostles of the Lord and Saviour." Now, as these are the ends for which the Scriptures were in- spired of God, and directed to us, so do they lay an oblicration upon all into whose hands they are put, to acquaint themselves with them. And not to read what God has written and directed to us, is in fact a profane contempt both of his authority and mercy; it looks as if we thought him such an insignificant Being, or ourselves so little to need his information, that it is not worth our while to peruse with care and frequency the contents of those sacred books, which, by his inspired penmen, he hath vouchsafed to send us. Further: The infinite concern which we all have in the subject-matter of holy writ, most evidently ob- liges us to read and acquaint ourselves with it. For what the Scripture contains, is, by the unanimous confession of all Christians, of everlasting moment : it proposes articles of faith under the most awful sanc- tions : eternal life, if we receive them ; death eternal, if we reject them. It prescribes a rule of duty es- sential to our peace, comfort, and safety. It holds 509 forth promises exceedingly great, to excite our dili- gence and encourage our hope; and threatenings of such misery as infinitely exceeds all evil in this world, that at all times we may hear and fear, and never commit iniquity. He, therefore, who neglects to study and search the. Scripture, betrays his unbelief and scorn of his Maker ; and proves that, like a brute, he only desires what can do his body good. Indeed, the will of God is so plainly revealed in this matter, that no one but an infidel will justify a total neglect of the Bible. Many, however, who profess to believe in it, read it so carelessly, or so seldom, as to derive little advantage from it. Allowance, no doubt, must be made for different capacities and dif- ferent situations in life; yet after this allowance, too many will still be found guilty of trifling with the word of God. The principal thing which men of all stations should avoid is, a formal, careless way of reading. This has been, in all ages, a general fault, and a great one indeed ; for we may read the Scrip- ture in this way every day of our lives, and be in no degree wiser or better. To derive spiritual benefit, therefore, from the Bible, the following rules must necessarily be observed : — 1. Whenever we open the sacred book of God, we should lift up our hearts to him to teach us the true meaning of what we are going to read. This is necessary, because those doctrines, which are its very glory, offend our natural pride, and its precepts contradict our dearest lusts. To receive the one, therefore, with humility and thankfulness, and to submit to be governed by the other, require assist- ance from heaven, and a blessing from the Father 510 and Fountain of light. Accordingly, in the Bible we are frequently taught, that we cannot know the excellency of its doctrines, nor rely on them with such a persuasion as to honour God by it, unless he opens our understandings ; for " no man," saith St. Paul, " can say that Jesus Christ is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." And when the Apostle speaks of those believers in Christ, who knew the things which were freely given of God to them, he declares they re- ceived *' the Spirit which is of God, that they might know them." So deeply sensible were the holy men of old, of their own natural incapacity of reaping any profitable knowledge from the Scripture, without the teachings of God obtained by prayer, that, with the Bible open before them, they continually made request for illumination of their minds to understand it aright. " I am a stranger upon earth, O hide not thy com- mandments from me : I am thy servant, give me un- derstanding that I may know thy statutes. Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things in thy law." These blessed servants of God we must imitate, and depend on the Spirit for light and instruction when we read God's word. Not indeed expecting a new light, that is, any new doctrine, either distinct from the Scripture rule, or supplemen- tal to it; nor laying aside our reason and under- standing, relying upon an immediate inspiration to interpret Scripture. Either of these things is weak enthusiasm. But with the greatest sobriety we may expect, and ought to pray for, the Spirit's help, to give us real advantage and improvement whilst we are reading the word of God. Because the Spirit is promised to abide with the church for ever, as a Spirit 511 of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of the things of God : nor shall we ever know them so as to feel their power and authority on the heart, with- out internal illumination. There is, I readily grant, a knowledge of Scrip- ture truths, which men of parts and penetration at- tain at once, upon turning their attention to them ; so that they can talk and preach about them without detection amongst the multitude, whilst they are workers of iniquity, blind and dead in their sins. But then this knowledge is speculative, worthless, resting in the head, and never changing the heart. And so must all knowledge of divine things be, un- less the influence of the Spirit of God gives it power to command and sway the soul. Because, whatever way we come to be certain of any thing contrary to the bent of our own wicked hearts, we need much more than the brightest possible external evidence of the truth of the thing, to make it efficacious to de- termine our will against its own strong and corrupt propensity. If you demand a proof of this, consider the remarkable case of the people of the Jews at Mount Horeb. Could any one of them doubt that the authority, which avouched the law given to them, was decisive ? Nevertheless, how daringly did they rush into idolatry ! They did it not only against the express letter of the law, but whilst the terrible voice in which it was delivered, one would think, was still sounding in their ears. And though they could not doubt the authority of God, yet their rebellions are imputed to their infidelity. " How long," saith the Lord God, " will this people provoke me ? how long will it be ere they believe me ?" The very same is 5U the case with ourselves. We turn aside from the known commandments of our God ; we prefer the service of some vile lust to our bounden duty, though we allow the Scripture to be a divine revelation, and read it as such, till we read it with prayer, imploring the God whose word it is, to grant, by the illumina- tion of his Spirit, that his word may be put into our mind, and exert a sovereign sway over it. This doctrine is of the utmost importance : for, if you take away the influences of the Holy Spirit from the members of the church, the very gospel of Christ will be no more than a subHrae speculation, as ineffectual to change the heart or reform the world, as the pagan philosophy. The influence of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, is the inestimable promise made to the church; if, therefore, we would read the Bible for our reproof, our correction, our instruction in righteousness, we must before, and as we read, pray to God for his influence and teaching. 2. A second rule, no less worthy of our constant and careful observation, is, to read but a small portion at one time. It is common for those who have the character of being very devout, to set themselves a certain quantity, suppose two or three chapters, to read every day ; a much larger portion this than they can sufficiently attend to, except it be in some of the historical parts of the Bible. Hence, though they converse much in this manner with the word of God, they remain as ignorant of its contents, at least as much unrenewed in their minds, as those who never look into it. * We must by no means, therefore, » By this miserable manner of reading Scripture, it is too fre- quently made for ever contemptible in the judgment of their chil- 513 content ourselves with having the words and expres- sions of God before our eyes, or in our mouths. On the contrary, we must pause and dehberate much on the things signified by the words: we must labour to fix the true import of the divine expressions deep in our minds ; so that the very spirit of the Bible may be, as it were, transcribed into them. It is true, in this method we shall read but a little, and our progress in going through all the principal parts of the sacred volume will be slow, compared with those who can read many chapters in a day. But then the singular benefit of such a method will amply reward our pains, and prove its preference ; for whilst in much recollection and silent meditation we take the word of God into our hands, and place ourselves as it were before him for instruction, we shall find the meaning of it beautifully unfolding; and the knowledge of what we gain in this manner will come with a transforming efficacy. It will also remain with us, and be our own, for use and recol- lection at all times; whilst the comments and ex- planations of other men, and our own hasty readings, however they may seem to instruct us, are soon for- gotten, because they have no root in us. Notwith- standing, therefore, that we may be strongly opposed dren, through the superstition of some female devotees; who, though all alive themselves to every vanity of the world, yet will have their daughters read the Lessons and Psalms for the day, at least for the morning service ; accordingly they hurry them over as fast as possible, whilst the expectation of the amusement im- mediately in succession, and the thoughts of dress, make the les- sons an h'ksome task indeed. It is therefore earnestly recomifnended to parents, to beware of abusing a method of family devotion which may be made of great service; and when they call upon their children to read God's word, to guard against a formal, lifeless reading of it. y3 514 in this method of reading the word of God, by our sloth and natural aversion deeply to attend to spiri- tual things, we must do violence to ourselves ; a little perseverance will master all the difficulty, and a little perseverance will enable each of us to say, "The law of the Lord is more precious to me than thou- sands of gold and silver; in that law do I exercise myself day and night." 