4h M-^i-X'. ■:^ . ^•^r<^--W p^¥r^^ >, ^ 'C^-^W^^ ^kil (i (June, '-'''''^'O". ..;.... ■}■ I ^helf. Section SB^ ,'"¥ " 'O.^ CONFERENCE SERMONS. voiiVMs or sERiaonrs, DESIGNED TO BE USED IN m^ai^^i^w^ M^a^iirt^^a WHEN THERE IS NOT PRESENT A GOSFEIi-MIiriSTZiR. By DANIEL A. CLARK, a.m. LATE PASTOR OF THE FIRST CHURCH IN AMHERST, MASS. « The prophet that hath a dream, let han tell a dream ; but he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully." Jer. xxiii. 28. " ^^\i^ l^® trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare hmiself to the battle?" "^ 1 Cob. xit. 8. AIUHERST, MASS. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED BY CARTER AND ADAMS, 1826. DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS, tO wit, ' District Clerk's ofRce. L.S. ^ Be it Remembered, That on the Seventeenth day of December A. D. 1825, in the Fiftieth year of the Independence of the United States of Amer- ica, DANIEL A. CLARK, a. m. of the said District has deposited in this Office the Title of a Book the right whereof he claims as Author in the words following, Daniel A. Clark, a. m. Late Pastor of the first Church in Amherst, Mass. '*' The firophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream ; but he that hath my word, et him speak my word faithfully." Jer. xxiii.28. — " For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle .'"' 1 Cor. xiv. 8. In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the Authors and Proprietors of such Copies, during the times therein mentioned :" and also to an Act entitled " An Act sup- plementary to an Act, entitled, An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by securing the Copies of Maps, Charts and Books to the Authors and Pro- prietors of such Copies during the times therein mentioned ; and extending the benefits thereof to the Arts of Designing, Engraving and Etching His- torical and other Prints." JOHN W. DAVIS. Clerk of the District of Massachusetts. ETOIT \ The writer of this volume would say, to those who have encouraged, or may patronize its publication, that it is with great diffidence he has entered upon the work. Whether it ig what you wished, or expected, you are now to judge. My hope is that God will make it useful. I feel disposed to take on- ly a low place, among my brethren in the ministry, many of whom have yet committed few or none of their productions to the press, and am not conscious of any governing passion for authorship. Hence it may not be improper to give, in a few words, the history of my views, relative to this volume. I have long believed, that sermons of a distinguishing char- acter, and in a popular dress, having point, and pungency of application, are very much needed in the American churches. Most of the sermons printed are occasional, or if otherwise, being printed singly, and seldom collected into volumes, or ex- tensively circulated, are quite out of reach. They have, on a limited scale, done great good, but most of them, however ex- cellent, are at length consigned to neglect with waste papers. Many excellent volumes too^ have been published, and have edified the churches, and helped mature for heaven a multitude of believers ; but which from their occasional, metaphysical, or exclusively doctrinal character, are judged unsuitable to be read in evening-meetings, to which so often, even good men, bring a mind, as well as a body, worn down with fatigue ; and need, for their edification, some repast that can hold their powers waking. Discourses adapted to such an occasion, which must often be read badly to a dull audience, must have poured into them, all the novelty, vivacity, force, and pungency possible. The truth should be condensed, and the doctrines exhibited in that practical shape, that shall tend to keep, up through every paragraph, a deep and lively interest. VI To supply such a volume, though perhaps a bold attempt, has been my aim ; but whether I have attained, or even appruached the point, others will now judge. I think there is here a chasm that needs to be filled, and if I should induce some of our ablest clergymen, to employ their talents in accomplishing, what I have attempted^ I shall I hope feel myself richly reward- ed for the trouble and expense of publishing this volume. I am prepared to say that a score of volumes, such as 1 2w- tended this should be, is wanted ; and have yet to learn that the churches would not sustain the expense of their publication. And although it is deeply to be regreted, that so many precious volumes, read by the people of God, in days past, and used by the Spirit in fitting them for heaven, have from something ob- solete in their language, gone too much out of use, yet as the fact exists, a remedy should be applied. The multitude of books in the market, is no argument against the attempt to furnish the ungodly with the means of alarm, or the people of God, with any help that can be afforded them, in finishing their sanc- tification. In every other department of learning, new efforts are perpetually made, and every fascination of style and argu- ment employed, to render interesting the art or science that it is feared may languish ; and why not carry the same wisdom into the church of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have given the volume as great a variety, as was consist- ent with my original design, and hope no one of the discourses will be found wholly unsuitable for the use intended. The twelfth, though it may seem to have been written exclusively for the benefit of ministers, was in fact designed rather for their people, to aid them in discovering, whether the ministry pla- ced over them be correct, and faithful ; and to prepare them to treat tenderly, and aid promptly, by every means in their pow- er, the true ambassador of Christ, in his arduous, and responsi- ble, but pleasant and honourable calling. And the minister of the gospel, often pressed with labour, may wish, in some of his Uttle meetings, to read a sermon to his people, and may find this one not unprofitable to himself or his people. Vll I sincerely hope, that some of the worthy ministers of New England, whose praise is in the churches, will give the public a few volumes of their sermons, and not leave this department of christian instruction, to be exclusively occupied by posthumous publications, which some worthy friend, with the best motives possible, but under great disadvantages, shall collect from un- revised manuscripts, often with not the best success, either as it regards the reputation of the author, or the usefulness of the book. I have only to add my wish and my prayer, that the great Head of the church, may bless to all my readers this attempt to build them up in the most holy faith ; and to ask their prayers, that my labour may not be in vain in the Lord. lam, Christian brethren. Yours affectionately, in the Bonds of the Gospel, DANIEL A. CLARK. AMHERST, Mass. Jan. S, 1826. CONTENTS. SERMON I. The Church Safe . 