^iU^fitotogkittj^ 
 
 W PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 Presented by"V^o^.'3oV.o-T)£.\i^ 'A V ,^ .:D 
 
 1/. 2- 
 
 Division 
 
SERMONS 
 
 THE MOST IMPORTANT DUTIES 
 
 CHRIS TIAJy RELIOIOJV. 
 
 By JOHNSON ATKINSON BUSFEILD, D.D., 
 
 DOMESTIC CHAPLAIN TO THE EARL OF MULCRAVE, 
 
 MINISTER OF BAYSWATER CHAPEL, 
 
 ONE OF THE PREACHERS AT QUEBEC CHAPEL, 
 
 ALTERNATE PREACHER AT THE ASYLUM, AND 
 
 LECTURER OF Si;. M ARY-LE-BONE. 
 
 VOLUME THE SECOND. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED FOR . E. LLOYD AND SON, HARLEY-STREET 
 
 SOLD ALSO BY 
 
 SHERWOOD, NEELY, AND JONES, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1820. 
 
Printed by W. Clowes, Norlhumkcrlanil-coiirt, Strand, London. 
 
WILLIAM BUSFEILD, Esq., 
 
 THESE 
 
 SERMONS, 
 
 THE SENTIMENTS OF ONE 
 
 WHO HOLDS HIS UNULIiMISHED CHARACTER AND UPKIGHT LIFE 
 
 IN HIGH ESTIMATION, 
 
 ARE INSCRIBED, 
 
 . AS A TESTIMONY OF GRATITUDE AND REGARD, 
 
 DY 
 
 His Faithful and Affectionate Brother, 
 
 The author. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 J. HE writer of these Sermons cannot suffer tliein to 
 leave the press, without conveying his respectful ac- 
 knowledgment of the extensive patronage which his 
 former volume has received. The flattering interest 
 which his Friends have been pleased to take in his success, 
 as an Author, has impressed his mind with a feeling of 
 gratitude, which no change of place or condition will 
 have the power to weaken. He assures them, that it 
 will remain his ambition, and constitute one of the 
 highest sources of his happiness, to be honoured by a 
 continuance of their friendship, which he considers in- 
 valuable. And he must, through life, indulge the hope, 
 that the residue of his days will not pass away, without 
 contributing, in some degree, to the temporal or spiritual 
 good of those who so justly possess his affectionate 
 esteem. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IT is the acknowledged duty of every 
 man, to do all the good he can whilst pass- 
 ing over the stage of life. Some are gifted 
 with one sort of endowment, some with 
 another ; all, through divine bounty, pos- 
 sess their proper talent, which, if well em- 
 ployed, may be a credit to themselves, and 
 a benefit to their fellow-creatures. 
 
 He, who to the best of his judgment and 
 experience regulates the affections of his 
 heart, and the actions of his life, by such a 
 motive, is ambitious to fulfil a principal 
 object, which the Creator had in placing 
 him here. There appears to be only one 
 motive which is stronger and more sublime ; 
 
VIU P RET ACE. 
 
 that is — the desire of man, in the s})irit of 
 rehgious gratitude, to serve and glorify his 
 Maker. 
 
 Short and uncertain is our time ; feeble 
 our capacity, and fading our strength. It 
 behoves us, therefore, to quicken our pace, 
 in improving the seasons and abilities 
 which Providence hath committed to our 
 care. 
 
 Such (if I may in this place speak of 
 myself,) were the sentiments and stimulus 
 which induced me, in consonance with the 
 wishes of my Hearers and Friends, to pub- 
 lish the first volume of my Sermons. The 
 same inducements now encourage me to 
 offer a second to the candour and judg- 
 jnent of an indulgent Public. 
 
 It will be seen, by the reader of these 
 discourses, that my main endeavour in 
 composing them, has been (as in my former 
 
PllP^PACE. IX 
 
 work,) to keep in constant view the three 
 great doctrines of the Christian rehgion, — 
 Repentance, Obedience and Faith ; and 
 especially to shew, in the fifth and sixth 
 sermons, from the united testimony of 
 Reason and Revelation, that Faith and 
 Works, which are too often separated hy 
 the professors of religion, are essentially 
 and indissolubly united in the formation 
 of the christian character. 
 
 In this volume also, as before, I have 
 not lost the opportunity, whenever it offer- 
 ed itself, of attacking the errors and vices 
 more peculiarly characteristic of the present 
 eventful times : and, above all, from a sense 
 of imperious duty, to raise my humble but 
 earnest voice against that favourite instru- 
 ment of the deceiver — Infidelity, which, in 
 the hands of ignorant and ill-informed men, 
 hath dared of late, with impious pride and 
 unblushing efiVontery, to vilify and even 
 ridicule the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 As far as this enemy of God and man 
 hath prevailed in spreading its baneful in- 
 fluence, so far it hath clearly proved 
 " what spirit it is of/' by undermining all 
 the blessings of domestic comfort, of social 
 order, and of pubHc peace. It has, there- 
 fore, been my desire to convince every 
 father, husband, brother, son, that in every 
 house, where the holy Bible is respected 
 and the religion of the Gospel reigns, dwell 
 harmony and peace and love and mutual 
 happiness. But wherever free- thinking 
 and scepticism, and (as a natural conse- 
 quence,) unbridled passions and loose prin- 
 ciples, prevail, there discord, discontent, 
 jealousy, and general misery are sure to be 
 found. From which it is evident, that, to 
 be rehgious, is to promote our own good, 
 to be a self-preserver : to be irreligious, is 
 to forge our own misery, and commit sui- 
 cide upon our dearest interests. 
 
 Whether I have succeeded in contri- 
 
PREFACE. XI 
 
 buting the smallest mite, in aid of higher 
 authorities, towards the confirmation of 
 doctrines so important to tht; existence and 
 propagation of our hallowed religion, I 
 must leave to the decision of pious and 
 learned men. I have again done as- well 
 as I could ; and I shall think myself happy, 
 if, by the help of God, I have served to 
 strengthen one stone in the glorious fabric 
 of revealed truth, which hath now firmly 
 stood for nearly eighteen centuries, — the 
 support and comfort of a fallen and de- 
 pendant world. 
 
 Happily, it now seems as if the united 
 efforts of all the pious and virtuous through 
 the nation, to repress and silence the in- 
 fidel-adversary, will, through the blessing 
 of Providence, be completely successful. 
 And we may indulge the pleasing hope, 
 that we shall see, ere long, revived in all 
 their lustre, " the fire-side virtues of our 
 " ancestors," which tended more than any 
 
Xll PRETACE. 
 
 thing to raise our beloved Country to its 
 highest state of power and prosperity ; 
 and which alone, as the offspring of Chris- 
 tian principles, can secure and establish 
 the integrity, the honour, and happiness of 
 individuals, of families, and of kingdoms. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS. 
 
 1 Timothy iv. 8. 
 
 " Godliness is 'profitable unto all things, having promise of 
 •' the life that now is, and of that which is to come." page 3 
 
 SERMON 11. 
 THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS. 
 Lukexvi. 19,20,21. 
 " There was a certain rich man which was clothed in purple 
 " and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day •• and 
 " there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was 
 " laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with 
 " the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table." . . 41 
 
 SERMON HI. 
 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 Matthew iii. 3. 
 " The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the 
 " way of the Lord, make his paths straight." 83 
 
XIV CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 Matthew iii. 3. 
 " The voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the 
 " way of the Lord, make his paths straight." 109 
 
 SERMON V. 
 FAITH AND WORKS. 
 Galatians v. 6. 
 *' Faith which worketh by love." 135 
 
 SERMON VI. 
 FAITH AND WORKS. 
 
 Galatians v. 6. 
 " Faith which worketh by love." 167 
 
 SERMON VII. 
 THE TARES AND THE WHEAT. 
 
 Matthew xvii. 24. 
 *' Let both grow together until the harvest." 205 
 
 SERMON VIII. 
 
 MAN'S OBLIGATION TO GOD. 
 
 1 Peter v. 7- 
 
 " Casting all your care upon him ; for he careth for you." 241 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 MAN'S OBLIGATION TO GOD. 
 
 1 Peter v. 7. 
 
 " Casting all your cai-c upon him ; for he careth for you." 273 
 
CONTENTS. XV 
 
 SERMON X. 
 THE TREMOR OF FELIX. 
 
 Acts xxiv. 24,25. 
 " And after certain days, when Felix came with his wife 
 " Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he sent for Paul, and 
 " heard him concerning the faith in Christ. And as he 
 " reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment 
 " to come, Felix trembled, and answered. Go thy way for 
 " this time ; when I have a convenient season, I will call 
 " for thee." 307 
 
 SERMON XI. 
 THE HEAVENLY HOUSE. 
 
 John xiv. 2, 3. 
 " In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not 
 ** so, I would have told you. I goto prepare a place for 
 '* you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 
 " again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, 
 " there yc may be also." 335 
 
 SERMON XH. 
 
 THE HEAVENLY HOUSE. 
 
 John xiv. 2, 3. 
 
 " In my Father's house are many mansions : if it were not 
 " so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for 
 " you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come 
 " again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, 
 " there ye may be also ^ ^ 357 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 THE WOES OF THE WICKED. 
 
 Isaiah xlviii. 22. 
 " There is no peace, suith the Lord, to the wicked." .... 405 
 
THE PROFITS OF GODLINESS 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 BAYSrVATER CHAPEL, 
 
 SUNDA Y, THE 1™ OF FEBR UARY,\%\^. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
SERMON I. 
 
 1 TrMoriiY IV. 8. 
 
 GODLINESS JS PROFITABLE UNTO ALL THINGS, 
 HAVING PROMISE OF THE LIFE THAT NOW IS, 
 AND OF THAT WHICH IS TO COME. 
 
 1 HE supreme Being, who made this 
 world, and placed us here as its rational in- 
 habitants, has under Providence thought fit 
 to leave wsfree agents, but accountable crea- 
 tures; ordaining the salvation of man to de- 
 pend upon certain conditions consistent 
 with the purest principles of justice, and 
 most benevolent designs of mercy . He hath 
 placed before us good and evil, light and 
 darkness, life and death. He hath permitted 
 us to choose for ourselves ; affording us at 
 the same time every motive to be virtuous, 
 and every means of contentment ; guiding 
 us, when we consent to follow him, to our 
 highest interests, and welcoming us at last 
 to our full reward. 
 
 Since the God of all comfort hath thus 
 intrusted to us the power of choosing be- 
 
 B 2 
 
tween happiness and misery, it is the most 
 important concern of life to make a wise 
 and safe election ; to consider well, by what 
 principles we form our conduct as proba- 
 tionary candidates tor the dimie favour, 
 which is the certain road to human felicity ; 
 and, having set out with proper views of 
 right and wrong, to let nothing divert us 
 from the great end of our existence. But 
 although this proposition is so evident, that 
 few are rash enough to deny it, yet the 
 generality fail to exhibit the demonstration 
 ofit in their lives and conversation. It is 
 not difficult to assign the cause. Mankind 
 do not consider the leading truths of the 
 Christian religion with that serious thought 
 and solemn attention which their import- 
 ance demands ; for instance, the assurance 
 of our text, (one of the most gracious and 
 comprehensive assurances that ever flowed 
 from the voice of inspiration) is trifled with, 
 if not treated with contempt. When we 
 read at home, or hear it pronounced in the 
 church, that " Godliness is profitable unto 
 " all things," we naturally say to ourselves at 
 the time,— but alas! how soon does the sense 
 of piety and the feeling of gratitude eva- 
 
(ioratc, — if it l)C a fact, not only declared 
 by Scripture, but by the experience of all 
 good men, that Godliness is universally and 
 eternally profitable, why do not all men 
 embrace this consolatory principle? why 
 do they not follow this friendly guide? for 
 we know that all men naturally wish for 
 prosperity and comfort. It must arise from 
 this, — that a large number of our fellow- 
 creatures, (it will be well if oi/r consciences 
 do not rise in judgment against ourselves,) 
 only acknowledge the reality of the Apos- 
 tolic assertion, they do not practically 
 believe its efficacy. It forces itself upon 
 their understandings ; but their hearts reject 
 it, because they are not whole with God, 
 they are not fixed upon heavenly things. 
 These persons cannot persuade themselves 
 that a religion, which requires the resig- 
 nation of their voluptuous enjoyments, and 
 the subjection of their sensual desires ; a 
 religion, for such the Gospel lays down, 
 which calls upon them to look upon riches 
 with indifference, upon avarice with horror ; 
 and to draw their affections from the world, 
 that beloved theatre they have been accus- 
 tomed to regard as the scat of all thcii 
 
pleasures and their highest hopes ; they 
 cannot, (I rather mean, they will not) per- 
 suade themselves, that such a religion can 
 be a dispensation of contentment. They 
 look upon that memorable proverb of the 
 wisest of men, as rather a flower of elo- 
 quence, than an established fact, when in 
 his happier days he paid his elegant tribute 
 to religious knowledge, " Length of days 
 " is in her right hand, and in her left hand 
 " riches and honour : her ways are ways of 
 " pleasantness, and all her paths are 
 " peace*/' 
 
 The same haughty and irreligious conduct 
 was observable in many of the first hearers 
 of Christ, who, when called by him to take 
 up their cross, and deny themselves, con- 
 sidered him a severe teacher, a hard task- 
 master. " They went back, and walked no 
 " more with himf ." So it was then, and 
 so it is now. Large is the number of those, 
 who, presuming to imagine themselves 
 better judges of what constitutes real happi- 
 ness than God himself, arrogate to them- 
 selves the right of selecting for themselves 
 a rehgion, just such as accords with their 
 
 * Prov. iii. 16, 17. t John vi. 66. 
 
own corrupted feelings and vitiated taste ; 
 and shutting their eyes to the hght of reve- 
 lation, walk heedlessly along the tempting 
 paths of guilt and dissipation ; until trem- 
 bling on the borders of the grave, they 
 look back with horror on the days that are 
 past, and shudder at the prospect that lies 
 before them. 
 
 It is but necessary to view the beginning, 
 the progress, and the end, of the worldly- 
 minded man to ascertain, that whosoever is 
 happy, he is not ; that his ways are never the 
 ways of profit. Was this man ever found 
 in solitude serene and cheerful? Have you 
 seen such a one in adversity content ? Have 
 you heard him, when smarting under af- 
 fliction, triumph in the hopes of immorta- 
 lity ? Have you ever, when j^ou have visited 
 him on the bed of sickness, beheld on his 
 countenance a placid look, or a smile of 
 resignation? Have you found him, in the 
 proving hour of dissolution, speaking a 
 word of comfort to his weeping friends, and 
 bidding them adieu without a teiror or 
 a sigh ? 
 
 O no ! these are a treasure that belongs 
 not to the wicked and the worldly-minded. 
 
Fruits they arc, that grow upon a clilTeicnt 
 stock, that evidence a better spirit ; tiiey 
 are the gifts of Heaven to those, and only 
 those, whose Hfe, devoted to the service ot 
 their Maker, has demonstrated to tlie eyeol" 
 reason, that they are followers of Jesus 
 Christ, and bear the marks of the " chi!- 
 '' dren of light*." 
 
 To trace this spirit of Godliness, and ex- 
 hibit its characters, will be my first attempt ; 
 in which, if I succeed, the great advantages 
 which flow from them will easily appear. 
 
 I. The spirit and characters of that 
 treasure, which St. Paul so highly praises 
 and recommends, will briefly occupy our 
 consideration. 
 
 But whilst on the threshold of our 
 inquiry, you may wish to ask what is meant 
 by " Godliness.'' It is answered with hu- 
 mility : It seems to be the same, as is called 
 by the Apostle, in another part of his 
 writings, " Piety -f-'' — which may perhaps be 
 justly defined, a devotedness to the service 
 and glory of God, exercising itself in every 
 amiable purpose, and manifested by every 
 holy work. If I might with safety more 
 
 * Luke xvi. 8. t 1 A'ini- v. 4. 
 
concisely attempt its description, 1 would 
 call it — Religious Principle. 
 
 The virtues and graces springing from 
 such a principle are so many and extensive, 
 that it falls not within the limit of a sermon 
 to give even a faint recital of them ; but 
 among the most essential are certainly these ; 
 modesty, moderation, sincerity, honour, 
 earnestness. The man of piety, therefore, 
 must be modest in his sentiments, his con- 
 versation, his dress, his general demeanour. 
 He must be moderate in his diet, his temper, 
 his passions, his wish for gain, and his pur- 
 suit of pleasure. He must be sincere in his 
 professions, his promises, his friendships, 
 his affections. He must be honourable in his 
 schemes, his engagements, his transactions, 
 rendering "unto Ceesar the things which are 
 " Caisar's *,''and doing to others as he would 
 that others should do to him. And he must 
 be earnest in every thing that is lovely and 
 of good report, in habits of virtue, in exer- 
 cises of religion, in his thirst for spiritual 
 comfort, and in his race for the eternal 
 prize : whatsoever his " hand findeth to 
 "do,"hemust" doit with " all his " migiit } ." 
 
 * Malt, xxii. '21. t Etci. ix. 10. 
 
10 
 
 In all these things the godly man wishes to 
 gain the good opinion of mankind ; espe- 
 cially of the wise and virtuous, whose respect 
 is of immense value : but still his principal 
 object is to please and glorify the Author of 
 his existence, and the Giver of all his enjoy- 
 ments. " Whom,'' says he, in the spirit of 
 devotion, " have I in heaven but thee, and 
 " there is none upon earth that I desire in 
 " comparison of thee* !" 
 
 This man of religious principle follows 
 a safe plan in every thing he does, and every 
 thing he desires. He begins by endeavour- 
 ing, through prayer and reading of the 
 Scriptures, to obtain a just knowledge of 
 what constitutes his duty to his Creator and 
 to his fellow-creatures, remembering" what 
 " is written in the law and repeated in the 
 " Gospel,'' " Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
 " God with all thy strength, and thy neigh- 
 " bour as thyself;" twin-duties, which, when 
 performed by grace, and offered for accept- 
 ance in the name of Christ, may be truly 
 pronounced (after all that hath been said 
 and written), to constitute the sum total 
 of religion. By its fruits Godliness is 
 
 =* Psal. Ixxiii. 24. 
 
11 
 
 known. By its profits it is proved and 
 commended. By pleasing our Creator, we 
 delight ourselves. By making our fellow- 
 creatures happy, we learn the secret of our 
 own consolation. What so harmonizes 
 with the best feelino-s of our nature as these 
 pious duties? What do reason and reli- 
 gion more visibly conspire to point out to 
 us as our highest interest? " Do justly, O 
 " man ! love mercy, and walk humbly 
 " with thy God*," and thou shalt not be 
 far from the kingdom of Jesus Christ. 
 
 Having obtained the knowledge of his 
 moral and religious duties, the devout 
 man's next ambition is to put those duties 
 into practice ; because he knows that it is 
 not what a man believes, but what a man 
 does as the consequence of believing, 
 which renders him a child of God. Faith, 
 if fruitful, is certainly the means of justifica- 
 tion; without it there can be none; but 
 that is no faith which does not sanctify the 
 life. Our Saviour had no greater antipathy 
 than against those who called him by the 
 name of" Lord, Lordf'and did not " the 
 " things which'' he said. He approved not 
 
 * Micah vi. 8. t Luke vi. 46 
 
12 
 
 of those mere hearers of his word, who 
 are beautifully likened by St. James 
 " unto a man beholding his natural face in 
 " a glass, and going his way, and straight- 
 " way forgetting what manner of man he 
 " was*;'^ but he approves of the doers 
 " of his word, who look unto the perfect 
 " law'' of God, " and continue therein, not 
 " forgetful hearers'' but faithful " doers of 
 " the work." These " shall be blessed in 
 " their deed." They are his disciples, and 
 none shall pluck them from him. 
 
 Moreover, the firm believer, after read- 
 ing the sacred writings, holds a fre([uent 
 conversation with his conscience. He 
 finds it a faithful counsellor. No man's 
 conscience ever deceived him, if he had 
 the love of God within him, and he wished 
 from his soul to do right. They whose 
 " religion is vain," deceive their own 
 hearts. They wish not to find the truth, 
 therefore, they remain in error, and wander 
 blindly after their own wretched inven- 
 tions, — " they love darkness rather than 
 " light, because their deeds are evil-j-." 
 Not so the man who seeks the prolit of 
 
 * James i. 23, 24, 2J, 26. ! Julm iii. 19- 
 
13 
 
 godliness : jealous of a nature that is 
 strongly biassed towards evil, and watch- 
 ing the motions of a heart, which inspira- 
 tion declares " deceitful */' he, night and 
 morning, passes in review before him the 
 general habits of his former days, marking 
 the motives, the means, the desires, the 
 passions that were in agitation, and how 
 far they influenced his general conduct as 
 a man and as a Christian. 
 
 If he finds that any habit, to which he 
 hath been attached, either of pleasure 
 or of gain, is unwelcome in the eyes, and 
 incompatible with the honour, of his 
 heavenly Father, that is enough for him : 
 he argues not, he hesitates not ; he instantly 
 and cheerfully gives it up ; he hates it be- 
 cause God hates it ; he will " sin no more,"' 
 because sin is a trangression of that law, 
 which is just and wise and good. Or if 
 he discovers that there is any service which 
 is re({uired in the christian character, and 
 which he has not performed ; any ordinance 
 of the church of Christ, any sacrament 
 of his religion, which he has not devoutly 
 reverenced, and rigidly observed ; he loses 
 
 * Jer. xvii. 9- 
 
14 
 
 no time in remedying the evil ; he neg- 
 lects no talent, he makes no excuse ; 
 he rests not, till he hath performed that 
 neglected service, and kept that forsaken 
 ordinance. He feels that it is his bomiden 
 and indispensable duty to fulfil the law of 
 God ; and, by the help of the Holy Spirit, 
 he will do all he can. 
 
 The great stimulus to this sincerity, this 
 steadfastness, this activity in the service of 
 God, is the reflection, that he is a Christian. 
 He hath not forgotten, that there is no one 
 thing that his Saviour could do for him 
 that He hath not done ; and, therefore, there 
 is no mark of reverence and gratitude to 
 Christ, which should not be the joy of his 
 heart, and the exertion of his hfe. All 
 on fire with the love of his eternal Bene- 
 factor, and all-delighted with the beauties 
 of His spotless character, he follows Him 
 through every journey of benevolence He 
 took in Judea, and listens to every word 
 He spake for the comfort of His people 
 Israel. The lessons he there imbibes, 
 and the example he contemplates, animate 
 his devotion and strengthen his virtue. 
 They lead him, on the blessed Sabbath, to 
 
15 
 
 the church of God, (Christ never passed its 
 gates at the time of worship,) where he 
 gathers consolation even in the heaviest 
 hour ; — lie hears in the sanctuary that the 
 Holy Spirit can help him. They conduct 
 him at stated seasons to the sacred altar 
 of his Redeemer, where in remembrance 
 of Him who saved him, he feeds upon the 
 bread of life, and it is rest unto his soul ; 
 — he believes that his sins are forgiven. 
 They follow him from the temple of his 
 Maker to the bosom of his family, who 
 regard him not only as a father and a 
 husband, but the kindest friend ; and, 
 surrounded by those he loves, it is delight- 
 ful to watch the beams of joy that hght 
 upon his countenance, when Religion re- 
 minds him with her gentle voice, what 
 profit and pleasure he will once more 
 enjoy in spending at home the remainder 
 of a hallowed Sabbath, and teaching his 
 children, and their happy mother, the 
 knowledge and the comforts of their 
 Saviour's gospel. 
 
 And while this good man takes care of 
 the morals of his family, and, above all, 
 of their better part, the soul, he forgets not 
 
16 
 
 his poor and afflicted neighbour Here 
 he brings again before his eyes the life of 
 the benevolent Jesus ; and the sight of his 
 teacher and his pattern, going about doing 
 good, draws him to the mansion of poverty 
 and distress ; where he enjoys a luxury, 
 that satiates not, in giving the reUef which 
 his Saviour would have given, and con- 
 soling the heart which his Saviour would 
 have consoled. 
 
 When, lastly, he views the Lamb of God, 
 led as a sheep to the slaughter, and not 
 breaking the silence of resignation, be- 
 cause he was going to reconcile a re- 
 bellious world to an offended God ; when 
 he sees Him, who never did wrong, suf- 
 fering on the cross amid the tauntings and 
 ribaldry of a savage multitude, and hears 
 Him put up a prayer for his persecutors 
 and his murderers, " Father, forgive them, 
 " they know not what they do,'' — he makes 
 no more excuses for harbouring revenge, 
 —he seeks not a reason for delaying his for- 
 giveness to the man who, (he imagines,) has 
 injured or offended him : unlike the relent- 
 less litigant and the vindictive duellist, who 
 thirst foi the property or the blood of a 
 
17 
 
 fellow-creature ; he forgives his bitterest 
 foe, his most cruel vexer ; he forgives him 
 freely and fully ; he forgives him from his 
 soul; every vestige of animosity is banished 
 from his breast, and he even longs to do 
 him a favour and to shew him a kindness, 
 more than others ; hoping by gentle means 
 to soften his relentless heart, and restore 
 him to the spirit of a friend and of a 
 Christian. This is to " heap coals of fire 
 *' on the head*'' of an adversary ; it is to 
 soften the rigour of the keenest vengeance ; 
 it was the conduct of Jesus Christ. And in 
 this, as well as the other countless excellen- 
 cies of an adorable Saviour, it must be the 
 glowing pleasure of every good man, at all 
 times, and under all circumstances, to ad- 
 mire and to imitate Him ; if happily, through 
 the grace and Spirit of God, he may press 
 toward " the beauty of holiness,"' and ob- 
 tain, after many an effort and many a sacri- 
 fice, the prize of the higli calling of God 
 in Christ Jesus ; stimulated by the cer- 
 tainty, that if ever he be as one of the 
 angels of God, he must first be a tried 
 saint on earth ; and that, through his 
 
 * Rom. xii. 20. 
 VOL. n. c 
 
18 
 
 Saviour's merits, that Cliristian is sure to 
 reign in the highest mansion of Paradise, 
 whose Hfe and conversation, while on earth, 
 are adorned with the brightest graces of 
 virtue and rehgion. 
 
 I have now set before you some of the 
 most striking features of Godliness, which 
 being kept in view, I shall be greatly 
 assisted in discovering its advantages. 
 
 The Apostle sets before us two lives, 
 the one on this side the grave, the other 
 beyond it ; and tells us that both are the 
 profit of Godliness. 
 
 We know what the present life is from 
 the use of reason, and the aid of memory : 
 but of the next life we know very little. 
 Revelation hath told us what we do know : 
 it could not disclose to us more, because 
 our understanding could not reach it. Yet 
 though the mind of man can scarcely dis- 
 cern a shadow of the blessedness which the 
 pious will enjoy in a future state, we know 
 from God enough to make us view the things 
 of this world as insignificant and worthless, 
 when heaven and earth are put in oppo- 
 site scales. Indeed the smallest of good 
 things to come are so infinitely superior 
 to the greatest enjoyments of time, that 
 
19 
 
 our eyes are dazzle(l when we take a dis- 
 tant view of them, and our hearts spon- 
 taneously agree in this, — That if we can 
 gain a reasonable assurance of going to 
 Christ when we die, it matters very little 
 what shall become of us whilst we remain 
 the inhabitants of this precarious world. 
 Yet, think not 1 mean from this to infer, 
 that the pleasures of this life must be re- 
 signed, in order to obtain the eternal 
 world ; there never was a more erroneous 
 supposition, for I would contend that 
 there is no real enjoyment but what springs 
 from moral conduct, no solid contentment 
 but what flows from religion. There is no 
 peace, saith my God, to the wicked : they 
 " are like the troubled sea, when, it cannot 
 " rest*.'' Therefore we have certainty in 
 the conclusion, that although the richest 
 " temporal blessings'' are, when compared 
 to the " immense felicities'' of the ever- 
 lasting world, no more than " a drop of 
 " water in the boundless ocean,'' yet that 
 drop is far the sweetest in the cup of the 
 righteous man. And when this cup shall 
 have run out, it will be found, that our light 
 affliction, which was but for a moment, 
 
 '^ Isai. Ivii. 20. 
 
20 
 
 hath wrought out for us " a far more ex- 
 " ceeding and eternal weight of glorj*/' 
 
 Among the profits of Godhness is that 
 great sweetener of human hfe — Health. 
 If men would consider how the possession 
 of this temporal blessing heightens the en- 
 joyment of all the rest, and what ravages 
 its absence makes upon every earthly com- 
 fort, they would hold fast virtue as an in- 
 valuable treasure ; because universal expe- 
 rience proclaims a vicious life to act like 
 the air of pestilence upon the human frame. 
 
 I will not stop to prove it, because there 
 is not a man possessed of his senses, who 
 needs to be told, that a sober and mode- 
 rate use of the creatures kindly given for 
 our use, and the vigilant restraint of our 
 passions and appetites, are the two grand 
 preservatives of a sound and vigorous con- 
 stitution. Men may make excuse upon 
 excuse for the excesses of intemperance, 
 and the enjoyments of voluptuousness ; 
 and when they have rashly yielded them- 
 selves up, as the slaves of inordinate desire, 
 ingeniously lay the blame on the impulses 
 of nature, and the weakness of the 
 flesh : but they cannot deny, (because 
 
 * 2 Cor. iv. 17. 
 
21 
 
 they carry about them the melancholy 
 evidence,) that such unbridled passions 
 and ungodly practices *' cut men off in 
 " the midst of their days \' and that when 
 they sink under pains and infirmities pre- 
 maturely into the grave, their enfeebled and 
 deformed offspring inherit the mortal fruits 
 of a father's impiety, and a father's crimes. 
 
 On the other hand, as it is strikingly ob- 
 served J)y an old divine, " were mankind 
 " generally to observe those measures in 
 " their diet and in their labours, in their 
 " passions and in their pleasures, which 
 " religion has marked out with a friendly 
 " hand, they would to such a degree pre- 
 " serve their bodies, as to render the great- 
 " est part of medicine perfectly super- 
 " fluous,'' and in a good old age would 
 drop into the tomb ; having nothing to dis- 
 charge at the trying hour of death, except 
 that debt which all must pay. 
 
 I have not said that the righteous man 
 is certain of health through every period 
 of his hfe ; for we have not to learn, that 
 many a good Christian has long been 
 weighed down by sickness and infirmities, 
 and can expect to find no relief from his 
 
22 
 
 sufferings till he shall rest in the peaceful 
 grave. But I can assert, without fear of 
 contradiction, that none are so likely to en- 
 joy this blessing as the virtuous and religious 
 character. " He that will love life,'' saith 
 St. Peter, " and see good days, let him 
 " refrain his tongue from evil, and his 
 " lips that they speak no guile ; let him 
 *' eschew evil and do good, let him seek 
 " peace and ensue it. For the eyes of 
 " the Lord are over the righteous, but his 
 " face is against them that do evil*.'" 
 
 Who among men shall stand forth as 
 the accuser of virtue, and dare, with this 
 Gospel in his hand, to argue, that health 
 is not sacrificed at the shrine of o-uilt? 
 Can THAT MAN whosc passions inflame 
 his body, and distract his mind, keep- 
 ing him, like a ship in a storm, in per- 
 petual agitation, and " depriving him of 
 " sleep'' through the tedious hours of a 
 lonesome night, tedious indeed to him 
 whose limbs are restless, and whose con^ 
 science is on the rack: — can he, who, 
 neglecting his impoverished family, leaves 
 not the gaming-table till the rising sun 
 
 * 1 Pet.iii. 10, 11, 12. 
 
23 
 
 makes him ashamed of his guilt ; at one 
 moment elated with the ruin of his neijih- 
 hour, the next moment tortured by the 
 prospect of his own — Alas ! whilst his 
 soul was teeming with avarice, saw you 
 not " his body distorted, his thoughts 
 *' troubled, his temper change, his coun- 
 " tenance turn pale, his eyes sparkle with 
 " fury, and his mouth foam with anger V 
 he looked morS like a beast of prey, than 
 a creature of reason and humanity ! O 
 wretched, distracted gamester ! the victim 
 of a grovelling covetousness ! no present 
 misery, no fatal consequences, can easily 
 be more bitter and disquieting than thine ! 
 — can, I would next inquire, the base, the 
 unfeeling adulterer, who hath violated 
 the most sacred principles of honour and 
 good faith, broken the most engaging bonds 
 of society, despised the most rigid of 
 Heaven's commands, robbed an innocent 
 fellow-creature of his greatest treasure — 
 perhaps that fellow-creature was the most 
 intimate friend he had on earth, under 
 whose hospitable roof he had eat of his 
 bread and drunk of his cup, and shared all 
 his civilities — say, if on earth there ever 
 
24 
 
 was a being more cruel, more void of 
 principle than this man, who hath, by all 
 the deliberate arts of seduction, robbed 
 such a friend of the long-admired, long- 
 esteemed Avife of his bosom, the essential 
 source of all his temporal hopes and 
 satisfactions ? And shall this most per- 
 fidious of traitors be again admitted into 
 society, while there is any virtue left in 
 the land ? nay, can offended Heaven any 
 longer spare such a monster of ingratitude 
 and profligacy, who hath stabbed in the 
 dark a breast that had laid open its secrets 
 to him, and unbarred the doors of implicit 
 confidence ; who hath left, within a heart 
 that never injured him, a wound, which no 
 time can efface nor absence heal ; whilst 
 the poor deserted children of a woman, so 
 lately innocent and happy, the pride and 
 protection of her family, but now, alas ! 
 the victim of guilt and despair, are left 
 (with their heart-broken father daily before 
 their eyes,) to weep over the loss of a 
 mother's reputation, and feel the want 
 
 of a mother's care? Can, I say, such 
 
 men as these expect the enjoyment of 
 such a gift from Heaven, as health ? can 
 
25 
 
 they look for lengthened clays, and happy 
 scenes? No; no — the laws of God and 
 man forbid it. The early fruits of such 
 depraved sentiments and vicious habits 
 are " trembling liands, a shaking head, 
 " a feeble memory, a worn-out brain," 
 an aching heart, and an emaciated 
 frame. 
 
 Learn, then, that temperance is the 
 parent of health : learn that he is most 
 likely to enjoy it, who, having passed 
 each day in usefulness and innocence, 
 can he down at night upon his pillow, 
 at peace with the world, his conscience, 
 and his God, and rise again in the morn- 
 ing with cheerfulness on his countenance, 
 and tranquillity widiin his breast. It is 
 " the fear of the Lord,'' saith Solomon, 
 that " prolongeth the days'' of man. This 
 " is a fountain of life" to guard us " from 
 " die snares of death *." 
 
 Again : another, and very important, ad- 
 vantage of Godliness is— a fair reputation. 
 All nations and all languages have borne 
 their testimony to the worth of this hicrhly- 
 valucd treasure. It is called by one of 
 the greatest geniuses that the world hath 
 
 * Prov. X. 27. xiv. 27. 
 
26 
 
 produced, " the immediate jewel of our 
 " souls/' stripped of which, a man, what- 
 ever else he may possess, is '' poor in- 
 " deed/' Solomon also passes this beau- 
 tiful eulogy upon it in one of his proverbs : 
 " A good name is rather to be chosen 
 " than great riches, and loving favour 
 " than silver and gold*/' And the satis- 
 factory proof that " honesty is the best 
 " policy/' may be gathered from this : — 
 That every man, who wishes to get for- 
 wards in the world, or even to be received 
 into respectable society, although he may 
 be destitute of moral and religious feeling, 
 is yet a pretender to the observance of 
 integrity and honour. For he is fully sen- 
 sible, that to be considered a defrauder or 
 dissembler by the world, is to want that 
 credit and respect, which are absolutely 
 necessary to the well-being of his temporal 
 interests. Men may wish in their own 
 person, for the sake of a present advantage, 
 to practise some specious deception, and 
 boast to themselves how adroitly they 
 have overreached a weak or credulous 
 neighbour ; but there is no man that does 
 not detest villany in others, and cautiously 
 
 * Prov. xxii. 1. 
 
^27 
 
 shun all transactions with those wlioni he 
 considers defective in principle. Whereas 
 a fair, unblemished, unsuspected character 
 shines in the eyes of the whole rational 
 creation. It is proclaimed, by general 
 consent, the moment it is spoken of, to 
 be worthy of universal veneration and 
 unlimited praise. Yes, there is a some- 
 thing in piety and virtue; there is a sort 
 of sterling value in an honest man, whose 
 words we can always trust, and whose 
 motives Ave always approve; there is a 
 dignified elevation in the character of a 
 servant of God, which even the voluptuary 
 envies and the libertine himself respects. 
 
 The miser feels himself little and shrinks 
 from inspection, when he stands before 
 the philanthropist; the liar, before the 
 venerator of truth ; the sensualist, before 
 the adherent of chastity ; the man of 
 crooked policy, before the man of upright 
 purpose ; and the grovelling votary of time, 
 before the aspiring heir of immortality. 
 And if the vicious and the profligate can- 
 not help revering and esteeming the godly 
 man, how still more does he possess the 
 approbation of the wise and the affection 
 
28 
 
 of the virtuous. Blessed is he that has a 
 good name, it never leaves him : in pros- 
 peri tj^, it gilds each brightening scene; 
 in adverse davs, it calls the friends of 
 humanity and the lovers of religion to 
 comfort his afflicted spirit. It follows him 
 to the grave, amidst the blessings of thou- 
 sands ; and when he is dead and gone, 
 it descends to his children and his children's 
 children. 
 
 Lastly, Godliness is the path which con- 
 ducts us to — peace of mind. 
 
 This peace is the invariable attendant of 
 an upright principle, and a life of integrity. 
 There never was, since time began, a re- 
 ligious man who lived and died unhappy. 
 
 Have we performed a constant series of 
 devotion and obedience to God ? Have we 
 donejustly , and shewed mercy towards men ? 
 Have we placed our happiness in doing this? 
 Have we done it from the pure love of Him, 
 who lived and died for our sakes ? Then we 
 need not go from home in search of com- 
 fort : the Spirit, who can give it, dwells 
 witliin our breasts. He is the " Com- 
 " forter;" and whether we are in solitude 
 or in society, in active or in tranquil life. 
 
29 
 
 our spirit bearing witness with that holy 
 Spirit, administers to us a serene and 
 soothing satisfaction. If we are engaged 
 in the arduous labours of our business or 
 profession, for the provision of our family 
 or the general good, a still small voice 
 assures us, that we are fulfilhng the designs 
 which Providence had in sending us into 
 the world. When we retire to rest, the 
 actions of a well-spent day, passing in re- 
 view before us, compose us to a sweet and 
 refreshing sleep. And if we awake at 
 midnight to think of the care and kindness 
 of a watchful Providence, we consecrate 
 the stillness of that hallowed hour to gra- 
 titude and to the praises of our God. 
 
 It is not, my friends, the possession of 
 power ; it is not the addition of house to 
 house, and of field to field ; it is not the 
 glittering parade of splendid equipages, 
 the soft delights of pampered passions, 
 or the clamorous applauses of a gazing and 
 fickle crowd, which make men happy : 
 it is none of these. The deluded votaries 
 of such splendid vanities and gilded toys, 
 are least of all men to be envied, are most 
 of all created beings to be pitied. When 
 
30 
 
 they have arrived at the object of their 
 highest wishes, the world, which they have 
 idolized and on which their treasure han^s, 
 is what Solomon pronounced it, when the 
 light of heaven was shining on his mighty 
 intellect, " Vanity of vanities, — all vanity 
 *' and vexation of spirit*/' It gives no rest 
 unto the mind ; it leaves no peace within 
 the soul ; its first fruits are anxiety and 
 care, and its last end will be bitterness and 
 sad despondency. 
 
 If you wish to have peace of mind, oh ! 
 seek it not, I pray you, where it never 
 can be found, — in the noisy mirth, the 
 empty honours, and the guilty joys, of 
 a treacherous and corrupting world ; but 
 seek it, where it always dwells,— in the 
 tranquil retirements of devotion ; seek it 
 in a holy communion betwixt God and 
 your own souls; seek it in a steadfast depen- 
 dance upon your Saviour ; seek it in the 
 fruits of the Holy Spirit, in holy thoughts, 
 in pure affections, in controlled passions, in 
 charitable deeds, in the feelings of a thank- 
 ful heart, in peace and joy and gentleness 
 and brotherly love. 
 
 * Eccl. i. 14. xii. 8. 
 
31 
 
 Tlien will reason and reflection sanction 
 every secret of your heart, and every action 
 of your life. Your conscience will be 
 your bosom friend, your wise adviser, 
 your unerring guide. A benevolent Pro- 
 vidence, which neither slumbers nor sleeps, 
 will guard you from danger, and preserve 
 you from distress; a compassionate Re- 
 deemer will atone for all your frailties and 
 errors, and be your prevailing intercessor 
 at the right hand of majesty. And theCom- 
 forter, Avhom God hath sent at the petition 
 of his Son, to smooth the rugged paths of 
 human life, will never forsake you while you 
 are faithful, — no, not for a moment : He 
 will be your director in difficulty, your 
 guardian in peril, your strength in tempta- 
 tion, your consolation in distress, " your 
 " hght in darkness, and your life in death.'' 
 
 Now let the children of the world inform 
 us, whether after the gain of every pos- 
 session, the indulgence of every passion, 
 and the enjoyment of every pleasure, which 
 they have wildly coveted, they have any 
 thing to throw into the scale, which can 
 balance the charms of virtue and the 
 beauties of Religion. Nay, what peace 
 
32 
 
 can ye enjoy, ye poorest of all poor 
 creatures, who fly from yourselves as from 
 your bitterest enemy ; who cannot reflect 
 upon the past without regret, the present 
 without confusion, the future without 
 shuddering ; you, who, having never gone 
 to the eternal Father for pity, till you were 
 dragged on the wheels of misery to his 
 throne, nor thought of so much as a 
 Saviour, till you felt yourself sinking into 
 the abyss of despair, can look for nothing 
 (except repentance bring one ray of hope,) 
 from either the mercy of Providence, or 
 the merit of intercession. Alas ! 1 have 
 not overdrawn the picture of your misery, 
 ye that are hanging hopeless over the preci- 
 pice of unrepented guilt, and hear the voice 
 of death demand yon as the heirs of never- 
 ending anguish. Your boasted joys (if 
 joys they ever were,) are all but over. 
 " The few that remain are imbittered by 
 " weaknesses and pains ; the eyes that once 
 " darted upon you the beams of affection, 
 " are for ever closed, and of the faces that 
 " used to meet you with a smile, your de- 
 " cayed memory can but faintly retrace 
 " the features/' The thread of life is spun 
 
33 
 
 to its utmost length ; the voice of the 
 avenging angel is heard louder and louder ! 
 The dart of dissolution is on the wing ; 
 the books of record are open before the 
 seat of judgment, — and you have not re- 
 pented, you have not believed, you have 
 not obeyed ; your prayers, your alms, your 
 righteous deeds have never gone up as a 
 memorial before the council of Heaven ; 
 you have not prepared to meet your God. 
 " O ! it is an image of misery that might 
 " drain the eye of pity of every drop, and 
 " dry up the fountain of her tears." 
 
 Be it then acknowledged, by every tongue 
 and every heart, that peace of mind is the 
 profit of Godliness ; that those wise and 
 conscientious disciples of a meek Redeemer 
 can only count it as their treasure, whose 
 hope is fixed on things above, whose faith 
 reclines upon the cross of Christ, whose duty 
 has been their delight, and whose assurance 
 hath been the rational consciousness of 
 a well-spent life. See how the peace of 
 this man keeps pace with his infirmities, 
 and grows with his years. The things of 
 time may fail, but his hopes are not con- 
 fined to time ; they outlive the duration of 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
the world. As at the close of life they ap- 
 proach their realization, they are always 
 found to become brighter, as the firm be- 
 liever advances nearer to the grave. He fears 
 not the summons of death. Why should 
 he be afraid to die ? it is the messenger 
 of peace ; it is the herald of immortality ; 
 it is through faith in Jesus Chi'ist, the gate 
 which opens into everlasting life. What 
 needs he to dread the putting off a body, 
 which is liable to languor, sickness and 
 agony ? when he reads in the word of God, 
 that this corruptible shall put on incorrup- 
 tion, this mortal, immortality, and be made 
 like the glorious image of its exalted Re- 
 deemer. Can it be a loss, to an intellectual 
 being, to be delivered from sin and sorrow, 
 from labour and trouble, — the inseparable 
 lot of human nature; and to be translated to 
 all the rewards of obedience, even eternal 
 existence and ever-during bhss ; to be in- 
 troduced, in that joyous state, to those 
 whom while on earth he cordially loved, 
 esteemed and admired, and find them 
 possessed of all that is beautiful, and 
 wise, and amiable, and happy ? Nay, my 
 •brethren, so far from loss, it is the greatest 
 
35 
 
 gain to die, if we are fit for the iiiomentous 
 change. It is a dream converted to reality ; 
 it is a shadow changed into substance ; 
 it is the perfect knowledge of all we once 
 believed ; it is the consummation of all we 
 hoped ; it is a sight of the holy, blessed;, 
 and glorious Trinity face to face. 
 
 Who, then, of all this assembly can be 
 so void of feeling, as not to glory in be- 
 lieving doctrines so grateful to our senses, 
 so honourable to our nature ? who, so 
 utterly indifferent to all that is great and 
 precious, as not to exclaim, with Balaam 
 of old, " Let me die the death of the 
 *' righteous, and let my last end be hke 
 " his*!'' Such hopes and prospects (all 
 but realized,) it is felicity to contemplate. 
 They lift us up above the world, above 
 its crosses and calamities, its angry frowns 
 and its dejecting fears. They wing our 
 spirits toward the heaven of heavens, and 
 make us long " to depart'' that we may 
 " be with Christt." 
 
 It is not an imaginary scene that we 
 are now describing ; it is one which hath 
 been often witnessed by those, whose office 
 
 * Num. xxiii. 10. t Phil. i. 23. 
 
 D 2 
 
36 
 
 it is to visit the sick room of the dying 
 Christian. Yes, often has the minister of 
 rehgion shed the tear of mingled joy and 
 grief; when, marking the last moments of 
 his long faithful hearer, he hath pronounced 
 Christianity to be the guardian and com- 
 forter of man. When the feeble frame of 
 that upright person began to sink under the 
 cold hand of death, and his medical attend- 
 ant told him (surrounded by his affectionate 
 and afflicted friends,) that his end was fast 
 approaching, his was the only eye that 
 was not filled with tears ; his was the only 
 breast that was not rent with sighs. His 
 countenance did not change, except that a 
 beam of hope was seen to pass across it, 
 whilst his justified spirit exulted at the 
 welcome summons which called him to his 
 God. — Hark ! with what stable peace, with 
 what heroic fortitude, he pronounces — 
 Farewell ! after his wife and children 
 have heard his last advice and received 
 his parting blessing. Stop one moment 
 longer, (if you would know how a Christian 
 can die,) to behold with what serene and 
 settled joy he hasteneth to the friendly 
 hand, which knocks his fetters off, and 
 
37 
 
 conducts him to liberty, to victory, to 
 perfection. 
 
 Beholding with the eye '^f faith, what 
 good old Simeon was blessed with, — the 
 bodily sight of his Saviour approaching 
 towards him ; that eternal Friend, whose 
 life hath been his example, and whose 
 death hath been his confidence, he faintly 
 breathes out with his expiring strength, — 
 My soul is ready : my reward is certain : 
 " I have fought a good fight: I have 
 " finished my course : I have kept the 
 " faith. Henceforth there is laid up for 
 " me a crown of righteousness, which the 
 " Lord, the righteous judge, shall give 
 " me*." 
 
 To conclude : Since it must be evident 
 to every unprejudiced mind, that Godli- 
 ness is profitable unto all things ; since 
 it has the " promise not only of the life that 
 " now is, but of that which is to come ;" 
 since it affords us the enjoyment of every 
 innocent pleasure and harmless amusement 
 while we stay on earth, and furnishes us, 
 when called away, with the key to the 
 gates of the heavenly city ; be careful, 
 
 * 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. 
 
38 
 
 above all things, to cherish in your mind 
 and spirit the lovely sentiments of piety. 
 
 Let solemn prayer, let fervent praise, 
 let holy meditation, and rigid self-inquiry, 
 be on no account neglected or postponed : 
 let stated times be set apart for every re- 
 ligious ordinance and service, for private 
 devotion, for family worship, for hearing 
 and reading the word of God, and espe- 
 cially for attending the Sacrament of our 
 Lord^s Supper. 
 
 Let these and every other duty of your 
 holy religion be proved to emanate from 
 right principles, and to be directed to a 
 proper end ; because they have a changing 
 and sanctifying influence upon your will, 
 your temper, your words, and your actions. 
 So will you, steadfast in faith, rich in good 
 works, and ripe for eternity, enjoy the 
 sweet testimony of a peaceful conscience 
 as you bend under the weight of years, and 
 meet the stroke of death at last " without 
 " a sigh or a regret, calmly reposing" on 
 your God and Saviour, when ministering 
 spirits shall receive your departing soul 
 and convey it to its home. 
 
THE RICH MAN AND LAZARUS: 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 ST. MARY-LE-BONE CHURCH, 
 
 SUNDAY, THE 28th OF NOVEMBER, 18 ID. 
 
SERMON ir. 
 
 LUKE XVI. 19, ^0, 21. 
 
 THERE WAS A CERTAIN RICH MAN WHICH WAS 
 CLOTHED IN PURPLE AND FINE LINEN, AND FARED 
 SUMPTUOUSLY EVERY DAY: AND THERE WAS A 
 CERTAIN BEGGAR NAMED LA Z A RUS, WHICH WAS 
 LAID AT HIS GATE, FULL OF SORES, AND DESIRING 
 TO BE FED WITH THE CRUMBS WHICH FELL FROM 
 THE RICH man's TABLE. 
 
 The great design which our benevolent 
 Redeemer had in giving a short history of 
 these two persons was, on the one hand, to 
 recommend the practice, and confirm the 
 consolations of the liberal man, and on the 
 other, to rebuke and alarm the man of an 
 unfeeling and selfish spirit. Besides this, 
 he graciously intended to aftbrd to those of 
 his creatures, who were poor in the things 
 of this world, but rich in faith and virtue, 
 such sources of peace and hope, as might 
 render them not only content with their 
 lowly condition, but thankful to that 
 Providence who saw fit to place them in 
 it. There are also many other stores of 
 
42 
 
 valuable instruction, which may be gleaned 
 by a pious mind from the eloquent narra- 
 tive : but the principal view, as I have said 
 before, of its divine Author, was certainly — 
 the cause of charity ; that amiable virtue, 
 which is so constantly enjoined to believers, 
 in those Scriptures, wherein the}^ " think 
 " they have eternal life*/' " Let all 
 " things be done with charity -f/" " Above 
 " all things put on charity, which is the 
 " bond of perfectnessj/' " Above all 
 " things have fervent charity, for charity 
 " shall cover the multitude of sins§/' 
 " Though I speak,'' saith St. Paul, " with 
 " the tongues of men and angels, and 
 '* have not charity, I am nothing ||." 
 
 I am well aware that the charity here 
 eulogized, is not Hmited to the mere giving 
 of alms, however cheerfully or liberally 
 bestowed. For the Apostle says, that a 
 man may " bestow all his goods to feed 
 " the poor^," and may not have christian 
 " charity.'' The charity required by Him 
 who brought truth into the world, and 
 in whose spotless life it shone with perfect 
 
 * John V. 39. t 1 Cor. xvi. 14. J Col. iii. 14. 
 ^ I Pet. iv. 8. II 1 Cor. xiii. 1, 2. ^ 1 Cor. xiii. 3. 
 
43 
 
 lustre, includeth every thing that flows 
 from the love of God and the love of 
 man ; every thing that contributes to the 
 welfare and happiness of our fellow-crea- 
 tures, to the peace and good order of 
 society, to the spread of religion through 
 the world, and to the praise and glory of 
 the blessed Trinity. 
 
 Though, however, almsgiving is not the 
 sole performance, which constitutes charity, 
 yet it must be ever considered one of the 
 fairest fruits of a charitable spirit, and 
 unquestionably the most satisfactory proof 
 of its existence, which can be discerned 
 by mortal eyes. If we are to know a man, 
 who has charity in his heart, by what 
 can we judge but by his works ? We know 
 no criterion so sufficient, as that St. James 
 makes use of, to try a man, what spirit 
 he is of. " Thou hast faith," thou mayest 
 say, " and I have works. Shew me thy 
 " faith without thy works, and I will 
 " shew thee my faith by my works*/' 
 " The body without the spirit" is not 
 more lifeless than pity without relief. 
 A man may profess through the course of 
 
 * James ii. 18, 20. 
 
44 
 
 a long life to feel for his suffering fellow- 
 creatures, and talk of the pleasure there is in 
 doing good : his eyes may always moisten at 
 the sight of woe, and he may tell the afflict- 
 ed, as long as he hath the faculty of speech, 
 how tenderly he sympathizes in his necessi- 
 ties : But who will believe one syllable of his 
 profession, or give him credit for a spark of 
 the charity he pretends to, except by his 
 liberal gifts he dry up the tear of sorrow and 
 remove the pinchings of necessity ? If this 
 testimony be wanting, he will be much like 
 the young man in the Gospel, who came 
 to our Lord, declaring his readiness to do 
 any thing for the attainment of eternal life, 
 and only wishing to know the way : but, 
 when Christ put his haughty profession to 
 the test by telling him that the road to 
 heaven lay through the practice of charity, 
 not the hare pretence to it, " Go sell that thou 
 hast, and give to the poor, and come and 
 follow me *,'' he felt that he had no inch- 
 nation for such unlooked-for sacrifices, no 
 belief in that trying truth, that" it is more 
 blessed to give than to receive t-^' Therefore 
 he declined the invitation of his Redeemer ; 
 
 * Matt. xix. 21. t Acts XX. 35. 
 
45 
 
 and who shall say that in his contempt of 
 the divine word, he did not forfeit the divine 
 favour ? Awful is the conclusion which the 
 Messiah draws from the vacillating conduct 
 of this presumptuous young man, who had 
 not reckoned the cost of religion. " It 
 " is easier,'' he saith, "for a camel to pass 
 " through the eye of a needle, than for a 
 " man, who trusts in riches, to enter into 
 " the kingdom of God*/' 
 
 It is not so difficult as some persons have 
 supposed, to decide when a man has charity. 
 When I see one, whose amiable character 
 has endeared him to his neighbours, stop at 
 the sight of the first poor distressed object, 
 that meets him in his journey of love ; 
 when I see him, with benignant counte- 
 nance, go up to that afflicted fellow-creature, 
 the tear of pity stealing into his eye, that 
 he may inquire into the nature of /«*5 wants 
 and the extent of his misery ; when I see 
 him pull out his purse, evidently afraid of 
 being observed, and quietly give as much 
 as he thinks he ought to bestow ; when I see 
 that exemplary christian, after having de- 
 parted a little way, with true Samaritan be- 
 
 * Mark X. 23, 24, 25. 
 
46 
 
 nevolence turn back again, and give a little 
 more, because he fears he has not given 
 enough ; when I see his face beam with 
 joy at the honest reflection, that he has 
 done his duty to a brother, and from the 
 hope coming across him, that he has pleased 
 God ; when I contemplate a human being 
 thus rationally, thus religiously employed, 
 (for every thing that is noble in human 
 nature, sanctions and applauds a conduct 
 like this), I do not hesitate to say to my- 
 self, — That man hath charity. — Happy will 
 it be for us, if having witnessed so faithful 
 an imitation of Him who went about doing 
 good, we go and do likewise ! Blessed in- 
 deed, if having faith in God, and Jesus 
 Christ whom he hath sent, the Holy Spirit 
 shed abroad in our hearts that lovely grace 
 of our religion — charity^ whose present re- 
 ward is the blessed hope of everlasting 
 life, and whose eternal recompense will be 
 the society and employments of angels. 
 
 Hoping, that these ievf remarks upon the 
 interesting portion of Scripture which we 
 have selected, may render our further con- 
 sideration of it more easy and protitable, I 
 proceed to give it that explanation, and 
 
47 
 
 draw from it those inferences, wliich I trust 
 will not be offered in vain. 
 
 It may be proper to observe, that in 
 every age, since our Saviour delivered this 
 narration of the rich man and Lazarus, it 
 hus been a question, and by some warmly 
 argued, whether it be a parable or a history. 
 The learned Dr. Whitby thinks it a mere 
 parable adapted for instruction. Matthew 
 Henry considers it an historical description 
 of persons, who really existed, and of facts 
 which actually happened. The excellent 
 archbishop Tillotson seems to view it as a 
 mixture of both, a kind of parable having 
 something of foundation ; and the reason 
 he gives, seems to be weighty, — *' That 
 " there was such a poor man as Lazarus,^' 
 saith the prelate, " is probable, because in 
 " a mere parable His altogether unusual to 
 " name persons, nor is this done in any other 
 " of our Saviour's parables :" The deep re- 
 searcher Poole most admirably expresses 
 himself upon this subject : " It is a question 
 '• ofno great concern for us, whether this be 
 " a history or a parable. Those that contend 
 " on either side have probable arguments 
 " for their opinion ; and it may be, they best 
 
48 
 
 " judge, who determine it to be neither the. 
 *' one nor the other, but a profitable dis- 
 " course, that hath something of both. 
 " Our chief concern is to consider, what 
 " our Lord by it designed to instruct us 
 " in." And such is the object, which I 
 have already professed to pursue. 
 
 Certainly our Lord intended by this 
 history, (if history I am right in believing 
 it) to rebuke the proud and avaricious spirit 
 of the pharisees, who had just derided his 
 mild and benevolent doctrines. And no- 
 thing can be better adapted to pull down 
 their high notions of themselves, and con- 
 vince them of " the danger of avarice and 
 " uncharitableness,"' than the sentiment here 
 so forcibly laid down, that " what is highly 
 " esteemed amongst men may be abomi- 
 " nation in the sight of God.'' 
 
 " There was a certain rich man which was 
 " clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared 
 "sumptuously every day.'' And was it a 
 fault in this man to be richly apparelled, or 
 to keep a sumptuous table ? Our Saviour 
 does not lay this to his charge. We have 
 therefore no reason to conclude that a man 
 of rank and wealth does wrong, when, con- 
 
49 
 
 sistently with the dignity of his station, and 
 the ainpleness of his fortune, he makes a 
 great appearance. The splendour of his 
 estabhshment gives employment to the 
 labourer, the mechanic and the merchant, 
 and is thus a public good. And who shall 
 find fault with the hospitable entertainments 
 he gives to his friends and connexions. 
 