3. Nearly allied to this careful meditation on the word of God is another important rule, which we must observe when we read any principal part of it; that is, to exact of ourselves correspondent affections, and if we do not experience them, to lament and be- wail the poverty and misery of our condition. For instance, when the character of God is before us ; when we are reading such passages as describe hira infinite in power, glorious in holiness, continually adored by the host of heaven, yet more tender and affectionate than a parent to the faithful in Christ Jesus, and interesting himself in all the most minute circumstances that can affect the welfare of those that love him : to read such descriptions of God will be to very little purpose, unless we pause and ask our- selves, whether we in this manner really behold the glory of the Lord, and the excellency of our God ; whether we have such views of him who is thus re- presented, as to make him indeed our delight; as to satisfy us of his good and gracious intentions towards ourselves in particular, and to lead us with comfort to rely on him for all we want. In like manner, when we read the scripture representations of the glory, the offices, and the sufferings of the Re- deemer, with the inestimable promises he makes to 515 them who trust in his name, little will it profit us unless we also, at the same time, search and try our souls, whether these representations make us eager to embrace a Saviour thus altogether lovely — un- feignedly thankful to God for this unspeakable gift, —and able, without doubt or wavering, to yield our- selves up to his service, and to trust him as the guardian of our eternal interests ! Also, when we meet with scripture assertions of the weakness, blind- ness, guilt, and depravity of fallen man, in vain shall we assent to them, because found in the book of God, if we do not trace each of these branches of natural corruption as they have discovered themselves in our behaviour, and behold some remains of them still in ourselves. When the self-denying tempers of the faithful in Christ, their deliverance from the dominion of worldly hopes and fears, their unfeigned love to God and man, and their real imitation of Jesus in the abhorrence of all evil, is the subject be- fore us, in vain shall we read of these spiritual attainments, unless we examine in what degree the infinitely desirable transformation has taken place in our own hearts. Unless we thus read all Scripture with self-appli- cation, we shall do just enough to flatter and deceive ourselves that we are something, when we are no- thing ; enough to make us imagine we have a great regard to Scripture, when in fact it has no weight at all with us to form our judgment, or to determine us in the grand object of our pursuit. It is our duty, therefore, not only to read the word of God with frequency, but like men in earnest, who know that every thing is to be determined by its 516 declarations — like men who know that he only is blessed whom that word blesses; and he most as- suredly cursed whom that word curses. It is our duty to labour and pray, that we may have the lively signatures of Scripture impressed on all our senti- ments, breathing in all our desires, living in all our conduct ; so that all may see, and we ourselves most delightfully prove, that the word of the Lord is pure, converting our souls. 4. Lastly, We must read those portions of Scrip- ture most frequently, wliich relate to subjects of the greatest moment. For as, in the frame of our body, God has ordained some parts to be absolutely neces- sary to its life, others to its comfort and ease, and others ajjain to its ornament: in the same manner is the Scripture composed. As our greatest regard, therefore, is to such parts of the body as are most vital, so our most frequent contemplation must be fixed on those parts of Scripture which most nearly concern the glory of God, our own eternal salvation, and the good of others. The Scriptures, therefore, which delineate the perfections of God, his jealous regard for his own honour, the necessity of living in willing subjection to his authority, the certain insup- portable miseries of the unconverted and unbelieving, the earthly and the sensual, call for our frequent perusal; for, in such a world as this, and with hearts disposed as ours are, in vain we attempt to observe the commands of God, if we are not immoveably persuaded of these truths, and constantly reminded of them. The scriptures also, which describe the miseries of our fallen state, the evil bias that is upon our will, our utter impotence on this very account to 517 recover ourselves, are in a very eminent degree de- serving of our frequent meditation. Of the same important nature are all those passages in holy writ, which declare what the Saviour is in his own per- sonal excellency; what he has done and suffered on earth ; what he is now doing in heaven for his church ; which acquaint us with his gracious calls and his tender expostulations ; which instruct us in the know- ledge of our own indispensable need of him in his offices of Prophet, Priest, and King. No one can look into the Bible, without perceiving with what peculiar emphasis these subjects are treated; how they project to our view, and are insisted upon and extolled as the glorious display of God's wisdom and love. A deep intimate acquaintance, therefore, with these things, is a principal end for which Scripture was given, and therefore should be our object in perusing it. What is said also of the influences and operations of the Spirit, must be closely attended to by us, that we may know whether we are led by the Spirit, or are walking according to the influence of our corrupt nature. For the true knowledge and firm belief of the Spirit's influence, is the only means of support- ing a Christian practice and temper. What relates to his operations on the soul, must frequently be made the subject of our meditation ; because, in the apostolic writings, they are always insisted on as the infallible evidences of our being alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Unless the nature of these operations, as explained in Scripture, is well under- stood by us, we shall be in danger of imposing upon ourselves, or of being deceived by the virtues of the 518 world, which only counterfeit Christianity as polite- ness does real humility and love ; we shall rest in the outward action, without regard to the internal motive from which it ought to spring. Other rules might be added for direction in read- ing the word of God, but these are sufficient for edification, exhortation, and comfort; sufficient to make all who conform to them wise in the knowledge of God, his Son, and Spirit, unto salvation. CHAPTER XIV. ON CHRISTIAN JOY. Sect. I. — The Sources of Christian Happiness. It is too general an opinion, that men cannot be so happy in the present world, by submitting in all things to the rules of the Christian faith, as by al- lowing themselves more liberty than it permits ; that if we are to be entirely subject to the law of God, we must give up every present gratification, and, like the superstitious recluses of the convent, pass our time in melancholy, or at least under very irksome restraints. A falsehood this, which is at once full of impiety and mischief. Full of impiety ; for it re- presents a life of faith and obedience to God as irk- some, and only to be endured in view of some re- ward, or through fear of some evil in another world ; when, in point of gratification, it has the promise of this world, as well as of that which is to come. The slander also is big with mischief; because, if men 519 imagine Christian obedience an uncomfortable ser- vice, their violent propensity to immediate pleasure, joined with their faint belief of eternal things, will certainly lead them to choose a part in the voluptu- ousness at hand, risking any loss they may sustain beyond the grave, as it is distant and invisible. The system, therefore, of doctrinal and practical Christianity contained in this volume, cannot more properly be concluded than with a representation of several sources of happiness peculiar to the faithful in Christ Jesus ; and with some unanswerable proofs of the reasonableness, certainty, and necessity of those evangelical consolations. From whence the conclusion will be evident, that there are no plea- sures upon earth worthy to be named with those enjoyed by the obedient children of God, though they are often pitied as miserable and melancholy persons on account of the strictness of their religion. 1. The first source then of happiness peculiar to the faithful in Christ Jesus, is the excellent know- ledge they have attained. God the Father, in all his adorable perfections, in the works he has made, and in the word he has caused to be written, in the redemption he has provided, and in the blessings he has promised : God the Son, in his original glory and marvellous humiliation, in all the parts and most benevolent purposes of his mediation : God the Holy Ghost, in all his influences, gifts, and graces, which tlie realities of the invisible, eternal world, constitute the pleasing subjects of meditation to the true be- liever. Nominal Christians, it is true, hear of all these subjects, perhaps profess constantly to believe in them ; but they can neither find time to take any 520 exact survey of them, nor to ponder them in their hearts; therefore, " seeing they see, and do not per- ceive, and hearing they hear, and do not understand." The knowledge of the things of God, on the con- trary, which real beHevers possess, is lively, pene- trating, and of course delightful. No one can question the pleasures of the under- standing, while thousands toil for no other reward. In the eyes of all the votaries of science, the dis- covery of truth has the most bewitching charms, even though the truth only relates to something in this perishing world, and is without any power to produce the dispositions essential to peace of mind. Is such knowledge pleasant? How much more, then, the discovery of truths, which, besides their novelty, have a grandeur capable of engaging the whole mind, and filling it with admiration ! This grandeur is no sooner apprehended, than the truths of God neces- sarily become a source of delight. Before, they were either despised or suspected, or blindly assented to from the