9 SERMON II. The Only True God 35 SERMON III. Unregenerate Men Without Holiness .... 54 SERMON IV. The Gospel Sustains the Law ..... 71 SERMON V. Correct Views of Christ Essential . . . .88 SERMON VI. Christ Redeems and Sanctifies . . » . . 109 SERMON VII. Terms of Acceptance with God 129 SERMON VIII. The Man of God Distinguished 151 SERMON IX Sinners made Useful to God's People , . . .174 SERMON X. Wrath Conquered by Kindness 208 SERMON XI. Gospel-Truth Defined 228 SERMON XII. An Honest Ministry 264 SERMON XIII. The Rich Believer Bountiful 294 SERMON XIV. Nothing Safe but the Church . . > , . 309 THE CHURCH SAFE, ISAIAH XLIX. 16. " / have graven thee upon the palms of my hands ; thy walls are continually before me." The Jewish church, during her captivity, would be led to conceive that God had forsaken, and forgotten her. To effectually remove this im- pression, God by his prophet appeals to one of the tenderest relationships of life. '' Can a woman for- get her sucking child, that she should not have com- passion on the son of her womb ? yea they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Thus would he give to Zion, assurance of his unchangeable love. His people should multiply, till the land, where their foes destroyed them, should be too limited for their increased population. Kings and nations should serve them, and do them honour. Zion was dear to him as the apple of his eye. He would engrave her upon the palms of his hands; her walls should be continually before him. In those days, it was the custom to paint upon the palms of the hands such objects as men wish- ed to remember, in allusion to which custom God assures his people, that he had graven Zion upon 2 10 the palms of his hands. Thus should her walls be contmually before him ; he would not forget her a moment, nor suffer any foe to injure her. We have here a broad and sacred pledge, to be kept in mind by the people of God in all ages, and plead in their prayers, that he will foster and bless his church, and will employ his vigilence and his pow- er to secure her safety, and advance her honours. Thus is The church safe^ and the people of God need have no apprehensions, nor weep a tear, but over their own transgressions, and the miseries of that multitude, who will not be persuaded to take sanctuary in her bosom. I shall argue the safety of the church, from the firmness and stability of the divine operations^ From what God has already done for his church. What he is now doings and What he has promised^ to do. I. We assure ourselves, that the church is safe, Frora the firmness and stability of the divine opera- tions, I now refer, not merely to the unchangeable- ness of God, which will lead him to pursue for ever that plan which his infinite wisdom devised ; for that plan lies concealed from us ; but to that uniform and steady course with which he has pursued every enterprise which his hands have begun. That he is of the same mind, and that none can turn him, is a thought full of comfort ; but that he has finished every work which he took in hand, is nfact, which intelligences have witnessed, and one on which we may found our richest expectations. 11 The worlds wliich he began to build he finished. Not one was left half formed and motionless. Each he placed in its orbit, gave it light, and laws, and impulse. And ever since this first develop- ment of the divine stability, the wheels of Provi- dence have rolled on with steady and settled course. What Omnipotence began, whether to create or to destroy, he rested not till he had accomplished. When he had become incensed with our world, and purposed its desolation, with what a firm and steady step did he go on to achieve his purpose. Noah builds the ark, and God prepares the foun- tains, which, at his word, burst from their entrench- ments to drown an impious generation. How have suns kept their stations, and planets rolled in their orbits, by the steady pressure of the hand of God ; by their revolutions measuring out the years of their own duration, and by their veloci^ ty urging on the amazing moment when they shall meet in dread concussion, and perish in the contact. How fixed their periods, their risings, their eclipses, their changes, and their transits, And while they roll, how uniform is the return of spring, summer, autumn and winter. How certain every law of matter, gravitation, attraction, reflection, &:c. The very comet, so long considered lawless, how is it curbed and reined in its eccentric orbit, and never yet had power or permission to burn a single world. How sure is the fulfilment of prophecy. Ages intervening cannot shake the) certainty of its hq^ 12 complishment. Jesus bleeds on Calvary four thou- sand years subsequently to the promise which that event accomplishes. Cyrus is named in the page of prophecy more than two hundred years before his birth, and at the destined moment becomes the Lord's shepherd, collects the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and builds Jerusalem. The Jews, as prophets three thousand years ago foretold, are yet in exile. The weeping prophet, now at rest, still sees the family he loved peeled and scattered, and the soil that drank his tears, cursed for their sins ; and confident that God is true, waits impa- tient the certgiin, but distant year of their redemp- tion. Wretches that dare his power, God will not dis- turb his plan to punish. The old world flourished one hundred and twenty years after heaven had cursed that guilty race. Sodom was a fertile valley long after the cry of its enormities had entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth. The Amorites were allowed five hundred years to fill up the meas- ure of their iniquity after God had pledged their land to Abram, although Israel wore away the in- tervening years in bondage. Many a murderer has been overtaken by the hand of justice, half a century past the time of the bloody deed. God will punish all the workers of iniquity, but he waits till the appointed moment. Like the monarch of the forest, he comes upon his enemies, conscious of his strength, with steady but dreadful steps. In his 13 movements there is neither frenzy, passion, nor haste. While