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"Hear t/e children thf instruction of a father a ad attend to 
 their urfdersttindirtgl Proverbs. VI 
 
SHORT SERMONS 
 
 TO 
 
 LITTLE CHILDEEN. 
 BY W. S. PLUMER 
 
 4 
 
 WRITTEN FOR THE AMERICAN SUNDAY -SCHOOL UNION, AND 
 REVISED BY THE COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION. 
 
 pf)ilabelpl)ia 
 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
 
 No. 146 CHESTNUT 8TREET. 
 
Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1848, by the 
 
 AMERICAN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
£ Scxo tDorbs to all £ittk 33cms anb ©iris. 
 
 My young Friends: I was once as 
 
 small as you are. I had fears, and hopes, 
 
 and sins, and sorrows, just as you have. 
 
 I do not forget how I then felt. I love 
 
 children still. I never saw most of you 
 
 who will read this book. But I hope you 
 
 will read it. It is not long, and it is not 
 
 hard. I use short and plain texts and 
 
 easy words. If you will heed what I tell 
 
 you, it will do you good all your life. I 
 
 do not know that I shall live long, and I 
 
 send you these Sermons now, for fear, if 
 
 I put it off, I may be sick or die. I wish 
 1* 5 
 
6 
 
 you to know what I think about you, and 
 about God, and about Christ. I shall be 
 dead and gone before some of you will 
 read this book; but I shall meet you all 
 by and by. We shall see each other at 
 the last great day. I pray that you and 
 I may be ready, when the Lord shall 
 come. May God bless you every one. 
 Farewell! 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Sermon I. There is a God .... 9 
 
 EL God is great 15 
 
 EI. The Good Shepherd 23 
 
 IT. The Fear of God 30 
 
 V. Seeking the Lord 38 
 
 VI. The Study of the Bible 46 
 
 VIL The Worth of the Soul 54 
 
 VHX We all belong to God 61 
 
 IX. We are all Sinners 69 
 
 X. Why Christ died 77 
 
 XL On Prayer 85 
 
 XIL On Pleasing God 93 
 
 XKL On Honesty 101 
 
 XIV. Now is the Time 109 
 
 XV. The Last Judgment 116 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 erijere is a ©ob. 
 
 He that cometh to God must believe thai he is. 
 Heb. xi. 6. 
 
 I believe there is a God, but I do 
 not believe so because I ever saw him. 
 " No man hath seen God at any time." 
 God says, "No man shall see me and 
 live.* But we may all believe in some 
 things, which we never saw. We never 
 saw the wind, and yet we know it blows. 
 Like the wind, God may exist, though 
 not seen by us. We all believe that 
 many men are now alive, whom we 
 never saw, but whose works we have 
 seen, or whose fame we have heard of. 
 Therefore, it is as foolish as it is wicked 
 to doubt whether there be a God, sim- 
 ply because we never saw him. But I 
 
10 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 will tell you why I believe there is a 
 God. 
 
 Not long ago, I went with four little 
 children into a watchmakers shop, and 
 there a man brought out a little box, 
 and put a key into a small hole in the 
 side of it, and wound it up. He then 
 set down the box, and touched a spring, 
 and the top flew open, and a little bird, 
 not as large as a humming bird, hopped 
 out, and flapped its wings, and sang, or 
 seemed to sing, a pretty tune. When it 
 had sung its tune, it hopped down into 
 the box and we saw it no more. It was 
 made of brass and silver and gold. It 
 was very small and very beautiful. The 
 little boys and girls that were with me 
 were much pleased. Charles said, " How 
 pretty it is." James said, " How it sings." 
 Mary said, " I wish I had it. I would 
 give a dollar for it." She was told the 
 price of it was six hundred dollars. 
 Jane asked, " Who made it ?" Mr. Smith, 
 the watchmaker, told her it was made 
 
THERE IS A GOD. 11 
 
 by a man in Geneva, in Switzerland. 
 We all left the store in good spirits and 
 went out to a grove. Here were many- 
 living birds. Some were black, some 
 were blue, some were red, some were 
 yellow, some were green, and many were 
 speckled. One had a white body, and 
 red head, and black wings. One was 
 black all over except the wings, which 
 were of the colour of gold. Every one 
 of them could hop from branch to branch, 
 and from tree to tree. They could 
 build nests, and find food for themselves 
 and for their young ones. They could 
 all make some noise. The notes of most 
 of them were very sweet. One of them 
 could mock all the rest. He had the 
 notes of the quail, the jay, the blue-bird, 
 the robin, the cat-bird, and a dozen 
 others. He is called the mocking-bird. 
 The sun shone clearly, and a little rain 
 the night before had made the air cool 
 and pleasant. So we all walked through 
 the grove, and found some pretty flowers. 
 
12 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 We then came to a cool spring, and 
 took a drink of water. Near the spring 
 was a large rock, and on it we sat down 
 to rest. " Now, is not this fine ?" said I. 
 " Yes, yes, yes, yes," was heard from all. 
 Just then two or three birds near us sang 
 sweetly, as if to please us. I thought it 
 was a good time to talk. So I said, " If 
 a man in Geneva made the bird in the 
 box, how came all the living birds here ? 
 Did they make themselves?" Charles 
 said, " How could they make themselves ? 
 I saw in my book the other day, that 
 6 nothing can make nothing.' " " Well," 
 said I, " did the man in Geneva make 
 them?" Jane answered, " No ! he never 
 saw them. He could not make such 
 birds as these. The bird in the box is 
 the best he could make, and it cannot 
 lay eggs, and hatch young ones, and fly 
 about, and build nests, and eat cherries." 
 I then said, " Did they just grow with- 
 out any one making them?" Charles 
 replied, " How could they ?" Mary said, 
 
THERE IS A GOD. 13 
 
 "I can tell you how they came here. 
 God made them. No man could make 
 them. None could make them but God 
 himself. I know there is a God, because 
 there are so many pretty birds." 
 
 I added, " You are all right, my chil- 
 dren. There is a God. If these little 
 birds were put under the water, they 
 would all die, yet there are thousands of 
 living things in the water, that would 
 die if they were brought out of it. God 
 has fitted the birds to the air, and the 
 fishes to the sea. He has made every 
 thing good, and we ought to believe that 
 he is. His works are all around us. 
 They are many, and great, and wise. 
 Let us never doubt that there is a God." 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 If there is a God, we ought to believe 
 in him, and think of him. We ought to 
 love him, and fear him, and obey him, 
 and not sin against him. We ought also to 
 trust in him. Little birds do his will, 
 
14 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 and praise liim in their way. We ought 
 to praise him in our pretty hymns, and 
 in our hearts. And we ought to pray to 
 him, as he has taught us : 
 
 "Our Father which art in heaven, 
 Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom 
 come. Thy will be done in earth, as it 
 is in heaven. Give us this day our daily 
 bread. And forgive us our debts, as we 
 forgive our debtors. And lead us not 
 into temptation, but deliver us from evil : 
 For thine is the kingdom, and the power, 
 and the glory, for ever." Amen. 
 
SERMON II. 
 
 (86b is ©rcat. 
 Thou art great, Lord God. — 2 Sam. vii. 22 
 
 A serious little child was speaking 
 about God. A wicked man, who was 
 near, said : " How big is your God ?" 
 The child said, " He is so great that the 
 heaven of heavens cannot contain him, 
 and so lowly that he even dwells in this 
 little heart of mine." God exists of him- 
 self. He has life in himself. He de- 
 pends on no other being. God has been 
 from eternity, and he shall be to eternity. 
 He is and was and is to come. "One 
 day is with the Lord as a thousand years, 
 and a thousand years as one day."* An 
 eternity past or an eternity to come, is 
 
 *2Pet. iii. 8. 
 
 15 
 
16 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 beyond all human thought. God is also 
 great in wisdom. By wisdom he made 
 the heavens. In wisdom he has made 
 all his works. He chooses wise ends, 
 and wise means of gaining his ends. 
 God is so wise that he charges the angels 
 with folly. God did not learn wisdom. 
 He always had it. Neither has any one 
 taught him knowledge. He knows all 
 things, that ever have been, that now 
 are, or that ever shall be. He knows 
 also all that ever could be. "Known 
 unto God are all his works from the 
 beginning." u Neither is there any crea- 
 ture that is not manifest in his sight: 
 but all things are naked and opened to 
 the eyes of him with whom we have to 
 do."* "Hell is naked before him, and 
 he has seen the doors of the shadow of 
 death." " The eyes of the Lord are in 
 every place, beholding the evil and the 
 good." Such knowledge is too high for 
 us ; we cannot attain unto it. 
 *Heb. iv. 13. 
 
GOD IS GREAT. 17 
 
 God is also present in every place. 
 u He is not far from every one of us ; for 
 * in him we live and move and have our 
 being." "Am I a God at hand, saith 
 the Lord, and not a God afar off? Do 
 not I fill heaven and earth ?" 
 
 The sun is distant from the earth 
 ninety-five millions of miles, but in every 
 direction from us, even much farther 
 than the sun, God is present. We can- 
 not go where God is not. 
 
 Then, too, he is great in power. He 
 has all power. He can do all things. 
 He can make or destroy a world by a 
 single word. He has made all that now 
 exists. He said, " let there be light, and 
 there was light." " He spake and it was 
 done, he commanded and it stood fast." 
 " He hangeth the earth upon nothing." 
 " He taketh up the isles as a little thing. 
 He weigheth the mountains in scales 
 and the hills in a balance." This world, 
 in which we live, has been moving more 
 than sixty thousand miles every hour, 
 
18 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 since it was made. It is God, that rolls 
 it on. Is he not a great God ? 
 
 God is also great in truth. He cannot 
 lie. -He always has kept his word, and he 
 always will. "Let God be true and every 
 man a liar." God hates all lies and fraud 
 and cheating. He never mocks any of his 
 creatures. He is the God of truth. 
 
 God is also great in love, in mercy, in 
 patience, in pity, in kindness, and in all 
 goodness. The Bible says, " God is love." 
 He made the world, and because he was 
 thus loving, he made it all good. And 
 there never was such love as that which 
 led God to give us his Son. The strangest 
 thing I ever heard of was God's love to 
 sinners. The more I think of it, the 
 more I wonder at it. God's mind is a 
 vast ocean, full of love. that we all 
 loved him in return as we ought. 
 
 O for this love let rocks and hills 
 
 Their lasting silence break ; 
 And all harmonious human tongues 
 
 The Saviour's praises speak. 
 
GOD IS GREAT. 19 
 
 God is also great in holiness. He is 
 "glorious in holiness." Isaiah saw him in 
 the year that king Uzziah died, and 
 heard one seraph cry to another, and say: 
 " Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts : 
 the whole earth is full of his glory."* 
 Because he is holy, he hates all sin. 
 And because he is holy, he is also just. 
 He is so just, that he can do no wrong. 
 He hates every act that is not just. 
 And because he is just, "He is angry 
 with the wicked every day." " Just and 
 true are thy ways, Lord God Almighty." 
 
 God is also great in glory and majesty. 
 " He sitteth upon the circle of the hea- 
 vens." He rides upon the stormy wind. 
 The thunder has been called his voice, 
 and lightnings his arrows. When he 
 came down, the sea uttered its voice and 
 lifted up its hands on high. Moses went 
 up into Mount Sinai and talked with 
 God for forty days, and when he came 
 down, his face was so bright that he had 
 *Isa. vi. 1,3. 
 
20 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 to put a vail over it. He got this bright* 
 ness from talking with God. When John 
 saw the appearance of the Son of God 
 in a vision, u his head and his hairs were 
 white like wool, as white as snow ; and 
 his eyes were as a flame of fire ; and his 
 feet like unto fine brass, .... and his 
 voice as the sound of many waters, 
 and his countenance was as the sun shin- 
 eth in his strength." John says, " when 
 I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead."* 
 
 God must be very great, or he could 
 not take care of the worlds and the crea- 
 tures that he has made. Angels, and 
 men, and beasts, and birds, and fishes, 
 and insects, and little living things, so 
 small that we cannot see them with our 
 eyes, all receive their life and food from 
 God. Truly he is a great God. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 I. What poor, weak, mean things we 
 all are. "What shadows we are, and 
 *Rev. i. 14—17. 
 