force of education ; now, they act like themselves — they inspire new resolutions, they kin- dle ardent desires, they excite abundant hope : in a word, by their spiritual knowledge believers are brought into a new and glorious world, where objects interesting beyond measure, and tending to their honour and exaltation, surround them. It is most worthy of observation, that the very same language which is used to denote the joyful change of night into day, is chosen by the Holy Ghost to express the change made in the minds of believers by the knowledge with which they are in- structed by God. Of them it is said, in contradis- 521 tinction to their condition by nature, " Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord : for God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.'' This pleasure, which true believers enjoy from their first acquaintance with divine truths, increases as they advance. There is a very sensible progress in divine, no less than in human science : first a faint or confused view of the truths of God, then a clear perception of their matchless excellence, and various usefulness: first a dependence upon them, mixed with hesitation and fear, afterwards a full assurance of understanding and hope, a comprehending the breadth and length and height and depth of what before was very superficially known. Such a pro- gress is inseparable from perseverance in the faith of Christ, and a diligent use of the word of God and of prayer, and it never fails to prove a spring of fresh and increasing delight. Further: This knowledge proves, in a peculiar manner, pleasant to those who possess it, from the solid benefits which it constantly confers. For whilst all other subjects, which employ the minds of men, leave them, after their highest attainments, painfully sensible how little there is in them to satisfy their wants, to subdue their passions, to guard against various evils, or to support them, much less to profit them, when they leave the present scene, — true Christians experience, in their knowledge, content- ment in every condition, a preservative from the force of unruly passions, a shield against the assaults of the 522 worst enemies. By this they are inspired with a supernatural firmness of mind, by this cheered in the hour of distress, still sure to find its immense value most, when they depart out of this mortal life. Knowledge thus supremely excellent, enriches the souls of all real believers in Christ Jesus. Even the poorest and meanest of the vulgar, who truly receives and faithfully serves the Lord Jesus, stands not one sinale decree more distant from the attainment of it than men of parts and education. For as it is God only who communicates this knowledge, so all who make application for it in prayer are equally sure to attain it. And the pure delight with which it re- plenishes the mind, is at once thus positively as- serted, and emphatically recommended : " Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that get- teth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than fine gold. Her ways are ways of plea- santness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her : and happy is every one that retaineth her." Who can give any real credit to this positive as- sertion of holy writ, or consider the nature and quali- ties of Christian knowledge, and not see that real Christians are the happiest people upon earth ? Who can impartially weigh these things, and for a moment qiiostion who are the persons that now pass their time in the most pleasant and truly joyous manner; whether they are the libertines who scofi" at divine truths, the formalists who know nothing of their power, or sincere believers who experimentally know the sweetness and excellence of the Christian doc- trine ? ms 2. But this knowledge of the truth is always con- nected with the possession of the richest spiritual blessings ; particularly the peace of God. No sooner are believers brought to the knowledge of Christ, so as to depend upon his work and media- tion, than they are assured, by the promise and the oath of God, that there is no condemnation to them that are in him, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. To this truth, the prophets, the apostles, and the Redeemer, continually bear witness. In the same proportion therefore as they receive it, their conscience is justly quieted, and from a sharp accuser is turned into an encouraging friend. It now no longer upbraids them with their folly, but commends their wisdom in flying to the stronghold which God hath provided; no longer haunts them with apprehensions of approaching punishment, but registers and attests their cordial acceptance of the Lord, vvho is mighty to save; they have now " the answer of a good conscience towards God, by the re- surrection of Jesus from the dead." In this super- natural fact they can perceive, that the indictment which was against them for their transgressions of the law, is taken out of the way, and " they have boldness to enter into the holiest through the blood of Jesus." The infinite superiority of delight which such per- sons must feel on account of their gracious acceptance with God, no one can question, who considers what different ideas, from the rest of mankind, true be- lievers entertain both of the essential holiness of God, and of the demerit of their own sin. The only rea- son why the pardoning mercy of God is not univer- 524f sally coveted more than either wealth or honour, is because men are generally hardened through pre-' sumption and infideUty. But suppose that your guilt, which never before grievously afflicted you, were now placed before you in its true point of light; suppose, wherever you went, whatever you were doing, this most awful thought forced itself upon you — ' I have been an enemy to God in practically denying his government, and robbing him of his glory ; I have abused his goodness, wearied his patience, and pro- voked his justice to shut me out of heaven and his favour; what must 1 do to be saved?' Suppose, in this distress, your understanding were enlightened, and your heart brought to rely upon God manifest in the flesh, on purpose to seek and save that which was lost through sin — can you conceive any joy equal to the change from your fears to a good hope ? Can you imagine a more pleasing alteration of circum- stances, than to have " grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ," succeed the black clouds of vengeance which were threatening every moment to break over your head ? In this case, though the blessing is purely spiritual, and therefore accounted light as air by the multitude, who were never in fear for themselves, nor in pain for their guilt; yet to you it must certainly prove a source of delight, as much beyond any temporal mercy, as the salvation of the soul is more desired by them who know its worth, than any fading good of this world, however useful or valuable in its place. 3. Another blessing accompanying the know- ledge of Christ, is the privilege of adoption into the family of God. To give some just idea of the de- 5^25 light arising from this peculiar privilege of believers, it is necessary to explain the nature of adoption, as the practice of it anciently obtained. It was custo- mary, especially in the Grecian and Roman states, for a man of wealth, in default of issue from his own body, to make choice of some person upon whom he put his name, requiring him to relinquish his own family, and dwell from that time in his, and pro- claiming him publicly his heir. In this act there was an imitation of nature, and the afflictive failure of offspring from himself, was supplied by something as really compensating for his loss as possible. The person thus adopted, was by law entitled to the in- heritance upon the decease of his adopter, and, how- ever before void of all claim to such a benefit, or of expectation of it, was invested with the same privi- le^ea as if he had been born heir to his benefactor. Suppose, then, this act of adoption taking place in favour of some desolate orphan, how conspicuous would be his exaltation ! how delightful the change of his condition ! how happy, in the judgment of the world, the object of such a prosperous providence ! But worse than that of the most destitute orphan is our natural state. Our great Redeemer teaches us that we are " wretched and miserable, poor, and blind, and naked," till our relation to him, by a living faith, enriches us with all spiritual blessings. Though the truth of this representation should be disallowed by the world, yet all believers in Christ Jesus ac- knowledge it to be a faithful picture of their own case. In this condition it was, they heard, and un- derstood, and believed, that the most merciful God " sent his own Son, made of a woman, made under 526 the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that they might receive the adoption of sons ;" that thus, through faith in his name, they might become fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God — for, " to as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." Have not those persons, then, who attain to this heavenly gift, a source of delight above all others in the world ? Have they not the utmost cause to cry out in joyful admiration, " Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God !" What a height of honour, what an acquisition of true riches, for sinners to be adopted by the Lord God Almighty into a relation with himself, which at once entitles them to all things ! For " all things," says God, speaking by his apostle to true believers, ** are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas," that is, all means, ordinances, or ministers ; " or the world," all the creatures and things in it, as far as they can be of any real service ; '' or life," as long as its con- tinuance can redound to your good; "or death," which will be your everlasting gain; in a word, "things present, and things to come;" that is, all temporal and eternal mercies, " are yours, and ye are Christ's, and Christ is God's." O how immensely large, how inexhaustibly rich is this inheritance, to which real believers in Christ Jesus "are adopted ! It is impossible, therefore, for them to read with understanding the Scripture, to believe the promises of God made to all the living members of the