WESLEY'S 
 DOCTRINAL BTANDAJRDS, 
 
 PART I.
 
 WESLEY'S 
 
 DOCTRINAL STANDARDS. 
 
 PART I. 
 
 THE- SERMONS, 
 
 WITH 
 
 INTRODUCTIONS. ANALYSIS. AND NOTES. 
 
 REV. N. BUEWASH, S.T.D., 
 
 Professor of Theology in the Unive/sity of Ficloiia College. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 WILLIAM BRIGGS. 
 
 MONTREAL C. W. CO ATES. | HALIFAX: S. F. HUESTIS.
 
 Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one 
 thousand eight hundred and eighty-one, hy WILLIAM BfilGGfl, iu the 
 Office of the Minister of Agriculture, at Ottawa.
 
 EDITOR'S PREFACE. 
 
 THIS edition of Mr. Wesley's Standard Sermons has been pre- 
 pared with a special view to the wants of students. It is thought 
 that there is need in our Church for an authoritative and exact 
 exposition of our fundamental doctrines, from which candidates 
 for the ministry, local preachers, Sabbath-school teachers, and 
 Christian workers generally, might be furnished for their work. 
 
 The universal tendency to superficiality is nowhere more 
 obvious or more dangerous' than in religious instruction. Much of 
 our modern evangelistic work is terribly marred by its super- 
 ficial and unscriptural methods. There is little profound dealing 
 with the conscience, little preaching of the law, little careful 
 instruction in doctrine, little regard to the depth and thorough- 
 ness of the work of repentance, and too great haste to extract a 
 profession of faith, and to enroll and publish names and numbers 
 of so-called converts. The results are that the so-called converts 
 are SOOL. Lack into a state of carelessness worse than before ; or, 
 having never attained to a satisfactory witness of the spirit, they 
 fall through the first temptation into the slough of despond and 
 there abide. On the other hand such superficial work never 
 gathers into the Church the better and stronger classes of people. 
 Emotional illustrations and weak hortatory appeals will not move 
 them. Nothing but strong reasons, such as convince their con- 
 sciences, will form for them a basis of religious life. While they 
 are waiting for this, and being disgusted and disappointed because 
 it is not furnished to them, they are in constant danger of being 
 carried away by the plausible reasonings of scepticism, which are 
 unduly aided by the weak, and often erroneous, presentations of 
 the gospel to which they are opposed. Scepticism can strike hard 
 blows at commercial theories of atonement and Antinomian 
 theories of salvation by faith, and if these things pass into popular 
 currency as being genuine Christianity, what wonder thAt some 
 men are led to believe that Christianity has been demolished by 
 such blows ? 
 
 But the Wesleyan evangelical doctrine, with its strong grasp of 
 ethical truth, its clearly defined doctrine of probation, its constant 
 recognition of the work of the Holy Ghost, and its view of the 
 impartial and universal love of God to man, manifest in the Atone- 
 ment, is unassailable before the bar of conscientious reason. Its 
 appeal to honest conscience cannot be denied, even when it is not 
 obeyed.
 
 iV EDITOR'S PREFACED 
 
 It is, therefore, with strong confidence that we call the attention 
 of all workers in Methodism to the form of the gospel here pre- 
 sented. We believe it to be the primitive, the Apostolic gospel, 
 the gospel for all men and for all ages, and especially for our age. 
 We believe that if our preachers and teachers make it tho subject 
 of careful study, and test it by the Word and by experience, and 
 then, with full assurance of its truth, bring its moral power to 
 bear upon the world, the result will be glorious beyond anything 
 that the Church has yet seen. 
 
 The additions made to the original text in the present edition 
 will generally explain themselves. In the introduction an attempt 
 is made to show in what sense the sermons are standards of doc- 
 trine. The habit of testing doctrine by categorical definitions has 
 so universally prevailed that the various questions investigated in 
 the introduction are essential to a proper understanding of the 
 work. The analysis prefixed to each sermon or in some instances 
 to a group of sermons, is intended to aid the student in testing 
 and fixing his knowledge of the text. The text of the sermon 
 should first of all be read through carefully. The analyses will 
 then aid in printing upon the memory a connected and compacted 
 view of the whole subject. They will also assist in review, and 
 in testing the student's knowledge of any particular sermon. 
 The notes are generally historical. They are drawn from Mr. 
 Wesley's journals and doctrinal writings, and serve to throw the 
 doctrines of the text out in stronger relief, sometimes in the light 
 of experience, sometimes in the light of controversy with error. 
 It is hoped that they will be found of essential service to the 
 careful student. 
 
 The table of contents may seem unimportant, but careful study 
 has convinced the editor that these sermons were grouped by Mr. 
 Wesley in such form as to illustrate and supplement each other, 
 and to form a complete and progressive view of the whole subject 
 of experimental 'and practical religion. He has endeavoured to 
 elucidate this by an analysis of the table of contents into ten 
 sections or groups. It is scarcely necessary to add that the con- 
 stant study of these sermons as a text book of practical theology 
 has been to the editor an increasing means of spiritual pleabure 
 and profit ; and it is his earnest prayer that they may be mote 
 abundantly so to his readers.
 
 INTEODUCTION. 
 
 I. THE NECESSITY AND PROPER USE OF STANDARDS OP DOCTRINE. 
 
 It has come to be asserted with great assurance in our day, and, 
 perhaps, by some sincerely believed, that doctrinal standards are no 
 longer necessary. It is said that genuine and true religion consists in a 
 right state of heart, by which is signified the religious affections, and in 
 a right conduct of life flowing from these affections. It is argued that 
 if these essentials be right, such an one, notwithstanding many and even 
 serious erroneous beliefs, deserves recognition as a follower of the Lord 
 Jesua Christ and a member of the Christian Church. One part after 
 another of Christian dogma is selected, and some individual is found, or 
 imagined to be found, who has professed disbelief in this dogma, and 
 yet has evinced genuine marks of Christian character ; and thence the 
 impression is silently created, or the conclusion boldly asserted, that, 
 because one individual has been so found, the whole Christian world 
 might have been so found, and genuine religion might have existed 
 without this particular dogma. Few are bold enough to say that religion 
 could have existed and have been propagated without any dogma or 
 opinion regarding God ; but such an impression is certainly left on the 
 superficial mind. And it is even maintained in some theories that all 
 dogmas are but helps to the attainment of the religious life, and that all 
 are nearly equally useful for this purpose, in the various stages of mental 
 development in which they respectively prevail, and equally untrue in 
 themselves when brought to the test of severe science. 
 
 Now, if it be true that our dogmas are entirely unnecessary, as means 
 of placing ourselves in right relations to God, or as means of bringing 
 others into such right relations, then the assertion of such dogmas as 
 fundamentals and essentials in religion is a falsity and a moral wrong. 
 And if it be true that such dogmas are mere transitory, mutable, 
 fictitious forms by which we posit as the object of religious affections the 
 Unknown and tiie Unknowable, then the maintenance of these forms, 
 as permanent doctrinal standards, becomes possible only as the result of 
 the cessation of all spiritual growth in humanity. Let us examine these 
 conclusions more carefully. 
 
 First, then, upon what grounds are certain unwelcome elements of 
 Christian doctrine excluded from the essential elements of the faith? 
 Because it is said that certain persons have been found in possession of
 
 VI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 genuine religious life without these beliefs ; hence they are not essential. 
 But in this conclusion the absolute non-existence of these beliefs is 
 assumed without sufficient proof. 
 
 There is often the most happy inconsistency between men's logically 
 denned systems of dogma and their religious affections, because their 
 religious affections have been developed before their logical apprehension. 
 of dogma. And yet they have been developed under the power of the 
 truth contained in the very dogma which their mistaken logic afterward 
 rejects. That truth has surrounded them on every side in the religious 
 life of the entire Christian Church ; and they have caught its influence 
 before they have learned to formulate it in words. The doctrine of the 
 Deity of Christ is involved in every act of Christian worship, as it is 
 inwrought into the entire texture of the New Testament Scriptures. It, 
 therefore, by no means follows that a man who has been brought up 
 from his childhood in contact with the entire intellectual and spiritual 
 life of the Christian Church, but who formally denies this doctrine, if 
 he becomes possessor of the Christian life, has become so independently 
 of this doctrine. Far le;-s t un<laiion is there for the conciusum i..ut the 
 Christian life, in its fulness of New Testament perfection, could have 
 existed without any knowledge of this doctrine in the Church. 
 
 But it is said the Christian life existed in its most glorious perfection, 
 both individual and ecclesiastical, before ever this and other mysterous 
 doctrines were prescribed in the creeds. Very true, but not before (hey 
 were preached in concrete, practical, historical form. The Church might 
 have fulfilled her mission of spreading the life of communion with God 
 for centuries without an abstract scientific form of dogn-a ; but not 
 without the reality of truth which gives substance and poiver to that 
 form. It may even be granted that the abstract scientific form is not 
 the form in which the truth is most mighty to win her spiritual conquests 
 in the world. The truth, intermingled in the currents of human life 
 and history, insinuates itself more easily into the living affections of 
 men. But whether in the concrete and practical, or in the abstract 
 scientific form, the trathjnusrt be held as the condition of the Church's 
 
 Equally unwarranted and dangerous is the more pretentious, philo- 
 sophical conclusion, that all forms of religious dogma are but changing 
 fictions, by which we render objective the successive phases of our 
 progressive spiritual development ; fictions all equally true from the 
 practical standpoint, and equally false from the scientific. It is very 
 true that in the history of religion there has been development. And 
 it is also true that practically there has been associated with the spirit 
 and truth of religion very much that belonged to the mere external 
 form. But to conclude that because some things in religious teaching 
 are formal and changing, all things are so, is not good logic. To 
 conclude that because when the truth enters into the human appre- 
 hension. it takes mould from the narrow and imperfect vessel into wl ich
 
 INTRODUCTION. Vll 
 
 it is received, it is therefore the mere product of the vessel a form 
 containing emptiness, is scarcely common sense. A striking example of 
 this theory, carried to the utmost extreme, we have in the Positivist 
 Gospel of Humanity, as a substitute for the old form of religion with a 
 God. Denying the validity of all ideas not immediately derived from 
 the senses and hence, the verity of the existence of God it seeks, in 
 the relative positive knowledge left to man, a basis for the development 
 of conscience, and the other moral and religious affections ; and this 
 George Eliot and others think they have found in humanity. But even 
 here is the admission that something, positively received as truth, is 
 absolutely needful for the development of the moral and religious 
 affections of our nature. The only question, therefore, is Is this, with- 
 out which spiritually we cannot live, mere phantasy, or is it eternal verity ? 
 We come back, then, to the original belief of the Church in all ages, 
 that its body of doctrine for the life and salvation of the world is the 
 eternal and immutable truth of God ; a treasure in earthen vessels, it is 
 true, but with the excellent power of God. To preserve this treasure in 
 its purity and integrity is the bounden duty of the Christian Church, 
 and the end of all its doctrinal standards. If the work of the Church 
 is the extension among men of spiritual life in communion with God ; 
 and if that life is founded upon the apprehension by mtn of certain' 
 eternal ajidjmniutablej;ruths concerning God, then this truth must have 
 a/orm in which it can be presented, as well aT through which it can be 
 apprehended ; and that/orm constitutes the " doctrine," the "preaching," 
 the " word," or the dogma of Christianity. It is never intended to y 
 dwarf, limit, or impede the spiritual growth of men ; but rather to '' 
 create that spiritual life without which there can be no true growth. 
 For this, truth is absolutely essential, and truth must be received and 
 held in some suitable form. The only question that can be raised is: f-jj- 1 
 What is the best form ? 
 
 II. THE WESLEYAN FORM OF STANDARDS. 
 
 The most ancient form of doctrinal standard, usually recognized as 
 such, was a brief synopsis, called a creed, from the fact that in Latin it 
 began with the word Credo, " I believe." This synopsis was used in the 
 . formal profession of the Christian faith at baptism, and as the foundation 
 of the instruction of the catechumens. The creed, in the controversial 
 age of the Church (A.D. 250-700), became the symbolum, or mark of 
 orthodoxy, and during this period the great declarations of the rule of 
 faith, made by the authority of the (Ecumenical Councils, all took the 
 form of a. creed. 
 
 At the era of the Reformation, the Aristotelian method of cate- 
 gorical statement universally prevailed. Hence Luther propounded 
 his views of essential truth in the form of theses, which were subse- 
 quently expanded into a confession, consisting of a number of article*
 
 Vlli INTRODUCTION. 
 
 This form was adopted by all the Protestant Churches of the era of the 
 Reformation. For purposes of instruction these articles were re-mouldeu. 
 into catechisms. Even the Church of Rome, under the same scholastic 
 influence, adopted this form in the canons and decrees of the Council of 
 Trent, and the Roman Catechism. 
 
 It remained for Wesley to inaugurate a new form of doctrinal standard, 
 in making a certain form of preaching and standard of interpretation of 
 Scripture the rule of faith in his Societies. We shall see presently that 
 in doing this he did not invent a new form of standard, but in reality 
 revived the most ancient form. 
 
 Of these three forms, the Patristic, the Protesjaiv^and the Wesleyan, 
 which is the best? To answe?lhTs~qiiesti6n satisfactorily, we nvusTfirsT 
 consider the purposes to be served by doctrinal standards. These may 
 be classified as follows : 
 
 \, 1. An authoritative guide or aid to the student or teacher in acquiring 
 1 or communicating a knowledge of Divine truth. 
 
 i_ 2. An authoritative standard to which appeal can be made in matters 
 of controversy. 
 
 3. An authoritative source from which the truth is obtained. 
 
 For the secondjind_third^of these, purposes, to the Protestant, there is 
 but one ultimate .standard the Wor.d of God. This is the only source 
 from which religious truth comes with authority, binding the conscience, 
 and commanding the faith of the Christian ; and this is the only authority 
 from which no appeal can be taken, and which is an end of all controversy. 
 
 But the term standard may be used in a lower sense, which may admit 
 of human and ecclesiastical standards. Doctrine is teaching. A standard 
 of doctrine is a normal form of teaching. Standards of doctrine in this 
 sense refer to the work of the teacher of religious truth. Now, the 
 teacher of religious truth, founding upon the Word of God, must in the 
 first place interpret it; hence his standard of doctrine must embrace a 
 right method of interpretation, especially in the use of the analogy of 
 faith. In the second place, he preaches the Word ; hence his standard 
 of doctrine must embrace a right form of preaching the truth, with a 
 view to the salvation of men. In the third place, he teaches, especially 
 the young and the ignorant ; hence his standard of doctrine should 
 embrace a norm of teaching, such as the ancient creed, or more modern 
 catechism or confession. 
 
 The precise form which the standards of any church will take, will 
 
 of ila-ark;in. A churh 
 
 /j __ 
 / /'^ 
 
 arising out of a great intellectual movement, like the churches of the 
 
 -'- Reformation, will naturally fortify itself with creeds, confessions, and 
 
 I -ji catechisms ; inasmuch as its existence and success depend so largely upon 
 
 . the logical validity of its teachings. A church arising out of a great 
 
 ^evangelistic movement quite as naturally finds its standard in a grand, 
 
 distinctive norm or type of preaching ; and, in like manner, every Church, 
 
 driven to justify itself by final appeal to the Word of God, must have its
 
 INTRODUCTION. IX 
 
 canon of interpretation. The growth of all the great Christian symbols 
 will furnish illustrations of these principles. The Church of the Apostles 
 was an evangelistic Church. Its standard of doctrine was first of all a 
 
 ^^*~^- -. _^*^ 
 
 type~of 'preaching, oTwhich we doubtless have a compressed yet faithful 
 exhibit in the synoptic gospels. The Pauline and the Petrine, Luke and 
 Mark, set forth one Christ, in essentially one gospel, of which John, a 
 little further on, sets forth the more perfect unification and expansion just 
 as Matthew had given the foundation. To this consensus of preaching, 
 this normal or standard gospel, Paul makes constant reference in his 
 epistles, although it had not yet been reduced to written form. But it 
 was well known to all the Christian Churches. No one can read, 
 especially in the original, such expressions as " another gospel," " the 
 gospel of Christ," " the gospel which was preached of me," (see Gal. i. 6, 
 &c.,) without feeling that even then there was a familiar form of preaching 
 (A.D. 56 or 57.) In the pastoral epistles this fact becomes still more 
 manifest in such phrases as, " no other doctrine," 1 Tim. i. 3 ; " according 
 to the gloripus gospel," v. 11 ; " words of faith and good doctrine," iv. 6 , 
 " the doctrine," v. 16 ; " the doctrine which is according to godliness," 
 vi. 3 ; " that which is committed to thy trust," v. 20 ; " the form 
 (inruTvjrvo-it) of sound words," 2 Tim. i. 13. See also 2 Tim. ii. 2, and 
 iii. 16, in which last passage the norm of preaching is carried up to its 
 fountain-head in the Word of God. 
 
 The first standard of doctrine was the substance of what the Apostles, 
 preached; and even the first Creed, the so-called Apostles', was but a 
 memorized brief of the same. 
 
 But this simple standard of gospel preaching was soon followed by 
 the symbols of a polemic Church, in the form of exact, logical, dogmatic 
 definitions, the creeds and canons of the universal councils. The circum- 
 stances of an age of conflict with heresies and errors developed the 
 discursive form of Christian truth ; and though its symbols still began 
 with credo, " I believe," in their trite nature they were very different 
 from the original credo of the sub-Apostolic age. In like manner all the 
 symbols of the era of the Reformation bear the stamp of sharp, dogmatic 
 distinction and definition, savouring of the theological conflict out of 
 which they were born. At the same time they absorbed into themselves 
 the formularies and theses of the earlier time ; and into such vast 
 proportions has this type of symbolics grown, that the simpler form of 
 a standard of preaching, rather than a standard of scientific, dogmatic 
 teaching, has become quite eclipsed. In fact, the apostolic form revived 
 by Wesley is almost ignored by the great modern writers on symbolics. 
 Even Winer and Schaff have not been able to recognize the right of our 
 " Volumes of Sermons " and " Notes " to rank among the great Christian 
 symbols, "SSoT hence are disposed to assume that as a Church we have no 
 proper distinctive symbols. I fear that even many Methodists them- 
 selves have not seen the injustice of this position ; and have felt some- 
 what ashamed of what they are bidden to regard as the unscientific and
 
 X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 unsatisfactory form of our standards of doctrine. They have been 
 disposed to regard the " Articles of Religion " which we have inherited 
 and appropriated from the days and polemics of the Reformation, and 
 which have required the most serious pruning to render them at all 
 harmonious with the theological ideas of our Church, they have been 
 disposed, we say, to regard these as ranking above the " Sermons and 
 Notes" as the exponent of our doctrinal system. On the other hand, 
 we are disposed to maintain that the "Sermons and Notes" were the 
 natural form of standard for a Church originating as did Methodism, 
 not out of dogmatic disputations, but out of a glorious era of gospel 
 preaching ; and further, that they are the Apostolic and primitive form of 
 standard. And if this form is natural, it is truly scientific, as all things 
 natural are. All that is required is that we discover the law of its 
 growth, which is also the law of its exposition and logical unity ; and 
 then what has seemed to be an unscientific medley of disconnected 
 truths stands forth as a beautifully-proportioned and perfect body of 
 divinity. 
 
 We, therefore, claim for the "Sermons and Notes" a foremost place 
 among the Christian symbols. The Sermons set before us that great, dis- 
 tinctive type and standard of gospel preaching, by which Methodism is what 
 she is as a great, living Church. When she ceases to preach according to 
 this type and standard she will no longer be Wesleyan Methodism. No 
 other Church of modern times can boast of such a standard of preaching, 
 B o mighty and pervasive in its power to preserve the perfect doctrinal as 
 well as spiritual unity of the entire body. God save us from the day 
 when the Methodist ministry shall cease to study this standard, and 
 to preach according thereto ! 
 
 The Notes have also their peculiar and unique value. They open up 
 to us the mode of interpretation by which the grand type of preaching 
 contained in the Sermons was derived from its fountain-head the New 
 Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. They are thus the 
 link which binds our subordinate standard to the original Apostolic 
 standard. Without that link our form of preaching would be deprived 
 of its Divine authorization. 
 
 But the Articles of Religion have their own appropriate place in our 
 doctrinal foundations. They indicate that which we have received as 
 our common heritage from the great principles of the Protestant Refor- 
 mation, and from the still more ancient conflicts with error in the days 
 of Augustine and Athanasius. They represent the Methodist Church 
 in its unity with Christendom and Protestantism ; but the '' Sermons 
 and Notes" represent it in its own completeness as a living form of 
 religion, called into being by the Spirit and Providence of God. 
 
 III. HISTORICAL VIEW OF THE STANDARD SERMONS. 
 The Wesleyan standards of doctrine, as held by the Methodist Church 
 of Canada, are three-fold, viz. :
 
 INTRODUCTION'. XI 
 
 1. Tlie Standard of Preaching the fifty-two sermons embraced in the 
 four volumes. 
 
 /~ II. The Standard of Interpretation the notes on the New Testament 
 III. The Standard of Unity with the Sister Churches of the Reforma 
 
 /'lion the Twenty-five Articles. 
 
 We shall now confine our attention more especially to the sermons. 
 The historical key to these sermons is to be found in the development \f\s\A 
 of Mr. Wesley's own spiritual life. The first element in the formation 
 of all spiritual life is to be found in early training. Wesley's parents . H '- 
 were both born and educated in Nonconformist families, and their 
 religious life was strongly and permanently moulded by Puritan prin- 
 ciples. But, strange to say, at a comparatively early age each of them, as 
 the result of investigation of the controversy, became converted to High 
 Church views. But, as Isaac Taylor well remarks, they " could not lay I / 
 down that in Nonconformity, which belonged to the inner man. A 
 stern, moral force, and a religious individuality, went with him (the 
 father) into the Church, nor left him as he entered it ; and it showed 
 itself as an inherited quality in his sons." " Some of the very choicest 
 samples of the firm, consistent, English Christian character have been 
 the product of the Nonconforming or Puritanical soul, blended with the 
 better-ordered and more broadly-based Christian temperament of the 
 Episcopal Church." In the case of the Wesleys, this combination of 
 the earnest moral character of the Puritan, with the dogmatic positions 
 of the High Churchman, was of very great importance. At Oxford the 
 theology and the religious spirit have always been High Church. In 
 these two respects no portion of the English Church was less affected by 
 the Reformation than was this University. Both its Church principles 
 and its views of doctrine continued from the first to look towards 
 the Roman Church. Especially did it agree with Rome in its high 
 estimate of the importance of good works in religion ; and, like the 
 Latin Church, it inclined to views of the freedom of the will 
 inconsistent with Augustinianism, and leading it to Arminianism, as 
 the Latins tended to semi-Peiagianism. On this point the English 
 Higli Church divines, while, doubtless, owing something to the 
 Remonstrants of Holland, and to the great Latin fathers, were not 
 a little moulded in their views, as will be seen from Burnet, by 
 the Greek fathers, who were neither semi-Pelagians nor yet fully 
 developed Arminians, but in whose writings may be found all the 
 essential scriptural views which have entered into Wesleyan Arminian- 
 ism. These data will enable us to estimate the stand-point from which 
 Mr. Wesley's spiritual life really began. From his father and mother, 
 as well as at Oxford, he had received an anti-predestinarian theology, 
 the somewhat imperfectly defined Arminianism prevalent among the 
 High Church divines of England of that age. This led to convictions 
 
 of the responsibility of free-will, and the necessity for holy living. 
 
 These convictions were pressed by a pious mother, and received by the
 
 Xll INTRODUCTION. 
 
 young Wesley, with all the intensity of religious feeling which they had 
 inherited from their Puritan ancestry. Hence the religion of the 
 Wesleys, at a comparatively early period of their lives, became marked 
 by a very different character from the easy going, latitudinarian formality 
 of the High Church Arminianism of that time. It became an intensely 
 earnest religion of good works and means of grace. At the very com- 
 mencement of this crisis, which occurred when John Wesley was about 
 twenty-two years of age, two works fell into his hands which exerted a 
 marked influence on his religious life. These were " The Imitation of 
 Christ," by Thomas a'Kempis, and Bishop Taylor's " Holy Living and 
 Dying." These works were at once in accord with the Puritan earnest- 
 ness of his spirit, and with his conception of the prominence of good 
 works as a condition of human salvation ; but they forever banished 
 from his mind any reliance upon mere external forms or works, and 
 works were henceforth good to his judgment only in their motives, as 
 they proceeded from a right state of heart. Shortly afterward the 
 writings of William Law carried this conception of heart holiness a 
 step higher, and gave him a belief in its perfectibility, which became a 
 permanent element in his religious system. There remained but one 
 thing more to render Wesley's religious life, and his conception of 
 religious life, alike complete, that was the imparting of the Divine 
 breath to this still inanimate body. He did not yet understand that the 
 foundation of religious life must be laid, not in a mysterious communi- 
 cation of sacramental grace, nor yet in a mere intellectual assent to the 
 great principles of religious truth, but in a conscious reception of justi- 
 fying, regenerating, and sanctifying grace, through a definite act of 
 personal faith in Christ. This last lesson was the most difficult of all to 
 learn. Natural reason and conscience, quickened and aided by the 
 Word and Spirit of God, could help him to an understanding of all 
 other parts of his religious system ; but the light of the Spirit alone 
 could teach him the nature of this mystic faith. The Moravians were 
 the instruments, in the providence of God, first, of bringing him to a 
 sense of the defect of his religious life and views ; and then, by their 
 prayers and counsels, of leading him to that profound experience of 
 Divine grace, by which alone that defect could be supplied. The 24th 
 of_ May, 1738, supplied the foundation-stone for the superstructure, the 
 designarid" materials of which had all been previously prepared. Let us 
 now recapitulate the great principles of scriptural religion which had at 
 this time demonstrated themselves to Mr. Wesley's head and heart. 
 These were : 
 
 ^- 1. The universality and impartiality of God's grace to man as mani- 
 fested in the provisions of the Atonement. 
 
 2. The freedom of the human will, and man's individual, probational 
 responsibility to God. 
 
 . 3. The absolute necessity, in religion, of holiness in heart and life. 
 
 4. The natural impossibility of this to fallen human nature.
 
 (NTBODUCTION. Xlll 
 
 5. The perfect provision for this necessity and impossibility, as well as 
 for the pardon of past sins, in the salvation offered by Christ. 
 
 _^6. The sole condition of this salvation faith. 
 
 ^r 7. The conscious witness of the Spirit to this salvation. 
 
 This full-orbed conception of scriptural religion embraced the great 
 scriptural verities of all ages and schools of Christian thought. It 
 grasped the wideness of God's love with the old Greek Christian and the 
 modern Arminian, and it sounded the depths of the human heart with 
 Augustine. It maintained the necessity of good works with the Roroaa 
 Church, and it recognized the peculiar import of faith with Protestantism. 
 With the Churchman it held the importance of means, and with tho 
 evangelical mystic, it recognized the peculiar office of inward grace ; 
 and it built the doctrines of inward holiness and Christian perfection of 
 the English mystics upon their true foundation, by uniting them to the 
 evangelical principle of saving faith. 
 
 From the date above referred to, it may be said that Mr. Wesley's 
 system was in some sense complete. It certainly was filled out and 
 perfected in some points, and pruned and purified at others ; but from 
 this date no essential element was wanting. In all its fundamental 
 principles the gospel which henceforth he preached, and at the same time 
 verified in his own experience, was unchanged. The first sermon in the 
 series was preached at Oxford, eighteen days after the date referred to ; 
 and in that sermon, while the newly-discovered faith stands in the fore- 
 front, all the foregoing elements are either expressed or implied. There 
 was subsequent expansion, and, to some extent, correction and perfection 
 of his earlier views, as witness the footnotes to the Journal of May, 1738 r 
 added some thirty years later. Wesley was a life-long student of the 
 Word of God and of Christian experience, both his own and that of 
 others ; and both these sources furnished stronger light and wider views. 
 He learned to recognize the mystic faith where at first he had not 
 discerned it. He learned also to sympathize with the broad freedom of 
 the spirit of the gospel, as distinguished from narrow Judaic literalism. 
 But his conception of the fundamental principles of Christianity remained 
 unchanged. We have seen how those fundamental principles were, in 
 the providence of God, one after another, revealed to Wesley, and com- 
 bined and fused in the fervent heat of his religious experience. But 
 there is a wider historical review which we might take of the growth of 
 the Church's apprehension of these principles. It would be a great 
 mistake to suppose that they came forth to light and practical influence, 
 for the first time, in the age of John Wesley, and in his spiritual life. 
 These truths had lived in the Church ever since the days of the Apostles. 
 At divers times and places they had been more or less clearly appre- 
 hended in the Church's thought At various periods they had moulded 
 the Christian life and experience with a deep and abiding impress. It 
 was not the glory of Wesley or of Methodism that he discovered or 
 preached a new gospel But all the elements of gospel truth were In
 
 XIV INTRODUCTION. 
 
 him combined in a burning focus of spiritual light and heat, as, perhaps, 
 they had not been since the Apostolic age. 
 
 The fundamental principle of Wesley's doctrine, the impartial univer- 
 sality of God's provision of grace in Christ, was clearly apprehended and 
 taught by all the Greek fathers, and has been unquestioned in all the 
 eastern Church down to the present time. It was obscured, though not 
 directly denied by Augustine ; but firmly held by the great body of the 
 Latin Church, both before and since the Reformation. Though the first 
 symbols of the Reformation were constructed in the spirit of the 
 
 iposite view, yet the great body of the Lutheran Church speedily 
 dicated the universality of the Atonement. In the English Church 
 vinism never sufficiently prevailed to lead to a denial of this truth in 
 Articles of Religion ; while in the Liturgy and in Article xxxi it 
 is most explicitly asserted, and so was maintained by reformers and 
 divines prior to Arminius, e.g., Baro, Trewe, and Latimei. Even in 
 the very strongholds of Calvinism, the great body of Arminians vin- 
 dicated this doctrine so fully that they have given it their name, 
 though it was believed and taught by nine-tenths of the Christian 
 Church for fifteen hundred years before Arminius was born. It was, 
 therefore, no new doctrine, lately imported from Holland, which Wesley 
 received from parental teaching, and subsequently in his studies at 
 Oxford, but the primitive and almost universal doctrine of the Christian 
 Church. 
 
 The second grand element in Wesley's theology, the unqualified 
 responsibility of man, based upon his moral freedom, was equally ancient. 
 Says Hagenbach on this point : " All the Greek fathers, as well as the 
 Apologists Justin, Tatian, Athenagoras, Theophilus, and the Latin author 
 
 inucius Felix, also the theologians of the Alexandrian school, Clement 
 and Origen, exalt atvnl-ovcrioi (the autonomy, self-determination,) of the 
 .human soul with the freshness of youth and a tincture of Hellenistic 
 .ealism. But also influenced by a practical Christian interest, they 
 
 ow nothing of any imputation of sin except as a voluntary and moral 
 self-determination, is pre-supposed. Even Irenaeus * * * and Tertullian 
 strongly insist upon this self-determination in the use of the freedom of 
 the will. * * * Both were far from considering inherent depravity as 
 constituting accountability, and still farther from believing in the entire 
 absence of human liberty." Even after the controversy between 
 Augustine and Pelagius had developed the full difficulty of the subject, 
 the great body of the Eastern Church, and, perhaps, full half of the 
 Latins, held firmly to the doctrine of human freedom, reconciling it as 
 best they could with the teachings of the New Testament touching the 
 fall of Adam and human depravity. Their theoretical harmonies were 
 often wrong, but their fundamental facts were right. Depravity, freedom, 
 and responsibility were facts difficult to co-ordinate, but facts, neverthe- 
 less, to which they held fast The spiritual life of the Reformation, in 
 its profound Angustinian views of human sin and depravity, was at first
 
 INTRODUCTION. XV 
 
 disposed to minify the fact of freedom. But while the Reformed 
 Churches of Switzerland, France, Holland, and Scotland pushed this 
 tendency to an extreme length, the Lutherans and the Church of England 
 were much more guarded in their etatements ; and their final position 
 was much the same as that of the earlier Church. In fact, during Mr. 
 Wesley's student days, the whole strength of the English Church divines 
 had been devoted for nearly half a century to the formation of a system 
 of theology on the basis of the first five centuries. This was evidently 
 the School of Divinity from which Mr. Wesley most largely received his 
 opinions, and this revival of patristic theology held as tenaciously as did 
 the ancients to the dogma of human freedom and responsibility ; and a 
 dogma so ancient and of such persistent vitality as this has proved itself 
 to be, would certainly appear to have vindicated its claim to be the truth. 
 
 Another proof of the unity of the Wesleyan theology with that of T,, 
 the Primitive Church is found in the firmness with which he held the '' 
 doctrine of the fallen estate of man. The Arminians of the seventeenth 
 century, who depended more upon the aid of reason in the formation of 
 doctrine, were not seldom led into semi-Pelagian views, as witness 
 Whitby. But those who were not in haste to construct a system, but 
 held firmly by the fundamental verities taught in Scripture and received 
 by the fathers, were not led into either semi-Pelagian or Arian errors. 
 The English Church, in common with all the Churches of the Reforma- 
 tion, had most fully accepted the teachings of Augustine as to the 
 profound, inherited evil of human nature. And these teachings, relieved 
 of the theoretical notions of imputation, entered fully into Wesley's 
 experience and doctrine. 
 
 Turning our attention, now, more directly to the sermons, we note 
 the important fact that they exhibit the actual preaching of original 
 Methodism^ They were not prepared as a text-book for students, or at> -?~ 
 catechism for scholars, nor as a series of theological propositions for 
 controversial discussion, but as an exhibition to the world of a preached 
 gospgL Says Mr. Wesley, in a preface to the first volume of sermons, / 
 published first in 1746, (and incorporated into an extended preface in/ 
 1771, when he might have said thirty years instead of eight,) "The 
 following sermons contain the substance of what I have been preaching 
 for between eight and nine years past. During that time I have frequently 
 spoken in public on every subject in the ensuing collection ; and I am 
 not conscious that there is any one point of doctrine, on which I am 
 accustomed to speak in public, which is not here, incidentally, if not 
 professedly, laid before every Christian reader. Every serious man who 
 peruses these will, therefore, see in the plainest manner what these 
 doctrines are which I embrace and teach as the essentials of religion." 
 After referring to the Word of God as the source from which he had 
 drawn these truths, he goes on to say, " I have accordingly set down in 
 the following sermons what I find in the Bible concerning the way to 
 heaven, with a view to distinguish this way of God from all those which
 
 XVI INTRODUCTION. 
 
 are the inventions of men. I have endeavoured to describe the true, the 
 scriptural, experimental religion so as to omit nothing which is a real 
 part thereof, and to add nothing thereto which is not. And herein it is 
 more especially my desire, first, to guard those who are just setting their 
 faces toward heaven, (and who, having little acquaintance with the 
 things of God, are the more liable to be turned out of the way,) from 
 formality, from mere outside religion, which has almost driven heart 
 religion out of the world ; and, secondly, to warn those who know the 
 religion of the heart, the faith which worketh by love, lest at any time 
 they make void the law through faith, and so fall back into the snare of 
 the deviL" 
 
 These sermons, then, in Mr. Wesley's own intention, were a full 
 exhibit of the Methodist preaching. But they were, further, an exhibit 
 of that preaching in its mature form. 
 
 The great Wesleyan revival had now lasted for more than thirty years. 
 In that time it had been purified from many accidental blemishes and 
 defects in the apprehension of the religious intellect. All the great 
 phases of Christian life, repentance, faith, justification, the witness of 
 the Spirit, regeneration, the conflict with sin in believers, and perfect 
 love had become prominent in its preaching, and had been exemplified 
 by the living experience of thousands of witnesses. This Christian life 
 had also maintained itself in conflict with its two great spiritual dangers 
 -^-formalism and Antinomianism ; and had asserted itself as the truth of 
 
 God in opposition both to the one and the other. The standard type of 
 preaching which was thus formed was, therefore, no hasty congeries of 
 immature doctrine, no hotbed growth of a few months' revival, but the 
 digested result of a lifetime of religious experience and labour in the 
 midst of myriads of examples and illustrations of every phase of religious 
 life. Of this religious life, as exemplified in his societies, and as he 
 came in contact with it in his meeting of the classes, Mr. Wesley was a 
 constant student and most accurate observer ; and to that peculiar 
 institution of Methodism the Class, or Fellowship, or Society Meeting 
 we owe not a little of the breadth and completeness of our doctrinal 
 system as a preached gospel. 
 
 Again, the marked experimental character of the sermons, must be kept 
 constantly in view by every one who would properly understand them. 
 Here is Divine truth drawn directly from the Word of God ; not as a 
 subject of intellectual contemplation ; not as a speculation, a philosophy 
 of God, and man, and the universe ; not as a mere theory of religion, or 
 of Atonement, or of faith, or of the plan of salvation. But here is 
 Divine truth as it has entered into the heart of the preacher, and become 
 in him the life of God, and as from his own heart he presents it to the 
 heart of his hearers. The student, then, must read these standards by 
 the constant inward light of the Divine Spirit, and must allow the truth 
 presented to enter into his heart, for only then will he understand and 
 appreciate it.
 
 INTRODUCTION. Xvii 
 
 No one can properly read these standards who losses sight cf their con- 
 troversial aspect. They defend the truth against formalism and Anti- 
 nomianism. It might be supposed that this controversial character, ' 
 which has not moulded, but only somewhat modified their form, would 
 have interfered with their peculiarly practical and spiritual character. 
 But it is not so. First of all, that which appears here is not a mere 
 theological polemic, but a practical conflict. It is not so much against 
 an erroneous theory that these standards have erected a defence, as ' 
 against the evil influence of error. There were a thousand speculative 
 errors abroad in the world in Mr. Wesley's time, but he lifts up his 
 voice against them only as they endanger the existence of the life of 
 God in the souls of men, or mar its beauty and perfection. 
 
 Methodism from the beginning had been a living protest against the , 
 cold externalism and formalism, which had well-nigh extinguished all .' 
 genuine religion in England, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. ; 
 It was likewise in uncompromising antagonism with all those doctrines - 
 of legalism, sacramentarianism, and churchism, which ally themselves* 
 so naturally to formality. The Wesleys themselves, while free from the 
 frivolities of modern ritualism, and while strenuously opposed to the 
 easy-going legality of latitudinarianism, were still prejudiced high 
 churchmen and sacramentarians in the beginning of their career. 
 But by the time of the origin of our standards, the evangelical leaven 
 had eliminated almost every vestige of these antagonistic principles. 
 But the evangelical doctrine was not without its peculiar dangers. 
 The doctrine of faith, by what appeared to be a very slight modification, 
 but which was in reality a total perversion of its principles, was easily 
 imitated by an antinomian theory of salvation by logical deduction. 
 A commercial view of the atonement, a disregard of the profound work 
 of the Spirit, and of the necessfty of repentance, and a resting in an 
 intellectual assurance instead of the God-given witness of the Spirit, 
 these were the elements out of which was constructed an imitation of 
 evangelical religion which, even in Mr. Wesley's day, threatened to 
 pervert the great work of grace which God had wrought through his 
 preaching. The four volumes of sermons appeared in their final form 
 just at the juncture when the conflict with Antinomianism culminated 
 in the Calvinistic controversy. But a quarter of a century before this 
 the doctrinal minutes had guarded the preachers against antinomian 
 error ; so that us, during that time, these sermons had grown into form, 
 they embodied the opposition of the true Christian life to all varieties of 
 teaching which might favour this spurious imitation. 
 
 There were other minor forms of error, such as the Moravian stillness, 
 and certain enthusiastic extravagances, which have left their impress 
 on the form of the sermons. But in their opposition to all these 
 things, the sermons did not cease to be sermons. They maintained theii 
 practical and spiritual character, and aimed only and directly at the 
 extension and perfection of the religious life.
 
 XVill INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Another cause which prevented this controversial aspect of the 
 sermons from marring their perfection as standards of doctrine for all 
 time, was the fact that the essential principles of these controversies 
 belong to all time. They are as old as the days of Paul, and have 
 repeated themselves in every subsequent age of the Church's history. 
 It was, therefore, imperatively necessary that standards of doctrine 
 should give no uncertain sound in regard to the questions herein 
 involved. 
 
 Finally, in the study of these documents, it must be borne in mind 
 that they were proposed as standards of preaching. That which was to 
 be tested by them was the pulpit in every Methodist Church. This was to 
 be the type of preaching for which these houses were erected. The relation 
 in which Methodism stood to the Established Church in England, during 
 Mr. Wesley's life, provided for the doctrinal unity of Methodism with 
 the Protestant Reformation. When, in the United States of America, 
 Methodism became an independent Church, the same provision was 
 made by the abridged and amended Articles of Religion. But the 
 introduction of the Sermons and Notes, as the standard of preaching, 
 into every Trust Deed of a chapel or church in the Connexion, assured, 
 so far as human means can do so, an Arminian evangelical preaching and 
 exposition of God's Word for all time. 
 
 To interpret these standards or apply them after the manner of 
 Articles of Religion, or Creeds, or Confessions of Faith, which cate- 
 gorically define the doctrines to be professed or believed, would be 
 contrary to their very nature. It is to the spirit and type of this preaching 
 that our obligations bind us. There may be in the Notes and Sermons 
 many things, accidental and personal, to which no Methodist minister or 
 layman would feel bound to profess assent. But Methodism demands 
 that in all our pulpits we should preach this gospel, and expound the 
 Word of God according to this analogy of faith,
 
 PKEFACE. 
 
 THE following Sermons contain the substance of what I have been 
 preaching for between eight and nine years last past.* During that 
 time I have frequently spoken in public, on every subject in the en- 
 suing collection : and I am not conscious, that there is any one point 
 of doctrine", on which I am accustomed to speak in public, which is 
 not here, incidentally, if not professedly, laid before every Christian 
 reader. Every serious man, who peruses these, will therefore see 
 in the clearest manner, what these doctrines are, which I embrace 
 and teach, as the essentials of true religion. 
 
 2. But I am thoroughly sensible, these are not proposed in such 
 a manner as some may expect. Nothing here appears in an 
 elaborate, elegant, or oratorical dress. If it had been my desire or 
 design to write thus, my leisure would not permit. But, in truth, 
 I, at present, designed nothing less ; for I now write as I generally 
 speak, ad populum : to the bulk of mankind, to those who neithei 
 relish nor understand the art of speaking ; but who, notwithstand- 
 ing, are competent judges of these truths, which are necessary t*. 
 present and future happiness. I mention this, that curious reaoen 
 may spare themselves the labour of seeking for what they will not 
 find. 
 
 3. I design plain truth for plain people : therefore, of st purpose, 
 I abstain from all nice and philosophical speculations ; irooi all per- 
 plexed and intricate reasonings : and, as far as possible, fi-ooi even 
 the show of learning, unless in sometimes citing the original Scrip- 
 ture. I labour to avoid all words which are noc easy to be under- 
 stood, all which are not used in common life ; and, in particular, 
 those kinds of technical terms that so frequently occur in bodies of 
 divinity, those modes of speaking, which men of reading are in- 
 timately acquainted with, but which, to common people, are an 
 unknown tongue. Yet I am not assured that I do not sometimes 
 slide into them unawares : it is so extremely natural to imagine, 
 that a word which is familiar to ourselves is so to all the world. 
 
 4. Nay, my design is, in some sense, to forget all that ever I have 
 read in my life. I mean to speak, in the general, as if I had never 
 
 * In the year 1747.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 read one author, ancient or modern : (always excepting the inspired.) 
 I am persuaded, that on the one hand, this may be a means of 
 enabling me more clearly to express the sentiments of my heart, 
 while I simply follow the chain of my own thoughts, without en- 
 tangling myself with those of other men ; and that, on the other, 
 I shall come with fewer weights upon my mind, with less of prejudice 
 and prepossession either to search for myself, or to deliver to others 
 the naked truths of the Gospel. 
 
 5. To candid, reasonable men, I am not afraid to lay open what 
 have been the inmost thoughts of my heart. I have thought, I am 
 a creature of a day, passing through life, as an arrow through the 
 air. I am a spirit come from God, and returning to God : just 
 hovering over the great gulf; till a few moments hence, I am no 
 more seen ! I drop into an unchangeable eternity ! I want to know 
 one thing, the way to heaven : how to land safe on that happy shore. 
 God himself has condescended to teach the way ; for this very end 
 he came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book ! Oh 
 give me that book 1 At any price, give me the book of God ! I 
 have it : here is knowledge enough for me. Let me be homo unius 
 libri.* Here then I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sib 
 down alone : only God is here. In his presence I open, I read this 
 book ; for this end, to find the way to heaven. Is there a doubt 
 concerning the meaning of what I read 1 Does any thing appear 
 dark or intricate ? I lift up my heart to the Father of light. Lord, 
 is it not thy word, " If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God 1" 
 Thou " givest liberally and upbraidest not." Thou hast said, " If 
 any be williug to do thy will, he shall know." I am willing to do : 
 let me know thy will. I then search after, and consider parallel 
 passages of Scripture, " comparing spiritual things with spiritual." 
 I meditate thereon, with all the attention and earnestness of which 
 my mind is capable. If any doubt still remains, I consult those 
 who are experienced in the things of God : and then, the writings 
 whereby, being dead, they yet speak. And what I thus learn, that 
 I teach. 
 
 6. I have accordingly set down in the following sermons, what I 
 find in the Bible concerning the way to heaven ; with a view to dis- 
 tinguish this way of God, from all those which are the inventions of 
 men. I have endeavoured to describe the true, (he scriptural, 
 experimental religion, so as to omit nothing which is a real part 
 thereof, and to add nothing thereto which is not. And herein it is 
 
 * A man of one book.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 more especially my desire, first, to guard those who are just setting 
 their faces towards heaven, (and who, having little acquaintance 
 with the things of God, are the more liable to be turned out of the 
 way,) from formality, from mere outside religion, which has almost 
 driven heart religion out of the world ; and, secondly, to warn those 
 who know the religion of the heart, the faith which worketh by 
 love, lest at any time they make void the law through faith, and so 
 fall back into the snare of the devil. 
 
 7. By the advice, and at the request of some of my friends, I 
 have prefixed to the other sermons contained in this volume, three 
 sermons of my own, and one of my brother's, preached before the 
 university of Oxford. My design required some discourses on those 
 heads. And I preferred these before any others, as being a stronger 
 answer than any which can be drawn up now, to those who have 
 frequently asserted, that we have changed our doctrine of late, and 
 do not preach now, what we did some years ago. Any man of 
 understanding may now judge for himself, when he has compared 
 the latter with the former sermons. 
 
 8. But some may say, T have mistaken the way myself, although 
 I take upon me to teach it to others. It is probable many will think 
 this, and it is very possible that I have. But I trust, whereinso- 
 ever I have mistaken, my mind is open to conviction. I sincerely 
 desire to be better informed. I say to God and man, " What I 
 know not, teach thou me 1 " 
 
 9. Are you persuaded you &ee more clearly than me 1 ? It is not 
 unlikely that you may. Then treat me as you would desire to be 
 treated yourself upon a change of circumstances. Point me out a 
 better way than I have yet known. Show me it is so, by plain 
 proof of Scripture. And if I linger in the path I have been accus. 
 tomed to tread, and am therefore unwilling to leave it, labour with 
 me a little ; take me by the hand, and lead me as I am able to bear. 
 But be not displeased if I entreat you not to beat me down in order 
 to quicken my pace : I can go but feebly and wlowly at best ; then, 
 I should not be able to go at all. May I not request of you, farther, 
 not to give me hard names in order to bring me into the right way. 
 Suppose I were ever so much in the wrong, I doubt thio would not 
 set me right. Rather, it would make me run so much the farther 
 from you, and so get more and more out of the way. 
 
 10. Nay, perhaps, if you are angry, so shall I be too ; and then 
 there will be small hopes of finding the truth. If once anger arise, 
 wre x a7rv s, (as Homer somewhere expresses it,) this smoke will so
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 dim the eyes of my soul, that I shall be able to see nothing clearly. 
 For God's sake, if it be possible to avoid it, let us not provoke one 
 another to wrath. Let us not kindle in each other this fire of hell ; 
 much less blow it up into a flame. If we could discern truth by 
 that dreadful light, would it not be loss, rather than gain ? .For, 
 how far is love, even with many wrong opinions, to be preferred 
 before truth itself without love ! We may die without the know- 
 ledge of many truths, and yet be carried into Abraham's bosom. 
 But if we die without love, what will knowledge avail 1 Just as 
 much as it avails the devil and his angels ! 
 
 The God of love forbid that we should ever make the trial ! May 
 he prepare us for the knowledge of all truth, by filling our hearts 
 with all his love, and with all joy and peace in believing i
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 1. In four sermons before the University of Oxford, the fundamental 
 
 evangelical doctrine of "Salvation by Faith" is placed in contrast 
 with the imperfect Christianity of outward works, and the indifference 
 of woildly minds, as a work of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 SERMON I. Salvation by Faith. 
 By grace are ye saved, through faith. Ephesians ii. 8 1 
 
 SERMON II. The Almost Christian. 
 Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. Acts xxvi. 28 11 
 
 SERMON III. Awake, thou that deepest. 
 
 Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give 
 thee light. Ephesians v. 14 17 
 
 SERMON IV. Scriptural Christianity. 
 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Acts iv. 31 26 
 
 2. In eight sermons, being the substance of Mr. Wesley's evangplical 
 
 preaching during the earlier period of his itinerant ministry, (one, 
 the second, on the Witness of the Spirit, was added twenty years 
 later,) the Gospel Salvation is expounded as Justification or Righteous- 
 ness by Faith, with its antecedent conditions, Repentance and Faith ; 
 and its concomitant results, the Fruits of the Spirit, the Spirit of 
 Adoption, and the two-fold Witness of the Spirit of God with our 
 own spirits. 
 
 SERMON V. Justification by Faith. 
 To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the 
 
 ungodly, his faith is eounted to him for righteousness. Romans iv. 5 39 
 
 SERMON VI. The Righteousness of Faith. 
 Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man 
 
 which doeth those things shall live by them. 
 But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise : Say not in 
 
 thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is, to bring Christ 
 
 down from above :) 
 Or, Who shall descend into the deep ? (that is, to bring up Christ again 
 
 from the dead. ) 
 But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy 
 
 heart : that is, the word of faith which we preach. Romans x. 5-8. . 51 
 
 SERMON VII. The Way to the Kingdom. 
 
 The kingdom of God is at hand : repent ye, and believe the gospeL Mark 
 i 15 61 
 
 SERMON VIII. The First Fruits of the Spirit. 
 There ia therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, 
 
 who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans viii. 1 . . 70
 
 XXIV ' ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON IX. The Spirit of Bondage and of Adoption. 
 Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear ; but ye have 
 received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. 
 Romans viii. 15 79 
 
 SERMON X. The Witness of the Spirit. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children 
 
 of God. Romans viii. 16 90 
 
 SERMON XI. The Witness of the Spirit. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children 
 of God. Romans viii. 16 101 
 
 SERMON XII. The Witness of our own Spirit. 
 
 This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity 
 and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace ol God, 
 we have had our conversation in the world. 2 Corinthians i. 12 .... 109 
 
 3. In two supplementary sermons, inserted in 1771, the evangelical doc- 
 
 trine is guarded against the erroneous perfectionism of the Moravians, 
 and weak Christians are so directed as to prevent discouragement. 
 
 SERMON XIII. On Sin in Believers. 
 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. 2 Corinthians v. 17 117 
 
 SERMON XIV. The Repentance of Believers. 
 Repent ye, and believe the gospel. Mark i. 15 127 
 
 4. A special sermon on the Judgment, preached in 1758, and inserted in 
 
 1771. 
 
 SERMON XV. The Great Assize. 
 We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Romans xiv. 10. . 138 
 
 5. A sermon guarding the evangelical doctrine of faith against Moravian 
 
 stillness. 
 
 SERMON XVI. The Means of Grace. 
 Ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and have not kept them. 
 
 Malachi iii. 7 149 
 
 6. In twenty sermons following, -the evangelical doctrine is guarded 
 
 against Antiiiomianism, and is united to the doctrine of holiness of 
 heart and life which Mr. Wesley had early received from Thomas 
 a'Kempis, Taylor, and Law. Into this series was inserted, in 1771, 
 the sermon on The Lord our Righteousness, as an exposition and 
 defence of the harmony between evangelical faith in the Atonement 
 and Scriptural holiness. The three sermons concluding this section 
 are distinctly controversial, and pointed at Antinomiauism. 
 
 SERMON XVII. The Circumcision of the Heart. 
 Circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter. 
 
 Romans ii. 29 163 
 
 SERMON XVIII. The Marks of the New Birth. 
 So is every one that is born of the Spirit. John iii. 8 172 
 
 SERMON XIX. The Great Privilege of those that are Born of God. 
 Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin. 1 John iii. 9 181
 
 ANALYSIS OP CONTENTS. XXV 
 
 SERMON XX. The Lord our Righteousness. 
 
 This is his name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUS- 
 NESS. Jeremiah xxiii. 6 189 
 
 SERMON XXI. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain ; and when he 
 
 was set, his disciples came unto him, &c. Matthew v. 1-4 199 
 
 SERMON XXII. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth, &c. Matthew v. 5-7 214 
 SERMON XXIII. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God, &c. Matthew v. 8-12 225 
 SERMON XXIV. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 Ye are the salt of the earth ; but if the salt have lost its savour, where- 
 with shall it be salted ? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be 
 cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men, &c. Matthew v. 13-16 236 
 
 SERMON XXV. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 DISCOURSE v. 
 
 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets : I am not 
 
 come to destroy, but to fulfil, &c. Matthew v. 17-20 247 
 
 SERMON XXVI. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them : 
 otherwise ye have no reward from your Father which is in heaven, &c. 
 Matthew vi. 1-15 259 
 
 SEBMON XXVII. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 DISCOURSE VIL 
 
 Moreover when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance : for 
 they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. 
 Verily I say unto you, They have their reward, &c. Matthew vi. 
 16-18 270 
 
 SERMON XXVIII. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE VIII. 
 
 Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust 
 doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, &c. 
 Matthew vi. 19-23 282 
 
 SERMON XXIX. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love 
 the other; or else he will hold to the one, aud despise the other. 
 Ye cannot serve God and mammon, &c. Matthew vi. 24-34 294
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. 
 
 SERMON XXX. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 DISCOURSE x. 
 
 Judge not, that ye be not judged, &c. Matthew vii. 1-12 304 
 
 SERMON XXXI. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE XI. 
 
 Enter ye in at the strait gate : for wide is the gate, and broad is the 
 way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in 
 thereat, &c. Matthew vii. 13, 14 312 
 
 SERMON XXXII. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE XII. 
 
 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but 
 inwardly they are ravening wolves, &c. Matthew vii. 15-20 318 
 
 SERMON XXXIII. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE XIII. 
 
 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the king- 
 dom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in 
 heaven, &c. Matthew vii. 21-27 325 
 
 SERMON XXXIV. The Original, Nature, Properties, and Use of the Law. 
 Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and 
 
 good. Romans vii 12 333 
 
 SERMON XXXV. The Law established through Faith. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid : yea, we 
 
 establish the law. Romans iii. 31 346 
 
 SERMON XXXVI. The Law established through Faith. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 Do we then make void the law through faith ? God forbid : yea we 
 
 establish the law. Romans iii. 31 354 
 
 7. In three following discourses the deep earnestness of spiritual religion 
 
 is guarded against enthusiasm, bigotry, and narrowness. 
 
 SERMON XXXVII. The Nature of Enthusiasm. 
 
 And Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself. Acts 
 xxvi. 24 360 
 
 SERMON XXXVIII. A Caution against Bigotry. 
 
 And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in 
 thy name, and he followeth not us : and we forbade him, because he 
 followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not. Mark ix. 38, 39 3C9 
 
 SERMON XXXIX. Catholic Spirit. 
 
 And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of 
 Rechab coming to meet him : and he saluted him, and said to him, 
 Is thine heart i g it, as my heart is with thy heart ? And Jehonadab 
 answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand. 2 Kings x. 15 379 
 
 8. In four sermons the "Wesleyen doctrine of Christian Perfection is 
 
 defined and defended. Those seeking this grace are guarded against 
 difficulties, and the way of its attainment is pointed out.
 
 ANALYSIS OF CONTENTS. XXV11 
 
 SERMON XL. On Christian Perfection. 
 Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect. Phil. iii. 12 38'J 
 
 SERMON XLI. Wandering Thoughts. 
 Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. 2 Cor. x. 5 409 
 
 SERMON XLII. Satan's Devices. 
 We are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Cor. ii. 11 416 
 
 SERMON XLTII. The Scripture Way of Salvation. 
 Ye are saved through faith. Ephesians ii. 8 426 
 
 9. In connection with this doctrine we have an exposition of the related 
 
 subjects Original Sin and the New Birth and a guard against sub- 
 jective difficulties common to those who search deeply their own 
 hearts, and seek inward perfection. 
 
 SERMON XLIV. Original Sin. 
 
 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that 
 every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil con- 
 tinually. Genesis vL 5 436 
 
 SERMON XLV. The New Birth. 
 Ye must be born again. John iii. 7 446 
 
 SERMOM XLVI. The Wilderness State. 
 Ye now have sorrow : but I will see you again, and your heart shall 
 
 rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. John xvi. 22 456 
 
 SERMON XLVII. Heaviness through manifold Temptations. 
 Now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temp- 
 tations. 1 Peter i. 6 467 
 
 1 0. A concluding section on subjects touching the practical life of Christians. 
 
 SERMON XLVIII. Self -Denial. 
 And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny 
 
 himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Luke ix. 23. ... 476 
 
 SERMON XLIX. The Cure of Evil Speaking. 
 
 If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault 
 between thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained 
 thy brother, &c. Matthew xviii. 15-17 486 
 
 SERMON L. The Use of Money. 
 
 I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteous- 
 ness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habi- 
 tations. Luke xvi. 9 4$3 
 
 SERMON LI. Tlie Good Steward. 
 Give an account of thy stewardship ; for thou mayest be no longer steward. 
 
 Luke xvi. 2 501 
 
 SERMON LII. The Reformation of Manners. 
 Who will rise up with me against the wicked ? Psalm xciv. 16 610
 
 SERMONS ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS. 
 
 SERMON I. Salvation by Faith. 
 
 Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University, June llth, 1738. 
 11 By grace arc ye saved through Faith." Eph. ii. 8. 
 
 ANALYSTS. 
 
 GRACE is the source of all blessings to man, and in Ms 
 fallen condition must be pre-eminently the source of his 
 salvation. Faith is its condition. 
 
 I. What Faith is it through which we are saved ? 
 
 1. Not barely the faith of a heathen in God as Moral 
 Governor. 
 
 2. Not the intellectual faith of a devil. 
 
 3. Not barely the faith of the Apostles before the Kesur- 
 rection. 
 
 4. But a faith in Christ, of the heart, in the Atonement. 
 
 5. Hence Christian faith is not only an assent to the whole 
 Gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance on the bliod of 
 Christ ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and resurrec- 
 tion ; a recumbency on him as our atonement and our life, 
 as given for us, and living in us. It is a sure confidence 
 which a man hath in God, that through the merits of Christ 
 his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God ; 
 and, in consequence hereof, a closing with him, and a cleaving 
 to him, as our " wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and 
 redemption," or, in one word, our salvation.
 
 SALVATION BY FAITH. 
 
 [SERMON i. 
 
 II. What is the Salvation which is through Faith ? 
 
 1. A present salvation. 2. From sin. 3. From guilt. 4 
 From fear. 5. From the power of sin. He that is born of 
 God sinneth not by habitual sin, nor by wilful sin, nor by 
 sinful desire, nor by infirmities. 
 
 III. Answer to Objections. 
 
 1. Salvation by faith is not opposed to good works, for 
 
 2. It -does not reduce God's law to the limits of human 
 weakness, but points out its true spiritual fulfilment. 
 
 3. It does not lead to pride, for it excludes boasting. 
 
 4. It does not encourage in sin, since God's goodness will 
 lead all the sincere to repentance. 
 
 o. It drives to despair only of ourselves, that we may find 
 salvation in Christ. 
 
 6. It is the doctrine of true comfort. 
 
 7. It is the scriptural foundation doctrine. 
 
 8. It is the effectual antidote to Romanism. 
 
 9. And the true secret of the power of Protestantism. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon was preached by Mr. Wesley, btfore the University, June 
 llth, 1738, (not June 18th, as appears in all the editions of his works,) 
 eighteen days after his conscious experience of the new life. It consists 
 of three parts the definition of faith, the definition of salvation, and 
 he answer to objections. 
 
 The definition of faith is evidently a transcriptin~oOns_jjsai--expe- 
 e, as will appear from the following extract from his journal, under 
 date May 24th, 1738 :* " Accordingly, the next day he (Peter Boehler) 
 came again with three others, all of whom testified, of their own per- 
 sonal experience, that a true living faith in Christ is inseparable from a 
 sense of pardon for all past, and freedom from all present, sins. They 
 added with one mouth that this faith was the gift, the free gift of God ; 
 and that he would surely bestow it upon every soul who earnestly and 
 perseveringly sought it. I was now thoroughly convinced ; and by the 
 grace of God I resolved to seek it unto the end 1. By absolutely re- 
 nouncing all dependence, in whole or in part, upon my own works or 
 righteousness ; on which I had really grounded my hope of salvation, 
 thoxigh I knew it not, from my youth up. 2. By adding to the constant 
 use of all the other means of grace, continual prayer for the very tiling, 
 justifying saving grace, a lull reliance on the blood of Christ shed for me; 
 
 Pp. 73, 74, Vol. 111., Wesley's Works, American Edition.
 
 SERMON I.] SALVATION BY FAITH. 3 
 
 a trust in him, as my Christ, as my sole justification, sanctification, and 
 redemption. 
 
 " I continued thus to seek it (though with strange indifference, dul- 
 ness, and coldness, and unusually frequent relapses into t?in) till Wed- 
 nesday, May 24th. 1 think it was about five this morning that I opened 
 my Testament on those words, T fxeyig-ras i\^it KO.I T//X/* tvayytk^ra. 
 Je^wp>jTai, v ysvr.o-6s Qeitzf xo/woi (pvo-EWf : ' There are given unto us 
 exceeding great and precious promises, even that ye should be partakers 
 of the Divine nature,' 2 Pet. i. 4. Just as I went out, I opened it again 
 on those words, ' Thou art not far from the kingdom of God.' In the 
 afternoon I was asked to go to St. Paul's. The anthem was, 'Out of the 
 deep have I called unto thee, O Lord : Lord, hear my voice. O let thine 
 ears consider well the voice of my complaint. If tliou, Lord, wilt be 
 extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it 1 For 
 there is mercy with thee ; therefore thou shalt be feared. Israel, trust 
 in the Lord : for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous 
 redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all his sins.' 
 
 " In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate 
 Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the 
 Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the 
 change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my 
 heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for 
 salvation ; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my 
 sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." 
 
 Such was the progress and culmination of this saving faith in Mr. 
 Wesley's own experience : First, an apprehension of the way, and a 
 determination to forsake his own works, and seek saving faith as a gift 
 from God. Then the answer to his prayer in rays of Divine light from 
 the Word of God, and finally in the clear vision of full and present 
 assurance. It is this fully assured faith which Mr. Wesley has embodied 
 in his definition, rather than the gradual process of dawning light, falling 
 on a receptive heart, which preceded it ; not because he did not regard 
 the latter as of the nature of faith, but because the perfected faith alone 
 introduced him into a conscious present possesssion of salvation. We 
 shall see hereafter how clearly Mr. Wesley defines the various degrees of 
 faith, and the corresponding states of grace. 
 
 The definition of salvation is also very deariy jnnafa-ateft by hia-tnvn 
 experience? The very night oThis happy change he says, "After my 
 return home I was much buffeted with temptations ; but cried out, and 
 they fled away. They returned again and again. I as often lifted up 
 my eyes, and He 'sent me help from His holy place.' And herein I 
 found the difference between this and my former state chiefly consisted. 
 I was striving, yea, fighting with all my might under the Law, as well as 
 under grace. But then I was sometimes, if not often, conquered ; now I 
 was always conqueror." Five days later he writes, " I have constant peace, 
 not one uneasy thought ; and I have freedom from sin, not one unholy
 
 4 SALVATION BY FAITH. fSERMON I. 
 
 desire." " Yet on Wednesday," (two days after,) " did I grieve the Spirit 
 of God, not only by not watching unto prayer, but likewise by speaking 
 with sharpness, instead of tender lt>ve, of one that was not sound in the 
 faith. Immediately God hid his face, and I was troubled ; and in this 
 heaviness I continued till the next morning, June 1, when it pleased God, 
 while I was exhorting another, to give comfort to my soul." 
 
 The student will note the correspondence of the objections considered 
 with those still urged against the doctrine. Mr. Wesley's prognostica- 
 tion of the increase of Romish delusion at Oxford was strikingly verified 
 by the Tractariaii movement just a century later. 
 
 SERMON I. 
 
 1. ALL the blessings which God hath bestowed upon man, are ol 
 hia mere grace, bounty, or favour; his free, undeserved favour; favour 
 altogether undeserved ; man having no claim to the least of his mer- 
 cies. It was free grace that " formed man of the dust of the ground, 
 and breathed into him a living soul," and stamped on that soul the 
 image of God, and " put all things under his feet." The same free 
 grace continues to us, at this day, life and breath, and all things. For 
 there is nothing we are, or have, or do, which can deserve the least 
 thing at God's hand. " All our works, thou, oh God ! hast wrought 
 in us." These, therefore, are so many more instances of free mercy : 
 and, whatever righteousness may be found in man, this is also the gift 
 of God. 
 
 2. Wherewithal then shall a sinful man atone for any, the least of 
 his sins ? With his own works ? No. Were they ever so many or 
 holy, they are not his own, but God's. But indeed they are all unholy 
 and sinful themselves, so that every one of them needs a fresh atone- 
 ment Only corrupt fruit grows on a corrupt tree. And his heart is 
 altogether corrupt and abominable; being "come short of the glory of 
 God,'' the glorious righteousness at first impressed on his soul, after the 
 image of his great Creator. Therefore having nothing, neither right- 
 eousness nor works to plead, his mouth is utterly stopped before God. 
 
 3. If then sinful men find favour with God, it is "grace upon grace !" 
 If God vouchsafe still to pour fresh blessings upon us, yea, the great- 
 est of all blessings, salvation ; what can we say to these things, but, 
 " Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift !" And thus it is. 
 Herein "God commendeth his love towards us, in that while we were 
 yet sinners, Christ died" to save us. " By grace, then, are ye saved, 
 through faith." Grace is the source, faith the condition, of salvation. 
 
 Now, that we fall not short of the grace of God, it concerns us 
 carefully to inquire, 
 
 I. What Faith it is through which we are saved ? 
 
 II. What is the Salvation which is through Faith? 
 
 III. How we may answer some Objections. 
 
 1. What faith it is through which we are saved? 
 
 1. And first. It is not barely the faith of a heathen. 
 
 Now God requireth of a heathen to believe, " That God is ; that 
 he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him ;" and that he is to 
 be sought by glorifying him as God, by giving him thanks for all 
 things, and by a careful practice of moral virtue, of justice, mercy and
 
 B3HMON I.] SALVATION BY FAITH. 6 
 
 truth towards their fellow creatures. A Greek or Roman, therefore, 
 yea, a Scythian or Indian, was without excuse if he did not believe 
 thus much : The being and attributes of God, a future state of reward 
 and punishment, and the obligatory nature of moral virtue. For thia 
 is barely the faith of a heathen. 
 
 2. Nor, secondly. Is it the faith of a devil, though he goes much 
 farther than that of a heathen. For the devil believes, not only that 
 there is a wise and powerful God, gracious to reward, and just to pun- 
 ish ; but also that Jesus is the Son of God, the Christ, the Saviour of 
 the world. So we find him declaring in express terms, Luke iv, 34, 
 " I know thee, who thou art ; the Holy One of God." Nor can we 
 doubt but that unhappy spirit believes all those words which came out 
 of the mouth of the Holy One : yea, and whatsoever else was written 
 by those holy men of old, of two of whom he was compelled to give 
 that glorious testimony, "These men are the servants of the Most 
 High God, who show unto you the way of salvation." Thus much, 
 then, the great enemy of God and man believes, and trembles in be- 
 lieving, that God was made manifest in the flesh ; that he will " tread 
 all enemies under his feet ;" and that " all Scripture was given by in- 
 spiration of God." Thus far goeth the faith of a devil. 
 
 3. Thirdly. The faith through which we are saved, in that sense of 
 the word which will hereafter be explained, is not barely that which 
 the apostles themselves had while Christ was yet upon earth ; though 
 they so believed on him as to " leave all and follow him ;" although 
 they had then power to work miracles, to " heal all manner of sick- 
 ness, and all manner of disease ;" yea, they had then " power and au- 
 thority over all devils ;" and, which is beyond all this, were sent by 
 their Master to " preach the kingdom of God." 
 
 4. What faith is it then through which we are saved ? It may be 
 answered, first, in general, it is a faith in Christ ; Christ, and God 
 through Christ, are the proper objects of it. Herein, therefore, it is 
 sufficiently, absolutely distinguished from the faith, either of ancient 
 or modern heathens. And from the faith of a devil, it is fully distin- 
 guished by this, it is not barely a speculative, rational thing, a cold, 
 lifeless assent, a train of ideas in the head ; but also a disposition of 
 the heart. For thus saith the Scripture, "With the heart man believ 
 eth unto righteousness/' And, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth 
 the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe with thy heart, that God hath raised 
 him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." 
 
 5. And herein does it differ from that faith which the apostles 
 themselves had while our Lord was on earth, that it acknowledges the 
 necessity and merit of his death, and the power of his resurrection. 
 It acknowledges his death as the only sufficient means of redeeming 
 man from death eternal, and his resurrection as the restoration of us 
 all to life and immortality ; inasmuch as he " was delivered for our 
 sins, and rose again for our justification." Christian faith is then, 
 not only an assent to the whole Gospel of Christ, but also a full reliance 
 on the blood of Christ ; a trust in the merits of his life, death, and re- 
 surrection ; a recumbency upon him as our atonement and our life, a* 
 given for us, and Jiving in us. It is a sure confidence which a man 
 hath in God, that through the merits of Christ, his sins are forgiven, 
 and he reconciled to the favour of God ; and. in consequence hereoC
 
 6 SALVATION BY FAITH. [SEEMON I. 
 
 a closing with him, and cleaving to him, as our " wisdom, righteous, 
 ness, sanctification, and redemption," or, in one word, our salvation. 
 
 II. What salvation it is, which is through this faith, is the second 
 thing to be considered. 
 
 1. And first, whatsoever else it imply, it is a present salvation. It 
 is something attainable, yea, actually attained on earth, by those who 
 are partakers of this faith. For thus saith the apostle to the believ- 
 ers at Ephesus, and in them to the believers of all ages, not ye shall 
 be, (though that also is true,) but "ye are saved through faith." 
 
 2. Ye are saved ('to comprise all in one word) from sin. This is 
 the salvation which is through faith. This is that great salvation 
 foretold by the angel, before God brought his First-begotten into the 
 world : " Thou shalt call his name JESUS, for he shall save his people 
 from their sins." And neither here, nor in other parts of Holy Writ, 
 is there any limitation or restriction. All his people, or as it is else- 
 where expressed, " all that believe in him," he will save from all their 
 ains ; from original and actual, past and present sin, " of the flesh 
 and of the spirit." Through faith that is in him, they are saved both 
 from the guilt and from the power of it. 
 
 3. First from the guilt of all past sin : for, whereas all the world is 
 guilty before God, insomuch, that should he " be extreme to mark what is 
 done amiss, there is none that could abide it ;" and whereas, "by the law 
 is" only "the knowledge of sin," but no deliverance from it, so that, "by 
 fulfilling the deeds of the law, no flesh can be justified in his sight;" 
 now, "the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, is 
 manifested unto all that believe." Now, "they are justified freely by 
 his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ." "Him God 
 hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood ; to declare 
 his righteousness for (or by) the remission of the sins that are past." 
 Now hath Christ taken away " the curse of the law, being made a curse 
 for us." He hath " blotted out the hand writing that was against us, 
 taking it out of the way, nailing it to his cross." " There is, there- 
 fore, no condemnation now, to them which" believe in Christ Jesus. 
 
 4. And being saved from guilt, they are saved from fear. Not in- 
 deed from a filial fear of offending ; but, from all servile fear ; from 
 that fear which hath torment ; from fear of punishment ; from fear of 
 the wrath of God, whom they now no longer regard as a severe Master, 
 but as an indulgent Father. "They have not received again the spirit 
 of bondage, but the spirit of adoption, whereby they cry Abba, Father 
 the Spirit itself also bearing witness with their spirits, that they are 
 the children of God." They are also saved from the fear, though not 
 from the possibility, of falling away from the grace of God, and com- 
 ing short of the great and precious promises : they are " sealed with 
 the Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of their inheritance," 
 Kph. i, 13. Thus have they "peace with God through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. They rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And the love of 
 God is shed abroad in their hearts, through the Holy Ghost, which is 
 given unto them." And hereby they are persuaded, (though perhaps 
 not at all times, nor with the same fulness of persuasion,) that " nei- 
 ther death, nor life, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, 
 nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate them from 
 ihe love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
 
 S^TIMON I.] SALVATION BY FAITH. 7 
 
 5. Again, through this faith they are saved from the power of sin, 
 as well as from the guilt of it. So the apostle declares, " Ye know that 
 he was manifested to take away our sins, and in him is no sin. Who- 
 soever abideth in him, sinneth not," 1 John iii, 5, &c. Again, " Little 
 children, let no man deceive you. He that committeth sin is of the 
 devil. Whosoever believeth is born of God. And whosoever is born 
 of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him : and he 
 cannot sin, because he is born of God." Once more, " We know, that 
 whosoever is born of God sinneth not : but he that is begotten of God. 
 keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not," chap, v, 18. 
 
 6. He that is, by faith, born of God, sinneth not, 1, by any habitual 
 sin ; for all habitual sin, is sin reigning : but sin cannot reign in any 
 that believeth. Nor, 2, by any wilful sin, for his will, while he abideth 
 in the faith, is utterly set against all sin, and abhorreth it as deadly 
 poison. Nor, 3, by any sinful desire ; for he continually desireth the 
 holy and perfect will of God ; and any tendency to an unholy desire, 
 he, by the grace of God, stifleth in the birth. Nor, 4, doth he sin by 
 infirmities, whether in act, word or thought : for his infirmities have 
 no concurrence of his will ; and without this they are not properly sins. 
 Thus, " He that is born of God doth not commit sin." And though 
 he cannot say, he hath not sinned, yet, now " he sinneth not." 
 
 7. This then is the salvation which is through faith, even in the 
 present world : a salvation from sin, and the consequences of sin, both 
 often expressed in the word justification ; which, taken in the largest 
 sense, implies, a deliverance from guilt and punishment, by the atone- 
 ment of Christ actually applied to the soul of the sinner now believing 
 on him, and a deliverance from the whole body of sin, through Christ, 
 formed in his heart. So that he who is thus justified, or saved by faith, 
 is indeed born again. He is born again of the Spirit unto a new life, 
 " which is hid with Christ in God." " He is a new crrature : old things 
 are passed away : all things in him are become new." And as a new- 
 born babe he gladly receives the a<5oXov, "sincere milk of the word, and 
 grows thereby ;" going on in the might of the Lord his God, from faith 
 to faith, from grace to grace, until at length he comes unto " a perfect 
 man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." 
 
 III. The first usual objection to this is, 
 
 1. That to preach salvation, or justification, by faith only, is to 
 preach against holiness and good works. To which a short answer 
 might be given : It would be so, if we spake, as some do, of a faith 
 which was separate from these : but we speak of a faith which is not 
 so, but necessarily productive of all good works and all holiness. 
 
 2. But it may be of use to consider it more at large ; especially since 
 it is no new objection, but as old as St. Paul's time : for even then it 
 was asked, "Do we not make void the law through faith?" We answer, 
 first, All who preach not faith, do manifestly make void the law ; eithe' 
 directly and grossly by limitations and comments, that eat out all the 
 spirit of the text ; or, indirectly, by not pointing out the only means 
 whereby it is possible to perform it. Whereas, secondly, " we establish 
 the law," both by showing its full extent and spiritual meaning ; and by 
 calling all to that living way, whereby " the righteousness of the law 
 may be fulfilled in them." These, while they trust in the blood of Christ 
 alone, use all the ordinances which he hath appointed, do all the " good
 
 8 SALVATION BY FAITH. [SERMON I. 
 
 works which he had before prepared that they should walk therein," 
 and enjoy and manifest all holy and heavenly tempers, even the same 
 mind that was in Christ Jesus. 
 
 3. But does not preaching this faith lead men into pride ? We an- 
 swer, Accidentally it may : therefore ought every believer to be ear- 
 nestly cautioned, in the words of the great apostle, " Because of unbelief, 
 the first branches were broken off; and thou standest by faith Be not 
 high minded, but fear. If God spared not the natural branches, take 
 heed lest he spare not thee. Behold, therefore,,thc goodness and seve- 
 rity of God ! On them which fell, severity ; but towards thee, good- 
 ness, if thou continue in his goodness ; otherwise thou also shalt be cut 
 off." And while he continues therein, he will remember those words of 
 St. Paul, foreseeing and answering this very objection, Rom. iii, 27, 
 " Where is boasting then ? It is excluded. By what law 1 Of works ? 
 Nay, but by the law of faith. If a man were justified by his works, he 
 would have whereof to glory." But there is no glorying for him " that 
 worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly," Rom. 
 iv. 5. To the same effect are the words both preceding and following 
 the text : Eph. ii, 4, &c, " God, who is rich in mercy, even when we 
 were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye 
 are saved,) that he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his 
 kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. For, by grace are ye saved, 
 through faith ; and that not of yourselves." Of yourselves cometh 
 neither your faith nor your salvation : " It is the gift of God ;" the free, 
 undeserved gift ; the faith through which ye are saved, as well as the 
 salvation, which he of his own good pleasure, his mere favour, annexes 
 thereto. That ye believe, is one instance of his grace ; that believing 
 ye are saved, another. " Not of works, lest any man should boast." 
 For all our works, all our righteousness, which were before our believ- 
 ing, merited nothing of God but condemnation. So far were they from 
 deserving faith, which, therefore, whenever given, is not of works. 
 Neither is salvation of the works we do when we believe : for it is then 
 God that worketh in us : and, therefore, that he giveth us a reward for 
 what he himself worketh, only commendeth the riches of his mercy, 
 but leaveth us nothing whereof to glory. 
 
 4. However, may not the speaking thus of the mercy of God, as 
 saving or justifying freely by faith only, encourage men in sin ? Indeed 
 it may and will : many will " continue in sin that grace may abound :" 
 But their blood is upon their own head. The goodness of God ought to 
 l<jad them to repentance ; and so it will those who are sincere of heart. 
 When they know there is yet forgiveness with him, they will cry aloud 
 that he would blot out their sins also, through faith which is in Jesus. 
 And if they earnestly cry and faint not; if they seek him in all the 
 means he hath appointed ; if they refuse to be comforted till he come ; 
 " lie will come and will not tarry." And he can do much work in a 
 short time. Many are the examples, in the Acts of the Apostles, of 
 God'a shedding abroad this faith in men's hearts, even like lightning 
 falling from heaven. So in the same hour that Paul and Silas began to 
 preach, the jailer "repented, believed, and was baptized:" as were 
 three thousand, by St. Peter, on the day of Pentecost, who all repented 
 and believed at his first preaching. And blessed be God, there are 
 now many living proofs that he is still " mighty to save."
 
 S2RMON. I] SALVATION BY FAITH. 9 
 
 5. Yet to the same truth, placed in another view, a quite contrary 
 objection is made : " If a man cannot be saved by all that he can do, 
 this will drive men to despair." True, to despair of being saved by 
 their own works, their own merits, or righteousness. And so it ought ; 
 for none can trust in the merits of Christ, till he has utterly renounced 
 his own. He that " goeth about to establish his own righteousness," 
 cannot receive the righteousness of God. The righteousness which is 
 of faith cannot be given him while he trusteth in that which is of the law. 
 
 6. But this, it is said, is an uncomfortable doctrine. The devil spoke 
 like himself, that is, without either truth or shame, when he darod to 
 suggest to men that it is such. It is the only comfortable one, it is 
 " very full of comfort," to all self-destroyed, self-condemned sinners. 
 That " whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed : that the 
 same Lord over all, is rich unto all that call upon him :" Here is com- 
 fort, high as heaven, stronger than death ! What ! Mercy for all ? For 
 Zaccheus, a public robber 1 For Mary Magdalene, a common harlot ? 
 Methinks 1 hear one say, Then I, even I, may hope for mercy ! And 
 so thou mayest, thou afflicted one, whom none hath comforted ! God 
 will not cast out thy prayer. Nay, perhaps he may say the next hour, 
 " Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee ;" so forgiven, that they 
 shall reign over thee no more ; yea, and that " the Holy Spirit shall 
 bear witness with thy spirit that thou art a child of God." O glad 
 tidings ! Tidings of great joy, which are sent unto all people ! " Ho, 
 every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters : Come ye, and bny, 
 without money and without price." Whatsoever your sins be, " though 
 red, like crimson," though more than the hairs of your head, " return 
 ye unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon you ; and to our God, 
 for he will abundantly pardon." 
 
 7. When no more objections occur, then we are simply told, that 
 salvation by faith only ought not to be preached as the first doctrine, or, 
 at least, not to be preached to all. But what saith the Holy Ghost ? 
 " Other foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, even Jesus 
 Christ." So then, that " whosoever believeth on hint, shall be saved," 
 is, and must be, the foundation of all our preaching ; that is, must be 
 preached first. " Well, but not to all." To whom then are we not to 
 preach it 1 Whom shall we except ? The poor 1 Nay ; they have a 
 peculiar right to have the gospel preached unto them. The unlearned 1 
 No. God hath revealed these things unto unlearned and ignorant men 
 from the beginning. The young ? By no means. Suffer these, in any 
 wise, to come unto Christ, and forbid them not. The sinners ? Least 
 of all. " He came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.' 
 Why then, if any, we are to except the rich, the learned, the reputable, 
 the moral men. And, it is true, they too often except themselves from 
 hearing ; yet we must speak the words of our Lord. For thus the tenoi 
 of our commission runs, " Go and preach the gospel to every creature.' 
 If any man wrest it, or any part of it, to his destruction, he must bear 
 his own burden. But still, " as the Lord liveth, whatsoever the Lord 
 saith unto us, that we will speak." 
 
 8. At this time, more especially, will we speak, that " by grace ye 
 are saved, through faith:" because, never was the maintaining this 
 doctrine more seasonable than it is at this day. Nothing but this can 
 effectually prevent the increase of the Romish delusion among us. It
 
 10 SALVATION BY FAITH. [SERMON I. 
 
 is endless to attack, one by one, all the errors of that church. But 
 salvation by faith strikes at the root, and all fall at once where this is 
 established. It was this doctrine, which our church justly calls the 
 strong rock and foundation of the Christian religion, that first drove 
 l>opery out of these kingdoms, and it is this alone can keep it out. 
 Nothing but this can give a check to that immorality, which hath 
 ' overspread the land as a flood." Can you empty the great deep, drop 
 by drop ? Then you may reform us by dissuasives from particular vices. 
 But let the " righteousness which is of God by faith" be brought in, and 
 so shall its proud waves be stayed. Nothing but this can stop the 
 mouths of those who " glory in their shame, and openly deny the Lord 
 that bought them." They can talk as sublimely of the law, as he that 
 hath it written, by God, in his heart. To hear them speak on this head, 
 might incline one to think they were not far from the kingdom of God : 
 but take them out of the law into the gospel ; begin with the righteous- 
 ness of faith ; with Christ, " the end of the law, to every one that 
 believeth ;" and those who but now appeared almost, if not altogether 
 Christians, stand confessed the sons of perdition ; as far from life and 
 salvation (God be merciful unto them !) as the depth of hell from the 
 height of heaven. 
 
 9. For this reason the adversary so rages, whenever " salvation by 
 faith" is declared to the world : for this reason did he stir up earth and 
 hell, to destroy those who first preached it. And for the same reason, 
 knowing that faith alone could overturn the foundations of his kingdom, 
 did he call forth all his forces, and employ all his arts of lies and calumny 
 to affright that champion of the Lord of Hosts, Martin Luther, from 
 reviving it. Nor can we wonder thereat ; for as that man of God 
 observes, " How would it enrage a proud strong man armed, to be 
 stopped and set at nought by a little child coming against him with a 
 reed in his hand ?" Especially, when he knew that little child would 
 surely overthrow him, and tread him under foot. Even so, Lord Jesus ! 
 Thus hath thy strength been ever " irade perfect in weakness !" Go 
 forth then, thou little child that believest in him, and " his right hand 
 shall teach thee terrible things !" Though thou art helpless and weak 
 as an infant of days, the strong man shall not be able to stand before 
 thee. Thou shall prevail over him, and subdue him, and overthrow 
 him, and trample him under thy feet. Thou shall march on, under the 
 great Captain of thy salvalion, " conquering, and lo conquer," until all 
 thine enemies are destroyed, and " death is swallowed up in victory." 
 " Now, thanks be to God, which givelh us the victory through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ," to whom wilh the Father and the Holy Ghost, be 
 blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, aud honour, and 
 power, and might, for ever. Amen.
 
 SERMON II.] THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 11 
 
 SERMON II. The Almost Christian. 
 
 Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University, July 25th, 
 " Almost tliou persuadest me to be a Christian." Acts xxvi. 28. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 I. WHAT is implied in being almost a Christian ? 
 
 1. Heathen honesty; including justice, truth, and love. 
 
 2. The form of godliness ; in abstaining from outward sins, 
 doing good, even to labour and suffering, and using the means 
 of grace, publicly in his family, and privately. 
 
 3. Sincerity, or a real design to serve God. 
 
 II. What is implied in being altogether a Christian ? 
 
 1. Love to God. 
 
 2. Love to our neighbour. 
 
 3. Faith ; not dead, speculative faith, but that which assures 
 of forgiveness of sins, and is followed by a loving heart to 
 obey God's commandments. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 The character of the almost Christian, as portrayed in this sermon, ha 3 
 some very interesting historical parallels. It represents, with very great 
 exactness, the religion of the early Oxford Methodists, of whom for so 
 many years Mr. Wesley was a leader. It doubtless also represents the 
 best type of religion to be found in the University at the date of this 
 sermon, when the preacher spent some three weeks in Oxford examining 
 the course of study in Divinity, and also inquiring particularly into the 
 state of religion there. That he did not overlook the elements of genuine 
 religion to be found in the character here presented is evident from the 
 ninth sermon, where this same legal sincerity is contrasted with natural 
 enmity and indifference. Nothing could mark more decidedly his eense 
 of the supreme importance of the crisis known as conversion, than the 
 fact that he here makes all antecedent grace avail nothing without that 
 crowning experience which transforms the almost into the altogether 
 Christian. This sermon was not prepared for Oxford alone. About a 
 month before, he had preached it in London; and doubtless in most parts 
 ot England he found sincere, good, moral servants of God who needed 
 to be awakened to seek the full Christian Sonship. While the heathen 
 and the Jew might be saved from a lower state of grace, Mr. Wesley 
 evidently did not consider any Christian safe short of the assurance of 
 Adoption. " Unto whom much is given," &c. 
 
 The heads of the form of godliness in this sermon are a summary of 
 the Rules of Society which were published about two years later. This 
 is an example of the careful process of elaboration in his own mind,
 
 12 THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. [SERMON II. 
 
 which these important documents passed through before they were sent 
 forth to the Church and the world. 
 
 NOTE. This and the discourse . introduced and defended the Gospel 
 as preached by the Wesleys to the University, with earnest Christian 
 simplicity and love, but with the moderation of that charity which 
 "hopeth all things." The two which follow are marked by the severer 
 virtues of faithful reproof and warning. 
 
 SERMON II. 
 
 AND many there are who go thus far: ever since the Christian reli- 
 gion was in the world, there have been many in every age and nation, 
 who were " almost persuaded to be Christians." But seeing it avails 
 nothing before God, to go only thus far, it highly imports us to consider, 
 
 First, What is implied in being almost ; 
 
 Secondly, What in being altogether a Christian. 
 
 1. (I.) 1. Now, in the being almost a Christian is implied, first, 
 heathen honesty. No one, I suppose, will make any question of this ; 
 especially, since by heathen honesty here, I mean, not that which is 
 recommended in the writings of their philosophers only, but such as the 
 
 . common heathens expected one of another, and many of them actually 
 * practised. By the rules of this they were taught, that they ought not 
 to be unjust; not to take away their neighbour's goods, either by rob- 
 bery or theft ; not to oppress the poor, neither to use extortion towards 
 any ; not to cheat or overreach either the poor or rich, in whatsoever 
 commerce they had with them ; to defraud no man of his right ; and, 
 if it were possible, to owe no man any thing. 
 
 2. Again, the common heathens allowed, that some regard was to 
 be paid to truth as well as to justice. And, accordingly, they not only 
 held him in abomination, who was foresworn, who called God to witness 
 
 N . i^ to a lie ; but him also, who was known to be a slanderer of his neigh- 
 / 'T-v, bour, who falsely accused any man. And, indeed, little better did they 
 esteem wilful liars of any sort, accounting them the disgrace of human 
 kind, and the pests of society. 
 
 3. Yet, again there was a sort of love and assistance, which they 
 expected one from another. They expected, whatever assistance any 
 one could give another, without prejudice to himself. And this they 
 extended not only to those little offices of humanity, which are per- 
 formed without any expense or labour, but likewise, to the feeding the 
 hungry, if they had food to spare ; the clothing the naked, with their 
 own superfluous raiment ; and, in general, the giving, to any that need- 
 ed, such things as they needed not themselves. Thus far, in the lowest 
 iccount of it, heathen honesty went, the first thing implied in the being 
 almost a Christian. 
 
 (II.) 4. A second thing implied in the being almost a Christian, is, 
 the having a form of godliness, of that godliness which is prescribed in 
 " gospel of Christ ; the having the outside of a real Christian. Ac- 
 cordingly the almost Christian does nothing which the gospel forbids. 
 He taketh not the name of God in vain : he blesseth and curseth not : 
 he sweareth not at all, but his communication is yea, yea ; nay, nay. 
 He profanes not the day of the Lord, nor suffers it to be profaned, even 
 by the stranger that is within his gates. He not only avoids all actual 
 adultery, fornication,* and uncleanness, but every word or look, that
 
 SERMON II.] THE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. 13 
 
 either directly or indirectly tends thereto ; nay, and all idle words, 
 abstaining both from all detraction, backbiting, tale bearing, evil speak- 
 ing, and from " all foolish talking and jesting," eur^airsXia, a kind of 
 virti'.e in the heathen moralist's account ; briefly, from all conversation 
 that is not " good to the use of edifying," and that, consequently, 
 " grieves the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we are sealed to the day of 
 redemption." 
 
 5. He abstains from " wine wherein is excess ;" from revellings and 
 gluttony. He avoids, as much as in him lies, all strife and contention, 
 continually endeavouring to live peaceably with all men. And, if he 
 suffers wrong, he avengeth not himself, neither returns evil for evil. 
 He is no railer, no brawler, no scoffer, either at the faults or infirmities 
 of his neighbour. He does not willingly wrong, hurt, or grieve any 
 man ; but in all things acts and speaks by that plain rule, " Whatsoever 
 thou wouldest not he should do unto thee, that do not thou to another." 
 
 6. And, in doing good, he does not confine himself to cheap and 
 easy offices of kindness, but labours and suffers for the profit of many, 
 that by all means he may help some. In spite of toil or pain, " What- 
 soever his hand findeth to do, he doeth it with all his might;" whether 
 it be for his friends, or for his enemies ; for the evil, or for the good. 
 For, being not slothful in this, or in any business, as he hath opportu- 
 nity he doeth good, all manner of good to all men ; and to their soul* 
 as well as their bodies. He reproves the wicked, instructs the ignorant 
 confirms the wavering, quickens the good, and comforts the afflicted 
 He labours to awaken those that sleep ; to lead those whom God hatl 
 already awakened to the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness 
 that they may wash therein and be clean ; and to stir up those who are 
 saved, through faith, to adorn the gospel of Christ in all things. 
 
 7. He that hath the form of godliness, uses also the means of grace ; 
 yea, all of them, and at all opportunities. He constantly frequents the 
 house of God ; and that, not as the manner of some is, who come into 
 the presence of the Most High, either loaded with gold and costly ap- 
 parel, or in all the gaudy vanity of dress, and either by their unseasona- 
 ble civilities to each other, or the impertinent gayety of their behaviour, 
 disclaim all pretensions to the form, as well as to the power of godliness. 
 Would to God there were none even among ourselves who fall under 
 the same condemnation : who come into this house, it may be, gazing 
 about, or with all the signs of the most listless, careless indifference, 
 though sometimes they may seem to use a prayer to God for his blessing 
 on what they are entering upon ; who, during that awful service, are 
 either asleep, or reclined in the most convenient posture for it ; or, as 
 though they supposed God was aslesp, talking with one another, or 
 looking round, as utterly void of employment. Neither let these be 
 accused of the form of godliness. No ; he who has even this, behaves 
 with seriousness and attention in every part of that solemn service. 
 More especially when he approaches the table of the Lord, it is not 
 with a light or careless behaviour, but with an air, gesture, and deport- 
 ment, which speak nothing else, but " God be merciful to me a sinner." 
 
 8. To this, if we add the constant use of family prayer, by those who 
 
 are masters of families, and the setting times apart for private addresses^~ / v iA ' X '^r( 
 to God, with a daily seriousness of behaviour ; he who nniformlv prao- 
 tises this outward religion has the form of godliness. There needs but
 
 14 TEE ALMOST CHRISTIAN. [tiLBMON II. 
 
 one thing inore HI order to his being almost a Christian, and that is 
 sincerity. 
 
 (III.) 9. By sincerity, I mean a real, inward principle of religion 
 from whence these outward actions flow. And, indeed, if we have not 
 this, we have not heathen honesty ; no, not so much of it as will answei 
 the demand of a heathen Epicurean poet. Even this poor wretch, in 
 his sober intervals, is able to testify, 
 
 Oderunt peccare boni, virt.ut.is amore ; 
 Oderunt peccare mail, formidine pcenae.* 
 
 So that, if a man only abstains from doing evil in order to avoid punish- 
 ment, Non pasces in cruce coros,t saith the pagan ; there, " Thou hast 
 thy reward." But even he will not allow such a harmless man as this, 
 to be so much as a good heathen. If then, any man, from the same 
 motive, viz. to avoid punishment, to avoid the loss of his friends, or his 
 gain, or his reputation, should not only abstain from doing evil, but also 
 ao ever so much good ; yea, and use all the means of grace ; yet we 
 could not, with any propriety, say, this man is even almost a Christian. 
 If he has no better principle in his heart, he is only a hypocrite alto- 
 gether. 
 
 10. Sincerity, therefore, is necessarily implied in the being almost a 
 Christian ; a real design to serve God, a hearty desire to do his will : 
 it is necessarily implied, that a man have a sincere view of pleasing God 
 in all things ; in all his conversation ; in all his actions ; in all he does, 
 or leaves undone. This design, if any man be almost a Christian, runs 
 through the whole tenor of his life. This is ihe moving principle, 
 both in his doing good, his abstaining from evil, and his using the ordi 
 nances of God. 
 
 11. But here it will probably be inquired, Is it. possible, that any man 
 living should go so far as this, and nevertheless, be only almost a Chris- 
 tian ? What more than this can be implied in the being a Christian 
 altogether ? I answer, first, that it is possible to go thus far, and yet 
 be but almost a Christian, I learn, not only from the oracles of God, but 
 also from the sure testimony of experience. 
 
 12. Brethren, great is " my boldness towards you in this behalf." 
 And " forgive me this wrong," if I declare my own folly upon the house 
 top, for yours and the gospel s sake. Suffer me then, to speak freely 
 of myself, even as of another man. I am content to be abased, so ye 
 may be exalted, and to be yet more vile, for the glory of my Lord. 
 
 13. I did go thus far for many years, as many of this place can tes- 
 tify ; using diligence to eschew all evil, and to have a conscience void 
 of offence ; redeeming the time ; buying up every opportunity of doing 
 all good to all men ; constantly and carefully using all the public and 
 all the private means of grace ; endeavouring after a steady seriousness 
 of behaviour, at all times, and in all places ; and, God is my record, 
 before whom I stand, doing all this in sincerity ; having a real design 
 to serve God ; a hearty desire to do his will in all things ; to please him, 
 who had called me to " fight the good fight," and to " lay hold on eter- 
 nal life." Yet my own conscience beareth me witness in the Holy 
 Ghost, that all this time I was but almost a Christian. 
 
 * Good men avoid sin from the love of virtue : 
 
 Wicked men avoid sin from a fear of punishment. 
 f Thou shall not be hanged.
 
 N II.] TEE ALMOST CHKJSTIAN, 15 
 
 II. Tf it be inquired, What more than this is implied in the being 
 altogether a Christian ? I answer, 
 
 (I.) 1. First, The love of God. For thus saith his word, "Thou 
 shall love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, 
 and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." Such a love of God 
 is this, as engrosses the whole heart, as takes up all the affections, aa ., 
 fills the entire capacity of the soul, and employs the utmost extent o f 
 all its faculties. He that thus loves the Lord his God, his spirit, con- 
 tinually " rejoiceth in God his Saviour." His delight is in the Lord, 
 his Lord and his All, to whom " in every thing he giveth thanks." 
 " All his desire is unto God, and to the remembrance of his name." 
 His heart is ever crying out, " Whom have I in heaven but thce, and 
 there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee." Indeed, what can 
 he desire beside God ? Not the world, or the things of the world. For 
 he is " crucified to the world, and the world crucified to him." He is 
 crucified to the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride 
 of life. Yea, he is dead to pride of every kind ; for, " love is not 
 puffed up ;" but " he thai, dwelling in love, dwelleth in God, and God 
 in him," is less than nothing in his own eyes. 
 
 (II.) 2. The second thing implied in the being altogether a Christian, 
 is, the love of our neighbour. For thus said our Lord, in the follow- 
 ing words, " Thou shall love thy neighbour as thyself." If any man 
 ask, Who is my neighbour 1 we reply, every man in the world ; every 
 child of his, who is the Father of the spirits of all Hesh. Nor may we , 
 in any wise except our enemies, or the enemies of God and their own 
 souls. But every Christian loveth these also as himself, yea, " as Christ, 
 loved us." He that would more fully understand what manner of love 
 this is, may consider St. Paul's description of it. It is " longsuffering 
 and kind." It " envieth not." It is not rash or hasty in judging. It 
 " is not puffed up," but maketh him that loves, the least, the servant of 
 all. Love " doth not behave itself unseemly," but becometh " all things 
 to all men." She " seeketh not her own," but only the good of others, 
 that ihey may be saved. " Love is not provoked." It casteth otil wrath, 
 which he who hath, is not " made perfect in love," " It tliinketh no 
 evil. It rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. It covereth 
 all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things." 
 
 (III.) 3. There is yet one thing more that may be separately con- 
 sidered, though it cannot aclually be separate from the preceding, which 
 is implied in the being altogether a Christian, and that is the ground ol 
 all, even faith. Very excellent things are spoken of this throughout 
 the oracles of God. " Every one," saith the beloved disciple, " that 
 believeth, is born of God." " To as many as received him, gave he - 
 power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe in his 
 name." And " this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our 
 faith." Yea, our Lord himself declares, " He that believeth in the Son 
 hath everlasting life ; and cometh nol inlo condemnation, but is passed 
 from death unto life." 
 
 4. But here let no man deceive his own soul. " It is diligently to 
 be noted, the faith, which bringeth not forlh repentance, and love, and 
 all good works, is not that right living faith which is here spoken of, 
 but a dead and devilish one. For, even the devils believe that Christ 
 was born of a virgin ; that he wrought all kinds of miracles, declaring
 
 16 THK ALMOST CHRISTIAN. [SERMON II. 
 
 himself very God ; that, for our sakes he suffered a most painful death, 
 to redeem us from death everlasting ; that he rose again the third day j 
 that he ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father, 
 and at the end of the world shall come again to judge both the quick 
 and dead. These articles of our faith the devils believe, and so they 
 believe all that is written in the Old and New Testament. And yet> 
 for all this faith they be but devils. They remain still in their damnable 
 estate, lacking the very true Christian faith."* 
 
 5. " The right and true Christian faith is," to go on in the words of 
 our own church, " not only to behtve, that holy Scripture, and the 
 articles of our faith, are true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence 
 to be saved from everlasting damnation by Christ. It is a sure trust and 
 confidence which a man hath in God, that by the merits of Christ, his 
 sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God ; whereof doth 
 follow, a loving heart, to obey his commandments." 
 
 6. Now, whosoever has this faith, which purifies the heart, (by the 
 power of God, who dwelleth therein,) from pride, anger, desire, from 
 all unrighteousness, from " all filthiness of flesh and spirit ;" which fills 
 it with love stronger than death, both to God and to all mankind ; love 
 that doth the works of God, glorying to spend and to be spent for all 
 men, and that endureth with joy, not only the reproach of Christ, the 
 being mocked, despised, and hated of all men, but whatsoever the 
 wisdom of God permits the malice of men or devils to inflict ; whosoevei 
 has this faith, thus working by love, is not almost only, but altogether, 
 a Christian. 
 
 7. But who are the living witnesses of these things 1 I beseech you, 
 brethren, as in the presence of that God, before whom " hell and de- 
 struction are without a covering, how much more the hearts of the 
 children of men ;" that each of you would ask his own heart, " Am 1 
 of that number 1 Do I so far practise justice, mercy, and tryth, as even 
 the rules of heathen honesty require ? If so, have I the very outside of 
 a Christian 1 The form of godliness 1 Do I abstain from evil, from 
 whatsoever is forbidden in the written word of God 1 Do I, whatever 
 good my hand findeth to do, do it with my might 7 Do I seriously 
 use all the ordinances of God at all opportunities ? And, is all i/.iis done, 
 vvith a sincere design and desire to please God in all things 7" 
 
 8. Are not many of you conscious, that you never came thus far ; 
 that you have not been even almost a Christian ; that you have not 
 come up to the standard of heathen honesty ; at least, not to the form 
 of Christian godliness 7 much less hath God seen sincerity in you, a 
 real design of pleasing him in all things. You never so much as 
 intended to devote all your words and works, your business, studies, 
 diversions, to his glory. You never even designed or desired, that 
 whatsoever you did should be done " in the name of the Lord Jesus," 
 and as such, should be a " spiritual sacrifice, acceptable to God through 
 Christ." 
 
 9. But supposing you had, do good designs and good desires make 
 a Christian 7 By no means, unless they are brought to good effect. 
 " Hell is paved (saith one) with good intentions." The great question 
 of all, then, still remains. Is the love of God shed abroad in your heart 1 
 Can you cry out, ' My God, and my All 7" Do you desire nothing but 
 
 * Homily on the Salvation of Mao
 
 BERMONIII.] AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST. 17 
 
 him ? Are you happy in God ? Is he your glory, your delight, your 
 crown of rejoicing ? And is this commandment written in your heart, 
 That he who loveth God love his brother also ? Do you then love your 
 neighbour as yourself? Do you love every man, even your enemies,, even 
 the enemies of God, as your own soul 1 As Christ loved you ? Yea, 
 dost thou believe that Christ loved thee, and gave himself for thee ! 
 Hast thou faith in his blood? Believest thou the Lamb of God halb 
 taken away thy sins, and cast them as a stone into the depth of the sea? 
 That he hath blotted out the hand writing that was against thee, taking 
 it out of the way, nailing it to his cross ? Hast thou indeed redemption 
 through his blood, even the remission of thy sins ? And doth his Spirit 
 bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a child of God ? 
 
 10. The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who now stand- 
 eth in the midst of us, knoweth, that if any man die without this faith 
 and this love, good it were for him that he had never been born. "Awake, 
 then, thou that sleepest, and call upon thy God : call in the day when 
 he may be found. Let him not rest, till he make his goodness to pass 
 before thee," till he proclaim unto thee the name of the Lord ; " the 
 Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abun- 
 dant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving 
 iniquity, and transgression, and sin." Let no man persuade thee, by 
 vain words, to rest short of this prize of thy high calling. But cry unto 
 him day and night, who, " while we were without strength, died for 
 the ungodly," until thou knowest in whom thou hast believed, and canst 
 say, " My Lord, and my God !" Remember, " always to pray, and not 
 to faint," till thou also canst lift up thy hand unto heaven, and declare to 
 Him that liveth for ever and ever, ' Lord, thou kiKjwest all things, thou 
 knowest that I love thee." 
 
 11. May we all thus experience what it is to be, not almost only, but 
 altogether Christians ; being justified freely by his grace, through the 
 redemption that is in Jesus ; knowing we have peace with God through 
 Jesus Christ ; rejoicing in hope of the glory of God ; and having the 
 love of God shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Ghost given unto us ' 
 
 SERMON" III. Awake thou that sleepest. 
 Preached on Sunday, April 4th, 171$, before the University of Oxford. 
 
 By CH^RLKS WESLEY, M.A., Student of Christ Church. 
 
 "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give 
 thee light." Ephesians v. 14. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 I. DESCRIPTION of the sleepers. 
 
 1. That state of natural insensibility, darkness, deceptive 
 peace, and self-satisfaction, whether of the outwardly 
 vicious, or of the good-natured professor of the religion of his
 
 13 AWAKE THOU THAT SLEEPEST. [SERMON III. 
 
 fathers, or of the zealous and orthodox Pharisee, who has a 
 form of godliness, but denies its power. 
 
 2. But, however regarded by men, this is a state denounced 
 by Christ a state of death, of insensibility to spiritual things^ 
 in which the Spirit of God neither comforts nor convinces of 
 sin. 
 
 II. The exhortation enforced. 
 
 By the threatenings of God's word. By the responsibilities 
 of eternity and judgment. By the soul's want of the indwell- 
 ing Spirit, of the inward change, and of a good reason for hope 
 of salvation. 
 
 III. Exposition of the promise. 
 
 God is light. By faith we receive his Spirit, through which 
 we " know the things that are freely given to us of God." 
 This experimental knowledge through the Spirit of Truth is 
 alone true Christianity. This conscious communion of the 
 Holy Ghost is the doctrine of the English Church. Lamenting 
 the overspreading iniquity of the land and of the University, 
 the preacher concludes with a solemn appeal to God and to 
 his congregation. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 In this sermon we observe the unity of the Gospel as preached by 
 John and Charles Wesley. In both the central idea is the definite con- 
 scious life of love, wrought by the Holy Ghost, and received by faith. 
 The peculiar characteristics of Charles Wesley's style, poetic imagery 
 largely borrowed from the Scriptures, naming zeal which spake " with 
 irresistible power and authority," are fully exhibited. Mr. Jackson says 
 that " it is doubtful whether any sermon in the English language, or in 
 any langiiage whatever, has passed through so many editions, or has 
 been a means of so much spiritual good." 
 
 SERMON III. 
 
 JN discoursing on these words, I shall, with the help of GoJ, 
 First, Describe the sleepers to whom they are spoken : 
 Secondly, Enforce the exhortation, " Awake, thou that sleepest, 
 arise from the dead : " And, 
 
 Thirdly, Explain the promise made to such as do awake and 
 arise ; ' Christ shall give thee light." 
 
 I. 1. And first, as to the sleepers here spoken to. By sleep is sig- 
 nified the natural state of man; that deep sleep of the soul into which 
 the sin of Adam hath cast all who spring from his loins; that supine-
 
 SERMON III.] AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST. 19 
 
 ness, indolence, and stupidity, that insensibility of his real condition, 
 wherein every man conies into the world, and continues till the voice of 
 (iod awakes him. 
 
 2. Now, " they that sleep, sleep in the night." The state of nature 
 is a state of utter darkness ; a state wherein " darkness covers the earth, 
 and gross darkness the people." The poor unawakened sinner, how murli 
 knowledge soever he may have as to other things, has no knowledge of 
 himself: in this respect " he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.'" 
 Hu knows not that he is a fallen spirit, whose only business, in this 
 world, is to recover from his fall, to regain that image of God wherein 
 he was created. He sees no necessity for the one tiling needful, even 
 that inward universal change, that " birth from above," figured out b) 
 baptism, which is the beginning of that total renovation, that sanctiti- 
 cation of spirit, soul, and body, " without which no man shall see the 
 Lord." 
 
 3. Full of all diseases as he is, he fancies himself in perfect health . 
 fast bound in misery and iron, he dreams that he is happy, and al 
 liberty. He says, " Peace, peace !" while the devil, as " a strong man 
 armed," is in full possession of his soul. Ho sleeps on still, and takes 
 his rest, though hell is moved from beneath to meet him ; though the 
 pit, from whence there is no return, hath opened its mouth to swallow 
 him up: a fire is kindled around him, yet he knoweth ii not; yea, it 
 burns him, yet he lays it not to heart. 
 
 4. By one who sleeps, we are, therefore, to understand (and would to 
 God we might all understand it!) a sinner satisfied in his sins: con- 
 tented to remain in his fallen state, to live and die without the image of 
 God ; one who is ignorant both of his disease, and of the only remedy 
 for it ; one who never was warned, or never regarded the warning voice 
 of God, " to flee from the wrath to come ;" one that never yet saw he 
 was in danger of hell fire, or cried out, in the earnestness of his soul, 
 " What must I do to be saved ?" 
 
 5. If this sleeper be not outwardly vicious, his sleep is usually the 
 deepest of all : whether he be of the Laodicean spirit, " neither cold nor 
 hot," but a quiet, rational, inoffensive, good natured professor of the 
 religion of his fathers ; or whether he be zealous and orthodox, arid, 
 " after the most straitest sect of our religion," live " a Pharisee ;" that 
 is, according to the Scriptural account, one that "justifies himself;" 
 one that labours " to establish his own righteousness," as the ground of 
 his acceptance with God. 
 
 6. This is he, who, " having a form of godliness, denies the power 
 thereof;" yea, and probably reviles it, wheresoever it is found, as a 
 mere extravagance and delusion. Meanwhile, the wretched self do 
 ceiver thanks God, that he " is not as other men are ; adulterers, unjust, 
 extortioners :" no, he doeth no wrong to any man. He " fasts twice in 
 a week," uses all the means of grace, is constant at church and sacra 
 ment ; yea, and " gives tithes of all that he has ;" does all the good that 
 he can : " touching the righteousness of the law," he is " blameless :" 
 he wants nothing of godliness, but the power ; nothing of religion, but 
 the spirit; nothing of Christianity, but the truth and the life. 
 
 7. But know ye not, that however highly esteemed, among men, such 
 a Christian as this may be, he is an abomination in the sight of God, 
 and an heir of every wo which the Son of God, yesterday, to day, and
 
 20 AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST. [SERMON III. 
 
 forever, denounces against "scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites." Re 
 hath "made clean the outside of the cup and ihe platter," but, within, 
 is full of all filthiness. " An evil disease cleaveth still unto him, so that 
 his inward parts are very wickedness." Our Lord fitly compares him 
 to a painted sepulchre, which " appears beautiful without ;" but, never- 
 theless, is " full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness." The 
 bones indeed are no longer dry ; the sinews and flesh are come upon 
 them, and the skin covers them above : but there is no breath in them, 
 no Spirit of the living God. And, " if any man have not the Spirit of 
 Christ, he is none of his." " Ye are Christ's, if so be that the Spirit 
 of God dwell in you :" but, if not, God knoweth that ye abide in death, 
 even until now. 
 
 8. This is another character of the sleeper here spoken to. He 
 abides in death, though he knows it not. He is dead unto God, " dead 
 in trespasses and sins." For, " to be carnally minded is death." Even 
 as it is written, " By one man sin entered into the world, and death by 
 sin ; and so death passed upon all men," not only temporal death, but 
 likewise spiritual and eternal. " In that day that thou eatest, (said God 
 to Adam,) thou shall surely die :" not bodily, (unless as he then became 
 mortal,) but spiritually: thou shall lose the life of thy soul ; thou shall die 
 to God ; shall be separaled from him, ihy essenlial life and happiness. 
 
 9. Thus firsl was dissolved ihe vilal union of our soul wilh God ; 
 insomuch, that in the midst of natural life, we are now in spirilual 
 dealh. And herein we remain till ihe second Adam becomes a quick- 
 ening Spirit to us, till he raises ihe dead, ihe dead in sin, in pleasure, 
 riches, or honours. Bui, before any dead soul can live, he hears 
 (hearkens lo) " ihe voice of the Son of God :" he is made sensible of 
 his lost estate, and receives the sentence of death in himself. He knows 
 himself to be dead while he liveth ; dead to God, and all the things of 
 God ; having no more power to perform ihe aclions of a living Chris 
 tian, than a dead body to perform the functions of a living man. 
 
 10. And most cerlain it is, that one dead in sin has not " senses 
 exercised to discern spiritual good and evil." " Having eyes, he sees 
 not ; he hath ears, and hears not." He doth not " taste and see that 
 the Lord is gracious." He " hath not seen God al any time," nor 
 " heard his voice," nor " handled the word of life." In vain is the 
 name of Jesus " like oinlmenl poured forlh, and all his garmenls smell 
 of myrrh, aloes, and cassia." The soul thai sleepeth in death, hath no 
 perception of any objects of ihis kind. His heart is past feeling, and 
 understandeth none of ihese things. 
 
 11. And hence, having no spiritual senses, no inlets of spiritual 
 knowledge, the natural man receiveth nol ihe Ihings of ihe Spiril of 
 God; nay, he is so far from receiving ihem, that whatsoever is spiritually 
 discerned, is mere foolishness unto him. He is nol conlenl wilh being 
 utteily ignorant of spiritual Ihings, but he denies ihe very exislence of 
 them. And spiritual sensation itself is to him the foolishness of folly. 
 Haw (saith he) can these things be 1 How can any man know that he 
 is alive to God V Even as you know that your body is now alive. 
 Faith is ihe life of the soul ; arid if ye have this life abiding in you, 
 ye want no marks to evidence it to yourself, but eXsf^ot; ITvsufAarocr, that 
 divine consciousness, thai witness of God, which is more and greater 
 Jian ten thousand human witnesses
 
 SERMON III.] AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST. 21 
 
 12. If He dolh not now bear witness with thy spirit, that thou art a 
 child of God, oh that he might convince thee, thou poor unawakened 
 sinner, by his demonstration and power, that thou art a child of the 
 devil ! Oh that, as I prophesy, there might now be " a noise and a 
 shaking ;" and may " the bones come together, bone to his bone !" 
 Then, " come from the four winds, oh Breath, and breathe on these 
 slain, that they may live !" And do not ye harden your hearts, and 
 resist the Holy Ghost, who even now is come to convince you uf sin, 
 " because you believe not on the name of the only begotten Son of God." 
 
 II. 1. Wherefore, " Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the 
 dead." God calleth thee now by my mouth; and bids thee know th}- 
 self, thou fallen spirit, thy true state and only concern below. " Whbt 
 meanest thou, oh sleeper ? Arise ! call upon thy God, if so be thy God 
 will think upon thee, that thou perish not." A mighty tempest is 
 stirred up round about thee, and thou art sinking into the depths ol 
 perdition, the gulf of God's judgments. If thou wouldst escape them, 
 cast thyself into them. " Judge thyself, and thou shall not be judged 
 of the Lord." 
 
 2. Awake, awake ! Stand up this moment, lest thou " drink at the 
 Lord's hand the cup of his fury." Stir up thyself to lay hold on the 
 Lord, the Lord thy righteousness, mighty to save ! " Shake thyself 
 from the dust." At least, let the earthquake of God's threatenings 
 shake thee. Awake, and cry out with the trembling jailer, " What 
 must I do to be saved ?" And never rest, till thou believest on the Lord 
 Jesus, with a faith which is his gift, by the operation of his Spirit. 
 
 3. If I speak to any one of you more than to another, it is to thee, 
 who thinkest thyself unconcerned in this exhortation. " I have a 
 message from God unto thee." In his name, I warn thee to " flee from 
 the wrath to come." Thou unholy soul, see thy picture in condemned 
 Peter, lying in the dark dungeon, between the soldiers, bound with two 
 chains, the keepers before the door keeping the prison. The night is 
 far spent, the morning is at hand, when thou art to be brought forth to 
 execution. And in these dreadful circumstances, thou art fast asleep; 
 thou art fast asleep in the devil's arms, on the brink of the pit, in the 
 jaws of everlasting destruction ! 
 
 4. Oh may the angel of the Lord come upon thee, and the light shine 
 into thy prison ! And mayest thou feel the stroke of an almighty hand, 
 raising thee, with " Arise up quickly, gird thyself, and bind on thy san- 
 dals, cast thy garment about thee, and follow me." 
 
 5. Awake, thou everlasting spirit, out of thy dream of worldly hap- 
 piness ! Did not God create thee for himself? Then, thou canst not 
 rest till thou restest in him. Return, thou wanderer ! Fly back to thy 
 ark. This is not thy home. Think not of building tabernacles here. 
 Thou art but a stranger, a sojourner upon earth ; a creature of a day, 
 but just launching out into an unchangeable state. Make haste. Eter- 
 nity is at hand. Eternity depends on this moment. An eternity of 
 happiness, or an eternity of misery ! 
 
 6. In what state is thy soul ? Was God, while I am yet speaking, 
 10 require it of thee, art thou ready to meet death ana judgment ? 
 Canst thou stand in his sight, who is of " purer eyes than to behold 
 iniquity?" Art thou "meet to be partaker of the inheritance of the 
 saints in light?" Hast thou " fought a good fight, and kept the faith 1"
 
 22 AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPE8P. [SEKMON III. 
 
 Hast thou secured the one thing needful? Hast thou recovered the 
 image of God, even righteousness and true holiness ? Hast thou put off 
 the old man, and put on the new 1 Art thou clothed upon with Christ ? 
 
 7. Hast thou oil in thy lamp 1 Grace in thy heart 1 Dost thou " love 
 the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with 
 all thy soul, and with all thy strength ? Is that mind in thee, which 
 was also in Christ Jesus 1 Art thou a Christian indeed 1 that is, a new 
 creature 1 Are old things passed away, and all things become new ? 
 
 8. Art thou a " partaker of the divine nature 1" Knovvest thou not, 
 that " Christ is in thee, except thou be reprobate ?" Knowest thou, 
 that God " dwelleth in thee, and thou in God, by his Spirit, which he 
 hath given thee ?" Knowest thou not that " thy body is a temple of the 
 Holy Ghost, which thou hast of God ?" Hast thou the witness in thy- 
 self? The earnest of thine inheritance? Art thou "sealed by that 
 Spirit of promise, unto the day of redemption ?" Hast thou " received 
 the Holy Ghost ?" Or, dost thou start at the question, not knowing 
 " whether there be any Holy Ghost ?" 
 
 9. If it offend thee, be thou assured, that thou neither art a Chris- 
 tian, nor desirest to be one. Nay, thy very prayer is turned into sin ; 
 and thou hast solemnly mocked God this very day, by praying for the 
 inspiration of his Holy Spirit, when thou didst not believe there was any 
 such thing to be received. 
 
 10. Yet, on the authority of God's word, and our own Church, I must 
 repeat the question, " Hast thou received the Holy Ghost?" If thou 
 hast not, thou art not yet a Christian. For a Christian is a man that 
 is " anointed with the Holy Ghost, and with power." Thou art not yet 
 made a partaker of pure religion and undefiled. Dost thou know what 
 religion is ? That it is a participation of the divine nature, the life of 
 God in the soul of man : Christ formed in the heart, " Christ in thee, 
 the hope of glory ?" Happiness and holiness ; heaven begun upon 
 earth ? " A kingdom of God within thee ; not meat and drink," no out- 
 ward thing ; " but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost ?" 
 An everlasting kingdom brought into thy soul ; a " peace of God, that 
 passeth all understanding ;" a " joy unspeakable, and fi.ll of glory ?" 
 
 11. Knowest thou, that "in JesusChrist,neithercircmncision availeth 
 any thing, nor uncircumcision ; but faith that worketh by love ;" but a 
 new creation ? Seest thou the necessity of that inward change, that 
 spiritual birth that life from the dead, that holiness ? And art thou 
 thoroughly convinced, that without it no man shall see the Lord ? Art 
 thou labouring after it ? " Giving all diligence, to make thy calling and 
 election sure ? " Working out thy salvation with fear and trembling ?" 
 Agonizing to enter in at the strait gate ?" Art thou in earnest about 
 thy aoul ? And canst thou tell the searcher of hearts, " Thou, oh God, 
 art the thing that I long for ! Lord, thou knowest all things ! Thou 
 knowest that I would love thee ?" 
 
 12. Thou hopest to be saved ; but what reason hast thou to give o* 
 the hope that is in thee ? Is it because thou hast done no harm ? Or, 
 because thou hast done much good ? Or, because thou art not like other 
 men ; but wise, or learned, or honest, and morally good ? Esteemed of 
 men, and of a fair reputation ? Alas ! all this will never bring thee to 
 God. It is in his account lighter than vanity. Dost thou know Jesus 
 Christ, whom he hath sent ? Hath he taught thee, that, " by grace we
 
 SERMON III.] AWAKE, TliOU THAT SLEEPEST. 20 
 
 are saved, through faith ; and that not of ourselves : it is the gift of God ; 
 not of works, lest any man should boast ?" Hast thou received the 
 faithful saying, as the whole foundation of thy hope, " that Jesus Christ 
 came into the world to save sinners ?" Hast thou learned what that 
 tneaneth, " I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance? 
 I am not sent, but unto the lost sheep ?" Art thou (he that hearcth, let 
 him understand !) lost, dead, damned already 1 Dost thou know thy de- 
 serts 1 Dost thou feel thy wants ? Art thou poor in spirit ? Mourning for 
 God, and refusing to be comforted? Is the prodigal come to himself, and 
 well content to be therefore thought beside himself, by those who are 
 still feeding upon the husks which he hath left? Art thou willing to live 
 godly in Christ Jesus ? And dost thou therefore suffer persecution ? Do 
 men say all manner of evil against thee falsely, for the Son of man's sake ? 
 
 13. Oh that in all these questions ye may hear the voice that wakes 
 the dead; and feel that hammer of the word, which breaketh the rocks in 
 pieces ! " If ye will hear his voice to day, while it is called to day, harden 
 not your hearts," Now, awake, thou that sleepest in spiritual death, 
 that thou sleep not in death eternal ! Feel thy lost estate, and arise from 
 the dead. Leave thine old companions in sin and death. Follow thou 
 Jesus, and let the dead bury their dead. " Save thyself from this unto- 
 ward generation." " Come out from among them, and be thou separate, 
 and touch not the unclean thing, and the Lord shall receive thee " 
 " Christ shall give thee light." 
 
 III. 1. This promise, I come, lastly, to explain. And how encou- 
 raging a consideration is this, that whosoever thou art who oboyest 
 his call, thou canst not seek his face in vain ' If thou even now awakest 
 and arisest from the dead, he hath bound himself to give thee light. 
 The Lord shall give thee grace and glory ; the light of his grace here, 
 and the light of his glory when thou receivest the crown that fadeth 
 not away. " Thy light shall break forth as the morning, and thy dark- 
 ness be as the noon day." " God, who commandeth the light to shrne 
 out of darkness, shall shine in thy heart; to give the knowledge ol 
 the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." " On them that fear the 
 Lord shall the Sun of righteousness arise, with healing in his wings." 
 And in that day it shall be said unto thee, " Arise, shine ; for thy light 
 is come, and the glory of the Iord is risen upon thee." For Christ 
 shall reveal himself in thee : and he is the true light. 
 
 2. God is light, and will give himself to every awakened sinner, that 
 waiteth for him : and thou shall then be a temple of the living God, and 
 Christ shall " dwell in thy heart by faith :" and, " being rooted and 
 grounded in love, thou shalt be able to comprehend with all saints, what 
 is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height of that love of Christ 
 which passeth knowledge, that thou mayest be rilled with all the fullness 
 of God." 
 
 3. Ye see your calling, brethren. We are called to be " a habita- 
 tion of God through his Spirit ;" and through his Soirit dwelling in us, 
 to be saints here, and partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light. 
 So exceeding great are the promises which are given unto us, actually 
 given unto us who believe ! For by faith we " receive, not the spirit of 
 the world, but the Spirit which is of God," the sum of all the promises, 
 
 ' that we may know the things that are freely given to us of God." 
 4 The Spirit of Chrisi. is that great gift of God, which, at sundry
 
 24 AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST. [SERMON III. 
 
 times, and in divers manners, he hath promised to man, and hatn fully 
 bestowed, since the time that Christ was glorified. Those promises 
 before made to the fathers, he hath thus fulfilled : " I will put my Spirit 
 within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes," Ezek. xxxvi, 27. 
 " I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry 
 ground : I will pour my Spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon 
 thine offspring," Isaiah xliv, 3. 
 
 5. Ye may all be living witnesses of these things ; of remission of 
 sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. " If thou canst believe, all things 
 are possible to him that believeth." " Who among you is there, that 
 feareth the Lord, arid yet vvalketh in darkness, and hath no light ?" 1 
 ask thee, in the name of Jesus, believest thou that his arm is not short- 
 ened at all ? That he is still mighty to save 1 That he is the same yes- 
 terday, to day, and for ever 1 That he hath now power on earth to for- 
 give sins 1 " Son, be of good cheer ; thy sins are forgiven." God, for 
 Christ's sake, hath forgiven thee. Receive this, " not as the word of man ; 
 but as it is, indeed, the word of God ;" and thou art justified freely 
 through faith. Thou shall be sanctified also through faith which is in 
 Jesus, and shall set to thy seal, even thine, that " God hath given unto 
 us eternal life, and this life is in his Son." 
 
 6. Men and brethren, lei me freely speak unlo you ; and suffer ye 
 the word of exhortation, even from one the least esteemed in the church. 
 Your conscience beareth you witness in the Holy Ghost, thai ihese 
 ihings are so, if so be ye have tasted thai ihe Lord is gracious. " This 
 is eternal life, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he 
 hath sent." This experimental knowledge, and this alone, is true 
 Christianity. He is a Christian who hath received the Spiril of Christ. 
 He is not a Christian who hath not received him. Neilher is il possi- 
 ble lo have received him, and not know it. " For, at lhat day," (when 
 he comelh, saith our Lord,) " ye shall know thai I am in my Father, and 
 you in me, and I in you." This is that Spirit of Truth, whom the world 
 cannot receive, because il seelh him nol, neilher knoweth him. But ye 
 know him ; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you," John xiv, 17.) 
 
 7. The world cannot receive him, bul ulterly reject the promise of 
 the Father, contradicting and blaspheming. But every spiril which 
 confesselh nol ihis, is nol of God. Yea, " this is that spirit of antichrisl, 
 whereof ye have heard lhat it should corne into the world, and even 
 now it is in the world." He is antichrist whosoever denies the inspi- 
 ration of ihe Holy Gho c t, or lhal ihe indwelling Spiril of God is the 
 common privilege of all believers, the blessing of the gospel, the un- 
 speakable gift, the universal promise, Ihe criteiion of a real Christian. 
 
 8. It nothing helps them to say, " We do not deny ihe assistance ol 
 God's Spiril; but only this inspiration, ihis receiving the. Holy Ghost, 
 and being sensible of it. It is only this feeling of t lie Spiril, ihis being 
 moved by ihe Spiril, or filled with il, which we deny lo have any place 
 in sound religion." But, in only denying ihis, you deny the whole 
 Scriptures; the whole truth, and promise, and testimony of God. 
 
 9. Our own excellent church knows nothing of this devilish distinc- 
 tion ; but speaks plainly of "feeling the Spirit of Christ;"* of being 
 "moved by the Holy Ghost, "t and knowing and "feeling there is no 
 other name than that of Jesus, "J whereby we can receive life and sal- 
 
 * Art. 17. f Office of consecrating priests. J Visitation of the sick.
 
 SERMON I1I.J AWAKE, THOU THAT SLEEPEST. 25 
 
 vation. She teaches us all to pray for the " inspiration of the Holy 
 Spirit ;"* yea, that we may be " filled with the Holy Ghost. "t Nay 
 and every presbyter of hers professes to receive the Holy Ghost by the 
 imposition of hands. Therefore to deny any of these, is, in effect, to 
 renounce he church of England, as well as the whole Christian reve- 
 lation. 
 
 10. But " the wisdom of God" was always " foolishness with men." 
 No marvel, then, that the great mystery of the gospel should be now 
 also " hid from the wise and prudent," as well as in the days of old ; 
 that it should be almost universally denied, ridiculed, and exploded, as 
 mere trenzy ; and that all who dare avow it still, are branded with the 
 names of madmen and enthusiasts ! This is that falling away which 
 was to come : that general apostasy of all orders and degrees of men, 
 which we even now find to have overspread the earth. " Run to and 
 fro in the streets of Jerusalem, and see if ye can find a man," a man 
 that loveth the Lord his God with all his heart, and serveth him with 
 all his strength. How does our own land mourn (that we look no far 
 ther) under the overflowings of ungodliness ! What villanies of every 
 kind are committed day by day ; yea, too often with impunity, by those 
 who sin with a high hand, and glory in thdr shame ! Who can reckon 
 up the oaths, curses, profaneness, blasphemies ; the lying, slandering, 
 evil speaking ; the sabbath breaking, gluttony, drunkenness, revenge : 
 the whoredoms, adulteries, and various uncleanness ; the frauds, injus- 
 tice, oppression, extortion, which overspread our land as a flood ? 
 
 11. And even among those who have kept themselves pure from 
 these grosser abominations ; how much anger and pride, how much 
 sloth and idleness, how much softness and effeminacy, how much luxury 
 and self-indulgence, how much covetousness and ambition, how much 
 thirst of praise, how much love of the world, how much fear of man is 
 to be found ! Meanwhile, how little of true religion ! For, where is he 
 that loveth either God or his neighbour, as he hath given us com- 
 mandment ? On the one hand are those who have not so much as the 
 form of godliness ; on the other, those who have the form only : there 
 stands the open, there the painted sepulchre. So that in very deed, 
 whosoever were earnestly to behold any public gathering together of 
 the people, (I fear those in our churches are not to be excepted,) might 
 easily perceive, "that the one part were Sadducees, and the other 
 Pharisees:" the one having almost as little concern about religion, 
 a.s if there were "no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit;" and 
 the other, making it a mere lifeless form, a dull round of external per- 
 formances, without either true faith, or the love of God, or joy in the 
 Holy Ghost ! 
 
 12. Would to God I could except us of this place ! " Brethren, my 
 heart's desire and prayer to God, for you is, that ye may bo saved" 
 from this overflowing of ungodliness, and that here may its proud waves 
 be stayed ! But is it so indeed ? God knoweth, yea, and our own con- 
 sciences, it is not. Ye have not kept yourselves pure. Corrupt are we 
 also and abominable ; and few are there that understand any more ; 
 few that worship God in spirit and in truth. We too are " a generation 
 that set not our hearts aright, and whose spirit cleaveth not steadfastly 
 unto God :" he hath appointed us indeed to be " the salt of the earth .; 
 
 * Colled before the Holy Communion, t Order of Confirmation.
 
 25 scRiPiURAL I.IK:J,TIANITY. [SERMON iv. 
 
 'jut if the salt hath lost its savour, it is thenceforth good for nothing ; 
 but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men." 
 
 13. And " Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord 1 Shall 
 not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this 1" Yea, we know not 
 how soon he may say to the sword, " Sword, go through this land !" 
 He hath given us long space to repent. He lets us alone this year also : 
 but he warns and awakens us by thunder. His judgments are abroad 
 in the earth. And we have all reason to expect the heaviest of all, even 
 that he " should come unto us quickly and remove our candlestick out 
 of its place, except we repent and do the first works ;" unless we return 
 to the principles of the reformation, the truth and simplicity of the gos- 
 pel. Perhaps we are now resisting the last effort of divine grace to save 
 us. Perhaps we have well nigh " filled up the measure of our iniquities," 
 by rejecting the counsel of God against ourselves, and casting out his 
 messengers. 
 
 14. Oh God_ " in the midst of wrath remember mercy !" Be glorified 
 in our reformation, riot in our destruction ! Let us hear the rod, and 
 him that appointed it ! Now that thy " judgments are abroad in the 
 earth, let the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness !" 
 
 15. My brethren, it is high time for us to awake out of sleep ; before 
 the " great trumpet of the Lord be blown," and our land become a 
 field of blood. Oh may we speedily see the things that make for our 
 peace, before they are hid from our eyes ! " Turn thou us, oh good 
 Lord, and let thine anger cease from us. Oh Lord, look down from 
 heaven, behold and visit this vine ;" and cause us to know " the time 
 of our visitation." " Help us, oh God of our salvation, for the glory of 
 thy name ! Oh deliver us, and be merciful to our sins, for thy name's 
 sake ! And so we will not go back from thee : Oh let us live, and we 
 shall call upon thy name. Turn us again, oh Lord God of hosts ! Show 
 the light of thy countenance, and \ve shall be whole." 
 
 " Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all 
 that we can ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 
 unto him be glory in the church, by Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, 
 world without end. Amen." 
 
 SERMON IV. Scriptural Christianity. 
 
 Preaclied at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University, August 24th, 1744. 
 
 " Whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning ; if 
 the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own 
 head." Ezekiel xxxiii 4. 
 
 "And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost." Acts iv. 81. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 HISTORICAL summary of Pentecost. Tho extraordinary and 
 ordinary gifts of the Spirit at this time. The lattei alone the 
 subject of discourse.
 
 SERMON IV.] SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. 27 
 
 I. Christianity as beginning to exist in individuals. Con- 
 viction of sin, repentance, faith, followed by the spirit of 
 adoption. The fruits of this spirit,peace, joy, love to God and 
 to man, leading to all inward holiness, abstinence from sin, 
 use of the means of grace, and practice of good works. 
 
 II. Christianity as spreading from one to another. God's 
 rule. Impelling love. Eesulting labours. The success of 
 their work. Opposition and persecution. Ending in still 
 greater victories. 
 
 III. Christianity as covering the earth. Predicted in the 
 Old Testament. In the New. Ideal description of the state 
 of the world. 
 
 IV. Application. Where does this Christianity now exist ? 
 Is this a Christian country ? Is this a Christian city? Ap- 
 peal to the officers, professors, clergymen, and youth of the 
 University. Solemn appeal to God for salvation. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This was the last sermon preached by Mr. Wesley before the Univer- 
 sity. His career as leadur in an extraordinary religious movement had 
 attracted the attention, not only of the masses of the people, but also of 
 Oxford itself. This style of religious excitement was so distasteful to the 
 collegiate mind, that they would readily have dispensed with the pre- 
 sence and services of one who, in their estimation, was lowering the 
 dignity of his clerical and literary standing. But the law required that 
 each fellow should preach in his turn, or pay three guineas for a substi- 
 tute. The University could refuse his services only by finding the sub- 
 stitute. After the present sermon, the authorities agreed to do this for 
 Mr. Wesley, and notified him accordingly. The first part of the sermon 
 is evidently a vindication, from the example of the Apostolic history, of 
 the work of grace which God had wrought by his own preaching. He 
 says nothing about himself or his work ; but every sentence which he 
 applies to the great religious movement of Apostolic times could be
 
 28 SCRIPTURAL CIIU1STIANITY. [SERMON IV. 
 
 applied, almost without change of a word, to the great religious move- 
 ment in London, Cornwall, or Newcastle. No work was ever more like 
 that of the apostles than was that of John Wesley ; hence he justly read 
 apostolic history in the light of his own experience. There would seem 
 to be nothing, however, in the first part of his discourse to arouse the ire 
 of Oxford. They might smile at the enthusiastic evangelist, reading the 
 history of primitive Christianity by the light of his own experience of 
 religious awakening, or, as they would say, excitement ; but they could 
 not but own that it was natural that he should do so. They might be very 
 far from admiring his ideal of a Christian world, but at most they could 
 but scorn or ridicule. But it was the application which gave offence. 
 Full of his conception of Scriptural Christianity as the only true religion, 
 lie turns all its vivid light upon the religious life of his aristocratic 
 audience ; and it is this which fills them with anger. Where is this 
 religion of the Holy Spirit to be found ? Is it in England 1 Is it in 
 Oxford ? Do the magistrates of the city possess and exemplify it 1 Do 
 the dignitaries of the University live by it and teach it ? Have the 
 young clergy either its spirit or power 1 Have the great body 
 of students even the semblance of its form 1 As he exposes in the 
 light of his high ideal, the coldness, emptiness, and corruption of 
 one class after another of his hearers, and finally calls them " a gene- 
 ration of triflers before God," it is not surprising that they grew angry, 
 sent for his notes, and returned word that he should be asked to preach 
 there no more. That he received this notice with a full consciousness of 
 having faithfully discharged his duty, appears from the text which he 
 prefixed to the sermon as published. The famous Dr. Kennicott was a 
 student at Oxford at the time when this sermon was preached. A full 
 extract of his vivid description of the sermon and its effect upon the 
 audience is given in Tyerman's Life of Wesley, Vol. I., p. 449. 
 
 SERMON IV. 
 
 1. THE same expression occurs in the second chapter, where we read, 
 "When the day of pentecost was fully come, they were all," (the apos- 
 tles,with the women, and the motherof Jesus, and his brethren,) " with 
 one accord, in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from 
 heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind. And there appeared unto them
 
 SERMON IV.] SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. 29 
 
 cloven tongues, like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they 
 were all filled with the Holy Ghost :" One immediate effect thereof 
 was, " They began to speak with other tongues ;" insomuch, that both 
 the ParthianSj Medes, Elamites, and the other strangers who " cam 
 together, when this was noised abroad, heard them speak, in their 
 several tongues, the wonderful works of God," Acts ii, 1-6. 
 
 2. In this chapter we read, that when the apostles and brethren had 
 been praying, and praising God, " the place was shaken where they 
 were assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost," 
 Acts iv, 31. Not that we find any visible appearance here, such as had 
 been in the former instance : nor are we informed that the extraordi- 
 nary gifts of the Holy Ghost were then given to all or any of them ; 
 such as the " gift of healing, of working other miracles, of prophecy, of 
 discerning spirits, the speaking with divers kinds of tongues, and the 
 interpretation of tongues," 1 Cor. xii, 9, 10. 
 
 3. Whether these gifts of the Holy Ghost were designed to remain 
 in the church throughout, all ages, and whether or no they will be 
 restored at the nearer approach of the " restitution of all things," are 
 questions which it is not needful to decide. But it is needful to observe 
 this, that, even in the infancy of the church, God divided them with a 
 sparing hand. Were all even then prophets ? Were all workers of 
 miracles 1 Had all the gifts of healing 1 Did all speak with tongues 1 
 No, in no wise. Perhaps not one in a thousand. Probably none but 
 the teachers in the church, and only some of them, 1 Cor. xii, 28-30. 
 It was, therefore, for a more excellent purpose than this, that " they 
 were all filled with the Holy Ghost." 
 
 4. It was to give them (what none can deny to be essential to all 
 Christians in all ages) the mind which was in Christ, those holy fruits 
 of the Spirit, which whosoever hath not, i? none of his ; to fill them 
 with " love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness," Gal. v, 
 22-24 ; to endue them with faith, (perhaps it might be rendered, fide- 
 lity,) with meekness and temperance ; to enable them to crucify the 
 flesh, with its affections and lusts, its -passions and desires, and, in con- 
 sequence of that inward change, to fulfil all outward righteousness, to 
 " walk as Christ also walked," " in the work of faith, in the patience of 
 hope, the labour of love," 1 Thess. i, 3. 
 
 5. Without busying ourselves then in curious", needless inquiries, 
 touching those extraordinary gifts of the Spirit, let us take a nearer 
 view of these his ordinary fruits, which we are assured will remain 
 throughout all ages; of that great work of God among the children ol 
 men, which we are used to express by one word, Christianity ; not as 
 it implies a set of opinions, a system of doctrines, but as it refers to 
 men's hearts and lives. And this Christianity it may be useful to con- 
 sider under three distinct views : 
 
 I. As beginning to exist in individuals : 
 
 II. As spreading from one to another : 
 
 III. As covering the earth. 
 
 I design to close these considerations with a plain practical appli- 
 cation. 
 
 I. 1. And first, let us consider Christianity in its rise, as beginning 
 to exist in individuals. 
 
 Suppose, hen, one of those who heard the apostle Peter preaching
 
 30 SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. [SERMON IV. 
 
 repentance and remission of sins, was pricked to the heart, was con- 
 vinced of sin, repented, and then believed in Jesus. By this faith of 
 the operation of God, which was the very substance, or subsistence of 
 ihings hoped for, Heb. xi, 1, the demonstrative evidence of invisible 
 things, he instantly received the spirit of adoption, whereby he now 
 cried, " Abba, Father," Rorn. viii, 15. Now first it was that he could 
 call Jesus Lord, by the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor. xii, 3, the Spirit itself bear- 
 ing witness with his spirit that he was a child of God, Rom. viii, 15. 
 Now it was that he could truly say, " I live not, but Christ liveth in me ', 
 and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son o' 
 God, who loved me and gave himself for me," Gal. ii, 20. 
 
 2. This, then, was the very essence of his faith, a divine sXtf-^of (evi- 
 dence or conviction) of the love of God the Father, through the Son of 
 his love, to him a sinner, now accepted in the Beloved. And, " being 
 justified by faith, he had peace with God," Rom. v, 1, yea, " the peace 
 of God ruling in his heart;" a peace, which passing all understanding, 
 (VO.VTO. vxv, all barely rational conception,) kept his heart and mind from 
 all doubt and fear, through the knowledge of him in whom he hao be- 
 lieved. He could not therefore " be afraid of any evil tidings ;" for his 
 " heart stood fast believing in the Lord." He feared not what man 
 could do unto him, knowing the very hairs of his head were all num- 
 bered. He feared not all the powers of darkness, whom God was daily 
 bruising under his feet. Least of all was he afraid to die ; nay, he de- 
 sired to " depart and to be with Christ," Phil. 1, 23 ; who, " through 
 death, had destroyed him that had the power of death, even the devil, 
 and delivered them who, through fear of death, were all their lifetime 
 (till then) subject to bondage," Heb. ii, 15. 
 
 3. His soul therefore magnified the Lord, and his spirit rejoiced in 
 God his Saviour. " He rejoiced in him with joy unspeakable, who had 
 reconciled him to God, even the Father:" "in whom he had redemption 
 through his blood, the forgiveness of sins." He rejoiced in that witness 
 of God's Spirit with his spirit, that he was a child of God ; and more 
 abundantly, " in hope of the glory of God ;" in hope of the glorious 
 image of God, and full renewal of his soul in righteousness and true 
 holiness ; and in hope of that crown of glory, that " inheritance, incor- 
 ruptible, undcfiled, and that fadeth not away." 
 
 4. " The love of God was also shed abroad in his heart, by the Holy 
 Ghost, which was given unto him," Rom. v, 5. " Because he was a son, 
 God had sent forth the Spirit of his Son into his heart, crying, Abba, 
 Father !" Gal. iv, 6. And that filial love of God was continually increa- 
 sed by the witness he had in himself (1 John v, 10) of God's pardoning 
 love to him : by *' beholding what manner of love it was, which the 
 Father had bestowed upon him, that he should be called a child of God,'' 
 1 John iii, 1. So that God was the desire of his eyes, and the joy of his 
 heart ; his portion in time and in eternity. 
 
 5. He that thus loved God, could not but love his brother also ; and 
 " not in word only, but in deed and in truth." " If God," said he, " so 
 loved us, we ought also to love one another," 1 John iv, 11 ; yea, every 
 soul of man, as " the mercy of God is over all his works," Psa. cxlv, 9. 
 Agreeably hereto, the affection of this lover of God embraced all man- 
 kind for his sake ; not excepting those whom he had never seen in the 
 flesh, or those of whom he knew nothing more than that they were " he
 
 SERMON IV.] SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. 31 
 
 offspring of God," for whose souls his Son had died ; not excepting me 
 evii and unthankful, and least of all his enemies, those who hated, or 
 persecuted, or despitefully used him for his Master's sake. These had 
 a peculiar place, both in hi? heart and in his prayers. He loved them 
 " even as Christ loved us." 
 
 6. And " love is not puffed up," 1 Cor. xiit, 4. It abases to the dust 
 every soul wherein it dwells : accordingly, lie was lowly of heart, little, 
 mean, and vile in his own eyes. He neither sought, nor received tin; 
 praise of men, but that which cometh of God only. He was meek and 
 long suffering, gentle to all, and easy to be entreated. Faithfulness and 
 truth never forsook him ; they were " bound about his neck, and wrote 
 on the table of his heart." By the same Spirit he was enabled to be 
 temperate in all things, refraining his soul even as a weaned child. 
 He was " crucified to the world, and the world crucified to him ;" supe- 
 rior to " the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, and the pride of 
 life." By the same almighty love was he saved, both from passion and 
 pride ; from lust and vanity ; from ambition and covetousness ; and 
 from every temper which was not in Christ. 
 
 7. It may easily be believed, he who had this love in his heart, would 
 work no evil to his neighbour. It was impossible for him. knowingly 
 and designedly, to do harm to any man. He was at the greatest dis- 
 tance from cruelty and wrong, from any unjust or unkind action. With 
 the same care did he " set a watch before his mouth, and keep the door 
 of his lips," lest he should offend in tongue, either against justice, or 
 against mercy or truth. He put away all lying, falsehood, and fraud ; 
 neither was guile found in his mouth. He spake evil of no man ; nor 
 did an unkind word ever come out of his lips. 
 
 8. And, as he was deeply sensible of the truth of that word, " with 
 out me ye can do nothing," and, consequently, of the need he had to 
 be watered of God every moment; so he continued daily in all the 
 ordinances of God, the stated channels of his grace to man : " in the 
 apostles' doctrine," or teaching, receiving that food of the soul with all 
 readiness of heart; in " the breaking of bread," which he found to be 
 the communion of the body of Christ ; and " in the prayers" and 
 praises offered up by the great congregation. And thus, he daily 
 " grew in grace," increasing in strength, in the knowledge and love 
 of God. 
 
 9. But it did not satisfy him, barely to abstain from doing evil. His 
 soul was athirst to do good. The language of his heart continually was, 
 " My Father worketh hitheito, and I work." My Lord went about 
 doing good ; and shall not 1 tread in his steps 1 As he had opportu- 
 nity, therefore, if he could do no good of a higher kind, he fed the hun- 
 gry, clothed the naked, helped the fatherless or stranger, visited and 
 assisted them that were sick or in prison. He gave all his goods to 
 feed the poor. He rejoiced to labour or to suffer for them ; and wherein 
 soever he might profit another, there especially to " deny himself." He 
 counted nothing too dear to part with for them, as well remembering 
 the word of his Lord, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the 
 least of thi;se my brethren, ye have done it unto me," Matt, xxv, 40. 
 
 10. Such was Christianity in its rise. Such was a Christian in 
 aneieiu days. Such was every one of those, who, when they heard the 
 threatening of the chief priests and elders, " lifted up their voice to
 
 32 SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. [SERMON IV. 
 
 God with one accord, and were all filled with the Holy Ghost. The 
 multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul." 
 (So did the love of him in whom they had believed, constrain them 
 to love one another !) " Neither said any of them that aught of the 
 tilings which he possessed was his own ; but they had all things com- 
 mon." So fully were they crucified to the world, and the world crucified 
 lo them ! " And they continued steadfastly with one accord ir. the 
 apostles' doctrine, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayer," Acts 
 ii, 42. " And great grace was upon them all ; neither was there any 
 among them that lacked : for as many as were possessors of lands or 
 houses, sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 
 and laid them down at the apostles' feet : and distribution was made 
 unto every man according as he had need," Acts iv, 31-35. 
 
 II. 1. Let us take a view, in the second place, of this Christianity, 
 as spreading from one to another, and so gradually making its way into 
 the world: for such was the will of God concerning it, who did not 
 " light a candle to put it under a bushel, but that it might give light to 
 all that were in the house." And this our Lord had declared to his 
 first disciples, "Ye are the salt of the earth," "the light of the world;" 
 at the same time that he gave that general command, " Let your light 
 so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify 
 your Father which is in heaven," Matt, v, 13-16. 
 
 2. And, indeed, supposing a few of these lovers of mankind to see 
 "the whole world lying in wickedness," can we believe they would be 
 unconcerned at the sight, at the misery of those for whom their Lord 
 died ? Would not their bowels yearn over them, and their hearts melt 
 away for very trouble ? Could they then stand idle all the day long, 
 even were there no command from him whom they loved ? Rather 
 would they not labour, by all possible means, to pluck some of these 
 brands out of the burning ? Undoubtedly they would : they would spare 
 no pains to bring back whomsoever they could of those poor " sheep 
 that had gone astrav, to the great Shepherd and Bishop of their souls," 
 1 Pet. ii, 25. 
 
 3. So the Christians of old did. They laboured, naving opportunity, 
 " to do good unto all men," Gal. vi, 10, warning them to flee from the 
 wrath to come ; now, now to escape the damnation of hell. They de- 
 clared, " The times of ignorance God winked at ; but now he calleth 
 all men every where to repent," Acts xvii, 30. They cried aloud, 
 Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways ; " so iniquity shall not be your 
 ruin," Ezek. xviii, 30. They reasoned with them of temperance and 
 righteousness, or justice, of the virtues opposite to their reigning sins, 
 and of judgment to come ; of the wrath of God, which would surely be 
 exei uted on evil doers in that day when he should judge the world, 
 Acte xxiv, 25. 
 
 4. They endeavoured herein to speak to every man severally as he 
 had need. To the careless, to those who lay unconcerned in darkness 
 and in the shadow of,death, they thundered, " Awake, thou that slcep- 
 est : arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light :" but to those 
 who were already awakened out of sleep, and groaning under a sense of 
 the wrath of God, their language was, "We have an Advocate with trie 
 Faiher ; he is the propitiation for our sins." Meantime, those who had 
 believed, they provoked to love and to good works; to patient cou-
 
 SERMON IV.] SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. 33 
 
 tmuance in well doing; and to abound more and more in that holiness, 
 without which no man can see the Lord, Heb. xii, 14. 
 
 5. And their labour was not in vain in the Lord. His word ran, and 
 was glorified. It grew mightily and prevailed. But so much the more 
 did offences prevail also. The world in general were offended, " because 
 they testified of it, that the works thereof were evil," John vii, 7. The 
 men of pleasure were offended, not only because these men were made, 
 as it were, to reprove their thoughts : " He professeth," said they, 
 " to have the knowledge of God ; he callcth himself the child of the 
 Lord; his life is not like other men's ; his ways are of another fashion ; 
 he abstaineth from our ways, as from filthiness ; he maketh his boast, 
 that God is his Father," Wisd. ii, 13-16 : but much more, because so 
 many of their companions were taken away, and would no more run 
 with them to the same excess of riot, 1 Pet. iv, 4. The men of reputa- 
 tion were offended, because, as the gospel spread, they declined in the 
 esteem of the people ; and because many no longer dared to give them 
 flattering titles, or to pay man the homage due to God only. The 
 men of trade called one another together, and said, " Sirs, ye know that 
 by this craft we have our wealth. But ye see and hear that these men 
 have persuaded and turned away much people. So that this our craft 
 is in danger to be set at nought," Acts xix, 25, &c. Above all, the men. 
 of religion, so called, the men of outside religion, " the saints of the 
 world," were offended, and ready at every opportunity to cry out, " Men 
 of Israel, help ! we have found these men pestilent fellows, movers of 
 sedition throughout the world," Acts xxiv, 5. " These are the men 
 that teach all men, every where, against the people, and against the 
 law," Acts xxi, 28. 
 
 6. Thus it was that the heavens grew black with clouds,, and the 
 storm gathered amain. For the more Christianity spread, the more 
 hurt was done, in the account of those who received it not ; and the 
 number increased of those who were more and more enraged at these 
 " men who thus turned the world upside down," Acts xvii, 6 ; inso- 
 much that more and more cried outj " Away with such fellows from the 
 earth; it is not fit that they should live ;" yea, and sincerely believed, 
 that whosoever should kill them would do God service. 
 
 7. Meanwhile they did not fail to cast out their name as evil, Luke 
 vi, 22 ; so that this " sect was every where spoken against,"' Acts 
 xxviii, 22. Men said all manner of evil of them, even as had been 
 done of the prophets that were before them, Matt, v, 11. And whatso- 
 ever any would affirm, others would believe. So that offences grew as 
 the stars of heaven for multitude. And hence arose, at the time fore- 
 ordained of the Father, persecution in all its forms. Some, for a season, 
 suffered only shame and reproach ; some, " the spoiling of their goods ;' 
 "some had trial of 'mocking and scourging; some of bonds and im 
 prisonment;" and others " resisted unto blood," Heb. x, 34, xi, 36, &c 
 
 8. Now it was that the pillars of hell were shaken, and the kingdom 
 of God spread more and more. Sinners were every where " turned 
 from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." He 
 gave his children " such a mouth, and such wisdom, as all their adver- 
 saries could not resist :" and their lives were of equal force with theii 
 words. But above ail, their sufferings spake to all the world. They 
 " approved themselves the servants of God, in afflictions, in necessities
 
 34 SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. [SERMON IV. 
 
 in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumu.ts, in labours; in 
 perils in the sea, in perils in the wilderness, in weariness and painful- 
 ness, in hunger and in thirst, in cold and nakedness," 2 Cor. vi, 4, &,c. 
 And when, having fought the good fight, they were led as sheep to the 
 slaughter, and offered up on the sacrifice and service of their faith, then 
 the blood of each found a voice, and the heathen owned, " He being 
 dead yet speaketh." 
 
 9. Thus did Christianity spread itself in the earth. But how soon 
 did the tares appear with the wheat, and the mystery of iniquity work 
 as well as the mystery of godliness ! How soon did Satan find a seat, 
 even in the. temple of God, " till the woman fled into the wilderness," 
 and "the faithful were again niinished from the children of men!" 
 Here we tread a beaten path : the still increasing corruptions of the 
 succeeding generations have been largely described from time to time, 
 by those witnesses God raised up, to show that he had " built his church 
 upon a Rock, and the gates of hell should not (wholly) prevail against 
 her," Matt, xvi, 18. 
 
 III. 1. But shall we not see greater things than these? Yea, greater 
 than have been yet from the beginning of the world. Can satan cause 
 the truth of God to fail, or his promises to be of none effect? If not, 
 the time will come when Christianity will prevail over all, and cover the 
 earth. Let us stand a little, and survey (the third thing which was 
 proposed) this strange sight, a Christian World. Of this the prophets 
 of old inquired and searched diligently, 1 Pet. i, 10, 11, &,c: of this 
 the Spirit which was in them testified : " It shall corne to pass in the 
 last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established on 
 the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills, and all 
 nations shall flow unto it. And they shall beat their swords into plough- 
 shares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up 
 word against nation ; neither shall they learn war any more," Isa. ii, 
 1-4. " In that day there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand 
 for an ensign of the people. To it shall the Gentiles seek, and his rest 
 shall be glorious. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord 
 shall set his hand again to recover the remnant of his people ; and he 
 shall set up an Ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts 
 of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah, from the four cor- 
 ners of the earth," Isa. xi, 10-12. " The wolf shall then dwell with the 
 iamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf, and the 
 young lion, and the falling together ; and a little child shall lead them. 
 They shall not hurt nor destroy, saith the Lord, in all my holy mountain. 
 For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters 
 cover the sea," Isa. xi, 6-9. 
 
 2. To the same effect are the words of the great apostle, which it is 
 evident have never yet been fulfilled. " Hath God cast away his people ? 
 God forbid." " But through their fall salvation is come to the Gentiles." 
 "And if the diminishing of them be the riches of the Gentiles, how much 
 more their fulness?" " For I would not, brethren, that ye should be 
 ignorant of this mystery. That blindness in part is happened to Israel, 
 until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in ; and so all Israel shall be 
 saved," Rom. xi, 1, 11, 25, 26. 
 
 3. Suppose now the fulness of rime to be come, and the prophecies 
 to be accomplished. What a prospect is this ! All is "peace, quietness.
 
 SERMON IV.] SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. 35 
 
 and assurance for ever." Here is no din of arms, no " confused noise," 
 no ' garments rolled in blood." " Destructions arc come to a perpetual 
 end:" wars are ceased from the earth. Neither are there any intestine 
 jars remaining ; no brother i ising up against brother ; no country or city 
 divided against itself, and tearing out its own bowels. Civil discord is 
 at an end for evermore, and none is left either to destroy or hurt his 
 neighbour. Here is no oppression to make even the wise man mad ; 
 no extortion to grind the face of the poor; no robbery or wrong; no 
 rapine or injustice; for all are " content with such things as they pos- 
 sess." Thus " righteousness and peace have kissed each other," Psa. 
 Ixxxv, 10; they have "taken root and filled the land:" "righteousness 
 flourishing out of the earth," and " peace looking down from heaven." 
 
 4. And with righteousness or justice, mercy is also found. The earth 
 is no longer full of cruel habitations. The Lord hath destroyed both 
 the blood-thirsty and malicious, the envious and revengeful man. Were 
 there any provocation, there is none that now knoweth to return evil for 
 evil; but indeed there is none that doeth evil, no, not one; for all are 
 harmless as doves. And being filled with peace and joy in believing, and 
 united in one body, by one spirit, they ali love as brethren, they are all 
 of one heart, and of one soul. "Neither saith any of them, that aught 
 of the things which he possesseth is his own." There is none among 
 them that lacketh; for every man loveth his neighbour as himself. And 
 all walk by one rule, " Whatever ye would that men should do unto you 
 even so do unto them." 
 
 5. k follows, that no unkind word can ever be heard among them, no 
 strife of tongues, no contention of any kind, no railing or evil speaking ; 
 but every one " opens his mouth with wisdom, and in his tongue there 
 is the law of kindness." Equally incapable are they of fraud or guile : 
 their love is without dissimulation : their words are always the just ex- 
 pression of their thoughts, opening a window into their breast, that who- 
 soever desires may look into their hearts, and see that only love and God 
 are there 
 
 6. Thus, where the Lord omnipotent taketh to himself his mighty 
 power and reigneth, doth he "subdue all things to himself," cause every 
 heart to overflow with love, and fill every mouth with praise. " Happy 
 are the people that are in such a case : yea, blessed are the people who 
 have the Lord for their God," Psa. cxliv, 15. " Arise, shine, (saith the 
 Lord,) for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon 
 thee." " Thou hast known that I, the Lord, am thy Saviour, and thv 
 Redeemer, the mighty God of Jacob. I have made thy officers peace, 
 and thy exacters righteousness. Violence shall no more be heard in 
 the land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders ; but thou shalt 
 call thy walls, salvation, and thy gates, praise." " Thy people are all 
 righteous ; they shall inherit the land for ever ; the branch of my plant- 
 ing, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified." " The sun sn&li 
 be no more thy light by day; neither for brightness shall the moon give 
 light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, 
 and thy God thy glory," Isa. Ix, 1, 16-19. 
 
 IV. Having thus briefly considered Christianity, as beginning, as 
 going on, and as covering the earth ; it remains only that 1 shouid close 
 tho whole with a plain, practical application. 
 