 There is in hospitality a greatness of 
 mind. It displays an open and generous 
 heart. Few are the virtues so often and so 
 highly commended in the sacred writings, 
 as hospitality ; and it is well known that the 
 very heathens admired the primitive Chris- 
 tians for this virtue. When our Lord him- 
 self was invited to several feasts, he did not 
 refuse the invitations. The good things of 
 this world were bestowed by their benevo- 
 lent Donor, to be enjoyed in moderation 
 with a grateful heart. And it is not easy to 
 imagine a truer pleasure than what a man 
 with such a heart possesses, Avhen having 
 returned thanks to God for the plenty he 
 hath enjoyed with his family, he orders his 
 servants to carry the fragments that remain 
 to his poor, honest, industrious neighbours ; 
 that they and their children may feast as 
 
 VOL. II. E 
 
,50 
 
 well as he, and join him in the common 
 duty of praising the Giver of all. 
 
 The fault of this rich man did not consist 
 either in the costliness of his furniture, the 
 brilliancy of his equipage, or the elegance of 
 his entertainments ; but it was in the proud 
 spirit which he cherished in their display, 
 and the sensuality with which he pam- 
 pered his unruly appetite. 
 
 These were crying evils; and our Saviour, 
 who knew his heart better than he knew it 
 himself, saw a greater fault than either of 
 them. He saw that charity had no place 
 there. He had not pity for the poor ; he 
 had no pleasure in doing good ; self was 
 all he cared for ; his own happiness was 
 every thing he sought. He had many 
 luxuries more than others ; but he had not 
 tasted the greatest luxury of all, — the sweet 
 satisfaction of feeding a necessitous fellow- 
 creature with the superfluities of his table, 
 and clothing him with the fleece of his 
 flock. 
 
 I'he fact was, when this rich man made 
 any estimate of his own real character, (but 
 he seldom thought at all) he viewed himself 
 through a false medium : he considered 
 
.51 
 
 liimsclf as his own master, not the servant 
 of his Creator ; as absolute proprietor of 
 all he enjoyed, and not as the steward of 
 the manifold gifts of God : he wasted, 
 therefore, what was not his to waste, and 
 spent the whole of that treasure which 
 he ought to have laid up for eternity. 
 This, this was his crime ; and such a crime 
 is not unseen by the eye of an heart- 
 searching Providence ; it goes not un- 
 punished by the hand of an equitable 
 Judge. 
 
 There was also a certain poor man whose 
 name was Lazarus, so poor, he was obliged 
 to beg for a morsel of bread to satisfy the 
 cravings of hunger, and a few rags to 
 cover him from the inclement blast. 
 Lazarus was laid at the gate of Dives, (the 
 name which has been commonly piven to 
 the rich man) ; a wretched object to look 
 upon : for besides the paleness and ghastly 
 horror attendant upon famine, he was a 
 prey to sickness and disease, his tottering 
 limbs scarce strong enough to carry his 
 emaciated frame from place to place, 
 wherever he thought it likely he might 
 
 K 2 
 
52 
 
 gel support ior the passing day. No 
 tloLibt he had ielt happy in reaching the 
 door of one who rolled in wealth and 
 plenty; and ventured to congratulate him- 
 self upon the flattering prospect of relief, 
 particularly as his petition was so simple 
 and modest, and long privation had taught 
 him to be satisfied with very little. " He 
 " desired but to be fed with the crumbs 
 " which fell from the rich man's table*." 
 
 Poor desolate beggar ! moderate indeed 
 were thy expectations ! mild and submis- 
 sive th}^ request ! Thy mind bore some 
 resemblance to the mind of Him who had 
 " not where to lay his head ;'' " for thou 
 " wast meek and lowly f/' disciplined in the 
 school of affliction and taught to be content 
 because thy station was the will of God. 
 Thou askedst but a morsel of broken meat 
 to allay thy hunger, and revive thy sinking 
 frame : and was that small gift refused thee 
 by the man of power, who looked on thee 
 unmoved, when lying prostrate at his gate ? 
 Not more unfeeling were that " Priest 
 *' and LeviteJ,'' who, passing the wounded 
 
 * Lukexvi.'iJl. t Matt, viii, 20. J Matt. xi. ^9^ 
 
53 
 
 travelltir, would luivc lelt hini lo perish^ 
 if the good " Samaritan'' had not " come 
 " where he was*/' 
 
 Come forth, rich man, we involuntarily 
 cry out. Tiiou hast now a blessed oppor- 
 tunity of increasing thy happiness: thou 
 mayest do a deed to day which thou 
 wilt remember with delight to the last 
 moment of thy life; a work that will follow 
 thee beyond the period of this transient 
 world. But look how indifferent he is to 
 the poor mendicant's petition, who has 
 but a few steps more to travel through 
 the vale of woe ! How he ciin laugh \v\n\c 
 the wretched is weeping before him, and 
 feast while the hungry faints in his presence ! 
 
 Think not, ye that have hearts to feel 
 for the miserable, that it is an uncommon 
 case which we are contemplating. Rather 
 does our experience force us to confess 
 and lament its frequency. The same 
 poverty, which excites pity in the humble, 
 creates contempt in the proud. It was so 
 with the rich man before us ; and as it was 
 with the master, so it was with his servants, 
 7'hus closely in general do the Jowe^r 
 
 * Luke X. 31, 32,33. 
 
,54 
 
 orders follow the vices of the higher ; 
 when therefore the example of the great 
 is evil, it spreads like a contagion. While 
 unfeeling Dives kept feasting on, deny- 
 ing even the fragments of his table to 
 poor despised Lazarus, the pampered at- 
 tendants of this voluptuary surveyed him 
 with the same cold indifference : when lo ! 
 the very dogs, as if to reproach such cruel 
 conduct, shewed a mercy to the beggar, 
 which he found not at the hand of 
 man. They charitably " came and licked 
 " his sores*.'' Such misery lasts not 
 long. A God of mercy sends the kindly 
 hand of death to terminate the suffer- 
 ings of his patieiil creatures. In the 
 grave " the wicked cease from troubling, 
 " and the weary are at restj." 
 
 " The beggar died J f it is likely he left 
 not the rich man's gate before he expired ; 
 for it is ditiicult to conceive a life more 
 helpless, more forlorn, more near to dis- 
 solution than his. No funeral obsequies 
 were paid to his poor remains ; no monu- 
 ment raised to celel)rate his secret virtues 
 and his humble name. But higher honours 
 
 * Luke xvi. '21. f J<>'^ »>"• 17. | Luke xvi. '22. 
 
and more durable reeoids were prepared 
 above, to perpetuate his sacred meuiory. 
 His fervent prayers and righteous deeds 
 were registered in the annals of eternity. 
 And no sooner were the tidings of his 
 pious death announced in heaven, tliau 
 a chosen company of the celestial host 
 were despatched from the presence of 
 God, to take into their care his sanctified 
 spirit. " He was carried by angels into 
 '• Abraham's bosom*." 
 
 * Luke xvi. '2i). — " It was au ancient IracUlioii 
 " among the Jews," sailh archbishop Tillotson, " that 
 *< the angels did attend good men at their death, and 
 " carry their souls into Paradise, which is heiv; called 
 " Abraham's bosom. And it was a proper phice for 
 " Lazarus, who had been neglected by the rich man, to 
 « be conveyed to ; as Abraham loved to entertain and 
 " relieve strangers. Indeed, Paradise," (the place oi" 
 happy souls between death and the general resurrection), 
 " is fitly called xVbraham's bosom, because the Jews had 
 " so great a veneration for this patriarch, and that de- 
 " servedly, for his eminent faith and obedience, that 
 "* they assigned to him the first place among the blessed. 
 " Hence is the expression of sitting down wiili 
 ♦' Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of 
 " God. Matt. viii. 11. Now this expression is an 
 " allusion to a well-known custom of feasts among 
 " the Jews, where the most esteemed gncst sat next 
 " him that was chief at the feast, and leaned on hi$ 
 
56 
 
 How joyous a proof is this that " the 
 " angels are ministering spirits, sent forth 
 " to minister for them who shall be heirs 
 " of salvation*;" that they encamp about 
 the pious peasant not less than the 
 righteous prince; that in this life they 
 deliver men from misery, and after death 
 conduct them to happiness ! 
 
 Lazarus, then, we leavesupremely blessed. 
 He has all things richly to enjoy. Dwell- 
 ing in the mansions of purity, and feeding 
 on the bread of life, his heart abounds 
 with gladness, and his lips overflow with 
 praise. 
 
 But what became of Dives, who spurn- 
 ed at the prayer of Lazarus, and deemed 
 him not worth a thought? " The rich man 
 " also died -]'." His " fine linen "' was now 
 employed to cover his corpse, and the 
 " purple *' to adorn his coffin. All his 
 pomp and magnificence was mocked at 
 
 *' bosom." And it must be familiar to us, that" St. John," 
 tl»e amiable Evangelist," is called the disciple whom Jesus 
 " loved, because, when he sat at meat, he leaned on his 
 " bosom. Hence likewise is tlie expression of our 
 " Saviour's being in the bosom of his Falher, to signify 
 " his dearness to God." 
 
 * llcb. 1. \'J, 14. t 1-uke xvi. 22. 
 
.57 
 
 {jy the herald of death ; all his luxuries 
 and large possessions could not procure 
 the respite of an hoiu\ His doom was 
 decided, the moment was fixed. His 
 accounts were called for; and it availed 
 not to say, he was not ready. He might 
 not one day more be proprietor of those 
 goods, whicli he had wasted and abused. 
 A voice reached him bearing this appall- 
 ing sentence — " Give account of thy 
 " stewardship. Thou mayest be no longer 
 " steward*." " This night thy soul shall 
 " be required of thee*f .'' He had made 
 no preparation for the serious change : 
 besides he had large possessions, and it is 
 these things which make death so terrible. 
 It must be a fearful thing for that man to 
 die, who, rich in the things of this world, 
 hath no inheritance in that world which 
 is to come. 
 
 The rich man " was buried J."' It is not 
 said that any paid the last sad office to 
 poor Lazarus. He left nothing behind 
 him to pay the expenses of his interment; 
 and it is likely the same neglect that fol- 
 lowed him through life, was shewn to him 
 
 * Luke xvi. 2. t Luke xii. 20. 
 
,58 
 
 when he was dead. It was not so with the 
 once-envied Dives. The procession which 
 followed him to the tomb was Ions; and 
 pompous. Some too dropt a tear over 
 the sepulchre where they laid him ; for few 
 are the rich men who have not some 
 friends. Perhaps he was also remembered 
 for a year or two, by those whom he had 
 raised, — remembered but not regretted ; 
 and then he was forgotten as though he had 
 never been ; " the wind passed over him, 
 " and he was gone, and his place knew 
 " him no more*." But he was not for- 
 gotten by the Judge of quick and dead. 
 All his cruelties, his lusts, his excesses, his 
 sins of omission, and his sins of commission, 
 Avere fresh in the memory of God. All 
 were noted in the book of Him, " unto 
 " whom all hearts are open, and from 
 " whom no secrets are hid." The past is 
 as clear as the present to his all-seeing eye. 
 And if you would judge of the ways'of 
 Providence, the economy of which will 
 one day be amply justified, you have 
 only to follow the rich man into the other 
 world, and decide for yourselves, whether 
 
 * Psal. ciii. 16. 
 
o9 
 
 iic or Lazarus was on the whole ihe 
 happier man. " In liell he lilt up his 
 " eyes, being in tormeni, and seeth 
 " Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in liis 
 " bosom*." 'et 
 
 It is worthy of especial remark, my 
 christian hearers, that our Saviour here 
 represents men as passing immediately 
 out of this life into a state of felicity, or 
 a state of wretchedness. It is a thought of 
 exquisite comfort to the virtuous, of ex- 
 cessive terror to the wicked. There ap- 
 pears to be no lapse of time between the 
 death of these two persons, and the reward 
 of the one and the punishment of the 
 other. The arm of the Omnipotent is not 
 slack to save, is not slow to recompense. 
 Tlie soul has no sleep in the grave ; it 
 cannot for an instant forget its existence. 
 The rich man, the moment after his dis- 
 solution, " lifted up his eyes ;" and the 
 first thing he saw, to increase his anguish 
 and imbitter self-reproach, was the beggar 
 " in the bosom of his father Abraham t-.'' 
 
 Great and glorious, we have already 
 seen, was the reward of the poor but 
 
 * Luke xvi. '23. t I'Ukc xvi. 2C>. 
 
60 
 
 patient Lazarus. Awful and horrible has 
 now been for many hundred years, and 
 will be to all eternity, the retribution of 
 Dives, who, in the midst of affluence and 
 luxur3% had'eio pity for the wretched. 
 
 Of the extent of that woe some infinitely 
 small idea may be formed from the petition, 
 which, in the regions of despair, escaped 
 his parched lips, " Father Abraham, 
 " have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, 
 " that he may dip the tip of his finger in 
 " water, and cool my tongue; for I am 
 " tormented in this flame*/' Mark how 
 the scene is changed, and with the scene 
 his sentiments. The rich man was now 
 the petitioner, the beggar was now the 
 supphcated. See, then, how vast the final 
 difference between the poorest saint and 
 the richest sinner. Eternity levels all ; 
 eternity reconciles every mystery. This 
 unhappy mortal's earthly pleasures, and 
 sensual gratifications are all now past ; 
 past much sooner than he expected, like 
 a fanciful dream when one awaketh ; like 
 a tale of flattery that hath once been told ; 
 when, in a moment, all naked, defenceless, 
 
 '* Lukcxvi.24. 
 
6i 
 
 astounded, he falls headlong into the depths 
 of pain and misery. 
 
 The destiny is just. Where, but with 
 himself, lies the blame? On earth he cast 
 not an eye of pity on one desolate crea- 
 ture ; and in heaven no compassionate 
 eye is cast on him : the mercy he refused 
 to others he never can receive. Fallen, in- 
 deed, he is, to be forced to supplicate assis- 
 tance from the very Lazarus who lay at 
 his gate desiring to be fed with the crumbs 
 of his table ; to ask Aim for a drop of water, 
 to whom he deigned not to give the 
 scantiest morsel ; to crave, from the de- 
 spised, insulted, spurned beggar, a moment's 
 ease in an eternity of anguish. Pause a 
 moment to survey this miserable being, 
 that you may take warning from his folly, 
 and shun his fall — then listen to the dread- 
 ful narrative Avhich pronounces the ven- 
 geance he had provoked. " Son," saith 
 the father of the faithful, " remember that 
 " thou in thy life-time received st thy good 
 " things, and likewise Lazarus evil things*:'' 
 thou liadst riches — he had poverty ; thou 
 hadst luxuries — he had hunger ; thou hadst 
 
 * Luke xvi. ^j. 
 
(J2 
 
 purple and tine linen — he bad coarse and 
 tattered garments; thou wastflattered bythe 
 world — by the same world he was frowned 
 upon; thou hadst physicians to prescribe 
 for thy relief, and medicines to ease thy 
 pains on the bed of death — he died at thy 
 gate, without an opiate to calm his de- 
 parting moments, or a friendly hand to 
 close his dying eyes. " But now he is 
 " comforted, and thou art tormented. Re- 
 " member* !" — Sad subject for reflection ! 
 afflicting scenes to look back upon ! — Re- 
 member ! agonizing: thought ! that while 
 Providence enriched thee ; while the world 
 caressed thee ; while all were officiously 
 ready to promote thy prosperity, to 
 offer thee their services, and to magnity 
 thy comforts, thou wast no man's friend, 
 no man's protector, no man's benefactor. 
 Thou wast not eyes to the blind, nor 
 feet to the lame ; thou wast not the 
 patron of the poor and the fatherless. 
 AVhen the ear heard thee, it did not bless 
 thee ; nor when the eye saw thee, did 
 it give witness to thee. 
 
 Can there be a woe much heavier than 
 
 * Luke xwi. Qo. 
 
05 
 
 what such a recollection, in lutuiity, must 
 brino- to a suiltv conscience and a broken 
 heart. Yes, it is the thought, unhappy 
 Dives, that of the torment, which thou wast 
 languishing under, there was no end, no 
 change, no diminution. Lazarus, who 
 wa^s never cruel, could not bring thee a 
 drop of water, he could not visit thee with 
 one word of comfort. Between the place of 
 bliss, and the place of despondency, there 
 is an " impassable gulf." The " worm never 
 " dieth, and the fire is not quenched*." 
 
 Conceive, then, if ye can, what must 
 have been the inward anguish of self-con- 
 victed Dives, when he heard this continued 
 reasonincr from the hcavenlv monitor: 
 Thou in thy life-time, forget not, wast 
 greatly blessed ; time and earth combined 
 to favour thee, whilst Lazarus had nothing 
 but poverty and privation. But the scene 
 is now reversed ; his comforts are now full, 
 and thine are lied for ever. And wdiat hast 
 thou to complain of, or what to offer as thine 
 apology ? whom canst thou blame but thy- 
 self? to whom canst thou look for pity or 
 relief? Thou hadst thy choice as well as La- 
 
 * Isa. Ixvi. 24. Markix. 4^. 
 
64 
 
 zarus ; the same Providence watched over 
 thee and him ; the same grace was offered 
 thee. Thou, hke all the rest of mankind, 
 hadst thy time of acceptance, thy day of 
 salvation. The long-suffering mercy of an 
 impartial Saviour was within thy reach for 
 many a year, and thou hadst greater means 
 of light and instruction than fell by nature 
 to the lot of Lazarus. But what was the 
 event, and what has been the consequence? 
 — Whilst the pious beggar followed God, 
 thou forsookest him ; whilst he placed his 
 affections upon heaven, thine were rivettcd 
 to earth ; whilst he was religious and re- 
 signed, thou wast profane and presump- 
 tuous. — Yes, thou knowest well> (for thy 
 conscience is thy just accuser, and nothing 
 of all thy sins can evade thy memory,) 
 that, whilst surrounded by the giddy and 
 the unprincipled, thou revelledst in days of 
 luxury, and midnights of wantonness — 
 such scenes of guilty joy as always " bring 
 " remorse and sorrov/ to those who are 
 " absorbed in them" — the woe- worn Laza- 
 rus, who perished for want of subsistence 
 at thy inhospitable gate, retained, amid all 
 his trials, his integrity, and submitted for 
 
65 
 
 the sake of" Heaven his only liope to the 
 Almighty's will ; and he hath found his 
 reward in a better resurrection. The 
 Saviour in whom he trusted " hath granted 
 " him that better part" which he chose, 
 and his faith, the living root of obedience, 
 is remunerated by everlasting glory. 
 
 The history grows more dreadfully in- 
 teresting and instructive as we proceed. 
 God grant that its influence may not be 
 lost upon us ! 
 
 The rich man perceiving, that to himself 
 all hope, all happiness, were irrecoverably 
 lost, recollects that he had five brethren 
 still alive in the lower world, who, like him- 
 self, were lovers of the creature more than 
 the Creator ; and who, hardened in their 
 guilt by habits of intemperance and for- 
 getfulness of prayer, (the certain indication 
 of a depraved mind,) were fast following 
 him down the broad and easy road that 
 leadeth to destruction. 
 
 For these five companions of his former 
 follies, he, with becoming tenderness and 
 solicitude, put up a mournful prayer to 
 Heaven : " I pray thee, that thou wouldst 
 " send Lazarus to my father's house, for 
 
 VOL. II F 
 
66 
 
 " I liave five brethren*;" lei him tell 
 them of my hapless condition ; let him 
 admonish them of the ruin that must over- 
 take them, if, hke me, they forsake the 
 service of God, and shut their ears to the 
 cry of man's affliction. Let him, 1 beseech 
 thee, tell them all this, and more, if any 
 thing can save them after so long impeni- 
 tence, " lest they also come into this place 
 *' of torment/' 
 
 Alas ! could one be permitted to visit 
 the reahns of endless affliction, and hear 
 the complaints of the lost, perhaps the 
 most distressing scene of all would be that 
 of mutual charges of cruelty and neglect 
 between the nearest connexions. I would, 
 (the wretched spirit will say, who first 
 accuses the corrupters of his youth,) 1 
 would have read the Holy Scriptures, but 
 you told me it was not necessary ; I would 
 have attended my parish church twice 
 in the day, but you laughed me out of 
 my a'esolves ; I would have kept out of 
 the society of those companions, who led 
 me into snares, and hardened me in guilt, 
 but you hurried me into it ; I would, in 
 
 * Lukf xvi. 27, 28. 
 
67 
 
 the hour of atiiiction, liave tiown to relifTioii 
 and to Christ, for peace and comfort, but 
 you told nietlie world was better calculated 
 to dispel my cares and drown my griefs ; 
 and I, alas, too readily believed you ; de- 
 ceitful was this heart of mine, and des- 
 perately wicked. I would, in my last ill- 
 ness, have sent for a minister of religion ; 
 I would have confessed my sins, and re- 
 pented with a godly sorrow ; relying on 
 the cross of a meritorious Saviour, and 
 throwing myself upon the mercy of a 
 sparing God, I would have taken the holy 
 Sacrament, and done all I could, while 
 life was left, to redeem the time which 1 
 had lost ; no good resolution should 
 have been broken, no virtue unpractised, 
 as far as I had the power, through " the 
 '*• grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" assisting 
 me : But you, even you, O father, mother, 
 wife, and sister, were all against me ; you 
 assisted me to get quit of my convictions ; 
 you brought me by your advice and your 
 example into this dreadful state. — O may 
 a gracious God be pleased to grant (I en- 
 treat you who now hear me, to join me in 
 this prayer,) that such an accusation may 
 
 F 2 
 
OS 
 
 never go from our lips, nor enter into our 
 ears. May we be mutually engaged, while 
 we have life, in converting, edifying, com- 
 forting, "saving, both ourselves and them**' 
 that belong to us ; that when we live to- 
 gether hereafter we may have happy cause 
 for mutual congratulations and mutual 
 rejoicings at the right hand of our Re- 
 deemer, and in the glories of his kingdom. 
 If we should be doomed, which God 
 forbid, to see in Abraham's bosom some 
 happy spirit, whom we once injured and 
 despised, whilst we are banished from his 
 presence, let it be at least impressed upon 
 our minds that it will be of no avail to 
 supplicate Heaven to send that spirit to 
 our parents, our wives, our children, and 
 our brothers, whom we had led astray, when 
 with them upon earth, by fallacious rea- 
 sonings, and by evil habits. Such hopes 
 are eternally silenced by the father of the 
 faithful : " They have Moses and the Pro- 
 " phets; let them hear them. •'* As if he had 
 said to the afflicted Dives : Vain is thy be- 
 lief that a miracle would rouse their sleep- 
 ing minds : thou talkest like one who never 
 
 * I '!'iiii. iv. l(i. 
 
69 
 
 know what a clian2;e it is to be converted 
 fmin darkness to light, and from tlie power 
 of Satan unto God. — The converting of 
 sinners is not the province of miracles. 
 It is the gift of the Holy Spirit to them 
 that ask it with a holy purpose ; it is the 
 o|x^ration of divine grace upon the souls 
 of the sincere, who are workers together 
 with God, and who, aided by his influence, 
 work out their own salvation ; nothino; 
 doubting but their own steadfastness, of 
 nothing boasting but the goodness of their 
 God and Saviour. 
 
 Nor is preaching, except it be blessed by 
 the sanctification of the Spirit, of any effi- 
 cacy to the saving of the soul. To Him 
 we must pray ; on Him we nmst depend. 
 A Paul himself may preach, and an Apollos 
 may reason ; but if God give not the in- 
 crease, the seed which is sown will pro- 
 duce no fruit. The " word is a lamp to 
 " the feet, and a light to the paths *•/' but 
 the Saviour must guide the feet of his re- 
 deemed, and lead them through the paths 
 of the wilderness, or they will be" scattered 
 " abroad, as sheep having no shepherd t," 
 
 * i'sal. cxix. 105. t Matt. ix. 30. 
 
70 
 
 aixi fall into the snares of the destroyer. 
 " The good shepherd*," who laid down 
 " his life for the sheep," (so eternal was 
 his love for them,) hath left his instructions, 
 his invitations, his warnings, his promises 
 in the Gospel. And what more can be 
 expected, what more can be given ? Can 
 Lazarus teach with more power than 
 Christ and his twelve Apostles ? Hath he 
 the means of grace to offer, which the Son 
 of God came down from heaven to give ? 
 Hath he the influence in the courts above, 
 which the Prince of Peace possesses in a 
 Saviour's right? Hath he the power of 
 sending the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, 
 to guide men into truth, and fit them for 
 heavenly employments ? Or, suppose that 
 all these and more are contemned and 
 forfeited, " must a particular revelation 
 " be prepared for every five sinners, be- 
 " cause they will allow no evidence to be 
 " suflicient, but such as exactly coincides 
 " with their own perverseness of judging V 
 Eternal wisdom disapproves of such a 
 dispensation ; eternal justice forbids it — 
 and who, of all presumptuous beings, is the 
 
 * Joliii x. xi. 
 
71 
 
 iDan that dares to prescribe to God what 
 he shall do ? Every one tliat lives hath 
 sutiicient means of salvation, sufficient 
 seasons of mercy ; every one that lives 
 hath sufficient motives also to repent- 
 ance, sufficient grounds for faith, sufficient 
 incitements to obedience. If they profit 
 not by these, they will profit by no other ; 
 if they are lost, it is because they are re- 
 solved to perish ; if they are not saved, 
 nothing can save them ; they have Moses 
 and the prophets, let them hear them ; and 
 they will want no other guides as the agents 
 of the Almighty, to bring them to religion 
 and to rest. 
 
 Thus reasoned the heavenly monitor, 
 but Dives still was not convinced. " Nay, 
 " father Abraham,'' he said," but if one 
 " went mito them from the dead they will 
 " repent*." He thought so, — the wise pa- 
 triarch knew better. The rejection of the 
 word of God, (perhaps it is the sin never 
 to be forgiven "h,) argues a desperate cor- 
 ruption of heart not to be cured by any 
 means whatever. Sad and sufficient proofs 
 of this we have seen of late in our beloved 
 
 * Luku xvi. JO. |- Vkle Mall. xii. 31. I Joliu v. lO. 
 
72 
 
 country. The monster Infidelity hath 
 stalked abroad with gigantic strides in the 
 open day. He hath reared his horrid front 
 in almost every town and every village. And 
 he v/ho now calls for further evidence of the 
 darkness, the misery, the reprobateness of 
 free-thinking, has eyes that cannot see, has 
 a heart that cannot understand. The con- 
 sequences are already felt in their infancy ; 
 what they would be in adult growth, the 
 boldest mind even shudders to contem- 
 plate. Christians ! let us be alive to our 
 danger ; let us be armed in our defence ; 
 the torrent must be stemmed before it ex- 
 tend its deadly ravages upon all that is 
 dear and sacred in society, all that is great 
 and honourable in our nature, all that God 
 hath ordained for the holiness, the happi- 
 ness, the elevation of man in time and in 
 eternity. Injured truth demands protec- 
 tion ; insulted religion cries aloud for 
 vengeance, and her voice is heard in 
 heaven. The arm of justice hath fallen 
 upon the head of impiety, and the blas- 
 phemer hath felt that there is a God. 
 
 How awfully convincing is the reason- 
 ing of the piofound Sherlock, upon the 
 
73 
 
 blind and desperate state ot tlie presump- 
 tuous sceptic. " When infidelity is the 
 " effect of such profligate wickedness, it 
 ** deserves not so much regard from God 
 " as that he should condescend for its sake 
 " to raise up one from the dead. And 
 " should he do it, there is reason to sus- 
 " pect it would be ineffectual. We see 
 " in the ordinary course of Providence 
 " many judgments bestowed upon sinners 
 " to reclaim and amend them ; but they 
 " harden themselves against them, so that 
 " their last state is worse than the first. I 
 " will not answer for sinners, how well they 
 " Avould bear the sight of one from the 
 " dead ; nay, I am apt to imagine, it would 
 '' strangely terrify and amaze them. But 
 " to be frightened, and to be persuaded, 
 " are two different things. You would 
 " hardly think it possible that Pharaoh, 
 " (taught and scourged by the successive 
 " plagues of Egypt, and successively pro- 
 " raising to repent) could after all have 
 " withstood the warnings which were sent 
 *' to him ; and yet you know he did." 
 
 The case is the same with most men of 
 a tlisiolule and infidel life, when they have 
 
74 
 
 been warned, either by affliction ov by sick- 
 ness, or by the fear of death, or by any 
 other terrilic visitation, as soon as they 
 are dehvered from the immediate influence 
 of the alarm. 
 
 " Sadden and violent impressions, like 
 " sudden and violent passions, seldom con- 
 ••' tinue to any great length of time ; — the 
 " shock once over, nature would recover ; 
 " though greatly terrified at first, our fears 
 " would wear off, the impression would 
 " grow weaker and weaker every day, and 
 " we should at last ascribe it all to the 
 " delusion of an heated imagination ; our 
 " old vicious habits, like a fire smothered 
 " for a time, but not quenched, would 
 " burst forth again with increased violence 
 " and spread destruction all around/' 
 
 Who, then, among the forsakers of God, 
 shall still believe, in contradiction to the 
 word of his Son, that stronger evidences 
 and stronger lights would avail to their con- 
 version from hardened infidelity and habi- 
 tual transgression? When Christ raised the 
 dauo-hter of Jairus*, the widow of Nain's 
 son-f-, and the brother of Martha and of 
 
 * Mark V. 2'i— 4'2. t Luke vii. 1 1—1.3. 
 
75 
 
 Mary*, did it convert the unbelieving and 
 hypocritical Pharisees? did they accept 
 the religion of the Gospel, or did they 
 become less vain or vicious in their own 
 imaginations ? No ! they became, on 
 the contrary, more proud and perse- 
 cuting in their spirit, and more hardened 
 in guilt and cruelty ; till at last, with 
 impious hands, they crucified the in- 
 nocent Jesus ; and whilst he prayed 
 Heaven to forgive them, they called down 
 the vengeance of his blood on themselves, 
 and on their children. 
 
 These men did profess to believe in 
 Moses and the prophets, but they did not 
 hear them ; that is, they did not obey them : 
 their hearts were waxed gross. And why 
 should we suppose that wicked men would 
 sooner be convinced and converted now, 
 than in the days of Jesus Christ, when 
 miracles of every description were visibly 
 and repeatedly wrought before them in 
 the very face of day. Their various 
 senses were w^itnesses of the power, the 
 wisdom and the mercy of God in the vast 
 work of man's salvation. "Jesus Christ 
 
 ^ John xi. o — 4-i. 
 
76 
 
 '' nppcnrcd in the brightness of his Father's 
 " glory */' " the glory (as of the only Son 
 " of God,) full of grace and truth f-/' 
 r/iey heard the mighty words that he spake, 
 they saw the mighty deeds that he per- 
 formed. They allowed the actuality of 
 his miraculous operations, for to doubt 
 was impossible. Come, saith the woman 
 of Sichar, to the people of her city, " see 
 " a man which told me all things that ever 
 " I did. Is not this the Christ J V And 
 it is very satisfactory that the miracles of 
 the Messiah did not want confessors more 
 than witnesses. When Mary and Martha 
 said to him, " Lord, if thou hadst been 
 " here our brother had not died,'' he said 
 to them openly, " I am the resurrection • 
 " your brother shall rise again ; " and a 
 great part of the inhabitants of Bethany 
 were spectators of the affecting scene, 
 when the Saviour cried out to him who had 
 been lour days in the grave, "Lazarus, 
 " come forth §," many of whom, when 
 they saw the things which Jesus did, be- 
 lieved on him. Thei/ could not deny, that 
 
 * Hebrews I. 3. t John i. 14. X John iv. ^y. 
 <; John xi. '21. 43. 
 
•all lie said, niul all ho did, were for the 
 health and happiness of mankind ; when 
 the blind received their sight, the deaf 
 heard, the lame walked, the dead were 
 restored to life, and the poor had the 
 Gospel preached to them. But still they 
 hardened their heart with more than 
 Egyptian obstinacy. Still they shut them- 
 selves out of the kingdom of heaven, and 
 would not let others go in. Still they 
 perished with the sound of salvation in 
 their ears, nay, with a Saviour, the most 
 gracious, the most benevolent, pressing 
 the offer of mercy u|x>n them, and saying, 
 " Ye will not come unto me that ye might 
 " have life. Search the Scriptures, they 
 " testify of me *." Alas, I need not tell 
 you who reverence those Scriptures, that 
 it is not to one age or people of the world, 
 that such a spirit of arrogant unbelief hath 
 been peculiar. In every nation which 
 hath been favoured with the light of Chris- 
 tianity, there have been from the death 
 of Christ, to the present hour a frightlul 
 number of ungodly men ; who, in the pride 
 ol" their hearts, have rejected the truths of 
 
 * John V. 39, 40. 
 
78 
 
 revelation, and rotiised the offers of re- 
 deeming mercy, though purchased at no 
 less a price than the blood of the Son of 
 God. 
 
 The conclusion which obviously meets 
 us has been ably drawn. " There never 
 " can be a firmer " foundation laid*" for 
 " our faith, or stronger arguments for 
 " obedience than what the Gospel affords. 
 " And therefore he who either disbelieves 
 " the Gospel of our Saviour, or believing 
 " disobeys it, is out of hope to be con- 
 " verted or reformed by any other argu- 
 " ment, by any other evidence.'' If they 
 will not " hear Moses and the prophets, 
 " neither will they be persuaded though 
 " one rose unto them from the dead." 
 
 Let us then be careful to hold fast the 
 sound doctrines of our holy reformed 
 Church, which are built upon the word of 
 God. Let us humbly and implicitly' 
 believe the Gospel, because we have every 
 evidence of its truth, which revelation 
 could discover and reason comprehend. 
 Thankful to Providence for the blessed 
 light he hath given us, and the blissful 
 
 ,* 1 Cor. iii. 11. 
 
79 
 
 promises, which, tlirough thai hghl, we 
 can anticipate, let iis profit in all things by 
 the teaching of Jesus Christ, and let us 
 perseveringly follow the example we re- 
 vere. In love with all his wa3^s, and ad- 
 miration of his whole example, let us 
 strive to think, and speak, and live as he 
 did. Let us be patient, gentle, forgiving, 
 in our tempers, not envying others their 
 superior rank or fortune, " but content 
 " with our state, whatsoever*" it may be, 
 and resigned in all thino-s to the dis- 
 pensations of God. Let us be civil 
 and courteous in our manners, (parti- 
 cularly to the poor and the unfortunate,) 
 modest, and discreet in our language, 
 chaste in our desires, temperate in our 
 pleasures, and strictly conscientious in 
 every transaction with the world. l>ut, 
 above all things, let us put on charity : 
 it is the sacrifice with which "God is well 
 " pleased '^•." It is the closest imitation 
 we can reach of the Founder of our religion. 
 Jt is a conformity to the doctrines, and a 
 compliance with the desires, of Him, who 
 
 * Pliil. iv. 11. t Heb. xiii. \G. 
 
80 
 
 lived, who died, who rose again to save 
 us. It is that love of man, arising from 
 the love of God, which, sanctified by the 
 Holy Spirit, will cover the multitude of 
 sins, and place us in the favour of Heaven, 
 through the merits and mediation of our 
 Saviour Jesus Christ. 
 
ON 
 
 REPENTANCE AND CONVERSION. 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PBEACHED AT 
 
 ST. MARY-LE-BONE CHURCH, 
 
 SUNDAY, DECEMBER 7th, 1817- 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
SERMON III, 
 
 MATTHEW, in. 3. 
 
 THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 
 PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS 
 PATHS STRAIGHT. 
 
 JVlANY centuries before Jesus Christ 
 came from his throne in heaven to bring 
 " grace and truth*" into the world, a 
 prophet foretold to the Jewish nation, not 
 only the advent of the long promised 
 Messiah, but also the previous arrival of 
 a remarkable messenger, who should usher 
 in the Emmanuel, and proclaim the gran- 
 deur and blessings of his mission. 
 
 It appears from history, both sacred and 
 profane, that about eighteen hundred years 
 ago, the whole civilized world were expect- 
 ing the appearance of some more illus- 
 trious and mighty personage, than had 
 ever before visited mankind -f. 
 
 * John i. 17. 
 i' Vide Bishop of Lincoln's Elements of Christian 
 Theology, Vol. I., page 225, in which the learned prelate 
 refers us to Tacit. Hist. lib. v. cap. i:*, Sneton.in Vila 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 At present I shall confine myself to speak 
 of the Jews, who with one mind were, like 
 holy Simeon, " waiting for'' the coming of 
 their Messiah, " the consolation of Israel*/" 
 They grounded their expectation upon 
 the confessedly accurate computations of 
 their Rabbis, who were men well fitted by 
 their skill in sacred lore, and their ac- 
 quaintance with oral tradition, to declare 
 the probable period of the Saviour's 
 advent. 
 
 At this time John, the son of Zacharias 
 and Elisabeth, surnamed the Baptist, 
 appeared upon the stage of life. " He 
 " was,'" the Scripture says, " a man sent 
 " from Godf.^' 
 
 This distinguished person, when he 
 arrived at the age of about thirty years, set 
 out into the wilderness of Judea, in the 
 character of a preacher. His fame soon 
 extended far and wide, and multitudes of 
 men, women, and children, flocked from 
 every part to hear him. 
 
 His doctrines, which not one of the 
 
 Vesp. cap. iv. — The fourth Pastoral of Virgil is worthy 
 of notice in proof of this interesting fact. 
 
 * Luke ii. 25, 26. t John i. 6. 
 
85 
 
 Evangelists omit to mention, were delivered 
 with authority ; and we may form some 
 idea how his audience must have been 
 arrested with admiration and awe, when 
 they heard John declare himself to be 
 the very forerunner of the Messiah revealed 
 by the Spirit to the prospective eye of the 
 Seer of God, and announce his office to 
 the people in the very words which Isaiah 
 had used : " The voice of him that crieth 
 " in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of 
 " the Lord*/^ 
 
 Scarce had the multitude begun to retire 
 from the wilderness before they met the 
 very Saviour, of whom the Baptist had 
 declared himself the messenger. And if 
 a shadow of doubt remained in the mind 
 of any of them, as to the identity of John 
 Avith the Prophet foretold by Isaiah, that 
 doubt must have vanished when Jesus 
 thus emphatically addressed them : " AVhat 
 " went ye out into the wilderness for to 
 " see ? a reed shaken v/ith the wind ? But 
 " what went ye out for to sec ? a man 
 " clothed in soft raiment ? Behold they 
 " which are gorgeously apparelled, and 
 
 * Isaiah xl. 3. Mark i. 3. Luke iii. 1. Juliii i. '2.3. 
 
86 
 
 " Jive delicately, are in kings' courts : but 
 " what went ye out for to see ? a prophet, 
 " yea, I say unto you, and much more 
 " than a prophet — For this is he of whom 
 " it is written, Behold I send my mes- 
 " senger before thy face, which shall pre- 
 " pare thy way before thee. Verily I say 
 " unto you ; among them that are born of 
 " women, there hath not appeared a greater 
 " than John the Baptist*." 
 
 He was not less than Adam ; he was not 
 less than Abraham ; he was not less than 
 Moses ; he was not less than David and 
 Daniel ; — but great as was the Baptist, 
 he was infinitely less than Jesus, the son of 
 the blessed Virgin, in whom were united 
 the perfection of human nature, and the 
 fullness of the divine essence. This is the 
 greatness " which the angels desire to look 
 « intof." 
 
 Hear the Baptist's confession (as far as 
 mortal could express,) of the Messiah's 
 majesty, when he saw him approaching, 
 " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh 
 " away the sin of the world J.'' Then 
 
 * Matt. xi. 7—11. Luke vii. 24—28. t 1 Peter i. 12. 
 :|: John i. 29. 
 
87 
 
 behold how he feels himself shrinking into 
 littleness and comparative insignificance, 
 when he is led to compare his character 
 with that of his Lord : 
 
 " When the people were in expecta- 
 " tion» and all men mused in their hearts 
 " of John, whether he were the Christ or 
 " not/' (so great was the sanctity of his 
 character, and so arresting the power of 
 his preaching,) he " answered, saying unto 
 " them all, I indeed baptize you with 
 " water, but one mightier than I cometh, 
 " the latchet of whose shoes I am not 
 " worthy to unloose. Pie shall baptize 
 " you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire. 
 " Whose fan is in his hand, and he will 
 " throughly purge his floor, and will 
 " gather the wheat into his garner, but 
 " the chaff he will burn with fire un- 
 *' quenchable*/' 
 
 Let this argument, in evidence of Chris- 
 tianity, speak for itself; and let every man 
 beware, that it speak not in vain, for this 
 mightier than the Baptist, this baptizer 
 with fire and the Spirit, this gatherer of 
 the righteous into his blessed kingdom, 
 
 * Luke iii. 15 — 17. 
 
88 
 
 this punisher of the wicked with unceasing 
 torments, is He, who declared in the ears 
 of the disciples, that " the law of Moses 
 " and the prophets, and the psalms, wrote 
 " concerning'" him ; and from his mouth 
 we know, (who can, who dare contradict 
 him ?) that if any man hear not Moses 
 and the prophets, neither " would that 
 " man be persuaded though one rose unto 
 " him from the dead*." 
 
 It seemed to me both interesting and 
 useful to lay so much of the sacred history 
 before you, as connected with the person 
 and office of the Baptist, before I proceeded 
 to enforce the great subject which he was 
 sent to preach ; because it is reasonable 
 to suppose, that the more we are struck 
 with the dignity of his character, the more 
 we are likely to be impressed with the 
 solemnity of his doctrine. 
 
 From what you have already heard, 
 you will perceive, that the grand subject 
 ofthe preaching of John was — Repentance. 
 The urgency of his reasoning, and the 
 vehemence of his style, are finely exhibited 
 in the summary record of an Evangelist : 
 
 * Luke xxiv. 44. 
 
89 
 
 " Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven 
 " is at hand*." If we except the lan- 
 guage of Him that spake as never man 
 spake, more was never expressed in the 
 same number of words. The Baptist, 
 though dead, still speaketh to us. The 
 appeal which he made to his thoughtless 
 and ungrateful nation at the first coming 
 of the Messiah, is, after more than seven- 
 teen centuries, as fresh and awakening 
 as on the day that he urged it. It hath 
 not lost any of its force, nor been lessened 
 in importance by the lapse of ages, or the 
 vicissitude of events. Nay, can I doubt 
 your firm belief, that to us Christians, on 
 whom the latter days are coming, is more 
 strongly applied than to those who heard 
 his sermons, the necessity of " preparing 
 " the way of the Lord ;" since we are 
 bounden to our God and Saviour by deeper 
 obligations, and enlightened by the Spirit 
 with clearer views. " The Day-spring 
 " from on high hath visited us-j" in all his 
 splendour, and " brought:]:" fully " to 
 " light, through the Gospel," that " life 
 " and immortality," of which they only 
 
 * Mutt. iii. C. t Luke i. 78. % '2 Timolliy i. 10. 
 
90 
 
 " saw the early dawn, and yet some of them 
 " rejoiced with exceeding joy*." In that 
 Gospel we can trace every type answered, 
 every prophecy fulfilled, every promise 
 resting on an everlasting basis. What 
 excuse, then, can we make, or how can we 
 hope to " escape, if neglecting so great 
 " salvation -f-,"' we profit not by the first 
 advent of Jesus Christ, when living for 
 our example he taught us to be wise 
 and happy ; nor prepare for his second 
 coming, when, attended by his angels, he 
 will call the dead to life, and " judge the 
 " world in equity:!:.'' 
 
 My brethren, we have never together 
 considered a more momentous subject, 
 than what this day occupies our thoughts. 
 Let me therefore freely speak to you, and 
 let us not part without coming to some 
 fixed resolution, as to the manner in which 
 we will spend the short remainder of our 
 day of life. 
 
 John the Baptist preached repentance. 
 The repentance he preached was sincere, 
 immediate, wilUng, unvarying repentance. 
 
 * Matt. ii. 10. t Heb. ii. 3. 
 
 J Psal. xcviii. 9- Acts xvii. 31. 
 
91 
 
 " The Gospel of the grace of God*'' is the 
 same in all ages. " Baptism of repen- 
 " tance for the remission of sins -j-/' through 
 faith in the merits of Jesus Christ, is the 
 foundation of all true religion. Fructified 
 by works, it gives " a right to the tree of 
 " life.'' " Blessed are they that thus 
 " perform the commandments of God ; 
 " they may enter in through the gates in- 
 " to the city t-" 
 
 Under the deep impression of this fun- 
 damental doctrine, the ministers of the 
 church have said in their sermons to their 
 hearers, ever since the Messiah died upon 
 the cross, what John the Baptist said be- 
 fore his ministry began : " Repent ye, for 
 " the kingdom of heaven is at hand. 
 " Bring forth fruits meet for repentance. 
 " Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh 
 " away the sin of the world §.'' 
 
 In this way, we, who are " ambassadors 
 " for Christ II ,'' call often and loudly upon 
 
 * Mark xvi. 15. xiii. 10. Acts xx. 24. 
 
 t Mark i. 4. % Rev. xxii. 14. 
 
 § The Baptist's doctrines, you see here, vary not a shade 
 
 from those of the Apostles. Alike they insisted upon works 
 
 meet for repentance, and faith in Christ the Lamb of God. 
 
 II 2 Cor. V. 20. 
 
92 
 
 tlie world, to leave its vanities and its 
 crimes, to take up the cross, and deny 
 themselves. We summon them to the con- 
 scientious discharge of all those moral 
 and religious duties, which respect for the 
 liie, and gratitude for the death, of their 
 INlcssiah " constrains*'' every true believer 
 to perform. We convince them, by the 
 concordant arguments of reason and reve- 
 lation, of the necessity of instantly aban- 
 doning every thing that keeps men at a 
 distance froni their Saviour ; every thing 
 that resists the shedding abroad of his 
 Spirit in their hearts ; every thing that 
 stands in the way of the influence of reli- 
 gion upon their thoughts, their tempers, 
 and their lives. 
 
 If the world hath sometimes contested in 
 your hearts the sovereignty of God, it must 
 iVom this moment \)c subject ; it must never 
 again lay claim to what entirely belongs 
 to another master. If unruly passions 
 have enslaved you in some unguarded 
 hour, they must enshive you no more; 
 they must be watched, subdued and 
 brou!j,]ii into ca[)tivity. If pleasures, i)ar- 
 
 * 2 Cui. V. 14. 
 
93 
 
 taking oF criminiility, have defiled your 
 souls, they must not only be forsaken as 
 a dangerous snare, but detested as " a 
 " cursed thing." Sincere repentance must 
 be through the assistance of the Holy 
 Spirit, " the two-edged sword*" which 
 faith in the " word of God" lays hold of, 
 to fight and to conquer these enemies of 
 your salvation. And when ye have thus 
 wrestled and prevailed, ye will " come 
 ' boldly unto the throne of grace, that 
 '* ye may obtain mercy, and find grace to 
 " help in time of need f.'' 
 
 Perhaps when you are told thus plainly, 
 that if you would prepare your hearts for 
 the service of the Lord Messiah, and the 
 residence of his comforting Spirit, you 
 must alter and amend your lives, and de- 
 vote yourselves to a master, Avhom the 
 world is ever resisting, — you answer, in the 
 language of offended pride. What do you 
 tell us that we knew not before ? 
 
 To be sorry for every offence committed 
 against a righteous and benevolent God ; 
 to rely upon his grace and Spirit both for 
 inclination to seek, and strength to per- 
 
 * Heb. iv. 12. t Hcb. iv. Mi. 
 
94 
 
 form, his divine will ; to discharge all the 
 duties of our high calling conscientiously 
 and with fortitude ; and to offer our ser- 
 vices, when we have performed them " in 
 " an honest and good heart *,^' in the 
 name and through the mediation of Jesus 
 Christ, sensible of no merit in ourselves, 
 but relying entirely upon a Saviour ;— -these 
 are doctrines so manifestly laid down in 
 the Gospel, and so reasonable as the of- 
 ferings of man to his Maker, that we con- 
 fess nothing to be more within the com- 
 pass of our understanding, nothing more 
 apparently tending to our temporal interest 
 and our eternal advantage. 
 
 I am glad to be answered in this way, 
 because these truths being allowed, you 
 at least have not ignorance to plead as your 
 excuse for impenitence. If, with your eyes 
 thus open, you give not your hearts to 
 God, but still keep hankering after the 
 vain and vicious habits of the world, out 
 of your own mouths you are condemned ; 
 and He, who is " greater than your hearts,'' 
 records your impiety in that book from 
 which " he knoweth all things -f." 
 
 * Lnk(3 vlii. 15. f 1 John iii. 20. 
 
95 
 
 Let us then reason Ikirly together, as if" 
 we were mutually desirous to know, what we 
 must do to be saved. You confess that re- 
 pentance, followed up by real conversion, 
 (the proof of which conversion is a virtuous 
 and holy life,) is that business, which out- 
 strips every other in interest and import- 
 ance : you confess that nothing else can 
 give rest to your souls, when you are 
 weary and heavy-laden ; nothing else can 
 restore you to the favour of God, and 
 render you fit for the kingdom of heaven. 
 It is the way by which " God reconciles 
 " the world to himself in Christ, not im- 
 '* puting their trespasses unto them */^ 
 
 You stop not short of all this, and it is 
 an excellent confession. O may every one 
 of us, in the sincerity of our hearts, thus 
 confess our weakness and our wants, our 
 dependence and our refuge. But it is 
 much more easy, and much more common 
 to acknowledge, than to forsake our sins ; 
 to profess our allegiance to the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, than to love him in our hearts, and 
 give up ourselves to his service. To shew 
 forth his praise with our lips is not suffi- 
 
 * 2 Cor. V. 19- 
 
96 
 
 cicnt, it is the /i/e that God looks at: it 
 is the free-will offering of the soul, with 
 which he is well pleased. 
 
 You most, if not all, of you, profess, 
 every time you attend pubhc worship, 
 your readiness to repent ; you talk also 
 of your resolution ; but where must we 
 find your repentance ? There are certain 
 marks laid down in the Gospel, which we 
 in vain look for in some of you. Where 
 is your sorrow, or where is your sincerity, 
 while you delay your conversion from 
 day to day and Irom year to year ? Easy 
 and indifferent about its beginning and 
 its end, its fruits and its consequences, 
 you are seen to hesitate, to halt, to pro- 
 crastinate, whenever this arduous, this 
 unwelcome, task presents itself. Whilst 
 the seven thousand, who bow not the 'knee 
 to Baal, nor kiss the perfidious idol, are 
 labouring from sun- rise in the vineyard 
 of Christ, and bearing with patience the 
 lieat and burden of the day ; you stand 
 all the day of life impenitent and idle, 
 as if limes and seasons, grace and mercy, 
 death and judgment, things present and 
 things to come, were all subject to your 
 
97 
 
 command, and controlled by your will, 
 still and ever saying to your conscience 
 with presumptuous tongue, — " Go thy 
 " way for this time,'' vain intruder ; " when 
 " I have a convenient season I will call 
 " for thee*/' 
 
 Children of the world, you have too 
 long trifled with the honour of God ; you 
 have too long trifled with your immortal 
 spirits : and it is mine to tell you that 
 you will soon be of the same opinion, 
 though you have hitherto given your- 
 selves credit for possessing more sagacity 
 than the children of light. It is incumbent 
 upon you, without the loss of a moment, to 
 bring the best excuse, if you have any, 
 for putting ofi' your repentance to the 
 present hour. Much I fear you will never 
 seriously begin it, till hours to you shall 
 be no more. 
 
 Say, then, what it is? Have you to 
 complain that the Holy Scriptures, which 
 were written for your instruction, have 
 fallen short of discovering to you the 
 whole will of God or the whole duty of 
 man ? You answer. No ; for in them,^you 
 
 * Acts xxiv, 25. 
 VOL II. H 
 
98 
 
 know, there is " the Revelation of Jesus 
 Christ*.'' Have you to complain, that in 
 those Scriptures there are not the highest 
 promises, to stimulate and encourage the 
 virtuous to good actions ; or that there 
 are not the heaviest thrcatenings, to alarm 
 and deter the wicked from evil deeds ? 
 You answer, No ; for in every pageyouread 
 of the favour of God, " if you follow f/' 
 him, of his frowns " if you forsake*' 
 him J. Say, lastly, have you to complain 
 of any thing ? Pause for a moment, before 
 you give the answer. — Has there been any 
 want of warning, of instruction, of invita- 
 tions from the throne of mercy? Has the 
 eternal Father left you without a light to 
 guide you, without a conscience to remon- 
 strate with you, without a religion to 
 comfort you, without his own Son to save 
 you, without his own Spirit to dwell with 
 you, if you do not reject him ; without his 
 own heaven, to fill you with endless happi- 
 ness ? 
 
 Hear what the Lord himself hath said : 
 " What could be done more to my 
 
 * Gal. i. 12. 2 Tim. iii. 16. t John xii. 26. 
 \ \ Clnoniclts xxvlii. 9- 
 
99 
 
 " vineyard that I have not done in it? 
 " Wherefore when I looked that it should 
 " bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild 
 " grapes*." " Why will ye die? I have 
 " no pleasure in the death of him that 
 " diethf." " that my people had 
 " hearkened unto me! their time should 
 " have endured for ever J/' " How often 
 " would I have gathered you together, 
 " as a hen gathereth her chickens under 
 " her wings, and ye would not§." 
 
 Remembering these promises of help, 
 these proofs of patience, these waitings 
 of mercy, this willingness in God to draw 
 you from the ruin of your ways, and pluck 
 you as brands out of the fire ; you have 
 not the courage, you have not the ingrati- 
 tude, any longer to attempt an excuse 
 for the delay of your conversion. Your 
 contempt of the Spirit, your carelessness 
 about salvation, your casting of the heir 
 out of his vineyard, your voluntary choice 
 of the servitude of Satan and the society 
 of lost spirits; each in their turn stares 
 you in the face, each presents to your eyes 
 
 * Isaiah v. 4. t Ezek. xviii. 31, 32. 
 X Ps. Ixxxi. 1.3, 15. § Matt, \xiii. 37. 
 
 H 3 
 
100 
 
 some egregious foll}^ you have yielded 
 to, some great blessing you have wilfully 
 lost. 
 
 And if it be so, this let me tell \^ou, in 
 the zeal of friendship, (and let nothing 
 drive it from your thoughts while you 
 live,) that if you are silent in this world, 
 when asked for the cause of your impeni- 
 tence, you will be horril:)ly " speechless,*' 
 when in the next, your Lord shall inquire, 
 why you stand before him " not having a 
 " wedding garment* V If you can offer 
 nothing in justification now, you will 
 not be able to offer any hereafter, when 
 the world shall be assembled, the books 
 be opened, and the Judge seated upon his 
 throne. No : the confusion and distress 
 of that scene will be more than words 
 can express or fancy imagine ; they will 
 surpass even the fears of guilt, and be 
 more gloomy than despair itself could 
 present tlicm. Is there any thing (I would 
 put it to the conscience) in the form of 
 horror or dismay, more painful to contem- 
 phite than the picture which Revelation 
 draws of this catastrophe ? " When many 
 
 * Matt. xNii. 12. 
 
101 
 
 " of them, that sleep in the dust ot the 
 " earth, shall awake to shame aud ever- 
 " lasting contempt, there shall be a time 
 " of trouble such as never was since there 
 " was a nation*/' " The Lord" Jesus, 
 the avenger of his righteous laws, " shall 
 " come '" to call the disobedient to trial 
 " in a day when they look not for him, 
 " and in an hour -f* '" when they are not 
 prepared. He will say to his destroying 
 angel, " Take from those wicked and 
 " slothful servants the talent I gave them ;'* 
 but which, regardless of my interest, they 
 have abused and wasted ; and cast them 
 " into outer darkness, where will be 
 " weeping and gnashing of teeth:]:.'' Then 
 they must go into everlasting banishment 
 from the presence of the Lord ; and their 
 cup of anguish will run over, when they 
 are followed by that distracting sentence 
 from the lips of their Judge : " Depart 
 " from me, ye that woik iniquity ; I never 
 '' knew you§." They will say to the 
 " mountains, Fall on us, and to the hills 
 " cover us : O ! hide us from the face of 
 
 * Dan. xii. 1,2. f Matt. xxiv. 50. 
 
 t Malt. XXV. 26, 28, 30. § Matt. vii. 23. 
 
102 
 
 " Him that sittetli on the throne. For the 
 " great day of his wrath is come ; and 
 " who shall be able to stand * V 
 
 Ye children of mortality, ye heirs of 
 eternal happiness or eternal misery (for 
 the one or other awaits us all) shut not 
 your ears to the voice of counsel, until 
 the messenger of grace shall have in vain 
 exhausted his last reproof; nor harden 
 your hearts, like your fathers in the 
 wilderness ; lest God swear to you, as he 
 did to them, that ye " shall not enter into '' 
 his " rest-|* :*' but ambitious to display 
 your fidelity to heaven, " be ye steadfast," 
 not to be moved, " abounding always 
 " in " that " work of the Lord J '' which is 
 invariably profitable. When ye see the 
 children of the world, whom nothing can 
 awaken, nothing reclaim, running headlong 
 down the broad and easy road ; pity them 
 and pray for them, but do not follow them. 
 Stop a solemn moment to inquire, whether 
 the soul would not be a price too great to 
 give for the whole world ; and whether you 
 are not selling your immortal being for a 
 
 * Rev. vi. 16, 17. t Heb. iii. 11. 
 X 1 Cor. XV. 58. 
 
