LIBRA^RY Theological Seminary, PRINCETON, N. J. Case, ^r-r^-^^'r^.. Shelf, 3 / "^ I v/. 2^ Book, Section. FAMILY SERMONS. >i'^^li ^Y THE REV. E. W. Wf^ITAKER, LATE OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD: NOW RECTOR OF ST. MILDRED'S AND ALJ- SAINTS, CANTERBUKY, VOL. II. f* FEED Mr SHEEP." LONDON: PRINTED BY BYE AND LAW; AND SOLD By r- AND C. RIVINGTON, KO. 62, ST. PAUL'S CHURCH YARD. ' ?79?. «^ CONTENTS 0» The Second volume. SERMON I. Page On ferving God only. MATT. vi. 24. No man can ferve two majiers ; for either he will hate the onCy and love the other ^ or elfe he will hold to the one, and defpife the other. Te cannot ferve God and Mammon - - - r SERMON II On Idolatry. i ST. JOHN V. 21. Little children^ hep yourf elves from idols - a5 a 2 SER- CONTENTS. SERMON III. Page On vifiting the Iniquities of the Fathers on the Children. EXOD. XX. 5. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, vijltlng the iniquity of the fathers upon the children^ unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me \ and Jhew mercy unto thoufands in them that love me J and keep my commandments - 51 SERMON IV. On Perjury and profane Swearing. MATT. V. 33, 34, 35, 36. Jgain, ye have heard that it I. ath been faid by them of old timey Thou fhalt not forjivear thyfef, but Jhalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths. But I fay unto you. Swear not at all ; neither by Heaven ; for it is God's throne : nor by the earth ; for it is His footjiool : neither by Jerufahm ; for it is the city of the great King. Neither Jhalt thou fwear by thy head, becaife thou canji not make one hair zvhite or black - — - 73 SERMON V. On the Sabbath. EXOD. XXXV. 2. Six days JJjall zvork be done, but on the f event h day there ftjall be to you an holy dny, a fabbath of reft to the Lord - - - lol SER- CONTENTS. SERMON VI. Page On the Behaviour becoming the Place and Hour of Prayer. PSALM XXIX. 2. Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name : xvorjhip the Lord in the beauty of holinefi - 1 23 SERMON VII. On the Liturgy. I COR. XIV. 15. / will pray with the fpirity and I will pray with the under/landing aljo : I will Jing with the fpirity and I will Jing with the underjlanding alfo - 145 SERMON VIII. On the Liturgy. I COR. XIV. 15. / will pray with the fpirit, and I will pray with the underjlanding alfo\ 1 will fing zvith the fpirity and I will fing with the underjlanding alfo - 169 SERMON IX. On the Caufes of our Prayers remaining oftea unanfwered. PHILIP. IV. 6. Be careful for nothing : but in every thing by prayer and fupplication with thankfgivingy let your re- quejls be made known unto God - - 199 4 SER- CONTENTS. SERMON X. Pag<^ On the Employment of the remaining Hours of the Sabbath. ISAIAH XLVIII. 13, 14. If thou turn away thy foot from the fabhath, front ■ doing thy pleofure on my htsly day ; and call the Jabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable j and foint honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleafure, nor fpeaking thine own words : Then fhalt thou delight thyjeif in the Lord: and I will caufe thee to ride upon the high places of the earthy and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath fpohen it . - - 217 SERMON XI. On the Love of God. ST. MARK xri. 29, 30. And Jefus anfwered him. The firfi of all the com- mandments is, Hear, O Ifrael ; the Lord our God is one Lord : And thou Jhalt love the Lord thy God ' with all thy heart, and with all thy foul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy Jirength. This is the firji comtnandment . . 2'?^ SER. CONTENTS, SERMON XII. Pagp On the reciprocal Duties of Parents and Children. EPHES. VI. I, 2, 3, 4. Children, obey your parents in the Lord : for this is right. Honour thy father and mother ; which is ' the firji commandment zvith promife ; that it may he well with thee, and thou mayejl live long on the earth. And ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath : but bring them up in the nurture and fidmonition of the Lord - - 263 SERMON XIII. On Family Religion. ST. MATT. V. 6. Let your light fo jhine before men^ that they may fee your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven - - - 287 SERMON XIV. On Meeknefs. ST. MATT. V. 5. Blcffed are the meek : for they Jhall inherit the earth 307 SERMON Xy. On Mercy. ST. MATT. V. 7^ Blfffed are the merciful i for they Jhall obtain mercy 323 3ER. CONTENTS. SERMON XVI. Page On Anger and its EfFefls. EPHES. IV. 26, 27. Be ye angry y and fin not : let not the fun go down upon your wrath : neither give place to the devil - 341 SERMON XVII. On Adultery. EPHES. V. 6, Let no man deceive you with vain words : for hecaufe of thefe things cometh the wrath of God upon the (hildren of dif obedience - - 301 SERMON XVIII. On Sedudlion, ST. MATT. XVIII. 6. ^ut whofo fhalJ offend one of thefe little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a mill- Jlone were hanged about his neckj and he were drowned in the depth of the fea - - 3^5 SER> SERMON L ON SERVING GOD ONLY. ^^^^^^^^ Matt. vi. 24. No man can fervc two majiers ; for either he unll hate the one^ and love the other, or elfe he will hold to the one, and defpife the ather. Ye cannot ferve God and Mammon* ** T TOW long (faid the prophet Ehjah to the people of Ifrael) will ye halt between two opinions ? If the Lord be God, follow Him; if Baal, follow him." " How long (might the prefent minifters of the Gofpel, with equal reafon, aik thofe whom they addrefs) will ye halt between two opinions ? If Chrifl be, indeed, your Lord and Mafter; if He be the Son of God, true and powerful to perform the VOL.H. B pro- i, On fervmg God only, serM. promifes which He hath made to all who I- are fincerely His difciples, apply yourfelves at once, with manly firmnefs, to the prac- tice of His commandments, and ftedfaftly walk in the paths marked out by the lefTons He hath left you : but if the good things of this world be equal to the fatisfa6lion of your defires ; if ye can with certainty ob- tain them, and with fecurity enjoy them; and if, wdiile they are nearer at hand, ye think them as valuable in themfelves as any treafures which Chrift can give you, why ferve the world ; drudge on in the bondage to which ye feem already more than half inclined ; and follow wherever luft, ambi- tion and avarice, may lead you. But at- tempt not to mingle light with darknefs ; think not to reconcile truth to falfehood ; do not imagine, that while ye are intem- perate in your pailions, and unreflrained in your indulgences, while prefent gratifica- tion alone is fought, and the didtates of temporal interefl: implicitly obeyed, ye can be difciples of the Gofpel, or that there is any fellowfhip between Chrift and Belial." Thus, On ferving God only. 3 Thus, I fay, might the prefent minifters serm. of Chrifl, ftricken with the inconfiftency i- and irrefolution vifible in the condud: of the greater part of thofe to whom they preach, juftly addrefs them. Thus ob- ferving how they one day repair to the church, and, with upHfted hands and eyes, petition heaven for pardon of their pall offences, and for fpiritual affiftance in future j and the next, return without re- ludlance to the courfes they theirfelves have condemned : how they one hour hften, with apparent attention, to their admonitions, or recur for inftrudlion to the laws of God ; and the next, regulate their condu6l by the maxims of the world : they might repre- fent to them the utter abfurdity of fuch be- haviour, and in proof of it urge the doc- trine of the text, that ** no man can ferve two mailers." Such is the folly of attempting to make a ftate of fin and falvation compatible with each other; fo great is the abfurdity of imagining, that while we fpend half our B 2 time 4 On ferving God only. SERM. time in vice, we can gain the favour of J^ God, by dedicating the remainder to His fervicej or, that while our zeal towards Him is but lukewarm, and the obedience we pay to His laws but partial, He will accept us as good, and reward us as faith- ful fervants, that nothing but the repeatedly feeing men guilty of it, could juftify our laying it to their charge. For if it be a matter of f^ch difficulty as to be morally (not to fay naturally) impoffible to ferve at the fame time, and with equal fidelity, two mafters, where the commands of one never interfere with thofe of the other : becaufe the fervant's inclination may be fwayed by the mofl trifling difference of difpofition or manners in his mafter's j or his behaviour be influenced by his knowing, or even fan- cying, that one has it in his power or will to reward him more bountifully than the other: how perfec^lly extravagant mufl: be the endeavour to yield equal obedience to the injundiions of fuch as are ever at variance be- tween themfelvcs, whofe manners areoppo- fite, and whofc interefls clafli ! Yet thus extra^- 5 On ferving God only. S extravagant, thus completely abfurd is the serm. condudt of every man, who holding the truth ^2\.^ of religion, and being perfuaded that God will, in another world, impart real happinefs, and fubftantial bleffings, to thofe whofe be- haviour He approves in this, thinks to ob- tain a portion of fuch bleffings, although he negle6l to forfake the pra6ticc of any par- ticular vice, refufe to give up any favourite indulgence, or to ceafe from the profecution of any beloved temporal intereft. For the fervice of fin is rebellion againft God. Every indulgence of a depraved ap- petite, every act of obedience to the i\.\gg^^- tions of evil inclinations, is a contempt of His law, and flying in the face of His authority. He hath commanded us to keep ourfelves from pollution, to free ourfelves from fin : How then fhall we continue in fin, and yet ferve Him ? Is it in our power to change the nature of things ? to annihi- late thofe eternal differences that fubfift be- tween them ? Can we make good evil, or evil good ? Can we alter the unchangeable B 3 wiU I. 6 On Je ruing God only, SERM. will of God, and fay to the Almighty, With this Thou fhalt be pleafed ? If we cannot do thefe things, we cannot ferve both Him and fin. We cannot, becaufe it implies a contradicftion : we cannot, becaufe God is not mocked : we cannot, becaufe He will not receive a feigned or a partial obedi- ence : we cannot, becaufe He will not ac- cept a divided heart. Which then, (for it is time to determine) which fliall we ferve? to which fhall we pay obedience? to the law of fin, which we find in our bodies, or to the law of God, which our teachers have endeavoured to imprint on our minds ? Let us confider, which is our natural mafler, which the eafier fervice, and whence we may exped: to receive the more precious rewards ! Now as we are indebted to God for our exigence, He has, by right of creation, a full and indefeaiible title to our fervice, and is, from our very entrance into being, our natural Mailer. While this tie to obedience is On fervitig God only. 7 is hourly ftrengthen'ed on us by the conti- serm. nual acceffion of frefh benefits. But before ^* we receive any thing from fin, we mufl begin to labour in its fervice j we muft re- nounce all our obligation to our firfl Bene- fad:our, and become hirelings to a flranger. To fay that there are no difficulties to be borne, that there are but few tryals of pa- tience or fortitude to be undergone in a life of religion, and in keeping the command- ments of God, would be to contradid the declarations and experience of good men in all ages, to rob the righteous of their brighteft jewel, that perfevering faith which carries them forward to the attainment of the high prize of their calling, and to queftion the wifdom of the infpired writers, who are perpetually warning us to be pati- ent and vigilant, to bear hardfhip as good foldiers of Chrifl, and ever to bear in mind how great are the pov/ers againfl; which we wreftle. But ftill, if we fairly compare this fervice with the labours we muft ne- celTarily go through, and the anxiety and B 4 un- " On ferving God only, SERM. imeafinefs we muft fufFer in that of fin, we I' fliall find moil abundant realon to join with our Lord, in faying, that His yoke is eafy, and His burthen hght. To conquer the inclinations which the temptations of the world excite, to refift the powerful folici- tations of irregular appetites, and to flem the torrent of defire which allurements and opportunity may raife,it doubtlefsly requires a firm and rigorous felf-denial. To re- jed; great prefent advantages rather than tranfgrefs the laws of fair dealing ; and to break off long-eftablifhed cuftoms, and be- loved connexions, and to retire from mirth and gaiety to folitude and grave refledtion, rather than be a partaker in fin, are truly, in many cafes, works of fevere mortifica- tion. But if to thefe ye add the feelings excited by the contemptuous fneer of the infidel, and the feoffs of thofe who have learned to make a mock at fin, ye will have the chief of the real difficulties that attend the fervice of God, except in times of per- fecution : for the prad:ice of devotion, and the difcharge of the focial duties which religion Oti ferving God only. a Teliglon commands us to perform, will, serM, even if we enter upon them relu6i:antly at ^• firft, foon become eafy, and prove a perpe- tually encreaiing fource of fatisfa6tion and delight. While even the difficulty of thofe harder tafks I have mentioned, will decreafe by cuftom, and our refolution being con- firmed by exercife, and our zeal ftrength- ened by meditation, the habit of refraining from evil will render all conftraint needlefs, and we (hall find the fervice in which we are engaged to be perfed: freedom. View, on the other hand, the fervice of fin ! and ye will find the uneafinefs and re- pugnance which a man feels on firfl embark- ing in vicious courfes are no more than an earnefl of the folicitude and remorfe, of the anxiety, vexations, and difappointments, that attend his progrefs. At iirft, when not yet lofl to fenfe of fhame, nor hardened againfl the reproofs of confcience, he anxi- oufly ftrives to conceal his mif-deeds from others, and to palliate the guilt of them to himfelf ; living in conftant dread of difco- verjr to On ferving God only, very without, and at ceafelefs war within. When farther advanced in iniquity, the evil fo forely apprehended overtakes him; his real character becomes known ; the good defpife and avoid him j and he is no longer favourably received but by fuch as either - partake in or profit by his crimes. Is he a voluptuous man, indulgence en- ilames his appetites, they gain a compleat afcendancy over him, and he becomes their flavej dragged by them to the commiflion of crimes, at the enormity of which he would formerly have fhuddered, he lives only to his lufts, and retains little of either the principles or the reafon of a man. If vanity, pride, ambition, or avarice, govern him, thefe too gather ftrength by exercife, and being unrefifted, obtain a predominancy fo ab folate, as to make their Haves deaf to either the calls of friendfliip, the fuggeflions of reafon, the cries of the opprelTed, or the fupplications of the diftreffed. So hard a mailer is fin, that our mofl amiable affec- tions mufl be renounced, our moil worthy qualities On ferving God only, 1 1 qualities parted with in its fervice. And serm. for what? What are the bleffings obtained ^* under a thraldom fo fevere ? What are the good things for which fo many thus hardly labour ? Let the voluptuary rate his enjoyments as high as he pleafes, from the nature of them they can never be of long duration, while they muft too be fubjecft to much and vexatious interruption ; to many difap- pointments the purfuit of them inevitably leads ; they bring remorfe with them ; and numerous are the evils confequent upon them. Obferve a man grown old in in- temperance ; confider him either as review- ing his paft life, or looking forward to future periods of his exiftence. Coniidered in the firfl light, if he views the pleafures in which he has indulged himfelf with complacency, he ftill muft view them as paft, and never to be renewed : and what the degree of mortification flowing from that muft be, I leave you to imagine. But if he holds them in another view, he muft deteft I % On fercing God only, SERM. detefl their remembrance ; lince they have I- robbed him of all the comfort to be received from the profpedl of future happinefs, and left him nothing in return but debility, dif- eafe, and the horrours of a wounded con- fcience. And if we confider fuch a one as looking forward into eternity, his dread of the juft fentence to be pafTed on his innu- merable offences mufh raife in his breafl torments, which God forbid any of us fhould be able to defcribe; fince nothing but feeling them could give us an adequate power of expreflion, Anfwerable to thefe rewards beflowed on the voluptuous are thofe which fin gives to her fervants in other lines. If, after many years fpent in toil and difficulties, after paffing through numberlefs dangers, and hours of anxiety, which no earthly glories can repay, they do at length gain the end of their wifhes ; they then find the empti- nefs of thofe things after which they have fo long been labouring ; they find that they have their reward ; while the years in which they On fervlng God only, l ^ they can enjoy it draw faft towards an end, SfeJiM, and no hope of future blelffing, no ground i. for exped:ing happinefs hereafter remains ^■"''^'^'^ unto them. Such is the gain of the finner : what he obtains with labour, he enjoys with uncertainty ; when he dies, his plea- fures ceafe, and his hopes die too. What, on the other hand, does the fer- vice of God produce ? the great reward it- felf, indeed, is future, but the hopes of that reward are ever prefent, ever certain ; they are a fupport under all afflidlions, a fource of courage and perfeverance under all diffi- culties through life ; and when that draws to a conclufion, the glory of the righteous begins to blaze forth : with readinefs he meets the change, at the approach of which the finner trembles ; and departing hence in triumph, receives from the hand of his almighty Mafter, whom he loved and ferved, bleffings becoming the power and the good- nefs of the Giver ; fuch things as neither eye hath feen, nor ear heard, neither hath it 1 4 On ferving God only, SERM. it entered into the heart of man to conceive ^* them. The difference between the two fcrvices and their very oppofite rewards being thus confidered, the impoffibihty I before men- tioned of following both, appears flill more plainly. For if ye contract a love for the indulgences of lin, ye muft confequently diflike the law, which commands you to refrain from them. If ye efleem the plea- fures fin can give you worthy your atten-*- tion, fince ye cannot obtain them but by the lofs of the blefFings which God hath pro- mifed to the righteous, by purfuing thofe, ye mull manifeft a contempt for thefe. The dodlrincs of religion ever prefs hard on the 'condud: of the finner j to thefe, therefore, he foon becomes hoftile ; and for the ufe of the means of it he daily is lefs difpofed ; till at length he generally attacks the truth of the firfl, and moft openly de- rides the laft. Thefe On fervmg God only, i£ Thefe obfervations conftant experience serm. juftifies. Attend to the progrefs of the i* abandoned hbertine : it has been gradual. He firft tranfgrefTed with fear, with trem- bling hands he carried to his lips the poifoned cup of fin ; but having once tailed the in- ebriating liquor, it foon overcame him; his fcruples were lulled, his fhame was ba- nifhed. He now laughs at what he for- merly mofl reverenced; now hates thofe paths from which he formerly refolved never to deviate. Recoiled: the efFc6l of fin on your own minds : Have ye never found how foon the tendency to evil is encreafed ; how very fhort an intermiflion of your due devotions eflranges, as it were, your mind from the payment of them; how much the having yielded to one temptation dif- arms you againfl the attack of the next; how one tranfgreflion does often inevitably involve you in another ; how crime is linked to crime, and vice joined to vice ? And is not then the voluntary venturing on the commiflion of one fault, with the 3 thought 1 6 O/i Jerv/ng God only, SERM. thought of flopping there, one, though of^ . ^' the moft common, yet of the maddeft ima- ginations, that ever entered the human brain ? Is not the being fatisfied with our fpiritual flate, becaufe we have not quite forgot God and rehgion, beyond all com- parifon abfurd? Is not the hope of being accepted as a difciple of Chrift, although we renounce not the fervice of fin, moft contradictory, mofl apparently extravagant ? This utter impoflibility of ferving both God and Mammon, I now fct before you, as introductory to thofe difcourfes which, Kaving finifhed my obfervations on the faith and doftrines of the Gofpel, I mean to read to you on its precepts. For in fpeaking to thefe» I fhall follow the arrangement marked by the two tables of the commandments ; confidering, in their order, the duties therein prefcribed, as explained and amplified by the words of our blelTed Saviour. Who, ye may remember, did, at the commence- ment of His miniftry, point out to the dif- ciples ibme particulars of condudt which neither On fcrvhig God only, I -7 neither they nor their countrymen feem to serm. have fuppofed were contained under the i. laws they had received. Thus *' Ye have heard (faid He) that it was faid by them of old time, Thou (halt not kill; and who- foever fhall kill, fhall be in danger of the judgement : But I fay unto you, that who- foever is angry with his brother without a caufe, fhall be in danger of the judge- ment.'* For the firfl commandment j ** Thou (halt have none other Gods before me," is no lefs tranfgreffed by joining the fervice of any other with that of the true God, than by entirely relinquifhing the worfhip of the latter, and fetting up a flrange objed: of devotion. Neither fhould this trefpafs be confidered as confifting in the outvvard pay- ment of homage only ; for when we give to any other that fear, love, and reliance, which are due to the Lord alone, we in fad: make a transfer of our natural allegi- ance, and fet up an idol in our hearts. VOL. II, c On I S 0.7 feriing God ojily. On this ground it is that St. Paul calls covctoufnefs idolatry : and, indeed, fo pal- pable is the nature of our offence, when we trufl: for full fecurity, or permanent happi- nefs, in any being but the Lord, that the rebuke of it is become proverbial ; and when a man appears to be more attached to any thing than he ought to be, we naturally fay, it is his idol. . Some men facrifice unto their net, and burn incenfc unto their drag, makino: the obtainment of the g-oods of this world the firft objedls of their anxiety; and trufling to their own laborious exertions to put them in a fituation which they efteem replete with fecurity and peace. Others fllew themfelves lovers of pleafures more than lovers of God ; and by thcfe, as well by the former, the offices of devotion, and the duties of piety, are neglecfted as of in- feriour conlideration, and, in lieu of their ftriving to fecure the divine patronage, by the only method in which we are exprefsly warned that it is to be obtained, by feeking the kingdom of God and His righteoufnefs before all things, the hope of the firft is aban- On ferving God only. 19 abandoned to future contingencies; and it serm. is well if the obtainment of the laft is not ^* daily removed to a remoter diftance. In like manner we too often fee the friendfhip of the great or rich courted in a mode that may juftly be called idolatrous ; when in compliance with their corruptions, or in fubmiffion to their fancies, the truth is diifembled, the duties of religion are neg- ledted, and the commandments of the Lord tranfo-refTed. 'fc>* Nor is it merely by the more immediately lelfilh views of worldly intereft, that we thus make to ourfelves other gods. An inordinate fondnefs for any particular con- necflion will betray us into the fame crime ; and we may difcern in the world affed:ion to particular objed:s carried to an excefs which is incompatible with either juftice or piety, and even with any real value in the love profelfed. In fine, whenever we fuffer our obfequioufnefs to any intereft, our com- pliance with any attachment to derogate from the obedience, or diminiih the trull c % we 11,6 On fcrving God oniy. SERM. we fhould manifeft toward the Lord, (whe- I- tlier by cxercifing our worldly callings in feafons hallowed to His worfliip at the in- iligation of others, or from the fuggeftions of our own avarice, or following them with an intenfenefs inconfiftent with confidence m His merciful providence, or by placing our hope of fuccefs in the world, or in any thing therein, or in feeking gratification at the expence of obedience to His laws ;) we ceafe to ferve Him alone j and lower our- felves to the mean rank of idolators, by becoming dependent on the creature inflead of the Creatour alone for happinefs. And to no more dire6b a transfer of our allegiance than this were we of this part of the earth a few years ago expofed to be tempted. But now, alas ! by the inhabi- tants of a country adjacent to our own, has the worfhip of the God of heaven been aboliflied to make way for that of a God> whom their fathers knew not ; a Deity of reafon and of liberty, which has been exhi- bited to tlie adoration of a befottcd, blaf- phemous^ On ferving God o?2ly. % i pliemous, and abandoned people, in the serm. I. perfon of a fhamelefs proftitute. This laft flep in apoitacy, although it may appear, from its enormity, calculated to fhock the human mind, and to raife itfelf enemies in lieu of profelytes, yet, as it affords men an example of laying afide at once all fliame, and delivering themfelves without remorfe to the dominion of vice, will, it is to be feared, be followed by many whofe faith is already undermined, and whofe principles are already corrupted. Wherefore it is in- cumbent on Chriil:ians to prepare themfelves againft the affaults which may be expedied from thefe enemies of the truth; whofe beft hopes of fuccefs are placed in the eafe with which men are drawn into fins of un- cleannefs : as the daughters of Moab were the inftruments by which the Ifraelites were tempted to worfliip Baal Peor. And for your fupport againfl which, I can only add to what I have, in the former part of this difcourfe flated, of the utter incompatibility of the practice of fin with the real worfhip of God, a moil earnefl exhortation, that ye c 3 will 22 Oh ferving God only. will now, before the inflamed ftate of your appetites renders you blind to truth, deaf to reafon, flrive to imprefs on your minds the very bafe degradation which that man fuffers, who quits the fervice of the Sove- reign of the univerfe to become the votary of any other being; who withdraws his name from the houfe and family of the living God, to enrol himfelf among the flaves of corruption, the children of Satan, the followers of thofe who cannot deliver themfelves. But this comparifon between our worfhip and theirs leads to the recollediion of what is virtually another infringement of the firft commandment. For fince the worfhip we render unto Chrifl: our Saviour would form a breach of this precept, unlefs His unity with the Father were made known unto us, and all men were ordered to honour Him, even as they honour the Father ; fo when we are told, that He is the only Mediatour between God and man, to pray to others as mediatours is ftirely giving to them the honour On ferving God only. 23 honour due unto the Son of God alone, serm. Yet what is the invocation of faints and i. angels, but beyond all, the regular offices of devotion performed by the papifts to the Virgin Mary, but afcribing to them this honour, and having other mediatours be- Cdes Him ? Confider the affront thus offered to Him, whofe name has been preached to the world as the only One under heaven by which men may be faved ; and ye will not be furprized, that the Spirit of Chrill hath been withdrawn from thofe who have thus infulted Him : nor be at a lofs to account for the atheiftical do(5trines of the prefent day making the rnoft rapid and extensive progrefs among thofe who had been pre- pared for further apoftacy, by imbibing the papal corruptions. To conclude then, as we learn from the text, that if we attempt to divide our fer- vice God will not accept us, fo may we learn from what paffes in the world, as well as from the Holy Scriptures, that without His protedion and fupport we (hall be c 4 expofed a 4 Of^ fervi/ig God only, SERM. expofed to fink into the lowefl: debafements. I- As the temptations to thefe therefore en- creafe, let us bind ourfelves ftill clofer in de- votion to the Lord ; and let the miferies we now fee poured on thofe who forfake Him, operate as a timely and effectual admonition to us, that however loud their pretenfions, however fair their promifes, the vanities of the apoftate nations cannot profit ; but that that people can alone be happy, yea, bleffed alone can be that people who have the Lord for their God. SER. SERMON II. ON IDOLATRY. I St. John v. 21. Little children , keep yourfehcs from idols, "l^THILE inveftigating the command- serm. ments, to difcover every particular 11. contained under each precept, we fhould ''^'^^^'^^^ pot overlook the wifdom that may be dif- cerned in the arranoement of the feveral laws of both tables. They both commence with the duties which are refpeftively firft in order ; the one with the worfliip of the only true God, the other with the honour due unto our parents. They both clofe with a precept that tends to fecure the prac- iwt of the previous commandments; the %6 On Idolatry. SERM. firft, by one that ordains a frequent com- ^^' memoration of the great work of creation, and, confequently, a folemn periodical re- colledlion of our relation and oblirations to our Maker; the other, by a law which commands us to eradicate from our minds thofe inordinate defires which would lead us to tranfgrefs the other commandments of this fecond table. While the intermediate precepts are arranged according to the im- portance of their feveral fubjed:s. Thus the firft commandment having prohibited the worfhip of any other than the one true God, the fecond proceeds to forbid the worfhipping Him in a manner derogatory from His glory, by prefuming to bow down before any image as a reprefentation of Him, or even to make any fimilitude which, in the vanity of our imaginations, we might fuppofe to convey any idea of Him. Thus, in the fourth and fifth verfes of the twentieth chapters of Exodus we read, * ' Thou flialt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likenefs of any thing that is m On Idolatry. 27 in heaven above, or that is in the earth be- serm. neath, or that is in the water under the n. earth : Thou (halt not bow down thyfelf to them, nor fcrve them." And in the repe- tition of the law, in the fourth chapter of Deuteronomy, Hill more earneftly j " Take ye therefore good heed unto yourfelves, (for ye faw no manner of limiUtude on the day that the Lord fpake unto you in Horeb, out of the midft of the fire) left ye corrupt . yourfelves, and make you a graven image, the fimilitude of any figure, the likenefs of male or female, the fimilitude of any beaft that is on the earth, the likenefs of any winged fowl that flieth in the air, the like- nefs of any thing that creepeth on the ground, the likenefs of any fifh that is in the waters beneath the earth." Now among the numerous proofs which the Holy Scriptures yield, that He by whofe infpiration they were penned knoweth what is in man, may be reckoned the reprefen- tations which thefe admonitions give us, of the pronenefs of the human race to idolatry,. a pro- 38 On Idolatry, SERM. a propenfity which has manifefted itfelf ^^' among both the favage and civihzed part of mankind during the times of ignorance, at which it is written, that God winked, and fince His Gofpel has been preached among the nations. The books of the pfalms and the prophets abound with cenfures of the folfy, and reprehenfions of the guilt of this pradice. " Confounded (faith the pfalmift) be all they that ferve graven images, that boafl: them.felves of idols." (Pfal. xcvii. 7.) And *' the idols of the heathen are filver and gold, the work of men's hands : they have mouths, but they fpeak not ; eyes have they, but they fee not j neither is there any breath in their mouths. They that make them are like unto them, fo is every one that trufteth in them." (Pfal. cxxxv. 15, i>6, 17, 18.) " They (faith Ifaiah, in his forty-fourth chapter) that make a graven image are all of them vanity, and their de- ledable things fliall not profit : and they are their own witneffes, they fee not, nor know, that they may be afhamed." And in the eighteenth verfe, '* They have, not known nor On Idolatry, 20 nor underftood : for He hath fhut their eyes SERM. that they cannot fee, and their hearts that ii* ihey cannot underftand j and none confider- eth, neither is their knowledge nor under- ftanding to fay, I have burnt part of it in the fire, yea, alfo I have baked bread upon coals thereof: I have roafted flefh, and eaten it, and fhall I make the refidue thereof an abomination ? Shall I fall down to the flock of a tree ? He feedeth of afhes ; a de- ceived heart hath turned him afide, that he cannot deliver his foul, nor fay, Is there not a lye in my right hand ?" He had be- fore afked, in his fortieth chapter, '* To whom, then, will ye liken God ? or what likenefs will ye compare unto Him ? The workman melteth a graven image, and the goldfmith fpreadeth it over with gold, and cafteth filver chains. He that is fo impo- verifhed that he hath no oblation, choofeth a tree that will not rot : he feeketh unto him a cunning workman to prepare a graven image that (hall not be moved. Have ye not known ? Have ye not heard ? Hath it not been told you from the beginning? Have 30 On Idolatry. SERM. Have ye not underftood from the foundations II. of the earth ? It is He that fitteth upon the ^'"^'^'^ circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grafhoppers ; that ftf etcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and fpreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in \ that bringeth the princes to nothing : He maketh the princes of the earth as vanity ; yea, they fhall not be planted ; yea, .they {hall not be fown ; yea, their ftock fliall not take root in the earth: and He iliall alfo blow upon them, and they fliall wither j and the whirlwind fhall take them away as iliubble. To whom then will ye liken me, or fliall I be equal ? faith the Holy One ?'* The expofure of the folly and guilt of idolatry w^hicli the prophets thus made to their own countrymen, the preachers of the Gofpel repeated to the nations, arguing, that fmce we derive our own being from God, we furely ought not to fuppofe the Godhead like unto gold, or filver, or ftone, graven by art and man's device, thus com- paring what we can make to Him who made On Idolatry, 3^^ made us. Still, although they triumphed serm. by their dodrine over idolatry, and brought "• their converts back to the worfhip of their Creatour, the fpirit of prophecy which was in them teftified, that another relapfe into the fame abfurd and impious practices would take place j on which account, as well as on that of the then prefent peril arifing from being furroundcd with idola- ters, the caution given by St. John in the text was neceUary, ** Little children, keep yourfelves from idols." But fome man, perhaps, would afk* What need of repeating it in the prefent day ? Is there any danger of men becoming idolaters when knowledge is fo much dif- fufed, that almoft all ranks are taught, in fome meafure, to reafon for themfelves ? In return to this queflion, let it be remem- bered, that the groiTeft worfhip of images, and the moft abominable confequences of fuch worfhip, prevailed in the ancient world^ at the time when the arts and fciences were carried to the highefl perfedion, and know- ledge 33 On Idolatry, SERM. ledge \vus in its moil flourifliing flate, and ^^' it was the publication of the Gofpel only that dehvered this part of the earth from the general delufion. Whence it may moil fairly and cogently be argued, that it is the knowledge of this Gofpel fpecifically that is our great prefervative againft a relapfe into the former abominations. In propor- tion, therefore, as the acquifition of this knowledge is neglected, the danger of yield- ing to temptations to idolatry encreafes. That the cultivation of this knowledge is negledied, needs unhappily no proof; the thinnefs of crur publick congregations, and the ignorance of the Scriptures too viiible in, perhaps, the generality of thofe who call themfelves Chrifbians, bear ample tefti- mony of the defect. While the Roman apoftacy ftill continues, and the minifters of her who has been the mother of fpiritual fornication as well as of the other, ftill perfevere in feduloufly propagating her tenets, and in ftriving to make profelytes to her doctrines. That On Idolatry. 35 That thofe of her communion had really serm. departed from their former preteniions, and laid afide their ancient fpirit, was an ima- gination too haftily taken up by fome in- cautious perfons of this country, as has been manifefted by late events ; and that the charge of idolatry, folemnly brought againft her by our own church, is with juftice continued, the images before which her members continue to bow down, her invocations and prayers addreffed to angels and faints, and her regular offices of devo- tion to the Virgin Mary ; but, above all, the unrepealed declarations of the council of Trent in fupport of her abominations, do, fpite of all the barefaced fophiilry her partizans have employed in excufing them, bear ample teftimony. For whither tends the meagre plea that the veneration paid to the images refts not in them as its final ob- ject, but pafles to the beings whofe images they are, but to prove, that thofe who bow down to them worfliip others befide th^ Lord ? Or to what will ferve the forced diftinftion thefe deceivers make between VOL. II. D wor- 34 On Idolatry, worfhipping and ferving ? As if when the commandment fays, •' Thou fhalt worfhip the Lord thy God, and Him only fhalt thou ferve,'* it did not forbid the worfhipping as well as the ferving any other but Him. Nay, were we even to grant that it is not forbidden to pay a certain meafure of re-» fpcd; to the reprefentations of the favourites of Heaven, would it be right to continue it when it had once proved the occafion of fuperjftitious veneration, of idolatrous wor- fhip ? The great apoftle of the Gentiles writes, *' All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient ; all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.'