 I And first, I would ask. Where does this Christianity now exist?
 
 36 SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. [SERMON IV. 
 
 Where, I pray, do the Christians live? Which is the country, the inhabit- 
 ants whereof are all thus filled with the Holy Ghost ? Are all of one heart 
 and of one soul ? Cannot suffer one among them to lack any thing, but 
 continually give to every man as he hath need ? Who, one and all, have 
 the love of God filling their hearts, and constraining them to love their 
 neighbour as themselves ? Who have all " put on bowels of mercy, 
 humbleness of mind, gentleness, long suffering?" Who offend not in 
 any kind, either by word or deed, against justice, mercy, or truth ; but 
 in every point do unto all men, as they would these should do unto them 
 With what propriety can we term any a Christian country, which does 
 not answer this description ? Why then, let us confess we have never 
 yet seen a Christian couotry upon earth. 
 
 2. I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, if ye do account 
 me a madman or a fool, yet, as a fool bear with me. It is utterly need- 
 ful that some one should use great plainness of speech towards you. It 
 is more especially needful at this time ; for who knoweth but it is the 
 last? Who knoweth how soon the righteous Judge may say, " I will no 
 more be intreated for this people." " Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, 
 were in this land, they should but deliver their own souls." And who 
 will use this plainness, if 1 do not ? Therefore I, even I, will speak. 
 And I adjure you, by the living God, that ye steel not your breasts 
 against receiving a blessing at TW/ hands. Do not say in your hearts, 
 Nonpersuadebis, etiamsi persttaseris : or in other words, Lord, thou shalt 
 not send by whom thou wilt send ; let me rather perish in my blood, than 
 be saved by this man ! 
 
 3. Brethren, " I am persuaded better things of you, though I thus 
 speak." Let me ask you then, in tender love, and in the spirit of meek- 
 ness, Is this city a Christian city ? Is Christianity, scriptural Christianity, 
 found here? Are we, considered as a community of men, so " filled 
 with the Holy Ghost," as to enjoy in our hearts, and show forth in our 
 lives, the genuine fruits of that Spirit ? Are all the magistrates, all heads 
 and governors of colleges and halls, and their respective societies, (not 
 to speak of the inhabitants of the town,) " of one heart and one soul ?" 
 Is " the love of God shed abroad in our hearts?" Are our tempers the 
 same that were in him ? And are our lives agreeable thereto ? Are we 
 " holy as He who hath called us is holy, in all manner of conversation?" 
 
 4. I intreat you to observe, that here are no peculiar notions now 
 under consideration : that the question moved is not concerning doubt- 
 ful opinions, of one kind or another, but concerning the undoubted, fun- 
 damental branches (if there be any such) of our common Christianity. 
 And for the decision thereof, I appeal to your own consciences, guided 
 by the word of God. He therefore that is not condemned by his own 
 henrt let him go free. 
 
 6. In the fear, then, and in the presence of the great God before 
 whom both you and I shall shortly appear, I pray you that are in 
 authority over us, whom I reverence for your office' sake, to consider, 
 (and not after the manner o r dissemblers with God,) are you *' filled 
 with the Holy Ghost?" Are you lively portraitures of Him whom ye 
 are appointed to represent among men ? " I have said ye are gods," ye 
 magistrates and rulers ; ye are by office so nearly allied to the God of 
 heaven ! In your several stations and degrees, ye are to show forth unto 
 as " the Lord our governor." Are all the thoughts of your hearts, all
 
 SERMON IV.] SCBIPTURAL CHBISTIANITY. 37 
 
 youi tempers and desires suitable to your high calling? Are all youi 
 words like unto those which come out of the mouth of God 7 Is there 
 in all your actions, dignity and love? A greatness which words cannot 
 express, which can flow only from a heart full of God ; and yet consist- 
 ent with the character of " man that is a worm, and the son of man 
 that is a worm !" 
 
 6. Ye venerable men, who are more especially called to form the 
 tender minds of youth, to dispel thence the shades of ignorance and error, 
 and train them up to be wise unto salvation, are you " filled with the 
 Holy Ghost?" With all those " fruits of the Spirit," which your import- 
 ant office so indispensably requires? Is your heart whole with God 1 
 Full of love and zeal to set up his kingdom on earth ? Do you cor.tin- 
 ually remind those under your care, that the one rational end of all our 
 studies, is to know, love, and serve " the only true God, and Jesus 
 uhrist whom he hath sent?" Do you inculcate upon them day by day, 
 vhat love alone never faileth : (whereas, whether there be tongues, they 
 shall fail, or philosophical knowledge, it shall vanish away ;) and that 
 without love, all learning is but splendid ignorance, pompous folly, vex- 
 ation of spirit? Has all you teach an actual tendency to the love of God, 
 and of all mankind for his sake? Have you an eye to this end in what- 
 ever you prescribe, touching the kind, the manner, and the measure oi 
 their studies ; desiring and labouring that, wherever the lot of these 
 young soldiers of Christ is cast, they may be so many burning and shin- 
 ing lights, adorning the gospel of Christ in all things? And permit me 
 to ask, Do you put forth all your strength in the vast work you have un- 
 dertaken? Do you labour herein with all your might? Exerting every 
 faculty of your soul ? Using every talent which God hath lent you, and 
 that to the uttermost of your power ? 
 
 7. Let it not be said, that I speak here, as if all under your care were 
 intended to be clergymen. Not so : I only speak as if they were all 
 intended to be Christians. But what example is set them by us who 
 enjoy the beneficence of our forefathers ? by fellows, students, scholars ; 
 more especially those who are of some rank and eminence ? Do ye, 
 brethren, abound in the fruits of the Spirit, in lowliness of mind, in 
 self denial and mortification, in seriousness and composure of spirit, in 
 patience, meekness, sobriety, temperance ; and in unwearied, restless 
 endeavours todo good in every kind unto all men, to relieve their outward 
 wants, and to bring their souls to the true knowledge and love of God ? 
 Is this the general character of fellows of colleges ? I fear it is not. 
 Rather, have not pride and haughtiness of spirit, impatience and 
 peevishness, sloth and indolence, gluttony and sensuality, and even 
 proverbial uselessness, been objected to us, perhaps not always by our 
 enemies, nor wholly without ground ? Oh that God would roll away this 
 reproach from us, that the very memory of it might perish for ever ! 
 
 8. Many of us are more immediately consecrated to God, called to 
 minister in holy things. Are we then patterns to the rest, " in word, 
 in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity ?" 2 Cor. iv, 2. 
 Is there written on our forehead and on our heart, " Holiness to the 
 Lord ?" From what motives did we enter upon this office ? Was it 
 indeed with a single eve " to serve God, trusting that we were inwardly 
 moved by the Holy Ghost, to take upon us this ministration, for the 
 promoting of his glory, and the edifying of his people?" And have
 
 38 SCRIPTURAL CHRISTIANITY. ^SERMON IV. 
 
 we "clearly determined, by God's grace, to give ourselves wholly to 
 this office ?'* Do we forsake and set aside, as much as in us lies, all 
 worldly cares and studies? Do we apply ourselves wholly to this one 
 thing, and draw all our cares and studies this way? Are we apt to 
 teach ? Arc we taught of God, that we may be able to teach others 
 also? Do we know God? Do we know Jesus Christ? Hath "God 
 revealed his Son in us ?" And hath he made us able ministers of the 
 new covenant ?" Where then are the " seals of our apostleship ?" 
 Who, that were dead in trespasses and sins, have been quickened by 
 our word ? Have we a burning zeal to save souls from death, so that 
 for their sake we often forget even to eat our bread .' Do we speak 
 plain, " by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every 
 man's conscience in the sight of God ?" 2 Cor. iv, 2. Are we dead 
 to the world and the things of the world, " laying up al! our treasure in 
 heaven ?" Do we lord over God's heritage ? Or are we the least, the 
 servants of all ? When we bear the reproach of Christ, does it sit 
 heavy upon us ? Or do we rejoice therein ? When we are smitten on 
 the one cheek, do we resent it I Are we impatient of affronts ? Or 
 do we turn the other also ; not resisting the evil, but overcoming evil 
 with good ? Have we a bitter zeal, inciting us to strive sharply and 
 passionately with them that are out of the way ? Or is our zeal the 
 flame of love, so as to direct all our words with sweetness, lowliness, 
 and meekness of wisdom ? 
 
 9. Once more, What shall we say concerning the youth of this place ? 
 Have you either the form or the power of Christian godliness ? Are you 
 humble, teachable, advisable; or stubborn, self willed, heady, and high 
 minded ? Arc you obedient to your superiors as to parents ? Or do 
 you despise those to whom you owe the tenderest reverence ? Are you 
 diligent in your easy business, pursuing your studies with all your 
 strength ? Do you redeem the time, crowding as much work into every 
 day as it can contain ? Rather, are ye not conscious to yourselves, 
 that you waste away day after day, either in reading what has no 
 tendency to Christianity, or in gaming, or in you know not what ? 
 Are you better managers of your fortune than of your time ? Do you, 
 out of principle, take care to owe no man any thing ? Do you " remember 
 the sabbath day to keep it holy ;" to spend it in the more immediate 
 worship of God ? When you are in his house, do you consider that God 
 is there ? Do you behave, " as seeing him that is invisible ?" Do you 
 know how to " possess your bodies in sanctification and honour ? Are 
 not drunkenness and uncleanness found among you 1 Yea, are there 
 not of you who " glory in their shame ?" Do not many of you " take 
 (he name of God in vain," perhaps habitually, without either remorse 
 or fear ? Yoa, are there not a multitude of you that are forsworn ? 
 1 fear, a swiftly increasing multitude. Be not surprised, brethren. 
 Before God and this congregation, I own myself to have been of the 
 number, solemnly swearing to observe all those customs, which i then 
 knew nothing of; and those statutes, which I did not so much as read 
 over, either then, or for some years after. What is perjury, if this is 
 not? But if it be, oh what a weight of sin, yea, sin of no common dye, 
 lieth upon us ! And doth not the Most High regard it ? 
 
 10. May it not be one of the consequences of this, that so many of 
 you are a generation of triflers; triflers with God, with one another.
 
 SERMON V.] JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 39 
 
 and with your own souls ? For, how few of you spend, from one week 
 lo another, a single hour in private prayer ! How few have any thought 
 of God in the general tenor of your conversation ! Who of you is, in 
 any degree, acquainted with the work of his Spirit, his supernatural 
 work in the souls of men ? Can you bear, unless now and then, in a 
 church, any talk of the Holy Ghost 1 Would not you take it for granted, 
 if one began such a conversation, that it was either hypocrisy or enthu 
 sjasm ? In the name of the Lord God Almighty, I ask, What religion 
 are you of? Even the talk of Christianity, ye cannot., will not bear. 
 Oh, my brethren ! what a Christian city is this ! " It is time for thee. 
 Lord, to lay to thine hand !" 
 
 11. For, indeed, what probability, what possibility rather, (speaking 
 after the manner of men,) is there that Christianity, scriptural Chris- 
 tianity, should be again the religion of this place 1 That all orders of 
 men among us should speak and live as men " filled with the Holy 
 Ghost ?" By whom should this Christianity be restored 1 By those of 
 you that are in authority ? Are you convinced then that this is scrip- 
 tural Christianity? Are you desirous it should be restored? And do ye 
 not count your fortune, liberty, life, dear unto yourselves, so ye may be 
 instrumental in the restoring of it ? But, suppose ye have this desire, who 
 hath any power proportioned to the effect ? Perhaps some of you have 
 made a few faint attempts, but with how small success ! Shali Chris- 
 tianity then be restored by young, unknown, inconsiderable men ? I 
 know not whether ye yourselves could suffer it. Would not some of 
 you cry out, " Young man, in so doing thou reproachest us?" But 
 there is no danger of your being nut to the proof; so hath iniquity 
 overspread us like a flood. Whom then shall God send ? The famine, 
 the pestilence, (the last messengers of God to a guilty land,) or the 
 sword ? The armies of the Romish aliens to reform us into our first 
 love? Nay, " rather let us fall into thy hand, oh Lord, and let us not 
 fall into the hand of man." 
 
 Lord, save, or we perish ! Take us out of the mire that we sink 
 not ! Oh help us against these enemies ! for vain is the help of man. 
 Unto thee all things are possible. According to the greatness of thy 
 power, preserve thou those that are appointed to die; and preserve us 
 in the manner that seemeth to thee good ; not as we will, but as thou 
 wilt! 
 
 SEEMON" V. Justification by Faith. 
 
 " To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, 
 his faith is counted to him for righteousness." Rom. iv. 5. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 How may a sinner be justified before God ? Importance of 
 the question, and confused notions regarding it. 
 
 I. Ground of the doctrine of justification. Man created in 
 God's image. Placed under a perfect law a law of love
 
 40 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. [SERMON V. 
 
 and of positive command. Man violated this law. The con- 
 sequences of this sin, to Adam, to his posterity. The gift of 
 God's Son, and his atoning work. God's ofler of pardon 
 through him to the whole world. 
 
 II. Justification defined. 
 
 Not the being made actually just or righteous. Not a 
 clearing from accusation of Satan, or of the law. Does not im- 
 ply that God is deceived when he justifies. The plain Scrip- 
 tural notion of justification is pardon, the forgiveness of sins. 
 It is that act of God the Father, whereby, for the sake of the 
 propitiation made by the blood of his Son, he " sheweth forth 
 his righteousness (or mercy,) by the remission oi sins that are 
 past." Justification in Scripture is sometimes referred to the 
 day of judgment ; but more frequently is that which takes 
 place at the beginning of the Christian life. 
 
 III. Who are they that are justified ? 
 
 The ungodly. Hence not they who are sanctified. But the 
 lost, the sick, the condemned. Good works, in the highest 
 sense of the term, do not precede but follow after justification, 
 
 IV. The terms of justification. 
 
 Faith alone. Scripture proof of this. This faith defined 
 as not only a divine evidence or conviction that " God was in 
 Christ reconciling the world unto himself," but a sure trust 
 and confidence that Christ died for my sins, that he loved me, 
 and gave himself for me. This faith the doctrine of the 
 Church of England. This is the necessary condition. No 
 justification without it. This is the only condition. The 
 moment this faith is received it is " counted for righteousness." 
 
 The reason of this condition with God. But it hides pride 
 from man. Exhortation to the ungodly to believe. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 In this and the seven sermons following Mr. "Wesley expounds the 
 evangelical doctrine. He begins with the fundamental, central doctrine 
 of justification by i'uith. This he presents under two aspects as an act 
 of pardoning grace by God, conditioned on faith ; and as a gift of 
 righteousness or Tightness of relation to God received by us through 
 faith. Next follows a sermon on the antecedent steps to the attainment 
 of this gracious state. Then two sermons are devoted to the fruits of
 
 SERMON V.] JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 41 
 
 the regenerating Spirit, or Spirit of Adoption which accompanies it. 
 Lastly, the doctrine of the twofold assurance or witness of this state of 
 grace is fully presented in three discourses. Mr. Wesley regarded the 
 circle of doctrines presented in these eight sermons as " articulus stantit 
 vel cadentis ecclesiae ; the Christian Church stands or falls with it." The 
 eight years preceding the publication of these sermons (in 1746) were 
 marked by repeated controversy in defence of these truths. The nature 
 and conditions of justification were especially points in dispute. In the 
 year 1739 Mr. Wesley published two treatises by Dr. Barnes, one on 
 *' Justification by Faith only," the other on " The Sinfulness of Man's 
 Natural Will and his utter inability to do works acceptable to God until 
 he be justified and born again of the Spirit of God." In 1743 he pub- 
 lished his " Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion." In this 
 Appeal he especially defines the nature of saving faith, and argues tilt- 
 reasonableness of it. On the 23th of June, 1744, Mr. Wesley met the 
 first Conlerence. The first work of this Conference was the considera- 
 tion of this doctrine, and the following important propositions were 
 agreed upon: 
 
 1. To be justified is to be pardoned and received into God's favour. 
 
 2. Faith is the condition of justification. 
 
 3. Repentance and works meet for repentance must go before this 
 faith. 
 
 4. Faith is a divine, supernatural evidence or conviction of things not 
 seen : it is a spiritual sight of God and the things ot God. First a 
 sinner is convinced by the Holy Ghost, " Christ loved me and gave him- 
 self for me." This is that faith by which he is justified, or pardoned, 
 the moment he receives it. Immediately the same Spirit bears witness 
 " Thou art pardoned ; thou hast redemption in his blood." And this is 
 saving faith, whereby the love of God is shed abroad in the heart. 
 
 5. No man who hears the Gospel can go to heaven without this faith 
 whatever a heathen may do. 
 
 At the Conference of 1745, these positions were carefully reviewed and 
 guarded as follows : 
 
 Q. Is a sense of God's pardoning love indispensably necessary to final 
 salvation suppose in a Papist, or Quaker ; or, in. general, among those 
 who never heard it preached 1 
 
 A. Love hopeth all things. We know not how far any of these may 
 fall under the case of invincible ignorance. 
 
 Q. Have we duly considered the case of Cornelius ? Was not he in 
 the favour of God when " his prayers and alms came up for a memorial 
 before God ;" that is, before he believed in Christ 1 
 
 A. It does seem that he was in some degree, but we speak not of those 
 who have not heard the gospel. 
 
 Q. But were not those works of his " splendid sins ? " 
 
 A. No ; nor were they done without the grace of Christ.
 
 42 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. [SERMON V. 
 
 Q. How then can we maintain that all works done before we have a 
 sense of the pardoning love of God are sin, and, as such, an abomination 
 to him 1 
 
 A. The works of him who has heard the gospel, and does not believe, 
 are not done as God hath " willed and commanded them to be done." 
 And yet we know not how to say that they are an abomination to the 
 Lord in him who feareth God, and from that principle does the best he 
 can. In this same year (the year preceding the publication of the first 
 volume of sermons) Mr. Wesley published a " Farther Appeal to Men of 
 Reason and Religion." It would appear that there prevailed somewhat 
 widely in the Church of England at that period a view of justification 
 not far removed from that propounded by the Council of Trent in 
 opposition to Protestantism. According to this conception, sanctification 
 and good works preceded justification, and were the basis of acceptance 
 with God, or at times justification was defined as the communication of 
 inherent righteousness, and faith was made identical with the practice of 
 all good works. In this way the language of Scripture was made to con- 
 vey the doctrine of Rome. In this appeal Mr. Wesley proves conclusively 
 that the evangelical doctrine of Justification by Faith, which he preached, 
 was the doctrine of the articles and homilies of the Church of England, 
 and the doctrine of Scripture ; and defines his doctrine and the doctrine 
 of the Church as follows : 
 
 1. " That no good work, properly so called can go before justification. 
 
 2. " That no degree of true sanctification can be previous to it. 
 
 3. " That as the meritorious cause of justification is the life and death 
 of Christ, so the condition of it is faith, faith alone. 
 
 4. " That both inward and outward holiness are consequent on this 
 faith, and are the ordinary, stated condition of final justification." 
 
 It will be seen from these extracts that while Mr. Wesley was contend- 
 ing with the self-righteous, anti-Protestant doctrine of justification by 
 works, he was obliged to present the truth of the Gospel as " lying very 
 near to Calvinism and Antinornianism ;" " within a hair's breadth," so . 
 that " we may come to the very edge of Calvinism " 1. In ascribing all 
 good to the free grace of God. 2. In denying all natural free will, and 
 all power antecedent to grace. And 3. In excluding all merit from man; 
 even for what he has or does by the grace of God. These alternate 
 positions of Mr. Wesley, as he expounds the Arminian doctrine of the 
 Gospel in opposition to a semi-Pelagian tendency on one hand, and in 
 opposition to Calvinistic Antinomianism on the other, must be both care- 
 fully weighed by the student in the study of the sermon before us. He 
 may very profitably read in this connection the Doctrinal Minutes and 
 Wesley's Appeal." 
 
 SERMON V. 
 
 1. How a sinner may be justified before God, the Lord and Judge of 
 all, is a question of no common importance to every child of man. It 
 contains the foundation of all our hope, inasmuch as while we are at 
 enmity with God, there can be no true peace, no solid joy, either in 
 time or in eternity. What peace can there be, while our own heart 
 condemns us ; and much more, He that is " greater than our hoart 
 and knoweth all things 1 " What solid joy, either in this world or 
 that to come, while " the wrath, of God abideth on us?"
 
 BKKMON V.J JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 43 
 
 2. And yet how little hath this important question been understjod ! 
 What confused notions have many had concerning it ! Indeed, not 
 only confused, but often utterly false ; contrary to the truth, as light to 
 darkness; notions absolutely inconsistent with the oracles of God, and 
 with the whole analogy of faith. And hence, erring concerning the 
 very foundation, they could not possibly build thereon ; at least, not 
 " gold, silver, or precious stones," which would endure when tried as 
 by tire ; but only " hay and stubble," neither acceptable to God, nor 
 profitable to man. 
 
 3. In order to do justice, as far as in me lies, to the vast importance 
 of the subject, to save those that seek the truth in sincerity from " vain 
 jangling and strife of words," to clear the confusedness of thought into 
 which so many have already been led thereby, and to give them true 
 and just conceptions of this great mystery of godliness, 1 shall endea- 
 voui to show, 
 
 First, What is the general ground of this whole doctrine of justifi- 
 cation : 
 
 Secondly What justification is : 
 
 Thirdly, Who are they that are justified : and 
 
 Fourthly, On what terms they are justified. 
 
 I. I am first to show, What is the general ground of this whole 
 doctrine of justification. 
 
 1. In the image of God was man made, holy as he that created him 
 is holy ; merciful as the Author of all is merciful ; perfect as his Father 
 in heaven is perfect. As God is love, so man dwelling in love, dwelt 
 in God, and God in him. God made him to be an " image of his own 
 eternity," an incorruptible picture of the God of glory. He was ac- 
 cordingly pure, as God is pure, from every spot of sin. He knew not 
 evil in any kind or degree, but was inwardly and outward!} sinless and 
 undefiled. He " loved the Lord his God with all his heart, and with 
 all his mind, and soul, and strength." 
 
 2. To man thus upright and perfect, God gave a perfect law, to 
 which he required full and perfect obedience. He required full obe- 
 dience in every point, and this to be performed without any intermis- 
 sion, from the moment man became a living soul, till the time of his 
 trial should be ended. No allowance was made for any falling short. 
 As, indeed, there was no need of any ; man being altogether equal to the 
 task assigned, and thoroughly furnished for every good word and work. 
 
 3. To the entire law of love which was written in his heart, (against 
 which, perhaps, he could not sin directly,) it seemed good to the sove- 
 reign wisdom of God to superadd one positive law : " Thou shall not 
 eat of the fruit of the tree that groweth in the midst of the garden ;" 
 annexing that penalty thereto, " In the day that thou eatest thereof, 
 thou shalt surely die." 
 
 4. Such then was the state of man in paradise. By the free, unmerit- 
 ed love of God, he was holy and happy : he knew, loved, enjoyed God, 
 which is, in substance, life everlasting. And in this life of love he was 
 to continue for ever, if he continued to obey God in all things ; but, if 
 he disobeyed in any, he was to forfeit all. " In that day," said God, 
 " thou shalt surely die." 
 
 5. Man did disobey God. He " ate of the tree, of which God com- 
 manded him, saying, Thou shall not eat of it." And, in that day he
 
 44 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. [SERMON V. 
 
 was condemned by the righteous judgment of God. Then also ihe 
 sentence, whereof he was warned before, began to take place upon him. 
 For, the moment he tasted that fruit he died. His soul died, was sepa- 
 rated from God ; separate from whom the soul has no more life than 
 the body has when separate from the soul. His body, likewise, became 
 corruptible and mortal ; so that death then took hold on this also. And 
 being already dead in spirit, dead to God, dead in sin, he hastened on 
 to death everlasting ; to the destruction both of body and soul, in the 
 fire never to be quenched. 
 
 6. Thus " by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin. 
 And so death passed upon all men," as being contained in him who was 
 the common father and representative of us all. Thus, " through the 
 offence of one," all are dead, dead to God, dead in sin, dwelling in a 
 corruptible, mortal body, shortly to be dissolved, and under the sentence 
 of death eternal. For as," by one man's disobedience," all " were made 
 sinners;" so, by that offence of one, "judgment came upon all men to 
 condemnation," Rom. v, 12, &c. 
 
 7. In this state we were, even all mankind, when " God so loved the 
 world, that he gave his only begotten Son, to the end we might not 
 perish, but have everlasting life." In the fulness of time he was made 
 man, another common head of mankind, a second general parent and 
 representative of the whole human race. And as such it was that " he 
 bore our griefs," " the Lord laying upon him the iniquities of us all." 
 Then was he " wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our 
 iniquities." " He made his soul an offering for sin :" he poured out his 
 blood for the transgressors : he " bare our sins in his own l>,dy on the 
 tree," that by his stripes we might be healed : and by that one oblation 
 of himself, once offered, he hath redeemed me and all mankind ; having 
 thereby " made a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice and satisfaction 
 for the sins of the whole world." 
 
 8. In consideration of this, that the Son of God hath " tasted death 
 for every man," God hath now " reconciled the world to himself, not 
 imputing to them their former trespasses." And thus, " as, by the 
 offence of one, judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so 
 by the righteousness of one, the free gift came upon al! men unto justi 
 fication." So that for the sake of his well beloved Son of what he hath 
 done and suffered for us, God now vouchsafes, on one only condition, 
 (which himself also enables us to perform,) both to remit the punish- 
 ment due to our sins, to reinstate us in his favour, and to restore our 
 dead souls to spiritual life, as the earnest of life eternal. 
 
 9. This, therefore, is the general ground of the whole doctrine of 
 justification. By the sin of the first Adam, who was not only the father, 
 but likewise the representative, of us all, we all fell short of the favour 
 of God ; we all became children of wrath ; or, as the ajwstle expresses 
 it, "judgment came upon all men to condemnation." Even so, by the 
 sacrifice for sin made by the second Adam, as the representative of us 
 all, God is so far reconciled to all the world, that he hath given them a 
 new covenant; the plain condition whereof being once fulfilled, "there 
 is no more condemnation" for us, but " we are justified freel) by his 
 grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ." 
 
 II. 1. But what is it to be justified ? What is justification 1 This was 
 the second thing which I proposed to show. And it is evident, from
 
 SERMON V.] JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 45 
 
 what has been already observed, that it is not the being made actually 
 just and righteous. This is sanctification ; which is, indeed, in some 
 degree the immediate fruit of justification ; but, nevertheless, is a dis- 
 tinct gift of God, and of a totally different nature. The one implies, 
 what God " does for us" through his Son ; the other, what he " works 
 in us" by his Spirit. So that, although some rare instances may be 
 found, wherein the term justified or justification is used in so wide a 
 sense as to include sanctification also ; yet, in general use, they are 
 sufficiently distinguished from each other, both by St. Paul and the 
 other inspired writers. 
 
 2. Neither is that far-fetched conceit, that justification is the clearing 
 us from accusation, particularly that of Satan, easily provable from any 
 clear text of Holy Writ. In the whole scriptural account of this mat- 
 ter, as, above laid down, neither that accuser, nor his accusation, appears 
 to be at all taken in. It cannot indeed be denied, that he is the " ac- 
 cuser" of men, emphatically so called. But it does in no wise appear, 
 that the great apostle hath any reference to this, more or less, in all that 
 he hath written touching justification, either to the Romans or the 
 Galatians. 
 
 3. It is also far easier to take for granted, than to prove from any 
 clear Scripture testimony, that justification is the clearing us from the 
 accusation brought against us by the law : at least, if this forced, un- 
 natural way of speaking mean either more or less than this, that whereas 
 we have transgressed the law of God, and thereby deserved the damna- 
 tion of hell, God does not inflict on those who are justified the punish- 
 ment which they had deserved. 
 
 4. Least of all does justification imply, that God is deceived in those 
 whom he justifies ; that he thinks them to be what in fact they are not ; 
 that he accounts them to be otherwise than they are. It does by no 
 means imply, that God judges concerning us contrary to the real nature 
 of things; that he esteems us better than we really are, or believes us 
 righteous when we are unrighteous. Surely no. The judgment of the 
 all-wise God is always according to truth. Neither can it ever consist 
 with his unerring wisdom to think that I am innocent, to judge that I 
 am righteous or holy, because another is so. He can no more, in this 
 manner, confound me with Christ, than with David or Abraham. Let 
 any man to whom God hath given understanding, weigh this without 
 prejudice ; and he cannot but perceive, that such a notion of justifica- 
 tion is neither reconcilable to reason nor Scripture. 
 
 5. The plain scriptural notion of justification is pardon, the forgive- 
 ness of sins. It is that act of God the Father, whereby, for the sake of 
 the propitiation made by the blood of his Son, he " showeth forth his 
 righteousness (or mercy) by the remission of the sins that are past." 
 This is the easy, natural account of it given by St. Paul, throughout this 
 whole epistle. So he explains it himself, more particularly in this and 
 in Ihe following chapter. Thus, in the next verses but one to the text, 
 " Blessed are they," saith he, " whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose 
 sins are covered : blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute 
 sin." To him that is justified or forgiven, God "will not impute sin" to 
 ms condemnation. He will not condemn him on that account, either 
 in this world, or in that which is to come. His sins, all his past sins, 
 in thought, word, and deed, are covered, are blotted out, shall not be
 
 46 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. [SEEMON V. 
 
 remembered or mentioned against him, any more than if they had not 
 been* God will not inflict on that sinner what he deserved to suffer, 
 because the Son of Ins love hath suffered for him. And from the time 
 we are " accepted through the beloved," " reconciled to God through 
 his blood," he loves, and blesses, and watches over us for good, even 
 as if we had never sinned. 
 
 Indeed the apostle in one place seems to extend the meaning of she 
 word much farther, where he says, " Not the hearers of the law, but I he 
 doers of the law, shall be justified." Here he appears to refer our 
 justification to the sentence of the great day. And so our Lord himself 
 unquestionably doth, when he says, " By thy words thou shalt be justi- 
 fied ;" proving thereby, that " for every idle word men shall speak, they 
 shall give an account in the day of judgment." But perhaps we can 
 hardly produce another instance of St. Paul's using the word in thai 
 distant sense. In the general tenor of his writings, it is evident he doth 
 not ; and least of all in the text before us, which undeniably speaks, 
 not of those who have already '* finished their course," but of those who 
 are now just setting out, just beginning to " run the race which is set 
 before them." 
 
 111. 1. But this is the third thing which was to be considered, namely, 
 Who are they that are justified ? And the apostle tells us expressly, the 
 ungodly : " He (that is, God,) justifieth the ungodly :" the ungodly of 
 every kind and degree ; and none but the ungodly. As " they that are 
 righteous need no repentance," so they need no forgiveness. It is only 
 sinners that have any occasion for pardon : it is sin alone which admits 
 of being forgiven. Forgiveness therefore has an immediate reference to 
 sin, and, in this respect, to nothing else. It is our unrighteousness to 
 which the pardoning God is merciful : it is our iniquity which he 
 " remernbereth no more." 
 
 2. This seems not to be at all considered by those who so vehemently 
 contend that a man must be sanctified, that is, holy, before he can be 
 justified ; especially by such of them as affirm, that universal holiness 
 or obedience must precede justification : (unless they mean, that justi- 
 fication at the last day, which is wholly out of the present question.) 
 So far from it, that the very supposition is not only flatly impossible, 
 (for where there is no love of God, there is no holiness, and there is no 
 love of God but from a sense of his loving us,) but also grossly, intrin- 
 sically absurd, contradictory to itself. For it is not a saint but a sinner 
 that b forgiven, and under the notion of a sinner. God justifieth not 
 the godly, but the ungodly ; not those that are holy already, but the 
 unholy. Upon what condition he doth this, will be considered quickly . 
 but whatever it is, it cannot be holiness. To assert this, is to say, the 
 Lamb of God takes away only those sins which were taken away before. 
 
 3. Does then the good Shepherd seek and save only those that are 
 found already? No: He seeks and saves that which is lost. HP 
 pardons those who need his pardoning mercy. He saves from tnc 
 guilt of sin, (and, at the same time, from the power,) sinners of every 
 kind, of every degree ; men, who, till then, were altogether ungodly ; 
 in whom the love of the Father was not ; and, consequently, in whom 
 dwelt no good thing, no good, or truly Christian temper ; but all such 
 as were evil and abominable, pride, anger, love of the world, the genuine 
 fruits of that carnal mind which is " enmity against God."
 
 SERMON V.] JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 47 
 
 4 These who are sick, the burden of whose sins is intolerable, are 
 they that need a physician ; these who are guilty, who groan under the 
 wrath of God, are they that need a pardon. These who are condemned 
 already, not only by God, but also by their own conscience, as by a 
 thousand witnesses, of all their ungodliness, both in thought, and word, 
 and work, cry aloud for him that " justifieth the ungodly," through the 
 redemption that is in Jesus ; the ungodly, and " him that worketh 
 not ;" that worketh not before he is justified, any thing that is good, 
 that is trul> virtuous or holy, but only evil continually. For his heart 
 is necessarily, essentially evil, till the love of God is shed abroad 
 therein. And while the tree is corrupt, so are the fruits; "for an 
 evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit." 
 
 5. If it be objected, " Nay, but a man, before he is justified, may 
 feed the hungry, or clothe the naked ; and these are good works ;" the 
 answer is easy. He may do these, even before he is justified. And 
 these are, in one sense, " good works ;" they are " good and profitable 
 to men." But it does not follow, that they are, strictly speaking, good 
 in themselves or good in the sight of God. All truly good works (to 
 use the words of our church } follow after justification. And they are 
 therefore good and " acceptable to God in Christ," because they " spring 
 out of a true and living faith." By a parity of reason, all works done 
 before justification are not good, in the Christian sense, forasmuch as 
 they spring not of faith in Jesus Christ; (though often from some kind 
 of faith in God they may spring;) "yea, rather, for that they are not 
 done as God hath willed and commanded them to be done, we dcubi 
 not" (how strange soever it may appear to some) " but they have the 
 nature of sin." 
 
 G. Perhaps those who doubt of this, have not duly considered the 
 weighty reason which is here assigned, why nn works done before 
 justification can be truly and properly good. The argument plainly 
 runs thus : 
 
 No works are good, which are not done as God hath willed and 
 commanded them to be done : 
 
 But no works done before justification are done as God hath willed 
 and commanded them to be done : 
 
 Therefore, no works done before justification are good. 
 
 The first proposition is self evident. And the second, That no works 
 done before justification are done as God hath willed and commanded 
 them to be done, will appear equally plain and undeniable, if we only 
 consider, God hath willed and commanded, that all our works should be 
 done in charity ; (sv a^ow*),) in love, in that love to God, which produces 
 love to all mankind. But none of our works can be done in this love 
 while the love of the Father (of God as our Father) ts not in us. And 
 this love cannot be in us till we receive the " Spirit of adoption crying 
 in our hearts Abba, Father." If, therefore, God doth not justify the 
 ungodly, and him that (in this sense) worketh noi, then hath Christ 
 died in vain ; then, notwithstanding his death, can no flesh living be 
 justified. 
 
 IV. 1. But, on what terms then is he justified who is altogether 
 ungodly, and till that time worketh not ? On one alone ; which is 
 faith : he " believeth in him that justifieth the ungodly." And " he 
 that belitjveth is not condemned ;" yea, he is ' passed from death unto
 
 4:8 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. [SERMON V. 
 
 life." " Foi the righteousness (or mercy) of God is by faith ol 
 Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe : Whom God 
 hath set forth for a propitiation, through faith in his blood ; that ne might 
 be just, and (consistently with his justice) the justifier of him which 
 believeth in Jesus :" " Therefore, we conclude, that a man is justified 
 by faith, without the deeds of the law :" without previous obedience to 
 the moral law, which, indeed, he could not, till now, perform. That it Is 
 the moral law, and that alone, which is here intended, appears evidently 
 from the words that follow. " Do we then make void the law through 
 faith '? God forbid ! Yea, we establish the law." What law do we 
 establish by faith 1 Not the ritual law : not the ceremonial law of 
 Moses. In no wise ; but the great unchangeable law of love, the holy 
 love of God, and of our neighbour. 
 
 2. Faith in general is a divine, supernatural eXsj^oc, evidence or con- 
 viction, " of things not seen," not discoverable by our bodily senses, 
 as being either past, future, or spiritual. Justifying faith implies, 
 not only a divine evidence or conviction that " God was in Christ 
 reconciling the world unto himself," but a sure trust and confidence 
 that Christ died for my sins, that he loved me, and gave himself for me. 
 And at what time soever a sinner thus believes, be it in early childhood, 
 in the strength of his years, or when he is old and hoary haired, God 
 justifieth that ungodly one : God for the sake of his Son, pardoneth and 
 absolveth him, who had in him, till then, no good thing. Repentance, 
 indeed, God had given him before ; but that repentance was neither 
 more nor less than a deep sense of the want of all good, and the pre- 
 sence of all evil. And whatever good he hath or doth from that hour, 
 when he first believes in God through Christ, faith does notjind, but 
 bring. This is the fruit of faith. First the tree is good, and then the 
 fruit is good also. 
 
 3. I cannot describe the nature of this faith better, than in the words 
 of our own church. " The only instrument of salvation," (whereof 
 justification is one branch,) " is faith : that is, a sure trust and confi- 
 dence that God both hath and will forgive our sins, that he hath accepted 
 us again into his favour, for the merits of Christ's death and passion. 
 But here we must take heed that we do not halt with God, through an 
 inconstant, wavering faith. Peter coming to Christ upon the water, 
 because he fainted in faith, was in danger of drowning. So we, if we 
 begin to waver or doubt, it is to be feared that we shall sink as Peter 
 did", not into the water, but into the bottomless pit. of hell fire." Second 
 sermon on the passion. 
 
 " Therefore, have a sure and constant faith, not only that the death 
 of Christ is available for all the world, but that he hath made a full and 
 sufficient sacrifice for thee, a perfect cleansing of thy sins, so that 
 thou mayest say, with the apostle, he loved thee, and gave himself for 
 thee. For this is to make Christ thine own, and to apply his merits unto 
 thyself." Sermon on the sacrament, Jirst part. 
 
 4. By affirming that this faith is the term or condition of justification, 
 I mean, first, That there is no justification without it. " He that believeth 
 not, is condemned already ;" and so long as he believeth not, that con- 
 demnation cannot be removed, but " the wrath of God abideth on him " 
 
 As " there is no other name given under heaven," than that of Jesus 
 of Mazareth, no other merit wnereby a condemned sinner can ever be
 
 SERMON V.] JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 49 
 
 saved from the guilt of sin ; so there is no other way of obtaining 
 share in his merit, than by faith in his name. So that as long as w 
 are without this faith, we are " strangers to the covenant of promise," 
 we are " aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and without God in the 
 world." Whatsoever virtues (so called) a rnun may have, I speak of 
 those unto whom the gospel is preached ; for " what have I to do to 
 judge them that are without?" Whatsoever good works (so accounted) 
 he may do, it profiteth not ; he is still a child of wrath, still under the 
 curse, till he believes in Jesus. 
 
 5. Faith, therefore, is the necessary condition of justification. Yea, 
 and the only necessary condition thereof. This is the second point 
 carefully to be observed ; that, the very moment God giveth faith (for 
 it is the gift of God) to tho " ungodly," that " worketh not," that " faith 
 is counted to him for righteousness." He hath no righteousness at all, 
 antecedent to this, not so much as negative righteousness, or innocence. 
 But " faith is imputed to him for righteousness" the very moment that 
 he believeth. Not that God (as was observed before) thinketh him to 
 be what he is not. But as " he made Christ to be sin for us," that is, 
 treated him as a sinner, punishing him for our sins ; so he counteth tis 
 righteous, from the time we believe in him : that is, he doth not punish 
 us for our sins, yea, treats us as though we were guiltless and righteous. 
 
 6. Surely the difficulty of assenting to the proposition, That faith is 
 the only condition of justification, must arise from not understanding it. 
 We mean thereby thus much, That it is the only thing, without which 
 no one is justified ; the only thing that is immediately, indispensably, 
 absolutely requisite in order to pardon. As on the one hand, though a 
 man should have every thing else without faith, yet he cannot be justi- 
 fied ; so on the other, though he be supposed to want every thing else, 
 yet if he hath faith, he cannot but be justified. For suppose a sinner 
 of any kind or degree, in a full sense of his total ungodliness, of his 
 utter inability to think, speak, or do good, and his absolute meetness 
 for hell fire ; suppose, I say, this sinner, helpless and hopeless, casts 
 himself \vholly on the mercy of God in Christ, (which indeed he cannot 
 do but by the grace of God,) who can doubt but he is forgiven in that 
 moment 1 Who will affirm, that any more is indispensably required, 
 before that s Inner can be justified ? 
 
 Now, if there ever was one such instance from the beginning of the 
 world ; (and have there not been, and are there not, ten thousand times 
 ten thousand ?) it plainly follows, that faith is, in the above sense, the 
 sole condition of justification. 
 
 7. It does not become poor, guilty, sinful worms, who receive what- 
 soever blessings they enjoy, (from the least drop of water that cools our 
 tongue, to the immense riches of glory in eternity,) of grace, of mere 
 favour, and not of debt, to ask of God the reasons of his conduct. It 
 is not meet for us to call him in question, " who giveth account 
 to none of his ways ;" to demand, Why didst thou make faith the con- 
 dition, the only condition of justification ? Wherefore didst thou decree 
 He that believeth, and he only, shall be saved? This is the very point 
 on which St. Paul so strongly insists in the ninth chapter of this epistle, 
 viz. That the terms of pardon and acceptance must depend not on us, 
 out on him that calleth us ; that there is no unrighteousness with God, 
 in fixing his own terms, not according to ours, but his own good plea-
 
 60 JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. [SERMON V. 
 
 sure ; who may justly say, " I will have mercy on whom I will have 
 mercy," namely, on him who believeth in Jesus. " So then it is not ol 
 him that willeth, nor of him that runneth," to choose the condition on 
 which he shall find acceptance ; " but of God that showeth mercy ;" 
 that accpteth none at all, but of his own free love, his unmerited good- 
 ness. " Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy," viz. 
 on those who believe on the Son of his love; " and whom he will," 
 that is, those who believe not, " he hardeneth ;" leaves at last to the 
 hardness of their hearts. 
 
 8. One reason, however, we may humbly conceive, of God's fixing 
 this condition of justification, " If thou believest in the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, thou shalt be saved," was to hide pride from man. Pride had 
 already destroyed the very angels of God, had cast down " a third part 
 of the stars of heaven." It was likewise in great measure owing to 
 this, when the tempter said, " Ye shall be as gods," that Adam fell 
 from his own steadfastness, and brought sin and death into the world. 
 It was therefore an instance of wisdom worthy of God, to appoint such 
 a condition of reconciliation for him and all his posterity, as might 
 effectually humble, might abase them to the dust. And such is faith 
 It is peculiarly fitted for this end : for he that cometh unto God by this 
 faith, must fix his eye singly on his own wickedness, on his guilt and 
 helplessness, without having the least regard to any supposed good in 
 himself, to any virtue or righteousness whatsoever. He must come as 
 a mere sinner, inwardly and outwardly, self destroyed and self con 
 demned, bringing nothing to God but ungodliness only, pleading 
 nothing of his own but sin and misery. Thus it is, and thus alone, 
 when his mouth is stopped, and he stands utterly guilty before God, 
 that he can look unto Jesus, as the whole and sole propitiation for his 
 sins. Thus only can he be " found in him," and receive the " right- 
 eousness which is of God by faith." 
 
 9. Thou ungodly one, who hearest or readest these words, thou vile, 
 helpless, miserable sinner, I charge thee before God, the Judge of all, 
 go straight unto him, with all thy ungodliness. Take heed thou destroy 
 not thy own soul by pleading thy righteousness more or less. Go as 
 altogether ungodly, guilty, lost, destroyed, deserving and dropping into 
 hell ; and thou shalt then find favour in his sight, and know that he 
 justifieth the ungodly. As such thou shalt be brought unto the blood 
 of sprinkling, as an undone, helpless, damned sinner. Thus look unto 
 Jesus ! There is the Lamb of God, who taketh away thy sins ! Plead 
 thou no works, no righteousness of thine own ! No humility, contrition, 
 sinceiity ! In no wise. That were, in very deed, to deny the Lord that 
 bought thee. No : plead thou, singly, the blood of the covenant, the 
 ransom paid for thy proud, stubborn, sinful soul. Who art thou, that 
 now seest and feelest both thine inward and outward ungodliness ? 
 Thou art the man ! I want thee for my Lord ! I challenge thee for a 
 child of God by faith ! The Lord hath need of thee. Thou who feelest 
 thou art just fit for hell, art just fit to advance his glory ; the glory ol 
 his free grace, justifying the ungodly and him that worketh not. Oh 
 come quickly ! Believe in the Lord Jesus ; and thou, even thou, art 
 reconciled to God.
 
 SERMON VI.] THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. 61 
 
 SERMON VI. The Righteousness of Faith. 
 
 ''Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, that the man 
 that doeth these things shall live by them. 
 
 " But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in 
 thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? (that is to bring Christ down from 
 above :) 
 
 "Or who shall descend into the deep ? (that is to bring up Christ again 
 from the dead.) 
 
 " But what saith it ? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in 
 thine heart : that is, the word of faith, which we preach. " Horn. z. 5-8. 
 
 ANALYSTS. 
 
 THIS text does not contrast the covenant given by Moses 
 with the covenant of grace by Christ. Christ's covenant of 
 grace covers all ages since the Fall. But the Jews, ignorant 
 of the gracious character of the Mosaic covenant, went about 
 to establish a legal righteousness of their own. Legal right- 
 eousness was given, not to Moses, but to Adam. So now 
 many men refuse to submit to the righteousness of faith, and 
 are seeking a legal righteousness. 
 
 I. The contrast of the two righteousnesses. 
 
 That of the Law demands obedience, universal, perfect, 
 uninterrupted. That of faith is given, not to man in inno- 
 cence but to fallen man ; and demands not unsinning obedi- 
 ence, or any other impossibility. It does not command us 
 to do, but to believe. 
 
 The one finds man holy and in God's favour, and pre- 
 scribes, (what is now far off from man,) universal, perfect, 
 uninterrupted obedience, as the condition of continuance in 
 God's favour. The other finds man fallen under God's wrath, 
 and prescribes faith as the condition of recovery of God's 
 favour.
 
 52 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. [SERMON VI. 
 
 II. The Application. 
 
 1. The folly of those seeking legal righteousness. They 
 begin wrong, for they are not now innocent. They under- 
 take, what they are not able to perform, perfect obedience. 
 They presume to meet God, not as a God of mercy, but of 
 rigid justice. 
 
 2. The wisdom of those who seek the righteousness of 
 faith. They acknowledge their true condition, both past, 
 present, and future ; and they humbly and thankfully come 
 to God in God's way of mercy. 
 
 III. The Exhortation. 
 
 Say not, I must first do this, conquer sin, use means ; nor, 
 I am not good enough, contrite enough, or sufficiently sensible 
 of sin ; nor yet, I must do something or be more sincere. 
 But " at this present moment, in thy present state, just as 
 thou art," believe the Gospel. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon is complementary to the preceding, but more contro- 
 versial in its character. It presents the Gospel in its opposition to the 
 prevailing legality of the Anglican preaching of that time ; and very 
 well illustrates Mr. Wesley's own minutes by coming to the very edge of 
 Calvinism. It shows us that the "Wesleyan theology admits of that 
 earnest, unqualified, proclamation of salvation by faith now, and exhor- 
 tation to present belief, which is so powerful of immediate results in 
 seasons of great awakening. 
 
 The theology to which this sermon is opposed ia not the theology 
 which preaches repentance to the unawakened sinner ; but it is the 
 theology which says with Bishop Bull, " That all good works, and not 
 faith alone, are the necessary previous condition of justification." " That
 
 SERMON VL THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. 53 
 
 faith alone is the condition of justification," for it " means all inward and 
 outward good works." " That there are two justili cations, and that only 
 inward good works necessarily precede the former, but both inward and 
 outward the latter." Wwley'a Works, Vol. III., p. 214. 
 
 SERMON VL 
 
 1. THE apostle does not here oppose the covenant given by Moses to 
 the covenant given by Christ. If we ever imagined this, it was for 
 want of observing, that the latter, as well as the former part of these 
 words, were spoken by Moses himself to the people of Israel, and that 
 concerning the covenant which then was, Dent, xxx, 11, 12, 14. But 
 it is the covenant of grace, which God, through Christ, hath established 
 with men in all ages, (as well before, and under the Jewish dispensa- 
 tion, as since God was manifest in the flesh,) which St. Paul here 
 opposes to the covenant of works, made with Adam, while in paradise, 
 hut commonly supposed to be the only covenant which God had made 
 with man, particularly by those Jews of whom the apostle writes. 
 
 2. Of these it was that he so affectionately speaks, in the beginning 
 of this chapter ; " My heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, 
 that they may be saved. For I bear them record, that they have a zeal 
 for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant oi 
 God's righteousness," (of the justification that flows from his mere 
 grace and mercy, freely forgiving our sins, through the Son of his love, 
 through the redemption which is in Jesus,) " and seeking to establish 
 their own righteousness," (their own holiness, antecedent to faith in 
 " him that justifieth the ungodly," as the ground of their pardon and 
 acceptance,) " have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness ol 
 God," and consequently seek death in the error of their life. 
 
 3. They were ignorant, that " Christ is the end of the law for right- 
 eousness to every one that believeth ;" that by the oblation of himself 
 once offered, he had put an end to the first law or covenant, (which, 
 indeed, was not given by God to Moses, but to Adam in his state 01 
 innocence,) the strict tenor whereof, without any abatement, was, " Do 
 this and live ;" and, at the same time, purchased for us that better 
 covenant, " Believe and live ;" believe, and thou shall be saved ; now 
 saved, both from the guilt and power of sin, and, of consequence, from 
 the wages of it. 
 
 4. And how many are equally ignorant now, even among those who 
 are called by the name of Christ ! How many who have now a zeal for 
 God, yet have it not according to knowledge ; but are still " seeking to 
 establish their own righteousness," as the ground of their pardon and ao 
 ceptance; and, therefore, vehemently refuse to " submit themselves unto 
 the righteousness of God !" Surely my heart's desire, and prayer to God 
 for you, brethren, is, that ye may be saved. And, in order to lemove 
 this grand stumbling block out of your way, I will endeavour to show, first, 
 what the righteousness is which is of the law, and what the righteous- 
 ness which is of faith : secondly, the folly of trusting in the righteousne&t 
 f the law, and the wisdom of submitting to that which is of faith.
 
 54 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. [SERMON V\. 
 
 1. 1. And, first, " the righteousness which is of the law saith, The 
 man which doeth these things shall live by them." Constantly and 
 perfectly observe all these things to do uiem, and then thou shall live 
 for ever. This law, or covenant, (usually called the covenant of works. ) 
 given by God to man in paradise, required an obedience perfect in all 
 its parts, entire and wanting nothing, as the condition of his eternal 
 continuance in the holiness and happiriess wherein he was created. 
 
 2. It required, that man should fulfil all righteousness, inward and 
 outward, negative and positive : that he should not only abstain from 
 every idle word, and avoid every evil work, but should keep every 
 affection, every desire, every thought, in obedience to the will of God : 
 that he should continue holy, as he which had created him was holy, 
 both in heart, and in all manner of conversation ; that he should be 
 pure in heart, even as God is pure ; perfect as his Father in heaven 
 was perfect : that he should love the Lord his God, with all his heart, 
 with all his soul, with all his mind, and with all his strength; that he 
 should love every soul which God had made, even as God had loved 
 him: that by this universal benevolence, he should dwell in God, (who 
 is love,) and God in him : that he should serve the Lord his God with 
 all his strength, and in all things singly aim at his glory. 
 
 3. These were the things which the righteousness of the law required, 
 that he who did them might live thereby. But it farther required, that 
 this entire obedience to God, this inward and outward holiness, this 
 conformity both of heart and life to his will, should be perfect in 
 degree. No abatement, no allowance, could possibly be made, for 
 falling short in any degree, as to any jot or tittle, either of the outward 
 or the inward law. If every commandment, relating to outward things, 
 was obeyed, yet that was not sufficient, unless every one was obeyed 
 with all the strength, in the highest measure, and most perfect manner. 
 Nor did it answer the demand of this covenant, to love God with every 
 power and faculty, unless he were loved with the full capacity of each, 
 with the whole possibility of the soul. 
 
 4. One thing more was indispensably required by the righteousness 
 of the law, namely, that this universal obedience, this perfect holiness 
 both of heart and life, should be perfectly uninterrupted also, should 
 continue without any intermission, from the moment wherein God 
 created man, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, until the 
 days of his trial should be ended, and he should be confirmed in life 
 everlasting. 
 
 5. The righteousness, then, which is of the law, speaketh on this 
 wise: " Thou, oh man of God, stand fast in love, in the image of God 
 wherein thou art made. If thou wilt remain in life, keep the command- 
 ments, which are now written in thy heart. Love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart. Love, as thyself, every soul that he hath made. 
 Desire nothing but God. Aim at God in every thought, in every word 
 and work. Swerve not, in one motion of body or soul, from him, thy 
 mark, and the prize of thy high calling. And let all that is in thee 
 praise his holy name, every power and faculty of thy soul, in every 
 kind, in every degree, and at every moment of thine existence. ' This 
 do. and thou shah live :' thy light shall shine, thy love shall flame more 
 and more, till thou art received up into the house of God in the heavens, 
 to reign with him for ever and ever."
 
 SERMON ri.J THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. 65 
 
 6. " But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise : 
 say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven ? that is, to bring 
 down Christ from above;" (as though it weie some impossible task, 
 which God required thee previously to perform, in order to thine accept- 
 ance;) " or, Who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ 
 from the dead ?" (as though that were still remaining to be done, for 
 (he sake of which thou wert to be accepted ;) " but what saith it 1 The 
 word," according to the tenor of which thou mayest now be accepted 
 ae an heir of life eternal, " is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy 
 heart, that is, the word of faith, which we preach ;" the new covenant 
 which God hath now established with sinful man, through Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 7. By " the righteousness which is of faith," is meant, tnat condition 
 of justification (and, in consequence, of present and final salvation, if 
 we endure therein unto the end,) which was given by God, to fallen 
 man, through the merits and mediation of his only begotten Son. This 
 was in part reveaied to Adam, soon after his fall, being contained in 
 the original promise, made to him and his seed, concerning the seed of 
 the woman, who should " bruise the serpent's head," Gen. iii, 15. It 
 was a little more clearly revealed to Abraham, by the angel of God, 
 from heaven, saying, " By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord, that in 
 thy seed shall all the nations of the world be blessed," Gen. xxii, 15, 18. 
 It was yet more fully made known to Moses, to David, and to the pro- 
 phets that followed ; and, through them, to many of the people of God, 
 in their respective generations. But still the bulk even of these were 
 ignorant of it ; and very few understood it clearly. Still " life and 
 immortality" were nut so " brought to light" to the Jews of old, as they 
 are now unto us " by the gospel." 
 
 8. Now this covenant saith not to sinful man, " Perform unsmiling 
 obedience, and live." If this were the term, he would have no more 
 benefit by all which Christ hath done and suffered for him, than if he 
 was required, in order to life, to " ascend into heaven, and bring down 
 Christ from above ;" or, to " descend into the deep," into the invisible 
 world, and " bring up Christ from the dead." It doth not require any 
 impossibility to be done: (although to mere man, what it requires would 
 be impossible; but not to man assisted by the Spirit of God :) this were 
 only to mock human weakness. Indeed, strictly speaking, the cove- 
 nant of grace doth not require us to do any thing at all, as absolutely and 
 indispensably necessary, in order to our justification ; but only to believe 
 in Him, who, for the sake of his Son, and the propitiation which he 
 hath made, " justifieth the ungodly, that worketh not," and imputes his 
 faith to him for righteousness. Even so Abraham " believed in the 
 Loid, and he counted it to him for righteousness," Gen. xv, 6. " And 
 he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of 
 faith, that he might be the father of all them that believe, that 
 righteousness might be imputed unto them also," Rom. iv, 11. " Now 
 it was not written for his sake alone, that it [i. e. faith] was imputed to 
 him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed," to whom faith hall 
 be imputed for righteousness, shall stand in the stead of perfect obe 
 dience, in order to our acceptance with God, " if we believe on him 
 who raised up Je.sus our Lord from the dead : who was delivered [to 
 death] for our olTences. and was raised again for our justification."
 
 56 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OK FAITH [SERMON V? 
 
 Rom. iv, 23-25 : for the assurance of the remission of our sins, and of 
 a second life to come, to them that believe. 
 
 9. What saith then the covenant of forgiveness, of unmerited love, 
 of pardoning mercy ? " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shall 
 be saved." In the day thou believest, thou shalt surely live. Thou 
 shalt be restored to the favour of God ; arid in his pleasure is life. Thou 
 shalt be saved from the curse, and from the wrath of God. Thou shall 
 be quickened, from the death of sin, into the life of righteousness. And 
 if thou endure to the end, believing in Jesus, thou shalt never taste the 
 second death ; but, having suffered with thy Lord, shalt also live, and 
 reign with him for ever and ever. 
 
 10. Now " this word is nigh thee." This condition of life is plain, 
 easy, always at hand. " It is in thy mouth, and in thy heart," through 
 the operation of the Spirit of God. The moment " thou believest in thine 
 heart" in him whom God " hath raised from the dead," and " confesses! 
 with thy mouth the Lord Jesus," as thy Lord and thy God, thou shalt 
 be saved from condemnation, from the guilt and punishment of thy 
 former sins, and shalt have power to serve God in true holiness all the 
 remaining days of thy life. 
 
 11. What is the difference then between the " righteousness which 
 is of the law," and the " righteousness which is of faith ?" Between the 
 first covenant, or the covenant of works, and the second, the covenant 
 of grace 1 The essential, unchangeable difference is this : The one 
 supposes him to whom it is given, to be already holy and happy, created 
 in the image and enjoying the favour of God ; and prescribes the con- 
 dition whereon he may continue therein, in love and joy, life and im- 
 mortality : The other supposes him to whom it. is given, to be now 
 unholy and unhappy ; fallen short of the glorious image of God, having 
 the wrath of God abiding on him, and hastening through sin, whereby 
 his soul is dead, to bodily death, and death everlasting. And to man in 
 this state it prescribes the condition, whereon he may regain the pearl 
 he has lost ; may recover the favour and image of God ; may retrieve 
 the life of God in his soul, and be restored to the knowledge and the 
 love of God, which is the beginning of life eternal. 
 
 12. Again, the covenant of works, in order to man's continuance in 
 the favour of God, in his knowledge and love, in holiness and happiness, 
 required, of perfect man, a perfect and uninterrupted obedience to every 
 point of the law of God. Whereas, the covenant of grace, in order to 
 man's recovery of the favour and the life of God, requires only faith; 
 living faith in him, who, through God. justifies him that obeyed not. 
 
 1 3. Yet, again : The covenant of works required of Adam, and all his 
 children, to pay the price themselves, in consideration of which they were 
 to receive all the future blessings of God. But. in the covenant of grace, 
 seeing we have nothing to pay, God " frankly forgives us all :" provided 
 only, that we believe in him, who hath paid the price for us; who hath 
 given himself a " propitiation for our sins, for the sins of the whole 
 world." 
 
 14. Thus the first covenant required what is now afar off from all 
 the children of men ; namely, unsinning obedience, which is far from 
 those who are " conceived and born in sin." Whereas, the second 
 requires what is nigh at hand ; as though it should say, Thou art sin ! 
 God is love ! Thou by sin art fallen short of the glory of God ; yet there
 
 SERMON VI.] THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. 57 
 
 is mercy with him. Bring then all thy sins to the pardoning God, and 
 they shall vanish away as a cloud. If thou wprt not ungodly, there 
 would be no room for him to justify thee as ungodly. But now draw 
 near, in full assurance of faith. He speaketh and it is done. " Fear not, 
 only believe ; for even the just God justifieth all that believe in Jesus." 
 
 II. 1. These things considered, it would be easy to show, as I pro- 
 posed to do in the second place, the folly of trusting in the " righteous- 
 ness which is of the law," and the wisdom of" submitting to the right- 
 eousness which is of faith." 
 
 The folly of those who still trust in the " righteousness which is of 
 the law," the terms of which are, Do this and live, may abundantly 
 appear from hence : They set out wrong : their very first step is a fun- 
 damental mistake : for, before they can ever think of claiming any 
 blessing, on the terms of this covenant, they must suppose themselves 
 to be in his state, with whom this covenant was made. But how vain 
 a supposition is this ; since it was made with Adam in a state of inno- 
 cence ! How weak, therefore, must that whole building be, which stands 
 on such a foundation ! And how foolish are they who thus build on the 
 sand ! who seem never to have considered, that the covenant of works 
 was not given to man, when he was " dead in trespasses and sins," but 
 when he was alive to God, when he knew no sin, but was holy as God 
 is holy : who forget, that it was never designed for the recovery of the 
 favour and life of God once lost, but only for the continuance and 
 increase thereof, till it should be complete in life everlasting. 
 
 2. Neither do they consider, who are thus " seeking to establish their 
 own righteousness, which is of the law," what manner of obedience or 
 righteousness that is which the law indispensably requires. It must be 
 perfect and entire in every point, or it answers not the demand of the 
 law. But which of you is able to perform such obedience 1 Or, conse- 
 quently, to live thereby ? Who among you fulfils every jot and tittle, 
 even of the outward commandments of God ? Doing nothing, great or 
 small, which God forbids 1 Leaving nothing undone which he enjoins ? 
 Speaking no idle word? Having your conversation always " meet to 
 minister grace to the hearers ?" And, " whether you eat or drink, or 
 whatever you do, doing all to the glory of God ?" And how much less 
 are you able to fulfil all the inward commandments of God ! Those 
 which require, that every temper and motion of your soul should be 
 holiness unto the Lord ! Are you able to " love God with ail your heart 1" 
 To love all mankind as your own soul ? To " pray without ceasing ? In 
 every thing to give thanks ?" To have God always before you 1 And to 
 keep every affection, desire, and thought, in obedience to his law ? 
 
 3. You should farther consider, that the righteousness of the law 
 requires, not only the obeying every command of God. negative and 
 positive, internal and external, but likewise in the perfect degree. In 
 every instance whatever, the voice of the law is, Thou shall serve the 
 Lord ihy God with all thy strength. It allows no abatement of any 
 kind : it excuses no defect : it condemns every coming short of the fuU 
 measure of obedience, and immediately pronounces a curse on the 
 offender : it regards only the invariable rules of justice, and saith " I 
 know not to show mercy." 
 
 4. Who then can appear before such a Judge, who is " extreme to 
 mark what is done amiss ?" How weak are they who desire to be
 
 58 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. [SERMON VI 
 
 tried at the bar, where " no flesh living can be justified ?" none of the 
 offspring of Adam. For, suppose we did now keep every command- 
 ment with all our strength ; yet one single breach, which ever was, 
 utterly destroys our whole claim to life. If we have ever offended in 
 any one point, this righteousness is at an end. For the law condemns 
 all who do not perform uninterrupted as well as perfect obedience. So 
 that, according to the sentence of this, for him who hath once sinned, 
 in any degree, " there remaineth only a fearful looking for of fiery 
 indignation, which shall devour the adversaries" of God. 
 
 5. Is it not then the very foolishness of folly, for fallen man to seek 
 life by this righteousness 1 For man, who was " shapen in wickedness 
 and in sin did his mother conceive him ?" Man who is, by nature, all 
 " earthly, sensual, devilish ;" altogether " corrupt and abominable ;" in 
 whom, till he find grace, " dwelleth no good thing ;" nay, who cannot 
 of himself think one good thought ; who is indeed all sin, a mere lump 
 of ungodliness, and who commits sin in every breath he draws ; whose 
 actual transgressions, in word and deed, are more in number than the 
 hairs of his head ? What stupidity, what senselessness must it be frr 
 such an unclean, guilty, helpless worm as this, to dream of seeking ac- 
 ceptance by " his own righteousness," of living by the righteousness 
 which is of the law ! 
 
 6. Now, whatsoever considerations prove tne folly of trusting in the 
 " righteousness which is of the law," prove equally the wisdom of sub- 
 mitting to the " righteousness which is of God by faith." This were 
 easy to be shown with regard to each of the preceding considerations. 
 But to waive this, the wisdom of the first step hereto, the disclaiming 
 our own righteousness, plainly appears from hence, that it is acting 
 according to truth, to the real nature of things. For, what is it more, 
 than to acknowledge with our heart, as well as lips, the true state 
 wherein we are 1 To acknowledge that we bring with us into the world, 
 a corrupt, sinful nature ; more corrupt, indeed, than we can easily con- 
 ceive, or find words to express ? That hereby we are prone to all that 
 is evil, and averse from all that is good ; that we are full of pride, self- 
 will, unruly passions, foolish desires, vile and inordinate affections ; 
 lovers of the world, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ? That 
 our lives have been no better than our hearts, but many ways ungodly 
 and unholy ; insomuch, that our actual sins, both in word and deed, 
 have been as the stars of heaven for multitude ; that, on all these ac- 
 counts, we are displeasing to Him, who is of purer eyes than to behold 
 iniquity; and deserve nothing from him, but indignation, and wrath, 
 nnd death, the due wages of sin 1 That we cannot, by any of our right- 
 eousness, (for, indeed, we have none at all,) nor by any of our works, 
 (for they are as the tree upon which they grow,) appease the wrath of 
 God, or avert the punishment we have justly deserved ; yea, that, if left 
 to ourselves, we shall only wax worse and worse, sink deeper and deeper 
 into sin, offend God more and more, both with our evil works, and with 
 the evil tempers of our carnal mind, till we fill up the measure of our 
 iniquities, and bring upon ourselves swift destruction ? And is not this 
 the very state wherein by nature we are ? To acknowledge this thon, 
 both with our heart and lips, that is, to disclaim our own righteousness, 
 " the righteousness which is of the law," is to act according to the real 
 nature of things, and consequently, is an instance of true wisdom
 
 SERMON VI.J THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. 69 
 
 7. The wisdom of submitting to " the righteousness of faith," appears 
 farther, from this consideration, That it is the righteousness of God : I 
 mean here, it is that method of reconciliation with God which hath been 
 chosen and established by God himself, not only as he is the God of 
 wisdom, but as he is the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth, and of 
 every creature which he hath made. Now, as it is not meet for man to 
 say unto God, What doest thou ? as none, who is not utterly void of 
 understanding, will contend with one that is mightier than he, with Him 
 whose kingdom ruleth over all ; so it is true wisdom, it is a mark of 
 sound understanding, to acquiesce in whatever he hath chosen ; to say 
 in this, as in all things, " It is the Lord : let him do what seemeth him 
 good." 
 
 8. It may be farther considered, that it was of mere grace, of free 
 love, of undeserved mercy, that God hath vouchsafed to sinful man any 
 way of reconciliation with himself, that we were not cut away from hia 
 hand, and utterly blotted out of his remembrance. Therefore, what- 
 ever method he is pleased to appoint, of his tender mercy, of his unme 
 rited goodness, whereby his enemies, who have so deeply revolted from 
 him, so long and obstinately rebelled against him, may still find favour 
 in his sight, it is doubtless our wisdom to accept with all thankfulness. 
 
 9. To mention but one consideration more. It is wisdom to aim at 
 the best end by the best means. Now the best end which any creature 
 can pursue, is happiness in God. And the best end a fallen creature 
 can pursue is, the recovery of the favour and image of God. But the 
 best, indeed the only means under heaven given to man, whereby he 
 may regain the favour of God, which is better than life itself, or the 
 image of God, which is the true life of the soul, is the submitting to the 
 " righteousness which is of faith," the believing in the only begotten 
 Son of God. 
 
 III. 1. Whosoever, therefore, thou art, who desirest to be forgiven 
 and reconciled to the favour of God ; do not say in thy heart, " I must 
 first do this ; I must first conquer every sin : break off every evil word 
 and work, and do all good to all men; or, I musters/ go to church, 
 receive the Lord's supper, hear more sermons, and say more prayers." 
 Alas, my brother ! thou art clean gone out of the way. Thou art still 
 " ignorant of the righteousness of God," and art " seeking to establish 
 thy own righteousness," as the ground of thy reconciliation. Knowest 
 thou not, that thou canst do nothing but sin, till thou art reconciled to 
 God ? Wherefore, then, dost thou say, " I must do this and this first, 
 and then I shall believe." Nay, but first believe ! Believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the propitiation for thy sins. Let this good foundation 
 first be laid, and then thou shall do all things well. 
 
 2. Neither say in thy heart, " I cannot be accepted yet, because I am 
 not good enough." Who is good enough, who ever was, to merit 
 acceptance at God's hands ? Was ever any child of Adam good enough 
 for this ? Or, will any, till the consummation of all things ? And, as for 
 Inee, thou art not good at all : there dwelleth in thee no good thing. 
 And thou never wilt be, till thou believe in Jesus. Rather thou wilt 
 find thyself worse and worse. But is there any need of being worse, in 
 order to be accepted 1 Art thou not bad enough already ? Indeed thou 
 art. and that God knoweth. And thou thyself canst not deny it. Then 
 delay not All things are now ready. " Arise, and wash away thv sins."
 
 60 THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF FAITH. [SERMON VI. 
 
 The fountain is open. Now is the time to wash thee white in the blood 
 of the Lamb. Now he shall purge thee as with hyssop, and thou shah 
 be clean : he shall wash thee, and thou " shall be whiter than snow." 
 
 3. Do not say, "But I am not contrite enough: I am not sensible 
 enough of my sins." I know it. I would to God thou wert more sen- 
 sible of them, more contrite a thousand fold than thou art. But do not 
 stay for this. It may be God will make thee so, not before thou believest, 
 but by believing. It may be, thou wilt not weep much, till thou lovest 
 much, because thou hast had much forgiven. In the mean time, look 
 unto Jesus. Behold, how he loveth thee ! What could he have done 
 more for thee which he hath not done 1 
 
 " O Lamb of God, was ever pain, 
 Was ever love like thine !" 
 
 Look steadily upon him, till he looks on thee, and breaks thy hard heart. 
 Then shall thy head be waters, and thy eyes fountains of tears. 
 
 4. Nor yet do thou say, " I must do something more before I come 
 to Christ." I grant, supposing thy Lord should delay his coming, it 
 were meet and right to wait for his appearing, in doing, so far as thou 
 hast power, whatsoever he hath commanded thee. But there is no 
 necessity for making such a supposition. How knowest thou that he 
 will delay ? Perhaps he will appear, as the day-spring from on high, 
 before the morning light. Oh do not set him a time ! Expect him every 
 hour. Now he is nigh ! Even at the door ! 
 
 5 And to what end wouldst thou wait for more sincerity, before thy 
 sins are blotted out ? To make thee more worthy of the grace of God ? 
 Alas, thou art still " establishing thy own righteousness." He will have 
 mercy, not because thoru art worthy of it, but because his compassions 
 fail not ; not because thou art righteous, but because Jesus Christ hath 
 atoned for thy sins. 
 
 Again, if there be any thing good in sincerity, why dost thou expect 
 it before thou hast feith 1 seeing faith itself is the only root of whatever 
 is really good and holy. 
 
 Above all, how long wilt thou forget, that whatsoever thou dost, or 
 whatsoever thou hast, before thy sins are forgiven thee, it avails nothing 
 with God, towards the procuring of thy forgiveness 1 Yea, and that it 
 must all be cast behind thy back, trampled under foot, made no account 
 of, or thou wilt never find favour in God's sight ; because, until then, 
 thou canst not ask it, as a mere sinner, guilty, lost, undone, having no- 
 thing to plead, nothing to offer to God, but only the merits of his well 
 beloved Son, who loved thee, and gave himself for thee. 
 
 6. To conclude. Whosoever thou art, oh man, who hast the sentence 
 of death in thyself, who feel'est thyself a condemned sinner, and hast the 
 wrath of God abiding on thee : unto thee saith the Lord, not, " Do this," 
 perfectly obey all my commands, " and live ;" but, " Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." The word of faith is nigh 
 unto t hee : now, at tins instant, in the present moment, and in thy present 
 state, sinner as thou art, just as thou art, believe the gospel ; and " I will 
 be merciful unto thy unrighteousness, and thy iniquities will I -emernbei 
 uo more."
 
 SERMON VII.] THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM. 61 
 
 SERMON VIL The Way to the Kingdom. 
 
 "The kingdom of God is at hand ; repent ye, and believe the Gospel." 
 Mark L 15. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 I. The nature of true religion as " the kingdom of God." 
 Defined from Rom. xiv. 17. " The kingdom of God is not 
 meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost." 
 
 1. Not meat and drink. The sacrifices and ceremonies of 
 the Jewish law ; outward forms of worship ; nor any out- 
 ward acts however good ; nor right opinions ; but the hidden 
 man of 
 
 2. The heart ; righteousness ; love to God ; love to our 
 neighbours ; happiness ; peace from the witnessing Spirit ; 
 joy in the Holy Ghost ; called the kingdom because thus 
 does God reign in the heart. 
 
 II. The Way. 
 
 1. Repentance ; conviction, or self-knowledge ; conviction 
 of inward corruption ; of evil passions ; of sinful actions ; of 
 exposure to eternal death ; of inability to cancel the past, or 
 to amend the future ; to conviction must be added sorrow 
 for sin and desire to return to God. 
 
 2. To the penitent there is one step more, "believe the 
 Gospel" The Gospel is, " Jesus Christ came into the world 
 to save sinners." Believe this, not with bare assent, but 
 with sure trust, divine conviction, confidence in a pardoning 
 God. The fruit of this faith will be peace, joy, and love. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon presents salvation to us as a subjective experience of 
 religious life. The three sermons form a progressive series. 1. God's 
 act toward us Justification ; 2. Our new relation before God Right- 
 eousness ; 3. The inward experience of this relation The kingdom of
 
 62 THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM. [SERMON VII. 
 
 God. As the preceding sermon guarded us against legality, so this one 
 preserves us from Antinomianism, by insisting on the fulness of this 
 experience, in its preliminaries of thorough conviction of sin and 
 repentance ; as well as in the subsequent blessings of peace, joy, and 
 love. In Mr. Wesley's view, these three aspects of salvation were 
 inseparably concomitant God's act, our new state, and our inward 
 experience. It will be seen presently how, out of the last, he deduces 
 the assurance of the first. 
 
 In the present sermon the important subject of Repentance is pre- 
 sented at full length, but not yet from the controversial point of view. 
 In fact, Mr. Wesley's exposition of repentance here may be regarded 
 as defensive. Except in the case of the Moravians, from whom he had 
 recently separated, he had not yet to contend with Calvinistic Antino- 
 mianism. But the solifidian tendency which ignored or depreciated 
 the doctrine of Repentance had been characteristic of an extreme form 
 of evangelical doctrine in the age preceding that of Wesley. When, 
 therefore, he preached salvation by faith with the Calvinistic evangeli- 
 cals, he was at once identified with them by the high church sacra- 
 mentarians as denying the necessity of repentance, and teaching 
 doctrines contrary to those of the Church of England. The reply to 
 this charge is found in his " Appeals to Men of Rsason and Religion." 
 The charge was a general one that his doctrine was opposed to prac- 
 tical holiness or good works. To this Mr. Wesley replied, first, by 
 urging, in the language of the twelfth article of the Church of England, 
 that, "Albeit good works which are the fruits of faith, and follow 
 after Justification, cannot put away our sins, yet are they pleasing and 
 acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out necessarily of a true 
 and lively faith ; insomuch that by them a lively faith may be as evi- 
 dently known as a tree may be known by its fruit." He replied, 
 secondly, by insisting upon the true place of Repentance. In his 
 " Farther Appeal " he says : " It is allowed also that repentance and 
 fruits meet for repentance go before faith : Mark i. 15 ; Matthew iii. 8. 
 Repentance absolutely must go before faith ; fruits meet for it, if there 
 be opportunity. By repentance I mean conviction of sin producing 
 real desires and sincere resolutions of amendment ; and by fruits 
 meet for repentance, forgiving our brother : Matt. vi. 14, 15 ; ceasing 
 from evil, doing good : Luke iii. 4, 9, etc. ; using the ordinances of 
 God, and in general obeying him according to the measure of grace 
 which we have received : Matt. vii. 7 ; xxv. 29. But these I cannot 
 as yet term good works ; because they do not spring from faith and the 
 love of God." It is in harmony with this controversial position that 
 the present sermon deals so thoroughly with the inward or subjective 
 aspect of repentance, and more briefly with its outward fruits.
 
 SERMON VII.J THE WAT TO THE KINGDOM. 63 
 
 SERMON VIL 
 
 THESE woros naturally lead us to consider, first, The nature of true 
 religion, here termed by our Lord, " the kingdom of God ;" which, 
 saith he, " is at hand :" and, secondly, the way thereto, which he points 
 out in those words, " Repent ye, and believe the gospel." 
 
 1. 1. We are, first, to consider the nature of true religion, here termed 
 by our Lord, " the kingdom of God." The same expression the great 
 apostle uses in his epistle to the Romans, where he likewise explains 
 his Lord's words, saying, " The kingdom of God is not meat and drink ; 
 but righteousness, and peace, and joy in tho Holy Ghost," Rom. xiv, 17. 
 
 2. " The kingdom of God," or true religion, " is not meat and 
 drink." It is well known, that not only the unconverted Jews, but 
 great numbers of those who had received the faith of Christ, were, 
 notwithstanding, " zealous of the law," Acts xxi, 20, even the cere- 
 monial law of Moses. Whatsoever therefore they found written therein, 
 either concerning meat and drink offerings, or the distinction between 
 clean and unclean meats, they not only observed themselves, but vehe- 
 mently pressed the same, even on those " among the Gentiles (or hea- 
 thens) who were turned to God ;" yea, to such a degree, that some of 
 them taught, wheresoever they came among them, " Except ye be cir- 
 cumcised, and keep the law, (the whole ritual law,) ye cannot be saved," 
 Acts xv, 1, 24. 
 
 3. In opposition to these, the apostle declares, both here and in many 
 other places, that true religion does not consist in meat and drink , or in 
 any ritual observances ; nor, indeed, in any outward thing whatever : 
 in any thing exterior to the heart ; the whole substance thereof lying in 
 " righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." 
 
 4. Not in any outward thing ; such as forms or ceremonies, even of 
 the most excellent kind. Supposing these to be ever so decent and 
 significant, ever so expressive of inward things: supposing them ever 
 so helpful, not only to the vulgar, whose thought reaches little farther 
 than their eight ; but even to men of understanding, men of stronger 
 capacities, as doubtless they may sometimes be : yea, supposing them, 
 as in the case of the Jews, to be appointed by God himself; yet even 
 during the period of time wherein that appointment remains in force, 
 true religion does not principally consist therein ; nay, strictly speaking, 
 not all. How much more must this hold concerning such rites and 
 forms as are only of human appointment ! The religion of Christ rises 
 infinitely higher, and lies immensely deeper, than all these. These are 
 good in their place ; just so far as they are in fact subservient to true 
 religion. And it were superstition to object against them, while they 
 are applied only as occasional helps to human weakness. But let no 
 man carry them farther. Let no man dream that they have any intrin- 
 sic worth ; or that religion cannot subsist without them. This were to 
 make them an abomination to the Lord. 
 
 5. The nature of religion is so far from consisting in these, informs 
 of worship, or rites and ceremonies, that it does not properly consist in 
 any outward actions, of what kind soever. It is true, a man cannot
 
 64 THE WAT TO THE KINGDOM. [SERMOK VT T . 
 
 have any religion who is guilty of vicious, immoral actions ; or who 
 does to others, what he would not they should do unto him, if he were 
 in the same circumstances. And it is also true, that he can have no 
 real religion, who " knows to do good, and doeth it not." Yet may a 
 man both abstain from outward evil, and do good, and still have no 
 religion. Yea, two persons may do the same outward work ; suppose, 
 feeding the hungry, or clothing the naked ; and, in the mean time, one 
 of these may be truly religious, and the other have no religion at all : 
 for the one may act from the love of God, and the other from the love of 
 praise. So manifest it is, that although true religion naturally leads to 
 every good word and work, yet the real nature thereof lies deeper still, 
 even in " the hidden man of the heart." 
 
 6. I say of the heart. For neither does religion consist in orthodoxy, 
 or right opinions; which, although they are not properly outward things, 
 are no* in the heart, but the understanding. A man may be orthodox 
 in every point ; he may not only espouse right opinions, but zealously 
 defend them against all opposers ; he may think justly concerning the 
 incarnation of our Lord, concerning the ever blessed Trinity, and every 
 other doctrine, contained in the oracles of God ; he may assent to all 
 the tnree creeds, that called the Apostles', the Nicene, and the Atha- 
 nasian ; and yet it is possible he may have no religion at all, no more 
 *n a Jew, Turk, or Pagan. He may be almost as orthodox, as the 
 devil; (though indeed, not altogether; for every man errs in something ; 
 whereas we cannot well conceive him to hold any erroneous opinion ;) 
 and may, all the while, be as great a stranger as he to the religion of 
 the heart. 
 
 7. This alone is religion, truly so called : this alone is in the sight of 
 God of great price. The apostle sums it all up in three particulars, 
 " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." And, first, 
 righteousness. We cannot be at a loss concerning this, if we remem- 
 ber the words of our Lord, describing the two grand branches thereof, 
 on which " hang all the law and the prophets :" " Thou shalt love the 
 Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy mind, and with all thy 
 soul, and with all thy strength. This is the first and great command- 
 ment," Mark xii, 30, the first and great branch of Christian righteous- 
 ness. Thou shalt delight thyself in the Lord thy God ; thou shalt seek 
 and find all happiness in him. He shall be " thy shield, and thy ex 
 ceeding great reward," in time, and in eternity. All thy bones shall 
 say, " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? And there is none upon earth 
 that I desire beside thee !" Thou shalt hear, and fulfil his word, who 
 saith, " My son, give me thy heart." And, having given him thy heart, 
 thy inmost soul, to reign there without a rival, thou mayest well cry 
 out, in the fulness of thy heart, " I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. 
 The Lord is my strong rock, and my defence ; my Saviour, my God, 
 and my might, in whom I will trust ; my buckler, the horn also of my 
 salvation, and my refuge." 
 
 8. And the second commandment is like unto this ; the second great 
 branch of Christian righteousness is closely and inseparably connected 
 therewith ; even " Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Thou 
 shalt love, Thou shalt embrace with the most tender good will, the 
 most earnest and cordial aflection, the most inflamed desires of pre- 
 venting or removing all evil, and of procuring for him every possible
 
 SERMON VW.~| THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM. 65 
 
 good, Thy neighbour ; that is, not only thy friend, thy kinsman, or 
 thy acquaintance : not only the virtuous, the friendly, him that loves 
 thee, that prevents or returns thy kindness ; but every child of man 
 every human creature, every soul which God hath made ; not excepting 
 Lim whom thou never hast seen in the flesh, whom thou knowest not, 
 either by face or name ; not excepting him whom thou knowest to be 
 evil and unthankful, him that still despilefully uses and persecutes thee : 
 him thou shall love as thyself; with the same invariable thirst after his 
 happiness in every kind ; the same unwearied care to screen him from 
 whatever might grieve or hurt, either his soul or body. 
 
 9. Now is not this love " the fulfilling of the law ?" The sum of all 
 Christian righteousness ? Of all inward righteousness ; for it necessa- 
 rily implies " bowels of mercy, humbleness of mind." seeing " love is 
 not puffed up,") "gentleness, meekness, long suffering ; (for love " is 
 not provoked ;" but " believeth, hopeth, endureth all things:") and of 
 all outward righteousness ; for " love worketh no evil to his neighbour," 
 either by word or deed. It cannot willingly either hurt or grieve any 
 one. And it is zealous of good works. Every lover of mankind, as he 
 hath opportunity, " doeth good unto all men," being (without partiality, 
 and without hypocrisy) " full of mercy, and good fruits. 
 
 10. But true religion, or a heart right towards God and man, implies 
 happiness, as well as holiness. For it is not only righteousness, but 
 also " peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." What peace ? The peace, of 
 God, which God only can give, and the world cannot take away ; the 
 peace which "passeth all understanding," all (barely) rational concep- 
 tion ; being a supernatural sensation, a divine taste of *' the powers of 
 the world to come ;" such as the natural man knoweth not, how wise 
 soever in the things of this world, nor, indeed, can he know it, in his 
 present state, '* because it is spiritually discerned." It is a peace that 
 banishes all doubt, all painful uncertainty ; the Spirit of God bearing 
 witness with the spirit of a Christian, that he is a child of God. And it 
 banishes fear, all such fear as hath torment ; the fear of the wrath of 
 God ; the fear of hell ; the fear of the devil ; and, in particular, the fear 
 of death : he that hath the peace of God, desiring, if it were the will of 
 God, " to depart, and to be with Christ." 
 
 11. With this peace of God, wherever it is fixed in the soul, there is 
 also "joy in the Holy Ghost ;" joy wrought in the heart by the Holy 
 Ghost, by the ever blessed Spirit of God. He it is that worketh in us 
 that calm, humble rejoicing in God, through Christ Jesus, " by whom 
 we have now received the atonement," xaraXXayriv, the reconciliation 
 with God ; and that enables us boldly to confirm the truth of the royal 
 psalmist's declaration, "blessed is the man,"(or rather happy, )wr\ 'T#X, 
 " whose unrighteousness is forgiven, and whose sin is covered." He 
 it is that inspires the Christian soul with that even, solid joy, which 
 arises from the testimony of the Spirit that he is a child of God ; and 
 that, gives him to " rejoice with joy unspeakable, in hope of the glory of 
 God :" hope both of the glorious image of God, which is in part, and 
 shall be full " revealed in him ;" and of that crown of glory which fadeth 
 not away, reserved in heaven for him. 
 
 12. This holiness and happiness, joined in one, are sometimes styled, 
 in the inspired writings, " the kingdom of God," (as by our Lord in the 
 text,/ and sometimes, " the kingdom of heaven.'' It is termed " the
 
 66 THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM. [SERMON VII. 
 
 kingdom of God," because it is the immediate fruit of God's reigning 
 in tne soul. So soon as ever he takes unto himself his mighty power, 
 and sets ap his throne in our hearts, they are instantly filled with this 
 " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." It is called 
 " the kingdom of heaven," because it is (in a degree) heaven opened 
 in the soul. For whosoever they are that experience this, they can aver 
 before angels and men, 
 
 " Everlasting life is won : 
 Glory is on earth begun :" 
 
 According to the constant tenor of Scripture, which every where bears 
 recoid, God " hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 
 He that hath the Son" (reigning in his heart) " hath life," (even life 
 everlasting,) 1 John v, 11, 12. For " this is life eternal, to know thee 
 the only true God, ana Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent," John xvii, 3. 
 And they, to whom this is given, may confidently address God, though 
 they were in the midst of a fiery furnace, 
 
 " Thee, Lord, safe shielded by thy power, 
 Thee, Son of God, JEHOVAH, we adore ; 
 In form of man, descending to appear : 
 To thee be ceaseless hallelujahs given. 
 Praise, as in heaven thy throne, we offer here; 
 For where thy presence is display 'd, is heaven." 
 
 13. And this kingdom of God, or of heaven, is at hand. As these 
 words were originally spoken, they implied, that the time was then ful- 
 filled, God being " made manifest in the flesh," when he would set up 
 his kingdom among men, and reign in the hearts of his people. And 
 is not the time now fulfilled? For, " Lo ! (saith he) I am with you 
 always," you who preach remission of sins in my name, "even unto the 
 end of the world," Matt, xxviii, 20. Wheresoever, therefore, the gospel 
 of Christ is preached, this his " kingdom is nigh at hand." It is not 
 far from every one of you. Ye may this hour enter thereinto, if so be 
 ye hearken to this voice, " Repent ye, and believe the gospel." 
 
 II. 1. This is the way : walk ye in it. And, first, " Repent;" that 
 is, know yourselves. This is the first repentance previous to faith ; 
 even conviction, or self knowledge. Awake then, thou that sleepest. 
 Know thyself to be a sinner, and what manner of sinner thou art. 
 Know that corruption of thy inmost nature, whereby thou art very far 
 gone from original righteousness, whereby " the flesh lusteth" always 
 "contrary to the Spirit," through that "carnal mind" which "is enmity 
 against God," which " is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed 
 can be." Know that thou art corrupted in every power, in every 
 faculty of thy soul; that thou art totally corrupted in every one of these, 
 all the foundations being out of course. The eyes of thine understand- 
 ing are darkened, so that they cannot discern God, or the things of 
 God. The clouds of ignorance and error rest upon thee, and co\ i r 
 Ihee with the shadow of death. Thou knowest nothing yet as thou 
 oughtest to know, neither God, nor the world, nor thyself. Thy will is 
 no longer the will of God, but is utterly perverse and distorted, averse 
 from all good, from all which God loves, and prone to all evil, to every 
 abomination which God hateth. Thy affections are alienated from 
 God, and scattered abroad over all the earth. All thy passions, both 
 thy desires and aversions thy joys and sorrows thy ho|>es and fears,
 
 SERMOH VII.] THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM. C7 
 
 are out of frame, are either undue in their degree, or placed on undue 
 objects. So that there is no soundness in thy soul ; but " from the 
 crown of the head to the sole of the foot," (to use the strong expression 
 of the prophet,) there are only " wounds, and bruises, and putrefying 
 sores." 
 
 2. Such is the inbred corruption of thy heart, of thy very inmost 
 nature. And what manner of branches canst thou expect to grow 
 from such an evil root ? Hence springs unbelief; eve/ departing from 
 the living God ; saying, " Who is the Lord, that I should serve him ! 
 Tush ! Thou, God, carest not for it :" hence independence ; affecting 
 to be like the Most High : hence pride, in all its forms ; teaching thee 
 to say, " I am rich, and increased in goods, and have need of nothing *' 
 From this evil fountain flow forth the bitter streams of vanity, thirst of 
 praise, ambition, covetousness, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, 
 and the pride of life. From this arise anger, hatred, malice, revenge, 
 envy, jealousy, evil surmisings : from this, all the foolish and hurtful 
 lusts that now " pierce thee through with many sorrows," and, if not 
 timely prevented, will at length drown thy soul in everlasting perdition. 
 
 3. And what fruits can grow on such branches as these ? Only such 
 as are bitter and evil continually. Of pride cometh contention, vain 
 boasting, seeking and receiving praise of men, and so robbing God of 
 that glory which he cannot give unto another : of the lust of the flesh, 
 come gluttony or drunkenness, luxury or sensuality, fornication, un- 
 cleanness; variously defiling that body which was designed for a temple 
 of the Holy Ghost : of unbelief, every evil word and work. But the time 
 would fail, shouldest thou seckon up all ; all the idle words thou hast 
 spoken, provoking the Most High, grieving the Holy One of Israel; 
 all the evil works thou hast done, either wholly evil in themselves, or 
 at least not done to the glory of God. For thy actual sins are more 
 than thou art able to express, more than the hairs of thy head. Who 
 can number the sands of the sea, or the drops of rain, or thy iniquities? 
 
 4. And knowest thou not that " the wages of sin is death ?" Death 
 not only temporal, but eternal. " The soul that sinneth, it shall die :" 
 for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. It shall die the second death. 
 This is the sentence, to " be punished" with never ending death, " with 
 everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the 
 glory of his power." Knowest thou not that every sinner, evtr^og est TTJ 
 yjswTj TX irvpog , not properly t. in danger of hell fire ; that expression is 
 far too weak ; but rather, is under the sentence of hell Jire ; doomed 
 already, just dragging to execution. Thou art guilty of everlasting 
 death. It is the just reward of thy inward and outward wickedness. 
 It is just that the sentence should now take place. Dost thou see, dost 
 thou feel this? Art thou thoroughly convinced that thou deservest 
 God's wrath and everlasting damnation ? Would God do thee no 
 wrong, if he now commanded the earth to open, and swallow thee up ? 
 If thou wert now to go down quick into the pit, into the fire that never 
 shall be quenched ? If God hath given thee truly to repent, thou hast a 
 deep sense that these things are so ; and that it is of his mere mercy 
 thou art not consumed, swept away from the face of the earth. 
 
 5. And what wilt thou do to appease the wrath of God, to atone 
 for all thy sins, and to escape the punishment thou hast so justly de- 
 served ? Alas, thou canst do nothing : nothing that will in any wise
 
 C8 THB WAT TO THE KINGDOli. [SERMON VII. 
 
 make amends to God for onp evil work, or word, or thought. If thoti 
 couldest now do all things well, if from this very hour, till thy soul 
 should return to God, thou couldest perform perfect, uninterrupted 
 obedience, even this would not atone for what is past. The not 
 increasing thy debt would not discharge it. It would still remain as 
 great as ever. Yea, the present and future obedience of all the men 
 upon earth, and all the angels in heaven, would never make satisfaction 
 to the justice of God for one single sin. How vain, then, was the 
 thought of atoning for thy own sins by any thing thou couldest do ! It 
 costeth far more to redeem one soul, than all mankind is able to pay. 
 So that were there no other help for a guilty sinner, without doubt he 
 must have perished everlastingly. 
 
 6. But suppose perfect obedience, for the time to come, could atone 
 for the sins that are past, this would profit thee nothing ; for thou art 
 not able to perform it ; no, not in any one point. Begin now : make 
 the trial. Shake oflT that outward sin that so easily besetteth thee. 
 Thou canst not. How then wilt thou change thy life from all evil to 
 all good ? Indeed, it is impossible to be done, unless first thy heart be 
 changed. For so long as the tree remains evil, it cannot bring forth 
 good fruit. But art thou able to change thy own heart, from all sin to 
 all holiness ? To quicken a soul that is dead in sin, dead to God, and 
 alive only to the world ? No more than thou art able to quicken a dead 
 body, to raise to life him that lieth in the grave. Yea, thou art not 
 able to quicken thy soul in any degree, no more than to give any degree 
 of life to the dead body. Thou canst do nothing, more or less, in this 
 matter ; thou art utterly without strength. To be deeply sensible of 
 this, how helpless thou art, as well as how guilty and how sinful, this is 
 that " repentance not to be repented of," which is the forerunner of the 
 kingdom of God. 
 
 7. If to this lively conviction of thy inward and outward sins, of thy 
 utter guiltiness and helplessness, there be added suitable affections, 
 sorrow of heart, for having despised thy own mercies, remorse, and 
 self condemnation, having thy mouth stopped, shame to lift up thine 
 eyes to heaven, fear of the wrath of God abiding on thee, of his curse 
 hanging over thy head, and of the fiery indignation ready to devoui 
 those who forget God. and obey not our Lord Jesus Christ, earnest 
 desire to escape from that indignation, to cease from evil, and learn to 
 do well ; then I say unto thee, in the name of the Lord, " Thou art 
 not far from the kingdom of God." One step more, and thou shalt 
 enter in. Thou dost repent. Now, " believe the gospel.'' 1 
 
 8. The gospel, (that is, good tidings, good news for guilty, helpless 
 sinners,) in the largest sense of the word, means, the whole revelation 
 made to men by Jesus Christ ; and sometimes the whole account o1 
 what our Lord did and suffered, while he tabernacled among men. The 
 substance of all is, " Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners :' 
 or, " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, to the 
 end we might not perish, but have everlasting life :" or, " He was bruised 
 for our transgressions ; he was wounded for our iniquities ; the chas- 
 tisement of our peace was upon him ; and with his stripes we are 
 healed." 
 
 9. " Believe" this, and the kingdom of God is thine. By faith thou 
 attainest the promise. " He pardoneth and absolvetb all that truly
 
 SERMON VII.] THE WAT TO THE KINGDOM. 69 
 
 repent, and unfeignedly believe his holy gospel." As soon as ever God 
 hath spoken to thy heart, " Be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee," 
 his kingdom comes : thou hast " righteousness, and peace, and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost." 
 
 10. Only beware thou do not deceive thy own soul, with regard to 
 the nature of this faith. It is not, as some have fondly conceived, a 
 bare assent to the truth of the Bible, of the articles of our creed, or of 
 all that is contained in the Old and New Testament. The devils be- 
 lieve this, as well as I or thou ! And yet they are devils still. But it is, 
 over and above this, a sure trust in the mercy of God, through Christ 
 Jesus. It is a confidence in a pardoning God. It is a divine evidence 
 or conviction, that " God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, 
 not imputing to them their former trespasses ;" and, in particular, that 
 the Son of God hath loved me, and given himself for me, and that 1, even 
 1, am now reconciled to God by the blood of the cross. 
 
 11. Dost thou thus believe? Then the peace of God is in thy heart, 
 and sorrowing and sighing flee away. Thou art no longer in doubt of 
 the love of God ; it is clear as the noonday sun. Thou criest out, 
 " My song shall be always of the loving kindness of the Lord : with my 
 mouth will I ever be telling of thy truth, from one generation to another." 
 Thou art no longer afraid of hell, or death, or him that had once the 
 power of death, the devil ; no, nor painfully afraid of God himself; only 
 thou hast a tender, filial fear of offending him. Dost thou believe ? 
 Then thy " soul doth magnify the Lord," and thy " spirit rejoiceth in 
 God thy Saviour." Thou rejoicest in that thou hast " redemption 
 through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Thou rejoicest in that 
 " spirit of adoption," which crieth in thy heart, "Abba, Father!" Thou 
 rejoicest in a " hope full of immortality ;" in reaching forth unto the 
 " mark of the prize of thy high calling ;" in an earnest expectation of 
 all the good things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 
 
 . 12. Dost thou now believe ? Then the love of God is now shed 
 abroad in thy heart. Thou lovest him, because he first loved us. And, 
 because thou lovest God, thou lovest thy brother also. And, being 
 filled with " love, peace, joy," thou art also filled with " long suffering, 
 gentleness, fidelity, goodness, meekness, temperance," and all the 
 other fruits of the same Spirit ; in a word, with whatever dispositions 
 are holy, are heavenly, or divine. For while thou beholdest with open, 
 uncovered face, (the veil being now taken away,) " the glory of the 
 Lord," his glorious love, and the glorious image wherein thou wast 
 created, thou art " changed into the same image, from glory to glory, 
 by the Spirit of the Lord." 
 
 13. This repentance, this faith, this peace, joy, love, this change 
 from glory to glory, is what the wisdom of the world has voted to be 
 madness, mere enthusiasm, utter distraction. But thou, oh man of God, 
 regard them not ; be thou moved by none of these things. Thou know- 
 est in whom thou hast believed. See that no man take thy crown. 
 Whereunto thou hast already attained, hold fast, and follow, till tnou 
 attain all the great and precious promises. And thou who hast not yet 
 known him, let not vain men make thee ashamed of the gospel of Christ. 
 Be thou in nothing terrified by those who speak evil of the things which 
 they know not. God will soon turn thy heaviness into joy. Oh let 
 not thy hands hang down. Yet a little longer, and he will take away
 
 70 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMON VIII. 
 
 thy fears, and give thee the spirit of a sound mind. He is nigh 
 "that justifieth : who is he that condemneth ? It is Christ that 
 died, yea rather, that rose again, who is even now at the right 
 hand of God, making intercession " for thee. 
 
 Now cast thyself on the Lamb of God, with all thy sins, how 
 many soever they be ; and "an entrance shall [now] be ministered 
 unto thee, into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ 1" 
 
 SERMON VIII. The First fruits of the Spirit. 
 
 "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, 
 who walk not after tlie flesh, but after the Spirit." Rom. viii. 1. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 I. THOSE that are in Christ Jesus are distinguished : 
 
 1. By faith. 2. They do not sin. 3. They crucify the 
 flesh. 4. They walk after the Spirit. 5. They exhibit its 
 fruits. 
 
 II. They are free from condemnation : 
 
 1. For all past sin ; free before God and their conscience. 
 2. For all present sins; for they do not commit them. 3. 
 They are not condemned for inward siri ; for though it 
 remains, they do not yield themselves to it. 4. Nor for the 
 sin which cleaves to all they do ; because they have constant 
 union with Christ the intercessor. 5. Nor, for the same 
 reason, are they condemned for infirmities. 6. Nor for any- 
 thing which it is not in their power to help. 7. But sins of 
 surprise bring condemnation, when there is neglect, but the 
 watchful soul immediately returns to Christ.
 
 SERMON VIII.] THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 71 
 
 III. Practical lessons. 
 
 1. Of encouragement, to the weak and fearful. 2. Of 
 warning, to the Christian who carelessly sins. 3. Of patient 
 courage, to the one who struggles against inward sin. 4. Of 
 support, to the one beset with infirmities and defects. 5. Of 
 counsel, to the one overtaken by sudden temptation. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon brings us into the very heart of the Methodist theology. 
 The peculiarity of Methodism lay not so much in its doctrines of Justi- 
 fication, Regeneration, and Fait>Ji. All these had been clearly denned 
 and distinctly preached from the flays of Luther and Calvin. But it 
 lay in the concentration of all these into one experimental crisis of 
 religious life, from which a consciously new life dated its beginning. 
 For this crisis the name conversion was appropriated. In the New 
 Testament this word denotes the act of freewill, by which man 
 co-operates with Gcd in the work of salvation. As, in the doctrine of 
 freedom, this act of man conditions the work of God, the word is not 
 inappropriate to designate the great turning-point of spiritual life. In 
 the great evangelical movements of the eighteenth and nineteenth 
 century, this crisis of conversion has been peculiarly distinct, and is 
 purely moral and religious in its character. In the light of our present 
 knowledge of its nature, it is easy to trace the same crisis of experience 
 in religious men in all ages. But at the era of the Reformation it was 
 somewhat obscured by confusion with an intellectual change from error 
 to truth. Its importance was never clearly apprehended in the Roman 
 church on account of its sacramentarian views. Even in the patristic 
 age the change from outward heathenism to Christianity obscured, and 
 at last, when nations were converted by the will of their king, all but 
 entirely supplanted the inward and moral change. It was thus in the 
 providence of God reserved for the age of Methodism, not first to 
 experience this form of religious life, but, for the first time since the 
 days of the Apostles, to make it the central idea of a world- wide Gospel 
 preaching. In the Apostolic age the spiritual crisis was quite as distinct, 
 the moral power of the Holy Spirit overshadowing and throwing into 
 the back-ground everything else.
 
 72 THE FIUST FRUITS OK THi: SPIKIT. [SKRMOK VIII. 
 
 In the eighteenth century God raised up many other preachers of this 
 present conscious salvation besides the Wesleys. But in Methodism 
 alone did this fact of experimental crisis in the religious life enter into 
 the very heart of its standard theology, and exert a formative influence 
 on its entire body of doctrine. In the present sermon this experience is 
 conscious freedom from condemnation ; in^the next freedom from bond- 
 age ; in the three following, conscious assurance of the favour of God 
 and of inward change. 
 
 SERMON VIIL 
 
 1. BY " them which are in Christ Jesus," St. Paul evidently means, 
 those who truly believe in him ; those who, " being justified by faith, 
 have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." They who thus 
 believe do DO longer " walk after the flesh," no longer follow the mo- 
 tions of corrupt nature, but " after the Spirit ;" both their thoughts, 
 words, and works, are under the direction of the blessed Spirit 
 of God. 
 
 2. " There is therefore now no condemnation to" these. There is 
 no condemnation to them from God ; for he hathjujtf ijied them " freely 
 by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus." He hath 
 forgiven all their iniquities, and blotted out all their sins. And there is 
 no condemnation to them from within ; for they " have receiyed not the 
 spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God ; that they might 
 know the things which are freely given to them of God," 1 Cor. ii, 12 ; 
 which Spirit " beareth witness with their spirits, that they are the chil- 
 dren of God." And to this is added the testimony of their conscience, 
 " that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by 
 the grace of God, they have had their conversation in the world," 
 2 Cor. i, 12. 
 
 3. But because this scripture has been so frequently misunderstood, 
 and that in so dangerous a manner; because such multitudes of "un- 
 learned and unstable men," (01 a.uaSs<; xai ag'/j^ixroi, men untaught ol 
 God, and consequently unestablished in the truth which is after godli- 
 ness,) have wrested it to their own destruction ; I propose to show, as 
 clearly as I can, first, Who those are " which are in Christ Jesus, and 
 walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit:" and, secondly, How "there 
 is no condemnation to" these. I shall conclude with some practical 
 inferences. 
 
 1. 1. First I am to show, Who those are that " are in Christ Jesus.' 1 
 And are they not those who believe in his name? Those who are 
 " found in him, not having their own righteousness, but the righteous- 
 ness which is of God by faith ?" These, who " have redemption through 
 his blood," are properly said to be in Him. For they dwell in Christ, 
 and i'hrist in them. They are joined unto the Lord in one Spirit. 
 They are ingrafted into Him as branches into the vine. TSiey are 
 united as rr embers to their Head, in a manner which words cannot 
 express, nor could it before enter into their hearts to conceive.
 
 SERMON VIII.] THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 73 
 
 2. Now " whosoever abideth in him, sinneth not ;" " walketh not 
 after the flesh." The flesh, in the usual language of St. Paul, signifies 
 corrupt nature. In this sense he uses the word, writing to the Galatians, 
 " The works of the flesh are manifest," Gal. v, 19 ; and a little before, 
 " Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust (or desire) of the 
 flesh," ch. v, 16. To prove which, namely, that those who " walk by the 
 Spirit, do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh," he immediately adds, " For 
 the flesh lusteth against the Spirit ; and the Spirit lusteth against the 
 flesh, (for these are contrary to each other,) that ye may not do the 
 things which ye would." So the words are literally translated; (iva p.v\ 
 a. av &jXri-T, <rau<ra, TOUTS') not " So that ye cannot do the things that 
 ye would ;" as if the flesh overcame the Spirit : a translation which hath 
 not only nothing to do with the original text of the apostle, but likewise 
 makes his whole argument nothing worth ; yea, asserts just the reverse 
 of what he is proving. 
 
 3. They who are of Christ, who abide in him, "have crucified the 
 flesh with its affections and lusts." They abstain from all those works 
 of the flesh ; from " adultery and fornication ;" from " uncleanness and 
 lasciviousness ;" from " idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance ;" from 
 " emulations, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, envyings, murders, drunk- 
 enness, revellings ;" from every design, and word, and work, to which 
 ihe corruption of nature leads. Although they feel the root of bitter- 
 ness in themselves, yet are they endued with power from on high, to 
 trample it continually under foot, so that it cannot " spring up to trouble 
 them ;" insomuch, that every fresh assault which they undergo, only 
 
 gives them fresh occasion of praise, of crying out "Thanks be unto God, 
 who giveth us the victory, through Jesus Christ our Lord." 
 
 4. They now " walk after the Spirit," both in their hearts and lives. 
 They are taught of him to love God and their neighbour, with a love which 
 is as " a well of water, springing up into everlasting life." And by him 
 they are led into every holy desire, into every divine and heavenly temper, 
 till every thought which arises in their heart is holiness unto the Lord. 
 
 5. They who " walk after the Spirit," are also led by him into all 
 holiness of conversation. Their " speech is always in grace, seasoned 
 with salt :" with the love and fear of God. " No corrupt communica- 
 tion comes out of their mouth, but only that which is good ;" that which 
 is " to the use of edifying ;" which is " meet to minister grace to the 
 hearers." And herein likewise do they exercise themselves day and 
 night, to do only the things which please God ; in all their outward be- 
 haviour 1o fellow Him, "who left us an example that we might tread in 
 his steps;" in all their intercourse with their neighbour to walk injustice, 
 mercy, and truth ; and " whatsoever they do," in every circumstance of 
 life, to " do all to the glory of God." 
 
 6 These are they who indeed " walk after the Spirit." Being filled 
 with faith and with the Holy Ghost, they possess in their hearts, and 
 show forth in their lives, in the whole course of llieir words and actions, 
 the genuine fruits of the Spirit of God, namely, " love, joy, peace, long 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, temperance," and 
 whatsoever else is lovely or praiseworthy. They " adorn in all things 
 the gospel of God our Saviour ;" and give full proof to all mankind, that 
 they are indeed actuated by the same Spirit " which raised up Jesus 
 from the dead "
 
 74: THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMON VIII. 
 
 II. 1. I proposed to show, in the second place, How " there is no con- 
 demnation to them which are thus in Christ Jesus," and thus " walk, 
 not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
 
 And, firdt, To believers in Christ, walking thus, " there is no con- 
 demnation" on account of their past sins. God condemnejh them not 
 for any of these ; they are as though they had never been ; they are cast 
 " as a stone into the depth of the sea, and he remembereth them no 
 more. God having set forth his Son to be a propitiation" for them, 
 " through faith in his blood," " hath declared unto them his righteous- 
 ness, for the remission of the sins that are past." He layeth therefore 
 none of these to their charge ; their memorial is perished with them. 
 
 2. And there is no condemnation in their own breast ; no sense of 
 guilt, or dread of the wrath of God. They " have the witness in them- 
 selves :" they are conscious of their interest in the blood of sprinkling. 
 " They have not received again the spirit of bondage unto fear," unto 
 doubt and racking uncertainty ; but they " have received the spirit of 
 adoption," crying in their hearts, " Abba, Father." Thus being " justi- 
 fied by faith," they have the peace of God ruling in their hearts ; flow- 
 ing from a continual sense of his pardoning mercy, and " the answer ol 
 a good conscience towards God." 
 
 3. If it be said, " but sometimes a believer in Christ may lose his 
 sight of the mercy of God ; sometimes such darkness may fall upon 
 him that he no longer sees Him that is invisible, no longer feels that 
 witness in himself of his part in the atoning blood ; and then he ia 
 inwardly condemned, he hath again the sentence of death in himself:" 
 I answer, supposing it so to be, supposing him not to see the mercy of 
 God, then he is not a believer : for faith implies light ; the light of God 
 shining upon the soul. So far, therefore, as any one loses this light, he, 
 for the time, loses his faith. And, no doubt, a true believer in Christ 
 may lose the light of faith ; and so far as this is lost, he may, for a time, 
 fall again into condemnation. But this is not the case of them who 
 now " are in Christ Jesus," who now believe in his name. For so long 
 as they believe and walk after the Spirit, neither God condemns them, 
 nor their own heart. 
 
 4. They are not condemned, secondly, for any present sins, for now 
 transgressing the commandments of God. For they uo not transgress 
 them; they do not " walk after the flesh, but after the Spirit.' This is 
 the continual proof of their " love of God, that they keep his command- 
 ments ;" even as St. John bears witness, " Whosoever is born of God 
 doth not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him, ana he cannot 
 sin, because he is born of God :" he cannot, so long as that seed of God, 
 that loving, holy faith remaineth in him. So long as *' he keepeth him 
 self" herein, " that wicked one toucheth him not.'' Now it is evident, 
 he is not condemned for the sins which he doth not commit at all. 
 They, therefore, who are thus " led by the Spirit, are not under the 
 law," Gal. v, 18. Not under the curse or condemnation of it; for it 
 condemns none but those who break it. Thus, that law of God, " Thou 
 ahalt not steal," condemns none but those who do steal. Thus, " Re- 
 member the sabbath day to keep it holy," condemns those only who do 
 not keep it holy. But against the fruits of the Spirit, " there is no law," 
 ch. v, 23 ; as the apostle more largely declares, in those memorable 
 words of his foimer epistle to Timothy: " We know that tiie law is
 
 SERMON VIII.] THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 75 
 
 good, if a man use it lawfully ; knowing this," (if while he uses the law 
 of God, in order either to convince or direct, he know and remember 
 this,) o<n (Jixouw vopog ou XSITOCI; (not that the law is not made for a right 
 ecus man ; but) " that the law does not lie against a righteous man ;" it 
 has no force against him, no power to condemn him ; " but against Ihe 
 lawless and disobedient, against the ungodly and sinners, against the 
 unholy and profane ; according to the glorious gospel of the blessed 
 God,"l Tirn. i ; 3,9, 11. 
 
 5. They are not condemned, thirdly, for inward sin, even though it 
 does now remain. That the corruption of nature does still remain, even 
 in those who are the children of God by faith ; that they have in thorn 
 the seeds of pride and vanity, of anger, lust, and evil desire, yea, sin of 
 every kind ; is too plain to be denied, being matter of daily experience 
 And on this account it is that St. Paul, speaking to those whom he had 
 just before witnessed to be " in Christ Jesus," 1 Cor. i, 2, 9, to have 
 been "called of God into the fellowship (or participation) of his Son 
 Jesus Christ ;" yet declares, " Brethren, I could not speak unto you as 
 unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ ;" 1 Cor. 
 iii, 1 ; " Babes in Christ ;" so we see they were " in Christ ;" they were 
 believers in a low degree. And yet how much of sin remained in them ! 
 Of that " carnal mind, which is not subject to the law of God !" 
 
 6. And yet, for all this, they are not condemned. Although they 
 feel the flesh, the evil nature in them ; although they are more sensible, 
 day by day, that their " heart is deceitful and desperately wicked ;" yet, 
 so long as they do not yield thereto ; so long as they give no place to 
 the devil ; so long as they maintain a continual war with all sin, with 
 pride, anger, desire, so that the flesh hath not dominion over them, but 
 they still " walk after the Spirit ;" there is " no condemnation to them 
 which are in Christ Jesus." God is well pleased with their sincere, though 
 imperfectobedience: and they "have confidence towards God," knowing 
 they are his, " by the Spirit which he hath given them," 1 John iii, 24. 
 
 7. Nay, fourthly, although they are continually convinced of sin 
 cleaving to all they do; although they are conscious of not fulfilling the 
 perfect law, either in their thoughts, or words, or works; although they 
 know they do not love the Lord their God with all their heart, and 
 mind, and soul, and strength ; although they feel more or less of pride, or 
 self will, stealing in and mixing with their best duties; although even 
 in their more immediate intercourse with God, when they assemble 
 themselves with the great congregation, and when they pour out their 
 souls in secret to him who seeth all the thoughts and intents of the heart, 
 they are continually ashamed of their wandering thoughts, or of the dead 
 ness and dulness of their affections ; yet there is no condemnation to 
 them still, either from God or from their own heart. The consideration 
 of these manifold defects only gives them a deeper sense, that they have 
 always need of the blood of sprinkling which speaks for them in the 
 ears of God, and that advocate with the Father, " who ever liveth to 
 make intercession for them." So far are these from driving them away 
 from him, in whom they have believed, that they rather drive them the 
 closer to him, whom they feel the want of every moment. And, at the 
 same time, the deeper sense they have of this want, the more earnest 
 dt-siredo they feel, and the more diligent they are, as they "have received 
 the Lord Jesus, so to walk in him."
 
 76 THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMON VI IT. 
 
 8. They are not condemned, fifthly, for sins of infirmity, as they are 
 usually called. Perhaps it were advisable rather to call them infirmities, 
 that we may not seem to give any countenance to sin, or to extenuate it 
 in any degree, by thus coupling it with infirmity. But (if we must retain 
 so ambiguous and dangerous an expression,) by sins of infirmity I would 
 mean, such involuntary failings, as the saying a thing we believe true, 
 though, in fact, it prove to be false ; or the hurting our neighbour with 
 out knowing or designing it, perhaps when we designed to do him good. 
 Though these are deviations from the holy, and acceptable, and perfect 
 will of God, yet they are not properly sins, nor do they bring any guiit 
 on the conscience of " them which are in Christ Jesus." They separate 
 not between God and them, neither intercept the light of his counte- 
 nance ; as being no ways inconsistent with their general character ot 
 '' walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.'" 
 
 9. Lastly, " There is no condemnation" to them for any thing 
 whatever, which it is not in their power to help ; whether it be of an 
 inward or outward nature, and whether it be doing something, or 
 leaving something undone. For instance, the Lord's supper is to be 
 administered ; but you do not partake thereof. Why do you not 1 You 
 are confined by sickness ; therefore, you cannot help omitting it ; and 
 for the same reason you are not condemned. There is no guilt, be- 
 cause there is no choice. As there " is a willing mind, it is accepted, 
 according to that a man hath, not according to that he hath not." 
 
 10. A believer indeed may sometimes be grieved, because he cannot 
 do what his soul longs for. He may cry out, when he is detained from 
 worshipping God in the great congregation, " Like as the hart panteth 
 after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, oh God. My soul 
 is athirst for God, yea, even for the living God : when shall I come to 
 appear in the presence of God ?" He may earnestly desire (only still 
 saying in his heart, " Not as I will, but as thou wilt") to " go again with 
 the multitude, and bring them forth into the house of God." But still 
 if he cannot go, he feels no condemnation, no guilt, no sense of God's 
 displeasure ; but can cheerfully yield up those desires with, " Oh, my 
 soul ! put thy trust in God. For I will yet give him thanks, who is the 
 help of my countenance and my God." 
 
 11. It is more difficult to determine concerning those which are 
 usually styled, sins of surprise : as when one who commonly in patience 
 possesses his soul, on a sudden and violent temptation, speaks or acts 
 in a manner not consistent with the royal law, " Thou shalt love thy 
 neighbour as thyself." Perhaps it is not easy to fix a general rule, 
 concerning transgressions of this nature. We cannot say, either that 
 men are, or that they are not condemned, for sins of surprise in general. 
 But it seems, whenever a believer is by surprise overtaken in a fault, 
 there is more or less condemnation, as there is more or less concurrence 
 of his will. In proportion as a sinful desire, or word or dCtiou, is more 
 or less voluntary, so we may conceive God is more or less displeased, 
 and there is more or less guilt upon the soul. 
 
 12. But if so, then there may be some sins of surprise, winch bring 
 much guilt and condemnation. For. in some instances, our being sur- 
 prised is owing to some wilful and culpable neglect; or, to a sleepiness of 
 soul which mignt have been pretenved , or shaken off before the tempta- 
 tion came. A man may be previously warned either of God or man
 
 SERMON VIII.] THE FIRST FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. 77 
 
 that trials and dangers are at hand ; and yet may say in his heart, " A 
 little more slumber, a little more folding of the hands to rest." Now, 
 if such a one afterwards fall, though unawares, into the snare which 
 ne might have avoided. that he fell unawares is no excuse ; he might 
 have foreseen and have shunned the danger. The falling, even by 
 surprise, in such an instance as this, is, in effect, a wilful sin ; and, aa 
 such, must expose the sinner to condemnation, both from God and his 
 own conscience. 
 
 13. On the other hand, there may be sudden assaults, either from the 
 world, or the god of this world, and frequently from our own evil hearts, 
 which we did not, and hardly could, foresee. And by these even a 
 believer, while weak in faith, may possibly be borne down, suppose into 
 a degree of anger, or thinking evil of another, with scarce any concur- 
 rence of his will. Now, in such a case, the jealous God would undoubt- 
 edly show him that he had done foolishly. He would be convinced of 
 having swerved from the perfect law, from the mind which was in Christ, 
 and consequently, grieved with a godly sorrow, and lovingly ashamed 
 before God. Yet need he not come into condemnation. God layeth 
 not folly to his charge, but hath compassion upon him, " even as a 
 father pitieth his own children." And his heart condemneth him not ; 
 in the midst of that sorrow and shame, he can still say, " I will trust 
 and not be afraid ; for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song ; 
 he also is become my salvation." 
 
 III. 1. It remains only to draw some practical inferences from the 
 preceding considerations. 
 
 And, first, if there be " no condemnation to them which are in Christ 
 Jesus, and walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit," on account of 
 their past sin ; then, why art thou fearful, oh thou of little faith ? 
 Though thy sins were once more in number than the sand, what is 
 that to thee, now thou art in Christ Jesus 1 " Who shall lay any thing 
 to the charge of God's elect ? It is God that justifieth ; who is he that 
 condemneth ?" All the sins thou hast committed from thy youth up, 
 until the hour when thou wast " accepted in the Beloved," are driven 
 away as chaff, are gone, are lost, swallowed up, remembered no more. 
 Thou art now " I>orn of the Spirit :" wilt thou be troubled or afraid of 
 what is done before thou wert born ? Away with thy fears ! Thou art 
 not called to fear, but to the " spirit of love and of a sound mind." 
 Know thy calling ! Rejoice in God thy Saviour, and give thanks to 
 God thy Father through him ! 
 
 2. Wilt thou say, " But I have again committed sin, since I had 
 redemption through his blood? And therefore it is, that ' I abhor myself, 
 and repent in dust and ashes.'" It is meet thou shouldest abhor 
 thyself; and it is God who hath wrought thee to this self-same thing. 
 But, dost thou now believe 1 Hath he again enabled thee to say, " I 
 know that my Redeemer liveth ;" " and the life which I now live, I live 
 by faith in the Son of God ?" Then that faith again cancels all that is 
 past, -and there is no condemnation to thee. At whatsoever time thou 
 truly believest in the name of the Son of God, all thy sins, antecedent 
 to that hour, vanish away as the morning dew. Now then, " Stand 
 thou fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made thee free." He 
 hath once more made thee free from the power of sin, as well as from 
 the guilt and punishment of it. Oh, " be not entangled again with the
 
 78 THE FIRST TRUITS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMON VIII. 
 
 yoke of bondage !" neither the vile, devilish bondage of sin, of evil 
 desires, evil tempers, or words, or works, the most grievous yoke on 
 this side hell ; nor the bondage of slavish, tormenting fear, of guilt and 
 self condemnation. 
 
 3. But, secondly : Do all they which abide " in Christ Jesus, walk 
 not after the flesh, but after the Spirit ?" Then we cannot but infer, 
 that whosoever low committeth sin, hath no part or lot in this matter. 
 He is even now condemned by his own heart. But, " if our heart 
 condemn us," if our own conscience beareth witness that we are guilty, 
 undoubtedly God doth ; for " he is greater than our heart, and knoweth 
 all things ;" so that we cannot deceive him, if we can ourselves. And 
 think not to say, " I was justified once ; rny sins were once forgiven 
 me :" I know not that; neither will I dispute whether they were or no. 
 Perhaps, at this distance of time, it is next to impossible to know with 
 any tolerable degree of certainty whether that was a true, genuine work 
 of God, or whether thou didst only deceive thy own soul. But this I 
 know, with the utmost degree of certainty, " He that committeth sin is 
 of the devil." Therefore, thou art of thy father the devil. It cannot 
 be denied : for the wrrks of thy father thou doest. Oh flatter not thy- 
 self with vain hopes. Say not to thy soul, Peace, peace ! For there is 
 no peace. Cry aloud ! Cry unto God out of the deep ; if haply he may 
 hear thy voice. Come unto him, as at first, as wretched and poor, as 
 sinful, miserable, blind, and naked ! And beware thou suffer thy soul to 
 take no rest, till his pardoning love be again revealed ; till he " heal thy 
 backslidirigs," and fill thee again with the " faith that worketh by love." 
 
 4. Thirdly, Is there no condemnation to them which " walk after 
 the Spirit," by reason of inward sin still remaining, so long as they do 
 not give way thereto ; nor by reason of sin cleaving to all they do. 
 Then fret not thyself because of ungodliness, though it still remain in 
 thy heart. Repine not, because thou still comest short of the glorious 
 image of God ; nor yet because pride, self will, or unbelief, cleave to 
 all thy words and works. And be not afraid to know all this evil of 
 thy heart, to know thyself as also thou art known. Yea, desire of God, 
 that thou mayest not think of thyself more highly than thou ought^st 
 to think. Let thy continual prayer be, 
 
 " Show me, as my soul can bear, 
 
 The depth of inbred sin : 
 All the unbelief declare, 
 The pride that lurks within." 
 
 But when he heareth thy prayer, and unveils thy heart ; when he shows 
 thee thoroughly what spirit thou art of; then beware that thy faith fail 
 thee not, that thou suffer not thy shield to be torn from thee. Be 
 abased. Be humbled in the dust. See thyself nothing, less than nothing 
 and vanity. But still " let not thy heart be troubled, neither let it be 
 afraid." Still hold fast, " I, even I, have an advocate with the Father, 
 Jesus Christ the righteous." " And as the heavens are higher than the 
 earth, so is his love higher than even my sins." Therefore, God is 
 merciful to thee a sinner ! Such a sinner as thou art !,God is love ; and 
 Christ hath died ! Therefore, the Father himself loveth thee ! Thou 
 art his child ! Therefore he will withhold from thee no manner of thing 
 that is good. Is it good, that the whole body of sin, which is now 
 crucified in thee, should be destroyed ? It shall be done ! Thou shall be
 
 SERMON IX.] SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. 79 
 
 " cleansed from all filthiness, both of flesh and spirit." Is it good that 
 nothing should remain in thy heart, but the pure love of God alone ? 
 Be of good cheer ! " Thou shall love the Lord thy God, with all thy 
 heart, and mind, and soul, and strength." " Faithful is he that hath 
 promised, who also will do it." It is thy part, patiently to continue in 
 the work of faith, and in the labour of love ; and in cheerful peace, in 
 humble confidence, with calm and lesigned, and yet earnest expecta- 
 tion, to wait till the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall perform this. 
 
 5. Fourthly, If they that " are in Christ, and walk after the Spirit," 
 are not condemned for sins of infirmity, as neither for involuntary 
 failings, nor for any thing whatever which they are not able to help; then 
 beware, oh thou that hast faith in his blood, that Satan herein " gain no 
 advantage over thee." Thou art still foolish and weak, blind and 
 ignorant ; more weak than any words can express ; more foolish than 
 it can yet enter into thy heart to conceive ; knowing nothing yet as 
 thou oughtest to know. Yet let not all thy weakness and folly, or any 
 fruit thereof, which thou art not yet able to avoid, shake thy faith, thy 
 filial trust in God, or disturb thy peace or joy in the Lord. The rule 
 which some give, as to wilful sins, and which, in that case, may perhaps 
 be dangerous, is undoubtedly wise and safe, if it be applied only to the 
 case of weakness and infirmities. Art thou fallen, oh man of God ? 
 Yet, do not lie there, fretting thyself and bemoaning thy weakness ; 
 but meekly say, Lord, I shall fall thus every moment, unless thou up 
 hold me with thy hand. And then arise ! Leap and walk ! Go on thy 
 way ! " Run with patience the race set before thee." 
 
 6. Lastly. Since a believer need not come into condemnation, even 
 though he be surprised into what his soul abhors ; (suppose his bemg 
 surprised is not owing to any carelessness or wilful neglect of his own ;) 
 if thou who believest, art thus overtaken in a fault, then grieve unto the 
 Lord ; it shall be a precious balm : pour out thy heart before him, and 
 show him of thy trouble. And pray with all thy might to him who is 
 " touched with the feeling of thy infirmities," that he would establish, 
 and strengthen, and settle thy soul, and suffer thee to fall no more 
 But still he condemneth thee not. Wherefore shouldest thon fear ! 
 Thou hast no need of any " fear that hath torment." Thou shall love 
 him that loveth thee, and it sufnceth : more love will bring more strenglh. 
 And, as soon as thou lovest him with all thy heart, thou shall be " per 
 feet and entire, lacking nothing." Wait in peace for that hour, when 
 ' the God of peace shall sanctify thee wholly, so that thy whole spirit, 
 
 and soul, and body, may be preserved blameless unto the coming of oui 
 Lord Jesus Christ !" 
 
 SEEMON" IX. The Spirit of Bondage and Adoption. 
 
 " Ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear ; bnt ye have 
 received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." Rom. viii. 15. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THREE moral states are here implied. The natural man, 
 the man under the law, and the man under grace. 
 
 I. The natural man is asleep ; secure ; ignorant of him- 
 self ; walks in fancied joy and liberty ; is the willing servant 
 of sin.
 
 80 SPIKIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. [SERMON IX. 
 
 II. The man under the law ^is awakened ; sees the breadth 
 of God's law and his own sin ; feels the anguish of a wounded 
 spirit ; struggles against his chains, but in vain ; and is 
 described in the seventh chapter of Eomans. 
 
 III. The man under grace has received the spirit of 
 adoption ; sees God's love ; freed from the guilt and power of 
 sin is become the servant of righteousness. 
 
 SUMMARY. The first neither fears nor loves God, has false 
 peace and fancied liberty, sins willingly, and neither fights nor 
 conquers. The second fears but does not love God, walks in 
 the painful light of hell ; has no peace, lives in bondage, 
 sins unwillingly, and fights but does not conquer. The third 
 loves God, walks in the light of heaven, has true peace, and 
 liberty of God'schildren,sinnethnot,and is more than conqueror. 
 
 IV. Lessons. 
 
 1. Sincerity is not sufficient. 2. These states are sometimes 
 mingled. 3. A man may go far and yet be only in a legal 
 state. 4. Let us not rest short of the best things. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 In this sermon we have very clearly presented, the discriminating 
 breadth of Mr. Wesley's analysis of the religious condition of mankind. 
 While the classification of moral states is simple and exact, it recognizes, 
 in the probationary state, three forms of moral condition, not two only, as 
 will be the case when probation is ended. And it still further recognizes 
 the fact that a man's position may be so uncertainly defined, that he may 
 vacillate between first and second, or between second and third, of these 
 ihree. But the uncertainties and imperfections- of the human will lead 
 him to preach no uncertain gospel. He preaches the full standard of 
 salvation, and in the name of his Master summons all men to meet its 
 full requirements. The special aspect of salvation presented in this 
 sermon is the blessed privilege of freedom from the bondage of sin. 
 Mr. Wesley understands this to be, not an imputed or ideal freedom, 
 but a real and moral freedom. This is enlarged in a subsequent dis- 
 course. This great truth he received from the Moravian church. He 
 says, " When Peter Boshler, whom God had prepared for me as soon as 
 I came to London, affirmed of true faith in Christ, that it had those two 
 fruits inseparably attending it, ' Dominion over sin, and constant peace 
 from a sense of forgiveness,' I was quite amazed, and looked upon it as a 
 new Gospel." But when he had verified it by the Word of God, 
 and in his own experience, he held and preached it henceforth as the 
 truth of God. We shall see, however, in the thirteenth and fourteenth 
 sermons, how he guarded this important truth against one-sided inter- 
 pretations put upon it by the Moravians. Except among a few of the 
 profounder mystics, this truth had been lost to the view of the Christian 
 Cliurch ever since the Apostolic and primitive age, and Mr. Wesley 
 regarded its restoration as one of the special ends for which God raised 
 up Methodism. 
 
 SERMON IX. 
 
 1. St. Paul here speaks to those who are the children of God by faith. 
 " Ye," saith he, who are indeed his children, have drank into his 
 Spirit ; " ye have not received the spirit of bondage again unto fear;" 
 " but, because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son
 
 SERMON IX.] SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. 81 
 
 into your hearts." " Ye received the spirit of adoption, wherehy we 
 cry, Abba, Father." 
 
 2. The spirit of bondage and fear is widely distant from this loving 
 spirit of adoption : those who are influenced only by slavish fear, cannot 
 be termed " the sons of God ;" yet some of them may be styled his 
 servants, and are " not far from the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 3. But it is to be feared, the bulk of mankind, yea, of what is called 
 the Christian world, have not attained even this ; but are still afar off, 
 " neither is God in all their thoughts." A few names may be found of 
 those who love God ; a few more there are that fear him ; but the greater 
 part have neither the fear of God before their eyes, nor the love of God 
 in their hearts. 
 
 4. Perhaps most of you, who, by the mercy of God now partake of 
 a better spirit, may remember the time when ye were as they, when ye 
 were under the same condemnation. But at first ye knew it not, though 
 ye were wallowing daily in your sins and in your blood ; till, in due 
 time, ye " received the spirit of fear ;" (ye received, for this also is the 
 gift of God ;) and afterwards fear vanished away, and the spirit of love 
 filled your hearts. 
 
 5. One who is in the first state of mind, without fear or love, is in 
 Scripture termed a natural man. One who is under the spirit of bond- 
 age and fear, is sometimes said to be under the law : (although that 
 expression more frequently signifies one who is under the Jewish dis- 
 pensation, or who thinks himself obliged to observe all the rites and 
 ceremonies of the Jewish law :) but cne who has exchanged the spirit 
 of fear for the spirit of love, is properly said to be under grace. 
 
 Now, because it highly imports us to know what spirit we are of, I 
 shall endeavour to point out distinctly, First, The state of a natural 
 man : Secondly, That of one who is under the law : and, Thirdly, of 
 one who is under grace. 
 
 1. 1. And, first, the state of a natural man. This the Scripture repre- 
 sents as a state of sleep : the voice of God to him is, " Awake, thou 
 that sleepest." For his soul is in a deep sleep : his spiritual senses are 
 not awake : they discern neither spiritual good nor evil. The eyes of 
 his understanding are closed ; they are sealed together, and see not. 
 Clouds and darkness continually rest upon them ; for he lies in the valley 
 of the shadow of death. Hence, having no inlets for the knowledge of 
 spiritual things, all the avenues of his soul being shut up, he is in gross, 
 stupid ignorance of whatever he is most concerned to know. He is 
 utterly ignorant of God, knowing nothing concerning him as he ought 
 to know. He is totally a stranger to the law of God, as to its true, in- 
 ward, spiritual meaning. He has no conception of that evangelical holi 
 ness, without which no man shall see the Lord ; nor of the happiness, 
 which they only find, whose " life is hid with Christ in God." 
 
 2. And for this very reason, because he is fast asleep, he is, in some 
 sense, at rest. Because he is blind he is also secure : he saith " Tush, 
 there shall no harm happen unto me." The darkness which covers 
 him on every side, keeps him in a kind of peace ; so far as peace can 
 consist with the works of the devil, and with an earthly, devilish mind 
 He sees not that he stands on the edge of the pit, therefore he fern s it 
 not. He cannot tremble at the danger he does not know. He has not 
 understanding enough to fear. Why is it that he is in no dread of God '
 
 82 SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. [SERMON IX. 
 
 Because he is totally ignorant of him : if not saying in his heart, " There 
 is no God ;" or, that " he sitteth on the circle of the heavens, and huni- 
 bleth not himself to behold the things which are done on earth ;" yet, 
 satisfying himself as well, to all epicurean intents and purposes, by say- 
 ing " God is merciful ;" confounding and swallowing up all at once, in 
 that unwieldy idea of mercy, all his holiness and essential hatred of sin ; 
 all his justice, wisdom, and truth. He is in no dread of the vengeance 
 denounced against those who obey not the blessed law of God, because 
 he understands it not. He imagines the main point is, To do thus, to 
 be outwardly blameless ; and sees not that it extends to every temper, 
 desire, thought, motion of the heart. Or he fancies that the obligation 
 hereto is ceased; that Christ came to "destroy the law and the prophets;" 
 to save his people in, not from their sins ; to bring them to heaven with- 
 out holiness : notwithstanding his own words, " Not one jot or tittle of 
 the law shall pass away, till all things are iulfilled ;" and, " Not every 
 one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord ! shall enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." 
 
 3. He is secure, because he is utterly ignorant of himself. Hence he 
 talks of" repenting by and by ;" he does not indeed exactly know when, 
 but some time or other before he dies ; taking it for granted, that this 
 is quite in his own power. For what should hinder his doing it, if he will ? 
 If he does but once set a resolution, no fear but he will make it good ! 
 
 4. But this ignorance never so strongly glares, as in those who are 
 termed men of learning. If a natural man be one of these, he can 
 talk at large of his rational faculties, of the freedom of his will, and the 
 absolute necessity of such freedom, in order to constitute man a moral 
 agent. He reads, and argues, and proves to a demonstration, that every 
 man may do as he will ; may dispose his own heart to evil or good, as it 
 seems best in his own eyes. Thus the god of this world spreads a double 
 veil of blindness over his heart, lest, by any means, " the light of the 
 glorious gospel of Christ should shine" upon it. 
 
 5. From the same ignorance of himself and God, there may some- 
 times arise, in the natural man, a kind of joy, in congratulating himself 
 upon his own wisdom and goodness : and what the world calls joy, he 
 may often possess. He may have pleasure in various kinds : either in 
 gratifying the desires of the flesh, or the desire of the eye, or the pride 
 of life ; particularly if he has large possessions ; if he enjoy an affluent 
 fortune ; then he may " clothe" himself" in purple and fine linen, and 
 fare sumptuously every day." And so long as he thus doeth well unto 
 himself, men will doubtless speak good of him. They will say, " He is 
 a happy man." For, indeed, this is the sum of worldly happiness ; to 
 dress, and visit, and talk, and eat, and drink, and rise up to play. 
 
 6. It is not surprising, if one in such circumstances as these, dozed 
 with the opiates of flattery and sin, should imagine among his other 
 waking dreams, that he walks in great liberty. How easily may he 
 persuade himself, that he is at liberty from all vulgar errors, and from 
 the prejudice of education, judging exactly right, and keeping clear of 
 all extremes. " I am free (may he say) from all the enthusiasm of 
 weak and narrow souls , from superstition, the disease of fools and cow- 
 ards, always righteous over much ; and from bigotry, continually inci- 
 dent to those who have not a free and generous way of thinking." And 
 too sure it is, that he is altogether free from the ' c wisdom which comcth
 
 SERMON IX.] SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. 83 
 
 from above," from holiness, from the religion of the heart, from the 
 whole mind which was in Christ. 
 
 7. For all this time he is the servant of sin. He commits sin, more 
 or less, day by day. Yet he is not troubled : he " is in no bondage," 
 as some speak ; he feels no condemnation. He contents himself, (even 
 though he should profess to believe that the Christian revelation is of 
 God,) with, "Man is frail. Weare all weak. Every man has his infirmity." 
 Perhaps he quotes Scripture : " Why, does not Solomon say, The 
 righteous man falls into sin seven times a day ! And, doubtless, they 
 are all hypocrites or enthusiasts who pretend to be better than their 
 neighbours." If, at any time, a serious thought, fix upon him, he stifles 
 it as soon as possible, with, " Why should I fear, since God is merciful, 
 and Christ died for sinners ?" Thus, he remains a willing servant of sin, 
 content with the bondage of corruption ; inwardly and outwardly unholy, 
 and satisfied therewith ; not only not conquering sin, but not striving to 
 conquer, particularly that sin which doth so easily beset him. 
 
 8. Such is the state of every natural man ; whether he be a gross, 
 scandalous transgressor, or a more reputable and decent sinner, having 
 the form, though not the power of godliness. But how can such a one 
 be convinced of sin ? How is he brought to repent ? To be under the 
 law ? To receive the spirit of bondage unto fear 1 This is the point 
 which is next to be considered. 
 
 II. 1. By some awful providence, or by his word applied with the 
 demonstration of his Spirit, God touches the heart of him that lay asleep 
 in darkness and in the shadow of death. He is terribly shaken out ol 
 his sleep, and awakes into a consciousness of his danger. Perhaps in a 
 moment, perhaps by degrees, the eyes of his understanding are opened, 
 and now first (the veil being in part removed) discern the real state he 
 is in. Horrid light breaks in upon his soul ; such light as may be con- 
 ceived to gleam from the bottomless pit, from the lowest deep, from a 
 lake of fire burning with brimstone. He at last sees the loving, the mer- 
 ciful God is also "a consuming fire ;" that he is a just God and a terrible, 
 rendering to every man according to his works, entering into judgment 
 with the ungodly for every idle word, yea, and for the imaginations of 
 the heart. He now clearly perceives, that the great and holy God is 
 " of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ;" that he is an avenger of every 
 one who rebelleth against him, and repayeth the wicked to his face , 
 and that " it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." 
 
 2. The inward, spiritual meaning of the law of God now begins to 
 glare upon him. He perceives " the commandment is exceeding broad," 
 and there is " nothing hid from the light thereof." He is convinced, 
 that every part of it relates, not barely to outward sin or obedience, but 
 to what passes in the secret recesses of the soul, which no eye but God's 
 can penetrate. If he now hears, " Thou shall not kill ," God speaks in 
 thunder, " He that hateth his brother is a murderer;" he that saith 
 unto his brother, "Thou fool, is obnoxious to hell fire." If the law say, 
 " Thou shall not commil adultery," the voice of the Lord sounds in his 
 ears, " He lhal looketh on a woman to lusl after her hath committed 
 adultery with her already in his heart." And thus in every point, he 
 feels the word of God " quick and powerful, sharper than a two edged 
 sword." It" pierces even to the dividing asunder of his soul and spirit, 
 his joints and marrow." And so much the more because he is con
 
 84 SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. [SERMON IX. 
 
 scious to himself of having neglected so great salvation ; of having "trod- 
 den under foot the Son of God," who would have saved him from his 
 sins, and " counted the blood of the covenant an unholy," a ccmmon, 
 unsanctifying thing. 
 
 3. And as he knows, " all things are naked and open unto the eyes 
 of him with whom we have to do," so he sees himself naked, stripped of 
 all the fig leaves which he had sewed together, of all his poor pretences 
 to religion or virtue, and his wretched excuses for sinning against God. 
 He now sees himself like the ancient sacrifices, TSr^a^XKTjULSvov, cleft 
 in sunder, as it were, from the neck downward, so that all within him 
 stands confessed. His heart is bare, and he sees it is all sin, " deceit- 
 ful above all things, desperately wicked ;" that it is altogether corrupt 
 and abominable, more than it is possible for tongue to express ; that 
 there dwelleth therein no good thing, but unrighteousness and ungod- 
 liness only; every motion thereof, every temper and thought, being only 
 evil continually. 
 
 4. And he not only sees, but feels in himself, 6y an emotion of sou) 
 which he cannot describe, that for the sins of his heart, were his life 
 without blame, (which yet it is not, and cannot be ; seeing " an evil 
 tree cannot bring forth good fruit,") he deserves to be cast into the fire 
 that never shall be quenched. He feels that the wages, the just reward 
 of sin, of his sin above all, is death ; even the second death ; the death 
 which dieth not; the destruction of body and soul in hell. 
 
 5. Here ends his pleasing dream, his delusive rest, his false peace, 
 his vain security. His joy now vanishes as a cloud ; pleasures, once 
 loved, delight no more. They pall upon the taste : he loathes the nau- 
 seous sweet ; he is weary to bear them. The shadows of happiness 
 flee away, and sink into oblivion : so that he is stripped of ail, and wan- 
 ders to and fro, seeking rest and finding none. 
 
 6. The fumes of those opiates being now dispelled, he feels the anguish 
 of a wounded spirit. He finds that sin let loose upon the soul (whether 
 it be pride, anger, or evil desire, whether self will, malice, envy, revenge, 
 or any other) is perfect misery. He feels sorrow of heart for the bless- 
 ings he has lost, and the curse which is come upon him ; remorse for 
 having thus destroyed himself, and despised his own mercies ; fear, 
 from a lively sense of the wrath of God, and of the consequences of his 
 wrath, of the punishment which he has justly deserved, and which he 
 sees hanging over his head ; fear of death, as being to him the gate oi 
 hell, the entrance of death eternal ; fear of the devil, the executioner 
 of the wrath and righteous vengeance of God ; fear of men, who, if 
 they were able to kill his body, would thereby plunge both body and 
 soul into hell ; fear, sometimes arising to such a height, that the poor 
 sinful, guilty soul, is terrified with everything, with nothing, with shades 
 with a leaf shaken of the wind. Yea, sometimes it may even border 
 upon distraction, making a man " drunken though not with wine," sus- 
 pending the exercise of the memory, of the understanding, of all the 
 natural faculties. Sometimes it may approach to the very brink of de- 
 spair ; so that he who trembles at the name of death, may yet be ready 
 to plunge into it every moment, to " choose strangling rather than life." 
 Well may such a man roar, like him of old, for the very disquietness of 
 his heart. Well may he cry out, " The spirit of a man may sustain hi* 
 infirmities; but a wounded spirit who can bear 7"
 
 SERMON IX. j SPIRIT OP BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. 85 
 
 7. Now he truly desires to break loose from sin, and begins to strug- 
 gle with it. But though he strive with all his might, he cannot conquer . 
 sin is mightier than he. He would fain escape ; but he is so fast in 
 prison, that he cannot get forth. He resolves against sin, but yet sins 
 on : he sees the snare, and abhors, and runs into it. So much docs his 
 
 > boasted reason avail, only to enhance his guilt, and increase his mi 
 sery ! Such is the freedom of his will ; free only to evil; free to " drink 
 in iniquity like water ;" to wander farther and farther from the living 
 God, and do more " despite to the Spirit of grace !" 
 
 8. The more he strives, wishes, labours to be free, the more does he 
 feel his chains, the grievous chains of sin, wherewith Satan binds and 
 " leads him captive at his will :" his servant he is, though he repine ever 
 so much ; though he rebel, he cannot prevail. He is still in bondage 
 and fear, by reason of sin : generally, of some outward sin, to which he 
 is peculiarly disposed, either by nature, custom, or outward circumstan- 
 ces ; but always, of some inward sin, some evil temper or unholy affec- 
 tion. And the more he frets against it, the more it prevails ; he may 
 bite but cannot break his chain. Thus he toils without end, repenting 
 and sinning, and repenting and sinning again, till at length, the poor, 
 sinful, helpless wretch, is even at his wit's end ; and can barely groan, 
 " Oh wretched man that 1 am ! who shall deliver me from the body of 
 this death ?" 
 
 9. This whole struggle of one who is under the law, under the spirit 
 of fear and bondage, is beautifully described by the apostle in the fore- 
 going chapter, speaking in the person of an awakened man. " I," saith 
 he, " was alive without the law once," ver. 9 : I had much life, wisdom, 
 strength, and virtue ; so I thought : " but, when the commandment 
 came, sin revived, and I died :" when the commandment, in its spirit- 
 ual meaning, came to my heart, with the power of God, my inbred sin 
 was stirred up, fretted, inflamed, and all my virtue died away. " And 
 the commandment which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. 
 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it 
 slew me," ver. 10, 1 1 : it came upon me unawares ; slew all my hopes ; 
 and plainly showed, in the midst of life J was in death. " Wherefore 
 the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just and good," ver. 
 12 : 1 no longer lay the blame on this, but on the corruption of my own 
 heart. I acknowledge that " the law is spiritual : but I am carnal, sold 
 under sin," ver. 14 : 1 now see both the spiritual nature of the law, and 
 my own carnal, devilish heart sold under sin, totally enslaved : (like 
 slaves bought with money, who were absolutely at their master's dispo 
 sal :) " For that which I do, I allow not; for what I would, I do not; 
 but what I hate, that I do," ver. 15 : such is the bondage under which 
 I groan ; such the tyranny of my hard master. " To will is present 
 with me, but how to perform that which is good, I find not. For the 
 good that I would, I do not ; but the evil which I would not, that I do, 
 ver. 18, 19. "I find a law, [an inward constraining power,] that when 
 I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight in [or consent 
 to] the law of God, after the inward man," ver. 21, 22 : in my mind 
 so the apostle explains himself in the words that immediately follow: 
 (and so o s?w avOpw-jrojr, the inward man, is understood in all other Greek 
 writers :) " But I see another law in my members, [another constrain- 
 ing power,] warring against the law of my mind, or inward man, and
 
 86 SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. [SERMON IX. 
 
 bringing me into captivity to the law [or power] of sin," ver. 23 : drag 
 girig me, as it were, at my conqueror's chariot wheels, into the very 
 Uiing which my soul abhors. " Oh wretched man that 1 am ! who shall 
 deliver me from the body of this death ?" ver. 24. Who shall deliver 
 me from this helpless, dying life, from this bondage of sin and misery 1 
 Till this is done, " 1 myself" (or rather, that I, avros syu, that man I am 
 now personating) " with the mind," or inward man, " serve the law ol 
 God ;" my mind, my conscience is on God's side ; " but with my flesh," 
 with my body, " the law of sin," ver. 25, being hurried away by a force 
 I cannot resist. 
 
 10. How lively a portraiture is this of one under the law! One who 
 feels the burden he cannot shake off; who pants after liberty, power, 
 and love, but is in fear and bondage still ; until the time that God 
 answers the wretched man crying out, " Who shall deliver me" from 
 this bondage of sin, from this body of death? " The grace of God, 
 through Jesus Christ thy Lord." 
 
 III. 1. Then it is that this miserable bondage ends, and he is no 
 more " under the law, but under grace." This state we are, thirdly, 
 to consider ; the state of one who has found grace or favour in the sight 
 of God, even the Father ; and who has the grace or power of the Holy 
 Ghost, reigning in his heart : who has received, in the language of the 
 apostle, the " Spirit of adoption, whereby" he now cries," A bba, Father !" 
 
 2. " He cried unto the Lord in his trouble, and God delivers him out 
 of his distress." His eyes are opened in quite another manner than 
 before, even to see a loving, gracious God. While he is calling, " I 
 beseech thee, show me thy glory !" he hears a voice in his inmost soul, 
 " 1 will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the 
 name of the Lord : I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and I 
 will show mercy to whom I will show mercy." And, it is not long 
 before " the Lord descends in the cloud, and proclaims the name of the 
 Lord." Then he sees, but not with eyes of flesh and blood, " The Lord 
 the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long suffering, and abundant in 
 goodness and truth ; keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniqui 
 ties, and transgressions, and sin." 
 
 3. Heavenly, healing light now breaks in upon his soul. He " looks 
 on him whom he had pierced ;" and " God, who out of darkness com- 
 manded light to shine, shineth in his heart." He sees the light of the 
 glorious love of God, in the face of Jesus Christ. He hath a divine 
 "evidence of things not seen" by sense, even of "the deep things of 
 God ;" more particularly of the love of God, of his pardoning love to 
 him that believes in Jesus. Overpowered with the sight, his whole soul 
 cries out, " My Lord and my God !" For he sees all his iniquities laid 
 on Him, who " bare them in his own body on the tree ;" he beholds the 
 Lamb of God taking away his sins. How clearly now does he discern, 
 that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself; making 
 him sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteous- 
 ness of God through him ;" and that he himself is reconciled to God, 
 by that blood of the covenant ! 
 
 4. Here end both the guilt and power of sin. He can now say, " I 
 am crucified with Christ ; nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ 
 Jiveth in me : and the life which I now live in the flesh, (even in this 
 mortal body,) I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave
 
 SERMON IX ] SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. 87 
 
 himself for me." Here end remorse and sorrow of heart, and the an- 
 guish of a wounded spirit. "God turneth his heaviness into joy." He 
 made sore, and now his hands bind up. Here ends also that bondage 
 unto fear ; for " his heart standeth fast believing in the Lord." He 
 cannot fear any longer the wrath of God ; for he knows it is now turned 
 away from him, and looks upon him no more as an angry Judge, but as 
 a loving Father. He cannot fear the devil, knowing he has " no power, 
 except it be given him from above." He fears not hell ; being an heii 
 of the kingdom of heaven : consequently, he has no fear of death ; by 
 reason whereof he was in time past, tor so many years, " subject to 
 bondage." Rather, knowing that " if the earthly house of this taber- 
 nacle be dissolved, he hath a building of God, a house not made with 
 hands, eternal in the heavens ; he groaneth earnestly, desiring to be 
 clothed upon with that house vFhich is from heaven." He groans to 
 shake offthis house of earth, that mortality may be swallowed up of life ; 
 knowing that God " hath wrought him for the self-same thing ; who 
 hath also given him the earnest of his Spirit." 
 
 5. And, "where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty;" liberty, not 
 only from guiit and fear, but from sin, from that heaviest of all yokes, 
 that basest of all bondage. His kibbur is not now in vain. The snare 
 is broken, and he is delivered. He not only strives, but likewise pre- 
 vails ; he nut only fights, but conquers also. " Henceforth he doth not 
 serve sin," chap, vi, 6, &c. " He is dead unto sin, and alive unto 
 God ;" " sin doth not now reign," even " in his mortal body," nor doth 
 he " obey it in the desires thereof." He does not " yield his members 
 as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, but as instruments of right 
 eousness unto God." For " being now made free from sin, he is 
 become the servant of righteousness." 
 
 6. Thus, " having peace with God, through our Lord Jesus Christ," 
 " rejoicing in hope of the glory of God," and having power over all sin, 
 over every evil desire, and temper, and word, and work, he is a living 
 witness of the " glorious liberty of the sons of God ;" ail of whom, being 
 partakers of like precious faith, bear record with one voice, " We have 
 received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father !" 
 
 7. It is this Spirit which continually " worketh in them, both to will 
 and 1o do of his good pleasure." It is he that sheds the love of God 
 abroad in their hearts, and the love of all mankind ; thereby purifying 
 their hearts from the love of the world, from the lust of the flesh, the 
 lust of the eye, and the pride of life. It is by him they are delivered 
 from anger and pride, from all vile and inordinate affections. In con- 
 sequence they are delivered from evil words and works, from all unho- 
 liness of conversation ; doing no evil to any child of man, and being 
 zealous of all good works. 
 
 8. To sum up all : the natural man neither fears nor loves God ; one 
 under the law, fears, one under grace, loves him. The first has no 
 ligh: in the things of God, but walks in utter darkness ; the second sees 
 the painful light of hell ; the third, the joyous light of heaven. He that 
 sleeps in death, has a false peace : he that is awakened, has no peace 
 at all : he that believes, has true peace; the peace of God filling and 
 luling his heart. The heathen, baptized or unbaptized, hath a fancied 
 liberty, which is indeed licentiousness ; the Jew, or one under the 
 Jewish dispensation is in heavy, grievous bondage ; the Chnstiaju
 
 88 SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. [SERMON IX. 
 
 enjoys the true glorious liberty of the sons of God. An unawakened child 
 of the devil, sins willingly ; one that is awakened, sins unwillingly ; a 
 child of God sinneth not, but " keepeth himself, and the wicked one 
 toucheth him not." To conclude : the natural man neither conquers 
 nor fights ; the man under the law tights with sin, but cannot conquer *, 
 the man under grace fights and conquers ; yea, is " more than con 
 queror, through him that loveth him." 
 
 IV. 1. From this plain account of the threefold state of man, the 
 natural , the legal, and the evangelical, it appears that it is not sufficient 
 to divide mankind into sincere and insincere. A man may be sincere 
 in ?ny of these states ; not only when he has the " spirit of adoption," 
 but while he nas the " spirit of bondage unto fear ;" yea, while he has 
 neither this tear, nor love. For undoubtedly there may be sincere 
 heathens, as well as sincere Jews, or Christians. This circumstance, 
 then, does by no means prove that a man is in a state of acceptance 
 with God. 
 
 Examine yourselves, therefore, not only whether ye are sincere, 
 " but whether ye be in the faith." Examine narrowly, (for it imports 
 you much,) what is the ruling principle in your soul. Is it the love of 
 God ? Is it the fear of God 1 or is it neither one nor the other ? Is 
 it not rather the love of the world ? the love of pleasure 1 or gain ? of 
 ease ? or reputation ? If so, you are not come so far as a Jew. You 
 are hut a heathen still. Have you heaven in your heart 1 Have you 
 the spirit of adoption, ever crying, Abba, Father 1 Or do you cry unto 
 God, as " out of the belly of hell," overwhelmed with sorrow and fear 1 
 Or are you a stranger to this whole affair, and cannot imagine \vhat I 
 mean ? Heathen, pull off the mask ! Thou hast never put on Christ ! 
 Stand barefaced ! Look up to heaven ; and own before Him that liveth 
 for ever and ever, thou hast no part, either among the sons or servants 
 of God ! 
 
 Whosoever thou art : dost thou commit sin, or dost thou not ? If 
 thou dost, is it willingly, or unwillingly ? In either case God hath told 
 thee whose thou art : " He that committeth sin is of the devil." If 
 thou committest it willingly, thou art his faithful servant : he will not 
 fail to reward thy labour. If unwillingly ; still thou art his servant 
 God deliver thee out of his hands ! 
 
 Art thou daily fighting against all sin ? and daily more than con- 
 queror ? I acknowledge thee for a child of God. Oh stand fast in thy 
 glorious liberty ! Art thou fighting, but not .conquering 1 striving foi 
 the mastery, but not able to attain ? Then ihou art not yet a believer 
 in Christ ; but follow on, and thou shalt know the Lord. Art thou not 
 "ighting at all, but leading an easy, indolent, fashionable life ? Oh how 
 hast thou dared to name the name of Christ, only to make it a reproach 
 among the heathen 1 Awake, thou sleeper ! Call upon thy God, before 
 the deep swallow thee up ! 
 
 2. Perhaps one reason why so many think of themselves more highly 
 than they ought to think, why they do not discern what state they are 
 in, is, because these several states of soul are often mingled together, 
 and in some measure meet in one and the same person. Thus expe- 
 rience shows, that the legal state, or state of fear, is frequently mixed 
 with the natural ; for few men are so fast asleep in sin, but they are 
 sometimes, more or less, awakened. As the Spirit of God does not
 
 SERMON IX.] SPIRIT OF BONDAGE AND ADOPTION. 89 
 
 " wait for the call of man," so, at some times, he will be heard. He 
 puts them in fear, so that, for a season at least, the heathen " know 
 themselves to be but men." They feel the burden of sin, and earnestly 
 desire to flee from the wrath to come. But not long : they seldom suffer 
 the arrows of conviction to go deep into their souls ; but quickly stifle 
 the grace of God, and return to their wallowing in the mire. 
 
 In like manner, the evangelical state, or state of love, is frequently 
 mixed with the legal. For few of those who have the spirit of bondage 
 and fear, remain always without hope. The wise and gracious God 
 rarely suffers this : " for he remembereth that we are but dust ;" and 
 he willeth not that " the flesh should fail before him, or the spirit which 
 he hath made." Therefore, at such times as he seeth good, he gives a 
 dawning of light unto them that sit in darkness. He causes a part of 
 his goodness to pass before them, and shows that he is a " God that 
 heareth the prayer." They see the promise, which is by faith in Christ 
 Jesus, though it be yet afar off; and hereby they are encouraged to 
 " run with patience the race which is set before them." 
 
 3. Another reason why many deceive themselves, is, because they 
 do not consider how far a man may go, and yet be in a natural, or, at 
 best, a legal state. A man may be of a compassionate and a benevo- 
 lent temper; he may be affable, courteous, generous, friendly; he may 
 have some degree of meekness, patience, temperance, and of many 
 other moral virtues. He may feel many desires of shaking ofl'all vice, 
 and of attaining higher degrees of virtue. He may abstain from much 
 evil ; perhaps from all that is grossly contrary to justice, mercy, or 
 truth. He may do much good, may feed the hungry, clothe the naked, 
 relieve the widow and fatherless. He may attend public worship, use 
 prayer in private, read many books of devotion ; and yet for all this, he 
 may be a mere natural man, knowing neither himself nor God ; equally 
 a stranger to the spirit of fear and to that of love ; having neither 
 repented, nor believed the gospel. 
 
 But suppose there were added to all this a deep conviction of sin, 
 with much fear of the wrath of God ; vehement desires to cast off every 
 sin, and to fulfil all righteousness; frequent rejoicing in hope, and 
 touches of love often glancing upon the soul ; yet neither do these prove 
 a man to be under grace, to have true, living, Christian faith, unless 
 the Spirit of adoption abide in his heart, unless he can continually cry, 
 " Abba, Father !" 
 
 4. Beware then, thou who art called by the name of Christ, that thou 
 come not short of the mark of thy high calling. Beware thou rest not, 
 either in a natural state, with too many that are accounted good Chris- 
 tians ; or fn a legal state, wherein those who are highly esteemed ol 
 men, are generally content to live and die. Nay, but God hath prepared 
 bolter things for thee, if thou follow on till thou attain. Thou art not 
 called to fear and tremble, like devils, but to rejoice and love, like the 
 angels of God. " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." 
 Thou shalt " rejoice evermore ;" thou shalt " pray without ceasing ;" 
 thou shalt " in every thing give thanks." Thou shalt do tht, will of 
 God on earth as it is done in heaven. Oh prove thou " what is that 
 good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God." Now present thyself 
 " a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God." *' Whereunto thou hast
 
 90 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMONS X AND XI. 
 
 already attained, hold fast," by reaching forth unto those things 
 which are before ; until " the God of peace make thee perfect in 
 every good work, working in thee that which is well pleasing in 
 his sight, through Jesus Ciirist : to whom be glory for ever and 
 ever ! Ainen 1 " 
 
 SERMONS X. AND XL The Witness of the Spirit. 
 
