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 33 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Theol-agical Seminary, 
 
 p'rINCETON, N.J. 
 
 BV 4253 .S3 S8 1812 v. 6 
 Saurin, Jacques, 1677-1730. 
 Sermons translated from the 
 original French of the late 
 
 )i 
 
\ 
 
 V i 
 
 ^ 'N 
 
 •- >s 
 
SERMONS 
 
 TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL FRENCH 
 
 OF 
 
 THE LATE REV. JAMES SAURIN, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE FRENCH CHURCH AT THE HAGUE» 1 
 
 i 
 
 BY HENRY HUNTER, D. D. 
 
 VOLUME VL 
 ON SACRAMENTAL OCCASIONS. 
 
 THE FIFTH EDITION. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by R. Edwards, Crane Court, Fleet Street, 
 
 FOR W. BAYNES, 54, PATERNOSTER ROW. 
 
 1812. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE name of Saurin, as a Preacher and 
 a Scripture-Critic, is so well known, and so 
 highly respected, as to render any panegyric 
 or recommendation of mine altogether unne- 
 cessary. His great work entitled, Discourses 
 Historical, Critical, Theological and Moral, on 
 the most memorable Events recorded in the Old 
 and New 1 estaments, is in the hands of almost 
 every Protestant divine who understands the 
 French language. Of this the first volume only 
 has been given to the English public, by a re- 
 spectable layman, John Chamberlayne, Esquire, 
 of the City of Westminster, presently after the 
 publication of the original at the Hague, in 
 \Ttj. Unhappily for the world Mr Sauriw 
 did not live to accomplish that arduous un- 
 dertaking; his valuable labours being inter- 
 rupted by the stroke of death, before he bad 
 quite finished the Sixth Disccurse of Vol. III. 
 which contains the period of Solomon's piety 
 
 and 
 
u PfiTEFACE- 
 
 and prosperity. The work was, however, 
 very creditably continued and completed by 
 Messrs Roques and De Beausobre. A repub- 
 lication of Mr Chamberlayne's volume, and a 
 translation of the other five, would be an im- 
 portant and, no doubt, an acceptable addition 
 to English literature. 
 
 The late Reverend Robert Robinsois^, of 
 Cambridge, has given a very good translation 
 of five volumes of the Sermons of Saurin, 
 selected from twelve, of which the original 
 consists ; to these he has prefixed Memoirs of 
 the Reformation in France, an^ pf Saurin's 
 Life. This work has been so w'qU received all 
 over Great Britain, that a third large impres- 
 sion of it is already neairly exhausted : a strik- 
 ing proof, surely, of the author's extraordi- 
 nary merit as a Christian orator, especially if 
 it be considered that this approbation is ex- 
 pressed in an age and a country daily enriched 
 with original displays of pulpit eloquence, and 
 whose taste is rendered fastidious by profusion 
 and variety of excellence, 
 
 Put the Public, it w^ould appear, is still dis- 
 posed to receive more of Mr Sa urine's Ser- 
 mons, for I have been frequently and impor- 
 tunately colici ted to undertake the translation 
 
 of 
 
PREFACE. m 
 
 of what remains : a request with which, I ac- 
 knowledge, I felt no great reluctance to com- 
 ply; feeing thoroughly convinced that no com=» 
 positions of the kind are more calculated to be 
 useful to mankind. By the reception given to 
 this volume, I shall be enabled to determine 
 whether it is proper to desist, or to go on. 
 
 The attentive Reader will readily perceive 
 that I have made the arrangement of the sub- 
 jects part of my study. When I found any of 
 the links of my chain anticipated by my re- 
 spectable predecessor in the works of translation, 
 I refer to it, that those who choose to read in a 
 series may be saved the trouble of tracing it 
 from volume to volume. 
 
 As the originals are much longer than the 
 generality of modern Sermons, and as I suppose 
 these may probably be adopted by families as 
 prat of their serious domestic reading, I Have 
 taken the liberty to divide most of them into 
 two, and some into three parts, in the view of 
 relieving the exertion of the person who reads, 
 and the attention of the hearers: introducino- 
 nothing of my own, except sometimes a few- 
 lines of recapitulation, where it seemed neces- 
 sary 
 
iv P R E F A C i:. 
 
 sary to connect the several members of the sub- 
 ject. 
 
 To one advantage only over my predecessor 
 do I presume to lay claim, congeniality of senti- 
 ment with my Author, on certain points of rfco- 
 irine, of rites and ceremonies, of chtirck discip^ 
 line, and some others, in which Mr Robinson 
 differs from him. There must be many passa- 
 ges, accordingly, which he disapproved while he 
 translated ; and some Sermons he probably 
 omitted altogether, because they coincided not 
 with his religious belief. Under this disadvantage 
 I did not labour in executing my task ; as I 
 agree in almost every point wdth my great Ori- 
 ginal, and possibly translated with peculiar satis- 
 faction what Mr Robinson had reluctantly, or 
 saw it his duty entirely to leave out. His Read- 
 ers and mine will, undoubtedly, exercise the 
 same right of private judgment, and, I trust, 
 practise the same candour and forbearance which 
 he and I thought ourselves obliged by precept 
 and by example to recommend. 
 
 Bethnal'Green Roadj^ H. H. 
 
 9AthJune 1796. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 SIXTH VOLUME. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 The Song of Simeon. 
 
 Luke ii. 25—30. 
 
 Pagel 
 SERMON II. 
 
 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples. 
 John xiv. xv. xvi. 
 
 PART IL 
 
 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples. 
 
 John xiv. 1. 8tc, 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer. 
 
 John xvii. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer, 
 
 John xvii. 18—21. 
 
 45 
 
 59 
 
vi CONTENTS, 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 The Grucifixion. 
 Matthew xxvii. 45 — 53^ 
 
 PART II, 
 
 The Crucifixion. 
 '' Matthew xxvii. 45— 53» 
 
 93 ^ 
 
 109 
 
 SERMON Ve 
 Obscure Faith ; 
 
 Or, the Blessedness of beUeving without hav- 
 ing seen. 
 
 John xx. 29. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Obscure Faith ; 
 
 Or, the Blessedness of believing without hav- 
 ing seen. 
 
 John xx. 29. 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 
 The Believer exalted together with Jesus Christ. 
 
 Ephesians ii. 4, 5, 6. 
 
 155 
 PART II. 
 
 The Christian a Partaker in the Exaltation of 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 Ephesians ii. 4, 5, 6. 
 
 173 
 SERMON 
 
CONTENTS. m 
 
 SERMON Vn. 
 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 Malachi i. 6, 7- 
 
 PART II, 
 
 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 Malachi i. 6, 7- 
 
 SERMON Via 
 
 The Rapture of St Paul. 
 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3, 4« 
 
 PART n. 
 The Rapture of St Paul. 
 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 PART III. 
 The Rapture of St Paul. 
 2 Cor, xii. 2, 3, 4- 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 On Numbering our Days* 
 
 PSAXM XC. 12, 
 
 191 
 
 20$ 
 
 327 
 
 239 
 
 255 
 
 26S 
 
viii CONTENTS, 
 
 PART 11. 
 On Numbering our Days. 
 Psalm xc. 12. 
 
 SERMON X. 
 
 The true Glory of the Christian. 
 
 Galatians vi. 14. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The true Glory of the Christian. 
 
 Galatians vi. 14. 
 
 283 
 
 297 
 
 311 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 
 
 On the Fear of Death. 
 
 
 Hebrews ii. 14, 15. 
 
 327 
 
 PART II. 
 
 
 On the Fear of Death. 
 
 
 Hebrews ii. 14, 15. 
 PART III. 
 
 337 
 
 On the Fear of Death. 
 
 
 Hebrews ii, 14, 15, 
 
 
 349 
 

 *i,T,HSOLO'Q 
 
 SERMON 1. 
 
 The Song of Simeon *. 
 
 i—ii|Wlllnwiii 
 
 Luke ii. 25 — 30. 
 
 And behold there was a man in Jerusalem, whose naxne 
 was Simeon ; and the same man luasjust and devout^ 
 waiting for the consolation of Israel : and the Holy 
 Ghost was upon him. And it was revealed to him by 
 the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he 
 had seen the Lord's Christ, And he came by the spirit 
 into the temple : and when the parents brought in the 
 child Jesus, to do for him after the custom o/' the law ; 
 then he took him up in his arms, and blessed God,'a?id 
 said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in 
 peace, according to thy word : for mine eyes have 
 seen thy salvation, 
 
 '\TOW let me die, since I have seen thy face, because 
 thou art yet alive. Gen. xlvi. 30. This was the 
 exclamation of an affectionate father ; might I not 
 have said, of a weakly affectionate father, on a me- 
 morable occasion in his life. If such an emotion 
 savours not of heroism, it is at least an effusion of 
 nature. Joseph had been the centre of a fond pa- 
 
 * If the Reader wishes to peruse Saurin's Sermons as origi- 
 lally arranged, that on the Birth of Jesus Christ, the third of Vol. 
 H. of Mr Robinson's Selection, immediatdy precedes this on the 
 cong of Simeon. 
 
 VOL, VI, « B renf'3 
 
2 The S(/ng of Simeon. 
 
 rent's tenderest aflections. Jacob had for more than 
 twenty years been impressed with the belief that 
 this dearly beloved son was devoured by an evil beast. 
 He displayed every token of affliction that could be 
 expressed by the paternal heart, on the loss of a 
 child, a darling child, thus cruelly torn from him. 
 After so many years of mourning, he is informed 
 that his son is yet alive, that he is exalted to the 
 most eminent state of power and splendour which the 
 King of Egypt could bestow ; that he had sent to 
 bring his father down to him. Every instant now 
 appears an age to the good old man, till the period 
 of their re-union arrives. Every thing that retards 
 the accomplishment of his wishes seems to defeat it. 
 He trembles to think on the length of the way, on 
 the dangers of such a journey, on his own debili- 
 tated frame. He departs at length, he reaches the 
 desired haven ; he beholds Vvith his eyes the endear- 
 ed object of so many earnest prayers. He feels 
 himself in the embrace of his Joseph, he feels his vi- 
 sage bedewed with the tears of filial love. Joy de- 
 prives him of the powers of utterance, and with 
 difficulty the faultering tongue can pronounce the 
 words which Moses, if I may be allowed the ex- 
 pression, seems to have derived from the bowels of pa- 
 ternal tenderness : "Now let me die, since I have seen 
 thy face, because thou art yet alive. " 
 
 A greater than Jacob, rnxV brethren, or rather a 
 greater than Joseph, is here. Simeon had received 
 from God the assurance of having his life prolonged, 
 till his eyes should see the promised Messiah. On 
 the accomplishment of that promise depended the 
 solution of these anxious inquiries, so interesting to 
 the wretched posterity of Adam : — Is there any mi- 
 tigation to be expected of that fatal denunciation, 
 Ln the day thou eatest of the fruit of the tree of good and 
 evil, thou shalt surely die. Gen. ii. 17. — Did so many 
 oracles, which announce a Eedeemer, proceed from 
 God, or from men ? — Is it Bossible that the love of 
 
 Cod 
 
The Song of Simeon. S 
 
 God should rise so high, as to immolate his own Son 
 in the room of the guilty ? — In a word, Is the ex- 
 pectation of Israel well-founded, or is it chimerical ? 
 The promise is at last fulfilled: that divine Infant 
 at last appears, whom God had prepared before the 
 face of alt people, a light to lighten the Gentiles, and 
 the glory of Israel Luke ii. 31, 32. Already has an 
 angel of the Lord announced his advent to the shep* 
 herds : already has a multitude of the heavenly host 
 made the air resound with these triumphant btrains, 
 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good 
 ivill towards men, Lukeii. 14. Already have the sages> 
 of the East arrived to render him supreme homage, 
 as to their Sovereign. What remained to Simeon, 
 after having seen the Saviour of the world, hut to 
 lake possession of the long-expected salvation? He 
 accordingly takes the child in his arms : his faith is 
 now changed into visicm, and his hope into enjoy- 
 ment, and he in transport exclaims, " Lord, now lettest 
 thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy 
 w^ord, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 
 This devout rapture is to be the subject of our 
 present discom'se, and its import we shall attempt to 
 unfold, after having made a few reflections of a dif- 
 ferent kind, tending to elucidate the text, 
 
 I. We arc to make a few preliminary reflections, 
 for elucidating the text. And here it is natural, 
 in the first place, to inquire, Who this Simeon was, 
 who acts such a distinguished part, at this period of 
 the gospel -history ? But all tb.at can be added to the 
 narration of the Evangelist is merely a tissue of con- 
 jectural traditions palpably false, or, at best, ex- 
 tremely uncertain. Cardinal Baronius*, on the au- 
 thority of some ancient Doctors of the Church, in- 
 sists that he must have been of the sacerdotal order. 
 This they attempt to prove from the words of the 
 
 passage. 
 * Annal. Eccles. A. C. 1. page 5S. Tom. I. Antv. 1612. 
 
gd The Song of Simeon. 
 
 passage under review, He took the infant Jesus in his 
 arms, as if to represent him to the Lord ; an idea not 
 supported by any one of the circumstances recorded 
 in the gospel. Certain modern doctors * heUeve 
 him to have been the son of the celebrated Hillel, 
 who was chief of the sect of the Pharisees. They 
 even go so far as to assert, that he was the father of 
 jthat Gamaliel at whose feet Paul was brought up. 
 With respect to his condition, a variety of fables' 
 are retailed descriptive of his person ; such as that 
 he was blind f , and recovered his sight on receiving 
 our Saviour into his arms : and tiiat other, of his 
 being one of the interpreters of the Septuagint ver-- 
 sion X ? that having found many passages which pre- 
 dicted that the Messiah was to be born of a Virgin, 
 he refused to translate them ; nay, that he substi- 
 tuted the term Woman in place of Firgin, in trans- 
 lating the noted prediction of Isaiah, vii. I4 * that 
 having closed his tablets, on opening them to re- 
 sume his labour, he found the word Virgin miracu- 
 lously subsisted in place of Woman; that he be- 
 sought God to grant him an explanation of this 
 wonderful phenomenon, and his prayer was an- 
 swered : once more §, that having seen in the temple 
 various women presenting their children, he had 
 distinguished the holy Virgin by certain rays of 
 light which surrounded her person, on which he 
 thus addressed the other mothers : Wherefore do you 
 vrestnt these chUdren before the altar P Turn romid, 
 and behold this one, who is more ancient than Abraham. 
 Fictions, of no higher authority than what is farther 
 related of him, namely, that the Jews 1|, jealous of 
 
 his- 
 
 * Consult Lightfoot, Tom. II. Horse Hebr. in Luc. II. %b. page 
 498. Rot. 1686. 
 
 f Baronius ut supra. 
 
 X Allatius de JlccI. Occid. Col. 1648. Nicepli. Hist. EgcI. Lib. 
 I. cap. 2» Paris, 1630. 
 
 § Baronius ut supra. 
 
 II From a passage of St Epiphanius misunder stood. See Epipb. 
 Tom. II. d« Vit. Proph. page 130. Paris 1622. 
 
The Song of Smeo?i. 5 
 
 his talents and virtues, and, more especially, scanda- 
 lized at the testimony which he had borne to Jesus 
 Christ, had refused him the honours of sepulture : 
 that his remains, after having reposed a long time 
 at Constantinople f , in a chapel dedicated by James, 
 denominated the Less, were conveyed to Venice ^ 
 in the thirteenth century. 
 
 Dropping, then, legends of such doubtful autho- 
 rity, let us satisfy ourselves with exhibiting Simeon 
 under three authentic characters, which while they 
 lead us to an acquaintance with the man himself, will 
 give us an idea of the state of the Jewish nation, at 
 the era of the Messiah's birth. The first respects the 
 faith of Simeon : ke waited for the co7isolatio7i of Is- 
 rael. The second respects his piety and moral con- 
 duct ; he was just and devout. The third respects 
 his gifts and privileges ; he ivas divi?ielt/ mspired, and 
 it was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he should 
 7iot see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 
 
 1. He ivaitedfor the consolation of Israel, that is, 
 for the Messiah. This phraseology was adopted by 
 the ancient Jews, and is still in use among the mo- 
 dern. The years of the co7isolatton^, is an usual ex- 
 pression employed by them to denote the years of 
 the Messiah. One of their most solemn oaths is that 
 which appeals to the co7isolatio7i : and one of their 
 most common formularies is to this effect; " So may I 
 see the consolation, as I have done such or such a thing : 
 so may I see the consolation, as my testimony is con- 
 sistent with truth." The prophets themselves employ 
 the same style: " Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, 
 saith your God : speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem," 
 Isa. xi. 1. " The spirit of the Lord God is upon me; 
 because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good 
 tidings unto the meek ... to proclaim the acceptable 
 
 year 
 
 f Codin. Orlg. Const, page 56. Lut. 1655. 
 X Tillemont, Memoir. Eccles. Toni. I. page 44S. Par, .l/p93 
 § Lightfoot, in supra. 
 
(3 The Song cf Siuicon. 
 
 year of the Lord, .... and to comfort all that mounij'' 
 isa. Ixi. i, 2. " Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O 
 earth ; and break forth into singing, O mountains ; 
 for the Lord hath comforted his people," Isa. xlix. I3. 
 
 It were easy to prove, that these are so many ora- 
 cular predictions, which the inspired authors of the 
 New Testament, the only infallible interpreters of 
 the Old, understood as descriptive of the Messiah. 
 And proofs would multiply upon us without end, 
 were we more particularly to undertake to demon- 
 strate, that the title of tfw consolation is peculiarly 
 adapted to our Lord Jesus Christ : but however in- 
 structive such reflections might be of themselves, 
 they vv'ould carry us too far from the present object 
 of pursuit. 
 
 We could only wish, that the faith of Simeon 
 might assist you in forming an idea of the state of 
 the Jewish church prior to the coming of the Mes- 
 siah. Believers, under that dispensation, entertained 
 the same expectation with Simeon : like him they 
 -waited for tke consolation of IsraeL 
 
 We by no means presume to affirm that their ideas 
 on this subject were exempted from prejudice. We 
 w^ell know that they assigned to most of the oracles, 
 which announced a Redeeirxcr, a sense conformable 
 to the colour of their passions. Isaiah, who repre- 
 sented him as despised and rejected of men, Isa. liii. 3. 
 had, undoubtedly, a more just conception of him 
 than the sons of Zebedee adopted, Mark x. 37. 
 when they requested of him the most distinguished 
 honours of his kingdom. Daniel, who predicted 
 that Messiah shozild be cut off, Dan. ix. 26. entered, 
 undoubtedly, much more profoundly into the view 
 of his coming into the world, than Peter did, who 
 having heard him speak of the death which he was 
 to suffer, began to rebuke him, saying. Be it far from 
 thee. Lord: this shall not be unto thee, Matth. xvi. 22. 
 Job, who contemplated him by the eye of faitlj, as 
 
 stamlip/^l 
 
TJiQ So?ig of Simeon, 7 
 
 standi/ig at the latter day upon the earthy Job xix. 25, 
 26. and who hoped to behold him eye to eye, even 
 after worms should have destroyed his body, knew in- 
 comparably better the blessings which he was to 
 pmxhase for mankind, than those grovelling spirits 
 who expected from him temporal enjoyments mere- 
 ly. Even those of the Jews whose understanding 
 was most clearly enlightened, had much less pene- 
 tration into the mystery of the cross than the meanest 
 of Christians, and according to the saying of Jesus 
 Christ, " He that is least in the kingdom of heaven, 
 is, in this respect, greater than John Baptist," Matth. 
 xi. 11. and than all the prophets : nevertheless they/ 
 all lived in expectation of a deliverer : they all consi-/ 
 dered him as the centre of every divine grace : theV 
 all v/aitcd for him as the consolation of Israel. Thij 
 is the first character given us of Simeon. 
 
 2. He was just and devout. The epithet jk?/^ iwai 
 not be taken in a literal and exact sense. Bewa/j 
 how you give the lie to revelation, to experience, /o 
 your own heart, whose concurring testimony evin^s 
 that there is none righteous upon the earth, no not oAei 
 imagine not that Simeon by his virtues merited ^^^^ 
 privilege of seeing the Lord's Christ, and of i^^rtak- 
 ing of the fruits of his incarnation. Th^ righte- 
 ousness of Simeon consisted in the effort^ which he 
 made to work righteousness : his perfection, in the 
 desire with which he was animated to go on to per- 
 fection, and in the regret which be felt that his at- 
 tainments were so inconsiderable. The sacrifices 
 wiiich he made to God, derived all t^ieir value from 
 the mercy of that God who was the object of his 
 fear. Let this great principle of Christian theolog;y 
 be deeply impressed on your mind^ : lose sight of it 
 no not for a moment, and be constantly vigilant lest 
 the impure doctrine of the merit of good works find 
 admission among you. 
 
 But 
 
fi The Song of Simeon, 
 
 But wherefore suggest cautions to this effect ? 
 Wherefore should these walls so frequently resound 
 with truths of tlus class ? Mj brethren, you have so 
 effectually excluded, by your coldness in the per- 
 formance of good works, the doctrine of their me- 
 rit, that there is little room to entertain the appre- 
 hension of its ever finding an establishment in the 
 midst of us. And it is an undeniable fact, that this 
 error has gained no partisans in our churches ; at 
 lease, if there be any, they have hitherto kept them- 
 selves invisible. We have seen many persons who, 
 under the power of illusion, imagined they had ful- 
 filled the conditions upon which the promises of sal- 
 vation are founded : but never did we find one who 
 idvanced a plea of merit. But what we have seen, 
 md what we have cause every day to deplore, and 
 what is involving multitudes in utter ruin, is our fre- 
 uently deceiving ourselves with the belief, that be- 
 tiuse righteousness and the fear of God are not merito- 
 ^Dus, they are therefore unnecessary. What we have 
 sen, aiid what we have cause every day to deplore, is 
 -1^. unhappy persuasion prevailing with many who 
 beat |;]^e Christian name, that because the advent of 
 the ]Vi><^siah is a dispensation of grace, it gives encour- 
 agement +o licentiousness and corruption. 
 
 Let us i^x^ employ such ingenious pains to de- 
 ceive ourselves. Multiply without end, ye disputers 
 of this worH, your questions and controversies, it 
 will never be \r\ your power to prevent my clearly 
 discerning, in the doctrine of the gospel, this two- 
 fold truth : on t\ie one hand, that the best prepara- 
 tion for receiving the reign of grace, is that vrhich 
 Simeon made : he luas just and devout, a?id he ivaitcd 
 for the consolatim of Israel. On the other hand, that 
 the most insurmounta\ile obstacle which can be op- 
 posed to this reign, is impiety and injustice. " Pre- 
 pare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the de- 
 sert a high-way for our God. Every valley shall be 
 
 exalted. 
 
The Song of Stmeo?!. Q 
 
 exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made 
 low : and the crooked shall be made straight, and the 
 rough places plain, and all flesh shall see the salvation 
 of God," Isa. xl. 3. Mat. iii. 3- Luke iii. 6. This 
 was the voice of the forerunner of Jesus Christ ; and 
 wherein did he make this preparation to consist ? The 
 preparation of him who had two coats was to impart 
 to him who had none^ Luke iii. 11. The preparation 
 of him who had meat,vf2i^ to act in like manner. That 
 of the publicans was to exact no more than that which 
 urns appomted them, ver. 13. That of the soldier was 
 to do violence to no vicin, to accuse no one falsely, a^id to 
 he content luith his wages, ver. 14. The preparation of 
 all was to bring forth fruits worthy of repentance, ver. 
 8. Without these, the reign of grace was the reign of 
 wrath : without these, " the ax was already laid unto 
 the root of the trees ; and every tree which brought 
 not forth good fruit was to be hewn down, and cast 
 into the fire " ver. 9. and this Messiah, this Redeemer 
 of mankind, was to come with " his fan in his hand, 
 thoroughly to purge his floor ; to gather the wheat into 
 his garner ; but to burn the chaft' with tire unquench \ 
 able, ver. 17. 
 
 . Ah ! if at this period of the gospel dispensation, 
 when v/e are exercising, in some manner, the func- 
 tion of John Baptist, if in these days wherein we 
 come to announce the revival of the reign of Jesus 
 Christ in the midst of us, by the celebration of his 
 incarnation and birth ; by the commemoration which 
 we are to make next Lord's day in the sacrament of 
 the supper: if at this season when w^e are crying 
 aloud to you in the words of St John, prej)are ye the 
 way of the Lord : should you with the multitudes who 
 attended his ministry, inquire, saying, and what shall 
 we do P We would reply, wait for the consolation of 
 /^vr«e/, as. Simeon waited for it: britig forth fruits 
 worthy of repentance. 
 
 Prepare the way rf the JuOrd, ye great ones of the 
 
 earth ; 
 
10 ' The Song of Siiiicon, 
 
 earth ; lead the way in a procession of penitents, a^ 
 the king of Nineveh did, when the preaching of 
 J6nah thundered impending destruction in his ears, 
 Jon. iii. 4. 9- Humble yourselves under the mighty 
 hand of God, 1 Pet. v. 6. by whom kings reign, and 
 princes decree justice, Prov. viii. 15. Employ the 
 power with which Providence has entrusted you, 
 not in a vain display of furniture more magnificent, 
 or of equipages more splendid ; not hy assuming a 
 deportm.ent more lofty and intimidating; hut in 
 curbing hold and insolent vice ; but in maintaining 
 the cause of truth and justice ; but in wiping away 
 the tears of the Vvidov/ and the orphan ; but in re- 
 "wai'ding services rendered to the state ; but m pro- 
 curing respect to the solemn institutions of religion ; 
 but in preventing the circulation of indecent and 
 corruptive publications ; and, as far as in you lies, 
 in levelling to the ground that monster infideUty, 
 which is rearing its daring forehead in the midst of 
 you. 
 
 Prepare the ivay of the Lord, ye pastors of the 
 flock. Distinguish yourselves from private indivi- 
 duals, not only by the habit which you wear, and 
 by the functions \\ liich you discharge ; but by your 
 zeal for the church of Christ, by your unshaken 
 iirmness and fortitude in opposing those vvho impu- 
 dently transgress ; but by preserving a scrupulous 
 distance from every thing characteristic rather of 
 the slaves of this world, than of the ministers of 
 the living God, 
 
 Prepare ye the ivay of the Lord, professing Chris- 
 tians. Celebrate your solemn feasts, not only by fre- 
 quenting our religious assemblies, but by a holy ab- 
 stinence from those secret abominations, and those 
 puplic scandalous practices which have so long in- 
 flamed the wrath of heaven against us ; which even 
 now are scattering the seeds of discord through 
 these provinces ; which are draining the resources of 
 
 our 
 
TJw Song of Simeon. 11 
 
 our country, which are tarnishing her glory, which 
 present to our eyes, in a lowering futurity, vicissi- 
 tudes still more calamitous and moie deeply ensan- 
 guined than those which have already cost us so many 
 tears, and so much blood. 
 
 This, this is the only effectual method of waiting 
 for deliverance and redempdon. 1 ar removed from 
 us he those frivolous terrors, which would suggest, 
 that to be subjected to the yoke of Jesus Christ, is 
 to derogate from his merits ! And let us not deceive 
 ourselves ; there is not a single particular in the 
 system of the gospel ; there is not a single article of 
 Christian theology, but what preaches terror, if we 
 are destitute of that righteousness, and of that fear 
 of God with which Simeon ivaited foi^ the consolation 
 of IsraeL In order to our having an interest in the' 
 pardoning mercy which the Messiah has purchased 
 for us, wc must^/l^^r God, as Simeon did; we must 
 be just as he was ; we must hold sin in detestation ; 
 we must be of a poor and of a contjite spirit, Is. Ixvi. 2. 
 because of it ; we must cease to do evil, and learn to 
 do we//, Is. i. l6", I7. In order to our having an 
 interest in sanctifying grace and in the spirit of rege- 
 neration, communicated to us from the Messiah, we 
 musty^«r God ixs did Simeon; we must he just like 
 him, we must love wisdom ; we must ask it of 
 God . . . nothing ivaveri?ig, James i. 5, 6. or, as the 
 passage of St James to Vvhich I refer might be ren- 
 dered, not halting, or hesitating between the choice 
 of wisdom and folly ; we must not be like a wave of 
 the sea, which seems to be making a movement to- 
 wards the shore, but anon returns with impetuosity 
 into the gulf from which it issued. 
 
 Farther, in order to our having a knowledge of 
 the doctrines which were taught by the Messiah, we 
 mwst fear God as (\\i\ Simeon, we must he just like 
 hthi ; for the secret of the Lord is with them that fear 
 him ; and lie will shew them his covenant, Ps. xxv. I4. 
 
 and 
 
12 The Song of Sinieon, 
 
 and " if any man will do his will, he shall know of the 
 doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of my- 
 self," Jo. vii. 17. In order to our having an interest 
 in the promises of the glory to be revealed, which 
 are made to us by the Messiah, we musty^«r God as 
 did Simeon, we must be just like him, for without 
 holiness no man shall see the Lord, Heb. xii. 14. and 
 " having these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all 
 filthiness of the flesh and of the spirit," 2 Cor. vii. 1. 
 If we would attain the assurance of salvation, we 
 must year God^ as did Simeon, we must be just like 
 him : Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest 
 he fall, 1 Cor. x. 12. and " if God spared not the na- 
 tural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee," 
 Rom. xi. 21. 
 
 3. Finally, we are informed by the evangelist, 
 that " the Holy Ghost was upon Simeon : and it was re- 
 vealed to him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see 
 death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." 
 
 On this particular, I shall confine myself to a 
 single reflection. It supplies us with an explication 
 of several ancient oracles, and particularly that of 
 the prophet: " And it shall come to pass afterward, 
 that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh, and your sons 
 and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall 
 dream dreams, your young men shall see visions, Joel 
 ii. 28. The Jews themselves acknowledge *, that 
 the spirit of prophecy was one of the prerogatives, 
 which had been denied to the second temple. This 
 gift seems to have expired with Malachi. For an 
 uninterrupted series of more than four hundred 
 years no prophet had arisen. This high privilege 
 was not to be restored to the church till the latter 
 days should come ; and, conformably to the style of 
 the Old Testament, the latter days denote the dis- 
 pensation of the Messiah. Here, then, we have the 
 
 commencement 
 
 * Talmud Iliero'^. Taanlth, fol. vi. 1. Babylon. Joma, fo]» 
 xxi. 2. 
 
The Song of Simeo?i. 13 
 
 commencement of the latter days. Here we behold 
 the prophetic ilkimination re-appearing in all its 
 lustre. Here the hallowed fire is rekindling, and 
 celestial revelations enlighten a dark world. These 
 exalted privileges are commmiicated first to Zacha- 
 rias, who beholds an angel of the Lord standing on 
 the right side of the altar of incense, Luke i. 1 1 . They 
 are next bestowed on the blessed Virgin, whom the 
 angel thus addresses, " Hail thou that art highly fa- 
 voured, the Lord is with thee : blessed art thou among 
 women," ver. 28. They are extended even to the 
 shepherds, to whom another angel announces the 
 birth of the Saviour of the world, and who " suddenly 
 hear a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and 
 saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, 
 good Avill towards men," Luke ii. 13, 14. They are 
 poured down upon Simeon ; and we shall presently 
 behold the whole Christian church inundated with 
 an overflowing flood of divine irradiation. Let this 
 suffice as to the character of Simeon. 
 
 II. We are to attempt to unfold the import of 
 the devout rapture which he felt. And here let us 
 give undivided attention to the object before us, and 
 let every power of thought be applied to discover, 
 and to display, the emotions by which this holy man 
 of God was then animated. He takes Jesus Christ 
 in his arms : he blesses God, and says, " Lord, now 
 lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to 
 thy word ; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Let- 
 test thou thy servant depart :" the Greek phrase liter- 
 ally rendered, is, thou imloosest, or settest free thy ser- 
 vant. The sense of the expression cannot, in my ap- 
 prehension, be disputed in this place. To unloose, in 
 the writings of certain profane authors, and the 
 meaning is the same in our text, signifies tha.t act 
 of Deity which separates the soul from the body. 
 Thou liberatest thy servant in 'peace, that is, thou per- 
 
 mittcst 
 
14 The Song of Simeon. 
 
 miitest thy servant to die in peace. This object, which 
 stikes the eyes of Simeon, is to him a complete se- 
 cm'ity against the terrors of death. Wherefore 
 should he wish to live longer in this world ? Could 
 it be to behold some wonderful event, or to acquire 
 some valuable possession ? But his whole soul is rapt 
 in admiration of the object with which his eyes are 
 feasted : the delight he feels in contemplating the 
 Redeemer, the Lord^s Christ, absorbs every faculty. 
 Could the fear of the punishment of sin suggest a 
 wash to live longer ? He holds in his arms the vic- 
 tim which is going to be offered up to divine justice. 
 Could he desire longer life from any doubt he en- 
 tertained respecting the doctrine of a life to come ? 
 He is at the very source of life, and needs only to be 
 released from a mortal body, to arrive at immorta- 
 lity. Three sources of meditation, w^ell worthy, I 
 am bold to say, of all the attention you are able to 
 bestow. 
 
 1. The desire of beholding some w^onderful and 
 interesting event, is one of the most usual causes of 
 attachment to life. There are certain fixed points, 
 in wdiich all our hopes seem to be concentrated, 
 Nothing is more common among men, even among 
 those whose character as Christians is the least liable 
 to suspicion, than to say, could I but live to see 
 such and such an event take place, I should die con- 
 tent : could I but live to see that adversary of the 
 church confounded : could I but live to see that 
 mystery of Providence unfolded : could I but live to 
 see Zion arise out of her ruins and the chains of 
 her bondmen broken asunder : could I but live to 
 see my son attain such and such a period. Such 
 emotions are not in every case to be condemned as 
 unlawful ; but how much do they frequently savour 
 of human infirmity I Let it be our study to die at 
 peace with God, and we shall be disposed to die, 
 
 whenever 
 
The Song of Simeon, 15 
 
 whenever it shall please him, who has sent us into the 
 world, to cajl us out of it again. 
 
 Death draws aside the curtain, which conceals 
 from our eyes what is most worthy of our regard, of 
 our desire, of our admiration. If thou diest in a 
 state of reconcihation with God, thine eyes shall 
 behold events inlinitely more interesting and impor- 
 tant than all those which can suggest a wish to con-- 
 tinue longer in this world. Thou shait behold some- 
 thing un.t>peakabiy greater than the solution of some 
 particular mystery of Providence : thou shait dis-- 
 cern an universal Ught, which shall dispel all thy 
 doubts, resolve all thy difficulties, put to flight all 
 thy darkness. Thou shait behold something incom- 
 parably surpassing the confusion of those tyrants 
 whose prosperity astonishes and offends thee : thou 
 shait behold Jesus at the right hand of his Father, 
 holding a rod of iron, ready to dash in pieces^ like a 
 potter's vessel, Psal. ii. 9. all those who dare oppose his 
 empire. Thou shait behold something incompara-n 
 bly more sublime than the dust of Zion re-ani- 
 mat-ed : thou shait behold the Neiu Jerusalem, of 
 which God and the Lamb are the Sun and the Temple, 
 Eev. xxi. 2, 22, 23- Thou shait behold something 
 incomparably more interesting than the chains of 
 her bondmen broken asunder : thou shait behold 
 the souls of a thousand martyrs invested with ivhke 
 robes, Rev. vi. 11. because they fought under the 
 banner of the cross : thou shait liear them crying one 
 to another; " Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent 
 reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour 
 to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, andhi^^ 
 wife hath made herself ready," Piev. xix. 6, 7. Thou 
 shait behold something incomparably more interest- 
 ing tlian the establishment of that Son, the object 
 of so many tender aifections : thou shait behold 
 those multitudes of glorified saints who are eternally 
 to partake with thee in the felicity of the ever- 
 blessed God : thine eyes shall behold that adorable 
 3 fUce, 
 
l6 The Song of Simeon. 
 
 face, the looks of which absord, if I may use the ex- 
 pression, all those of the creature. 
 
 Let it be admitted, at the same time, that if 
 ever any one could be justified in expressing a wish 
 to have the hour of death deferred, it was in the case 
 of those believers, who lived at the period when the 
 Messiah was expected. This was the case of Si- 
 meon., Brought up under an economy in which 
 every thing was mysterious and emblematical, he is 
 justifiable, should he have expressed a wish to see the 
 elucidation of all these sacred enigmas. When a 
 prince is expected to visit one of our cities ; when 
 we behold the sumptuous equipages by which he is 
 preceded, the train of messengers who announce his 
 approach ; palaces decorated, and triumphal arches 
 reared, for his reception : does not all this excite a 
 desire of obtaining a nearer view of the person of 
 whom so lofty an idea is conveyed from preparations 
 so magnificent ? All these preparations, however, 
 are, in many cases, not so much the badges of the 
 real greatness of the personage whom they announce, 
 as of his vanity. It has oftener than once been 
 felt, that the object of tlie least importance in a 
 splendid procession, was the very man who acted as 
 the hero of it. But what could the Levitical dis- 
 pensation furnish, to convey an idea of the Messiah, 
 but what fell infinitely short of the Messiah himself ? 
 
 Simeon at length beholds this Messiah, so eagerly 
 expected through so many ages. Simeon, more 
 highly favoured than Jacob, who, on his dying bed 
 exclaimed, / have waited for thy salvation, O Lord ! 
 Gen. xlix. 8. Simeon exulting, says. Lord, I have 
 ssen thij salvation : more highly favoured than so 
 mani/ kings, and so ma?ii/ prophets, who desired to see 
 the Redeemer, but did not see him, Luke x. 24-^ 
 more highly privileged than so many believers of 
 former ages, who saw only the pronvises of him afar 
 off, and embraced them, Heb. xi. 13- he receives the 
 efiect of those promises ; he contemplates, not afar 
 
 V off. 
 
The Song of Simeon. 17 
 
 ^ but nigh, the star which was to come out of Jacobs 
 Num. xxiv. 17. he beholds the accomplishment of 
 the prophecies, Christ the end of the law for righte- 
 ousness to every one that believeth, Horn. x. 4. the Ark, 
 the Shechinah, the habitation of the Deity in his 
 temple, he in whom all the fulness of the God- 
 head dwelleth bodily , Col. ii. 9. he sees the manna, 
 and more than the manna, for your fathers did eat 
 manna in the wilderness and are dead, John, vi, 58. but, 
 whoso eateth myjiesh and drinketh my blood, hath eter- 
 nal life, wqx. 54. Father o/^qz/, exclaimed a Pagan 
 prince, *' thou radiant Sun, I thank thee that before I 
 leave the world, I have had the felicity of seeing Cor- 
 nelius Scipio in my kingdom and palace ; now I have 
 Jived as long as I can desire," It is the very emotion 
 with which Simeon is animated : he has lived long 
 enough, because he has seen th^ salvation of God, Let 
 the Roman republic henceforth extend her empire, or 
 let its limits be contracted ; let the great questions re- 
 volving in the recesses of cabinets be determined this 
 way or that ; let the globe subsist a few ages longer, 
 or crumble immediately into dust ; Simeon has no 
 desire to see any thing farther : " Lord, now lettest 
 thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy 
 word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 
 2. Secondly, Simeon remains no longer attached 
 to life from terror of the punishment of sin after 
 death. The sting of death is sin ; that sting so pain- 
 fully acute to all mankind, is peculiarly so to the 
 aged. An old man has rendered himself responsible 
 for all the stations which he occupied, for all the 
 relations which he formed in social life, and in the 
 church. And these, in general, become so many 
 sources of remorse. Generally speaking, it is not 
 separation from the world merely which renders 
 
 VOL. VI. C death 
 
18 The Song of Simeon. 
 
 death an object of horror ; it is the idea of the ac- 
 count which must be given in, when we leave it. If 
 nothing else were at stake, but merely to prepare for 
 removing out of the world, a small degree of reflec- 
 tion, a little philosophy, a little fortitude might 
 answer the purpose. What is the amount of hu- 
 man life, especially to a man arrived at a certain pe- 
 riod of existence ? What delight can an old man 
 find in society, after his memory is decayed, after 
 his senses are blunted, after the fire of imagination 
 is extinguished, when he is from day to day losing- 
 one faculty after another, when he is reduced so low 
 as to be the object of forbearance at most, if not 
 that of universal disgust and dereliction ? But the 
 idea of fourscore years past in hostility against God, 
 but the idea of a thousand crimes starting into light. 
 and calling for vengeance ; by their number and their 
 atrocity exciting a fearful looking for ofjudgfnenl — 
 this, this presents a just ground of terror and asto- 
 nishilient. 
 
 But all such terrors disappear in the eyes of Sime- 
 on ; he knows the end for which this child was born, 
 -whom he now holds in his arms : he directs his eyes, 
 beyond the cradle, to his cross ; by means of the pro- 
 phetic illumination which was upon him, he per- 
 ceives this Christ of God ?7iaking his soul an offering 
 for 5?;2, Isa. liii. 10. He expects not, as did his 
 worldly-minded countrymen, a temporal kingdom ; he 
 forms far juster ideas of the glory of the Messiah ; he 
 contemplates him spoiling inincipaUties and powers, 
 making a shew of them openh/, nailing them to his 
 crQss.^Qol, ii. 15. Let us not be accused of having 
 derived these ideas from the schools, and from our 
 courses of theological study : no, we deduce this all- 
 important truth immediately from the substance of 
 the gospel. Ponder seriously, I beseech you, what 
 
 Simean 
 
The Song of Simeon. t§ 
 
 Simeon himself says to Mary, as he shewed to her 
 the infant Jesus : " Behold this child is set for the 
 l"all and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign 
 which shall he spoken against : yea, a sword shall 
 pierce through thy own soul also," Luke ii. 34, 35. 
 What could be meant by that sivord with which 
 the mother of our Lord was to have hev soul pierced 
 through P That anguish, undoubtedly; which she 
 should undergo, on seeing her Son nailed to a cross. 
 What an object for a mother's eye ? Who among 
 you, my brethren, has concentrated every anxious, 
 care, every tender affection on one darling object, 
 say a beloved child, whom he fondly looks to, as 
 his consolation in adversity, as the glory of his' fa- 
 mily, as the support of his feeble old age ? Let him 
 be supposed to feet what no power of language* is 
 able to express : let him put himself in the place of 
 Mary, let that beloved child be supposed in the place 
 of Jesus Christ : faint image still of the conflict 
 which nature is preparing for that tender mother: 
 feeble commentary on the words of Simeon to 
 Mary, ^^r/, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul 
 also. Mary must lose that Son whose birth was an- 
 nounced to her by an angel from heaven ; that Son 
 on whose advent the celestial hosts descended to 
 congratulate the listening earth ; that son whom so 
 many perfections, whom such ardour of charity, 
 whom benefits so innumerable should have for ever 
 endeared to mankind : already she represents to her- 
 self that frightful solitude, that state of universal 
 desertion in which the soul finds itself, when, having 
 been bereaved of all that it held dear, it feels as if 
 the wiiele world were dead, as if nothing else re- 
 mained in the Vast universe, as if every tiling that 
 coitimunicated motion and life had been annihi-- 
 latedv 9. 
 
 ' ' ■ ' And- 
 
20 The Song of Simeon, 
 
 And through what a path was she to behold this 
 Son departing out of the world ? by a species of 
 martyrdom, the bare idea of which scares the ima- 
 gination. She beholds those bountiful hands which 
 had so frequently fed the hungry, which had per- 
 formed so many miracles of mercy, pierced through 
 with nails : she beholds that royal head, which 
 would have shed lustre on the diadem of the uni- 
 verse, crowned with thorns, and that arm, destined 
 to wield the sceptre of the world, bearing a reed, 
 the emblem of mock-majesty ; she beholds that 
 Temple in which dwelleth all the fulness of the God- 
 head bodily^ Col. ii. p. with all his wisdom, with all 
 his illumination, with all his justice, with all his 
 mercy, with all the perfections w^hich enter into the 
 notion of the suprem.e Being; she beholds it as- 
 saulted with a profane hatchet, and an impious 
 spear : she hears the voices of the children of Edom 
 crying aloud, concerning this august habitation of 
 the most High, Rase it, ra^eit, even to the foundation 
 thereof 
 
 But if even then, w^hile she beholds Jesus ex- 
 piring, she could have been permitted to approach 
 him, to comfort him, to collect the last sigh of that 
 departing spirit ! Could she but have embraced that 
 dearly beloved Son to bathe him with her tears, and 
 bid him a last farewell ! Could she but for a few mo- 
 ments have stopped that precious fluid draining off 
 in copious streams, and consuming the sad remains 
 of exhausted nature ! Could she but have been per- 
 mitted to support that sacred, sinking head, and to 
 pour balm into his wounds I But she must submit to 
 the hand of violence : she too is borne down by the 
 fotver of darkness, Lujce xxii. 53. She has nothing- 
 to present to the expiring sufferer but unavailing so- 
 licitude, and fruitless tears : a sword shall pierce 
 
 throngh 
 
The Song of Simeo7i. 21 
 
 through thy own soul also: Simeon understood, then, 
 the mystery of the cross : he looked to the efficacy 
 of that blood which was to be shed by the Redeemer 
 whom he now held in his arms, and mider that hoiy 
 impression exclaims, " Lord, now lettest thou thy ser- 
 vant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation/^ 
 
 3. Finally, Simeon no longer feels an attachment 
 to this world, from any doubt or suspicion he enter- 
 tained respecting the doctrine of a life to come. 
 He is now at the very fountain of life, and all that 
 now remains is to be set free from a mortal body, in 
 order to attain immortality. We may deduce, from 
 the preparations of grace, a conclusion nearly similar 
 to that which we draw from the preparations of na- 
 ture, in order to establish the doctrine of a future 
 state of eternal felicity. How magnificent are the 
 preparations which nature makes I What glory do 
 they promise after death I The Author of our being 
 has endowed the human soul with an unbounded ca- 
 pacity of advancing from knowledge to knowledge, 
 from sensation to sensation. I make free here to 
 borrow the thought of an illustrious modern au- 
 thor * : "A perpetual circulation," says he, " of 
 " the same objects, were they subject to no other 
 ** inconvenience, would be sufficient to give us a 
 " disgust of the world. When a man has beheld 
 " frequently re-iterated vicissitudes of day and 
 •* night, of summer and winter, of spring and 
 ** autumn ; in a w^ord, of the different appear- 
 " ances of nature, what is there here below ca- 
 " pable of satisfying the mind ? I am well aware,'* 
 adds he, " how Ijrilliant, liow magnificent this 
 " spectacle, is I know how possible it i<; to indulge 
 '** in it with a steady and increasing delight ; but I 
 
 " likewise 
 * Mfnlor, torn. ili. Disc, cxll, p. 340. 
 
22 The Song of Simeon. 
 
 " likewise know that, at length, the continual rt- 
 " currence of the same images cloys the imagina^ 
 ** tion, which is eagerly looking forward to the re-- 
 " moval of the curtain, that it may contemplate 
 *' new scenes, of which it can catch only a confused 
 ** glimpse in the dark perspective of futurity. Death, 
 " in this point of view, is a transition merely from 
 " one scene of enjoyment to another. If present 
 " objects fatigue and excite disgust, it is only in 
 f^ order to prepare the soul for enjoying, more ex- 
 " quisitely, pleasm'es of a different nature, ever new, 
 '* and ever satisfying." 
 
 The conclusion deducible from the preparations of 
 nature, may likewise be derived from the prepara- 
 tions of grace. Let us not lose sight of our lead- 
 ing object. How magnificent had the preparations 
 of grace appeared in the eyes of Simeon ! This we 
 have already hinted : the whole of the Levitical dis- 
 pensation consisted of preparations for the appear- 
 ance of the Messiah ; if we form a judgment of the 
 blessings which he was to bestow upon the human 
 race, from the representations given us of him, it 
 is impossible to refrain from drawing this conclusion. 
 That the Messiah was to give unbounded scope to 
 the desires of the heart of man, was to communi- 
 cate to him that unspeakable felicity, for the enjoy- 
 ment of which nature had already prepared him, but 
 which nature had not the power to bestow. There, 
 I mean in the Levitical dispensation, you found the 
 shadows which retraced the Messiah ; there you 
 found types which represented him ; there oracles 
 which predicted him ; there an exhibition in which 
 "cvere displayed his riches, his pomp, his magnifi- 
 cence ; there you heard the prophets crying aloud : 
 " Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the skies 
 pour down righteousness: let the earth opep, and let 
 
 them 
 
Xhe Song of Simeon. 2S 
 
 tkem bring forth salvation; and letrigliteousness spring 
 up together," Isa. xlv. 8. " For unto us a Child is 
 born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall 
 be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called Won- 
 derful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting 
 Father, The Prince of Peace," Isa. ix. 6. " Lift up your 
 eyes to the heavens, and look upon the earth beneath: 
 for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the 
 €arth shall wax old like a garment, and they that 
 dwell therein shall die in like manner ; but my sal- 
 vation shall be for ever, and my righteousness shall 
 not be aboUshed," Isa. li. 6. 
 
 Now, What state of felicity could possibly corres- 
 pond to conceptions raised so high, by preparations 
 of such mighty import? What ! amount to no more 
 than that which Messiah bestows in this world ? 
 What I no more than to frequent these temples ? 
 what I no more than to raise these sacred songs of 
 praise : to celebrate our solemn feasts : to eat a lit-, 
 tie bread, and to drink a little wine at the commu- 
 nion table I And then to die ? And then to exist 
 no more .^ And can this be all that salvation which 
 the earth was to bring forth! And can this be all 
 that righteousness which the skies were to pour down P 
 And can this be the dew which the heavens were to 
 drop down from above ? And can this be the whole 
 amount of the atchievements of that Counsellor^ of 
 that wonderful one, of that Prince of Peace, of that 
 *' Father of Eternity ? Lord, now lettest thou thy ser- 
 vant depart in peace, according to thy word, for mine 
 eyes have seen thy salvation." Good Simeon, what 
 meaning do you intend to convey by these words ? In* 
 to what peace art thou wishing henceforth to depart, 
 if these eyes, which behold the Messiah, are going 
 to be doomed to the darkness of an eternal night ? 
 If these hands, which are privileged to hold, and to 
 
 embrace 
 
24 The Song of Simeon, 
 
 embrace bim, are going to become a prey to worms*"? 
 And if tbat life which thou wert enjoying before thy 
 Redeemer appeared, is going to be rent from thee^ 
 because he is ah'eady come ? 
 
 Ah I my brethren, how widely different are the 
 ideas which this holy man of God entertained I 
 Lord, noiu lettest thou thy servant depart in peace* 
 Wherefore note? Because now I know, from the 
 accomplishment of thy promise, what was before a 
 matter of presumption only, namely, that my soul 
 is not a mere modification of matter, and a result of 
 the arrangement, and of the harmony of my organs : 
 because I am novj convinced, that this soul of mine, 
 on being separated from the body, shall not become 
 a forlorn wanderer in a strange and solitary land : 
 because now I no longer entertain any doubt re- 
 specting my own immortality, and because I hold 
 in my arms him who has purchased it, and who be- 
 stows it upon me : because to see Jesus Christ, and 
 to die, is the highe^^t blessedness that can be confer- 
 red on a mortal creature* 
 
 Permit me, my beloved brethren, to repeat my 
 words, and with them to finish this discourse : To 
 see Jesus Christ, and to die, is the highest blessed- 
 ness that csn be conferred on a mortal cj-eature. En- 
 joy, my friends, enjoy the felicity which the Saviour 
 bestows upon you, during the course of a transitory 
 life : gratify, as you this day turn a wondering eye 
 to the manger in which this divine Saviour lies, and 
 as you celebrate the memory of his incarnation, 
 gratify the taste which you have for the great and 
 the marvellous : and cry out with an enraptured 
 apostle, Without controversy, ^reat is the mystery of 
 godliness : God teas manifest in the flesh, 1 Tim. iii. 
 16. Gratify, as in the retirement of the closet you 
 devote yourselves to the study of the doctrine of this 
 
 Jesus^ 
 
The Song of Si/neon, 2$ 
 
 Jesus, gratify the desire you feel to learn and to 
 know : draw constant supplies of light and truth. 
 from those treasures ofiuisdoia mid knowledge . Col. ii, 
 3. which he opens to you m nis gospel. Gratify, 
 as you receive, next Lord's day, the effusions of his 
 love, gratify the propensity v/hich n?vtaraily disposes 
 you to love him. Let eveiy power of the soul ex- 
 pand on hearing the tender expressions which he 
 addresses to you in the sacrament of the supper : 
 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, 
 and I will c^ive you rest, Matt. xi. 28. "Behold I 
 stand at the door and knock : if any man hear my 
 voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and 
 will sup with him, and he with me,'* Rev. iii. 20. 
 
 But after all, it is not during the course of a tran- 
 sitory life, at least it is not while you consider death 
 as still remote, that you are capable of knowing the 
 pleasure there is in being a Christian. No, it is nei- 
 ther in the retirement of the closet, nor seated at 
 the table of the Lord : it is not in your solemn 
 feasts, that you are capable of relishing the sweet- 
 ness which is to be found in beholding Jesus Christ, 
 in embracing him, in believing on him : it is in the 
 last moments of life ; it is when stretched on a 
 death-bed. Till then, your passions will sometimes 
 call it in question, whether the man of the world do 
 not actually enjoy more happiness than the Christian ; 
 whether the commerce of society, whether specta- 
 cles, play, the splendour of a court, do not confer 
 more real pleasure than that which flows from com- 
 munion with Jesus Christ. 
 
 But w^hen you shall find yourselves, like Si- 
 meon, in a state of universal dereliction ; but when 
 you shall behold nothing around you save unavail- 
 ing solicitudes, save ineffectual medicines, save 
 fruitless tear^, then you will know what the religion 
 
 ©f 
 
26 The Song of Simeon. 
 
 of Jesus Christ is ; then, iiiy brethren, you will taste 
 the delight of being a Christian \ then jou will 
 feel iiil the powerful attraetion of that peace which 
 is mentioned in the text : " Lord, now lettest thou 
 thy servant depart in peace, according to ihy w^ord, 
 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.'' 
 
 May these ideas of the Christian religion attach 
 us inviolably unto it. Let us, with Smiepn, em- 
 brace the Saviour of the world ; let us, with 4:he 
 wise men of the East, present unto him our gold, 
 and frankincense, and myrrh : or rather, let us pre- 
 sent unto him hearts penetrated wdth admiration^ 
 with gratitude, with love. Yes, divine Infant, desire 
 of all nations, glory of Israel, Saviour of mankind! 
 divine Lifant, whom so many oracles have predict- 
 ed, whom so many prophets have announced, whom 
 so many types have represented, and whose radiant 
 day so many kings and prophets wxre desirous to 
 behold : my faith pierces through all those veils 
 which overspread and conceal thee: I behold, in 
 the pei'son of a creature feeble and humbled, my 
 God, and my Redeemer : I contemplate thee not 
 only as born a few^ days ago at Bethlehem of Judah, 
 but subsisting " before the mountains were brought 
 forth, before the earth was formed, even from ever^ 
 lasting to everlasting," Psalm xc. 2. I behold thee 
 not only lying in a manger, w^rapped in swaddling 
 clothes, but I behold thee seated on a throne of glory, 
 liighly exalted^ having a name that is above every name, 
 adored by angels and seraphims, encircled with rays 
 of divinity. 
 
 Every powder of my understanding shall hence- 
 forth be devoted to the knowledge of thee : it shall 
 be my constant endeavour to please thee, my su- 
 preme delight to possess thee ; and it shall be my 
 lioblest ambition to prostrate myself pne day before 
 
 thy 
 
The Song of Simeon, 27 
 
 thy throne, and to sing with the inmimerable mul- 
 titudes of the redeemed of every nation, and people, 
 and tongue : Unto him who sitteth upon the throne^ 
 and unto the Lamb, be honour and glory ^ and poiver, 
 for ever and ever. Amen, 
 
 SEKMON 
 
SERMON II- 
 
 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples. 
 
 '■■• O i» e 9 M ' 
 
 John xiv. xv. xvi. 
 
 * Let 7iot your heart be troubled : ye believe i?i God^ 
 belie've also in me, Sfc. 
 
 WE begin, this morning, with explaining to 
 you the texts which refer to our blessed Sa- 
 vour's passion. If the knowledge of the Christian 
 be all reducible to this, to know Jesus Christ, and him 
 crucified, 1 Cor. ii. 2. it is impossible to fix your 
 eyes too frequently on the mysteries of the cross. 
 Very few discourses, accordingly, are addressed to 
 you, in which these great objects are not brought 
 forward to view. Nay, more ; it is the pleasure of 
 this church, that, at certain stated seasons, the doc- 
 trine of the cross, to the exclusion of every other, 
 should be the subject of our preaching : that all the 
 
 circumstances 
 
 * Those who wish to derive benefit from the following discourse, 
 must previously peruse, with attention, the xiv. xv, and xvi. chap- 
 ters of John's gospel. 
 
30 Christ's Vakdktovy Address to his DiscipleSi 
 
 circumstances attending it should be detailed, and 
 every view of it displayed. But whatever powers 
 may be applied to the execution of this work, it 
 cannot possibly be accomplished within the space of 
 a few weeks. We have especially had to lament 
 that our Saviour's last address to his disciples should 
 be omitted. I mean the discourse which he ad- 
 dressed to them, a little while before he retired into 
 the garden of Gethsemane, and which St John has 
 preserved to us in the xiv. xv. and xvi. chapters of 
 his gospel. This part of the history of the passion 
 is, unquestionably, one of the most tender and most 
 interesting. We propose to make it pass in review 
 before you this day, as far as the bounds prescribed 
 to us will permit. 
 
 Were it proper to make the place where I stand a 
 Vehicle for communications of this kind, I am ready 
 ingenuously to acknowledge, that a particular cir- 
 cumstance determined my choice on this occasion, 
 A fe^ days only have elapsed since I was called to 
 be witness of the dying agonies of a valuable mi- 
 nister *, whom Providence has just removed from 
 the superintendance of a neighbouring church. 
 God was pleased to visit him for some months past, 
 if we may presume to speak so, Vvith a temptation, 
 more than is common to man^ 1 Cor. x, 13. but he 
 granted him a fortitude more than human to support 
 it. I was filled with astonishment at the violence of 
 his sufferings ; and still more at the patience with 
 which he endured them : I could not help expressing 
 a wish to know, what particular article of religion 
 had contributed the most to produce in him that 
 prodigy of resolution : Have you ever paid a closer at- 
 te?ition, my dear brother, said he to me, " to the last ad- 
 dress of Jesus Christ to his disciples ? My God, ex- 
 claimed 
 
 * Mr Begnon, pastor of the church at Leyder . 
 
Chrisfs VaMictory Address to his Disciples. ^1 
 
 claimedhe, what charity I what tenderness I but above 
 all, what an inexhaustible source of consolation in the 
 extremity of distress "I His words filled me with asto- 
 nishment : my thoughts were immediately turned 
 toward you, my dearly beloved brethren ; and I 
 said within myself, I must furnish my hearers with 
 this -powerful defence against suffering and death. I 
 enter this day on the execution of my design. 
 Condescend to concur wdth me in it. Come and 
 meditate on the last expressions which fell from the 
 lips of a dying Saviour ; let us penetrate into the 
 very centre of that heart which the sacred flame of 
 charity animated, 
 
 I must proceed on the supposition that your minds 
 are impressed with the subject of the three chaptei's 
 «f which I am going to attempt an analysis. The 
 great object which our Lord proposes to himself, in 
 this address, is to fortify his disciples against the 
 temptations to which they were about to be ex- 
 posed. And, in order to reduce our reflections to 
 distinct classes, Jesus Christ means to fortify Ifir 
 liisciples. 
 
 I. Against the offence of his cross, 
 
 II. Against the persecution wliich his. doctriiiCi 
 w^as going to excite. 
 
 III. Against forgetfulness of his precepts. 
 
 IV. Against sorrow for his absence. 
 
 I. First, Jesus Christ means to fortify his disciples 
 
 against the offence of the cross. A man must be a 
 
 mere novice in the history of the gospel if he knows 
 
 not how extremely confused their ideas were witli re- 
 
 3 spect 
 
32 Christ^ s Vakdiciorij Address to his Disciples, 
 
 spect to the mystery of redemption Those wh* 
 ascribe to tViem superior ilkimination are mistaken 
 both in the principle, and in the consequences 
 whicn they deduce from it. Their principle is, that 
 the Jewish church was perfectly well acquainted 
 \vith the whole mystery of the cross ; an opinion 
 supported by no historical monument whatever. 
 
 But granting we were to admit this principle, \vt 
 must of necessity resist the consequence deduced 
 from it, with respect to the apostles. It is very pos- 
 sible to have a clouded understanding amidst a lumi-. 
 nous dispensation, and to grovel in ignorance be the 
 age ever so cniigatened. Had we a mind to demon- 
 strate to what a degree the age in which we live sur- 
 passes those which preceded it, whether in physical 
 discovery, or in metaphysical and theological specu- 
 lation, would we go to collect our proofs among our 
 common mechanics, or from among the fishermen 
 who inhabit our sea-ports ? 
 
 Let us call to remembrance the indiscreet zeal of 
 Peter, when Jesus Christ declared to him, " how he 
 must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things — and 
 be killed," Mat. xvi. 21. ^^ it far from thee. Lord: this 
 shall 7iot be unto thee, ver. 22. Recollect the reply 
 which Jesus made to that disciple : Get thee behind 
 me, Satan : thou art an offence to me, ver. 23- Re- 
 collect farther the question which the apostles put to 
 their Master some time before his ascension : Lojd, 
 wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 
 Acts i. 6, Above all, recollect the conversation which 
 passed between certain of them immediately after his 
 resurrection : " w^e trusted that it had been he which 
 should have redeemed Israel : and beside all this, to- 
 day is the third day since these things were done," 
 Luke xxiv. 21 . You trusted, that it had been he which 
 should have redeeined Israel ! Well I and wherefore 
 trust no longer ? Whence then arises this diffidence ? 
 1 W'herein 
 
Christ^s Vhlfdictory Address to his Disciples, 33 
 
 Wherein has his promise failed ? What oracle of the 
 prophets has he neglected to fulfil ? " O fools, and 
 *' slow of heart to beHeve all that the prophets have 
 ** spoken I Ought not Christ to have suffered these 
 " things, and to enter into his glory ?" ver. 25, 26. 
 
 Taking it for granted, then, that the apostles had 
 but confused ideas of the mystery of the cross, what 
 offence must they not have taken, when they were 
 called to be the witnesses of that fearful spectacle I 
 From our being accustomed to hear the punishment 
 of crucifixion spoken of in terms of high dignity, we 
 lose sight of what was ignominious and humiliating 
 in it. Represent to yourself a man whom you had 
 made the centre, the fixed point of all your hopes* 
 Represent to yourself a man, a God man, to whom 
 you had been accustomed to yield all the homage of 
 adoration : represent to yourself this divine personage, 
 whom you believed to have descended from heaven 
 to remedy the woes of mankind ; to remove youi pri- 
 vate distresses ; to re-establish your credit, and to re> 
 store to your country all its splendour and all its im- 
 portance : represent to yourself this divine personage 
 bound by the hands of an insolent rabble ; dragged 
 along from one tribunal to another ; condemned as a 
 felon, and nailed to a tree. Can this be that Mes- 
 siah, into whose hand God was to put a '* rod of iron 
 " to break the nations, and to dash them in pieces 
 •' like a potter's vessel?'* Ps. ii. 9. Can this be that 
 Messiah who should " have dominion from sea to 
 *' sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth?" 
 Ps. Ixxii. 8. Can this be the Messiah who was to 
 make us " sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes 
 '* of Israel?" Luke xxii. SO. As this was the grand 
 offence with the apostles, their Master supplies them 
 with more thr.n one buckler to repel it. 
 
 I. The first buckler for repelling^ the offence of 
 the cross--The miserable condition of a lost world. 
 *' I tell vou the truth ; it is f-xpcdient for you that I 
 
 Vol/VL D " go 
 
'34 Christ'' s Vahdictoiy Address to Jus Disciples, 
 
 "go away ; for if I go not away, the Comforter will 
 " not come mito you," ch. xvi. 7. Had not Jesus 
 Christ been oiiered in sacrifice, there had been no 
 Comforter, and no consolation for the wretched pos- 
 terity of Adam. The anger of a righteous God was 
 kindled against them. They had nothing to look 
 for from heaven, but thunderbolts and an horrible 
 tempest^ to crush their guilty heads. On the cross it 
 w^as that Jesus Christ restored a blessed correspond- 
 ence between heaven and earth : " for it pleased the 
 " Father, that in hnii should all fulness dwell ; and, 
 " having made peace through the blood of his cross, 
 *' by him to reconcile all things unto hinibelf, whe- 
 " ther they be things in earth, or things in heaven;" 
 Col. i. 19, 20. 
 
 i2. The second buckler against the offence of the 
 cross— The downfal of the enemy of mankind, I 
 mean the Devil and his angels : " the prince of this 
 " world is judged," ch. xiv. 30. xvi. 11. The cruci- 
 fixion of the Redeemer of the w^orld, it is true, 
 seemed -to complete the triumph of Satan, but it w^as, 
 in reality, pr-ecisely the point of his decline and fall. 
 He bruised the heel of the promised seed, but Jesu!r; 
 Christ bruised his head. Gen. iii. 15. On the cross 
 it was that Jesus executed the design of his coming 
 into the w^orld, namely, to destroy the works of the 
 Devil, 1 John iii. 8. On the cross it was that Jesus 
 Christ poured out the precious blood which was go- 
 ing to becoine the true seed of the church. On the 
 cross it was that he dashed dovvii to the ground the 
 trophies of idolatry, and there he " spoiled principa- 
 " lities and powers, and made a shew of them open - 
 " ly, triumphing over them in it," Col. ii. 15. 
 
 S. The third buckler against the offence of tiie 
 cross — The sovereign command of his heavenly Fa- 
 tlier: " the prince of this woild cometh, and hath 
 " nothing in me. But that the world may know that 
 " I love the Fatlier ; and as the Father gave me com- 
 
 " mand ■ 
 
Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples, 35 
 
 *' mandment, even so I do," chap. xiv. 30, 31. What 
 was the commandment given of the Father to Jesus 
 Christ ? You know it, my brethren ; the commission 
 which he had given him, was to deliver from the 
 dreadful abysses of hell a world of miserable wretches, 
 vvhom divine justice had there doomed to undergo 
 the punishment of everlasting fire. This was the su- 
 preme will which the Redeemer had continually be- 
 fore his eyes. For this it was that he saith, when he 
 Cometh into the w^orld : *' Sacrifice and offering thou 
 " didst not desire : but a body hast thou prepared for 
 " me : burnt-offering and sin-offering hast thou not 
 '' required : then said I, Lo, 1 come : in the volume 
 ^' of the book it is written of me : I delight to do thy 
 ** will, O my God," Ps. xL 6, 7, 8. For this it was 
 that dismayed, and cast down, as it were to the ground 
 at Gethsemane, at the bare apprehension of approach- 
 ing sufferings, he prayed, saying : " O my Father, if 
 " it be possible, let this cup pass from me," but im- 
 mediately added, " nevertheless, not as I. will, but as 
 *' thou wilt," Matt. xxvi. 39. 
 
 4. The fourth buckler against the offence of the 
 cross — The idea of the storm which was ready to 
 burst on ihe authors of those sufferings, and upon a 
 whole guilty nation which had obstinately rejected 
 his ministry : " If I had not come, and spoken unto 
 *' them, they had not had sin : but now they have no 
 *' cloke for their sin. He that hateth me, hateth vaj 
 " Father also," ch. xv. 22, 23. This parricide filled 
 up the measure of the incredulity and barbarity of 
 the Jews : it was going to put the last hand to an ac- 
 cumulation of criminality. But let not the impa- 
 tience of the fiesh hurry the spirit into the formation 
 of precipitate judgment : let not the libertine and the 
 profane here display their abominable system : let 
 them not say, as they point to the cross of the Savi- 
 our, on which innocence is immolated to iniquity, 
 Where i^ that Providence which guides the helm of 
 
 D ^ * tlie 
 
36 Chj'isfs Valedictory Address to his Disciples. 
 
 the universe ? Where are those eyes which go up and 
 down through the earth, to contemplate the actions 
 of men? Where is that righteous Judge of all the 
 earth, ever ready to administer justice ? Have a little 
 patience, and you shall see, that as this parricide con- 
 stituted the most atrocious of all crimes, it v/as like- 
 wise speedily followed by the most tremendous of all 
 punishments. You shall behold the accomplishment 
 of that prophetic denunciation : " Daughters of Jeru- 
 " salem, weep not for me, but weep for yourselves and 
 " for your children," Luke xxiii. 28. You shall be- 
 hol4 the Jews driven to desperation, imploring assis- 
 tance from the rocks and from the mountains, to shel- 
 ter them from the strokes of that divine vengeance 
 which pursues them : you shall behold that Jerusar 
 lem, that murderess of the prophets, deluged with 
 her own blood : two millions of Jews offered in sacri- 
 fice to the justice of that God, who requires at their 
 hands the blood of the Messiah. 
 
 5. The fifth buckler against the offence of the cross 
 — The spectacle of charity which Jesus Christ presents 
 to his disciples : '* Greater love hath no man than 
 *' this, that a man lay down his life for his friends," 
 ch. XV. 13. Accordingly, when this divine Saviour 
 had arrived at the period of his death, and had 
 formed, if I may use the expression, the ultimate re- 
 solution to die, every fiood-gate of his charity is set 
 open : from this fountain of love, whence emanated 
 the heroic purpose of immolating himself fpr his 
 disciples, we behold every other proof of affection 
 gushing out in copious streams : ** Henceforth I call 
 ** you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what 
 " his lord doth : but I have called you friends ; for all 
 " things that I have heard of my Father I have 
 " made known unto you," ch. xv. 15. If you have 
 been faithful to me while I was giving you strong 
 proofs of my tenderness, is it pos^ble you should 
 be unfaithful, now that I am preparing to gvxo. you a 
 
 demonstration 
 
Christ's Valediciory Address to his Disciples, 37 
 
 demonstration of it still more irresistable ? Is it pos- 
 sible jou should choose the time of my crucifixion to 
 betray me ? Is it possible you should deny your Re- 
 deemer, precisely at the moment when he is dying to 
 accomplish the work of your redemption ? 
 
 II. Our blessed Lord having spoken, to the disci- 
 ples, of the cross which he was about to suffer, and 
 this is the second article of meditation, proceeds to 
 speak to them concerning their own. He disguises 
 not either the horror or the weight of it : " These 
 *' things I have spoken unto you, that you should not 
 *' be offended. They shall put you out of the syna- ' 
 " gogues : yea, the time cometh, that whosoever kilU 
 •^ eth you will think that he doth God service," ch. 
 xvi. 1, 2. But while he utters a prediction so melan- 
 choly and discouraging, he softens it, and supplies 
 them with motives the best adapted to fortify and 
 sustain them against the fearful accomplishment of 
 it. The objects which Jesus Christ presents to the 
 eyes of his disciples, in the three chapters which we 
 are attempting to analyze, are the same which have 
 supported our own martyrs and confessors in this age 
 of fire and blood, when the enemies of religion have 
 taken for their models the persecutors of Christ and 
 of his apostles. 
 
 I suffer, I die for the gospel, said our confessors and 
 martyrs within themselves, in the extremity of their 
 sufferings : I suffer, I die for the gospel ; it is my high- 
 est glory ; it is my badge of conformity to my adora- 
 ble Saviour : ** I fill up that which is behind of the 
 " afflictions of Christ in my flesh," Col. i. 24. " I 
 ** bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus," 
 GaL^i. ,17. It is one of the motives which our Lord 
 liimself proposes to his apostles : " if the world hate 
 '•you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. 
 *4The servant is not greater than the lord. If they 
 V have persecuted me, they v/ill also persecute you " 
 ch. XV. 18. 20. 
 
38 Chrises Valedictory Address to Ms Disciples. 
 
 I suffer, I die for the gospel. The world places 
 before me a theatre of misery and persecution only : 
 but it is because I am not of this world. I am look- 
 ing and longing for another establishment of things, 
 and every stroke aimed at me by the men of the 
 world, is a pledge of my being a citizen of another, 
 of a heavenly country. This is a farther motive sug- 
 gested by Jesus Christ to his disciples : " If ye were 
 " of the world, the world would love his own : but 
 " because ye are not of the world, but 1 have chosen 
 ", you out of the world, therefore the world hateth 
 " you," ch. XV. 19. 
 
 1 suffer, I die for the gospel. How glorious it is 
 for a man to devote himself in such a cause ? How 
 glorious it is to be the martyr of truth and of vir- 
 tue I Our Lord suggests this likewise as a motive to 
 his disciples : " all these things will they do unto you 
 " for my name's sake, because they know not him 
 " who sent me," ch. xv. 21. 
 
 I suffer, I die for the gospel ; but God is witness 
 of my sufferings and death : he feels every stroke 
 which falls upon me : " he who toucheth me toucheth 
 *' the apple of his eye," Zech. ii. 8. And as he is the 
 witnesS|of the barbarity of my torm^entors, he will 
 likewise be the judge and the avenger. This like- 
 wise is a motive suggested by our Lord to his dis- 
 ciples : " he that hateth me hateth my Father also," 
 chap. XV. 23. 
 
 1 suffer, I die for the gospel : but I have before 
 my eyes the great pattern of patience and fortitude. 
 I derive the support which I need from the same 
 source whence my Saviour derived his : I look to 
 " the Author and Finisher of my faith, who, for the 
 *' joy set before him, endured the cross, despising the 
 ^* shame," Heb. xii. 2. and I aspire after the same 
 triumph. This is a motive suggested by Jesus Christ 
 to his disciples : " in the world ye shall have tribu- 
 ^' lation : but be of good cheer, i have overcome the 
 
 *' world," 
 
Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples', 39 
 
 " world," chap. xvi. 33. What cross would not ap- 
 pear Hght, wlien the mind is supported by motives 
 so powerful ? 
 
 -III. We observed, in the third place, that our 
 blessed Lord is, in this address, cautioning his disci- 
 ples against forgetfulness of his commandments,. 
 The presence of a good pastor is a bulwark agaiii^it 
 error and vice. The respect which he commands by 
 his exemplary conduct, and the lustre whictf his su -. 
 perior intelligence diffuses, impress truth upon the. 
 understanding, and transfuse virtue into the heart.. 
 He has his eyes ever open upon the various avenues 
 through which the enemy could find admission into- 
 the field of the Lord, to sow it with tares, and by the 
 exercise of constant vigilance defeats the cunning of 
 the wicked one. 
 
 Conformably to this idea, one of the most 
 grievous solicitudes which, at a dying hour, have 
 oppressed the minds of those extraordinary men to 
 whom God committed the oversight of his church, 
 proceeded from the apprehension of that corruption 
 into which their charge was in danger of falling after 
 their own departure : and the object of their most 
 anxious concern has been to prevent this. Behold. 
 Moses approaching the last closing scene of life : 
 " Take this book of the law," says he to the Levites, 
 " and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the 
 " Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness 
 '' against thee : for 1 know thy rebellion and thy stiff- 
 *' neck : behold, while I am yet alive with you this 
 *' day, ye have been rebellious against the Lord ; and 
 " how much more after my death ?" Deut. xxxi. 26,- 
 27. Behold St Paul : consider the terrors which he 
 feels as he prepares to go up to .Terusalem : it is not- 
 that of being made a partaker of his Master's suffer- 
 ings :, " no," says he, " the Holy Ghost wltnesseth in 
 "- every city, saying, that bonds and afflictions abide. 
 '' me at. Jerusalem, , R>it iione of the$e things mpya- 
 iW'f • ' '' me. 
 