his judgments linger, his enemies ask, " Where is the promise of his coming ?" but let them know, that he has appeared, and descom- fited many a foe ; and the inference is that they must perish too. Whatever God begins, he finishes : no unseen embarrassment can turn his eye from his original purpose. Now the argument is, that as God has begun to erect a church, he will act in this matter as in all others. If one of light character, a man given to change, had laid the foundation of some mansion, there would still be doubt whether it would ever re- ceive its top-stone. But suppose his character ex- actly the reverse, and the moment he brakes the ground imagination sees the mansion finished : now only make God the builder and the argument is perfect. Whether we can trace his footsteps or not, he moves on to the accomplishment of his pur- pose with undeviating course. Every event, in as- pect bright or dark, promotes the ultimate increase and establishment of his church. Or shall this be the only enterprise to which his wisdom, his power, or his grace, is inadequate ? In this solitary di- stance shall he begin to build and not be able to fin- ish ? What would be thought of him in hell, if the mystical temple should never receive its top-stone ? Its fires may go out, the worm may die, or some in- fernal genius bridge the gulph. Heaven too would lose all conjBdence in its King, and every harp be silent. 14 Thus before we examine the history of the diurch, or read the promises, if we believe that God ever had a church, we have the strongest possible presumptive evidence, that he will watch her inter- ests, will feed the fires upon her altars, will bring her sons from far, and her daughters from the ends of the earth, and will never leave her, nor forsake her. " I have graven thee upon the palms of mj hands ; thy walls are continually before me." II. Our expectations brighten when we see what God has done for his church. My first argu- ment went to show, that if God had only laid the corner stone of this heavenly building, it would rise and be finished. We are now to view the building half erected, and from what has been done argue the certainty of its completion. The church has been under the fostering care of heaven too long to be abandoned now. Let us retrace for a moment a few pages of her history, and we shall see that when the church was low, he raised her ; when she was in danger, he saved her. Amid all the moral desolations of the old world, the church never became extinct. And he at length held the winds in his fist, and barred the fountains of the deep, till Noah could build the ark, and the church be housed from the storm. How wonderful were his interpositions when the church was embodied in the family of Abraham ! In redeeming her from Egyptian bondage how did he open upon that guilty land all the embrasures of 15 heaven, till they thrust out his people. And he conducted them to Canaan by the same masterly hand. The sea divided, and Jordan rolled back its waters ; the rock became a pool, and the heavens rained them bread, till they drank at the fountains, and ate the fruits of the land of promise. Their gar- ments lasted forty years, and the angel Jehovah, in a cloud of light, led them through the labyrinths and dangers of the desert. When the church diminished, and her prospects clouded over, he raised up reformers. Such were Samuel, and David, and Hezekiah, and Josiah, and Daniel, and Ezra, and Nehemiah: such were all the prophets. Each in his turn became a master- builder, and the temple rose, opposition notwith- standing. Again under the apostles how did her prospects brighten. In three thousand hearts, under a single sermon, commenced the process of sanctification. The very cross proved an engine to erect her pil- lars ; the flames lighted her apartments, and the blood of the martyrs cemented the walls of her temple, and contributed to its strength and beauty. Jl very dying groan alarmed the prince of hell, and shook the pillars of his dreary domain. But the church again sunk, and hell presumed that her ruin w ould be soon achieved, when the six- teenth century lifted upon her the dawn of hope. In Luther, Calvin, Melancthon and Zuinglius, her inter^^sts found able advocates. They appeared at 16 the very juncture when the smking church needed their courage and their prayers. Like some mighty constellation, which bursts from the east at the hour of midnight, they rose when moral darkness was almost total, and like that of Egypt could seem to be felt. By their aid the church emerged from the wilderness. By their courage her grand enemy was made to tremble on his ghostly tribunal. The power of the Pope had then outgrown the strength of every civil arm. Every monarch in Europe was at his feet. Till Luther rose no power could cope with him. There was a true church, but she had no champion. The followers of Jesus paid for the privilege of discipleship with their blood. He who dared to be guided by his own conscience, commit- ted an offence that could not be pardoned. The heavenly minded saw no relief but in death, and thirsted for the honour of a martyrdom that would place them in a world where conscience might be free. But God appeared and redeemed his people. — The theme is pleasant, but time would fail me to rehearse what God has done for his church. Every age has recorded the interpositions of his mercy ; and every land where there is a remnant of his church, bears some monument that tells to his hon- our, and which will endure till the funeral of the world. Now the argument is, that he who has done so much for his church will never abandon her. If he would float her above a drowning world, would re- 17 deem her from bondage, would escort her through the desert, would rain her bread from heaven, would reprove kings for her sake, would stop the sun to aid her victories ; with his smiles, light the glooms of her dungeon, and by his presence cool the fires of the stake, there can be no fear for her safe- ty. God will 6?o just such things for Zion as he has done. ''The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be." His arm is not shortened, nor his ear heavy. The church was never nearer his heart than now. And he now hates her enemies as real- ly as he did Pharaoh, Sennacherrib, Nero, or Julian. He then governed the world for the sake of his church ; and for her sake he governs it still, " The Lord's portion is his people. " We know not that he ever had but one object in view in the events that have transpired in our world ; and that one, the honour of his name