 ANALYSIS I. 
 
 THE mistakes of enthusiasm on this subject. The mistakes 
 of reason in the opposite direction. 
 I. The nature of the witness. 
 
 1. Of our own spirit. It must not supplant the testimony 
 of God's Spirit. Its foundation is laid in the sculptural marks 
 of the child of God. Conscience testifies that we have these 
 marks. Hence assurance that we are children of God. 
 
 2. Of God's Spirit. "An inward impression on the soul, 
 whereby the Spirit of God directly witnesses to my spirit, 
 that I am a child of God ; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, 
 and given himself for me ; and that all my sins are blotted 
 out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God." 
 
 This testimony of God's Spirit precedes that of our own 
 spirit. The Spirit of God operates, even in the testimony of 
 our own spirit. 
 
 The full assurance is as certain as the truth of Scripture, 
 and the self-evidence of our own conscience ; but based upon 
 a divine evidence communicated super naturally. 
 
 II. How can this joint testimony be distinguished from the 
 presumption of a natural mind, and from the delusion of the 
 devil. 
 
 1. By its antecedents, conviction of sin, and repentance. 
 
 2. By the accompanying change. The true witness is 
 followed by humility ; delusion by pride. The true brings 
 fruits of holiness, the false indulges sin. 
 
 3. To conscience rightly disposed the true witness is self- 
 evidencing.
 
 SERMON X AND XI. | WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 91 
 
 4. The consciousness of the fruits in the testimony of our 
 own spirit assures us that we have not mistaken the voice of 
 the Divine Spirit. 
 
 ANALYSIS II. 
 
 I. THE importance of the doctrine. Danger of enthusiasm 
 and formality. The peculiar testimony of Methodism. 
 
 II. What is the witness of the Spirit. A testimony given 
 by the Spirit, to the fact of our sonship, followed by the 
 fruits. Definition repeated, with addition of the word im- 
 mediately. 
 
 Not by an outward voice ; nor always by an inward voice ; 
 nor always by a passage of Scripture ; but in his own way 
 producing clear satisfaction that God is reconciled. 
 
 All are agreed that tl.ere is a witness, that there is an 
 indirect witness, and that the witness is never without the 
 fruits. But some question whether there be a direct witness 
 of the Spirit ? 
 
 III. Proof that there is a direct witness. 
 
 1. From the plain sense of Scripture, Kom, viii. 16 and 
 also 15 ; Gal. iv. 6. 
 
 2. From the necessity of the case. 
 
 3. From the experience of God's children. 
 
 IV. Objections. 
 
 1. To the proof from experience. A. This only confirms 
 Scripture. At times the only means of assurance. 
 
 2. It does not prove the genuineness of our profession. 
 A. It is not given to assure others, but ourselves, and pre- 
 cedes all profession. 
 
 3. The " Holy Spirit " and " good gifts " are identical. A. 
 This is irrelevant. 
 
 4 The Scripture refers to the fruits, &c. A. Certainly, but 
 does not deny direct witness. 
 
 5. It does not secure us from delusion. A. The combined 
 testimony does. 
 
 6. It is not unnecessary. 7. False professors should not 
 discredit it. 
 
 V. Summary. Two practical inferences.
 
 92 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMON X. AND XI. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 Mr. Wesley considered the doctrine of assurance, and especially that 
 of the direct witness, to be of supreme importance. While not asserting 
 that assurance was necessary to the Divine favour or to final salvation in 
 those who are ignorant of the Gospel privilege, he considers that it is so 
 to all to whom it is preached ; and that inward and outward holiness 
 cannot be attained without it. This doctrine he first learned from the 
 Moravians, especially the fact that this assurance may be communicated 
 in a moment. Of the Scriptural authority of this teaching he soon 
 satisfied himself, and, a few weeks after, he had the satisfaction of proving 
 it in his own experience. 
 
 In the subsequent conflicts of Methodism, no doctrine was more con- 
 troverted than this one of a direct assurance by the Holy Spirit, 
 received instantaneously. The doctrine of assurance was not denied. 
 But it was denied that this assurance was other than a reasonable con- 
 clusion, drawn from observation and consciousness of the fruits of 
 regeneration. It was specially denied that it was the result of an 
 immediate or direct divine communication, and that it was instantaneously 
 given. This controversy seems to have led Mr. Wesley to a more than 
 xisually exhaustive and careful investigation of this subject. He tells 
 us " I am acquainted with more than twelve or thirteen hundred per- 
 sons, whom I believe to be truly pious, and not on slight grounds, and 
 who have severally testified to me with their own mouths that they do 
 know the day when the love of God was first shed abroad in their hearts, 
 and when his Spirit first witnessed with their spirits, that they were the 
 children of God." This shows us how strong to Mr. Wesley's own 
 mind was the argument from " the experience of Christians." In reply 
 to the objection of his opponents we find him quoting the following 
 Christian writers as attesting the same doctrine : Chrysostom, Origen, 
 Athanasius, and Augustine; the passages from the two last writers being 
 particularly explicit and strong. Again, he refers to the testimony of 
 St. Bernard, and to that of Luther and Malancthon, on the same point ; 
 and finally he quotes, in the " Farther Appeal," at large from the Liturgy 
 and Homilies of the Church of England, as well as from Bishop Pearson 
 and others in defence of his doctrine. These and other quotations will 
 be found in full in Prests' Treatise on the Witness of the Spirit. These 
 investigations made it evident to Mr. Wesley *and to all his followers, 
 that the doctrine of a direct witness of the Holy Spirit has been a part 
 of the faith of the most holy of God's people in all ages. 
 
 One of the most difficult points in the definition of the direct witness, 
 is the distinction between the act of faith and the witness. Mr. Wesley 
 held that faith had in itself something of the Divine assurance. All his 
 definitions of faith given in the preceding sermons imply this. Yet, he 
 admits in one of his controversial letters, that " a conviction that we 
 are justified cannot be implied in justifying faith." Perhaps his clearest 
 statement on this point is to be found in the doctrinal minutes already 
 quoted : " A sinner is convinced by the Holy Ghost, t ' Christ loved me, 
 and gave himself for me.' This is that faith by which* he is justified or 
 pardoned, the moment he receives it. Immediately the same Spirit 
 bears witness, ' Thou art pardoned ; thou hast redemption in his bloo'l.' 
 And this is saving faith whereby the love of God is shed abroad in his 
 heart." From this and other like passages we may deduce the following 
 summary : 
 
 1. Faith has in it divine assurance, and all assurance springs from 
 God-given faith.
 
 SERMONS X. AND XI.] WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 93 
 
 2. Justifying faith is a personal divine assurance of the provision of 
 salvation in Christ for me. 
 
 3. The witness is personal divine assurance of the possession of that 
 salvation by me. 
 
 4. Abiding saving faith grows out of and includes the witness, as the 
 justifying act of faith preceded it. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 " The Spirit itself heareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children 
 of God." Rom. viii. 16. 
 
 1. How many vain men, not understanding what they spake, neither 
 whereof they affirmed, have wrested this scripture to the great loss, if 
 not Uie destruction, of their souls ? How many have mistaken the voice 
 of their own imagination for this " witness of the Spirit of God," and 
 thence idly presumed, they were the children of God, while they were 
 doing the works of the devil ? These are truly and properly enthusiasts ; 
 and, indeed, in the worst sense of the word. But with what difficulty 
 are they convinced thereof, especially, if they have drank deep into that 
 spirit of error ! All endeavours to bring them into the knowledge of 
 themselves, they will then account fighting against God ; and that 
 vehemence and impetuosity of spirit, which they call "contending 
 earnestly for the faith," sets them so far above all the usual methods of 
 conviction, that we may well say, " with men it is impossible." 
 
 2. Who can then be surprised, if many reasonable men, seeing the 
 dreadful effects of this delusion, and labouring to keep at the utmost 
 distance from it, should sometimes lean towards another extreme ? II 
 they are not forward to believe any who speak of having this witness, 
 concerning which others hai r e so grievously erred ? If they are almost 
 ready to set all down for enthusiasts, who use the expressions which 
 have been so terribly abused ? Yea, if they should question, whether 
 the witness or testimony here spoken of, be the privilege of ordinary 
 Christians, and not rather, one of those extraordinary gifts, which they 
 suppose belonged only to the apostolic age. 
 
 3. But is there any necessity laid upon us, of running either into one 
 extreme or the other ? May we not steer a middle course, keep a 
 sufficient distance from the spirit of eiror and enthusiasm, without 
 denying the gift of God, and giving up the great privilege of his chil- 
 dren ? Surely we may. In order thereto, let us consider in the presence 
 and fear of God, 
 
 First, What is this witness or testimony of our spirit ; what is the 
 testimony of God's Spirit ; and, how does he " bear witness with our 
 spirit that we are the children of God ?" 
 
 Secondly, How is this joint testimony of God's Spirit and our own, 
 clearly and solidly distinguished from the presumption of a natural 
 mind, and from the delusion of the devil ? 
 
 I. 1. Let us first consider, What is the witness or testimony of oui 
 spirit. But here I cannot but desire all those who are for swallowing 
 up the testimony of the Spirit of God, in the rational testimony of out 
 own spirit, to observe, that in this text the apostle is so far from speak 
 ing of the testimony of our own spirit only, that it may be questioned
 
 94 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMONS X. AND XI. 
 
 whether he speaks of it at all, whether he does not speak only of the 
 testimony of God's Spirit 1 It does not appear, but the original text 
 may be fairly understood thus. The apostle had just said, in the pre- 
 ceding verse, "Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we 
 cry, Abba, Father ;" and immediately subjoins, AUTO TO Tveu/xa (some 
 copies read, TO OCUTO TVSUJLUX) tfufifjuapTupsi TCJ *vsu,acyTi v^awv, OTI stf/xsv <rexvor 
 G>ex : which may be translated, " The same Spirit beareth witne?.'- to 
 our spirit, that we are the children of God." (The preposition auv only 
 denoting, that he witnesses this at the same time that he enables us to 
 cry, Abba, Father.) But I contend not ; seeing so many other texts, 
 with the experience of all real Christians, sufficiently evince, that there 
 is in every believer, both the testimony of God's Spirit, and the testi- 
 mony of his own, that he is a child of God. 
 
 2. With regard to the latter, the foundation thereof is laid in those 
 numerous texts of Scripture, which describe the marks of the children 
 of God, and that so plainly, that he which runneth may read them. 
 These are also collected together, and placed in the strongest light, by 
 many both ancient and modern writers. If any need farther light, he 
 may receive it by attending on the ministry of God's word ; by medi- 
 tating thereon before God in secret ; and by conversing with those who 
 have the knowledge of his ways. And by the reason or understanding 
 that God has given him, which religion was designed not to extinguish, 
 but to perfect ; according to that of the apostle, " Brethren, be not 
 children in understanding ; in malice [or wickedness] be ye children ; 
 but in understanding be ye men ;" 1 Cor. xiv, 20 ; every man apply- 
 ing those scriptural marks to himself, may know whether he is a child 
 of God. Thus, if he know, first, " As many as are led by the Spirit oi 
 God," into all holy tempers and actions, " they are the sons of God ;' 
 (for which he has the infallible assurance of holy writ ;) secondly, J 
 am thus " led by the Spirit of God ;" he will easily conclude, there- 
 fore I am a son of God. 
 
 3. Agreeable to this are all those plain declarations of St. John in 
 his first epistle; " Hereby we know, that we do know him, if we keep 
 his commandments," chap, ii, 3. " Whoso keepeth his word, in him 
 verily is the love of God perfected : hereby know we that we are in 
 him ;" that we are indeed the children of God, ver. 5. " If ye know 
 that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness 
 is born of him," ver. 29. " We know that we have passed from death 
 unto life, because we love the brethren," chap, iii, 14. " Hereby we 
 know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him," 
 ver. 19 ; namely, because we " love one another, not in word, neither 
 in tongue; but in deed and in truth." "Hereby we know that we 
 dwell in him, because he hath given us of his [loving] Spirit," chap 
 iv, 13 And, " Hereby we know that he abideth in us by the [obedient] 
 Spim which he hath given us," chap, iii, 24. 
 
 4. It is highly probable, there never were any children of God, 
 from the beginning of the world unto this day, who were farther 
 advanced in the grace of God, and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, than the apostle John at the time when he wrote these words, and 
 the fathers in Christ to whom he wrote. Notwithstanding which, it is 
 evident, both the apostle himself, and all those pillars in God's temple, 
 were very far from despising these marks of their being the children o/
 
 SEHMOXS X AND XI.] WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 95 
 
 God ; and that they applied them to their own souls for the confirmation 
 of their faith. Yet all this is no other than rational evidence, the 
 witness*of our spirit, our reason or understanding. It all resolves into 
 this : Those who have these marks are the children of God : but we 
 have these marks : therefore we are children of God. 
 
 5. But how does it appear that we have these marks 7 This is a 
 question which still remains. How does it appear that we do love God 
 and our neighbour, and that we keep his commandments? Observe, 
 that the meaning of the question is, How does it appear to ourselves J 
 (ncH to others.) I would ask him, then, that proposes this question, 
 How does it appear to you, that you are alive ? And that you are now 
 in ease, and not in pain ? Are you not immediately conscious of it 1 By 
 the same immediate consciousness, you will know if your soul is alive 
 to God ; if you are saved from the pain of proud wrath, and have the 
 ease of a meek and quiet spirit. By the same means you cannot but 
 perceive if you love, rejoice, and delight in God. By the same you 
 must be directly assured, if you love your neighbour as yourself; if 
 you are kindly affectioned to all mankind, and full of gentleness and 
 long suffering. And with regard to the outward mark of the children 
 of God, which is, according to St. John, the keeping his command- 
 ments, you undoubtedly know in your own breast, if, by the grace of 
 God, it belongs to you. Your conscience informs you, from day to 
 day, if you do not take the name of God within your lips, unless with 
 seriousness and devotion, with reverence and godly fear ; if you 
 remember the sabbath day to keep it holy ; if you honour your father 
 and mother ; if you do to all as you would they should do unto you ; if 
 you possess your body in sanctification and honour ; and if, whether you 
 eat or drink, you are temperate therein, and do all to the glory of God. 
 
 6. Now this is properly the testimony of our own spirit ; even the 
 testimony of our own conscience, that God hath given us to be holy of 
 heart, and holy in outward conversation. It is a consciousness of our 
 having received, in and by the spirit of adoption, the tempers mentioned 
 in the word of God, as belonging to his adopted children ; even a loving 
 heart towards God, and towards all mankind ; hanging with childlike 
 confidence on God our Father, desiring nothing but him, casting all 
 our care upon him, and embracing every child of man with earnest, 
 tender affection ; so as to be ready to lay down our life for our brother, 
 as Christ laid down his life for us: a consciousness, that we are inwardly 
 conformed, by the Spirit of God, to the image of his Son, and that we 
 walk before him in justice, mercy, and truth, doing the things which are 
 pleasing in his sight. 
 
 7. But what is that testimony of God's Spirit, which is superadded 
 to and conjoined with this 7 How does he " bear witness with om 
 spirit that we are the children of God 7" It is hard to find words in the 
 language of men to explain " the deep things of God." Indeed, there 
 are none that will adequately express what the children of God expe- 
 rience. But perhaps one might say, (desiring any who are taught of 
 God, to correct, to soften, or strengthen the expression,) the testimony 
 of the Spirit is an inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of 
 God directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child of God ; that Jesus 
 Christ hath loved me, and given himself for me ; and that all my sins 
 are blotted out, and 1, even I, am reconciled to God.
 
 96 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMONS X. AND XI. 
 
 8. That this testimony of the Spirit of God must needs, in the very 
 nature of things, be antecedent to the testimony of our own spirit, may 
 appear from this single consideration : we must be holy of heart, and 
 holy in life, before we can be conscious that we are so ; before we can 
 have the testimony of our spirit that we are inwardly and outwardly 
 holy. But we must love God. before ve can be holy at all ; this being 
 the root of all holiness. Now we cannot love God, till we know he loves 
 us " We love him, because he first loved us." And we cannot know 
 his pardoning love to us, till his Spirit witnesses it to our spirit. Since, 
 therefore, this testimony of his Spirit must precede the love of God and 
 all holiness, of consequence it must precede our inward consciousness 
 thereof, or the testimony of our spirit concerning them. 
 
 9. Then, and not till then when the Spirit of God beareth that 
 witness to our spirit, " God hath loved thee, and given his own Son to 
 be the propitiation for thy sins ; the Son of God hath loved thee, and 
 hath washed thee from thy sins in his blood ;" " we love God, because 
 he first loved us ;"and, for his sake, we love, our brother also. And of 
 this we cannot but be conscious to ourselves : we " know the things 
 that are freely given to us of God." We know that we love God and keep 
 his commandments ; and " hereby also we know that we are of God." 
 This is that testimony of our own spirit, which, so long as we continue 
 to love God and keep his commandments, continues joined with the 
 lestimony of God's Spirit, " that we are the children of God." 
 
 10. Not that I would by any means be understood, by any thing 
 which has been spoken 'concerning it, to exclude the operation of the 
 Spirit of God, even from the testimony of our own spirit. In no wise. 
 It is he that not only worketh in us every manner of thing that is good, 
 but also shines upon his own work, and clearly shows what he has 
 wrought. Accordingly, this is spoken of by St. Paul, as one great end 
 of our receiving the Spirit, " That we may know the things which are 
 freely given to us of God :" that he may strengthen the testimony oi 
 our conscience, touching our " simplicity and godly sincerity ;" and 
 give us to discern, in a fuller and stronger light, that we now do the 
 things which please him. 
 
 11. Should it still be inquired, How does the Spirit of God "bear 
 witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," so as to 
 exclude all doubt, and evince the reality of our sonship, the answer is 
 clear from what has been observed above. And first, as to the witness 
 of our spirit : The soul as intimately and evidently perceives when it 
 loves, delights, and rejoices in God, as when it loves and delights in 
 any thing on earth. And it can no more doubt, whether it loves, 
 delights, and rejoices or no, than whether it exists or no. If, therefore, 
 this be just reasoning, 
 
 Fie that now loves God, that delights and rejoices in him with an 
 humble joy, and holy delight, and an obedient love, is a child of God : 
 
 But I thus love, delight, and rejoice in God ; 
 
 Therefore, I am a child of God : 
 
 Then a Christian can in no wise doubt of his being a child of God. Of 
 the former proposition he has as full an assurance as he has that the 
 Scriptures am of God ; and of his thus loving God, he has an inward 
 proof, which M nothing short of self evidence. Thus, the testimony of 
 our own spirit is with the most intimate conviction manifested to onr
 
 SERMONS X. AND XI.] WITNESS OF THE SPIBIT. 97 
 
 hearts, in such a manner, as beyond all reasonable doubt to evince the 
 reality of our sonship. 
 
 12. The manner how the divine testimony is manifested to the heart, 
 f do not take upon me to explain. Such knowledge is too wonderful 
 and excellent for me : I cannot attain unto it. The wind bloweth, and 
 I hear the sound thereof; but I cannot tell how it cometh, or whither 
 it goeth. As no one knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of a 
 man that is in him ; so the manner of the things of God knoweth no 
 one, save the Spirit of God. But the fact we know ; namely, that the 
 Spirit of God does give a believer such a testimony of his adoption, that 
 while it is present to the soul, he can no more doubt the reality of his 
 sonship, than he can doubt of the shining of the sun, while he stands 
 in the full blaze of his beams. 
 
 II. 1. How this joint testimony of God's Spirit and our spirit, may 
 be clearly and solidly distinguished from the presumption of a natural 
 mind, and from the delusion of the devil, is the next thing to be con 
 sidered. And it highly imports all who desire the salvation of God, to 
 consider it with the deepest attention, as they would not deceive their 
 own souls. An error in this is generally observed to have the most fatal 
 consequences ; the rather, because he that errs, seldom discovers hie 
 mistake, till it is too late to remedy it. 
 
 2. And first, how is this testimony to be distinguished from the pro 
 sumption of a natural mind ? It is certain, one who wus never con- 
 vinced of sin, is always ready to flatter himself, and to think of himself, 
 especially in spiritual things, more highly than he ought to think. 
 And hence, it is in no wise strange, if one, who is vainly puffed up by 
 his fleshly mind, when he hears of this privilege of true Christians, 
 among whom he undoubtedly ranks himself, should soon work himself 
 up into a persuasion that he is already possessed thereof. Such in- 
 stances now abound in the world, and have abounded in all ages, flow 
 then may the real testimony of the Spirit with our spirit, be distin 
 guished from this damning presumption ? 
 
 3. I answer, the Holy Scriptures aoound with marks, whereby the 
 one may be distinguished from the other. They describe, in the 
 plainest manner, the circumstances which go before, which accompany, 
 and which follow, the true, genuine testimony of the Spirit of God with 
 the spirit of a believer. Whoever carefully weighs and attends to these 
 will not need to put darkness for light. He will perceive so wide a 
 difference, with respect to all these, between the real and the pretended 
 witness of the Spirit, that there will be no danger, I might say, no pos- 
 sibility, of confounding the one with the other. 
 
 4. By these, one who vainly presumes on the gift of God might surely 
 know, if he really desired it, that he hath been hitherto " given up to a 
 strong delusion," and suffered to believe a lie. For the Scriptures lay 
 down those clear, obvious marks, as preceding, accompanying, and 
 following that gift, which a little reflection would convince him, beyond 
 all doubt, were never found in his soul. For instance, the Scripture 
 describes repentance, or conviction of sin, as constantly going before 
 this witness of pardon. So, "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at 
 hand," Matt, iii, 2. " Repent ye, and believe the gospel," Mark i, 15. 
 " Repent, and be baptized every one of you, for the remission of sins," 
 Acts ii, 38. " Repent ve therefore and be converted, that your sins
 
 98 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMONS X. AND XI. 
 
 may be blotted out," Acts iii, 19. In conformity whereto, onr church 
 also continually places repentance before pardon, or the witness of it. 
 " He pardoneth and absolveth ail them that truly repent, and unfeign 
 ediy believe his holy gospel," " Almighty God hath promised for- 
 giveness of sins to all them, who, with hearty repentance and true faith, 
 turn unto him." But he is a stranger even to this repentance : he hath 
 never known a broken and a contrite heart : " the remembrance of his 
 sins'' was never " grievous unto him," nor " the burden of them 
 intolerable." In repeating those words, he never meant what he said ; 
 he merely paid a compliment to God. And were it only from the want 
 of this previous work of God, he hath too great reason to believe, that 
 lie hath grasped a mere shadow, and never yet known the real privilege 
 of the sons of God. 
 
 5. Again, the Scriptures describe the being born of God, which must 
 precede the witness that we are his children, as a vast and mighty 
 change ; a change " from darkness to light," as well as " from the 
 power of Satan unto God ;" as a " passing from death unto life," a 
 resurrection from the dead. Thus the apostle to the Ephesians ; " You 
 hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins,"' chap, ii, 1 
 And again," When we were dead in sins, he hath quickened us together 
 with Christ ; and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together 
 in heavenly places in Christ Jesus," ver. 5, 6. But what knoweth he, 
 concerning whom we now speak, of any such change as this 1 He is 
 altogether unacquainted with this v/hole matter. This is a language 
 which he does not understand. He tells you, " He always was a Chris 
 tian. He knows no time when he had need of such a change." By 
 this also, if he give himself leave to think, may he know, that he is not 
 born of the Spirit ; that he has never yet known God ; but has mistaken 
 the voice of nature for the voice of God. 
 
 (i. But waiving the consideration of whatever he has or has not ex- 
 perienced in time past ; by the present marks may we easily distinguish 
 a child of God from a presumptuous self deceiver. The Scriptures 
 describe that joy in the Lord which accompanies the witness of his 
 Spirit, as an humble joy, a joy that abases to the dust ; that makes a par- 
 doned sinner cry out, " I am vile ! What am I, or my father's house ? 
 Now mine eye seeth Thee, 1 abhor myself in dust and ashes !" And 
 wherever lowliness is, there is meekness, patience, gentleness, long 
 suffering. There is a soft, yielding spirit ; a mildness and sweetness, 
 a tenderness of soul, which words cannot express. But do these fruits 
 attend that supposed testimony of the Spirit, in a presumptuous man ? 
 Just the reverse. The more confident he is of the favour of God, the 
 more is he lifted up ; the more does he exalt himself; the more haughty 
 and assuming is his whole behaviour. The stronger witness he ima- 
 gines himself to have, the more overbearing is he to all around him ; 
 the more incapable of receiving any reproof; the more impatient of 
 contradiction. Instead of being more meek, and gentle, and teachable, 
 more " swift, to hear, and slow to speak," he is more slow to hear, and 
 swift to speak ; more unready to learn of any one ; more fiery and 
 vehement in his temper, and eager in his conversation. Yea, perhaps, 
 there will sometimes appear a kind of fierceness in his air, his manner 
 of speaking, his whole deportment, as if he were just going to take the 
 matter out of God's hands, and himself to " devour the adversaries.
 
 SKRMONS X. AND XI.] WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 99 
 
 7. Once more : the Scriptures teach, " This is the love of God," the 
 sure mark thereof, "that we keep his commandments," 1 John v, 3. 
 And our Lord himself saith, " He that keepeth my commandments, he 
 it is that loveth me," John xiv, 21. Love rejoices to obey; to do, in 
 every point, whatever is acceptable to the Beloved. A true lover of 
 God hastens to do his will on earth as it is done in heaven. But is thia 
 the character of the presumptuous pretender to the love of God ? Nay 
 but his love gives him a liberty to disobey, to break, not keep, the com- 
 mandments of God. Perhaps, when he was in fear of the wrath of God, 
 he did labour to do his will. But now, looking on himself as " not 
 under the law," he thinks he is no longer obliged to observe it. He is 
 therefore less zealous of good works ; less careful to abstain from evil ; 
 less watchful over his own heart ; less jealous over his tongue. He is 
 less earnest to deny himself, and to take up his cross daily. In a word, 
 the whole form of his life is changed, since he has fancied himself to be 
 at liberty. He is no longer " exercising himself unto godliness ;" 
 " wrestling not only with flesh and blood, but with principalities and 
 powers," enduring hardships, " agonizing to enter in at the strait gate." 
 No ; he has found an easier way to heaven ; a broad, smooth, flowery 
 path ^ in which he can say to his soul, " Soul, take thy ease ; eat, drink, 
 and be merry." It follows with undeniable evidence, that he has not 
 the true testimony of his own spirit. He cannot be conscious of having 
 those marks which he hath not ; that lowliness, meekness, and obedi- 
 ence : nor yet can the Spirit of the God of Truth bear witness to a lie ; 
 or testify that he is a child of God, when he is manifestly a child of 
 the devil. 
 
 8. Discover thyself, thou poor self-deceiver! thou who art confident 
 of being a child of God ; thou who sayest, " 1 have the witness iu myself," 
 and therefore defiest all thy enemies. Thou art weighed in the balance 
 and found wanting ; even in the balance of the sanctuary. The word 
 of the Lord hath tried thy soul, and proved thee to be reprobate silver. 
 Thou art not lowly of heart ; therefore thou hast not received the Spirit 
 of Jesus unto this day. Thou art not gentle and meek ; therefore thy 
 joy is nothing worth : it is not joy in the Lord. Thou dost not keep 
 his commandments ; therefore thou lovest him not, neither art thou par- 
 taker of the Holy Ghost. It is consequently as certain and as evident 
 as the oracles of God can make it, his Spirit does not bear witness with 
 thy spirit that thou art a child of God. Oh cry unto him that the scales 
 may fall offthine eyes ; that thou mayest know thyself as thou art known ; 
 that thou mayest receive the sentence of death in thyself, till thou hear 
 the voice that raises the dead, saying, " Be of good cheer : thy sins are 
 forgiven ; thy faith hath made thee whole." 
 
 9. " But how may one who has the real witness in himself distinguish 
 it from presumption ?" How, I pray, do you distinguish day from night? 
 How do you distinguish light from darkness ; or the light of a star, or 
 a glimmering taper, from the light of the noonday sun ? Is there not 
 an inherent, obvious, essential difference between the one and the other? 
 And do you not immediately and directly perceive that difference, pro- 
 vided your senses are rightly disposed ? In like manner, there is an 
 inherent, essential difference between spiritual light and spiritual dark- 
 ness ; and between the light wherewith the Sun of righteousness shines 
 upon our heart, and that glimmering light which arises only from " sparks
 
 100 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMONS X. AND XI. 
 
 of our own kindling:" and this difference also is immediately and di'^ct- 
 ly perceived if our spiritual senses are rightly disposed. 
 
 10. To require a more minute and philosophical account of the man 
 ner whereby we distinguish these, and of frhe criteria, or intrinsic marks, 
 whereby we know the voice of God, is tj> make a demand which can 
 never be answered ; no, not by one who has the deepest knowledge of 
 God. Suppose when Paul answered before Agrippa, the wise Roman 
 had said, " Thou talkest of hearing the voice of the Son of God. How 
 dost thou know it was his voice ? By what criteria, what intrinsic marks, 
 dost thou know the voice of God 1 Explain to me the manner of distin- 
 guishing this from a human or angelic voice 1" Can you believe, the 
 apostle himself would have once attempted to answer so idle a demand ? 
 And yet, doubtless, the moment he heard that voice, he knew it was the 
 voice of God. But how he knew this, who is able to explain? Perhaps 
 neither man nor angel. 
 
 1 1. To come yet closer : suppose God were now to speak to any soul, 
 " Thy sins are forgiven thee," he must be willing that soul should 
 know his voice : otherwise he would speak in vain. And he is able to 
 effect this ; for, whenever he wills, to do is present with him. And he 
 does effect it : that soul is absolutely assured, " this voice is the voice 
 of God." But yet he who hath that witness in himself, cannot explain 
 it to one who hath it not : nor indeed is it to be expected that he should. 
 Were there any natural medium to prove, or natural method to explain, 
 the things of God to unexperienced men, then the natural man might 
 discern and know the things of the Spirit of God. But this is utterly 
 contrary to the assertion of the apostle, that " he cannot know them, 
 because they are spiritually discerned ;" even by spiritual senses, which 
 the natural man hath not. 
 
 12. " But how shall I know that my spiritual senses are rightly dis 
 posed 1" This also is a question of vast importance ; for if a man mis- 
 take in this, he may run on in endless error and delusion. " And how 
 am I assured that this is not my case ; and that I do not mistake the voice 
 of the Spirit 1" Even by the testimony of your own spirit ; by " the an- 
 swer of a good conscience towards God." By the fruits which he hath 
 wrought in your spirit, you shall know the testimony of the Spirit of God. 
 Hereby you shall know, that you are in no delusion, that you have not 
 deceived your own soul. The immediate fruits of the Spirit, ruling in 
 the heart, are " love, joy, peace, bowels of mercies, humbleness of mind, 
 meekness, gentleness, long suffering." And the outward fruits are, the 
 doing good to all men ; the doing no evil to any ; and the walking in the 
 light, a zealous, uniform obedience to all the commandments of God. 
 
 13. By the same fruits shall you distinguish this voice of God, from 
 any delusion of the devil. That proud spirit cannot humble thee befon; 
 God. He neither can nor would soften thy heart, and melt it first into 
 earnest mourning after God, and then into filial love. It is not the 
 adversary of God and man, that enables thee to love thy neighbour ; or 
 to put on meekness, gentleness, patience, temperance, and the whole 
 armour of God. He is not divided against himself, or a destroyer of siu, 
 his own work. No ; it is none but the Son of God who cometh " to 
 destroy the works of the devil." As surely therefore as holiness is of 
 (Jod, and as sin is the work of the devil, so surely the witness thou hasi 
 in thyself is not of Satan, but ol God.
 
 SERMONS X. AND XI.] WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 101 
 
 14. Well then mayest thou say, " Thanks be unto God for his 
 unspeakable gift !" Thanks be unto God, who giveth me to " know in 
 whom I have believed ;" who hath " sent forth the Spirit of Ins Son 
 into my heart, crying, Abba, Father," and even now, " bearing witness 
 with my spirit that I am a child of God !" And see, that not only thy 
 lips, but thy life, show forth his praise. He hath sealed thee for his 
 own ; glorify him then in thy body and thy spirit, which are his. Be. 
 Joved, if thou hast this hope in thyself, purify thyself as he is pure. 
 Whiie thou beholdest what manner of love the Father hath given thee, 
 that thou shouldest be called a child of God ; cleanse thyself" from all 
 filthincss of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God ;" and 
 let all thy thoughts, words, and works be a spiritual sacrifice, holy, 
 acceptable to God through Christ Jesus ! 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children 
 of God." Horn. viii. 16. 
 
 1. 1. NONE who believe the Scriptures to be the word of God, can 
 doubt the importance of such a truth as this ; a truth revealed therein, 
 not once only, not obscurely, not incidentally ; but frequently, and that 
 in express terms ; but solemnly and of set purpose, as denoting one of 
 the peculiar privileges of the children of God. 
 
 2. And it is the more necessary to explain and defend this truth, 
 because there is a danger on the right hand and on the left. If we 
 deny it, there is a danger lest our religion degenerate into mere formality : 
 lest, " having a form of godliness," we neglect, if not " deny the power 
 of it." If we allow it, but do not understand what we allow, we are 
 liable to run into all the wildness of enthusiasm. It is therefore needful, 
 in the highest degree, to guard those who fear God from both these 
 dangers, by a scriptural and rational illustration and confirmation of 
 this momentous truth. 
 
 3. It may seem, something of this kind is the more needful, because 
 so little has been wrote on the subject with any clearness ; unless some 
 discourses on the wrong side of the question, which explain it quite 
 away. And it cannot be doubted, but these were occasioned at least 
 in a great measure, by the crude, unscriptural, irrational explication of 
 others, who " knew not what they spake, nor whereof they affirmed." 
 
 4. It more nearly concerns the Methodists, so called, clearly to under- 
 stand, explain, and defend this doctrine ; because it is one grand part 
 of the testimony, wbich God has given them to bear to all mankind. It 
 is by his peculiar blessing upon them in searching the Scriptures, con- 
 firmed by the experience of his children, that this great evangelical 
 truth has been recovered, which had been for many years well nigh lost 
 and forgotten. 
 
 II. 1. But what is the witness of the Spirit? The original word 
 (xaprvpia, may be rendered either (as it is in several places) the witness, 
 or less ambiguously, the testimony, or the record: so it is rendered in 
 'our translation, 1 John v, 11, " This is the record," [the testimony, the 
 sum of what God testifies in all the inspired writings,] " that God hath
 
 102 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMONS X. AND XI. 
 
 given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 1 ' The testimony 
 now under consideration is given by the Spirit of God to and with our 
 spirit : he is the person testifying. What he testifies to us is, " that we 
 are the children of God." The immediate result of this testimony is, 
 " the fruit of the Spirit ;" namely, " love, joy, peace, long suffering, gen- 
 tleness, goodness:" and without these, the testimony itself cannot con- 
 tinue. For it is inevitably destroyed, not only by the commission of 
 any outward sin, or the omission of known duty, but by giving way to 
 any inward sin ; in a word, by whatever grieves the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
 2. I observed many years ago, " It is hard to find words in the lan- 
 guage of men, to explain the deep things of God. Indeed there are 
 none that will adequately express what the Spirit of God works in his 
 children. But perhaps one might say, (desiring any who are taught of 
 God, to correct, soften, or strengthen the expression,) by the testimony 
 of the Spirit, I mean, an inward impression on the soul, whereby the 
 Spirit of God immediately and directly witnesses to my spirit, that I 
 am a child of God ; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, and given hirnseH 
 for me ; that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled 
 to God." ,. 
 
 3. After twenty years' farther consideration, I see no cause to retract 
 any part of this. Neither do I conceive how any of these expressions 
 may be altered, so as to make them more intelligible. I can only add, 
 that if any of the children of God will point out any other expressions, 
 which are more clear or more agreeable to the word of God, I will 
 readily lay these aside. 
 
 4. Meantime let it be observed, I do not mean hereby, that the Spirit 
 of God testifies this by any outward voice ; no, nor always by an inward 
 voice, although he may do this sometimes. Neither do I suppose, that 
 ho always applies to the heart, (though he often may,) one or more texts 
 of Scripture. But he so works upon the soul by his immediate influence, 
 and by a strong, though inexplicable operation, that the stormy wind 
 and troubled waves subside, and there is a sweet calm ; the heart resting 
 as in the arms of Jesus, and the sinner being clearly satisfied that God is 
 reconciled, that all his " iniquities are forgiven, and his sins covered." 
 
 5. Now what is the matter of dispute concerning this ? Not whether 
 there be a witness or testimony of the Spirit 1 Not whether the Spirit 
 does testify with our spirit, that we are the children of God 1 None can 
 deny this, without flatly contradicting the Scriptures, and charging a 
 lie upon the God of truth. Therefore that there is a testimony of the 
 Spirit, is acknowledged by all parties. 
 
 6. Neither is it questioned, whether there is an indirect witness, or 
 testimony, that we are the children of God. This is nearly, if not 
 exactly, the same with the testimony of a good conscience towards God ; 
 and is the result of reason, or reflection on what we feel in our own 
 souls. Strictly speaking it is a conclusion drawn partly from the word 
 of God, and partly from our own experience. The word of God says, 
 every ono who has the fruit of the Spirit is a child of God ; experience, 
 or inward consciousness, tells me, that I have the fruit of the Spirit ; 
 and hence I rationally conclude, therefore I am a child of God. This is 
 likewise allowed on all hands, and so is no matter of controversy. 
 
 7. Nor do we assert, that there can be any real testimony <>f the Spirit 
 without the fruit of the Spirit. We assert, on the contniry, that the
 
 SERMONS X. AND XI.] WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 103 
 
 fruit of the Spirit immediately springs from this testimony ; not always 
 indeed in the same degree, even when the testimony is first given ; and 
 much less afterwards. Neither joy nor peace is always at one stay ; no. 
 nor love; as neither is the testimony itself always equally strong and clear 
 
 8. But the point in question is, Whether there be any direct testimony 
 of the Spirit at all? Whether there be any other testimony of the Spiiit, 
 than that which arises from a consciousness of the fruit? 
 
 III. 1. I believe there is ; because that is the plain, natural meaning ol 
 the text, " The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are 
 the children of God." It is manifest, here are two witnesses mentioned, 
 who together testify the same thing ; the Spirit of God, and our own 
 'spirit. The late Bishop of London, in his sermon on this text, seems asto- 
 nished that any one can doubt of this, which appears upon the very face 
 of the words. Now, " The testimony of our own spirit (says the Bishop) 
 is one, which is the consciousness of our own sincerity ;" or to express 
 the same thing a little more clearly, the consciousness of the fruit of the 
 Spirit. When our spirit is conscious of this, of love, joy, peace, long 
 suffering, gentleness, goodness, it easily infers from these premises, that 
 we are the children of God. 
 
 2. It is true, that great man supposes the other witness to be, " The 
 consciousness of our own good works." This, he affirms, is the testi 
 mony of God's Spirit. But this is included in the testimony of our own 
 spirit ; yea, and in sincerity, even according to the common sense of 
 the word. So the apostle, " Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our 
 conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our 
 conversation in the world :" where it is plain, sincerity refers to our 
 words and actions, at least as much as to our inward dispositions. So 
 that this is not another witness, but the very same that he mentioned 
 before ; the consciousness of our good works being only one branch of 
 the consciousness of our sincerity. Consequently here is only one 
 witness still. If therefore the text speaks of two witnesses ; one of 
 these is not the consciousness of our good works ; neither of our sin- 
 cerity; all this being manifestly contained in the testimony of our spirit. 
 
 3. What then is the other witness ? This might easily be learned, 
 if the text itself were not sufficiently clear, from the verse immediately 
 preceding: "Ye have received, not the spirit of bondage, but the 
 spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father." It follows, " The 
 Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children 
 of God." 
 
 4. This is farther explained by the parallel text, Gal. iv, 6, " Because 
 ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, 
 crying, Abba, Father." Is not this something immediate and direrf, 
 not the result of reflection or argumentation ? Does not this Spirit cry, 
 " Abba, Father," in our hearts the moment it is given, antecedently co 
 any reflection upon our sincerity ; yea, to any reasoning whatsoever ? 
 And is not this the plain natural sense of the words, which strikes any 
 one as soon as he hears them ? All these texts then, in their most 
 obvious meaning, describe a direct testimony of the Spirit. 
 
 5. That ihe testimony of the Spirit of God, must, in the very nature 
 of things, be antecedent to the testimony of our own spirit, may aopear 
 from this single consideration : We must be holy in heart and life, 
 before we can be conscious that we are so. But we must love God
 
 104 WITNESS OF THF SPIRIT. [SERMONS X. AND XI. 
 
 before we can be holy at all, this being the root of all holiness. Now 
 we cannot love God, till we know he loves us : " We love him because 
 he first loved us :" and we cannot know his love to us, till his Spirit 
 witnesses it to our spirit. Till then we cannot believe it ; we cannot 
 say, " The life which I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who 
 loved me, and gave himself for me." 
 
 " Then, only then we feel 
 
 Our interest in his blood, 
 And cry with joy unspeakable, 
 Thou art my Lord, my God." 
 
 Since, therefore, the testimony of his Spirit must precede the love of 
 God, and all holiness, of consequence it must precede our consciousness 
 thereof. 
 
 6. And here properly comes in, to confirm this scriptural doctrine, 
 the experience of the children of God ; the experience not of two or 
 tnree, not of a few, but of a great multitude which no man can number. 
 ft has been confirmed, both in this and in all" ages, by a cloud of living 
 and dying witnesses. It is confirmed by your experience and mine. 
 The Spirit itself bore witness to my spirit, that I was a child of God, 
 gave me an evidence hereof, and I immediately cried, Abba, Father ! 
 And this I did, (and so did you,) before I reflected on, or was conscious 
 of, any fruit of the Spirit. It was from this testimony received, that 
 love, joy, peace, and the whole fruit of the Spirit flowed. First I heard, 
 
 " Thy sins are forgiven ! Accepted thou art ! 
 I listen'd, and heaven sprung up in my heart." 
 
 7. But this is confirmed, not only by the experience of the children 
 of God ; thousands of whom can declare, that they never did know 
 themselves to be in the favour of God, till it was directly witnessed to 
 them by his Spirit ; but by aM those who are convinced of sin, who 
 feel the wrath of God abiding on them. These cannot be satisfied with 
 any thing less than a direct testimony from his Spirit, that he is 
 
 ' merciful to their unrighteousness, and remembers their sins and ini- 
 quities no more." Tell any of these, " You are to know you are a 
 child, by reflecting on what he has wrought in you, on your love, joy, 
 and peace ;" and will he not immediately reply, " By all this I know 1 
 am a child of the devil. I have no more love to God than the devil has : 
 my carnal mind is enmity against God. I have no joy in the Holy 
 Ghost : my soul is sorrowful even unto death. I have no peace : my 
 heart is a troubled sea : I am all storm and tempest." And which way 
 can these souls possibly be comforted, but by a divine testimony (not 
 that they are good, or sincere, or conformable to the Scripture in heart 
 and life, but) that Godjustijieth the ungodly 1 him that, till the moment 
 he is justified, is all ungodly, void of all true holiness ; " him that 
 worketh not," that worketh nothing that is truly good, till he is con- 
 scious that he is accepted, " not for (any) works of righteousness which 
 he hath done/' but by the mere, free mercy of God ; wholly and solely, 
 for what the Son of God hath done and suffered for him. And can it 
 be any otherwise, if " a man is justified by faith, without the works of the 
 law ?" If so, what inward or outward goodness can he be conscious of, 
 antecedent to his justification ? Nay, is not the having nothing to pay, 
 that is, the being conscious that "there dwelleth in us no good thing," 
 neither inward nor outward goodness, essentially, indispensably neces-
 
 SERMONS X. AND XI.] WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 105 
 
 sary, before we can be " justified freely, through the redemption that is 
 in Jesus Christ 1" Was ever any man justified since his coming into the 
 world, or can any man ever be justified, till he is brought to that point, 
 
 " I give up every plea beside 
 Lord, I am danm'd ; But thou has died ?" 
 
 8. Every one therefore who denies the existence of such a testimony, 
 does in effect deny justification by faith. It follows, that either he never 
 experienced this, either he never was justified, or that he has forgotten, 
 as St. Peter speaks, rs xaSa^iu'n.x <rwv iraXai a^agTiuv, the purification 
 from his former sins ; the experience he then had himself; the manner 
 wherein God wrought in his own soul, when his former sins wtre 
 blotted out. 
 
 9. And the experience even of the children of the world here 
 confirms that of the children of God. Many of these have a desire to 
 please God : some of them take much pains to please him : but do they 
 not, one and all, count it the highest absurdity for any to talk of knowing 
 his sins are forgiven 1 Which of them even pretends to any such thing "* 
 And yet many of them are conscious of their own sincerity. Many of 
 them undoubtedly have, in a degree, the testimony of their own spirit, 
 a consciousness of their own uprightness. But this brings them no con- 
 sciousness that they are forgiven ; no knowledge that they are the 
 children of God. Yea, the more sincere they are, the more uneasy 
 they generally are, for want of knowing it ; plainly showing that this 
 cannot be known, in a satisfactory manner, by the bare testimony of our 
 own spirit, without God's directly testifying that we are his children. 
 
 IV. But abundance of objections have been made to this; the chief 
 of which it may be well to consider. 
 
 1. It is objected first. " Experience is not sufficient to prove a doc 
 trine which is not founded on scripture." This is undoubtedly true ; 
 and it is an important truth ; but it does not affect the present question : 
 for it has been shown, that this doctrine is founded on Scripture : 
 Therefore experience is properly alleged to confirm it. 
 
 2. "But madmen, French prophets, and enthusiasts of every kind, 
 have imagined they experienced this witness." They have so ; and 
 perhaps not a few of them did, although they did not retain it hong : but 
 if they did not, this is no proof at all that others Iiave not experienced 
 it ; as a madman's imagining himself a king, does not prove that there 
 are no real kings. 
 
 " Nay, many who pleaded strongly for this, have utterly decried the 
 Bible." Perhaps so ; but this was no necessary consequence : thou- 
 sands plead for it who have the highest esteem for the Bible. 
 
 " Yea, but many have fatally deceived themselves hereby, and got 
 above all conviction." 
 
 And yet a scriptural doctrine is no worse, though men abuse it to 
 their own destruction. 
 
 3. ' ; But I lay it down as an undoubted truth, the fruit of the Spirit 
 is the witness of the Spirit." Not undoubted ; thousands doubt of, 
 yea, flatly deny it : but let that pass. " If this witness be sufficient, 
 there is no need of any other. But it is sufficient, unless in one of 
 these cases, 1. The total absence of the fruit of the Spirit." And this is 
 the case, when the direct witness is first given : 2. " The not perceiving 
 it. But to contend for it in this case, is to contend for being in the 
 
 VOL. I. 7
 
 106 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMONS Jt. AND XI. 
 
 favour of God, and not knowing it." True, not knowing it at that 
 time any otherwise, than by the testimony which is given for that end. 
 And this we do contend for ; we contend that the direc* witness may 
 shine clear, even while the indirect one is under a cloud. 
 
 4. It is objected, secondly, " The design of the witness contended 
 for, is to prove that the profession we make is genuine. But it does 
 not prove this." I answer, the proving this is not the design of it. It 
 is antecedent to our making any profession at all, but that of being lost, 
 undone, guilty, helpless sinners. It is designed to assure those to whom 
 it is given, that they are the children of God ; that they are "justified 
 freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ." 
 And this does not suppose that their preceding thoughts, words, and 
 actions, are conformable to the rule of Scripture ; it supposes quite the 
 reverse ; namely, that they are sinners all over ; sinners both in heart 
 and life. Were it otherwise, God would justify the ungodly; and their 
 own works would be counted to them for righteousness. And I cannot 
 but fear that a supposition of our being justified by works, is at the root 
 of all these objections ; for, whoever cordially believes, thai God imputes 
 to all that are justified righteousness without works, will find no difficulty 
 in allowing the witness of his Spirit preceding the fruit of it. 
 
 5. It is objected, thirdly, " One evangelist says, ' Your heavenly 
 Father will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him.' The other 
 evangelist calls the same thing ' good gifts ;' abundantly demonstrating 
 that the Spirit's way of bearing witness is by giving good gifts." Nay, 
 here is nothing at all aboui bearing witness, either in the one text or 
 the other. Therefore till this demonstration is better demonstrated, I 
 let it stand as it is. 
 
 6. It is objected, fourthly, " The Scripture says, ' The tree is known 
 by its fruits. Prove all things. Try the spirits. Examine yourselves.' " 
 Most true : therefore, let every man who believes he " hath the witness 
 in himself," try whether it be of God ; if the fruit follow, it is; other- 
 wise it is not. For certainly " the tree is known by its fruit :" hereby 
 we prove if it be of God. " But the direct witness is never referred to 
 in the book of God." Not as standing alone ; not as a single witness; 
 but as connected with the other; as giving a. joint testimony ; testify- 
 ing with our spirit, that we are children of God. And who is able to 
 prove, that it is not thus referred to in this very scripture : " Examine 
 yourselves whether ye be in the faith ; prove your ownselves. Know 
 ye not your ownselves, that Jesus Christ is in you ?" It is by no means 
 clear, that they did not know this by a direct as well as a remote 
 witness. How is it proved, that they did not know it, first, by an inward 
 consciousness ; and then by love, joy, and peace ? 
 
 7. " But the testimony arising from the internal and external change, 
 is constantly referred to in the Bible." It is so: and we constantly 
 refer thereto, to confirm the testimony of the Spirit. 
 
 " Nay, all the marks yon have given, whereby to distinguish the 
 operations of God's Spirit from delusion, refer to the change wrought 
 in us and upon us." This likewise is undoubtedly true. 
 
 8. It is objected, fifthly, that " The direct witness of the Spirit does 
 not secure us from the greatest delusion. And is that a witness fit to 
 be trusted, whose testimony cannot be depended on ? that is forced to 
 fly to something else, to prove what it asserts ?" I answer to secure
 
 SERMONS X. AND XI.] WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. 107 
 
 as from all delusion, God gives us two witnesses that we are his chil- 
 dren. And this they testify conjointly. Therefore, " what God hath 
 joined together, let not man put asunder." And while they are joined, 
 we cannot be deluded : their testimony can be depended on. They 
 are fit to be trusted in the highest degree, and need nothing else to 
 prove what they assert. 
 
 " Nay, the direct witness only asserts, but does not prove any thing." 
 By two witnesses shall every word be established. And when the Spirit 
 witnesses with our spirit, as God designs it to do, then it fully proves 
 that we are children of God. 
 
 9. It is objected, sixthly, " You own the change wrought is a suffi- 
 cient testimony, unless in the case of severe trials, such as that of our 
 Saviour upon the cross ; but none of us can be tried in that manner " 
 But you or I may be tried in such a manner, and so may any other child 
 of God, that it will be impossible for us to keep our filial confidence in 
 God, without the direct witness of his Spirit. 
 
 10. It is objected, lastly, " The greatest contenders for it, are some of 
 the proudest and most uncharitable of men." Perhaps some of the 
 hottest contenders for it are both proud and uncharitable ; but many ol 
 thejCrmerf contenders for it, are eminently meek arid lowly in heart; 
 and, indeed, in all other respects also, 
 
 " True followers of their lamb-like Lord." 
 
 The preceding objections are the most considerable that I have 
 heard, and I believe contain the strength of the cause. Yet I appre- 
 hend whoever calmly and impartially considers those objections and the 
 answers together, will easily see, that they do not destroy, no, nor weaken 
 the evidence of that great truth, that the Spirit of God does directly, as 
 well as indirectly, testify that we are children of God. 
 
 V. 1. The sum of all is this : the testimony of the Spirit is an in- 
 ward impression on the souls of believers, whereby the Spirit of God 
 directly testifies to their spirit, that they are children of God. And it 
 is not questioned, whether there is a testimony of the Spirit ; but whe- 
 ther there is any direct testimony ? Whether there is any other than 
 that which arises from a consciousness of the fruit of the Spirit 1 We 
 believe there is ; because this is the plain natural meaning of the text, 
 illustrated both by the preceding words, and by the parallel passage in 
 the epistle to the Galatians ; because, in the nature of tiie thing, the 
 testimony must precede the fruit which springs from it ; and because 
 this plain meaning of the word of God is confirmed by the experience 
 of innumerable children of God ; yea, and by the experience of all who 
 arc convinced of sin, who can never rest till they have a direct witness , 
 and even of the children of the world, who, not having the witness in 
 themselves, one and all declare none can know his sins forgiven. 
 
 2. And whereas it is objected, that experience is not sufficient to 
 prove a doctrine unsupported by Scripture ; that madmen and enthu- 
 siasts of every kind have imagined such a witness; that the design of 
 that witness is to prove our profession genuine, which design it does 
 not answer ; that the Scripture says, " The tree is known by its 
 fruit ;" " examine yourselves ; prove your ownselves ;" and, meantime, 
 the direct witness is never referred to in all the book of God ; that it 
 does not secure us from the greatest delusions ; and, lastly, that the 
 change wrought in us is a sufficient testimony, unless in such trials as
 
 108 WITNESS OF THE SPIRIT. [SERMONS X. AND XI. 
 
 Chrisl alone suffered : we answer, 1. Experience is sufficient to confirm 
 a doctrine which is grounded on Scripture : 2. Though many fancy 
 they experience what they do not, this is no prejudice to real expe- 
 rience : 3. The design of that witness is, to assure us we are children 
 of God ; and this design it does answer : 4. The true witness of the 
 Spirit is known by its fruit, " love, peace, joy ;" not indeed preceding, 
 but following it : 5. It cannot be proved, that the direct, as well as the 
 indirect witness, is not referred to in that very text, " Know ye not 
 your ownselves that Jesus Christ is in you ?" 6. The Spirit of God, 
 witnessing with our spirit, does secure us from all delusion : And, 
 lastly, we are all liable to trials, wherein the testimony of our own spirit 
 is not sufficient ; wherein nothing less than the direct testimony of 
 God's Spirit can assure us that we are his children. 
 
 3. Two inferences may be drawn from the whole : the first, Let 
 none ever presume to rest in any supposed testimony of the Spirit, 
 which is separate from the fruit of it. If the Spirit of God does really 
 testify that we are children of God, the immediate consequence will be 
 the fruit of the Spirit, even " love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentle- 
 ness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, temperance." And however this 
 fruit may be clouded for a while, during the time of strong temptation, 
 so that it does not appear to the tempted person, while Satan is sifting 
 him as wheat ; yet the substantial part of it remains, even under the 
 thickest cloud. It is true, joy in the Holy Ghost may be withdrawn, 
 during the hour of trial ; yea, the soul may be " excet-ding sorrowful," 
 while " the hour and power of darkness" continue ; but even this is 
 generally restored with increase, till we rejoice " will joy unspeakable 
 and full of glory." 
 
 4. The second inference is, Let none rest in anv supposed fruit of 
 the Spirit without the witness. There may be foretastes of joy, of peace, 
 of love, and those not delusive, but really from God, long before we have 
 the witness in ourselves ; before the Spirit of God witnesses with our 
 spirits that we have " redemption in the blood of Jesus, even the for- 
 giveness of sins." Yea, there may be a degree of long suffering, ot 
 gentleness, of fidelity, meekness, temperance, (not a shadow thereof, 
 but a real degree, by the preventing grace of God,) before we "are 
 accepted in the Beloved," and consequently, before we have a testi- 
 mony of our acceptance : but it is by no means advisable to rest here ; 
 it is at the peril of our souls if we do. If we are wise, we shall be con- 
 tinually crying to God, until his Spirit cry in our heart, Abba, Father ! 
 This is the privilege of all the children of God, and without this we can 
 never be assured that we are hi* children. Without this we cannot 
 retain a steady peace, nor avoid perplexing doubts and fears. But when 
 we have once received this Spirit of adoption, this "peace which passes 
 all understanding," and which expels all painful doubt and fear, will 
 
 ' keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And when this has 
 brought forth its genuine fruit, all inward and outwaid holiness, it is 
 undoubtedly the will of Him that calleth us, to give us always what 
 he has once given ; so that there is no need that we should ever more 
 be deprived of either the testimony of God's Spirit, or the testimony of 
 our own, the consciousness of our walking in all righteousness and 
 true holiness. 
 
 Neirry, April 4 1767.
 
 SERMON XII ] WITNESS OF OUR OWN SPIRIT. 109 
 
 SERMON XII. The Witness of our own Spirit. 
 
 "This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our conscience, that in simplicity 
 and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, 
 we have had our conversation in the world." 2 Cor. i. 12. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 I. WHAT is conscience ? Not mere consciousness. But 
 consciousness of right and wrong. Implanted by God in the 
 soul. Its rule is, generally the law written in the heart; 
 specially the Word of God. 
 
 II. A good conscience imj^ies: 1. Aright understanding 
 of God's word. 2. A knowledge of ourselves, both inward 
 tempers and outward conversation. 3. An agreement of 
 these with the rule. 4. An inward perception of this 
 agreement. 
 
 The foundation of this must be laid in faith in our Lord 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Apostle's description of the good conscience. " Con- 
 versation " includes all inward and outward life, " Sim- 
 plicity " is right intention. " Sincerity," the faithful execu- 
 tion of intention. Not a mere morality of nature ; but 
 wrought in us by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
 
 III. The joy springing from this is 
 
 1. Not a natural joy or mere exuberance of spirits. 
 
 2. Nor a mere blindness of conscience concealing sin. 
 
 3. Nor a callousness of conscience, taking pleasure in sin. 
 
 4. But a joy in obedience ; loving God, and keeping his 
 commands. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon was originally the supplement to the tenth, the eleventh 
 having been interposed in 1771. It presents before us the continuous 
 state ot assurance which arises out of the initial experience of assur- 
 ance there described. The first assurance is conditioned upon faith 
 only ; this upon the conscious obedience which faith enables us to 
 render. Mr. Wesley grounds this assurance upon the testimony of 
 conscience. Hence we nave here the ethical side of religion in which it 
 manifests itself in good works, both inward and outward. But the 
 ethical and the religious are inseparably one. Faith, hope, and love, are, 
 according to Mr. Wesley, the essence of religion. But the very first 
 effect of faith is peace, or the relief of the moral nature from the sense 
 of guilt. On the other hand good hope can only live by the side of a 
 good conscience ; and love unites with conscience in bringing forth all 
 good works. There is thus perlect unity and harmony of the moral and 
 religious elements in the Christian experience. There is also a con- 
 tinuity of this moral element with the preceding elements of Christian 
 experience. Faith, the direct witness, the abiding faith, and the testi- 
 mony of conscience follow in a natural order one from the other ; and 
 are absolutely necessary one to the other. Mr. Wesley distinctly recog- 
 nizes the presence and power of the Holy Ghost in every one of these 
 factors of the religious life, quite as much so in the last as in the first. 
 Conscience, as well as ik'th, sees the things of GuJ, by the Spirit of God.
 
 HO WITNESS OF OUR OWN SPIRIT. [SERMON XII. 
 
 Mr. Wesley's definition of conscience is worthy of the intuitional 
 philosophy of his junior contemporary, Kant. Conscience is the soul 8 
 consciousness of right ; a God-given laculty of direct perception ot right 
 or wrong, or moral quality ; having an ideal or rule of right m its own 
 nature ; but needing to be perfected by the Word of God. 
 
 SEEMON XIT. 
 
 1. SUCH is the voice of every true believer in Christ, so long as he 
 abides in faith and love. " He that followeth me," saith our Lord, 
 " walketh not in darkness:" and while he hath the light, he rejoiceth 
 therein. As he hath " received the Lord Jesus Christ," so he waJketh 
 in him : and while he walketh in him, the exhortation of the apostle 
 takes place in his soul, day by day, " Rejoice in the Lord always, and 
 again I say, rejoice." 
 
 2. But that we may not build our house upon the sand, (lest when 
 the rains descend, and the winds blow, and the floods arise and beat 
 upon it, it fall, and great he the fall thereof,) I intend in the following 
 discourse to show, what is the nature and ground of a Christian's joy. 
 We know, in general, it is that happy peace, that calm satisfaction of 
 spirit, which arises from such a testimony of his conscience, as is here 
 described by the apostle. But, in order to understand this the more 
 thoroughly, it will be requisite to weigh all his words; whence will easily 
 appear, both what we are to understand by conscience, and what by the 
 testimony thereof; and also, how he that hath this testimony rejoiceth 
 evermore. 
 
 3. And, first, what are we to understand by conscience 1 What is the 
 meaning of this word that is in every one's mouth ? One would imagine 
 it was an exceeding difficult thing to discover this, when we consider 
 how large and numerous volumes' have been from time to time wrote on 
 this subject; and how all the treasures of ancient and modern learning 
 have been ransacked, in order to explain it. And yet it is to be feared, it 
 has not received much light from all those elaborate inquiries. Rather, 
 have not most of those writers puzzled the cause ; " darkening counsel 
 by words without knowledge ;" perplexing a subject, -plain in itself, and 
 easy to be understood ! For, set aside but hard words, and every man 
 of an honest heart will soon understand the thing. 
 
 4. God has made us thinking beings, capable of perceiving what is 
 present, and of reflecting or looking back on what is past. In particular, 
 we are cupable of perceiving whatsoever passes in our own hearts or 
 lives; of knowing whatsoever we feel or do; and that either while it 
 passes, or when it is past. This we mean when we say, man is a 
 consritms being : he hath a consciousness, or inward perception, both 
 of things present and past, relating to himself, of his own tempers and 
 oivtward behaviour. But what we usually term conscience, implies 
 Somewhat more than this. Tt is not barely the knowledge of our 
 present, or the remembrance of our preceding life. To remember, to 
 bear witness either of past or present things, is o;ily one, and the least 
 Dthce of conscience: its main business is to excuse or accuse, to approve 
 Dr disapprove, to acquit or condemn. 
 
 5. Som<; late writers indeed have given a now name to this, and have 
 thoee to style it a moral sense. But the old word seem? preferable to the 
 hew, were it only on this account, that it is more common and familiar
 
 SERMON XII.] WITKESS OP OUR OWN SPIRIT. Ill 
 
 among men, and therefore easier to be understood. And to Christians 
 it is undeniably preferable, on another account also; namely, because 
 it is scriptural ; because it is the word which the wisdom of God hath 
 chose to use in the inspired writings. 
 
 And according to the meaning wherein it is generally used there, 
 particularly in the epistles of St. Paul, we may understand by conscience, 
 a faculty or power, implanted by God in every soul that comes into the 
 world, of perceiving what is right or wrong in his own heart or life, in 
 his tempers, thoughts, words, and actions. 
 
 6. But what is the rule whereby men are to judge of right and wrong ? 
 whereby their conscience is to be directed ? The rule of heathens, as 
 the apostle teaches elsewhere, is " the law written in their hearts.'' 
 " These," saith he, " not having the [outward] law, are a law unto 
 themselves: who show the work of the law [that which the outward 
 law prescribes] written in their heart ; [by the finger of God ;] their 
 conscience also bearing witness, [whether they walk by this rule or 
 not,] and their thoughts the mean while accusing, or even excusing," 
 acquitting, defending them; ) xai a-roXoyou|u-=vo>v, Rom. ii, 14, 15. But 
 the Christian rule of right and wrong is the word of God, the writings of 
 the Old and New Testament ; all that the prophets and " holy men of 
 old" wrote " as they were moved by the Holy Ghost ;" all that Scriptuie 
 which was given by inspiration of God. and which is indeed profitable 
 for doctrine, or teaching the whole will of God ; for reproof of what i? 
 contrary thereto ; for correction of error, and for instruction, or training 
 us up in righteousness, 2 Tim. iii, 16. 
 
 This is a lantern unto a Christian's feet, and a light in all his paths. 
 This alone he receives as his rule of right or wrong, of whatever is 
 really good or evil. He esteems nothing good, but what is here enjoined 
 either directly or by plain consequence ; he accounts nothing evil but 
 what is here forbidden, either in terms, or by undeniable inference. 
 Whatever the Scripture neither forbids nor enjoins, either directly 01 
 by plain consequence, he believes to be of an indifferent nature ; to be 
 in itself neither good nor evil ; this being the whole and sole outward 
 rule whereby his conscience is to be directed in all things. 
 
 7. And if it be directed thereby, in fact, then hath he "the answer 
 of a good conscience towards God." " A good conscience" is what is 
 elsewhere termed by the apostle, " a conscience void of offence." So, 
 what he at one time expresses thus, " I have lived in all good conscience 
 before God until this day," Acts xxiii, 1, he denotes at another, by that 
 expression, '* Herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience 
 void of offence towards God and towards man," chap, xxiv, 16. Now in 
 order to this there is absolutely required, first, a right understanding 
 of the word of God, of his " holy, and acceptable, and perfect will" 
 concerning us, as it is revealed therein. For it is impossible we should 
 walk by a rule, if we do not know what it means. There is, secondly, 
 required (which how few have attained !) a true knowledge of ourselves; 
 a knowledge both of our hearts and lives, of our inward tempers arid 
 outward conversation : seeing, if we know them not it is not possible 
 that we should compare them with our rule. There is required, thirdly, 
 an agreement of our hearts and lives, of our tempers and conversation, 
 of our thoughts, and words, and works, with that rule, with the written 
 word of God. For, without this, if we have any conscience at all, it
 
 112 WITNESS OF OUE OWN SPIRIT. [SERMON XII. 
 
 can be only an evil conscience. There is, fourthly, required, an inward 
 perception of this agreement with our rule : and this habitual percep- 
 tion, this inward consciousness itself, is properly a good conscience; 
 or, in the other phrase of the apostle, " a conscience void of offence, 
 towards God and towards man." 
 
 8. But. whoever desires to have a conscience thus void of offence, let 
 him see that he lay the right foundation. Let him remember, " other 
 foundation" of this "can no man lay, than that which is laid, even 
 Jesus Christ." And let him also be mindful, that no man buildeth on 
 him but by a living faith ; that no man is a partaker of Christ, until he 
 can clearly testify, " The life which I now live, I live by faith in the 
 Son of God ;" in him who is now revealed in my heart ; who " loved 
 me, and gave himself for me." Faith alone is that evidence, that con- 
 viction, that demonstration of things invisible, whereby the eyes of our 
 understanding being opened, and divine light poured in upon them, we 
 " see the wondrous things of God's law," the excellency and purity of 
 it ; the height, and depth, and length, and breadth thereof, and of every 
 commandment contained therein. It is by faith that, beholding " the 
 light of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ," we perceive, as 
 in a glass, all that is in ourselves, yea, the inmost motions of our souls. 
 And by this alone can that blessed love of God be " shed abroad in our 
 hearts," which enables us so to love one another as Christ loved us. By 
 this is that gracious promise fulfilled unto all the Israel of God, " I 
 will put my laws into their minds, and write (or engrave) them in their 
 hearts ;" Heb. viii, 10 ; hereby producing in their souls an entire 
 agreement with his holy and perfect law, and " bringing into captivity 
 every thought to the obedience of Christ." 
 
 And, as an evil tree cannot bring forth good fruit, so a good tree 
 cannot bring forth evil fruit. As the heart therefore of a believer, so 
 likewise his life, is thoroughly conformed to the rule of God's com- 
 mandments ; in a consciousness whereof, he can give glory to God, and 
 say with the apostle, " This is our rejoicing, the testimony of our 
 conscience, that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wis 
 dom, but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation in the 
 world." 
 
 9. " We have had our conversation :" The apostle in the original 
 expresses this by one single word, avs?fa.$w?v ; but the meaning thereof 
 is exceeding broad, taking in our whole deportment, yea, every inward 
 as well as outward circumstance, whether relating to our soul or body. 
 It includes every motion of our heart, of our tongue, of our hands, and 
 bodily members. It extends to alt our actions and words ; to the 
 employment of all our powers and faculties ; to the manner of using 
 every talent we have received, with respect either to God or man. 
 
 10. " We have had our conversation in the world ;" even in the world 
 of the ungodly : not only among the children of God ; (that were com 
 paratively a little thing ;) but among the children of the devil, among 
 those that lie in wickedness, sv <rw *OV>JPW, in the wicked one. What a 
 world is this! How thoroughly impregnated with the spirit it continu- 
 ally breathes ! As our God is good, and doeth good, so the god of this 
 world, and all his children, are evil, and do evil, (so far as they are 
 suffered,) to all the children of God. Like their father, they are always 
 lying in wait, or "walking about, seeking whom they may devour*'
 
 SERMON XII.] WITNESS OF OUR OWN SPIRIT. 113 
 
 using fraud or force, secret wiles or open violence, to destroy those who 
 are not of the world ; continually warring against our souls, and \iy 
 old or new weapons, and devices of every kind, labouring to bring 
 them back into the snare of the devil, into the broad road that leadcth 
 to destruction. 
 
 11. " We have had our [whole] conversation," in such a world, " in 
 simplicity and godly sincerity." First, in simplicity : This is what our 
 J^ord recommends, under the name of a " single eye." " The light of 
 the body," saith he, " is the eye. If therefore thine eye be single, thy 
 whole body shall be full of light." The meaning whereof is this 
 What the eye is to the body, that the intention is to all the words and 
 actions: if therefore this eye of thy soul be single, all thy actions and 
 conversation shall be " full of light," of the light of heaven, of love, and 
 peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
 
 We are then simple of heart, when the eye of our mind is singly fixed 
 on God ; when in all things we aim at God alone, as our God, our 
 portion, our strength, our happiness, our exceeding great reward, our 
 all, in time and eternity. This is simplicity ; when a steady view, a 
 single intention of promoting his glory, of doing and suffering his blessed 
 will, runs through our whole soul, fills all our heart, and is the constant 
 spring of all our thoughts, desires, and purposes. 
 
 .12. " We have had our conversation in the world," secondly, " in 
 godly sincerity." The difference between simplicity and sincerity 
 seems to be chiefly this : simplicity regards the intention itself, sincerity 
 the execution of it ; and this sincerity relates not barely to our words, 
 but to our whole conversation, as described above. It is not here to be 
 understood in that narrow sense, wherein St. Paul himself sometimes 
 uses it, for speaking the truth, or abstaining from guile, from craft, and 
 dissimulation ; but in a more extensive meaning, as actually hitting the 
 mark, which we aim at by simplicity. Accordingly, it implies in this 
 place, that we do, in fact, speak and do all to the glory of God ; that all 
 our words are riot only pointed at this, but actually conducive thereto ; 
 that all our actions flow on in an even stream, uniformly subservient to 
 this great end ; and that, in our whole lives, we are moving straight 
 towards God, and that continually ; walking steadily on in the highway 
 of holiness, in the paths of justice, mercy and truth. 
 
 13. This sincerity is termed by the apostle, godly sincerity, or the 
 sincerity of God ; fiXixpivsta e* ; to prevent our mistaking or confound 
 ing it with the sincerity of the heathens ; (for they had also a kind of 
 sincerity among them, for which they professed no small veneration ;) 
 likewise to denote the object and end of this, as of every Christian 
 virtue, seeing whatever does not ultimately tend to God, sinks among 
 L ' the beggarly elements of the world." By styling it the sincerity ol 
 God, he also points out the Author of it, the " Father of lights, from 
 whom every good and perfect gift descendeth ;" which is still more 
 clearly declared in the following words, ' Not with fleshly wisdom, but 
 by the grace of God." 
 
 14. " Not with fleshly wisdom :" as if he had said, " We cannot 
 thug converse m the world, by any natural strength of understanding, 
 neither by any naturally acquired knowledge or wisdom. We cannot 
 gain this simplicity, or practise this sincerity, by the force either of 
 good sense, good nature, or good breeding. It overshoots all onr native
 
 1 1 4 WITNESS OF OUR OWN SPIRIT. [SERMON XII. 
 
 courage and resolution, as well as all our precepts of philosoph). The 
 power of custom is not able to train us up to this, nor the most exquisite 
 rules of human education. Neither could I Paul ever attain hereto, 
 notwithstanding all the advantages I enjoyed, so long as I was in the 
 flesh, in my natural state, and pursued it only by fleshly, natural wisdom." 
 And yet surely, if any man could, Paul himself might have attained 
 thereto by that wisdom ; for we can hardly conceive any, who was more 
 highly favoured with all the gifts both of nature and education. Besides 
 his natural abilities, probably not inferior to those of any person then 
 upon the earth, he had all the benefits of learning, studying at the 
 univerity of Tarsus, afterwards brought up at the feet of Gamaliel, a 
 person of the greatest account both for knowledge and integrity, that 
 was then in the whole Jewish nation. And he had all the possible 
 advantages of a religious education, being a Pharisee, the son of a 
 Pharisee, trained up in the very straitest sect or profession, distin- 
 guished from all others by a more eminent strictness. And herein he 
 had " profited above many" others, " who were his equals" in years, 
 " being more abundantly zealous" of whatever he thought would please 
 God, and " as touching the righteousness of the law blameless." But 
 it could not be, that he should hereby attain this simplicity and godly 
 sincerity. It was all but lost labour ; in a deep, piercing sense of which 
 he was at length constrained to cry out, " The things which were gain 
 to me, those I counted loss for Christ : yea, doubtless, and I count all 
 things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my 
 Lord," Phil, iii, 7, 8. 
 
 15. It could not be that ever he should attain to this, but by the 
 " excellent knowledge of Jesus Christ" our Lord ; or, " by the grace of 
 God," another expression of nearly the same import. By " the grace 
 of God" is sometimes to be understood that free love, that unmerited 
 mercy, by which I a sinner, through the merits of Christ, am now 
 reconciled to God. But in this place it rather means that power of God 
 the Holy Ghost, which " worketh in us both to will and to do of his 
 good pleasure." As soon as ever the grace of God in the former sense, 
 his pardoning love, is manifested to our souls, the grace of God in the 
 latter sense, the power of his Spirit, takes place therein. And now 
 we can perform, through God, what to man was impossible. Now we 
 can order our conversation aright. We can do all things in the light 
 and power of that love, through Christ which strengtheneth us. We 
 now have " the testimony of our conscience," which we could never 
 have by fleshly wisdom, " that in simplicity and godly sincerity, we 
 have our conversation in the world." 
 
 16. This is properly the ground of a Christian's joy. We may now 
 theiefore readily conceive, how he that hath this testimony in himsell 
 rejoiceth evermore. " My soul," may he say, "doth magnify the Lord, 
 and my spirit rejoiceth in God my Saviour." I rejoice in him. who, oi 
 Ins own unmerited love, of his own free and tender mercy, " hath called 
 me into this state of salvation," wherein, through his power, I now 
 stand. 1 rejoice, because his Spirit beareth witness to my spuit, that 
 I am bought with the blood of the Lamb ; and that, believing in him, 
 " I am a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the 
 kingdom of heaven." I rejoice, because the sense of God's love to 
 me hatli, by the same Spirit, wrought in me to love him, and to love for
 
 SERMON XII.] WITNESS OP OUE OWN SP1BIT. 115 
 
 his sake every child of man, every scul that he hath made. I rejoice, 
 because he gives me to feel in myself" the mind that was in Christ ;" 
 simplicity, a single eye to him, in every motion of my heart ; power 
 always to fix the loving eye of my soul on him who " loved me, and 
 gave himself for me ;" to aim at him alone, at his glorious will, in all 1 
 think, or speak, or do ; purity, desiring nothing more but God ; 
 " crucifying the flesh with its affections and lusts ;" " setting my affec- 
 tions on things above, not on things of the earth ;" holiness, a recovery 
 of the image of God, a " renewal of soul after his likeness ;" and godly 
 sincerity, directing all my words and works, so as to conduce to his 
 glory. In this 1 likewise rejoice, yea, and will rejoice, because my 
 conscience beareth me witness in the Hoiy Ghost, by the light he con- 
 tinually pours in upon it, that I " walk worthy of the vocation wherewith 
 I am called ;" that I " abstain from all appearance of evil," fleeing 
 from sin as from the face of a serpent ; that as I have opportunity I do 
 all possible good, in every kind, to all men ; that I follow my Lord in 
 all my steps, and do what is acceptable in his sight. I rejoice, because 
 I both see and feel, through the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit, that 
 all my works are wrought in him, yea, and that it is he who worketh all 
 my works in me. I rejoice in seeing through the light of God, which 
 shines in my heart, that I have power to walk in his ways, and that 
 through his grace, I turn not therefrom to the right hand or to the left. 
 
 17. Such is the ground and the nature of that joy, whereby an adult 
 Christian rejoiceth evermore. And from all this we may easily infer, 
 first, That this is not a natural joy. It does not arise from any natural 
 cause : not from any sudden flow of spirits. This may give a transient 
 start of joy ; but the Christian rejoiceth always. It cannot be owing to 
 bodily health or ease ; to strength and soundness of constitution ; for it 
 <s equally strong in sickness and pain ; yea, perhaps far stronger than 
 before. Many Christians have never experienced any joy, to be com- 
 pared with that which then filled their sou), when the body was well nigh 
 worn out with pain, or consumed away with pining sickness. Least of 
 all can it be ascribed to outward prosperity, to the favour of men, or 
 plenty 'of worldly goods ; for then, chiefly, when their faith has been 
 tried as with fire, by all manner of outward afflictions, have the children 
 of God rejoiced in Him, whom unseen they loved even with joy unspeak- 
 able. And never surely did men rejoice like those, who were used as 
 " the filth and oflfscouring of the world ;" who wandered to and fro, being 
 in want of c.11 things ; in hunger, in cold, in nakedness ; who had trials, 
 not only of" cruel mockings," but, "moreover of bonds and imprison- 
 ments;" yea, who, at last, " counted not their lives dear unto themselves, 
 so they might finish their course with joy." 
 
 18. From the preceding considerations, we may, secondly, infer 3 
 That the joy of a Christian does not arise from any blindness of on- 
 science, from his not being able to discern good from evil. So far frcm 
 it, that he was an utter stranger to this joy, till the eyes of his under- 
 standing were opened ; that he knew it not, until he had spiritual senses, 
 fitted to discern spiritual good and evil. And now the eye of his soul 
 waxeth not dim : he was never so sharp sighted before : he has so quick 
 a perception of the smallest things, as is quite amazing to the natural 
 man. As a mote is visible in the sun beam, so to him who is walking 
 in the light, in the beams of the uncreated Sun, every mote of sin K
 
 116 WITNESS OF OUE OWN SPIRIT. [SERMON XII. 
 
 visible. Nor does he close the eyes of his conscience any more : that 
 sleep is departed from him. His soul is always broad awake : no more 
 slumber or folding of the hands to rest ! He is always standing on the 
 tower, and hearkening what his Lord will say concerning him ! and 
 always rejoicing in this very thing, in " seeing Him that is mvit'ible." 
 
 19. Neither does the joy of the Christian arise, thirdly, from any dul- 
 ness or callousness of conscience. A kind of joy, it is true, may arise 
 from this, in those whose " foolish hearts are darkened ;" whose heart 
 is callous, unfeeling, dull of sense, and, consequently, without spiritual 
 understanding Because of their senseless, unfeeling hearts, they may 
 lejoice even in committing sin ; and this they may probably call liberty! 
 which is indeed mere drunkenness of soul, a fatal numbness of spirit 
 the stupid insensibility of a seared conscience. On the contrary, a 
 Christian has the most exquisite sensibility ; such as he could not have 
 conceived before. He never had such a tenderness of conscience as 
 he has had since the love of God has reigned in his heart. And this 
 also is his glory and joy, that God hath heard his daily prayer : 
 
 " Oh that my tender soul might fly 
 
 The first abhorr'd approach of ill ; 
 Quick, as the apple of an eye, 
 The slightest touch of sin to feel." 
 
 20. To conclude : Christian joy is joy in obedience ; joy in loving 
 God and keeping his commandments : and yet not in keeping them as 
 if we were thereby to fulfil the terms of the covenant of works; as if 
 by any works or righteousness of ours, we were to procure pardon and 
 acceptance with God. Not so : we are already pardoned and accepted, 
 through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Not as if we were by our 
 own obedience to procure life, life from the death of sin : this also we 
 'nave already through the grace of God. Us " hath he quickened, who 
 were dead in sins ;" and now we are " alive to God, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord." But we rejoice in walking according to the covenant 
 of grace, in holy love and happy obedience. We rejoice in knowing 
 that, " being justified through his grace," we have " not received that 
 grace of God in vain ;" that God having freely (not for the sake of our 
 willing or running, but through the blood of the Lamb) reconciled us 
 to himself, we run, in the strength which he hath given us, the way of 
 his commandments. He hath " girded us with strength unto the war," 
 and we gladly " fight the good fight of faith." We rejoice, through Him 
 who liveth in our hearts by faith, to "lay hold of eternal life." This is 
 our rejoicing, that as our '' Father worketh hitherto," so (not by our 
 own might or wisdom, but through the power of his Spirit, freely given 
 in Christ Jesus) we also work the works of God. And may he work in 
 us whatsoever is well pleasing in his sight ! To whom be the praise for 
 ever and ever ! 
 
 It may easily be observed, that the preceding discourse describes 
 the experience of those that are strong in faith : but hereby those that 
 are weak in faith may be discouraged ; to prevent which the following 
 discourse may be of use.
 
 SKRMON XIII.] SIN IN BELIEVERS. 117 
 
 SERMON" XIIL On Sin in Believers. 
 
 41 If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature." 2 Cor. r. 17. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 I. DOES, then, sin remain in the believer ? An important 
 question, to which the ancient Christians, the Church of Eng- 
 land, the Greek and Eoman churches, and all the churches of 
 the Eeformation give substantially one answer. The Mor- 
 avians alone affirm that sin no longer remains in the believer, 
 or that, if it remains in the flesh, it does not in the heart. 
 
 II. The persons described are called regenerate, justified, 
 or believers as denoting actual change, relative change, or the 
 means by which this is effected. This state is great and 
 glorious, including regeneration, sonship, the indwelling of 
 the Spirit, sanctifying grace, and power over sin. 
 
 III. But it does not include freedom from all bin, as appears, 
 
 1. From Scripture ; Gal. v. 17 ; 1 Cor i. 2, compared with 
 ch. in. 1-3 ; Eev. ii. 2, 3", 4, 13, 16, and iii. 2, &c. ; 2 Cor. vii L 
 
 2. From Christian experience. 
 
 3. From the universal testimony of the Church. 
 
 IV. Answers to opponents. All arguments founded an 
 absolute interpretation of Scripture terms. It is the fallacy 
 of arguing from a particular to a general. 
 
 V. Summary of Wesley's doctrine. 
 
 There are even in the justified two contraiy principles, 
 nature and grace. Babes in Christ are sanctified, but only in 
 part. They are spiritual, but also to some extent carnal. 
 Hence they need to watch against the tiesh. The opposite 
 doctrine is new and dangerous.
 
 118 SIN IN BELIEVERS. [SERMON XIII. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 The question between Mr. Wesley and the Moravians will be more 
 fully understood from the following extract from his diary under date 
 of Dec. 31, 1739 : -" As to faith you believe,!. That there are no 
 degrees of faith, and that no man has any degree of it, before all things 
 in him are become new, before he has the full assurance of faith, the 
 abiding witness of the Spirit, or the clear perception that Christ 
 dwelleth in him. 2. Accordingly, you believe that there is no justifying 
 faith, or state of justification short of this." * * * 
 
 " Whereas I believe, 1. That there are degrees in faith ; and that a 
 man may have some degree of it before all things in him are become 
 new ; before he has the full assurance of faith, the abiding witness of 
 the Spirit, or the clear perception that Christ dwelleth in him. 2. 
 Accordingly, I believe there is a degree of justifying faith (and, conse- 
 qiiently, a state of justification) short of, and commonly antecedent to 
 this." 
 
 In the year 1741 Mr. Wesley held a conversation with Count 
 Zinzendorf on the subject, in which they speak as follows : 
 
 Z. " All our perfection is in Christ. All Christian perfection is, faith 
 in the blood of Christ. The whole of Christian perfection is imputed 
 not inherent. We are perfect in Christ in ourselves never." 
 
 After several ineffectual attempts to show that this is a question of 
 words, Mr. Wesley asks, 
 
 W. " What 1 Does not a believer, while he increases in love, increase 
 equally in holiness ? " 
 
 Z. " By no means. The moment he is justified, he is sanctified 
 wholly. From that time, even unto death, he is neither more nor less 
 holy." 
 
 It will be seen at once how alien these views were from the strictly 
 ethical view of Christianity held by Wesley. Here was an antinomian, 
 imputed perfection or holiness, and a view of faith in harmony with 
 this. Every man has this faith in full perfection, or has it not at all. 
 He has put on this perfect holiness, or he has no part in it. Mr. Wesley 
 was no believer in the Romish doctrine of a gradual justification. We 
 have seen how clearly he marks the great crisis of religious life, and how 
 distinctly he brings justification to the moment of the exercise of con- 
 scious faith. But with him the entire work of renewal was an inherent 
 moral change, and not a mere imputation, and was wrought in time. 
 This entire theology of imputation is directly opposed to the Arminian 
 responsibility which Mr. Wesley taught, whenever it substitutes im- 
 puted for inwrought righteousness. It is the glory of the Wesleyan 
 theology to present the righteousness of Christ in its true place as the 
 meritorious ground of our justification, but just as strenuously to 
 contend against its being made a substitute for our regeneration and 
 sanctification.
 
 SERMON XIII.] SIN IN BELIEVLRS. 
 
 SERMON XIII. 
 
 1. 1. Is there then sin in him that is in Christ ? Does sin remain in 
 one that believes in him ? Is there any sin in them that are born of God, 
 or are they wholly delivered from it? Let no one imagine this to be a 
 question of mere curiosity ; or, that it is of little importance whether it 
 be determined one way or the other. Rather it is a point of the utmost 
 moment to every serious Christian; the resolving of which very nearly 
 concerns both his present and eternal happiness. 
 
 2. And yet I do not know that ever it was controverted in the primi- 
 tive church. Indeed there was no room for disputing concerning it, 
 as all Christians were agreed. And so far as I have ever observed, the 
 whole body of ancient Christians, who have left us any thing in writing, 
 declare with one voice, that even believers in Christ, till they are "strong 
 in the Lord and in the power of his might," have need to " wrestle with 
 flesh and blood," with an evil nature, as well as " with principalities 
 and powers." 
 
 3. Arid herein our own church (as indeed in most points) exactly 
 copies after the primitive ; declaring in her ninth article, "Original sin 
 is the corruption of the nature of every man, whereby man is in his own 
 nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth contrary to the spirit. 
 And this infection of nature doth remain, yea in them that are regene- 
 rated ; whereby the lust of the flesh, called in Greek <p?ovi>]ua tfa^xocr, ig 
 not subject to the law of God. And although there is no condemnation 
 for them that believe, yet this lust hath of itself the nauire of sin." 
 
 4. The same testimony is given by all other churches; not only by 
 the Greek and Romish church, but by every reformed church in Europe, 
 of whatever denomination, hideed some of these seem to carry the 
 thing too far ; so describing the corruption of heart in a believer, as 
 scarce to allow that he has dominion over it, but rather is in bondage 
 thereto ; and, by this means, they leave hardly any distinction between 
 a believer and an unbeliever. 
 
 5. To avoid this extreme, many well meaning men, particularly those 
 under the direction of the late Count Zirizendorf, ran into another; 
 affirming, that " all true believers are not only saved from the dominion 
 of sin, but from the being of inward as well as outward sin, so that it 
 no longer remains in them." And from them, about twenty years ago, 
 many of our countrymen imbibed the same opinion, that even the cor 
 ruption is no more, in those who believe in Christ. 
 
 6. It is true that, when the Germans were pressed upon this head, 
 they soon allowed, (many of them at least,) that " sin did still remain in 
 the flesh, but not in the heart of a believer :" and after a time, when 
 the absurdity of this was shown, they fairly gave up the point ; allowing 
 that sin did still remain, though not reign, in him that is born of God. 
 
 7. But the English, who had received it from them, (some directly, 
 some at second or third hand,) were not so easily prevailed upon to 
 part with a favourite opinion : and even when the generality of them 
 were convinced it was utterly indefensible, a few could not be persuaded 
 to give it up, but maintain it to this day.
 
 120 818 IN BELIEVERS. [SERMON XIII. 
 
 IT. 1. For the sake of those who really fear God, and desire to know 
 " the truth as it is in Jesus," it may not lie amiss to consider the point 
 with calmness and impartiality. In doing this, I use indifferently the 
 words regenerate, justified, or believers; since, though they have not 
 precisely the same meaning, (the first implying an inward, actual change, 
 the second a relative one, and the third, the means whereby both the 
 one and the other arc wrought) yet they come to one and the same 
 thing ; as every one that believes, is both justified and born of God. 
 
 2. By sin, I here understand inward sin ; any sinful temper, passion, 
 or affection ; such as pride, self will, love of the world, in any kind or 
 degree ; such as lust, anger, peevishness ; any disposition contrary to 
 the mind which was in Christ. 
 
 3. The question is not concerning outward, sin : whether a child of 
 God commit sin or no. We all agree and earnestly maintain, " He that 
 committeth sin is of the devil." We agree, " Whosoever is born of God 
 doth not commit sin." Neither do we now inquire, whether inward sin 
 will always remain in the children of God ; whether sin will continue 
 in the soul, as long as it continues in the body : nor yet do we inquire, 
 whether a justified person may relapse either into inward or outward 
 sin ; but simply this, Is a justified or regenerate man freed from all sin 
 as soon as he is justified ? Is there then no sin in his heart ? nor ever 
 after, unless he fall from grace 1 
 
 4. We allow that the state of a justified person is inexpressibly great 
 and glorious. He is born again, " not of blood, nor of the flesh, nor 
 of the will of man, but of God." He 's a child of God, a member of 
 Christ, an heir of the kingdom of heaven. " The peace of God, 
 which passeth all understanding, keepeth his heart and mind in Christ 
 Jesus." His very body is a " temple of the Holy Ghost," and a 
 " habitation of God through the Spirit." He is " created anew in 
 Christ Jesus :" he is washed, he is sanctified. His heart is purified by 
 faith ; he is cleansed " from the corruption that is in the world ;" " the 
 love of God is shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost which is given 
 unto him." And so long as he " walketh in love," (which he may 
 always do,) he worships God in spirit and in truth. He keepeth the 
 commandments of God, and doeth those thiqgs that are pleasing in 
 his sight ; so exercising himself as to " have a conscience void of offence, 
 towards God and towards man ;" and he has power both over outward 
 and inward sin, even from the moment he is justified. 
 
 III. 1. But was he not then freed from all sin, so that there is no sin 
 in his heart ? I cannot say this ; I cannot believe it ; because St. Paul 
 says the contrary. He is speaking to believers, and describing the state 
 of believers in genera), when he says, " The flesh lusteth against the 
 Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh : these are contrary the one to 
 the other," Gal. v, 17. Nothing can be more express. The apostle 
 here directly affirms that the flesh, evil nature, opposes the Spirit, even 
 in believers ; that even in the regenerate, there are two principles, 
 u contrary the one to the other." 
 
 2. Again : when he writes to the believers at Corinth, to those who 
 were sanctified ii> Christ Jesus, 1 Cor. i, 2, he says, " I, brethren, could 
 not speak unto you, as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babee 
 in Christ. Ye are yet carnal : for whereas there is among you envying 
 and strife, are ye not carnal ?" ch. iii, ver. 1-3. Now here the apostle
 
 SERMON XIII.] SIN IN BELIEVERS. 121 
 
 speaks unto those who were, unquestionably believers, whom in the 
 same breath he styles his brethren in Christ, as being still, in a 
 measure, carnal. He affirms, there was envying, (an evil temper,) 
 occasioning strife among them, and yet does not give the least intima- 
 tion that they had lost their faith. Nay he manifestly declares they 
 had not ; for then they would not have been babes in Christ. And 
 (what is most remarkable of all) he speaks of being carnal, and babes 
 in Christ, as one and the same thing; plainly showing that every believer 
 is (in a degree) carnal, while he is only a babe in Christ. 
 
 3. Indeed this grand point, that there are two contrary principles in 
 believers, nature and grace, the flesh and the Spirit, runs through all the 
 epistles of St. Paul, yea, through all the Holy Scriptures ; almost all the 
 directions and exhortations therein, are founded on this supposition ; 
 pointing at wrong tempers or practices in those who are, notwithstand- 
 ing, acknowledged by the inspired writers to be believers. And they 
 arf continually exhorted to fight with and conquer these, by the power 
 of the faith which was in them. 
 
 4. And who can doubt, but there was faith in the angel of the church 
 of Ephesus, when our Lord said to him, " I know thy works, and thy 
 labour, and thy patience : thou hast patience, and for my name's sake 
 hast laboured and hast not fainted," Rev. ii, 2, 3, 4. But was there, 
 mean time, no sin in his heart ? Yea, or Christ would not have added, 
 " Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy 
 first love." This was a real sin which God saw in his heart ; of which, 
 accordingly, he is exhorted to r epent : and yet we have no authority to 
 say, that even then he had no faith. 
 
 5. Nay, the angel of the church at Pergamos, also, is exhorted to 
 repent, which implies sin, though our Lord expressly says, " Thou hast 
 not denied my faith," ver. 13, 16. And to the angel of the church in 
 Sardis, he says, " Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready 
 to die." The good which remained was ready to die; but was not 
 actually dead, chap, iii, 2. So there was still a spark of faith even in 
 him ; which he is accordingly commanded to hold fast, ver. 3. 
 
 6. Once more : when the apostle exhorts believers to " cleanse them 
 selves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit," 2 Cor. vii, 1, he plainly 
 teaches, that those believers were not yet cleansed therefrom. 
 
 Will you answer, " He that abstains from all appearance of evil," 
 does ipso facto " cleanse himself from all filthiness." Not in any wise. 
 For instance : a man reviles me : I feel resentment ; which is filthiness 
 of spirit : yet I say not a word. Here 1 " abstain from all appearance 
 of evil ;" but this does not cleanse me from that filthiness of spirit, as J 
 experience to my sorrow. 
 
 7. And as this position, there is no sin in a believer, no carnal mind 
 no bent to backsliding, is thus contrary to the word of God, so it is to 
 the experience of his children. These continually feel a heart bent to 
 backsliding ; a natural tendency to evil ; a proneness to depart from Godj 
 nnd cleave to the things of earth. They are daily sensible of sin remain- 
 ing in their heart, pride, self will, unbelief; and of sin cleaving to all they 
 speak and do, even their best actions and holiest duties. \nt at the 
 same time they " know that they are of God ;" tney cannot doubt of it 
 for a moment. They feel his Spirit clearly " witnessing with their spirit, 
 that they are the children of God." They " rejoice in God through Christ
 
 122 SIN IN BELIEVERS. [SERMON Xllf. 
 
 , by whom they have now received the atonement." So that they 
 are equally assured, that sin is in them, and that " Christ is in tnem the 
 hope of glory." 
 
 8. " But can Christ be in the same heart where sin is ?" Undoubtedly 
 he can. Otherwise it never could be saved therefrom. Where the 
 sickness is, there is the physician, 
 
 " Carrying on his work within, 
 Striving till he cast out sin." 
 
 Christ indeed cannot reign, where sin reigns ; neither will he dwelt 
 where any sin is allowed. But he is and dwells in the heart of every 
 believer, who isjighting against all sin ; although it be not yet purified, 
 according to the purification of the sanctuary. 
 
 9. It has been observed before, that the opposite doctrine, that there 
 is no sin in believers, is quite new in the church of Christ ; that it was 
 never heard of for seventeen hundred years ; never till it was discovered 
 by Count Zinzendorf. I do not remember to have seen the least inti- 
 mation of it, either in any ancient or modern writer ; unless perhaps in 
 some of the wild, ranting Antinomians. And these likewise say and 
 unsay, acknowledging there is sin in their Jlesh, although no sin in their 
 heart. But whatever doctrine is new must be wrong ; for the old religion 
 is the only true one ; and no doctrine can be right, unless it is the very 
 same " which was from the beginning." 
 
 10. One argument more against this new, unscriptural doctrine, may 
 be drawn from the dreadful consequences of it. One says, " I felt anger 
 to day." Must I reply, " Then you have no faith ?" Another says, " I 
 know what you advise is good, but my will is quite averse to it." Must 
 I tell him, " Then you are an unbeliever, under the wrath and the curse 
 of God ?" What will be the natural consequence of this ? Why, if he 
 believe what I say, his soul will not only be grieved and wounded, but 
 perhaps utterly destroyed ; inasmuch as he will "castaway" that "con- 
 fidence which hath great recompense of reward :" and having cast away 
 his shield, how shall he " quench the fiery darts of the wicked one ?" 
 How shall he overcome the world 1 seeing " this is the victory that 
 overcometh the world, even our faith." He stands disarmed in the 
 midst of his enemies, open to all their assaults. What wonder then if 
 he be utterly overthrown ; if they take him captive at their will ; yea, 
 if he fall from one wickedness to another, and never see good any more 1 
 I cannot therefore by any means receive this assertion, that there is no 
 sin in a believer from the moment he is justified ; first, because it is 
 contrary to the whole tenor of Scripture ; secondly, because it is con- 
 trary to the experience of the children of God ; thirdly, because it is 
 absolutely new, never heard of in the world till yesterday ; and, lastly, 
 because it is naturally attended with the most fatal consequences ; not 
 only grieving those whom God hath not grieved, but perhaps dragging 
 thmi into everlasting perdition. 
 
 IV. 1. However, let us give a fair hearing to the chief arguments of 
 ihose who endeavour to support it. And it is, first, from Scripture they 
 attempt to prove, that there is no sin in a believer. They argue thus : 
 " The Scripture says, Every believer is born of God, is clean, is holy, is 
 sanctified, is pure in heart, has a new heart, is a temple of the Holy 
 Ghost. Now, as 4 that which is born of the flesh is flesh,' is altogether 
 evil, so ' that which is born of the Spirit is spirit,' is altogether good.
 
 SERMON XIII.] SIN IN BELIEVERS. 123 
 
 Again ; a man cannot be clean, sanctified, holy, and at the same time 
 unclean, unsanctified, unholy. He cannot be pure and impure, or have 
 a new and an old heart together. Neither can his soul be unholy, while 
 it is a temple of the Holy Ghost." 
 
 I have put this objection as strong as pos&ible, that its full weight 
 may appear. Let us now examine it, part by part. And, 1. " That 
 which is born of the Spirit is spirit, is altogether good." I allow the 
 text, but not the comment. For the text affirms this, and no mere, 
 That every man who is " born of the Spirit," is a spiritual man. He is 
 so. But so he may be, and yet not be altogether spiritual. The Chris- 
 tians at Corinth were spiritual men ; else they had been no Christians 
 at all ; and yet they were not altogether spiritual : they were still, in 
 part, carnal. " But they were fallen from grace." St. Paul says, no. 
 They were even then babes in Christ. 2. " But a man cannot be clean, 
 sanctified, holy, and at the same time unclean, unsanctified, unholy." 
 Indeed he may. So the Corinthians were. " Ye are washed," says 
 the apostle, " ye are sanctified ;" namely, cleansed from " fornication, 
 idolatry, drunkenness," and all other outward sin, 1 Cor. vi, 9, 10, 11 : 
 and yet, at the same time, in another sense of the word, they were un- 
 sanctified ; they were not washed, not inwardly cleansed from envy, 
 evil surmising, partiality. " But sure they had not a new heart and an 
 old heart together." It is most sure they had ; for at that very time, 
 their hearts were truly, yet not entirely renewed. Their carnal mind 
 was nailed to the cross ; yet it was not wholly destroyed. " But could 
 they be unholy, while they were ' temples of the Holy Ghost ?' " Yes ; 
 that they were temples of the Holy Ghost is certain, 1 Cor. vi, 19; and 
 it is equally certain, they were, in some degree, carnal, that is, unholy. 
 
 2. " However, there is one scripture more which will put the matter 
 out of question : ' If any man be [a believer] in Christ, he is a new 
 creature. Old things are passed away ; behold all things are become 
 new,' 2 Cor. v, 17. Now, certainly, a man cannot be a new creature 
 and an old creature at once." Yes, he may : he may be partly renewed, 
 which was the very case with those at Corinth. They were doubtless 
 " renewed in the spirit of their mind," or they could not have been so 
 much as " babes in Christ ;" yet they had not the whole mind which 
 was in Christ, for they envied one another. " But it is said expressly 
 Old things are passed away : all things are become new." But wo 
 must not so interpret the apostle's words, as to make him contradict 
 himself. And if we will make him consistent with himself, the plain 
 meaning of the words is this : His old judgment concerning justifica- 
 tion; holiness, happiness, indeed concerning the things of God in gene- 
 ra^ is now passed away : so are his old desires, designs, affections, 
 tempers, and conversation. All these are undeniably become new 
 greatly changed from what they were. And yet, though they ar* 1 new, 
 they are not wholly new. Still he feels, to his sorrow and shamo, 
 remains of the old man, too manifest taints of his former tempers and 
 affections, though they cannot gain any advantage over him, as long as 
 he watches unto prayer. 
 
 3. This whole argument, " If he is clean, he is clean ;" * if he is 
 holy, he is holy;" (and twenty more expressions of the same kind may 
 easily be heaped together;) is really no better than playing upon words: 
 it is the fallacy of arguing from a particular to a general; of inferring
 
 124 SIN IN BELIEVERS. [SERMON XIII. 
 
 a general conclusion from particular premises. Propose the sentence 
 entire, and it runs thus : " If he is holy at all, he is holy altogether.' 
 That does not follow : every babe in Christ is holy, and yet not altoge- 
 ther so. He is saved from sin ; yet not entirely : it remains, though il 
 does not. reign. If you think it does not remain, (in babes at least, 
 whatever be the case with young men, or fathers,) you certainly have 
 riot considered the height, and depth, and length, and breadth of the 
 law of God ; (even the law of love, laid down by St. Paul in the thir- 
 teenth of Corinthians ;) and that every (avofiia) disconformity to, or 
 deviation from this law, is sin. Now, is there no disconformity to this 
 in the heart or life of a believer? What may be in an adult Christian, 
 is another question ; but what a stranger must he be to human nature, 
 who can possibly imagine that this is the case with every babe in Christ ! 
 
 4. " But believers walk after the Spirit,* Rom. viii, 1, and the 
 Spirit of God dwells in them; consequently they are delivered from the 
 guilt, the power, or in one word, the being of sin." 
 
 These are coupled together, as if they were the same thing. But 
 they are not the same thing. The guilt is one thing, the power another, 
 and the being yet another. That believers are delivered from the guilt 
 and power of sin we allow ; that they are delivered from the being of it 
 we deny. Nor does it in any wise follow from these texts. A man 
 may have the Spirit of God dwelling in him, and may " walk after the 
 Spirit," though he still feels " the flesh lusting against the Spirit." 
 
 5. " But the ' church is the body of Christ,' Col. i, 24 ; this implies, 
 that its members are washed from al! filthiness ; otherwise it will follow 
 that Christ and Belial are incorporated with each other." 
 
 Nay, it will not follow from hence, " Those who are the mystical 
 body of Christ, still feel the flesh lusting against the Spirit," that Christ 
 has any fellowship with the devil ; or with that sin which he enables 
 them to resist and overcome. 
 
 6. " But are not Christians ' come to the heavenly Jerusalem,' where 
 ' nothing denied can enter V " Heb. xii, 22. Yes ; " and to an innu- 
 merable company of angels, and to the spirits of just men made per- 
 fect :" that is, 
 
 " Earth and heaven all agree ; 
 All is one great family." 
 
 And they are likewise holy and undefiled, while they " walk after the 
 Spirit ;" although sensible there is another principle in them, and that 
 " these are contrary to each other." 
 
 7. " But Christians are reconciled to God. Now this could not be, H 
 any of the carnal mind remained ; for this is enmity against God : con- 
 sequently, no reconciliation can be effected, but by its total destruction." 
 
 We are " reconciled to God through the blood of the cross :" and in 
 that moment the pfovrj^a ffu.*.os, the corruption of nature, which is en- 
 mity with God, is put under our feet ; the flesh has no more dominion 
 over us. But it still exists : and it is still in its nature enmity with God, 
 lusting against his Spirit. 
 
 8. " But ' they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with its 
 affections and lusts,' " Gal. v, 24. They have so ; yet it remains in 
 
 "What follows for some pages is an answer to a paper published in the Christian 
 Magazine, p. 577-582. I am surprised Mr. Dodd should give such a paper a place 
 in his Magazine, which is directly contrary to our ninth article.
 
 SERMON XIII.] BIN IN BELIF.VERS. 125 
 
 them stil t and oftec struggles to break from the cross. " Nay, but 
 they have ' put off the old man with his deeds,' " Col. iii, 9. They have ; 
 and, in the sense above described, " old things are passed away ; all 
 things are become new." A hundred texts may be cited to the same 
 effect ; and they will all admit of the same answer. " But to say all in 
 one word, ' Christ gave himself for the church, that it might be holy, 
 and without blemish,' " Eph. v, 25, 27. And so it will be in the end ; 
 but it never was yet, from the beginning to this day. 
 
 9. " But let experience speak : all who are justified do at that time 
 find an absolute freedom from all sin." That I doubt: but, if they do, 
 do they find it ever after 1 Else you gain nothing. " If they do not, 
 it is their own fault." That remains to be proved. 
 
 10. " But in the very nature of things, can a man have pride in him, 
 and not be proud ; anger, and yet not be angry ?'' 
 
 A man may have pride in him, may think of himself in some particu- 
 lars above what he ought to think, (and so be proud in that particular,) 
 and yet not be a proud man in his general character. He may have 
 anger in him, yea, and a strong propensity to furious anger, without 
 giving way to it. " But can anger and pride be in that heart, where 
 only meekness and humility are felt 7" No: but some pride and anger 
 may be in that heart, where there is much humility and meekness. 
 
 " It avails not to say, these tempers are there, but they do not reign . 
 for sin cannot, in any kind or degree, exist where it does not reign ; 
 for guilt and power are essential properties of sin. Therefore, where 
 one of them is, all must be." 
 
 Strange indeed ! " Sin cannot, in any kind or degree, exist where it 
 does not reign.' 1 '' Absolutely contrary this to all experience, all Scripture, 
 all common sense. Resentment of an affront is sin ; it is avo,uia, dis- 
 conformity to the law of love. This has existed in me a thousand times. 
 Yet it did not, and does not reign. " But guilt and power are essential 
 properties of sin ; therefore, where one is, all must be." No: in the 
 instance before us, if the resentment I feel is not yielded to, even for a 
 moment, there is no guilt at all, no condemnation from God upon that 
 account. And in this case, it has no power : though it " lusteth against 
 the Spirit," it cannot prevail. Here, therefore, as in ten thousand in- 
 stances, there is sin without either guilt or power. 
 
 11. " But the supposing sin in a believer is pregnant with every thing 
 frightful and discouraging. It implies the contending with a power that 
 has the possession of our strength ; maintains his usurpation of our 
 hearts ; and there prosecutes the war in defiance of our Redeemer." 
 Not so : The supposing sin is in us, does not imply that it has the 
 possession of our strength ; no more than a man crucified has the 
 possession of those that crucify him. As little does it imply, that " sin 
 maintains its usurpation of our hearts." The usurper is dethroned. 
 He remains indeed where he once reigned ; but remains in chains. So 
 that he does, in some sense, " prosecute the war," yet he grows weaker 
 and weaker; while the believer goes on from strength to strength, 
 conquering and to conquer. 
 
 12. '* I am not satisfied yet : he that hath sin in him, is a slave to pin. 
 Therefore, you suppose a man to be justified, while he is a slave to sm. 
 Now if you allow men may be justified while they have pride, anger, or 
 unbelief in them ; nay, if you aver, these are (at least for a time) in all
 
 126 SIN IN BELIEVERS. [SERMON XIII. 
 
 that are justified ; what wonder that we have so many proud, angry, 
 unbelieving believers?" 
 
 1 do not suppose any man who is justified is a slave to sin : yet I do 
 suppose sin remains (at least for a time) in all that are justified. 
 
 " But, if sin remains in a believer, he is a sinful man : if pride, for 
 instance, then he is proud ; if self will, then he is self willed ; if unbe- 
 lief, then he is an unbeliever ; consequently, no believer at all. How 
 then does he differ from unbelievers, from unregenerate men ?" This 
 is still mere playing upon words. It means no more than, if there is 
 oin, pride, self will, in him, then there is sin, pride, self will. And 
 this no body can deny. In that sense then he is proud, or self willed. 
 But he is not proud or self willed in the same sense that unbelievers 
 are, that is, govtrned by pride or self will. Herein he differs from 
 unregenerate men. They obey sin ; he does not. Flesh is in them 
 both : but they walk after the flesh ; he walks after the Spirit. 
 
 " But how can unbelief be in a believer ?" That word has tuo 
 meanings. It means either no faith, or little faith ; either the absence. 
 of faith, or the weakness of it. In the former sense, unbelief is not in 
 a believer ; in the latter, it is in all babes. Their faith is commonly 
 mixed with doubt or fear, that is, in the latter sense, with unbelief. 
 " Why are ye fearful, (says our Lord,) oh ye of little faith '!" Again, 
 " Oh thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ]" You see here 
 was unbelief in believers ; little faith and much unbelief. 
 
 13. " But this doctrine, That sin remains in a believer ; that a man 
 may be in the favour of God, while he has sin in his heart; certainly 
 tends to encourage men in sin." Understand the proposition right, 
 and no such consequence follows. A man may be in God's favour 
 though he feel sin ; but not if he yields to it. Having sin, does not 
 forfeit the favour of God ; giving way to sin does. Though the 
 flesh in you " lust against the Spirit," you may still be a child of God ; 
 but if you " walk after the flesh," you are a child of the devil. Now 
 this doctrine does not encourage to obey sin, but to resist it with all 
 your might. 
 
 V. 1. The sum of all is this : There are in every person, even after 
 he is justified, two contrary principles, nature and grace, termed by St. 
 Paul, the flesh and the Spirit. Hence, although even babes in Christ 
 are sanctified, yet it is only in part. In a degree, according to the 
 measure of their faith, they are spiritual ; yet, in a degree they are 
 carnal. Accordingly, believers are continually exhorted to watch 
 against the flesh, as well as the world and the devil. And to this 
 agrees the constant experience of the children of God. While they feel 
 this witness in themselves, they feel a will not wholly resigned to the 
 will of God. They know they are in him ; and yet find a heart ready 
 to depart from him, a proneness to evil in many instances, and a back- 
 wardness to that which is good. The contrary doctrine is wholly new; 
 never heard of in the church of Christ, from the time of his coming into 
 ihe world, till the time of Count Zinzendorf ; a,id it is attended with 
 the most fatal consequences. It cuts off all watching against our evil 
 nature, against the Delilah which we are told is gone, though she is 
 still lying in our bosom. It tears away the shield of weak believers, 
 deprives them of their faith, and so leaves them exposed to all the 
 assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
 
 SERMON XIII.] SIN IN BELIEVERS. 127 
 
 2. Let us, therefore, hold fast the bound doctrine " once delivered 10 
 the saints," and delivered down by them, with the written word, to ail 
 succeeding generations ; that although we are renewed, cleansed, puri 
 ficd, sanctified, the moment we truly believe in Christ, yet we are not 
 then renewed, cleansed, purified altogether ; but the flesh, the evil 
 nature, still remains, (though subdued,) and wars against the Spirit. 
 So much the more let us use all diligence in " fighting the good fight 
 of faith." So much the more earnestly let us " watch and pray" against 
 he enemy within. The more carefully let us take to ourselves, and 
 " put on the whole armour of God ;" that, although " we wrestle" both 
 " with flesh and blood, and with principalities, and powers, and wicked 
 spirits in high places," we " may be able to withstand in the evil day, 
 and having done all, to stand." 
 
 SERMON" XIV. The Repentance of Believers. 
 " Repent ye, and believe the Gospel." Mark i. 15. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THE primary meaning of repentance and faith. A subse- 
 quent repentance and faith of somewhat different nature, but 
 related, necessary to our continuance and growth in grace. 
 
 I. The Repentance of believers is self-knowledge. The 
 lack of this in the young Christian. Experience shows him 
 
 1. The remaining sin. (1) Of heart, pride, self-will, idolatrous love of the 
 world in its threefold form ; affections contrary to love ; covetousness. 
 Hence, sensible of these things, many apply the seventh of Romans to 
 Christians. (2) Of words and acts (uncharitable and unprofitable conver- 
 sation not here included); but useless discourse; mingled motives; spiritual 
 pride. (3) Of omission. (4) Of defect. 2. The guiltiness of this. Were it 
 not for the atoning blood, ve must be condemned. 3. Our inability to 
 remove either the sin or its desert before God. 
 
 II. The faith of believers is 
 
 1. A faith in the ability of Christ to m^et these conscious wants. 2. A 
 faith in the willingness of Christ to meet them now. 3. A co"tmuous faith, 
 by which we feel tne power of Christ resting upon us every moment. 
 
 III. Lessons. 
 
 1. Danger of the opinion that we are -wholly sanctified when we are 
 justified. 2. Tne necessity of a further change 3. The constant need of 
 the atoning blood. 4. The need of living upon Christ by faith. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This is another of the supplementary sermons, added twenty yenrs 
 after the publication of the preceding, and putting the truth already 
 defended into a practical form. Discarding the antinomian idea that we 
 need not trouble ourselves about this inward sin, (because (1) it cannot 
 be removed ; (2) it is not imputed to us ; and (3) our holiness is com- 
 plete in Christ without its removal) ; Mr. Wesley insists 
 
 1. That a profound, searching, conviction of this inward sin is <in 
 essential part of the experience of salvation ; not a mere anno/ance for
 
 128 REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. [SERMON XIV. 
 
 which we may find compensation in the thought of a perfect imputed 
 righteousness ; but a work of grace leading us to a real full salvation. _ 
 2 That the abiding faith by which the Christian lives m Christ, is 
 not'a trust in an ideal, perfect imputed righteousness but a perception 
 in Christ of saving power, able and willing to meet all the deep spiritual 
 needs of our fallen nature. Eeligion is a real, moral healing ot the soul. 
 Both Wesley and the Moravians had united mysticism with the 
 evangelical doctrine of faith. But the Moravian mysticism vnuQwetot, 
 standing still and waiting for inward manifestations. That of , Wesley 
 was Ethical scrutinizing the motives of an active life. The faith ot the 
 Moravians looked to an imputed righteousness ; that of Wesley wrought 
 out by love, both inward and outward righteousness. But Wesley s 
 faith rested at bottom only on the merits of Christ, and all his 
 motives of holy life had their root in a profound inward mamfestatic 
 of Divine love. This great truth he learned from the Moravians ; and 
 here, he and they agreed. But he expected the root to bud and pu 
 forth branches, blossoms, and fruit. They were afraid that the branches 
 might impoverish the root. 
 
 SERMON XIV. 
 
 1. IT is generally supposed, that repentance and faith are only the 
 gate of religion ; that they are necessary only at the beginning of our 
 Christian course, when we are setting out in the way to the kingdom. 
 And this may seem to be confirmed by the great apostle, where, exhort 
 ing the Hebrew Christians to " go on to perfection," he teaches them 
 to leave these " first principles of the doctrine of Christ ;" " not laying 
 again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith 
 towards God;" which must at least mean, that they should comparatively 
 leave these, that at first took up all their thoughts, in order to " press 
 forward towards the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." 
 
 2. And this is undoubtedly true, that there is a repentance and a 
 faith, which are, more especially, necessary at the beginning: a 
 repentance, which is a conviction of our utter sinfulness, and guiltiness, 
 and helplessness ; and which precedes our receiving that kingdom ol 
 God, which our Lord observes, is " within us ;" and a faith, whereby 
 we receive that kingdom, even " righteousness, and peace, and joy in 
 the Holy Ghost." 
 
 3. But, notwithstanding this, there is also a repentance and a faith, 
 (taking the words in another sense, a sense not quite the same, nor yet 
 entirely different,) which are requisite after we have " believed the 
 gospel ;" yea, and in every subsequent stage of our Christian course, 
 or we cannot " run the race which is set before us." And this repent- 
 ance and faith are full as necessary, in order to our continuance and 
 growth in grace, as the former faith and repentance were, in order to 
 our entering into the kingdom of God. 
 
 But in what sense are we to repent and believe, after we are justified * 
 This is an important question, and worthy of being considered with the 
 utmost attention. 
 
 I. And first, in what sense are we to repent ? 
 
 1. Repentance frequently means an inward change, a change of mind 
 from sin to holiness. But we now speak of it in a quite different sense, 
 as it is one kind of self knowledge, the knowing ourselves sinners, yea, 
 guilty, helpless sinners, even though we know we are children of God.
 
 SERMON XIV.] REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. 129 
 
 2. Indeed when we first know this ; when we first find redemption 
 m the blood of Jesus ; when the iove of God is first shed abroad in 
 our hearts, and his kingdom set up therein ; it is natural to suppose 
 that we are no longer sinners, that all our sins are riot only covered but 
 destroyed. As we do not then feel any evil in our hearts, we readily 
 imagine none is there. Nay, some well meaning men have imagined 
 this not only at that time, but ever after ; having persuaded themselves, 
 that when they were justified, they were entirely sanctified : yea, they 
 have laid it down as a general rule, in spite of Scripture, reason, and 
 experience. These sincerely believe, and earnestly maintain, that all 
 sin is destroyed when we are justified ; and that there is no sin in the 
 heart of a believer ; but that it is altogether clean from that moment. 
 But though we readily acknowledge, " he that believeth is born of God," 
 and " he that is born of God doth not commit sin ;" yet we cannot allow 
 th#t he does not feel it within : it does not reign, but it does remain. 
 And a conviction of the sin which remains in our heart, is one great 
 branch of the repentance we are now speaking of. 
 
 3. For it is seldom long before he who imagined all sin was gone, 
 feels there is still pride in his heart. He is convinced both that in many 
 respects he has thought of himself more highly than he ought to think, 
 and that he has taken to himself the praise of something he had received, 
 and gloried in it as though he had not received it ; and yet he knows he 
 is in the favour of God. He cannot, and ought not, " to cast away his 
 confidence." " The Spirit" still " witnesses with" his " spirit, that he 
 is a child of God." 
 
 4. Nor is it long before he feels self will in his heart ; even a will 
 contrary to the will of God. A will every man must inevitably have r 
 as long as he has an understanding. This is an essential part of human 
 nature, indeed of the nature of every intelligent being. Our blessed 
 Lord himself had a will as a man ; otherwise he had not been a man. 
 But his human will was invariably subject to the will of his Father. At 
 all times, and on all occasions, even in the deepest affliction, he could 
 say, " Not as I will, but as thou wilt." But this is not the case at all 
 times, even with a true believer in Christ. He frequently finds his will 
 more or less exalting itself against the will of God. He wills something, 
 because it is pleasing to nature, which is not pleasing to God ; and he 
 wills (is averse from) something, because it is painful to nature, which 
 is the will of God concerning him. Indeed, suppose he continues in 
 the faitn, he fights against it with all his might: but this very thing 
 implies that it really exists, and that he is conscious of it. 
 
 5. Now self will, as well as pride, is a species of idolatry; and both 
 are directly contrary to the love of God. The same observation may be 
 made concerning the " love of the world." But this likewise even true 
 believers are liable to feel in themselves ; and every one of them does 
 feel it, more or less, sooner or later, in one branch or another. It is 
 true, when he first " passes from death unto lift*," he desires nothing 
 more but God. He can truly say, " All my desire is unto thee, and unto 
 the remembrance of thy name :" " Whom have I in heaven but thee, 
 and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee !" But it is not so 
 always. In process of time he will feel again, though perhaps only foi 
 a few moments, either " the desire of the flesh," or " the desire of the 
 eye," or "the pride of life." Nay, if he does not continually watcb
 
 130 REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. [SERMON XIT. 
 
 and pray, he may find lust reviving ; yea, and thrusting sore at him thai 
 he. may fall, till he has scarce any strength left in him. He may fee) 
 the assaults of inordinate affection; yea, a strong propensity to "love 
 the creature more than the Creator ;" whether it be a child, a parent, 
 a husband or wife, or " the friend that is as his own soul." He may 
 feel, in a thousand various ways, a desire of earthly things or pleasures 
 In the same proportion he will forget God, not seeking his happiness 
 in him, and consequently being a "lover of pleasure more than a lover 
 of God." 
 
 6. If he does not keep himself every moment, he will again feel the 
 desire of the eye; the desire of gratifying his imagination with some- 
 thing great, or beautiful, or uncommon. In how many ways does this 
 desire assault the soul? Perhaps with regard to the poorest trifles, 
 such as dress, or furniture ; things never designed to satisfy the appetite 
 of an immortal spirit. Yet, how natural is it for us, even after we have 
 " tasted of the powers of the world to come," to sink again into these 
 foolish, low desires of things that perish in the using ! How hard is it, 
 even for those who know in whom they have believed, to conquer but 
 one branch of the desire of the eye, curiosity ; constantly to trample 
 it under their feet ; to desire nothing, merely because it is new ! 
 
 7. And how hard is it even for the children of God wholly to conquer 
 the pride of life ! St. John seems to mean by this nearly the same with 
 what the world terms the sense of honour. This is no other than a desire 
 of, and delight in, " the honour that cometh of men ;" a desire and love 
 of praise ; and, which is always joined with it, a proportionable fear of 
 dispraise. Nearly allied to this is evil shame ; the being ashamed of 
 that wherein we ought to glory. And this is seldom divided from the 
 fear of man. which brings a thousand snares upon the soul. Now where 
 is he, even among those that seem strong in faith, who does not find in 
 himself a degree of all these evil tempers ? So that even these are but in 
 part "crucified to the world ;" for the evil root still remains in their heart. 
 
 8. And do we not feel other tempers, which are as contrary to the 
 love of our neighbour as these are to the love of God ? The love of our 
 neighbour " thinketh no evil." Do not we find any thing of the kind I 
 Do we never find any jealousies, -Any evil surmisings, any groundless or 
 unreasonable suspicions? He that is clear in these respects, let him cast 
 the first stone at his neighbour. Who does not sometimes feel other 
 tempers or inward motions, which he knows are contrary to brotherly 
 love? If nothing of malice, hatred, or bitterness, is th%re no touch of 
 envy? Particularly towards those who enjoy some real or supposed good 
 which we desire but cannot attain ? Do we never find any degree of 
 resentment, when we are injured or affronted ; especially by those whom 
 we peculiarly loved, and whom we had most laboured to help or oblige ? 
 Does injustice or ingratitude never excite in us any desire of revenge ? 
 Any desire of returning evil for evil, instead of" overcoming evil with 
 good ?" This also shows how much is still in our heart which is 
 contrary to the love of our neighbour. 
 
 9. Covefousness, in every kind and degree, is certainly as contrary 
 to this as to the love of God ; whether ^apyvpia, the love of money, 
 which is too frequently " the root of all evil ;" or irfaovet-ia, literally, a 
 desire of having more, or increasing in substance. And how few, even 
 of the real children of God, are entirely free from both ' Indeed, oue
 
 I SERMON XI V.] REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. 131 
 
 great man, Martin Luther, used to say, He "never had any covetousness 
 in him (not only in his converted state, but) ever since he was born." 
 But, if so, 1 would not scruple to say, he was the only man born of a 
 woman, (except him that was God as well as man,) who had not, who 
 was born without it. Nay, I believe, never was any one born of God, 
 that lived any considerable time after, who did not feel more or less of 
 it many times, especially in the latter sense. We may therefore set it 
 'lown as an undoubted truth, that covetousness, together with pride, and 
 self will, and anger, remain in the hearts even of them that are justified. 
 
 10. It is their experiencing this, which has inclined so many serious 
 persons to understand the latter part of the seventh chapter to the 
 Romans, not of them that are " under the law," that are convinced of 
 sin, which is undoubtedly the meaning of the apostle, but of them that 
 are " under grace ;" that are "justified freely through the redemption 
 that is in Christ." And it is most certain, they are thus far right : 
 there does still remain, even in them that are justified, a mind which 
 is in some measure carnal; (so the apostle tells even the believers at 
 Corinth, "Ye are carnal ;") a heart bent to backsliding, still ever ready 
 to " depart from the living God ;" a propensity to pride, self will, anger, 
 revenge, love of the world, yea, and all evil ; a root of bitterness, which, 
 if the restraint were taken off for a moment, would instantly spring up ; 
 yea, such a depth of corruption, as, without clear light from God, we 
 cannot possibly conceive. And a conviction of all this sin remaining in 
 their hearts, is the repentanceTwfiich belongs to them that are justified. 
 
 11. But we should likewise be convinced, that as sin remains in our 
 hearts, so it cleaves to all our words and actions. Indeed it is to be 
 feared, that many of our words are more than mixed with sin ; that they 
 are sinful altogether ; for such undoubtedly is all uncharitable convtrsa- 
 tion; all which does not spring from brotherly love; all which does not 
 agree with that golden rule, " What ye would that others should do to 
 you, even so do unto them." Of this kind is all backbiting, all tale 
 bearing, all whispering, all evil speaking, that is, repeating the faults ol 
 absent persons ; for none would have others repeat his faults when he 
 is absent. Now how few are there, even among believers, who are in 
 no degree guilty of this; who steadily observe the good old rule, "Of 
 the dead and the absent nothing but good !" And suppose they do, 
 do they likewise abstain from unprofitable conversation 1 Yet all this is 
 unquestionably sinful, and "grieves the Holy Spirit of God :" yea, and 
 " for every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give an account 
 in the day of judgment." 
 
 1 2. But let it be supposed that they continually " watch and pray," and 
 so do " not enter into this temptation ;" that they constantly set a watch 
 before their mouth, and keep the door of their lips ; suppose they exer- 
 cise themselves herein, that all their " conversation may be in grace, 
 seasoned with salt, and meet to minister grace to the hearers ;" yet do 
 they not daily slide into useless discourse, notwithstanding all their 
 caution ? And even when they endeavour to speak for God, are their 
 words pure, free from unholy mixtures 1 Do they find nothing wrong 
 in their very intention? Do they speak merely to pleaee God, and not 
 partly to please themselves 1 Is it wholly to do the will of God, and not 
 their own will also ? Or, if they begin with a single eye, do they go on 
 " looking unto Jesus," and talking with him all the time they are talk-
 
 132 REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. [SERMON XIV. 
 
 ing with their neighbour 1 When they are reproving sin, do they feel no 
 anger or unkind temper to the sinner 7 When they are instructing the 
 ignorant, do they not find any pride, any self preference ? When they are 
 comforting the afflicted, or provoking one another to love and to good 
 works, do they never perceive any inward self commendation ; " Now 
 you have spoke wdlT n Or any vanity, a desire that others should think 
 so, and esteem them on the account? In some or all of these respects, how 
 much sin cleaves to the best conversation even of believers ? The con- 
 viction of which is another branch of the repentance, which belongs to 
 them that are justified. 
 
 13. And how much sin, if their conscience is thoroughly awake, may 
 they find cleaving to their actions also ? Nay, are there not many of 
 these, which, though they are such as the world would not condemn, yet 
 cannot be commended, no, nor excused, if we judge by the word of God ? 
 Are there not many of their actions, which, they themselves know, are 
 not to the glory of God ? Many, wherein they did not even aim at this ; 
 which were not undertaken with an eye to God ? And of those that 
 were, are there not many, wherein their eye is not singly fixed on God ? 
 Wherein they are doing their own will, at least as much as his ; and 
 seeking to please themselves as much, if not more, than to please God 1 
 And while they are endeavouring to do good to their neighbour, do 
 they not feel wrong tempers of various kinds ? Hence their good actions, 
 so called, are far from being strictly such ; being polluted with such a 
 mixture of evil ? Such are their works of mercy. And is not the same 
 mixture in their works of piety ? While they are hearing the word, 
 which is able to save their souls, do they not frequently find such 
 thoughts as make them afraid lest it should turn to their condemnation, 
 rather than their salvation ? Is it not often the same case, while they are 
 endeavouring to offer up their prayers to God , whether in public or private ? 
 Nay, while they are engaged in the most solemn service, even while 
 they are at the table of the Lord, what manner of thoughts arise in them ? 
 Are not their hearts sometimes wandering to the ends of the earth? 
 sometimes filled with such imaginations, as make them fear lest all their 
 sacrifice should be an abomination to the Lord ? So that they are now 
 more ashamed of their best duties, than they were once of their worst sins. 
 
 14. Again : How many sins of omission are they chargeable with 1 
 We know the words of the apostle, " To him that knoweth to do good, 
 and doeth it not, to him it is sin." But do they not know a thousand 
 instances, wherein they might have done good, to enemies, to strangers, 
 to their brethren, either with regard to their bodies or their souls, and 
 they did it not ? How many omissions have they been guilty of, in their 
 duty towards God ! How many opportunities of communicating, of 
 hearing his word, of public or private prayer, have they neglected ! So 
 great reason had even that holy man, Archbishop Ussher, after all his 
 labours for God, to cry out, almost with his dying breath, " Lord, for- 
 give me my sins of omission !" 
 
 15. But, besides these outward omissions, may they not find in them- 
 selves inward defects without number ? Defects of every kind : they 
 have not the love, the fear, the confidence, they ought to have, towards 
 God. They have not the love which is due to their neighbour, to every 
 rhild of man ; no, nor even that which is due to their brethren, to every 
 child of God. whether those that are at a distance from them, or those
 
 SERMON XIV.] REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. 133 
 
 with whom the v are immediately connected. They have no holy temper in 
 the degree they ought ; they are defective in every thing ; in a deep 
 consciousness of which they are ready to cry out with M. De Renty, " 1 
 am a ground all overrun with thorns ;" or with Job, " I am vile : I abhor 
 myself, and repent as in dust and ashes." 
 
 16. A conviction of their guiltiness is another branch of that repent- 
 ance which belongs to the children of God. But this is cautiously to be 
 understood, and in a peculiar sense. For it is certain, " there is no 
 condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," that believe in him, 
 and, in the power of that faith, " walk not after the flesh, but after the 
 Spirit." Yet can they no more bear the strict justice of God, now, than 
 before they believed. This pronounces them to be still worthy of death, 
 on all the preceding accounts. And it would absolutely condemn 
 them thereto, were it not for the atoning blood. Therefore they are 
 thoroughly convinced, that they still deserve punishment, although it 
 is hereby turned aside from them. But here there are extremes on 
 one hand and on the other, and few steer clear of them. Most men 
 strike on one or the other, either thinking themselves condemned when 
 they are not, or thinking they deserve to be acquitted. Nay, the truth 
 lies between : they still deserve, strictly speaking, only the damnation 
 of hell. But what they deserve does not come upon them, because they 
 " have an advocate with the Father." His life, and death, and interces- 
 sion, still interpose between them and condemnation. 
 
 17. A conviction of their utter helplessness, is yet another branch ol 
 this repentance. I mean hereby two things : First, that they are no 
 more able now of themselves to think one good thought, to form one good 
 desire, to speak one good word, or do one good work, than before they 
 were justified ; that they have still no kind or degree of strength of their 
 own ; no power either to do good, or resist evil ; no ability to conquer 
 or even withstand the world, the devil, or their own evil nature. They 
 can, it is certain, do all these things ; but it is not by their own strength. 
 They have power to overcome all these enemies ; for " sin hath no more 
 dominion over them :" but it is not from nature, either in whole or in 
 part ; it is the mere gift of God : nor is it given all at once, as if they 
 had a stock laid up for many years ; but from moment to moment. 
 
 18. By this helplessness I mean, secondly, an absolute inability to 
 deliver ourselves from that guiltiness or desert of punishment whereof 
 we are still conscious ; yea, and an inability to remove, by all the grace 
 we have, (to say nothing of our natural powers,) either the pride, self 
 will, love of the world, anger, and general proneness to depart from God, 
 which we experimentally know to remain in the heart, even of them that 
 are regenerate ; or the evil which, in spite of all our endeavours, cleat es 
 to all our words and actions. Add to this, an utter inability wholly to 
 avoid uncharitable, and much more unprofitable, conversation ; and an 
 inability to avoid sins of omission, or to supply the numberless defects 
 we are convinced of; especially the want of love, and other right tern 
 pers, both to God and man. 
 
 19. If any man is not satisfied of this, if any believes that whoever is 
 justified is able to remove these sins out of his heart and life, let him 
 make the experiment. Let him try whether, by the grace he has already 
 received, he can expel pride, self will, or inbred sin in general. Lei 
 him try, whether he can cleanse his words and actions from all mixture
 
 134 REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. [SERMON XTV. 
 
 of evil ; whether he can avoid all uncharitable and unprofitable conver- 
 sation, with all the sins of omission ; and, lastly, whether he can supply 
 the numberless detects which he still finds in himself. LK him not be 
 discouraged by one or two experiments, but repeat the trial again and 
 again ; and the longer he tries, the more deeply will he be convinced of 
 his utter helplessness in all these respects. 
 
 20. Indeed this is so evident a truth, that well nigh all the children 
 of God, scattered abroad, however they differ in other points, yet gene- 
 r;-lly agree in this; that although we may," by the Spirit, mortify the deeds 
 ol the body ;" resist and conquer both outward and inward sin ; although 
 we may weaken our enemies day by day ; yet we cannot drive them 
 out. By all the grace which is given at justification, we cannot extirpate 
 Uiem. Though we watch and pray ever so. much, we cannot wholly 
 cleanse either our hearts or hands. Most sure we cannot till it shall 
 please our Lord to speak to our hearts again, to speak the second time, 
 Bj? clean : and then only the leuxQ^y__is_cieamied. Then only^jfrg^eyil 
 rootTThe carnal mind, is destroyed ; and inbred sin subsists no more. 
 But if there be no such second change, if there be no instantaneous 
 deliverance after justification, if there be none but a gradual work of 
 God, (that there is a gradual work none denies,) then we must be con- 
 tent, as well as we can, to remain full of sin till death ; and, if so, we 
 must remain guilty till death, continually deserving punishment. For it 
 is impossible the guilt, or desert of punishment, should be removed from 
 us, as long as all this sin remains in our heart, and cleaves to our words 
 and actions. Nay, in rigorous justice, all we think, and speak, and act, 
 continually increases it. 
 
 II. 1. In this sense we are to repent, after we are justified. And 
 till we do so, we can go no farther. For, till we are sensible of our 
 disease, it admits of no cure. But, supposing we do thus repent, then 
 are we called to " believe the gospel," 
 
 2. And this also is to be understood in a peculiar sense, different 
 from that wherein we believed in order to justification. Believe the 
 glad tidings of great salvation, which God hath prepared for all peo- 
 ple. Believe that he who is " the brightness of his Father's glory, 
 the express image of his person," is " able to save unto the uttermost 
 all that come unto God through him." He is able to save you from 
 all the sin that still remiins in your heart. He is able to save you 
 from all the sin that cleaves to all your words and actions. He is able 
 to save you from sins of omission, and to supply whatever is wanting 
 in you. It is true, this is impossible with man ; but with God-man all 
 things are possible. For what can be too hard for Him, who hath "all 
 power in heaven and in earth ?" Indeed his bare power to do this is 
 not a sufficient foundation for our faith that he will do it, that he will 
 thus exert his power, unless he hath promised it. But this he has done : 
 he has promised it over and over, in the strongest terms. He has 
 given us these " exceeding great and precious promises," both in the 
 Old and the New Testament. So we read in the law, in the most an- 
 cient part of the oracles of God, " The Lord thy God will circumcise 
 thy heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God, with all 
 thy heart and with all thy soul," Deut. xxx, 6. So in the Psalms, 
 " He shall redeem Israel (the Israel of God) from all his sins." So in 
 the prophet : " Then will 1 sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall
 
 SERMON XIV.] REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. 135 
 
 be clean : from all your filthiness and from all your idols will [ cleanse 
 you. And I will put my Spirit within you, and ye shall keep my judg- 
 ments and do them. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses," 
 Ezek. xxxvi, 25, &,c. So likewise in the New Testament : " Blessed 
 be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his peo- 
 ple, and hath raised up a horn of salvation for us to perform the 
 oath which he sware to our father Abraham, That he would grant 
 unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hands of our enemies, 
 should serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before 
 him, all the days of our life," Luke i, 68, &,c. 
 
 3. You have therefore good reason to believe, he is riot only able, 
 but willing to do this ; to cleanse you from all your filthiness of flesh 
 and spirit; to "save you from all your uncleannesses." This is the 
 thing which you now long for ; this is the faith which you now parti- 
 cularly need, namely, that the Great Physician, the Lover of my soul, 
 is willing to make me clean. But is he willing to do this to morrow 
 or to day 1 Let him answer for himself. " To day, if ye will hear" my 
 " voice, harden not your hearts." If you put it off" till to morrow, you 
 harden your hearts ; you refuse to hear his voice. Believe therefore 
 that he is willing to save you to day. He is willing to save you now. 
 " Behold, now is the accepted time." He now saith, " Be thou clean!" 
 Only believe ; and you also will immediately rind, " All things are 
 possible to him that believeth." 
 
 4. Continue to believe in Him that loved thee, and gave himself for 
 thee ; that bore all thy sins in his own body on the tree ; and he saveth 
 thee from all condemnation, by his blood continually applied. Thus 
 it is that we continue in a justified state. And when we go on " from 
 faith to faith," when we have faith to be cleansed from indwelling sin, 
 to be saved from all our uncleannesses, we are likewise saved from all 
 that guilt, that desert of punishment, which we felt before. So that 
 then we may say, not only, 
 
 " Every moment, Lord, I want 
 The merit of thy death ;" 
 
 but, likewise, in the full assurance of faith, 
 
 " Every moment, Lord, I have 
 The merit of thy death !" 
 
 For, by that faith in his life, death, and intercession for us, renewed 
 from moment to moment, we are every whit clean, and there is not 
 only now no condemnation for us, but no such desert of punishment as 
 was before, the Lord cleansing both our hearts and lives. 
 
 5. By the same faith we feel the power of Christ every moment 
 resting upon us, whereby alone we are what we are ; whereby we are 
 enabled to continue in spiritual life, and without which, notwithstand- 
 ing all our present holiness, we should be devils the next moment. 
 But as long as we retain our faith in him, we " draw water out of the 
 wells of salvation." Leaning on our beloved, even Christ in us the 
 hope of glory, who dwelleth in our hearts by faith, who likewise is ever 
 interceding for us at the right hand of God, we receive help from him 
 to think, and speak, and act what is acceptable in his sight. Thus 
 does he " prevent" them that believe, in all their " doings, and further 
 them with his continual help," so that all their designs, conversations,
 
 136 REPENTANCE OF BELIEVEES. [SERMON XIV. 
 
 and actions are "begun, continued, and ended in him." Thus doth 
 he " cleanse the thoughts of their hearts, by the inspiration of his Holy 
 Spirit, that they may perfectly love him, and worthily magnify his holy 
 name." 
 
 6. Thus it is, that in the children of God, repentance and faith 
 exactly answer each other. By repentance, we feel the sin remaining 
 in our hearts, and cleaving to our words and actions : by faith we 
 receive the power of God in Christ, purifying our hearts, and cleansing 
 our hands. By repentance we are still sensible that we deserve pun- 
 ishment for all our tempers, and words, and actions : by faith we are 
 conscious, that our Advocate with the Father is continually pleading 
 for us, and thereby continually turning aside all condemnation and 
 punishment from us. By repentance we have an abiding conviction, 
 that there is no help in us : by faith we receive not only mercy, " but 
 grace to help in" every " time of need." Repentance disclaims the 
 very possibility of any other help: faith accepts all the help we stand 
 in need of, from him that hath all power in heaven and earth. Re- 
 pentance says, "Without him I can do nothing:" Faith says, " I can 
 do all things through Christ strengthening me." Through him I can 
 not only overcome, but expel, all the enemies of my soul. Through 
 him I can "love the Lord my God with all my heart, mind, soul, and 
 strength ;" yea, and " walk in holiness and righteousness before him 
 all the days of my life." 
 
 III. 1. From what has been said, we may easily learn the mischiev- 
 ousness of that opinion, that we are wholly sanctified when we are 
 justified ; that our hearts are then cleansed from all sin. It is true, we 
 are then delivered, as was observed before, from the dominion of out- 
 ward sin ; and, at the same time, the power of inward sin is so broken, 
 that we need no longer follow, or be led by it : but it is by no means 
 irue. that inward sin is then totally destroyed ; that the root of pride, 
 self will, anger, love of the world, is then taken out of the heart ; or that 
 the carnal mind, and the heart bent to backsliding, are entirely extir- 
 pated. And to suppose the contrary, is not, as some may think, an 
 innocent, harmless mistake. No: it does immense harm: it entirely 
 blocks up the way to any farther change : for it is manifest, " The} 
 that are whole do not need a physician, but they that are sick." If, 
 therefore, we think we are quite made whole already, there is no room 
 to seek any farther healing. On this supposition it is absurd to expect 
 a farther deliverance from sin, whether gradual or instantaneous. 
 
 2. On the contrary, a deep conviction that, we are not yet whole ; 
 that our hearts are not fully purified ; that there is yet in us a " carnal 
 mind," which is still in its nature " enmity against God ;" that a whole 
 body of sin remains in our heart, weakened indeed, but not destroyed ; 
 shows, beyond all possibility of doubt, the absolute necessity of a farthei 
 change. We allow, that at the very moment of justification, we are 
 born again : in that instant we experience that inward change, from 
 " darkness into marvellous light ;" from the image of the brute and the 
 devil, into the image of God ; from the earthly, sensual, devilish mind, 
 to the mind which was in Christ Jesus. But are we then entirely 
 changed ? Are we wholly transformed into the image ot him that 
 created us ? Far from it : we still retain a depth of sin : and it is the 
 consciousness of this, which constrains us to groan for a full deliverance,
 
 SERMON XIV.] REPENTANCE OF BELIEVERS. 137 
 
 to him that is mighty to save. Hence it is, that those believers who 
 are not convinced of the deep corruption of their hearts, or but slightly, 
 arid as it were notionally convinced, have little concern about entire 
 sanctifi cation. They may possibly hold the opinion, that such a thing 
 is to be, either at death, or some time, they know not when, before it. 
 But they have no great uneasiness for the want of it, and no great 
 hunger or thirst after it. They cannot, until they know themselves 
 better, until they repent in the sense above described, until God unveils 
 the inbred monster's face, and shows them the real state of their souls. 
 Then only, when they feel the burden, will they groan for deliverance 
 from it. Then, and not till then, will they cry out, in the agony of 
 their soul, 
 
 " Break off the yoke of inb ed sin, 
 
 And fully set my spir. i free ! 
 I cannot rest, till pure within ; 
 
 Till I am wholly lost in thee ' 
 
 3. We may learn from hence, secondly, that a deep conviction ol 
 our demerit, after we are accepted, (which, in one sense, may be termed 
 guilt,} is absolutely necessary, in order to our seeing the true value ot 
 the atoning blood ; in order to our feeling that we need this as much, 
 after we are justified, as ever we did before. Without this conviction 
 we cannot but account the blood of the covenant as a common thing, 
 something of which we have not now any great need, seeing all our past 
 sins are blotted out. Yea, but if both our hearts and lives are thus 
 unclean, there is a kind of guilt which we are contracting every mo- 
 ment, and which, of consequence, would every moment expose us to 
 fresh condemnation, but that 
 
 " He ever lives above, 
 
 For us to intercede, 
 His all-atoning love, 
 
 His precious blood to plead." 
 
 It IB this repentance, and the faith intimately connected with it, which 
 are expressed in those strong lines, 
 
 " I sin in every breath I draw, 
 Nor do thy will, nor keep thy law, 
 
 On earth, as angels do above : 
 But still the fountain open stands, 
 Washes my feet, my heart, rny hands, 
 
 Till I am perfected in love." 
 
 4. We may observe, thirdly, a deep conviction of our utter helpless- 
 ness, of our total inability to retain any thing we have received, much 
 more to deliver ourselves from the world of iniquity remaining both in 
 our hearts and lives, teaches us truly to live upon Christ by faith, not 
 only as our Priest, but as our King. Hereby we are brought to " mag- 
 nify him," indeed ; to " give him all the glory of his grace ;" to make 
 him a whole Christ, an entire Saviour ; and truly " to set the crown 
 upon his head." These excellent words, as they have frequently been 
 usod, have little or no meaning; but they are fulfilled in a strong and 
 deep sense, when we thus, as it were, go out of ourselves, in order to 
 be swillowed up in him ; when we sink into nothing, that he may bo 
 all in all. Then, his almighty grace having abolished " every high thing 
 which exalted itself against him," every temper, and thought, and word, 
 end work, " is brought to the obedience- of Christ." 
 
 Londonderry, April 24, 1767
 
 138 THE GREAT ASSIZE. [sEEMON XV. 
 
 SERMON XV. The Great Assize. 
 
 Preached at the assizes held before the Honourable Sir Edward Clive, 
 Knight, one of the Judges of His Majesty's Court of Common Pleas, in St. 
 Paul's Church, Bedford, on Friday, March 10, 1758; published at th* 
 request of William Cole, Esq., High Sheriff of the county, and others. 
 
 " We shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ" Kom. xiv. 10. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THE solemnity of the present occasion, and its outward 
 expression. The far more awful solemnity of the final judg- 
 ment. The effect which it should have on human society. 
 
 I. The circumstances preceding the judgment. The pre- 
 ceding signs. The general resurrection, which will be uni- 
 versal. The gathering of the elect, and of all nations. 
 
 II. The judgment itself. 
 
 The Son of God is the judge. The time called the day of 
 the Lord, may be of long duration. The plan not defined. 
 The persons judged; all mankind without exception, indi- 
 vidually, and for all the acts, words and thoughts. The 
 righteous as well as the wicked impartially judged in light of 
 all their deeds. The final sentences ; immutable. 
 
 III. The circumstances which follow : 
 
 1. The execution of the sentences. The passing away of 
 the present order of things. This is not beyond the power of 
 God. The new order of nature in which sin shall be abolished 
 with all its results, and holiness be universal. 
 
 IV. Application. 
 
 1. To the Judge. The honour and responsibility of his> 
 office. 2. To the officers. Their duty to God, to the king, and 
 to the principles of justice. 3. To the entire assembly, 
 solemnly calling them before the bar of God to meet the wit- 
 ness of their own conscience. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This is another of the sermons added in Mr. Wesley's final edition of 
 the standard sermons. It is entirely free from dogmatic controversy, 
 and is an admirable example of Mr. Wesley's power to improve special 
 occasions for the purpose of impressing divine truth on the minds of the 
 people. It contains many opinions and forms of exposition which the 
 author himself would be far from pressing as authoritative. It generally 
 recites the language of Scripture, not therefore implying that this 
 language is to be understood in a baldly literal sense ; but leaving the 
 interpretation to the day when God shall declare it. 
 
 But this manner of preaching is of authority. And it evidently in- 
 cludes the following fundamental elements of doctrine : 
 
 1. An unequivocal belief in a definite final judgment at the end of 
 the present world. 2. A universal resurrection both of the just and the 
 unjust preceding this. 3. A final and irrevocable separation between 
 the righteous and the wicked. 4. That the basis of tLese sentences will
 
 SERMON XV.] THE GREAT ASSIZE. 139 
 
 be the deeds of this life. 5. That the final estates thus determined 
 will be immutable and eternal. 
 
 To change any one of these propositions would be to destroy die 
 entire significance and force of Mr. Wesley's preaching. In fact these 
 dogmas enter into the very essence of his doctrine tar more profoundly 
 than they can in any system in which an antecedent decree of God 
 really fixes the final estates. In such a system there might be room for 
 universalism or restorationism, but here none. 
 
 SERMON XV. 
 
 1. How many circumstances concur to raise the awfulness of the 
 present solemnity ! The general concourse of people of every age, sex 
 rank, and condition of life, willingly or unwillingly gathered together, 
 not only from the neighbouring, but from distant parts ; criminals 
 speedily to be brought forth, and having no way to escape ; officers, 
 waiting in their various posts, to execute the orders which shall h* 
 given ; and the representative of our gracious sovereign, whom we so 
 highly reverence and honour. The occasion likewise of this assembly, 
 adds not a little to the solemnity of it : to hear and determine causes oj 
 every kind, some of which are of the most important nature; on which 
 depends no less than life or death, death that uncovers the face of eter- 
 nity ! It was, doubtless, in order to increase the serious sense of these 
 things, and not in the minds of the vulgar only, that the wisdom of out 
 forefathers did not disdain to appoint even several minute circum- 
 stances of this solemnity. For these also, by means of the eye or ear 
 may more deeply affect the heart : and when viewed in this light 
 trumpets, staves, apparel, are no longer trifling or insignificant, but sub 
 servient, in their kind and degree, to the most valuable ends of society 
 
 2. But, as awful as this solemnity is, one far more awful is at hand 
 For yet a little while, and, " we shall all stand before the judgment sea 
 of Christ." " For, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to 
 me, and every tongue shall confess to God." And in that day, " every 
 one of us shall give account of himself to God." 
 
 3. Had a!l men a deep sense of this, how effectually would it secure 
 the interests of society ! For what more forcible motive can be con- 
 ceived to the practice of genuine morality, to a steady pursuit of solid 
 virtue, and a uniform walking in justice, mercy, and truth ? What 
 could strengthen our hands in all that is good, and deter us from all 
 evil, like a strong conviction of this, " The Judge standeth at the 
 door ;" and we are shortly to stand before him ? 
 
 4. It may not therefore be improper, or unsuitable to the design ol 
 the present assembly, to consider, 
 
 I. The chief circumstances which will precede our standing before 
 the judgment seat of Christ : 
 
 II. The judgment itself : and, 
 
 III. A few of the circumstances which *vil] follow it. 
 
 I. Let us, in the first place, consider the chief circumstances which 
 will precede our standing before the judgment seat of Christ. 
 
 And, 1st, " God will show signs in the earth beneath," Acts 11, 19 
 particularly he will " arise to shake terribly the earth." " The earth 
 shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cot- 
 tage," Isa. xxiv, 20. " There shall l>e earthquakes, " xa.ro. rows, (nut in 
 dvers only, but) " in all places :" noi in one only, or a few, but in
 
 140 THE GREAT ASSIZE. [sERMOX XV. 
 
 every part of the habitable world, Luke xxi, 11 ; even " such as were 
 not since men were upon the earth, so mighty earthquakes and so 
 great." In one of these " every island shall flee away, and the mount- 
 ains will not be found," Rev. xvi, 20. Meantime all the waters of the 
 terraqueous globe will feel the violence of those concussions; "the sea 
 and waves roaring," Luke xxi, 25, with such an agitation as had never 
 been known before, since the hour that " the fountains of the great 
 deep were broken up," to destroy the earth, which then " stood out ol 
 the water and in the water." The air will be all storm and tempest, 
 full of dark vapours and pillars of smoke ; Joel ii, 30 ; resounding with 
 thunder from pole to pole, and torn with ten thousand lightnings. But 
 the commotion will not stop in the region of the air ; " the powers of 
 heaven also shall be shaken. There shall be signs in the sun, and in 
 the moon, and in the stars ;" those fixed, as well as those that move 
 round them. " The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the nrjon 
 into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come," 
 Joel ii, 31. " The stars shall withdraw their shining," yea, and " fall 
 from heaven," Rev. vi, 13, being thrown out of their orbits. And then 
 shall be heard the universal shout, from all the companies of heaven, 
 followed by the " voice of the archangel," proclaiming the approach of 
 the Son of God and man, " and the trumpet of God," sounding an alarm 
 to all that sleep in the dust of the earth, 1 Thess. iv, 16. In conse- 
 quence of this, all the graves shall open, and the bodies of men arise. 
 The sea also shall give up the dead which are therein, Rev. xx, 13, 
 and every one shall rise with " his own body ;" his own in substance, 
 although so changed in its properties, as we cannot now conceive. 
 " For this corruptible will [then] put on incorruption, and this mortal 
 put on immortality," 1 Cor. xv, 53. Yea, " death and hades," the 
 invisible world, shall " deliver up the dead that are in them," Rev. 
 xx, 13. So that all who ever lived and died, since God created man, 
 shall be raised incorruptible and immortal. 
 
 2. At the same time, " the Son of man shall send forth his angels" 
 orer all the earth ; " and they shall gather his elect from the four winds, 
 from one end of heaven to the other." And the Lord himself shall 
 come with clouds, in his own glory, and the glory of his Father, with 
 ten thousand of his saints, even myriads of angels, and shall sit upon 
 the throne of his glory. " And before him shall be gathered all nations, 
 and he shall separate them one from another, and shall set the sheep 
 [the good] on his right hand, and the goats [the wicked] upon the left," 
 Matt, xxv, 33. Concerning this general assembly it is, that the beloved 
 disciple speaks thus : " I saw the dead, [all that had been dead,] small 
 and great, stand before God. And the books were opened, [a figura- 
 tive expression, plainly referring to the manner of proceeding among 
 men,] and the dead were judged out of those things which were written 
 in the books, according to their works," Rev. xx, 12. 
 
 II. These are the chief circumstances which are recorded in the 
 oracles of God, as preceding the general judgment. We are, secondly, 
 to consider the judgment itself, so far as it hath pleased God to reveal it 
 
 1. The person by whom God will judge the world, is his only begot- 
 ten Son, whose " goings forth are from everlasting ;" " who is God 
 over all, blessed for ever." Unto him, being " the out beaming of his 
 Father's glory, the express image of his person," Hebrews i, 3, the
 
 SERMON XV.] THE GREAT ASSIZE. 141 
 
 Father " hath committed all judgment, because he is the Son of man ,*' 
 John v, 22, 27 ; because, though he was " in the form of God, and 
 thought it not robbery to be equal with God, yet he emptied himself, 
 taking upon him the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of 
 men ;" Phil, ii, 6, 7 ; yea, because " being found in fashion as a man, 
 he humbled himself, [yet farther,] becoming obedient unto death, even 
 the death of the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted him," even 
 in his human nature, and "ordained him," as man, to try the children 
 of men, " to be the judge, both of the quick and dead ;" both of those 
 who shall be found alive at his coming, and of those who were before 
 gathered to their fathers. 
 
 2. The time, termed by the prophet, " The great and the terrible 
 day," is usually, in Scripture, styled The day of the Lord. The space 
 from the creation of man upon the earth, to the end of all things, is 
 the day of the sons of men ; the time that is now passing over us, is 
 properly our day ; when this is ended, the day of the Lord will begin 
 But who can say how long it will continue ? " With the Lord one day 
 is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day," 2 Pet. iii, 8. 
 And from this very expression, some of the ancient fathers drew that 
 inference, that, what is commonly called the day of judgment would 
 be indeed a thousand years : and it seems they did not go beyond the 
 truth : nay, probably they did not come up to it. For, if we consider 
 the number of persons who are to be judged, and of actions which are 
 to be inquired into, it does not appear, that, a thousand years will suffice 
 for the transactions of that day ; so that it may not improbably com- 
 prise several thousand years. But God shall reveal this also in its season. 
 
 3. With regard to the place where mankind will be judged, we have 
 no explicit account in Scripture. An eminent writer (but not he alone; 
 many have been of the same opinion) supposes it will be on earth, 
 where the works were done, according to which they shall be judged ; 
 ind that God will in order thereto, employ the angels of his strength, 
 
 " To smooth and lengthen out the boundless space, 
 And spread an area for all human race." 
 
 But perhaps it is more agreeable to our Lord's own account of his 
 coming in the clouds, to suppose it will be above the earth, if not " twice 
 a planetary height." And this supposition is not a little favoured by 
 what St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians : " The dead in Christ shall 
 rise first. .Then we who remain alive, shall be caught up together with 
 them, in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air," 1 Thess. iv, 16, 17. 
 So that it seems most probable, the great white throne will be high 
 exalted above the earth. 
 
 4. The persons to be judged, who can count, any more than the drops 
 of ra.in, or the sands of the sea ? " I beheld," saith St. John, " a great 
 mul itude, which no man can number, clothed with white robes, and 
 palms in their hands." How immense then must be the total multitude 
 of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues; of all that have 
 sprung from the loins of Adam, since the world began, till time shall be 
 no more ! If we admit the common supposition, which seems no ways 
 absurd, that the eanh bears at any one time, no less than four hundred 
 millions of living souls, men, women, and children ; what a congrega- 
 tion must all those generations make, who havr succeeded each other 
 for seven thousand years !
 
 142 THE GREAT ASSIZE. [SERMON XV. 
 
 " Great Xerxes' world in arms, proud Cannes 's host. 
 
 They all are hete ; and here they all are lost. 
 
 Their numbers swell to be discern 'd in vain : 
 
 Lost as a drop in the unbounded main." 
 
 Every man, every woman, every infant of days that ever breathed 
 the vital air, will then hear the voice of the Son of God, and start into 
 life, and appear before him. And this seems to be tht natural import of 
 that expression, " the dead, small and great :" all universally, all with- 
 out exception, all of every age, sex or degree ; all that ever lived and 
 died, or underwent such a change as will be equivalent with death. For 
 long before that day, the phantom of human greatness disappears, and 
 sinks into nothing. Even in the moment of death, that vanishes away. 
 Who is rich or great in the grave ? 
 
 5. And every man shall there " give an account of his own works ;" 
 yea, a full and true account of all that he ever did while in the body, 
 whether it was good or evil. Oh what a scene will then be disclosed, in 
 the sight of angels and men ! while not the fabled Rhadamanthus, but 
 the Lord God Almighty, whoknoweth all things in heaven and inearth, 
 
 " Castigatque auditqtie dolos ; subigitque fateri 
 Quae quis a pud superos, furto Itetatus inani, 
 Distulit in serain commissa piacula mortem."* 
 
 Nor will all the actions alone of every child of man be then brought to 
 open view, but ail their words ; seeing " every idle word which men 
 shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment," 
 Matt, xii, 36, 37 ; so that " by thy words," as well as works, " thou 
 shah be justified : and by thy words thou shall be condemned." Will 
 not God then bring to light every circumstance also, that accompanied 
 every word or action, and if not altered the nature, yet lessened or 
 increased the goodness or badness of them ? And how easy is this to 
 Him, who is '* about our bed, and about our path, and spieth out all 
 our ways ?" We know " the darkness is no darkness to him, but the 
 night shinet.h as the day." 
 
 6. Yea, he will bring to light, not the hidden works of daikness only, 
 but the very thoughts and intents of the heart. And what marvel ? For 
 he " searcheth the reins and understandeth all our thoughts." " All 
 things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to 
 do." " Hell and destruction are before him without a covering. How 
 much more the hearts of the children of men !" 
 
 7. And in that day shall be discovered every inward working of every 
 human soul ; every appetite, passion, inclination, affection, with the 
 various combinations of them, with every temper and disposition that 
 constitute the whole complex character of each individual. So shall ii 
 be clearly and infallibly seen, who was righteous, and who unrighteous ; 
 and in what degree every action, or person, or character, was eitl.? 
 good or evil. 
 