* How can thofe, then, who boafl: themfelves his fuccefTors in teaching the world, think themfelves blamelefs in fandlioning and fupporting practices which have not merely caufed weak brethren to offend, but opened a door to the grolTefl: idolatry in thoufands of her communion ? How is the work of edification carried on by thofe who ftore every city under their direction with images lb addrefled by the multitude, as to bring to On Idolatry, 35 to the mind of the learned traveller the serm» pra(ftices of the Pagan idolater : who afTu- ^^' redly went no further than the corrupted Chriftian, in fuppofing that that fpecifick image of Apollo, or of Venus, before which he offered his fupplications, would perform them, but hoped that the fancied deity, whofe reprefentation it was, would regard his offering. Or, if the Papift will infift that the Pagan went further, and worfliipped the ffock or the ffone, as having power in itfelf to help him, what fhall prevent the ignorant Chriffian, who has followed his example fo far, from imitating it to the end ? That he has, indeed, fo done, a ftrong fufpicion is provoked, by the preference known to be given among the Romanifts to fome images of the Virgin Mary above others, and the more numerous miracles faid to be wrought in favour of the votaries of our Lady of Loretto, for inftance, than of thofe of our Lady of any other place* Or if the mighty works fuppofed to be done at the fhrine of a particular image be not to be afcribed to the power of the image D 2 itfelf, ■3<5 On Idolatry. SERM. it felf, they muft be attributed to the more ^^' efpecial favour fhewn by the Virgin to thofe who offer up their fuppHcations to her be- fore it : and what is this but afcribing to her the perfection of being prefent in many places (and if in many places, why not in all places ?) at once, and giving her the divine attribute of Omniprefence ? The fame inference of impiety and ido- latry neceffarily refults from the pradice of putting different places and perfons under • the patronage of the fame faint, fince this dedication and devotion muff either be nu- gatory, (which the Papift will by no means allow) or the faint muft be able to know, and to help the infirmities of feveral vota- ries at once, and thus be likened unto Him who alone filleth heaven and earth. True it is, that with a boldnefs of fo- phiffry which can be defcribed fo well by no other terms as thofe of St. Paul, pro- phetick of thefe very teachers, " fpeaking lies in hypocrify j having their confciences feared On Idolatry. ^j feared with a hot iron," the doctors of the serm. Roman church have laid down as a juft n. rule of reafoning, that although any parti- '^^^"^f'^- cular dodrine ought to be received on due authority, it by no means follow^s, that all the necelTary inferences from it fliould alfa be received ; whence they endeavour to evade the abfurd and impious confequences flowing from their own doctrine of the in- vocation of faints ,- faying, it does not fol- low becaufe their church allows of it, that therefore fhe holds that they can hear the prayers addreffed unto them. But is not addreffing their petitions to thofe who can* not hear, as well as to Him who can, di- viding with others the honour due to Him alone who hath declared, ** My glory will I not give to another, neither my praife to graven images ?" If. xlii. 8. In fa(ft, fo well founded is the charge of idolatry made by the church of England on that of Rome, that after all the attempts of thefe blind leaders of the blind to pal- D 3 liate 3^ On Idolatry. liate or colour their prad:iees, their oppo- iition to the fecond commandment is fo glaring, that they theirfelves have thought it proper to omit this law in fome of their books of devotion, and divide another into two, to preferve the full number of ten commandments delivered to Mofes, thus verifying that prophetick chara(fteriftick of the man of fin in which he is defcribed, as he ** who oppofeth and exalteth himfelf above all that is called God/* ^ ThelT. ii. 4, But it may be further juflly afked, Whe- ther the injuncftion of the apoftle, *' Little children, keep yourfelves from idols," does not extend beyond the mere worfhip of images, even to the making any thing that we may profanely fuppofe bears any fimi- litude to the Deity ? From his admonition being fo general, we may fairly conclude, that he did not mean to recommend to Chriftians lefs than the commandment itfelf required; and that forbids not only the Worfliip, but the formation of any imagq On Idolatry. 39 as a reprefentation of God. ** Thou fhalt serm. not make unto thee any graven image, or ^^' any hkenefs of any thing that is in Heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." And I have already ftated to you the indignant queftions put by his prophet on this fub- je6l : ** To whom will ye liken God? or what likenefs will ye compare unto Him ?'* Yet, alas ! this daring tranfgreffion is not among Chriftians confined to the adherents of the papacy. Neither pi(5lures, indeed, of the invifible Father, nor paintings of the Holy Trinity, are, in this country, exhibited as in thofe of the Romanifts, but the inex- plicable and incomprehenfible nature of God is moil: profanely reprefented by a triangle, not only in the coarfe fymbolical drawings of fanatics, whofe low conceptions and grofs ignorance make fuch prad:ices lefs fur- prizing, but even in the altar-pieces of churches, where they are conftantly under the eye of the parochial clergy, and, at times, expofed to the infpedion of an arch- D 4 , deacon 40 On Idolatry » SEKM. deacon or a bifhop*. Still all thefe minif- i^* ters of the church have declared their affent to thofe articles which alTert, that the fecond book of Homilies contains a godly and wholcfome doctrine ; and this book does, in the moft pointed manner, condemn even the making, and ftill more the fetting up any image, either by painting or fculpture, in churches. Now as this dodrine of the reformers feems to have fallen fo far into oblivion, that thofe who have moil explicitly under- taken to fupport it, contribute to prepare the way for a return of idolatry among us, by both conniving at, and affifting in intro- ducing pivflures and painted fymbols into * The authour has been an eye-witnefs of this ab- furd and impious attempt to exprefs, by a pourtraiture on a wall, the obje£l of chriftian worfhip in two churches in the diocefe of London, and in one in that of Winchefter ; and in the major part of thefe inftances which have fallen under his own notice, leaft the in- tention of the fimilitude fhould be miftaken, the name •f God is infcribed therein. our On Idolatry, a\. our places of worfhip, let me repeat to you serm. fome paiTages from the learned, able, and n. zealous Homily againft idolatry, which will demonflrate what, at our feparation from Rome, was holden by the church of Eng- land on this point, though now apparently forgotten by many of her minifters. Having quoted the following palTage from a primitive Chriftian writer on the very words of the text, '* St. John deepely con- lidering the matter fay th : My little chil- dren, keepe yourfelves from images or idols. Hee fayth not now, keepe yourfelves from idolatrie, as it were from the fervice and worfhipping of them : but from the images or idols themfelves ; that is, from the very fhape and likeneffe of them. For it were an unworthy thing, that the image of the living God fhould become the image of a dead idoll.'* The Homily continues ; ** Doe you not thinke thofe perfons which place images and idols in churches and temples, yea fhrine them even over the Lord's table, even as it were of purpofe to the worfhipping and 42 On Idolatry » SERM. and honoring of them, take good heed to i^- either of St. John's counfell, or TertulHan's ? For fo to place images and idols, is it to keepe themfelves from them, or elfe to re- ceive and embrace them ?" Again, in the third part of the fame fermon, ** This is to be replied out of God's word — the images of the trinitie, which we had in every church, be by the Scriptures exprelTely and dire(5tly forbidden, and condemned, as appeareth by thefe places." After which, at the head of other palTages of holy writ, two of diofe I have already quoted in this difcourfe, are cited, and a general inference is drawn from the doctrine they contain, in the following terms : " Wherefore they be convi(ft of foolifhneffe and wickednefle in making of images of God or the Trinitie : for that no image of God ought, or can be made, as by the Scriptures and good reafon evidently appeareth," And a few pages after with ftill o:reater earneftnefs : " But images in churches and temples have beene, and be, and (as afterwards fhall be prooved) ever will bee offences and ftumbling blockes, fpecially On Idolatry. ^'y fpecially to the wcake, fimple and blinde serm. common people, deceiving their hearts ir. by the cunning of the artificer, (as the ^^'^"^'^"^ Scripture exprefsly, in fundry places, doth teftifie) and fo bringing them to idolatrie. Therefore woe be to the ered:er, fetter up, and maintayner of images in churches and temples, for a greater penalty remayneth for him then the death of the body.'* Now when fuch are the declarations of a work w^hich every prieft, deacon, and bene- ficed miniller of the church acknowledges to contain no other fentimcnts than he enter- tains, fhould a member of any other re- formed church reproach any fuch with having departed from the former purity of thofe of our communion, and with adiing in contradid:ion to their own formal pro- feffions, by permitting a fy mbolical paint- ing of the Deity in his church, what plea can they ufe, what anfwer can they return, that will not convi6l them either of not knowing what they do as members of the church of England profefs, or of confenting to II. 44 On Idolatry, SERM. to what theirfelves have condemned ? Happy- are they who can fay, that thefe are acts of particular congregations, to which they have never affentedj thus clearing themfelves from any fliare in the offences paft, as well as from being implicated in what may arife from the very important advantage which papal emiffaries may draw from reprefenting, that it is manifeft, from practices being now allowed in the church of England, which were moft feverely re- probated, as tending to idolatry by our re- formers, that thefe laft carried their accu- fations of the church of Rome too far ; for when they (hall feem to have once fairly eftablifhed this point, they will, by the accommodations and modifications at which they are fo expert, eaiily prevail on perfons of (hallow information, and weak minds, to believe, that the ground of difference is trifling, and prevailing on them to return into the bolbm of what they will then per- fuade them to think is the catholick church, precipitate them again into the great apoftacy. And at whofe hands then will thefe loft fouls be required ? Signal On Idolatry. 4j; Signal are tKe judgements which the God serm. of Heaven hath poured on the kingdom of u- Anti-Chrift, and no lefs accurately do they correfpond with the prophecies that went before concerning them, than the abomina- tions introduced, countenanced, and obfti-- nately fupported by the papal power, do with the defcriptions which the prophets and apoftles have left us of them : Shall they not, then, be to us a warning againft becoming partakers in her fins ? The notion that we are in no danger of a relapfe is as contrary to experience as to reafon : a people depraved in their morals are eafily corrupted in their ideas of the Deity, and become as grofs in their conceptions of heavenly things as they are m their enjoyment of earthly. While, furely, the preaching of the apof{:les, and the inftrudlion and li2:ht with which the firft converts to chriflianity were blefled,. afforded them and their fuccellbrs full as much fecurity againfl falling away to ido- latry again as we can on any ground now boafl of polTelling. Yet the text itfelf de- monflrates, that St. John was not without appre- 4^ On Idolatry, SERM. apprehenfion of fuch apoftacy : And how II- did it commence? by the introduction of pictures and images into places of worfhip, with, however, exprefs caution againll wor- fhipping them : which caution was gradu- ally lefs and lefs attended to, until the con- fequent idolatry was fancStioned and fup- ported even by bifhops and councils ; and that which was the Chriflian world became funk in apoftacy, and overrun with thofe impurities which ever follow the defertion of the true for any falfe obje6l of worfhip. And what is to prevent the fame effedls following from the fame caufes ? Or, if men break the commandment in one point, and infult the divine Majeily, by pretending to give a reprefentation of God's nature by pourtraiture, can they expedt the aid of His Holy Spirit to prevent their being led into further tranffrrefiion ? Or havino" been o o once delivered from the more than Egyptian bondage, under which our forefathers fuf- fered. If we willingly turn towards it again, can we hope not to be entrapped in the works On Idolatry. ^n works of our own hands? or wonder, if serm. our table be made a fnare unto us 3 and if n* that which (hould have been for our welfare become a trap. If the hofpitality we have (hewn to fo many perfecuted priefts of the Roman communion, lead to the filent pre- valence of their tenets among us ; and the companion we glory in fhewing to thofe who have taken refuge in our land, prove the occafion of their dodlrlnes obtaining an influence among us. However blind fome may be to the danger of thefe things, we ought in wifdom never to forget the dif- graceful ftate of degradation in which the inhabitants of this ifland did once, and thofe of fome countries of Europe do ftill lie, through their fubjedion to idolatry. When the wrath of departed faints was made an inftrument of terrour to compel their votaries to obey the didates of an avaricious, a luftful, or an ambitious monk; when means were craftily ufed to give mo- tion to the eyes and limbs of images, and thus gain credit to the lying miracles of which their priefts boalled j and when the fuppofed 4^ On Idolatry, SERM. fuppofed fuperabundant merits of holy, or ^^' reputed holy, perlons, were fold out in por- tions, under the abfurd notion of fupplying the deficiency of others ; and thus became a moil: produ(5tive fource of revenue to the minifters of a corrupted church, and as deftrudtive a fnare to the fouls of thofe who trufled to the bifliop of Rome^s blafphemous indulgences for falvation. Think not lightly then of the fubjed; of my prefent addrefs unto you : many wife, many mighty men, haye been drawn afide by the deluiions of idolatry. Neither the abfurdity of the pracftice, nor its injuri- oufnefs to the divine Majefty, have been fufficient to Hop the contagion of it. And, in the more ftriking inflances of its pro- grefs, its fuccefs appears to have been par- ticularly owing to female imbecility and female influence : let thofe of that fex, therefore, be more efpecially cautious how they lill:en to the words of any who lie in wait to deceive, and imagine they can ob- tain rcmiflion for their own fins by making I a pro- On Idolatry. ^o a profelyte, who, with all the ardour of a serm. new convert, (hall become two- fold more a li* child of hell than their felves. And let us all arm ourfelves againft the attacks of this kind which we may exped:, by gaining the jufteft notions of the glory of Him " whom no one hath feen, or can fee ; and to Whom therefore nothing vifiblc can be made like ; Who made the earth, and created man upon it j Whofe hands ftretched out the heavens, and Who commanded all their hofts ; Who formeth light, and creates darknefs ; Who maketh peace, and creates evil — the Lord Who doeth all thefe things. Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the fmall dufl of the balance : Behold, He taketh up the ifles as a very little thing ; and Lebanon is not fufficient to burn, nor the beafts thereof fufficient for a burnt-offering. All nations before Him are as nothing; and they are counted to Him lefs than nothing, and vanity ; but Who is too a jealous God, not giving His glory to another, but vifiting the iniquity (and more particularly the idolatry) of the VOL. II. E . lathers 5^ On Idolatry, ^ERM. fathers upon the children, unto the third ^i» and fourth generation of them that hate Him, and (hewing mercy unto thoufands in them that love Him, and keep His com- mandments." SER- SERMON III. ON VISITING THE INIQUITIES OF THE FATHERS ON THE CHILDREN. ExoD. XX. 5. For I the Lord thy God am a jealous Gody vijiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children y unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me -y and Jhewing mercy unto thoufands in them that love me, and keep my commandments. CINGULAR is the treatment which the serm, commandment whence thefe words are ^^^' taken has received in the world. Since, while fome corrupt Chriftians, (as ye have already been apprized) fenfible of the per- petual teftimony it bears againft their prac- tices, have endeavoured to obliterate it from E 2 the 52 On vijiting the Iniquities of the the table ; thofe without the church urge againft the portion of it which I have now read to you, the charge of palpable injuftice, as threatening to infli6t on the innocent the punifhment due to the crimes of others. This charge hath been met by the fervants of the Gofpel in different manners j moft of which, it muft be acknowledged, are calculated to afford but little fatisfadion ; and the one which, indeed, obviates every objedion againfl revelation that can be drawn from its containing fuch a menace, by proving that natural religion is attended with the fame difficulty, feems to do little more than change the fliouider which bears the burthen. As no paiTage through which an inroad can be made on our faith ought to be negledied ; and although the Lord give not account of any His doings, yet if we can prevent His name being blafphemed through ignorance, or which is but the fame thing, prevent others from charging Him foolilhly to their own condemnation, it 9 furely Fathers on the Children. SZ furely becomes us both in piety and charity serm. io to do; I fliall employ this difcourfe in •^^^* reviewing before you the chief of thoCe interpretations of the paflage of the text, by which it has been imagined, the objec- tions brought againll it might be removed ; and pointing out in each that in which it appears deficient, lay before you what I conceive to be a fufficient anfwer to the charge of injuftice, and ftate what on an at- tentive perufal of the circumftances of the declaration made in this law, and repeated on another occafion, ieems to be the only true ground of it. Previous to this, however, it may pro- perly be recommended to your attention, that the very dod:rine now fo ftrongly ob- je(fled to was currently believed through all antiquity : the noblefl: compofitions of Greece and Rome advert to it as univerfally acknowledged ; the eaftern tales and the weftern fragments contain it; and it was left to the penetration of more modern In- fidels to except againfl revelation, for fup- E 3 pofing 54 On vijiting the Iniquities of the SERM. pofing the exigence of a particular of the ^i,J^* divine government, which has continued vifible to everj obferver, from the days of Adam to our own. This premifed ; among thofe who have repHed to the cavils raifed againft this doc- trine, fome of great name have fuppofed, that the vifitation threatened is to be re- trained in its intention to the punifhment of national offences ; and the divine admi- niftration with regard to the peculiar people of God, hath been thought to favour this interpretation. The fa(5t that God does thus vifit national departures from righteoufnefs on fucceeding generations, cannot jufl-ly be difputed. But is this ground for arguing, that He does not vifit thofe of individuals in like manner ? Neither does there appear lefs injuftice in punifhing one body of men for the iniquity committed by another body, than in vifitins; on one individual the crimes of another ; and the hiflory of the chofen people affordeth, perhaps, as many, poffibly more inftances of the latter than of the former. Fathers on the Children. £$ former. The trefpafTes of Solomon were serm. vifitcd on his fucceirour; and thofe of Ahab ^^^' on all his poftcrity. While fa(fls, which are every day feen in the world, coniift not with this hypothefis : iince we fee children fufFering in the little regard they receive, in penury, in difeafe of body, and even in weaknefs of intelledt, the confequences of their father*s vices and ill condudl. Neither on fiich only as follow the bad example fet them by their parents, and evidently merit, by walking in the fame evil ways, the chaflifements they undergo, do thefe evils fall : others of upright charadiers may be feen ftruggling with difficulties and fuffer- ings, arifing from the mifbehaviour of their ancellours ; a truth which is equally deci- five againft another interpretation of the menace; that which would confine it only to the wicked defcendants of wicked men. Inftead, therefore, of flriving to devife limits for what is in the commandment de- nounced generally and without limitation, let us confider what will be the neceffary E 4 con" 5 6 On viftting the hii qui ties of the SERM. confequences of allowing the fadt which ^^'^' feems in the law itfelf to be fuppofed, and is by experience fufficiently eftablifhed j that in the courre ot the divine government, the vilitations of God for fin reach even to the defcendants of finners. In reply to every thing which the advocates for what they ckll natural religion can f-iy, on fuch a doc- trine being maintained by revelation, what I before obferved, that the difficulty afFeds the caufe they pretend to efpoufe, no Icfs than it docs ours, is a fufficient anfwer; and therefore, whether a fatisfadory account of fuch a mode of proceeding can be by us rendered or not, as in aiferting it's reality revelation hath only ftated a fad: difcernible by every obferver, no good objedion can, on this ground, be raifed againft the divine origin of the Scriptures. Which point being fecured, together with the following, that although through the fmall extent of our knowledge, particular parts of the divine adminiftration may feem inconfiftent with the principles of righteoufnefs which muft pervade it, yet fince the perfedion of the great Fathers on the Children. ^j great Governour is an infinite pledge that serm. this can be appearance only, we may ven- ^^^' ture to affign what we think may tend to elucidate the point in queftion ; lince, if we fucceed not, there is ilill no mifchief done^ Under this confi deration, then, I will call your attention more particularly to the cafe of thofe who fafFer under evils confequcnt on the mifcondud: of their parents, con- ceiving it may be (hewn, that they have no juft caule to murmur at this appointment of Providence. Firft, however, let it be obferved, that nothing having been declared as to the dire place On the Liturgy, 1 4^ place in the church, and may juftly encreafe serm. our furprize at the bhndnefs which the vii. adherents of the papacy betray in obftiaately retaining a practice fo fpecifically con- demned, as that of praying in an unknown tongue is in the chapter of the text : while we ought to be thankful unto God, that it is no longer in the ilrideli: fenfe ftili merited by usj although if taken in a more lax figniiication, as condemning in general all prayer which is not offered with the under- ilanding, it is due to many among us \ to all thole, I mean, who, while they prefent them.felves in the church as worfhippers, through want of the fcrious attention which becomes the place and the employment, are fcarcely fenfible of the tendency or meaning of any portion of the fervice, reciting what they do repeat as a form of words, the mere getting through which is a full dif- charge of their duty ; whence it is fcarcely poffible that their refort to the church can produce any falutary effect on their mind, or that they fliou.ld return home juftified by the petitions they have put up. L 2 ^r^ hS 0;z the Liturgy, \\\ cxpoftulating this cafe with fuch aS are concerned in it, they fhould be reminded how truely the blame refts on themfelves alone, fince the apoftle*s rule, that all things be done to edifying has, by the compilers of our Liturgy, been efpecially obferved : the difpofition of its parts being fuch as is calculated to engage and preferve the atten- tion, and the appointment of a perfon, audibly to repeat thofe refponfes in which the congregation are to join, being an aflift- ance feafonably afforded to thofe who their- felves have never learnt to read, and cannot, therefore, by the prayer, be inftrudted what •they are to anfwer. The fervice itfelf opens mofl judicioufly with fome paffages fele6ted from the facred Writings, which contain encouragement to the penitent, and calls to the confeffion of our lins, thus forming a moft appofite in- troduction to the fucceeding folemn exhor- tation to acknowledges our offences, that we mav obtain forgivenefs of them, and to join in the general confeffion with a pure heart and Oh the Liturgy, 1 49 and humble voice. Shall fuch an addrefs, serm. then, furniflied with every circumftance of vii. truth, juftice, and propriety, to give it''^^^^''^^ weight, be unable to make its way to our hearts ? When the purpofe for which we are come together is thus called to our re- colledion, and the ground of addrefling ourfelves to God, (our obligations to, and dependence on Him) is thus exprefsly flated to us, can we fail to feel thofe pious emo- tions which will make us readily comply with the direftions then given to kneel be- fore the throne of grace, and, in a fub- millive voice, repeat our petitions ? But wherefore fhould I aflc, If we can ? When the beauty of our publick worfhip is, in this part of it, fo generally deformed on the one hand by thofe who prefumptuouHy negledt to kneel when praying to the Lord for mercy, and, on the other, by fuch as, in direct contradiction to the exhortation juft given, do, with a very loud and quick voice, repeat their petitions. Were thefe two points corre^fted, were the whole aflem- t)ly to be feen in one fuppjicating pofture, L 3 and 1 _^o On the Liturgy. SERM. and were all the congregation, in making the "^^^* refponfes, to wait until the clerk had begun them, and then regularly follow him, there would feem to be one mind and one voice in our churches j and they would then ap- pear to be, indeed, places appointed for the folemn txercife of devotion : and were a llranger to enter them, he would be ftricken with the fcene, and would fall down and worfhip, The exhortation is immediately followed by the general confeffion : of the terms of which it may be truely obferved, that they are fuch as well become finners appearing before God ; pretending to no merit, offer- ing no pleas of excufe, but fueing for par- don through Chrift, and for righteous dif- politions by the Grace of God. In the opening of it, the encourageriient holden out to the returning finner, in our bleffed Saviour's beautiful parable of the prodigal fon, is plainly alluded to; and the mercy of our Father, which is in Heaven, is made the ground of hope that we fhall be accepted. On the Liturgy. \ ^\ accepted, when we confefs that we have serm, erred and ftrayed Hke loft flieep, and (hewn ^'^^' more comphance with the dellres of our own hearts than attention to the divine commandments. During his repetition of the different fentences of this confeffion, each individual fliould apply them to his own cafe, and calling to remembrance thofe parts of his duty which he hath omitted » and thofe particulars in which he has tranf- grefled the precepts of the Lord, fincerely lament his guilt in them, and dired: his petitions to the forgivenefs of them. Other- wife how can he join in the prayer with which it is clofed, that we may hereafter live a godly, righteous, and fober life ? Or how alfent to the words of the abfolution, by which we are exhorted to pray that our lives may henceforth be pure and holy, confonant with the profeflions of forrow for our paft lins, and the declarations of peni- tence which we have juft made : for fuch, I conceive, to be the intended meaning of the word " hereafter," ufed in the latter p^rt of the abfolution, and not as it is, per- j. 4 haps, 1^1 On tbe Liturgy. SERM. haps, often mifunderftood, ** that the reft vii. of our hfe may henceforth be pure and holy," which would be a mere piece of tautology : and fuch are the petitions offered in the fubfequent prayer of our Lord, when wc a(k for our daily bread, fpiritual as well as material, and beg we may not be led into temptation, but be delivered from the fnares and power of the evil one. . By this prayer, too, we complete this portion of our fervice, and endeavour to render our own imperfe6t petitions acceptable, by concluding them with the fummary of Chrift : a mode of fan(ftifying our fupplications, which is pur- fued throughout our Liturgy, and occafions this incomparable form to be placed in every part of it. Having thus clofed that which makes the moft proper introdu(5lion to a religious fer- vice, the humble acknowledgment of our crimes and unworthinefs, and fervent appli- cation for remiffion and future affiftance, we next proceed ** to render thanks to God for the great benefits that we have received at On the Liturgy, 153 at His hands, by fetting forth His mod serm. worthy praife ;" befeeching Him ** to open ^^^* our hps, that our mouth may fhew forth His praife;" and that He ^* would fpeedily fave and help us." At this period of the facred office, we are diredted by the rubrick to rife from the humble pofture of fupplicants into one joy, and break forth into that ancient doxology, wherein we give glory to thofe three divine perfons, into covenant with whom we were initiated, and whofe names were called over us in baptifm. Of which doxology it may be remarked, that the phrafe, ** as it was in the beginning," feems to have been in- tended principally of the beginning of the Gofpel, when the Son and Holy Ghoft were fo glorified with the Father, by the mira^ cles wrought in the name of the one, and the divine gifts flied forth by the other. Although it may alfo be underftood of that beginning in which God created all things by His word, and His Spirit moved over the face of the waters. It ihould here, too, be 154 ^^^ ^^^ Liturgy. SERM. be obferved, that there is fcarcely any period VII. at which greater inattention is betrayed to thofe accurate diredlions which our book of common prayer contains, for joining pro- perly in every part of the fervice, than is generally fliewn at this, where, inftead of endeavouring to outftrip each other in eager- nefs to leave our former attitude, we fhould folemnly rife in a body, when the laft re- fponfe, previous to the doxology, is con- cluded. The prieil having iirfb called on them to praife the Lord, and the people having re- plied to this exhortation, *' The Lord's name be praifed," a pfalm is next repeated, being one feled;ed as peculiarly proper to be faid be- fore thofe of the day : nor could a more judi- cious choice have been made; the ninety- fifth pfalm being excellently calculated to precede the various fubfequent parts of the fervice, lince in it we are exhorted not only to " come before the Lord with thankf- giving, and fhew ourfelves glad in Him with pfalms j but to bow and kneel before Him," as On the Liturgy. x ^ ^ as we do in the colledls and the litany; and serm. " to hear His words," as we do in the vii. different paflages read from the Scriptures ^'"^'^^^'^^ for the lelTons and epiftle and gofpel, as well as in the commandments, without hardnefs of heart. The reafons alfo for thefe different exhortations are feverally ailigned ; for our praife, His greatnefs as the Creatour and Preferver of the world, ** For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In His hand are all the corners of the earth : and the flrength of the hills is His alfo. The fea is His, and He made it ,• and His hands prepared the dry land" — for our worfhip and homage. His being our God, who preferveth and proted:eth us J ** for He is the Lord our God, and we are the people of His pafture, and the flieep of His hand" — and that we be not difobedient to His word, becaufe thofe who were fo in the wildernefs were cut off from entering into His refl. Of the pfalrhs, (a portion of which fol- lows next) it may be fuggejded, that if viewed 156 On the Liturgy. SERM. viewed merely as fpiritual fongs, they are ^'^^' fo truely excellent in their kind, that all attempts to imitate them mull ever fall fliort of the original. The fervent devotion, the fenfe of God's glory, the confcioufnefs of His providence which they breathe, are fuch as prove the writers of them to have felt themfelves employed in praifing the only true God ; and if we confider them as dictated by the Holy Spirit, the adoption of them into our form of worlliip, is like lighting our facrifice with fire that has fallen from Heaven. The proper fubjedts for praife to God arc either the general courfe of His govern- ment, in which righteoufnefs and mercy fhine forth fo refplendently, or pall adts of His power and goodnefs, or His alTuranccs pf future blelTings. Qf each of thefe the pfalmill repeatedly fmgs in the fublimefl ftrains. *' The Lord looked dow^n from Heaven, and beheld all the children of men: from the habitation of HJs dwelling He conljdereth all them that dwell on the earth : the 0?i the Liturgy. n-n the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, serm. and His ears are open to their prayers : the vii. countenance of the Lord is againft them that do evil, to root out the remembrance of them from the earth. — Great are the troubles of the righteous, but the Lord de- livereth him out of all. Before I was troubled, I went wrong : but now have I kept thy word. An unwife man doth not well coniider this, and a fool doth not un- derftand it : when the ungodly are green as the grafs, and when all the workers of wickednefs do flour ifli, then fhall they be deftroyed for ever. — Foolifhmen are plagued for their offence, and becaufe of their wick- ednefs : their foul abhorred all manner of meat ; and they were even hard at deaths door. So when they cried unto the Lord in their trouble. He delivered them out of their diftrefs. He fent His word, and healed themj and they were faved from their deftrucflion. Oh that men would therefore praife the Lord for His goodnefs ; and declare the wonders that He doeth for the children of men! That they would offer 158 On the Liturgy, SERM. offer unto Him the facrifice of thankfgiving j VII. and tell out His works with gladnefs !" ^•V'V> Such are the terms in which God*s go- vernment of us His creatures is fet forth, His abundant goodnefs to the righteous and the penitent j and His certain and equitable judgements on the wicked j that while, by repeating thefe, we join in telling out His works, we gain information for ourfelves, and become inftrudied under all circum- ftances to truft in His providence, not to be alarmed at mere appearances, or fret our- felves becaufe of the ungodly, but to com- mit our ways unto the Lord, abide patiently on Him, and He fhall bring it to pafs. The paft a6ls of God's power and great-^ nefs are touched on in thofe pfalms which fpeak of the creation of the world, and the wonders He aforetime wrought for the chil- dren of Ifrael. ** By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the hdfis of them by the breath of His mouth. For He fpake, and it was done ; He com-- manded, On the Liturgy. 