GOD IS GREAT. 21 
 
 what shadows we pursue." We are 
 worms of the dust. " All flesh is grass." 
 Pride ill becomes us. When the sun 
 rises, the stars cease to shine. And when 
 God is full in view, all men are like grass- 
 hoppers. Let us be humble. 
 
 II. Let us be very slow in judging 
 God. It is very wicked in us to try to 
 know more of God than he tells us. 
 " Fools rush in where angels fear to 
 tread." 
 
 God's way is in the sea, and his paths 
 in the great waters. Let us not try to 
 see too far, but rather stand in awe and 
 sin not. 
 
 III. If God be so great, then those 
 who trust in him need not be afraid. 
 God will take care of them. He has 
 said that he will be their help, and 
 strength, and shield, and rock, and guide, 
 and portion, and reward, for ever. 
 
 IV. It is an awful thing to have so 
 great a God against us. Let sinners be 
 afraid. They have good cause of fear. 
 
22 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 A wicked man is against himself. The 
 law of God is against him. The gospel 
 is against him, as long as he rejects it. 
 Life is against him. Death is against 
 him. All things are against him, because 
 God is against him. Oh that you would 
 all now cease to sin against him. If 
 you fight against him, he will fight 
 against you. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Thou Great and mighty God, whose 
 nature is so high and pure and bright, 
 that we cannot even know it all — have 
 mercy upon us. Show us thy love. 
 Use thy power to protect us, and thy 
 wisdom to guide us, and thy mercy to 
 save us. Keep us from all trials that 
 are too hard for us. Fill us with holy 
 fear. Let us not be afraid of man, whose 
 breath is in his nostrils. Be thou to us 
 all and in all, for the sake of Jesus Christ 
 alone. Amen. 
 
SERMON III. 
 
 ®fje <5oob Sljepfjerfr. 
 I am the good Shepherd. — John x. 11. 
 
 Keeping flocks was common in old 
 £mes. Kings and rulers were often 
 called shepherds. God himself is called 
 a shepherd; and the Lord Jesus says, 
 " I am the good Shepherd." I wish to 
 tell you something about the flock of 
 Christ, and about Christ as a shepherd. 
 
 I. The flock of Christ has in it some 
 
 old sheep, that have been with him a 
 
 long time. Some of these are strong 
 
 and healthy, others are feeble and sickly. 
 
 Some have been with him but a little 
 
 while. We do not call them sheep. 
 
 They are young. We call them lambs, 
 
 and some of them we call little lambs. 
 
 Christ said to Peter, "Feed my sheep; 
 
 feed my lambs." Christ's flock is not very 
 
 23 
 
24 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 large. It has no strength of itself. It 
 cannot defend itself. If left alone, it 
 would be eaten up by the wolves. Even 
 old sheep, left alone, cannot fight wolves. 
 All that love Christ and hate sin belong 
 to his flock. If we do not love him, we 
 are but goats. 
 
 II. I will tell you something about 
 the Shepherd. The text calls him " the 
 good Shepherd." He is both God and 
 man. He knows what his flock needs. 
 He is mighty to save, and strong to 
 deliver. He is very loving. He loved 
 us so that he laid down ihis life for us. 
 He died for the lambs as well as for the 
 sheep. Jesus Christ shed his blood for 
 little children. All the children that 
 are now in heaven were washed in his pre- 
 cious blood. David was once a shepherd, 
 and there came a Hon and a bear to 
 carry off some of his lambs. But he 
 went after them and slew them at the 
 risk of his life. But Jesus Christ knew 
 that to save his flock he must die. He 
 
THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 25 
 
 is the best friend little boys and girls have. 
 He has done more for them than all the 
 world beside. He is the chiefest among 
 ten thousand. There is none like Jesus. 
 Some years ago, a friend of mine 
 was in Greece, in the month of March. 
 He was travelling in the country where 
 the shepherds live. He came to three 
 shepherds with their flocks. One had 
 about six hundred and fifty sheep, an- 
 other had about seven hundred, and 
 the other had about seven hundred and 
 fifty. In all, they had about twenty- 
 one hundred sheep. They were out in 
 the valleys where the grass grew. All 
 the flocks were mingled together. Every 
 sheep had its own name. It would not 
 come nor go, if called by any other name; 
 nor would it come nor go, if called by any 
 but its own shepherd. Every shepherd 
 knew all his own sheep. He knew their 
 names also. If any one was about to go 
 into a wrong place he called it, and it 
 
 turned back. If the way was narrow or 
 3 
 
26 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 steep, he would go before, and they 
 would follow him. This is just like 
 what the Bible says about Christ and 
 his flock. "The sheep hear his voice: 
 and he calleth his own sheep by name, 
 and leadeth them out. And when he 
 putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth 
 before them, and the sheep follow him : 
 for they know his voice. And a stranger 
 will they not follow, but will flee from 
 him: for they know not the voice of 
 strangers. I am the good shepherd and 
 know my sheep, and am known of mine. 
 I lay down my life for the sheep." 
 
 The day my friend saw the shepherds 
 was a cold day. Some of the lambs 
 were quite strong, and full of play ; but 
 some of them were very young and ten- 
 der. The cold chilled them, and they 
 could not walk. The shepherds had on 
 something like large cloaks tied round 
 their necks, and girt about their waists. 
 So they took up the little lambs r and put 
 them in their bosoms. But they did not 
 
THE GOOD SHEPHERD. A I 
 
 smother them. They left their heads 
 out, so that they could breathe well. 
 But they kept them snug and warm. 
 It was a pleasing sight to see an old 
 shepherd with his long gray beard, and 
 his bosom full of lambs. Just so the 
 Bible says of Christ. " He shall gather 
 the lambs in his arms, and carry them 
 in his bosom." Many little children 
 have loved Christ. And he has never 
 let such perish. He is as good to little 
 children as to old people. He says, "I 
 love them that love me, and those that 
 seek me early shall find me." 
 
 Among the twenty-one hundred sheep 
 were some old and feeble ones. They 
 could not walk much. If the way was 
 miry or steep, they could hardly go 
 along. So the shepherds would come, 
 and put their crooks under their bodies, 
 just behind their fore-legs, and help 
 them along. They treated them with 
 great gentleness and care. Just so " the 
 good Shepherd has pity on the weak, and 
 gently leads them along. He never 
 
28 SHORT SERMONS. . 
 
 leaves nor forsakes them. "His rod 
 and his staff comfort them." He leads 
 all his sheep into his fold for safety. 
 He leads them out, that they may find 
 pasture. If little boys and girls are 
 wise, they will desire above all things to 
 belong to Christ's flock. I hope all of 
 you will commit to memory the twenty- 
 third Psalm. It is beautiful. " The Lord 
 is my shepherd ; I shall not want. He 
 maketh me to lie down in green pas- 
 tures: he leadeth me beside the still 
 waters. He restoreth my soul : he lead- 
 eth me in the paths of righteousness for 
 his name's sake. Yea, though I walk 
 through the valley of the shadow of 
 death, I will fear no evil; for thou art 
 with me; thy rod and thy staff they 
 comfort me. Thou preparest a table be- 
 fore me in the presence of mine enemies ; 
 thou anointest my head with oil; my cup 
 runneth over. Surely goodness and 
 mercy shall follow me all the days of my 
 life: and I will dwell in the house of 
 the Lord for ever." 
 
THE GOOD SHEPHERD. 29 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 God, we are sinners. We have all 
 gone astray like lost sheep. It is of thy 
 mere mercy that we have not perished 
 long ago. We would have thee for our 
 Shepherd. Do thou feed us, and protect 
 us, and guide us. Let us not fall a prey 
 to him who goeth about like a roaring 
 lion seeking whom he may devour. Put 
 thy spirit within us. If we go astray, 
 bring us back. When we are faint and 
 thirsty, lead us to the still waters of 
 salvation. Grant that we may find food 
 for our souls in thy precious word. 
 Help us to love thee more and more. 
 Let us not incline to our own ways or to 
 our own wills. If we are brought into 
 any danger, do thou be with us. May 
 we all belong to that one fold, of which 
 there is but one Shepherd. We ask all 
 for the sake of Jesus Christ, our Lord 
 and Saviour. Amen. 
 
 3* 
 
SERMON IV. 
 ®l)e Scat of (8>ob. 
 
 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wis- 
 dom. — Ps. cxi. 10. 
 
 The words of the text are also found 
 in Proverbs ix. 10. In Proverbs i. 10, 
 it is said : " The fear of the Lord is the 
 beginning of knowledge." Isaiah, speak- 
 ing of a good man, says : " The fear of 
 the Lord is his treasure."* 
 
 This holy fear does not consist at all 
 in dismay, nor is it mere dread and 
 terror. The true fear of God is always 
 found with the love of God. Fear of 
 God has always been a part of true reli- 
 gion, and it always will be. " They shall 
 fear Thee as long as the sun and moon 
 endure." f To fear God aright, we must 
 
 * Isa. xxxiii. 6. t Ps. Ixxii. 5. 
 
 30 
 
THE FEAR OF GOD. 31 
 
 have divine grace.* We must fear God 
 because he is great, and because he is 
 kind.f When Moses was in the mount 
 with God, and saw his glory, he said : 
 " I exceedingly fear and quake." When 
 Isaiah saw his glory, he said : " Woe is 
 me ! for I am undone ; because I am a 
 man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the 
 midst of a people of unclean lips : for 
 mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord 
 of Hosts." When one of the prophets, 
 Habakkuk, had a view of God, he said : 
 " My lips quivered at the voice; rotten- 
 ness entered into my bones, and I trem- 
 bled in myself." 
 
 When this fear of God is of the right 
 kind, it lasts all the day, and all the life. 
 The Bible says: " Happy is the man 
 that feareth always." " Be thou in the 
 fear of the Lord all the day long." J 
 And Paul says : " Work out your own 
 salvation with fear and trembling. § 
 
 * Heb. xii. 28. t Dan. ix. 4 ; Ps. cxxx. 4. 
 
 X Prov. xxviii. 14, and xxiii. 17. § Phil. ii. 12. 
 
32 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 Even Christ "was heard in that he 
 feared."* So that there is no true piety 
 without the fear of God. He who 
 thinks he has faith, and hope, and love, 
 and joy, but has no fear of God, is a 
 poor, vain creature. Some one may ask, 
 Does not John say "that perfect love 
 casteth out fear?"f I answer, Yes. But 
 the kind of fear of which he there 
 speaks, " hath torment." But this holy 
 fear, of which I speak, as a part of all 
 true piety, has no torment. 
 
 I wish to show you how much good this 
 fear of God will do us all, if we have it. 
 
 1. It keeps us from being ready to 
 join with the wicked, who would do 
 us harm. J " Tell me with whom you 
 go, and I will tell you who you are," is 
 a Spanish proverb ; and it is true. Bad 
 company is one of the worst things in 
 all the world. It ruins children, and it 
 ruins men. Almost every man who is 
 
 *Heb.v.7. fl Johniv. 18. 
 
 tlsa.viii. 12, 13. 
 
THE FEAR OF GOD. 33 
 
 punished for his crimes, says that he fell 
 into his bad ways by mixing with bad 
 boys or bad men. If he had feared God 
 as he should, he would not have gone 
 with them. 
 
 2. The fear of God drives away the 
 fear of man, which brings a snare. Je- 
 sus said, " I say unto you, my friends, 
 Be not afraid of them that kill the body, 
 and after that have no more that they 
 can do. But I will forewarn you whom 
 ye shall fear. Fear him, who, after he 
 hath killed, hath power to cast into hell; 
 yea, I say unto you, Fear him." He 
 who fears God, as he should, will do 
 right, even if men laugh at him, or curse 
 him, or even kill him. When the Apos- 
 tles said to the High Priest, and all that 
 were with him, " We ought to obey God 
 rather than men," * I think the fear of 
 God made them able to say so. 
 
 3. It gives us boldness, when we are 
 in the right. All the righteous fear God, 
 
 *Actsv. 29. 
 
34 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 and the wicked do not. And Solomon 
 says : " The wicked flee when no man 
 pursueth : but the righteous are bold as 
 a lion."* It is very bad to be always 
 afraid of every thing. Some seem to be 
 afraid of their own shadow. And many 
 are afraid to look mankind in the face. 
 But he who fears God " shall have a 
 place of refuge." 
 