40 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Biscipla . 
 
 *' me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that 
 ** I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry 
 *' which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify 
 ** the gospel of the grace of God," Acts xx. 23, ^4- 
 But that which fills him with painful apprehension is 
 the danger of apostatizing to which his beloved Ephe- 
 sians, among w^hom he has been so successful, were 
 going to be exposed after he had left them : for this 
 reason it is, that in bidding them a final adieu, he ex- 
 presses an ardent wish that a last effort should indeli- 
 bly impress on their hearts the great truths which had 
 been the subject of his ministry among them : *■ I take 
 *' you to record this day, that 1 am pure from the 
 *^ blood of all men : for I have not shunned to declare 
 *' unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore 
 *^ unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the 
 *■ Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the - 
 f'. church of God, which he hath purchased wdth his 
 '* own blood. For I know this, that after my depart- 
 '' ing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not 
 ** sparing the flock," Acts xx. 26 — 29. 
 
 Jesus Christ, in like manner, is ready to finish the 
 work which his heavenly Father has given him to 
 do : he shrinks from it no longer : he advances for- 
 ward^ braving the cross, being " now ready to be offer- 
 *' ed," 2 Tini. i\^. 6. Arise, says he to them, arise ; 
 (he was still in the house where he had just eaten the 
 j)assover, when he pronounced the discourse which 
 we are endeavouring to explain) let us go hence, 
 ch. xiv, 31. I must pass no more time wdth my be- 
 loved disciples i I am going to be delivered up to 
 my executioners: I must no more drink wdth you o/" 
 the fruit of the vine, Luke xxii. 18. in a feast of 
 love ; it is time for me to go and drink to the very 
 dregs the cup v^rhich the justice of my Father is put- 
 ting into pny hands : let us go hence : let us go to 
 Gethsemane : let us ascend to Golgotha. But, " Si- 
 *^ mon, jSimon, behold, Satan hath desi^pd to have you, 
 ' " t^iat 
 
Christ's Maledictory Address to his Disciples. 4I 
 
 *' that he may sift you as wheat/' Luke xxii. 31- But, 
 *' all ye shall be offended because of me this night," 
 Matt. xxvi. 31. But, the Devil, and the worlds and all 
 hell, are going to unite their efforts to dissolve your 
 communion with me. What does he oppose to danger 
 jio threatening ? What means does he employ to pre- 
 vent it ? What ought to be done by a good pastor 
 when stretched on a death-bed: not only earnest 
 prayers addressed to heaven, but also tender exhorta- 
 tions addressed to men. He gives them an abridge- 
 ment of the sermons which, during the period of his 
 intercourse with them, had been the subject of his 
 ministrations : " if ye love me, keep my command- 
 " ments," ch. xiv. 15, 
 
 But what merits special attention in the last adr 
 dress of Jesus Christ to his apostles, is the precept 
 on which he particularly insists : and the subject of 
 that precept is charity : " by this shall all men know 
 " that ye are ipy disciples, if ye have love one to an- 
 *' other," ch. xiii. 35. " A new commandment I give 
 " unto you, that ye love one another ; as I have love4 
 " you, that ye also love one another," ver. 34. ; a pre- 
 cept which they were bound to observe as ChristiaiRS, 
 t^nd more especially as minsters of his gospel. 
 
 1. As Christians: without charity Christianity can- 
 not possibly subsist. A society, the individuals of 
 which do not love each other, cannot be a society of 
 the disciples of Jesus Christ. Tell me not of your 
 passing whole days and nights in meditation and 
 reading the scriptures ; of your uninterrupted assi- 
 duity in exercises of devotion ; of your fervor and 
 frequency of attendance at the table of the Lord. 
 The question still recurs, Where is thy charity? 
 Lovest thou thy neighbour.^ Makest thou his in- 
 terests thy own ? Is his prosperity a source of satis- 
 faction to thee } Canst thou bear with and overlook 
 his infirmities ? Respectest thou, recommendest thou 
 his excellencies ? Befendest thou his reputation ? 
 
 Laboure§t 
 
42 Christ's Valiidictory Address to his DiscipIeL 
 
 LaljDurest thou to promote his salvation ? Such 
 questions are so many touchstones to assist us in at- 
 taining the knowledge of ourselves : so many articles 
 of condemnation to multitudes who bear the Chris- 
 tian name. Of charity, alas, little more is known 
 than the name : and the whole amount of the practice 
 of it. is reduced to a few of the functions altogether 
 inseparable from mere humanity : when a man has 
 given away a small portion of his superfluity to re- 
 lieve the poor ; when he has bestowed a morsel of 
 bread to feed that starving wretch : when he has 
 covered those shivering limbs from the inclemency 
 of the air, he considers himself as having satisfied the. 
 demands of charity : he founds, shall 1 venture to say 
 it ?. he>founds on this symptom of love a title to w^t- 
 rant his indifference, his vengeance, his hatred : he 
 backbites without control, he calumniates without he- 
 sitation, he plunges the dagger without remorse: he 
 pines at the prosperity of another, and his neighbour's 
 glory clothes him with shame. 
 
 2. But if the disciples of Jesus Christ are engaged 
 as Christians to love one another, they more especi- 
 ally are so as ministers of the gospel. Where are 
 we to look for charity, if not in the heart of those 
 who are the heralds of charity ? What monster so de- 
 testable as a minister destitute of charity ! The more 
 that charity is inculcated by the religion which he- 
 professes to teach, the more it must expose him as 
 a**tnost unnatural being, if he is capable of resisting 
 the power of motives so tender. The more vene-, 
 rlible that his ministry is, the more liable must it be 
 to* Suspicion and contempt, when exercised by a man 
 \^ho is himself a stranger to charity. He wdll warp 
 live truths of religion according to seasons and cir- 
 oumstances : he will accommodate his preaching to- 
 liis interest : he will carry his passions with him into, 
 the pulpit : he wdll conceal the heart of a wolf un- 
 <ier the clothing of a sheep, and. will avail himself of 
 
 the 
 
Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples, 43 
 
 the law of charity itself, to diffuse through the 
 whole church the pestilential air of that hatred, ani- 
 mosity, and envy, which torment and prey upon his 
 own mind. 
 
 It was, in a peculiar manner, the desire of Jesu-s 
 Christ, that charity should be the reigning principle 
 in the college of the apostles, that, united together 
 in bands of the tenderest affection, they might lend 
 each other effectual support in the great v^^ork of 
 publishing the gospel. Never does the Devil labour 
 with more success against a church, than when he 
 acquires the power of disuniting the ministers who 
 have the oversight of it. Call to the pastoral charge 
 of a flock persons of the greatest celebrity, preach- 
 ers the most eloquent, geniuses the most transcend- 
 ent, unless they are closely united in the bands of 
 charity, small will be their progrees : they will se- 
 parate the hearts which they were bound to unite ; 
 they will foster the spirit of party ; they will encou- 
 rage the fomenters of discord ; they will instruct one 
 to say, I am of Paul ; and another, / cwi of Cephas ; 
 and another, / am of Apollos, 1 Cor. ill. 4. They 
 will be in constant mutual opposition. Apollos will 
 do his utmost to pull down what Ceplias had built 
 up : Cephas will attempt to rear what Paul had de- 
 molished. Discover the art, on the contrary, of uni- 
 ting the hearts of those who have the care of a flock, 
 and you ensure their success : they will strengthen 
 each others hands ; they will attack the common ene- 
 my with concentrated force ; they will concur in pur- 
 suing the same object. " A new commandment I 
 '* give unto you, that ye love one another. By this 
 " shall all mien know that ye are my disciples, if ye 
 " have love one to another." O charity I the livery 
 of the disciples of Jesus Christ, must it needs be that 
 thou shouldst be as rare as thou art indispensable I Ba- 
 nished from the rest of the universe, flee for refuge 
 to the church. Exert thy sovereign power at least in 
 
 the 
 
44 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples, 
 
 the sanctuary. Bind together in bands of indisso- 
 luble affection the shepherds of this flock. Let all 
 animosity, let discord, let envy, be for ever banished 
 from the midst of us, my beloved companions in the 
 work of the ministry, Eph. iv. 12. Amen. 
 
45 
 
 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Discipks. 
 PART II. 
 
 John xiv. 1. 
 
 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God; 
 believe also in me, 
 
 IV. npHE fourth and last great end which our 
 blessed Lord had in view, in addressing this 
 farewell discourse to his disciples, was to furnish them 
 v/ith supplies of consolation under the sorrow which 
 his absence was going to excite in them. This sor- 
 row is one of those dispositions of the soul which no 
 powers of language are capable of expressing. The 
 apostles tenderly loved their Master. Though the 
 history of their life had not conveyed to us this idea 
 of them ; though the gospel had not traced, for our 
 information, certain particular traits of their affection; 
 had nothing been mentioned of the tenderness of 
 the disciple whom Jesus loved, nothing of the vehe- 
 mence of St Peter, always ready to kindle into a flame 
 when the glory and the life of his Master were con- 
 cerned, the very nature of the thing would be suffici- 
 ent to give us the assurance of it. Who could have 
 known Jesus Christ without loving him? 
 
 Is it possible to conceive the idea of a character 
 more amiable? Have you found in the history of 
 those excellent ones, who were the delight of man- 
 kind 
 
4.{i Chris fs Valedictonj Address to his Disciples, 
 
 kind ; or even in the productions of those who have 
 communicated to us imaginary ideas of excellency 
 and perfection, have you found in these higher m- 
 stances of deHcacy, of magnanimity, of cordial af- 
 fection ? If it be impossible for you to apply your 
 thoughts to this great object without being transport- 
 ed, what must have been the feelings of the disciples? 
 Continual hearers of the gracious words winch fell 
 from the lips of the blessed Jesus, the constant wit- 
 nesses of his virtues, the spectators of his wonderful 
 works, admitted to the most intimate familiarity with 
 him, and honoured with the most unbounded confi- 
 dence, what must have been the love to him v/hich 
 inflamed their hearts ? Now this is the gracious 
 Master, this the delicious intercourse, this the tender- 
 hearted Friend whom they are going to lose. 
 
 What charm can the world possess after we have 
 had the infelicity of surviving certain persons who 
 were dear to us? No, neither the mourning of Joseph, 
 w^hen he accompanied v/ith tears to the threshing-floor 
 ofAtad the coffin of Jacob his father. Gen. i, 10.; no, 
 nor the loud lamentation of David, when he exclaimed, 
 in an agony of Vv^oe, " O my son Absalom; my son, 
 *' m^y son Absalom, would God I had died for thee : 
 " O Absalom, my son, my son I" 2 Sam. xviii. 33.; 
 no, nor the anguish of Rachel weeping for her chil- 
 dren^ and refusing to he conforted because they are not. 
 Matt. ii. 18. : No, nothing is capable of conveying an 
 idea of the condition to which the disciples were go- 
 ing to be reduced on beholding their Master expire. 
 One must have survived Jesus Christ in order to be 
 sensible what it is to survive Jesus Christ. This fa- 
 tal stroke was to become to them an inexhaustible 
 fountain of tears. This death appeared to them the 
 utter annihilation of all things : it seemed as if the 
 whole universe were dying together with him. " Now 
 ■' I go my v;ay to him that sent me; and none of you 
 " asketh me, Whither goest thou? but because 1 have 
 
 " said 
 
rChrist's Valedictory Address. to his Disciples. 47 
 
 '* said these things unto yovi, sorrow hath filled your 
 " hearts," ch. xvi. !S,^. " A little while and ye shall 
 ''.not see me," ver. l6. "Verily, verily, I say unto 
 "you, Ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall 
 " rejoice ; and ye shall be sorrowful," ver. 20. 
 
 There can be no room to doubt that Jesus Christ, 
 who himself loves with so much delicacy of affec- 
 tion, and who was animated with such a predilection 
 in behalf of his disciples, tenderly participated in their 
 sorrow. As the loss, which they were about to sus- 
 tain, was the deepest wound in their soul, he pours 
 into it the most powerful balm of divine consolation. 
 And here, my dearly beloved brethren, here it is that 
 1 stand in need of, not all the attention of your intel- 
 lectual powers, but of ail the sensibility of which your 
 heart is susceptible, that while you partake in the 
 sorrow of the apostles, you may likewise partake with 
 them in the consolation which their Lord and ours 
 was pleased to administer. 
 
 I shall sometimes turn aside from those holy men, 
 my dear hearers, to address myself to you, and to sup- 
 ply you with abundant consolation, under the most 
 oppressive ills which you may be called to endure on 
 the earth ; 1 mean under the loss of those who wcri^ 
 most dear to you in life. I could wish to convince 
 you, that the Christian religion, is profitable for all 
 t/ii/igs : that it will serve us as a bulwark and a re- 
 fuge in our greatest sorrows, if v/e have but the wis- 
 dom to resort to it. Only take care to apply, every 
 one to his own particular situation, the truths which I 
 am going to propose to you. Derive ^your consoia-- 
 tions from the same sources which Jesus Christ open- 
 ed to his disciples, and to a participation of which we 
 now, after his example, cordially invite you : prayer^ 
 the mission of the Comforter, the place to which your 
 Redeemer is gone, tha foretastes, of the glory which 
 he is there preparing for you, his spiritual presence ia 
 Uic midst of you, and the certainty and nearness of 
 hi$ return. 1. In 
 
48 Christy's Valedictory xiddress to his Disciple-, 
 
 1. In all your distresses have recourse to prayer. 
 *' Verily, verily, I say unto you^ Whatsoever ye shall 
 ** ask the Father, in my name, he will give it you. 
 '' Hitherto ye have asked nothing in my name : ask, 
 *' and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full," 
 ch. xvi. 23, 24. This ought to be adopted as a new 
 form of prayer in the Christian world. Scarcely do 
 we find any trace of it in the devotions of the faith- 
 ful of ancient times. They indeed sometimes intro- 
 duced the names of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob ; 
 but no where, except in the prophecy of Daniel, do 
 we find a prayer put up in the name of the Messiah. 
 This at least is the sense which may be assigned to 
 those words of that prophet : *' Now, therefore, O our 
 '• God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his sup- 
 " plication, and cause thy face to shine upon thy 
 '•' sanctuary, that is desolate, for the Lord's sake/' 
 Dan. ix. 17. 
 
 But this unexampled form, or of which there is at 
 most so few examples in the ancient chuj?ch, was to 
 be henceforward adopted by all Christians : it is the 
 first source of consolation which Christ opened to 
 his disciples, and it is likewise the first which we, 
 after him, would propose to you. Perhaps there 
 may be many among us to whom Jesus might still 
 say, as formerly to his disciples, hitherto have ye 
 asked nothing in my name. To pray, and to pray in 
 the name of Christ, is the Chistian's grand resource. 
 Resort to it in all your tribulations. Have you rea- 
 son to apprehend that some stroke from the hand of 
 God is going to fall heavy upon you ? Do you believe 
 yourself on the eve of hearing some melancholy 
 tidings ? Are you called to undergo some painful 
 and dangerous operation on your person ? And, to 
 ^say every thing in one word, are you threatened 
 with the loss of the most valuable, the most gene- 
 rous, the most tender friend that heaven could 
 "bestow ? Have vecourse to prayer : God still subsists 
 
 when 
 
GhHst's Valedictory Address to his i)isciples. 40 
 
 Avhen all things else have become dead to thee. God 
 continueth to hear thee, when death has reduced to a 
 state of insensibility all that was dear to thee. Re- 
 tire to thy closet ; prostrate thyself at the footstool of 
 the throne of the Father of mercies. Pour out your 
 heart into his bosom : say to him, " O Lord, my 
 ** strength, teach my hands to war, and my fingers to 
 " fight,'* Ps. cxliv. 1. Lord, take pity on thy crea- 
 ture ; Lord, proportion my trials to the strength thou 
 shall be pleased to administer to sustain them : " O my 
 " God, hear the prayer of thy servant; cause thy face 
 *' to shine upon me, for the Lord's sake." Dan. ix. 17. 
 This exercise, my friend, will render thee invulnera- 
 ble; this exercise will communicate strength on which 
 thou mayest, with confidence, rely, far beyond what 
 thou durst have expected : it will place thee under 
 the shadow of the Almighty, and will establish thee 
 " as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abid- 
 *' eth for ever," Ps. cxxv. 1. 
 
 2. In all your distresses call to remembrance the 
 promise of the Comforter, which Jesus Christ gave to 
 his disciples : " I will pray the Father, and he shall 
 " giYC you another Comforter; that he may abide wdth 
 " you for ever," ch. xiv. 16. This promise contained 
 something peculiar, relatively to the apostles, and to 
 the then state of the infant church. It denoted the 
 economy of miracles, which was not to commence 
 till Jesus Christ had re-ascended into heaven; and 
 this is precisely the meaning of these words : " If I 
 " go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you," 
 ch. xvi. 7. ; it is likewise the meaning to be assigned 
 to that passage, '* Verily, verily, I say unto you. He 
 " that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he 
 '* do also ; and greater works than these shall he do ; 
 ** because I go unto my Father," ch. xiv. By the works 
 which the apostles were to do, we are to understand 
 miracles. Those works were to l^e greater than the 
 works of Jesus Christ, with respect to their duration. 
 
 Vol, VL E and 
 
50 Christ's Valedhtonj Address to his Disciples, 
 
 and with respect to the number of witnesses in whose 
 presence they were to be performed. 
 
 This is, farther, the idea which we are to affix to 
 those other words of our Saviour: " I have yet many 
 " things to say unto you, but you cannot bear them 
 " now. Howbeit, when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, 
 " he will guide you into all truth," ch. xvi. 12, 13- 
 This refers to those extraordinary gifts which the Holy 
 Spirit was to pour down upon the apostles, the aid of 
 inspiration, and the grace of infallibility, which were 
 going to be communicated to them. It is likewise of 
 those peculiar circumstances, that we must explain 
 the effects which Jesus Christ ascribes to that Spirit 
 whom he promises to send to his disciples : '* And 
 '' when he the Comforter is come, he will reprove the 
 " world of sin, because they believe not on me," ch. 
 xvi. 8, 9-; c>r, as it might have been translated, he shall 
 convince them of their criminality in refusing to believe 
 on me: in other words, that the mission of the Holy 
 Spirit, which Jesus Christ had promised to his disci- 
 ples, should be a new proof of the divinity of his own 
 mission, and should render those persons inexcusable 
 who presumed to call it in question. 
 
 Again, *' he shall reprove them of righteousness, 
 '' because I go to my Father,*' ver. 10. that is, the mi- 
 raculous gifts communicated to the first heralds of the 
 gospel, should demonstrate, in a sensible manner, that 
 Jesus Christ was '\i\ heaven, and should, from that 
 very circumstance, evince that he was perfectly 
 righteous^ although he had been condemned as an im- 
 postor, seeing God liad thus exalted him to the high- 
 est pinnacle of glory. 
 
 Once more, " he shall reprove them of judgment, 
 " because the prince of this wxnid is judged," ver. 11,; 
 in other words, that the triumphs which the Christian 
 religion was about to obtain, through the miraculous 
 endowments of its ministers, were to be an awful fore* 
 runner of the judgments which should overtake those 
 
 who 
 
Christ's Paledictory Address to his Disciples. 51 
 
 tvho persisted in their unbelief. AH this is peculiar 
 to the apostles ; all this relates to the circumstanceg 
 of the primitive church. 
 
 But this promise, my beloved brethren, has a refer- 
 ence to us also ; and let it be our support in the midst 
 of tribulation. Jesus Christ has promised to us also, 
 the Comforter, His Spirit is within us : *' Greater is he 
 " that is in us, than he that is in the world," 1 John 
 iv. 4. Let us yield ourselves to the guidance of this 
 Spirit : he will not grant us to exercise authority over 
 insensible beings, to control the powers of nature, and 
 to rule the elements ; but he will exalt us to a glori- 
 ous superiority over flesh and blood ; he wdll support 
 us under every pressure of calamity, and make u^ 
 more than conquerors over every foe. 
 
 3. In all your distresses, call to remembrance the 
 place to which Jesus Christ is gone. " If ye loved me, 
 '* ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Fa- 
 *' ther," ch. xiv. 28. It is the desire of Jesus Christ, 
 that his disciples, on being separated from him, should 
 not confine their thoughts to their own interest merely* 
 It is his wish, that the glory to which he was about to 
 be exalted, should sweeten to them the bitterness of 
 separation. Jesus Christ teaches us how to love. 
 We frequently imagine, that we are inspired with 
 love to a person cruciated with agonizing pain, 
 whereas it is only self-love in disguise. When death 
 has removed a person, who was justly dear to us, we 
 dwell only on the loss which vve have sustained, but 
 make no account of what our friend has gained. 
 Whence proceed those tears ^^hich stream from your 
 eyes ? Whence these sighs and sobbings ? What 
 dreadful event can thus have rent your heart, and 
 excised those piercing shrieks which rend the air? 
 You have just beheld one who was the object of your 
 tenderest affection depart out of this valley of tears : 
 he has breathed out his soul into the hands of his 
 Creator, and the blessed angels, who rejoice over a sin^ 
 
 E 2 ner 
 
52 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciple f. 
 
 her that repenteth^ Luke xv. 10. experience new trans- 
 ports of delight, when a believer who had been com- 
 bating under the banner of the cross of Christ, comes 
 to be admitted to a participation in his triumph : and 
 can you consider this as a ground of affliction to 
 you ? Do you call this love ? No, you know not how 
 to love. 
 
 Ah I if the departed could see what is passing be- 
 low the sun ! if the supreme order of the Almighty 
 Would permit those who are in heaven to maintain a 
 communication with their surviving friends on the 
 earth I the person, w^hose loss you so bitterly de- 
 plore, would reproach you with that excess of grief. 
 He would address you in the words of the Saviour to 
 his disciples : " If you loved me, ye would rejoice, 
 " because I said, I go unto the Father, for the Father is 
 '' greater than I." Would you tear me from the bo- 
 som of that Father? Would you recall me to this scene 
 of tribulation and distress ? Do you wish to see me 
 again struggling with the calamities which are inse-^ 
 parable from the life of wretched mortals ? 
 
 But there is something farther which challenges 
 our attention. All that our blessed Lord has done for 
 himself, has an intimate relation to us. x\ll the 
 glory which rests on our illustrious Head extends 
 its influence to each of its members. All the parts 
 of the economy into which he has entered for our sal- 
 vation, have a direct reference to our salvation. ** He 
 *' was delivered for our offences, and was raised again 
 *' for our justification : He is even at the right hand 
 " of God, where he also maketh inliercession for us,^' 
 Rom iv. 25. viii. 34. In all your distresses, reflect 
 not only on the place to which Christ is gone, but 
 likewise on what he hath thither gone to do, on your 
 behalf. " In my Father's house are many mansions : 
 " if it were not so I would have told you. 1 go to 
 " prepare a place for you," ch. xiv. 2. God no longer 
 dwells in light which no man can approach unto, 1 Tim. 
 
 vi. 
 
Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples. 53 
 
 vi. 16. Direct your eyes to heaven. There are no 
 longer cherubims, and a fiaming sword. Gen. iii. 24. 
 to obstruct your passage. Whither I go ye know, and 
 the way ye know ; . . . . Jesus Christ is the way, and 
 the truth, and the life, ch. xiv. 4. 6. Keep but your- 
 selves closely united to the Redeemer in the hour of 
 tribulation; place continually before your eyes this 
 model of patient suffering, and he will himself con- 
 duct you to those mansions of glory. 
 
 4. But an impenetrable veil conceals from our 
 eyes those mansions in our Father's house : but there 
 is an infinite distance between this little corner of 
 the world, into which God has been pleased to send 
 us, as into a state of exile, and the place which 
 Christ is preparing for us. God is still, with re- 
 spect to us, a strong God, who hideth himself. Is. xlv. 
 15. Well, you must learn to look through that veil. 
 You must learn to fill up the mighty void which is 
 between heaven and earth, and to see this God who 
 still conceals himself from our eyes. "■ Faith is the 
 " substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of 
 ** things not seen," Heb. xi. 1. The Christian is in- 
 structed to unite the present to futurity. The Chris- 
 tian is instructed to anticipate periods the most re- 
 mote. The Christian is a man already " quickened 
 *' together wath Christ ; already glorified ; already 
 " seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus," Eph. 
 ii. 5. How so? By the foretastes of those blessings 
 which are the object of his expectations. This is the 
 fourth source of the consolation which our Lord 
 opens to his disciples, and which we, after him, open 
 unto you. " From henceforth ye know the Father, 
 " and have seen him : he that hath seen me hath seen 
 *' the Father : peace I leave with you ; my peace I 
 ** give unto you : not as the world giveth, give I unto 
 ** you," ch. xiv. 7, 9, 27. 
 
 My soul, if these are mere empty ideas with re- 
 spect to thee, to thyself alone is the evil to be imput- 
 ed 
 
54 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples. 
 
 ed. Thou hasl corrupted thy taste : thou art piun* 
 ging thyself in the world ; distracting thyself with its 
 projects ; eagerly hunting after its pleasures : thou 
 art suffering thyself to be fascinated with its charms : 
 thou art devoting no portion of thy immortal capa- 
 city to the perception of that delight which the re- 
 generated man enjoys, when he can say to himself, 
 ** / know the Father : he is such as I know the Son 
 " to be, full of love, full of charity, full of good- 
 *' ness and long-suffering. Jesus Christ has left me 
 " his peace : I bear within me the testimony of a 
 ** conscience void of offence : I give myself up to the 
 " joy of reflecting that my salvation is secure." 
 Thou renderest thyself insensible to these sublime at- 
 tracUons : and then, when the world betrays thee ; 
 when thy gods are taken away from thee, Jud. xviii. 
 24. ; when thou art bent on every side with a great sight 
 of affliction, thou findest thyself destitute of every re- 
 source. Reform thy depraved taste. Call down 
 Paradise to reside within thee ; anticipate that glo- 
 rious period, when thou shalt see God as he is ; 
 1 John iii. 2. Call to remembrance these words of thy 
 Saviour : " From henceforth ye know the Father, and 
 *' have seen him : he that fiath seen me hath seen the 
 *' Father: peace I leave with you; my peace I give 
 " untd you ; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. 
 ** Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be a- 
 **fraid.'' 
 
 5. There is a fifth source of consolation which Je^ 
 gus Christ disclosed to his disciples, and which we, 
 after him, disclose unlo you : it is the assurance of 
 his spiritual presence, and of the presence of his hea^ 
 venly Father in the midst of you. / will not leave 
 you comfortless, or, as it might have been rendered, 
 I will not leave you orphans . . . . " If a man love 
 ** me, he will keep my words ; and my Father will 
 *' love him, and we will come unto him, and make 
 " our abode tvith him :" ch. xiv. 18, 23. In all 
 
 your 
 
Chrisfs Valedictory Address to his Disciples, 55 
 
 your distresses call to remembrance that God is with 
 you of a truth. With what fortitude did this reflec- 
 tion inspire those holy men w^hom the scriptures have 
 proposed to us as models I 
 
 With what fortitude w^as Moses animated by it I 
 Wherein shall it be known here, said of old time that 
 eminent servant of God, ** that I and thy people have 
 " found grace in thy sight ? Is it not in that thou goest 
 *^ with us ? So shall we be separated, I and thy pec-- 
 '' pie, from all the people that are upon the face of the 
 " earth : Ex. xxiii. l6. With what fortitude did it 
 animate the prophet, when he said. When my father 
 and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me 
 lip ! Ps. xxxvii. 10. With what fortitude did it inspire 
 Jesus Christ himself, under that universal desertion 
 which he experienced at the hour of death ? " Be- 
 *' hold, the hour cometh, yea, is now coaie, that ye 
 " shall be scattered every man to his own, and shall 
 ■ ' leave me alone : and yet I am not alone, because 
 ** the Father is with me," ch. xvi. 32. 
 
 Let us never lose sight of God in the day of ad- 
 versity. Let us ever dwell with complacency and 
 joy on that expression of the Redeemer, I will not 
 leave you orphans. Let us apply to ourselves what 
 God said of his ancient people : " Surely they are my 
 ** people, children that will not lie : so he w^as their 
 " Saviour. In all their affliction he w^as afflicted, and 
 *' the angel of his presence saved them," Isa. Ixiii. 
 8, Q. ; and let us exult in the fulness of a christian com- . 
 iidence : " I have set the Lord always before me : bis- " 
 " cause he is at my right hand, I shall not be mo- 
 '' ved," Ps. xvi. 8. 
 
 6. Finally, the last source of consolation which Je- 
 sus Christ disclosed to his disciples, and which we, 
 after his example, would disclose unto you, is the 
 nearness of his return : " Ye now have sorrow : but I 
 ^' w^ill see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and 
 " your joy no man taketh from you," ch. xvi. 22. 
 
 In 
 
56 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples, 
 
 In all your distresses call to remembrance, that if Je^ 
 sus Christ be not now sensibly present in the midst 
 of you, the time is at hand when he will certainly 
 be so. Call to remembrance what the angels said 
 unto the apostles, when lost in astonishment at be- 
 holding a cloud receive him out of their sight : *' Ye 
 ** men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into hea- 
 " yen : this same Jesus which is taken up from you 
 " into heaven, shall so come, in like manner as ye 
 *^ have seen him go into heaven;" Acts i. 11. Call 
 to remembrance that Jesus Christ will quickly re-ap- 
 pear : " Yet a little while, and he who shall come, 
 '^ will come, and will not tarry," Heb. x. 37. 
 
 No, this economy is not made for eternity. The 
 world is waxing old ; our years arc hastening to fill 
 up their measure : we are advancing with rapid 
 strides towards the tomb. The decorations of the 
 universe are speedily to be changed with respect to 
 us. The universe itself is about to undergo a real 
 change. The state of the world, that now is, pre- 
 sents a state of violence, which cannot be of long 
 duration. The last trumpet must ere long utter its 
 voice : yet a little while and those thunders must be 
 h6ard which shall shake the pillars of the earth : 
 Arise ye dead, and leave your tombs. Yet a little 
 while, and we shall see again those whose death has 
 cost us so many tears, and we shall be re-united to 
 them. Yet a little while, and the sign of the Son of 
 man shall appear in heaven, Matt. xxiv. 30. Yet a 
 little while, and this Son of man shall himself appear 
 in his own^ and in his Father'' s glory, with all his holy 
 angels. 
 
 Ah ! my brethren, till that blessed period arrive, 
 we dare not promise you the possession of the fulness 
 of joy. Till that blessed period. Church of Jesus 
 Christ, thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not com- 
 forted, Isa. liv. 2. a fearful night must involve thee 
 in thick darkness. Till that blessed period, weep ; 
 
 weep. 
 
Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples, 57 
 
 weep, dejected christian, disciple of the crucified Je- 
 sus, weep and lament, and let the world rejoice, because 
 ye are sorrowful, but, ere long, your sorrow shall be 
 turned into joy .... I will see you again, and your heart 
 shall rejoice, and your joy no man takethfrom you. 
 
 What powers of thought are equal to a happy ter- 
 mination of this subject of meditation I What pencil 
 is capable of depicting the joy of the sons of God, in 
 that eventful day, in which they shall behold again, 
 in which they shall embrace, a father, a friend, a child, 
 from whom death had once separated them I Let ima- 
 gination soar to the highest objects which the mind 
 is capable of contemplating. Let nothing divide the 
 love w^hich we entirely owe to our adorable Redeem- 
 er, or damp the delight which we derive from the ex- 
 alted hope of seeing him return to us in the clouds of 
 heaven, with his angels that excel in strength. 
 
 Who is capable of representing the transport which 
 the return of this Jesus shall kindle in the bosom of 
 the faithful I " There he is, that Jesus in whom we 
 " believed : This is he, that Jesus whom we loved, 
 - ' and to whom we were faithful even unto death, 
 " Come, Redeemer of our souls, come and wipe away 
 " the tears which thy departure drew from our eyes : 
 " come, and compensate to us the heaviness of so long 
 " a separation from thee : come and receive the efTu- 
 " sions of our gratitude and joy : suffer us, suffer us 
 " to yield to the transports of that love which absorbs 
 " every faculty, which constrains us, which exalts 
 " us to seraphic ardour." 
 
 This is the last source of consolation which Jesug 
 Christ disclosed to his disciples ; this is that conso- 
 lation which flows out in copious streams toward you, 
 Christian confounded, overwhelmed with wave upon 
 wave, in all thy fears, thy sorrows, thy sufferings. O 
 religion of the blessed Jesus, how powerful are thy 
 attractions ! What charms dost thou possess for a 
 wretched creature who feels the whole earth a cheer- 
 less 
 
58 Christ's Valedictory Address to his Disciples, 
 
 less Void : Let this religion, my beloved brethren, be 
 the object of our most ardent affection. Let us go on 
 unto perfection : let us transmit it to our children, as 
 the goodliest portion, as the fairest inheritance : let 
 us live with Jesus Christ! let us die with Jesus 
 Christ. May God grant us this supreme felicity. To 
 him be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. 
 
 SERMON 
 
59 
 
 SERMON III- 
 
 phrisfs Sacerdotal Prayer. 
 
 John xvii. 
 
 These words spake jfesits, and lifted up his eyes to hecu 
 veuy arid said, Father, the hour is come ; glorify thy 
 Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee : As thou hast 
 given him power over all flesh, that he should give 
 eterrial life to as many as thou hast given him. And 
 this is life eternal^ that they might know thee the only 
 true God, and Jesus Christ whofu thou hast sent, I 
 have glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the 
 work which thou gavest me to do. And now, Fa- 
 ther, glorify thou me with thine ownself with the 
 glory which I had with thee before the world vjas, I 
 have manifested thy name unto the men which thou 
 gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou 
 gavest them me ; and they have kept thy word. Now 
 they have known, that all things, whatsoever thou hast 
 given vie, are of thee : For I have given unto them 
 the words which thou gavest me ; and they have re- 
 ceived them, and have known surely that I came out 
 from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send 
 
 me. 
 
60 Christ* s Sac§r dotal Prayer. 
 
 vie. I pray for them : I pray not for the worlds hut 
 for them which thou hast given me ;for they are thine. 
 And all mine are thine, and thine are ?nine ; and I 
 am glorified in them. And now I am no more in the 
 world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. 
 Holy Father^ keep through thine own name those whom 
 thou hast given me, that they may he one, as we are. 
 While I was with them in the world, I kept them in 
 thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and 
 none of them is lost, hut the son of perdition ; that 
 the scripture might he fulfilled. And jiow come I to 
 thee ; and these things I speak in the world, that they 
 might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have 
 given them my word; and the world hath hated them, 
 because they are not of the world, even as lam not of 
 the world. 1 pray not that thou shouldest take them out 
 of the world^ but that thou shouldest keep them from the 
 evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not 
 of the world. Sanctify them through thy truth : thy 
 'word is truth. As thou hast sent me into the world, 
 even so have I also sent them into the world. And for 
 their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might he 
 sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these 
 alone, hut for them also which shall believe on me 
 through their word; that they all may he one ; as thou. 
 Father, art in me, and Tin thee, that they also may be 
 one in us : that the world may believe that thou hast 
 sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have 
 given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: 
 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made per- 
 fect in one ; and that the world may know that thou 
 hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved 
 me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast 
 given me he with me where lam ; that they may behold 
 my glory, which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst 
 me before the foundation of the world. Hghteous 
 Father, the world hath not known thee : but I have 
 
 known 
 
Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer. Ql 
 
 known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent 
 me. And I have declared unto them thy name, and 
 will declare it : that the love wherewith thou hast loved 
 me may be in them^ and I in them. 
 
 ^T^HE words of dying persons usually sink deep 
 into the listening ear, and touch the inmost 
 soul. Ah I why are not the impressions which they 
 produce as lasting as they are lively I The words of 
 a dying pastor, more especially, seem calculated to 
 produce an extraordinary effect. 
 
 At these last solemn moments of life, every mo- 
 tive of self-interest, or of vain-glory, by which he 
 might have been actuated through the course of his 
 ministry, vanishes away. Then it is that a faithful 
 minister derives from the bosom of that rehgion which 
 he has taught to others, the means of fortifying him- 
 self against the idea of a futurity all gloom, if a 
 man has mere human reason for his oply guide, but 
 all light and joy to him who follows the spirit of 
 revelation. Then it is that he feels a more particular 
 concern and tenderness for the church, and that now, 
 himself lifted up, he would draw all men after him. 
 
 When it is a pastor of the ordinary rate that ex- 
 pires, no other consequence can be deduced from 
 his perseverance to the last but this, that he had 
 preached what he believed to be the truth, not what 
 was so in fact. And it is possible he may deceive 
 himself when he is dying, as he pretended not to in- 
 fallibility while he lived. But the death of those 
 extraordinary men, who have established, by their 
 testimony, the facts on which all religion rests, is 
 the touchstone of the doctrines which they taught. 
 x\s it was impossible they should have been deceived 
 in the points which they attest, there can remain no 
 other suspicion to aft'ect their testimony, but this, 
 'hat it was their intention to impose upon others : 
 
 and 
 
62 Christ^ s Sacerdotal Prayer, 
 
 and this suspicion falls to the ground, when we be- 
 hold them, without deviation, persisting to the end 
 in the faith which they professed, attesting it by new 
 appeals to heaven, calling God to witness their sin- 
 cerity, and their innocence. 
 
 All these different considerations unite in the per- 
 son of Jesus Christ : all these motives to attention, 
 and in an order infinitely superior, fix our medita- 
 tion on the words which have been read. Come and 
 behold the sentiments of your Saviour unfolded 
 without disguise : come and behold the most lovely 
 display of the human soul that ever was exhibited : 
 come and behold whether he, for one moment, 
 doubted, whether he shrunk back : above all, come 
 and behold the charity by which he w^as animated. 
 Charity formed the plan of the sacrifice which he 
 should offer, and charity is hastening to accom- 
 plish it. 
 
 Every thought of this dying Jesus is employed 
 on his disciples ; is employed about you, my be- 
 loved brethren. " Thine they w^ere, and thou gavest 
 '* them me. I pray for them. I pray for those whom 
 " thou hast given me : keep them through thine own 
 " name. Neither pray I for these alone, but for 
 " them also which shall believe on me through their 
 ** wwd." 
 
 Such are the objects, my friends, which I would 
 this day present to your contemplation. I put aside 
 all the theological controversies which have taken 
 their rise from the passage under review. My only 
 aim shall be to recommend to your most serious at- 
 tention the expressions, one after another, the heart- 
 afTecting, the penetrating expressions of the dying 
 Saviour of mankind. So far from going abroad in 
 quest of enemies to combat, I could even wish to 
 confine my address, at the present hour, to such of 
 my hearers as have a heart susceptible of those ten- 
 der sentiments with which the religion cf Jesus 
 
 Christ 
 
Christ'' s Sacerdotal Prayer, 6S 
 
 Christ inspires all who cordially embrace it. On 
 hearts possessed of such sensibility I could wish to 
 engrave the last expressions of the Redeemer's love : 
 I could wish this sermon might accompany you up 
 to your dying hour : I could wish that, in the mo- 
 ment of expiring agony, you might be enabled to 
 oppose, to the fearful threats of the king of terrors, 
 these fenvent petitions of the Saviour of the world, 
 which set open to you the gates of heaven, and which 
 establish your eternal felicity on a foundation more 
 unmoveable than those of heaven and earth : Father, 
 I will that they also whom thou hast given me be with 
 me where I am ; that they may behold my glory which 
 thou hast given me. Amen. 
 
 We shall arrange our subject in the order of the 
 three following ideas, and shall endeavour to point 
 out to you, 
 
 I. The relation in which Jesus Christ stands to 
 God. 
 
 II. The relation which subsists between the apos« 
 ties and Jesus Christ. 
 
 III. The relation subsisting between believers and 
 the apostles. 
 
 We shall distinguish these three ideas only for the 
 purpose of afterwards establishing and sublimating 
 the mystery of their union. For the perfect obedi- 
 ence which Jesus Christ yielded to the supreme will 
 ©f his heavenly Father, has united him to God in a 
 manner ineffable, so that he is one with God, not only 
 as partaking pf the divine nature, but considered as 
 a. creature. 
 
 Again, 
 
64 Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer, 
 
 Again, the glorious manner in which the apostle* 
 have executed the functions of their apostleship, hav- 
 ing not only believed the doctrines which their Mas- 
 ter taught them, but diffused them over the whole 
 world; and, like him, sealed them with their own 
 blood, has united them in the closest intimacy with 
 Jesus Christ, so that they are o?ie with them as Jesus 
 Christ is one with the Father, 
 
 Finally, the respect with which believers receive, 
 and acquiesce in, the doctrine of the apostles, and 
 that of Jesus Christ, raises them to a participation 
 of the same exalted glory and felicity ; so that be- 
 lievers being united with the apostles, the apostles 
 with Jesus Christ, and Jesus Christ with God, there 
 results, from this union, a society, a whole, noble, 
 sublime, possessing the perfection of glory and bles- 
 sedness. 
 
 Now, it is the complete union of this whole, it is 
 the perfection of this communion among all these 
 orders of beings, that Jesus Christ here asks of the 
 Father. 
 
 I. Let us first examine the relations in which 
 Jesus Christ stands to God. Jesus Christ may be 
 considered under two different ideas, as God, and as 
 Mediator. 
 
 There are, accordingly, two kinds of relation sub- 
 sisting between God and Jesus Christ: 1. A rela- 
 tion of nature ; and 2. A relation of economy. Jesus 
 as God is one with the Father; he is likewise so in his 
 character of Mediator. 
 
 1. There subsists between God and Christ a unity 
 of nature. 
 
 We perceive more than one proof of this in the 
 words of my text. For what are we to understand by 
 that glory of which Jesus Christ speaks, which he 
 had with the Father before the world was, unless it be 
 that he is God, as the Father is God ? 
 
Christ's Sacerdotal Pra;ycr 65 
 
 I am well aware that in the very chapter we are 
 attempting to explain, some have pretended to dis- 
 cover an argument which militates against this doc- 
 trine. The enemies of the divinity of our blessed 
 Lord have frequently employed the words which we 
 have recited, as a bulwark to defend their error :• 
 " this is life eternal, that they might know thee the on- 
 ly true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent," 
 ver. 3. Tliey tell us, that Jesus Christ here distm- 
 guishes himself from the true God, and they have 
 thence concluded, that he is of a different nature„ 
 But it is an easy matter to refute this objection by 
 permitting Jesus Christ to explain his own meaning, 
 and interpreting scripture by scripture. Let us, from 
 X)ther passages, see how Jesus Christ has distinguished 
 himself from the true God. Is it because he is not 
 the true God ? By no means ; for it is expressly de- 
 clared in another place, that he is the true Gody and 
 eternal life, 1 John v. 20. 
 
 If then, Jesus Christ has referred to two classes, 
 every branch of Christian knowledge : if he has 
 placed in one class the knowledge relating to the true 
 God, and in the other class, all knowledge relating 
 to the Son, whom the true God has sent into the 
 world, this is simply reducing the whole of Christian 
 Theology to the two great questions which were the 
 subject of discussion in his time, and Which con- 
 tained a summary of all the topics which can be dis- 
 cussed on the subject of religion. The first was the 
 point in dispute between the Pagan and the Jew : 
 the other, between the Jew and the Christian. 
 
 The matter in dispute between the Pagan and the 
 Jew was, whether there were only o?ie God, or more 
 than one. Respecting this question, Jesus Christ 
 pronounces a clear decision; that eternal life co7isists 
 in knowing the one true God, The point in dispi.te 
 between the Jew and the Christian related tQ Christ's 
 
 VOL. VI. F being 
 
oQ Christ's Sacerdotal Frayer, 
 
 being the Messiah, the seat of God. But this Jesuy 
 whom God has sent^ Is he God Creator, or is h© 
 a creature merely ? Neither the negative nor the af- 
 firmative side of this question is directly established 
 in these >vords: " this is life eternal, to know thee the 
 only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent." 
 Gnce admit what Jesus Christ demands on the sub- 
 ject of the first two questions, and the third will pre- 
 sently resolve itself. For if we know that there is 
 only one God, and that Jesus Christ is sent by him, 
 we must receive, without hesita^tion, the doctrine 
 which God has taught us by this Son whom he hath 
 sent : and if we receive this doctrine, we must be- 
 lieve from the doctrine itself, that he who is sent 
 must be God : because the divinity of his nature is- 
 one point of the doctrine which he hath taught. 
 
 There are, therefore, relations of nature between 
 Jesus Christ and God. There is a unity of Jesus 
 Christ as God with his Father. There is a glory 
 which Jesus Christ had ivith God, before the world 
 ims, and which he always possessed, even at the pe- 
 riod of his deepest humihation. This unity is as 
 unchangeable as Deity itself. The glory which Jc- 
 .sus Christ derives from it is not susceptible of in- 
 crease or diminution. All that he prays for in re- 
 spect of it, is, that it might be known among men : 
 and in this sense we may understand the expressions 
 in our text : " Father, glorify me with the glory which 
 I iiad with thee, before the world was," ver. 5. But, 
 
 ^". There subsists likewise a relation of economy 
 between JeSus Christ and the Father. Jesus Christ 
 as Mediator is o^e with God. I have a conception of 
 three kinds of Unity in this respect: 1. unity of 
 idea : 2. Unity of will : 3- Unity of dominion. 
 
 (1.) There is a unity of idea. I mean, that the 
 human soul of Jesus Christ Mediator was endowed 
 vdtli so" much intelligeTice, that he had the same 
 
 ideas 
 
Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer, 67 
 
 ideas with God, that he formed the same judgments, 
 and that he possessed the same infalUbilitj. This 
 truth had been predicted of him bj the prophets : 
 *' the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me : because the 
 Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto 
 the meek," Is. Ixi. 1. It was taught by Jesus Christ 
 himself : mi/ doctr^ine is not 'mine, but his that sent me^ 
 John vii. 16. "I am the ligiit of the world : he that 
 followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall 
 have the light of life," John viii. 12. It is the foun- 
 dation of the faith which we have, in the truths 
 which flowed from his lips. 
 
 But however perfect this unity may have been, 
 it was nevertheless susceptible of degrees. Jesus 
 Christ, considered as Mediator, never could be in an 
 error, but he did not always know the wlwle truth. 
 He had not in the cradle the same extent of know- 
 ledge which he possessed at the age of twelve years, 
 Luke ii. 42. when in the temple, he by his pro- 
 found knowledge excited astonishment in the most 
 learned of the doctors. Most probably, likewise, 
 he did not yet possess at the age of twelve years, the 
 illumination which he attained unto in the sequel of 
 his ministry. The evangelist Expressly remarks that 
 he grew, arid waxed strono; in spirit, JiUed with wisdom^ 
 Luke ii. 40. Never did he attain during his abode 
 on earth that height of intelligence which lie had, 
 after his ascension into heaven. It is expressly said, 
 that, as the Son of man, he knew not the day of judg- 
 ment. The soul, to which his mortal body was 
 united, acquired, undoubtedly, after that body left 
 the tomb, an extension of knowledge which it had 
 not, so long as the body to which it was united was 
 yet in a mortal condition. This is the first glory 
 that Jesus Christ asks of his Father. He prays that 
 he would grant him to partake, in a manner more 
 intimate, in his counsels, and to draw from the un- 
 bounded ocean of light more abundant supplies of 
 
 2 divine 
 
(yg Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer. 
 
 divine wisdom and knowledge : Father, the hour is 
 come, glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify 
 thee, ver. 1. 
 
 (2.) The second unity, subsisting between Jesus^ 
 Christ Mediator and the Father, is a unity of will. 
 Observe to what an extent it has been carried. The 
 incarnation was an effect of the entire submission of 
 this divine Saviour to the will of his Father : ivhefi 
 he cojneth into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering 
 thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me : in 
 burnt-offer mgs and sacrifices for sin thou hast had ?io 
 pleasure : then said I, Lo, I come, (in the volume of 
 the book it is written of me J to do thy will, O God, 
 Heb. X. 5 — 7. When Joseph and Mary found fault 
 with him for having parted company with them, he 
 replied, " how is it that ye sought me ? Wist ye not 
 that I must be about my Father's business? " Luke ii. 
 49, When his disciples presented him with food," say- 
 ing, Master, eat : he said unto them, I have meat to 
 eat that ye know not of : . . . . my meat is to do the 
 will of him that sent me, and to finish his work," John 
 iv. 31, S^G. and, in the text, he saith, that for the 
 sake of the disciples whom the Father had given him, 
 he sanctified hii?iself 
 
 It is, however, demonstrably certain, that in pro- 
 portion as the human soul acquires more light and 
 knowledge, according as it is less distracted by the 
 sinless infirmities of nature, it takes the loftier 
 flight toward the love of order, and conceives a 
 more powerful attachment to the sovereign will of 
 heaven. There were certain moments in the life of 
 Jesus Christ, during his abode on earth, in which 
 he was entirely absorbed of those objects which in- 
 cessantly engage the attention of the angels of God. 
 He was led of the Spirit into the wilderness ; there 
 he fasted forty days and forty flights. Matt. iv. 2. and 
 ' these days and nights were, undoubtedly, passed iiv 
 
 contemplation. 
 
C7irist''s Sacerdotal Vrayer. 69 
 
 contemplation, in rapture, in an extasy of zeal and 
 fervour. But after these forty days and forty nights 
 were over, Jw wa^ afttrivards an hungred. 
 
 In like nii^nner, he beheld the glory of God on 
 the holy mountain, and the transfiguration which he 
 underwent, kindled to a higher and a higher degree, the 
 desire w^hich he felt, to discharge, in a manner w^orthy 
 of \\\h exalted character, the commission w^iich he had 
 received of the Father. But those rays of glory 
 were to be eclipsed, and from that sacred place he 
 must descend. During the whole course of his life, 
 he kept constantly in view the end of his mission, he 
 expressed many an ardent wish to accomplish the sa- 
 crifice which he came into the world to offer up. 
 
 But at the idea of death he is for a season in hea- 
 viness : there is an appearance of desiring as it were 
 'to compound matters with Deity; and this, some 
 interpreters consider as the sense of these words : Fa- 
 ther, if it he possible, let this cup pass from me, that I 
 may not drink it, Matt. xxvi. 39. and, perhaps, it is 
 likewise the sense of those which follow : " now is my 
 soul troubled : and what shall I say ? Father, save me 
 from tins hour," John xii. 27. Not that Jesus Christ 
 ever thought he could be saved from that hour, or 
 delivered from drinking that cup which w^as going 
 to be put into his hand, but it was the language of 
 innocent human infirmity, exited by the first ideas 
 of extreme approaching agony. It is only in the 
 possession of perfect blessedness, that our virtues 
 ^hall acquire all the activity, all the extent of which 
 they are susceptible. And it is, yes, it is this acti- 
 vity, it is this extent of virtue, which had the 
 power of still farther strengthening the hand which 
 united Jesus Christ to his Father. For this reason it 
 is that he promises to the glory of God that return 
 and increase of glory which he asks of him : "Father,^ 
 glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee^ 
 vcr. 1." 
 
 (3^) 3^ 
 
70 Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer. 
 
 (3.) In the third place, there subsists between the 
 Fatixer and the Son, a unity of dominion. Magni- 
 ficent displays of this were visible even while our 
 blessed JLord tabernacled among men. Is the ex- 
 pression too strong, if we say, that God Almighty, 
 >\'hen he sent Jesus Christ into the world, made him 
 the depositary of his omnipotence. The winds, the 
 waves, men, devils, life, death, the elements, uni- 
 versal nature, all, all submitted to hi^ sovereign 
 will. 
 
 But, if the power of Jesus Christ was unbounded 
 as considered in itself, it was limited, however, in 
 its exercise. It was no easy matter U) discover the 
 depositary of the divine omnipotence in the person 
 of that man, consigned over to the hands of execu- 
 tioners, dragged before a tribunal of iniquity, and 
 nailed to a cross. There is a dominion, with which 
 it impies a contradiction to suppose Jesus Christ in- 
 vested before he suffered death, for this dominion 
 was to be expressly the rewarcl of suffering : "he hum- 
 bled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the 
 death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly 
 exalted him, and given ]iim a name which is above 
 every name ; that at the name of Jesus every knee 
 should bow, of things in heaven, and things inearth, 
 and things under the earth ; and that every tongue 
 should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory 
 of God the Father," Phil. ii. 8 — 11. and in the second 
 psalm, ver. 8, Q. ^' Ask of mc, and I will give thee 
 the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost 
 parts of the earth for thy possession. Thou shaft 
 bre^ k them with a rod of iron, thou shalt dash them 
 dn pieces like ti potter's vessel.'^ 
 
 This is the dominion of which he took possession. 
 
 On the third day after his death, angels alight upon 
 
 ^,his tomb, not to effect his resurrection from the dead, 
 
 felt to. admire the wonders of it; to render their 
 
 profoundest 
 
Chrisfs Sacerdotai Prayer, 2^ 
 
 profoundest homage to that divine Man, the only 
 dead person who had ever revived by his ow^n pow- 
 er ; and to yield obedience to that mandate of the 
 great Supreme : let all the angels of God worship him, 
 Heb. i. 6. Forty days after his resurrection, he 
 makes a cloud to serve him as a triumphal chariot 
 on which he is borne aloft, and disappears from the 
 eyes of his beloved disciples. As he ascends through 
 the regions of the air, to occupy a throne above the 
 skies, the church triumphant, and all the spirits in 
 bliss, unite in celebrating his return to heaven with 
 songs of praise : the celestial arches resound with 
 their joyful acclamations, while they cry aloud, 'Mift 
 up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye ever- 
 lasting doors, and the King of glory shall come in/' 
 Psal. xxiv. 7. 
 
 On his arrival at the habitation of his glory, he 
 assumes his place at the Father's right hand. And 
 thence it is that he exercises the dominion to which 
 'his sufferings and death have exalted him : thence it 
 is he beholds the impotent designs of the enemies of 
 the church, and, to use the expression of scripture, 
 laughs at them, Psal. ii. 4. Thence it is he brings 
 down to the ground the heads of the haughtiest po- 
 tentates : thence it is he controuls the power of ty- 
 rants, or permits it to act, and to accomplish his 
 purpose ; thence it is he bends his eyes upon us, my 
 brethren ; that he hears, and regards, and answers 
 the prayers which, in our indigence, we present at 
 the throne of grace : thence it is he beholds St Ste- 
 phen, and grants the petition of that martyr, from 
 amidst the shower of stones which is overwhelming 
 him : Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Acts vii. 5C)- 
 Thence it is he draws to himself the souls of our ex- 
 piring believers, and says to all those who combat 
 under the banners of the cross : " to him that over- 
 fometh will I grant to sit witn me in mv throne," 
 
 Eev. 
 
75 Christ's Sacerdotal Prater. 
 
 Rev. iii. 21. " be thou faithful unto death, and I will 
 give thee a crown of life," Rev. ii. 10. 
 
 Such is the glory which must follow the sufferings 
 and death of the Saviour of the world. Such must 
 be the perfection of that unity which subsists be- 
 tween Jesus Christ Mediator and his Father : " Father 
 the hour is come : glorify thy Son, that thy Son also 
 may glorify thee. ... I have manifested thy name un- 
 to the men whom thou gavest me out of the world, 
 ... Those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none 
 of them is lost but the son of perdition. ... I have 
 glorified thee on the earth : I have finished the work 
 which thou gavest me to do : and now, O Father, 
 glorify thou me with thine ownself, with the glory 
 which I had with thee, before the world was.'' 
 
 SERMON : 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer 
 
 > t>tic£e>tf^0e>efi^^ < 
 
 John xvii. 18—- 21. 
 
 As thou hast sent me into the worlds even so have Ials9 
 sent them into the world. And for their sokes 1 
 sanctify myself, that they ako might be sanctified 
 through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone ^ 
 but for them also which shall believe on me through 
 their luord : that they all may be one ; as thou^ 
 Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may 
 be one in us : that the ivorld may believe that thou 
 hast sent me. 
 
 WE have seen the relation which subsists be- 
 tween Jesus Christ and his heavenly Father. 
 1. A relation of nature, implied in that glory which 
 he had with the Father before the world was. 2. 
 
 There 
 
74 Christ'' s Sacerdotal Frayer. 
 
 There is a relation of economy : Jesus Christ as 
 Mediator is one with God. And this relation consists 
 of three particulars : (l.) Unity of idea : (2.) Unity 
 of will : (3.) Unity of dominion. Let us, 
 
 II. Consider the relation subsisting between Je- 
 sus Christ and his apostles,, not in their character, 
 simply, of believers in Christ, but principally in the 
 view of their public character as apostles. Let us 
 inquire, in what sense it is that Jesus Christ makes it 
 his request, that they may be one with the Father 
 and with himself, as he was one with the Father. 
 This is the second object, this the second mystery^ 
 to which we now call upon you to direct your seri- 
 ous attention. 
 
 Weigh the import of these remarkable words. 
 ^' As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have 
 I also sent them into the world : and for their sakes I 
 sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified 
 through the truth." Jesus Christ had entered into 
 the plan of the eternal Father, respecting the salva- 
 tion of the human race-; and had come into the world 
 to put it in execution. It was necessary, in like man- 
 ner, that the apostles should enter into the plan of this 
 ilivijie Saviour, and to the utmost extent of their abi- 
 lity, should labour, together with him, in executing 
 the merciful design. And as Jesus Christ, in order to 
 acquit himself, with success, of this ministry whiclx 
 w^as committed unto him, must have possessed, with 
 the Father, a unity of idea, of will, and of dominion, 
 it was likewise necessary that the apostles should pos- 
 sess this threefold unity with Jesus Christ, and this 
 precisely is the substance of what Jesus Christ prays 
 for in their behalf. 
 
 ] . In order to acquit themselves successfully of 
 the functions of their ministry, it was necessary that 
 the apostler- should participate in the ideas of Jesus 
 
 Christ, 
 
Chrisfs Sacerdotal Frat/er. 75 
 
 Christ, and in the miaUibihty of his doctrine. He 
 had himself said 10 them, lie that heareth you, heareth 
 me, Luke x. 10". He had given them this commis- 
 sion : "Go ye, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
 in the name of the ^Father, of the Son, and of the Holy 
 Spirit : and, lo, I am with you always, even to the 
 end of the world," Matt, xxviii. I9, 20. 
 
 How could they possibly have executed this com- 
 mission to any advantage, unless they had participa- 
 ted in the ideas of Jesus Christ, and in the mfaliibi' 
 lity of his decisions ? What dependance could we 
 repose on their testimony had it been liable to error ? 
 How should wx implicitly admit the oracles which 
 em.anated from the apostolic college, if they were to 
 be subjected to examination at the tribunal of hu- 
 man reason, as those of mere human teachers ? The 
 slightest alteration affecting the assertion of the infal- 
 libility of the doctrine of these holy men, subverts 
 it from the very foundation. The moment that hu- 
 man reason assumes a right to appeal from their de- 
 cisions, it is all over, and we are at once brought 
 back to the religion of nature. And the moment 
 we are brought back to the rehgion of nature, we are 
 bewildered in all the uncertainty of the human un- 
 derstanding; wearestill " seekingtheLord, if haply we 
 might fear after him, and find him :" as Acts xvii. 27. 
 did the Pagan world. We are still saying, as did the 
 greatest philosophers of the Gentile nations, respect- 
 ing inquiries of the highest importrjice to mankind ; 
 IVho can tell P Fer adventure. We are treating St 
 Peter and St Paul, as we do Socrates and Seneca. 
 
 Now, if such be our conditicn, what advantage has 
 the Christian over the Pagan ? \\ herein consists 
 the f uperiority of the gospel over the systems of "zhyq 
 human philosophy ? Away with a Mispiciori so n- 
 jurious to the great Author and Finisher of our faith. 
 
 He 
 
76 Christ's Sacerdotal Prajjer. 
 
 He has supplied his church with every thing neces- 
 sary to a clear knowledge, and a well-grounded be- 
 lief of all needful truth. When he committed to 
 the hands of his disciples, the ministry of his gospel 
 he obtained for them, in substance, the illumination 
 •which he himself possessed, for the successful exer- 
 cise of it. 
 
 2. But is it sufficient to possess superior illumina- 
 tion, in order to the honourable and useful exercise 
 of the Christian ministry ? Is it sufficient to speak 
 with the tongues of men and of angels P Is it sufficient 
 to be endowed with the gift of prophecy ; to under- 
 stand all my steries^ to have all knowledge P 1 Cor. xiii. 
 1. Ah I how fruitless are the most pathetic sermons, 
 if the preacher himself pretends to exemption from 
 the obligations which he would impose upon other 
 men I Ah ! how the most dazzling and sublime elo- 
 quence languishes, when tarnished by the vices of the 
 orator I This position, my brethren, admits not of a 
 doubt : and let the reflection, however humiliating, 
 be ever present to our thoughts : one of the most in- 
 surmountable obstacles to the efficacy of preaching, 
 i^ tlie irregular life of preachers. 
 
 If this reflection, at all times, rests on a solid foun- 
 dation, it was particularly the case with regard to 
 those ministers whom God set apart to the office of 
 laying the very first foundations of his church, and 
 to be themselves the pillar and ground of the truth, 
 1 Tim. iii. 15. With what dreadful suspicions must 
 not our minds have been perplexed, had we seen in 
 the persons whom Jesus Christ himself immediately 
 chose to be his successors, the abominations which 
 are visible in many of those who, at this day, pretend 
 to fill his place in the church ? What dreadful sus- 
 picions would agitate our minds, had St Peter lived 
 in the manner of some of those who have called 
 themselves the successors of St Peter? If out of 
 
 the 
 
Christ^s Sacerdotal Frai/er. ^'J 
 
 the same mouth, from which issued those gracious 
 maxims which the Holy Spirit has preserved for our 
 instruction, there had proceeded, at the same time, 
 those iniquitous sentences, those sanguinary decrees, 
 those insolent decisions, which have tulminated from 
 the mouths of certain Pontiffs bearing tiie Christian 
 name r If these same apostles, who preached nothing 
 but superiority to the world : nothing but humility, 
 but charity, but patience, but chastity, had been, 
 like some of their pretended successors, addicted to 
 the spirit and practice of revenge, of ambition, of 
 $imony ; magicians, fornicators ; men polluted with 
 abominations which the majesty of this place, and 
 the sanctity of the pulpit, hardly permit me to insi- 
 nuate? What must not have been the infamy of 
 committing such things, when the bare idea of them 
 puts modesty to the blush ? 
 
 O how much better has Jesus Christ, our great 
 leader and commander, provided whatever was ne- 
 cessary for the good of his church ! During the 
 whole course of his life, he presented a model of the 
 most pure and consummate virtue. One of the great 
 ends of his devotedness to death, was to engage his 
 beloved disciples thence to derive motives to the 
 practice of holiness : this is the sense which may be 
 assigned to that expression in the prayer, which he 
 here addresses to his Father : For their sakes I sancti- 
 fy myself that they may be sanctified, ver. 19. For 
 them I sanctify myself: The meaning may be, " I la- 
 " hour incessantly to excite thy love within me ta 
 " a brighter and a brighter flame, not only because 
 " it is a disposition of soul the most becoming an 
 " intelligent creature, but that I may serve as a mo- 
 " del to them who are to diffuse the knowledge of 
 ^' my gospel over the world." 
 
 Or, according to the interpretation of otliers : for 
 ihem 1 sanctify myself that they maybe sajictifed, that 
 
78 ChrisCs Sacerdotal Prayer, 
 
 is, "I devote myself to death for my disciples, to 
 '• the end that, beholding in my sacrihce the horrors 
 " of sin, which I am about to expiate, and the over- 
 " flowings of my affection for those in whose place 
 " I am substituting myself, they may be engaged to 
 " exhibit an inviolable attachment to thy holy 
 " laws." Which ever of these two senses we affix to 
 the words of our blessed Lord, they strongly mark 
 that intense application of thought by which he was 
 animated, to inspire his disciples with the love of 
 virtue. 
 
 This is not all ; he is expressing an earnest wish, 
 that assistance from heaven might supply what his 
 absence was going to deprive them of : For the/71 I 
 .sanctify myself, that they may be sanctified. But now 
 1 leave the world. My disciples are going to lose the 
 benefit of my instructions, and of my example. May 
 a celestial energy, may divine communications of re- 
 solution and strength occupy my place : " I pray not 
 thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that 
 thou shouldest keep them from the evil. . . . Sanctify 
 them through thy truth ; thy w^ord is truth : as thou 
 hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent 
 them into the world : and for their sakes I sanctify my- 
 self, that they also might be sanctified through the 
 truth." 
 
 3. Finally, Jesus Christ asks, in behalf of his dis- 
 ciples, a participation in the dominion of which he 
 himself had taken possession. He had already, in 
 part conveyed to them that dominion : " The glory 
 which thou gavest me, I have given them ; that they 
 may be one, even as w^e are one," ver. 22. What is 
 that glory, ivhich the Father had given to Jesus Christ, 
 and which Jesus Christ had given to his apostles ? A'» 
 mong a variety of ideas which may be formed of it, we 
 must, in a particular manner, miderstand it as im- 
 plying 
 
Christ's Sa<:erdotal Prayer. 79 
 
 j^lying the gift of miracles. In virtue of this power, 
 those sacred ministers were enahled to carry convic- 
 tion to the human mind, with an energy of elo- 
 quence altogether divine. The resurrection of one 
 who had been dead is the great exordium of their 
 sermons. This argument they oppose to all the 
 sophisms of vain philosophy : " This Jesus hath God 
 raised up, whereof we all are witnesses : therefore 
 being by the right hand of God exalted .... he hath 
 shed forth this which ye now see and hear," Acts ii, 
 32, 33. They confound those who continue proof 
 against conviction. They call down the most for- 
 midable strokes of celestial indignation on some of 
 those who had dared to triHe with the oath of fidelity 
 plighted to their divine Master. Ananias and Sap- 
 phira fall dead at their feet, Acts v. 9. *' The wea- 
 pons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty, 
 through God, to the pulling down of strong holds : 
 casting dovv^n imaginations, and every high thing that 
 exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and 
 bringing into captivity every thought to the obedi- 
 ence of Christ : and having in a readiness to revenge 
 ail disobedience," 2 Cor. x. 4- — 6. 
 
 But this is not tlie whole of that authority, and 
 the whole of that power, which Jesus Christ wishes 
 to be conferred on his disciples. He asks, in their be- 
 half, that when they had, like him, finished the work 
 w^hich they had given them to do, they should be exalt- 
 ed to the same glory ; that after having turned manv 
 to righteousness, they might shine as the brightness of 
 the firmament, and as the stars for ever and ever, Dan. 
 xii, 3. This is what he had promised them : ' ■ I ap- 
 point unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appoint-^ 
 ed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in 
 my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve 
 tribes of Israel." This is what he asks for them : " Fa- 
 ther, I will that they also whom thou hast given me be 
 
 r>, wit]\ 
 
$0 Christ's Sacerdotal J^rayer^ 
 
 with me where I am ^ that they may behold my glory 
 which thou hast given me : for thou lovedst me be- 
 fore the foundation of the world .... that they all 
 may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee: 
 that they also may be one in us, ver. 24, 21. 
 
 We conclude this head with a reflection of no 
 small importance : namely this. That among the 
 graces which Jesus Christ prays for in behalf of his 
 apostles, must be comprehended those which were 
 necessary to the persons who were after them to ex- 
 ercise the gospel ministry. Whatever difference 
 there may be between these two orders of ministers, 
 they are the objects of the same prayer. Their ta- 
 lents were to differ only in degree, and God, at this 
 day, limits the measure of them, only because cir- 
 cumstances have varied, and miracles are no longer 
 necessary to the church. But as the apostles had, in 
 substance, the same gifts with Jesus Christ, the mi- 
 nisters of the gospel likewise partake in the gifts of 
 the apostles, because they have received the same 
 commission, and are called to build up the church, 
 of which those holy men laid the foundations. 
 
 Lofty idea of the apostleship ! lofty idea of the 
 office of the gospel-ministry ! The apostles entered 
 with Jesus Christ into the plan of the redemption 
 of mankind, as Jesus Christ entered into it with 
 God. And the ministers of the gospel, to this day, 
 enter into the same plan with the apostles, as the 
 apostles entered into it with Jesus Christ. The eter- 
 nal Father, before the fotmdation of the world, Matt. 
 XXV. 34. foreseeing the deplorable misery in which 
 the wretched progeny of Adam were to involve 
 themselves, traced the plan of redemption : from 
 that period he provided the victim : from that pe- 
 riod he set apart for us a Redeemer : from that pe- 
 riod, he prepared for us a kingdom. Jesus Christ, 
 in the fulness of time, came and executed this plan. 
 
 2 He 
 
Christ's Sacerdotal 'Prayer, 8i 
 
 He assumed our flesh. He lived among us. He 
 suffered. He died. " I have glorified thee upon the 
 earth. I have finished the work which thou gavest 
 me to do," ver. 4. 
 
 The apostles succeeded their Master. And these 
 holy men, with that heroic courage which the idea 
 of a commission so honourable inspires into generous 
 minds, braved and surmounted all the dirficulties 
 which opposed their progress. "They trod upon the 
 lion and adder : the young lion and dragon they 
 trampled under feet," Ps. xci. I3. Power was given 
 them to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the 
 power of the enemy, Luke x. I9. They took as a 
 model in their course, (it is an idea of the Psalmist) 
 that glorious orb of day, whose going forth is from 
 tlie end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of 
 it, Ps. xix. 6. " Yes, verily, their sound went into 
 all the earth, and their Vv^ords unto the ends of the 
 world," Rom. x. 18. They rose superior to the 
 powers of sense and nature : they subdued the pas- 
 sions which have naturally the greatest influence over 
 the heart of man : they knew no man after the flesh, 
 2 Cor. V. 16. They carried on their souls the im- 
 press of their Saviour's virtues, as they bare his marks 
 imprinted on their bodies. 
 
 The ministers of Jesus Christ assume the place of 
 the apostles : they have one and the same vocation : 
 they are called to the same work : they have to teach 
 the same truths ; the same vices to reprove ; the 
 same maxims to establish ; the same threatenings to 
 denounce; the same consolations to administer; the 
 same felicity and the same glory to promise. JVho 
 is sufficient for these things F 2 Cor. ii. 10. But we 
 are upheld by you, all-powerful intercession of Je- 
 sus Christ with his Father I From your energy it is 
 that we obtain, in our retirements, that attention ^ 
 that composure^ that concentration of thought of 
 which we stand in need, in order to penetrate into 
 
 VOL, vr. G tho«ie 
 
S2 Christ's Sacerdotal Prai/er, 
 
 those lively oracles which it is our duty to a^iinounce 
 to this people. From your powerful energy it is we 
 obtain that clearness, that fervour, that courage, that 
 elevation of spirit of which we stand m need m this 
 chair of verity, to exalt us above the malignant cen- 
 sure of a murmuring multitude, ever disposed to 
 find fault with those who preach the truth. To you 
 we must stand for ever indebted for the success of 
 our ministry, and for the hope we entertain that this 
 people, to whom we minister in holy things, shall 
 one day be our joy and our crown, 1 Thess. ii. I9. 
 
 III. Thus are we led forward, my brethren, to 
 the third division of our discourse, in which you are 
 most particularly interested. It is truly delightful 
 to behold the Author arid Finisher of our faith united, 
 in a manner so intimate with Deity. It is delight- 
 ful to behold those apostles, whose writings are in 
 our hands, and whose doctrine is the rule of our 
 faith, intimately united to Jesus Christ as he is with 
 God. There is, however, something behind still 
 more particular and more consolatory. All these dif- 
 ferent relations, of Jesus Christ with God, of the apos- 
 tles with Jesus Christ, have been formed only in the view 
 of producing others, and these affect you. Attend to 
 the interest which you have in the prayer of Jesus 
 Christ : " Neither pray I for these alone, but for them 
 also which shallbelieve on me through their word: that 
 they all may be one, as thou. Father art in me, and I in 
 thee; that they also may be one in us," ver. 20, 21. 
 Awake to a sense of the dignity of your high call- 
 ing : contemplate the unbounded extent of your pri- 
 I vileges. Behold to what a height of glory you are 
 1 encouraged to aspire, and what unspeakable benefits 
 you already derive from the religion of the blessed 
 I Jesus I Already you possess wdth God, as doth Jesus 
 Christ, a unity of ideas, and you partake,, in some 
 sense of his infallibility, by subjecting your faith 
 I to his divine oracles, and by seeing, if I may use 
 ^ the 
 
Christ's Sacerdotal Vrayer, §3 
 
 the expression, bj seeing with his eyes. Ah-eady 
 you have with God, as Jesus Christ hath, a unity of 
 will, by the reception of his laws, and by exerting 
 all your powers that his will may be done on earth as 
 it is done in heaven. Already you enjoy with God, 
 as doth Jesus Christ, a unity of dominion : " all things 
 are yours ; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or 
 the world, or life, or d^ath," 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. " You 
 are already partakers of a divine nature," 2 Pet. i. 4, 
 " You are already transformed into the same image, 
 from glory, even a& by the Spirit of the Lord," 2 
 Cor. iii. 18. 
 
 But how»is this union still marred and interrupted \ 
 How imperfect still this "participation of the divine na- 
 ture and this transformation into the same image I Let 
 this be to us, my brethren, a source of humiliation, 
 " but not of dejection. A more glorious state of 
 things is to succeed the present : // doth not yet appear 
 what we sliall be : but ive know that when he shall ap- 
 pear we shall be like him ; for tve shall see him as he is, 
 1 John iii. 2. A new influx of light with which tlK- 
 soul shall be replenished, a new influx of divine lov^. 
 with which the heart shall be inflamed, a new influx 
 of felicity ancMelight with which the immortal na- 
 ture shall be inundated, are going, ^ere long, to 
 place in its brig^est point of view, all the sublimity- 
 all the excellency of our condition. " Father, I pray 
 not for my disciples alone, but for them also who shall 
 believe in me through their word : that they all may 
 be one ; as thou. Father, art in me, and I in thee ; 
 that they also may be one in us." 
 
 But how is it possible for the miserable posterity 
 of Adam, how is it possible for wretched creatures 
 born in sin, how is it possible for frail mortals, a com- 
 pound of dust and ashes, that dwell in houses of clay ^ 
 whose foundation is in the dust^ which are crushed he- 
 fore the moth, Job iv. I9. how is it possible for beings 
 
 sa 
 2 
 
84 Christ's Sacerdotal Prayer. 
 
 so mean, so degraded, to become one with God, as 
 Jesus Christ! s one with him ? 
 