 8. " Then the King will say to them upon his fight hand, Come, ye 
 blessed of my Father. For I was hungry, and ye gave me meat ; thirsty, 
 and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, 
 ami ye clothed me." In like manner, all the good they did upon earth 
 
 * O'er these drear realms stern Rhadamanthus roigns, 
 Detects each artful villain, and constrains 
 To own the crimes, long veil'd from human sight : 
 In vain ' Now all stand forth in hated light.
 
 SERMON XV.1 THE GREAT ASSIZE. 143 
 
 will be recited before men and angels ; whatsoever they had done either 
 in word or deed, in the name, or for the sake of the Lord Jesus. All 
 their good desires, intentions, thoughts, all their holy dispositions, will also 
 be then remembered; and it will appear that though they were unknown 
 or forgotten among man, yet God noted them in his book. All their 
 sufferings likewise for the name of Jesus, and for the testimony of a 
 good conscience, will be displayed, unto their praise from the righteous 
 Judge, their honour before saints and angels, and the increase of that 
 ' far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." 
 
 9. But will their evil deeds too, (since, if we take in his whole life, 
 there is not a man on earth that liveth and sinneth not,) will these be 
 remembered in that day, and mentioned in the great congregation ? 
 Many believe they will not; and ask, "Would not this imply, that 
 their sufferings were not at an end, even when life ended 1 seeing 
 they would still have sorrow, and shame, and confusion of face to 
 endure." They ask farther, " How can this be reconciled with God's 
 declaration by the prophet, ' If the wicked will turn from all his sins 
 that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is 
 lawful and right ; all his transgressions that he hath commuted, they 
 shall not be once mentioned unto him,' Ezek. xviii, 21, 22. H*ow is it 
 consistent with the promise which God has made to all who accept of 
 the gospel covenant, ' I will forgive their iniquities, and remember their 
 sin no more ?' Jer. xxxi, 34. Or, as the apostle expresses it, ' I will be 
 merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and iniquities will J 
 remember no more ?' " Heb. viii, 12. 
 
 10. It may be answered, it is apparently and absolutely necessary, for 
 the full display of the glory of God ; for the clear and perfect manifes- 
 tation of his wisdom, justice, power, and mercy, towards the heirs of 
 salvation ; that all the circumstances of their life should be placed in 
 open view, together with all their tempers, and all the desires, thoughts, 
 and intents of their hearts : otherwise, how would it appear out of what 
 a depth of sin and misery the grace of God had delivered them ? And, 
 indeed, if the whole lives of all the children of men were not manifestly 
 discovered, the whole amazing contexture of divine providence could 
 not be manifested ; nor should we yet be able, in a thousand instances, 
 " to justify the ways of God to man." Unless our Lord's words were 
 fulfilled in their utmost sense, without any restriction or limitation, 
 " There is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, or hid that shall 
 not be known ;" Matt, x, 26 ; abundance of God's dispensations under 
 the sun would still appear without their reasons. And then only when 
 God hath brought to light all the hidden things of darkness, whosoever 
 were the actors therein, will it be seen that wise and good were all his 
 ways ; that he saw through the thick cloud, and governed all things by 
 the wise counsel of his own will ; that nothing was left to chance or 
 the caprice of men, but God disposed all strongly and sweetly, and 
 wrought all into one connected chain of justice, mercy, and truth. 
 
 11. And in the discovery of the divine perfections, the righteous will 
 rejoice with joy unspeakable ; far from feeling any painful sorrow or 
 shame, for any of those past transgressions which were long since 
 blotted out as a cloud, and washed away by the blood of the Lamb. It 
 will be abundantly sufficient for them, that all the transgressions which 
 they had committed, shall not be once mentioned unto them, to their
 
 144 THE GREAT ASSIZE. [SERMON XV. 
 
 disadvantage; that their sins, and transgressions, and iniquities, shall 
 be remembered no more, to their condemnation. This is the plain 
 meaning of the promise ; and this all the children of God shall find 
 true, to their everlasting comfort. 
 
 12. After the righteous are judged, the King will turn to them upon 
 his left hand, and they shall also be judged, every man according to his 
 works. But not only their outward works will be brought into the 
 account, but all the evil words which they have ever spoken ; yea, all 
 the evil desires, affections, tempers, which have, or have had, a place 
 in their souls ; and all the evil thoughts or designs which were ever 
 cherished in their hearts. The joyful sentence of acquittal will then be 
 pronounced upon those upon the right hand ; the dreadful sentence of 
 condemnation upon those on the left ; both of which must remain fixed 
 and unmoveable as the throne of God. 
 
 III. 1. We may, in the third place, consider a few of the circum 
 stances which will follow the general judgment. And the first is the 
 execution of the sentence pronounced on the evil and on the good : 
 " These shall go away into eternal punishment, and the righteous into 
 life eternal." It should be observed, it is the very same word which 
 is used, both in the former and in the latter clause : it follows, that 
 either the punishment lasts for ever, or the reward too will come to an 
 end : No, never, unless God could come to an end, or his mercy and 
 truth could fail. " Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun, in 
 the kingdom of their Father," " and shall drink of those rivers of plea- 
 sure which are at God's right hand for evermore." But here all descrip- 
 tion falls short : all human language fails ! Only one who is caught up 
 into the third heaven can have a just conception of it. But even such 
 a one cannot express what he hath seen : these things it is not possible 
 for man to utter. 
 
 The wicked, meantime, shall be turned into hell, even all the people 
 that forget God. They will be " punished with everlasting destruction 
 from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." They 
 will be " cast into the lake of fire burning with brimstone," originally 
 " prepared for the devil and his angels ;" where they will gnaw their 
 tongues for anguish and pain, they will curse God and look upwards. 
 There the dogs of hell, pride, malice, revenge, rage, horror, despair, 
 continually devour them. There " They have no rest, day or night, 
 but the smoke of their torment ascendeth for ever and ever !" For 
 " their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." 
 
 2. Then th heavens will be shrivelled up as a parchment scroll, and 
 pass away with a great noise : they will " flee from the face of Him that 
 sitt.eth on the throne, and there will be found no place for them," Rev. 
 xx, 11. The very manner of their passing away is disclosed to us by 
 the apostle Peter : " In the day of God, the heavens being on fire, shall 
 be dissolved," 2 Peter iii, 12. The whole beautiful fabric will be over 
 thrown by that raging element, the connection of all its parts destroyed, 
 and every atom torn asunder from the others. By the same, " The 
 earth also, and the works that are therein shall be burned up," ver. 10. 
 The enormous works of nature, the everlasting hills, mountains that 
 have defied the rage of time, and stood unmoved so many thousand 
 years, will sink down in fiery ruin. How much less will the worka 
 of art, though of the most durable kind, the utmost effort of huir.an
 
 SERMON XV.] THE GREAT ASSIZE. 145 
 
 iidustry, tombs, pillars, triumphal arches, castles, pyramids, be able 
 to withstand the flaming conqueror ! All, all will die, perish, vanish 
 %way, like a dream when one awaketh ! 
 
 3. It has indeed been imagined by some great and good men, that at 
 it requires that same Almighty Power to annihilate things as to create ; 
 to speak into nothing or out of nothing ; so no part of, no atom in, the 
 unfverse, will be totally or finally destroyed. Rather, they suppose, that, 
 as the last operation of fire, which we have yet been able to observe, ie 
 to reduce into glass what, by a smaller force, it had reduced to ashes; 
 so, in the day God hath ordained, the whole earth, if not the material 
 heavens also, will undergo this change, after which the fire can have 
 no farther power over them. And they believe this is intimated by that 
 expression in the revelation made to St. John, " Before the throne there 
 was a sea of glass, like unto crystal," Rev. iv, 6. We cannot now either 
 affirm or deny this ; but we shall know hereafter. 
 
 4. If it be inquired by the scoffers, the minute philosophers, how can 
 these things be ? Whence should cc*ne such an immense quantity of fire 
 as would consume the heavens and the whole terraqueous globe 1 We 
 would beg leave first to remind them, that this difficulty is not peculiar 
 to the Christian system. The same opinion almost universally obtained 
 among the unbigoted heathens. So one of those celebrated free thinkers 
 speaks, according to the generally received sentiment : 
 
 " Esse quoque in fatis reminiscitur, affore tempus, 
 Quo mare, quo tellus, correptaque regia cceli 
 Ardeat, et mundi moles operosa laboret." 
 
 But, secondly, it is easy to answer, even from our slight and superficial 
 acquaintance with natural things, that there are abundant magazines oi 
 fire ready prepared, and treasured up against the day of the Lord. How 
 Boon may a comet, commissioned by him, travel down from the most 
 distant parts of the universe ! And were it to fix upon the earth, in its 
 return from the sun, when it is some thousand times hotter than a red 
 hot cannon ball ; who does not see what must be the immediate conse- 
 quence ? But, not to ascend so high as the ethereal heavens, might not 
 the same lightnings which " give shine to the world," if commanded 
 by the Lord of nature, giye ruin and utter destruction 1 Or to go no 
 farther than the globe itself; who knows what huge reservoirs of liquid 
 fire are from age to age contained in the bowels of the earth ? ytna, 
 Hecla, Vesuvius, and all the other volcanos that belch out flames and 
 coals of fire, what are they, but so many proofs and mouths of those fiery 
 furnaces; and at the same time so many evidences, that God hath in rea- 
 diness wherewith to fulfil his word ? Yea, were we to observe no more 
 than the surface of the earth, and the things that surround us on every 
 side, it is most certain (as a thousand experiments prove, beyond all 
 possibility of denial) that we, ourselves, our whole bodies, are full of fire, 
 as well at e"ery thing round about us. Is it not easy to make this ethe- 
 real fire vis* 1 e even to the naked eye, and to produce thereby the very 
 same effects on combustible matter, which are produced by culinary fire 1 
 Needs there then any more than for God to unloose that secret cnaiu, 
 whereby this irresistible agent is now bound down, and lies quiescent 
 in every particle of matter ? And how ?oon would it tear the universal 
 frame in pieces, and involve all in one common ruin ! 
 
 ,Thnre is one circumstance more which will follow the judgment.
 
 146 THE GREAT ASSIZE. [SERMON XV. 
 
 that deserves our serious consideration : " We look," says the apostle, 
 " according to his promise, for new heavens and a new earth, wherein 
 iwelleth righteousness," 2 Pet. iii, 13. The promise stands in the 
 prophecy of Isaiah, " Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth : 
 and the former shall not be remembered," Isa. Ixv, 17 : so great shall 
 the glory of the latter be ! These St. John did behold in the visions of 
 God. " 1 saw," saith he, "a new heaven and a new earth, for the first 
 heaven and the first earth were passed away," Rev. xxi, 1. And only 
 righteousness dwelt therein : accordingly he adds, " And I heard a 
 great vuice from [the third] heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle ol 
 God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his 
 people ; and God himself shall he with them, and be their God !" chap 
 xxi, 3. Of necessity therefore they will all be happy : " God shall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither 
 sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any more pain, "chap, xxi, 4. 
 " There shall be no more curse, but they shall see his face," chap, 
 xxii, 3, 4 ; shall have the nearest access to, and thence the highest 
 resemblance of him. This is the strongest expression in the language 
 of Scripture, to denote the most perfect happiness. " And his name 
 shall be on their foreheads ;" they shall be openly acknowledged as 
 God's own property, and his glorious nature shall most visibly shine 
 forth in them. " And there shall be no night there, and they need no 
 candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light ; 
 and they shall reign for ever and ever." 
 
 IV. It remains only to apply the preceding considerations to all who 
 are here before God. And are we not directly led so to do, by the 
 present solemnity, which so naturally points us to that day, when the 
 Lord will judge the world in righteousness ? This, therefore, by re- 
 minding us of that more awful season, may furnish many lessons of 
 instruction. A few of these I may be permitted just to touch on. May 
 God write them on all our hearts ! 
 
 1. And, first, how beautiful are the feet of those who are sent by the 
 wise and gracious providence of God, to execute justice on earth, to 
 defend the injured, and punish the wrong doer! Are they not the 
 ministers of God to us for good ; the grand supporters of the public tran 
 quillity ; the patrons of innocence and virtue ; the great security of all 
 our temporal blessings ? And does not e.very one of these represent, 
 not only an earthly prince, but the Judge of the earth 7 Him, whoso 
 " name is writter upon his thigh, King of kings, and Lord of lods ?" 
 Oh that all these sons of the right hand of the Most High, may be holy 
 as he is holy ! Wise with the wisdom that sitteth by his throne: like 
 Him who is the eternal Wisdom of the Father ! No respecters of per- 
 sons, as He is none; but rendering to every man according to his 
 works : like Him inflexibly, inexorably just, though pitiful and of 
 tender mercy ! So shall they be terrible indeed to them that do evil, 
 as not bearing the sword in vain. So shall the laws of our land have 
 their full use and due honour, and the throne of our King be still 
 established in righteousness. 
 
 2. Ye truly honourable men, whom God and the king have commis- 
 sioned, in a lower degree, to administer justice ; may not yc be com- 
 pared to those ministering spirits who will attend the Judge coming in 
 the clouds? May you, like them, burn with love to God and man 1
 
 SERMON XV. J THE GREAT ASSIZE. H7 
 
 May you love righteousness and hate iniquity ! May ye all minister in 
 your several spheres (such honour hath God given you also !) to them 
 that shall be heirs of salvation, and to the glory of your great Sovereign ! 
 May ye remain the establishers of peace ; the blessing and ornaments 
 of your country ; the protectors of a guilty land ; the guardian angels 
 of all that are round about you ! 
 
 3. You, whose office it is to execute what is given you in charge by 
 him before whom you stand ; how nearly are you concerned to resemble 
 those that stand before the face of the Son of man, those servants of his 
 that do his pleasure, and hearken to the voice of his words ! Does it 
 not highly import you, to be as uncorrupt as them 1 To approve your- 
 selves the servants of God 1 To do justly, and love mercy ; to Jo to all 
 as ye would they should do to you ? So shall that great Judge, under 
 whose eye you continually stand, say to you also, " Well done, good and 
 faithful servants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord !" 
 
 4. Suffer me to add a few words to all of you who are at this day present 
 before the Lord. Should not you bear it in your minds all the day long, 
 that a more awful day is coming ? A large assembly this ! But what is 
 it to that which every ye will then behold, the general assembly of all 
 the children of men that ever lived on the face of the whole earth ! A 
 few will stand at the judgment seat this day, to be judged touching 
 what shall be laid to their charge ; and they are now reserved in prison, 
 perhaps in chains, till they are brought forth to be tried and sentenced. 
 But we shall all, I that speak, and you that hear, " stand at the judg- 
 ment seat of Christ." And we are now reserved on this earth, which 
 is not our home, in this prison of flesh and blood, perhaps many of ;is 
 in chains of darkness too, till we are ordered to be brought forth. Here 
 a man is questioned concerning one or two facts, which he is supposed 
 to have committed : there we are to give an account of all our work^ v 
 from the cradle to the grave ; of all our words ; of all our desires and 
 tempers, all the thoughts and intents of our hearts ; of all the use we 
 have mane of our various talents, whether of mind, body, or fortune, till 
 God said, " Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou mayest be no 
 longer steward." In this court, it is possible, some who are guilty, may 
 escape for want of evidence ; but there is no want of evidence in that 
 court. All men, with whom you had the most secret intercourse, who 
 were privy to all your designs and actions, are ready before your face. 
 So are all the spirits of darkness, who inspired evil designs, and assisted 
 in the execution of them. So are all the angels of God, those eyes of 
 the Lord, that run to and fro over ali the earth, who watched over your 
 soul, and la.boured for your good, so .far as you would permit. So is 
 your own conscience, a thousand witnesses in one, now no more capable 
 of being either blinded or silenced, but constrained to know and to 
 speak the naked truth, touching all your thoughts, and words, and 
 actions. And is conscience as a thousand witnesses ? yea, but God is 
 as a thousand consciences ! Oh, who can stand before the face of the 
 great God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ ! 
 
 See ! see ! He cometh ! He maketh the clouds his chariot ! He rideth 
 upon the wings of the wind ! A devouring fire goeth before him, and 
 after him a flame burneth ! See ! He sitteth upon his throne, clothed 
 with light as with a garment, arrayed with majesty and honour ! Behold 
 his eyes are as a flame of fire, his voice as the sound of many waters !
 
 148 THE GREAT ASSIZE. [SERMON XV. 
 
 How will ye escape ? Will ye call to the mountains to fall on you, 
 the rocks to cover you ? Alas, the mountains themselves, the rocks 
 the earth, the heavens, are just ready to flee away ! Can ye prevent 
 the sentence 1 Wherewith 1 With all the substance of thy house, with 
 thousands of gold and silver ? Blind wretch ! Thou earnest naked 
 from thy mother's womb, and more naked into eternity. Hear the 
 Lord, the Judge ! " Come, ye blessed of my Father ! inherit the king- 
 dom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Joyful sound! 
 How widely different from that voice which echoes through the expanse 
 of heaven, " Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the 
 devil and his angels !" And, who is he that can prevent or retard the 
 full execution of either sentence ? Vain hope ! Lo, hell is moved from 
 beneath to receive those who are ripe for destruction ! And the ever- 
 lasting doors lift up their heads, that the heirs of glory may come in ! 
 
 5. " What manner of persons then ought we to be, in all holy con- 
 versation and godliness ?" We know it cannot be long before the Lord 
 will descend with the voice of the archangel, and the trumpet of God ; 
 when every one of us shall appear before him, and give account of 
 his own works. "Wherefore, beloved, seeing ye look for these things," 
 seeing ye know He will come, and will not tarry, " be diligent, that ye 
 may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless." Why 
 should ye not 1 Why should one of you be found on the left hand, at 
 his appearing 1 He willeth not that any should perish, but that all 
 should come to repentance ; by repentance, to faith in a bleeding Lord ; 
 by faith, to spotless love, to the full image of God renewed in the heart, 
 and producing all holiness of conversation. Can you doubt of this, 
 when you remember, the Judge of all is likewise the Saviour of all ? 
 Hath he not bought you with his own blood, that ye might not perish, 
 but have everlasting life 1 Oh make proof of his mercy, rather than 
 his justice ; of his love, rather than the thunder of his power ! He ia 
 not far from every one of us : and he is now come, not to condemn, but 
 to save the world. He standeth in the midst ! Sinner, doth he not 
 now, even now, knock at the door of thy heart 1 Oh that thou mayest 
 know, at least in this thy day, the things that belong unto thy peace ! 
 Oh that ye may now give yourselves to him who gave himself for you, 
 in humble faith, in holy, active, patient love ! So shall ye rejoice with 
 exceeding joy in his day, when he cometh in the clouds of heaven !
 
 SEKMON XVI.] MEANS OF GRACE. 149 
 
 SERMON XVI. The Means of Grace. 
 " Ye are gone away from mine ordinances, and hare not kept them." Mai. iii. 7. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 I. ARE there any ordinances under the Christian dispensa- 
 tion ? This question could not have been raised in the 
 Apostles days. It grew out of the reaction against an age of 
 mere outward forms. The protest against forms without the 
 living spirit, insensibly became a rejection of forms altogether. 
 
 II. The question considered. 
 
 Means of grace defined. Enumerated as prayer, searching 
 the Scriptures, and the Lord's Supper. Their value depends 
 on subserving the end of religion. They are not a commuta- 
 tion for religion ; cannot avail without the Spirit of God ; 
 cannot atone for sin ; are often abused. 
 
 III. But still the Word of God commands all who desire 
 the grace of God to wait for it in the use of the means. 
 
 1. In the way of prayer. Scripture proofs. Matt. VIL 
 7-11 ; Luke xi. 5-13 ; xviii. 1-5 ; Matt. VL 6 ; Jas. i. 5 ; and 
 iv. 2. 
 
 2. In searching the Scriptures. Jno. v. 39 ; Acts xvii 
 11, 12 ; 2 Tim. iii. 15-17 ; 2 Pet. L 19. 
 
 3. In the Lord's Supper. 1 Cor. xi. 23, &c. ; 1 Cor. x. 16. 
 
 IV. Objections. 
 
 1. " Means cannot be used without trusting in them." God 
 intended that we should trust them as means. 
 
 2. " This is seeking salvation by works." Not in the proper 
 sense of works. 
 
 3. " Christ is the only means of grace." Not in the proper 
 sense of means. 
 
 4. " We are to wait for salvation." Yes, but in the use of 
 God's appointed means. 
 
 5. " Stand still and see," &c. Which they did by marching 
 forward with all their might, &c.
 
 150 MEANS OF GRACE. [SERMON XVI. 
 
 6. " If ye be dead with Christ, why are ye subject to 
 ordinances ? " The ordinances of the Jewish law. 
 V. How shall we use the means ? 
 
 1. In God's order. The word to convince, then prayer, 
 finally the Lord's Supper. This should not be reversed, but 
 we must be guided by indications of God's Providence. 
 
 2. As to manner ; placing God above the means ; seeking 
 him alone in the means ; and avoiding all self-righteous trust. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This important sermon was probably first preached by Mr. Wesley in 
 1740, when in the midst of the Moravian controversy. It originally 
 stood next in order to the sermon on Sin in Believers, forming with that 
 Bernion a complete refutation of the serious errors which led to the 
 entire separation of Methodism from the Moravian societies. We learn 
 from Tyerman, that at this crisis, " Wesley preached a series of sermons : 
 1. Qa the delusion that ' weak faith is no faith.' 2. On the bold 
 affirmation, that there is but one commandment in the New Testament, 
 namely, ' to believe.' 3. On the point that Christians are subject to the 
 ordinances of Christ. 4. On the fact that a man may be justified with- 
 out being entirely sanctified. These discourses Avere followed by five 
 others, on reading the Scriptures, prayer, the Lord's Supper, and good 
 works." 
 
 We see from this extract, how closely identified the Moravian stillness 
 and imputed freedom from all sin were with Antinomianism. The 
 Antinomian teaching of our own time, which says that a man must 
 neither repent nor pray before he believes, is essentially a revival of the 
 error which Mr. Wesley refutes in this sermon. The Moravian form of 
 the error, he states in his Journal as follows : " As to the way of 
 faith, you believe that the way to attain it is to wait for Christ and be 
 still ; that is, not to use (what we term) the means of grace : not to go to 
 church : not to communicate : not to fast : not to use so much private 
 prayer : not to read the Scriptures : * * not to do temporal good : nor 
 to attempt doing spiritual good." The essential difference between the 
 Moravian teaching and the modern solifidianism arises from a different 
 view of the nature of faith, the Moravian regarding it (with Wesley) us 
 involving an inward operation of the Holy Spirit ; hence he says, " Be 
 still and wait for faith ;" whereas the modern regards it as a logical act 
 f the understanding ; hence he eaya, " Believe." But both reject all 
 means and works. 
 
 SERMON XVI. 
 
 I. 1. BUT are there any ordinances now, since life and immortality 
 were brought to light by the gospel ? Are there, under the Christian 
 dispensation, any means ordained of God, as the usual channels of his 
 grace ? This question could never have been proposed in the apostolical 
 church, unless by one who openly avowed himself to be a heathen ; the 
 whole body of Christians being agreed, that Christ had ordained cer- 
 tain outward means, for conveying his grace into the souls of men. 
 Their constant practice set this beyond all dispute ; for so long as "all 
 that believed were together, and had all things common," Acts ii, 44.
 
 SERMON XVI. J MEANS OF GRACE. 151 
 
 4 they continued stead fatstly in the teaching of the apostles and in 
 breaking of bread, and in prayers," ver. 42. 
 
 2. But in process of time, when " the love of many waxed cold," 
 some began to mistake the means for the end, and to place religion, 
 rather in doing those outward works, than in a heart renewed after thtr 
 image of God. They forgot that " the end of" every " commandment 
 is love, out of a pure heart," with " faith unfeigned ;" the loving the 
 Lord their God with all their heart, and their neighbour as themselves ; 
 and the being purified from pride, anger, and evil desire, by a " faith 
 of the operation of God." Others seemed to imagine, that though religion 
 did not principally consist in these outward means, yet there was some- 
 thing in them wherewith God was well pleased, something that would 
 still make them acceptaNe in his sight, though they were not exact in 
 the weightier matters of the law, in justice, mercy, and the love of God. 
 
 3. It is evident, in those who abused them thus, they did not con- 
 duce to the end for which they were ordained : rather, the things 
 which should have been for their health, were to them an occasion of 
 falling. They were so far from receiving any blessing therein, that 
 they only drew down a curse upon their head ; so far from growing 
 more heavenly in heart and life, that they were two fold more the 
 children of hell than before. Others, clearly perceiving that these 
 means did not convey the grace of God to those children of the devil, 
 began, from this particular case, to draw a general conclusion, that 
 they were not means of conveying the grace of God. 
 
 4. Yet the number of those who abused the ordinances of God, was 
 far greater than of those who despised them, till certain men arose, not 
 only of great understanding, (sometimes joined with considerable learn- 
 ing,) but who likewise appeared to be men of love, experimentally 
 acquainted with true, inward religion. Some of these were burning 
 and shining lights, persons famous in their generations, and such as had 
 well deserved of the church of Christ, for standing in the gap against 
 the overflowings of ungodliness. 
 
 It cannot be supposed, that these holy and venerable men intended 
 any more, at first, than to show that outward religion is nothing worth, 
 without the religion of the heart ; that " God is a spirit, and they who 
 worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth ;" that, therefore, 
 external worship is lost labour, without a heart devoted to God ; that 
 the outward ordinances of God then profit much, when they advance 
 inward holiness, but, when they advance it not, are unprofitable and 
 void, are lighter than vanity ; yea, that when they are used, as it were, 
 in the plane of this, they are an utter abomination to the Lord-. 
 
 5. Yet it is not strange, if some of these, being strongly convinced 
 of that horrid profanation of the ordinances of God, which had spread 
 i'self over the whole church, and well nigh driven true religion out of 
 the world in their fervent zeal for the glory of God, and the recovery 
 of souls from that fatal delusion spake as if outward religion were 
 absolutely nothing, as if it had no place. in the religion of Christ. It is 
 not surprising at all, if they should not always have expressed them- 
 selves with sufficient caution ; so that unwary hearers might believe 
 they condemned all outward means, as altogether unprofitable, and ae 
 not designed of God to be the ordinary channels of conveying his grace 
 into the souls of men.
 
 152 MEANS OF GRACE. [SERMON XVI. 
 
 Nay, it is not impossible, some of these holy men did, at length, 
 themselves fall into this opinion : in particular those who, nut by choice, 
 but by the providence of God, were cut off from all these ordinances ; 
 perhaps wandering up and down, having no certain abiding place, or 
 dwelling in dens and caves of the earth. These, experiencing the 
 grace of God, in themselves, though they were deprived of all outward 
 means, might infer that the same grace would be given to them who o; 
 set purpose abstained from them. 
 
 6. And experience shows how easily this notion spreads, and insinu- 
 ates itself into the minds of men ; especially of those who are thoroughly 
 awakened out of the sleep of death, and begin to feel the weight of 
 their sins a burden too heavy to be borne. These are usually impatient 
 of their present state ; and, trying every way to escape from it, they 
 are always ready to catch at any new thing, any new proposal of ease 
 or happiness. They have probably tried most outward means, and 
 found no ease in them ; it may be, more and more of remorse, and fear, 
 and sorrow, and condemnation. It is easy therefore to persuade these, 
 that it is better for them to abstain from all those means. They are 
 already weary of striving (as it seems) in vain, of labouring in the fire ; 
 and are therefore glad of any pretence to cast aside that wherein their 
 soul has no pleasure, to give over the painful strife, and sink down into 
 an indolent inactivity. 
 
 II. 1. In the following discourse, I propose to examine at large, 
 whether there are any means of grace 7 
 
 By means of grace I understand outward signs, words, or actions 
 ordained of God, and appointed for this end, to be the ordinary chan- 
 nels whereby he might convey to men, preventing, justifying or sanc- 
 tifying grace. I use this expression, means of grace, because I know 
 none better ; and because it has been generally used in the Christian 
 church for many ages in particular by our own church, which directs 
 us to bless God both for the means of grace and hope of glory, and 
 teaches us, that a sacrament is " an outward sign of inward grace, and a 
 means whereby we receive the same." 
 
 The chief of these means are prayer, whether in secret or with the 
 great congregation ; searching the Scriptures ; (which implies reading, 
 hearing, and meditating thereon ;) arid receiving the Lord's supper, 
 eating bread and drinking wine in remembrance of him : and these 
 we believe to be ordained of God, as the ordinary channels of conveying 
 his grace to the souls of men. 
 
 2. But we allow, that the whole value of the means depends on their 
 actual subservience to the end of religion ; that, consequently, all these 
 means, when separate from the end, are less than nothing and vanity ; 
 that if they do not actually conduce to the knowledge and love of God, 
 they are not acceptable in his sight ; yea, lather, they are an abomina 
 tion before him, a stink in his nostrils; he is weary to bear them. 
 Above all, if they are used as a kind of commutation for the icligion they 
 were designed to subserve, it is not easy to find words for the enormous 
 folly and wickedness of thus turning God's arms against himself; of 
 keeping Christianity out of the heart by those very means which were 
 ordained for the bringing it in. 
 
 3. We allow likewise that all outward means whatever, if separate 
 from the Spirit of God, cannot profit at all, cannot conduce in any degree,
 
 SERMON XVI.] MEANS OF GRACE. 163 
 
 either to tne knowledge or love of God. Without controversy, the help 
 that is done upon earth, he doeth ii himself. It is he alone who, by his 
 own almighty power, worketh in us what is pleasing in his sight ; and 
 all outward tilings, unless he work in them and by them, are mere weak 
 and beggarly elements. Whosoever therefore imagines there is any 
 intrinsic power in any means whatsoever, does greatly err, not knowing 
 the Scriptures, neither the power of God. We know that there is no 
 inherent power in the words that are spoken in prayer, in the letter of 
 Scripture read, the sound thereof heard, or the bread and wine received 
 in the Lord's Supper ; but that it is God alone who is the giver of every 
 good gift, the author of all grace ; that the whole power is of him, 
 whereby, through any of these, there is any blessing conveyed to our 
 souls. We know, likewise, that he is able to give the same grace, 
 though there were no means on the face of the earth. In this sense, we 
 may affirm, that with regard to God, there is no such thing as means ; 
 seeing he is equally able to work whatsoever pleaseth him, by any, or 
 by none at all. 
 
 4. We allow farther, that the use of all means whatever will never 
 atone for one sin ; that it is the blood of Christ alone, whereby any sin- 
 ner can be reconciled to God ; there being no other propitiation for our 
 sins, no other fountain for sin and uncleanness. Every believer in Christ 
 is deeply convinced that there is no merit but in him ; that there is no 
 merit in any of his own works ; not in uttering the prayer or searching 
 the Scripture, or hearing the word of God, or eating of that bread and 
 drinking of that cup. So that if no more be intended by the expression 
 some have used, " Christ is the only means of grace," than this, that he 
 is the only meritorious cause of it, it cannot be gainsaid by any who 
 know the grace of God. 
 
 5. Yet once more : We allow, though it is a melancholy truth, that 
 a large proportion of those who are called Christians, do to this day 
 abuse the means of grace to the destruction of their souls. This is 
 doubtless the case with all those who rest content in ihe form of godli- 
 ness, without the power. Either they fondly presume they are Christians 
 already, because they do thus and thus, although Christ was never yet 
 revealed in their hearts, nor the love of God shed abroad therein : or 
 else they suppose they shall infallibly be so, barely because they use 
 these means ; idly dreaming, (though perhaps hardly conscious thereof,) 
 either that there is some kind of power therein, whereby, sooner or later, 
 (they know not when,) they shall certainly be made holy ; or that there 
 is a sort of merit in using them, which will surely move God to give 
 them holiness, or accept them without it. 
 
 6. So little do they understand that great foundation of the whole 
 Christian building, " By grace are ye saved :" ye are saved from your 
 fins, from the guilt and power thereof, ye are restored to the favour and 
 image of God, not for any works, merits, or deservings of yours, but by 
 the free grace, the mere mercy of God, through the merits of his well 
 beloved Son : ye are thus saved, not by any power, wisdom or strength, 
 which is in you, or in any other creature ; but merely through the grace 
 or power of the Holy Ghost, which worketh all in all. 
 
 7. But the main question remains :' we know this salvation is the gift 
 and the woik of God ; but how (may one say who is convinced he hath 
 it not) may I attain thereto? If you say, Believe, and thou shall be saved;
 
 154 I:EANS OF GRACE. [SERMON xvi. 
 
 he answers, True ; but how shall I believe ? You reply, Wait upon God 
 Well ; but how am I to waft ? In the means of grace, or out of them ? 
 Am I to wait for the grace of God which bringeth salvation, by using 
 these means, or by laying them aside 1 
 
 8. It cannot possibly be conceived, that the word of God should give 
 no direction in so important a point ; or, that the Son of God, who 
 came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation, should have 
 left us undetermined with regard to a question whereia our salvation is 
 so nearly concerned. 
 
 And, in fact, he hath not left us undetermined ; he hath shown us the 
 way wherein we should go. We have only to consult the oracles of God ; 
 to inquire what is written there ; and, if we simply abide by their 
 decision, there can no possible doubt remain. 
 
 III. 1. According to this, according to the decision of Holy Writ, 
 all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the means which he 
 hath ordained ; in using, not in laying them aside. 
 
 And, first, all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in the way 
 of prayer. This is the express direction of our Lord himself. In his ser- 
 mon upon the mount, after explaining at large wherein religion consists, 
 and describing the main branches of it, he adds, " Ask, and it shall be 
 given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto 
 you : for every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth ; 
 and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened," Matt, vii, 7, 8. Here we 
 are in the plainest manner directed to ask, in order to, or as a means of, 
 receiving ; to seek, in order to find, the grace of God, the pearl of great 
 price ; and to knock, to continue asking and seeking, if we would enter 
 into his kingdom. 
 
 2. That no doubt might remain, our Lord labours this point in a more 
 peculiar manner. He appeals to every man's ow n heart. " What man 
 is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone ? Or, 
 if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent 1 If ye then, being evil, know 
 how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your 
 Father winch is in heaven," the Father of angels and men, the Father 
 of the spirits of all flesh, " give good things to them that ask him ?" 
 ver. 9-11. Or, as he expresses himself on another occasion, including all 
 good things in one, " How much more shall your heavenly Father give 
 the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?" Luke xi, 13. It should be particu- 
 larly observed here, that the persons directed to ask had not then received 
 the Holy Spirit : nevertheless our Lord directs them to use this means, 
 and promises that it should be effectual; that upon asking they should 
 receive the Holy Spirit, from him whose mercy is over all his works. 
 
 3. The absolute necessity of using this means, if we would receire 
 any gift from God, yet farther appears from that remarkable passage 
 which immediately precedes these words: " And he said unto them," 
 whom he had just been teaching how to pray, " Which of you shall have 
 a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and shall say unto him, 
 Friend, lend me three loaves : and he from within shall answer, Trouble 
 me not; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, though he will 
 not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his impor- 
 tunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say 
 unto you, Ask and it shall be given you," Luke xi, 5, 7, 8, 9. "Though 
 he will not give him, because he is his friend, yet because of liis impor-
 
 SERMON XVI. J MEANS OF GRACE. 155 
 
 tunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needeth." How could 
 our blessed Lord more plainly declare, that we may receive of God, by 
 this means, by importunately asking, what otherwise we should not 
 rect ive at all 1 
 
 4 " He spake also another parable, to this end, that men ought 
 always to pray, and not to faint," till through this means they should 
 receive of God whatsoever petition they asked of him. " There was in 
 a cily a judge which feared not God, neither regarded man. And there 
 was a widow in that city, and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of 
 my adversary. And he would not for a while ; but afterwards he said 
 within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man, yet because this 
 widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming, she 
 weary me," Luke xviii, 1-5. The application of this our Lord himself 
 hath made : " Hear what the unjust judge saith !" Because she con- 
 tinues to ask, because she will take no denial, therefore I will avenge 
 her. " And shall not God avenge his own elect which cry day and night 
 unto him ? I tell you he will avenge them speedily," if they pray and 
 faint not. 
 
 5. A direction, equally full and express, to wait for the blessings of 
 God in private prayer, together with a positive promise, that, by this 
 means, we shall obtain the request of our lips, he hath given us in those 
 well known words : " Enter into thy closet ; and when thou hast shut 
 thy door, pray to tiiy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father, which 
 seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly," Matt, vi, 6. 
 
 6. If it be possible for any direction to be more clear, it is that which 
 God hath given us by the apostle, with regard to prayer of every kind, 
 public or private, and the blessing annexed thereto. " If any of you 
 lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally," (if 
 they ask ; otherwise *' ye have not, because ye ask not," James iv, 2,) 
 "and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given him," chap, i, 5. 
 
 If it be objected, but this is no direction to unbelievers ; to them who 
 know not the pardoning grace of God : for the apostle adds, " But let 
 him ask in faith ;" otherwise, " let him not think that he shall receive 
 any thing of the Lord." I answer, the meaning of the word faith, in 
 this place, is fixed by the apostle himself, as if it were on purpose to 
 obviate this objection, in the words immediately following; " Let him 
 ask in faith, nothing wavering," nothing duubting, f///)<5ev <5iaxpivofj-vos : 
 not doubting but God heareth his prayer, and will fulfil the desire of 
 his heart. 
 
 The gross, blasphemous absurdity of supposing faith in this place to 
 be taken in the full Christian meaning, appears hence : It is supposing 
 the Holy Ghost to direct a man who knows he has not this faith, (which 
 is here termed wisdom,) to ask it of God, with a positive promise that 
 " it shall be given him ;" and then immediately to subjoin, that it shall 
 not be given him, unless he have it before he asks for it ! But who can 
 bear such a supposition ? From this scripture, therefore, as well as those 
 cited above, we must infer, that all who desire the grace of God are to 
 wait for it in the way of prayer. 
 
 7. Secondly, all who desire the grace of God are to wait for it in 
 searching the Scriptures. 
 
 Our Lord's direction, with regard to the use of this means, is like- 
 wise plain and clear. " Search the Scriptures," saith he to the unbe-
 
 156 MEANS OF GRACE. [SERMON XVI. 
 
 lieving Jews, " for they testify of me," John v, 39. And for this very 
 end did he direct them to search the Scriptures, that they might believe 
 in him. 
 
 The objection, " That this is not a command, but only an assertion, 
 that they did search the Scriptures," is shamelessly false. I desire those 
 who urge it, to let us know how a command can be more clearly 
 expressed, than in those terms, Epsuvars TOS ypa<pa ? It is as peremp- 
 tory as so many words can make it. 
 
 And what a blessing from God attends the use of this means, appears 
 fiom what is recorded concerning the Bereaus ; who, after hearing St. 
 Paul, " searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so ? 
 Therefore, many of them believed ;" found the grace of God, in the 
 way which he had ordained, Acts xvii, 11, 12. 
 
 It is probable, indeed, that in some of those who had " received the 
 word with all readiness of mind," " faith came" (as the same apostle 
 speaks) " by hearing," and was only confirmed by reading the Scrip- 
 tures : but it was observed above, that under the general term of search- 
 ing the Scriptures, both hearing, reading, and meditating, are contained. 
 
 8. And that this is a means whereby God not only gives, but also con- 
 firms and increases, true wisdom, we learn from the words of St. Paul 
 to Timothy : " From a child thou hast known the holy Scriptures 
 which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which 
 is in Christ Jesus," 2 Tim. iii, 15. The same truth (namely, that this 
 is the great means God has ordained for conveying his manifold grace 
 to man) is delivered, in the fullest manner that can be conceived, in the 
 words which immediately follow : " All Scripture is given by inspiration 
 of God ;" consequently, all Scripture is infallibly true ; " and is profit- 
 able for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in right 
 eousness ;" to the end " that the man of God may be perfect, throughly 
 furnished unto all good works," ver. 16, 17. 
 
 9. It should be observed, that this is spoken primarily and directly 
 of the Scriptures which Timothy had known from a child ; which must 
 have been those of the Old Testament, for the New was not then wrote. 
 How far then was St. Paul (though he was " not a whit behind the very 
 chief of the apostles," nor, therefore, I presume, behind any man now 
 upon earth) from making light of the Old Testament ! Behold this, lest 
 ye one day " wonder and perish," ye who make so small account of one 
 half the oracles of God ! Yea, and that half of which the Holy Ghost 
 exprsssly declares, that it is " profitable," as a means ordained of God, 
 for this very thing, " for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruc- 
 tion in righteousness ;" to the end, " the man of God may be perfect, 
 throughly furnished unto all good works." 
 
 10. Nor is this profitable only for the men of God, for those who 
 walk already in the light of his countenance ; but also for those who 
 are yet in darkness, seeking him whom they know not. Thus St. Peter, 
 "We have also a more sure word of prophecy:" literally, " and we have 
 the prophetic word more suie;" Kai r^ojASv /3saio<rsov <rov irp&(pT]<nxov 
 Xoyo" ; confirmed by our being " eye witnesses of his majesty," and 
 " hearing the voice which came from the excellent glory ;" unto which 
 [prophetic word : so he styles the holy Scriptures] " ye do well that ye 
 take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day 
 dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts," 2 Pet. i, 19. Let all, there
 
 SERMON XVI.] MEANS OF GRACE. 157 
 
 fore, who desire that day to dawn upon their hearts, wait for it in search 
 ing the Scriptures. 
 
 11. Thirdly, all who desire an increase of the grace of God are to 
 wait for it in partaking of the Lord's supper : for this also is a direction 
 himself hath given. " The same night in which he was betrayed, he 
 took bread, and brake it, and said, Take, eat : this is my body ;' that 
 is, the sacred sign of my body : " This do, in remembrance of me." 
 " Likewise, he took the cup, saying, This cup is the new testament." 
 or covenant, in my blood ; the sacred sign of that covenant ; " this do 
 ye, in remembrance of me." " For as often as ye eat this bread, and 
 drink this cup, ye do show forth the Lord's death till he come," 1 Cor 
 xi, 23, &c : ye openly exhibit the same, by these visible signs, before 
 God, and angels, and men ; ye manifest your solemn remembrance of 
 his death, till he cometh in the clouds of heaven. 
 
 Only let a man first examine himself, whether he understand the nature 
 and design of this holy institution, and whether he really desire to be 
 himself made comformable to the death of Christ; and so, nothing doubt- 
 ing. " let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup," ver. 28. 
 
 Here, then, the direction first given by our Lord, is expressly repeated 
 by the apostle. Let him eat ; let him drink ; (stfSiJTw, riverw, both in the 
 imperative mood; words not implying a bare permission only, but a clear 
 explicit command ; a command to all those who either already are filled 
 with peace and joy in believing, or can truly say, " The remembrance 
 of our sins is grievous unto us, the burden of them is intolerable." 
 
 12. And that this is also an ordinary, stated means of receiving the 
 grace of God, is evident from those words of the apostle, which occur in 
 the preceding chapter. " The cup of blessing which we bless, ia it not 
 the communion [or communication] of the blood of Christ 1 The bread 
 which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ?" 1 Cor. 
 x, 16. Is not the eating of that bread, and the drinking of that cup, 
 the outward, visible means, whereby God conveys into our souls all thai 
 spiritual grace, that righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, 
 which were purchased by the body of Christ once broken, and the blood 
 of Christ once shed for us? Let all, therefore, who truly desire the grace 
 of God, eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 
 
 IV. 1. But, as plainly as God hath pointed out the way wherein he 
 will be inquired after, innumerable are the objections which men, wise 
 in their own eyes, have from time to time raised against it. It may be 
 needful to consider a few of these ; not because they are of weight in 
 themselves, but because they have so often been used, especially of late 
 years, to turn the lame out of the way ; yea, to trouble and subvert those 
 who did run well, till Satan appeared as an angel of light. 
 
 The first and chief of these is, " You cannot use these means (as you 
 call them) without trusting in them." I pray, where is this written ? 
 I expect you should show me plain scripture for your assertion : other- 
 wise I dare not receive it ; because I am not convinced that you are 
 wiser than God-. 
 
 If it really had been as you assert, it is certain Christ must have 
 known it. And if he had known it, he would surely have warned us ; 
 he would have revealed it long ago. Therefore, because he has not, 
 because there is no tittle of this in the whole revelation of Jesus Christ, 1 
 am as fully assured your assertion is false, as that this revelation is of God
 
 158 MEANS OF GRACE. [SERMON XVI. 
 
 " However, leave them off for a short time, to see whether you trusted 
 Ji them or no." So I am to disobey God, in order to know whether I 
 trust in obeying him ! And do you avow this advice ? Do you delibe- 
 rately teach to " do evil, that good may come ?" Oh tremble at the 
 sentence of God against such teachers ! Their " damnation is just " 
 
 " Nay, if you are troubled when you leave them off, it is plain you 
 trusted in them." By no means. If I am troubled when I wilfully 
 disobey God, it is plain his Spirit is still striving with me ; but if I am 
 not troubled at wilful sin, it is plain 1 am given up to a reprobate mind. 
 
 But what do you mean by " Trusting in them ?" Looking for the bless- 
 ing of God therein ? Believing, that if I wait in this way, I shall attain 
 what otherwise I should not? So I do. And so I will, God being my 
 helper, even to my life's end. By the grace of God I will thus trust in 
 them, till the day of my death ; that is, I will believe, that whatever 
 God hath promised, he is faithful also to perform. And seeing he hath 
 promised to bless rne in this way, i trust it shall be according to 
 his word. 
 
 2. It has been, secondly, objected, " This is seeking salvation by 
 works." Do you know the meaning of the expression ypu use ? What 
 is seeking salvation by works 1 In the writings of St. Paul, it means, 
 either seeking to be saved by observing the ritual works of the Mosaic 
 law ; or expecting salvation for the sake of our own works, by the merit 
 of our own righteousness. But how is either of these implied in my 
 waiting in the way God has ordained, and expecting that he will meet 
 me there, because he has promised so to do ? 
 
 I do expect that he will fulfil his word, that he will meet and bless 
 me in this way. Yet not for the sake of any works which I have done, 
 nor for the merit of my righteousness ; but merely through the merits, 
 and sufferings, and love of his Son, in whom he is always well pleased. 
 
 3. It has been vehemently objected, thirdly, " That Christ is the 
 only means of grace." I answer, this is mere playing upon words. 
 Explain your term, and the objection vanishes away. When we say, 
 Prayer is a means of grace, we understand a channel through which 
 the grace of God is conveyed. When you say, Christ is the means of 
 grace, you understand the sole price and purchaser of it ; or, that " no 
 man cometh unto the Father but through him." And who denies it? 
 But this is utterly wide of the question. 
 
 4. " But does not the Scripture (it has been objected, fourthly) 
 direct us to wait for salvation 1 Does not David say, ' My soul waiteth 
 upon God, for of him cometh my salvation ?' And does not Isaiah 
 teach us the same thing, saying, ' Oh Lord, we have waited for thee ?' '' 
 All this cannot be denied. Seeing it is the gift of God, we are undoubt- 
 edly to wait on him for salvation. But how shall we wait ? If God 
 himself has appointed a way, can you find a better way of waiting for 
 him 1 But that he hath appointed a way, hath been shown at large, and 
 also what that way is. The very words of the prophet which you cite, 
 put this out of all question. For the whole sentence runs thus : " In 
 the way of thy judgments," or ordinances, " Oh Lord, have we waited 
 for thee," Isaiah xxvi, 8. And in the very same way did David wait, 
 as his own words abundantly testify: "I have waited for thy saving 
 health, oh Lord, and have kept thy law. Teach me, ch Lord, the way 
 of thy statutes, and I shall keep it unto the end."
 
 SERMON XVI ] MEANS OF GRACE. 159 
 
 5. " Yea," say some, " but God has appointed another way, ' Stand 
 still, and see the salvation of God.' " 
 
 Lei us examine the scriptures to which you refer. The first of tlitni, 
 with the context, runs thus : 
 
 " And when Pharaoh drew nigh, the children of Israel lifted up their 
 ryes ; and they were sore afraid. And they said unto Moses, Because 
 there were no graves in Egypt, hast thou taken us away to die in the 
 wilderness 1 And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not; stand slilj, 
 and see the salvation of the Lord. And the Lord said unto Moses, 
 Speak unto the children of Israel that they go forward. But lift thou 
 up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it. And 
 the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the 
 sea," Exod. xiv, 10, &-c. 
 
 This was the salvation of God, which they stood still to see, by 
 marching forward with all their might ! 
 
 The other passage, wherein this expression occurs, stands thus : 
 " There came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a 
 great multitude against thee, from beyond the sea. And Jehoshaphat 
 feared, and set himself to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast through- 
 out all Judah. And Judah gathered themselves together to ask help of 
 the Lord : even out of all the cities they came to seek the Lord. And 
 Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation, in the house of the Lord. 
 Then upon Jahaziel came the Spirit of the Lord. And he said, Be not 
 dismayed by reason of this great multitude. To morrow go ye down 
 against them : ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves : 
 stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord. And they rose early 
 in the morning, and went forth. And when they began to sing and to 
 praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Moab, Am- 
 mon, and mount Seir ; and every one helped to destroy another," 
 2 Chron. xx, 2, &c. 
 
 Such was the salvation which the children of Judah saw. But how 
 does all this prove, that we ought not to wait for the grace of God in 
 the means which he hath ordained 1 
 
 6. I shall mention but one objection more, which, indeed, does not 
 properly belong to this head : nevertheless, because it has been so fre- 
 quently urged, I may not wholly pass it by. 
 
 " Does not St. Paul say, ' If ye be dead with Christ, why are ye sub- 
 ject to ordinances ?' Col. ii, 20. Therefore a Christian, one that is 
 dead with Christ, need not use the ordinances any more." 
 
 So you say, " If I am a Christian, I am not subject to the ordinances 
 of Christ !" Surely, by the absurdity of this, you must see, at the first 
 glance, that the ordinances here mentioned cannot be the ordinances of 
 Christ ! That they must needs be the Jewish ordinances, to which it 
 is certain a Christian is no longer subject. 
 
 And the same undeniably appears from the words immediately fU 
 lowing, " Touch not, taste not, handle not ;" all evidently referring 10 
 the ancient ordinances of the Jewish law. 
 
 So that this objection is the weakest of all. And, in spite of all, that 
 great truth must stand unshaken, That all who desire the grace of God, 
 are to wait for it in the means which he hath ordained. 
 
 V. 1. But this being allowed, that all who desire the grace of God, 
 are to wait for it in the means he hath ordained; it may still be inquired,
 
 160 MEANS OF GRACE. [SERMON XVI. 
 
 those means should be used, both as to the order and the manner 
 of using them ? 
 
 With regard to the former, we may observe, there is a kiud of ordei 
 wherein God himself is generally pleased to use these means in bring- 
 ing a sinner to salvation. A stupid, senseless wretch is going on in his 
 own way, not having God in all his thoughts, when God comes upon 
 him unawares, perhaps by an awakening sermon or conversation, per 
 haps by some awful providence, or it may be by an immediate stroke of 
 his convincing Spirit, without any outward means at all. Having now 
 a desire to flee from the wrath lo come, he purposely goes to hear how 
 it may be done. If he finds a preacher who speaks to the heart, he is 
 amazed, and begins searching the Scriptures, whether these things 
 are so. The more he hears and reads, the more convinced he is ; and 
 the more he meditates thereon day and night. Perhaps he finds some 
 other book, which explains and enforces what he has heard and read 
 in Scripture. And by all these means, the arrows of conviction sink 
 deeper into his soul. He begins also to talk of the things of God, which 
 are ever uppermost in his thoughts ; yea, and to talk with God ; to pray 
 to him ; although through fear and shame, he scarce knows what to say. 
 But whether he can speak or no, he cannot but pray, were it only in 
 " groans which cannot be uttered." Yet being in doubt, whether " the 
 high and lofty One. that inhabiteth eternity," will regard such a sinner 
 as him, he wants to pray with those who know God, with the faithful, 
 in the great congregation. But here he observes others go up to the 
 table of the Lord. He considers, Christ has said, " Do this !" How \f 
 it that I do not 1 I am too great a sinner. I am not fit. I am not 
 worthy. After struggling with these scruples awhile, he breaks through. 
 And thus he continues in God's way, in hearing, reading, meditating, 
 praying, and in partaking of the Lord's supper, till God, in the manner 
 that pleases him, speaks to his heart, " Thy faith hath saved thee. Go 
 in peace." 
 
 2. By observing this order of God, we may learn what means to 
 recommend to any particular soul. If any of these will reach a stupid, 
 careless sinner, it is probably hearing or conversation. To such, there- 
 fore, we might recommend these, if he has ever any thought about 
 salvation. To one who begins to feel the weight of his sins, not only 
 hearing the word of God, but reading it too, and perhaps other serious 
 books, may be a means of deeper conviction. May you rot advise him 
 also, to meditate on what he reads, that it may have its full force upon 
 his heart ? Yea, and to speak thereof, and not be aehamed, particu- 
 larly among those who walk in the same path. When trouble and 
 heaviness take hold upon him, should you not then earnestly exhort 
 him to pour out his soul before God ; " always to pray and not to faint ; 
 and when he feels the worthlessness of his own prayers, are you not to 
 work together with God, and remind him of going up into the house of 
 the Lord, and praying with all them that fear him ? But if he does this, 
 the dying word of his Lord will soon be brought to his remembrance ; 
 a plain intimation, that this is the time when we should second the 
 motions of the blessed Spirit. And thus may we lead him, step by 
 ?tep, through all the means which God has ordained ; not according to 
 our own will, but just as the providence and the Spirit of God go before 
 and open the way.
 
 SERMON XVI. ] MEANS OF GRACE. ]6l 
 
 3. Yet, as we find no command in holy writ for any paiticular order 
 to be observed herein, so neither do the providence and the Spirit o! 
 God adhere to any without variation ; but the means into which differ- 
 ent men are led, and in which they find the blessing of God, are varied, 
 transposed, and combined together, a thousand different ways. Yet 
 still our wisdom is to follow the leadings of his providence and hi^ 
 Spirit ; to be guided herein, (more especially as to the means wherein 
 we ourselves seek the grace of God,) partly by his outward providence, 
 gjing us the opportunity of using sometimes one means, sometimes 
 another ; partly by our experience, which it is whereby his free Spirit 
 is pleased most to work in our heart. And in the mean time, the sure 
 and general rule for all who groan for the salvation of God, is this, 
 Whenever opportunity serves, use a)L*toe means which God has ordain- 
 ed ; for who knows in which God wm meet thee with the grace that 
 bringeth salvation ? 
 
 4. As to the manner of using them, whereon indeed it wholly depends 
 whether they shall convey any grace at all to the user ; it behoves us, 
 first, always to retain a lively sense, that God is above all means. Have 
 a care therefore of limiting the Almighty. He doeth whatsoever and 
 whensoever it pleaseth lum. He can convey his grace, either in or out of 
 any of the means which he hath appointed. Perhaps he will. "Who hath 
 known the mind of the Lord ? or who hath been his counsellor ?" Look 
 then every moment for his appearing. Be it at the hour you are employed 
 in his ordinances ; or before, or after that hour ; or when you ar hin- 
 dered therefrom. He is not hindered ; he is always ready, always able,, 
 always willing, to save. " It is the Lord, let him do what seemeth him good!" 
 
 Secondly : Before you use any means, let it be deeply impressed on* 
 your soul, there is no power in this. It is in itself, a poor, dead, empty 
 thing : separate from God, it is a dry leaf, a shadow. Neither is there 
 any merit in my using this; nothing intrinsically pleasing to God; nothing 
 whereby 1 deserve any favour at his hands, no, not a drop of water to 
 cool my tongue. But, because God bids, therefore I do ; because he 
 directs me to wait in this way, therefore here I wait for his free mercy, 
 whereof cometh my salvation. 
 
 Settle this in your heart, that the opus operatum, the mere work done, 
 profiteth nothing ; that tnere is no power to save, but in the Spirit of 
 God, no merit, but in the blood of Christ ; that, consequently, even what 
 God ordains, conveys no g-ace to the soul if you trust not in him alone. 
 On the other hand, he that does truly trust in him, cannot fall short of 
 the grace of God, even though he were cut off from every outward ordi- 
 nance, though he were shut up in the centre of the earth. 
 
 Thirdly : In using all means, seek God alone. In and through every 
 outward thing, look singly to the power of his Spirit, and the merits of 
 his Son. Beware you do not stick in the work itself; if you do, it is all 
 lost labour. Nothing short of God can satisfy your soul. Therefore, 
 eye him in all, through all, and above all. 
 
 Remember also, to use all means, as means ; as ordained, not tor 
 their own pake, but in order to the renewal of your soul in righteousness 
 and true holiness. If, therefore, they actually tend to this, well ; but 
 if not, they are dung and dross. 
 
 Lastly, After you have done any of these, take care how you value 
 yourself thereon : how you congratulate yourself as having done some
 
 162 MEANS OF GRACE. [SERMON XVI. 
 
 great thing. This is turning all into poison. Think, " If God was not 
 there, what does this avail 1 Have I not been adding sin to sin ? How 
 long ? Oh Lord ! save, or I perish ! Oh lay not this sin to my charge !" If 
 God was there, if his love flowed into your heart, you have forgot, as it 
 were, the outward work. You see, you know, you feel, God is all in all ! 
 Be abased ! Sink down before him ! Give him all the praise. " Let 
 God in all things be glorified through Christ Jesus." Let all your bones 
 cry out, " My song shall be always of the loving kindness of the Lord ; 
 with my mouth will I ever be telling of thy truth, from one generation 
 to another !"
 
 SERMON XVII.] CIRCUMCISION OF THE I1FART. 163 
 
 SEEMON XVIL The Circumcision of the Heart. 
 
 Preached at St. Mary's, Oxford, before the University, Jan. 1, 1738. 
 
 " Circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, and not in the letter." Rom. 
 ii. 29. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 GENERAL ignorance of the deeper truths of religion. They 
 are known only by the Spirit of God, hence rejected by the 
 natural man. Circumcision of* the heart consists not in 
 baptism, or any other outward form, but in a right state of 
 soul. 
 
 I. This state of the soul defined. Generally as holiness. 
 Specifically as: (1) Humility, which opposed to self-right- 
 eousness convinces us of sin, and of our own inability. From 
 which follows disregard of worldly honour. (2) Faith, which 
 reveals to us the Christian calling to glorify God ; and the 
 power of God to quicken our souls dead in sin. This faith is 
 an unshaken assent to all Scripture, but specially to the fact 
 that Christ has atoned for sin. But is furthermore " a revelation 
 of Christ in our hearts " * * " wrought in us by the Holy 
 Ghost." This faith delivers from the yoke of sin ; gives 
 strong consolation through hope ; and strengthens us to purge 
 the inmost recesses of the soul. (3) The perfection of this 
 work requires charity, which is the love of God, which is not 
 inconsistent with the love of our neighbour, or with delight 
 in God's gifts ; but which makes God the supreme object of 
 delight and desire ; and seeks and enjoys all other things only 
 as they tend to Him. 
 
 II. How may I judge myself to possess this state ? 
 
 1. Have I deep conviction of the corruption of nature and 
 my want of God ? 2. Have I faith, of the operation of God, 
 by His Spirit ? 3. Have I a joyous witness of the Spirit ? 
 Those who possess not these things should deal faithfully 
 with themselves. 'If we would see this kingdom of God, we 
 must strive, agonize. 
 
 The sum of the perfect law, makes God the siipreme object 
 of affection, of desire, and of intention. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 We now enter upon the series of sermons which "warn those who 
 know the religion of the heart, the faith which worketli by love, lest at 
 any time they make void the law through faith, and so fall back into the 
 snare of the devil." The present sermon was prefixed to the others, 
 which follow (and which were published in 1748-50,) in 1771, although
 
 164 CIRCUMCISION OF THK HEART. [SERMON XVII. 
 
 written and preached in 1733. He inserted.it here, probably, as he did 
 the other sermons before the University, to show how far he had been 
 led into the knowledge of the truth at this early period, five years before 
 the date of his conversion. He has left us another sermon of this same 
 date, " On Grieving the Spirit," No. cxxxv. From these two servnons 
 we gather 
 
 1. That his ideal of inward holiness was already very perfectly formed. 
 
 2. That it was an ethical, inwrought holiness, and not a merely im- 
 puted state. 
 
 3. That he ascribed it to the operation of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 4. That he laid considerable stress ori oar co-operating with the Spirit 
 in this work. 
 
 5. That he did not yet distinguish between the preliminary, convict- 
 ing, work of the Spirit, and regeneration. 
 
 6. That his conception of faith was general and indefinite, and hence 
 the supplement to the definition, to which he calls attention in the foot 
 note. 
 
 SERMON XVII. 
 
 1. IT is the melancholy remark of an excellent man, that he wno 
 now preaches the most essential duties of Christianity, runs the hazard 
 of being esteemed, by a great part of his hearers, " a setter forth of new 
 doctrines." Most men have so lived away the substance of that religion, 
 the profession whereof they still retain, that no sooner are any of those 
 truths proposed, which difference the Spirit of Christ from the spirit of 
 the world, than they cry out, " Thou bringest strange things to our 
 ears; we would know what these things mean:" though he is only 
 preaching to them " Jesus and the resurrection," with the necessary 
 consequence of it, If Christ be risen, ye ought then to die unto the 
 world, and to live wholly unto God. 
 
 2. A hard saying this to the natural man, who is alive unto the world, 
 and dead unto God ; and one that he will not readily be persuaded to 
 receive as the truth of God, unless it be so qualified in the interpretation, 
 as to have neither use nor significancy left. He " receiveth not the" 
 words " of the Spirit of God," taken in their plain and obvious meaning ; 
 " they are foolishness unto him : neither [indeed] can he know them, 
 because they are spiritually discerned :" they are perceivable only by 
 that spiritual sense, which in him was never yet awakened ; for want of 
 which he must reject, as idle fancies of men, what are both the wisdom 
 and the power of God. 
 
 3. That " circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit and not in 
 the letter :" that the distinguishing mark of a true follower of Christ, 
 of one who is in a state of acceptance with God, is not either outward 
 circumcision, or baptism, or any other outward form, but a right state ol 
 soul, a mind and spirit renewed after the image of him that created 
 it ; is one of those important truths that can only be spiritually dis- 
 cerned. And this the apostle himself intimates in the next words, 
 " whose praise is not of men, but of God." As if he had said, " Expect 
 not, whoever thou art, who thus followest thy great Master, that the 
 world, the men who follow him not, will say, ' Well done, good and 
 faithful servant !' Know that the circumcision of the heart, the seal of 
 thy calling, is foolishness with the world. Be content to wait for thy 
 applause till the day of thy Lord's appearing. In that day shalt thou 
 have praise of God, in the great assembly of men and angels."
 
 SEKMON XVII ] CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. 165 
 
 I design First, particularly to inquire, wherein this circumcision ot 
 the heart consists 1 And, secondly, to mention some reflections that 
 naturally arise from such an inquiry. 
 
 1. I.I am, first, to inquire wherein that circumcision of the heart con- 
 sists, which will receive the praise of God ? In general we may observe, 
 It is that habitual disposition of soul which in the sacred writings, 
 is termed holiness ; and which directly implies, the being cleansed from 
 sin, s from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit;" and, by consequence, 
 the being erulued with those virtues, which were also in Christ Jesus; 
 the being so " renewed in the spirit of our mind," as to be " perfect ae 
 our Father in heaven is perfect." 
 
 2. To be more particular : Circumcision of heart implies humility, 
 faith, hope, and charity. Humility, a right judgment of ourselves, 
 cleanses our minds from those high conceits of our own perfections, 
 from that undue opinion of our own abilities and attainments, which are 
 the genuine fruit of a corrupted nature. This entirely cuts off that vain 
 thought, I am rich, and wise, and have need of nothing ; and convinces 
 us that we are by nature " wretched, and poor, and miserable, and blind, 
 and naked." It convinces us, that in our best estate, we are of our- 
 selves, all sin and vanity ; that confusion, and ignorance, and error, 
 reign over our understanding ; that unreasonable, earthly, sensual, 
 devilish passions usurp authority over our will ; in a word, that there is 
 no whole part in our soul, that all the foundations of our nature are out 
 of course. 
 
 3. At the same time we are convinced, that we are not sufficient ot 
 ourselves to help ourselves ; that, without the Spirit of God, we can do 
 nothing but add sin to sin ; that it is he alone who worketh in us by his 
 almighty power, either to will or to do that which is good: it being as 
 impossible for us even to think a good thought, without the supernatural 
 assistance of his Spirit, as to create ourselves, or to renew our whole 
 soui's in righteousness and true holines?. 
 
 4. A sure effect of our having formed this right judgment of the 
 sinfulness and helplessness of our nature, is a disregard of that "honour 
 which cometh of man," which is usually paid to some supposed excel- 
 lency in us. He who knows himself, neither desires nor values the 
 applause which he knows he deserves not. It is therefore " a very 
 small thing with him, to be judged by man's judgment." He has all 
 reason to think, by comparing what it has said, either for or against 
 him, with what he feels in his own breast, that the world, as well as 
 the god of this world, was " a liar from the beginning." And even as 
 to those who are not of the world ; though he would choose, if it were 
 the will of God, that they should account of him as of one desirous to 
 be found a faithful steward of his Lord's goods, if haply this might be 
 a means of enabling him to be of more use to his fellow servants, yet 
 as this is the one end of his wishing for their approbation, so he does 
 not at all rest upon it : for he is assured, that whatever God wills, ne 
 can never want insti undents to perform ; since he is able, even of these 
 stones, to raise up servants to do his pleasure. 
 
 5. This is that lowliness of mind, which they have learned of Christ, 
 who follow his example and tread in his steps. And this knowledge 
 of their disease, whereby they are more and more cleansed from one 
 part of it, pride and vanity, disposes them to embrace, with a willing
 
 1 66 CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. [SERMON XVII. 
 
 mind, the second thing implied in circumcision of heart that faith 
 which alone is able to make them whole, which is the one medicine 
 given under heaven to heal their sickness. 
 
 6. The best guide of the blind, the surest light of them that are in 
 darkness, the most" perfect instructer of the foolish, is faith. But it 
 musi be such a faith as is " mighty through God, to the pulling down 
 of strong holds," to the overturning all the prejudices of corrupt reason 
 all the false maxims revered among men, all evil customs and habits 
 all that "wisdom of the world which is foolishness with God;" a 
 " casteth down imaginations, [reasonings,] and every high thing that 
 exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringeth into captivity 
 every thought to the obedience of Christ." 
 
 7. " All things are possible to him that [thus] believeth." " The 
 eyes of his understanding being enlightened," he sees what is his call- 
 ing ; even to glorify God, who hath bought him with so high a price, 
 in his body and in his spirit, which now are God's by redemption, as 
 well as by creation. He feels what is " the exceeding greatness of his 
 power," who, as he raised up Christ from the dead, so is able to quicken 
 us, dead in sin, " by his Spirit which dwelleth in us." " This is the 
 rictory which overcometh the world, even our faith ;" that faith, which 
 is not only an unshaken assent to all that God hath revealed in Scrip- 
 ture and in particular to those important truths, " Jesus Christ came 
 into the world to save sinners ;" " He bare our sins in his own body on 
 the tree ;" " He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, 
 but also for the sins of the whole world ;"* but. likewise the revelation 
 of Christ in our hearts; a divine evidence or conviction of his love, his 
 free, unmerited love to me a sinner ; a sure confidence in his pardoning 
 mercy, wrought in us by the Holy Ghost ; a confidence, whereby every 
 true believer is enabled to bear witness, " I know that my Redeemer 
 liveth," that I have an " Advocate with the Father," and that " Jesus 
 Christ the righteous" is my Lord, and " the propitiation for my sins," 
 I know he hath " loved me, and given himself for me," he hath 
 reconciled me, even me, to God ; and I " have redemption through his 
 blood, even the forgiveness of sins." 
 
 8. Such a faith as this cannot fail to show evidently the power of 
 Him that inspires it, by delivering his children from the yoke of sin, 
 and " purging their consciences from dead works;" by strengthening 
 them so, that they are no longer constrained to obey sin in the desires 
 thereof; but instead of" yielding their members unto it, as instruments 
 of unrighteousness," they now " yield themselves" entirely " unto God, 
 as those that are alive from the dead." 
 
 9. Those who are thus by faith born ol God, have also strong conso- 
 lation through hope. This is the next thing which the circumcision of 
 the heart implies ; even the testimony of their own spirit with the Spirit 
 urhich witnesses in their hearts that they are the children of God. 
 Indeed it is the same Spirit who works in them that clear and cheerful 
 confidence that their heart is upright towards God ; that good assurance, 
 that they now do, through his grace, the things which are acceptable 
 in his sight ; that they are now in the path which leadeth to life, and 
 shall, by the mercy of God, endure therein to the end. It is he who 
 
 N. B. The following part of this paragraph is now cdded to the sermon for 
 merly preached
 
 SERMON TV1I.J CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. 1G7 
 
 giveth them a lively expectation of receiving all good things at God's 
 hand ; a joyous prospect of that crown of glory, which is reserved in 
 heaven for them. By this anchor a Christian is kept steady in the 
 midst of the waves of this troublesome world, and preserved from 
 striking upon either of those fatal rocks, presumption or despair. He is 
 neither discouraged by the misconceived severity of his Lord, noi does 
 lie " despise the riches of his goodness." He neither apprehends the 
 difficulties of the race set before him to be greater than he has strength 
 to conquer, nor expects them to be so little as to yield in the conquest, 
 till he has put forth all his strength. The experience he already has 
 in the Christian warfare, as it assures him his " labour is not in vain," 
 if" whatever his hand findeth to do, he doeth it with his might ;" so it 
 forbids his entertaining so vain a thought, as that he can otherwise 
 gain any advantage, as that any virtue can be shown, any praise attained, 
 by faint hearts and feeble hands ; or indeed by any but those who pur- 
 sue the same course with the great apostle of the Gentiles : " I," says 
 he, " so run, not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth 
 the air : but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection : lest 
 that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be 
 a castaway." 
 
 10. By the same discipline is every good soldier of Christ to inure 
 himself to endure hardship. Confirmed and strengthened by this, he 
 will be able not only to renounce the works of darkness, but every 
 appetite too, and every affection, which is not subject to the law of God. 
 For " Every one," saith St. John, " who hath this hope, purifieth him- 
 self even as He is pure." It is his daily care, by the grace of God in 
 Christ, and through the blood of the covenant, to purge the inmost 
 recesses of his soul from the lusts that before possessed and defiled it ; 
 from uncleanness, and envy, and malice, and wrath ; from every passion 
 and temper that is after the flesh, that either springs from or cherishes 
 his native corruption : as well knowing, that he whose very body is the 
 temple of God, ought to admit inio it nothing common or unclean ; 
 and that holiness becometh that house for ever, where the Spirit ol 
 holiness vouchsafes to dwell. 
 
 11. Yet lackest thou one thing, whosoever thou art, that to a deep 
 humility, and a steadfast faith, hast joined a lively hope, and thereby 
 in a good measure cleansed thy heart from its inbred pollution. Il 
 thou wilt be perfect, add to all these, charity ; add love, and thou hast 
 the circumcision of the heart. " Love is the fulfilling of the law, 
 the end of the commandment." Very excellent things are spoken of 
 love ; it is the essence, the spirit, the life of all virtue. It is not only 
 the first and great command, but it is all the commandments in one. 
 " Whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
 things are amiable," or honourable ; " if there be any virtue, if there 
 be an\ praise," they are all comprised in this one word, love. In this 
 is perfection, and glory, and happiness. The royal law of heaven and 
 earth is this, " Thou shall love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
 and wit.h ull thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength." 
 
 12. Not that this forbids us to love any thing besides God : it implies 
 that we love our brother also. Nor yet does it forbid us (as some have 
 strangely imagined) to take pleasure in any thing but God To sup- 
 pose this, is to suppose the fountain of holiness is directly the author of
 
 168 CIRCUMCISION OF THB HEART. [sERMON XVII. 
 
 sin ; since he has inseparably annexed pleasure to the use of those 
 creatures whk;'.i are necessary to sustain the life he has given us. This 
 therefore cin never be the meaning of his command. What the real 
 sense of it is, both our bleseed Lo r d and his apostles tell us too fre- 
 quently, and too plainly, to be misunderstood. They all with one 
 moutb Var witness, that the true meaning of those several declarations 
 4 Th'. I,ord thy God is one Lore' ;" " Thou shalt have no other Gods 
 but ITO ;" " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy strength ;*' 
 " Thon shalt cleave unto him ;" ' The desire of thy soul shall be to 
 his u.Mn.e ;" is no other than this : The one perfect Good shall be 
 your oue ultimate End. One thing shall ye desire for its own sake, 
 the fruition of him tlmt is a'l in all. One happiness shall ye propose 
 to your souls, even a union with him that made them ; the having 
 " fellowship with t.hf Father and the Son;" the being joined to the 
 Loifd in one spirit. One design you are to pursue to the end of time, 
 the enjoyment of God in time and in eternity. Desire other things, so 
 far as they tend to this. Love the creature, as it leads to the Creator. 
 But in every btep you take, be this the glorious point that terminates 
 your view. Let every affection, and thought, and word, and work, be 
 subordinate to this. Whatever ye desire or fear, whatever ye seek or 
 shun, whatever ye think, speak, or do, be it in order to your happiness 
 in God, the sole end as well as source of your being. 
 
 13 Have no end, no ultimate end but God. Thus our Lord, "One 
 thing is needful : " and if thine eye be singly fixed on this one thing, 
 "thy whole body shall be full of light." Thus St. Paul, "This one 
 thing I do ; J press towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling 
 in Christ Jesus." Thus St. James, "Cleanse your hands, ye sinners, 
 and purify your hearts, ye double minded." Thus St John, ''Love not 
 the world, neither the things that are in the world. For all that is in 
 he world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, 
 is not of the Father, but is of the world." The seeking happiness in 
 what gratifies either the desire of the flesh, by agreeably striking upon 
 the outward senses ; the desire of the eye, of the imagination, by its 
 novelty, greatness, or beauty ; or the pride of life, whether by pomp, 
 grandeur, power, or the usual consequence of them, applause, and admi- 
 ration ; " is not of the Father," Cometh not from, neither is approved 
 by, the Father of spirits; " but of the world :" it is the distinguishing 
 mark of those, who will not have him to reign over them. 
 
 II. Thus have I particularly inquired, what that circumcision of heart 
 is, which will obtain the praise of God. I am, in the second place, to 
 mention some reflections that naturally arise from such an inquiry, as a 
 plain rule whereby every man may judge of himself, whether he be oi 
 the world, or of God. 
 
 1. And, first, it is clear from what has been said, that no man has a 
 litle to the praise of God, unless his heart is circumcised by humility ; 
 unless he is little, and base, and vile, in his own eyes; unless he is 
 deeply convinced of tha* inbred " corruption of his nature," whereby 
 he is very far gone from " original righteousness," being prone to all 
 evil, averse to all good, corrupt and abominable; having a ''carnal 
 mind which is enmity against God, and is not subject to the law of 
 God, nor indeed can be ;'* unless he continually feels in his inmost 
 soui, that without the Spirit of God resting upon him, he can neither
 
 SEPMON XVI I.] CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. 1C9 
 
 think, nor desire, nor speak, nor act any thing good, or well pleasing 
 in his sight. 
 
 No man, I say, has a title to the praise of God, till he feels his want 
 of God ; nor indeed, till he seeketh that " honour which cometh of God 
 only ;" and neither desires nor pursues that which cometh of man, un- 
 icss so far only as it tends to this. 
 
 2 Another truth, which naturally follows from what has been said, is, 
 that none shall obtain the honour that cometh of God, unless his heart 
 be circumcised by faith ; even a " faith of the operation of God :" unless, 
 refusing to be any longer led by his senses, appetites, or passions, or even 
 by that blind leader of the blind, so idolized by the world, natural rea 
 son, he lives and walks by faith ; directs every step as " seeing Him thai 
 is invisible ;" " looks not at the things that are seen, which are tem- 
 poral, but at the things that are not seen, which are eternal ;" and 
 governs all his desires, designs, and thoughts, all his actions and con- 
 versations, as one who is entered in within the vail, where Jesus sits at 
 the right hand of God. 
 
 3. It were to be wished, that they were better acquainted with this 
 faith, who employ much of their time and pains in laying another found- 
 ation ; in grounding religion on the eternal fitness of things, on the 
 intrinsic excellence of virtue, and the beauty of actions flowing from it; 
 on the reasons, as they term them, of good and evil, and the relations 
 of beings to each other. Either these accounts of the grounds of Chris 
 tian duty, coincide with the scriptural or not. If they do, why are well 
 meaning men perplexed, and drawn from the weightier matters of the 
 law, by a cloud of terms, whereby the easiest truths are explained into 
 obscurity 1 If they are not, then it behoves them to consider who is 
 the author of this new doctrine ; whether he is likely to be an angel 
 from heaven, who preacheth another gospel than that of Christ Jesus; 
 though, if he were, God, not we, hath pronounced his sentence, " Let 
 him be accursed." 
 
 4. Our gospel, as it knows no other foundation of good works thau 
 faith, or of faith than Christ, so it clearly informs us, we are not his 
 disciples, while we either deny him to be the author, or his Spirit to be 
 the inspirer and perfecter both of our faith and works. "If any man 
 have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." He alone can quicken 
 those who are dead unto God, can breathe into them the breath of Chrie- 
 tian life, and so prevent, accompany, and follow them with his grace, as 
 to bring their good desires to good effect. And " as many as are thus 
 led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." This is God's shoit 
 and plain account of true religion and virtue; and "other foundation 
 can no man lay." 
 
 5. From what has been said, we may, thirdly, learn, that none is truly 
 " led by the Spirit," unless that " Spirit bear witness with his spirit, that 
 he is a child of God ;" unless he see the prize and the crown oefore 
 him, and " rejoice in hope of the g ory of God." So greatly have 
 they erred who have taught that, in serving God, we ought not to have 
 a view to our own happiness ! Nay, but we are often and expressly 
 taught of God, to have " respect unto the recompense of reward ;" to 
 Balance the toil with the "joy set before us," these " light afflictions" 
 with that " exceeding weight of glory." Yea, we are " aliens to the 
 covenant of promise," we are " without God in the world," until God,
 
 170 CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. [SERMON XVII. 
 
 " of his aoundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a living hope of 
 the inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." 
 
 6. But if these things are so, it is high time for those persons to deal 
 faithfully with their own souls, who are so far from finding in them- 
 selves this joyful assurance that they fulfil the terms, and shall obtain 
 the promises of that covenant, as to quarrel with the covenant itselfj and 
 blaspheme the terms of it ; to complain, " They are too severe ; and 
 that no man ever did, or shall live up to them !" What is this but to 
 reproach God, as if he were a hard master, requiring of his servants more 
 than he enables them to perform 1 As if he had mocked the helpless 
 works of his hands by binding them to impossibilities ; by commanding 
 them to overcome, where neither their own strength nor his grace was 
 sufficient for them ? 
 
 7. These blasphemers might almost persuade those to imagine them- 
 selves guiltless, who, in the contrary extreme, hope to fulfil the com- 
 mands of God, without taking any pains at all. Vain hope ! that a child 
 of Adam should ever expect to see the kingdom of Christ and of God, 
 without striving, without agonizing first, " to enter in at the strait gate ;' 
 that one who was " conceived and born in sin," and whose " inward 
 parts are very wickedness," should once entertain a thouglit of being 
 "purified as his Lord is pure," unless he tread in his steps, and " take up 
 his cross daily ;" unless he " cut off his right hand," and "pluck out the 
 right eye, and cast it from him ;" that he should ever dream of shaking 
 off his old opinions, passions, tempers, of being " sanctified throughout 
 in spirit, soul and body," without a constant and continued course of 
 general self denial ! 
 
 8 What less than this can we possibly infer from the above cited 
 words of St. Paul, who, living " in infirmities, in reproaches, in neces- 
 sities, in persecutions, in distresses," for Christ's sake ; who, being full 
 of "signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds," who, having been "caught 
 up into the third heaven ;" yet reckoned, as a late author strongly 
 expresses it, that all his virtues would be insecure, and even his salva- 
 tion in danger, without this constant self denial ? " So run I," says he, 
 " not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air :" By 
 which he plainly teaches us, that he who does not thus run, who does 
 not thus deny himself daily, does run uncertainly, and fighteth to as 
 little purpose as he that " beateth the air." 
 
 9. To as little purpose does he talk of *' fighting the fight of faith," 
 as vainly hope to attain the crown of incorruption, (as we may, lastly, 
 infer from the preceding observations,) whose heart is not circumcised 
 by love. Love, cutting off both the lust of the flesh, the lust of the 
 eye, and the pride of life ; engaging the whole man, body, soul, and 
 spirit, in the ardent pursuit of that one object ; is so essential to a 
 child of God, that, without it, whosoever liveth is counted dead before 
 him. " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have 
 not love, I am as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. Though I have 
 the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; 
 and though 1 have all faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not 
 love, I am nothing." Nay, "though I give all my goods to feed the poor, 
 and my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing." 
 
 10. Here then is the sum of the perfect law, this is the true circum- 
 cision of the heait. Let the spirit return to God that gave it, with the
 
 XVII.] CIRCUMCISION OF THE HEART. 171 
 
 whole train of its affections. "Unto the place from whence all the 
 rivers came," thithor let them flow again. Other sacrifices from us hi*, 
 would not; but the living sacrifice of the heart he hath chosen. Let it 
 be. continually offered up to God through Christ, in flames of holy love. 
 And let no creature be suffered to share with him : for he is a jealous 
 God. His throne will he not divide with another : he will reign without 
 rival. Be no design, no desire admitted tnere, but what has him foj 
 its ultimate object. This is the way wherein those children of God once 
 walked, who being dead, still speak to us : " Desire not to live, but to 
 praise his name : let all your thoughts, words, and works, tend to his 
 glory. Set your heart firm on him, and on other things only as they are 
 in and from him. Let your soul be filled with so entire a love of him, 
 that you may love nothing but for his sake." " Have a pure intention 
 of heart, a steadfast regard to his glory in all your actions." " Fix your 
 eye upon the blessed hope of your calling, and make all the things of 
 the world minister unto it." For then, and not till then, is that " mind 
 in us which was also in Christ Jesus ;" when, in every motion of our 
 heart, in every word of our tongue, in every work of our hands, we 
 " pursue nothing but in relation to him, and in subordination to his 
 pleasure;" when we too, neither think, nor speak, nor act to fulfil our 
 " own will, but. the will of him that sent us ;" when, whether we " eat, 
 or drink, or whatever we do, we do all to the glory of God."
 
 172 MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON XVIII. 
 
 SERMON XVIIL The Marks of the New Birth. 
 
 " So is every one that is born of the Spirit" John iii. 8. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THIS sermon not intended to define, but to point out the 
 marks of the New Birth. 
 
 I. Faith. Gal. iii. 26 ; John i. 12, 13 ; 1 John v. 1. Not 
 bare assent, or intellectual faith. But beyond this " a dis- 
 position wrought ly God in the heart." This implies a pre- 
 ceding sense of sin. It is invariably followed by power over 
 sin. See Rom. vi ; also 1 John iii. 1, &c. It is also followed 
 by peace. Rom. v. 1 ; John xiv. 27 ; xvi. 33. 
 
 II. Hope. 1 Pet. i. 3. Called also full assurance. In- 
 cluding the witness of our own spirit and the witness of God's 
 Spirit. Rom. viii. 15, 16, 17. This hope is the source of the 
 Christian's joy. Rom. v. 2 ; 1 Pet. i. 5. 
 
 III. Love. Rom. v. 5. From love to God springs love to 
 our neighbour. Manifest in outward works, but not a mere 
 outward service. 
 
 IV. Application. Such being the marks, are you thus born 
 of God ? Not what were you made in baptism, but what are 
 you now ? Baptism avails nothing if ye are now the children 
 of the devil. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 The present sermon is not in any proper sense of the term contro- 
 versial, but is a simple exposition of the Gospel salvation upon the basis 
 of the Word of God, and in the light of Christian experience. The 
 religion of Christ has already been presented to us under two aspects : 
 1. A new relation to God. 2. A new subjective experience of freedom 
 from guilt and inward peace and assurance. It. now comes before us 
 under a third aspect, a new set of affections, of motives of life. The three 
 aspects are distinct, but are inseparably one ; the new relations give rise 
 to new emotions ; and out of these new emotions comes forth a new 
 abiding character. It is the soul's entrance on the new life of this new 
 character, which Mr. Wesley specifically regards as the new birth. In 
 the latter part of the sermon Mr. Wesley allows tliat the term New 
 Birth is used, in the standards of the Church of England, in a sense 
 different from this, to designate the new relationship in which a man is 
 placed to God and his Church in the ordinance of baptism. Of this 
 baptismal regeneration there are two definitions ; one outward and 
 formal, as the act by which a man enters the visible church or family of 
 God ; the other inward, and operative, the communication to the soul of 
 a germ or seed of Divine grace. It is most likely that Mr. Wesley held 
 this latter view, and regarded all men, or the great mass of them, as
 
 SERMON XVIII.] MARKS OP THE NEW BIRTH. 173 
 
 having " sinned away the grace of their baptism." But whatever may 
 have been his interpretations of the Church formularies, he puts them 
 here completely aside, and preaches only the Arminhn, Methodist doc- 
 trine of the New Birth, as an inward change of nature, inseparably 
 associated with a change of relation to God, and a profound crisis of 
 religious experience. 
 
 In the theology of the Reformation the term Regeneration was made 
 to include the entire secret operation of the Spirit by which man was 
 brought from a state of nature to a state of grace, and finally of full 
 salvation, whether this operation was conditional on baptism as with 
 the Lutherans, or on the secret decree of God as with Calvirr. The 
 specific definition of regeneration, which we believe to be Scriptural, 
 and which is now almost universally accepted by evangelical Protestants, 
 (See Hodge's Systematic Theology, Vol. iii. p. 5,) the modern Christian 
 Church owes to Methodism. 
 
 To this view of regeneration with the corresponding views of justifica- 
 tion, justifying faith, and assurance is largely due the power ot revival 
 preaching, both in the last century and in the present. This entire 
 system of doctrine of salvation sets before men something so definite aa 
 the test of their moral and religious condition, that every man's con- 
 science must respond with a definite yes or nj to the question, Am I 
 saved 1 It is throughout the doctrine of a present and a conscious salva- 
 tion. Any doctrine of an election from all eternity, or of a personal 
 redemption, completed unconditionally in Christ, or of sacramental 
 salvation, the germ of which is implanted in baptism, and which is 
 gradually and unconsciously carried forward to perlection by the means 
 of grace, can never be made the basis of such appeal to the unconverted 
 as is founded upon the doctrine before us. 
 
 SERMON XVIII. 
 
 1. How is every one that is " born of the Spirit," that is, born 
 again, born of God ? What is meant by the being born again, the being 
 born of God, or being born of the Spirit ? What is implied in the being 
 a son or a child of God, or having the Spirit of adoption 1 That these 
 privileges, by the free mercy of God, are ordinarily annexed to baptism 
 (which is thence termed by our Lord in the preceding verse, the being 
 " born of water and of the Spirit") we know ; but we would know 
 what these privileges are : what is the new birth ? 
 
 2. Perhaps it is not needful to give a definition of this, seeing the 
 Scripture gives none. But as the question is of the deepest concern to 
 every child of man ; since, "except a man be born again," born of the 
 Spirit, " he cannot see the kingdom of God ;" I propose to lay down 
 the marks of it in the plainest manner, just as I find them laid down 
 in Scripture. 
 
 I. 1. The first of these, and the foundation of all the rest, is faith. 
 So St. Paul, " Ye are all the children of God by frith in Christ Jesus," 
 Gal. iii, 26. So St. John, " To them gave he power (s^ffiav ) right or 
 privilege, it may rather be translated) to become the sons of God, even 
 to them that believe on his name ; which were born," when they 
 believed, " not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh," not by natural 
 generation, " nor of the will of man," like those children adopted by 
 men, in whom no inward change is thereby wrought, " but of God," 
 ch3p. i, 12, 13. And again in his general epistle, "Whosoever be- 
 lieveth that Jesus is the Christ, is born of God," 1 John v, 1.
 
 174 MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON XVIII. 
 
 2. But it is nv>t a barely notional or speculative faith that is here 
 spoken of by the apostles. It is not a bare assent to this proposition, 
 Jesus is the Christ ; nor indeed to all the propositions contained in our 
 creed, or in the Old and New Testament. It is not merely an assent 
 to any or all these credible things, as credible. To say this, were to 
 say (which who could hear ?) that the devils were born of God ; for they 
 have this faith. They, trembling, believe, both that Jesus is the Christ, 
 and that all Scripture, having been given by inspiration of God, is 
 true as God is true. It is not only an assent to divine truth, upon the 
 testimony of God, or upon the evidence of miracles ; for they also heard 
 the words of his mouth, and knew him to be a faithful and true witness 
 They could not but receive the testimony he gave, both of himself, and 
 of the Father which sent him. They saw likewise the mighty works 
 which he did, and thence believed that he " came forth from God." 
 Yet, notwithstanding this faith, they are still " reserved in chains of 
 darkness, unto the judgment of the great day." 
 
 3. For all this is no more than a dead faith. The true, living. 
 Christian faith, which whosoever hath is born of God, is not only assent, 
 an act of the understanding ; but a disposition, which God hath wrought 
 m his heart ; " a sure trust and confidence in God, that through the 
 merits of Christ his sins are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of 
 God." This implies, that a man first renounce himself; that, in order 
 to be " found in Christ," to be accepted through him, he totally rejects 
 all " confidence in the flesh ;" that " having nothing to pay," having 
 no trust in his own works or righteousness of any kind, he comes to 
 God as a lost, miserable, self destroyed, self condemned, undone, help- 
 less sinner ; as one whose mouth is utterly stopped, and who is alto- 
 gether " guilty before God." Such a sense of sin, (commonly called 
 despair, by those who speak evil of the things they know not,) togethei 
 with a full conviction, such as no words can express, that of Christ 
 only cometh our salvation, and an earnest desire of that salvation, must 
 precede a living faith, a trust in Him, who for us paid our ransom b) 
 his death, and for us fulfilled the law in his life. This faith then, 
 whereby we are born of God, is " not only a belief of all the articles of 
 our faith, but also a true confidence of the mercy of God, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 4. An immediate and cons' ant fruit of this faith whereby we are 
 born of God, a fruit which can in no wise be separated from it, no, not 
 for an hour, is power ovpr sin ; power over outward sin of every kind ; 
 over every evil word and work ; for wheresoever the blood of Christ is 
 thus applied, it " purgeth the conscience from dead works ;" and over 
 inward sin ; for it purifieth the heart from every unholy desire and 
 temper. This fruit of faith St. Paul has largely described, in the sixth 
 chapter of his epistle to the Romans. " How shall we," saith he, 
 " who [by faith] are dead to sin, live any longer therein ?" " Our old 
 man is crucified with Christ, that the body of sin might be destroyed, 
 that henceforth we should not serve sin." " Likewise, reckon ye your- 
 selves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord. Let not ain therefore reign [even] in your mortal body," " but 
 yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead." " For 
 sin shall not have dominion over you. God be thanked, that ye were 
 ttie servants of sin, but being made free," the plain meaning is, God
 
 SERMON XVIII.] MAIIKS OF THE NEW BIUTH. 175 
 
 he thanked, that though ye were, in time past, the servants of sin, yet 
 now " being free from sin, ye are become the servantsof righteousness." 
 
 5. The same invaluable privilege of the sons of __od, is as strongly 
 asserted by St. John ; particularly with regard to the former branch of 
 it, namely, power over outward sin. After he had been crying out, as 
 one astonished at the depth of the riches of the goodness of God, 
 " Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, thai 
 we should be called the sons of God ! Beloved, now are we the sons of 
 God : and it doth not yet appear what we shall be ; but we know, that 
 when he shall appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he 
 is;" 1 John iii, l,&c; he soon adds, "Whosoever is born of God doth 
 not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he cannot sin. 
 because he is born of God," verse 9. But some men will say, " Tiue 
 whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin habitually.' 11 Habitually) 
 whence is that ? I read it not. It is not written in the book. God 
 plainly saith, " He doth not commit sin ;" and thou addest habitually ! 
 Who art thou that mendest the oracles of God 1 that " addest to the 
 words of this book ?" Beware, I beseech thee, lest God " add to thee 
 all the plagues that are written therein !" Especially when the com- 
 ment thou addest is such as quite swallows up the text : so that by this 
 fisdoiJsia irXavTjf, this artful method of deceiving, the precious promise is 
 utterly lost; by this xvfleia. andguiruv, this tricking and shuffling of men, 
 the word of God is made of none effect. Oh beware, thou that thus 
 takest from the words of this book, that taking away the whole meaning 
 and spirit from them, leavest only what may indeed be termed a dead 
 letter, lest God take away thy part out of the book of life ! 
 
 6. Suffer we the apostle to interpret his own words, by the whole 
 tenor of his discourse. In the fifth verse of this chapter, he had said, 
 " Ye know that he [Christ] was manifested to take away our sins ; and 
 in him is no sin." What is the inference he draws from this 1 " Who~ 
 soever abideth in him sinneth not : whosoever sinneth hath not seen 
 him, neither known him," ch. iii, 6. To his enforcement of this impor- 
 tant doctrine, he premises a highly necessary caution : " Little child- 
 ren, let no man deceive you," ver. 7 ; for many will endeavour so to do; 
 to persuade you that you may be unrighteous, that you may commit sin, 
 and yet be children of God ; " he that doeth righteousness is righteous, 
 even as he is righteous. He that committeth sin is of the devil ; for the 
 devil sinneth from the beginning." Then follows, " Whosever is born 
 of God doth not commit sin ; for his seed remaineth in him : and he 
 cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this," adds the apostle, " the 
 children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil." By this 
 plain mark (the committing or not committing sin) are they distin- 
 guished from each other. To the same effect are those words in his 
 fifth chapter, " We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not : 
 but he that is bego'.ten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one 
 toucheth him not," ver. 18. 
 
 7. Another fruit of this living faith is peace. For, " being justified 
 by faith," having all our sins blotted out, " we have peace with God, 
 through our Lord Jesus Christ," Rom. v, 1. This indeed our Lord 
 himself, the night before his death, solemnly bequeathed to all his fol- 
 lower?, " Peace," saith he, " I leave with you ;" (you who " believe in 
 
 i/' and " believe also in me ;") " m> peace I give unto you." "Not
 
 176 MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON XVIII. 
 
 as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart he troubled, 
 neither let it be afraid," John xiv, 27. And again, " These things have 
 1 spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace," ch. xvi, 33. This 
 is that " peace of God which passeth all understanding," that serenity 
 of soul which it hath not entered into the heart of a natural man to con- 
 ceive, and which it is not possible for even the spiritual man to utter. 
 And it is a peace which all the powers of earth and hell are unable to 
 take from him. Waves and storms beat upon it, but they shake it not ; 
 for it is founded upon a rock. It keepeth the hearts and minds of the 
 children of God, at all times and in all places. Whether they are in ease 
 or in pain, in sickness or health, in abundance or want, they are happy 
 in God. In every state they have learned to be content, yea, to give 
 thanks unto God through Christ Jesus ; beiag well assured, that " what- 
 soever is, is best," because it is his will concerning them: so that in all 
 the vicissitudes of life their " heart standeth fast, believing in the Lord." 
 II. 1. A second scriptural mark of those who are born of God, is 
 hope. Thus St. Peter, speaking to all the children of God who were 
 then scattered abroad, saith, " Blessed be the God and Father of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy, hath begot- 
 ten us again unto a lively hope," 1 Pet. i, 3. EXin<Ja ^wffav, a lively or 
 living hope, saith the apostle ; because there is also a dead hope, as 
 well as a dead faith ; a hope which is not from God, but from the enemy 
 of God and man ; -as evidently appears by its fruits ; for as it is the off- 
 spring of pride, so it is the parent of every evil word and work ; whereas, 
 every man that hath in him this living hope, is " holy as l\e that calleth 
 him is holy :" every man that can truly say to his brethren in Christ, 
 " Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and we shall see him as he is/ 
 " purifieth himself, even as he is pure." 
 
 2. This hope, (termed in the epistle to the Hebrews, chap, x, 22 
 irXipo(poia <iri<f<reus, and elswhere, irXripopopia eXiftSos, chap, vi, 11, ir 
 our translation, " the full assurance of faith, and the full assurance ol 
 hope, "expressions the best which our language could afford, although far 
 weaker than those in the original,) as described in Scripture, implies, 
 first, the testimony of our own spirit or conscience, that we walk " in 
 simplicity and godly sincerity ;" but secondly, and chiefly, the testi- 
 mony of the Spirit of God," bearing witness with," or to, " our spirit, 
 that we are the children of God," " and if children, then heirs, heirs 
 of God, and joint heirs with Christ." 
 
 3. Let us well observe what is here taught us by God himself, touch 
 ing this glorious privilege of his children. Who is it that is here said 
 to bear witness ? Not our spirit only, but another ; even the Spirit ol 
 God : He it is who " beareth witness with our spirit." What is it, he 
 boareth witness of? " That we are the children of God," " and if chil- 
 dren then heirs ; heii ? of God, and joint heirs with Christ ;" Rom. viii, 
 16, 17 ; " if so be that we suffer with him," (if we deny ourselves, if we 
 take up our cross daily, if we cheerfully endure persecution or reproach 
 for his sake,) " that we may also be glorified together." And in whom 
 doth the Spirit of God bear this witness? In all who are the children 
 of God. By this very argument does the apostle prove, in the preceding 
 verses, that they are sc : " As many," saith he, " as are led by the Spirit 
 of God, they are the sons of God." " For ye have not received the spirit 
 of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption
 
 SERMON XVIII.] MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH. 177 
 
 whereby we cry, Abba, Father !" It follows, " The Spirit itself bearetb 
 ivitness with our spirit, that we are the children of God," ch. viii, 14-16. 
 
 4. The variation of the phrase in the 15th verse, is worthy our obser- 
 vation. " Ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby wo cry, 
 Abba, Father !" Ye, as many as are the sons of God, have in virtue of 
 your sonship, received that selfsame spirit of adoption, whereby tee cry 
 Abba, Father : we, the apostles, prophets, teachers, (for so the word may 
 not improperly be understood,) we, through whom you have believed, 
 the " ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." Aswt 
 and you have one Lord, so we have one Spirit: as we have one faith, so we 
 have one hope also. We and you are sealed with one " spirit of promise,'* 
 the earnest of your and of our inheritance : the same Spirit bearing wit- 
 ness with your and with our spirit, " that we are the children of God." 
 
 5. And thus is the Scripture fulfilled, " Blessed are they that mourn 
 for they shall be comforted." For it is easy to believe, that though 
 sorrow may precede this witness of God's Spirit with our spirit ; (indeed 
 must, in some degree, while we groan under fear, and a sense of the 
 wrath of God abiding on us ;) yet, as soon as any man feeleth it in him- 
 self, his " sorrow is turned into joy." Whatsoever his pain may have 
 been before ; yet, as soon as that " hour is come, he remembereth the 
 anguish no more, for joy" that he is born of God. It may be, many of 
 you have now sorrow, because you are " aliens from the commonwealth 
 of Israel ;" because you are conscious to yourselves that you have not 
 this Spirit ; that you are " without hope and without God in the world." 
 But when the Comforter is come, " then your heart shall rejoice ;" yea, 
 " your joy shall be full," and " that joy no man taketh from you," John 
 xvi, 22. " We joy in God," will ye say, " through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement ;" " by whom 
 we have access into this grace," this state of grace, of favour, or recon- 
 ciliation with God, " wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the 
 glory of God," Rom. v, 2. " Ye," saith St. Peter, whom God hath 
 " begotten again unto a lively hope, are kept by the power of God unto 
 salvation : wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need 
 he, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations ; that the trial of 
 your faith may be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appear- 
 ing of Jesus Christ : in whom, though now ye see him not, ye rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory," 1 Pet. i, 5, &-c. Unspeakable 
 indeed ! It is not for the tongue of man to describe this joy in the Holy 
 Ghost. It is " the hidden manna, which no man knoweth, save he that 
 receiveth it." But this we know, it not only remains but overflows in 
 the depth of affliction. " Are the consolations of God small" with his 
 children, when all earthly comforts fail ? Not so. But when sufferin fe 
 most abound, the consolation of his Spirit doth much more abound ; 
 insomuch that the sons of God " laugh at destruction when it cometh :" 
 at want, pain, hell, and the grave; as knowing him who "hath the keys 
 of death and hell," and will shortly " cast them into the bottomless pit ;" 
 as hearing even now the great voice out of heaven, saying, " Behold, the 
 tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they 
 shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their 
 God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall 
 be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying; neither shall there be any 
 more pain ; for the r ormer things are passed away," Rev. xxi, 3. 4
 
 178 MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON XVIII. 
 
 III. 1. A third scriptural mark of those who are born of God, and 
 the greatest of all, is love ; even the love of God shed abroad in their 
 hearts, by the Holy Ghost which its given unto them," Rom. v, 5. " Be- 
 cause they are sons, Go.d hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into their 
 hearts, crying, Abba, Father!" Gal. iv, 6. By this Spirit, continually 
 looking up to God as their reconciled and loving Father, they cry to 
 him for lucir daily bread, for all things needful, whether lor their souls 
 or bodies. They continually pour out their hearts before him, knowing 
 " they have the petitions which they ask of him," 1 John v, 15. Their 
 delight is in him. He is the joy of their heart; their "shield," aixl 
 their " exceeding great reward." The desire of their soul is towards 
 him ; it is their " meat and drink to do his will ;" and they are " satisfied 
 as with marrow and fatness, wiiile their mouth praiseth him with joyful 
 lips," Psalm Ixiii, 5. 
 
 2. And, in this sense also, " Every one who lovelh him that hejrat, 
 loveth him that is begotten of him," 1 John, v, 1. His spirit rejoiceth 
 in God his Saviour. He " loveth the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." 
 He is so "joined unto the Lord," as to be one spirit. His soul hang- 
 eth upon him, and ch x>seth him as altogether lovely, " the chiefest 
 among ten thousand." He knowuth, he fecleth what that means, " My 
 Beloved is mine, and I am his." " Thou art fairer than the children 
 of men : full of grace are thy lips, because God hath anointed thee for 
 ever !" Psalm xlv, 2. 
 
 3. The necessary fruit of this love of God, is the love of our neigh- 
 bour ; of every soul which God hath made ; not excepting our enemies ; 
 not excepting those who are now " despitefully using and persecuting 
 us ;" a love, whereby we love every man as ourselves ; as we love our 
 own souls. Nay, our Lord has expressed it still more strongly, teach- 
 ing us to " love one another, even as he hath lovel us." Accordingly, 
 the commandment written in the hearts of all those that love God, is 
 no other than this, " As I have loved you, so love ye one another." 
 Now, " herein perceive we the love of God, in that he laid down his life 
 for us," 1 John iii, 16. " We ought," then, as the apostle justly infers, 
 " to lay down our lives for the brethren." If we feel ourselves ready 
 to do this, then do we truly love our neighbour. Then " we know that 
 we have passed from death unto life, because we thus love the brethren," 
 ver 14. " Hereby know we" that we are born of God, that we " dwell 
 in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his [loving] Spirit," 
 ch. iv, 13. For "love is of God ; and every one that thus loveth is 
 born of God, and knoweth God," 1 John iv, 7. 
 
 4. But some may possibly ask, does not the apostle say, "This is 
 the love of God, that we keep his commandments ?" 1 John v, 3. Yea, 
 and this is the love of our neighbour also, in the same sense as it is the 
 love of God. But what would you infer from hence? That the keep- 
 ing the outward commandments, is all that is implied in loving God 
 with all your heart, with all your mind, and soul, and strength, and in 
 loving your neighbour as yourself? That the love of God is not an affec- 
 tion of the soul, but merely an mittcard service? And that the love of 
 our neighbour is not a disposition of heart, but barely a course of out- 
 ward works 1 To mention so wild ar interpretation of the apostle's 
 words, is sufficiently to confute it. The plain indisputable meaning of 
 that text is, this is the sign or proof of the love of God, of our keeping
 
 SERMON XVJII.] MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH. 179 
 
 the first and great commandment, to keep all the rest of his command- 
 ments. For true love, if it be once shed abroad in our heart, will con- 
 strain us so to do ; since, whosoever loves God with all his heart, cannot 
 but serve him with all his strength. 
 
 5. A second fruit then of the love of God, (so far as it can be dis- 
 tinguished from it,) is universal obedience to him we love, and conform- 
 ity to his will ; obedience to all the commands of God, internal and 
 external ; obedience of the heart and of the life; in every temper, an J 
 in all manner of conversation. And one of the tempers most obviously 
 implied herein is, the being " zealous of good works ;" the hungering 
 and thirsting to do good, in every possible kind, unto all men ; the 
 rejoicing to " spend and be spent for them," for every child of man : 
 not looking for any recompense in this world, but only in the resurrec- 
 tion of the just. 
 
 IV. 1. Thus have I plainly laid down those marks of the new birth, 
 which I find laid down in Scripture. Thus doth God himself answer 
 that weighty question, what is it to be born of God ? Such, if the appeal 
 be made to the oracles of God, is " every one that is born of the Spirit." 
 This it -is, in the judgment of the Spirit of God, to be a son or a child 
 of God. It is, so to believe in God, through Christ, as " not to commit 
 sin," and to enjoy at all times, and in all places, that " peace of God 
 which passeth all understanding." It is, so to hope in God through the 
 Son of his love, as to have not only the " testimony of a good con- 
 science," but also the Spirit of God " bearing witness with your spirits, 
 that ye are the children of God ;" whence cannot but spring, the 
 rejoicing evermore in him, through whom ye " have received the atone- 
 ment." It is so to love God, who hath thus loved you, as you never 
 did love any creature : so that ye are constrained to love all men as 
 yourselves ; with a love not only ever burning in your hearts, but flaming 
 out in all your actions and conversation, and making your whole life 
 one " labour of love," one continued obedience to those commands, 
 " Be ye merciful, as God is merciful ;" " Be ye holy, as I the Lord am 
 holy ;" " Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in heaven is perfect." 
 
 2. Who then are ye that are thus born of God 1 Ye " know the things 
 which are given to you of God." Ye well know that ye are the chil- 
 dren of God, and " can assure your hearts before him." And every 
 one of you who has observed these words, cannot but feel, and know 
 of a truth, whether at this hour, (answer to God and not to man !) you 
 are thus a child of God or no. The question is not, what you was made 
 in baptism ; (do not evade ;) but, what are you now 1 Is the spirit of 
 idoption now in your heart 1 To your own heart let the appeal be made. 
 [ ask not, whether you was born of water and of the Spirit ; but are you 
 low the temple of the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in you '! I allow yon 
 vas "circumcised with the circumcision of Christ ;" (as St. Paul em- 
 hatically terms baptism ;) but does the Spirit of Christ and of glory now 
 est upon you 1 Else " your circumcision is become uncircumcision." 
 
 3. Say not then in your heart, I was once baptized, therefore I am 
 iijow a child of God. Alas, that consequence will by no means hold, 
 xloiv many are the baptized gluttons and drunkards, the baptized liars 
 *nd common swearers, the baptized railers and evil speakers, the bap- 
 tized whoremongers, thieves, extortioners ? What think you ? Are 
 these now the children of God ? Verily, I say unto you, whosoever you
 
 180 MARKS OF THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON XVIII. 
 
 are, unto whom any one of the preceding characters belong, " Ye are 
 of your father the devil, and the works of your father ye do." Unto 
 you 1 call, in the name of Him whom you crucify afresh, and in his 
 words to your circumcised predecessors, " Ye serpents, ye generation 
 of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell ?" 
 
 4. How indeed, except ye be born again ! For ye are now dead in 
 trespasses and sins. To say then that ye cannot be born again, that 
 there is no new birth but in baptism, is to seal you all under damnation, 
 to consign you to hell, without help, without hope. And perhaps some 
 may think this just and right. In their zeal for the Lord of hosts, they 
 may say, " Yea, cut off' the sinners, the Amalekites ! Let these Gibeon 
 ites be utterly destroyed ! They deserve no less." No; nor I; nor you 
 Mine and your desert, as well as theirs, is hell. And it is mere mercy, 
 free, undeserved mercy, that u-t are not now in unquenchable fire. 
 You will say, " But we are washed ;" we were born again " of water and 
 of the Spirit." So were they: this, therefore, hinders not at all, but 
 that ye may now be even as they. Know ye not, that " what is highly 
 esteemed of men is an abomination in the sight of God ?" Come forth, 
 ye "saints of the world," ye that are honoured of men, and see who 
 will cast the first stone at them, at these wretches not fit to live upon 
 the earth, these common harlots, adulterers, murderers. Only learn ye 
 first what that meaneth, " He that hateth his brother is a murderer," 
 1 John iii, 15. " He that looketh on a woman, to lust after her, hath 
 committed adultery with her already in his heart," Matt, v, 28. " Ye 
 adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world 
 is enmity with God ?" James iv, 4. 
 
 5. " Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye" also '* must be born again.' 
 " Except ye" also " be born again, ye cannot see the kingdom of God." 
 Lean no more on the staff of that broken reed, that ye were born again 
 in baptism. Who denies that ye were then made children of God, and 
 heirs of the kingdom of heaven 1 But, notwithstanding this, ye are now 
 
 hildren of the devil. Therefore, ve must be born agajn^ And Jet 
 not Satan put it into your heart to cavil at a wojtL when the thinft i& 
 clear. Ye have heard what are the marks of the children of God : all 
 ye who have them not on your souls, baptized or unbaptized, must needs 
 receive them, or without doubt ye will peristi everlastingly. And if ye 
 have been baptized, your only hope is this, that those who were made 
 tltechildren of God by baptism, but are now the children of the devil, 
 may yet again receive " power to become the sons of God ;" that they 
 may receive again v/hat they have lost, even the " spirit of adoption, 
 crying in their hearts, Abba, Father!" 
 
 Amen, Lord Jesus ! May. every one who prepareth his heart yet again 
 to seek thy face, receive again that spirit of adoption, and cry out 
 " Abba, Father !" Let him now again have power so to believe in thy 
 name as to become a child of God ; as 1.0 know and feel he hath " redemp 
 lion in thy blood, even the forgiveness of sins," and that he " cannot 
 commit sin because he is born of God." Let him be now " begotten 
 ?gain unto a living hope," so as to " purify himself as thou art pure ;" 
 and, " because he is a son," let the spirit of love and of glory rest upon 
 him, cleansing him " from all filthiness of flesh and spirit," and teacb- 
 
 ng him to " perfect holiness in the fear of God !"
 
 SERMON XIX.] PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN' OF GOD. 181 
 
 SERMON XIX. The Great Privilege of those that are lorn oj 
 
 God. 
 
 " Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin." 1 Jno. iii. 9. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 JUSTIFICATION and Regeneration, one in point of time, are 
 distinct in nature ; one, a relative change, the other, real ; one, 
 wrought for us, the other, in us ; one, removing the guilt, the' 
 other, the power of sin. 
 
 I. The meaning of the expression, " Whosoever is born of 
 God." Not baptism or any outward change ; but inward, 
 beginning a different life. Analogy of the natural birth. The 
 new perceptions of the spiritual life. 
 
 II. In what sense he doth not commit sin. 
 
 Sin denned as actual, voluntary transgression of the law. 
 This the man who abides in faith, love, and prayer, cannot do. 
 But some such have sinned. David, Barnabas, Peter. Ans. 
 There is a condition, " he keepeth himself." Sin is first 
 negative ; failure to watch ; then positive inward sin ; then 
 positive outward transgression. The last is always preceded 
 by loss of faith. Eight steps of the fall described. 
 
 III. We learn four lessons. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon sets before us very clearly Mr. Wesley's view of the 
 relation of Christian experience or consciousness to the new moral life. 
 He lays this down as a fundamental principle that the conscious sense of 
 God's presence cannot co-exist with conscious consent to sin. And as 
 Mr. Wesley knows of no occult religion, or imputed favour of God 
 which is not revealed, a holy will becomes thus an inseparable result of 
 true religion, and an indispensable condition of its continuance. 
 
 This requirement of rectitude of will stands out in the very forefront 
 of Methodist theology. It is linked with the Arminian doctrines ot 
 responsibility and freedom on the one hand ; and on the other it forms 
 the first step in the Wesleyan doctrine of Scriptural holiness, the crown 
 of which is Christian perfection. A theology which embraces such 
 fundamental elements as these can have no fellowship with Antinomian- 
 ism. If a consciously holy purpose of will enters into all true Christian 
 life, then there must be a law of God by which this holy will is directed. 
 Thus all moral law enters, not as an ornamental addition, but as an 
 essential element into the true Christian experience. Hence in Mr. 
 Wesley's plan we shall find, next in order, an exposition of Christian 
 moral law, the sermon, of our Lord on the Mount being the basis. 
 
 Methodism is thus peculiarly ethical Christianity. Mr. Wesley seems 
 to combine in his own religious life and teachings all the ethical elements 
 with which he came in contact. Holiness is the central conception ol 
 God, and of religion, and the only perfection of man. 
 
 In this view of religion the will becomes a most important factor. It 
 is the will which establishes a fundamental difference between all in- 
 voluntary moral imperfection and sinfulness, and the sin pre-eminentlv 
 Bo-called, which brings guilt and separation from Go<1.
 
 182 PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. [SERMON XIX. 
 
 SERMON XIX. 
 
 1. IT has been frequently supposed, that the being born of God, was 
 all one with the being justified ; that the new birth and justification 
 were only different expressions, denoting the same thing : it being cer- 
 tain, on the one hand, that whosoever is justified, is also boru of God, 
 and on the other, that whosoever is born of God, is also justified ; yea, 
 that both these gifts of God are given to every believer in one and the 
 same moment. In one point of time his sins are blotted out, and he is 
 born again of God. 
 
 2. But though it be allowed, that justification and the new birth are, 
 in point of time, inseparable from each other, yet they are easily dis- 
 tinguished, as being not the same, but things of a widely different 
 nature. Justification implies only a relative, the new birth a real, 
 change. God, in justifying us, does something for us; in begetting 
 us again, he does the work in us. The former changes our outward 
 relation to God, so that of enemies we become children ; by the latter 
 our inmost souls are changed, so that of sinners we become saints. The 
 one restores us to the favour, the other to the image, of God. The one 
 is the taking away the guilt, the other the taking away the power, of 
 sin : so that, although they are joined together in point of time, yet are 
 they of wholly distinct natures. 
 
 3. The not discerning this, the not observing the wide difference 
 there is between being justified arid being born again, has occasioned 
 exceeding great confusion of thought in many who have treated on this 
 subject; particularly when they have attempted to explain this great 
 privilege of the children of God ; to show how " whosoever is born of 
 God doth not commit sin." 
 
 4. In order to apprehend this clearly, it may be necessary, first, to 
 consider what is the proper meaning of that expression, " Whosoever 
 is born of God ;'* and, secondly, to inquire, in what sense he " doth not 
 commit sin ?" 
 
 1. 1. First, we are to consider, what is the proper meaning of that 
 expression, " Whosoever is born of God." And, in general, from all 
 the passages of holy writ, wherein this expression, the being born of 
 God, occurs we may learn that it implies not barely the being baptized, 
 or any outward change whatever ; but a vast inward change, a change 
 wrought in the soul, by the operation of the Holy Ghost; a change in 
 the whole manner of our existence ; for, from the moment we are born 
 of God, we live in quite another manner than we did before; we are, as 
 it were, in another world. 
 
 2. The ground and reason of the expression is easy to be understood. 
 When we undergo this great change, we may, with much propriety, be 
 said to be born again, because there is so near a resemblance between 
 the circumstances of the natural and of the spiritual birth ; so that to 
 consider the circumstances of the natural birth, is the most easy way to 
 understand the spiritual. 
 
 3. The child which is not yet born subsists indeed by the air, as does 
 every thing which has life; but fech it not, nor any thin? else, unless
 
 SEKMON XIX ] PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 183 
 
 in a very dull and imperfect manner. It hears little, if at all ; the 
 organs of hearing being as yet closed up. It sees nothing; having its 
 eyes fast shut, and being surrounded with' utter darkness. There are, 
 it may be, some faint beginnings of life, when the time of its birth 
 draws nigh, and some motion consequent thereon, whereby it is distin- 
 guished from a mere mass of matter ; but it has no senses ; all these 
 avenues of the soul are hitherto quite shut up. Of consequence, it has 
 scarce any intercourse with this visible world ; nor any knowledge, 
 conception, or idea, of the things that occur therein. 
 
 4. The reason why he that is not yet born is wholly a stranger to tho 
 visible world, is, not because it is afar off; (it is very nigh; it sur- 
 rounds him on every side ;) but, partly, because he has not those senses, 
 they are not .yet opened in his soul, whereby alone it is possible to hold 
 commerce with the material world ; and partly, because so thick a veil 
 is cast between, through which he can discern nothing. 
 
 5. But no sooner is the child born into the world, than he exists in 
 a quite different manner. He now feels the air with which he is sur- 
 rounded, arid which pours into him from every side, as fast as he 
 alternately, breathes it back, to sustain the flame of life: and hence 
 springs a continual increase of strength, of motion, and of sensation ; 
 all the bodily senses being now awakened, and furnished with their 
 proper objects. 
 
 His eyes are now opened to perceive the light, which, silently flow 
 ing in upon them, discovers not only itself, but an infinite variety of 
 things, with which before he was wholly unacquainted. His ears are 
 unclosed, and sounds rush in with endless diversity. Every sense is 
 employed upon such objects as are peculiarly suitable to it ; and by 
 these inlets the soul, having an open intercourse with the visible world, 
 acquires more and more knowledge of sensible things, of all the things 
 which are under the sun. 
 
 6. So it is with him that is born of God. Before that great change 
 is wrought, although ho subsists by him, in whom all that have life 
 " live, and move, and have their being," yet he is not sensible of God ; he 
 does not fr.tl, he has no inward consciousness of his presence. He 
 does not perceive that divine breath of life, without which he cannot 
 subsist a moment : nor is he sensible of any of the things of God ; 
 they make no impression upon his soul. God is continually calling to 
 him from on high, but he heareth not ; his ears are shut, so that the 
 " voice of the charmer" is lost in him, " charm he never so wisely." 
 He seeth not the things of the Spirit of God ; the eyes of his under- 
 standing being closed, and utter darkness covering his whole soul, sur- 
 rounding him on every side. It is true he rnay have some faint dawn- 
 ings of life, some small beginnings of spiritual motion ; but as yet he 
 has no spiritual senses capable of discerning spiritual objects ; conse- 
 quently he " discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God ; he cannot 
 know them, because they are spiritually discerned." 
 
 7. Hence he has scarce any knowledge of the invisible world, as he 
 has scarce any intercourse with it. Not that it is afar off: no: he is 
 in the midst of it; it encompasses him round about. The other world, 
 as we usually term it, is not far from every one of us : it is above, and 
 beneath, and on every side. Only the natural man discerneth it not: 
 pnriiy, because he has no spirituaJ senses, whereby alone we can discern
 
 184 PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OP GOD. [SERMON XIX. 
 
 the things of God ; partly, because so thick a veil is interposed, as he 
 knows not how to penetrate. 
 
 8. But when he is born of God, born of the Spirit, how is the man- 
 ner of his existence changed ! His whole soul is now sensible of God, 
 and he can say, by sure experience, " Thou art about my bed, and about 
 my path ;" I feel thee in all my ways ; " Thou besettest me behind and 
 belbre, and layest thy hand upon me." The Spiiit or breath of God is 
 immediately inspired, breathed into the new born soul ; and the same 
 breath which comes from, returns to, God : as it is continually received 
 by faith, so it is continually rendered back by love, by prayer, and praise, 
 and thanksgiving ; love, and praise, and prayer being the breath ol 
 every soul which is truly born of God. And by this new kind of spi-- 
 ritual respiration, spiritual life is not only sustained, but increased day 
 by day, together with spiritual strength, and motion, and sensation ; all 
 the senses of the soul being now awake, and capable of discerning 
 spiritual good and evil. 
 
 9. "The eyes of his understanding" are now " open," and he "seeth 
 Him that is invisible." He sees what is " the exceeding greatness of 
 his power," and of his love towards them that believe. He sees that 
 God is merciful to him a sinner, that he is reconciled through the 
 Son of his love. He clearly perceives both the pardoning love of God, 
 and all his " exceeding great and precious promises." " God, who 
 commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined," and doth 
 shine, " in his heart," to enlighten him with " the knowledge of the 
 glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." All the darkness is now 
 passed away, and he abides in the light of God's countenance. 
 
 10. His ears are now opened, and the voice of God no longer calls 
 in vain. He hears and obeys the heavenly calling: he knows the voice 
 of his Shepherd. All his spiritual senses being now awakened, he has 
 a clear intercourse with the invisible world ; and hence he knows more 
 and more of the things which before it could not "enter into his heart to 
 conceive." He now knows what the peace of God is ; what is joy in the 
 Holy Ghost; what the love of God which is shed abroad in the hearts 
 of them that believe in him through Christ Jesus. Thus the veil being 
 removed, which before interrupted the light and voice, the knowledge 
 and love of God, he who is born of the Spirit, dwelling in love, " dwell- 
 eth in God, and God in him." 
 
 11. 1. Having considered the meaning of that expression, " Whoso- 
 ever is born of God," it remains in the second place, to inquire, in what 
 sense he " doth not commit sin." 
 
 Now one who is so born of God, as hath been above described, who 
 continually receives into his soul the breath of life from God, the gra- 
 cious influence of his Spirit, and continually renders it back ; one who 
 thus believes and loves, who by faith perceives the continual actings of 
 God upon his spirit, and by a kind of spiritual reaction returns the 
 grace he receives, in unceasing love, and praise, and prayer ; not only 
 doth not commit sin, while h\! thus keepeth himself, but so long as this 
 " soed remaineth in him, he cannot sin, because he is born of God. " 
 
 2. By sin, I here understand outward sin, according to the plain, 
 common acceptation of the word ; an actual voluntary transgression of 
 the law ; of the revealed, written law of God ; of any commandment of 
 God, acknowledged to be such at the time that it is transgressed. But
 
 8ERMOH XIX.] PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 185 
 
 ** whosoever is born of God," while he abideth in faith and love, and in 
 the spirit of prayer and thanksgiving, not only doth not, but cannot, 
 thus commit sin. So long as he thus believeth in God through Christ, 
 and loves him, and is pouring out his heart before him, he cannot volun- 
 tarily transgress any command of God, either by speaking or acting 
 what he knows God hath forbidden: so long that seed which remaineth 
 in him, that loving, praying, thankful faith, compels him to refrain from 
 whatsoever he knows to be an abomination in the. sight of God. 
 
 3. But here a difficulty will immediately occur ; and one that to many 
 has appeared insuperable, and induced them to deny the plain assertion 
 of the apostle, and give up the privilege of the children of God. 
 
 It is plain, in fact, that those whom we cannot deny to have been 
 truly born of God, (the Spirit of God having given us in his word this 
 infallible testimony concerning them,) nevertheless, not only could, but 
 did commit sin, even gross, outward sin. They did transgress the plain, 
 known laws of God, speaking or acting what they knew he had forbidden. 
 
 4. Thus David was unquestionably born of God or e\er he was 
 anointed king over Israel. He knew in whom he had believed ; " he 
 was strong in faith, giving glory to God." " The Lord," saith he, " is 
 my Shepherd ; therefore can I lack nothing. He shall feed me in green 
 pastures, and lead me forth beside the waters of comfort. Yea, though 
 I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; 
 for thou art with me," Psa. xxiii, 1, &c. He was filled with love ; such aa 
 often constrained him to cry out, " I will love thee, oh Lord, my strength : 
 the Lord is my rock, and my defence; the horn also of my salva- 
 tion, and my refuge," Psa. xviii, 1. He was a man of prayer ; pouring 
 out his soul before God in all circumstances of life ; and abundant in 
 praises and thanksgiving : " Thy praise," saith he, " shall be ever in 
 my mouth," Psa. xxxiv, 1 : " Thou art my God, and I will thank thee ; 
 thon art my God, and I will praise thee," Psa. cxviii, 23. And yet 
 such a child of God co.uld and did commit sin ; yea, the horrid sins of 
 adultery and murder. 
 
 5. And even after the Holy Ghost was more largely given, after 
 " life and immortality were brought to light by the gospel," we want 
 not instances of the same melancholy kind, which were also doubtless 
 written for our instruction. Thus he who (probably from his sell- 
 ing all that he had, and bringing the price for the relief of his poor 
 brethren) was by the apostles themselves surnamed Barnabas, that is, 
 the son of consolation, Acts iv, 36, 37 ; who was so honoured at An- 
 tioch, as to be selected with Saul out of all the disciples, to carry their 
 relief unto the brethren in Judea, Acts xi, 29; this Barnabas, who at 
 his return from Judea, was, by the peculiar direction of the Holy Ghost, 
 solemnly " separated from the other prophets and teachers, for the work 
 whereunto God had called him," ch. xiii, 1-4, even to accompany the 
 great apostle among the Gentiles, and to be his fellow labourer in every 
 place; nevertheless, was afterwards so sharp, ch. xv, 35, 39, in hi-j 
 contention with St. Paul, (because he " thought it not good to take with 
 them John," in his visiting the brethren a second time, " who had 
 departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the 
 work,") that he himself also departed from the work ; that he " took 
 John, and sailed unto Cyprus," Acts xv, 39; forsaking him to whom 
 he had been ii so immediate a manner joined by the Holy Ghost.
 
 186 PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. [SERMON XIX. 
 
 fi. An instance more astonishing than both these, is given by St. 
 Paul in his epistle to the Galatians. When Peter, the aged, the zealous, 
 the first of the apostles ; one of the three most highly favoured by his 
 Lord ; " was come to Antioch, I withstood him' to the face, because he 
 was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James, he did 
 eat with the Gentiles," -the heathens converted to the Christian faith, 
 as having been peculiarly taught of God, that he "should not call any 
 man common or unclean." But " when they were come, he separated 
 himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other 
 Jews dissembled likewise with him; insomuch that Barnabas also was 
 carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked 
 not uprightly, according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter, 
 before them all. if thou being a Jew, livest after the manner of the Gen 
 tiles," not regarding the ceremonial law of Moses, " why compelled 
 thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews ?" Gal. ii, 11, &,c. Here is also 
 plain, undeniable sin committed by one who was undoubtedly born of 
 God. But how can this be reconciled with the assertion of St. John, if 
 taken in the obvious literal meaning, that " Whosoever is born of God, 
 doth not commit sin ?" 
 
 7. I answer, what has been long observed is this : So long as " he 
 that is born of God keepeth himself," (which he id able to do, by the 
 grace of God,) " the wicked one toucheth h.'m not:" but if he keepeth 
 not himself, if he abideth not in the faith, he may commit sin even as 
 another man. 
 
 It is easy therefore to understand, how any of these children of God 
 might be moved from his own steadfastness, and yet the great truth of 
 God, declared by the apostle remain steadfast and unshaken. He did 
 not " keep himself," by that grace of God which was sufficient for him. 
 He fell, step by step, first into negative, inward sin, not " stirring up the 
 gift of God which was in him," not " watching unto prayer," not " press- 
 ing on to the mark of the prize of his high calling;" then into positive 
 inward sin, inclining to wickedness with his heart, giving way to 
 some evil desire or temper ; next, he lost his faith, his sight of a pardon- 
 ing God, and consequently his love of God ; and, being then weak and 
 like another man, he was capable of committing even outward sin. 
 
 8. To explain this by a particular instance : David was born of God, 
 and saw God by faith. He loved God in sincerity. He could truly say, 
 " Whom have I in heaven but thee ? and there is none upon earth" 
 [neither person nor thing] " that I desire in comparison of thee !" 
 But still there remained in his heart that corruption of nature, which is 
 the seed of all evil. 
 
 " He was walking upon the roof of his house," 2 Sam. xi, 2, proba- 
 bly praising the God whom his soul loved, when he looked down, and 
 saw Bathsheba. He felt a temptation ; a thought which tended to evil. 
 The Spirit of God did not fail to convince him of this. He doubtless 
 heard and knew the warning voice ; but he yielded in some measure 
 to the thought, and the temptation began to prevail over him. Hereby 
 his spirit was sullied ; he saw God .tiil ; bat it was more dimly than 
 before. He loved God still ; but not in the same degree ; not with the 
 same strength and ardour of affection. Yet God checked him again, 
 though his Spirit was grieved ; and his voice, though fainter and fainter, 
 still whispered, " Sin lieth at the door; look unto me and be thou saved."
 
 SERMON XIX.] PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. 187 
 
 But he would not hear : he looked again, not unto God, but unto the 
 foi bidden object, till nature was superior to grace, and kindled lust in 
 his soul. 
 
 The eye of his mind was now closed again, and God vanished out of 
 his sight. Faith, the divine, supernatural intercourse with God, and 
 the love of God, ceased together : he then rushed on as a horse into the 
 battle, and knowingly committed the outward sin. 
 
 9. You see the unquestionable progress from grace to sin : thus it 
 gors on, from step to step. 1. The divine seed of loving, conquering 
 j'^ith remains in him that is born of God. " He kecpeth himself," by 
 the grace of God, and " cannot commit sin :" 2. A temptation arises , 
 whether from the world, the flesh, or the devil, it matters not : 3. The 
 Spirit of God gives him warning that sin is near, and bids him more 
 abundantly watch unto prayer : 4. He gives way, in some degree, to 
 the temptation, which now begins to grow pleasing to him : 5. The 
 Holy Spirit is grieved ; his faith is weakened ; and his love of God 
 grows cold : 6. The Spirit reproves him more sharply, and saith, " This 
 is the way ; walk thou in it :" 7. He turns away from the painful voice 
 of God, and listens to the pleasing voice of the tempter : 8. Evil desire 
 begins and spreads in his soul, till faith and love vanish away : he is 
 then capable of committing outward sin, the power of the Lord being 
 departed from him. 
 
 10. To explain this by anotner instance : the apostle Peter was full 
 of faith and of the Holy Ghost ; and hereby keeping himself, he had a 
 conscience void of offence towards God and towards man. 
 
 Walking thus in simplicity and godly sincerity, " before that certain 
 came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles," knowing that what 
 God had cleansed, was not common or unclean. 
 
 But " when they were come," a temptation arose in his heart, " to 
 fear those of the circumcision," (the Jewish converts who were zealous 
 for circumcision and the other rites of the Mosaic law,) and regard the 
 favour and praise of these men, more than the praise of God. 
 
 He was warned by the Spirit when sin was near : nevertheless, he 
 yielded to it in some degree, even to sinful fear of man, and his faith 
 and love were proportionably weakened. 
 
 God reproved him again for giving place to the devil. Yet he would 
 not hearken to the voice of his Shepherd ; but gave himself up to that 
 slavish fear, and thereby quenched the Spirit. 
 
 Then God disappeared, and faith and love being extinct, he com- 
 mitted the outward sin : Walking not uprightly, not " according to the 
 truth of the gospel," he " separated himself" from his Christian breth- 
 ren, and by his evil example, if not advice also, " compelled even the Gen- 
 tiles to live after the manner of the Jews ;" to entangle themselves again 
 with that " yoke of bondage," from which " Christ had set them free." 
 
 Thus it is unquestionably true, that he who is born of God, keeping 
 himself, doth not, cannot commit sin ; and yet, if he keepeth not him- 
 self, he may commit all manner of sin with greediness. 
 
 III. 1. From the preceding considerations we may learn, first, to 
 give a clear and incontestable answer to a question which has frequently 
 perplexed many who were sincere of heart : " Does sin precede or fol- 
 low the loss of faith ? Does a child of God first commit sin, and thereby 
 lose his faith 1 Or does he lose his faith first, before he can commit siul"
 
 188 PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD. [SERMON XIX. 
 
 I answer, some sin of omission, at least, must necessarily precede 
 the loss of faith ; some inward sin : but the loss of faith must precede 
 the committing outward sin. 
 
 The more any believer examines his own heart, the more will he be 
 convinced of this: That faith, working by love, excludes both inward 
 and outward sin from a soul watching unto prayer ; that nevertheless 
 we are even then liable to temptation, particularly to the sin that did 
 easily beset us ; that if the loving eye of the soul be steadily fixed on 
 God, the temptation soon vanishes away : but if not, if we are ;|Xxofxevoi, 
 (as the apostle James speaks, chap, i, 14,) drawn out of God by our own 
 desire, and <55Xeo^o,avoi, caught by the bait of present or promised plea- 
 sures ; then that desire conceived in us, brings forth sin ; and, having 
 by that inward sin destroyed our faith, it casts us headlong into the 
 snare of the devil, so that we may commit any outward sin whatever 
 
 2. From what has been said, we may learn, secondly, what the life 
 of God in the soul of a believer is; wherein it properly consists; and 
 what is immediately and necessarily implied therein. It immediately 
 and necessarily implies, the continual inspiration of God's Holy Spirit , 
 God's breathing into the soul, and the soul's breathing back what it 
 first receives from God ; a continual action of God upon the soul, and 
 a reaction of the soul upon God ; an unceasing presence of God, the 
 loving, pardoning God, manifested to the heart, and perceived by faith ; 
 and an unceasing return of love, praise, and prayer, offering up all the 
 thoughts of our hearts, all the words of our tongues, all the works of our 
 hands, all our body, soul, and spirit, to be a holy sacrifice, acceptable 
 unto God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 3. And hence we may, thirdly, infer, the absolute necessity of this 
 reaction of the soul, (whatsoever it be called,) in order to the con- 
 tinuance of the divine life therein. For it plainly appears, God does 
 not continue to act upon the soul, unless the soul reacts upon God. 
 He prevents us indeed with the blessings of his goodness. He first 
 joves us, and manifests himself unto us. While we are yet afar off, he 
 calls us to himself, and shines upon our hearts. But if we do not then 
 love him who first loved us ; if we will not hearken to his voice ; if we 
 turn our eye away from him, and will not attend to the light which he 
 pours in upon us ; his Spirit will not always strive : he will gradually 
 withdraw, and leave us to the darkness of our own hearts. He will 
 not continue to breathe into our soul, unless our soul breathes towards 
 him again ; unless our love, and prayer, and thanksgiving, return to 
 him, a sacrifice wherewith he is well pleased. 
 
 4. Let us learn, lastly, to follow that direction of the great apostle, 
 " Be not high minded, but fear." Let us fear sin, more than death or 
 hell. Let us have a jealous (though not painful) fear, lest we should 
 lean to our own deceitful hearts. " Let him that standeth take heed 
 lest he fall." Even he who now standeth fast in the grace of God, in 
 the faith that overcometh the world, may nevertheless fall into inward 
 sin, and thereby " make shipwreck of his faith." And how easily then 
 will outward sin regain its dominion over him ! Thou, therefore, oh 
 man of God ! watch always; that thou mayest always hear the voice ol 
 God ! Watch, that thou mayest pray without ceasing, at all times, and 
 in all places, pouring out thy heart before him ! So shalt thou always 
 talieve, and always love, and never commit sin.
 
 SERMON XX. J THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 189 
 
 SERMON XX. The Lord our Righteousness. 
 Preached at tlie Chapel in West-street, Seven Dials, on Sunday, Nov. 24, 1765, 
 
 " This is his name whereby he shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness." 
 Jer. xxiii. 6. 
 
 ANALYSIS 
 
 UNFORTUNATE character of religious controversy. Such 
 often arises from misunderstanding terms. Importance of the 
 truth expressed in the words of the text : Yet here Christians 
 differ; but more in language than in opinion; and more io 
 opinion, than in real experience. 
 
 I. What is the righteousness of Christ ? 
 
 I. Divine, as the holy God. 2. Human, as mediator. With 
 this alone we have to do. This is internal, perfect purity : 
 And external, including perfect innocence, perfect obedience, 
 and perfect suffering of God's will. These last two, active 
 and passive, never separated. 
 
 II. In what sense is it imputed to us ? 
 
 All agree that it is imputed only to believers, when they 
 believe. There are differences of expression, and of views, 
 even where there is sound faith. The dying Bellarmine. It 
 is imputed in this sense to believers, " That they are forgiven 
 and accepted, not for the sake of anything in them, or of any- 
 thing that ever was, that is, or ever can be done by them, but 
 wholly and solely for the sake of what Christ has done for 
 them. * * * And this is the means not only of our obtaining 
 the favour of God, but of our continuing therein." 
 
 This doctrine constantly believed and taught by Wesley for 
 near twenty-eight years ; in his hymns, sermons, and in the 
 treatise of justification. This doctrine is not denied by say- 
 ing that faith is imputed to us for righteousness, which is the 
 Scriptural expression for the same truth. The believer may 
 be said to be clothed, &c., meaning the same thing. We put 
 off the filthy rags of our own righteousness ly repentance. 
 But inherent righteousness has its own place as the fruit, not 
 the ground of our acceptance. Nor is faith substituted for 
 Christ. We build on Christ by faith. This doctrine is 
 denied by Socinians, by the Church of Rome, and by the 
 mystics. We do not deny it. But we are afraid lest the 
 phrase should be a cover for unrighteousness. Hence we use 
 it sparingly. Appeal to true Christians, both those who oppose 
 and those who use these expressions.
 
 190 THE LORD OUR RKJHTEOUSNESS. [SERMON XX. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon was evidently preached and published to prevent mis- 
 understanding between those (Arminian and Calvinist) who preached 
 salvation by 1'aith in our Lord Jesus Christ. It was inserted in its 
 present position, after the sermons which treat of inherent righteousness, 
 and before the exposition of the law of Christian duty, in the edition of 
 1771, partly to guard Mr. Wesley's doctrine on these subjects from mis- 
 conception, and likewise, to mark the perfect consistency of the Scrip- 
 tural doctrine of faith in the atonement with the Scriptural doctrine of 
 Christian holiness. It allows, but does not encourage the use of the 
 term " imputed righteousness ; " and it very clearly defines the only ser^se 
 in which the term can be safely used. It does not propound a theory of 
 atonement, (a fixed theory is absolutely necessary to the theology of 
 imputation,) but it lays down important prhviples which must guide us 
 if we would frame a theory in harmony with Methodist theology. 
 
 1. It teaches us to look at the atonement in the light of conscious faith. 
 
 2. It teaches us to separate from that faith those peculiarities which 
 are accidental, the prejudices of our theories. 
 
 3. It presents the atonement, not as the means of producing faith, 
 (moral view,) but as the absolute foundation on which faith rests. 
 
 4. It presents the atonement, not as an expedient by which difficulties 
 in the way of forgiveness may be removed, but as the real basis or 
 ground oi forgiveness. 
 
 5. It is a basis of forgiveness, not of mere legal revocation of sentence. 
 For Mr. Wesley's practical theology, a theory of atonement was by no 
 
 means necessary. He required only the statement of the great Scrip-' 
 tural fact, that the work of Christ is the " objective ground of the for- 
 giveness of sins." In presenting this fact he sometimes uses the language 
 of Anselm, calling this work a satisfaction to Divine justice ; as when he 
 says in reply to the Roman catechism, " What can make satisfaction to 
 God but the obedience and death of his Son ? " The note on Rom. iii. 
 25, 26, is alsodecidedly Anselmic in its tone. The note on 1 John i. 9, is 
 still stronger, going almost to the full extent of the Calvinistic version 
 of Anselm. 
 
 In the other passages he uses the language of the Arminians, presenting 
 the work of Christ as a sacrifice or oblation to Gd. Tins is especially 
 the case in Sermon V. i. 9. "Even so by the sacrifice for sin made by 
 the second Adam, as the representative of us all, God is so far reconciled 
 to all the world, that he liath given them, a new covenant ; the plain condi- 
 tion whereof being once fulfilled, ' there is no more condemnation' for us, 
 but ' we are justified freely by his grace, through the redemption which 
 is in Jesus Christ.' This last passage is probably the most exact state- 
 ment of the work of Christ to be found in Mr. Wesley's writings. This 
 statement is essentially distinct from any Calvinistic presentation of 
 what has been effected for us by the work of Christ. That work is here 
 the ground of conditional forgiveness for all, not- of absolute and uncon- 
 ditional acquittal for a defined part. Still, even here, there is but nn 
 Arminian statement of the great fact of atonement, not a theory. We do 
 not know that Mr. Wesley, in any of his writings, accepts or even 
 alludes to the Grotian view, which is after all but a wider form of the 
 theory of moral influence.
 
 SF.RMON XX.] THE LORD OUK RIGHTEOUSNESS. 191 
 
 SERMON XX. 
 
 1. How dreadful, and how innumerable are the contests which have 
 arisen about religion ! And not only among the children of this world, 
 among those who knew not what true religion was, but even among the 
 children of God ; those who had experienced " the kingdom of God 
 within them ;" who had tasted of " righteousness, and peace, and joy 
 in the Holy Ghost." How many of these, in all ages, instead of joining 
 together against the common enemy, have turned their weapons against 
 each other, and so not only wasted their precious time, but hurt one 
 another's spirits, weakened each other's hands, and so hindered the 
 great work of their common Master ! How many of the weak have 
 hereby been offended ! how many of the lame turned out of the way ! 
 how many sinners confirmed in their disregard of all religion, and 
 their contempt of those that profess it! and how many of "the excellent 
 ones upon earth" have been constrained to " weep in secret places !" 
 
 2. What would not every lover of God and his neighbour do, what 
 would he not puffer, to remedy this sore evil ; to remove contention 
 from the children of God ; to restore or preserve peace among them ? 
 What but a good conscience would he think too dear to part with, in 
 order to promote this valuable end ? And suppose we cannot " make 
 [these] wars to cease in all the world," suppose we cannot reconcile all 
 the children of God to each other, however let each do what he can, let 
 him contribute, if it be but two mites, towards it. Happy are they who 
 are able, in any degree, to promote " peace and good will among men ;" 
 especially among good men ; among those that are all listed under the 
 banner of" the Prince of Peace ;" and are, therefore, peculiarly engaged, 
 " as much as lies in them, to live peaceably with all men." 
 
 3. It would be a considerable step towards this glorious end, if we 
 could bring good men to understand one another. Abundance of dis- 
 putes arise purely from the want of this ; from mere misapprehension. 
 Frequently neither of the contending parties understands what his 
 opponent mean? ; whence it follows, that each violently attacks the 
 other, while there is no real difference between them. And yet it is 
 not always an easy matter to convince them of this; particularly when 
 their passions are moved : it is then attended with the utmost difficulty. 
 However, it is not impossible ; especially when we attempt it, not trust- 
 ing in ourselves, but having all our dependance upon him, with whom all 
 things are possible. How soon is he able to disperse the cloud, to shino 
 i pon their hearts, and to enable them both to understand each other, 
 an,l " the truth as it is in Jesus !" 
 
 4. One very considerable article of this truth is contained in the 
 words above recited, " This is his name whereby he shall be called, 
 The Louu our RIGHTEOUSNESS;" a truth this, which enters deep into 
 the nature of Christianity, and, in a manner, supports the whole frame 
 of it. Of this, undoubtedly, may be affirmed, what Luther affirms of 
 a truth closely connected with it ; it is Articulus stantis vel cadtntis
 
 192 THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. SERMOHr XX ] 
 
 tcclcsit , the Christian church stands or falls with it It is certainly 
 the pillar and ground of that faith, of which a!->ne cometh salvation : of 
 that Catholic or universal faith which is found in all the children of God, 
 and which " unless a man keep whole and undefiled, without doubt he 
 shall perish everlastingly." 
 
 5. Might not one, therefore, reasonably expect that, however they 
 differed in others, all those who name the name of Christ should agree 
 in this point 1 But how far is this from being the case ! There is scarce 
 any wherein they are so little agreed ; wherein those who all profess tn 
 follow Christ, seem so widely and irreconcilably to differ. I say seem ; 
 because I am thoroughly convinced, that many of them only seem to 
 differ. The disagreement is more in words than in sentiments : they 
 are much nearer in judgment than in language. And a wide difference 
 in language there certainly is, not only between protestants and papists, 
 but between protestant and protestant ; yea, even between those who 
 all believe justification by faith ; who agree, as welj in this, as in every 
 other fundamental doctrine of the gospel. 
 
 6. But if the difference be more in opinion, than real experience, and 
 mo>-e in expression than in opinion, how can it be, that even the children 
 of God should so vehemently contend with each other on the point 1 
 Several reasons may be assigned for this: the chief is their not under- 
 standing one another ; joined with too keen an attachment to their 
 opinions, and particular modes of expression. 
 
 In order to remove this, at least in some measure ; in order to on- 
 understanding one another on this head ; I shall, by the help of GoH 
 endeavor to show, 
 
 I. What is the righteousness of Christ: 
 
 II. When, and in what sense, it is imputed to us t 
 And conclude with a short and plain application. 
 
 And, I. What is the righteousness of Christ ? It is twofold, either 
 his divine or his human righteousness. 
 
 1. His divine righteousness belongs to his divine nature, as he is 
 O wv, he that existcth ; " over all, God, blessed for ever ;" the supreme; 
 the eternal ; " Equal with the Father, as touching his Godhead, though 
 inferior to the Father as touching his manhood." Now this is his eter- 
 nal, essential, immutable, holiness; his infinite justice, mercy and truth; 
 in all which, he and the Father are one. 
 
 But I do not apprehend that the divine righteousness of Christ is 
 immediately concerned in the present question. I believe few, if any, 
 do now contend for the imputation of this righteousness to us. Whoever 
 believes the doctrine of imputation, understands it chiefly, if not solely, 
 of his human righteousness. 
 
 2. The human righteousness of Christ, belongs to him in his human 
 nature ; as he is the " Mediator between God and man, the man Christ 
 Jesus." This is either internal or external. His internal righteousness 
 is the image of God, stamped on every power and faculty of his soul. It 
 is a copy of his divine righteousness, so far as it can be imparted to a 
 human spirit. It is a transcript of the divine purity, the divine justice, 
 mercy, and truth. It includes love, reverence, resignation to his Father, 
 humility, meekness, gentleness ; love to lost mankind, and every other 
 holy and heavenly temper ; and all these in the highest degree, without 
 my defect, or mixture of un holiness.
 
 SERMOX XX.] THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 193 
 
 3 It was the least part of his external righteousness, lhat he did 
 nothing amiss ; that he knew not outward sin of any kind, neither was 
 " guile found in his mouth ;" that he never spoke one improper word, 
 nor did one improper action. Thus far it is only a negative right- 
 eousness, though such a one as never did, nor ever can, belong to any 
 one that is born of a woman, save himself alone. But even his out- 
 ward righteousness was positive too : he did all things well : in ever) 
 word of his tongue, in every work of his hands, he did precisely the 
 " will of him that sent him." In the whole course of his life he did 
 the will of God on earth, as the angels do it in heaven. All he acted 
 and spoke was exactly right in every circumstance. The whole and 
 every part of his obedience was complete. " He fulfilled all right- 
 eousness." 
 
 4. But his obedience implied more than all this : It implied not only 
 doing, but suffering; suffering the whole will of God, from the time he 
 came into the world, till " he bore our sins in his own body upon the 
 tree ;" yea, till having made a full atonement for them, " he bowed his 
 head, and gave up the ghost." This is usually termed the passive right- 
 eousness of Christ ; the former, his active righteousness. But as the 
 active and passive righteousness of Christ were never in fact separated 
 from each other, so we never need separate them at all, either in speak- 
 ing or even in thinking. And it is with regard to both these conjointly 
 that Jesus is called " The Lord our righteousness." 
 
 II. But when is it that any of us may truly say, " The Lord our right 
 eousness ?" In other words, when is it that the righteousness of Christ 
 is imputed to us, and in what sense is it imputed ? 
 
 1. Look through all the world, and all the men therein are eithej 
 believers or unbelievers. The first thing, then, which admits of no dis- 
 pute among reasonable men is this : To all believers the righteousness 
 of Christ is imputed ; to unbelievers it is not. 
 
 But when is it imputed 1 When they believe . in that very hour the 
 lighteousness of Christ is theirs. It is imputed to every one that believes, 
 as soon as he believes : faith and the righteousness of Christ are insepa- 
 rable. For if he believes according to Scripture, he believes in the 
 righteousness of Christ. There is no true faith, that is, justifying faith, 
 which hath not the righteousness of Christ for its object. 
 
 2. It is true, believers may not all speak alike ; they may not all use 
 the same language. It is not to be expected that they should : we can- 
 not reasonably require it of them. A thousand circumstances may cause 
 them to vary from each other, in the manner of expressing themselves ; 
 but a difference of expression does not necessarily imply a difference of 
 sentiment. Different persons may use different expressions, and yet 
 mean the same thing. Nothing is more common than this, although we 
 seldom make, sufficient allowance for it. Nay, it is not easy for the same 
 persons, when they speak of the same thing at a considerable distance 
 of time, to use exactly the same expressions, even though they retain 
 the same sentiments : how then can we be rigorous in requiring others 
 to use just the same expressions with us 1 
 
 3. We may go a step farther yet : men may differ from us in theii 
 opinions, as well as their expressions, and nevertheless be partaken 
 with us of the same precious faith. It is possible they may not have a 
 distinct apprehension of the very blessing which they enjoy : their ideas
 
 194 THE LORD OUK RIGHTEOUSNESS. [SERMON XX. 
 
 may not be so clear, and yet their experience may be as sound as ours. 
 There is a wide difference between the natural faculties of men, their 
 understandings in particular ; and that difference is exceedingly in- 
 creased, by the manner of their education. Indeed this alone may 
 occasion an inconceivable difference in their opinions of various kinds ; 
 and why not upon this head, as well as on any other ] But still, thougl 
 their opinions, as well as expressions, may be confused and inaccurate, 
 their hearts may cleave to God through the Son of his love, and be truly 
 interested in his righteousness. 
 
 4. Let us then m?.ke all that allowance to others, which, were we in 
 their place, we would desire for ourselves. Who is ignorant, (to touch 
 again on that circumstance only) of the amazing power of education ! 
 And who that knows it, can expect, suppose a member of the church 
 of Rome, either to think or speak clearly on this subject? And yet, if 
 we had heard even dying Bellarmine cry out, when he was asked, 
 " Unto which of the saints wilt thou turn ?" Fidere merit-is Christi 
 tutissimum; " It is safest to trust in the merits of Christ;" would we 
 have affirmed that, notwithstanding his wrong opinions, he had no share 
 in his righteousness ? 
 
 5. But in what sense is this righteousness imputed to believers ? In 
 this : All believers are forgiven and accepted, not for the sake of anj 
 thing in them, or of any thing that ever was, that is, or ever can be done 
 by them, but wholly and solely for the sake of what Christ hath done 
 and suffered for them. I say again, not for the sake of any thing in 
 them, or done by them, of their own righteousness or works : " Not 
 for works of righteousness which we have done, but of his own mercy 
 he saved us." " By grace ye are saved, through faith, not of works, 
 lest any man should boast ;" but wholly and solely for the sake of what 
 Christ hath done and suffered for us. We are "justified freely by his 
 grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ. And this is not 
 only the means of our obtaining the favour of God but of our continuing 
 therein. It is thus we come to God at first ; it is by the same we come 
 unto him ever after. We walk in one and the same new and living way, 
 till our spirit returns to God. 
 
 6. And this is the doctrine which I have constantly believed and 
 taught for near eight and twenty years. This I published to all the 
 world in the year 1738, and ten or twelve times since, in those words, 
 and many others to the same effect, extracted from the homilies of our 
 church : " These things must necessarily go together in our justifica- 
 tion ; upon God's part, his great mercy and grace ; upon Christ's part, 
 the satisfaction of God's justice ; and on our part, faith in the merits of 
 Christ. So that the grace of God doth not shut out the righteousness 
 of God in our justification, but only shutteth out the righteousness of 
 man, as to deserving our justification." " That we are justified by faith 
 alone, is spoken to take away clearly all merit of our works, and wholly 
 to ascribe the merit and deserving of our justification to Christ only. 
 Our justification comes freely of the mere mercy of God, for whereas 
 all the world was not able to pay any part towards our ransom, it 
 pleased him, without any of our deserving, to prepare for us Christ's 
 body and blood, whereby our ransom might be paid, and his justice 
 satisfied. Christ, therefore, is now the righteousness of all them thai 
 truly believe in him."
 
 SEKMON XX.] THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 15 
 
 7. The hymns published a year or two after this, and since repub- 
 lished several times, (a clear testimony that my judgment was still the 
 same,) speak full to the same purpose. To cite all the passages to this 
 effect, would be to transcribe a great part of the volumes. Take one 
 for all, which was reprinted seven years ago, five years ago, two years 
 ago, and some months since : 
 
 " Jesu, thy blood and righteousness 
 My beauty are, my glorious dress : 
 'Midst flaming worlds in these array'd, 
 With joy shall I lift up my head '' 
 
 The whole hymn expresses the same sentiment from the beginning to 
 the end. 
 
 8. In the sermon on justification, published nineteen, and again 
 seven or eight, years ago, I express the same thing in these words : 
 (page 87 :) " In consideration of this, that the Son of God hath ' tasted 
 death for every man,' God hath now ' reconciled the world unto him- 
 self, not imputing to them their former trespasses.' So that for the 
 sake of his well beloved Son, of what he hath done and suffered for us, 
 God now vouchsafes, on one only condition, (which himself also enables 
 us to perform,) both to remit the punishment due to our sins, to rein- 
 state us in his favour, and to restore our dead souls to spiritual life, as 
 the earnest of life eternal." 
 
 9. This is more largely and particularly expressed in the Treatise 
 on Justification, which I published last year. " If we take the phrase 
 of imputing Christ's righteousness, for the bestowing (as it were) the 
 righteousness of Christ, including his obedience, as well passive as 
 active, in the return of it, that is, in the privileges, blessings, and 
 benefits, purchased by it ; so a believer may be said to be justified, by 
 the righteousness of Christ imputed. The meaning is, God justifies 
 the believer, for the sake of Christ's righteousness, and not for any 
 righteousness of his own. So Calvin : (Institut. 1. 2, c. 17 :) ' Christ, 
 by his obedience, procured or merited for us grace or favour with God 
 the Father.' Again : ' Christ, by his obedience, procured or purchased 
 righteousness for us.' And yet again : ' All such expressions as these 
 That we are justified by the grace of God, that Christ is our righteous- 
 ness, that righteousness was procured for us by the death and resurrec- 
 tion of Christ, import the same thing; namely, that the righteousness 
 of Christ, both his active and passive righteousness, is the meritorious 
 cause of our justification, and has procured for us at God's hand, that, 
 upon our believing, we should be accounted righteous by him,' " page 5 
 
 10. But perhaps some will object, " Nay, but you affirm that faith is 
 imputed to us for righteousness." St. Paul affirms this over and over ; 
 therefore I affirm it too. Faith is imputed for righteousness to every 
 believer; namely, faith in the righteousness of Christ; but this is ex- 
 actly the same thing which has been said before ; for by that expression 
 1 mean neither more nor less, than that we are justified by faith, not by 
 works ; or that every believer is forgiven and accepted, merely for the 
 sake of what Christ has done and suffered. 
 
 11. But is not a believer invested or clothed with the righteousness 
 of Christ 1 Undoubtedly he is. And accordingly the words above 
 recited are the language of every believing heart : 
 
 " Jesu, thy blood and righteousness 
 My beauty are, my glorious dress."
 
 196 THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. [SERMON XX. 
 
 That is, for the sake of thy active and passive righteousness, I am 
 forgiven and accepted of God. 
 
 But must not we put off the filthy rags of our own righteousness, 
 before we can put on the spotless righteousness of Christ ? Certainly 
 we must ; that is, in plain terms, we must repent, before we can believe 
 the gospel. We must be cut off from dependance upon ourselves, before 
 we can truly depend upon Christ. We must cast away all confidence 
 in our own righteousness, or we cannot have a true confidence in his. 
 Till we are delivered from trusting in any thing that we do, we cannot 
 thoroughly trust in what he has done and suffered. First, we receive 
 the sentence of death in ourselves ; then we trust in Him that lived and 
 died for us. 
 
 12. But do not you believe inherent righteousness ? Yes, in its proper 
 place ; not as the ground of our acceptance with God, but as the fruit 
 of it ; not in the place of imputed righteousness, but as consequent 
 upon it. That is, I believe God implants righteousness in every one 
 to whom he has imputed it. I believe " Jesus Christ is made of God 
 unto us sanctification," as well as " righteousness ;" or, that God sanc- 
 tifies, as well as justifies, all them that believe in him. They to whom 
 the righteousness of Christ is imputed, are made righteous by the Spiril 
 of Christ; are renewed in the image of God, " after the likeness wherein 
 they were created, in righteousness and true holiness." 
 
 13. But do not you put faith in the room of Christ, or of his righteous- 
 ness ? By no means : I take particular care to put each of these in its 
 proper place. The righteousness of Christ is the whole and sole found- 
 ation of all our hope. It is by faith that the Holy Ghost enables us to 
 build upon this foundation. God gives this faith ; in that moment 
 we are accepted of God ; and yet, not for the sake of that faith, but 
 of what Christ has done and suffered for us. You see, each of these 
 has its proper place, and neither clashes with the other : we believe, 
 we love, we endeavour to walk in all the commandments of the Lord 
 blameless ; yet, 
 
 " While thus we bestow 
 
 Our moments below, 
 
 Ourselves we forsake, 
 And refuge in Jesus's righteousness take. 
 
 His passion alone, 
 
 The foundation we own ; 
 
 And pardon we claim, 
 And eternal redemption, in Jesus's name." 
 
 14. I therefore no more deny the righteousness of Christ, than I deny 
 the Godhead of Christ ; and a man may full as justly charge me with 
 denying the one as the other. Neither do I deny imputed righteous- 
 ness : this is another unkind and unjust accusation. I always did, and 
 do still continually affirm, that the righteousness of Christ is imputed to 
 every believer. But who deny it ? Why all infidels, whether baptized 
 or unbaptized ; all who affirm the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ to be a cunningly devised fable : all Socinians and Arians ; all 
 who deny the supreme Godhead of the Lord that bought them ; they, 
 of consequence, deny his divine righteousness, as they suppose him to 
 be a mere creature ; and they deny his human righteousness, as imputed 
 to any man, seeing they believe every one is accepted for his own 
 rignteousness.
 
 SERMON XX ] THE LORD OUE RIGHTEOUSNESS. 197 
 
 15. The human righteousness of Christ, at least the imputation of it, 
 as the whole and sole meritorious cause of the justification of a sinner 
 before God, is likewise denied by the members of the church of Rome ; 
 by all of them who are true to the principles of their own church. But 
 undoubtedly there are many among them whose experience goes beyond 
 their principles ; who, though they are far from expressing themselves 
 justly, yet feel what they know not how to express. Yea, although their 
 conceptions of this great truth be as crude as their expressions, yet 
 with thfe r hearts they believe : they rest on Christ alone, both unto 
 present and eternal salvation. 
 