1 59 manded, and it flood faft. Whatfoever the serm. Lord pleafed, that did He in Heaven and ^^^* in earth. He fmote the firft-born of Egypt, both man and bealL He fmote divers na- tions, and flew mighty kings, and gave their land to be an heritage ; even an heri- tage unto Ifrael His people." And affu- rances of future bleflings to all who will keep His covenant, are difperfed in various places throughout the whole book of pfalms. It is in the language of triumph that thefc are delivered ; and with rapture do the writers look forward to that time, when ** the Lord fhall come with righteoufnefs to judge the world, and the people with His truth : when the Lord fhall build up Sion, and when His glory fliall appear." In the mofl exalted terms is the happinefs of the Meffiah's reign defcribed. — " He fhall judge thy people according to right, * and defend the poor. In His time fhall the righteous flourifh j yea, and abundance of peace, fo long as the moon endureth. There fhall be an heap of corn in the earthy I hi^h 1 6o On the Liturgy, SERM. high upon the hills. His name fhall re- "^11 • main under the fun among the pofteritics, which fhall be bleffed through Him, and all the heathen fhall praife Him. BlefTed be the Lord God, even the God of Ifrael; which alone doeth wondrous things; and bleffed be the name of His Majefly for ever ; and all the earth fhall be filled with His Majefly. Amen. Amen." Scarcely can I conceive that thefe and the like pafTages are ever repeated without ex- citing, in the breafls of all prefent, the correfpondent emotions of earneflnefs and anxiety to have an inheritance in the happy Hate fet forth in them. The pfalmifl*s con- vi(5lion of the truth of his own predid:ion was evidently fo complete as to caufe him to burfl forth into the benedidlion with which this hymn clofes; and he fpeaks with as much confidence of what he fore- told, and manifefls as grateful feelings for it, as if it was already come to pafs. What then ought we to feel when the appearance of this happy fcene is much nearer in this our On the hiturgy . , l6i 6iir day than it was at the time when thefe serm. Were penned -, and the certainty of its arrival '^'^^• has been further allured to us in the accom- plifhment of other predi(5tions contained alfo in the pfalms ? as in thofe foretelling the per- fonal indignities and fufFerings which our bleffed Lord underwent, w^hen He was ** betrayed by His own familiar friend: when the counfel of the wicked laid liege againfl Him : when they pierced His haads and His feet, parted His garments among them, caft lots upon His vefture, and ftood flaring and looking upon Him." And in thofe wherein is foretold the fuccefs of His apoftles preaching, fpite of all the oppofi- tion they fhould meet from the great ones of the earth ; as in the well-known fecond pfalm and others ; and in thofe too which fuggcft, that neverthelefs the real worlliip- pers and true fervants of God would con-^ tinue but in a poor and perfecuted Hate, until fome future period, when He would vifibly interpofe for their deliverance : *' Sit Thou on my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footftool." VOL. II. M Neither 1 6% Oft the^Hiturgy. ^^ithcl' can I pafs without notice the feveral penitential pfalms which are fcattered throughout the book ; and in which indi- viduals will frequently meet with pafTages •well fuited to their own cafes. The deep fenfe which the penitent expreffes of the wretchednefs of a {inner*s ftate, the ardour with which he fupplicates for pardon, for fpiritual afTiftance, and for reftoration to the divine favour, may teach us how to lament our offences, and to fue for mercy on our own tranfgreflions ; and if we could but transfer the fentiments into our hearts, as well as utter the fame language with our tongues, ineftimable would be the benefit we (hould derive from the repetition of this part of our church fervice. Having thus fet forth the Lord's moft worthy praife, we proceed according to the method mentioned in the exhortation to hear His moft holy word ; and that firft in a leffon read from the Old Teftament, which with that afterwards read from the New, is ap- pointed with the intent of affording to thofe Chriftians On the Liturgy i. l5j Chriflians who have not the means oFserm. ftudying the Holy Scriptures at home, an vii. opportunity of gradually being made ac- quainted with their contents in the church. Neither can any one who is conftant in his refort thither, and pays due attention while thefe portions of Scriptures are reading, well fail of becoming in time inftrudted in the various parts of holy writ. If, there- fore, any one wilfully neglecft fuch oppor- tunities of gaining that learning which is able to make him wife unto falvation, what does he but harden his heart againft hearing the voice of the Lord ? In the books of the Old Teftament are exhibited to us thofe leflbns which God gave to His people the Ifraelites, either by the mouth of His prophets, or by the man- ner in which He fent on the whole nation, or on fome individuals of it. His corrections or His bleflings. His promifes of perpetual patronage to all who would obey His laws, and His threats of punifliment to thofe who would not : by lillening to thefe, therefore. Ma we 164 On the Liturgy. SERM. we may learn to be cautious of offending ^2^^* Him, who can punifh with fuch power and certainty, and alfo defi/ous of gaining His favour, who will fo affuredly and greatly reward. On the clofe of this leffon there is, in the morning fervice, appointed to be repeated an hymn, which, from the words with which it begins in the language in which it w^as originally compofed, is called the Te Deum, and after thofe portions of the infpired writings that are introduced in the various offices, may be efteemed the fub- limefl: compoiition contained in our book of common prayer. In this, after having heard repeated, in the preceding lelfon, fome great work of the Lord, or fome judgement of His mouth, by which He did in time paft manifeft His rightcoufnefs or His fupre- macy, we, like the Ifraelites, when they faw Him anfwcr the prayer of Elijah by fire from Heaven, burft forth into a confef- fion of His fole Godhead — '* We praife Thee, O God : We acknowledge Thee to be On the Liturgy. 165 he the Lord. All the earth doth worihip serm. Thee, the Father everlafting." And pro- '^^^• ceeding to acknowledge, in the unity of the divine Majefty, the glory of the eternal Trinity, we afterwards addrefs oiirfelves efpecially to Chrift, fupplicating Him as our incarnate Saviour, Redeemer, and our Judge, to have mercy upon us, and make •us to be numbered with His faints in glory everlafting. This hymn has now, as is generally received, been in poffeffion of the church upwards of thirteen centuries, and remains a plain teftimony of the faith of the fourth century in which it was com- pofed. There is a Canticle bearing, on the like 2:round as the former, the title of Benedicite, o which m.ay be repeated inftead of the Te Deum j but it is fo feldom ufed, that I will not detain you with any remarks upon it. In the evening fervice there is fubftituted at this period either the fong of the bleiTed Virgin Mary, or the ninety-eighth pfalm. How juftly applied the iirft of thefe is, M 3 littk t^^ On the Liturgy. SERM. little need be faid to prove, fince it is plain, VII. that after being reminded of what God hath formerly wrought in favour of His fervants, the magnifying and rejoicing in Him is made more earneft by the reflection, that ** His mercy is on them that fear Him throughout all generauons :*' by which we are led to feel ouri'elves interefted in that pow^r and goodnefs, pail exertions of which have juft been related to us; and for the laft, the ninety-eighth pfalm in that we fing *• the marvellous things which the Lord hath done; the falvation and righte-. oufnefs which He hath fhewed in the fight of the Heathen, and the performance of the mercies He promifed to the houfeof Ifrael,'* in a ftrain of triumph, and with a fublimity of praife, which leave far, very far below therp, the loftiefl: compofitions that any other nation on earth but the chofen of God can boaft, I have now proceeded in the propofed review of our Liturgy as far as the limits pf Q^e difcourfe will permit ^ the obferva- tiQi^s On the hrtttrgy-, i6'/ tlons to be made on the remainder of it serm. muft therefore be deferred. At prefent I vii. fliall only fubjoin, that having entered on it from a defire of rendering you more feri- oufly attentive to the various parts of the fervice, by imprefling on your minds the iignification and tendency of each, I befeech you, do not fuffer my pains to prove mif- placed ; but endeavour to add to the httle I have fuggefted by your own refledtions ; and I doubt not, ye will difcern propriety that has efcaped me, beauties that I have not pointed out. And if ye can by thefe, or any other means, excite in yourfelves a fpirit of that real devotion which is felt, I am afraid but by few, ye will, as having gained an additional faculty, find it a fource of new pleafure, even of that ecftafy which thofe, and thofe only can experience, who truely rejoice in the Lord, and glory in the God of their falvation. M4 SER* SERMON VIII. ON THE LITURGY. I Cor. XIV. 15. / will pray with the fpit'it, and I will pray with the under/landing alfo ', I will Jing with the fpirit^ and I will Jing with the linderjianding alfo, TN my lafl difcourfe on thefe words, I serm, purfued the review of the Liturgy then viii. entered on as far as the clofe of the hymns after the firfl lelTon; in which, having tef- tified the fentiments that were excited in our breafls by what we had heard from the Old Teflament, we return to our feats while one from the New is read j and we thus hear Chriil and His apoftles inftrudting us in I "JO On the Liturgy, SERM. in the faith, or giving us dired:ions for our "^^J^- condud:. To this the fincere Chriilian will liflen as to the words of eternal life j and finding many of thofe things which he had heard from the law and the prophets ex- plained by what is hence delivered; and the general lelTons which are recorded to have been given by our blefled Lord in the gofpels, more particularly applied by His apoftles in their epiflles, he will learn the benefit of comparing fpiritual things with fpiritual, and gradually arrive at the know- ledge of truths which by the natural man, unpra6tifed in the words of divine revela- tion, cannot be difcerned, acquire an inti- mate acquaintance with the rules of life laid down by thofe teachers from whom the firft Chriftians received the Gofpel, and be able to determine, by the infallible decifions of the plain word of Scripture, what he ought to do, and what he ought to avoid. The fentiments excited by the recollection of the bleiling we enjoy in being thus taught of God, are next expreffed by the fong of Zacharias, On the Liturgy, 171 Zacharias, in which we " blefs the Lord serm, for having vifited and redeemed His people, ^"^* and for His tender mercy, whereby the day fpring from on high hath vifited us; to give Hght to them that fit in darknefs, and in the fhadow ; and to guide our feet in the way of peace," Or by the hundredth pfalm, in which we extol the everlafting mercy and permanent truth of the Lord, and call on all nations to rejoice in Him, and reft aflured, that He is their Creatour, their Preferver, and their God. In the evening fervice the correfpondent lelTon is followed by the fong of Simeon, in which we acknowledge to have ** feen the falva- tion of God," and glory in that ** hght which, according to the very words of this prophetick hymn, hath been raifed to lighten us Gentiles :" or, in lieu thereof, may be repeated the iixty-feventh pfalm, in which the progrefs of the Gofpel is prayed for and foretoldt Having proceeded thus far in our thankf- giving for the ineftimable mercies of revela^ tion, 17^ ^f^ i^^^ Liturgy. SERM. tion, we are next direded to conclude them ^^^^^."^ by an open profeffion of the Chriftian faith, in the repetition of the articles of it com- prized in that fymbol which is called the Apoftle's Creed ; and which fhould, there- fore, not be hurried over, or only whif- pered, but faid with a flow and audible voice : for otherwife, how is it to be known that we really join therein? Our lips, in- deed, may be feen to move, but what it is we repeat muft be unknown to the brethren. And can this be called confefling God and Chrifl before the congregation ? Or can thofe, who thus fmother the acknowledge- ment of their faith, have a due portion of that grateful zeal which is ever to be found in the breafts of fincere difciples of the Gofpel ? Enthufiaftick behaviour betrays a weak head, yet it may be accompanied with a warm and honefi: heart; but the cold, in- animated, lifelefs demeanour, obfervable in fome, can proceed only from breafls in which every fpark of real devotion is extindl. As On the Liturgy, i -73 As to this Creed itfelf, it is not called serm. that of the apoftle's to fignify that it was ^^^^* compiled by thofe infpired preachers, but as containing the dodtrine taught by them. The firft Creeds ufed in the church con- fined, probably, in little more than the baptifmal confeilion, ** I believe in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft :" but as the ceafelefs curioiity of men canvafled every particular of revelation, and thence broached new errours, to counterad: thefe, additional articles of the truth were put into the fummary of faith, until it grew to the fize which it nov/ has, but which, after all, does not exceed a few lines. Thus far, then, are we advanced in the- fervice in which, by the exhortation, we were called to join : we have acknowledged our fins in the confeilion, we have fet forth God's moft worthy praife in the pfalms, wc have heard His moil: holy word in the leiTons, and having, by the Creed, declared our fledfail belief in His revelation, it now^ comes moll properly in order to offer up l-i^ ^^ ^^^ Liturgy* SERM. up to Him, in whofe power and goodnefs VIII. ^^Q confide, oiir petitions for thofe things which are requifite and neceflary as well for the body as the foul; and this our church proceeds to do in the collects and the litany, all to be repeated in the becoming poflure of devoutly kneeling. Neither is the tranfltion, in this, or any other part of our Liturgy, fudden or abrupt, but aptly and folemnly made : the minifter firft wifhing that to the people which will affuredly ever give effedt to their prayers, that the Lord may be in the midft of them; ** The Lord be with you :" and the people returning a wifh that his miniftry may be rendered acceptable by that which alone can duely fandtify it, ** the Lord's being with ^ His Spirit : " he addrefles them in that an- cient form, ** Let us pray !" When hav- ing befought the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghofl for mercy, that our fupplica- tions may be favourably received by the mediation and fandlification of which they io much ftand in need, we are all inflrud:ed to On the Liturgy, in^ to fay the Lord's prayer with a loud voice; serm. prefacing with this general fummary the ^^^^' particular petitions in which we afterwards do according to the apoftle's direction, ** in all things make known our requefl unto God." Before the commencement of the colleds, however, there are interpofed feveral fen- tences and refponfes, the former to be re- peated by the minifter (landing, the latter to be returned by the people kneeling : of which it has been obferved, that they an- fwer as fo many compendiums to introduce the feveral coUecSls afterwards read. Thus, •* O Lord, Ihew thy mercy upon us ;" and its refponfe, anfwer generally as a petition for mercy and falvation to the colled: for the day. ** O Lord, fave the king;" and its anfwer to the colledis for the king, and in him to thofe for the royal family. ** Endue thy minifters withrighteoufnefs;" and, " O Lord, fave thy people ;" to that for the clergy and people. " Give peace in our time, O Lord;" and, ** O God, m^ke 4 1*76 On the Liturgy, SERM. make clean our hearts within usj" with VIII. their refponfes, anfwer refpecftively to the perpetual morning and evening colleft for peace and grace. Thus is the attention of the congregation befpoken, as well by the folemn introduc- tion to this part of the fervice before no- ticed, as by thefe fentences to the fubfe- quent prayers : and if thus apprized of their matter, if thus called on to join in them with becoming devotion, they afterward betray diflrad:ion of thought, a wandering mind, or a languid indifference to what is doing, on themfelves the fault refts j for to excite proper fentiments, and lead them to a fuitable behaviour, the church has done her part : and that, indeed, not only in what precedes, but in the colled: s themfelves like- wife ; in the compilation of which, weari^ nefs of mind is guarded againft both by their brevity and their contents. For they commonly begin with an addrefs to God under thofe epithets which exprefs the at- tributes that we, in the body of the prayer, befeech On the Liturgy. inq befeech Him to exercife in our behalf. As serm. when we pray that He would defend us ^^^^* from all affaults of our enemies, we call on Him as ** the Author of peace." When we befeech Him to preferve us from fin, and order our doings, we addrefs Him as our heavenly Father. When we pray for our fovereign, we invoke our God as ** King of kings, and Lord of lords :" and when for all forts and conditions of men, as the Creatour and Preferver of all man- kind. Now as the repetition of thefe attributes is calculated to excite devotion in the foul, fo the bleffings for which we fupplicate in the prayers which we daily repeat, are fuch as we are liable to be daily interrupted in the enjoyment of, unlefs the Almighty continue to us His protection; and thefe our perpetual petitions are offered as was the daily facrifice in the temple, which was ever the fame, for perpetual blelTings : for peace, for grace, for aid againfl perils, for kings, and all that are put in authority, VOL. II. N that ^7^ On the Liturgy, SERM. that we may lead a quiet life; for the bre- VI 11- thren, and for all men : and fo accurately are thefe prayers formed after the precepts of Scripture, that a man can fcarcely negle6l to join in any one of them without omitting to requefl fomething for which we are therein particularly inftructed to pray : while they are all concluded in His name. Who hath afTured us, that whatever we afk in it faithfully He will perform. But to be fomewhat more particular in our confideration of the feveral collects in their order : the colleds for the week are generally collected from the matter of the epiflles and gofpels to which they are pre- fixed, we praying for grace to obey fome precept, or follow fome example delivered in thofe extracts from holy writ ; and they are, moreover, adapted to the feveral feafons in which the church obferves her different ieflivals, containing fupplications for God's ailiflance to us to obferve the condu(5t be- coming men who have received the bleffings we on that occaiion commemorate. The 0?i the Liturgy^ 179 The fubjeds of the flationary colleds I serm. have already enumerated : here it may be ^iii. added, that the two firfl: include general petitions for what is requifite and neceflary as well for the body as the foul, external fecurity, and religious difpofition of mind. While thofe which follow are prayers for what, in all human probability, will befl tend to promote the acquifition, and perpe- tuate the pofTeflion of thefe, the bleffing of God, firif, on our civil governours, by whofe virtuous condud and fuccefs our tranquillity as citizens will be guarded ; and then, on the minifters of religion, and all congregations committed to their charge, throuo-h which there would ever be fet be- fore us the true road to falvation, and we fhould have fenfe and piety to follow it. There now fucceeds a prayer for God*s mercy on the human race in general, and particularly on thofe with whom we are conneded in the unity of the catholick faith : in which are occafionally introduced the efpecial petitions of our church tor any N 2 C-f i'Bo On the Liturgy. SERM. of her members who defire the prayers of ^JI^J^ the congregation for their dehverance from any afflidtion with which it hath pleafed God to viiit them : a charitable office ftrongly recommended by the facred writers, and of the good efFe(5ls of which in behalf of thofe who faithfully requeft the performance of it, there fliould no doubt be entertained. Having now proceeded in my obferva- tions as far as the end of thofe prayers, in lieu of which the Litany is, at fet times, appointed to be faid, before I go further I muft fpeak alfo to that. This fublime office, then, directed to be faid by both priefts and people kneeling, commences with a moft folemn invocation of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghoft, in which we acknowledge the divine nature of each as revealed to us in the Scripture, and then confefs what we are no lefs plainly taught by the fame infallible oracles, the unity of the Godhead. To this invocation fucceed feveral lliort petitions addrelTed to Chrift, in which we deprecate thofe punifhments, either On tlo^ Liturgy, l8i vither fpiritual or external, which we have sermp by our tranfgreffions merited; the prieft viii. naming the evils, and the people, in the mofl eameft terms, fupplicating that they may be averted, *' Good Lord, deliver us J" And fuch are the particulars of thefe peti- tions, that the very repetition of them, with an attentive mind, will tend to make us better men : fince to pray in the moft earneft terms, that we may be delivered from every kina of fin, and yet not ftrive ourfelves to avoid ojflTending, would be a prefumptuous inconfiftency with which the dullefl could not but be flricken. The topics too which we ufe to conjure, as it were, the Lord to help us, are calculated to foften our hearts, and raife in us the affedlions of piety and gratitude. The fupplications of the Litany extend to all the points that the collefts, in lieu lif which it is appointed to be faid, compre- hend, and being urged throughout in the ftrongeft manner, are at lafl: clofed in a moft folenin ftyle by an addrefs to Cluifl", N 3 as ^^2 On the Liturgy. ?ERM. as the Son of God, and as the Lamb by J™* which the fins of the world are taken away, by the Lord's prayer, and the ejaculations which precede it : to which being fubjoined two fhort fentences declarative of our con- fcioufnefs of our own unworthinefs, the accuftomed invitation is given to pray ; and the comfort we have now received in thus performing our devotions is expreifed by a fupplication, that no perfecutions may ever prevent our giving thanks to God in His holy church, through Jefus Chrift our Lord : Vv hen there follows a feries of praifes and ejaculations, powerfully exprelTive of that overflowing fulnefs of heart which ever fprings from the minds having rifen to the fummit of devotion. Neither is the prayer that then fucceeds lefs fuited to the turn which the foul, at fuch a feafon, na- turally takes in recolleding her own infir- rnities, the chaflifement Ihe in juilicip,^. de-. ferves, and how much fhe flands in need of that only fure fupport under a fenfe of guilt, and the attacks of adverfity, a firm trufl and confidence in the m.ercy of our God. At On the Liturgy, 183 At this period are introduced applications serm. to the throne of Grace on any particular viii. fubjeds, in refpedl of which we more efpe- cially ftand in need of relief: after which our church proceeds to compleat her obedi- ence to the apoftolick precept, and accom- pany her requefts for future with thankf- giving for the blefhngs already received, by a prayer mofl: excellent in its kind ; in which the invocation of the Father of mercies, the enumeration of benefits, the preference given to that by which all the reft are crowned, our redemption, the fupplication that we may unfeignedly manifeft our gratitude, by giving up ourfelvcs to the fervice of God, and the afcribing of all honour and glory unto Him, combine to render this form of returning thanks juft and beautiful; and, I would hope, never are repeated without every heart's freely joining in the offering. There is too herein provided, a claufe for thofe individuals who delire to praife God before the congregation, for His peculiar mercies to them; and which, it is to be wifhed, was more frequently read at the N 4 rcqueft ^ ^4 On the Liturgy. SERM. requcftof thofe who have before folicited Z!!i* . ^^^ prayers of the church, and had the re- covery they fought vouchfafed unto them. The next colled:, that of Chryfcftom, is addreffed to our great High Prieil:, who fitteth at the right hand of the Majelly on high, to perfe6l our prayers by His inter- ceilion ; and is fuch an humble fubmiifion of all our petitions to His wifdom and goodnefs, as becomes creatures ignorant and fhort-fightcd as we are. And this part of our fervice clofes by the prieft's uttering, in the pofture of a fupplicant, the wifh of St. Paul, in which the favour of the Son, the love of the Father, and the conftant affiftance of the Holy Spirit, being afked for us all, may make a ftrong impreffion on our minds, and caufe us to rife from prayer with difpofitions befitting thofe who are candidates for fuch great bleffings. The primitive pradice of the church to celebrate the Lord's fupper on every return of His day, was the caufe of the office of the On the Liturgy, 1 8 r the communion being on Sundays and holy- serm. days fuperadded to the iifual morning viii. prayer : and when, from the decreafe of Chriftian piety, the cuftom of fo frequently communicating, was laid aiide, part of the office was ftill retained in conftant ufe, as a teftimony that though the devotion of her children be grown cold, the church ftill acknowledges her duty perpetually to com- memorate her Saviour's death. The opening of this fervice is moft fo- lemn, and calculated to excite that reverence of mind which every one prefent fhould, at fuch a feafon, feel. The prieft having ad- vanced to the table while the congregation are finging a pfalm ; (at which time, in lieu of the confufed fcene of a few land- ing, and others fitting, as if they had no- thing to do with what is going forward, all (hould be attentive, and prefent themfelves in the proper pofture of praife). That concluded, they are directed to fall on their knees, when the " celebration of this facra- ment, which Chrifl ordained, is begun by the i86 On the Liturgy. SERM. the prayer which He alfo taught, fucceeded VIII. by a colled, in which we particularly pray for that which, on fuch an occafion, is par- ticularly requifite, that God would pleafe to purify our hearts by His Holy Spirit ; that our love of Him may be perfed;, which would make us, on hearing His command- ments feverally repeated, fincerely lament thofe our tranfgreflions of them which we may call to mind ; and our homage worthily offered, that our fupplications for will, henceforth to obey His law'S, may be un- feigned : for fuch is the meaning of the fentences which are uttered by the congre- gation after each commandment has been read by the prieft; ** Lord, have mercy upon US, and incline our hearts to keep this law." By thefe means we do, in a manner, renew our covenant with God, befeeching to accept our repentance of what is part, and promifing henceforth to obferve all that the Lord hath fpoken. And here, if expe- rience did not prove the contrary, one might imagine, that there could be no need of fuggefting, that Chriflians ought to attend 3 this On the Liturgy, 1 8*7 this fervice with the moft profound awe ; serm. and that the jufl humility of voice with '^"'^' which they join in the fupplications fhould (hew, that they ** pray with fpirit, and with the underflanding alfo." The precept, ** Honour the king," being in Scripture conned:ed with that of " Fear God," there is next interpofed a colled: for our fovereign, that he may feek the glory of God in trying to preferve his people as in wealth and peace, fo in godlinefs; and that his fubjedls may render him a confci- entious obedience, as ferving the Lord, and not man : and wifely are thefe requefls con- joined, fince that monarch, who does not iincerely endeavour to promote among his people the honour of the^ King of kings, cannot exped: that his lower authority will be reverenced by thofe whom he encourages to fliew contempt for an higher. To the colle(fl for the day I have already fpoken : but of the epillle and gofpel which are attached to it, it may be remarked, that as iS8 On the Liturgy. SERM. as in the commandments delivered by Mofes VIII, ^^g ]-^g^j. ^^^2i\. was faid to thofe of old time, fo in thefe extrads from the New Tefta- ment wt hear what our Lord hath further enjoined. The reading of the gofpel is, too, directed to be attended with particular refpedl, that of the whole congregation Handing ; and there is a cuflom likewife of the people, on its being announced, anfwer- ing, ** Glory be to Thee, O' Lord !'* a prad:ice very ancient, and, though no longer fo, yet once commanded in our rubrick. The Nicene Creed follows the gofpel ; and it feems to be placed here that no one who does not hold the Chriftian faith fhould partake in the facrament now about to be communicated. Although it be ufual in churches where there is but one to minifler, to difmifs the congregation with a bleffing immediately on the conclufion of the fermon, yet it is or- dained, that even when there is no commu- nion, the fentences of the offertory, the prayer for the church militant, and a con- cluding On the Liturgy. 189 eluding collecH:, fhould be read, whereby our serm. fervice would, when thus finiQied, conclude ^^^^• with the charitable offices of both praying for the brethren, and contributing to the afliftance of thole who are in neceffity among us : for the compilers of our Liturgy for- get not the example of the apoftolick age, but di reded that the firft day of the week there fhould always be a collecflion made for the poor : the prefent negle6l of which di- recflion is much to be lamented, while its confequences are heavily felt : providing for the indigent is, in many who contribute to it now, no longer an aft of charity, but of compuliion, the diftrelTed their felves are obliged to fhare their fcanty pittance with others not fo diftrelTed as theirfelves ; 'po- verty is made a trade; and the profligate are often fupported in their vices by forced contributions of the pariOi. But when the Lord's fupper is to be celebrated, after the prayer for the whole ftate of Chrift's church, the prieft addreiTes the congregation, in a folemn exhortation, to 1 90 On the Liturgy. SERM. to examine and judge themfelves that they ^^^^' may not be judged of the Lord, but be meet partakers of thofe holy myfteries ; recalling to their recolled:ion the judgements which St. Paul reprefents the Corinthians to have fufFered for treating this facrament with irreverence, and not diftinguifhing the Lord's body from common food; which were various difeafes and fundry kinds of death : the mercy of the Lord punifhing their offences in this world, that they might not be condemned when He cometh to judge- ment. A very different mode of vilitation from that which the weak and uninflrucSed frequently imagine is herein threatened, and the dread of incurring which, deters them from participating in the communion of that body and blood, without which we can have no life remaining in us. To this exhortation is added another, to join in an humble confeflion to Almighty God : the terms of which confeflion are flill more earnefl:, the expreilions of our own ill de- ferts and urgent need of the divine mercy, ftill more warm than thofe in that of the com- On the Liturgy, loi commencement of the morning prayer: and serm. it is followed by a form of abfolution ftill viii. more folemn than what is there ufed, and by extradis from the Scriptures, replete with comfort and encouragement for the humble penitent, whofe fenfe of his unworthinefs might otherwife deter him from approach- ing to that table, where he can alone become partaker of that facrifice by which we ob- tain remiffion of our fins, and hopes of everlafting falvation. The mixture of humility and faith this previous fervice is calculated to produce, are neceffary preparatives for that holy feaft which the prieft, after another moft appro- priate prayer, begins by breaking the bread, and pouring out the wine, which he con- fecrates by prayer, and having received of them his felf, diftributes among the congre- gation, as he points out to each the end of the inftitution, and prays that he may be preferved to everlafting life, by the body and blood of our Lord Jefus Chrift, who died for him. Lea ft. 192 On the Liturgy. Leaft, however, the humble pofture of kneeling, in which we are, by the rubrick, commanded to receive the elements of bread and wine, (hould, through weaknefs or malice, be mifconftrued, there is a fpecifick declaration in our prayer book fubjoined to this fervice, declaring the church's abhor- rence of any idolatrous veneration of them. The remaining portion of this fervice, (confifting of that of the Lord, and another prayer, in which we dedicate ourfelves anew to the fervice of God, of an anthem to be faid or fung, and the bleffing pronounced by the prieft) yields neither impropriety, fublimity, or power of imprelTion to any other part. Why then to a fervice fo plain, and yet fo full, flionld there be added a load of prayers, ejaculations, meditations, and I know not what, from other devotional books, which may diftradt the mind, may lower it into defpondency, or raife it to en- thufiafm, may teach Chriftians to mingle with their offerings what the Lord has for- bidden to be put to any facrifice to Him, leaven On the Liturgy, 1 93 leaven or honey; but for the diredion of serm. the fober Chriftian, for the fupport of un- ^m- affeded piety, will, we may venture to fay, never be found to furpafs that form of our common prayer-book, in which the feveral particulars of the inftitution, as defcribed by our great apoftle, or the evangelifts, are accurately retained, and the whole of the fervice is well calculated to fill the mind with that due reverence, that holy confi- dence, that gratitude towards God, and the Lamb who was flain and liveth for ever, and that fenfe of the indifpenfable neceflity of good will towards men, and future holi- nefs of life, which will beft render us worthy partakers of thofe holy myfteries. But yet more earneflly may it be aiked, Why any who profefs themfelves believers in Chrift, will not repair to a fervice fo rational, to a rite fo ftridly enjoined, and the benefits of which are fo ineftimable ? Our church catechifm truely teaclieth us, that this facrament, as well as that of bap- tifm, is generally necelTary to falvation ; VOL. II. o that 194 ^^2 ike Liturgy. SERM. that is, necefTary to all who have it in their vm- power to repair unto it. That this necellity is not too f!:rong]y ftated, ye may, perhaps, be convinced, if ye recoiled:, that as the true believers in Chrift are, in the New Teflament, faid to be made by Him, priefts unto God, one particular in the confecration of the priefts under the law deferves atten- tion ; which is, that it was not complete without their eating of the flefh of the viftim of confecration. Go, then, and learn what this meaneth, when compared with the words of our Lord, " Verily, Verily, I fay unto you, Except ye eat the flefh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, ye have no life in you." And, for thofe who dare not approach the holy table, from a confcioufnefs of their own finful condudf , it moft highly behoves "fuch to reflect, while they have power fo to do, lince they find that they cannot, at the fame time, ferve Chrifl: and Belial, whofe fervice they fiiould in wifdom, and in fafety, choofe. Chrift hath commanded you to com- On the hiturgw i o^ commemorate His death; this, ye fay, the serm. impurity of your hvcs renders you un- viir. worthy of doing. But Clnifl hath ah'b commanded you to repent, and cleanfe your- felves from fin. Can your difobedience to this commandment ferve as a plea for your negle(5l of the other ? Or does not your un- worthinefs, by being voluntary, become criminal alfo ? St. Peter did once, on the plea of unvvorthinefs, helitate to comply with His Lord's will, and that in a cafe, too, in w^hich fuch hefitation muft, if ever it could be fo, have been pardonable : But what was our Saviour's judgement of it ? ** If I walli not thee, thou haft no part v/ith me." He w^ho inllituted the feafl:, is the bell judge of the qualifications of thofe who come to it ; and the only one He re- quires in us is, that we be His difciples, and continue in His words. If we become iincerely fuch ; if we thus live in the true pradtice of what He hath enjoined, the fhewing His death by this holy communion, will prove to us a fource of comfort inex- preffible; for we (hall then look for the o 1 day 19^' ^^^ i^^ Liturgy. day of His coming, as for that of the arrival of the beloved and gracious Mafter of the family of which we arc members, in whom are placed our hopes of deliver- ance from whatever evils we may at pre- fent feel, and our expedtations of peace, fecurity, and perfed: happinefs. But if our love of this world, if our unwillinenefs to part with enjoyments that are forbidden, or to pradtife that felf-denial which religion, in fome cafes, requires, induce us to reject the call, and defpife the invitation which the Lord hath given us, What will be our confufion of face, when He appears ? Think Low we fhall then meet Him, with whofe requefl: fo affeftionately made, and accom- panied with every circumftance to give it effed: we have thus obfbinately refufed to comply ! What fentence can we then expedt Irom Him ? What but the condemnation of thole who are lovers of pleafure more than lovers ot God, everlafting banifhment from the prefence ot Him whofe mercies we have thus contemned ; and all the miferies con- fequcDt on the wrath oi God and of the Lamb ? Of 0)1 the Liturgy. i 0*7 Of the power to avoid thefe we are yet serm. pofTelTed : how long we may continue fo , God v 1 1 r . alone knows j but if we have any gratitude for the benefits we have already received, any knowledge of the terrours of the Lord, any care of our own falvation, let us no longer delay to make ufe of it ; but repent, and cleanfe ourfelves from fin, that we may ever be ready to receive the cup of falva- tion, and to call on the name of the Lord. o 3 SER- SERMON IX. ON THE CAUSES OF OUR PRAYERS REMAIN- ING OFTEN UNANSWERED. PhILIPP. IV. 6. Be careful for nothing :' but in every thing by prayer and fupplication with tha?ikf- givifig, let your requejis be made blown unto God, A MONG the various fubjecfts on which serm. the reafonings of men are employed, ix. religious queftions are thofe wherein we muft expedl to find partiality the moft pre- valent. For religion being every man's concern, every man feels himfelf interefted in the determinations relating to it, and confequently becomes inclined, as in his own caufe, to favour one party rather than o 4 the 200 On the Caufes of our Prayers SERM. the other. And hence, perhaps, chiefly it ^^' hath come to pafs, that more difputes have arifen, more miftakes have been made, more fophiftry hath been employed, and greater obftinacy and perverfenefs difplayed on this fubjed:, than on any other whatever. Men who either feem to themfelves to have ob- tained by their paft behaviour, or are earn- cjftly refolved to hve fo in future as to ob- tain a claim to the bleffings which religion promifes, are often too hafly in forming their ideas of them, and not content to wait for the coming of that kingdom in which their treafure is laid up, figure to them- felves fuch fuccefs and felicity even in this life, as neither are contained in the promifes of God, nor can be granted confiftently with the good order of his government. The difappointments with which thefc men meet, although no one be to blame for them but theirfelves, do not only weaken their own ardour in running the race that is fet before them, but do alfo greatly ftrengthen the conceits of the oppofite party, who, confcious that theirfelves have nothing to hope remaining often unanfwered. 