in the redemption of his people : and this object sways his heart still. The destruction of the enemy is a part of the same plan. Still may the church invoke the Lord God of Eli- jah, may rest under the protection of the God of Bethel, and wrestle with the Angel of Penuel. If she should be in bondage, there will rise another Moses, another cloud will conduct her out of Egypt, and the same heavens will rain her manna. If darkness should overshadow her, there will be found among the sons she hath brought up, another Luther, Calvin, or Knox, to take her by the hand, .3 18 to protect her honours, and recruit her strength. Shame on the Christian who knows her history, and yet is afraid. Afraid of what? That God will cease to defend the apple of his eye ? Afraid that the city graven upon the palms of his hands, may be captured and destroyed ? If God continue to do such things as he has done, the church with all her retinue is safe. " God is known in her pala- ces for a refuge." III. God is doing noi(; just such things as he has done. We saw laid the corner stone, and drew thence our first argument. Then we saw the building half erected, and were furnished with a second. We are now to view the edifice covered with builders, and from their exertions derive our third. We may now reason from things that our eyes can see. We may appeal for testimony to the very saw and ham- mer, and make the scafiold speak. It may be that some who are present are not sen- sible in what a day of heavenly exploit they live. Do you know what amazing events are transpiring ? Have you learned, that Bible Societies are forming in every part of Christendom, and that the Scrip- tures are now read in perhaps a hundred languages, in which, till lately, not a text of inspired truth was ever written ? Do you know that the late editions of God's word have commenced their circulation^ are traversing the desert, taming the savage, and 19 pouring celestial light on eyes that never met its beams before ? Do YOU know the prevalence of a missionary spirit ? Have you learned, that youth of the first character, of the fairest prospect, and of both sexes, aspire to be missionaries of the cross ? Some have gone, and others wait impatient till your charity shall send them. Many a mother has devoted her daughter to the work, and waits for opportunity to give her the parting kiss ; and many a daughter, on whom has fallen Harriet's mantle, aches to visit her tomb, and rest under the same turf till Jesus bid them rise. And what daughter of Zion is not ambitious of a martyrdom like her's ? How numerous and extensive the revivals, which at present we witness in our land ! Even where there is no stated ministry, the showers of grace de- scend, and the waste places are made fertile. What other page of the church's history, but the present, could record an almost universal concert of prayer ? Christians of every continent employing the same hour in the same supplications ! How unparalleled the success of every Christian enterprise ! No plan of mercy fails. The active Christian is amaz- ed at the result of his own exertions. Much that God is noio doing is evidently pre- paratory to future operations. Bible and missiona- ry societies may be viewed as the accumulated en- ergies of the church. Hitherto our exertions have 20 been insulated and feeble. The little streams fruc- tified the plains through which they flowed, but could easily be dammed or evaporated ; but their junction has formed a mighty river, destined to pen- etrate every moral desert, and carry fertilization to every province of our desolated world : fed with the showers of heaven, and every day flowing on with deeper and broader channel, the wilds of Ara- bia, the heaths of Africa, and the plains of Siberia can oppose no effectual barrier to its influence. What age but ours was ever blessed with Theo- logical Seminaries, where might, be reared at the expense of charity, young evangelists, to go out and carry the bread of life to a starving world ? Fortunes, collected for other purposes, are poured into the treasury of the Lord, and thus are erected batteries to demolish the strong holds of the prince of hell. Jehovah bless their founders ! Churches and congregations, who, in seasons of coldness, grudged to support the gospel at home, are now equipping young men for the missionary field, and for their own edification. And it has at lenjjth become so disreputable to stand idle in these mat- ters, that the man who would save his money, feels himself in danger of losing his character. Not long since, young men of piety and talents, Avho longed to fight the battles of the Lord, must equip themselves, and then find poor support in the service. But the scale is turned. Where there is no fortune but piety, a thirst for knowledge, and a 21 talent to improve, the way is now open to all the honours of the camp of Israel. The pious mother, who can only drop her two mites into the treasury of the Lord, but whose example and whose prayers have saved her son, may bring her Samuel to the altar, to be fed from its offerings, and reared to all the honours of the prophetic office. While I am yet speaking, hope springs up, and a joy, not felt in ages past, thrills through all the habitations of pious poverty. The late revivals possess one peculiar character- istic. There have been among: there fruits an unu- sual number of males. When there was little else that could be done for Zion, but pray and weep, and love her doctrines, and glow with heavenly affec- tions, the feebler 5ea: could furnish the christian world with soldiers. But now, when the kingdom of darkness must be stormed, Zion needs the aid of her sons, and God, it would seem, accommodates the operations of his Spirit to the interests of his church. Paul was not converted till his help was needed, and it was not needed till the gospel was to be carried to the Gentiles. Every revival of late contradicts that libel long legible on the records of infidelity. That religion evinces its emptiness by its exclusive opera- tion upon the feebler part of our race. Recently the strong and muscular, the very champions of the host of hell, have fallen before the power of truth, and are harnessed for its defence. Moreover, men of science, and of strong mind, have in their own es- 22 teem become fools, and have sat down to learn truth at a Saviour's feet. Our late revivals have penetrat- ed schools and colleges. Satan's cause has been well pleaded, and God now intends to plead his own : and palsied will be the tongue that is silent. Does God without