103 
 
 few of its transient vanities ? And if you 
 find, on looking within your heart, that all 
 is not right ; if you discover, on further 
 inquiry, that you have been sleeping from 
 year to year on the edge of eternal punish- 
 ment ; awake, shake off your drowsiness, 
 and set out in haste for the promised land, 
 if the day of your probation be not past, 
 and the seal of judgment already affixed to 
 your doom. Consider well, how many 
 are the difficulties, how sandy the founda- 
 tion, how sharp the pangs of a death-bed 
 repentance. How does one uncertainty 
 follow another, and every succeeding 
 misery surpass the last ; when the impeni- 
 tent begins to see the world he idolized 
 with all its treacherous glories receding 
 from his weary eyes, and knows that he 
 has no riches, no comforts, laid up in the 
 world to which he is hastening. If ye 
 think it of any consequence to escape 
 from such a destiny, begin I pray you 
 now, and be in earnest. Seize the flying 
 moment ; it is a moment of unrivalled con- 
 sequence, because on the gain or loss of it 
 may hang the bliss or woe of countless 
 ages. High time indeed it is to awake 
 
104 
 
 out of sleep ; tlie time that lies before us 
 is lessening with alarming rapidity ; the 
 little we had at first is less than it was, and 
 all that is gone like a finished tale, with 
 the hair's breadth that is left, must be ac- 
 counted for. Let then no more be lost, 
 but let us seize it with eager hand ; we 
 have not a motion of the pendulum to 
 spare. Let us bring eternity so near to our 
 view, and stamp it so indelibly on our 
 memory, that, convinced of its infinite 
 realities, and the vanity of every thing 
 when compared to it, we may be forced 
 immediately to begin the work of repent- 
 ance, and never rest till we are converted. 
 After we are convinced that nothing can 
 far exceed the despondency of that man, 
 who finds at death, that in all his days 
 there has hardly been a serious one, hardly 
 one given to Him who now recalls them, 
 let us believe that we cannot be carried to 
 heaven upon the wings of a few prayers 
 and vows and tears, if death shall surprise 
 us before the work of salvation is besun. 
 It will not be enough to say we repent: it 
 will not save us to hope we are converted. 
 All arc sorry they have sinned, when the 
 
105 
 
 time of retribution arrives. All hate the 
 Avorld, when they find that its promises 
 have deceived them, and its guilty joys 
 destroyed them. The repentance which 
 godly sorrow worketh, and which long- 
 suffering pity will accept, requires a very 
 different state of preparation, a very dif- 
 ferent degree of obedience. It consists 
 not, as I shall shew more fully hereafter, 
 in some transient acts of virtue and piety, 
 some baitings between good and evil, 
 some almost persuasion to be a Christian, 
 backed by the excuse, so ready and so 
 easy — that nature is unruly, and the world 
 is captivating. Repentance, such as the 
 mind can rest upon with comfort, and 
 Heaven will behold with complacency, 
 demands a settled habit of walking with 
 God, a permanent state of spiritual life, a 
 disposition of mind and manner conformed 
 to the purity of the Gospel, a likeness to 
 Jesus Christ in all his attainable perfec- 
 tions ; in a word, a dedication of the whole 
 man, the passions and affections, the heart 
 and soul, to Him that gave them. If, falling 
 short of this standard of Christianity, we 
 allow our hopes and happiness to centre 
 
106 
 
 in the things of time and sense ; if we Hve 
 to gratify ourselves, and not to glorify 
 God ; " if we consider religion a flowery 
 " path, in which we may tread in careless 
 " security, and not a warfare, a striving 
 " and a race ;"' if we do not fight the good 
 fight, and keep the faith, and finish our 
 course with unbending step and unwearied 
 strength, we are destitute of the true prin- 
 ciple of repentance, of the genuine proofs 
 of conversion. We have not followed the 
 voice that crieth in the wilderness, nor 
 made straight the way of the Lord. Amen. 
 
ON 
 
 REFENTAJSICE AND CONVERSION: 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 rREACIIED AT 
 
 ST. MARY-LE-BONE CHURCH, 
 
 SUNDAY, DECEMBER Um, 1817. 
 
SERMON IV. 
 
 MATTHEW in. 3. 
 
 THE VOICE OF ONE CRYING IN THE WILDERNESS, 
 PREPARE YE THE WAY OF THE LORD, MAKE HIS 
 PATHS STRAIGHT. 
 
 If there were only the fear of death to 
 alarm the impenitent transgressor, it would 
 seem more than sufficient to fill him with 
 dismay ; since he hath placed all his hopes 
 and affections upon the present world, and 
 therefore the close of life is to him the 
 loss of every thing. But " as it is ap- 
 " pointed unto men once to die*,'' so 
 " after death the judgment."' The bed 
 of infirmity is then changed for a tribunal 
 of justice, and the applause or censures of 
 man for the smiles or frowns of an eter- 
 nal God. 
 
 No other motives can be better adapted 
 than these, to prepare our minds a second 
 time for a solemn and due consideration 
 of the Baptist's warning ; for well hath 
 Dean Sherlock observed, " There is not a 
 
 * Ileb. ix.27. 
 
110 
 
 «* more effectual way to revive the true 
 " spirit of Christianity in the world than 
 " seriously to meditate on the four last 
 " great things, — death, judgment, heaven, 
 " and the place of lost spirits. It would 
 " be morally impossible for men to lead 
 " such careless lives as they do, if they 
 " were possessed with a warm and con- 
 " stant sense of these things;" they would be 
 forced to number their " days and apply'' 
 their " hearts unto wisdom*,'' to fly to 
 Christ as their Saviour, and, " prepare" 
 by a life of virtue and piety, " to meet their 
 " Godf." 
 
 I humbly trust, it was made to appear, 
 in my last discourse on this awful subject, 
 that mankind have nothing in the shape of 
 reason to say for themselves when they do 
 not prepare the way of the Lord, nor make 
 his paths straight. It is my ofliice, on the 
 present occasion, in imitation of the Bap- 
 tist, to " speak to them the truth and 
 " boldly rebuke their vices." 
 
 The success of my renewed appeal must 
 greatly depend on your willingness to learn 
 your Christian duty, and your desire to 
 
 * Psal. xc. 12.^ t Amosiv. 12. 
 
Ill 
 
 find the way of eternal lite. Happy is that 
 minister of Jesus Christ, who is the humble 
 means of turning one careless soul to se- 
 rious thought and sincere resolutions of 
 amendment. The Lord hath graciously said, 
 by his Prophet Daniel, that " they that be 
 " wise shall shine as the brightness of the 
 " firmament, and they that turn many to 
 " righteousness, as the stars for ever and 
 " ever*." 
 
 It is humbly laid down, as a preliminary 
 truth, that as " every good and perfect gift 
 *' is from above, and cometh down from 
 " the Father of lights!;" all the circum- 
 stances, connected with your repentance 
 and conversion, must spring from the grace 
 of God. Step by step his Spirit must lead 
 you by the hand; and when you " follow.|/* 
 him because you delight to " serve'' him, 
 he will give you strength, and faith, and 
 holy purposes, corresponding with the 
 nature of your wants, and adapted to the 
 exigency of your condition. 
 
 Without this preventing and assisting 
 " grace of God§'' (yourselves notwith- 
 
 * Daniel xii. 3. f James i. 1?. % Jf>l'n *"• ~6. 
 § 2 Cor. vi. 1. 
 
.112 
 
 standing, " as workers together with him, 
 " receiving it not in vain*,") yo^ cannot 
 leave one of your sins, nor carry into exe- 
 cution one sacred resolution. You may 
 feel a transient wish to give up some of the 
 worldly vanities which have corrupted you, 
 and may even have the hope come across 
 you that you are sincere; but it still re- 
 mains certain, that without the aid and 
 influence of the Holy Spirit, " ye can do 
 " nodiing-)-." " He only can graft in your 
 *' hearts the love of the divine name, in- 
 " crease in you true religion, and nourish 
 " you with all goodness." A Paul may 
 plant, and an Apollos may w^ater ; " but 
 " it is God that giveth the increase^/' 
 
 This Scriptural doctrine has unhappily 
 been perverted and misapphed ; leading 
 some men, who compare not Scripture with 
 Scripture, to sloth and spiritual pride, and 
 others to groundless doubts and gloomy 
 apprehensions. 
 
 These latter, altliough they strive to do 
 well, go mourning all the day long, be- 
 cause they fear that they may be left to 
 perish, either from want of the grace of 
 
 * 2 Cor. vi. I . t .Join. xv. 5. J 1 Cor. iii. 7. 
 
113 
 
 God to direct them in the choice of their 
 religion ; or from the absence of his Spirit, 
 when they are in need of cirength, (o obey 
 the laws and perform the duties which 
 Christianity enjoins. Such fears and ap- 
 prehensions are groundless in any man, 
 who endeavours to follow his Saviour's 
 example, and trusts in his merits for ac- 
 ceptance ; because the word of God is 
 full of encouragement to such a humble- 
 minded candidate for heaven. The grace 
 of God is offered to all ; his Spirit waits 
 upon all . These men are spiritually heavy- 
 laden ; and our Saviour's invitation is, 
 " Come unto me, all ye that labour, and I 
 " will give you rest*." Besides God hath 
 many times declared that " he is no re- 
 " specter of persons f ;'' and if any thing 
 can afford an irresistible testimony of His 
 impartial goodness, and man's universal 
 redemption, it must be what we read in 
 Scripture, that Christ died " a propitiation 
 " for the sins of the whole world:]:;" and 
 that, " in every nation, he that feareth God 
 
 * Matt. xi. 28. t 2 Sam. xiv. 14. 2 Chron. xix. 7- 
 
 Rom. ii. 11. Eph. vi, <i. Col. iii. 2.5. 
 
 I Pet. i. 17. t\ John ii.2. 
 
 voi,. n. r 
 
114 
 
 " and woikclh riglitcousness shall be ac- 
 ** ccptcd "svith liiiii*." 
 
 Whilst it appears, from these great autho- 
 rities, that the grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ is the sole moving cause of every 
 good thought and word and action of his 
 creatures, it is also evident, (and for this 
 unspeakable gift we should be full of gra- 
 titude,) that all may receive the grace of 
 God, who pray for it with a meek spirit ; 
 all may, through its help, arrive, for their 
 Redeemer's sake, at the kingdom of heaven, 
 if they *' strive to enter inf/' All may 
 prepare the way of the Lord, and make 
 his paths straight. The gate of mercy is 
 not shut against any good men that knock ; 
 Jesus Christ says, " Him that cometh unto 
 " me I will in no wise cast out j." " God 
 " so loved the world that he gave his only 
 " Son ; that whosoever beheveth in him 
 '' should not perish, but have everlasting 
 " life§." 
 
 Hence it appears that the error of those 
 who despair from a gloomy cast of mind, 
 when they are strenuously seeking salva- 
 
 * Acts X. 35. ■]■ Luke xiii. 24. % John vi. 37. 
 § John iii. 16. 
 
115 
 
 tion through faith and obedience, is glaring : 
 God willeth not that such shall die. 
 
 And that other error which I have 
 alluded to, I mean, the error of presump- 
 tion, originating in spiritual pride, and end- 
 ing in sloth and supineness, hath not more 
 in reason to justify it, and is as peremptorily 
 opposed both by the spirit and the letter 
 of the Gospel. 
 
 God, ever merciful and ever just, gives 
 freely his grace to all that " ask" it of him, 
 " believing*." But he expects his creatures, 
 through the influence of that grace, to re- 
 pent, and bring forth works meet for re- 
 pentance ; to employ both their time and 
 their talents to his glory, and the happi- 
 ness of their fellow-creatures. " They must 
 " work out" their own " salvation with 
 '' fear and trembling^.'* Whereas their 
 view of religion is very different ; their 
 life and conversation are formed on entirely 
 different principles. Instead of doing 
 every thing they can, and still thinking 
 they have done very little to please and 
 serve God, and promote the general good 
 and improvement of mankind, they arc 
 
 * Matt. xxi. 22. t Phil. ii. IC. 
 
 I 2 
 
IIG 
 
 vain in theii own conceits, and liigh in 
 the oj)inion of their moral excellence and 
 spiritual attainments. Full of themselves, 
 and I'ancving that they are the only 
 tax ouritcs of Providence, the only chosen 
 few, they expect God to do every thing 
 for them, while they are imwilling to do 
 any thing lor themselves. 
 
 Can such persons as these believe, that 
 they have listened to the voice of him that 
 cried in the wilderness ? Can they flatter 
 themselves, after thus trifling with their 
 conscience and with religion, that they 
 have been preparing the way of the Lord, 
 and making his paths straight? that 
 they have repented, as if the kingdom tjf 
 heaven was at hand ? 
 
 Presumptuous men ! is this to prove your 
 own hearts, and examine whether you are 
 in the faith? Is it not rather to do despite 
 to the Spirit of grace, and quench the 
 Spirit that moves within you ? How can 
 you dream that the Holy Ghost is to come 
 down from heaven, and guide and comfort 
 and sanctify you ; without any readiness, 
 on your part, to receive him, or any incli- 
 nation in your ndnds to follow his counsels? 
 
117 
 
 How can you have been so proud and rash, 
 as to believe that your Redeemer Jesus 
 Christ is " to will and to do of his good 
 "pleasure*" every thing that is hkely to 
 save you ; and you yourselves, though at 
 best but " unprofitable servants t,' take no 
 pains whatever to " save yourselves J: ?" 
 
 Man is not a mere machine, ever acted 
 upon and never acting. No : when God 
 breathed into him the breath ot" hfe, 
 he made him a tree agent and an ac« 
 countable creature ; he planted in his mind 
 a self-determining principle, and gave 
 him liberty of choice: he placed him in 
 the path which leads from earth to heaven : 
 before him lies virtue, religion, tem{)oral 
 happiness, and eternal joy ; behind him 
 are vice, impiety, misery on earth, and 
 destruction beyond the grave. A voice 
 then cries to him, " If thou doest well, 
 " shalt thou not be accepted ? but if thou 
 " doest ill, sin lieth at thy door§.'' Thus 
 man in every age is invited, not com- 
 pelled ; led, not driven ; he may choose 
 for himself, and for himself he niiist 
 answer. 
 
 * Phil. ii. 1.3. t Luke xvii. 10. | Acts il. 40. 
 IMiil. i). 12. 5; Gen. iv. 7- 
 
118 
 
 The thing is clear. God gives to every 
 one of us that seeks and strives, the power 
 to believe and the power to obey ; but we 
 must prepare the way of the Lord, and 
 make his paths straight ; we must not be 
 passive but active ; we must improve the 
 means and seasons which mercy conde- 
 scends to give ; in one word, we must work 
 day and night, in season and out of season, 
 from youth to age, in health and sickness, 
 with all our mind and heart and soul 
 and strength ; we must leave nothing un- 
 thought of, nothing undone, to grow better 
 as we grow older ; and think nothing 
 done to any good purpose, until we have 
 made our " calling and election sure*.*' 
 
 If that way be not prepared, if those 
 j)aths be not made straight, before ye arc 
 called to give account of your steward- 
 ship, whose will be the fault, should you 
 find yourselves stripped of all hope and 
 happiness, an everlasting exile from the 
 told of Jesus Christ? Not his that made 
 you — presumption dares not to assert it; 
 not his that redeemed you — ingratitude 
 itself is not so base as to harbour the idea ; 
 " Jesus Christ came into the world to save 
 
 * ■: Pet. 1. 10. 
 
119 
 
 " sinners*," and not lo destroy tliem ; not 
 liis that would have sanctified you, if you 
 had been wilhng to perform your condition 
 in the christian covenant, — " repentance 
 " towards God, and faith towards our 
 " Lord Jesus Christf-" The Holy Ghost 
 was given in answer to our Mediator's 
 prayers, as another comforter, not a tor- 
 mentor. If, therefore, any of you perish, 
 it will not be that God Almighty did not 
 pity and spare you ; but that you would 
 neither pity nor spare yourselves. 
 
 Convinced are the faithful and just 
 among men, and even wailing spirits at 
 the day of retribution will confess it, that 
 if any thing, which reason can embrace 
 or religion propose, is calculated to soften 
 your nature, and melt your frozen hearts, 
 it is — the love of God. If any thing, I say 
 again, have, at this late hour, any influence 
 to draw you from sin and death, and at- 
 tract you to virtue and to heaven, it is the 
 remembrance of the myriads of mercies 
 which his benevolent hand hath poured 
 upon you. Review^ and scan evcr>^ period 
 ul" your days to the present hour, with all 
 
 * 1 Tim. 1. Id. i Act:? ,\.\. C21. 
 
120 
 
 the most interesting and atiecling circum- 
 stances which marked their progress. 
 Trace, with the eye of gratitude, the mani* 
 fold care which his guardian Providence 
 hath taken of yourselves and of your 
 families. Think of the time, frail mortal \ 
 wlien thou wast lying faint and weary on 
 the bed of sickness ; when, trembling under 
 the apprehension that thou hadst not 
 many hours to live, thou madest thy will, 
 and preparedst to bid thy last adieu to 
 those thou lovedst best. And when thy 
 strength had nearly failed, and every hope 
 had almost gone, the medicine, which His 
 hand provided, restored thee unexpectedly 
 tohealth and to thy children. Remember, 
 too, (U should not be forgotten,) the sad fore- 
 boding hour, when, with a father's anxiety, 
 thou lookedst upon thy son, — (perhaps it 
 was thine only one,) — as he was gasping for 
 breath, and seemingly hastening to the 
 grave ; the fever raging, the pulse running- 
 high, the countenance pale and ghastly, 
 the spirits sinking, and almost every fatal 
 symptom succeeding in its turn ; in this 
 sad extremity ihou wast more a Christian 
 than had been thy custuiii ; religion seemed 
 
m 
 
 a better iViend than usual. Sensible ol 
 human dependence, and confessing that 
 no other " staff*'' but God's could comfort 
 thee, on heaven was all thy hope ; thou sent- 
 est up thy petitions to the throne of grace ; 
 and soon, in answer to thy prayers, thou 
 sawest thy darling revive, recover strength, 
 and reassume the bloom of health. It was 
 not the physician's art; it was not the 
 mother's care, that could do this, though 
 tender was the hand that propped his 
 pillow and changed his posture. It was 
 the arm of Providence that raised up thy 
 son ; it was the voice of Jesus Christ that 
 said " Weep not-f-" thy child shall live. 
 
 At hours, so favourable to repentance 
 and conversion, even thoughtless men be- 
 come serious (it would be strange if they 
 did not,); they form virtuous resolutions; 
 they offer sacred vows that they will lead 
 a better life. A voice hath reached them 
 from the wilderness, " Prepare ye the way 
 " of the Lord.'' And that voice they did 
 not answer, as aforetime, "Go thy way;" for 
 then no warning seemed more reasonable, 
 jio time more convenient, no business more 
 
 ' "*■ l\-al. \\iii.4. f L^kf vii. IJ. viii, 5'2. 
 
122 
 
 urgently expedient. Their heart was 
 touched, and their conscience had ob- 
 tained a hearing. They began to make 
 straight the paths of rehgion. They were 
 seen to set out along the narrow road. 
 Tlicy shewed vigilance and earnestness at 
 iirst, and it would have been extremely 
 dithcult to persuade them at that time that 
 any thing could again steal their heart 
 from God, their affections from things 
 above, and their life from the pursuit of 
 immortality. 
 
 But ere many days had passed over 
 their heads, they again became children of 
 the world ; the impressions of religion 
 gradually wore away, and thus was virtue 
 stripped of its main support. The vanities 
 and dissipations of life again appeared in all 
 their charms, and they once more enlisted 
 themselves as wilhng votaries; none plung- 
 ed more deeply into its follies and its fasci- 
 nations. The Bible, lately so often read, 
 now lay unopened; the prayer-book was not 
 used ; private prayer was suspended, and 
 family Avorship was once more thought to 
 be better let alone. It is not easy to 
 follow thib man throuuh all the windings of 
 
123 
 
 his frightful apostacy ; but the benevolent 
 warnings of our Lord and his apostles give 
 us great cause to conclude, that " it had 
 " been better for him not to have known 
 " the way of righteousness, than after he 
 " had known it, to turn from the holy com- 
 " mandment delivered unto him*/' He 
 seems not far from the state of that wretched 
 being, into whom an evil spirit, which had 
 departed for a season, returned, accom- 
 panied by " seven other spirits more wicked 
 " than himself, and the last state of that 
 " man was worse than the first -j-/' 
 
 From the view which has been taken 
 of the wavering, the inconstancy, the 
 lamentable unprofitableness of many, who 
 at times make great professions, but who 
 stumble at the threshold of their duty, and 
 fall short of the prize, because they want 
 spirit and animation, and are not zealous 
 towards God, I am constrained to request, 
 that you will no longer think it enough to 
 give less than halfofyour hearts to God,and 
 hardly a day now and then to the work of 
 salvation. Make up your minds, I beseech 
 you, upon these weightiest of all the con- 
 
 * 2 Peter ii. 21 . t Luke xi. CG. 
 
124 
 
 cerns of a being that perishes not in the 
 grave. " There is a time of acceptance : 
 " there is a day of salvation." There may 
 not be a second if the first be lost ; God 
 hath said, " my spirit shall not always 
 " strive with man*.'' If, therefore, reli- 
 gion be a concern of importance; if God 
 and Jesus Christ are not to be slighted 
 with impunity ; if eternal life is worthy of 
 every sacrifice and self-denial ; if the loss 
 of heaven be banishment from bliss, and 
 consignment to misery, such as man's heart 
 in this finite state cannot conceive. Oh ! be 
 consistent, be sincere; " be steadfast and 
 " immoveable in the work of the Lord, for- 
 ** asmuch as ye know that your labour shall 
 " not be in vain in the Lord*^^." 
 
 Remember, that in order to true con- 
 version, it is far from sufhcient that you 
 form some transient resolutions of amend- 
 ment, and even perform some partial acts 
 of obedience; to-day the servant of God, 
 and to-nioiTow the slave of mammon. The 
 seeds of repentance must be sown in a 
 fruitful ground, and kept free from the 
 weeds of apostacy.; the principle of y oitr 
 
 *Gcn. VI. J.. " ; f iCor.xv.jS.- 
 
religion must be profound and permanent; 
 it must be deeply seated in the heart and 
 the aftections ; it nmst engage the whole 
 man ; it must not have a rival. And think 
 not this a work of easy labour, the business, 
 of a day. Does not the Scripture tell us 
 that we have many bitter enemies to con- 
 tend with, many fearful conflicts to wage, 
 before we shall land in safety upon the 
 shores of the celestial kingdom ? — and the 
 greatest of these enemies is self. Hear 
 what the Psalmist says, of our natural 
 hostihty to the Spirit of religion : " I was 
 *' shapen in iniquity, and in sin did my 
 " mother conceive me V Alas ! which of 
 us does not feel it in his own breast ? who, 
 of all men, does not know it by sad expe- 
 rience ? My heart, alas ! thou readcst me, 
 everyday I live, a lesson, which I can under*, 
 stand, how " deceitful" thou art, and " des- 
 perately wicked -j^ !" And when I look back 
 upon the past, I want no other teacher, to 
 remind me that I have not kept, as I ought, 
 the commandments of my God, which are 
 " just and holy :[.,'' and "are notgrievous§." 
 In repenting, therefore, we must do some 
 
 * Psal. li. 5. t Jer. xvii. 9- t Rom- ^ii. 12. § I John o 
 
126 
 
 violence to nature, for " by nature we 
 " were cliildrcn of wrath/' " The real 
 " convert," a preacher observes, " assumes 
 " a double task, he must demolish before 
 « he builds;" he must pull down every 
 vain imagination, and every vicious pro- 
 pensity, before he lays the first stone on 
 which he hopes to rear a durable structure 
 of holy works. " He must, Hke those 
 " Jews who rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem, 
 " work with the sword in one hand, and 
 " the instrument in the other, equally 
 " assiduous to remove the ruins, as to re- 
 " pair the breach." 
 
 This is the only method by which w^c 
 can have any rational hope of beginning, 
 continuing, and ending the work of salva- 
 tion : whatsoever our " hand fmdeth to 
 " do *" we must do it with all our " might ;" 
 we must watch, and again we must watch ; 
 we must run, as men run in a race ; we 
 must fight as if we were fighting for our 
 lives ; we must call in every help, in the 
 form of good example, virtuous companions, 
 religious exercises, and regular seasons 
 devoted to God : for success we must pray 
 
 * 1 Eccles. ix. 10. 
 
127 
 
 without ceasing ; and we must not relax, 
 we must not despair, if our prayers seem 
 for a while to be unheard, and our exer- 
 tions unsuccessful ; but we must pray more 
 frequently, and with greater earnestness, 
 and must rise from our knees to renew the 
 conflict, to fight with increasing fortitude, 
 and persevere with redoubled patience. 
 
 If this be without controversy, the way, 
 the single way to heaven, a day must not 
 be lost, a resolution must not waver. Why 
 " halt ye between two opinions ? If the 
 " Lord be God, follow him ; but if Baal, 
 " then follow him*.'' To procrastinate, 
 or be undecided in what concerns the soul, 
 is madness. Linger not, therefore, while 
 the gates of " Zoart" are open; the fire 
 of heaven is raging across the plain, and 
 it is death to look back. 
 
 If the way of the Lord be not prepared, if 
 this accepted time be squandered, who can 
 tell how soon the habit of sin shall become 
 inveterate, its dominion absolute ? And 
 have ye yet to learn, that habit is second 
 nature, stronger than the first. It is, when 
 formed in the school of profligacy, a tyrant 
 
 * liXiugs xviii. 21. t Gen. xix. 2C. 
 
128 
 
 from wliicli nothing can escape. It is an 
 oneniy, wliich, when we yield to it, never 
 forgives us, never spares us. " There is 
 " no peace to the wicked*." He is " like 
 " the troubled sea, when it cannot rest." 
 
 Still the habitual impenitent talks of 
 I'cpenting some time or other, and shelters 
 himself under the hope, that God will then 
 forgive him. And ive will suppose, (I ad- 
 dress myself to you who have never yet 
 repented,) that when you can no longer 
 hide from your eyes the scythe of approach- 
 ing death, rendered more terrible by your 
 having made no preparation to meet it, you 
 may yield to the warnings of a guilty con- 
 science, and fly to long-neglected religion 
 for safety; just as a man, walking hastily 
 towards a precipice with his eyes covered, 
 would start back, on removing the bandage 
 that had concealed his danger. 
 
 What then ? (for on this you should de- 
 cide, not hastily nor superficially, but on 
 solid grounds and for satisfactory reasons.) 
 Is it on a death-bed you have formed your 
 hopes ? is it on the few last hours of an ill- 
 spent life ? is it on the conquest of passions, 
 
 * Isabh Ivli. 20, 51. 
 
129 
 
 that you can no longer indulge? is it on 
 the resignation of pleasures that are no 
 longer sweet but bitter ? is it on the pre- 
 ference of Heaven to the world, because 
 the world is about to leave you ? is it by 
 such a repentance as this, that you expect 
 to prepare the way of the Lord, and make 
 his paths straight ? is it from such a con- 
 version, that you look for a reward no less 
 than the forgiveness of your sins, the favour 
 of your Maker, the society of happy spirits, 
 and the fruition of immortal honours ? 
 
 If you have aspired to heaven and im- 
 mortality on such fallacious hopes, indulge 
 those hopes no longer; there is not the slight- 
 est prospect of their being ever realized. 
 Stop, if you have any vahie for yourselves* 
 before you advance farther into the broad 
 and easy road. Look before you, look on 
 every side ; and if you perceive there is 
 danger, excessive, endless danger, in pro- 
 ceeding, turn back instantly ; as you prize 
 eternal safety go not on. Immortality is at 
 stake. Your day is far spent ; the night is 
 at hand ; and the last hour of this life, be- 
 lieve it, is not the fittest to make yourselves 
 ready for the next. There is a way, a safe, 
 
 VOL. II. K 
 
130 
 
 a peacetul, blessed way ; that is,— the way 
 of the Lord. It is safe, therefore wise men 
 will choose no other ; it is peaceful and 
 blessed, therefore fools might wish to travel 
 in it ; it is the way to heaven, therefore we 
 should give up all for it. 
 
 Are any of you so lost to every sense of 
 honour and of happiness, as still to close 
 your ears against the voice that crieth in 
 the vrilderness, — Prepare to meet thy God ? 
 The day of vengeance and retribution, ye 
 impenitent, is not yet come. Still you hve, 
 still grace and mercy are waiting ; still your 
 Saviour says, in the depth of his patience 
 and the infinity of his love, " Comfort ye, 
 " comfort ye, my people ; speak ye com- 
 " fortably to Jerusalem*.'' Oh! remem- 
 ber these expressions of tenderness, thou 
 young man, whose heart is yet a stranger 
 to inveterate passions and habitual crimes, 
 " before the days draw nigh, when thou 
 " shalt say, I have no pleasure in them-f-." 
 And thou, old man, who art not yet near 
 to the kingdom of God, seize the pre- 
 sent moment ; it looks like the only mo- 
 ment that is left thee ; let it not pass be- 
 
 * Isaiah xl. 1, '2, t Eccles. xii. 1. 
 
131 
 
 fore thou hast laid up some treasure in 
 heaven, before thou hast done somethincr 
 for thj soul. Finally, let all of us, of every 
 rank and age, begin in earnest to make 
 ready for the arrival of our Judge, " lest 
 " coming suddenly, he find*" us " sleep- 
 " ing/' For this purpose let a serious and 
 strict communion take place between our 
 Creator and our conscience. Let us, by 
 the light of the Gospel, examine and scru- 
 tinize our temper, our heart and our habits. 
 In the spirit of humility, which such a self- 
 inquiry cannot fail to produce, let us take 
 the first occasion to attend the altar of our 
 Redeemer, to confess our weakness and 
 lament our faiUngs ; and while many a 
 proud Pharisee, who has fasted twice in 
 the week, and boasted of giving alms of 
 all that he possessed, shall kneel before the 
 Highest, (but his offerings shall be no better 
 than the sacrifice of Cain,) our sacrifice of 
 a contrite heart shall, hke pious Abel's, 
 and righteous Noah's, " ascend up to 
 " heaven for a sweet smelling f savour, 
 and descend from the throne of acceptance 
 in showers of refreshing comfort. 
 
 * Mark xiii. 36. f Gen. iv. 4. viii. 2 1 . 
 
 K 3 
 
132 
 
 Secure, within the sanctuary of our own 
 integrity, because we rest upon the cross 
 of Christ, and supported by Him who 
 rides in the whirlwind and directs the 
 storm, the winds may blow, and the waves 
 may beat ; but they will pass gently over 
 our head, and leave no hurt behind them. 
 In our bosom will be no troubled spirit, 
 in our conscience no piercing sting ; the 
 review of the past will bring no painful 
 thought, nor will the prospect of the future 
 present a distressing fear. If our life 
 should be extended a few spans longer, 
 our hopes and joys will grow and brighten 
 with our years, and every night and morn- 
 ing we shall bless the Hand that spares us. 
 But if our days should be cut short, be- 
 cause God sees it for our greater good, 
 " we shall descend to the grave, whither 
 •' we all are going, with the firm resolution 
 " of men and the animated hope of 
 *' Christians/' 
 
ON 
 
 FAITH AND WORKS : 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 rREACHED AT 
 
 THE CHAPEL OF THE ASYLUM 
 FOR FEMALE ORPHANS, 
 
 ON 
 
 SUNDAY THE 8th OF JUNE, 1817. 
 
SERMON V. 
 
 GALATIANS V. 6. 
 
 FAITH WHICH AVORKETH BY LOVE. 
 
 1 HESE words are an epitome of rational 
 and vital religion. When the glory of 
 God, and the good of mankind are the 
 objects to which a believer hath a single 
 eye, then Faith working by love is the sum 
 and substance of all the moral virtues and 
 pious graces of the christian character. 
 
 No man preached the doctrine of faith 
 more boldly than St. Paul : No man 
 more closely followed it up by the doctrine 
 of good works. Here he says, " Faith 
 " worketh by love ;'' there he says, " Add 
 " to your faith, virtue*.'' — " Work out 
 " your own salvation -^j," is his constant 
 theme, — but then he does not forget to lay 
 down, as an original and ever-essential 
 principle, that " by faith a man is justi- 
 " fied :}:.'' He preached to Felix first, 
 " concerning the faith in Christ ; " and 
 
 * 2 Peter i, ,0. t Philippians ii. 12. 
 X Rom. iii. '28. v. 1. Gal. ii. l6. iii. 24. 
 
136 
 
 then " he reasoned to him of righteousness 
 " and temperance, and of a judgment to 
 " come*/' 
 
 These preliminary general remarks may 
 be of use, before I proceed to take a more 
 specific view of the duties laid down in 
 our text. It may be urged, perhaps, that 
 either of these two grand duties, faith and 
 obedience, so clearly enforced in the text, 
 deserves the whole of a separate sermon. 
 My reason for preferring at this time to 
 unite them, will I think be allowed to be 
 good. They are as inseparable as Christ 
 and his church ; they are as essential to 
 each other's existence, as heaven and hap- 
 piness : the soul and body are not more 
 necessary to make one man, than faith and 
 works are to form one Christian. God 
 hath wedded them in the bonds of ever- 
 lasting amity, and what " God hath joined 
 " together let no man put asunder." 
 
 " Faith worketh by love." If therefore 
 you have held the opinion, that faith 
 worketh without the love of God and man, 
 that is, without a life of virtue and religion ; 
 or if, taking a directly contrary position, 
 
 * Acts xxiv, 24, 25. 
 
137 
 
 you have held an opinion equally unsup- 
 ported by the Gospel, that obedience to 
 the laws and doctrines of Jesus Christ, in 
 strict adherence to his divine example, can 
 be produced without the power of faith, — 
 be not offended with me for telling you 
 that in either case you are wrong ; at least 
 suspend your indignation, until you have 
 fairly and fully examined the ground of 
 your faith on the one hand, and the stability 
 of your virtue on the other ; trying every 
 principle you have believed in and acted 
 upon by the revealed will of God, and 
 the testimony of your own conscience; be- 
 cause you cannot deny, that a mistake in 
 this matter must be attended with most 
 fatal consequences. 
 
 If you would have a right understand- 
 ing of the christian religion, retire fre- 
 quently within yourselves, neither fettered 
 by pride nor biassed by prejudice. At 
 these seasons open the book of God with 
 a humble mind, a teachable disposition, 
 and a heart open to conviction*; read it 
 
 * All errors in religion arise from want of this careful 
 reading. Men do not rightly discriminate, and im- 
 partially decide upon, the doctrines that arc beforr 
 
138 
 
 diligently, comparing text with text, and 
 precept with precept; supplicate the 
 Divine Being, from whom " cometh every 
 " good and every perfect gift,'" to bless 
 you with an understanding to comprehend 
 and a soul to receive " the truth as it is 
 in '* Jesus -f- ;'' and when from this slow 
 and steady search you have discovered, 
 what from your conscience you apprehend 
 to be the belief and practice of a true 
 disciple, hold it fast, rest upon it your 
 faith, your hopes, and your salvation ; 
 Reason, Religion, Heaven require no 
 more of you : you have endeavoured to 
 
 them ; lliey have hastily adopted what happened to 
 suit their peculiar taste, tlieir favourite tenet, their con- 
 stitutional bias ; and their exalted notions of their own 
 penetration and sagacity will not allow them to retract. 
 Unable to defend their opinion, they select as their 
 authority, a few detached parts of the holy Scriptures ; 
 and reject all the rest, as if each were not an integral 
 portion of the same book of God, the same light which 
 leads to truth. If men expect to gain a saving know- 
 ledge of Christianity, they must search the Scriptures 
 with a very different spirit ; they must go with a child- 
 like disposition to Him, in whom are hid the treasures of 
 wisdom ; and, guided by his light, they must " all be 
 '' taught of God." 
 
 * James i. I7. -|- J<:plies. iv. CI. 
 
139 
 
 know what was your duly, and you have 
 endeavoured to discharge that duty ; you 
 may therefore be safely left, under the 
 providence of your Saviour, to your own 
 judgment and your own decisions ; because 
 you will remain convinced with the enlight- 
 ened Apostle, " that faith worketh by 
 " love/' 
 
 This is the simple truth which I have to 
 shew in this and the subsequent discourse ; 
 and my first position is, that faith is the 
 foundation " than which no other can any 
 " man lay*" of all that is stably great 
 and good. It is the foundation of both 
 religion and morality ; the foundation of 
 our repentance; the foundation of our 
 zmrks meet for repentance ; the foundation 
 of all our happiness here, and all our 
 joyous hopes of a blessed hereafter. These 
 all flow from, these all rest upon, our 
 belief in a God and Saviour. And if we 
 may consider this justifying, sanctifying 
 principle, as the root from which all the 
 brancnes of virtue and piety are fed, the 
 fountain from which all the streams of 
 private worth and general usefulness take 
 
 * 1 Cor. iii. 11. 
 
140 
 
 their rise ; it is evident, that they can 
 flourish and difluse themselves no longer 
 than that root is vigorous, and that fountain 
 pure. 
 
 It is for this reason, and nothing can 
 be stronger in point, that our Apostle so 
 constantly and vehemently exhorts the 
 different churches under his care to try 
 the sincerity and steadfastness of their belief 
 in Christ and his doctrines. " Examine 
 " yourselves whether ye be in the faith ; 
 *' prove your own selves*." This exhor- 
 tation is so specific, and imperative, that 
 a man who credits St. Paul, is forced to 
 believe, that one of the principal subjects 
 of a Christian's self-examination is — Have 
 1 faith ? 
 
 In tracing the sacred writings you will 
 find, that the same question, to the full 
 sense, and nearly in the same words, was 
 put by the rest of the Apostles, when any 
 one came to them to know the way of life. 
 When Philip, at the request of the man of 
 Ethiopia, went up into his chariot, " and 
 " preached unto him Jesus, lo ! as they 
 " went on their way they came unto a 
 
 * 2 Cor. xiii. 5. 
 
141 
 
 " certain water. And the Ethiopian said, 
 " Here is water ; what doth hinder me to 
 " be baptized? And Philip said, if thou 
 " belie'cest with all thine heart thou mayest. 
 " And he said, I believe that Jesus Christ 
 " is the Son of God*/' When the jailer 
 of Philippi, to whose care Paul and Silas 
 had been committed, awakened bj the 
 warning terrors that surrounded him, 
 " called for a light and sprang in, and 
 " came trembling, and fell down before 
 " them, and said, Sirs, what must I do to 
 " be saved,"' their answer was, " Believe on 
 " the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
 " be saved and th}^ house -f." It would be 
 a waste of time to quote more of the in- 
 stances, which are familiar to you who 
 read the sacred writings. Suffice it to 
 state, (for precept and example can rise 
 no higher,) that the general drift of our 
 Saviour's questions, whenever any of his 
 creatures came to him for either health to 
 their bodies, or salvation to their souls, 
 was, to prove the reality of their faith. 
 " Believe ye/' he says to the blind, " that 
 
 * Acts viii. 35, 36, 37. t Acts xvi. 20, SO, 31. 
 
142 
 
 '' J am tible to do this*?" And not to 
 be tedious, we must always remember his 
 interesting dialogue with Mary the sister 
 ol' Lazarus, in which the same interrogatory 
 is so graciously put to her, and her faith in 
 reply is so nobly affirmed : " I am,^^ he says, 
 " the resurrection and the life : he that be- 
 " lieveth in me, though he were dead yet 
 " shall he hve ; and whosoever liveth and 
 " believeth in me, shall never die. Be- 
 " lievest thou this? She saith unto him, 
 " Yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the 
 " Christ, the Son of God, which should 
 " come into the world f/' 
 
 This was the way in which the divine 
 Founder of our religion tried the sincerity 
 of his followers ; and he gave them the 
 strongest reasons to hold fast their belief 
 in him as the Messiah, when he assured 
 them, that if they had faith, they should 
 remove " mountains +'' of difficulty ; silence, 
 as he had done, the arguments of the 
 tempter; gain every wish of holy affections; 
 and take possession at last, in his name, of 
 that" reward in heaven §'' which is exceed- 
 
 * Malt. X. 28. t John xi. 25, 20, 27. 
 
 X Mall. xvii. 20. ^ Matt. v. 12. 
 
143 
 
 ing great. '* It" thou canst believe, all 
 " things are possible to him that be- 
 " heveth/' 
 
 I have quoted copiousl^^ from the hol}^ 
 Scriptures, because no other authority is 
 satisfactory for the confirmation of the 
 great doctrines of religion. And having 
 placed this in a clear light, I am desirous 
 of fixing your attention for a moment to 
 the instructive behaviour of the man of 
 Ethiopia, who hath lately been called to 
 your recollection ; convinced that, in the 
 whole Gospel history, there are not many 
 brighter examples of genuine faith. 
 
 It will be allowed, that the appeal which 
 the apostle Philip made to him was so- 
 lemnly impressive. " If thou believest 
 " w ith all thine heart, thou mayest^' receive 
 the benefits of baptism. And yet the 
 Ethiopian took no time to consider before 
 he answered. And why did he take no 
 time ? For this good reason, that he was 
 at that moment in the fittest frame of mind 
 and soul to receive the grace of God, and 
 the light of the Gospel : — he had done 
 every thing which we, as preachers, wish 
 our hearers of the present day to do, in 
 
144 
 
 evidence of their siucerily,— be had pre- 
 pared his mind by the knowledge of the 
 Scriptures. " He was sitting in his chariot" 
 when Phihp joined him, " and reading 
 ** the prophet Esaias*;" and, hke a humble, 
 teachable disciple, seeking " some man 
 " to guide himf ,'' he gladly resorted to 
 this enlightened minister of religion, for 
 counsel and consolation : he had been all 
 the way " to Jerusalem, for the sake of 
 " worshipping J" God in his holy temple; 
 thinking that he could there more accept- 
 ably pray to God for his future providence, 
 and praise him for the mercies he had 
 received. Moreover, in his heart he was 
 attached to Jesus Christ, of whom he wished 
 to know more ; he embraced and admired 
 all that he had heard concerning him, his 
 precepts, his laws, his promises, his religion, 
 and his God. Thus was the Ethiopian a 
 real convert, a true professor ; " not almost 
 " but altogether a Christian"' in his temper 
 and his inclinations ; he was ready to per- 
 form every duty that was enjoined, to 
 make every sacrifice that was requiied, c^ 
 
 * Acts viii. 28. t Acts viii. 31. 
 
 j Acts vii 27. 
 
145 
 
 take up the cross and deny himseli'; to 
 give up every thing which once he might 
 have thought right, but now had found 
 to be wrong ; to lohow the perfect Exam- 
 ple and glorious Redeemer, whom Phihp 
 preached to him, through every difficulty 
 and every tribulation; iind lay down at last 
 his head upon the block, if the religion of 
 his Lord should claim it. 
 
 It was because he had such a fund of 
 rational knowledge, and such a right spirit 
 within him, that he so instantly made 
 confession of his faith, " I believe that 
 " Jesus Christ is the Son of God." And 
 then it was that Philip, as the minister 
 of the Lord, received him into " the holy 
 " church and the communion of saints* ;" 
 and the man of Ethiopia " went on his 
 " way rejoicing -jV 
 
 Precept is excellent, but example is 
 better : and under the impression of this 
 truth, I have brought to your view these 
 scriptural records of real characters. With 
 such patterns before us, our duty is very 
 plain; it is seriously to put to ourselves, such 
 questions as these : — Have I faith ? Have I 
 
 * ride the Apostles' Creed, f Acts viii. dQ. 
 VOI . Ti. L 
 
146* 
 
 that sort of faith which tliese exemplary cha- 
 racters possessed ? Am I seriously concern- 
 ed to know, " what I must do to be saved ?" 
 Have I read the Scriptures to satisfy myself 
 upon this momentous subject? Have I 
 prayed to God to guide me in the inquiry ? 
 Have I attended his church to improve, 
 by the preaching of his word, those means 
 of grace which God hath provided for 
 the instruction and comfort of mankind ? 
 Am I in love with the character of his 
 Son ? Do I conform to the doctrines and 
 discipline of his religion ? Do I cleave to 
 the ordinances he hath instituted and 
 the duties he hath enjoined, as soon as I 
 know them to be his appointment ? Do I 
 willingly resign every habit and every 
 pleasure which is contrary to his will, the 
 moment that I discover their guilt ? Do I, 
 believing that I am an " unprofitable 
 *' servant*,'' lay my humble services at the 
 foot of his throne, in the name of Jesus 
 Christ, and beg of God to accept them for 
 the Redeemer's sake, as an evidence of my 
 wish to please him ? 
 
 If Christians would examine the nature 
 
 * Luke xvii. JO. 
 
147 
 
 of their faitli, and prove their own hearts 
 by this infalHble standard, they would de- 
 cide neither for nor against themselves 
 without a sufficient cause; they would 
 accept revelation, not partly, but entirely, 
 as their guide ; and their reason, w hich 
 was never intended to be an indolent spec- 
 tator nor an indifferent judge, would, under 
 the direction of the Holy Spirit, search for 
 itself; deliberately and coolly reflect; de- 
 termine on solid principles, and then rest 
 satisfied. 
 
 Suffer me, in aid of the argument, to 
 put a case in point. 
 
 Suppose, for instance, you had a strong 
 desire to determine whether you pos- 
 sessed a christian temper, which, if I 
 know any thing, is the most lovely fruit of 
 the tree of life, the greatest source of do- 
 mestic happiness, the brightest feature of 
 the christian character, the truest fore- 
 taste of heaven itself; and, consequently, 
 the best proof of the existence of that " faith 
 " which worketh by love,'' (truly of a good 
 ten) per it is impossible to say too much in 
 praise, when we see what happiness its 
 presence gives, what misery its absence 
 L ? 
 
148 
 
 produces,) how, I would ask, would you 
 set about the inquiry, whether you were so 
 highly blessed ? Not, certainly, by tracing 
 and investigating the nice ramifications 
 •and relative merits of calmness, moderation, 
 forbearance and brotherly affection, which 
 doubtless go far to constitute the christian 
 disposition ; but by honestly inquiring of 
 your own conscience, whether you your- 
 self had been, in the business and inter- 
 course of social and domestic life, a calm, 
 temperate, peaceable, forgiving man ; as 
 a husband, tender and conciliatory ; as a 
 father, affable and affectionate ; as a 
 master, kind and courteous; as a neigh- 
 bour, admired and beloved for civil and 
 charitable offices. For what matters it 
 that you know the most minute and re- 
 fined qualifications of an amiable temper, 
 f yours be visibly a bad one, the desolating 
 effects of which are daily felt and bewailed 
 by your wife, your children, your servants, 
 and all around you? 
 
 What I wish to deduce is a plain matter 
 -of fact; namely, that the only knowledge 
 in any thing, that is worthy of our pursuit, 
 is, practical knowledge : and to this I am 
 
149 
 
 about to bring your view and estimate 
 offkith. 
 
 Thus, when you strive to ascertain, as I 
 hope you will, when you have contem- 
 plated a true believer, " whether you be 
 " in the faith,'" (such a faith, I mean, as 
 the Apostle speaks of in our text,) you 
 should not waste your precious time in 
 searching into what, after all, can bring 
 you to no satisfactory conclusion ; but you 
 should lay hold of those discoveries which 
 cannot bewilder or mislead you. Instead 
 of inquiring from day to day after some- 
 thing separate from your own heart and life, 
 you should this very hour lay every thing 
 open, investigate all that has had the great- 
 est influence upon your wishes and yoiu' 
 affections, all that has engaged the princi- 
 pal part of your time and your talents. 
 
 In the midst of this active and con- 
 scientious self-examination, you would do 
 well to open the blessed Bible, which, after 
 all, is the only certain way of knowing 
 whether you are in light or darkness, in 
 truth or error, in the narrow way to heaven 
 or the broad way to destruction ; and then 
 to say to yourselves. Here on the table lies 
 
\50 
 
 the book of God ; and in this book is a 
 sermon dehvered on the mount by Jesus 
 Christ, which far echpses every other that 
 is on record. Do I thoroughly believe 
 that divine book ? Do I especially give my 
 assent and consent to (his heavenly dis- 
 course? Does this heart of mine, which I 
 have at last gained courage to lay open^ 
 bear me witness that I am instructed by my 
 Saviour's doctrines ? Does the united testi- 
 mony which my neighbour, my friend, my 
 wife, my children, bear to the uprightness 
 of my principles, and the benevolence of 
 my temper, afford me the grateful evidence 
 that I am influenced by my Saviour^s 
 example? Do I believe that, even in this 
 life, the lovers of virtue and religion find 
 a happiness which no others enjoy, " the 
 ** meek inherit the earth, the merciful ob- 
 '* tain mercy, and the mourners are com- 
 " forted*;'' but the profligate and dis- 
 obedient, the sensualist, the extortioner, 
 the liar, the swearer, the adulterer, and the 
 sabbath-breaker, can have no peace ? And 
 do I believe, that after death there is still a 
 curse for the wicked, and still a consolation 
 
 * Matt. V. 4, 5. 7. 
 
151 
 
 for the just ; that in futurity there will be a 
 day when all men will be judged according 
 to their works* ; that Jesus Christ, whom 
 " God hath ordained to judgef the world, 
 will weigh them in the scales of heaven, 
 and after separating the good from the 
 evil, will say to them on his right hand, 
 " Well done, good and faithful servants, 
 " enter ye into the joy of your Lord J ;" but 
 to those on his left, " Depart from me, ye 
 *' that work iniquity, I never knev/ you§?" 
 In one word, can I with a good conscience 
 believe, that, after the fullest review of all 
 that I have thought and said and done, 
 and the strictest examination of every 
 motive and wish and design, which in- 
 fluenced my life and conversation, I may 
 approach the presence of God with solid 
 hope, and address him iu the words of 
 faithful Peter : " Lord, thou knowest all 
 " things ; thou knowest that I love thee^ ?" 
 My fellow Christians, in these questions, 
 put to the understanding in an hour sacred 
 to religion, when a man is in communion 
 between God and his own soul, there is 
 nothing vague and speculative, but some- 
 
 * Matt. xvi. 27. Rev. xx. 12. t Acts x. 42. 
 
 X Matt. XXV. 21. ^ Matt. vii. 23. *| John xxi. 17- 
 
lo2 
 
 thing that is real and convincing ; here 
 faith becomes practical and experimental ; 
 it will not be satisfied without conditions 
 and evidences; like " the path of the just*' 
 man, (to borrow a fine simile from Solo- 
 mon,) it is " the shining light that shineth 
 " more and more unto the perfect day*/' 
 To questions, thus coolly and deliberately 
 applied to the conscience, any man can 
 give a ready answer ; and when the stead- 
 fast believer shuts that blessed book, which 
 I would earnestly recommend every human 
 being to read often and attentively, — the 
 book which gives comfort, and cannot de- 
 ceive, — thanking God for the light he hath 
 given him, and resolving to follow thathght 
 to the end of his days, however tempted and 
 however opposed : when, I say, a man of re- 
 ligious principle, desirous to know his duty, 
 and having found, by prayer and by search- 
 ing the Scriptures, in what that duty to God 
 and man consists, adapts and conforms 
 his whole behaviour to christian rules and 
 christian example, resting all the while 
 u])on his Saviour's merits for final accept- 
 ance ; huch a one I greatly envy, and 
 would gladly follow, through God's assist- 
 
 * Prov. iv 18, 
 
153 
 
 ance, as long as I have the privilege 
 of so bright a pattern. And when his 
 spirit ascends to heaven, I would, with 
 the zeal of Elisha, take the mantle that falls 
 from him, and pray that the Spirit that 
 sanctified liim, may rest upon me ; for that 
 man is going a safe and happy way to 
 prove, whether he is in the faith, and may 
 be satisfied that his religious creed, thus 
 formed upon practice and experience, is 
 better than all the curious speculations and 
 deep researches of learned men*, which 
 have amused the scholar's mind, and ele- 
 vated his vain-glorious ambition, but have 
 neither improved his heart, nor rectified his 
 conduct. 
 
 * I beg to be considered as not In any way speaking 
 in prejudice of learning and science ; none would wiih 
 deeper gratitude bear their testimony to the splendid 
 usefulness of those great scholars and divines in every 
 age, who by their talents and acquirements, employed in 
 the cause of religion, have been the ornaments of their 
 country, and the strong pillars of the christian church; 
 among whom we must admire and revere Sir Isaac New- 
 ton, and Locke, and Leland, and Barrow, and Tillotson ; 
 but every minister of Christ is bound to raise his voice 
 against such impious writers as Rousseau, and Hume, 
 and V oltaire, and Shaftesbury, whose pride drew them 
 on to depend on human reason, and, high in their vain 
 conceits, to shut their eyes against the light of heaven 
 
1.54 
 
 Hence I gather, to the perfect satisfac- 
 tion of my own judgment, the reason why 
 the true professors of the christian religion 
 are not in the gospel described generally 
 by their actions and aflfections, but by their 
 faith. It would indeed be difficult, (I had 
 almost said, impossible,) to give a general 
 description of a follower of Jesus Christ, 
 by the classing of his virtues ; because every 
 thing, in the shape of virtue and in the form 
 of religion, is comprehended in this exalted 
 and meekly-aspiring character. It is an 
 approach " unto a perfect man," a growing 
 to " the stature of the fullness of Christ*/' 
 
 For which cause, the disciples and pri- 
 mitive Christians are not marked and dis- 
 tinguished in the sacred records by any 
 single virtuous or religious grace more than 
 another ; such, for instance, as meekness* 
 gentleness, sobriety, honesty, or hospitality ; 
 though these are all the fruits of faith, and 
 indispensable qualifications in the cha- 
 racter and conduct of a religious man. 
 But they are called and designated by the 
 
 itself. They had intellect and they had science, but their 
 learning made them mad, and for their infidel-rage they 
 must one day give account. 
 
 * Eph. iv. 1.1. 
 
155 
 
 Gompendious name of believers ; because 
 faith may be considered as expressive of 
 the whole christian character, when it 
 ** worketh by love/' 
 
 It is the point, in which all good and 
 rehgious persons agree and centre ; it is 
 the foundation which they all build and 
 rest upon; it is the principle of obedience, 
 which is essential to the life and stabihty of 
 every moral and sacred duty ; it is the gate 
 through which all must pass to the Chris- 
 tian's home, the Saviour's kingdom, the 
 crown we all sigh for, " the haven where 
 *' we all would be*." 
 
 Having now given you what, I trust, will 
 prove a correct definition of faith as a gene- 
 ral principle, it seems incumbent upon me 
 to exhibit it more at length as 'a justifying 
 principle. It cannot be an unseasonable 
 inquiry, since one of the articles of that 
 hol}^ church, of which we have the great 
 happiness to be members, reverentially 
 follows the New Testament in proclaiming, 
 " That we are justified by faith only, and 
 ** that it is a most wholesome doctrine, and 
 " very full of comfortf/' This is the 
 
 * P>a1. rvli. 30. f Article xi. 
 
156 
 
 " faith which worketh by love;" and its 
 leading motive is gratitude to God, who is 
 the donor, not only of this, but of " every" 
 other " perfect gift*/^ 
 
 In addressing you, as faithful members 
 of the Church of England, whose every 
 prayer ascends to heaven through Jesus 
 Christ, as a mediator and advocate, I shall 
 be sure of preserving christian unity by 
 quoting the remainder of one of her Scriptu- 
 ral Articles : "We are accounted riohteous 
 " before God, only for the merit of our 
 " Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by faith •]•.'' 
 
 If the Article had rested here, it might 
 have seemed sufficient to establish the 
 necessity of a steadfast and sole depend- 
 ence upon the Saviour for the pardon of 
 our sins, and the acceptance of our ser- 
 vices. But, careful and jealous, that no 
 man might be led by pride or ignorance 
 to suppose, that the purity of his prin- 
 ciples or the charity of his deeds (though 
 well pleasing in the eyes of God when pre- 
 sented by his Son,) might, without the 
 justifying influence of faith, lay some claim 
 ior their own merit's sake to acquittal and 
 
 * James i. 17. f Article xi. 
 
157 
 
 reward at the day of judgment, the Church, 
 in this celebrated Article, goes on further to 
 state, ** that we are not accounted righteous 
 " for our own works or deservings. We 
 " are justifiedby faith only*/' 
 
 * The Bishop of Lmcohi's definition of justification 
 is full and satisfactory. " Justification," saith tliis learned 
 prelate, " in the language of Scripture, signifies, the being 
 " accounted just or righteous in the sight of God, or 
 " the being placed in a state of salvation. * When 
 " * God justifies a man,' says Veneer, * it is by forgiving 
 " ' him his trespasses, and accepting, esteeming, and re- 
 " * warding him as a righteous person, although he is not 
 " * really and strictly such. To justify, in the common 
 " * spiritual notion of it, is to absolve from guilt, or 
 *' ' discharge from punishment.' Such is the general 
 " corruption of human nature, and such the imperfection 
 " of the best of men, that if God were to enter into 
 " judgment with his servants upon the strict ground of 
 " their own works or deservings, no man living 
 " would be justified ; and therefore we are account- 
 
 " ED RIGHTEOUS BEFORE GoD ONLY FOR THE MERIT 
 
 " OF OUR Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ by 
 " faith. This was the doctrine of the early Christians. 
 " Clement of Rome says, * We also being called by 
 " * the same will in Christ Jesus, are not justified by 
 ourselves, neither by our own wisdom, or knowledge, 
 or piety, or the works which we have done in the 
 holiness of our hearts, but by that faith by which God 
 Almighty has justified 'all men from the beginning.* 
 " This is pronounced to be a wholesome doctrine 
 
 (C I 
 
 (( ( 
 
1 .58 
 
 With this Article of the Church, it is 
 satisfactory to trace how exactly its Liturgy 
 and its HomiHes harmonize in every part. 
 And it is a circumstance of material con- 
 sequence and of perfect satisfaction, that 
 this Article of our blessed religion seems 
 to be taken almost word for word from the 
 second chapter of St. Paul's Epistle to the 
 Galatians. The woi*ds of Scripture are 
 these: " Knowing that a man is notjus- 
 *' tified by the works of the law, but by 
 " the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have 
 " believed in Jesus Christ, that we might 
 " be justified by the faith of Christ, and 
 " not by the works of the law. For by 
 " the works of the law shall no flesh be 
 " justified*.'^ 
 
 I say, it is a circumstance of perfect 
 satisfaction, because on what is the doc- 
 trine of St. Paul grounded ? Even on the 
 
 " AND VERY FULL OF coMFOiiT. And SO it surely is, 
 " since it secures acceptance to our sincere though 
 " imperfect endeavours after righteousness, and places 
 " our hope of everlasting happiness upon the infallible 
 " promises of God, and the all-suflicient merits of 
 " Christ." Elements of Christian Theologr/. Vol. II., 
 pages C36, 259, 260, 264. 
 
 * Hal. ii. 16. 
 
159 
 
 most gracious assurance that ever flowed 
 from the hps of Him in whom are hid the 
 treasures of -wisdom and of knowledge. 
 " God so loved the world that he gave his 
 " only Son, that whosoever believeth in him 
 " should not perish but have everlasting 
 " hfe*." 
 
 Resting then, as the doctrine of this 
 Article does, upon a foundation which 
 centuries have not shaken, and compassed 
 with such a cloud of faithful witnesses, 
 who have lived in the heaviest persecutions, 
 to evidence its peacefulness, and died to 
 attest, amidst the agonies of martyrdom, its 
 invincible and triumphant power, — which, 
 of all the doctrines that the goodness of God 
 hath condescended to reveal, is more clear 
 and convincing, more free and comprehen- 
 sive, more refreshing and consolatory, to 
 the candid and grateful mind of a believer ? 
 
 The Saviour, whom it sets before us, is a 
 Saviour of free mercy and impartial grace ; 
 " whosoever believeth in Him shall not 
 " perish :" so universal (the glad tidings 
 of the Gospel tell us,) is the love of his 
 eternal Father. He is wilhng to forgive, 
 
 '* John iii. 16. 
 
160 
 
 not at some particular time, but always; 
 not a particular person or people, but in 
 every nation, him that worketh righteous- 
 ness ; not a few of our offences, hwX. every sin 
 which we repent of and forsake. He does 
 not wait to be entreated, but he sponta- 
 neously offers all that we want and wish for 
 our improvement and comfort. Nor does 
 he confine the tenderness of his care and the 
 richness of his bounty to this world, through 
 which we are hastily passing, but he will 
 be with us as our patron and benefactor 
 through eternal ages. His presence will 
 be our reward, his perfection our glory ; 
 we shall drink out of the fountain of his 
 bliss, and be satisfied with the fullness of 
 his knowledge. 
 