church of Christ, and purchased with his blood, knowing, at the same time, that they are of that number, and not rejoice. This joy is inspired and supported by the Spirit of adoption. Through the Fall of our first father, we have been separated at a great distance from God, and our alienation from him is still more in- creased by the offences of which our consciences accuse us. Now, as it is most common that the aggressor can hardly ever believe the party he has injured fully forgives him, so, after our trespasses against God, we are naturally suspicious of his in- tentions concerning us. This distrust aggravates our misery, and prevents our receiving any consola- tion from God when we most need it. Hence men in their distress, instead of flying to him on the wings of affiance and love, as their Father, their God, and their strong salvation, approach him, compelled, as it were, by their extremity, with a very faultering tongue, and a very timorous heart. Daily observa- tion too strongly proves this to be the gloomy con- dition of the multitude with respect to God : for did they trust in him as their Father or their friend, they would not, ns they do, sink and be dismayed under troubles, or be unwilling to think much about him, much less would they tremble and be afraid of him. With real believers the case is far otherwise ; they have not " received again the spirit of bondage to fear, but they have received the Spirit of adop- tion, whereby they cry, Abba, Father — the Spirit itself beareth witness with their spirit, that they are the children of God." In other words, they look up to God with the sweet confidence which children place in their afi:ectionate parents : not overawed by his infinite majesty, not intimidated by the conscious- 528 ness of their guilt, as if it should be visited and avenged upon them ; not in darkness and doubt about the disposition of the Almighty towards them ; but assured by his own word, ratified by his Spirit, that he is their God, and that they are his people. Even though they should feel doubts of his love towards them vising within their breasts, they still exercise the Spirit of adoption : for they lament, with a holy shame, their unbelief; they tell him all they want ; they patiently wait in humility till he sees fit to help them. Ransack now all the boasted sources of human gratification. You cannot produce a delight arising from them, which can stand in competition with a child-like aflSance in God — with a heart free from any other care but how to please him as our best and all-suflScient Friend. Whoever has been con- scious of such a Spirit of adoption, will avow the complacency, the blessed satisfaction he felt from it. Now, the more believers grow in grace, and in the love and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, the more they will enjoy of this Spirit, both in its strength and in its duration. 4. Inseparably joined with the knowledge and privileges already mentioned, there is another source of peculiar delight to real believers, namely, the exercise of gracious tempers wrought in them by the Holy Ghost. In their repentance, (how discouraging an aspect soever repentance may wear in the eyes of the world,) pleasure still mingles with their tears ; because they are tears which flow from a just and sacred principle within. They love to abase themselves before God, 529 to give his holiness, justice, and majesty their due honour; they are happy, whilst they feel deep re- lentings for their past ill conduct towards Him, who does not stand over them with a rod of iron, to exe- cute vengeance on them as they deserve; but holds forth the sceptre of his grace, that they may approach him and live. There is an inconceivable delight felt when the believer, returning to God, can say, * Lo, I come to thee ! thou art the Lord whom I will serve : what I so long, by the basest sacrilege, alienated from thy blessed service, presence, and communion, I now desire to bring back to thee. Take all the powers of my soul and body; possess and employ them only in thy work and to thy glory.' When believers in this manner disclaim their own base interests unreservedly, without intending to keep any thing from God ; absolutely, without making any conditions of their own, accepting his with all thank- fulness ; peremptorily, without halting between two opinions, as if they were inclined to retract the sur- render of themselves which they have made, — there is much delight interwoven in these exercises of re- pentance towards God. But still much more in acts of faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ ; for in these, there is a lively acknowledgment and habitual consideration of the highest benefits, of the strongest motives to love and obedience, as well as the strongest ground of joy and triumph. What can you imagine more delightful, than for men, who see themselves all sin and misery, to look unto Jesus, who says, " he will deliver the poor and needy when they cry unto him, and them that have no helper !" Their own emptiness they Z 53 530 i'ee], and know bis fulness for their relief; they bow at bis footstool ready to perish, and he receives them as the father the returning prodigal, to put upon them the best robe; they confess their desert of no- thing but wrath, and he freely grants them pardon; they know, that without his interposition they must liave sunk into bell, but behold he has exalted them into children of God, and heirs of glory. What pleasing emotions must such views of themselves and of him excite in their minds ! With these permanent sources of peculiar delight, all real believers are, in some measure, acquainted. Hence they stand independent of the world for their best joys, and can be happy in spite of all disappoint- ments from it. Further : There are seasons in whicli God is pleased, in a more extraordinary manner, to grant them "joy unspeakable, and full of glory." And this he does commonly before they are called to any severe trial, or when they are preparing for more extensive usefulness ; then, in a remarkable degree, God is their exceeding joy. There are also seasons of devotion, both public and secret, When their souls, Snatch'd by the Spirit's power from their cells Of fleshly thraldom, feel themselves up-borne On plumes of ecstacy, and boldly spring Up to the porch of heaven. Let us sum up now what have been insisted on as the several sources peculiar to real Christians. They only possess that excellent knowledge which brings with it the peace of God and the blessings of 531 redemption : they only are the children of God hy adoption and grace, and have the disposition of chil- dren towards hira : they only are conscious of the exercises of repentance and faith. love and hope, and of every grace in which the renovation of the mind after the image of God consists: they only experi- ence pleasure in communion with God, and some- times feel a transport which is remembered with liv- ing thankfulness long after the delightful sensation which first excited it is worn off. " Let not the wise man then glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his riches;" for neither learning, nor power, nor wealth, are the sources of happiness ordained for men; "but let him that glo- rieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and know- eth God ;" who, though he hath his throne in hea- ven, doth indeed dwell with the faithful on earth, and in their behalf exerciseth especial loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness; "for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." Judge no longer then, after the flesh, concerning the source of true happiness ; for it is no more per- ceptible by sense than the excellencies of the mind, than learning or genius. And as you would justly meet with contempt from the world for your igno- rance and stupidity, should you dare to say that there is no delight in studying the fine arts, or in making discoveries in nature by philosophical penetration ; because these things are not adapted to the taste, or within the comprehension of the vulgar; because they are neither showy nor palpable, like the plea- sures of the sensualist : so you may equally betray z 2 532 your own miserable ignorance in the sight of all the excellent of the earth, when you dare to deny the present delight enjoyed by those who believe to the saving of their souls. Pray therefore for divine knowledge, to correct your depraved apprehensions, and to remove your grossness and unbelief of heart. Then you will per- ceive that Christians are not more distinguished by purity of practice, than by their superior pleasures ; then you will understand, (contrary to the low thoughts entertained of the Christian's choice, con- trary to the impious prejudices abounding every where against it,) that, among all the objects of sense, never did the eye see any thing so grand and beauti- ful, or the ear hear any thing so delightful and ad- vantageous ; amongst all the branches of science, never did the thoughts of man comprehend any thing so completely adapted to bless the whole soul, as the things which God hath prepared for them that love him, even before the sons of men ; which things are given to them on this side the grave, as a pledge of what they shall possess in the perfection of glory to all eternity. Sect. II. — The reasoiiahleness of expecting Chris- tian Joy. There is nothing perhaps, at first view, more un- accountable than the strong prejudices which are en- tertained against the peculiar delights which spring from the knowledge of Christ. That the doctrines of the gospel should offend, is no wonder; for the haughty spirit of man cannot brook the self-abase- 533 ment they require. That its precepts should be complained of, it is easy to suppose from the self- denial they enjoin. But that men, who call them- selves Christians, should quarrel even with the joys of their own religion ; that they should contemn them as at variance with solid reason and sound judg- ment, is indeed a most surprising fact : since, upon the bare report of such sources of joy, our natural desire of happiness, one would conclude, must strongly prompt us to wish them real : and frequent disap- pointments from the world must incline us to think it also reasonable, that there should be some friendly sanctuary appointed for man, in which true joy and peace might be found. But, upon the closer inquiry, we shall discover the ground of these violent prejudices against the joys of the Christian faith. If these joys were allowed to be real, then those who have no experience of them must, by their own confession, discover that they themselves are destitute of true Christianity; they must be compelled to own how low the state of their own religion is, which consists in assenting to Scrip- ture truths without feeling their power; in a round of duties without spiritual life; in being honest, sober, and harmless, without any more delight in God than professed infidels experience. The character, peace, and security, therefore, of all nominal Chris- tians are at stake, and they are concerned for their own sakes, to cry down that joy as enthusiastic, to which they are themselves strangers. Add to this, that the spirit that lusteth in us to envy, cannot allow others to receive tokens of the favourable lov- ing-kindness of God, of which we do not partake ourselves. 