20 1 hope from tKe promifes, but much to fear serm. from the threats of religion, are as ready- to obferve, and as eager and unreafonable in improving every appearance that tends to lefTen their credit, as the others are extra- vagant in their exped:ations of immediate profit. The evils which arife immediately, or by confequence, from thefe abfurdities, are fo manifeft, that every good man muft be de- firous of corre(5ting both in himfelf and in his friends, a partiality fo frequently deftruc- tive of peace and falvation, and of obviating the various miftakes it gives birth to. Now fome of thefe relate particularly to the dodtrine of the text, and have greatly contributed to render men fo inexcufably remifs and negligent in the duty there en- joined as they are at prefent. Great effedls are, in the Gofpel, promifed to our prayers to God through Chrift ; and we are directed to make application to Him in all our wants and diftreffes, and encouraged to exped: 2^2 0/2 the Caufcs of our Prayers SEEM, cxped; relief and affiiiance from Him. — • IX. it Every one that alketh," we are affured, " receiveth;" and our Lord hath promifed, that " whatfoever we afk in His name, fliall be given unto us.'* But, neverthelefs, if on the ground cf thefe general promifes, any man Ihould hope that ail the prayers he may think proper to put up w^ill be granted, the experience of others may con- vince him, that he will be miferably dif- appointed ? What (hall we fay then ? Are the pro- mifes of God ill Chrifl become vain ? and are the impious and unbelieving at length ^juiliified in thinking that the devout peti- tioners of Heaven offer only the facrifice of fools ? God forbid ! He is yet true, and juft, and merciful, nor is one particle of His covenant fallen to the ground. All our difappointments are to be afcribed to our own vanity and haftinefs, which will not permit us to recoiled, that none of the promifes of the Gofpel are unconditional : ](ince, if this were duely refieded on, it would remaining often unanfwered. 2,03 would be found, that we have no caufe to serm. complain, and our adverfaries as Httle to ^^' triumph. For be it acknowledged that the prayers of Chriflians are often, nay, oftener rejec1:ed than granted; yet if the terms on which alone we are affured they (hall be heard are, on our part, as often negled:ed, Where does the fault lie but on ourfelves ? and that thefe are fo, any man of common fenfe and moderate experience may be certi- fied by the following review of themi. I. The firft thing infifled on in Scrip- ture, as needful to the efficacy of our prayers, is faith : " Let him afk," faith St. James, " in faith, nothing wavering/* that is, poiTefTed ot a firm reliance on the truth, power, and goodnefs of Him to whom we addrcfs our prayers, and a juft confidence ill the mediation of Him, in whofe name we offer them. As far as we are deficient in either of thefe, (o far is our praying a mere mockery. To beg the exertion of attributes, the very exiflence of which we doubt, differs but little from throwing a farcalm 204 ^^^ ^^^ Caufes of our Prayers SEiJM. farcafm on the imagined want of them; i^ ; ^"^ ^^ ^"^^^ whether God will liften to our prayer , when made according to the direc- tions He hath given, What is it, in fadt, but to miflruft His mofl: plain and repeated promifes, and make the God of truth a liar ? And can a man, who is guilty of this, think that He fhall receive any thino- of the Lord? Or can the rejedion of prayers, thus marred with infidelity, be made a fubjed of complaint ? If not, all fuch petitions may return empty into the bofom of the offerers, and the general pro- mifes of the Gofpel flill remain unim- peached . Perhaps, however, you think this condi- tion has not been wanting to your prayers. You are confcious that you have never petitioned Heaven but with full affurance of the power, and goodnefs, and truth of God, and of the reality and prevalence of Chrift^s mediation ; yet have your expecta- tions of fuccefs, though raifed on thefe good grounds, proved vain. But have not, then. remcihiing often nnanfwered. 205 then, halte and impatience accompanied serm. thefe your expedations ? Have you not, ix- inftead of waiting with refignation the Lord's good timt, begun to murmur, be- caufe your prayers were not immediately anfwered ; and without refle6ling how many confequences the granting of your petition might draw wdth it, partly given up your confidence in God, and faith in His pro- mifes, becaufe His favours kept not pace with your wiflies ; thus becoming deficient in thofe very qualities which the Gofpel requires in all who would obtain the patronage of Heaven j and dired:ly neglect- ing the dod:rine of our Lord Himfelf, Who hath charged us, *' that we fhould pray, and faint not." Indeed, we may of our- felves often difcover good reafons why par- ticular petitions fhould not be immediately anfwered ; and fince the divine wifdom may, doubtlefsly, fee many m.ore, to deny the exiftence of all fuch, and attack at once the goodnefs or truth of God for the feeming ' mifcarriage of our prayers, is fuch impious temerity, as may well deprive the man who is 20 6 On the Caufes of our Prayers SERM. is guilty of it, of all future benefit from ^^ his applications to the Being, whom he hath thus infuked ! The two conditions already mentioned will account for the ill fuccefs that has at- tended many petitions; but there is another no lefs plainly ftipulated, and equally rea- fonable, which has, I am afraid, rendered ineffeftual many more. St. John informs us, that our Lord faid to his difciples, " If ye abide in my words, and my words abide in you, ye fhall afk what ye wilL and it fhall be done unto you." Here, then, let all who conceive that they have any ground to complain of the inattention of Heaven to their prayers, examine themfelves anew, and recoiled:, if it is not \S\€\x fins that have feparated between themfelves and their God. A fcrutiny into every part of their condu6l, efpecially into thofe parts of which they are leaf!: fufpicious, will probably manifeft to them many faults they had before over- looked, and fliew their own ftate to be fuch, that until it is amended by repentance, their prayer remamiug often uminfwered. 207 prayer muft be an abomination, and their serm. hope preiumption. Neither ought liich ix. enquiries to be confined merely to their ^^^^^^""^ condud;, pall or prefent ; but they ihould be extended to their views and deiigns in regard to the fubjedls ot their petitions ; fince the diiappointments met with do too frequently arife from the caufe afligned by an apoftle in thefe memorable words : ** Ye alk and receive not, becaufe ye afk amifs ; that ye may, confume it on your lufts.'* When the end of our addreffes to Heaven is the obtainment of things which in lieu of purpoiing to ufe for the honour of God, and the good of his creatures, we only in- tend to make the inflruments of felfifli fatis- fad:ion, and the gratification of our own depraved appetite ; ought we in any manner to wonder or repine at our prayers being rejected ? Can we call God unjulf for not enabling us to break his laws with eafe and pleafure ? Or can we accufe Him of want of goodnefs, becaufe He will not make the path to deftruc^ion more eafy and inviting to us ? But 2o8 On the Caufes of our Prayers But yet there may be others whofe cafes none of the conditions hitherto mentioned can reach. Doubtlefsly there are Chriftians, who with a fincere and honeft heart, truely confiding in the promifes of God, and walking ftedfaftly in the way of righteouf- nefs, have befought Him w^ith fervour and devotion for favours which they purpofed to ufe agreeably to his will -, and yet have not received that return to their prayers which they hoped for, and thought they had good reafon to exped:. And what fhall we think of thefe difappointments ? Shall we attribute them to a want of goodnefs, or truth or power in God ; or rather to the ignorance or want of judgement of the men, who efteemed and alked for as bleffings thofe things, which, if granted, would, in realfty, have proved curfes ? Surely it is moll reafonabic to conclude the laft; and if fo, " What man is there of you, who, if his fon afk for bread, will give him a ftone ; or, if he afic for a fifli, will give him a ferpent ? If ye then, being evil, knovv^ how to gi\'e good gifts unto your children. remaining often tinanfwered. 209 children, How much more (hall our hea- serm. IX. venly Father give only what is beneficial ^^' unto thofe who alk Him ? Enough, I con- ceive, has now been faid to ifhew, not only that it is with juflice and reafon that many petitions are rejected, but likewife that the difappointments of thofe who offer them, afford no ground for doubting the truth of any of the Gofpel promifes ; fince the con- ditions OH which thofe promifes are exprefsly made, experience will teach us, are, in numberlefs inflances, left unobferved. There ftill remains, however, another to be added, which is that of the text ; that our requefts for future bleflings fhould be accompanied with expreflions of acknow- ledgement and gratitude for thofe we have already been favoured with. The propriety of this I need not go about to prove, fince the heart of every man who is not entirely lofl to all fenfe of virtue and moral obliga- tion, will immediately reprefent the bafenefs of negligence in this point — and I would ! I could add, that I need not dwell on it, VOL. ir. p becaufe ^10 On the Caufes of our Prayers becaufe the inftances of fuch negled: are (o rare ! But, in truth, they are the contrary, and the forgetfulnefs of the benefits con- ferred on us by God is, if poffible, more common than that of thofe we receive from men. Wherefore Chriftians fhould be often called on to refledl, that as one end of God's moral government of us his creatures is our improvement, in order to our happi- nefs, it would be acting inconfiflent with that end, was He to encourage ingratitude by conferring additional favours on thofe who are unthankful for pafl: ones j and thence learn, how little hope there can be of the reception of thofe requefts which proceed from men, who have failed to exprefs their thanks for the attention that has been already vouchfafed them. While I have been making the above ob- fervations, it hath probably occurred to you, that fome of the conditions mentioned are fo clofely related among themfelves, that in lieu of being feparated they might properly have been confidered unitedly. But there is remaining often unanfwe'redi i\V is an advantage ariling from viewing them serM, thus feverally. It may be fuggefted by the ^^* perverfe and impious wit of fome of our gainfayers, ** that thefe conditions are craf- tily inferted in the Gofpel, that when the great promifes there made of Heaven*s liftening to the prayers of Chriftians are^ by experience, found to fail, its miniflers may ftill be furnifhed with an excufe, and a plea whereby to defend the credit of their religion, by throwing the blame of the rriif- carriage on the petitioners themfelves.'* Now by the different conditions being ftated iingly, the objection of the promifes being clogged therewith, is placed in its ftrongeft light, which is that in which I could wifh to have all objections urged againfl the Gofpel put, before a refutation is attempted j becaufe if they are once '(hewn to be in- valid, even when viewed thus advantageoufly to themfelves, there can remain no ground for any man of the leaft candour to caVii further. With regard to that before us, the weaknefs of it will appear by the anfwer your own reafons will fuggefl: to the follow- p 2 ing ^12 On the Caufes of our Prayers SERM. ing queftion : Are not the conditions before IX. us fuch, that, even if they had not been expreffed, we ftill could not, confidently with a juil idea of the divine attributes, have expedled the petitions of thofe, who did not obferve them, to be granted ? For to this you muft anfwer in the affirmative ; unlefs you can entertain the blafphemous thought that God will encourao^e wicked- nefs by favouring finners ; or no lefs impi- oujfly and abfurdly imagine, that He will take advantage of the ignorance of men, who fimply afk for they know not what, to curfe them by complying with their prayers. The obje(5lion which may be drawn from the number of the conditions fpecified being thus overthrown, and quef- tions which might arife in the breafts of fpeculative men being already anfwered by a' review of the conditions themfelves, it now remains only to coniider the reafonable- nefs of the apoftle's advice in the text, and which, indeed, it requires very little atten- tion to difcover, fince, if God will vouch- fafe to liflen to our prayers, when we aflc what remai fling often unanfwered. li"^ what is profitable for us, and corredl them serm. when unadvifedly offered, we may well i^- call: away all anxiety and folicitude ; alTured that whatever evils he may permit to vejt us for a time, will, in the end, work toge- ther for our good ; and thus confcious of living under his mighty patronage and pro- tection, be alway rejoicing. Such was the fituation of the firft Chrif- tians, who prefer ved a conftant intercourfc w^ith their great Creatour by their prayers. Through the fuccefs of thefe they were enabled to attain to that height of charity, as to be w^illing even to lay down their lives for the brethren; by thefe they gained flrength to vanquifli the greateft tempta- tions j by thefe they acquired that patience and religious fortitude, as to meet with calmnefs all the tortures which the cruelty and mifplaced zeal of their moil furious ad- verfaries could fuggefl : and if, in thefe our days, the love of many is grown cold; if we feem not to be a(ftuated by the fame fpirit that dwelt in the earlieft of our pre- p 3 decelTors ^ H On the Caufes of our Prayers SERM. deceflbrs in the profeffion of the Gofpel i l^' if we behave not as members of the fame communion, nor as fcrvants of the fame Lordj if the warmth of our devotion is fcarcely fo great as might be exped:ed even from the embers of a fire which once burnt fo bright ; i/jefe things are, in good part, to be afcribed to our own limple neghgence and impious perverfenefs in not ufing the fame rrieans of obtaining from the Father of fpirits, thofe fpiritual fupplies, from which our forefatliers reaped fo great benefits, and of which we fland in fo much need ; whence, by a ftrange and unreafonable in- verfement of things, the kingdom of Heaven and its righteoufnefs, inflead of being made the firft obje(fts of our purfuit, are the lall thought on ; temporal enjoyments are pre- ferred to everlafling fehcity ; and the world and its good things have taken fuch an en- tire polTeflion of our hearts, that ferious and religious thoughts are deemed difagreeable intruders into the breaftj and whatever feems likely to give rife to them, is dif- countenanccd and banifhed. Where t/jis will remaining often iina?ifwered. % i e will end, God alone knows ; but fuch is serm. the profpedt among mankind at prefent, as ix. would at leall render it excufable, to put a ^"^"^'^'^^ very extenfive conftrudtion, on that declara- tion of our Lord, " that on the Son of man*s coming, He (hould not find faith upon the earth." p 4 SER- SERMON X. ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF THE REMAINING HOURS OF THE SABBATH. ^p*- Isaiah lviii. 13, 14. If thou turn away thy foot from thefabbath, from doi?7g thy pleafure on my holy day ; and call the fabbath a delight ^ the holy of the Lordy honourable ; and Jhalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor find- ing thine own pleafure, nor fpeaki?2g thine own words : Then Jhalt thou delight thy f elf in the Lord: and I will caufe thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage offacob thy father : for the mouth of the Lord hath fpoken it, T^TE learn from various paffages in the serm. books of the prophets, that their ^• profanation of the fabbath had no fmall fliare X. 2 1 8 On the Employment of the SERJM. fhare in biinglng clown on the Jews the heavy punifhment of their feventy year!* captivity ; and, indeed, fo fcnfible were they of this, that after the wonderful deli- verance which God wrought for them in bringing them back to their own land, from the fear of again offending in this rclpcdt they ran into the oppofitc extreme, and be- came fuperftitious and unrcafonablc in their mode of obfcrving it. This fadt, however, affords us a very flrong tcftimony that they had fuffercd mofl fcvercly for their former difbbcdicncc, and fliould, in all rcafon, make us circumfpcd: as to any fimilar offences. That this day is to be kept holy by us, I have already demonflrated to you, and ftated at large the grounds on which the duty of hallowing it is founded. I have fpoken, too, of the obligations incum- bent on us to appear this day in the afTcm- blics of Chriflians holdcn for the publick worfhip of God, as well as to the behaviour becoming all who prefent themfelves there- in : it now remains to fpeak of the employ- ment of thofc hours of it which are not pafTed remaining Hours of the Sabbath. 219 pafTed in the church ; and the text happily serm. fupplies us with exprefs and ample direc- ^* tion as to this point. ** \i thou turn away thy foot (faid the Lx)rd) from the fabbath from doing thy pleafure on my holy day ; and call the fabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable ; and fhalt honour Him, not doing thine own ways, nor find- ing thine own pleafure, nor fpeaking thine own words.*' For thefe words aptly ex- prefs thofe ways by which men, though they reft from their fervile works on a fab- bath, yet employ it in a manner by no means confiftent with hallowing it. It is not meant to prefs on Chriftians the rigorous obfer- vances of the Jewifh laws : from thefe (thanks to the divine mercy) we are free ; but the command to keep the feventh day holy being, as ye are apprized, not of Mofes only, but from the beginning, it extends as widely as the defcendants of Adam, to whom it was given ; and on all his fons therefore, it is incumbent to confidcr how they can moft perfedly comply with it. Firft, 2%0 On the Employtnent of the Firfl, then, it fhould be remembered, that it is the whole day, not a few hours of it only, that we are enjoined to hallow, and, confequently, no part of it fhould be fpent inconfiftently with this purpofe for which it is fet apart, but as much as may be of it in making ourfelves better acquainted with the will and teftimonies of that almighty Being, who has appointed it to us His crea- tures as a perpetual memorial of His hav- ing, on the feventh day, refted from all His work that God created and made. In- deed, this is, in fome meafure, abfolutely neceffary, to prevent our very attendance in the church being in part nugatory. The difcourfes which are there delivered to us are not fuch as will, of themfelves, furnifli the hearers with full information on either the doctrines or the pracftice of religion : both from their nature, and the time allowed for them, they mufl contain merely the out- lines of a comprehenfive fubject, or be con- lined to the dilcuffion of a particular point; in either of which cafes, ye muft be fenfible, that the labours of the preachers can have I but remaining Hours of the Sabbath. 22i but little fruit, unlefs they be forwarded serm. and improved by enquiries and meditations x* carried on by ourfelves at home. What is faid from the pulpit muft be often unintel- ligible, the truth of the remarks made, not difcernible, the juftice of the remonftranccs, and the propriety of the exhortations given, remain unfeen, . unlefs thofe who attend have already acquired fome knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, and have a general ac- quaintance with the hiftory therein related, and the great truths therein declared. Now when is fuch knowledge to be obtained? When are thefe books to be fludied? If they are not on this day, little probability, I conceive, will remain of their being fo on any other. If, after attendance on the di- vine worfhip, and liflening to the word of exhortation, w^hile the ideas raifed by them are frefh and powerful, our minds difrelifli what is grave and ferious, Can it be expe25 forgotten, that we left that communion on serm. account of the corruptions it had contra(^ted ? ^' Or are the members of a reformed church hkely to improve, or become more vicious, by imitating the pracftices of the mother of apoftacy ? Or, laflly, Do the confequences of their paft condud: encourage you to enter on the fame that her adherents have pur- fued ? Has the general depravity of Italy and France produced fuch efFed:s as^o ren- der us delirous of experiencing the fame ? Or, rather, Have not their tranfgreffions of the law of the Lord been vifited with a feverity fufficient to make us tremble at the thought of bringing down fimilar judge- ments on ourfelves ? When I fay that there are thofe who turn their houfes into places of publick refort for diverfion on the Lord's day, I allude not only to fuch as, with a bolder ftep in profanation, and, confequently, with more exceeding folly, fpread their card tables for the amufement, or the profit of that con- temptible generation, who cannot find in VOL. II. Q their ii26 On the Employment of the SERM. their hearts to obferve one day in feven as ^- the holy of the Lord, and honourable, nor bring their debilitated minds to reft content without recurring to their accuftomed mode of wafting that which all the wife and the good deem fo precious ; but to all who, under the pretence of facred mufick, or any other excufe, coiled: large companies, by whom the indulgences of. vanity, the parade of dreFs, and the mere diftipation of thought and avoidance of reflexion, in the language of the text, the finding their own pleafure, and the fpeaking their own words, are fought. For, let the fuppofed purpofe of i^hefe meetings be what it may, the queftion to be conlidered by the promoters of them is. What they do in reality prove ? and if they are perverted to places of intrigue, or even made merely fcenes of diftipation, the fabbath is broken by them, the holy day of the Lord profaned, and one of the earlieft of the divine commandments trampled un- der foot. But if the epithet of facred be employed only to blind the eyes of men, to evade the laws, or elude the vigilance of the remai7iing Hours of the Sabbath. a 27 the magiflrate; Are thefe deceivers weak serm* enough to forget, that the Lord feareheth ^• the reins and the heart ? Can they fuppolc that He who hath declared, that *' He will bring every work into judgement, whether it be good or bad, that there is nothing hid that Ihall not be known, and that what is fpoken in the chambers fhall be proclaimed upon the houfe tops," is to be mocked by their hypocritical ailumption of a name to cover their difregard of His will ? Let all, then, who make a publick day of the fabbath, refied:, with a fair and honeil heart, to which defcription of men the pradiifers of this may moft juftly be faid to belong, to tliofe who call it a de- light, the holy of the Lord, honourable, and honour Him ; or to thofe who do their own xvays, and find their own pleafure in it ? and according to the anfwer which truth and common fenfe fhall didate to this quef- 1 tion, let them (hape their future condudt. Q a Neither 228 On the Employment of the SERM. Neither is this admonition called for by ^* the behaviour of the higher ranks only, many of the middle and the lower feem no longer to think that that of the fabbath is a religious inftitution, but ufe it as a day ot diverfion and voluptuous indulgence. Can any man, then, think this a proper ufe of our Chriflian liberty, to employ the holy of the Lord in the tranfgreflion of His laws ? I am not ignorant that in excufe of fuch there is urged, the w^ant of recreation after fix days application, and the like : But to what amount thefe pleas when we are particularly admonifhed that fuch is not the ufe of the day ? Reft is the proper remedy for fatigue both of body and mind ; and this is what we are, on this day, com- manded to take : and fo far are the duties of it from interfering with it, that, I think, I may venture, without danger of jufl con- tradidiion, to alTert, that thofe who fpend the Sunday properly will be much more ready to return to their accuftomed occupa- tions on the next day with fpirit, diligence, and. remaining Hours of the Sabbath. 229 and effed:, than aiiy who have confumcd it SE^M. either in mere idlcncfs, or in riot, or in. ^'_ forbidden indulgences. If men willi to travel for the fatisfadtion of vifiting their friends, or any other purpofe, furely a little extraordinary exertion will enable them to do this at proper intervals on fome other day : But is not dedicating the fabbath to thefe purpofes, like taking of the burnt- offering of the Lord to make merry with one's friends ? Neither, indeed, can we go to any dillance from our homes without obliging our cattle to labour on this day, which, under the commandment of our common Creatour, to let them reft, is as manifeil an inflancc of iinjuflifiable tyranny as the world exhibits. Yet how are our publick roads crouded on the fabbath with people feeking their own pleafures, and forcing on the poor animals, over whom they have obtained a temporary command, a double talk; and thus. How is the worfliip of God deferted in fome places, to m.ock at His commandments in Q 3 others ! z],0 Cm ike Employinent of the sEjiM. Others ! Indeed, for Ibme years pall:, thof^ ^- who have hved at all within reach of one of the royal refidences, have had fet before them a particular temptation to leave their parifli churches during the fummer feafon, that they may, in the evening, be prefent at a fplendid allemblage with rnufick : and although we cannot juflify, we may well pity thofe who yield to fu-ch allurements ; while we mull lament that want of counfel, which permits a pracflice not only diredly contrary to the principle of repeated pro- clamations, which the piety of our fovereign has caufed to be ilTued, but fubverfive of the l^ibbath, and, confequently, moll: furely dellrudiive of the morality of the people. This lall particular, the corruption I mean, of thofe about us, although made the objed of the fevereft menaces of the Gofpel, as, *' It is impolTible but that offences will come : but woe unto him, through whom they come ! It -vj/ere better for him that a millftone were hanged about his neck, and he caft into the fea, than that he fliould offend remajnuig Hours of the Sabbath, 23 1 ofFcnd one of thefe little ones.'* (Luke xvii. serm. 2, 3-) is, alas ! by many, fcarcely con- ^' fidered as a thing of which they mufl give account; Otherwife would the Lord's day be chofen by them for a day of banquet and parade ? by which their domefticks are de- prived of the opportunity of repairing to the church, and of inftrudtion in the law of their God; and having the little they ever did learn, gradually obliterated from their minds, they are left to an unequal Uruggle with the world, the flefh, and the devil, without knowing where to apply for fpiritual alfiftance, and even without being confcious how much they ftand in need of it. That heads of families, who having theirfelves made fhipwreck of faith, *' are taken captive by the devil at his will," fliould exad: from their fervants all their labours on the fabbath, is no matter of fur- prize ; but that any who yet continue to affemble with the church, fhould imagine that the facrifice of prayer and praife which they offer can be accepted, while, by their jmpious demands, others, who have their Q 4 lalvation 232 On the Employment of the SERM. falvatlon to work out, are deprived of the x« benefit of refer ting to the congregation, ok obh'o^ed to foreo:o the reft which God hath commanded, affords, upon reflecftion, httle Icfs wonder than regret. But while we warn thofe who have others under their command, not to bring down on themfelves the woes with w^hich all are menaced, who caufe any of the believers in Chrift to offend ; let not their confcioufnefs of being guiitlefs in this particular, en- courage others to continue in tranfgreffion under that partial confolation, that they hurt nobody but themfelves. For is not this plea made ufe of by thofe who do bufinefs in their own perfons on the Lord's day, without requiring the affiftance of their fervants ? Or if, for their perverfe difobe- dience, fuch perfons be caff out from the kingdom of Heaven, will the refled:ion that they hurt nobody but themfelves, recom- penfe the lofs they have incurred ? Many there are, I fear, who want to have thijj . imprefled on their minds ; and, perhaps, ilill remaining Hours of the Sabbath, 233 ftill more, who have taken up an imagina- serm. tion, that no bufinefs but that of manual ■^' labour amounts to a breach of the fabbath, ought to have their attention called to the words of the text, *' not doing thine own ways, nor fpeaking thine own words :" for what can more ftrongly e::prefs the purfuit of any temporal intereft, or more earneftly prohibit buying, felling, making of bargains, or, indeed, treating of any worldly affairs, that do not necelTarily require immediate attention. True it is, that this very excep- tion leaves men a very confiderable fpace m which they may exercife their own difcre- tion ; but then it is theirs to remember, that they are in this, as well as in every other inlfance, acting under the eye of Omnif- cience, and deciding how f:ir they fliall \Q.t a prefent advantage leffen the refped: they flicw to that Being, Who has declared, that ** they that honour Him, He will honour, and they that defpife Him, fhall be flightly cfteemcd." To 234 ^^^ ^^^ Employment of the To imagine that it can finally turn out to the advantage of either a nation or an individual to flight the divine command- ments, is one of the m.oft abfurd concep- tions that ever entered the human brain ; equally contrary to the dicHiates of common fenfe, and the do6i:rine of the Gofpel. That real fuccefs in life can be procured by in- fulting the Lord of life, or the wrath of God avoided by betraying a want of that quality which He requires as ncceilary be- fore all others, implicit faith in His perfec- tion, are fancies of which even a child would difcern the folly. Yet are not fuch fancies adled on ivhen the obfervation of the iabbath is made to give way to councils of ftate and political conferences ; or, among individuals, to the fettlement of accompts, or the forming plans of trade ? We feem lately to have found, that even our comparative degree of faith, piety, and religious obedience, fmall as it in fubftance is, hath profited us much ; fince the divine mercy hath turned from us the full ftream of remaining Hours of the Sabbath. 235 of that torrent of calamities that has de- serm. X. luged fo many countries around us : even ^* the meafure in which we are reformed from the fins of Rome, fcems, through the won- derful forbearance of Him Who feeketh occafion to fhew mercy, to have faved us from partaking in many of her plagues. What benefits, then, fhould we not reap, were we to make a proper ufe of this for- bearance, and by turning wholly to our God, and ftriving, in finglenefs of heart, to learn and to obey His commandments, were to obtain not only (as we may well fear at prefent) an adjournment, but a re- leafe from our fentence ! This national and efFedlual reformation, how^ever, can never take place as long as the young and the ignorant are taught, by the example of thofe above them, to be lovers pf pleafure more than lovers of God. Nay, io long as they are encouraged to flight the ordinance of the fabbath, they will become lefs fleady in their faith, lefs fcrupulous ia jheir prae can, serm. with greater confidence, contemplate not ^i- only His works, but all the wondrous ad:s ^"^^ of His mercy and righteoufnefs, made known to us in the words of His revela- tion; and thus render the degree of love required by the text, not fo much the pro- duce of confcientious obedience, as the na- tural fruit of our own feeling-s. f But can love, perhaps ye would here afk, be properly a fubjed. of command ? Pof- iibly not, if its effecfts are to be confined only to the mind ; but if they are to be manifefted by outward acts, it clearly may : and fuch is the meaning of the text, that we employ all the faculties therein men- tioned in the works of the love of God. How this may, and muft be done, if we would avoid the penalties of difobedience, let us next confider ! Firft for our heart, that being the feat of the aftedtions, to pracftife the love of God with that, we muft endeavour to fix our inclinations on what He points out as the proper objcds of our R 3 attach- 7,^6 On the Love of God. attachment. Nor is this fo difficult to be done as fome may at firft imagine : for iince the profped: of happinefs naturally excites defire, if we will but permit either pur thoughts to be turned, by the hourly inflances of mortality before us, to that fcene of everlafting felicity beyond the grave, which the facred writings defcribe to us under images fo flrong. and fo various : or our minds to be inftrudied by what paffes in the world, in the fuperior peace, fecurity and comfort enjoyed by thofe who live in the faith and fear of God, or confider the amiable charadler and efteem which they polTefs, who in iinglenefs of heart, walk according to the laws He hath fet before us, our inclinations cannot but be raifed in favour of thefe feveral particulars which He has commanded us to feek. And the eternal things which are not feen, the life, the happinefs, the glory promifed in another world, the unfliaken confidence in the pro- vidence of God, enjoined to every difciple of the Gofpel, and the undefiled hands, and pure intentions, required in the Chriftian charadter, On the Love of God, 247 character, will infallibly intereft our hearts serm. in favour of what fo naturally and fo plainly xi. defer ve regard. True it is, that to produce this attach- ment in the breafts of moft men, a very great change muft be wrought in them, fince it fcarcely comes into all their thoughts. What is in their eyes mod worthy of pur- fuit, may, with fufficient certainty, be col- lected from what they feek w^ith moft earn- eftnefs themfelves, and what they point out to their children as calling for their principal attention. Without doing any injuftice to the generality of thofe who now call themfelves Chriftians, 1 conceive I may alTert, that the good things of this world are much more earneftly ibught after by themfelves, and the attainment of them more attended to in the education, and fetting forth of their children in life, than the reward of righte- oufnefs promifed in that which is to come. Of many it may, I am afraid, be with truth affirmed, that until they think them- felves certainly about to leave the prefent R 4 fcene, X 34^ On the Love of God, SERM. fccne, they never ferioufly apply their thoughts to what is to be expected in the next. Though hvin^ now, and dependent for what fhall be hereafter, on the bounty of Him Who is Lord of this w^orld, and of that which is to come. Does not the eagernefs with which they purfue the plea- fures, or the honours, or the riches of the prefent ftate, declare, that it is not He, but thefe, that they love with all their hearts ? How then are fuch men obedient to this firft and great commandment ? If two objecfts of attachment be fet before us, one of which we love with all our hearts, (and but one, it is plain, we can love in this degree) furely our affecflion for this one will imme- diately fo manifeft itfelf as to leave no doubt which it is we prefer. By this rule, then, let us judge ourfelves ; affured, that as long as our {tn{& of duty, and our incli- nations, can maintain an oppofition to each other, we love not God with all our hearts. For thus will a check be provided for that unreafonable ardour with which we purfue thofe phantoms of pleafure that beguile us into On the Lovf of God. 249 into forgetfulnefs of the heavenly country to serm. which we are at prefent on our way. Could xi . the felf-devoted vid:ims of diflipation once ^•''"^'^"^**-^ be brought to afk thcmfelves, in the midft of their career. Whether the eagernefs with which they feek after amufement be com- patible with loving Him with all their hea; Cft . whofe commandment it is that they Ihould live foberly, and walk circumfpedly in this world ? Surely the anfwer which • even the meafure of wifdom and of con- science they poflefs would return to this queftion, would manifefl to them the la- mentable errour of their ways, by convict- ing them, from their ovvn mouths, of dif- obedience to the chief precept of His law. Indeed, (for a repetition may be excufed on a fubje61: that ought to be moft deeply im- prelfed) the very exiftence of the queftion includes the anfwer to it j for did we love the Lord with all our hearts, our attach- ment to His fervice would admit of no comparifon with our affedtion for any other objedt : but we Ihould, with His apoftle, count 7,^0 On the Love of God. SERM. count all things but lofs for the excellency '^'^ of the knowledge of Chrift Jefus our Lord. I mean not to fay, that this attachment can, in a degree to render it worthy the name of real, be fuddenly gained, but it may and muft be formed during the courfe of the life of every real Chriftian ; and when once it is fo, and, like every other ruling pailion, fwallow^s up the reft, think what it muft be to have your hearts fixed not on any thing changeable, not on any thing perilliable, but on the fummit of per- fe6lion, from which ye can never be fepa- rated, wdth which ye can never be cloyed ! It is with all our fouly that we are next commanded to love the Lord our God. By which precept our moral faculties are re- quired to be dedicated to His fervice j the neceflity of which injunction is moft clearly fliewn by the behaviour of that generation whom I before mentioned as making a dif- tin61ion between morality and religion. For the On the Love of God, 251 the moral faculties of thefe men, their tern- serm, perance, their benevolence, and even their xi. piety, are employed not in the fervice of the Lord our God, Who hath commanded all men, as they honour Him to