 Let us, then, unite, with one heart and 
 voice, to thank our God, that our holy 
 religion, built upon this rock*, may defy 
 the malice of Satan and the mischief 
 of infidel writers : — " the gates of hell 
 " shall not prevail against it-j-.'' On this 
 rock let me rest, I beseech thee, O eter- 
 nal God ! thou source of light and con- 
 solation, as my stay in time, my depend- 
 
 * Man. vii.24, '15. J Cor. x. 4. f Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
161 
 
 cnce in clernity. And it one hiiilicr 
 prayer may reach thy throne of grace, it 
 is tor those that hear tlie ministers of thy 
 rehgion ; that through the grace of thy 
 almighty Son, and through the help of thy 
 holy Spirit, they may live and die in the 
 steadfast and practical belief of this doc- 
 trine, (for there is no other which will 
 enable us to pass through scenes of ad- 
 versity with resignation, to triumph over 
 the terrors of death, and appear with con- 
 fidence at the bar of God,) that we have 
 in Jesus Christ a friend, a patron, and 
 intercessor to redeem us from guilt, and 
 ransom us from the load of debt into 
 which that guilt had plunged us ; that he 
 hath, in the person of a crucified but ti i- 
 umphant Saviour, purchased for us, at the 
 price of his precious blood, and by the 
 sacrifice of his spotless life, the pardon of 
 every error and transgression, (of which 
 we repent w ith godly sorrow,) and for ever 
 reconciled us, if we are his faithful fol- 
 lowers and firm believers, to a pitying 
 and forgiving Father. 
 
 Therefore, on Him alone we must rely for 
 
 V(H.. H, M 
 
I6'i 
 
 peace ; on Him alone we may rely for 
 safety. The battles which " the Captain 
 " of our salvation*'' waged, were waged 
 for us, not for himself; and in all the 
 glorious triumphs that he gained over the 
 deceiver and destroyer of mankind, he 
 con([uered ior our sakes, and the laurels 
 that crown his victory encircle our fore- 
 heads. Having trampled upon " death 
 " and him that had the power of death t/' 
 he rose from the grave, as " the first fruits 
 " of them that slept:]:," and rode in the 
 triumphant chariot of his ascension into 
 heaven, leading " captivity captive," and 
 distributing " gifts to men§.'' Therefore, 
 these bodies of ours shall not for ever sleep 
 in the dust, but shall come forth in power 
 and splendour to a joyous resurrection. 
 Because he lives, we " shall live also || ." He 
 is the head of the church, and we are the 
 members ; it is an union which cannnot be 
 dissolved. He is gone to prepare a place 
 for us in his " Father's house, that where" 
 
 * Ileb. ii. U). t 2 Tim. i. 10. Heb.ii. 14. 
 
 I 1 Cor. XV. 20. §Eph.iv. 8. 
 
 11 John xiv. ly. 
 
163 
 
 ho is, tlicre we " may be also* ;" in our 
 souls, as soon as we yield to the stroke of 
 death and lie down in the tomb ; in our 
 bodies, when we hear the last trumpet 
 sound, which will call the quick and dead 
 to judgment. 
 
 * John xvi. 2, 3. 
 
ON 
 
 FAITH AND JFORKS : 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 THE CHAPEL OF THE ASYLUM 
 FOR FEMALE ORPHANS, 
 
 ON 
 
 SryDAY, THE 2-ii,D OF JUNE, 1817. 
 
SERMON VI 
 
 ('. ALATl.A NS V. h. 
 FAlIll WHICH WORKKTII UY LOVE. 
 
 1 HE important subject which our text 
 presents to us, (T speak of the inseparable 
 union of faith and works,) is well entitled 
 to our second consideration. I call it 
 inseparable, because it is clear from the 
 whole economy of the christian dispen- 
 sation, that no man can have a saving 
 faith who hath not works ; nor can any 
 one have works, well pleasing in the 
 sight of God, who hath not faith. 
 
 This view of their indissoluble con- 
 nexion is most effectual, when completely 
 understood, satisfactorily to reconcile the 
 two remarkable texts in the writings of 
 St. Jan)es and St. Paul, relative to justifi- 
 cation, which have given rise to occasional 
 controversy, and which appear, in this stage 
 of our subject, to demand our deliberate 
 attention. 
 
 'j'lic former states that " bv woiks a 
 
168 
 
 *' man is justified, and not by faith onlj *"; 
 the latter, that a man is justified by the 
 faith of Christ, and not " by the works 
 " of the law-)/' 
 
 It is evident from the different epistles 
 of St. Paul (and from no portion of them 
 more than our text), that when he speaks 
 of faith as justifying a man, he confines 
 himself to that faith which hath works 
 growing from it, as its branches, spreading 
 forth into every relative duty of life, and 
 producing the fairest fruits of obedience. 
 And it is equally evident from the whole 
 epistle of St. James, that when he speaks 
 of works justifying a man, and not faith 
 only, he speaks of those works, which 
 necessarily spring from faith as their 
 living, fructifyino; root ; and which, owino; 
 all their vitality and energy to tliis ope- 
 rative principle, are evideiilly branches 
 of the true vine, because they grow lux- 
 uriantly in a good soil, even a sanctified 
 heart ; and are directed, wheresoever they 
 spread, towards the love of God and 
 man. 
 
 I cannot help thiiikrn<T it matter of 
 
 * Janu>.s ii. C4. t <';il. ii. Ki. 
 
169 
 
 surprise that any cool, impartial reader oi" 
 the sacred volume, who possesses only a 
 common share of intellect, sllould hold 
 an opinion that there is any thing contra- 
 dictory in these two texts of Scripture. 
 If to a hasty observer there should seem 
 at first sight a shade of difference, it 
 will disappear as soon as the circum- 
 stances, in which these two Apostles were 
 placed at the time they wrote their 
 epistles, are taken fairly into considera- 
 tion. 
 
 When the teacher of the Gentiles wrote 
 the various letters, wherein he states that 
 *' man is justified by faith without the 
 " works or deeds of the law*," he was 
 addressing persons, who, unconscious of 
 the merits of the cross, depended for 
 salvation either upon the outward ob- 
 servance of their religious ordinances, or 
 upon the high estimate they had formed 
 of their own personal righteousness ; and 
 therefore he told them, that they were 
 not to " glory, save in the cross of Jesus 
 " Christ f-, by whom alone a holv God, 
 
 * Rom. iii. C8. Gn]. ii. i(j. 
 1 Gal. vi. 14. 
 
170 
 
 whose laws all men IkkI broken, and 
 under whose displeasure they were lying, 
 " might be just, and yet tlse justifier*" 
 of them that beheve. St. Paul did not 
 say that good works had become in any 
 degree less necessary since the day that 
 Jesus Christ had come " into the world 
 to save sinners -f-; for no apostle more 
 forcibly laid down, as a condition of the 
 New Testament, the absolute necessity of 
 every man's working out his " own salva- 
 " tion with fear and trembling J,'' and 
 doing every act of charity and justice to 
 the glory of God; but he informed them 
 that tliey must be justified, (that is, be 
 accounted righteous) before God through 
 faith in a Redeemer ; and must " count all 
 " things but loss, for the excellency of 
 " the knowledge of Jesus Christ^/' This 
 is the only " foundation || " which " any 
 " man can lay'' with safety for the for- 
 giveness of his sins, and for tlie final 
 acceptance of his sincere services. 
 
 'Jo this it will not be easy to find any 
 man, who truly believes in the Gospel, 
 
 * llom.iii.an. t 1 Tim. i. 15. j; Phil. ii. i?.. 
 § Phil. iii. ft. II 1 Cor. iii. 1 I. 
 
171 
 
 inclined to propose an objection. And 
 we shall equally approve of the doctrine 
 of St. James, that " a man is justified by 
 " works, and not by faith only," if we con- 
 sider to whom and lor what cause he penned 
 his general Epistle. The fact is — (as the 
 indefatigable prelate whom I have so par- 
 ticularly consulted in my last discourse) 
 acutely observes, " The doctrine of justi- 
 " fication by faith, laid down by St. Paul 
 *' had been misunderstood and perverted 
 " by many of the early converts," of which 
 truth several ancient writers bear record. 
 •' The passages, quoted above from the 
 " doctor of the Gentiles, were made to 
 *' signify, that faith in Christ, without 
 " works or deeds of any kind, that is, 
 " without the practice of moral virtue, 
 " was of itself sufficient to procure salva- 
 " tion. This most unwarrantable inter- 
 " pretation St. James reprobated and 
 " refuted by proving that * a man fis 
 " ' justified by his works, and not by faith 
 " ' only ;' " that is, (as St. James clearly 
 means,) a man is justified by no other 
 faith but that which is productive of 
 good works, and all llic graces of a holy 
 
172 
 
 life. Now this is neither more nor less 
 than ^vhat St. Paul taught, both in his 
 sermons and his writings. Consequently, 
 there is neither contradiction, nor even 
 the smallest inconsistency, in the writings 
 of St. James and St. Paul, when they are 
 equitably compared, as they respect this 
 fundamental doctrine of our religion — justi- 
 fication : because when the apostolic 
 bishop of Jerusalem says " that a man is 
 " not justified by faith only, he means, 
 " that a man is not justified by a bare 
 " belief of the divine mission of Christ; 
 " but that the belief of a Christian must 
 " be accompanied by obedience, or it 
 " will be ineffectual*" to the safety of the 
 soul. In vain would it be attempted to 
 shew, that St. James ever spake of a man 
 being justified by works onk, or at all 
 by works independent of faith. On the 
 contrary, I aver, without fear of being 
 confuted, that the teacher of the Gentiles 
 himself never elevated faith to a higher 
 rank than St. James did, nor asserted its 
 justifying influence more warmly or de- 
 
 * Vide Bishop of Lincoln's TAements of Christian 
 Tlteohgiy. Vol. ii. pp Qfil, 2G2. 
 
173 
 
 Citlecily. These are the words of the 
 priniitive prelate, (and they speak for 
 themselves :) " Abraham believed God, 
 " and it was imputed unto him for 
 " righteousness, and he was called the 
 " friend of God*." A more distinguished 
 appellation than this was never conferred 
 on a mere iiian : and for what, let us re- 
 consider, was the aged patriarch so highly 
 honoured. St. Paul had given the reason 
 l)efore, which St. James gives now : it was 
 because " he believed God, and it was 
 *•' counted unto him for righteousness •^•.'' 
 It was because, as the apostolic bishop 
 of Jerusalem further says, " faith wrought 
 "^ with his works, and by works his faith 
 " was made perfect :t." This was the 
 doctrine St. Paul constantly taught, and, 
 in our text, almost in the very words that 
 St. James makes use of. St. Paul held 
 no other, he taught not any other from 
 the day on which he was arrested on his 
 journey to Damascus, breathing out 
 slaughter against the disciples of Jesus, 
 to the hour in which he suffered martyr- 
 
 * James ii. '23. f lloni. iv. G. j Jamos ii. 22. 
 
174 
 
 dom at Rome, in the cause of a crucified 
 Saviour. " The sum of the matter/* saith 
 the cautious Burkitt, " is this/' and it 
 seems to leave no point unsettled, no argu- 
 ment unanswered ; " What God has joined 
 " none must divide, and what God has 
 " divided none must join. He has sepa- 
 " rated faith and works in the business 
 " of justification, according to St. Paul ; 
 " and none must join them in it : and 
 " he has joined them in the /2t;e6' of justi- 
 " fied persons, as St. James spake, and 
 " there we must not separate them. St. 
 " Paul assures us, that works have not a 
 " co-e/^/ciewc?/ in justification; but St. James 
 " assures us, that they may and ought to 
 " have a co-existency in them that are 
 " justified/' 
 
 Having now resisted, I humbly trust 
 with success, the very idea of any actual 
 disagreement existing between these two 
 primitive Christians respecting justification, 
 I return with increased confidence to com- 
 plete my view of that " faith which worketh 
 " by love.'' The promises of our Saviour 
 to the steadfast in faith are perfect : •' God 
 
175 
 
 " gave his only Son, that whosoever 
 " beheveth in him should not perish*" 
 " He that believeth in me, though he were 
 ** dead yet shall he livef/' "Whatsoever 
 " ye shall ask in prayer, believing ye 
 " shall receive J." " All things are pos- 
 " sible to him that believeth §/' Such 
 were the sayings of Jesus Christ: and 
 the holy apostles, who understood these 
 sayings, as inspired men, exulted in the 
 promises, and declared the hopes which 
 they derived from them. " Who is he 
 ** that overcometh the world," saith the 
 disciple whom Jesus loved, " but he that 
 " believeth'' on "the Son of God|l?" 
 " I can do all things," saith St. Paul, 
 " through Christ which strengtheneth 
 " mef.'' "Believing,'' St. Peter says," ye 
 " rejoice with joy unspeakable and full 
 " of glory, receiving the end of your faith, 
 " even the salvation of your souls**." 
 
 These texts are sufficient : they shew 
 beyond a controversy, that " Christ is the 
 " wisdom of God, and the power of 
 
 * John iii. IG. f John xi. 2i. % Matt. xxi. ^G. 
 
 § Mark ix. 23. \\ I John v. .1. ^f Phi!, iv. 1.'3. 
 
 ** I Pel. i. f). 
 
176 
 
 " God* " to save them tliat believe. But 
 what is the faith, (it never ean be too 
 often inquired or too elearly explained,) 
 which thus invigorates, fortifies, conquers, 
 and takes possession ? What is this shield, 
 against which the scoifs of the infidel, 
 the ridicule of the blasphemer, the persua- 
 sions of the libertine, and the pleasures of 
 the voluptuary, strike with their united 
 force, and fall harmless to the ground / 
 What is this grace of religion, which adorns 
 the life, dignifies the character, edifies 
 the mind, refreshes the spirits, and commu- 
 nicates a manly, elevated joy to the soul ? 
 It is the faith of the Gospel; the faith 
 which the Saviour taught, which his dis- 
 ciples practised. It is the faith which 
 enabled the worthies of old, as St. Paul 
 eloquently describes it, " to subdue king-- 
 " doms, to work righteousness, to wax 
 " valiant in fight t" against the enemies of 
 God and religion. 
 
 Such was the faith of Abraham ; when 
 he saw the day of Christ, " he saw it and 
 " was glad:]:.'' Such was the iaith of 
 Moses, when having " come to years, he 
 
 * 1 Cur. i. '21. i Ihb. ,\i. 33, 34. ' Julni viii, ,yj. 
 
J77 
 
 " refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's 
 " daughter, choosing rather tosufter afflic- 
 " tion with the people of God, than enjoy 
 " the pleasures of sin for a season ; esteem- 
 " ing the reproach of Christ greater riches 
 " than the treasures in Egypt*." 
 
 There is something solid in all this ; 
 something that evidences a love for God, 
 an attachment to his honour, a determina- 
 tion to do his will, a thirst for his righteous- 
 ness and his kingdom. And such a faith 
 it was, shining still brighter in all the 
 beauties and graces of obedience, which 
 gave a glow to every feature of the cha- 
 racter of the Apostles, and influenced 
 every act of their exemplary lives. They 
 cheerfully gave up the world, and followed 
 Christ, whithersoever he called them, 
 like sheep that knew their Shepherd's voice. 
 They viewed with a noble indifference all 
 it possessed and all it promised, its riches 
 and its luxuries, its grandeur and its 
 glories ; they thought themselves most 
 honoured and most happy in being deem- 
 ed worthy to suffer and deny themselves 
 for the sake of Him that died for them. 
 
 * Heb. xi. 24. 23, 26. 
 VOL. II. N 
 
178 
 
 When they were brought before syna- 
 gogues to be condemned, their judge could 
 find no fault in them, because they had 
 walked in their Master's footsteps. And 
 when they were carried out to execution, 
 their gentle demeanour, their passive re- 
 signation, their prayers for their enemies, 
 their dauntless courage, and their shining 
 triumph, brought tears into the eyes of the 
 spectators, as they gave their head to 
 the uplifted axe, and smiled at the racks 
 and flames that were around them. These 
 things demonstrated whose disciples they 
 were. By their fruits they were known ; 
 because they held fast " that faith which 
 ^' worketh by love-'' 
 
 This being so intelligible to every com- 
 mon capacity, so convincing to every un- 
 prejudiced mind ; it can hardly be neces- 
 sary to tell any of you who read the Scrip- 
 tures, that the faith, whose " end'" is sal- 
 vation, is not what so many of the present 
 day are satisfied with, (even men who are 
 great professors of religion) a " form'" with- 
 out " power*,'' a shadow without substance, 
 a foundation without a building, a root 
 
 * 2 Tim. ili. 5. 
 
179 
 
 without branches, a fountain, whose waters 
 are not clear and pure, but dark and pol- 
 luted ; in whatever channel they flow, they 
 carry with them dissimulation and false- 
 hood, pride and errors, despondency and 
 death. These evils may not follow in imme- 
 diate succession : a few days or years may 
 pass betwixt their several arrivals ; but 
 they are all in turn, the consequence of an 
 empty, lifeless faith, a faith which worketh 
 not by love. Every man, who hath thus de- 
 ceived his own heart, knoweth that we " lie 
 " not ;" their conscience is the appellant we 
 challenge them to answer, their miseries 
 are the evidence we defy them to resist. 
 
 Shew me, if you are able, any vain ima- 
 gination of man, any speculative opinion, 
 any rash conclusion, which is more foreign 
 to the doctrines and example of a holy 
 Saviour, which is farther from the king- 
 dom of God, than the belief we are at- 
 tempting to expose ; a belief evidently mi- 
 litating with equal presumption against the 
 glory of our Maker, and the good of man- 
 kind. 
 
 The parent of this error we are all ac- 
 quainted with ; it is no other than s|)iritual 
 
 N -z 
 
180 
 
 pride : no wonder its offspring is so sloth- 
 tul and degenerate, so selfish and ar- 
 rogant. 
 
 A serious and dispassionate view of hu- 
 man frailty, too fatally evidenced by that 
 pronencss to evil, that slavery to passion, 
 that easy subjection to the deceiver, which 
 marks the lives of many, allows us not to 
 doubt that there is something within us, 
 which " leads us to be more fond of indo- 
 " lence and ease," than of vigilance and 
 activity in the great work of salvation. 
 We wish to go to heaven, " without taking 
 " more trouble, than we can persuade our- 
 " selves is absolutely necessar\%" or mak- 
 ing one sacrifice which we hope may be 
 dispensed with. 
 
 From which it arises, that in this age 
 of boasted light, when as much religion 
 is perhaps pretended to, but, I fear, as lit- 
 tle exhibited in proportion to the number 
 of its professors, as in any age since the 
 Saviour rose from the dead, there are not 
 a few, who, for want of rightly dividing 
 the Scriptures, wrest particular passages to 
 a meaning which the divine wisdom never 
 intended them to convey ; and hence they 
 
181 
 
 are brought at length to preach up helitf 
 in preference to practice, and teacli those 
 who listen to them, to " exalt faith at the 
 " expense of morahty ;'' laying the uhole 
 stress of Christianity upon outward forms 
 and inward feelings, and treating the weigh- 
 tier matters of religion, justice, temperance, 
 forgiveness, and brotherly love, if not with 
 marked contempt, at best with compara- 
 tive indifference. Is not this to " divide 
 *' Christ*,^^ whose doctrine and example 
 are equally necessary to form the complete 
 whole of a Christian ? Is not this to ap- 
 proach the liOrd with our lips, while our 
 heart is far from him ; to profess his Gospel, 
 but be wanting in the strongest proofs of 
 its existence and its influence ? 
 
 Let not those persons, whose opinions are 
 not exactly in consonance with the senti- 
 ments just delivered, be hasty in their de- 
 cisions against us, or in anger refuse to hear 
 us further on the iniportant subject in dis- 
 cussion. In humility, we trust we have 
 already shewn, that we are no adversaries 
 to the doctrine of justification by faith. We 
 would preach Christ, and him crucified, 
 
 * 1 Cor. i. 13. 
 
18L^ 
 
 in conformity witli the articles of our church, 
 which rest upon the holy Scriptures. And 
 God forbid, that any member of that pure 
 and reformed church should ever glory, 
 save in the cross of the Redeemer*. Sen- 
 sible of this amazing privilege, it seems 
 superfluous to repeat, that in the prece- 
 
 * The judicious Hooker, wlio hath been admired and 
 quoted by the wise, and the good, for the last two centu- 
 ries, and whose writings it is a privilege to have read, thus 
 elucidates the doctrine of justification by faith. It would 
 be injustice to the reader of these Sermons to pass it by. 
 " The righteousness, — wherein we must be found, if we 
 " will be justified, is not our own ; therefore, we cannot 
 " be justified by any inherent quality. Christ hath me- 
 " rited righteousness for as many as are found in him. 
 " In him God findeth us, if we be faithful, for by faith 
 " we are incorporated into Christ." The man " that is 
 " found in Christ, and has sin remitted through repen 
 " tance, God upholdeth with a gracious eye, putteth away 
 " his sin by not imputing it, taketh quite away the pu 
 ** nishment due thereunto by pardoning it, and accepteth 
 " him in Jesus Christ, as perfectly righteous as if he had 
 •' fulfilled all that was commanded him in the law. Let 
 " this," saith this celebrated Divine, " be counted folly, 
 " or frenzy, or fury whatsoever. It is our comfort and 
 " our wisdom. We care for no knowledge in the world 
 *' but this, that man hath sinned, and God hath suffered; 
 " that God hath made himself the Son of man, and that 
 " men are made the righteousness of God." Hooker's 
 Discourse of Justification. Folio Edition, Page 495. 
 
183 
 
 dency of the three sister-graces, Faith, 
 Hope, and Charity, we deny not to Faith 
 the rank she has a right to hold. Butin do- 
 ing justice to one, however exalted, the rest 
 of the christian virtues must not be over- 
 looked, or thrown into the shade. 
 
 Therefore, to men whose faith doth not 
 work by love, but is slothful and unpro- 
 ductive, it is ours to say, that they build 
 their hopes on a sandy foundation : their 
 structure cannot stand when the floods of 
 temptation come, and the winds of adver- 
 sity blow and beat against it. We contend 
 as strongly as they do, that faith in Je- 
 sus Christ is the only medium through 
 which, when we have done our best to 
 please our Creator, we are accounted righ- 
 teous before him : but, when we see that 
 they are hearers and not doers of the word, 
 like men, " beholding their natural face in 
 " the glass, and then going away, and for- 
 " getting what manner*'' of persons they 
 were ; — when we hear them talk how they 
 love Christ, and how they may serve him, 
 but all the while they never begin to follow 
 him; never do any thing to please him; never 
 
 * James i. 23. 24. 
 
]84 
 
 live, as he lived ; never speak, as he spake; 
 never pray, as he prayed ; never relieve 
 the poor, as he relieved them ; never sub- 
 mit to the will of God, as he submitted ; — 
 then, if there be a duty which we owe to 
 the religion we profess ; if there be a ser- 
 vice which falls upon us in our sacred office J 
 if there be a truth which concerns the im- 
 mortality of the soul — by that duty, by 
 that service, by that truth, we are constrain- 
 ed to declare, that such men are lying in 
 gross darkness and the shadow of death. 
 Destitute of all the amiable graces and 
 useful virtues which distinguish believers 
 from unbelievers, good men from wicked, 
 hypocrites from the friends of sincerity, 
 their faith, (if any faith they have,) is little 
 better than that of the fallen spirits, who 
 " believe and tremble/' 
 
 Where are the tears of sorrow, which flow 
 from the eye of undissembled penitence? 
 Where the sighs of contrition, which relieve 
 the broken heart? Where the visible change 
 and amendment, which evidence a real con- 
 version? AVheie the prayers of a humble 
 spirit, which, with the importunity of the wi- 
 dow in the (:;ospel, wrestle with a merciful 
 
185 
 
 God, and prevail ? Where the charities and 
 rigliteous deeds, which, ascending up like 
 those of Cornelius, as a memorial before 
 Him, are a sweet-smelling savour, a well- 
 pleasing sacrifice, a service accepted, and 
 recorded in the courts of heaven? Alas! 
 they have none of these to offer in the name 
 of Christ. When, therefore, they shall come 
 to appear before him at the last-day, and 
 look for a reward at his hands, they will 
 hear from him no better salutation than 
 this : — When was I hungry, and ye gave 
 me meat? When was I thirsty, and ye 
 gave me drink ? When was I naked, and 
 ye clothed me ? W^hen was I sick, and in 
 prison, and ye visited me? They will be 
 speechless at that hour, for the secrets of 
 every heart will be then disclosed. They 
 will not have on the wedding garment, even 
 the fruits of the Spirit, the christian virtues 
 which spring from the union of faith and 
 charity. Therefore, Christ, the righteous 
 judge, .will command his angels to bind 
 them hand and foot ; and their conscience, 
 no longer to be deceived, no longer dis- 
 missed till a more convenient season, will 
 tell them that He is just, the fault was all 
 
186 
 
 their own. They pretended that they had 
 faith, but their faith did not work by lo.ve ; 
 therefore they were not justified, but con- 
 demned. " Is there a man in the world," 
 said once an eloquent preacher to his 
 hearers, *' so stupid as to think, that the 
 " faith of religion, without the works of re- 
 " ligion, can ever bring him to heaven, or 
 " the soul be here at rest and solaced, 
 *' which is a stranger to virtue?'' Vain, in- 
 deed, is that man's belief, more fleeting 
 than a shadow his hopes, who expects to 
 be as the angels in eternity, without first 
 living the life of a religious man on earth. 
 Virtue and piety are, through a Redeemer, 
 the narrow, the only, way that leadeth to 
 everlasting life. All other roads are broad 
 and easy ; they rapidly end in misery and 
 ruin and despair. 
 
 Much safety, much improvement, lies in 
 putting to our hearts a few simple and in- 
 telligible questions for our satisfaction, as 
 to the road we are travelling, and tlie trea- 
 sure we are laying up; questions, which 
 virtuous men of old were well versed in, 
 when Religion, dressed in primitive sim- 
 l)licity, shewed itself openly, and cared not 
 
187 
 
 i'or the scoH's and railings of the children of 
 the world. AVorking out their salvation 
 with fear and trembling, the}^ said to their 
 consciences with a godly jealousy, Am 1 
 one of those, alas ! who care more for earth 
 than heaven ; who have not resolution to 
 break through the shackles of fashionable 
 folly ; who dare not assert the honour of 
 Christ, and defend the purity of his religion, 
 in the company of thoughtless and un- 
 godly men ; who give a sanction by silence, 
 if not consent, to the vauntings of profane- 
 ness, and the indulgences of debauchery ? 
 This is a mode of reasoning, by which the 
 best of men would find safety in examin- 
 ing their belief and practice. And well 
 would it be for less vigilant professors, who, 
 regardless of consequences, rush wildl}-- in- 
 to the criminal dissipations of the world, if 
 they would go a little farther, to try, before 
 their accounts are called for, what spirit they 
 are of, and in what state is their steward- 
 ship ; if they would say to themselves, when 
 their conscience finds them at leisure. Seem 
 I not, when I view my general conduct, 
 more like any thing than a true believer? 
 Bear I anv faithful resemblance whatever 
 
188 
 
 to a Christian, I mean, in mind and heart, 
 a follower of Christ — not such a one as 
 satisfies the world in general, but such a one 
 as the revelation of God requires, a daunt- 
 less, decided Christian ; a Christian, who 
 will give up all, if it be necessary, for the 
 interest of religion, and sooner die than 
 wilfully disobey one law of God ? Or am I 
 (to be more explicit in the inquiry,) an 
 habitual transgressor of one or more of 
 the statutes of the divine Legislator, and 
 do I not fear to meet his all-inspecting 
 eye ? Am I a fornicator, or an adulterer ; 
 and can 1 be a believer in that Book, 
 which declares, that no unclean person 
 can enter the kingdom of heaven ? Am 
 I a man of excess, or of extortion ? Am 
 I a liar, a drunkard, or a sw^earer? Am 
 I a reviler, or a persecutor, from feelings 
 of envy or the impulse of revenge ? Am 
 I a man, Avho, fearless of God, breaks his 
 sabbaths, and forsakes his sanctuaries ? 
 Am I a man, who, by the violence of my 
 temper, or the irregular habits of my life, 
 renders my family impoverished or un- 
 happy ? Am I any of these, and do I pre- 
 tend to have faith in Jesus Christ? Impos- 
 
189 
 
 sible, both reason and revelation answer. 
 We might as well believe, my brethren, that 
 the God of holiness accepts a man for his 
 sins ; that the way to heaven Hes through 
 the paths of injustice ; and that, the less a 
 man is like his Saviour in this world of frail- 
 ties, the more he shall resemble him, and 
 the higher be his rew^ard in the kingdom of 
 perfection. The Gospel sanctions no such 
 opinion ; it flatters no such hope ; it holds 
 out no expectation of mercy, or possibility of 
 forgiveness, to that transgressor, who knows 
 his duty, and makes no exertion to fulfil it. 
 On the contrary, it might seem as if the 
 man who understands the doctrine of faith, 
 and does not exempHfy it in his life, (to 
 speak more plainly,) he who believes, and 
 does not practise what he believes, is more 
 blameable, and deserving of censure, than 
 the very infidel, who, from ignorance or 
 hardness of heart professes no religion at 
 all : because, that mere professor of religion, 
 having advantages which this benighted 
 creature possesses not, sins against light 
 and reason and conscience; he fights against 
 the honour of God, though all the while 
 he says he is his friend ; he pretends, too. 
 
190 
 
 to place his affections upon heaven, but 
 does not any thing with zeal or ardour to 
 arrive at its gate. 
 
 Let us now, at last, resort with humi- 
 lity, and a mind unprejudiced, to the foun- 
 tain of truth, — the revealed Scriptures : 
 and we shall happily arrive at a clear and 
 safe conclusion, because we shall be 
 " taught of God*/' 
 
 It will there appear, that faith is, and 
 ever was, the origin of all christian vir- 
 tues. It is a fruitful soil, which continually 
 produces new and vigorous plants of 
 grace; and the Sun of Righteousness ripens 
 them, and brings them to perfection. He 
 is a behever, and he only, who, dehghting 
 in the law of his God, is seen to live a vir- 
 tuous life, through the power of faith ; and 
 he hath the most faith, who hath the most 
 exemplary virtue. 
 
 Since then, no other faith, but that which 
 bringeth forth good thoughts and virtuous 
 deeds, can give a man contentment through 
 every period of his days, and bring him 
 peace at the last ; and since such a faith 
 zmll stand every shock of tcnn)tation, and 
 
 * John vi. 45. 
 
191 
 
 cheer the darkest night of woe ; let me, in 
 the spirit of this justifying, sanctifying prin- 
 ciple, unite my everlasting interests with 
 yours, and say, in humble dependence upon 
 the mercy of God, that whilst we are 
 spared by the devouring hand of time, we 
 will hold fast our faith in Christ our Savi- 
 our, as the foundation of our virtue, and our 
 religion, of all our hopes and all our joys. 
 In the heavy hour of sickness, and in the 
 gloomy scenes of bitter distress, we will 
 cherish it as our solace and support : yea, 
 if God be with us, we will cling more 
 and more closely, to the cross of his 
 beloved Son, amid the sinkings of na- 
 ture, and the most agonizing pains. Shel- 
 tered under the wings of his protecting 
 providence, we will, in "the name of Jesus,'' 
 bid defiance to sin and Satan, to dissolu- 
 tion and the darkness of the grave. 
 
 There is a sorrow, with which no other 
 sorrow can bear a comparison on this side 
 of eternal woe ; and if we have faith, even 
 that trial of our rehgion will not over- 
 come us ; no, though that fiercest conflict 
 shall arrive which can strike the human 
 breast, and rend these hearts of ours ; I 
 
speak of the separation of a daughter from 
 her guardian mother ; of a brother from his 
 favourite sister ; of a husband from his faith- 
 ful wife ; of a father from the most promis- 
 ing of his dutiful children ; separations 
 which can shake for a moment the Chris- 
 tian's resignation, and force the big tri- 
 bute of affection to steal down the cheek 
 of the bravest of mankind. O ! it is a 
 stroke which is hard to be borne ; it is a 
 wound that must take time as well as reli- 
 gion to heal : we, most of us, can bear a 
 melancholy witness to this truth ; for we 
 have tasted how bitter is the cup, and of 
 that cup we still must drink. But even such 
 affliction will be greatly softened in its ear- 
 liest period by christian faith ; and in pro- 
 portion to the strength of that faith will be 
 the increase of tranquillity, and the reco- 
 very of resignation. 
 
 It cannot be, but we must weep for 
 awhile under such a pressure of affliction, 
 though not as men without hope. For 
 many a day and week and year, the sigh 
 of regret will escape, and the tear of affec- 
 tionate remembrance flow : but it will be 
 with patient submission to the will of God, 
 
193 
 
 anil pious confidence in his experienced 
 goodness. In the inspiring language of 
 St. Paul, we shall be able to say, " As we 
 " received mercy we faint not. ' We are 
 '' troubled on every side, yet not distressed ; 
 " we are perplexed, but not in despair; 
 " cast down, but not destroyed ; always 
 " bearing about in the body the dying of 
 " the Lord Jesus, that his life also might 
 " be made manifest in ours *." This shall 
 be our faith, because we have a rock to 
 stand upon, and " that rock is Christ.'" For 
 the portion of it which God hath been pleas- 
 ed to give us, we will thank him from our 
 soul, and ardently pray for a greater supply 
 of so precious a treasure. As long as we 
 have any being, we will seek for words 
 out of every language, to express any 
 thing worthy of faith, for it is impossi- 
 ble to reach a description of its value : 
 " It is the substance of things hoped for, 
 " the evidence of things not seenf .'' St. 
 Paul himself could say no more. 
 
 But while we live to bear our humble 
 testimony to the pre-eminence of faith, as 
 the meansof justification, we will once more 
 
 * 2 Cor. 1, 8,0, 10. t Hel.. xi. 1. 
 VOL. II. O 
 
194 
 
 cry aloud in defence of the union of faith 
 and works. If we know any who presume to 
 think themselves likely to be saved, because 
 they say they believe, when at the same 
 time it is visible from their Ufe and conver- 
 sation, that they have not virtue and re- 
 ligion, and therefore their faith hath not 
 wrought by the love of God and man ; we 
 will tell such persons, that " to obey is bet- 
 " ter than sacrifice, and to hearken than 
 " the fat of rams *;'' that if they will read 
 the words of the Holy Scriptures, as they 
 are, and not as they are too often wished 
 to be by the slothful and impenitent, they 
 will not be long in discovering, that the 
 faith of a follower of Christ is that which 
 believes not a part, but the whole of the 
 Gospel, and proves its vitality and fruit- 
 fulness by " ceasing to do evil, and learn- 
 " ing to do well ; by relieving the oppress- 
 " ed, and pleading for the widow t;'' by 
 being a Christian, " not outwardly, but in- 
 " wardly J \' and by looking for its " praise, 
 " not of men, but of God." 
 
 My brethren, to work is the necessary 
 
 * 1 Sam. XV. 22. t T.sai. i.^l6, l?. 
 
 t Rom. ii. 2y. 2<i. 
 
1P5 
 
 consequence of believing, as much as 
 light is the effect of the sun. When the 
 sun goes down, the world is in darkness ; 
 and when works are absent, faith expires. 
 They are as essentially connected as breath 
 and life. 
 
 And what a blessed thought it is, that 
 all men may have Faith, for God giveth 
 to all that ask ; and that this divine guide 
 -will stay with us, if we hold her fast, until 
 she is swallowed up in the actual know- 
 ledge and the full enjoyment of every 
 glory she looks for and pursues. " All 
 things are possible to him that believeth ." 
 Belief, when it workelh by chaiity, is '' the 
 " bond of peace, and of every virtue.'* 
 " The just man lives by faith." It is, if 
 I may be allowed the expression, the 
 very breath of religion. For example, 
 when a man believes that to " do justly," 
 to " love mercy, and walk humbly with 
 God,'' is to be a happy man ; from that time 
 he strives to be just, merciful and meek, 
 because he naturally wishes for the happi- 
 ness which these virtues produce. For 
 the same reason, when a man is brought 
 
 * Mark h. 2:3. 
 
196 
 
 to a sense ol" his danger by reason of his 
 wicked life, and Ixilieves that to be vicious 
 is to be miserable, he shuns vice, because 
 he shrinks from misery, and as his faith 
 gains strength, his repentance is con- 
 linned and his virtue is fortified. When 
 (to make this more familiar,) a man be- 
 lieves that there is a heaven or place of 
 happy spirits, to which virtuous and re- 
 ligious people go when they die ; and that 
 there is a place of torment, (for so the 
 Scriptures inform us,) in which bad men 
 live and bewail their wickedness and crimes 
 through everlasting ages, he, as it were of 
 necessity, desires to be in that blessed state 
 rather than in this wretched one ; and know- 
 ing that none dwell with holy spirits but the 
 holy, he strives by holiness to render him- 
 self fit for so glorious and exalted a state. 
 Lastly, when the Christian believes, that 
 Jesus Christ was ibretold by the inspired 
 prophets, as the friend of the feeble and 
 the Saviour of the fallen, — that at his birth 
 tl.c adoring angels sang glory to God in 
 the highest, and on earth peace, good will 
 towards men, — that he was proclaimed 
 by the l^aptist, at his coming, to lie " the 
 
197 
 
 Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin 
 of* the world*/' — and that this gracious 
 messenger from heaven, very God in his 
 divine nature, and very man in his human, 
 (man, that he might be able to atone, and 
 God, that his atonement might be suffi- 
 cient ;) — that this heavenly messenger, 1 
 say, far higher than the highest of the 
 Sabaoth, declared of himself that he was 
 the Lord's Christ, "the Anointed of God t," 
 " to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal 
 " the broken-hearted, to preach deliver* 
 " ance to the captives and recovering of 
 " sight to the blind, to set at liberty them 
 " that are bruised J;" to live and die for 
 the lost, " that whosoever belie veth in 
 " him should not perish but have ever- 
 " lasting hfe§ ;'* to raise up his followers 
 at the last-day, and receive them to his pre- 
 sence and his beatitudes, that they may see 
 him " face to face||," and be "like himf ,'' 
 and know his perfection, and be thought 
 worthy to cast their crowns of triumph 
 
 * John i. '29- 
 
 t Vide Psal. ii. 2. xlv. 7. Jolm i. 41. Acts iv. 27. x. r^S. 
 
 Htb, i. 9. X ^»^c iv. 18. § John iii. \6. 
 
 11 1 Cor. xiji. ]<2. H Phil. iii. '21. 
 
198 
 
 before him : — when a man believes these 
 gracious, inspiring doctrines, then his " faith 
 " worketh by love/' He loves God the 
 Father, for sending his Son to save a fallen 
 world ; and he loves the divine Son for 
 coming to do the will of Heaven, in re- 
 signing his life and shedding his blood to 
 save sinners. His eyes being opened to 
 see " the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 *' Christ*,^' he admires and adores his 
 Saviour's character and office ; he longs 
 for his favour ; he thirsts for his righteous- 
 ness ; he prays for his kingdom ; he is 
 satisfied with his will ; he walks in his steps ; 
 all his affections are fixed upon things 
 above ; and, knowing that Christ hath 
 purchased heaven for him by His stripes 
 and sufferings, he thinks himself not his 
 own, but His that bought him with a 
 price, — therefore he glorifies God in his 
 body and in his spirit "which are God's V 
 To conclude. — I have now made the 
 attempt to lay before you, in the simpH- 
 city of truth, the christian faith ; that faith 
 which is inseparably united with christian 
 virtues. 1 have only to impress it uj)on 
 
 * •: Cor. IV. 6. \ 1 Ci>r vi. 'iO. 
 
your minds, that this behef, and the 
 obedience which springs from it, your 
 Saviour expects of you. They are the 
 signals of our gratitude and the badges of 
 our service, which he will demand of us all, 
 when we shall stand before him as a judge. 
 And shall we, dare we, withhold from him 
 his right? Shall we, relaxing in our 
 faith, attempt to rob him of his glory by 
 laying any " other foundation than that 
 *' is laid, which is Jesus Christ*;" or shall 
 we, by departing from obedience and 
 affection to him, go with the world after 
 our own inventions, and " crucify him 
 " afresh t" with our sinful lusts? Sooner 
 let our tongue cleave to the roof of our 
 mouth, and, dead to every joy, our hearts 
 forget to beat, than we be justly accused 
 of despising and rejecting Him, who, for 
 our sakes, was " a man of sorrows and ac- 
 quainted with griefs ;'' whose back instead 
 of ours was given " to the smiters,'^ and by 
 whose " stripes wc were healedj/' AVhile 
 we breathe and have a spirit to give him, let 
 our tongues be employed in sounding his 
 
 * 1 Cor.iii. 11. t Hcb. vi. 0. 
 
 I ha. I. 6. liii. .;, d. 
 
200 
 
 praise, and tvcry affection of our hearts 
 be devoted to his glory. Full well we 
 know, we cannot have the affection for 
 him which he hath shewn for ys. His 
 thouo^hts are not like our thoughts, nor 
 his ways like our ways. Our spirit may 
 be willing, but our flesh is ever weak ; yet 
 let " the sense of our weakness add strength 
 " to our faith, and seriousness to our re- 
 " pentance.'' Let our reverence, our gra- 
 titude, our love towards him, have at least 
 sincerity to recommend them ; and, be- 
 cause our poor finite services will fall far 
 short (after all our exertions,) of what we 
 wish and ought to pay him, let us watch, 
 and wrestle, and run with double patience 
 and with double zeal, relying upon his 
 Spirit to help us, and his merits to inter- 
 cede for us. Let us, for such is true re- 
 ligion, " love him'' with all our strength, 
 " because he first loved us* ;" and since he 
 condescended to love mankind, let us love 
 one another with a gentle and generous 
 spirit, remembering that memorable saying 
 of his, " By this shall all men know that 
 " ye are my disciples j-.'' Let us strive, 
 
 * 1 John IV. 19. t John \iii. So. 
 
201 
 
 by such rational means, to recommend to 
 the world, at all times and in every place, 
 the pure and undefiled rehgion, in which 
 we had the happiness to be born : but, 
 above all, when we consider how large and 
 lasting an influence the public observance 
 of divine worship has always had upon 
 the tempers and the lives of men, in cor- 
 recting, reforming, and sanctifying them, 
 let us enter, on every Sabbath of the Lord, 
 the hallowed gates of his church ; and there 
 sacrifice our pride, our self-sufficiency, our 
 unruly passions, and unlawful pleasures. 
 Let us leave the mercy-seat of God, with 
 the fixed purpose of acquiring and pre- 
 serving the holy union of behef and prac- 
 tice, of devotion and of duty. And let us, 
 not only on the seventh day which God 
 hath blessed and sanctified, but on the 
 other six^ whether we are engaged in 
 honest labour or in harmless pastime, 
 exert ourselves to attain to higher degrees 
 of grace and purity, our eyes being steadily 
 fixed upon our Saviour's example; until our 
 spirits testify, and the Spirit of our Saviour 
 confirms the happy assurance, that " to our 
 " faith" we have added virUic, and to virUic 
 
202 
 
 " knowledge, and to knowledge temper- 
 *♦ ance, and to temperance patience, and to 
 " patience godliness, and to godliness bro- 
 " therly kindness, and to brotherly kind- 
 " ness charity. For if we do these things 
 ** we shall not fair' in our passing through 
 this world of sorrows and of snares ; and 
 when we leave it, " an entrance shall be 
 " ministered unto us abundantly, into the 
 " everlasting kingdom of our Lord and 
 " Saviour Jesus Christ*/' 
 
 * 2 Pet. i. 5—11. 
 
THE 
 
 TARES AND THE WHEAT: 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 BAYSJVATER CHAPEL, 
 
 SUNDAY, DECEMBER I9tii, 18 ly. 
 
SERMON VII. 
 
 MATTHEW XVn. 24. 
 LET BOTH GROW TOGETHER UNTIL THE HARVEST. 
 
 OlNCE the beginning of time to the pre- 
 sent moment, mankind have been divided 
 into two classes, the virtuous and vicious, 
 the religious and profane, growing together 
 in the same field of action, but ripening 
 for different ends; the one for unceasing 
 happiness, the other for endless misery. 
 Our Saviour, perceiving this, resolved in 
 his infinite mercy to make one grand effort 
 for the recovery of those that were lost. 
 He " came into the world to save sinners*.*' 
 Well is his gospel denominated " glad 
 tidings," for no such glorious news had 
 ever reached this earth, as he brought 
 down from heaven, when he left his Father's 
 presence to visit and redeem our fallen 
 race. With lips more full of grace than 
 all the prophets that had gone before him, 
 
 * 1 Tim. i. 15. 
 
206 
 
 his spirit teemed with benevolence, while he 
 displayed to mankind the God of creation 
 as he is, and as we must delight to view 
 him, — not a tyrant, degrading, oppressing, 
 and tormenting his subjects ; but a parent, 
 blessing his children by gracious gifts, 
 protecting them by the tenderest care, 
 and condescending to take a generous 
 pleasure in their happiness and prosperity. 
 Say ye who love him, was ever design 
 so full of pity and affection as his, when, 
 hearing in the council of Heaven, his Father 
 declare his purpose to recover a perishing 
 world, though by the costly sacrifice of his 
 only Son, he answered, " Lo ! I come to 
 " do thy will, O God*!" The Saviour 
 came ; and how triumphant would have 
 been the success of his mission ! how 
 crowded the joyous courts above ! how 
 unfrequented the dismal abode of ruined 
 spirits ! if men had felt the same delight 
 in being saved, that Christ had in saving 
 them. But great was the portion of those 
 who turned a deaf ear to his instructive 
 voice, when he shewed them the ways of 
 safety and contentment, although the 
 
 * Heb.x.7. 
 
207 
 
 purity of all his precepts was exemplilied in 
 the perfection of his entire life. They 
 would not have him to reign over them, 
 though his sceptre was held in a Saviour's 
 hand, and his throne was ihe seat of 
 general amnesty. 
 
 To such ungrateful and impenitent 
 creatures, our Lord declares, it was most 
 consistent with the dignity of his mission 
 to " speak in parables*,"' after the man- 
 ner of our text. And certainly it is ap- 
 parent that both under the Old and New 
 Testaments, parables were the form of in- 
 struction not un frequently used with sue- 
 cess for the alarm and conversion of noto- 
 rious offenders. Witness the memorable case 
 of David, at one time among the greatest 
 of transgressors ; when shocking to relate, 
 he had fallen, in the matter of Uriah, from 
 such an exalted state of grace as few 
 attain, to so entire a dereliction of moral 
 principle and rehgious feeling, as to add 
 deliberate murder to shameless adultery ; 
 uniting in his character the two foul- 
 est crimes that ever blackened the heart 
 of man, and brought an accountable 
 
 * Matt. xiii. :j4. 33. 
 
208 
 
 spirit to the gates of everlasting death. 
 It is a shining testimony of the truth of 
 the Holy Scriptures, that the faults of the 
 best men, whose lives are therein recorded, 
 are not glossed over, but exposed in all 
 their flagrancy. For such a combined 
 offence as this, no room is left for pity. 
 Remembering, however, the general tenour 
 of David's virtuous and religious life, who 
 can be less than deeply interested in the 
 success of the beautiful appeal of the seer 
 of God to the conscience of the guilty king, 
 which re-awakened in his breast the senti- 
 ments of equity, and brought him to 
 saving contrition ? — 
 
 " There were two men in one city, 
 
 * the one rich and the other poor. The 
 ' rich man had exceeding many flocks 
 
 * and herds. But the poor man had 
 
 * nothing save one little ewe lamb, which 
 'grew up together with him and with 
 ' his children : it did eat of his own 
 ' meat, and drank of his own cup, and 
 ' lay in his bosom, and was unto him as 
 
 * a daughter*." If the Psalmist was al- 
 ready interested in tliis story, how still 
 
 * 2 Sam. xii. 1, 2, 3. 
 
209 
 
 more must he have been affected, wlien 
 the prophet went on to tell him, that 
 •"* there came a traveller unto the rich 
 " man, and he spared to take of his own 
 " flock, but took the poor man^s lamb, 
 " and dressed it for the man that was 
 " come to him */' 
 
 The king could not for a moment re- 
 strain his indignation: " He said to Nathan, 
 " As the Lord liveth, the man that hath 
 " done this thing, shall surely die, because 
 " he had no pity. And Nathan said unto 
 " David, Thou art the man t-'' The pa- 
 rallel which the prophet had drawn was 
 peculiarly striking. The case was too clear 
 to be mistaken, the crime was too recent 
 to be forgotten ; his heart could no longer 
 dissemble with his God. A second Cain 
 for once in guilt and remorse, he had no 
 shadow of excuse to offer, and a spirit 
 too wounded to attempt extenuation. In 
 the brief eloquence of sincerity, the Psalm- 
 ist cried out, " I have sinned against the 
 " Lord:J:.'' And God, in the infinity of 
 mercy, answered, by his prophet, I will 
 " put away thy sin, thou shalt not surely 
 
 * 2 Sam. xii, 4. t '2 Sam. xii. 5,7- t xii- 13. 
 VOL. II. P 
 
210 
 
 " die." My brethren, of crimes even 
 approaching to the lesser of David's of- 
 fences, I hope we are none of us guilty ; 
 but yet we have all both many and 
 heavy sins to answer for. Greatly then 
 are we consoled by the knowledge, that if 
 we have this day brought with us to the 
 house of God, the spirit of penitence which 
 marked David's recovery, and we here- 
 after evidence our repentance by the piety 
 and virtue which adorned every period 
 of his future life, we also shall not die 
 but live ; live to forsake our sins and amend 
 our ways, to escape the punishment of 
 disobedience, and inherit the sure reward 
 of chastity and justice. To promote, (if 
 happily I may), so desirable an end was 
 my motive for selecting the parable of 
 the tares and the wheat as the subject of 
 our present thoughts. It is a parable full 
 of comfort to the good, replete with terror 
 to the evil. May your eyes be blessed 
 because they see, and your ears because 
 they hear. May your hearts receive and 
 understand every doctrine your Redeemer 
 taught, and may your whole lives display 
 both the form and power of that godliness, 
 
211 
 
 which will bring every good man peace 
 at the last. The parable may, I think, be 
 thus summarily given: — A certain husband- 
 man had a field, the object of his constant 
 solicitude and care. In this favourite 
 field he sowed seed, that was likely to 
 produce him an abundant increase, and 
 repay him for all his labour. In the 
 depth of the night, when good men were 
 asleep, the time most fit for deeds of dark- 
 ness, an adversary that hated the husband- 
 man came and sowed tares in every part 
 of the field ; they are a noisome plant 
 of Judea, which would come up before 
 the wheat, outgrow it, and greatly injure 
 its produce. After awhile, the servants 
 came to their master, and telling him with 
 exceeding concern, that a vast quantity 
 of tares had appeared (they knew not 
 how,) inquired if it was his pleasure that 
 they should root them up. The luisband- 
 man had not to learn, that it was an old 
 and inveterate enemy who had done this ; 
 one who would be greatly pleased if such 
 an attempt was made, because he knew 
 it would be very prejudicial to the wheat. 
 Therefore the owner, who set much value 
 
212 
 
 on the good seed, and watched it through 
 every stage of its growth, answered. By no 
 means, lest in the act of eradicating the 
 tares, the wheat also may be injured. " Let 
 " both," he says, " grow together until the har- 
 " vest;" and when the proper time is come, 
 I will tell the reapers to gather first the 
 tares in bundles, that they may burn 
 them ; but I will charge them to gather 
 carefully the wheat and place it in my 
 barn. 
 
 Such is the parable ; and I think it is 
 evident, that the design of its Author, is 
 to place before us the commencement, the 
 continuance, and completion, of the spi- 
 ritual kingdom of Messiah upon earth. 
 The husbandman who sowed the good 
 seed, he tells his disciples, is Himself, who 
 first planted the Gospel in the world. 
 The field is his " holy Catholic Church*," 
 in which this seed is growing from sabbath 
 to sabbath. The wheat which he atfec- 
 
 * The word Catholic^ used in the Apostles' Creed, 
 simply means universal and general ; and therefore the 
 " church of Jesus Christ is called Catholic, because 
 " it extends throughout the world, and is not limited by 
 " time." — Johnson. 
 
213 
 
 tionately calls the children of his king- 
 dom, are all the virtuous and religious 
 characters that do honour to human na- 
 ture, — the firm believers in his divinity 
 and atonement, the constant worshippers 
 of God, the sanctified of his Spirit ; Chris- 
 tians in deed and in truth. The tares, called 
 the children of the wicked, are the breakers 
 of his laws, and the despisers of his 
 religion; profane, sensual, impenitent; 
 hbcrtines and voluptuaries ; polluters of 
 his Sabbath, and revilers of his name. 
 The enemy is the devil, the old serpent, 
 the instigator of every evil thought and 
 impure desire which defile the soul of man. 
 The reapers are the angels, w^ho now 
 watch over our safety, rejoice at every 
 step we make towards the gates of heaven, 
 and will fly upon the wings of delight, 
 when their Sovereign shall tell them to 
 fetch his followers home. The harvest is 
 the end of the world, and the barn of 
 the Redeemer is the place of happy souls. 
 There our eternal employment will be to 
 sing a song of gladness, in concert with 
 the celestial choir, " Worthy is the Lamb 
 " that was slain, to receive riches and 
 
214 
 
 " iionour iiud glory and blessing and 
 " power, lor ever and ever. Amen */' 
 
 I thought it would be useful to give 
 you this general outline of the parable, 
 before I proceeded more closely to ex- 
 plain that clause of it, which has been 
 selected for our immediate consideration. 
 The divine Author of this merciful coni- 
 niand appears particularly desirous of 
 impressing upon the minds of those who 
 read the Gospel, that, from the constitution 
 of this lower world, and the frame of 
 human nature, fallen as they are from 
 what they originally were, there will of 
 necessity be to the end of time both good 
 and bad men ; nay more, there will be 
 always many false professors of Chris- 
 tianity, who, intermixed with the faithful, 
 shall go on for awhile undiscovered of 
 men, and unpunished of God ; shall re- 
 ceive the applause of the world, and to 
 outward appearance be the favouritesof 
 Heaven ; whilst the best of our species, 
 the truest servants of their Creator, may 
 sink under the hand of pain and disease, 
 and smart from the repeated scourges of 
 * Rev. V. i'2, \ri. 
 
21,5 
 
 affliction ; until they seem to the casual 
 observer, to lay under the heaviest weight 
 of the divine displeasure. 
 
 At such a system of dispensation, short- 
 sighted man is sometimes inclined to re- 
 volt ; presuming to think, that men who 
 are void of principle, and delight in ren- 
 dering their fellow-creatures miserable, 
 ought not to be allowed to remain, but 
 should be removed from the earth ; as 
 their death would tend more than their 
 life to the good order and happiness of 
 the better part of mankind : And truly 
 when we dispassionately estimate the ma- 
 lignant influence of the impure conver- 
 sation, the impious writings, and the 
 deistical boasts of these enemies to every 
 thing that is chaste and lovely and of good 
 report, under whose hps is adders' poison, 
 and whose very breath is pestilence ; I say, 
 when we see the prodigious mischief they 
 have scattered in their desolating track, and 
 what future miseries they are determined 
 to produce, we are almost constrained, by 
 the love of virtue and religion, to join in 
 the opinion, that they worse than cumber 
 
216 
 
 the ground, and ought to be cut down 
 by the axe of a defied Providence. 
 
 God judges otlierwise, and error enters 
 not into his counsels. His ways and 
 thoughts are not hke ours, his uphfted 
 arm forbears to strike, though often pro- 
 voked. Wise and just are the reasons 
 which induce him to avert, from day to 
 day, the flaming sword of justice; though 
 we cannot see them, and perhaps, if we 
 did, could not yet understand them. He 
 spares the evil and the unjust, and it is 
 for the sake of the good and the upright, 
 that they are spared. His motive is mercy 
 to all, that mercy which (for it is the attri- 
 bute he delights in,) will influence all his 
 dealings with his frail imperfect creatures, 
 until the great day of retribution, when 
 " the crooked shall be made straight, and 
 *' the rough places plain*;" when justice, 
 smiling on the innocent, but frowning on the 
 guilty, shall be made clear to the sight of 
 every eye, and the satisfaction of every 
 mind. Then the living God " will judge the 
 ** world with righteousness and the people 
 
 * Isa. xl. 4. 
 
217 
 
 " with equity*;" he will shew " strength 
 " with his arm/' and scatter " the proud 
 " in the imagination of their hearts ;" 
 " but his mercy will be on them that fear 
 " liimt," and their salvation shall stand 
 fast. 
 
 Hence it appears, that, from the mass 
 of information with which the parable 
 abounds, we are safe in gleaning this truth, 
 — That the effect of Christ's planting his 
 Gospel in the world, is the abundant in- 
 crease (if not prevented by the hardness 
 of man's heart,) of piety and virtue in this 
 world, and glory and felicity in the next. 
 Men are surely left to their own free choice, 
 (the grace of God all the while attracting 
 them,) whether they will embrace the Gos- 
 pel with all its promises, or, rejecting it, 
 expose themselves to all its threats. On 
 what other supposition, it is humbly asked, 
 can the equity of God appear to be esta- 
 blished, but on the free will of man ? For, 
 certain it is, that God will require the im- 
 provement of time and talents at the hand 
 of every man that lives in this state of pro- 
 bation ; and as he will lay on no man a 
 
 * Psal. xcviii.y. t Luke i. 50, ol. 
 
218 
 
 burden too heavy for him to bear, so lie 
 will exact of none a debt, which it is im- 
 possible for them to pay, a service which 
 they have no power to perform. His " ser- 
 " vice is perfect freedom/' With him " is 
 *' no respect of persons*/' He gives, with 
 liberal hand, to all that ask, and to him of 
 every nation, who, in an honest heart and 
 a desire to be saved, humbly knocketh at 
 the gate of heaven, that gate will be throwqi 
 open. Yes ! such is the universal Father 
 whom our unrivalled Liturgy so sweetly 
 presents to us as " more ready to hear than 
 " we to pray, and w ont to give more than 
 " either vre desire or deserve/' His Gos- 
 pel is " good tidings of great joy to all 
 '* people -f." And while the Scripture 
 holds out such an assurance to the feeble 
 and the broken-hearted, of whom shall it 
 be said that he is the outcast who cannot 
 sit under its refreshing shadow, nor be com- 
 Ib rted by its genial influence ? No more, 
 then, let it be argued, that any being whom 
 God hath sent into the world, hath perished 
 lor want of an accepted time, or that his 
 
 * '2 Cliron. xix. 7- Iloni. ii. II. I'ph. vi. y. 
 Col.iii. '36. 1 Pet. i. 17. t Luke ii. 10. 
 