 4. The fear of God greatly holds us 
 back from sin. The Bible says : " The 
 fear of the Lord is a fountain of life to 
 depart from the snares of death." " The 
 fear of the Lord is clean."f It keeps us 
 from sin more than any thing else does. 
 
 5. The fear of the Lord frees us from 
 great care about the world. I have 
 already said how Habakkuk was afraid 
 of God. But his fear freed him from 
 care. The very next words are, " Al- 
 though the fig-tree shall not blossom, 
 neither shall fruit be in the vine ; the 
 
 *Prov. xxviii. 1. See also Prov. xiv. 26. 
 t Ps. xix. 9. 
 
THE FEAR OF GOD. 35 
 
 labour of the olive shall fail, and the 
 fields shall yield no meat; the flock 
 shall be cut off from the fold, and there 
 shall be no herd in the stalls : Yet will 
 I rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the 
 God of my salvation. The Lord is my 
 strength, and he will make my feet like 
 hind's feet."* So you see that holy fear 
 and true joy go together. 
 
 6. When we fear God, as we should, 
 he comes down and dwells with us. 
 " The secret of the Lord is with them 
 that fear him ; and he will show them 
 his covenant." f God has many secrets, 
 which he reveals to them that fear him. 
 The world knows not these secrets, and 
 cares not for them ; but still they are 
 worth knowing. If you fear God, he 
 will teach you what they are, better 
 than I can tell you. 
 
 7. It is a great thing to fear God in a 
 time of general distress. Hear what 
 David says in such a time : " God, 
 
 *Hab. iii. 17—19. t Ps. xxv. 14. 
 
36 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 thou hast cast us off, thou hast scattered 
 us, thou hast been displeased ; turn 
 thyself to us again. Thou hast made 
 the earth to tremble; thou hast broken 
 *t: heal the breaches thereof; for it 
 haketh. Thou hast showed thy people 
 hard things: thou hast made us to 
 drink the wine of astonishment. Thou 
 hast given a banner to them that feared 
 thee, that it might be displayed because 
 of the truth." * I wish you would all 
 learn these verses by heart : 
 
 I'm a companion of the saints, 
 Who fear and love the Lord; 
 
 My sorrows rise, my nature faints, 
 When men transgress thy word. 
 
 While sinners do thy gospel wrong, 
 
 My spirit stands in awe ; 
 My soul abhors a lying tongue, 
 
 But loves thy righteous law. 
 
 My heart with sacred reverence hears ■ 
 The threatenings of thy word ; 
 
 My flesh with holy trembling fears 
 The judgments of the Lord. 
 * Ps. lx. 1—4. 
 
THE FEAR OF GOD. 37 
 
 My God, I long, I hope, I wait. 
 
 For thy salvation still ; 
 While thy whole law is my delight, 
 
 And I obey thy will. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 0, Lord God Almighty, I fear before 
 thee. Justly mightest thou shut me out 
 of heaven, but in mercy pardon me, 
 and teach me thy fear. I can do no- 
 thing of myself. But if thou wilt help 
 me, I shall be able to please thee. Let 
 thine own spirit make me of quick un- 
 derstanding in the fear of the Lord, for 
 Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
 M 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 Seeking tf>e Corir. 
 
 Seek ye the Lord while he may he found. 
 Isa. lv. 8. 
 
 I wish to tell you what it is to seek 
 the Lord, how to seek Him, and when to 
 seek Him. 
 
 I. What is it to seek the Lord ? To 
 
 seek the Lord, is to seek to know him. 
 
 We do not know Him until we are 
 
 taught. We are by nature in darkness 
 
 as to God. Of course we must seek to 
 
 learn his will, his love, his nature, his 
 
 right to rule us, and his way of saving 
 
 us. We must also seek his favour. We 
 
 are born in sin, and have not his favour 
 
 by nature. We need his favour. It is 
 
 life. It is better than life. If we have 
 38 
 
SEEKING THE LORD. 39 
 
 God on our side, all the world may be 
 against us, but we are safe. But if God 
 be against us, we are undone, even if all 
 men were for us. "We must also seek 
 God's image. By nature we are not like 
 God. We are more like Satan. Christ 
 said : " Ye are of your father, the devil." 
 It is a great thing to be like God, to 
 wear his image. If we would be like 
 Him, we must seek to be like Him. We 
 must also seek to serve God. His ser- 
 vice is freedom. David would serve 
 God as a door-keeper in his house, rather 
 than live a wicked life. No one ever 
 served God for nought. God treats all 
 his servants well. If we love Him, we 
 will seek to serve Him, and to please 
 Him. It is a great thing to please God. 
 We must also seek to commune with 
 God. He has said that He will make 
 his abode with those that love him. The 
 Psalmist was very happy when he said, 
 "The Lord of hosts is with us."* The 
 
 *Ps. xlvi. 11 
 
40 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 last words of John Wesley were : " The 
 best of all is, God is with us." We must 
 also seek to be with God, when we shall 
 be no longer in this world. Paul sought 
 to be with him. He said it was far bet- 
 ter to be with Christ than to be in this 
 world. We must long to dwell with 
 God. We must hasten to the coming 
 of the day of the Son of Man. It is hea- 
 ven to be for ever with the Lord. 
 
 II. But how must we seek Him ? This 
 is a very great point. Many seek, and 
 never find, because they seek amiss. I 
 say, then, we must seek humbly. " God 
 resisteth the proud." "The wicked, 
 through the pride of his countenance, 
 will not seek after God." No less than 
 ten times is it said in the four gospels : 
 " He that humbleth himself shall be ex- 
 alted ; but he that exalteth himself shall 
 be abased." We must humble our hearts 
 in the dust. No man ever was too 
 lowly. There is no ground of fear that 
 you will think too little of yourself. God 
 
SEEKING THE LORD. 41 
 
 " giveth grace to the humble." Confess 
 in your heart that you are very sinful, 
 very guilty, very vile. The publican 
 was humble, and God saved him. Paul 
 was humble, and he did not perish. The 
 woman of Canaan was humble. She was 
 not angry when Christ spake of her as a 
 dog. True humility is not easily offend- 
 ed. She got what she wanted. 
 
 You must also seek God from day to 
 day, and to the end of your life. One 
 man said he would seek God for six 
 months. He never found him, while he 
 was in that mind. You must hold on as 
 long as you live. 
 
 The fearful soul, that tires and faints, 
 And walks the ways of God no more, 
 
 Is but esteemed almost a saint, 
 
 And makes his own destruction sure. 
 
 " If any man draw back," says God, 
 "my soul hath no pleasure in him." 
 You must also seek God supremely. 
 That is, you must seek him above all 
 things else. You must seek him more 
 
42 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 than health, and friends, and ease, and 
 riches, and life itself. Church history 
 tells of a very little boy, that gave up 
 his life, rather than cease to seek the 
 Lord. As long as you love something 
 else more than God, your heart will go 
 after it in spite of you. "You cannot 
 serve God and mammon." " If any man 
 love the world, the love of the Father is 
 not in him." You must leave all for 
 Christ. You must give up all to Christ. 
 The Lord is worthy of your whole heart, 
 because he is the Lord. If you seek him 
 thus, you shall find him. He says, " Ye 
 shall seek me, and find me, when ye 
 shall search for me with all your heart."* 
 You must seek the Lord through 
 Christ. If God ever saves you, it will 
 not be for your sake ; it will be wholly 
 for Christ's sake. You have no merit. 
 What holy thing did you ever do ? But 
 Jesus Christ is worthy. In him the 
 Father is well pleased. Christ never 
 *Jer. xxix. 13. 
 
SEEKING THE LORD. 43 
 
 sends away any that come to him. He 
 says, " Him that cometh to me, I will in 
 nowise cast out."* That is as true of 
 little children as of any others. 
 
 III. But zvhen must you seek the Lord ? 
 I answer, you must seek him in this life, 
 and not in the next ; " for there is no 
 work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor 
 wisdom, in the grave whither thou 
 goest."f You ought to seek the Lord 
 while in health, and not wait till you are 
 sick. When we are sick, we are in a 
 poor state for so great a work. A sick 
 young man once said, " I am so sick that 
 I cannot think." If one cannot think, 
 how can he turn to the Lord? You 
 ought to seek the Lord in your youth. 
 He says, "I love them that love me; 
 and those that seek me early shall find 
 me." % Jeremiah and John the Baptist 
 had found the Lord before they were 
 near as old as you. Samuel and Josiah 
 also loved God when they were quite 
 * John vi. 37. tEccl. ix. 10. jProv. viii. 17. 
 
44 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 young. If you do not love God when 
 you are young, it may be that you will 
 never love him at all, for you may die 
 even while you are a child. And if you 
 die in sin, it had been good for you if 
 you had never been born. Now, God 
 calls you by his word, his ministers, and 
 his Spirit. 0, yield yourselves to God. 
 I once saw a boy about to die. He told 
 me to tell you, not to put off religion as 
 he had done. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Most Holy and Kind God, our Fa- 
 ther in heaven! Thou hast said, " Seek 
 ye my face." Give us hearts to say, 
 « Thy face, Lord, will we seek." We are 
 blind, and cannot see afar off. Do thou 
 teach us. We are guilty, do thou for- 
 give us. We are unholy, do thou cleanse 
 us. We have served the wicked one, 
 bring us to serve thee. Help us to walk 
 with God, and to draw our hopes and 
 comforts from thy holy word. To this 
 
SEEKING THE LORD. 
 
 45 
 
 end, give us humble hearts. Let us 
 never tire, nor grow weary in trying to 
 please thee. Let us love thee above all 
 things. Teach us how to put our trust 
 in Christ alone. Give us not up to our 
 own vile hearts. Grant that our child- 
 hood, and our best days, yea, and all our 
 lives, may be given to God. When we 
 die, may we die the death of the right- 
 eous, and our last end be like his. We 
 a, c : x all, for Christ's sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON VI. 
 
 Sip Stubs of tlje Sible. 
 
 Search the Scriptures. — John v. 39. 
 
 The Scriptures are the word of God, 
 In them God speaks to every man that 
 hears or reads his holy word. " Blessed 
 is he that readeth, and they that hear 
 the words of this prophecy."* It is 
 every one's duty to "search the Scrip- 
 tures." Christ says so in the text. Let 
 me ask you to attend to some things 
 which I wish to say on this subject. 
 
 I. The study of the Bible is a great 
 matter. That holy book treats of God, 
 of man, of time, of eternity, of heaven, 
 and of hell. It speaks only truth on all 
 matters. He who knows the Bible well, 
 may be wise, and good, and happy, 
 
 *Rev.i.3. 
 46 
 
THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 47 
 
 though he never sees any other book. 
 The Bible is full of truths, even of the 
 Tery greatest truths. As there is no 
 God like the true God; so there is no 
 book like God's book. It does more 
 good in the world than all other books 
 beside. All, whose hearts were not 
 wicked, have found it sweeter than 
 honey, and more precious than gold. 
 
 II. It is true you will find some hard 
 things in the Bible. " It is like a lake, 
 bo deep fn the middle, that an elephant 
 may evrvn in it, but along the shore a 
 lamb m.3y wade and not be drowned." 
 If you air? i child, like the lamb, you can 
 walk near the shore. There may be 
 things in C\ie Bible, that you will never 
 fully knon* : but if your heart is right 
 with God, /ou can learn all that you 
 need to kn» w. It is true, our minds are 
 very weak The greatest man knows 
 but very litJe of what might be known. 
 But where was there ever a man, or 
 even a chUd, that searched the Scrip- 
 
48 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 tures, and did not learn that which 
 ought to do him good ? 
 
 III. I will now tell you what you 
 must be, and what you must feel, if you 
 would get much good by searching the 
 Scriptures. You must love the truth. 
 You know you ought to love it. He 
 who does not love it, must still be in his 
 sins. You ought to love the truth much. 
 You ought to love it more than you love 
 money, or sleep, or play, or any thing 
 else. You ought not to think that you 
 now know much; but you ought to 
 search the Bible with low thoughts of 
 your own mind, for it is very weak. 
 When any thing is hard, ask those who 
 can teach you. You ought also to read 
 the Bible in the fear of God. I have 
 known some people to make a jest of 
 the truths of Scripture. I hope you 
 will never do that. The great and good 
 Luther said, " When God would destroy 
 a man, He lets him make a jest of sa- 
 cred things." If you wish to have mirth, 
 
THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 49 
 
 let it not be profane, but innocent. If 
 you would learn much, you must search 
 the Scriptures often, and day by day. A 
 very wise man said : " Get a little at a 
 time, and as often as you can, and you 
 will soon know a great deal." 
 