 16. With these we may rank those even in the reformed churches, 
 who are usually termed Mystics. One of the chief of these in the 
 present century, (at. least in England,) was Mr. Law. It is well known 
 that he absolutely and zealously denied the imputation of the righteous- 
 ness of Christ, as zealously as Robert Barclay, who scruples not to say, 
 " Imputed righteousness ! imputed nonsense !" The body of the 
 people known by the name of Quakers, espouse the same sentiment 
 Nay, the generality of those who profess themselves members of the 
 church of England, are either totally ignorant of the matter, and know 
 nothing about imputed righteousness, or deny this and justification by 
 faith together, as destructive of good works. To these we may add a 
 considerable number of the people vulgarly styled Anabaptists, together 
 with thousands of Presbyterians and Independents, lately enlightened 
 by the writings of Dr. Taylor. On the last I am not called to pass any 
 sentence : I leave them to Him that made them. But will any one 
 dare to affirm that all Mystics, (such as Mr. Law in particular,) all 
 Quakers, all Presbyterians or Independents, and all members of the 
 church of England, who are not clear in their opinions or expressions, 
 are void of all Christian experience ? that, consequently, they are all 
 in a state of damnation, " without hope, without God in the world ?" 
 How ivr confused their ideas may be, however improper their language, 
 may there not be many of them whose heart is right towards God, and 
 who effectually know " the Lord our righteousness 1" 
 
 17. But, blessed be God, we are not among those who are so dark 
 in their conceptions and expressions. We no more deny the phrase 
 than the thing ; but we are unwilling to obtrude it on other men. Let 
 them use either this or such other expressions as they judge to be more 
 exactly scriptural, provided their heart rests only on what Christ has 
 done and suffered, for pardon, grace, and glory. I cannot express this 
 better than in Mr. Hervey's words, worthy to be wrote in letters of gold. 
 " We are not solicitous as to any particular set of phrases. Only let 
 men be humbled as repenting criminals at Christ's feet, let them rely 
 as devoted pensioners on his merits, and they are undoubtedly in the 
 u ay to a blessed immortality." 
 
 18. Is there any need, is there any possibility, of saying more? Let 
 us only abide by this declaration, and all the contention about this or 
 that particular phrase, is torn up by the roots. Keep to this " All 
 who are humbled as repenting criminals at Christ's feet, and rely as 
 devoted pensioners on his merits, are in the way to a blessed immor- 
 tality ;" and what room for dispute ? Who denies this ? Do we not all 
 meet on this ground ? What then shall we wrangle about ? A man of 
 peace here projroses terms of accommodation to all the contending
 
 193 THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. [SERMON XX. 
 
 parties. We desire no better : we accept of the terms : we subscribe to 
 them with heart and hand. \Vhoever refuses so to do, set a mark upon 
 that man ! He is an enemy of peace, a trouhler of Israel, a disturber of 
 the church of God. 
 
 1 9. In the mean time, what we are afraid of is this ; lest any should 
 use the phrase, the righteousness of Christ, or the righteousness of C hrist 
 '8 imputed to me, as a cover for his unrighteousness. We have known 
 his done a thousand times. A man has been reproved, suppose, for 
 drunkenness : " Oh," said he, " I pretend to no righteousness of my 
 own ; Christ is my righteousness." Another has been told, that " The 
 extortioner, the unjust, shall not inherit the kingdom of God :" He replies 
 with all assurance, " I am unjust in mysdf, but I have a spotless right- 
 eousness in Christ." And thus, though a man be as far from the prac- 
 tice as from the tempers of a Christian ; though he neither has the mind 
 which was in Christ, nor in any respect walks as he walked ; yet he 
 has armour of proof against all conviction, in what he calls the right- 
 eousness of Christ. 
 
 20. It is the seeing so many deplorable instances of this kind, which 
 makes us sparing in the use of these expressions. And I cannot but call 
 upon all of you who use them frequently, and beseech you in the name 
 of God our Saviour, whose you are, and whom you serve; earnestly to 
 guard all that hear you, against this accursed abuse of them. Oh warn 
 them (it may be they will hear your voice) against "continuing in sin 
 that grace may abound!" Warn them against making "Christ the 
 minister of sin ;" against making void that solemn decree of God, 
 " Without holiness no man shall see the Lord," by a vain imagination 
 of being holy in Christ ! Oh warn them that if they remain unrighteous, 
 the righteousness of Christ will profit them nothing ! Cry aloud, (is there 
 not a cause ?) that for this very end the righteousness of Christ is imputed 
 to us, that " the righteousness of the law may be fulfilled in us ;" and that 
 we may " live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." 
 
 It remains only to make a short and plain application. And, first, I 
 would address myself to you who violently oppose these expressions, 
 and are ready to condemn all that use them as Antinomians. But is 
 not this sending the bow too much the other way 1 Why should you 
 condemn all who do not speak just as you do 1 Why should you quarrel 
 with them, for using the phrases they like, any more than they with 
 you, for taking the same liberty 1 Or, if they do quarrel with you upon 
 that account, do riot imitate the bigotry which you blame. At least, 
 allow them the liberty which they ought to allow you. And why should 
 you be angry at an expression ? " Oh, it has been abused." And what 
 expression has not 1 However, the abuse may be removed, and at the 
 same time the use remain. Above all, be sure to retain the important 
 sense which is couched under that expression. All the blessings I 
 enjoy, all I hope for in time and in eternity, are given wholly and solely 
 for the sake of what Christ has done and suffered for me. 
 
 I would, secondly, add a few words to you who are fond of these 
 expressions. And permit me to ask, do not I allow enough ? What 
 can any reasonable man desire more 1 I allow the whole sense which 
 you contend for ; that we have every blessing through the righteousness 
 of God our Saviour. I allow you to use whatever expressions you choose, 
 and that a thousand times over ; only guaiding them against that dread-
 
 SKRMON XX.] THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 199 
 
 ful abuse, which you are as deeply concerned to prevent as I am. 1 
 myself frequently use the expression in question, imputed righteous- 
 ness ; and often put this and the like expressions into the mouth of a 
 whole congregation. But allow me liberty of conscience herein : allow 
 me the right of private judgment. Allow me to use it just as often as 
 I judge it preferable to any other expression; and be not angry with 
 ?ie if I cannot judge it proper to use any one expression every two 
 minutes. You may, if you please ; but do not condemn me because I 
 do not. Do not, for this, represent me as a Papist, or " an enemy to 
 the righteousness of Christ." Bear with me, as I do with you ; else 
 how shall we " fulfil the law of Christ?" Do not make tragical outcries, 
 as though I were " subverting the very foundations of Christianity." 
 Whoever does this, does me much wrong : the Lord lay it not to his 
 charge ! I lay, and have done for many years, the very same foundation 
 with you. And indeed " Other foundation can no man lay than that 
 which is laid, even Jesus Christ." I build inward and outward holi- 
 ness thereon, as you do, even by faith. Do not, therefore, suffer any 
 distaste, or unkindness, no, nor any shyness or coldness of your heart. 
 If there were a difference of opinion, where is our religion, if we cannot 
 fhink and let think 1 What hinders but you may forgive me as easily as 
 f may forgive you ? How much more, when there is only a difference 
 of expression 1 Nay, hardly so much as that 1 All the dispute being 
 only, whether a particular mode of expression shall be used more or 
 less frequently 1 Surely we must earnestly desire to contend with one 
 another, before we can make this a bone of contention ! Oh let us not 
 any more, for such very trifles as theoe, give our common enemies room 
 to blaspheme ! Rather let us at length cut off occasion from them thai 
 seek occasion ! Let us at length, (oh why was it not done before?) 
 join hearts and hands in the service of our great Master. As we have 
 " one Lord, one faith, one hope of our calling," let us all strengthen 
 each other's hands in God, and with one heart and one mouth declare 
 to all mankind, " THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS." 
 
 SERMONS XXI-XXXIII. Discourses on our lord's Sermon 
 on the Mount. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THE teacher here is the King, the Lawgiver, the Eternal 
 Wisdom. He here teaches the perfect will of God, the nature 
 of that holiness without which no man can see the Lord. He 
 teaches this to the whole race of mankind. He teaches it 
 here in a comprehensive manner, such as we have nowhere 
 else, except in the Decalogue ; and in the Spirit of love, yet, 
 with authority. The discourse divides itself into three prin- 
 cipal branches : 
 
 I. In the fifth chapter, the sum of all true religion (the 
 right state of the heart,) is laid down, and guarded against the 
 false glosses of men.
 
 200 FIRST DISCOURSE UPON [sEKMON XXI-XXXIIL 
 
 II. In the sixth chapter are given the rules of right inten- 
 tion, which we are to preserve in all our outward actions ; 
 unmixed with worldly desires, or anxious cares, even for 
 necessaries of life. 
 
 III. In the seventh chapter are given cautions against the 
 main hindrances of religion, and exhortations to its practice. 
 
 I. The sum of all true religion, in eight particulars, and 
 explained and guarded against the false glosses of men. 
 (Sermons xxi.-xxv.) 
 
 1. Poverty of spirit or conviction of sin, renouncing our- 
 selves and our own righteousness. To which is given the 
 promise of the kingdom of heaven, which is "righteousness," &c. 
 
 2. Mourning, contrition, sorrow for sin and after God. 
 
 3. Meekness, restraining all violent passions. Guarded by 
 our Lord against interpretations suited to the weak sin fulness 
 of the human heart ; and the way of reconciliation denned. 
 
 4. Hunger and thirst after righteousness. Earnest desire 
 which cannot be satisfied with a mere outward righteousness. 
 
 5. The merciful ; which, as one aspect, includes all tender 
 charity or love. 1 Cor. xiii. 
 
 6. Purity of heart. Which our Lord illustrates from the 
 seventh, and the third command, of the Decalogue. 
 
 7. Peacemakers. The spirit of universal benevolence. 
 ' Doing good to all men. 
 
 8. Patient endurance of persecution ; extending even to 
 loving, and praying for, enemies. Such is the inward state of 
 heart of the Christian ; the beauty of holiness which, in 
 kind, though not in degree, is perfect even as our Father in 
 heaven is perfect. 
 
 But this religion is not to be merely inward. It must 
 diffuse itself to others ; must shine as the light, and be seen 
 in good works. Christianity is a social, and not a solitary 
 religion. This appears from Scripture, and from the reason of 
 case. The opposite doctrine is shown to be a mistake. But 
 the manifestation of our religion must be purely for the glory 
 of God. Nor does this inward religion dispense with obliga- 
 tion to the external moralities of the Decalogue. * * * Viola- 
 tion of the least command must be fatal to enjoyment of this 
 inward kingdom. It is opposed to Antinomianisrn; but its per- 
 fection is infinitely beyond mere outward Pharisaism, both in 
 the strictness of the outward act, and especially in the inward 
 spirit. 
 
 II. The complement of that inward holiness, (those dispo- 
 sitions, tempers, and affections which spring from living 1'aith 
 in Christ, and which manifest themselves in all good works, 
 and in keeping of law, both in spirit and in letter,) is ri<jht 
 intention.
 
 SERMON XXI-XXXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 201 
 
 Purity of intention gives moral quality to all acts. This 
 our Lord illustrates : 
 
 1. In acts of mercy, winch are vitiated if done to be seen 
 of men. 
 
 2. In acts of religion, as prayer and fasting, which must 
 be the dimple outpouring of the heart to God alone, of which 
 our Lord gives us the pattern, covering all that we can reason- 
 ably pray for or earnestly desire. So also in fasting we must 
 consider, (1) the nature of this religious act ; (2) the reasons, 
 grounds, and ends of it ; (3) whence we may answer objec- 
 tions against it ; and (4) learn the right manner of perform- 
 ing it. 
 
 3. In the acts of common life. Business. Intention is the 
 eye of the soul. Purity fills it with light ; sin with darkness. 
 A double intention of life is not possible. We cannot lay up 
 treasures on earth, and preserve purity of intention. But this 
 does not exclude provision for honest living, for the comfort 
 of our family, and for the proper maintenance of our worldly 
 business. But the love of money, and the desire for, and 
 endeavour after riches, and the trust in riches, and seeking 
 their increase, are excluded. We cannot serve two masters. 
 Purity of intention is inconsistent with undue cares of life. 
 Its one aim is the kingdom of God, and his righteousness. 
 
 III. The main hindrances to this religion. 
 
 1. Judging, or the censorious spirit, which includes speak- 
 ing evil of either the present or absent, and all thinking evil, 
 and condemning the innocent beyond what they deserve. 
 Still we are not to fall into the opposite extreme of zeal 
 without knowledge, giving the holy things to dogs, and cast- 
 ing pearls before swine. But even for these the persevering 
 prayer of faith may avail. To all men, the royal law should 
 regulate our dealings and our spirit. " All things whatsoever 
 ye would that men should do unto you do ye even so to them." 
 
 2. The broad, easy-going, careless spirit. Wide is the gate, 
 and broad the way, &c. Whereas the way of life is a narrow 
 way ; a way of universal holiness ; to be entered only by the 
 most earnest striving. 
 
 3. False teaching. Eesponsibility of teachers. The appear- 
 ance of innocence, usefulness, religion, love, &c. What are 
 the practical fruits of these doctrines ? In the teachers them- 
 selves ? In their disciples \ 
 
 Final exhortation. The nouse built on the sand. Saying 
 Lord, Lord. Expecting to reach heaven by any other than 
 the way of holiness : such as orthodoxy, innocence, external 
 good works. 
 
 The house built on the rock. Summary of true religious 
 life, and application to his hearers.
 
 202 FIRST DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXI-XXXIII. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 The sermons now before us contain Mr. Wesley's system of Christian 
 ethics. It is a system thoroughly in harmony with his theology, and 
 growing out of it, as the branch from the trunk ol the tree, in the 
 great theological works of the present age, Christian ethics are univer- 
 sally recognized as a most important province of Christian theology. The 
 distinction between Christian ethics, and the old philosophical systems 
 of ethics is also very clearly drawn. " The latter proceed from the moral 
 consciousness as such ; " while the former grow from the moral con- 
 sciousness, as a " religious and evangelical Christian consciousness of God." 
 Hagenbach says, " Christian ethics expound the theory of the inward 
 and outward moral relations of man, as growing out of living faith in 
 Christ." No definition could more completely express that which has 
 been done by Mr. Wesley in these sermons. His grand division of the 
 subject into subjective character and objective motive, exactly corresponds to 
 the " inward and outward moral relations " of Hagenbach. 
 
 The subject of Christian duty has always occupied a very important 
 place in religious teaching of all schools. Prior to the Reformation the 
 Latin writers might be divided into two great classes ; those whose con- 
 ception of Christian duty lay in a prescribed form of outward obser- 
 vances ; and those with whom the essence of duty lay in certain inward 
 states. Both these had their doctrine or ideal of Christian perfection. 
 These ethical systems were not only a part of religion, but constituted 
 almost the whole of it. The Reformation with its doctrine of faith as 
 the central element of religion, of course differed largely from this 
 teaching. Christian ethics were not discarded, but they occupied a new 
 and less prominent relation to religion. The starting point of ethics was 
 now the absolute sovereignty of God, whose immutable law was the 
 absolute standard of right, and the only perfection ; and Christian ethics 
 were the imperfect outgoing of the new life toward this ideal, of which, 
 however, it could not but fall infinitely short. This outgoing of the new 
 life toward duty was incapable of perfection, and incapable of merit ; 
 and was in no proper sense a condition of probation or of salvation. The 
 treatment of ethics in these theological systems was, not so much an 
 exposition of Christian duty, as an exposition of absolute moral law ; 
 in the light of which men might see their own sinfulness, and the gl"ry 
 of Christ's atoning work. The basis universally adopted for this exposi- 
 tion was the moral law in the ten commandments. 
 
 In Mr. Wesley's time, writers on moral duty might be divided into 
 three classes. (1)' Many of the Church writers, such as Taylor and Law, 
 approached very closely to the Romish methods of expounding Christian 
 duty. (2) The descendants of the Puritans very faithfully represented 
 the ethical teaching ol the Reformation, and especially of Calvin. (3) 
 There had grown up a new school of ethical writers who revived the 
 philosophical ethics of the ancients ; and in the case of Butler carried 
 them to a perfection not surpassed before, or, perhaps, since. From all 
 these Mr. Wesley's treatment of the great question of human duty 
 differed. It would be too much to say that he inaugurated a new and 
 original system or method of treatment, and yet in many respects this is 
 true. We have already seen how he gathered into one in his own 
 religious life the great truths of religion and duty, Irom all branches of 
 the Christian Church, and in this sense it would be wrong to claim too 
 much credit for originality. But in this he was original, and was far in 
 advance of his age, and has not been surpassed by the best expounder of
 
 SERMON XXI.] THE SERMON ON THE M3UNT. 205 
 
 Christian ethics of the present century ; in that he combined into one 
 the probational ethics of the Romish Church, the absolute and evangelical 
 ethics of the theology of the Reformation, and the highest principles of 
 philosophical ethics ; and from them all evolved a conception of Christian 
 duty in which God is supreme sovereign in a true moral, and not in a 
 mere determinist sense ; his nature the absolute fountain of right, and 
 his glory the supreme end ; in which the love of Christ is supreme 
 motive ; and of which Christian perfection is the blessed realization in 
 the living experience of the Church. 
 
 In selecting a Scriptural basis for the exposition of Christian duty, 
 Mr. Wesley was especially wise and fortunate in selecting the Sermon on 
 the Mount, rather than the Old Testament Decalogue. The Sermon on 
 the Mount is distinguished by the following peculiarities of its ethical 
 teaching : 
 
 1. It deals with the inward character, as well as with the outward life. 
 
 2. It treats of outward acts from the standpoint of intention, by wlr'ch 
 their moral quality is determined, and they are intimately linked to the 
 inner man. 
 
 3. It thus presents, not a mere negative morality of abstinence from 
 sin, but a positive moral quality, a holiness of all acts, even those other- 
 wise indifferent. 
 
 4. It uses specific moral states and acts merely as illustrations of 
 general principles, which are of universal application. 
 
 5. It unites the inward and subjective law of love, with the objective 
 law of responsibility to a supreme authority, enforced by reward and 
 punishment. It thus becomes a law of Christian, though not of Adamic, 
 probation. All these principles were clearly apprehended by Wesley, and 
 will be found to permeate his sermons and his entire theology, as they do 
 this great sermon of our Lord. The last of these especially is exhibited 
 in the Wesleyan theology as in no other system. It holds, without 
 question or possibility of cavil, the great doctrine of man's free responsi- 
 bility ; and in a thoroughly evangelical manner it evolves all Christian 
 morality from faith working by love. 
 
 SERMON XXI. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 " And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain ; and when he was set 
 hi* disciples came unto him ; 
 
 " And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, 
 " Blessed are the poor in spirit ; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 
 " Blessed arc they that mourn j for they shall be comforted," Matt, v, 1-4. 
 
 I. OUR Lord had now " gone about all Galilee," Matt, iv, 23, begin- 
 ning at the time " when John was cast into prison," ver. 12, not only 
 " teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the king- 
 dom," but likewise " healing all manner of sickness and all manner ot 
 disease among the people." It was a natural consequence of this, that 
 " there followed him great, multitudes from Galilee, and from Decapolis, 
 and from Jerusalem, and from Judea, and from the region beyond Jor- 
 dan," ver. 25. " And seeing the multitudes," whom no synagogue could 
 oontain, even had there been any at hand, "he went up into a mountain," 
 where there was room for all that came unto him from every quarter.
 
 204 FIRST DISCOURSE UPON [SERMCN XXI. 
 
 " And when he was set," as the manner of the Jews was, " his disciples 
 came unto him. And he opened his mouth," [an expression denoting 
 the beginning of a solemn discourse,] " and taught them saying." 
 
 2. Let us observe, who it is that is here speaking, that we may take 
 heed how we hear. It is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of 
 all ; who, as such has a right to dispose of all his creatures ; the Lord 
 our Governor, whose kingdom is from everlasting and ruleth over all ; 
 the gre?,t lawgiver, who can well enforce all his laws, being " able to 
 save and to destroy," yea, to punish with " everlasting destruction from 
 his presence and from the glory of his power." It is the eternal wisdom 
 of the Father, who knoweth whereof we are made, and understands our 
 inmost frame ; who knows how we stand related to God, to one another, 
 to every creature which God hath made, and, consequently, how to adapt 
 every law he prescribes, to all the circumstances wherein he hath placed 
 us. It is he who is " loving unto every man, whose mercy is over all 
 his works ;" the God of love, who, having emptied himself of his eternal 
 glory, is come forth from his Father to declare his will to the children 
 of men, and then goeth again to the Father ; who is sent of God " to 
 open the eyes of the blind, and to give light to them that sit in darkness." 
 It is the great prophet of the Lord, concerning whom God had solemnly 
 declared long ago, " Whosoever will not hearken unto my words, which 
 he shall speak in my name, 1 will require it of him," Deut. xviii, 19 ; 
 or, as the apostle expresses it, " Every soul which will not hear that 
 prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people," Acts ii, 23. 
 
 3. And what is it which he is teaching ? The Son of God who came 
 from heaven, is here showing us the way to heaven; to the place which 
 he hath prepared for us ; the glory he had before the world began. He 
 is teaching us the true way to life everlasting : the royal way which leads 
 to the kingdom; and the only true way, for there is none besides ; all 
 other paths lead to destruction. From the character of the Speaker, 
 we are well assured that he hath declared the full and perfect will o( 
 God. He hath uttered not one tittle too much, nothing more than he 
 had received of the Father ; nor too little, he hath not shunned to 
 declare the whole counsel of God ; much less hath he uttered any thing 
 wrong, any thing contrary to the will of him that sent him. All his 
 words are true and right concerning all things, and shall stand fast for 
 ever and ever. 
 
 And we may easily remark, that in explaining and confirming these 
 faithful and true sayings, he takes care to refute not only the mistakes 
 of the scribes and Pharisees, which then were the false comments 
 whereby the Jewish teachers of that age had perverted the word of God, 
 but all the practical mistakes that are inconsistent with salvation, which 
 should ever arise in the Christian church ; all the comments whereuy 
 the Christian teachers (so called) of any age or nation should pervert 
 the word of God, and teach unwary souls to seek death in the error of 
 their life. 
 
 4. And hence we are naturally led to observe, whom it is that he is 
 here teaching ? Not the apostles alone ; if so, he had no need to have 
 gone up into the mountain. A room in the house of Matthew, or any 
 of his disciples, would have contained the twelve. Nor does it in any 
 wise appear, that the disciples who came unto him were the twelve only. 
 Oi pwxdujrou aurou, without any force put upon the expression, may be
 
 SERMON XXI ] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 205 
 
 understood of all who desired to learn of him. But to put this out of all 
 question, to make it undeniably plain that where it is said " He opened 
 his mouth and taught them," the word them includes all the multitudes 
 who went up with him into the mountain, we need only observe the 
 concluding verses of the seventh chapter : " And it came to pass, when 
 Jesus had ended these sayings, the multitudes, 01 0^X01, were astonished 
 at his doctrine ;" [or teaching ;] " for he taught them" [the multitudes] 
 " as one having authority, and not as the scribes." 
 
 Nor was it only those multitudes who were with him on the mount, 
 to whom he now taught the way of salvation ; but all the children of 
 men ; the whole race of mankind ; the children that were yet unborn ; 
 all the generations to come, even to the end of the world, who should 
 ever hear the words of this life. 
 
 5. And this all men allow, with regard to some parts of the ensuing 
 discourse. No man, for instance, denies that what is said >f poverty of 
 spirit relates to all mankind. But many have supposed, that other parts 
 concerned only the apostles, or the first Christians, or the ministers of 
 Christ; and were never designed for the generality of men, who conse- 
 quently have nothing at all to do with them. 
 
 But may we not justly inquire, who told them this, that some parts of 
 this discourse concerned only the apostles, or the Christians of the apos- 
 tolic age, or the ministers of Christ ? Bare assertions are not a sufficient 
 proof to establish a point of so great importance. Has then our Lord 
 himself taught us, that some parts of his discourse do not concern all 
 mankind 7 Without doubt had it been so he would have told us ; he 
 could not have omitted so necessary an information. But has he told 
 us so? Where? In the discourse itself 7 No: here is not the last intima- 
 tion of it. Has he said so elsewhere 7 In any other of his discourses ? 
 Not one word so much as glancing this way, can we find in any thing 
 he ever spoke, either to the multitudes, or to his disciples. Has any one 
 of the apostles, or other inspired writers, left such an instruction upon 
 record ? No such thing. No assertion of this kind is to be found in all 
 the oracles of God. Who then are the men who are so much wiser 
 than God ? wise so far above that is written ? 
 
 6. Perhaps they will say, " That the reason of the thing requires such 
 a restriction to be made." If it does, it must be on one of these two 
 accounts ; Because, without such a restriction, the discourse would 
 either be apparently absurd, or would contradict some other scripture. 
 But this is not the case. It will plainly appear, when we come to 
 examine the several particulars, that there is no absurdity at all in apply- 
 ing all which our Lord hath here delivered to all mankind. Neither 
 will it infer any contradiction to any thing else he has delivered, nor to 
 any other scripture whatever. Nay, it will farther appear, that either 
 all the parts of this discourse are to be applied to men in general, or no 
 part ; seeing they are all connected together, all joined as the stones in 
 an arch, of which you cannot take one away without destroying the 
 whole fabric. 
 
 7. We may, lastly, observe, how our Lord teaches here. And surely, 
 as at all times, so particularly at this, he speaks " as never man spake." 
 Not as the holy men of old ; although they also spoke " as they were 
 moved by the Holy Ghost." Not as Peter, or James, or John, or Paul : 
 they were indeed wise master builders in his church ; but still in this,
 
 206 FIRST DISCOURSE UPON [SEKMON XXI. 
 
 in the degrees of heavenly wisdom, the servant is not as his Lord. No, 
 nor even as himself at any other time, or on any other occasion. It 
 does not appear, that it was ever his design at any other time or place, 
 to lay down at once the whole plan of his religion ; to give us a full 
 prospect of Christianity ; to describe at large the nature of that holiress, 
 without which no man shall see the Lord. Particular branches ol I his 
 he has indeed described, on a thousand different occasions ; but never, 
 besides here, did he give, of set purpose, a general view of the whole. 
 Nay, we have nothing else of this kind in all the Bible ; unless ono 
 should except that short sketch of holiness delivered by God In those 
 ten words or commandments to Moses, on mount Sinai. But even here 
 how wide a difference is there between one and the other ? " Even 
 that which was made glorious had no glory in this respect, by reason of 
 the glory that excelleth," 2 Cor. iii, 10. 
 
 8. Above all, with what amazing love does the Son of God here 
 reveal his Father's will to man ! He does not bring us again " to the 
 mount that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and 
 tempest." He does not speak as when he " thundered out of heaven ;" 
 when the Highest " gave his thunder, hail stones, and coals of fire." 
 He now addresses us with his still, small voice, " Blessed," or happy 
 " are the poor in spirit." Happy are the mourners ; the meek ; those 
 that hunger after righteousness ; the merciful ; the pure in heart : 
 happy in the end and in the way ; happy in this life, and in life ever- 
 lasting ! As -if he had said, Who is he that lusteth to live, and would 
 fain see good days? Behold, I show you the thing which your soul 
 lorigeth for ! See the way you have so long sought in vain ; the way 
 of pleasantness ; the path to calm, joyous peace, to heaven below and 
 heaven above ! 
 
 9. At the same time with what authority does he teach ! Well might 
 they say, " Not as the scribes." Observe the manner, (but it cannot 
 be expressed in words,) the air, with which he speaks ! Not as Moses, 
 the servant of God ; not as Abraham, his friend ; not as any of the 
 prophets ; nor as any of the sons of men. It is something more than 
 human ; more than can agree to any created being ! It speaks the Crea- 
 tor of all ! A God, a God appears ! Yea, O QIS , the Being of beings, 
 JEHOVAH, the Self-existent, the Supreme, the God who is over all, 
 blessed for ever ! 
 
 10. This divine discourse, delivered in the most excellent method, 
 every subsequent part illustrating those that precede, is commonly, and 
 not improperly, divided into three principal branches: the first, con- 
 tained in the fifth, the second in the sixth, and the third, in the 
 seventh chapter. In the first, the sum of all true religion is laid down 
 in eight particulars, which are explained and guarded against the 
 false glosses of man, in the following parts of the fifth chapter. In 
 the second are rules for that right intention, which we are to preserve 
 in all our outward actions ; unmixed with worldly desires, or anxious 
 cares for even the necessaries of life. In the third, are cautions 
 against the main himlerances of religion, closed with an application 
 of the whole. 
 
 I. 1. Oui Lord, first, lays down the sum of all true religion in eight 
 particulars, which he explains, and guards against the false glosses of 
 men, to the end of the fifth chapter.
 
 SERMON XXF.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 207 
 
 Some have supposed that he designed, in these, to point out the 
 several stages of the Christian course ; the steps which a Christian 
 successively takes in his journey to the promised land ; others, that 
 all the particulars here set down, belong at all times to every Chris- 
 tian. And why may we not allow both the one and the other? What 
 inconsistency is there between them 1 It is undoubtedly true, that both 
 poverty of spirit, and every other temper which is here mentioned, are 
 at all times found, in a greater or less degree, in every real Christian. 
 And it is equally true, that real Christianity always begins in poverty 
 of spirit, and goes on in the order here set down, till the " man of God 
 is made perfect." We begin at the lowest of these gifts of God ; yet so 
 as not to relinquish this, when we are called of God to come up higher : 
 but " w hereunto we have already attained, we hold fast." while we press 
 on to what is yet before, to the highest blessings of God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 2. The foundation of all is poverty of spirit: here, therefore, our 
 Lord begins : " Blessed," saith he, " are the poor in spirit, for theirs is 
 the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 It may not improbably be supposed, that our Lord looked on those 
 who were round about him, and, observing that not many rich were 
 there, but rather the poor of the world, took occasion from thence to 
 make a transition from temporal to spiritual things. " Blessed," saith 
 he, (or happy, so the word should be rendered, both in this and the 
 following verses,) " are the poor in spirit." He does not say, they that 
 are poor, as to outward circumstances, it being not impossible, that 
 some of these may be as far from happiness as a monarch upon his 
 hrone ; but "the poor in spirit;" they who, whatever their outward 
 circumstances are, have that disposition of heart, which is the first step 
 to all real, substantial happiness, either in this world, or that which is 
 to come. 
 
 3. Some have judged, that by the poor in spirit, here are meant those 
 who love poverty ; those who are free from covetousness, from the love 
 of money ; who fear, rather than desire riches. Perhaps they have been 
 induced so to judge, by wholly confining their thoughts to the very term ; 
 or by considering that weighty observation of St. Paul, that " the love 
 of money is the root of all evil." And hence many have wholly divested 
 themselves, not only of riches, but of all worldly goods. Hence also the 
 vows of voluntary poverty seem to have arisen in the Romish church ; 
 it being supposed, that so eminent a degree of this fundamental grace 
 must be a large step towards " the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 But these do not seem to have observed, first, that the expression of 
 St. Paul must be understood with some restriction ; otherwise it is not 
 true ; for the love of money is not the root, the sole root, of all evil. 
 There are a thousand other roots of evil in the world, as sad experi- 
 ence daily shows. His meaning can only be, it is the root of very many 
 evils ; perhaps of more than any single vice besides. Secondly, that 
 this sense of the expression, " poor in spirit," will by no means suit our 
 Lord's present design, which is to lay a general foundation whereon the 
 whole fabric of Christianity may be built ; a design which would in no 
 wise be answered by guarding against one particular vice : so that, if 
 even this were supposed to be one part of his meaning, it could not possi- 
 bly be the whole. Thirdly, that it cannot be supposed to be any part of 
 his meaning, unless we charge him with manifest tautology : seeing, i/
 
 208 FIRST DISCOURSE UPON [SERM0N XXI. 
 
 " povert} 7 of spirit" were only freedom from covetousness, from the love 
 of money, or the desire of riches, it would coincide with what he after- 
 wards mentions, it would be only a branch of purily of heart. 
 
 4. Who then are " The poor in spirit?" Without question the humble ; 
 they who know themselves ; who are convinced of sin ; those to whom 
 God hath given that first repentance, which is previous to faith in Christ 
 
 One of these can no longer say, " I am rich and increased in goods, 
 and have need of nothing ;" as now knowing, that he is " wretched^ 
 and poor, and miserable, and blind, and naked." He is convinced that 
 he is spiritually poor indeed ; having no spiritual good abiding in him. 
 " In me," saith he, " dwelleth no good thing," but whatsoever is evil 
 and abominable. He has a deep sense of the loathsome leprosy of sin, 
 which he brought with him from his mother's womb, which overspreads 
 his whole soul, and totally corrupts every power and faculty thereof. He 
 sees more and more of the evil tempers which spring from that evil root ; 
 the pride and haughtiness of spirit, the constant bias to think of himself 
 more highly than he ought to think ; the vanity, the thirst after the 
 esteem or honour that cometh from men ; the hatred or envy, the jeal- 
 ousy or revenge, the anger, malice, or bitterness ; the inbred enmity 
 both against God and man, which appears in ten thousand shapes ; the 
 love of the world, the self will, the foolish and hurtful desires, which 
 cleave to his inmost soul. He is conscious how deeply he has offended 
 by his tongue ; if not by profane, immodest, untrue, or unkind words, 
 yet by discourse which was not "good to the use of edifying," not "meet 
 to minister grace to the hearers," which consequently was all corrupt in 
 God's account, and grievous to his Holy Spirit. His evil works are now 
 likewise ever in his sight : if he tells them, " they are more than he is 
 able to express." He may as well think to number the drops of rain, 
 the sands of the sea, or the days of eternity. 
 
 5. His guilt is now also before his face : he knows the punishment 
 he has deserved, were it only on account of his carnal mind, the entire, 
 universal corruption of his nature ; how much more, on account of ail 
 his evil desires and thoughts, of all his sinful words and actions ! He 
 cannot doubt for a moment, but the least of these deserves the damna- 
 tion of hell, " the worm that dieth not, and the fire that never shall be 
 quenched." Above all, the guilt of" not believing on the name of the 
 only begotten Son of God," lies heavy upon him. How, saith he, shall 
 I escape, who " neglect so great salvation !" " He that believeth not is 
 condemned already," and " the wrath of God abidcth on him." 
 
 6. But what shall he give in exchange for his soul, which is forfeited 
 to the just vengeance of God ? " Wherewithal shall he come before the 
 Lord ?" How shall he pay him that he oweth ? Were he from this 
 moment to perform the most perfect obedience to every command ol 
 God, this would make no amends for a single sin, for any one act of 
 past disobedience ; seeing he owes God all the service he is able to 
 perform, from this moment to all eternity : could h pay this, it would 
 make no manner of amends for what he ought to have done before. 
 He sees himself therefore utterly helpless with regard t atoning for 
 his past sins ; utterly unable to make any amends to God, to pay any 
 ransom for his own soul. 
 
 But if God would forgive him all that is past, on this one condition, 
 that he should sin no more ; that for the time to come he should entirely
 
 SERMON XXI.] THE SEKMON ON THE MOUNT, 209 
 
 and constantly obey all his commands ; he well knows thai tins would 
 profit him nothing, being a condition he could never perform. lie 
 knows and feels, that he is not able to obey, even the outward com 
 mands of God ; seeing these cannot be obeyed while his heart roinam-s 
 in its natural sinfulness and corruption ; inasmuch as an evil tree cannot 
 bring forth good fruit. But he cannot cleanse a sinful heart : with men 
 this is impossible : so that he is utterly at a loss even how to begin 
 walking in the path of God's commandments. He knows not how (o 
 get one step forward in the way. Encompassed with sin and sorrow, 
 and fear, and finding no way to escape, he can only cry out, " Lord 
 save, or I perish !" 
 
 7. Poverty of spirit then, as it implies the first step we take in run- 
 ning the race which is set before us, is a just sense of our inward and 
 outward sins, and of our guilt and helplessness. This some have mon- 
 strously styled " the virtue of humility ;" thus teaching us to be proud 
 of knowing we deserve damnation ! But our Lord's expression is quite 
 of another kind; conveying no idea to the hearer, but that of mere 
 want, of naked sin, of helpless guilt and misery. 
 
 8. The great apostle, where he endeavours to bring sinners to God, 
 speaks in a mariner just answerable to this. " The wrath of God," 
 saith he, " is revealed from -heaven against all ungodliness xnd un- 
 righteousness of men," Rom. i, 18, &,c; a charge which he immediately 
 fixes on the heathen world, and thereby proves they were under the 
 wrath of God. He next shows, that the Jews were no better than they T 
 arid were therefore under the same condemnation; and all this, not in 
 order to their attaining " the noble virtue of humility," but " that every 
 mouth might be stopped, and all the world become guilty before God." 
 
 He proceeds to show, that they were helpless as well as guilty; which 
 is the plain purport of all those expressions : " Therefore by the deeds 
 of the law there shall no flesh be justified :" " But now the righteous- 
 ness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ, without the law, is mani- 
 fested :" " W<; conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the 
 deeds of the law :" expressions all tending to the same point, even to 
 " hide pride from man ;" to humble him to the dust, without teaching 
 him to reflect upon his humility as a virtue; to inspire him with that 
 full, piercing conviction of his utter sinfulness, guilt, and helplessness, 
 which casts the sinner, stript of all, lost and undone, on his strong 
 helper Jesus Christ the righteous. 
 
 9. One cannot but observe here, that Christianity begins just where 
 heathen morality ends ; poverty of spirit, conviction of sin, the re- 
 nouncing ourselves, ihe not having our own righteousness, (the very 
 first point in the religion of Jesus Christ,) leaving all pagan religion 
 behind. This was ever hid from the wise men of this .world ; insomuch 
 that the whole Roman language, even with zJl the improvements of the 
 Augustan age, does not, afford so much as a name for humility ; (the 
 word front whence we borrow this, as is well known, bearing in Latin 
 a quite different meaning ;) no, nor was one found in all the copious 
 language of Greece, till it was made by the great apostle. 
 
 10 Oh that we may feel what they were not able to express ! Sin- 
 ner, awake ! Know thyself! Know and feel, that thou wert " shapen 
 in wickedness," and that " in sin did thy mother conceive thee ;" and 
 t irit thou thyself hast been heaping sin upon sin, ever since thou coulua
 
 FIRST DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXI 
 
 discern good from evil ! Sink under the mighty hand of God, as guilty 
 of death eternal ! And cast off, renounce, abhor, all imagination of ever 
 being able to help thyself! Be it all thy hope to be washed in his blood, 
 and renewed by his almighty Spirit, who himself" bare all our sins in 
 his own body on the tree !" So shalt thou witness, " Happy are the 
 poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 11. This is that kingdom of heaven, or of God, which is within i:t-; 
 even " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." And 
 what is " righteousness," but the life of God in the soul ; the mind 
 which was in Christ Jesus; the image of God stamped upon the hear), 
 now renewed after the likeness of him that created it ? What is it but 
 the loe of God, because he first loved us, and the love of all mankind 
 for his sake ? 
 
 And what is this " peace," the peace of God, but that calm serenity 
 of soul, that sweet repose in the blood of Jesus, which leaves no doubt 
 of our acceptance in him ; which excludes all fear, but the loving, filial 
 fear of offending our Father which is in heaven 1 
 
 This inward kingdom implies also "joy in the Holy Ghost;" who 
 seals upon our hearts "the redemption which is in Jesus/' the right- 
 eousness of Christ imputed to us " for the remission of the sins that are 
 past;" who giveth us now " ihe earnest of our inheritance," of the 
 crown which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give at that day. And 
 well may this be termed " the kingdom of heaven ;" seeing it is heaven 
 already opened in the soul ; the first springing up of those rivers of 
 pleasure, which flow at God's right hand for evermore. 
 
 12. " Theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Whosoever thou art, to 
 whom God hath given to be " poor in spirit," to feel thyself lost, thou 
 hast a right thereto, through the gracious promise of him who cannot 
 lie. It is purchased for thee by the blood of the Lamb. It is very 
 nigh : thou art on the brink of heaven ! Another step, and thou enter- 
 esl into the kingdom of righteousness, and peace, and joy ! Art thou 
 all sin 1 " Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the 
 world !" All unholy 1 See thy " Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ 
 the righteous !" Art thou unable to atone for the least of thy sins ? 
 " He is the propitiation for [all thy] sins." Now believe on the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and all thy sins are blotted out ! Art thou totally unclean 
 in soul and body 1 Here is the " fountain for sin and uncleanness !'' 
 ** Arise, and wash away ihy sins !" Stagger no more at the promise 
 through unbelief! Give glory to God ! Dare to believe ! Now cry out 
 from the ground of thy heart, 
 
 " Yes. I yield, I yield at last, 
 
 Listen to thy speaking blood ; 
 Me, with all my sins, I cast 
 On my atoning God !" 
 
 13 Then thou learnest of him to be " lowly of heart." And this is 
 the true, genuine, Christian humility, which flows from a sense of the 
 lovo of God, reconciled to us in Christ Jesus. Poverty of spirit, in this 
 meaning of the word, begins where a sense of guilt and of the wrath of 
 God ends ; and is a continual sense of our total depcndance on him, for 
 every good thought, or word, or work, of our utter inability to all good, 
 np.ress he " water us every moment," and an abhonrence of the praise 
 01 men, knowing that all praise is due unto God only. With this is
 
 SEKMON XXI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 211 
 
 joined a loving shame, a tender humiliation before God, even for the 
 sins which we know he hath forgiven us, and for the sin which still 
 remaineth in our hearts, although we know it is not impaled to our 
 condemnation. Nevertheless, the conviction we feel of inbred sin, in 
 deeper and deeper every day. The more we grow in grace, the more 
 do we see of the desperate wickedness of our heart. The more we 
 advance in the knowledge and love of God, through our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, (as great a mystery as this may appear to those who know not 
 the power of God unto salvation,) the more do we discern of our alien 
 at ion from God, of the enmity that is in our carnal mind, and the ne- 
 cessity of our being entirely renewed in righteousness and true holiness. 
 II. 1. It is true, he has scarce any conception of this, who now begins 
 to know the inward kingdom of heaven. " In his prosperity he saith, 
 I shall never be moved ; thou, Lord, hast made my hill so strong." 
 Sin is so utterly bruised beneath his feet, that he can scarce believe it 
 remaineth in him. Even temptation is silenced, and speaks not again : 
 it cannot approach, but stands afar off. He is borne aloft in the chariots 
 of joy and love : he soars " as \ipon the wings of an eagle." But our 
 Lord well knew, that this triumphant state does not often continue 
 long : he therefore presently subjoins : " Blessed are they that mourn, 
 for they shall be comforted." 
 
 2. Not that we can imagine this promise belongs to those who mourn 
 only on some worldly account ; who are in sorrow and heaviness, merely 
 on account of some worldly trouble or disappointment, such as the loss 
 of their reputation or friends, or the impairing of their fortune. As little 
 title to it have they who are afflicting themselves, through fear of some 
 temporal evil ; or who pine away with anxious care, or that desrre of 
 earthly things, which " maketh the heart sick." Let us not think these 
 " shall receive any thing from the Lord :" he is not in all their thoughts. 
 Therefore it is that they thus " walk in a vain shadow, and disquiet 
 themselves in vain." " And this shall ye have of mine hand," saith 
 the Lord, " ye shall lie down in sorrow." 
 
 3. The mourners of whom our Lord here speaks, are those thai 
 mourn on quite another account : they that mourn after God ; after him 
 in whom they did " rejoice with joy unspeakable," when he gave them 
 to "taste the good," the pardoning " word, and the powers of the world 
 to come." But he now " hides his face, and they are troubled :'' they 
 cannot see him through the dark cloud. But they see temptation and 
 sin, which they fondly supposed were gone never to return, arising 
 again, following after them amain, and holding them in on every side. 
 It is not strange if their soul is now disquieted within them, and trouble 
 and heaviness take hold upon them. Nor will their great enemy fail to 
 improve the occasion ; to ask, " Where is now thy God ? Where is now 
 the blessedness whereof thou spakest ? The beginning of the kingdom 
 of heaven ? Yea, hath God said, ' Thy sins are forgiven thee ?' Surely 
 God hath not said it. It was only a dream, a mere delusion, a creature 
 of thy own imagination. If thy sins are forgiven, why art thou thus ? 
 Can a pardoned sinner be thus unholy 7" And, if then, instead of 
 immediately crying to God, they reason with him that is wiser than 
 they, they will be in heaviness indeed, in sorrow of heart, in anguish 
 not to be expressed. Nay, even when God shines again upon the soul, 
 and takes away all doubt of his past mercy, still he that is weak in faith
 
 212 FIRST DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXI. 
 
 may be tempted and troubled on account ol" what, is to come ; especially 
 when inward sin revives, and thrusts sore at him that he may fall. Then 
 may he again cry out, 
 
 " I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun 
 My last thread, I shall perish on the shore !' 
 
 lest I should make shipwreck of the faith, and my last state be worsn 
 than the first : 
 
 " Lest all my bread of life should fail, 
 And I sink down unchanged to hell '." 
 
 4. Sure it is, that this "affliction," for the present, " is not joyous 
 but grievous : nevertheless, afterwards it bringeth forth peaceable fruit 
 r.nto them that are exercised thereby." Blessed therefore are they that 
 thus mourn, if they " tarry the Lord's leisure," and suffer not themselves 
 to be turned out of the way, by the miserable comforters of the world ; 
 if they resolutely reject all the comforts of sin, of folly, and vanity ; all 
 the idle diversions and amusements of the world; all the pleasures which 
 
 ' perish in the using," and which only tend to benumb and stupify the 
 soul, that it may neither be sensible of-itself nor God. Blessed are they 
 who " follow on to know the Lord," and steadily refuse all other comfort. 
 They shall be comforted by the consolations of his Spirit; by a fresh 
 manifestation of his love ; by such a witness of his accepting them in 
 the beloved, as shall never more be taken away from them. This " full 
 assurance of faith" swallows up all doubt, as well as all tormenting fear ; 
 Gou novv giving them a sure hope of an enduring substance, and " strong 
 consolation through grace." Without disputing whether it be possible 
 for any of those to " fall away, who were once enlightened and made 
 partakers of the Holy Ghost," it suffices them to say, by the power now 
 resting upon them, " Who shall separate us from the love of Christ 1 I 
 am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor things present, nor things 
 to come; nor height nor depth, shall be able to separate us from the love 
 of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," Rom. viii, 35-39. 
 
 5. This whole process, both of mourning for an absent God, and 
 recovering the joy of his countenance, seems to be shadowed oul in 
 what our Lord spoke to his apostles, the night before his passion : " Do 
 ye inquire of that I said, a little while, and ye shall not see me : and 
 again, a little while, and ye shall see me ? Verily, verily, I say unto 
 you, that ye shall weep and lament ;" namely, when ye do not see 
 me : " but the world shall rejoice ;" shall triumph over you, as though 
 your hope were now come to an end. " And ye shall be sorrowful," 
 through doubt, through fear, through temptation, through vehement 
 desire ; " but your sorrow shall be turned ir.to joy," by the return of him 
 whom your soul loveth. " A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow 
 because her hour is come. But as soon as she is delivered of the child, 
 she remembereth no more the anguish, fo joy that a man is born into 
 the world. And ye now have sorrow;" ye mourn and cannot be 
 comforted; " but I will see you again; and your hean shall rejoice 
 [with calm, inward joy,] and your joy no man taketh from you," John 
 xvi, 19-22. 
 
 6. But although this mourning is at an end, is lost in holy joy by the 
 eturn of the Comforter, yet is there another, and a blessed mourning it 
 
 is, which abides in the children of God. They still mourn for the sins 
 and miseries of mankind : they " weep with them that weep." They
 
 SERMON XXI. J THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 213 
 
 weep for them that weep not for themselves, for the sinners against their 
 own souls. They mourn for the weakness and unfaithfulness of those 
 that are, in some measure, saved from their sins. " Who is weak, and 
 they are not weak ? Who is offended and they burn not ?" They are 
 grieved for the dishonour continually done to the majesty of heaven and 
 earth. At all times they have an awful sense of this, which brings a 
 deep seriousness upon their spirits ; a seriousness which is not a little 
 increased, since the eyes of their understanding were opened, by their 
 continually seeing the vast ocean of eternity, without a bottom or a shore, 
 which has already swallowed up millions of millions of men, and is 
 gaping to devour them that yet remain. They see here the house oi 
 God eternal in the heavens; there, hell and destruction without a cover 
 ing ; and thence feel the importance of every moment, which just 
 appears, and is gone for ever ! 
 
 7. But all this wisdom of God is foolishness with the world. The 
 whole affair of mourning and poverty of spirit is with them stupidity and 
 dulness. Nay, it is well if they pass so favourable a judgment upon 
 it ; if they do not vote it to be mere moping and melancholy, if not 
 downright lunacy and distraction. And it is no wonder at all, that this 
 judgment should be passed by those who know not God. Suppose, as 
 two persons were walking together, one should suddenly stop, and with 
 the strongest signs of fear and amazement, cry out, " On what a preci- 
 pice do we stand ! See, we are on the point of being dashed in pieces 1 
 Another step, and we shall fall into that huge abyss ! Stop ! I will not 
 go on for all the uorld !" when the other, who seemed to himself at 
 least equally sharp sighted, looked forward and saw nothing of ail this ; 
 what would he think of his companion, but that he was beside himself; 
 that his head was out of order ; that much religion (if he was not guilty 
 of much learning) had certainly made him mad. 
 
 S. But let not the children of God, "the mourners in Sion," be moved 
 by any of these things. Ye, whose eyes are enlightened, be not troubled 
 by those who walk on still in darkness. Ye do not walk on in a vain 
 shadow : God and eternity are real things. Heaven and hell are ii; 
 very deed open before you ; and ye are on the edge of the great gulC 
 It has already swallowed up more than words can express, nations, and 
 kindreds, and peoples, and tongues ; and still yawns to devour, whether 
 they see it or no, the giddy, miserable children of men. Oh cry aloud ! 
 Spare not ! Lift up your voice to him who grasps both time and 
 eternity, both for yourselves and your brethren, that ye may be counted 
 worthy to escape the destruction that cometh as a whirlwind ! That ye 
 may be brought safe through all the waves and storms, into the haven 
 where you would be ! Weep for yourselves, till he wipes away the tears 
 from your eyes. And even then, weep for the miseries that come upon 
 the earth, till the Lord of ali shall put a period to misery and sin, shall 
 wipe away the tears from all faces, and " the knowledge of the Lord 
 shall cover the earth, as the waters cover the ecu "
 
 214 SECOND DISCOURSE UPOW [SERMON XXII. 
 
 SERMON XXII. Upon our Lord's Sennon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE II. 
 
 " Blessed are the meek : for they shall inherit the earth. 
 
 " Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness : for they 
 shall be filled. 
 
 " Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy," Matt, v, 5-7. 
 
 1. WHEN "the winter is past," when " the time of singing is come, 
 and the voice of the turtle is heard in the land ;" when he that com- 
 forts the mourners is now returned, " that he may abide with them for 
 ever ;" when, at the brightness of his presence, the clouds disperse, 
 the dark clouds of doubt and uncertainty, the storms of fear flee away, 
 the waves of sorrow subside, and their spirit again rejoiceth in God their 
 Saviour ; then is it that this word is eminently fulfilled ; then those whom 
 he hath comforted can bear witness, " Blessed," or happy, " are the 
 meek, for they shall inherit the earth." 
 
 2. But who are the meek ? Not those who grieve at nothing, because 
 they know nothing ; who are not discomposed at the evils that occur, 
 because they discern not evil from good. Not those who are sheltered 
 from the shocks of life by a stupid insensibility ; who have, either by 
 nature or art, the virtue of stocks and stones, and resent nothing, because 
 they feel nothing. Brute philosophers are wholly unconcerned in this 
 matter. Apathy is as far from meekness as from humanity. So that one 
 would not easily conceive how any Christians of the purer ages, espe 
 ciaJly any of the fathers of the church, could confound these, and mistake 
 one of the foulest errors of heathenism for a branch of true Christianity 
 
 3. Nor does Christian meekness imply, the being without zeal for 
 God, any more than it does ignorance or insensibility. No; it keeps 
 clear of every extreme, whether in excess or defect. It. does not destroy 
 but balance the affections, which the God of nature never designed 
 should be rooted out by grace, but only brought and kept under due 
 regulations. It poises the mind aright. It holds an even scale, with 
 regard to anger, and sorrow, and fear ; reserving the mean in every cir- 
 cumstance of life, and not declining either to the right hand or the left. 
 
 4. Meekness therefore seems properly to relate to ourselves : but it 
 may be referred either to God or our neighbour. When this due com- 
 posure of mind has reference to God, it is usually termed resignation ; 
 a calm acquiescence in whatsoever is his will concerning us, even 
 though it may not be pleasing to nature ; saying continually, " It is the 
 Lord; let him do what seemeth him good." When we consider it 
 more strictly with regard to ourselves, we style it patience or content- 
 edness. When it is exerted towards other men, then it is mildness to 
 the good, and gentleness to the evil. 
 
 5. They who are truly meek, can clearly discern what is evil ; and 
 they can also suffer it. They are sensible of every thing of this kind, 
 lut still meekness holds the reins. They are exceeding " zealous for 
 the Lord of Hosts ;" but thoir zeal is always guided by knowledge, and 
 tempered, in every thought, and word, and work, with the love of man 
 as well as the love of God. They do not desire to extinguish any oi 
 the passions which God has for wise ends implanted in their nature ; 
 but they have the mastery of all : they hold them all in subjection, and
 
 SERMON XXII j THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 215 
 
 employ them only in subservience to those ends. And thus even thn 
 harsher and more unpleasing passions are applicable to the noblest pur- 
 poses ; even hatred, and anger, and fear, when engaged against sin and 
 regulated by faith and love, are as walls and bulwarks to the soul, so 
 that the wicked one cannot approach to hurt it. 
 
 6. It is evident this divine temper is not only to abide but to increase 
 in us day by day. Occasions of exercising, and thereby increasing it, 
 will never be wanting while we remain upon earth " We have need 
 of patience, that after we have done [and suffered] the will of God, we 
 may receive the promise." We have need of resignation, that we may 
 in all circumstances say, " Not as I will, but as thou wilt." And we 
 have need of" gentleness towards all men;" but especially towards the 
 evil and unthankful: otherwise we shall be overcome of evil, instead of 
 overcoming evil with good. 
 
 7. Nor does meekness restrain only the outward act, as the scribes 
 and Pharisees taught of old, and the miserable teachers who are not 
 taught of God will not fail to do in all ages. Our Lord guards against 
 this, and shows the true extent of it in the following words : " Ye have 
 heard, that it was said by them of old time, thou shalt not kill; and 
 whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment," ver. 21, &c 
 " But I say unto you, that whosoever is angry with his brother without 
 a cause, shall be in danger of the judgment : and whosoever shall say 
 to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council : but whosoever 
 shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire." 
 
 8. Our Lord here ranks under the head of murder, even that anger 
 which goes no farther than the heart ; which does not show itself by 
 any outward unkindness, no, not so much as a passionate word 
 " Whosoever is angry with his brother," with any man living, seeing 
 we are all brethren ; whosoever feels any unkindness in his heart, any 
 temper contrary to love ; whosoever is angry without a cause, without 
 a sufficient cause, or farther than that cause requires, " shall be in dan- 
 ger of the judgment ;" svo^o? <r<rai ; shall, in that moment, be obnoxious 
 to the rightexnis judgment of God. 
 
 But would not one be inclined to prefer the reading of those copies 
 which omit the word EIXTJ, without a cause? Is it not entirely superfluous ? 
 For if anger ai persons be a temper contrary to love, how can there be a 
 cause, a sufficient cause for it, any that will justify it in the sight of God ? 
 
 Anger at sin we allow. In this sense, we may be angry and yet we sin 
 not. In this sense our Lord himself is once recorded to have been angry. 
 f< He looked round about upon them with anger, being grieved for the 
 hardness of their hearts." He was grieved at the sinners, and angry 
 at the sin. And this is undoubtedly right before God. 
 
 9. " And whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca;" Whosoever 
 shall give way to anger, so as to utter any contemptuous word. It is 
 observed by commentators, that raca is a Syriac word, which properly 
 signifies, enifity, vain, foolish; so that it is as inoffensive an expression 
 as can well be used towards one at whom we are displeased. And yet, 
 whosoever shall use this, as our Lord assures us, " shall be in danger ol 
 the council ;" rather, shall be obnoxious thereto : he shall be liable to 
 a severer sentence from the Judge of all the earth. 
 
 " But whosoever shall say, Thou fool ;" Whosoever shall so give 
 place to the devil, as to break out into reviling, into designedly reproach-
 
 216 SECOND DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXII. 
 
 ful ana contumelious language, ' shall be obnoxious to hell fire;" shall. 
 in that instant, > be liable to the highest condemnation. It should 
 be observed, that our Lord describes all these as obnoxious to capital 
 punishment. The first, to strangling, usually inflicted on those who 
 were condemned in one of the inferior courts ; the second, to stoning, 
 which was frequently inflicted on those who were condemned by the 
 great council at Jerusalem ; the third, to burning alive, inflicted only on 
 the highest offenders, in the " valley of the sons of Hinnom" Ty Ewwv 
 from which that word is evidently taken which we translate hell. 
 
 10. And whereas men naturally imagine, that God will excuse their 
 defect in some duties, for their exactness in others ; our Lord next takes 
 care to cut olT that vain though common imagination. He shows, that 
 it is impossible for any sinner to commute with God ; who will not accept 
 one duty for another, nor take a part of obedience for the whole. He 
 warns us, that the performing our duty to God will not excuse us 
 from our duty to our neighbour ; that works of piety, as they are called, 
 will be so far from commending us to God, if we are wanting in charity, 
 that, on the contrary, that want of charity will make all those works an 
 abomination to the Lord. 
 
 " Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest 
 that thy brother hath aught against thee," on account of thy unkind 
 behaviour towards him, of thy calling him, Raca, or Thou fool ; think 
 not that thy gift will atone for thy anger ; or that it will find any accept- 
 ance with God, so long as thy conscience is defiled with the guilt of 
 unrepented sin. " Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy 
 way, first be reconciled to thy brother," (at least do all that in thee 
 lies towards being reconciled,) " and then come and offer thy gift," 
 ver. 23, 24. 
 
 1 1. And let there be no delay in whai so ueany concerneth thy soul. 
 '* Agree with thine adversary quickly;" now ; upon the spot; " whiles 
 thou art in the way with him ;" if it be possible, before he go out of thy 
 sight ; " lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge ;" lest he 
 appeal to God, the Judge of all ; " and the Judge deliver thee to the 
 orhcer ;" to Satan, the executioner of the wrath of God ; " and thou be 
 cast into prison ;" into hell, there to be reserved to the judgment of the 
 great day : " Verily, I say unto thee, Thou shall by no means come out 
 thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing." But this it is impos- 
 sible for thee ever to do ; seeing thou hast nothing to pay. Therefore, 
 if thou art once in that prison, the smoke of thy torment must " ascend 
 up for ever and ever." 
 
 12. iMeantime " The meek shall inherit the earth." Such is the fool- 
 ishness of worldly wisdom ! The wise of the world had warned them 
 again and again, " That if they did not resent such treatment, if they 
 would tamely suffer themselves to be thus abused, there would be no 
 living for them upon earth ; that they would never be able to procure the 
 common necessaries of life, nor to keep even what they had ; that they 
 could expect no peace, no quiet possession, no enjoyment of any thing." 
 Mo*t true, suppose there were no God in the world ; or, suppose he 
 did not concern himself with the children of men : but " when God 
 arise! h to judgment, and to help all the meek upon earth," how doth he 
 laugh all this heathen wisdom to scorn, and turn the. " fierceness of man 
 lo his praise !" He takes a peculiar care to provide them with all things
 
 SERMON XXII.] THE SERMON ON TEtfi MOUNT. 217 
 
 needful for life and godliness; he secures to them the provision he 
 hath made, in spite of the force, fraud, or malice of men; and what he 
 secures he gives them richly to enjoy. It is sweet to them, be it little 
 or much. As in patience they possess their souls, so they truly possess, 
 whatever God hath given them. They are always content, always 
 pleased with what they have : it pleases them, because it pleases God : 
 so that while their heart, their desire, their joy is in heaven, they may 
 truly be said to " inherit the earth." 
 
 13. But there seems to be a yet farther meaning in these words, even 
 that they shall have a more eminent part in " the new earth, wherein 
 dwellelh righteousness ;" in that inheritance, a general description of 
 which (and the particulars we shall know hereafter) St. John hath given 
 in the 20th chapter of the Revelation : " And I saw an angel come 
 down from heaven, and he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, 
 and bound him a thousand years. And I saw the souls of them (hat 
 were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and ot 
 them which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither 
 had received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hand 1 * ; and they 
 lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the 
 dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is 
 the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first 
 resurrection : on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be 
 priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. 
 .II. 1. Our Lord has hitherto been more immediately employed in 
 removing the hinderances of true religion : such is pride, the first, 
 grand hinderance of all religion, which is taken away by poverty of 
 spirit ; levity and thoughtlessness, which prevent any religion from 
 taking root in the soul, till they are removed by holy mourning ; such 
 are anger, impatience, discontent, which are all healed by Christian 
 meekness. And when once these hinderances are removed, these evil 
 diseases of the soul, which were continually raising false cravings 
 therein, and filling it with sickly appetites, the native appetite of a 
 heaven born spirit returns; it hungers and thirsts after righteousness: 
 and, " Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness ; 
 for they shall be filled." 
 
 2. Righteousness, as was observed before, is the image of God, the 
 mind which was in Christ Jesus. It is every holy and heavenly temper 
 in one ; springing from, as well as terminating in, the love of God as 
 our Father and Redeemer, and the love of all men for his sake. 
 
 3. " Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after'* this : In 
 order fully to understand which expression, we should observe, first, 
 that hunger and thirst are the strongest of all our bodily appetites. In 
 like manner this hunger in the soul, this thirst after the image of God, 
 is the strongest of all our spiritual appetites, when it is once awakened 
 in the heart : yea, it swallows up all the rest in that one great desire, 
 to be renewed after the likeness of him that created us. We should, 
 secondly, observe, That from the time we begin to hunger and thirst, 
 those appetites do not cease, but are more and more craving and im- 
 portunate till we either eat and drink, or die. And even so, from the 
 lime that we begin to hunger and thirst after the whole mind which 
 was in Christ, these spiritual appetites do not cease, but cry after their 
 food with more and more importunity ; nor can they possibly cease.
 
 218 SECOND DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXII. 
 
 before they are satisfied, while there is any spiritual life remaining. 
 We may, thirdly, observe, That hunger and thirst are satisfied with 
 nothing but meat and drink. It' you would give to him that is hungry 
 ,all the world besi-de, all the elegance of apparel, all the trappings of 
 state, all the treasure upon earth, yea, thousands of gold and silver ; if 
 you would pay him ever so much honour ; he regards it not : all these 
 things are then of no account with him. He would still say, These 
 are not the things I want : give me food, or else I die. The very same 
 .s the case with every soul that truly hungers and thirsts after righteous- 
 ness. He can find no comfort in any thing but this : he can be satis- 
 fied with nothing else. Whatever you offer besides, it is lightly 
 esteemed : whether it be riches, or honour, or pleasure, he still says, 
 This is not the tiling which I want ! Give me love, or else I die ! 
 
 4. And it is as impossible to satisfy such a soul, a soul that is athirst 
 for God, the living God, with what the world accounts religion, as with 
 what they account happiness. The religion of the world implies three 
 things : 1. The doing no harm, the abstaining from outward sin ; at 
 least from such as is scandalous, as robbery, theft, common swearing, 
 drunkenness. 2. The doing good, the relieving the poor; the being 
 charitable, as it is called. 3. The using the means of grace ; at least 
 the going to church and to the Lord's supper. He, in whom these 
 three marks are found, is termed by the world a religious man. But 
 will this satisfy him who hungers after God 1 No : It is not food for 
 his soul. He wants a religion of a nobler kind, a religion higher and 
 deeper than this. He can no more feed on this poor, shallow, formal 
 thing, than he can " fill his belly with the east wind." True, he is 
 careful to abstain from the very appearance of evil ; he is zealous of 
 good works ; he attends all the ordinances of God : but all this is not 
 what he longs for. This is only the outside of that religion, which he 
 insatiably hungers after. The knowledge of Go'l in Christ Jesus; 
 " the life which is hid with Christ in God ;" the being "joined unto 
 the Lord in one spirit ;" the having " fellowship with the Father and 
 the Son ;" the " walking in the light as God is in the light ;" the being 
 " purified even as he is pure ;" this is the religion, the righteousness. 
 he thirsts after : nor can he rest, till he thus rests in God. 
 
 5. " Blessed are they who [thus] hunger and thirst after righteous- 
 ness : for they shall be filled." They shall be filled with the things 
 which they long for; even with righteousness and true holiness. God 
 shall satisfy them with the blessings of his goodness, with the felicity 
 of his chosen. He shall feed them with the bread of heaven, with the 
 manna of his love. lie shall give them to drink of his pleasures as out 
 of tlie river, which he that drinketh of shall never thirst, only for more 
 and more of the water of life. This thirst shall endure for ever 
 
 " The painful thirst, the fond desire, 
 
 Thy jiyous presence shall remove : 
 But. my full soul shall s; ill require 
 A whole eternity of love.'" 
 
 6. Whosoever then thou art, to whom God hath given to " hungei 
 and thirst after righteousness," cry unto him that thou mayest never 
 lose that inestimable gift, that this divine appetite may never c< j ase 
 If many rebuke thee, and bid thee hold thy peace, regard them not; 
 yea, cry so much the more, " Jesus, Master, have mercy on me !"
 
 SERMON XXII.] TUB SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 219' 
 
 Let me not live, but to be holy as thou art holy !" No more ' spend 
 thy money for that which is not bread, nor thy labour for that which 
 salisfieth not." Canst thou hope to dig happiness out of the earth, 
 to find it in the things of the world 7 O trample under foot all its 
 pleasures, despise its honours, count its riches as dung and dross, 
 yea, and all the things which are beneath the sun, " for the excellency 
 of the knowledge of Christ Jesus," for the entire renewal of thy soul in 
 that image of God wherein it was originally created. Beware of quench- 
 ing that blessed hunger and thirst, by what the world calls religion ; a 
 religion of form, of outside show, which leaves the heart as earthly aud 
 sensual as ever. Let nothing satisfy thee but the power of godliness, 
 but a religion that is spirit and life ; thy dwelling in God and God in 
 thee ; the being an inhabitant of eternity ; the entering in by the blood 
 of sprinkling " within the vail," and sitting " in heavenly places with 
 Christ Jesus." 
 
 III. 1. And the more they are filled with the life of God, the more 
 tenderlv will they be concerned for those who are still without God in 
 the world, still dead in trespasses and sins. Nor shall this concern for 
 others lose its reward. " Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain 
 mercy." 
 
 The word used by our Lord more immediately implies the compas- 
 sionate, the tender hearted ; those who, far from despising, earnestly 
 grieve for those that do not hunger after God. This eminent part of 
 brotherly love is here, by a common figure, put for the whole ; so that 
 " the merciful," in the full sense of the term, are they who love their 
 neighbours as themselves. 
 
 2. Because of the vast importance of this love, without which, 
 " though we spake with the tongues of men and angels, though we had 
 the gift of prophecy, and understood all mysteries, and all knowledge, 
 though we had all faith so as to remove mountains ; yea, though we 
 gave all our goods to feed the poor, and our very bodies to be burned, 
 it would profit us nothing," the wisdom of God has given us, by the 
 apostle Paul, a full and particular account of it; by considering which we 
 shall most clearly discern who are the merciful that shall obtain mercy. 
 
 3. " Charity," or love, (as it were to be wished it had been rendered 
 throughout, being a far plainer and less ambiguous word,) the love of 
 our neighbour as Christ hath loved us, " suffereth long ;" is patient 
 towards all men : it suffers all the weakness, ignorance, errors, infirm- 
 ities, all the frowardness and littleness of faith, of the children of 
 Goo ; all the malice and wickedness of the children of the world. 
 And it suffers all this, not only for a time, for a short season, but to 
 the end ; still feeding our enemy when he hungers; if he thirst, still 
 giving him drink ; thus continually " heaping coals of fire," of melting 
 love, " upon his head." 
 
 4. And in every step towards this desirable end, the " overcoming 
 evil with good," " Love is kind :" (xgqfsumu : a word not easily trans- 
 lated :) it is soft, mild, benign. It stands at the utmost distance from 
 moroseness, from all harshness or sourness of spirit ; and inspires the 
 sufferer at once with the most amiable sweetness, and the most fervent 
 and tender affection. 
 
 5. Consequently, " Love envieth not :" it is impossible it should ; it 
 is directly opposite to that baneful temper. It cannot be, thai he who
 
 220 SECOND DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXII. 
 
 has this tender affection to all, who earnestly wishes all temporal and 
 spiritual blessings, all good things in this world and the world to eome, 
 to every soul that God hath made, should be pained at his bestowing 
 any good gift on any child of man. If he has himself received the 
 same, he does not grieve, but rejoice, that another partakes of the 
 common benefit. If ! has not, he blesses God that his brother at 
 least has, and is herein happier than himself. And the greater his 
 love, the more does he rejoice in the blessings of all mankind ; the 
 farther is he removed from every kind and degree of envy towards any 
 creature. 
 
 6. Love * KSMregsveTar not " vaunteth not itself;" which coincides 
 with the very next words ; but rather (as the word likewise properly 
 imports) if nut rash or hasty in judging ; it will not hastily condemn 
 any one. It does not pass a severe sentence, on a slight or sudden 
 view of things : it first weighs all the evidence, particularly that which 
 is brought in favour of the accused. A true lover of his neighbour is 
 not like the generality of men, who, even in cases of the nicest nature, 
 " see a little, presume a great deal, and so jump to the conclusion." 
 No : he proceeds with wariness and circumspection, taking heed to 
 every step ; willingly subscribing to that rule of the ancient heathen, 
 (Oh where will the modern Christian appear !) " I am so far from lightly 
 believing what one man says against another, that I will not easily 
 believe what a man says against himself. I will always allow him 
 second thoughts, and many times counsel too." 
 
 7. It follows, love " is not puffed up :" it does not incline or suffer 
 any man " to think more highly of himself than he ought to think ;" 
 but rather to think soberly : yea, it humbles the soul unto the dust. It 
 destroys all high conceits, engendering pride ; and makes us rejoice to 
 be as nothing, to be little and vile, the lowest of all, the servant of all. 
 They who are " kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love," 
 cannot but " in honour prefer one another." Those who, having the 
 same love, are of one accord, do in lowliness of mind " each esteem 
 other better than themselves." 
 
 8. " It doth not behave itself unseemly :" it is not rude, or willingly 
 offensive to any. It " renders to all their due ; fear to whom fear, 
 honour to whom honour ;" courtesy, civility, humanity to all the world ; 
 in their several degrees " honouring all men." A late writer defines 
 good breeding, nay, the highest degree of it, politeness, " a continual 
 desire to please, appearing in all the behaviour :" but if so, there is none 
 so well bred as a Christian, a lover of all mankind. For he cannot but 
 desire to " please all men for their good to edification :" and this desire 
 cannot be hid ; it will necessarily appear in all his intercourse with 
 men. For his " love is without dissimulation :" it will appear in all his 
 actions and conversation ; yea, and will constrain him, though without 
 guile, to " become all things to all men, if by any means he may save 
 some." 
 
 9. And in becoming all things to all men, " love seeketh not hei 
 own." In striving to please all men, the lover of mankind has no eye 
 at all to his own temporal advantage. He covets no man's silver, or 
 gold, or apparel : he desires nothing but the salvation of their souls : 
 yea, in some sense, he may be said, not to seek his own spiritual, any 
 more than temporal advantage ; for while he is on the full stretch to
 
 SEIIMON XXir.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 221 
 
 ave their souls from death, he, as it were, forgets himself. He does 
 not think of himself, so long as that zeal for the glory of God swallows 
 him up. Nay, at some times he may almost seem, through an excess 
 of love, to give up himself, both his soul and his body ; while he cries 
 out, with Moses, " Oh ! this people have sinned a great sin ; yet now, 
 if thou wilt, forgive their sin ; and if not, blot me out of the book 
 which thou hast written !" Exod. xxxii, 32, 33 : or with St. Paul, " 1 
 could wish that myself were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, mj 
 kinsmen according to the flesh !" Rom. ix, 3. 
 
 10. No marvel that such " love is not provoked :" a iraofuv5u. Let 
 it be observed, the word easily, strangely inserted in the translation, is 
 not in the original. St. Paul's words are absolute. " Love is not pro- 
 voked :" it is not provoked to unkindness towards any one. Occasions 
 indeed will frequently occur ; outward provocations of various kinds ; 
 but love does not yield to provocation ; it triumphs over all. In all trials 
 it looketh unto Jesus, and is more than conqueror in his love. 
 
 It is not improbable that our translators inserted that word, as it were, 
 to excuse the apostle ; who, as they supposed, might otherwise appear 
 to be wanting in the very love which he so beautifully describes. They 
 seem to have supposed this from a phrase in the Acts of the Apostles ; 
 which is likewise very inaccurately translated. When Paul and Bar- 
 nabas disagreed concerning John, the translation runs thus, " And the 
 contention was so sharp between them, that they departed asunder." 
 Acts xv, 39. This naturally induces the reader to suppose, that they 
 were equally sharp therein : that St. Paul, who was undoubtedly right, 
 with regard to the point in question, (it being quite improper to take 
 John with them again, who had deserted them before,) was as much 
 provoked as Barnabas, who gave such a proof of his anger, as to leave 
 the work for which he had been set apart by the Holy Ghost. But the 
 original imports no such thing ; nor does it affirm that St. Paul was 
 provoked at all. It simply says, syevsro ouv jra^utffxo?, " And there 
 was a sharpness," a paroxysm of anger ; in consequence of which Bar- 
 nabas left St. Paul, took John, and went his own way. Paul then " chose 
 Silas, and departed, being recommended by the brethren to the grace of 
 God ;" (which is not said concerning Barnabas ;) " and he went through 
 Syria and Cilicia," as he had proposed, " confirming the churches." 
 But to return. 
 
 11. Love prevents a thousand provocations which would otherwise 
 arise, because it " thinketh no evil." Indeed the merciful man cannot 
 avoid knowing many things that are evil ; he cannot but see them with 
 his own eyes, and hear them with his own ears : for love does not put 
 out his eyes, so that it is impossible for him not to see that such things 
 are done ; neither does it take away his understanding, any more than 
 his senses, so that he cannot but know that they are evil. For instance : 
 when he sees a man strike his neighbour, or hears him blaspheme God 
 he cannot either question the thing done, or the words spoken, or doubt 
 of their being evil. Yet, s Xoyi^e-eu <ro xaxov. The word Xoyi^Wai, 
 (thinketh) does not refer either to our seeing and hearing, or to the first 
 and involuntary acts of our understanding; but to our willingly thinking 
 what we need not ; our inferring evil, where it does not appear ; to our 
 reasoning concerning things which we do not see ; our supposing what 
 we have neither seen nor heard. This is what true love absolutely
 
 SECOND DISCOURSE UPON [SEEMON XXII. 
 
 destroys. It tears up, root and branch, all imagining what we have not 
 known. It casts out all jealousies, all evil surmisings, all readiness to 
 believe evil. It is frank, open, unsuspicious; and, as it cannot design, 
 so neither does it fear evil. 
 
 12. It " rejoiceth not in iniquity ;" common as this is, even among 
 (hose who bear the name of Christ, who scruple not iO rejoice ovei 
 i heir enemy, when he falleth either into affliction, or eiroi, or ein. 
 Indeed how hardly can they avoid this, who are zealously attached t 
 any party 1 How difficult is it for them not to be pleased with any fau't 
 which they discover in those of the opposite party, with any real or 
 supposed blemish, either in their principles or practice? What warm 
 defender of any cause is clear of these ? Yea, who is so calm, as to be 
 altogether free ? Who does not rejoice when his adversary makes a 
 false step, which he thinks will advantage his own cause ? Only a man 
 of love. He alone weeps over either the sin or folly of his enemy, takes 
 no pleasure in hearing or in repeating it, but rather desires that it may 
 be forgotten for ever. 
 
 13. But he " rejoiceth in the xruth," wheresoever it is found ; in " the 
 truth which is after godliness;" bringing forth its proper fruit, holi- 
 ness of heart, and holiness of conversation. He rejoices to find, that 
 even those who oppose him, whether with regard to opinions, or some 
 points of practice, are nevertheless lovers of God, and in other respects 
 unreprovable. He is glad to hear good of them, and to speak all he can 
 consistently with truth and justicet Indeed, good in general is his 
 glory and joy, wherever diffused throughout the race of mankind. As 
 a citizen of the world, he claims a share in the happiness of all the 
 inhabitants of it. Because he is a man, he is not unconcerned in the 
 welfare of any man ; but enjoys whatsoever brings glory to God, and 
 promotes peace and good will among men. 
 
 14. This " love covereth all things :" (so, without all doubt, iravra 
 ffrsysi should be translated ; for otherwise it would be the very same 
 with iravTa jiro^svst, endureth all things:) because the merciful man 
 rejoiceth not in iniquity, neither does he willingly make mention of it. 
 Whatever evil he sees, hears, or knows, he nevertheless conceals, so 
 far as he can, without making himself " partaker of other men's sins." 
 Wheresoever or with whomsoever he is, if he sees any thing which he 
 approves not, it goes not out of his Lps, unless to the person concerned, 
 if haply he may gain his brother. So far is he from making the faults 
 or failings of others the matter of his conversation, that of the absent 
 he never does speak at all, unless he can speak well. A tale bearer, a 
 backbiter, a whisperer, an evil speaker, is to him all one as a murderer. 
 He would just as soon cut his neighbour's throat, as thus murder his 
 reputation. Just as soon would he think of diverting himself by setting 
 fire to his neighbour's house, as of thus " scattering abroad arrows, fire 
 brands, and death," and saying, " Am I not in sport 1" 
 
 He makes one only exception. Sometimes he is convinced, that it 
 is for the glory of God, or (which comes to the same) the good of his 
 neighbour, that an evil should not be covered. In this case, for the 
 benefit of the innocent, he is constrained to declare the guilty. But 
 e\en here, 1. He will not speak at all, till love, superior love, constrains 
 him. 2. He cannot do it from a general confused view of doing good, 
 or promoting the glory of God, but from a clear sight of some particular
 
 SERMON X3.1I.J THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 223 
 
 end, some determinate good which he pursues. 3. Still he cannot 
 speak, unless he be fully convinced, that this very means is necessary 
 to that end ; that f he end cannot be answered, at least not so effectually, 
 by any otner way. 4. He then doeth it with the utmost sorrow and 
 rel'ictance ; using it as the last and worst medicine, a desperate remedy 
 In a desperate case, a kind of poison never to be used but to expel 
 poison. Consequently, 5. He uses it as sparingly as possible. And 
 this he doer, with fear and trembling, lest he should transgress the law 
 of love by speaking too much, more than he would have done by not 
 speaking at all. 
 
 15. Love " believeth all things." It is always willing to think the 
 best ; to put the most favourable construction on every thing. It is ever 
 ready to believe whatever may tend to the advantage of any one's char- 
 acter. It is easily convinced of (what it earnestly desires) the innocence 
 or integrity of any man ; or, at least, of the sincerity of kis repentance, 
 if he had once erred from the way. It is glad to excuse whatever is 
 amiss ; to condemn the offender as little as possible ; and to make all 
 the allowance for human weakness, which can be done without betray- 
 ing the truth of God. 
 
 lo. And when it can no longer believe, then love '* hopeth all things." 
 Is any evil related of any man ? Love hopes that the relation is not true, 
 that the thing related was never done. Is it certain it was ? " But per- 
 haps it was not done with such circumstances as are related ; so thai 
 allowing the fact, there is room to hope it was not so ill as it is repre- 
 sented." Was the action apparently, undeniably evil ? Love hopes the 
 intention was not so. Is it clear the design was evil too ? " Yet might 
 it not spring from the settled temper of the heart, but from a start ol 
 passion, or from some vehement temptation, which hurried the man 
 beyond himself!" And even when it cannot be doubted, but all the 
 actions, designs, and tempers are equally evil ; still love hopes that God 
 will at last make bare his arm, and get himself the victory ; and that 
 there shall be " joy in heaven over [this] one sinner that repenteth, 
 more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance." 
 17. Lastly: It " endureth all things." This completes the charactei 
 of him that is truly merciful. He endureth not some, not many things 
 only, not most, but absolutely all things. Whatever the injustice, the 
 malice, the cruelty of men can inflict, he is able to suffer. He calls 
 nothing intolerable ; he never says of any thing, " This is not to be 
 borne." No: he can not only do but suffer all things through Christ 
 which strengthened! him. And all he suffers does not destroy his love, 
 nor impair it in the least. It is proof against all. It is a flame that burns 
 even in the midst of the great deep. " Many waters cannot quench" his 
 " love, neither can the floods drown it." It triumphs over all. It ' never 
 failelh," either in time or in eternity. 
 
 " Thus In obedience to what Heaven decrees, 
 
 Knowledge shall fail, and prophecy shall cease ; 
 
 But lasting charity's more ample sway, 
 
 Nor bound by time, nor subject to decay, 
 
 In happy triumph shall for ever live, 
 
 And endless good diffuse, and endless praise receive." 
 So shall "the merciful obtain mercy;" not only by the blessing of 
 God upon all their ways, by his now repaying the love they bear to tneir 
 brethren a thousand fold into their own bosom ; but likewise by " an
 
 224 SECOND DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXII. 
 
 exceeding and eternal weight of glory," in the " kingdom prepared for 
 them from the beginning of the world." 
 
 18. For a little while you may say, " Wo is me that I am constrained 
 to dwell with Mesech, and to have my habitation among the tents ol 
 Kedar !" You may pour out your soul, and bemoan the loss of true, 
 genuine love in the earth : Lost indeed ! You may well say, (but not 
 in the ancient sense,) " See how these Christians love one another!" 
 These Christian kingdoms, that are tearing out each other's bowels, 
 desolating one another with fire and sword ! These Christian armies, 
 that are sending each other by thousands, by ten thousands, quick into 
 hell ! These Christian nations that are all on fire with intestine broils, 
 party against party, faction against faction ! These Christian cities, 
 where deceit and fraud, oppression and wrong, yea, robbery and mur- 
 der, go not out of their streets ! These Christian families, torn asunder 
 with envy, jealousy, anger, domestic jars, without number, without end ! 
 Yea, what is most dreadful, most to be lamented of all, these Christian 
 churches ! Churches (" tell it not in Gath," but, alas ! how can we 
 hide it, either from Jews, Turks, or Pagans ?) that bear the name of 
 Christ, the Prince of peace, and wage continual war with each other ! 
 that convert sinners by burning them alive ! that are " drunk with the 
 blood of the saints !" Does this praise belong only to " Babylon the 
 great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth?" Nay, verily ; 
 but reformed churches (so called) have fairly learned to tread in her 
 steps. Protestant churches too know to persecute, when they have 
 power in their hands, even unto blood. And meanwhile, how do they 
 also anathematize each other ! Devote each other to the nethermost 
 hell ! What wrath, what contention, what malice, what bitterness, is 
 every where found among them, even where they agree in essentials, 
 and only differ in opinions, or in the circumstantials of religion ! Who 
 follows after only the " things that make for peace, and things where- 
 with one may edify another ?" O God ! how long 1 Shall thy promise 
 fail ? Fear it not, ye little flock ! Against hope, believe in hope ! It is 
 your Father's good pleasure yet to renew the face of the earth. Surely 
 all these things shall come to an end, and the inhabitants of the earth 
 shall learn righteousness. " Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, 
 neither shall they know war any more." " The mountain of the Lord's 
 house shall be established on the top of the mountains ;" and " all the 
 kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our God." " They 
 shall not [then] hurt or destroy in all his holy mountain ;" but they shall 
 call [their] " walls salvation, and [their] gates praise." They shall all 
 be without spot or blemish, loving one another, even as Christ hath loved 
 us. Be thou part of the first fruits, if the harvest is not yet. Do thou 
 love /ny neighbour as thyself. The Lord God fill thy heart with such 
 a love to every soul, that thou mayest be ready to lay down thy life for 
 his sake ! May thy soul continually overflow with love, swallowing up 
 every unkind and unholy temper, till he calleth thee up into the region 
 of iove. there to reign with him for ever and ever !
 
 SERMON XXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNt. 225 
 
 SERMON XXIII. Upon our Lord's Swmon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE III. 
 
 " Blessed are the pure in heart : for they shall see God. 
 
 " Blessed are the peace makers : for they shall be called the children of God 
 
 " Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake : for tlicira is 
 die kingdom of heaven. 
 
 " Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say 
 all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. 
 
 " Rejoice, and be exceeding glad : for great is your reward in heaven : for so 
 persecuted they the prophets which were before you," Matt, v, 8-12. 
 
 1. 1. How excellent things are spoken of the love of our neighbour ! 
 It is " the fulfilling of the law," " the end of the commandment." With- 
 out this, all we have, all we do, all we suffer, is of no value in the sight 
 of God. But it is that love of our neighbour which springs from the 
 love of God : otherwise itself is nothing worth. It behoves us, there- 
 fore, to examine well upon what foundation our love of our neighbour 
 stands ; whether it is realty built upon the love of God ; whether we do 
 " love him because he first loved us;" whether we are pure in heart: for 
 this is the foundation which shall never be moved. " Blessed are the 
 pure in heart : for they shall see God." 
 
 2. " The pure in heart," are they whose hearts God hath " purified 
 even as he is pure ;" who are purified through faith in the blood of 
 Jesus, from every unholy affection ; who, being " cleansed from all filth- 
 iness of flesh and spirit, perfect holiness in the [loving] fear of God.' r 
 They are, through the power of his grace, purified from pride, by the 
 deepest poverty of spirit ; from anger, from every unkind or turbulent 
 passion, by meekness and gentleness ; from every desire but to please 
 and enjoy God, to know and love him more and more, by that hunger 
 and thirst after righteousness, which now engrosses their whole soul. : 
 so that now they love the Lord their God with all their heart, and with 
 all their soul, and mind, and strength. 
 
 3. But how little has this purity of heart been regarded by the false 
 teachers of all ages ! They have taught men barely to abstain from such 
 outward impurities as God hath forbidden by name ; but they did not 
 strike at the heart ; and by not guarding against, they in effect counte- 
 nanced inward corruptions. 
 
 A remarkable instance of this, our Lord has given us in the following 
 words : " Ye have heard, that it was said by them of old time, Thou shall 
 not commit adultery," ver. 27; and, in explaining this, those blind 
 leaders of the blind only insisted on men's abstaining from the outward 
 act. " But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust 
 after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart," ver 
 28 ; for God requireth truth in the inward parts ; he searcheth the heart, 
 and trieth the reins ; and if thou incline unto iniquity with thj heart, 
 the Lord will not hear thee. 
 
 4. And God admits no excuse for retaining any thing which is an occa 
 sion of impurity. Therefore " If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, 
 and cast from thee : for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members 
 should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell," 
 ver 29. If persons, as dear to thee as thy right eye, be an occasion of
 
 226 THIRD DISCOURSE UPON [shRMON XXIII. 
 
 thy thus offending God, a means of exciting unholy desire in thy soul, 
 deiav not, forcibly separate from them. " And if thy right hand offend 
 ihee, cut it off and cast from thee : for it is profitable for thee that one 
 of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be 
 cast into Lell," ver. 30. If any, who seem as necessary to inee as thy 
 right hand, be an occasion of sin, of impure desire ; even though it were 
 never to go beyond the heart, never to break out in word or action ; 
 constrain thyself to an entire and final parting : cut them off at a stroke 
 give them up to God. Any loss, whether of pleasure, or substance, or 
 friends, is preferable to the loss of thy soul. 
 
 Two steps only it may not be improper to take, before such an abso- 
 lute and final separation. First, Try whether the unclean spirit may 
 not be driven out by fasting and prayer, and by carefully abstaining 
 from every action, and word, and look, which thou hast found to be an 
 occasion of evil. Secondly, If thou art not by this means delivered, ask 
 counsel of him that vvatcheth over thy soul, or, at least, of some who 
 have experience in the ways of God, touching the time and manner of 
 that separation ; but confer not with flesh and blood, lest thou be " given 
 up to a strong delusion to believe a lie." 
 
 5. Nor may marriage itself, holy and honourable as it is, be used as 
 a pretence for giving a loose to our desires. Indeed, " It hath been said, 
 whosoever will put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorce- 
 ment:" and then all was well; though he alleged no cause but thai 
 he did not like her, or liked another better. " But I say unto you, That 
 whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication," 
 (that is, adultery; the word nopvsia signifying unchastity in general, 
 either in the married or unmarried state,) " causeth her to commit 
 adultery," if she marry again: "and whosoever shall marry her that 
 .is put away committeth adultery," ver. 31, 32. 
 
 All polygamy is clearly forbidden in these words, wherein our Lord 
 expressly declares, that for any woman who has a husband alive, to 
 marry again is adultery. By parity of reason, it is adultery for any man 
 ;to marry again, so long as he has a wife alive, yea, although they were 
 divorced ; unless that divorce had been for the cause of adultery : in that 
 only case there is no scripture which forbids the innocent person to 
 marry again. 
 
 Such is the purity of heart which God requires, and works in those 
 who believe on the Son of his love. And " blessed are" they who are 
 thus " pure in heart, for they shall see God." He will " manifest himselJ 
 unto them," not only " as he doth not unto the world," but as he doth not 
 always to his own children. He will bless them with the clearest com- 
 munications of his Spirit, the most intimate " fellowship with the Father 
 and with the Son." He will cause his presence to go continually before 
 them, and the light of his countenance to shine upon them. It is the 
 ceaseless prayer of their heart, " I beseech thee, show me thy glory ;" 
 and they have the petition they ask of him. They now see him by faith, 
 (the veil of flesh being made, as it were transparent,) even in these his 
 lowest works, in all that surrounds them, in all that God has created 
 and made. They see him in the height above, and in the depth beneath ; 
 they see him filling all in all. The pure in heart see all things full ol 
 God. They see him in the firmament of heaven ; in the moon, walk- 
 ing in brightness ; in the su:i, when he rejoiceth as a giant to run hie
 
 SERMON XXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 227 
 
 course. They see him '* making the clouds his chariots, and walking 
 upon the wings of the wind." They see him " preparing rain for the 
 earth, and blessing the increase of ii ; giving grass for the cattle, and 
 green herb for the use of man." They see the Creator of all, wisely 
 governing all, and " upholding all things by the word of his power." 
 '' Oh Lord, our Governor, how excellent is thy name in all the world !" 
 
 7. In "all his providences relating to themselves, to their souls or 
 bodies, the pure in heart do more particularly see God. They see his 
 hand ever over them for good; giving them all things in weight and 
 measure, numbering the hairs of their head, making a hedge round 
 about them, and all that they have, and disposing all the circumstances 
 of their life, according to the depth both of his wisdom and mercy. 
 
 8. But in a more especial manner they see God in his ordinances. 
 Whether they appear in the great congregation, to " pay him the honour 
 due unto his name," " and worship him in the beauty of holiness ;" or 
 " enter into their closets," and there pour out their souls before their 
 " Father which is in secret ;" whether they search the oracles of God, 
 or hear the ambassadors of Christ proclaiming glad tidings of salvation ; 
 or by eating of that bread, and drinking of that cup, " show forth hi? 
 death till he come" in the clouds of heaven ; in all these his appointed 
 ways, they find such a near approach as cannot be expressed. They 
 see him, as it were, face to face, and "talk with him, as a mai> 
 talketh with his friend ;" a fit preparation for those mansions above 
 wherein they shall see him as he is. 
 
 9. But how far were they from seeing God, who having heard, " thai 
 it had been said by them of old time, ver. 33, Thou shall not forswear 
 thyself, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths;" interpreted il 
 thus, Thou shall not forswear thyself, when thou swearest by the Lord 
 Jehovah. Thou " shall perform unto the Lord [these] thine oaths :" 
 but as to other oaths, he regardeth ihem not. 
 
 So the Pharisees taught. They not only allowed all manner ol 
 swearing in common conversation ; but accounted even forswearing a 
 litlle thing, so they had not sworn by the peculiar name of God. 
 
 But our Lord here absolutely forbids all common swearing, as well as 
 all false swearing; and shows the heinousness of both by the same awful 
 consideration, Thai every crealure is God's, and he is every where 
 present, in all, and over all. " I say unto you, Swear not at all ; neither 
 by heaven, for it is God's throne," ver. 34 ; and therefore this is the 
 same as to swear by him who sitteth upon the circle of the heavens : 
 " Nor by the earth ; for it is his footslool," ver. 35 ; and he is as inti- 
 mately present in earth as heaven : " Neither by Jerusalem ; for it is 
 the city of the great King ;" and God is well known in her palaces. 
 " Neither shall ihou swear by thy head ; because thou canst not make 
 one hair white or Mack," ver. 36 : because even this, it is plain, is not 
 thine, but God's, the sole disposer of ali in heaven and earlh. " But 
 lei your comihunicalion," ver. 37, your conversation, your discourse 
 will) each other, " be yea, yea ; nay, nay ;" a bare, serious affirming or 
 denying; "for whalsoever is more lhan thf-se comelh of evil :" ex it, 
 rovrjpj! griv is of the evil one ; proceedelh from the devil, and is a mark 
 of his children. 
 
 10. That our Lord does not here forbid the " swearing in judgment 
 tuid trulh," when we are required so to do by a magistrate, may appear,
 
 228 THIRD DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIII. 
 
 1. From ihe occasion of this part of his discourse, the abuse he waa 
 here reproving, which was false swearing, ana common swearing ; the 
 swearing before a magistrate being quite out oi'the question. 2. From 
 the very words wherein he forms the general conclusion: "Let your com- 
 munication," or discourse, " be yea, yea; nay, rray." 3. From his own 
 example ; for he answered himself upon oath, when required by a magis- 
 trate. When the high priest said unto him, " I adjure thee by the living 
 God, that thou tell us. whether thou be the Christ, the Son of God ;" 
 Jesus immediately answered in the affirmative, " Thou hast said ;" (i. e. 
 the truth ;) " nevertheless," (or rather, moreover,) " I say unto you, 
 hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, 
 and coming in the clouds of heaven," Matt, xxvi, 63, 64. 4. From the 
 example of God, even the Father, who, " willing more abundantly to 
 show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, con- 
 firmed it by an oath," Heb. vi, 17. 5. From the example of St. Paul, 
 who we think had the Spirit of God, and well understood the mind of 
 his Master. " Goil is my witness," saith he, to the Romans, " that with- 
 out ceasing, I make mention of you always in my prayers," Rom. i, 9 : 
 to the Corinthians, " I call God to record upon my soul, that to spare 
 you, I came not as yet unto Corinth," 2 Cor. i, 23 : and to the Philip- 
 pians, " God is my record, how greatly I long after you, in the bowels of 
 Jesus Christ," Phil, i, 8. Hence it undeniably appears, that if the apostlo 
 knew the meaning of his Lord's words, they do not forbid swearing on 
 weighty occasions, even to one another : how much less before a magis- 
 trate ! And, lastly, from that assertion of the great apostle, concerning 
 solemn swearing in general : (which it is impossible he could have men 
 tioned without any touch of blame, if his Lord had totally forbidden it:) 
 " Men verily swear by the greater : [by one greater than themselves :] 
 and an oath for confirmation is to them the end of all strife," Heb. vi, 16. 
 
 11. But the great lesson which our blessed Lord inculcates here, 
 and which he illustrates by this example, is, that God is in all things, 
 and that we are to see the Creator in the glass of every creature ; that 
 we should use and look upon nothing as separate from God, which 
 indeed is a kind of practical atheism ; but with a true magnificence of 
 thought, survey heaven and earth, and all that is therein, as contained 
 by God in the hollow of his hand, who by his intimate presence holds 
 them all in being, who pervades and actuates the whole created frame, 
 and is, in a true sense, the soul of the universe. 
 
 II. 1. Thus far our Lord has been more directly employed in 
 teaching the religion of the heart. He has shown what Christians are 
 to oe. He proceeds to show, what they are to do also ; how inward 
 holiness is to exert itself in our outward conversation. " Blessed," 
 satth he, " are the peace makers : for they shall be called the children 
 of God." 
 
 2. " The peace makers :" the word in the original is 01 SI^VO-TOIOI. It 
 is well known that ei^vr), in the sacred writings, implies all manner of 
 good ; every blessing that relates either to the soul or the body, to time 
 or eternity. Accordingly when St. Paul, in the titles of his epistles, 
 wishes grace and peace to the Romans or the Corinthians, it is as if 
 he had said, " As a fruit of the free, undeserved love and favour of God, 
 may you enjoy all blessings, spiritual and temporal ; all the good things 
 which God hath prepared for them that love him."
 
 SERMON XXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 229 
 
 3. Hence we may easily learn, in how widn a sense the term peace 
 makers is to be understood. In its literal meaning it implies, those 
 lovers of God and man, who utterly detest and abhor all strife and 
 debate, all variance and contention ; and accordingly labour with all 
 their might, either to prevent this fire of hell from being kindled, or, 
 when it is kindled, from breaking out, or, when it is broke out, from 
 spreading any farther. They endeavour to calm the stormy spirits of 
 men, to quiet their turbulent passions, to soften the minds of contending 
 parties, and, if possible, reconcile them to each other. They use all 
 innocent arts, and employ all their strength, all the talents which God 
 has given them, as well to preserve peace where it is, as to restore it 
 where it is not. It is the joy of their heart to promote, to confirm, to 
 increase, mutual good will among men, but more especially among the 
 children of God, however distinguished by things of smaller import- 
 ance ; that as they have all " one Lord, one faith," as they are all 
 " called in one hope of their calling," so they may all " walk worthy 
 01' the vocation wherewith they are called ; with all lowliness and 
 meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love ; endea- 
 vouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." 
 
 4. But, in the full extent of the word, a peace maker is one that, as 
 lie hath opportunity, " doeth good unto all men ;" one that, being filled 
 with the love of God and of all mankind, cannot confine the expressions 
 of it to his own family, or friends, or acquaintance, or party, or to those 
 of his own opinions, no, nor those who are partakers of like precious 
 faith ; but steps over all these narrow bounds, that he may do good to 
 every man, that he may, some way or other, manifest his love to neigh- 
 bours and strangers, friends and enemies. He doeth good to them all, 
 as he hath opportunity, that is, on every possible occasion ; " redeeming 
 the time," in order thereto; buying up every opportunity, improving 
 every hour, losing no moment wherein he may profit another. He does 
 good, not of one particular kind, but good in general, in every possible 
 way ; employing herein all his talents of every kind, all his powers and 
 faculties of body and soul, all his fortune, his interest, his reputation ; 
 desiring only, that when his Lord cometh, he may say, " Well done, 
 good and faithful servant!" 
 
 5. He doeth good, to the uttermost of his power, even to the bodies 
 of all men. He rejoices to " deal his bread to the hungry," and to 
 " cover the naked with a garment." Is any a stranger ? He takes him 
 in, and relieves him according to his necessities. Are any sick or in 
 prison ? He visits them, and administers such help as they stand most 
 in need of. And all this he does, not as unto man ; but remembering 
 him that hath said, " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least 
 of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
 
 6. How much more does he rejoice, if he can do any good to the 
 soul of any man ! This power indeed belongeth unto God. It is he 
 only that changes the heart, without which every other change is 
 lighter than vanity. Nevertheless, it pleases him who worketh all in 
 all, to help man chiefly by man ; to convey his own power, and blessing, 
 and love, through one man to another. Therefore, although it be cer- 
 tain that "the help which is done upon earth, God doeth it himself;" 
 vet has no man need, on this account, to stand idle in his vineyard. 
 The peace maker cannot : he is ever labouring therein, and, as an
 
 230 THIRD DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIII. 
 
 instrument in God's hand, preparing the ground for his Master's use, 
 or sowing the seed of the kingdom, or watering what is already sown, 
 if haply God may give the increase. According to the measure of grace 
 which he has received, he uses all diligence, either to reprove the 
 gross sinner, to reclaim those who run on headlong in the broad way of 
 destruction ; or " to give light to thun tnat sit in darkness," and are 
 toady to " perish for lack of knowledge ;" or to " support the weak, to 
 lift up the hands that hang down, and the feeble knees ;" or to bring 
 hack and heal that which was lame and turned out of the way. Nor is 
 ho less zealous to confirm those who are already striving to enter in at 
 the strait gate ; to strengthen those that stand, that they may " run 
 with patience the race which is set before them ;" to build up in their 
 most holy faith those that know in whom they have believed ; to exhort 
 them to stir up the gift of God which is in them, that, daily growing in 
 grace, " an entrance may be ministered unto them abundantly into the 
 everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 7. " Blessed" are they who are thus continually employed in the 
 work of faith and the labour of love ; " for they shall be called," that is, 
 shall be, (a con.mon Hebraism,) " the children of God." God shall 
 continue unto them the spirit of adoption, yea, shall pour it more 
 abundantly into their hearts. He shall bless them with all the blessings 
 of his children. He shall acknowledge them as sons before angels and 
 mien; " and, if sons, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with 
 Christ." 
 
 111. 1. One would imagine such a person as has been above described, 
 so full of genuine humility, so unaffectedly serious, so mild and gentle, 
 o free from all selfish design, so devoted to God, and such an active 
 lover of men, should be the darling of mankind. But our Lord was 
 better acquainted with human nature in its present state. He therefore 
 closes the character of this man of God, with showing him the treat- 
 ment he is to expect in the world. " Blessed," saith he, " are they 
 which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom 
 of heaven." 
 
 2. In order to understand this throughly, let us first inquire, Who 
 are they that are persecuted ? And this we may easily learn from St 
 Paul : " As of old, ho. that was born after the flesh persecuted him that 
 was born after the Spirit, even so it is now," Gal. iv, 29. " Yea," saith 
 the apostle, " and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall surTei 
 persecution," 2 Tim. iii, 12. The same we are taught by St. John 
 " Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we 
 have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren," 1 John 
 iii, 13, 14. As if he had said, the brethren, the Christians cannot be 
 loved, but by them who have passed from death unto life. And most 
 expressly, by our Lord : " If the world hate you, ye know that it hated 
 me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love 
 his own ; but because ye are not of the world, therefore the world 
 hatetl. you. Remember the word that I said unlo you, The servant is 
 not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also 
 persecute you," John xv, 19, &,c. 
 
 By ali these scriptures it manifestly appears who they are that are 
 persecuted : namely, the righteous : he " that is born of the Spirit ;" 
 " all that will live godly in Christ Je-?us ;" they that are " passed from
 
 SERMON XXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 231 
 
 death unto life ;" those who are " not of the world ;" all those who ar 
 meek and lowly in heart, that mourn for God, that hunger after his 
 likeness ; all that love God and their neighbour, and therefore as they 
 have opportunity do good unto all men. 
 
 o. If it be, secondly, inquired, Why they are persecuted ? The answer 
 is equally plain and obvious. It is " for righteousness' sake :" because 
 they are righteous: because they are born after the Spirit: because 
 they " will live godly in Christ Jesus :" because they " are not of the 
 world." Whatever may be pretended, this is the real cause : be their 
 innrmities more or less, still, if it were not for this, they would be borne 
 with, and the world would love its own. They are persecuted, bocause 
 they are poor in spirit; that is, say the world, " Poor spirited, mean, 
 dastardly souls, good for nothing, not fit to live in the world :" because 
 they mourn ; " They are such dull, heavy, lumpish creatures, enough 
 to sink any one's spirits that sees them ! They are mere death heads ; 
 they kill innocent mirth, and spoil company wherever they come :" 
 because they are me.ek; " Tame, passive fools, just fit to be trampled 
 upon :" because they hunger and thirst after righteousness ; " a parcel 
 of hot brained enthusiasts, gaping after they know not what, not con- 
 tent with rational religion, but running mad after raptures and inward 
 feelings :" because they are merciful, lovers of all, lovers of the evil 
 and unthankful; " Encouraging all manner of wickedness ; nay, tempt- 
 ing people to do mischief by impunity : and men who, it is to be feared, 
 have their own religion still to seek : very loose in their principles :" 
 because they are pure in lieart ; " Uncharitable creatures, that damn 
 all the world, but those that are of their own sort! Blasphemous wretches, 
 that pretend to make God a liar, to live without sin !" Above all, because 
 they are peace makers ; because they take all opportunities of doing good 
 to all men : this is the grand reason why they have been persecuted in 
 all ages, and will be till the restitution of ail things : " If they would bul 
 keep their religion to themselves it would be tolerable. But it is this-- 
 spreading their errors, this infecting so many others, which is not to be 
 endured. They do so much mischief in the world, that they ought to 
 be tolerated no longer. It is true, the mqn do some things well enough ; 
 they relieve some of the poor. But this, too, is only done to gain the 
 more to their party; and so, in effect, to do the more mischief!" Thus 
 the men of the world sincerely think and speak. And the more the 
 kingdom of God prevails, the more the peace makers are enabled to 
 propagate lowliness, meekness, and all other divine tempers, the more 
 mischief is done, in their account : consequently, the more are they 
 enraged against the authors of this, and the more vehemently will they 
 persecute them. 
 
 4. Let us, thirdly, inquire, Who are they that persecute them ? St 
 Paul answers, " He that is born after the flesh :" every one who is not 
 " born of the Spirit," or at least desirous so to be: all that do not at 
 least labour to " live godly in Christ Jesus;" all that are not " passed 
 from death unto life," and, consequently, cannot " love the brethren ;" 
 u the world," that is, according to our Saviour's account, " they who 
 know not him that sent me ;" they who know not God, even the loving, 
 pardoning God, by the teaching of his own Spirit. 
 
 The reason is plain : the spirit which is in the world is directly 
 opposite to the Spirit which is of God. It must therefore needs be, that
 
 232 THIRD DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIII. 
 
 ihose who are of the world, will be opposite to those who are of God 
 There is the utmost contrariety between them, in all their opinions, 
 their desires, designs, and tempers. And hitherto the leopard and the 
 kid c?nnot lie down in peace together. The proud, because he is 
 proud cannot but persecute the lowly ; the light and airy, those that 
 mourn : and so in every other kind ; the unlikeness of disposition (were 
 there no other) being a perpetual ground of enmity. Therefore, were 
 it only on this account, all the servants of the devil will persecute the 
 children of God. 
 
 5. Should it be inquired, fourthly, How they will persecute them ? Jt 
 may be answered in general, Just in that manner and measure whicli 
 the wise Disposer of all sees will be most for his glory ; will tend most 
 to his children's growth in grace, and the enlargement of his own 
 kingdom. There is no one branch of God's government of the world 
 which is more to be admired than this. His ear is never heavy to the 
 threatenings of the persecutor, or the cry of the persecuted. His eye 
 is ever open, and his hand stretched out to direct every the minutest 
 circumstance. When the storm shall begin, how high it shall rise, 
 which way it shall point its course, when and how it shall end, are all 
 determined by his unerring wisdom. The ungodly are only a sword 
 of his; an instrument which he uses as it pleaseth him, and which 
 itself, when the gracious ends of his providence are answered, is cast 
 into the fire. 
 
 At some rare times, as when Christianity was planted first, and while 
 it was taking root in the earth ; as also when the pure doctrine of Christ 
 began to be planted again in our nation ; God permitted the storm to 
 rise high, and his children were called to resist unto blood. There was 
 a peculiar reason why he suffered this with regard to the apostles, that 
 their evidence might be the more unexceptionable. But from the 
 annals of the church we learn another, and a far different reason, why 
 he suffered the heavy persecutions which arose in the second and third 
 centuries; namely, because the mystery of iniquity did so strongly work ; 
 because of the monstrous corruptions which even then reigned in the 
 church : these God chastised, and at the same time strove to heal, by 
 those severe but necessary visitations. 
 
 Perhaps the same observation may be made, with regard to the grand 
 persecution in our own land. God had dealt very graciously with our 
 nation : he had poured out various blessings upon us : he had given us 
 peace abroad and at home; and a king, wise and good beyond his 
 years ; and, above all, he had caused the pure light of his gospel to 
 arise and shine among us. But what return did he find ? " He looked 
 for righteousness, but behold a cry !'"' a cry of oppression and wrong, 
 of ambition and injustice, of malice, and fraud, and covetousness. Yeu, 
 ihe cry of those who even then expired in the flames, entered into the 
 ears of the Lord of sabaoth. It was then God arose to maintain his 
 own cause, against those that held the truth in unrighteousness. Then 
 ht! sold them into the hands of their persecutors, by a judgment mixed 
 with mercy ; an affliction to punish, and yet a medicine to heal, the 
 grievous backslidings of his people. 
 
 6. But it is seldom that God suffers the storm to rise so high as 
 torture, or death, or bonds, or imprisonment. Whereas his children 
 are frequently called to endure the lighter kinds of persecution ; they
 
 SERMON XXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 233 
 
 frequently suffer the estrangement of kinsfolks, the loss of the friends 
 tnat were as their own soul. They find the truth of their Lord's word, 
 (concerning the event, though not the design of his coining,) " Suppose 
 ye thai I am come to give peace upon earth? I teS5 you, Nay; but 
 rather division," Luke xii, 51. And hence will naturally follow loss ot 
 business or employment, and consequently of substance. But all these 
 circumstances likewise are under the wise direction of God, who allots 
 lo every one what is most expedient for him. 
 
 7. But the persecution which attends all the children of God is that 
 our Lord describes in the following words: "Blessed are ye when 
 men shall revile you, and persecute you, [shall persecute by reviling 
 you,] and say all manner of evil against you, falsely, for my sake." 
 This cannot fail ; it is the very badge of our discipleship ; it is one ol 
 the seals of our calling; il is a sure portion entailed on all the children 
 of God : if we have it not, we are bastards and riot sons. Straight 
 through evil report, as well as good report, lies the only way to the 
 kingdom. The meek, serious, humble, zealous lovers of God and man, 
 are of good report among their brethren ; but of evil report with the 
 world, who count and treat them " as the filth and ofl'scouring of 
 all things." 
 
 8. Indeed some have supposed that, before the fulness of the Gen- 
 tiles shall come in, the scandal of the cross will cease ; that God will 
 cause Christians to be esteemed and loved even by those who are as yet 
 in their sins. Yea, and sure it is, that even now he at some times sus- 
 pends the contempt as well as the fierceness of men ; " he makes a 
 man's enemies to be at peace with him" for a season, and gives him 
 favour with his bitterest persecutors. But setting aside this exempt 
 case, the scandal of the cross is not yet ceased ; but a man may say 
 still, " If I please men, I am not the servant of Christ." Let no man 
 therefore regard that pleasing suggestion, (pleasing doubtless to flesh 
 and blood,) "That bad men only pretend to hate and despise them that 
 are good, but do indeed love and esteem them in their hearts." Not 
 so : they may employ them sometimes ; but it is for their own profit. 
 They may put confidence in them ; for they know their ways are not 
 like other men's. But still they love them not; unless so far as ihe 
 Spirit of God may be striving with them. Our Saviour's words are 
 express : " If ye were of the world, the world would love its own ; but 
 because ye are not of the world, therefore the world hateth you." Yea, 
 (setting aside what exceptions may be made by the preventing grace, 
 or the peculiar providence of God,) it hateth them as cordially and 
 sincerely as ever it did their Master. 
 
 9. It remains only to inquire, How are the children of God to behave 
 with regard to persecution ? And, first, they ought not knowingly 01 
 designedly to bring it upon themselves. This is contrary, both to the 
 example and advire of our Lord and all his apostles; who teach us not 
 only not to seek, but to avoid it, as far as we can, without injuring our 
 conscience ; without giving up any part of that righteousness which we 
 are to prefer before life itself. So our Lord expressly saith, " When they 
 persecute you in this city, flee ye into another ;" which is indeed, when 
 Jt can be taken, the most unexceptionable way of avoiding persecution. 
 
 10. Yet think not that you carr always avoid it, either by this or any 
 other means If ever that idle imagination steals into your heart, put it
 
 234 THIRD DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXHI 
 
 to flight by that earnest caution, " Remember the word that I said unto 
 you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted 
 me, tiiey will also persecute you." " Be ye wise as serpents, and harm- 
 less as doves." But will this screen you from persecution ? Not unless 
 you have more wisdom than your Master, or more innocence than the 
 Lamb of God. 
 
 Neither desire to avoid it, to escape it wholly ; for if you do, you arc 
 none of his. If you escape the persecution, you escape the blessing ; 
 the blessing of those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. If 
 you are not persecuted for righteousness' sake, you cannot enter into 
 the kingdom of heavm. " If we suffer with him, we shall also reign 
 with him. But if we deny him, he will also deny us." 
 
 11. Nay, rather, " Rejoice and be exceeding glad," when men per- 
 secute you for his sake ; when they persecute you by reviling you, and 
 by saying all manner of evil against you falsely ;" which they will not 
 fail to mix with every kind of persecution : they must blacken you to 
 excuse themselves : " For so persecuted they the prophets which were 
 before you ;" those who were most eminently holy in heart and life ; 
 yea, and all the righteous which ever have been from the beginning ol 
 the word. Rejoice, because by this mark also ye know unto whom ye 
 belong ; and " because great is your reward in heaven," the reward 
 purchased by the blood of the covenant, and freely bestowed in propor- 
 tion to your sufferings, as well as to your holiness of heart and life. 
 " Be exceeding glad ;" knowing that these " light afflictions, which are 
 but for a moment, work out for you a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory." 
 
 12. Meantime, let no persecution turn you out of the way of lowliness 
 and meekness, of love and beneficence. " Ye have heard [indeed] that 
 it hath been said, an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth ;" ver. 38 ; 
 and your miserable teachers have hence allowed you to avenge your- 
 selves, to return evil for evil ; "But I say unto you, that ye resist not 
 evil :" not thus; not by returning it in kind. " But," rather than do 
 this, " whosoever smiteth thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other 
 also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, 
 let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a 
 mile, go with him twain." 
 
 So invincible let thy meekness be. And be thy love suitable thereto. 
 " Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee 
 turn not thou away." Only, give not away that which is another man's, 
 that which is not thine own. Therefore, 1. Take care to owe no man 
 any tiling: for what thou owest is not thy own, but another man's. 
 2. Provide for those of thine own household : this also God hath re- 
 quired of thee ; and what is necessary to sustain them in life and god- 
 liness, is also not thine own. Then, 3. Give or lend all that remains, 
 from day to day, or from year to year : only first, seeing thou canst not 
 give or lend to all, remember the household of faith. 
 
 13. The meekness and love we are to feel, the kindness we arc to 
 show, to them which persecute us for righteousness' sake, our blessed 
 Lord describes farther in the following verses: oh that they were en- 
 graven upon our hearts! " Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou 
 shah love thy neighbour, and hate thy enemy :" ver. 43, &.e : God 
 indeed had said only the former part, "Thou shall love thy neighbour;"
 
 SERMON XXIII.] TOE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 235 
 
 {he children of the devil had added the latter, " and hate thy enemy :" 
 " But I say unto you," 1. " Love your enemies:" see that you bear a 
 tender good will to those who are most bitter of spirit against you ; who 
 wish you all manner of evil. 2. " Bless them that curse." Are there 
 any whose bitterness of spirit breaks forth in bitter words ? who are 
 continually cursing and reproaching you when you are present, and 
 " saying all evil against you" when absent ? So much the rather do you 
 bless : in conversing with them, use all mildness and softness of lan- 
 guage. Reprove them, by repeating a better lesson before them ; by 
 showing them how they ought to have spoken. Arid in speaking of 
 them, say all the good you can, without violating the rules of truth and 
 justice. 3. *' Do good to them that hate you :" let your actions show, 
 that you are as real in love as they in hatred. Return good for evil. 
 " Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." 4. If you can 
 do nothing moie, at least " Pray for them that despitefully use you and 
 persecute you." You can never be disabled from doing this ; nor can 
 all their malice or violence hinder you. Pour out your souls to God, not 
 only for those who did this once, but now repent : this is a little thing : 
 " If thy brother, seven times a day, turn and say unto thce, I repent ;" 
 Luke xvii, 3 ; that is, if, after ever so many relapses, he give thee reason 
 to believe that he is really and thoroughly changed ; then thou shall 
 forgive him, so as to trust him, to put him in thy bosom, as if he had 
 never sinned against thee at all. But pray for, wrestle with God for 
 those that do not repent, that now despitefully use thee and persecute 
 thee. Thus far forgive them, " not until seven times only, but until 
 seventy times seven," Matt. Kviii, 22. Whether they repent or no, 
 yea, though they appear farther and farther from it, yet show them thia 
 instance of kindness : " That ye may be the children," that ye may 
 approve yourselves the genuine children, " of your Father which is in 
 heaven ;" who shows his goodness by giving such blessings as they are 
 capable of, even to his stubbornest enemies ; " who maketh the sun to 
 rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on 
 the unjust." " For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye ? 
 Do not even the publicans the same 1" Mail, v, 46 ; who pretend to 
 no religion ; whom ye yourselves acknowledge to be without God in 
 the world. " And if ye salute," show kindness in word or deed, to 
 " your brethren," your f-iends or kinsfolk, " only ; what do ye more 
 than others ?" than those who have no religion at all ? " Do not even 
 the publicans so ?" Nay, but follow ye a better pattern than them. In 
 patience, in long suffering, in mercy, in beneficence of every kind, to 
 all, even to your bitterest persecutors ; " Be ye [Christians] perfect, [in 
 kind, though not in degree,] even as your Father which is in heaven, is 
 perfect," ver. 48. 
 
 III. Behold Christianity in its native form, as delivered by its great 
 Author ! This is the genuine religion of Jesus Christ ! Such he presents 
 it to him whose eyes are opened. See a picture of God, so far as he is 
 imitable by man ! A picture drawn by God's own hand ! " Behold, ye 
 despisers, and wonder, and perish !" Or rather, wonder and adore ! 
 Rather cry out, is this the religion of Jesus of Nazareth ? The religion 
 which I persecuted ? Let me no more be found even to fight against God. 
 Lord, what wouldest thou have me to do ? What beauty appears in the 
 whole ! How just a symmetry ! What exact proportion in every part J
 
 236 FOURTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIV. 
 
 How depnable is Uie happiness here described! How venerable, how 
 lovely the holiness ! This is the spirit of religion ; the quintessence uf 
 it. These are indeed the fundamentals of Christianity. Oh that we 
 may not be hearers of it only ! " like a man beholding his own face 
 in a glass, who goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner 
 of man he was." Nay, but let us steadily " look into this perfect law of 
 liberty, and continue therein." Let us not rest, until every line thereof 
 is transcribed into our own hearts. Let us watch, and pray, and believe, 
 aud love, and " strive for the mastery," till every part of it shall appear 
 in our soul, graven there by the finger of God ; till we are " holy as He 
 which hath called us is holy, perfect as our Father which is in heaven 
 is perfect !" 
 
 SERMON XXIV. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE IV. 
 
 " Ye are the salt of the earth : hut if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith 
 shall it be salted : it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be 
 trodden under foot of men. 
 
 " Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. 
 
 " Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick ; 
 and it giveth light unto all that arc in the house. 
 
 " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and 
 glorify your Father which is in heaven," Matt, v, 13-16. 
 
 1. THE beauty of holiness, of that inward man of the heart which is 
 renewed after the image of God, cannot but strike every eye which God 
 hath opened, every enlightened understanding. The ornament of a 
 meek, humble, loving spirit, will at least excite the approbation of all 
 those who are capable, in any degree, of discerning spiritual good and 
 evil. From the hour men begin to emerge out of the darkness which 
 covers the giddy, unthinking world, they cannot but perceive how de- 
 sirable a thing it is to be thus transformed into the likeness of him that 
 created us. This inward religion bears the shape of God so visibly 
 impressed upon it, that a soul must be wholly immersed in flesh and 
 blood, when he can doubt of its divine original. We may say of this 
 in a secondary sense, even as of the Son of God himself, that it is the 
 " brightness of his glory, the express image of his person ;" o.tfa\iya.<s\t.a. 
 ri]$ 6o^r,c: OLVTX, the beaming forth of his eternal glory, and yet so 
 tempered and softened, that even the children of men may herein see 
 God and live ; ^afccx-nip <rr)s wxosaffeuc; auras, the character, the stamp, 
 the living impression of his person, who is the Fountain of beauty and 
 love, the original source of all excellency and perfection. 
 
 2. If religion therefore were carried no farther than this, they could 
 have no doubt concerning it; they should have no objection against, 
 pursuing it with the whole ardour of their souls ; but why, say they, is 
 it clogged with other things 1 What need of loading it with doing and 
 suffering J These are what damps the vigour of the soul, and sinks it 
 down to earth again. Is it riot enough to " follow after charity;" to 
 soar upon the wings of love 1 Will it not suffice to worship God, who 
 is a Spirit, with the spirit of our minds, without encumbering ourselves 
 with outward things, or even think ing of them at all ^ Is it not better.
 
 SERMON XXIV.] THE BERMON ON THE MOUNT, 237 
 
 that the whole extent of our thoughts should be taken up with high and 
 heavenly contemplation 7 And that, instead of busying ourselves at all 
 about externals, we should only commune with God in our hearts 7 
 
 3. Many eminent men have spoken thus ; have advised us " to cease 
 from all outward action ;" wholly to withdraw from the world ; to leave 
 the body behind us ; to abstract ourselves from all sensible things ; to 
 have no concern at all about outward religion, but to work all virtues 
 in the will; as the far more excellent way, more perfective of the soul, 
 a* well as more acceptable to God. 
 
 4. It needed not that any should tell our Lord of this master piece of 
 the wisdom from beneath, this fairest of all the devices wherewith 
 Satan hath ever perverted the right ways of the Lord ! And oh ! what 
 instruments hath he found, from time to time, to employ in this his 
 service, to wield this grand engine of hell against some of the most 
 important truths of God ! Men that " would deceive, if it were possible, 
 the very elect," the men of faith and love ; yea, that have for a season 
 deceived and led away no inconsiderable number of them, who have 
 fallen in all ages into the gilded snare, and hardly escaped with the 
 skin of their teeth. 
 
 5. But has our Lord been wanting on his part 1 Has he not suffi- 
 ciently guarded us against this pleasing delusion 7 Has he not armed 
 us here with armour of proof against Satan " transformed into an angel 
 of light 7" Yea, verily : he here defends, in the clearest and strongest 
 manner, the active, patient religion he had just described. What can 
 be fuller and plainer, than the words he immediately subjoins to what 
 he had said of doing and suffering 7 " Ye are the salt of the earth : but 
 if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted 7 It is 
 thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot 
 of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill 
 cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a 
 bushel, but on a candlestick ; and it giveth light to all that are in the 
 house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see yonr 
 good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." 
 
 In order fully to explain and enforce these important words, I shall 
 endeavour to show, First, that Christianity is essentially a social reli- 
 gion ; and that to turn it into a solitary one, is to destroy it. Secondly, 
 that to conceal this religion is impossible, as well as utterly contrary to 
 the design of its author. I shall, Thirdly, answer some objections ; 
 and conclude the whole with a practical application. 
 
 I. 1. First, I shall endeavour to show, that Christianity is essentially 
 a social religion ; and that to turn it into a solitary religion, is indeed 
 to destroy it. 
 
 By Christianity I mean that method of worshiping God, which is 
 here revealed to man by Jesus Christ. When I say, this is essentially 
 a social religion, I mean not only that it cannot subsist so well, but that 
 it cannot subsist at all, without society, without living and conversing 
 with other men. And in showing this, I shall confine myself to those 
 considerations which will arise from the very discourse before us. But 
 if this be shown, then doubtless, to turn this religion into a solitary one, 
 is to destroy it. 
 
 Not that we can in any wise condemn the intermixing solitude or 
 retirement with society. This is not only allowable, but expedient;
 
 233 FOURTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIV. 
 
 nay, it is necessary, as daily experience shows, for every one that either 
 already is, or desires to be, a real Christian. It can hardly he, that we 
 should spend one entire day in a continual intercourse with men, without 
 suffering loss in our soul, and hi some measure grieving the Holy Spirit 
 of God. We have need daily to retire from the world, at least morning 
 and evening, to converse with God, to commune more freely with our 
 Father which is in secret. Nor indeed can a man of experience con- 
 demn even longer seasons of religious retirement, so they do not imply 
 any neglect of any worldly employ wherein the providence of God has 
 placed us. 
 
 2. Yet such retirement must not swallow up all our time ; this woidd 
 be to destroy, not advance, true religion. For, that the religion de- 
 scribed by our Lord in the foregoing words, cannot subsist without 
 society, without our living and conversing with other men, is manifest 
 from hence, That several of the most essential branches thereof can 
 have no place, if we have no intercourse with the world. 
 
 3. There is no disposition (for instance) which is more essential to 
 Christianity than meekness. Now although this, as it implies resigna- 
 tion to God, or patience in pain and sickness, may subsist in a desert, 
 in a hermit's cell, in total solitude ; yet as it implies (which it no less 
 necessarily docs) mildness, gentleness, and long suffering, it cannot 
 possibly have a being, it has no place under heaven, without an inter- 
 course with other men : so that to attempt turning this into a solitary 
 virtue, is to destroy it from the face of the earth. 
 
 4. Another necessary branch of true Christianity is peace making, 
 or doing 1 of good. That this is equally essential with any of the other 
 parts of the religion of Jesus Christ, there can be no stronger argument 
 to evince, (and therefore it would be absurd to allege any other,) than 
 that it is here inserted in the original plan he has laid down of the 
 fundamentals of his religion. Therefore to set aside this, is the same 
 daring insult on the authority of our great Master, as to set aside mer- 
 cifulness, purity of heart, or any other branch of his institution. But 
 this is apparently set aside, by all who call us to the wilderness ; who 
 recommend entire solitude either to the babes, or the young men, or 
 the fathers in Christ. For will any man affirm that a solitary Christian 
 (so called, though it is little less than a contradiction in terms) can be 
 a merciful man, that is, one that takes every opportunity of doing all 
 good to all men ? What can be more plain, than that this fundamental 
 branch of the religion of Jesus Christ, cannot possibly subsist without 
 society, without our living and conversing with other men 1 
 
 5. But is it not expedient, however, (one might naturally ask,) to 
 converse only with good men, only with those whom we know to be 
 meek and merciful, holy of heart and holy of life ? Is it not expedien* 
 to rofrain from any conversation, or intercourse, with men of the oppo- 
 site character, men who do not obey, perhaps do not believe the 
 gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ ? The advice of St. Paul, to the 
 Christians at Corinth, may seem to favour this " I wrote unto you in 
 an epistle, not to company with fornicators,' ; 1 Cor. v, 9 And it is cer- 
 tainly not advisable so to company with them, or with any of the workers 
 of iniquity, as to have any particular familiarity, or any strictness of 
 friendship with them. To contract or continue an intimacy with any 
 such, is no way expedient for a Christian. It must necessarily expos*
 
 SF.rMON XXIV.] THE SERMON OX THE MOUNT. 239 
 
 him to abundance of dangers and snaies, out of which lie can have no 
 reasonable hope of deliverance. 
 
 But the apostle does not- forbid us to have any intercourse at all even 
 with the men that know not God : " For then," says he, " ye must needs 
 go out of the world ;" which he could never advise them to do. But he 
 subjoins, " If any man that is called a brother," that professes himself 
 a Christian, " be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or 
 a drunkard, or an extortioner," 1 Cor. v, 11 ; "now I have written 
 unto you not to keep company with him ; with such a one, no not to 
 eat." This must necessarily imply, that we break off all familiarity, all 
 intimacy of acquaintance with him. " Yet count him not," saith the 
 apostle elsewhere, " as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother," 
 2 Thess. iii, 15 ; plainly showing that even in such a case as this, we 
 are not to renounce all fellowship with him. So that here is no advice 
 to separate wholly, even from wicked men. Yea, these very words teach 
 us quite the contrary. 
 
 6. Much more the words of our Lord : who is so far from directing us 
 to break off all commerce with the world, that without it, according to 
 his account of Christianity, we cannot be Christians at all. It would 
 be easy to show, that some intercourse even with ungodly and unholy 
 men is absolutely needful, in order to the full exertion of every temper 
 which he has described as the way to the kingdom ; that it is indis- 
 pensably necessary, in order to the complete exercise of poverty of 
 spirit, of mourning, and of every other disposition which has a place 
 here, in the genuine religion of Jesus Christ. Yea, it is necessary to 
 the very being of several of them ; of that meekness, for example, which 
 instead of demanding " an eye for an eye, or a tooth for a tooth," doth 
 " not resist evil," but causes us rather, when smitten " on the right 
 check, to turn the other also;" of that mercifulness, whereby we "love 
 our enemies, bless them that curse us, do good to them that hate us, and 
 pray for them which dospitefully use us and persecute us ;" and of that 
 complication of love and all holy tempers, which is exercised in suffer- 
 ing for righteousness' sake. Now all these, it is clear, could have no 
 being, were we to have no commerce with any but real Christians. 
 
 7. Indeed were we wholly to separate ourselves from sinners, how 
 could we possibly answer that character which our Lord gives us in 
 these very words ; " Ye" (Christians, ye that are lowly, serious, and 
 meek ; ye that hunger after righteousness, that love God and man, that 
 do good to all, and therefore suffer evil ; ye) " are the salt of the earth :" 
 It is your very nature to season whatever is round about you. It is the 
 nature of the divine savour which is in you, to spread to whatsoever you 
 touch ; to diffuse itself, on every side, to all those among whom you are. 
 This is the great reason why the providence of God has so mingled you 
 together with other men, that whatever grace you have received of God, 
 may, through you, be communicated to others ; that every holy temper, 
 and word, and work of yours, may have an influence on them also. By 
 this means, a check will, in some measure, be given to the corruption 
 which is in the world ; and a small part, at least, saved from the general 
 infection, and rendered holy and pure before God. 
 
 ft. That we may the more diligently labour to season all we can, with 
 every holy and heavenly temper, our Lord proceeds to show the desperate 
 state of those who do not impart the religion they have received ; which
 
 240 FOURTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIV. 
 
 indeed they cannot possibly fail to do, so long as it remains in their own 
 hearts. " If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted 1 
 It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out, and trodden under 
 foot of men :" If ye who were holy and heavenly minded, and conse- 
 quently zealous of good works, have no longer that savour in yourselves, 
 and do therefore no longer season others ; if you are grown flat, insipid, 
 dead, both careless of your own soul, and useless to the souls of othei 
 men ; wherewith shall ye be salted 1 How shall ye be recovered 1 What 
 help ? What hope 1 Can tasteless salt be restored to its savour ? No ; 
 " it is thenceforth good for nothing hut to be cast out," even as the mire 
 in the streets, "and to be trodden under foot of men," to beoverwhelmed 
 with everlasting contempt. If ye had never known the Lord, there might 
 have been hope, if ye had never been " found in him :" but what can 
 you now say to that, his solemn declaration, just parallel to what he 
 hath here spoken, "every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he [the 
 Father] taketh away. He that abideth in me, and I in him, bringeth 
 forth much fruit." " If a man abide not in me, [or do not bring forth 
 fruit,] he is cast out as a branch, and withered ; and men gather 
 them [not to plant them again, but] to cast them into the fire," John 
 xv, 2, 5, 6. 
 
 9. Towards those who nave never tasted of the good word, God is 
 indeed pitiful and of tender mercy. But justice takes place with regard 
 to those who have tasted that the Lord is gracious, and have afterwards 
 turned back " from the holy commandment [then] delivered to them." 
 " For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened ;" Heb. vi, 
 4, &,c ; in whose hearts God had once shined, to enlighten them with 
 the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Chrirt ; " who 
 have tasted of the heavenly gift," of redemption in his blood, the for- 
 giveness of sins ; " and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost," of 
 lowliness, of meekness, and of the love of God and man shed abroad 
 in their hearts, by the Holy Ghost which was given unto them ; and 
 " have fallen away ;" xai Ka^aireffovTcif, (here is not a supposition, 
 but a flat declaration of matter of fact,) " to renew them again unto 
 repentance ; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, 
 and put him to an open shame." 
 
 But that none may misunderstand these awful words, it should be 
 carefully observed, 1. Who they are, that are here spoken of; namely, 
 they, and they only, who were once thus enlightened; they only, " who 
 did taste of" that " heavenly gift, and were" thus *' made partakers of 
 the Holy Ghost." So that all who have not experienced these things, 
 are wholly unconcerned in this scripture. 2. What that falling away is, 
 which is here spoken of: It is an absolute, total apostasy. A believer 
 may fall, and not fall away. He may fall and rise again. And if he 
 should fall, even into sin, yet this case, dreadful as it is, is not despe- 
 rate. For " we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous ; and he is the propitiation for our sins." But let him above 
 all things beware, lest " his heart be hardened by the deceitfulness of 
 sin ;" lest he should sink lower and lower, till he wholly fall away, till 
 he become as salt that hath lost its savour : for if we thus sin wilfully, 
 after we have received the experimental " knowledge of the truth, there 
 remaineth no more sacrifice for sins ; but a certain fearful looking for 
 of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries."
 
 SERMON XXIV.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 241 
 
 II. 1. " But although we may not wholly separate ourselves fiom man- 
 kind, although it be granted we ought to season them with the religion 
 which God has wrought in our hearts, yet may not this be done insen- 
 sibly ? May we not convey this into others in a secret, and almost 
 imperceptible manner, so that scarce any one shall be able to obsetvti 
 how or when it is done ? even as salt conveys its own savour into thai 
 which is seasoned thereby, without any noise, and without being liable 
 to any outward observation. And if so, although we do not go out ol 
 the world, yet we may lie hid in it. We may thus far keep our religion 
 to ourselves ; and not offend those whom we cannot help." 
 
 2. Of this plausible reasoning of flesh and blood, our Lord was well 
 aware also. And he has given a full answer to it in those words which 
 come now to be considered ; in explaining which I shall endeavour to 
 show, as I proposed to do in the second place, that so long as true 
 religion abides in our hearts, it is impossible to conceal it, as well a. 
 absolutely contrary to the design of its great author. 
 
 And first, It is impossible for any that have it, to conceal the religion, 
 of Jesus Christ. This our Lord makes plain beyond all contradiction, 
 by a twofold comparison : " Ye are the light 01' the world : A city set 
 upon a hill cannot be hid." Ye Christians are " the light of the world,' 
 with regard both to your tempers and actions. Your holiness make* 
 you as conspicuous, as the sun in the midst of heaven. As ye cannot 
 go out of the world, so neither can ye stay in it without appearing to ali 
 mankind. Ye may not flee from men ; and while ye are among them, 
 it is impossible to hide your lowliness and meekness, and those othe? 
 dispositions whereby ye aspire to be perfect as your Father which is . n 
 heaven is perfect. Love cannot be hid any more than light ; and least 
 of all, when it shines forth in action, when ye exercise yourselves in the 
 labgur of love, in beneficence of every khrl. As well may men think 
 to hide a city, as to hide a Christian ; yea, as well may they conceal a 
 city set upon a hill, as a holy, zealous, active lover of God and man. 
 
 3. It is true, men who love darkness rather than light, because their 
 deeds are evil, will take all possible pains to prove, that the light which 
 is in you, is darkness. They will say evil, all manner of evil, falsely, 
 of the good which is in you ; they will lay to your charge that which is 
 farthest from your thoughts, which is the very reverse of all you are, 
 and all you do. And your patient continuing in well doing, your meek 
 suffering all things for the Lord's sake, your calm, humble joy in the 
 midst of persecution, your unwearied labour to overcome evil with 
 good, will make you still more visible and conspicuous than ye were 
 before. 
 
 4. So impossible it is, to keep our religion trom being seen, unless 
 we cast it away ; so vain is the thought of hiding the light, unless by 
 putting it out ! Sure it is, that a secret, unobserved religion, cannot be 
 the religion of Jesus Christ. Whatever religion can be concealed, is 
 not Christianity. If a Christian could be hid, he could not be com- 
 pared to a city set upon a hill ; to the light of the world, the sun shining 
 from heaven, and seen by all the world below. Never, therefore, let it 
 enter into the heart of him whom God hath renewed in the spirit of his 
 mind, to hide that light, to keep his religion to himself; especially 
 considering it is not only impossible to conceal true Christianity, but 
 likewise absolutely contrary to the design of the great author of it.
 
 242 FOURTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIV. 
 
 5 This plainly appears from the following words : " Neither do men 
 light a candle to put it under a bushel." As if he had said, As men do 
 not light a candle, only to cover and conceal it, so neither does God 
 enlighten any soul with his glorious knowledge and love, to have it 
 covered or concealed, either by prudence, falsely so called, or shame, 
 or voluntary humility; to have it hid either in a desert, or in the world ; 
 either by avoiding men, or in conversing with them. " But they put it 
 on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house :" In 
 like mariner, it is the design of God that every Christian should be in 
 an open point of view ; that he may give light to all around, that he 
 may visibly express the religion of Jesus Christ. 
 
 6. Thus hath God in all ages spoken to the world, not only by pre- 
 cept, but by example also. He hath " not left himself without witness," 
 in any nation where the sound of the gospel hath gone forth, without a 
 few who have testified his truth, by their lives as well as their words. 
 These have been " as lights shining in a dark place." And from time 
 to time they have been the means of enlightening some, of preserving 
 a remnant, a little seed which was " counted to the Lord for a gene- 
 ration." They have led a few poor sheep out of the darkness of the 
 world, and guided their feet into the way of peace. 
 
 7. One might imagine that, where both Scripture and the reason of 
 things speak so clearly and expressly, there could not be much advanced 
 on the other side, at least not with any appearance of truth. But they 
 who imagine thus, know little of the depths of Satan. After all that 
 Scripture and reason have said, so exceeding plausible are the pretences 
 for solitary religion, for a Christian's going out of the world, or at least 
 hiding himself in it, that we need all the wisdom of God to see through 
 the snare, and all the power of God to escape it : so many and strong 
 are the objections which have been brought against being social, open, 
 active Christians. 
 
 III. 1. To answer these, was the third thing which I proposed. And, 
 first, it has been often objected, that religion does not lie in outward 
 things, but in the heart, the inmost soul ; that it is the union of the soul 
 with God, the life of God in the soul of man ; that outside religion is 
 nothing worth ; seeing God " delighteth not in burnt offerings," in 
 outward services, but a pure and holy heart is the " sacrifice he will 
 not despise." 
 
 1 answer, it is most true, that thr root of religion lies in the heart, in 
 the inmost soul ; that this is the union of the soul with God, the life of 
 God in the soul of man. But if this root be really in the heart, it cannot 
 but put forth branches. And these are the several instances of outward 
 obedience, which partake of the same nature with the root : and, 
 consequently, are not only marks or signs, but substantial parts of 
 religion. 
 
 It is also true, that bare outside religion, which has no rool in the 
 heart, is nothing worth ; that God delighteth not in such outward ser- 
 vices, no more than in Jewish burnt offerings; and that a pure and holy 
 heart is a sacrifice with which he is always well pleased. But he is also 
 well pleased with all that outward service which arises from the heart ; 
 with the sacrifice of our prayers, (whether public or private,) of our 
 praises and thanksgivings; with the sacrifice of our goods, humbly 
 devoted to hrm, and employed wholly to his glory ; and with tha*. of
 
 SERMON XXIV.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 243 
 
 our bodies, which he peculiarly claims, which the apostle beseeches us, 
 " by the mercies of God, to present unto him, a living sacrifice, holy and 
 acceptable unto God." 
 
 2. A second objection, nearly related to this, is, that love is all in all ; 
 that it is " the fulfilling of the law," " the end of the commandment," 
 of every commandment of God ; that all we do, and all we suffer, if we 
 have not charity or love, profiteth us nothing ; and therefore the apostle 
 directs us, to " follow after charity," and terms this " the more excel- 
 lent way." 
 
 I answer, it is granted, that the love of God and man, arising from 
 faith unfeigned, is all in all, the fulfilling of the law, the end of every 
 commandment of God. It is true, that without this, whatever we do. 
 whatever we suffer, profits us nothing. But it does not follow, that love 
 is all in such a sense as to supersede either faith or good works. It is 
 " the fulfilling of the law," not by releasing us from, but by constrain- 
 ing us to obey it. It is " the end of the commandment," as every com- 
 mandment leads to and centres in it. It is allowed, that whatever we 
 do or suffer, without love, profits us nothing : but withal, whatever we 
 do or suffer in love, though it were only the suffering reproach for 
 Christ, or the giving a cup of cold water in his name, it shall in no wise 
 lose its reward. 
 
 3. " But does not the apostle direct us to ' follow after charity ?' 
 And does he not term it ' a more excellent way ?' " He does direct 
 u to " follow after charity ;" but not after that alone. His words are, 
 " Follow after charity, and desire spiritual gifts," 1 Cor. xiv, 1. Yea, 
 " follow after charity ;" and desire to spend and be spent for your 
 brethren. " Follow after charity;" and, as you have opportunity, do 
 good to all men. 
 
 In the same verse wherein he terms this, the way of love, " a more 
 excellent way," he directs the Corinthians to desire other gifts besides 
 it ; yea, to desire them earnestly. " Covet earnestly," saith he, " the 
 best gifts; and yet show I unto you a more excellent way," 1 Cor. xii, 31. 
 More excellent than what 7 Than the gifts of healing, of speaking with 
 tongues, and of inteipreting, mentioned in the preceding verse ; but not 
 more excellent than the way of obedience. Of this the apostle is not 
 speaking ; neither is he speaking of outward religion at all : so that this 
 text is quite wide of the present question. 
 
 But suppose the apostle had been speaking of outward, as well as 
 inward religion, and comparing them together ; suppose in the com- 
 parison he had given the preference ever so much to the latter ; suppose 
 he had preferred (as he justly might) a loving heart to all outward works 
 whatever ; yet it would not follow that we were to reject either one or 
 the other. No ; God hath joined them together from the beginning of 
 the world ; and let not man put them asunder. 
 
 4. " But ' God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship 
 him in spirit and in truth.' And is not this enough ? Nay, ought we 
 not to employ the whole strength of our mind herein ? Does not attend- 
 ing to outward things clog the soul, that it cannot soar aloft in holy 
 contemplation ? Does it not damp the vigour of our thought ? Has it 
 not a natural tendency to encumber and distract the mind 1 Whereas 
 8t. Paul would have us to be ' without carefulness," and to ' wait upon 
 the Lord without distraction.' "
 
 244 FOURTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIV. 
 
 I answer, God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, must worship 
 him in spirit and in truth. Yea, and this is enough : we ought to 
 employ the whole strength of our mind therein. But then I would ask, 
 What is it to worship God, a Spirit, in spirit and in truth 1 Why, it is 
 to worship him with our spirit ; to worship him in that manner which 
 none but spirits are capable of. It is to believe in him, as a wise, just, 
 holy being, of purer eyes than to behold iniquity ; and yet merciful, 
 gracious, and long suffering ; forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and 
 sin ; casting all our sins behind his back, and accepting us in the 
 Beloved. It is, to love him, to delight in him, to desire him, with all 
 our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength ; to imitate him we love, 
 by purifying ourselves even as he is pure ; and to obey him whom we 
 love, and in whom we believe, both in thought, and word, and work. 
 Consequently, one branch of the worshipping God in spirit and in truth, 
 is the keeping his outward commandments. To glorify him therefore 
 with our bodies, as well as with our spirits ; to go through outward 
 work with hearts lifted up to him ; to make our daily employment a 
 sacrifice to God ; to buy and sell, to cat and drink, to his glory ; this 
 is worshipping God in spirit and in truth, as much as the praying to 
 him in a wilderness. 
 
 5. But if so, then contemplation is only one way of worshipping God 
 in spirit and in truth. Therefore, to give ourselves up entirely to this, 
 would be to destroy many branches of spiritual worship, all equally 
 acceptable to God, and equally profitable, not hurtful, to the soul. For 
 it is a great mistake to suppose that an attention to those outward 
 things, whereto the providence of God hath called us, is any clog to a 
 Christian, or any hinderance at all to his always seeing him that is 
 invisible. It does not at all damp the ardour of his thought; it does 
 not encumber or distract his mind ; it gives him no uneasy or hurtful 
 care, who does it all as unto the Lord ; who hath learned, whatsoever 
 he doeth in word or deed, to do all in the name of the Lord Jesus ; having 
 only one eye of the soul, which moves round on outward things, and one 
 immoveably fixed on God. Learn what this meaneth, ye poor recluses, 
 that you may clearly discern your own littleness of faith : yea, that you 
 may no longer judge others by yourselves, go and learn what that meaneth 
 
 " Thou, O Lord, in tender love 
 
 Dost all my burdens bear ; 
 Lift my heart to things above, 
 
 And fix it ever there. 
 Calm on tumult's wheel I sit ; 
 
 Midst busy multitudes alone ; 
 Sweetly waiting at thy feet 
 
 Till all thy will be done." 
 
 6. But the grand objection is still behind. " We appeal," say they, 
 " to experience. Our light did shine ; we used outward things many 
 years ; and yet they profited nothing. We attended on all the ordinan- 
 ces ; but we were no better for it ; nor indeed any one else : nay, we 
 were the worse ; for we fancied ourselves Christians for so doing, when 
 we knew not what Christianity meant.'' 
 
 I allcw the fact : I allow that you, and ten thousand more, have thus 
 abused the ordinances of God ; mistaking the means for the end ; sup- 
 posing that the doing these, or some other outward works, either was 
 the religion of Jesus Christ, or would be accepted in the place of it.
 
 SERMON XXIV. j THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 245 
 
 But let the abuse be taken away, and the use remain. Now use all 
 outward things, but use them with a constant eye to the renewal ol 
 your soul in righteousness and true holiness. 
 
 7. But this is not all : They affirm, " Experience likewise shows, that 
 the trying to do good is but lost labour. What does it avail to feed or 
 clothe men's bodies, if they are just dropping into everlasting fire ? And 
 what good can any man do to their souls ? If these are changed, God 
 doeth it himself. Besides, all men are either good, at least desirous so 
 to be, or obstinately evil. Now the former have no need of us ; let them 
 ask help of God, and it shall be given them : and the latter will receive no 
 help of us. Nay and our Lord forbids to ' cast our pearls before swine.' " 
 
 I answer, 1. Whether they will finally be lost or saved, you are 
 expressly commanded to feed the hungry and clothe the naked. If you 
 can, and do not, whatever becomes of them, you shall go away into 
 everlasting fire. 2. Though it is God only changes hearts, yet he 
 generally doeth it by man. It is our part to do all that in us lies, as 
 diligently as if we could change them ourselves and then to leave the 
 event to him. 3. God, in answer to their prayers, builds up his chil- 
 dren, by each other in every good gift ; nourishing and strengthening 
 the whole " body, by that which every joint supplieth." So that " the 
 eye cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee ;" no, nor even " the 
 head to the feet, I have no need of you." Lastly, how are you assured, 
 that the persons before you are dogs or swine ? Judge them not, until 
 you have tried. " How knowest thou, O man, but thou mayest gain thy 
 brother," but thou mayest, under God, save his soul from death ? When 
 he spurns thy love, and blasphemes the good word, then it is time to 
 give him up to God. 
 
 8 "We have tried ; we have laboured to reform sinners ; and what 
 did it avail ? On many we could make no impression at all : and if some 
 were changed for a while, yet their goodness was but as the morning 
 dew, and they were soon as bad, nay, worse than ever : so that we only 
 hurt them, and ourselves too ; for our minds were hurried and discom- 
 posed, perhaps filled with anger instead of love : Therefore we had 
 better have kept our religion to ourselves." 
 
 It is very possible this fact also may be true ; that you have tried to 
 do good and have not succeeded ; yea, that those who seemed reformed, 
 relapsed into sin, and their last state was worse than the first. And what 
 marvel ? Is the servant above his Master ] But how often did he strive 
 to save sinners, and they would not hear ; or, when they had followed 
 him awhile, they turned back as a dog to his vomit! But he did not 
 therefore desist from striving to do good : no more should you, what- 
 ever your success be. It is your part to do as you are commanded : 
 the event is in the hand of God. You are not accountable for this : 
 leave it to him, who orders all things well. " In the morning sow thy 
 seed, and in the evening withhold not thy hand : for thou knowest not 
 whether shall prosper," Eccles. xi, 6. 
 
 But the trial hurries and frets your own soul. Perhaps it did so for 
 this very reason, because you thought you was accountable for the event, 
 which no man is, nor indeed can be ; or perhaps, because you was off 
 your guard ; you was not watchful over your own spirit. But this is no 
 reason lor disobeying God. Try again ; but try more warily than before. 
 Do good (as you forgive) " not seven times only ; but until seventy times
 
 246 FOURTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIV. 
 
 seven." Only be wiser by experience : attempt il every time more 
 cautiously than before. Be more humbled before God, more deeply 
 convinced that of yourself you can do nothing. Be more jealous over 
 your own spirit ; more gentle and watchful unto prayer. Thus " cast 
 your bread upon the waters, and you shall find it again after many days." 
 
 IV. 1. Notwithstanding all these plausible pretences for hiding it, 
 " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, 
 and glorify your Father which is in heaven." This is the practical appli- 
 cation which our Lord himself makes of the foregoing considerations. 
 
 " Let your light so shine :" Your lowliness of heart; your gentle- 
 ness, and meekness of wisdom ; your serious, weighty concern for the 
 things of eternity, and sorrow for the sins and miseries of men ; your 
 earnest desire of universal holiness, and full happiness in God ; your 
 tender good will to all mankind, and fervent love to your supreme bene- 
 factor. Endeavour not to conceal this light, wherewith God hath 
 enlightened your soul ; but let it shine before men, before all with whom 
 you are, in the whole tenor of your conversation. Let it shine still more 
 eminently in your actions, in your doing all possible good to all men ; 
 and in your suffering for righteousness' sake, while you " rejoice and 
 are exceeding glad, knowing that great is your reward in heaven." 
 
 2. " Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good 
 works :" So far let a Christian be from ever designing, or desiring to 
 conceal his religion ! On the contrary, let it be your desire not to con- 
 ceal it ; not to put the light under a bushel. Let it be your care to 
 place it " on a candlestick, that it may give light to all that are in the 
 house." Only take heed, not to seek your own praise herein, not to 
 desire any honour to yourselves. But let it be your sole aim, that all 
 who see your good works, may "glorify your Father which is in heaven." 
 
 3. Be this your one ultimate end in all things. With this view, be 
 plain, open, undisguised. Let your love be without dissimulation : why 
 should you hide fair, disinterested love ? Let there be no guile found in 
 your mouth : let your words be the genuine picture of your heart. Let 
 there be no darkness or reservedriess in your conversation, no disguise 
 in your behaviour. Leave this to those who have other designs in view; 
 designs which will not bear the light. Be ye artless and simple to all 
 mankind ; that all may see the grace of God which is in you. And 
 although some will harden their hearts, yet others will take knowledge 
 that ye have been with Jesus, and, by returning themselves to the great 
 Bishop of their souls, " glorify your Father which is in heaven." 
 
 4. With this one design, that men may glorify God in you, go on in 
 his name, and in the power of his might. Be not ashamed even to 
 stand alone, so it be in the ways of God. Let the light, which is in your 
 heart, shine in all good works, both works of piety and works of mercy 
 And in order to enlarge your ability of doing good, renounce all super- 
 fluities. Cut off all unnecessary expense in food. 'in furniture, in apparel. 
 Be a good steward of every gift of God, even of these his lowest gifts. 
 Cut off all unnecessary expense of time, all needless or useless employ- 
 ments ; and " whatsoever thy hand findcth to do, do it with thy might." 
 In a word, be thou full of faith and love ; do good ; suffer evil. And 
 herein be thou " steadfast, unmoveable ; [yea,] always abounding in the 
 work of the Lord ; forasmuch as thou knowest that thy labour its not in 
 vain in the Lord."
 
 SERMON XXV.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 2*7 
 
 SERMOX XXV. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE V. 
 
 " Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets : I am not come 
 to destroy, but to fulfil. 
 
 " For verily 1 say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle 
 shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. 
 
 " Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall 
 teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever 
 shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 " For 1 say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the right- 
 eousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom 
 of heaven," Matt, v, 17-20. 
 
 1. AMONG the multitude of reproaches which fell upon him who 
 " was despised and rejected of men," it could not fail to be one, that he 
 was a teacher of novelties, an introducer of anew religion. This might 
 be affirmed with the more colour, because many of the expressions he 
 had used were not common among the Jews : either they did not use them 
 at all, or not in the same sense, not in so full and strong a meaning. 
 Add to this, that the worshipping God " in spirit and in truth" must 
 always appear a new religion to those who have hitherto known nothing 
 but outside worship, nothing but the " form of godliness." 
 
 2. And it is not improbable, some might hope it was so ; that he 
 was abolishing the old religion, and bringing in another, one which, 
 they might flatter themselves, would be an easier way to heaven. But 
 our Lord refutes, in these words, both the vain hopes of the one, and 
 the groundless calumnies of the other. 
 
 I shall consider them in the same order as they lie, taking each 
 verse for a distinct head of discourse. 
 
 1. 1. And, first, " Think not that I am come to destroy the law or 
 the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." 
 
 The ritual or ceremonial law, delivered by Moses to the children of 
 Israel, containing all the injunctions and ordinances' which related to 
 the old sacrifices and service of the temple, our Lord did indeed 
 come to destroy, to dissolve, and utterly abolish. To this bear all the 
 apostles witness ; not only Barnabas and Paul, who vehemently with- 
 stood those who taught that Christians " ought to keep the law of 
 Moses," Acts .\v, 6 ; not only St. Peter, who termed the insisting on 
 this, on the observance of the ritual law, a " tempting God," and 
 " putting a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our 
 fathers," saith he, " nor we were able to bear ;" but " all the apostles, 
 elders, and brethren, being assembled with one accord," verse 10, 
 declared, that to command them to keep this law, was to " subvert 
 their souls ;" and that " it seemed good to the Holy Ghost" and to them, 
 " to lay no such burden upon them." This " hand writing of ordinatices 
 our Lord did blot out, take away, and nail to his cross," verse 24. 
 
 2. But the moral law contained in the ten commandments, and 
 enforced by the prophets, he did not take away. It was not the design 
 of his coming to revoke any part of this. This is a law which never 
 can be broken, which " stands fast as the faithful witness in heaven." 
 The moral stands on an entirely different foundation from the ceremonial 
 or ritual law, which was only designed for a temporary restraint upon 
 a disobedient and stiff necked people; whereas this was from the
 
 248 FIFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXV. 
 
 beginning of the woild, being " written not on tables of stone," but on 
 the hearts of all the children of men, when they came out of the hands 
 of the Creator. And, however the letters once wrote by the finger of 
 God are now in a great measure defaced by sin, yet can they not 
 wholly be blotted out, while we have any consciousness of good and evil 
 Every part of this law must remain in force upon all mankind, and in 
 all ages ; as not depending either on time or place, or any other 
 circumstances liable to change, but on the nature of God, and the 
 nature of man, and their unchangeable relation to each other. 
 
 3. " I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." Some have conceived 
 our Lord to mean, I am come to fulfil this, by my entire and perfect 
 obedience to it. And it cunnot be doubted but he did, in this sense, 
 fulfil every part of it. But this does not appear to be what he intends 
 here, being foreign to the scope of his present discourse. Without 
 question, his meaning in this "place is, (consistently with all that goes 
 before and follows after,) 1 am come to establish it in its fulness, in spite 
 of all the glosses of men : I am come to place in a full and clear view 
 whatsoever was dark or obscure therein : I am come to declare the true 
 and full import of every part of it ; to show the length and breadth, the en- 
 tire extent, of every commandment contained therein, and the height and 
 depth, the inconceivable purity and spirituality of it in all its branches. 
 
 4. And this our Lord has abundantly performed in the preceding 
 and subsequent parts of the discourse before us ; in which he has not 
 introduced a new religion into tne world, but the same which was from 
 the beginning ; a religion, the substance of which is, without question, 
 as old as the creation, being coeval with man, and having proceeded 
 from God at the very time when " man became a living soul ;" (the 
 mb.it ance t I say ; for some circumstances of it now relate to man as a 
 fallen creature ;) a religion witnessed to both by the law and by the 
 prophets, in all succeeding generations. Yet was it nevei so fully 
 explained, nor so thoroughly understood, till the great author of it him- 
 self condescended to give mankind this authentic comment on all the 
 essential branches of it ; at the same time declaring it should never be 
 changed, but remain in force to the end of the world. 
 
 II. 1. " For verily I say unto you," (a solemn preface, which de- 
 notes both the importance and certainty of what is spoken,; " till heaven 
 and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, 
 till all be fulfilled." 
 
 " One jot :" it is literally, not one iota, not the most inconsiderable 
 vowel : " or one tittle," M-IO. xs^aia, one corner or point of a consonant. 
 It is a proverbial expression, which signifies that no one commandment 
 contained in the moral law, nor the least part of any one, however 
 inconsiderable it might seem, should ever be disannulled. 
 
 " Shall in no wise pass from the law :'' a w -raPsX^T) airo TX vo/x*. 
 The double negative, here used, strengthens the sense, so as to admit 
 of no contradiction : and the word ira^XSr/i, it may be observed, is not 
 barely future, declaring what will be ; but has likewise the force of an 
 imperative, ordering what shall be. I< i? a word of authority, express- 
 ing the sovereign will and power of him that spake ; of him whose 
 word is the law of heaven and earth, and stands fast for ever and ever. 
 
 "One jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass, till heaven and earth 
 ;" or, as it is expressed immediately after, eu$ ctv iravrn
 
 SERMON XXV.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 249 
 
 tiff, all (or rather all f kings) be fulfilled, till the consummation of all 
 things. Here is therefore no room for that poor evasion, (with which 
 some have delighted themselves greatly,) that " No part of the law was 
 to pass away, till all the law was fulfilled : but it has been fulfilled by 
 Christ ; and therefore now must pass, for the gospel to be established." 
 Not so ; the word all does not mean all the law, but all things in the 
 universe; as neither has the term fulfilled any reference to the law, 
 but to all things in heaven and earth. 
 
 2. From all this we may learn, that there is no contrariety at all 
 between the law and the gospel ; that there is no need for the law to 
 pass away, in order to the establishing the gospel. Indeed neither 
 of them supersedes the other, but they agree perfectly well together. 
 Yea, the very same words, considered in different respects, are parts 
 both of the law and of the gospel : if they are considered as command- 
 ments, they are parts of the law ; if as promises, of the gospel. Thus 
 " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart," when con- 
 sidered as a commandment, is a branch of the law ; when regarded as 
 a promise, is an essential part of the gospel ; the gospel being no other 
 than the commands of the law, proposed by way of promise. Accord- 
 ingly, poverty of spirit, purity of heart, and whatever else is enjoined 
 in the holy law of God, are no other, when viewed in a gospel light, 
 than so many great and precious promises. 
 
 3. There is, therefore, the closest connexion that can be conceived, 
 between the law and the gospel. On the one hand, the law continu- 
 ally makes way for, and points us to, the gospel ; on the other, the 
 gospel continually leads us to a more exact fulfilling of the law. The 
 law, for instance, requires us to love God, to love our neighbour, to be 
 meek, humble, or holy. We feel that we are not sufficient for these 
 things ; yea, that " with man this is impossible :" but we see a promise 
 of God, to give us that love, and to make us humble, meek, and holy : 
 we lay hold of this gospel, of these glad tidings ; it is done unto us 
 according to our faith ; and " the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in 
 us," through faith which is in Christ Jesus. We may yet farther observe, 
 that every command in holy writ is only a covered promise. For by that 
 solemn declaration, " This is the covenant I will make after those days, 
 saith the Lord : I will put my laws in your minds, and write them in 
 your hearts." God hath engaged to give whatsoever he commands. 
 Does he command us then to " pray without ceasing ?" to " rejoice 
 evermore T" to be " holy as he is holy ?" It is enough : he will work 
 in us this very thing : it shall be unto us according to his word. 
 