534f From these causes, enforced perhaps by a few In- stances of real delusion, we may fairly account for the general prejudice against one of the noblest pri- vileges of a Christian — delight and joy in God. In vindication therefore of this privilege, I shall prove, that it is reasonable to conclude that real Chris- tians may experience, from the sources of joy already mentioned, peculiar happiness, and that it is certain they in fact do. 1. First then. It is most reasonable to conclude, that real Christians may experience peculiar happi- ness, because the infinitely glorious God always pro- poses himself, in his own blessed word, to our con- ceptions, under the character of a Father to the faithful in Christ, in a sense to which none besides themselves can lay claim. It would be endless to cite all the passages which assert this important distinc- tion. The Redeemer, in the plainest manner pos- sible, distinguishes all believers, to the end of time, from the rest of mankind : " For whosoever," says he, " shall do the will of my Father which is in hea- ven," that is, in believing reverential regard to me, ** the same is my brother, and sister, and mother." And when he was going into heaven, he said unto the representatives of the whole body of believers, " I ascend unto my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God." The apostle makes the very same distinction, and exhorts those who were wavering, whether they should separate and come out from the world or not, to shun all cojiformity to the ungodly, from this very motive, that then God would receive them, and be a Father unto them, and they should be his sons and daughters. 535 As the great God, then, stands in this relation of a Father, peculiarly to the faithful, we may assuredly conclude from thence, notwithstanding the distance between him and us, that his affection towards these his children far surpasses the love of earthly parents towards their own offspring. But where is the pa- rent worthy of that tender name, who does not mani- fest his delight in all his dutiful children — who does not make their state of subjection a pleasure to them by numerous tokens of parental love? Is it not rea- sonable then to conclude, that the eternal Father may make as sensible a difference between believers and hypocrites, as we do between our duteous children, who deserve and want encouragement from us, and stubborn ones who must be kept under a frown ? — that he should manifest himself to the one as he doth not to the other ? — that, to use his own words, '' his secret should be with them that fear him, and that he should show them his covenant," whilst others remain in a state of distance from him ? — whilst utter strangers to spiritual light, they are left to grovel in the pleasures of sin, and the things of time, which they are base enough to prefer to God, and to the riches of his grace? Certainly this is a most rational conclusion, especially when it is con- sidered that believers are declared, through the whole Bible, to be the delight and the treasure of God. Nor is this to be objected against, as implying, on the one hand, too great a stoop in the God of glory, or making, on the other, men of too great impor- tance with him. Because this scripture account of the connection between God and the faithful, neces- sarily supposes such condescension and regard to be 53d paid to them. He therefore who, upon either of these presumptions, is ready to mock at the mention of the peculiar joy of believers, despiseth not man, but his adorable Creator, who expressly says of the faithful, " 1 will dwell in them, and walk in them : and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.'* 2. Further: The reasonableness of supposing believers may experience peculiar delight, will appear more evident from considering in what manner a tender father behaves to his children, who, from their relation to him, are exposed to the persecution of his foes. Here all the fire of parental love blazes out; here it is the parent's highest gratification to caress his suffering children with all possible demonstrations of his delight in them. If we, then, to use our Lord's inference, being evil, know how in such cases to reward, by an overflowing of affection, our chil- dren, how much more shall our heavenly Father, in some better manner, give tokens of his delight in them, who are sufferers through zeal to his truth and love to his name ? But who can be a Christian, ac- cording to the scripture definition of that character, and not suffer for it, whilst the world lieth in wicked- ness? Who can abstain from all epidemical pro- faneness and carelessness, without meeting imme- diately with much to exercise his patience, to try his courage, and to prove his Christian fidelity ? What young person especially, (and a very great part of the servants of God devote themselves to him in the days of their youth,) what young person, I say, shall dare to be more religious than those about him, without feeling a persecution, which, though domestic and little observed, is very grievous to flesh and 537 blood to bear ? In such cases, does not sound reason justify the scripture assertion, and teach us to con- clude, that God will afford some immediate counter- balance to what is inflicted upon these confessors for his name and truth ? — ^that he will enlighten the eyes of their understanding to know what is the hope of their calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceedincr greatness of his power towards them that believe, to save and defend them ? Where is the enthusiasm of supposing, that ni such cases this scripture is fulfilled to the joy of every believer's heart : " O how great is thy goodness, O God, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee, before the sons of men ! Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of men ! thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues." In this passage, the Almighty is represented as giving his faithful people such a lively sense of his favourable presence with them, as shall keep them from grow- ing weary of his service, and from repenting of their boldness for his truth ; for, by the secret communica- tion of his grace and comfort to them, they shall pass their time as in a pavilion or tent, a place made on purpose for delight, though the strife of opposing or reviling tongues be heard around them. Which position, then, is most reasonable and con- sonant to the scripture character of God — to assert, that he does, or that he does not, in this manner care for those that love him ? And if it is allowed that he exercises all the favour promised to them in the Bible — which is the absurd position, to affirm they z3 538 may, or to be peremptory they do not enjoy, in tlie midst of their self-denied obedience, such delight as others know not of, and which is far better than all the joys of the world ? It is most reasonable also to conclude, that true Christians in Christ Jesus may experience very pecu- liar delight, because they seek all their joy from God alone. The acquisition of riches will not satisfy them, nor the enjoyment of health, or honour, or long life. "Lord," they cry, "who is like unto thee? Lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us; this will put more joy into our hearts than the in-" crease of corn or wine." What then is there savour- ing of enthusiasm in supposing, that God, who both deserves such supreme love and strictly requires it, should answer those, who thus give unto him the honour due unto his name, according to the desires of their hearts ? — what more reasonable than to con- clude, that all those who are so divinely changed, as to prefer infinitely the delight of communion with God to every thing earthly and sensual, should each of them have immediate cause to say, " The word of our God is true; he hath done unto me according to the declaration of his grace, in which he caused me to put my trust !" ** I love them," saith the Lord, " that love me, and they that seek me early (earnestly) shall find me. Riches and honour are with me, yea, durable riches and righteousness; that I may cause those who love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures." 4. Again : It is highly reasonable to conclude, that real Christians may enjoy peculiar happiness in this life, because shortly their eternal state will be so 539 immensely difFerent from that of the careless and un- godly. The latter, alas ! hardened even unto death, then meet with a full reward for their deeds in the frown of an angry God, and in the feelings of a con- science that can know no rest. The former are no sooner absent from the body, than we are assured they shall be present with the Lord. I would ask, then, is it not most reasonable to sup- pose, that some kind of anticipation of this bliss is enjoyed, before the fulness of it is revealed to their transported souls ; that those blessed heirs of salva- tion, who are soon to inherit the promises, should have a delightful acquaintance with their meaning and appropriation beforehand, and some degree of joy in their God, the same in kind with what is reserved for them in heaven ! — that those, whom the King of kings will confess before men and angels, and reward with everlasting honours, should, in their own con- sciences, rejoice in the hope of glory, and, as the Scripture affirms, should be sealed of God, and have the earnest of the Spirit in their hearts? Is not this much more reasonable than the supposition, that those who are very soon to be as widely distant from each other as heaven from hell, should be at present alike destitute of any sensible enjoyment of the divine favour ? — that both should be left to go on till the day of death and final separation ; the one no more than the other experiencing the comfort of God's Spirit, the light of his countenance, and the joy of his salvation ? Certainly there can be no greater absurdity than to imagine this. What has been offered may, we hope, suffice to prove, that it is not in the least degree enthusiastic 540 to conclude, that the faithful in Christ Jesus may have peculiar gratifications of their own : and it may convince us, that the experience of these delights, too often exploded as delusive, will appear upon closer examination to be perfectly rational. 