 You must also be patient, and not 
 hasty. No one expects little children to 
 think and study as much as old people 
 ought to do. Still, they may search the 
 Bible much more than most of them do. 
 You must also pray to God to open your 
 eyes. David was a great and good man. 
 Yet he often prayed thus : " Teach me 
 thy statutes ; open thou mine eyes, that 
 •I may behold wondrous things out of 
 thy law." If David had need to pray 
 thus, surely you ought to ask God to 
 teach you. If you would learn much, 
 and well, you must practise what you 
 learn. The best way to keep the word 
 of God in mind, is to keep it in your 
 life. Jesus Christ says : " If any man 
 will do his will, he shall know of the 
 
50 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 doctrine, whether it be of God." James 
 says, " If any man be a hearer of the 
 word, and not a doer, he is like unto a 
 man beholding his natural face in a glass : 
 for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his 
 way, and straightway forgetteth what 
 manner of man he is."* The Bible is 
 a looking-glass. It shows us what we 
 are, and we ought to look into it very 
 often, and do what we find it teaches. 
 Practice is the very life of piety. To 
 know what is right, and not do it, is 
 wicked, for " to him that knoweth to do 
 good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin."f 
 IV. He who will thus search the 
 Scriptures, shall come to know a great 
 deal about the greatest things. David 
 says that he knew more than all his 
 teachers, and more than the ancients, 
 because he studied and kept God's word. J 
 The entrance of God's words giveth 
 light. You need not be afraid that you 
 
 * Jas. i. 23, 24. t Jas. iv. 17. 
 
 X See Ps. cxix. 99, 100. 
 
THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 51 
 
 will soon learn all that is in the Bible. 
 It is like a gold mine, where a man may 
 dig every day of his life, and find much 
 gold, and yet there will be plenty left 
 for all his children to dig as much as 
 they want all their lives. The word of 
 God is also a great comfort to us when 
 we are sad and afflicted. Indeed, it is 
 the only comfort we sometimes have. 
 David says, " Unless thy law had been 
 my delight, I should then have perished 
 in mine affliction."* 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. How thankful you ought to be that 
 you have God's holy word. Thousands 
 and millions of children have it not. I 
 hope you all do what is in your power 
 to help to send the Bible all over the 
 world. Could not each of you save a 
 little money, and give it to this good 
 cause ? Try. 
 
 2. It is right for little boys and girls 
 
 * Ps. cxix. 92. 
 
52 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 to have some time to play. If you 
 would take less time to play, and more 
 to read the Bible, would it not be better? 
 I would be glad, and I do not think any 
 of you would ever be sorry, if you would 
 get a great deal of Scripture by heart. 
 You could very soon get a whole Psalm, 
 or a whole chapter, and then it would be 
 yours for life. When a priest took the 
 New Testament from a little boy, in 
 Russia, and burned it, the boy said : "I 
 have got the first seven chapters of 
 Matthew by heart. I guess you can't 
 burn that !" I read, not long ago, of a 
 boy, who got only one verse by heart, 
 and when he grew to be a man, it was 
 the means of his salvation. I hope you 
 have all learned the twenty-third psalm 
 by this time. 
 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 Lord, thy word is truth. We 
 thank thee for the Bible. We thank 
 thee that we can read it and hear it. It 
 
THE STUDY OF THE BIBLE. 53 
 
 is better than all other books. It con- 
 verts the soul; it makes wise the simple; 
 it rejoices the heart; it tells us the 
 greatest things and the best things. 
 Give us grace to love it, and to do what 
 it requires. Give us thy Holy Spirit to 
 open our eyes, that we may see clearly 
 what our duty is, and what thy will is. 
 In mercy give us faith, that we may be- 
 lieve with our hearts all that thou hast 
 spoken. We ask all for Christ's sake. 
 Amen. 
 
 5* 
 
SERMON VII. 
 ttlje tonrtl) of tlje Qonl 
 
 Ye are of more value than many sparrows. 
 Luke xii. 7. 
 
 The birds, here called sparrows, were 
 quite small, and were sold in the market 
 at Jerusalem. People ate them. 
 
 I wish to prove that you, little chil- 
 dren, are worth more than many spar- 
 rows. You are worth more than they 
 are, not because God made you, and did 
 not make them ; for the same God that 
 made little birds also made little boys 
 and little girls. 
 
 Nor are you worth more than they, 
 
 because you are larger. Your worth does 
 54 
 
THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 55 
 
 not depend upon your size ; and if they 
 were as large as a camel, you would still 
 be worth more than many of them. 
 
 Nor are you worth more than they, 
 because you would sell for more money 
 in the market. I do not know that any- 
 body would buy you, if you were set up 
 to be sold. But if they did, they would 
 not give many, many, many, millions of 
 dollars, and you are worth more than 
 all that. 
 
 Nor are you worth more than the little 
 birds, because you wear better clothes, for 
 your clothes are not so pretty as their's. 
 Even Solomon, in all his glory, was not 
 arrayed like the humming-bird, the pea- 
 cock, or the bird of paradise. 
 
 Nor are you worth more than they, 
 because you can sing more sweetly than 
 they can. For the notes of some of them 
 cannot be beaten. 
 
 Nor are you worth more than they, 
 because you live in this world longer. 
 Hany little children die sooner than the 
 
56 
 
 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 humming-birds ; and the eagle lives to be 
 more than a hundred years old. Some 
 have said that the elephant lives four 
 hundred years, and that the whale lives 
 a thousand years, and you are of more 
 value than all these. 
 
 Do you ask, why you are worth more 
 than many sparrows ? I will tell you. 
 
 1. You can know God, and the birds 
 and beasts cannot know him. You now 
 know something of God. You ought to 
 read, and ask questions, and pray God to 
 teach you to know more of him. " To 
 know God and Jesus Christ, whom he 
 has sent, is life eternal ." No knowledge 
 is so good, so pure, or so useful as the 
 knowledge of God. 
 
 2. You can love God, and the birds 
 and beasts cannot. How can they love 
 him, if they cannot know him? You 
 ought " to love him with all your heart, 
 and soul, and strength, and mind." " God 
 is love ;" and he that dwelleth in love, 
 dwelleth in God; he that " loveth is bora 
 
THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 57 
 
 of God." He that loves God keeps 
 God's law ; " for love is the fulfilling of 
 the law." 
 
 3. You can fear God, but the birds 
 and beasts cannot. " The fear of the 
 Lord is the beginning of wisdom." A 
 child, that in his heart fears God, all the 
 day long, will never want any good thing. 
 If his father and mother forsake him, the 
 Lord will take him up. If he is sick, 
 God will watch over him, "and make 
 all his bed in his sickness." " Blessed is 
 he that feareth always." 
 
 4. You can praise God in a way the 
 birds and beasts cannot. You can praise 
 him in your heart. They have no heart 
 to praise him with. You can praise him 
 as the angels in heaven do. You ought 
 to praise him, for he is so good, and wise, 
 and holy, and just, and true, and kind, 
 and merciful. He has been very good 
 to you. When any one gives you an 
 apple, or an orange, or a cup of cold 
 
58 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 water, you say, "I thank you." God 
 has given you all things richly to enjoy. 
 God is much honoured when little chil- 
 dren sincerely praise him. The little 
 birds cannot say as you may all say : 
 
 " I'll praise my Maker with my breath ; 
 And when my voice is lost in death, 
 
 Praise shall employ my nobler powers ; 
 My days of praise shall ne'er be past, 
 While life and thought and being last, 
 
 Or immortality endures." 
 
 5. You can be like God, and the birds 
 and beasts cannot. If you would be like 
 him, you must be born again, and get 
 new hearts. I do not mean that you can 
 be like him in all things, but I mean you 
 can be like him in goodness, in truth, in 
 love, and mercy. 
 
 6. And if you are like him, you shall 
 be with him when you die. But the 
 birds and beasts go down to the dust, 
 and there is no more of them. It is a 
 great thing to be with God, to see his 
 
THE WORTH OF THE SOUL. 59 
 
 glory, and to serve him day and night 
 And if you do not go to God when you 
 die, you will go to hell. 
 
 7. You are worth more than the birds 
 and beasts, because they live only a few 
 years, and you will live as long as God 
 exists, — even for ever and ever. Now, 
 have not I proved that you are worth 
 more than many sparrows ; yea, than all 
 birds, and beasts, and fishes ? 
 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 God, thou didst make us, and not 
 we ourselves. Thou hast given us 
 friends, and food, and raiment, and shel- 
 ter, and teachers, and the blessed Bible. 
 We ought to love thee. Give us new 
 hearts. Keep us from the evil that is in 
 the world. Let us not be unkind to one 
 another, nor cruel to any living thing. 
 Help us to think much of Thee. Give 
 us faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, who 
 died for us. Cause us to think much of 
 
60 
 
 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 the value of our souls, and of our need 
 of mercy, and when all living things on 
 earth, and the earth itself, shall be burn- 
 ed up, let us dwell with thee, for Christ's 
 sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 iDe all belong to <5oir. 
 
 Ye are not your own. — 1 Cor. vi. 19. 
 
 A little boy found a knife, and the 
 first thing he said, was, " It is very hand- 
 some." He looked at it a little while, 
 and then said : " It is not mine. I should 
 love to have a knife, but I wish the owner 
 of this knife had it." So he asked all 
 the boys that he met, the question : 
 "Whose knife is this?" At last he 
 found the owner, and gave it to him. 
 One boy said, " If I should find a knife, 
 I should keep it, and not tell any one." 
 But it would have been mean, and 
 wicked too, to keep that which was not 
 his own. It would have been a kind of 
 stealing. The commandment says, " Thou 
 shalt not steal." When he had found 
 
 the owner, and given up the knife, he 
 6 61 
 
62 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 felt that he had done right. We ought 
 all to give to every one what is his own. 
 
 Now you do not belong to yourselves, 
 nor to any man. You belong to God 
 alone. Both your soul and body are his. 
 I will prove it. 
 
 I. He made you. A boy went out 
 and got a piece of wood, and made a 
 bow and arrow. Now, it was his, be- 
 cause he made it. It would have been 
 wrong for any other boy to have taken 
 it, and carried it away. He, who made 
 it, had a clear right to it, because he had 
 made it. So God made your soul and your 
 body. No one else made you. " He that 
 built (or made) all things is God." " The 
 sea is his, and he made it, and his hands 
 formed the dry land." * Therefore, the 
 sea and the dry land belong to God. If, 
 when a boy or a man makes a thing, it 
 is his, why, when God makes a thing, 
 should it not be his also ? We have be- 
 longed to God ever since we were born, 
 *Ps. xcv. 5. 
 
WE ALL BELONG TO GOD. 63 
 
 and we shall be bound to love him, and 
 serve him to all eternity. 
 
 II. God, as our king, has a right to 
 us. He is strong, and wise, and good. 
 He can rule us, and guide us, and help 
 us. He is just such a king as we all 
 need over us. "For the Lord is a great 
 God, and a great King above all gods." 
 Men sometimes try to rule over us, when 
 they have no right to do it. But God 
 has all right. He is so strong, that he 
 can do any thing. He is so wise, that 
 he cannot err. He is so good, that he 
 cannot be unkind. There is none like 
 him. It is better for us to belong to 
 God, than to belong to ourselves, or to 
 any one else. If God were to give us 
 up, and never again to claim us as his own, 
 it would be the worst thing in the world 
 for us. 
 
 III. God has kept you, and blessed 
 you all your days. He has been a friend 
 and a father to you. He has heaped 
 many blessings upon you. He has given 
 
64 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 you life, and food, and raiment, and 
 friends, and books, and teachers, and all 
 the health and joy you have had. None 
 has been so kind to you as God. None 
 could have done so much for you as God 
 has done. It must be very wicked to 
 claim to be your own, when you belong 
 to God. He says, " Hear, heavens, 
 and give ear, earth : for the Lord 
 hath spoken; I have nourished and 
 brought up children, and they have re- 
 belled against me. The ox knoweth his 
 owner, and the ass his master's crib: 
 but Israel doth not know, my people 
 doth not consider."* If the ox knows 
 his owner, you ought to know your 
 owner. If the ass knows his master's 
 crib, you ought to know the hand tha x 
 feeds you. Again, God says, "A son 
 honoureth his father, and a servant his 
 master : if then I be a father, where is 
 mine honour? and if I be a master, 
 where is my fear ?" 
 