design raise up these instru- ments ? Would one pass through a whole kingdom, and employ every skilful mechanic, unless he intend- ed to erect some mighty edifice ? If then we see God enlisting men in his service, men of strength 3.nd sci- ence, does he not intend to achieve some wondrous design ? Assuredly the heavenly building will rise. These talents will be, and they are already employ- ed in extending Emmanuel's empire. India, with other benighted lands, has already received our mis- sionaries, and her Moloch, with all his cursed fam- ily of gods, sicken at their prospect. The dark places of his empire have been explored, and the sceptre begins to tremble in his palsied hand. And poor Africa, more debased still, has found a tongue to plead her cause. Conscience, long asleep, and deaf to her rights, has waked, and now, her sons, fed at the table of charity, are preparing to carry her the bread of life. My country, deeper in her debt than all other lands, has begun to pay its long arrears. Who could have hoped, a few years since, that he should ever see a day like this ? If twenty years since, one had told me that sixty years would so electrify the Christian world, I should have believ- ed him visionary, and, like the unbelieving Samax- 23 itan, should have pronounced it impossible, unless God should make windows in heaven, and rain Bi- ble and Missionary Societies from above : but God has done it all without a miracle. And blessed be his name, — will those present join me in the thank-offering .^ — blessed be his name, that he cast us upon such an age as this. Blessed be his name, that we were not born a century sooner. Then we had never seen the dawn of this millennial morning, nor heard the glad tidings which now reach us by every mail, nor had an opportunity, as now , to pur- chase for our offspring an interest in the Lord's fund. Charity was then in a deep sleep. India bowed to her idols, and Africa wore her chains, unpitied and unrelieved. Buchanan and Wilberforce, angels of mercy, were then unborn. Infidelity then deso- lated the fairest provinces of Christendom, and wars were the applauded achievements of states and em- pires. But the age of infidelity has gone by, and the bloody clarion has breathed out, I hope, its last ac- cursed blast. Events are transpiring w^hich bid fair to bind all nations in the bonds of love. I had read of such a period, but how could I hope to see it ? The present repose of nations augurs w ell foF the Church. Christendom can now^ unite her efforts to evangelize the world, while the sailor and the soldier have leisure and opportunity to read the pre- cious Scriptures. And must not all this put our unbelief to the blush, and cover us with shame ? .24 The past twenty years have so outdone our highest hopes, as to render it impossible to predict what twenty more may do. God has begun to work on a scale neiv and grand ; and the inference is that he will go on. After what we have seen, we could hardly be surprised if twenty years to come should put the bible into every language under heaven, and should send missionaries, more or less, to every benighted district of earth. Let benevolent exer- tion increase in the ratio of the past seven years, and God add his blessing, and half a century will evangelize the world, tame the lion and the asp, and set every desert with temples, devoted to the God of heaven. When the bosom of charity shall beat a little stronger, if there should be the necessi- ty, men will sell houses or farms to save the hea- then from hell, and the child will sit down and weep, who may not say, that his father and mother were the friends of missions. And what parent would entail such a curse upon his children, and prevent them from lifting up their heads in the mil- lennium. I had rather leave mine toiling in the ditch, there to enjoy the luxury of reflecting, that a father's charity made them poor. Poor ! They are poor who cannot feel for the miseries of a per- ishing world; whom God has given abundance, but who grudge to use it for his honour. Teach your children charity, and they can never be poor. *' The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." Can 25 this promise fail ? Then we can all leave our chil- dren rich, and the heirs too of a fortune they can never squander. We can purchase for them the privi- lege of drawing upon the exhaustless resources of heaven. What a privilege now to be a parent ! But I must return to the argument. God is do- ing so much for his church, as to warrant the infer- ence that he will do still more. The hopes he raises,, he will gratify. The prayer he indites, he will answer. To see what God is doing, I find it im- possible to doubt his intentions. The present is a prelude to brighter scenes. God would not have done so much for his people, had he intended to abandon tliem. The church will live and prosper. Instead of trembling for the ark, let us weep that we ever thought it in danger. IV. We build the same expectations on the promises and prophecies. The building w hich we see rising God has promised to finish. He has all the materials ; the silver and the gold are his. He has enlisted the builders, and prepared the necessa- ry instruments. The decree has gone forth that Jerusalem must be built, and God will redeem his own gratuitous pledge : he will do as he has said. Early in the reign of Emmanuel there will be universal peace. The nations are to " beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pru- nina: hooks. " '• The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the 26 kid. " " They shall not hurt nor destroy hi all " God's " holy mountam. " " They shall sit, every man under his vine, and under his fig-tree ; and none shall make them afraid. " But " the gospel must first be published among all nations. " On this promise there pours at pres- ent a stream of heavenly light. The angel *' hav- ing the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth," is beginning to publish it "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and peo- ple. " Kings are to be to the church nursing fath- ers, and queens nursing mothers : and they have al- ready taken hold of the work with interest. Their charity, their influence, and their prayers, have al- ready contributed to deepen and widen the channel of that river which is making glad the city of God. In the progress of this work a nation shall be born in a day. The instance of Eimeo may be consid- ered as embraced in this promise. '* Thy watchmen shall see eye to eye." This promise has commenc- ed its accomplishment