5. But it is not merely upon its reasonableness that we rest the belief of a Christian's enjoying superior delights; the Scripture, our only unerring guide, lias taught us to expect it ; it has been fore- told by the prophets, and promised by the Redeemer. By the prophets, it is foretold with as much clear- ness, and in as strong terms, as either the holiness of Christians, or the glory of their Redeemer. Thus in the 89th Psalm, ver. 15, 16, 17. the whole body of believers is in this manner characterized : " Blessed is the people who know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. In thy name shall they rejoice all the day ; and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted : for thou art the glory of their strength, and in thy favour their horn shall be exalted. For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our King." In what stronger colours than these, could any person, whose life was one continued scene of enjoyment, be repre- sented? For what first strikes the eye as the prin- cipal feature in this painting, is the peculiar delight of believers in Christ ; delight arising from their knowledge and clear understanding of the everlasting gospel, called in this passage the joyful sound. Full of the same spirit of inspiration, Isaiah de- scribes the Christian church as *' rejoicing before God according to the joy in harvest," and " as men rejoice when they divide the spoil;" and the cause 541 of their exultation is, that " Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given ; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The ever- lasting Father, The Prince of peace." In another part of his writings, Christian believers are repre- sented under the image of persons brought by the Lord of hosts to a festivity, where pleasures are crowded to give entertainment to each of the senses ; where every thing that can regale, gratify, and ex- hilarate, is poured forth in the greatest abundance, Isa. XXV. 6. In a third passage, they are spoken of as returning to *' Sion, with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads; as going out with joy, and led forth with peace." Every one of these passages, with many more that might be produced, relates wholly to the joyful frame of mind, in which the church of Christ v/as to receive his gospel. But what likeness does it bear to the persons for whom the picture was drawn, unless believers enjoy much spiritual delight ? Between mere nominal Christians, however, to whom their faith communicates no hap- piness, and the Christians thus represented by the prophets, there is no resemblance. Yet surely we cannot but observe, that so positive is the prophetic description that such shall be the enjoyment of Christ's faithful people, that the veracity of God stands engaged to make good the delightful predic- tion. Unless, therefore, with the Sadducees, we deny the authority of the prophetic books, we must allow that Christians possess incomparable joys. Further : What the prophets foretold with one voice, the Redeemer himself has confirmed by his own express declarations and promises. On account 542 of the blessings of which his gospel, as soon as it is truly believed, puts a man in possession, and the joy with which it inspires and fills his soul, he says, " The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field ; the which when a man hath found he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field." We know how the news of an estate unexpectedly bequeathed to us elevates the heart; in the very same manner, Christ in this passage declares, that a clear view of the glory of the gospel affects the believer. In another place, he represents the immediate effect of believing in his name to be such an abundant satisfaction to the soul, as to extinguish its restless appetite for the things of the world, and to cause fresh supports and con- solations to spring up to an overflowing fulness, till all the believer's wants are entirely removed, and all his desires completely satisfied in the enjoyment of eternal life ; " Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. — He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake Jesus of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive." In what more express terms, by what more lively images, could the possession of peace and joy by his true disciples be asserted ? And this is not confined to the more eminent followers of the Lamb, but is the common privilege of every one who drinketh of the water which Christ giveth, of every one that believeth on his name. What the woman of Samaria thus heard in private at one time from 543 the mouth of Jesus, and what the vast concourse of Jewish people at another, of the happiness of believ- ing on his name, under the figure of a fountain, and rivers of living waters, he plainly and literally affirms to his apostles in his affectionate and parting conver- sation with them : " He that hath my command- ments," who understands, receives, and embraces them all, " and keepeth them," not only extols, but will not violate them, to whatever loss or suffering they may expose him; " he it is that loveth me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him ;" he shall not only be the object of my delight and of my affections, but live under the sensible manifestations of my glory, faithfulness, and grace. One of his disciples, clearly understanding the Redeemer to mean some inestimable fjivour which was to be en- joyed by them, and not by the world, asks him, " How is it, that thou wilt manifest thyself unto Us, and not unto the world ? Jesus answered and said unto him, If any man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him :" not leaving him, as one friend does another, after a transient visit, sorrowing the more for his absence, but as a fixed inhabitant, whose presence shall be experienced in light and strength, comfort and joy. Lest this evidence should not be sufficient to overcome the unbelief of the human heart, with respect to the en- joyment of such spiritual delight in the service of Christ, he says again, " Peace I leave with you, my peace," such as 1 myself enjoy, as well as bestow, " I give unto you." And lest it should be thought 544 his followers, in distant ages of the world, were not so much interested in these promises as his immediate disciples, he comprehends the apostles and all that should ever believe in him through their word, in one and the same all-prevailing prayer, which con- cludes with these words, equally applicable to his whole church which shall be saved, " that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them." Sect. III. — The Certainty and Necessity of Chris- tian Joy. It is of so much importance to give a just impres- sion of the happiness of the service of our Redeemer, that we have been very full in explaining the sources from which it arises, and the reasonableness of ex- pecting it; but however reasonable it may be that Christians should expect it, still it will be inquired, whether, in point of fact, they do enjoy it. This inquiry I shall now answer. And here let me first refer you to the example of primitive Christians. Immediately after that great conversion on the day of Pentecost, their behaviour is described in several particulars, and their state of mind, which indeed showed itself in their actions, is sufficiently signified by two words — gladness or ex- ultation, and singleness of heart. In the same book of the Acts, after Philip's preaching in the city of Samaria is mentioned, it is remarked, " there was great joy in that city." When the jailor who had St. Paul in custody, had heard him once speak the word of the Lord, besides his actions, which plainly 545 implied great alacrity of heart, it is expressly added in the close, " that he rejoiced." The same account is given of the Ethiopian eunuch. As soon as Philip had preached Jesus unto him, he was baptized ; and though his heavenly-appointed guide was snatched from him, yet the doctrine taking place in iiis heart, " he went on his way," it is not said reasoning, or deeply meditating only, but " rejoicing." Indeed we have reason to think, that all who heard the gos- pel to any good purpose, heard it with the same sentiments of joy. They behaved at first like per- sons quite amazed and surprised with the grace of God. Before habit or improvement could have had time as yet to manifest themselves, they were raised by the pure joy of tiie gospel above this world, and ready in its defence to embrace the martyr's stake. Now if, when the gospel was first published, the genuine effect of it in every place was gladness of heart, you must either affirm that the Christians who lived at the first promulgation of the gospel, were of a quite different species from those who now sincerely profess the same faith, or you must grant it to be a certain fact, that all real Christians " rejoice in the Lord, and joy in the God of their salvation." To evade this conclusion, it has been urged, that the persecutions which took place in the first ages of Christianity called for such manifestations of God's love; but that now they are no longer needed, and, therefore, not to be expected. As this assertion is become very general, and its influence extremely pernicious, it siiall receive a full refutation. Adopt