honour His Son alfo, but in a mad attempt to prove, that men can rife as near to perfe6lion without attending to the dire(fhions He has been pleafed to give them by revelation, as they can by living according to His exprefs command. Yet if fuch commandment has been given. How can they love God with all their fouls, whofe fouls are not employed in the works of that commandment ? To have our fouls thus employed, all things muft be done to His glory, and our fclf-re- ftraint is not to be limited by the care of health, or worldly prudence, but by the words of His will. Our benevolence muft not be merely the refult of the feelings of compaffion, in blindly following which we may as often minifter to vice as fupport the caufe of righteoufnefs, but the natural fruit of a fettled purpofe to ufe His gifts in the jinanner moil: acceptable in His light, moft con^ 252 On the Love of God. conducive to His glory : neither mufl: our piety be the mere efFed: of cuftom, or what is ftill worfe, the work of oftentation ; but the produce of our confcioufnefs of His greatnefs, and our utter dependence on His power and goodnefs. By fome, indeed, it may be thought, that if men are brought to pradl:ife thefe virtues from any motive whatever, a great point is gained. And true it is, that if we eftimate the generaUty of the world as they really are, to prevail on. them to live foberly, righteoufly, and godly, feems a thing more to be wi(hed than hoped for, w'' de great would be the benefit thence accrueing to fociety, if they were to do fo, even on lower motives. But the divine power is not limited by our con- ception, nor is it folely the prefent good of human fociety that is fought by the Gofpel, but the future falvation of every individual, his improvement, his exaltation, which mufl depend upon the height, and the purity of his principles. Now the pureft, the noblefl of all principles, is, without controverfy, the love of the fummit of perfedion, which not .On the Lovs of God, 253 not only cafleth out fear, but, like the fire serm. which fell from Heaven on the facrifice of ^^* Elijah, and confumed even the water, the ftones and the duft, purifies the foul from every ignoble affection, and fancftifies it to the fervice of the one everliving God. The commandment proceeds, — *' And with all thy mind :" a phrafe which points, I conceive, to our mental faculties, and can be obeyed only by employing them in the works of our divine Mafter. That they are not fo employed by that portion, that great portion, alas ! of the human race, whofe whole care it is to gain, or to encreafe their worldly fubftance, is but too plain. Let me not, however, be here underflood as fuggefting, that this law is tranfgreffed by men who ufe due exertions to fupport them- felves, and provide for their families, ac- cording to the line of life in which they are placed. Thefe are employments ailigned us by Heaven itfelf, and fuch, too, as are made the fubjefts of other divine precepts : for we are told, that he who provides not for ^£^ On the hove of God, for thofe of his own houfe, is worfe than an Heathen ; and are exhorted to labour at the thing that is honeft, not only to preferve us from any temptation to fteal from others, but fo far as to have wherewithal to give to him that needeth. But thofe love not God with all their minds, whofe endeavours are not regulated by His laws. Whether, for- getting that man liveth not by bread alone, they pafs their days in fordid anxiety, planning and purfuing fchemes to augment their ftore. Or whether with lefs folicitude, but at leall equal difregard to the divine will, they gain their fubfiftence by means contrary to the pure precepts of the Gofpel, And how much farther from this muft •they be, who,^ enlifting themfelves under the banners of Antichrift, with determined impiety, employ what abilities they have in J'preading the darknefs of infidelity around them, and with crafty mifreprefentation, and malicious fophiftry, impofe upon the ignorant, miflead the weak, and encourage the vicious in tranfgrellion ! Thefe enemies of all righteoufnefs, while calling them- felves On the Love of God, 25^ felves lovers of wifdom, are inceffantly s E R m. labouring to ferve the caufe of folly; while xi. ftiling themfelves friends of truth, are moll ^"^"^'^^^ anxioufly promoting falfehood; and while boafting of themfelves as the enlighteners of mankind, are enticing them to wander into the dreary (hades of utter darknefs ; and therefore when the light His felf (hall appear, thefe will be found haters inftead of lovers of God. But let it not be fo with you : let, on the contrary, your recolledlion of the rank of being in which your Creatour has vouch- fafed to place you, giving you a fuperiority over fo many of His creatures, and endow- ing you with faculties capable of unlimited improvement, let gratitude for thefe great gifts, I fay, produce in you fu(ficient love of God to induce to ufe your abilities not- as the diflipated, in difgracing the fpecies to w^hich ye belong, by putting on the appearance of being incapable of receiving gratification from any thing but trifles or licentioufnefs j neither in w^hat will fub- jedt 2^6 On the hove of God. SERM. jed: you to a ftill heavier condemnation, in XI. deviling mifchief againft your neighbour, in wreaking your mahce on thole with whom ye are offended, or in corrupting the innocent, or feducing the unwary from the paths of righteoufnefs ; nor, lallly, fhould your ftation in hfe enable you to become a bleffing or a curfe on a larger fcale, in exciting civil diflentions, promoting wars, or forwarding the deftrudtion of mankind, but in learning rightly to divide the word of truth, and rendering yourfelves wife unto falvation. The heart and the mind mutually affecfl each other ; when, therefore, men become corrupted in their affedlions, their underftandings grow gradually dif- torted, the foundnefs of their judgement fails, and their power of diftinguifhing truth from falfehood is impaired ; to avoid this melancholy ftate of mental imbecility, under which fuch multitudes, unconfcious of their own miferable fate, adlually labour, the faculties of the mind fhould be early fecured on the fide of righteoufnefs, by being emploved in the fearch and the fupport of On the Love of God. 2 C7 of truth. But this point more properly be- serm. longs to the next head, that portion of the xi. commandment which enjoins us to love the Lord ** with all our flrength." A remark made early in this difcourfe, that by being commanded to love God with thefe feveral faculties, we are enjoined to employ them in the works of His love, will explain what is intended by loving Him with all our ftrength. Since to em- ploy this in His fervice, we muft prad:ife His laws while we are yet in the vigour of our age, in the prime of our lives. And a very little obfervation of the condudt of mankind is fufficient to evince, how nccef- fary it is to remind them of this part of their duty. For is it not, in truth, a very confiderable proportion of men, who never think of fubmitting to the reftraints of re- ligion till their bodily ftrength begins to decay ? And can this be called loving God with all our ftrength ? Or are the reliques, inflead of the firft fruits of His own gifts, all that ye can bring yourfelves to offer VOL. II. s Him ? '258 On the Love of God. SERM. Him? " Offer fuch now to thy Gover- x^* nour; Will he be pleafed with thee, or accept thy perfon ?'* Thefe are queftions which merit the moft ferious confideration of both young and old : of the old, that if confcious to themfelves of having neglected this commandment, they may, if place for repentance can yet be found, prove their remorfe for their paft negligence fincere, by exerting, with re- doubled earneflnefs, the portion of ftrength they have left, in the caufe of piety, righte- oufnefs, and charity. Of the young, that they may not be deluded to wafte in folly and the fervice of vice that ftrength which has been given them no lefs for the glory of their Maker than for their own accom- modation, and thus lay up for themfelves the fad inheritance of anguifh and remorfe, when the days in which they muft die drawing near, they can no longer avoid the reflection, that they are about to be called to render account of the ufe they have made of the faculties, which their Lord committed to On the hove of God. 259 t«3 their care. Moft pitiable is the fi<>ht serm. often exhibited by thole who having mif- ^^i^ fpent the years of their youth, can draw little from the recoiled ion of what is pall, but anxiety and dread af the future : and a comparifon of the wretched ftate of thefe with that of thofe who from their youth have ferved the Lord, joined to the recol- ledion of how few do in fa6l attain to re- pentance in old age, would tend to prevent the young from being deluded v into tranf- greffion, under the diftant hope of recover- ing themfelvcs by future repentance ; or from being tempted to part with their inno- cence by any of thofe pleas which the w^orld is fo ready to find for all that will comply with her corruptions, but which are little better than mere impertinences, unlefs they can deliver the youthful finncr from the charge of having broken this fir ft and great commandment, in not •* loving God vvitk all his fi:reno;th." Having thus generally Rated the objects of this commandment, little more remains s 2 for 26o On the Love of God, SERM. for me than to obferve to you, that there ^^' cannot be either more or flronger motives for complying with it than we already polTefs. It is for perfection itfelf that our love is demanded : the perfonal obligations received by every individual among us from the fame great Being, are not only incom- parably beyond any deferts we could have, but continued under perpetual provocations to withdraw them. While there is holden out to us the proffer of ftill greater benefits, if we will but render ourfelves fit to receive them — What makes our returns, then, fo inadequate to all thefe calls? Why are the beggarly elements of the world, the obje6ls of luft, pride, avarice, embraced with ceafe- lefs ardour, while our Creatour, Redeemer, Preferver, and conftant Benefactor, fure re- ward, and everlafting recompence, is fo coldly regarded ? Various, poilibly, are the excufes that fuggefl: themfelves to you for this condud ; and ye think them fuch as ye may fafcly rely on. Yet confider ; Are they, indeed, fuch as ye fhall dare to plead before the throne of Chrifl ? If not, they can On the hove of God. 261 can avail no further than to lull you into a serm. falfe fecurity for a few years longer, on ^i* being awakened from which ye will be ftricken with tenfold horrour at findrng- yourfelves irrecoverably loft ! For it after being commanded to love the Father w ith all our heart, our foul, our mind, and our ftrength, it fhall appear to the all-piercing eye of our Judge, that our heart, foul, mind, and ftrength, were otherwife engaged. Will it be the fentence of good or that wicked fervants which muft proceed from His un- erring lips upon us ? Weigh well, I be- feech you, this queftion, ere it be too late; and having confidered it, let your future condu6t prove, that the love of God dwclleth in your hearts ! % 3 SERi SERMON XII. ON THE RECIPROCAL DUTIES OF PARENTS AND CHILDREN. EPHES. VI. I, 2, 3, 4. Children^ obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother ; which is the fir'Ji comtitandment with promife ', that it may be well with thee, and thou mayeji live long on the earth. And ye, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath : but bring them up in the niir^ ture and ad?nonition of the Lord, AMONG the prefumptiious abfurdities serm. which modern fophifts have uttered, J^^ there is none more direclly contrary to the precepts of the wifeft men of antiquity, mid even to thofe of the infpired penmen, s 4 th^n 264 On the ree-iprocal Duties SERM. than the (hallow conceit which one wretched ^^^* pretender to depth of thought has ventured to bring forward, in advifing parents to re- frain from putting their children under re- ftraint during the firfl: years of their lives : and, indeed, there needs but a little obfer- vation added to a moderate degree of com- mon fenfe, to difcern, that the habits of the nurfery, and the difpolition there acquired, will fometimes attend a man through life ; while no doubt can reafonably be entertained, but that the influence of them continues, in many inftances, where it is not obferved. But without infifting upon the -probability of this continuance ; a child that is left unreftrained during its earlier years, muft either continue (o until it comes to years of maturity, when it would be impollible to bring under controul paihons fo long accuf- tomed to indulgence j or mufi: be earlier re- duced to difcipline, when the feverity ne- ceilary for this purpofe would caufe a parent, who had, until then, fliewn nothing but lenity, to appear altered in his regard toward the child whom he began to treat fo differently : of Parents and Children. 265 differently : and would not this apparent serm. change in the affedions of the parent natu- ^^^• rally occaiion a real one in thofe of the child, and thus dcltroy, at the root, that honour, which it would have been the hap- pinefs of the one to pay, and of the other to receive, had not the dicStates of philofophy (falfely fo called) contributed to interrupt the peace of both ? And thus it will be found, by any one who really inveftigates the point, that the duties of parents and chil- dren are fo trucly, what the apoftle does in the text coniider them to be, reciprocal, that attention or negledt of them, on the one fide, tends to produce the fame on the other. While what are the habits of filial obedi- ence and domeftick order, but the founda- tion of loyalty to our fovereign, and regu- larity of publick conducft. So truely fuch, indeed, that I think I may venture to fay, that he who is not a good fon, will fcarcely ever prove a good fubjecft ; nor he who has been accuftomed to diflurb the tranquillity of a family at home, ever promote the peace of a community. The houfehold of our parents 266 On the reciprocal Duties SERM. parents is the firfl: fociety in which we ap- XII. pear : herein, then, miifl be formed the rudiments of our behaviour in thofe more enlarged ones, of which we may afterward become members ; which particular mani- fefts the accurate propriety with which the commandment, mentioned in the text, is placed at the head of thofe that relate to our duty toward our neighbours. To the conlideration of this command- ment, as more exteniively viewed by St. Paul, in the words before us, I fhall firfh call your attention ; meaning, afterwards, to fpeak of the behaviour which he directs parents to obferve toward their children, To honour, then, fignifying, in its pri- mary and moil: limple fignification, to hold any thing in eftimation, fince we cannot do this without having our affecftions attached to it according to its nature, the precept to honour them nccefiarily includes that of loving our parents ; the reality of which Jove will manifefl itfelf by the conduct]: fuitc4 of Parents and Children. 267 fuited to the period of life in which we serm. may be : for the fond endearments which ^"* are fo plealing, and appear fo amiable in an infant, would not only fcem ridiculous, but be really difgufting and abfurd in one of maturer years. Still there are teftimonies of affecftion which we can fliew in very early years, and of which we need not be afhamed when we are advanced in age. Such is the tear of giving uneafinefs to a parent, which may often be difcerned in very young minds, and if not deftroyed by a CO J lie of indulgence, which makes nothing appear to give uneafinefs, or' by morofenefs, wh ch difcou rages all at- tempts to pleafe, or eradicated by vice, which blunts all the finer afFeftions, will make regard to the feelings of a parent a principle of adion through life, lervmg as a falutary check to folly and ni temperance, and, from the force of habit, retaining its power even when its objed: is no longer on earth. On a68 On the reciprocal Duties SREM. On the other hand, what degree of real ^^^' affection can there be in the breaft of a child who manifefts not this fymptom of it ? When we fee (as we too often do) the cautions of a parent difregarded, his appre- henfions laughed at ; when a mother's ex- preffion of her fears has no other cffed: on a fhamelefs child, than to make him con- tinue the very actions of which fhe dreads the confequence, What love can dwell in the heart of fuch a child ? Or when he goes forth into the world, will the fon, who has been accuftomed to defpife the words of thofe whom he was the moft ftridily bound to honour, fhew more refpedl to others, than he was wont to do to his parents ? Will he ftiddenly acquire new habits of attention and compliance? Or can he exped:, that his pafl: difobedience to the law of God will be rev/arded by additional grace to preferve himfelf frorn what will bring on him difgrace and en- mity from men? Much, it is true, may be pleaded in favour of the weaknefs and the, inexperience of childhood, but there of Parents and Children. 269 is nothing required of children to which serm. the years at which it is required are not xii. equal, and therefore their want of compli- ance cannot be acquitted of guilt; nor parents of cruel negligence, who fuffer fuch guilt to become habitual : for we have the authority of Solomon himfelf for faying, that though *' foolifhnefs is bound in the heart of a child, the rod of corredtion (hall drive it far from him.'* Neither fhould I omit to mention the extent to which the caution arifiiig from this fear of offending reaches, embracing all that which may be termed the negative honour due to parents, that is, all thofe teftimonies of efleem and refped:, the omif- fion of which would be a difhonour to them. Becaufe we are no longer under the immediate command of our parents, are we to confider ourfelves as no more connected with them than with the reft of mankind ? Are we to alter our plans without advifing with them ? Or change our fituation in life without even imparting our intention to them ? The having particulars of this kind 4 with- 270 On the reciprocal 'Duties SERM. withholden from their knowledge, cantiot ^^^^.^^^ but be very grating to parents, fince it be- trays either a contempt of their opinion, or a doubt of their affection. When we read that a " foolifh fon is a grief to his father, and bitternefs to her that bare him,^' we are but reminded of what daily palTes in the world through the behaviour of the extravagant, the idle, the diffipated, and the profligate. How many eyes are, at this moment, weeping over the follies or debau- cheries of a dilfolute fon ! How many cheeks are now bedewed with tears for the confequences of a daughter's obftinacy and inattention to parental caution ! And fhall they be faid to love father and mother, who thus embitter their lalt years by cafting be- hind them their inftrudiions ; and by for- faking the paths of prudence and of virtue they had fo earneftly endeavoured to mark out to them, contribute to bring their grey hairs with forrow to the grave ? True it is, I fay, that the condemnation in which fuch are involved, is often, if not generally, derived from an habit of difobe- dience. of Parents and Children. zji dience, early acquired, through the injudi- serm. cious lenity and unkind indulgence of their ^^-i* parents : but as parents are fo eafily pre- vailed on to yield fuch indulgence, children who are capable of underflanding the cau- tion, fhould be warned of the fearful con- fequences of not accuftoming themfelves to pay a fincere and ready deference to the or- ders and admonitions of their parents : for correfpondent to the promife on compliance with the precept, are the effedis naturally refulting from the negled: of it; and we may frequently trace mifcarriages in life, poverty, difeafe, and even immature death, to difobedience to the leflbns of a father, or to contempt of a mother's inftrud:ions. Let the dread of thefe confequences , therefore, the dread of their growing worfe and w^orfe, of their being left by the juft fentence of God for tranfgreiling His commandment to become more eftranged from their duty, more hardened in evil, operate as a timely warning on young people to obey their parents in all things ; ever remembering that the pra6lice of this obedience, in their early years, ZJZ On the reciprocal Duties SERM. years, will be the beft preparative, the fureft ^^i* of pledge of their giving to their parents that honour which will afterwards be re- quired of them. And what is this ? Our blelTed Saviour's rebuke to the Scribes and Pharifees, that they made the commandment of God of none effed:, by faying, that if a man de- clared what he might have given to his father or mother, dedicated to religious ufes, he was free from the obligation of this law, fufficiently evinces, that this tri- bute of honour principally conlifts in minif- tering of our fubftance to their neceflities. And how vifibly equitable is this ordinance, by which we are directed to return fome portion of that expence, care, and attention, which were bellowed on ourfelves when we were even infenfible of our own wants ! If men would but recolle<5t for what a courfe of years they were the objecfls of their parents moft anxious care, during which not only their neceffities, but their very amufements, were eagerly fupplied, when their t}f Parents a?id Children, 273 their frowardnefs too, added to the burthen serm. of their helplefTnefs, they could fcarcely re- ^^^' frain from repeating to themfelves the quef- tion of the fon of Sirach : * * How canft thou recompenfe them the things that they have done for thee ?" (Ecclef. vii. 28.) Or fail to anfvver, that when their parents are finking into an age in feveral refpects iimilar to that during which theirfelves experienced all the benefits of their tenderefl folicitude, it is but a debt of gratitude to give them every affiftance of which they may Hand in need, whether that be pecuniary, or of any other kind. The former, indeed, neither a greater nor even an equal number of men, have an opportunity of adminiftering, as their parents fland not in need of it j but to many, the opulence of whofe parents frees them from any calls of this kind, it may properly be fuggefted, that if we are bound to ailift thofe who do want, we certainly are no lefs fo to abftain from reducing to difficulties, by our extravagance, thofe who had plenty. For how many do, in their later years, fuffer from the riotous living VOL, II. T of 274 On the reciprocal Duties SERM. of a fpendthrift fon, and fee the hardly- ^^^' earned produce of their youthful labours diffipated by the cruel folly of a ftubborn child ! And is this a due return for all the facrifices of time, money, and eafe, that they have made for you ? Or is it honouring old age to plunge it into the hardfhips with which even youth finds it difficult to flruggle ? To thofe, indeed, whofe fenfibility is not entirely deftroyed by commerce with the world, it is an heart-piercing fight to fee a parent fuller, in any way, from the mif- doings of a child: but. how much more if it proceed, as (Ihocking to relate) it fome- times does, from perfonal ill treatment ! the unceremonious behaviour to which what is falfely called the good breeding of the pre- fent age is calculated to give rile, is fuffici- ently deficient in refpedt to be fcarcely tole- rable j but when a greater degree of irre- verence is fliewn, every one acquainted with the Scriptures mufl be fenfible, that a heavy fentence is incurred; heavy, indeed, in pro- portion of Parents and Children. 475 portion to the advance made to that exceed- serm. ing degree of guilt on which Mofes was ^^^' commanded to infli6i: the punifhment of death : " he that curfeth his father or his mother fhall furely be put to death." (Exod. xxi. 17.) In which guilt it is manifefl, from His own words, that our Lord deems thofe to participate, who, though they do not acHiuaJly make ufe of words of execra- tion, treat their parents as not entitled to the honour commanded : and ftrong are the terms of horrour in which the wifefl: of men have fpoken of tranfgreilions of this kind. ** The eye (faith Solomon) that mocketh at his father, and defpifeth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley (hall pick it out, and the young eagles fhall eat it." And the fon of Sirach; *' he that forfaketh his father is as a blafphemer, and he that angereth his mother is curfed of God." Still although we do in mod interruptions of that conftant exchange of affection and good offices which ought to be preferved T % between XII. -7^ ^''2 t^^(^ reciprocal Duties SERM. between parents and children, naturally, as it were, from the known ftrength of paren- tal attachment, at iirfl: prefume, that the latter are in fault ; reflection and experience will convince us, that in no fmall number of cafes the former are to blame, as having neglected to bring their children up in that admonition which would have produced the fruits of efteem and regard, befides other cafes in which they have provoked them unto wrath. It is the nurture and admonition of the Lord in which the apoftle requires parents to bring up their children ; and if, in con- fequence of the negle^fl of this precept, the latter do, by their behaviour, embitter the declining years of their parents, thefe do but fuffer the natural penalty of not in- fl:ru6i:ing their children in the fear of their heavenly Father ; without which that of an earthly one will, by no means, prove fuffi- cient to keep them in a confciencious dif- charge of their duty. And well would it be for fuch parents, if this were the worf« con- of Parents and Children, i"]^ confequence of their cruel negled:, and the serm. ruinous efFedis of it did not extend beyond ^^i* the producftion of temporal evils to the final deftru^tion of their fouls. But knowing this, as well as the anxious earneftnefs with which men naturally deiire the happinel's of their offspring, we might well be led at iirft to attribute the total omillion of reli- gious inftrucSlion, or the very little employ- ment of it in the education of children, to an evil heart of unbelief; which confiders the leffons of the Gofpel concerning Heaven and Hell, and the certain roads to each, as mere fables. But although this may be the cafe in inftances where we fee the parents themfelves living without God in the world, as we not feldom do both in the higheft and loweft ranks of fociety, it cannot be fo, where they fincerely hold the Chriftian faith, and endeavour, in all points but that before us, to regulate their condu(5t accordingly. To what, then, is this mifcondu(5l to be afcribed ? In other cafes the greatnefs of an evil is reafonably thought to make any the leaft rifque of it unjuftifiable. But T 3 what ^7^ On the reciprocal Duties SERM. what evil is equal to that of which the ^^"J* danger is here incurred? For *' what is a man profited, if he fliall gain the whole world, and lofe his own foul ? Or what fhall a man give in exchange for his foul ?" Is, then, the advantage of better tuition in the claffical writers of Greece and Rome, is the hope of forming fome noble connec- tion, or even that of obtaining a comfort- able eftablifhment in this life, to be put in the balance againfl: the everlafling deftiny of a child ? and much lefs the indulgence of a parent's prejudice, or the gratification of his vanity : and yet one or more of thefe motives generally, I believe, fways thofe who fend their children to fchools, where it is known they are almofl regularly initi- ated into vice ; and the urging of fuch mo- tive is deemed a fufiicient anfwer to the fuggeftion, that there is imminent danger of their morals being there corrupted. But when this corruption does adlually take place. Can the parent who wilfully expofed his fon to it, juftify himfelf from the charge of being the primary caufe of his offend- ing .^ of Parents and Children. 279 ing ? Among fuch as his felf, perhaps, serm. the flimfy plea of Giiftom, and the hke, or xir. the carelefs man's laft excul'e, ** I never fuppofed it would happen/' may be allowed as fufficient ; but when before the throne of Chrift, inquifition is made for the loft foul, what earthly maxims will avail againft the exprefs leflbns of that Gofpel, by the words of which, He has told us, we (hall be judged? So ineftimably precious is the hope of again meeting our children in a ftate of happinefs never to be feparated from them more, that one would think no parent, to whom it had once occurred, could look without fome degree of horrour upon any thing which was likely to interfere with it ; How much lefs, then, could any fuch but be ftricken with terrour at the leait danger of paflTing the fame endlefs ages in mifery, aggravated by the cutting refled:ion, that his dearefl connections are brought into the fame place of torment, through his own too lightly regarding tiie one thing needful 1 T 4 Yet 28o On the reciprocal Duties SERM. Yet our divine Judge has declared, that XII. «f Whofoever fhall offend one of the httle ones that beheve in Him, it is better for him that a mili-ftone were hanged about his neck, and he were caft into the fea." And what human ingenuity can devife an argument to prove, that they are not guilty of caufing their children to offend, who, after being warned of the dreadful confe- quences, fend them where their innocence will be expofed to the fevereft attacks, and the feeblefc affiftance only be given them for its prefer vat ion ? I am not ignorant that in anfvver to what is thus mofl: juftly faid againft fending chil- dren to thofe feminaries, whofe corruption is little lefs publick than their names, it is replied, that they may learn vice alfo in more private ones. Neither do I mean to difpute this affertion : but it is a parent's duty to entruft his fon in thofe hands only where he has jufl: reafon to think, that this will be mofl: honeflly guarded againll ; and when he has thus far performed his part, fhould of Pare?%ts and Children. i^i ftiOLild any evil happen, he not oiily will serm. fland acquitted to himfelf, but wiii find, ^ii* that if his fon do fall into offence, he will be fenfible that he has finned, and afhamed that he has done fo, whence chance of re- pentance, and hope of amendment; whereas, in the other cafe, the multitude of compa- nions hardens the culprit, and he is taught to make a mock of fin, and even to plead for the harmleffnefs of tranfgrefling fome of the plainefl and moft exprefs precepts of the Gofpel ; and that becaufe a wondprful and horrible thing is done in our land; the profligate principles of the fenfualift are in- troduced into the retreats of education : and thus the growth of vice is encouraged, and the feeds of infidelity fown in eccleliaftical foundations. Neither, I am afraid, is the danger of corruption confined to fchools where boys are fent: there is reafon to think, from their fruits, that many of thofe of the other fex are fo conducted as to be little better than feminaries of vice; and How fhall the parent 282 On the reciprocal Duties SERM. parent be excufed, who ventures the inno- ^^-- cence of his daughter in fuch ? It is to be hoped, indeed, that very few are the inftances of what yet is known to have happened, the felhng of beauty from fuch places j but can he Vv'ho fends his child for the formation of her mind, where the infufion of religious principle is poftponed to the acquirement of perfonal accomplilTiments, not to fay mere- tricious arts, plead, that he has attended to the words of the apoftle, and brought her up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord? I have fo far fpoken only to the very im- portant obligations we lie under to ufe all poflible circumfpedtion in feledting thofe to whom we confide our children for inftruc- tion : of the care to be taken of their nur- ture when at home, I fhall have occafion to fpeak in another difcourfe ; in the prefent, it remains to notice the other caution of the apoftle; *• And ye, fathers, provoke not your children unto wrath :" of which cau- tion the condud of too many parents proves the of Parents and Children. 283 the neceffity, and the confequences of that serm. condu6l the wifdor' For is it not fome- ^^^' times feen, that even the tempers of young children are fpoiled, a'^d . their affections ahenated, by the unreafoiiable rigour, the pailionate corredlions, or the ceafelefsly teazing rebukes of a parent ? being perpe- tually remonftrated with for trifles, they grow inured to reproof,' accuftomed to be harfhly treated, feverity lofes its effed: on them, and as they gradually difcover the little ground there w^as for many of the cenfures they have received, they gain pro- portionate efteem for the wifdom and equity of thofe who inflicted them. And on thofe of maturer age alfo. Do we not fee the cffedls of the unreafonable demands, the furious anger, and the cruel obduracy of parents ? By thefe, children who were fin- cerely inclined to pay every juft attention, are fometimes impelled, as it were, to with- draw it, and keep at a diftance from thofe who cannot diflinguifh between what rna)r be required from infants, and what exped:ed from thofe who have knowledge to guide them- 284 On the reciprocal Duties SERM. themfelves, and bufincfs of their own to xi^- do. By thefe, children who have been once drawn to offend, are thrown into fuch ter- rour, that they dare not even ailc forgive- nefs, but will caft themfelves on the wide world, rather than encounter the indignation of a parent whofe wrath is fo fierce; and by thefe are they abandoned to that world, to pine away on its commiferation, or perifh by its injurioufnefs, through want of the natural refuge of a parent's houfe. Does not, then, in thefe cafes, as well as the former, fin lie at the parent's door, if not for originally caufing his child to offend, yet for (hutting the door of repentance againft her ? For is this the conduct of a fervant of that Mafler who came to feek, and fave that which was loft ? Finally, then, as that degree of indul- gence is deftrudtive, which banifhes difci- pline, and prevents correction where it is really called for, fo it fhould be remem- bered, that the ground of all our duties is love, and that confeqiiently when this ceafes to of Parents a?id Children. 285 to be the motive from which we a6t, we serm. are, in truth, tranfgreffing ; whereas, wxre xir all parties to be fincerely influenced by this principle, the mutual exchange of good offices would call down the bleffing of Him, who maketh men to be of one mind in an houfe j and thus the hearts of the children being turned toward the father, and thofe of the fathers towards the children, there would be neither an ill ufe of kindnefs or inftrudtion on the one fide, nor a neglect of imparting it on the other : and what a dif- ference would then manifeft itfelf between the next generation and the prefent ! For the commandment on which I have been fpeaking being generally obeyed, there not only would come forward into the world a numerous hoft pradlifed in good habits, but the promife attached to the precept would be performed ; and in lieu of fears of being difturbed in the poileffion of our land, we fhould have the moft certain grounds of confidence, that our days would be long- therein, by the abundant goodnefs of Him who has given it unto us. SER- SERMON XIII. ON FAMILY RELIGION. Matt. v. i6. Let your light fo Jhiiie before merty that they may fee your good works ^ and glorify your Father which is in Heaven. A LT HOUGH there be, perhaps, no serm. precept in the Scriptures, which, on ^m- repetition, more generally affe6ls the hearers than this, yet, to our (hame, it mull: be con- fefled, that its influence on the behaviour of the generality of thofe who call themfelves Chriilians is fcarcely perceptible. To en- deavour, by our conducft, to contribute to the glory of our Creatour, fecms no more than a natural effe(5t of gratitude for the being 288 On Family Religion. SERM. being He hath given us, and the faculties XIII. and powers with which His bounty hath endowed us ; but to be commanded by His Son to do this, and be told, that to perform it is a duty efpecially affigned to us, is to be called to the poft of honour, and invefted with a charadler, not like the trifling dif- tindlions of this world, known in one country, and unheard-of in another, but honourable throughout the univerfe, that of fervants and minifters of its almighty Sove- reign. Mark the expreilive terms in which our Lord admonifhes His difciples, that it is theirs to fupport this charad:er, *' Ye are the fait of the earth;** — *' Ye are the light of the world." Then turn to your- felves, and afk. How far ye have attended to this admonition ? How faithfully ye have difcharged the talk thus laid upon you ? If ye have hitherto been deficient in your atten- tion to it, or if, which is poffibly the more common cafe of the two, ye have never conlidered it as at all incumbent on you, to ilrive, by your lives, to adorn the do(5lrine of God our Saviour in all things, advert, before it On Family Religion, 289 it be too late, to the determination pro- serm. noLinced by our divine Judge, " that when x^^^* the fait has loft its favour, there remains nothing with which that can be feafoned, but it is thenceforth fit for nought but to be caft out, and to be trodden under foot :'* and let your delire to avoid fuch a condem- nation induce you to give ferious attention to my difcourfe, while I more amply ftate to you the dod:rine of the text ; endeavour to corred: any miftakes ye may hitherto have entertained concerning it, and ftrive to prevail on you henceforth to pay a conflant regard to the prad:ice of the duties it incul- cates. That unpremeditated praife which the hearts of men fpontaneoully render on dif- covering the peculiar fitnefs of any work of Heaven to its place, will give us the beft general notion of the means by which we may, through our con dud:, caufe men to glorify our heavenly Father. When they fee us properly fill the ftations in which we are placed, make a due ufe of the faculties VOL. II. u and 290 On Family Religion. SERM. and powers with which we are entriiftcd, ^'iii. and iincerely perform the duties arillng from the feveral relations in which we ftand, they will naturally confefs, that the endowments with which we are gifted are well beftowed, and thus do homage to the hand which hath fo conferred them. On the contrary, there is nothing, ye know, more common than to hear men repine when they fee others regled: or mifufe the gifts of Heaven. If a wealthy man be ungenerous, if a man of abilities wafte them in idlenefs, or ufe- lefs purfuits, or any one who has the means of doing fervice to individuals or fociety, mifpend his time or his powers, the cenfure caufcd by the indignation which fuch mif- behaviour excites, is frequently not retrained to the offender, but pafTes on even to glance at that Being, who fuffers His gifts to be ib abufed. What a pity fuch a man fhould have riches ! Men who will not make the proper life of them ought not to be blefh with fuch powers and opportunities ! Thefe, or the like, are the reflexions caft on the providence of our heavenly Father, when thofe Oti Family Religion. 