 Away, Christians, awaj with every shade of in- 
 creduUty. Nothing is too great for this prayer to 
 procure. There is nothing that God can deny to 
 this dying Intercessor. Let the mind be filled to its 
 utmost capacity, with all that is vast and affecting 
 in the sacrifice which Jesus Christ was about to pre- 
 sent to his Father. Consider that God is love, 1 John 
 iv. 16. And what could the God who is loie refuse 
 to the Redeemer of the world, at the moment when 
 he was going to devote himself, with such ardour of 
 aftection, for the salvation of mankind ? Behold 
 him the Redeemer of a lost world, behold him 
 ready to affix the seal to the great work which God 
 had committed to him : behold him prepared to be 
 led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep, dumb be- 
 fore her shearers. Is. liii. 7. behold him prepared to 
 undergo that punishment, the bare idea of which 
 makes nature shudder : behold him prepared to en- 
 ter into the deep mire where there is no standing, of 
 w^hich the prophets speak, Ps. Ixix. 2. and all this 
 out of that love, and all this from that principle of 
 charity which glowed in his compasstjinate breast. 
 
 At that moment of love, at that moment which 
 embraces an eternity — pardon niQ- the expression, 
 my friends, and condemn me not, if in a subject 
 which has nothing human, I am constrained to em- 
 ploy modes of speech which are not in common use 
 among men — at that moment which embraces a 
 whole eternity, when charity was carried as far as it 
 could go, this Redeemer presents himself before the 
 God of love, and asks of him, that in virtue of this 
 sacrifice of love, which he is going to offer up, all 
 the faithful, this people, you, my dearly beloved 
 brethren, you might be crowned with the felicity 
 and with the glory with which he himself was to be 
 crowned ; but to which, love would have rendered 
 hrm insensible, had he not promised himself to com- 
 municate 
 
Chnsts's Sacerdotal Prayer. 85 
 
 municate them, one day, to men, the objects of his 
 tenderest affection. 
 
 O mysteries of redemption, how far you tran- 
 scend all expression, all thought ! Ye angels of 
 light, who live in the bosom of glory, turn aside 
 your eyes from beholding wonders which dazzle the 
 heaven of heavens: bend lowly over the mystical 
 ark, and search it to the bottom. And you, for 
 whom all these wonders are wrought, children of 
 fallen Adam, bow down in gratitude and adoration, 
 and measure, if you can, the dimensions, tJie length, 
 the breadth, the height, the depth, of that abyss which 
 passeth knoivledge, Eph. iii. 18, Ip. 
 
 My brethren, there is an air of credulity and su- 
 perstition in what passes between a dying person, and 
 a minister who is endeavouring to fortify him 
 against the fears of death. The minister has the ap- 
 pearance of an impostor, and the dying person of a 
 visionary. We promise to a man extended on a 
 sick bed, to a man who is in a few days to be shut 
 up^n a tomb, and to become a prey to worms, we 
 promise him an eternal abode, and rivers of pleasures : 
 we assure him that he is the favourite of heaven, at 
 the very moment when he is going to become the 
 abhorrence of the earth, at the very moment when 
 corruption and rottenness are hastening to put to 
 fliglit from his person his most affectionate friends. 
 These pretensions are, however, incontestable. They 
 are founded on the charitable prayers which the Re- 
 deemer of men addressed to the God of love, at the 
 time when he himself was perfected in love : " / 
 '* have glorified thee on the earth : I have finisJied the 
 " tuorP^ which thou gavest me to do, and I tim going to 
 " seal with my blood that awful ministry which thou 
 '' hast committed unto me. Grant to my obedi- 
 '* ence, grant to the prayers and to the blood of thy 
 '* expiring Son, that Vvhich is most capable of su])- 
 *• porting him amidst those fearful obiccts with \^hich 
 
 " he 
 
86 Christ's Sacerdotal Fraytr. 
 
 " he is surrounded; it is the salvation of that world 
 " of behevers, who are to embrace my doctrine : 
 ** ' Father, I will that where lam, those whom thou hast 
 " given me may be there also with me, that they may 
 " behold my glory : and I pray not for them only, 
 " but also for these w^io shall believe in thee through 
 " their word.' " 
 
 These prayers, my brethren, are stiil presented. 
 Jesus Christ is still doing in heaven, what, in the 
 days of his flesh, he did upon earth: he is even at the 
 rigJithand of God, where he still 7?iaketh intercession for 
 us, Rom. viii. 34. He is still " able to save them to the 
 uttermost, that come unto God by him, seeing he ever 
 liveth to make intercession for them," Pleb. vii. 25. But 
 do we avail ourselves of these prayers ? But are w^e 
 seconding this intercession ? Alas I I was preparing 
 to set open to you all the treasures of consolation 
 which we see issuing from a dying Saviour's prayers. 
 But I find, in that prayer, one word which stops 
 me short ; one w^crd which terrifies me ; one word 
 w^hich suggests an inquiry that awakens a thousand 
 solicitudes : Are we in tiie class of those for whom 
 Jesus Christ prayed to the Father ; or are we of those 
 for w^hom, he tells us, he prayed not? Does it con- 
 tain the sentence of our absolution ; or that of our 
 eternal condemnation ? You have heard this word ; 
 but have you seriously weighed its import ? Have 
 you listened to it with that composure, and with 
 that application which it demands ? The word -is 
 this: " I pray not for the world; I pray for those whom 
 thou hast given me/' vcr. Q. My disciples for whom 
 I pray to thee, are not of the ivorki, even as I am ?iot 
 of the luorld, ver. 14. 
 
 We frame for ourselves a morality that suits cur 
 own fancy. We look upon a worldly spirit as a 
 matter of trivial importance, which it is scarcely 
 worth while to think of correcting. A preacher 
 who should take upon him to condemn this disposi- 
 tion of mind, would pass for a mere declaimer, who 
 
 abused 
 
Christ's Sacerdotal Grayer, 87 
 
 abused the liberty given him, of talking alone from 
 the i^ulpit. A worldly life, wasted in dissipation, 
 in pleasure, at play, at public spectacles, has nothing 
 terrifying in our eyes. But be pleased to learn 
 from Jesus Christ whether or not a worldly spirit be 
 a trivial matter. But learn of Jesus Christ what are 
 the fatal effects of a worldly mind. It is an exclu- 
 sion from the glorious catalogue of those for whom 
 Jesus Christ intercedes. It destroys the right of pre- 
 tending to those blessings which the Saviour requests 
 in behalf of his church : " I pray not for ttie world; I 
 pray for them whom thou hast given me," My disci- 
 ples, for wiiom I pray to thee, are not of the world, 
 even as I mn not of the world. 
 
 Would you wish to know whether Jesus Christ is 
 an intercessor for you ? Would you wish to know 
 whether you are of the number of them who shall, 
 one day, be where Jesus Christ is ? See whether you 
 can distinguish yourself by this character, they are 
 not of the world, even as I am not of tJw world. And 
 what is it not to be of the world } 
 
 Not to be of the world, is not to live in deserts 
 and in solitudes : it is not for a man to bury himself 
 before he is dead, and to pass his life as it were in a 
 tomb. Jesus Christ and his apostles lived in society; 
 but they sanctified society by useful instruction and 
 by a holy example ; but they were the light of the 
 world, and if they mingled in the midst of a crooked 
 and perverse nation, they were bla?neless and har??2less^ 
 and without rebuke ; and shone among them. 
 
 Not to be of the world, is not to abantlon the 
 reins of government to ruffians. Jesus Christ and 
 his a]X)stles permitted Christians to occupy the most 
 distinguished stations in society ; but it was their 
 wish and endeavour, that while they filled such sta- 
 tions, they should guard against the illusion of their 
 own lustre : that they should not imagine themselves 
 exalted to terrestrial greatness merely to display their 
 ^r.vn vain self-importance, but that they should ever 
 
 keep 
 
.^H Christ^ s Sacerdotal Prater, 
 
 keep in view the necessities of those whose happi- 
 ness is entrusted to their care. 
 
 Not to be of the world, is not to break off all re- 
 lation with the world, to be always absorbed in me- 
 ditation, in contemplation, in extasies. No, reli- 
 gion is adapted to the various relations of human 
 life ; to fathers, to children, to masters, to servants. 
 
 But not to be of the world, is never to lose sight 
 even in the distraction of worldly concerns, of the 
 end which God proposed to himself, when he placed 
 us in the world : it is constantly to recollect that we 
 have a soul to be saved ; an account to render ; a 
 hell to shun ; a heaven to gain : it is habitually to 
 direct, toward these great objects, the edge of our 
 spirit, the vivacity of our passions, the ardour of our 
 desires : it is to be able to say, at the close of life, 
 with Jesus Christ, as far as tlie infinite distance he- 
 tween the sanctity of this divine Saviour and ours 
 can permit : " Father, I have glorified thee on the 
 earth, I have finished the work which thou gavest me 
 to do. I have fought the good fight : I have kept the 
 faith," 2 Tim. iv. 7. Wo be to the man who, at that 
 fatal period, shall be reduced to the necessity of hold- 
 ing an opposite language, and of saying, " Scarcely 
 " have I, as yet, put my hand to the works which 
 " thou gavest me to do. Scarcely have I employed 
 " an instant of my time in meditating on eternity. " 
 VVo be to the nian who shall then have cause to 
 say : and ah ! how many such are there, under the 
 name of Christians ! "' I have employed part of my 
 " life in cultivating my estate, in swelling my re- 
 * ' venue, in pull big doiun my barns andhuildm^ (greater ^ 
 " Luke xii. 18. I have devoted another to the de- 
 " lights of a present life, to refinement in pleasure. 
 *' A third has been employed in gratifying the most 
 '* criminal appetites, in vomiting out blasphemy 
 •' against nr>- l^^eiio factor, in waging vrar with reli- 
 gion, 
 
Christ's Sacerdotal prayer, 89 
 
 " gion, morals and common decency, in scanda- 
 " lizing the church of God by my impurities and 
 " excess. " 
 
 Let us not be ingenious in practising illusion upon 
 ourselves. Let us not amuse ourselves with unpro- 
 fitable speculations respecting the meaning of these 
 words, I pray not for the ivorid. What bold and rash 
 researches have the schools pursued on the subject 
 of this saying of Christ ? What chimerical conse- 
 quences have not been deduced from it ? But from 
 these I must still revert to this grand principle : Are 
 you of the world, or are you not of the world ? 
 Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven!^ 
 or, JVho shall descend into the deep ? the ivord is nigh 
 thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart, Ronri. x. 6, 
 — 8. The friendship of the luorld is enmity with God. 
 James iv. 4. If you are of the world, you are not of 
 the number of those for whom Jesus Christ pleads. 
 If you are not of the v/orld, you are within the decree 
 of his election: he has interceded for you, and you 
 are Avarranted to expect all the fruits of his inter- 
 cession. 
 
 These reflections will probably excite, in some, 
 many a painful apprehension, amounting to a convic- 
 tion that you are in the dreadful class of those for 
 whom Christ intercedes not. But if it be high time 
 to renounce this world, by acts of penitence, of mor- 
 tification, of a sincere return unto God, let us pro-> 
 portion these acts to the degree of criminality which 
 renders them necessary. The love of the world has 
 Inspired a taste for voluptuousness : let us deny our- 
 selves by a course of abstinence, during the passion 
 weeks, even from what is necessary to nature ■^. The 
 love of the world has transported us into excesses of 
 worldly joy : let us clothe ourselves in sackcloth 
 and ashes, during the passion weeks, or rather let us 
 ])resent unto God the sacrifice of a broken mid con/ rite 
 heart, Ps. li. ig. Let us make extraordinary elTorts 
 to disarm his wrath, ever enkindled against the abo- 
 minations 
 * Docs not this y^a^sage savour some^vhat too strongly of Popery? 
 
90 Christ's Sacerdotal Prat/cr, 
 
 minations of the Christian world. Let us say to 
 him a thousand and a thousand times, as we turn 
 our eyes toward the cross of Jesus Christ : O Lord^ 
 righteousness belongeth unto thee^ hut unto us confusion 
 of faces : Dan. ix. 7. Let us entreat him by those 
 bowels of love which prompted him to restore a fal- 
 len world, that he would disunite us from the crea- 
 ture, and unite us to himself. 
 
 If we act in this manner, we have every thing to 
 expect from a God whose great leading chai*acter is 
 love. Ke will take pity on this wretched people. 
 He will have compassion on these miserable pro- 
 vinces, in which it seems as if every individual had 
 undertaken the task of shutting his own eyes, in or- 
 der to precipitate himself, with the greater indiffe- 
 rence, into the abyss which is gaping to swallow us 
 up : he will repress those sea-piracies which have 
 reduced so many families, and impaired the general 
 commerce : he will remove those dreadful plagues 
 which have rumed so maiiy respectable communities 
 as well as individuals: he will stop tliose fearful in- 
 undations which ha.ve already committed such de^ 
 vastatic-ii in the midst of us, and which still occasion 
 so many well-grounded alarms : he will reconcile the 
 hearts of the potentates of Europe, snd engage them 
 to use their united efforts to pron^ote the happiness 
 and the glory of the Christian world. 
 
 Much more, if we are not of the world, we shall 
 partake of delights which the world knows not of, 
 and which it cannot take from us, as it cannot be- 
 stow. If we are not of the world, we shall have 
 cause of self-gratulation, with our divine Master, 
 that we are not like those desperate madmen who 
 seem resolutely bent on mutual and self destruction ; 
 and in these sentiments shall thus address ourselves 
 to God ; O righteous Father, the world hath not known 
 
 thee : 
 
Christ* s Sacerdotal Froijer. Ql 
 
 thee: but I have kimwn thee, ver. 25. It we are not 
 of the world, w^e shall be animated with a holy in- 
 trepidity, when death takes us out of the world, 
 nay when the world and its foundations crumble 
 into dust beneath our feet. 
 
 We shall be iilled with joy unspeakable when w^e 
 reflect, that we are leaving a world of which we were 
 not, to go to that of which we are citizens. We shall 
 say, amidst the tears and lamentation of a last adieu : 
 " It is true, my dear children, it is true, my dear 
 " friends, I leave you upon the earth : but my Jesus 
 *' is in heaven, and I go to be where he is : having a de- 
 " sire to depart, and to he with Christ, which is far bet- 
 " ter : Phil. i. 23 * it is true, I tear myself from 
 " you, and it is like tearing me from myself ; but 
 " this mournful, is not an everlasting separation. 
 " Jesus Christ has prayed equally for you and for 
 " me. He has asked for me and for you, that we 
 " should all be ivhcrc he is, that we 7naii all be one in 
 " him and with the Father : and I only go before 
 " you a fev/ instants into this state of blessedness." 
 
 Ah I God grant, that after having preached the 
 gospel to you, we may be enabled to say, with Jesus 
 Christ, at our dying hour ; Father, those that thou 
 gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost! ver. 12. 
 God grant that there may be no son of perdition in 
 this assembly I May God vouchsafe to hearken to 
 the prayer which we present in your behalf, in this 
 place, and which we shall present to him on a dying 
 bed : or rather may God vouchsafe to hear the prayer 
 which Jesus Christ presents for us : Father, I will 
 that they whom thou hast given me be with me where I 
 am; that they may behold my glory I Amen. To the 
 Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit be ho- 
 nour and glory for ever. Amen. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 The Crucifixion. 
 
 Matth. xxvii. 45 — 53. 
 
 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all 
 the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth 
 hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli^ 
 lama sabachthani^ that is to say. My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me^ Some of them that 
 stood there, when they heard that, said. This man 
 calleth for Elias, And straightway one of them ran, 
 and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and 
 put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The rest 
 said. Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to 
 save him, Jesus, when he had cried again with a 
 loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the 
 vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to 
 the bottom : and the earth did quake, and the rocks 
 rent; and the graves were ope7ied ; and many bodies 
 of saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves 
 after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, 
 and appeared unto many, 
 
 WE are going to set before you this day, my 
 Christian friends, the concluding scene of 
 
 the 
 
94 The Crucifixion, 
 
 the most dreadful spectacle that ever the sun beheld. 
 On beholding the order, the preparations, and the 
 approaching completion of the sacrifice of Isaac, the 
 soul is thrown into astonishment. A father binding 
 his own son with cords, extending him upon a fu- 
 neral-pile, raising up an armed right-hand to pierce 
 his bosom ; and all this by the command of heaven ! 
 What a prodigy I At such a sight Reason mumurs^ 
 Faith is staggered, and Providence seems to labour 
 under an indelible imputation. But a seasonable and 
 happy interposition dissipates all this darkness. An 
 angel descends from heaven, a voice pierces the yield- 
 ing air : " Abraham, Abraham ; lay not thy hand 
 upon the lad \ for now I know that thou fearest God, 
 seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son 
 from me," Gen. xxii. 12. And this revolution si- 
 lences the murmurings of reason, re-establishes our 
 faith, and vindicates the ways of Providence. 
 
 A greater than Isaac, my brethren, a greater than 
 Abraham i^ here. This sacrifice must be completed ; 
 this victim must die ; this burnt-offering must be 
 reduced to ashes. In the preceding chapters you 
 have seen the command given, the scaffold erected, 
 the arm extended to smite the devoted Jesus. You 
 are going to behold him expire ; no victim substi- 
 tuted in hiH room ; no revocation of the decree, and 
 instead of inquiring like Isaac, " behold the fire and 
 the wood ; but where is the lamb for a burnt-offer- 
 ing?" ver. 7. he saith, io, I come ; , , , , to do thy 
 ivill, O my God, Ps. xl. 7, 8. Jesus expires ; the 
 dead leave their tombs : the sun withdraws his light : 
 Nature is convulsed at the sight of her Creator dying 
 upon a cross. And the Son of God's love, before he ut- 
 ters his last sigh, gives a free course to his com- 
 plaints, and makes an astonished world re-echo those 
 mournful sounds : my God, my God, luhy hast thou 
 forsaken me P ver. 46. 
 
 AncJ 
 
The Crucifimon. 95 
 
 And you, Cliristians,, what are you to become at 
 beholding this spectacle ; and what effects are these 
 objects to produce, that shall be in any proportion 
 to their magnitude ? With whatever success our hap- 
 piest addresses to you may be crowned, your actions 
 must ever fall far short of your obligations and en- 
 gagements.. It is possible, however, that, on cer- 
 tain points, we may have commendation only to be- 
 stow. When restitution is the theme, some one, per- 
 haps, conscience-struck, some Zaccheus is induced to 
 restore fouifold. When the doctrine of forgiveness 
 and reconciliation is preached, some one, smitten to 
 the heart, is, it may be, disposed to open his arms 
 to an estranged brother. Bat what fruit can this 
 discourse produce, capable of, I do not say, fulfilling 
 your obligations, but that shall bear any manner of 
 proportion to them ? Were your hearts, hencefor- 
 ward, to burn with the purest and most ardent affec- 
 tion ; were your eyes to become a living fountain of 
 tears ; were every particle of your frame to serve as 
 a several victim to penitence ; were this vaulted roof 
 to cleave asunder ; were the dead, deposited in these 
 tombs, to start up into life : What would there be in 
 all this that is not absorbed of the objects which Vv^e 
 are going to display ? 
 
 Come and clothe yourselves in mourning with 
 the rest of Nature. Come, with the centurion, 
 and recognize your Bedeemer and your God ; and 
 let the sentiments which severally occupy all these 
 hearts and minds unite in this one : " I am crucified 
 with Christ; nevertheless I live: yet not I, but 
 Christ liveth in me : and the life which I now live in 
 the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who 
 loved me, and gave himself for me," Gal. ii. 20. 
 Amen. 
 
 That you may derive from the words which we 
 
 liave 
 
q6 The Crucifixion. 
 
 have read, tlie fruit which the Holy Spirit presents 
 to us in them, we shall, 1. Attempt some elucidation 
 of the letter of the text : and then, 2. Endeavour to 
 penetrate into the spirit of it, and dive to the bot- 
 tom of the mysteries which it contains. 
 
 I. We begin with attempting some elucidation of 
 the letter of the text. And, 
 
 1. Our first remark turns on the time which the 
 evangelist assigns to the first events which he is here 
 relating '.from the sixth hour^ says he, " there was dark- 
 ness unto the ninth hour : and about the ninth hour Jesus 
 cried with a loud voice," and so on. Respecting which 
 it is to be observed that the Jews computed the hours 
 of the day from sun-rising. The first from sun- 
 rising was called one hour ; the second tivo, and so 
 of the rest : from the sixth hour to the ninth hour ; in 
 other words, from noon till three of the clock af- 
 ternoon. 
 
 But v*hat merits a more particular attention is 
 this, that the evangelists appear here to vary in their 
 testimony ; at least St Mark tells us, ch. xv. 25. 
 that part of the events which the other evangelists 
 say took place about the ninth hour, happened at the 
 third hour. A single remark will resolve this diffi- 
 culty. The Jews employed another method in com- 
 puting time, besides that which we have indicated. 
 They divided the day into four intervals. The first- 
 comprehended the space from the first to the third 
 hour of the day inclusively : the second, from the 
 end of the third hour of the day to the sixth : and 
 so of the rest *. This mode of computation, if cer- 
 tain doctors are to be credited, took its rise from the 
 custom which was observed in the temple, of pre- 
 senting 
 
 ^ See Grotius on MaU. xxvli. 45, 
 
The Crucijixion, 97 
 
 senting prayers and sacrifices at the third, the sixth, 
 and the ninth hour. Now the Jews sometimes de- 
 nominated the whole of this first interval, which 
 contained three hours of the day, one hour, or the 
 first hour. The second interval they denominated 
 tivo^ or the second hour, which contained the second 
 three hours, and so of the rest. This remark solves 
 the apparent difficulty which we pointed out. Some 
 of the evangelists have followed the first mode of 
 computation, and others have adopted the second. 
 The ni?ith hour in the style of St Matthew, and the 
 third hour in the style of St Mark denote one and the 
 same season of the day ; because the one computes 
 the hours elapsed from sun-rising, and the other that 
 third interval of three hours which commenced pre- 
 cisely at the ninth hour. 
 
 2. Our second rernark will lead us into an exami- 
 nation of certain questions started, relative to the 
 prodigies recorded by our evangelist. It is said, 
 
 (1.) That there was darkness over all the land. It 
 appears from astronomical calculation, and from the 
 very, nature of solar eclipses, which are occasioned 
 by the interposition of the body of the moon be- 
 tween us and the orb of day, which can take place 
 only at the change, whereas it was then at the full, 
 being the fourteenth day of the month of March ; it 
 appears, I say, from these considerations, that this 
 darkness was not an eclipse properly so called, but an 
 obscuration effected by a special interference of Pro- 
 vidence, which we are unable clearly to explain. 
 
 If we are incapable of assigning the cause,' w^e are 
 equally incapable of determining the extent of this^ 
 wonderful appearance. The expression in the ori- 
 ginal, '* there was darkness over all the land," or, ac- 
 cording to St Luke's phraseology, over all the earth, 
 
 VOL. VI. H cb. 
 
98 The Cf'iwifixion. 
 
 ch. xxiii. 44. which presents at first to the mind an 
 idea of the whole globe, is frequently restricted in 
 scripture, sometimes to the land of Judea, some- 
 times to the whole Roman empire ; and this ambi- 
 guity, joined to the silence of the sacred historians, 
 renders it impossible for us to decide whether the 
 darkness overspread the land of Judea only, or in- 
 volved all the rest of our hemisphere. 
 
 Neither do we deem it of importance to dwell on 
 an examination of the monuments supposed to be 
 found in antiquity respecting the truth of the pro- 
 digy of which we have been speaking. Among 
 those which are transmitted to us on this subject, 
 there is one which bears visible marks of forgery. I 
 speak of the testimony of Dionysius, falsely deno- 
 minated the Areopagite, who affirms that he himself 
 saw, in Egypt, the darkness mentioned by the evan- 
 gelists, which drew from him this exclamation : " As- 
 suredly either the God of Nature is suffering, or the 
 frame of the universe is going to be destroyed *." The 
 learned have so clearly demonstrated that. the author 
 of this book is an impostor, who, though he did 
 not live till the fourtji century, would nevertheless 
 pass for the Dionysius who was converted to Christia- 
 nity by the preaching of St Paul on Mars-hill, 
 Acts xvii. 34. that this author, transfixed with a 
 thousand wounds, is fallen, never to rise again. 
 
 Much more dependence is, undoubtedly, to be 
 placed on what is said by Phlegon, surnamed the 
 Trallian, the emperor Adrian's freedman. He had 
 composed a history of the Olympiads, some frag- 
 ments only of which have reached us : but Eusebius 
 the historian has preserved the following passage from 
 
 it*: 
 
 * Dionys." Areopag. torn. II. page 91. and Annot. Corder. page 
 33, and 102. Edit. Antwerp, 1634. 
 
The Crucifixion. 99 
 
 it * : " In the fourth year of the two hundred and se 
 cond Olympiad, there was an ecUpse of the sun, much 
 greater than any one which had ever before been ob- 
 served. The night was so dark at noon-day that the 
 stars were perceptible, and there were such violent 
 earthquakes in Bithynia, that the greatest part of 
 the city of Nicea was swallowed up by it." These 
 are the words of Eusebius : but the inquiries to which 
 they might lead could not be prosecuted in an exer- 
 cise like the present, and they would encroach on that 
 time which we destine to subjects of much higher 
 importance. 
 
 (2.) The evangelist tells us in the second place^ 
 that the vail of the temple was rent in twain^ from the 
 top to the bottom. There were two vails in the tem-> 
 pie at Jerusalem ; that which was suspended over the 
 door that separated the holy place from the exterior 
 of the temple, which Josephus calls a Babylonian 
 hangings embroidered curiously with gold, purple, 
 scarlet and fine flax f . There was also a vail oyer 
 the door which separated the holy place from the 
 Holy of Holies. The expression in the text the 
 vail, described in Exodus xxvi. 31. and denoted the 
 vail by way of excellence, makes it presumable that 
 the second is here meant. 
 
 (3.) The evangelist relates that the graves were open- 
 ed ; aiidmany bodies of saints which slept arose, and 
 went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. This 
 has induced interpreters to institute an inquiry. Who 
 those dead persons were ? It is pretended by some 
 that they were the ancient prophets ; others, with a 
 greater air of probability, maintain that they were 
 persons lately deceased, and well-known to those 
 
 ■^i to 
 
 * Euseb. Pamph. Thesaurus Temporum, page l58. Edit. 
 Amst. 1658. 
 
 f Exod. xxvi. 36. Joseph, -wars of the Jews, Book vl. ©li. 14^ 
 
100 TJie Crucifixion. 
 
 to whom they appeared. But how is it possible to 
 form a fixed opinion, when we are left so entirely iij 
 the dark ? 
 
 (4.) Our last remark relates to the interpretation 
 affirmed to the Syriac words which Jesus Christ pro- 
 nounced ; £//, Eli, lama sabachtham., and which St 
 Mark gives in the Chaldaic form. The evangelist 
 tells us, that some of those who heard Jesus Christ 
 thus express himself, said that he called for Elias. 
 The persons who entertained this idea, could not be 
 the Roman soldiers, who assisted at the execution. 
 By what means should they have known any thing 
 of Elias ? They were not the Jews who inhabited 
 Jerusalem and Judea ; How could they have been 
 acquainted with their native language ? They must 
 have been, on the one hand, Jews instructed in the 
 traditions of their nation, and who, on the other, 
 did not understand the language spoken at Jerusa- 
 lem. Now this description applies exactly to those 
 of the Jews who were denominated Hellenists, that is 
 to say, Greeks : they were of Jewish extraction and 
 had scattered themselves over the different regions of 
 Greece. 
 
 But whence, it will be said, did they derive the 
 strange idea, that Jesus Christ called for Elias } I 
 answer, that it was not only from the resemblance in 
 sound between the words Eli and Elias, but from 
 another tradition of the Jews. It was founded on 
 those words of the prophet Malachi : " behold, I will 
 
 send you Elijah the prophet and he shall turn the 
 
 heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of 
 the children to their fathers, ch. iv. 6. an oracle which 
 presents no difficulty to the Christian, whom Jesus 
 Christ has instructed to consider it as accomplished 
 m the person of John Baptist. But the Jews under- 
 stood it in tlie literal sense : they believed that Elias 
 •^ was 
 
The Crucifixion^ 101 
 
 was still upon mount Carmel, and was one day to re- 
 appear. The coming of this prophet is still, next 
 to the appearance of the Messiah, the ohject of their 
 fondest hope *. It is Elias, as they wiii have it, 
 who shall turn the heart of the fathers unto the chil- 
 dren ; and the heart of the children unto their fathers. 
 It is Elias, who shall prepare the way of the Messiah, 
 who shall be his forerunner, and who shall anoint 
 him with the holy oil. It is Elias, who shall an- 
 swer all their enquiries, and resolve all their difficul- 
 ties. It is Elias, who, by his prayers, shall obtain 
 the resurrection of the just. It is Elias, who shall 
 do for the Jews of the dispersion, what Moses did 
 for the Israelites enslaved in Egypt : he shall march 
 at their head, and conduct them into Canaan. These 
 are all expressions of the Rabbins, whose names I 
 suppress, as also the lists of the works from which 
 we extract the passages just now quoted. Here we 
 conclude our proposed commentary on the words, 
 and now proceed, 
 
 II. To direct your attention to the great object 
 exhibited in the text, Jesus Christ expiring on the 
 cross. We shall derive from the words read, six 
 ideas of the death of Jesus Christ. 1. The death of 
 Christ is an expiatory sacrifice, in which the victim 
 was charged with the sins of a whole world. 2. It 
 is the body of all the shadows, the truth of all the 
 types, the accomplishment of all the predictions of 
 the ancient dispensation, respecting the Messiah. 
 3. It is, on the pait of the Jewish nation, a crime, 
 which the blackest colours are incapable of dep ct- 
 ing, which has kindled the wrath of heaven, and 
 armed universal Nature against them. 4. It pre- 
 sents a system of morality in which every virtue is 
 retraced, and every motive that can animate us to 
 the practice of it, is displayed. 5. It presents a 
 
 * Se? KImchi and Ab':n Ezra on Mai. I v. T^ 
 
102 The Crucifmorh 
 
 mystery which reason cannot unfold, but whose 
 truth and importance all the difficulties which rea- 
 son may urge are unable to impair. 6. Finally, It 
 is the triumph of the Redeemer over the tomb. 
 
 1 . The death of Jesus Christ is an expiatory sa- 
 crifice, offered up to divine justice. Eli, Eli, lama 
 sabachtJumi : Mi/ God, my God, rvhy hast thou for- 
 saken me P This is the only proof which we shall at 
 present produce in support of the doctrine of the 
 atonement. It is, undoubtedly, difficult, to deter- 
 mine with precision, Avhat were, at that iiioment, 
 the dispositions of the Saviour of the world. In 
 general, we must carefully separate from them every 
 idea of distrust, of murmuring, of despair. We 
 must carefully separate every thing injurious to the 
 immaculate purity from which Jesus Christ never 
 deviated, and to that complete submission, which 
 lie constantly expressed, to the will of his heavenly 
 Father. We have here a victim, not dragged re- 
 luctantly to the altar, but voluntarily advancing to 
 it ; and the same love which carried him thither, 
 supported him during the whole sacrifice. These 
 complainings, therefore, of Jesus Christ, afford us 
 convincing reasons to conclude, that his der^th was 
 pf a nature altogether extraordinary. 
 
 Of this you will become perfectly sensible, if you 
 attend to the two following reflections ; (l.) That no 
 one ever appeared so deeply overwhelmed, at the 
 thought of death, as Jesus Christ : (2.) Tliat no per- 
 son ought to have met death with so much constancy 
 as he, if he underwent a mere ordinary death. 
 
 (l.) No one ever appeared so deeply overwhelm- 
 ed, at the thought of death, as Jesus Christ. Re- 
 collect in what strong terms the sacred authors re- 
 present the awful conflict which he endured in the 
 garden of Gethsemane. They tell us of his mortal 
 
 sorro^' : 
 
The Crucifixion, *103 
 
 sorrow : "tny soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto 
 death. Matt. xxvi. 38. They speak of his agony ; 
 hemg in an agony, says St Luke, xxii. 44. They 
 speak of his fears : he was heard in that he feared : 
 they speak of his cries and tears : he offered up prayers 
 and supplications, with strong crying and tears, Heb. 
 V. 7. They speak of the prodigious efFcct which 
 the fear of death produced upon his body \ " his sweat 
 was as it were great drops of blood faUing down to the 
 ground." They even spake of the desire which he 
 felt to draw back ; O my Father, if it be possible, let 
 this cup pass from me. Matt. xxvi. 39. And in our 
 text, they represent him as reduced to the lowest 
 ebb of resolution : "My God, my God, why hast thou 
 forsaken me ? " Is it possible to be more depressed at 
 the thoughts of death ? 
 
 (2.) But we said, secondly. That no person ought 
 to have met death with so much constancy as Jesus 
 Christ, if he underwent a mere ordinary death. 
 For, 
 
 (i) Jesus Christ died with perfect submission to 
 the will of his heavenly Father, and with the most 
 fervent love toward the human race. Now, when a 
 man serves a master whom he honours, when he suf- 
 fers for the sake of persons whom he loves, he suf- 
 fers with patience and composure, 
 
 (ii) Jesus Christ died with the most complete as- 
 surance of the justice of his cause, and of the inno- 
 cence of his life. When, at the hour of death, 
 conscience is roused as an armed man ; when the re-^ 
 collection of a thousand crimes awakes, when a life 
 of unrepented guilt stares the dying sinner in the 
 face, the most obdurate heart is then stretched on 
 the rack. But when, at a dying hour, the eye can 
 look back to a life of innocence, what consolation 
 
 does 
 
104 "^he Crucijixion. 
 
 does not the retrospect inspire ? This was the case 
 with Jesus Christ. Who ever carried so far charity, 
 holy fervour, the practice of every virtue ? Who ever 
 was more blameless in conduct, more ardent in de- 
 votion, more pure in secret retirement ? 
 
 (iii) Jesus Christ died, thoroughly persuaded of 
 the immortality of the soul. When a man has 
 passed his life in atheism, and is dying in a state of 
 uncertainty : haunted with the apprehension of fall- 
 ing into a state of annihilation ; reduced to exclaim, 
 with Adrian, O 7ni/ soul, whither art thou going P Na- 
 ture shudders ; our attachment to existence inspires 
 horror, at the thought of existing no longer. But 
 when we have a distinct knowledge of what man is ; 
 when we are under a complete conviction that he 
 consists of two distinct substances, of spiiit, and of 
 matter ; when we become thoroughly persuaded, 
 that the destruction of the one does not imply the 
 destruction of the other ; that if the dust return to the 
 earth as it ivas^ the spirit shall return unto God who 
 gave it, Eccles. xii. 7. when we know that the soul is 
 the seat of all perception ; that the body is merely 
 a medium of intelligence ; that the soul, when dis- 
 engaged from matter, may retain the same ideas, the 
 same sentiments, as when united to the body ; that it 
 may be capable of perceiving the sun, the st^rs, the 
 firmament, death is no longer formidable. This, 
 too, was the case with Jesus Christ. If ever any 
 one enjoyed a persuasion of the immortality of the 
 soul, and of the resurrection, it undoubtedly was 
 this divine Saviour. He it was who had derived all 
 the stores of knowledge from the bosom of the Fa- 
 ther, and who had brought life and immortality/ to light, 
 2 Tim. i. ^0, 
 
 (iv) Finally, Jesus Christ died in the perfect as- 
 surance 
 
TJie Crucifixion, iOS 
 
 surance of that felicity which he was going to take 
 possession of. When the dying person beholds hell 
 opening under his feet, and begins to feel the gnaw- 
 ings of tfie worm which dieth not, and the torment of 
 the fire that is ?iever to be quenched, Mark ix. 44. it is 
 not astonishing that he should die in terror. But 
 when we can say, as he looks death in the face, 
 " There is the termination of all my woes, and the 
 " reward of all my labours ; I am going to restore 
 " my soul into the hands of my Creator ; I behold 
 *' heaven opened to receive it :" What transports 
 of delight must not such a prospect impart I Such, 
 too, was the case with Jesus Christ. If ever anv 
 one could have enjoyed a foretaste of the paradise of 
 God ; if ever any one could conceive sublime ideas 
 of that glory and blessedness, still it was Jesus Christ. 
 He knew all these things by experience ; he knew 
 all the apartments of the kingdom of his Father : 
 from God he had come, and to God he was returning. 
 Nay there must have been something peculiar in bis 
 triumph, transcendantly superior to that of the faith- 
 ful in general. Because he humbled himself, mid be^ 
 came obedient unto death, even the death of the cross ; 
 God was about highly to exalt him, and to give him a 
 name that is above every name, Phil. ii. 8, 9. A 
 cloud was going to serve him as a triumphal car, and 
 the church triumphant was preparing to receive their 
 King in these rapturous strains : Lift up your heads, 
 O ye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and 
 the King of glory shall come in, Psal. xxiv. 7. 
 
 What, then, shall Jesus Christ do ? Shall he meet 
 death with joy? Shall he say with St Paul, I have 
 a desire to depart? Shall he exclaim with the female 
 celebrated in ecclesiastical history ; This is the daii 
 that crowns are distributed, and I go to receive my 
 shared No, Jesus Christ trembles, he grows pale, his 
 
 i>v»'e£j.t 
 
106 The Cnicijhion, 
 
 sweat becomes as great drops of bloody Luke xxii. 
 44. he cries out, Mi/ God, my God, why hast thou for- 
 saken me P 
 
 Add , to these reflections, the promises of divine 
 assistance, which all the faithfut have a right to 
 claim, in the midst of tribulation, and which Jesus 
 Christ musj; have had a far superior right to plead, 
 had he died a mere ordinary death ; but of the con- 
 solation flowing from these he seems entirely de- 
 prived. 
 
 Add, in a particular manner, the example of the 
 martyrs. They met death with unshaken fortitude: 
 they braved the most cruel torments : their firmness 
 struck their very executioners with astonishment. 
 In Jesus Christ we behold nothing similar to this. 
 
 Nay, I will go farther, and say. That even the pe- 
 nitent thief discovers more firmness, in his dying 
 moments, than the Saviour himself. He addresses 
 hijnself to Jesus Christ, he implores his mercy, 
 and, set at rest by the promises given to him, he ex- 
 pires in tranquillity : Jesus Christ, on the contrary, 
 seems equally to despair of relief from heaven and 
 from the earth. 
 
 The oppose I's of the satisfaction of Jesus Christ 
 will find it absolutely impossible to resolve these dif- 
 ficulties : the doctrine of the satisfaction is the only 
 key that can unlock this mystery. Inmimerable evils 
 have compassed me about, is the prophetic language of 
 the Psalmist, mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, 
 so that I am not able to look up: they are more than the 
 hairy of mine head, therefore my heart faileth me, Ps. 
 xl. 12 . He was wounded for our transgressions, he was 
 bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace 
 was upon him: as Isaiah expresses himself, ch. liii. 5. 
 
 God 
 
The Crucifixion, lOT 
 
 God spared not his own Son, Rom. viii. 32. Jw hath 
 made him to he sin for us, 2 Cor. v. 21. being made a 
 curse for us. Gal. iii. 13. to use the language of St 
 Paul : this is what we undertook to prove ; and this 
 is the first idea under which we proposed to repre- 
 sent the dying Saviour of the world. 
 
 SEIMON 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The Crucifixion. 
 
 Matth. xxvii. 45 — 53. 
 
 Now from the sixth hour there teas darkness over all 
 the land unto the ninth hour. And about the ninth 
 hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, 
 lama sabachthaniP that is to say^ My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me ? Some of them that 
 stood there, when they heard that, said. This man 
 calleth for Elias. And straightway one of them ran, 
 and took a spunge, and filled it ivith vi?iegar, and 
 put it on a reed, and gave him to drink. The 7^est 
 said. Let be, let us see whether Elias will co?ne to 
 save him. Jesus, when he had cried again with a 
 loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the 
 vail of the temple was rent in twain from the top to 
 the bottom : and the earth did quake, and the rocks 
 rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies 
 of saints ivhtch slept arose, and came out of the graves 
 after his resurrection, and luent into the holy city^ 
 and appeared unto many, 
 
 HAVING represented the death of Christ under 
 the idea, 1. Of an expiatory sacrifice, in which 
 the victim was charged with the sins of the whole 
 world : we proceed, 
 
 2. To 
 
116 The Cf-ucifixiO/L 
 
 2. To consider it, as the body of all the shadows, 
 the truth of all the types, the accomplishment of all 
 the predictions of the ancient dispensation, respect- 
 ing the Messiah. In fact, On what state or period of 
 the Old Testament church can we throw our eyes, 
 without discovering images of a dying Jesus, and 
 traces of the sacrifice which he offered up ? 
 
 If we resort to the origin of all our woes, there 
 tilso w^e find the remedy. You will discover that 
 Adam had no sooner by transgression fallen, than 
 God promised him a seed, w4iose /we I the seed of the 
 serpent should bruise, but who, in that very act of 
 suffering, should bruise the serpent's head, Gen. iii. 15. 
 You will find this same promise repeated to Abra- 
 ham ; that seed announced a-new^ to the patriarchs, 
 and, taking St Paul for your instructor, you wall 
 discover that this seed is Jesus Christ, Gal. iii. i6. 
 
 If you contem.plate the temporal wonders which 
 God was pleased to work in favour of the Jewish 
 nation, you will discover every where in them an 
 tidumbration of the spiritual blessings which the 
 death of Jesus Christ was to procure for the church. 
 You will there see the blood of a lamb on the doors 
 of the Israelites. It w^as the shadow of that Lamb 
 without ble7nish and without spot, fore-ordained before 
 the foundation of the world, 1 Pet. i. Ip, 20. You 
 wdll there behold a rock, which, when smitten, 
 ^emitted a stream sufficient to quench the thirst of a. 
 great people. This was a shadow^ of Jesus Christ. 
 St Paul tells us that it was Christ himself, who re- 
 freshes us with living water, springing upinto everlast- 
 ing life, 1 Cor. x. 4. and John iv. 14. You will there 
 behold a serpent lifted up, the sight of w^hich healed 
 the deadly wounds of the Israelites. It was a sha- 
 dow of him who was to be lifted up on the cross. 
 
 If 
 
The Orucifixmi, 111 
 
 If you look into the Levitical worship, you will 
 perceive through the whole of it, types of this 
 death : a perpetual sacrifice, the type of him iuho7ii 
 God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in 
 his blood, Rom. iii. 25. You will there behold vic- 
 tims, the types of him " who, through the eternal Spi- 
 rit, offered himself without spot to God, to purge the 
 conscience from dead works, to serve the living God," 
 Heb. ix. 14. a scape-goat, bearing 0/2 his head all the 
 iniquities of the children of Israel^ Lev. xvi. 21. The 
 type of him who suffered for us without the gate, 
 Heb. xiii. I3. 
 
 If you run over the predictions of the prophets, 
 you will find them, as with one mouth, announcing 
 the death of Jesus Christ. Now it is Isaiah who 
 lifts up his voice, saying, " He is despised and rejected 
 of men, a man of sorrows .... who made his soul an 
 offering for sin .... who is brought as a lamb to the 
 slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so 
 he openeth not his mouth .... who was oppressed, and 
 was afflicted .... who was cut off out of the land of 
 the living," ch. liii. 3, &c. Now it is Daniel who 
 holds up the same object : Messiah shall he cut off, but 
 not for himself ch. ix. 26. NowZacharias takes up 
 the subject, and under the influence of prophetic in- 
 spiration, gives animation to the sw ord of " the Lord 
 of Hosts : Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and 
 against the man who is my fellow : smite the shepherd, 
 and the sheep shall be scattered," ch. xiii. 7. Now the 
 prophetic David, minutely describing his sufferings, 
 in such affecting terms as these : " My God, my God, 
 why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from 
 helping me, and from the words of my roaring? O my 
 God, I cry in the day time but thou hearest not ; and 
 in the night season, and am not silent : .... I am a 
 worm and no man ; a reproach of men, and despised 
 of the people: all they that see me laugh me tq scorn; 
 
 they 
 3 
 
11:^ The Crucifixion, 
 
 they slicot out the lip, and shake the head," Ps. xxii. 
 1, 2, 0, 7» and, in another place : " Save me,0 God, 
 for the waters are come in unto my soul : I sink in 
 deep mire, where there is no standing : I am come 
 into deep waters, where the floods overflow me. I 
 am weary of my crying, my throat is dried : mine 
 eyes fail while I wait for my God .... for thy sake 
 I have borne reproach, shame hath covered my face. 
 • . . . Reproach hath broken my heart, and I am full 
 of heaviness : and I looked for some to take pity, but 
 there was none; and for comforters, but I found 
 none; they gave me also gall for my meat, and in my 
 thirst they gave me vinegar to drink," Ps. Ixix. 1, 
 % &c. 
 
 Such good reason have we to consider the death of 
 Jesus Christ under this second idea : it is in our text. 
 The Saviour appropriates to himself the prediction 
 in the twenty-second psalm : My God, my God, luhy 
 hast thou forsaken me ; and, in order that the scrip- 
 ture might be fulfilled, he gives occasion to his exe- 
 cutioners to present him with vinegar, which pre- 
 ceded his expiring exclamation, It is finished, as it 
 is related by another of the evangelists. 
 
 3« The death of Jesus Christ is, on the part of 
 the Jews, an atrocious crime, which has roused the 
 indignation of heaven, and armed universal nature 
 against them. But where shall we find colours black 
 enough to depict it ? Here the most ardent efforts of 
 the imagination must fall far below the reality, and 
 the most lively images come short of truth. 
 
 Supposing we possessed the faculty of collecting, 
 into one point of view, all that was gentle in the ad- 
 dress of Jesus Christ, all that was fervent in his 
 piety, humble in his deportment, pure in his con- 
 duct: supposing us capable of making an enumera- 
 tion 
 1 
 
The Crucifixion, II3 
 
 tion of all the benefits which- he accumulated on the 
 heads of those monsters of ingratitude ; the gracious 
 exhortations which he addressed to them ; the mira- 
 cles of goodness which he performed among them, 
 in healing the sick, and raismg the dead : supposing 
 we could display to you those malignant calumnies 
 with which the^f loaded him, those abominable and 
 repeated falsehoods, those cruel and remorseless im- 
 portunites for permission to put him to death, 
 worthy of the severest execration had they been em- 
 ployed even against the most detestable of mankind : 
 could we represent to you all that was barbarous and 
 inhuman in the punishment of the cross ; by telling 
 you that it was a huge stake crossed by another piece 
 of wood, to which they bound the body of the per- 
 son condemned to terminate his life upon it ; that 
 the two arms were stretched out. upon that cross 
 beam, and nailed, as well as "Both the feet, to the 
 tree, so that the body of the sufferer, sinking with 
 its own weight, and suspended by its nerves, was 
 speedily reduced to one vast wound, till the violence 
 and slowness of the torment at length delivered him, 
 and the blood drained oft drop by drop, thus ex- 
 hausted the stream of life : supposing us to have de- 
 tailed all the ignominous circumstances which ac- 
 companied the death of Christ; that crown of 
 thorns, that purple robe, that ridiculous sceptre, 
 that wagging of the head, those insulting defiances 
 to save himself, as he had saved others — supposing, 
 I say, all this could be collected into one point of 
 view, we should still believe that we had conveyed 
 to you ideas much too feeble, of the criminality of 
 the Jews. 
 
 Nature convulsed, and the elements confounded, 
 >shall supply our defects, and serve, this day, as so 
 many preachers. The prodigies which signalized 
 the death of Jesus Christ shall persuade more pow- 
 erfully than all the figures of rhetoric. That dai'k- 
 
 voL. VI. I ness 
 
114 The Crucijixmu 
 
 ness which covers the earth, that vail of the teiilplc 
 rent in twain, that trembUng which has seized the 
 solid globe, those rocks cleft asunder, those yawn- 
 ing graves, those reviving dead, they, they are the 
 pathetic orators who reproach the Jews with the 
 atrocity of their guilt, and who denounce their im- 
 pending destruction. The sun shrowds himself in 
 the shades of night, as unable to behold this ac- 
 cursed parricide, and what courtly poets said in adu- 
 lation, namely that the orb of day clothed himself 
 in mourning, when Julius Cesar was assassinated in 
 the senate-house, was here realized under special di- 
 rection of divine Providence. The vail of the tem- 
 ple is rent asunder, as on a day of lamentation and 
 wo. The earth trembles, as refusing to support the 
 wretches, whose sacrilegious hands were attacking 
 the life of him who fastened the foundations thereof^ 
 Job xxxviii. 6. and founded it upon its bases, Ps. 
 civ. 5. The rocks cleave, as if to reprove the Jews 
 for the hardness of their hearts. The dead start 
 from their tombs, as coming to condemn the rage of 
 the living. 
 
 4. The death of Jesus Christ is a system of mora- 
 lity, in which every virtue is clearly traced. If the 
 divine justice be an object of fear, where is it more 
 powerfully inculcated than on the cross of Jesus 
 Christ ? How very terrible does that justice there 
 appear I It goes in pursuit of its victim into the 
 very heaven of heavens. It extends on the altar a 
 Divine Man. It spares not the Son of God, his 
 ow^n Son. And thou, miserable sinner, who canst 
 present nothing to the eyes of thy Judge but what 
 is odious and abominable, how shalt thou be able to 
 escape his vengeance, if violating the laws of the 
 gospel thou renderest thyself so much the more 
 worthy of condemnation, that ihou hadst, in that 
 very gospel, th^efiectual means of deliverance ? 
 ' ■ ' If 
 
The Crucifix ion, 1J5 
 
 If vice is to be held in detestation, Where is this 
 lesson so forcibly taught as from the cross of Jesus 
 Christ ? Let the man who makes light of sin, who 
 forms to himself agreeable images ^ and feeds on flat- 
 tering ideas of it, learn, at the cross of Christ, to 
 contemplate it in its true light: let him form a 
 judgment of the cause from the effects y and let him 
 never think of sin, without thinking, at the same 
 time, on the pangs which it cost the Saviour of the 
 world. 
 
 If w^e wish for models to copy, Where shall we 
 find models so venerable as on the cross of Christ ? 
 Let the proud man go to the cross of Christ ; let him 
 there behold the Word m a state of humiliation ; 
 let him there contemplate the person who made him- 
 self of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a 
 servant, and condescended to submit to the punish- 
 ment of a slave : the person who being in the form of 
 God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God; let 
 the proud man look to him, and learn to be humble. 
 Let the voluptuous repair to the cross of Christ ; let 
 him there behold the flesh crucified, the senses sub- 
 dued, pleasure mortified, and Jearn to bring fortli 
 fruits meet for repentance. Let the implacable re- 
 pair to the cross of Christ ; let him there con- 
 template Jesus Christ dying for his enemies, pray- 
 ing even for his murderers, and learn to put on 
 bowels of mercies. Let the murmurer go to the 
 cross of Christ ; let him go and study that complete 
 submission which this divine Saviour yielded to the 
 most rigid commands of his Father, and learn to re- 
 sign himself in all things to the will of God. 
 
 If we are bound to love our lawgiver. Where can 
 we learn this lesson better than at the cross of Christ? 
 From that cross we hear him crying aloud to the 
 gailty and the wretched : " Behold, O sinners, be- 
 *' hold the tokens of my aflection : behold my 
 *' hands and mv iect : behold this pierced dde : bc-- 
 
 - hold 
 
Il5 The Crucifixion, 
 
 " hold all these wounds with which my body is 
 " toril : behold all those stripes of the justice of my 
 *' Father, which I endure for your salvation." At 
 a spectacle so moving, is there an obduracy so in- 
 vincible as not to bend ? Is there a heart so hard as 
 to refuse to melt? Is there a love so ardent as not to 
 kindle into a brighter flame ? 
 
 5. The death of Jesus Christ is a mystery inacces- 
 sible to reason, but which all the difficulties that 
 reason can muster, are unable to impair. 
 
 It is a mystery inaccessible to reason : let it ex- 
 plain to me that wonderful union of greatness and 
 depression, of ignominy and glory, of an immortal 
 God with a dying man. 
 
 Let reason explain to me, how it comes to pass, 
 that though God is unsusceptible of suffering and 
 dying, the sufferings and death of Jesus Christ 
 should, however, derive all their efficacy from his 
 nature as God. 
 
 Let reason explain to me, how Jesus Christ could 
 satisfy divine justice, and be, at the same time, if 
 the expression be lawful, the Judge and the party 
 condemned, the Avenger and the party avenged, he 
 who satisfied, and he to whom satisfaction was made. 
 
 Let reason explain to me, how Jesus nailed to 
 the cross, is nevertheless worthy of the adoration of 
 men and of angels, so that the Jew who crucifies 
 him, is at once his executioner and his creature. 
 
 Let reason explain to me, above all, that mys- 
 tery of love which we see displayed on the cross of 
 Jesus Christ, and how God, who is so great, and so 
 highly exalted, should have vouchsafed to perform, 
 in behalf of man, a being so low and contemptible, 
 wonders so astonishing. Eend, bend, proud Rea- 
 son, under the weight of these difficulties, and from 
 the extent of these mysteries, learn the narrowness 
 of thv own empire, 
 
 n 
 
The Crucifijcion. 1 Jt 7 
 
 It is the wisdo77i of God in a mystery^ which none of 
 the princes of this world knew, 1 Cor. ii. 7, 8. It is 
 the gf^eat mystery of godliness, 1 Tim. iii. l6. These 
 are the things of the Spirit of God, which the natm^al 
 man receiveth not, 1 Cor. ii. I4. This is the stumbling 
 block of the Jew : this is to the Greek foolishness, 
 1 Cor. i. 23. These are the things which eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of 7nan, 1 Cor. ii. 9. This is a mystery 
 inaccessible to reason, but it is a mystery, whose 
 truth and importance all the difficulties which rea- 
 son can muster, are unable to impair. 
 
 The gospel tells us not that greatness and depres- 
 sion, that ignominy and glory, that the mortal, and 
 the immortal nature, were confounded in the per- 
 son of Jesus Christ. It simply informs us that God^ 
 in the depths of his infinite wisdom, knew how to 
 unite depression to greatness, glory to ignominy, the 
 mortal to the immortal nature. This is a mystery 
 inaccessible to reason, but against which reason has 
 no title to murmur. 
 
 The gospel does not tell us that God, who is un- 
 susceptible of either suffering or death, suffered and 
 died, but that the subject susceptible of suffering 
 united to the impassible, suffered ; that the mortal, 
 united to the immortal subject, died ; and that, in 
 virtue of this union, his sufferings and death possess 
 an infinite value. This is a mystery inaccessible to 
 reason, but against which reason has no title to re- 
 pine. 
 
 The gospel doe's not tell us that Je^sus Christ, 
 considered as nailed to a cross, as suffering, as dy- 
 ing, is worthy of adoration, but, iii virtue of his 
 intimate union with Deity, that he is an object of 
 adoration to men and to angels, "^rhis is a mystery 
 inaccessible to reason, but against it reason has not a 
 title to reclaim. 
 
 The gospel docs not tell us that man, a being so 
 
lis The Crucifxion, 
 
 mean, vile, grovelling, could have merited this prodigy 
 of love ; but that God has derived it from himself, as 
 in independent source, and that he considers it as 
 essential to his glory, to acknowledge no other foun- 
 dation of his benefits, but the misery of those to 
 whom he is pleased to communicate them. This is a 
 mystery inaccessible to reason, but against W'hich 
 reason has not a title to reclaim. 
 
 6. There remains only one idea more, under which 
 we wish to represent the death of the Saviom' of the 
 world. It is the triumph of Jesus Christ over death, 
 and the consolation of the dying believer. Death 
 may be considered in three points of view, (l.) It 
 throws us into the darkness of gloomy night. (2.) 
 It summons us to appear before a tremendous tribu- 
 nal. (3.) It strips us of our dearest possessions. Jesus 
 Christ expires on the cross, triumphs over death, in 
 these three several respects. 
 
 But it w^ould be necessary to possess the art of re- 
 newing your attention, in order successfully to under- 
 take the task of pressing these ideas upon your minds, 
 for they are more than sufficient to furnish matter 
 for a complete new discourse. 
 
 I must confine myself, at present, to one conside- 
 ration, founded on the rending of the vail of the 
 temple, mentioned in the text. We have already 
 pointed it out as a token of the vengeance of heaven 
 against the Jewish nation. It may likewise be con- 
 sidered in another point of view, conformably to the 
 decision of St Paul, and to the ideas of the Jew'S. 
 That people looked on their temple as a figure of the 
 universe. We have, on this subject, passages ex- 
 pressly to the purpose, in Philo and Josephus. All 
 that was on the outside of the most holy place, repre- 
 sented, to them, nature and the elements. The scar- 
 let colour of the sanctuary represented fire. The 
 hyacinthine represented the air. The seven branches 
 
 of 
 
The Crucifixion, llg 
 
 of the candlestick represented the seven planets. 
 The twelve cakes of shew-bread rc^presented the 
 signs of the Zodiac, and the twelve months of the 
 year. But they said, that the most holy place had 
 been set apart for God : that the Propitiatory was his 
 throne, that the cherubim s were his chariot *. 
 
 On this principle, the vail, which seperated the 
 holy place from the Holy of Holies, was an image 
 of the obstacles which interposed between the crea- 
 ture and the heavenly habitation, in which God re- 
 sides. This vail is rent asunder at the death of Je- 
 sus Christ ; these obstacles are removed ; access into 
 the abode of the blessed is opened to us : and this is 
 the spirit of the ceremonial observance prescribed in 
 the Levitical worship : Into the second went the High 
 Priest alone, once every year, not without blood, saith 
 St Paul, in his Epistle to the Hebrews ; '' The Holy 
 Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest 
 of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first 
 tabernacle was yet standing : but Christ being come, 
 an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater 
 and more perfect tabernacle, by his own blood, en- 
 tered into the holy place, having obtained eternal re- 
 demption for us," Pleb. ix. 7, &c. 
 
 Death, then, has nothing, henceforward, formida- 
 ble to the Christian. In the tomb of Jesus Christ 
 are dissipated all the terrors which the tomb of na- 
 ture presents. In the tomb of nature, O sinner, 
 thou beholdest thy frailty, thy subjection to the bon- 
 dage of corruption : in the tomb of Jesus Christ thou 
 beholdest thy strength and thy deliverance. In the 
 trnwh of nature the punishment of sin stares thee in 
 the face : in the tomb of Jesus Christ thou iindest 
 the expiation of it. From the tomb of nature thou 
 hearest the dreadful sentence pronounced against ail 
 the posterity of Adam : Dust thou art, and unto dust 
 shalt thou return , Gen. iii. 19. but from the tomb of 
 
 Jesus 
 
 * Cons>ik Joseph. Aiitlq. L''^. HI. cap. 5. & Phil, de VitSi; Mo- 
 ws Lib. III. page 667, &«-. 
 
] 20 The Crucifixion, 
 
 Jesus Christ issue those accents of cousolation : " I am 
 the resurrection, and the life ; he thatbelieveth in me, 
 though he were dead, yet shall he live," John xi. 25. 
 In the tomb of nature thou readest this universal, this 
 irrevocable doom v^^ritten : ''It is appointed unto men 
 t)nce to die," Heb. ix. 27. but in the tomb of Jesus 
 Christ, thy tongue is loosed into this triumphant 
 song of praise : " O death, where is thy sting ? O grave, 
 where is thy victory ? . . . . Thanks be to God who 
 giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ. " 
 1 Cor. XV. 55, 57. , 
 
 All that now remains is to conclude with a few 
 reflections by way of recapitulation. My brethren, 
 for some weeks past, there have been traced before 
 your eyes, the sucessive particulars of the passion 
 and death of the Saviour of the world. You have 
 seen him betrayed, apprehended, arraigned, con- 
 demned, and expiring under the most shameful, and 
 the most cruel of all punishments. 
 
 Do you comprehend all that is sublime in these, 
 truths ? Do you feel, in all its extent, the value of 
 these benefits ? Have you, at least, made the attempt 
 to take the dimensions of the love of God, and " to 
 comprehend with all saints, what is the breadth, and 
 length, and depth, and height : and to know the love 
 of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that you may 
 be filled with all the fulness of God?" Eph. iii. 18, Ip. 
 
 Ah I let us beware, my beloved brethren, that we 
 deceive not ourselves as to this ; after so many dis- 
 tinguished tokens of the grace of God, we are going 
 to become the most wretched, or the happiest, of all 
 creatures. Our condition admits not of mediocrity. 
 The two interesting extremes present themselves to 
 view, — the extreme of justice, and the extreme of 
 mercy. We are going to prove all that is mild and 
 gentle in the peace of God, or all that is tremendous 
 jn his indignation ; and that blood which we have seen 
 poured out, must he upon our heads either to attract, 
 •r to repel, the thunder. 
 
 ^ His 
 
The Crucifixion. 12 i 
 
 His blood he on us, and on our childre?!. Matt, xxvii. 
 25. This was the imprecation of those barbarous 
 Jews, who with importunity demanded the death of 
 Jesus Christ, and glutted themselves with his suffer- 
 ings. But it was, in a far different sense, the inte- 
 rior voice of those beUeving souls, who entered into 
 the design of God, who by faith, sprinkled them- 
 selves with this blood, which w^as to form the bond 
 of union between heaven and earth. 
 
 His blood be on us, and on our children. This is the 
 voice which now resounds from ear to ear, and 
 which must be accomplished on this assembly, in one 
 sense or another. Yes, this blood shall be upon you, 
 in vengeance and malediction, as it was upon un- 
 gratefid Jerusalem, in your families to trouble their 
 peace, in your plans to defeat them, in your esta- 
 blishments to sap them to the foundation, in your 
 consciences to harrow them up, in your death-bed 
 to darken it with horror and despair, and through all 
 the periods of eternity, demanding the expiation of 
 the crime, of having trampled under foot the blood 
 of the Son of God, and of having crucified afresh 
 the Lord of glory. Or it will be upon you, yes this 
 blood will be upon you, to strengthen you under all 
 your infirmities, to preserve you in the hour of temp- 
 tation, to console you under the pressure of calamity 
 to speak peace to the troubled conscience, to support 
 you in dying agony, to render your death blessed, and 
 eternity triumphant. 
 
 I dwell for a moment on these last ideas, and 
 under an illusion of charity, I apply them to all those 
 who compose my audience. Happy they, to whom 
 they are applicable of a truth I To have been atten- 
 tive to the history of the sufferings and death of the 
 Saviour of the world, which, for some time past, has 
 been the great subject of our address, to have traced 
 it through all its sncccssive circumstances, to have 
 
 felt 
 
122 The Crucifixion. 
 
 felt the necessity, and to have penetrated into the de- 
 sign of the whole ; to have applied to ourselves the 
 lessons whicn it inculcates, the consolations which it 
 supplies, the hope which it inspires : to deduce, 
 from these grand objects, consequences aftecting the 
 conduct of life, tending to promote sanctity of mari- 
 ners, superiority to the world, love to God so rich 
 in mercy, desire of possessing that in perfection, of 
 which displays so astonishing, convey ideas so sub- 
 lime- 
 After that, to come next Lord's day to the table of 
 Jesus Christ, with the understanding convinced, the 
 heart overflowing, the soul penetrated : to discern, 
 in the bread and the wine of which we are to par- 
 take, the symbols of that death, whose memorial 
 the church is celebrating: to promise unto God, over 
 those august pledges of his love, to render to him 
 love for love, and life for life : to expand the heart 
 in such emotions; to communicate in such a dispo- 
 sition, and to wait for death under such impressions 
 — these are the loftiest objects v/liich man can pro- 
 pose to his meditation. This is the highest point of 
 perfection which v/e are capable of attaining, in the 
 course of this mortal pilgrimage. This is the purest 
 delight that we can taste in this valley of tears. 
 
 I trust, my dearly beloved brethren, that these 
 sublime o])jects shall not have been presented to 
 you in vain. I trust that so many exhortations 
 will not fall to the ground totally without suc- 
 cess. I trust that these first emotions, which it 
 i:$ impossible to withhold from an expiring Sa- 
 viour, will not be as the earJif cloud, and as the 
 morning den\ Hos. vi. 4. which appear for a mo- 
 ment, and are dissipated in a moment. I trust the> 
 will henceforward engage your heart, your mind, 
 your whole life, and that they will accompany you to 
 the bed of death, I trust, tliat^\hen this awful ])eriod 
 
 comes. 
 
Tlw Crucifixion. 123 
 
 comes, instead of that mortal reluctance, instead of 
 those insupportable forebodings which unrepented 
 guilt inspires, the image of Jesus Christ crucihed, pre- 
 sent to your eyes ; what do I say, of Jesus Christ 
 crucified ? of Jesus Christ raised from the dead, glo- 
 rious, sitting at the right hand of his Father ; of Je- 
 sus Christ, presenting continually before his eyes the 
 value of that blood which he shed for the salvation 
 of the human race ; of Jesus Christ extending his 
 arms to receive your departing spirit, that he may 
 bind it up in the bundle of life : I trust that this 
 image will dispel all the terrors of death, and thus 
 prepare you to pass from the dispensation of grace, 
 to the dispensation of glory. 
 
 In the dispensation of grace, you have beheld 
 the Son of God invested with i he foi'm of a servant ; 
 in the dispensation of glory, you shall behold him 
 arrayed in ail splendour and m.agnificence. hi the 
 dispensation of grace, you have beheld the King of 
 kings attended by an humble train of disciples of 
 but mean appearance : in the dispensation of glory, 
 you shall behold him accompanied by the heavenly 
 hosts, legions of angels and archangels, of the che- 
 rubim and of the seraphim. In the dispensation of 
 grace, you have beheld Jesus Christ expiring igno- 
 miniously upon a cross : in the dispensation of glory, 
 you shall behold him in the clouds of heaven, judg- 
 ing the quick and the dead. In the dispensation of 
 o-race, you have heard the lips of your Saviour thufi 
 speaking peace to your soul : Son, be of good cheer, thy 
 sins are forgiven thee : in the dispensation of glory, 
 you shall hear this decision from his mouth ; " Come, 
 ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom pre- 
 pared for you from the foundation of the world,'' 
 Matth. XXV. 34- May God of his infinite mercy 
 grant it I To him be honour and glory now and 
 for ever. Amen. 
 
 N. B. The 
 
C 1^4 ) ^ 
 
 N. B. The next Sermon in the series, that on ; 
 
 The Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the j 
 
 eighth of Vol. II. of Mr Robinson's Selection, may | 
 
 be read with advantage in this place. ; 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON V, 
 
 OBSCURE FAITH; 
 
 OR 
 
 The Blessedness of believing^ without having 
 
 seen. 
 
 John xx. 2y. 
 
 Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen 
 me thou hast believed : blessed are thei/ that have 
 not seen, and yet have believed, 
 
 STRANGE is the condition in which Providence 
 has placed the Christian. He is ever v^alking 
 in the midst of darkness and obscurity. He is 
 placed between two periods of gloominess ; between 
 the cloudy night of the past, and the still darkei: 
 night of futurity. Does he wish to ascertain the 
 truths, which are the object of his faith ? They are 
 founded on facts ; and in order to be assured of those 
 facts, he must force his way backward, through 
 
 more 
 
126 Obscure Faith, 
 
 more than eighteen hundred centuries : he must dig 
 truth and falsehood out of the rubbish of tradition ; 
 out of the captious systems of the enemies of Chris- 
 tianity ; nay, sometimes, out of the pious frauds, 
 on which an indiscreet zeal has attempted to esta- 
 bhsh it. 
 
 If he wishes to ascertain the reality of that bless- 
 edness which is the object of his hope, he must 
 plunge himself, in quest of it, into periods which 
 do not as yet subsist. He must lualk hy faith and 
 not hij sight 2 Cor. v. 7. he must depart, as Abra- 
 ham did, and leave his ki7idred and his father's house, 
 without knowing, precisely, whither he goes, Heb. xi. 
 8. It is necessary that his persuasion, if I may so 
 express myself, should form a new creation of things, 
 which have no real existence as to him; or, to use 
 the expression of St Paul, his faith must be the sub- 
 stance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things 
 not seen, Heb. xi. 1. Now, it is to such obscurity, it 
 is to such darkness, that a man is called to sacrifice 
 all that the human mind is taught to consider as the 
 greatest reality and certainty, I mean the decisions 
 of reason, and the felicities of a present world. 
 What a situation I What a strange situation I 
 
 But be it as it may, we, this day, place ourselves, 
 raj brethren, between these two dark clouds ; be- 
 tween the night of the past, and the night of futu- 
 rity. In what are the duties of this day to termi- 
 nate ? What is the language suitable to t\\Q> day 
 which is now passing ? I believe : I hope. I believe 
 that the Word teas made flesh, that he suffered, that he 
 died, that he rose again : this is the night of the 
 past. / hope that, in virtue of this incarnation, of 
 these sufferings, of this resurrection, "an entrance shall 
 be ministered unto me abundantly, into the everlasting 
 kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," 2 Pet. i . 
 11. and that I shall partake in the felicity cf the evc-r 
 
 * blessed 
 
Obscure Faith, ITl 
 
 blessed God : this is the night of futurity. / hclievef 
 and to that belief I immolate all the ideas of my in-» 
 tellect, all the systems of my reason. / hojje, and 
 to those hopes I immolate all the attractives of sen- 
 sual appetite, all the charms of the visible creation : 
 and were ail the kingdoms of the world and the glory 
 of the?7i, Matt. iv. 8. to be put in my offer, on the 
 condition that I should renounce my hopes, I would 
 consider the former hit dung, Phil. iii. 8. and cleave 
 to the latter as the only real and solid good. 
 
 Who is there among you, my brethren, w^ho feels 
 himself capable of this efibrt of mind 1 I acknow- 
 ledge him to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. He 
 may rest assured that he shall be recei^^ed as a worthy 
 partaker at that mysterious table, w^hich sovereign 
 wisdom is once more, this day, furnishing before 
 our eyes. But he may likewise rest assured, that his 
 felicity, veiled, invisible as it is, shall remain more 
 firm and unshaken, than all those things which are 
 the idols of the children of this world. To medita- 
 tion on this interesting subject I devote the present 
 discourse, to which you cannot apply an attention 
 too profound. 
 
 The occasion of the words of our text it W'Ould 
 be unnecessary to indicate. Which of my hearers 
 can be such a novice in the gospel history as to be 
 ignoi ant of it ? Thomas was not present with the 
 other apostles, when Jesus Christ appeared unto 
 them, after he had left the tomb. His absence pro- 
 duced incredulity. He refuses to yield to the united 
 testimony of the whole apostolic college. He so- 
 lemnly pretests that there is but one way to -con- 
 vince him of the certainty of the resurrection of 
 ,)esus Christ, namely to produce him alive. No, says 
 he, except I shall see I?i his hand^ the print of the nails^ 
 and put niy finger into the print of the ?iails, and thrust 
 my hand into his side, J tvill ?iot believe, John xx. 25. 
 -^csus Clu'i^^t is plea'cd to adapt lis condescension to 
 
 2 
 
12S Obscure Faith, 
 
 the weakness of this disciple, and to gratify a pre- 
 tension so arrogant and rash : he appears to Thomas, 
 and says to him ; " Reach hither thy finger, and he- 
 boid my hands ; and reach hither thy hana, and 
 thrust it into my side : and be not faithless, but be- 
 lieving," ver. 27. Thomas is drawn different ways ; 
 by the shame of having disbelieved, and Uie joy 
 which he felt in being convinced by the testimony of 
 his own senses, and exclaims, My Lord and my God ! 
 upon this Jesus Christ addresses him in the words of 
 the text : " Thomas, because thou hast seen me thou 
 hast believed : blessed are they that have not seen, 
 and yet have believed." 
 
 You perceive from the occasion on which the 
 words were spoken, that they point, in the first in- 
 stance, to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. We 
 shall take care, accordingly, not to lose sight of this 
 object. Nevertheless, as the proposition of our 
 blessed Lord is general, we shall take it in all its ge- 
 nerality : and shall discourse to you of that obscure 
 faith which reverts to periods long since past, and 
 looks forward into periods hidden in a remote futu- 
 rity. The nature of obscure faith ; the excellency of 
 obscure faith : this is the simple division of my pre- 
 sent discourse. Or, to convey a still clearer idea of 
 my design, under the first head, I shall endeavour to 
 unfold the ambiguity of that expression ; to believe 
 ivithout having seen : in the second, I shall evince the 
 truth of this proposition ; blessed are they that have 
 not seen^ and yet have believed, 
 
 I. Let us, in the first place, endeavour to ex- 
 plain the nature of obscure faith : or, as we have 
 announced the subject of this first branch of our 
 discourse, let us attempt to unfold the ambiguity of 
 the expression, Thomas, because thou hast seen, thou 
 hast believed: blessed arc they that have not sccn^and 
 
 yet 
 2 
 
Ohscure Faith. 129 
 
 ijet hate believed. By obscure faith we here mean, 
 that which is founded, not on what a man hath seen 
 with his own eyes, not on what he has discovered to 
 be true by the powers of his own reason, but on tes- 
 timony worthy of credit. 
 
 Let this definition be carefully remarked : and 
 let this be constantly kept in sight, that though the 
 faith of which we are speaking, has not a certainty 
 resting on the evidence of the senses, or on the 
 conclusions of right reason, it has a certainty per- 
 fect in its kind, that which rests on a testimony 
 worthy of credit. Take care, therefore, not to con- 
 found an obscure faith with a fluctuating, unset- 
 tled, ill-founded faith. They are two things per- 
 fectly distinct, and it is impossible to distinguish 
 them too carefully. The obscurity, of which we 
 are going to treat, is by no means incompatible with 
 evidence. 
 
 In order to comprehend it fully, it is necessary to 
 distinguish two species of evidence : evidence of 
 the object, and evidence of testimony. We call 
 evidence of the oJjject, that which rests, as I have 
 said, either on the deposition of the senses, or on 
 the discernment of sound reason. I believe that 
 you are now assembled within the circumference of 
 these walls : I believe it, because I see it is so. The 
 evidence which I have on this subject, is that species 
 of evidence which I have denominated evidence qf 
 the object^ and which is founded on the deposition of 
 the senses. In like manner, I believe that so long 
 as you remain within the circumference of these 
 walls, you are not in your own habitations. The evi- 
 dence which I have to su})port this belief, is still 
 that which I have denominated evidence of the oljecty 
 namely, that which is founded on the light of my 
 own" reason, whereby I am assured, in a manner 
 which leaves me not the liberty of so much as doubt- 
 
 voL. VI, K ingj 
 
ISO Obscure Faiilu 
 
 ing, that so long as you remain within this temple, 
 you cannot possibly be in any other place. 
 
 But if there be evidence of object^ there is likewise 
 evidence of testimony » I believe there is a vast re- 
 gion on the globe, called the kingdom of Persia. I 
 have evidence to support this belief: not the evidence 
 of object^ but the evidence of testimony, 1 believe that 
 there is such a kingdom, though I have never seen 
 it with my own eyes : but there is such a cloud 
 of witnesses, of undoubted credit, who assure me of 
 it, that the evidence of testimony supplies the evi- 
 dence of object. In like manner, 1 believe that a 
 vessel of such or such a construction, and of so 
 many tons burthen, requires such a depth of water. 
 I believe this, not because my reason has by its own 
 powers made the discovery, for I never made me- 
 chanism of this kind my study ; but the unanimous 
 deposition of all who understand the art of ship- 
 building, gives me full assurance of the fact, fills 
 the place of my own intimate perception, and 
 the evidence of testimony supplies the evidence of 
 object. 
 