 4. But if these things are so, we cannot be at a loss what to think of 
 those who, in all ages of the church, have undertaken to change or 
 supersede some commands of God, as they professed by the peculiar 
 direction of his Spirit. Christ has here given us an infallible rule, 
 whereby to judge of all such pretensions. Christianity, as it includes 
 the whole moral law of God, both by way of injunction and of promise, 
 if we will hear him, is designed of God to be the last of al! his dispen- 
 sations. There is no other to come after this. This is to endure till 
 the consummation of all things. Of consequence, all such new revela- 
 tions are of Satan and not of God ; and all pretensions to another more 
 perfect dispensation fall to the ground of course. " Heaven and earth 
 shall pass away ;" but this word " shall not pass away."
 
 250 FIFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXV. 
 
 HI. 1. ' Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least com- 
 mandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the 
 kingdom of heaven : but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same 
 shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 Who, what are they, that make the preaching of the law a character 
 of reproach ? Do they not see on whom the reproach must fall, on 
 whose head it must light at last 1 Whosoever on this ground despiseth 
 us, despiseth Him that sent us. For did ever any man preach the law 
 like him, even when he came not to condemn, but to save the world ; 
 when he came purposely to " bring life and immortality to light through 
 the gospel ?" Can any preuch the law more expressly, more rigorously, 
 than Christ does in these words ? And who is he that shall amend them ? 
 Who is he that shall instruct the Son of God how to preach ? Who will 
 teach him a better way of delivering the message which he hath received 
 of the Father 1 
 
 2. " Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments," or 
 one of the least of these commandments. " These commandments," 
 we may observe, is a term used by our Lord as an equivalent with the 
 law, or the law and the prophets, which is the same thing, seeing the 
 prophets added nothing to the law, but only declared, explained, or en- 
 forced it, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 " Whosoever shall break one of these least commandments," espe- 
 cially if it be done wilfully or presumptuously: One; for "he thai 
 keepeth the whole law, and [thus] offends in one point, is guilty of all :" 
 the wrath of God abideth on him, as surely as if he had broken every one. 
 So that no allowance is made for one darling lust ; no reserve for one 
 idol ; no excuse for refraining from all besides, and only giving way to 
 one bosom sin. What God demands is, an entire obedience ; we are 
 to have an eye to all his commandments ; otherwise we lose all the 
 labour we take in keeping some, and our poor souls for ever and ever. 
 
 " One of the least," or one of the least of these commandments : 
 Here is another excuse cut off, whereby many, who cannot deceive God, 
 miserably deceive their own souls. " This sin," saith the sinner, " is it 
 not a little one ? Will not the Lord spare me in this thing ? Surely he 
 will not be extreme to mark this, since I do not offend in the greater 
 matters of the law." Vain hope ! Speaking after the manner of men, 
 we may term these great, and those little commandments; but in reality, 
 they are not so. If we use propriety of speech, there is no such tiling 
 as a little sin ; every sin being a transgression of the holy and perfect 
 law, and an affront on the great Majesty of Heaven. 
 
 3. " And shall teach men so." In some sense it may be said, that 
 whosoever openly breaks any commandment, teaches others to do the 
 same ; for example speaks, and many times louder than precept. In 
 this sense it is apparent, every open drunkard is a teacher of drunken- 
 ness ; every sabbath breaker is constantly teaching his neighbour to pro- 
 fane the day of the Lord. But this is not all : an habitual breaker of 
 the law is seldom content to stop here : he generally teaches other men 
 to do so too, by word as well as example ; especially when he hardens 
 his neck, and hateth to be reproved. Such a sinner soon commence! 
 an advocate for sin : he defends what he is resolved not to forsake ; he 
 excuses the sin which he will not leave, and thus directly teaches every 
 BJU which he commits.
 
 SERMON XXV.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 251 
 
 " He shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven ;" that is, shall 
 have no part therein. He is a stranger to the kingdom of heaven which 
 is on earth ; he hath no portion in that inheritance ; no share of that 
 " righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Nor, by con- 
 sequence, can he have any part in the glory which shall be revealed. 
 
 4. But if those who even thus break, and teach others to break, " one 
 of thejeast of these commandments, shall b*e called least in the kingdom 
 of heaven," shall have no part in the kingdom of Christ and of God ; if 
 even these shall be cast into " outer darkness, where is wailing and 
 gnashing of teeth ;" then where will they appear, whom our Lord chiefly 
 and primarily intends in these words, they who, bearing the charactei 
 of teachers sent from God, do nevertheless themselves break his com 
 mandments ; yea, and openly teach others so to do ; being corrupt both 
 in life and doctrine ? 
 
 5. These are of several sorts. Of the first sort are they who live in 
 some wilful, habitual sin. Now if an ordinary sinner teaches by his 
 example, how much more a sinful minister, even if he does not 
 attempt to defend, excuse, or extenuate his sin ? If he does, he is a 
 murderer indeed ; yea, the murderer general of his congregation. He 
 peoples the regions of death. He is the choicest instrument of the 
 prince of darkness. When he goes hence, " hell from beneath is moved 
 to meet him at his coming." Nor can he sink into the bottomless pit, 
 without dragging a multitude after him. 
 
 6. Next to these are the good natured, good sort of men ; who live 
 an easy, harmless life, neither troubling themselves with outward s.m, 
 nor with inward holiness ; men who are remarkable neither one way 
 nor the other, neither for religion nor irreligion ; who are very regular 
 both in public and private, but do not pretend to be any stricter than 
 their neighbours. A minister of this kind breaks, not one, or a few 
 only, of the least commandments of God ; but all the great and weighty 
 branches of his law which relate to the power of godliness, and all 
 that require us to " pass the time of our sojourning in fear," to " work 
 out our salvation with fear and trembling," to have our "loins always 
 girt, and our lights burning," to " strive" or agonize " to enter in at 
 the strait gate." And he teaches men so, by the whole form of his 
 life, and the general tenor of his preaching, which uniformly tends to 
 soothe those in their pleasing dream, who imagine themselves Christians 
 and are not; to persuade all, who attend upon his ministry, to sleep 
 on and take their rest. No marvel therefore, if both he, and they that 
 follow him, wake together in everlasting burnings ! 
 
 7. But above all these, in the highest rank of the enemies of the 
 gospel of Christ, an 1 they who openly and explicitly " judge the law" 
 itself, and '* speak evil of the law ;" who teach men to break (Xurfai, to 
 dissolve, to loose, to untie the obligation of) not one only, whether of the 
 least, or of the greatest, but all the commandments at a stroke ; who 
 leach, without any cover, in so many words, " What did our Lord 
 do with the law ? He abolished it. There is but one duty, which is 
 that of believing. All commands are unfit for our times. From any 
 demand of the law, no man is obliged now to go one step, or give away 
 one farthing, to eat or omit one morsel." This is indeed carrying mat- 
 ters with a high hand ; this is withstanding our Lord to the face, and 
 telling him. that he understood, not how to deliver the message on which
 
 252 FIFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXV. 
 
 he was sent. Oh Lord, lay not this sin to their charge ! Father, for- 
 give them ; for they know not what they do ! 
 
 8. The most surprising of all the circumstances that attend this strong 
 delusion, is, that they who are given up to it, really believe that they 
 honour Christ by overthrowing his law, and that they are magnifying 
 his office, while they are destroying his doctrine ! Yea, they honour him 
 just as Judas did, when he said, " Hail, Master, and kissed him." And 
 he may as justly say to every one of them, " Betrayest thou tho Son of 
 man with a kiss 7" It is no other than betraying him with a kiss, to 
 talk of his blood, and take away his crown ; to set light by any part 
 of his law, under pretence of advancing his gospel. Nor indeed can 
 any one escape this charge, who preaches faith in any such a manner 
 as either directly or indirectly tends to set aside any branch of obedi- 
 ence ; who preaches Christ so' as to disannul, or weaken in any wise, 
 the least of the commandments of God. 
 
 9. It is impossible, indeed, to have too high an esteem for " the faith of 
 God's elect." And we must all declare, "By grace ye are saved through 
 faith ; not of works, lest any man should boast." We must cry aloud to 
 every penitent sinner, " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt 
 be saved." But, at the same time, we must take care to let all men 
 know, we esteem no faith but that which worketh by love ; and that we 
 are not saved by faith, unless so far as we are delivered from the power 
 as well as the guilt of sin. And when we say, " Believe, and thou shalt 
 be saved ;" we do not mean, " Believe, and thou shalt step from sin to 
 heaven, without any holiness coming between ; faith supplying the place 
 of holiness;" but, " Believe, and thou shalt be holy ; believe in the Lord 
 Jesus, and thou shalt have peace and power together : thou shalt have 
 power from him in whom thou believest, to trample sin under thy feet ; 
 power to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and to serve him with 
 all thy strength: thou shalt have power, ' by patient continuance in well 
 doing, to seek for glory, and honour and immortality ;' thou shalt both 
 do and teach all the commandments of God, from the least even to the 
 greatest : thou shalt teach them by thy life as well as thy words, and 
 so ' be called great in the kingdom of heaven.' " 
 
 JV. 1. Whatever other way we teach to the kingdom of heaven, to 
 glory, honour, and immortality, be it called the way of faith, or by any 
 other name, it is, in truth, the way to destruction. It will not bring a 
 man peace at the last. For thus saith the Lord, " I say unto you, That 
 except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes 
 and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 The scribes, mentioned so often in the New Testament, as some of the 
 most constant and vehement opposersof our Lord, were not secretaries, or 
 men employed in writing only, as that term might incline us to believe. 
 Neither were they lawyers, in our common sense of the word ; although 
 the word VO/JUXGI is so rendered in our translation. Their employment 
 had no affinity at all to that of a lawyer among us. They were conver- 
 sant with the laws of God, and not with the laws of man. These were 
 their study : it was their proper and peculiar business, to read and 
 expound the law and the prophets; particularly in the synagogues. 
 They were the ordinary, slated preachers among the Jews. So that if 
 the sense of the original word was attended to, we might render it, the 
 divines. For these were the men that made divinity their profession :
 
 SERMON XXV.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 253 
 
 and they were generally (as their name literally imports) men of letters: 
 men of the greatest account for learning that were then in the Jewish 
 nation. 
 
 2. The Pharisees were a very ancient sect, or body of men, among 
 the Jews ; originally so called from the Hebrew word ana, which sig- 
 nifies to separate or divide. Not that they made any formal separation 
 from, or division in, the national church : they were only distinguished 
 from others by greater strictness of life, by more exactness of conver- 
 sation. For they were zealous of the law in the minutest points ; pay- 
 ing tithes of mint, anise, and cummin : and hence they were had in 
 honour of all the people, and generally esteemed the holiest of men. 
 
 Many of the scribes were of the sect of the Pharisees. Thus St. 
 Paul himself, who was educated for a scribe, first at the university ff 
 Tarsus, and after that in Jerusalem, at the feet of Gamaliel, (one of the 
 most learned scribes or doctors of the law, that were then in the nation,) 
 declares of himself before the council, " I am a Pharisee, the son of a 
 Pharisee," Acts xxiii, 6 ; and before king Agrippa, " After the straitest 
 sect of our religion, I lived a Pharisee," chap, xxvi, 5. And the whole 
 body of the scribes generally esteemed and acted in concert with the 
 Pharisees. Hence we find our Saviour so frequently coupling them 
 together, as coming in many respects under the same consideration. 
 In this place they seem to be mentioned together, as the most eminent 
 professors of religion ; the former of whom were accounted the wisest, 
 the latter, the holiest of men. 
 
 3. What " the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees" really was, 
 it is not difficult to determine. Our Lord has preserved an authentic 
 account, which one of them gave of himself: and he is clear and full 
 in describing his own righteousness ; and cannot be supposed to have 
 omitted any part of it. He went up indeed " into the temple to pray ;" 
 but was so intent upon his own virtues, that he forgot the design upon 
 which he came. For it is remarkable, he does not properly pray at ail : 
 he only tells God how wise and good he was. " God, I thank thee, that 
 I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers ; or even as 
 this publican. 1 fast twice in the week ; I give tithes of all I possess." 
 His righteousness therefore consisted of three parts: First, saith he, 
 " 1 am not as other men are ;" I am not an extortioner, not unjust, not 
 an adulterer ; not " even as this publican :" Secondly, " I fast twice in 
 ihe week :" And Thirdly, " I give tithes of all that I possess." 
 
 " I am not as other men are." This is not a small point. It is not 
 every man that can say this. It is as if he had said I do not suffer 
 myself to be carried away by that great torrent, custom. I live not by 
 custom, but by reason ; not by the examples of men, but by the word 
 of God. " I am not an extortioner, not unjust, not an adulterer ;" 
 however common these sins *are, even among those who are called the 
 people of God; (extortion in particular, a kind of legal injustice, not 
 punishable by any human law, the making gain of another's ignorance 
 or necessity, having filled every corner of the land;) "nor even as 
 this publican ;" not guilty of any open or presumptuous sin ; not an out- 
 ward sinner; but a fair honest man, of blameless life and conversation. 
 
 4. " I fast twice in the week." There is more implied in this, than 
 we may at first be sensible of. All the stricter Pharisees observed the 
 weekly fasts; namely, every Monday and Thursday. On the former
 
 24 FIFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXV. 
 
 day, they fasted in memory of Moses receiving on that day (as theii 
 tradition taught) the two tables of stone written by the finger of God ; 
 on the latter, in memory of his casting them out of his hand, when he 
 saw the people dancing round the golden calt! On these days, they 
 took no sustenance at all, till three in the afternoon ; the hour at which 
 they began to offer up the evening sacrifice in the temple. Till that 
 hour, it was their custom to remain in the temple, in some of the cor- 
 ners, apartments, or courts thereof; that they might be ready to assist 
 at all the sacrifices, and to join in all public prayers. The time between 
 they were accustomed to employ, partly in private addresses to God, 
 partly in searching the Scriptures, in reading the law and the prophets, 
 and in meditating thereon. Thus much is implied in, " I fast twice ip 
 the week ;" the second branch of the righteousness of a Pharisee. 
 
 5. " I give tithes of all that I possess." This the Pharisees did with 
 the utmost exactness. They would not except the most inconsiderable 
 thing; no, not mint, anise, and cummin. They would not keep back 
 the least part of what they believed properly to belong to God ; but gave 
 a full tenth of their whole substance yearly, and of all their increase, 
 whatsoever it was. 
 
 Yea, the stricter Pharisees, (as has been often observed by those who 
 are versed in the ancient Jewish writings,) not content with giving one 
 tenth of their substance to God, in his priests and Levites, gave another 
 tenth to God in the poor, and that continually. They gave the same 
 proportion of all they had in alms, as they were accustomed to give in 
 tithes. And this likewise they adjusted with the utmost exactness; 
 that they might not keep back any part, but might fully render unto 
 God the things which were God's, as they accounted this to be. So 
 that, upon the whole, they gave away, from year to year, an entire fifth 
 of all that they possessed. 
 
 6. This was " the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees ;" a 
 righteousness which, in many respects, went far beyond the conception 
 which many have been accustomed to entertain concerning it. But 
 perhaps it will be said, " It was ail false and feigned ; for they were all 
 a company of hypocrites." Some of them doubtless were ; men who 
 had really no religion at all, no fear of God, or desire to please him ; 
 who had no concern for the honour that corneth of God, but only for 
 the praise of men. And these are they whom our Lord so severely con- 
 demns, so sharply reproves on many occasions. But we must not sup- 
 pose, because many Pharisees were hypocrites, therefore all were so. 
 Nor indeed is hypocrisy by any means essential to the character of a 
 Pharisee. This is not the distinguishing mark of their sect. It is rather 
 this, (according to our Lord's account,) " They trusted in themselves 
 that they were righteous, and despised others." This is their genuine 
 badge. But the Pharisee of this kind cannot be a hypocrite. He 
 must be, in the common sense, sincere ; otherwise he could not " trust 
 in himself that he is righteous." The man who was here commending 
 himself to God, unquestionably thought himself righteous. Conse- 
 quently he was no hypocrite; he was not conscious to himself of any 
 insincerity. He now spoke to God just what he thought, that he was 
 abundantly better than other men. 
 
 But the example of St. Paul, were there no other, is sufficient to put 
 this out of all question. He could not only say, when he was a Christian.
 
 SERMON XXV.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 255 
 
 " Herein do 1 exercise myself, to have always a conscience void of 
 offence, towards God, and towards men," Acts xxiv, 16 ; but even con- 
 cerning the time when he was a Pharisee, " Men and brethren, I have 
 live*! in all good conscience before God until this day," Acts xxiii, 1 
 He was therefore sincere when he was a Pharisee, as well as when he 
 was a Christian. He was no more a hypocrite when he persecuted the 
 church, than when he preached the faith which once he persecuted. 
 Let this then be added to " the righteousness of the scribes and Phari- 
 sees," a sincere belief that they are righteous, and in all things 
 " doing God service." 
 
 7. And yet, " Except your righteousness," saith our Lord, "shall 
 exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no 
 case enter into the kingdom of heaven." A solemn and weighty decla- 
 ration, and one which it behoves all, who are called by the name of 
 Christ, seriously and deeply to consider. But before we inquire, how our 
 righteousness may exceed theirs, let us examine, whether at present 
 we come up to it? 
 
 First. A Pharisee was " not as other men are." In externals he was 
 singularly good. Are we so ? Do we dare to be singular at all 1 Do 
 we not rather swim with the stream ? Do we not many times dispense 
 with religion and reason together, because we would not look particu- 
 lar? Are we not often more afraid of being out of the fashion, than 
 being out of the way of salvation 1 Have we courage to stem the tide ? 
 To run counter to the world 1 " To obey God rather than man ?" 
 Otherwise the Pharisee leaves us behind at the very first step. It is 
 well if we overtake him any more. 
 
 But to come closer : Can we use his first plea with God ? which is, 
 in substance, " I do no harm : I live in no outward sin : I do nothing for 
 which my own heart condemns me." Do you not] Are you sure of 
 that? Do you live in no practice for which your own heart condemns 
 you? If you are not an adulterer, if you are not unchaste, either in 
 word or deed, are you not unjust ? The grand measure of justice, as 
 well as of mercy, is, " Do unto others as thou wouldest they should do 
 unto thee." Do you walk by this rule? Do you never do unto any 
 what you would not they should do unto you ? Nay, are you not grossly 
 unjust ? Are you not an extortioner ? Do you not make a gain of any 
 one's ignorance, or necessity ? Neither in buying nor selling ? Suppose 
 you were engaged in trade : do you demand, do you receive, no more 
 than the real value of what you sell ? Do you demand, do you receive, 
 no more of the ignorant than of the knowing, of a little child, than of 
 an experienced trader ? If you do, why does not your heart condemn 
 you ? You are a barefaced extortioner ! Do you demand no more than 
 the usual price of goods, of any who is in pressing want, who must 
 have, and that without delay, the things which you only can furnish 
 him with ? If you do, this also is flat extortion. Indeed you do not 
 come up to the righteousness of a Pharisee. 
 
 8. A Pharisee, secondly, (to express his sense in our common way,) 
 used all the me9ns of grace. As he fasted often and much, twice in 
 every week, so he attended all the sacrifices. He was constant in 
 public and private prayer, and in reading and hearing the Scriptures. 
 Do you go as far as this ? Do you fast much and often ? Twice in the 
 week ? I fear wot. Once at least, " on ali Fridays in the year ?"
 
 256 FIFTH DISCOURSE UPON ("SERMON XXV. 
 
 (So our church clearly and peremptorily enjoins all her members to do ; 
 to observe all these, as well as the vigils and the forty days of Lent, as 
 days of fasting or abstinence.) Do you fast twice in the year 1 1 am 
 afraid some among us cannot plead even this ! Do you neglect no 
 opportunity of attending and partaking of the Christian sacrifice ? How 
 many are they who call themselves Christians, and yet are utterly 
 regardless of it, yet do not eat of that bread, or drink of that cup, for 
 months, perhaps years together ! Do you, every day, either hear the 
 Scriptures, or read them and meditate thereon ? Do you join in prayer 
 with the great congregation, daily, if you have opportunity ; if not, 
 whenever you can ; particularly on that day which you " remember to 
 keep it holy ?" Do you strive to make opportunities ? Are you glad 
 when they say unto you, " We will go into the house of the Lord '" 
 Are you zealous of, and diligent in, private prayer 1 Do you suffer no 
 day to pass without it ? Rather, are not some of you so far from spend- 
 ing therein (with the Pharisee) several hours in one day, that you think 
 one hour full enough, if not too much ? Do you spend an hour in a day, 
 or in a week, in praying to your Father which is in secret? Yea, an 
 hour in a month ? Have you spent one hour together in private prayer 
 ever since you was born? Ah poor Christian! shall not the Pharisee 
 rise up in the judgment against thee, and condemn thee ? His right- 
 eousness is as far above thine, as the heaven is above the earth ! 
 
 9. The Pharisee, thirdly, paid tithes and gave alms oi all that he 
 possessed. And in how ample a manner ! So that he was (as we 
 phrase it) " a man that did much good." Do we come up to him here I 
 Which of us is so abundant, as he was, in good works ? Which of us 
 gives a fifth of all his substance to God, both of the principal and of tne 
 increase? Who of us, out of (suppose) a hundred pounds a year, gi\es 
 twenty to God and the poor ; out of fifty, ten ; and so in a larger or a 
 smaller proportion 1 When shall our righteousness, in using all itie 
 means of grace, in attending all the ordinances of God, in av< iding 
 evil, and doing good, equal at least the righteousness of the scribes 
 and Pharisees? 
 
 10. Although if it only equalled theirs, what would that profit 1 " For 
 verily I say unto you, Except your righteousness shall exceed the right- 
 eousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven." But how can it exceed theirs 1 Wherein does 
 the righteousness of a Christian exceed that of a scribe or Pharisee 7 
 Christian righteousness exceeds theirs, first, in the extent of it. Most 
 of the Pharisees, though they were rigorously exact in many things, 
 yet were emboldened, by the traditions of the elders, to dispense with 
 others of equal importance. Thus they were extremely punctual in 
 keeping the fourth commandment, they would not even rub an ear of 
 corn on the sabbath day ; but not at all in keeping the third ; making 
 little account of light, or even false, swearing. So that their righteous 
 ness was partial ; whereas the righteousness of a real Christian is 
 universal. He does not observe one, or some parts of the law of God, 
 and neglect the rest ; but keeps all his commandments, loves them all, 
 values them above gold or precious .stones. 
 
 11. It may be, indeed, that some of the scribes and Pharisees en- 
 deavoured to keep all the commandments, and consequently were, as 
 touching the righteousness of the law, that is, according to the letter of
 
 SERMON XXV.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 257 
 
 it blameless. But still the righteousness of a Christian exceeds all this 
 righteousness of a scribe or Pharisee, by fulfilling the spirit as well as 
 the letter of the law; by inward as well as outward obedience. In this, 
 in the spirituality of it, it admits of no comparison. This is the point 
 which our Lord has so largely proved, in the whole tenor of this dis- 
 course. Their righteousness was external only ; Christian righteous- 
 ness is in the inner man. The Pharisee " cleansed the outside of the 
 cup and the platter ;" the Christian is clean within. The Pharisee 
 laboured to present God with a good life ; the Christian with a holy 
 heart. The one shook off the leaves, perhaps the fruits of sin ; the 
 other "lays the axe to the root;" as not being content with the out- 
 ward form of godliness, how exact soever it be, unless the life, the 
 spirit, the power of God unto salvation, be felt in the inmost soul. 
 
 Thus, to do no harm, to do good, to attend the ordinances of God, 
 (the righteousness of a Pharisee,) are all external ; whereas, on the 
 contrary, poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, hunger and thirst after 
 righteousness, the love of our neighbour, and purity of heart, (the 
 righteousness of a Christian,) are all internal. And even peace making, 
 (or doing good,) and suffering for righteousness' sake, stand entitled to 
 the blessings annexed to them, only as they imply these inward dispo- 
 sitions, as they spring from, exercise, and confirm them. So that 
 whereas the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees was external 
 only, it may be said, in some sense, that the righteousness of a Chris- 
 tian is internal only : all his actions and sufferings being as nothing in 
 themselves, being estimated before God only by the tempers from which 
 they spring. 
 
 12. Whosoever therefore thou art, who bearest the holy and vene- 
 rable name of a Christian, see, first, that thy righteousness fall not 
 short of the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Be not thou. 
 as other men are ! Dare to stand alone ; to be, " against example^ 
 singularly good." If thou follow a multitude at all, it must be to do 
 evil. Let not custom or fashion be thy guide; tyut reason, and religion. 
 The practice of others is nothing to thee : " every man must give an 
 account of himself to God." Indeed if thou canst save the soul of 
 another, do : but at least, save one ; thy own. Walk not in the path of 
 death, because it. is broad, and many walk therein. Nay, by this very 
 token thou mayest know it. Is the way wherein thou now walkest, a 
 broad, well frequented, fashionable way? Then it infallibly leads to 
 destruction. Oh be not thou "damned for company!" Cease from 
 evil ; fly from sin as from the face of a serpent ! At least, do no harm. 
 " He that committeth sin is of the devil." Be not thou found in that 
 number. Touching outward sins, surely the grace of God is even now 
 sufficient for thee. " Herein," at least, " exercise thyself to have a 
 conscience \'oid of offence, towards God and towards man." 
 
 Secondly : let not thy righteousness fall short of theirs, with regard 
 to the ordinances of God. If thy labour or bodily strength will not 
 allow of thy fasting twice in the week, however deal faithfully with thy 
 own soul, and fast as often as thy strength will permit. Omit no public, 
 no private opportunity of pouring out thy soul in prayer. Neglect no 
 occasion of eating that bread and drinking that cup, which is the com- 
 munion of the body and blood of Christ. Be diligent in bearching the 
 Scriptures ; read, as thou mayest, and meditate therein day and night.
 
 258 FIFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXV. 
 
 Rejoice to embrace every opportunity of hearing " the word of recon- 
 ciliation" declared by the " ambassadors of Christ," the " stewards of 
 the mysteries of God." In using all the means of grace, in a constant 
 and careful attendance on every ordinance of God, live up to (at least till 
 thou canst go beyond) " the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees." 
 
 Thirdly : fall not short of a Pharisee in doing good. Give alms of all 
 thou dost possess. Is any hungry? Feed him. Is he athirst? Gi\e 
 him drink. Naked ? Cover him with a garment. If thou hast this 
 world's goods, do not limit thy beneficence to a scanty proportion. Be 
 merciful to the uttermost of thy power. Why not even as this Pharisee ! 
 Now " make thyself friends," while the time is, "of the mammon ol 
 unrighteousness, that when thou failest," when this earthly tabernacle 
 is dissolved, they " may receive thee into everlasting habitations." 
 
 13. But rest not here. Let thy righteousness " exceed the right- 
 eousness of the scribes and Pharisees." Be not thou content to " keep 
 the whole law, and offend in one point." Hold thou fast all his com- 
 mandments, and " all false ways do thou utterly abhor." Do all the 
 things, whatsoever he hath commanded, and that with all thy might. 
 Thou canst do all things through Christ strengthening thee ; though 
 without him thou canst do nothing. 
 
 Above all, let thy righteousness exceed theirs in the purity and spirit- 
 uality of it. What is the exactest form of religion to thee 1 The 
 most perfect outside righteousness 1 Go thou higher and deeper than all 
 this! Let thy religion be the religion of the heart. Be thou poor in 
 spirit; little, and base, and mean, and viie in thy own eyes; amazed 
 and humbled to the dust at the love of God which is in Christ Jesus 
 thy Lord ! Be serious : let the whole stream of thy thoughts, words, and 
 works, be such as flows from the deepest conviction that thou standest 
 on the edge of the great gulf, thou and all the children of men, just 
 ready to drop in, either into everlasting glory or everlasting burnings ! 
 Be meek : let thy soul be filled with mildness, gentleness, patience, 
 long suflfc.ring towards all men ; at the same time that all which is in 
 thee is athirst for God, the living God, longing to awake up after his 
 likeness, and to be satisfied with it. Be thou a lover of God, and oi 
 all mankind. In this spirit, do and suffer all things. Thus " exceed 
 the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees," and thou shall be 
 " called great in the kingdom of heaven."
 
 SERMON XXVI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 
 
 259 
 
 SRR.MON XXVI. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, 
 
 DISCOURSE VI. 
 
 "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them : other- 
 wise ye Have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. 
 
 " Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, a* 
 the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory 
 of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. 
 
 " But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand 
 docth : that thine alms may be in secret : and thy Father, which seeth in secret. 
 himself shall reward thee openly. 
 
 " And when thou prayest, thou shall not be as the hypocrites are for they love 
 to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they 
 may be seen ol men. Verily 1 say unto you, They have their reward. 
 
 ' But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut 
 thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret ; and thy Father which seeth ui 
 secret shall reward thee openly. 
 
 " But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions as the heathen do : for they think 
 that they shall be heard for their much speaking. 
 
 " Be not ye therefore like unto them : for your Father knoweth what things yo 
 have need of, before ye ask him. 
 
 " After this manner therefore pray ye : Our Father which art in heaven, hal- 
 lowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in 
 heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts as we for 
 give our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil : For 
 thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. 
 
 14 For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also for- 
 give you : 
 
 " But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive 
 your trespasses," Matt, vi, 1-15. 
 
 1. IN the preceding chapter our Lord has described inward religion 
 in its various branches. He has laid before us those dispositions of 
 soul which constitute real Christianity ; the inward tempers contained 
 in that 4 ' holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord;" the 
 affections which, when flowing from their proper fountain, from a living 
 faith in God through Christ. Jesus, are intrinsically and essentially good, 
 and acceptable to God. He proceeds to show, in this chapter, how all 
 our actions likewise, even those that are indifferent in their own 
 nature, may be made holy, and good, and acceptable to God, by a pure 
 and holy intention. Whatever is done without this, he largely declares, 
 is of no value before God. Whereas, whatever outward works are 
 thus consecrated to God, they are, in his sight, of great price. 
 
 2. The necessity of this purity of intention, he shows first, with re- 
 gard to those which are usually accounted religious actions, and indeed 
 are such when performed with a right intention. Some of these are 
 commonly termed works of piety ; the rest, works of charity or mercy. 
 Of the latter sort, he particularly names almsgiving; of the former, 
 prayer and fasting. But the directions given for these are equally to be 
 applied to every work, whether of charily or mercy. 
 
 I. 1. And, First, with regard to works of mercy. 44 Take heed," 
 saith he, 4 ' that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them : 
 otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." 
 44 That ye do not your alms :" Although this only is named, yet is 
 every work of charity included, every thing which we give, or speak, 
 or do, whereby our neighbour may be profited ; whereby another man 
 may receive any advantage either in his body or soul. The feeding
 
 250 SIXTH DISCOURSE UPON [SEEMON XXVI. 
 
 the hungry, the clothing the naked, the entertaining or assisting ihe 
 stranger, the visiting those that are sick or in prison, the comforting 
 the afflicted, the instructing the ignorant, the reproving the wicked, 
 the exhorting and encouraging the well doer ; and if there be any other 
 work of mercy, it is equally included in this direction. 
 
 2. " Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of 
 them." The tiling which is here forbidden, is not barely the doing 
 good in the sight of men ; this circumstance alone, that others see 
 what we do, makes the action neither worse nor better ; but the doing 
 it before men, " to be seen of them," with this view, from this inten- 
 tion, only. I say, from this intention only; for this may, in some cases, 
 l>e a part of our intention ; we may design that some of our actions 
 should be seen, and yet they may be acceptable to God. We m-ay in- 
 tend that our light should shine before men, when our conscience bears 
 us witness in the Holy Ghost, that our ultimate end in designing they 
 should see our good works, is, " that they may glorify our Father which 
 is in heaven." But take heed that ye do not the least thing with a 
 view to your own glory : take heed, that a regard to the praise of men 
 have no place at all in your works of mercy. If ye seek your own 
 glory, if you have any design to gain the honour that comelh of men, 
 whatever is done with this view is nothing worth ; it is not done unto 
 the Lord; he accepteth it not; "ye have no reward [for this] of your 
 Father which is in heaven." 
 
 3. " Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet 
 before thee as the hypocrites do, in the synagogues and in the streets, 
 that they may have praise of men." The word synagogue does not 
 here mean a place of worship, but any place of public resort, such as 
 the market place, or exchange. It was a common thing among the 
 Jews, who were men of large fortunes, particularly among the Phari- 
 sees, to cause a trumpet to be sounded before them in the most public 
 parts of the city, when they were about to give any considerable alms. 
 The pretended reason for this was, to call the poor together to receive 
 it; but the real design, that they might have praise of men. But be 
 not thou like unto them. Do not thou cause a trumpet to be sounded 
 before thee. Use no ostentation in doing good. Aim at the honour 
 which cometh of God only. They who seek the praise of men, have 
 their reward : they shall have no praise of God. 
 
 4. " But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy 
 right hand doeth." This is a proverbial expression^ the meaning of 
 which is, Do it in as secret a manner as is possible ; as secret as is 
 consistent with the doing it at all, (for it must not be left undone ; omit 
 no opportunity of doing good, whether secretly or openly ;) and with the 
 doing it in the most effectual manner. For here is also an exception 
 to be made : when you are fully persuaded in your own mind, that by 
 your not concealing the good which is done, either you will yourself 
 be enabled, or others excited, to do the more good, then you may not 
 conce.il it: then let your light appear and " shine to all that are in the 
 house." But, unless where the glory of God and the good of mankind 
 oblige you to the contrary, act in as private and unobserved a manner as 
 the nature of the thing will admit; "that thy alms may be in secret; 
 and thy Father which seeth in secret, he shall reward thee openly ;" 
 perhaps in the present world, many instances of this stand recorded
 
 SERMON XXVI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 261 
 
 in all ages; but infallibly in the world to come, before the general 
 assembly of men and angels. 
 
 II. 1. From works of charity or mercy, our Lord proceeds to those 
 which are termed woiks of piety. " And when thou prayest," saith he, 
 " thou shall not be as the hypocrites are : for they love to pray standing 
 in the synagogues, and in the corners of the streets, that they may be 
 seen of men." " Thou shall not be as ihe hypocrites are." Hypocrisy, 
 then, or insincerity, is the h'rsl ihing we are lo guard againsl in prayer. 
 Beware not lo speak whal ihou dosl nol mean. Prayer is ihe lifting 
 up of ihe heart lo God : all words of prayer, wilhoul ihis, are mere 
 hypocrisy. Whenever iherefore ihou altemptesl lo pray, see lhat it be 
 Ihy one design lo commune wilh God, to lift up ihy heart lo him, to 
 pour oul ihy soul before him ; nol as ihe hypocriles, who love or are 
 wont, " to pray standing in ihe synagogues," Ihe exchange, or market 
 places, " and in ihe corners of ihe slreels," wherever ihe mosl people are, 
 " lhal ihey may be seen of men :" this was ihe sole design, ihe molive 
 and end, of ihe prayers which ihey ihere repealed. " Verily I say unto 
 you, They have their reward." They are lo expecl none from your 
 Falher which is in heaven. 
 
 2. Bui il is nol only ihe having an eye lo the praise of men, which 
 cuts us off from any reward in heaven ; which leaves us no room to 
 expect the blessing of God upon our works, whether of piety or mercy. 
 Purily of inlenlion is equally deslroyed by a view lo any lemporal 
 reward whalever. If we repeal our prayers, if we atlend ihe public 
 worship of God, if we nelieve ihe poor, wilh a view lo gain or inleresl, 
 it is nol a whil more acceplable lo God, lhan if it were done with a 
 view to praise. Any temporal view, any motive whatever on this side 
 elernity, any design bul lhal of promoting Ihe glory of God and ihe 
 happiness of men for God's sake, makes every aclion, however fair it 
 may appear lo men, an abominalion unto the Lord. 
 
 3. " But when thou prayest, enter into ihy closel, and when ihoti 
 hasl shul ihy door, pray lo ihy Father which is in secrel." There is 
 a lime when ihou art openly to glorify God, to pray to and praise him 
 in the great congregation. Bul when ihou desiresl more largely and 
 more particularly lo make ihy requesls known unlo God, whether il be 
 in ihe evening, or in Ihe morning, or al noonday, " enter inlo thy 
 closel, and shul ihy door." Use all the privacy thou canst. (Only 
 leave il nol undone, whether thou hasl any closel, any privacy, or no. 
 Pray lo God, if il be possible, when none seeth but he; but, if other- 
 wise, pray to God.) Thus " pray lo ihy Father which is in secret ;" 
 pour out all thy heart before him ; " and ihy Falher which seelh in 
 secrel, he shall reward ihee openly." 
 
 4. " But when ye pray," even in secret, " use not vain repetitions 
 as the heathen do ; fwj (3a.TTo\ojr l <fr l Te. Do not use abundance of worus 
 withoul any meaning. Say nol ihe same ihing over and over again : 
 think nol ihe fruil of your prayers depends on ihe lenglh of ihem 
 like ihe healhens; for "ihey think they shall be heard for iheir much 
 speaking." 
 
 The ihing here reproved, is nol simply ihe lenglh, any more than 
 the shortness, of our prayers; but, First, length wrthout meaning; 
 speaking much, and meaning little or nothing; the using (not ail repe- 
 titions ; for our Lord himself prayod thrice, repealing Ihe same words ;
 
 262 SIXTH DISCOURSE UPON JSERMON XXVI. 
 
 but) vain repetitions, as the heathens did, reciting the names of their 
 rods over and over ; as they do among Christians, (vulgarly so called,) 
 and not among the Papists, only, who say over and over the same string 
 Df prayers, without ever feeling what they speak : Secondly, the 
 thinking to be heard for our much speaking, the fancying God mea- 
 sures prayers by their length, and is best pleased with those which 
 contain the most words, which sound the longest in his ears. These 
 are such instances of superstition and folly, as all who are named by 
 the name of Christ should leave to the heathens, to them on whom the 
 glorious light of the gospel has never shined. 
 
 5. " Be not ye therefore like unto them." Ye who have tasted ol 
 the grace of God in Christ Jesus, are thoroughly convinced, " your 
 Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." So 
 that the end of your praying is not to inform God, as though he knew 
 not your wants already ; but rather to inform yourselves ; to fix the 
 sense of those wants more deeply in your hearts, and the sense of your 
 continual dependance on him, who only is able to supply all your wants. 
 It is not so much to move God, who is always more ready to give than 
 you to ask, as to move yourselves, that you may be willing and ready 
 to receive the good things he has prepared for you. 
 
 III. 1. After having taught the true nature and ends of prayer, our 
 Lord subjoins an example of it ; even that divine form of prayer, which 
 srems in this place to be proposed by 'way of pattern, chiefly as the model 
 and standard of all our prayers : " After this manner therefore pray ye." 
 Whereas, elsewhere he enjoins the use of these very words, " He said 
 unto them, When ye pray, say," Luke xi, 2. 
 
 2. We may observe, in general, concerning this divine prayer, First, 
 That it contains all we can reasonably or innocently pray for. There 
 is nothing which we have need to ask of God, nothing which we can 
 ask without offending him, which is not included, either directly or 
 indirectly, in this comprehensive form. Secondly, That it contains all 
 we can reasonably or innocently desire; whatever is for the glory of 
 God, whatever is needful or profitable, not only for ourselves, but for 
 every creature in heaven and earth. And indeed our prayers are the 
 proper test of our desires; nothing being fit to have a place in our de- 
 sires which is not fit to have a place in our prayers ; what we may not 
 pray for, neither should we desire. Thirdly, That it contains all our 
 duty to God and man ; whatsoever things are pure and holy, whatsoever 
 God requires of the children of men, whatsoever is acceptable in his 
 sight, whatsoever it is whereby we may profit our neighbour, being 
 expressed or implied therein. 
 
 3. It consists of three parts, the preface, the petitions, and the dox- 
 ology, or conclusion. The preface, " Our Father which art in heaven," 
 lays a general foundation for prayer ; comprising what we must first 
 know of God, before we can pray in confidence of being heard. It 
 likewise points out to us all those tempers, with which we are to ap- 
 proach to God, which are most essentially requisite, if we desire either 
 our prayers or our lives should find acceptance with him. 
 
 4. " Our Father :" If he is a Father, then he is good, then he is 
 loving to his children. And here is the first and great reason for 
 prayer. God is willing to bless ; let us ask for a blessing. " Our 
 Father ;" our Creator ; the author of our being ; he who raised us
 
 SERMON XXVI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 263 
 
 from the dust of the eartli ; who breathed into us the breath of life, and 
 A r e became living souls. But if he made us, let us ask, and he will not 
 withhold any good thing from the work of his own hands. " Our 
 Father ;" oar preserver; who, day by day, sustains the life he has 
 given ; of whose continuing love we now and every moment receive 
 life, and breath, and all things. So much the more boldly let us come 
 to him, and we shall "obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of 
 need." Above all, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, and of all that 
 believe in him ; who justifies us " freely by his grace, through the 
 redemption that is in Jesus ;" who hath " blotted out all our sins, and 
 healed all our infirmities ;" who hath received us for his own children, 
 by adoption and grace ; and, " because [we] are sons, hath sent forth 
 the Spirit of his Son into [our] hearts, ciying, Abba, Father ;" who 
 " hath begotten us again of incorruptible seed," and " created us anew 
 in Christ Jesus." Therefore we know that he heareth us always; 
 therefore we pray to him without ceasing. We pray, because we love ; 
 and " we love him because he first loved us." 
 
 5. " Our Father :" not mine only who now cry unto him, but ours 
 in the most extensive sense. The God and " Father of the spirits of 
 all flesh ;" the Father of angels and men : so the very heathens ac- 
 knowledge him to be, Ilarfj? avopwv n Sswv rs. The Father of the 
 universe, of all the families both in heaven and earth. Therefore with 
 him there is no respect of persons. He loveth all that he hath made. 
 
 ' He is loving unto every man, and his mercy is over all his works." 
 And the Lord's delight is in them that fear him, and put their trust in 
 his mercy ; in them that trust in him through the Son of his love, 
 knowing that they are " accepted in the Beloved." But " if God so 
 loved us, we ought also to love one another ;" yea, and all mankind ; 
 seeing " God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," 
 even to die the death, that they " might not perish but have everlast- 
 ing life." 
 
 6. " Which art in heaven :" high and lifted up ; God over all, 
 blessed for ever : who, sitting on the circle of the heavens, beholdeth 
 all things both in heaven and earth ; whose eye pervades the whole 
 sphere of created being : yea, and of uncreated night ; unto whom 
 " are known all his works," and all the works of every creature, not 
 only " from the beginning of the world," (a poor, low, weak transla- 
 tion) but (XT' ouwvog, from all eternity, from everlasting to everlasting ; 
 who constrains the host of heaven, as well as the children of men, tc 
 cry out with wonder and amazement, Oh the depth ! " The depth of 
 the riches, both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God !" " Which 
 art in heaven ;" the Lord and ruler of all, superintending and dis- 
 posing all things; who art the King of kings, and Lord of lords, the 
 blessed and only Potentate ; who art strong and girded about with 
 power, doing whatsoever pleaseth thee ; the Almighty; for whensoever 
 thou wiliest, to do is present with thee. " In heaven ;" eminently 
 there. Heaven is thy throne, the place where thine honour particularly 
 dwelleth. But not there alone ; for thou fillest heaven and earth, thu 
 whole expanse of space. " Heaven and earth are full of thy glory. 
 Glory be to thee, oh Lord most high !" 
 
 Therefore should we " serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto 
 him with reverence." Therefore should we think, speak and act as
 
 264 SIXTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON xxvi. 
 
 continually under the eye, in the immediate presence of the Lord, the 
 King. 
 
 7. " Hallowed be thy name." This is the first of the six petitions, 
 whereof the prayer itself is composed. The name of God, is God him- 
 self; the nature of God, so far as it can he discovered to man. It means 
 therefore, together with his existence, all his attributes or perfections : 
 His eternity, particularly signified by his great and incommunica- 
 ble name, JEHOVAH, as the apostle John translates it : TO A, xai TO Q, 
 arj xai TsXoc;, o wv xai o /v xai o s^o^svns, " The Alpha and Omega, 
 the beginning and the end ; He which is, and which was, and which 
 is to come ;" His fulness of being, denoted by his other great name, 
 I AM THAT I AM ! His omnipresence; His omnipotence; who 
 is indeed the only agent in the material world ; all matter being essen- 
 tially dull and inactive, arid moving only as it is moved by the finger 
 of God ; and he is the spring of action in every creature, visible and 
 invisible, which could neither act nor exist, without the continual 
 influx and agency of his almighty power ; His wisdom, clearly deduced 
 from the things that are seen, from the goodly order of the universe; 
 His trinity in unity, and unity in trinity, discovered to us in the very 
 first line of his written Word ; OTibx SOD : literally, the Gods created, 
 a plural noun joined with a verb of the singular number ; as well as in 
 every part of his subsequent revelations, given by the mouth of all his 
 holy prophets and apostles; His essential purity and holiness; and 
 above all, his love, which is the very brightness of his glory. 
 
 In praying that God, or his name, may be hallowed or glorified, we 
 pray that he may be known, such as he is, by all that are capable 
 thereof, by all intelligent beings, and with affections suitable to that 
 knowledge; that he may be duly honoured, and feared, and loved, by 
 all in heaven above and in the earth beneath ; by all angels and men, 
 whom for that end he has made capable of knowing and loving him to 
 etei nity. 
 
 8. " Thy kingdom come." This has a close connection with the 
 preceding petition. In order that the name of God may be hallowed, 
 we pray that his kingdom, the kingdom of Christ, may come. This 
 kingdom then comes to a particular person, when he " repents and 
 believes the gospel ;" when he is taught of God, not only to know him- 
 self, but to know Jesus Christ and him crucified. As "this is lifo 
 eternal, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath 
 sent ;" so it is the kingdom of God begun below, set up in the believer's 
 heart; the Lord God omnipotent then reigneth, when he is known 
 through Christ Jesus. He taketh unto himself his mighty power, that 
 he may subdue all things unto himself. He goeth on in the soul con- 
 quering and to conquer, till he hath put all things under his feet, til! 
 "every thought is brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." 
 
 When therefore God shall " give his Son the heathen for his inherit- 
 ance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession ;" when 
 " all kingdoms shall bow before him, and all nations shall do him ser- 
 vice ;" when " the mountain of the Lord's house," the church of Christ, 
 "shall be established in the top of the mountains;" when "the fulness 
 of the Gentiles shall come in, and all Israel shall be saved :" then shall 
 it he aeen, that "the Lord is king, and hath put on glorious apparel," 
 appearing to every soul of man as King of kings, and Lord of lordn.
 
 SERMON XXVI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 265 
 
 And it is meet for all those who love his appearing, to pray that he 
 would hasten the time ; that this his kingdom, the kingdom of grace, 
 may come quickly, and swallow up all the kingdoms of the earth; that 
 all mankind, receiving him for their King, truly believing in his name, 
 may be tilled with righteousness, and peace, and joy, with holiness and 
 happiness, till they are removed hence into his heavenly kingdom, 
 there to reign with him for ever and ever. 
 
 For this also we pray in those words, "Thy kingdom come:" we 
 pray for the coining of his everlasting kingdom, the kingdom of glory 
 in heaven, which is the continuation and perfection of the kingdom oi 
 grace on earth. Consequently this, as well as the preceding petition, 
 is offered up for the whole intelligent creation, who are all interested 
 in tins grand event, the final renovation of all things, by God's putting 
 an end to misery and sin, to infirmity and death, taking all things into 
 his own hands, and setting up the kingdom which endureth through- 
 out all ages. 
 
 Exactly answerable to all this, are those awful words in the prayer at 
 the burial of the dead : " Beseeching thee, that it may please thee of 
 thy gracious goodness, shortly to accomplish the number of thine elect, 
 and to hasten thy kingdom : that we, with all those that are departed 
 in the true faith of thy holy name, may have our perfect consummation 
 and bliss, both in body and soul, in thy everlasting glory." 
 
 9. " Thy will be done' in earth, as it is in heaven." This is the 
 necessary and immediate consequence wherever the kingdom of God is 
 come ; wherever God dwells in the soul by faith, and Christ reigns in 
 the heart by love. 
 
 It is probable, many, perhaps the generality of men, at the first view 
 of these words, are apt to imagine they are only an expression of, or 
 petition for, resignation ; for a readiness to suffer the will of God, what- 
 soever it be concerning us. And this is unquestionably a divine and ex- 
 cellent temper, a most precious gift of God. But this is not what we pray 
 for in this petition ; at least, not in the chief and primary sense of it. 
 We pray, not so much for a passive, as for an active conformity to the 
 will of God, in .saying, " Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.'* 
 
 How is it done by the angels of God in heaven ? Those who now 
 circle his throne rejoicing ? They do it willingly; they love his com- 
 mandments, and gladly hearken to his words. It is their meat and 
 drink to do his will ; it is their highest glory and joy. They do it con- 
 tinuaUif ; there is no interruption in their willing service. They rest 
 not day nor night, but employ every hour, (speaking after the manner 
 of men ; otherwise our measures of duration, days, and nights, and 
 hours, have no place in eternity,) in fulfilling his commands, in execu- 
 ting his designs, in performing the counsel of his will. And they do it 
 pcrfeMii, No sin, no defect belongs to angelic minds. It is true, 
 'the stars are not pure in his sight," even the morning stars that sing 
 together before him. " In his sight," that is, in comparison of Him, 
 the very angels are not pure. But this does not imply, that they are 
 ool pure in themselves. Doubtless they are ; they are without spot and 
 blameless. They are altogether devoted to his will, and perfectly 
 obedient in all things. 
 
 If we view them in another light, we may observe, the angels of God 
 in hcavf n do all the will of God. And they do nothing else, nothing
 
 266 SliTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVI. 
 
 but what they are absolutely assured is his will. Again, they do all the 
 will of God as he willeth, in the manner which pleases him, and no 
 other Yea, and they do this, only because it is his will ; for this end, 
 and no other reason. 
 
 10. When therefore we pray, that the " will of God may be don/i in 
 earth, as it is in heaven," the meaning is, that all the inhabitants of the 
 earth, even the whole race of mankind, may do the will of their Father 
 which is in heaven, as willingly as the holy angels ; that these may do 
 it continually even as they, without any interruption of their willing sei - 
 vice : yea, and that they may do it perfectly ; that " the God of peace, 
 through the blood of the everlasting covenant, may make them perfect 
 in every good work to do his will, and work in them [all] which is well 
 pleasing in his sight." 
 
 In other words, we pray that we and all mankind may do the whole 
 will of God in all things, and nothing else ; not the least thing but what 
 is the holy and acceptable will of God. We pray that we may do the 
 whole will of God as he willeth, in a manner that pleases him ; and, 
 lastly, that we may do it because it is his will ; that this may be the sole 
 reason and ground, the whole and only motive, of whatsoever we think, 
 or whatsoever we speak or do. 
 
 11. "Give us this day our daily bread." In the three former peti- 
 tions we have been praying for all mankind. We come now more par- 
 ticularly to desire a supply for our own wants. Not that we are dhected, 
 even here, to confine our prayer altogether to ourselves; but this, and 
 each of the following petitions, may be used for the whole church of 
 Christ upon earth. 
 
 By bread we may understand all things needful, whether for our souls 
 or bodies ; ra irgos w r i v xai svffs/Seiav, the things pertaining to life and 
 godliness: we understand not barely the outward bread, what our Lord 
 terms "the meat which perisheth ;" but much more the spiritual bread, 
 the grace of God, the food " which endureth unto everlasting life." 
 It was the judgment of many of the ancient fathers, that we are here to 
 understand the sacramental bread also; daily received in the beginning 
 by the whole church of Christ, and highly esteemed, till the love of 
 many waxed cold, as the grand channel whereby the grace of his Spirit 
 was conveyed to the souls of all the children of God. 
 
 " Our daily bread." The word we render daily, has been differently 
 explained by different commentators. But the most plain and natural 
 sense of it seems to be this, which is retained in almost all translations, 
 as well ancient as modern ; what is sufficient for this day ; and so for 
 each day as it succeeds. 
 
 12. "Give us:" For we claim nothing of right, but only of froe 
 mercy. We deserve not the air we breathe, the earth that bears, or 
 the sun that shines upon us. All our desert, we own, is hell : but God 
 loves us freely; therefore we ask him to give, what we can no more 
 procure for ourselves than we can merit it at his hands. 
 
 Not that either the goodness or the power of God is a reason for us 
 to stand idle. It is his will, that we should use all diligence in all 
 things, that we should employ our utmost endeavours, as much as if oui 
 success were the natural effect of our own wisdom and strength : and 
 then, as though we had done nothing, we are to depend on Him, the 
 giver of every good and perfect gift.
 
 SERMON XXVI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 267 
 
 " This day :" For we are to take no thought for tne morrow. For 
 this very end has our wise Creator divided life into these little portions 
 af time, so clearly separated from each other ; that we might look on every 
 day as a fresh gift of God, another life, which we may devote to his 
 g\ory ; and that every evening may be as the close of life, beyond which 
 we are to see nothing but eternity. 
 
 13. " And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive them that trespass 
 against us." As nothing but sin can hinder the bounty of God from 
 flowing forth upon every creature, so this petition naturally follows the 
 former ; that all hinderances being removed, we may the more clearly 
 trust in the God of love for every manner of thing which is good. 
 
 " Our trespasses :" The word properly signifies our debts. Thus 
 our sins are frequently represented in Scripture ; every sin laying us 
 under a fresh debt to God, to whom we already owe, as it were, ten 
 thousand talents. What then can we answer when he shall say, " Pay 
 me that thou owest ?" We are utterly insolvent; we have nothing to 
 pay ; we ha\e wasted all our substance. Therefore if he deal with us 
 according to the rigour of his law, if he exact what he justly may, he 
 must command us to be "bound hand and foot, and delivered over to 
 the tormentors." 
 
 Indeed we are already bound hand and foot by the chains of our own 
 sins. These, considered with regard to ourselves, are chains of iron, 
 and fetters of brass. They are wounds, wherewith the world, the flesh, 
 and the devil, have gashed and mangled us all over. They are diseases 
 that drink up our blood and spirits, that bring us down to the chambers 
 of the grave. But, considered as they are here, with regard to God, 
 they are debts immense and numberless. Well, therefore, seeing we 
 have nothing to pay, may we cry unto Him, that he would frankly for- 
 give us all ! 
 
 The word translated forgive, implies either to forgive a debt, or to 
 unloose a chain. And, if we attain the former, the latter follows of 
 course : if our debts are forgiven, the chains fall off our hands. As soon 
 as ever, through the free grace of God in Christ, we " receive forgive- 
 ness of sins," we receive likewise " a lot among those which are sanc- 
 tified, by faith which is rn him." Sin has lost its power ; it has no 
 dominion over those who are under grace, that is, in favour with God. 
 As " there is now no condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus," 
 so they are freed from sin as well as from guilt. " The righteousness of 
 the law is fulfilled in them, and they walk not after the flesh but after 
 the Spirit." 
 
 14. " As we forgive them that trespass against us." In these words 
 our Lord clearly declares both on what condition, and in what degree 
 or manner, we may look to be forgiven of God. All our trespasses and 
 sins are forgiven us, if we forgive, and as we forgive others. This is 
 a point of the utmost importance. And our blessed Lord is so jealous 
 lest at any time we should let it slip out of our thoughts, that he not 
 only inserts it in the body of his prayer, but presently after repeats it 
 twice over. " If," saith he, " ye forgive men their trespasses, your 
 heavenly Father will also forgive you : but if ye forgive not men their 
 trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses," verses 14, 
 15. Secondly, God forgives us, as we forgive others. So that if any 
 malice or bitterness, if anv taint of unkindness or anger remain, if we
 
 268 SIXTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVI. 
 
 do not clearly, fully, and from the heart, forgive all men their trespasses 
 we so far cut short the forgiveness of our own : God cannot clearly and 
 fully forgive us : he may show us some degree of mercy ; but we will 
 not suffer him to blot out all our sins, and forgive all our iniquities. 
 
 In the mean time, while we do not from our hearts Ibrgive our neigh- 
 bour his trespasses, what manner of prayer are we offering to God 
 whenever we utter these words ? We are indeed setting God at open 
 defiance ; we are daring him to do his worst. " Forgive us our tres- 
 passes, as we forgive them that trespass against us !" That is, in plain 
 terms, " Do not thou forgive us at all : we desire no favour at thy hands. 
 We pray that thou wilt keep our sins in remembrance, and that thy 
 wrath may abide upon us." But can you seriously offer such a prayer 
 to God ? And hath he not yet cast you quick into hell 1 O tempt him 
 no longer ! Now, even now, by his grace, forgive as you would be for- 
 given ! Now have compassion on thy fellow servant, as God hath had, 
 and will have, pity on thee ! 
 
 15. " And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil." 
 " And lead us not into temptation." The word translated temptation, 
 means trial of any kind. And so the English word temptation was 
 formerly taken in an indifferent sense ; although now it is usually 
 understood of solicitation to sin. St. James uses the word in both these 
 senses; first, in its general, then in its restrained, acceptation. He 
 takes it in the former sense when he saith, " Blessed is the man that 
 endureth temptation : for when he is tried, [or approved of God,] he 
 shall receive the crown of life," chap, i, 12, 13. He immediately adds, 
 taking the word in the latter sense, " Let no man say when he is tempted, 
 I am tempted of God : for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither 
 tempteth he any man : but every man is tempted when he is drawn 
 away of his own lust," or desire, g;Xxo|Xvog, drawn out of God, in 
 whom alone he is safe, " and enticed;' 1 caught as a fish with a bait. 
 Then it is, when he is thus drawn away and enticed, that he properly 
 enters into temptation. Then temptation covers him as a cloud; it 
 overspreads his whole soul. Then how hardly shall he escape out of 
 the snare ! Therefore, we beseech God " not to lead us into temptation," 
 that is, (seeing God tempteth no man,) not to suffer us to be led into 
 it. " But deliver us from evil :" rather, " -from the evil One" a*o <rx 
 eovTjjsj!. O novices is unquestionably the wicked One, emphatically so 
 called, the prince and god of this world, who works with mighty power 
 in the children of disobedience. But all those who are the children 
 of God, by faith, are delivered out of his hands. He may fight against 
 them ; and so he will. But he cannot conquer, unless they betray their 
 own souls. He may torment for a time, but he cannot destroy ; for God 
 is on their side, who will not fail, in the end, to " avenge his own elect, 
 that cry unto him day and night." Lord, when we are tempted, suffer 
 us not to enter into temptation ! Do thou make a way for us to escape, 
 that the wicked One touch us not ! 
 
 16. The conclusion of this divine prayer, commonly called the doxo- 
 logy, is a solemn thanksgiving, a compendious acknowledgment of the 
 attributes and works of God. " For thine is the kingdom ;" the sove- 
 reign right of all things that are or ever were created ; yea, thy kingdom 
 ta an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all 
 ages "The power;" the executive power whereby thou governest
 
 SERMON XXVI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 269 
 
 all things in thy everlasting kingdom, whereby thou dost whatsoever 
 pleaseth thee, in all places of thy dominion. "And the glory ;" the 
 praise due from every creature, for thy power, and the mightiness of 
 thy kingdom, and for all thy wondrous works which thou workest from 
 everlasting, and shalt do, world without end, " for ever and ever 1 
 Amen?" So be it t 
 
 I believe it will not be unacceptable to the serious reader to subjoin 
 a Paraphrase on the Lord's Prayer. 
 
 FATHER of all, whose powerful voice 
 
 Cal'.'d forth this universal frame ; 
 Whose mercies over all rejoice, 
 
 Through endless ages still the same : 
 Thou, by thy word, upholdest all ; 
 
 Thy bounteous love to all is sliow'd ; 
 Thou hear'st thy every creature's call, 
 
 And fillest every mouth with good. 
 
 In heaven thou reign'st, enthron'd in light 
 
 Nature's expanse beneath thee spread ; 
 Earth, air, and sea, before thy sight, 
 
 And hell's deep gloom, are open laid. 
 Wisdom, and might, and love are thine . 
 
 Prostrate before thy face we fall, 
 Confess thine attributes divine, 
 
 And hail Thee sovereign Lord of all! 
 
 The Sovereign Lord let all confess, 
 
 That moves in earth, or air, or sky , 
 Revere thy power, thy goodness bless, 
 
 Tremble before thy piercing eye. 
 All ye who owe to him your birth, 
 
 In praise your every hour employ : 
 JEHOVAH reigns! Be glad, O earth ' 
 
 And shout, ye morning stars, for joy! 
 
 SON of thy SIRE'S eternal love, 
 
 Take to thyself thy mighty power; 
 Let all earth's sons thy mercy prove 
 
 Let all thy bleeding grace adore. 
 The triumphs of thy love display; 
 
 In every heart reign thou alone ; 
 Till all thy foes confess thy sway, 
 
 And glory ends what grace begun. 
 
 SPIRIT of grace, and health, and power, 
 
 Fountain of light and love below ; 
 Abroad thine healing influence shower, 
 
 O'er all the nations let it flow. 
 Inflame our hearts witli perfect love ; 
 
 In us the work of faith fulfil ; 
 So not heaven's host shall swifter move 
 
 Than we on earth to do thy will. 
 
 FATHER, 'tis thine each day to yield 
 
 Thy children's wants a fresh supply 
 Thou cloth'st the lilies of the field, 
 
 And hearest the young ravens cry. 
 On thee we cast our care ; we live 
 
 Through thee, who know'st our every need : 
 feed us with thy grace, and give 
 
 Our souk this day the living bread I
 
 270 SEVENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVii. 
 
 Eternal, spotless LAMB of GOD, 
 
 Before the world's foundation slain, 
 Sprinkle us ever with thy blood ; 
 
 O cleanse and keep us ever clean. 
 To every sou! (all praise to thee ! 
 
 Our bowels of compassion move 
 And all mankind by this may see 
 
 God is in us ; for God is love. 
 
 Giver and LORD of Life, whose power 
 
 And guardian care for al are free ; 
 To tliee in fierce temptation's hour, 
 
 J" rom sin and Satan let us flee. 
 Thine, Lord, we are, and ours thou art; 
 
 In us be all thy goodness show'd; 
 Renew, enlarge, and fill our heart 
 
 With peace, and joy. and heaven, and God 
 
 Blessing and honour, praise and love, 
 
 Co-equal, co-eternal THREE, 
 In earth below and heaven above, 
 
 By all thy works be paid to thee. 
 Thrice holy! thine the kingdom is, 
 
 TliR oower omnipotent is thine ; 
 And whn created nature dies, 
 
 Thy never ceasing glories shine. 
 
 SERMON XXVII. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, 
 
 DISCOURSE VII. 
 
 " Moreover when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance : frit 
 they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say 
 unto you, They have their reward. 
 
 " But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face ; 
 
 " That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret 
 ind thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly," Matt, vi, 16-18. 
 
 1. IT has been the endeavour of Satan, from the beginning of the 
 world, to put asunder what God hath joined together ; to separate inward 
 from outward religion ; to set one of these at variance with the other. 
 And herein he has met with no small success, among those who were 
 " ignorant of his devices." 
 
 Many in all ages, having a zeal for God, but not according to know- 
 ledge, have been strictly attached to the " righteousness of the law," 
 the performance of outward duties, but in the mean time wholly regard- 
 less of inwnrd righteousness, "the righteousness which is of God by 
 faith." And many have run into the opposite extreme, disregarding 
 all outward duties, perhaps even " speaking evil of the law, and judging 
 the law," so far as it enjoins the performance of them. 
 
 . It is by this very device of Satan, that faith and works have been 
 so often set at variance with each other. And many who had a real 
 zeal lor God, have for a time, fallen into the snare on either hand. Some 
 have magnified faith to the utter exclusion*of good works, not only from 
 being the cause of our justification, (for we knew that a man is "justi- 
 fied freely by the redemption which is in Jesus,") but from being the 
 nec's.ary fruit of a. yea, from having any phce in the religion of Jesus 
 Chri-it. Others, eager to avoid this dangerous mistake, have run aa 
 much IMI far the contrary way ; and either maintained that good works
 
 SERMON XXVII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 271 
 
 were the cause, at least the previous condition, of justification, 01 
 spoken of them as if they were all in all, the whole religion of Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 3. In the same manner have the end and the means of religion been 
 Bet at variance with each other. Some well meaning men have 
 seemed to place all religion in attending the prayers of the church, 
 in receiving the Lord's supper, in hearing sermons, and reading books 
 of piety ; neglecting, mean time, the end of all these, the love of God 
 and their neighbour. And this very thing has confirmed others in the 
 neglect, if not contempt, of the ordinances of God, so wretchedly 
 abused, to undermine and overthrow the very end they were designed 
 to establish. 
 
 4. But of all the means of grace there is scarce any concerning which 
 men have run into greater extremes, than that of which our Lord speaks 
 in the above mentioned words, I mean religious fasting. How have 
 some exsilted this beyond all Scripture and reason ; and others utterly 
 disregarded it ; as it were, revenging themselves, by undervaluing, as 
 much as the former had overvalued it ! Those have spoken of it, as if 
 it were all in all ; if not the end itself, yet infallibly connected with it : 
 these, as if it were just nothing, as if it were a fruitless labour, which 
 had no relation at all thereto. Whereas it is certain the truth lies 
 between them both. It is not all, nor yet is it nothing. It is not the 
 end, but it is a precious means thereto; a means which God himself 
 has ordained, and in which therefore, when it is duly used, he will 
 surely give us his blessing. 
 
 In order to set this in the clearest light, I shall endeavour to show, 
 First, What is the nature of fasting, and what the several sorts and 
 degrees thereof : Secondly, What are the reasons, grounds, and ends of 
 it : Thirdly, How we may answer the most plausible objections against 
 it: and Fourthly, In what manner it should be performed. 
 
 1. 1. I shall endeavour to show, First, What is the nature of fasting, 
 and what the several sorts and degrees thereof. As to the nature of 
 it, all the inspired writers, both in the Old Testament and the New, 
 take the word, to fast, in one single sense, for not to eat, to abstain from 
 food. This is so clear, that it would be labour lost to quote the words 
 of David, Nehemiah, Isaiah, and the prophets which followed, or of 
 our Lord and his apostles ; all agreeing in this, that to fast, is, not to 
 eat for a time prescribed. 
 
 2. To this, other circumstances were usually joined by them of old, 
 which had no necessary connection with it. Such were the neglect of 
 their apparel ; the laying aside those ornaments which they were accus- 
 tomed to wear ; the putting on mourning ; the strowing ashes upon 
 their head ; or wearing sackcloth next their skin. But we find little 
 mention made in the New Testament of any of these indifferent cir- 
 cumstances. Nor does it appear, that any stress was laid upon them 
 by the Christians of the purer ages; however some penitents might 
 voluntarily use them, as outward signs of inward humiliation. Much 
 less did the apostles, or the Christians cotemporary with them, beat or 
 tear their own flesh : such discipline as this was not unbecoming the 
 priests or worshippers of Baal. The gods of the heathens were but 
 devils; and it was doubtless acceptable to their devil god, when his 
 priests, 1 Kings xviii, 28, " cried aloud, and cut themselves after their
 
 272 SEVENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVII. 
 
 manner, till the blood gushed out upon them :" but it cannot be plea- 
 sing to him, nor become his followers, who " came not to destroj 
 men's lives, but to save them." 
 
 3. As to the degrees or measures of fasting, we have instances ol 
 some who have fasted several days together. So Moses, Elijah, and 
 our blessed Lord, being endued with supernatural strength for that pur- 
 pose, are recorded to have fasted without intermission, " forty days and 
 forty nights." But the time of fasting, more frequently mentioned in 
 Scripture, is one day, from morning till evening. And this was the fast 
 commonly observed among the ancient Christians. But beside these, 
 they had also their half fasts (Semijejunia, as Tertullian styles them) on 
 the fourth and sixth days of the week, (Wednesday and Friday,) 
 throughout the year ; on which they took no sustenance till three in 
 the afternoon, the time when they returned from the public service. 
 
 4. Nearly related to this, is what our church seems peculiarly to 
 mean by the term abstinence ; which may be used when we cannot fast 
 entirely, by reason of sickness or bodily weakness. This is the eating 
 little ; the abstaining in part ; the taking a smaller quantity of food than 
 usual. I do not remember any scriptural instance of this. But nei- 
 ther can I condemn it ; for the Scripture does not. Ft may have its 
 use, and receive a blessing from God. 
 
 5. The lowest kind of fasting, if it can be called by that name, is 
 the abstaining from pleasant food. Of this, we have several instances 
 in Scripture, besides that of Daniel arid his brethren, who from a 
 peculiar consideration, namely, that they might " not defile themselves 
 with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank," 
 (a daily provision of which the king had appointed for them,) requested 
 and obtained, of the prince of the eunuchs, pulse to eat and water to 
 drink, Dan. i, 8, &,c. Perhaps from a mistaken imitation of this might 
 spring the very ancient custom of abstaining from flesh and wine, 
 during such times as were set apart for fasting and abstinence ; if it 
 did not rather arise from a supposition, that these were the most 
 pleasant food, and a belief that it was proper to use what was least 
 pleasing, at those limes of solemn approach to God. 
 
 6. In the Jewish church, there were some stated fasts. Such was 
 the fast of the seventh month, appointed by God himself to be observed 
 by all Israel, under the severest penalty. " The Lord spake unto 
 Moses, saying, On the tenth day of this seventh month, there shall be 
 a day of atonement: and ye shall afflict your souls, to make an 
 atonement for you before the Lord your God. For whatsoever soul it 
 shall be that shall not be afflicted in that same day, he shall be cut ofl 
 from among his people," Lev. xxiii, 26, &,c. In after ages, several 
 other stated fasts were added to these. So, mention is made, by the 
 prophet Zechariah, of the fast not only " of the seventh, but also of the 
 fourth, of the fifth, and of the tenth month," chap, viii, 19. 
 
 In the ancient Christian church, there were likewise stated fasts, and 
 those both annually a.nd weekly. Of the former sort was that before 
 Raster ; observed by some for eight and forty hours ; by others, for an 
 entire week; by many, for two weeks; taking no sustenance till the 
 evening of each day. Of the latter, those of the fourth and sixth days 
 of the week, observed, (as Epiphanius writes, remarking it as an un- 
 deniable fact,) ev oX?j TTJ oixssfjisvT), in the whole habitable earth ; at least
 
 SERMON XXVII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 27? 
 
 iu every place where any Christians made their abode. The annual 
 fasts in our church are, " The forty days of Lent, the Ember days at 
 the four seasons, the Rogation days, and the Vigils or eves of several 
 solemn festivals ; the weekly, all Fridays in the year, except Christ- 
 mas day." 
 
 But besides those which were fixed, in every nation fearing God 
 there have always been occasional fasts, appointed from i*me to time as 
 fhe particular circumstances and occasions of each required. So, when 
 " the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, came against 
 Jehoshaphat to battle ; Jehoshaphat set himself to seek the Lord, and 
 proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah," 2 Chron. xx, 1-3. And so, 
 " in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, in the ninth month," 
 when they were afraid of the king of Babylon, the princes of " Judah 
 proclaimed a fast before the Lord, to all the people in Jerusalem," 
 Jer. xxxvi, 9. 
 
 And, in like manner, particular persons, who take heed unto their 
 ways, and desire to walk numbly and closely with God, will find frequent 
 occasion for private seasons of thus afflicting their souls before their 
 Father which is in secret. And it is to this kind of fasting, that the 
 directions here given do chiefly and primarily refer. 
 
 II. I.I proceed to show, in the second place, What are the grounds, 
 the reasons, and ends of fasting. 
 
 And, first, men who are under strong emotions of mind, who are 
 affected with any vehement passion, such as sorrow or fear, are often 
 swallowed up therein, and even forget lo eat their bread. At such 
 seasons they hare little regard for food, not even what is need hi J to 
 sustain nature, much less for any delicacy or variety ; being taKen up. 
 with quite different thoughts. Thus, when Saul said, " I am sore dis- 
 tressed ; for the Philistines make war against me, and God is departed 
 from me ;" it is recorded, " He had eaten ao bread, all the day, nor all 
 the night," 1 Sam. xxviii, 15-20. Thus those who were in the ship 
 with St. Paul, " when no small tempest lay upon them, and all hope 
 that they should be saved was taken away," " continued fasting, having 
 taken nothing," Acts xxvii, 33, no regular meal, for fourteen days 
 together. And thus David, and all the men that were with him, when 
 they heard that the people were fled from the battle, and that many of 
 the people were fallen and dead, and Saul and Jonathan his son were 
 dead also ; " mourned, and wept, and fasted until even, for Saul and 
 Jonathan, and for the house of Israel," 2 Sam. i, 12. 
 
 Nay, many times they whose minds are deeply engaged, are impa- 
 tient of any interruption, and even loathe their needful food, as diverting 
 their thoughts from what they desire should engross their whole attention. 
 Even as Saul, when on the occasion mentioned before, he had " fallen 
 all along upon the earth, and there was no strength in him," yet said, " I 
 will not eat ; till his servants, together with the woman, compelled him." 
 
 2. Here, then, is the natural ground of fasting. One who is under 
 deep affliction, overwhelmed with sorrow for sin, and a strong appre- 
 hension of the wrath of God, would, without any rule, without knowing 
 or considering whether it were a command of God or not, " forget to 
 eat his bread," abstain, not only from pleasant, but even from needful 
 food; like St. Paul, who, after he was led into Damascus, " was three 
 days without sight, and did neither eat nor drink," Acts ix, 0.
 
 274 SEVENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVII. 
 
 Yea, when Ihe storm rose high, when " a horrible dread over- 
 whelmed" one who had long been without God in the world, his soul 
 would " loathe all manner of meat ;" it would be unpleasing and 
 irksome to him ; he would be rnpatient of any thing that should inter- 
 rupt his ceaseless cry, " Lord, save ! or I perish !" 
 
 How strongly is this expressed by our church in the first part of the 
 homily on fasting: "When men feel in themselves the heavy bindon 
 of sin, see damnation to be the reward of it, and behold with the ey 
 of their mind, the horror of hell ; they tremble, they quake, and are 
 inwardly touched with sorrowfulness of heart, and cannot but aci-us*.- 
 themselves, and open their grief unto Almighty God, and call unto him 
 for mercy. This being done seriously, their mind is so occupied, 
 [taken up,] partly with sorrow and heaviness, partly with an earnest 
 desire to be delivered from this danger of hell and damnation, that all 
 desire of meat and drink is laid apart, and loathesomeness [or loathing] 
 of all worldly things and pleasure cometh in place. So that nothing 
 then liketh them more than to weep, to lament, to mourn, and both 
 with words and behaviour of body to show themselves weary of life." 
 
 3. Another reason or ground of fasting is this: many of those who 
 now fear God, are deeply sensible how often they have sinned against 
 him, by the abuse of these lawful things. They know how much they 
 have sinned by excess of food ; how lonj they have transgressed the 
 holy law of God, with regard to temperance, if not sobriety too; how 
 they have indulged their sensual appetites, perhaps to the impairing 
 even their bodily health, certainly to the no small hurt of their soul. 
 For hereby they continually fed and increased that sprightly folly, that 
 airiness of mind, that levity of temper, that gay inattention to things of 
 the deepest concern, that giddiness and carelessness of spirit, which 
 were no other than drunkenness of soul, which stupified all their 
 noblest faculties, no less than excess of wine or strong drink. To 
 remove, therefore, the effect, they remove the cause : they keep at a 
 distance from all excess. They abstain, as far as is possible, from what 
 had well nigh plunged them in everlasting perdition. They often 
 wholly refrain ; always take care to be sparing and temperate in all 
 things. 
 
 4. They likewise well remember, how fulness of bread increased not 
 only carelessness and levity of spirit, but also foolish and unholy desires, 
 yea, unclean and vile affections. And this experience puts beyond all 
 doubt. Even a genteel, regular sensuality, is continually sensualizing 
 the soul, and sinking it into a level with the beasts that perish. It cannot 
 be expressed what an effect a variety and delicacy of food have on the 
 mind as well as the bod} , making it just ripe for every pleasure of 
 sense, as soon as opportunity shall invite. Therefore, on this ground 
 also, every wise man will refrain his soul, and keep it low ; will wean 
 it more and more from all those indulgences of the inferior appetites, 
 which naturally tend to chain it down to earth, and to pollute as 
 well as debase it. Here is another perpetual reason for fasting ; to 
 remove the food of lust and sensuality, to withdraw the incentives of 
 foolish and hurtful desires, of vile and vain affections. 
 
 5. Perhaps we need not altogether omi* (although 1 know not if we 
 should do well to lay any great stress uj>on it) another reason for fast- 
 ing, which some good men have largely insisted on ; namely, T 1 "?
 
 SF.IiMON XXVII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 275 
 
 punishing themselves for having abused the good gifts of God, by 
 sometimes wholly refraining from them ; thus exercising a kind ol 
 holy revenge upon themselves, for their past folly and ingratitude, in 
 turning (lie. things which should have been for their health into an 
 occasion of falling. They suppose, David to have had an eye to this, 
 when he said, " I wept and chastened (or punished) my soul with 
 fasting;" and St. Paul, when he mentions ''what revenge" godly sorrow 
 occasioned in the Corinthians. 
 
 6 A fifth, and more weighty reason for fasting is, that it is a help 
 to prayer ; particularly, when we set apart larger portions of time for 
 private prayer. Then especially it is, that God is often pleased to lift 
 up the souls of his servants above all the things of earth, and sometimes 
 to rap them up, as it were into the third heavens. And it is chiefly, 
 as it is a help to prayer, that it has so frequently been found a means, 
 in the hand of God, of confirming and increasing, not one virtue, not 
 chastity only, (as some have idly imagined, without any ground either 
 from Scripture, reason, or experience,) but also seriousness of spirit, 
 earnestness, sensibility and tenderness of conscience, deadness to the 
 world, and consequently the love of God, and every holy and heavenly 
 affection. 
 
 7. Not that there is any natural or necessary connection between 
 fasting and the blessings God conveys thereby. But he will have mercy 
 as he will have mercy ; he will convey whatsoever seemeth him good by 
 whatsoever means he is pleased to appoint. And he hath, in all ages, 
 appointed this to be a means of averting his wrath, and obtaining what- 
 ever blessings we, from time to time, stand in need of. 
 
 How powerful a means this is to avert the wrath of God, we may 
 learn from the remarkable instance of Ahab. " There was none like 
 [him,] who did sell himself," wholly give himself up, like a slave 
 bought with money, " to work wickedness." Yet, when he " rent 
 his clothes, and put sackcloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and went softly,' 
 the word of the Lord came to Elijah, saying, " Seest thou how Ahab 
 humbleth himself before me? Because he humbleth himself before me, 
 I will nut bring the evil in his days." 
 
 It was for this end, to avert the wrath of God, that Daniel sought 
 God " with fasting, and sackcloth and ashes." This appears from the 
 whole tenor of his prayer, particularly from the solemn conclusion of 
 it : " Oh Lord, according to all thy righteousness, [or mercies,] let thy 
 anger be turned away from thy holy mountain. Hear the prayer of 
 thy servant, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is 
 desolate. Oh Lord, hear ; Oh Lord, forgive ; Oh Lord, hearken and 
 do, for thine own sake," Dan. ix, 3, 16, &,c. 
 
 8. But it is not only from the people of God that we learn, when his 
 anger is moved, to seek him by fasting and prayer; but even from the 
 heathens. When Jonah had declared, " Yet forty days and Nineveh 
 shall be overthrown," the people of Nineveh proclaimed a fast, and put 
 on sackcloth from the greatest of them unto the least. " For the king 
 of Nineveh arose from his throne, and laid his robe from him, and 
 covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to 
 be psoclaimed and published through Nineveh, let neither man nor 
 beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing : let them not feed, nor drink 
 water :" (Not that the beasts had sinned, or could repent; but that, by
 
 276 SEVENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SEKMON XXVII. 
 
 their example, man might be admonished, considering that, for his sin 
 the anger of God was hanging over all creatures:) "Who can tell ii 
 God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we 
 perish not ?" And their labour was not in vain. The fierce anger ol 
 God was turned away from them. " God saw their works ;" (the fruits 
 of that repentance and faith, which he had wrought in them by his 
 prophet;) " and God repented of the evil that he had said he would do 
 unto them ; and he did it not," Jonah iii, 4, &,c. 
 
 9. And it is a means not only of turning away the wrath of God, but 
 also of obtaining whatever blessings we stand in need of. So when 
 the other tribes were smitten before tne Benjamites, " all the children of 
 Israel went up unto the house of God, and wept and fasted that day un- 
 til even ;" and men the Lord said, " Go up [again ;] for to morrow 1 will 
 deliver them into thine hand," Judges xx, 26,&,c. So Samuel gather- 
 ed all Israel together, when they were in bondage to the Philistines, 
 " and they fasted on that day" before the Lord : and when " the Philis- 
 tines drew near to battle against Jsrael, the Lord thundered [upon them] 
 with a great thunder, and discomfited them; and they were smitten 
 before Israc!." 1 Sam. vii, 6. So Ezra: "I proclaimed a fast at the 
 river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before our God, to seek of 
 him a right way for us, and for our little ones ; and he was entreated 
 of us," Ezra viii, 21. So Nehemiah: " I fasted and prayed before the 
 God of heaven, and said, Prosper, 1 pray thee, thy servant this day, and 
 grant him mercy in the sight of this man :" and God granted him mercy 
 in the sight of the king, Neh. i, 4-11. 
 
 10. In like manner, the apostles always joined fasting with prayer, 
 when they desired the blessing of God on any important undertaking. 
 Thus we read, Acts xiii, " There were in the church that was at An- 
 tioch certain prophets and teachers : as they ministered to the Lord 
 and fasted, [doubtless> for direction in this very affair,] the HolyGhop* 
 said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work whereunto I have 
 called them. And when they had [a second time] fasted and prayed, 
 and laid their hands on them, they sent them away," ver. 1-3. 
 
 Thus also Paul and Barnabas themselves, as we read in the follow- 
 ing chapter, when they " returned again to Lystra, Iconium, and 
 Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, and when they had 
 ordained them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, 
 commended them to the Lord," ver, 23. 
 
 Yea, that blessings are to be obtained in the use of this means, which 
 are no otherwise attainable, our Lord expressly declares in his answer 
 to his disciples, asking, " Why could not we cast him out? Jesus said 
 unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye 
 have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 
 Remove hence to yonder place ; and it shall remove ; and nothing 
 shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit, this kind [of devils] goeth not 
 out but by prayer and fasting," Matt, xvii, 19, &,c, these being the 
 appointed means of attaining that faith, whereby the very devils are 
 subject unto you. 
 
 11. These were the appointed means: for it was not merely b) tha 
 light of reason, or of natural conscience, as it is called, that the people 
 of God have been, in all ages, directed to use fasting as a means to 
 these ends : but they have been, from lime to time, taught it of God
 
 SEHJION XXVII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUHT. 277 
 
 himself, by clear and open revelations of his will. Such is that remarka- 
 ble one by the prophet Joel : " Therefore, saith the Lord, Turn ye to 
 me, with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with 
 mourning : Who knoweth if he will return and repent, and leave a 
 blessing behind him ? Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a 
 solemn assembly: Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity 
 his people. Yea, I will send you corn, and wine, and oil : I will no 
 more make you a reproach among the heathen," chap, ii, 12, &c. 
 
 Nor are they only temporal blessings which God directs his people 
 to expect in the use of these means. For, at the same time that he 
 promised to those who should seek him with fasting, and weeping, and 
 mourning, " J will restore to you the years which the locust, hath eaten, 
 the canker worm, and the caterpillar, and the palmer worm, my great 
 army ;" he subjoins, " So shall ye eat and be satisfied, and praise the 
 name of the Lord your God. Ye shall also know that I am in the midst 
 of Israel, and that 1 am the Lord your God." And then immediately 
 follows the great gospel promise, " I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
 flesh ; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men 
 shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions : and also 
 upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I pour 
 out my Spirit." 
 
 12. Now whatsoever reasons there were to quicken those of old, in 
 the zealous and constant discharge of this duty, they are of equal force 
 sti r l, to quicken us. But above all these, we have a peculiar reason for 
 being " in fastings often," namely, the command of him by whose name 
 we are called. He does not indeed in this place expressly enjoin eithei 
 fasting, giving aims, or prayer; but his directions how to fast, to give 
 alms, and to pray, are of the same force with such injunctions. For the 
 commanding us to do any thing thus, is an unquestionable command to 
 do that thing ; seeing it is impossible to perform it thus, if it be not 
 performed at all. Consequently, the saying, Give alms, pray, fast, in 
 such a manner, is a clear command to perform all those duties; as 
 well as to perform them in that manner, which shall in no wise Jose its 
 reward. 
 
 And this is a still farther motive and encouragement to the perform- 
 ance of this duty ; even the promise which our Lord has graciously 
 annexed to the due discharge of it : " Thy Father which seeth in secret 
 shall reward thee openly." Such are the plain grounds, reasons, and ends 
 of fasting ; such our encouragement to persevere therein, notwithstand- 
 ing abundance of objections which men, wiser than their Lord, have 
 been continually raising against it. 
 
 III. 1. The most plausible of these, I come now to consider. And 
 first, It has been frequently said, " Let a Christian fast from sin and 
 Dot from food ; this is what God requires at his hands." So he does; 
 bat he requires the other also. Therefore this ought to be done, and 
 (hat not left undone. 
 
 View your argument in its full dimensions ; and you will easily judge 
 of the strength of it. 
 
 " If a Christian ought to abstain from sin, then he ought not to abstain 
 from food : 
 
 But a Christian ought to abstain from sin : 
 
 Therefore he ought not to abstain from food."
 
 278 SEVENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVII. 
 
 That a Christian ought to abstain from sin, is most true; but hmv 
 doos it follow from hence that he ought not to abstain from Food ! Yea, 
 let him do both the one and the other. Let him, by the grace of God, 
 always abstain from sin ; and let him often abstain from food, tor such 
 reasons and ends as experience and Scripture plainly show to be an- 
 swered thereby. 
 
 2. " But is it not better (as it has, secondly, been objected) to abstain 
 from pride and vanity, from foolish and hurtful desires, from peevishness, 
 and anger, and discontent, than from food ?" Without question it is. But 
 here again we have need to remind you of our Lord's words : " These 
 things ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone 1 ." And, 
 indeed, the latter is only in order to the former; it is a means to that 
 great end. We abstain from food with this view, that, by the grace ol 
 God conveyed into our souls through this outward means, in conjunc- 
 tion with all the other channels of his grace which he hath appointed, 
 we may be enabled to abstain from every passion and temper which is 
 not pleasing in his sight. We refrain from the one, that being endued 
 with power from on high, we may be able to refrain from the other. So 
 that your argument proves just the contrary to what you designed. It 
 proves, that we ought to fast. For if we ought to abstain from evil 
 tempers, and desires, then we ought thus to abstain from food ; since 
 these iittie instances of self denial are the ways God hath chose, wherein 
 to bestow that great salvation. 
 
 3. " But we do not find it so in fact :" (this is a third objection :) " we 
 have fasted much and often ; but what did it avail ? We were not a whit 
 better; we found no blessing therein. Nay, we have found it a hinder- 
 ance rather than a help. Instead of preventing anger, for instance, or 
 fretfulness, it has been a means ol increasing them to such a height, that 
 we could neither bear others nor ourselves." This may very possibly 
 be the case. It is possible, either to fast or pray in such a manner, as 
 to make you much worse than before ; more unhappy, and more unholy. 
 Yet the fault does not lie in the means itself, but in the manner of using 
 it. Use it still, but use it in a different manner. Do what God com- 
 mands, as he commands it ; and then, doubtless, his promise shall nol 
 fail : his blessing shall be withheld no longer ; but, when thou fastest 
 in secret. " He that seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." 
 
 4. " But is it not mere superstition, (so it has been, fourthly, objected,) 
 to imagine that God regards such little things as these ?" If you say it 
 is, you condemn all the generations of God's children. But will you 
 say, these were all weak, superstitious men 1 Can you be so hardy as 
 to affirm this, both of Moses and Joshua, of Samuel and David, of Je- 
 hoshaphat, Ezra, Nehemiah, and all the prophets 1 Yea, of a greater 
 than all, the Son of God himself? It is certain, both our Master, and all 
 these his servants, did imagine that fasting is not a little thing, and that 
 Fie who is higher than the highest doth regard it. Of the same judg- 
 ment, it is plain, were all his apostles, after they were " filled with the 
 Holy Ghost, and with wisdom." When they had the " unction of the 
 Holy One, teaching them all things," they still approved themselves the 
 ministers of God, " by fastings," as well as " by the armour of righteous- 
 ness on the right hand and on the left." After " the bridegroom was 
 taken from them, then did they fast in those days." Nor would they 
 attempt any thing (as we have seen above) wherein the glory of God
 
 SERMON XXVII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 279 
 
 was nearly concerned, such as the sending forth labourers into the 
 harvest, without solemn fasting as well as prayer. 
 
 5. " But if tasting be indeed of so great importance, and attended 
 viith such a blessing, is it not best," say some, fifthly, " to fast always ! 
 Not to do it now and then, but to keep a continual fast ? To use as much 
 abstinence, at all times, as our bodily strength will bear 1" Let none be 
 J iscouraged from doing this. By all means use as little and plain food, 
 
 xercise as much self denial herein at all times, as your bodily strength 
 will bear. And this may conduce, by the blessing of God, to several of 
 the great ends above mentioned. It may be a considerable help, not 
 only to chastity, but also to heavenly mindedncss ; to the weaning 
 your affections from things below, and setting them on things above. 
 Bui this is not fasting, scriptural fasting ; it is never termed so in all 
 the Bible. It, in some measure, answers some of the ends thereof; but 
 still it is another thing. Practise it by all means ; but not so as thereby 
 to set aside a command of God, and an instituted means of averting his 
 judgments, and obtaining the blessings of his children. 
 
 6. Use continually then as much abstinence as you please ; which, 
 taken thus, is no other than Christian temperance ; but this need not at 
 all interfere with your observing solemn times of fasting and prayer. 
 For instance : Your habitual abstinence or temperance would not pre- 
 vent your fasting in secret, if you were suddenly overwhelmed with huge 
 sorrow and remorse, and with horrible fear and dismay. Such a situa- 
 tion of mind would almost constrain you to fast; you would loathe your 
 daily food ; you would scarce endure even to take such supplies as were 
 needful for the body, till Go.l " lifted you up out of the horrible pit, and 
 set your feet upon a rock, and ordered your goings." The same would 
 be tiie case if you were in a^ony of desire, vehemently wrestling with 
 God for his blessing. You would need none to instruct you not to eat 
 bread till you had obtained the request of your lips. 
 
 7. Again, had you been at Nineveh when it was proclaimed through- 
 out the city, " Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any 
 thing: let them not feed or drink water, but let them cry mightily unto 
 God ;" would your continual fast have been any reason for not bear- 
 ing part in that general humiliation ? Doubtless it would not. You 
 would have been as much concerned as any other not to taste food on 
 that day. 
 
 No more would abstinence, or the observing a continual fast, have 
 excused any of the children of Israel from fasting on the tenth day of 
 the seventh month, the great annual day of atonement. There was no 
 exception for these in that solemn decree, "Whatsoever soul it shall be, 
 that shall not be afflicted, [shall not fast,] in that day, he shall be cut 
 off from among his people." 
 
 Lastly, had you been with the brethren in Antioch, at the time when 
 they fasted and prayed, before the sending forth of Barnabas and Saul, 
 can you possibly imagine that your temperance or abstinence would 
 have been a sufficient cause for not joining therein? Without doubt, 
 if you had not, you would soon have been cut off from the Christian 
 community. You would have deservedly been cast out from among 
 them, as bringing confusion into the church of God. 
 
 IV. 1. I am, in the last place, to show, in what manner we are tn 
 fast, that it may be an acceptable service unto the Lord. And, first,
 
 280 SEVENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVII. 
 
 let it be done unto the Lord, with our eye singly fixed on him. Lei 
 oar intention herein be this, and this alone, to glorify our Father which 
 is in heaven ; to express our sorrow and shame for our manifold trans- 
 gressions of his holy law ; to wait for an increase of purifying grace, 
 drawing our affections to things above ; to add seriousness and earnest- 
 ness to our prayers ; to avert the wrath of God, and to obtain all the 
 great and precious promises, which he hath made to us in Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 Let us beware of mocking God, or turning our fast, as well as our 
 prayers, into an abomination unto the Lord, by the mixture of any 
 temporal view, particularly by seeking the praise of men. Against this 
 our blessed Lord more peculiarly guards us in the words of the text. 
 "Moreover, when ye fast, be ye not as the hypocrites:" such were 
 too many who were called the people of God ; " of a sad countenance ;' 
 sour, affectedly sad, putting their looks into a peculiar form. " Foi 
 they disfigure their faces," not only by unnatural distortions, but also 
 by covering them with dust and ashes ; " that they may appear unto 
 men to fast ;" this is their chief, if not only, design. " Verily I say 
 unto you, They have their reward ;" even the admiration and praise .ol 
 men. " But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy 
 face :" do as thou art accustomed to cho at other times ; '* that thou 
 appear -not unto men to fast ;" let this be no part of thy intention ; it 
 they know it without any desire of thine, it matters not, thou art neither 
 the better nor the worse; " but unto thy Father which is in secret: 
 and thy 'Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." 
 
 2. But if we desire this reward, let us beware, secondly, of fancying 
 we merit any thing of God by our fasting. We cannot be too often 
 warned of this ; inasmuch as a desire to " establish our own righteous- 
 ness," to procure salvation of debt and not of grace, is so deeply root- 
 ed in all our hearts. Fasting is only a way which God hath ordained, 
 wherein we wait for his unmerited mercy ; and wherein, without any 
 desert of ours, he hath promised freely to give us his blessing. 
 
 3. Not that we are to imagine, the performing the bare outward act 
 will receive any blessing from God. " Is it such a fast that 1 have 
 chosen, saith the Lord ; a day for a man to afflict his soul ? Is it to 
 bow down his head as a bulrush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes 
 under him ?" Are these outward acts, however strictly performed, all 
 that is meant by a man's " afflicting his soul ?" " Wilt thou call this 
 a fast, and an acceptable day to the Lord ?" No surely : if it be a mere 
 external service, it is all but lost labour. Such a performance may 
 possibly afflict the body ; but as to the soul, it profiteth nothing. 
 
 4. Yea, the body may sometimes be afflicted too much, so as to be 
 unfit for the works of our calling. This also we are diligently to guard 
 against ; for we ought to preserve our health, as a good gift of God. 
 Therefore care is to be taken, whenever we fast, to proportion the fast 
 to our strength. For we may not ofter God murder for sacrifice, or 
 destroy our bodies to help our souls. 
 
 But at these solemn seasons we may, even in great weak ness of body, 
 avoid that other extreme, for which God condemns those who of old 
 expostulated with him for not accepting their fasts. " Wherefore have 
 we fasted, say they, and thou seest not ? Behold in the day of your 
 fast you find pleasure, saith the Lord." If we cannot w holly abstain
 
 SERMON XXVII. J THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 281 
 
 from food, we may, at least, abstain from pleasant food ; and then we 
 shall not seek his face in vain. 
 
 5. But let us take care to afflict our souls, as well as our bodies. Let 
 every season, either of public or private fasting, be a season of exer- 
 cising all those holy affections, which are implied in a broken and 
 contrite heart. Let it be a season of devout mourning, of godly sorrow 
 for sin ; such a sorrow as that of the Corinthians, concerning which the 
 apostle saith, " I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sor- 
 rowed to repentance. For ye were made sorry after a godly manner, 
 that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. For godly sorrow," 
 TT\ xara 0jov Xwj, the Borrow which is according to God, which is a 
 precious gift of his Spirit, lifting the soul to God from whom it Hows, 
 " worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of." Yea, and 
 let our sorrowing after a godly sort work in us the same inward and 
 outward repentance ; the same entire change of heart, renewed after 
 the image of God, in righteousness and true holiness ; and the same 
 change of life, till we are holy as he is holy, in all manner of conver- 
 sation. Let it work in us the same carefulness to be found in him, 
 without spot and blameless; the same clearing of our selves ^ by our lives 
 rather than words, by our abstaining from all appearance of evil ; the 
 same indignation, vehement abhorrence of every sin ; the same fear 
 of our own deceitful hearts ; the same desire to be in all things con- 
 formed to the holy and acceptable will of God ; the same zeal for what- 
 ever may be a means of his glory, and ^f our giowth in the knowledge 
 of our Lord Jesus Christ ; and the same revenge against Satan and all 
 his works, against all filthiness of fiesh and spirit, 2 Cor. vii, 9, &,c. 
 . 6. And with fasting let us always join fervent prayer, pouring out 
 our whole souls before God, confessing our sins with all their aggrava- 
 tions, humbling ourselves under his mighty hand, laying open before him 
 all our wants, all our guiltiness and helplessness. This is a season for 
 enlarging our prayers, both in behalf of ourselves and of our brethren. 
 Let us now bewail the sins of our people ; and cry aloud for the city of 
 our God, that the Lord may build up Zion, and cause his face to shine 
 on her desolations. Thus, we may observe, the men of God, in ancient 
 times, always joined prayer and fasting together ; thus the apostles, in 
 all the instances cited above ; and thus our Lord joins them in the 
 discourse before us. 
 
 7. It remains only, in order to our observing such a fast as is accept- 
 able to the Lord, that we add alms thereto ; wo r ks of mercy, after our 
 power, both to the bodies and souls of men : " With such sacrifices [also] 
 God is well pleased/' Thus the angel declares to Cornelius, fasting and 
 praying in his house, " Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a 
 memorial before God," Acts x, 4. And this God himself expressly and 
 largely declares: " Is not this the fast that I have chosen ? To loose 
 the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the 
 oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke ? Is it not to deal thy 
 bread to tho hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to 
 thy house ? When thou seest the naked, that thou cover him ; and that 
 thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh? Then shall thy light break 
 forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily; and 
 thy righteousness shall go before thee ; the glory of the Lord shall be 
 thy rereward. Then shall thou call, and the Lord shall answer : thou
 
 233 EIGHTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVIII. 
 
 shall cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If [when thou fastest] thou 
 draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul ; then 
 shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noon tiay. 
 And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in 
 drought, and make fat thy bones : and thou shall be like a watered gar- 
 den, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not," Isa. Iviii, 6, &c. 
 
 SERMON XXVIII. Upon our Lord's Sennon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE V1I1. 
 
 " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth 
 corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal : 
 
 " But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust 
 dotJi corrupt, arid where thieves do not break through nor steal : 
 
 " For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. 
 
 "The light of the body is the eye : if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole 
 body shill'be full of light. 
 
 " But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore 
 the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness !" Matt, vi, 19-23. 
 
 1. FROM those which are commonly termed religious actions, and 
 which are real branches of true religion, where they spring from a pure 
 and holy intention, and are performed in a manner suitable thereto, 
 our Lord proceeds to the actions of common life, and shows that the 
 same purity of intention is as indispensably required in our ordinary 
 business, as in giving alms, or fasting, or prayer. 
 
 And without question, the same purity of intention, '* which makes 
 our alms and devotions acceptable, must also make our labour or employ 
 nient a proper offering to God. If a man pursues his business, that he 
 may raise himself to a state of figure and riches in the world, he is no 
 longer serving God in his employment, and has no more title to a 
 reward from God, than he who gives alms that he may be seen, or prays 
 that he may be heard, of men. For vain and earthly designs are no 
 more allowable in our employments, than in our alms and devotions. 
 They are not only evil when they mix with our good works," with out 
 religious actions, " but they have the same evil nature when they entei 
 into the common business of our employments. If it wt.'re allowable tc 
 pursue them in our worldly employments, it would be allowable to pur- 
 sue them in our devotions. But as our alms and devotions are not an 
 acceptable service, but when they proceed from a pure intention, so our 
 common employment cannot be reckoned a service to him, but when if 
 is performed with the same piety of heart." 
 
 2. This our blessed Lord declares in the liveliest manner, in those 
 strong and comprehensive words which he explains, enforces, and en- 
 'arges upon, throughout this whole chapter : " The light of the body is 
 tho eye : if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shaM be lull of 
 light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." 
 The eye is the intention : what the eye is to the body, the intention is 
 to the soui. As the one guides all the motions of the body, so does the 
 other those of the soul. This eye of the soul is then said to be single. 
 when it looks at one thing only ; when we have no other design, but to
 
 SERMON XXVIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 
 
 ' know God, and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent," to know him with 
 suitable affections, loving him as he hath loved us ; to please God in all 
 things ; to serve God (as we love him) with all our heart, and mind, and 
 so il, and strength ; and to enjoy God in all, and above all things, in 
 time and in eternity. 
 
 3. " If thine eye be [thus] single," thus fixed on God, "thy whole 
 body shall be full of light." " Thy whole body :" all that is guided by 
 the intention, as the body is by the eye : all thou art ; all thou dost ; 
 thy desires, tempers, affections ; thy thoughts, words, and actions. The 
 whole of these " shall be full of light;" full of true divine knowledge. 
 This is the first thing we may here understand by light. " In his light 
 thou shalt see light." " He who of old commanded light to shine out of 
 darkness, shall shine in thy heart:" he shall enlighten the eyes of thy 
 understanding with the knowledge of the glory of God. His Spirit 
 shall reveal unto thee the deep things of God. The inspiration of the 
 Holy One shall give thee understanding, and cause thee to know wis- 
 dom secretly. Yea, the anointing which thou receivest of him " shall 
 abide in thee, and teach thee of all things." 
 
 How does experience confirm thi^ ! Even after God hath opened the 
 eyes of our understanding, if we seek or desire any t'hing else than God, 
 how soon is our foolish heart darkened ! Then clouds again rest upon 
 our souls. Doubts and fears again overwhelm us. We are tossed to 
 and fro, and know not what to do, or which is the path wherein we 
 should go. But when we desire and seek nothing but God, clouds and 
 doubts vanish away. We '' who were sometimes darkness, are now 
 light in the Lord." The night now shineth as the day ; and we find 
 '* the path of the upright is light." God showeth us the path wherein 
 we should go, and maketh plain the way before our face. 
 
 4. The second thing which \ve may here understand by light, is 
 holi/iess. While thou seekest God in all things, thou shalt find him in 
 all, the fountain of all holiness continually filling thee with his own 
 likeness, with justice, mercy, and truth. While thou lookest unto Jesus, 
 and him alone, thou shalt be filled with the mind that was in him. Thy 
 soul shall be renewed day by day, afei the image of him that created 
 it. If the eye of thy mind be not removed from him, if thou endurest 
 " seeing him that is invisible," and seeking nothing eise in heaven or 
 earth, then as thou beholdest the glory of the Lord, thou shalt be trans- 
 formed " into the same image, from glory to glory, by the Spirit of the 
 Lord. ' 
 
 And it is also matter of daily experience, that " by grace we are [thus] 
 saved through faith." It is by faith that the eye of the mind is opened, 
 to see the light of the glorious love of God : and as long as it is steadily 
 fixed thereon, on God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, we 
 are more and more filled with the love of God and man ; with meek- 
 ness, gentleness long suffering ; with all the fruits of holiness which are 
 through Christ Jesvis, to the glory of God the Father. 
 
 5. This light, which fills him who has a single eye, implies, tmrdly, 
 happiness, as well as holiness. Surely " light is sweet, and a pleasant 
 thing it is to sec the sun :" but how much more to see the Sun of Right- 
 erusness, continually shining upon the soul ! And if there be any con- 
 solation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any peace that passeth all 
 understanding, if any rejoicing in hone of the glory of God, they all
 
 284 EIGHTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVIII. 
 
 belong to him whose eye is single. Thus is his " whole body full ol 
 light." He walketh in the light as God is in the light, rejoicing ever- 
 more, praying without ceasing, and in every thing giving thanks, enjoy- 
 ing whatever is the will of God concerning bim in Christ Jesus. 
 
 6. " But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness." 
 " If thine eye be evil :" We see there is no medium between a single 
 and an evil eye. If the eye be not single, then it is evil. If the inten- 
 tion, in whatever we do, be not singly to God, if we seek any thing else, 
 then our *' mind and conscience are denied." 
 
 Our eye therefore is evil, if, in any thing we do, we aim at any other 
 end than God; if we have any view, but to know and to love God, to please 
 and serve him in all things ; if we have any other design than to enjoy 
 God, to be happy in him both novv and for ever. 
 
 7. If thine eye be not singly fixed on God, "thy whole body shall be 
 full of darkness." The veil shall still remain on thy heart. Thy mind 
 shall be more and more blinded, by " the god of this world," " lest the 
 light of the glorious gospel of Christ should shine upon thee." Thou 
 wilt be full of ignorance and error touching the things of God, not being 
 able to receive or discern them. And even when thou hast some desire 
 to serve God, thou wilt be full of uncertainty as to the manner of serving 
 him ; finding doubts and difficulties on every side, and not seeing any 
 way to escape. 
 
 Yea, if thine eye be not single, if thou seek any of the things of earth, 
 thou shall be full of ungodliness and unrighteousness ; thy desires, tem- 
 pers, affections, being all out of course ; being all dark, and vile, and 
 vain. And thy conversation will be evil, as well as thy heart : not " sea- 
 soned with salt," or " meet to minister grace unto the hearers," but idle, 
 unprofitable, corrupt, grievous to the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
 8. Both destruction and unhappiness are in thy ways ; " for the way 
 of peace hast thou not known." There is no peace, no settled, solid 
 peace, for them that know not God. There is no true nor lasting con- 
 tent for any, who do not seek him with their whole heart. While thou 
 aimest at any of the things that perish, " all that cometh is vanity ;" 
 yea, not only vanity, but "vexation of spirit," and that both in the pur- 
 suit and the enjoyment also. Thou walkest indeed in a vain shadow, 
 and disquietest thyself in vain. Thou walkest in darkness that may be 
 felt. Sleep on ; but thou canst not take thy rest. The dreams of life 
 can give pain ; and that thou knowest : but ease they cannot give. 
 There is no rest in this world or the world to come, but only in God, 
 the centre of spirits. 
 
 "If the light which is in thee be darkness, how great is that dark- 
 ness !" If the intention, which ought to enlighten the whole soul, to fill 
 it with knowledge, and love, and peace, and which in fact does, so long 
 as it is single, as long as it aims at God alone, if this be darkness ; it 
 it ai:n at any thing beside God, and consequently cover the s<nil with 
 darkness instead of light, with ignorance and error, with sin arid misery ; 
 oh how great is that darkness ! It is the very smoke which ascends out 
 of the bottomless pit ! It is the essential night, which reigns in the 
 lowest deep, in the land of the shadow of death ! 
 
 9. Therefore, " lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where 
 moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal." 
 It' you do, it is plain your eye is evil ; it is not singly fixed on God
 
 SERMON XXVIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 285 
 
 With regard to most of the commandments of God, whether relating 
 to the heart or life, the heathens of Africa or America stand much on 
 a level with those that are called Christians. The Christians observe 
 them (a few only being excepted) very near as much as the heathens. 
 For instance: the generality of the natives of England, commonly 
 called Christians, are as sober and as temperate as the generality of the 
 heathens near the Cape of Good Hope. And so the Dutch or French 
 Christians are as humble and as chaste as the Choctaw or Cherokee 
 Indians. It is not easy to say, when we compare the bulk of the 
 nations in Europe with those in America, whether the superiority lies 
 on the one side or the other. At least, the American has not much 
 the advantage. But we cannot affirm this, with regard to the command 
 now before us. Here the heathen has far the pre-eminence. He desires 
 and seeks nothing more than plain food to eat, and plain raiment to 
 put on ; and he seeks this only from day to day : he reserves, he lays 
 up, nothing ; unless it be as much corn at one season of the year as he 
 will need before that season returns. This command therefore the 
 heathens, though they know it not, do constantly and punctually ob- 
 serve. They " lay up for themselves no treasures upon earth ;" no 
 stores of purple or fine linen, of gold or silver, which either " moth or 
 rust may corrupt, or thieves break through and steal." But how do the 
 Christians observe what they profess to receive as a command of the 
 most high God ? Not at all ; not in any degree ; no more than if no 
 such command had ever been given to man. Even the good Chris- 
 tians, as they are accounted by others as well as themselves, pay no 
 manner of regard thereto. It might as well be still hid in its original 
 Greek, for any notice they take of it. In what Christian city do you 
 find one man of five hundred, who makes the least scruple of laying up 
 just as much treasure as he can, of increasing his goods just as far 
 as he is able 7 There are indeed those who would not do this un- 
 justly : there are many who will neither rob nor steal ; and some, 
 v/ho will not defraud their neighbour ; nay, who will not gain either 
 by his ignorance or necessity. But this is quite another point. Even 
 these do not scruple the thing, but the manner of it. They do not 
 scruple the " laying up treasures upon earth ;" hut the laying them up 
 by dishonesty. They do not start at disobeying Christ, but at a breach 
 of heathen morality. So that even these honest men do no more obey 
 this command, than a highwayman or a house breaker. Nay, they 
 never designed to obey it. From their youth up, it never entered into 
 their thoughts. They were bred up by their Christian parents, masters, 
 and friends, without any instruction at all concerning it; unless it were 
 this, To break it as soon, and as much, as they could, and to continue 
 breaking it to their lives' end. 
 
 10. There is no one instance of spiritual infatuation in the world, 
 which is more amazing than this. Most of these very men read, or 
 hear the Bible read, many of them every Lord's day. They have 
 read, or heard, these words a hundred times, and yet never suspect that 
 they are themselves condemned thereby, any more than by those which 
 forbid parents to offer up their sons or daughters unto Moloch. Oh that 
 God would speak to these miserable self deceivers, with his own voice, 
 his mighty voice , that they may at last awake out of the snare of the 
 dnvil. and the scales may fall from their eyes !
 
 2S6 EIGHTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVITI. 
 
 11. Do you ask what it is to " lay up treasures on earth ?'' It will be 
 needful to examine this thoroughly. And let us, first, observe what is 
 not forbidden in this command, that we may then clearly discern what is 
 
 We are not forbidden in this command, first, to " provide thing? 
 honest in the sight of all men," to provide wherewith we may render 
 unto all their due, whatsoever they can justly demand of us. So Tar 
 from it, that we are taught of God to " owe no man any thing." We 
 ought therefore to. use all diligence in our calling, in order to owe no 
 man any thing; this being no other than a plain law of common justice, 
 which our Lord came " not to destroy, but to fulfil. " 
 
 Neither, secondly, does he here forbid the providing for ourselves 
 such things as are needful for the body; a sufficiency of plain, whole- 
 some food to eat, and clean raiment'to put on. Yea, it is our duty, so 
 far as God puts it into our power, to provide these things also ; to the 
 end we may eat our own bread, and be burdensome to no man. 
 
 Nor yet arc we forbidden, thirdly, to provide for our children, and 
 for those of our own household. This also it is our duty to do, even 
 upon principles of heathen morality. Every man ought to provide the 
 plain necessaries of life, both for his own wife and children ; and to 
 put them into a capacity of providing these for themselves, when he is 
 gone hence and is no more seen. I say, of providing thexe ; the plain 
 necessaries of life ; not delicacies; not superfluities; and that by 
 their diligent labour; for it is no man's duty to furnish them, any 
 more than himself, with the means either of luxury or idleness. But i? 
 any man provide not thus far for his own children, (as well as for the 
 widows of his own house, of whom primarily St. Paul is speaking, in 
 those well known words to Timothy,) he hath practically " denied the 
 faith, and is worse than an infidel," or heathen. 
 
 Lastly : We are not forbidden in these words, to lay up, from time 
 to time, what is needful for the carrying on our worldly business, in 
 such a measure and degree, as is sufficient to answer the foregoing 
 purposes; in such a measure, as, first, to owe no man any thing; 
 secondly, to procure for ourselves the necessaries of life ; and thirdly, 
 to furnish those of our own house with them while we live, and with 
 the means of procuring them when we are gone to God. 
 
 12. We may now clearly discern, (unless we are unwilling to dis- 
 cern it,) what that is which is forbidden here. It is, the designedly 
 procuring more of tins world's goods, than will answer the foregoing 
 purposes. The labouring after a larger measure of worldly substance, 
 a larger increase of gold ami silver ; the laying up any more than these 
 ends re<|iiire; is what is here expressly and absolutely forbidden. If 
 the words have any meaning at all, it must be this: for they are capable 
 of no other. Consequently, whoever he is, that, owing no man any 
 thing, and having food and raiment for himself and his household, 
 together with a sufficiency to carry on his worldly business, so far as 
 answers these reasonable purposes; whosoever, I say, being already in 
 these circumstances, seeks a still larger portion on ea r th ; he lives in 
 an open, habitual denial of the Lord that bought him. He hath practi- 
 cally denied the faith, and is worse than an African or American infidel. 
 
 13. Hear ye this, all ye that dwell in the world, and love the world 
 wherein ye dwell ! Ye may be " highly esteemed of men ;" but ye are 
 " an abomination in the sight of God I" How long shall your souls
 
 SERMON XXVI1I.J THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 237 
 
 sleave to the dut 1 How long will ye load yourselves with thick clay ? 
 When will ye awake and see, that the open, speculative heathens are 
 nearer the kingdom of heaven than you 1 When will ye be persuaded 
 to choose the better part ; that which cannot be taken away from you ? 
 When will ye seek only to " lay up treasures in heaven ;" renouncing, 
 dreading, abhorring all other 1 If you aim at " laying up treasures on 
 ;arth," you are not barely losing your time, and spending your strength 
 for that which is not bread ; for what is the fruit if you succeed ? 
 You have murdered your own soul ! You have extinguished the la^t 
 spark of spiritual life therein ! Now indeed, in the midst of life, you are 
 in death ! You are a living man, but a dead Christian ! " For where 
 your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Your heart is sunk 
 into the dust : your soul cleaveth to the ground. Your affections are 
 set, not on things above, but on things of the earth ; on poor husks, 
 that may poison, but cannot satisfy, an everlasting spirit made for God. 
 Your love, your joy, your desire, are all placed on the things which 
 perish in the using. You have thrown away the treasure in heaven. God 
 and Christ are lost ! You have gained riches, and hell fire ! 
 
 14. Oh " how hardly shall they that have riches, enter into the king- 
 dom of God !" When our Lord's disciples were astonished at his 
 speaking thus, he was so far from retracting it, that he repeated the same 
 important truth in stronger terms than before. " It is easier for a camel 
 to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the 
 kingdom of God." How hard is it for them, whose every word is 
 applauded, not to be wise in their own eyes! How hard for them not 
 to think themselves better than the poor, base, uneducated herd of 
 men! How hard not to seek happiness in their riches, or in things 
 dependant upon them ; in gratifying the desire of the flesh, the desire 
 of the eye, or the pride of life ! Oh ye rich, how can ye escape the 
 damnation of hell ? Only with God all things are possible ! 
 
 15. And even if you do not succeed, what is the fruit of your endea 
 vouring to lay up treasures on earth 1 " They that will be rich," (01 
 /3*Xoaavoi ffXxrsiv, they that desire, that endeavour after it, whether they 
 succeed or no,) " fall into a temptation and a snare," a gin, a trap of 
 the devil ; " and into many foolish and hurtful lusts ;" sndj|aiac:avorjTxc:, 
 defircs, with which reason hath nothing to do; such as properly belong 
 not to rational and immortal beings, but only to the brute beasts, which 
 have no understanding; "which drown men in destruction and per- 
 dition," in present and eternal misery. Let us but open our eyes, and 
 we may daily see the melancholy proofs of this, men, who, desiring, 
 resolving to be rich, coveting after money, the root of all evil, have 
 already pierced themselves through with many sorrows, and anticipated 
 the hell to which they are going ! 
 
 The cautiousness with which the apostle here speaks, is highly 
 observable. He does not affirm this absolutely of the rich : for a man 
 may possibly be rich, without any fault of his, by an overruling Provi- 
 dence, preventing his own choice : but he affirms it of 01 sXofJ.voi 
 rrXsrsiv, th(,se who desire, or seek, to be. rich. Riches, dangerous as they 
 are, do not always " drown men in destruction and perdition :" But the 
 desire of riches does. Those who calmly desire and deliberately seek, 
 to attain them, whether they do, in fict, gain the world or no, do infal- 
 libly lose their own souls. These are they that sell him who bought them
 
 288 EIGHTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVIII. 
 
 with his blood, for a few pieces of gold or silver. These enter into a 
 covenant with death and hell ; and their covenant shall stand ; for they 
 are daily making themselves meet to partake of their inheritance with 
 the devil and his angels ! 
 
 16. Oh who shall warn this generation of vipers to flee from the 
 wrath to come ! Not those who lie at their gate, or cringe at tneir 
 feet, desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fall from their tables. Not 
 those who court their favour or fear their frown ; none of those who 
 mind earthly things. But if there be a Christian upon earth, if there 
 be a man who hath overcome the world, who desires nothing but God. 
 and fears none but him that is able to destroy both body and soul in 
 hell ; thou, oh man of God, speak, and spare not; lift up thy voice like 
 a trumpet ! Cry aloud, and show these honourable sinners the desperate 
 condition wherein they stand ! It may be, one in a thousand may have 
 ears to hear; may arise and shake himself from the dust; may break 
 loose from these chains that bind him to the earth, and at length lay 
 up treasures in heaven ! 
 
 17. And if it should be, that one of these, by the mighty power of 
 God, awoke and asked, " What must I do to be saved ?" The answer 
 according to the oracles of God, is clear, full, and express. God doth 
 not say to thee, " Sell all that thou hast." Indeed he who seeth the 
 hearts of men, saw it needful to enjoin this in one peculiar case, that of 
 the young rich ruler. But he never laid it down for a general rule, to 
 all rich men, in all succeeding generations. His general direction is, 
 first, " Be not high minded." God seeth not as man seeth. He 
 esteems thee not for thy riches, for thy grandeur or equipage, tor any 
 qualification or accomplishment, which is directly or indirectly owing 
 to thy wealth, which can be bought or procured thereby. All these 
 are with him as dung and dross : let them be so with thee also. Beware 
 thou think not thyself to be one jot wiser or better for all these things. 
 Weigh thyself in another balance : estimate thyself only by the measure 
 of faith and love which God hath given thee. If thou hast more of the 
 knowledge and love of God than he, thou art on this account and no 
 other, wiser and better, more valuable and honourable, than him who 
 is with the dogs of thy flock. But if thou hast not this treasure, thou 
 art more foolish, more vile, more truly contemptible, I will not say than 
 the lowest servant under thy roof, but than the beggar laid at thy gate, 
 full of sores. 
 
 18. Secondly : " Trust not in uncertain riches." Trust not in them 
 for help : and trust not in them for happiness. 
 
 First, Trust not in them for help. Thou art miserably mistaken, if 
 thou lookest for this in gold or silver. These are no more able to set 
 thee above the world, than to set thee above the devil. Know that both 
 the world, and the prince of this world, laugh at. all such preparations 
 against them: These will little avail in the day of trouble ; even if 
 they remain in the trying hour. But it is not certain that they will ; 
 for how oft do they " make themselves wings and fly away !" But if 
 not, what support will they afford, even in the ordinary troubles of life .' 
 The desire of thy eyes, the wife of thy youth, thy son, thine only son 
 or the friend which was as thy own soul, is taken away at a stroke 
 Will thy riches reanimate the breathless clay, or call back its late 
 inhabitant 1 Will they secure thee from sickness, diseases, pain t Do
 
 SERMON XXVIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 289 
 
 these visit the poor only ? Nay, he that feeds thy flocks, or (ills thy 
 ground, has less sickness and pain than thou. He is more rarely visited 
 by these unwelcome guests ; and if they come there at all, they are 
 *r.?re easily driven away from the little cot, than from " the cloud-topt 
 palaces." And during the time that thy body is chastened with pain, 
 or consumes away with pining sickness, how do thy treasures help ihee ? 
 Let the poor heathen answer, 
 
 " Ut lippum pictte tabulae, fomenta podagram, 
 Auriculas citharaB collecta sorde dolentes."* 
 
 19. But there is at hand a greater trouble than all these. Thou art 
 to die! Thou art to sink into dust ; to return to the ground from which 
 thou wast taken ; to mix with common clay. Thy body is to go to thr 
 earth as it was, while thy spirit returns-to God that gave it. And the time 
 draws on: the years slide away with a swift though silent pace. Perhaps 
 your day is far spent : the noon of life is past, and the evening shadows 
 begin to rest upon you. You feel in yourself sure approaching decay. 
 The springs of life wear away apace. Now what help is there in your 
 riches ? Do they sweeten death ? Do they endear that solemn hour ? 
 Quite the reverse. " Oh death, how bitter art thou to a man that liveth 
 at rest in his possessions !" How unacceptable to him is that awful sen- 
 tence, " This night shall thy soul be required of thee !" Or will they 
 prevent the unwelcome stroke, or protract the dreadful hour ? Can they 
 deliver your soul that it should not see death ? Can they restore the 
 years that are past 1 Can they add to your appointed time a month, a 
 day, an hour, a moment ? Or will the good things you have chosen for 
 your portion here, follow you over the great gulf? Not so : naked cairn 
 you into this world ; naked must you return. 
 
 Liquenda tellus, et domus, et placens 
 Uxor : nee harum quas seris arborum 
 Te, praeter invisam cupressum, 
 Ulla brevem dominum sequetur ! 
 
 Surely were not these truths too plain to be observed, because they are 
 too plain to be denied, no man that is to die could possibly trust for 
 help in uncertain riches. 
 
 20. And trust not in them for happiness : for here also they will be 
 found " deceitful upon the weights." Indeed this every reasonable man 
 may infer from what has been observed already. For if neither thou- 
 sands of gold and silver, nor any of the advantages or pleasures purcha- 
 sed thereby, can prevent our being miserable, it evidently follows, they 
 cannot make us happy. What happiness can they afford to him, who in 
 the midst of all is constrained to cry out, 
 
 " To my new courts sad thought does still repair, 
 And round my gilded roof hangs hovering care ?" 
 
 Indeed experience is here so full, strong, and undeniable, that it makes 
 all other arguments needless. Appeal we therefore to fact. Are the 
 rich and great the only happy men ? And is each of them more or less 
 happy in proportion to his measure of riches ? Are they happy at all ? 
 I had well nigh said, they are of all men most miserable ! Rich man, 
 for once, speak the truth from thy heart ! Speak, both for thyself and 
 for thy brethren ! 
 
 s " Such help as pictures to sore eyes afford, 
 As heap'd up tables to their gouty lord."
 
 290 EIGHTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVfTT. 
 
 " Amidst our plenty something still 
 To me, to tliee, to him is wanting ! 
 That cruel something, unpossess'd, 
 Corrodes and leavens all the rest." 
 
 Yea, and so it will, till thy wearisome days of vanity are shut up in the 
 night of death. 
 
 Surely then to trust in riches for happiness, is the greatest folly of 
 all that are under the sun ! Are you not convinced of this ? Is it 
 possible you should still expect to find happiness in money, or all it can 
 procure ? What ! Can silver and gold, and eating and drinking, and 
 horses and servants, and glittering apparel, and diversions and pleasures, 
 (as they are called,) make thee happy ? They can as soon make thee 
 immortal ! 
 
 21. These are all dead show. Regard them not. Trust thou in 
 the living God ; so shall thou be safe under the shadow of the Almighty ; 
 his faithfulness and truth shall be thy shield anu buckler. He is a very 
 present help in time of trouble : such a help as can never fail. Then 
 shall thou say, if all thy other friends die, " The Lord liveth, and 
 blessed be my strong helper!" He shall remember thee when thou 
 liest sick upon thy bed ; when vain is the help of man. When all the 
 things of the earth can give no supporl, he will " make all thy bed in 
 thy sickness." He will sweeten thy pain : the consolations of God 
 shall cause thee to clap thy hands in the flames. And even when this 
 house of earth is well nigh shaken down, when it is just ready to drop 
 into the dust, he will teach thee to say, " Oh death ! where is thy 
 sting 1 Oh grave ! where is thy victory ? Thanks be unto God, which 
 giveth [me] the victory, through [my] Lord Jesus Christ." 
 
 Oh trust in him for happiness as well as for help. AI! the springs 
 of happiness are in him. Trust " in him who giveth us all things richly 
 to enjoy," irags-^wrt x'histfius va.*/<ra. si$ airoXaurfiv, who, of his own rich 
 and free mercy, holds them out to us, as in his own hand, thai receiv- 
 ing them as his gifts, and as pledges of his love, we may enjoy all lhat 
 we possess. It is his love gives a relish to all we taste, puts life and 
 sweetness into all ; while every creature leads us up to the great Creator, 
 and all earth is a scale to heaven. He transfuses the joys that are at 
 his own right hand into all he bestows on his lhankful children ; who, 
 having fellowship wilh the Father and his Son Jesus Christ, enjoy him 
 in all, and above all. 
 
 22. Thirdly, seek not to increase in goods. " Lay not up for [thyself] 
 treasures upon earth." This is a flat, positive command, full as clear 
 as " Thou shall not commit adultery." How then is it possible for a 
 rich man to grow richer, without denying the Lord that bought him ? 
 Yea, how can any man, who has already the necessaries of life, gain or 
 aim at more, and Le guillless ? " Lay not up," saith our Lord, " trea- 
 sures upon earth." If, in spite of this, you do, and will lay up money 
 or goods, which "moth or rust may corrupt, or thieves break through 
 and steal ;" if you will add house to house, or field to field, why do you 
 call yourself a Christian ? You do not obey Jesus Christ. You do not 
 design it. Why do you name yourself by his name ? " Why call ye me 
 Lord, Lord," saith he himself, " and do not the things which 1 say?' 1 
 
 23. If you ask, " Bui what must we do wilh our goods, seeing we nave 
 mor than we have occasion to use, if we must not lay them up ? Must
 
 SEUMOJi XXVilI.] TUB 6EBMON ON THE MOUNT. 291 
 
 we throw them away ?" I answer, if you threw them into the sea, if 
 you were to cast them into the fire and consume them, they would be 
 better bestowed than they are now. You cannot find so mischievous a 
 manner of throwing them away, as either the laying them up for your 
 posterity, or the laying them out upon yourselves in folly and super- 
 fluity. Of all possible methods of throwing them away, these two arr 
 the very worst ; the most opposite to the gospel of Christ, and the most 
 pernicious to your own soul. 
 
 How pernicious to your own soul the latter of these is, has been ex 
 cellently shown by a late writer : 
 
 " If we waste our money, we are not only guilty of wasting a talent 
 which God has given us, but we do ourselves this farther harm, we turn 
 this useful talent into a powerful means of corrupting ourselves ; because 
 t>o far as it is spent wrong so far it is spent in the support of some wrong 
 temper, in gratifying some vain and unreasonable desires, which, as 
 Christians, we are obliged to renounce. 
 
 " As wit and fine parts cannot be only trifled away, but will expose 
 those that have them to greater follies ; so money cannot be only trifled 
 away, but, if it is not used according to reason and religion, will make 
 people live a more silly and extravagant life, than they would have done 
 without it : if therefore you do not spend your money in doing good to 
 others, you must spend it to the hurt of yourself. You act like one that 
 refuses the cordial to his sick friend, which he cannot drink himself 
 without inflaming his blood. For this is the case of superfluous money : 
 if you give it to those that want it, it is a cordial ; if you spend it upon 
 yourself in something that you do not want, it only inflames and dis- 
 orders your mind. 
 
 " In using riches where they have no real use, nor we any real want, 
 we only use them to our great hurt, in creating unreasonable desires, 
 in nourishing ill tempers, in indulging foolish passions, and supporting 
 a vain turn of mind. For high eating and drinking, fine clothes and 
 fine houses, state and equipage, gay pleasures and diversions, do all of 
 them naturally hurt and disorder our heart. They are the food and 
 nourishment of all the folly and weakness of our nature. They are all 
 of them the support of something, that ought not to be supported. They 
 are contrary to that sobriety and piety of heart, which relishes divine 
 things. They are so many weights upon our mind, that makes us less 
 able and less inclined to raise our thoughts and affections to things above. 
 
 " So that money thus spent is not merely wasted or lost, but it is spent 
 to bad purposes and miserable effects ; to the corruption and disorder 
 of our hearts; to the making us unable to follow the sublime doctrines 
 of the gospel. It is but like keeping money from the poor, to buy poison 
 for ourselves." 
 
 24. Equally inexcusable are those who lay up what they do not need 
 tor any reasonable purposes : 
 
 <! If a man had hands, and eyes, and feet, that he couid give to those 
 that wanted them ; if he should lock them 'ip in a chest, instead of 
 giving them to his brethren that were blind, and lame, should we not 
 justly reckon him an inhuman wretch ? If he should rather choose to 
 amuse himselfwith hoarding them up, than entitle himself to an eternal 
 reward, by giving them to those that wanted eyes and hands, might we 
 not justly reckon him mad 1
 
 292 EIGHTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXVIII. 
 
 " Now money has very much the nature of eyes and feet. If there- 
 fore we lock it up in chests, while the poor and distresses want it for 
 their necessary uses, we are not far from the cruelty of him, that chooses 
 rather to hoard up the hands and eyes, than to give them to those that 
 want them. If we choose to lay it up, rather than to entitle ourselves 
 to an eternal reward by disposing of our money well, we are guilty of 
 his madness that rather chooses to lock up eyes and hands, than to 
 make himself for ever blessed by giving them to those that want them." 
 
 25. May not this be another reason why rich men shall so hardly 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven ? A vast majority of them are under 
 a curse, under the peculiar curse of God ; inasmuch as, in the general 
 tenor of their lives, they are not only robbing God, continually embez- 
 zling and wasting their Lord's goods, and by that very means, corrupt- 
 ing their own souls, but also robbing the poor, tlje hungry, the naked ; 
 wronging the widow and the fatherless ; and making themselves 
 accountable for all the want, affliction, and distress, which they may, 
 but do not remove. Yea, doth not the blood of all those who perish for 
 want of what they either lay up, or lay out needlessly, cry against them 
 from the earth ? Oh what account will they give to Him who is ready 
 to judge both the quick and the dead ! 
 
 26. The true way of employing what you do not want yourselves, you 
 may, fourthly, learn from those words of our Lord, which are the coun- 
 terpart of what went before : " Lay up for yourselves treasures in hea- 
 ven ; where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do 
 not break through and steal." Put out whatever thou canst spare, upon 
 better security than this world can afford. Lay up thy treasures in the 
 bank of heaven ; and God shall restoio them in that day. " He that 
 hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and look, what he layeth 
 out, it shall be paid him again." " Place that," saith he, " unto my 
 account. Howbeit, thou owest me thine own self besides !" 
 
 Give to the poor with a single eye, with an upright heart, and write, 
 " So much given to God." For " inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the 
 least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." 
 
 This is the part of a " faithful and wise steward." Not to sell either 
 hrs houses or lands, or principal stock, be it more or less, unless some 
 peculiar circumstance should require it ; and not to desire or endea 
 vour to increase it, any more than to squander it away in vanity ; but 
 to employ it wholly to those wise and reasonable purposes, for which 
 his Lord has lodged it in his hands. The wise steward, after having 
 provided his own household with what is needful for life and godliness, 
 makes himself friends with all that remains, from time to time, of the 
 " mammon of unrighteousness ; that when he fails, they may receive 
 him into everlasting habitations :" that whensoever his earthly taber- 
 nacle is dissolved, they, who were before carried into Abraham's bosom, 
 after having eaten his bread, and worn the fleece of his flock, and 
 praised God for the consolation, may welcome him into Paradise, and 
 into " the house of God, eternal in the heavens." 
 
 27. We " charge" you, therefore, " who are rich in this world, r as 
 having authority from our great Lord and Master, aya&ospysiv, to be 
 habitually doing good, to live in a course of good works. " Be ye mer- 
 ciful, as your Father who is in heaven is merciful " who doeth good 
 and ceaseth not " Be ye merciful," how far 1 After your power;
 
 SERMON XXVIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 293 
 
 with all the ability which God giveth. Make this your only measure o( 
 doing good, not any beggarly maxims or customs of the world. We 
 '* charge you to be rich in good works ;" as you have much, to give 
 plenteously. " Freely ye have received ; freely give ;" so as to lay up 
 no treasure but in heaven. Be ye " ready to distribute" to every one 
 according to his necessity. Disperse abroad ; give to the poor ; deal 
 your bread to the hungry. Cover the naked with a garment ; entertain 
 the stranger ; carry or send relief to them that are in prison. Heal the 
 sick ; not by miracle, but through the blessing of God upon your sea- 
 sonable support. Let the blessing of him that was ready to perish, 
 through pining want, come upon thee. Defend the oppressed, plead 
 the cause of the fatherless, and make the widow's heart sing for joy. 
 
 28. We exhort you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, to be will- 
 ing to communicate ; xoivwvixxg iva ; to be of the same spirit (though 
 not in the same outward state) with those believers of ancient times, 
 who remained steadfast sv <rr\ XOIVCJVHX, in that blessed and holy fellmo- 
 shijj, wherein " none said that any thing was his own, but they had all 
 things common." Be a steward, a faithful and wise steward, of God 
 and of the poor ; differing from them in these two circumstances only, 
 that your wants are first supplied, out of the portion of your Lord's 
 goods which remains in your hands, and, that you have the blessed 
 ness of giving. Thus " lay up for yourselves a good foundation," not 
 in the world which now is, but rather, " for the time to come, that ye 
 may lay hold on eternal life." The great foundation indeed of all the 
 blessings of God, whether temporal or eternal, is the Lord Jesus Christ, 
 his righteousness and blood, what he hath done, and what he hath 
 suffered for us. And." other foundation," in this sense, " can no mau 
 lay ;" no, not an apostle, no, not an angel from heaven. But through 
 his merits, whatever we do in his name, is a foundation for a good 
 reward, in the day when " every man shall receive his own reward, 
 according to his own labour." Therefore " labour" thou, " not for the 
 meat that perisheth, but for that which endureth unto everlasting life." 
 Therefore " whatsoever thy hand [now] findeth to do, do it with thy 
 might." Therefore let 
 
 " No fair occasion pass unheeded by ; 
 Snatching the golden moments as they fly, 
 Thou by few fleeting years ensure eternity !" 
 
 " By patient continuance in well doing, seek thou for glory, and honour, 
 and immortality." In a constant, zralous performance of all good works, 
 wait thou for that happy hour, when the King shall say, " I was a hun 
 gered, and ye gave me meat : I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink : I was 
 a stranger, and ye took me in : naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, 
 and ye visited me : I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Come, ye 
 blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom prepared for you from ibe 
 foundation of the world !'
 
 294 HINTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIX. 
 
 SERMON XXIX. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE IX. 
 
 " No man can serve two masters : for either he will hate the one, and love the 
 othei , or else lie will hold to the one and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God 
 and mammon. 
 
 " Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, cr 
 what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life 
 more than meat., and the body than raiment ? 
 
 " Behold the fowls of the air : for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather 
 into barns ; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than 
 they ' 
 
 " Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature ' 
 
 " And why take ye thougnt for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they 
 grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin : 
 
 " And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
 like one of these. 
 
 " Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to 
 morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, oh ye of little 
 raith ? 
 
 " Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat ? or, What shall we 
 drink .' or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed ? 
 
 " (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father 
 knoweth that ye have need of all these things. 
 
 " But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness ; and all these 
 things shall be added unto you. 
 
 " Take therefore no thought for the morrow : for the morrow shall take thought 
 for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof," Matt, vi, 24-34 
 
 1. IT is recorded of the nations whom the king of Assyria, after he 
 had carried Israel away into captivity, placed in the cities of Samaria, 
 that " they feared the Lord and served their own gods." " These 
 nations," saith the inspired writer, " feared the Lord ;" performed an 
 outward service to him ; (a plain proof that they had a fear of God, 
 though not according to knowjedge ;) " and served their graven images, 
 both their children, and their children's children; as did their fathers, 
 so did they unto this day," 2 Kings xvii, 33, &,c. 
 
 How nearly does the practice of most modern Christians resemble 
 this of the ancient heathens! "They fear the Lord ;" they also perform 
 an outward service to him, and hereby show they have some fear 
 of God ; but they likewise " serve their own gods." There are those 
 who " teach them [as there were tiiose who taught the Assyrians] the 
 manner of the God of the land ;" the God whose name the country bears 
 to this day, and who was once worshipped there with a holy worship 
 " Howbeit," they do not serve him alone ; they do not fear him enough 
 for this : but " every nation maketh gods of their own : every nation in 
 the cities wherein they dwell." " These nations fear the Lord ;" they 
 have not laid aside the outward form of worshipping him ; but " they 
 aerve their graven images," silver and gold, the work of men's hands : 
 Money, pleasure, and praise, the gods of this world, more than divide 
 their service with the God of Israel. This is the manner both of" their 
 children, and their children's children ; as did their fathers, so do they 
 nnto this day." 
 
 '2. But although, speaking in a loose way, after the common manner 
 of men, those poor heathens were said to " fear the Lord," yet we may
 
 SERMON XXJX.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 295 
 
 observe the Holy Ghost immediately adds, speaking according to the 
 truth and real nature of things, " They fear not the Lord, neither do 
 after the law and commandment, which the Lord commanded the chil- 
 dren of Jacob ; with whom the Lord made a covenant, and charged 
 them, saying, Ye shall not fear other gods, nor serve them. But the 
 Lord your God ye shall fear, and he shall deliver you out of the hands 
 of your enemies." 
 
 The same judgment is passed by the unerring Spirit of God, and 
 indeed by all, the eyes of whose understanding he hath opened to dis- 
 co rn the things of God, upon these poor Christians, commonly so called. 
 If we speak according to the truth and real nature of things, " they fear 
 not the Lord, neither do they serve him." For they do not " after the 
 covenant the Lord hath made with them, neither after the law and com- 
 mandment which he hath commanded them, saying, Thou shall wor- 
 ship the Lord thy God, and him only shall thou serve." " They serve 
 other gods unto this day." And " no man can serve two masters." 
 
 3. How vain is it for any man to aim at this, to atlempl ihe serving 
 of Iwo masters ! Is it not easy to foresee what musl be the unavoidable 
 consequence of such an attempt ? " Either he will hate ihe one, and 
 love Ihe other ; or else he will hold lo ihe one, and despise ihe other." 
 The two parts of this sentence, although separately proposed, are to be 
 understood in connection with each other ; for Ihe latter part is a con- 
 sequence of the former. He will naturally hold to him whom he loves. 
 He will so cleave to him, as to perform to him a willing, faithful, and 
 diligent service. And in the mean lime, he will, so far at least, despise 
 the master he hates, as to have little regard to his commands ; and to 
 obey them, if at all, in a slighl and careless manner. Therefore, what- 
 soever the wise men of the world may suppose, " Ye cannot serve God 
 and mammon." 
 
 4. Mammon was ihe name of one of ihe healhen gods, who was 
 supposed to preside over riches. It is here understood of riches them- 
 selves; gold and silver; or, in general, money; and by a common figure 
 of speech, of all thai may be purchased ihereby ; such as ease, honour, 
 and sensual pleasure. 
 
 Bui whal are we here to understand by serving God 1 And what, by 
 serving mammon 1 
 
 We cannot serve God, unless we believe in him. This is the only 
 true foundation of serving him. Therefore, the believing in God, as 
 " reconciling the world to himself, through Christ Jesus," the believing 
 in him, as a loving, pardoning God, is Ihe firsl greal branch of his 
 service. 
 
 And ihus lo believe in God, implies, lo Irusl in him as our slrenglh, 
 wilhoul whom we can do nolhing, who every mornenl endues us with 
 power from on high, without, which il is impossible lo please him ; as 
 our help, our only help in time of trouble, who compasselh us about 
 with songs of deliverance ; as our shield, our defender, and the lifter 
 up of our head above all our enemies thai are round aboul us. 
 
 Il implies lo Irusl in God as our happiness ; as Ihe cenlre of spirils ; 
 the only rest of our souls ; the only good who is adequate lo all our 
 capacities, and sufficient to satisfy all the desires he hath given us. 
 
 Il implies (whal is nearly allied lo ihe olher) to trusl in God as our 
 nd ; lo have an eye lo him in all ihings ; to use all things only as
 
 296 K1KTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIX. 
 
 means of enjoying him ; wheresoever we are, or whatsoe ver we do, tn 
 see him that is invisible, looking on us well pleased, and to refer all 
 things to him in Christ Jesus. 
 
 5. Thus to believe, is the first thing we are to understand by serving 
 God. The second is, to love him. 
 
 Now to love God, in the manner the Scripture describes, in the 
 manner God himself requites of us, and by requiring engages to work 
 in us, is to love him as the ONE GOD ; that is, " with all our heart, and 
 with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength ;" 
 it is to desire God alone for his own sake ; and nothing else, but with 
 reference to him ; to rejoice in God ; to delight in the Lord ; not 
 only to seek but find happiness in him ; to enjoy God as the chiefest 
 among ten thousand ; to rest in him, as our God and our all ; in a 
 word, to have such a possession of God, as makes us always happy. 
 
 6. A third thing we are to understand by serving God, is, to resemble, 
 or imitate him. 
 
 So the ancient father : Optimus Dei cultus, imitari quern colis : 
 " It is the best worship or service of God, to imitate him you worship." 
 
 We here speak of imitating or resembling him in the spirit of our 
 minds: for here the true Christian imitation of God begins. God is a 
 Spirit; and they that imitate or resemble him, must do it in spirit and 
 in tri.th. 
 
 Now God is love : therefore they who resemble him in the spirit of 
 their minds, are transformed into the same image. They are merciful, 
 even as he is merciful. Their soul is all love. They are kind, bene- 
 volent, compassionate, tender hearted ; and that not only to the good 
 and gentle, but also i:> the froward. Yea, they are, like him, loving 
 unto every man, and their mercy extends to all his works. 
 
 7. One thing more we are to un lerstand by serving God, and that 
 is, the obeying him ; the glorifying him with our bodies, as well as with 
 our spirits ; the keeping his outward commandments ; the zealously 
 doing whatever he hath enjoined ; the carefully avoiding whatever he 
 hath forbidden ; the performing all the ordinary actions of life with a 
 single eye and a pure heart, offering them all in holy, fervent love, as 
 sacrifices to God, thiough Jesus Christ. 
 
 8. Let us consider now, what we are to understand, on the other 
 hand, by serving mnmrnon. And, first, it implies the trusting in riches, 
 money, or the thing? purchaseable thereby, as our strength, the means 
 whereby we shall perform whatever cause we have in hand ; the trust- 
 ing in them as our help, by which we look to be comforted in, or 
 delivered out of, trouble. 
 
 It implies the trusting in the world for happiness; the supposing that 
 " a man's life [the comfort of his life] consisteth in the abundance ot 
 the things which he possesseth ;" the lucking for rest in the things that 
 are seen ; for content in outward plenty; the expecting that satisfaction 
 in the things of the world, which can never be found out of God. 
 
 And if we do this, we cannot but make the world our end; the 
 ultimate end, if not of all, at least of many, of our undertakings, 
 many of our actions and designs ; in which we shall aim only at an 
 increase of wealth, at the obtaining pleasure or praise, at the gaining 
 a larger measure of temporal things, without any reference to things 
 eternal.
 
 SERMON XXIX. J THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 297 
 
 9. The serving mammon implies, secondly, loving the world , 
 desiring it for its own sake ; the placing our joy in the things thereof, 
 and setting our hearts upon them; the seeking (what indeed it is 
 impossible we should find) our happiness therein ; the resting, with 
 the whole weight of our souls, upon the staff of this broken reed ; 
 although daily experience shows it cannot support, hut will only " enter 
 into our hand and pierce it." 
 
 10. To resemble, to be conformed to the world, is a third thing we 
 are to understand by serving mammon ; to have not only designs, but 
 desires, tempers, affections, suitable to those of the world ; to be of an 
 earthly, sensual mind, chained down to the things of earth ; to be self 
 willed, inordinate lovers of ourselves ; to think highly of our own 
 attainments ; to desire and delight in the praise of men ; to fear, shun, 
 and abhor reproach ; to be impatient of reproof, easy to be provoked, 
 and swift to return evil for evil. 
 
 11. To serve mammon, is, lastly, to obey the world, by outwardly 
 conforming to its maxims and customs ; to walk as other men walk, in 
 the common road, in the broad, smooth, beaten path ; to be in the 
 fashion ; to follow a multitude ; to do like the rest of our neighbours ; 
 that is, to do the will of the flesh and the mind, to gratify our appetites 
 and inclinations ; to sacrifice to ourselves ; aim at our own ease and 
 pleasure, in the general course both of our words and actions. 
 
 Now what can be more undeniably clear, than that we cannot thus 
 serve God and mammon 1 
 
 12. Does not every man see, that he cannot comfortably serve both 7 
 That to trim between God and the world, is the sure way to be disap- 
 pointed in both, and to have no rest either in one or the other 1 How 
 uncomfortable a condition must he be in, who, having the fear, but not 
 the love of God, who, serving him, but not with all his heart, has 
 only the toils and not the joys of religion ? He has religion enough to 
 make him miserable, but not enough to make him happy : his religion 
 will not let him enjoy the world ; and the world will not let him enjoy 
 God. So that by halting between both, he loses both ; and has no peace 
 either in God or the world. 
 
 13. Does not every man see, that he cannot serve both, consistently 
 with himself? What more glaring inconsistency can be conceived, than 
 must continually appear in his whole behaviour, who is endeavouring 
 to obey both these masters, striving to "serve God and mammon?" 
 He is indeed " a sinner that goeth two ways ;" one step forward and 
 another backward. He is continually building up with one hand, and 
 pulling down with the other. He loves sin, and he hates it : he is 
 always seeking, and yet always fleeing from, God. He would and he 
 would not. He is not the same man for one day ; no, not for ah hour 
 together. He is a motley mixture of all sorts of contrarieties ; a heap 
 of contradictions jumbled in one. Oh be consistent with thyself one 
 way or the other ! Turn to the right hand or to the left. If mammon 
 be God, serve thou him ; if the Lord, then serve him. But never think 
 of serving either at all, unless it be with thy whole heart. 
 
 14. Does not every reasonable, every thinking man see, that 1/c 
 cannot possibly serve God and mammon ? Because there is the most 
 absolute contrariety, the most irreconcilable enmity between them. The 
 contrariety between the most opposite things on earth, between nre and
 
 298 NINTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIX. 
 
 water, darkness and light, vanishes into nothing, when compared to the 
 contrariety between God and mammon. So that, in whatsoever respect 
 you serve the one, you necessarily renounce the other. Do you believe 
 in God through Christ ? Do you trust in him as your strength, your 
 h<:lp, your shield, and your exceeding great reward? as your happi 
 ness? your end in all, above all things? Then you cannot trust in 
 riches. It is absolutely impossible you should, so long as you have this 
 faith in God. Do you thus trust in riches? Then you have denied the faith, 
 You do not trust in the living God. Do you love God ? Do you seek 
 and find happiness in him ? Then you cannot love the world, neither 
 the things of the world. You are crucified to the world, and the world 
 crucified to you. Do you love the world ? Are your affections set on 
 things beneath ? Do you seek happiness in earthly things ? Then it is 
 impossible you should love God. Then the love of the Father is not 
 in you. Do you resemble God ? Are you merciful, as your Father is 
 merciful ? Are you transformed, by the renewal of your mind, into the 
 image of him that created you ? Then you cannot be conformed to the 
 present world. You have renounced all its affections and lusts. Are 
 you conformed to the world ? Does your soul still bear the image of the 
 earthly ? Then you are not renewed in the spirit of your mind. You do 
 not bear the image of the heavenly. Do you obey God ? Are you zealous 
 to do his will on earth, as the angels do in heaven ? Then it is impossi- 
 ble you should obey mammon. Then you set the woild at open defiance. 
 You trample its customs and maxims under foot, and will neither fol- 
 low nor be led by them. Do you follow the world ? Do you live like other 
 men ? Do you please men ? Do you please yourself? Then you can- 
 not be a servant of God. You are of your master and father, the devil. 
 
 15. Therefore thou shall worship the Lord thy God, and him only 
 shall thou serve. Thou shall lay aside all thoughls of obeying iwo 
 maslers, of serving God and mammon. Thou shall propose to thyself 
 no end, no help, no happiness, but God. Thou shall seek nothing in 
 earth or heaven bul him : thou shall aim al nothing, but lo know, lo 
 love, and enjoy him. And because ihis is all your business below, ihe 
 only view you can reasonably have, ihe one design you are lo pursue in 
 all ihings, " Therefore I say unlo you," [as our Lord continues his 
 discourse, " Take no ihoughl for your life, what ye shall eal, or what 
 ye shall drink ; nor yet for your body, whal ye shall pul on :" a deep 
 and weighty direction, which it imports us well to consider, and tho- 
 roughly to understand. 
 
 16. Our Lord does not here require, lhal we should be ullerly wilh- 
 oul thought, even touching ihe concerns of ihis life. A giddy, careless 
 temper, is al ihe farthest remove from the whole religion of Jesus Christ. 
 Neither does he require us to be " slolhful in business," lo be slack and 
 dilalory iherein. This, likewise, is conlrary to the whole spirit anil 
 genius of his religion. A Christian abhors sloth as much as drunken- 
 ness ; and flees from idleness as he does from adultery. He well knows 
 thai ihere is one kind of ihoughl and care, wilh which God is well 
 pleased ; which is absolutely needful for the doe performance of those 
 outward works, unlo which the providence of God has called him. 
 
 It is the will of God, thai every man should labour to eat his own 
 bread ; yea. and thai every man should provide for his own, for them 
 of his own household. It is likewise his will, thai we shtulH <; ov\e no
 
 SCKMON XXiX.] THE SEKMON ON THE MOUNT. 299 
 
 man any thing, but provide things honest in the sight of all men." 
 But this cannot be done, without taking some thought, without having 
 some care upon our minds ; yea often, not without long and serious 
 thought, not without much-and earnest care. Consequently this care, 
 to provide for ourselves and our household, this thought how to render 
 to all their dues, our blessed Lord does not. condemn. Yea, it is good 
 and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour. 
 
 It is good and acceptable to God, that we should so take thought 
 concerning whatever we have in hand, as to have a clear comprehen- 
 sion of what we are about to do, and to plan our business before we 
 enter upon it. And it is right that we should carefully consider, from 
 time to time, what steps we are to take therein ; as well as that we 
 should prepare all things beforehand, for the carrying it on in the 
 most effectual manner. This care, termed by some, "the care of the 
 head," it was by no means our Lord's design to condemn. 
 
 17. What he here condemns, is, the care of the heart ; the anxious, 
 uneasy care ; the care that hath torment ; all such care as does hurt, 
 either to the soul or body. What he forbids, is, that care which, sad 
 experience shows, wastes the blood and drinks up the spirits ; which 
 anticipates all the misery it fears, and comes to torment us before the 
 time. He forbids only that care which poisons the blessings of to day, 
 by fear of what may be to morrow; which cannot enjoy the present 
 plenty, through apprehensions of future want. This care is not only a 
 sore disease, a grievous sickness of soul, but also a heinous offence 
 against God, a sin of the deepest dye. It is a high affront to the 
 gracious Governor and wise Disposer of all things; necessarily implying, 
 that the great Judge does not do right ; that he does not order all things 
 well. It plainly implies, that he is wanting, either in wisdom, if he 
 does not know what things we stand in need of; or in goodness, if he 
 does not provide those things for all who put their trust in him. Be- 
 ware, therefore, that you take not thought in this sense : be ye anxiously 
 careful for nothing. Take no uneasy thought: this is a plain, sure 
 rule, uneasy care is unlawful care. With a single eye to God, do all 
 that in you lies, to provide things honest in the sight of all men : and 
 then give up all into better hands ; leave the whole event to God. 
 
 18. " Take no thought," of this kind, no uneasy thought, even " for 
 your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink ; nor yet for your 
 body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the 
 body than raiment?" If then God gave you life, the greater gift, will 
 he not give you food to sustain it ? If he hath given you the body, how 
 can ye doubt, but he will give you raiment to cover it? More especially, 
 if you give yourselves up to him, and serve him with your whole heart. 
 " Behold," see before your eyes, " the fowls of the air : for they sow 
 uot, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns ;" and yet they lack 
 nothing ; " yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much 
 better than they ?" Ye that are creatures capable of God, are ye not of 
 more account in the eyes of God ? Of a higher rank in the scale of 
 beings ? " And which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit to 
 his stature ?" What profit have you then from this anxious thought ? It 
 is every way fruitless and unavailing. 
 
 " And why take ye thought for raiment ?" Have ye not a daily 
 reproof, wherever you turn your eyes 1 " Consider the lilies of the field
 
 300 NINTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXIX. 
 
 how they grow ; they toil not, neither do they spin ; and yet I say unto 
 you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one ol 
 these.;- Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day 
 is, and to morrow is cast into the oven," [is cut down, burnt up, and 
 .seen nojnore,] "shall he not much more clothe you, oh ye of little 
 faith?" You, whom he made to endure for ever and ever, to be pictures 
 of his own eternity ! Ye are indeed of little faith ; otherwise ye could 
 not doubt of his love and care, no not for a moment. 
 
 19. "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat," if we 
 lay up no treasure upon earth? " What shall we drink," if we serve 
 God with all our strength, if our eye be singly fixed on him ? " Where- 
 withal shall we be clothed," if we are not conformed to the world, if 
 we disoblige those by whom we might be profited ? " For after all 
 these things do the Gentiles seek," the heathens who know not God. 
 But ye are sensible, " your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need 
 of all these things." And he hath pointed out to you an infallible way 
 of being constantly supplied therewith : " Seek ye first the kingdom 
 of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added 
 unto you." 
 
 20. " Seek ye first the kingdom of God :" Before ye give place to 
 any other thought or care, let it be your concern, that the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (who " gave his only begotten Son," 
 to the end that, believing in him, " ye might not perish, but have ever 
 lasting life") may reign in your heart, may manifest himself in yoiu 
 soul, and dwell and rule there ; that he may " cast down every high 
 thing which exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bring 
 into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." Let God have 
 the sole dominion over you : let him reign without a rival : let him 
 possess all your heart, and rule alone. Let him be your one desire, 
 your joy, your love ; so that all that is within you may continually cry 
 out, " The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." 
 
 " Seek the kingdom of God, and his righteousness." Righteousness 
 is the fruit of God's reigning in the heart. And what is righteousness 
 but love ? The love of God and of all mankind, flowing from faith in 
 Jesus Christ, and producing humbleness of mind, meekness, gentleness, 
 long suffering, patience, deadness to the world ; and every right dis- 
 position of heart, towards God, and towards man. And by these it 
 produces all holy actions, whatsoever are lovely or of good report ; 
 whatsoever works of faith and labour of love, are acceptable to God, 
 and profitable to man. 
 
 " His righteousness:" This is all his righteousness still : it is his 
 own free gift to us, for the sake of Jesus Christ the righteous, through 
 whom alone it is purchased for us : and it is his work : it is he alone 
 that worketh it in us, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. 
 
 21. Perhaps the well observing this, may give light to some other 
 scriptures, which we have not always so clearly understood. St. Paul, 
 speaking in his Epistle to the Romans concerning the unbelieving 
 Jews, saith, " They being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going 
 about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted them 
 selves unto the righteousness of God." I believe this may be one sense 
 of the words : They were " ignorant of God's righteousness," not only 
 of the righteousness of Christ, imputed to every believer, whereby all
 
 SERMON XXIX."j THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 301 
 
 his sins are blotted out, and he is reconciled to the favour of God : but 
 (which seems here to be more immediately understood) they were 
 ignorant of that inward righteousness, of that holiness of hart, which 
 is with the utmost propriety termed God's righteousness ; as being 
 both his own free gift through Christ, and his own work, by his 
 almighty Spirit. And because they were ignorant of this, they " wenl 
 about to establish their own righteousness." They laboured to establish 
 that outside righteousness, which might very properly be termed their 
 own. For neither was it wrought by the Spirit of God, nor was it 
 owned or accepted of him. They might work this themselves, by 
 their own natural strength ; and when they had done, it was a stink in 
 his nostrils. And yet, trusting in this, they would " not submit them- 
 selves unfo the righteousness of God." Yea, they hardened themselves 
 against that faith, whereby alone it was possible to attain it. ' ' For 
 Christ is the end of the law for righteousness, to every one that 
 believeth." Christ, when he said, " It is finished !" put an end to the 
 law, to the law of external rites and ceremonies, that he might bring a 
 better righteousness through his blood, by that one oblation of himself 
 once offered, even the image of God, into the inmost soul of every one 
 that believeth. 
 
 22. Nearly related to these, are those words of the apostle, in his 
 Epistle to the Philippians : " I count all things but dung that 1 may win 
 Christ ;" an entrance into his everlasting kingdom ; " and be found in 
 him, [believing in him,] not having mine own righteousness, which is 
 of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteous- 
 ness which is of God by faith." "Not having my own righteousness, 
 which is of the law ;" a barely external righteousness, the outside reli- 
 gion I formerly had, when I hoped to be accepted of God, because I was, 
 " touching the righteousness which is of the law, blameless ;" " but 
 that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of 
 God by faith ;" that holiness of heart, that renewal of the soul, in all 
 its desires, tempers, and affections, " which is of God :" it is the work of 
 God, and not of man : " by faith :" through the faith of Christ, through 
 the revelation of Jesus Christ in us, and by faith in his blood ; whereby 
 alone we obtain the remission of our sins, and an inheritance among 
 those that are sanctified. 
 
 23. " Seek ye first [this] kingdom of God" in your hearts ; this 
 righteousness, which is the gift and work of God, the image of God 
 renewed in your souls ; " and all these things shall be added unto you;" 
 all things needful for the body ; such a measure of all as God sees most 
 for the advancement of his kingdom. These shall be added, they 
 shall be thrown in, over and above. In seeking the peace and the 
 love of God, you shall not only find what you more immediately seek, 
 even the kingdom that cannot be moved ; but also what you seek not, 
 not at all for its own sake, but only in reference to the other. You 
 shall find, in your way to the kingdom, all outward things, so far as 
 they are expedient for you : this care God hath taken upon himself: 
 cast you all your care upon him. He knoweth your wants ; and what- 
 soever is lacking, he will not fail to supply. 
 
 24. " Therefore take no thought for the morrow." Not only, take 
 ye no thought how to lay up treasures on earth, how to increase in 
 worldly substance ; take no thought how to procure more food than
 
 302 NINTH DISCOURSE UPON [sEBMON XXTX. 
 
 you can eat, or more raiment than you can put on, or more money thar 
 is required from day to day, for the plain reasonable purposes of life; 
 but take no uneasy thought, even concerning those things which art 
 absolutely needful for the body. Do not trouble yourself now, witfr 
 thinking what you shall do at a season which is yet afar off. Perhaps 
 that season will never come : or it will be no concern of yours ; 
 before then you will have passed through all the waves, and be landed 
 in eternity. All those distant views do nov belong to you, who are bul 
 H creature of a day. Nay, what have you to do with the morrow, more 
 strictly speaking ? Why should you perplex yourself without need 1 
 God provides for you to day what is needful to sustain the life which he 
 hath given you. It is enough : give yourself up into his hands ; if you 
 live another day, he will provide for that also. 
 