in the harmony manifested in the formation and support of Sabbath schools, and bi- ble and missionary societies. The Jews are to re- turn to their land, and to the God of their fathers. There shines some light upon this promise. Many are at present migrating to Palestine from the north of Europe, some have been converted to the faith of Jesus, many not converted are members of Bible societies, and exertions unparalleled are making to bring them to the light, ^ while individuals of their 27 number are proclaiming to their deluded brethren, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Soon the Bible will supplant the Talmud. " Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto God. " Who does not see this promise fast accom- plishing ? Her chains are falling, and her mind ex- panding. There have commenced a train of opera- tions that promise the richest blessings to the chil- dren of Ham. Soon the Gambia, the Niger, and the Nile will grace their shores with christian tem- ples, will lend their waters to fertilize a gospel land, and bear to his station the zealous missionary. In the mean time the wretched Arab, exchanging his Koran for the Bible, and tamed by its influence to honest industry, will settle the quarrel with the family of Jacob, and worship in the same temple. If we turn to the threatenings against the ene- mies of the church, there open before us large fields of promise. Like the cloud that severed Pharaoh's hosts from Israel, they pour impenetrable darkness into the camp of the enemy, while they light the tents of Jacob. ** The day of the Lord shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble, and the day that cometh, shall burn them up, saith the Lord ; that it shall leave them neither root nor branch." Perhaps the complicated miseries which began in the French rev- olution, and were finished at Waterloo, might com- mence the accomplishment of this threatening. But doubtless other storms will yet beat upon the camp ^8 oT the enemy, more tremendous than any things which they have yet experienced. Some believe that the fifth vial has not yet been poured out upon the seat of the beast ; and all agree that the forty and two months, during which the holy city must be trodden under foot, are not yet expired. It is ac- knowledged that the period is twelve hundred and six- ty years, and that it commenced with the reign of the beast, and will probably terminate in the present century. Possibly our dear children may live to see the precious moment that shall close the period. Then the messenger of the covenant shall make his glorious ingress, shall destroy his enemies, shall purify the sons of Levi, and cleanse the offering of Judah. Then the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea. Jesus shall take possession of the inheritance promised, *'and his do- minion shall be from sea, even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth." Can the dejected christian read all this, and be- lieve it all, and despondingly weep still ? And for what does he weep ? God has begun to erect a heavenly temple ; the w ork has never stopt, and he promises that it never shall. He never did abandon any work which he began, nor did there ever drop from his lips a promise that w^as not, or will not be fulfilled. And what more can he do ? Christian, you may weep on, but let your tears be tears of penitence or joy. Every harp should be snatched from the wil- lows, new joys should be felt, and new anthems sung 29 in all the assemblies of the saints. He that shall come, will come, and will not tarry ; and every bo- som should respond, " Even so come. Lord Jesus, come quickly." AFPIcICATIOZr. •r 1. If to any it is a burden to join in the general concert of prayer for Zion's increase, they can excuse themselves, and the glorious v^^ork will still go on. There are those who consider the duty a privilege. If the church could live without them, and duty did not prompt them to pray, they would weep to be denied the privilege of bearing her interests to the throne, and of waiting for the redemption of Israel. Such may wait still upon the Lord, and may wait with confidence, that every prayer will be answered, every tear preserved, and every hope accomplished. But are there those who would wish to be excused from this service ? who have no pleasure in the du- ty, and no faith in the promises ? Well, they can act their pleasure, and the church will live. But, whether such will have any share in the glories of that kingdom, whose approach they dread, " de- mands a doubt." 2. If any grudge to contribute of their wealth, for the advancement of the church, they can withhold. If they have a better use for their money, or dare not trust the Lord, there is no compulsion. Some happy beings will have the honour of the work. It 30 is to be accomplished by the mstrumentality of men, and if any are willing to be excused, and insist on doing nothing, they can use their pleasure. And if such would ruin their children, by holding them back, they can. They can form them to such hab- its that the world wild never be disturbed by their munificence. They can prejudice them against all the operations of christian charity ; can make them deaf to the cry of the six hundred millions ; can keep them ignorant of what the christian world is doing, and what God has commanded them to do. And there can then be very little doubt but they will have children in their own likeness. But whether God will not finally lay claim to their wealth, and cause it to be expended in beautifying his holy empire, we dare not assert. The silver and the gold are his. But the work will go on. Once our fears on the subject were great. We doubted whether the christian world would ever give the heathen the gos- pel. But our fears are removed. We have now no apprehension as to the issue, and can only pity those who are blind to their duty, their interest, their honour, and their happiness. 