20 1 thofe who partake of His bounty manifeftly serm, negled: or betray the truft repofed in them; xiii. and from the confideration of what a dif- ^-"'"^''^^ ferent behaviour thus produces, we may, perhaps, more accurately difcover what is required of us in the command we have received, to " let our light fo ihine before: men, that they may fee our good works^ and glorify our Father which is in Heaven." In the firft place, it is clear, that the pre- cept of the ity± is not to be retrained to* any particular kind of good Vv^orks, but to be extended to the difcharge of all thofti duties, and the practice of all thofe virtues, of which the negle(51 might defervedly draw on us the cenfure of not making a becoming life of the powers and fituation with which, it hath pleafed our Creatour to honour us : much lefs is it to be expounded according to the notion, perhaps unhappily encouraged in fome by this paffage being placed by our church at the beginning of the offertory, of almfgiving exclulively; fince, in the! f)erformance of this fpecies of good works> u a we igz ' On Family Religion, SERM. we are warned to be fo peculiarly fecret, as XIII. not to let even the left hand know what the right hand doth : while an oftentatious dif- play of any good pra(fl:ice whatever is very far from tending to make men glorify our heavenly Father; fince pride, vain glory, and a love of the praife of men, arc known not to come from above. But there is a manner of life, a mode of converfation, becoming all who have the knowledge of God, and the inftruClions of the Gofpel to direcfl them ; and fince it is incumbent on the creature to glorify the Creator, in proportion to the faculties with which the latter hath been pleafed to endow hJrn, it is the indifpenfable duty of Chrif- tians in particular, to walk according to the light which they have as men who are informed by divine authority, that a day is appointed in which they will be judged before the throne of God Himfelf, by thofe very laws which have been already delivered to them for their direcftion, and whofe ever- lalling (ituation will then be irrcverfibly deter- On Family Religion. 293 determined by the fincerity of the attention serm. they fhall be found to have paid to what xiii. they knew, or, but for their own criminal neghgence, might have known, was the will of their Creatour — as beings who, in addition to the common obligations con- ferred on all creatures by the bleflings of creation and fupport, have received the in- expreifible mercy of redemption through the Son of God, who has been made to them not only a facrifice for fin, but alfo an enfample of a righteous life. Laflly, as beings likewife, who have the promife of the divine afliflance to help their infirmities, and who therefore are deprived even of the excufe of weaknefs in failure of duty, fince that weaknefs might always be remedied by proper application for the guidance and fupport of their heavenly Comforter. Such is the fituation in which the ferious reflediion, that it in wifdom behoves us to make on our own ftate, will convince us we really ftand. And can ye think, that our own bhndnefs, or our wilful ignorance, u 3 can 294 On Family Religion. SERM. can releafe us from the oblip:ations arifinp: XIII. fj-QjY^ jt p \Yjjj ^ nian's not feeing his danger extricate him from it ? Or if approaching a precipice, will {hutting his eyes, without flopping or changing his courfe, fecure him from falling ? Neither, then, will our keeping at a diftance the thoughts of the accompt to which we fliall hereafter be called, prevent our being fummoned to ren^. der it ; nor our putting off the day of re.- flediion defer, for a mon^ent, the day of judgenr^ent, Little as one would fuppofe men would be deficient in eftimating the extent of th? powers, and the importance of the talents cntruffed to their care, they do, in fa(ft, very often fail to conlider how much influ- ence their own conduct has, or might have, on the comfort and the welfare of others. As the rebellion of one city would, in fome meafure, affed: the tranquillity of a whole kingdom, fo will the riotous ftate of one houfe that of a neighbourhood, and the ciifordcrly behaviour of one member of it diflurb On Family Religion^ 295 diflurb that of a family; whence it fol- serm. lows, to preferve univerfal fubordi nation ^^^^' and perfed: peace in a community, each family fliould cultivate the principles of thefe things within itfelf, and in perform- ing this according to their feveral llations, is the firll method by which individuals can glorify their Father which is in Heaven. Having, in my lafl: addrefs, fpoken to feveral points of the reciprocal duties of parents and children, and the compafs of one difcourfe not permitting me to notice all the particulars that ought to be obferved on even in a fuinmary view of thefe, I fliall take the prefent opportunity of mentioning fome that were then omitted ; and fince the mutual offices of mafters and fervants, if conducted, as they ought to be, with real charity, bear a ftrong likenefs to the former, on thefe alfo I ffiall make fuch obfervations as refpedl the giving and accepting religious inftrud;ion, duties which properly fall under the fubjed: before us, referving what relates u 4 tO' 296 On Family Religion. SERM. to Other points of their condud: to be noticed ^i^i- under their proper heads. We read, that it was a recommendation of Abraham .to the patronage of the Al- mighty, that '* God knew he would com- mand his children and his houfehold after him, and they fhoiild keep the way of the Lord, to do juftice and judgement." Now although, through the overflowing bounty of God, this difpofition drew down on the Father of the faithful the blcffing of the eveilalling covenant, that in his feed all the nations of the earth fhould be blelfed ; yet the pra(5tice for which he was fo amply re- warded, was no more than a jftrid: duty, by the neglect of which any man would fail to fulfil his flation, and would omit, in particular, the fervice which the text calls on us to perform, by negledling one of the moft efFedual means of glorifying God on earth. The firfl (hoots of real righteoufnefs among men mufl be fought for in the pri- vate On Family Religion. 297 vate and domeftick virtues j in piety, fo- serm. briety, diligence, and afFedion ; and by the xiii. extenfion of thefe are produced good quali- ^^^''"^^ ties, which are more puWick and fplendidly fakitary ; but without thefe all fhow of the others is mere iimulation. If, then, we are ambitious of becoming inftruments of hap- pinefs on a larger fcale ; if we would be the minifters of God for good, on a more extended fcene j if we wi(h to lead thou- fands to glorify our Father which is in Heaven, we mufl begin with the cultivation of thefe more confined, and lefs obferved virtues. For even thus, too, the kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of muftard feed, which, though fo fmall when fown, pro- duces a plant under which the fowls of the air may rooft. Beyond all eftimate or con- jecture is the good of which we may be the adtual inftruments, by early inftilling the principles of faith, piety, and charity, into the minds of our children, who are natu- rally devout, and having no prejudices arifing from a confcioufnefs of guilt, or the love of vice, will, if they be delivered with ferioufnefs, 2 9^ ^n Fajmly Religion, SERM. ferioiifnefs, mildnefs, and fuch plainnefs of ^m* expreffion, as they can comprehend, readily receive the things pertaining to the king- dom of Heaven ; and by imparting to our fervants thofe lefTons of the fame of which they ftand in need; and by exhibiting to both the prevaiHng argument of our own example for the practice of them. Not only the perfonal efcape from mifery of any one of thefe our immediate pupils, in con- fequence of what they learn from us, and their obtainment of future happinefs, (which is in itfelf infinite) are to be taken into the accompt, but the benefits done to all thofe ovhom they may hereafter teach, or influ- ence to enter on the paths of righteoufnefs ; and even to thofe to whom this fecond, or any fucceeding generation may prove ufeful inftrudiors, whatever glory be derived to God, w^hatever good be done to men by all thefe, our exertions will participate in the producSlion of it : while that lofs of oppor- tunity of thus contributing to an endlefs line of happinefs, which is owing to our own negligence, muft, in the guilt of it, in fome On Family Religion. 2Q0 fome meafure, be proportionate to the good serm. we might have done, had we thus per- xiii. formed our duty. ^^-''V^^ How great criminaHty, then, may juftly be laid to the charge of parents, who fail to prepare their children early for the race of life, by teaching them in what their true intereft confifts, and directing their chief attention to that objed: which alone deferves it, an happy fituation in the world that ihall endure for ever: who, inftead of making them acquainted with the words of eternal life, and accuftoming them to read the holy Scriptures as alone containing them, inftead of fetting them an example of faith in, and devotion to God, by the regular ufe of family prayer, and by calling for His blefling on their food, by folemn thankf- giving at their meals, do, by living them- felves without God in the world, (obferving, I mean, no degree of that humble behaviour and reverend demeanour towards Him, which a juft fenfe of being conflantly under the eye of fo great, fo pure, {q righteous a Beins: 300 On Family Religion. SERM. Being, mufl: naturally produce) teach them XIII. to make" hght of His commandments, to defpife His menaces, and to negled: the rites, and break through all the reflraints of religion. Conlider, too, whether they par- take not in the fame guilt who having as fervants in their houfes the ignorant and uninftrucled, do not ftrive to put them into the right way, either by admonition or example. The difficulties which fome may imagine would attend the difcharge of this duty, would, on a tryal, chiefly vanifh, the moft ignorant father of a family might re- peat the Lord's prayer with his houfehold, both at riling and going to reft : and all who are not too abandoned even to be re- tained in a Chriftian's fervice, would yield to the repeated exhortations, and conftant example of a mafter, to pay a regular at- tendance in the church on the Lord's day, and to do nothing in the other hours of it unfuited to the holinefs cf the feafon. But iince men naturally, as it were, catch the manners of thofe with whom they are moft converfant, and fince fervants confider their maftcrs On Family Religion. 301 mafters as generally better informed than serm. theirfelves, when the mafter (as in too many ^^^^* inftances is vifibly the cafe) feldom or never enters the church to render the worfliip he owes to his Creatour and Redeemer, is it wonderful that the fervant too manifefts a difregard for God and His laws ? Or, when at home, he difcerns no fymptom of piety, but inftead of a religious demeanour, is a witnefs to ccnverfation dire6lly contrary to that prefcribed by the divine commandments, Can we be furprized, that he lays afide all attention to laws, which he fees thofe imme- diately above him fo conftantly negled:, or defpifes reftridlions which they fo daringly break through ? Whereas w^ould men, on the contrary, obey the precept of the text in the particulars I am now urging, and ftrive to be lights to thofe arpund them, to dired: them to glorify God, their children accuftomed, from their infancy, to regularity of life, inllrud:ed in the principles of reli- gion, taught to walk in the fear of God, and to look up to Him for protedion, and introduced in due time to the table of their Saviour, 302 On Family Religion. SERM. Saviour, (a point of ineftimable importance) ^J^"^ would be prepared to fet forth in life as believers in Chrift, and members of His church, and not be eaiily drawn to defert, or difgrace the faith, or to barter their hopes of glory and happinefs in the future flate, for any gratifications offered them in this : and their fervants be freed, partly by what they would be taught at home, partly by what they would learn in the church, from that deep and lamentable ignorance, which is now, in no fmall meafure, the caufe of their Irregularities, their vices, and their ingra- titude. And thus would they juftify before men the goodnefs of God to themfelves, in placing them in lituations where they have power and influence over others, they would caufe Him to be glorified by thofe to whom He would thus have occafion to (hew His farther bounty, becaufe they would not dif- grace the hand that blefl them ; while they, likewife, in their turn, might influence others to walk in the paths of falvation, whence flill more inflruments of His glory would be raifed up, fince He fheweth mercy unto On Family Ketigion. 303 unto thoiifands in them that love Him, and serm. keep His commandment. And we having ^"^* thus caufed Him to be glorified on earth, fhould in Heaven reap the reward of our labours, not only in the fight of that hap- pinefs to which we had led others, but in the declared approbation and ineftimable bleffing of our Father which is in Heaven. From what has been flated, however, of the duties of parents and mailers, it is not to be prefumed, that children and fervants have no part to zSi in caufing men to glorify God. If they receive not with readinefs the inftrudlion offered, either by the word of mouth, or by example, they fail to give others that opportunity of glorifying their father which is in Heaven, that they would yield were they to prove to men, that the means of improvement they have, were given to fuch as were not too bad to make a grateful ufe of them. And even in cafes where their parents or mafters negledt them, it is flill their duty to ufe every other mean that may offer, of gaining neceffary know- 304 On Family Religion, SERM. knowledge, and every care not to leave any xm* thing undone, which they may even fufped: to be their duty, and not to do any thing that they may doubt to be right. For Are we not taught, that while all who know God's will, and do it not, fhall be beaten with many ftripes, even thofe who know it not, fhall be beaten with few ftripes, if they do things worthy of them ? Let the condemnation, then, which thus awaits the lefs guilty, have its juft efFe61: on all parties ; and as we dread fuffering ourfelves under any portion of the divine wrath, either for being the caufe of others fuffering, or for crimes which reft only on ourfelves, let us confider the necellity of • immediately entering on the pradtice in- cluded under the injun(flion of the text: the higher the character in which that places us, the greater will be our difgrace, the heavier our puniftiment, the more Jlcute our mifery, when in another ftate it becomes manifeft what honours we have forfeited, what favours vve have rejected, what hap- pinefs On Family Religion i 3^5 pinefs we have loft j when we find that to serm. that to which we might have contributed ,^^i^i!. by our happinefs, but would not, we are yet forced to contribute by our mifery, fince the Lord hath made all things for Himfelf, even the wicked for the day of evil* The favage who hath exerted himfelf according to his knowledge, and hath, with fimplicity and diligence, employed his time and his powers in the tafl^: his fituation impofed on him, may in that day rife up in judgement againft thofe who have heard the Gofpel, yet negled:ed to lead others by that fobriety, righteoufnefs and godlinefs, which it recommends, to glorify the eternal Father of all. Think, therefore, what it will then be to fee many who enjoyed much lefs knowledge, much fewer means of improvement than ourfelves, come from the eaft, and from the weft, from the north, and from the fouth, and fit down in the kingdom of Heaven, while we ourfelves are caft out. And let the confideration of this prevail on us, while we have time fo VOL, II. X t* ^o6 On Family Religion, SERM. to do, not only to ceafe from works of xi^ij^- darknefs, but to walk as children of light, that caufing men, by our good works, to glorify our Father which is in Heaven, wc may hereafter be admitted into that heavenly city, which ** the glory of God doth lighten, and the Lamb is the light thereof— where His fervants (hall reign for ever and ever ! " SER. SERMON XIV. ON MEEKNESS. St. Matt. v. 5. hkjfcd are the meek : for they fiall inherit the earth. T>EHOLD the appointed heirs of that serm. "^ inheritance, for different portions of,^^ which, oceans of human blood have been fhed ! Behold the end of thofe fcenes of carnage which have been exhibited on the earth ! How have ftatefmen toiled, hov/ Jiave heroes fought, to gain the kingdom of men; how hath military prowefs been en- couraged, how have maxims of policy been ftudied ! yet behold the Moft High, Vv^ho doeth according to His will in the army of Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the X % earth. 308 On Mceknefs. SERM. earth, refer ving the inheritance of it, not •^^^* for the fearlefs, not for the ambitious, not for thofe who grafp at the polTeffion of others, or for thofe who ftand foremoft in the chronicles of the world for the qualities they chiefly celebrate, but for thofe who are pradtifed in a virtue to many unknown, by fome defpifed : * * Bleffed are the meek ; for they fhall inherit the earth." Go to now, ye great men, might we fay ; weep and howl, ye conquerours, for your politics are come to nought, your laurels are faded, your triumphs are vaniflied : God will number your conquefts, and finifli them; ye are weighed in the balances, and found wanting; what ye have laboured after is divided among others, and a generation, whom ye contemned, are preferred before you. ** What then, ye would here, per- haps, 2Sky Are we to receive this declaration literally ? Shall the time ever be feen on this globe when the meek fhall flourifli ? Moft affuredly ; for fo it is written in the Scripture of truth. In that day, when all other kingdoms fliall be fwallowed up by that On Mecknefs. 309 that kingdom of righteoufnefs which the serm. Lord will eftablilih, then *• with righte- xiv. oufnefs (hall He judge the poor, and re- prove with equity for the meek of the earth;** then " will He beautify the meek with falvation, and they fhall delight them- felves in the abundance of peace." But who fhall live when God doeth this wq know not : yet we are certain, that on the new earth which fliall be revealed after all the counfels of its great Creatour are ac* complifhed on the prefent, all thofe whofe meeknefs hath preferved them in the fear and obedience to God, fhall receive an in- heritance which fhall never be taken from them. That our lot may at the end of the days be in this everlafting kingdom, let us inveftigate the nature of the virtue for which fo great and precious a reward is thus pro- mifed j each of us, as we proceed, com- paring his own pafl behaviour with what we (hall, by this mean, difcover, it ought to have been, whence, thofe who have in this point ad:ed right, (hall have rejoicing in themfelves, and thofe who have been X 3 w^ong, 310 On Meehiefs. SEi^M. wrong, may learn to corrc(fl: their errqur, XIV. A meek difpofition hath two characfteriftics, forbearance and concciTion, the exercife of both of which is pecuharly adapted to the nature and flate, and requiiite for the peace of man. By the firil, I mean, an unwil- lingnefs to be provoked at the affronts oy injuries, which proceed from the ignorance, thoughtlelTnefs, errours, or even tjie mahce pf others, and an inchnation to overlook and bury them in oblivion, rather than to refent or take vengeance for them. At the recommendation ot fuch a temper, that evil pride w-hich fo often takes pofTeffion of the human heart, may, indeed, revolt, and the haughty creature, man, proud of his own pothingnefs, would, perhaps, infifl that he muil always ad with becoming fpirit: and here, however, unexpectedly, I would rea- dily join with thofe who have fuch imagi- nations, and acknowledge, that it is with ■ the fpirit which their powers warrant, which their fituation calls for, that I would exhort them to behave, adding only a cau- tion to cftimate their fituation and their powers On Meeknefs. 311 powers rightly; for if this be juftly done, serm. the loftieft countenance will fall, and many xiv. things which before might have gone under the hard name of difgraceful fiibmiffions, be admitted as fitting, and the feemly dic- tates of truth and reafon. Let us, there- fore, firft coniider, how many of thofe things which are conftrued as affronts, and made the caijes of quarrel and lafling dif- fention, may, in reality, at firft, arife from the ignorance of thofe who offend thereby. What we may hold to be matter of im- portance, others may think trifling ; what we may feel ourfelves highly interefled in, others may fuppofe concerns us not : and how different will the nature of their acftions appear if they be conlidered as done under the circumftance of their ignorance, from what it will if they be viewed as performed with the fame degree of information which ourfelves have ! Weigh well, I befeech you, this cafe, and ye will fee the neceflity of forbearance for the prevention of many evils, and the avoidance of much guilt. What proportion, think ye, of the animor X 4 fities, 3^^ On Meekncfs. fities, which, to the difgrace of Chriftians, now fiibiift among them, have arifeii merely from the parties not having, at firll, had temper fairly to enquire into the motives of each other's condud ? Were thefe explained, it might be found, that where a premedi- tated injury is fuppofed, even no danger of damage was forefeen ; or where a ftudied neglect has been prefumed j the concern and interefl of the party offended lay en- tirely unknown. Would men recoiled thefe things, and enter on the examination of the differences in which they are engaged, fug- gefted thereby, many who are now unjuftly eflecmed enemies, and purfued with invec- tive, would appear innocent of what is laid to their charge, and a flop be put to the continuation of both the injury done to them and of their accufer's guilt, in being caufe- \tk\y adverfe unto them. Concern and at^ tention to the eafe and interefts of others being our duty, let its proper fliare of criminality be charged on inadvertency in thefe points; but kt us be careful of confounding ignorance therewith; and let us On Meehrefs, oi> US remember, too, that we ourfelves are serm. by no mean fecure from the offences we are ^iv. ready to condemn. I think I might venture to prefume, that there is fcarcely a man prefent who has not, at one time or other, met with the difagreeable circumftance of having his actions mi {interpreted, or his intentions mifconftrued ; and fhould not our experience of the eafe with which others miftake, or are mifled in thefe refpefts, in all reafon, teach us to miftruft onr own con- fl"ru(5lions of the purpofes and behaviour of others ? And the abfolute faults which we are confcious ourfelves of committing, and the juft caufe of offence, which, through haftinefs and inattention, we fometimes give to others, fhould not the knowledge of thefe induce us to exercife that forbearance of which we ourfelves do often ftand in need ; if we fhew it not. Can we expe(ft that it (hould be Ihewed unto us ? And if neither we nor others fhew it, What will be the end thereof? Were every man to revenge all the real or imaginary wrongs he receives, as the retaliation would fcarcely ever be 4 J^^pt 314 ^^ Meeknefs. SERM. kept within its jull: bounds, vengeance XIV. ■ would beget vengeance, till each heart being {ct on bloody couifcs, mutual flaughter would enfue, and the rude fcene end only in one general deftrudlion. Meeknefs, then, as far as it confifteth in forbearance, well becometh our fituation in fociety, wherein we are conne6i:ed with thofe who, from their various degrees of ignorance, are per- petually liable unwillingly to offend; the meafure too, in which our own weaknefs and criminality caufe us to need it, affords a powerful reafon for our exercife of it ; while a general neglcd: of it, (and if one may juftly discard this virtue, another may) would introduce general confufion, and open the way to carnage and defolation. And if to thefe confiderations, we add, that there is a generation who fleep not, unlefs they have done mifchief, whofe employment is talebearing, whofe delight is by mifrepre- fentation and falfehood, to encreafe diffen- jion, and foment quarrels, the neceility of being flow to anger, backward to refent, if we would avoid caufelefs and ceafelefs ani- mofitieSj On Meeknefs. '^i^ mofities, and the danger of venting our in- serm. dignation on thofe who deferve it not, will xiv. be fufficiently apparent to have, I hope, its ^^'^"^^'^^ due efFed: on your minds. The fegond charaderiftic of thofe whom our Lord hath, in the text, pronounced *' bleffed," is con- ceilion; by which I do not mean the re^ ceding from the pradice of our duty, or the confeflion or fupport of truth, for this may not be done ; no, not for a moment : but the parting with what, of ftrid right, belongs to ourfelves, rather than enter into contention for it, and the compliance with requefts earneftly urged, though it may be irkfome unto us : nor mean I to recommend thefe things unlimitedly, for the unreafon- ablenefs of the bad would then foon defpoil the good of every thing, to fupport them- felves in their vices. But many are the things which are not worth tenacioufly re- taining, their value being not to be com- pared with that of peace and good neigh- bourhood : oftimes may it happen, that the polTeffion of fomething we have, would gfford much greater fatisfadion to another than 3 1 "6 On Meeknefs. SERM. than it can to ourfelves; a retreat, too, is XIV. fometimes the fureft road to vid:ory ; and he who conquers with the leaft bloodfhed will ever be the beft commander. Our Lord's leffon, that we refift not evil, but if a man will fue you at the law for thy coat, let him have thy cloak alfo, plainly infl:ru6ls us patiently to fuffer fome wrongs rather than enter into hoflilities even of a legal kind. Great are the evils which many Chriftians would have avoided, had they obeyed this precept of their divine Mafter ; and there is one in particular which merits attention, that a man feldom comes out of a difpute fo innocent as he went into it ; circum- fiances naturally occur in the courfe of it, which tend to embitter the mind, and give rife to the evil paflions of anger and malice, and thofe incite men to adlions of the vilefl kind. Ought not, then, that objecft to be great, which induces a man to run the rifque of being tempted to the commiffion of great crimes ? Or if Chriftians, through their meeknefs, avoid the guilt of fuch, Can wc think innocence is preferved at too dear On Mceknefs, 31*^ dear a rate ? I doubt not but that mofl of serm. you have been witnefles to contefts pro- ^^^' longed, and animofities carried to a great height, in cafes where a Httle conceflion on either fide would have produced harmony, and ftrongly cemented a friendfhip, which, for want of that, was broken off, perhaps, never to be renewed ; and when men thus bitterly contend for other things, to the deftrudiion of mutual regard and charity, and the forfeiture of all the good that flows therefrom, May we not juflly fay, that they lofe the fubflance by catching at a fliadow ? If, by per fevering in contention, ye gain a victory, the joy thence refulting, far from tending to meliorate your hearts, will be felfifh, and more likely to engender infolence and a narrow pride, than to give rife to any virtue; but if, by concefTion, ye gratify another, the pleafure ye will thence derive will contribute to enlarge your minds, and the principle of meeknefs being thus ftrengthened in your breafts, ye will not only become more ready to yield happi- nefs to others, but be better armed againfl any 31 8 On Meebiefs. SERMi any who may have power to trefpafs on ^^^^)^yoii, fince the ability they pofTefs of hurt- • ing you will be leffencd by all the eafe with which ye can recede from your rights ; and thus were ye even fubje6l to the moft abfolute tyranny, your readinefs at concef- fion would place your happinefs beyond its reach, and the utmoft force of human power would be in vain exerted againft thofe who were thus encompaffed with heavenly ar- mour. And fhould fuch condudl (as it will where the minds of your adverfaries are not very depraved) foften their hearts, and convince them that it is againfl the caufe of virtue they are fighting; ye at once become conquerors, and bringing to their fenfes thofe who have erred, and faving, it may be, a foul from deftrudion, ye gain a glory more brilliant, more lafting, than ye could have reaped from the boldeft and mofl fuccefsful oppofition. Let the heroes of the world glory in the ftrengtli of their arms ; leave them to recount the battles they have fought, the armies they Jiave overthrown, the numbers they have forced On Meeknefs. ^IQ forced to fue for their lives; the muhitude serm. of the unoffending which they have pil- xiv. laged, the numbers of the innocent which they have caufed to be butchered, fliallblaft all their fame, and turn their boafling into confufion. Leave the duellift to tell how oft he hath revenged his honour, and how cautious all are of affronting him ; and that neither the ties of friendfhip, the laws of his country, nor the divine prerogative, ** Vengeance is mine; I will repay, faith the Lord," hath reftrained him from feeking the blood of thofe who have dared to offend him. Let the litigious man report the fuits in which he hath been engaged, the families he hath diftreffed, and all the evils fuffered by thofe he hath delivered to the judge ! Thefe goodly triumphs become not the fol- dier of Chrift; the warfare in which he is engaged requires other means of con- queft; peaceable, forgiving, and compaf- iionate, he feeks not the deftrudtion, but the amendment and recovery of his ene- mies, thereto inftruded by the perfed: example of His bleffed Mafter, Who, though He 3^0 On Meehie/s, SERM. He could have commanded all the armies of XIV. Heaven to affifl: Him, and have cruflied ^^'^^ His perfecutors at a word, on the contrary' pitied them in their guilt, and prayed for their pardon. Gome, then, ** to the Shep- herd and Bifhop of your fouls, Who hath left us an example that ye fhould follow His fteps ; Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again ; when He fuffered, threat- ened not ; but committed Himfelf to Him Who judgeth righteouily. Learn of Him to be meek and lowly in heart, fo fhall ye find reft to your fouls." That thefe quali- ties have a natural tendency to contribute to the happinefs of all with whom thofe who have gained them are conneded, is fuffici- ently manifeft, and that they will affuredly promote that of the perfons in whom they are found, we know, becaufe to fuch is promifed the bleffing of God. . Indeed, the laft of thefe points feems to be but a con- fequence of the other, iince, if the meek be fit inftruments to make each other happy, no wonder that God fhould choofe them as fuch, or that He fhould regard, with a favour- On Meeknefs. 321 favourable eye, thofe who, like Him, de- light in the excrcife of mercy and for- bearance. And though through thefe, the Lord hath hitherto withholden his arm from the deftroying the wicked from the earth, too fmall muft we deem the fliare which the righteous have in His providence, if we do not believe that He will, at lafb, arife, and deliver them from the wdcked, and redeem them from the fury of the op- prelTour; or that judgement will not be efta- blifhed on the earth, and the falvation of God come forth before all nations ; or that though He hath permitted vice and its ad- herents to triumph for a time in this part of His creation. He will not at length vin- dicate His dominion, and take unto Him- felf His great power, and reign. What happincfs the meek will experience when their almighty Protedour and Patron Ihall thus vifibly interpofe, to give them an ever- lafting inheritance, where they fhall no more be expofed to fevcre tryals of their virtues, bat employed only in the grateful exercife of them, where the righteoufnefs after VOL. II. Y which pt On Meeknefs. SERM. which they hungred and thirfted (hall "^^^' floiirilli, and where the peace in which they dehght fhall abound, where all they meet fliall be as benevolently inclined to them as they to all they meet, and where endlefs ages fhall proceed in the mutual exchange of that which fhall never fail, charity, and the all-glorious prefence of God fhall ever give fulnefs of joy, far exceeds all defcrip- tion, and can be but in a very fmall portion of it conceived, that ineffable tranquillity which is derived from the fincere pradtice of this virtue, may to the meek themfelves afford fome foretafte of what is referved for them, but far removed mufl any portion of it be from the conception of others ; flill ye have but to become meek, and then ye Ihall not partly only, but altogether receive thefe bleffmgs : for the Lord will teach you His ways ; He will increafe your joy, and beautify you with falvation; and ye fhall be called the bleffed of the Lord ! SER- SERMON XV. ON THE DUTY OF MERCY. St. Matt. v. 7. Bkjfed are the inerciful ', for they Jhall obtain mercy. 'TPHE evil fervice into whfch the doc- serm, trine, that charity will cover a multi- ^^' tude of fins, hath been preft, to the creation of hopes, that a crowd of vices againft which the wrath of God is denounced throughout the Gofpel, (hall efcape the punilhment due unto them, becaufe they are found in company with one virtue, ren- ders it necefTary to caution Chriftians againft permitting the promife of the text, that *' the merciful fhall obtain mercy," to en- courage them to negled the other parts of Y 2 their 324 On the Duty of Mercy. SERM. their duty, under the conceit that the per- '^^' formance of this will atone for the omiflion of the refl, and to remind them of thofe other words of our Lord — '* Whenyefhall have done all thofe things which are com- manded you, fay. We are unprofitable fer- vants ; we have done that which was our duty to do." God knows that the moft vigilant and careful of us fland in need of pardon for offences enow, and have little caufe to add to the number of our fins, that, there may be matter for Him to exercife that mercy on, which we have fhewn to others. Coniider but the numerous offences into which the befc men fall, accompanied only with the aggravations which, in truth, attend them, and ye will fee that if thefe alone be remitted, great will be the mercy obtained j and if they be retained, as on every one who is not his felf merciful they lliall, their weight will be fufficient fo keep the foul loaded with them from ever rilinp- out of the depths of mifery. But On the Duty of Mercy, yic^ But while we thus endeavour to prevent serm. an ill ufe heing made ot the pafTagc before -^^* us, by its receiving an interpretation more fuited to the defires of men than to the truth and purity of religion, we muft ftrive rightly to divide the word of truth, and not weaken that encouragement to penitents which it contains, or obfcure the inftrudiion which, in common with other pafTages of Holy Scripture, it gives to thofe who, re- penting of their crimes, wifh to obtain the divine forgivenefs, to go and fhow^ compaf- fion tow-ard their fellow-fervants : for that this (hall have o:reat effed: in forward ins: their own pardon, our bleifed Saviour hath alfo intruded us by laying, for '' If ye forgive men their trefpaffcs, your heavenly Father will alfo forgive you,'* Since, then, our being merciful is made the condition of our receiving mercy, and on that receipt only our hopes are founded, let us confidcr in what the exercife of this virtue confifts, and what pradice may entitle a man to the denomination of merciful. Y3 The 2^2,6 On the Duty of Mercy. SERM. The fubjecfl of mercy is diftrefs, and the ^^* end of it either to prevent or to relieve the fufFerings of others : hence the modes in which it may be exerted are as various as the methods in which rehef may be admi- niftered j and by forgivenefs, by inter cef- fion, by affifcance, may we prove ourfelves merciful ; the frequent opportunities of doing which may, and will, if they be all nesiledted, render us inexcufable : the rich and the powerful are thofe to whom dif- courfes on the amiablenefs and excellence of this quality are mofl commonly addrelTed ; but though when dwelling in the breafts of fuch it becomes the fource of more exten- iive good, it is not without its beneficial effed:s in the poorefl: and the weakeft ; and the praife of it is not derived from the greatnefs of the means which men have to manifell it, but from the fincerity of their inclination to make ufe of whatever means they have. It is not from fuddcn fits of good-nature, occafioned by the impreflion which particular circumfbances may make on a man's mind ; it is not from one or two detached On the Duty of Mercy. 