219 
 
 grace hath been slack to save when it hath 
 found a wilhng heart. If there was not a 
 day of salvation for all, could Christ be 
 said to die " the propitiation for the sins of 
 " the whole worhl*/' or would he have 
 invited " all't.o come-f " unto him ? *' Him 
 " that cometh to me I will in no wise cast 
 " out+/' " Why will ye die ?— Have I any 
 " pleasure at all that the wicked should 
 " die/' saith the Lord God, " and not that 
 " he should return from his ways and 
 " live§ V Thus the messenger of peace, 
 the still small voice of God's Spirit, waiteth, 
 warneth, persuadeth, promiseth, if his 
 people will ever hear his voice. His grace 
 descends, like the gentle dew, to soften the 
 heart of a believer, and cherish the good 
 seed that is sown in it ; whilst the Sun of 
 Righteousness sheds abroad his warm and 
 vivifying rays, to fructify the ripening plants 
 and make them fit for the reapers to gather 
 into his heavenly garner. 
 
 So clear is the evidence before us, that 
 if any man lose his soul, the fault lies no- 
 where but in his own incorrigible heart. 
 
 * 1 John ii. '2. f Malt. xi. '28. } 
 § E^ck. xviii. '2:5, ;)l. 
 
220 
 
 God is merciful, but man is ungrateful. 
 His Son Jesus Christ is as willing as he is 
 able, to save to the uttermost all; but a great 
 proportion of those whom he came to call 
 to repentance will not be saved. He suffers 
 them in his infinite wisdom to live, and by 
 his Spirit he furnishes them with the means 
 o^ salvation: in their utter carelessness about 
 all the interests of the soul, of heaven and 
 eternity, they are resolved to die. 
 
 Well are such men called tares : for as 
 the noisome weeds which spring up in the 
 fields are injurious to the corn among which 
 they grow, so are the wicked to the world 
 in which they dwell. Not to speak of the 
 restlessness in which they live, and the sad 
 and miserable end to which they bring 
 themselves at death ; they are hurtful to 
 their fellow-creatures, by their evil com- 
 munication and seductive converse, their 
 groundless inventions of slanderous false- 
 hood, their desperate hatred of religious 
 characters, their frauds and malice and 
 violence and disorder, their profligate habits 
 and profane example. More hurtful still 
 arc they to their own families, whose tem- 
 poral welfare they generally neglect, their 
 
221 
 
 eternal always. Hapless fathers of a hap- 
 less otFspring, who, corrupting those they 
 brought into the world by their lessons, 
 and leading theni astray by their lives, too 
 soon discover that profligate principle makes 
 undutiful children, and that a house with- 
 out religion is a house without peace. Such 
 are they who, in different ages, have tried 
 to lower religion in the opinion of mankind ; 
 and who, whenever they succeeded in teach- 
 ing the rising generation that the Bible is 
 a fiction, and its most important precepts 
 are not necessary, have let loose upon so- 
 ciety all the floodgates of infidelity and 
 confusion, and sapped the very vitals of vir- 
 tue and of decency. There is an essential 
 connexion between religion and morality, 
 like that between the soul and the body ; 
 at the departure of the former the latter 
 dies. Yes, it is only to take away re- 
 ligious feeling from the mind of a man, and 
 then he is ready for every thing that is 
 criminal*. And such persons, destitute 
 
 * Bishop Home relates a remarkable instance of this in 
 one of his admirable discourses. It is that of a servant to 
 a man of large possessions, who was a free-thinker, and 
 who, in the presence of his domestics, was so profane as 
 
222 
 
 of every check to vice, are not uncommon 
 in this ungodly world. Go where we will, 
 they will be near us ; and go where they 
 may, they will do mischief. They are the 
 tares which the enemy of Christ hath sown 
 anion 2: his wheat ; and as the favourite 
 agents of Satan, they have proved them- 
 selves faithful to his deadly trust. Neces- 
 sarily miserable, because they are wicked, 
 they cannot bear to see a fellow-creature 
 happy ; and for this cause they would steal 
 from him the glad tidings of the saving 
 Gospel, the blessed hope of everlasting life. 
 Let us, my fellow Christians, shun them 
 as a pest ; let us dread them as a conta- 
 
 to vent his impieties in reviling the blessed Scriptures. 
 This servant robbed his master, was apprehended, and 
 condemned to die. His master visited him in his cell, and 
 urged him to give a reason for his infamous behaviour. 
 '* Sir," said the criminal, " I had so often heard you talk 
 " of the impossibility of a future state, and that after death 
 " there was no reward for virtue, that I was tempted to 
 " commit the robbery." " Well but," replied the master, 
 " had you no fear of that death, which the laws of your 
 " country inflict upon the crime ?" " Sir," rejoined the 
 unhappy man, looking sternly at him, " what is that to 
 " you, if I chose to venture it ? Vou had removed my 
 " greater terror, — why should I fear the loss ?" Such is 
 the fruit of fiee-thinkinsr. 
 
223 
 
 gion ; let their vices and tlieir loss of cha- 
 racter be a beacon to warn us of our dan- 
 ger, the instant we forsake the tracks of 
 virtue ; let their visible misery be a wall to 
 turn us back, when we are venturing on 
 forbidden ground : let us thank our God 
 that we have so far escaped the pit which 
 the destroyer hath laid for our feet ; and 
 let us resolve, while we live, not to tread a 
 single path which is not marked out by 
 our Saviour as innocent and safe. 
 
 So far we have been viewing the darker 
 side of the picture, in which our Saviour 
 represents the condition of the human 
 race ; it will be pleasing now to look at 
 the fairer. We stand in need of all the 
 consolation we can fmd, whilst passing 
 thro\igli this world of temptations and 
 of woes. 
 
 The enemy could only sow his tares ; 
 he could not destroy the wheat which the 
 husbandman had sown. That wheat grew 
 up until the harvest ; it was the every- 
 day care of Christ ; he placed it in a 
 favourable soil, a heart dedicated to God 
 and attached to religion. Though he suf- 
 fered the tares to grow among it, he did 
 
224 
 
 not allow them to prevent it from coming 
 to perfection. He never permits the 
 wicked to draw his chosen followers long 
 from their present consolations, nor spoil 
 them of their eternal hopes. It shows the 
 interest which he takes in the welfare of 
 his church, his benevolence to the world 
 for which he lived and died. The righteous 
 are as great a blessing to mankind as the 
 wicked are a curse. Great is the benefit 
 which springs to their neighbours and con- 
 nexions from their innocent conversation, 
 their improving society, their truth, their 
 gentleness, their honest principle, their 
 brotherly love, their desire to make ever}^ 
 one happy, and their joy when they have 
 lightened the burden of one heavy heart. 
 Yet greater is the benefit to their wives and 
 children, whose souls they think of higher 
 value than their bodies, but neglect not the 
 good of ci ther. Blessed fathers of a blessed 
 race, which crowd like olive-branches round 
 about their table, — the binding ties of in- 
 nocence and love, — and, trained up in the 
 way that they should go, are inclined to 
 cleave to the duties of religion ; because 
 they see with gratitude what a comfort the 
 
QQ*i 
 
 practice of it hath been to those that gave 
 them birth. These are living inonunients 
 of the beauty of virtue and the perfection 
 of piety ; vvho, happy in being good, and 
 growing rich fronri honest industry and 
 frugal habits, are a convincing evidence 
 that Christianity is " more precious than 
 " rubies, and the gain thereof than fine 
 " gold. All the things thou canst desire 
 " are not to be compared to her. She is 
 " a tree of life to them that lay hold of 
 " her, and happy is every one that re- 
 " taineth her*." These are they, who, 
 while they may make the libertine ashamed 
 of his excesses, and the voluptuary blush 
 at his immodesty, confirm the virtuous and 
 the chaste in every holy purpose they have 
 formed, and every pious work they have 
 begun. Like lights placed upon a hill, 
 their bright examples shed their sanctifying 
 influence far and wide ; and many, who 
 hve within their sphere, are taught to glo- 
 rify their Father which is in heaven. 
 
 Such excellent characters are yet, thank 
 God, to be seen and admired in every 
 city and in every village. All have not 
 
 * Prov.iii. 14—17. 
 VOL. II. Q 
 
2^6 
 
 jjowed the knee to Baal ; all have not 
 halted between two opinions. Wherever 
 the lover of religion resides, he edifies the 
 circle in which he moves ; and wherever 
 he bends his course, he is an acquisition 
 to those that welcome him. He carries 
 with him the peace of an Apostle, and 
 it rests upon the house which he salutes. 
 Such a man of 'God let us choose foi* our 
 constant companion, let us retain him as 
 our steady friend. He will never betray 
 our confidence, nor leave us in our distress. 
 Let the amiable qualities he exemplifies 
 in his whole behaviour, be a standard to 
 regulate ours ; and let the cheerfulness, 
 which beams in his countenance, be our 
 conviction that religion is the comforter 
 of man. Let us give praise to God for 
 this, and every other means of his grace, 
 which hath led us to the lov€ of truth ; and 
 let us, in the animating spirit of gratitude 
 to Him, hold fast the principles of his re- 
 vealed will ; not willingly breaking one law 
 of that Gospel, the observance of which, 
 if persevered in to the end, will, for the sake 
 of our Redeemer, be recompensed with in- 
 creasiiio satisfaction and incessant olory. 
 
227 
 
 We liave now surveyed, 1 hope with 
 some advantage,* the wheat and tiie tares 
 growing together by divine permis- 
 sion. The heavenly Husbandman would 
 not suffer his reapers to exterminate the 
 wicked, for fear of the righteous suffering 
 by their ruin; the 07ie he protected, the 
 other he spared . This is the same patient 
 Husbandman, who would not suffer the 
 barren tree in his vineyard to be removed, 
 as long as there was any hope of its fertility. 
 " Cut it down,'' said the Lord of the vine- 
 yard to him ; " why cumbereth it the 
 " ground ? I have come these three years 
 " seeking fruit; but find none.'' He an- 
 swered, " Let it alone, this year also, till I 
 " dig about it, and dress it : and if it bear 
 '' fruit, well ; but if not, after that, thou 
 " shalt*" take it away. Perhaps, in no- 
 thing that the Gospel unfolds is the good- 
 ness of our Saviour more amiably displayed 
 than in this patient waiting for the sinner's 
 repentance. 
 
 The divine economy will not be amply 
 justified till the day of final retribution. 
 Doubtless, the wicked are punished more 
 
 * Luke xiii. 7, 8, 0. 
 
228 
 
 than men think, while they stay on earth. 
 The righteous also have here a rich reward. 
 But neither of these find, in time, a due 
 administration of rewards and punishments; 
 it is reserved for the next world. When, 
 therefore, we see the ungodly shining in 
 splendour, and the good man sunk in de- 
 gradation, we must not conclude that the 
 former, though ^flourishing " like a green 
 " bay tree,'' is the favourite of God ; or that 
 the latter, though pining in povert}^ is 
 the object of his frowns. " I went by/' 
 saith the Psalmist, " and lo," the wicked 
 " was gone ; I sought liim, but his place 
 " could no where be found." But I 
 marked " the perfect man" and beheld 
 " the upright; the Lord had set his feet 
 " upon a rock, and established his goings : 
 " his end was peace*." 
 
 If we could take in the whole plan of 
 the Arbiter of events, we should see very 
 clearly, that the prosperous sinner too 
 soon raises the envy of a blind, misjudging 
 world. He is dissatisfied with himself, with 
 mankind, and with his Maker, even when 
 he is standing on the pinnacle of human 
 
 * Pialm xxxvii. 35, 37. xl. 9. 
 
greatness ; and on how precarious a tenure 
 does that greatness hang ! Though the 
 avenging x'Vngel hath till now passed his 
 dwelHng, the sword of offended justice is 
 suspended over his head, and he knows 
 not at what moment it may tall. 
 
 Men see but a little way along the chain 
 of Providence. If they saw farther, they 
 would have a very different opinion of the 
 world. We run away with first impres- 
 sions, without admitting either the cause 
 or the consequence of things. So espe- 
 cially it is with our view of the tares and 
 the wheat. Wc see numbers of profligate 
 men who are injurious to all the interests 
 of virtue and rehgion ; who seemingly do 
 no good, and an inuuensity of harm ; and 
 we hastily say to ourselves, " Why sleeps 
 " the thunder idle in the hand'' of Him, 
 whose righteous laws find no respect from 
 this presumptuous transgressor ? Would not 
 much evil be prevented, if that reviler of 
 His name were swept away by " the 
 "besom of destruction*?" Stop, " thou 
 " that judgest another t," lest thou shouldest 
 thyself be judged. Know, that in revolving 
 
 * Isa. xiv. 23. t Rom. ii. 1. 
 
230 
 
 upon the deep things of God, we should 
 be " swift to hear; slow to speak*; we 
 should stand still with the Israelites, and 
 see the salvation of God. " III would it 
 ** become that divine goodness which we 
 ** have all so often experienced'' that infi- 
 nite mercj we all stand so much in need 
 of, to cut off the wicked as long as his 
 omniscience " perceives any prospect of 
 their " recovery/' Never do the justice 
 and compassion of that universal Parent 
 shine more brilliantly to our admiring 
 eyes; never does he act more consistently 
 with all the attributes of his perfect nature, 
 and all the schemes of his infinite under- 
 standing, than when he keeps the sword 
 of his anger sheathed, in expectation of the 
 wanderer from his family coming back to 
 him. No, never, in all the lovely descrip- 
 tions which our Saviour hath drawn of 
 the benevolence of God, do we contem- 
 plate him with more lively affection, or 
 feel constrained to praise him with more 
 thankful lips, than when he stoops to ex- 
 hibit himself to mortals as a father wait- 
 ing for the return of a fiiithless son ; and 
 
 * James i. ly. 
 
231 
 
 though often provoked, often despised, 
 still using both entreaties and influence to 
 reclaim him from his errors and rescue 
 him from his woes. 
 
 Should we next view a more hopeless 
 case, and suppose the man, whom mercy 
 waits for, to be incorrigible, given over, as 
 the Scripture expresses it, " to a reprobate 
 " mindV' the willing agent of seven evil 
 spirits, resisting alike the persuasions of con- 
 science and the light of revelation ; still this 
 lower world is not the region best adapted 
 for the severities of retributive justice ; the 
 blow, which would fall heavy upon him, 
 would partly light upon the heads of his 
 virtuous connexions. Indeed it is too plain 
 to require proof, that while good and bad 
 men live together upon earth, their in- 
 terests are so closely interwoven, that no 
 signal calamity can befall the one, but the 
 other must in some measure share it. Can 
 the wicked father or the thoughtless mother 
 be visited with temporal punishments, and 
 their amiable children escape the dire ef- 
 fects, — who, though they gain nothing from 
 the example of their parents, and little 
 
 * Rom. i. '28. 
 
from liieii aliection, depend perhaps, under 
 Providence, upon the industry of the one, 
 and the frugahty of the otlier, for the very 
 bread they eat, and the raiment they put 
 on ? Can the unbeheving husband fall 
 under the avenging hand of the Almighty, 
 and the believing wife not, participate 
 the sad consequences of the desolating 
 visitation ? Can the spendthrift son, who, 
 leaving his father's house night after night, 
 rushes headlong into every dissipation and 
 infamy, become the miserable victim of 
 his crimes, and his tender parents not 
 feel the anguish of bereaved hopes and 
 of distracting prospects ? No : if God 
 should whet his sword, and strike that child 
 to the dust with all his sins upon his head, 
 — not one of them repented of, — might it 
 not burst the last string of the heart of his 
 poor pious mother, and bring down his 
 father's grey hairs with sorrow to the grave ? 
 These are some of the scenes of misery 
 and distress, which would not escape the 
 Saviour's benevolent mind, when he said 
 to his servants, "' Root not up the tares, 
 " lest ye root up the wheat also. Let both 
 " grow together until the harvest/' 
 
23:5 
 
 Is there one, aiuong my present hearers, 
 who hath not admired the father of the 
 faithful, when trembUng at the fate of his 
 countrymen, he pleaded at the gate of their 
 devoted city before a long-suffering God : 
 " O let not the Lord be angry, and I will 
 " speak this once. Peradventure, fifty 
 " righteous be found in this city ; or, per- 
 " adventure, there lack five of the fifty ; or 
 " should there be twenty or even ten ; 
 " wilt thou, O Lord, destroy the righteous 
 " with the wicked ? That be far from 
 " thee. Shall not the Judge of all the 
 " earth do right ? The Lord answered : 
 *' I will not destroy it for ten's sake*/' 
 Alas ! in all that spacious city ten godly 
 persons ^vere not found, of any age or sex. 
 Tlierefore, when " the sun was risen upon 
 " the earth,'' the flames of heaven " rained 
 " upon the inhabitants of Sodom;" but 
 not upon all. " God remembered" the 
 preacher of righteousness and his little 
 family, and sent ** two of his angels" to 
 conduct him to the friendly '' Zoarf-," in 
 which he might take shelter and be at rest. 
 
 If we admire the feeling intercession of 
 
 * Gen. xviii. '23—33. f Gen.xviii. I— C'J. 
 
2.34 
 
 Abraham for the city of Lot, in which he 
 had many dear relations, how iimst we be 
 fascinated with the godlike spirit which was 
 displayed by the blessed Jesus towards a 
 city of the Samaritans, which refused even 
 to admit him within its walls. Unable to 
 restrain their indignation, the Boanerges 
 said to him, " Lord, wilt 1;hou that we com- 
 " mand fire to come down from heaven 
 " and consume them, even as Elias did V 
 But the patient Saviour " turned, and re- 
 " buked them/' (His example never rose 
 higher.) " Ye know not what manner of 
 " spirit ye are of. The Son of man is not 
 " come to destroy men's lives, but to save 
 " them*/' 
 
 Such was the mission of Him who came 
 from heaven, " with healing in his wings f;" 
 and, fvill of grace and truth, rejected none 
 that came to him for health and for salvation. 
 
 Since, then, so gracious, so replete with 
 mercy was the purpose of Jesus Christ : 
 since he who sent him is a patient and 
 long-suffering Creator : since, from that 
 hour in which the Comforter descended 
 on the day of Pentecost, none have lost 
 
 * Luke i;^. 54, 55, 56. f Mai. iv, 2. 
 
23.5 
 
 heaven, who shut not its door against 
 themselves : since our experience records, 
 what revelation foretold, that idle and un- 
 profitable men are brought into the vine- 
 yard, by Jesus Christ, at various seasons 
 and by different means ; that some, (for 
 there is no end of our Saviour's goodness,) 
 after being long and wonderfully spared 
 are converted, — like the penitent Roches- 
 ter*, '* from darkness to light, and from 
 ** the power of Satan unto God :" since, 
 I say, such are the Creator's condescen- 
 sion and compassion to his frail, depen- 
 dent creatures. Jet us not be among those 
 who complain that the gate of heaven is 
 too long left open tP some; but let us 
 adore the Governor of the human race, 
 who shews such love and forbearance to 
 al I Let us remember, that there were some 
 
 * Vide Bishop Burnet's Life of this interesting young 
 nobleman, who, after being some years the slave of guilty 
 passions, had happily time to exercise a godly sorrow, 
 and forsake his sins. His peaceful death is as me- 
 morable and satisfactory an instance, as modern times have 
 afforded, of the power of the grace of God upon the 
 mind of a sincere convert. It is difficult for any one to 
 read the learned prelate's affecting account of it, without 
 shedding a tear of pi«'ty, and becoming a better Christian. 
 
236 
 
 (la^'s of our thoughtless youth,— far worse 
 if our riper years, — when a'e might have 
 })erished in impenitence, if death had sur- 
 prised us. And say, is not this a thought 
 which should lead us to pity our brethren, 
 who are still as sheep going astray, and 
 recall them, if we can, to a sense of their 
 danger and their duty ? O think what are the 
 feelings of their afflicted friends and families. 
 And shall we not endeavour to dry up the 
 tear which falls down their cheek, and hush 
 the sigh that rends their breast? liong have 
 they laid their sorrows and their fears before 
 the Lord, when they have watched their 
 thouo'htless friend or their wicked brother 
 going rapidly to ruin. Long have they 
 wrestled in prayer for him and for them- 
 selves ; and may not these petitions, (St. 
 James says, " fervent prayer is effec- 
 " tual*,") ascending " for a memorial be- 
 " fore God-jV' be accepted at his throne, 
 and return into their own bosom ? And how 
 great and general the joy, if the beloved ob- 
 ject, whom they have wept over and wished 
 to " come to himself," shall at length be 
 snatched like a brand out of the lire, become 
 
 * James V. Ifj. t Acts x. 4. 
 
237 
 
 weary of the vanities and vexations of the 
 world, and seek his liberty in religion, his 
 happiness in God. 
 
 O how unsearchable are " the riches 
 
 " of the wisdom and knowledge of God* !" 
 
 how past conception the wonders of his 
 
 - power and the vastness of his mercy ! How 
 
 ». often have we fallen and he pitied us, left 
 
 F him and he followed us ; and when we 
 
 \ returned to him, unable to resist the melt- 
 
 V ing accents of his entreaty, he spread his 
 
 I wings over us, and we were safe ; he gave 
 
 ] us his Spirit, and we were happy ! 
 
 But let us not again do any thing to 
 quench that Spirit, or endanger that secu- 
 rity. For your lives' sake, if you value 
 them, and for your souls, if their salvation 
 can interest you ; run not the slightest 
 risque of turning the favour of God into 
 displeasure, and his mercies into frowns, — 
 no, not for an hour, — for that hour you may 
 not live. " The great spiritual year is to 
 " be closed by a harvest ;" and the last 
 period of our probation for that harvest 
 is the da}'^ on which we leave the world : 
 the next moment after we are dead, we shall 
 
 * Rom. xi. 33. 
 
23a 
 
 have sonie place in the region of departed 
 souls. Let, then, this sacred hour be the 
 beginning, if it be not already begun, of 
 steady and unrelaxing preparation, and let 
 every future hour be a testimony of gradual 
 improvement. Sheltered by the power of our 
 almighty Parent, strong in the faith of his di- 
 vine Son, and refreshed by the gifts of his holy 
 Spirit ; let us, like the wheat surrounded by 
 the tares, be dutiful servants of Christ in the 
 midst of an insnaring and ungodly world. 
 
 Warned by the dangers which all may 
 avoid, and " wise unto salvation" which all 
 may reach, let us be always in a posture of 
 watchfulness and defence; looking forwards 
 to that solemn day of final retribution, when 
 every thought of man's heart will be re- 
 vealed, and all men be judged according to 
 their works: — when the souls of the wicked 
 shall be banished from the rest which the}^ 
 had wilfully forfeited ; but " the spirits of 
 " the just,'' refined from the dross of human 
 nature, removed from the reach of mortal 
 calamity, and rendered fit for spiritual en- 
 joyments, will become the redeemed of 
 the Saviour, the associates of angells, and 
 the sons of God. 
 
OS 
 
 MAN'S OBLIGATION TO GOD 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 THE CHAPEL OF THE ASYLUM 
 FOR FEMALE ORPHANS. 
 
 SUNDAY, THE 17th OF JANUARY, 1819. 
 
SERMON VIII. 
 
 1 PETER V. 7. 
 CASTING ALL YOUR CARE UPON HIM, FOR HI 
 
 CARETH FOR YOU. 
 
 IT is of the greatest consequence to the 
 welfare of mankind, that they should form 
 a true estimate of the privileges and bene- 
 fits of religion ; because many reject it, 
 from a notion hastily formed, — that it tends 
 to depress their spirits, and diminish their 
 enjoyments. It is an error of the greatest 
 magnitude : ingratitude is its haughty 
 parent ; and misery, in every form, its cer- 
 tain offspring. For if ever truth came down 
 from heaven, — this is true, that the religion 
 which our Saviour, in the fulness of time, 
 first brought from the presence of his Fa- 
 ther, and afterwards confirmed by the mis- 
 sion of the Holy Ghost, is in every respect 
 a religion of cheerfulness and comfort. " If 
 " ye love me,'* saith the Friend of the world, 
 " keep my commandments; and Iwillpray 
 " my Father and he shall give you another 
 " Comforter, even the Spirit of truth." 
 " Let not your heart be troubled, neither 
 
 VOL. u. 
 
242 
 
 " let it be afraid : my peace I give unto 
 " you*." 
 
 If any man will sit clown, in an hour de- 
 voted to piety, and reverentially taking up 
 that Book, which is, through the influence 
 of divine grace, our only, our infallible 
 guide, will read it with fixed attention, and 
 with a prayer to God for light to direct him ; 
 he will find such invitations, promises, 
 and helps, scattered through every page of 
 the sacred volume, as will abundantly con- 
 vince him, that Christianity is the peaceful 
 path of prudence and prosperity ; and that 
 every human being who walks humbly in 
 that path, must live and die a wise and hap- 
 py man. 
 
 Feeling a spring of consolation rise with- 
 in him, to which he was once a stranger, 
 and taught of God that no other support 
 is sufficient for feeble and fatigued passen- 
 gers through the snares and tempests of 
 this changing and disappointing world, he 
 will cling to religion as a drowning mariner 
 to the only plank he can reach, and cry 
 out, in the words of Peter, when " begin- 
 •' ning to sink," he saw his Saviour ap- 
 proaching, " Lord, save me," or I perish t. 
 
 * John xiv. 15, l6, 17, 27. t Luke xiv. 30. 
 
243 
 
 Men are apt to look up to reason as 
 their highest guide, and most faithful in" 
 structor ; and when reason has experience, 
 as its fellow conductor to truth, it may seem 
 a strong assertion, that the blind still lead- 
 eth the blind ; and yet, as long as man had 
 no other tutor but reason and experience, he 
 was said to be sitting in " gross darkness*,'* 
 and walking in " the shadow of death •f'/' 
 The authority was the word of God, against 
 which it is presumption to argue. And 
 since that " Light" appeared "which light- 
 " eth the world %," the Christian has only 
 stood in need of his own experience as a 
 witness, that, high as is the value of Reason, 
 and great as are her powers, yet unassisted 
 by divine revelation, she can afford de- 
 pendant man no lasting satisfaction, no 
 abiding comfort. It is only when Heason is 
 under the influence of Religion, listening as 
 her docile pupil, and obeying as her lowly 
 hand-maid, that she can comprehend the 
 nature of real happiness, or attain its intrin- 
 sic blessedness. Every other prospect of 
 clear knowledge is rather specious than 
 
 * Isai. lx.2. Luke i. "P- t Matt. iv. \C). 
 X Isai. ix. C. .lolin i. 9- 
 
244 
 
 solid, superficial than substantial. Every 
 other assistance, in our pursuit of it, will be 
 found at last to be weak and insufficient. 
 It is, my brethren, when we have the light 
 of the Gospel to cheer us on our way, and 
 " the Shepherd of our souls*" to lead us 
 gently forwards, that we cannot say too 
 much in praise of Experience as a faithful 
 preceptress. Because the lessons we then 
 read in this school are not theory, but prac- 
 tice; not problem, but demonstration. 
 "When we remember what we ourselves 
 have felt in the holiest periods of our lives, 
 of the consolations which religion afforded 
 us ; and when we are told by others that 
 they have never known what true enjoy- 
 ment was, except when they walked with 
 their Saviour in piety and faith, the labour 
 of a long and doubtful discussion is pre- 
 vented. The enlightened understanding 
 comprehends at once " what truth isf/' 
 and when the mind of a believer is con- 
 vinced by the united evidence of human 
 experience and the divine word, that reli- 
 gion hath never failed to be the guardian 
 and comforter of " an upright man, a man 
 
 * 1 Pet. ii. 25. f John i. 17. xviii. 38. 
 
245 
 
 that feareth God and escheweth evil*,'' 
 the affections are immediately won, and 
 the heart is entirely engaged. 
 
 AVhat indeed can exceed in imagination 
 the benefit enjoyed from casting our 
 cares upon God ? What the graciousness 
 of the divine promise, with which it is con- 
 nected ? It is not a single instance, in which 
 we may fly to our Maker for guidance and 
 protection : it is not a solitary day, on 
 which we may shelter under the wings of 
 his benignant providence. But in every 
 situation in which it may be our lot to be 
 cast, and on every day which he may add 
 to our existence, we may look to him as a 
 parent and a preserver ; we may " cast 
 " all our cares upon God, that is, every 
 " care which is connected with his honour 
 " and with our duty, whether more exten- 
 " sive or more minute, for time or for eter- 
 " nity, for soul or body ,^' for ourselves or for 
 our connexions, for earth or for heaven. 
 All these we may piously lay at the foot- 
 stool of the throne of our Father, which is 
 in heaven, and there we may leave them 
 safe. For Christianity is in nothing par- 
 
 * Job i. 8. 
 
246 
 
 tial, nothing imperfect. It is the rehgion 
 which the wisdom of God contrived, which 
 the mercy of God provided, for h\s fallen 
 hut not forsaken cieRtures ; and being di- 
 vinely sent, divinely furnished, it can si- 
 lence every fear, and sooth every sorrow of 
 them that love and follow their Redeemer. 
 If "He justifieth, who is he that condemn- 
 " eth*?" If" He gives quietness, who 
 " can make trouble -j^?" He is the Lord 
 God, and " there be none beside'' him J. 
 
 Having now paved the way at consider- 
 able length for the more profitable view of 
 our subject, I propose to consider underthree 
 heads, in what consists the great Christian 
 duty of casting all our cares upon God. 
 
 I. In a firm persuasion of a divine Pro- 
 vidence, which directs and governs the 
 universe. 
 
 ~ i II. In a tranquil and unshaken depen- 
 defnce upon the Son of God, as the merito- 
 rious mediator who reconnnends us to his 
 favour. And, 
 
 III. In an humble, cheerful resignation 
 of all our cares and concerns to his will 
 and direction. 
 
 * Rom. viii. 3), 34. t Job xxxiv. '29- X l''^'' l"^*"" ^^• 
 xliv. (), 8. 
 
247 
 
 Alter which I will conclude by suggest- 
 ing some plain and useful directions ibr 
 the knowledge and performance of this 
 duty. 
 
 I. The duty of casting our cares upon 
 God, includes a firm persuasion of a Pro- 
 vidence. But before I go farther, I would 
 just premise, that to be a Christian is to be 
 " fervent in spirit, serving the Lord*.'' 
 Therefore, nothing can be farther from the 
 design of our holy religion, than that cold 
 indifference and inactivity, which some men 
 exhibit about the interests and events of 
 life ; as if they hnagined that it is Christi- 
 anity, with more than stoic apathy, to take 
 no concern in any thing, but leave all 
 to Providence, without any personal care 
 or exertion of their own. 
 
 No : so far from the religion of our Sa- 
 viour allowing us to " enjoy the rest ot 
 " the spiritual sluggard,'' who expects that 
 God is to do every thing for him, and he 
 nothing for himself, it calls upon such per- 
 sons to " awake t" from the sleep of fatal 
 security, and " arise" from the death of 
 pjesumption, that Christ may give them 
 
 * Rom. xii. 11. t Kph. v. 14. 
 
248 
 
 light. Placing temporal happiness and 
 future glory before us, as prizes to be con- 
 tended for, and only to be gained by in- 
 cessant perseverance and repeated victories, 
 it lays down as a condition, more sacred 
 and binding, than " the law of the Medes 
 " and Persians*,'* that since Christianity 
 hath expanded our views, enlarged our 
 hearts, and freed us from a load which long 
 had enfeebled our powers, we must not 
 slacken, but quicken, our pace in search of 
 our highest privileges, and push on with all 
 the animation we can apply in the face of 
 peril and in spite of opposition. For it is 
 certain that if we care not for God, we can- 
 not expect, upon the grounds of either rea- 
 son or revelation, that God will care for us. 
 " If we seek him, he will be foundt'^of us, 
 but if we " forsake him, he will cast'' us off 
 ** for ever.'* I thought it, my brethren, es- 
 sentially useful to lay down this prelimina- 
 ry caution. And I now proceed, with the 
 feeling of safety, to view the confidence 
 and consolation Avhich arise from the firm 
 perstiadoii of an all-ruling, all-preserving Pro- 
 vidence. 
 
 * Dan. vi. 8. t 1 Cliron. xxviii. Q. 
 
249 
 
 If we have this reviving doctrine firmly 
 seated in our minds, we shall, (as far as the 
 eye of human intellect can pierce,) see 
 God as he is, — the preserver of his creation, 
 surveying at one view every part of ani- 
 mated nature, condescending to take a 
 fatherly interest in all that exists and all 
 that happens, and directing the whole to 
 one invariable purpose of universal bene- 
 volence. Where is the region of the world 
 in which this gracious and protecting Pro- 
 vidence is not visible at the present day ? 
 or in what age have there not been records 
 of his visible interference in behalf of his 
 favoured creatures ? What gradation of po- 
 verty, or what class of the afflicted, hath 
 not been a shining evidence of his over- 
 flowing goodness, instructing us how he 
 delights in setting bounds to human cala- 
 mities which they cannot pass, mingles 
 mercies and helps with the bitterest trials of 
 mortality, and sweetly imparts his rays of 
 comfort amidst the darkest gloom of adverse 
 night? O that the children of his care 
 would watch the ways of Providence, and 
 ponder them in their hearts as carefully as 
 the virgin mother kept in hert^, all the say- 
 
250 
 
 ings of her blessed Son ; that they would 
 follow Him, from the world of Nature to 
 the world of Grace, devoutly tracing, Avith 
 the eye of a Christian, what wonders his 
 mighty hand hath wrought for man's sal- 
 vation ; they would not then be long in 
 discerning the wisdom and confessing the 
 loving-kindness of their God. 
 
 Let those, whose fair fame has been 
 tarnished by the breath of slander, and 
 their well-acquired fortune injured by the 
 hand of fraud or of oppression, — let those, 
 whom lover and friend hath forsaken till 
 no voice consoles, and no charity relieves, 
 — let those, whom sickness hath depressed 
 and death bereaved, till solitude hath only 
 sorrow for her companion, and nothing 
 appears to be left to them but hope — sweet 
 softener of the cares and woes of wretched 
 man ; let such sufferers still recollect, 
 though all things seem against them, that 
 there is a Friend presiding at the helm of a 
 dependent universe, the Father of all ; who 
 will be the strength of his children, when 
 their heart and strength shall fail ; their 
 sun and shield, when all is dark and dan- 
 gerous ; " their present help in time of 
 
251 
 
 " trouble* \' and their everlasting portion, 
 when time and this world shall endure 
 no more. 
 
 It was the experienced sense of this ele- 
 vating truth which was the ground of the 
 Psalmist's faith, when he said with tha 
 submission which he constantly displayed, 
 that hope which never forsook him, (and 
 no human being ever passed through more 
 fiery temptations, or fiercer persecutions, 
 than king David did,) " Into thine hands 
 " I commit my spirit : thou hast redeemed 
 " me, O Lord God of truth. I have heard 
 " the slander of many ; fear was on every 
 " side, while they took counsel together 
 " against me. But I trusted in thee, 
 " Lord ; I said, thou art ray God. My 
 " times are in thy hand -f ,"' therefore, " I 
 " shall not be moved :|:.'' When the 
 " wicked, even mine enemies, came 
 " against me, they stumbled and fell.'' 
 When " my father and my mother forsake 
 " me, then the Lord will take me up §. 
 When " I found trouble and sorrow, he de- 
 " livered mine eyes from tears and my feet 
 
 * Psal.xlvi. 1. t Psal.xxxi. 5, 13, 14. 
 X Psal. xvi. 8. § Psal. xxvii. 'J, 10. 
 
252 
 
 " from falling*;" he "made air my bed 
 " in my sicknessf," and "when I shall 
 " walk through the valley of the shadow of 
 " death/' he will be " with me, and his staff 
 " will comfort J" me. " Wait thou on the 
 " Lord ; wait, I say, on the Lord § ." 
 
 These are the songs of Zion which refresh 
 the weary and console the contrite, when 
 pensive they sit down beside the waters 
 of affliction. They shew how superior 
 are the hopes and prospects of the 
 children of God to those of the children 
 of the world. The latter, extending not 
 their views beyond the possessions of time 
 and the enjoyments of sense, are seen 
 (how abject their dependance, how galhng 
 their servitude !) to crouch at the feet of some 
 earthly patron, who condescends to honour 
 them with a smile, and court his favour by 
 the cringing voice of adulation, weighing 
 every word before they venture to speak, 
 for fear it should displease him. These 
 ]ook for nothing better than what the pre- 
 sent world can give, and for the distant 
 chance of this shadow of happiness they 
 
 * Psal. cxvi. 3. 8. t Psal. xli. 3. % Psal. xxiii. 4. 
 § Psal. xxvii. 14. 
 
253 
 
 are content to rest upon the promises and 
 power of a being as weak, as fickle, as 
 mortal as themselves. If, therefore, through 
 the failure of such promises, or the muta- 
 bility of all sublunary things, they lose the 
 object of their high-raised ambition, which, 
 at best, would have been but the treasure 
 of a transient hour, and if attained at last, 
 more likely to bring with it disappoint- 
 ment than satisfaction, they are from that 
 moment wholly destitute and deserted ; 
 their last refuge hath failed them, and their 
 last hope hath fled. 
 
 Such is the condition of those who cast 
 their cares upon the world. It is not so 
 with them who depend upon God. The 
 ways of the first eternal Cause are not like 
 the ways of secondary and subservient 
 agents. His will is not regulated by the 
 momentary impulse of passion and fancy ; 
 it fluctuates not according to the caprice 
 of humour and the change of opinion. 
 He is " the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 a ever*.*' Infinite in goodness and un- 
 controlled in power, he created man at 
 first innocent and entirely happy, and from 
 
 * Heb. xiii. 8. 
 
254 
 
 that hour he hath never ceased to take a 
 dehght in the good of the creature whom 
 he had formed. He is the author and 
 giver of every perfect gift, " with whom is 
 " no variableness, neither shadow of turn- 
 ing*/' Witness his design in sending his 
 Son into the world, and witness the mission 
 of the Comforter which followed in merciful 
 succession ; when the Favourite of Heaven, 
 having finished the glorious scheme of the 
 world's redemption, returned triumphant 
 to the bosom of the Father. 
 
 So kind, so watchful, so infinite in truth 
 and love, is the God of Christians ; and, 
 consequently, every one who depends upon 
 Him, depends on certainty. His people 
 " know in whom^' they " have believed," 
 and are " persuaded that he is able to 
 " keep that which they have committed 
 " unto him,'' even to the last " day." 
 From Avhich reason nothing can exceed 
 the firmness of their confidence, and the 
 stability of their expectations. Viewing 
 the pleasures of sense, and the possessions 
 of time with a noble indifference, (because 
 they know that this world is not their 
 
 * James i. 17. 
 
255 
 
 home, its riches cannot satisfy,) they 
 serenely count the treasure which, by the 
 grace of God, they have laid up in 
 eternity, and mighty in his power, they 
 can all but realize the hopes which Christ 
 hath given them in his glorious resurrec- 
 tion. Having, (if I may so express it), the 
 earth under their feet, and being already 
 on the wings of faith to be " caught up,'' 
 like St. Paul " to the third heaven*," 
 that they may take a view of its beatitudes 
 and be satisfied ; they wait only for death 
 to set them free, that thc}'^ may soar to 
 the sublimer regions of futurity, and take 
 possession of an immortal crown. Eternity 
 is ours, — they can say in the gladness of 
 their pious hearts, whilst still confined in 
 a mortal frame; — what then will be the 
 language of their joyous lips, and the 
 feelings of their grateful hearts, when the 
 book being laid before them, which will 
 unfold " the secrets of nature, the mys- 
 " teries of Providence,'' and all the glories 
 of redeeming mercy, " that which is in 
 " part shall be done away," and they 
 shall see Him « face to face !" They " shall 
 
 * Q. Cor. xii. 2. 
 
256 
 
 " know Him even as they are known*. 
 Eternity, they say again, is ours. (The theme 
 is too dehghtful hastily to be closed ; the 
 prospect too bright and gladdening to be so 
 soon withdrawn from the longing eye of 
 faith.) The immortal world is purchased for 
 us by our Saviour's death, is secured to us 
 by his resurrection ; the power of God is our 
 dependance; his " pathf" is our security ; 
 heirs to such a treasure, and protected by 
 such an arm, " we look not to the things 
 '* which are seen, but to the things Avhich are 
 " not seen J,''— because those are temporal, 
 but these are eternal, — and since that happy 
 day on which our eyes were opened by 
 " the true Light," we have not valued the 
 things of time, except as they have led 
 us to our reconciled Creator, and pre- 
 pared us for a better and a happier state. 
 The world may frown : the king of terrors 
 may threaten : it is all they can do, be- 
 cause on our head is the helmet of salva- 
 tion, and before our breast is placed an 
 impenetrable shield. The Lord is on our 
 side ; we " will not fear what man," or 
 
 * 1 Cor. xiii. 10. 12, 13. t Heb. vi. 17. 
 
 % 2 Cor. iv. 18. 
 
257 
 
 tleath, or Satan, " can do unto us*." To 
 the God whom we serve, they all are 
 subject. And we know that every hair 
 of our heads is numbered by him ; every 
 interest of our hves is within the range of 
 his eye, and every prayer of our lips finds 
 instant access to his favourable ear. He 
 guides us now " by his counsel," and 
 after a few more sufferings and self-denials, 
 " he will receive us to glory f." And till 
 we are advanced to the highest state of 
 our being, he will watch over us as a 
 father watcheth over his family. Not one 
 of the jewels of his crown will be lost; not 
 one of the sheep of his fold will be miss- 
 ing; when his Son shall dehver up the 
 kingdom to Him, and He shall be " all 
 " in allj." 
 
 Happy are they who can thus look up 
 to God for his succour in the hour of 
 peril and distress, knowing that " he 
 " careth for'' them. What an encourage- 
 ment to the poor and desolate, the blind 
 and the lame, the orphan and the widow, 
 to draw near to their heavenly Parent in 
 the ordinances of religion, and seek inter- 
 
 * Psal, cxviii. 6. f Psal. Ixxiii. <24. t I Cor. xv. 28. 
 VOL U S 
 
258 
 
 course witli Heaven in the exercise of 
 prayer and thanksgiving! Let them pour 
 out their wants before him, and he wili 
 supply them all, if they are his righteous 
 servants : let them sit under the shadow 
 of his Gospel, and they shall dwell safely 
 in his sanctuary; they shall hear, whilst 
 listening on the Sabbath to " the joyful 
 " sound *,*^ a gracious Comforter ; for 
 the Holy Spirit will bear witness with their 
 spirit that they are the " children of God, 
 " joint heirs with Christ f." And when 
 they are blessed with this rational assur- 
 ance of the divine favour, their heart 
 shall be relieved from the last anxiety ; 
 and they shall wait with composure the 
 issue of every event, and the fulfilment of 
 every promise. 
 
 11. To cast our cares upon God in- 
 cludes a tranquil and unshaken faith in the 
 Son of God, as the meritorious mediator, 
 who recommends us to the care of Pro- 
 vidence. 
 
 It was an excellent habit amongst the 
 primitive Christians, which is happily 
 followed by many virtuous characters of 
 
 * Psal Ixxxix. 15. t Rom. viii. l6, 17. 
 
'259 
 
 the present day, to " search the Scriptures 
 " iu which" they thought they had 
 " eternal hfe/' And if you who now hear 
 me would, after their excellent example, 
 regularly employ a respectable portion of 
 your time and thoughts in the study of 
 those sacred writings, reading them with 
 a pious pleasure, and solemnly reflecting 
 upon what you read, your minds could 
 not feel satisfied or remain at rest, until 
 you could look up to God as a Father re- 
 conciled to you,, and regarding you as the 
 objects of his favour. For the very idea of 
 lying under the displeasure of an almighty 
 Sovereign is too terrible to be endured 
 even for a moment. " The mind shrinks 
 " back upon itself, and shudders'' at the 
 gloom of fearful apprehension. It re- 
 members, with a tremour like that of Felix, 
 when Paul reminded him of judgment, the 
 awful address of the psalmist to his God. 
 " We consume away, O Lord, in thy dis- 
 " .pleasure, and are afraid at thy wrathful 
 " indignation. For when thou art angry 
 " all our days are gone ; we bring our 
 " years to an end as it were a tale that 
 " is told. So teach us to number our 
 
260 
 
 " days, that we may apply our hearts unto 
 " wisdom. Turn thee again at the last, 
 " and be gracious unto thy servants*." 
 
 We are entering now upon a subject of 
 more than common importance, — I speak 
 of the anger of God converted into the 
 tenderest mercy, and this (how delightful 
 the contemplation of the Avays of God 
 with man !) in the gracious method, which 
 his own wisdom hath contrived, out of 
 the purest affection to a rebellious and 
 perishing race. It is not, therefore, lightly 
 to be taken in hand, nor to be remembered 
 without the deepest interest ; since it in- 
 volves every thing which concerns us 
 both in this world and the next. 
 
 You wish, in common with all mankind, 
 to be prosperous and happy. Hence you 
 wish to be received into the favour of 
 God, and remain under his parental pro- 
 tection. You desire to live, for the short 
 remainder of your days, under the shelter- 
 ing wings of his providence. You desire, 
 when the debt of nature must be paid, to 
 die supported by the faith and cheered by 
 the hopes which his revealed religion 
 
 * Psal. xr. 7—13. 
 
26 i 
 
 offers. And if any other Avisli more 
 hlrongly -influences your mind, it is, that, 
 j'ising i'rom the grave, you may meet your 
 Saviour, as he comes to call the quick and 
 the dead to judgment, and attend him to his 
 bHsst'ul kingdom, welcomed by his angels 
 to one of the thrones which he hath pur- 
 chased for them that love him. At that 
 day how glorious and blissful will it be to 
 each justified spirit to l)e pronounced in- 
 nocent before the judgment-seat of his 
 Father ; and hear the Son of God say to 
 you, in the plenitude of his power and 
 the vastness of his mercy, " Come, ye 
 '' blessed of my Father, inherit the king- 
 " dom*" which I have prepared. *' Well 
 " done, goodandfaithfuF' servants, "enter" 
 ye " into the joy of your Lord-f." 
 
 All these privileges you naturally covet; 
 to lose them is a thought you tremble at. 
 " A wounded spirit who can bear J?'" 
 How then can your minds be satisfied, as to 
 your title to their enjoyment ? (certainly it 
 is a question, that yields to none in the 
 urgency of its importance.) How can you 
 gain the assurance of the divine acceptance; 
 
 "^ Matt, xxv.,^4. t Matt. x.w. '21.% Prov. xviii. 14. 
 
26*2 
 
 since that Gospel, which hath brought Vii'e 
 and immortality to light, and on which 
 ever^^ promise and prospect of the Chris- 
 tian's reward depend, declares every child 
 of Adam to be a child of disobedience, an 
 heir of wrath, lying under the just indig- 
 nation of a provoked Sovereign, and sub- 
 ject to all the penal statutes of a transgress- 
 ed code? All are liable to this stain of 
 corrupted nature, to its mortal consequen- 
 ces, because all have fallen from original 
 purity. Now, if all, being transgressors, and 
 consequently liable to condemnation, " were 
 " kept under the law,^' until the new and 
 better covenant was revealed, " the law was 
 " our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, 
 " that we might be justified by faith* ;'' 
 and its doctrine is, " that every mouth may 
 " be stopped, and all the world become guilty 
 " beforeGodf/' This Scriptureof St. Paul, 
 written by inspiration, seems when once re- 
 vealed, to require only reason for its wit- 
 ness ; because, if all have departed from the 
 perfection in which our first parents were 
 created ; if all have broken the divine law 
 which was instituted in the time of man's in- 
 
 * Gal. iii. 23, 24. f Rom. iii. \<J. 
 
263 
 
 nocency, as well for their happiness as their 
 government; if all have come short of the 
 glory of God *, which glory must be com- 
 pletely fulfilled; if, in short, there be none 
 " that doeth good, no not one-i^,'' and that 
 God is of purer eyes than to behold ini- 
 (juityj, (divine justice must be satisfied;) 
 is it, I ask, in the power of man to make 
 his own defence, when he stands at the bar 
 of eternity ? Can he produce there a life of 
 temperance and righteousness, fit for the in- 
 spection, and entitled in itself to the appro- 
 bation, of his Maker ? Can he expect a ver- 
 dict of acquittal for the sake of his own 
 merits, when they are weighed in the ba- 
 lance of Heaven ? Never was a more vain 
 imagination, a more presumptuous attempt. 
 God forbid, that good works should be dis- 
 paraged, or spoken lightly of, in the pre- 
 sence of a rational being; or that any man 
 should do less than he can to save himself, 
 because if left to himself, he cannot by his 
 own strength do sufficient for salvation. 
 God forbid, that any of us, who are now in 
 the presence of the Almighty, should not 
 work and wrestle for his honour, and in 
 
 * Kom.iii. I'i. f Psal. liii. J. :|; llab, i. 1;J. 
 
264 
 
 every deed of virtue and religion ; as if we 
 had nothing to depend upon, but our own 
 exertions, for heaven and eternal life. God 
 forbid, that any hope which the Gospel hath 
 held out to us, either of mediatorial influ- 
 ence, of spiritual help, or divine patience, 
 should lead us to stand still one moment, 
 or relax one effort in acts of self-denial or 
 in labours of love. Gratitude, my chris- 
 tian hearers, claims a different return for 
 all the mercies of God. Common sense in- 
 sists, that the more He hath done for us, as 
 a Creator, a Saviour, and a Sanctifier, the 
 more we are bounden by every motive and 
 obligation to do for Him. " Know ye not" 
 yet, " that ye are not your own? for ye are 
 " bought with a price ; therefore, glorify 
 " God in your body, and in your spirit, 
 " which are God's *.'' 
 
 I am aware that it might have been less 
 unpleasant to some of you, to hear a more 
 flattering account of human nature, and be 
 told of its dignity, its rectitude, its reasoning 
 powers, and its intellectual flights. But to 
 flatter where eternal life is deeply concern- 
 ed, and all the interests of the soul in immi- 
 
 ^ 1 Cor. vi. 1<), (20. 
 
265 
 
 nent danger, would not only be in us a grossi 
 dereliction of duty, but to you a want of 
 common charity : it would be to put a band- 
 age over your eyes, to lead you to the edge 
 of a frightful precipice, and then cruelly 
 leave you, when one false step might plunge 
 you headlong into everlasting darkness and 
 despair. The office of a preacher is to be 
 faithful to those who hear him ; to tell them 
 " the truth as it really is*," and teach 
 them their duty, (as probationary candi- 
 dates for immortality,) to themselves, to 
 their brethren, and to their God. In the 
 discharge of this important office, it is our 
 happiness to tell you, that " there is now 
 " no condemnation to them which are in 
 " Christ :'' the fallen are restored, the guilty 
 are pardoned, the law is fulfilled, wrath is 
 appeased, and mercy is free. This was the 
 joyous truth with which the Saviour cheer- 
 ed the reviving spirits of his followers, 
 when he said to them, on the eve of his suf- 
 ferings for them, " I am the true vine, and 
 " ye are the branches. If ye abide in me 
 " and I in you, ye shall ask what ye will, 
 " and it shall be done unto you. As the 
 
 * \\\,h. iv. '21. 
 
266 
 
 " Father hath loved me, so have I loved 
 " you:" ye are my friends; and I have spoken 
 " these things unto you, that my joy might 
 " remain in you, and your joy might be 
 " full*." 
 
 What want we more than this promise of 
 Him, who hath eternal life to give, as long 
 as we are Christians in spirit, and our praise 
 is of God ? Let us only be good men in the 
 relative duties of life, and by the guidance 
 of such a Saviour, we are safe. After all 
 that hath been read and thought of Chris- 
 tianity, to be the truest Christian, is to be 
 the most like Christ, in all the attainable 
 graces and virtues of his moral and religi- 
 ous character. How delightful, (whilst this 
 truth is fresh in our minds,) it is to know, 
 that He who careth for us hath sent his own 
 Son, to point out to us the way to heaven, to 
 conduct us through every stage of it, to give 
 us strength and comfort on our road, and 
 place in our hands his merits as our pass- 
 port, when we shall arrive at the gates of the 
 city of God. There will be an universal ac- 
 clamation among the angels and the souls of 
 the just : " Lift up your heads, O ye gates ; 
 
 * Roni.viii. 1. Jolin xv. 1,7,!^; 11, U. 
 
267 
 
 " and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors*/' 
 that the heirs of glory may come in. 
 
 Who can express, in terms worthy of the 
 subject, this proof of the care of God ? 
 St. Paul called it an " unspeakable gift;'' and, 
 in the warmth of his grateful soul, he added, 
 " Thanks be to Godt" for it. And if an 
 Apostle, gifted largely with human learning 
 as well as divine teaching, shrunk from the 
 task of describing such unfathomable love, 
 vain indeed would be the attempt, in men 
 of more feeble intellect, and less hallowed 
 lips. It is wisdom to be silent, where elo- 
 ({uence cannot reach the immensity of the 
 subject. 
 
 One gracious and glorious truth we can 
 all understand. Eternal praise be to our 
 Father in heaven, for the hopes it unfolds 
 to our astonished minds. *' Christ Jesus 
 " came into the world to save sinners:]:'' 
 (not a few, but all,) for " he died" saith 
 St. John, " a propitiation for the sins of the 
 " whole world §." This, then, is our salva- 
 tion ; this is our triumph ; since God cannot 
 be angry with them whom his Favourite 
 
 * Psal. xxiv 7. +2 Cor. ix. 15. % 1 Tim. i. 15. 
 ^ 1 John ii. 'I. 
 
268 
 
 loves, if they love him in their hearts, and 
 serve him in their hves. Sin hath lost its 
 demands of punishment, and everlasting 
 righteousness claims its merited reward. He 
 who came, the first time, to pay our ransom, 
 and to make our peace, and is now sitting, 
 in the complacency of universal love, at the 
 right hand of majesty as our continual 
 friend and intercessor, will come again, in 
 the glory of his Father, to call the bodies of 
 his redeemed from the sleep of death to 
 join their glorified spirits, and himself re- 
 joice in giving them the perfect recom- 
 pense of all their works. 
 
 Since, then, his will to reward is not less 
 than his power to redeem, dispel your fears, 
 ye that have sometimes doubted, and give 
 way to hope ; if at length ye have reason to 
 believe, from the purity of your conduct and 
 conversation in the world, that ye are in all 
 things behaving as becomeththe Gospel of 
 Christ*. Receive him as your Messiah with 
 thankful hearts ; and bow the knee with them 
 who, in heaven and earth, ascribe to him 
 praise and honour and dominion. Learn 
 his doctrines, as your Prophet ; rely on his 
 
 * Phil. i. 27. 
 
269 
 
 atonement, as your Priest ; adore and serve 
 him, as your King and Lord, — and " all 
 " is yours." Whilst ye are " determined 
 " not to know any thing but Christ, and 
 " him crucified * \' and " glory not, save-f " 
 in the merits of his life and death, you may 
 lay hold of every blessing and privilege of 
 his everlasting covenant, and triumph in 
 the almighty Jehovah, as a forgiving, com- 
 passionating, approving God, — justjbutjus- 
 tifying ; rigid, but reconciled ; who, for the 
 sake of his beloved Son, is willing, from this 
 moment and for ever, to take you into his 
 care, to regard you as the sons of his affec- 
 tion, to relieve you from the pressure of 
 your burdens, and console you in your hea- 
 viest trials, — until the last sorrow shall be 
 hushed by his comforting Spirit, and the 
 last tear be wiped away by his gracious 
 hand. 
 
 * 1 Cor. ii. 2. t Gal. vi. 14, 
 
ON 
 
 MAN'S OBLIGATION TO GOD: 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PREACHED AT 
 
 THE CHAPEL OF THE ASYLUM 
 FOR FEMALE ORPHANS, 
 
 ON 
 
 SUNDAY, THE 31st OF JANUARY, 1819. 
 
$ERMON IX. 
 
 1 PETER V. 7. 
 
 CASTING ALL YOUR CARE UPON HIM 
 CARETH FOR YOU. 
 
 1 HAT there is a supreme Governor of 
 the world and Disposer of all events ; that 
 he is as full of mercy as of power ; and 
 that he will reward the righteous because 
 he delights in virtue, and punish the wicked 
 because he abominates vice, are truths 
 which every thing we see and hear and 
 feel combine to teach, and the weakest 
 capacity is sufficient to comprehend them. 
 If we would be content to let this (I had 
 almost said) self-evident proposition leave 
 its due impression upon, our minds; and 
 be considered generally^ as it respects the 
 all-pervading government of God in every 
 age, and not particularly, with a view to his 
 temporal dealings with an individual, a 
 family or even a nation, we should soon 
 and easily resolve all the events of human 
 life, even the most distressful and afflictive, 
 
 VOL. II. T 
 
274 
 
 into the dispensations of infinite wisdom ; 
 and should see abundant cause to be satis- 
 fied with the equity of a benevolent God. 
 We should enjoy a happiness of no common 
 degree, when casting all our cares upon 
 him, we patiently took up the words of a. 
 tried Apostle, " I know both how to be 
 " abased, and I know how to abound : 
 " every where and in all things I am in- 
 " structed both to be full and to be 
 " hungrj^ I have learned in whatsoever 
 " state I am" placed, " therewith to be con- 
 " tent*/' The reason that so many pen- 
 sioners of Providence are dissatisfied with 
 the ground in which their lot is cast, is 
 their ignorance of their real condition, as 
 pilgrims in a changing and disappointing 
 world. They have not learned in the 
 school St. Paul was taught in, to be satis- 
 fied with the will of God, because it must 
 be right ; nor have they been humbled by 
 the subduing hand of affliction, to confess 
 with the resigned king of Israel, that " it 
 " is good" for men to be " in trouble f/' 
 hat they may learn the statutes of the 
 Lord. 
 
 * Phil. iv. 11, 12. t Psal. cxix. 71. 
 
275 
 
 Nothing is more certain llian this,— that 
 almost all men go " wrong, before" they 
 have been afflicted. How pathetically 
 and sincerely did David confess it ; and no 
 mere man was better acquainted with 
 human nature than he was. He had, in 
 the general course of his life, attained to 
 its highest dignity ; he had also fallen 
 once to its lowest state of debasement. 
 And it was the pain of body and miser}^ 
 of mind, which he justly sullered as the 
 punishment of his great offence, that 
 brought him to form the truest sentiments 
 of man and of his Maker ; and, deeply read 
 in this instructive school, to devote the 
 residue of his days to the fear of God, and 
 the love of virtue. 
 