 *Isa. i. 2,3. 
 
WE ALL BELONG TO GOD. 65 
 
 IV. All of you who have, or have had 
 a pious father or mother, belong to God 
 by their vows. Every Christian, who 
 has children, loves to give them and all 
 he has to God, and he begs God to take 
 them. He is not more afraid of any 
 thing than of having God reject his gifts. 
 And if your parents were not pious, they 
 ought to have been, and they ought to 
 have given you to God. Samuel's mo- 
 ther gave him to God. Your parents 
 had a right to give you to God. They 
 were bound to give you to him. What 
 sort of a Christian would that be, who 
 would say, " Lord, I give thee my soul 
 and my body, but I will not give thee 
 my time, nor my money, nor my chil- 
 dren?" You belong to God, every one 
 of you. 
 
 V. Jesus Christ has a right to you, be- 
 cause he died for sinners. It was great 
 love in Christ to come, and suffer, and 
 die for so vile creatures as we all are. 
 
 Every one, who shall ever be saved, has 
 6* 
 
66 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 been bought with a price far above his 
 value. Peter says, " Ye know that ye 
 were not redeemed with corruptible 
 things, as silver and gold; . . . but with 
 the precious blood of Christ, as of a Lamb 
 without blemish, and without spot." * If 
 you will not yield yourselves to God out 
 of love to Christ, I cannot say less than 
 that your hearts are very wicked. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. God asserts and always will assert 
 his right to you and to all men. He 
 says, " All souls are mine." f He says, 
 "The world is mine, and the fulness 
 thereof." J 
 
 2. God will enforce his right to you, 
 and to all men. He says he is " A jea- 
 lous God." That is, he is jealous of his 
 own rights. He says again, " My glory 
 will I not give to another." And again, 
 " The soul that sinneth, it shall die." 
 
 3. It is very wicked not to give God 
 * 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. tEzek. xviii. 4. JPs. 1. 12. 
 
WE ALL BELONG TO GOD. 67 
 
 his own. Sin is robbery. " Will a man 
 rob God? Ye* ye have robbed me."* 
 If it is wrong to take a bow and arrow 
 from the boy, to whom they belong, it 
 must be very wrong indeed not to give 
 ourselves to God ; for we all belong to 
 Him. 
 
 4. All who have given their hearts 
 and themselves to God have done right. 
 They have done their duty; but they 
 have done no more than their duty. It 
 would have been a great sin to have 
 done less. that you would give your 
 hearts to him. It would be the very 
 best thing you ever did. You would be 
 glad of it, not only as long as you live, 
 but for ever and ever. Will you give 
 him your heart ? Say, — will you ? 
 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 Lord, we are not our own. Our 
 hands, and feet, and head, and heart, 
 and soul, and mind, and strength, and 
 * Mai iii. 8. 
 
68 
 
 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 time, and body, and all belong to thee 
 Though we have sinned, do thou take 
 us, just as we are, and make us thine by 
 divine grace. Adopt us as thy children. 
 Let us never go astray from thee. Teach 
 us to keep thy word, and find delight in 
 serving thee. Apply to us the precious 
 blood of Christ, and be our God, and Fa- 
 ther, and friend for ever, for Christ's 
 sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON IX. 
 
 foje are all Sinners. 
 
 All have sinned. — Rom. iii. 23. 
 
 The law of God is given in the ten 
 commandments. This law is the rule 
 for us to live by. Every deed, and word, 
 and thought, which is not what this law 
 demands, is sinful. It is a wicked thing 
 to be a sinner ; for God's law is holy, just, 
 and good. God, who made us, has a 
 right to give us a law, and require us to 
 obey it. Not to obey it is sin. I shall 
 prove to you that we are all sinners. 
 
 I. God says so, and he always speaks 
 
 the truth. He says so in the text. " We 
 
 have all sinned." We are by nature 
 
 69 
 
70 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 sinners. Paul says, "We all were by 
 nature the children of wrath, even as 
 others."* We are born sinners. David 
 says, " Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, 
 and in sin did my mother conceive me."f 
 The young lion has as truly the nature 
 of a lion as if he were old. He may not 
 have yet roared and ravened on his prey ; 
 but he is a lion. A little child has not 
 done the many horrid deeds that old sin- 
 ners have done, but it has a sinful na- 
 ture, and it will soon show it. "The 
 wicked are estranged from the womb : 
 they go astray so soon as they be born, 
 speaking lies."{ It is the nature of the 
 Ethiopian to have a dark skin. It is 
 the nature of the leopard to have spots. 
 So it is the nature of men to love evil, 
 and hate good, and go away from God. 
 " In many things we offend all." That 
 is, " We all offend in many things." § 
 
 *Eph. ii. 3. IPs. li. 5. 
 
 % Ps. lviii. 3. § James iii. 2. 
 
WE ARE ALL SINNERS. 71 
 
 God also says, "There is none right- 
 eous, no, not one : There is none that 
 understandeth, there is none that seek- 
 eth after God. They are all gone out 
 of the way. There is none that doeth 
 good, no, not one." * " If we say that 
 we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, 
 and the truth is not in us."f We 
 are all sinners. God says so. He says 
 so often. If he had said it but once, it 
 would be true, and ought to be believed. 
 Surely we should believe him, when he 
 often says so. 
 
 II. All good men in the world confess 
 that they are sinners ; and if good men 
 are sinners, bad men must be sinners 
 also. Job says, (chap. xlii. 6,) " I abhor 
 myself, and repent in dust and ashes." 
 Isaiah says, (chap. vi. 5,) " Wo is me ! for 
 I am undone ; because I am a man of 
 unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of 
 a people of unclean lips." Every good 
 * Rom. iii. 10—12. 1 1 John i. 8. 
 
72 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 man confesses that, naturally, his " heart 
 is deceitful above all things, and despe- 
 rately wicked." * 
 
 III. All wise men show that in their 
 hearts they believe men are sinners. 
 They do not believe all they hear, and 
 that shows they think men are apt to 
 depart from the truth. Men put locks, 
 and bars, and bolts, to their houses and 
 goods, because they think they live in a 
 world where sin abounds. Every jail 
 and gallows proves that men are wicked. 
 All history shows that all men have be- 
 lieved this to be a wicked world, and 
 for good reasons too. For deceit, lying, 
 stealing, fraud, murder, treason, war, 
 violence, hatred, envy, and many great 
 sins make up the larger part of history. 
 Read it, and you will see. 
 
 IV. All men know that they are sin- 
 ners, although some do at times deny it. 
 Every man's conscience accuses him of 
 
 * Jer. xvii. 9. 
 
WE ARE ALL SINNERS. 73 
 
 some sin. There is no man who does 
 not often wish that he had not done cer- 
 tain things. a If our heart condemn us, 
 God is greater than our heart, and know- 
 eth all things." * Our hearts are often 
 very blind and dark; yet they often 
 condemn us. God knows all things. In 
 him is no darkness at all. Therefore, 
 he must see in us much that is wicked. 
 "The heavens are not clean in his sight."f 
 How very vile we must all be in God's 
 sight. Truly we are all sinners. 
 
 REMARKS. 
 
 1. If we are sinners, we ought to be 
 very sorry for it. We should repent 
 truly before God. We cannot be too 
 sorry that we have broken God's holy 
 law. We ought never to have done so. 
 
 2. We ought to hate sin. God hates it. 
 I do not know that God hates any thing 
 else but sin. We hate many kinds of 
 worms and creeping things; but God 
 
 • 1 John iii. 20. t Job xv. 15. 
 
 7 
 
74 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 does not hate them. He feeds them, 
 and keeps them alive. But he hates all 
 sin. He hates sin in all people. He 
 says, " Oh, do not this abominable thing 
 that I hate." * God does hate sin. You 
 ought to hate it. You ought to hate all 
 sin. You ought to repent of it. 
 
 3. But you never will truly hate sin 
 and repent of it until you get a new 
 heart. You must, therefore, be born 
 again. Jesus said, " Verily, verily, I 
 say unto thee; except a man be born 
 again, he cannot see the kingdom of 
 God." f The reason why you must be 
 born again, is, that your nature is wicked, 
 and your heart is in love with sin. Plead 
 with God to give you a new heart and a 
 new spirit. 
 
 Not all the outward forms on earth, 
 
 Nor rites that God has given, 
 Nor will of man, nor blood, nor birth, 
 
 Can raise a soul to heaven. 
 
 * Ter. liv. 4. t John iii. 3. 
 
WE ARE ALL SIXXERS. 75 
 
 Our nature's utterly depraved, 
 
 The heart a sink of sin : 
 Without a change we can't he saved ; 
 
 We must be born again. 
 
 4. How kind is God to offer mercy to 
 such sinners as we are. We deserve no 
 good thing. Yet he sends us many bless- 
 ings. Yea, he sends us the gospel, and 
 offers us pardon — a pardon bought with 
 blood. Surely we ought to accept his 
 offer. We ought to believe in Jesus. 
 
 5. To slight the Saviour, by not loving 
 him and trusting to him, is the worst 
 of sins. 
 
 let us pray. 
 
 God, Most High axd most Holy, 
 we adore thee for what thou art. We 
 praise thee for what thou hast done. 
 We humbly pray thee to give us broken 
 and contrite hearts. Give us godly sor- 
 row for all our sins, so that we may hate 
 them all, and hate them always. Take 
 
76 
 
 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 away the heart of stone out of our flesh, 
 and give us hearts of flesh ; put thy law 
 within us. Give us thy Holy Spirit. 
 Give us faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 and gave us for His sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 tDl)B Cljrist bicb. 
 Olirist died for our sins. — 1 Cor. xy. 3. 
 
 All men agree that Christ died. The 
 Jew says he died. The Christian says 
 so. Every one who knows any thing of 
 Christ, knows that he died, and that he 
 died on the cross. This is a great truth, 
 and all men ought to think of it. One 
 great end of the Lord's supper is to 
 "show forth the Lord's death till he 
 come," 
 
 The text says, Christ died for our 
 
 sins. All men who suffer, may be said 
 
 in some sense to suffer for sin. " Death 
 
 came by sin." Some pains are sent to 
 
 wean us from sin. Some pains are sent 
 
 on us to punish us for our own sins* 
 7* 77 
 
78 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 Some pains are sent on us to give us a 
 chance to glorify God by our patience 
 and submission to his holy will, and 
 thus also do good to others. But Christ 
 never did love sin, and never did any 
 thing sinful. He had no sin of his own. 
 He " knew no sin." He did not die for 
 his own sins. He had none to die for. 
 Yet he died, and he died for " sins." 
 
 The text says he died for our sins. 
 That makes it all plain. We had many 
 sins, and great sins too. He, the just, 
 died for us, unjust. He, the Holy One, 
 died for us, wicked ones. God is holy, 
 and hates sin with all his heart. God 
 has justly said, " The soul that sinneth, 
 it shall die." God cannot deny himself, 
 cannot give up his law. He cannot 
 deny his right to rule us and to punish 
 the wicked. Men are not kept out of 
 hell, because it would have been wrong 
 for God to send them there. We all 
 deserve to go to hell. Of his own mere 
 love and pity and kindness, and not at 
 
WHY CHRIST DIED. 79 
 
 all for our worth, Jesus Christ said to 
 his Father, " I will die for them, I will 
 take a body at the right time, and lay 
 down my life for them. Let them not 
 die. They deserve to die, but if I die 
 for them, then God can be just, and yet 
 save them. I will die in their place, in 
 their stead." The Father agreed to take 
 Christ at his word. By and by Christ 
 was born in Bethlehem. And when he 
 was about thirty-three years old, he died 
 as he had said he would. He died will- 
 ingly. He said, "I lay down my life. 
 No man taketh it from me." God was 
 well pleased both with Christ's life and 
 with his death. He showed this by 
 raising him from the dead the third day. 
 He was made under the law, that he 
 might redeem them who were under the 
 law. The curse was resting on us. 
 Christ bare the curse in his own body 
 and soul ; for his soul was full of pain 
 as well as his body. He was a fit per- 
 son to die for our sins. He was a man, 
 
80 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 and could fee] for us, and die for us. 
 He was also God. The Bible says so. 
 "The Word was God."* So he was 
 equal with the Father, and could have 
 power with God. He was also chosen 
 by God to this very work. He did the 
 work the Father gave him to do. He 
 did it all. He did it well. He was the 
 right one to die for us, and be at once 
 our Friend and the Friend of God. 
 