3. If any are willing to remain out of the kingdom of Christ, they can act their pleasure in this matter too, and yet the marriage supper will be full. The kingdom of Christ will be large enough; large as he expected, large as he desired, large as the Father 31 promised ; large enough to gratify the infinite be- nevolence of his heart. If any do not wish to live in heaven, the mansions they might have filled will be occupied by others. The celestial choir will be full, and the name of Jesus will receive its deserved applauses from the myriads who shall be redeemed from every nation, kindred, tongue and people. If sinners can do without God, he can do without them. They will not be forced reluctantly to the marriage supper of the Lamb. There will be enough who will come willingly. Heaven will be as happy as it would be if more were saved. And th^ prison of despair will contain exactly that number, whose ruin will exhibit to the best advantage the character of Jehovah: and the smoke of their torment, which shall ascend up for ever and ever, will form a stu- pendous column on which will be written, legible to all heaven, HOLINESS, JUSTICE, TRUTH. The vast accession made to the church in the late revivals, and the still greater increase in the fu- ture years of millennial glory, will swell the number of the saved beyond all calculation. Sinners who now join the multitude, and are thus secured from present reproach, will soon find themselves attached to an insignificant and despicable minority. It would seem at present that the number of the lost will be great, but you may multiply them beyond the power of human enumeration, and still there is no fear but Mie number of the saved will be greater. If any, then, would prefer to remain out of the 32 kingdom, they have their choice, and the shame and ruin will be their own. God intends to let them do as they please, and those who love his kingdom most, anxious as they now are for the salvation of their fellow men, will at last be satisfied with the num- ber of the saved. We invite none to become the sub- jects of Christ's kingdom, but those who will es- teem his yoke easy, and his burden light. 4. If any should be disposed to enter into league with the lost angels, and oppose the church, they can do so, and still the church will live. Earth and hell united, can make no effectual opposition to her interests. God is in the midst of his people, and will help them, and that right early. In these circumstances, one shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight. Some opposition is necessary to awaken her en- ergies. Solomon was seven years building the first temple, when all was peace ; but Ezra, with the trow- el in one hand, and the sword in the other, could build the second in four. The enemy has always promoted the interest he wished to destroy. God will make the wrath of man to praise Him, and the remainder of wrath he will restrain. If any would make opposition to the growing interests of Emmanuel, they can ; but they will accomplish their own ruin, and perhaps the ruin of their children. It never was so dangerous as now to be the enemy of Christ's kingdom. All such must be cbrushed under 33 the wheels of that car, in which the Son of God is rid- ing in triumph through a conquered empire. To make opposition is as unavailing as if a fly.^hould make an effort to stop the sun. There await the enemies of the cross, certain defeat, shame, and ruin. " He made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made. His mischief shall return upon his own head, and his violent dealings shall come down upon his own pate." In the mean time the church is safe. " Fear not, little flock ; for it is your Fath- er's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." 5. Fathers and Brethren in the ministry, this sub- ject will raise your hopes. Are you stationed where it is all darkness around you, and have the hosts of hell alarmed you ? cheer up your hearts. Try to penetrate the surrounding darkness, and you will soon be con- vinced that your fears are ill-timed. Speak to tlie children of Israel, that they go forward. If night does seem to hover about us, still is it manifest that the day has dawned upon the hills. The church has never been in danger, and we ought to be ashamed of our fears. Be at your watch-tower, dear breth- ren; turn your eye to the east, and you will soon descry the light. If there is any truth in the prom- ise, and if a thousand transpiring events can speak, we shall soon have opportunity to hail Emmanuel at his second coming. If our courage fails us in a day like this, we have only to lie down and die with shame. While the victory was doubtfui, you might 5 34 be afraid, and yet save your character, but none are afraid now but the coward. Shall we hesitate to die if necessary in securing a victory already gained ; and to gain which the Captain of our salvation, and ma- ny of his soldiers have spilt their blood ? Our mission- ary brethren have carried the standard of the cross, and planted it within the entrenchments of the ene- my, and their courage has not failed ; and shall we tremble in the camp ? We shall then have no share in the spoil. Dear brethren, I will not insult you ; you are not afraid ; you will die at your post, and the victory will be secured. 6, Dear Christian Brethren, you see the royal canopy which your Lord casts over your heads ; or rather the shield he spreads before you. If you are not officers in the camp of Israel, you are soldiers; if you may not command, you may fight, but not with carnal weapons. Let the subject raise your courage. A few more conflicts and your toils are ended ; the church is safe, and you are safe. Only believe, and soon you will see the salvation of God. And as the Saviour approaches, and you see him, you may say with the prophet, '' Lo, this is our God ; we have waited for him, and he will save us : this is the Lord ; we have waited for him, we will be glad and rejoice in his salvation." eamM®if a THE ONLY TRUE GOD. JOHN XVII. 3. *' This is life eternal, that they might know thse the only true God.^^ In the report of that gospel, that shall deal hon- estly with dying men, it is of the first importance, that there be exhibited the true character of God. As men are to be sanctified through the truth, it will be confessed, that no truth can be of higher importance, than that which relates to the being and attributes of Jehovah. Unless on this point there is made a full and clear exposure of the truth, our religion may be so defective, as to neither profit us in this life, nor save us in the life to come. Un- der the very names that belong to the true God, we may worship an idol, and thus give our depravity the shape of the grossest insult. We have sometimes listened to a loud and earnest address on the subject of religion, and it pro- fessed itself the gospel, in which the character of the true God was industriously concealed. Men may speak of God, and with much engagedness ,' his adorable names may swell every clause, and round every period, and the whole be uttered with 36 a decent and well-bred softness ; and one may sup- pose himself religiously employed, in hearing the true gospel, and be