then this false notion, and Scripture itself must lose its chief value. For we may say with as 546 much reason of the whole, as of those passages which have been urged above, that they were delivered to particular persons on particular occasions. Where- fore, if Scripture belongs to those to whom it was first addressed, in a sense in which it belongs not to the church in every age, then the Bible, instead of being a system of eternal truth, and an invariable rule of life, equally obligatory on all Christians, will dwindle into an antiquated, obsolete book. It will absolutely require a discrimination to be settled be- tween the Scripture designed for the comfort and joy cf the first believers in Christ, and that which those who live in after ages may claim : just as some Pa- pists divide the practical part of the New Testament into absolute commands, which belong to all, and counsels of perfection given only to a (ew. Besides, this notion is contrary to Scripture. St. John declares, the end for which he laboured to estab- lish Christianity, was not merely the belief of the miracles, death, and resurrection of Christ, but " that ye," saith he, " might have fellowship with us," that is, an equal share in all the high privileges, holy influences, and divine consolations which belong to that one body the church, of which Christ himself, full of power and glory, is the head. But we flatly contradict the apostle when we afiirm, that there is a difference in point of spiritual privileges between even the chosen twelve, and those who have obtained like precious faith with them to the end of time. But the absurdity of this popular notion is no less gross than its contradiction to Scripture. For, have not all Christians one faith ? The truth that saves them is it not invariably the same ? Have they not 547 one spirit to teach this truth to the raind, and make it effectual ? Is not the practice of duty in the same extent required ? — the same sacrifice of worldly in- terests?— the cutting off the right hand, and pluck- ing out the right eye? — and is not one heaven the everlasting habitation of all true Christians ? As there is a perfect parity, then, in all these most in- teresting points, what reason can there be to suppose, that there should arise such a vast disproportion in the matter of present joy and delight, from the in- fluence of the same truth, the same hope, and the same Spirit? Especially, since the word of God informs us, that all who are ever disposed to embrace the heavenly Physician, must first feel the sickness of their souls, and their danger of eternal death; that all who will be saved, must be first weary and heavy-laden with the burden of their guilt. This conviction annihilates, as it were, all the distance of time, and all difference of external circumstances, be- tween the contemporaries with Christ and his apos- tles, and succeeding believers to the end of the world, because, without this conviction of sin, though Paul were preaching, or Jesus himself working miracles before our eyes, his salvation must be rejected; and with it, the record God has given of his Son becomes precious, he is altogether lovely and full of glory. But besides the united testimony of prophets, apostles, and the Saviour himself, in proof that real believers in his name do actually enjoy peculiar de- light in his service, there is the evidence of daily fact. For hovv can we otherwise account for the total al- teration both of choice and conduct in some persons, of all ranks, and of all ages, and of all tempers, as 548 soon as they really behold the glory of the gospel ? All these are unanimous in avowing they never knew what true happiness meant, before they believed. Whatever they found formerly from the pleasures of sin, they confess to be now rendered despicable by their spiritual joy. Hence, long after the terrors of the Lord have ceased to work upon their fears, they keep at a distance from sin and vanity, from persons, things, and amusements on which they once doated, in order to enjoy more of what now makes them happy. Nor can this be owing to notions put into their heads, or to the force of imagination work- ing up fantastic joy; because great numbers have had no idea that there was any such thing as delight in God, till it sprung up in their own hearts, at once the object of their surprise, and the cause of their preference of the service of the Lord to all other things. Add to this, that many, who, notwithstand- ing their meek and prudent carriage, are obnoxious to their relations for their godliness, and treated with hardship on that account, are still far from desiring to make their peace at the expense of becoming gay, foolish, and careless, as they once were. They can find a sweetness in secret prayer, reading, and medi- tation, which, even under these disadvantageous cir- cumstances, is better to them than all their former idle mirth and vain laughter, with the friendship and good countenance of the family to reward it. If it be said, Who knows such instances? I an- swer, the history of the church attests that there have been such in all ages. The most serious and godly part of the Christian world at this very day, young as well as old, are all vouchers of this truth, whilst, on 549 account of the better pleasure they now experience, and not from any cynical humour, they have lost their taste for the trash and folly, in which they them- selves had once joy as much as others. Unless, therefore, we will shut our ears against the plain voice of Scripture, and our eyes against what is daily to be seen, we must confess that the persons who enjoy the highest and purest pleasures upon earth, are those who receive and obey the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, as believers do in fact enjoy such delight, so it is necessary that they should. Were men indeed born with a different constitution, or placed in a situa- tion more favourable to obedience, it might be suffi- cient plainly to mark out the line of duty, and to en- force the observance of ir, with rewards too great to be brought into comparison with any pleasure or gain arising from transgression. But when we consider our nature, what is so visible as that we are all greedy of present gratifications; and that our inclinations, from our very birth, impetuously hurry us on to take pleasure in things which are forbidden of God ? Look upon the youth of each sex, how continually are they prompted from within, how powerfully solicited from without, to forsake the path of duty, from the very first moment they enter on the stage of the world ! how fatally inclined to prefer every entertainment of folly and sin, to the most beneficial employment of their time; and to hear, with strong disgust, of God's authority interfering with their favourite pleasures ! The female sex, though in youth more restrained from gross vice, place their delight in indulging vanity, in obtaining distinction for elegance of form, gaudy attire, or a splendid appearance ; pleased to 550 walk with outstretched necks and wanton eyes, fond above measure of levity and dissipation, and of course equally averse to the rule of duty. In the next stage of life, though the objects of gratification somewhat vary, still the inordinate affection towards them is as vehement as ever: still ambition, luxury, or the pride of life, are cherished and indulged as the chief means of happiness. Such is our constitution. Now, from hence arises the necessity of some present delight to reconcile us to a uniform obedience. Without this, in vain do teachers recommend, on account of its future reward, the practice of godliness, in preference to sensual gra- tifications and earthly pursuits. Alas ! this reward is only to be received through the hands of death, which all men naturally choose to put at a distance from them. Make now, on the contrary, the pro- posal with which the Redeemer invites us into his service ; prove *"' there is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, •or wife, or children, or lands, for his sake and the gospel's, but," in a spiritual sense, through the con- solations of God with him, and the favour of his pe- culiar providence, " he shall receive an hundred-fold NOW IN THIS TIME, houscs, and brethren, and sis- ters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with per- secutions; and in the world to come eternal life." Here you see an immediate equivalent for any sacri- fice wliich is made in obedience and love to Christ. This renders a denial of our corrupt affections not only feasible, but upon the whole grateful : here is not, as must otherv/ise be the case, mere authority to overawe us into obedience, but such spiritual delight 551 as makes us entirely approve of our choice, and freely confess, to the glory of God, that we were utterly blind for not embracing it before. And, as it is necessary that believers should enjoy peculiar spiritual delight, in order to engage them in the service of Christ, so is it much more necessary to enable them to discharge some of the duties required at their hands. For to them is the command ad- dressed ; " In every thing give thanks; rejoice in the Lord evermore; be content with such things as ye have; be patient in tribulation." All these disposi- tions of mind are but a just acknowledgment of the mercies of redemption, and a proper gratitude " for the abundance of the gift of grace and justification unto eternal life." But these tempers cannot have their residence, where the soul is not elevated by the power of a divine faith, and habituated to such views of the "reat salvation of God as excite to thanks^iv- ing : such views as reduce sufferings, which to the eye of sense and reason are most formidable, into light afflictions ; and self-denials, which are to nature most grievous, into welcome tests of the believer's sincerity towards God. — Take away all such views; suppose nothing delightful apprehended in the love of Christ towards sinners, and it is impossible to have joy in God in time of trouble, and under every cross befalling us to give thanks. But if we are in- deed risen with Christ; if our life be hid with Christ in God; if we have this hope, that when he who is our life shall appear, we shall appear also with him in glory ; then victory over our natural fears, and contentment in our