 He "died for our sins/' as the lamb 
 died for the sins of a Jew in old times. 
 When a Jew had sinned, he took, as 
 God said he should, a male lamb, that 
 had no spot nor blemish, and brought it 
 to the altar of God. Then the priest 
 took it and laid it on the altar, and the 
 poor Jew came and put his hands on its 
 head, and confessed his sins. The lamb 
 could not then be let loose any more. 
 It must die in the stead of the Jew, who 
 had sinned. It was made a curse for 
 him. It was a victim in his place. 
 * John i. 1. 
 
WHY CHRIST DIED. 81 
 
 The priest then took its life by shedding 
 its blood. The man went free, but the 
 lamb died for his sins against some of 
 the laws of Moses. So " Christ died for 
 our sins." When John the Baptist saw 
 Jesus coming to him, he said, " Behold 
 the Lamb of God, that taketh away the 
 sins of the world." * Christ had no spot 
 of sin about him. He was the priest 
 that made the offering. He offered his 
 own soul and body. Oh ! that all would 
 come to him, as the poor sinning Jew 
 came to his lamb ; and lay their hands 
 on him, and take Him for their lamb to 
 take away their sins. Those are sweet 
 words of a hymn : 
 
 My faith would Jay her hand 
 On that dear head of thine, 
 
 While like a penitent I stand, 
 And there confess my sin. 
 
 Jesus Christ is " the Lamb of God 
 that taketh away the sins of the world." 
 He takes away the sins of old and 
 * John i. 29 
 
82 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 young. If any one shall ever be saved, 
 it must be by Christ alone. The very 
 youngest child that goes to heaven is 
 saved by Christ. All old people who 
 escape hell are saved by Christ. This 
 is the best way to be saved. It is the 
 only way to be saved. Christ says, " I 
 am the way, the truth, and the life ; no 
 man cometh to the Father but by me." 
 If we have any right views of sin, or of 
 God, we will like this way. It suits us 
 so well. No other way does suit us at 
 all. Christ died for all our sins, and not 
 merely for some of them. And though 
 he was dead, he is alive again to care for 
 us, and to plead for us before God. He 
 is our advocate. When the blood of a 
 lamb was shed by a priest for a Jew, the 
 blood must be sprinkled soon, lest it 
 grow cold. But the blood of Christ is, 
 as it were, always warm. It is always 
 fit to be sprinkled on us to cleanse us 
 from guilt. So it is said in one of our 
 hymns. 
 
WHY CHRIST DIED. 83 
 
 Dear dying Lamb, thy precious blood 
 
 Shall never lose its power, 
 Till all the ransomed church of God 
 
 Be saved to sin no more. 
 
 No ! his blood shall never lose its power. 
 Oh ! the precious blood of Christ. You 
 all ought now to come to him and be 
 saved. You cannot take away your own 
 sins, nor can any man take them away. 
 They are too great and too many. But 
 Jesus can take them all away. "He is 
 able also to save them to the uttermost, 
 that come unto God by him." He has 
 saved millions on millions already. 
 How sweet it will be, when at last saved 
 in heaven by him, to sing of his love. 
 
 A poor Greenlander once heard for 
 the first time, how Christ died for our 
 sins, and he said, "If this Saviour died 
 for me, he shall be my Saviour :" and so 
 he became a Christian. If you hear and 
 read of the love of Christ to us and do 
 not love him also, that Greenlander will 
 
84 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 rise in the judgment, and condemn you 
 Will not each of you say ? 
 
 Here, Lord, I give myself away : 
 Tis all that I can do. 
 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 Thou kind and holy god; we thank 
 thee, that thou didst so love the world as 
 to give thy Son to die for our sins. We 
 ought to love thee. Draw us unto thee. 
 Let us not have our own way. Let us 
 not live in sin, and die in sin, since Jesus 
 has died for our sins. Help us to come 
 to Christ. Show us the right way to 
 come. Give us hearts to come. We ask 
 every thing in his name. Amen. 
 
SERMON XL 
 ©n flrager. 
 
 Ye ask and receive not, because ye ash amiss. 
 James iv. 3. 
 
 " All is not gold that glitters." And 
 all is not prayer that seems to be such. 
 It is a fact that prayer of some sort 
 forms a part of worship everywhere. 
 All nations have a word that means 
 prayer. But is it of the right kind ? Is 
 it prayer ? If it is, why is so little good 
 done by it? If it is not, we ought to 
 know it. To many it might be said: 
 " Ye ask and receive not, because ye ask 
 amiss." 
 
 The postures which we use will not 
 make us to be heard, nor cause us to fail 
 to be heard. David lay on the ground 
 
 and prayed all night for his child, but it 
 
 8 85 
 
86 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 died. Hezekiah lay in his bed with his 
 face towards the wall, and prayed, and 
 God added fifteen years to his life. The 
 Pharisees stood at the corners of the 
 street and prayed, and were not heard. 
 The publican " stood afar off" from the 
 rest, in the temple, and prayed, and was 
 heard. We ought to assume a posture 
 of reverence. Kneeling is a very proper 
 posture. But the posture may be right 
 and the prayer worthless. 
 
 So we may use the words of Scripture, 
 or of some other man, or men, or we may 
 use our own words, and we will be heard, 
 or not heard, according as our hearts are 
 right or wrong. Our words may be very 
 poor, and yet God may hear us. Our 
 words may be very fine, and yet we may 
 get no blessing. 
 
 Neither is God confined to any time 
 or place. We ought to be as much alone 
 as we can, when we offer our secret 
 prayers. But it is right to unite with 
 others in social and public prayers in 
 
ON PRAYER. 87 
 
 our houses and in the house of God, on 
 the Lord's day and on all days. 
 
 Whether God will hear a prayer does 
 not depend on its being long or short. 
 Repetitions are not forbidden, but " vain 
 repetitions" are. The publican's prayer 
 was short and was heard. The Phari- 
 see's was long, and wordy, and good for 
 nothing. Still prayers may be too long. 
 " Let thy words be few."* 
 
 But we ask amiss, when we do not 
 really wish for the things we ask for. This 
 is mocking God. Yet I fear many do it. 
 Augustine says, that at one time he 
 prayed to be preserved from a particular 
 sin, " but not yet." See to it that you 
 truly desire what you ask for. 
 
 We also ask amiss, when we do not 
 look and long for an answer to our 
 prayers. It is wrong to leave a prayer 
 as the ostrich leaves her egg in the sand, 
 to take care of itself. When we send a 
 letter to a friend, we look for an answer, 
 *Ecc. v. 2. 
 
88 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 until one comes. So if we are in good 
 earnest when we pray, we will at last 
 cry out : " Lord, how long ?" 
 
 We also pray in a sinful way, when 
 we have some wicked end to reach by 
 getting what we ask. " Ye ask and re- 
 ceive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye 
 may consume it upon your lusts." A 
 man may pray for life, or health, or 
 wealth, or wisdom, merely to please 
 himself, and not care whether he honours 
 God or not, so that he gets what he asks. 
 
 If we would get what we ask, we 
 must be careful to do to others as we 
 ask God to do to us. If you would ob- 
 tain mercy from God, be careful to show 
 mercy to all around you. If you ask 
 God to make you happy, try to make 
 every one around you happy. If you 
 wish God to pardon you, you must not 
 hate those who have done you harm. 
 "With what measure ye mete, it shall 
 be measured to you again." " If ye for- 
 give not men their trespasses, neither 
 
ON PRAYER. 89 
 
 will your heavenly Father forgive you 
 your trespasses." 
 
 We ask amiss, when we are not will- 
 ing to do or suffer what God may send 
 upon us. A man may pray for a good 
 harvest, yet if he sows no seed, the rich 
 harvest will not come. We may ask to 
 be made holy, but if we will not do what 
 God tells us, and try to avoid sin, we 
 will not be made holy. We must in our 
 hearts hate all sin, if we would have 
 our prayers heard. " If I regard iniquity 
 in my heart, the Lord will not hear 
 me."* 
 
 We ask amiss, when we think hard 
 of God for not giving us at once all we 
 ask for. We must be patient, and wait 
 his time. " Blessed are all they that 
 wait for him."f "I waited patiently 
 for the Lord, and he inclined unto me 
 and heard my cry."J Again, "I wait 
 for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in 
 
 *Ps. lxvi. 18. t Isaiah xxxviii. 18. 
 JPs. xl. 1. 
 
 8* 
 
90 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 his word do I hope. My soul waiteth 
 for the Lord more than they that watch 
 for the morning ; I say, more than they 
 that wateh for the morning."* 
 
 We ask amiss, when we do not ask in 
 faith. "He that cometh to God must 
 believe that he is, and that he is the re- 
 warder of them that diligently seek him." 
 Without faith it is impossible to please 
 him. We must see to it that we have 
 faith in God, and that we believe in 
 Jesus. We must ask all in the name 
 of Christ. He is worthy. He says, 
 " If ye ask any thing in my name, I will 
 do it." And our hearts must be in our 
 prayers. 
 
 Let us not ask amiss, but let us ask 
 aright. If we do ask aright, it will show 
 that we have true piety. All God's peo- 
 ple pray. Prayer is one of the first 
 things that a new-born soul delights in. 
 None of God's children are born dumb. 
 As soon as bloody Saul of Tarsus had a 
 * Ps. cxxx. 5, 6t 
 
ON PRAYER. 91 
 
 new heart, it was said of him, " Behold 
 he prayeth." And if we ask aright, we 
 shall get what we ask for, or something 
 better. For Christ has said, "Ask, and 
 it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall 
 find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto 
 you." And, f If ye being evil know how 
 to give good gifts unto your children, 
 how much more shall your Father, who 
 is in heaven, give good things to them 
 that ask him."* 
 
 " Jesus the Lord will hear 
 
 His people when they cry, 
 Yes, though He may a while forbear, 
 
 He'll help them from on high. 
 
 " His nature, truth, and love, 
 Engage him on their side ; 
 When they are grieved, his bowels move, 
 And can they be denied ? 
 
 " Then let us earnest be, 
 
 And never faint in prayer; 
 He loves our importunity, 
 
 And makes our cause his care." 
 
 ♦Matt, vii.7, 11. 
 
92 
 
 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Lord, teach us to pray. < We know 
 not what to ask for, nor how to ask for 
 any thing. Give us true faith. Show 
 us our sins, and our wants. Take away 
 all iniquity, and receive us graciously. 
 Help us to learn what our duty is, and 
 then give us grace to do it. We are 
 poor, and blind, and naked. Clothe us 
 with thy salvation. Send thy Spirit to 
 open our eyes, and to take of the things 
 of Christ and show them unto us. Make 
 us rich with the gifts of thy grace, for 
 Jesus' sake. Amen. 
 
SERMON XII. 
 
 ©n pleasing (Baft. 
 He pleased Cfod. — Heb. xi. 5. 
 
 The first man ever born into this 
 world, that we are sure loved God, was 
 Abel. The next after him who is men- 
 tioned as loving God, was Enoch, of whom 
 Paul in the text says, that " he pleased 
 God." I will now tell you something 
 about pleasing God. 
 
 I. By divine grace only can you 
 
 please God. • By the help of the Lord, 
 
 Enoch pleased him. God is not a hard 
 
 master. He does not ask any more than 
 
 is his due. His law is holy, just and 
 
 good. He is no tyrant. If we find it 
 
 hard to please him, it must be because 
 
 our hearts are wicked. If we will 
 
 93 
 
94 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 take hold of his strength by prayer, and 
 by faith, we shall be able to do his will. 
 Many do now please him, and millions 
 in days gone by have pleased him. To 
 do his will is life and peace. 
 