 Having thus explained our meaning, when we say 
 that faith is obscure, vvhen we say that the Christian 
 belie veth what he seeth not, we do not by this 
 understand, that he believeth in what is destitute of 
 proof, we only mean that he believeth the truth of 
 facts of which he has not been an eye witness, that 
 he believeth in truths which he could not have dis- 
 covered by his own reason, and that he hopes for a 
 felicity of which he has not a distinct idea : but he 
 believes those facts, on the unanimous testimony of 
 a great number of witnesses, who could not possibly 
 have acted in concert to deceive him : he believes 
 those truths on an infallible testimony : he hopes on 
 that same testimony, namely, on tlie v;ord of God 
 
 himself. 
 
Obscure Faith, 131 
 
 himself. In all these things, the evidence of testi- 
 mony supplies the evidence of object. 
 
 That it is of this kind of faith, we are to under- 
 stand these words in our text, Blessed are they who 
 have not seen ^ and yet have believed^ the occasion on 
 which they were pronounced permits us not to 
 doubt. Of what was Jesus Christ speaking to Tho- 
 mas ? Of his own resurrection. Who are the per- 
 sons he had in view, whom Providence was after- 
 wards to call to believe without having seen ? Those 
 who could not possibly be the eye witnesses of that 
 resurrection. But were the persons, who should be 
 called to believe the doctrine of the resurrection, to 
 believe it without satisfying reasons of its truth and 
 certainty ? \^y no means. Call to your recollec- 
 tion, a part of what we submitted to your consider- 
 ation, on this subject, upon another occasion *. We 
 have in confirmation of the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ, 1. Presumptions, 2. Proofs, and, 3. Demon- 
 strations. 
 
 1. The circumstances of the death of the Saviour, 
 and of his burial, furnish us with presumptions on 
 this subject. Jesus Christ died : his body was de- 
 posited in the tomb ; but a few days afterwards was 
 not to be found there. We thence presume that 
 Jesus Christ is risen again. If Jesus Christ be 
 not risen, his body must have been conveyed away: 
 but how is it possible to maintain such an asser- 
 tion ? To whom shall we impute such conveyance ? 
 Not surely to his enemies. Could they be suspec- 
 ted of a design to contribute to his glory, by giving 
 
 2 currency 
 
 * The reader is referred to the sermon on T/ie Resurrer/fon oj 
 Jesus Christy page 210, &.c. of Sermon VIII. Vo]. II. of Mr Rubin- 
 son's Selection. 
 
132 Obscure Fail/i, 
 
 ciuTency to the report of his resurrection ? It can 
 as little be imputed to his disciples. They had no 
 inclination to do so: for how could men, so no- 
 toriously timid, have formed an enferprize so dar- 
 ing and dangerous, and that in favour of a man, 
 (I go on the supposition that Jesus Christ did not 
 rise again) who had thus abused their credulity? 
 Eut had their inclination been ever so strong-, was 
 it in their power either to surprize or to discomfit a 
 guard forewarned of the design? These I call^re- 
 sumjJtiojis. 
 
 2. The testimony of the apostles furnishes us 
 with proofs of the resurrection. This testimony 
 possesses no less than eight distinct characters, 
 "udiich raise it beyond the reach of all suspicion : i. 
 The nature of the vv'itnesses, who had neither -the 
 credit, nor the riches, nor the eloquence necessary 
 to practise an imposture on mankind : ii, The num- 
 ber of those witnesses, amounting to more than five 
 hundred : iii. The nature of the facts which are the 
 subject of their evidence, things in which ii was im- 
 possible ' they should deceive themselves, things 
 \vhich they had seen, heard, and perceived in the 
 most sensible and palpable manner : iv, The unifor- 
 mity of their testimony, which in no one instance 
 ever contradicted itself: v. The judges before v;hoixi 
 their evidence was, given ; judges expert in the art 
 of involving cheats in self-contradiction, but who 
 never could detect any, in the witnesses of whom 
 we are speaking: vi. The place where their testi- 
 mony was published ; for had the apostles gone and 
 published the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, in re- 
 gions remote from that where the fact could be com- 
 pletely sif^ted, they might have fallen under suspi- 
 cion ; but they attest it to the face of the wliole cily 
 of Jerusalem itself: vii. The time when this testi- 
 mony 
 
Obscure Faith, IZ"^ 
 
 niony was published, respecting which the same rea- 
 soning applies which does to t^ao, circumstance of 
 place : viii, The motives by v/hich those witnesses 
 were actuated, and which could be no other but the 
 satisfying of their own consciences, as, so far from 
 having a temporal interest to promote, by the pub- 
 lication of this event, every temporal interest press- 
 ed in the opposite direction* 
 
 3. But we have likewise, of this truth, demon- 
 strations properly so called. With these we are 
 furnished in the miraculous gifts communicated to 
 those who attest it ; of which we cannot entertain 
 any doubt, without taxing with extravagance three 
 sorts of persons, equally clear of all ground of suspi- 
 cion, on such an occasion ; i, The apostles, who 
 give the history of those miracles, and relate in a 
 manner the best adapted to expose imposture, on 
 the supposition of their having been impostors : 
 ii, Their enemies, who in their writings against 
 them, have not denied that they wrought miracles, 
 but that these miracles were a proof of the truth of 
 their doctrine : iii. Finally, their proselytes, who 
 had the greatest imaginable interest in examining 
 whether it were true that the apostles wrought mi- 
 racles, who had all possible opportunities of ascer- 
 taining the fact, and who sacriiiced their property, 
 their reputation, their life, for a religion entirely 
 resting on this truth — The apostles work miracles. 
 These we call so many demonstrations. 
 
 This recapitulation sufficiently instructs us, that 
 we are not called upon to believe aii event so very 
 extraordinary, as if it were destitute of proof: on 
 the contrary, we believe it on proofs clear, cogent 
 and decisive. When, therefore, Jesus Christ saith : 
 Blessed are they xvho have not seen., a7id yet have he- 
 
 lieved 
 
1 S4 Obscure *Faith . 
 
 Ikved^ he means not to say, that it is blessed to be- 
 lieve things destitute of evidence : he speaks only 
 of things which have not the evidence of object, but 
 which have that of testimony. 
 
 Let us pursue this thought a little farther. The 
 idea which we have suggested of obscure faith, dis- 
 tinguishes it from three kinds of conviction, which 
 are but too frequently confounded with it : the faith 
 extorted by tyranny ; the faith generated in the 
 brain of the enthusiast ; and the faith of the super- 
 stitious. 
 
 (1) The faith of which we speak, must be care- 
 fully distinguished from the faith which is extorted 
 by tyranny. We do not here understand that which 
 violence would attempt to produce by the terror of 
 punishment. Never did racks, gibbets and stakes 
 produce, in the soul, any thing like conviction in 
 favour of a religion which pretended to establish 
 itself by arguments so odious and detestable. But 
 there is a tyranny of a different kind, which has 
 produced believers not a few. By dint of attesting 
 fictions, men have forced them into credit : by dint 
 of insolent pretensions to infallibility, the simple 
 have sometimes been prevailed upon to admit it ; 
 and the sim.ple generally constitute the bulk of man- 
 ^/nd. 
 
 We denominate that the faith extorted hy tyranny^ 
 which is yielded to the insolent decisions of a 
 doctor, who gives himself out as infallible, with- 
 out proving it \ or to fabulous legends, unsupport- 
 ed by any respectable testimony. How, under 
 the pretext that I am bound to believe facts, which 
 I may never have seen with my own eyes, am I 
 laid under an obligation to swallow every thing that 
 
 a legen- 
 
Obscure Faitlh i^jg 
 
 a legendary is pleased to tell me ? How, under the 
 pretext that 1 am bound to believ e truths which are 
 above the reach of my reason, am. I laid under an 
 obligation to beheve every thing proposed to me 
 by a man, who may be practising upon my credu- 
 lity ? And upon my refusing to believe on such a 
 foundation, shall I be taxed with being incredulous 
 like Thomas, and with saying as he did, " Except 
 I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and 
 put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust 
 my hand into his side, I will not believe ?'' 
 
 If you would have me believe the facts which you 
 propose, produce me the proofs which support 
 them, if not as complete as those which assure me 
 of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, at least such as 
 are somewhat of a similar nature ; and if you wish 
 I should consider you as infallible, like the apos- 
 tles, produce me proofs of your inflxllibility, equi- 
 valent to those which the apostles produced of 
 their's. But if on examining such pretended facts, 
 I discover that they are fictions merely ; if on 
 examining the foundation upon which your infal- 
 libility rests, I find that the men who gave them- 
 selves out for infallible, while they lay claim to the 
 infallibility of the apostles, are undermining the 
 doctrine of the apostles, I shall not reckon my- 
 self obliged to pay the slightest deference to 
 their decisions. The faith which these decisions 
 attempt to produce, will be faith extorted by ty- 
 ranny, and which will have no relation what- 
 ever to that faith which Jesus Christ expects from 
 his disciples, and which is, in truth, obscure, but, 
 nevertheless, well founded ; which is destitute, in- 
 deed, of the evidence of object, but which is 
 ever accompanied with the evidence of testi- 
 mony* 
 
 (2) U 
 
136 Obscure Faith. 
 
 (2) In the second place, the faith, of which we 
 are treating, must be distinguished from that of the 
 enthusiast ; I mean that of certain Christians, who 
 found the reasons which induce them tp beheve, 
 entirely on such and such impulses, which they pre- 
 tend to be the operation of the Spirit of God : im- 
 pulses destitute of illumination, and which deter- 
 mine the person thus agitated, to yield his assent 
 to a proposition unsupported by proof, or, at most, 
 recommended by an air of probability. One of the 
 marks which distinguish false zeal from true, is, 
 that this last, I mean true zeal, sacrifices its own 
 glory to that of religion, and is infinitely better 
 pleased to acknowledge its own error, than to 
 spread the slightest cloud over that pure and ge- 
 nial light in which religion is arrayed. A man, 
 on the contrary, who is actuated by a false zeal, sa- 
 crifices, without hesitation, the glory of religion to 
 his own ; and maintains, at the expence of truth 
 itself, the errors which he has advanced. 
 
 This has been found to be the case with certain 
 eminent names, on the subject of our present dis- 
 cussion. The vehemence of the controversies which 
 have been carried on, respecting the operation of 
 the Holy Spirit on the soul of believers, has fre- 
 quently carried some of the disputants farther than 
 they themselves intended. In the heat of argumen- 
 tation, they have asserted, that the action of the 
 Holy Spirit, which operates in the faithful, is car- 
 ried so far as to give them a degree of faith, supe- 
 rior to the reasons which they have for believing. 
 When pressed by their adversaries, they ought to 
 have acknowledged this to be one of the proposi- 
 tions which one is tempted to advance in the warmth 
 of dispute, and which candour, without hesitation, is 
 disposed to retract, after the heat has subsided. But 
 this were a sacrifice too great for self-love to make : 
 
 it 
 
Obscure Faith, 237 
 
 it is deemed better that religion should suffer from 
 the intemperate zeal of the sophist, than that the 
 sophist should correct his hasty position, by the il- 
 lumination of religion. , 
 
 Thus, in order to support one absurdity, a still 
 greater absurdity has been advanced. It has been 
 maintained, not only that the following propositroii 
 is true, namely. The impulse of the Holy Spirit 
 gives us a faith, superior to the reasons which we 
 have for believing ; but this is absolutely neces- 
 sary : for, it has been alleged, that the Christian 
 religion being destitute of proofs which enforce as- 
 sent, all those who should refuse to believe what is 
 destitute of this kind of proof, must, in so doing, re- 
 fuse to believe the Christian religion. 
 
 God forbid that we should attempt to defend, 
 with weapons so empoisoned, the truths of religion! 
 It was not thus that they w^ere defended by Jesus 
 Christ and his apostles. They called on men to 
 believe, but they, at the same time, adduced proof 
 of what they wished to be received as the object of 
 faith. The Spirit of God, undoubtedly, operates 
 on the soul of every one who implores his assistance, 
 but it is by making them feel the force of the proofs, 
 not by convincing them of what it is impossible to 
 prove. And who could be condemned for not hav- 
 ing believed, were Christianity destitute of suffici- 
 ent proof? Would not the infidel be warranted in 
 alleging : " I am not to blame, if I withhold my 
 " assent to such a proposition : I do not feel that 
 " impulse which engages one to believe w^hat can- 
 " not be proved ?" But the notion which we have 
 given of faith, confounds every one who refuses 
 to believe. We say, with Jesus Christ of the un- 
 believers of his time: " This is the condemnation, 
 that light is come into the world, and men loved 
 
 darkness 
 
138 Obscure Faith, 
 
 darkness rather than light, because their deeds were 
 evil," John iii. 19. 
 
 (3) Finally, the notion which we have given of 
 faith, distinguishes it from that of the superstitious. 
 To believe, in the view of doing honour to religion, 
 a doctrine weakly proved, whatever may be the ori- 
 gin of that doctrine, is to have a superstitious faitlu 
 Under this description may be ranked what has 
 been denominated " faith extorted by tyranny, and 
 faith generated in the brain of the enthusiast." But 
 we have, under this particular, a different kind of 
 superstition in view. To believe a truth complete- 
 ly proved, but without having examined the proofs 
 which support it, is to have the faith of superstition. 
 A truth, of which I perceive not the proofs, is no 
 truth with respect to me. What renders my dispo- 
 sition of sou] acceptable in the sight of God, when 
 I receive what he is pleased to reveal to me, is my 
 reception of it as an intelligent being, after having 
 weighed the motives which induced me to give it 
 welcome ; after having discovered, on putting them 
 in the balance with the opposite motives, that the 
 iirst had greatly the preponderancy over the others. 
 But to believe a truth with precipitation, to believe 
 it v»/ithout knowledge, is mere superstition. If it 
 should determine you to declare yourself on the 
 side of truth, it must be entirely l3y chance, and 
 which may, to-morrow, plunge you into error, as it 
 induces you, to-day, to embrace the truth. 
 
 Obscure faith, then, is not a persuasion unsup- 
 ported by proof, it is, in truth, destitute of the 
 proofs which constitute the evidence of object ; but 
 not of those which constitute the evidence of testi- 
 mony, as was from the beginning affirmed, and 
 which it was necessary ofteuer than once to re- 
 peat. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 PJRT 11. 
 OBSCURE FAITH; 
 
 OR, 
 
 The Blessedness of believing^ ^without having seen. 
 
 John xx. 29. 
 
 Jesus saith unto him, Thonias, because thou hast seen 
 me thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not 
 seen^ and yet have believed. 
 
 WE have endeavoured to explain the natu^rt of 
 obscure faith : and now proceed, as was 
 proposed, 
 
 II. To point out the excellency of this obscure 
 faith. After having attempted to unfold the ambi- 
 guity of the expression in my text, to believe without 
 having seen, we must endeavour to evince the truth 
 of it, by demonstrating this proposition, anounced 
 by our blessed Lord, " Blessed are they who have 
 not seen, and yet have believed." 
 
 These 
 
140 Obscure Faiih, 
 
 These words admit of a very simple, and very na- 
 tural commentary, which we shall first produce, in 
 order to explain them. The point in question is 
 the resurrection of the Lord Jesus : ThomavS is to 
 be convinced of the certainty of it, by nothing short 
 of the testimony of his own eyes : this mode of pro- 
 ducing conviction, was going, henceforward, to 
 cease. Jesus Christ was shortly to leave the world: 
 a cloud was soon to receive him out of the sight of 
 the inhabitants of this earth: " The heavens must 
 now receive him, until the times of the restitution 
 of all things," Aets iii. 21. The angels had declar- 
 ed to the apostles, as they stood rapt in astonish- 
 ment at beholding their beloved Master disappear : 
 " This same Jesus, which is taken up from you in- 
 to heaven, shall so come, in like manner as ye have 
 seen him go into heaven," Acts i. 1 1 . The disposition 
 of Thomas's mind, therefore, was going, henceforth, 
 to become universally fatal. Every one who should 
 say with him, " Except I shall see in his hands the 
 print of the nails, and put my finger into the print 
 of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will 
 not believe," must die and perisli in unbelief. There 
 was to be, henceforward, no other v/ay but this, of 
 believing without having seen, no other means of 
 arriving at a participation in the felicity of believers: , 
 Thomas^ because thou hast seen vie, thou hast believed : 
 blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed. 
 
 This commentary contains much good sense. It 
 does not, however, seem to me to have exhausted, 
 the whole meaning of Jesus Christ. God is supreme- 
 ly good : nothing appeared to him too dear for the 
 salvation of the human race : he has made choice of 
 means the best adapted to the execution of this great 
 work. If he has made choice of means the best a- 
 dapted to the salvation of the human race, he has 
 likewise made choice of the properest method of en- 
 abling us to avail ourselves of the appointed means, 
 and that method is obscure faith. Why so ? This 
 
 is 
 
Obscure laith. 141 
 
 is the point whicli we must attempt to elucidate : 
 and some time ago, you will please to recollect, we 
 undertook this task. For when that difficulty was 
 urged against us, which unbelievers make the sub- 
 ject of their triumph : " Wherefore did not Jesus 
 " Christ shew himself alive after his passion, to his 
 "judges, to his executioners?" We made this re- 
 ply, that the gift of working miracles bestowed on 
 the apostles, and on the first Christians, constituted 
 a proof more irresistible of his resurrection, than if 
 he had shewn himself then, nay, than if he were 
 still to shew himself risen at this day. 
 
 It might be retorted upon us, " That these two 
 " proofs, that of miracles performed by his dis- 
 " ciples, and that of his personal manifestation, 
 " were not incompatible with each other : Jesus 
 " Christ might first have shewn himself alive after 
 " his resurrection ; here would have been one kind 
 " of proof: he might afterwards, upon his ascen- 
 " sion, have sent the Holy Spirit to his apostles ; 
 «^ this would have constituted a second kind of 
 '^ proof. These two kinds of proof united, would 
 " have placed the truth of his resurrection far be- 
 " yond the reach of all suspicion. Wherefore did 
 " he not employ them ? Wherefore did he not 
 " give to a truth of his religion so interesting, and 
 *' of such capital importance, every species of proof 
 " of which it is susceptible ?" To this we still re- 
 ply, that obscure faith was a method far more pro- 
 per to conduct us to salvation than a clear faith, 
 founded on the testimony of the senses, or on 
 the personal discoveries of the believer himself: 
 " Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have 
 believed." 
 
 A principle which we have, on other occasions, 
 laid down, will justify this reply. God has placed 
 us in this world, as in a place of probation and sa- 
 crifice. 
 
142 Obscure Faiih. 
 
 crifice. It is his will that the manner in which we 
 correspond to this view of his providence, should 
 determine our everlasting destiny. Let us try clear- 
 ly to explain this principle, before we apply it to 
 the subject in hand. 
 
 In strictness of speech, God will not proportion 
 the celestial felicity, which he reserves for us, to 
 the exertions which we make to attain it. Did 
 God observe the rules of an exact distribution in 
 this respect, there is not a single person in the 
 world, who durst flatter himself with being a par- 
 taker in that felicity : because there is no one, I 
 speak of even the greatest saints, who does all that 
 he ought, and all that he might do, toward the at- 
 tainment of it. Much more, supposing us to have 
 done all that we could, and all that we ought to do, 
 to be admitted to a participation in this blessed- 
 ness, our utmost efforts never could bear any pro- 
 portion to it. We must still say of every thing we 
 undertake in order to salvation, what St Paul says 
 of the most cruel sufferings of the martyrs : " They 
 are not worthy to be compared with the glory which 
 shall be revealed in us," Rom. viii. 18. The most 
 extravagant thought, accordingly, that ever could 
 find its way into the mind of man, is that of the 
 persons who maintain the possibility of meriting 
 heaven by their good works, nay, the possibility of 
 a man's meriting the kingdom of heaven for others, 
 after having earned it for himself. 
 
 But though there is not a proportion of rigorous 
 justice, between the heavenly felicity, and tlie ef- 
 forts which we make to attain it, there is a propor- 
 tion of equity and of establishment. Permit me to 
 explain what I mean by these words : God will not 
 save mankind, unless they exert themselves to ob- 
 tain salvation. Had it been his will to extend in- 
 discriminating favour, lie had only to open, without 
 
 rescivntion. 
 
Obscure Faith, 143 
 
 reservation, the path to heaven ; he had only to ex- 
 ert the supreme power, which he possesses over 
 our souls, to infuse into them virtue and illumina- 
 tion, and to put us in possession of a felicity already 
 completely acquired, without subjecting us to the 
 necessity of employing indefatigable and uninter- 
 mitting efforts, in order to our acquiring it. But 
 his views respecting man are altogether different 
 from this. Hence it is that he is pleased to repre- 
 sent the life of a Christian, as a narrow path, in 
 w^hich he must walk ; as a race which he must 
 run ; as a task which he must perform ; as a war- 
 fare which he has to accomplish. For this reason it 
 is, that salvation is represented to us, as a victory 
 to be won, as a prize to be gained, as a kingdom 
 which can be taken only by the violent, God, then, 
 has placed us in this world, as in a place of pro- 
 bation and sacrifice : it is his sovereign good plea- 
 sure, that the manner in which we correspond to 
 his gracious views, shall decide our everlasting des- 
 tination. 
 
 Let us apply this principle to the subject under 
 discussion : to that obscure faith, which discerns,'in 
 the darkness of the past, those facts on which the 
 great truths of religion rest, as the building on its 
 foundation : to that obscure faith, which penetrates 
 into the darkness of futurity, there to discover the 
 blessedness which religion proposes to us as the ob- 
 ject of hope. 
 
 1. Let us apply the principle laid down, to that 
 obscure faith, which discerns, in the darkness of 
 the past, those facts on which the great truths of 
 religion rest. There is more difficulty in attaining 
 a discernment of the truth through the darkness of 
 the past, than in beholding the object with a man's 
 own eyes. It is admitted. Had Jesus Christ ap- 
 peared alive to his judges and executioners, after 
 
 i his 
 
i 44 Obscure Faith, 
 
 his resurrection ; were he to appear to us, at this 
 day, as risen from the dead, we should have much 
 less difficulty in believing the certainty of an event 
 on vv'hich the whole Christian religion hinges. It 
 is admitted. There would be no occasion, in order 
 to attain the conviction of it, to employ extensive 
 reading, to consult doctors, to surmount the trouble 
 of profound meditation, to suspend pleasure, to in- 
 terrupt business. It is admitted. But the very 
 thing which constitutes your objection furnishes me 
 with a reply. The trouble which you must take, 
 before you can acquire conviction of the resurrec- 
 tion of the Saviour of the world, the extensive read- 
 ing that is necessary, the consultation of learned 
 men, those efforts of profound meditation which 
 YOU must employ, that suspension of your pleasures, 
 that interruption of your worldly business — all, all 
 enter into the plan of your salvation : it is the will 
 of God that you should exert yourselves diligently 
 for the attainment of it. 
 
 Let us suppose the case of two Christians : the 
 first shall be St Thomas : the second a Christian of 
 our own days. Let us suppose both the two equally 
 convinced of the resurrection of the Saviour of the 
 world ; but acquiring their conviction in two diffe- 
 rent ways: Thomas convinced by the testimony of 
 his senses ; the modern Christian, by the attentive 
 examination of the proofs which establish the truth 
 of it : Whether of these two Christians, according 
 to your judgment, expresses the greater love of the 
 truth ? Whether of these two Christians makes the 
 greatest sacrifice : in order to arrive at the know- 
 ledge of it ? The one has only to open his eyes, the 
 other must enter on a course of deep and serious re- 
 flection. The one has only to reach forth his hand, 
 to touch the print of the wounds of Jesus Christ; the 
 other must exert all the powers of his mind, in sift- 
 
Obscure Faith, 145 
 
 ing the proofs, on which the doctrine is esta- 
 blished. The one expects that the Saviour should 
 present himself to him and say, Be not faithless^ hut 
 believing, John xx. 27. The other goes forth seek- 
 ing after the Lord Jesus, through the darkness in 
 which he is pleased to involve himself. Is it not 
 evident that this last expresses incomparably greater 
 love for the truth, and offers up to it greater sacri- 
 fices than the first ? This last, then corresponds bet- 
 ter to the idea of probation and sacrifice, to which 
 wx are called, during the time which, by the will of 
 God, we are destined to pass in this world. Blessed 
 therefore, with respect to the obscurity of the past, 
 blessed is he who has not seen, and yet has believed, 
 
 2. The same principle is applicable to what con- 
 perns the night of futurity. It would require but 
 feeble efforts, and would exhibit no mighty sacri- 
 fice, for a man to deny himself the delights of a pre- 
 sent fife, if the joys of the paradise of God were dis- 
 closed to his eyes. 
 
 But how great is the magnanimity of the Chris- 
 tian, how wonderful the fortitude of the martyr, 
 and, in propriety of speech, all Christians are mar- 
 tyrs, who, resting on the promises of God alone, im- 
 molates to the desire of possessing a future and hea- 
 venly felicity, all that is dear and valuable to him: 
 upon the earth ? The present, usually, makes the 
 most powerful impression on the mind of man. An 
 object, in proportion as it becomes exceedingly re- 
 mote, in some measure loses its reality with respect 
 to us. The impression made upon the mind by sen- 
 sible things engrosses almost its whole capacity, and 
 leaves little, if any portion, of its attention, for the 
 contemplation of abstract truths. Farther, when 
 abstract meditations dwell on well-known objects, 
 they possibly may fix attention. But when they 
 
 VOL. VI. L turn 
 
1 46 Obscure Faith 
 
 turn on objects of which we have no distinct idea^ 
 they are httle calculated to arrest and impress. 
 
 A Christian, a man actuated by that obscure faith, 
 -whoss excellency we are endeavouring to unfold, 
 surmounts all these difficulties. I see neither the 
 God who has given me the promises of an eternal fe- 
 licity ; nor that eternal felicity which he hath pro- 
 mised me. This God conceals himself from my 
 view. I must go from principle to principle, and 
 from one conclusion to another, in order to attain 
 full assurance that he is. I find still much greater 
 difficulty in acquiring the knowledge of what he is, 
 than in rising up to a persuasion of his existence. 
 The very idea of an infinite Being confounds and 
 overwhelms me. If I have only a very imperfect 
 idea of the God who hath promised me eternal feli- 
 city, I know still less wherein that feficity consists. 
 
 I am told of a spiritual body, 1 Cor. xv. 44. : a 
 body glorious, incorruptible : I am told of unknown 
 faculties : of an unknown state ; of an unknown 
 economy : I am told of new heavens and a new earth / 
 I am promised the society of certain spirits, with 
 whom 1 have never enjoyed any kind of intercourse ; 
 I am told of a place entirely different from that 
 •which I now inhabit ; and when I would represent to 
 myself that felicity, under ideas of the pleasures of 
 sense, under ideas of worldly magnificence, I am 
 told that this felicity has no resemblance to any of 
 these things. Nevertheless, on the word of this God, 
 of whom 1 have a knowledge so very imperfect, but 
 whose existence and perfections are so certain, I am 
 ready to sacrifice every thing, for a felicity of which 
 I have a still more imperfect knowledge than I have 
 of the God who hath promised it to me. 
 
 There is nothing more delightful to me, than to 
 
 live 
 
Obscure FcdtJi, 147 
 
 live in the bosom of my country and kindred : my 
 native air has in it, something congenial to my con- 
 stitution ; nevertheless, were God to call me as he 
 did Abraham ; were he to say to me in the Vv'ords 
 which he addressed to that palriarch : " Get ihee out 
 of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy 
 father's house,'* Gen. xii. 1. 1 will, without hesita- 
 tion, obey : I will depart, without delay, for the land 
 which he shall please to sheio me. 
 
 Nothing can be more delightful to me, than the 
 possession of an only and beloved son : nothing ap- 
 pears to me so dreadful, as separation from a person 
 so dear to me; but, above all, there is iiolhing 
 which inspires so much horror, as the thought of 
 plunging, with my own hand, the dagger into his 
 bowels. Nevertheless, when it shall please God to 
 say to me, " Take now thy son. thine only son, whom 
 thou lovest, and offer him for a burnt-otlering,. upon 
 one of the mountains which I will tell thee of," Gen. 
 xxii. 2. I will take that son, that object of my ten- 
 derest affection, that centre of my desires, and of my 
 complacency ; I will bind him ; I will stretch him 
 out upon the pile; I will lift up my arm to pierce 
 his side, persuaded that the favour of God is a bless- 
 ing, beyond all comparison, more precious th m the 
 possession of even that beloved portion of myself. 
 
 There is nothing capable of more agreeably flat- 
 tering my ambition and selt-love, than to talk with 
 authority ; than to govern a whole world with despo- 
 tic sway ; than to rule over the nations, vx'hich look 
 up to their sovereigns as to so many divinities; ne- 
 vertheless, were a competition to be established be- 
 tween a throne, a crown, and the blessedness of the 
 heavenly world, I would estecin the repr mch of C/rnst 
 piv eater riches than the treasures in Eg'.jpt : I would 
 f'hoose rather to suffer ajjliction w'dh the people of God, 
 
 2 than 
 
14?> Obscure Faith 
 
 than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season^ Heb. xi. 
 
 There is nothing to which my nature is more re- 
 luctant, than the suffering of violent pain. The idea 
 of the rack, of being burnt at a stake, makes me 
 shudder. I am convulsed all over at sight of a fel- 
 low-creature exposed to torture of this kind. What 
 would it be, were I myself called to endure them ? 
 Nevertheless, the lofty ideas I have conceived of a 
 felicity which I have not seen, will elevate even me, 
 above the feehngs of sense and nature : I will mount 
 a scaffold ; 1 will extend myself upon the pile which 
 is to reduce me to ashes : I will surrender my body 
 to the executioners to be mangled ; and amidst all 
 these torments, I will still cry out with triumph, *' I 
 reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not 
 werthy to be compared with the glory which shall 
 be revealed in us," Rom. viii. 18. *' for our light af- 
 fliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a 
 far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory,'* 
 2 Cor. iv. 17. " Blessed be the Lord, ray strength, 
 which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to 
 light," Ps. cxliv. 1. 
 
 I ask, my brethren, does not a man in such cir- 
 cumstances, correspond incomparably better to the 
 idea of probation and sacrifice, than the person who 
 should behold with his own eyes, the eternal recom- 
 pence of reward which God has prepared for his 
 children ? The proposition of our blessed Lord, 
 therefore, is verified with regard to periods still fu- 
 ture, as with regard to periods already past. The 
 vocation of the Christian, then, is to pierce through 
 all those clouds, in which God has been pleased to 
 envelop the religion of Jesus Christ : the vocation 
 of the Christian is to pierce through the obscurity 
 of the past, and the obscurity of the future ; it is 
 \Q make study to supply the want of experience, and 
 
 hope 
 
Obscure Faith. 149 
 
 hope the want of vision. The felicity of the Chris- 
 tian depends on the manner in which he corresponds 
 to this high vocation : ThomaSy because thou hast seen 
 me, thou hast believed : blessed are they that have not 
 seen, and yet have believed. This was the point to be 
 demonstrated. 
 
 It highly concerns us, my brethren, to fulfil this 
 twofold engagement, and thus to attain, at length, 
 supreme felicity, in the way which it has pleased God 
 to trace for us. Let us, 
 
 1. Pierce through the obscurity of the past. Let 
 us learn to make study supply the want of experi- 
 ence. Let us diligently apply ourselves to acquire 
 the knowledge of our rehgioo, by seeking after assu- 
 rance of the truth of those facts, on which it is 
 established. Of these, the resurrection of Jesus 
 Christ is one of the chief: for if Christ he not risen, 
 then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain, 
 
 ye are yet in your sins, 1 Cor. xv. 14, 17. 
 
 But thanks be to God, this fact, of such capital im- 
 portance, is supported by proofs which it is impossi- 
 ble for any reasonable man to resist. 
 
 But it requires a considerable degree of attention, 
 of serious recollection, to study these with edvan- 
 tage. To this study there must, of necessity, be sa- 
 crificed some worldly employment, ^ome party of 
 pleasure : a man must sometimes retire into his clo- 
 set, and get the better of that languor which deep 
 thought, and close reading naturally produce. But, 
 O how nobly is he rewarded for all his labour, by 
 the copious harvest which it yields ! What dehght 
 in discovering that God has proportioned the weight 
 of the proofs by which his religion is supported, to 
 the importance of each of its parts ! What consola- 
 tion to see that this truth, Jesus Christ is risen, this 
 truth which gives us the assurance that God has ac- 
 cepted 
 
 r 
 
ISO Obscm^e Faith, 
 
 cepted the sacrifice of his Son, that the work of our 
 salvation is accomphshed, that access to the throne 
 of grace is opened to us, that the disorders intro- 
 duced by sin are repaired I What consolation to see 
 that a truth of such high importance is so completely 
 ascertained, and that so many presumptions, so 
 many proofs, so many demonstrations concur in esta- 
 blishing it ! 
 
 What satisfaction is it, thus to transport ourselves, 
 in thought, into the apostolic ages, there to con- 
 template the v^'onders of redemption I For this is 
 the effect which study produces, of those exquisitely 
 conclusive and irresistible proofs which demon- 
 strate the truth of this great event : it transports us 
 into the apostolic ages ; it enables us to behold with 
 the mind's eye what we cannot behold with the 
 eyes of the body.- -After having thus torn up incre- 
 duhty by the roots, with ; what an extasy of holy 
 delight may the Christian approach the table of the 
 Lord, with full conviction of soul, and say to him 
 with Thomas : " Mij Lord and my Ood. The heart- 
 " affecting persuasion I have of what thy love has 
 " done for me, elevates, penetrates, overwhelms 
 " me. It will render easy to me the most painful 
 " proofs which it may please thee to prescribe to my 
 " gratitude. Mtj Lord and my God^ my Lord and my 
 " God, I regret all the time I have devoted to the 
 " world and its pleasures : henceforw^ard I will 
 " think of thee, and thee only : 1 will live to thee, 
 " and thee only. Accept the dedication which I 
 ** now^ make. Bear with the weakness in which it 
 " is made : approve the sincerity with which I this 
 " day come to break off the remaining attachments 
 *' which fetter me down to the w^orld ; and to bind 
 ^' closer those of my ccmim union with thee, the only 
 ^^ ¥/orthy object of love and desire." 
 
 Ho^v 
 
Obscure Faiths 15\ 
 
 How blessed shall we be, my beloved brethren, in 
 thus penetrating through the obscurity of the past I 
 Blessed me theij who have not seen^ and yet have be- 
 lieved, 
 
 f . But let us likewise penetrate through the dark- 
 ness of futurity. Let hope supply to us the want of 
 possession. How shall it, henceforth, be possible for 
 us to entertain suspicion against ihe iaitlifalness of 
 God's promises ? Behold on that table what God is 
 capable of doing in our behalf. Behold by what 
 miracles of love — O miracles of the love of God, we 
 want language to express tnee, as we want ideas to 
 conceive thee I but behold on that table, behold hy 
 what miracles of love he has prevailed to make us 
 the rich present of his own Son, to expose him, for 
 our sakes, to all that series of suffering which has been 
 the subject of our meditation during the weeks which 
 commemorate the passion. 
 
 Is it possible for us to believe that a God so gra- 
 cious and so compassionate could have created us to 
 render as for ever miserable ? Is it possible to believe 
 that a God so great, and so munificent should Hmit 
 his bounty toward us, to the good things granted us 
 here below, to that air which we breathe, to the 
 light which illuminates this world, to the aliments 
 which sustain these bodies ? Nay is it possible for us 
 to believe that he should permit us to remain long in 
 this world, exposed to so many public and private 
 calamities : to war, to famine, to mortality, to the 
 pestilence, to sickness, to death? Away with sus- 
 picions so injurious to the goodness of our God, 
 He that spared not his ozcn Son, but delivered him up 
 for us o//, hozc shall he not with him also Jreelt/ give us 
 all things .^ Rom. viii. 32. Let us indulge ourselves 
 in feasting on the ddiciousness of this hope: let us 
 not destroy the relish of it, by wallowing in the 
 
 pleasures 
 
162 Obscure Faiilu 
 
 pleasures of sense : let us habituate ourselves to pur- 
 sue happiness, in a conviction of the felicity prepared 
 for us in another world. 
 
 This hope, it is true, replenished as it is with 
 such unspeakable sweetness, is not without a mixture 
 of bitterness. It is a hard thing to be enabled to 
 form such transporting ideas of a felicity placed still 
 so far beyond our reach. Hope deferred inaketh the 
 heart sick, Pro v. xiii. 1^. But we shall not be suf- 
 fered to languish long. For i/et a little while, and he 
 that shall come will come, and will not tarry, Heb. 
 X. 37, Yet a few short moments more, and our 
 great deliverer, Death, will come to our relief. 
 Let us not stand aghast at his approach. It is not 
 becoming in Christians, who cannot attain the per- 
 fection of happiness till after death, to be still afraid 
 of dying. Let us, on the contrary, anticipate the 
 hour pf death, by the exercise of a holy ardour and 
 zeal. Let us look for it with a submissive impa- 
 tience : Having a desire to depart, and to be with Chtist^ 
 zvhich is far Setter, (Phil. i. 23.) than any thing we can 
 possibly enjoy in this valley of tears. He who testis 
 Jieth these things, saith. Surely I come quickly : let us 
 cry out, in return, " Amen. Even so, come, Lord 
 *' Jesus, Rev. xxii. 20. Come, Redeemer of my soul : 
 *' I adore thee amidst the clouds in which thou con- 
 " cealest thyself; but vouchsafe to scatter them. 
 ** After I have enjoyed the felicity of believing, 
 " without having seen, let me likewise have the fe- 
 ^' licity of seeing and believing. Let me see with 
 " my eyes him whom my soul loreth : let me con- 
 «* template that sacred side, from whence issue so 
 *' many streams of life for the wretched posterity of 
 " Adam : let me admire that sacred body which is 
 ** the redemption of a lost world : let me embrace 
 *' that Jesus, who gave himself fpr me ; and let me 
 
 "behold 
 
Obscure Fabh 153 
 
 " behold him, never, never to lose sight of him 
 *^ more." 
 
 God, of his infinite mercy, grant us all this grace* 
 To him be glory for ever. Amen. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 The Believer exalted together with Jesus Christ. 
 
 Ephesians ii. 4, 5, 6. 
 
 God xcho is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith 
 he loved us, even when we were dead in sins^ hath 
 quickened u^ together imth Christ, {bif grace ye are 
 saved') and hath raised us up together, and made us 
 sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. 
 
 ON studying the history of the lives of those emi- 
 nent saints of God, whose memory Scripture 
 hath transmitted to us, we can with difficulty re- 
 frain from deploring the extreme difference which 
 God has been pleased to make between their privi- 
 leges and ours. Nay, we are sometimes disposed to 
 flatter ourselves, that if these privileges had been 
 equal, our attainments in virtue might have made a 
 nearer approach to those which have rendered them 
 so respectable in the church. Who would not sur- 
 mount the difficulties of the most painful career, if 
 he were to enjoy, like Moses, intimate communica- 
 tions with Deity ; if his eyes were strengthened to 
 behold that awful majesty which God displayed on 
 
 mount 
 
1 56 The Believer exalted together 
 
 mount Sinai ? Who could retain the slightest sha- 
 dow of incredulity, and who would not be animated 
 to carry the gospel of Christ to the uttermost boun- 
 daries of the globe, had he, like Thomas, seen the 
 Lord Jesus after his resurrection ; had Jesus Christ 
 said to him, as he said to that apostle : " Reach hither 
 thy finger, and behold my hands : and reach hither 
 thy hand, and thrust it into my side : and be not 
 faithless but believing," John xx. 27. Who could 
 remain still swallowed up of the world, had he seen, 
 with the three disciples, Jesus Christ transfigured on 
 the holy mount ; or had he been, with St Paul, 
 " caught up to the third heaven, and heard unspeak- 
 able words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter ?" 
 S Cor. xii. 2, 4. 
 
 I have no intention, my brethren, to enquire how 
 far this conception may be illusory, and how far it 
 may be founded in truth : but I wish you attentively 
 to listen to the declaration made by the apostle, in 
 the words of my text. They stand in connection 
 with the last verses of the preceding chapter. St 
 Paul had advanced, not only that God bestows on 
 every believer, the same privileges in substance, 
 which he has vouchsafed to saints of the first order, 
 but that he actually works in them the same wonders 
 which he operated in Jesus Christ when he restored 
 to him that life which he had laid down for the salva- 
 tion of mankind, and when, amidst the acclamations 
 of the church triumphant, he received him into pa- 
 radise. 
 
 In the text, our apostle expresses in detail, what 
 he had before proposed in more general terms. He 
 says, that as Jesus Christ, when dead, v/as restored 
 to life, and raised from the tomb ; in like manner 
 we, who icere dead m trespasses and sins^ have been 
 quickened^ and raised np^ together with him : and 
 
 thur 
 
with Jesus Christ, 157 
 
 that as Jesus Christ, when raised up from the dead, 
 was received into heaven, and seated on his Father^s 
 right hand, in hke manner we, after our spiritual re- 
 surrection, are admitted to a participation of the 
 same glory. Let us view these two texts in their 
 connection, in order to comprehend the full extent 
 of the apostle's idea : God, as we read in the conclu- 
 sion of the preceding chapter, the " God of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, has displayed what 
 is the greatness of his power to us- ward who believe, ac- 
 cording to the working of his mighty power ; which 
 he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the 
 dead, and set him at his own right hand in the hea- 
 venly places,. . . .and put all things under his feet." 
 And in the words of the text, " God who is rich in 
 mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even 
 when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us to- 
 gether with Christ, (by grace ye are saved) and hath 
 raised us up together, and made us sit together in hea- 
 venly places in Christ Jesus," Eph. ii. 4, .5, 6. 
 
 This proposition, 1 acknowledge, seems to pre- 
 sent something hyperbolical, which it is not easy to 
 reconcile to the strictness of truth : but the difficul- 
 ties which prevent our comprehending it, do not so 
 much affect the understanding as the heart. It 
 would be much more intelligible, were the love of 
 the creature .less predominant in us, and did it less 
 encroach upon the feelings necessary to our percep- 
 tion of a truth, which is almost altogether a truth of 
 feeling. We should accordingly, have been cau- 
 tious how we ventured to treat such a subject, at our 
 ordinary seasons of devotion ; but, on this day, we 
 believe all things possible to your pious affections. 
 We believe that there can be nothing too tender, no- 
 thing too highly superior to sense, on a solemnity *, 
 
 when 
 
 * Ascension Day. 
 
\6S The Believer exalted ios^ether 
 
 when it is to be presumed that, with the apostle?, 
 you are looking stedfastlij toxtard heaven, after an 
 ascending Saviour, that you are following him with 
 heart and mind, and saying, Draio us. Lord, zve zall 
 run after thee. 
 
 Before we enter farther into our subject, there are 
 a few advices which we would beg leave to suggest, 
 which may pre- dispose you more clearly to compre- 
 hend it. 
 
 1. Learn to distinguish the degrees of that disposi- 
 tion of mind, which our apostle is describing. He 
 represents the Christian as a man on whose heart 
 divine grace has made impressions so lively, that he 
 is already quickened, already raised up, already made to 
 sit in heavenhf places in Christ yesiis. This disposition, 
 in whatever it may consist, (which we shall endea- 
 vour presently to explain with greater precision) 
 this disposition admits of degrees ; I mean to say, 
 that it is possible to be a Christian not only in name, 
 and by profession, but a Christian in truth and reali- 
 ty, without having as yet attained it in the most emi- 
 nent degree, jt was necessary to make this observa- 
 tion, by way of prevention of a mental malady, as 
 commonly to be met with in these provinces as any 
 where else. 
 
 Certain circumstances peculiar to yourselves, have 
 constrained your preachers frequently to inculcate the 
 doctrine of the efficacy of divine grace, and of 
 the sentiment which it impresses on the heart. This 
 doctrine has sometimes been misunderstood. Some 
 have considered certain rapturous emotions, excited 
 in the souls of a few highly favoured Christians, by 
 the power of the Holy Spirit, as the essential cha- 
 racter of Christianity. It has been erroneoosl}' sup- 
 posed, that to be destitute of these was to be aban- 
 doned of God. Hence have arisen those gloomy 
 
 and 
 
with Jesus Christ. 159 
 
 and desponding ideas which weak minds form re- 
 specting their own state, especially at those seasons 
 when the Lord's Supper is administered. The books 
 generally read, as a preparation for participating in 
 this solemn service, tell us, that it is at the table of 
 the Lord, in a particular manner, the communicant 
 experiences those communications of the fulness of 
 joy, Ps. xvi. 1 1. that joy unspeakable and full of glo- 
 ry, \ Pet. i. 8. that peace of God which passeth all 
 understanding, Phil. iv. 7. that white stone, and in 
 the stone a new name written, which no man know- 
 eth saving he that receiveth it," Rev. ii. 17 that anti- 
 cipated resurrection, that heaven upon earth. 
 
 What has been written on this subject is liable to 
 misconception on the part of the reader, as it may 
 have been expressed with too much precision by the 
 composer of such manuals of devotion. Hence it 
 comes to pass, that real Christians, who, notwith- 
 standing the imperfection which cleaves to their best 
 services, have most sincerely devoted the remainder 
 of life to God, are haunted with the apprehension 
 of having communicated unworthily, because they 
 are not conscious of having felt, at the Lord's ta- 
 ble, all those effects of the presence of the Holy 
 Spirit. 
 
 To Christians of this description it is, that I ad- 
 dress my first advice. That they distinguish the de- 
 grees of that disposition of mind of which our apos- 
 tle speaks in the text. A man may be quickened, 
 may be raised up, may be made to sit together with 
 Christ Jesus, in heavenly places, vvithout having all 
 the joy which results from this blessed state. The 
 most infallible mark of our being made partakers in 
 the exaltation of the Lord Jesus, is our striving in 
 good earnest, to fulfil the conditions under which 
 that participation is promised us. Let us fortify 
 
 2 ourselves 
 
1 60 The Believer exalted together 
 
 ourselves in this disposition of mind, and wait pa- 
 tiently till it shall please God to smoothe the diffi- 
 culties which we encounter in this work, by the 
 pleasure derived from a consciousness of having sur- 
 mounted them in part, and by the assurance which 
 we have of at length surmounting them altogether. 
 
 2. The second advice which I presume to suggest ' 
 is this, Be on your guard against the love of the 
 marvellous. It is far from being impossible that a 
 man should confound the effects of an imagination 
 heated by its ow^n visionary workings, with those 
 which the Holy Spirit produces in a soul of which 
 he has taken entire possession. A person animated 
 by the Spirit of God, can easily distinguish his state 
 from that of an enthusiast : but the enthusiast can- 
 not always distinguish his state from that of one ani- 
 mated by the Spirit of God. In general, the road 
 of discussion is incomparably more sure and direct to 
 reach the conscience, and to form a right judgment 
 of it, than the road of feeling. I know that there are 
 certain feelings superior to discussion. I know that 
 the Holy Spirit sometimes diffuses his influence 
 through the soul, in such abundance, with so much 
 fervour, with so much activity, that it is not possible 
 the persons thus highly favoured should be ignorant 
 that they are the objects of his tenderest and most 
 particular care. But in order to our being warranted 
 to promise ourselves such communications, the prac- 
 tice of piety must have been carried farther, beyond 
 all comparison, than is commonly the case with 
 most of those who flatter themselves that they have 
 been favoured with singular communications of the 
 Spirit. And, once more, the method of discussion 
 is by much the surer, to arrive at a true judgment 
 of the real dispositions of the conscience, than the 
 test of feeling ; in which the temperament, or the 
 
 1 imagination 
 
The Believer exalted together with Jesus Chrmt, 161 
 
 imagination have frequently a larger share than real 
 illumination. 
 
 Weigh in the balance the proofs on which the 
 ideas you have formed of yourselves are founded. 
 Compare your thoughts, your words, your actions, 
 with the august rules and decisions which God has 
 laid down in his holy word. Regulate your hopes 
 and your fears, according to the characters which 
 you may have discovered in yourselves, after you 
 have studied the subject in this manner. So much 
 for the second advice, which 1 thought it of impor- 
 tance to suggest. 
 
 3. Permit me to subjoin a third. Under pre- 
 tence of guarding against the reveries of the enthu- 
 siast, and against the love of the marvellous, pre- 
 sume not to call in question certain extraordinary 
 operations of the Holy Spirit, and neglect not the 
 means of obtaining them. Dispute not with saints 
 of a superior order, what they know by experience 
 to be real. Presume not to establish that measure 
 of grace which you may have received, as the stan- 
 dard for determining that which God is pleased to 
 grant to persons more devoted than you are to his 
 service. Form not your judgment from the plea- 
 sure which you may at present derive from religion, 
 of that which you may hereafter enjoy, when re- 
 ligion shall have acquired a more powerful influence 
 over your heart. Be not discouraged by the dryness 
 and discomfort which you may now find in the prac- 
 tice of virtue ; in time you will experience it to be 
 a perennial source of delight. This is my third ad- 
 vice. 
 
 Having premised these necessary precautions, 
 Let us attempt to justify the idea which is here 
 given us of the Christian. Let us place in contract, 
 the condition in which he was, previous to his be- 
 
 voL. VI. M ins: 
 
I'o^ The Believer exalted iogethc r with Jesus CImsi, 
 
 ing converted to Christianit}^ and that which he 
 has attained in virtue of his having become a Chris- 
 tian. Before he embraced the rehgion of Jesus 
 Christ, he was dead in trespasses and sins. This is a 
 figurative expression, denoting, that sinners are as 
 incapable of themselves, to shake off the dominion 
 of sin, and the misery inseparable from it, as a dead 
 person is to defend himself against corruption, and 
 to restore his own life. But by beconfing a Chris- 
 tian, the believer is, through tiie mercy of God, 
 not only set free from the dominion of sin, but is 
 put in possession of the highest recompence of re- 
 ward that justice ever bestowed on the most per- 
 fect virtue which ever existed, namely, that of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 •if "never man spake like this man," John vii. 
 46. never man lived and acted like this man. Ac- 
 cordingly, never was there a man exalted to such a 
 height of felicity and glory. Nov/ to this very 
 lieight of felicity and glory the grace of God exalts 
 the Christian. How? In more ways than we are 
 able to indicate, in the time now left us. I satisfy 
 myself with pointing out three of these. The be- 
 liever is '* quickened, he is raised up, he is made to 
 sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.'' 
 
 I. By the proofs which assure him of the exaltation 
 of Jesus Christo 
 
 ir. By the means supplied to satisfy him that he 
 is fulfilling the conditions under which he may pro- 
 mise himself, that he shall become a partaker of that 
 exaltation. 
 
 III. By the foretaste which he now enjoys of it 
 on the earih. 
 
 I. By the proofs which assure him of the exalta- 
 tion 
 
The Believer exalted together zoiih Jesus Christ, 163 
 
 tion of Jesus Christ. It is not necessary here to 
 detail them in their full extent. This has been al- 
 ready done on former occasions *. We have shewn 
 you, that, in support of the truth of the resurrec- 
 tion of Jesus Christ, (and the same reasonings ap- 
 ply, with nearly the same force, to all the particu- 
 lars of his exaltation) we have presumptions, 
 proofs, demonstrations. But, as I have just said, 
 it is not necessary here to make a minute recapitula- 
 tion. 
 
 But I would wish to unfold under this head, the 
 true causes which prevent those proofs, irresistible 
 as they are, from producing, on the mind of the 
 greater part of Christians, that lively impression 
 which would justisfy the hyperbolical language em- 
 ployed by our apostle. That Christians have a con- 
 viction as complete of the truth of the exaltation 
 of Jesus Christ, as if they had been "quickened," 
 as if they had been " raised up," as if they were 
 *' made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
 Jesus.^^ The following are the principal causes of 
 this sore evil. 
 
 1. The proofs of the exaltation of Jesus Christ, 
 do not produce impressions so lively as they ought, 
 from the abuse of a distinction between mathe- 
 matical evidence^ and moral e-cide nee, A scruple in 
 point of precision, has given rise to this distinc- 
 tion. We call that mathematical evidence ^ which 
 is founded on the clear idea of a subject. 1 have a 
 clear idea of two even numbers. This proposition. 
 From the addition of two even numbers there re- 
 sults an even number, is founded upon an evidence 
 which arises from the clear idea of that number. 
 That is called moral evidence, which is founded 
 
 2 on 
 
 * Consult the Sermon on Chrisfs Resurrection^ the eight of Vol. 
 IT. of Mr Robinson's Selection, and Sermon V. of this volume, pae-e 
 131, &c. ' ^ ^ 
 
164 The Believer exalted together imth Jesus Christ, 
 
 on testimony worthy of credit. I have, naturally, 
 no idea of the city of Constantinople. I can decide 
 the question of its existence, only upon testimony 
 of a certain kind. This distinction is undoubtedly 
 a real one. But it is making a strange abuse of it 
 to pretend, that what is founded on the mr/<?wce de- 
 nominated moral is not so certain as that which 
 is founded on what is denominated mathematical 
 evidence. Two reasons persuade me of this, which 
 I submit to your consideration. 
 
 (i) It involves no less contradiction, that a com- 
 plex concurrence of circumstances should unite with 
 respect to a false testimony, tlian that there should 
 be falsehood in a consequence deduced immediate- 
 ly from the nature of a subject. It involves no less 
 contradiction to affirm, that all the witnesses, who 
 assure me there is a city called Constantinople, have 
 agreed to impose upon me, that it involves a contra- 
 dicnon to alledge, that this proposition is illusory, 
 From the addition of two even numbers there re- 
 sults an even number. 
 
 (ii) The second reason is still more forcible. It 
 is taken from the nature of God himself. We have 
 mathematical evidence for this, That God cannot 
 take pleasure in leading men into error. But God 
 would take pleasure in leading men into error, if 
 after haying made the truth of their religion to rest 
 on the existence of certain facts, which are suscepti- 
 ble only of proofs of fact, he had bestowed on ima- 
 ginary facts, the same characters of truth which he 
 has impressed on such as are real. The truth of 
 our religion is founded ox\ these facts : Jesus Christ 
 is risen, and has ascended into heaven : but this 
 exaltation is supported by all the evidence of which 
 facts are susceptible. \{ the exaltation of Jesus 
 f.,'hrist is merely imaginary, God has permitted ima- 
 
 ginary 
 
The Believer exalted together with Jesus Christ, 165 
 
 ginary facts to assume all the evidence of real facts. 
 God therefore, betrays him into error. But we have 
 mathematical evidence, that it is impossible for 
 God to betray men into error. It is clear, there- 
 fore, as I think, that moral evidence, when car- 
 ried to a certain degree, ought to be ranked in the 
 same class with mathematical evidence. The 
 truth of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, there- 
 fore, will not produce the lively impressions which 
 we have mentioned, so long as men abuse, which is 
 the case with certain philosophers, the distinction 
 between moral evidence, and mathematical evi- 
 dence. 
 
 2. The proofs of the exaltation of Jesus Christ 
 produce not impressions so lively as they ought, be- 
 cause the mind is under the influence of a preju- 
 dice, unworthy of a real philosopher, namely, that 
 moral evidence changes its nature, according to 
 the nature of the things to which it is applied. 
 What is demonstration of a fact, which is in the 
 sphere of natural things, seems to cease to be such 
 respecting facts of a supernatural kind. A certain 
 species of proof will be sufficient to demonstrate 
 that Caesar existed : and that same species of proof 
 shall be deemed insufficient to ascertain that Moses 
 existed. What a strange disposition of mind ! The 
 truth of a fact, which does not in itself imply a con- 
 tradiction depends not on the nature of that fact^ 
 but on the .proofs by which it is supported. 
 
 I am ready to admit, that stronger proof will be 
 expected, in order to produce belief, of extraordi- 
 nary events, than is necessary to establish the 
 truth of what happens every day ; to produce be- 
 lief, for instance, that a great scholar is humble^ 
 calls for stronger proof than tliat he is vain ; to 
 produce belief, that a friend is as taithful m ad- 
 versity as he was in prosperity, than that he is 
 
 3 less. 
 
166 The Believer exalted to^etlier ioith Jesus Christ, 
 
 '&' 
 
 less so. But what is evidence with respect to 
 ordinary facts, is likewise so with respect to such 
 as are extraordinary. What is evidence with re- 
 spect to natural things, is Hkewise so with respect 
 to such as are supernatural. Nothing more un- 
 reasonable can be conceived than the disposition ex- 
 pressed by the apostle Thomas. All the members 
 of the apostolic college, unanimously assure him 
 that Jesos Christ is risen from the dead. They 
 adduce this proof of it, that they had beheld him 
 with their own eyes. No, says he, "except 1 see 
 in his hands the print of the nails, and put my 
 finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my^ 
 hand into his side, I will not believe,'^ John xx. 25. 
 Wherefore does that which would have been evi- 
 dence to him on another occasion, cease to be so on 
 this ? It is because the matter in question is some- 
 thing supernatural. But the question is not, whether 
 the resurrection of Jesus Christ be within the 
 sphere of natural things, but whether it is found- 
 ed on proofs sufficient to constitute satisfying evi- 
 dence. 
 
 3. The proofs of the exaltation of the Lord Jesus 
 produce not impressions sufficiently lively, because 
 the necessary discrimination has not been employ- 
 ed in the selection of those proofs, on which some 
 have pretended to establish it. This remark has a 
 reference to certain of tlie learned, who imagined 
 that they were rendering essential service to the 
 church, when they multiplied proofs, with an in- 
 discreet zeal, and produced every thing which they 
 deemed favourable to the Christian religion. Fraud, 
 fair dealing, all, all appeared equal in their eyes, 
 provided it could contribute to this end. Wretch- 
 ed method ! Why was it not confined to the propa- 
 gators of falsehood ; and why has it been so fre- 
 quently 
 
The Believer exalted together xmfh Jesus Christ. 167 
 
 quently adopted by the partisans of truth ! I pre- 
 tend not to determine whether there be much so- 
 lidity in the idea of some who have alleged, that 
 the reason why Jesus Christ so strictly prohibited 
 the demons to pubHsh that he was the IVies iah, was 
 an apprehension that a testimony borne to his mis- 
 sion by lying spirits, might render the truth of it 
 suspected. But 1 am w^ell assured that if any thing 
 could have excited a suspicion in my mind unfa- 
 vourable to the exaltation of the Son of God, it 
 would have been that medley of proofs, solid and 
 without foundation, which we find in the writings 
 of certain ancient doctors of the church on this 
 subject. No one will ever attain to a complete con- 
 viction of the exaltation of Jesus Christ, so Jong 
 as he neglects to discriminate the proofs on which 
 the truth of it rests. The discovery of the slightest 
 falsehood in those which we had believed to be true, 
 will go far toward invalidating the proof of those 
 which we had good reason to believe founded \n 
 truth. 
 
 4. The proofs of the exaltation of Jesus Christ pro- 
 duce not impressions sufficiently lively, because we 
 are too deeply affected by our inability to resolve 
 certain questions, wdfich the enemies of religion are 
 accustomed to put, on some circumstances relative 
 to that event. The evangelists have recorded all 
 those which are necessary to convince us of the 
 truth of the resurrectiori of Jesus Christ. Their 
 silence respecting circumstances of another kind> 
 and our inability to satisfy the demands of those 
 who insist upon them, present nothing to excite 
 suspicion against the fidelity of their Narration. 
 'J'hey do not tell us, for example, what Jesus Christ 
 did immediately after his resurrection, and before 
 his appearing to the devout women, and to the 
 
 apostles 
 
168 The Believer exalted together imth Jesus Christ. 
 
 apostles. They do not tell us what he did during 
 the forty days which he passed upon the earth be- 
 fore his ascension. They do not tell us to whom 
 those dead persons appeared, who came into the 
 holy city to attest his resurrection, nor what became 
 of them after their apparition. The Holy Spirit, 
 perhaps, was not pleased to reveal such things 
 to those inspired men. Perhaps they did not think 
 proper to declare them, though they might have 
 had perfect information on the subject. But is there 
 any thing in this, to invalidate the proofs on which 
 the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ is found- 
 ed ? Is there any one ancient history, I say any one 
 without exception, that goes into a certain detail of 
 circumstances? Are we acquainted with all the 
 circumstances of the life of Alexander, or of Da- 
 rius ? Does our ignorance respecting such and such 
 particulars suggest a doubt whether those persons 
 ever existed ? Do we know all the circumstances 
 attending the battle of Cannae, and that of Phar- 
 salia. Does our ignorance of these, suggest a 
 doubt whether such battles were actually fought ? 
 Is it fair to prescribe to the sacred authors rules 
 which we readily dispense with in the case of pro- 
 fane authors ? 
 
 6. The proofs of the exaltation of Jesus Christ 
 produce not impressions sufficiently lively, because 
 we suffer ourselves to be intimidated more than we 
 oughtj by the comparison instituted between them 
 and certain popular rumours, which have no better 
 support than the caprice of the persons who pro- 
 pagate them. Unbelievers tell us that the multi- 
 tude is credulous, that it is ever disposed to be 
 practised upon by imposture, from the idea of the 
 marvellous. They accumulate all those noted in- 
 stances of credulity which ancient and modern his- 
 tory 
 
The Believer exalted together with Jesus Christ, 1 69 
 
 tory abundantly supply, for it costs very little 
 trouble indeed, to make the collection ample. They 
 avail themselves of those instances to invalidate the 
 argument which we adduce from the unanimity of 
 that testimony which evinces the truth of the resur- 
 rection of Jesus Christ. Bat let them show us, 
 among what they call " popular rumours,'^ let them 
 shew us among these any thing of the same kind 
 with those which we have produced : and then we 
 shall feel ourselves called upon to defend, in another 
 way, the doctrine in question. But under the pre- 
 text that mankind is credulous, obstinately to resist 
 the force of proofs which have been admitted by 
 judges the most rigid and acute, is wilfully to shut 
 the eyes against the truth. 
 
 6. Finally, the proofs of the truth of the exalta- 
 tion of our blessed Lord and Saviour, produce not 
 impressions sufficiently lively, because they are not 
 sufficiently known. The preceding particulars chief- 
 ly relate to the learned, and the philosophic part 
 of mankind, of whom the number, undoubtedly, is 
 on comparison very inconsiderable. This relates to 
 the multitude, of which the far greater part of our 
 audiences is composed. I am well aware that those 
 proofs have been carried farther in the present age, 
 than ever had been done, perhaps, since the days of 
 the apostles. I have, oftener than once, adored the 
 conduct of divine Providence, in that the objec- 
 tions of unbelievers, of which it may likewise be af- 
 firmed, that they have been carried farther in the 
 present age, than they had been since the times of 
 the earliest antagonists of the Christian religion : I 
 have oftener than once, I say, adored the conduct 
 of divine Providence, in that those objections have 
 furnished occasion to scrutinize the proofs of the 
 facts, on which the truth of Christianity rest. 
 
 In 
 
1 70 The Believer exalted iogethet^ with Jesus Christ, 
 
 In proportion as events are more remote, the more 
 difficult it becomes to ascertain them. If the spirit 
 of superstition and blind credulity had continued 
 to be the reigning folly of mankind, men would have 
 neglected to study the proofs of the facts of which 
 1 have been speaking, and we should have had in 
 later ages, much greater trouble m demonstrating 
 the truth of them. But inlidelity is the reigning 
 folly of the age in which we live, and has, as it 
 were, succeeded the spirit of superstition and blind 
 credulity, the reigning folly of ages past. Now 
 Providence has so ordered the course of tilings, that 
 this very infidelity should prove the occasion of 
 placing, in their clearest point of light, those illus- 
 trious proofs which we have of the facts, whereon 
 the Christian religion is founded. Bat though they 
 have been stated with so much clearness and pre- 
 cision, it is undoubtedly certain that they are not 
 hitherto sufficiently known by the generality of pro- 
 fessing Christians. 
 
 Would you be thoroughly convinced of the exal- 
 tation of the Saviour of mankind, devote to the 
 study, which I am recommending, a pare, I do not 
 say onl)^ of that time which you so liberally bestow 
 on the world and its pleasures, but a part of even 
 that which you have thrown away upon useless con- 
 troversies, on the speculative questions, and the 
 bold researches, with which most books, on the sub- 
 ject of religion, are filled. Let the mind be deeply 
 impressed with that serieiis of presumptions, of ar- 
 guments, of demonstrations, of which the resurrec- 
 tion, and the other particulars of the exaltation of 
 the Son of God are susceptible. Do all dihgence 
 to discern the whole evidence of those facts, with- 
 out which, to use the Apostle's expression, " your 
 faith is vain, and our preaching also is vain," 1 Cor. 
 XV. 14* Then you will perceive, that the truth of 
 
 the 
 
The Believer exaUed togciher laiJi Jesus Christ, I7I 
 
 the exaltation of the Saviour is founded upon proofs, 
 which it is impossible for any reasonable man to re- 
 sist. You will be, in some measure, as much con- 
 vinced that he is raised up from the dead, and as- 
 cended into heaven, as if you had i^een him with 
 your own eyes, bursting asunder the bars of the 
 grave, and assuming his seat at the right hand of 
 the Father : you will be in this first sense, '' quick- 
 ened together with Christ, and raised up, and made 
 to sit together in heavenly places with him*^^ 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 PART IL 
 
 The Christian a Partaker in the Exaltation 
 of Jesus Christ > 
 
 Ephesians ii, 4, 5, 6, 
 
 God who is rich in mercy ^ for his great love wherewith 
 he loved us, even zQ)lien we were dead in sins, hath 
 quickened us together with Christy (by grace ye are 
 saved^ and hath raised us up together^ aud made us 
 sit together, in heavetdij places in Christ Jesus, 
 
 HAVING given a few preliminary advices rela- 
 tive to my subject, I went on to justify the 
 accuracy of the Apostle's idea, by shewing, that 
 the Christian is '' quickened, raised up- seated in 
 heavenly places, together with Christ, 
 
 I. By the reasons which persuade him of the cer- 
 tainty 
 
174? The Christian a Far taker in 
 
 tainty of the exaltation of Jesus Christ. I now 
 proceed to justify St FauTs idea, by shewing, 
 
 II. The Christian's participation in the glory of 
 Jesus Christ, by the means with which he is fur- 
 nished of knowiui^ himself, and of attaining assur- 
 ance that he is fuihiiing the conditions under which 
 he is enabled to promise himself an interest in that 
 exaltation. I do not mean to insinuate that tliis 
 knowledge is of easy attainment. 1 maintain, on 
 the contrary, that it is one of the most difficult 
 which can be proposed to man. And without en- 
 tering here into a detail of the reasons which evince 
 the difficulty of it, it is sufficient for me to adduce 
 a single one ; it is the smallness of the number of 
 those who know themselves. The judgments which 
 men form of their own character is an inexhaustible 
 source of ridicule. The world is crow^led with 
 people totally blind, especially where they them- 
 selves are concerned. 
 
 What illusion do they practise upon themselves, 
 widi respect to the bod}- I liow many are there 
 whom Nature has sadly degraded in point of per- 
 son : forms which you would say were only block- 
 ed out, and of which, if 1 may use the expression, 
 God seems to have erected only the first scafFold- 
 iilgs, conceive of themselves ideas directly opposite 
 to the truth. Talk of the corporeal qualities of such 
 and such persons, and they will be among the first 
 to make them an object of derision, and discover 
 this to be too slim, that to be too gross ; falling- 
 foul of the whole human race, and shewing tender- 
 ness to no one but themselves. If we are thus sub- 
 ject to blindness, where things sensible, palpable are 
 concerned, how much greater must be the danger, 
 where matters of a very different complecticn ad- 
 dress themselves to our self-love .'^ 
 
 We 
 
the Exaltation of Jesus CJuisi, 17^ 
 
 \7e practise illusion upon ourselves, on the score 
 of our understanding. How many ignorant, dull, 
 stupid people betray a conceit that they are intelli- 
 gent philosophers, profound politicians; that they 
 possess a judgment accurate, enlightened, uncom- 
 mon ; and are so powerfully prepossessed with the 
 belief of this, that the combnied universe could not 
 drive them out of it. Hence it comes to pass that 
 they are for ever taking the lead in society, exact- 
 ing attention, courting admiration, pronouncing, 
 deciding peremptorily, and seeming to say at every 
 turn, Am not a most extraordinary personage? But 
 you have never had the advantage of a course of 
 education, or of regular study. No matter ; talents 
 supply every deficiency. But no one presents in- 
 cense to you, yourself only excepted. Still it sig- 
 nifies nothing : it is the wretched taste of the pre- 
 sent age. Bit you are actually a laughing-stock to 
 mankind. No nmtter stiii ; it has always been the 
 lot of great men to be the object of envy and ca- 
 lumny. 
 
 We practise illusion upon ourselves in favour of 
 our heart. Should you chance to be in a circle of 
 slanderers, and bear your testimony against slander, 
 the whole company will instantly take your side. 
 The most criminal will endeavour to pass for the 
 most innocent. They will tell you that it is the 
 most odious, abominable, execrable of vices. They 
 will tell you that the severest punishments ought to 
 be adjudged against the offender, that he ought to 
 be excluded from all human society. And the very 
 persons who are themselves actuated by this detest- 
 able passion, who are themselves diffusing the bale- 
 ful poison of their malignity, apprehend not that 
 they are, in the slightest degree, chargeable with 
 such a vice. Have you no knowledge, my brethren, 
 of such a portrait ? Have I been depicting to you 
 Planners which have no existence in real life? If 
 
 2 there 
 
176 The Christian a Partaker in 
 
 there be any among you incapable of discovering 
 himself under such similitudes as these, it is a de- 
 monstration of what 1 wished to prove, that it is a 
 Yery difficult thing for a man to know himself. 
 
 But though this knowledge be extremely difficult, 
 it is by no means of impossible attainment. The 
 believer employs two methods, principally to arrive 
 at it. 1. He studies his own heart. 2. He 
 shrinks not from the inspection of the eyes of 
 another. 
 
 1. First, the believer studies his own heart. Let 
 it not appear matter of astonishment that the 
 generality of mankind are so little acquainted with 
 themselves. They are almost always from home ; 
 external objects engross all the powers of their 
 mind ; they never dive to the bottom of their own 
 conscience. Does it deserve the name of searching 
 the heart, if a man employs a rapid and superficial 
 self-examination, by reading a few books of prepara- 
 tion, on the eve of a communion-solemnity : if he 
 devote a few moments attention to the maxims of a 
 preacher, much more with a design to apply them 
 to others, than to make them a test of his own con- 
 duct ? How is it possible, by means of an examina- 
 tion so cursory, to attain a knowledge which costs 
 the most eminent saints so much application ? 
 
 A real Christian studies himself m a very different 
 manner. With the torch of the gospel in his hand, 
 he searches into the most secret recesses of con- 
 science. He traces his actions up to their real prin- 
 ciples. V/hen he has performed an act of virtue, 
 he scrupulously examines whether he had been ac- 
 tuated by some n^erely human respect, or whether it 
 proccecied from a sacred regard to the law of God. 
 When he unhappily is overtaken, and falls into sin, 
 he carefully examines vvhether he was betrayed into 
 
 1 it 
 
The Exaltation of Jesus Christ. 177 
 
 it by surprise, or whether, by the prevalence of 
 corruption in his heart, and from the love of the 
 world still exercising dominion over him. Whea 
 he abstains from certain vices, he examines whether 
 it proceeded from real self-government, or merely 
 from want of means and opportunity ; and he asks 
 himself this question, What would I have done, had 
 I been placed in such and such circumstances ? 
 Would I have preserved my innocence, with Joseph, 
 or lost it, as David did ? Would I, with Peler, have 
 denied Jesus Christ, or have endured martyrdom in 
 his cause, like Stephen ? 
 
 2. The second method which the believer erii- 
 ploys to arrive at the knowledge of his own heart, is 
 to permit others to unveil it to his eyes : this is done 
 particularly, either by the public instructions of the 
 faithful ministers of the gospelj or by the private 
 admonitions of a judicious and sincere friend : two 
 articles very much calculated to explain to us the 
 reasons why most men attain such an imperfect 
 knowledge of themselves^ 
 
 It is with difficulty Vv^e can digest those addresses 
 from the pulpit, in v/hich the preacher ventures to 
 go into certain details, without w^hich it is impossi- 
 ble for us to acquire self-knowledge* We are fond 
 of dwelling on generals. Our own portrait excites 
 disgust, when the resemblance is too exact. It is a 
 circumstance well worthy of being remarked, that 
 what we admire the most in the sermons of the 
 dead, is the very thing which gives most offence in 
 the sermons of the living. When we read, in dis- 
 courses pronounced several ages ago, those bold 
 strictures in which the preachers unmasked the hy- 
 pocrites of their times, reproved the vices of the 
 great as freely as those of the lit lie, attacked adul- 
 
 TOL. VT. N w^'y, 
 
178 The Christum a Partaker tn 
 
 tery, extortion, a tyrannical spirit, in the very pre- 
 sence of the offenders, \^e are ready to exclaim, What 
 zeal ! What courage I What firmness I But when a 
 preacher of our own days presumes to form himself 
 after such excellent models ; when he would copy the 
 ex am pi': of Elijah, who said to Ahab, 1 have not troii- 
 hied Israel ; but thou and thy father's house ^ I Kings 
 xviii. 18. when he w^ould follow the example of Na- 
 than, who said to David, Thou art the man, 2 Sam. 
 xii. 7. or that of John Baptist, who said to Herod, It 
 h not lax/ill for thee to have ihtj brother's zmfe, Mark 
 vi. 18. then the cry is, What audacity I What pre- 
 sumption 1 It would be improper, my brethren, to 
 extend any farther ray remarks on this subject at 
 present ; but I may be permitted, at least, to borrow 
 the words of Jesus Christ, addressed to his disciples ; 
 *' I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye 
 cannot bear them now," John vi. 12. 
 