 25. Above all, do not make the care of future things a pretence for 
 neglecting present duty. This is the most fatal way of" taking thought 
 for the morrow." And how common is it among men ! Many, if we 
 exhort them to keep a conscience void of offence, to abstain from what 
 they are convinced is evil, do not scruple to reply, " How then must we 
 live 1 Must we not take care of ourselves and our families ?" And this 
 they imagine to be a sufficient reason for continuing in known, wilful 
 sin. They say, and perhaps think, they would serve God now, were it 
 not that they should, by and by, lose their bread. They would prepare 
 for eternity ; but they are afraid of wanting the necessaries of life. So 
 they serve the devil for a morsel of bread ; they rush into hell for fear 
 of want; they throw away their poor souls, lest they should some time 
 or other, fall short of what is needful for their bodies ! 
 
 It is not strange that they who thus take the matter out of God's 
 hand, should be so often disappointed of the very things they seek ; that 
 while they throw away heaven, to secure the things of earth, they lose 
 the one, but do not gain the other. The jealous God, in the wise course 
 of his providence, frequently suffers this. So that they who will not 
 cast their care on God, who, taking thought for temporal things, havt 
 little concern for things eternal, lose the very portion which they have 
 chosen. There is a visible blast on all their undertakings ; whatsoever 
 they do, it doth not prosper ; insomuch that, after they have forsaken 
 God for the world, they lose what they sought, as well as what they 
 sought not : they fall short of the kingdom of God and his righteous- 
 ness ; nor yet are other things added unto them. 
 
 26. There is another way of " taking thought for the morrow," which 
 is equally forbidden in these words. It is possible to take thought in 
 a wrong manner, even with regard to spiritual things; to be so careful 
 about what may be by and by, as to neglect what is now required at our 
 hands. How insensibly do we slide into this, if we are not continually 
 watching unto prayer 1 How easily are we carried away, in a kind of 
 waking dream, projecting distant schemes, and drawing fine scenes 
 in our own imagination ! We think what good we will do when we are 
 in such a place, or when such a time is come ! How useful we will be, 
 how plenteous in good works, when we are easier in our circumstances! 
 How earnestly we will serve God, when once such a hinderance is out 
 of the way ! 
 
 Or perhaps you are now in heaviness of soul : God, as it were, hides 
 his face from you. You see little of the light of his countenance : you
 
 SERMON XXIX ] THE SERMON OX THE MOUNT. SOT 
 
 Rannot taste his redeeming love. In such a temper of mind, how 
 natural is it to say, " Oh hew will I praise God, when the light of his 
 countenance shall be again lifted up upon my soul ! How will I exhort 
 others to praise him, when his love is again shed abroad in my heart ! 
 Then I will do thus and thus : I will speak for God in all places . I 
 will not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Then I will redeem the 
 time. I will use to the uttermost every talent I have received." Do 
 not believe thyself. Thou wilt not do it then, unless thou doest it now. 
 " He that is faithful in that which is little," of whatsoever kind it be, 
 whether it be worldly substance, or the fear or love of God, "will be 
 faithful in that which is much." But if thou now hidest one talent in 
 the earth, thou wilt then hide five : that is, if ever they are given ; but 
 there is small reason to expect they ever will. Indeed " unto him that 
 hath, : ' that is, uses what he hath, " shall be given, and he shall have 
 more abundantly. But from him that hath not," that is, uses not the 
 grace which he hath already received, whether in a larger or smaller 
 degree, " shall be taken away even that which he hath." 
 
 27. And take no thought for the temptations of to morrow. This 
 also is a dangerous snare. Think not, " When such a temptation 
 comes, what shall I do 1 how shall 1 stand ? I feel I have not power 
 to resist : I am not able to conquer that enemy. Most true : you Iiave 
 not now the power which you do not now stand in need of. You are 
 not able at this time to conquer that enemy ; and at this time he does 
 not assault you. With the grace you have now, you could not with- 
 stand the temptations which you have not. But when the temptation 
 comes, the grace will come. In greater trials you will have greater 
 strength. When sufferings abound, the consolations of God will, in the 
 same proportion, abound also. So that in every situation, the grace 
 of God will be sufficient for you. He doth not suffer you " to be 
 tempted" to day, " above that ye are able to bear :" and " in every 
 temptation he will make a way to escape." " As thy days, so thy 
 strength shall be." 
 
 28. " Let the morrow," therefore, " take thought for the things of 
 itself;" that is, when the morrow comes, then think of it. Live thou 
 to day. Be it thy earnest care to improve the present hour. This is 
 your own ; and it is your all. The past is as nothing, as though it had 
 never been. The future is nothing to you: it is not yours; perhaps 
 it never will be. There is no depending on what is yet to come ; for 
 you " know not what a day may bring forth." Therefore, live to day : 
 lose not an hour : use this moment ; for it is your portion. " Who 
 knoweth the things which have been before him, or which shall be 
 after him under the sun ?" The generations that were from the begin- 
 ning of the world, where are they now ? Fled away : forgotten. They 
 were ; they lived their day ; they were shook off the earth, as leaves off 
 their trees : they mouldered away into common dust ! Another and 
 another race succeeded ; then they " followed the generation of their 
 fathers, and shall never more see the light." Now is thy turn upon 
 the earth. " Rejoice, oh young man, in the days of thy youth !" Enjoy 
 the very, very now, by enjoying Him, " whose years fail not." Now 
 let thine eye be singly fixed on him, " with whom is no variableness, 
 neither shadow of turning !" Now give him thy heart ; now stay thyself 
 on him : now be thou holy, as he is holy ! Now lay hold on the blessed
 
 304 TENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXX. 
 
 opportunity of doing his acceptable and perfect will ! Now " rejoice tt 
 surfer the loss of all things, so thou mayest win Christ !" 
 
 29. Gladly suffer to day, for his name's sake, whatsoever he permits 
 this day to come upon thee. But look not at the sufferings of to mor- 
 row. " Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof." Evil it is, speak- 
 ing after the manner of men ; whether it be reproach or want, pain 01 
 sickness ; but in the language of God, all is a blessing : it is a precious 
 balm, prepared by the wisdom of God, and variously dispensed among 
 his children, according to the various sicknesses of their souls. And he 
 gives in one day, sufficient for that day ; proportioned to the want and 
 strength of the patient. If, therefore, thou snatchest to day, what 
 belongs to thee to morrow ; if thou addest this to what is given thee 
 already, it will be more than thou canst bear : this is the way not to 
 heal, but to destroy thy own soul. Take, therefore, just as much as 
 he gives thee to day : to day, do and suffer his will ! To day, give up 
 thyself, thy body, soul, and spirit to God, through Christ Jesus ; desir- 
 ing nothing, but that God may be glorified in all thou art, all thou doest, 
 all thou sufferest ; seeking nothing, but to know God, and his Son Jesus 
 Christ, through the eternal Spirit; pursuing nothing, but to love him, 
 to serve him, and to enjoy him at this hour, and to all eternity ! 
 
 Now unto God the Father, who hath made me and all the world ; 
 unto God the Son, who hath redeemed me and all mankind ; unto God 
 the Holy Ghost, who sanctifieth me and all the elect people of God ; be 
 honour and praise, majesty and dominion, for ever and ever ! Amen 
 
 SERMON XXX. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE X. 
 
 " Judge not, that ye be not judged. 
 
 " For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged : and with what mea- 
 sure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. 
 
 " And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but consider- 
 est not the beam that is in thine own eye ? 
 
 " Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine 
 eye ; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye ? 
 
 " Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye ; and then shall 
 thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye. 
 
 " Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before 
 swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you. 
 
 " Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall bo 
 opened unto you : 
 
 " For every one that asketh receiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him 
 that knocketh it shall be opened. 
 
 " Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a 
 stone ' 
 
 ' Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent ? 
 
 " If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how 
 much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that 
 ask him ? 
 
 " Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to j'ou, do ye 
 even so to them : for this is the law and the prophets," Matt, vii, 1-12. 
 
 1. Our blessed Lord, having now finished his main design, having 
 first delivered the sum of truo religion, carefully guarded against those 
 glosses of men, whereby they would make the word of God of none 
 effect ; and having next laid down rules touching that right intention,
 
 SERMON XXX ] THE SERMON ON TUB MOUNT. 305 
 
 which we are to preserve in all outward actions ; now proceeds to point 
 out the main himlcrances of this religion, and concludes all with a suit- 
 able application. 
 
 2. In the fifth chapter, our great teacher has fully described inward 
 religion in its various branches. He has there laid before us those dis- 
 positions of soul, which constitute real Christianity ; the tempers con- 
 tained in that holiness, " without which no man shall see the Lord ;'' 
 the affections, which, when flowing from their proper fountain, from u 
 living faith in God through Christ Jesus, are intrinsically and essentially 
 good, and acceptable to God. In the sixth he hath shown how all our 
 actions, likewise, even those that are indifferent in their own nature, 
 may be made holy, and good, and acceptable to God, by a pure and 
 holy intention. Whatever is done without this, he declares is of no 
 value with God : whereas, whatever outward works are thus consecra- 
 ted to God, are, in his sight, of great price. 
 
 3. In the former part of this chapter, he points out the most common 
 and most fatal hinderances of this holiness : in the latter, he exhorts us, 
 by various motives, to break through all, and secure that prize of our 
 high calling. 
 
 4. The first hinderance he cautions us against is judging. " Judge 
 not, that ye be not judged." Judge not others, that ye be not judged 
 of the Lord ; that ye bring not vengeance on your own heads. " For 
 with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged, and with what measure 
 ye mete, it shall be measured to you again :" a plain and equitable 
 rule, whereby God permits you to determine for yourselves, in what 
 manner he shall deal with you in the judgment of the great day. 
 
 5. There is no station of life, nor any period of time, from the hour 
 of our first repenting and believing the gospel, till we are made perfect 
 in love, wherein this caution is not needful for every child of God. For 
 occasions of judging can never be wanting ; and the temptations to it 
 are innumerable, many whereof are so artfully disguised, that we fall 
 into the sin, before we suspect any danger. And unspeakable are the 
 mischiefs produced hereby, always to him that judges another ; thus 
 wounding his own soul, and exposing himself to the righteous judg- 
 ment of God ; and frequently to those who are judged, whose hands 
 hang down, who are weakened and hindered in their course, if not 
 wholly turned out of the way, and caused to draw back even to perdi- 
 tion. Yea, how often, when this " root of bitterness springs up, are 
 many defiled thereby ;" by reason whereof the way of truth itself is 
 evil spoken of, and that worthy name blasphemed whereby we are 
 called. 
 
 6. Yet it does not appear that our Lord designed this caution only, 
 or chiefly, for the children of God ; but rather for the children of the 
 world, for the men who know not God. These cannot hut hear of those 
 who are not of the world ; who follow after the religion above described ; 
 who endeavour to be humble, serious, gentle, merciful, and pure in 
 heart; who earnestly desire such measures of these holy tempers as 
 they have not yet attained, and wait for them in doing all good to all 
 men, and patiently suffering evil. Whoever go but thus far, cannot be 
 hid, no more than " a city set upon a hill." And why do not those who 
 
 ' see their good works, glorify their Father which is in heaven ?" What 
 excuse have they for not treading in their steps ? for not imitating their
 
 306 TENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXX 
 
 exarrple, and being follower? of them, as they are also of Christ 1 Why, 
 in order Jo provide an excuse for themselves, they condemn those whom 
 they ought to imitate. They spend their time in finding out their 
 neighbours' faults, instead of amending their own. They are so busied 
 about others going out of the way, that themselves never come into it 
 at all ; at least, never get forward ; never go beyond a poor dead form 
 of godliness, without the power. 
 
 7. It is to these more especially that our Lord says, " Why beholdest 
 thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye;" the infirmities, the mis- 
 takes, the imprudence, the weakness of the children of God ; " but 
 considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?" Thou considerest 
 not the damnable impenitence, the Satanic pride, the accursed self will, 
 the idolatrous love of the world, which are in thyself, and which make 
 thy whole life an abomination to the Lord. Above all, with what supine 
 carelessness and indifference art thou dancing over the mouth of hell ! 
 And " how then," with what grace, with what decency or modesty, 
 " wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye ;" 
 the excess of zeal for God, the extreme of self denial, the too great 
 disengagement from worldly cares and employments, the desire to be 
 day and night in prayer, or hearing the words of eternal life ? " And 
 behold a beam is in thine own eye !" Not a mote like one of these. 
 " Thou hypocrite !" who pretendest to care for others, and hast no care 
 fur thy own soul ; who makest a show of zeal for the cause of God, when 
 in truth thou neither lovest nor fearest him ! " First cast out the beam 
 out of thine own eye :" cast out the beam of impenitence ! Know thy- 
 eelf ! See and feel thyself a sinner ! Feel that thy inward parts are very 
 wickedness, that thou art altogether corrupt and abominable, and that 
 the wrath of God abideth on thee ! Cast out the beam of pride ; abhor 
 thyself ; sink down as in dust and ashes ; be more and more little, and 
 mean, and base, and vile in thine own eyes ! Cast out the beam of self 
 will ! Learn what that meaneth, " If any man will come after me, let 
 him renounce himself." Deny thyself, and take up thy cross daily. 
 Let thy whole soul cry out, " I came down from heaven," [for so thou 
 didst, thou never dying spirit, whether thou knowest it or no,] " not to 
 do rny own will, but the will of Him that sent me." Cast out the beam 
 of love of the world ! Love not the world, neither the things of the 
 world. Be thou crucified unto the world, and the world crucified unto 
 thee. Only use the world, but cnjuy God. Seek all thy happiness in 
 him ! Above all. cast out the grand beam, that supine carelessness and 
 indifference! Deeply consider, that "one thing is needful;" the one 
 thing which thou hast scarce ever thought of. Know and feel, that 
 thou art a poor, vile, guilty worm, quivering over the great gulf! Whai 
 art thou 1 A sinner born to die ; a leaf driven before the wind ; a 
 vapour ready to vanish away ; just appearing, and then scattered into 
 air, to be no more seen ! See this! " And then shall thou see clearly 
 to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye." Then, if thou hast 
 leisure from the concerns of thy own soul, thou shalt know how to 
 correct thy brother also. 
 
 8. But what is properly the meaning of this word, " Judge not ?" 
 What is the judging which is here forbidden ? It is not the same as 
 evil speaking, although it is frequently joined therewith. Evil speak- 
 ing w the relating any thing that is evil concerning an absent person:
 
 SEKHOX XXX ] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 307 
 
 whereas judging may indifferently refer either to the absent or the pre- 
 sent. Neither does it necessarily imply the speaking at all, but only 
 the thinking evil of another. Not that all kind of thinking evil of 
 others, is that judging which our Lord condemns. If I see one com 
 mil robbery or murder, or hear him blaspheme the name of God, I 
 cannot refrain from thinking ill of the robber or murderer. Yet this 
 is not evil judging : there is no sin in this, nor any thing contrary to 
 lender affection. 
 
 9. The thinking of another in a manner that is contrary to love, is 
 that judging which is here condemned ; and this may be of various 
 kinds. For, first, we may think another to blame when he is not. 
 We may lay to his charge (at least in our own mind) the things of 
 which he is not guilty ; the words which he has never spoke, or the 
 actions which he has never done. Or we may think his manner of act- 
 ing was wrong, although in reality it was not. And even where nothing 
 can justly be blamed, either in the thing itself, or in the manner of 
 doing it, we may suppose his intention was not goodj and so condemn 
 him on that ground ; at the same time that He who searches the heart, 
 sees his simplicity and godly sincerity. 
 
 10. But we may not only fall into the sin of judging, by condemning 
 the innocent ; but also, secondly, by condemning the guilty in a higher 
 degree than he deserves. This species of judging is likewise an offence 
 against justice, as well as mercy ; and yet such an offence as nothing 
 can secure us from, but the strongest and tenderest affection. Without 
 this, we readily suppose one, who is acknowledged to be in fault, to be 
 more in fault than ue really is. We undervalue whatever good is found 
 in him. Nay, we are not easily induced to believe, that any thing good 
 can remain in him, in whom we have found any thing that is evil. 
 
 11. All this shows a manifest want of that love, which ov Xoyt^sran 
 xaxov, thinketh no evil; which never draws an unjust or unkind con- 
 clusion from any premises whatsoever. Love will not infer, from a 
 person's falling once into an act of open sin, that he is accustomed so 
 to do, that he is habitually guilty of it : and if he was habitually guilty 
 once, love does not conclude he is so still ; much less, that if he is now 
 guilty of this, therefore he is guilty of other sins also. These evil rea- 
 sonings all pertain to that sinful judging which our Lord here guards 
 us against ; and which we are in the highest degree concerned to avoid, 
 if we love either God or our own souls. 
 
 12. But supposing we do not condemn the innocent, neither the 
 guilty any farther than they deserve ; still we may not be altogether 
 olear of the snare : for there is a third sort of sinful judging, which is 
 the condemning any person at all, where there is not sufficient evidence. 
 And be the facts we suppose ever so true, yet that does not acquit us. 
 For they ought not to have been supposed, but proved ; and till they 
 were, we ought to have formed no judgment ; I say, till they were ; 
 for neither are we excused, although the facts admit of ever so strong 
 a proof, unless that proof be produced before we pass sentence, and 
 compared with the evidence on the other side. Nor can we be excused, 
 if ever we pass a full sentence, before the accused has spoken for him- 
 self. Even a Jew might teach us this, as a mere lesson of justice 
 abstracted from mercy and brotherly love : " Doth our law," says Nico- 
 demus, "judge any man before it hear him, and know what he doeth?"
 
 308 TENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XX". 
 
 John vii, 51. Yea, a heathen could reply, when the chief of the Jew- 
 ish nation desired to have judgment against his prisoner, " It is not 
 the manner of the Romans to judge any man, before he that is accused 
 have the accusers face to face, and have license to answer for himself, 
 concerning the crime laid against him." 
 
 13. Indeed we could not easily fall into sinful judgingj were we only 
 to ohserve that rule, which another* of those heathen Romans affirms 
 to have been the measure of his own practice. " I am so far," says he, 
 " from lightly believing every man's or any man's evidence against 
 another, that I do not easily or immediately believe a man's evidence 
 against himself. I always allow him second thoughts, and many times 
 counsel too." Go, thou who art called a Christian, and do likewise, 
 lest the heathen rise and condemn thee in that day ! 
 
 14. But how rarely should we condemn or judge one another, at least, 
 how soon would that evil be remedied, were we to walk by that clear 
 and express rule, which our Lord himself has taught us : " If thy bro- 
 ther shall trespass against thee," [or if thou hear or believe he hath,] 
 " go and tell him of his fault between thee and him alone." This is 
 the first step thou art to take. " But if he will not hear, take with thee 
 one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every 
 word may be established." This is the second step. " If he neglect 
 to hear them, tell it unto the church ;" either to the overseers thereof, 
 or to the whole congregation. Thou hast then done thy part. Then 
 think of it no more, but commend the whole to God. 
 
 15. But supposing thou hast, by the grace of God, " cast the beam 
 out of thine own eye," and dost now " clearly see the mote or the beam 
 which is in thy brother's eye," yet beware thou dost not receive hurt 
 thyself, by endeavouring to help him. Still " Give not that which is 
 holy unto dogs." Do not lightly account any to be of this number ; 
 but if it evidently appear that they deserve the title, then " cast ye not 
 your pearls before swine." Beware of that zeal which is not accord- 
 ing to knowledge. For this is another great hinderance in their way, 
 who would be " perfect as their heavenly Father is perfect." They 
 who desire this, cannot but desire that all mankind should partake of 
 the common blessing. And when we ourselves first partake of the 
 heavenly gift, the divine " evidence of things not seen," we wonder that 
 all mankind do not see tho things which we see eo plainly; and make 
 no doubt at all, but we shall open the eyes of all we have any intercourse 
 with. Hence we are 1'or attacking all we meet without delay, and con 
 straining them to see, whether they will or no ; and by the ill success 
 of this intemperate zeal, we often suffer in our own souls. To prevent 
 this spending our strength in vain, our Lord adds this needful caution, 
 (needful to all, but more especially to those who are now warm in their 
 first love,) "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye 
 your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and 
 turn again and rend you." 
 
 16. " Give not that which is holy unto the dogs." Beware of think- 
 ing that any deserve this appellation, till there is full and incontestable 
 proof, such as you can no longer resist. But when it is clearly and 
 indisputably proved, that they are unholy and wicked men, not only 
 strangers to, but enemies to God, to all righteousness and true holiness , 
 
 Seneca.
 
 SERMON XXX.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. SOS 
 
 'Give not that which is holy," TO ayiov, the holy thing, emphatically 
 BO called, uifto these. The holy, the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, 
 such as were hid from the ages and generations of old, and are now 
 made known to us, only by the revelation of Jesus Christ, arid by the 
 inspiration of his Holy Spirit, are not to be prostituted unto these men, 
 who know not if there be any Holy Ghost. Not indeed that the ambas- 
 sadors of Christ can refrain from declaring them in the great congre- 
 gation, wherein some of these may probably be ; we must speak, whether 
 men will hear, or whether they will forbear ; but this is not the case 
 with private Christians. They do not bear that awful character ; nor 
 are they under any manner of obligation to force these great and glori 
 ous truths on them who contradict and blaspheme, who have a rooted 
 enmity against them. Nay, they ought not so to do, but rather to lead 
 them, as they are able to bear. Do not begin a discourse with these 
 upon remission of sins, and the gift of the Holy Ghost; but talk with 
 them in their own manner, and upon their own principles. With the 
 rational, honourable, and unjust epicure, reason of "righteousness, tem- 
 perance, and judgment to come." This is the most probable way to make 
 Felix tremble. Reserve higher subjects for men of higher attainments. 
 
 17. Neither " cast your pearls before swine." Be very unwilling to 
 pass this judgment on any man ; but if the fact be plain and undeniable, 
 if it is clear beyond all dispute, if the swine do not endeavour to dis- 
 guise themselves, but rather glory in their shame, making no pretence 
 to purity, either of heart or life, but working all uneUanness with 
 greediness ; then cast not ye your pearls before them. Talk not to 
 them of the mysteries of the kingdom ; of the things which eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard ; which, of consequence, as they have no other 
 inlets of knowledge, no spiritual senses, it cannot enter into their hearts 
 to conceive. Tell not them of the exceeding great and precious pro- 
 mises, which God hath given us in the Son of his love. What concep- 
 tion can they have of being made partakers of the divine nature, who 
 do not even desire to escape the corruption that is in the world through 
 lust? Just as much knowledge as swine have of pearls, and as much 
 relish as they have for them, so much relish have they for the deep things 
 of God, so much knowledge of the mysteries of the gospel, who are 
 immersed in the mire of this world, in worldly pleasures, desires, and 
 cares. Oh cast not those pearls before these, " lest they trample them 
 under their feet," lest they utterly despise what they cannot under- 
 stand, and speak evil of the things which they know not! Nay, it is 
 probable, this would not be the only inconvenience which would follow 
 it would not be strange, if they were, according to their nature, to 
 ''turn again, and rend you;" if they were to return you evil for good, 
 cursing for blessing, and hatred for your good will. Such is the enmity 
 of ihe carnal mind against God, and all the things of God. Such is the 
 treatment you are to expect from these, if you offer them the unpar- 
 donable affront of endeavouring to save their souls from death, to pluck 
 them as brands out of the burning. 
 
 18. And yet you need not utterly despair even of these, who, for the 
 present, " turn again and rend you." For if all your arguments and 
 persuasives fail, there is yet another remedy left, and one that is fre- 
 quently found effectual, when no other method avails; this is prayer 
 Therefore, whatever you desire or want either for others or for your
 
 310 TENTH DISCOURSE UPOH [SERMON XXX. 
 
 own soul, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find: 
 knock, and it shall be opened unto you." The neglect of this is a 
 third grand hinderance of holiness. Still we " have not, because we 
 ask not." Oh how meek and gentle, how lowly in heart, how full ol 
 love l)othto God and man, might ye have been at this day, if you had 
 only asked; if you had continued instant in prayer! Therefore now, 
 at least, " ask and it shall be given unto you." Ask, that ye may tho- 
 rmghly experience and perfectly practise the whole of that religion, 
 which our Lord has here so beautifully described. It shall then be 
 jjven you, to be holy as he is holy, both in heart and in all manner of 
 conversation. Seek, in the way lie hath ordained, in searching the 
 Scriptures, in hearing his word, in meditating thereon, in fasting, in 
 partaking of the Supper of the Lord, and surely ye shall find : ye shall 
 find that pearl of great price, that faith which overcometh the world, 
 that peace which the world cannot give, that love which is the earnest 
 of your inheritance. Knock ; continue in prayer, and in every other 
 way of the Lord : be not weary or faint in your mind : press on to the 
 mark : take no denial: let him not go until he bless you : and the door 
 of mercy, of holuiess, of heaven, shall be opened unto you. 
 
 19. It is in compassion to the hardness of our heart, so unready to 
 believe the goodness of God, that our Ix>rd is pleased to enlarge upon 
 this head, and to repeat and confirm what he hath spoken. " For every 
 one," saith he, " that asketh, receiveth ;" so that none need come short 
 of the blessing; "and he that seeketh," even every one that seeketh 
 " findeth" the love and the image of God ; " and to him that knocketh," 
 to every one that knocketh,the gate of righteousness shall be opened. So 
 that here is no room for any to be discouraged, as though they might 
 ask, or seek, or knock in vain. Only remember always to pray, to 
 seek, to knock, and not to faint. And then the promise standeth sure. 
 It is firm as the pillars of heaven ; yea, more firm ; for heaven and 
 earth shall pass away; but His word shall not pass away. 
 
 20. To cut off every pretence for unbelief, our blessed Lord, in the 
 following verses, illustrates yet farther what he had said, by an appeal 
 to what passes in our own breasts. " What man," saith he, " is there 
 of you, whom if his son ask bread, will give him a stone ?" Will even 
 natural affection permit you to refuse the reasonable request of one you 
 love 1 " Or if he ask a fish, will give him a serpent ?"' Will he give him 
 hurtful, instead of profitable things? So that even from what you feel and 
 do yourselves, you may receive the fullest assurance, as on the one hand, 
 that no ill effect can possibly attend your asking, so, on the other, that 
 it will be attended with that good effect, a full supply of all your wants. 
 For *' if ye, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, 
 how much more shall your Father which is in heaven," who is pure, 
 unmixed, essential goodness, " give good things to them that ask him ?" 
 or, (as he expresses it on another occasion,) " Give the Holy Ghost to 
 them that ask him ?" In Him are included all good things ; all wisdom, 
 peace, joy, love ; the whole treasures of holiness and happiness ; all that 
 God hath prepared for them that love him. 
 
 21. But that your prayer may have its full weight with God, see that 
 ye be in charity with all men. For otherwise, it is more likely to 
 bring a curse than a blessing on your own head ; nor can you expect 
 to receive any blessing from God while you have not charity towards
 
 SERMON XXX ] THE SERMON OS THE MOUKT. 311 
 
 your neighbour. Therefore let this hinderance be removed without 
 delay. Confirm your love towards one other, and towards all men. And 
 love them, not in word only, but in deed and in truth. " Therefore all 
 things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even .so 
 to them ; for this is the law and the prophets." 
 
 22. This is that royal law, that golden rule of mercy, as well as 
 justice, which even the heathen emperor caused to be written over the 
 gate of his palace : a rule, which many believe to be naturally engraved 
 on the mind of every one that conies into the \vorld. And thus much 
 is certain, that it commends itself, as soon as heard, to every man's 
 conscience, and understanding; insomuch that no man can know- 
 ingly offend against it, without carrying his condemnation in his 
 own breast. 
 
 23. " This is the law and the prophets." Whatsoever is written in 
 that law which God of old revealed to mankind ; and whatsoever pre- 
 cepts God has given, by his holy prophets, which have been since the 
 world began ; they are all summed up in these few words, they are all 
 contained in this short direction. And this, rightly understood, com- 
 prises the whole of that religion which our Lord came to establish 
 upon earth. 
 
 24. It may be understood either in a positive or negative sense. If 
 understood in a negative sense, the meaning is, " Whatever ye would 
 not that men should do to you, do not ye unto them." Here is a plain rule, 
 always ready at hand, always easy to be applied. In all cases relating 
 to your neighbour, make his case your own. Suppose the circurn 
 stances to be changed, and yourself to be just as he is now ; and then 
 beware that you indulge no temper or thought, that no word pass out 
 of your lips, that you take no step, which you should have condemned 
 in him, upon such a change of circumstances. If understood in a 
 direct and positive sense, the plain meaning of it is, " Whatsoever you 
 could reasonably desire of him, supposing yourself to be in his circum- 
 stance, that do, to the uttermost of your power, to every child of man." 
 
 25. To apply this in one or two obvious instances : It is clear to every 
 man's own conscience, we would not that others should judge us, should 
 causelessly or lightly think evil of us; much less would we that any 
 should speak evil of us, should publish our real faults or infirmities. 
 Apply this to yourself. Do not unto another what you would not he 
 should do unto you ; and you will never more judge your neighbour, 
 never causelessly or lightly think evil of any one ; much less will you 
 speak evil ; you will never mention even the real fault of an absent 
 person, unless so far as you are convinced it is absolutely needful for 
 the good of other souls. 
 
 26. Again : We would that all men should love and esteem us, and 
 behave towards us according to justice, mercy, and truth. And we may 
 reasonably desire, that they should do us all the good they can do, with- 
 ou1 injuring themselves; yea, that in outward things, (according to the 
 known rule.) their superfluities should give way to our conveniences ; 
 their conveniences, to our necessities ; and their necessities, to our 
 extremities. Now, then, let us walk by the same rule : let us do unto 
 all, as we would they should do to us. Let us love and honour all men. 
 Let justice, mercy, and truth, govern all our minds and actions. Lei 
 our superfluities give way to our neighbour's conveniences ; (and who
 
 312 ELEVEITTH DISCOCRSS CT02T [SERMON XXXI. 
 
 then xi ill have any superfluities left?) our conveniencies to our neigh 
 hour's necessities ; our necessities, to his extremities. 
 
 27. This is pure and genuine morality. This do, and thou shalt live. 
 " As many as walk hy this rule, peace he to them and mercy ;" for they 
 are " the Israel of God." But then he it observed, none can walk b) 
 this rule, (nor ever did from the beginning of the world,) none can love 
 his neighbour as himself, unless he first love God. And none c;in love 
 God, unless he believe in Christ; unless he have redemption through 
 his blood, and the Spirit of God bearing witness with his spirit that he 
 is A child of God. Faith, therefore, is still the root of all, of present as 
 well as future salvation. Still we must say to every sinner, " Believe in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved :" thou shaU be saved 
 now, that thou mayest be saved for ever ; saved on earth, that thou 
 mayest be saved in heaven. Believe in him, and thy faith will work by 
 love. Thou wilt love the Lord thy God, because he hath loved thee : 
 thou wilt love thy neighbour as thyself: and then it will be thy glory 
 and joy, to exert and increase this love ; not barely by abstaining from 
 what is contrary thereto, from every unkind thought, word, and action, 
 but by shoxving all that kindness to every man, xvhich thou wouldest he 
 should shoxv unto thee. 
 
 SERMON XXXI. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount 
 
 DISCOURSE XI. 
 
 " Enter yc in at the strait gate : for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that 
 eodeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat : 
 
 " Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the xvay, which leadeth unto life, and 
 few there be that find it,'' Matt, vii, 13, 14. 
 
 1. Ot'K Lord, having warned us of the dangers which easily beset us 
 at our first entrance upon real religion, the hinderances xvhich naturally 
 arise from within, from the wickedness of our own hearts; noxv pro- 
 ceeds to apprize us of the hinderances from without, particulaily ill 
 example and ill advice. By one or the other of these, thousands, xvhoonce 
 ran xxell, have drawn back unto perdition; yea, many of those xvho 
 weie not novices in religion, who had made some progress in righteous- 
 ness. His caution, therefore, against these he presses upon us with all 
 possible earnestness, and repeats again and again, in variety of expres- 
 sions, lest by any means xvo should let it slip. Thus effectually to guard 
 us : igainst the former, " Enter ye in," saith he, " at the strait gnt.e : for 
 wirle is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and 
 many there be which go in thereat : because strait is the gate, and uar- 
 roxv is the xvay, xvhich leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." 
 To secure us from the latter, " Bexvare," saith he, " of false prophets." 
 We shall, at present, consider the former only. 
 
 2. " Enter ye in," saith our blessed Lord, "at the strait gate: for 
 wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and 
 many there be which go in thereat: because strait is the gate, and 
 narroxv is the xvay, xvhich leadeth unto life, and fexv there be that find it." 
 
 3. In these words xve may observe, first, the inseparable properties 
 of the xvay to hell . " Wide is the gate, broad the xva) , that leadeth to 
 destruction, and many there be that go in thereat:" Secondly, the
 
 SERMON XXXI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 313 
 
 inseparable properties of the way to heaven : " Strait is that gate, and 
 few there be that find it :" Thirdly, a serious exhortation grounded 
 thereon, " Enter ye in at the strait gate." 
 
 1. 1. We may observe, first, the inseparable properties of the way to 
 hell : " Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruc- 
 tion, and many there be which go in thereat." 
 
 2. Wide indeed is the gate, and broad the way, that leadeth to 
 destruction ! For sin is the gate of hell, and wickedness the way to 
 destruction. And how wide a gate is that of sin ! How broad is the 
 way of wickedness ! The " commandment" of God " is exceeding 
 broad ;" as extending not only to all our actions, but to every word 
 which goeth out of our lips, yea, every thought that rises in our heart. 
 And sin is equally broad with the commandment, seeing any breach of 
 the commandment is sin. Yea, rather, it is a thousand times broader; 
 since there is only one way of keeping the commandment; for we do 
 not properly keep it, unless both the thing done, the manner of doing 
 it, and all the other circumstances are right : but there are a thousand 
 ways of breaking every commandment ; so that this gate is wide indeed 
 
 3. To consider this a little more particularly : How wide do those 
 parent sins extend, from which all the rest derive their being ; that 
 carnal mind which is enmity against God, pride of heart, self will, and 
 love of the world ! Can we fix any bounds to them 1 Do they not diffuse 
 themselves through all our thoughts, and mingle with all our tempers ? 
 Are they not the leaven which leavens, more or less, the whole mass 
 of our affections ? May we not, on a close and faithful examination of 
 ourselves, perceive these roots of bitterness continually springing up, 
 infecting all our words, and tainting all our actions 1 And how innu- 
 merable an offspring do they bring forth, in every age and nation ! Even 
 enough to cover the whole earth with darkness and cruel habitations. 
 
 4. Oh who is able to reckon up their accursed fruits ; to count all the 
 sins, whether against God or our neighbour, not which imagination 
 might paint, but which may be matter of daily melancholy experience ? 
 Nor need we range over all the earth to find them. Survey any one 
 kingdom, any single country, or city, or town ; and how plenteous is 
 this harvest ! And Jet it. not be one of those which are still overspread 
 with Mohamnie^in or pagan darkness; but of those which name the 
 name of Christ, which profess to see the light of his glorious gospel. 
 Go no farther than the kingdom to which we belong, the city wherein 
 we are now. We call ourselves Christians; yea, and that of the purest 
 sort: we are Protestants; reformed Christians ! But, alas ! who shall 
 carry on the reformation of our opinions into our hearts and lives ? Is 
 there not a cause ? For how innumerable are our sins ; and those of 
 the deepest dye! Do not the grossest abominations, of every kind, 
 abound among lis from day to day ? Do not sins of every sort cover the 
 land, as the waters cover the sea ? Who can count them T Rather go 
 and count the drops of rain, or the sands on the sea shore. So " wide 
 is the gate," so " broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction." 
 
 5. " And many there be who go in at" that gate ; many who walk 
 in that way ; almost as many as go in at the gate of death, as sink 
 into the chambers of the grave. For it cannot be denied, (though 
 neither can we acknowledge it but with shame and sorrow of heart,) 
 that even in this, which is called a Christian country, the generality of
 
 314 ELEVENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXXI. 
 
 every age and sex, of every profession and employment, of every rank 
 and degree, high and low, rich and poor, are walking in the way ol 
 destruction. The far greater part of the inhabitants of this city, to this 
 day, live in sin ; in some palpable, habitual, known transgression of the 
 law they profess to observe ; yea, in some outward transgression, some 
 gross, tisible kind of ungodliness or unrighteousness, some open viola- 
 tion of their duty either to God or man. These then, none can deny, aro 
 all in the way that leadeth to destruction. Add to these, those who have 
 a name indeed that they live, but were never yet alive to God ; those 
 that outwardly appear fair to men, but are inwardly full of all unclean- 
 ness; full of pride, or vanity; of anger, or revenge; of ambition, or 
 covetousness; lovers of themselves, loversof the world, lovers of pleasure 
 more 'than lovers of God. T-hese indeed may be highly esteemed of men; 
 but they are an abomination to the Lord. And how greatly will these 
 saints of the world swell the number of the children of hell ! Yea, add 
 all, whatever they be in other respects, whether they have more or less of 
 the form of godliness, who "being ignorant of God's righteousness, and 
 seeking to establish their own righteousness" as the ground of their 
 reconciliation to God, and acceptance with him, of consequence have 
 not "submitted themselves unto the righteousness which is of God" by 
 faith. Now, all these things joined together in one, how terribly true 
 is our Lord's assertion, " Wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that 
 leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat !" 
 
 6. Nor does this only concern the vulgar herd, the poor, base, 
 stupid part of mankind. Men of eminence in the world, men who have 
 many fields and yoke of oxen, do not desire to be excused from this 
 On the contrary, " many wise men after the flesh," according to the 
 human methods of judging, "many mighty," in power, in courage, in 
 riches, many " noble are called ;" called into the broad way, by the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil ; and they are not disobedient to that 
 calling. Yea, the higher they are raised in fortune and power, the 
 deeper do they sink into wickedness. The more blessings they have 
 received from God, the more sins do they commit; using their honour 
 or riches, their learning or wisdom, not as means of working out their 
 salvation, but rather of excelling in vice, and so insuring their own 
 destruction ! 
 
 II. 1. And the very reason why many of these go on so securely in 
 the broad way, is, because it is broad ; not considering that this is the 
 inseparable property of the way to destruction. " Many there be,'' saith 
 our Lord, " which go in thereat;" for the very reason why they should 
 flee from it ; even " because strait is the gate, and narrow the way, that 
 leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." 
 
 2. This is an inseparable property of the way to heaven. So narrow 
 is the way that leadeth unto life, unto life everlasting, so strait the 
 gate, that nothing unclean, nothing unholy, can enter. No sinner 
 can pass through that gate, until he is saved from all his sins. Not only 
 from his outward sins ; from his evil " conversation received by tradition 
 from his fathers." It will not suffice, that he hath " ceased to do evil," 
 and " learned to do well :" he must not only be saved from all sinful 
 actions, and from all evil and useless discourse ; but inwardly changed, 
 thoroughly renewed in the spirit of his mind : otherwise he cannot pass 
 through the gate of life, he cannot enter into glory.
 
 SERMON XXXI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 315 
 
 3. For, " narrow is the way that leadeth unto life ;" the way of uni 
 versal holiness. Narrow indeed is the way of poverty of spirit ; the 
 way oJ* holy mourning; the way of meekness ; and that of hungering 
 and thirsting after righteousness. Narrow is the way of mercifulness ; 
 of love unfeigned ; the way of purity of heart; of doing good unto all 
 men ; and of gladly .suffering evil, all manner of evil, for righteous- 
 ness' sake. 
 
 4. " And few there be that find it." Alas ! how few find even the 
 way of heathen honesty ! How few are there that do nothing to another 
 which they would not another should do unto them ! How few that are 
 clear, before God, from acts either of injustice or unkindness ! How few 
 that do not " offend with their tongue ;" that speak nothing unkind, 
 nothing untrue ! What a small proportion of mankind are innocent, 
 even of outward transgressions ! And how much smaller a propor- 
 tion have their hearts right before God, clean and holy in his sight ! 
 Where are they, whom his all searching eye discerns to be truly humble ; 
 to abhor themselves in dust and ashes, in the presence of God their 
 Saviour ; to be deeply and steadily serious, feeling their wants, and 
 " passing the time of their sojourning with fear ;" truly meek and gentle, 
 never " overcome of evil, but overcoming evil with good ;" thoroughly 
 athirst for God. and continually panting after a renewal in his likeness ? 
 How thinly are they scattered over the earth, whose souls are enlarged 
 in love to all mankind ; and who love God with all their strength, who 
 have given him their hearts, and desire nothing else in earth or heaven ! 
 How few are those lovers of God and man, that spend their whole 
 strength in doing good unto all men ; and are ready to suffer all thuigs, 
 yea, death itself, to save one soul from eternal death ! 
 
 5. But while so few are found in the way of life, and so many in the 
 way of destruction, there is great danger lest the torrent of example 
 should bear us away with them. Even a single example, if it be always 
 in our sight, is apt to make much impression upon us ; especially when 
 it has nature on its side, when it falls in with our own inclinatio-ns. 
 How great then must be the force of so numerous examples, continually 
 before our eyes; and all conspiring, together with our own hearts, to 
 carry us down the stream of nature ! How difficult must it be to stem 
 the tide, and to keep ourselves " unspotted in the world !" 
 
 6. What heightens the difficulty still more is, that they are not the 
 rude and senseless part of mankind, at least not these alone, who set 
 us the example, who throng the downward way ; but the polite, the well 
 bred, the genteel, the wise, the men who understand the world, the 
 men of knowledge, of deep and various learning, the rational, the 
 eloquent! These are all, or nearly all against us. And how shall we 
 stand against these 1 Do not their tongues drop manna ; and have 
 they not learned all the arts of soft persuasion ? and of reasoning too; 
 for these are versed in all controversies, and strife of words. It is 
 therefore a small thing with them to prove, that the way is right because 
 it is broad ; that he who follows a multitude cannot do evil, but only he 
 who will not follow them ; that your way must be wrong, because it is 
 narrow, and because there are so few that find it. These will make 
 it clear to a demonstration, that evil is good, and good is evil ; that the 
 way of holiness is the way of destruction, and the way of the world the 
 only wav to heaven.
 
 31 G ELEVENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXXI. 
 
 7. Oh how can unlearned and ignorant men maintain their cause 
 against such opponents ! And yet these are not all with whom they 
 must contend, however unequal to the task : for there are many mighty, 
 and noble, and powerful men, as well as wise, in the road that leadet'i 
 to destruction ; and these have a shorter way of confuting, than that of 
 reason and argument. They usually apply, not to the understanding, 
 but to the fears of any that oppose them; a method that seldom fails 
 of success, even where argument profits nothing, as lying level to the 
 capacities of all men ; for all can fear, whether they can reason or no. 
 And all who have not a firm trust in God, a sure icliance both on his 
 power and love, cannot but fear to give any disgust to those who have 
 the power of the world in their hands. What wonder, therefore, if the 
 example of these is a law to all who know not God 7 
 
 S. Many rich are likewise in the broad way. And these apply to 
 the hopes of men, and to all their foolish desires, as strongly and 
 effectually as the mighty and noble to their fears. So that hardly can 
 you hold on in the way of the kingdo.n, unless you are dead to all below, 
 unless you are crucified to the world, and the world crucified to you, 
 unless you desire nothing more but God. 
 
 9. For how dark, how uncomfortable, how forbidding is the prospect 
 on the opposite side ! A strait gate ! A narrow way ! And few finding 
 that gate ! Few walking in the way ! Besides, even those few are not 
 wise men, not men of learning or eloquence. They are not able to 
 reason either strongly or clearly : they cannot propose an argument to 
 any advantage. They know not how to prove what they profess to 
 believe ; or to explain even what they say they experience. Surely such 
 advocates as these will never recommend, but rather discredit, the 
 cause they have espoused. 
 
 10. Add to this, that they are not noble, not honourable men : if 
 they were, you might bear with their lolly. They are men of no in- 
 terest, no authority, of no account in the world. They are mean and 
 base ; low in life ; and such as have no power, if they had the will to 
 hurt you. Therefore there is nothing at all to be feared from them ; 
 and there is nothing at all to hope : for the greater part of them may 
 say, " Silver and gold have I none ;" at least a very moderate share. 
 Nay, some of them have scarce food to eat, or raimeiit to put on. For 
 this reason, as well as because their ways are not like those of other 
 men, they are every where spoken against, are despised, have their 
 names cast out as evil, are variously persecuted, and treated as the 
 filth and offscouring of the world. So that both your fears, your hopes, 
 and all your desires, (except those which you have immediately from 
 God,) yea, all your natural passions, continually incline you to return 
 into the broad way. 
 
 III. 1. Therefore it is,, that our Lord so earnestly exhorts, "Enter 
 ye in at the strait gate." Or, (as the same exhortation is elsewhere 
 expressed,) " Strive to enter in :" Ayuv^eads ei<fs\6stv ) strive as in an 
 agony : " For many," saith our Lord, "shall seek to enter in, [indo- 
 lently strive,] and shall not be able." 
 
 2. It is true, he intimates what may seem another reason for this, 
 for their not being able to enter in, in the words which immediately 
 follow these. For after he had said, " Many, I say unto you, will seek 
 to enter in, and shall not be able," he subjoins, "When once the master
 
 SERMON XXXI.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 317 
 
 of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to 
 stand without," apfv,<rSs egcj ??avai, rather, ye stand without ; for pr)<rSs 
 seems to be only an elegant expletive, " and to knock at the door, 
 saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us ; he shall answer and say unto you, I 
 know you not: depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity," Luke 
 xiii, 26, &,c. 
 
 3. It may appear, upon a transient view of these words, that their 
 delaying to seek at all, rather than their manner of seeking, was the 
 reason why they were not able to enter in. But it comes, in eftoct to 
 the same thing. They were, therefore, commanded to depart, because 
 they had been " workers of iniquity :," because they had walked in the 
 broad road ; in other words, because they had not agonized to " enter 
 in at the strait gate." Probably they did seek before the door was shut ; 
 but that did not suffice : and they did strive, after the door was shut ; 
 but then it was too late. 
 
 4. Therefore strive ye now, in this your day, to " enter in at the strait 
 gate." And in order thereto, settle it in your heart, and let it be ever 
 uppermost in your thoughts, that if you are in the broad way, you are in 
 the way that leadeth to destruction. If many go with you, as sure as 
 God is true, both they and you are going to hell ! If you are walking 
 as the generality of men walk, you are walking to the bottomless pit ! 
 Are many wise, many rich, many mighty, or noble, travelling with you 
 in the same way 1 By this token, without going any farther, you know 
 it does not lead to life. Here is a shoit, a plain, an infallible rule, 
 before you enter into particulars. In whatever profession you are 
 engaged, you must be singular, or be damned ! The way to hell has 
 nothing singular in it ; but the way to heaven is singularity all over : if 
 you move but one step towards God, you are not as other men are. But 
 regard not this. It is far better to stand alono, than to fall into the 
 pit. Run then with patience the race which is set before thee, though 
 thy companions therein are but few ! They will not always be so. Yet 
 a little while, and thou wilt " come to an innumerable company of an- 
 gels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born, and to the 
 spirits of just men made perfect." 
 
 5. Now, then, " strive to enter in at the strait gate ;" being pene 
 trated with the deepest sense of the inexpressibi'e danger your soul is 
 in, so long as you are in a broad way, so long as you are void of 
 poverty of spirit, and all that inward religion, which the many, the rich, 
 the wise, account madness. " Strive to enter in ;" being pierced with 
 sorrow and shame for having so long run on with the unthinking crowd, 
 utterly neglecting, if not despising that " holiness without which no man 
 can see the Lord." Strive, as in an agony of holy fear, lest " a pro- 
 mise being made you of entering into his rest," even that " rest which 
 remaineth for the people of God," you should nevertheless " come short 
 of it." Strive, in all the fervoui of desire, with " groanings that cannot 
 be uttered." Strive by prayer without ceasing ; at all times, in all 
 places, lifting up your heart to God, and giving him no rest, till you 
 " awake up after his likeness," and are " satisfied with it." 
 
 6. To conclude : " Strive to enter in at the strait gate," not only by 
 this agony of soul, of conviction, of sorrow, of shame, of desire, of fear 
 of unceasing prayer ; but likewise by ordering thy conversation aright, 
 by walking with all thy strength in ull the ways of God, the way of inno
 
 318 TWELFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXXII. 
 
 cence, of piety, and of mercy. Abstain from all appearance of evil : 
 do all possible good to all men : deny thyself, thy own will, in all things, 
 and take up thy cross daily. Be ready to cut off thy right hand, to 
 pluck out thy right eye, and cast it from thee ; to suffer the loss of 
 goods, friends, health, all things on earth, so thou mayest enter into th<; 
 kingdom of heaven ! 
 
 SERMO.X XXXII. Upon our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE XII. 
 
 " Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly 
 they are ravening wolves. 
 
 " Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs 
 of thistles? 
 
 " Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringetb 
 forth evil fruit. 
 
 " A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth 
 good fruit. 
 
 " Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into 
 the fire. 
 
 " Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them,'' Matt, vii, 15-20. 
 
 1. IT is scarce possible to express or conceive, what multitudes ol 
 souls run on to destruction, because they would not be persuaded to 
 walk in a narrow way, even though it were the way to everlasting sal- 
 vation. And the same thing we may still observe daily. Such is the 
 folly and madness of mankind, that thousands of men still rush on in 
 the way to hell, only because it is a broad way. They walk in it them- 
 selves, because others do : because so many perish, they will add to the 
 number. Such is the amazing influence of example over the weak, 
 miserable children of men ! It continually peoples the regions of death, 
 and drowns numberless souls in everlasting perdition ! 
 
 2. To warn mankind of this, to guard as many as possible against 
 this spreading contagion, God has commanded his watchn,en to cry 
 aloud, and show the people the danger they are in. For this end he 
 has sent his servants the prophets, in their succeeding generations, to 
 point out the narrow path, and exhort all men not to be conformed to 
 this world. But what if the watchmen themselves fall into the snare, 
 against which they should warn others? What if ''the prophets pro- 
 phesy deceits ?" If they " cause the people to err from the way ?" What 
 shall be done, if they point out as the way to eternal life, what is in 
 truth the way to eternal death ; and exhort others to walk, as they do 
 themselves, in the broad, not the narrow way? 
 
 3. Is this an unheard of, is it an uncommon thing ? Nay, God know- 
 eth it is not. The instances of it are almost innumerable. We may 
 find them in every age and nation. But how terrible is this! When 
 the ambassadors of God turn agents for the devil ! When they, who are 
 commissioned to teach men the way to heaven, do in fact teach them 
 the way to hell ! These are like the locusts of Egypt, " which eat up 
 the residue that had escaped, that had remained alter the hail." They 
 devour even the residue of men that had escaped, that were not de- 
 stroyed by ill example. It is not, therefore, without cause, that our 
 wise and gracious Master so solemnly cautions us against them: " Be
 
 SERMON XXXII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 319 
 
 ware," saith he, " of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's 
 clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." 
 
 4, A caution this of the utmost importance. That it may the more 
 effectually sink into our hearts, let us inquire, First, Who these false 
 prophets are : Secondly, What appearance they put on : and, Thirdly, 
 How we may know what they really are notwithstanding their fair 
 appearance. 
 
 1. 1. We are, first to inquire, Who these false prophets are 7 Ami 
 this it is needful to do the more diligently, because these very men have 
 so laboured to "wrest this scripture to their own [though not only their 
 own] destruction." In order, therefore, to cut off all dispute, I shall 
 raise no dust, (as the manner of some is,) neither use any loose, rheto- 
 rical exclamations, to deceive the hearts of the simple ; but speak rough, 
 plain truths, such as none can deny, who has either understanding or 
 modesty left, and such truths as have the closest connection with the whole 
 tenor of the preceding discourse : whereas too many have interpreted 
 these words, without any regard to all that went before ; as if they bore no 
 manner of relation to the sermon in the close of which they stand. 
 
 2. By [troji/tcts here (as in many other passages of Scripture, parti- 
 cularly in the New Testament) are meant, not those who foretel things 
 to come, but those who speak in the name of God ; those men who 
 profess to be sent of God, to teach others the way to heaven. 
 
 Those are/"i7/se prophets, who teach a false way to heaven, a way 
 which does not lead thither ; or, (which comes in the end to the same 
 point.) who do not teach the true. 
 
 3. Every broad way is infallibly a false one. Therefore this is one 
 plain, sure rule, " They who teacii men to walk in a broad way, a way 
 that many walk in, are false prophets." 
 
 Again : The true way to heaven is a narrow way. Therefore tin's 
 is another plain, sure rule, " They who do not teach men to walk in ? 
 narrow way, to be singular, are false prophets." 
 
 4. To be more particular: The only true way to heaven, is that 
 pointed out in the preceding srrmon. Therefore they are false pro 
 phots who do not teach men to walk in this way. 
 
 Now the way to heaven pointed out in the preceding sermon, is the 
 way of lowliness, mourning, rneeknoss, and holy desire, love of God and 
 of our neighbour, doing good, and suffering evil for Christ's sake. They 
 are, therefore, false prophets, who teach, as the way to heaven, any 
 other way than this. 
 
 5. It matters not what they call that other way. They may call it 
 faith ; or good works; or faith and works; or repentance; or repent- 
 ance, faith, and new obedience. All these are good words: but if, 
 under these, or any other terms whatever, they teach men any way 
 distinct from this, they are properly false prophets. 
 
 6. How much more do they fall under that condemnation, who speak 
 evil of this good way ; but above all, they who loach the directly oppo- 
 site way, the way of pride, of levity, of passion, of worldly desires, of 
 loving pleasure more than God, of unkindness to our neighbour, of 
 unconcern for good works, and suffering no evil, no persecution, for 
 righteousness' sake ! 
 
 7. If it be asked, " Why, who ever did teach this, or who does teach 
 it, as the way to heaven 7" I answer : ten thousand wise and honoura-
 
 320 TWELFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SEHMON XXXIL 
 
 ble men ; even all those, of whatever denomination, who encourage the 
 proud, the trifler, the passionate, the lover of the world, the man ot 
 pleasure, the unjust or unkind, the easy, careless, harmless, useless 
 creature, the man who sutlers no reproach for righteousness' sake, to 
 imagine he is in the way to heaven. These are false prophets in the 
 highest sense of the word. These are traitors both to God and man- 
 Those are no other than the first-born of Satan ; the eldest sons of 
 Apollyon, the destroyer. These are far above the rank of ordinary cut 
 throats; for they murder the souls of men. They are continually 
 peopling the realms of night; and whenever they follow the poor souls 
 whom they have destroyed, " Hell shall be moved from beneath, to 
 meet them at their coming !" 
 
 II. 1. But do they come now in their own shape ? By no means. If 
 it were so, they could not destroy. You would take the alarm, and flee 
 for your life. Therefore they put on a quite contrary appearance : 
 (which was the second thing to be considered :) '' They come to you in 
 sheep's clothing, although inwardly they are ravening wolves." 
 
 2. " They come to you in sheep's clothing;" that is, with an appear- 
 ance of harmlessness. They com? in the most mild, inoffensive man- 
 ner, without any mark or token of enmity. Who can imagine that these 
 quiet creatures would do any hurt to any one 1 Perhaps they may not 
 be so zealous and active in doing good, as one would wish they were. 
 However, you see no reason to suspect that they have even the desire 
 to do any harm. But this is not all. 
 
 3. They come, secondly, with an appearance of usefulness. Indeed 
 to this, to do good, they are particularly called. They are set apart 
 for this very thing. They are particularly commissioned to watch over 
 your soul, and to train you up to eternal life. It is their whole business 
 to " go about doing good, and healing those that are oppressed of the 
 devil." And you have been always accustomed to look upon them in 
 this light, as messengers of God, sent to bring you a blessing. 
 
 4. They come, thirdly, with an appearance of religion. All they do 
 is for conscience' sake ! They assure you, it is out of mere zeal for God, 
 that they are making God a liar. It is out of pure concern for religion, 
 that they would destroy it, root and branch. All they speak is only from 
 a. love of truth, and a foar lest it should suffer ; and, it may be, from a 
 regard for the church, and a desire to defend her from all her enemies. 
 
 5. Above all, they come with an appearance of love. They take all 
 these pains, only for your good. They should not trouble themselves 
 about you, but that they have a kindness for you. They will make large 
 professions of their good will, of their concern for the danger you are 
 in, and of their earnest desire to preserve you from error, from being 
 entangled in new and mischievous doctrines. They should be very 
 sorry to see one who means so well, hurried into any extreme, perplexed 
 with strange and unintelligible notions, or deluded into enthusiasm. 
 Therefore it is that they advise you to keep still, in a plain middle 
 way ; and to beware of " being righteous over much," lest you should 
 "destroy yourself." 
 
 III. 1. But how may we know, what they really are, notwithstanding 
 their fair appearance ? This was the third thing into which it was pro 
 po^ed to inquire. Our blessed Lord saw how needful it was for all men 
 to know false prophets, however disguised. He saw, likewise, how
 
 SERMON XXXII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 321 
 
 unable most men were, to deduce a truth through a long train of con- 
 pequences. He therefore gives us a short and plain rule, easy to be 
 understood by men of the meanest capacities, and easy to be applied 
 upon all occasions, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." 
 
 2. Upon all occasions you may easily apply this rule. In order to 
 know whether any whospeak in the name of God are false or true pro 
 phets, it is easy to observe, 6rst, What are the fruits of their doctrine 
 as to themselves? What effect has it had upon their lives ? Are they 
 holy and unblamable in all things? What effect has it had upon their 
 hearts? Does it appear by the general tenor of their conversation, that 
 their tempers are holy, heavenly, divine? That the mind is in them 
 which was in Christ Jesus? That they are meek, lowly, patient lovers 
 of God and man, and /ealous of good works? 
 
 3. You may easily observe, secondly, What are the fruits of theif 
 doctrine as to those that hear them ; in many, at least, though not in 
 all ; for the apostles themselves did not convert all that heard them. Have 
 these the mind that was in Christ? And do they walk as he also walked? 
 And was it by hearing these men that they began so to do? Were they 
 inwardly and outwardly wicked till they heard them? If so, it is a mani- 
 fest proof that those are true prophets, teachers sent of God. But if it 
 is not so, if they do not effectually teach either themselves or others to 
 love and serve God, it is a manifest proof that they are false prophets ; 
 that God hath not sent them. 
 
 4. A hard saying this! How few can bear it! This our Lord was 
 sensible of, and therefore condescends to prove it at large, by several 
 clear and convincing arguments. "Do men," says he, " gather grapes 
 of thorns, or figs of thistles?" verse 16. Do you expect that these evil 
 men should bring forth good frr.it ? As well might you expect that thorns 
 should bring forth grapes, or that figs should grow upon thistles ! "Every 
 good tree bringeth forth good fruit ; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth 
 evil fruit," verse 17. Every true prophet, every teacher whom I have 
 sent, bringeth forth the good fruit of holiness. But a false prophet, a 
 teacher whom I have not sent, brings forth only sin and wickedness. "A 
 good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring 
 forth good fruit." A true prophet, a teacher seat from God, does not bring 
 forth good fruit sometimes only, but always; not accidentally, but by a 
 kind of necessity. In like manner, a false prophet, one whom God hath 
 not sent, does not bring forth evil fruit accidentally, or sometimes only, 
 but always, and of necessity. " Every tree that bringeth not forth good 
 fruit is hewn down, and casti nto the fire," verse 19. Such infallibly will 
 be the lot of those prophets who bring not forth good fruit, who do not 
 save souls from sin, who do not bringsinners to repentance. "Where 
 fore," let this stand as an eternal rule, "By their fruits ye shall know 
 them," verse 20. They who, in fact, bring the proud, passionate, unmer- 
 ciful, lovers of the world, to be lowly, gentle, lovers of God and man, 
 they are true prophets; they are sent from God, who therefore confirms 
 their word. On the other hand, they whose hearers, if unrighteous 
 before, remain unrighteous still, or at least void of any righteousness 
 which "exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees," they 
 are false prophets ; they are not sent of God ; therefore, their word 
 falls to the ground. And without a miracle of grace, they, and their 
 hearers together, \vill fall into the bottomless pit !
 
 322 TWELFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXXII. 
 
 5. Oh " beware of these false prophets !" For though they "come in 
 sheep's clothing, yet inwardly they are ravening wolves." They only 
 destroy and devour the flock : they tear them in pieces, if there is none 
 to help them. They will not, cannot, lead you in the way to heaven. 
 How should they, when they know it not themselves ? Oh beware they 
 do not turn you out of the way, and cause you to " lose what you have 
 wrought !" 
 
 6. But perhaps you will ask, " If there is such danger in hearihp 
 them, ought 1 to hear them at all ?" It is a weighty question, such as 
 deserves the deepest consideration, and ought not to be answered, but 
 upon the calmest thought, the most deliberate reflection. For many 
 years I have been almost afraid to speak at all concerning it : being 
 tillable to determine one way or the other, or to give any judgment upon 
 it. Many reasons there are which readily occur, and incline me to say, 
 " Hear them not." And yet what our Lord speaks concerning the false 
 prophets of his own times, seems to imply the contrary. " Then spake 
 Jesus unto the multitude, and to his disciples, saying, The scribes and the 
 Pharisees sit in Moses' seat," are the ordinary, stated teachers in your 
 church: " All therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe 
 and do. But do not ye after their works; for they say, and do not." 
 Now that these were false prophets, in the highest sense, our Lord hath 
 shown during the whole course of his ministry ; as indeed he does in 
 those very words, " They say, and do not." Therefore by their fruits 
 his disciples could not but know them, seeing they were open to the 
 view of all men. Accordingly he warns them again and again, to be- 
 ware of these false prophets. And yet he does not forbid them to hear 
 even these : nay, he, in effect, commands them sp to do in those words: 
 " Ail therefore, whatsoever they bid you observe, Hhat observe and do:" 
 For unless they heard them, they could not know, much less observe, 
 whatsoever they bade them do. Here then our Lord himself gives a plain 
 direction, both to his apostles and the whole multitude, in some circum 
 stances, to hear even false prophets, known and acknowledged so to be. 
 
 7. But perhaps it will be said, " He only directed to hear them, when 
 they read the Scripture to the congregation ?" I answer, at the same time 
 that they thus read the Scripture, they generally expounded it too. And 
 here is no kind of intimation that they were to hear the one, and not the 
 other also. Nay, the very terms, " All things whatsoever they bid you 
 observe," exclude any such limitation. 
 
 8. Again : Unto them, unto false prophets, undeniably such, is fre- 
 quently committed (oh grief to speak ! for surely these things ought not 
 so to be) the administration of the sacrament also. To direct men, 
 therefore, not to hear them, would be, in effect, to cut them off from the 
 ordinances of God. But this we dare not do, considering the validity 
 of the ordinance doth not depend on the goodness of him that adminis- 
 ters, but on the faithfulness of Him that ordained it; who will and doth 
 meei us in his appointed ways. Therefore, on this account, likewise, I 
 sciuple to say, " Hear not even the false prophets." Even by these who 
 are under a curse themselves, God can and doth give us his blessing. 
 For the bread which they break, we have experimentally known to be 
 " the communion of the body of Christ :" And the cup which God bless- 
 ed, even by their unhallowed lips, was to us the communion of the bkxxl 
 of Christ.
 
 SERMON XXXII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 323 
 
 9. All therefore, which I can say, is this : In any particular case, 
 wait upon God by humble and earnest prayer, and then act according 
 to the best light you have : act according to what you are persuaded, 
 upon the whole, will be most for your spiritual advantage. Take great 
 caro that you dc not judge rashly ; that you do not lightly think any to 
 be false prophets : and when you have full proof, see that no anger or 
 contempt have any place in your heart. After this, in the presence and 
 in the fear of God determine for yoarself. I can only say, If by experi- 
 ence you find that t'ne hearing them hurts your soul, then hear them 
 not; then quietly refrain, and hear those that profit you. If, on the 
 othei hand, you find it does not hurt your soul, you then may hear them 
 still. Only, " take heed how you hear :" beware of them and of their 
 doctrine. Hear with fear and trembling, iest you snouid be deceived, 
 and given up, like them, to a strong delusion. As they continually 
 mingle truth and lies, how easily may you take in both together ! Hear 
 with fervent and continual prayer to him who alone teacheth man wis- 
 dom. And see that you bring whatever you hear "to the law and to the 
 testimony." Receive nothing untried, nothing till it is weighed iu the 
 balance of the sanctuary : believe nothing they say, unless it is clearly 
 confirmed by plain passages of Holy Writ. Wholly reject whatsoever 
 differs therefrom, whatever is not confirmed thereby. And in particu- 
 lar, reject, with the utmost abhorrence, whatsoever is described as the 
 way of salvation, that is either different from, cr short of, the way our 
 Lord has marked out in the foregoing discourse. 
 
 10. I cannot conclude without addressing a few plain words to those 
 of whom we have now been speaking. Oh ye false prophets! oh ye dry 
 bones ! hear ye, for once, the word of the Lord ! How long will ye lie 
 in the name of God, saying, " God hath spoken ;" and God hath not 
 spoken by you ? How long will ye pervert the right ways of the Lord, 
 putting darkness for light, arid light for darkness ? How long will ve 
 teach the wav of death, and call it the way of life? How long will ye 
 deliver to Satan the souls whom ye profess to bring unto God ? 
 
 11. "Wo unto you, ye blind leaders of the blind! for ye shut the 
 kingdom of heaven against men ! Ye neither go in yourselves, neither 
 surfer ye them that are entering to go in." Them that would strive to 
 enter in at the strait gate, ye call back into the broad way. Them that 
 have scarce gone one step in the ways of God, you devilishly caution 
 against going too far. Them that just begin to hunger and thirst after 
 righteousness, you w-arn not to be righteous overmuch. Thus you cause 
 them to stumble at the very threshold ; yea, to fall and rise no more. 
 Oh wherefore do ye this ? What profit is there in their blood, when they 
 go down to the pit ? Miserable profit to you! "They shall perish in 
 their iniquity ; but their blood will God require at your hands !" 
 
 12. Where are your eyes 1 Where is your understanding ? Have ye 
 deceived others, till you have deceived yourselves also ? Who hath 
 required this at your hands, to teach a way which ye never knew ? Are 
 you " given up to [so] strong a delusion," that ye not only teach, but 
 " bulieve, a lie ?" And can you possibly believe that God hath sent you ? 
 That ye are his messengers ? Nay ; if the Lord had sent you, tlie work 
 of the Lord would prosper in your hand- As the Lord liveth, if ye were 
 messengers of God, he would " confirm the word of his messengers." 
 But the work of the Lord doth not prosper in your hand: vou bring 110
 
 324 TWELFTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XiXII. 
 
 sinners to repentance. The Lord doth not confirm your word ; for you 
 *ave no souls from death. 
 
 13. How can you possibly evade the force of our Lord's words ? So 
 full, so strong, so express ? How can ye evade knowing yourselves by 
 your fruits 1 Evil fruits of evil trees ? And how should it be otherwise ] 
 " Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?" Take this to 
 yourselves, ye to whom it belongs ! Oh ye barren trees, why cumber ye 
 the ground 1 " Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit." See ye not, 
 that here is no exception 1 Take knowledge then, ye are not good trees; 
 for ye do not bring forth good fruit. " But a corrupt tree bringeth forth 
 evil fruit;" and so have ye done from the beginning. Your peaking, 
 as from God, has only confirmed them that heard you in the tempers, 
 if not works of the devil. Oh take warning of him in whose name ye 
 speak, before the sentence he has pronounced take place : " Every 
 tree which bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down and cast into 
 the fire." 
 
 14. My dear brethren, harden not your hearts ! You have too long 
 shut your eyes against the light. Open them now before it is too late ; 
 before you are cast into outer darkness ! Let not any temporal consi- 
 deration weigh with you ; for eternity is at stake. Ye have run before 
 ye were sent. Oh go no farther ! Do not persist to damn yourselves 
 and them that hear you ! You have no fruit of your labours. And why 
 is this 1 Even because the Lord is not with you. But can you go this 
 warfare at your own cost ? It cannot be. Then humble yourselves 
 tatbre him. Cry unto him out of the dust, that he may first quicken 
 thy soul ; give thee the faith that worketh by love ; that is lowly and 
 meek, pure and merciful, zealous of good works, rejoicing in tribula- 
 tion, in reproach, in distress, in persecution for righteousness' sake ! 
 So shall "the Spirit of glory and of Christ rest upon thee," and it shall 
 appear that God hath sent thee. So shalt thou indeed " do the work of 
 an evangelist, and make full proof of thy ministry." So shall the word 
 of God in thy mouth be "a hammer that breaketh the rocks in pieces!" 
 It shall then be known by thy fruits, that thou art a prophet of the Lord, 
 even by the children whom God hath given thee. And having " turned 
 many to righteousness, thou shalt shine as the stars for ever and ever!"
 
 SERMON XXXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 326 
 
 SERMON' XXX I II. Upon our Lord's Sermon on tlie Mount. 
 
 DISCOURSE XIII. 
 
 " Not every ono that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom o< 
 heaven ; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in hoaven. 
 
 " Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy 
 name ? arid in thy name have cast out devils ? and in thy name have done many 
 wondsrful works? 
 
 " And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, ye 
 that work iniquity. 
 
 " Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I wiH 
 liken him unto a (vise man, which built his house upon a rock : 
 
 " And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat 
 upon that house ; and it fell not : for it was founded upon a rock. 
 
 " And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall 
 be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand : 
 
 " And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat 
 upon that house ; and it fell : and great was the fall of it," Matt, vii, 21-27. 
 
 1. OUR divine Teacher, having declared the whole counsel of God 
 with regard to the way of salvation, and observed the chief h-inderances 
 of those who desire to walk therein, now closes the whole with these 
 weighty words ; thereby as it were setting his seal to his prophesy, 
 and impressing his whole authority on what he had delivered, that it 
 might stand firm to all generations. 
 
 2. For thus saith the Lord, that none may ever conceive there is am 
 other way than this, " Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, 
 sha r l enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doeth the will of 
 my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, 
 Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name ? And in thy name have cast 
 out devils ? And in thy name done many wonderful works 1 And then 
 will I profess unto them, I never knew you : depart from me, ye that 
 work iniquity. Therefore, every one that heareth these sayings of 
 mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which 
 built his house upon the sand : and the rain descended, and the floods 
 came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell : and 
 great was the fall of it." 
 
 3. I design in the following discourse, First, To consider the case of 
 him who thus builds his house upon the sand : Secondly, To show the 
 wisdom of him who builds upon a rock : And, Thirdly, To conclude with 
 a practical application. 
 
 I. 1. And, First, I am to consider the case of him who builds his 
 house upon the sand. It is concerning him our Lord saith, " Not 
 evory one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom 
 of heaven." And this is a decree which cannot pass ; which standeth 
 fast for ever and ever. It therefore imports us, in the highest degree, 
 thoroughly to understand the force of these words. Now what are we 
 to understand by that expression, " That saith unto me, Lord, Lord ?" 
 It undoubtedly means, that thinks of going to heaven (/ any other way 
 than that which I have now described. It therefore implies (to begin at 
 the lowest point) all good words, all verbal religion. It includes what 
 ever creeds we may rehearse ; whatever professions of faith we make ; 
 whatever number ol prayers we may repeat ; whatever thanksgivings 
 we read or say to God. We may speak good of his name ; and declare
 
 326 THIRTEENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXXIII. 
 
 his loving kindness to the children of men. We may be talking of 
 all his mighty acts, and telling of his salvation from day to day. By 
 comparing spiritual things with spiritual, we may show the meaning of 
 the oracles of God. We may explain the mysteries of his kingdom, 
 which have been hid from the beginning of the world. We may speak 
 with the tongue of angels, rather than men, concerning the deep things 
 of God. We may proclaim to sinners, " Behold the Lamb of God, \vlio 
 aketh a-.vay the sin of the world." Yea, we may do this with such a 
 measure of the power of God, and such demonstration of his Spirit, as 
 to save many souls from death, and hide a multitude of sins. And yet 
 it is very possible, all this may be no more than saying, " Lord, Lord." 
 After I have thus successfully preached to others, still I myself may be 
 a castaway. I may, in the hand of God, snatch many souls from hell, 
 and yet drop into it when I have done. I may bring many others c 
 the kingdom of heaven, and yet myself never enter there. Reader, if 
 God hath ever blessed my word to thy soul, pray that he may be mer- 
 ciful to me a sinner ! 
 
 2. The saying, " Lord, Lord," may, secondly, imply the doing no 
 harm. We may abstain from every presumptuous sin, from every kind 
 of outward wickedness. We may refrain from all those ways of acting 
 or speaking, which are forllidden in Holy Writ. We may be able to 
 say to all those among whom we live, Which of yon convinceth me of 
 sin ? We may have a conscience void of any external offence, towards 
 God and towards man. We may be clear of all uncleanness, ungodli- 
 ness, and unrighteousness, as to the outward act ; or, (as the apostle 
 testifies concerning himself,) "touching the righteousness of the law," 
 i. e. outward righteousness, " blameless." But yet we are not hereby 
 justified. Still this is no more than saying, " Lord, Lord ;" and if we 
 go no farther than this, we shall never "enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven." 
 
 3. The saying " Lord, Lord," may imply, thirdly, many of what are 
 usually styled good works. A man may attend the supper of the Lord, 
 may hear abundance of excellent sermons, and omit no opportunity of 
 partaking all the other ordinances of God. I may do good to my neigh- 
 bour, deal my bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with a garment. 
 I may be so zealous of good works, as even to " give all my goods to 
 feed the poor." Yea, and I may do all this with a desire to please 
 God, and a real belief that I do please him thereby; (which is unde- 
 niably the case of those our Lord introduces, saying unto him, " Lord, 
 Lord ;") and still I may have no part in the glory which shall be 
 revealed. 
 
 4. If any man marve s at this, let him acknowledge he is a stranger 
 to the whole religion of Jesus Christ; and in particular, to that perfect 
 portraiture thereof, which he has set before us in this discourse. For 
 how far short is all this, of that righteousness and true holiness, which 
 he has described therein ! How widely distant from that inward king- 
 dom of heaven, which is now opened in the believing soul ; which is 
 first sown in the heart as a grain of mustard seed, but afterwards 
 putteth forth great branches, on which grow all the fruits of righteous- 
 ness, every good temper, and word, and work. 
 
 5. Yet as clearly as he had declared this, as frequently as he had 
 repeated, that none who have not this kingdom of God within them
 
 SERMON XXXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 327 
 
 shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; our Lord well knew, thai 
 many would not receive this saying, and therefore confirms it yet 
 again : " Many" [saith he : not one ; not a few only : it is not a rare 
 or an uncommon case] "shall say unto me in that day," not only, we 
 have said many prayers ; we ha\e spoken thy praise; we have refrained 
 from evil ; we have exercised ourselves in doing good ; but, what ia 
 abundantly more than this, " we have prophesied in thy name ; in t'.iy 
 name have we cast out devils ; in thy name done many wonderful 
 works." " We have prophesied ;" we have declared thy will to man- 
 kind ; we have showed sinners the way to peace and glory. And we 
 have done this " in thy name ;" according to the truth of thy gospel ; 
 yea, and by thy authority, who didst confirm the word with the Holy 
 Ghost sent down from heaven. For in or by thy name, by the power 
 of thy word and of thy Spirit, " have we cast out devils;" out of the 
 souls which they had long claimed as their own, and whereof they 
 had full and quiet possession. " And in thy name, [by thy power, 
 not our own,] have we done many wonderful works;" insomuch that 
 " even the dead heard the voice of the Son of God" speaking by us, 
 and lived. " And then 1 will profess [even] unto them, I never knew 
 you ;" no, not then when you were " casting out devils in my name:" 
 even then I did not know you as my own ; for your heart was not 
 right towards God. Ye were not yourselves meek and lowly ; ye 
 were not lovers of God, and of all mankind; ye were not renewed in 
 the image of God ; ye were not holy as I am holy. " Depart from me, 
 ye [who, notwithstanding all this, are] workers of iniquity ;" avarice : 
 ye are transgressors of my law, my law of holy and perfect love. 
 
 6. It is to put this beyond all possibility of contradiction, that our 
 Lord confirms it by that opposite comparison : " Every one," saith he, 
 " who heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be 
 likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. Aud 
 the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat 
 upon that house ;" as they will surely do, sooner or later, upon every 
 soul of man ; even the floods of outward affliction, ov inward temptation ; 
 the storms of pride, anger, fear, or desire ; " And it fell, and great 
 was the fall of it :" so that it perished for ever and ever. Such must 
 be the portion of all who rest in any thing short of that religion, which 
 is above described. And the greater will their fall be, because they 
 " heard those sayings, and [yet] did them not." 
 
 II. 1. I am, secondly, to show the wisdom of him that doeth them, 
 that buildeth his house upon a rock. He indeed is wise, " who doeth 
 the will of my Father which is in heaven." He is truly wise, whose 
 " righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees." 
 He is poor in spirit; knowing himself even as also he is known. He 
 sees and feels all his sin, and all his guilt, till it is washed away by the 
 atoning blood. He is conscious of his lost estate, of the wrath of God 
 abiding on him, and of his utter inability to help himself, till he is filled 
 with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. He is meek and gentle, patient 
 towards all men, never " returning evil for evil, or railing for railing, but 
 contrariwise blessing," till he overcomes evil with good. His soul is athirst 
 toi nothing on earth, but only for God, the living God. He has bowels 
 of love for all mankind, and is ready to lay down his life for his enemies. 
 He loves the Lord his God with rll his heart, and with all his mind
 
 328 THIRTEENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXXIII. 
 
 and soul, and strength. He alone shall enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven, who, in this spirit, doeth good unto all men ; and who, being 
 for this cause despised and rejected of men, being hated, reproached, 
 and persecuted, rejoices, and is " exceeding glad," knowing in whom 
 he hath believed ; and being assured these light, momentary afflictions, 
 will " work out for him an eternal weight of glory." 
 
 2. How truly wise is this man ! He knows himself; an everlasting 
 spirit, which came forth from God, and was sent down into a house 
 of clay, not to do his own will, but the will of him that sent him. He 
 knows the world ; the place in which he is to pass a few days or 
 years, not as an inhabitant, but as a stranger and sojourner, in his way 
 to the everlasting habitations ; and accordingly he uses the world as not 
 abusing it, and as knowing the fashion of it passes away. He knows 
 God ; his Father and his friend, the parent of all good, the centre of 
 the spirits of all flesh, the sole happiness of all intelligent beings. He 
 sees, clearer than the light of the noon day sun, that this is the end of 
 man, to glorify him who made him for himself, and to love and enjoy 
 him for ever. And with equal clearness he sees the mean? to that end, 
 to the enjoyment of God in glory ; even now to know, to love, to imi- 
 tate God, and to believe in Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. 
 
 3. He is a wise man, even in God's account ; for " he buildeth his 
 house upon a rock ;" upon the rock of ages, the everlasting rock, the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Fitly is he so called; for he changeth not: he is 
 " the same yesterday, and to day, and forever." To him both the man 
 of God of old, and the apostle citing his words, bear witness, " Thou, 
 Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth ; and the 
 heavens are the works of thine hands : they shall perish ; but thou 
 remainest: and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; and as a 
 vesture shah thou fold them up, and they shall be changed : but thou 
 art the same, and thy years shall not fail," Heb. i, 10-12. Wise, there- 
 fore, is the man that buildeth on him ; who Jayeth him for his only 
 foundation ; who builds only upon his blood and righteousness, upon 
 what he hath done and suffered for us. On this corner stone he fixes 
 his faith, and rests the whole weight of his soul upon it. He is taught 
 of God to say, " Lord, I have sinned ; I deserve the nethermost hell ; 
 but I am justified freely by thy grace, through the redemption that is 
 in Jesus Christ ; and the life I now live, I live by faith in him, who 
 loved me and gave himself for me : the life I now live ; namely, a 
 divine, heavenly life; a life which is hid with Christ in God. I now live 
 even in the flesh, a life of love ; of pure love both to God and man ; a life 
 of holiness and happiness; praising God, and doing all things to hisglory." 
 
 4. Yet, let not such a one think that he shall not see war any more ; 
 that he is now out of the reach of temptation. It still remains for God 
 to prove the grace he hath given : he shall be tried as gold in the (ire. 
 He shall be tempted not less than they who know not God : perhaps 
 abundantly more ; for Satan will not fail to try to the uttermost those 
 whom he is not able to destroy. Accordingly, "the rain" will impetu- 
 ously descend ; only at such times and in such a manner as seems 
 good, not to the prince of the power of the air, but to him " whose 
 kingdom ruleth over all." "The floods," or torrents, will come; they 
 will lift up their waves and rage horribly. Cut to them also, the Lord 
 that sitteth above the water floods, that remaineth a King for e* f er, will
 
 SERMON XXXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 329 
 
 say, " Hitherto shall ye come^ and no farther : here shall your proud 
 waves be stayed." " The winds will blow, and beat upon that house," 
 as though they would tear it up from the foundation : but they cannot 
 prevail : it falleth not; for it is founded upon a rock. He buildeth on 
 Christ by faith and love; therefore he shall not be cast down. Ht 
 '* shall not fear though the earth be moved, and though the hills be 
 carried into the midst of the sea." " Though the waters thereof rage 
 and swell, and the mountains shake at the tempest of the same:" still 
 he "dwelleth under the defence of the Most High, and is safe undei 
 Ihe shadow of the Almighty." 
 
 111. 1. How nearly then does it concern every child of man, prac- 
 tically to apply these things to himself? Diligently to examine, on 
 what foundation he builds, whether on a rock or on the sand 1 How 
 deeply are you concerned to inquire, What is the foundation of my 
 hope I Whereon do I build my expectation of entering into the king- 
 dom of heaven 1 Is it not built on the sand 7 Upon my orthodoxy, or 
 right opinions, which by a gross abuse of words I have called faith ? 
 Upon my having a set of notions, suppose more rational or scriptural than 
 many others have? Alas! what madness is this ! Surely this is building 
 on the sand, or rather on tho froth of the sea ! Say, 1 am convinced of this : 
 am I not again building my hope on what is equally unable to support it? 
 Perhaps on my belonging to "so excellent a hurch; reformed after 
 the true Scripture model ; blessed with the purest doctrine, the most 
 primitive liturgy, the most apostolical form of government!" These are, 
 doubtless, so many reasons for praising God, as they may be so manj 
 helps to holiness ; but they are not holiness itself: and if they are sepa- 
 rate from it, they will profit me nothing ; nay, they will leave me the 
 more without excuse, and exposed to the greater damnation. Therefore, 
 if I build my hope upon this foundation, I am still building upon the sand 
 
 2. You cannot, you dare not, rest here. Upon what next will you 
 build your hope of salvation ? Upon your innocence ? Upon youi 
 doing no harm ? Your not wronging or hurting any one ? Well ; 
 allow this plea to be true. You are just in all your dealings ; you are 
 a downright honest man ; you pay every man his own ; you neither 
 cheat nor extort ; you act fairly with all mankind : and you have a 
 conscience towards God ; you do not live in any known sin. Thus far 
 is well. But still it is not the thing. You may go thus far, and yet 
 never come to heaven. When all this harmlessness flows from a right 
 principle, it is the least part of the religion of Christ. But in you it 
 does not flow from a right principle, and therefore is no part at all of 
 religion. So that in grounding your hope of salvation on this, you are 
 still building upon the sand. 
 
 3. Do you go farther yet? Do you add to the doing no harm, the 
 attending all the ordinances of God ? Do you, at all opportunities, 
 partake of thn Lord's supper? use public and private prayer? fast 
 often ? hear and search the Scriptures, and meditate thereon 1 These 
 things, likewise, ought you to have done, from the time yoii first set 
 your face towards heaven. Yet these things also are nothing, being 
 alone They are nothing without the weightier matters of the law. 
 And those you have forgotten: at least, you experience them not: 
 faith, mercy, and the love of God ; holiness of heart; heaven opened 
 in the soul. Still, therefore, you build upon the sand.
 
 330 THIRTEENTH DISCOURSE UPON [SERMON XXXIII. 
 
 4. Over and above all this, are you zealous of good works? Do you, 
 as you have time, do good to all men ? Do you feed the nungry and 
 clothe the naked, and visit the fatherless and widow in their affliction ? 
 Do you visit those that are cick ? relieve them that are in prison ? Is 
 any a stranger, and you take him in ? Friend, come up higher! Do 
 you " prophesy in the name of Christ ?" Do you preach the truth a<> 
 it is in Jesus ? And does the influence of his Spirit attend your word, 
 and make it the power of God unto salvation 1 Does he enable you to 
 bring sinners from darkness to light, from the power of Satan unto God ? 
 Then go and learn what thou hast so often taught, " By grace are ye 
 saved through faith :" " Not by works of righteousness which we have 
 done, but of his own mercy he saveth us." Learn to hang naked upon 
 the cross of Christ, counting all thou hast done but dung and dross ! 
 Apply to him just in the spirit of the dying thief, of the harlot with her 
 seven devils ! Else thou art still on the sand ; and after saving others, 
 thou wilt lose thy own soul. 
 
 5. Lord, increase my faith, if I now believe ! Else, give me faith, 
 though but as a grain of mustard seed ! But " what doth it profit, if 
 a man say he hath faith, and hath not works? Can [that] faith save 
 him ?" Oh no ! That faith which hath not works, which doth not pro- 
 duce both inward and outward holiness, which does not stamp the 
 whole image of God on the heart, and purify us as he is pure ; that 
 faith which does not produce the whole of the religion described in the 
 foregoing chapters, is not the faith of the gospel, not the Christian faith, 
 not the faith which leads to glory. Oh beware of this above all other 
 snares of the devil, of resting on unholy, unsaving faith ! If thou layest 
 stress on this, thou art lost for ever : thou still buildest thy house upon 
 the sand. When "the rain descends, and the floods come, it will 
 surely fall, and great will be the fall of it." 
 
 6. Now, therefore, build thou upon a Rock. By the grace of God, 
 know thyself. Know and feel that thou wast shapen in wickedness, 
 and in sin did thy mother conceive thee ; and that thou thyself hast 
 been heaping sin upon sin, ever since thou couldest discern good from 
 evil. Own thyself guilty of eternal death; and renounce all hope of 
 ever being able to save thyself. Be it all thy hope to be washed in His 
 blood, and purified by His Spirit, "who himself bore [all] thy sins in 
 his own body upon the tree." And if thou knowest he hath taken 
 away thy sins, so much the more abase thyself before him, in a conti- 
 nual sense of thy total dependance on Him for every good thought, and 
 word, and work, and of thy utter inability to all good, unless he " water 
 thee every moment." 
 
 7. Now weep for your sins, and mourn after God, till he turns yom 
 heaviness into joy. And even then weep with them that weep; ami 
 for them that weep not for themselves. Mourn for the sins and mise- 
 ries of mankind ; and see, but just before your eyes, the immense ocean 
 O r eternity, without a bottom or a shore, which has already swallowed 
 up millions of millions of men, and is gaping to devour them that yet 
 remain ! See here, the house of God eternal in the heavens ! there, 
 hell and destruction without a covering ! and thence learn the import- 
 ance of every moment, which just appears, and is gone for ever ! 
 
 8. Now add to your seriousness, meekness of wisdom. Hold an even 
 scale as to all your passions, but in particular as to anger, sorrow, and
 
 SERMON XXXIII.] THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT. 331 
 
 fear. Calmly acquiesce in whatsoever is the will of God. Learn in every 
 stato wherein you are, therewith to be content. Be mild to the good : be 
 gentle towards all men ; but especially towards the evil and the unthank- 
 ful. Beware, not only of outward expressions of anger, such as calling 
 ihy brother, Raca, or Tlwufool ; but of every inward emotion contrary 
 to love, though it go no farther than the heart. Be angry at sin, as an 
 affront offered to the Majesty of heaven , but love the sinner still : like 
 our Lord, who " looked round about upon the Pharisees with anger, being 
 grieved for the hardness of their hearts." He was grieved at the sin- 
 ners, angry at the sin. Thus be thou " angry, and sin not !" 
 
 9. Now do thou hunger and thirst, not for " the meat that perisheth, 
 but for that which endureth unto everlasting life." Trample under foot 
 the world, and the things of the world ; all these riches, honours, plea- 
 sures. What is the world to thee ? Let the dead bury their dead ; but 
 follow thou after the unage of God. And beware of quenching that 
 blessed thirst, if it is already excited in thy soul, by what is vulgarly 
 called religion ; a poor, dull farce, a religion of form, of outside show, 
 which leaves the heart still cleaving to the dust, as earthly and sensual 
 as ever. Let nothing satisfy thee but the power of godliness, but a 
 religion that is spirit and life ; the dwelling in God and God in thee ; 
 the being an inhabitant of eternity ; the entering in by the blood ol 
 sprinkling " within the veil," and " sitting in heavenly places with 
 Christ Jesus !' 
 
 10. Now, seeing thou canst do all things through Christ strengthen- 
 ing thee, be merciful as thy Father in heaven is merciful ! Love thy 
 neighbour as thyself! Love friends and enemies as thy own soul ! And 
 let thy love be long suffering and patient to all men. Let it be kind, 
 soft, benign ; inspiring thee with the most amiable sweetness, and the 
 most fervent and tender affection. Let it rejoice in the truth, where- 
 soever it is found ; the truth that is after godliness. Enjoy whatsoever 
 brings glory to God, and promotes peace and good will among men. In 
 love, cover all things, of the dead and the absent speaking nothing but 
 good ; believe all things which may any way tend to clear your neigh- 
 bour's character ; hope all things, in his favour ; and endure all things, 
 triumphing over all opposition : for true love never faileth, in time or 
 in eternity. 
 
 11. Now* be thou pure in heart; purified through faith from every 
 unholy affection ; " cleansing thyself from all filthiness of flesh and 
 spirit, and perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Being, through 
 the power of his grace, purified from pride, by deep poverty of spirit ; 
 from anger, from every unkind or turbulent passion, by meekness and 
 mercifulness ; from every desire but to please and enjoy God, by hun 
 ger and thirst after righteousness ; now love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy strength ! 
 
 12. In a word : let thy religion be the religion of the heart. Let it 
 lie deep in thy inmost soul. Be thou little, and base, and mean, and 
 vile (beyond what words can express) in thy own eyes ; amazed and 
 humbled to the dust, by the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Be 
 serious. Let the whole stream of thy thoughts, words, and actions, 
 flow from the deepest conviction that thou standest on the edge of the 
 great gulf, thou and all the children of men, just ready to drop in, either 
 into everlasting glory or everlasting burnings ! Let thy soul be filled
 
 ( 332 ) 
 
 ivith mildness, gentleness, patience, long suffering towards all men ; 
 it the same time that all which is in thee is athirst for God, the living 
 God ; longing to awake up after his likeness, and to be satisfied with it ! 
 Be thoii a lover of God, and of all mankind ! In this spirit, do and suf- 
 fer all things ! Thus show thy faith by thy works ; thus " do the will of 
 thy Father which is in heaven !" And, as sure as thou now walkest 
 with God on earth, ihou shall also reign with him in glory ! 
 
 NOTE. We have called these discourses Mr. Wesley's exposi- 
 tion of Christian ethics. This last sermon will show how 
 thoroughly Christian, i.e., evangelical, they are. His entire view 
 of Christian duty is inward holiness, repentance toward God, and 
 faith working by love. In this he doei full justice to the inward 
 law of love. But he does no less justice to the outward law, the 
 written Word. " By so preaching the law," i.e., " explaining and 
 enforcing the commands of Christ, briefly comprised in the 
 Sermon on the Mount," a preacher will " teach men how to walk 
 in Him whom they have received. Yea, and the same means 
 (the main point wherein, it seems, your mistake lies) would both 
 sustain and increase their spiritual life. For the commands are 
 food as well as the promises ; food equally wholesome, equally 
 substantial. These also, duly applied, uob only direct, but like- 
 wise nourish and strengthen the soul." 
 
 " Of' this you appear not to have the least conception ; there- 
 fore I will endeavour to explain it. L ask then, " Do not all the 
 children of God experience, that when God gives them to s^e 
 deeper into his blessed law, whenever he gives a new degree of 
 light, he gives, likewise, a new degree of strength? Now 1 see 
 that he loves me, bids me do this, and now I feel I can do it 
 through Curist strengthening me." See letter by Mr. Wesley on 
 , (leaching Christ, dated L >ndon, Die. 20, 1751. This extract will 
 show how fundamentally ethical truth, as well as evangelical, 
 entered into Mr. Wesley's conception of the inward process of 
 balvation. The written law was not to his view a mere outward 
 directory of life, nor was it a mere preparatory instrument by 
 which the hard ground of the heart might be prepared for the 
 reception of the evangelical seed. But it was in itself a seed of 
 life, quickening and developing the life of God in the soul. In 
 other words the spiritual nature is not nourished by appeal to the 
 religious affections alone. Strength of moral faith, power of 
 purpose, confidence to do and dare for God, an elevation of the 
 whole inward man to higher, holier, grander spiritual life, comes 
 with clear conceptions of duty revealed by the Word and Spirit 
 of God. Hence the Weslcyau preaching and theology embraced a 
 full quota of sturdy ethical truth. It dealt with the conscience 
 mid reason, as well as with the emotional nature, and built up the 
 soul in grace by means of rational obligations as well as by sweet 
 u o
 
 SERMON XXXIV.] PROPERTIES OF THE LAW. 333 
 
 SERMON" XXXIV. The Original Nature, Properties, and 
 Use of the Law. 
 
 " Wherefore the law is holy, and the commanlmant holy, and just, aud good." 
 Romans vii. 12. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THE term law here signifies, not the Roman, nor the 
 Mosaic, but the moral law, as appears from the particulars 
 cited. 
 
 I. The original of this law ; co-eval with the creation of 
 moral agents ; and written in their inmost spirit by the finger 
 of God. 
 
 II. The nature of this law. It is a transcript of the Divine 
 nature ; and hence supreme, unchangeable reason ; unalter- 
 able rectitude ; the everlasting fitness of things. 
 
 III. The properties of this law. 
 
 1. Holy, as separate from all sin. 
 
 2. Just, rendering to all their due ; adapted to the nature 
 of things, of the whole universe, and of every individual. 
 But this nature of things depends on the will of God, which is 
 ultimately God himself. 
 
 3. Good, full of benignity, and producing all blessedness in 
 its results. 
 
 IV. The uses of this law. 
 
 1. To convince of sin. 2. To lead to Christ. 3. To pre- 
 pare us for larger communications of the grace of God. 
 Hence, though we have done with the law as a moans of justi- 
 fication before God, yet the law is of unspeakable use and 
 absolute necessity to us. The true liberty of God's people is 
 not liberty from the law, but from sin. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 If religion is the true relation of man to God, and morality, the tnu, 
 relation of man to right, then this discourse gives us the complete identi- 
 fication of religion and morality ; as it makes God and right one. A 
 .simpler and better conception of the ultimate origin of the right than is 
 here given, cannot, we think, be found in any writer. It takes decidedly 
 higher ground than his contemporary, Butler, who looks into the con- 
 stitution of human nature for the proximate basis of obligation. Wesley 
 agrees with Cudworth and Dr. Samuel Clarke, in making the distinction 
 between right and wrong an eternal distinction ; and lie is willing 
 to allow their expression the "eternal fitness of things." But hia 
 strong religious instincts can see no real eternal but God, and both 
 things and their fitness are from God alone. This is the philosophy 
 of the man with whom God is no intellectual abstraction, but the living 
 God.
 
 33 i PROPERTIES OF THE LAW. I SEKMON XXXIV. 
 
 We see also in tins discourse, how the absolute moral law enters into 
 the Christian life, and becomes the Christian law of duty. In the view 
 here presented, Christian ethics do not imply any lowering ot the abso- 
 lute law to meet the necessities of human weakness. It is God a perfect 
 law in its immutable principle*, which enters into our spiritual lite and 
 brin-'s us to Christ. And the ".reat principles of Christian duty, which 
 tbatperfeet law evolves from our new Christian consciousness ot filial 
 T-elationship to God, are as perfect as the absolute law from which they 
 Bprin<r The relation of these perfect principles to the imperfection of 
 the human instrument through which they work, will be fully con- 
 sidered in connection with Wesley's doctrine of Christian perfection. It 
 is only necessary here to note that neither the absolute moral law, nor 
 the law of Christian duty, is lowered to meet the necessities of a doctrine 
 ol perfection. 
 
 SEKMON XXXIV. 
 
 1. PERHAPS there are few subjects within the whole compass of reli- 
 gion, so little understood as this. The reader of this epistle is usually 
 told, by the law St. Paul means the Jewish law ; and so apprehending 
 himself to have no concern therewith, passes on without farther thought 
 about it. Indeed some are not satisfied with this account; but observ- 
 ing the epistle is directed to the Romans, thence infer, that the apos- 
 tle in the beginning of this chapter alludes to the old Roman law. But 
 as they have no more concern with this, than with the ceremonial law 
 of Moses, so they spend not much thought on what they suppose is 
 occasionally mentioned, barely to illustrate another thing. 
 
 2. But a careful observer of the apostle's discourse, will not be con- 
 tent with these slight explications of it. And the more he weighs the 
 words, the more convinced he will be, that St. Paul by the law men- 
 tioned in this chapter, does not mean either the ancient law of Rome, 
 or tiie ceremonial law of Moses. This will clearly appear to all who 
 attentively consider the tenor of his discourse. He begins the chapter, 
 " Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) [to 
 them who have been instructed therein from their youth,] that the law 
 hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth ?" (What, the law of 
 Rome only, or the ceremonial law? No surely; but the moral law.) 
 " For," to give a plain instance, "the woman which hath a husband is 
 bound by the [moral] law to her husband so long as he liveth ; but it 
 the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So 
 then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she 
 shall be called an adulteress : but if her husband be dead, she is free 
 from that law ; so that she is no adulteress though she be married to 
 another man." From this particular instance the apostle proceeds to 
 draw that general conclusion : " Wherefore, my brethren," by a plain 
 parity of reason, " ye also are become dead to the law," the whole 
 Mosaic institution, " by the body of Christ," offered for you, and bring- 
 ing you under a new dispensation : " That ye should [without any 
 blame] be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead ;" 
 and hath thereby given proof of hi authority to make the change; " that 
 we should bring forth fruit unto God." And this we can do now, 
 whereas before we could not : " For when we were in the flesh," under 
 the power of the flesh, that is, of corrupt nature, [which was necessarily 
 the case till we knew the power of Christ's resurrection,] " the motion*
 
 SERMON* XXXIV.] PROPERTIES OF THE LAW. 335 
 
 of sins, which were by the law," which were shown and inflamed by the 
 Mosaic law. not conquered, " did work in our members," broke out 
 various ways, " to bring forth fruit unto death." " But now we are deli- 
 vered from the law;" from that whole moral, as well as ceremonial 
 economy ; " that being dead whereby we were held ;" that entire : nsti- 
 tution being now as it were dead, and having no more authority over us, 
 than the husband, when dead, hath over his wife: "That we should 
 serve him,'' who died for us and rose again, " in newness of spirit ;" 
 in a new spiritual dispensation ; " and not in the oldness of the letter ;" 
 with a bare outward service, according to the letter of the Mosaic 
 institution, ver. 1-6. 
 
 3. The apostle, having gone thus far in proving that the Christian 
 had set aside the Jewish dispensation, and that the moral law itself, 
 though it could never nttss away, yet stood on a. different foundation 
 from what it did before, now stops to propose and answer an objec- 
 tion : " What shall we say then ? Is the law sin ?" So some might 
 infer from a misapprehension of those words, " the motions of sins which 
 were by the law." ' God forbid !" saith the apostle, that we should 
 say so. Nay, the law is an irreconcilable enemy to sin ; searching it 
 out wherever it is. " I had not known sin but by the law: fjr 1 had 
 not known lust," evil desire, to be sin, " except the law had said, 
 Thou shalt not covet," verse 7. After opening this farther, in the four 
 following verses, he subjoins this general conclusion, with regard more 
 especially to the moral law, from which the preceding instance was 
 taken : " Wherefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and 
 just and good." 
 
 4 In orJer to explain and enforce these deep words, so little regard- 
 ed, because so little understood, I shall endeavour to show, first, the 
 original of this law: secondly, the nature thereof: thirdly, the proper- 
 ties ; that it is holy, and just, and good : and, fourthly, the uses of it. 
 
 1. 1. I shall first endeavour to show the original of the moral law, 
 often called " The law." by way of eminence. Now this is not, as 
 some may have possibly imagined, of so late an institution as the time 
 of Moses. Noah declared it to men long before that time, and Enoch 
 before him. But we may trace its original higher still, even beyond 
 the foundation of the world, to that period, unknown indeed to men, 
 but doubtless enrolled in the annals of eternity, when " the morning 
 stars [first] sang together," being newly called into existence. It 
 pleased the great Creator to make these, his first-born sons, intelligent 
 beings, that they might know him that created them. For this end he 
 endued them with understanding, to discern truth from falsehood, good 
 from evil ; and, as a necessary result of this, with liberty, a capacity 
 of choosing the one and refusing the other. By this they were, like- 
 wise, enabled to offer him a free and willing service ; a service reward- 
 able in itself, as well as most acceptable to their gracious Master. 
 
 2. To employ all the faculties which he had given them, particularly 
 Iheir understanding and liberty, he gave them a law, a complete model 
 of all truth, so far as is intelligible to a finite being ; and of all good, 
 BO far as angelic minds were capable of embracing it. It was also the 
 design of their beneficent Governor herein to make way for a continual 
 increase of their happiness ; seeing every instance of obedience to 
 tua: law. would both add to the perfection of their nature, and entitle
 
 336 PROPERTIES OP THE LAW. [SERMON XXIV. 
 
 them to a higher reward, which the righteous Judge would give in 
 its season. 
 
 3. In like manner, when God, in his appointed time, had created a 
 new order of intelligent beings, when he had raised man from the dust 
 of the earth, breathed into him the breath of life, and caused him to 
 become a living soul, endued with power to choose good or evil ; he 
 gave to this free, intelligent creature, the same law as to his first-born 
 children ; not wrote indeed upon tables of stone, or any corruptible 
 substance, but engraven on his heart by the finger of God ; wrote in the 
 inmost spirit both of men and of angels, to the intent it might never be. 
 far off, never hard to be understood, but always at hand, and always 
 shining with clear light, even a* the sun in the midst of heaven. 
 
 4. Such was the original of the law of God. With regard to man it 
 was coeval with his nature ; but with regard to the elder sons of God, it 
 shone in its full splendour, " or ever the mountains were brought forth, 
 or the earth and the round world were made." But it was not long before 
 man rebelled against God, and, by breaking this glorious law, well nigh 
 effaced it out of his heart ; the eyes of his understanding being dark- 
 ened, in the same measure as his soul was " alienated from the life of 
 God." And yet God did not despise the work of his own hands ; but 
 being reconciled to man through the Son of his love, he, in some mea- 
 sure, reinscribed the law on the heart of his dark, sinful creature. 
 " He [again] showed thee, oh man, what is good, [although not as in 
 the beginning,] even to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk 
 humbly with thy God." 
 
 5. And this he showed, not only to our first parents, but likewise to 
 afl their posterity, by " that true light which enlightens every man that 
 cometh into the world." But notwithstanding this light, all flesh had, 
 in process of time, " corrupted their way before him ;" till he chose 
 out of mankind a peculiar people, to whom he gave a more perfect 
 knowledge of his law : and the heads of this, because they were slow 
 of understanding, he wrote on two tables of stone ; which he com- 
 manded the fathers to teach their children, through all succeeding 
 generations. 
 
 6. And thus it is, that the law of God is now made known to them 
 that know not God. They hear, with the hearing of the ear, the things 
 that were written aforetime for our instruction. But this does not 
 suffice : they cannot, by this means, comprehend the height, and depth, 
 and length, and breadth thereof. God alone can reveal this by hia 
 Spirit. And so he does to all that truly believe, in consequence of that 
 gracious promise made to all the Israel of God : " Behold, the days 
 come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house 
 of Israel. And this shall be the covenant that I will make ; I will put 
 my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts ; and I will 
 be their God, and they shall be my people," Jer. xxxi, 31, &c. 
 
 II. 1. The nature of that law which was originally given to angels 
 in hoaven and man in paradise, and which God has so mercifully pro- 
 mised to write afresh in the hearts of all true believers, was the second 
 thing I proposed to show. In order to which I would first observe, that 
 although the " law" and the "commandment" are sometimes differently 
 taken, (the commandment meaning but a part of the law,) yet, in the 
 text, they are used as equivalent terms, implying one and the same
 
 SERMON XXXIV.] PROPERTIES OF THE LAW. 337 
 
 thing. But we cannot understand here, either by one or the other, the 
 ceremonial law. It is not the ceremonial law, whereof the apostle says, 
 m the words above recited, " I had not known sin but by the law :" 
 this is too plain to need a pioof. Neither is it the ceremonial law 
 which saith, in the words immediately subjoined, " Thou shall not 
 covet." Therefore the ceremonial law has no place in the presert 
 question. 
 
 2. Neither can we understand by the law mentioned in the text, tl.e 
 Mosaic dispensation. It is true, the word is sometimes so understood : 
 as when the apostle says, speaking to the Galatians, chap, iii, 17, " The 
 covenant that was confirmed before;" namely, with Abraham, the father 
 of the faithful ; " the law," i. e. the Mosaic dispensation, " which was 
 four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul." But it cannot 
 be so understood in the text ; for the apostle never bestows so high 
 commendations as these upon that imperfect and shadowy dispensation. 
 He no where affirms the Mosaic to be a spiritual law ; or, that it is holy 
 and just, and good. Neither is it true, that God will write that law in 
 the hearts of them whose iniquities he remembers no more. It remains, 
 that the law, eminently so termed, is no other than the moral law. 
 
 3. Now this law is an incorruptible picture of the high and holy ONR 
 that inhabiteth eternity. It is he, whom, in his essence, no man hath 
 seen or can see, made visible to men and angels. It is the face of God 
 unveiled ; God manifested to his creatures as they are able to bear it ; 
 manifested to give, and not to destroy life, that, they may see God and 
 live. It is the heart of God disclosed to man. Yea, in some sense, we 
 may apply to this law, what the apostle says of his Son, it is airauyatTfy-a 
 T>) io^jjf, xai paax<nip <rT] icTrosatfswj au<ns, the streaming forth [or 
 nut-beaming] of his glory, the express image of his person. 
 
 4. " If virtue," said the ancient heathen, " could assume such a shape 
 as that we could behold her with our eyes, what wonderful love would 
 she excite in us !" If virtue could do this ! It is done already. The 
 law of God is all virtues in one, in such a shape, as to be beheld with 
 open face, by all those whose eyes God hath enlightened. What is the 
 law but divine virtue and wisdom, assuming a visible form ? What is 
 it but the original ideas of truth and good, which were lodged in the 
 uncreated mind from eternity, now drawn forth and clothed with such 
 a vehicle, as to appear even to human understanding ? 
 
 5. If we survey the law of God in another point of view, it is supreme, 
 unchangeable reason ; it is unalterable rectitude ; it is the everlasting 
 fitness of all things that are or ever were created. I am sensible, what 
 a shortness, and even impropriety, there is, in these and all other 
 human expressions, when we endeavour by these faint pictures to 
 shadow out the deep things of God. Nevertheless, we have no better, 
 indeed no other way, during this, our infant state of existence. As 
 we now know but " in part," so we are constrained to " prophesy," i. e. 
 speak of the things of God, "in part" also. " We cannot order oui 
 speech by reason of darkness," while we are in this house of clay. 
 While I am a child, I must " speak as a child :" but I shall soon put 
 away childish things : for " when that which is perfect is come, thai 
 which is in part shall be done away." 
 
 6. But to return. The law of God, (speaking after the manner ol 
 men.) is a copy of the eternal mind, a transcript of the divine nature .
 
 338 PROPERTIES OF THE LAW. [SERMON XXXIV. 
 
 yea. it is the fairest offspring of the everlasting Father, the brightest 
 efflux of his essential wisdom, the visible beauty of the Most High. It 
 is the delight and wonder of cherubim and seraphim, and all the com- 
 pany of heaven, and the glory and joy of every wise believer, every 
 well instructed child of God upon earth. 
 
 III. 1. Such is the nature of the ever blessed law of God. I am, in the 
 third place, to show the properties of it : not all ; for that would excee i 
 the wisdom of an angel ; but those only which are mentioned in the text 
 These are three : It is holy, just, and good. And, first, the law is holy. 
 
 2. In this expiession the apostle does not appeal to speak of its effects, 
 but rather of its nature : as St. James, speaking of the same thing under 
 another name, says, " The wisdom from above" (which is no other than 
 this law, written in our heart,) "is first pure," chap, iii, 17; otyvrj, 
 chaste, spotless ; eternally and essentially holy. And consequently 
 when it is transcribed into the life, as well as the soul, it is (as the same 
 apostle terms it. chap, i, 27,) Sprjtfxeia xaSa^a xai ajxiavrog, pure religion, 
 and undejiled ; or, the pure, clean, unpolluted worship of God. 
 
 3. It is, indeed, in the highest degree, pure, chaste, clean, holy. 
 Otherwise it could not be the immediate offspring, and much less the 
 express resemblance, of God, who is essential holiness. It is pure from 
 all sin, clean and unspotted from any touch of evil. It is a chaste virgin, 
 incapable of any defilement, of any mixture with that which is unclean, 
 or unholy. It has no fellowship with sin of any kind : For " what 
 communion hath light with darkness ?" As sin is, in its very nature, 
 enmity to God, so his law is enmity to sin. 
 
 4. Therefore it is that the apostle rejects with such abhorrence that 
 blasphemous supposition, that the law of God is either sin itself, or the 
 cause of sin. God forbid that we should suppose it is the cause of sin, 
 because it is the discoverer of it ; because it detects the hidden things ol 
 darkness, and drags them out into open day. It is true, by this means, 
 (as the apostle observes, verse 13,) " Sin appears to be sin." All its 
 disguises are torn away, and it appears in its native deformity. It 
 is true likewise, that " sin by the commandment, becomes exceeding 
 sinful :" Being now committed against light and knowledge, being strip- 
 ped even of the poor plea of ignorance, it loses its excuse, as well as 
 disguise, and becomes far more odious both to God and man. Yea, 
 and it is true, that " sin worketh death by that which is good ;" which 
 in itself is pure and holy. When it is dragged out to light, it rages the 
 more : when it is restrained it bursts out with greater violence. Thus 
 the apostle, (speaking in the person of one who was convinced of sin, but 
 not yet delivered from it,) " Sin taking occasion by the commandment," 
 detecting and endeavouring to restrain it, disdained the restraint, and 
 so much the more, "-wrought in me all manner of concupiscence," 
 ver. 8; all manner of foolish and hurtful desire, which that commandment 
 sought to restrain. Thus, " when the commandment came, sin revived," 
 verse 9 : It fretted and raged the more. But this is no stain on the com- 
 mandment. Though it is abused, it cannot be defiled. This only proves, 
 that " the heart of man is desperately wicked." But the law of God is 
 holy still. 
 
 5. And it is, secondly, just. It renders to all their due. It prescribes 
 exactly what is right, precisely what ought to be done, said or thought, 
 both with regard to the Author of our being, with regard to ourselves,
 
 SERMON XXXIV.] PROPERTIES OP THE LAW. 339 
 
 ind with regard to every creature which he has made. It is adapted 
 in all respects, to the nature of things, of the whole universe, and ever) 
 individual. It is suited to all the circumstances of each, and to all theii 
 mutual relations, whether such as have existed from the beginning, 01 
 such as commenced in any following period. It is exactly agreeable to 
 th? fitness of things, whether essential or accidental. It clashes with 
 none of these in any degree ; nor is ever unconnected with them. If the 
 word be taken in that sense, there is nothing arbitrary in the law of 
 God. Although still the whole and every part thereof is totally depend- 
 ant upon his will ; so that " Thy will be done," is the supreme univer- 
 sal law, both in earth and heaven. 
 
 6. " But is the will of God the cause of his law ? Is his will the 
 original of right and wrong 1 Is a thing therefore right, because God 
 wills it ? or, does he will it, because it is right ?" 
 
 I fear this celebrated question is more curious than useful. And 
 perhaps in the manner it is usually treated of, it does not so well consist 
 with the regard that is due from a creature, to the Creator and Governor 
 of all things. It is hardly decent for man, to call the supreme God to 
 give an account to him. Nevertheless, with awe and reverence we 
 may speak a little : the Lord pardon us if we speak amiss ! 
 
 7. It seems then, that the whole difficulty arises from considering 
 God's will as distinct fiom God : otherwise it vanishes away. For none 
 can doubt, but God is the cause of the law of God. But the will of God 
 is God himself. It is God considered as willing thus or thus. Conse- 
 quently, to say, the will of God, or that God himself, is the cause of the 
 law, is one and the same thing. 
 
 8. Again : If the law, the immutable rule of right and wrong, depends 
 on the nature and fi'nesses of things, and on their essential relations to 
 each other ; (I do njt say, their eternal relations ; because the eternal 
 relation of things existing in time, is little less than a contradiction ;) if, 
 I say, this depends on the nature and relations of things, then it must 
 depend on God, or the will of God; because those things themselves, 
 with all their relations, are the works of his hands. By his will, " for 
 his pleasure" alone, they all " are and were created." 
 
 9. And yet it may be granted, (which is probably all that a consider 
 ate person would contend for,) that in every particular oase, God vvilis 
 this or this, (suppose that men should honour their parents,) because it 
 is right, agreeable to the fitness of things, to the relation wherein they 
 stand. 
 
 10. The law then is right and just concerning all things. And it is 
 good as well as just. This we may easily infer from the fountain whence 
 it flowed. For what was this, but the goodness of God ? What but good- 
 ness alone inclined him to impart that divine copy of himself to the holy 
 angels ? To what else can we impute his bestowing upon man the same 
 transcript of his own nature ? And what but tender love constrained 
 him afresh to manifest his will to fallen man, either to Adam or any 
 of his seed, who like him were " come short of the glory of God ?" 
 Was it not mere love that moved him to publish his law, after the 
 understandings of men were darkened ? And to send his prophets to 
 declare that law, to the blind, thoughtless children of men ? Doubt- 
 less his goodness it was which raised up Enoch and Noah to be 
 preachers of righteousness ; which caused Abraham, his friend, and
 
 340 PROPERTIES OF THE LAW. [SERMON XXXIV. 
 
 Isaac, and Jacob, to bear witness to his iruth. It was his goodness 
 alone, which when, " darkness had covered the earth, and thick dark- 
 ness the people," gave a written law to Moses, and through him to the 
 nation whom he had chosen. It was love which explained these living 
 oracles by David and all the prophets that followed ; until when the ful- 
 ness of time was come, he sent his only begotten Son, " not to destroy 
 the law, but to fulfil," confirm every jot and tittle thereof; till, having 
 wrote it in the hearts of all his children, and put all his enemies under 
 his feet, " he shall deliver up [his mediatorial] kingdom to the Father, 
 that God may be all in all." 
 
 11. And this law, which the goodness of God gave at first, and has 
 preserved through all ages, is like the fountain from whence it springs, 
 full of goodness and benignity ; it is mild and kind ; it is, as the Psalm- 
 ist expresses it, " sweeter than honey and the honey comb." It is win- 
 ning and amiable. It includes " whatsoever things are lovely or of 
 good report. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise" before God 
 and his holy angels, they are all comprised in this; wherein are hid all 
 the treasures of the divine wisdom, and knowledge, and love. 
 
 12. And it is good in its effects, as well as in its nature. As the tree 
 is, so arc its fruits. The fruits of the law of God written in the heart, 
 are " righteousness, and peace, and assurance for ever." Or rather, the 
 law itself is righteousness, filling the soul with a peace that passeth all 
 understanding, and causing us to rejoice evermore, in the testimony of a 
 good conscience towards God. It is not so properly a pledge, as " an 
 earnest of our inheritance," being a part of the purchased posses- 
 sion. It is God made manifest in our flesh, and bringing with him 
 eternal life ; assuring us, by that pure and perfect love, that we are 
 "sealed unto the day of redemption ;" that he will " spare us as a man 
 spareth his own son that serveth him," " in that day when he maketh up 
 his jewels ;" and that there remaineth for us " a crown of glory which 
 fadeth not away." 
 
 IV. 1. It remains only to show, in the fourth and last place, the uses 
 of the law. And the first use of it, without question, is, to convince the 
 world of sin. This is, indeed, the peculiar work of the Holy Ghost ; who 
 can work it without any means at all, or by whatever means it pleaseth 
 him, however insufficient in themselves, or even improper to produce 
 such an effect. And accordingly some there are, whose hearts have 
 been broken in pieces in a moment, either in sickness or in health, 
 without any visible cause, or any outward means whatever ; and others 
 (one in an age) have been awakened to a sense of the " wrath of God 
 abiding on them," by hearing, that " God was in Christ, reconciling the 
 world unto himself." But it is the ordinary method of the Spirit of God, 
 to convict sinners by the law. It is this, which, being set home on the 
 conscience, generally breaketh the rocks in pieces. It is more espe- 
 cially this part of the word of God, which is wv xai sve^yrs, quick and 
 powerful, full of life and energy, " and sharper than any two edged 
 sword." This, in the hand of God and of those whom he hath sent, 
 pierces through all the folds of a deceitful heart, and " divides asunder 
 even the soul and the spirit;" yea, as it were, the very "joints and 
 marrow." By this is the sinner discovered to himself. All his fig leaves 
 re torn away, and he sees that he is " wretched, and poor, and misera- 
 ble and blind, and naked." The law flashes conviction on every side.
 
 SERMON XXXIV.] PROPERTIES OF THE LAW. 341 
 
 He feels himself a mere sinner. He has nothing to pay. His " mouth 
 in stopped," and he stands " guilty before God." 
 
 2. To slay the sinner is then the first use of the law ; to destroy the 
 life and strength wherein he trusts, and convince him that he is dead 
 while he liveth; not only under the sentence of death, but actually dead 
 unto God, void of all spiritual life, " dead in trespasses and sins." The 
 second use of it is, to bring him unto life, unto Christ, that he may live. 
 It is true, in performing both these offices, it acts the part of a severe 
 school master. It drives us by force, rather than draws us by love. 
 And yet love is the spring of all. It is the spirit of love, which, by this 
 painful means, tears away our confidence in the flesh, which leaves us 
 no broken reed whereon to trust, and so constrains the sinner, stripped 
 of all, to cry out in the bitterness of his soul, or groan in the depth of 
 his heart, 
 
 " I give up every plea beside, 
 Lord, I am damn'd ; but thou hast died." 
 
 3. The third use of the law is, to keep us alive. It is the grand means 
 whereby the blessed Spirit prepares the believer for larger communica- 
 tions of the life of God. 
 
 I am afraid this great and important truth is little understood, not 
 only by the world, but even by many whom God hath taken out of the 
 world, who are real children of God by faith. Many of these lay it down 
 as an unquestioned truth, that when we come to Christ, we have done 
 with the law ; and that, in this sense, " Christ is the end of the law to 
 every one that believeth." " The end of the law:" so he is, " for 
 righteousness," for justification, " to every one that believeth." Herein 
 the law is at an end. It justifies none, but only brings them to Christ ; 
 who is also, in another respect, the end, or scope of the law, the point 
 at which it continually aims. But whe-n it has brought us to him, it has 
 yet a farther office, namely, to keep us with him. For it is continually 
 exciting all believers, the more they see of its height, and depth, and 
 length, and breadth, to exhort one another so much the more, 
 
 " Closer and closer let us cleave 
 
 To his beloved embrace ; 
 Expect his fulness to receive, 
 And grace to answer grace." 
 
 4. Allowing then, that every believer has done with the law, as it 
 means the Jewish ceremonial law, or the entire Mosaic dispensation ; 
 (for these Christ hath taken out of the way ;) yea, allowing we have 
 done with the moral law, as a means of procuring our justification ; for 
 we are "justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in 
 Jesus ; yet, in another sense, we have not done with this law : for it is 
 still of unspeakable use, first, in convincing us of the sin that yet remains 
 both in our hearts and lives, and thereby keeping us close to Christ, that 
 his blood may cleanse us every moment ; secondly, in deriving strength 
 from our Head into his living members, whereby he empowers them to 
 do what his law commands ; and, thirdly, in confirming our hope of 
 whatsoever it commands and we have not yet attained, of receiving 
 grace upon grace, till we are in actual possession of the fulness of his 
 promises. 
 
 5. How clearly does this agree with the experience of every true 
 believer ! While he cries out, " Oh what love have I unto thy law ! ail
 
 342 PROPERTIES OF THE LAW. [SERMON XXXIV. 
 
 the day long is my study in it ;" he sees daily, in that divine mirror, 
 more and more of his own sinfulness. He sees more and more clearly, 
 that he is still a sinner in all things, that neither his heart nor his ways 
 are right before God ; and that every moment sends him to Christ. This 
 shows him the meaning of what is written, " Thou shalt make a plate of 
 pure gold, and grave upon it, Holiness to the Lord. And it shall be upon 
 Aaron's forehead," [the type ot our great High Priest.,] " that Aaron 
 may bear the iniquity of the holy things, which the children of Israel 
 shall hallow, in all their holy gifts :" [so far are our prayers or holy 
 things from atoning for the rest of our sin !] " And it shall be always 
 upon his forehead, that they mav be accepted before the Lord," Excd. 
 xxviii, 36, 38. 
 
 6. To explain this by a single instance : the law says, " Thou shall 
 not kill :" and hereby, (as our Lord teaches,) forbids not only outward 
 acts, but every unkind word or thought. Now the more I look into this 
 perfect law, the more I feel how far I come short of it ; and the more I 
 feel this, the more I feel my need of his blood to atone for all my sin, 
 and of his Spirit to purify my heart, and make me " perfect and entire, 
 lacking nothing." 
 
 7. Therefore, I cannot spare the law one moment, no more than 1 
 can spare Christ : seeing I now want it as much, to keep me to Christ, 
 as I ever wanted it to bring me to him. Otherwise, this " evil heart of 
 unbelief" would immediately " depart from the living God." Indeed 
 each is continually sending me to the other, the law to Christ, and 
 Christ to the law. On the one hand, the height and depth of the law 
 constrain me to fly to the love of God in Christ; on the other, the love 
 of God in Christ endears the law to me " above gold or precious stones ;" 
 seeing I know every part of it is a gracious promise, which my Lord will 
 fulfil in its season. 
 
 8. Who art thou, then, oh man, that " judgest the law, and speakest 
 evil of the law 1" That rankest it with sin, Satan, and death, and 
 sendest them all to hell together ? The apostle James esteemed judging 
 or "speaking evil of the law," so enormous a piece of wickedness, thai 
 he knew not how. to aggravate the guilt of judging our brethren more, 
 than by showing it included this. " So now," says he, " thou art not a 
 doer of the law, but a judge !" A judge of that which God hath ordained 
 to judge thee ! So thou hast set up thyself in the judgment seat of Christ, 
 and cast down the rule whereby he will judge the world ! Oh take know 
 ledge what advantage Satan hath gained over thee ; and, for the time to 
 come, never think or speak lightly of, much less dress up as a scarecrow, 
 this blessed instrument of the grace of God. Yea, love and value it for 
 the sake of him from whom it came, and of him to whom it leads. Let 
 it be thy glory and joy, next to the cross of Christ. Declare its praise, 
 and make it honourable before all men. 
 
 9. And if thou art thoroughly convinced, that it is the offspring of God, 
 that it is the copy of all his inimitable perfections, and that it is " holy, 
 and just, and good," but especially to them that believe ; then, instead 
 of casting it away as a polluted thing, see that thoi' cleave to it more 
 and more. Never let the law of mercy and truth, of love to God and 
 man, of lowliness, meekness, ai.d purity, forsake thee. " Bind it about 
 thy neck ; write it on the table of thy heart." Keep close to the law, 
 if iliou wilt keep close to Christ; hold it fast; let it not go. Let this
 
 SERMON XXXV, XXXVI.] THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. 343 
 
 continually lead thee to the atoning blood, continually confitm thy nope, 
 till all the ' righteousness of the law is fulfilled in thee," and thou art 
 ' filled with all the fulness of God." 
 
 10. And if thy Lord hath already fulfilled his word, if he hath already 
 14 written his luw in thy heart," then '* stand fast in the liberty where 
 with Christ hath made thee free." Thou art not only made free from 
 Jewish ceremonies, from the guilt of sin, and the fear of hell ; (these 
 are so far from being the whole, that they are the least and lowest part 
 of Christian liberty ;) but what is infinitely more, from the power of sin, 
 from serving the devil, from offending God. Oh stand fast in this liber 
 ty ; in comparison of which, all the rest is not even worthy to be named ! 
 stand fast in loving God with all thy heart, and serving him with all thy 
 strength ! This is perfect freedom ; thus to keep his law, and to walk in 
 all his commandments blameless. " Be not entangled again with the 
 yoke of bondage." 1 do not mean of Jewish bondage; nor yet of bondage 
 to the fear of hell : these, I trust, are far from thee. But beware of being 
 entangled again with the yoke of sin, of any inward or outward trans- 
 gression of the law. Abhor sin far more than death or hell ; abhor sin 
 itself, far more than the punishment of it. Beware of the bondage of 
 pride, of desire, of anger ; of every evil temper, or word, or work. 
 " Look unto Jesus," and in order thereto, look " more and more into 
 the perfect law, the law of liberty ;" and " continue therein ;" so shalt 
 thou daily " grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 SERMONS XXXV. AND XXXVLTke Law established 
 through Faith. 
 
 ' Do we then make void the Law through Faitk ! God forbid : yea, we 
 establish the Law. " Rom. iii. 31. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THE Gospel presents the only way of salvation ; and stands 
 opposed to a legal justification ; but not as some suppose to 
 the law itself. The law is so closely connected with the 
 Gospel, that to destroy one is to destroy both. We must, there- 
 fore, carefully guard against making void the law through 
 faith. 
 
 I. Consider the most usual methods of making void the 
 law through faith. 
 
 By never preaching the law. The gospel cannot answer 
 the ends proposed in preaching the law. There is neither 
 command nor precedent in Scripture for ottering Christ to the 
 unawakened sinner. The example of Paul in illustration. 
 Preaching the merits of Christ may give the most comfort, 
 but will prove a real blessing only to thfse who are prepared 
 for it.
 
 344 THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. [SERMONS XXXV, XXXVI. 
 
 II. By teaching that faith supersedes the necessity of 
 holiness ; that holiness is less necessary now than before 
 Christ came ; or that a less degree of it is necessary ; or that it 
 is less necessary to believers than to others. It is true that 
 we are not under the covenant of works ; and that we are 
 justified by faith without deeds of the law, as a previous con- 
 dition ; but not without deeds of the law as an immediate fruit, 
 without which faith is nothing worth. 
 
 III. In fact; living as if faith excused us from holiness. 
 The Christian is not under the law, ceremonial or Mosaic ; nor 
 under the moral law as the condition of acceptance ; nor under 
 its sentence of wrath. But he is under the gracious principle 
 of love, which should be as sensitive to all sin as the prin- 
 ciple of fear. 
 
 Recapitulation. 
 
 II. Methods of establishing the law. 
 
 I. By preaching it, in its whole extent, as Christ did. In 
 its full literal sense, and in its spiritual meaning. 
 
 II. By so preaching faith as to produce holiness. Faith is 
 not an end itself but a process to love. Love is from eternity 
 and to' eternity. Faith is designed only to re-establish the 
 law of love. 
 
 III. By establishing it in our own hearts and lives. This 
 can only be done by faith. Walking by faith, we go swiftly on 
 in the way of holiness, especially when oar faith is the full 
 confidence of love. Love i'ultils not only the negative, but 
 also the positive law ; not only in outward act, but also in 
 inward spirit. In the light of faith the conscience becomes 
 more than ever tender to ily from sin. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 In these two sermons we have brought into the most distinct promin- 
 ence, the opposition of the true evangelical doctrine to all Antinomianism. 
 As early as 1740 Mr. Wesley found it necessary to contend against the 
 Antinomianism of the Moravians, which he describes as follows : (See 
 Journals, Sept. 1741.) " You undervalue good works (especially works 
 of outward mercy,) never publicly insisting on the necessity of them, nor 
 declaring their weight and excellency. Hence, when some of your 
 brethren have spoken of them, they put them on a wrong foot, viz. : 
 4 If you find yourself moved, if your heart is Iree to it, then reprove, 
 exhort, Telifve. By this means you wholly avoid the taking up your 
 cross, :n order to do good ; and also substitute an uncertain, precarious 
 inward m>tion in the place of the plain written word. Nay, one of your 
 memben has said of good works in general, (whether works of piety or 
 charity,) ' A believer is no more obliged to do these works oi the law, 
 than a siJject of the King of England is obliged to obey the laws of the 
 Kin^' of i^ance.'" The reader is familiar with the plain reference to 
 this form o r Antinomianism in the rules of society, dated 1743. In the 
 doctrinal &, -nutes of the first Conference, 1744, we find the following 
 to >\is, as well as the Calvinistic form of Antinomianism :
 
 ssR\n;s xtx /, xxxvi ] THE LA.W i STABLISHED BY FAITH. 345 
 
 Q. " What is Antinomianism I 
 
 A. " The doctrine which makes void the law through iuith. 
 
 Q. " What are the main pillars hereof 1 
 
 A. " 1. That Christ abolished the moral law. 
 
 " 2. That, therefore, Christians are not obliged to observe it 
 
 " 3. That one branch of Christian liberty is, liberty from obeying the 
 commandments of God. 
 
 " 4. That it is bondage to do a thing because it is commanded, or for- 
 bear it because it is forbidden. 
 
 " 5. That a believer is not obliged to use the ordinances of God, or to 
 do good works. 
 
 " 6. That a preacher ought not to exhort to good works ; not unbe- 
 lievers, because it is hurtful ; not believers, because it is needless." 
 
 About the date of these minutes some of Whitefield's followers had 
 become avowed Antinomians. The utterly licentious tendency of their 
 teachings will scarcely bear repetition, but it stirred Mr. Wesley to 
 strenuous efforts to counteract the poison ; and about the years 1744 and 
 1745, he published the tracts entitled " Dialogues Between an Antinomian 
 and his Friend.'' These tracts are almost as valuable in view of the 
 errors of our own time as they were a hundred years ago. 
 
 At first the great majority of the Calvinistic Methodists were free 
 from direct Antinomian teaching ; but the leaven seems to have spread 
 until, in the year 1770, Mr. Wesley found it necessary to make a vigorous 
 protest in Conference against the growing evil, which he did in the 
 following extract from the Minutes : 
 
 " We said, in 1744, ' We have leaned too much toward Calvinism.' 
 Wherein 1 
 
 " 1. With regard to man's faithfulness. Our Lord himself taught us to 
 use the expression. And we ought never to be ashamed of it. We 
 ought steadily to assert, on His authority, that if a man is not ' faithful 
 in the unrighteous mammon,' God will not ' give him the true riches.' 
 
 " 2. v\ ith regard to working for life. This also our Lord has expressly 
 commanded us. Labour, Ep-yafrafle, literally, work for the meat that 
 endureth to everlasting life.' And, in fact, every believer, till he comes 
 to glory, works for, as well as front, life. 
 
 " 3. We have received it as a maxim, that ' a man is to do nothing in 
 order to justification.' Nothing can be more false. Whoever desires to 
 find favour with God should ' cease from evil,' and ' learn to do well.' 
 Whoever repents should do ' works meet for repentance.' And if this is 
 not in order to find tavour, what does he do them for ? " 
 
 " Review the whole affair. 
 
 " 1. Who of us is now accepted of God ] He that now believes in 
 Christ, with a loving, obedient heart. 
 
 " But who among those who never heard of Christ ? He that feareth 
 God and worketh righteousness according to the light he has. 
 
 " 3. Is this the same with ' he that is sincere ?' Nearly, if not quite. 
 
 " 4. Is not this salvation by works ? Not by the merit of works, but 
 by works as a condition. 
 
 " 5. What have we then been disputing about for these thirty years 1 
 I am afraid about words. 
 
 " 6. As to merit itself, of which we have been so dreadfully afraid, we 
 are rewarded according to our works, yea, because of our works. How 
 does this differ from, for the sake of our works ? And how differs this 
 from ' secundum menta operurn,?' 'As our works deserve 1' Can you 
 split this hair ? I doubt I cannot.
 
 346 THE LAW ESTAB'.T^HFD BY FAITH. [SKRMOJT TVVV. 
 
 " 7. The grand objection to one of the preceding propositions is drawn 
 from matter of fact. God does, in fact, justify those who by their own 
 confession, ' neither feared God nor wrought righteousness.' Is this an 
 exception to the general rule ? It is a doubt whether God makes any 
 exception at all. But how are we sure that the person in question never 
 did ' fear God and work righteousness 1 ' His own saying so is not proof; 
 for we know how all that are convinced of sin undervalue themselves in 
 every respect. 
 
 " 8. Does not talking of a justified or sanctified state tend to mislead 
 men 1 Almost naturally leading them to trust in what was done in one 
 moment 1 Whereas we are every hour and every moment pleasing or 
 displeasing God, according to our works ; according to the whole of our 
 inward tempers and outward behaviour." 
 
 These propositions seem to lie on the very verge of legality. Their 
 interpretation must be guarded by the fundamental principles of evan- 
 gelicyl religion already laid down ; and thus guarded, they defend and 
 enforce the great fact that under the Gospel the Christian is in a state, of 
 genuine probation; and that the immutable claims of God's law are 
 neither minified nor evaded by the Gospel. For the exposition and 
 defence of the minutes, the student must refer to the great work of the 
 Rev. John Fletcher, M.A. 
 
 One of the latest authorative documents prepared by Mr. Wesley's 
 hand bears upon this subject. In preparing articles of religion for the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, he omitted from the thirty-nine articles, 
 Art. xiii, ' Of good works before Justification.' This article was evidently 
 intended to meet the Tridentine doctrine of merit of congruity in works 
 of penitence as a condition of justification. The omission is of especial 
 interest in view of the use he has made of this same article in sermon v. 
 
 SEEMOX XXXV. 
 
 DISCOURSE I. 
 
 1. ST. PAUL, having in the beginning of this epistle, laid down his 
 general proposition, namely, that " The gospel of Christ is the power 
 of God unto salvation, to every, one that believeth ;" the powerful 
 means, whereby God makes every believer a partaker of present and 
 eternal salvation ; goes on to show, that there is no other way under 
 heaven, whereby men can be saved. He speaks particularly of salva- 
 tion from the guilt of sin, which he commonly terms justification. And 
 that all men stood in need of this, that none could pJead their own inno* 
 cence, he proves at large by various arguments, addressed to the Jews 
 as well as the heathens. Hence he infers, (in the 19th verse of this 
 chapter,) "That every mouth," whether of Jew or heathen, must be 
 stopped from excusing or justifying himself, u and all the world become 
 guilty before God." " Therefore," saith he, by his own obedience, " by 
 the woks of the law, shall no flesh be justified in his sight." " But now 
 the righteousness of God without the law," without our previous obe- 
 dience thereto, " is manifested ;" " even the righteousness of God, 
 which is by faith of Jesus Christ, unto all and upon all that believe :" 
 " For there is no difference," as to their need of justification, or the 
 manner wherein they attain it ; " for all have sinned and come short 
 of the glory of God ;" the glorious image of God wherein they were 
 created : and all (who attain) " are justified freely by his grace, through
 
 SERMON XXXV.] THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. 347 
 
 the redemption that is in Jesus Christ, whom God hath sef forth to he 
 a propitiation, through faith in his blood ; that he might be just, and 
 yet the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus ;" that without any 
 impeachment to his justice, he might show him mercy for the sake of 
 that propitiation. " Therefore we conclude, [which was the grand 
 position he had undertaken to establish,] that a man is justified by faith, 
 without the works of the law," verse 20-28. 
 
 2. It was easy to foresee an objection which might be made, and 
 which has in fact been made in all ages; namely, That to say we are 
 justified without the works ot the law, is to abolish the law. The apos- 
 tle, without entering into a formal dispute, simply denies the charge. 
 " Do we then," says he, " make void the law through faith ? God for- 
 bid ! Yea, we establish the law." 
 
 3. The strange imagination of some, that St. Paul, when he says, 
 " A man is justified without the works of the law," means only the 
 ceremonial law, is abundantly confuted by these very words. For did 
 St. Paul establish the ceremonial law ? It is evident, he did not. He 
 did make void that law through faith, and openly avowed his doing so. 
 It was the moral law only, of which he might truly say, We do not 
 make void, but establish this, through faith. 
 
 4. But all men are not herein of his mind. Many there are who will 
 not agree to this. Many in all ages of the church, even among those 
 who bore the name of Christians, have contended, that " the faith once 
 delivered to the saints" was designed to make void the whole law 
 They would no more spare the moral than the ceremonial law, but were 
 for "hewing," as it were, "both in pieces before the Lord;" vehe- 
 mently maintaining, " If jou establish any law, Christ shall profit you 
 nothing ; Christ is become of no effect to you ; ye are fallen from grace." 
 
 5. But is the zeal of these men according to knowledge ? Have they 
 observed the connection between the law and faith, and that, consider- 
 ing the close connection between them, to destroy one is indeed to 
 destroy both 1 That, to abolish the moral law, is, in truth, to abolish 
 faith and the law together ; as leaving no proper means, either of bring- 
 ing us to faith, or of stirring up that gift of God in our soul 1 
 
 6. It therefore behooves all, who desire either to come to Christ, or 
 to walk in him whom they have received, to take heed how they "make 
 void the law through faith ;" to secure us effectually against which, let 
 us inquire, first, Which are the most usual ways of " making void the 
 law through faith ?" And, secondly, How we may follow the apostle, 
 and by faith establish the law ? 
 
 1. 1. Let us, first, inquire, What are the most usual ways of making 
 void the law through faith 7 Now the way for a preacher to make it all 
 void at a stroke is, not to preach it at all. This is just the same thing 
 as to blot it out of the oracles of God. More especially, when it is done 
 with design ; when it is made a rule, not to preach the law ; and tho 
 very phrase, " a preacher of the law," is used as a term of reproach, as 
 though it meant little less than an enemy to the gospel. 
 
 2. AH this proceeds from the deepest ignorance of the nature, pro- 
 perties, and use of the law ; and proves, that those who act thus, either 
 know not Christ, are utter strangers to living faith, or, at least, that 
 they are but babes in Christ, and, as such, " unskilled in the word of 
 righteousness."
 
 THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. [SERMON XXXV. 
 
 3. Their grand plea is this : Thai preaching the gospel, that is, 
 according to their judgment, the speaking of nothing but the suffering? 
 and merits of Christ, answers all the ends of the law. But this we utterly 
 deny. It does not answer the very first end of the law, namely, The 
 convincing men of sin ; the awakening those who are still asleep on the 
 blink of hell. There may have been here and there an exempt case. 
 One in a thousand may have been awakened by the gospel : but this 
 is no general rule: the ordinary method of God, is to convict sinners 
 by the law, and that only. The gospel is not the means which God 
 hath ordained, or which our Lord himself used, for this end. We have 
 no authority in Scripture for applying it thus, nor any ground to think 
 it will prove effectual. Nor have we any more ground to expect this, 
 from the nature of the thing. " They that be whole," as our Lord 
 himself observes, " need not a physician, but they that are sick." It is 
 absurd, therefore, to offer a physician to them that are whole, or that at 
 least imagine themselves so to be. You are first to convince them that 
 they are sick ; otherwise they will not thank you for your labour. It is 
 equally absurd to offer Christ to them whose heart is whole, having never 
 yet been broken. It is, in the proper sense," casting pearls before swine." 
 Doubtless" they will trample them under foot;" and it is no more than 
 you have reason to expect, if they also " turn again and rend you." 
 
 4. " But although there is no command in Scripture, to offer Christ 
 to the careless sinner, yet are there not scriptural precedents for it ?" 
 I think not : I know not any. I believe you cannot produce one, 
 either from the four evangelists, or the Acts of the Apostles. Neither 
 can you prove this to have been the practice of any of the apostles, from 
 any passage in all their writings. 
 
 5. " Nay, does not the apostle Paul say, in his former epistle to the 
 Corinthians, ' We preach Christ crucified 1' chap, i, 23 : and in this lafc- 
 ter, ' We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord ?' " chap, iv, 5 
 
 We consent to rest the cause on this issue ; to tread in his steps ; to 
 follow his example. Only preach you, just as Paul preached, and the 
 dispute is at an end. 
 
 For although we are certain he preached Christ in as perfect a man- 
 ner as the very chief of the apostles,yet who preached the law more than 
 St. Paul 1 Therefore he did not think the gospel answered the same end. 
 
 6. The very first sermon of St. Paul's, which is recorded, concludea 
 in these words : " By him all that believe are justified from all things, 
 from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses. Beware, 
 tnerefore, lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets, 
 Behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish. For I work a work in 
 your days, a work which you will in no wise believe, though a man 
 declare it unto you," Acts xiii, 39, &,c. Now it is manifest, all this is 
 preaching the law, in the sense wherein you understand the term ; even 
 although great part of, if not all his hearers, were either Jews, or reli- 
 gious proselytes, ver. 43, and, therefore, probably many of them, in some 
 degree at least, convinced of sin already. He first reminds them that 
 they could not be justified by the law of Moses, but only by faith in 
 Christ; and then severely threatens them with the judgments of God, 
 which is, in the strongest sense, preaching the law. 
 
 7. In his next discourse, that to the heathens at Lystra, Acts xiv, 15, 
 &c, we do not find so much as the name of Christ : the whole purport
 
 SERMON XXXV.] THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. 349 
 
 of it is, that they should " turn from those vain idols, unto the living 
 God." Now confess the truth Do not you think, if you had been 
 there, you could have preached much better than he ? I should not 
 wonder if you thought too, that his preaching so ill occasioned his being 
 so ill treated; and that his being stoned was a just judgment upon him 
 for not preaching Christ! 
 
 8. To the jailer indeed, when " he sprang in and came trembling, 
 and fell down before Paul and Silas, and said, Sirs, What must I do to 
 be saved ?" he immediately said, " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ," 
 Acts xvi, 29, &c ; and in the case of one so deeply convinced of sin, 
 who would not have said the same ? But to the men of Athens you find 
 him speaking in a quite different manner ; reproving their superstition, 
 ignorance, and idolatry ; and strongly moving them to repent, from the 
 consideration of a future judgment, and of the resurrection from the 
 dead, chap, xvii, 24-31. Likewise when Felix sent for Paul, on pur- 
 pose that he might " hear him concerning the faith in Christ ;" instead 
 of preaching Christ in your sense, (which would probably have caused 
 the governor, either to rnock or to contradict and blaspheme,) '' he rea- 
 soned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come," till Felix 
 (hardened as he was) " trembled," chap, xxiv, 24, 25. Go thou, and 
 tread in his steps. Preach Christ to the careless sinner, by reasoning 
 " of righteousness, temperance, arid judgment to come !" 
 
 9. If you say, " But he preached Christ in a different manner in his 
 epistles." 1 answer, He did not there preach at all ; not in that sense 
 wherein we speak : for preaching, in our present question, means 
 speaking before a congregation. But waiving this : I answer, 2. His 
 epistles are directed not to unbelievers, such as those we are now 
 speaking of, hut " to the saints of God," in Rome, Corinth, Philippi, 
 and other places. Now, unquestionably, he would speak more of 
 Christ to these, than to those who were without God in the world. 
 And yet, 3. Every one of these is full of the law, even the epistles to 
 the Romans and the Galatians : in both of which he does what you 
 term " preaching the law," and that to believers as well as unbelievers. 
 
 10. From hence it is plain, you know not what it is to preach Christ, 
 in the sense of the apostle. For doubtless St. Paul judged himself to 
 be preaching Christ, both to Felix, and at Antioch, Lystra, and Athens : 
 From whose example every thinking man must infer, that not only the 
 declaring the love of Christ to sinners, but also the declaring that 
 he will come from heaven in flaming fire, is, in the apostle's sense, 
 preaching Christ ; yea, in the full scriptural meaning of the word. To 
 preach Christ, is to preach what he hath revealed, either in the'Old or 
 New Testament ; so that you are then as really preaching Christ, 
 when you are saying, " The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all 
 the people that forget God," as when you are saying, "Behold the 
 Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world !" 
 
 11. Consider this well : that to preach Christ, is to preach all things 
 that Christ hath spoken ; all his promises ; all his threatenings and 
 commands ; all that is written in his book ; and then you will know 
 how to preach Christ without making void the law. 
 
 12. " But does not the greatest blessing attend those discourses, 
 wherein we peculiarly preach the merits and sufferings of Christ ?" 
 
 Probably when we preach to a congregation of mourners, or of
 
 350 THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. [SERMON XXXV. 
 
 believers, these will be attended with the greatest blessing ; because 
 duch discourses are peculiarly suited to their state. At least these will 
 usually convey the most comfort. But this is not always the greatest 
 blessing. I may sometimes receive a far greater by a discourse that 
 cuts me to the heart, and humbles me to the dust. Neither should f. 
 receive that comfort, if I were to preach or to hear no discourses but 
 on the sufferings of Christ. These, by constant repetition, would lose 
 their force, and grow more and more flat and dead, till at length they 
 would become a dull round of words, without any spirit, or life, or 
 virtue. So that thus to preach Christ, must, in process of time, make 
 void the gospel as well as the law. 
 
 II. 1. A second way of making void the law through faith, is the 
 teaching that faith supersedes the necessity of holiness. This divides 
 itself into a thousand smaller paths, and many there are that walk 
 therein. Indeed there are few that wholly escape it ; few who are 
 convinced, we are saved by f.iith, but are sooner or later, more or less, 
 drawn aside into this by-way. 
 
 2. All those are drau n into this by-way, who, if it be not their settled 
 judgment that faith in Christ entirely sets aside the necessity of keeping 
 his law; yet suppose either, 1. That holiness is less necessary no\v 
 ehan it was before Christ came ; or, 2. That a less degree of it is neces- 
 sary ; or, 3. That it is less necessary to believers lhan to others. Yea, 
 and so are all those who, although their judgment be right in the 
 general, yet think they may take more liberty in particular cases, than 
 they could have done before they believed. Indeed, the using the 
 term liberty, in such a manner, for liberty from obedience or holiness, 
 shows at once, that their judgment is perverted, and that they are 
 guilty of what thoy imagined to be far from them; namely, of making 
 void the law through faith, by supposing faith to supersede holiness. 
 
 3. The first plea of those who teach this expressly, is, that " We 
 are now under the covenant of grace, not works; and therefore we are 
 no longer under the necessity of performing the works of the law." 
 
 And who ever was under the covenant of works ? None but Adam 
 before the fall. He was fully and properly under that covenant, which 
 required perfect, universal obedience, as the one condition of accept- 
 ance ; and left no place for pardon, upon the very least transgression. 
 But no man else was ever under this, neither Jew nor Gentile ; neither 
 before Christ nor since. All his sons were and are under the covenant 
 of grace. The manner of their acceptance is this : The free grace of God, 
 through the merits of Christ, gives pardon to them that believe ; with 
 such a faith as. working by love, produces all obedience and holiness. 
 
 4. The case is not, therefore, as you suppose, that men were once 
 more obliged to obey God, or to work the works of his law, than they 
 are now. This is a supposition you cannot make good. But we should 
 have been obliged, if we had been under the covenant of works, to have 
 done those works antecedent to our acceptance. Whereas now all 
 good works, though as necessary as ever, are not antecedent to our 
 acceptance, but consequent upon it. Therefore the nature of the cove- 
 nant of grace gives you no ground, no encouragement at all, to set aside 
 any instance or degree of obedience ; any part or measure of holiness. 
 
 5. " But are v/e not justified by faith, without the works of the law ?" 
 Undoubtedly we are, without the works either of the ceremonial or the
 
 SERMON XXXV.] THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. 351 
 
 moral law. And would to God all men were convinced of this ! It 
 would prevent innumerable evils ; Antinomianism in particular : for. 
 generally speaking, they are the Pharisees who make the Antinomians. 
 Running into an extreme so palpably contrary to Scripture, they occa- 
 sion others to run into the opposite one. These, seeking to be justified 
 by works, affright those from allowing any place for them. 
 
 6. But the truth lies between both. We are, doubtless, justified by 
 faith. This is the corner stone of the whole Christian building. We 
 are justified without the works of the law, as any previous condition of 
 justification : but they are an immediate fruit of that faith, whereby we 
 are justified. So that if good works do not follow our faith, even all 
 inward and outward holiness, it is plain our faith is nothing worth ; 
 we are yet in our sins. Therefore, that we are justified by faith, even 
 by faith without works, is no ground for making void the law through 
 faith ; or for imagining that faith is a dispensation from any kind or 
 degree of holiness. 
 
 7. " Nay, but does not St. Paul expressly say, ' Unto him that worketh 
 not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted 
 for righteousness ?' And does it not follow from hence, that faith is 
 to a believer in the room, in the place, of righteousness 1 But if faith is 
 in the room of righteousness or holiness, what need is there of this too 1" 
 
 This, it must be acknowledged, comes home to the point, and is in- 
 deed the main pillar of Antinomianism. And yet it needs not a long or 
 laboured answer. We allow, 1. That God justifies the ungodly; him 
 that, till that hour, is totally ungodly ; full of all evil, void of afl good : 
 2. That he justifies the ungodly that worketh not, that, till that mo- 
 ment, worketh no good work : neither can he ; for an evil tree cannot 
 bring forth good fruit : 3. That he justifies him by faith alone, with- 
 out any goodness or righteousness preceding : and, 4. That faith is 
 then counted to him for righteousness; namely, for preceding righteous- 
 ness : i. e. God, through the merits of Christ, accepts him that believes, 
 as if he had already fulfilled all righteousness. But what is all this to 
 your point ? The apostle does not say, either here or elsewhere, that 
 this faith is counted to him for subsequent righteousness. He does 
 teach, that there is no righteousness before faith. But where does he 
 teach that there is none after it 1 He does assert, holiness cannot pre- 
 cede, justification; but not, that it need not follow it. St. Paul, therefore, 
 gives you no colour for making void the law, by teaching that faith 
 supersedes the necessity of holiness. 
 
 III. 1. There is yet another way of making void the law through faith, 
 which is more common than either of the former. And that is, the 
 doing it practically; the making it void mfact, though not in principle; 
 the living, as if faith was designed to excuse us from holiness. 
 
 How earnestly does the apostle guard us against this, in those well 
 known words : " What then ? Shall we sin because we are not under 
 the law, but under grace ? God forbid :" Rom. vi, 15 : a caution 
 which it is needful thoroughly to consider, because it is of the last 
 importance. 
 
 2. The being "under the law," may here mean, 1. The being 
 obliged to observe the ceremonial law : 2. The being obliged to con- 
 form to the whole Mosaic institution : 3. The being obliged to keep 
 tl.e whole moral law, as the condition of our acceptance with God :
 
 352 THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. [SERMON XXXV. 
 
 and 4. The being under the wrath and curse of God ; under sentence of 
 eternal deatli ; under a sense of guilt and condemnation, full of horror 
 and slavish fear. 
 
 3. Now although a believer is " not without law to God, but under 
 the law to Christ," yet from the moment he believes, he is not " under 
 the law," in any of the preceding senses. On the contrary he is " undei 
 grace," under a more benign, gracious dispensation. As he is no 
 longer under the ceremonial law, nor under the Mosaic institution ; 
 as he is not obliged to keep even the moral law, as the condition of his 
 acceptance ; so he is delivered from the wrath and the curse of God, 
 from all sense of guilt and condemnation, and from all that horror aid 
 fear of death and hell, whereby he was all his life before subject to 
 bondage. And he now performs (which while " under the law" he 
 couid not do) a willing and universal obedience. He obeys not from the 
 motive of slavish fear, but on a nobler principle ; namely, the grace of God 
 ruling in his heart, and causing all his works to be wrought in love. 
 
 4. What then ? Shall this evangelical principle of action be less 
 powerful than the legal? Shall we be less obedient to God from filial 
 love, than we were from servile fear ? 
 
 It is well, if this is not a common case ; if this practical Antinomian- 
 ism, this unobserved way of making void the law through faith, has not 
 infected thousands of believers. 
 
 Has it not infected you ? Examine yourself honestly and closely. 
 Do you not do now, what you durst not have done when you was 
 " under the law," or (as we commonly call it) under conviction? For 
 instance : You durst not then indulge yourself in food : you took just 
 what was needful, and that of the cheapest kind. Do you not allow 
 yourself more latitude now? Do you not indulge yourself a little more 
 than you did? Oh beware, lest you "sin, because you pje not under 
 the law, but under grace !" 
 
 5. When you was under conviction, you durst not indulge the lust ol 
 the eye in any degree. You would not do any thing, great or small, 
 merely to gratify your curiosity. You regarded only cleanliness and 
 necessity, or at most very moderate convenience, either in furniture or 
 apparel ; superfluity and finery of whatever kind, as well as fashionable 
 elegance, were both a terror and an abomination to you. 
 
 Are they so still ? Is your conscience as tender now in these things, 
 as it was then ? Do you still follow the same rule both in furniture and 
 apparel, trampling all finery, all superfluity, every thing useless, every 
 thing merely ornamental, however fashionable, under foot ? Rather, 
 have you not resumed what you had once laid aside, and what you could 
 not then use without wounding your conscience ? And have you not 
 learned to say, " Oh, I am not so scrupulous now ?" I would to God 
 you were ! Then you would not sin thus, " because you are not under 
 the law, but under grace !" 
 
 6. You was once scrupulous too of commending any to their face, 
 and still more, of suffering any to commend you. It was a stab to your 
 heart ; you could not bear it ; you sought the honour that cometh of 
 God only. You could not endure such conversation ; nor any con- 
 versation which was not good to the use of edifying. All idle talk, all 
 trifling discourse, you abhorred ; you hated as well as feared it ; being 
 deeoiy sensible of the value of time, of e^ery precious fleeting moment.
 
 SERMON XXi'V.] TOE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. 353 
 
 In like IT inner, you dreaded and abhorred idle expense; raining your 
 money only less than your time, and trembling lest you should be foiu.d 
 an unfaithful steward even of the mammon of unrighteousness. 
 
 Do you now look upon praise as deadly poison, which you can neither 
 give nor receive but at the peril of your poult Do you still dread and 
 abhor all conversation, which does not tend to the use of edifying ; and 
 labour to improve every moment, that it may not pass without leaving 
 you better than it found you 1 Are not you leas careful as to the expense 
 both of money and time ? Cannot you now lay out either, as you could 
 not have done once ? Alas ! How has that " which should have been 
 for your health, proved to you an occasion of falling!" How have you 
 " sinned because you was not uder the law but under grace !" 
 
 7. God forbid you should any longer continue thus to " turn the 
 grace of God into lasciviousness !" Oh remember how clear and 
 strong a conviction you once had concerning all these things ! And, at 
 the same time, you was fully satisfied, from whom that conviction came. 
 The world told you, you was in a de'usion ; but you knew it was the 
 voice of God. In these things you was not too scrupulous then ; but 
 you are not now scrupulous enough. God kept you longer in that 
 painful school, that you might learn those great lessons the more per- 
 fectly. And have you forgot them already ? Oh recollect them before 
 it is too late ! Have you suffered so many things in vain ? I trust, it is 
 not yet in vain. Now use the conviction without the pain ! Practise 
 the lesson without the rod ! Let not the mercy of God weigh less with 
 you now, than his fiery indignation did before. Is love a less powerful 
 motive than fear? if not, let it be an invariable rule, "I will do no- 
 thing now I am 'under grace,' which I durst not have done when 
 'under the law.' " 
 
 8. I cannot conclude this head, without exhorting you to examine 
 j'ourself, likewise, touching sins of omission. Are you as clear of these, 
 now you " are under grace," as you was when "under the law ?" How 
 diligent was you then in hearing the word of God ? Did you neglect 
 any opportunity ? Did you not attend thereon day and night 1 Would 
 a small hinderance have kept you away ? A little business ? A visitant ? 
 A slight indisposition 1 A soft bed ? A dark or cold morning ? Did 
 not you then fast often ; or use abstinence to the uttermost of your 
 power? Was not you much in prayer, (cold and heavy as you was,) 
 while you was hanging over the mouth of hell ? Did you not speak ami 
 not spare even for an unknown God ? Did you not boldly plead his 
 cause ? reprove sinners ? and avow the truth before an adulterous 
 generation? And are you now a believer in Christ? Have you the 
 faith that overcometh the world ? What ! and are you less zealous for 
 your Master now, than you was when you knew him not? Less dili- 
 gent in fasting, in prayer, in hearing his word, in calling sinners to 
 God ? Oh repent ! See and feel your grievous loss ! Remember from 
 whence you are fallen ? Bewail your unfaithfulness ! Now be 7-ealous 
 and do the first works ; lest, if you continue to " make void the law 
 through faith," God cut you off, and appoint you your portion with tne 
 unbelievers !
 
 Tn LAW ESTABLISHED BF FAITH. [SERMON 
 
 SEHMON XXXVI. 
 
 DISCOUBSE II. 
 
 1. JT has been shown in the preceding discourse, which are the mo 
 usual methods of making void tne law through faith ; namely, first, the 
 not preaching it at all ; which effectually makes it all void at a stroke ; 
 and this under colour of preaching Christ and magnifying the gospel, 
 though it be, in truth, destroying both the one and the other : secondly, 
 the teaching, (whether directly or indirectly,) that faith supersedes the 
 necessity of holiness ; that this is less necessary now, or a less degree 
 of it necessary, than before Christ came ; that it is less necessary to us, 
 because we believe, than otherwise it would ha ye been ; or, that Chris- 
 tian liberty is a liberty from any kind or degree of holiness : (so per- 
 verting those great truths, that we are now under the covenant of grace, 
 and not of works ; that a man is justified by faith, without the works ol 
 the law ; and that " to him that vvorketh not, but believeth, his faith is 
 counted for righteousness :") or, thirdly, the doing this practically ; the 
 making void the la\\ in practice, though not in principle ; the living or 
 acting as if faith was designed to excuse us from hoi-ness ; the allowing 
 ourselves in sin, " because we are not under the law, but under grace." 
 Ft remains to inquire, how we may follow a better pattern, how we may 
 be able to say with the apostle, " Do we then make void the law througn 
 faith ? God forbid : yea, we establish the law." 
 
 2. We do not, indeed, establish the old ceremonial law ; we know 
 that it is abolished for ever : much less do we establish the whole Mosaic 
 dispensation ; this we know our Lord has nailed to his cross. Nor yet 
 do we so establish the moral law, (which it is to be feared too many do,) 
 as if the fulfilling it, the keeping all the commandments, weie the con- 
 dition of our justification. If it were so, surely " in his sight should no 
 man living be justified." But all this being allowed, we still, in the 
 apostle's sense, " establish the law," the moral law. 
 