 II. There is very great need that we 
 should please God. We had better fail 
 to please anybody else, than fail to 
 please God. If he be angry with us, 
 all the world may smile on us, but it 
 will not do us any good. If he be 
 pleased with us, all the world may be 
 angry with us, but it will not do us any 
 real harm. God's smile is life and joy 
 and peace for ever. His frown is death 
 and despair for ever. Many have said 
 they would try to please God; but they 
 did not know their own hearts, and have 
 turned back to the world, and lost their 
 souls. Some made up their minds to 
 please him, cost what it might, and have 
 held on their way, and now they are 
 happy in heaven. 
 
 III. You cannot please God and man 
 
ON PLEASING GOD. 95 
 
 both. " The friendship of the world is 
 enmity with God : whosoever, therefore 
 will be a friend of the world is the enemy 
 of God."* Wicked men do not love to 
 see even little boys and girls trying to 
 please God. "When the chief priest 
 and scribes saw the children crying 
 in the temple, and saying Hosanna to 
 the Son of David; they were sore dis- 
 pleased."-} - I have seen men so wicked 
 that they would teach little children to 
 swear, and fight, and break the Sabbath. 
 The reason why they did so, was that 
 they did not please God themselves, and 
 they did not wish to see others trying 
 to please him. If you would please God, 
 you must not try to please yourself. 
 Christ did not please himself, but he 
 pleased his Father, who sent him. If you 
 would please God, you must be like 
 Christ. Enoch did not please himself, 
 nor the wicked men around him. 
 
 IV. The way to please God is to walk 
 * James iv. 4. t Matt. xxi. 15. 
 
96 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 with him, and not to walk with the 
 wicked. This is the way Enoch pleased 
 him. The Bible says, " he walked with 
 God." With whom is he walking who 
 tells lies, who loves to quarrel, who goes 
 to play on the holy Sabbath, who cheats, 
 or steals, or loves bad company ? Surely 
 he is not walking with God. That is 
 not the way Enoch walked. Those, who 
 do such things, walk with the devil. Be- 
 fore we are born again, none of us walk 
 with God. Our wills are opposed to his 
 will. Our views are opposite to his 
 views. Until we get new hearts, we 
 choose what he hates. 
 
 V. The way to walk with God is " by 
 faith."* This faith believes all God's 
 word to be true. It does not doubt any 
 of it. It takes the whole of it as the 
 word of God. It looks to Jesus as the 
 only Saviour. He, who has true faith, 
 casts himself wholly upon Christ; upon 
 Christ's blood for pardon, and upon 
 *Heb. v. 11. 
 
OX PLEASING GOD. 97 
 
 Christ's merits for acceptance with God, 
 and upon Christ's strength to help him 
 to do right. To him Christ is all and 
 in all. To come to Christ and to look 
 to Christ mean the same thing as to 
 have faith in him. Never did a sinner 
 perish, who had fled by faith to Christ. 
 He is the only friend that can do help- 
 less sinners good. that you loved him, 
 and would put your trust in him ! He 
 - would do you good as long as you live. 
 Many as young as you, and as wicked 
 as you, have gone to him, and found him 
 a precious Saviour. 
 
 VI. It is a blessed thing to please God. 
 Those, who walk with him, walk in truth, 
 and the truth makes them free. They 
 walk in the law of the Lord, and it is 
 perfect. They walk in love, and " God 
 is love.'' They have a promise that he 
 will keep them. " When a man's ways 
 please the Lord, he maketh even his 
 enemies to be at peace with him." Such 
 
 an one shall not be afraid of evil tidings, 
 9 
 
98 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 nor shall he perish. In himself he is 
 weak, but God is his strength. God will 
 build walls of fire round about him, so 
 that the wicked cannot get at him. 
 Yea, God will lift up his head above all 
 his enemies round about. Satan may 
 rage, and the world may be in arms, but 
 God will keep him in perfect peace. 
 One, who thus walks with him, has 
 peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. He also has sweet peace of con- 
 science. Nor is his heart at war with 
 any man. I once asked a poor Cherokee 
 Indian, how he felt towards his enemies, 
 when he was converted ? He said, " I 
 loved everybody, and felt as if I had no 
 enemies." Every man, who pleases God, 
 finds this to be a good way to live and 
 act. 
 
 " The day moves swiftly o'er his head 
 Made up of innocence and love." 
 
 " Enoch walked with God and was not; 
 for God took him." That is, Enoch went 
 to heaven without dying. I dare not 
 
ON PLEASING GOD. 99 
 
 say that you will not die, even if you do 
 please God. But I dare say that God will 
 be with you when you die, if you are one 
 of his. And 
 
 " Jesus can make a dying bed 
 Feel soft as downy pillows are.' 
 
 Many little children have found this 
 true. Each of you will find it true, if 
 you will but walk with God. 
 
 LET US PRAY. 
 
 Lord God of Enoch and of Elijah, 
 be thou our God. We greatly need thy 
 grace. Without it we never can be 
 saved. Thou hast said, " a new heart 
 will I give you, and a new spirit will I 
 put within you : and I will take away 
 the stony heart out of your flesh ; and I 
 will give you an heart of flesh ; And I 
 will put my Spirit within you, and cause 
 you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall 
 keep my judgments, and do them." 
 Lord, these are the very blessings we 
 need. grant all of them to every one 
 
100 
 
 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 of us. Thou hast also said, "not for 
 your sakes," do I this ; and that makes 
 us hope that thou wilt do it for us * We 
 ask all, yes all, not for our sakes, but 
 alone for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen 
 * Ezek. xxxvi. 26. 
 
SERMON XIII. 
 
 ©u fjonestg. 
 
 In all things willing to live honestly. — Heb. 
 xiii. 18. 
 
 To live honestly is to live justly, and 
 above reproach. It is to live so that no 
 man, who knows how we live, can truly 
 say any harm of us. Nothing is honest, 
 which is against justice or honour. 
 
 One may be able to keep out of jail, 
 and yet not "live honestly." All steal- 
 ing is dishonest. It may be but a pin, 
 or a marble, or an apple, that we steal, 
 but, if we take it slyly it is stealing. It 
 is wicked to steal from a brother, or 
 sister, or parent. We may not steal any 
 
 thing even if we need it. The eighth 
 9* 101 
 
102 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 commandment is, "Thou shalt not 
 steal."* 
 
 We do not live honestly, if we beg 
 when we can help it. It is a shame, 
 when we can help it. He is both mean 
 and unjust, who begs, when he might 
 help himself. We ought to bear a great 
 deal rather than beg. If we must beg, 
 we should be very careful not to lie also, 
 as some beggars do. Paul says, "We 
 beseech you, brethren, .... to do your 
 own business, and to work with your 
 own hands, as we commanded you ; that 
 ye may walk honestly toward them that 
 are without, and that ye may have lack 
 of nothing." f 
 
 We may also be dishonest in borrow- 
 ing: first, when we do not need what 
 we borrow, and then when we keep it 
 longer than we need it, or do not take 
 good care of it, and send it home. There 
 is a fine story told of a poor young man 
 in 2 Kings vi. 1 — 7. It is this : "And 
 
 * Ex. xx. 15. t 1 Thess. iv. 10—12. 
 
ON HONESTY. 
 
 103 
 
 the sons of the prophets said unto Elisha, 
 Behold now, the place where we dwell 
 with thee is too strait for us. Let us 
 go, we pray thee, unto Jordan, and take 
 thence every man a beam, and let us 
 make us a place there, where we may 
 dwell. And he answered, Go ye. And 
 one said, Be content, I pray thee, and 
 go with thy servants. And he answered, 
 I will go. So he went with them. 
 And when they came to Jordan, they 
 cut down wood. But as one was felling 
 a beam, the axe-head fell into the water: 
 and he cried, and said, Alas, master ! for 
 it was borrowed. And the man of God 
 said, Where fell it? And he showed 
 him the place. And he cut down a 
 stick, and cast it in thither; and the 
 iron did swim. Therefore, said he, 
 Take it up to thee. And he put out his 
 hand and took it." I like this story 
 very much. That must have been a 
 good young man. If he had not been, 
 he would not have said, " Alas ! master. 
 
104 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 for it was borrowed ;" but he would have 
 said, " Well, I don't care, for it was bor- 
 rowed." It was very kind in the good 
 old prophet to get the axe back for the 
 young man. Borrow not without neces- 
 sity. If you borrow any thing, take 
 good care of it, and send it home as soon 
 as you have done with it. In all things 
 live honestly. 
 
 Some are not honest in buying and 
 selling. Their rule is to buy at all 
 times as cheap as they can, and sell as 
 dear as they can. This is a wicked 
 rule. We often trade with those who 
 do not know the worth of the thing 
 bought or sold. It is cheating them, to 
 make the best bargain we can. Some 
 times we trade with those who are in 
 great want, and we fix our own prices, 
 and make them much too high, if we 
 sell, or too low, if we buy. Nor may 
 you make the best bargain you can, 
 when you use words that are not strictly 
 true. "It is naught, it is naught, saith 
 
ON HONESTY. 105 
 
 the buyer ; but when he is gone his way 
 then he boasteth." * There is a fair 
 price for every thing. Let that be paid 
 or taken for every thing. He who is 
 just and true, and loves his neighbour as 
 himself, will soon find out what a fair 
 price is. Almost all men use too many 
 words in buying and selling ; and when 
 too many words are used, there is almost 
 always a lie somewhere. 
 
 If we would live honestly, we must be 
 very careful not to run in debt, when we 
 see no sure way of paying. " Owe no 
 man any thing, but to love one another."f 
 We ought not only to pay our debts, but 
 to pay them at the time fixed. The law 
 of Moses made it a duty to pay every 
 man his hire to a day, and not to let the 
 sun go down upon it.J That was a 
 good law. Pay your debts to a day. 
 There is no better use of money than to 
 pay debts with it. 
 
 It is a bad thing for children to get 
 * Prov. xx. 14. t Rom. xiii. 8. $ Deut. xxiv. 14, 15. 
 
106 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 into the habit of exchanging or trading 
 away their things. It makes them do 
 wrong in many ways. It is also very bad 
 for them to bet. I cannot now tell all the 
 reasons. When you are older, you may 
 learn them. We ought to be honest to the 
 old and to the young, to the rich and to 
 the poor, to God and to man. " Render 
 unto God the things that are God's/' said 
 Christ. Give him all the praise, and 
 honor and service, which are his due. 
 
 Some are not honest in paying what 
 is due to the government of the land. 
 This is very wicked. Jesus Christ said, 
 "Render unto Csesar the things that are 
 Caesar's." And when they called for a 
 tax, and Christ had no money, he sent 
 Peter to catch a fish, in whose mouth 
 he found the money, and paid the tribute 
 both for himself and his master. We 
 ought all to be willing to pay our taxes. 
 Although little boys and girls do not 
 pay taxes, they should love to see it 
 done by all who owe taxes. It is very 
 
ON HONESTY. 107 
 
 wicked to wish to cheat the government. 
 We should soon all be in a very bad 
 way, if we had no rulers to keep order 
 and enforce the laws. Government is 
 of God. 
 
 We must take our rules of justice and 
 honour from the Bible. It is not right for 
 us to do a thing, merely because others 
 do it. Many men do very sinfully. 
 If we follow them in sin, we shall be 
 guilty before God. Nor is it enough for 
 us to do what is honest in the sight of 
 God alone. We must " provide things 
 honest in the sight of all men."* We 
 must not only do right, but we must 
 seem to do right. We must not let our 
 good be evil spoken off If you ever 
 think you have made a bad bargain, 
 still stick to it though to your hurt. 
 
 I feel bound to say, that even if we 
 snow justice and honour in all we do to 
 men, we cannot be saved, unless we have 
 ? ove to God and faith in Christ. He 
 * Rom. xii. 17. t See also 2 Cor. viii. 21 ; Ps. xv. 4 
 
108 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 who would go to heaven by his honesty, 
 and not by the merits of Christ, " is a 
 thief and a robber." * To try to go to 
 heaven in any other way than by Christ, 
 shows that we wish to rob him of the 
 honour of saving us. If we would please 
 God, we must give our hearts to Christ 
 as our Saviour. 
 
 PRATER. 
 
 lord, hold us up, and we shall be 
 safe. Our hearts are wicked, and we 
 will be sure to do very wrong, unless 
 thou keep us. Let us not be poor and 
 steal; let us never lie nor cheat. Teach 
 us to speak the truth in all things, and 
 at all times. Let us never set any 
 wicked thing before us. Grant us grace 
 to " render unto Caesar the things that 
 are Caesar's, and to God the things that 
 are God's." In all things may we live 
 honestly. We ask all in the name of 
 Christ alone. Amen. 
 