327 detached ad:s of generoiity, that a man can serm. iuftly be called merciful, but from a con- ^^' ftant temper and difpolition of heart, to alleviate the evils under which he fees others labouring : it is in the practice of this at- tribute of God that we are peculiarly admo- niflied to look to the divine pattern, which is in the courfe of His providence fet be- fore us, and in whatever way the exercife of it be required, we may therein behold the plaineft, the moft perfuafive, and in- citing lelTons for our condud:. Has any one, by trefpalTlng agalnft you> incurred your refentment, and is it in your power to make him feel the weight of your indignation, withhold your uplifted arm, and ere you reject his petition for forgivenefs, refleol how readily God receives the {inner*s fupplication for pardon ; and if His ven- geance were not thereby ftayed, What muft be your own fate! But the injuries you have received are, perhaps, aggravated by peculiar circumftances ; they were utterly unprovoked, and you have been a friend to Y 4 the 323 On the Duty of Mercy. SERM. the man who offered them; thefe are points ^^^ which certainly encreafe his guilt, and you may juftly complain of the ingratitude you experience : but recoiled:, at the fame time, what you have ever received from Heaven but benefits, and whether the obligations conferred on you liave produced that grate- ful return of love, obedience, and affiance, which they ought to have fecured : go to your own heart; Alk that whether you have not added fin to fin; whether the judgements which you have at tim.es dreaded being averted, has had its due effed: on you, or whether being releafed from the terrour of an evil menaced for your correftion, and withholden on your contrition, you have not renewed your offences, and augmented both the number ^nd the greatnefs of your provocations ? Effimate the difproportion theje is between the guilt contracted by finning againff: God, and that of fuming againft man ; and as you would avoid the being called to account for a debt of ten thoufand talents, forbear to rigoroufly exad: one of an hundred pence. Let the picas which On the Duty of Mercy. 329 which you urge in your own favour, when serm. applying to Heaven for pardon, not be ^'^* overlooked when others alk you for forgive- nefs, the ignorance, the wcaknefs you have pleaded, belong alfo to them; neither fhould the patience for which you have petitioned for yourfelf, be denied to them. Ever rcftrain yourfelf from executing the firft dictates of refentment. Was the divine wrath to burft forth on every offence which merits it, all flefh would foon fail before it. Look to the long-fuffering, and the goodnefs of God : obferve how He bears with the rebellious, and how foon ihov/s His mercy on thofe who turn unto Him ; and learn of His apoftle to be angry and fin not, to let not the fun go down on your wrath ! Among thofe particulars in wliich the Lord did, by the prophet Ifaiah, exhort his people of Ifracl to ceafe to do evil, and learn to do well, is that of pleading for the widow: whereby is fuggefted to us the duty of exercifing another branch of mercy, tliat of 330 On the Duty of Mercy. SERM. of interceflionj by the ufe of which wc XV. enlarge our fphere of doing good, and, ia another point, imitate the divine example fet before us. It is by no mean an uncom- mon cafe for the cries of the diflreft not to reach the ears of thofe who have the power of affording them relief; the appear- ance of poverty and wretchednefs is per- mitted to preclude all accefs to the prefence of the rich and the great ; and the petitions of thofe who labour under them muft gene- rally go through the hands of mercenaries, who are little inclined to the caufes of fuch as are not able to reward them. Nor is this evil confined to applications made to perfons in the higher ranks of fociety : there are who for that employment which furnifhes them with their daily bread, or for portions of a benevolence which preferves them froni mifery, or for other comforts of which it is hard to be deprived, depend on men not many degrees above them, but who are un- defervedly neglefted, have their wants over- looked, and are left to pine away in penury, becaufe none will intercede for them. A mif- On the Duty of Mercy. 331 mifreprefentation, perhaps, of their beha- serm. viour, given by an interefted perfon, has ^^* eflranged one, who was formerly their pa- tron, from them ; or their own unadvifed conduct may have caufed what was the t^tci of ignorance or folly, to be efteemed the fruit of infolence or dilhonefty. Now in every fuch inftance, will not the dictate of mercy be, take up the caufe of the friendlefs, and plead for him that hath no helper; bring the cafe of the afflicfted to thofe who can deliver them, and put a ftop to the oppreffions of the petty tyrant. If you want incitement to obey this di(ftate, look to the bright pattern given you in the cafe of all mankind, when the fin of man had feparated between his God and Him, and He lay under the power of fatan ; when there was no one to help, none to uphold, the Son of God became our intercelTour ; and by His all-prevailing mediation, gained us pardon and reconciliation with His Fa- ther. Here was pity fliewn even to offen- ders ; here was intercefTion made for thofe who were yet finners, by One too who is infinitely ^S'^' On the Duty of Mercy. SERM. infinitely above them. Follow, then, only ^^- at an immenfe diflance, the example herein given you ; copy, in the fainteft traces, the mercy thus exhibited ; and by interpofing, where your interpofition can fuccour, ftrive to fecure to yourfelf the protection of that arm, which alone is able to bring perfed: falvation. The third grand particular in which mercy manifefts itfelf, is that of yielding affiflance to thofe who need iXi whether fupplying their neceflities by alms, or re- lieving their wants by any other mode. To one who fpeaks on this point, the diredion given by our Saviour to His apoftles in ano- ther matter, may well ferve as a topic; ** Freely ye have received," faid our blelTed Lord, *' freely give !** If we rightly con- ceived of our fituation, we fliould efteem ourfelves, in all we poffefs, as the ftewards of Heaven, to whom various goods have been entrufted, various powers delegated, that by dealing out the former, and exerting the latter, in favour of fuch as ftand in need On the Duty of Mercy. 23Z need of either, we may fupply the indi- serm. gence of the one, and remedy the weaknefs xv. of the other. And how can we fo certainly fecure to ourfelves a conflant and plentiful fupply of each, as by employing them in a manner which thus tends to the glory of the Giver, and to the happinefs of His creatures. It is then that any being appears in the moft glorious light, in the moft eli- gible ftation, when he is employed as the willing and honoured inftrument of the bounty and mercies of Him who is the Head of all beings. As the vefTels in which men prepare poifons (though the poifons theirfelves, perhaps, are, in the end, in- tended for a medicinal purpofe) are, when the difguftful procefs is perfedt, deilroyed ; fo is it with thofe vefTels of wrath whom God ufeth for the accomplifhment of His judgements, and whom having endured with much long-fuffering, He at length con- fi^neth to deftruftion : but as we deal with thofe inftruments by which we obtain what is wholefome and precious, preferving them with care, ftriving to make them ever more compleat 334 Oti the Duty of Mercy. SERM. compleat for our purpofe; fo with thofe ^^' men who being defirous of becoming in the hands of their Creatour, vefTels unto honour, prepare themfelves unto every good work the divine goodnefs itfelf co-operates ; fup- plyeth funds for their beneficence, and pro- motes their progreflion to glory. Thofe who, with a niggardly hand, deal out their alms, and when they give, do it grudg- ingly, and as of neceflity, who when part- ing with a trifle, are anxioufly thinking how they (hall replace it, fearful left their charity fliould bring them to diftrefs, are equally deficient in generofity towards men, and in truth and gratitude towards God : they may be a provident, they may be a careful, but they are neither a merciful nor a faithful generation. But it is not always by beftowing on them part of our poiTellions that we can aflift others, health and ftrength afford means of alleviating the evils under which the iick and the infirm labour : by condolence and converfation may thofe who are oppreffed with On the Duty of Mercy. 33^ with forrow be comforted, the dilheartened serm. may be encouraged, and, by numberlefs xv. offices of friendfliip, may various diftrefles with which hfe abounds, have their poig_ nancy abated. Neither is there any of thefe good works in which the poor cannot bear a part, they are hable to injuries, and have often occafions of quarrel; opportunities, then, of exercifing forgivenefs, they cannot want ; there are others level with them to whom their mediation may be of ufe, in which cafe their readinefs at interceffion may be manifefted; and as long as health and ftrength remain even from the duty of almfgiving, they are not exempt ; fince the the apoftle teaches them to labour with their hands at the things which are good, that they may have to give to him that needeth ; and for all the other modes in which mercy may be exerted, their families, their rela- tions, their connexions, will fuppiy con- tinual calls on them therein to pradlice this virtue: fo extenfive is the ground of claim to it, fo ample is the field in which it may be exercifed, that occafions on which it may be 336 On the Duty of Mercy. be fhewn will feldom fail to prefent them- felves ; for objedis of diftrefs are fcarcely ever wanting ; and as the merely being fuch conllitittes the plea for mercy, other accidental circumftances of their being of our country, our own fe6l, or even of their being clear of all offence towards us, cannot be requiiite to entitle them to it. The Gofpel does not teach us to confider, ere we affifl: one in afflidlion, whether he be our neighbour or not j but commands us to go, and prove ourfelves neighbours to all that are fo. The condudl. of the Samaritans was prefumptuoully contradictory to the law, in- deed, given from Heaven \ they worfliipped they knew not what, and falvation was of the Jews ; but the former were not, there- fore, to be denied the common offices of humanity ; nor would any one of the latter have been to be juftified, had. they, when feeins: even a Samaritan w^ounded, and half dead, pall: by on the other fide. Far, far from the fpirit of chriftianity, is that wretched narrownefs of heart, which clofes the ears of fome againft the cries of all who are On the Duty of Mercy. 337 arc not connected with them, and which serm. changes what ought to be one of the moft '^'^' powerful motives to companion, the cir- cumflance of being a ftranger, into ground of difreeard. The creation is the unbounded theatre on which the divine goodnefs is dif- played, the juft and unjuft tafte of it : the fun fhineth, the rain droppeth from Heaven on both ; ** Be ye merciful, therefore, as your Father which is in Heaven is merci- ful !'* If ye do good to thofe only who do good to you, wherein do ye excel even thofe who are proverbially bad? But " love your enemies, blefs them that curfe you, do good to them that hate you, that ye may be the children of the Highefl : for He is kind both to the unthankful and to the evil." ** Are not," faid our blefled Saviour, *' five fparrows fold for two farthings ? and not one of them is forgotten before God." His benevolence extendeth to all : Where, then, fhould our mercy ftop ? There are who feem to think, that the brute creation ace entitled to none, and that being given into the hand of man, they cannot be treated tco VOL. II. z ' harfhly : ;38 On the Duty of Mercy. harflily: but let the fullen pride of man re- colled:, that the meanell: of the brutes, nay, the lowefl of the inanimate creation, fland in the relation of fellow-creatures unto him j and though he be, by their common Crea- tour, placed in an higher rank, be endowed with greater powers, and hath a larger extent of dominion given unto him, let him not think the unneceffary fufferings he inflicts on thofe over which he hath authority, are forgotten before God It is written, ** A righteous man regardeth the life of his beafl: : but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel.'* A palTage that would almoft induce one to think, that the inhabitants of Judah were, in the days of Solomon, firfl as barbarous in ill ufing animals, and then as ingenious in tormenting them under pre- tence of medicinal applications, as they are now in our own country. The extreme in- humanity here commonly fhown, in over- working, beating, and ftarving creatures, the moft ufeful and moft faithful to us, is a difgrace not only to our profeffion as Chrif- -tians, but to our fpecies as men; and as the On the Duty of Mercy. 339 the abfoiute power we polTefs over the in- SERm. feriour animals, does more nearly than any ^J^^li other we have, refemble that which God hath over us, if in the ufe of it we neglecft to be merciful, How fhall we who offend fo much more heinoufly than we can be offended, hope to obtain mercy ? Or if we protradt our own cruelty, by bringing up our children in the practice of the like, permitting them to torment domeftick ani- mals and infecSts for their amufement, and cxercife their ingenuity in eradicating from their bofoms that tendemefs of heart, with- out which they will become an hateful generation, that pleafe not God, and are contrary to men. How can we look up to the common Father of all for forbearance, where we have merited punifhment } Let, then, the fentence of the text be fixed in your minds j reftrain not the mercy enjoined in it within the narrow limits which ani- mofity, felfifhnefs, prejudice, or ignorancej w^ould prefcribe : the command given you is explicit, the example which ye are z % bidden 3^0 On the Duty of Mercy. SERM, bidden to follow, fufficiently vifible; yc XV. have only then to remember, that the former '^^""'''^^ cannot be difobeyed, nor the latter over- looked, but at your own peril. SER- SERMON XVI. ON ANGER AND ITS EFFECTS, Ephes. IV. 26, 27. Be ye angry ^ and Jtft not: let not the fun go down on your wrath : neither give place to the devil. /^NE confequence of the ancient world serm. ^•^^ being left fo long to its own teachers, ^^^* was, that human wifdom had fufficient time to try how far it could advance by its own ilrength in defining the duties of men, and by that mean afcertaining the road to per- fed:ion and happinefs. What the event of this trial was, the multitude of fe(5ls which arofe, each charging the others with having miflaken the way, and the remarkable cir- z 3 cumftancG XVI. 342 On Anger and its Effe6ls, SERM. cumftance that after all, many found every- one fo defedtive, that they endeavoured to form a new fy ftem, by fekdling fomething from each, completely manifefl. The preaching of the Gofpel yielded a remedy for all thefe deficiencies ; and the lefTons of that ftand clear of the charges of either leaving men in doubt as to the confequences of their condu6t, of giving them licence to indulge their paffions, or of requiring a total and unattainable freedom from the affections incident to our nature : but rightly dividing the word of truth, command us, as in the text, fo to govern our feelings, that they may not tranfport us beyond the bounds of reafon and of juflice; *' Be ye angry, and fin not.** Our blefled Lord hath apprized us, that the perfe(5l work of this paflion is the fub- jed: of the fixth commandment; and that when anger hath conceived, it bringeth forth hatred, and that when hatred is com- plete, it bringeth forth murder : and, in- deed^ this tendency of it may be deduced from On Anger and its EffeEls. 343 from the words of thofe who are under the serm. dominion of it, whom we often hear making ^^i. declarations hke thefe, concerning the objec'l of their refentment, *' I could kill him! I wifli he wxre dead ! *' or uttering curfes whofe effedts would extend even beyond the grave. To preferve us from becoming flaves to a paflion fo pernicious in its progrefs, and which holds a dominion fo uncontroulable over thofe who once fubmit to its power, let us now confider the particulars in which it manifeils itfelf, and their effecHis ; that we may both be aware of the fleps by which it acquires its power, and earneft to prevent confequences fo replete with mifchief and difgrace. That involuntary indignation which we feel at an unworthy action, as long as it exceeds not its province of keeping us alive to a fenfe of injury, and making us eager to take the part of the opprelTed, is the offspring of natural juftice, the dignified z 4 prefcnt- 344 O^ Anger and its Effe5ls. SERM. prcfentment of the claims of equity and ^^^' truth : but when, inftead of being confined to fair expoftulation, and cahn endeavours to execute judgement, it burfts forth into the bitternefs of inved:ive, or the violence of affault, it places us at once in the fituation of offenders ; and v/e become expofed to the cenfures of unrighteoufnefs we would have paiTed on others. The ancient fage who would not chaftife his fervant becaufe he felt himfelf under the impulfe of pa{Iion, did not confult only the fafety of his flave, but confidered his own character, and the future feelings of his own mind. Would fome Chriftians do the fame, they would not difgrace themfelves, nor tranfgrefs the precepts of their divine Mafter, by per- mitting circumflances of even trifling mo- ment to deprive them of all patience^ and inflame their anger to fuch a degree, that one unaGCufl:omed to witnefs fuch gufls of pafljon, would imagine, they had received fome irreparable and inefliimable injury; when the whole harm done exceeds not that of On Anger and its EffeBs. 345 of a book miflaid, a difli ill drefl, or a serm. broken glafs. xvi. Now the mifchievous confeqiiences of fuch abfurdities are not confined to the con- tempt raifed in the breafts of thofe in whofe fight they are committed, and who, how- ever uninftrudled they may be, can yet dif- cern the unreafonablenefs of fuch condu6t, nor to the diflike excited by the harfh re- bukes and violent treatment they fuffer by it : but they extend to loading with guilt the perfons who allow themfelves to become thus the flaves of pafTion. For fhall thofe who are charged not even to return railing for railing be guiltlefs, when, with little or no provocation, they pour forth the mofl unjufl inve6lives on thofe who have, per- haps, unwittingly offended them ? or thofe who are commanded to blefs even their enemies, remain innocent, when they heap curfes on thofe who are entitled to their protection, or have the beft-founded claim to their love ? A man under the impulfe pf paffion can, where a fault has been com- mitted , 34^ ^^ Anger and its Effects, SERM. mitted, hardly reftrain his cenfure within XVI. |.j^g bounds of iuft retribution; but the mul- titude of injuries which are committed by going beyond this, are not to be numbered, and hardly to be conceived ; men are falfely accufed, unjuftly punifhed ; dumb animals are beaten, and Heaven itfelf infulted ; and thefe things are perpetrated without the fury of the guilty raging beyond their own houfes ; when only, as the wife man ex- prelTes it, they are as lions among their fervants. In cafes where the indulgence of anger is not thus retrained, (and it generally, perhaps, is fo from craft more than from virtue) its further courfe feems to be deter- mined by the degree of animal courage with which thofe fubjedt to it are endowed. In men of bold fpirit, it dilturbs fociety by violent quarrels and furious difputesj by diflentions which, among the lower ranks, often end in blows and bloody flrife ; and among thofe who think themfelves men of better breeding, "in the impious and mur- derous On Anger and its Effe^is, 347 derous ad of duelling. Of the inconliflency serm. of this nefarious pradice, (permitted by xvi. the fovereigns of Europe to the bringing down on themfelves and their kingdoms the divine judgements for blood guiltinefs) of its inconfiilency, I fay, with the Gofpel precepts of meeknefs, I have before taken notice of; here it demands it more efpecially as a dired: breach of the precept of the text, *' Let not the fun go down on your wrath.'* For what can be more contrary to this than for a man to fofter in his breaft the intention of meeting his brother in mortal combat ? coolly to put in order the inftruments of deftrucftion, and feek out another to be fpedator of his murtherous attempt ? Endeavours I know have been made to excufe, if not to juftify, this moft un- chriflian practice ; and the words of the Gofpel have been wiredrawn to make them fpeak a language lefs repugnant to it than they really do. But what if it do keep fome infolent fpirits in order. Is the pro- du(5lion 348 On Anger and its Effecls. SERM. dudton of this benefit, (though the prac-t ^^^' tice were unaccompanied bv any evil to counteract this partial good) an objed: to be fought at the expence of the divine favour ? Or, Are the comforts of unanimity and peace to be obtained by any other mean io certainly, as by the bleffing of that God who can order the unruly wills and affec^ tions of finful m^n ? On the other hand» How many inoffenfive and confcientious men have, through the permiflion of thefe attempts at murther, been infulted by wretches, who finding themfelves pofTelTed of mechanical courage enough to appear in the field of combat, and void of all fear of God to retrain them, have taken advantage of thefe things to affront and perfecute the peaceable ? How much human blood has been fpilled, how many cut off in the prime of their lives, who might othcrwife have lived to be of effential fervice to their coun- try, how many widows and orphans been made by it ? And are thefe no evils ? or are they fuch as will not counterbalance the l>enefit which is rather imagined than proved to On Anger and its Effcth. -^49 to flow from the unwarrantable countenance serm. given to this fanguinary practice ? xvi. Imagined, I fay, for how did focietv fubfift in all the ancient world without it ? How does it in three- fourths of the modern ? and particularly in the moft populous em- pire on earth, confifting of the moft cere- monious people, who by no mean find it necelTary to fupport their ceremonial, ftrid: as it is, by the point of the fword, and the adoption of this offspring of barbaroutj fuperftition ? Or does the example of that people among whom it is molf prevalent, plead for its being retained ? How far arc their manners foftencd particularly by this? Are they lefs fuddcn or quick in quarrel than others, or more cautious of giving offence ? Hath not, on the contrary, cuftom fo hardened their hearts, that they fcek a brother's blood with lefs remorfe than they would put a favourite dog to death; and proceed to attempt his murther with the fame gaiety of heart with which they wouid go to a place of amufement ? In this cafe fads 350 On Anger and its EffeBs, SERM. fadls theirfelves fliew the futility of the ^^y^ plea, and demonftrate that the permifTion of appeals to the fvvord is not an adequate re- medy for the impertinence of the thought- lefs, or the rudenefs of the infolent. And for the attempts made to reconcile the precepts of the meek and holy Jefus to fuch a practice; this is fo unpromifing a tafk, that fcarcely any man would venture to purfue it, were he not encouraged in it by the comments of men, who in their at- tempts to explain, do, in fad:, modify the precepts of our Lord -, and of whom, (com- mentators I mean in general) though fome do, for their learned and pious labours, merit the fincereft thanks of the church, of others of them the fame may be juftly faid which a celebrated Roman writer has alTerted of the philofophers j that there is nothing fo abfurd but fome or other of them have maintained. The words of our blelTed Saviour are beft interpreted by his apoflles, to whom He gave the Holy Spirit, not only to bring to their remembrance whatfoever He On Anger and its EffeBs. 351 He had faid unto them, but to lead them serm. into the true meaning of it. How then are ^^^' His precepts of forbearance and forgivenefs explained by them ? Are they limited by the ciiftoms of the world ? or retrained by the fear of encouraging aggreffion ? So far from it, that His example is urged in eluci- dation of His words : and we are told by St. Peter, that " Even hereunto were we called — that we Ihould follow His fleps : Who, when He was reviled, reviled not again : when He fuffered, He threatened not : but committed Himfclf to Him Who judgeth righteoully." Go now, ye who think that nothing but the blood of t'ne offender can wafh out the difgrace of re- ceiving a coarfe contradidion, and reconcile your maxims with the example of your divine Mafter, who endured fuch contra- dicflion of finners againft Himfelf ! Recon- cile them, if ye can, with this leffon of His apoftle ; ** Put on, therefore, as the cledl of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindnefs, humblencfs of mind, meeknefs, long fuffering, forbearing one another, s 35* On Anger and its Effects, SERM. another, and forgiving one another, if any XVI. man have a quarrel againft any : even as ^^""^"^"^^ Chrift forgave you, fo alfo do ye.** Make your demand of vengeance confiflent with the following admonition of the fame in- spired teacher: ** Dearly beloved, avenge not yourfelves, but rather give place unto wrath : for it is written. Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, faith the Lord.*' Make it confiflent with the blefTed Jefus* words to Peter, when he appealed to the fword in defence of his Mafter, and even through a miftake of His directions, ** Put up again thy fword into its place : for all they that take the fword fliall perifh with the fword." And recoiled:, that after all your efforts to evade the commandments of your Saviour, and hide from yourfelves the difference, which, in truth, exifts between His direc- tions and your condu6t, the caufe mufl be again argued before the throne of Him whofe prerogative ye have invaded, and the validity of your worldly pleas be deter- mined by the perfecfl wifdom, and juflice of Him, from whofe fentence there can be no appeal I But On Anger and its Effects . 2>iZ Bat while the cxcefs of anger does, in serm. men of bold fpirit, thus lead to open vio- ^^i. knee and daring murthers, it operates in a no lefs pernicious way in thofe who, not having courage to take an immediate re- venge on any who have incurred their re- fentment, watch, with malicious craft and opportunity, to gratify their defire of ven- geance. The dilTembled hatred of thefe characters is more cruel, becaufe more deli- berate than the fierce animofity of the others * and their obduracy againfl all the interme- diate circumftances which arifc to awaken their remorfe, is a fad fymptom of hearts in great meafure defer ted by the divine Spirit of grace. The flighted effecfts of vjxdith. which has taken this courfe, appear in fpiteful tricks and unlooked-for evil turns ; when the enraged party often boafts of his malicious memory, and tells his ad- verfary, " I fancy you thought I had forgot your behaviour to me, but you fee now I can remember 1" But ftill more hateful are its fruits, when the vengeance is diredtcd againft the peace or the property of men ; VOL. II. A a when 354 ^^' Anger and its EffeBs, when endeavours are privately made to alafm their fears, and fchemes purfued to injure their reputation : when, through the malice of an enraged fervant, a valuable piece of furniture is deftroyed, or an ufeful animal fpoiled. This avenging on poor brutes the imaginary or real injuries received from their owners, is a prad:ice particularly dia- bolical, and carried to a moil deftrudive height in that neighbouring ifland, where, under the nurture of papal fuperftition, al- moft every enormity attains to its fullell growth. Among ourfelves it but too often makes its appearance together with other modes of fatiating: a rancorous thirfl: for low revenge ; all of which are fo truely the works of the devil, as to leave but little hope, that thofe who are guilty of them, will not be carried captive by him at his will ; and confidered as the fruits of anger, they leave us no longer at a lofs for the reafon of our Lord's uttering menaces fo fevere againfl various degrees of a paffion, of which the progrefs is marked with crimes fo heinous. In On Anger and its UffeBs^ 35^' in the text itfelf, indeed, the permitting serai. ourfelves to be any time under the influence xvi. of anger, is confidered as affording occafion to x\\ti great adverfary of our falvation, ** Let not the fun go down on your wrath : neither give place to the deviL" And the depth of guilt into which fome are plunged^ the atrocities which w^re at firll not only unintended, but even not apprehended by themfelves, into which they are at length precipitated, while under the influence of this paflion, indicate flrongly the impulfe of him who was a murtherer from the be- ginning. The criminality of murther it- felf, may, indeed, be heightened by circum- ftances either of cruelty or treachery, yet being the lafl: adt of hatred of which its objedt is fenfible, and that which puts it for ever out of the power of the perpetrator to render due recompence to the perfon he has injured, it forms the full clofe to the progrefs of anger, the dreadful end toward which every one is advancing while he fol- lows the didates of. his wrath. A a 2 But 55 6 On Anger and its EffeBs. But this fubjed: is not to be difmiffed without noticing another fpecies of murther, which, although frequently the effed of the madnefs of fear, is fometimes produced by the furioufnefs of anger ; when a man fuf- fering his mind to become irritated by ad- verfe circumftances, lays violent hands on himfelf. This unnatural deed is plainly forbidden by the general law, ** Thou fhalt do no murther : " flill the contradid:ious perverfenefs of men of reprobate minds has difcovered pleas by which others of fhallow thought, and little information, are at times almoft perfuaded, that in fome cafes it might be juftified. To give a fhort but decifive anfwer to all thefe, let it be remembered, that thofe wife men of antiquity who ad- mitted, that there might be circumftances under which it was right, ftill limited them to a fituation tliat was defperate, acknow- ledging that that man was guilty of a cow- ardly defertion of the poll afTimed him by Heaven, who deprived himfelf of life be- fore his fituation in it w^as become hopelefs. Now the light of the Gofpel has fliewn us, that On Anger and its EffeBs. 357 that this is a fituation, which to thofe from serm. whom the divine protediion is not finally ^^^* withdrawn, can never happen j for with whatever difficulties we are furrounded, however hard it may be to make us a way to efcape, is any thing too hard for God ? What fliall make His ear heavy, that it can- not hear? Or, when will His hand be (hortened, that it cannot fave ? But until one of thefe things do come to pafs, even by the confeffion of the ablell patrons of fuicide, thofe guilty of it are countera(fting the difpenfations of their Creatour, and trampling under foot His appointment. And are not thefe hopeful recommendations to the mercy of Him before whofe throne they are going to appear ? Or even if a man, from the confcioufnefs of enormous guilt, conceive, that he has thrown himfelf entirely out of the divine mercy, is it not better to flay on earth, where the fulnefs of God's wrath is not poured forth, than to plunge himfelf into the bottomlefs pit ^t pnce ? Is it not better to try the poffibility pf humble refignation prevailing to the di^ A a 3 ^pinutiQn 358 Oh Anger and its Efftclu SERM. minution of the divine refentment, than to XVI. deprive himfelf of all opportunity of laying hold on mercy that might be proffered ? Thefe are qiieflions which a child might anfwer, and, by his determination, decide on the futility of every thing urged in de- fence of this laft effort of the imbecility of human paffion, and prove, that unlefs where infanity had diftuilbed the underflanding, the wilful commiflion of this daringly im- pious a6t, could be perpetrated only by thofe in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not. Having thus traced the growth of anger through its two chief branches, and fhewn that the fir ft indulgences of this paffion contain the feeds of the moft dreadful effed:s, foon producing hatred, and ** who- foever hateth his brother is a murtherer," your own thoughts muff have anticipated the exhortation with which this difcourfe fhould be clofed, by reprefenting to you how I much On Anger'aiid its EffeHs. 359 much it behoves us to reftrain the flrft serm. falhes of wrath. Refledlion on their own ^^^' experience will, to the minds of any who have hitherto fuffered themfelves to be hurried away by gufts of palTion, bring the remembrance of great hazards they have run in the moments of their rage, hazards of doing what would have infixed deep and lafting wounds in their hearts : and the fight of the abfurdities, as well as the crimes into which they run, who are under the in- fluence of violent anger, might ferve as an admonition to thofe whofe heat of temper is not yet become habitual, to ufe their ut- mofl vigilance to reprefs every tendency thereto: and efpecially (hould it move all who have the care of young people, to at- tend to the earliell fymptoms of this paf- fion, and ufe every mean (and particularly the powerful one of example) to curb it. Let us, therefore, henceforth recoiled:, that what- ever may be the caufe of our indignation, the wrath of man w^orketh not the righte- oufnefs of God; that either in debate or action, coolnefs and patience, have an im- A a /j. meafurable 3^o On Anger and its 'EffeBs.. seRm. meafurable fuperiority over hafle and paf- XVI. iionj and that if, inftead of following the ^^"^"^^^'^^^ divine example of our Saviour, we give place to the devil, we fhall foon refemble him in our works, and finally partake with him in his fate. SER- SERMON XVII. ON ADULTERY. Ephes. V. 6. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for becaufe of thefe things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of dif obedience. IV/r OSES, when recounting to the people serm. of Ifrael the blefling and the curfe xvii. which he fet before them, told them, that when all nations, feeing the evils which their iniquities would bring upon their land, fhould a{k, " Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land ? What meaneth the heat of tliis great anger ? men would fay, becaufe they have forfaken the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers ; and that there- 362 On Adultery, therefore the anger of the Lord was kindled againft the land, to bring upon it all the curfes written in the book of the law." And might not a qiieftion and anfwer fimi- lar to thefe be properly put and returned on the prefent ftate of chriftendom ? Where- fore (it might furely be afked) hath the providence of God permitted fo many na- tions to become a prey to anarchy and con- fufion ? Why fuffercd the moft cruel ravages of war to fprcad themfelvcs fo far and fo wide? Why allowed the ftill more perni- cious exteniion of the molt falfe and impi- ous principles, of the moft deftrudiive and diabolical corruptions ? Becaufe (it might too as furely be anfwered) the inhabitants of thefe countries have forfaken the Gofpel preached unto their fathers, have taken unto themfelves other rules of condu(5t, and thus provoked the Lx)rd to treat them, in His wrath, as children of difobedience. There are, I am feniible, many who, for thefe our fufferings, would look no farther than the immediate caules of them, and tracing On Adultery. 363 tracing back the courfe of events through serm. their chain of connedion, imagine they xvii. had fufficiently accounted for all that has ^'^^^^'^^^ befallen us, by ftating the meafures which one nation had purfued, and the policy which another had adopted ; but all who, by thus leaving the divine providence out of the account, do, in fadt, deny the univerfa- lity of its operation, do really deny alfo the perfe6tion of God, (and that, indeed, is His exiftence as God) no lefs efFe(ftually, than- did thofe blafphemous wretches, who, in the courfe of the rapid revolutions which have lately taken place among them, did at one feafon govern the French nation. Moll ancient is the maxim, that ** afflidlion Cometh not forth of the duft, neither doth trouble fpring out of the ground." And the queftion is put by a prophet, *' Shall there be evil in a city, and the Lord hath not done it ?** Whenever, therefore, we find adverfity overtake us, under whatever Ihape it comes, it is our duty, and will be our wifdom to enc^uire. Whether our ini- quities have not called for the chaftifemcnt ? looking 3^4 On Adultery. SERM. looking upon the reafonings of thofe who '^^^^' would perfuade us, that. God never, or even feldom vifits for human offences, as the vain words of ignorant men, tending only to de*. ceive. In confirmation of which, apply your attention to fad:s ; mark unrighteouf- nefs of every kind attended of natural and inevitable confequence, by fufferings ; and thefe fufferings, ye may obferve, men as naturally afcribe to the wrath of Heaven. Turn, then, to the book of the Holy Scrip- tures, and that as containing an account not only of the will, but alfo of the govern- ment of God, explains the fads obferved, declares them to be the vifitations of the Governour of the univerfe; and that ye may not doubt of this declaration being made on His authority, fixes on a particular people in whofe hiflory this courfe of retri-? bution fhall be fingularly vifible and fleady \ and whofe fufferings, in confequence of their tranfgreffions, being long before de- fcribed, do, on their arrival, infallibly de- monflrate the infl idler. And thus, by pub- lifliing the hiflory of that people among the On Aiuitery. 