 If we are unable to digest public discourses of 
 the description which we have been giving, much 
 less are v/e disposed to bear wath the private admoni- 
 tions of a judicious and sincere friend, who is so 
 faithful as to unveil to us our own heart. What a 
 treasure is a friend, who keeps constantly in view, I 
 do not say our honour only, our reputation, but 
 more especially our duty, our conscience, our 
 salvation I What a treasure is a man, who em- 
 ploys the influence which he may have over us, 
 only for the purpose of undeceiving us when we 
 are in an error ; of bringing us back when we have 
 gone astray ; of assisting us to unravel and detect the 
 pretences which the deceitfulness of the human 
 heart uses to justify to itself its wanderings and weak- 
 nesses I What a treasure is a man, who has the ho- 
 nesty to say to us, according as circumstances may 
 require : *' Here it w^a's your want of experience that 
 
 " misled 
 
The Exaltation of Jesus Christ. \79 
 
 " misled you ; there, it was the prejudice of a fliulty 
 " education : on that occasion you was betrayed, 
 " through the seduction of those flatterers, in whose 
 '' society you take so much delight: on this, it was 
 *' the too favourable opinion which you had formed 
 " of yourselves, which would persuade you, that 
 *' you are ever sincere in your conversation; ever 
 " upright in your intentions 3 ever steady in your 
 ** friendships 1" 
 
 Nevertheless, we usually look upon this precious 
 treasure not only with disdain, but even with hor- 
 ror. It is sufficient to make us regard a man with 
 an eye of suspicion, that he has discovered our weak 
 side. It is sufficient for him to undertake to paint 
 us in our true colours, to be perfectly odious to us. A 
 real Christian eniploys all the means with which he 
 is furnished, to unveil his own heart to himself. By 
 dint of study, he acquires the knowledge of him.self. 
 , Having acquired this important knowledge, he se- 
 riously and resolutely sets about personal reforma- 
 tion ; and he makes progress in it. He examines 
 this new state into which divine grace has introduced 
 him ; and finding within hiniself the characters of ■ 
 Christianity, he lays hold of its promises. He be- 
 comes assured of his being in the class of those to 
 whom they are made. Andvviiat is it to possess such 
 assurance ? It is to have an anticipated possession of 
 all the blessings which are the object of it. It is to 
 be already quickened, already raised up, already made 
 to sit in heavenli/ places together :cith Jesus Christ, 
 
 III. Finally, the believer is (juickened^ he is raised 
 iip^ he is made to sit together in heaveniu places, by 
 means of the foretastes which he enjoys of his parti- 
 cipation in the exaltation of the Saviour of the 
 world. Should any one accuse me. of myself run- 
 
 2 ning 
 
1 80 The Christian a Partaker in 
 
 ning under this head, upon that rock of the mar- 
 vellous, against which I cautioned my hearers, under 
 a preceding branch of my discourse, I would re- 
 quest his attention to the following series of propo- 
 sitions, which I barely indicate in so many words. 
 
 1st Proposition. God possesses a sovereign em- 
 pire over all the perceptions of our souls ; he is able 
 to excite in them such as he pleases, either with the 
 concurrence of external objects, or without that con- 
 currence. 
 
 2d Proposition. In the order of nature, God 
 has united the compendious road of sensation to the 
 more circuitous one of reasoning, for the preserva- 
 tion of our body. What is noxious to the body, 
 makes itself known to us, not only by a process of 
 reasoning, but by certain disagreeable sensations, 
 which warn us to keep at a distance from it. What- 
 ever contributes to its preservation, makes itself 
 known by pleasurable sensations, and thereby en- 
 gages us to make use of it. 
 
 3d Proposition. It by no means involves a con- 
 tradiction, to say, that if it was the will of God, ir^ 
 the order of nature, that the compendious road of 
 sensation should supply the more circuitous one of 
 reasoning, he may sometimes be pleased to conform 
 to the same economy, in the order of grace. 
 
 4th Proposition. We are assured not only by rea- 
 son, that God may adopt this mode of proceeding, 
 but scripture and experience teach us, that he actu- 
 ally does so, in the case of certain Christians of a su- 
 perior order. 
 
 I compare those sensations of grace to the move- 
 ment'^ 
 
The Exaltation of Jesus Christ. 181 
 
 iVients "by which the prophets were animated, and 
 which permitted them not the power of doubting 
 whether or not it was the effect of the presence of 
 God in their soul ; movements which produced 
 conviction that God intended to make use of their 
 ministry, and constrained them, in many cases to 
 act in contradiction to their own inclinations. Ne- 
 ver was mission more glorious than that of Jeremiah. 
 Never was mission more difficult and more burden- 
 some. He was called to open his mouth in maledic- 
 tions, levelled against his fellow citizens, and to be 
 himself exposed as a butt to the execrations of that 
 people. Overwhelmed under the pressure of a mi- 
 nistry so distressful, he exclaims, " Wo is me, my mo- 
 ther, that thou hast born me a man of strife, and a 
 man of contention to the whole earth," chap. xv. 10. 
 He does more. He forms the resolution of renoun- 
 cing a ministry which has become the bitterness of 
 his life : " The word of the Lord is made a reproach 
 unto me, and a derision daily ; then I said, I will not 
 make mention of him, nor speak any more in his 
 name," chap. xx. 8, 9. But God lays hold of him, by 
 invisible bonds, and which he finds it impossible to 
 shake off; " the word of the Lord is made a reproach 
 unto me, and a derision daily ; then I said, I will not 
 make mention of him, nor speak any more in his 
 name : but his word was in mine heart, as a burning 
 fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with for- 
 bearing, and I could not stay," ver. 9. " O Lord, thou 
 hast deceived" (enticed) " me, and I was deceived" 
 (enticed) : " thou art stronger than I, and has pre- 
 vailed," ver. 7. 
 
 I am persuaded that many among you have expe- 
 rienced in your vocation, something similar to what 
 the prophet experienced in his. I am persuaded that 
 many of you have been attracted by those irresistible 
 
 bands. 
 
182 The Christian a Far taker in 
 
 bands, and have felt that sacred flame kindle in 
 your soul, which the Holy Spirit communicates to 
 the regenerated, and which put these words into the 
 mouths of the disciples, who were travelling to 
 Emmaus, " Did not our heart burn within us, while 
 he talked with us by the way, and while he opened 
 to us the scriptures ?'* Luke xxiv. 32. 
 
 Now, if you call upon me to'go into a more par- 
 ticular detail on this subject, I will say to you, that 
 however mysterious this operation of the grace of 
 God may be ; Vv^hatever difficulty may appear in ex- 
 actly ascertaining the time of its communication, it 
 is imparted to believers, in five situations chiefly. 
 1. When shutting the door of his closet, and exclud- 
 ing the world from his heart, the Christian enjoys 
 communion with Deity. *2. When Providence calls 
 him to undergo some severe trial. 3. When he has 
 been enabled to make some noble and generous sa- 
 crifice. 4. When celebrating the sacred mysteries 
 of redeeming love. 5. Finally, in the hour of con- 
 flict with tlie king of terrors. 
 
 i. When shutting the door of his closet, and ex- 
 cluding the Vv'orld from his heart, he is admitted to 
 communion and fellowship w'ith Deity, in retire- 
 ment and silence. There it is that a commerce is 
 instituted, the charms of w^hich I should to no pur- 
 pose undertake to display, unless they were known 
 to you by experience. There it is that the believer 
 compensates to himself the time of which he has 
 been constrained to defraud his God ; and there it is, 
 that God compensates to the behever, the delights 
 of which the commerce of ^the world has deprived 
 him. There it is that the believer pours out into 
 the bosom of his Father and his God, the sorrow 
 excited by the recollection of his offences, and that 
 
 he 
 
The iLxahation of Jesus Christ. 183 
 
 ke sheds the tears of a repentance which love has en- 
 kindled, and expresses in terms such as these : 
 
 '' My God, 1 know that love is thy predominant 
 " character, and that it cannot be thy will I should 
 " perish : but I am ashamed of my own weaknti . ; 
 *' I am ashamed of the little progress I have made in 
 '' religion, since the time thou hast been pleased to 
 *' grant me a revelation of it. 1 am ashamed o re- 
 " fleet that such an accumulation of benefits as :-:.u 
 " hast conferred upon me, should have still produced 
 ** so slight an impression upon my heart." 
 
 And there it is that God wipes the tear from ne 
 believer's eye, and heals up the woimds of the peni- 
 tent, saying unto him, " 1, even I, am he that blotteth 
 out thy transgressions, for mine own sake, and will not 
 remember thy sins,*^ Isa. xliii. 25. There it is that the 
 behever avails himself of the tender access which 
 God condescends to grant at those precious moments, 
 and that conversing with him, " as a man speaketh 
 unto his friend," Ex. xxxiii. 11 . he asks him to be- 
 stow communications more endearing, more intimate: 
 " Lord, I beseech thee shew me thy glory ,*' ver. 18 
 " Lord, scatter that darkness which still veils thy 
 '' perfections from my vievv^ ; Lord, dispel those 
 *' clouds which still intervene between me and the 
 " light of thy countenance." There it is that God 
 takes pleasure to gratify desires so nobly directed : 
 " Poor mortals, how unrefined, how debased is your 
 " taste I Hov/ much are you to be pitied, with that 
 " relish for the meagre delights of this world !" Is 
 there any one that can stand a comparison with that 
 which the believer enjoys in such blessed intercourse 
 as this? 
 
 2. When Providence calls him to encounter some 
 severe trial. I speak not here of trials to which ap- 
 petite prompts a man to expose himself, under the 
 
 specious 
 
184? The Christian a Far taker in 
 
 specious pretext of promising himself the glory of a 
 triumph, but in reality from the fatal charm which 
 betrays him into defeat. We have no encourage- 
 ment to expect divine support to resist and over- 
 come temptation, vi'hen we rashly throw ourselves in 
 the way of it : He that loveth danger^ saith the wise 
 man, shall perish therein, I speak of those trials 
 -which the believer is called to encounter, either 
 from some supernatural interposition, or simply from 
 the duty imposed by his Christian vocation. How 
 often do they appear to him so rude, as to awaken 
 despair of overcoming? How often, when aban- 
 doned for a moment to his frailty, he says within 
 himself: " No, I shall never have the fortitude to 
 *' bear up under that painful conflict : no, it will be 
 •* impossible for me to survive the loss of that child, 
 " far dearer to me than life itself: no, I shall never 
 ** be able to fulfil the duties of the station to which 
 «t Providence is calling me : How can I give my heart 
 ** to what 1 hate, and tear it away from what I love?" 
 Christian, be of good courage. See that thy resolu- 
 tion be upright and sincere, to him that believeth all 
 ihiTigs are possible^ Mark ix. 23. 
 
 There are resources of grace with which thou art 
 yet unacquainted ; but which thou shalt know by 
 experience, if thou prayest for them, and makest it 
 thy unremitting and sincere endeavour to walk wor- 
 thy of such exalted expectations. God himself will 
 descend into thy soul with rays of light, with fresh 
 supplies of strength, with impressions so lively, of 
 the promised recom.pence of reward, that thou shalt 
 not feel the pains of conflict, and be sensible only to 
 the pleasure of victory ; that thou shalt raise the 
 shout of victory, whilst thou art yet in the hottest of 
 the battle. 
 
 3, I said that those transporting foretastes are 
 
 communicated 
 
The ExaUcUion of Jesus Christ, 1 85 
 
 communicated to the believer, after he has been 
 enabled to offer up some noble and generous sacri- 
 fice. I can conceive no transports once to be com- 
 pared with those which Abraham felt, on his descent 
 from mount Moriah. What conflicts must he have 
 undergone from the awful moment that God de- 
 manded his Isaac I What a dreadful portion of time, 
 I was going to say, What an eternity was the three 
 days which passed between his departure from his 
 habitation, and his arrival at the place where this tre- 
 mendous sacrifice was to be offered up I What emo- 
 tions must that question of Isaac have excited in a 
 father's bosom ; behold the jive and the zcood: bat 
 Zi: here is the lamb for a burnt- offering P Gen. xxii. 7- 
 Abraham comes off victorious in all these combats : 
 Abraham binds his son with cords ; he stretches him 
 out on the wooden pile ; he Hfts up his hand to 
 pierce the bosom of this innocent victim. God ar- 
 rests his uplifted arm. Abraham has done his duty : 
 he carries back his son with him : What a transport 
 of delight I 
 
 But this is not all. W^ill God be outdone iu ge- 
 nerosity by Abraham ? He crowns the obedience of 
 his servant ; he accumulates upon him new marks 
 of favour ; he promises himself to immolate his own 
 Son for the man who could summon up the resolu- 
 tion to devote his son at God's command. This is, 
 according to St Paul, the sense of those mysterious 
 words ; " By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, for 
 because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with- 
 held thy son, thine only son : that in blessing I will 
 bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thjj^ 
 seed, as the stars of the heaven, and as the sard which 
 is upon the sea-shore; .... and in thy seed shall all 
 the nations of the earth be blessed," GeD. xxii. 16, 
 
 17, 
 
186 The Christian a Parialier in 
 
 17, IS. Gal. iii. 8. Christians, true posterity of the 
 father of believiers, you have a reward similar to his. 
 
 4. While he is partaking in the sacred mysteries 
 of redeeming love, likewise, the believer feels him- 
 self ^?^/c/re/2<?i, raised up ^ seated^ together zdth Jesus 
 Christ, I cannot refrain, however, from here de- 
 ploring the superstition of certain Christians, which 
 mingles with this part of our religious worship, and 
 from repeating one of the advices which 1 suggested 
 at the opening of this discourse. Make not the suc- 
 cess of your communion to depend on certain emo- 
 tions, in which mechanism has much more to do 
 than piety has. It but too frequently happens, that 
 a man shall apprehend he has communicated wor- 
 thily, or unworthily, in proportion as he has car- 
 ried to a less or greater length the art of moving the 
 senses, and of heating the imagination, while he 
 partakes of the Lord's Supper. The touchstone 
 by which we ought to judge whether v/e brought 
 to the Lord's table the dispositions which he re- 
 quires, is the sincerity with which we have renewed 
 our baptismal engagements, and the exertions which 
 we shall afterwards make punctually to fulfil them. 
 
 It is true, nevertheless, that a participation of 
 the Sacrament of the Supper is one of the situa- 
 tions in which a believer most frequently expe- 
 riences those gracious operations of which our 
 apostle is speaking in the text. A soul, whose undi- 
 vided attention the Holy Spirit fixes on the mystery 
 of the cross ; and on whom he is pleased to impress, 
 in a lively manner, the great events w^hich the sym- 
 bolical representation in the Eucharist retraces on the 
 heart ; a soul, which, through grace, loses itself in 
 the abyss of that love which God has manifested to- 
 ward us in Jesus Christ : a soul, which has learned 
 
 t© 
 
The Exaltation of Jesus Christ. 1 87 
 
 lO infer, from what God has already done, what is 
 still farther to be expected from him : a soul, which 
 feels, and, if I may use the expression, which relishes 
 the conclusiveness of this reasoning, " He that spared 
 not his own Son, but dehvered him up for us all, how 
 shall he not, with him, also freely give us all things ?" 
 Rom. viii. 32. Is not a soul in such a state, already 
 *' quickened, already raised up, alreadij seated in hea- 
 venly places, together with Christ Jesus ?" 
 
 5. But it is particularly when the believer is grap- 
 pling with the king of terrors, that he experiences 
 those communications of divine grace, which tran- 
 sport him into another world, and which verify, in 
 the most sublime of all senses, the idea which the 
 apostle conveys to us of it, in the words of the 
 text. Witness that patience and submission under 
 sufferings the most acute, and that entire acquies- 
 cence in the sovereign will of God : '' I was dumb, I 
 opened not my mouth ; because thou didst it," Ps. 
 xxxix. 9. Witness that supernatural detachment 
 from the world, which enables him to resign, without 
 murmuring and without reserve, all that he was most 
 tenderly united to : " henceforth know I no man after 
 the flesh," 2 Cor. v. 16. I have no connection now, 
 save with that " Jesus, of whom the whole family in 
 heaven and earth is named," £ph. iii. lo. Witness 
 that immoveable hope, in the midst of universal de- 
 sertion : " though he slay me, yet will I trust in him," 
 Job xiii. ] .5. *' yea, though 1 walk through the valley 
 of the shadow of death, 1 will fear no evil : for thou 
 art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me," 
 Psal. xxiii. 4. Witness that faith which pierces 
 through the clouds, which the devil, and hell, and the 
 world spread around his bed of languishing : " I know 
 whom I hive believed, and I am persuaded that he is 
 
 able 
 
IS 8? The Christian a Partaker in 
 
 able to keep that which I have committed unto him 
 Aday upon the earth. And though after ray skin worms^ 
 destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God ; 
 whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall be- 
 hold, and not another," Job xix. 25, 26, 27. , Wit- 
 ness that holy impatience with which he looks for- 
 ward to the moment of his dismission : " I have waited 
 for thy salvation, O God," Gen. xHx. 18. *' Come, 
 Lord Jesus, come quickly,'' Rev. xxii. 20. Witness 
 those songs of triumph, amidst the very sharpest of 
 the conflict : " Thanks be unto God, which always 
 causeth us to triumph in Christ," 2 Cor. ii. 14. 
 *' Blessed be the Lord, my strength, which teacheth 
 my hands to war, and my fingers to fight," Ps. cxliv. 1. 
 Witness, once more, those tender, those instruc- 
 tive, those edifying conversations which take place 
 between the dying Christian and his pastor. The 
 pastor addresses to the dying person these words on 
 the part of God : *' Seek my face ;" and the dying 
 behever replies, " Thy face. Lord, will I seek," Ps. 
 xxvii. 8. The pastor says, " Behold, what manner 
 of love the Father hath bestowed upon thee," 1 John 
 iii. 1 . and the dying person replies ; " the love of God 
 is shed abroad in my heart, by the Holy Ghost which 
 is given unto me," Rom. v. 5. The pastor says, 
 •' Seek those things which are above, where Christ 
 sitteth on the right hand of God :" the dying person 
 replies, *' I have a desire to depart and to be with 
 Christ,'' Phil. i. 23. " My soul thirsteth for God, for 
 the living God ; When shall I come and appear be- 
 fore God :" Ps. xlii. 2. The pastor says, " Run with 
 patience the race that is set before thee, looking unto 
 Jesus, the author and finisher of thy faith,'' Heb. xii. 
 i, 2. The dying behever replies, " I have fought a 
 good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept 
 the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown 
 
 against 
 
The Eocaltation of Jesus Christ, 1S9 
 
 ^against that day," 2 Tim. i. 12. "I know that my 
 
 ( Redeem er liveth, and llia t he shall stan d at the latter 
 
 of righteousness," 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. ** Behold, I see 
 
 the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on 
 
 the right hand of God," Acts vii. 56, 
 
 Such are the wonders which the grace of God dis- 
 plays, in favour of those who are in earnest to ob- 
 tain it, and give themselves up to its direction. And 
 such are the treasures, unhappy worldlings, which 
 you are sacrificing to a transient v/orld, and its lying 
 vanities. Such is the felicity which you experience, 
 which you have already experienced in part, happy, 
 happy Christians, whose condition is so far preferable 
 to that of all the rest of mankind. 
 
 What now remains for me to do, after having em- 
 ployed my feeble efforts to draw you to God, by 
 aitractions so powerful : v.hat remains, but to ad- 
 dress my most fervent prayers to him, and to entreat 
 that he would be pleased to make known those pure 
 and exalted delights, to those w^ho are, as yet, utte.t 
 strangers to them ; and that he may powerfully cop- 
 iirm, even unto the end, those to whom he has al- 
 ready graciously commiunicated them. With this 
 we shall conclude the solemn business of a day of 
 sacred rest. We are going, once more, to lift up to 
 heaven, in your behalf, hands purified in the blood 
 of the Redeem.er of mankind. Come, my beloved 
 brethren, support these hands, should they w^i 
 heavy : perform for us the service which Aaron and 
 Hur rendered to Moses, as we are attempting to 
 render the service of a Moses unto you. Assist us in 
 moving the bovv^els of the God of mercy. And gra- 
 ciously vouchsafe, blessed Jesus, who, on the me-> 
 morable day, of which we are now celebrating the 
 anniversary, v^txt made higher than the heavens; set 
 on the right hand of the throne of the Majestif in the 
 
 he(rje?f"< : 
 
19(3 The Christian a Partaker in, &c. 
 
 heavens; and who presentest unto God, in a golden 
 censer^ the praijers of all saints : Vouchsafe, blessed 
 Je«us, to give energy to those which we are about to 
 put up, and to support them by thy all-powerful in- 
 tercession. Amen. 
 
 N. B. The reader may here peruse the next ser- 
 mon in the series, that on The Effusion of the 
 Holy Spirit, which is the ninth of Vol. II. o^ 
 Mr Robertson's selection. 
 
SERMON Vli: 
 
 For a Communion Sabbath, 
 
 Malachi i. 6, 7. 
 
 A son honoureih his jathet\ and a servant his master : 
 if' then 1 he a Father, ivhere is mine honour ^ and if 
 I be a master, where is mij fear? sn'ith the Lord of 
 Hosts unto jjoif^ O priests^ that despise mij name. 
 And ye say. Wherein have zve despised thy name? Ye 
 offer polluted bread upon mine altar ; and ye saij^ 
 Wherein have we polluted thee P In that ye saij, The 
 table of the Lord is contemptible. 
 
 THOUGH the spectacle, which the solemnity of 
 this day calls to our recollection, did not di- 
 rectly interest ourselves, it would, nevertheless, be 
 altogether worthy, separately considered, of detain- 
 ing our eyes, and of fixing our attention. Men have 
 sometimes appeared, who, finding their last moments 
 approaching, collected their family, summoned up 
 their remaining strength, expressed a wish, in a re- 
 past of love and benevolence, to take a last, a long 
 farewell of the persons who were most dear to them, 
 and to break asunder, by that concluding act of so- 
 cial attachment, all the remains of that human af- 
 fection which tied them down to the world. 
 
 What an object, my brethren, what a heart-af- 
 fecting object does that man present, who, behold- 
 ing himself on the point of being removed from all 
 
 those 
 ?, 
 
192 For a Communion Sabhatli. 
 
 those to whom he was most tenderly united, desires 
 to see them all assembled together for the last time, 
 and when assembled, addresses them in terms such as 
 these ! " It was to you, whose much loved society 
 " constituted the joy of my life, it was to you I took 
 *' delight in disclosing the most secret emotions of my 
 *' soul ; and if it were still possible for any thing to 
 " call me back, now that my God is calling me 
 " away, it would be the inclination I feel, to pro- 
 " long the happy days which we have passed together. 
 " But though the bands which unite us are close and 
 " endeared, they must not be everlasting. It was in 
 " the order of human things, either that you should 
 " be called to close my eyes, or that I should be call- 
 '' ed to close your's. Providence is now declaring 
 " the supreme command, that I should travel before 
 "• you, the way of all the earth : it was my wish, be- 
 " fore 1 undergo the irreversible decree, once more 
 '' to behold the persons Vv^hom I have ever borne on 
 *' my heart, to call to remembrance the sweet coun- 
 " sel which we have taken together, the connections 
 *' which we have formed : and thus too it is, that I 
 '' would take leave of the world. After having 
 " given way for a moment, to the expansions of my 
 " love for you, I rise above all the objects of sense ; 
 " I am swallowed up of the thoughts which ought to 
 ** employ the soul of a dying person, and I hasten to 
 ** submit to the will of the sovereign Disposer of life 
 *' and death." 
 
 Jesus Christ, in the institution of this holy ordi- 
 nnnce, is doing somewhat similar to the representa- 
 tion now given. His disciples were undoubtedly 
 his most powerful attachment to the earth. The 
 kind of death which he was about to suffer, de- 
 manded the undivided attention of his mind; but 
 before he plunges into that vast ocean of thought 
 
 which 
 3 
 
For a Communion Sabbath. 19S 
 
 which was to carry him through the sharp conflicts 
 prepared for him, he wishes to behold again, at his 
 table, those tender objects of his affection : " With 
 desire,'* says he to them, " I have desired to eat 
 this passover with you before I suffer,'' Luke xxii. 
 15. Had I not good reason for expressing myself 
 as I did ? Though this spectacle did not directly 
 interest ourselves, it would be highly worthy, con- 
 sidered in itself, of detaining our eyes, and of fixing 
 our attention. 
 
 But what closeness of attention, what concentra- 
 tion of thought does it not require of us, if we con^ 
 sider it in the great and comprehensive views, which 
 animated the Saviour of the world, when he institu- 
 ted the sacrament of the supper ! Behold him pre- 
 pared, that divine Saviour, to finish the great work, 
 which Heaven has given him to do. He comes to 
 substitute himself in the room of those victims, 
 whose blood too worthless could do nothing towards 
 the purification of guilty man. He comes to fulfil 
 that mysterious prediction : " Sacrifice and offering 
 thou didst not desire, mine ears hast thou opened : 
 
 Lo, I come : in the volume of the book it is 
 
 written of me : I delight to do thy will, O my God j 
 yea, thy law is within my heart," Psal. xl. 6 — 8. He 
 comes to deliver up himself to that death, the very 
 approaches of which inspire the soul with horror, 
 and constrain him to cry out, " Now is my soul 
 troubled : and what shall I say ?" John xii. 27. 
 " My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death," 
 Matt. xxvi. 38. 
 
 What shall he do to support himself in the pros- 
 pect of such tremendous arrangements ? What 
 buckler shall he oppose to those envenomed arrows, 
 with which he is going to be transfixed ? Love, my 
 brethren, formed the generous design of the sacri- 
 fice which he is ready to offer up ; and love will 
 carry him through the arduous undertaking. He 
 says to himself, That the memory of this death 
 
 VOL. VI* O whieb 
 
194 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 which he is going to endure, shall be perpetuated 
 in the churches, even unto the end of the world ; 
 that, even to the end of the world, he shall be the 
 refuge of poor perishing sinners. He says to him- 
 self. That through the whole world of believers, 
 whom the preaching of the gospel is going to sub- 
 due to his love and obedience, this death shall be 
 celebrated. He himself institutes the memorial of 
 it, and taking that bread and that wine, the august 
 symbols of his body broken, and of his blood shed, 
 he gives them to his disciples, he says to them, and, 
 in their person, to all those who shall believe in 
 him, through their word, " Take, eat, this is my 
 body ; this is my blood of the New Testament, 
 Drink ye ail of it," Matt. xxvi. 26—28. " This do 
 in remembrance of me : For as often as ye eat this 
 bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's 
 death till he come," 1 Cor. xi. 24—26. 
 
 O shame to human nature : O the weakness, shall 
 1 call it? or the hardness of the human heart ! And 
 must it needs be ; must the sweet composure of this 
 holy exercise, be this day marred, by the cruel ap- 
 prehension, that some among you may be in danger 
 of profaning it, while they celebrate it? Must it be, 
 that in inviting you to that sacred table, we should 
 be checked by the humiliating reflection, that some 
 new Judas may be coming there to receive the sen- 
 tence of his condemnation ? It is in the view of 
 doing our utmost, to prevent the commission of a 
 crime so foul, and a calamity so dreadful, that we 
 wish, previously to our distributing unto you the 
 bread and the wine which sovereign wisdom has pre- 
 pared for you, to engage you in deep and serious re- 
 flection on the words which have been read. You 
 w^ill be abundantly sensible how well they are 
 adapted to my purpose, wlien you shall have placed 
 yourselves, in thought, in the circumstances where- 
 in the Jews were placed, at the time they were ad- 
 dressed to thtni. With this I oi en my subject. 
 
 The 
 
S\)7^ a Communion Sabbath, i9i 
 
 The prophet Malachi, whose voice God is here 
 employing on a message to his people, lived a few 
 years after the return from the captivity. He suc- 
 ceeded Haggai and Zechariah. These two prophets 
 had been raised up^ chiefly for the purpose of sti- 
 mulating the Jews to undertake the rebuilding of 
 the temple. Malachi was specially destined to urge 
 them to render unto God, in that magnificent edi- 
 fice, a worship suitable to the majesty of him to 
 whose service it was consecrated. The same diffi- 
 culties, which the two first of those holy men had 
 to encounter in the discharge of their ministry, h^ 
 encountered in the exercise of hi<^. What desire 
 more ardent could animate men, who had lived 
 threescore and ten years without a temple, without 
 altars, without sacrifices, without a public worship, 
 than that of beholding in the midst of them, those 
 gracious signs of the divine presence ? This was, 
 liowever, by no means the object of general ambi- 
 tion and pursuit. They looked to the rearing and 
 embellishing of their own houses, and left to God 
 the care of building that which belonged to him; 
 
 We find traces of this shameful history, in the' 
 prophecies of the two first whom we named, parti« 
 cularly in those of Haggai. There we have dis- 
 played, the excuses made by that wretched people, 
 to serve as a colour to their criminal negligence % 
 " Thus speaketh the Lord of Hosts, saying, Thi.? 
 people say, The time is not come, the time that 
 the Lord's house should be built,'* chap. i. 2. 
 We have a censure of this spirit and conduct, pro- 
 portioned to their enormity, in ver. 4. " Ls it time 
 for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and 
 this house lie waste ?" But, what is still more aw. 
 ful, we behold the tremendous judfifments, by whicli 
 God avenged himself of guilt so atrocious, in ver. 
 9, 10, 11. " Ye looked for much, and^ lo, it came 
 to little ; and when ye brought it home I did blow: 
 
 2 uport 
 
196 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 upon it. Why ? saith the Lord of Hosts. Because 
 of mine house that is waste, and ye run every man 
 unto his own house. Therefore the heaven over 
 you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed 
 from her fruit. And I called for a drought upon 
 the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the 
 corn, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, 
 and upon that which the ground bringeth forth, 
 and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all the 
 labour of the hands." 
 
 How av/fully respectable is a preacher, my bre- 
 thren, when the indignation of heaven seconds his 
 voice ! When the pestilence, mortality, famine add 
 weight to the threatenings which he denounced I 
 Haggai, supported by this all-powerful aid, at 
 length attained the object of his ministry. The 
 Jews did that from constraint which they ought to 
 have done from a principle of piety and zeal : you 
 might now see them labouring with emulous fer- 
 vour, to raise the august edifice, and the temple 
 arose out of its ruins. 
 
 But scarcely was the house of the Lord rebuilt, 
 when they profaned the sanctity of the place, and 
 violated the laws which were there to be observed. 
 The observation of those laws was burdensome. It 
 required not only great mental application ; but 
 was likewise attended with very considerable ex- 
 pence. The avarice of their sordid spirits made 
 them consider every thing which they dedicated to 
 such purposes, as next to lost. They durst not, at 
 the same time, venture entirely to shake off the 
 yoke of religion. They did what men generally do, 
 when the laws of God clash with their inclinations : 
 they neither yielded complete submission, nor dared 
 to avow open rebellion. They attempted to re- 
 concile the dictates of their own passions with the 
 commands of heaven. To comply with the com- 
 mands of heaven, they presented offerings ; but to 
 
 gratify 
 
For a Communion Sabbath, 197 
 
 gratify the cravings of passion^ they presented of- 
 ferings of little value. 
 
 This idea of the circumstances, in which the 
 Jews were, at the time when our prophet flourished, 
 is one of the best keys for disclosing the real sense 
 of the words of the text. If it unfolds not to us the 
 whole extent of its signification, it furnishes at least 
 a good general explication. Malachi severely cen- 
 sures the priests of his day, that called, as they were, 
 to maintain good order in the church, they calmly 
 overlooked, or avowedly countenanced the open 
 violation of it. He reproaches them for this mis- 
 conduct, by the example of what a son owes to his 
 father, and a servant to his master. He employs 
 this image, because the priests were, in an appro- 
 priate sense, considered as belonging unto God ; in 
 conformity to what God himself says in chap. viii. 
 of the book of Numbers : " Thou shalt separate the 
 Levites from among the children of Israel : and the 
 
 Levites shall be mine : for they are wholly 
 
 given unto me, from among the children of Israel 
 . . . . instead of the first-born of all the children of 
 Israel, have I taken them unto me : . . ^ .on the 
 day that I smote every first-born in the land of 
 Egypt, I sanctified them for myself" It is to you, 
 O ye priests, says he to them, that I address my- 
 self; " A son honoureth his father, and a servant 
 his master: if then I be a father, where is mine ho- 
 nour ? and if 1 be a master, where is my fear ? saith 
 the Lord of Hosts unto you, O priests, that despise 
 my name. And ye say. Wherein have we despised 
 thy name ? Ye offer polluted bread upon mine al- 
 tar ; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee ? 
 In that ye say. The table of the Lord is con- 
 temptible." 
 
 If any difficulty still remain, respecting the ge- 
 neral sense of tlie passage, it can be of no consider- 
 Jiblc importance, as it prevents not our discerning 
 
 tlie 
 
19S For a Communion Sabbath* 
 
 the principal aim and design of the Holy Spirit, 
 It is not perhaps easy, I admit, to determine with 
 exact precision, what we are to understand by the 
 table of the Lord^ by that contempt which was ex- 
 pressed for it, and by the polluted bread which those 
 unworthy ministers offered upon it. There are two 
 opinions on this subject, but which both issue in 
 the idea we have suggested to you, of our prophet's 
 sentiment. 
 
 It i:s the opinion of some commentators, that by 
 the table^ of wiiich Malachi speaks, is to be under- 
 stood the table which corresponded to that placed 
 by Moses, by the command of God, in the part of 
 the tabernacle denominated the Holy Place** The 
 law enjoined that there should always be upon that 
 table twelve loaves, or cakes, which we denominate 
 the sheW'bread^ otherwise called the bread qffaces, 
 not because these cakes were moulded into several 
 sides, or raised into small protuberances, according 
 to the opinion of certain Jewish doctors, but be- 
 cause they were continually exposed in the pre- 
 sence of Jehovah, who w^as considered as residing 
 in the Holy Place. The law which enjoined the 
 offering of them, had likewise prescribed the rites 
 which were to be observed in presenting that offer- 
 ing. They were to be placed on the holy table, to 
 the number of tv/elve : they were to be composed 
 of fine flour kneaded into a paste : each cake was 
 to contain an omer of flour. The Jews tell us t, 
 that it must have past eleven times through the 
 searse ; and if St Jerome t is to be credited, it be- 
 longed to the priests to sow, to reap, and to grind 
 the corn, of which the cakes were made, and to 
 
 knead 
 
 * See Exodus xxv. 23, &c. 
 
 f See MIschna, Tom. V. tit., de uiunere, cap. vi. sec. vii. page S5. 
 ILdit. Arast. 
 
 \ Hieron. Tom, III. in Mai. i. 6. page ISIO. Edit. Bened. 
 
For a Communion Sabbath. 199 
 
 knead the dough. Whatever may be the truth as 
 to some of these particulars, to treat the table of 
 the Lord as contemptible^ to offer unto God polluted 
 breads is, conformably to the sentiment which I have 
 detailed, to violate some of the rites which were to 
 be observed hi the offering of the cakes, placed, by 
 divine command, on the table which was in the 
 Holy Place. 
 
 The generality of interpreters has adopted another 
 opinion, which we have no difficulty in following. 
 By the table of the Lord, they here understand i he 
 altar of burnt-offerings. It is denominated the table 
 of the Lord, in some other passages of scripture ; 
 particularly in chap. xli. of the prophecies of Eze- 
 Kiel. There, after a description of the altar of 
 burnt-offerings, it is added, " This is the table that 
 is before the Lord,'^ ver 22. On this altar were 
 offered cakes of fine flour, as we see in various pas- 
 sages, particularly in the first verses of chap. ii. of 
 the book of Leviticus. These cakes are represent- 
 ed as if they were the bread of God. The same 
 name was given to every thing offered to Deity on 
 that altar. All was called the bread of God, or the 
 meat of God ; for reasons which will be better un- 
 derstood in the sequel. I shall, at present, satisfy 
 myself with quoting a single passage in justification 
 of this remark. It is in chap. xxi. of the book of 
 Leviticus, the 6th verse. Moses, after having laid 
 down the duties of the priests, adds these words : 
 " They shall be holy unto their God, and not pro- 
 fane the name of their God : for the offerings of 
 the Lord made by fire, and the bread of their God 
 do they offer ; therefore they shall be holy," You 
 see that in the Levitical style, they denominated 
 the meat of God, or the bread ofGod^ not only the 
 cakes ; hich w^cre offered upon the altar, not only 
 the loaves of the shew-bread which were presented 
 on the table in the Holy Place, but all the victims 
 
 w^hich 
 
20O For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 which were consumed by fire on the altar of burnt- 
 offering. 
 
 Now, the manner in which those offerings were 
 to be presented, had likewise been laid down with 
 singular precision. There was a general law re- 
 specting this point, which you will find in chap. 
 iv. of Leviticus : it enjoined that the victim should 
 be ^dthout blemish; and if you wish for a more 
 particular detail on this subject, you may farther 
 constdt chap. xxii. of the same book. There we 
 have enumerated ten imperfections, which render- 
 ed a victim unworthy of being offered unto God. 
 Some * place in this class, not only bodily but 
 mental imperfections, if this last epithet may be 
 applied to brutes. For example, they durst not 
 have presented unto God animals of an obstinate, 
 petulant, capricious disposition, and the like. 
 Scruples, by the way, which the Pagans them- 
 themselves, and particularly the Egyptians enter- 
 tained, respecting the victims which they offered 
 to their gods. They set apart for them the 
 choicest of the flock and of the herd. Herodo- 
 tus informs us t, that in Egypt, there were per, 
 sons specially appointed to the office of examining 
 the victims. 
 
 Let us no longer deviate from the principal ob- 
 ject of our text. If by the table of the Lord, we 
 are to understand, as it is presumable we ought, 
 the altar of burnt-offerings, to offer unto God polluted 
 bread, in the style of Malachi, to say the table of the 
 Lord is contemptible^ is to violate some of the rites 
 prescribed, respecting the offerings which were 
 presented unto God upon that altar. More espe- 
 cially, it is to consecrate to Deity, victims which 
 had some of the blemishes that rendered them un- 
 worthy of his acceptance. 
 
 But 
 
 * See Bochart Hieroz. Part I. Book II. chap. 4C. page 523. 
 •[- In Euterpe, C3 p. xxxvlii. page 104. Edit. Fiancof. 
 
Tx)r a Communion Sabbalh, ^1 
 
 But was it indeed, then, altogether worthy of 
 God to enter into details so minute ? But of what 
 importance could it be to the Lord of the universe, 
 whether the victims presented to him were fat or 
 lean, and whether the bread consecrslted to him 
 were of wheat or of barley, of fine or of coarse 
 flour ? And though the Jews were subjected to 
 minutenesses of this kind, what interest can we 
 have in them, we who live in ages more enlighten- 
 ed ; we who are called to serve God only in spiiit 
 and in truths John iv. 24. and to render him none 
 but a reasonable service^ Rom. xii. 1. ? We shall de- 
 vote the remainder of the time, at present permit- 
 ted to us, to the elucidation of these questions ; we 
 shall endeavour to unfold the great aim and object 
 of our text, and apply it more particularly to the 
 use of our hearers. For this purpose it will be ne- 
 cessary to institute a twofold parallel. 
 
 I. We shall institute a parallel between the altar 
 of burnt-offerings, or the table of the shew-bread, 
 and the table of the Eucharist ; and shall endeavour 
 to unfold the mystical views of both the one and 
 the other. 
 
 II. The second parallel shall be, between the 
 profanation of the altar, or the table of the shew- 
 bread, and the profanation of the Christian sacra- 
 mental table : we shall indicate what is implied, 
 with respect to the Jews, and with respect to 
 Christians, in offering to God polluted bread, and in 
 lodking on the table of the Lord as contemptible ; and 
 we will endeavour to make you sensible of the 
 keenness of tlie reproach conveyed by the mouth of 
 the prophet : " K son honoureth his father, and a 
 servant his master : if then I be a father, where is 
 mine honour ? and if I be a master, where is my 
 fear ? saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, 
 
 that 
 
202 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 that despise my name. And ye say. Wherein have 
 we despised thy name ? Ye offer polluted bread up- 
 on mine altar ; and ye say. Wherein have we pol- 
 luted thee ? In that ye say, The table of the Lor4 
 is contemptible." 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON VII, 
 
 PART It 
 
 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 Malachi i. 6, 7. 
 
 A son honour etli his father^ and a servant lih master : if 
 then I he afathey\ "where is mine honour? and if I he 
 n master^ "where is my fear? saith the Lord of hosts 
 unto 1/ou, O priests^ that despise my name And ye 
 say^ Wherein have we despised thy name ? Ye offer 
 polluted bread upon mine altar ; and ye say^ Wherein 
 have "we polluted thee? In that ye say^ The table of 
 the hord is contemptible. 
 
 HAVING endeavoured to remove the difficulties 
 in which the text may seem to be involved, 
 and shewn what we are to understand by polluted 
 breads by the table of the i ord, and by calHng the ta- 
 ble of the Lord contemptible^ we proceed to institute 
 the twofold parallel proposed. 
 
 I. Let us state a parallel between the altar of 
 burnt-offerings, tlie table of the shew-bread, and 
 
 the 
 
2 04 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 the sacramental table of the Lord's supper ; the of^ 
 lerings which were presented to God on the first, 
 and those which we still present to him on the se- 
 cond. The sacramental table of the supper, as the 
 altar of burnt offerings, and as the table of the shew- 
 bread, is the table of the Lord, The viands, present- 
 ed on both the one and the other, aic the meat of 
 God, or the bread of God. And those sacred cere- 
 monies, however they may differ as to certain cir- 
 cumstances, have been^ nevertheless, destined to 
 the same end, and represent the same mysteries : 
 namely^ the intimate union which God wishes to 
 maintain with his church and people. 
 
 You will be convinced that this was the destina- 
 tion of the altar of burnt-offerings, and of the table 
 of the shew-bread, if you have formed a just idea of 
 the temple, and of the tabernacle. The tabernacle 
 was considered to be the tent of God, as the Leader 
 and Commander of Israel, and the temple was con- 
 sidered as his palace. For this reason it is, that 
 when God gave commandment to construct the ta- 
 bernacle, he said to Moses, " Let them make me 
 a sanctuary; that I may dwell amongst them," Exod. 
 xxi. 8. And when Solomon substituted the temple 
 in room of the tabernacle, he was desirous of con- 
 veying the same idea of it : "I have surely built 
 thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee 
 to abide in for ever.*' The following are the words 
 of a very sensible Kabbi on this subject* : " God, 
 '' to whom be all glory inscribed, gave command- 
 " ment to build for him an house, similar to the pa- 
 " laces of the kings of the earth. All these things 
 " are to be found in the palaces of kings : they are 
 " surrounded by guards; they have servants to pre- 
 
 " pare 
 
 * Rabbi Scbem Job Cornnunt, in M. re Xcvocb. Part III. Cap. 
 ■xliv. fol. 171. VentL 531 i. 
 
For a Commtmion Sahhath, 205 
 
 <^ pare their victuals ; musicians who sing to them, 
 '' and play on instruments. There are likewise 
 " chambers of perfumes ; a table on which their re- 
 " pasts are served up: a closet into which favourites 
 " only are admitted. It was the will of God, that 
 " all these things should be found in his house, that 
 " in nothing he might yield to the potentates of the 
 *'' earth. And all these things are designed to make 
 *' the people know, that our King, the Lord of 
 *' hosts is in the midst of us." 
 
 This general idea of the tabernacle justifies that 
 which we are going to give of the altar of burnt- 
 offerings, and of the table of the shew-bread. 
 
 1. That of the altar of burnt-offering : it was de- 
 nominated tJie table of the Lord, and the viands serv- 
 ed up on it were denominated the meat or the bread 
 of Jehovah^ because the end of the sacrifices there 
 offered up by his command, was to intimate, that 
 he maintained with his people an intercourse as fa- 
 miliar as that of two friends, who eat together at 
 the same table. This is the most ancient, and the 
 most usual idea of sacrifice. When alliances were 
 contracted, victims were immolated : and the con- 
 tracting parties made a common repast on their 
 flesh, to express the intimate union which they form- 
 ed with each other. > 
 
 This was the reason of all the rites which were 
 served between God and the people of Israel, in the 
 alliance formed previous to the promulgation of the 
 law. They are recorded in the twenty-fourth chap- 
 ter of the book of Exodus. Moses represented God ; 
 Aaron, Nadab and Abihu his two sons, and tlie 
 threescore and ten elders represented the whole 
 congregation of Israel. Altars were reared; sacri- 
 fices 
 
$06 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 fices were offered up ; they feasted together on the 
 flesh of the victims. It is expressly related that 
 Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and those other venera- 
 ble personages whom I have mentioned, went up 
 into the mountain, aLo they saw God, and did eat andr 
 drink y ver. IK And to make it apparent that the 
 divine presence intervened, the history adds, that 
 God vouchsafed to bestow sensible tokens of his 
 presence : And they saw the God of Israel : and there 
 was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sap- 
 phire-stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his 
 clearness, ver. 10. A work paved with stars, resem- 
 bling a composition of sapphire- stones : a symbol 
 which, perhaps, God preferred to any other, be- 
 cause the sapphire was, among the Egyptians, the 
 emblem of royalty, as may be seen in their hiero- 
 glyphics, which the industry of the learned have 
 preserved to us. 
 
 The Pagans, likewise, Iiad the same ideas of the 
 sacrifices which they offered up. They did eat to- 
 gether the flesh of the victims, and this they called 
 eafmg ov feasting with the gods*. They sometimes 
 carried off part of it to their houses ; sometimes 
 sent a portion of it to their friends; sometimes the}'- 
 partook of it in the temples themselves, in which 
 tables were placed for the express purpose of cele- 
 brating festivals of this kind. Homer, in the Odys- 
 sey t, introduces Alcinous, speaking to this effect : 
 The gvd.> render themselves visible to us, when we im- 
 molate hecatombs to them ; they eat with us, and place 
 themselves by us at the same table. The same poet, 
 speaking of a solemn festival of the Ethiopians, 
 says t, that " Jupiter had descended among them, 
 to be present at a festival which they had prepared 
 for him, and that he was attended thither by all the 
 
 gods.^* 
 
 * Plato, Tom. II. de Legibus II. page 653. Edit. Stepb. 157S. 
 -f Book V. ver. £02. 
 t Iliad I. ver. 123. 
 
iFor a Communion Sabbath. 207 
 
 gods.'* In another place * he tells us, that Aga- 
 memnon sacrificed an ox to Jupiter, and that he in« 
 vited several of the chieftains of the Grecian army, 
 to eat of the flesh of that victim. He relates some- 
 thing similar respecting Nestor t. 
 
 Hence it comes to pass that the phrase to make a 
 feast^ is very frequently employed both by sacred 
 and profane authors, to express performing acts of 
 idolatrous worship. In this sense it is that we are 
 to understand it, in that passage of the prophet E^ 
 zekiel, where, enumerating the characters of the 
 just man, this is laid down as one, " He hath not 
 eaten upon the mountains," chap, xviii. 64 ; that is, 
 who hath not been a partaker in the sacrifices of the 
 idolatrous. In burnt-offerings, the part of the vic- 
 tim consumed by fire was considered as the portion 
 of Deity. Of this I shall adduce only a single in- 
 stance, that I may not load my discourse with too 
 many quotations. Solinus relates §, that those who 
 oflered up sacrifices to idols on Mount Etna, con- 
 structed their altars on the brink of its crater : that 
 they placed bundles of dried sprigs upon those al- 
 tars, but that they applied no fire to them. They 
 pretended, that when the Divinity, in honour of 
 whom these rites were performed, was pleased to 
 accept the sacrifice, the bundles of sprigs spontane- 
 ously caught fire : that the flame approached the 
 persons who were celebrating this sacred festivity ; 
 that it encompassed them round and round, with- 
 out doing them any harm ; and thus was declared 
 the acceptance of their oblation. 
 
 In like manner, in the sacrifices which were offer- 
 ed upon the altar of burnt-offerings, one part of the 
 
 1 victim 
 
 * Uiad II. ver. 429, &c. 
 
 f Odyss. III. ver. 428, &c. 
 
 X See other examples, Exod. xxxH. 6. 
 
 5 Polyh. Cap. V. page 15. Edit, rraject. IGficJ, 
 
^OS For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 victim was for the people, another part for the 
 priest, and another part was consumed by fire : this 
 last was considered as the portion of God : this was 
 particidarly denominated the meat or the bread of 
 God ; and the whole solemnity was intended, as has 
 been said, to represent the intimate union, and the 
 familiar intercourse, which i^od wished to maintain 
 between himself and his people. 
 
 2. The same was likewise the design of the table 
 of the shew-bread. It was natural that in the ta- 
 bernacle, which was considered as the tent of Jeho- 
 vah, and in the temple which was afterwards consi- 
 dered as his palace, there should be a table reple- 
 nished with provision for himself and for his minis- 
 ters. It was the command of God, that twelve of 
 those cakes should be exhibited continually on the 
 table of the sanctuary, to denote the twelve tribes 
 of Israel. This same number was kept up even af- 
 ter the revolt of the ten tribes : because there were 
 always worshippers of the true God, scattered over 
 the whole twelve tribes. These cakes, exposed con- 
 tinually in the presence of Jehovah, were an invita- 
 tion given to the revolted tribes, to maintain his 
 worship, and to serve him conformably to the rites, 
 which he himself had been pleased to prescribe 
 by the hand of Moses. This was likewise the 
 grand motive urged by Abijah King of Judah, to. 
 bring back the Israelites to their allegiance, 2 Chron. 
 xiii. 9, &c. 
 
 In this same sense is the table of the Eucharist, 
 likewise, the table of the Lord, In this same sense, 
 we consider as the meat oj God^ or as the bread c>f 
 God^ these august symbols which are presented to 
 us in the holy sacrament of the supper. These two 
 solemn ceremonies have exactly one and the same 
 end in view. The end proposed by the table of the 
 
 1 Eucharist, 
 
For a Communion Sabbath, 209 
 
 Eucharist, as by that of the altar of burnt-offerings, 
 or by the table of the shew-bready is to form, and to 
 maintain between C«od and us, an intercourse of fa- 
 miliar friendship ; it is to form between God and 
 us the most intimate union which it is possible to 
 conceive as subsisting between two beings so very 
 different as are the Creator and the creature. What 
 proofs of love can be interchanged by two friends 
 united in the tenderest bonds, which God and the 
 believer do not mutually give and receive at the Eu- 
 charistical table ! 
 
 Two friends intimately united, become perfectly 
 reconciled to each other, when some interposing 
 cloud had dimmed the lustre of friendship, and they 
 repair, by warmer returns of affection, the violence 
 which love had suffered under that fatal eclipse. 
 This is what we experience at the table of the holy 
 Sacrament. That august ceremony is a mystery of 
 reconciliation between the penitent sinner and the 
 God of mercy. On the one part, the penitent sin- 
 ner presents unto God a broken and coiitrite hearty Ps, 
 \i, 17. for grief of having offended him : he pours 
 into the bosom of his God, the tears of repentance; 
 he protests that if the love which he has for his God 
 h^s undergone a temporary suspension, it never was 
 entirely broken asunder ; and if the flame of that 
 affection has been occasionally smothered under the 
 ashes, yet it was never entirely extinguished : he 
 says to him with Thomas, recovered from his pa- 
 roxysm of incredulity J My Lord and mj/ God ; my 
 Lord and my God^ John xx. 28. and with Peter, re- 
 stored to favour after he had denied his Master; Lord^ 
 thou knowest all things^ thou knorvcst that J love thee^ 
 John xxi. 17. And on the other part, the God of 
 mercy extends his bowels of compassion toward the 
 believer ; he gives him assurance that his repentance 
 is accepted, and speaks peace inwardly to his con- 
 science, saying, Son^ be of good cheer ^ thy s'ms be for" 
 given thee^ Mat. ix. 2. 
 
 VOL. VI. P Two 
 
21-0 For a Communion SahbalTu 
 
 Two friends intimately united, lose sight, in soni-e 
 sensCj of the difference which there may be between 
 their respective conditions. This too, is what the 
 believer experiences at the Lord's table. On the 
 one part, though there must ever be an immeasur- 
 able abyss between God and us, we go to him as to 
 our brother, as to our friend ; shall I presume to 
 add, as to our equal ? And on the other part, God 
 is pleased to lay aside, in condescension to our weak- 
 ness, if the expression be lawful, the rays of his di- 
 vine Majesty, with which the eyes of mortals would 
 be dazzled into blindness. Jesus Christ clothes 
 himself with our flesh and blood ; and of that com- 
 munity of nature makes up a title of familiarity with 
 us ; according to those words of the apostle : " both 
 he that sanct-fieth, and they who are sanctified, are 
 all of one : for which cause he is not ashamed to call 
 them brethren, saying, I will declare tin nanie unto 
 my brethren,*' Heb ii. 11, 12. 
 
 Two friends intimately united, blend their goods 
 and fortune, in blending their condition. This like^ 
 wise the believer experiences in tiie holy sacrament 
 of the supper. On the one hand, we devote to God 
 all that we are : we promise him that there is no 
 band so tender but what we shall be ready to break 
 asunder j no passion so dear, but that we are deter- 
 mined to sacrifice it ; no possession so precious but 
 that we are cheerfully disposed to resign, whenever 
 his glory requires it at our hands. And on the 
 other hrjid, God drav/s nigh to us with his grace, 
 with hit aid, and to say ail in one word, he comes 
 to us with his Son : he gives us this Son, as the 8on 
 gives himself to us, God so loved the Xiorld^ that he 
 gave his only begotten Son, John iii- 16. greater love 
 hath no man than this, that a man laij doiai his lifejor 
 hisjriends^ John xv. 13. 
 
 ; wo friends intimately united, however well-as- 
 sured they may be of reciprocal tenderness, take 
 pleasure in making frequent repetition of the ex- 
 pressions 
 
For a Communion Sabba'Ji. .211 
 
 iiiessions of it. Friendsliip has its high festivals, its 
 overflowings, its extasies. Tliis too is the experience 
 of the saints at the table of the Lord. There the 
 soul of the believer 5ays to his Redeemer, "lam 
 eruciiied with Clirist : nevertheless I live ; yet not 
 .1, but Cln-ist liveth in me : and the lii^ which I now 
 live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of 
 God, who loved me : and gave himselffor me," Gal. 
 li. 20. And there it is, on the other hand, that God 
 communicates to tlie soul of the believer the full as- 
 surance of his love : '' for tiie mountains shall de- 
 part, and the hills be removed ; but my kindness 
 shall not depart iiom thee, neither shall the covenant 
 of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that hath 
 mercy on thee," Isaiah liv. 10. 
 
 Thus it is, my brethren, that the altar of burnt^ 
 offerings, or the table of the shew-bread, and the 
 Eucharistical table of the Lord's Supper, present the 
 self-same mysteries to the eye of faith. Thus it is 
 that both the one and the other are the table of the 
 Lord., and that, the repast served up on it, is the meat 
 ofGod^ or the bread oj God. Thus it is, that in both 
 the one and the other of those solemn ceremonies, 
 the end which God proposes to himself is to form 
 with men an union tlie most intimate and the most 
 tender. 
 
 Having thus stated tlie first parallel proposed, 
 that of the altar of burnt-ofFerings, or the table of the 
 shew-bread, and the sacramental table of the Lord's 
 Supper, we now proceed, 
 
 IL To state the parallel, between the pr()fanation 
 of the altar, or the table in the ancient sanctuary, 
 and the profanation of the sacramental table of ihk^ 
 Eucharist : that is, to state the parallel between the 
 duties prescribed to the ancient Jews, and those 
 which are prescribed to Clnistians, when they draw 
 nigh to God in the holy ordinance of the Supper. 
 As tlil'y trace the same important truths, thvy en- 
 
 2 ibrce 
 
212 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 force the «ame practical obligations. What made 
 the ancient Jews pi\)far.e tlie table of the Lord ? 
 How came th.y to say the table of the Lord is con- 
 temptible ? How dnrst they o^qx polluted bread on his 
 altar ? It was, 1. Because they formed not just ideas 
 of the end which God proposed to himself^ when he 
 enjoined the observance of those solemnities. It 
 arose, 2. From their unwillingness to fulfil the mo- 
 ral engagements which the ceremonial observance 
 imposed. Finally, 3. It proceeded from their want- 
 ing a just sense of the value of the blessings com- 
 municated by these. Now the sources of unworthy 
 communicating, so common in the Christian world, 
 are precisely the same. Want of illumination ; want 
 of virtue; want of feeling. Want of illumination, 
 which prevents their knowing the meaning and de- 
 sign of our sacred mysteries. Want of virtue, which 
 prevents their immolating to God all the vices which 
 separate betw^ecn him and them. Want of feeling, 
 which prevents their being kindled into gratitude, 
 and love, and holy fervour, when God discloses to 
 them, at his table, all the treasures of felicity and 
 glory. Three heads of comparison between the 
 priests of Malachi's days, and many who bear the 
 Christian name among ourselves. Three touch- 
 stones furnished to assist you in the examination of 
 your own consciences. " Thus saith the Lord of 
 hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name : 
 and ye say, Wlierein have we despised thy name? 
 Ye ofter polluted bread upon mine altar : and ye say. 
 Wherein have we polluted thee ? In that ye say, the 
 table of the Lord is contemptible." 
 
 ]. Want of illumination. The priests of Mala- 
 chi's days did not form ideas sufficiently just of the 
 end which Jehovah proposed to himself!, when he 
 enjoined the presenting of offerings, on the altar of 
 burnt-offejing, and on the table of the shew-bread. 
 Expressly set apart for teaching those great truths 
 
 to 
 
For a Commimon Sabbath. 213 
 
 t,a others, they remained themselves in a state of ig- 
 norance. They had no other qualification to be the 
 ministers of religion, except the tribe from which 
 they descended, and the habit which they wore. 
 Our prophet upbraids them with this gross and cri- 
 minal ignorance : 21ie priests' lips should keep Imow- 
 ledge^ and they should seek the law at his mouth : fr he 
 is the messenger of the Lord of hosts : but ye are de- 
 parted out of the nsoay : ye have caused many to stumble 
 at the law^ chap. ii. 7, 8. They had not only conceiv- 
 ed false ideas or religion themselves, but they com- 
 municated these to the people. The prophet does 
 not indicate precisely respecting what points the ig- 
 norance of those unworthy iinnisters was most con- 
 spicuous ; but if we may form a judgment of the case 
 from the character of their successors, it was impos- 
 sible to entertain ideas of religion more false than 
 those which they propagated. How wretched was 
 the doctrine of the Rabbins who were contemporary 
 with our blessed Lord, and of those of modern times! 
 Miserable conceits ; insipid allegories ; imaginary 
 mysteries ; puerile relations. These constituted the 
 great body of the Ilabbinical theology. Would to 
 Gof] that such whims were to be found only among 
 Rabbins ! But we must not pursue this reflection. 
 Nothing more is wanting, many a time, but a single 
 ignorant, prejudiced pastor, to perpetuate igno- 
 rance, and transmit prejudice, for ages together in a 
 church. This was evidently the case in the times 
 of our prophet ; and this it was which dictated these 
 keen reproaches : ye are departed out of the way : ye 
 have caused many to stumble at the law : ye have cor- 
 rupted the covenant of Levi^ saith the Lord of hosts. 
 ch. ii. 8 
 
 Want of illumination : the first head of compari- 
 son between the criminalit}' of the priests of Ma- 
 laclii*s days, who said, the table of the Lord is con- 
 temptible^ and the criminality of professing Ciuis- 
 tians, who proflme the sacramental table. To pro- 
 fane 
 
i^l^, For a Commimion Sabbath. 
 
 fane the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, is to par- 
 take of the symbols there presented, without having 
 maturely considered the great truths which they re- 
 present. To profane the ordinance of the Lord's 
 Supper, is to communicate, without having any 
 other ideas of the mysteries of the incarnation of the 
 Son of God, which are there unfolded, than tliose 
 w4iich v^e had of them in the days of our childhood. 
 To profane the ordinance of the Lord's Supper, is 
 to believe, on the faith of a man's pastor, or of his 
 ancestors, that God sent his Son into the world, to 
 redeem the human race, and to take no pains to be 
 informed on what principles that doctrine is esta- 
 blished. 
 
 To present jjolhited bread oil the altar of God , to 
 say, the table of the Lord is contemptible : it is the 
 crime of that vouna: man, who would account him- 
 self degraded by applying to the study of his cate- 
 chism, by acquiring more perfect knowledge of his 
 religion ; who would rather continue to grovel in 
 ignorance, than employ the means necessary to the 
 attainment of instruction. It is the crime of that 
 head of a family, who is so far from being in a con- 
 dition to communicate religious instruction to his 
 children, that he himself is a stranger to it. It is 
 the crime of that magistrate, who, under pretence 
 of a load of public business, will not take time seri- 
 ously to examine, whether there be a God in heaven, 
 and whether the scriptures are of divine original 
 and authority. It is the crime of th.at female, 'who, 
 under pretence of the weakness of her sex, debases 
 the dignity of her nature, and devotes her whole at- 
 tention to the management of her domestic con- 
 cerns. Lock well to it, examine yourselves care- 
 fully. Is there no one among you, who can discern 
 his own resemblance in any of these cliaracters ? Is 
 it a knowledge of the trutli, or the power of preju- 
 dice, or compliance with custom, which induces 
 
 yon 
 
For a Commmiion Sabbath. 21^ 
 
 you to assume the livery of Christianity ? Is it the 
 decision of a learned divine and the authority oi your 
 iathers ; or is it the fruit of serious study, and au 
 enlightened persuasion? Want of illumination; this 
 is the hrst article of comparison between the profane 
 priests of Malachi's days, and profane Christians of 
 our own times : " you offer polluted bread upon 
 mine altar ; ye say the table of the Lord is con^ 
 temptible/' 
 
 2. The priests of Malachi's days profaned the ta- 
 We of the Lord, in refusing to fulfil the moral en- 
 gagements which the ceremonial observance im- 
 posed ; in the symbols of a sacred union with Deity. 
 While they were professedly uniting themselves to 
 the Holy one of Israel^ they entertained sentiments 
 the most criminal, and were chargeable with prac- 
 tices tlie most irregular and impure. They partici- 
 pated in the table of the Lord, while their hands 
 were defiled with the accursed thing ; and they pre- 
 sumed, by offering to God a part of what th'y had 
 forcibly or fraudulently taken away from their 
 neighbours, to make him, in some measure, an ac- 
 complice in their injustice and rapacity. With this 
 they are reproached in the l^ith and 13th verses of 
 the chapter from which our text is taken : ye have 
 polluted my table, in presenting upon it that 
 which is torn or stolen. They were partakers of the 
 table of the Lord, at the very time when they were 
 avowedly living in forbidden wedlock with Pagan 
 women. With tliis they are upbraided in the se- 
 cond chapter of this prophecy, at the eleventh 
 verse : " Judali had d^alt treacherously, and an a- 
 bomination is committed in Israel and in Jerusalem : 
 for Judah hath profaned the holiness of the Lord 
 which he loved, and hath married the daughter of 
 a strange god," They were partakers of the table 
 of the Lord, at the very time when they were prac- 
 tising criminal divorces, and indulging themselves 
 
 in 
 
'i 1 6 for a Communion Sahbath. 
 
 in sentiments the most barbarous and inhuman, to- 
 ward persons whom the laws of marriage ought to 
 have rendered dear and respectable to them. With 
 this they are reproached in the ISth verse of the 
 same chapter : '' This have ye done again, covering 
 the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping, arid 
 with crying out, insomuch that he regardeth not 
 the offering anymore, or receiveth it with good-will 
 at your hand. Yet ye say, Wherefore ? Because 
 the Lord hath been witness between thee and the 
 wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt 
 treacherously ; yet she is thy companion, and the 
 wife of thy covenant." They were partakers of the 
 table of the Lord, while they impiously dared to ac- 
 cuse him, not only of tolerating vice, but of loving 
 and approving it. With this, too, they are reproach- 
 ed, in the 17th verse of that chapter: " Ye have 
 wearied the Lord with your words : yet ye say. 
 Wherein have we wearied him ? When ye say. Every 
 one that doth evil is good in the sight of the Lord, 
 and he delighteth in them j or. Where is the God 
 of judgment ?" 
 
 Want of virtue : a second point of comparison 
 between the priests who said, the table of the Lord is 
 contemptible^ and professors who, to this day, pro- 
 fane the holy ordinance of the supper. Can any 
 among you discern your own likeness under this 
 character ? Are you going to vow unto the Lord an 
 inviolable fidelity ; or, w^liile you are partaking of 
 his grace, have you a secret reservation disrespect- 
 ful to his laws ? Is it your determination to put i^ 
 practice the great, the essential virtues of the Chris- 
 tian life : or do you mean to satisfy yourselves with 
 discharging the petty duties of morality, and with 
 attending to the formal and less important obliga* 
 tions of religion ? Are you going to declare wai' 
 against every thing which opposes the empire of 
 righteousness in your heart, or are you reserving the 
 the indulgence of some favourite passion, some Da- 
 
 lila. 
 
For a Cof}Wiunion Sahbalh. 217 
 
 lila, some Driisilla ? Are you disposed to prescribe 
 to your progress in grace a fixed point, beyond 
 which it is needless to aim ; or is it your fixed re- 
 solution, through grace, to be continually advan- 
 cing toward perfection ? Are you going to satisfy 
 yoursebes with vague designs ; or are your projects 
 to be supported by just measures and sage precau- 
 tions ? 
 
 3. Finally, the priests of Malachi's days profaned 
 the table of the Lord, from their being destitute of 
 a just sense of the inestimable value of the blessings 
 communicated. It seemed to them, as if God put 
 a price too high on the benefits which he proffered; 
 and that, every thing weighed and adjusted, it was 
 better to go without them, than to purchase them 
 at the rate of such sacrifices as the possession of 
 them demanded. This injurious mode of compu- 
 tation is reproved in very concise, but very energe- 
 tic terms, chap. i= 13. " Ye said. What a weariness 
 is it!" and, in another place, chap. iii. 14. "Ye 
 have said it is vain to serve God ; and what profit 
 is it, that we have kept his ordinance, and that we 
 have walked mournfully before the Lord of Hosts?" 
 and at the very beginning of the book of this pro- 
 phecy : " I have loved you, saith the Lord : yet ye 
 say, wherein hast thou loved us ?" This was offer- 
 ing an insult to Deity, if the expression be warrant- 
 able, in the tenderest part. He declares to us, that 
 he stands in no need of our worship, and of our 
 homage ; that, exalted to the lieight of felicity and 
 fflorv, he can derive no advantage from our obedi- 
 ence and^submiss on ; that his laws are the fruit of 
 love, and that the virtue which lie prescribes to us^ 
 is the only path that can conduct us to the sove- 
 reign good. The priests belied this notion of re- 
 ligion. 
 
 Want of feeling : a third article of comparison, 
 between the profanation of the tabic of the Lord, 
 
2iS Fw a Cuimnunion Sahhaih, 
 
 of which those detestable wretches rendered them- 
 selves guilty, and the guilt of Christian professors 
 who profane the holy table of the Lord's supper. 
 A Christian who partakes of this sacred ordinance, 
 ought to a])proach it with a heart penetrated by the 
 unspeakable greatness of the blessings there tender- 
 ed to our acceptance. He ought to view that sa- 
 cred table as the centre, in which all the benedic- 
 tions bestowed by the Creator meet. He ought to 
 be making unremitting efforts to measure the bound- 
 less dimensions of the love of God, to implore the 
 aid of the Spirit, that he may be enabled to view 
 it in all its extent, and to " comprehend v/ith all 
 saints what is the breadtli, and length, and depth, 
 and height of that love,'* Eph. iii. IS. He ought 
 to be contemplating that chain of blessings which 
 are tlicre displayed in intimate and inseparable 
 iraion : " What he did foreknow he also did predes- 
 tinxi.te, to be conformed to the image of his Son . . 
 . . . moreover whom he did predestinate them. 
 lie also called ; and whom he called them he also 
 justified : and whom lie justified them he also glo- 
 rified," Rom. viii. 2:'), SO. Under a sense of favours 
 so numerous, and so distinguishing, he ought to 
 cry out with the PsalmiLt : " How excellent is thy 
 loving-kindness, O God 1 therefore the chddren of 
 men put their trust under the shadow of thy wings. 
 They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness 
 of thy house ; and thou shalt make them drink of 
 the river of thy pleasures,'* Ps. xxxvi. 7, 8. He 
 ought to exclaim, with a soul absorbed in the im- 
 mensity of the divine goodness : " my soul shall be 
 ^^atisficd as with marrov/ and fatness," PS. Ixiii. 5. 
 He ought, above all, to be struck with the incom- 
 prehensible disproportion there is between what 
 God does for us, and w^hat he requires of us. He 
 ought to make the same estimate of things which 
 St Paul did : " I reckon, that the sufferings of this 
 present tim.c arc not worlliv to be compared v/ith 
 
 tli^ 
 
Tor aCommiinioii Sabbath, 219 
 
 the glory which shall be revealed in us," Rom. viii. 
 IS. every thing fairly considered, I reckon that the 
 trouble which the study of his religion demands, 
 the sacrifices exacted of God, the constraint to 
 which I am subjected in immolating to him my sin- 
 ful passions, in resisting a torrent of corruption, in 
 struggling against the influence of bad example, in 
 straining to rise above flesh and blood, above self- 
 love and nature : every thing fairly considered, / 
 reckon that whatever is demanded of us by God, 
 when we come to his table, is not once to be com- 
 pared with the favours which he there dispenses, 
 with the grand objects which he there displays, with 
 the pardon which he there pronounces, with the 
 peace of conscience which he there bestovvs, with 
 the eternal glory which he there promises. To be 
 destitute of such feelings as these, when we partake 
 of the Lord's supper, is to profane \U Examine 
 yourselves once more by this standard. Want of 
 feeling, this was the third head of comparison be- 
 tw^een profane Jews, and profane Christian profes- 
 sors : " Ye offer polluted bread upon mine altar ; 
 ye say the table of the Lord is contemptible." 
 
 Let each of us examine himself by an application 
 iil the truths now delivered. I shall address myself, 
 
 1. To those who, on reviewing their former com- 
 munion services, see cause to consider themselves 
 ^s chargeable with the guilt which God imputed to 
 the Jews who lived in the days of Malachi. And 
 would to God that this topic of discourse might 
 have no refeience to any one in this assemblv I 
 Would to God that no one of you might be justly 
 ranked in any of the odious classes which we have 
 enumerated 1 
 
 But only employ a moment's reflection, on \}.\(^ 
 shortness of the time usually devoted to preparation 
 for partaking of the Lord's supper. It is evident, 
 as I think, from all we have said, that \\\q, prepara- 
 tion 
 
220 For a Communion Sabbath. 
 
 tion necessary to a worthy receiving of it^ is a work, 
 nay, a work which calls for both attention and exer- 
 tion. But do we, of a truth, set apart much of our 
 time to this work ? I do not mean to examine all the 
 cases in which a man may communicate unworthi- 
 ly ; I confine myself to a single point, and only re- 
 peat this one reflection : Preparation for the Lord's 
 table is a work which requires time, attention, exer- 
 tion. That is enough ; that proves too much against 
 us all. For, we are constrained to acknowledge, 
 that it is by no means customary among us to retire 
 for meditation, to fast, to engage in peculiar acts of 
 devotion, on the days which precede a communion 
 solemnity. It is no unusual thing to see, on those 
 days, at many of our houses, parties formed, social 
 festivity going on : in these we see the same games, 
 the same amusements, the same dissipation as at 
 other times. I have reason to believe that in other 
 Protestant countries, though the same corruption 
 but too universally prevails, I believe, nevertheless, 
 that such days are there distinguished by the sus- 
 pension of parties of pleasure, by discontinuance of 
 certain practices, perhaps abundantly innocent in 
 themselves, but, at the same time, too foreign to 
 the design of the holy communion, to engage our 
 attention, when we have an immediate prospect of 
 partaking of it. But in these provinces, we are so 
 tar from coming up to the spirit and the truth of 
 Christianity, the exterior order and decency of it 
 are hardly observed. 
 
 But if this reflection be insufficient to convince 
 you of a truth so mortifying, as that there is much 
 unworthy communicating in the midst of us ; think, 
 I beseech you, on the slightness of the changes 
 which these solemnities produce. Here is the touch- 
 stone ; this is the infallible standard by v;hich to de- 
 termine the interesting question under discussion. 
 Four times a year Vv'c almost all of us come to the 
 table of the Lord Ji^sus ClM'ist ; four times a year 
 
 we 
 
tor a Communion Sabbath, 221 
 
 we partake of the holy sacrament of the supper ; 
 four times a year, consequently, this church ought 
 to assume a new appearance ; four times a year we 
 ought to see multitudes of new converts. But do 
 we see them of a truth ? Ah ! I dare not dive to the 
 bottom of this mortifying subject. The evil is but 
 too apparent j we have but too good reason to al- 
 lege, that there is much unworthy communicating 
 in the midst of us. 
 
 It is with you, unhappy professors of the Chris- 
 tian name, with you I must begin the application 
 of this discourse: with you, who have so often found 
 out the fatal secret of drawing a mortal poison from 
 that sacred table : with you, who are, by and by, 
 going once more, perhaps, to derive, a curse from 
 the very bosom of benediction, and death from the 
 fountain of life. 
 
 Do not deceive yourselves ; seek not a disguise 
 from your own wretchedness j think not of extenu- 
 ating the apprehension of your danger : listen, O 
 listen to the fearful threatenings denounced, by the 
 prophet, against God's ancient people, after he had 
 addressed them in the words of the text: " Cursed 
 be the deceiver which .... voweth and sacrificeth 
 unto the Lord a corrupt thing .... if ye will not 
 hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory 
 unto my name, saith the Lord of Hosts, 1 will even 
 send a curse upon you, and I will curse your bles- 
 sings .... I will corrupt your seed, and spread 
 dung upon your faces, even the dung of your solemn 
 feasts," chap. i. 14. ii. 2, 3. 
 
 But on the other hand, infuse not poison into 
 your wounds, aggravate not the image of your 
 wretchedness, but attend to the comfortable words, 
 which immediately follow those of my text : " Now 
 I pray you, beseech God that he will be gracious 
 unto us .... he will regard your persons," vcr. 
 9. The sentence of your condemnation is not yet 
 executed : the doom of death, which has been pror 
 
 nounced 
 
S22 For a Commimion SahbaiJi, 
 
 iioiniced against you is not irrevocable. 1 see you 
 still blended with Christians who hav^e communicat- 
 ed worthily, and who are going to repeat that de- 
 lightful service : I still behold " the riches of God's 
 goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering . . . 
 ". leading you to repentance," Rom. ii. 4. and you 
 may still become partakers in the blessedness of 
 this day. 
 
 You must have recourse to that same Jesus whom 
 you have so cruelly insulted : you must be covered 
 with that very blood which you have trampUd under 
 foot in a manner so profane : you must flee and take 
 refuge under the sliadow of that very cross, to 
 which you was going to nail afresh the Lord of 
 glory : you must, by ardent and importunate sup- 
 plication, avert the tlnmderbolt, which is ready to be 
 launched against your guilty head: " O Lord, rebuke 
 ine not in thy wrath: neither chasten me in thy hot 
 displeasure, Ps. xxxviii. 1. Against thee, thee only, 
 have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: .... 
 deliver me from blood-guiltiness, O God, thou God 
 of my salvation : restore unto me the joy of thy sal- 
 vation ; and upliold me wath thy free Spirit," Ps. 
 ]i. 4, 14, 12. 
 
 But, above all, resolutions sincere, determinate, 
 efficacious, followed up by execution from the mo- 
 ment you retire from this place must supply tlie 
 want of preparation, and the communicating of this 
 day must make up the defects of all that preceded 
 it. And if God has not, in mercy, granted you such 
 dispositions as these, may he inspire you, at least, 
 with a resolution not to approach his table, for fear 
 of arming his right hand with hotter thunderbolts 
 to crush and destroy you ! or rather, may God grant 
 you those happy dispositions, and graciously accept 
 them when bestowed ! May it please God to be dis- 
 armed by your repentance, to gather up your tears, 
 to regard with an eye of favour your efforts, your 
 feeble efforts i iNlay God grant your absolution, your 
 
 salvation. 
 