 As long as men are full of health, — that 
 sweetener of happy days, — and the gale of 
 prosperity wafts them gently to their own 
 purpose, no tidings of evil reaching their 
 well-furnished habitation, no visit of death 
 intruding on their smiling circle ; they for- 
 get that fortune is fickle, and " man is born 
 " to trouble*/' " Come ye,'' say they to 
 their gay companions, " I will fetch wine, 
 
 * John V. 7- 
 
276 
 
 " and we will fill ourselves with" mirth 
 and festivity, " and to-morrow shall be as 
 " this day, and much more abundant*/' 
 Therefore they are ' vulnerable to the 
 slightest assault of disappointment, be- 
 cause they have made no preparation for 
 its arrival, like a soldier asleep on his post 
 when his enemy arrives. None are so 
 easily brought down as these by the wide- 
 spreading hand of affliction, and none so 
 entirely helpless to raise themselves up 
 again from the pressure of sickness or of 
 sorrow. And y€t none are more ready 
 than such persons with their arguments of 
 consolation, if perchance their less favour- 
 ed neighbour be visited with indigence 
 and woe. Whilst nature is free from ad- 
 versity, reason is eloquent on the subject 
 of resignation : but when we ourselves 
 are the patients, the sun of our prosperity 
 having set in the cloudy night of adverse 
 fortune, we find that it is much more easy 
 to prescribe contentment than to practise 
 it. We have not attended religion with 
 the teachable spirit of " little children -jV' 
 and till we have, (keeping steadily before 
 
 * Isa. Ivi. 12. t Matt, xviii. 3. 
 
'^77 
 
 our eyes the meek example of a crucified 
 Saviour,) we shall neither be able to bear our 
 own reverses with patience, nor successfully 
 teach our fellow-mortals to acquiesce in 
 the will of a chastising Providence. 
 
 Nor can we be surprised at this, when 
 the Psalmist confesses, that, when he saw 
 the ungodly in such prosperity, Nourishing 
 like a green bay-tree, and not in trouble, 
 and plagued like the righteous, he thought 
 the ways of Providence mysterious and 
 apparently partial, until he went into the 
 sanctuary of the TiOrd : then understood 
 he the end of the wicked, and the recom- 
 pense of the just ; and discerning the 
 wisdom of a benevolent Providence, he 
 exclaimed, "It is good for me to draw near 
 to God. I have put my trust in the Lord," 
 because he is " continually with me ; he is 
 the strength of my heart, and by his right 
 hand he holds me*.'' From all which we 
 draw the conclusion, whether we regard 
 the affairs of this world or the next, that 
 however crooked and strange things may 
 seem at present, they will one day be 
 made plain and satisfactory ; and we may 
 
 * Psal.^xiii. Q3, '16, 28. 
 
278 
 
 in the mean while rest assured, that neither 
 bad men in their prosperous days are so 
 happy, nor good men in their adversities 
 so miserable as short-lived mortals suppose 
 them. In every age of the world, and in 
 all ranks of life, " virtue is its own reward," 
 and vice a self-tormentor. They only are 
 safe, they only are happy, who casting 
 their cares upon the God whom they have 
 served, and the Saviour they have trusted, 
 believe from the testimony of the written 
 word, that He who cares for them will not 
 suffer even a hair of their heads to be un- 
 numbered, nor a hope of their hearts to fail. 
 
 Having thus re-opened the important 
 subject of our text, I proceed to the com- 
 pletion of my plan, which was, as you 
 will remember, to discover — In what con- 
 sists the great christian duty of casting all 
 our cares upon God : and then, by way 
 of conclusion, to suggest some plain and 
 safe directions for the knowledge and per- 
 formance of it. 
 
 In considering the nature and benefit 
 of this essential duty, I laid it dov/n, when 
 I last addressed you, as comprehending, 
 
 I. A firm persuasion of a divine Provi- 
 
219 
 
 dcncc, which directs and governs the uni- 
 verse. 
 
 II. A tranquil and unsliaken dcpen- 
 dance upon the Son of God as the meri- 
 torious Mediator, v*^ho recommends us to 
 his care. 
 
 III. An humble, cheerful resignation of 
 all our cares and concerns to his will 
 and direction. 
 
 The two first 1 had only time, in the pre- 
 ceding discourse, to lay before you ; I 
 now, therefore, proceed to the third. 
 
 The people of God, both under the 
 Jewish and Christian dispensations, have 
 agreed in confessing themselves to be 
 strangers on earth, and sojourners in a 
 wilderness; waiting for their Saviour's 
 second advent, and resolutely bent upon 
 travelling in his strength to the land ol 
 promise, the heavenly Canaan. They can 
 say w ith him, who, for his piety, was called 
 the man after God's own heart : — " My 
 " heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed. 
 " Awake up, my glory. Awake, lute and 
 " harp," to cheer me on my pilgrimage to 
 a better world. " I myself will awake 
 
280 
 
 ** right early*/* and set off betimes in 
 company with those, who are steadily 
 pursuing their christian course. Therefore, 
 when there are difficulties to be sur- 
 mounted, and tribulations to be endured, 
 these real Christians are prepared, not 
 surprised. They know that, in the jour- 
 ney of hfe, their steps may be often en- 
 compassed with darkness, and their paths 
 hedged in with terrors ; so that they 
 would not know, if left to themselves, 
 which way to choose or how to act : but 
 they are sensible that their Saviour is not 
 ignorant, " the good Shepherd,'" whose 
 " sheep know his voice -j^ ; and He hath 
 told them, that in the hour of doubt and 
 danger, his own Spirit shall be their guide 
 and guardian comforter. 
 
 What then, though the designs of good 
 men may be thwarted by the vicissitudes 
 of time, and their hopes cut down by the 
 shafts of malicious men : — what though 
 friends of no sincerity, and foes that can- 
 not relent, join hand in hand to swell the 
 catalogue of their misfortunes, and give a 
 * Psal. Ivii. 8. f John x. 14, 15, 16. 
 
281 
 
 sharper point to the arrows of persecution :— 
 what though such an acquisition, which 
 they had sanguinely reckoned upon ; such 
 a step of honour, which they had allowed 
 ambition to aspire to ; such a pleasure, in 
 the expected fame of a promising child ; 
 such a conjugal happiness, fondl}^ hoped 
 for in the state most likely to produce it ; 
 though all these, I say, were reasonably ex- 
 pected, yet never realized ; but on the con- 
 trary, the privations and regrets which dis- 
 appointment from their failure produced, 
 were soon and sadly followed by sickness, 
 infirmities, and pains, which multiplied with 
 every year that passed away, — still they 
 were not forsaken, still they were not with- 
 out relief. For in these woful trials, and 
 these gloomy prospects, they had the pri- 
 vilege of committing their affairs, their fa- 
 milies, and their souls, into the keeping of 
 the Lord. And well they knew, both from 
 infallible Scripture, and experienced know- 
 ledge, on whom they rested their faith; 
 not on an " unknown and inaccessible be- 
 ing,'" such as the gloomy mind of the deist 
 represents, and the terrified soul of the pro- 
 fligate would wish ; but on llie *' grand luir- 
 
5282 
 
 " iiionioiis j)]an" of a God, whose ears are 
 ever open to tlie petitions of his people, 
 and whose eye takes cognizance of all their 
 wants. He hath been faithful to his cove- 
 nant, and his promises have not failed. 
 
 When these firm believers are involved 
 in more than common distress, and me- 
 naced by still sorer visitations, it is their 
 custom, (after falling on their knees to beg 
 divine protection,) to take up their Bible, 
 and begin to read, what happened in days 
 of old to religious men. Wise are they in 
 flying to that comforter ; for it is sweet to 
 the afflicted soul to trace the gracious deal- 
 ings of God with them, who have loved him 
 most. 
 
 What, for instance, could be more peril- 
 ous than the condition of the chosen na- 
 tion, when, passing through the Red Sea, the 
 chariots and horsemen of vindictive Pha- 
 raoh were close at their heels ? But Mo- 
 ses, who had meekly learned to cast all his 
 cares upon God, cried out to the Israelites 
 to " stand still and see the salvation of the 
 Lord*;" and the army of the living God 
 understood the saying of their leader, when, 
 
 * Exod- xiv. I'J. 
 
283 
 
 seeing llic wreck of the Egyptian host ly- 
 ing prostrate on the shore, they sung this 
 song unto Jehovah: — "The Lord is our 
 " strength : he is become our salvation. He 
 " hath triumphed gloriously : the horse and 
 " his rider hath he thrown into the sea*/' 
 Or what, if we go still higher, could be 
 more awful than the condition of Noah, 
 when the destroying waters beat against 
 the side of the ark, and he heard the shrieks 
 of a drowning world? " Forty dayst"and 
 nights he seemed at the mercy of conilict- 
 ing elements ; but the preacher of righte- 
 ousness sat serene under the shelter of a 
 watchful Providence. His care was all cast 
 upon God. And imagination cannot pic- 
 ture to itself the glowing delight of tlie j)re- 
 served patriarch, when, " resting on the 
 " mountains of Ararat, he opened the win- 
 " dow of the ark J/' to survey the ebbing 
 deluge; and saw nature, as it were, listening 
 to its Creator's voice, and reviving in all its 
 beauties and delights to intiame the grati- 
 tude and gladden the heart of man. 
 
 But time would fail me to glean a very 
 small part of the instances which cons])ire 
 
 * Exod. XV. 1. t Gcu. vii. 17. + Gen. viii. 4, o, 0". 
 
284 
 
 to prove the safety and triumph of resting 
 a well-grounded faith upon Providence ; or 
 I might tell, among others, of the firm resig- 
 nation of Shadrach and his heroic compa- 
 nions, and of the dauntless piety of the im- 
 mortal Daniel ; the latter of whom was 
 delivered from the lions' den, without a bone 
 of him being broken, " an angel having 
 shut their mouths*,'' and the former from 
 the burning fiery furnace, though " heated 
 " seven times more than it was wont,'' with 
 not " a hair of their heads so much as sin- 
 " ged, or the smell of fire having passed on 
 " themt f because " an excellent spirit 
 " was found in them J," and because they 
 " trusted in the God §" of their fathers. 
 
 O ! how stupendous, how invincible, was 
 the confidence,which these, and all the other 
 worthies of the Old Testament, were seen to 
 exhibit in the providence of God ! We 
 never can be weary of contemplating the 
 ensigns of their faith, and the triumphs of 
 their virtue. And what, it may be again 
 inc^uired to our mutual profit, was the rea- 
 soning of their minds, which led to the glo- 
 
 * Dan. vi. 22. t Dun. iii. 19. 27. % Dan. v. 12. 
 § Dan. iii. 28, vi. 23. 
 
 i 
 
285 
 
 rioiis crowns they are now wearing at the 
 riglit hand of their Redeemer? It was the 
 same which the Apostle Peter held within 
 himself, when he penned the doctrine of 
 our text, in an entire and cheerful coinci- 
 dence with the divine will. They argued, 
 that they could never be wrong in casting 
 their cares upon a Being of almighty power, 
 who had given himself the name of their 
 Father, and whose favourite attribute was 
 mercy : a Being, with whose dispensations 
 it would be as useless as arrogant to inter- 
 fere ; since what they might, in their short- 
 sighted view, imagine to be calculated for 
 their happiness, would often appear to his 
 all-seeing eye, to have quite a different ten- 
 dency. We cannot yet have to learn, that 
 out of a seeming evil often arises the 
 greatest good . Consequently, the chil dren 
 of light perceive, when their eyes areopened, 
 that it would not be a proof of the divine 
 love to dispose the circumstances of their 
 condition according to their fallible wishes : 
 they know, from his word, that the admi- 
 nistration of Providence, is founded on wi- 
 ser principles, and more benevolent views. 
 /' As it was in the beginning, it is now, and 
 
286 
 
 " ever shall be" a complete, infallible, un- 
 broken chain of perfect government ; a sys- 
 tem of discipline, not seeming " joyous, but 
 " grievous for the present,'' yet yielding 
 the peaceable fruit of righteousness*'' to 
 good and holy men through every age ; and 
 gradually unfolding the ultimate visible 
 desio-n of all his counsels, — the eternal 
 glory of his sincere followers, and the final 
 perfection of their Redeemer's kingdom. 
 
 Who among us hath forgotten, that to 
 be men of sorrows " and acquainted with 
 " grief," is inseparable from the lot of man- 
 kind ? And the cause should never escape 
 our memory ; to forget it, is to forget 
 ourselves. 
 
 All men have more or less transgressed 
 the laws of God ; and sin is as naturally 
 the parent of misery and fear, as the sun 
 is the generating cause of light and vege- 
 tation. Therefore, all who are " taught of 
 " Godt'' are constantly endeavouring to 
 provide themselves with sources of genuine 
 comfort. These sources, as I have already 
 attempted to convince you, they gather 
 from the book of God ; they can lay their 
 
 * Hob. xii. 11. t Ji>'>n vi. 45. 
 
1287 
 
 haiicls upon the Scriptures, and say, willi 
 joy approaching that of Simeon, when lie 
 took up the heavenly infant in ]iis arms 
 and blessed him, '' Lord, now lettest thou 
 " thy servant depart in peace*;" for here 
 is a support " which the world cannot 
 " give,'' which the world cannot take 
 away ; here are riches which depend not 
 on time, knowledge that ends not with 
 life, consolation which perishes not in the 
 grave. Yes : in the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
 there is all we want in a world of vicissi- 
 tudes and sorrows,— a voice, which whispers 
 to us peace when we are in trouble; a hand^ 
 which carries a shield before us " when per- 
 " secutions arise \" a guide, which points 
 out the way when we are in doubt ; a phy- 
 sician, who smooths our bed when wc are 
 writhing in agony ; a Saviour, who points 
 out heaven tons when death is approaching, 
 and tells us that, ere many moments have 
 passed, we shall be in one of its blissful and 
 everlasting habitations. All this is the gift 
 of God (revealed in the Scriptures,) to them 
 that are his. And when the faithful dis- 
 ciples of Christ are rationally assured, liom 
 
 * Luke ii. £0. 
 
288 
 
 conscience witnessing a holy life, that such 
 are their privileges in time, and their pro- 
 spects in an endless futurity, they want no 
 other motive to leave what they have, — their 
 persons, their properties, their health, their 
 safety, their friends, their houses and their 
 altars, their eternal hopes and their immor- 
 tal spirits, their all, in his omnipotent 
 and all-preserving hand. 
 
 How beautiful an example of such abid- 
 ing and successful confidence do we read 
 in the history of Samuel's devout mother, 
 when we follow her to the temple of her 
 God, a woman of a sad and " sorrowful 
 " spirit* !" The scene, as described by 
 the inspired penman, is very affecting: 
 " Behold, as Hannah prayed continually 
 " before the Lord, she spake in her lieart ; 
 " only her lips moved, but her voice was 
 " not heard f .'' But the silent eloquence 
 of her devotion reached the ear of Him on 
 whom she cast her cares ; the eye, which 
 seeth in secret, beheld her sincerity; he 
 knew the wants and wishes of Elkanah's 
 pious consort before she laid them at his 
 feet, and sent his prophet with this mes- 
 
 * 1 Sam. i. 15. t 1 Sam. i. 13, 
 
2S9 
 
 sage to her from his throne, " Go in peace. 
 " The God. of Israel grant thee thy peti- 
 " tion, that thou hast asked of him*." 
 That petition u^as granted ; and no longer 
 did the priest of the Lord inquire of her, 
 " Why weepest thou, and why is thy heart 
 " grieved t?'' 
 
 This is a highly instructive lesson of re- 
 ligion, but far more sublime and edifying 
 are those which we have yet to read and 
 to rejoice in. When the believer passes 
 from the Old Testament to the new and 
 better covenant ; and there traces with 
 humility the benign, compassionate con- 
 duct of the Saviour to all his creatures, 
 whom, in his journeys of love through Pa- 
 lestine, he met oppressed with cares or 
 overwhelmed with griefs ; witness his mercy 
 to a desolate widow, when following the 
 corpse of her only son to the grave,—" Weep 
 " not! Young man, I say unto thee, arise :[.:" 
 witness his feeling for the poor distressed 
 father, who ran breathless to him, crying, 
 " Sir, come down ere my child die," — 
 " Go thy way, thy son liveth§:'' witness 
 
 * 1 Sam. i. 17. t 1 Sam. i. S. J Luke vii. 13, 14. 
 § John iv. 49, 50. 
 'VOL. II. U 
 
290 
 
 his affection for the pious sisters, when he 
 saw them weeping at the tomb of their 
 favourite,— Your " brother shall rise again :" 
 " Lazarus, come forth*." When, I re- 
 peat it, the believer reflects with gratitude 
 and delight how the Saviour was " touched 
 " with a feeling -i^'' of their griefs, and by 
 the influence of his Spirit, soothed and 
 comforted their hearts, and that he hath 
 promised that he will be with all his fol- 
 lowers " even unto the end of the world J,'' 
 administering to every age and condition 
 the same grace and spiritual help, the same 
 hope and consolation in religion, the same 
 firm dependance upon Providence, and 
 the same assurance of the divine accept- 
 ance ; and that " nothing shall separate" 
 them from his " love ; neither tribulation, 
 " nor persecution, nor famine, nor naked- 
 " ness, nor the sword §;" but that every 
 thing " shall work together ||'' for their 
 good, in adversity as well as in prosperity ; 
 in life, as in death ; in time, as in eternity ; 
 on earth, as in heaven ; — they feel them- 
 selves contented, satisfied, rewarded ; they 
 
 * John xi. 23, 43. t Heb. iv. 15. % Matt, xxvii. 20. 
 ^ Rom. viil. 35— 39. 11 Rom. viii.28. 
 
291 
 
 knowtliey have all they want in what Cod 
 hath given, they wish for nothing which he 
 hath withholden : his will is already their 
 will, and they strive to make his ways their 
 ways ; and from this spirit of grace they 
 derive a calm tranquillity of soul which de- 
 pends not on a fickle world ; a peaceful, 
 quiet resignation suited to their trials, and 
 increasing with their years ; a joy unmixed 
 and serene, which successive sorrows can- 
 not waste, and evil spirits dare not disturb. 
 Having heaven almost within their view, 
 and as if they had only to reach forth their 
 hand and pluck the promised fruit, eternal 
 glory hath so far supplanted mere tem- 
 poral prosperity in their wishes and affec- 
 tions, that, whatever may have hitherto 
 happened, or whatever may be likely to 
 befall them, they can say, without a mur- 
 mur or a fear, in the " language of filial 
 " submission and unlimited dependence," 
 " Our Father, which art in heaven, thy 
 " kingdom come, thy will be done*/' Thou 
 hast assured us, O benign Creator and 
 most merciful Saviour, that thou wilt not 
 send us trials to which our strength is un- 
 
 * Matt. vi. (). 
 
292 
 
 equal, nor visit us with unnecessary afflic- 
 tions ; but with the visitation, which thine 
 infinite wisdom discerns to be beneficial 
 to us, thou wilt give us " a way to escape*." 
 Therefore, " in full assurance of hope unto 
 " the endf'," we give up ourselves to thee, 
 with all our interests and all our expecta- 
 tions ; only let thy presence be with us, and 
 " thy strength made perfect'* in our "weak- 
 " ness J f for in thy power is our perfect 
 safety, and in thy providence is our certain 
 trust. 
 
 I have now shewn you, as well as I am 
 able, in what consists the great christian 
 duty of casting our cares upon God ; it 
 only, therefore, remains to give you a i^\N 
 plain and safe directions for performing this 
 duty. O that my feeble endeavours were 
 made the means, through the influence of 
 the Holy Spirit, of drawing your serious 
 thoughts to the subject of religion, and cap- 
 tivating your supreme affections to its high- 
 est interests ; that when you had finished a 
 life well-spent, you might have nothing to 
 do but to close your eyes in peace, and 
 commit your spirit into the hand of God. 
 
 *lCor.x.l3. tHeb.vi.ll. ;]: 2 Cor. xii.9. 
 
293 
 
 The first means I would recommend of 
 attaining that pious and resigned frame of 
 mind, which the good Apostle recom- 
 mends, is — prayer. 
 
 If the Sovereign of nature be the cause 
 of every thing that is good, where, tell me, 
 is the wisdom or where the advantage of 
 seeking it from any other source ? Can 
 earth bestow upon us what is solely in the 
 gift of Heaven ? Can the world supply the 
 peace and consolation, which its Governor 
 withholds ? Is it of any use to say to God, 
 Why hast thou not given me this blessing 
 which I coveted, or why hast thou taken 
 from me that enjoyment which I was un- 
 willing to part with ? Can a creature pre- 
 scribe to his Creator what he must do ; or 
 can the combined universe for an instant 
 resist the will of Him that spake it into 
 being ? If not, it as clear as a cloudless 
 day, that since the almighty Father hath 
 sent us into the world, and hath ever since 
 preserved us in life, — and he only hath 
 patience, contentment, happiness to give,— 
 we never can be patient, contented and 
 happy, except by his will and operation. 
 
294 
 
 This being manifest, another very im- 
 portant deduction offers itself. 
 
 If God, the donor of every good and 
 perfect gift, hath decreed (and therefore 
 the condition is essential,) that if we would 
 attain the blessings which he intended for 
 lis, we must humbly ask them as the gifts 
 of his mercy ; and if he hath also conde- 
 scended to assure us, that " no good thing 
 " will he withhold from them*'' that, hav- 
 ing led a holy life, solicit with humility his 
 favour and defence, I think I should waste 
 my time and yours, were I to bring one 
 argument more in proof of the necessity 
 and advantage of prayer. For a man 
 might as well expect to drink out of a well 
 in which there was no water, or find a mine 
 of gold in the bowels of the earth without 
 digging for it, as hope to receive the bless- 
 ings of Providence without praying for 
 «them, or to enter the city of God with- 
 out knocking at its gate. As it would 
 be a strange mark of our ingratitude to 
 forget the favours we have already received 
 at our heavenly Father's hand ; so it would 
 
 * Psal. Ixxxiv. 1 1. 
 
295 
 
 be the height of presumption to rest upon 
 our present attainments, and not solicit a 
 continuance of his mercy and his preserva- 
 tion ; knowing, as we do, that we could not 
 live a moment without his care, nor possess 
 a comfort if he did not give it. 
 
 " Our obligation, therefore, to prayer,'' as 
 a sensible writer observes, " does not arise 
 " merely from the positive appointment 
 " of religion, but from the very original 
 " institution of nature/' If we expect our 
 children to look to us as their earthly 
 parents for protection, and to ask us for 
 any thing of ours which they wish to pos- 
 sess, certainly it is reasonable for our 
 heavenly Father to expect us to rely upon 
 his providence, and pray to him for the 
 gifts of his grace. Nay, my fellow mor- 
 tals, even in our intercourse witli mankind, 
 when we place ourselves under the pa- 
 tronage of a person of rank and influence, 
 we are ready enough to point out to him 
 the object of our ambition, and solicit it 
 at his hands ; nor are we content with one 
 refusal, but we rival in our petitions even 
 the importunate " widow*" in the Gospel. 
 
 " Luke xviii. 3. 
 
'296 
 
 Here tliere is wanting neither respect, nor 
 humility, nor obsequiousness ; we wait his 
 time, and call again if we are directed, and 
 thank him many a time if he give us the 
 smallest hope of succeeding. And shall 
 we pay this homage and this servile cour- 
 tesy to a mortal, a very worm like our- 
 selves, who a few years ago was not in exist- 
 ence, and who in an hour may return 
 to the dust from whence he was taken ; 
 and shall we not wait a moment at the 
 footstool of the Almighty's throne, nor bow 
 the knee of reverence to Him in whom we 
 live and move, and at the breath of whose 
 displeasure we bring our years to an end ? 
 But I remember I am preaching to 
 Christians ; and if you have the smallest 
 pretension to that elevated name and 
 character, 1 cannot have to argue, in proof 
 of what you have so often felt, and so 
 gratefully confessed in the happiest of 
 your days on earth, — that prayer is to a 
 man, who knows the consolation of cast- 
 ing his cares upon God, not only the 
 most essential duty, but the most exalted 
 privilege on this side of eternity. A man, 
 with a sense of religion upon his mind. 
 
297 
 
 Avho had not the power of praying, would 
 tremble at the very thought of living ; but 
 possessed of the privilege of laying his 
 wants before the Sovereign of heaven and 
 earth, and remembering the promise of 
 his Son, who came immediately from his 
 presence, that if man asks he shall receive, 
 if he seeks he shall find, — he wants nothing, 
 he fears nothing ; he basks in the sunshine 
 of the divine favour, and is surrounded by 
 a shield, upon which the arrow that flies 
 by day, and the pestilence that stalks at 
 midnight, can make no impression. 
 
 Since the beginning of the world to 
 this sacred hour, hath the ear of the Al- 
 mighty never been shut against the prayer 
 of a righteous man ; nor to the last mo- 
 ment of your existence and mine, will any 
 reasonable petition of ours be rejected at 
 the throne of grace, if it ascend to heaven 
 fron) a pure principle, and with a good 
 conscience, in the name of Jesus Christ, 
 and in humble reliance upon his merito- 
 rious mediation. " Prayer is the grand 
 " channel of communication betwixt 
 " heaven and earth, the divine chain 
 *' which connects man with his Maker. 
 
298 
 
 " Like Jacob's ladder, upon Avhich were 
 " seen angels ascending and descending, 
 " it is that happy medium by which the 
 " requests of men go up to God, and the 
 *' blessings of God come down to men/' 
 
 Let then the humble follower of Jesus 
 Christ, banishing from his breast every 
 anxious care about the world, and cherish- 
 ing every heavenly disposition in his re- 
 newed heart, lift up the voice of suppli- 
 cation to his Maker and Preserver, and 
 Heaven will pour into his soul the choicest 
 blessings and the sweetest hopes ; attract- 
 ing him nearer every day he lives to that 
 " service which is perfect freedom ;" and 
 giving him, even in this life, a joyous fore- 
 taste of that Sabbath of glory which " re- 
 " maineth for the people of God */' 
 
 Lastly. Another requisite for the duty 
 recommended in our text, is — sincerity of 
 purpose. God looks at the heart to know 
 them that are his. He examines their 
 thoughts, their wishes, their designs ; and 
 then he decides whether they care for 
 him. " The outward visible sign" of re- 
 ligion is of little avail, if " the inward 
 
 * Heb.iv. 9. 
 
299 
 
 " spirituifcl grace'' be not there. It is not 
 what a man says, but what he doen, that 
 recommends him to Heaven. *' To obey 
 " is better than sacrifice, and to hearken 
 " than the fat of rams*.'' Hath your 
 service then to God been a wilUng, decided 
 service, the service of tlie heart? Have 
 you been deliglited, when you thought you 
 had pleased Him ? Have you gone heavily 
 and been vexed within yourselves, when 
 you had reason to fear that you had dis- 
 honoured and offended him ? For let me 
 tell you, that if you have not thus felt for 
 the honour of God, and been athirstfor 
 his righteousness, esteeming his favour 
 " belter than life itself,"' you have not 
 cared for him as the children of God.; 
 and it is not less folly than danger to enter- 
 tain the hope, that the Son will be the 
 Saviour of those, who do not love the 
 Father with all their mind and with all 
 their strength. 
 
 Be entreated, then, to be sincere. Since- 
 rity in religion is safety ; for if you are lost, 
 it is not that God does not care for you, but 
 that you do not care for him. He waits to 
 
 * 1 Sam. ix. 13. 
 
300 
 
 save you from your sins, (his patience is 
 very great,) but " you will not" go unto 
 him " that you may have*" eternal life. 
 So many and sufficient are the ways of 
 mercy, which the glorious Trinity have 
 contrived and completed for the restoration 
 of fallen man, that no creature living, who 
 from his heart desires to be saved, can 
 perish. The angels of heaven are said, by 
 our Saviour himself, (could he bring a higher 
 evidence ?) to " minister for the heirs of sal- 
 " vationt/' and to " rejoice'' when a re- 
 pentant sinner consents to all the gracious 
 designs of Providence for his immortal 
 good. 
 
 But God is not to be mocked ; his mercy 
 is not to be trifled with ; his Spirit must 
 not be quenched. We must not be pre- 
 sumptuous, because he is patient ; we must 
 not be stubborn sinners, because he is 
 a long-suffering Saviour. There is a " time 
 " of acceptance," there is a " day of salva- 
 " tion ;" but spurned at, it may not longer 
 wait ; once lost, it may never be recovered. 
 Turn, then, to the God of every comfort 
 " while he may be found :]:.'' " Kiss the 
 
 * John V. 40. t Heb. i. 14. t Isa. Iv. 6. 
 
301 
 
 " Son, lest he be angry, and so ye perish 
 " from the right way*." The days of 
 darkness may come upon you before you 
 expect them ; your accounts may be 
 called for when they are not ready. If 
 this, then, be the accepted time, and if a 
 better can never offer itself, lay hold, this 
 day, of the covenant of the Gospel. The 
 conditions are all in your favour if you are 
 sincere, but its penalties are tremendous 
 if you are wavering and faithless ; eternal 
 ages will not terminate the misery which 
 you are wilfully incurring. 
 
 Resolve, therefore, whilst life remains, 
 and reason is in her vigour, to lose no op- 
 portunity of making your calling and elec- 
 tion sure. " Pray without ceasing-^-;" form 
 strong and holy resolutions ; do all the 
 good you can, and " abstain from the ap~ 
 " pearance of evil J V love God and obey 
 him, and seek your happiness in his 
 honour ; and for acceptance of your sin- 
 cere endeavours to please, look " to Jesus, 
 " the author and finisher of your faith §." 
 Look to his advice, and follow it ; look to 
 
 * Psal.ii. 12. t 1 Thess. v. 17. % I Tliess. v. SCJ. 
 ^ Ilcb. xii. 2. 
 
302 
 
 his example, and imitate it ; look to his 
 merits, and rely upon them ; look to his 
 kingdom, and press forwards to its pure 
 and blissful mansions. And if in your 
 journey through a life of distressing 
 changes, you have your hours of heaviness, 
 your fears, your trials and temptations, lay 
 them all before Him ; he careth for you, 
 and to him all things are easy. His hand 
 is never shortened, nor his ear ever closed ; 
 he is strong to deliver and wise to direct. 
 " Why then go mourning" on your pilgri- 
 mage, " ye travellers to the heavenly Zion,'' 
 because ye have been chastened and af- 
 flicted ? Was not your Exemplar a man 
 of sorrows ? and now that all authority is 
 his in heaven and earth, he hath told you 
 that " he is touched with a sense of your 
 " infirmities," and if you go to him when 
 heavy laden, he " will give you rest*" from 
 every burden. Or why tremble at the 
 prospect of leaving the world ; why " so dis- 
 " mayed at the thought of dying; why 
 " stand hesitating and reluctant on the 
 " l)anks of this Jordan ? Look beyond 
 " those separating waters ; see the celestial 
 
 * Matt, xi, 20. 
 
.303 
 
 " country, the city of cities, the palace of 
 " the great King, the many mansions in 
 " your Father's house,"' where every cup 
 is full of gladness, and every crown resplen- 
 dent in glory. Rejoice in hope of the 
 joys to be revealed ; realize these things 
 to your expanding minds ; let them take 
 possession of your hearts and your affec- 
 tions ; " desire to depart'' that you may 
 '' be with Christ*." He hath all thinirs 
 richly to bestow ; he hath purchased and 
 prepared for you a higher state of exist- 
 ence, a more dignified nature, more honour- 
 able employments, more refined pleasures, 
 more exalted society. 
 
 Leave, then, all in his preserving hand, 
 and care not what befalls you here, if here- 
 after you shall live with him, and with his 
 Father, in whose "presence is fulness of joy, 
 " and at his right hand" flow " pleasures 
 " for evermore t-'' He knows your weak- 
 ness and compassionates your wants ; he is 
 your Father, and as a father he may cor- 
 rect you, but only for your profit ; he may 
 withhold from you some apparent bles- 
 sings, and take from you others, but you 
 
 * I*hil.i.23. t Psal. xvi. 11. 
 
304 
 
 will have every thing in possession that is 
 conducive to your real and eternal good. 
 " Sometimes he may seem to lead you by 
 " a rough way, but it is always the right 
 " way." It may look like a path of diffi- 
 culty, of danger, and of self-denial ; but 
 even now it is far more safe and peaceful 
 than the path of the wicked ; and it is the 
 path which soon and certainly leads to that 
 happy country, where every fear will be 
 removed, and every hope be realized. 
 
ON 
 
 THE TREMOR OF FELIX. 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 rUEACHEI) AT 
 
 QUEBEC CHAPEL, 
 
 ON 
 
 SUNDAY, THE 31st OF MAY ISIS. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
SERMON X. 
 
 ACTS XXIV. 24, 25. 
 
 AND AI^TEll CERTAIN DAYS, WHEN FELIX CAMi: 
 WITH HIS WIFE DRUSILLA, WHICH WAS A JEWESS, 
 HE SENT FOR PAUL, AND HEARD HIM CONCERNING 
 THE FAITH IN CHRIST. AND AS HE REASONED OF 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS, TEMPERANCE, AND JUDGMENT 
 TO COME, FELIX TREMBLE D, AN D AN SW ERED, GO 
 THY WAY FOR THIS TIME; WHEN 1 HAVE A CON- 
 VENIENT SEASON, I WILL CALL FOR THEE. 
 
 1 HE power of conscience was never more 
 satisfactorily exhibited than in the text 
 before us. The appeal to it was made by 
 St. Paul ; and St. Paul, after his conver- 
 sion, was an able defender of the truth. 
 Indeed, if we except our blessed Saviour, 
 by whom this apostle himself was taught, 
 there never was a greater preacher than the 
 doctor of the Gentiles, never one, since the 
 great era of gospel light, whose sermons 
 were clothed with more genuine simplicity 
 and elegance, with greater power and 
 conviction. 
 
 We read, that " alter certain days, when 
 " Fehx came with his wife Drusilla, he 
 
 X 'J 
 
308 
 
 " sent for" this celebrated preacher, " and 
 *' heard him concerning the faith in 
 " Christ." This was not the first time that 
 St. Paul had seen the face of the governor 
 of Judea. For it is related in the begin- 
 ning of this invaluable chapter, that a lew 
 days before he had been arraigned at 
 his bar, and accused by Tertullus, the 
 greatest orator and pleader of that day, of 
 being " a pestilent fellow, and a mover of 
 " sedition throughout the world ; a ring- 
 *' leader of the sect of the Nazarenes, who 
 *' had also gone about to profane the tem- 
 '' pie*/' This was a most serious accu- 
 sation against St. Paul, before a judge hke 
 Felix, a man totally void of principle ; for 
 Nero, a Roman emperor, afterwards re- 
 called him from the government, on account 
 of his rapacities; a judge too, who, uni- 
 formly cruel, was already prepossessed 
 against the prisoner at his bar. But this 
 innocent and intrepid Apostle made such 
 a manly and unanswerable defence ; that 
 the governor, incensed as he felt against 
 him, and anxious as he was to have him 
 convicted, was yet obliged to remand him 
 
 * Acts xxiv. 5, 6. 
 
309 
 
 into the custody of the jailer ; that, if pos- 
 sible, they might find, before his next exa- 
 mination, some stronoer, or, at least, more 
 specious evidence against him. But, in 
 the mean time, the conscience of Felix was 
 at work. His troubled mind would not let 
 him rest. The arguments of the eloquent 
 prisoner had left an impression within his 
 breast, which he could not get rid of. They 
 had placed an accuser near his heart, 
 which he had no power to escape. For 
 the doctrines of St. Paul were " the wisdom 
 " of God, and the power of God * ;'' wea- 
 j)ons" sharper than any two-edged sword -i'." 
 The arguments of sophists, and the ridi- 
 cule of free-thinkers, cannot weaken them : 
 *' the gates of hell shall not prevail against 
 '' them J." 
 
 In haste, therefore, the guilty, the disquiet- 
 ed Felix sent for Paul ; he sent for him, be- 
 fore the time that he had fixed. He felt a 
 wish, that he could not account for, to hear 
 the Apostle further "concerning the faith in 
 " Christ/' There is a something in the Gos- 
 pel, which unbelievers may laugh at, for 
 scoffers there have been in all ages : there 
 
 * 1 Cor. i. 24. t Ileb. iv. 12. % Matt. xvi. 18. 
 
310 
 
 is a something, I say, in the word of God, 
 which men may despise and deride, as long 
 as their spirits are buoyed up by the indul- 
 gence of their passions, and their hearts are 
 hardened by the persuasions of their impi- 
 ous associates : but the warning Gospel will 
 not be unheard, will not be evaded. Sent 
 from heaven in mercy to convert and to re- 
 claim, it follows these men from their mid- 
 night revels; it finds them in their solitude; 
 it intrudes upon them in the hour of sick- 
 ness ; it stays with them, though they go 
 to the uttermost parts of the earth ; and 
 fills them at last with terrible dismay, when, 
 listening to the voice of conscience, which 
 comes like a flash of lightning across them, 
 and sounds like thunder in their ear, — 
 " Thou art the man !" — they count the te- 
 dious hours of night, turning from side to 
 side, and longing for the dawn of returning 
 day, which yet brings no rest to their weary 
 soul. 
 
 Such was the state of the governor's 
 mind when he sent for the Apostle, and 
 it appears that he brought his wife Dru- 
 silla with him. It is related of her, that she 
 '' was a Jewess ;" but it matters not what 
 
311 
 
 religion she was of, for she was an aban- 
 doned woman ; not the lawful wife of 
 Felix, since she had left her husband Azi- 
 zus *, to gratify her inflated pride, and in- 
 dulge her lawless passion. It is not the re- 
 ligion we profess that will save us ; but the 
 rehgion we act up to. It is not merely 
 saying, " Lord, Lord," that will carry us 
 to heaven ; but it is the doing of our hea- 
 venly " Father's willf." 
 
 You have seen what sort of an assembly 
 St. Paul had to address ; himself a captive 
 at their mercy, and his chains but the ap- 
 parent prelude to a speedy martyrdom ; but 
 neither the depravity of his audience, nor 
 the fear of their vengeance, alarmed the 
 good Apostle, nor prevented him from 
 preaching to them the whole Gospel of 
 Christ. Felix could crucify him : a cru- 
 cified Saviour w^as waiting to " receive .|'' 
 him to himself. The persecuting arm of 
 temporal power might take him from this 
 earth and all its slender comforts : the 
 protecting angel of the everlasting cove- 
 nant could convey him in safety to the 
 
 * fide Josephus, chap, xx., book .>. f Mtitt. vii. 21 . 
 I J(»lm xiv. 3. 
 
312 
 
 presence of God, and place him in the 
 full possession of heaven and all its glories. 
 
 In this famous sermon of St. Paul, his 
 plan and arrangement were most admira- 
 ble. They are a model for all sermons. 
 He began by preaching to his hearers con- 
 cerning the grand fundamental doctrine of 
 the christian religion, — " faith in Jesus 
 *' Christ,'" the Son of God, and the Sa- 
 viour of the world ; — shewing them that 
 herein alone was justification and accept- 
 ance ; that there was " none other name 
 *' under heaven given among men whereby 
 " they must be saved V' i^o other atone- 
 ment for sin, whereby a fallen creature can 
 be reconciled to his Creator, but that 
 which the Son of the Highest made upon 
 the cross. This was the sublime doctrine 
 which the Apostle laid down as the foun- 
 dation of his reasoning, and on this he 
 built the reviving truth, that all may be 
 snatched from sin and destruction, (so full 
 is this sacrifice, so satisfactory this pro- 
 pitiation,) provided they will instantly re- 
 pent, will turn to God with all their heart, 
 and reform their conduct through every 
 * Acf^ Iv. 12. 
 
513 
 
 (lay ; sorrowing deeply over their past 
 offences, and solicitous, by faith, — the pa- 
 rent of a better life, — to obtain the mercy 
 and forgiveness of Heaven. So that you 
 perceive, this great preacher not only 
 taught his hearers that " man is justified 
 *' by faith*," in other words, that " we 
 " are accounted'' (as one of the Articles of 
 our Church expresses it) " righteous before 
 " God only for the merit of our Lord and 
 " Saviour Jesus Christ by faith, and not 
 " for our own works and deservings -jV' 
 but he proceeded to instruct them that 
 " faith without works is dead being alone,' 
 that a hol^^ life is an essential condition in 
 the new covenant, that " the fruits of the 
 " Spirit, love, peace, meekness, gentle- 
 " ness, goodness J,'' and self-denial, are ne- 
 cessary to salvation ; and, therefore, no crea- 
 ture under heaven can dwell in the eternal 
 kingdom of purity and joy, who does not 
 lead on earth a charitable and virtuous life. 
 No doctrine can be clearer, and more 
 decisive, than that which is before us. The 
 captive Apostle first spake to Felix and 
 
 * Itoni. iii.28. v. 1. Gal. ii. iG. iii. 24. t Article xi. 
 t Gal. V. C2, 23. 
 
314 
 
 his court concerning the faith in Christ, 
 and then he reasoned to them of righte- 
 ousness and of temperance. He shewed 
 them convincingly, that a justifying and 
 saving faith is not (what too many strive to 
 make it) a mere empty, unoperative, fruit- 
 less principle ; but it is " that lively faith 
 " which worketh by love, which purifieth 
 " the heart, which keepeth the command- 
 " ments of God/' We may, moreover, 
 suppose, he would remind them, that 
 there were ten commandments, which God 
 had ordained ; commandments not to be 
 broken for the pleasure of his creatures, 
 but to be kept for his own glory ; not to 
 be trampled on with indifference and dis- 
 dain, but to be adhered to in all their 
 purity with fear and trembling. Among 
 those ten commandments, we read these 
 words, "Thou shalt not conunit adultery *." 
 No exception is here made in favour of 
 any rank, or sex, or age. The command 
 is positive ; the prohibition is universal ; 
 and the importance of keeping this man- 
 date of the decalogue is awfully enforced 
 in one verse of the Holy Scriptures. " No 
 
 * Exod. XX. 14. 
 
:j1o 
 
 " adulterer shall inherit the kingdom of 
 " God*." 
 
 No wonder, then, that the impious judge 
 was startled, when his eloquent prisoner, 
 having attacked him where he was most 
 vulnerable, with the " mighty weapons j" 
 of spiritual warfare, began to reason with 
 him of temperance. For St. Paul was no 
 flatterer : he spake " boldly as he ought 
 " to speak J." He told them that heard 
 him, that neither they, nor any other per- 
 son, could live, as they were living, in open 
 violation of the laws of God, and in the 
 habitual practice of unprincipled excesses, 
 and rationally entertain the slenderest 
 hopes of reaching the benefits of the chris- 
 tian covenant, or flying from the wrath of 
 an offended Creator. 
 
 Now it was that Felix saw distinctly, (for 
 he was hemmed in by his conscience, there 
 was not any side to escape,) that there was 
 no possibility of salvation for him upon the 
 plan of life, which he had hitherto pursued ; 
 that, if he did not, from that moment, and 
 with all his mind, resolve to curb his hither- 
 to unbridled appetites, to set about a 
 
 * I Cor. vi. 9. 1.0. t '^ Cor. x. 4. % Eph. vi. '20. 
 
316 
 
 thorough reform, and become, through the 
 influence of the Holy Spirit, entirely and 
 willingly, a new creature ; changed in his 
 temper, his wishes, his affections, and his 
 habits, he must very soon perish, and perish 
 for ever. This, if St. Paul had gone no 
 further, was enough, and more than enough, 
 to make Felix tremble. 
 
 What then, think you, must have been 
 the feelings of his troubled mind, what the 
 anguish of his wounded spirit, when 
 St. Paul, having thus laid before him the 
 righteousness of a heart-searching God, and 
 the accountableness of man for every act 
 of intemperance, injustice, and impiety, 
 concluded by reasoning of a judgment to 
 come. It must indeed have been a tre- 
 mendous thing to hear such a preacher 
 discourse of a future and final judgment, 
 to listen to him whilst he described the 
 glories and the terrors of that day, when 
 the almighty Judge will sit upon his 
 throne, and all the people that ever ex- 
 isted, will be assembled before him; when, 
 in the presence of the holy angels, the 
 righteous and the temperate will be ac- 
 quitted ; but the lustful and the unprin- 
 
317 
 
 cipled will be condemned. God will 
 " judge the world with equity*/' and from 
 his eye no secret will be hid. Such were 
 the tremendous truths, which the teacher 
 of the Gentiles proclaimed with all their 
 force in the ears of the appalled Felix. 
 He must have been harder than a rock, if 
 he had not quaked. For, il what St. Paul 
 stated to him was true, the terrors of this 
 " judgment to come" must assuredly fall 
 upon him, except he repented of his sins, 
 and led a very different life. There was, 
 he heard, a Saviour in Jesus Christ, but 
 a Saviour only to the temperate and the 
 righteous ; to them, who, fearing God, rel}' 
 upon the merits of his Son for justification. 
 Feeling then, as the governor did, that he 
 had no inclination for such a mortifying, 
 self-denying religion as this ; no desire to 
 gain the kingdom of heaven upon the 
 free-will offering of his heart and affections 
 to God, upon the prompt and absolute 
 sacrifice of his pleasures, his passions, and, 
 above all, his beloved Drusilla, — condi- 
 tions which St. Paul declared to be neces- 
 sary, without any concealment or reserva- 
 tion, nay, the truth and reasonableness of 
 
 * Psal. xcviii, 10. 
 
318 
 
 which he himself did not attempt to deny ; 
 it would have been strange, if he had not 
 trembled, when the Apostle " reasoned of 
 *' righteousness, temperance, and a judg- 
 " ment to come/' But, alas ! though his 
 spirit was greatly troubled, when his pe- 
 rilous situation was fiiirly laid open to him, 
 we do not read that he either repented of 
 his sins, or believed in a Saviour. Had he 
 but fallen, like the penitent jailer at Phi- 
 lippi, at the Apostle's feet, and cried, 
 " Sir, what must I do to be saved * V Or 
 had he, like the humble and contrite pub- 
 lican, casting down his eyes to the ground 
 in modest fear, " smote upon his breast *f," 
 and sohcited the divine forgiveness, he 
 would not have been rejected at the throne 
 of grace ; he would not have perished for 
 want of a Saviour to justify, or the Holy 
 Spirit to sanctify him. But not all his 
 fears, not all his convictions, made him 
 even outwardly, and, by profession, a 
 Christian. His body trembled, but his 
 heart was not softened at all : his con- 
 science warned, but his passions prevail- 
 ed. 
 
 Still a slave to the tempter, his language 
 
 * Acts xvi. 30. t Luke xviii. 13. 
 
319 
 
 Avas as iiaughty as it was presumptuous. 
 *' Go thy way for this time ; when 1 have 
 " a convenient season, I will call for thee." 
 As if he had said, Leave me, Paul, for the 
 present ; thou art not a preacher to my 
 taste ; I do not like the truths thou tellest 
 me. And thou, intrusive conscience, leave 
 me also. I have not had sufficient of the 
 world, its riches, its honours, its luxuries, 
 its sensual pleasures, and its clinging at- 
 tachments. Perhaps when I have a little 
 longer indulged my clamorous passions, 
 and revelled in my favourite, though for- 
 bidden, delights, then I may listen to thy 
 rigorous dictates, but I cannot now. Go 
 thy way, tormentor, for this time, and be 
 satisfied with the promise, that I will re- 
 pent before I die. There will be hereafter 
 some season more " convenient" than the 
 present ; and then " I will call for thee.'' 
 
 Such, we know, was the promise of 
 Felix : but we never read that he made 
 good his words ; and, doubtless, if he had 
 sent again for St. Paul, it would have been 
 recorded. Therefore, it seems, unwilhng 
 as we are to judge any man, that Pelix died 
 as Felix lived, a breaker of the law, a de- 
 
320 
 
 spiser of the Gospel, without any solid 
 comfort in this world, and without a hope 
 of being happy in a future state. 
 
 This frightful instance of the dangerof pro- 
 crastination speaks movingly to our treach- 
 erous hearts, for — go thy way for this time, 
 — is the rash reply we often give to our con- 
 science. And let it be remembered by 
 every one of us, that if there be any vicious 
 passion which we are habitually gratifying ; 
 any guilty pleasure which we cannot pre- 
 vail upon ourselves to part with ; any thing 
 (for this is the test,) which we love better 
 than God and religion, our case is no better 
 than the case of Felix, our ruin as certain 
 as his. • 
 
 You have not this day the advantage 
 which Felix had from the preaching of one 
 of the greatest of the apostles ; your pre- 
 sent preacher is one of the most humble 
 aspirers to any portion of his usefulness : 
 but you have many advantages which 
 the governor of Judea had not. You have 
 had the great privilege to be born of 
 christian parents : you have been brought 
 up in the christian faith ; and, since you 
 knew how to discern between good and 
 
321 
 
 evil, you have been taught in the true 
 church, from sabbath to sabbath, the pre- 
 cepts, the promises, the consolations of the 
 glorious Gospel. Have you then profited 
 by the doctrines and the ordinances of our 
 holy religion ? Have you followed the 
 paths " of righteousness and temperance," 
 striving to bring your bodies into subjec- 
 tion, and to keep your minds subservient 
 to the whole will of God? Have you 
 " heard" your appointed minister with a 
 real interest " concerning the faith in 
 " Christ ;" and, glorying not, " save in 
 " his cross*,'' have you a well-grounded 
 hope, that you shall be accepted through 
 the merits of his death, because you have 
 imitated the virtues of his life ? Have you 
 frequently thought with seriousness of that 
 day of " judgment,'' which will put both 
 the steadfastness of your faith, and the 
 sincerity of your obedience, to the test ? 
 Have you, I say, conscientiously enter- 
 tained such a system of self-inquiry, a sys- 
 tem most friendly to virtue, and to vital 
 religion? I mean, entertained it as ii you 
 were in earnest, and determined not to be 
 
 * Gal.vi. 14, 
 VOL. II. V 
 
322 
 
 deceived ? Or, have you, like hapless Fe- 
 lix, put off your preparation from day to 
 day? exposed, each moment you live, to 
 the corruptions of an unrenewed nature, 
 the temptations of a deceitful heart, the 
 inveterac}^ of sinful habit, the reproofs of 
 a guilty conscience, the demands of a 
 broken law, the threatenings of a forfeited 
 Gospel, the fury of an " adversary*'' that 
 thirsteth for vengeance, the wrath of a 
 rejected Saviour, and a long-provoked 
 Judge ; and, knowing, also, as you must, 
 that not far distant is the grave whither we 
 all are going, and into which you may 
 drop, when you are the least expecting it, 
 and when you are the most unprepared ? 
 
 Oh ! is not this a thought sufficient to 
 make the hardiest of us tremble, and the 
 most thoughtless of us reflect ? Say not 
 any more, young man, in the pride and 
 vanity of thine heart, " When I have a 
 " convenient season, I will call for thee/' 
 Much more, my aged and venerable hear- 
 ers, I beseech you, never more, while you 
 have breath, to dismiss your conscience 
 with, — " Go thy way for this time/' How 
 
 * 1 Pet. V. 8. 
 
canst thou ensure, presumptuous trifler ! 
 that more agreeable period which thou 
 reckonest upon ? Who gave thee that time, 
 the duration of which thou lookest for- 
 wards to with so much confidence ? Or, 
 who hath told thee, that death is under thy 
 dominion, and that thou mayest place him 
 at any distance thou pleasest ? 
 
 Deluded mortal ! as well mightest thou 
 say to the flowing tide : " Hitherto shalt 
 " thou come, and no further, and here 
 " shall thy proud waves be stayed *." As 
 well mightest thou attempt to " mete out 
 '* heaven with a span, and measure the 
 " waters in the hollow-f of thine hand. 
 
 These things belong to a higher power, 
 a more efficient cause. They are at the 
 sovereign will and absolute disposal of 
 Him, who made the round world, " and 
 " all the things that are therein J.'' He 
 only gave, he only can take away. Pro- 
 voke not then the Holy One of Israel. For 
 thy life, provoke him not. " Serve the 
 ** Lord with fear, and rejoice unto him 
 " with reverence. Kiss the Son, lest he 
 " be angry, and so ye perish from the 
 
 ♦Jobxxiviii. 11. f Isa- vl- l^- t Rev. > (». 
 
 Y 9 
 
324 
 
 " right way. If his wrath be kindled, 
 " (yea, but a little,) blessed are all they 
 " that put their trust in him*." 
 
 Surely, if we look round the world, we 
 must decide with grief, that no creature 
 upon earth is so bhnd to his own danger 
 as man. And the reason is obviously this : 
 If the posterity of Adam really believe in 
 an eternity of rewards and punishments, 
 which we are sometimes constrained to 
 doubt, when we see how little they seem 
 concerned about either the one or the 
 other, they constantly view the pleasures 
 and possessions of earth as present ; they 
 contemplate the joys and riches of heaven 
 as always at a distance. Tell me, if you 
 can, when you have seen a mortal acting 
 upon a more dangerous principle. Say, 
 where you have contemplated an immortal 
 being, likely to fall under a more fatal 
 delusion. It was the vain opinion of the 
 rich man in the Gospel, who was planting- 
 vineyards, and building barns, forgetting 
 that he must die, and wholly losing sight of 
 a future state, when all at once he heard a 
 voice, which threw down every air-built 
 * IV.il.ii. 11, I "^i. 
 
:325 
 
 scheme, and petritied him widi the chill of 
 horror : " This night thy soul shall be re- 
 " quired of thee*/' 
 
 It was a voice like this which made the 
 cruel Ahab rend " his clothes and put on 
 " sackcloth f-." It was a voice like this, 
 which made the " countenance" of impious 
 Belshazzar to " change, and his knees smite 
 " one against another:]:." It was a voice 
 like this, which madethe rash and hardened 
 Felix tremble, and wish that Paul would 
 reason no more " of a judgment to come." 
 
 And this is the voice which will one day 
 make us also tremble with sorrow and ex- 
 ceeding fear ; if, having lived till now a 
 careless and impenitent life, we still run 
 wildly after the vanities or vices of the 
 world, and hasten not to make ready for 
 the coming of our Judge. Indeed, our 
 task is very difficult ; we have much to 
 undo, before we can do any thing well ; we 
 have many evil customs to get rid of, before 
 we can form ijood ones. To leave this 
 fascinating circle, to control that indulged 
 passion, is to do violence to a corrupt na- 
 ture, still more corrupted by habit. 'Jo turn 
 
 * Luke Mi. 'iO. i 1 Kinjis xNi. 'J7. % Oau. v. (j. 
 
326 
 
 our feet unto the testimonies of the Lord, 
 is to swim against a stream, to fight against 
 numbers, to " enter in at the strait gate*/' 
 
 Yet, great as are our difficulties, they are 
 nothing to the dangers which threaten us on 
 every side, and seem to multiply every 
 step we take along the broad and easy 
 road ; for not to remind you of the pro- 
 phet's warning, that in life and death there 
 can be " no peace to the wickedj-," there 
 is a text revealed by the Son of God, which 
 speaks of an eternity beyond the grave, in 
 terms that leave not language to say more 
 in form of threatening and of terror. The 
 wicked " shall go away into everlasting 
 " punishment J." 
 
 Surely, if the author of this denunciation 
 had gone no further, the best even of man- 
 kind might have trembled ; but glorious is 
 the promise that follows : " The righteous'' 
 shall go " into life eternal." Pause a sa- 
 cred moment to look upon the punishments 
 on the one side, the rewards on the other. 
 And then decide, after weighing them in a 
 balance, whether that man is of a sound 
 mind, who can hesitate to choose the latter, 
 
 * Matt. vii. 1.;. t Isii- xlvni.fia. % Matt. xxv. 4(). 
 
 i 
 
527 
 
 seeing that, in the progress of finishing the 
 v/ork of rehgion, the true believer receives 
 his wages not less than an hundred fold * ; 
 and when he rests from his labours, he in- 
 herits such a recompense as " eye hath not 
 " seen, nor ear hath heardf." " For yet a 
 " little while, and He that shall come will 
 " come, and will not tarry.]:," and his " re- 
 " ward is with§*' him. And if *' to behold 
 " the face of God without a cloud f if to 
 see at his right hand our fellow-creatures, 
 whom our example or our advice had turned 
 to righteousness ; if " to find ourselves 
 " escaped from the stormy sea of life with 
 " our vessel safely moored in the haven of 
 " eternal rest ;'' if to have the crown of 
 glory placed upon our heads by the hand of 
 a welcoming Saviour ; if to find among the 
 angels and " spirits of just men made per- 
 " feet'' our most faithful friends, our con- 
 stant benefactors, our beloved relatives, and 
 there to share with them " plenty without 
 " the fear of want, righteousness without 
 " sin, joy without sorrow, pleasure without 
 " pain, and life without death :" — if all 
 
 ^' Mark iv. 8. Matt. xix. 99- t 1 Cor. ii. 0. 
 .r Heb. \. 37- ^ ^^' v. xxii. J 2. 
 
328 
 
 this be blissful in prospect, if in possession 
 it be a perfect inheritance, which of us does 
 not desire to be an " heir of God and joint 
 " heir with Christ*? Which of us does not 
 long to land on those shores of rest and 
 consolation ? Whose lips do not accom- 
 pany the lips of Balaam, when he says, 
 " Let me die the death of the righteous, 
 " and let my last end be Hke hisf?" or 
 whose heart does not beat in unison with 
 the heart of David, when he piously sang 
 his fervent strain : " Like as the hart 
 " panteth after the water-brooks, so long- 
 " eth my soul after thee, O God. My 
 " soul is athirst for God, yea, even for the 
 " living God ; when shall I come to appear 
 " before the presence of God J?'' And is 
 this your heartfelt wish, the aspiration of a 
 spirit in love with religion, and devoted to 
 the glory and service of God ; a spirit yet 
 ever lowly, reclining on the cross of Christ ? 
 Then whilst " the tree of life§'' hangs over 
 your head, reach forth your hand and 
 pluck with gratitude ; its fruit is the know- 
 ledge of good, and its leaves are lor the 
 
 *■ Rom. viii. 17. fNum. \xii. 10. ^ Psal. xlii. 1,2. 
 ^ Kiv. XX. e. 
 
329 
 
 healing of nations. Want yc any thing, to 
 soothe the sorrows and soften the cares 
 inseparable from your condihon ^ Come to 
 the Gospel ; you will not return without re- 
 hef. Want you entertainment, to refresh 
 the mind when weary, or sweeten the tem- 
 per when likely to be ruffled by adversity ? 
 Read the life of Jesus Christ, contem- 
 plate his works, listen to his sayings ; no- 
 thing will so re-animate 3'our drooping 
 spirit, and regain the peace which you have 
 lost. O make him your friend while you 
 may. Many have regretted their forsaking 
 him even in this life ; none ever repented 
 that they had followed him, either in the 
 present world or in that which succeeds it. 
 It may, I will allow, be pleasant for the 
 passing day to gratify every appetite that 
 craves indulgence, and enjoy every pleasure 
 which throw^s itself in our way. No doubt 
 unhappy Felix and his profligate compa- 
 nion thought so. But what a damj) it strikes 
 on the hearts of those who live fortius world 
 only, — to think (when a busy, treacherous 
 world will letthem think,) thissplondid man- 
 sion, this glittering equipage, this successful 
 business, these luxuries aiitl hoiiouis and 
 
5.50 
 
 titles and connexions will one day forsake 
 me ; and I shall then have nothing left, 
 nothing that will follow me, — no treasure 
 beyond the grave, no title to eternal life, 
 no holy prayers, no charitable sacrifices, 
 no self-denying virtues recorded in the 
 annals of eternity. Whereas I have been 
 told by that Bible which bears, I can no 
 longer deny, the marks of truth, and by 
 those ministers of religion, who could not, 
 I now find, have any interest in deceiving 
 me ; that " a Christian can look beyond 
 " death with pleasure, because beyond 
 " death" lies his highest hope, his truest 
 riches, " his complete happiness/' 
 
 My brethren, if this argument have no 
 weight, I have nothing stronger to offer. 
 For if self-love and self-interest, those na- 
 tural ties which are the last that men give 
 up, avail not to make salvation dear to you, 
 little will any thing profit that I am able 
 to add, either in the form of counsel or 
 appeal. 
 