 * John x. L 
 
SERMON XIV. 
 
 Xom is il)e (Eime. 
 Behold, now is the accepted time. — 2 Cor. vi. 2. 
 
 An " accepted time/' is a good time, a 
 fit time, a time in which it would please 
 God for us to do a given work. Now is 
 the right time to make our peace with 
 God, to repent of sin, to believe in Jesus, 
 and to prepare for death, judgment, and 
 eternity. I shall prove this. 
 
 I. All things are ready. The Bible 
 is all written, and sent abroad. Minis- 
 ters are sent by God to offer us salvation. 
 Christ has died, and risen, and gone up 
 to heaven and is waiting for us to give 
 him our hearts. God has told us his 
 whole will concerning us. He has sent 
 
 us good teachers and good books. He 
 10 109 
 
110 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 will not again send his son to preach to 
 us, or to die for us. The door of mercy 
 is now wide open. All, who now come 
 to Christ are saved by him. The way is 
 as plainly pointed out as it ever will be. 
 Why should you longer live in sin ? The 
 terms of salvation will never change. 
 There will never be a better time than 
 the present. Your own wicked heart, 
 wicked people, and Satan, may oppose 
 you ; but if you yield to them now, they 
 will oppose you more by-and-by. When 
 I was a boy, I read of a fool on a jour- 
 ney. He came to a river, and there he 
 sat down Some one found him, and 
 asked him what he was doing. He said 
 he was waiting till all the water ran by. 
 You say " truly he was a fool." But 
 when you sit down, and refuse to go to 
 Christ until there is less to hinder you, 
 you act just like that fool. You will 
 gain nothing and may lose all by de- 
 lay. 
 
 II. It is a very painful thing to live 
 
NOW IS THE TIME. Ill 
 
 in doubt about any great matter. It is 
 very much so in regard to religion. God 
 says, "My son, give me thy heart." 
 Your conscience says you ought to do it. 
 But your wicked heart says, I will not 
 do it now, I will put it off a while. God 
 says, " except ye repent ye shall all like- 
 wise perish. " You know you ought to 
 repent, and as long as you will not, you 
 must feel guilty. When you think of 
 dying, you are very much afraid. When 
 you are serious or sad, a sense of guilt 
 makes you very unhappy. " There is 
 no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." 
 He who lives in sin must live in dread 
 of meeting God in anger. come now 
 to Christ, give him your heart, sinful as 
 it is. Make him your refuge and your 
 hiding-place. He is the Lamb of God, 
 that taketh away the sins of the 
 world. Believe in him, and this war 
 between your conscience and your wicked 
 heart will be at an end. Then "the 
 
112 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 peace of God shall rule in your heart by 
 Jesus Christ." 
 
 III. It is very wicked to put off re- 
 pentance, for "God now commands all 
 men everywhere to repent." It is true 
 you are young. But if you are old enough 
 to sin against God, you are old enough 
 to repent of that sin. If you are old 
 enough to hate God, you are old enough 
 to love him, and you ought to do it. 
 You ought not merely to think of doing 
 it, nor merely to intend to do it. You 
 ought to do it. "Thou shalt love the 
 Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and 
 with all thy soul, and with all thy mind ; 
 this is the first and great command- 
 ment."* It is not only a command of 
 God, but it is a good command. Not to 
 obey it is very wicked. It is as truly 
 wicked in a little boy or little girl not to 
 love God, as it is for old people. 
 
 IV. It is very dangerous for you to 
 put off repentance. You may die, and 
 
 * Matt. xxii. 37, 38. 
 
NOW IS THE TIME. 113 
 
 if you die in your sins, you will be lost 
 for ever. Many, younger than you, have 
 died, and are constantly dying. But if 
 you should not die. but live to grow 
 up, your heart will be harder, and your 
 sins will be stronger than they are now. 
 The force of bad habits will be far greater 
 when you shall be twenty or thirty years 
 old. You now feel at times " almost per- 
 suaded to be a Christian." Your heart is 
 very much softened at times. If you do 
 not now turn to God your heart will grow 
 harder, and harder, and harder every day. 
 God says, "if you will hear his voice, 
 harden not your hearts."* : 
 
 V. If you resist God's love, and refuse 
 his mercy a little longer, you will be 
 eternally undone. Men often lose their 
 best things simply by delay. They wish 
 and intend to do something, but they put 
 off doing it until it is too late. When 
 Hannibal could have taken Eome, he 
 would not, and when he would have taken 
 
 * Heb. iv. 7. 
 10* 
 
114 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 Rome lie could not. So when many 
 can come to Christ, they will not, and 
 put it off until it is too late. He that 
 sleeps in harvest shall starve in winter. 
 The present time is every one's harvest 
 for his soul. You cannot be too careful 
 to work out your salvation with fear and 
 trembling. You must watch and pray. 
 You must fight the good fight of faith. 
 You must flee for refuge to Jesus Christ. 
 You must hate all sin. You must love 
 what God loves. And you must do all 
 this now, in this life, or you must be un- 
 done for ever. This life may close in a> 
 day, or an hour. The very wood out of 
 which your coffin is to be made, may 
 now be in a shop close by you. If you 
 die without pardon and grace, you will 
 for ever utter the bitter cry : " The har- 
 vest is past, the summer is ended, and 
 we are not saved."* May God in infi- 
 nite mercy save you from an end so 
 terrible. 
 
 * Jer. viii. 20. 
 
NOW IS THE TIME. 115 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Lord, thou openest thy hand, and 
 suppliest the wants of every living thing. 
 Thou hast fed, and kept us all our days. 
 Thou hast a right to our time and to 
 our hearts. But we have sinned against 
 thee. Still thou art gracious, and art 
 able to save even us. Help us to feel 
 that now is our time. Let us not live 
 another day in sin. In mercy, Lord, 
 give us new hearts. Let us not put off 
 the great work of life for another hour. 
 We ask all for the sake of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Amen. 
 
SERMON XV. 
 
 ®f)e Cast Jtobgment* 
 And the looks were opened. — Rev. xx 12. 
 
 There is much said in the Scriptures 
 about books. Solomon says, " of making 
 many books there is no end."* In one 
 place we read of a great revival of reli- 
 gion, when " many of them, which used 
 curious arts, brought their books together, 
 and burned them before all men; and 
 they counted the price of them, and 
 found it fifty thousand pieces of silver."f 
 These books treated of magic, &c. Some 
 books are so bad that they ought to be 
 burned, lest they may do harm. Some 
 books are good, and ought to be read. Some 
 *Ecc. xii. 12. tActs xix. 19. 
 
 116 
 
THE LAST JUDGMENT. 117 
 
 are so good that they ought to be 
 studied. Daniel studied books, ch. ix. 2. 
 Paul was careful of his books.* He said 
 to Timothy, " give thyself to reading."-)- 
 The word Bible is a Greek word, and 
 means book. We call the word of God 
 The Bible, because we mean to say 
 that it is The Book, that is, that it is 
 the very best of books, the book of God. 
 The text, speaking of the last day, says, 
 " the books shall be opened."J God will 
 open them to show to all men what is 
 written in them, to prove that he has 
 done right. But what books shall be 
 opened ? 
 
 I. The book of conscience shall be 
 opened at that day. The work of the 
 
 *2Tim. iv. 13. tl Tim. iv. 13. 
 
 Jit is not to be understood that there will be 
 any real books used at the judgment day. The 
 great God needs no record to enable him to remem- 
 ber our actions, but as men are obliged to make 
 and use such records in this world, God is spoken 
 of as doing the same thing. 
 
118 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 Mw "is written in the hearts of men," 
 " their consciences also bearing witness, 
 and their thoughts the meanwhile accus- 
 ing or else excusing one another."* In 
 this life we often refuse to read the book 
 of conscience, but God will make us read 
 it at the last day. Many years after 
 Joseph's brethren had sold him into 
 bondage they were in trouble, and then 
 they read in the book of conscience these 
 words, " we are verily guilty concerning 
 our brother." So at the last day God 
 will open the book of every man's con- 
 science, and make him see what is in it. 
 We may shut our eyes now ; we may re- 
 fuse to obey our consciences, or listen to 
 their voice ; but we will not be able to 
 do so any longer, when God shall say, 
 " Awake ye dead and come to judgment." 
 II. God will open the book of Holy 
 Scripture. Jesus Christ says, " he that 
 rejecteth me and receiveth not my word, 
 *Rom. ii. 15. 
 
THE LAST JUDGMENT. 119 
 
 hath one that judge th him : the worcf, 
 that I have spoken, it shall judge him 
 in the last day."* Some persons will 
 not read the Bible now. Some are so 
 wicked that they will not let others read 
 it. Many, who do read it, make a jest 
 of it, laugh at its most solemn truths, and 
 never obey it. Some pretend to obey 
 the parts which, they like, but they do 
 not even try to obey all. Some love the 
 whole Bible. Every thing in it is in 
 their view good. All these persons shall 
 be judged by the Bible. The great 
 " flying roll" of God's law will hang 
 down from the judgment-seat, and on it 
 will be written, " The soul that sinneth 
 it shall die." u Cursed is every one that 
 continueth not in all things that are 
 written in the book of the law to do 
 them." The Gospel will also be opened, 
 and in it will be found these words, " If 
 any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 *John xii. 48. 
 
120 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 let him be Anathema Maranatha," which 
 means, let him be accursed, when the 
 Lord cometh. Those, who will not 
 judge themselves by the Bible here, 
 shall be judged by it there. 
 
 III. God will also then open the 
 "Book of Remembrance."* In it will 
 be found a record of the name of every 
 man, woman, and child that shall have 
 been on the earth. It will also give a 
 true and full account of all that every 
 one has ever felt, or thought, or said, or 
 done: God never forgets any thing good 
 or bad done by anybody. He writes it 
 all in his book of remembrance. Secret 
 sins and secret acts of piety, open sins 
 and open acts of piety, will all be found 
 written in that book. When John 
 Quincy Adams, who was once President 
 of the United States, died, in the year 
 1848, it was said that he had left seventy 
 pretty large volumes, written by him- 
 * See Mai. iii. 16. 
 
THE LAST JUDGMENT. 121 
 
 self, and giving an account of what he 
 had seen, and said, and heard, and done, 
 since he was a young man. The book 
 of remembrance must be very large, to 
 contain an account of all that was ever 
 thought, and said, and done by all human 
 beings, that ever lived. None but God 
 could keep such a book. None but God 
 will be able to open it. Both saints 
 and sinners will be very much surprised 
 when they shall see all that is written 
 in it * 
 
 IV. But God has another book. It 
 is "the book of life."f Every one's 
 name is in the book of remembrance ; 
 but every one's name is not in the book 
 of life. This book is called, " The book 
 of life of the Lamb, slain from the 
 foundation of the world." There will 
 be more sorrow among the wicked, and 
 
 * See Matt. xxv. 31—46. 
 
 t Phil. iv. 3 ; Rev. iii. 5, xiii. 8, xvii. 8, xx, 12. 
 15, xxi. 27, xxii. 19. 
 
 11 
 
122 SHORT SERMONS. 
 
 more joy among the righteous at the 
 opening of the book of life, than of all 
 the other books. It will contain the 
 names of all those, and of only those 
 "who have washed their robes and 
 made them white in the blood of the 
 Lamb." In this world, men are often 
 very anxious to have their names writ- 
 ten in books of history, but I would 
 rather have my name in the book of 
 life, than in all other books beside. For 
 whosoever shall not be found written 
 in the book of life shall be cast into the 
 lake of fire.* To all those whose names 
 shall be found in this book, the judge 
 will grant eternal life. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 Lord God Almighty, thou art our 
 
 Maker, and thou wilt be our Judge. 
 
 Grant that we may obtain mercy of the 
 
 Lord in that great day, when thou wilt 
 
 * See Rev, xx. 15. 
 
THE LAST JUDGMENT. lZd 
 
 judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ. 
 In that day, may we be found in Christ, 
 and our names appear in his book of 
 life. We do not ask to be great, or rich, 
 or to have the praise of men, but we do 
 ask that our poor sinful souls may be 
 saved. We ask all for the sake of Jesus 
 Christ. Amen. 
 

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