For a Communion Sahhaili, 223 
 
 salvatio:^, to the earnest prayers of these his faitliful 
 servants, or rather, to the all-powerful intercession 
 of the Redeemer, unprotected by which the most 
 eminent of saints durst not lift up their eyes to hea- 
 ven, and approach the throne of the divine Majesty. 
 
 i?. I now turn to you, my dearly beloved bre- 
 thren, who, while you reflect on communion sea- 
 sons past, can enjoy the testimony of conscience, 
 that you drew nigh to God in some state of prepa- 
 ration, and that you have reason to hope for a re- 
 petition of the same felicity. This ceremony is si> 
 august ; the mysteries which it unfolds, are so aw- 
 ful J the punishment denounced against tliosc who 
 profane it, is so tremendous, that it is impossible to 
 escape every em.otion of fear, Vv'hen engaged in ih^. 
 celebration of it. Study to be sensible of your ovrn 
 weakness. Say, in the language of repentance the 
 most lively and sincere, and of liumifity the most 
 profound: " If thou, Lord, shouldst mark iniquities; 
 O Lord, who shall stand V' Ps. cxxx: 3. "6 Lord 
 God, I am not worthy of iho: least of all the mer- 
 cies, and of all the truth v/hich thou hast shewn un- 
 to thy servant," Gen. xxxii. 10. Stand in awe of 
 the presence of the majesty of God almighty ; cry 
 out with Jacob, " How dreadful is this phice ! this 
 is none other but the house of God, and this is tlie 
 gate of heaven," Gen, xxviii. 17. 
 
 But Vv'hile you render unto God, tlie ho:ri3ge of 
 holy fear, honour him likewise witli that of holy 
 confidence, Tliink not tiiat he loves to be alwa^'s 
 \'ievv^ed as the grent^ the migJiiy^ and llie terrible God^ 
 Neil. ix. 32. the God who is a consuming f^re^ Heb. 
 xii. 29. Jle draws nigh to you m this ordinance, 
 not with awful manifestations of vengeance; but 
 v/ith all the attractions of his grace, v/ith ail the 
 gifts of his Spirit, with ail the demonstrations of his 
 love. Bow dovi^n over the mystical ark, together 
 witli the celestial intelligences, and admire tlie won- 
 
 3 dc- 
 
224 Fdv a Cownunion Sabbath* 
 
 ders which it contains, and, beholding with them 
 the glory of your Redeemer, with them cry out, 
 Huly^ holy^ holy is the Lord of Hosts / the whole earth 
 is full of his glory ^ Isa. vi. 3. 
 
 Study to know and to feel the whole extent of 
 
 your felicity, and let a sense of the benefits with 
 
 which God hath loaded thee, kindle the hallowed 
 
 flame of gratitude in your hearts. " Hast thou ever, 
 
 ' O my soul, been made sensible of the unbound- 
 
 * ed nature of thy happiness ? Hast thou exerted 
 
 * thyself to the uttermost, to take all the immea- 
 ' surable dimensions of the love of God ? Hast thou 
 ' reflected profoundly, on a God who was made 
 ' flesh, who rescues thee from everlasting misery, 
 ^ who covers thy person with his own, that the ar- 
 ^ rows of divine wrath may pierce him only, with- 
 ' out reaching thee ? Hast thou seriously consider- 
 ' ed, that if God had hurried thee out of the world 
 
 * in a state of unrepented guilt ; if he had not 
 ^ plucked thee, by a miracle of grace, out of the 
 ' vortex of human things, instead of being sur- 
 " rounded, as now, vvith these thy fellow believers 
 ' in Christ Jesus, thou mightest have been doomed 
 ' to the society of demons ; instead of those songs 
 ' of praise to which thy voice is now attuned, thou 
 
 * mightest this day have been mingling thy hovv- 
 ' lings with those of the victims, whom the wrath 
 
 " of God is immolating in the regions of despair." 
 Let the blessedness which God is accumulating up- 
 on us, support us under all the ills which we are 
 called to endure. Our life is not yet concluded j 
 our warfare is not yet accomplished. 
 
 We are about to return into the world ; we have^ 
 rstill difficulties and dangers to encounter, bitter po- 
 tions to swallow, afflictions to suffer ; especially in 
 this age of fire and of blood so fatal to the Christian 
 name. But, supported, by this peace of God, we 
 shall be able to resist and to overcome (he most 
 violent assaults. 
 
 1 We 
 
For a Communion Sabbath. 225 
 
 We are going to return into the world, amidst the 
 snares of the wicked one ; he will still aim many a 
 blow at our souls ; this flesh is not yet entirely mor- 
 tified ; the old man has not yet received his death's 
 wound ; evil concupiscence is not yet completely 
 extinguished ; we shall fall into sin again. Humi- 
 liating reflection to a soul which, this day, places all 
 its dcliglit, in being ^united unto God ! But, sup- 
 ported by this peace of God, we shall find the 
 means of remedying the w^eaknesses with which we 
 may be still overtaken, as it has furnished the means 
 of deliverance from those into which we had already 
 fallen. 
 
 We are going to return into the world, it is high 
 time to think of our departure out of it. We are 
 conversant with the living ; we must think of being 
 speedily mingled with the dead. We yet live ; w^e 
 must die. We must be looking forward to those 
 mortal agonies which are prepadng ; to that bed 
 of languishing which is already spread ; to that fu- 
 neral procession which is marshalling for us. But, 
 supported by this peace of God we shall be more 
 than conquerors in all these conflicts : with the Spi- 
 lit of him rcho hath 7'aised up Christ from the dead, wc 
 shall bid defiance to all the powers of the kijtg of ter- 
 rors, Jesus, who hath destroyed him idio had the poxjcer 
 of death, will deliver us from his dominion. Through 
 that gloomy night which is tast approaching, and 
 which is already covermg our eyes with its awfuj 
 shade, we shall behold the rays of the Son of righte- 
 ousness, and their divine light shall dissipate to us 
 all the horrors of the valley of the shadoxv oj death. 
 Amen. To God be honour and glory for ever. 
 Amen. 
 
 VOL. VI. Q SERMON 
 
SERMON VIll. 
 
 The Rapture of St PauL 
 
 2 GOR. xii. 2y 3, 4f. 
 
 I Icnew a man hi Christ above fourteen years ago^ (whe* 
 ther in the body I cannot tell ^ or xvhether tut of the 
 body^ I cannot tell : God knoweth ;) such an one 
 caught up to the third heaven » And I knew such a 
 man J (whether in the body^ or out of the body^ Ican^ 
 not tell : God knoweth ;J how that he was caught up 
 into paradise^ and heard unspeakable words ^ which it 
 is not lanfulfor a man to utter* 
 
 IF there be a passage in the whole Bible capable 
 of inflaming, and at the same time of baffling hu- 
 man curiosity, it is that which I have just now read. 
 I do not mean a vain and presumptuous curiosity, 
 but a curiosity apparently founded on reason and 
 justice. One of the principal causes of our want of 
 ardour in the pursuit of heavenly blessings, is our 
 having no experienced witness, who, after having 
 himself tasted the sweetness of them, conveyed to 
 us clear and distinct ideas on the subject. It is a 
 
 2 difficult 
 
228 The Rapture of St FaiiL 
 
 difficult matter to love that of which we have n© 
 knowledge. 
 
 St Paul seems to have been reserved of God to 
 supply this defect, and to fill up, if 1 may use the 
 expression, this void in religion. By a supernatural 
 dispensation of grace, he passes into the other v/orld 
 before death ; and he returns thence before the ge- 
 neral resurrection. The whole church, awakened 
 to eager attention, calls upon him for a detail of the 
 wonders of the world unknown. And as the Is- 
 raelites, after having dispatched spies into the land 
 of promise, burned with ardent desire to see and 
 hear them, in order that they might obtain informa- 
 tion respecting the country, whether it merited the 
 exertions necessary to acquire possession : in like 
 manner, the Christian world seems to flock round 
 our apostle, in earnest expectation of being inform- 
 ed what that felicity is, into which they are invited 
 to enter by a gate so strait. They seem with one 
 accord to ask him : What did you hear ? What did 
 you see ? in the view of determining, upon his re- 
 port, this all-important question, whether they 
 should still persevere in their exertions, to sur- 
 mount the obstacles which they have to encounter 
 in the vv^ay of salvation, or whether they should re- 
 linquish the pursuit. 
 
 But St Paul fulfils not this expectation : he main- 
 tains a profound silence respecting the objects which 
 had been presented to his mind : he speaks of his 
 rapture, only in the view of confounding those false 
 teachers who took upon them to set at nought his 
 ministry : and all the description he gives of para- 
 dise, amounts to no more than a declaration of his 
 own utter inability to describe what he had seen and 
 heard. I knexv a man in Christ : a man in Christ, that 
 is to say, a Christian, and by this denomination the 
 apostle is characterizing himself, " I knew a man in 
 Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the 
 body, I cannot tell y or whether out of the body, I 
 
 cannot 
 
The Rapture of St Paid. 229 
 
 cannot tell : God knoweth;) such an one caught up 
 to the third heaven. And 1 knew such a man, (whe- 
 ther in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell : 
 God knoweth ;) how that he was caught up into 
 paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is 
 not lawful for a man to utter." 
 
 We propose in the following discourse, my bre- 
 thren, to attempt a solution of the difficulty which 
 arises from this silence of the apostle. We propose 
 to discuss this singular, but interesting question ; 
 Wherefore is the celestial felicity unspeakable? 
 Wherefore should it be imlamjulfor a man io utter it? 
 We shall begin with some elucidation of the expres- 
 sions of our te^t^ inquiring, 1. Into the era to which 
 reference is here made ; " I knew a man in Christ 
 above fourteen years ago.*' 2. By considering what 
 is said respecting the manner of this rapture; " Whe- 
 ther in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of 
 the body, I cannot tell : God know^eth." 3. What 
 we are to understand by Paradise^ and the third hea- 
 mn, 4. Finally, What ideas we are to affix to those 
 unspeakable words to which our apostle alludes in 
 the text : and these will constitute the first general 
 division of our subject. 
 
 But in the second, which we have principally in 
 view, we shall examine the point already indicated, 
 by inquiring. Whether the silence of scripture, re- 
 specting a state of future happiness, suggests any 
 thing tending to cool our ardour in the pursuit of it : 
 we shall endeavour to make you sensible, that no- 
 thing is so much calculated to convey lofty ideas of 
 the paradise of God, as that very vail which con- 
 ceals it from our eyes. If you fully enter into the 
 »f>'reat aim and end of this discourse, it will produce 
 on your minds those effects to which all our exhort- 
 ations, all our importunities are adapted, namely, to 
 kindle in your hearts an ardent desire to go to God ; 
 to put into your mouths that exclamation of the 
 Psalmist : PIozv great is thy goodjiess, O God, zvhich thou 
 
 hast 
 
230 Tlie Rapture of St Paul 
 
 hast laid up for them that fear thee ! Ps. xxxi. 19.: to 
 place you in the very situation of our apostle, who, 
 after having been caught up to the ttnrd heaven^ could 
 Ko longer endure to live upon the earth, had his eyes 
 opened to every path that led to death, could talk 
 no more of any thing but of dying, but of fnishing 
 his course, 2 Tim. iv. 7. but of being absent fro?n the 
 hodi/, 2 Cor. v. 8. but of departing ^ but of being with 
 Christy wJuch was to him Jar better^ Phil. i. 23. 
 
 I. We begin v»dth some elucidation of the expres- 
 sions of the text, and of these, 
 
 1. The first refers to the era of St Paul's rapture, 
 I knew a man in Christ, above four ieen years ago, 
 But were we to enter upon a complete discussion of 
 this question, it would occupy much more time than 
 isallotted for the whole of our present exercise. 
 Never had preacher a fairer opportunity of wasting 
 an hour, to his hearers, in useless investigation, and 
 impertinent quotations. We could easily supply 
 you with an ample list of the opinions of interpre- 
 ters, and of the reasons adduced by each in support 
 of his own. We could tell you, first, how it is al- 
 leged by some that t\\Q?>e fourteen years denote the 
 lime elapsed from the conversion of St Paul, and 
 that his rapture took place during i\io?>e three days 
 in v/liich he was without sights and did neither eat nor 
 drink^' Acts ix. 9. and to this purpose we could quote 
 Capel, Lira, Cave, Tostat, and many other authors2 
 unknown to the greater part of my audience. 
 
 We m.ight add, that some other commentators re- 
 fer this, epoch to tlie eighth year after St Paul's 
 conversion to Christianity, the forty-fourth of Jesus 
 Christ, and the twelfth after his death. 
 
 We could shew you how others insist, with a 
 greater air of probability, that the apostle enjoyed 
 this heavenly vision, wlien, after his contention v^ith 
 Barnabas, humiliatir.g instance of the infirmity of 
 the greatest saints, he prosecuted his ministry in a 
 different track. Those who adopt this opinion, al- 
 lege. 
 
The Rapture of St Paul 2S1 
 
 lege, in support of it, the words of St Paul in chap, 
 xxii. of the Acts, ver. 17. "It came to pass, that 
 when 1 was come again to Jerusalem, even while I 
 prayed in the temple, I was in a trance." But disqui- 
 sitions of this sort are unworthy of the place which 
 I now have the honour to fill. I have matters of 
 much higher importance to propose to you. 
 
 2. The manner of St Paul's rapture stands in need, 
 perhaps, of some elucidation. He has expressed it 
 in terms very much calculated to check curiosity. 
 " Whether in the body, I cannot tell ; or whether 
 out of the body, I cannot tell." We, accordingly, 
 presume not to pursue researches on points respect- 
 ing which the apostle himself professes ignorance. 
 
 Let it only be remarked, that God was pleased, in 
 former times, to manifest himself in many different 
 manners. Sometimes it was by a voice; witness that 
 which issued out of the cloud, Exod. xvi. 10. wit- 
 ness that which addressed Moses from the burning 
 bush, Exod. iii. 4< witness that which thundered 
 from Mount Sinai at the giving of the law, Exodo 
 xix. 16. witness that which answered Job out of the 
 whirlwind, ch. xxxviii. 1. witness that from abovQ 
 the mercy-seat, Exod. xxv, 22. 
 
 He was pleased at other times, to reveal himself 
 in dreams and visions qf the night ; as to Jacob at 
 Bethel, Gen. xxviii. 12. to Abimelech^ Gen. xx. 3. 
 and to Pharaoh's butler. Gen. xl. 9. 
 
 He sometimes manifested himself in visions to 
 persons awake. Thus he presented to Moses in 
 Horeb a bush burning with fire yet unconsumed, 
 Exod. iii. 4. to Balaam, an angel with his sword 
 drawn in his hand. Num. xxii. 31. to Joshua, the 
 captain ot the Lord's Host, Jos. v. 15. 
 
 He sometimes communicated himself to men 
 through the medium of inspiration, accompanied 
 with emotions which constrained tlicm to speak out. 
 This was the case with Jeremiah, as we read., chap. 
 "sx. 8, f.^ «' The word of the Lord was made a re- 
 
 proac!' 
 
232 The Rapture of Si FauL 
 
 proach unto me, and a derision daily. Then I said, 
 I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more 
 in his name. But his word was in mine lieart as a 
 burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary 
 \vith forbearing." 
 
 Bat of all those miraculous dispensations, the most 
 noble and exalted was that of rapture or extasij, ^^y 
 the term extasij w^e mean that powerful conflict, that 
 concentration of thought, that profound intenseness 
 of mental application, under the influence of which 
 the enraptured person is emancipated from the com- 
 munications of the senses, forgets his body, and is 
 completely absorbed of the object of his meditation. 
 
 Rapture is perhaps a degree superior to extasy. 
 Sometimes it affects the mind. This is the case when 
 God, in virtue of that sovereign power which he pos- 
 sesses over the soul of man, excites in it the same 
 ideas, causes it to perceive the same objects, with 
 which it would be struck, were the body, to whicli 
 it is united, really in a place from whence it is ex- 
 tremely remote. It is thus that we must explain tliC 
 rapture of the prophet Ezekiel, chap. viii. 3. and 
 that of which St John speaks in the book of Reve- 
 lation, chap. i. 10. 
 
 ^ It sometimes affects the lody. This was the case 
 of Philip, who, after he had converted to the faith of 
 Christ the eunuch of Candace, queen of the Ethio- 
 pians, and baptized him, was " caught away by the 
 Spirit of the Lord, that the eunuch saw him no 
 more," Acts viii. 39. 
 
 Though St Paul has spoken very sparingly of the 
 manner in which God was pleased to reveal himself 
 to him, he has said enough to shew that it is holy 
 rapture he mieans. ; But whether it were that v/hich 
 transported the body into another place, or that 
 which transported the mind only : nay, whether there 
 be a real difference betv>'een rapture and extasy, no 
 one can pretend to determine, without incurring 
 the charge of presumption. The apostle himself 
 declares that it surpassed his own knovvledge ; 
 
 whether 
 
The Raphire of St Paul 233- 
 
 ^^ whether in the body, I cannot tell ; or whether 
 out of the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth, such 
 
 an one caught up to the third heaven caught up 
 
 into paradise." 
 
 3. The third heaven^ paradise : another subject of 
 elucidation. The third heaven is the habitation of 
 the blessed; that in which God displays the most 
 splendid and glorious tokens of his presence : this 
 is disputed by no one. But the other expresssion 
 employed by St Paul, caught up into paradise, has fur- 
 nished matter for controversy among the learned. 
 It has long been made a question whether paradise 
 and the third heaven denoted one and the same 
 place. Certain modern interpreters have main- 
 tained the negative, with excessive warmth. A great 
 number of the ancient fathers had adopted the same 
 opinion. They considered paradise as a mansion in 
 which the soul resided till the resurrection, and they 
 distinguished it from heaven. Justin Martyr, dis- 
 puting with Tryphon, condemns, as equally errone- 
 ous, tlie denying of the doctrine of the resurrection, 
 and the opinion which supposes that the souls of men 
 go to God immediately after death. In this they 
 followed the prejudices of the Jews. Many of them 
 believe that the souls of good people are translated 
 to the garden of Eden, to wait for the day of the re- 
 surrection ; they accordingly employ this form of 
 prayer for dying persons : " May his soul be re- 
 '^ ceived into the garden of Eden ; may he have his 
 '' part into paradise ; may he repose, and sleep in 
 " peace till the coming of the Comforter, who shall 
 " speak peace to the fathers. O ye to whom the 
 " treasures of paradise are committed, open now its 
 " gates that he may enter in.'' 
 
 But this error, however long it may have subsisted, 
 and by whatever great names it may have been main- 
 tained, is nevertheless an error, as might be de- 
 monstrated by more arguments than w^e have now- 
 leisure 
 
^34 The Rapture of St Paul 
 
 leisure to adduce. You have only to read the prayer 
 v/hich Jesus Christ addressed to his Father a little 
 before his death, where you will find him demand- 
 ing immediate admission into the heavenly felicity. 
 He says, likewise, to the penitent thief on the cross. 
 Verily I say imto thee, to-day thou shalt he with me in 
 paradise, Luke xxiii. 43. Paradise, therefore, is 
 the place in which God displays the inost august 
 symbols of his presence, and is not different from 
 the third heaven. 
 
 Now, if it be asked, why this name is given to the 
 third heaven, it will be necessary to recur to its first 
 original. Persons who have applied to the dry study 
 of Etymology assure us that the word is of Persian 
 extraction, and that the Persians gave the name of 
 Paradise to the parks and gardens of their kings. It 
 came in process of time to denote all placos of a 
 similar description. It passed from the Persians to 
 the Greeks, to the Hebrews, to the Latins *. We 
 iind it employed in this sense in Nehemiah ii. 8. in 
 Ecclesiastes ii. 5. in many profane Authors ; and 
 ^\^ Jews gave this name to the garden of Eden iii 
 which Adam was placed. You will find it in the 
 second chapter of the Book of Genesis. Biit 
 enough, and more tiian enough, has been suggested 
 on this liead^ 
 
 4. There is but one particular more that requires 
 some elucidation. 1 knew a man, adds the apostle, 
 v/ho hea.d unspeakable words, which it .-5 not lawfidfbr 
 a man to utter, lo see things, and to hear xcords, are, 
 in the style of the sacred writers, frequently used as 
 phrases of similar import, and it is not on this 
 ground that the difficulty of the present article pres- 
 ses. But, what can be the meaning of the apostle, 
 when he asserts that the words which he heard, or 
 the things which he saw, are unspeakable, and which 
 
 it 
 
 * Pollux Onomast. 
 
The Rapture of St Paul 235 
 
 U is not laxifulfor a man to utter ? Had lie been laid 
 under a prohibition to reveal the particulars of his 
 vision ? Had he lost the ideas of it ? Or were the 
 things wliich he heard and saw of such a nature as 
 to be absolutely inexpressible by mortal lips ? There 
 is some plausible reasoning that may be employed 
 in support of each of the three opinions. 
 
 The first has numerous partisans. Their belief is 
 that God had revealed mysteries to St Paul, but 
 with a prohibition to disclose them to the world ; 
 theybelieve that the Apostle, after havingbeen wrapt 
 into the third heaven, had received a charge similar 
 to that which was given to St John, in a like situa- 
 tion, and which is transmitted to us in chap. x. of 
 the Book of Revelation, 4th verse. Seal up those 
 things which the seven thunders uttered^ and write them 
 not. Thus it was that the Pagans denominated cer- 
 tain of their mysteries ineffal)le^ because it was for- 
 bidden to reveal them. Thus, too, the Jews called 
 the name of Jehovah i?ieffable, hecsmse it was unlaw- 
 ful to pronounce it. 
 
 The second opinion is not destitute of probability. 
 As the soul of 8t Paul had no sensible intercourse 
 with his body, during this rapture, it is not unlikely, 
 that the objects which struck him, having left no 
 trace in the brain, he lost the recollection of a great 
 part of what he had seen. 
 
 But we are under no obligation to restrict ourselves 
 to either of these senses. The words of the original 
 translated unspeakaljle^ xvhich it is not lawful for a man 
 to utter, frequently denote that which is not of a 
 nature to be explained : thus it is said, that the Spirit 
 maketh intercession for us, withgroanings which cannot be 
 uttered, Rom. viii. 26. Thus, too, St Peter men- 
 tions cXJOTj unspeakable and fiUl of glory, chap. i. 8. 
 and we shall presently see that the heavenly felicity 
 is, in this sense, unspeakable. 
 
 Again, among those who have pursued researches, 
 respecting the things which St Paul declares to be 
 
 wispeaJcable^ 
 
^S6 The Rapture of St Paid. 
 
 tmspealcable, some have pretended to tell us, that he 
 means the divine essence : others, that it was the 
 Hierarchal order ofthe celestial intelligences; others, 
 that it was the beauty and excellency of glorified 
 souls ; others, that it was the mystery ofthe rejec- 
 tion ofthe Jewish nation, and ofthe calling of the 
 Gentiles ; others, that it was the destination of the 
 Christian church through its successive periods. 
 But wherefore should we attempt to ^x precise li- 
 mits to the things which our apostle heard and saw ? 
 He v/as wrapt up to the very seat of the blessed ; and 
 he there, undoubtedly, partook of the felicity which 
 they enjoy. 
 
 Had men employed their imagination only on 
 the discussion of this question, no great harm could 
 have ensued. But it is impossible to behold without 
 indignation, the inventors of fictitious pieces car- 
 rying their insolence so far, as to forge writings, 
 v/hich they ascribed to the Spirit of God himself, and 
 in which tliey pretended those mysteries were ex- 
 plained. St Epiphanius relates *, that certain an- 
 cient heretics, these were the Gaianites, or Camiles, 
 liad invented a book, which was afterwards adopted 
 by the Gnostics. They gave it the name of J lie As- 
 ceiiuon of St Paul., and presume to allege, that this 
 book discovered sN\\2itt\\o^t unspeakable things were, 
 which the apostle had heard t- St Augustin speaks 
 ofthe same work, as a gross imposture. Nicepho- 
 rus tells us t, that a story was current, under, the 
 emperor Theodosius, of the discovery, in the house 
 of St Paul at Tarsus, of a marble chest, buried in 
 the earth, and which contained the Apocaljjpse of St 
 Paul, He himself refutes this fiction, by the testi- 
 mony of a man of Tarsus, a member of the Pres- 
 bytery. 
 
 The 
 
 * HEcres. 38. 
 
 •f- Treatise 98. on St .Toha. 
 
 X Hist. Eccles. lib. xii. cap. 34, 
 
The Rapture of St Paul. 237 
 
 The impostor, who is the Author of the work as- 
 cribed to Dionysius the Areopagite, and who .gives 
 himself out as that illustrious proselyte of our apos- 
 tle, boasts of his having heard him relate wonderful 
 things, respecting the nature, the glory, the gifts, 
 the beauty of angels ; and upon this testimony it is 
 that he founds the chimerical idea which he has 
 given us of the celestial hierarchy. 
 
 But let us have done with all these frivolous con- 
 jectures, with all these impious fictions. We are 
 going to propose much nobler objects to your medi- 
 tation, and to examine, as has been said, this singu- 
 lar, but interesting question. Wherefore is the celes- 
 tial glory of such a nature as to defy description ? 
 Why is it not lawful for a man to utter them ? We 
 are going to avail ourselves of this very inability to 
 describe these gloriously unspeakable things, as the 
 means of conveying to you exalted ideas of them, 
 and of kindling in your souls more ardent desires 
 after the possession of them. This shall be the sub- 
 ject of the second part of our discourse. 
 
 SERMON 
 
BERMON VIII. 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The Rapfure of St Paul 
 
 2 Cor. xil. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 / knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago Qinhe- 
 ther in the hody^ J cannot tell : or whether out of 
 the body^ I cannot tell : God knoi^eth ;) such an one 
 caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a 
 man, (whether in the bodij, or out of the body, 1 can^ 
 not tell : God knoweth ;) how that he was caught up 
 into paradise, and heard unspeakable w'ords, w'hich it 
 is not lawful for a man to utter, 
 
 HAVING presented you with some brief eluci- 
 dations of the expressions of the text, namely, 
 1. respecting the era to which reference is here 
 made j / knew a man in Chy^ist above Jouneen years 
 ago : 2, respecting the manner of his rapture ; 
 m ^ ^* whether 
 
240 The Rapture of St Paul, 
 
 xvhether in the hodij^ I cannot tell : or out of the hody^ I 
 catinottell: God knoweth : 3. Respecting the place to 
 which Paul was caught; Faradise^i\\Q third heaven: 
 and, 4. Respecting what he there saw and heard; zm- 
 speakable xzords^ which it is not laufidfor a man to utter : 
 We proceed to, 
 
 11. The second general head, namely, to inquire. 
 Whether the silence of scripture on the subject of 
 a state of future happiness, suggests any thing that 
 has a tendency to cool our ardour in the pursuit of 
 it ; or. Whether this very vail, which conceals the 
 paradise of God from our eyes, is not above all things 
 calculated to convey the most exalted ideas of it. 
 
 We refer the felicity of the blessed in heaven to 
 three general notions. The blessed in heaven pos- 
 sess, 1. Superior illumination: 2. They are prompted 
 by inclinations the most noble and refined : 3. They 
 enjoy the purest sensible pleasures. A defect of ge- 
 nius prevents our ability to partake of their illumi- 
 nation : a defect of taste prevents our adopting their 
 inclinations ; a defect of faculty prevents our percep- 
 tion of their pleasures. In these three respects, the 
 celestial felicity is imspeaJcable : in these three respects 
 it is not lawful for a man to idler it, 
 
 1. The blessed in heaven possess superior illumi- 
 nation : a defect of genius prevents our participation 
 of it. 
 
 ^Yhile we are in this world, we are deficient in 
 many ideas. Properly speaking we have ideas of 
 two kinds only : that of body, and that of spirit. 
 The combination of those two ideas forms all our 
 perceptions, all our speculations, the whole body of 
 our knowledge. And whatever eilbrts may have 
 been made by certain philosophers to prove that we 
 are acquainted with beings intermediate between 
 mind and matter, they have never been able to per- 
 
 2 suade 
 
The Rapture of Si Paul. 241 
 
 suade others of it, and probably entertained no such 
 persuasion themselves. But if all beings which are 
 within the sphere of our knowledge be referable to 
 these two ideas, where is the person who is bold 
 enough to affirm that there are in fact no others ? 
 Where is the man who dares to maintain, that the 
 creation of bodies, and that of spirits, have exhaust- 
 ed the omnipotence of the Creator ? Who shall pre- 
 sume to affirm that this infinite intelhgence, to whom 
 the universe is indebted for its existence, could find 
 only two ideas in his treasures ? 
 
 May it not be possible that the blessed in heaven, 
 have the idea of certain beings which possess no 
 manner of relation to any thing of which we have a 
 conception upon earth ? May it not be possible that 
 God impressed this idea on the soul of St Paul ? 
 May not this be one of the reasons of the impossi- 
 bility to which he is reduced, of describing what he 
 had seen ? For when we speak to other men, we go 
 on the supposition that they have souls similar to 
 our own, endowed with the same faculties, enriched 
 with the same sources of thought. We possess cer- 
 tain signs, certain words to express our conceptions. 
 We oblio^e our fellow men to retire within them- 
 selves, to follow up their principles, to examine their 
 notions. It is thus w^e are enabled to communicate 
 our notions to each other. But this is absolutely 
 in)practicable with regard to those beings who may 
 be known to the blessed above. There is in this re- 
 spect, no notion in common to us and them. We 
 have no term by v^hich to express them. God him- 
 self alone has the power of impressing new ideas on 
 the soul of man. All that men can do is to render 
 us attentive to those which we already have, and to 
 assist us in unfolding theuj. 
 
 Besides, so long as we are upon earth, we have 
 but a very imperfect knowledge of the two orders of 
 beinos, to which all our knowledi^e is confined. 
 Our ideas are incomplete. W"e have only a very 
 
 VOL. Yi. # 11 imperfect 
 
^42 The Rapture of St Paul 
 
 imperfect perception of body, and of spirit. We 
 have, 
 
 (l) Very imperfect ideas of body^ And without 
 entering here into the discussion of the endless me- 
 taphysical questions of which the subject admits, 
 and, in order to convey an example of it, brought 
 down to the level of the meanest capacity, the mag- 
 nitude of bodies, and their smaUness, almost equal- 
 ly exceed our comprehension. We begin with form- 
 ing to ourselves the idea of a portion of matter ; we 
 divide it into minute particles; we reduce it to 
 powder, till the particles become entirely impercep- 
 tible to our senses. When the senses fail, w^e have 
 recourse to imagination. We subdivide, in imagi- 
 nation, that same portion of matter, particle after 
 particle^ till it is reduced to such a degree of mi- 
 nuteness, as to escape imagination, as it had eluded 
 the senses. After the senses and the imagination 
 have been stretched to the uttermost, we call in 
 thought to our aid : we consult the idea which we 
 have of matter; we subject it to a new subdivision 
 in thought. Thought transcends imagination and 
 the senses. But after having pursued it to a certain 
 point, we find thought absorbed in its turn, and we 
 feel ourselves eouall}'' lost, whether we are disposed 
 to admit an infinite progression in this division, or 
 whether we are disposed to stop at a certain deter- 
 minate point. 
 
 What we have said of the small ness of bodies, 
 holds equally true of their immensity of magnitude. 
 We are able, with the help of the senses of the ima- 
 gination, and of thought, to increase a mass of mat- 
 ter, to suppose it still greater, to conceive it still ex- 
 ceeding the former magnitude. But after we have 
 acted, imagined, reflected ; and, after we have risen 
 in thought to a certain degree of extension, were we 
 disposed to go on to the conception of one still 
 greater, we should at length feel ourselves absorbed 
 
 ♦ in 
 
The Rapture of St Paul 243 
 
 in the inconceivable magnitude of matter, as it had 
 eluded our pursuit by its minuteness. So incom- 
 plete are our ideas even of matter. And if so then, 
 
 (2) How much more imperfect still is our know- 
 ledge of what relates to mind ! Who ever presum- 
 ed to unfold all that a spirit is capable of ? Who 
 has ever determined the connection which subsists 
 within us, between the faculty which feels, and that 
 which reflects ? Who has ever discovered the man- 
 ner in which one spirit is enabled to communicate 
 its feelings and reflections to another? Who has 
 formed a conception of the means by which a spirit 
 becomes capable of acting upon a body, and a body 
 upon a spirit ? It is to me then demonstrably cer- 
 tain, that we know but in an imperfect manner, the 
 v^ry things of which we have any ideas at all. 
 
 The blessed in heaven have complete ideas of 
 these; they penetrate into the minutest particles 
 of matter ; they discern all the wonders, all the la- 
 tent springs, all the subtilty of the smallest parts of 
 body, which contain worlds in miniature, an epi- 
 tome of the great universe, and not less calculated 
 to excite admiration of the wisdom of the Creator * ; 
 they traverse that immensity of space, those celes- 
 tial globes, those immeasurable spheres, the existence 
 of which it is impossible for us to call in question, 
 but whose enormous mass and countless multitude 
 confound and overwhelm us. The blessed in hea- 
 ven know the nature of spirits, their facullies, their 
 relations, their intercourse, their laws. But all this 
 is inexplicable. Is any one capable of changing our 
 senses ? Is any one capable of giving a more exten- 
 sive range to our imagination ? Is it possible to re- 
 
 move the barriers which limit thon«:ht ? 
 
 b' 
 
 Whil^ 
 
 * For a further illustration of this part of the subject, the Phllo- 
 sophical and Christian Reader is referred to the Letters of Euler to 
 a German Princess, Letter L Vol. \. publislied bv the Translator of 
 this Volume, 1794. 
 
244 The Rapture of Si Paul. 
 
 While we are on the earth, we discern but \rery 
 imperfectly the relations which subsist even between 
 the things which we do know. Contracted, incom- 
 plete as our ideas are, we should nevertheless, make 
 some progress in our researches after truth, had we 
 the power of reflecting, of recollection, of fixing our 
 attention to a certain degree, of comparing beings 
 with each other, and thus advancing from those 
 which we already know, to those with which we are 
 hitherto unacquainted. Men are more or less intel- 
 ligent, according as they are in the habit of being 
 more or less attentive. A man brought up in the 
 midst of noise, in tumult ; a man whom tumult and 
 noise pursue wherever he goes, is incapable of com- 
 posed recollection, because carrying always in him- 
 self a source of distraction, he becomes incapable of 
 profound reflection upon any one object abstracted 
 from and unconnected with matter But a philoso* 
 pher accustomed to meditate, is able to follow up a 
 principle to a degree totally inaccessible to the other. 
 Nevertheless, whatever a man's attainments may be 
 in the art of attention, it must always be contracted 
 within very narrow limits : because we still consist 
 in part, of body ; because this body is ever exciting 
 sensations in the soul ; because the soul is continual- 
 ly distracted by hese sensations ; because that, in 
 order to meditate, there is occasion for a great con- 
 course of the spirits necessary to the support of the 
 bod}^ so that attention wearied out, exhausted, does 
 violence to that body ; to such a degree that if, by 
 the aid of an extraordinary concourse of spirits, we 
 should be disposed to exert the brain beyond a cer- 
 tain pitch, the effort would prove fatal to us. 
 
 The blessed in heaven are not liable to have their 
 attention disturbed by the action of the senses. St 
 Paul by means of a supernatural interposition, had 
 his soul, if not separated from the body, (for he 
 himself knows not whether his rapture were i7i the 
 bodif^ or out of the bodtj^^ at least emancipated from 
 that continual distraction to which it is subject, in 
 
 virtue 
 
The Rapture of St Paul 245 
 
 virtue of its union with matter. He could be self^ 
 collected, attentive, absorbed of the objects which 
 God presented to his mind. He coukl discern the 
 mutual relation of the designs of eternal wisdom, 
 the harmony of the works of God, the concatenation 
 of his purposes, the combination of his attributes : 
 sublime objects which he could not possibly display 
 to men incapable of that degree of attention, with- 
 out which no conception can be formed of those ob- 
 jects. 
 
 Does not this first reason, my beloved brethren, 
 of our apostle's silence on the subject of the heaven- 
 ly felicity, already produce on your souls, the ef- 
 fect at which this discourse is principally aiming? 
 Has it not already kindled within you an ardent de- 
 sire to attain that felicity ? Soul of man, susceptible 
 of so many ideas, of such enlarged knowledge, of 
 illumination so unbounded, is it possible for thee to 
 sojourn without reluctance, in a body which nar- 
 rows thy sphere, and cramps thy nobler faculties? 
 Philosopher, who art straining every nerve, who 
 givest thyself no rest to attain a degree of know^- 
 ledge incompatible with the condition of humanity i 
 Geometrician, who, after an incredible expeme o( 
 thought, of meditation, of reflection, art able to at* 
 tain, at most the knowledge of the relations of a 
 circle or of a triangle : Theologian, who, after so 
 many days of labour and nights of watching, hast 
 scarcely arrived at the capacity of explaining a few 
 passages of holy writ, of correcting, by an effort, 
 some silly prejudice: wretched mortals, how much 
 are you to be pitied ! how impotent and ineffectual 
 are all exertions to acquire real knowledge I 1 think 
 I am beholding one of those animals, the thickness 
 of whose blood, the grossness of whose humours, 
 the incumbrance of that house with which nature 
 loads them, preventing them from moving with fa- 
 cility; I think I am beholding one of those animals, 
 striving to move over an immense space in a little, 
 
 little 
 
9^6 The Rapture of S^ PauL 
 
 little hour. He strains, he bustles, he toils, he flat- 
 ters himself with having made a mighty progress, 
 he exults in the thought of attaining the end which 
 he had proposed. The hour elapses, and the pro- 
 gress which he has made is a mere nothing, compar- 
 ed with the immensity of the space still untrodden. 
 
 Thus, loaded with a body replenished with gross 
 humours, retarded by matter, we are able in the 
 course of the longest life, to acquire but a very slen- 
 der and imperfect degree of knowledge. This body 
 must drop : this spirit must disengage itself before 
 it can become capable of soaring unincumbered, of 
 penetrating into futurity, and of attaining that 
 height and depth of knowledge which the blessed in 
 heaven possess. 
 
 Not only from revelation do we derive these ideas, 
 not even from reason, in its present high state of 
 improvement : they were entertained in the ancient 
 Pagan world. We find this subject profoundly 
 investigated, I had almost said exhausted in the 
 Phsedon of Plato. Socrates considers his body as 
 the greatest obstacle in the way of seeking after 
 truth. And this brings to my recollection the beau- 
 tiful expression of a certain Anchorite, to the same 
 purpose: extenuated, infirm, sinking under a load 
 of years, on the point of expiring, he breaks out in- 
 to singing. He is asked, Wherefore singest thou ? 
 '' Ah ! I sing," says he, " because I see that wall 
 **' (umbling down, which hinders me from behold- 
 " ing the face of God. '^ Yes, this body is a wall 
 which prevents our seeing God. Fall down, fall 
 dov»^n, interposing invidious wall ; fall down impe- 
 netrable wall, and then we shall see God. But to 
 min in his present state, to man loaded with a body 
 ii'kc this, the illfiminaiion of the blessed in heaven, is 
 among the things which are unspeakable. 
 
 2. The blessed in heaven are prompted by inclinU' 
 fhns the most noble and refined : a dcft'ct of taste 
 
 prevents 
 
The Rapture of St Paul 247 
 
 prevents our adopting and enjoying the same incli- 
 nations. 
 
 All tastes are not similar. Men agree tolerably 
 well in the vague notions of honour, of pleasure, of 
 generosity, of nobility. But that which appears 
 pleasure to one, is insupportable to another : that 
 which appears noble, generous to one, appears 
 mean, grovelling, contemptible to another. So that 
 the idea which you might suggest lo your neigh- 
 bour, of a pleasant and desirable mode of living, 
 might, in all probabihty, convey to him ideas of life 
 the most odious and disgusting. 
 
 Who is able to make a man plunged in business 
 to comprehend, that there is pleasr. e inexpressible 
 in studying truth, in making additions to a stock of 
 knowledge, in diving into mysteries? Who is able 
 to persuade a miser, thpt there is a delight which 
 nothing can equal, in relieving the miserable, in mi- 
 nistering to their necessities, in sharing fortunes with 
 them, and thus, to use the expression of scripture, 
 to draw nigh to a man's ozi:n flesh ? Isa. Iviii. 7. 
 Who is able to convince a grovelling and dastardly 
 soul, that there is joy to be found in pursuing glory 
 through clouds of smoke and showers of iron, in 
 braving inbtant and certain dangers, in bidding de- 
 fiance to almost inevitable death? In general, what 
 arguments are sufficient to convince a worldling, 
 that the purest and most perfect delights are to be 
 enjoyed in exercises of devotion, in those effusions 
 of the heart, in that emptying us of ourselves, of 
 which the saints of (jod have given us such warm 
 recommendations, and such amid^le examples.'' 
 " These are the things of the Spirit of God, which 
 the natural man receiveth not, because they are 
 spiritually discerned/' 1 Cor. ii. 14. because he is 
 destitute of that taste, which alone can enable hini 
 to relish their charms. 
 
 Now, my brethren, although the love of God be 
 the principle of all the exalted virtuesj possessed by 
 
 the 
 
§48 The Rapture of St Paul. 
 
 the saints in glory, as well as by those who remain 
 still on the earth ; although both agree in this ge- 
 neral and vague notion, that to love God is the su- 
 blimity of virtue ; nevertheless, there is a distance so 
 inconceivable, between the love which we have for 
 God on the earth, and that which inspires the bless- 
 ed in heaven, that inclinations entirely different re- 
 sult from it. 
 
 We know God very imperfectly while we are up- 
 on the earth, and our love to him is in proportion to 
 the imperfection of our knowledge. To come to 
 his holy temple, to hearken to his word, to sing his 
 praises, to administer and to partake of his sacra- 
 mental ordinances : to pant after a union of which 
 Ave cannot so much as form an idea, to practise the 
 virtues which our present condition imposes ; such 
 is the taste which that love inspires ; such are the 
 particular inclinations which it excites in our souls. 
 After all, how often are those feelings blunted by 
 prevailing attachment to the creature ? How often 
 are they too faint to animate us to engage in those 
 exercises ? How often do we present ourselves be- 
 fore God, like victims dragged reluctantly to the 
 altar? How often must a sense of duty supply the 
 want of inclination, and hell opening under our feet, 
 produce in our souls the effects which ought to flow 
 from the love of God purely ? l3ut, be it as it may, 
 our love so long as we continue here below, can go 
 nafarther than this. That complete devotedness of 
 .,i>«0ul to God, those voluntary sacrifices, that su- 
 ■' blimity of virtue which refers every thing to God and 
 to him alone, are Wholly unknown to us; we have 
 neither ideas to conceive them ourselves, nor terms 
 jn which to convey them lo the minds of others. 
 
 The blessed in heaven know Go<:\ perfectly, and 
 have a love to him proportioned to the perfection of 
 that knowledge, and inclinations proportioned to 
 that love. We know what may be impressed on 
 the heart of man by the idea of a God known as su- 
 premely 
 
The Rapture of Si Paul 249 
 
 premely wise, as supremely powerful, as supremely 
 amiable. The blessed in heaven take pleasure in 
 exercises which scripture describes in language 
 adapted to our present capacities. To this pnrpose 
 are such as the following expressions, " to cast their 
 crowns before the throne,'^ Rev. iv. 10. "to be- 
 hold always the face of their Father which is in hea- 
 ven," Matt, xviii. 10. as courtiers do that of their 
 sovereign ; to cover their faces in his presence, is. 
 vi. 2. " to sing a new song before the throne,'^ Rev. 
 xiv. 3. : to fly at his command with the rapidity of 
 the '' wind and of a flame of fire,^^ Heb. i. 7. to 
 " cry one to another, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord 
 of hosts,^^ Is. vi. 3.: to burn, to bear the name of 
 Seraphim^ that is, burning with zeal. These are em- 
 blems presented to our imagination. The thing it- 
 self cannot be brought down to the level of our ca- 
 pacity. We are ignorant of the effect, because the 
 cause is far beyond our comprehension. We are 
 strangers to the joy flowing from it, because we 
 want the taste which alone can enable us to relish 
 such delights. 
 
 Nay more, with the taste which we have upon 
 the earth, such and such a joy of the blessed above, 
 would api^ear the severest of punishments to the 
 greatest of saints among us. The essence of the fe- 
 licity of saints in glory consists in loving God only, 
 and all other things in reference to God. The sen- 
 timents by which they are animated relatively to 
 other beings, are not sentiments of blood, of the 
 spirits, of temperament, like those by which we are 
 actuated here below, they are regulated by order ; 
 I hey refer all to God alone : the blessed above arc- 
 affected with the felicity and the misery of others, 
 only in so far as these relate to the great moving 
 princi'pies by which thicy are governed. But that 
 felicity depicted to men upon cartli, and ap^^ed to 
 particular cases, would appear to them a-4;cal pu- 
 nishment. Could a father relish a fehcijy which he 
 
 ■^ was 
 
2^0 The Rapture of St Paul. 
 
 was told he could not possibly share with his child ? 
 Could the friend enjoy tranquillity, were he haunted 
 with the thought, that the friend of his heart lay 
 groaning under chains of darkness ? Have we so 
 much love for order ; are we sufficiently disposed 
 to refer all our inclinations to God, so as to have 
 that taste, which considers objects as amiable and 
 interesting, only as they have a relation to that or- 
 der, and to that glory of the Creator? And do we 
 not feel, that a felicity relative to a taste which we 
 do not possess, nay, opposite to that which we now 
 have, is a felicity unspeakable, 
 
 3. The third notion which we suggested to you, 
 of the heavenly felicity, is that of sensible pleasure, 
 A defect of faculty prevents our perception of their 
 pleasures. 
 
 Be not surprised that we introduce sensations of 
 pleasure, into the idea of a felicity perfectly pure, 
 and perfectly conformable to the sanctity of him 
 who is the author of it. Do not suspect that we 
 are going to extract from the grossly sensual notions 
 of Mahomet, the representation which we mean to 
 give you of the paradise of God. You hear us fre- 
 quently declaiming against the pleasures of sense. 
 But do not go to confound things, under pretence 
 of perfecting them ; and under the affectation of 
 decrying sensible pleasures, let us not consider as an 
 imperfection of the soul of man, the power wliich it 
 has to enjoy them. No, my brethren, it is on the 
 contrary, one of its highest perfections, to be sus- 
 ceptible of those sensations, to possess the faculty of 
 scenting the perfume of flowers, of relishing the sa- 
 vour of meats, of delighting in the harmony of 
 sounds, and so of the other objects of sense. 
 
 If we declaim against your pleasures, it is because 
 you frequently sacrifice pleasures tlic most sublime, 
 to such as are pitiful and insigniiicant ; j)leaat)ies of 
 everiastinir duriition, to those of a moment. 
 
 If 
 
The Rapture of St PauL S5 1 
 
 if we declaim against your pleasures, it is because, 
 the attachment which you feel for those of the 
 earth, engages you to consider them as the sovereign 
 good, and prevents your aspiring after that abun- 
 dant portion, which is laid up for you in heaven. 
 
 If we declaim against your pleasures, it is because^ 
 you regard the creatures through which they are 
 communicated, as if they were the real authors of 
 them. You ascribe to the element of fire the essen- 
 tial property of warming you, to aliments that of 
 gratifying the palate, to sounds that of ravishing the 
 ear. You consider the creatures as so many divi- 
 nities which preside over your happiness ; you pay 
 them homage ; you prostrate your imagination be- 
 fore them : not reflecting that God alone can pro- 
 duce sensations in your soul, and that all these crea- 
 tures are merely the instruments and the ministers 
 of his providence. But the maxim remains incon- 
 trovertible : namely, that the faculty of relishing 
 pleasure is a perfection of our soul, and one of its 
 most glorious attributes. 
 
 But what merits particular attention is, that this 
 faculty which we have of receiviug agreeable sensa- 
 tions, is extremely imperfect so long as we remain 
 upon the earth. It is restricted to the action of the. 
 senses. Its activity is clogged by the chains which 
 fetter it down to matter. Our souls are susceptible 
 of innumerably more sensations than we ever can 
 receive in this world. As progress in knowledge 
 admits of infinity, so likewise may progress in the 
 enjoyment of pleasure. In heaven the blessed have 
 the experience of this. There God exerts the ple- 
 nitude of his power over the soul, by exciting in it 
 the most lively eiDotions of delight ; there his com- 
 munications are proportional to the immortal nature 
 of the glorified spirit. This was produced in the 
 soul of our apostle. 
 
 ^'The pleasures which I have tasted," he seems 
 
252 The Rapture of St Paul. 
 
 to say, *' are not such as your present faculties Can 
 *' reach. In order to make you comprehend what 
 '' 1 have felt, I must be endowed with the power of 
 *' creating new laws of the union subsisting between 
 '* your soul and your body. I must be endowed 
 *' with the capacity of suspending those of nature : 
 *' or rather, 1 must be possessed of the means of 
 *' tearing your soul asunder from that body. I^must 
 " have the power of transporting you in an extasy, 
 *' as I myself was. And considering the state in 
 *' which you still are, 1 am persuaded that I shall 
 *' represent to you what my feelings were much bet- 
 " ter, by telling you that they are things unspeak^ 
 " able^ than by attempting a description of them. 
 •'^ For when the point in question is to represent 
 *^' that which consists in lively and affecting sensa- 
 *' tions, there is no other method left, but actually 
 '^ to produce them in the breasts of the persons to 
 *' whom you would make the communication. In 
 *' order to produce them, faculties must be found, 
 "' adapted to the reception of such sensations. But 
 '' these faculties you do not as yet possess. It is there- 
 *• fore impossible that you should ever comprehend, 
 " while here below, what such sensations mean. 
 '' And it is no more in my power to convey to you 
 " an idea of those which 1 have enjoyed, than it is 
 *' to give the deaf an idea of sounds, or the blind 
 *' man of colours." 
 
 You u:iast be sensible then, my brethren, that de- 
 fect in respect of faculties^ prevents our conception 
 of the sensible pleasures which the blessed above en- 
 joy, as want of taste^ and want oi genius prevent our 
 comprehending what are their inclinations, and what 
 is their illumination. Accordingly, the principal rea- 
 son of St Paul's silence, and of the silence of scrip- 
 lure in general, respecting the nature of the heaven- 
 ly felicity, present nothing that ought to relax our 
 ardour in the pursuit of it ; they are proofs of its 
 
 inconceivable 
 
The Rapture of St Paul. ^53 
 
 inconceivable greatness, and so far from sinking its 
 value in our eyes, they manifestly enhance and ag. 
 grandize it. This is what we undertook to demoru 
 strate. 
 
 SEEMON 
 
SERMON VIII, 
 
 PART III. 
 
 The Rapture of St Paul 
 
 2 Cor. xii. 2, 3, 4. 
 
 / knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago (whe- 
 ther in the hody^ J cannot tell : or loheiher out of 
 the body, I cannot tell : God knoweth ;) such an one 
 caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a 
 man, (whether in the bodij^ or out of the bodij, 1 can- 
 not tell : God knoweth ;) how that he was caught up 
 n to paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it 
 is not lazofid for a man to utter. 
 
 WE have endeavoured to elucidate the expres- 
 sions of our apostle in the text, and to de- 
 monstrate that the silence of scripture, 041 the sub- 
 ject of a state of celestial felicity, suggests nothing 
 that has a tendency to cool our ardour in the pur- 
 suit of it, but rather on the contrary, that this very 
 veil which conceals the paradise of God from our 
 eyes is, above all things, calculated to convey the 
 most exalted ideas of it. We now proceed, 
 
 1 III 
 
966 The Rapture of Si Paul 
 
 III. To conclude our discourse, by niaking some 
 application of the subject. 
 
 Now if the testimony of an apostle, if the deci- 
 sions of scripture, if the arguments which have been 
 used, if all this is deemed insufficient, and if, notwith- 
 standing our acknowledged inability to describe th& 
 heavenly felicity, you should still insist on our at- 
 tempting to convey some idea of it, it is in our 
 power to present you with one trait of it, a trait of 
 a singular kind, and which well deserves your most 
 serious attention. It is a trait which immediately 
 refers to the subject under discussion : I mean the 
 ardent desire expressed by St Paul to return to that 
 felicity, from which the order of Providence forced 
 Iiim away, to replace him in the world. 
 
 Nothing can convey to us a more exalted idea of 
 the transfiguration of Jesus Christ, than the effects 
 which it produced on the soul of St Peter. That 
 apostle had scarcely enjoyed a glimpse of the Re- 
 deemer's glory on the holy mount, when behold he 
 is transported at the sight. Pie has no longer a de- 
 sire to descend from that mountain ; he has no 
 longer a desire to return to Jerusalem : he has for- 
 gotten every thing terrestrial, friends, relations, en- 
 gagements ; " Lord, it is good for us to be here ; if 
 thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles," Matt. 
 xyii. 4. and to the extremity of old age he retains 
 the impression of that heavenly vision, and exults in 
 the- recollection of it : '' He received from God the 
 Father honour and glory, when there came such a 
 voice to him from the excellent glory ; this is 
 my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 
 And this voice which came from heaven v/e heard, 
 when we were with him in the holy mount," 2 Pet. 
 i. 17, 18. 
 
 The idea of the celestial felicity lias made a simi- 
 larly indelible impression on the mind of St Paul. 
 More than fourteen years have elapsed since he was 
 blessed with the vision of it. Nay, for fourteen years 
 
 3 " he 
 
The Raptm^ of St Paul 257 
 
 he has kept silence. This object, nevertheless, ac- 
 companies him wherever he goes, and, in every situ- 
 ation, his soul is panting after the restoration of it. 
 And in what way was he to look for that restora- 
 tion ? Not in the way of extasij, not in a rapture. He 
 v/as not to be translated to heaven^ as Elijah, in a 
 chariot of fire. Necessity was laid upon him of sub- 
 mitting to the law imposed on every child of Adam : 
 // is appointed to all raen once to die^ Heb. ix. 27. 
 But no matter; to that death, the object of terror to 
 all mankind, he looks forward with fond desire. 
 
 But what do I say, that death simply was the path 
 which St Paul must tread, to arrive at the heavenly 
 rest ? No, not the ordinary death of most men ; but 
 death violent, premature, death arrayed in all its 
 terror. Nero, the barbarous Nero, was then upon 
 the throne, and the blood of a Christian so renowned 
 as our apostle, must not escape so determined a foe 
 to Christianity. No matter still. *' Let loose all 
 *' thy fury against me, ferocious tiger, longing ta 
 ** glut thyself with Christian blood : I defy thy 
 " worst. Come, executioner of the sanguinary 
 " commands of that monster ; I will mount the 
 *« scaffold with undaunted resolution : I will submit 
 '*^ my head to the fatal blow with intrepidity and 
 *' joy." We said, in the opening of this discourse, 
 Paul, ever since his rapture, talks only of dying, 
 only of being absent from the bod ff, only of Jims kin £^ /m 
 course, only oi departing, *' We that are in this taber- 
 nacle do groan, being burdened ; . . . . willing rather 
 to be absent from the body, and to be present with 
 the Lord,*' 2 Cor. v. 4, 8. " Neither count 1 my Hfe 
 dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course 
 with joy, and the ministry which [ haVe received of 
 the Lord Jesus," Acts xx. 2k " having a desire to de- 
 part, and to be with Christ, which is far better," Phl^l. 
 i. 2':'. We often find men braving death, when at a 
 distance, but slirinking from the nearer approach of 
 the king of terrors. But the earnestness of our apos- 
 
 yoT,. VI. S tle'V 
 
558 The Rapture oj St Paul 
 
 tie's wishes is heightened in proportion as they draw 
 nigh to their centre : when he is arrived at the de- 
 parting moment, he triumphs, " I have fought a good 
 fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
 faith. Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righ- 
 teousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall 
 give me at that day," 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. 
 
 My brethren, you are well acquainted with St 
 Paul. He was a truly great character. Were we 
 not informed by a special Revelation that he was in- 
 spired by the Spirit of God, we must ever entertain 
 high ideas of a man, who had derived his extensive 
 knowledge from the pure sources of the Jewish dis- 
 pensation ; who had ennobled his enlarged and capa- 
 cious mind by all that is more subHme in Christi- 
 anity ; of a man, w^hose heart had always obeyed the 
 dictates of his understanding; who opposed Christi- 
 anity with zeal, so long as he believed Christianity 
 to be false, and who bent the full current of his zeal 
 to the support of Christianity, from the moment he 
 became, persuaded that it was an emanation from 
 God. 
 
 St Paul was a man possessed of strong reasoning 
 powers, and we have in his writings many monu- 
 ments which will convey down to the end of the 
 world, the knowledge of his intellectual superiority. 
 Nevertheless this man so enlightened, so sage, so 
 rational ; this man who knew the pleasures of hea- 
 ven by experience, no longer beholds any thing on 
 the earth once to be compared with them, or that 
 could for a moment retard his wishes. He con- 
 cludes that celestial joys ought not to be considered 
 as too dearly purchased, at whatever price it may 
 have pleased God to rate them, and whatever it may 
 cost to attain them. *' / reckon^ says he, J reckon 
 " v»^hat I suffer, and what I may still be called to 
 "suffer, on the one side: and / reckon^ on the 
 *^ other, the glory of which I have been a witness, 
 ** and which I am still to enjoy : I reckon, that the 
 
 *' sufferings 
 
Tlie Rapture of St Paul. 959 
 
 " sufFerings of this present time are not worthy to 
 *' be compared with the glory which shall be reveal- 
 " ed in us, Rom. viii. 18. Having a desire to depart, 
 »' and to be with Christ'' Phil. i. 23. 
 
 Eut who is capable of giving an adequate repre- 
 sentation of his transports, so as to make you feel 
 them v\ith greater energy, and, were it possible, to 
 transfuse them into your hearts ? Represent to your- 
 self a man, who has actually seen that glory, of 
 which we can give you only borrowed ideas. Re- 
 present to yourself a man, who has visited those 
 sacred mansions which are in the house of the Father, 
 .Tohn xiv. 2. a man who has seen the palace of the 
 sovereign of the universe, and those thousands^ those 
 thousand thousands which surround his throne, Dan. 
 vii. 10. a man who has been in that new Jerusalem, 
 lohich comet h doimi out of heaven^ Rev. iii. 12. in 
 that new heaven^ and that neio earthy Rev. xxi. I. 
 The inhabitants of which are angels, archangels, 
 the seraphim ; of which the lamb is the sun and the 
 temple. Rev. xxi. 22, 2.^. and where God is all in 
 all, I Cor. XV. 28. Represent to yourself a man, 
 who has heard those harmonious concerts, those tri- 
 umphant choirs which sing aloud day and night : 
 Holif^ hobj^ holij is the Lord of Hosts ; the x^hole earth 
 is full of his glorif, Isa. vi. o. a man who has heard 
 those celestial multitudes which cry out, saying, 
 Alleluia; salvation^ and glorij, and honour, and power , 
 
 unto the Lord our God and the four and twenty 
 
 elders reply, saifing^ Amen ; Alleluia let us be 
 
 glad and rejoice, for the marriage of the l^amb is come, 
 and /lis zdfe hath made herself read//, Rev. xix. 1, 4, 7, 
 Represent to yourself a man who has been received 
 into heaven by those angels who rejoice over one sin- 
 ner that repeuieth, Luke xv. 7. and who redouble 
 their acclamations when he is admitted into the 
 bosorn of glory ; or, to say somewhat which has a 
 still nearer relation to the idea which we ought to 
 conceive of St Paul, represent to yourself a man 
 
 hearins" 
 
260 The Rapture of St Paul 
 
 bearing in his bodif^ the marks of the Lord Jesus ^ Gal, 
 vi. 17. and beholding that Jesus in the bosom of the 
 Father : represent to yourself that man giving way to 
 unrestrained effusions of love, embracing his Savi- 
 our, clinging to his feet, passing, in such sacred 
 transports of delight, a time which glides away, un- 
 doubtedly, with rapidity of which we have no con- 
 ception, and which enables the soul to comprehend 
 how, in the enjoyment of perfect bliss, a thousand 
 years fly away with the velocity of one day : represent 
 to yourself that man suddenly recalled to this valley of 
 tears, beholding that third heaven^ those archangels, 
 that God, that Jesus, all, all disappearing ; Ah, my 
 brethren, what regret must such a man have felt ! 
 What holy impatience to recover the vision of all 
 those magnificent objects I What is become of so 
 much felicity, of so much glory ! Was I made to 
 possess them, then, only to have the pain of losing 
 them again 1 Did God indulge me with the beatific 
 vision only to give me a deeper sense of my misery 1 
 
 moment too fleeting and transitory, and have you 
 fled never to be recalled I Raptures, transports, ex- 
 tasies, have ye left me for ever I *' My father, my fa- 
 ther, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof," 
 2 Kings ii. Ii2. " As the hart panteth after the wa- 
 ter-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God : my 
 soul thirsteth for God, for the living God : when shall 
 
 1 come and appear before God ?'' Ps. xlii. 1,2. " How 
 amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts I My 
 soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the 
 Lord : my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living 
 God .... Blessed are they that dwell in thy house : 
 they will be still praising thee 1 thine altars, thine al- 
 tars, O Lord of hosts, my king, and my God V Psal. 
 Ixxxiv. 1, 8tc. 
 
 My God, wherefore enjoy we not at this day such 
 privileges, that we also might be filled with such 
 sentiments ! Boundless abysses, which separate be- 
 tween heaven and earth, why are ye not, for a sea- 
 son, 
 
The Rapture of St Paul 361 
 
 5Dn, filled up to us, as ye were to this apostle ! Ye 
 torrents of endless delight, wherefore roll ye not to 
 us, some of your precious rills, that they may teach 
 us a holy contempt for those treacherous joys which 
 deceive and ensnare us! 
 
 My brethren, if ceasing from the desire of mani- 
 Testations which we have not, we could learn to avail 
 ourselves of those which God has been pleased to 
 bestow I v;ere we but disposed to listen to the infor- 
 mation which the scriptures communicate, respec- 
 ting the heavenly felicity I If we would but examine 
 the proofs, the demonstrations which we have of 
 eternal blessedness I If we but knew hov/ to feed on 
 those ideas, and frequently to oppose them to those 
 voids, to those nothings, which are the great ob- 
 ject of our pursuit! If we w^ould but compare them 
 with the excellent nature of our souls, and with the 
 dignity of our origin ! then we should become like 
 St Paul. Then nothing would be able to damp 
 our zeal. The end of the course would then employ 
 every wish, every desire of the heart. Then no 
 dexterity of management would be needful to intro- 
 duce a discourse on the subject of death. Then we 
 should rejoice in those who might say to us, Let us 
 go up to Jdrusalem, Then we should reply, our feet 
 shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem ! Fs. cxxii. S, 
 Then we should see that fervour, that zeal, that trans- 
 ports, are the virtues, and the attainment of the dying. 
 
 You would wish to be partakers of St Paul's rap- 
 ture to the third heaven, but if this privilege be de- 
 nied you to its full extent, nothing forbids your as- 
 piring after one part of it at leas.t. When was it 
 that St Paul was caught up into paradise ? You 
 have been told : it was when engaged in prayer. 
 WJiile I prayed in the temple^ says he, / was in a trance. 
 Acts xxii. 17. The word trance or extasjj is of in- 
 determinate meaning. A man in an cxtasy is one 
 whose soul is so entirely devoted to an object, that 
 he is, in some sense, out of his own body, and no 
 
 longer 
 
262 The Raptures of St Paul 
 
 longer perceives what passes in it. Persons addicted 
 to scientific research, have been known so entirely 
 absorbed in thought, as to be in a manner insensible 
 during those moments of intense application. Ex- 
 iasy, in religion, is that undivided attention which 
 attaches the mind to heavenly objects. If any thing 
 is capable of producing this effect, it is prayer. It 
 is by no means astonishing that a man who has en- 
 iered into his closet^ and shut the door, Mat. vi. 6. 
 who has excluded the world, w^ho has lost sight of 
 every terrestrial object, whose soul is concentrated, 
 and lost in God, if I may use the expression, that 
 such a man should be so penetrated with admiration, 
 •with love, with hope, with joy, as to become hkc 
 one rapt in an extasy. 
 
 But farther. It is in the exercise of prayer that God 
 is pleased to communicate himself to us in the most 
 intimate manner. It is in the exercise of prayer, 
 that he unites himself to us in the tenderest manner. 
 It is in the exercise of prayer, that distinguished 
 saints obtain those signal marks of favour, which are 
 the object of our most ardent desire. A man who 
 prays : a man whose prayer is employed about de- 
 tachment from sensible things : a man who blushes, 
 in secret, at the thought of being so swallowed up of 
 sensible things, and so little enamoured of divine ex- 
 cellencies : a man who asks of God, to be blessed 
 with a glimpse of his glory, with a foretaste of the 
 felicity laid up in store for him, and that he would 
 fortify his soul against the difficulties and dangers of 
 his career: such a man may expect to be, as it 
 were, wrapt in an extasy, either by the natural effect 
 of prayer, or by the extraordinary communications 
 which God is pleased to vouchsafe to those who call 
 upon his name. 
 
 From this source proceeds that earnest longing to 
 depart, such as Paul expressed : hence that delight- 
 ful recollection of the pleasure enjoyed in those de- 
 vout exercises, pleasures that has rendered the soul 
 
 insensible 
 
The Rapture of Si Paul ^i^^ 
 
 insensible to the empty delights of this world ; hence 
 the idea of those blessed moments which occupy the 
 mind for fourteen years together, and which produ- 
 ces, at the hour of death, a fervour not hable to sus- 
 picion : for, my brethren, there is a fervour which I 
 am disposed to suspect. I acknowledge, that when 
 I see a man who has all his life long stagnated in the 
 world, affecting, at the hour of death, to assume 
 the language of eminent saints, and to say, / have a 
 desire to depart: mij soul thirst ethjor God ^ for the living 
 God ; becoming all at once a seraph, burning with 
 zeal ; I acknowledge myself to be always under an 
 apprehension, that this zeal derives its birth from 
 some mechanical play, or to the unaccountable duty 
 which the sick impose upon themselves, even such 
 of them as are most steadily attached to the earth, of 
 declaring that they feel an earnest desire to leave it. 
 But a man who, through life, has l^een busied about 
 eternity, whose leading aim was to secure a happy 
 eternity, who has, as it were, anticipated the plea- 
 sures of eternity, by habits of devotion ; a man wjio 
 has been absorbed of those ideas, who has fed upon 
 them ; a man who, having devoted a whole life to 
 those sacred employments, observes the approach 
 of death with joy, meets it with ardent desire, zeal, 
 transport, such a man displays nothing to excite sus' 
 picion. 
 
 And is not such a state worthy of being envied ? 
 This is the manner of death which I ask of thee, O 
 my God, when, after having served thee in the sane* 
 tuary, like the high priest of old, thou shalt be 
 pleased, of thy great mercy, to admit me into the 
 holy of holies. This is the manner of death which 
 I wish to all of you, my beloved hearers. God grant 
 that each of you may be enabled powerfully to in- 
 culcate upon his own mind, this great principle of 
 religion, that there is a third heaven, a paradise, a 
 world of bliss over our heads ! God grant that each 
 €f you may attain the lively persuasion, that this is 
 
 the 
 
554 ' The Rapture of Si Paul. 
 
 the only desireable felicity, the only felicity worthy 
 of God to bestow, and of man to receive ! God 
 grant that each of you, in meditation, in prayer, in 
 those happy moments of the Christian hfe in which 
 God communicates himself so intimately to his crea- 
 tures, may enjoy the foretastes of that fehcity ; and 
 thus, instead of fearing that death which is to put 
 you in possession of so many blessings, you may con- 
 template it with holy joy, and say, *' This is the 
 *' auspicious moment which I have so long wished 
 " for, which my soul has been panting after, which 
 " has been the burden of so many fervent prayers ; 
 ** Lord, 710W lettest thou thij setvant depart m peace^ 
 ** according to thij xvord, for mine eyes have seen thy sal- 
 *' vation^'' May God in mercy grant it to us all. To 
 liira be honour ^nd glory for ever. Amen. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 On Numbering oui' Days, * 
 
 jPSALM XC. 19, 
 
 So teach us to number our daijs^ that loe may apply our 
 hearts unto zaisdom, 
 
 THROUGH what favour of indulgent heaven 
 does this church nourish in its bosom members 
 sufficient to furnish out the solemnity of this day, 
 and to compose an assembly so numerous and respec- 
 table ? Through what distinguishing goodness is it, 
 that you find yourselves with your children, with 
 your friends, with your Fellow citizens ; no, not all of 
 them, for the mourning weeds in which some of you 
 are clothed plainly indicate, that death has robbed 
 us, in part, of them, in the course of the year which 
 is just terminated. But through what distinguishing 
 goodness is it, that you find yourselves, with your 
 
 children, 
 
 * Delivered in the church of Rotteidam, on New-Year's day, 
 1127. 
 
9bG On Jiumherwg our Days, 
 
 children with your friends, with your fellow-citizens, 
 collected together in this sacred place ? 
 
 The preachers who filled the spot which I have 
 now the honour to occupy, and whose voice resound- 
 ed through this temple at the commencement of the 
 last year, derived, from the inexhaustible fund of hu- 
 man frailty and infirmity, motives upon motives to 
 excite apprehension that you might not behold the 
 end of it. They represented to you the fragility of 
 the organs of your body, which the slightest shock is 
 able to derange and to destroy ; the dismal accidents 
 by which the life of man is incessantly threatened ; 
 the maladies, without number, which are either en- 
 tailed on us by the law of our nature, or which are 
 the fruit cf our intemperance ; the uncertainty of hu- 
 man existence, and the narrow bounds to which life, 
 at the longest, is contracted. 
 
 After having filled their mouths with arguments 
 drawn from the stores of nature, they had recourse 
 to those of religion. They spake to you of the li- 
 niited extent of the patience and long-suffering of 
 God. They told you, that to each of us is assigned 
 only a certain number of days of visitation. They 
 thundered in your ears such warnings as these : *' Ga- 
 ther yourselves together, yea gather together, nation 
 not desired ; before the decree bring forth. . . .before 
 the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you," Zeph. 
 ii. 1,2. "I will set a plumb-line in the midst of my 
 people : I will not again pass by them any more," 
 Amos vii. 8. *' Yet forty days and Nmeveh shall be 
 overthrown : yet forty days and Nineveh shall be 
 overthrown,'" Jonah iii. 4. 
 
 How is it possible that we should have escaped, 
 at the same time, the miseries of nature, and the 
 fearful threatenings of religion ? And to repeat my 
 questioii once more, through what favour of indul- 
 gent heaven does this church nourish in its bosom 
 iiierabers sufficient to furnish out the solemnity of 
 
 this 
 
On numhering our Days. 267 
 
 this day, and to compose an assembly so numerous 
 and respectable ? 
 
 It is to be presumed, my brethren, that the prin- 
 ciple which has prevented our improvement of the 
 innumerable benefits with which a gracious Provi- 
 dence is loading us, prevents not our knowledge of 
 the source from which they flow. It is to be pre- 
 sumed, that the first emotions of our hearts, when 
 we, this morning, opened our eyes to behold the 
 light, have been such as formerly animated holy 
 men of God, when they cried aloud, amidst the re- 
 sidue of those whom the love of God had delivered 
 from the plagues inflicted by his justice, in the days 
 of vengeance : " It is of the Lord's mercies that we 
 are not consumed, because his compassions fail not : 
 they are new every morning," ]^am. iii. 22, 23. 
 " Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very 
 small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and 
 we should have been like unto Gomorrah," Is. i. 9. 
 
 Wo I Wo I Anathema upon anathema I be to him 
 
 who shall dare henceforth to abuse But no, 
 
 let us not fulminafe curses. Let not sounds so dread- 
 ful affright the ears of an audience like this. Let us 
 adopt a language more congenial to the present day. 
 We come to beseech you, my beloved brethren, by 
 those very mercies of God to which you are indebted 
 for exemption from so many evils, and for the en- 
 joyment of so many blessings ; by those very mer- 
 cies which have this day opened for your admission^ 
 the gates of this temple, instead of sending you 
 down into the prison of the tomb ; by those very 
 mercies, by which you were, within these few days, 
 invited to the table of the Eucharist, instead of be- 
 ing summoned to the tribunal of judgment; by these 
 tender mercies we beseech you to assume sentiments, 
 and to form plans of conduct, which may have 
 something like a corresponderice to what God ha5^ 
 been pleased to do in your behalf 
 
 And 
 
i26S 0)1^ numbering our Daijs, 
 
 And thou, God Almighty, the Sovereign, the Sear* 
 cher of all hearts', thou who movest and directest them 
 which way soever thou wilt! vouchsafe, almighty God, 
 to open to us the hearts of all this assembly, that they 
 may yield to the in treaties which we address to them 
 in thy name, as thou hast been thyself propitious to 
 the prayers which they have presented to thee. Thou 
 hast reduced ike measure of our days to an hand breadth : 
 Ps. xxxix. 5, and the meanest of our natural facul- 
 ties is sufficient to make the enumeration of them : 
 but so to number our days^ as that is^e may applij our 
 hearts tmto wisdom, we cannot successfully attempt 
 without thy all-powerful aid— Lor^, so teach us to 
 number Qur days^ thcU we mmj apply our hearts unto 
 wis^/om. Amen. 
 
 In order to a clear comprehension of the words of 
 my text, it v/ould be hecessary for me to have it in 
 iTiy power precisely to indicate who is the author of 
 them, and on what occasion they were composed. 
 The Psalm, from which they are taken, bears this in- 
 scription, ^ praijer of Moses ^ the man of God. But 
 who was this Moses ? And on the supposition that 
 the great legislator of the Jews is the person meant, 
 did Fie actually compose it? Or do the words of the 
 superscription, A prayer of Moses^ tlie man of God^ 
 amount only to this, that some one has imitated his 
 style, and, in some measure, caught his spirit, in 
 this composition ? This is a point not easily to be 
 decided, and which mdeed does not admit of com- 
 plete demonstration. 
 
 The opinion most venowable from its antiquity, 
 and the most generally adopted, is, that this Psalm 
 was composed by the Jewish Lawgiver, at one of 
 the most melancholy conjunctures of his life, when 
 after the murmuring of the Israelites, on occasion of 
 the report of the spies, God pronounced this tre- 
 m^endous decree : '* As trulv as I live, all lYiQ earth 
 
 ^hcili 
 
 f 
 
On numbering our Dm/s, 969 
 
 shall be filled with the glory of the Lord .... your 
 carcases shall fall in this wilderness ; and ail that were 
 numbered of you, according to your whole number 
 .... shall not come into the land, concerning which I 
 sware to make you dwell therein," Num. xiv. 21,29,30. 
 
 If this conjecture be as well founded as it is pro- 
 bable, the prayer under review is the production of 
 a heart as deeply affected with grief, as it is possible 
 to be without sinking into despair. Never did Moses 
 feel himself reduced to such a dreadful extremity, as 
 at this fatal period. It appeared as if there had been 
 a concert between God and Israel to put his con- 
 stancy to tlie last trial. On the one hand, the Israel- 
 ites wanted to make him responsible for all that 
 was rough and displeasing in the paths through 
 w^hich God was pleased to lead them; a^id it seemed 
 as if God, on the other hand, v;ould likewise hcjd 
 him responsible for the complicated rebeUions of 
 Israel. 
 