 But if happiness hath a charm still left 
 to soothe the virtuous breast, or misery a 
 sting not yet exhausted to wound the guilty 
 soul, convey yourselves once more in ima- 
 
331 
 
 gination to the court of Felix, and let the 
 warning voice of the eloquent captive keep 
 vibrating in your ear ; until having " heard 
 " him concerning the faith in Christ,'' you 
 have gone to his cross as your refuge, re- 
 solving there to sacrifice your guilty pas- 
 sions, and to prepare by " righteousness 
 " and temperance'' for the " judgment to 
 *' come/' Wise is it to remember, what 
 St. Paul and all the other sacred writers 
 teach you, that, in sailing through this world 
 of trials and vicissitudes, you must look out 
 for many rocks and quicksands, which will 
 require all your vigilance to avoid, all your 
 fortitude to resist. But if you rely upon the 
 anchor of Christianity, you will soon ride 
 safe in the haven of rest and consolation. 
 He that addeth virtue to his faith shall never 
 fall. When, therefore, you are tempted, 
 persecuted, afflicted, perhaps tossed about 
 and almost cast away in a sea of troubles 
 and tribulations, trust more than ever in 
 your religion : it is a steady pilot in the 
 storms of life, an abiding comforter amid 
 the floods of sorrow. Improve its privi- 
 leges, and cherish its hopes ; open your 
 hearts to the combined influence of its 
 
332 
 
 precepts, its examples, and its promises ; 
 drink as deeply as you can into its divine 
 spirit, and let its heavenly Founder shed 
 his sanctifying sway over every wish you 
 entertain, every word you speak, and every 
 business you transact. 
 
 Then you may hope to pass the evening 
 of your life in virtuous tranquillity, to sur- 
 vey its closing scene with pious resignation ; 
 and after the last of your days is numbered, 
 to lift up your heads with joy, the heirs of 
 brighter hopes and of a better resurrection. 
 For when in that future state, to which you 
 are hastening, the wicked shall tremble, 
 you shall triumph ; and whilst they shall 
 weary themselves through endless ages in 
 fruitless " lamentation and mourninos and 
 woe,^' you shall feel an increasing delight in 
 the review of all that is past, and the pro- 
 spect of all that is to come. 
 
THE 
 
 HEAVENLY HOUSE: 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 IlttAClH'D AT 
 
 57: MARY-LE-BONE CHURCH, 
 
 ON 
 
 SUNDAY, THE 23d OF MARCH, 1817. 
 
SERMON XL 
 
 JOHN xrv. 2, 3. 
 
 IN MY father's HOUSE ARIi MANY MANSIONS : IF 
 IT WERE NOT SO, I WOULD HAVE TOLD YOU. 1 GO 
 TO PREPARE A PLACE TOR YOU. AND IF 1 GO AND 
 PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, I WILL COME AGAIN, 
 AND RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF, THAT WHERE 
 1 AM, THERE YE MAY B F. ALSO. 
 
 Without controversy, great is the 
 " mystery of Godliness *." If we presume 
 to search, where shall we begin, or where 
 shall we end ? That God should so infi- 
 nitely condescend as, in the person of Jesus 
 Christ, to leave his throne in heaven, and 
 visibly reside upon this earth for thirty 
 years, is indeed a mystery ; that he should 
 stoop so low as to become man, and in 
 human nature be " despised and rejected 
 " of men, a man of sorrows, and acquaint- 
 " ed with grief-f ," is a prodigy which still 
 more astonishes the human mind. But 
 that he should humble ** himself unto 
 
 * I Tim. hi. 16. t Ii«a. liii. 3. 
 
336 
 
 " death, even the deatli of the cross *," is 
 a oxiracle so far surpassing all miracles, 
 which intellectual beings have aspired to 
 contemplate, that it must be ever viewed 
 as a scheme of the glorious Trinity, standing 
 stupendously high above every other mo- 
 nument of wisdom, grace and power. 
 *' The angels desiret'' to pry into it, but it 
 is a mystery beyond even their compre- 
 hension. It is hid within the bosom of 
 God. We must, therefore, be content with 
 believing it ; a privilege which is sufficient 
 for mortals. " Such knowledge is too 
 " wonderfuF' for us ; we " cannot attain to 
 " it.'' In humility we must wait for 
 stronger light and enlarged intellect, gifts 
 which are promised by Him whose they 
 are to give, when our bodies and our souls 
 shall be refined and glorified in some man- 
 sion of the Heavenly House. 
 
 In the mean time, " the Word, who in the 
 " beginning was with God," and who in 
 the fulness of time came down " into the 
 *' world,'' the messenger of " grace and 
 " truth J,'* hath revealed unto us many 
 enlightening and consoling doctrines, 
 
 * riiil, ii. b. t 1 P^t. 1. 11, 1'2. 1 Jo!iM i. 1, 14. 
 
337 
 
 which we can understand, nnd uhich call 
 for our highest gratitude and our loudest 
 praise. He hath come (eternal blessing be 
 to his office and his name) as an Instructor 
 to make us wise, a Comforter to make us 
 happy, a Saviour to redeem us from our 
 transgressions, a Peacemaker to place us 
 again in the favour of Heaven. And what 
 renders his Gospel" worthy of all accepta- 
 " tion *'^ is, that it is the " good tidings of 
 " great joy which shall be to all people j- ;" 
 " a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the 
 '' glory of his people Israel %." He " came 
 " to save sinners," — was ever design so 
 gracious ? and like himself, the feeling 
 friend, the impartial benefactor of all, " he 
 " died a propitiation for the sins of the 
 " whole world §." 
 
 Amongst the many refreshing doctrines 
 by which he " hath brought life and im- 
 " mortality to light ||/' the text, I have 
 taken, holds a lofty and commanding sta- 
 tion. Perhaps, in the whole sacred volume 
 there is not one, which divine benevolence 
 
 * 1 Tim.i. 15. t Luke ii. 10. % Luke ii. 35. 
 § 1 John ii. 2. || 2 Tim. i. 10. 
 
 VOL. II. Z 
 
338 
 
 hath more perfectly fitted to give peace to 
 the inoffensive conscience, and rest to the 
 sanctified soul. Independently of its 
 elegant simplicity and its sublime import- 
 ance, which have so delighted all that have 
 read it with a christian spirit, there is 
 something in the circumstances, which led 
 to the dehvery of it, peculiarly interesting 
 and affecting. Void of every fine senti- 
 ment must be that man, who doth not feel 
 its force, and gather from it consolation. 
 Lo ! its divine author, our blessed Lord, 
 but a few short hours before he gave his 
 spotless soul a sacrifice for the restoration 
 of a perishing world, was sitting with his 
 favourite followers, the college of apostles, 
 like a tender parent surrounded by his 
 children, giving them at the closing scene 
 of a splendid life his parting counsel, and 
 pronouncing with his dying lips the fare- 
 well blessing : when, as the sacred records 
 tell us, " Satan entered .into*" the heart of 
 Judas, and moved him to betray his 
 heavenly Master. That master had " done 
 " no sin," neither in his lips "was guilei^'' 
 
 * Luke xxii. 3. t 1 Pet. ii. 22. 
 
33P 
 
 discovered ; but even innocence like this 
 could not preserve him from human depra- 
 vity, led on by satanic malice. 
 
 Such wickedness succeeds not long. It 
 is an instant tormentor, and eternity is too 
 short to terminate the woes it leaves. It 
 was so with "the son of perdition *." O 
 may that greatest of sinners be a beacon 
 to us all, to warn us from the shoals of 
 despair on which he foundered, the quick- 
 sands of unrepented guilt in which he sunk 
 to rise no more. The history of this treason 
 is short but very awful. The perfidious 
 disciple carried " the bag,'' and had suffer- 
 ed avarice to steal into his soul. That was 
 his ruin. Well is the covetous man called 
 a miser, for he must be wretched. 
 
 He was sitting at his Bencftictor's table 
 Avith his fellow disciples, when he was re- 
 minded by the Searcher of hearts, of his 
 unprincipled intention to destroy him ; — a 
 basereturn, indeed, for all thcfiivours which 
 had been heaped upon him. " One of 
 you/' he said, looking around on the dis- 
 ciples, and fixing his eyes upon Judas, 
 ** shall betray mef." " 'l''»e Son of man 
 
 * John xvii. 12. t John xiii. 2J. 
 Z 2 
 
340 
 
 *' goeth as it is written of him : but woe 
 ** unto that man by whom he is betrayed ; 
 " it had been good for that man if he had 
 " not been born*/' " Lord/' they aliened 
 out, " is it I," is it I, is it If ? He heard 
 them one by one, (all " doubting of whom 
 " he spake,'') but answered none; until the 
 disciple whom he loved, and who " was 
 " leaning on his" breast, said to him. Lord, 
 " who is it?'' He then " answered. He it is, 
 " to whom I shall give a sop, when I have 
 " dipped it/' And having given the sop 
 to Judas, he said to him, " That thou doest, 
 " do quickly J/' The die was cast, the 
 crime was predominant in his heart ; and 
 the accuser had proclaimed his delinquency. 
 Unable, therefore, to bear the stings of his 
 conscience on the one hand, and the frowns 
 of his companions on the other, the traitor 
 hastily retired from the mournful repast; the 
 great deceiver went with him ; when Jesus 
 addressed the eleven with these moving 
 words : Little children, " yet a little while 
 " I am with you. Ye shall seek me/' but 
 " whither I go, ye cannot come. A new 
 *' commandment I give unto you, that 
 
 * Matt. xxvi. 24. f Matt. xxvi. 22. % John xiii. 22. 
 
341 
 
 " ye love one another, as I have loved you. 
 " By this shall all men know that ye are 
 " my disciples*/' 
 
 Still, and ever, we find the Saviour dwell- 
 ing upon the same subject — universal 
 charity. It is the fundamental doctrine 
 of all his discourses. It is the grand spring 
 of all his dispensations. It is his nature, 
 and his name. 
 
 One observation, however, in this dis- 
 course of our Lord, greatly wounded the 
 feelings of Peter, who, possessed of a strong 
 constitutional courage, in addition to his 
 warm affection for Christ, felt himself, as 
 he thought, ready to die for his sake. He, 
 therefore, inquired with some degree of ap- 
 parent warmth,'* Lord, whither goest thou?'' 
 To which our Saviour, knowing how soon 
 his confident disciple would not only for- 
 sake him, but deny him, answered with his 
 wonted complacency, " Whither I go, thou 
 " canst not follow me now, Peter; but thou 
 " shalt follow me afterwards.'' Peter, till 
 now ever faithful, still protested his honest 
 attachment, " Lord, why cannot I follow 
 " thee now ? I will lay down my life for thy 
 
 * John xiii. 33, J4, 35. 
 
342 
 
 " sake*/' Of this affectionate appeal the 
 Lord took no notice ; but looking with 
 benignant pity upon all his disciples, who, 
 no doubt were shedding floods of tears at 
 the prospect of losing him so soon, and 
 under such distressing circumstances, he 
 soothed their sorrowing hearts with this 
 gracious promise : " Be not troubled : ye 
 " believe in God, beheve also in me. In 
 " my Father's house are many mansions ; 
 " if it were not so, I would have told you. 
 " I go to prepare a place for you. And if 
 " I go to prepare a place for you, I will 
 " come again, and receive you unto my- 
 " self ; that where I am, there ye may be 
 " alsof.'' 
 
 I thought it useful so far to point out 
 the incidental circumstances, which led to 
 this memorable address of our Lord to his 
 disciples, before I proceeded to consider 
 the different clauses of it. They are each 
 of them very full of instruction. And the 
 first which arrests our attention, is his de- 
 claration, that in his Father's house are 
 many mansions. It is apparent, that Jesus 
 Christ, here and in the following verses, 
 
 * John xiii. 36, 37. i" John xiv. 1, '1, 3. 
 
343 
 
 asserts his divinity, — the truth on wh\cii 
 the whole fabric of Christianity rests ; be- 
 cause if you remove this corner-stone, the 
 Divine Essence of Christ, the efficacy of 
 the atonement falls ; and, then, what have 
 we left for salvation ? The sins of a iallen 
 world are a debt too heavy for a creature 
 to pay. The infinite justice of an offended 
 God cannot be satisfied by a finite sacri- 
 fice. " No man,' saith the prophetic 
 Psalmist, " may deliver his brother, nor 
 " make agreement unto God for him. For 
 " it cost more to redeem their souls ; so 
 " that he niiist let that alone for ever*.'' 
 In this view, the appellation he gives to 
 God in our text is of supreme consequence ; 
 he calls him his Father. It is worthy of 
 notice, that — Father — is the title by which 
 Christ generally addresses the Almighty f ; 
 it is also the title by which he frequently 
 introduced himself to the notice of his dis- 
 ciples. Some of the most remarkable 
 occasions upon which he thus mentioned 
 his alliance to God, it is highly important 
 
 * Psal. xlix.6. 7. 
 
 t Vide Matt. xi. 2j. 0.6. Mark xiv. 36. Luke xxii. 42. 
 
 xxiii. 34, 46. John xii. 27, '28. xvii. 1, .5, 11, 21, 24,2.3. 
 
3U 
 
 tb observe. He says at one time, " I and 
 " my Father are one*.'' At another time 
 he says, " My Father is greater than If.'' 
 In the former text, he assumes an equality 
 with God ; in the latter, he acknowledges 
 an inferiority. 
 
 On that declaration of his equahty, (com- 
 bined as it is with numberless other parts 
 of Scripture, revealing the divinity of Jesus 
 Christ,) we ground our acceptance of him 
 as " very God of very God:|:." On this 
 confession of his relative inferiority, a few^ 
 whose conversion to the truth we often pray 
 for, mainly rest their rejection of him as a 
 divine person; some considering him (I 
 shudder at the mention of it,) as a mere per- 
 fect man ; others, with as slender reason, 
 viewing him as only a little higher than the 
 angels. 
 
 The cause of the gross error which Ave 
 are lamenting, and are desirous to refute, 
 is very obvious. They who are thus wan- 
 dering, for want of light, do not perceive 
 (the pride of reason shuts their eyes,) that 
 our blessed Redeemer, in making mention 
 
 * John X. 30. t John xiv. 28. t Vide Article U, 
 Litany, and I^icene Creed. 
 
34.1 
 
 of his alliance to God, boinelinies deigns to 
 speak of his human nature, and sometimes 
 of his divme ; on some occasions he calls 
 himself the Son of 7nan, on others the Son 
 of God. As the Son of man (that is, in the 
 human nature which he took into the di- 
 vine,) he calls himself less than the Father. 
 As the Son of God, that is, in his divine 
 essence, he asserts himself to be co-eqtial 
 and co-eternal with him. The proofs of this 
 co-equality and co-eternity are not wanting. 
 Christ declares himself to be one with the 
 Father ; he gives himself the name that 
 God gave himself — " I AM*:" he says 
 that " what things soever the Father doeth, 
 " he doeth likewiset ;" that he hath the 
 same " authority J/' the same right of 
 " judgment^,'' the same power of raising 
 the dead||. He declares it to be the will 
 of God, that " all men should honour him 
 *' even as they honour the Father ^.'^ 
 
 Could infinite eloquence produce stronger 
 language to assert the divinity of the Son ? 
 Could infinite wisdom afford us^firmer evi- 
 
 * Exod. iii. 14. John viii. 58. t John v. 19. 
 
 :j:Johnv.27. § John V. 22. || John v. 21. 
 
 ^ John V.C3. 
 
346 
 
 dence of his equality with the Father ? It 
 is manifest (and it is a most important fact,) 
 that " the Jews" understood our Lord to 
 be the assertor of his own divinity : inas- 
 much as it was on this very account that 
 *' they sought the more to kill him ;'' even 
 as the sacred penman records, " because 
 " he said that God was his Father, making 
 " himself equal with God*/' It is not less 
 clear, that the Apostles at length entirely 
 believed in his divinity. St. John declared 
 him to be " God, in the bosom of the 
 " Fatherf ;" St. Thomas worshipped him 
 as his " Lord" and his " GodJ." And 
 St. Paul spake of him as " God manifest in 
 " the flesh §," who " made the worlds, up- 
 " holding all things by the word of his 
 " power; who, being the brightness of 
 *' God's glory, and the express image of 
 " his person ||," " thought it not robbery to 
 be equal with God^.^' 
 
 These evidences of the divinity of Christ 
 appear to be more than sufficient for the 
 satisfaction of all who believe in revelation ; 
 if it were not expedient to adduce proof 
 
 * John V. 18. t John i. 1, 18. t John xx. '28. 
 §1 Tim. hi. 16. j| Hcb. i. 2, 3. U Phil. ii. 6. 
 
347 
 
 upon proof of a doctrine, on winch the 
 whole scheme of redemption vitally de- 
 pends. But there is an evidence still to 
 be brought, which, if it had no collateral 
 confirmation, is conclusive. It is impos- 
 sible to construe it into any thing short of 
 a plain and positive avowal, by our Lord 
 himself, of his co-equality and co-eternity 
 with God. After telling his disciples that 
 in his Father's house were many mansions, 
 and that he was going to his Father, a re- 
 markable conversation takes place between 
 him and two of his disciples : " Whither I 
 " go,'' he says, " ye know, and the way ye 
 " know." Thomas replies to him, *' Lord, 
 " we know not whither thou goest, and 
 " how can we know the way ? Jesus 
 " saith unto him, — I am the way : no man 
 " Cometh unto the Father but by me. If 
 " ye had known me, ye should have known 
 " my Father, and from henceforth ye know 
 " him, and have seen him*." If words, 
 my christian hearers, have meaning, the 
 prophecy of Isaiah is here applied by the 
 Messiah to himself: " his name is the 
 mighty God, the everlasting Father)." 
 
 * John xiv. 4, 5,6,7. t l»:i. i-^- ^»- 
 
348 
 
 The apostles, it seems, were slow to believe. 
 Their after- confessions of their Master's di- 
 vinity were not made, till all their senses 
 were satisfied, and their reason could not 
 hold a doubt. Therefore, saith Philip unto 
 him, " Lord, shew us the Father, and it 
 *' sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, — 
 " Have I been so long with you, and hast 
 " thou not known me, Philip ? He that 
 " hath seen me hath seen the Father, and 
 " how say est thou then. Shew us the 
 " Father*?" " Ye believe in God, be- 
 " lieve also in me-f-." 
 
 Hence it appears, that Jesus Christ is 
 God. No testimony is wanting, which re- 
 velation could propose and reason com- 
 prehend. The prophets foretold it; the 
 evangelists recorded it ; the apostles 
 preached it, and in all their letters dwelt 
 upon it. Want we further evidence? It 
 is found, as we have seen, in the literal, 
 unequivocal, infallible declaration of Him 
 who spake as " never man spake. "[:,'' and 
 in whose " mouth no guile was found §;" 
 who " went about doing good||" to every 
 
 * Johnxiv. 8,9. t John xiv. 1. % John i. 46. 
 § 1 Pet. V. 22. II Acts X. a(i. 
 
349 
 
 one ; and of whom alone it could be said, 
 that " in him was no sin*." Therel'orc, it 
 flows as a consequence, that by his Father's 
 house is meant the seat of the Majesty on 
 high, the third heaven -f, the region of 
 angels and of happy spirits, over which he 
 for ever rules, the sovereign of their affec- 
 tions, and the subject of their grateful songs. 
 In this house, he says, there " are many 
 " mansions." It is a doctrine of supreme 
 importance, full of interest and consola- 
 tion to every pious mind. I am desirous 
 of stating at large my confirmed opinion 
 of its meaning, but lam almost prohibited 
 by the deference, which I justly feel for 
 certain higrh authorities. The learned com- 
 mentators Poole and Burkitt, to whom the 
 religious world are, in their search of the 
 Scriptures, under great obligations, (be- 
 sides others of sound judgment and emi- 
 nent piety,) confine their view of this asser- 
 tion of our Lord to the extent of his Father's 
 house, as if its divine Author only meant 
 to state, that heaven is as infinite in space 
 as in duration ; and, therefore, when every 
 
 *Heb.iv. 15. iPet. ii.a'S. 1 John iii. o. 
 t 2 Cor. xii. 2. 
 
350 
 
 faithful follower of Christ, who, to the best 
 ot^ his power, has fulfilled the will of 
 God and done the works of righteousness, 
 shall, through the merits of Him who died 
 for all, be admitted to the kingdom of God 
 on high, there will " still be room*/' 
 
 That this view of heaven is true, no one 
 ever doubted ; and that our Lord might 
 include this view of it in our text, we do 
 not deny. For it requires no argument to 
 make it clear, that the kingdom of God is 
 neither limited by place, nor bounded by 
 time; eternity of existence, and infinity of 
 enjoyment, are the essential qualities of 
 the heavenly region. But, surely, (I speak 
 it with humility,) this cannot be «// which 
 the blessed Redeemer meant by the many 
 mansions of his Father's house. The can- 
 didate for immortality would indeed be 
 thankful for any mansion, but he must 
 naturally be desirous of attaining to as 
 exalted a one as he can. Now, this life of 
 preparation for a better is compared in the 
 Scripture to " a race-^- f and we know that, 
 when there is more than one prize to those 
 who run, the first who arrives at the goal 
 
 * Luke xiv. 22. t 1 Cor. ix. '24. 
 
351 
 
 always receives a greater than the secuiid, 
 and the second than the third. It is also 
 compared in the Gospel to " a warfare* ;" 
 and we know that the kings of the earth, 
 after they have waged a successful war, 
 give rewards to those soldiers wiio have con- 
 tributed most to the glory of their empire, 
 and proportion those rewards to the briUi- 
 ancy of the services performed. So, I think, 
 the Gospel plainly declares it to be, with re- 
 gard to the prizes distributed in heaven to 
 the soldiers of Jesus Christ, to those who 
 run patiently in the way of his command- 
 ments. If wc may suppose that there are 
 different dignities among the shining ranks 
 of the angelic host, the first created inhabi- 
 tants of heaven, Gabriel appearing to be 
 the highest among the immediate atten- 
 dants upon the throne of God, why not 
 among the future heirs of its bhss and 
 glories ? Is it not said, by Christ himself, 
 of his twelve Apostles, (Matthias having 
 taken the place of Judas,) that " when the 
 " Son of man shall sit in the throne of his 
 " glory," they " shall also sit upon twelve 
 " thrones judging the twelve tribes of 
 
 * 1 Cor. X. 4. 1 Tim. i. 18. 
 
352 
 
 *' Israel* ?'* What can this be but a shining 
 distinction, a pre-eminent station, to them 
 who had forsaken all and followed him 
 " in the regeneration ?" Besides, if some 
 of those, who labour in his vineyard, pro- 
 duce of the fruits of the Spirit " thirty-fold, 
 " some sixty-fold, and some an Imndred- 
 " foldj;" and if all men are judged ac- 
 " cording to their works. |.," is it not, I hum- 
 bly ask, consistent with reason ; is it not con- 
 firmed by revelation ; and doth it not har- 
 monize with all the attributes of God, his 
 justice, his wisdom, his mercy, his impar- 
 tiality, that men shall receive in a future 
 state, — when their faith and practice, their 
 repentance and works meet for repentance, 
 have been weighed in the even balance of 
 Heaven, — rewards exactly proportioned to 
 the sacrifices and improvements they have 
 made, whilst carry ing their cross through this 
 state of probation ? And if this conclusion 
 be as religiously, as it is rationally, drawn 
 from the rich mines of divine instruction ; 
 then it follows that, although in heaven 
 there are myriads of myriads of seats, all 
 so perfect in their nature, and so replete 
 
 * Matt. xix. 28. t Mark iv. 20. J Rev. xx. 12. 
 
353 
 
 with satisiaction, lliiit none in lluit happy 
 world will feel any want, or fall within the 
 reach of envy ; but all will rejoice in the 
 bliss of others, and think themselves pos- 
 sessed ofinfuiitely more than they deserved; 
 yet there are, in the Saviour's kingdom, dif- 
 ferent degrees of the same exalted reward, 
 adapted for, regulated by, and apportion- 
 ed to, the different degrees of purity and 
 sanctification, which the children of God, 
 shall, through the firmness of their belief, 
 the fervour of their piety, and the steadi- 
 ness of their obedience, have attained to in 
 this lower world. 
 
 How else can we satisfactorily explain 
 those declarations of the Holy Scripture, 
 that " as" one star, differeth from another 
 " star in glory, so also is the resurrection 
 " of the dead * ?" and, again, the disobedi- 
 ent shall be beaten, some " with many 
 " stripes," and some " with few -f V ex- 
 cept by concluding, that, as in the man- 
 sions above, there are higher and lower re- 
 wards, (the fathers in Christ will sit higher 
 than the babes.) so in the regions below, 
 there will be heavier and lighter punish - 
 
 * 1 Cor. XV. 41, 42. f Luke \\\. 47, 48. 
 VOL. TF. ^ A 
 
354 
 
 iiients ; for surely those who have just fallen 
 short of the glory of God, for want of a 
 little sincerity, a little exertion, a few more 
 sacrifices, a few more self-denials, shall not, 
 through the ages of eternity, sufter such 
 excess of torment as those presumptuous 
 transgressors, who have committed all un- 
 cleanness with greediness, have contemp- 
 tuously rejected the light of revelation ; 
 and casting the Lord of life out of his vine- 
 yard, have even dared to blaspheme the 
 name of the living God *. 
 
 My brethren, you have heard that there 
 are many mansions in the Heavenly House. 
 
 * In this opinion, respecting the various degrees of 
 eternal punishment, and eternal reward, I follow the sen- 
 timents of Poole and Henry, expressed in their com- 
 ments upon other portions of the sacred writings ; the 
 latter of which distinguished commentators, reasoning 
 upon the xv. chap, of 1 Corinthians, verses 41, 42, 
 says, " The true glory of every being consists in its fit- 
 " ness for its rank and state : The bodies of the dead, 
 " when they rise, will be so far changed, that they will be 
 " fitted for the heavenly regions ; and there will be a va- 
 " riety of glories among the bodies of the dead, when 
 " they shall be raised, as there is among the sun, the 
 " moon, and the stars ; some shall vary from the other 
 " dead who are raised, as one star doth from another." 
 And the former, in his comment upon Luke xii. 47, 48, 
 thus delivers his sentiments : " There will be degrees 
 
355 
 
 Reasons have been laid before you, tor 
 the supposition, that in these myriads of 
 dwelHngs in the *• house, not made Avith 
 " hands, eternal in the heavens *," there are 
 greater and lesser glories, higher and low- 
 er dignities. Having been viewed with 
 humility, and with a sense of duty, they 
 are left to your grave and mature reflection, 
 as a subject which tends to the comfort 
 and joy of believers ; for can any thing be 
 more delightful to the mind and soul of a 
 good man, or more stimulating to his exer- 
 tions in the cause of virtue and religion, 
 than the belief, that if he places his hopes 
 ot acceptance upon the mercy of God, 
 through the merits and mediation of Jesus 
 Christ, every deed of justice, every offering 
 of charity, and every service of devotion 
 that he performs, shall tend to increase his 
 happiness, and heighten his glory, when 
 he shall come to see his Saviour face to 
 face? Those, who have used ten talents well, 
 
 " in the punishments, as well as in the rewards of another 
 *' life." " As to those who know more than others, and 
 " have more committed to liieir trust, their examples do 
 " more harm, than others; therefore their sins are greater, 
 " and the furnace for them will be heated seven times." 
 * 2 Cor. V. 1. 
 
 2 A i 
 
356 
 
 shall rule over ten cities. Those, who have 
 improved only five, shall only rule over five*. 
 If any thing could add to the love which 
 the disciples had entertained for their 
 Master, since first they had the happiness 
 to follow him ; if any thing could add 
 another generous spark to the gratitude 
 which glowed within their devoted breasts, 
 it must have been the sweet simplicity, 
 with which he impressed upon them the 
 doctrine of the many mansions. " If it 
 *' were not so, I would have told you.'" It 
 is but one instance among a thousand, of 
 the tenderness, and affection, with which 
 he was wont to address his followers. With 
 what mildness, and yet what earnestness, 
 does he here assure them, that, if there had 
 not been a future state, where virtue and 
 religion shall find an ample recompense, 
 blissful and glorious mansions prepared for 
 all that love him, and especially for them 
 that had loved him most, and followed him 
 patiently through the greatest tribulations, 
 he would have been the last to deceive 
 them ; he Avould have told them to seek 
 their pleasure in the present world, which 
 
 * Vi(ie Lnke xix. 15, l6, 17, 18, 19. 
 
had something to [)roinisc them, and not 
 settheiraftectionsupon the joys of heaven, 
 which were but a dream, if there were no 
 immortality for holy souls. But he remind- 
 ed them that they knew too well his love 
 and value for them, to doubt for one mo- 
 ment, that those hopes which he had raised 
 he would realize, those promises which he 
 had given he would confirm; and those inef- 
 fable glories, which he was about to pur- 
 chase by his death, should be abundantly 
 and everlastingly theirs. 
 
 Such w^as the ensjaoinijj theme of onr 
 Redeemer's conversation with his disciples, 
 during the week of his passion, a week to 
 be remembered, and kept holy as long as the 
 world exists ; which having concluded by 
 a melting appeal to them, as to the strength 
 and sincerity of his affection for them, — 
 " Greater love hath no man than this, that 
 " a man lay down his life for his friends ; 
 " ye are my friends*;" and having solemnly 
 bequeathed to them, his eternal consolation, 
 " Peace I leave with you, my peace I give 
 " unto you-|-," — he sent up to heaven, in 
 the [)Ower of his (iodhcad, a prayer to his 
 
 * John w. 13. 1-1. 1 .Iftliii \iv. '27. 
 
358 
 
 Father on their behalf; and then he bade 
 them a solemn farewell, until they should 
 meet him in a better world, and drink of 
 the wine with him in the kingdom of God. 
 
 O my christian hearers, was there ever a 
 parting between friend and friend, between 
 a father and his family, to be compared 
 with that parting, in solemnity and sorrow ! 
 This was the afflictive hour he had foretold 
 to them, when he said, " The days will 
 " come, when the Bridegroom shall be 
 " taken'' from the faithful, " and then they 
 " shall fast*/' How moving every look he 
 gave them with those eyes, which had so of- 
 ten beamed on them with sacred affection ! 
 How melting every word, which dropped 
 from his hallowed lips ! How painful still 
 every circumstance of that scene, and yet 
 how pleasing in reflection to every grateful 
 mind that adores him ! 
 
 Beholding his long faithful and tried ser- 
 vants filled with the acutest sorrow, as well 
 they might, at learning that He who had 
 never forsaken them ; he who had guided 
 them with his counsel, and gladdened them 
 with his smiles ; he who had always seemed 
 
 * Luk(! V. 35. 
 
359 
 
 indifferent about his own comlbrts, when 
 theirs were concerned ; that He, their guar- 
 dian, their glory, their examnle, their jov, 
 their salvation, their all, should so soon ho 
 " betrayed into the hands*" of sinners 
 thirsting for liis blood; and after suffering 
 unrivalled agony and disgrace should leave 
 them desolate and deserted in the midst 
 of perils and persecutions, — He shed abroad 
 in their hearts the spirit of his consolation ; 
 he exhorted them to weep no more for him, 
 to check the starting tear which convinced 
 him of their fidelity and friendship, and 
 give no longer way to the sad emotions of 
 trouble and affliction. 
 
 He tells them, it was greatly for their 
 advantage, that he should leave them. It 
 was to lay up for them a treasure which 
 this world had not to give, honours which 
 faded not with time, joys which no man 
 could take from them. " If 1 go not away, 
 the Comforter will not come; but, ifl depart, 
 " I will send him unto youf ;" and I will 
 pray the Father, that he may abide with you 
 for ever, " even the Spirit of truth:|:.'' He 
 shall guide you into all truth, and shew 
 
 * Mntt. xvii.2'2. f .loWn xvi. 7. % •'<^hn xiv. Ifi, 17. 
 
360 
 
 you things to come*. Nor think that " 1 will 
 " leave you comfortless, I will come to you; 
 and you " shall be loved also of my Father t-'' 
 I am only going from you for a little while, 
 in order that I may " prepare for you a 
 " place in my Father's house ;' and after 
 that, " I wdll come again and receive you 
 " unto myself, — that where I am, there ye 
 " may be also/' 
 
 On this delightful promise I could have 
 wished to dwell at this time longer, but the 
 limit of a sermon forbids me. 1 must 
 therefore, conclude ; impatient, however, to 
 return to the edifying subject when I next 
 address you. 
 
 In the meanwhile let us sometimes leave 
 a busy world and retire into our chamber, 
 to contemplate with reverential gratitude 
 this amazing testimony of our Redeemer's 
 benevolence ; that Friend of all, who shrunk 
 not from the arduous work of redemption, 
 though his spotless life was the price, his 
 blood the mighty sacrifice. O generous 
 Martyr, how ardent was thy love, how ma- 
 jestic thy fortitude ! The glories of the 
 world could not seduce thee from thy 
 
 * Jolin xvi. 13. t .)ol)n xlv. IS. '21. 
 
.'561 
 
 purpose, when man was to be saved ; nor, 
 in the finishing of that salvation, coultl its 
 roughest tempests shake the lirnniess of 
 thy soul. It was not, ye behevers, to liis 
 disciples only, that he gave the promise ut 
 our text ; nor was it for a single nation that 
 his prayers ascended as a memorial before 
 God. Tor in every nation the just and the 
 devout, shall, in the name of Jesus Christ, 
 " be accepted with God*." We have all, if 
 we have faith, a share in his promises ; we 
 have all, if we are good men, an interest in 
 his intercessory petitions. 
 
 In the preaching of his Gospel, he still 
 speaks to you all ; he spreads his sacra- 
 mental table for you all ; he invites every 
 creature under heaven to look unto him 
 there and be saved ; assuring them, that if 
 they believe that he was sent from God, 
 and therefore follow his example, relying 
 upon his words, and trusting in his atone- 
 ment, they shall not fall ; they shall stand 
 fast in the Lord ; no enemy shall pluck 
 them from him, no tcm})tcr shall seduce 
 them from the paths of his peace ; the 
 Father knows them that arc his Son's, and 
 
 * Acts X. j5. 
 
m 
 
 he hath sealed them " in their foreheads 
 ** with the seal*" of the everlasting cove- 
 nant. " Whether, therefore, life or death, 
 " things present or things to come, all 
 " are'' theirs, for they " are Christ's -f-.'^ 
 
 Having pitied our fall, and purchased our 
 redemption ; having borne our griefs and 
 carried our soitows ; having healed us by 
 his stripes, and washed away every stain 
 from our souls in the fountain of living 
 waters, he is gone to the right hand of 
 Majesty, all-pitying and all-powerful, to 
 plead our cause, and to procure our 
 pardon. And when He, to whom all au- 
 thority is given in heaven and in earth, shall 
 have finished and fulfilled this god-like 
 purpose : when, justice and mercy being 
 finally reconciled to the satisfaction of the 
 celestial council, and righteousness and 
 peace having embraced each other in the 
 bonds of everlasting fellowship, the joyful 
 sound of the Gospel, — Glory to God in the 
 highest, and good will to men, — shall be 
 heard from pole to pole, and " the earth 
 " shall be full of the knowledge of the 
 " Lord, as the waters cover the sea:}: ; then 
 
 * Rev. vii. 0. xxii. 4. f I Cor. iii. '21, '22. t Isa. xii. 9. 
 
shall " the Prince of Peace*," the Saviour 
 of the world, appear once more in the 
 majesty of his Father, and attended by the 
 host of heaven, to summon his sleeping 
 saints, and collect his people from the four 
 corners of the earth ; that joining his happy 
 train, they may make their triumphal entry 
 into the gates of the Heavenly House, and 
 be welcomed to those exalted thrones, 
 where they shall reign at his right hand, — 
 not for years of time, but for ages of eter- 
 nity ; " not in the same place only, but in 
 " the same state of rest ; not merely spec- 
 " tators of his glory,'' but companions and 
 co-heirs of it. 
 
 * Isa. ix.6. 
 
THE HEAVENLY HOUSE: 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 PKEACHP.D AT 
 
 ST. MARY-LE'BONE CHURCH, 
 
 ON 
 
 SUNDAY, THE 30th OF MARCH, 1817. 
 
SERMON XII. 
 
 JOHN XIV. 2, 3. 
 
 IN MY FATHEk's house ARE MANY MANSIONS : IF 
 IT WERE NOT SO, 1 \VOULD HAVE TOLD YOU. 1 GO 
 TO PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU. AND IF 1 GO AND 
 PREPARE A PLACE FOR YOU, 1 WILL COME AGAIN, 
 AND RECEIVE YOU UNTO MYSELF; THAT WHEHF. 
 I AM, THERE YE MAY BE ALSO. 
 
 This earth which we inhabit is a shifting 
 scene, a theatre on which its crowds of 
 actors appear for an hour, a year, or mayhap 
 a century, and then disappear from the 
 eyes of mortals ; — their place knows them 
 no more, and their name is soon forgotten ! 
 They may be compared to a bird of 
 passage, which stays with us for a season, 
 and then, taking wing, flies off for some 
 other region. 
 
 So frail and short-lived is the rational 
 inhabitant of this sublunary world ! And 
 what is the conclusion which forces itself 
 upon our mind, when we contemplate his 
 awful change ? 
 
 When we see the lovely infant, on whom 
 
368 
 
 our hopes were too fondly and hastils^ 
 placed, just blooming in the spring of hfe, 
 and then fading away like a flower of the 
 field : when we, next, behold a promising 
 son, in the meridian of his strength, be- 
 ginning to waste under a slow but incu- 
 rable consumption, and we quickly follow 
 his poor remains to the silent grave, to 
 lament the wreck of our blighted expecta- 
 tions, and confess the sad uncertainty of 
 every human joy : and when we, lastl}^ re- 
 member that none are exempted from this 
 debt of nature, none can avert the shaft of 
 dissolution, if it hath winged its mortal 
 flight ; the oldest only linger out their four- 
 score years of labour and sorrow, and then 
 lie down in their bed of dust rejoicing to be 
 released : when, I say, we thus contemplate 
 man as he is, can we suppose that this is 
 the whole of his existence, that this is 
 all for which the powers of reason were 
 implanted in the human mind ; that life 
 was merely given us to know its value, and 
 dread the thought of losing it ? Shall there 
 be no repair for the ruins of time and 
 death; no restoration to life and conscious- 
 ness : no reward of splendid virtues : no 
 
■369 
 
 realit3' of all the hopes and aspirations of 
 rehgion ? Cod forbid. 
 
 Far be such a gloomy thought from the 
 christian soul, a being which disdains the 
 very idea that the possessions of time can 
 constitute its noblest attainment, and feels 
 the whole world as far too trifling to con- 
 fine its ^expanding views. Dispel you 
 fears, ye immortals, and let your subliinest 
 hopes be cherished and confirmed. Listen 
 to the words of Him, whose every word and 
 deed hath proved him the guide, the solace, 
 the saviour of a world, the conqueror of 
 death, and " him that had the power of 
 " death*.'' " Let not your hearts be 
 " troubled. Ye believe in God, believe 
 " also in me. In my Father's house arc 
 " many mansions : if it were not so, I 
 " would have told you, I go to prepare a 
 " place for you : and if I go and prepare a 
 " place for you ; I will come again and 
 " receive you unto myself, that where I 
 " am, there ye may be also.'' 
 
 In my last discourse upon this import- 
 ant jiortion of the Scrij)turcs, I took occa- 
 sion to shew two things, as 1 humbly trust 
 * Heb. ii. 14. 
 
 \()L. II. 2 B 
 
370 
 
 to your satisfaction, — viz., 'J'liat the divinity 
 of Christ is herein estabUshed ; and that 
 the different degrees of reward to good 
 men in a future state are distinctly revealed. 
 After a grave and dispassionate view of 
 these doctrines, which must be confessed 
 worthy of all our attention, I was proceed- 
 ing to point out the visible evidences which 
 our text contains of the pity and benevo- 
 lence of Jesus Christ towards mankind ; 
 when time compelled me to suspend the 
 in(piiry. 1 now return to it with more 
 than ordinar}^ interest. 
 
 " I go," says our Lord to his disciples, 
 
 " to prepare a place for you.'' — He was in 
 
 every respect fit for this gracious office. He 
 
 had by his life set before them the way to 
 
 heaven, even a steady course of virtue, with 
 
 an eye to the glory of God, and, in every 
 
 state, a perfect resignation to the will of 
 
 Providence :— he had by his death given 
 
 them a title to its inheritance; for by the 
 
 atonement which he made for sin, he had 
 
 finished " the transgression," reconciled 
 
 them to their Creator, brought in " ever- 
 
 " lasting righteousness*," vvhich by impu- 
 
 * i)i>n. i\. C4. 
 
371 
 
 tatioii was theirs*; and set the divine mercv 
 free to exercise the fulness of grace. As- 
 cending to heaven as the world's intercessor, 
 he could say to Him that sent him to save 
 sinners; " Father, I have glorified thee on 
 " earth, I have finished the work which 
 " thou gavest me to do f "—the work of 
 liuman redemption ; as if he had said, I 
 have raised a fallen world from its ruins, 
 and restored them to a higher state than 
 that which they had lost : I have placed 
 them in thy favour, if they will follow mv 
 steps, and rest on my cross as the anchor 
 of their assurance : 1 have taught them, 
 that thy religion administers peace and 
 happiness on earth, and that its temporal 
 consolations will be succeeded by an eter- 
 nal weight of glory, when death shall watt 
 them to their final reward.— Here, Christians, 
 let your love of Christ, and your admira- 
 tion of his character, be Mound up to ihc 
 highest j)itch ; for what more could hr. 
 done for a race of mortals, who, lying in 
 sin and misery, had no arm to save then), 
 till the floodgates of his mercy were thrown 
 open. Listen with delight to him, as he 
 
 * Fide Rom. iv. (i. 1 I . '24. t John xiv. 4. 
 
372 
 
 tells bis disciples, that he Avas going to his 
 Father's house, to prepare for them the 
 mansions, which satisfied justice had as- 
 signed as the recompense of their love for 
 him. And, then, having brought immor- 
 tality to light, he gently weaned their affec- 
 tions from the earth, assuring them that 
 this was not their home, that there remain- 
 ed " a rest for the people of God ;" that 
 death was a deliverer, because it removed 
 them from the cares and sorrows of time, 
 to the quiet and joys of eternity. What, 
 then, had the disciples of Jesus Christ more 
 to wish or sigh for, as candidates for immor- 
 tality ? They found, that in the assurance of 
 everlasting life, they could place their foot 
 upon a " rock ;'' and nothing in the form 
 of peril or persecution, could shake the 
 dauntless spirit of them that clung round 
 the cross. Standing on this firm ground, 
 and supported by this stable confidence, 
 they could placidly review the rugged steps 
 they had passed through on their way to 
 the heavenly Canaan; and lifting up their 
 longing eyes to the hill of Sion, they could 
 say, in the words of Moses to his brother- 
 in-law, when almost in sight of the promised 
 
:373 
 
 land, " Come thou with us, imd wc will do 
 " thee good : for we are journeying unto 
 " the place of which the Lord hath said, 1 
 " will give it you V It is agoodly country 
 where peace is undisturbed, and " pleasures 
 " flow for evermore/' 
 
 This, however, was not all his promise. 
 He not only informed them, he was goinu; 
 to prepare for them mansions in his 
 Father's house ; but that when he had pre- 
 pared those mansions, " he would come 
 " again and receive them unto himself." 
 This promise he makes good to his follow- 
 ers partly at death, w hen their " spirit re- 
 ** turns," to him " who gave it-f;" but it 
 is only fully accomplished at the general 
 resurrection, " when they that are asleep in 
 *' the grave shall hear his voice, and shall 
 " come forth : they that have done good 
 *' unto the resurrection of life j./' Then he 
 will distinguish all " them that are his§," 
 and take them to himself, and make them 
 completely happy and blessed both in 
 body and soul. None hath ever giv(>n, 
 (save Christ himself,) so majestic a dcscrip- 
 
 * Numb. X. 29. t Kccl. xii. 7. 
 
 1 John v.'28,'2n. § '2 Tim. ii. ly. 
 
374 
 
 tion of this reception of the fiiithful at the 
 last-day as the eloquent Teacher of the 
 Gentiles : " I would not." he says to the 
 Thessalonian church, " have you ignorant 
 " concerning them which are asleep, that 
 " ye sorrow not even as others, which have 
 " no hope. For if we believe that Jesus 
 " died and rose again, even so them also 
 " which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with 
 " him. For this we say unto you by the 
 " word of the Lord, that the Lord himself 
 " shall descend from heaven with a shout, 
 " with the voice of the archangel and with 
 " the trump of God, and the dead in 
 " Christ shall rise first. Then we which 
 " are alive and remain, shall be caught up 
 " together with them in the clouds, to 
 *' meet the Lord in the air ; and so shall 
 " we ever be with the Lord. Wherefore 
 ** comfort one another with these words*.'" 
 Comfortable indeed they are : for the doc- 
 trine which they unfold is capable of hush- 
 ing every sigh, and blunting the edge of eve- 
 ry sorrow — (viz.) that although our Saviour 
 has removed his bodily presence from his 
 friends on earth, (he left them *' for a little 
 
 * Thcss. iv. 13—1 S. 
 
:j/.) 
 
 " while," to make ready lor llicm at ll.cir 
 removal, a belter and more lastinnr lesi- 
 dence), yet he never left them in liis aflec- 
 tions ; he never look his Holy Spirit iVoni 
 them ; his fatherly care, his pastoral watcli- 
 fujness, his regard lor their highest tempo- 
 ral comforts, his lender interest in the sal- 
 vation of their sonis, ceased not, relaxed 
 not for a moment : nor will he rest satisfied 
 till he and they shall meet again,— the 
 Saviour and the saved, the IJIesser and the 
 blessed, the Rewarder and they that gain 
 the prize, eternally to solace themselves 
 in each other's company, and drink to- 
 gether of the vine in his Father's kingdom. 
 This and many other passages of the 
 Scripture, speak of the " (luintesscnce of 
 •* heaven's" bliss as consisting of, residing 
 with Christ. St. Paul says, I have " a 
 " desire to depart, that I n)ay be with 
 " Christ*.'' And the desire of the great 
 Apostle was not tbundcd singly upon the 
 promise of our text. For the promise of 
 admitting tlie just to his society in para- 
 dise, was a favourite theme of the Ke- 
 (Leenier, when he saw tlie necessity they 
 - I'l.ii. I.--. 
 
376 
 
 had for encouragement to carry them 
 steadily through their pilgrimage. " If 
 " any man serve me/' he says at another 
 time, " let him follow me, and where I 
 " am there shall also my servant be*." 
 
 My brethren, though "eye hath not seen, 
 " nor ear heard, neither hath entered into 
 " the heart of man t" to conceive, such 
 glories ; yet we may raise our minds to 
 imagine what gratitude, Avhat reverence, 
 what love, what delightful astonishment, 
 what perfect satisfaction will pervade and 
 fill the souls of the accepted, when they 
 shall see, face to face, the Author of all their 
 happiness, the Purchaser of all their salva- 
 tion, the meritorious and merciful Cause of 
 their sitting upon thrones at the right hand 
 of Majesty, and basking in the sunshine of 
 his Father's favour. Such an idea, I saj^ 
 it is lawful for us to form of what our sen- 
 timents will be upon entering the mansions 
 of the Heavenly House. All, that a con- 
 tented mind and a thankful heart can feel, 
 we may in some faint degree anticipate ; 
 but what will actually constitute the beati- 
 tudes and glories of heaven, we can scarcely 
 
 * John xii. 26. t 1 Cor. ii.9. 
 
:377 
 
 figure out the shadow of an opinion : we 
 must wait till we see theui, and know ihoin, 
 and feel the reality of their enjoyment. 
 
 If it be not presumption in nie to attempt 
 a description of those, which fall the nearest 
 to the capacity of our present intellect, I 
 will humbly venture to say a word or two 
 upon the heart-cheering topic. And if but 
 one of us shall be incited, and stimulated 
 by it to aim at a high degree of that re- 
 ward, running, as men run in a race, to gain 
 the prize, our time and our thoughts will 
 have been happily employed. Most evi- 
 dent it is, that, since our present residence 
 is " a house tottering to its fall, a tabernacle 
 " which is about to be taken down," it be- 
 hoves us all, as we value existence, to seek 
 a house that will not give way, a tal^cr- 
 nacle which will endure. 
 
 My fellow-mortals, one pleasing notion 
 which we can with certainty form of heaven 
 is, — that in that blessed region there will be 
 no delinquency or guilt. Even of this 
 lower world it has been allowed, that if 
 crimes and profaneness were banished from 
 it, the greatest part of our anxiety and 
 affliction would bt? removed ; because the 
 
378 
 
 principal share of our fears and distresses 
 here (if we except llic ravages of death,) 
 arise from the malice and treachery, the 
 bad faith and wicked principle of those, 
 with whom we have intercourse. Take, 
 then, away wickedness out of the v/orld, 
 and a very large portion of misery would 
 necessarily cease. If, indeed, all men were 
 virtuous and benevolent, the theatre, on 
 which we are acting our parts, would quite 
 change its face ; and instead of presenting 
 to us one frightful picture of pride, anarchy, 
 hatred, revenge and devastation, we should 
 contemplate in it the happy reign of humi- 
 lity, good order, love, contentment, peace, 
 and universal prosperity. It would be a 
 foretaste of better things above. 
 
 From what have we derived, through a 
 divine blessing, the greatest pleasures, which 
 sweetened by a good conscience we have 
 yet Usted upo i earth ? Certainly from the 
 mutual good offices, the reciprocal allec- 
 tions, and the social virtues of the amiable 
 and the upright. In this way " it is more 
 " blessed to give than to receive*." The 
 greatest temporal happiness is to ii^ake a 
 
 * Acts XX. f>.5. 
 
37f) 
 
 fellow-creature liappy. A glow of sell- 
 delight runs through every part ol" our 
 frame, when we have comforted tlic child 
 of misery. What joy, then, it is to think, 
 (if we could raise our thoughts of the 
 eternal world no higher,) that in the air of 
 heaven vice and error cannot breathe ; that 
 in every mansion truth and virtue su- 
 premely flourish ; that all its inhabitants 
 are amiable, affectionate, peaceable ; all 
 vie with each other, which can add most to 
 the happiness of the whole ; tlie feeling of 
 envy cannot stir within one breast ; the 
 voice of discord cannot grate upon one ear. 
 Every sentiment is love, and every sounil 
 is harmony. The goodness of God is the 
 subject which fills every mind and engages 
 every tonoue ; and the lonc^er that sub- 
 ject forms the sentiment and song of each 
 blessed soul in the realms of joy and har- 
 mony, the more it animates and dcliglils 
 each mansion of the Heavenly House ; it 
 never wearies, it never satiates. It may, 
 perhaps, be not unfitly compared to a foun- 
 tain, from which arc springing perpetual 
 streams of innocence and pleasure, and 
 
38a 
 
 those streams supplied through eternal ages 
 by the bounty of the first great Cause. 
 
 Another pleasing notion, which we can 
 with certainty form of heaven, is, — that in 
 that blessed region there will be no sick- 
 ness, infirmity, or pain. 
 
 Doubtless, one of the greatest sources 
 of our anxiety and affliction in this lower 
 world arises from the disorders and dis- 
 tempers, to which the human frame is liable. 
 It is very hard to bear the constant pres- 
 sure of bodily pain, even when that pres- 
 sure is not for any moment very heav}^ ; 
 the mind becomes weary, the whole frame 
 Aveak; every thing seems to grow inditferent 
 to us ; we appear to be removed from the 
 enjoyment of all that once looked bright 
 and promising, except the sweet voice of 
 Religion. If this be the consequence of 
 lesser pains, when they are seldom absent 
 from us ; how much more terrible is it to 
 endure the incessant assault of spasms, of 
 the gout, and other maladies ; the very re- 
 port of which makes us tremble, lest upon 
 us they may be doomed to fall. We have 
 seen the true Christian strive to submit with 
 
381 
 
 resignation to the will ol llcavon, \\ Iilmi 
 thus visited with unabating anguish ; and 
 if a momentary sigh or exp»'ession, which 
 savoured of discontent, has stolen from his 
 lips, he was sorry, and hoped, he said, to 
 be forgiven : but still he could not help 
 saying, Alas! "I am made to possess 
 " months of vanity, and wearisome nights 
 " are appointed to me. When I lie down 
 " I say. When shall I arise and the night be 
 " gone*;" and when I awake in the morn- 
 ing, I say. How long will the day appear 
 before it is past ? — Such suffering is very 
 grievous. O how thankful to God should 
 r^e be, who have not felt it! Besides it is 
 difficult to say, whether our affliction is 
 much less Avhilst it lasts, when we see an 
 object, whom we are tenderly attached to, 
 sinking gradually under a painful disease 
 which cannot be cured. We watch the 
 esteemed patient, but our vigilance is use- 
 less, it only proves the strength of our re- 
 gard for him. We send for physician after 
 physician, but their varied prescriptions 
 are to no avail. We solicitously intpiire 
 of our favourite (endeavouring to check 
 
 * J(»b vii. oy 4. 
 
382 
 
 the starting tear for fear of alarming,) if lie 
 be a little better; and he (in his turn, to 
 lessen our grief,) tells us, as he told us be- 
 fore, that he is ; but our eyes and our ears 
 forbid us to believe it. For awhile we 
 flattered ourselves, — we can flatter our- 
 selves no more. I will not paint the scene 
 in more sable colours, nor trace it to its 
 gloomy end. Many among my present 
 ccngrecration are the fathers, husbands, 
 brothers, who, having recently sustained 
 the heaviest of human losses, stand in need 
 of all the consolations which religion can 
 bring, to still the sufferings of an anguished 
 mind. The chastening rod hath left a 
 wound, which must long be painful, and 
 never can be healed entirely on this side of 
 the grave. But in heaven it will ; and if 
 w^e could raise our thouohts no hio-hcr of 
 that blissful country, how reviving it is to 
 know, that tliere will be no sickness, no 
 pain, no infirmity. The head will ache, 
 the spasms will agitate, the gout will rack, 
 no more. Not only shall we ourselves 
 never again feel anguish and torment, but 
 we shall see those we loved on earth for 
 ever placed beyond ihcir reach. The last 
 
383 
 
 uneasiness will he rcinoved, tlio last tear 
 dried away, by ihe gentle liand of our 
 heavenly Parent. And then we shall know 
 ihc whole extent of that gracious promise 
 of our Saviour's Ciospel : "Oome unto me, 
 " all ye that labour and are heavy laden*;" 
 for our rest will be fully realized, a rest from 
 wily passions and wicked spirits; a rest 
 (how great!) from fear iind aj^prehensions, 
 from disease and agony, from losses and 
 privations, from sorrow and afHietions. 
 Then those who once were deaf will be 
 made to hear, the dumb to speak, the blind 
 to sec, the lame to walk, the poor maniac 
 to recover his reason, and the worn-down 
 with years to flourish in immortal youth. 
 And what a delisiht it will be to listen to 
 each and all cf these, whilst they acknow- 
 ledge their great deliverance, and tell of 
 the goodness of their common Benefactor ; 
 to see them casting their crowns before 
 him, and to join them in the harmonious 
 anthems of the seraphic host : " Worthy art 
 thou,'' Almighty God, our creator, our sa- 
 viour, and our sanctif^cr, " to receive bh^- 
 " sing and l.onour and [)rai^e ;" for tliuu 
 
 * Matt, xi.28. 
 
384 
 
 hast made us what we are, and thou wilt be 
 the cause of our mcreasing happiness for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 And who are they, that will be counted by 
 us among the spirits of the just, assembled 
 and associated there ? This question brings 
 to my mind a third pleasing notion which 
 we may lawfully entertain of heaven ; I 
 speak of the recognition of our departed 
 friends. Perhaps, it is the sublimest notion 
 which we can humbly presume to form of 
 future happiness, while we remain in this 
 lower world. Let us thank God for placing 
 in our hearts a hope so consolatory amid 
 the troubles that surround us*. 
 
 * Tullius Cicero, the orator of Rome, who had not 
 seen the light that we have seen, nor heard of the Saviour 
 in whom we believe rejoicing, was yet so affected with 
 the glimmering hope of immortality, which just beamed 
 upon his towering mind, that he expresses himself upon 
 this subject in language, that must astonish and delight 
 every grateful Christian : 
 
 ** For my part I feel myself transported with the de-* 
 " sire of seeing my departed friends, whose characters I 
 " respected and whose persons 1 loved. Nor is this 
 " earnest desire confined to those illustrious men, whom 
 " 1 personally knew ; I ardently wish to visit also those 
 " celebrated worthies, of whose honourable conduct 1 
 " have heard and read, or whose viitues 1 have com- 
 
385 
 
 I am ready to allow that this exjiccla- 
 tion of seeing and knowing and associatin<y 
 
 " memorated in some of my writings. Bent on iny 
 " journey to them, T would not be recalled by the pro- 
 " mise of restored youth. Nay, should son>e divinity 
 " confer upon me a new grant of my life, and replace me 
 " once more in the cradle, I would, wilhont the least 
 " hesitation, reject the offer :— having well nigh finislied 
 " my race, I have no inclination to return to the starting- 
 " post. For what are the advantages of life ? or, rather, 
 " what trouble is it exempt from ? To say the best of 
 " it, there is a limit to its pleasures, which arc never 
 " satisfactory. T mean not, however, to represent the 
 " condition of human nature as a subject of just lanien- 
 " tation. On the contrary, 1 am far from regretting that 
 " 1 have lived ; because my life has been such, that I 
 " have the satisfaction to believe 1 was not born in 
 " vain. In short, I consider this world as a place which 
 " nature never designed for my permanent abode : and I 
 " look upon my departure out of it, not as being driven 
 ** from my habitation, but as leavhig my inn. Oh ! glorious 
 " day, \\heu 1 shall leave the tumult and corruption of 
 " the world, and join the society and council of divine 
 " minds ! Of all, who have loft the world before me, I 
 " weep for Cato the most. His soul, however, did not 
 " desert me; but still looked back upon me in its flight 
 ** to those happy mansions, to which he was assured I 
 " should one day follow him. And if I seem< d to bearhi.s 
 " death with fortitude, it was, because 1 supported myself 
 " under the consoling reflection, that we could not lung 
 " be separated." — Vide Cicero's Treatise cuwertiing Old 
 Age. Last chapter. 
 