36^^ the nations was light fpread over the earth; serm. and, together with the renewed precepts of ^vii. righteoufnefs given in the Gofpel, there was fet before the world an admonitory lefTon, that their difobedience to the divine laws would be vifited in proportion to the in- fl:ru6lion in the will of God with which they are favoured. This is a point particularly inlifted on by the great apoftle of the Gentiles, throughout his epiftles, that to the Hebrews efpecially is manifeftly written with a view to cflablifh it, while in the text the fame principle is acknowledged, and a caution given us not to permit the fpecious reafonings of deceit- ful or deceived men, to perfuade us, that we can difobey the commandments of God, and yet efcape the penalties threatened in the breach of them. ** Let no man deceive you with vain words j for becaufe of thefe things Cometh the wrath of God upon the children of difobedience.'* Th& XVII. 366 On Adultery. SERM. The vices to which St. Paul here mcire particularly refers, are fornication, and all manner of uncleannefs in word or deed, and covetoufnefs, and the topics from whence are drawn thofe wretched reafon- ings, which are too often urged for the im- punity of fuch crimes, and which he has denominated vain words ^ are fufficiently known; neither (liould they at all be re- called to your remembrance from this place, but with the hope of arming you againfl them. And even for this purpofe, if ye be true to yourfelves, little need be faid, fince all thefe pleas of the vicious, (thofe excepted which go to the denial of the divine autho- rity of revelation, and are therefore to be confidered only as the defperate effufions of men who love darknefs rather than light, becaiife their deeds are evil) fince all other pleas on this head, I fay, may be refolved into the two general ones, of human infir- mity, and the mercy of God, both of which muft, in their extent, be beyond all com- parifon better known to our heavenly Father than On Adultery, 367 than they can be to us, and yet hath it feemed serm. good to Him to lay on us the commands He ^v^^" has, and to denounce the fevere penalties we dread on the breach of them ; from which facft alone \t is plain, that thefe reafoners mofl grofsly deceive themfelves in the ground on which they argue. The truth indeed is, that were there no politive penalties annexed to thefe vices, yet from the nature of moral and intelligent beings they neceffarily do, what St. Peter moil juftly terms icv//* agaijiji the foul. Since by leiTening men's powers of felf- reftraint, and inflaming their evil affecftions, they render them incapable of being even harmlefs members of fociety, and unable to derive enjoyment from any refources of their own minds. Whence they become totally iiniit for admilTion to the afTembly of the blefled above, and as incapable of eafe or happinefs wherever they might exift. It is not my prefent purpofe to enter on the proof of thefe confequcnccs in refped: to 368 On Adultery i SERM. to the fevcral evil courfes to which the ^^^^' apoftle in the text refers, it is to the enor- mity and punifhment of one particular crime which ftalks barefaced through the land, in the commiffion of which the prince and the peafant are equally fliamelefs, and which,' though moft ruinous to the peace, and moft deftrud:ive to the firfl principles of fociety^ is, (ftrangeto confider,) unreftrained by any penal laws, that I mean now to confine my difcourfe, and ye cannot be at a lofs to dif- cern that adultery is the crime to which I allude j a crime of which the frequency lefTens our horrour at it, and prevents out confidering the various aggravations with which it is always accompanied. Other- wife would it be poffible that men who confider miftruft of their promifes as one of the worft afperfions that can be caft on their characters, fliould look upon a breach of one of the moft folemn engagements that can be made as a thing of no difgrace ! Becaufe the facred volume is not kifled, is it to be thought no oath is taken when God is called to witnefs the truth of a covenant entered- On Adultery. ^^ entered into before the altar? Mark here serm. the horrible, yet contemptible hypocrify of ^vii. the human heart ! There are who will con- lider the forfeiture of a word pafled at a gaming-table as a reproach to be avoided at every rifque, and yet mock at the breach of a promife attended with every circumftance to mark it as facred. The man who is guilty of the former, they will (and not unjuftly fo far) deem a villain, but the other, who has acfled far more iniquitoufly, they have — what fhall I fay ? Language furnifhes not a term fufficiently ftrong to exprefs the unprincipled abfurdity of this conducft, they have — the wifdom and the modefty to call an honeft man. So then, he who with feigned afFedlion induces a woman to confide all her hopes of happinefs in this world in his hands; who vows before God and the church that he will keep himfelf only unto her as long as they both (hall live; yet at one and the fame time torments her with the keeneft mortifi- cation by leaving her bed for that of another, VOL. II, B b and 370 On Adultery, SERM. and tramples under foot the moft folemn ■^TL^* proteftations, is an honcft man ! And he who enters the houfe of an iinfufpe<5ting ac- quaintance, perhaps of an intimate friend, and feduccs his wife from her conjugal duty and attachment, is an honell man ! While thofe who by force plunder us of our money, or by ftealth carry off our goods, are juftly reprefented as robbers, thieves, nuifances to fociety, unfit to live. Yet compare thefe crimes either by the breach of obligation they contain, by the fufferings they occa- lion to individuals, or by the mifchief they produce in fociety, and ye will find that the thief (who Hill deferves the fate he meets with from the executioner's hand) is the lefs atrocious criminal. It is true, that he who is guilty of theft franfgreiies the commandment of his Cre- atour; but doth the adulterer lefs? or hath not He who hath faid, ** Thou (halt not ftcal," faid alfo, ** Thou flialt not commit adultery?" While he who does the lall" breaks not an implied only, but an exprefs Gompa<5t, On Adultery, 3-71 Compad:, if he fin againft his own partner, serm. And if it be with his neighbour's wife, he ^vii. partakes in the fin of her breach of cove- nant, or perhaps as the tempter, has the heavier fhare of the guilt. The thief com- mits no breach of hofpitality, betrays no confidence, burfls no bonds of friendfhip. But how often do all thefe aggravating cir- cumftances accompany the adulterer's crime ! How much more atrocious, therefore, are the pracSlifers of this in breaking through the obligations incumbent on them, than thofe whom the general voice of mankind condemns as fit objed:s of publick juilice ! And what are the fufTerings occafioned to individuals by the one tribe of criminals in comparifon with thofe which are fuffered from the others ! Afk the hufband with whofe loved partner the arts of the feducer have fucceeded, of which he had moil wil- lingly have been bereft, his property or his wife? Afk the father whofe daughter being drawn afide from the path of conjugal fide- lity is configned to infamy, what pecuniary E b 2 lofs 372 On Adultery, SERM. lofs could have pierced his heart with half ^^y"* the pangs he has fuffered from the delufion of his child? No difgrace attaches, no hard refled;ions are to be borne by the family whofe habitation has been robbed. But the children of the adulterefs will hardly efcape bitter remembrances of their mother's crime, even if her example prevail not to miflead her daughters into the fame condemnation. Thus are afflictions heaped on all the neareft conne<5lions of the degraded female, while fhe herfelf, driven from the circle of reput- able fociety, is left a prey to Ihame, remorfe, and folitude. This indeed it may be faid is not univer- fally the cafe; vice, on the other hand, it is to be lamented, fometimes meets with countenance; but then it is from fuch as the criminal herfelf is confcious either are guilty of the fame offence, or have fome fecret motive for their condu<5t honourable to neither party. So that by thefe means the temporal fufferings of the individual alone/ are alleviated, andthofebut partially; while the 0?i Adultery, 3*73 tlie mifchief occafioned to fociety is increafed serm. . inflead of diminifhcd; which publick evil xvik was the lafl point on which I fuggefted a comparifon between the enormity of thofe tranfgreflions, the deep criminality of which no one difputes, and that of adultery. The abfurd perverfenefs of vice and infi- delity hath indeed contefted the mifchievous cfFecfts of theft and robbery on the public welfare; but I do not recoiled:, that even the prefumption of thefe enemies of righte- oufnefs hath endeavoured to fet adultery on the fame footing. It is too manifeft, that by this crime the firfl link in the chain of fociety is broken, and the bond of affection between hufband and wife being burft, dif- order is introduced into their families, and an evil example (which men are at lead as prone to follow as a good one) afforded to the neighbourhood: whence if we even fup- pofe this to be the firfl inftance of fuch a tranfgreffion, what was before an unheard of crime becomes no longer fuch ; and the repetition of it being confequently lefs B b J dreaded, 374 On Adultery. SERM. dreaded, an high road is gradually formed J^y^^ for profligacy, and all the amiable afFedions of nature are at length fwept away by a deluge of licentioufnefs. If an illicit com- merce be carried on without the privity of the party with whom the matrimonial con- trad: is broken by it, much falfehood and treachery muft necelTarily be committed; but if with fuch privity, there then is formed a bafenefs of character which will infecft all the other tranfadlions of fuch depraved wretches ; and if thefe be numerous, (which they muft be in every country where adul- tery is prevalent,) the national chara6ler itfelf becomes foiled with it; and judicial inflidtions of the Governour of the univerfe in courfe follow. If ye think that this is not a juft ftate- ment of the fad:, turn over the records of the world, and difcover, if ye can, a natioq where this crime hath been common and ycf unaccompanied with other fymptoms of ge- neral corruption, or where it hath prevailed and yet efcaped the vifitations of the divine judge- On Adultery. SIS judgements. In Judah it was prevalent to- serm. gether with impiety, idolatry, oppreflion, xvii. robbery, and drunkennefs. In Rome it was not known till thofe times of depravity which reduced the miftrefs of the world herfelf to a ftate of flavery, and in a neigh- bouring nation, which has of late been punifhed after fo exemplary a manner, it exilled but in company with other moil ne- farious practices, which cryed aloud to Heaven for vengeance on that polluted people. And laftly, of our own country what (hall we fay ? Can we plead, That though it be indeed defiled with this, it is not infed:ed with other crimes; that the profligacy of the nation does not branch itfelf out into any other particulars ; for that impiety, drunkennefs, theft, fraud, lying, perjury, extortion, and treachery, are not heard of among us ? Or on the contrary, mufl we not acknowledge, that the fame corruption of morals ^ the iamc lofs of all virtuous principle which leads one part of the difTolute among us to com- n^it, and with fhamclefs front defend this B b 4 Crime, 37^ ^n Adultery. SERM. crime, induces both them and others tq J^^^J^ pradife without remorfe the reft of the enormous tranfgreffions for which our land groaneth under the juft inflictions of the univerfal Judge ? And for the other queftion, Whether the people among whom adultery has become prevalent have ever efcaped the judgements of Heaven ? It ought to be again obferved, that the atheiftical reafonings I noticed in the beginning of this difcourfe, by which the evils that befall nations are afcribed to any thing rather than the indignation of God at their vices, are obviated (and pur- pofely fo it (hould feem) by the Lord*s having chofen a particular people avowedly to fhew forth his glory j and exprefsly punifhed them for the very crimes on ac^ count of which we are in the text affured the wrath of God cometh on the children of difobedience. Whence there is afforded unto us ample ground to conclude, or rather a leffon inftrudting us, that when other na- tions, guilty of the fame crimes, fuffer undcT On Adultery. v^-^ under fimilar afflidions, they are in fad serm, piinifhed by the fame hand. Give ear then ^^^^* to the forcible terms in which the Lord dicj by His prophet menace Jerufalem for the crime of idolatry and that of adultery, .** How fhall I pardon you for this ? Thy children have forfaken me and fworn by them that are no gods : when I had fed them to the full they then committed adul- tery, and affembled themfelves by troops in the harlot's houfes. Shall I not vifit for thefe things, faith the Lord, and (hall not my foul be avenged on fuch a nation as this ? Go ye up upon her walls and deftroy; take away her battlements, for they are jiot the Lord*s.^* Neither is this the only Scripture in which we find it numbered with the blackeft crimes, in Leviticus the law faith, '* And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that com- mitteth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulterefs Ihall furely be put to death," and in the prophecy of Hofea it clofeth a catalogue of offences for which compleat defolation is threatened, ♦* Hear 3*78 On Adultery. SERM. " Hear the word of the Lord ye children XVII. of Ifrael: for the Lord hath a controverfy with the inhabitants of the land, becaufe there is'no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land. By f wearing, and lying, and killing, and ftealing, and com- mitting adultery, they break out, and blood toucheth blood. Therefore fhall the land mourn, and every one that dwelleth therein fhall languifh with the bealls of the field, and with the fowls of Heaven. Yea the iiflies of the fea alfo fhall be taken away." And now confider, I befeech you, Is the Lord the God of the Jews only ? Is He not the God of the Gentiles alfo ? and (hall not confequently His judgements extend through all the earth ? For this refled;ion will teach you whither to refer the afflidions of youf own country, and not to think that He who vifited thefe crimes fo feverely on His own people, would leave them altogether unpu- nifhed in us. But the rigour of the law, ibmc of you would here probably reply, extendeth not to the Gentiles; and perhaps ye On Adultery, 3^9 ye would add the pafllige of the Gofpel, fo serm. perverfely ufed by the fenfuaHft, (who can, xvii. as well as the tempter, quote Scripture for his own purpofes,) I mean our blelTed Sa- viour*s words lo the woman taken in adul- tery, ** Neither do I condemn thee, go, and fin no more." But a folitary inftance of pardon is no repeal of a law; were it fo, this woman would never have been brought before our Lord, fince the authority of Da- vid's cafe would at once have cleared her. In fa6t, with what (he might have to urge in extenuation of her guilt, as want of in- ilrucflion, badnefs of example, the arts of a feducer, or the confent perhaps (for there have been fome inftances of fuch nefarious bafenefs) of a hufband, we are totally un- acquainted. We know, however, that her accufers had other views than the mere ex- ecution of juftice in alking our Lord's de- cifion ; they fought eitl^r to embroil Him with the government of the country, fhould he venture to pronounce a capital fentence, or to deftroy his credit with the people if he gave a determination contrary to the words of 380 On Adultery. SERM. of Mofes; in both which purpofes they XVII. were totally difappointed by His making the cleamefs of their own confciences the condition of their executing the law, and for His not proceeding to it Himfelf, though without fin, His own words referring per- ^Aaps to this occafion, as delivered almoft immediately after it, yield a fufEcient reafon, ** I judge no man,*' and again in another difcourfe, ** I came not to judge the world, but to fave the world." The day indeed is faft approaching, when together with the reft of the human race, this woman will iland before His tribunal to receive, in His irrevocable fentence, the recompence due to her works. But His firft coming being to redeem, and bring to repentance thofe whom He is hereafter to judge, had He then inter- fered in the execution of the laws of His country, except in the fingle inftance of cleanling His father's houfe from profana- tion, fliould we not ere this have been afked, ** Where was the dignity of our mafter?'* But On Adultery. 381 But to overthrow at once all the vain serm. xvn, reafonings founded on this tranfadtion, What was the determination which our Lord in fadl delivered but " Neither do I condemn thee; go, and fin no more ?" A decifion of which ye may, and of which I am now calling on you to take the benefit. 1 have not laid, I have, I thank God, no ground from His word to fay, That if we iincerely repent of our mifdoings and amend our conduift, the judgements under which we iuffer will not be withdrawn ; but the do(ftrine I would imprefs on your hearts, is, that they are inflided for the tranfgrclTions which continue to be pradifed among us ; and if thefe be not broken off by repentance, the vilitations of the divine juflice will gra- dually encreafe, and end only in our deRruc- tion. Great as our prefent fufferings are, they are only corrections which are given hi mercy, and by forming a completion of thofe words of revelation in which the fins pre- valent among us are threatened with chal- tifement here, become a pledge, too, that thofe menaces will likewife be fulfilled, 5 which 382 On Aduitery, SERM. which alTure us, that the fame crimes, if XVII. not timely repented of, will meet with ever- lading vengeance hereafter. Thus, then, is the Chriftian provided with a complete anfwer to all the vain words by which the foolifh or the profligate would perfuade him, he may indulge his evil affed:ions and yet efcape puniftiment. The wrath of God, he may fay, we fee frorh the moft manifeft fad:s, does, as it is denounced it fhould* overtake the children of difobedience in this world ; have we not, therefore, the befl pledge, the firmeft aflurance, that the me- naces which the fame teachers have uttered in His name, as to the next ftate, will likewife be fulfilled? ** Go to, now, may he proceed, ye adulterers and ye adul- tereifes, be not deceived with the counte- nance ye receive from the world ! Know ye not tliat the friendfliip of the world is en- mity with God ? Submit yourfelves there- fore unto Him. Refift the devil and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh to you. Cleanfe your hands, yc finners, and purify your hearts ye double- 2 minded On Adultery. 383 minded. Be affli(fted, and moum, and serm. weep : let your laughter be turned to mourn- ^viir. ing, and your joy to heavinefs. Humble yourfelves in the fight of the Lord, and He (hall lift you up.*' For your fins, arc they that have feparated between Him and you, and for want of repentance alone, doth His wrath reft upon the children of difo- bedience | SER- SERMON XVIII. ON SEDUCTION, St. Matt, xviii. 6. But whofo Jkall offend one of thefe little o?ies which believe in me^ it were better for hitn that a mill-jiojie were hanged about his necky and he were drow?ied in the depth of the fea. T^HE fignification in which the term serm, offend is here employed being feme- xviii. what different from the common ufe of it, it is proper to flate, that its meaning in thefe words of our bleffed Saviour is, to caufe to fn^ as in the eighth verfe of the fame chapter, where He fays, *' If thy hand or thy foot offend thee cut them off, and caff them from thee;'* fo that in the VOL. II. c c paffage 3^6 On SeduBion, ^ERM. pafTage at prefent before us, \\. is declared, ,^^^^^ ^hat whofoever fhall terrify or feduce one of the difciples of Chrift from obedience to His commandments, or make him deny the faith, (hall fuffer under a fentence worfe than that of death. Neither is it difficult to difcern fufficient jreafons for the feverity of the penalty here menaced ; the lofs. in- curred by thofe who deny the faith, or keep not the words of the Lord, is not limited to this life, but includes in it everlafting ba- nilhment from the prefence of God, to the place of torment appointed for the devil and his angels. What then do they in juftice deferve, who, to gratify their own paffions, bring a fellow-creature under fuch condem- nation ? Unlefs we prefume, (which wt cannot do without denying His adorable perfection,) that the Lord looks with un- concern on the fate of His moral creatures, we muft fuppofe, that He will require every ruined foul at the hands of him who brought it to deflru(ftion : but this fuppofi- tion is advanced into a certainty, by the con- fideration of the very great intereft He hath 3. Ihewn • On Sedu^ion. 3 87 lliewn He takes in human falvation, by serm. the ineftimable price paid for the redemption xviii. of mankind: and the hcinoufnefs of the crime of caufing one of thefe little ones to offend can never be duly eftimated, iinlefs ■Vve take into the accompt, that it is dellruc- tion of him for whom Chrift died. Various are the means by which this fear- ful degree of gnilt is contracfted ; but it is with the defign of fpcaking to one only of the moft atrocious of them, that of female fedudlion, that I have fele6led the ^\•ords read to you for the text. This offence which no language can duly paint in all its Iior- rours, is unhappily one of thofe to which the legiflature ot our country has paid a very inadequate attention ; leaving fome of the moft defcncelefs of its fubjedls an unvindi- cated prey to the luftful barbarity of the mofl reprobate portion of our fpecies ; and the fum of the miferies confequently heaped on the numerous victims of thefe deteftable wretches exceeds all calculation, and defies all human retaliation. c c :2 To XVIII. 3^S On SeduBion^ SERM. To heighten the enormity of this nefari- ous pradice, there is fcarcely a circumftance of bafenefs that is thought to encreafe the guilt of any other fpecies of wickednefs with which it is not attended. In the firft place it is neceffarily accompanied in its courfe with the vileft falfhood, and the grofleft hypocrify. Under the femblance of one of the tenderefl: attachments of which the human breafl is capable, under pretence of the warmeft love is the affecftion of the intended victim fought ; and in many cafes through a conliderable fpace of time is every appearance of the fincerelf regard, which the moft marked attention and repeated and fo^ lemn proteftations can afford, preferved. And againft whom is it that the vile difl'em- bler thus exerts his art ? Who is it that he thus befets with a fixed "purpofe of ruining her, concealed by alfeverations of the moil unfhaken conftancy ? An unfufpe(f ting in- nocent, who, from the fair purpofes and honefl feelings of her own heart, judges favourably of his ; who, unacquainted with the deceptions of mankind, and unpradifed in On SediSiofU 389 in difguifing her fentiments, pours into the serm. bofom that (he imagines faithful, confeffions xviii. of her love for the villain, who, with the unrelenting cruelty of Satan, is coolly plan- ning means to humble and defert her. To attack the unprepared and unfiifpe(5t- ing is deemed cowardly, and to betray a friend is juftly accounted treacherous j but both the cowardice and treachery exifting in thefe cafes are heavily aggravated in that before us, by firft making every effort to obtain the confidence of an harmlefs and unfufpicious female, and when her attach- ment is fo fecured, that (he is ready to for fake father and mother, brother and fifter, nay, to follow her feducer wherever his fate (hall carry him, and dare with him to encounter all the hardlhips of the world, and flruggle with all the difficulties of poverty, when having renounced all others flie looks to him as her only protecftor, her moft affe6lionate friend, then impofing on her credulity and her love, to degrade her from the rank to which chaflity and purity entitled her, to c c 3 that 39^ Ofi Scduclion. SERM. that of an outcafl from fociety, a proftitutc XVIII. £q^ \\\x(^^ is a tranfaiftion fo bafcly perfidious, fo atrocioufly ungrateful, and manifefts the obdurate cruelty of an heart fo hardened by vice, that thofe guilty of it, although in their own eftimation often men of liberal mind, above any thing diflioneft or unfair, do in truth ad: the part of fome of the moft contemptible and hateful wretches with which the earth is burthened. There have been inflances of the fecuders' murthering the women they betrayed, to prevent either the burthen or the (hame that threatened them ; and I fliould conceive, that there are very few who could coolly refled: on the fcene of a young female's fupplicating f6r mercy from him againft whom her only offences are having loved him undefervedly, and trufted him too far, while he, recrard- Icfs of her endearing pleas, and the earneft entreaties flie utters in all the ano-uifli of her loul, flands ready to defliroy the life that was devoted to himfelf, without being affec1:ed with companion for the poor fuf- fering On Sedn6lion, 391 fering objed:, and with indignation at the serm. diabolical cruelty of her murtherer. Yet ^^^^^* how docs this cruelty furpafs that of thofe who confign the helplefs creature they have deluded to the adual wretchednefs, and confequent mifery, of a life of proftitution ? Hitherto, perhaps, under the foftering hand of a tender parent, fhe has known little but indulgence, been kept at a diflance from difficulties, preferved a ftranger to want; taught to look forward to a life of eafe and domeftick comfort, and encouraged in this profpecft by the fuggeftions of the very wretch who finally deprived her of it : and now on a fudden, her feducer's luftful views accompliflied, he drops the mafk, and lets her know, that fhe has forfeited the favour of her parents, left her father's houfc and withdrawn herfelf from every friend, to glut the inordinate defires of one, who, worfe than the beafts that perifh, foon cloyed with enjoyment, becomes an enemy to his mate, and compels her to feek a fup- port by means not lefs criminal than difguil* ing. Immediately, to all the plealing c c 4 profpe6ts 392 On SeduBion. IfeRM. profpedls (he had fo vainly formed, fucceed^ XVIII. tJ^e woeful fcene of a precarious fubiiftence among the mofl: profligate of mankind, ex- pofed to the fcorn of the fober, and the brutal infults of the debauched. If finking under thefe afflidtions (he quickly find an early grave, has not her feducer been her murthcrer alfo, and made, too, her death more miferable by torments ? But, if when thus thrown into the haunts of vice in fcarch of bread, fhe yield to the torrent of depravity, and becoming deaf tq the rebukes of confcience, infenfible to the flings of remorfe, freely joins in the enor- mities of her companions, in all the guilt in which (he thus plunges, who caufes her to offend ? For the miferies of her encreaf-^ ing degradation, when fhe finks from the fafhionable courtezan to the common ftreet- walker, and at laft, fubdued by poverty and difeafe, perifhes in a garret or a cellar, whom has fhe to thank but her feducer ? That I do not too ftrongly paint the calami- ties to which thefe poor deluded creatures are On Sedu^ion. 3(j^ are expofed, the ftreets and almoft every serm. place of publick refort bear witnefs. And xvjii. yet thefe are but the beginning of forrows; for what mufl: be the feelings of a foul laden with the guilt of innumerable impuri- ties, perhaps of blafphemics, accuftomed only to fcenes of vice, and incapable of aught but fenfual enjoyments, on finding itfelf feparated from the body? Convinced now by experience of the reality of another ftate, with what horrour muft it look for- ward to all the confequences which it was when in the body warned, await the finner in that flate ! Thefe, indeed, are agonies of which we cannot form an adequate concep- tion, yet they can hardly be equal to thofe which muft fucceed them when fummoned to judgement, and having all its dread fore- bodings realized in a fentcnce of condem- nation, the condemned fpirit is driven from the prefence of the Lord to dwell for ever in thofe regions of torment which (hall re- found with weeping and gnafliing of teeth. And what (hall the wretch who was the firft caufe of a being that was capable of hap- ' pincfs 394 ^'^ SeduBion, 5ERM. pinefs as great as the mifery to which it XVIII. is thus configned, falHng into the laft, ex- pe(^ as his reward? That fuch will hereafter meet with the recompence they deferve we know, but is our knowledge of this a reafon why we fhould not exert ourfelves to prevent their ravages among the young and innocent ? Is it a reafon why we fhould not difcountenanc€ men of fuch charaders ? Yet are they com- monly received without any mark of difap- probation; nay, fomctimes treated even with partiality by individuals of that fex to which their pradtices ought to be objed;s of horrour and deteilation. And is not this giving en- couragement to tranfgreflion ? Or will thofe who do it be cleared from the charge of partaking in other men's fins by the iniquit- ous plea, that it was only a maid-fervant or a woman of low degree that the feducer ruined ? Are then the fouls of the poor lefs precious in the fight of our common Creatour than thofe of the rich and the great ? Did not Chrift die for all ? Or have not the poor the Gofpel preached unto them ? Be fhe then the On Sedation . 30^ the meaneft of womankind that has been serm. feduced from the paths of innocence, al- xviii. though in defcribing the confequent tem- poral fufFerings of her conned: ions, or even of herfelf, fome circumftances muft in truth be omitted that fliould be noticed in the cafe of one of higher degree and better edu- cation, yet as to that point in comparifon with which all the reft are as nothing, her lofs and her feducer's guilt, and confe- quently that of all who make themfelves any way acceffary to it, are as great as they could be if (he "yvere the daughter of a mo- narch. But this particular of being acceflary to a crime fo nefarious, and replete with con- fequences fo miferable, deferves more accu- rate coniideration. To one ignorant of the exceeding degree of wickednefs praclifed ia the world, it would appear incredible, that there fliould be women fo hardened in ini4 ^ quity, fo paft all fenfe of fhame, fo com- pletely given over to a reprobate mind, as to affifl in feducing one of their own fex from ^^6 On SeiiiBion. SERM. from the paths of virtue, and help a man XVIII. -y^ forwarding the purpofes of his kifl: yet are there no means fo atrocious ufed for de- filing the pure, and debafing the innocent, but that wretches of this defcription, who have not even the impulfe of appetite to plead in mitigation of their crime, but are inftigated only by avarice, or the diabolical wifli of degrading others from that rank among God's moral creatures which they have loft theirfelves, have not afTifted, Befides that portion of them, which, to the difgrace of our country, are permitted to gain a fubfiftence little lefs than profefTedly by this horrid employment, in various fhapes do thefe engines of Satan crawl on the earth; fometimes they appear as nurfcs, and fome- times even as teachers j often as domcfticks, and oftener than all, perhaps, as occafional afliftants in the work of an houfe. By thefe are the cars of the young, and yet innocent, affailed, and their minds tainted with lafci- vious difcourfe; by thefe are their imagi- nations heated with defcriptions of pleafure to On SediiLlion, 397 to be found in the paths of revehy and vice; serm. by thefe are mefTages carried from the fe- xviii. ducer to his intended vicflim; by thefe are interviews brought about, and tlie means of efcape, if necelTary, from the houfe of a parent, or that of a miftrefs, contrived. If then we be furrounded in hfe by thofe who are fo delperately wicked, is it not moft highly incumbent on parents and heads of famihes to watch with unremitting vigilance over all under their care? Or if through want of fuch attention the unexperienced and unwary are deluded to their deftrucflion, can they fland quite clear of having con- tributed to their ruin, or cauiing them, through want of warning or inftrucflion, to offend ? Thefe, indeed, are queftions which de- mand the mod ferious confideration of the charaders to whom they are addrelTcd. Cruel is the behaviour of thofe parents, who, feeking their own eafe or pleafure, leave their children at the moft critical time of life, when they are moft eaiily deter- mined 598 On Sediidiion. SERM. mined to feek pleafure or the rewards of XVIII, virtue, to the care and converfation of do- mefticks, or others of low education, from whom they can gain little defirable inflruc- tion, but may, from various poffible mo- tives, be milled into iituations not only at^ tended with danger or ruin in this world, but ending in everlafting mifery in the next. Moft unreafonable and abfurd is furely the condudl of thofe, who, introducing their children to the walks of diffipation, or per- mitting them to wafte their hours in reading books which have a tendency to little elfe than weakening the mJnd and inflaming the the paffions, blame others only, when the principles they theirfelves have inflilled, begin to operate, and their daughters embark in thofe courfes of which they (hewed them the favourable lide. And impioufly do thofe parents ad:, who, negleding their moft im- portant duty of pointing out to their chil- dren the path to life and immortality, leave them unprovided with the maxims of truth, and the precepts of religion, to an unequal ib-uggle On SeduBion. 599 ilruggle with the world, the flefli and the serm. devil. XVIII. As to thofe who fland in the relation of miftrefTcs only to any of their own fex, fuch need hardly be told, that all under their roof have a claim to their care, their counfel, and protediion ; through the withholding of which fhould they be loft, the miftrefles cannot remain blamelefs : while the good of which they may be the inftruments, by teaching their fervants the true principles of a(ftion, and forming in them habits of fober induftry, neatnefs, and oeconomy, is fo ex- tenlive, as muft make every good man who refledis on it, eameflly lament that change in the manners of our country which has drawn the wives of thofe of rank and pro- perty among us from the care of their fa- milies, to plunge them into fcenes of li- centioufnefs and riot : whence the cottages unfupplied with houfewives inftru6led in the domeftick duties, exhibit a fcene as unlike thofe of their ancefbrs as difgraceful to the land, 400 On Sedu^iofU SERM. land, and as ruinous to fociety as the palaces XVIII. q£ tSx^ii fuperiours. While, however, we both juftly and cha^ ritably warn the feveral charadters aheady mentioned of their portion of guilt in this heavily menaced crime of making a difciple of Chrift to offend, it is not to be denied, neither ought it to be palled by unnoticed, that the vid;ims theirfelves, though feldom without great fault, are fometimcs ftill more particularly to blame. True it is, that the ingenuous dilpolition, and eafy pliant temper of youth, are by no mean an equal match for the craft of age ; nor the inexperience of thofe unacquainted with the world, for the fair ihows and deceitful allurements holden forth by thofe who are pradifed in its arts; efpecially when the feducer poffeffes the advantage of frequent and unfufpefted accefs to the object of his purfuit, under the covert of any relation, a fliocking ag- gravation of a crime fufficiently heinous even in a ftranger, yet not unheard of among men. On Sedu&io?i. 46 1 men. But when thofe, among wliofe serm* XVIII. greateft ornaments are to be reckoned timi- xviii. dity and a referved behaviour, eagerly feek promifcuous admiration, and ftrive to attradt general attention, when their wanton looks and forward carriag^e encourao^e the debauched to ■hope for an ealy prey, however the folly of a vitiated l^e may term the confidence of an harlot the eafe of a well-bred woman, the ruined female contributes to her own de- ftrudionj and is in truth a corrupter herfelf before (he becomes corrupted. Thefe truths fhould be deeply imprelTed on thofe of every rank, fince fhe who throws herfelf into temptation, has, if (he fall, nothing to plead in extenuation of her crime; as fhe loved danger fhe can have no right to complain if fhe perifh in it; nor can a woman who wilfully commits a fin threatened with ever- lafling damnation, have caufe to murmur if for it fhe be banifhed for -ever from the king- dom of Heaven. ' But the greater the mifery thus awaiting the guilty, the more earnefl is the call on VOL. II- D d all 402 On SeduBion. SERM. all not to be partakers in their fins, by contri- ^''^^^' buting in any meafiire to them. Yet from this how can they be dear who take from the horrour and leflen the difgrace of fuch offences in the eyes of the young, by coun- tenancing old offenders; who diftinguifh trefpaifes not by their intrinlick heinoufnefs^ but by the fuccefs of the guilty; ♦nd from whofe eyes the profperity of an abandoned woman is permitted to conceal the enormity of her tranfgreflions ? The Lord, we kncTw/, would not that any fhould perifli, but that all fhould come to eternal life; and wonder- ful are the means He hath employed to bring them thereto. In what light then are thofe of His creatures to be viewed, who counteract this gracibus purpofe? Confider, if while God call outwardly by the m'iniflry of His word, and inwardly by the admo- nitions of His Spirit, to a Mq of fuch holi- nefs and purity as may render us meet to be partakers of the glory ready to be revealed, what are they doing v/ho induce others to defile themfelves, but oppofing the difpen- fations of His mercy, and a^ing as the enemies 4 On SeduSlion, 403 enemies of righteoufnefs ? And when men serm. and aoffels are convened before the throne xviii. of their Creatour, that his ways may be juftified, by afligning to every one a recom- pence according to his works, can there, think ye, proceed againft fuch a fentence lefs heavy than one that will make it better for them that a mill-flone were handed o about their necks, and they were drowned in the depth of the fea? END OF VOL. II. Date Due i