charmed with the changes rung upon the names he has been accustomed to adore ; and still the god proclaimed may not be the blessed Jehovah. There may be a view^ exhibited that does not belong to the Creator, but to some imaginary god created for the occasion. The text would furnish several topics of remark, but I intend to confine myself to one, To expose some of the false vieivs of God, which are not iinfre- quently presented us under the appellation of the gospel ; and thus illustrate the character of that on- ly true God whom to know is eternal life. I. There is sometimes an extolling of all the more clement attributes of God, as some have pre- sumptuously distinguished, while the severer attri- butes are unnoticed. The design of these declaim- ers seems to be, that our attention be fixed exclu- sively upon what, in their estimation, is soft and mild and Jovelyin God, while his holiness, his justice and his truth ; — all in him that can go to make a sinner afraid, or beget conviction and repentance, is industriously concealed. God's compassion for our lost and miserable world, his patience, his endur- ance, his long-suffering, his promptness to pardon, and total aversion to destroy ; — all those features of the divine mind, that can sooth alarm, are early and industriously developed, as if embracing the 3T whole of God that he himself loves, or man is re- quired to worship and adore ; while the other parts of the divine image are obscured, as one would hide the scars and excressences that have fortuitously covered more than half his visage. Thus the great luminary of the moral world must be cast mto a deep and dark eclipse, that the naked eye of sense may gaze upon his few remaining glories. It is feared, we presume, that were the whole character of God exhibited, sinners would be filled with disgust, and be driven from the bosom of their Sovereign. He must not adhere to the principles of that law he has promulgated, nor care to vindicate himself from the aspersions that sinners have cast upon his character and his government. He must not resolve that mercy and truth meet together ; and that righteous- ness and peace kiss each other. He must cast a smile \ipon the prodigal, ere he shall turn his face or his feet toward his father's house. Thus must the holy and righteous God, before whom devils trem- ble, melt down into the weak and pitiful parent, or not one of his a-^ostate family shall come back to his bosom and his service. — So men would judge. But God seems to have had other views, and has re- vealed his whole character, fearless of the predicted consequences. If there was any danger from a full ex- posure of his character, why did he not hold himself concealed, or throw into the shade, as men would do for him, those parts of his character that must give offence. If that be good policy which I am 38 venturing to expose, God could have directed that neither the works of creation, nor the bible, should have told us the vrhole truth respecting himself. He might have suppressed the history of that revolt in heaven, and its results, and told us nothing of hell and the judgment, nor named in his book those attributes that throw around him such an atmos- phere of darkness and terror. He need not have given us, if he had so pleased, the stories of the del- uge, and of Sodom, and of Korah and his company. But God has exposed the whole truth, and that in the very book which he has directed should be our daily companion. If the scheme I oppose be true, I know not how to account for such a bible as God has put into our hands, just calculated to betray a secret that should not have been divulged for worlds. If there belong to God any attributes that were not intended to be made known to sinners till they are reconciled to him ; if they cannot safely be told that he is angry with the wicked every day, has appointed a time and place of judgment, and prepared a ^eep and dark perdition for the condemned : if th^y are to be urged to come to him, expecting to lind him all mercy ; then by what alarming oversight have we resolved to put the bible into the hands of sinners ? Must the parental character of God so dazzle and fill the eye, as to eclipse the Sovereign, and the Judge, the Abettor of truth, and the Avenger of wrong and of outrage ? And must we never know the whole character of 39 God, till we have to deal with him in the judgment ? Can we be sure that the prodigal, after he has been thus decoyed home to his father's house,will be pleas- ed with his father ? Had he not better know, while away in his land of exile, exactly the father he must meet, and the father he must love, and stay there till this character is approved ? I know not where in the whole bible we are au- thorised, to elevate one attribute of God above anoth- er, and term the one mild and the other severe, I know not where men have learned, that there are principles in the divine nature and goverment, that to be fully known would subvert tAe benevolent de- sign of the gospel. If God has tKis instructed any of his ministers, and they act by hi^ authority in deciding what may and what may nc' be developed to the world of the ungodly, I ha^e only to say, " To their own master they stand o^ fall.'^ II. There is perh?f>s some occasion to fear, that some have gone in to the opposite extreme, and have presented exclusively the more forbidding attributes of God, while hh grace and mercy have been in this case too much concealed. When Jehovah is exhibited as constituted of entire sovereignty ; as doing his pleasure in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, without the least regard to the happiness and the salvation of his creatures ; as casting after the wayward and the lost, no look of compassionate tenderness ; — can this 40 be a faithful exhibition of the character of God ? Should it be said, That God is willing to show his wrath, and that he has created intelligent beings on purpose that thej might be the vessels of his wrath ; and has communicated positive hardness to their hearts, because they did not render themselves de- praved enough for his purpose ; and pushed them on to a character, that would be sufficiently desperate for some deed of darkness, which he had resolved they should perpetrate ; — would one gather from all this the true character of God ? I know that I have now presented an extreme case, and sincerely hope that not often, perhaps never, is sovereignty present- ed quite so bare an* forbidding, and the truth push- ed to an extremity sl cold and cheerless. The ob- jection to such presen