 Moses opposes to this just displeasure of God a 
 buckler which he had often employed with success ; 
 namely, prayer. That which he put up, on this 
 occasion, was one of the most fervent that can be 
 imagined. But there are situations in which all the 
 fervour, of even the most powerful intercessor, is 
 wholly unavailing. There are seasons Vv^hen, thougli 
 Moses and Samuel stood up before God, Jer. xvi. 1. to 
 request him to spare a nation, the measure of whose 
 iniquity was corae to the full, they would request in 
 vain. In such a situation was Moses now placed. 
 Represent to yourselves the deplorable condition of 
 the Israelites, and the feelings of that man, whose 
 leading character was meekness ; and who, if w^ 
 may be allowed the expression, carried that rebelli- 
 ous people in the tenderest and most sensible part of 
 his soul : to be excluded from all hope beyond 
 thirty or forty years of life, and to be condemned to 
 pass these in a desert ; what a fearful destiny I 
 
QJO On 7iiimhering our Days, 
 
 What course docs Moses take! Dismissed, so ta 
 speak, banished from the throne of grace, does he 
 however give all up for lost ? No, my brethren. He 
 was unable by intreaty to procure a revocation of the 
 sentence pronounced against persons so very dear to 
 him, he limits himself to imploring, in their behalf* 
 wisdom tp make a proper use of it. " Thou hast 
 "sworn it, great God; and the oath, which thy 
 " adorable lips have pronounced against us, can 
 " never be recalled. Thou hast sworn that none 
 *' of us, who came out of Egypt, shall enter into 
 *' that land, the object of all our hopes and 
 *' prayers. Thou hast sworn that die we must, 
 " after having lingered out, for forty fears, a miser- 
 " able existence in this wilderness, a habitation fitter 
 *»* for ferocious beasts of prey, than for reasonable 
 *' creatures, than for men whom thou hast chosen, 
 " and called thy people. The sighs which my soul 
 *' has breathed to heaven for a remission are una- 
 *' vailing ; the tears which I have shed in thy bosom, 
 '* have been shed in vain ; these hands, once power- 
 ** ful to the combat, these hands which were stronger 
 " than thee in battle, these hands against which 
 *' thou couldst not hold out, which made thee say, 
 *• let fne alone, that my wrath mail wax hot against 
 " them, and that I maif consume them, Exod. xxxii. 
 " 10. : these hands have lost the blessed art of pre- 
 " vailing with God in the conflict ! Well, be it 
 *' so. Let us die, great God, seeing it is thy sove- 
 " reign will I Let us serve as victims to thy too 
 '' just indignation ; reduce our life to the shortest 
 *' standard. But at least, since we had not the wis- 
 '* dom to avail ourselves of the promises of a long 
 *' and happy life, teach us to live as becomes per- 
 " sons who are to die so soon. Lord, so teach us to 
 " number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto 
 " wisdom, ^^ 
 
 This 
 
On 7iumh€nng our Daijs* ^y 1 
 
 This is a general idea of the end which our text 
 lias in view. But let us enter somewhat more deep- 
 ly into this interesting subject. Let us make appli- 
 cation of it to our own life, which bears a resemblance 
 so striking to that which the children of Israel were 
 doomed to pass in the wilderness. We are to en- 
 quire j 
 
 I. What is implied in numbering our days. 
 
 II. What are the conclusions which wisdom de- 
 duces from that ehumeratiori. 
 
 I. In order to make a just estimate of our day?, 
 let us reckon, 1. Those days, or divisions of time, in 
 w^hich we feel neither good nor evil, neither joy nor 
 griefj and in which we practise neither virtue nor 
 vice, and which, for this reason, I call days of nothing- 
 ness ; let us reckon these, and compare them with the 
 days of reality. 2. Let us reckon the days of adver- 
 sity, and compare them with the days of prosperity, 
 3, Let us reckon the days of languor and weariness, 
 and compare them with the days of delight and plea- 
 sure. 4. Let us reckon the days which we have de- 
 voted to the world, and compare them with the days 
 which we have devoted to religion. 5, Finally, Let 
 us calculate the amount of the whole, that we may 
 discover how long the duration is of a life consisting 
 of days of nothingness and of reality ; of days of pros- 
 perity and of adversity ; of days of pleasure and of 
 languor; of days devoted to the world, and to the 
 salvation of the soul. 
 
 1 . Let us reckon the days of nothingness, and com- 
 pare them with the days of reality. 1 give the ap- 
 pellation of claf/s of tiuthinf^ness to all that portion of 
 our life in which, as I said, we feel neither good nor 
 evil, neither joy nor grief; in wliich we practise nei~ 
 :i ther 
 
^72 On numbering our Dai/s. 
 
 ther virtue nor vice, and which is a mere nothing 
 with respect to us. 
 
 In this class must be ranked, all those hours which 
 human infirmity lays us under the necessity of passing 
 in sleep, and which run away with a third part of 
 our life : time, during which we are stretched in a 
 species of tomb, and undergo, as it were, an antici- 
 pated death. Happy at the same time in being able, 
 in a death not immediately followed by the judgment 
 of God, to bury, in some measure, our troubles, to- 
 gether with our life ! 
 
 In this class must be farther ranked, those seasons 
 of inaction, and of distraction, in which all the facul- 
 ties of our souls are suspended, during which we 
 propose no kind of object to thought, during which 
 we cease, in some sense, to be thinking beings ; sea- 
 sons which afford an objection of no easy solution, 
 to the opinion of those who maintain that actual 
 thought is essential to mind ; and that from this very 
 consideration, that it subsists, it must actually think. 
 
 In this class must be farther ranked, all those por- 
 tions of time which are a burden to us ; not because 
 we are' under the pressure of some calamity, for this 
 will fall to be considered under another head, but 
 because they form, if I may say so, a wall between us 
 and certain events which we ardently wish to attain. 
 Such as when we are in a state of uncertainty re- 
 specting certain questions, in w?iich we feel ourselves 
 deeply interested, but which must remain undecided, 
 for some days, for some months, for some years. 
 We could wish to suppress all those intervals of our 
 existence, were God to put it in our power. Thus, 
 a child v*^ishes to attain in a moment, the age of 
 youth ; the young man would hasten at once into 
 the condition of the master of a family ; and some- 
 times the father of a family would rush forward to 
 the period when he should see the beloved objects of 
 his affection settled in the world : and so of other 
 cases. 
 
 3 In 
 
On numhenng our Days. 
 
 'j'rj 
 
 In tills class we may still rank certain seasons of pre- 
 paration and design ; such as the time which we spend 
 in dressing and undressing upon the road, and in other 
 similar occupations, insipid and useless in them^ 
 selves, and to which no importance attaches, but in so 
 far as they are the means necessary of attaining aa 
 object more interesting than themselves. 
 
 Reckon, if you can, what is the amount of this 
 first class of our days; compare them with what 
 we have called days of reahty. Whoever will take 
 the trouble to make such a calculation with any de- 
 gree of exactness, must be constrained to acknow- 
 ledge, that a man who says he has lived threescore 
 years, has not lived twenty complete : because though 
 he has in truth passed threescore years in the world, 
 forty of these stole away in listlessness and inaction, 
 and during this period, he was as if he had not been. 
 This is the first enumeration, the enumeration 
 of dat/s of notliing^iess compared v/ith days of reali- 
 
 2. Let us reckon the daijs oj adversitij, and com- 
 pare them with the days of prosperitfj. To what a 
 scanty measure would human life be reduced, were 
 we to siabtract from it those seasons of bitterness of 
 soul which God seems to have appointed to us, rather 
 to furnish an exercise to our patience, than to make 
 us taste the pleasures of living. 
 
 What is life to a man, who feels himself condemn- 
 ed to live in a state of perpetual separation from per- 
 sons who are dear to him ? Collect into one arid the 
 same house, honours, riches, dignities ; let the tables 
 be loaded with a profusion of dainties ; display the 
 most magnificent furniture ; let ail that is exquisite 
 in music be provided ; let every human delight con- 
 tribute its aid : all thai is necessary to render all these 
 insipid and disgusting, is the absence of one beloved 
 object, say a darling child. 
 
 VOL, VI. T Whai; 
 
274 On numheting our Days. 
 
 What is life to a man who has become infamous, 
 to a man who is execrated by his fellow-creatures, 
 who dares not appear in public, lest his ears should 
 be stunned with the voice of malediction, thundering 
 in every direction upon his head ? 
 
 What is life to a man deprived of health ; a man 
 delivered over to. the physicians ; a man reduced to 
 exist mechanically, who is nourished by merely stu- 
 died aliments, Vv^ho digests only according to the 
 rules of art, w'ho is able to support a dying life o\\\f 
 by th^ application of rem.edies still more disgusting 
 than the very maladies v;hich they are called in to 
 relieve? 
 
 What is life to a man arrived at the age of decre- 
 pitude, who feels his faculties decaying day by day, 
 when he perceives himself becoming an object of pity 
 and forbearance to all around him, or rather becom- 
 ing absolutely insupportable to every one ; when he 
 imagines he hears himself continually reproached 
 with being an incumbrance on the face of the earth, 
 and that he is occupying, too long, a place which he 
 ought to resign to one w^ho might be more useful to 
 society ? 
 
 But this is not the worst of the case. Nothing 
 more is necessary in many cases, than a whim, a mere 
 chimera, to disturb the happiest and most splendid 
 condition of human life. 
 
 Now, in which of our days shall we find those 
 pure joys, which no infusion of bitterness has poi- 
 soned ? In which of our days is it possible for us to 
 behold the perfect harmony of glory in the state of 
 triumph in the church, of vigorous health, of pros- 
 perous fortune, of domestic peace, of mental tran- 
 quillity ? In which of the days of our life did this 
 concurrence of felicities permit us to consider our- 
 selves as really happy ? 
 
 Farther, if, in the ordinary current of our days, 
 we had been deprived of only a few of the good things 
 of life, while he possessed all the rest, the great num- 
 ber 
 
On numbering our Dai/s\ S75 
 
 ber of those which we enjoyed, might minister 
 consolation under the want of those which Providence 
 had been pleased to with-hold. But how often would 
 an almost total destitution of good, and an accumu- 
 lation of wo, render life unsupportable, did not sub- 
 mission to the will of God, or rather, did not divine 
 aid enable us to bear the ills of life ? 
 
 Shall I have your permission, my brethren, to go 
 into a detail of particulars on this head ? For my 
 own part, who have been in this world during a pe- 
 riod not much longer than that which the children 
 of Israel passed in the wilderness ; I have scarcely 
 heard any thing else spoken of, except disasters, de- 
 solations, destructive revolutions. Scarcely had I 
 begun to know this church, into which I had been 
 admitted in baptism, when I was doomed to be the 
 melancholy spectator of the most calamitous events 
 which can be presented to the eyes, or the imagina- 
 tion of man. Have you forgotten them, my dear com- 
 patriots, my beloved companions in affliction, have 
 you forgotten those days of darkness ? Have you for- 
 gotten those cries of the children of Edom : "Rase it, 
 rase it, even to the foundation thereof," Ps. cxxxvii. 
 7. ^ Have you forgotten those dead bodies of our bre- 
 thren, " given to be meat unto the fowls of heaven, 
 the flesh of the saints unto the beasts of the earth ; 
 their blood shed like water round about Jerusalem, 
 and none to bury them,*' Ps. Ixxix. 2, 3.? 
 
 In order to escape calamities so many and so griev- 
 ous, we were reduced to the necessity of fleeing front 
 the place of our birth. We were constrained to 
 drag about, from place to place, a miserable life, 
 empoisoned by the fatal shafts which had pierced us. 
 We were constrained to present objects of compas- 
 sion, but often importunately troublesome, to the 
 nations whither we fled in quest of a place of re- 
 fuge. We w^ere reduced to the misery of being in- 
 cessantly haunted with the apprehension of failing in 
 the supplies necessary to the most pressing demands 
 
 2 of 
 
276 On numbering our Days. 
 
 of life, and to those of education, as dear as even the 
 support of Hfe. 
 
 Scarcely did we find ourselves under covert from 
 the tempest, when we felt that we were still exposed 
 to it, in the persons of those with whom we were 
 united in the tenderest bonds. One post run to meet 
 another^ and one messenger to meet another : to adopt 
 the prophet^s expression, Jer. li. 31. to announce 
 dismal tidings. Sometimes the message bore, that 
 a house had been recently demolished : sometimes 
 that a church had just been sapped to the founda- 
 tion ; sometimes w^e heard the affecting history of an 
 undaunted believer, but v/hose intrepidity had ex- 
 posed him to the most cruel torments ; at another 
 time, it was of a faint hearted Christian whom ti- 
 midity had betrayed into apostasy, a thousand times 
 more to be deplored than tortures and death in their 
 most horrid form. 
 
 Received into countries whose charity extended 
 their arms, to embrace us, it seemed as if we car- 
 ried wherever we went, a part of those disasters from 
 which we w^ere striving to make our escape. For 
 these forty years past, my brethren, what repose has 
 Protestant Europe enjoyed ? One war has succeeded 
 to another war, one plague to another plague, one 
 abyss to another abyss. And God know^s, God 
 only knows, whether the calamities which have for 
 some time pressed these states around on every side ; 
 God only knows whether or not they are to be but 
 the beginning of sorrows I God only knows what 
 may be preparing for us by that avenging arm 
 which is ever lifted up against us, and that flaming 
 sword, whose tremendous glare is incessantly daz- 
 zling our eyes ! God only knows how long our bul- 
 warks against the ocean may be able to withstand 
 those formidable shocks, and those violent storms, 
 which an insulted God is exciting to shatter them I 
 
 God knows But let us not presume to draw 
 
 ^side 
 
On numhering our Days, 277 
 
 ■aside the veil under which Providence has been 
 pleased to conceal the destiny of these provinces 
 from our eyes. It is abundantly evident, that were 
 we to subtract from the number of our days, those 
 heavy periods of existence, when we hve only to 
 suffer ; were we to reckon the days of prosperity 
 alone, our life would be reduced to an imperceptible 
 duration ; we should not discover any exaggeration 
 in the expressions which Moses employs to trace the 
 image of the Hfe of the Israelites, in the preceding 
 context : *' Thou turnest man to destruction j and 
 sayest, Return, ye children of men : thou carriest 
 them away as with a flood : they are as a sleep : in 
 the morning they are like grass which groweth up : 
 In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up ; in 
 the evening it is cut dov/n and withereth. 
 
 3. Let us reckon the daijs of languor and weariness^ 
 and compare them with the days of delight and plea- 
 sure. This particular must not be confounded with 
 the preceding. There is a wide difference between 
 the days which we have called those of adversity^ 
 and whi<:h we, under this head, call days of languor 
 and weariness. By days of adversitij we meant those 
 seasons of hfe, in which the privation of some world- 
 ly good, and the concurrence of many evils, render 
 us actually miserable. By days of languor and z^eati" 
 ness we now mean those in which exemption from 
 the ills of life, or the possession of its good things, 
 leaves the mind void and dissatisfied. 
 
 Let each of us here recollect the history of his 
 own life. How often has a man found himself a 
 prey to languor and disgust, in the midst ot those 
 very pleasures of life, which he had conceived to be 
 the most lively and affecting ? Objects in which we 
 generally take the greatest dehght, sometimes de- 
 press us into the most intolerable languor. It is 
 ;^requently suflicient for exciting distaste in us to an 
 
 object 
 
^JS On numhering our Days, 
 
 object, that we once doated on it : to such a degree 
 is the will of man capricious, fluctuating, and in- 
 constant. Parties of pleasure are sometimes pro- 
 posed and formed ; the place, the time, the company, 
 every thing is settled with the most soUcitous anxi- 
 ety ; the hour is looked to with eager impatience, 
 and nothing less is found than what the fond imagi- 
 nation had promised to itself. It is a mere phan- 
 toip, which had an appearance of solidity, when 
 viewed at a distance : we approach, we embrace it, 
 and lo, it melts away into air, " thin air." 
 
 The believer whose taste is purified, is undoubted- 
 ly better acquainted with this languor, when, 
 amidst the pleasures of this world, there occurs to 
 his mind one or another ot the reflections which 
 have been suggested, respecting the vanity of all hu- 
 man things : when he says to himself, '* Not one in 
 " this social circle, among whom I am partaking of 
 " so many delights, but would basely abandon me, if I 
 " stood in need of his assistance, did the happiness of 
 " my life impose on him the sacrifice of one of the 
 " dishes of his table, of one of the horses of his 
 " equipage, of one of the trees of his gardens.^' 
 When stating a comparison between the tide of 
 pleasure into which he was going to plunge, and those 
 which religion has procured him, he thus reflects : 
 '* This is not the joy which I taste when, alone with 
 " my God, I pour out before him a soul inflamed to 
 *' rapture with his love, and when I collect, in rich 
 " profusion, the tokens of his grace." When 
 coming to perceive that he has indulged rather too 
 far in social mirth, which is lawful only when re- 
 strained within certain bounds, he says within him- 
 self, " Are such objects worthy of the regard of an 
 "immortal soul? are these my divinities?" Then 
 it is he feels himself oppressed with languor and 
 disgust ; then it is that objects once so eagerly de- 
 sired 
 
On mimbemig our Dcujs. 579 
 
 sired, are regarded with coldness or aversion. Hence 
 that seriousness which overspreads his countenance, 
 hence that pensive silence into which he falls, in 
 spite of every effort to the contrary, hence certain 
 gloomy reflections which involuntarily arise in his 
 soul. 
 
 But this languor is not peculiar to those whose 
 taste piety has refined. There is a remarkable dif- 
 ference, however, in this respect, between the men 
 of the Vv'orld, and believers; namely, that the disgust 
 which the^e last feel in the pleasures of life, engages 
 them in the pursuit of purer joys, in exercises of de- 
 votion : whereas the others give up the pursuit of 
 one worldly delight, only to hunt after a new one, 
 equally empty and unsatisfying with that which they 
 had renounced. From that scanty portion of life, 
 in which we enjoy prosperity, we must go on to 
 subtract that other portion, in which prosperity is 
 insipid to us. Calculate, if you can, the poor 
 amount of what remains after this subtraction. 
 
 4. Let us reckon the claijs which we have devoted 
 to the xwrld, and compare them with those which 
 we have devoted to religion. Humiliating compu- 
 tation I But I take it for granted, that in your pre- 
 sent circumstances, it has been rendered famihar to 
 your thoughts. Christians who have been just con- 
 cluding the year with a participation of the holy or- 
 dinance of the Lord's supper, could hardly fail to 
 have put this question to their consciences, when 
 employed in self-examination, preparatory to that 
 solemn service : W/iat proportion of mij time has been 
 j^iven to GodP What proportion of it has been given to 
 the world? And it is sufficient barely to propose 
 the discussion of these questions, to come to this 
 melancholy conclusion : That the portion of our 
 life, which alone de.serves to be coi^sidered as con- 
 taining something solid and substantial, I mean the 
 portion which has been given to God, is of a dura- 
 tion 
 
f so On numbering our Dai/s. 
 
 tion so short as to be almost imperceptible ; when 
 compared with the years which the world has en- 
 grossed. 
 
 5. I proceed to the lasi computation proposed. 
 What is the amount of this total of human life 
 which we have thus arranged in different columns ? 
 What is the sum of this compound account of days 
 of nothingness and days of reality ; of days of pros- 
 perity and days of affliction ; of days of languor and 
 days of delight ; of days devoted to the world, and 
 days devoted to religion ? My brethren, it is God, it 
 is God alone, who holds our times in his hand, to 
 adopt the idea of the prophet, Psal. xxxi. \6. he 
 alone can make an accurate calculation of them. 
 And as he alone has fixed the term of our life, he 
 only is likewise capable of knowing it. It is not 
 absolutely impossible, however, to ascertain what 
 shall be, in respect of time, the temporal destination 
 of those who hear me this day. Let me suppose that 
 the present solemnity has drawn together an assem» 
 bly of eighteen hundred person^. I subdivide these 
 1800 into six different classes. 
 
 The 1st consisting of persons from 10 to 20 years 
 
 of age, amounting to , 5:)0 
 
 2d from 20 to 30 amounting to 440 
 
 3d...... 30 to 40 34i 
 
 4th 40 to 50 255 
 
 5th 50 to 60. 160 
 
 6th 60 and upwards 70 
 
 1800 
 
 According to the most exact calculations, of those 
 who have made such kind of researches their study, 
 each of these classes must, in the course of this year, 
 present to death, a tribute of ten persons. On this 
 eomputation, sixty of my present hearers must, be- 
 fore 
 
On numbering our Dmjs^ fSl 
 
 fore the beginning of another year, be numbered 
 with the dead. Conformably to the same rate of 
 computation, in 10 years, of the 1800 now present 
 
 there will remain ri70 
 
 In 20 years, only 830 
 
 In JO 4s0 
 
 In 40 '2:^0 
 
 In iO years, no more will be left than 70 
 
 Thus you see, my brethren, in what a perpetual 
 flux the human race is. The world is a vast theatre, 
 in which every one appears his moment upon the 
 stage, and in a moment disappears Every succes- 
 sive instant presents different scenery, a new decora- 
 tion. I represent the^e vicissitudes to mys^^lf, under 
 the emblem of what is felt by a man who is employ- 
 ed in turning over the pages of history. He pores 
 over his book, he beholds on this leaf, one people, 
 one king : he turns it, and lo, other laws, other 
 maxims, other actors, which have no manner of re- 
 lation to what preceded them 1 
 
 SERMON 
 
 ^,«*- 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 PART II; 
 
 On Numbering our Days, 
 
 Psalm xc. 19, 
 
 So teach lis to numoer our daijSy that xi}e may apply our 
 heorts unto wisdom, 
 
 WE have seen to what a measure human life 
 is reduced. To be made sensible of this 
 is a very high attainment in knowledge ; but it 
 is of still higher importance, thence to deduce 
 conclusions, which have a tendency to regulate the 
 workings of your mind, the emotions of your 
 heart, the conduct of your life : and to assist you in 
 this, is, 
 
 II. The second object which we proposed to our- 
 selves in this discourse. This is what the prophet 
 asks of God in the text, this we would earnestly im- 
 plore in your behalf, and this prayer we wish you to 
 
 adopt 
 
284? On number ing our Daijs. 
 
 adopt for yourselves : Lord^ so teach us to number our 
 datjs^ that zi;e maij appljj our hearts unto zc'isdom* 
 
 1. The first conclusion deducible from the re- 
 presentation given, is this : the vanity of the life 
 which now is, affords the clearest proof of the life to 
 come. This proof is sensible, and it possesses two 
 advantages over all those which philosophy supplies, 
 toward demonstrating the immortality of the soul. 
 The proof of our immortality, taken from the spiri- 
 tuality of the soul, has, perhaps, a great deal of so- 
 lidity ; but it is neither so sensible, nor so incon- 
 testable. I am lost, when I attempt to carry my me- 
 taphysical speculations into the interior of substances. 
 I do not well know what to reply to an opponent 
 who presses me with such questions as these : " Do 
 ^' you know every thing that a substance is capable 
 *' of .^ Are your intellectual powers such as to qua- 
 *' lify you to pronounce this decision, Such a sub* 
 " stance is capable only of this, and such another only of 
 '^ thatr This difficulty, at least, always recurs, 
 namely, that a soul, spiritual and immortal of its 
 own nature, may be deprived of immortality, should 
 it please that God who called it into existence, to 
 reduce it to a state of annihilation. 
 
 But the proof which we have alleged is sensible, 
 it is incontestable. I can make the force of it to be 
 felt by a peasant, by an artisan, by the dullest of hu- 
 man iDcings. And I am bold enough to bid defiance 
 to the acutest genius, to the most dexterous sophist, 
 to advance any thing that deserves the name of rea- 
 soning in contradiction to it. How I is it pos- 
 sible that this soul capable of reflecting, of rea- 
 soning, of laying down principles, of deducing con- 
 sequences, of knowing its Creator, and of serving 
 him, should have been created for the purpose 
 merely of acting the poor part which man fills on 
 the earth ? How I the souls of those myriads of in- 
 fants, who die before they are born, to be annihi- 
 lated, after having animated, for a few months, an 
 
 embryo. 
 
On nutnhenng our Dap. 285 
 
 embryo, a mass of unfinished organs, which nature 
 did not deign to carry on to perfection I How I 
 The Abrahams, the Moseses, the Davids, and the 
 multitudes of those other holy men, to whom God 
 made so many and such gracious promises, shall 
 they cease to be, after having been strangers and pil- 
 grims upon the earth ? How ! that cloud of zoitnesses-^ 
 who, rather than deny the truth, submitted lo be 
 stoned^ to be sawn asunder^ to be tempted^ to be slam 
 with the sicord, who n'midered about in sheep- skins-, 
 and goa: -skins ^ being destitute^ ajflicted^ tonuenied; 
 Heb. xi. 13, 37? How! That cloud of ziutnesses 
 evaporate into smoke, and the souls of martyrs pass 
 into annihilation amidst the tortures inflicted by an 
 executioner ! Ye confessors of Jesus Christ, who 
 have borne his reproach for thirty years together, 
 who have yielded up your back to the rod of a tor- 
 mentor, who have lived a life more painful than 
 death in its most horrid form I You to have no other 
 reward of all your labours and sniferings, except 
 those poor gratuities which man bestows after you 
 have finished your career? Howl those noble fa- 
 culties of soul bestowed on man, merely to sit, for 
 a few years, upon a tribunal, for a few years to dip 
 into arts and sciences ? . . . . What brain could di- 
 gest the thought I What subtilty of metaphysiCciI 
 research, what ingcniousness of sophistry can en- 
 feeble the proof derived from such appearaiices as 
 these ? O brevity of the present economy ! 
 vanity of human life 1 O miseries upon miseries 
 with which my days are depressed, distracted, em- 
 poisoned, I will complain of you no longer I I be- 
 hold light the most cheering, the most transporting, 
 ready to burst forth from the bosom of that gloomy 
 liight into which you have plunged me ! you con- 
 duct me to the grand, the animating doctrine of 
 immortality ! The vanity of th.e present life, is the 
 proof of the life which is to co:r.e. This is our first 
 conclusion. 
 
 2. The 
 
^86 On numhenng our Dai/i, 
 
 9, The second conclusion v/e deduce is this : 
 neither the good things, nor the evil, of a Hfe which 
 passes away with so much rapidity, ought to make a 
 very deep impression on a soul whose duration is 
 eternal. Do not tax me of extravagance. 1 have 
 no intention to preach a hyperbohcal morahty. I do 
 not mean to maintain such a wild position as this, 
 " That there is no reality in either the enjoyments 
 *' or the distresses of life : that there is a mixture in 
 •* every human condition, which reduces all to 
 " equality : that the man who sits at a plentiful 
 "table is not a whit happier than the man who 
 " begs his bread.'* This is not our gospel. Tem- 
 poral evils are unquestionably real. Were this life of 
 very long duration, I would deem the condition of 
 the rich man incomparably preferable to that of the 
 poor ; that of the man who commands, to that of 
 him who obeys ; that of one who enjoys perfect 
 health, to that of one who is stretched on a bed of lan- 
 guishing. But however real the enjoyments and the 
 distresses of life may be in themselves, their tran- 
 sient duration invalidates that reahty. You, who have 
 passed thirty years in affliction I there are thirty years 
 of painful existence vanished away. You, whose 
 woes have been lengthened out to forty years ! There, 
 are forty years of a life of sorrow vanished away. 
 And you who, for these thirty, forty, fifty years 
 past, have been living at ease, and drowned in plea- 
 sure ! What is become of those years ? The time 
 which both the one and the other has yet to live, 
 is scarcely worth the reckoning, and is flying away 
 with the same rapidity. If the brevity of life does 
 not render all conditions equal, it fills up, at least, 
 the greatest part of that abyss which cupidity had 
 placed between them. Let us reform our ideas : let 
 us correct our style : do not let us call a man happy 
 because he is in health : do not let us call a sick 
 man miserable : let us not call that absolute felicity, 
 which is only borrowed, transitory, ready to flee 
 
 away 
 
On numbering our Days, g87 
 
 away with life itself. Immortal beings ought to 
 make immortality the standard by which to regulate 
 their ideas of happiness and misery. Neither the 
 good things, nor the evil, of a life so transient, 
 ought to make a very deep impression on a soul whose 
 duration is eternal. This was our second conclu- 
 sion. 
 
 3. But if I be immortal, what have I to do 
 among the dying ? If I be destined to a never end- 
 ing duration, wherefore am I doomed to drag out a 
 miserable life upon the earth ? If the blessings and 
 the miseries of this life are so disproportionate to my 
 natural greatness, wherefore have they been given 
 to me ? Wherefore does the Creator take a kind of 
 pleasure in laying snares for my innocence, by pre- 
 senting to me delights which may become the source 
 of everlasting misery ; and by conducting me to eternal 
 felicity, through the sacrifice of every present com- 
 fort ? This difficulty, my brethren, this pressing 
 difficulty leads us to, 
 
 A third conclusion : this life is a season of proba- 
 tion, assigned to us for the purpose of making our 
 choice between everlasting happiness or misery. This 
 life, considered as it is in itself, is an object of con- 
 tempt. We may say of it, with the sacred writers, 
 that it is a shadow zvhich passeth Qwnij ; a vanitij^ which 
 has nothing real and solid ; a Jlozcer which fadeth ; 
 grass which withereth and is cut down ; a vapour 
 which dissolves into air ; a dream which leaves no 
 trace after the sleep is gone ; a thought which pre- 
 sents itself to the mind, but abideth not ; an appari- 
 tion^ a nothing before God. 
 
 But when we contemplate this life, in its relation 
 to the great end which God proposes to himself, in 
 bestowing it upon us, let us form exalted ideas of it. 
 Let us carefully compute all its subdivisions ; let us 
 husband, with scrupulous attention, all the instants 
 of it, even the most minute and imperceptible ; let 
 
 1 us 
 
28 S On numbering our Dap, 
 
 us regret the precious moments which we have ir- 
 recoverably lost. For this shadow which passeth, 
 this vamti/ which has nothing real and solid, this 
 floxoer which fadeth, this grass which is cut down 
 and withereth, this vapour which melteth into air, 
 this forgotten drearn^ this transient thought^ this appa- 
 rition destitute of body and substance, this nothings 
 this span of life, so vile and contemptible, is time 
 which we must redeem, £ph. v. 16. « time of visita- 
 tion which we must knozv, Luke xix. 44 : a time ac- 
 cepted, a daij of salvation which we must improve^ 
 2 Cor. vi, 2 ; a period of forbearance^ and long-suf- 
 fering which we must embrace, Rom. ii 4. a time 
 beyond which there shall be time no longer^ Rev. x. 6. 
 because after life is finished, tears are unavailing, 
 sighs are impotent, prayers are disregarded, and re-* 
 pentance is ineffectual. We proceed to deduce a 
 
 4. Fourth conclusion : a life through w'hich more 
 time has been devoted to a present world, than to 
 preparation for eternity, corresponds not to the 
 views which the Creator proposed to himself, when 
 he placed us in this economy of expectation. We 
 were placed in this state of probation, not to sleep, 
 to eat, and to drink, we v/ere placed here to prepare 
 for eternity. If therefore we have devoted more of 
 our time to such functions as these, than to prepa- 
 ration for eternity ; if, at least, we have not adapted 
 these functions to the leading object of eternity ; if 
 we have not been governed by that maxim of St 
 Paul, 1 Cor. X. 3 ; : Whether ye eat or drink^ or 
 zvhatsoever ye do, do all to the glorif of God, we cer- 
 tainly have not conformed to the views which the 
 Creator proposed to himself, in placing us under this 
 economy of expectation and trial. 
 
 We were placed in this state of probation, not 
 merely to labour for the provision and establishment 
 of our families ; we are pi iced here to prepare for 
 eternity. If, therefore, vve have devoted more of 
 our time and attention to the provision and estabHsh- 
 
 3 ment 
 
On mmhering our Dai/s\ ^S9 
 
 ment of our families, than to preparation for eter- 
 nity ,~ if, at least, we have not adapted to the lead- 
 ing object of eternity, our soHcitude and exertions 
 in behalf of oiir families, we certainly have not con- 
 formed to the views which the Creator proposed to 
 himself, in placing us under this economy of expec- 
 tation and trial. 
 
 We were placed In this state of probation, not 
 merely to govern states, to cultivate arts and scien- 
 ces ; we are placed here to prepare for eternity. If, 
 therefore, we have not directed all our anxieties and 
 exertions, on such subjects as these, to the leading ob- 
 ject of eternity, we certainly have not conformed to 
 the views which the Creator proposed to himself, in 
 placing us under this economy of expectation and 
 triaL Imagine not that we shall be judged accord- 
 ing to the ideas \vhich we ourselves are pleased to 
 form of our vocation. We are under an economy 
 of expectation and trial : time then is given us, that 
 we may prepare for eternity. A life, therefore, 
 throusfh which more time and attention have been 
 devoted to the pursuits of this world, than to pre- 
 paration for eternity ; corresponds not to the views 
 which the Creator proposed to himself, when he 
 placed us under this economy of expectation and 
 trial. This is the fourth conclusion. 
 
 5. We go on to deduce a fifth : A sinner who has 
 not conformed to the views which God proposed to 
 himself in placing him under an economy of discip- 
 line and probation, ought to pour out his soul in 
 thanksgiving, that God is graciously pleased still to 
 lengthen it out. Let each of you who, ^n taking a 
 review of his own life, must bear the dreadful testi- 
 mony against himseli", that he has most miserably 
 deviated from the views of his Creator, present to 
 God this day, a heart overflowing with gratitude, 
 that this tremendous sentence has not yet been ful- 
 minated against him : " Giv^ an account of thy 
 
 VOL. VI. U stewardship/' 
 
290 On numbering our Days, 
 
 stewardship," Luke xvi. 2. It is for this that life 
 ought to be prized as infinitely dear ; for this we 
 have unspeakable cause to rejoice, that we still be- 
 hold the light of this day. 
 
 " I have been in the world these thirty, forty, 
 *' threescore years ; and ever since I arrived at the 
 " exercise of reason, and felt the power of consci- 
 " ence, I have enjoyed every advantage toward at- 
 " taining the knowledge, and exhibiting the prac- 
 " tice of religion. Every display of mercy, and 
 " every token of fatherly displeasure have been em- 
 ** ployed to reclaim me. Not a book written to 
 " convince the understanding, but what has been 
 " put into my hands ; not a sermon calculated to 
 " move and to melt the heart, but what has been 
 " addressed to my ears. My corruption has prov- 
 '* ed too powerful for them all. My life has been a 
 " tissue, if not of enormous crimes, at least of dissi- 
 ** pation and thoughtlessness. If at any time I have 
 " shaken off my habits of listlessness and inaction, 
 " it was usually only to run into excesses, which 
 " have already precipitated so many precious souls 
 " into hell. When visited with sickness, when death 
 " seemed to stare me in the face, I seemed to be- 
 " hold, collected into one fatal moment, all the sins 
 *' of my life, and all the dreadful punishments which 
 " they deserve. I carried a hell within me ; I be- 
 " lieved myself to be encompassed by daemons and 
 " flames of fire ; I became my own executioner, 
 " when I called to remembrance that wretched time 
 " which I had lavished on the world and its lying 
 " vanities ; and I would have sacrificed my life a 
 " thousand and a thousand times to redeem it, had 
 *' God put it in my power ; I would have given the 
 " whole world to bring back but one poor moment 
 *' of that precious time which I had so prodigally 
 *' squandered away ; and God in mercy ineffable, is 
 " still prolonging that day of visitation.'^ 
 
 6. Finally, we farther deduce a sixth conclusion : 
 
 Creatures 
 
On Slumbering our Days, 29 1 
 
 Creatures in whose favour God is pleased still to 
 lengthen out the day of grace, the economy of long^ 
 suffering, which they have improved to so little pur- 
 pose, ought no longer to delay, no not for a moment, 
 to avail themselves of a reprieve so graciously in- 
 tended. Creatures who stand on the brink of the 
 grave, and who have too just ground to fear that 
 they should be thrust into hell, were the grave im- 
 mediately to swallow them up, ought instantly to 
 form a new plan of life, and instantly to set about 
 the execution of it. I conjure you, my brethren, by 
 the gospel of this day, I conjure you by all that is 
 powerful, all that is interesting, all that is tender, in 
 the solemnity which we are now assembled to cele- 
 brate, and in that of last Lord's day : I conjure you 
 to enter in good earnest into the spirit of this reflec- 
 tion, to keep it constantly in view through every 
 instant of the years which the patience of God may 
 still grant you. to make it as it were the rule of all 
 your designs, all your undertakings, of all your exer- 
 tions. Without this we can do nothing for you. 
 The most ardent prayers which we could address to 
 heaven on your behalf, this day would be as inef- 
 fectual as those which Moses formerly presented in 
 behalf of the children of Israel, to obtain a revoca- 
 cation of that awful doom : *' I sware in my wrath, 
 that they should not enter into my rest," Fs. xcv. 
 11. But if, on the contrary, you are wise to admit 
 the word of exliortation, we are warranted to hold 
 np our wishes for your salvation, as so many pro- 
 mises sealed, with that seal of God which standeth 
 sure, and immediately emanating from the mouth (^^ 
 that God, the Lord who changeth not. 
 
 Application. 
 
 I have embraced with avidity, my dearly beloved 
 brethren, the opportunity of contributing to the pre- 
 sent solemnity, to come to you at a juncture so de- 
 2 sirable./ 
 
^03 On numbering our Days, 
 
 sirable, and to bring to yoii the word of life, at a 
 season when 1 am at liberty to unfold to you a heart 
 which has ever been penetrated with a respectful 
 tenderness for this city, and for this church. Deign 
 to accept iny affectionate good wishes, with senti- 
 ments conformable to those which dictated them. 
 Venerable magistrates, to whose hands Providence 
 has committed the reins of government, you are 
 exalted to a station which our devotions contemplate 
 with respect ! But we are the ministers of a Master 
 whose commands control the universe ; and it is 
 from the inexhaustible source of his greatness, of 
 his riches, of his magnificence, that we draw the 
 benedictions which we this day pronounce upon 
 your august heads. May God vouchsafe to inspire 
 you with that dignity of sentiment, that magnanimi- 
 ty, that noble ambition, which enable the sovereigns 
 to whom he has entrusted the sword of his justice, 
 to found on the basis of justice, all their designs and 
 all their decisions I May it please God to inspire 
 you with that charity, that condescension, that af- 
 fability which sink the master in the father ! May it 
 please God to inspire you with that humility, that 
 self-abasement which engage Christian magistrates 
 to deposit all their power at the feet of God, and to 
 consider it as their highest glory to render unto him 
 a faithful account of their administration ! That ac- 
 count is a solemn one. You are, to a certain degree, 
 responsible, not only for the temporal, but for the 
 eternal happiness of this people. The eternal hap- 
 piness of a nation frequently depends on the mea- 
 sures adopted by their governors, on the care which 
 they employ to curb licentiousness, to suppress 
 scandalous publications, to procure respect for the 
 ordinances of religion, and to supply the church with 
 enlightened, zealous and faithful pastors. But ma- 
 gistrates who propose to themselves views of such 
 extensive utility and importance, are warranted to 
 
 expect 
 
On numhering our Days. 29S 
 
 expect from God, all the aid necessary to the ac- 
 complishment of them. And this aid, great God, 
 we presume to implore in behalf of these illustrious 
 personages ! May our voice pierce the heavens, may 
 our prayers be crowned with an answer of peace ! 
 
 Pastors, my dear companions in the great plan of 
 salvation, ye successors of apostolic men in the edi^ 
 Jying of the bochj of Christy and in the work of the mi^ 
 nistry ! God has set very narrow bounds to what is 
 called in the language of the world, our advance- 
 ment and our fortune. The religion which we pro- 
 fess, permits us not to aspire after those proud titles, 
 those posts of distinction, those splendid retinues 
 which confound the ministers of temporal princes 
 with the ministers of that Jesus whose kingdom is not 
 of this world. But whatever we lose with respect to 
 those advantages which dazzle the senses, is amply 
 compensated to us in real and solid blessings ; at 
 least if we ourselves understand that religion which 
 we make known to others, and if we have a due 
 sense of that high vocation with which we are ho- 
 noured of God. Slay thatGod, who hasconferred this 
 honour upon us, vouchsafe to endow us with that 
 illumination, and with those virtues, yvithout which 
 it is impossible for us to discharge the duties of it ia 
 a becoming manner ! May he vouchsafe to bestow 
 upon us that courage, that intrepidity, which are 
 necessary to our effectually resisting the enemies of 
 our holy reformation, nay, those too, who, under the 
 name of reformed, do their utmost to thwart and to 
 imdermine it ! May he vouchsafe to support us 
 amidst the incessant difficulties and opposition which 
 we have to encounter, through the course of our mi- 
 nistry, and to animate us by the idea of those su- 
 pereminent degrees of glory, which await those who, 
 after having " turned many to righteousness, shall 
 shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the 
 stars for ever and ever ! 
 
 Merchants, ye who are the support of this Re- 
 public, 
 
394 On numherhig 6ur Days. 
 
 public, and who maintain in the midst of us pro- 
 sperity and abundance, may God vouchsafe to con* 
 tinue his blessing upon your commerce ! May God 
 cause the winds and the waves, nature and the ele- 
 ments, to unite their influences in your favour*! But 
 above all, may God vouchsafe to teach you the great 
 art of " placing your heart there where your trea-* 
 sure is ; to make to 3^ourselves friends of the mam- 
 mon of unrighteousness ; to sanctify your prosperi- 
 ty by your charities, especially on a day like this, 
 on which every one ought to prescribe to himself 
 the law of paying an homage of charity to God who 
 is love^ and whose love has spared us to behold the 
 light of this day ! ' \.. 
 
 Fathers and mothers, with whom it is so delici- 
 ous for me to blend myself, under an address so 
 deeply interesting, may God enable us to view our 
 children, not as beings limited to a present world, 
 but as beings endowed with an immortal soul, and 
 formed for eternity ! May it please God to impress 
 infinitely more upon our hearts the desire of one 
 day, beholding them among the blessed in the king- 
 dom of heaven, than going on and prospering on 
 the earth ! May God grant us the possession of ob- 
 jects so endeared, to the very close of life, objects so 
 necessary to the enjoyment of life ! May God vouch- 
 safe, if he is pleased to take them away from us, to 
 grant us that submission to his will, which enables 
 us to support a calamity so severe ! 
 
 My dearly beloved brethren, this reflection chokes 
 my utterance. May God vouchsafe to hear all the 
 wishes and prayers which my heart has conceived, 
 and which my lips have uttered, and all those which 
 I am constrained to suppress, and which are more in 
 number than the tonfrue is able to declare ! Amen, 
 
 SER. 
 
SERMON X, 
 
 Tht true Glory of the Chrisfian. 
 
 Galatians vi. U. 
 
 But God forbid that I should glory ^ save in the cross of 
 our Lord Jesus Christy by vshom the zvorldis crucifix 
 ed unto me, and I unto the world. 
 
 THE solemnity which in a few days, we are go- 
 ing to celebrate, I mean the Ascension of 
 Jesus Christ, displays the triumph of the cross. The 
 Saviour of the world ascending in a cloud, received 
 up into heaven amidst the acclamations of the church 
 triumphant, removes the offence given by the Savi- 
 our of the world hanging on a tree. The period of 
 the crucifixion 1 acknowledge, was precisely that in 
 which he carried magnanimity to its most exalted 
 pitch. Never did he appear so truly great as when 
 "-descended into the lower parts of the earth,^^ Eph. 
 iv. 9. 'Miumbled, made of no reputation, obedient 
 unto death, even the death of the cross," Phil. ii. 7, 
 8. he accomplished what was most repulsive to na- 
 ture, in the plan of Redemption. But how difficult 
 is it to recognize heroism, when the hero terminates 
 hiG career upon a scaffold ! 
 
 The 
 
^96 Ths true Glory of the Christian, 
 
 The darkness which overspread the mystery of the 
 cross, is passing away ; the vails which concealed 
 the glory of Jesus Christ, begin to withdraw ; hea- 
 ven, which seenaed to have conspired with earth and 
 with hell, to depress and overwhelm him, declares 
 aloud in his favoiir; his splendour bursts out of ob- 
 scurity, and his glory from the very bosom of shame : 
 because " he made hiniself of no reputation, and 
 took upon him the form of a servant ; because he 
 humbled himself; because he became obedient unto 
 death, even the death of the cross : therefore God 
 also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name 
 which is above every name; that at the name of 
 Jesus every kaee should bow, of things in heaven, 
 and things in earth, and things under the earth,^' 
 Phil. ii. 9, 10. 
 
 What circumstances more proper could we have 
 selected, Christians, to induce ypu to seek your glory 
 ia the cross of your Saviour, than those which dis- 
 play it followed by so much pomp and magnifi- 
 cence ? I am going to propose to you as a model, 
 the man who of all others, best understood the my- 
 stery of the cross : for my part, says he, in the words 
 which I have read, " God forbid that I should glory, 
 save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
 the w^orld is crucified unto me, and I unto the 
 world." Let ps meditate on this subject, with all 
 that application of thought whirh it so justly merits. 
 
 And thou great High Priest, " Minister of the 
 true tabernacle ! thou holy, harmless, undehled, se- 
 parate from sinners, and made higher than the hea- 
 vens ; set on the right hand of the throne of the Ma- 
 jesty in the heavens,^' Heb, vii. 26. viii. 2, 1. gra- 
 ciously look down on this people, now combating 
 xmder the banners of the cross ! It is impossible for 
 lis to call to remembrance the great day of thy ex- 
 altation, without fixing our eyes upon thee, with 
 those blessed disciples of thine who were the wit- 
 nesses of itj without followjngthee, as they did with 
 
 the 
 
The true Glory of the Christian. 297 
 
 the bodily organ, and with all the powers of tliought, 
 and without crying out, "Draw us, Lord, we will 
 run after thee,'^ Cant. i. 4. But in giving way to 
 such desires, we misunderstand the nature of our 
 vocation. We must combat as thou hast done, in 
 order to triumph with thee. Well be it so ! *' Teach 
 my hands to war, and my fingers to tight," Ps, 
 cxUv. 1. Teach us to make thy cross a ladder, 
 whereon to mount to thy throne. Amen. 
 
 The text which we have announced, is, as it were, 
 a conclusion deduced from the chapters Wiiich pre- 
 cede it. We cannot possibly have a clear compre- 
 hension of it, without a general recollection of the 
 whole Epistle from which it is taken. St Paul in 
 writing to the Galatiaus, has this principally in view, 
 to revive the spirit of Christianity, which he himself 
 had diffused over the whole province of Galatia. 
 Never had preacher greater success, than the mini- 
 stry of our apostle was attended with in tiiis city of 
 the Lesser Asia. He himself gives this honourable 
 testimony in favour of the Galatians, in chap. iv. 
 ver, lo. that "they had received him as an angel 
 of God,^^ and, which is saying still more, "even as 
 Christ Jesus. But the Gauls of which this people 
 was a colony, have, in all ages, been reproached with 
 the faculty of easily taking impressions, and of los- 
 ing them with equal facility, The sentiments with 
 which St Paul had inspired them, shared the fate of 
 all violent sensations; th^t is, they were of no great 
 duration. With this he upbraids them in the very 
 beginning of the Epistle. 1 marvel^ says he to them, 
 chap. i. 6. "I niarvel that ye are so soon removed 
 from him that called you into the grace of Christ, 
 unto another gospel.'^ Mark the expression, re^ 
 moved unto another gospel. 
 
 We are not possessed of memoirs of the first ages 
 of the church sufficiently ample to enable us to de- 
 termine with precision, who were the authois of a 
 revolution so deplorable. But if we may give credit 
 
 to 
 
The true Glory of the Christian* 298 
 
 to two of the earliest historians, to whom we are in- 
 debted for the most complete accounts which we 
 have of the first fathers of heresy, I mean Philostra- 
 tus and St Epiphanius ; it was Cerinthus himself, 
 in the first instance, and his disciples afterwards who 
 marred the good seed which St Paul had sown in 
 the church of Galatia. One thing is certain, name- 
 ly, that respect for the ceremonial observances which 
 God himself had prescribed in a manner so solemn, 
 and particularly for the law of circumcision, was the 
 reason, or rather the pretext, of v^^hich the adversaries 
 of our apostle availed themselves to destroy the fruits 
 of his ministry, by exciting suspicions against the 
 soundness of his doctrine. St Paul goes to the root 
 of the evil : he conveys just ideas of these cere- 
 monial institutions ; he demonstrates, that however 
 venerable the origin of them might be, and whatever 
 the wisdom displayed in their establishment, they 
 had never been laid down as the essential part of re- 
 ligion, much less still, as the true means of reconcil- 
 ing men to God. We perceive at first sight, this 
 design of the apostle in the words of my text, and 
 through the whole Epistle, from which they are 
 taken. 
 
 But what is perhaps, not so easily discoverable in 
 it, but which ought to be very carefully observed, 
 is, that as St Paul was maintaining his thesis against 
 opponents of different sorts, so he likewise supports 
 it on different principles. Three descriptions of 
 persons argued in favour of the Levitical observances. 
 The first did so from a prejudice of birth and edu- 
 cation. The second, from an excess of complaisance. 
 The third from a criminal policy. 
 
 1. A part of the Jews who had been converted to 
 Christianity, could not help preserving a respect for 
 the Leviticai ceremonies, and wished to transmit the 
 observanceof them into tlie Qiristian church. These 
 were the persons who acted from a prejudice of birth 
 and education. 
 
The true Glory of the Christian. 299 
 
 2. Some of them more enlightened, out of com- 
 plaisance to others, would have wished to retain the 
 practice of those rites. In this class we find no less 
 a person than St Peter himself, as we learn from the 
 second chapter of this Epistle, the eleventh and fol- 
 lowing verses ; and what is most to be regretted in 
 the case, this apostle fell into such an excess of com^ 
 pliance, that he not only authorized by his example, 
 that respect which the Jews had for the Levitical in^ 
 stitutions; but, being at Antioch, when certain Jews 
 were sent thither by St James, he pretended to break 
 off all intercourse with the Gentile converts to 
 Christianity, because they had not submitted to the 
 ordinance of circumcision: in this he acted from an 
 excessive and timid complaisance. This weakness 
 of St Peter, to mention by the way, has been laid 
 hold of by one of the most declared enemies of 
 Christianity, I mean the philosopher Porphyry. 
 The reproaches which he vents against the Chris- 
 tians, on this ground appeared so galling to them, 
 that they had recourse to a pious fraud to defend 
 themselves. They alleged, nay, they perhaps, se- 
 riously believed that the person thus branded with 
 timidity, was not Peter the apostle, but one Cephas, 
 who, as they are pleased to give out, was of the 
 number of the seventy disciples of Jesus Christ, 
 mentioned in the gospel. A most chimerical sup- 
 position ! which has been latterly adopted by a ce- 
 lebrated Jesuit *, and which has swelled the cata- 
 logue of his extravagances, 
 
 3. But if some, from prejudice, wished to trans- 
 mit the Levitical ceremonies into (jhristianity, and 
 others from an excess of complaisance ; there was 
 still a third description of persons who did so, out 
 of a criminal policy. Such were the pagan converts. 
 Respecting wiiich it is necessary to remark, that the 
 Jewish religion was tolerated by the Roman Luvs ; 
 
 whereas 
 
 * Father Hardouin, in his Dissertation on Galatians ii. lo. 
 
SCO The true Gloiy of the Christian. 
 
 whereas the religion of Jesus Christ was proscribed 
 by them, and Christians were thereby exposed to 
 the most violent persecution. This it was which in- 
 duced the pagan converts to conform to the Leviti- 
 cai ceremonies, that they might pass for Jews, under 
 tills veil of Judaism. 
 
 A passage of St Jerome to this purpose, deserves 
 to be here inserted. " Caius Cesar, says he, * 
 " Augustus and Tiberius enacted laws, by which 
 " the Jev^'s dispersed over the Roman Empire, were 
 " authorized to practise the rites of their religion, 
 *' and the ceremonial institutions transmitted to 
 " them from their fathers. All those who were cir- 
 ''.cumciscd, though they had embraced Christiani- 
 ** ty, }Nert considered all over the pagan world, as 
 *' Jews: but all those who remained in a state of tin- 
 *' circumcision, while they professedly received th^^ 
 " gospel, were equally persecuted by Jews and pa- 
 " gans. There were teachers among them, there- 
 "commended circumcision to their disciples.^* 
 " fore, who, in order to screen themselves from these 
 " persecutions, submitted to be circumcised, and re>- 
 
 These are the words of St Jerome, and they thrpw 
 much light on what our apostle says in the i^^th 
 verse of the chapter, from which 1 have taken mv 
 text. *' As many as desire to make a fair shew in 
 the Piesh, they constrain you to be circumcised ; on- 
 ly lest they should suffer persecution for the cross 
 of Christ.'' And, as a relaxed morality has always 
 the most numerous supporters, w^e see that in the 
 church of Galatia, the teachers who made the 
 greatest use of this artifice, not only attracted the 
 greatest number of disciples, but likewise made that 
 superiority a source of vain-glorious boasting. This 
 is the sense of the words which immediately precede 
 
 our 
 
 * Hieron. torn. 9. in Gahf. vi. 12c 
 
The true Glory of tJie Christian. 301 
 
 our text : " For neither they themselv^es who are cir- 
 cumcised keep the law : but desire to have yon cir- 
 cumcised, that they might glory in your flesh.'' 
 
 These w-ere the three descriptions of opponents 
 against whom Paul had to maintain the inutility of 
 the observance of the Levitlcal ceremonial^ and to as- 
 sert the exclusive doctrine of the cross. 
 
 One of the principal causes of the obscurity of St 
 PauPs Epistles is this, that it is not, always easy to 
 distinguish the general arguments which that apostle 
 advances in them, from certain reasonings of a diffe- 
 rent kind, which are conclusive only against some 
 particular adversaries. Is it not evident, for exam- 
 ple, that all the consequences which he deduces from 
 the history of Hagar, whom he makes the emblem 
 of the Ancient Dispensation ; and from that of Sa- 
 rah, whom he makes the emblem of the Evangelical, 
 could make an impression only on the mind of Jews, 
 who were accustomed to allegory, and who parti- 
 cularly discovered it in the different condition of 
 that wife, and of that handmaid of Abraham ; as ap- 
 pears in many passages of Philo, which it would be 
 improper, at present to introduce. 
 
 Now, my brethren, it is impossible to have a clear 
 conception of the Epistles of onr apostle, without 
 carefully distinguishing those different adversaries 
 whom he had to com.bat, and the different argu- 
 ments which heempIov^VC confute them. Nay, this 
 distinction is the veryHKey which explains to us the 
 different conduct observed by the apostles toward 
 their proselytes. For they believed themselves ob- 
 liged, with respect to those who had come over from 
 Judaism, to tolerate that Levitical ceremonial to which 
 they were attached by the prejudices of birth : 
 whereas this connivance might have proved dani>er- 
 ous to others who conformed to the practice of it 
 merely from the dastardly motive which induced 
 them to disguise their reli2;ion5 or to screen them- 
 
 '»---^ ^ o 
 
 selves 
 
30:2 The true Glory of the Christian. 
 
 selves from the persecution to wJiich it exposed them 
 who gloried in making* profession of it. 
 
 But whatever difference there may be in the cha- 
 racter of the opponents whom the apostle was com- 
 bating, and in the arguments which he employed to 
 confute them, he presses on all of them this princi- 
 ple, on which the whole fabric of Christianity rests. 
 The sacrifice which Jesus Christ offered up, that of 
 his own life, is the only one capable of satisfying the 
 demands of divine justice, awakened to the punish- 
 ment of human guilt ; and to divide the glory of 
 the Redeemer'' s sacrijice ^\\\\ the Levitical ceremonial^ 
 was, as he expresses it, to preach another gospel ; was 
 to fall jrom grace ; was to lose the fruit of all the 
 sufferings endured in the cause of Christianity : was 
 a doctrine worthy of being rejected with execration, 
 were it to be preached even by an angel from heaven. 
 Our apostle gpes still further, he solemnly protests 
 that no worldly consideration should ever have power 
 to make him renounce this leading truth of the gos- 
 pel, that the more it exposed him to hatred and suf- 
 fering, the more he would rejoice in the knowledge 
 of it. and in making it known to others : in a word, 
 he declares he will continue to preach the gross, 
 were the consequence to be that he himself should 
 be nailed to it : " God forbid that I should glory, 
 save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom 
 the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the 
 world.^^ This is the general scope of the Epistle to 
 the Galatians, particularly of our text, which is the 
 conclusion of it. 
 
 But it is of importance to descend into a more 
 particular detail. And, in order to throw more light 
 Ofi my subject, I propose, as far as the limits pre- 
 scribed me permit, to attempt the three following 
 things : 
 
 I,. I shall examine, wherein those sentiments of 
 
 the 
 
The true Glory of the Christian. $03 
 
 the Christian consist, which enable him to say that 
 " the world is crucified unto him, and he unto the 
 world/' 
 
 II. I shall shew that in such sentiments as these 
 true glory consists. 
 
 III. I shall demonstrate that it is the cross of 
 Christ, and the cross of Christ alone, which can in- 
 spire us with these sentiments : from which I shall 
 deduce this farther consequence, that in the cross of 
 Christ alone we can find a just ground of glorying. 
 Vouchsafe us a few moments more of your attention, 
 to the elucidation of these interesting truths. 
 
 I. What is the disposition of mind denoted by 
 these expressions, " the world is crucified unto me ; 
 i am crucified unto the world ?" Jn order to have 
 just ideas of this reciprocal crucifixion, we must 
 comprehend, 1. The nature of it. S. The degrees. 
 3. The bitterness. 
 
 1. The nature of it. '' The world is crucified un- 
 to me ; 1 am crucified unto the world :" this is 
 a figurative mode of expression, importing a total 
 rupture with the world. Distinguish two different 
 senses in which the term zoorld may be taken : the 
 world of nature, and the world of cupidity. By the 
 world of nature we understand that vast assemblage 
 of beings which the almighty arm of Jehovah has 
 formed, but these considered as they are in them- 
 selves. By the world of cupidity, we understand 
 those self-same beings, considered so far as by our 
 abuse of them, they seduce us from the obedience 
 which we owe to the Creator. Of the natural world 
 it is said, Gen. i. 31. " God saw every thing that he 
 had made, and behold it was very good." And St 
 Paul says, 1 Tim. iv. 4. that "• every creature of 
 Godisgood . ;i . . if it be received vvi.th thanksgivinij;/' 
 
 I Tlie 
 
304- The true Glory of the Christian. 
 
 The Christian does not break with the world in this 
 first sense of the word. On the contrary, he makes 
 it the object of his frequent meditation ; he dis- 
 covers in it the perfections of the great being who 
 created it : " The heavens declare the glory of God ; 
 and the firmament sheweth his handy work/^ Ps. 
 xix. 1. Nay more, he makes it the object of his 
 hope: For the promise^ I quote the v/drds of St Paul, 
 in ch. iv. 13. of his Epistle to the Romans, *' for the 
 promise, that he should be the heir of the world was 
 made to Abraham ; And all things are yours ; 
 whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world,"' 
 1 Cor. iii. 2?. 
 
 It is of the world of cupidity, therefore, that our 
 apostle speaks in the words which I am attempting 
 to explain, that world of which it is said, *' The 
 world passeth away, and the lust thereof. Love not 
 the world, neither the things that are in the world,'* 
 1 John ii. 17, 1«5. The friendship of the imrld is enm- 
 ty wiih^ or as it might have been rendered, is hatred 
 to God, This is the world which is crucified to the 
 Christian ; the Christian is crucified to this world. 
 The apostle in exfiressing himself thus strongly^' re- 
 fines tipon a form of speech which frequently occurs 
 in scripture, that of dijing to an object. To die to an 
 object, is in the style of the sacred authors, to have 
 no farther intercourse with that object. In this sense 
 our apostle says in chap. ii. of this Epistle, ver. 19. 
 " I through the law am dead to the law ;'" in other 
 v;ords, the genius of severity which predominates in 
 the Mosaic economy, lays me under the necessity of 
 entirely renouncing it, that I might lite unto God ; 
 the meaning of which evidently is this, that I niay 
 have undivided recourse to a dispensation which 
 presents the Deity as more accessible to me. In like 
 manner, to die to the xwrld of cupidity^ or what amounts 
 to the same thing, to die unto sin^ is to renounce 
 sin, hoxo shall we zoho arc dead to sin live any longer 
 therein P likezme reckon ye also yourselves to be dead in- 
 
 f*f^ deed 
 
the true Glory of the Christian. S05 
 
 iteed unto sin ; but alive unto God, through Jesics Christ 
 our Lord, Rom. vi. 2, 1 1. I aril still quoting the 
 words of St Paul. 
 
 But as if a violent death were more realjy dying, 
 than death iri a milder form, Scripture, in order to 
 mark more decidedly the sincerity of the renuncia- 
 tion of the world, which is ascribed to the Christian, 
 is not satisfied with representing him as dead, but 
 holds him up as crucified to the world of cupidity i 
 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified xmth him^ 
 Rom. vi. 6. The If who are in Christ have crucified the 
 fiesh, with its lusts ; and in the text, the world is cru- 
 cified unto me, and I am crucified unto the world: that 
 is, illicit cupidity exists no longer with respect to 
 me, and I subsist no longer with respect to it. 
 
 2. There is, However, a certain degree of ambi« 
 guity in these ideas of deadne^s to the zmrld, of crU" 
 cifixlon to the world, of a total rupture loith the workh 
 For this reason it is that we said, that in order to 
 have just ideas of this disposition of mind, it is not 
 sufficient to comprehend the nature of it, but that 
 we should also understalnd the gradatioiis of which it 
 admits. If, in order worthily to sustain the Christiaxi 
 character, an absolute renunciation of the world, iji 
 the literal sense of the words, were indispensably ne- 
 cessary, where is the person, alas! who durst pre- 
 tend to assume that name ? Would it be a Noah ? 
 Would it be an Abraham ? Would it be a Moses ? 
 Would it be a David ? Would it be a Peter? Would 
 it be a Paul ? Would it be one of you, Ghristians of 
 our own days ? Who seem to have ca^rried piety to it? 
 highest degree of fervour, and who shine as lights in 
 the world, in the midst of a crooked atid perverse na- 
 tion, Phil. ii. 15. ? 
 
 Where, then, are those saints to be found, in 
 whom an ill-smothered cupidity emits no^ sparks ? 
 That female is an example of what is oajlWd virtue, 
 
 VOL. VI. X by 
 
506 The true Glory of the Christian. 
 
 by way of eminence, in her sex ; and which, accord- 
 ing to the ideas of the age in which we live, seems 
 to constitute the whole of virtue, as far as she is con- 
 cerned ; but, impregnable to all the assaults which 
 can be made upon her chastity, she succumbs under 
 the slightest temptation that attacks her on the side 
 of avarice ; and she loses all self-government, the mo- 
 ment you recommend to her, to take care that her cha- 
 rities be in something like proportion to her opulence. 
 
 That man is a pattern of reflective retirement, and 
 modest silence : but, unshaken by the rudest attacks 
 made upon his spirit of reserve, he yields to the 
 slightest soHcitations of pride, he decks himself out 
 with the names and titles of his ancestors, he admires 
 himself in the poorest effusions of his brain. How 
 easy would it be to multiply examples of this sort I 
 
 But if it be impossible to say, taking the ex- 
 pression in the strictness of interpretation, that the 
 Christian has broken off all commerce with the 
 world, that he is dead to the World, that the zi^orld is 
 crucified ^nto him^ and that he is crucified unto the 
 world ; he possesses this disposition of mind, never- 
 theless, in various respects, and to a certain degree. 
 He is crucified unto the worlds he is so in respect of in- 
 tention, he has that sincere will *' to pull down every 
 strong hold, every thing that exalteth itself against 
 the knowledge of God :" it is an expression of St 
 PauPs, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5. Hence such protestations as 
 these, " O Lord ! thou hast searched me, and known 
 me," Ps. cxxxix. 1 . " Lord I thou knowest that I love 
 thee," John xxi. 17. Hence the bitterness of regret 
 on account of remaining imperfection, *' O wretched 
 3iian that I am I who shall deliver me from the body 
 of this death V Rom. vii. 24. Hence those prayers 
 for the communication of fresh supplies of heavenly 
 aid; " Open thou mine eyes, that 1 may behold won- 
 drous things out of thy law," Ps. cxix. 18. " Teach 
 me to do thy will, for thou art my God : Thy spirit 
 
 is 
 
The true Glory of the Christian, ' 307 
 
 is good, lead roe into the land of uprightness," PsaL 
 cxliii. 10. 
 
 He is crucified unto the world. He is so in respect 
 of exertion and actual progress. Hence those un- 
 remitting conflicts with the remains of indwelHng 
 corruption : *' I keep under my body, and bring it in- 
 to subjection/' 1 Cor. ix. 27- Hence those advances 
 in the Christian course ; *' Not as though I had al- 
 ready attained, either were already perfect, but I fol- 
 low after. . . .This one thing I do, forgetting those 
 things which are behind, and reaching forth unto 
 those things which aire before, I press toward the 
 mark, for the prize of the high caUing of God in 
 Christ Jesus," Phil. iii. 12, 13, i4. 
 
 He is crucified unto the world. He is so in respect 
 of hope and fervour. Hence those sighings after 
 the dissolution of the body, which forms, as it were, 
 a wall of separation between God and us. Hence 
 those ardent breathings after a dispensation, an 
 economy of things, in which we shall be able to 
 give an unrestrained effusion to the love of order, and 
 be completely united to Jesus Christ, " For we that 
 are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened ; not 
 for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, 
 that mortality might be swallowed up of life,...., 
 knowing that whilst we are at home in the body, we 
 are absent from the Lord : . . , . and wiUing rather to 
 be absent from the body, and to be present with the- 
 Lord," 2 Cor. v. 4, 6, 8. 
 
 3. But the Holy Spirit, in representing to us 
 our renunciation of the v/orld, under the idea of a 
 deaths of a crucifixion^ intended to mark not only the 
 nature^ and the degrees of the disposition of mind 
 which these expressions denote ; but likewise to indi- 
 cate the d'ljjicalt'j^ the bitterness, of making such a 
 sacrifice. 
 
 In very rare instances do men die without suffer- 
 ing. Death, in the gentlest form, is usually preceded 
 
 2 ' by 
 
'A 
 
 508 The true Glort/ of the Christian. 
 
 by violent syinptoms, which some have denominated 
 the harbingers of death. These harbingers of death, 
 are^ mortal swoonings, feverish heats, paroxysms of 
 pain, tortures insupportable. Crucifixion, especial- 
 ly, was the most cruel punishment which human 
 justice, shall I call it ? or human barbarity ever in- 
 vented. The imagination recoils from the repre- 
 sentation of a man nailed to a tree, suspended by the 
 iron which pierces his hands and his feet, pressed 
 downward with the weight of his own body, the 
 blood of which is drained off drop by drop, till he 
 expires merely from excess of anguish. 
 
 Is this frightful image over-strained, when em- 
 ployed to represent the pains which the Christian is 
 called to endure, the conflicts which he has to main- 
 tain, the sacrifices which he is bound to make ; ago- 
 nies which he is under an indispensable necessity to 
 undergo, before he possibly can attain that blessed 
 state which our apostle had, through grace, arrived 
 at, when he said, in the words of my text, the zcor/d 
 is crucified unto me^ and 1 am crucified unto the world ^ 
 
 Represent to yourselves a Christian, represent to 
 yourselves a man as yet a novice in the school of 
 Jesus Christ, called to combat, sometimes the pro- 
 pensities which he brought with him into the world ; 
 sometimes to eradicate a habit which has grown up 
 in him, till it is become a second nature ; sometimes, 
 to stem the torrent of custom and example : some- 
 times, to mortify and subdue a headstrong passion, 
 .vhich engrosses him, transports him, drags him away 
 captive ; sometimes, to bid an everlasting farewell 
 to the place of his birth, to his kindred, and, like 
 Abraham, to go out^ not knozmng zi'hither he n^ent ; 
 sometimes, with that same patriarch, to immolate 
 an only son ; to tear himself, on a dying bed, from 
 friends, from a spouse, from a child, whoni he loves 
 as his own soul; and all this without murmuring 
 or complaining ; and all this, because it is the will 
 of God s and all this, with that submission which 
 
 was 
 
The true Glory of the Christian. 309 
 
 was expressed by Jesus Christ, the author and finisher 
 of the Christian's faith, his Redeemer and his pat* 
 tern: Not what I will, but what thou wtlt, Matt* 
 xxvi. 39. 
 
 O cross of my Saviour, how heavily dost thou 
 ^ress, when laid upon a man who has not yet carried 
 love to thee to that height which renders all things 
 easy to him who loveth ! O path of virtue, which 
 appeare^t so smooth to them who walk in thee, how- 
 rugged is the road which leadeth unto thee I O yoke 
 of Jesus Christ, so easy ! burden so light to him who 
 has been accustomed to bear thee ; how difficult, 
 how oppressive to those who are but beginning to 
 try their strength ! You see it, accordingly, my 
 brethren! you see it on the page of inspiration, to 
 renounce ike world of cupidity, is to present the body 
 in sacrifice : / beseech you^ brethren, bij the mercies of 
 God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, Rom. 
 xii. 1. it is to cut offo, r'lghi hand, it is to p!uck out a 
 right eife^ Matt. v. 29, 30. it is for a man to deny him- 
 self, it is to take up the cross : For if any one will come 
 after me, let him deny himself, and take up hts cross, and 
 follow me. Matt, xvi. 24 : it is, in a word, to be cru- 
 cified with Jesus Christ ; for / am crucified with ( 'hrist. 
 Gal. ii. 20 : and, in the words of the text, i'he world 
 is crucified unto me, and I am crucified unto the world. 
 My God, how much it costs to be a Christian ! 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 PART IL 
 
 The true Glory of the Christiaih 
 
 Galatians vi. 14. 
 
 Mut God forbid that I should glorify save in the cross 
 of our Lord Jesus Christy bif whom the world is cru^ 
 cified unto me^ and I unto the zoorld. 
 
 HAVING presented you with a general view of 
 the apostle's reasoning in this epistle ; having 
 considered it as an answer to thrcr different classes 
 of opponents, whom St Paul had to combat ; narae- 
 ly, those who maintained the observance of the Le* 
 viticai institutions^ to the disparagement of the gos- 
 pel, 1. From the prejudice of birth and education^ 
 2. From an excess of complaisance : 3. From cri- 
 minal policy : We proceeded to shew, that whatc er 
 difference of motive and opinion might prevail, 
 among these three descriptions of adversaries whom 
 our apostle had to encounter, and however different 
 the strain of reasoning which he employs, according 
 
 as 
 
SIS The Glory of the true Christian, 
 
 as the character of each demanded, he supports, in 
 opposition to them all, this principle, on which the 
 whole of Christianity rests, namely, th^t the sacri- 
 fice which the Redeemer offered up of his own life, 
 is alone capable of satisfying divine justice, and of 
 reconciling guilty man to God. 
 
 We then entered into a more particular detail on 
 the subject, by proposing, 
 
 J. To examine wherein that disposition of the 
 Christian consists, by which he is enabled, with St 
 Paul, to say, " the world is crucified unto me, and i 
 am crucified unto the world." 
 
 II. To shew, that in such dispositions as these, 
 true glory consists. 
 
 III. To demonstrate that it is the cross of Christ, 
 and the cross of Christ only, which can inspire us 
 with these sentiments ; as a foundation for this far- 
 ther conclusion, that in the cross of Christ alone we 
 can find a just ground of glorying. 
 
 The first of these three proposals we have endea- 
 voured to execute, by considering, 1. The nature of 
 this reciprocal crucifixion : 2. The gradations of 
 which it admits : 3. The difficulty^ the bitterness of 
 inaking a sacrifice so very painful. We now proceed 
 to what was next proposed, namely, 
 
 11. To shew, that in such dispositions as are ex- 
 pressed by our apostle, true glory consists. 
 
 In order to elucidate and confirm this position, I 
 mean to institute a comparison between the hero of 
 this world, and the Christian hero, in the view of 
 inaking it evidently apparent, that this last has in- 
 finitely the superiority over the other. From what 
 sources does the hero of this' world pretend to derive 
 his glory ? 
 
 The 
 
The true Glory of a Christian, SI 3 
 
 The hero of this world sometimes derives his glory, 
 from the greatness of the master to whom his ser- 
 vices are devoted. He congratulates himself on 
 contributing to the glory of those men who are so 
 highly exalted above the rest of mankind, on being 
 the support of their throne, and the guardian of their 
 crown. The Master, to whose service the Chris- 
 tian has devoted himself, is the King of kings : he 
 it is, in whose presence all the potentates of the earth, 
 " are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the 
 small dust of the balance," Isa. xl. \5, He it is, by 
 whose supreme authority *' kings reign, and princes de- 
 cree justice," Prov. viii. 15. It is true that the great- 
 ness of this adorable being raises him far above all 
 our services. It is true that his throne is established 
 for ever, and that the united force of all created 
 things would in vain attempt to shake it. But if 
 the Christian can contribute nothing to the glory of 
 so great a master, he publishes it abroad, he con- 
 founds those who presume to invade it, he makes it 
 to be known over the whole earth. 
 
 The hero of this world sometimes derives his 
 glory from the hatred with which he is animated, 
 against thfe enemy with whom he is making war. 
 What enemy more hateful can a man engage, than 
 the world ? It is the world which degrades us from 
 our natural greatness ; which effaces from the soul of 
 man, those traits which the finger of Deity himself 
 has impressed upon it ; which destroys our preten- 
 sions to a blessed immortahty. 
 
 The hero of this world sometimes derives his glo- 
 ry from the dignity of the persons who have preced- 
 ed him in the same honourable career. It is con- 
 sidered in the world, as glorious, to succeed those 
 illustrious men who have filled the universe with the 
 sound of their name, who have made terror to stalk 
 ]before them, and who signalized themselves by ex- 
 ploits 
 
314 The true Glory of the C/iristiati, 
 
 ploits more than human. The Christian has bee« 
 preceded in his career by patriarchs, by prophets, 
 hy apostles, by martyrs, by those multitudes of the 
 redeemed, out of every kindred, and tongue, and 
 people, and nation, Rev. v. 9. Those holy men have 
 been called to wage war with sin, as we are to sub- 
 due our passions ; to form in their inner man, as we 
 are, piety, charity, patience, the habit and the prac- 
 tice of every virtue. The Christian has been pre- 
 ceded in his career, by Jesus Christ himself, the 
 author and the finisher of the faith. *' Wherefore, 
 seeing we also are compassed about with so great a 
 cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and 
 the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run 
 "with patience the race which is set before us, looking 
 unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith ; who, 
 for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, 
 despising the shame," Heb. xii. 1, ^. 
 
 The hero of this world sometimes derives his glory 
 from the brilliancy of his atchievements. Bui who has 
 greater exploits to glory in than the Chr^tian can dis- 
 play? To shake off the yoke of prejudice, to de- 
 spise the maxims of men, to resist flesh and blood, to 
 subdue passion, to brave death, to suffer martyrdom, 
 to remain unmoved amidst the convulsions of dissolv- 
 ing nature, and, in the very v/reck of a labouring 
 universe, to be able to apply those exceeding great 
 and precious promises, which God has spoken by the 
 mouth of the prophet, h. liv. 10. " The mountains 
 shall depart, and the hills be removed ; but my kind- 
 ness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the co- 
 venant of my peace be removed, saith the Lord that 
 hath mercy on thee." These, these are the atchieve- 
 ments of the Christian. 
 