most trying circumstances, are practicable. And it would be easy to prove from the 552 New Testament, that joy and thankfulness in every situation are required from us upon this supposition. It follows, therefore, that without delight in God we must really dishonour him, by having our hearts en- gaged in pursuits unspeakably injurious to him and to ourselves; of consequence, it is a certain truth, that the very condition of our nature, compared with the obedience required to be paid by Christians, makes it needful that they should have sources of delight peculiar to themselves, and superior to every thing the world can offer. These evidences in proof of the reasonableness, certainty, and necessity of the joy of believers, are sufficient to satisfy all, I trust, who will submit to the authority of Scripture, and to deductions clearly drawn from it. I shall add, therefore, nothing more but a caution against the wrong use of this doctrine, and an exhortation to all persons, as they love their own happiness, to seek, in the first place, the enjoy- ment of the blessings of the gospel. It must be remembered, then, that the delight of Christians is various in its degree, according to men's respective characters. The weak in faith enjoy but little in comparison of the strong. Reproaches, pains, and pressures, which are almost too heavy for the one, are borne by the other with alacrity. A small storm is apt to affright the weak in faith, and make them dread a shipwreck ; whilst the strong, by a more clear knowledge of God's word and will, and more experience of his dealings, can trust without fear the care of their heavenly Pilot, though the tem- pest rages, and neither sun, nor moon, nor stars, are visible for many days. Some are apt soon to yield to 553 discouraging thoughts, if they are not presently taken out of the severity of the combat with their enemies ; whilst others, like veteran soldiers, can follow the Captain of their salvation, and endure hardships without fainting in their minds. Some, who are but babes in Christ, ignorant of the discipline of their heavenly Father's house, find it difficult to believe that they are his children, when they feel the strength of their corruptions, or lose the sensible sweetness of communion with him ; whilst others, who understand the loving-kindness of the Lord, no longer estimate their safety, or the favour of God towards them, solely by their own present sense and feeling. Some of very tender consciences and vehement desires to be holy, are ready to despond upon the discovery of the infirmities and spots which are found in all real Christians ; whilst others of a sounder judgment only sink at the sight of them deeper into humility, cleave still more steadfastly to the Lord their hope, and so hold fast the confidence of their rejoicing. In the same persons also, at diff'erent times, spiri- tual delight must be different, varying both according to their temptations, their faithfulness to God, their diligence in holy duties, and the good pleasure of Him from whose presence all consolation comes. Whilst, therefore, it must be ever strenuously main- tained, as a noble privilege of real Christians, that they rejoice in the salvation of God, still the precise degree, as well as continuance of that joy, must not be absolutely fixed, and made the test of all saving faith ; for then we shall often make sad the hearts of the righteous, whom God would not have made sad, 2 A 53 554 and beat down the weak, instead of strengthening and encouraging them. Nevertheless, if persons making a profession of religion are habitually strangers to the delight so much spoken of throughout the Bible, they have great reason to suspect the soundness of their faith; abundant cause there is indeed for a thorough exami- nation, whether there is not some worldliness of tem- per, or some idol, as money or forbidden pleasure, which robs God of the supreme love he requires, or whether they have not mean thoughts of Christ^s grace and power, but high ones of their own obe- dience. This scrutiny is necessary, and ought to be repeated, where no spiritual delight is experienced, because certainly the proper and abiding state of be- lievers is that of delight in God ; his kingdom within them is a kingdom of " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Since, then, the present advantages of true faith are so great, who can have the lowest feelings of hu- manity, and not breathe out to God the apostle's ardent prayer, * O that all who hear the sound of the gospel this day, were not almost, but altogether Christians ! O that the tongues of men and angels were employed, and the arm of the Lord revealed, to compel our fellow-sinners to come in, that his house might be filled.' Ye young and gay, ye rich and noble, be no longer prejudiced against the gospel of Christ, as if it were too strict a rule of duty for you to walk by consis- tently with happiness. Examine it more closely, and make a fair trial of submission to it ; you will then find it an embassy of peace and reconciliation from 555 the God of love, to a world of rebels in arms against him ; an assemblage of promises, privileges, and de- lights, suitable to all your wants, and adequate to your desires ; designed to knit your hearts unto him, that you may ever love his name; an assemblage of delights, which, though not always the same, yet are superior at their lowest ebb to every thing the world can afford. Cease also, ye deluded sinners, to indulge your lust for women or wine, for wealth or honour, as if you must be miserable or melancholy if deprived of these base sources of gratification. Hearken and be persuaded ! The most high God, possessor of hea- ven and earth, makes a marriage-supper for his Son : that Son says, respecting such as you, " I stand at the door and knock; if any man open, I will come unto him, and will sup with him, and he with me;" that is, we will dwell together on terms of the most intimate friendship and affection, and cheerfully feast together in token of reciprocal love. Consider this as you ought. I urge not upon you what must be your future doom, if you will not receive him that thus speaketh from heaven. I dwell not on that tre- mendous hour that will come, too soon, alas ! when all your polluted sources of joy will be terribly trans- formed into your everlasting tormentors. I do not attempt to lay open the horrors of that " Topliet, which is deep and large, the pile whereof is fire and much wood, and which the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth kindle." But I beseech you, by the consolations that are in Christ, by the comforts of love, by the fellowship of the Holy Ghost, call upon God that you may lay aside all 2 A 2 556 wickedness and superfluity of naughtiness, that these inestimable blessings may immediately be your por- tion, and have place in your hearts. Deal not so rnadly any longer as to prefer the harlot's embrace, or cup of intemperance, to that fountain of joy which makes "lad the whole church of God in heaven and earth : a state of pagan ignorance and estrangement from God, to the light of life shining in your souls ; or the love of the world, and the things of the world, to the pledge and earnest of everlasting glory. Con- sider what a cloud of witnesses are ready to appear against you, to confront and confound you; they feel so much immediate delight in the Lord Jesus as to be glad to renounce every comfort of life for his sake, to take joyfully the spoiling of their goods, and to meet death in its most hideous form. The very same Jesus, not more impaired in his excellency or love by length of days than the sun in its brightness, offers himself to you in the gospel. And will you be such despicable dupes to your passions, and to the errors of the world, as to be afraid of coming into full subjection to Christ, lest you should be sufferers in point of present happiness? Sufferers? Impossible! for all you are required to give up is sordid vice, and the very prostitution of your souls to Satan ! Be assured, of all the gross falsehoods he ever makes men credulous enough to believe, this is the greatest — to imagine any joy equal to that of knowing and loving Christ. Finally : Receive instruction, ye decent self-jus- tifying professors of religion. Go no more about miserably to glean some grains of satisfaction from a good opinion of yourselves, nor labour to walk in the 557 sparks of comfort which can be kindled from the works which you perform, and the principles from which they proceed. No longer tread the tiresome ground of duties, as a penance enjoined of God to escape damnation, and to gain his favour. Uncom- fortable, senseless service ! To such serious, but grievously mistaken souls, God thus speaks in his word : " 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 ; for I will give you the sure mercies of David," that is, Christ. " Behold, I have given him for a witness (of my free grace and love) to the people, a leader and commander to the people." Make him the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end of all your religion, and great will be your peace. You shall delight your- selves in the Lord, and he shall give you your heart's desire : then shall you have cause to say, with all that are called to be one body in Christ, what Moses in triumph spoke of the church of God in old time : " What nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the Lord our God is in all things that we call upon him for ? Happy art thou, O Israel ; who is like unto thee, O people saved by the Lord ?" A Prayer for Spiritual Joy and Peace, O God, whose kingdom in the hearts of thy faith- ful people is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy 55S Ghost, we lament before thee the sinful propensity of our nature, leading us to seek after earthly grati- fications, and the base pleasures of sin. Too long, alas ! we have souglit for them, delighted in them, and adhered to them, as if thou wert a God in whose service there was no delight, nor any thing to make happy the souls of thy people. Receive us, O God, for we return unto thee. Mercifully pardon, for Jesus' sake, this our contempt of thy glorious name, and our great wickedness be- fore thee. Too long have we walked in the vanity of our minds, alienated from the life of God, through the i