 VOL. II. i C 
 
386 
 
 with those we loved on earth, when we and 
 they shall live beyond the grave, is not, 
 as far as I know, specifically set before us 
 in the Gospel. My brethren, it was not 
 necessary : because it is a thing so certain 
 from the very nature of our future reward, 
 Avhich is perfect memory, perfect know- 
 ledge, perfect satisfaction ; so essential, I 
 repeat it, to constitute a plenitude of hap- 
 piness and glory like this, that we receive 
 and embrace the doctrine as a matter not 
 to be doubted. But yet we believe it, not 
 without sufficient internal evidence. 
 
 Our Saviour says, that " in heaven they 
 " neither marry nor are given in mar- 
 " riage." Sensual pleasures and volup- 
 tuous scenes are the promise of the Koran 
 of Mahomet, not of the Gospel of Jesus 
 Christ. The delights of the paradise, which 
 we hope and pray for, are pure and chaste 
 and spiritual. But our Saviour having thus 
 spiritualized our views of the society of 
 heaven, next tells us that the spirits of 
 the just are, after the resurrection, " as 
 ** the angels^*' of God. We want not 
 stronger evidence in favour of our hypo- 
 
 * Mark xii. 25. 
 
:587 
 
 thesis, (it it can be called an hypolhcsis, 
 which is rather certainty than supposition,) 
 that, in the regions of light and science, the 
 faithful husband shall recognise his vir- 
 tuous wife, the affectionate father his duti- 
 ful child, the brother his sister, and the 
 friend his friend. Surely to he destitute 
 of this knowledge would be less than a 
 similitude and equality to the angels of 
 God. The angels forget not any thing they 
 have known ; it would be to suppose them 
 in one respect inferior to mortals. There- 
 fore, if we shall be as the angels, when we 
 enter into the heavenly mansions, we shall 
 not forget any thing that hath happened to 
 us. The most interesting ties and inno- 
 cent engagements, which we formed in the 
 lower world will not, cannot, be buried 
 in oblivion. 
 
 No : the remembrance of the moral du- 
 ties we fulfilled, of the religious services we 
 performed, of the days we walked together 
 in the house of God as friends, of the care 
 we took of our children's morals, of the 
 charitable institutions we supported, of the 
 *' fatherless and widows" we visited " in 
 " their affliction," and of every effort wc 
 
 9 C i 
 
388 
 
 made to keep ourselves " unspotted from 
 " the world*;" I say, the remembrance of 
 these things, executed from the love of God 
 and the love of our neighbour, will consti- 
 tute a part of the happiness of heaven, 
 x^nd if these virtues will be fresh in our 
 grateful recollection, and call forth our eter- 
 nal thanksgiving to God, from whom came 
 every good and perfect gift, we cannot live 
 in the society of those who were the ob- 
 jects of our charity and care, and not recog- 
 nise their countenances or be conscious of 
 their felicity. " Now,'' saith St. Paul, " we 
 *' see through a glass darkly, but then face 
 " to face : now I know in part, but then 
 " shall I know even as I am known t-" 
 And the same knowledge which St. Paul 
 now enjoys, we shall enjoy, if we follow, 
 as he did, the footsteps of our Redeemer, 
 relying on his merits for acceptance. The 
 knowledge of God will be the fulness of 
 rev/ard ; and as a source of satisfaction, 
 flowing from this fountain of eternal sci- 
 ence, how refreshing it will be to know, 
 that the revered parents who taught us our 
 duty, and the beloved children whom we 
 
 * James i. 27. t 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 
 
:389 
 
 trained up '* in the Avay *■ that they should 
 go, have died as they lived, in the fear of 
 God, and in the faith of Jesvis Christ, and 
 are to the consciousness of our enlightened 
 minds enjoying the recompense of days and 
 deeds, devoted to religion and to heaven. 
 
 Nor will I give up the firm belief, that the 
 faithfulministerof Christ will meet again the 
 people, whom, by the help of God, he con- 
 verted or comforted on earth, and carry 
 them with joy, as sheaves in his bosom, to 
 the celestial garner. Can we suppose, that 
 holy Paul will not recognise in heaven the 
 members of the churches of Corinth and 
 Philippi ? Or that the aft'ectionate evange- 
 list John will not remember the steady 
 Ephesians, to whom he preached his last 
 discourse ? Can we believe that Abraham 
 will not know the child of promise, whom 
 he was ready to sacrifice at Heaven's conj- 
 mand, or that Jacob will have no remem- 
 brance of Joseph and his Brethren ? Can the 
 twelve Apostles be supposed to sit near the 
 throne of their Lord upon twelve thrones 
 judging the twelve tribes of Israel, and not 
 be conscious of each other's elevation * 
 
 * I'rov. xxii. 6. 
 
390 
 
 To suppose such a total oblivion, is not 
 rational. Nay, I would humbly ask, Avhe- 
 ther it is not decidedly contrary to the 
 spirit, if not the letter, of the Gospel. And 
 then I would lead you to contemplate, in 
 the words of a sterling writer, " what un- 
 " utterable happiness must spring from an 
 " intercourse with just men made perfect, 
 " when all the ransomed of the Lord shall 
 " hold dehghtful fellowship together, and 
 " tell what their Saviour hath done for 
 " them, and theirs ; when they who once, 
 *' amidst many sorrows and imperfections, 
 *' worshipped and watched and wept to- 
 " gether, shall joyfully testify to each 
 " happy spirit, how much they were debt- 
 " ors to that matchless Friend,'' whose ser- 
 vice they sometimes left, but whose care 
 never left them; how he instructed them 
 by his lessons, cheered them by his pro- 
 mises, guided them by his Spirit, recom- 
 mended them to his Father : how, when he 
 saw the Tempter laying his snares, he gave 
 them warning; when they were going astray, 
 he reclaimed their wandering steps ; and 
 when they came back, he welcomed them 
 home and received them unto himself. 
 
391 
 
 O happy " communion of the saints*" on 
 earth! More happy far their fellowship in 
 heaven ! For there they are assembled as 
 one family, under one Father ; as one fold, 
 under one Shepherd : as one church, under 
 one Spirit. ** They are acquainted with 
 " each other's history and happiness, and 
 " obtain new discoveries of those scenes of 
 " wonder and joy, which formerly but 
 " dawned upon their infant minds. Now 
 " the}' can survey the wide circuit of the 
 " works of the Almighty ; they can ex- 
 " amine the worlds of nature, providence, 
 " and grace, and trace in each the glory, 
 " the wisdom, the power and love, of their 
 " eternal Author. And, then, with over- 
 " flowing hearts, they bear their part in 
 " the wondrous narrative of the divine 
 " transactions; they proclaim what a great 
 " salvation the council of Heaven hath 
 " schemed and executed for them, and for 
 " their children ; and call on every inha- 
 " bitant of the heavenly mansions, to ce- 
 " lebrate and magnify the grace ol" a ro- 
 " deeming God." 
 
 Having now finished the explanation of 
 
 * r?Vr \po-tlf<' CrreH. 
 
392 
 
 this gracious promise at the length which 
 it seemed to claim, I will endeavour to draw 
 from it some useful lessons for our mutu- 
 al advantage. 
 
 Built as this promise is upon two main 
 pillars which cannot be moved, — the vera- 
 city of Christ's word, and the integrity of 
 his affection,— we have nothing to fear, and 
 every thing to hope. And surely nothing 
 can more powerfully invite the short-lived 
 passengers through an uncertain world to 
 wean their hearts from its fading pleasures 
 and possessions, and fix their best affec- 
 tions upon those riches which will never 
 flee away, those mansions which will never 
 perish. The blessedness of such a spiritual 
 frame of mind is most engagingly exhi- 
 bited in an account, that the eloquent and 
 pious Saurin gives, of a friendly visit which 
 he paid to a fellow-minister of religion in 
 his last illness. " God, he says, had been 
 " pleased, if we may presume to speak so, 
 " to visit him for some months past with 
 " a temptation more than is common to 
 " man; but he granted him a fortitude 
 " more than human to support it. I was 
 " filled witli astonishment at the violence 
 
393 
 
 " of his sufferings, and still more, at the 
 " patience with which he endured them. 
 " I could not help expressing a wish to 
 " know, what particular article of reliiiion 
 " had contributed the most to produce in 
 " him that invincible resignation. 
 
 " * Haveyou ever paid a closer attention, 
 " * my dear brother,' he said to nic, ' to the 
 " ' last address of Jesus Christ to his dis- 
 " ' ciples ? O my God,' exclaimed the 
 " ' dying Christian, ' what charity ! what 
 " ' tenderness ! but above all, what an in- 
 " ' exhaustible source of consolation is 
 " ' here, in the extremity of distress V" 
 
 Thus spake this firm believer*. He 
 only, who had lived a holy life, could have 
 a faith so firm and joyous. And then, like 
 Stephen, he commended his patient spirit 
 into the hands of God. He shut his eyes 
 upon the world in peace, because he had 
 sought a better country ; and was that 
 very day with his Saviour in paradise. 
 
 * This affecting and improving narrative calls to our 
 mind the departure ot the amiable Addison, the defender 
 of every virtuous and religious principle, who, in his last 
 moments, sent for Lord Warwick, and pressing liis hand 
 with affection, softly said, — See, in what peace a Chrn- 
 tian can die. 
 
.394 
 
 Happy and serene were Iiis last mo- 
 ments ; no visionary triumph, no unsanc- 
 tioned hope ; no wild dependance on a 
 death-bed repentance. He had long re- 
 pented ; he had brought forth works meet 
 for repentance. He had been, his pious 
 biographer states, " a valuable minister of 
 " religion ;" and such a minister must be 
 an example of the doctrines he preaches, 
 and the duties he recommends. Right 
 dear in the sight of his Lord is the death 
 of such a servant. " How beautiful are 
 " the feet of them that preach the gospel 
 " of peace *.'^ " I'hey, that turn many to 
 " righteousness, shall shine as the stars for 
 " ever and ever-j-." 
 
 My brethren, God is no respecter of 
 persons. Equally tranquil and triumphant 
 will be our departure from this vale of 
 tears, if we live a life as virtuous and reli- 
 gious, depending upon our Redeemer ; 
 and equally exalted will be our mansion 
 in his Father's house, if our faith and obe- 
 dience to the last are proved to be as 
 sincere and steadfast. 
 
 But, alas, how difficult do the best of 
 
 * Rom. X. 15. t Dan. xii. 3. 
 
396 
 
 Christians find it to have their art'ections 
 heavenly in such an earthly region as this. 
 It is a narrow road that leadeth to eternal 
 hfe. Many and njahcious are the enemies, 
 who try to stop us in travelling this road. 
 Thick and artfully laid are the snares and 
 stratagems, with which they would entan- 
 gle our heedless and precipitate steps. 
 Dressed in every specious form are the 
 vicious and voluptuous pleasures, which 
 they scatter in our way, and which, laying 
 siege to our passions in some unguarded 
 moment, shut the avenues of Our heart, at 
 all times " deceitful, and too often despe- 
 " rately wicked,^^ against every call of con- 
 science, and every offer of the Gospel. 
 
 Arid tell me, if, Avhilst thus we are the 
 slaves of mammon, we can be the servants 
 of the living God ; if, whilst we are the vo- 
 taries of time, we can hope to be the heirs 
 of immortality ; if, wliilst we are the com- 
 panions of the children of this world, in 
 their vanities, their dissipations, and their 
 crimes, we can suppose ourselves chosen 
 to join the children of light in the chaste 
 employments and ineffable delights of the 
 Heavenly House. 
 
396 
 
 Tell nie, (for it is necessary that on this 
 you should make up your minds,) whether 
 it can be of any use that Christ hath died 
 for us, if we never live for him, — nay, if 
 we refuse to make the smallest sacrifice or 
 self-denial for his sake ? Can it be of any 
 avail to us, that he was wounded for our 
 sins and bruised for our iniquities, if we 
 crucify him afresh with our sinful lusts ? 
 Or can it profit to our salvation, that he 
 hath gone to prepare a mansion for us, if 
 we never sincerely try to make ourselves 
 fit for the society that is there ? For be 
 this impressed, and seriously impressed, 
 upon every mind, that, except our inclina- 
 tions were previously sanctified by the in- 
 fluence of the Holy Spirit, shed abroad in 
 the heart and evidenced by a life of cha- 
 rity and justice ; except our affections were 
 fitted by religious disciphne and moral 
 habits, while we resided on earth, for the 
 purity and perfection of heaven, we could 
 not (even if we were admitted into its bliss- 
 ful region,) have any enjoyment in being 
 there, — being found without a wedding- 
 garment, when the Bridegroom came in 
 to see his guests, we could not mix with 
 
397 
 
 his society, nor laslc with them ol the 
 supper of the Lord. 
 
 If you have hitherto taken no pains to 
 make your calling and election sure; ifyour 
 thoughts,your wisiies, and your works,are in 
 no preparation for that strict and solemn ac- 
 count, which all must one day give ; if vou 
 have not reason to believe from a fair re- 
 view of your lives, that you have secured, 
 through the interest of your Saviour, a title 
 to some mansion in his Father's house, — 
 think what you are losing, and for what 
 you are forfeiting so great a prize ! You are 
 losing unbounded knowledge, infinite con- 
 tentment, an eternal existence free from 
 sorrow and full of joy : — it is not all ; you 
 are incurring the displeasure of God, the 
 stings of conscience, the contempt of vir- 
 tuous men, the bad opinion of yourself, a 
 life of restlessness and misery, a death so 
 terrible it cannot be described, and an eter- 
 nity of horrible despair: — and all this lor 
 what ? For empty vanities and visionary 
 objects, which, like a shadow, elude your 
 grasp, and which, if you had them all in 
 your present state of mind, would prove 
 themselves a source of care rather than of 
 comfort, a curse and not n l)lessin£^. The 
 
398 
 
 world is your idol, and what is the world ? 
 The love of it, saith an Apostle, " is enmity 
 " with God*," and the enemy of God can 
 never be the Christian's friend. 
 
 From the world, then, we call your af- 
 fections ; from the world we summon your 
 services. For what is a man profited, if he 
 gain the whole world and lose his own 
 souli? Yet think not, when we call you 
 from the world, that we wish you to break 
 off all relation with it; to sever yourself from 
 its respectable society, and give up its inno- 
 cent recreations ; to be always absorbed in 
 serious meditations and religious exercises ; 
 to wear a gloomy cast of countenance and 
 a forbidding demeanour, as if the religion 
 of the Gospel were some terrific message 
 of ill-will to men, and not, as its merciful 
 Author calls it, " the good tidings of great 
 " joy to all people.'' 
 
 Christianity neither is, nor ever was, a re- 
 ligion of moroseness and dejection. It 
 never required its disciples to retire in dis- 
 gust from the society of their friends and 
 connexions into the monastic cloister or 
 the hermit's cell. In all the sacred pages 
 of the Gospel you find not one text, which 
 
 *Jamesiv. 4. f Matt. xvi. 26. 
 
•399 
 
 requires such a gloomy preference tor aus- 
 terities, such a cheerless seclusion from the 
 blessings of life, such a melancholy sacrifice 
 of all the social comforts which Providence 
 hath prepared and sanctified. No : the re- 
 ligion of our blessed Lord, who came into 
 the world to make men happy, and (himself 
 our example,) went about tloing good, and 
 even entered into the society of publicans 
 and sinners to convert them and make them 
 better ; I say, this religion is (thank Hea- 
 ven) a religion of love, joy, consolation, 
 cheerfulness ; a religion best fulfilled in 
 domestic and social scenes, in the relative 
 offices of an exemplary life. The surest 
 proof of its origin, and the fairest evidence 
 of its progress are seen in the well-dis- 
 charged duties of a husband and a father; 
 a husband, made happy in the faithful con- 
 stancy and grateful affections of his wife ; 
 a father, whose virtues shed a lustre over 
 every branch of his family, and whose 
 good name descends to his children, 
 " more precious than gold and silver," 
 when he is taken from tliem to a better 
 world. 
 
 Be it yours, then, to view Religion as it 
 
400 
 
 is, — the friend, the comforter, the rewarder 
 of our race ; and, admiring its beauty and 
 benevolence, to love and cherish it in your 
 hearts as the sweetest and most joyous gift 
 of God to man. And never, while you live,^ 
 will you regret one hour you have devoted 
 to its holy cause, or one self-denial you have 
 made for the honour of its Founder. You 
 will be among the truly cheerful, be- 
 cause you will " so use the world as not 
 " to abuse it*.'' You will not partake of 
 that " mirth," in the midst of which " is 
 *' heaviness-)^," nor join in those pleasures, 
 which leave a sting behind them. Though 
 you will have the fullest enjoyment of 
 earthly blessings, you will still remember, 
 that this earth was never meant by its 
 Maker for the chief good of those, whose 
 better part — the soul—can never die. The 
 candidate for immortality has a nobler 
 prize to win : it is laid up at the right hand 
 of God ; and Religion is its only, its undis- 
 puted heir. 
 
 To conclude. The children of the world 
 are labouring for that which cannot satisfy ; 
 harassed with fears, surrounded by dangers, 
 
 * iCor. vii. 31. f Prov. xiv. 13. 
 
401 
 
 and distracted by disiipj)oiiUtiHMi(v;. Un- 
 believers may pretend to discredit lliis truth, 
 and scoffers may issue their daring calum- 
 nies against it ; but there will coine a day 
 when they will envy the lot of the vhildnn 
 of light, those virtuous and himible walkers 
 with God, whose affections are not on earth 
 but in heaven. 
 
 Thcae are the happy believers, whom the 
 Saviour thev confide in is gone on hi^rh to 
 protect and intercede for: he is not gone 
 in vain, for he hath all "authority*" in 
 heaven and in earth. 
 
 What he requires of his followers, in return 
 tor his blessings, is, a willing mnid and cor- 
 dial love for his person and his cause ; the 
 evidences he looks for of their sincerity, 
 are a steadfast faith, and a renewal of the 
 whole man in inward practical holiness. 
 Let these be visible in our lives, and every 
 duty and ser\'ice will be honoured by his 
 acceptance. 
 
 What, then, we must do for salvation, let 
 us do without loss of time, and with an 
 earnestness that promises success. Delay 
 is excessive danger, ajxithy is irremediable 
 
 * John V. 19— '27. - 
 \01., II 2U 
 
402 
 
 ruin. When a few more years have rolled 
 over our heads, years that will fleet away 
 as insensibly as those which have gone be- 
 fore them, our probation will be past, and 
 our accounts will be called for. Two dif- 
 ferent regions are prepared for the sons of 
 men when they have gone through the 
 gate of death ; the one of light and bliss, 
 the other of darkness and woe. 
 
 Can you hesitate in your choice ; or, 
 when you have chosen, can you be linger- 
 ing or lukewarm ? 
 
 If not, set out this moment for the 
 country of the blessed, and let nothing 
 draw you aside from the narrow road which 
 leads to it. Travel with haste, and make 
 long days in the necessary journey. De- 
 pend upon divine assistance for strength 
 through every stage, but do what you can 
 yourselves to reach your destined prize ; and 
 you will not meet with any enemy or in- 
 truder, who can seriously prevent your 
 progress : for He, who is gone to prepare a 
 place for you, will conduct you to it safely, 
 and unite you to himself in the Heavenly 
 House, that *^ where he is, there you may 
 " be" for ever. 
 
THE 
 
 nOES OF THE niCKRD : 
 
 A 
 
 SERMON, 
 
 rilF.ACHtD AT 
 
 QUEBEC CHAPEL, 
 
 ON 
 
 SUNDAY, THE rnu OF ^rAy, i^i«. 
 
 2 l> 
 
SERMON XIII. 
 
 ISAIAH XLVIII. 22. 
 
 THERE IS NO PEACE, SAITH THE LORD, TO THE 
 WICKED. 
 
 A HIS is one of the highest tributes that 
 was ever paid to virtue. But when I 
 speak of virtue, I understand not that 
 which is falsely considered and called so by 
 the world, which in its utmost extent con- 
 sists of no more than a few apparently good 
 actions, attended by the decent observance 
 of now and then a relative duty ; but 
 which never flows from a sense of the fear 
 and love of God upon the mind, never 
 leads a man religiously to inquire whether 
 he has done his duty to his Maker and to 
 mankind, whether his conscience is clear 
 in this great concern. For such virtue, if 
 it be at all entitled to the dignified name, 
 hath no foundation to rest upon, and there- 
 fore will fall, with little hopes of recover- 
 ing from the shock, as soon as temptation 
 and persecution prove what spirit it is of; 
 
406 
 
 trials, alas ! too heavy and severe for so 
 weak and unstable a principle. 
 
 The virtue, I mean, is christian virtue, a 
 system of mental feeling and religious prin- 
 ciple, as far superior to the highest attain- 
 ment of moral philosophy, when the shallow 
 ofispring of unenlightened reason, as the 
 brightest day of summer, to the darkness 
 of a winter's night. This is the discovery 
 of the finite intellect of the creature, ^to 
 the revelation of the infinite mind of the 
 Creator. And who is he, among the works 
 of the eternal Cause, that is so presump- 
 tuous as to compare the science of man 
 with the knowledge of God ? 
 
 Christian virtue, therefore, may be safely 
 laid down as the high road which leads to 
 safety and to happiness, both in the present 
 life and in a future state. As such, it should 
 be the influencing and governing principle 
 of every thought and action of our lives. 
 For all virtue, which doth not begin in the 
 love of God, and lay down religion for a 
 foimdation, may be said to begin at the 
 wrong end, to proceed upon a false suppo- 
 sition, and to keep to the last an unsubstan- 
 tial object in view. It is the case with 
 
407 
 
 regard to men's estimate and search of 
 peace. They seek it, (I am speaking of 
 worldly-minded men), in the noisy mirth 
 and giddy amusements of the gay and the 
 dissipated,— it dwells in the quiet medita- 
 tions of retirement, and the restrained 
 pleasures of innocence : they seek it in 
 excess of luxury and lust,— it exists nowhere 
 but in temperance and sobriety and self- 
 denial : they seek it in the transient ap- 
 plause of men, and the visionary expecta- 
 tions of temporal prosperity,— it is only 
 found in the lasting approbation of God, 
 and in the infallible hopes of eternal gain. 
 
 Hence we hear so many complaints of 
 the unhappiness and distresses, which run 
 through the world, and leave such frightful 
 chasms in the comforts and possessions of 
 the human race ; hence such loud and last- 
 ing dissatisfactions, expressed by all ranks 
 and ases, at the ground in which their lot 
 hath been cast, the station which by God's 
 appointment they have been sent to fill. 
 All this they attribute to the want of care 
 and kindness in the God of nature : they 
 quarrel with their own condition, which is 
 no less than qunrrclling with Iliin on whom 
 
408 
 
 their all depends ; and spend, in a wretched 
 temper, the few days, which mercy still 
 bestows on them, in fruitless repinings 
 about evils that are past, and in restless 
 fears of heavier miseries that may never 
 arrive. Thus they complain of their lot, 
 and thus they find fault with Providence 
 that cast it ; when all the while the blame 
 is in themselves, the cause in their errors 
 and vices : they cannot believe it, but it is 
 not less true on that account, that both 
 they, and all the most miserable of their 
 species, are chiefly and immediately the 
 framers and producers of their own sorrows 
 and afflictions. It is the lot of human na- 
 ture to suffer : it is the consequence of 
 human presumption to be disconsolate. 
 Every man must meet with losses, disap- 
 pointments, and afflictions in his passage 
 through time to eternity ; but no virtuous 
 man is discontented or hopeless, none less 
 than satisfied and happy, who, thankful for 
 what he hath on earth, looks forwards to 
 what he will have in heaven. Misery, such 
 as worldly-minded men confess and mourn 
 over in the restless successions of an un- 
 godly life, n^ay be easily traced to its real 
 
4oy 
 
 origin, il'a man will sil down mi a serious 
 hour, and read in his Bible the lessons of 
 Religion. He will find, that as long as the 
 creature is preferred to the Creator, and for 
 the sake of time and sense the pleasures of 
 piety and the foretastes of eternal jov are 
 despised and forgotten, the whole contluct 
 and conversation of the prodigal keep 
 running on a perpetual mistake, and 
 fraudulent statements of his own case. IJis 
 conscience is not fairly dealt with ; the in- 
 terests of his soul, the far better part of man 
 is kept in the back-ground ; his Saviour is 
 not trusted in; his God is not worshipped 
 and served ; nay, rather his aflections, his 
 services, his days are surrendered to an- 
 other master, the deceiver and destroyer of 
 the soul. And while a man thus deceives 
 his own heart, and thus deliberately insults 
 his Maker, his Preserver, and his Judge, 
 ** whatever he pursues is foolish in itself, 
 " and will be fatal in the issue and conse- 
 " quence of it." " There is no peace, 
 " saith the Lord, to the wicked." 
 
 To exhibit this truth in as clear a point 
 of view, as the limit of a sermon will allow, 
 
410 
 
 will be the humble attempt of the present 
 discourse. And my plan will be to shew, 
 
 I. That there is no peace to the wicked 
 man while he lives. 
 
 II. There is none to him when he dies. 
 I. There is no peace to the wicked man 
 
 while he stays on earth. 
 
 The invariable restlessness and misery of 
 a bad man, is a truth so universally taught 
 and so generally acknowledged, — a truth 
 indeed so strongly proclaimed by our own 
 hearts, and so attested by the experience 
 of every human being, who either reasons 
 or reflects, — that it may be almost consider- 
 ed a self-evident proposition. 
 
 Shew us in writings, ancient or modern, 
 sacred or profane, the history of a wicked 
 man who was a happy man ; or produce, if 
 you can, a person now living, who, after 
 having passed his days in thoughtlessness 
 and vice, has the courage to assert that he 
 hath peace, — an assertion which every 
 feeling of his conscience would contradict, 
 nay, which a far more faithful witness would 
 declare a falsehood ; for God hath said, 
 " There is no peace to the wicked." 
 
411 
 
 What brought misery first into the world ? 
 Even the same which hath kept misery in 
 it, — sin ; that great transgression against 
 God, sin. God commanded, and man 
 disobeyed. And if sin be the cause of 
 misery, then it is a necessary consequence, 
 that the more sinful any man is, the more 
 miserable he must be; and that he can have 
 no hope of becoming less unhappifj but by 
 first becoming less imhohj. IIa\ e you enter- 
 tained so foolish an expectation, as that of 
 being comfortable, without possessing the 
 grace of God, and a rational sense of his 
 favour? You may as well expect to be 
 nimble in extreme old age, or to roll in 
 plenty amidst the most abject poverty. " It 
 " shall not be well,'' saith the wise man, 
 " with the wicked, because he feareth not 
 " before God*." Subservient to which is 
 the lano-uasfe which the legislators of our 
 country have adopted in framing its penal 
 statutes. Describing the fatal motive of 
 our highest criminals, it says, they acted 
 *' without the fear of God before their 
 ** eyes.'' And certainly were all the com- 
 binations of language to be studied, it 
 
 * Eccl. viii. I". 
 
412 
 
 would not be possible to frame a sentence 
 more expressive tlian this, or one which 
 ordinary experience more fully justifies. 
 
 In the first place, a man that is fearless 
 of God, that is, a man void of moral and 
 religious principle, (for such I conceive is 
 the person represented in our text, as 
 having no peace), is out of the reach of any 
 thing which borders on contentment. And 
 discontent, the gloomy parent of envy and 
 mahgnity, prepares a man for every thing 
 that is unjust and violent. This immoral 
 and profane person is the slave of his pas- 
 sions ; and what tyranny is sO fierce as the 
 tyranny of unruly appetites ? However 
 wildly he may revel in the pleasures of the 
 world, or however successful he may be in 
 quest of its gains, he is at the end of his 
 pursuit, (for he was grasping at a shadow,) 
 as distant from the happiness for which he 
 started, as when he first set out. He may 
 be considered as incessantly moving in 
 the mazy circumference of error, and never 
 arriving nearer at the centre of his desires. 
 These desires are as insatiable as the grave, 
 still crying out, " Give, give ;'* not unlike 
 the thirst of one in the dropsy, who the 
 
413 
 
 more he drinks, the more his thirst conti- 
 nues to increase. A man would not act 
 much more like a madman, av ho constantly 
 threw oil into a fire, in order to lessen its 
 fury. AVhen was a proud man satisfied with 
 the honour that was paid him ? When was a 
 miser contented with his growing heaps 
 of gold? Or when the voluptuary sufficed 
 with his sensual delights ? Never, never. 
 Contentment, the gentle handmaid of Re- 
 ligion, is only resident in the uncontami- 
 nated dwelling of the friend of virtue. He, 
 who is most like his Saviour in the purity 
 of his character, is most like him in the 
 peacefuhiess of his soul. The libertine and 
 the lascivious are " like the troubled sea, 
 " which cannot rest." " Divided between 
 " contrary passions, and torn in pieces by 
 " contending lusts, disorder and confusion 
 " are in their minds not less than in their 
 " actions/' Like a ship in a tempest, 
 the winds striving for the mastery, they are 
 tossed about by tumultuous desires, one 
 clashing against another ; and driven at 
 random, without Religion as a pilot, they 
 arc soon wrecked amidst the rocks of di^- 
 appoinlment and despair. 
 
414 
 
 Besides there is a certain tormentor, 
 which the wicked man carries within his 
 breast, whithersoever he goes, or in what- 
 ever business he may be engaged. The 
 eloquence of holy writ can only describe 
 its clinging importunity. If he could 
 " cUmb up into heaven," it would be 
 " there ; if" he could " go down to hell,'' it 
 would be " there also ; if '' he could " take 
 " the wings of the morning, and remain in 
 " the uttermost parts of the sea*" still it 
 Avould haunt him, he could not shake it 
 off. That tormentor is aptly described in 
 Scripture, as a spirit " walking through'' 
 divers " places, seeking rest but finding 
 " none-f ." It is fearfully exemplified in 
 unrighteous Cain, when, having slain his 
 holy brother, the blood of Abel cried from 
 the ground : " My punishment," he said, 
 " is greater than I can bear. I shall be a 
 " fugitive and a vagabond in the earth : 
 " and it shall come to pass, that every one 
 " that fiudeth me shall slay me if." 
 
 Compared with the agonies of such a 
 spirit, the racking pains of a diseased body, 
 
 •^ Psal. cxxxix. 7, 8. Q. ^^ Matt. xii. 43. 
 % Gen. iv. 1.3, 14. 
 
415 
 
 the discord of contiicling elements, aiui 
 the horrors of desolating war, arc scenes 
 of comfort and tranquillity. A sense of 
 guilt gives a pang to the soul, to which no- 
 thing on this side of eternity can afibrd a 
 parallel. " The spirit of a man will sus- 
 " tain his infirmity ; but a wounded spirit 
 " who can bear* ?" 
 
 Doubtless, the principal cause of this in- 
 sutferable disquietude, is the dread of God, 
 as a recorder of actions, and an avenger of 
 crimes. But the Creator is not the only 
 object of the sinner's terror ; he is afraid 
 of himself, whom he has wronged ; and he 
 is afraid of his injured fellow-creatures. 
 Most hapless being ! who, when the face of 
 God is hid from him, and he is suspected 
 and shunned by society as a dangerous 
 member, hath nothing within himself to 
 contemplate as respectable, nothing conso- 
 latory to rest upon ! How dreadful to find 
 that he has all his life been undermining the 
 foundation of his own happiness, at the 
 same time that he has been provoking the 
 displeasure of Him, from whom ha])pincss 
 can only flow ; and that he hath done this 
 
 * Prov, xviii. 14. 
 
416 
 
 wilfully, shutting his eyes lo the destruction 
 that was hastening towards him, hke a 
 horse when he rushes into the battle ! 
 
 Let not such devoted transgressors lay 
 all the blame on the weakness and depra- 
 vity of nature, forgetful of the influence of 
 divine grace upon the mind of every one 
 who prays for the Holy Spirit. It is idle, 
 for a man, after he hath fallen into the ditch 
 of foul and flagrant immorality, to argue 
 that he could not have avoided it. We 
 form a very different estimate of the powers 
 of man, (when resting on divine Provi- 
 dence,) the most noble of God's earthly 
 creatures, made only a little lower than the 
 angels. We form, too, a very different esti- 
 mate of the tender benevolence and impar- 
 tial mercy of our Father which is in heaven; 
 No one eternally perishes, who does not 
 destroy himself God willeth not that any 
 should perish, but that every one should 
 " return from his way and live*.'' Each 
 individual, who has the use of reason and 
 resists not grace, can distinguish good from 
 evil, and duty from disobedience, as well 
 as he can discern light from darkness, and 
 
 * Ezek. xviii. *23. 
 
417 
 
 taste sweet from bitter. And the sin Mliitli 
 reason can discover, reason, intiuenced by 
 religion, can reject. None full under temp- 
 tation, who wrestle with the tempter, rely- 
 ing on the help of the Spirit of God. 
 
 But when, alas ! in the periods of health 
 and festivity, a succession of fascinating 
 objects enchant a mind not stored with 
 moral principle, and profane companions 
 combine with yielding nature to " paint 
 " the restraints of religion as the fetters of 
 " a severe master," then the child of the 
 world is lulled into a deep and dangerous 
 repose, and fatally forgets, that to be a 
 profligate is to be a wretch. fJere nature 
 and reason are not fairly dealt with ; they 
 were created for higher purposes and nobler 
 pursuits ; time and earth were not intended 
 to limit their views. Heaven was the glo- 
 rious inheritance set before them to arrest 
 their affections, and fire their ambition ; 
 but this they have given up for a few vain 
 wishes and momentary pleasures. And 
 what is the end thereof? ]\Iy brediren, it is 
 almost too terrible for even the prospect of 
 it to be viewed. 
 
 Conscience seems for awhile to be asleep, 
 
 VOL. 11. 2 E 
 
418 
 
 and the transgressor thinks that he is safe. 
 His situation may be compared to that of 
 a soldier, in whose ears the din of war had 
 been hushed ; and he lay down to rest, under 
 the belief that the retreating enemy was 
 at a distance; when, all at once, the clamour 
 of advancing hosts drew near, and report 
 went through the camp, that they came in 
 greater numbers, and with increased fury. 
 Thus the conscience of a wicked man 
 sleeps not long : it wakes again before it 
 was expected, and seems to act in a way of 
 revenge, for its former inefficiency ; it is a 
 worm that never dies ; it is as active as the 
 " sword in the garden of Eden, that turn- 
 " ed every way to keep the way of the tree 
 " of life*.'' When such a one is forced by 
 his conscience to look back on his past ac- 
 tions, they appear Hke so many frightful 
 monsters to him. He can trace, in each of 
 them, a link in the long chain of misery 
 that hath enslaved him. The crimes, which 
 he had overlooked, now rise in a continued 
 series one behind another, as far as memory 
 can reach, and all appear in their true 
 colours. And whither can he fly for the 
 
 ♦ Gen. iii. 24. 
 
419 
 
 dissipation of his cares and woes? Not to 
 his riches, — they cannot purchase a single 
 moment's ease : not to liis wine, — it cannot 
 steep one dismal thought in obhvion : not 
 to his honours and preferments, — they can 
 not throw one act of infamy into obscurity : 
 not to his carnal pleasures, — they have lost 
 their sweets, and taste like wormwood : not 
 to his former associates in the gay round 
 of luxury and lust, — they have enough to 
 do to drive away their own stings of con- 
 science; they cannot administer a comfort 
 which they never felt, nor assist their guilty 
 fellow-creature against a God, at the very 
 thought of whom they tremble, when it 
 comes across them, that " for all these 
 " things he will bring them to judg- 
 " ment." 
 
 " Cleanse your hands, ye sinners," saith 
 the apostle James, " and purify your 
 ** hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted 
 " and weep,'' for your miseries that shall 
 come upon you ; " let your laughter be 
 " turned to mourning, and yo"r joy to 
 " heaviness; humble yourselves in the sight 
 " of the Lord*/' Again, if ye are "a 
 
 * James iv. 8, 9. 
 2 F. 2 
 
420 
 
 " sinful people," saith God bj his pro- 
 phet Isaiah, " loaden with iniquity, a seed 
 " of evil doers,"' children that are corrupt- 
 ers ; ye may " spread forth your hands, 
 " and I will hide mine eyes from you ; ye 
 " may make many prayers, but I will not 
 " hear. Wash you, make you clean, put 
 " away your evil doings from before mine 
 " eyes. Cease to do evil, learn to do 
 " well*." 
 
 My fellow Christians, with such declara- 
 tions as these from the men of God, can 
 an}^ one, who professes his belief in the sa- 
 cred writings,' go on habitually sinning 
 from year to year, and expect to enjoy any 
 thing bordering on peace ? Can the covet- 
 ous man hoard up his worthless treasure, 
 while the child of want and misery passes 
 every hour before him unpitied and unre- 
 lieved ? Can the fornicator indulge his 
 impetuous lust, as often as his passions 
 tempt him ; or the adulterer continue his 
 nightly dalliance in the lap of guilt ? 
 Can the swearer go on blaspheming the 
 name of his God, or the sabbath-breaker 
 persevere in polluting the day which He hath 
 
 * Isai, i. 4, 15, 16, 17, 
 
421 
 
 commanded to be kept holy ? Can the liar 
 (it is difficult to mention his name with pa- 
 tience) pursue his hateful habit, his degrad- 
 ing inchnation, till no one will believe a 
 word he says, or place the slightest confi- 
 dence in his engagements? — Ikit where 
 shall I stop in the gloomy inquiry ? Can, 
 I repeat it, any of these transgressors 
 against the laws of God and man, these 
 violators of virtue, and of common decen- 
 cy, go on, regardless of conscience and of 
 consequences ; and expect to find peace to 
 their minds, or rest unto their souls ? Can 
 they indulge the slightest hope of escaping 
 the bitterness of retlection, or the horrors of 
 remorse? Sooner would I believe that man, 
 who told me he had found out perpetual 
 motion, or fathomed the deepest part of 
 the sea. But the matter depends not upon 
 the opinion of man ; it is for ever set at 
 rest by the word of the Almighty, who, 
 from the first page of revelation to the 
 last, hath proclaimed, — and who dares con- 
 tradict him ? — that there is no peace to the 
 wicked ; and that he will exact the utter- 
 most fardiing of debt, from the presump- 
 tuous olTender. 
 
422 
 
 As it hath appeared, that there is no 
 peace to the wicked man, while he stays in 
 the world ; so it will be easily shewn, that, 
 secondly, there is none to him when he 
 leaves it. He will die, as he has lived, a 
 miserable creature. Since you must all 
 quit this earth, either in the character of a 
 righteous man, or in the character of an 
 impenitent, it is proper to famiharize your- 
 selves with a view of the latter end of both ; 
 that you may be enabled to judge which of 
 the two destinies awaits you, and may 
 adopt the more eligible death. Men have 
 often been heard to say, — *' Let me die the 
 death of the righteous* \' but no man hath 
 ever yet been so hardened, as to express a 
 wish that he might die the death of the 
 wicked. Flinty must be the heart of him, 
 whom the picture of a dying profligate will 
 not lead to serious impressions. More in- 
 corrigible, if possible, his, whom the portrait 
 of an expiring saint, will not impress with 
 sacred fear, and lead to better purposes. 
 Strange, then, that so many of God's ra- 
 tional creatures neglect to make any pre- 
 paration for the last great change ; when 
 
 * Numb, xxiii. 10. 
 
423 
 
 they know how soon it must arrive with all 
 its awful consequences ! " In vain do wc 
 " repel the image of death ; every day 
 " brings it nearer : youth glides away, 
 " years hurry on ;" and, like water spilt 
 upon the ground, which cannot be gather- 
 ed up again, our time slips from us, nc\ cr 
 to be recovered, never to be redeemed. 
 " Form to yourselves,'' (if your fancy can 
 reach it) " a condition in this lower world, 
 " completely agreeable to your towering 
 " views : lengthen out your days to a term 
 " beyond your most sanguine wishes" — 
 What then ? would the body be satisfied, 
 or would the mind be at rest ? Would the 
 soul be in possession of its interests, the 
 treasure and the crown for which it was 
 created ? Is this, in all its highest conceiv- 
 able excellence, worthy of an immortal be- 
 ing? For such is man, — a being formed af- 
 ter the image of God, and capable of at- 
 taining to a participation of his glory. 
 Will you think so, when your eyes, grown 
 dim with age, can scarcely discern the 
 clearest day from the darkest night ; and 
 when your knees, cramped and tottering, 
 can scarcely support you, even with the 
 help of a friend, across the room, which you 
 
424 
 
 will not leave again, till you are carried out 
 upon the bier ? Will you think so, when 
 you are finishing the last " path which 
 " your forefathers have trod ;'" that path 
 which led them to the grave, where they 
 are sleeping, cold as the stone that covers 
 them ? O decide on this, while you have 
 health and strength; they both are very 
 uncertain possessions. For many, who reck- 
 oned on a long continuance of them, saw 
 quickly " that day arrive, to which (re- 
 specting them) no other day succeeded ; 
 " that was the day that ushered in their 
 " eternity/' Blessed, above measure bless- 
 ed, were those strangers and pilgrims in the 
 earth, if they were fit to die ! Lost, forever 
 lost, (no misery yet felt could surpass theirs,) 
 if they had not made their peace with God, 
 when his summons surprised them! If we 
 could unveil the deep recesses of the soul 
 of such a man, at such a season, (every 
 bitter remembrance, and every fearful an- 
 ticipation, enhanced by sohtude and sor- 
 row,) we should find such a collection of 
 regrets and miseries lodged within it, as 
 would excite pity in the breast of the most 
 unfeeling. 
 Think not it can be any pleasure to a 
 
425 
 
 minister of religion, to give pain to iiis 
 hearers by recitations ot" human sufl'ering. 
 In conducting you to the bed of death, it 
 would be more gratifying to our iWliuus 
 to lay before you, the reflections and pros- 
 pects, which at that trying hour are so 
 consolatory to the good man. It is delight- 
 ful to see how a Christian can die. But 
 my text, which must not be neglected, con- 
 fines me to the close of the unchristian 
 life, so helpless and so full of woe. AV hat 
 value does the dying sinner now place up- 
 on his costly mansion, his glittering coro- 
 net, and his wide domain ? What, upon 
 those flatteries which his greatness attract- 
 ed from his dependants, those acclama- 
 tions which met him as he passed through 
 the fickle crowd ? What profit will he tie- 
 rive from the number of hired attendants, 
 which shall follow him as he is carried 
 from the house that will know him no more ? 
 Or what dignity will he enjoy from the ti- 
 tles, which will then be only written on the 
 tablet of his tomb? Behold how he that 
 was courted and admired by some, feared 
 and envied by others, now passes through 
 the streets to his long home ; and as the 
 
me 
 
 procession slowly moves towards the man- 
 sions of the dead, some intimate, who knew 
 him from his youth, is heard to heave a sigh 
 and say, — Alas ! my brother ! 
 
 My fellow-mortals, begin you not, at 
 length, to perceive the duty, the interests, 
 the value of a being which was created for 
 eternity ; a being, which, passing quickly 
 through this lower world,thestageof its pro- 
 bation, must live with angels and happy 
 spirits in heaven, or with the tormentor and 
 his wretched ghosts in regions of never-end- 
 ing misery. Is it not an awful thing to live; 
 Is it not a still more awful thing to die^ 
 when such is the alternative to which the 
 grave conducts us? Can you then longer he- 
 sitate to believe, that the good man is the only 
 wise and happy man ; that, in death, as in 
 life, there is no peace to the wicked ? Nay, 
 let me cherish the hope, that you have not 
 this to learn, after living, as some of you 
 have done, to fifty or sixty years — too many 
 to give to the world; and all that while 
 have attended the church of God, and the 
 preaching of the " Gospel of his grace*/ 
 In such a case we have no " good tidings 
 
 * Acts XX. 24. 
 
4Q7 
 
 " for you of great joy/' no commission of 
 peace from our heavenly Master. For liow 
 dare we comfort, whom God hath not com- 
 forted ; or how can Ave bless, whom he hath 
 not blessed ? Large is your account, if, from 
 your childhood to old age, you have thus 
 despised the counsels and the chastening 
 of the Lord. If you have been slumber- 
 ing, for half a century at least, upon the 
 edge of the precipice of destruction, like 
 " the five foolish virgins, who had no oil 
 " in their lamps, when the bridegroom 
 " came*,'' sleep on a little longer and take 
 your rest, if you have courage to aggravate 
 your sad account with an almighty Cre- 
 ditor ; if you dare stand before the Judge 
 of quick and dead, with your sins unrepent- 
 ed of, unforsaken, and unexpiated. But 
 you will not be so rash and desperate, if 
 you think at all. There is a reflection upon 
 'past guilt, and then a fear of what is to 
 come, which wounding the mind, damping 
 the spirits, and agonizing the conscience, 
 will not allow a man to enjoy his sin- 
 ful pleasures, and his earth-born schemes, 
 without the conviction that he is a fool 
 
 * MaU. XXV. 2, 4. 
 
428 
 
 and the greatest of fools,— a self-murderer. 
 A voice says to jou, whenever it can obtain 
 a hearing — This day, it is likely, may be the 
 last which will affect thine eternal interests. 
 For the Spirit of God " will not always 
 '* strive with man*,'* and long hast thou 
 resisted that sacred guide. The sun, which 
 has so bften risen over thy hoary head, may 
 rise to thee no more. The shades of ano- 
 ther evening, besides the present, may 
 never invite thee to rest. And yet thou 
 hast nothing to give thee quiet and conso- 
 lation ; no, neither in what is past nor in 
 what is to come. 
 
 Unhappy old man ! thou art weighed 
 down with years ; and cares and sorrows 
 and infirmities sit heavy upon thee. Thy 
 friends and cotemporaries have, most of 
 them, left thee in the course of nature, and 
 some of thy children have followed their 
 mother to the sepulchre. And yet, though 
 thy turn to die might have arrived as well as 
 theirs, thou hast not at all prepared for 
 thy change, nor laid up any treasure in 
 reversion; thou hast not one pleasing re- 
 membrance of God, not one glimpse of a 
 
 * Gen. vi. 3. 
 
429 
 
 saving faith in Christ, not one whisper of 
 the Comforter to tell thee tliou art safe. 
 
 We will not yet resign the hope, (for Cod 
 is very merciful,) that even such an old 
 offender, as I have just contemplated, 
 may be converted before he dies. There 
 are two powerful means of awakening the 
 sinner^ to repentance, and drawing liini to a 
 better life ;— the view of the wicked man's 
 death, and the view of the good man's de- 
 parture. The first hath only yet been tried ; 
 the latter shall not be neglected. But be- 
 fore I draw the portrait of a dying Chris- 
 tian, I am anxious, once more, to exhibit 
 the dying impenitent. It is a picture 
 drawn, for the most part, by a far abler pen 
 than mine; and the different objects it 
 portrays, are so striking, that I will not yet 
 despair of their appeal being successful. 
 
 " It is on the bed of death," saith the elo- 
 quent preacher, "that the sinner knows him- 
 " self; and the horror of his surprises are 
 " not even equalled by the anguish of his 
 " separations." In the sad catalogue of the 
 past are traced " the weaknesses of cliild- 
 " hood, the dissipations ol" youth, the |)as- 
 *' sions and disorders of a more advanced 
 
430 
 
 " period ; — what do I know ?--perhaps 
 " even the shameless excesses of a licentious 
 " old age.'' Verily, every thing around 
 him brings the retrospect of some new 
 crime. Servants, whom he has led astray 
 by his example ; " children, whom he has 
 " neglected'' till they became hardened in 
 guilt ; " a wife,^' ever amiable and faith- 
 ful, rendered uneasy by his violent temper, 
 perhaps " miserable by his unlawful attach- 
 " ments." These are not all; a church 
 which he has forsaken, ministers of religion 
 whom he has despised, Scriptures seldom 
 read, private prayers often forgotten, and 
 family devotion never thought of; and, 
 lastly, come before him, time constantly 
 squandered, talents shamefully abused, 
 profits unfairly obtained, creditors deli- 
 berately defrauded, the wounded traveller 
 cruelly passed by, and the desolate widow 
 with her weeping orphan not visited in 
 their affliction. In short, my brethren, 
 every thing in thought and word and deed ; 
 every thing, in life and death, in time and 
 in eternity, — angels and men, holy spirits 
 and evil ones, the Saviour and the de- 
 stroyer, the judge and the avenger, are all 
 
431 
 
 armed as his accusers. " Yea," saith Job, 
 " the heaven and the earth shidl rise up 
 " against him, and reveal his iniquities V' 
 " shall recall to him the t'rightt'ul history 
 " of his passions and his crimes/' 
 
 It seems, indeed, difficult to fix upon the 
 single reflection, — which will be the most 
 stinging at such an hour ; but it is rational 
 to think, that, if there be one more bitter 
 and heart-rending than the rest to that un- 
 happy man, who, lulled by vain hopes of 
 conversion, till deception can deceive no 
 longer, stands trembling on the verge of the^ 
 grave, which loudly demands its captive ; it 
 must be the dismal thought of what he will 
 have to answer for, at the day of judgment, 
 in the character of a father. And if the anti- 
 cipation of it be intolerable, what will be 
 its reality ? I am speaking of a father, — 
 alas ! it is not an uncommon character, — 
 who has neglected the morals of those chil- 
 dren whom he brought into the world, and 
 taken no care of their precious souls, which 
 must exist for ever, either in light and life 
 and joy, or in sorrow, darkness, and de- 
 gradation. ! rash, presumptuous man ! if 
 
 * Job XX. fl7. 
 
432 
 
 thou hast thus presided over the family 
 committed by Heaven to thee, as its most 
 sacred charge, — not their faithful guide, 
 but their profane seducer ; not their truest 
 friend, but their bitterest enemy; not a 
 christian parent, in the circle of christian 
 children, but, as St. Paul calls thee, " worse 
 " than an infidel,'' because thou hast not 
 taken care of thine own ; thy neglected, cor- 
 rupted, ruined offspring, — neglected, cor- 
 rupted, ruined by thee, — will have to rise 
 up against their parent at the last and aw- 
 ful day ; and, themselves thine accuser, be 
 forced to say, in the presence of God, and 
 in the ears of an assembled universe : — This 
 man, even this our father, who should have 
 taught us our duty, persuaded us to do 
 wrong, and encouraged us in the indul- 
 gence of our pride and our passions ; he, 
 who should have led us in the peaceful ways 
 of virtue to the gate of heaven, hurried us 
 along the slippery paths of vice to Satan's 
 kingdom. Yes, this our father, who should 
 have preserved us, was our deliberate de- 
 stroyer ; his precepts misguided us ; his 
 example ruined us. We heard not the joy- 
 * Tiiii.v.8. 
 
4S:j 
 
 ful sound of religion ti(Mn wock to week, 
 nor on the blessed Sabbath did we enter 
 the sanctuary of the Lord. Thus we soon 
 forgat, (the fault was his,) that we had a 
 God to serve or a soul to save ; and thus, 
 having lost all feeling of religious prin- 
 ciple, we blindly followed him from one 
 excess to another, and from crime to crime ; 
 till he made us, though we were his cliil- 
 dren, miserable, hated, avoided upon earth 
 by all who valued character and honour, — 
 and, at length, he brought us to this place 
 of wretchedness and despair. 
 
 If these are not warnings sufficient to 
 soften your hearts, though they have long 
 been hardened against the threatenings of 
 the Law, perhaps they may still yield to the 
 gentle and persuasive promises of the Gos- 
 pel; and if I may indulge so delightful a 
 hope, I shall not, — Lastly, — set before you, 
 in vain, the good man's peace in death, and 
 triumph in a future state. It is the last hope 
 we have of making the bad man better. The 
 Lord is gracious and of tender mercy ; he 
 may this day give his blessing to our hun)ble 
 effort. 
 
 " Mark/' saith the Psalmist, " the perfect 
 
 VOL. 11 F 
 
454 
 
 " man, and behold the upright, for the end 
 " of that man is peace*/' It was so with 
 Jacob, though " few and evil were the days 
 " of his pilgrimage -j^ :" he could bless " the 
 " God of his fathers J" on the bed of death. 
 It was so with Job, after all his trials : " his 
 *' latter end was blessed more than his be- 
 ** ginning^/' It was so with Stephen, when 
 he was stoned to death : '* he saw the 
 " heavens opened,'' and his Saviour "stand- 
 " ing at the right hand of God ||/' And so 
 it is with all men in every age, who have 
 served God and trusted in their Saviour, 
 delighting in virtue and religion. High and 
 low, rich and poor, young and old, are alike 
 the favourites of Heaven, if on heavenly 
 things their affections are equally fixed, 
 and they " press forward towards the mark 
 •* for the prize ^," with equal animation 
 and perseverance : " in every nation he that 
 " feareth God and worketh righteousness 
 *' is accepted with him** ;" and when the 
 divine acceptance is gained, all other bless- 
 ings flow as a necessary consequence. *' No 
 
 * Psal.xxxvii. 37. t Gen. xlvii. Q. J Gen. xlviii. 15. 
 
 ^ Job xlii. 12. II Acts vii. 55, «[[ Phil. iii. 14. 
 
 ■** Acts X. 55. 
 
4.5.5 
 
 " good thing will the Lord withhold from 
 " them that walk upritrhtiy*." in life he 
 richly consoles his servant ; but still more 
 in death. He proportions his strength to the 
 necessity, his comfort to the trial. The 
 Saviour is with the good man in his last 
 moments ; His hand supports his head, and 
 smooths his pillow ; His Spirit reasons with 
 him-—" the Comforter" is His name— tells 
 him joyful tidings, sets heaven before him, 
 assures him it is his. What wonder that 
 the child of God, the redeemed of Christ, 
 the sanctified of the Holy Spirit, the heir 
 of immortality, (his own spirit bearing, too, 
 the joyful witness,) can, thus supported 
 and thus cheered, look upon the King of 
 Terrors with composure and resignation. 
 More strange it would be, if, with a tempo- 
 ral world of care and sorrow recedins: from 
 his eyes, and an eternal world of joy and 
 reward advancing towards him, he did not 
 receive death as a friend, rather than shrink 
 from it as an enemy. Why should the 
 grave be an object of terror and uneasiness 
 to the real Christian ? Why should a man 
 be reluctant to leave this life, who hath 
 
 -♦ Psal. IxxMv. I 1. 
 
4S6 
 
 good reason to conclude that he hath made 
 his peace with God ? He hath often read 
 and talked to his friends of a promise in 
 holy writ, (that promise he believes,) suffi- 
 cient to still the last fear, and silence the last 
 doubt ; a promise which he would not lose 
 an interest in, if he might live a thousand 
 years, and enjoy in possession all the earth 
 contains. " Blessed are the dead which die 
 " in the Lord ; yea, saith the Spirit, that 
 " they may rest from their labours, and 
 " their works do follow them*!'' 
 
 " How grand,'" saith a celebrated 
 preacher, " to have lived in the observance 
 " of the law of the Lord ! how glorious to 
 " die in His favour! With what dignity 
 " does faith then display itself in the right- 
 " eous man. It is the moment of his glory 
 *' and triumph ; it is the centre at which 
 " the whole lustre of his life and his virtues 
 " unites. How beautiful to see the true 
 " believer then moving with a tranquil 
 " and majestic step towards eternity." 
 Never was his step so firm ; never was his 
 spirit so unshaken. His agitations are all 
 calmed, his anxieties have ceased, and they 
 
 * Kev. xiv. 13. 
 
437 
 
 have subsided into a sweet and retieshnig 
 hope. Depart, a still small voice says to 
 him, for thou hast every thing to gain by 
 going hence. " The time of thy probation 
 " is past ;" the day of thy reward is come. 
 The Saviour, who once bore thine infirmi- 
 ties, is moved with thy prayers, and " touch- 
 *' ed with thy tears." lie is wailing to re- 
 ceive thee to thy home, the place of rest he 
 purchased for thee. He hath commanded 
 his angels to stand at the gate of the celes- 
 tial city, and hail thy arrival. There thou 
 shalt be united to those thou wishest most 
 to see, to those whose loss thou never 
 couldst forget. Thou shalt sec them, thou 
 shalt know them again, thou shalt love them 
 with a holy affection, and in their com- 
 pany enjoy an everlasting Sabbath: — " there 
 " remaineth a rest for the people of God*." 
 And when thou lookest round thee in that 
 boundless region of mutual harmony and 
 universal satisfaction, thou wilt say, with 
 delightful wonder, " Are these the glories 
 " I placed my alVections upon, and which 
 " the world and the tlesh so cften tempted 
 " me to deny ' Are these the treiiiiures 
 * Hcb. IV. 9. 
 
438 
 
 ** and delights I have gained for not setting 
 " my affections upon the earth, its fading 
 " riches and its empty honours ? O happy 
 " choice that I have made ! profitable 
 " sorrows that end in such pleasures ! 
 " blessed troubles that terminate in such 
 " triumphs!'^ " I have" formerly " heard'' 
 of l;hem " by the hearing of the ear, but 
 *' now mine eye seeth*" them ; they " far 
 ** exceed the report that was made of 
 " them ; a thousandth part of their glory 
 " was not told me." O my God and Sa- 
 viour ! to thee is all the praise, and all the 
 merit. Accept my gratitude, and suffer 
 me to tell of the acts of thy loving-kindness. 
 Then will I sing of them as long as I live ; 
 yea, I will glorify thy name while I have 
 my being. 
 
 My brethren, I have done.— You have 
 seen, that the good are happy in life and 
 death ; you have seen, that in neither is 
 there any peace to the wicked. Light and 
 darkness, life and death are set before you ; 
 you must fix upon one or the other ; you 
 must abide by the decision ; you must 
 answer for the consequences. If your 
 
 =* Jobxlii.5. 
 
4:}Q 
 
 present adviser has any influence witli you, 
 my counsel is .as sincere as jt must be short. 
 When Virtue and Rehgion present them- 
 selves to you, prove them, prize them, hold 
 them sacred, hold them fast; let nothing 
 steal them from you,— tor health of davs 
 are in their " right hand, and in" their 
 " left hand riches and honours :" their 
 " ways are ways of pleasantness, and all" 
 their " paths are peace*." When, on the 
 other hand, Vice and Impiety invite you, 
 touch them not, approach them not, behold 
 them not ; hate them, fly from them, and 
 forget them,— for their employment is 
 misery, and their wages death. 
 
 * Prov. iii. i6, 17. 
 
 END OF VOLUME THE SECOND. 
 
Priotrd by W. Clowbs, Northumberland^ionrt, Strand.