 The hero of this world sometimes derives his glory 
 from the benefit which he has procured for others, 
 from the blessings with which he has enriched his 
 
 country, 
 
The true Glory of the Chrisiian, S\3 
 
 country, from the slaves whose chains he has burst 
 asunder, from the monsters of which he has purged 
 the earth. Who is, in such respects as these, a great- 
 er benefactor to society than the Christian ? He is at 
 once, its bulwark, its light, and its model. 
 
 The hero of this world sometimes derives his glory, 
 from the acclamations which his exploits excite, and 
 from the magnificence of the recom pence with which 
 his merits are to be crowned. But whence pro- 
 ceed the acclamations which inflate his pride ? Does 
 it belong to venal souls, to courtiers, to hireling 
 panegyrists ; does it belong to persons of this de- 
 scription to distribute commendation and applause ? 
 Have they any thing like the idea of true glory ? Ex- 
 tend, Christian, extend thy meditations up to the 
 greatness of the Supreme Being I Think of that ado- 
 rable intelligence, who unites in his essence all that 
 deserves the name of great I Contemplate the Divi- 
 nity surrounded with angels, with archangels, with 
 the seraphim ! Listen to the concerts which those 
 blessed spirits compose to the glory of his name ! 
 Behold them penetrated, ravished, transported with 
 the divine beauties which are disclosed to their view ; 
 employing eternity in celebrating their excellency, 
 and crying aloud day and night : " Holy, holy, holy 
 is the Lord of hosts ! The whole earth is full of his glo- 
 ry," Is. vi.^. "Amen: Blessing,and glory, and wisdom, 
 and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, 
 be unto our God, for ever and ever I Amen," Rev. vii. 
 12. "Great and marvellous are thy works. Lord God Al- 
 mighty ! just and true are thy ways thou king of saints! 
 Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy 
 name ? for thou only art holy," Rev. xv. 3, 4. 
 
 This Being, so worthy to be praised, and praised 
 in a manner so worthy of him, he it is who has been 
 preparing acclamations for the conquerors of the 
 world. Yes, Christian combatant ! after thou hast 
 been treated " as the filth of the world, and the off- 
 scouring 
 
SI 6 The time Glory of the Christian* 
 
 scouring of all things," 1 Cor. iv. 13. after thou shalt 
 have mortified, subjected, crucified this flesh ; after 
 thou shalt have borne this cross, which v^^as once to 
 ilmJews, a stumbling block ; and to the Greeks foolish* 
 ness ; and which is still to this day, foolishness and a 
 stumbling-block to those who ought to consider it as 
 their highest glory to bear it ; thou shalt be called 
 forth in the presence of men and of angels ; the eye of 
 the great God shall distinguish thee amidst the innu- 
 merable company of the saints ; he shall address thee 
 in these words : Well done, good and faithful servant^ 
 Mat. XXV. 21 . He will fulfil the promise which he this 
 day is making to all who combat under- t]^ banner 
 of the cross : to him that overcometh^ will I grant to sit 
 with 7ne in my throne^ Rev. iii. 21. ^ 
 
 Ah 1 glory of the hero of this world, profane 
 panegyrics, inscriptions conceived in high swelHng 
 words of vanity, superb trophies, diadems, fitter to 
 «erv€ as an amusement to children, than to engage the 
 attention of reasonable men I what have ye once to 
 be compared with the acclamations, and with the 
 crowns prepared for the Christian hero? I sacrifice, 
 my brethren, to the standard prescribed to the dura- 
 tion of these exercises, the delicious meditations 
 which this branch of my subject so copiously sup- 
 phes, and all I farther request of you is a moment's 
 attention, while I endeavour to make you sensible, 
 that it is in the cross ot Jesus Christ alone, we find 
 every thing necessary to inspire these noble dispositions; 
 in order to deduce this consequence, that in the cross 
 of Jesus Christ alone, the Christian must look for true 
 glory ; and in order to justify this sentiment of our 
 apostle : God forbid that I should g lor ij^ save in the cross 
 r>J our Lord Jesus (Christ, by whom the world is cruel- 
 Jiedunio me^ and I unto the world! Under what aspect 
 can you contemplate the cross of Christ, that does not 
 dispose you to break off entirely with the world 1 
 III. If we consider that cross in respect of its har- 
 
 mony 
 
Th^ true Glory of the CJiristhm. 317 
 
 mony with the whole contradiction which Jesus 
 Christ endured upon earth, it has a pc)werfal ten- 
 dency to awaken in us the dispositio.ns which St 
 Paul expresses, so as to say with him, the zvorid k 
 crucified unto me, and I am crucified uni'o the worUL 
 Our great Master finishes upon a cross, a life passed 
 in contempt, in indigence, in mortification of the 
 senses, in hunger, in thirst, in weariness, in separa- 
 tion from the w^orld ; would it be becoming in li 
 Christian to lall himself to sleep in the arms of in- 
 dolence, to addict himself to the pleasuE\es of sense, 
 to suffer himself to be inchanted by the charms of 
 voluptuousness, to breathe after nothinjij but ease, 
 but convenience, but repose, but abundance r If the 
 Xi'orld hate you, ye know that it hated me be fore it hated 
 you. Remember the zmrd that I said unto n/ou, the ser- 
 vant is not greater than his lord, John xv. 18, 20. 
 
 If we consider the cross of Christ, in relation to the 
 sacrifice which is there offered up to dii ine justice^ 
 it has a powerful tendency to produce in us the dis- 
 positions expressed by St Paul, so as to be able to s .y 
 with him, *' The world is crucified unto m e, and I am 
 crucified unto the world," That worldly lii fe, those dis- 
 sipations, those accumulated rebellions against the com- 
 mands of heaven; that cupidity which t ngrosses us, 
 and constitutes ail our dehght, in what i s all this to 
 terminate? Observe the tempests which i t gathers a- 
 round the head of those who give themsel « es up to cri- 
 muial indulgence. Jesus Christ was perfc ctly exempt 
 from sin, but he took ours upon hims-elf, he bars 
 them in his own body on the tree, 1 Pet. ii. 24. and it 
 was for this end that he underv/ent, on tbat accursed 
 tree, all those torments which his divinity and his 
 innocence enabled him to support, witli out sinking 
 under the load. Behold in this, O sinner, the fear- 
 ful doom w^hich awaits thee. Yes, unless thou art 
 crucified with Christ by faith, thou shalt be by tlie juis- 
 tice of God. And then all the fury of that justice 
 
318 7'he true Glory of the Christian, 
 
 shall be levelled at thy head» as it was at his. Then 
 thou shalt be^ exposed on a dying bed to the dread- 
 ful conflicts which he endured in Gethsemane. 
 Thou shalt shudder at the idea of that punishment 
 which an avenging Deity is preparing for thee. 
 Thou shalt sweat as it were great drops of blood, 
 when the eye is directed to the tribunal of justice 
 whither thou art going to be dragged. Nay more, 
 thou shalt then be condemned to compensate, by the 
 duration of thy punishment, what the weakness of 
 thy nature Tenders thee incapable of supporting in 
 respect of weight. Ages accumulated upon ages 
 shall set no bounds to thy torments. Thou shalt be 
 accursed of God through eternity, as Jesus Christ 
 was in time : and that cross which thou refusedst to 
 bear for a time, thou must bear for ever and ever. 
 
 If we con sider the cross of Jesus Christy with rela- 
 tion to the atrocious guilt of those who despise a sa- 
 crifice of such high value, we shall feel a powerful 
 tendency to adopt the dispositions of St Paul, and 
 to say with him, " the world is crucified unto me, and 
 I am crucified unto the world." The image which I 
 would here trace for your inspection, is still that of 
 St Paul. T'his apostle depicts to us the love of the 
 world, as a contempt of the cross of Christ, and as a 
 renewal of l,he punishment which he suffered. The 
 idea of v;hal. such a crime deserves, absorbs and can- 
 founds his spirit ; he cannot find colours strong 
 enough to paint it ; and he satisfies himself with 
 asking, afer he had mentioned the punishment 
 inflicted on those who had violated the law of 
 Moses : " 0»f how much sorer punishment, suppose 
 ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden 
 under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood 
 of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an un- 
 holy thing, and hath done despite unto the spirit of 
 grace r" Hcb. x, 5!). ' 
 
 Here, 
 
The true Glory of the Christum. 313 
 
 Here, sinner, here read thy sentence I The voice 
 of the blood of the Son of God will cry from earth 
 to heaven for vengeance against thee. God will 
 one day call thee to give an account of the blood 
 of a Son so dear to him. He will say to thee as St 
 Peter did to those who shed it ; " Thou hasi denied 
 the Holy One and the just .... and killed the Prince 
 of Life" Acts iii. 14, 15. He will pursue thee with 
 all his plagues, as if thou hadst imbrued thy hands in 
 that blood, and as he has pursued those who were 
 actually guilty of that crime. 
 
 But let us press motives more gentle, and more 
 congenial to the dignity of ihe redeemed of the 
 Lord. If we consider the cross of Christ, in relation 
 to the proofs which he there displays to us of his 
 love, is it possible wc should find any thing too pain- 
 ful in the sacrifices which he demands of us ? Is 
 it possible for us to do too much for that Jesus wha 
 has done so much for us ? When the heart feels a 
 disposition to revolt against the morality of the gos- 
 pel ; when you are tempted to say, " This is a hard 
 saying, who can hear it ?" John vi. 60 : When the 
 gate of heaven seems too straiit for you ; when the flesh 
 would exaggerate the difficulties of working out your 
 salvation ; when it seems as if we were tearing the 
 heart from your bosom, in charging you to curb the 
 impetuosity of your temperament, to resist the tor-' 
 rent of irregular desire, to give a portion of your 
 goods to the poor, to. sacrifice a Daiiiah cr a Drusil- 
 la : follow your Saviour to Calvary : behold him 
 passing the brook Kidrcn, ascending the fatal Mount 
 on which his sacrifice was to be accomplisiied ; be- 
 hold that concourse of woes which constrain him to 
 cry out, Mij God^ mij God, why hast thou forsaken me P 
 Matt, xxvii. 46. If ye can, hold out against objects 
 like these ! 
 
 If we consider the cross of Jesus Christ, relatively 
 to the proofs which it supplies in support of the 
 
 3 doctrine 
 
320 The true Glorjj of the Chrisdanp 
 
 doctrine of him who there finished his life, it will be 
 a powerful inducement to adopt the sentiments of 
 St Paul. It is natural, I allov/, for reasonable beings, 
 of whom sacrifices are exacted, so costly as those 
 which Christianity prescribes, to expect full assu-» 
 ranee of the truth of that religion. It is impossible 
 to employ too much precaution, when the point in 
 question is whether or not we are to surrender vic- 
 tims so beloved. The slightest doubt on this head 
 is of essential importance. But is this article suscep- 
 tible of the slightest doubt? Jesus Christ sealed 
 with his blood the doctrine which he taught; he 
 was not only the hero of the religion which we 
 preach, but likewise the martyr of it. 
 
 If we consider the cross of Christ, relatively to the 
 aid necessary to form us to the sentiments expressed 
 by St Paul, it still powerfully presses us to adopt 
 them. It assures, on the part of God, of every sup- 
 port we can need, in maintaining the conflicts 
 to which we are called. It lays the founda- 
 tion of this reasoning, the justest, the most conclu- 
 sive which intelligence ever formed : " If God be for 
 us, who can be against us ? He that spared not his own 
 Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not 
 withhim also freely give us all things?" Rom. viii. 3 1,32. 
 
 And, to conclude this discourse by representing the 
 same images which we traced in the beginning of it^ 
 if we consider the cross of our Lord Jesus Christy rela- 
 tively to the glory which followed, it still presses us to 
 adopt the sentiments of St Paul in the text. The idea 
 of that glory carried Jesus Christ through all that 
 was most painful in his sacrifice. On the eve of con- 
 summating it, he thus addresses his heavenly Father : 
 " The hour is come that the Son of man should be glori- 
 fied. Father, glorify thy name Father, the hour is 
 
 come ; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify 
 thee .... I have glorified thee on the earth ; I have 
 finished the work which thou gavest me to do : and now, 
 O Father.glorify thou me with thine own self, with the 
 
 3 glwry 
 
The true Glory of the Christian. 321 
 
 glory which I had with thee before the world was,'* 
 John xii. 23, 28. xvii. 1, 4, 5. This expectation was 
 not disappointed The conflict was hmg, it was se- 
 vere, but it came to a period ; but heavenly mes- 
 sengers descended to receive him as he issued from 
 the tomb ; but a cloud came to raise him from the 
 earth ; but the gates of heaven opened, with the ac- 
 clamations of the church triumphant, celebrating his 
 victories, and hailing his exaltation in these strains: 
 *' Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, 
 ye everlasting doors, and the King of Glory shall 
 come in," Ps. xxiv. 7. 
 
 Christians ! let our eyes settle on this object. To 
 suffer with Jesus Christ, is to have full assurance of 
 reigning wath him. We do not mean to conceal 
 from you the pains which await you in the career 
 prescribed to the followers of the Redeemer. It i 
 a hard thing to renounce all that flatters, all that 
 pleases, all that charms. It is hard to be tpld in- 
 cessantly of difficulties to be surmounted, of ene- 
 mies to be encountered, of a cross to be borne, of 
 crucifixion to be endured. It is hard for a man to 
 mortify himself, while all around him are rejoicing ; 
 while they are refining on pleasure ; while they are 
 employing their utmost ingenuity to procure nevv'^ 
 amusements ; while they are distilling their brain to 
 diversify their delights ; while they are spending life 
 in sports, in feasting, in gaity, in spectacle on 
 spectacle. The conflict is long, it is violent, I ac- 
 knowledge it ; but it draws to a period ; but your 
 cross shall be followed by the same triumph which 
 that of your Saviour was : Father^ the hour is come, 
 glorify thy Son : but, you, in expiring on yoiu' cross ; 
 you shall with holy joy and confidence commend 
 your soul to God, as he commended his, and, 
 closing your eyes in death, say. Father ! into tJnj 
 haiids 1 commend my spirit^ Luke xxiii. 46. but the 
 angels shall descend to receive that departing spirit, 
 
 VOL. VI. Y " to 
 
S22 The true Gloiij of the Christian, 
 
 to convey it to the bosom of your God ; and after 
 having rejoiced in your conversion, they shall re- 
 joice together in your beatitude, as they rejoiced in 
 his ; but in the great day of the restitution of all 
 things, you shall ascend on the clouds of heaven, as 
 Jesus Christ did j you shall be exalted, like him, far 
 above all heavens ; and you shall assume, together 
 with him, a seat on the throne of the maiesty of 
 God. 
 
 Thus it is that the cross of Christ fbrm.s us to the 
 sentiments of our apostle; thus it is that we are 
 enabled to say, " The world is crucified unto us, 
 and we are crucified unto the world : thus it is that 
 the cross conducts us to the true glory. O glorious 
 cross ! thou shalt ever be the object of my study, 
 and of my meditation ! 1 will propose to myself to 
 know nothing, save Jesus Christ and him crucified ! 
 " God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is cru- 
 cified unto me, and I unto the world !" May God 
 grant us this grace ! Amen. 
 
 ::SEIIM0N i 
 
SERMON XI. 
 
 On the Fear of Death, 
 
 Heb. ii. 14, 15. 
 
 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers qfjlesh 
 and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the 
 same ; that through death he might destroy him that 
 had the power of death, that is, the devil ; and de- 
 liver them who through fear of death were all their 
 Ifetime subject to bondage, 
 
 TO know what death is, without being terrified 
 at it, is the highest degree of perfection at- 
 tainable by the human mind ; it is the highest point 
 of felicity which a man can reach, while in this val- 
 ley of tears. I say, to know death without fearing 
 it ; and it is in the union of these two things we 
 are to look for that effort of genius so worthy of 
 emulation, and that perfection of felicity so much 
 calculated to kindle ardent desire. For to brave 
 
 2 death 
 
224 On the Fear of Death, 
 
 death without knowing what it is ; to shut our eyes 
 against all that is hideous in its aspect, in order to 
 combat it with success, this is so far from indicating 
 a superior excellency of disposition, that it must be 
 considered rather as a mental derangement : so far 
 from being the height of felicity, it is the extreme 
 of misery. 
 
 We have seen philosophers shaking off (if after all 
 they did so in reality, and if that intrepid outside 
 did iiot conceal a trembling heart), we have seen 
 philosophers shaking off the fear of death ; but they 
 did not knov/ it. They viewed it under only borrow- 
 ed aspects. They figured it to themselves, as 
 either reducing the nature of man to a stale of an- 
 nihilation, or as summoning him before chimerical 
 tribunals, or as followed l3y a certain imaginary 
 felicity. 
 
 We have seen heroes, as the world calls them, 
 pretending to brave the terrors of death ; but they 
 did not know it : they represented it to themselves 
 as crowned with laurels, as decorated with trophies, 
 as figuring on the page of the historian. 
 
 We have seen, and still see every day, libertines 
 pretending to brave the terrors of death, but they 
 know it not. Their indolence is the cause of that 
 assumed firmness ; and they are incapable of enjoy- 
 ing tranquillity, but by banishing the ide;a of a pe- 
 riod, the horror of y/hich they are unable to over- 
 come. But not to disguise this formidable object ; 
 to view it in its true light ; to fi:s. the eye steadily 
 on every feature ; to have a perception of all its ter- 
 rors ; in a word, to know what death is, without 
 being terrified at it, to repeat it once more, is the 
 highest degree of perfection attainable by the hu- 
 jTian mind ; it is the highest point of felicity which 
 a man can reach while in this valley of tears. 
 
 Sovereign wisdom, my brethren, forms his chil- 
 dren to true heroism. That wisdom effects what 
 
 neither 
 
On the rear ofDeatlu 225 
 
 Tieitlier philosophers by their false maxims, iior the 
 heroes of the world by their affected intrepidity, nor 
 the libertine by his insensibility and indolence; that 
 wisdom effects what all the powers m the universe 
 could not have produced, and alone bestows on the 
 Christian the privilege of knowing death without 
 fearing it. All this is contained in the words which 
 1 have read as the subject of the present discourse : 
 through fear of deaths men "dcere oil their lifetime sub- 
 ject to bondage : there is the power of death ; there 
 his empire ; there his triumph. Jesus Christ, 
 *' through his death, has destroyed him that had the 
 power of death, that is the devil, and delivers them 
 "who through fear of death were all their lifetime 
 subject to bondage :" Behold death vanquished I 
 there are his spoils ; there is the triumph over him : 
 salutary ideas! which will present themselves in suc- 
 cession to our thoughts in the sequel of this cxer- 
 cise. " Forasmuch then as the cliildren are par- 
 takers of flesh and blood, he also himself likevv^ise 
 took part of the same ; that through death he m.ight 
 destroy him that had the power of death, that is the 
 devil : and deliver them who through fear of death 
 were all their lifetime subject to bondage/' 
 
 With respect to the fu'st words, '' forasmuch as 
 the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also 
 himself likewise took part of the same,"* I shall only 
 remark,, that by ihe children referred to, we are to 
 understand men in general, and believers in parti- 
 cular : and by that flesh and blood we are not to 
 understand cornqition^ as in some other passages of 
 Scripture, but huma^i nature ; so that when it is said, 
 " as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, 
 Jesus Christ likewise took part of the same," the 
 iueaning is, he assumed a body such as ours is. 
 
 Having made these few short remarks on the 
 first words, we shall confine ourselves to the two 
 ideas which have been indicated, and shall employ 
 what remains of our time, in proving this funda- 
 mental 
 
526 On the Fear of Death. 
 
 mental truth, that Jesus Christ, '' by his death, has 
 destroyed him that had the power of death, that is, 
 the devil, in order that he might deliver them who 
 through fear of death, were all their lifetime subject 
 to bondage.'^ 
 
 The terrors of death are expressed in terms pow- 
 erfully energetical, in this texU It represents to 
 us a mighty tyrant causing death to march at his 
 command, and subjecting the whole universe to his 
 dominion. This tyrant is the devil. He is the 
 personage here described, and who, "through the 
 fear of death, subjects men to bondage." 
 
 You stand aghast, no doubt, on beholding the 
 whole human race reduced to subjection under a 
 master so detestable. The fact, however, cannot 
 be called in question ; this great enemy of our sal- 
 vation unquestionably exercises a sort of empire over 
 the universe. Though the scriptures speak spar- 
 ingly of the nature and functions of this malignant 
 spirit, they say enough of them to convey to us a 
 striking idea of his power, and to render it formida- 
 ble to us. The Scripture tells us, I. That he tempts 
 men to sin; witness the wiles which he practised 
 on our first parents : witness that which St Paul 
 says of him in chap. ii. of the Epistle to the Ephe- 
 sians, " the spirit that worketh in the children of 
 disobedience :" witness the name of Tempter given 
 to him in the gospel history. Matt. iv. 3. The 
 Scripture informs us, II. That he accuses men before 
 God of those very crimes which he solicited them 
 to commit : witness the prophet Zechariah, who 
 w^as " shewed Joshua the high-priest, standing be- 
 fore the angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at 
 his right hand to resist him ;" or, as it might have 
 been rendered, to be his adversary or accuser : wit- 
 ness the descriptive appellation ok calumniator or ac^ 
 cuser given him by St John in the Apocalypse. The 
 scripture tells us, III. That he sometimes torments 
 men; witness the liistory of Job; witness what St 
 
 Paul 
 
0)1 the Fear of Death. 327 
 
 Paul says of his delivering up unto Satan the inces- 
 tuous person at Corinth. This power of delivering 
 up to Satan, to mention it by the way, was a part of 
 the miraculous gifts conferred on the apostles; gifts 
 transmitted to the immediately succeeding ages of 
 the Church, at least if Pauliness is to be credited 
 on this subject *, who relates that an abandoned 
 wretch was, by St Ambrosius, delivered up to Satan, 
 who tore him in pieces. Finally, IV. We find the 
 Devil designed in Scripture, the God of the worlds 2 
 Cor. iv. 4. " and the Prince of the power of the air," 
 Eph. ii. 2. You likewise see him represented as 
 acting on the waters of the sea, as raising tempests, 
 and as smiting the children of men with various 
 kinds of plagues. 
 
 But if the devil be represented as exercising an 
 influence over the ills of human life, he is still more 
 especially represented as exerting his power over 
 our death, the last and the most formidable of all 
 our woes. The Jev/s were impressed with ideas of 
 this kind. Nay, they did not satisfy themselves 
 with general notions on this subject. They entered 
 into the detail, (for, my brethren, it has been an in- 
 firmity incident to man in every age, to assert con- 
 fidently on subjects the most mysterious ard con- 
 cealed,) they said that the Devil, to whom they 
 gave the name of Samael t, had the empire of death : 
 that his power extended so far as to prevent the re- 
 surrection of the wicked. St Paul, in the words of 
 our text, adopts their mode of expression, as his 
 custom is, without propagating their error ; he de^ 
 scribes the evil Spirit as the person who possesses? 
 the empi/e of deaths and who, " through the fear of 
 death, subjects men all their life-time to bondage." 
 
 But Christians, be not dismayed at beholding this 
 fearful image. " Surely there is no inchantment 
 
 against. 
 
 * Paulm. de Vit. Ambros. 
 
a'iS 0^^ tJie Fear of Death. 
 
 against Jacob, neither is there any divination against 
 Israel," Numb, xxiii. 23. " Now is come salvation 
 and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the 
 power of his Christ; for the accuser of our brethren 
 is cast down, which accused them before our God 
 day and night. And they overcame him by the 
 blood of the Lamb," Rev. xii. 10, 11. Let us, how- 
 ever, reduce our reflections on the subject to me- 
 thod. Three considerations render death formida- 
 ble to man : three considerations disarm death in 
 the apprehension of the Christian ; 1. The vail 
 which conceals from the eyes of the dying person, 
 the state on which he is about to enter : 2. The re- 
 morse of conscience which the recollection of his 
 guilt excites : 3. The loss of titles, honours, and 
 every other earthly possession. In these respects, 
 chiefly, " he who has the power of death subjects 
 men to bondage :" these are the things which ren- 
 der death formidable. 
 
 In opposition to this, the death of Jesus Christ, 
 1. Removes the vail which concealed futurity from 
 us, and constitutes an authentic proof of the im- 
 mortality of the soul. 2. The death of Jesus Christ 
 is a sacrifice presented to divine justice, for the re- 
 mission of our sins. 3. The death of Jesus Christ 
 gives us complete assurance of a blessed eternity. 
 These are the three considerations which disarm 
 death, in the apprehension of the dying believer. 
 And this is a brief abstract of the important truths 
 delivered in this text.^ 
 
 The Devil renders cleath formidable, through un- 
 certainty respecting the nature of our souls ; the 
 death of Christ dispels that terror, by demonstrat- 
 ing to us that the soul is immortal. The Devil ren- 
 ders death formidable, by awakening the recollec- 
 tion of past guilt ; tlie death of Jesus Christ re- 
 stores confidence and joy, for it is the expiation of 
 all our sins. The Devil clothes death with terror, 
 
 by 
 
On the Fear of Death, S2& 
 
 by rendering us sensible to the loss of those posses* 
 sions, of which death is going to deprive us : the 
 death of Jesus Christ tranquillizes the mind, because 
 it is a pledge to us of an eternal felicity. The first 
 of these ideas represents Jesus Christ to us as a 
 martyr^ who has sealed with his own blood, a doc- 
 trine which rests entirely on the immortality of the 
 soul. The second represents him as a victim, offer- 
 ing himself in our stead, to divine justice. And the 
 third represents him as a conqueror, who has, by 
 his death, acquired for us a kingdom of everlasting 
 bliss. 
 
 Had we nothing farther in view, than to present 
 you with vague ideas of the sentiments of the sa- 
 cred authors, on this subject, here our discourse 
 might be concluded. But these truths, treated thus 
 generally, could make but a slight impression. It 
 is of importance to press them one by one, and, op- 
 posing in every particular, the triumph of the Re- 
 deemer, to the empire of the wicked one, to place 
 in its clearest point of light, the interesting truth 
 contained in our text, namely, that Jesus Christ, 
 " through his own death, has destroyed him who 
 had the power of death, that is, the Devil; that he 
 might deliver them who, through fear of death, were 
 all their life-time subject to bondage." 
 
 I. The first consideration which renders death 
 formidable ; the first yoke imposed on the necks of 
 the children of men, by that tremendous prince who 
 has the power if deaths is the fear of falHng back into 
 nothing, which the prospect of death awakens. The 
 greatest of all the advant^iges which we possess, and 
 that which indeed is the foundation of all the rest, 
 is existence. We accordingly observe that old peo- 
 ple, though all their faculties are much impaired, 
 always enjoy a certain nameless superiority over 
 young persons. The reflection, that there was a 
 
 time 
 
3SO On the Fear of Death, 
 
 time when they existed, while as yet the young did 
 not exist, constitutes this superiority ; and young 
 persons, in their turn, feel a superiority suggested 
 to them by the thought, that a time is coming when 
 they shall exist, whereas the others shall be no more. 
 Death terminates, to appearance, an advantage 
 which is tlie foundation of every other. And is it 
 any wonder that the heart of man should sink under 
 such a consideration ? 
 
 In vain will we fiee for refuge, from this depres- 
 sing reiiection, to the arguments which reason, even 
 a well-directed reason, supplies If they are satisfy- 
 ing of themselves, and calculated to impress tlie 
 philosophic mind, they are far beyond the reach of 
 a vulgar understanding, to which the very terms 
 sjnrituality and ea:istence are barbarous and unintelli- 
 gible. To no purpose will we have recourse to 
 what has been said on this subject, by the most en- 
 lightened of the Pagan world, and to w4iat, in par- 
 ticular, Tacitus relates * of Seneca, on his going in- 
 to tlie bath which was to receive the blood, as it 
 streamed from his opened veins : he besprinkled 
 the by-standers with the fluid in which his limbs 
 were im merged, with this memorable expression, 
 that he presented those drops of water as a libation 
 to Jupiter the deliverer. In order to secure us 
 against terrors so formidable, w^e must have a guide 
 more safe than our ow^n reason. In order to attain 
 a persuasion of the immortality of the soul, we must 
 have a security less suspicious'than that of a Socrates 
 or a Plato. Now that guide,Wiy brethren, is the 
 cross of Jesus Christ : that security is an expiring 
 Kedeemer. Two principles concur in the demon- 
 stration of all-important truth. 
 
 1. The doctrine of Jesus Christ establishes the 
 immortality of the soul. 
 
 2.Th^ 
 
 * Annal. Lib. :xv- 
 
On the Fear of Death 331 
 
 2. The death of Jesus Christ is an irresistible 
 proof of the truth of his doctrine. 
 
 1. That the doctrine of Jesus Christ establislies 
 the immortality of the soul is a point which no one 
 pretends to dispute with us. A man has but to 
 open his eyes in order to be convinced of it. We 
 shall, accordingly, make but a single remark on 
 this head. It is this, that the doctrine of the im- 
 mortality of the soul ought not to be considered 
 merely as a particular point of the religion of Jesus 
 Christ, independent of which it may subsist as a 
 complete whole. It is a point without which Chris- 
 tianity cannot exist at all, and separated from which 
 the religion of Jesus Christ, the fullest, the most 
 complete, and the most consistent that ever was pre- 
 sented to the world, becomes the most imperfect, 
 barren, and inconsistent. The whole fabric of the 
 gospel rests on this foundation, that the soul is im- 
 mortal. Wherefore was it that ,fesus Christ, the 
 Lord of universal nature, had a manger for his cra- 
 dle, and a stable for his palace ? because his Idngdom 
 zi-as not of this worlds John xviii. 16. this supposes the 
 immortality of the soul Wherefore is the Chris- 
 tian encouraged to bid defiance to tyrants, who may 
 drag him from a prison, from a dungeon, who may 
 n^il him to a cross, who may mangle his body on a 
 wheel ? It is because their power extends no further 
 than to the killing of the hochj. Mat. x. 28. v.hile the 
 soul is placed far beyond their reach. This sup- 
 poses immortality. Wherefore must the Christian 
 deem himself miserable, were he to atchieve the con- 
 quest of the whole world, at the cxpence of a good 
 conscience ? Ikcause it will profit a mail nothing to 
 gain the whole nor Id, if he lose his oxen soul, Matt. 
 xvi. 26. This supposes immortality. Wlierefore 
 are we not the most miserable of all creatures ? Be- 
 cause xve have hope in Christ not for this lije only^ 
 1 Cor. XV. 19. This supposes immortality. The 
 
 doctrine 
 
332 On the Fear oj Death. 
 
 doctrine of Jesus Christ, therefore, establishes the 
 truth of the immortality of the soul. 
 
 2. But we said, in the second place, that the death 
 of Jesus Christ is a proof of his doctrine. He re- 
 ferred the world to his death, as a sign by which it 
 might be ascertained whether or not he came from 
 God. By this he proposed to stop the mouth of in- 
 credulity. Neither the purity of his life, nor the 
 sanctity of his deportment, nor the lustre of his mi- 
 racles had as yet prevailed so far as to convince an 
 unbelieving vvorid of the truth of his mission. They 
 must have sign upon sign, prodigy upon prodigy. 
 Jesus Christ restricts himself to one : " Destroy 
 this temple, and within three days I will build it up 
 again," Mark xiv. 5S. " An evil and adulterous 
 generation seeketh after a sign ; and there shall no 
 isign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jo- 
 nas," Matt. xii. 39. This sign could not labour un« 
 der any ambiguity. And this sign was accomplish- 
 ed. There is no longer room to doubt of a truth 
 demonstrated in a manner so illustrious. 
 
 Our ancestors devised*, with greater simplicity, 
 it must be allowed, than strength of reasoning, a 
 very singular proof of the innocence of persons ac- 
 cused. They presented to them a bar of hot iron. 
 If the person under trial had the firmness to grasp 
 it, and received no injury from the action of the 
 burning metal, he was acquitted of the charge. 
 This proof was, as we have said, devised with more 
 simplicity, than strength of reasoning : no one hav- 
 ing a right to suppose that God will perform a mi- 
 racle, to evince his innocence to the conviction of 
 his judges. I acknowledge at the same time, that 
 had I been an eye witness of such an experiment ; 
 had I beheld that element which dissolves, which 
 devours bodies the most obdurate, respecting the 
 
 hand 
 
 ^ Pasc^uier Rccher. de la France. Liv. iv. 2, 
 
On the Fear of Death. 333 
 
 hand of a person accused^f a crime, I should cer- 
 tainly have been very much struck at the sight of 
 such a spectacle. 
 
 But what shall we say of the Saviour of the world, 
 after the proof to which he was put ? He walked 
 through thejire^ m/hoiit being hurnt^ Isa. xliii. 2. He 
 descended into the bosom of the grave: the grave re- 
 spected liim, and those other insatiables which ne- 
 ver say it is enough^ Prov. xxx. 16. opened a passage 
 for his return to the light. You feel the force of 
 this argument. Jesus Christ having died, in sup- 
 port of the truth of a doctrine, entirely founded on 
 the supposition of the immortality of the soul, there 
 is no longer room to doubt whether the soul be im- 
 mortal. 
 
 Let us here pause for a few moments, and before 
 we enter on the second branch of our subject, let us 
 consider how far this position, so clearly proved, so 
 firmly established, has a tendency to fortify us a- 
 gainst the fears of death. 
 
 Suppose for an instant, that we knew nothing re- 
 specting the state of souls, after this life is closed, 
 and respecting the economy on which we must then 
 enter ; supposing God to liave granted us no reve- 
 lation whatever on this interesting article, but sim- 
 ply this, that our souls are immortal, a slight degree 
 of meditation on the case, as thus stated, ought to 
 operate as an inducement rather to wish for death, 
 than to fear it. It appears probable that the soul, 
 when disengaged from the senses, in which it is 
 now enveloped, will subsist in a manner infinitely 
 more noble than it could do here below, during its 
 union with matter. We are perfectly convinced 
 that the body will, one day, contribute greatly to 
 our felicity ; it is an essential part of our being, 
 without which our happiness must be incomplete. 
 But this necessity, which fetters down the functions 
 of the soul, on this earth, to the irregular move- 
 ments of ill-assorted matter, is a real bondage. The 
 
 2 soul 
 
S34 On ike Fear of Death. 
 
 soul is a prisoner in this body. A prisoner is a man 
 susceptible of a thousand delights, but who can en- 
 joy, however, only such pleasures as are compatible 
 with the extent of the place in which he is shut up: 
 his scope is limited to the capacity of his dungeon : 
 he beholds the light only through the aperture of 
 that dungeon : all his intercourse is confined to the 
 persons who approach his dungeon. But let his 
 prison-doors be thrown open ; from that moment, 
 behold him in a state of much higher felicity. 
 Thenceforward he can maintain social intercourse 
 with all the men in the world ; thenceforward he 
 can contemplate an unbounded body of light; 
 thenceforward he is able to expatiate over the spa- 
 cious universe. 
 
 This exhibits a portrait of the soul. A prisoner 
 to the senses, it can enjoy those delights only which 
 have a reference to sense. It can see, only by means 
 of the cuticles and the fibres of its eyes: it can hear, 
 only by means of the action of the nerves and tym- 
 panum of its ears : it can think, only in conformity 
 to certain modifications of its brain. The soul is 
 susceptible of a thousand pleasures, of which it has 
 not so much as the idea. A blind man has a soul 
 capable of admitting the sensation of light ; if he be 
 deprived of it, the reason is, his senses are defective, 
 or improperly disposed. Our souls are susceptible 
 of a thousand unknown sensations ; but they re- 
 ceive them not, in this economy of imperfection and 
 wretchedness, because it is the will of God that they 
 should perceive only through the medium of those 
 organs, and that those organs, from their limited 
 nature, should be capable of admitting only limited 
 sensations. 
 
 But permit the soul to expatiate at large, iQt it 
 take its natural flight, let these prison-walls be 
 broken down, O, then ■ the sonl becomes capable 
 often thousand inconceivable new delights. V/here- 
 fore do voii point to that ghastly corpse r Where- 
 
 iore 
 
On the Fear of Death. SS5 
 
 fore deplore those eyes closed to the light, those 
 spirits evaporated, that blood frozen in the veins, 
 that motionless, lifeless mass of corruption ? Why 
 do you say to me, " My friend, my father, my 
 *' spouse is no more ; he sees, he hears, he acts no 
 " longer.'' He sees no longer, do you say ? He 
 sees no longer, I grant, by means of those visual 
 rays which were formed in the retina of the eye ; 
 but he sees as do those pure intelligences which 
 never were clothed with mortal flesh and blood. 
 He hears no more through the medium of the 
 action of the asthereai fluid, but he hears as a pure 
 spirit. He thinks no longer through the interven- 
 tion of the flbres of his brain ; but he thinks from 
 his own essence, because, being a spirit, the fa- 
 culty of thought is essential to him, and insepara- 
 ble from his nature. 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON Xlo 
 
 PART 11. 
 On the Fear of Death,- 
 
 Heb, ii. 14, 15. 
 
 Fo7^asmuch then as the children are partakers ofjiesh 
 and bloody he also hhn,elf likewise took part of the 
 same ; that through death he might destroy him that 
 haa the power of deaths that is^ the devil ; and de- 
 liver them who through fear of death were all their 
 Ifetime subject to bondage. 
 
 IN discoursing from these words we observed, that 
 death is rendered formidable toman, by a three- 
 fold consideration, and that three considerations of 
 an opposite nature strip him of all his terrors, in the 
 eye of the believer in Christ Jesus. Death is for- 
 voL. VI. Z midable, 
 
53 S On the Fear of Death, 
 
 midable, 1. Because of the vail which conceals fiom 
 the eyes of the dying person, that state on which he 
 is about to enter ; 2. From remorse of conscience, 
 which the recollection of past guilt excites ; ."i. From 
 the loss of titles, honours, and all other earthly pos- 
 sessions. 
 
 In opposition to these, tlie death of Christ, 1. Re- 
 moves the vail which conceals futurity, and consti- 
 tutes an authentic proof of the immortality of the 
 soul : 2. It is a sacrifice presented to divine justice 
 for the remission of sin : 3. It gives us complete as- 
 surance of a blessed eternity. These are the consi- 
 derations which disarm death of his terror, to the 
 dying believer. 
 
 We have finished what was proposed en the first 
 particular, and have shewn<, 1. That the doctrine 
 of Jesus Christ fully establishes the souPs immor- 
 tality ; and, 2. That the death of Jesus Christ 
 is an irresistible proof of the truth of his doctrine. 
 
 But to no purpose would it be to fortify the mind 
 against the apprehension of ceasing to exist, unless 
 we are delivered from the terror of being for ever 
 miserable. In vain is it to have demonstrated that 
 our souls are immortal, if we are haunted with the 
 well-grounded apprehension of their faUing into the 
 hands of that God who is a consuming fire. In this 
 case, what constitutes a man^s greatness would con- 
 stitute his misery. Let us endeavour, 
 
 II. In the second place, to dissipate the dreadful 
 apprehension which a guilty conscience awakens in 
 the prospect of judgment to come. Having con- 
 sidered Jesus Christ as a marttjr, who sealed with his 
 own blood the doctrine which he preached, and his 
 death as ars argument in support of the immortality 
 of the soul taught in that doctrine : let us contem- 
 plate our divine Saviour as a victim, which God has 
 substituted in our place^ and his death as a sacrifice 
 
 offered 
 
Oil the Fear of Death 3S9 
 
 offered up to divine justice, for the expiation of our 
 offences. 
 
 One of the principal dangers to be avoided in con- 
 troversies, and particularly in that which we are go- 
 ing to handle, is to imagine that all arguments are 
 of equal force. Extreme care must betaken to as- 
 sign to each its true limits, and to sa}'", this argu- 
 ment proves thus far, that other goes so much farther. 
 We must thus advance step by step up to truth and 
 form, of those arguments united, a demonstration so 
 much the more satisfactory, in proportion as we have 
 granted to those who dispute it, all that they could 
 in reason ask. On this principle we divide our ar- 
 guments into two classes. The first we propose on- 
 ly as presumptions in favour of the doctrine of the 
 satisfaction. To the second we ascribe the solidity 
 and weight of demonstration; Of the first class are 
 the following. 
 
 1. We allege human reason as a presumptive argu- 
 ment in support of the doctrine which we maintain. 
 We do not mean to affirm, that human reason de- 
 rives from the stores of her own illumination the 
 truth of this doctrine. So far from that, we confi- 
 dently affirm, that this is one of the mysteries which 
 are infinitely beyond the reach of human under- 
 standing. It \s one of the things which ei/e hath not 
 seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart 
 of man, 1 Cor. ii. 9. But we say that tins mystery 
 presents nothing that shocks human reason, or that 
 implies a shadow of contradiction. What do we 
 believe ? That God has united the human nature to 
 the divine, in the person of .lesus Christ, in a man- 
 ner somewhat resembling that in which he has unit- 
 ed the body to the soul, in the person of man* We 
 say that this con^position, (pardon the expression) 
 this composition of Humanity and of Deity suffer- 
 ed in what was hum.an of it ; and that what was di- 
 vine 
 2 
 
f340 On the Fear of Death, 
 
 vine gave value to the sufferings of the man, some- 
 whatafter the manner in which we put respect on a 
 human body, not as a material substance, but as 
 trnited to an intelligent soul. 
 
 These are the terms in which we propose our 
 Tnystery. And there is nothing in this which in- 
 volves a contradiction. If we had said that the Di- 
 vinity and Humanity were confounded or common ; 
 if we had said that Deity, who is impassible, suffer- 
 ed ; if we had said that Jesus Christ as God made 
 satisfaction to Jesus Christ as God, reason might 
 have justly reclaimed ; but we say that Jesus Christ 
 suffered as man ; we say that the two natures in his 
 person were distinct ; we say that Jesus Christ, suf- 
 fering as man, made satisfaction to God maintaining 
 the rights of Deity. This is the first step we ad- 
 vance in this career. Our first argument we carry 
 thus far, and no farther. 
 
 2. Our second argument is taken from the divine 
 i;ustice. We say that the idea which we have of the 
 divine justice, presents nothing inconsistent with the 
 doctrine we are endeavouring to establish, but on 
 the contrary, leads us directly to adopt it. The di- 
 vine justice would be in opposition to our doctrine, 
 did we affirm that the innocent Jesus suflfered, as 
 an innocent person ; but we say that he suffered, as 
 loaded with the ^juilt of the whole human race. 
 The divine justice would be in opposition to our 
 doctrine, did we affirm that Jesus Christ had the 
 imqiiiti) of us fill laid upon h'un, whether he would 
 or not ; but we say that he took this heavy load 
 .upon himself, voluntarily. The divine justice 
 would be in opposition to our doctrine, did we 
 affirm that Jesus Christ took on himself the load 
 of human guilt, to encourage men in the practice 
 of sin; but we say that he acted thus in the view 
 of sanctifying'- them, by procuring their pardon. 
 
On the Fear of Death, S41 
 
 The divine justice would be in opposition to our 
 doctrine did we affirm, that Jesus Christ, in assuin» 
 ing the load of our guilt, sunk under the weight of 
 it, so that the universe, for the sake of a few guilty 
 wretches, was deprived of the most distinguished 
 being that could possibly exist ; but we say that 
 Jesus Christ, in dying for us, came off victorious 
 over death and the grave. The divine justice, 
 therefore, presents nothing inconsistent with the 
 doctrine of the satisfaction. 
 
 But we go much farther, and affirm, that the idea 
 of divine justice leads directly to the doctrine. The 
 atonement corresponds to the demands of justice. 
 We shall not here presume to determine the ques- 
 tion. Whether it is possible for God, consistently 
 with his perfections, to pardon sin without exact- 
 ing a satisfaction. Whatever advantage w^e might 
 have over those who deny our thesis, we shall not 
 press it on the present occasion. But, in any case, 
 they must be disposed to make this concession, that 
 if the wisdom of God has devised the means of ob- 
 taining a signal satisfaction to justice, in unison 
 with the most illustrious display of goodness ; if he 
 can give to the universe an unequivocal proof of 
 his abhorrence of sin, in the very act of pardoning 
 the sinner ; if there be a method to keep offenders 
 in awe, even while mercy is extended to them, it 
 must undoubtedly be more proper to employ such 
 a method than to omit it. This is the second step 
 we advance toward our conclusion. Our second ar- 
 gument we carry thus far, and no farther. 
 
 3. Our third consideration is taken from the 
 suggestions of conscience, and from the practice of 
 all nations. Look at the most polished, and at the 
 most barbarous tribes of the human race ; at na- 
 tions the most idolatrous, and at those which have 
 discovered the purest ideas on the subject of reli- 
 gion. Consult authors of the remotest antiquity, 
 
 aiul 
 
342 On the Fear of Death, 
 
 and authors the most recent : transport yourself to 
 the ancient Egyptians, to the Phenicians, to the 
 Gauls, to the Carthaginians, and you will find that, 
 in all ages, and in every part of the globe, men 
 have expressed a belief that the Deity expected sa- 
 crifices should be offered up to him ; nay, not only 
 sacrifices, but such as had, as far as it was possible, 
 something like a proportion to his greatness. Hence 
 those magnificent temples; hence those hecatombs; 
 hence those human victims ; hence that blood which 
 streamed on the altars, and so many other rites of 
 religious worship, the existence of which no one is 
 disposed to call in question. What consequence do 
 we deduce from this position ? The truth of the doc- 
 trine of the atonement? No : we do not carry our 
 inference so far. We only conclude, that there is 
 no room to run down the Christian religion, if it 
 instructs us that God demanded satisfaction to his 
 justice, by an expiatory sacrifice, before he could 
 give an unrestrained course to his goodness. 
 This third argument we carry thus far, and no 
 farther. 
 
 4. A fourth reflection hinges on the correspon- 
 dence of our belief, respecting this particular, with 
 that of every age of the Christian church, in unin- 
 terrupted succession, from Jesus Christ down to our 
 own times. All the ages of the Christian world 
 have, as we do, spoken of this sacrifice. But we 
 must not enlarge. Whoever wishes for complete 
 information on this particular, will find a very ac- 
 curate collection of the testimonies of the fathers, 
 at the end of the treatise on the satisfaction, com- 
 posed by the celebrated Grotius. The doctrine of 
 the atonement, therefore, is not a doctrine of yes- 
 terday, but has been transmitted from age to age, 
 from Jesus Christ down to our ov/n times. This 
 argument we carry thus far and no farther. 
 
 Here then we havfe a class of arguments which, 
 after all, we would have you to consider only as so 
 many presumptions in favour of the doctrine of the 
 
 atonement. 
 
0n the Fear of Deaths $43 
 
 atonement. But surely we are warranted to proceed 
 thus tar, at least, in concluding: a doctrine in which 
 human reason finds nothing contradictory ; a doc- 
 trine which presents nothing repugnant to the di- 
 vine attributes, nay to which the divine attributes 
 directly lead us ; a doctrine perfectly conformable 
 to the suggestions of conscience, and to the prac- 
 tice of mankind in every age, and of every nation ; 
 a doctrine received in the Christian church, from 
 the beginning till now ; a doctrine which, in all its 
 parts, presents nothing but what is entirely worthy 
 of God, when we examine it at the tribunal of our 
 own understanding : such a doctrine contains no- 
 thing to excite our resentment, nothing that e 
 ought not to be disposed to admit, if we find it 
 clearly laid down in the Scriptures. 
 
 Now, my brethren, we have only to open the 
 Bible m order to find express testimonies to this 
 purpose ; and not only do we meet with an infinite 
 number of passages in which the doctrine is clearly 
 taught, but a multitude of classes of such passages. 
 
 1. In the first class, we must rank all those pas- 
 sages which declare that Jesus Christ died for us. 
 It would be no easy matter to enumerate them : " I 
 delivered unto you first of all," says St Paul in his 
 first epistle to the Corinthians, xv. 3. " that which 
 I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, 
 according to the Scriptures. Christ also hath once 
 suftered for sins,*' says St Peter, in his first epistle 
 general, iii. 18. " the just for the unjust, that he 
 might bring us to God.'' 
 
 2. In a second class must be ranked those pas- 
 sages which represent Jesus Christ as suffering the 
 punishment which we had deserved. The fifty- 
 third chapter of the prophet Isaiah turns entirely on 
 this subject: and the apostles hold the self same lan- 
 guage. They say expressly tliat Christ U'a$ made to be 
 sin for us^ who knew no sin ^ 2 Cor. v. 21. that he 
 \V2L'S> made a curse for us ^ Gal. iii. 13. that he bare 
 m(r sins in his own body on the tree. 1 Pet. ii. 24* 
 
 S, In 
 
344 . Bn the Fear of Deaths 
 
 3. In a third class must be ranked all those pas- 
 sages in which our salvation is represented as being 
 the fruit of Christ's death. The persons, whose 
 opinions we are combating, maintain themselves on 
 a ground which we estabHshed in a former branch 
 of this discourse, namely, that the death of Jesus 
 Christ was a demonstration of the truth of his doc- 
 trine. They say that this is the reason for which 
 our salvation is considered as the effect of that death. 
 JBut if we are saved by the death of Jesus Christ, 
 merely because it has sealed a doctrine which leads 
 to salvation, how comes it then, that our salvation 
 is no where ascribed to the other parts of his mini- 
 stry, which contributed, no less than his death, to 
 the confirmation of his doctrine? Were not the 
 miracles of Jesus Christ, for example, proofs equally 
 authentic as his death was, of the truth of his doc- 
 trine ? Whence comes it, that our salvation is no 
 w^here ascribed to them ? This is the very thing 
 we are maintaining. The resurrection, the as- 
 cension, the miracles were absolutely necessary to 
 give us assurance, that the wrath of God was ap- 
 peased ; but Christ's death alone was capable of pro- 
 ducing that effect. You will more sensibly feel the 
 force of this argument, if you attend to the connec- 
 tion which our text has with what follows in the 
 17th verse, " Wherefore in all things it behoved him 
 to be made like unto his brethren ; that he might be 
 a merciful and faithful high-priest .... to make 
 reconciliation for the sins of the people." 
 
 If we are saved by the death of Jesus Christ, m.ere- 
 ly because that event sealed the truth of his doc- 
 trine, wherefore should it have been necessary for 
 him to assume our flesh ? Had he descended from 
 heaven in the effulgepce of his glory ; had he ap- 
 peared upon Mount Zion, such as he was upon 
 Mount Sinai, in flashes of lightning, with the voice 
 of thunder, with a retinue of angels ; would not the 
 truth of the gospel have been established infinitely 
 
 • better 
 
On the Fear of Death. 345 
 
 better than by the death of a man ^ Wherefore, 
 then, was it necessary that Christ should die ? It 
 was because the victim of our transgressions must be 
 put to death. This is St Paul's reasoning. And 
 for this reason it is that our salvation is no where 
 ascribed to the death of the martyrs, though the 
 death of the martyrs was, like that of Jesus Christ, 
 a proof of the truth of the gospel. 
 
 4. In a fourth class, must be ranked all those 
 passages which represent the death of Jesus Christ 
 as the body and the reahty, of which all the sacri- 
 fices prescribed by tiie law were but the figure and 
 the shadow. We shall select a single one out of a 
 multitude The greatest part of the Epistle to the 
 Hebrews may be quoted to this effect. It is evi- 
 dent that the great object of its author is to engage 
 Christians to look for that in the sacrifice of . esus 
 Christ, which the Jews, to no purpose, sougfit for 
 in those which Moses prescribed. Now what did 
 the Jews look for in their sacrifices ? Was it not the 
 means of appeasing the Deity ? If, therefore, the 
 sacrifices of the Jews were the expiation of sin, only 
 in figure and in a shadow, if the sacrifice of Jesus 
 Christ be their body and reality, does it not follow 
 that Jesus Christ has really and literally expiated 
 our transgressions ? To pretend that the Levitical 
 sacrifices were not offered up for t\\Q expiation of 
 great offences, but only for certain external indecen- 
 cies, which rather polluted the flesh, than wounded 
 the conscience, is an attempt to maintain one error 
 by another ; for a man has only to open his eyes, to 
 be convinced that the Levitical sacrifices were offer- 
 ed up for offences the most atrocious ; it is needless 
 to adduce any other evidence than the annual sacri- 
 fice prescribed. Lev. xvi. 21, 22. in the offering of 
 which, Aaron " laid both his hands upon the head 
 of the live goat, and confessed over him. all the ini- 
 €]uities of the children of Israel^ and all their trans- 
 gressions 
 
346 On the Fear ofDeaiJu 
 
 gressionsin all their sins .... and the goat did bear 
 upon him all their iniquities." 
 
 5, In a fifth class must be ranked the circum- 
 stances of the passion of Jesus Christ, and of his 
 agony in the garden ; that sorrow, those fears, those 
 agitations, those cries, those tears, that bloody sweat, 
 those bitter complaints : My God, my God, why hast 
 thou forsaken me ? Mat. xxvii. 46. The argument 
 derived from this will appear of still greater weight, 
 if you support it by thus reflecting, that no person 
 in the universe ought to have met death with so 
 much joy as Jesus Christ, had he suffered a mere or* 
 dinary death. Christ died with a perfect submission 
 to the will of his Father, and with a fervent love to 
 mankind. Christ died in tlie full assurance of the 
 justice of his cause, and of the innocency of his 
 life. Christ died completely persuaded of the im- 
 mortality of the soul, and of the certainty of a life 
 to come. Christ died under a complete assurance 
 of tlie exalted felicity which he was to enjoy after 
 death. He had come from God. He was returning 
 to God. Nay, there ought to have been something 
 more particular in his triumph, than in that of the 
 generality of believers. Because he had made him- 
 ,self of no reputation ; God was about to give hiyn a 
 name 'ischich is above every name. A cloud was going 
 to serve him as a triumphal car, and the Church 
 triumphant was preparing to receive him with accla- 
 mations of joy, " Lift up your heads, O ye gates, 
 and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors, and the King 
 of Glory shall come in," Ps. xxiv. 7. 
 
 What then, are we to expect that Jesus Christ 
 shall do ? Shall we behold him advancing to meet 
 death with joy ? Shall he not say with St Paul, My 
 desire is to depart? Shall he not in rapture exclaim ; 
 " This day crowns are to be distributed, and I go 
 to receive my share ?" No, Jesus Christ trembles, he 
 turns pale, lie fears, he sweats great drops of blood : 
 
 whereas 
 
0?i the Fear of Death. 347 
 
 whereas the martyrs, with inferior illumination, with 
 feebler motives, have braved death, have bidden de- 
 fiance to the most horrid torments, have filled their 
 tormentors with astonishment. Whenfce comes this 
 difference ? From the very point which we are en^ 
 deavouring to establish. The death of Jesus Christ 
 is widely different from that of the martyrs. The 
 martyrs found death already disarmed : Jesus Christ 
 died to disarm this king of terrors. The martyrs 
 presented themselves before the throne of grace : 
 Jesus Christ presented himself at the tribunal of jus- 
 tice. The martyrs pleaded the merits of Christ's 
 death : Jesus Christ interceded in behalf of the 
 martyrs. 
 
 Let the great adversary, then do his worst to ter- 
 rify me with the image of the crimes w^hich I have 
 committed ; let him trace them before my eyes in 
 the blackest characters which his malignity can em- 
 ploy ; let him collect into one dark point, all that 
 is hideous and hateful in my life ; let him attempt to 
 overwhelm me with dismay, by rousing the idea of 
 that tremendous tribunal, before which all the ac- 
 tions of men are to be scrutinized, so that like 
 Joshua the hi<^h priest^ I find myself standing in the 
 presence of God, clothed mth filthy garments^ Zech. 
 iii. 1. &c. and Satan standing at hisr right hand to 
 expose my turpitude : I hear, at the same time, the 
 voice of one pleading in my behalf; i hear these 
 reviving words : " Is not this a brand plucked out 
 of the fire? .... Take away the filthy garments 
 from him .... Let them set a fair mitre upon his 
 head .... and I will clotlie him with change of 
 raiment." 
 
 SERMON 
 
SERMON XI. 
 
 PART III. 
 On the Fear of Death 
 
 Heb. ii. 14, 15. 
 
 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh 
 and bloody he also himself likewise took part of the 
 same ; that through death he might destroy him that 
 had the power ofdeaik^ that is the devil ; and de- 
 liter them who through fear of death were all their 
 lifetime sid^ect to bondage. 
 
 w 
 
 E now come in the 
 
 III. Tliird and last place,, to consider death ren- 
 dered formidable, from its being attended with the 
 loss of titles, honours, and every other earthly pos- 
 session, and, in opposition to this, we are to view the 
 death of Jesus Christ as removing that terror, by 
 giving us complete assurance of a blessed eternity. 
 We are going to contemplate death as an universal 
 shipwreck, swallowing up all our worldly fortunes 
 and prospects. We are going to contemplate Jesus 
 Christ as a conqueror^ and his death as the pledge and 
 
 security 
 
350 On the Fear of Death, 
 
 security of a boundless and everlasting felicity, which 
 shall amply compensate to us the loss of all those 
 possessions, of which we are about to be stripped 
 by the unsparing hand of death. 
 
 When we attempt to stammer out a few words 
 from the pulpit, respecting the felicity which God 
 has laid up for his people in another world, we bor- 
 row the images of every thing that is capable of 
 touching the heart, and of communicating delight. 
 We call in to our assistance the soul of man, with 
 all its exalted faculties ; the body, with all its beau- 
 tiful forms and proportions ; Nature, with her over- 
 flowing treasures ; society, with its enchanting de- 
 lights ; the church, with its triumphs ; eternity, 
 with its unfathomable abysses of joy. Of all these 
 ingredients blended we compose a faint representa- 
 tion of the celestial blessedness. 
 
 The soul of man constitutes one ingredient, and 
 we say, In heaven your soul shall arrive at its 
 highest pitch of attainable perfection : it shall ac- 
 quire expansive illumination, it shall reach sublime 
 heights of virtue, it shall " behold as in a glass the 
 glory of the Lord, and shall be changed into the 
 same image, from glory to glory,*^ 2 Cor. iii. 18. 
 
 The body furnishes a second ingredient, and we 
 say, In heaven your body shall be exempted from 
 all the defects by v/hich it is at present disfigured, 
 from those diseases which now prey upon and waste 
 it, from that death which destroys the fabric. 
 
 Nature supplies a third ingredient, and we say. 
 In heaven all the stores of Nature shall be displayed 
 in rich profusion: " the foundations of the holy city 
 are of jasper, its gates are of pearl, its walls are of 
 pure gold," Rev. xxi. 21. 
 
 Society supplies a fourth ingredient, and we 'Say, 
 In heaven shall be united in the tenderest social 
 bonds kindred spirits the most exalted j souls the 
 
 most 
 
On the Fear of Death, Sol 
 
 most refined : hearts the most generous and en- 
 larged. 
 
 The church supplies a fifth ingredient, and v/e 
 say. In heaven shall be exhibited the triumph of 
 the faithful over tyrants confounded, the saints shall 
 be enthroned, the martyrs shall appear with palms 
 in their hands, and with crowns upon their heads. 
 
 Eternity supplies a sixth ingredient, and we say. 
 In heaven you shall enjoy a felicity infinite in its du- 
 ration, and immeasurable in its degree, years accu-- 
 mulated upon years, ages upon ages shall effect no 
 diminution of its length ; and so of the rest. 
 
 This day. Christians, in which we are represent- 
 ing death to you as an universal wreck which swal^ 
 lows up all your possessions, your titles, your great- 
 ness, your riches, your social connections, aii that 
 you were, and all that you hoped to be ; this day^ 
 while we are attempting to convey to you an idea 
 of the celestial felicity, capable of strengthening you 
 to behold, without dismay, this universal wreck, in 
 which you are going to be involved ; this day we 
 eould wisli you to conceive the heavenly world, and 
 the blessedness which God is there preparing for 
 you under another idea. We mean to trace ano- 
 ther view of it, the lustre of which effaces all the 
 rest. We build upon this foundation of St Paul : 
 He that spared not his own Son^ but delivered him itp 
 Jor us ally how shall he ?iot with him also freely give 
 us all things? Rom. viii. 32. The heavenly bless- 
 edness is the purcliase of the death of Jesus Christ. 
 Here collect, my brethren, every thing that is ca- 
 pable of enhancing to your apprehension th'^ un- 
 speakable greatness and importance of that death. 
 
 View the death of Christ relatively to tiie types 
 which prefigured it ; relatively to the shadows by 
 which it was adumbrated ; relatively to the cere- 
 monies by which it w^as represented : relatively to 
 the oracles which predicted it. 
 
 View the death of Christ relatively to the teui- 
 3 pests 
 
352 On the Fear ofDeatlu 
 
 pests and thunder-bolts which were levelled at the 
 head of the Redeemer. Behold his soul overwhelm- 
 ed with sorrow ; behold that blood falling down to 
 the ground ; that cup of bitterness which was gw^VL 
 him to drink ; hearken to that insulting language, 
 to those calumnies, to those false accusations, to 
 that unjust sentence of condemnation ; behold those 
 hands and feet pierced with nails, that sacred body 
 speedily reduced to one ghastly wound ; behold that 
 licentious rabble clamorously demanding the punish- 
 ment of the cross, and increasing the horror of it 
 by every indignity which malice could invent ; 
 look up to heaven itself, and behold the eternal Fa- 
 ther abandoning the son of his love to so many woes; 
 behold hell in concert with heaven, and heaven with 
 the earth. 
 
 View the death of Christ relatively to the dread- 
 ful signs by wiiich it was accompanied ; relatively 
 to that earth seized with trembling, to that sun 
 shrouded in darkness, to those rocks rent asunder, 
 to those opening graves, to those departed saints 
 returning to the light of day. 
 
 View the death of Christ relatively to the great- 
 ness of God, and to the littleness of man, in whose 
 behalf all this bloody scene was transacted. 
 
 Collect all these various particulars, and still say' 
 to yourself. The death of Jesus Christ is all this. 
 The death of Jesus Christ is the body of the figures, 
 the original of the types, the reality of the shad.>ws, 
 the acconiphshment of the prophecies. The death 
 of Jesus Christ is that great event which darkened 
 the sun, which opened the tombs, which rent a un- 
 der the rocks, which made the earth to tremble, 
 which turned nature and the elements upside down. 
 Follow up these reflections, and on these let your 
 imagination settle. 
 
 The death of Jesus Christ conceived thus, apply 
 it to the subject which we are treating. The death 
 of Jesus Christ conceived thus, let it serve to assist 
 
 3 vou 
 
t)n the Fear of Death. 35S 
 
 you in forming an idea of the heavenly blessedness. 
 Still build on this foundation of St Paul ; say with 
 that apostle, *' He that spared not his own Son, but 
 delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him 
 also freely give us alj things !" You regret the world ; 
 you who are advancing on your way heavenward* 
 And what is heaven ^ It is the purchase of Christ's 
 death. " He that spared not his own Son, but deli- 
 vered him up for us all, how shall he not with him 
 also freely give us all things ?" If the means be thus 
 great, what must the end be I If the preparatives be 
 thus magnificent, what must be the issue ! «.£ the con* 
 flict be thus sharp, what must be the victory ! If the 
 price be thus costly, what, O what, shall be the bliss 
 while this price is intended to purchase. 
 
 After that, my brethren, return to the world. — • 
 What is it you regret ? Are you regretting the loss of 
 palaces, of sceptres, of crowns? It is to regret 
 the humble crook in your hand, the cottage which 
 covers your head. Do you regret the loss of socie- 
 ty, a society whose defects and whose delights are 
 frequently an equal source of misery to you ? Ah ! 
 phantom of vain desire, will you still present illu- 
 sion to the eye? Will you still maintain your 
 ground against those solid blessings which the death 
 of Jesus Christ has purchased for us? Ah! broken 
 cisterns, will you still preserve a preference in our 
 esteem to the fountain of Iking neater s ? Ah I great 
 High-priest of the new covenant, shall we still find 
 it painfully difficult to follow thee, whilst thou art 
 conducting us to heavenly places, by the bloody 
 traces of thy cross and martyrdom. Jesus Christ is 
 a conqueror ^ who has acquired for us a kingdom of 
 glory and fehcity ; his death is an invaluable pledge 
 of a triumphant eternity. 
 
 Death, then, has nothing, henceforw^ard, that is 
 formidable to the Christian. In the tomb of Jesus 
 Christ are dissipated all the terrors which the tomb 
 
 VOL. VI, ? A of 
 
354' On the Tear of Beatfu 
 
 of nature presents. In the tomb of nature I perceive 
 a gloomy night, which the eye is unable to pene- 
 trate ; in the tomb of Jesus Christ I behold light 
 and Hfe. In the tomb of nature the punishment of sin 
 stares me in the face ; in the tomb of Jesus Christ I 
 find the expiation of it. In the tomb of nature I 
 read the fearful doom pronounced upon Adam, and 
 upon all his miserable posterity : " Dust thou art, and 
 unto dust shalt thou return,'* Gen. iii. 19. but in the 
 tomb of Jesus Christ my tongue is loosed into this 
 triumphant song of praise, ^' O death, where is thy 
 sting? O grave, where is thy victory ?... .Thanks 
 be to God who giveth us the victory, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ," 1 Cor. xv. 55, 57. " Through 
 death he has destroyed him that had the power of 
 death, that is, the devil ; that he might dehver them 
 who through fear of death were all their lifetime sub> 
 ject to bondage." 
 
 The Application. 
 
 But if these be our privileges, is it not matter of 
 reproach to us, my brethren, that brought up in the 
 knowledge and profession of a religion which fur- 
 nishes arms so powerful for combating the terrors of 
 death, we should still, for the most part, view it 
 only with fear and trembling ? The fact is too evi- 
 dent to be denied. From the shghtest study of by 
 far the greatest part of professing Christians, it is 
 clearly apparent that they consider death as the 
 greatest of all calamities. And with a very slender 
 experience of the state of dying persons, it will be 
 found that there are few, very few indeed, who die 
 without regret, few but who have need to exercise 
 all their submission, at a season when it might be 
 expected they should give themselves up to trans- 
 ports of joy. A vapour in the head disconcerts us ; 
 '' we 
 
On tile Fear of Death, So 5 
 
 we are alarmed if the artery happens to beat a little 
 faster than usual ; the least apprehension of death in- 
 spires us with an unaccountable melancholy, and op- 
 pressive dejection. 
 
 But those apprehensions and terrors, my bre- 
 thren, surprising as they may appear to us, have no- 
 thing which ought really to fill us with surprise. If 
 to apply to a man's self the fruits of the death of 
 Jesus Christ were a simple act of the understanding, 
 a simple movement of the heart, a simple acknow- 
 ledgment of the tongue : if to apply to a man's 
 self the fruits of the death of Christ were no- 
 thing more than what a hardened sinner is capa- 
 ble of figuring to himself, or than what is pre^ 
 scribed to him by an accommodating casuist, you 
 would not see a single Christian afraid of death. 
 But you know it well, the gospel assures you of it, 
 and the dictates of your own consci/ence confirm the 
 truth, to make application, of the fruits of Christ's 
 death is a complication of duties, w^hich require al» 
 tention, time, labour, intenseness of exertion, and 
 must be the business of a whole life. The greatest 
 part of those who bear the Christian name neglect 
 this work while in health, is it any v^onder that they 
 should tremble when overtaken by the hour of 
 death ? . 
 
 Call to remembrance the three ways in which 
 Christ has disarmed death. He has spoiled the king 
 of terrors, by demonstrating to us the immortality 
 of the soul, by making atonement for our transgres« 
 sions, by acquiring for us an eternal felicity* 
 
 But what efiect will the death of Christ have upon 
 us, as a proof of the doctrine of the immortality of 
 the soul, unless we study those proofs, unless we se- 
 riously meditate upon them, unless we endeavour to 
 feel their torce, unless Y»'e guard against the diflicul- 
 
 "•2 ties 
 
S5G On the Fear of Death. 
 
 ties which the unhappy age we live in opposes to 
 those great principles? 
 
 What effect can the death of Christ have upon us, 
 as a sacrifice offered up to divine justice for our sins, 
 unless we feel the plenitude of that sacrifice, unless 
 we make application of it to the conscience, unless 
 we present it to God in the exercises of a living 
 faith ; above all, unless by the constant study of 
 ourselves, unless by unremitting, by persevering ex- 
 ertion, we place ourselves under the terms, and invest 
 ourselves with the characters of those who have a right 
 to apply to themselves the fruits of this sacrifice ? 
 
 What effect can the death of Christ produce upon 
 us, considered as the pledge of a blessed eternity, 
 unless the soul be powerfully impressed with that 
 eternity, unless the heart be penetrated with a sense 
 of what it is ; if we are at pains to efface the impres- 
 sion which those interesting objects may have made 
 upon us; if hardly moved by those great truths 
 which ought ta take eniire possession of the mind, 
 we instantly plunge ourselves into the vortex of 
 worldly pursuits, without taking time to avail our- 
 selves of that happy disposition, and, as it were, pur- 
 p:)sely to withdraw from those gracious emotions 
 which seemed to have laid hold of us ? Ah I my 
 brethren, if such be the conduct of the generality of 
 professing Christians, as we are under the necessity 
 of admitting, when, not satisfied with observing their 
 deportment in tbe house of God, and from a pulpit, 
 we follow them into life, and look through those 
 ilimsy veils of piety and devotion which ihey had as- 
 sumed for an hour in a worshipping assembly ; if such, 
 1 say, be the conduct of the generahty of professing 
 Christians, their terror at the approach of death ex- 
 hibits nothing to excite astonishment. 
 
 The grand conclusion to be deduced, my breth- 
 ren,, from all these reflections,- is not an abstract con- 
 
 clasioi^ 
 
On the Fear of Death. 357 
 
 clnsion and of difBcult comprehension : it is a con- 
 clusion easy, natural, and which would spontane- 
 ously present itself to the mind, were we not dis- 
 posed to practise deception upon ourselves ; the 
 grand conclusion to be deduced from these reflec- 
 tions is this : If we wish to die like Christians, we 
 must live Hke Christians. If we would wish to be- 
 hold with firmness the dissolution of this body, we 
 must study the proofs which establish the truth of 
 the immortality of the soul, so as to be able to say 
 with St Paul, *' I know whom I have beheved, and I 
 am persuaded he is able to keep that which I have 
 committed unto him against that day," 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 Would we wish to have a security against fear at that 
 tremendous tribunal, before V7hich we must appear to 
 receive judgment, vi^e must enter into the conditions 
 of the covenant of grace, that we may be able to 
 say with the same apostle, " I am the chief of sinners, 
 a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious : but I 
 obtained mercy," 1 Tim. i. 13. Would we be 
 strengthened to resign, without murmuring, all the 
 objects around us, and to which we are so fondly at- 
 tached, we must learn to disengage ourselves from 
 them betimes ; to place our heart betimes where oztr 
 treasure is^ Mat. vi. 21. that we may be able to 
 say with the Psalmist, " Whom have 1 in heaven but 
 thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire be- 
 sides thee," Ps. ixxiii. 25. 
 
 If after we have exerted our utmost efforts, we 
 still find our frail flesh and blood complaining at the 
 prospect of approaching dissolution ; if the heart 
 still repines at the hard necessity imposed upon us of 
 dying ; let us strive to recover confidence, not only 
 against this apprehension, but likewise against the 
 doubts which it might excite respecting our salva- 
 tion. This fear of death is, in such a case, not a 
 crime, but an infirmity. It is indeed a m.elancholy 
 proof that we are not yet perfect, but it is not a blot 
 which obliterates our Christianity. It is an expres- 
 
 :.icii 
 
55S On the Fear of DeaiJL 
 
 Hon of timidity, not of mistrust. It is a calamity 
 •which prevents our enjoying all the sweets of a tri- 
 umphant death, but not an obstacle to prevent our 
 dying in safety. Let us be of good courage. What 
 have we to fear ? God is an affectionate friend, who 
 will not desert us in the hour of adversity. God is 
 not a cruel being, who takes pleasure in rendering us 
 miserable. He is a God whose leading characters are 
 goodness and mercy. He stands engaged to render 
 us happy. Let us not distrust his promise ; it has 
 been ratified by the most august seal which suspicion 
 itself could exact, by the blood of the spotless Lamb, 
 which is sprinkled, not on the threshold of our doors, 
 but on our inmost conscience. The exterminating 
 angel will respect that blood, will presume to aim no 
 stroke at the soul which bears the mark of it. 
 
 After all, my dearly beloved brethren, if the most 
 advanced Christians, at the first glimpse of death, and 
 in the first moments of a mortal distemper, are unable 
 to screen themselves from the fear of death ; if the 
 iiesh murmurs, if nature complains, if faith itself 
 seems to stagger ; reason, religion, but especially the 
 aid of God's spirit, granted to the prayers, to the im- 
 portunities ascending to heaven from the lips of such 
 a Christian, dissipate all those terrors. The mighty 
 God suffers himself to be overcome, when assailed by 
 supplication and tears. God resists not the sighs of a 
 believer, who from his bed of languishing stretches 
 out his arms toward him, who intreats him to sanctify 
 the sufferings which he endures, who implores his 
 support in the agonies of death, Vvho cries out from 
 the centre of a soul transported with holy confidence : 
 "- Into thine hand I commit my spirit : thou hast re- 
 deemed me, O Lord God of truth," Ps. xxxi. 5. Re- 
 ceive it, O my God. Remove from me those phan- 
 toms which disturb my repose. Raise me up, take 
 me to thyself. " Teach my hands to war, and my 
 fingers to fight. Draw me, I shall run after thee." 
 Kindle my devotion ; and let my enflamed desires 
 
 2 serve 
 
On the Fear of Death 359 
 
 serve as a chariot of fire to transport me to heaven. 
 The clouds thickened around me by him x(oho had the 
 pozoer of death are scattering ; the vail which covered 
 eternity insensibly withdraws : the understanding is 
 convinced ; the heart melts ; the flame of love burns 
 bright; the return of holy meditations, which for- 
 merly occupied the soul, disclose the grand object of 
 rehgion, and the bed of death is transformed into a 
 field of victory. Many of your pastors, Christians, 
 have been the joyful spectators of such a triumph. 
 
 May all who hear m^ this day be partakers of 
 these divine consolations I May that invaluable sa- 
 crifice which Jesus Christ offered up to his Father in 
 our behalf, by cleansing us from all our guilt, deliver 
 us from all our fears ! May this great High- priest of 
 the new covenant bear engraven on his breast all 
 these mystical Israelites, now that he is entered into 
 the hohest of all I And when these foundations of 
 sand, on which this clay-tabernacle rests, shall crum- 
 ble away from under our feet, may we ail be enabled 
 to raise our departing spirits out of the ruins of the 
 world, that they may repose in the mansions of im- 
 mortality I Happy, beyond expression, beyond con- 
 ception happy, to die in such sentiments as these I 
 God of his infinite mercy grant it may be our blessed 
 attainment I To him be honour and glory for ever. 
 Amen. 
 
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