 I. 1. We establish the law, first, by our doctrine ; by endeavouring 
 to preach it in its whole extent, to explain and enforce every part of it, 
 in the same manner as our great Teacher did, while upon earth. \Ve 
 establish it by following St. Peter's advice: " If any man speak, lei 
 him speak as the oracles of God ;" as the holy men of old, moved by 
 the Holy Ghost, spoke and wrote for our instruction ; and as the apos- 
 tles of our blessed Lord, by the direction of the same Spirit. We establish 
 it whenever we speak in his name, by keeping back nothing from them 
 that hear; by declaring to them, without any limitation or reserve, the 
 whole counsel of God. And in order the more effectually to establish 
 it, we use herein great plainness of speech. " We are not as many that 
 corrupt the word of God :" xaTrjXtuovrs.c : (as artful men their bad 
 wines;) we do not raupunize, -/iiix, adulterate, or soften it, to make it 
 suit the tiste of the hoarers : " but as of sincerity, but as of God, in 
 the sight of God, speak we in Christ;" as having iio other aim, than 
 " by manifestation of the truth, to commend ourselves to every man's 
 conscience in the sight of God."
 
 SEHJION XXXVI.] THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. 3')5 
 
 2. We then, by our doctrine, establish the law, when we thus openly 
 declare it to all men ; and that in the fulness wherein it is delivered by 
 our blessed Lord and his apostles ; when we publish it in the height, 
 and depth, and length, and breadth thereof. We then establish the 
 law, when we declare every part of it, every commandment contained 
 therein, not only in its full, literal sense, but likewise in its spiritual 
 meaning ; not only with regard to the outward actions, which it either 
 forbids or enjoins, but also with respect to the inward principle, to the 
 thoughts, desires, and intents of the heart. 
 
 3. And indeed this we do the more diligently, not only because it is 
 of the deepest importance 5 inasmuch as all the fruit, every word arid 
 work, must be only evil continually, if the tree be evil, if the disposi- 
 tions and tempers of the heart be not right before God ; but likewise, 
 because as important as these things are, they are little considered 01 
 understood, so little, that we may truly say of the law too, when taken 
 in its full spiritual meaning, It is " a mystery which was hid from ages 
 and generations since the world began." It was utterly hid from the 
 heathen world. They, with all their boasted wisdom, neither found out 
 God, nor the law of God; not in the letter, much less in the spirit of it. 
 " Their foolish hearts were" more and more " darkened ;" while " pro- 
 fessing themselves wise, they became fools." And it was almost equally 
 hid, as to its spiritual meaning, from the bulk ot the Jewish nation. 
 Even those who were so ready to declare concerning others, " This 
 people that knoweth not the law are cursed," pronounced their own 
 sentence therein, as being under the same curse, the same dreadful 
 ignorance. Witness our Lord's continual reproof of the wisest among 
 them, for their gross misinterpretations of it. Witness the supposition 
 almost universally received among them, that they needed only to make 
 clean the outside of the cup; that the paying tithe of mint, anise, and 
 cummin, outward exactness, would atone for inward unholiness, for 
 the total neglect both of justice and mercy, of faith and the love of God. 
 Yea, so absolutely was the spiritual meaning of the law hidden from 
 the wisest of them, that one of their most eminent rabbis comments 
 thus on those words of the psalmist, " If I incline unto wickedness with 
 my heart, the Lord will not hear me ;" " that is," saith he, " if it be only 
 in my heart, if I do not commit outward wickedness, the Lord will not 
 regard it ; he will not punish me, unless I proceed to the outward act !" 
 
 4. But, alas ! the law of God, as to its inward, spiritual meaning, is 
 not hid from the Jews or heathens only, but even from what is called 
 the Christian world ; at least, from a vast majority of them. The 
 spiritual sense of the commandments of God is still a mystery to these 
 also. Nor is this observable only in those lands, which are overspread 
 with Romish darkness and ignorance : but this is too sure, thai the far 
 greater part, even of those who are called reformed Christians, are 
 utter strangers at this day to the law of Christ, in the purity and 
 spirituality of it. 
 
 5. Hence it is that to this day, " the scribes and Pharisees," the men 
 who have the form but not the power of religion, and who are generally 
 wise in their own eyes, and righteous in their own conceits, " hearing 
 these things are offended ;" are deeply offended, when we speak of the 
 religion of the heart ; and particularly when we show, that without this, 
 were we to "give all our goods to feed the poor," it would profit us
 
 356 THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. [SERMON XXXVI. 
 
 nothing. But offended they must be ; for we cannot but speak the truth 
 as it is in Jesus. It is our part, whether they will hear, or whether they 
 will forbear, to deliver our own soul. All that is written in the book of 
 God we are to declare, not as pleasing men, but the Lord. We are to 
 declare, not only all the promises, but ah the threatenings too, which 
 we rind therein. At the same time that we proclaim all the blessings 
 and privileges which God hath prepared for his children, we are like- 
 wise to "teach all the things whatsoever he hath commanded." And 
 uo know, that all these have their use ; either for the awakening those 
 that sleep, the instructing the ignorant, the comforting the feeble mind- 
 ed, or the building up and perfecting of the saints. We know that " all 
 Scripture, given by inspiration of God, is profitable" either " for doc- 
 trine," or " for reproof;" either for " correction, or for instruction in 
 righteousness ;" and that the man of God, in the process of tne work of 
 God in his soul, has need of every part thereof, that he may at length 
 " be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." 
 
 6. It is our part thus to preach Christ, by preaching all things what- 
 soever he hath revealed. We may indeed, without blame, yea, and 
 with a peculiar blessing from God, declare the love of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ ; we may speak, in a more especial manner, of" The Lord our 
 righteousness;" we may expatiate upon the grace of God in Christ, 
 '' reconciling the world unto himself;" we may, at proper opportuni- 
 ties, dwell upon his praise, as " bearing the iniquities of us all, as 
 wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities, that by 
 his stripes we might be healed :" but still we should not preach Christ, 
 according to his word, if we were wholly to confine ourselves to this : 
 we are not ourselves clear before God, unless we proclaim him in all 
 his offices. To preach Christ, as a workman that needeth not to be 
 ashamed, is to preach him, not only as our great High Priest, " taken 
 from among men, and ordained for men, in things pertaining to God ;'' 
 as such reconciling us to God by his blood, and " ever living to make 
 intercession for us ;" but likewise as the prophet of the Lord, *' who 
 of God is made unto us wisdom ;" who, by his word and his Spirit, is 
 with us always, " guiding us in'.o all truth ;" yea, and as remaining a 
 King for ever ; as giving laws to all whom he has bought with his blood ; 
 as restoring those to the image of God, whom he had first reinstated in 
 his favour ; as reigning in all believing hearts until he has " subdued 
 all things to himself;" until he hath utterly cast out all sin, and " brought 
 in everlasting righteousness." 
 
 II. 1. We establish the law, secondly, when we so preach faith in 
 Christ, as not to supersede, but produce holiness ; to produce all man- 
 ner of holiness, negative and positive, of the heart and of the life. 
 
 In order to this, we continually declare, (what should be frequently 
 and deeply considered by all who would not " make void the law through 
 faith,") that faith itself, even Christian faith, the faith of God's elect, the 
 faith of the operation of God, still is only the handmaid of love. As 
 glorious and honourable as it is, it is not the end of the commandment. 
 God hath given this honour to love alone : love is the end of all the 
 commandments of God. Love is the end, the sole end, of every dis- 
 pensation of God, from the beginning of the world to the consum- 
 mation of all things. And it will endure when heaven and earth 
 flee away ; for " love [alone] never faileth." Faith will totally fail :
 
 SERMON XXXVI.] THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. 357 
 
 it will l>c swallowed up in sight, in the everlasting Vision of God. But 
 
 ever, then, love, 
 
 " Its nature and its office still the same, 
 Lasting its lamp, and unconsum'd its flame, 
 In deathless triumph shall for ever live, 
 And endless good diffuse, and endless praise receive." 
 
 2. Very excellent things are spoken of faith, and whosoever is a par- 
 taker thereof, may well say with the apostle, " Thanks be to God for 
 his unspeakable gift." Yet still it loses all its excellence, when brought 
 into a comparison with love. What St. Paul observes concerning the 
 superior glory of the gospel, above that of the law, may, with great pro- 
 priety, be spoken of the superior glory of love, above that of faith: 
 " Even that which was made glorious, hath no glory in this respect, by 
 reason of the glory that excelleth. For if that which is doue away is 
 glorious, much more doth that which remaineth exceed in glory." Yea, 
 ail the glory of faith, before it is done away, arises hence, that it minis- 
 ters to love : It is the great temporary means which God has ordained 
 to promote that eternal end. 
 
 3. Let those who magnify faith beyond all proportion, so as to swal- 
 low up all things else, and who so totally misapprehend the nature of it 
 as to imagine it stands in the place of love, consider farther, That as 
 love will exist alter faith, so it did exist long before it. The angels, 
 who, from the moment of their creation, beheld the face of their Father 
 i hat ; s in heaven, had no occasion for faith, in its general notion, as i 
 is thu evidence of things not seen. Neither had they need of faith, iu 
 its more particular acceptation, faith in the blood of Jesus : for he took 
 not upon him the nature of angels ; but only the seed of Abraham 
 There was, therefore, no place before the foundation of the world foi 
 faith, either in the general or particular sense. But there was for love. 
 Love existed from eternity, in God, the great ocean of love. Love had 
 a place in all the childien of God, from the moment of their creation 
 they received at once from their gracious Creator, to exist and to love. 
 
 4. Nor is it certain, (as ingeniously and plausibly as many have dee- 
 canted upon this,) that faith, even in the general sense of the word, had 
 any place in paradise. It is highly probable, from that short and uncir- 
 curnstantial account which we have in Holy Writ, that Adam, before 
 he rebelled against God, walked with him by sight and not by faith 
 
 " For then his reason's eye was sharp and clear, 
 
 And, (as an eagle can behold the sun,) 
 Could have approach'd the eternal ligh/ as near 
 As the intellectual angels could have done.' 1 
 
 He was then able to talk with him face to face, whose face we cannot 
 now see and live ; and consequently had no need of that faith, whose 
 office it is to supply the want of sight. 
 
 5. On the other hand, it is absolutely certain, faith, in its particular 
 sense, had then no place. For in that sense, it necessarily presupposes 
 sin, and the wrath of God declared against the sinner ; without which 
 there is no need of an atonement for sin, in order to the sinner's recon- 
 ciliation with God. Consequently, as there was no need of an atonement 
 before the fall, so there was no place for faith in that atonement ; man 
 being then pure from every stain of sin ; holy as God is holy. But love 
 even then rilled his heart ; it reigned in him without a riva! ; and it 
 was only when love was lost by sin, that faith was added, not for its own
 
 358 THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. [SERMON XXXVT. 
 
 mke, nor with any design that it should exist any longer, than until it 
 had answered the end for which it was ordained, namely, to lestore 
 man to the love from which he was fallen. At the fall, therefore, was 
 added this evidence of things unseen, which before was utterly need- 
 less ; this confidence in redeeming love, which could not possibly have 
 any place till the promise was made, that " the seed of the woman 
 should bruise the serpent's head." 
 
 6. Faith then was originally designed of God to re-establish the law 
 of love. Therefore, in speaking thus, we are not undervaluing it, or 
 robbing it of its due praise ; but, on the contrary, showing its real worth, 
 exa'ting it in its just proportion, and giving it that very place which 
 the rt'isdom of God assigned it from the beginning. It is the grand 
 means of restoring that holy love, wherein man was originally created. 
 It follows, that although faith is of no value in itself, (as neither is any 
 other means whatsoever,) yet as it leads to that end, the establishing 
 anew the law of love in our hearts ; and as, in the present state of 
 things, it is the only means under heaven for effecting it ; it is on that 
 account an unspeakable blessing to man, and of unspeakable value 
 before God. 
 
 III. 1. And this naturally brings us to observe, thirdly, The most 
 important way of establishing the law ; namely, the establishing it in our 
 own hearts and lives. Indeed without this, what would all the rest avail ? 
 We might establish it by our doctrine ; we might preach it in its whole 
 extent ; might explain and enforce every part of it ; we might open it 
 in its most spiritual meaning, and declare the mysteries of the kingdom ; 
 we might preach Christ in all his offices, and faith in Christ, as opening 
 all the treasures of his love : and yet all this time, if the law we preached 
 were not established in our hearts, we should be of no more account 
 before God, than " sounding brass, or tinkling cymbals :" all our 
 preaching would be so far from orofiting ourselves, that it would only 
 increase our damnation. 
 
 2. Thij is, therefore, the main point to be considered, how may we 
 establish the law in our own hearts, so that it may have its full intluence 
 on our lives ? And this can only be done by faith. . 
 
 Faith aione it is, which effectually answers this end, as we learn from 
 daily experience. For so long as we walk by faith, not by sight, we 
 go swiftly on in the way of holiness. While we steadily look, not at 
 the things which are seen, but at those which are not seen, we are 
 more and more crucineji to the world, and the world crucified to us. 
 Let but the eye of the soul be constantly fixed, not on the things which 
 are temporal, but on those which are eternal, and our affections arc 
 more and more loosened from earth, and fixed on things above. So 
 that faith, in general, is the most direct and effectual means of pro- 
 moting all righteousness and true holiness ; of establishing the holy and 
 spiritual law, in the hearts of them that believe. 
 
 3. Arid by faith, taken in its more particular meaning, for a confi- 
 dence in a pardoning Go<, we establish his law in our own hearts, in 
 a still more effectual manner. For there is no motive which so power- 
 fully inclines us to love God, as the s^nse of the love of God in Christ. 
 Nothing enables us, like a piercing conviction of this, to give our hearts 
 to him who was given for us. And from this principle of grateful love 
 to God, aiises love to our brother also. Neither can we avoid loving
 
 SERMON XXXVI.] THE LAW ESTABLISHED BY FAITH. 359 
 
 our neighbour, if we truly believe the love wherewith God hath loved 
 us. Now this love to man, grounded on faith and love to God, " worketh 
 no ill to [our] neighbour:" consequently, it is, as the apostle observes, 
 " the fulfilling of the [whole negative] law." " For this, Thou shall not 
 commit adultery ; Thou shalt not kill ; Thou shall not steal ; Thou 
 shall not bear false witness ; Thou shalt not covel ; and if there be any 
 other commandment, il is briefly comprehended in this saying, Thou 
 shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Neither is love content with 
 barely working no evil to our neighbour. It continually incites us to. 
 do good, as we have lime and opportunity ; lo do good, in every possi- 
 ble kind, and in every possible degree, lo all men. Il is, iherefore, the 
 fulfilling of the positive likewise, as well as of the negative, law of God. 
 
 4. Nor does faith fulfil either the negative or positive law, as to ihe 
 external part only ; but it works inwardly by love, to the purifying of 
 the heart, the cleansing it from all vile affections. Every one thai hath 
 this faith in himself, " purifieth himself even as he is pure ;" purifielh 
 himself from every earthly, sensual desire ; from all vile and inordinate 
 affections ; yea, from the whole of that carnal mind,, which is enmity 
 against God. At the same time, if il have ils perfecl work, il fills him 
 with all goodness, righteousness, and trulh. Il brings all heaven into 
 his soul ; and causes him lo walk in ihe lighl, even as God is in Ihe light. 
 
 5. Let us thus endeavour to eslablish ihe law in ourselves ; not sin- 
 ning, " because we are under grace," bul ralher using all Ihe power we 
 receive thereby, " to fulfil all righleousness." Calling to mind what 
 light we received from God while his Spirit was convincing us of sin, 
 let us beware we do not put out that light ; what we had then atlaiued 
 lei us hold fast. Let nothing induce us to build again what we Lave 
 deslroyed ; lo resume any ihing, small or greal, which we then clearly 
 saw was nol for ihe glory of God, or ihe profil of our own soul ; or lo 
 neglect any thing, small or great, which we could not than neglecl, 
 wilhoul a check from our own conscience. To increase and perfect 
 ihe lighl which we had before, lei us now add ihe lighl of failh. Con- 
 firm we the former gift of God, by a deeper sense of whatever he had 
 liien shown us ; by a grealer tenderness of conscience, and a more 
 exquisite sensibilily of sin. Walking now wilh joy, and not wilh fear, 
 in a clear, sleady sighl of Ihings elernal, we shall look on pleasure, 
 weallh, praise, all ihe Ihings of earlh, as on bubbles upon ihe waler ; 
 counling nolhing imporlanl, nothing desirable, nothing worth a delibe- 
 rate thought, but only what is " within Ihe veil," where Jesus " sillelh 
 al the right hand of God." 
 
 6. Can you say, " Thou art merciful to my unrighteousness ; my 
 sins thou rcmemberesl no more ?" Then, for ihe lime lo come, see that 
 you fly from sin, as from ihe face of a serpenl ! For how exceeding 
 sinful does it appear to you now ! How heinous above all expression ! 
 On the other hand, in how amiable a light do you now see the holy and 
 perfect will of God ! Now therefore, labour thai il may be fulfilled, both 
 in you, by you, and upon you ! Now walch and pray lhal you may sin 
 no more, lhat you may see and shun the least iransgression of his law! 
 You see ihe motes which you could not see before, when the sun shines 
 inlo a dark place. In like manner you see Ihe sins which you could 
 nol see before, now ihe Sun of Righleousness shines in your heart. 
 Now then do all diligence lo walk, in every respecl, according lo the
 
 TGO KATURE OP ENTHUSIASM. [SERMON XXXVII. 
 
 light you have received ! Now be zealous to receive more light daily, 
 more of the knowledge and love of God, more of the Spirit of Christ, 
 more of his life, and of the power of his resurrection ! Now use all the 
 knowledge, and love, and life, and power you have already attained : 
 so shall you continually go on from faith to faith ; so shall you daily 
 increase in holy love, till faith is swallowed up in sight, and the law 
 of Jove is established to all eternity 
 
 SERMON XXX VI L The Nature of Enthusiasm. 
 
 'And Festus said with aloud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself." Acts 
 xxvi. 24. 
 
 ANALYSTS. 
 
 Tills charge is brought against the religion of the heart, not 
 against an outward decent form ; especially against those who 
 preach the witness and renewing power of the Holy Ghost. 
 The term is of ambiguous meaning, and used, sometimes in 
 good, sometimes in an indifferent, but more often in a bad 
 sense. It is in this sense a disorder of the mind ; not folly, 
 but madness, reasoning from delusive premises. This mad- 
 ness, religious. Kinds of enthusiasm. 1. Those who imagine 
 they have grace which they have not. Superficial conversions. 
 Fiery worldly zeal mistaken for religion. Outward form 
 mistaken for religion. 
 
 2. Those who imagine they have gifts which they have not. 
 The power to work miracles. Miraculous inspiration in 
 preaching or praying, as that God dictates the very words 
 which they speak. Particular directions from God, in trifling 
 affairs, by visions, impressions or sudden impulses. God does 
 give direction, but by his word, interpreted by reason and 
 experience ; the Holy Spirit giving us clearer light, and opens 
 our minds to the convictions of truth. Seeking to know 
 God's will by unscriptural and irrational methods is a breach 
 of the third commandment. 
 
 3. Expecting to attain the end without the means ; such as 
 expecting to understand God's word without the use of study 
 and helps ; or Jittempting to speak without premeditation. 
 
 4. Some reckon as enthusiasm the belief in a particular 
 providence. Fur this, however, we have Scriptural warrant. 
 God's providence is universal as well as particular, and par- 
 ticular as well as universal. 
 
 Danger of enthusiasm. It begets pride, obstinate self- 
 confidence of spirit, and contempt of others. 
 
 Beware of the enthusiasm ; of the fiery persecuting zealot ; 
 of the deluded man who fancies he is a Christian because of 
 outward works ; of those who fancy they have supernatural 
 gifts, and despise the use of means.
 
 SERMON XXXVII.] NATURE OF ENTHUSIASM. 361 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 The subject of enthusiasm was one which in two ways was of great 
 practical importance in early Methodism ; and will continue to be so as 
 long as Methodism continues to be a ministration of the Holy Spirit. 
 In the first place, the charge of enthusiasm was the common device of 
 all the persecutors and opponents of Wesley. The present sermon is not 
 without an edge which cuts against these. But in the second place, of 
 much greater importance was the real danger of enthusiasm among a 
 j.eople moved by deep and powerful religions emotions. The enthusiasm 
 vf the Moravians in despising means of grace was one of the earliest 
 examples ot this kind. Especially in connection with the great work of 
 perfect love, there were many manifestations of haman delusion. The 
 present sermon and many passages in the treatise of Christian perfection, 
 are evidences of Mr. Wesley's care to guard against this serious error. 
 
 SERMON XXXVIT. 
 
 1. AND so say all the world, the men who know not God, of all that 
 are of Paul's religion ; of every one who is so a follower of him, as he 
 was of Christ. It is true, there is a sort of religion, nay, and it is called 
 Christianity too, which may be practised without any such imputation, 
 which is generally allowed to be consistent with common sense ; that 
 is, a religion of form, a round of outward duties, performed in a decent, 
 regular manner. You may add orthodoxy thereto, a system of right 
 opinions, yea, and some quantity of heathen morality ; and yet not many 
 will pronounce, that " much religion hath made you mad." But if you 
 aim at the religion of the heart, if you talk of" righteousness and peace, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost ;" then it will not be long before your sen- 
 tence is passed, "Thou art beside thyself." 
 
 2. And it is no compliment which the men of the world pay you 
 herein. They, for once, mean what they say. They not only affirm, 
 but cordially believe, that every man is beside himself, who says, " the 
 love of God is shed abroad in" his " heart, by the Holy Ghost given unto 
 him ;" and that God has enabled him to rejoice in Christ, " with joy 
 unspeakable, and full of glory." If a man is indeed alive to God, and 
 dead to all things here below ; if he continually sees Him that is invisi- 
 ble, and accordingly walks by faith and not by sight; then they account 
 it a clear case : beyond all dispute, " much religion hath made him mad." 
 
 3. It is easy to observe, that the determinate thing which the world 
 accounts madness, is that utter contempt of all temporal things, and 
 stjady pursuit of things eternal ; that divine conviction of things not 
 seen ; that rejoicing in the favour of God ; that happy, holy love of God ; 
 and that testimony of his Spirit with our spirit, that we are the children 
 of God : that is, in truth, the whole spirit, and life, and power of the 
 religion of Jesus Christ. 
 
 4. They will, however, allow, in other respects the man acts and talks 
 like one in his senses. In other things he is a reasonable man : it is 
 in these instances only his head is touched. It is therefore acknow- 
 ledged, t.iat the madness, under which he labours, is of a particular 
 kind ; and accordingly they are accustomed to distinguish it by a par- 
 ticular name, enthusiasm. 
 
 5. A term this, which is exceeding frequently used, which is scarce 
 ever out of some men's mouths ; and yet it is exceeding rarely under- 
 stood, even by those who use it most. It may be, theiefore, not unac- 
 ceptable to serious men to all who desire to understand what they
 
 3G2 NATURE Of ENTHUSIASM. [&ERMON XXXVII. 
 
 speak or near, if I endeavour to explain the meaning of this term, to 
 show wh.it enthusiasm is. It may be an encouragement to those whu 
 are unjustly charged therewith ; and may possibly he of use to some 
 who are justly charged with it ; at least, to others who might be so, 
 were they not cautioned against it. 
 
 6. As to the word itself, it is generally allowed to be of Greek extrac- 
 tion. But whence the Greek word svaxtfiarffjios, is derived, none has yet 
 been able to show. Some have endeavoured to derive it from ev .0=w, 
 in God, because all enthusiasm has reference to him. But this is quite 
 forced ; there being small resemblance between the word derived, anil 
 those they str/'ve to derive it from. Others would derive it from v SWia, 
 in sacrifice; because many of the enthusiasts of old were affected in 
 the most violent manner during the time of sacrifice. Perhaps it is a 
 fictitious word, invented from the noise which some of those made who 
 were so affected. 
 
 7. It is not improbable that one reason why this uncouth word has 
 been retained in so many languages was, because men were not better 
 agreed concerning the meaning than concerning the derivation of it. 
 They therefore adopted the Greek wjrd, because they did not under- 
 stand it : they did not translate it into their own tongues, because the) 
 knew not how to translate it ; it having been always a word of a loose 
 uncertain sense, to which no determinate meaning was affixed. 
 
 8. It is not, therefore, at all surprising, that it is so variously taken 
 at this day ; different persons understanding it in different senses, quite 
 inconsistent with each other. Some take it in a good sense, for a 
 divine impulse or impression, superior to all the natural faculties, and 
 suspending for the time, either in whole or in part, both the reason and 
 the outward senses. In this meaning of the word, both the prophets 
 of old, and the apostles, were proper enthusiasts ; being, at divers times, 
 so filled with the Spirit, and so influenced by Him who dwelt in their 
 hearts, that the exercise of their own reason, their senses, and all their 
 natural faculties, being suspended, they were wholly actuated by the 
 power of God ; and " spake [only] as they were moved by the Holy 
 Ghost." 
 
 9. Others take the word in an indifferent sense, such as is neither 
 morally good not evil : thus they speak of the enthusiasm of the poets ; 
 of Homer and Virgil in particular. And this a late eminent writer 
 extends so far as to assert, there is no man. excellent in his profes- 
 sion, whatsoever it be, who has not in his temper a strong tincture of 
 enthusiasm. By enthusiasm these appear to understand, an uncommon 
 vigour of thought, a peculiar fervour of spirit, a vivacity and strength 
 not to be found in common men ; elevating the soul to greater and 
 higher things, than cool reason could have attained. 
 
 10. But neither of these is the sense wherein the word enthusiasm 
 is most usually understood. The generality of men, if no farther 
 agreed, at least agree thus far concerning it, thai it is something evil : 
 and this is plainly tiie sentiment of all those who call the religion of the 
 heart, enthusiasm. Accordingly I shall take it in the following pages, 
 as an evil ; a misfortune, if not a fault. 
 
 11. As to the nature of enthusiasm, it is undoubtedly a disorder of 
 the minii ; and such a disorder as greatly hinders the exercise o' 
 reason. Nay, sometimes it whoily sets i* aside: it not only dims but
 
 SERMON XXXVII.] KATURE OF ENTHUSIASM. 363 
 
 shuts the eyes of the understanding. It may, therefore, well be ac- 
 counted a species of madness ; of madness rather than of folly : seeing 
 a fool is properly one who draws wrong conclusions from right premises; 
 whereas a madman draws right conclusions, but from wrong premises. 
 And so does an enthusiast. Suppose his premises true, and his conclu- 
 sions would necessarily follow. But here lies his mistake : his premises 
 are false. He imagines himself to be what he is not: and therefore, 
 setting out wrong, the farther he goes, the more he wanders out of the way. 
 
 12. Every enthusiast, then, is properly a madman. Yet his is not an 
 ordinary, but a religious madness. By religious, I do not mean, that it 
 i-s any part of religion : quite the reverse. Religion is tire spirit of a 
 sound mind ; and, consequently stands in direct opposition to madness 
 of every kind. But I mean, it has religion for its object; it is conversant 
 about religion. And so the enthusiast is generally talking of religion, 
 of God, or of the things of God ; but talking in such a manner that 
 every reasonable Christian may discern the disorder of his mind. 
 Enthusiasm, in general, may, then, be described in some such manner 
 as this : A religious madness arising from sauie falsely imagined 
 influence or inspiration of God ; at least, from imputing something to 
 God, which ought not to be imputed to him, or expecting something 
 from God, which ought not to be expected from him. 
 
 13. There are innumerable sorts of enthusiasm. Those which are 
 most common, and for that reason most dangerous, I shall endeavour to 
 reduce under a few general heads, that they may be more easily under- 
 stood and avoided. 
 
 The first sort of enthusiasm which I shall mention, is that of those 
 who imagine they have the grace which they have not. Thus wme 
 imagine, when it is not so, that they have redemption through Christ, 
 " even the forgiveness of sins." These are usually such as " have no 
 root in themselves ;" no deep repentance, or thorough conviction. 
 " Therefore they receive the word with joy." And " because they 
 have no deepness of earth," no deep wo r k in their heart, therefore the 
 seed "immediately springs up:" There is immediately a superficial 
 change, which, together with that light joy, striking in with the pride 
 of their unbroken heart, and with their inordinate self love, easily 
 persuades them 4 they have already "tasted the good word of God, and 
 the powers of the world to come." 
 
 14. This is properly an instance of the first sort of enthusiasm : it is 
 a kind of madness, arising from the imagination that they have that 
 grace which, in truth, they have not : so that they only deceive their 
 own souls. Madness it may be justly termed : for the reasonings of 
 these poor men are right, were their premises good ; but as those are a 
 mere creature of their own imagination, so all that is built on them falls 
 to the ground. The foundation of all their reveries is this : They 
 imagine themselves to have faith in Christ. If they had this, they 
 would be " kings and priests to God ;" possessed of" a kingdom which 
 cannot be moved." But they have it not: consequently, all their 
 following behaviour is as wide of truth and soberness, as that of the 
 ordinary madman ; who, fancying himself an earthly king, speaks and 
 acts in that character. 
 
 15. There are many other enthusiasts of this port. Such for instance, 
 la the fiery zealot, for religion; or, more properly, for the opinions and
 
 364 NATURE OP ENTHUSIASM. [SERMON XXXVIT. 
 
 modes of worship which he dignifies with that name. This man, also, 
 strongly imagines himself to be a believer in Jesus; yea, that he is a 
 champion for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. Accord- 
 ingly, all his conduct is formed upon that vain imagination. And 
 allowing his supposition to be just, he would have some tolerable plea 
 for his behaviour ; whereas now it is evidently the effect of a distem- 
 pered brain, as well as a distempered heart. 
 
 16. But the most common of all the enthusiasts of this kind, are those 
 who imagine themselves Christians, and are not. These abound, not 
 only in all parts of our land, but in most parts of the habitable earth. 
 That they are not Christians is clear and undeniable, if we believe the 
 oracles of God. For Christians are holy ; these are unholy : Christians 
 love God ; these love the world : Christians are humble ; these are 
 proud : Christians are gentle ; these are passionate : Christians have 
 the mind which was in Christ ; these are at the utmost distance from 
 it. Consequently, they are no more Christians, than they are arch- 
 angels. \et they imagine themselves so to be; and they can give 
 several reasons for it. For they have been called so ever since they 
 can remember ; they were christened many years ago ; they embrace 
 the Christian opinions, vulgarly termed the Cnristian or catholic faith. 
 They use the Chriftian modes of worship, as their fathers did before 
 them. They live, what is called, a good Christian life, as the rest of 
 their neighbours do. And who shall presume to think or say that 
 these men are not Christians ? though without one grain of true faith 
 in Christ, or of real inward holiness ; without ever having tasted the 
 love of God, or been " made partakers of the Holy Ghost !" 
 
 17. Ah poor self deceivers! Christians ye are not. But you are 
 enthusiasts in a high degree. Physicians, heal yourselves ! But first 
 know your disease : your whole life is enthusiasm ; as being all suitable 
 to the imagination that you have received that grace of God which you 
 have not. In consequence of this grand mistake, you blunder on, day 
 by day, speaking and acting ivnder a character which does in no wise 
 belong to you. Hence arises that palpable, glaring inconsistency that 
 runs through your whole behaviour; which is an awkward mixture of 
 real heathenism and imaginary Christianity. Yet still, as you have so 
 vast a majority on your side, you will always carry it by mere dint of 
 numbers, " That you are the only men in your senses, and ail are 
 lunatics who are not as you are." But this alters not the nature of 
 things. In the sight of God, and his holy angels, yea, and all the chil- 
 dren of God upon earth, you are mere madmen, mere enthusiasts all ! 
 Are you not ? Are you not '* walking in a vain shadow," a shadow of 
 religion, a shadow of happiness 1 Are you not still " disquieting 
 yourselves in vain" with misfortunes as imaginary as your happiness or 
 religion ? Do you not fancy yourselves great or good ? Very knowing 
 and very wise ? How long ? Perhaps till death brings you back to 
 your senses, to bewail your folly for ever and ever ! 
 
 18. A second sort of enthusiasm, is that of those who imagine they 
 have such gifts from God as they have not. Thus some have imagined 
 themselves to be endued with a power of working miracles, of healing 
 the sick by a word or a touch, of restoring sight to the blind, yea, even 
 of raising the dead ; a notorious instance of which is still fresh in our 
 own history. Others have undertaken to prophesy, to foretel things
 
 SERMON XXXVII.] NATURE OF ENTHUSIASM. 3C5 
 
 to come, and that with the utmost certainty and exactness. But a 
 little time usually convinces these enthusiasts. When plain facts run 
 counter to their predictions, experience performs what reason could 
 not, and sinks them down into their senses. 
 
 19. To the same class belong those who, in preaching or prayer, 
 imagine themselves to be so influenced by the Spirit cf God, s in fact, 
 they are not. I am sensible, indeed, that without him we can do 
 nothing, more especially in our public ministry ; that all our preaching 
 is utterly vain, unless it be attended with hit 1 , power ; and all our prayer, 
 unless his Spirit therein help our infirmities. I know, if we do not 
 both preach and pray by the Spirit, it is all but lost labour ; seeing the 
 help that is done upon earth he doeth it himself, who worked) all in 
 all. But this does not affect the case before tos. Though there is a 
 real influence of the Spirit of God, there is also an imaginary one : and 
 many there are who mistake the one for the other. Many suppose 
 themselves to be under that influence, when they are not, when it is 
 far from them. And many others suppose they are more under that 
 influence than they really are. Of this number, I fear, are all they who 
 imagine that God dictates the very words they speak ; and that, conse- 
 quently, it is impossible they should speak any thing amiss, either as to 
 the matter or manner of it. It is well known how many enthusiasts of 
 this sort also have appeared during the present century ; some of whom 
 speak in a far more authoritative manner than either St. Paul or any of 
 the apostles. 
 
 20. The same sort of enthusiasm, though in a lower degree, is 
 frequently found in men of a private character. They may likewise 
 imagine themselves to be influenced or directed by the Spirit, when 
 they are not. I allow, " If any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is 
 none of his ;" and that if ever we either think, speak, or act aright, il 
 is through the assistance of that blessed Spirit. But how many impute 
 things to him, or expect things from him, without any rational or scrip- 
 tural ground ? Such are they who imagine, they either do or shall 
 receive particular directions from God, not only in points of importance, 
 but in things of no moment ; in the most trifling circumstances of life. 
 Whereas in these cases God has given us our own reason for a guide ; 
 though never excluding the secret assistaace of his Spirit. 
 
 21. To this kind of enthusiasm they are peculiarly exposed, who 
 expect to be directed of God, either in spiritual things or in common 
 life, in what is justly called an extraordinary manner : I mean by 
 visions or dreams, by strong impressions, or sudden impulses on the 
 mind. I do not deny, that God has, of old times, manifested his will 
 in this manner ; or, that he can do so now : nay, I believe he does, in 
 some very rare instances. But how frequently do men mistake herein ' 
 How nre they misled by pride, and a warm imagination, to ascribe such 
 impulses or impressions, dreams or visions to God, as are utterly 
 unwortny of him ! Now this is all pure enthusiasm, all as wide of reli- 
 gion, as it is of truth and soberness. 
 
 22. Perhaps some may ask, " ought we not then to inquire, what is 
 the will of God, in all things ? And ought not his will to be the rule of 
 our practice 1" Unquestionably it ought. But how is a sober Christian 
 to make this inquiry ? To know what is the will of God ? Not by wait- 
 ing for supernatural dreams; not by expecting God to reveal it in
 
 266 NATURE OF ENTHUSIASM. [SERMON XXXVII. 
 
 visions : not by looking for any particular impressions, or sudden im- 
 pulses on his mind : no ; but by consulting the oracles of God. " To 
 the law and to the testimony!" This is the general method of knowing 
 what is '' the holy and acceptable will of God." 
 
 23. " But how shall I know what is the will of God, in such and such 
 a particular case? The thing proposed is, in itself, of an indifferent 
 nature, and so left undetermined in Scripture." I answer, the Scrij>- 
 ture itself gives you a general rule, applicable to all particular cases. 
 " The will of God is our sanctification." It is his will that we should 
 be inwardly and outwardly holy ; that we should be good, and do good, 
 in every kind, and in the highest degree whereof we are capable. Thus 
 far we tread upon firm ground. This is as clear as the shining of the 
 sun. In order therefore to know what is the will of God in a particu- 
 lar case, we have only to apply this general rule. 
 
 24. Suppose, for instance, it were proposed to a reasonable man, to 
 marry, or to enter into a new business : in order to know whether this is 
 the will of God, being assured, " It is the will of God concerning me, 
 that I should be as holy and do as much good as I can," he has only to 
 impure, " In which of these states can I be most holy, and do the most 
 good I" And this is to be determined, partly by reason and partly b)' 
 experience. Experience tells him what advantages he has in his pre- 
 sent state, either for being or doing good ; and reason is to show, what 
 he certainly or probably will have in the state proposed. By comparing 
 these he is to judge, which of the two may most conduce to his being 
 and doing good ; and as far as he knows this, so far he is certain what 
 is the will of God. 
 
 25. Meantime, the assistance of his Spirit is supposed, during the 
 whole process of the inquiry. Indeed it is not easy to say, in how 
 many ways that assistance is conveyed. He may bring many circum- 
 stances to our remembrance ; may place others in a stronger and 
 clearer light ; may insensibly open our mind to receive conviction, and 
 fix that conviction upon our heart. And to a concurrence of many cir- 
 cumstances of this kind, in favour of what is acceptable in his sight, he 
 may superadd such an unutterable peace of mind, and so uncommon a 
 measure of his love, as will leave us no possibility of doubting, that this, 
 even this, is his will concerning us. 
 
 26. This is the plain, scriptural, rational way to know what is the 
 will of God in a particular case. But considering how seldom this way 
 is taken, and what a Hood of enthusiasm must needs break in on those 
 who endeavour to know the will of God by unscriptural, irrational 
 ways ; it were to be wished that the expression itself were far more 
 sparing!}' used. The using it, as some do, on the most trivial occa- 
 sions, is a plain breach of the third commandment. It is a gross way 
 of taking the name of God in vain, and betrays great irreverence 
 towards him. Would it not be far better, then, to use other expressions, 
 wmch are not liable to such objections 1 For example : Instead of 
 saying, on any particular occasion, " 1 want to know what is the will 
 of God ;" would it not be better to say, *' I want to know what will 
 be most for my improvement. ; and what will make me most useful." 
 This way of speaking is clear and unexceptionable: it 's putting 
 the matter on a plain scriptural issue, and that without any danger of 
 enthusiasm.
 
 SERMON XXXVII.] NATUEE OF ENTHUSIASM. '67 
 
 27. A third very common sort of enthusiasm, (if it does not coincide 
 with the former,) is that of those who think to attain the end without 
 using the means, by tne immediate power of God. If indeed those 
 means were providentially withheld, they would not fall under this 
 charge. God can, and sometimes does, in C2*es of this nature, exert 
 his own immediate power. But they who expect this when they have 
 those means, and will not use them, are proper enthusiasts. Such are 
 they who expect to understand the Holy Scriptures, without reading 
 them, and meditating thereon ; yea, without using all such helps as aie 
 in their power, and may probably conduce to that end. Such are they 
 who designedly speak in the public assembly, without any premedita- 
 tion. I say designedly ; because there may be such circumstances, as, 
 at some times, make it unavoidable. But whoever despises that great 
 means of speaking profitably, is so far an enthusiast. 
 
 28. It may be expected that I should mention what some have 
 accounted a fourth sort of enthusiasm, namely, the imagining those 
 things to be owing to the providence of God, which are not owing there- 
 to. But 1 doubt : I know not what things they are, which are not owing 
 to the providence of God : in ordering, or, at least in governing of which, 
 this is not either directly or remotely concerned. I except nothing but 
 sin : and even in the sins of others, I see the providence of God to me. 
 I do not say, his general providence ; for this I take to be a sounding 
 word, which means just nothing. And if there be a particular provi- 
 dence, it must extend to all persons and all things. So our Lord under- 
 stood it, or he could never have said, " Even the hairs of your head are 
 all numbered ;" and, " Not a sparrow falleth to the ground, without 
 [the will of] your Father [which is in heaven."] But if it be so, if God 
 preside nnivr.rsis tanquam singulis, e.t singulis tanquam universis; over 
 Ihe whole universe as over every single person, and over every single per- 
 son as over the whole universe ; what is it (except only our own sins) 
 which we are not to ascribe to the providence of God ? So that I cannot 
 apprehend there is any room here for the charge of enthusiasm. 
 
 29. If it be said, the charge lies here : " When you impute this to 
 providence, you imagine yourself the peculiar favourite of heaven :" I 
 answer, you have forgot some of the last words I spoke ; Preesidet 
 universis tanquam singulis : His providence is over all men in the uni- 
 verse, as much as over any single person. Do not you see, that he, who 
 believing this, imputes any thing which befalls him to providence, does 
 not therein make himself any more the favourite of heaven, than he sup- 
 poses every man under heaven to be 1 Therefore you have no pretence, 
 upon this ground, to charge him with enthusiasm. 
 
 30. Against every sort of this it behoves us to guard with the utmost 
 diligence ; considering the dreadful effects it has so often produced, and 
 which indeed naturally result from it. Its immediate offspring is pride; 
 it continually increases this source from whence it flows; and hereby it 
 alienates us, more and more, from the favour and from the life of God. 
 It dries up the very springs of faith and love, of righteousness and true 
 holiness; seeing all these flow from grace: but "God resisteth the 
 proud, and giveth grace [only] to the humble." 
 
 31. Together with pride there will naturally arise an unadvisable and 
 unconvincihle spirit. So that into whatever error or fault the enthusiast 
 fells, there is small hope of his recovery. For reason will have little
 
 368 NATURE OF ENTHUSIASM. [SERMON XXXVII. 
 
 weight with him, (as has been frequently and justly observed,) wno 
 imagines he is led by a higher guide, by the immediate wisdom of God. 
 And as he grows in pride, so he must grow in unadvisableness arid in 
 stubbornness also. He must be less and less capable of being convinced, 
 less susceptible of persuasion ; more and more attached to his own judg- 
 ment and his own will, till he is altogether fixed and immovable. 
 
 32. Being thus fortified both against the grace of God, and against tU 
 advice and help from man, he is wholly left to the guidance of his OWE 
 heart, and of the king of the children of pride. No marvel then, thai 
 he is daily more rooted and grounded in contempt of all mankind, in 
 furious anger, in every unkind disposition, in every earthly and devilish 
 temper. Neither can we wonder at the terrible outward effects, \\ hich 
 have flowed from such dispositions in all ages ; even all manner of 
 wickedness, all the works of darkness, committed by those who call 
 themselves Christians, while they wi ought with greediness such things 
 as were hardly named even among the heathens. 
 
 Such is the nature, such the dreadful effects, of that many headed 
 monster, enthusiasm ! From the consideration of which, we may now 
 draw some plain inferences, with regard to our own practice. 
 
 33. And, first, if enthusiasm be a term, though so frequently used, 
 yet so rarely understood, take you care not to talk of you know not 
 what; not to use the word till you understand it. As in all other points, 
 so likewise in this, learn to think before you speak. First, know the 
 meaning of this hard word, and then use it if need require. 
 
 34. But if so few, even among men of education and learning, much 
 more among the common sort of men, understand this dark, ambiguous 
 word, or have any fixed notion of what it means; then, secondly, beware 
 of judging or calling any man an enthusiast upon common report. This 
 is by no means a sufficient ground for giving any name of reproach to 
 any man ; least of all is it a sufficient ground for so black a term of re- 
 proach as this. The more evil it contains, the more cautious you should 
 be how you apply it to any one ; to bring so heavy an accusation with 
 out full proof, being neither consistent with justice nor mercy. 
 
 35. But if enthusiasm be so great an evil, beware you are not entangled 
 therewith yourself. Watch and pray, that you fall not into the temptation. 
 It easily besets those who fear or love God. Oh beware you do not think 
 of yourself more highly than you ought to think. Do not imagine you 
 have attained that grace of God, which you have not attained. You 
 may have much joy ; you may have a measure of love ; and yet not have 
 living faith. Cry unto God that he would not suffer you, blind as you 
 are, to go out of the way ; that you may never fancy yourself a believer 
 in Christ, till Christ is revealed in you, and till his Spirit witnesses with 
 your spirit, that you are a child of God. 
 
 36. Beware you are not a fiery, persecuting enthusiast. Do not ima- 
 gine that God has called you, (just contrary to the spirit of him you 
 style your Master,) to destroy men's lives, and not to save them. Never 
 dream of forcing men into the ways of God. Think yourself and let 
 think. Use no constraint in matters of religion. Even those who are 
 farthest out of the way, never compel to come in by any other meant 
 than reason, truth, and love. 
 
 37. Beware you do not run with the common herd of enthusiasts, 
 fannying you are a Christian when you are not- Presume not to assurp*
 
 SERMON XXXVIII.] CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY. 3G9 
 
 that veneiable name, unless you have a clear, scriptural title thereto; un- 
 less you have the mind which was in Christ, and walk as he also walked. 
 
 38. Beware you do not fall into the second sort of enthusiasm, fancy- 
 ing you have those gifts from God which you have not. Trust not in 
 visions or dreams ; in sudden impressions, or strong impulses of any 
 kind. Remember it is not by these you are to know what is the wilj 
 of God on any particular occasion ; but by applying the plain scripture 
 ruio, with the help of experience and reason, and the ordinary assistance 
 of the Spirit of God. Do not lightly take the name of God in your mouth ; 
 do not talk of the will of God on every trifling occasion ; but let your 
 words, as well as your actions, be all tempered with reverence and 
 godly fear. 
 
 39. Beware, lastly, of imagining you shall obtain tlie end, without 
 using the means conducive to it. God can give the end, without any 
 means at all ; but you have no reason to think he will. Therefore con- 
 stantly and carefully use all those means which he has appointed to be 
 the ordinary channels of his grace. Use every means which either rea- 
 son or scripture recommends, as conducive (through the free love ol 
 God in Christ) either to the obtaining or increasing any of the gifts ol 
 God. Thus expect a daily growth in that pure and holy religion, which 
 the world always did and always will call enthusiasm ; but which, to all 
 who are saved from real enthusiasm, from merely nominal Christianity 
 is " the wisdom of God and the power of God ;" the glorious image ol 
 the Most High ; " righteousness and peace ;" a " fountain of living 
 water, springing up into everlasting life !" 
 
 SERMON XXXVIII. A Caution against Bigotry. 
 
 " And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devifs in. 
 thy name, and he followeth not us ; and we forbade him because he 
 followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not." Mark ix. 38, 39. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 HISTORY of this incident and its application to us. 
 
 I. In what sense men may, and do, now cast out devils. 
 God dwells in the children of light ; the devil in the children 
 of darkness. This may be true, even in a physical sense, in 
 some cases ; it certainly is true spiritually with the great bulk 
 of mankind. They do the works of the devil. Whoever, by 
 the preaching of the Gospel, leads men to repentance and to 
 the knowledge of the truth does cast out the devil. 
 
 II. What do We understand by the expression, " he followeth 
 not with us ? " 
 
 1. He does not belong to our band of workers. 2. He is 
 not of our party in the Church. 3. He does not agree with 
 us in opinions. 4. He does not practise the same forms of 
 worship. 5. He belongs to a Church anti-Scriptural and anti- 
 Christian. 6. He may hate us, as well as differ from us.
 
 370 CAUTION AGAINST B1GOTKY. [SERMON XXXVTII. 
 
 III. Explain our Lord's command, " Forbid him not." 
 
 1. We should nave reasonable proof of his work. 2. If 
 there is such, we should not hinder him. He may be a lay- 
 man. We may think he is not sent of God. Has no recog- 
 nized call. Is not ordained. But the practice of the Apostles 
 does not warrant our insisting on this. We should not hinder 
 him by disparagement, nor by refusal to assist him. 
 
 IV. Beware of bigotry which places our own party, opinion, 
 Church, or religion, before the work of God. Especially must 
 we beware of making the bigotry of others an excuse for our 
 own. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES 
 
 From the " Plain account of the people called Methodists," we make 
 the following extract which will especially illustrate the present sermon, 
 and the next following : 
 
 " The thing which I was greatly afraid of all this time, and which I 
 resolved to use every possible method ot preventing, was a narrowness of 
 spirit, a party zeal, a being straitened in our bowels ; that miserable 
 bigotry which makes many so unready to believe that there is any work 
 of God but among themselves. I thought it might be a help against 
 this, frequently to read, to all who were willing to hear, the accounts I 
 received from tune to time of the work which God is carrying on in the 
 earth, both in our own and other countries, not among iis alone, but 
 among those of various opinions and denominations. For this I allotted 
 one evening every month, and I find no cause to repent of my labour. 
 It is generally a time of strong consolation to those who love God, and all 
 mankind for his sake, as well as of breaking down the partition walls 
 which either the craft of the devil or the folly of men has built up ; and 
 of encouraging every child' of God to say, (O when shall it once be !) 
 ' Whosoever doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is 
 my brother, "aud sister, and mother." 
 
 SERMON XXXVIII. 
 
 1. IN the preceding verses we read, that after the twelve had been 
 disputing " which of them should be the greatest, Jesus took a little 
 child, and set him in the midst of them, and taking him in his arms, 
 said unto them, Whosoever shall receive one of these little children in 
 my name, receiveth me ; and whosoever receiveth me, receiveth not 
 me, [only,] but him that sent me." Then " John answered," [that is, 
 said with reference to what our Lord hnd spoken just before,] " Master, 
 we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and we forbad him, because 
 he followeth not us." As if he had said, " Ought we to have received 
 him ? In receiving him, should we have received thee? Ought we not 
 rather to have forbidden him 7 Did not we do well therein ?" " But 
 Jesus said, Forbid him not." 
 
 2. The same passage is recited by St. Luke, and almost in the same 
 words. But it may be asked, What is this to us, seeing no man now 
 casts out devils ? Has not the power of doing this been withdrawn 
 from the church, for twelve or fourteen hundred years? How then 
 are we concerned in the case here proposed, or in our Lord's deci- 
 sion of it? 
 
 3. I'echaps more nearly than is commonly imagined ; the case pro- 
 posed being no uncommon case. That we may reap our full advance
 
 SERMON XXXVIII.] CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY. 371 
 
 from it, I design to show, first, in what sense men may, anfl ao, now 
 cast out devils: secondly, what we may understand by, " He followeth 
 not us." I shall, thirdly, explain our Lord's direction, " Forbid him 
 not ;" and conclude with an inference from the whole. 
 
 1. 1. I am, in the first place, to show, in what sense men may, and 
 do, now east out devils. 
 
 In order to have the clearest view of this, we should remember, that 
 (according to the scriptural account) as God dwells and works in tlm 
 children of light, so the devil dwells and works in the children of 
 darkness. As the Holy Spirit possesses the souls of good men, so the 
 evil spirit possesses the souls of the wicked. Hence it is that the apostle 
 terms him " the god of this world ;" from the uncontrolled power he has 
 over worldly men. Hence our blessed Lord styles him " the prince of 
 this world ;" so absolute is his dominion over it. And hence St. John, 
 " We know that we are of God, and" all who are not of God, "the 
 whole world," s\> <rw irovrjpw xsirai, not licth in wickedness, but " lieth 
 in the wicked one ;" lives and moves in him, as they who are not of tho 
 world do in God. 
 
 2. For the devil is not to be considered only as " a roaring lion, going 
 about seeking whom he may devour;" nor barely as a subtle enemy, 
 who cometh unawares upon poor souls, and " leads them captive at his 
 will ;" but as he who dwelleth in them and walketh in them ; who 
 ruleth the darkness or wickedness of this world, (of worldly men and 
 all their dark designs and actions,) by keeping possession of their 
 hearts, setting up his throne there, and bringing every thought into 
 obedience to himself. Thus the " strong one armed keepeth his house ;" 
 and if this " unclean spirit" sometimes " go out of a man," yet he often 
 returns with " seven spirits worse than himself, and they enter in and 
 dwell there." Nor can he be idle in his dwelling. He is continually 
 " working in [these] children of disobedience." He works in them 
 with power, with mighty energy, transforming them into his own like- 
 ness, effacing all the remains of the image of God, and preparing them 
 for every evil word and work. 
 
 3. It is therefore an unquestionable truth, that the god and prince of 
 this world still possesses all who know not God. Only the manner wherein 
 he possesses them now, differs from that wherein he did it of old time. 
 Then he frequently tormented their bodies, as well as souls, and that 
 openly, without any disguise ; now he torments their souls only, (unless 
 in some rare cases,) and that as covertly as possible. The reason of 
 this difference is plain : it was then his aim to drive mankind into super- 
 stition ; therefore he wrought as openly as he could. But it is his aim 
 to drive us into infidelity ; therefore he works as privately as he can : 
 for the more secret he is, the more he prevails. 
 
 4. Yet, if we may credit historians, there are countries, even now, 
 where he works as openly as aforetime. " But why in savage and bar 
 barons countries only ? Why not in Italy, France, or England 7 " For 
 a very plain reason : he knows his men ; and he knows what he has to 
 do with each. To Laplanders, he appears barefaced ; because he is to 
 fix them in superstition and gross idolatry. But with you he is pursuing 
 a different point. He is to make you idolize yourselves ; to make yoo 
 wiser in your own eyes than God himself, than all the oracles of God. 
 Now in order to this he must not appear in his own shape : that would
 
 372 CAUTION AGAINST BIQOTEY. [SERMON XXXVIII. 
 
 frustrate his design. No : he uses all his art to make you deny hid 
 being, till he has you safe in his own place. 
 
 5. He reigns, therefore, although in a different way, yet as absolute 
 in one land as in the other. He has the gay Italian infidel in his teeth, 
 as sure as the wild Tartar. But he is fast asleep in the mouth of the 
 lion, who is too wise to wake him out of sleep. So he only plays with 
 him for the present ; and, when he pleases, swallows him up ! 
 
 The god of this world holds his English worshippers full as fast as 
 those in Lapland. But it is not his business to affright them, lest the) 
 should fly to the God of heaven. The prince of darkness, therefore, 
 does not appear, while he rules over these his willing subjects. The 
 conqueror holds his captives so much the safer, because they imagine 
 themselves at liberty. Thus the " strong one armed keepeth his house, 
 and his goods are in peace :'" neither the deist nor nominal Christian sus- 
 pects he is there ; so he and they are perfectly at peace with each other. 
 
 6. All this while he works with energy in them. He blinds the eyes 
 of their understanding, so that the light of the glorious gospel of Christ 
 cannot shine upon them. He chains their souls down to earth and hell, 
 with the chains of their own vile affections. He binds them down to 
 the earth, by love of the world, love of money, of pleasure, of praise. 
 And by pride, envy, anger, hate, revenge, he causes their souls to draw 
 nigh unto hell ; acting the more secure and uncontrolled, because they 
 know not that he acts at all. 
 
 7. But how easily may we know the cause from its effects ! These 
 are sometimes gross and palpable. So they were in the most refined 
 of the heathen nations. Go no farther than the admired, the virtuous 
 Romans; and you will find these, when at the height of their learning 
 and glory, " filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, 
 covetousness, maliciousness ; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, ma- 
 lignity; whisperers, backbiters, despiteful, proud, boasters, disobedient 
 to parents, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, 
 unmerciful." 
 
 8. The strongest parts of this description are confirmed by one, whom 
 some may think a mere exceptionable witness. I mean, their brother 
 heathen, Dion Cassias ; who observes, that before Cesar's return from 
 Gaul, not only gluttony and iewdness of every kind were open and bare- 
 faced ; not only falsehood, injustice, and unmercifulness abounded, in 
 public courts, as well as private families ; but the most outrageous rob- 
 beries, rapine, and murders', were so frequent in all parts of Rome, that 
 few men went out of doors without making their wills, as not knowing 
 if they should return alive! 
 
 9. As gross and palpable are the works of the devil among many (if 
 not all) the modern heathens. The natural religion of the Creeks, Che- 
 rokees, Chicasaws, and all other Indians, bordering on our southern 
 settlements, (not of a few single men, but of entire nations,) is, to 
 torture all their prisoners from morning till night, till at length they 
 roast them to death ; and, upon the slightest undesigned provocation, 
 to come behind and shoot any of their own countrymen ! Yea, it is a 
 common thing among them, for the son, if he thinks his father lives too 
 long, to knock out his brains ; and for a mother, if she is tired of her 
 children, to fasten stones about their necks, and throw three or four of 
 them into the river, one after another I
 
 SERMON XXXVIII. J CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY. 373 
 
 10. It were to be wished, that none but heathens had practised such 
 gross, palpable works of the devil. But we dare not say so. Even in 
 cruelty and bloodshed, how little have the Christians come behind them 
 And not the Spaniards or Portuguese alone, butchering thousands in 
 South America : not the Dutch only in the East Indies, or the French 
 in North America, following the Spaniards step by step : our own coun- 
 trymen, too, have wantoned in blood, and exterminated whole nations; 
 plainly proving thereby, what spirit it is that dwells and works in the 
 children of disobedience. 
 
 11. ^hese monsters might almost make us overlook the works of the 
 devil that are wrought in our own country. But, alas ! we cannot open 
 our eyes even here, without seeing them on every side. Is it a small 
 proof of his power, that common swearers, drunkards, whoremongers, 
 adulterers, thieves, robbers, sodomites, murderers, are still found in 
 every part of our land ? How triumphant does the prince of this world 
 reign in all these children of disobedience ! 
 
 12. He less openly, but no less effectually, works in dissemblers, 
 tale bearers, liars, slanderers ; in oppressors and extortioners ; in the 
 perjured, the seller of his friend, his honour, his conscience, his coun- 
 try. And yet these may talk of religion or conscience still ; of honour, 
 virtue, and public spirit ' But they can no more deceive Satan than 
 they can God. He likewise knows those that are his : and a great 
 multitude they are, out of every nation and people, of whom he has full 
 possession at this day. 
 
 13. If you consider this, you cannot but see in what sense men may 
 now also cast out devils : yea, and every minister of Christ does cast 
 them out, if his Lord's work prosper in his hand. 
 
 By the power of God attending his word, he brings these sinners to 
 repentance ; an entire inward as well as outward change, from all evil 
 to all good. And this is, in a sound sense, to cast out devils, out of 
 the souls wherein they had hitherto dwelt. The strong one can no 
 longer keep his house. A stronger than he is come upon him, and 
 hath cast him out, and taken possession for himself, and made it a habit 
 ation of God through his Spirit. Here then the energy of Satan ends, 
 and the Son of God " destroys the works of the devil." The under- 
 standing of the sinner is now enlightened, and his heart sweetly drawn 
 to God. His desires are refined, his affections purified ; and, being 
 filled with the Holy Ghost, he grows in grace till he is not only holy in 
 heart, but in all manner of conversation. 
 
 14. All this is indeed the work of God. It is God alone who can 
 cast out Satan. But he is generally pleased to do this by man, as an 
 instrument in his hand ; who is then said to cast out devils in his name, 
 by his power and authority. And he sends whom he will send upon 
 this great work ; but usually such as man would never have thought of: 
 for " his ways are not as our ways, neither his thoughts as our thoughts." 
 Accordingly he chooses the weak to confound the mighty ; the foolish 
 to confound the wise ; for this plain reason, that he may secuie the 
 glory to himself; that " no flesh may glory in his sight." 
 
 II. 1. But shall we not forbid one who thus " casteth out devils," if 
 " he followeth not us ?" This it seems was both the judgment and 
 practice of the apostle, till he referred the case to his Master. " We 
 forbad him," saith he, " because he followeth not us ;" which he aup
 
 374 CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY. [SERMON XXXVIII. 
 
 posed to be a very sufficient reason. What we may understand by this 
 expression, " He followeth not us," is the next point to be considered. 
 The lowest circumstance we can understand thereby, is, He has no 
 outward connection with us. We do not labour in conjunction with 
 eacli other. He is not our fellow helper in the gospel. And indeed 
 whensoever our Lord is pleased to send many labourers into his harvest, 
 they cannot all act in subordination to, or connection with, each other. 
 Nay, they cannot all have personal acquaintance with, nor be so much 
 as known to, one another. Many there will necessarily be in different 
 parts of the harvest, so far from having any mutual intercours'e, thai 
 they will be as absolute strangers to each other, as if they had lived in 
 different ages. And concerning any of these whom we know not, we 
 may doubtless say, " He followeth not us." 
 
 2. A second meaning of this expression may be, He is not of our 
 party. It has long been matter of melancholy consideration, to all who 
 pray for the peace of Jerusalem, that so many several parties are still 
 subsisting among those who are all styled Christians. This has been 
 particularly observable in our own countrymen, who have been con- 
 tinually dividing from each other, upon points of no moment, and many 
 times such as religion had no concern in. The most trifling circum- 
 stances have given rise to different parties, which have continued for 
 many generations ; and each of these would be ready to object to one 
 who was on the other side, " He followeth not us." 
 
 3. That expression may mean, thirdly, He differs from us in our 
 religious opinions. There was a time when all Christians were of one 
 mind, as well as of one heart ; such great grace was upon them all, 
 when they were first filled with the Holy Ghost ! But how short a space 
 did this blessing continue ! How soon was that unanimity lost ; and 
 difference of opinion sprang up again, even in the church of Christ; 
 and that not in nominal but in real Christians ; nay, in the very chief 
 of them, the apostles themselves ! Nor does it appear that the difference 
 which then began was ever entirely removed. We do not find, that 
 even those pillars in the temple of God, so long as they remained upon 
 earth, were ever brought to think alike, to be of one mind, particularly 
 with regard to the ceremonial law. It is therefore no way surprising, 
 that infinite varieties of opinion should now be found in the Christian 
 church. A very probable consequence of this is, that whenever we 
 see any " casting out devils," he will be one that, in this sense, u fol 
 loweth not us ;" that is not of our opinion. It is scarce to be ima- 
 gined he will be of our mind in all points, even of religion. He may 
 very probably think in a different manner from us, even on several sub- 
 jects of importance ; such as the nature and use of the moral law, the 
 eternal decrees of God, the sufficiency and efficacy of his grace, and 
 the perseverance of his children. 
 
 4. He may differ from us, fourthly, not only in opinion, but likewise 
 in some point of practice. He may not approve of that manner of wor- 
 shipping God, which is practised in our congregation ; and may judge 
 that to be more profitable for his soul, which took its rise from Calvin, 
 or Martin Luther. He may have many objections to that liturgy, which 
 we approve of beyond all others ; many doubts concerning that form of 
 church government, which we esteem both apostolical and scriptural. 
 Perhaps lie may go farther from us yet : he may, from a principle of
 
 SERMON XXXVIII.] CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY. 375 
 
 conscience, refrain from several of those, uhich we believe to be the 
 ordinances of Christ. Or, if we both agree that they are ordained of 
 God, there may still remain a difference between us, either as to the 
 manner of administering those ordinances, or the persons to whom they 
 should be administered. Now the unavoidable consequence of any of 
 these differences will be, that he who thus differs from us, must separate 
 liimself, with regard to those points, from our society. In this respect 
 therefore, " he followeth not us :" he is not (as we phrase it) " of oui 
 church." 
 
 5. But in a far stronger sense, " he followeth not us," who is not only 
 of a different church, but of such a church as we account to be in many 
 respects anti-scriptural and anti-christian ; a church which we believe 
 to be utterly false and erroneous in her doctrines, r well as very dan- 
 gerously wrong in her practice ; guilty of gross superstition as well as 
 idolatry. A church that has added many articles to the faith which 
 was once delivered to the saints ; that has dropped one whole com- 
 mandment of God, and made void several of the rest by her traditions; 
 and that, pretending the highest veneration for, and strictest conformity 
 to, the ancient church, has nevertheless brought in numberless inno- 
 vations, without any warrant either from antiquity or Scripture. Now 
 most certainly " he followeth not us," who stands at so great a distance 
 from us. 
 
 6. And yet there may be a still wider difference than this. He who 
 differs from us in judgment or practice, may possibly stand at a greater 
 distance from us in affection than in judgment. And this indeed is a 
 very natural and a very common effect of the other. The differences 
 which begin in points of opinion, seldom terminate there. They gene- 
 rally spread into the affections, and then separate chief friends. Nor 
 are any animosities so deep and irreconcilable, as those that spring 
 from disagreement in religion. For this cause the bitterest enemies of 
 a man are those of his own household. For this the father rises against 
 his own children, and the children against the father ; arid perhaps 
 persecute each other even to the death, thinking all the time they are 
 doing God service. It is therefore nothing more than we may expect, 
 if those who differ from us, either in religious opinions or practice, soon 
 contract a sharpness, yea, bitterness towards us ; if they are more and 
 more prejudiced against us, till they conceive as ill an opinion of our 
 persons as of our principles. An almost necessary consequence of this 
 will be, they will speak in the same manner as they think of us. They 
 will set themselves in opposition to us, and, as far as they are able, 
 hinder our work ; seeing it does not appear to them to be the work oi 
 God, but either of man or of the devil. He that thinks, speaks, and 
 nets in such a manner as this, in the highest sense, " followeth not us." 
 
 7. I do not indeed conceive, that the person of whom the apostle 
 speaks in the text (although we have no particular account of him, 
 either in the context, or in any other part of Holy Writ) went so far as 
 this. We have no ground to suppose that there was any material dif- 
 ference between him and the apostles ; much less that he had any pre- 
 judice either against them or their Master. It seems we may gather 
 thus much from our Lord's own words, which immediately follow the 
 text : " There is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can 
 lightly speak evil of me." But I purposely put the case in the strongest
 
 376 CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY. ("SERMON XXXVIII. 
 
 light, adding all the circumstances which can well be conceived : that 
 being forewarned of the temptation in its full strength, we may in no 
 case yield to it, and fight against God. 
 
 III. 1. Suppose, then, a man have no intercourse with us, suppose 
 he be not of our party, suppose he separate from our church, yea, and 
 widely differ from us, both in judgment, practice, and affection ; yet if 
 we &ee even this man " casting out devils, Jesus saith, Forbid him not." 
 This important declaration of our Lord, I am, in the third place, to 
 explain 
 
 2. It we see this man casting out devils : But it is well, if, in such a 
 case, we would believe even what we saw with our eyes, if we did not 
 give the lie to our own senses. He must be little acquainted with 
 human nature, who does not immediately perceive, how extremely un- 
 ready we should be to believe that any man does cast out devils, who 
 " followeth not us," in all or most of the senses above recited. I had 
 almost said, in any of them ; seeing we may easily learn even from what 
 passes in our own breasts, how unwilling men are to allow any thing 
 good in those who do not in all things agree with themselves. 
 
 3. " But what is a sufficient reasonable proof, that a man does (in 
 the sense above) cast out devils ?" The answer is easy. Is there full 
 proof, 1. That a person before us was a gross, open sinner? 2. That 
 he is not so now ; that he has brokp ofT his sins, and lives a Christian 
 life? And, 3. That this change was wrought by his hearing this man 
 preach ? If these three points be plain and undeniable, then you have 
 sufficient, reasonable proof, such as vou cannot resist without wilful sin, 
 that this man casts out devils. 
 
 4. Then " forbid him not." Beware how you attempt to hinder him, 
 either by your authority, or arguments, or persuasions. Do not in any 
 wise strive to prevent his using all the power which God has given him. 
 If you have authority with him, do not use that authority, to stop the 
 work of God. Do not furnish him with reason*, why he ought not any 
 more to speak in the name of Jesus. Satan will not fail to supply him 
 with these, if you do not second him therein. Persuade him not to 
 depart from the work. If he should give place to the devil and you, 
 many souls might perish in their iniquity, but their blood would God 
 require at your hands. 
 
 5. " But what if he be only a layman, who casts out devils ? Ought 
 I not to forbid him then ?" 
 
 Is the fact allowed ? Is there reasonable proof, that this man lias 01 
 does cast out devils ? If there is, forbid him not ; no, not at the peril of 
 your soul. Shall not God work by whom he will work ? No man can 
 do these works unless God is with him ; unless God hath sent him for 
 this very thing. But if God hath sent him, will you call him back ? 
 Will you forbid him to go. 
 
 6 " But I do not know, that he is sent of God." " Now herein is a 
 marvellous thing," (may any of the seals of his mission say, any whom 
 he hath brought from Satan to God,) " that ye know not whence this 
 man is, and, behold, he hath opened mine eyes! If this man were not 
 of God, he could do nothing." If you doubt the fact, send for the 
 parents of the man : send for his brethren, friends, acquaintance. But 
 if you cannot doubt this, if you must needs acknowledge, " that a nota- 
 ble miracle hath been wrought ;" then with what conscience, with what
 
 SERMON XXXVIII.] CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY. 377 
 
 face, can you charge him whom God hath sent, " not to speak any more 
 in his name ?" 
 
 7. I allow, that it is highly expedient, whoever preaches in his name 
 should have an outward as well as an inward call ; but that it is abso- 
 lutely necessary, I deny. 
 
 " Nay, is not the Scripture express ? ' No man takelh this honour 
 unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron ?' " Heb. v, 4. 
 
 Numberless times has this text been quoted on the occasion, as con- 
 taining the very strength of the cause : but surely never was so unhappy 
 a quotation. For, first, Aaron was not called to preach at all : he was 
 called " to offer gifts, and sacrifice for sin." That was his peculiar 
 employment. Secondly, These men do not offer sacrifice at ail ; but 
 only preach ; which Aaron did not. Therefore it is not possible to find 
 one text in all the Bible, which is more wide of the point than this. 
 
 8. " But what was the practice of the apostolic age ?" You may easily 
 see in the Acts of the Apostles. In the eighth chapter we read, " There 
 was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem ; 
 and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and 
 Samaria, except the apostles," verse 1. " Therefore they that wore 
 scattered abroad, went every where preaching the word," ver?e 4. Now 
 were all these outwardly called to preach 1 No man in his senses can 
 think so. Here, then, is an undeniable proof, what was the practice 
 of the apostolic age. Here you see not one, but a multitude of lay 
 preachers, men that were only sent of God. 
 
 9. Indeed so far is the practice of the apostolic age from inclining 
 us to think it was unlawful for a man to preach before he was ordained, 
 that we have reason to think, it was then accounted ntcessary. Cer- 
 tainly the practice and the direction of the apostle Paul was, to prove a 
 man before he was ordained at all. " Let these," (the deacons,) says he, 
 " first be proved ; then let them use the office of a deacon," 1 Tim. iii, 10 : 
 Proved ? How 1 By setting them to construe a sentence of Greek, and 
 asking them a few common place questions 1 Oh ama/ing proof of a 
 minister of Christ! Nay ; but by making a clear, open tiial, (as is still done 
 bymostofthe Protestant churches of Europe,) notonly whether their lives 
 be holy and unblamable, but whether they have such gifts as are abso- 
 lutely and indispensably necessary, in order to edify the church of Christ. 
 
 10. But what if a man has these ; and has brought sinners to repent- 
 ance ; and yet the bishop will not ordain him ? Then the bishop does 
 forbid him to cast out devils. But I dare not forbid him : I have pub- 
 lished my reasons to all the world. Yet it is still insisted, I ought to 
 do it. You who insist upon it, answer those reasons. I know not that 
 any have done this yet, or even made an attempt of doing it. Only 
 some have spoken of them as very weak and trifling : and this was pru- 
 dent enough ; for it is far easier to despise, at least seem to despise, an 
 argument than to answer it. Yet till this is done, I must say, when I 
 have reasonable proof that any man does cast out devils, whatever others 
 do, I dare not forbid him, lest I be found even to fight against God. 
 
 11. And whosoever thou art that fearest God, " forbid him not," 
 either directly or indirectly. There are many ways of doing this. You 
 indirectly forbid him, if you either wholly deny, or despise and make little 
 account of the work which God has wrought by his hands. You indi 
 redly forbid him, when you discourage him in his work, by drawing
 
 378 CAUTION AGAINST BIGOTRY. [SEBMON XXXYIIL 
 
 him into disputes concerning it, by raising objections against n, or 
 frighting him with consequences which very possibly will never be. You 
 forbid him, when you show any unkindness towards him, either in lan- 
 guage or behaviour ; and much more when you speak of him to others, 
 either in an unkind or a contemptuous manner ; when you endeavour 
 to represent him to any, either in an odious or a despicable light. You 
 are forbidding him all the time you are speaking evil of him, or making 
 no account of his Iab6urs. Oh forbid him not in any of these ways; 
 nor by forbidding others to hear him ; by discouraging sinners from 
 hearing that word, which is able to save their souls. 
 
 12. Yea, if you would observe our Lord's direction in its full mean 
 ing and extent, then remember his word, " He that is not for us is 
 against us ; and he that gathereth not with me, scattereth :" he that 
 gathercth not men into the kingdom of God, assuredly scatters them 
 from it. For there can be no neuter in this war. Every one is either 
 on God's side, or on Satan's. Are you on God's side ? Then you will 
 not only not forbid any man that casts out devils, but you will labour, 
 to the uttermost of your power, to forward him in the work. You will 
 readily acknowledge the work of God, and confess the greatness of it. 
 You will remove all difficulties and objections, as far as may be, out of 
 his way. You will strengthen his hands by speaking honourably of 
 him before all men, and avowing the things which you have seen and 
 heard. You will encourage others to attend upon his word, to hear him 
 whom God hath sent. And you will omit no actual proof of tender love, 
 which God gives you an opportunity of showing him. 
 
 IV. 1. If we willingly fail in any of these points, if we either directly 
 or indirectly forbid him, " because he followeth not us," then we are 
 bigots. This is the inference I draw from what has been said. But 
 the term bigotry, I fear, as frequently as it is used, is almost as little 
 understood as enthusiasm. It is too strong an attachment to, or fond- 
 ness for, our own party, opinion, church and religion. Therefore he 
 is a bigot who is so fond of any of these, so strongly attached to them, 
 as to forbid any who casts out devils, because he differs from himself, 
 in any or all these particulars. 
 
 2. Do yon beware of this. Take care, 1. That you do not convict 
 yourself of bigotry, by your unreadiness to believe that any man does 
 cast out devils, who differs from you. And if you are clear thus far, if 
 you acknowledge the fact, then examine yourself, 2. Am I not convicted 
 of bigotry in this, in forbidding him directly or indirectly ? Do I not 
 directly forbid him on this ground because he is not of my party ? 
 because he does not fall in with my opinions ? or, because he does 
 not worship God according to that scheme of religion, which I have 
 received from my fathers ? 
 
 3. Examine yourself, Do I not indirectly at least forbid him on any 
 of these grounds? Am I not sorry, that God should thus own and bless 
 a man that holds such erroneous opinions? Do 1 not discourage him, 
 because he is not of my church, by disputing with him concerning it, by 
 raising objections, and by perplexing his mind with distant consequences? 
 Do I show no anger, contempt, or unkindness of any sort, either in my 
 words or actions ? Do I not mention behind his back, his (real or supposed) 
 faults, his defects, or infirmities ? Do not I hinder sinners from hearing 
 las word ? If yon do any of these things, you are a bigot to this day.
 
 SERMON XXXIX.] CATHOLIC SPIRIT. . 379 
 
 4. " Search me, oh Lord, and prove me. Try out my reins and my 
 heart ' Look well if there be any way of [bigotry] in me, and lead mf 
 in the way everlasting." In order to ermine ourselves thoroughly, let 
 the case be proposed in the strongest manner. What if I were to see 
 a Papist, an Arian, a Socinian, casting out devils ? If I did, I could not 
 forbid even him, without convicting myself of bigotry. Yea, if it could 
 6e supposed that I should see a Jew, a Deist, or a Turk doing the same, 
 were I to forbid him either directly or indirectly I should be no better 
 than a bigot still. 
 
 5. Oh stand clear of this ! But be not content with not forbidding 
 any that cast out devils. It is well to go thus far ; but do not stop here. 
 If you will avoid all bigotry, go on. In every instance of this kind, 
 whatever the instrument be, acknowledge the linger of God. And not 
 only acknowledge, but rejoice in his work, and praise his name with 
 thanksgiving. Encourage whomsoever God is pleased to employ, to 
 give himself wholly up thereto. Speak well of him wheresoever you 
 are ; defend his character and his mission. Enlarge, as far as you can, 
 his sphere of action ; show him all kindness in word and deed ; and 
 cease not to cry to God in his behalf, that he may save both himself 
 and them that hear him. 
 
 6. I need add but one caution : think not the bigotry of another is 
 any excuse for your own. It is not impossible, that one* who casts out 
 devils himself, may yet forbid you so to do. You may observe, this is 
 the very case mentioned in the text. The apostles forbade another 
 to do what they did themselves. But beware of retorting. It is not your 
 part to return evil for evil. Another's not observing the direction of our 
 Lord, is no reason why you should neglect it. Nay, but let him have 
 all the bigotry to himself. If he forbid you, do not you forbid him 
 Rather labour, and watch, and pray the more, to confirm your love 
 towards him. If he speak all manner of evil ofyow, speak all manner 
 of good (that is true) of him. Imitate herein that glorious saying of a 
 great man, (oh that he had always breathed the same spirit!) " Let 
 Luther call me a hundred devils; I will still reverence him as a mes- 
 senger of God.' 
 
 SEEMON XXXIX. Catholic Spirit. 
 
 " And when he was departed thence, he lighted on Jehonadab the son of 
 Rechab coming to meet him : and he saluted him, and said to him, Is 
 thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ? And Jehouadah 
 answered, It is. If it be, give me thine hand." 2 Kings x. 15. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 LOVE is due to all mankind. A peculiar love to those that 
 love God. Two hindrances prevent the practice of thi.s love ; 
 they cannot think alike, and they cannot walk alike. This 
 may prevent external union ; but should not prevent that of 
 the heart. 
 
 I. Consider the question here propounded, Is thine heart 
 right ?
 
 380 CATHOLIC SPIRIT. [SERMON XXXIX. 
 
 1. This is not a question concerning opinions, though these 
 were peculiar. Ignorance and prejudice we all have, and with 
 some it may be invincible. Hence we should allow liberty of 
 opinion. 
 
 2. Nor concerning modes of worship. Variety of opinion 
 will necessitate variety of practice. Every man must be fully 
 persuaded in his own conscience, in regard to the congregation 
 and mode in which he ought to worship God. 
 
 3. But the question does ask for a right faith in God and 
 Christ, and a right love to God and to our neighbour, shown 
 in the work of life. 
 
 II. The proposal, Give me thine hand. 
 
 1. Not accept my opinions. 
 
 2. Nor embrace my modes of worship. 
 
 3. But love me, not only as a fellow-man, but as a fellow- 
 Christian. Pray for me. Provoke me to love and good works. 
 Love me not in word only, but in deed and in truth. 
 
 III. Inferences. 
 
 1. The Catholic spirit is not speculative latitudinarianisni. 
 Unsettledness of thought is a curse, not a blessing. A truly 
 Catholic man is fixed as the sun in his judgment of the funda- 
 mental truths. 2. It is not practical latitudinarianism. 3. 
 Nor is it indifference to all churches. 4. But it gives cordial, 
 hearty, fellowship to all whose hearts are right with God, 
 while valuing and praising God for all its own advantages. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 These two sermons form a very valuable appendix to Mr. Wesley's 
 exposition of Christian ethics. They define especially his view of the 
 relation of creeds and forms of Church polity, and of liturgy or worship, 
 to the essentials of Christianity. His condemnation of latitudinarianisni 
 and of unsettled notions in religion is most definite j and the danger of 
 these things is clearly stated. But all narrowness oi bigotry, and all 
 exclusiveness of sect, are condemned with equal firmness. The prin- 
 ciples of Catholicity here enunciated are of universal application, and 
 form a broader and surer basis of Christian union than any definitions 
 of creed. They are principles which ensure unity of creed in all essen- 
 tials ; for wherever the vital power of Christianity exists, we may be 
 Eure that the main truths of its creed are not far to seek. 
 
 SEEMON XXXIX. 
 
 1. IT is allowed even by those who do not pay this great debt, that 
 love is due to all mankind ; the royal law, " Thou shall love thv neigh- 
 bour as thyself," carrying its own evidence to all that hear it : and that, 
 not according to the miserable construction put upon it by the zealots 
 of old times, " Thou shall love thy neighbour," thy relation, acquaint 
 ance, friend, " and hate thine enemy :" not so ; " I say unto you," saith 
 our Lord, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to 
 them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefuily use you, and 
 persecute you ; that ye may be the children [may appear so to all man
 
 SERMON XXXIX ] CATHOLIC SPIRIT. 381 
 
 kind] of your Father which is in heaven; who maketh his sun to rise 
 on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the 
 unjust." 
 
 2. But it is sure, there is a peculiar love which we owe to those that 
 love God. So David : " All my delight is upon the saints that are in 
 the earth, and upon such as excel in virtue." And so a greater than 
 ho : "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another : 
 as I have loved you. that ye also love one another. By this shall all men 
 know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another," John 
 xiii, 34, 35. This is that love on which the apostle John so frequently 
 and strongly insists : " This," saith he, " is the message that ye heard 
 from tne beginning, that we should love one another," 1 John iii, 11. 
 '* Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life 
 for us : and we ought [if love should call us thereto] to lay down our 
 lives for the brethren," ver. 16. And again : " Beloved, let us love one 
 another : for love is of God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God , 
 for God is love," chap, iv, 7, 8. " Not that, we loved God, but that he 
 loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, 
 if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another," ver. 10, 11. 
 
 3. All men approve of this. But do all men practise it ? Daily 
 experience shows the contrary. Where are even the Christians who 
 " love one another, as he hath given us commandment 1" How many 
 hinderances lie in the way ! The two grand, general hinderances are, 
 first, That they cannot all think alike ; and, in consequence of this, 
 secondly, They cannot all walk alike ; but in several smaller points 
 their practice must differ, in proportion to the difference of their 
 sentiments. 
 
 4. But although a difference in opinions or modes of worship may 
 prevent an entire external union ; yet need it prevent our union in 
 affection 1 Though we cannot think alike, may we not love alike ? 
 May we not be of one heart, though we are not of one opinion ? Without 
 all doubt we may. Herein all the children of God may unite, notwith- 
 standing these smaller differences. These remaining as they are, they 
 may forward one another in love and in good works. 
 
 5. Surely in this respect the example of Jehu himself, as mixed a 
 character as he was of, is well worthy both the attention and imitation 
 of every serious Christian. " And when he was departed thence, he 
 lighted on Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. And 
 he saluted him, and said to him, Is thine heart right, as rny heart is 
 
 with thy heart ? And Jehonadab answered, It is. If it be, give me 
 thine hand." 
 
 The text naturally divides itself into two parts, first, A question pro- 
 posed by Jehu to Jehonadab : " Is thine heart right, as my heart is 
 with thy heart ?" Secondly, An offer made on Jehonadab's answering, 
 It is : " If it be, give me thine hand." 
 
 I. 1. And, first, let us consider the question proposed by Jehu to 
 Jehonadab, " Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?" 
 
 The very first thing we may observe in these words, is, that here is 
 no inquiry concerning Jehonadab's opinions. And yet it is certain, 
 he held some which were very uncommon, indeed quite peculiar to 
 himself; and some which had a close influence upon his practice ; on 
 which likewise he laid so great a stress, as to entail them upon his chil-
 
 382 CATHOLIC SPIRIT. [SERMON 
 
 dren's children, to their latest posterity. This is evident from th 
 account given by Jeremiah, many years after his death : " I took 
 Jaazaniah and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of 
 the Rechabites, and set before them pots full of wine and cups, and 
 said unto them, Drink ye wine. But they said, We will drink no wine ; 
 for Jonadab [or Jehonadab] the son of Rechabour father" [it would l>e 
 less ambiguous if the words were placed thus, Jehonadab our father, the 
 son o/"Rechab; out of love and reverence to whom he probably desired 
 his descendants might be called by his name] " commanded us, saying, 
 Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons for ever. Neither 
 shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any ; 
 but all your days ye shall dwell in tents. And we have obeyed and 
 done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us," Jer. 
 xxxv, 3-10. 
 
 2. And yet Jehu (although it seems to have been his manner, both 
 in things secular, and religious, to drive furiously] does not concern 
 himself at all with any of these things, but lets Jehonadab abound in his 
 own sense. And neither of them appears to have given the other the 
 least disturbance, touching the opinions which he maintained. 
 
 3. It is very possible, that many good men now also may entertain 
 peculiar opinions ; and some of them may be as singular herein, as even 
 Jchonadab was. And it is certain, so long as we know but in part, that 
 all mon w.ill not see all things alike. It is an unavoidable consequence 
 of the present weakness and shortness of human understanding, that 
 several men will be of several minds in religion as well as in common 
 life. So it has been from the beginning of the world, and so it will be 
 "till the restitution of all things." 
 
 4. Nay farther : Although every man necessarily believes that every 
 particular opinion which he holds is true ; (for to believe any opinion 
 is not true, is the same thing as not to hold it ; yet can no man be 
 assured that all his own opinions, taken together, are true. Nay, every 
 thinking man is assured they are not ; seeing Human um est errare et 
 nc.scirc : to be ignorant of many things, and to mistake in some, is the 
 necessary condition of humanity. This, therefore, he is sensible is his 
 own case. He knows in general, that he himself is mistaken; although 
 in what particulars he mistakes, he does not, perhaps he cannot know. 
 
 5. I say, perhaps he cannot know; for who can tell how far invin 
 cible ignorance may extend 1 Or (that comes to the same thing,) 
 invincible prejudice ? which is often so fixed in tender minds, that it 
 is afterwards impossible to tear up what has taken so deep a root. 
 And who can say, unless he knew every circumstance attending it, 
 how far any mistake is culpable? Seeing all guilt must suppose some 
 concurrence of the will ; of which he only can judge who searcheth 
 the heart. 
 
 G. Every wise man, therefore, will allow others the same liberty of 
 thinking, which he desires they should allow him ; and will no more 
 insist on their embracing his opinions, than he would have them to 
 insist on his embracing theirs. He bears with those who differ from 
 him, and only asks him, with whom he desires to unite in love, that 
 single question, " is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ?" 
 
 7. We may, secondly, observe, that here is no inquiry made con- 
 cerning Jehonadab's mode of worship ; although it is highly probable
 
 SERMON* XXXIX.] CATHOLIC SPIRIT. 
 
 there was, in this respect also, a very wide difference between them. 
 For we may well believe Jehonadab, as well as all his posterity, wor 
 shipped God at Jerusalem : whereas Jehu did not ; he had more regard 
 to state policy than religion. And, therefore, although he slew the 
 worshippers of Baal, and destroyed Baal out of Israel ; yet from the 
 convenient sin of Jeroboam, the worship of the golden calves, he 
 departed not, 2 Kings x, 29. 
 
 8. But even among men of an upright heart, men who desire to 
 ' have a conscience void of offence," it must needs be, that, as long as 
 there are various opinions, there will be various ways of worshipping 
 God ; seeing a variety of opinions necessarily implies a variety of prac- 
 tice. And as, in all ages, men have differed in nothing more than in 
 their opinions concerning the Supreme Being, so in nothing have they 
 more differed from each other, than in the manner of worshipping him. 
 Had this been only in the heathen world, it would not have been at all 
 surprising: for we know, these " by [their] wisdom knew not Gml ;" 
 nor, therefore, could they know how to worship him. But is it not 
 strange, that even in the Christian world, although they all agree in the 
 general, " God is a Spirit, and they that worship him must worship him 
 in spirit and u truth," yet the particular modes of worshipping God are 
 almost as various as among the heathens ? 
 
 9. And how shall we choose among so much variety 1 No man can 
 choose for, or prescribe to, another. But every one must follow the 
 dictates of his own conscience, in simplicity and godly sincerity. He 
 must be fully persuaded in his own mind, and then act according to tlie 
 best light he has. Nor has any creature power to constrain another to 
 walk by his own rule. God has given no right to any of the children 
 of men, thus to lord it over the conscience of his brethren ; but every 
 man must judge for himself, as every man must give an account of him- 
 self to God 
 
 10. Although, therefore, every follower of Christ is obliged, by the 
 very nature of the Christian institution, to be a member of some particu- 
 lar congregation or other, some church, as it is usually termed; (which 
 implies a particular manner of worshipping God ; for " two cannot walk 
 together unless they be agreed ;) yet none can be obliged by any power 
 on earth, but that of his own conscience to prefer this or that congre- 
 gation to another, this or that particular manner of worship. I know 
 it is commonly supposed, that the place of our birth fixes the church to 
 which we ought to belong ; that one, for instance, who is born in Eng- 
 land, ought to be a member of that which is styled the church of Eng- 
 land ; and, consequently, to worship God in the particular manner which 
 is prescribed by that church. I was or.ce a zealous maintainer of this ; 
 but I find many reasons to abate of this zeal. I fear it is attended 
 with such difficulties, as no reasonable man can get over : not the least 
 of which is, that if this rule had took place, there could have been no 
 reformation from popery ; seeing it entirely destroys the right of private 
 judgment, oil which that whole reformation stands. 
 
 11. I dare not, therefore, presume to impose rny mode of worship or 
 any other. 1 believe it is truly primitive and apostolical : but my belief 
 is no rule for another. I ask not, therefore, of him with whom 1 would 
 unite in love, are you of my church ? of my congregation ? Do you 
 receive the same form of church government, and allow the same church
 
 384 CATHOLIC SPIRIT. [SERMON XXXIX. 
 
 officers with me ? Do you join in the same form of prayer, wherein 1 
 worship God? I inquire not, do you receive the supper of the Lord in 
 the same posture and manner that I do ? Nor, whether, in the adrninis*- 
 tration of baptism, you agree with me in admitting sureties for the 
 haptized ; in the manner of administering it ; or the age of those to 
 whom it should be administered ? Nay, I ask not of you, (as clear as I 
 am in my own mind,) whether you allow baptism and the Lord's sup. 
 per at all ? Let all these things stand by ; we will talk of them, if need 
 be, at a more convenient season ; my only question at present is this, 
 '' Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ?" 
 
 12. But what is properly implied in the question ? I do not mean, 
 What did Jehu imply therein ? But what should a follower of Christ 
 understand thereby, when he proposes it to any of his brethren 1 
 
 The first thing implied is this : Is thy heart right with God ? Dosl 
 thou believe his being, and his perfections ? His eternity, immensity, 
 wisdom, power ; his justice, mercy, and truth 1 Dost thou believe, that 
 he now " upholdeth ali things by the word of his power ?" And that he 
 governs even the most minute, even the most noxious, to his own glory, 
 and the good of them that love him ] Hast thou a divine evidence, a 
 supernatural conviction, of the things of God ? Dost thou " walk by 
 faith, not by sight ?" Looking not at temporal things, but things eternal J 
 
 13. Dost thou believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, " God over all, bless- 
 ed for ever ?" Is he revealed in ihy soul 1 Dost thou know Jesus Christ 
 and him crucified 1 Does he dwell in thee, and thou in him 1 Is he 
 formed in thy heart by faith 1 Having absolutely disclaimed all thy own 
 works, thy own righteousness, hast thou " submitted thyself unto the 
 righteousness of God," which is by faith in Christ Jesus 1 Art thou 
 " found in him, not having thy own righteousness, but the righteous- 
 ness which is by faith ?" And art thou, through him, " fighting the 
 good fight of faith, and laying hold of eternal life ?" 
 
 14. Is thy faith svs^a^svri 6C ccyairTij, -filled with the energy of love? 
 Dost thou love God, I do not say, " above all things ;" for it is both an 
 unscriptural and an ambiguous expression ; but " with all thy heart, 
 and with all thy mind, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength ?" 
 Dost thou seek ail thy happiness in him alone ? And dost thou find 
 what thou seekest 1 Does thy soul continually " magnify the Lord, and 
 thy spirit rejoice in God thy Saviour 7" Having learned " in every thing 
 to give thanks," dost thou find " it is a joyful and a pleasant thing to 
 be thankful ?" Is God the centre of thy soul ? The sum of all thy de- 
 sires ? Art thou accordingly laying up thy treasure in heaven, and 
 counting all things else dung and dross ? Hath the love of God cast the 
 love of the world out of thy soul ? Then thou art " crucified to the world !" 
 thou art dead to all below ; and thy " life is hid with Christ in God." 
 
 15. Art thou employed in doing " not thy own will, but the v\ill of 
 him that sent thee ?" Of him that sent thee down to sojourn here awhile, 
 to spend a few days in a strange land, till, having finished the work he 
 hath given thee to do, thou return to thy Father's house 1 Is it thy meat 
 and drink " to do the will of thy Father which is in heaven ]" Is thine 
 eye single in all things 1 Always fixed on him ? Always looking unto 
 Jesus ? Dost thou point at him in whatsoever thou doest ? In all thy 
 labour, thy business, thy conversation ? Aiming only at the glory of 
 God in all ; " whatsoever thou doest, either in word or deed, doing il
 
 SERMON XXXIX.] CATHOLIC SPIRIT. 385 
 
 all in the name of the Lord Jesus; giving thanks unto God, even the 
 Father, through him ?" 
 
 16. Does the love of God constrain thee to serve him with fear, to 
 " rejoice unto him with reverence ?" Art thou more afraid of displea- 
 sing God, than either of death or hell ? Is nothing so terrible to thee 
 as the thought of offending the eyes of his glory ? Upon this ground, 
 dost thou " hate all evil ways," every transgression of his holy arid per- 
 fect law ; ami herein " exercise thyself to have a conscience void 01 
 offence towards God, and towards man ?" 
 
 17. Is thy heart right towards thy neighbour? Dost thou love, as 
 thyself, all mankind without exception ? " If you love those only that 
 love you, what thank have ye ?" Do you " love your enemies?'' Is your 
 soul full of good will, of tender affection towards them ? Do you lore 
 even the enemies of God, the unthankful and unholy ? Do your bowels 
 yearn over them ? Could you " wish yourself [temporally] accursed" 
 for their sake ? And do you show this, by " blessing them that curse 
 you, and praying for those that despitefully use you, and persecute you ?" 
 
 18. Do you show your love by your works? While }ou have time, as 
 you have opportunity, do you in fact " do good to all men," neighbours 
 or strangers, friends or enemies, good or bad ? Do you do them all the 
 good you can ; endeavouring to supply all their wants ; assisting them 
 both in body and soul, to the uttermost of your power ? If thou art thus 
 minded, may every Christian say, yea, if thou art but sincerely desirous 
 of it, and following on till thou attain, then " thy heart is right, as my 
 heart is with thy heart." 
 
 II. 1. " If it be, give me thy hand." I do not mean, " Be of my 
 opinion." You need not : I do not expect or desire it. Neither do I 
 mean, " I will be of your opinion." I cannot : it does not depend on 
 my choice : I can no more think, than I can see or hear, as I wilL 
 Keep you your opinion: I mine; and that as steadily as ever. You 
 need not even endeavour to come over to me, or bring me over to you. 
 I do not desire you to dispute those points, or to hear or speak one word 
 concerning them. Let all opinions alone on one side and the other : 
 only " give me thine hand." 
 
 2. I do not mean, " Embrace my modes of worship : or, I will em- 
 brace yours." This also is a thing which does not depend either on 
 your choice or mine. We must both act, as each is fully persuaded in 
 his own mind. Hold you fast that which you believe is most accepta- 
 ble to God, and I will do the same. I believe the Episcopal form of 
 church government to be scriptural and apostolical. If you think the 
 Presbyterian or Independent is better, think so still, and act accordingly. 
 I believe infants ought to be baptized ; and that this may be done 
 either by dipping or sprinkling. If you are otherwise persuaded, be so 
 still, and follow your own persuasion. It appears to me that forms of 
 prayer are of excellent use, particularly in the great congregation. If 
 you judge extemporary prayer to be of more use, act suitably to your 
 own judgment. My sentiment is, that I ought not to forbid water, 
 wherein persons may be baptized ; and, tha I ought to eat bread and 
 drink wine, as a memorial of my dying Master : however, if you are not 
 convinced of this, act according to the light you have. I have no desire 
 to dispute with you one moment, upon any of the preceding heads. Let 
 all these smaller points stand aside. Let thorn never come into sight.
 
 386 CATHOLIC SPIRIT. [SERMON XXXIX. 
 
 4 If thine heart is as my heart," if thou lovest God and all mankind, I 
 isk no more : " give me thine hand." 
 
 3. I mean, first, love me : and that not only as thou lovet all man- 
 kind ; not only as thou lovest thine enemies, or the enemies of God 
 those that hate thee, "that despitefully use thee and persecute thee ;" 
 not only as a stranger, as one of whom thou knowest neither good nor 
 evil ; I am not satisfied with this ; no ; " If thine heart be right, as 
 mine with thy heart," then love me with a very tender affection, as a 
 friend that is closer than a brother ; as a brother in Christ, a fellow 
 citizen of the New Jerusalem, a fellow soldier engaged in the same war- 
 fare, under the same Captain of our salvation. Love me as a companion 
 in the kingdom and patience of Jesus, and a joint heir of his glory. 
 
 4. Love me (but in a higher degree than thou dost the bulk of man 
 kind) with the love that is long swfering and kind ; that is patient ; if 
 I am ignorant or out of the way, bearing and not increasing my burden; 
 and is tender, soft, and compassionate still ; that eiwieth not, if at any 
 time it please God to prosper me in hi.* work even more than thee. 
 Love me with the love that is not provoked, either at my ollies or infirmi- 
 ties ; or even at my acting (if it should sometimes so appear to thee) not 
 according to the will of God. Love me so as to think no evil of me ; 
 to put away all jealousy and evil surmising. Love me with the love that 
 covereth all things ; that never reveals either my faults or infirmities ; 
 that believeth all things; is always willing to think the best, to put 
 the fairest construction on all my words and actions ; that liopeth all 
 things ; either that the thing related was never done ; or not done with 
 such circumstances as are related ; or, at least, that it was done with a 
 good intention, or in a sudden stress of temptation. And hope to the 
 end, that whatever is amiss, will, by the grace of God, be corrected ; 
 and whatever is wanting, supplied, through the riches of his mercy in 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 5. I mean, secondly, Commend me to God in all thy prayers ; wres- 
 tle with him in my behalf, that he would speedily correct what he sees 
 amiss, and supply what is wanting in me. In thy nearest access to the 
 throne of grace, beg of him, who is then very present with thee, that my 
 heart may be more as thy heart, more right both towards God and towards 
 man ; that I may have a fuller conviction of tilings not seen, and a 
 stronger view of the love of God in Christ Jesus; may more steadily 
 walk by faith, not by sight ; and more earnestly grasp eternal life. 
 Pray that the love of God, and of all mankind, may be more largely 
 poured into my heart; that 1 may be more fervent and active in doing 
 the will of my Father which is in heaven; more zealous of good works, 
 and more careful to abstain from all appearance of evil. 
 
 6. I mean, thirdly, Provoke me to love and to good works. Second 
 thy prayer, as thou hast opportunity, by speaking to me, in love, what- 
 soever thou believest to be for my soul's health. Quicken me in the 
 work which God has given me to do, and instruct me how to do it more 
 perfectly. Yea, " smite me friendly, and reprove me," wherein soever 
 I appear to thee to be doing rather my own wiil, than the will of him 
 that sent me. Oh speak and spare not, whatever thou believest rna) 
 conduce, either to the amending my faults, the strengthening my weak- 
 ness, the building me up in love, or the making me more fit, in any 
 kind, for the Master's use !
 
 SERMON XXXIX.] CATHOLIC SPIRIT. 387 
 
 7. I mean, lastly, Love me not in word only, but in deed and in 
 truth. So far as in conscience thou canst, (retaining still thy own 
 opinions, and thy own manner of worshipping God,) join with me in 
 the work of God, and let us go on hand in hand. And thus far, it it 
 certain, thou inayest go. Speak honourably, wherever thou art, of the 
 work of God, by whomsoever he works, and kindly of his messengers. 
 And if it be in thy power, not only sympathize with them when they 
 are in any difficulty or distress, but give them a cheerful and effectual 
 assistance, that they may glorify God on thy behalf. 
 
 8. Two things should be observed with regard to what has been 
 spoken under this last head : The one, that whatsoever love, whatso- 
 ever offices of love, whatsoever spiritual or temporal assistance, I claim 
 from him whose heart is right, as my heart is with his ; the same I am 
 ready, by the grace of God, according to my measure, to give him : 
 The other, that 1 have not made this claim in behalf of myself only, 
 but of all whose heart is right towards God and man, that we may all 
 love one another as Christ hath loved us. 
 
 III. 1. One rnference we may make from what has been said. We 
 may learn from hence, what is a catholic spirit. 
 
 There is scarce any expression which has been more grossly misun 
 derstood, and more dangerously misapplied, than this: but it will be 
 easy for any who calmly consider the preceding observations, to correct 
 any such misapprehensions of it, and to prevent any such misapplication. 
 
 From hence we may learn, first, That a catholic spirit is not specu- 
 lative latitudinarianism. It is not an indifference to all opinions : 
 this is the spawn of hell, not the offspring of heaven. This unsettled- 
 ness of thought, this being " driven to and fro, and tossed about with 
 every wind of doctrine," is a great curee, not a blessing; an irrecon- 
 cilable enemy, not a friend to true Catholicism. A man of a truly 
 catholic spirit, has not now his religion to seek. He is fixed as the 
 sun, in his judgment concerning the main branches of Christian 
 doctrine. It is true, he is always ready to hear and weigh whatsoever 
 can be offered against his principles ; but as this does not show any 
 wavering in his own mind, so neither does it occasion any. He does 
 not halt between two opinions, nor vainly endeavour to blend them into 
 one. Observe this, you who know not what spirit ye are of; who call 
 yourselves men of a catholic spirit, only because you are of a muddy un- 
 derstanding ; because your mind is all in a mist ; because you have no 
 settled, consistent principles, but are fo r jumbling all opinions together 
 Be convinced, that you have quite missed your way ; you know not 
 where you are. You think you are got into the very spirit of Christ ; 
 when, in truth, you are nearer the spirit of antichrist. Go, first, and 
 learn the first, elements of the gospel of Christ, and then shall you learn 
 to be of a truly catholic spirit. 
 
 2. From what has been said, we may learn, secondly, that a catholic 
 spirit is not any kind of practical latitudinarianism. It is not indif- 
 ference as to public worship, or as to the outward manner of performing 
 it. This, likewise, would not be a blessing but a curse. Far from 
 being a help thereto, it would, so long as it remained, be an unspeak- 
 able hinderance to the worshipping of God in spirit and in truth. But 
 the man of a truly catholic spirit, having weighed all things in the 
 balance of the sanctuary, has no doubt, no scruple at all, concerning
 
 388 
 
 CATHOLIC SPIRIT. [SERMON XXXIX. 
 
 that particular mode of worship wheiein he joins. He is clearly con- 
 vinced, that this mariner of worshipping God is both scriptural and 
 rational. He knows none in the world, which is more scriptural, none 
 which is more rational. Therefore, without rambling hither and 
 thither, he cleaves close thereto, and praises God for the opportunity ot 
 so doing. 
 
 3. Hence we may, thirdly, learn, that a catholic spirit is not .ndiflfcr- 
 ence to all congregations. This is another sort of latitudinarianism, no 
 less absurd and unscriptural than the former. But it is far from a man 
 of a truly catholic spirit. He is fixed in his congregation as well as 
 his principles. He is united to one, not only in spirit, but by all the 
 outward ties of Christian fellowship. There he partakes of all the 
 ordinances of God. There he receives the supper of the Lord. There 
 he pours out his soul in public prayer, and joins in public praise and 
 thanksgiving. There he rejoices to hear the word of reconciliation, 
 the gospel of the grace of God. With these his nearest, his best be- 
 loved brethren, on solemn occasions, he seeks God by fasting. These 
 particularly he watches over in love, as they do over his soul ; admo- 
 nishing, exhorting, comforting, reproving, and every way building up 
 each other in the faith. Those he regards as his own household ; and 
 therefore, according to the ability God has given him, naturally cares 
 for them, and provides that they may have all the things that are need- 
 ful for life and godliness. 
 
 4. But while he is steadily fixed in his religious principles, in what 
 he believes to be the truth as it is in Jesus ; while he firmly adheres to 
 that worship of God which he judges to be most acceptable in his sight; 
 and while he is united, by the tenderest and closest ties, to one particular 
 congregation, his heart is enlarged towards all mankind, those he 
 knows, and those he does not ; he embraces with strong and cordial 
 affection, neighbours and strangers, friends and enemies. This is 
 catholic, or universal love. And he that has this is of a catholic spirit. 
 For love alone gives the title to this character : catholic love is a 
 catholic spirit. 
 
 5. If then we take this word in the strictest sense, a man of a 
 catholic spirit is one who, in the manner above mentioned, gives his 
 hand to all whose hearts are right with his heart : one who knows how 
 to value, and praise God for, all the advantages he enjoys, with regard 
 to the knowledge of the things of God, the true scriptural manner of 
 worshipping him, and, above ail, his union with a congregation fearing 
 God and working righteousness : one who, retaining these blessings 
 with the strictest care, keeping them as the apple of his eye, at the 
 same time loves, as friends, as brethren in the Lord, as members of 
 Christ and children of God, as joint partakers now of the present 
 kingdom of God, and fellow heirs of his eternal kingdom, all of 
 whatever opinion, or worship, or congregation, who believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ ; who love God and man ; who rejoicing to please, and 
 fearing to offend God, are careful to abstain from evil, ana zealous of 
 good works. He is the man of a truly catholic spirit, who bears all 
 these continually upon his heart ; who, having an unspeakable tender- 
 ness for their persons, and longing for their welfare, does not cease to 
 commend them to God in prayer, as well as to plead their cause before 
 men ; who speaks comfortably to them, and labours by all his words,
 
 SERMON XL.] CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 
 
 to strengthen their hands in God. He assists them to the uttermost of 
 his power in all things, spiritual and temporal. He is ready " to spend 
 and be spent for them ;" yea, to lay down his life for their take. 
 
 6. Thou, oh man of God, think on these things ! If thou art already 
 in this way, go on. If thou hast heretofore mistook the path, bless God 
 who hath brought thee back ! And now run the race which is set before 
 thee, in the royal way of universal love. Take heed, lest thou Le 
 either wavering in thy judgment, or straitened in thy bowels : but keep 
 an even pace, rooted in the faith once delivered to the saints, and 
 grounded in love, in true catholic love, till thou art swallowed UD in 
 lovu lor evi;i ami uvur 1 
 
 SE&MON XL. On Christian Perfection. 
 
 "Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect." PhiL 
 iii. 12. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THE word perfection, though a cause of offence, is Scriptural, 
 and hence should not be discarded, but explained ; we, there- 
 fore enquire : 
 .1. In what sense Christians are not perfect. 
 
 1. Not in knowledge. Though needful, practical knowledge 
 of the way of right and the things of God is given. 
 
 2. Nor in freedom from mistakes. Not as to the essentials 
 of salvation ; but as to facts, and even Scripture. 
 
 3. Nor in freedom from infirmities ; which is not a soft name 
 for sins ; but includes all defects not moral. 
 
 4. Nor in freedom from temptation. Christ was tempted. 
 
 5. Nor are they perfect in degree. Theirs is not an absolute 
 quantitative perfection. 
 
 1L In what sense they are perfect. 
 
 The stages of the Christian as of the natural life. Christian 
 perfection belongs to the fathers. 
 
 1. But even babes in Christ are so far perfect as not to 
 commit sin. This is not proved from abstract reason, nor 
 from individual experience, but from the Word of God. 
 Testimony of Paul, Rom. vi. Testimony of 1 Pet. iv. 1, 2. 
 Of 1 John iii. The least which these passages imply is free- 
 dom from outward sin. Objections drawn from Old Testa- 
 ment examples. From Prov. xxiv. 16, and Eccles. vii. 20. 
 These expressed the ordinary Old Testament experience. 
 But Christians have received the Holy Spirit, and are "no 
 more servants but sons." 1 Pet. i. 9, 10 ; Zech. xii. 8. 
 
 Objections from New Testament. Peter, Paul, and Bar- 
 nabas did sin. But were under no necessity. Paul's thorn 
 was not a sin. James' " we all offend," refers to the " many 
 masters," for he speaks of the perfect man. John's declara-
 
 390 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SERMON XL. 
 
 tion of universal sin refers not to the present, but to the past 
 life. 
 
 2. But only those who are strong in the Lord are so perfect 
 as to be free from evil thoughts and evil tempers. (1) Evil 
 thoughts, (which are to be distinguished from thoughts con- 
 cerning evil.) This appears from the teaching of Christ. 
 Mark vii. 21 ; Matt. xii. 33.. and vii. 17, 18. Of Paul, 2 Cor. 
 x. 4. (2) Evil tempers. This implied in the promise of 
 likeness to the Master ; and in Paul's crucifixion with Christ. 
 Hence freedom from pride, and from sinful anger. This per- 
 fection presented in 1 John iv. 17, and i. 5, 7 ; Deut. xxx. 6, 
 and in Ezek. xxxvi. 25. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon was written and published in the early ministry of 
 Wesley, about 1741. It presents to us principally the negative side of 
 the doctrine ; hence for a full view of it we must refer to parallel 
 passages of his works. We shall confine ourselves here to the definition, 
 of this state of grace. The way to its attainment will be considered in 
 connection with sermon 43. The following, written in 1742, was used 
 by Mr. Wesley repeatedly as a short statement of the doctrine : 
 " Whom then do you mean by one that is perfect 1 We mean one 'in 
 whom is the mind which was in Christ, and who so walketh as Christ 
 also walked ; a man that hath clean hands and a pure heart, or that is 
 cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and spirit ; one in whom is no occa- 
 sion of stumbling, and who accordingly does not commit sin. To declare 
 this a little more particularly ; we understand by that Scriptural 
 expression, a perfect man, one in whom God hath fulfilled his faithful 
 word, ' From all your filthiness, and from all your idols will I cleanse 
 you. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses.' We understand 
 one whom God hath sanctified throughout in body, soul, and spirit ; one 
 who walketh in the light as he is in the light, in whom is no darkness at 
 all ; the blood of Jesus Christ his Son having cleansed him from all sin. 
 
 " This man can now testify to all mankind, I am crucified with Christ; 
 nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.' He is holy as 
 God who called him is holy, both in heart and in all manner of conver- 
 sation. He loveth the Lord his God with all his heart, and serveth him 
 with all his strength. He loved his neighbour, every man as himself ; 
 yea, as Christ loveth us ; them in particular that despitefully use him 
 and persecute him, because they know not the Son, neither the Father. 
 Indeed his soul is all love, filled with bowels of mercies, kindness, meek- 
 ness, gentleness, long-suffering. And his life agreeth thereto, full of the 
 work of faith, the patience of hope, the labour of love. And whatsoever 
 he doeth in word or deed he doeth all in the name, in the love and 
 power of the Lord Jesus. In a word, he doeth the will of God on earth 
 as it is done in heaven. 
 
 " This it is to be a perfect man, to be sanctified throughout, even to 
 have a heart so all-flaming with the love of God, (to use Archbishop's 
 Ussher's words) as continually to offer up every thought, word, work, as a 
 spiritual sacrifice acceptable to God through Christ. In every thought 
 of our hearts, in every word of our tongues, in every work of our hands, 
 to show forth his praise who hath called us out of darkness into his 
 marvellous light." (See letter to the Bishop of London, Character of a
 
 SERMON XL.] CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 391 
 
 Methodist, and Plain account of Christian Perfection in all of which 
 this passage is used.) 
 
 The second great period of special prominence of this doctrine in the 
 Methodist societies began about 1769. In a treatise published that year 
 we find the following : 
 
 " Q. What is Christian perfection ? 
 
 " A. The loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. 
 This implies that no wrong temper, none contrary to love remains in the 
 soul ; and that all the thoughts, words, and actions are governed by pure 
 love." 
 
 " Q. When may a person .judge himself to have attained this ? 
 
 "A. When, after having been fully convinced of inbred sin, by a far 
 doeper and clearer conviction than that which he experienced before 
 justification, and after having experienced a gradual mortification of it, 
 lie experiences a total death to sin, and an entire renewal in the love and 
 image of God, so as to ' rejoice evermore,' to ' pray without ceasing,' and 
 ' in every thing to give thanks.' Not that ' to feel all love and no sin,' 
 is a sufficient proof. Several have experienced this for a time, before 
 their souls were fully renewed. None, therefore, ought to believe that 
 the work is done, till there is added the testimony of the Spirit, wit- 
 nessing his entire sanctitication as clearly as his justification." 
 
 " We know it by the ivitness and by the fruit of the Spirit, and first by 
 the witness. As when we were justified, the Spirit bore witness vntJi our 
 spirit, that our sins were forgiven ; so when we were sanctified, he bore 
 witness, that they were taken away. Indeed, the witness of sanctifica- 
 tion is not always clear at first : (as neither is that of justification :) 
 neither is it afterward always the same, but like that of justification 
 sometimes stronger and sometimes fainter. Yea, and sometimes it is 
 withdrawn. Yet, in general, the latter testimony of tlie Spirit is both as 
 clear and as steady as the former." 
 
 " Q. But stiil, if they live without sin, does not this exclude the. 
 Ti<.:?ssity of a mediator ? At least, is it not plain that they stand no 
 longer in need of Christ in his priestly office ? 
 
 " A. Far from it. None feel their need of Christ like these ; none so 
 entirely depend upon him. For Christ does not give life to the soul 
 separate from, bnt in and with himself. Hence his words are equally 
 true of all men, in whatsoever state of grace they are : ' As the branch 
 cannot bear fruit of itself except it abide in the vine, no more can ye 
 except ye abide in me ; without," or separate from ' me, ye can do 
 nothing.' 
 
 "In every state we need Christ in the following respects : 1. What- 
 ever grace we receive, it is a free gift from him : 2. v\ e receive it as his 
 purchase, merely in consideration of the price he paid : 3. We have 
 tiiis grace not only from Christ, but in him. For our perfection is not 
 like that of a tree, which flourishes by the sap derived from its own 
 wot, but, as was said before, like that of a branch, which, united to the 
 vine, bears fruit, but severed from it, is dried up and withered : 4. All 
 our blessings, temporal, spiritual, and eternal, depend on his intercession 
 for us, which is one branch of his priestly office, whereof, therefore, we 
 have always equal need : 6. The best of men still need Christ in hia 
 priestly office to atone for their omissions, their shortcomings, (as some 
 not improperly speak,) their mistakes in judgment and practice, and their 
 defects of various kinds. For these are all deviations from the perfect 
 law, and consequently need an atonement. Yet that they are not 
 properly sins we apprehend may appear from the words of St. Paul : 
 ' He that loveth another hath fulfilled the law, for love is the fulfilling 
 of the law.' Roin. xiii. 8-10. Now mistakes, and whatever infirmities
 
 392 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SERMON XL. 
 
 necessarily flow from the corruptible state of the body, are no way con- 
 trary to love, nor, therefore, in the Scripture sense sin." 
 
 " Q. 29. Can those who are perfect in love grow in grace ? 
 
 " A. Undoubtedly they can ; and that not only while they are in the 
 bodv, but probably to all eternity. 
 
 " Q. 30. Can they fall from it'? 
 
 " A. I am well assured they can. Matter of fact puts this beyond dis- 
 pute. Formerly we thought one saved from sin could not fall. Now we 
 know the contrary. Neither does any one stand by virtue of any thing 
 that is implied in the nature of the state. There is no such height or 
 strength of holiness as it is impossible to fall from. If there be any that 
 cannot fall, this wholly depends on the promise and faithfulness of God." 
 
 Finally, towards the close of the great work which took place at that 
 time he says : " In the year 1764, upon a review of the whole subject, 
 I wrote down the sum of what I had observed in the following short 
 propositions : 
 
 1. " There is such a thing as Christian perfection, for it is again and 
 again mentioned in Scripture." 
 
 2. " It is not so early as justification ; for justified persons are to 'go 
 on to perfection.' Heb. vi. 1. 
 
 3. " It is not so late as death ; for St. Paul speaks of living men that 
 were perfect. Phil. iii. 15. 
 
 4. " It is not absolute. Absolute perfection belongs not to man nor to 
 angels, but to God alone. 
 
 5. " It does not make a man infallible ; none is infallible while he 
 remains in the body. 
 
 6. " It is perfect love. 1 John iy. 18. This is the essence of it ; its 
 properties or inseparable fruits are rejoicing evermore, praying without 
 ceasing, and in everything giving thanks. 1 Thess. v. 16, &c. 
 
 7. " It is improvable. It is so far from lying in an indivisible point, 
 from being incapable of increase, that one perfected in love may grow in 
 grace far swifter than he did before. 
 
 " 8. " It is amissible, capable of being lost ; of which we have had 
 instances. But we were not thoroughly convinced of this for several 
 years. 
 
 9. " It is constantly both preceded and followed by a gradual work. 
 
 10. " But is it in itself instantaneous or not 1 In examining this let 
 us go on step by step. 
 
 " An instantaneous change has been wrought in some believers ; none 
 can deny this who is acquainted with experimental religion. 
 
 " Since that change they enjoy perfect love. They feel this, and this 
 alone ; they rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything 
 give thanks. Now this is all that I mean by Christian perfection ; 
 therefore, these are witnesses of the perfection which I preach. 
 
 " ' But in some this change was not instantaneous ;' they did not per- 
 ceive the instant when it was wrought. It is often difficult to perceive 
 the instant when a man dies, yet there is an instant in which life ceases ; 
 and if ever sin ceases, there must be a last moment of its existence, and 
 a first moment of our deliverance from it." 
 
 With these extracts before tis we are prepared to take a summary view 
 of Mr. Wesley's doctrine, especially in its relation to his Christian 
 ethics. 
 
 The will is clearly the central point of the moral life. Sin is truly sin 
 only as it enters into or is related to will. The will stands in a twofold 
 relation, one purely spiritual to God above it ; the other physical and 
 outward to the world. The spiritual or religious side of our nature is 
 summarized in three words, conscience, faith, love. The perfect harmony
 
 SERMON XL.] CHRISTIAN PERFECTION 393 
 
 of these with each other, their intimate relation to each other in the 
 process of the spiritual life, and their unity in principle with the absolute 
 moral law, have all been made clearly apparent in the preceding teach- 
 ings of vvesley. But in the natural state, the will finds motive of action 
 in the lower and outward side of our nature, as well as in this inward 
 and Godward. To these lower motives it bends, in opposition to con- 
 science, faith, and love. This is the bondage of the natural, or, as Paul 
 says, the psychical man. The new life restores the unity of the will 
 with God through faith, love, and conscience. It gives us a moral life' 
 developed from the Christian's conscious experience as its basis. Chris-, 
 tian perfection is the perfection of the unity of will with our religious 
 nature. It is thus a " conscience void of offence," a " full assurance of 
 faith," and a "perfect love." The perfect faith springs from a perfect 
 enlightening of conscience by the word and Spirit of God ; and perfect 
 faith begets perfect love, while perfect love gives full power to the new 
 will. And this perfect will toward the right governs all the outward 
 life, every thought, word, and work, and is attested by a perfect peace of 
 conscience. This dominion of the renewed will over the outward and 
 lower life begins with the new birth. He that is born of God doth not 
 commit sin. But the renewed will is not yet sufficiently strong to 
 subdue perfectly every thought and ewry temper. Conscience must be 
 enlightened by a perfect conviction of sin, faith must apprehend the 
 promise of full salvation, and thence must spring a perfect love, before the 
 new will in which they combine the power of their moral life becomes 
 sufficiently powerful to exert its supreme, controlling influence over all 
 the lower nature as well as the outward life. In all this it will be seen, 
 that the law of the Christian life is not an accommodated or lower moral 
 standard, but the full glory of divine holiness. It is perfection. But 
 the relation of this to our human imperfection is very clearly denned. 
 There is room for imperfection ; but it must not reach to will. The wilt 
 must be perfect, as God and his law, to which it is linked by perfect 
 faith, love, and conscience, are perfect. Mr. Wesley leaves no room for 
 sin in anything which it is " in our power to help." The will must be 
 perfectly superior to the lower motives ; must sit supreme above them in 
 the light of a pure conscience, and on its throne of perfect love. But 
 immediately that we pass from this centre of our moral being, (this 
 region of intuition and will) into the outer spheres of our selfhood, the 
 perceptions, the judgment, the imagination, the memory, the appetites, 
 and lower affections, we find the limitations of imperfection. But it is a 
 natural and not a moral inperfection, inasmuch as it lies beyond the 
 conscious reach of will. But while in these outer spheres of our self- 
 hood much imperfection remains, it would be very wrong to suppose 
 that they are not at all reached or touched by the great change which 
 has taken place at the centre of our moral being. The influence of 
 that change reaches to the very circumference ; but the nearer the 
 centre, i.e., the will, the more evident is its power. Only when the body 
 is redeemed and the psychical shall become the spiritual, shall we be able 
 to say that we have fully attained, and are fully perfect. 
 
 But while Mr. Wesley's doctrine of perfection is thus ethical in its 
 character, a perfection in the moral quality of the will, it also embraces 
 all that is true in the teachings of emotional mysticism. Christian per- 
 fection is perfect love, love to God, and love to man, ruling the life, and 
 expelling both sin and fear. But herein Mr. Wesley's doctrine differs 
 from the contemporary mysticism of France and Germany, and resem- 
 bles that of the Apostle John, that love is never made to supercede 
 knowledge, or override conscience, or dispense with law. It always 
 maintains its proper position as the motive to holy living, which still
 
 394 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SERMON XL. 
 
 pays reverence to all the convictions of conscience, and humbly submits 
 to the guidance of God's Word, and confesses the limitation of its own 
 knowledge. Such a doctrine of perfect love is perfectly safe from the cor- 
 ruptions wnich have so often disgraced that name, and at the same time it 
 gives depth and inwardness to the moral perfection of the will, and saves 
 it from the perfection of mere outward works of Pelagianism. 
 
 A third characteristic of Mr. Wesley's view of Christian perfection is 
 its thoroughly evangelical character. It is a perfection which cannot 
 'abide for one moment separate from Christ. And herein it embraces all 
 that is true in the perfectionism of the Calvinistic school. But it is not a 
 merely imputed perfection, but the perfection of the living branch 
 abiding in the living vine. To sum up all it is a perfect faith in a per- 
 fect Saviour, drawing from him the spirit of perfect love, which flows 
 forth in the activity of a perfect Christian life. His doctrine thus com- 
 bines the good and avoids the errors of all systems of perfectionism that 
 Lave ever been taught in the Christian church, 
 
 SERMON XL. 
 
 1. THERE is scarce any expression in Holy Writ, which has given 
 more offence than this. The word perfect is what many cannot bear. 
 The very sound of it is an abomination to them. And whosoever 
 preaches perfection, (as the phrase is,) i. e. asserts that it is attainable 
 hi this fife, rims great hazard of being accounted by them worse than 
 a heathen man or a publican. 
 
 2. And hence some have advised, wholly to lay aside the use of 
 those expressions ; " because they have given so great offence." But 
 are they not found in the oracles of God ? If so, by what authority can 
 any messenger of God lay them aside, even though all men should be 
 offended 1 We have not so learned Christ ; neither may we thus give 
 place to the devil. Whatsoever God hath spoken, that will we speak, 
 whether men will hear, or whether they will forbear ; knowing, that 
 then alone can any minister of Christ be " pure from the blood of all 
 men," when he hath " not shunned to declare unto them all the counsel 
 of God." 
 
 3. We may not, therefore, lay these expressions aside, seeing they 
 are the words of God and not of man. But we may and ought to 
 explain the meaning of them ; that those who are sincere of heart may 
 not err to the right hand or left, from the mark of the prize of their high 
 calling. And this is the more needful to be done, because, in the verse 
 already repeated, the apostle speaks of himself as not perfect; " Not," 
 saith he, " as though I were already perfect." And yet immjediately 
 after, in the fifteenth verse, he speaks of himself, yea, and many others, 
 as perfect : "Let us," saith he, " as many as be perfect, be thus minded." 
 
 4. In order, therefore, to remove the difficulty arising from this seem- 
 ing contradiction, as well as to give light to them who are pressing for- 
 ward to I he mark, and that, those who are lame be not turned out of the 
 
 , I shall endeavour to show, 
 
 First, In what sense Christians are' not; and, 
 
 Secondly, In what ?ense they are, perfect. 
 
 I. 1. In the first place, I shall endeavour to show, in what sense 
 Christians are not perfect. And both from experience and Scripture it 
 appears, first, that they are not perfect in knowledge: they arc not so 
 perfect in this life, as o be free from ignorance. They know, it rnaj'
 
 SERMON XL.] CHRISTIAN PERFECTIOH. 395 
 
 be, in common with other men, many things relating to the present 
 world ; and they know, with regard to the world to come, the general 
 truths which God hath revealed. They know, likewise, (what the 
 natural man receiveth not ; for these things are spiritually discerned,) 
 " what manner oflove" it is, wherewith " the Father" hath loved them, 
 " that they should be called the sons of God :" they know the mighty 
 working of his Spirit in their hearts, and the wisdom of his providence, 
 directing all their paths, and causing all things to work together for 
 their good. Yea, they know in every circumstance of life what the 
 Lord requireth of them, and how to keep a conscience void of offence 
 both towards God and towards man. 
 
 2. But innumerable are the things which they know not. Touching 
 the Almighty himself, they cannot search him out to perfection. " Lo, 
 these are but a part of his ways ; but the thunder of his power, who can 
 understand ?" They cannot understand, I will not say, how " there are 
 three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Son, and the Holy 
 Spirit, and these three are o:e ;" or how the eternal Son of God " took 
 upon himself the form of a servant ;" but not any one attribute, not 
 any one circumstance of the divine nature. Neither is it for them to 
 know the times and seasons when God will work his great works upon 
 the earth ; no, not even those which he hath in part revealed by hia 
 servants and prophets, since the world began. Much less do they know, 
 when God, having " accomplished the number of his elect, will hasten 
 his kingdom ;" when " the heavens shall pass away with a great noise 
 and the elements shall melt with fervent heat." 
 
 3. They know not the reasons even of many of his present dispensa- 
 tions with the sons of men ; but are constrained to rest here, Though 
 " clouds and darkness are round about him, righteousness and judgment 
 are the habitation of his seat." Yea, often with regard to his dealings 
 with themselves, doth their Lord say unto them, " What I do, thou 
 knowest not now ; but thou shalt know hereafter." And how little do 
 they know of what is ever before them, of even the visible works of his 
 hands 1 How " he spreadeth the north over the empty place, and hang- 
 eth the earth upon nothing ?" How he unites all the parts of this vast 
 machine by a secret chain, which cannot be broken 1 So great is the 
 ignorance, so very little the knowledge, of even the best of men ! 
 
 4. No one, then, is so perfect in this life, as to be free from igno 
 ranee. Nor, secondly, from mistake ; which indeed is almost an unavoid 
 able consequence of it ; seeing those who " know but in part," are ever 
 liable to err, touching the things which they know not. It is true, the 
 children of God do not mistake, as to the things essential to salvation: 
 They do not "put darkness for light, or light for darkness;" neither 
 " seek death in the error of their life." For they are " taught of God ;" 
 and the way which he teaches them, the way of holiness, is so plain, 
 thai "the wayfaring man, though a fool, need not err therein." But 
 in things unessential to salvation they do err, and that frequently. The 
 best and wisest of men are frequently mistaken, even with regard to 
 facts ; believing those things not to have been, which really were, or 
 those to have been done, which were not. Or, suppose they are not 
 mistaken as to the fact itself, they may be, with regard to its circum- 
 stances ; believing them, or many of them, to have been quite different 
 from what, in truth, they were. And hence cannot but arise many
 
 396 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SEKMON XL. 
 
 farther mistakes. Hence they may believe either past or present 
 actions, which were or are evil, to be good ; and such as were or are 
 good, to be evil. Hence also they may judge not according to truth 
 with regard to the characters of men ; and that, not only by supposing 
 good men to be better, or wicked men to be worse, than they are, but 
 by believing them to have been, or to be, good men, who were, or are, 
 rery wicked ; or perhaps those to have been, or to be, wicked men, 
 who were, or are, holy and unreprovable. 
 
 5. Nay, with regard to the Holy Scriptures themselves, as careful as 
 they are to avoid it, the best of men are liable to mistake, and do mis- 
 take day by day ; especially with respect to those parts thereof, which 
 less immediately relate to practice. Hence, even the children of God 
 are not agreed as to the interpretation of many places in Holy Writ : 
 nor is their difference of opinion any proof that they are not the chil- 
 dren of God on either side : but it is a proof, that we are no more to 
 expect any living man to be infallible, than to be omniscient. 
 
 6. If it be objected to what has been observed under this and the 
 preceding head, that St. John, speaking to his brethren in the faith, 
 says, " Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and know all things," 
 1 John ii, 20 : the answer is plain : " Ye know all things that are need 
 ful for your souls' health." That the apostle never designed to extend 
 this farther, that he could not speak it in an absolute sense, is clear, 
 first, from hence ; that otherwise he would describe the disciple as 
 " above his Master ;" seeing Christ himself, as man, knew not all 
 things "Of that hour," saith he, " knoweth no man ; no, not the Son, 
 but the Father only." It is clear, secondly, from the apostle's own 
 words that follow : " These things have I written unto you concerning 
 them that deceive you ;" as well as from his frequently repeated caution, 
 " Let no man deceive you ;" which had been altogether needless, had 
 not those very persons, who had that unction from the Holy One, been 
 liable not to ignorance only, but to mistake also. 
 
 7. Even Christians, therefore, are not so perfect, as to be free either 
 from ignorance or error : we may, thirdly, add, nor from infirmities : 
 only let us take care to understand this word aright : only let us not 
 give that soft title to known sins, as the manner of some is. So, one 
 man tells us, "Every man has his infirmity, and mine is drunkenness :" 
 another has the infirmity of uncleanness : another, that of taking God's 
 holy name in vain : and yet another has the infirmity of calling his 
 brother, " Thou fool," or returning " railing for railing." It is plain 
 that all you who thus speak, if ye repent not, shall, with your infirmit.es, 
 go quick into hell ! But I mean hereby, not only those which are pro- 
 perly termed bodily infirmities, but all those inward or outward imper- 
 fections, which are not of a moral nature. Such are weakness or 
 slowness of understanding, dulness or confusedness of apprehension, 
 incoherency of thought, irregular quickness or heaviness of imagina- 
 tion. Such (to mention no more of this kind) is the want of a ready or 
 retentive memory. Such, in another kind, are those which are com- 
 monly, in some measure, consequent upon these ; namely, slowness of 
 speech, impropriety of language, ungracefulness of pronunciation ; to 
 which one might add a thousand nameless defects, either in conversa- 
 tion or behaviour. These are the infirmities which are found in the 
 best of men, in a larger or smaller proportion. And from these
 
 SERMON XL.] CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 397 
 
 none can hope to be perfectly freec, till the sp:nt returns to God 
 that gave it. 
 
 8. Nor can we expect till then, to be wholly free from temptation. 
 Such perfection belongeth not to this life. It is true, there are those 
 who, being given up to work all uncleanness with greediness, scarce 
 perceive the temptations which they resist not ; and so seem to be with- 
 out temptation. There are also many, whom the wise enemy of souls 
 seeing to be fast asleep in the dead form of godliness, will not tempt to 
 gioss sin, lest they should awake before they drop into everlasting 
 burnings. I know there are also children of God, who, being no\v 
 justified freely, having found redemption in the blood of Christ, for the 
 present feel no temptation. God hath said to their enemies, " Touch 
 not mine anointed, and do my children no harm." And for this season, 
 it may be for weeks or months, he causeth them to ride on high places, 
 he beareth them as on eagles' wings, above all the fiery darts of the 
 wicked one. But this state will not last always, as we may learn from 
 that single consideration, that the Son of God himself, in the days of 
 his flesh, was tempted even to the end of his life. Therefore, so let his 
 servant expect to be ; for " it is enough that he be as his Master." 
 
 9. Christian perfection, therefore, does not imply (as some men seem 
 to have imagined) an exemption either from ignorance, or mistake, or 
 infirmities, or temptations. Indeed, it is only another term for holiness. 
 They are two names for the same thing. Thus, every one that is holy 
 is, in the Scripture sense, perfect. Yet we may, lastly, observe, that 
 neither in this respect is there any absolute perfection on earth. There ij 
 no perfection of degrees, as it is termed ; none which does not admit of a 
 continual increase. So that how much soever any man has attained, or 
 in how high a degree soever he is perfect, he hath still heed to "grow 
 in grace," and daily to advance in the knowledge and love of God his 
 Saviour. 
 
 II. 1. In what sense, then, are Christians perfect? This is what 1 
 shall endeavour, in the second place, to show. But it should be pre- 
 mised, that there are several stages in Christian life, as in natural ; 
 some of the children of God being but new-born babes; others having 
 attained to more maturity. And accordingly St. John, in his first epistle, 
 chap, ii, 12, &,c, applies himself severally to those he terms little chil- 
 dren, those he styles young men, and those whom he entitles fathers. 
 " I write unto you, little children," saith the apostle, " because your 
 sins are forgiven you :" because thus far you have attained, being 
 "justified freely," you " have peace with God, through Jesus Christ." 
 " I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked 
 one ;" or (as he afterwards addeth) " because ye are strong, and the 
 word of God abideth in you." Ye have quenched the fiery darts of the 
 wicked one, the doubts and fears wherewith he disturbed your first 
 peace ; and the witness of God, that your sins are forgiven, now abideth 
 in your heart. " I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him 
 i-hat is from the beginning." Ye have known both the Father, and the 
 Son, and the Spirit of Christ, in your inmost soul. Ye are " perfect men," 
 being grown up to " the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." 
 
 2. It is of these chiefly I speak in the latter part of this discourse. 
 For these only are perfect Christians. But even babes in Christ are in 
 such a sense perfect, or born of God, (an expression taken also in divers
 
 398 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SERMON XL. 
 
 senses,) as first, not to commit sin. If any doubt of this privilege of the 
 sons of God, the question is not to be decided by abstract reasonings, 
 which may be drawn out into an endles? length, and leave the point 
 just as it was before. Neither is it to be determined by the experience 
 of this or that particular person. Many may suppose they do not commit 
 sin, when they do : but this proves nothing either way. To the law and 
 to the testimony we appeal. " Let God be true, and every man a liar." 
 By his word will we abide, and that alone. Hereby we ought to be 
 judged. 
 
 3. Now, the word of God plainly declares, that even those who are 
 justified, who are born again in the lowest sense, " do not continue in 
 sin ;" that they cannot " live any longer therein," Rom. vi, 1,2; that 
 they are " planted together in the likeness of the death" of Christ, 
 verse 5; that their '* old man is crucified with him," the body of sin 
 being destroyed, so that henceforth they do not serve sin ; that being 
 dead with Christ, they are free from sin, ver. 6, 7 ; that they are '' dead 
 unto sin, and alive unto God," verse 11 ; that " sin hath no more domi- 
 nion over them," who are " not under the law, but under grace ;" but 
 that these, " being free from sin, are become the servants of righteous- 
 ness," ver. 14, 18. 
 
 4. The very least which can be implied in these words, is, that the 
 persons spoken of therein, viz. all real Christians, or believers in Christ, 
 are made free from outward sin. And the same freedom, which St. 
 Paul here expresses in such variety of phrases, St. Peter expresses in 
 that one, 1 Pet. iv, 1,2, " He that hath suffered in the flesh, hath ceased 
 from sin, that he no longer should live to the desires of men, but to 
 the will of God." For this ceasing from sin, if it be. interpreted in the 
 lowest sense, as regarding only the outward behaviour, must denote the 
 ceasing from the outward act, from any outward transgression of the law. 
 
 5. But most express are the well known words of St. John, in the 
 third chapter of his first epistle, verse 8, &-c : " He that committeth sin 
 is of the devil ; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this pur- 
 pose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the workd 
 of the devil. Whosoever is born of God, doth not commit sin; for his 
 seed remaineth in him : and he cannot sin, because he is born of God." 
 And those in the fifth, verse 18, "We know that whosoever is born of 
 God, sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and 
 that wicked one toucheth him not." 
 
 6. Indeed it is said, this means only, he sinneth not wilfully ; or he 
 doth not commit sin habitually .- or not as other men do ; or not as he 
 did before. But by whom is this said? By St. John? No: theie is 
 no such word in the text ; nor in the whole chapter ; nor in all this 
 epistle ; nor in any part of his writings whatsoever. Why then, the best 
 way to answer a bold assertion is, simply to deny it. And if any man 
 can prove it from the word of God, let him bring forth his strong reasons. 
 
 7. And a sort of reason there is, which has been frequently brought 
 to support these strange assertions, drawn from the examples recorded 
 m the word of God : " What !" say they, " did not Abraham himself 
 commit sin, prevaricating, and denying his wife 1 Did not Moses com- 
 mit sin, when he provoked God at the waters of strife 1 Nay, to produce 
 one for all, did not even David, " the man after God's own heart," 
 commit sin, in the matter of Uriah the Hittite ; even murder and adul-
 
 SERMON XL.] CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 309 
 
 tery 7" It is most sure he did. All this is true. But what is it you would 
 infer from hence ? It may be granted, first, that David, in the general 
 course of his life, was one of the holiest men among the Jews ; and, 
 secondly, that the holiest men among the Jews did sometimes commit 
 siu. But if you would hence infer, that all Christians do and must com- 
 mit sin, as long as they live ; this consequence we utterly deny : it will 
 never follow from those premises. 
 
 8. Those who argue thus, seem never to have considered that decla- 
 tion of our Lord, Matt, xi, 11, " Verily, I say unto you, Among them 
 that are born of women, there hath not risen a greater than John the 
 Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is 
 greater than he." I fear, indeed, there are some who have imagined 
 " the kingdom of heaven," here, to mean the kingdom of glory ; as if 
 the Son of God had just discovered to us, that the least glorified saint 
 in heaven is greater than any man upon earth ! To mention this is 
 sufficiently to refute it. There can, therefore, no doubt be made, but 
 " the kingdom of heaven," here, (as in the following verse, where it is 
 said to be taken by force,) or, " the kingdom of God," as St. Luke 
 expresses it, is that kingdom of God on earth, whereunto all true 
 believers in Christ, ail real Christians, belong. In these words, then, 
 our Lord declares two things : first, that before his coming in the flesh, 
 among all the children of men, there had not been one greater than 
 John the Baptist ; whence it evidently follows, that neither Abraham, 
 David, nor any Jew, was greater than John. Our Lord, secondly, 
 declares, that he which is least in the kingdom of God, (in that king 
 dom which he came to set up on earth, and which the violent now 
 began to take by force,) is greater than he : not a greater prophet, as 
 some have interpreted the word ; for this is palpably false in fact ; but 
 greater in the grace of God, and in the knowledge of our Lord JRSUS 
 Christ. Therefore we cannot measure the privileges of real Christians, 
 by those formerly given to the Jews. Their " ministration," (or dis- 
 pensation,) we allow, " was glorious," but ours " exceeds in glory." 
 So that whosoever would bring down the Christian dispensation to the 
 Jewish standard, whosoever gleans up the examples of weakness, 
 recorded in the law and the prophets, and thence infers, that they who 
 have " put on Christ" are endued with no greater strength, doth greatly 
 err, neither " knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God." 
 
 9. " But are there not assertions in Scripture, which prove the same 
 thing, if it cannot be inferred from those examples 1 Does not the Scrip 
 ture say expressly, ' Even a just man sinneth seven times a day ?' " I 
 answer, No : the Scripture says no such thing. There is no such text 
 in all the Bible. That which seems to be intended is the sixteenth verse 
 of the twenty fourth chapter of the Proverbs ; the words of which are 
 these : " A just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again." But this 
 is quite another thing. For, first, the words " a day," are not in the text. 
 So that if a just man falls seven times in his life, it is as much as is 
 affirmed here. Secondly, here is no mention of falling into sin at all ; 
 what is here mentioned is, falling into temporal affliction. This plainly 
 ippears from the verse before, the words of which are these : " Lay not 
 wail, oh wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his 
 rfc*tmcr place." It follows, " For a just man falleth seven times, and 
 
 up again : but the wicked shall fall into mischief." As if he hud
 
 400 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SERMON XL. 
 
 liuid, s; God will deliver him out of his trouble; but when thou fallest, 
 there shall be none to deliver thee." 
 
 10. "But however, in other places," continue the objectors, " Solomon 
 iocs assert plainly, ' There is no man that sinneth not,' 1 Kings viii, 
 46 ; 2 Chron. vi, 36 ; yea, ' there is not a just man upon earth that 
 doeth good, and sinneth not,' " Eccles. vii, 20. I answer, without doubt, 
 thus it was in the days of Solomon. Yea, thus it was from Adam to 
 Moses, from Moses to Solomon, and from Solomon to Christ. There 
 was then no man that sinned not. Even from the day that sin entered 
 into the world, there was not a just man upon earth that did good and 
 sinned not, until the Son of God was manifested to take away our sins. 
 It is unquestionably true, that " the heir, as long as he is a child, dif- 
 fereth nothing from a servant." And that even so they (all the holy men 
 of old, who were under the Jewish dispensation) were, during that 
 infant state of the church, " in bondage under the elements of the 
 world." " But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth 
 his Son, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, 
 that they might receive the adoption of sons ;" that they might receive 
 (hat " grace which is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour 
 Jesus Christ ; who hath abolished death, and brought life and immor- 
 tality to light through the gospel," 2 Tim. i, 10. Now, therefore, they 
 " are no more servants, but sons." So that whatsoever was the case of 
 those under the law, we may safely affirm with St. John, that since the 
 gospel was given, " He that is born of God sinneth not." 
 
 11. It i? of great importance to observe, and that more carefully than 
 is commonly done, the wide difference that is between the Jewish and 
 the Christian dispensation ; and that ground of it, which the same 
 apostle assigns in the seventh chapter of his gospel, verse 38, &,c. 
 After he had there related those words of our blessed Lord, " He that 
 believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow 
 rivers of living water," he immediately subjoins, " This spake he of the 
 Spirit, on gfXsXXov Xajx/Savsiv 01 TISSVOVTS.C sig au<rov, which they who should 
 believe on him, were aftcricards to receive. For the Holy Ghost was 
 not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." Now the apos- 
 tle cannot mean here, (as some have taught,) that the miracle working 
 power of the Holy Ghost was not yet given. For this was given ; our 
 Lord had given it to all his apostles, when he first sent them forth to 
 preach the gospel. He then gave them power over unclean spirits to 
 cast them out; power to heal the sick; yea, to raise the dead. But the 
 Holy Ghost was not yet given in his sanctifying graces, as he was after 
 Jesus was glorified. It was then when " he ascended up on high, and 
 led captivity captive," that he " received [those] gifts for men, yea, even 
 for the rebellious, that the Lord God might dwell among them." And 
 when the day of Pentecost was fully come, then first it was, that they who 
 " waited fox the promise of the Father" were made more than conquerors 
 over sin by the Holy Ghost given unto them. 
 
 12. That this great salvation from sin was not given till Jesus was 
 glorified, St. Peter also plainly testifies ; where, speaking of his brethren 
 in the flesh, as now " receiving the end of their faith, the salvation of 
 their souls," he adds, 1 Pet. i, 9, 10, &c, "Of which salvation tine 
 prophets have inquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of th 
 grace [L e. the gracious dispensation] that should come unto you
 
 SERMON XL.] CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 401 
 
 searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was 
 in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, 
 and the glory [the glorious salvation] that should follow. Unto whom it 
 was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister 
 the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached 
 the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven ;" viz. 
 at the day of Pentecost, and so unto all generations, into the hearts of 
 all true believers. On this ground, even " the grace which was brought 
 unto them by the revelation of Jesus Christ," the apostle might well 
 build that strong exhortation, " Wherefore girding up the loins of your 
 mind, as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner 
 of conversation." 
 
 13. Those who have duly considered these things must allow that 
 the privileges of Christians aro in nowise to be measured by what the 
 Old Testament records concerning those who were under the Jewish 
 dispensation ; seeing the fulness of time is now come; the Holy Ghost is 
 now given ; the great salvation of God is brought unto men, by the reve- 
 lation of Jesus Christ. The kingdom of heaven is now set up on earth ; 
 concerning which the Spirit of God declared of old, (so far is David 
 from being the pattern or standard of Christian perfection,) " He that 
 is feeble among them at that day shall be as David ; and the house oi 
 David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them," Zech. xii,8. 
 
 14. If, therefore, you would prove that the apostle's words, " He that 
 is born of God sinneth not," are not to be understood according to their 
 plain, natural, obvious meaning, it is from the New- Testament you are 
 to bring your proofs ; else you will fight as one that bt-Ateth the air. 
 And the first of these which is usually brought, is taken from the exam- 
 ples recorded in the New Testament. " The apostles themselves," it 
 is said, " committed sin ; nay, the greatest of them, Peter and Paul : St. 
 Paul, by his sharp contention with Barnabas ; and St. Peter, by his dis- 
 simulation at Antioch." WeH : suppose both Peter and Paul did then 
 commit sin ; what is it you would infer from hence ? That all the other 
 apostles committed sin sometimes ? There is no shadow of proof in this. 
 Or would you thence infer, ihat all the other Christians of the apostolic 
 age committed sin ? Worse and worse : this is such an inference as, 
 one would imagine, a man in his senses could never have thought of. 
 Or will you argue thus : " If two of the apostles did once commit sin, 
 then all other Christians, in all ages, do and will commit sin as long as 
 they live 1" Alas, my brother ! a child of common understanding would 
 be ashamed of such reasoning as this. Least of all can you with any 
 colour of argument infer, that any man must commit sin at all. No ; 
 God forbid we should thus speak ! No necessity of sinning was laid upon 
 them. The grace of God was surely sufficient for them. And it is 
 sufficient for us at this day. With the temptation which fell on them, 
 there was a way to escape ; as there is to every soul of man in every 
 temptation. So that whosoever is tempted to any sin, need not yield ; 
 for no man is tempted above that he is able to bear. 
 
 15. " But St. Paul besought the Lord thrice, and yet he could not 
 escape from his temptation." Let us consider his own words literally 
 translated, " There was given to rne a thorn in the flesh, an angel [or 
 messenger] of Satan to buffet me. Touching this, I besought the Lord 
 thrice, that it [or he] might depart from me. And he said unto me, my
 
 402 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SERMON XL. 
 
 grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weak- 
 ness. Most gladly, therefore, will I rather glory in [these] my weak- 
 nesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take 
 ^asure in weaknesses; for when I am weak, then am I strong." 
 
 16. As this scripture is one of the strong holds of the patrons of sin, 
 it may be proper to weigh it thoroughly. - Let it be observed, then, 
 first, It does by no means appear that this thorn, whatsoever it was, 
 occasioned St. Paul to commit sin ; much less, laid him under any 
 necessity of doing so. Therefore, from hence it can never be proved 
 that any Christian must commit sin. Secondly, The ancient fathers 
 inform us, it was bodily pain ; a violent headach, saith Tertullian : 
 (De Pudic. ;) to which both Chrysostom and St. Jerome agree. St 
 Cyprian* expresses it, a little more generally, in those terms : " Many 
 and grievous torments of the flesh and of the body."t Thirdly, To this 
 exactly agree the apostle's own words : " A thorn to the flesh, to smite, 
 beat, or buffet me :" " My strength is made perfect in weakness :" 
 which same word occurs no less than four times in these two verses 
 only. But, fourthly, Whatsoever it was, it could not be either inward 
 or outward sin. It could no more be inward stirrings, than outward 
 expressions, of pride, anger, or lust. This is manifest, beyond all pos- 
 sible exception, from the words that immediately follow : " Most gladly 
 will I glory in [these] my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may 
 rest upon me." What ! did he glory in pride, in anger, in lust 7 Was 
 it through these weaknesses, that the strength of Christ rested upon him ? 
 He goes on: " Therefore, I take pleasure in weaknesses; for when I 
 am weak, then am I strong;" i. e. when I am weak in body, then am 
 I strong in spirit. But will any man dare to say, When I am weak by 
 pride or lust, than am I .strong in spirit ? I call you all to record this 
 day, who find the strength of Christ resting upon you, Can you glor} 
 in anger, or pride, or lust ? Can you take pleasure in these infirmities ? 
 Do these weaknesses make you strong 7 Would you not leap into hell, 
 were it possible, to escape them 7 Even by yourselves, then, judge, 
 whether the apostle could glory, and take pleasure in them 1 Let it be, 
 lastly, observed, That this thorn was given to St. Paul above fourteen 
 years before he wrote this epistle ; which itself was wrote several years 
 before he finished his course. So that he had, after this, a long course 
 to run, many battles to fight, many victories to gain, and great increase 
 to receive in all the gifts of God. and the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 
 Therefore, from any spiritual weakness (if such had been) which heat 
 that time felt, we could by no means infer, that he was never made 
 strong; that Paul the aged, the father in Christ, still laboured under 
 the same weaknesses ; that he was in no higher state till the day of his 
 death. From ail which it appears, that this instance of St. Paul is quite 
 foreign to the question, and does in no wise clash with the assertion of 
 St. John, " He that is born of God sinneth not." 
 
 17. " But does not St. James directly contradict this ? His words are, 
 ' In many things we offend all,' chap, iii, 2 : and is not offending the 
 same as committing sin 7" In this place, I allow it is : I allow the per- 
 sons here spoken of did commit sin ; yea, that they all committed many 
 sins. But who are the persons here spoken of 7 Why, those many 
 masters or teachers, whom God had not sent ; (probably the same vain 
 
 Do Mortalitate. < Carnis et Corporis multa ac gravia tormenta.
 
 SERMON XL.] CUEISTIAN PERFECTION. 403 
 
 men who taught that faith without works, which is so sharply reproved 
 in the preceding chapter ;) not the apostle himself, nor any real Chris- 
 tian. That in the word we, (used hy a figure of speech common in all 
 other, as well as the inspired writings,) the apostle could not possibly 
 include himself, or any other true believer, appears evidently, first 
 From the same word in the ninth verse : " Therewith," saith he, " bless 
 we God, and therewith curse we men. Out of the same mouth pro- 
 ceedeth blessing and cursing." True ; but not out of the mouth of the 
 apostle, nor of any one who is in Christ a new creature. Secondly, 
 From the verse immediately preceding the text, and manifestly con- 
 nected with it : " My brethren, be not many masters, (or teachers,) know- 
 ing that we shall receive the greater condemnation. For in many things 
 tee offend all." \Ve! Who? Not the apostles, nor true believers; but 
 they who knew they should receive the greater condemnation, because 
 of those many offences. But this could not be spoke of the apostle 
 himself, or of any who trod in his steps ; seeing " there is no condemn- 
 ation to them who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." 
 Nay, thirdly, the very verse itself proves, that " we offend all," cannot 
 be spoken either of all men, or of all Christians : for in it, there imme- 
 diately follows the mention of a man who offends not, as the we first 
 mentioned did ; from whom, therefore, he is professedly contradistin 
 guished, and pronounced a perfect man. 
 
 18. So clearly does St. James explain himself, and fix the meaning 
 of his own words. Yet, lest any one should still remain in doubt, St. 
 John, writing many years after St. James, puts the matter entirely out 
 of dispute, by the express declarations above recited. But here a fresh 
 difficulty may arise: how shall we reconcile St. John with himself? 
 In one place he declares, " Whosoever is born of God doth not commit 
 sin ;" and again, " We know that he which is born of God sinneth 
 not;" and yet in another, he saith, " If we say that we have no sin, we 
 deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us ;" and again, " if we say 
 that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us." 
 
 19. As great a difficulty as this may at first appear, it vanishes away, 
 if we observe, first, That the tenth verse fixes the sense of the eighth : 
 " If we say we have no sin," in the former, being explained by, " if we 
 say we have not sinned," in the latter verse. Secondly, That the point 
 under present consideration is not, whether we hare or have not sinned 
 heretofore; and neithei of these verses asserts, that we do sin, or com- 
 mit sin now. Thirdly, That the ninth verse explains both ihe eighth 
 and tenth : " If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us 
 our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness :" as if he had said, 
 " I have before affirmed, ' the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us Horn 
 all sin ;' but let no man say, I need it not ; I have no sin to be cleansed 
 from. If we say, that we have no sin, that we have not sinned, we 
 deceive ourselves and make God a liar : but ' if we confess our sins, he 
 is faithful and just,' not only 'to forgive our sins,' but also 'to cleanse 
 us from all unrighteousness;' that we may 'go and sin no more.' " 
 
 20. St. John, therefore, is well consistent with himself, as well as 
 with the other holy writers ; as will yet more evidently appear, if wr 
 place all his assertions touching this matter in one view : lie declares, 
 first, The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. Secondly. 
 No man can say, 1 have not sinned, I have no sin to be cleansed from.
 
 404 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SERMON XL. 
 
 Thirdly, But God is ready both to forgive our past sins, and to save us 
 from them for the time to come. Fourthly, " These things write 1 unto 
 you," saith the apostle, " that you may not sin. But if any man [should] 
 sin," or have sinned, (as the word might be rendered,) he need not 
 continue in sin ; seeing " we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesua 
 Christ the righteous." Thus far all is clear. But lest any doubt should 
 remain in a point of so vast importance, the apostle resumes this subject 
 in the third chapter, and largely explains his own meaning : " Little 
 children," saith he, " let no man deceive you :" [as though I had given 
 any encouragement to those that continue in sin :] " Ho that doeth 
 righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. He that commit- 
 teth sin is of the devil ; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For 
 this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the 
 works of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin : 
 for his seed remaineth in him ; arid he cannot sin, because he is born 
 of God.' In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of 
 the devil," verse 7-10. Here the point, which till then might possibly 
 have admitted of some doubt in weak minds, is purposely settled by 
 the last of the inspired writers, and decided in the clearest manner. 
 In conformity, therefore, both to the doctrine of St. John, and to the 
 whole tenor of the New Testament, we fix this conclusion, a Christian 
 is so far perfect as not to commit sin. 
 
 21. This is the glorious privilege of every Christian ; yea, though 
 he be but a babe in Chrixt. But it is only of those who are strong in 
 the Lord, " and have overcome the wicked one." or rather of those who 
 " have known him that is from the beginning," that it can be affirmed 
 they are in such a sense perfect, as, secondly, to be freed from evil 
 thoughts, and evil tempers. First, from evil or sinful thoughts. But 
 here let it be observed, that thoughts concerning evil, are not always 
 evil thoughts; that a thought concerning sin, and a sinful thought, are 
 widely different. A man, for instance, may think of a murder which 
 another has committed, and yet this is no evil or sinful thought. So 
 our blessed Lord himself doubtless thought of, or understood, the thing 
 spoken by the devil, when he said, " All these things will I give thee, 
 if thou wilt fall down and worship me." Yet had he no evil or sinful 
 thought; nor indeed was capable of having any. And even hence it 
 follows, that neither have real Christians : for ' every one that is per- 
 fect is as his Master," Luke vi, 40. Therefore, if he was free from 
 evil or sinful thoughts, so are they likewise. 
 
 22. And indeed whence should evil thoughts proceed, in the servant 
 who is as his Master ? " Out of the heart of man [if at ail] proceed evil 
 thoughts," Mark vii, 21. If therefore his heart be no longer evil, then 
 evil thoughts can no longer proceed out of it. If the tree were corrupt, 
 so would be the fruit : but the tree is good ; the fruit therefore is good 
 also," Matt, xii, 33; oar Lord himself bearing witness, " Every good 
 tree bringeth forth good fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil 
 fruit, [as] a corrupt tree canno* bring forth good fruit," Matt, vii, 17, 18. 
 
 23. The same happy privilege of real Christians St. Paul asserts from 
 his own experience. "The weapons of our warfare," saith he, "are 
 not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; 
 casting down imaginations," [or reasonings rather, for so the word 
 
 signifies ; ail the reasonings of pride and unbelief against the
 
 SERMON XL.] CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. 405 
 
 declarations, promises or gifts of God,] "and every high thing thai 
 exalteth itself against the knowledge of Got!, and bringing into captivity 
 every thought, to the obedience of Christ," 2 Cor. x, 4, &,c. 
 
 24. And as Christians indeed are freed from evil thoughts, so are 
 they, secondly, from evil tempers. This is evident from the above 
 mentioned declaration of our Lord himself: " The disciple is not above 
 his Master ; but every one that is perfect shall be as his Master." He 
 had been delivering, just before, some of the sublimest doctrines of 
 Christianity, and some of the most grievous to flesh and blood. "I say 
 unto you, J.ove your enemies, do good to them which hate you ; and 
 unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer also the other." 
 Now these he well knew the world would not receive ; and therefore 
 immediately adds, " Can the blind lead the blind 1 Will they not both 
 fall into the ditch ?" As if he had said, " Do not confer with flesh and 
 blood, touching these things, with men void of spiritual discernment, 
 the eyes of whose understanding God hath not opened, lest they and 
 you perish together." In the next verse he removes the two grand 
 objections, with which these wise fools meet us at every turn, " These 
 things are too grievous to be borne ;" or, *' They are too high to be 
 attained ;" saying, " The disciple is not above his Master ;" therefore, 
 if I have suffered, be content to tread in my steps. And doubl ye not 
 then, but I will fulfil my word : " For every one that is perfect, shall be 
 as his Master." But his Master was free from all sinful tempers. So, 
 therefore, is his disciple, even every real Christian. 
 
 5. Everyone of these can say with St. Paul, " I am crucified with 
 Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me :" words 
 that manifestly describe a deliverance from inward, as well as from 
 outward sin. This is expressed both negatively, / live not; (my evil 
 nature, the body of sin, is destroyed ;) and positively, Christ liveth in 
 me; and, therefore, all that is holy, and just, and good. In-leed, both 
 these, Christ liveth in me, and I live not, are inseparably connected : 
 for" what communion hath light with darkness, or Christ with Belial ?" 
 
 26. He, therefore, who liveth in true believers, hath " purified their 
 hearts by faith ;" insomuch that every one that hath Christ in him, the 
 hope of glory, " purifieth himself, even as he is pure," 1 John iii, 3. 
 He is purified from pride ; for Christ was lowly of heart. He is pure 
 from self will, or desire ; for Christ desired only to do the will of his 
 Father, and to finish his work. And he is pure from anger, in the 
 common sense of the word ; for Christ was meek and gentle, patient 
 and long suffering. 1 say, in the common sense of the word ; for all 
 anger is not evil. We read of our Lord himself, Mark iii, 5, that he 
 once " looked round with anger." But with what kind of anger ? The 
 next word shows, ovXhimovfievos, being, at the same time, "grieved fot 
 the hardness of their hearts." So then he was angry at the sin, and, 
 in the same moment, grieved for the sinners ; angry or displeased at 
 the offence, but sorry for the offenders. With anger, yea, hatred, he 
 looked upon the thing ; with grief and love upon the persons. Go, thou 
 that art perfect, and do likewise. Be thus angry, and thou sinnest not ; 
 feeling a displacency at every offence against God, but only love and 
 tender compassion to the offender. 
 
 27. Thus doth Jesus "save his people from their sins:" and not 
 only from outward sins, but also from the sins of their hearts ; from
 
 406 CHRISTIAN PERFECTION. [SERMON XL. 
 
 evil thoughts, and from evil tempers. " True," say some, " we shall 
 thus bo saved from our sins ; but not till death ; not in this world." 
 But hoiv are we to reconcile this with the express words of St. John 1 
 " Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the 
 day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world." The 
 apostle here, beyond all contradiction, speaks of himself and other living 
 Christians, of whom (as though he had foreseen this very evasion, and set 
 himself to overturn it from the foundation) he flatly affirms, that not only 
 at or after death, but in this world, they are as their Master, 1 John iv, 17. 
 
 28. Exactly agreeable to this are his words in the first chapter of this 
 epistle, verse 5, &/c, " God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 
 If we walk in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the 
 olood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." And again : 
 ' If \ve confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, 
 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Now it is evident, the 
 apostle here also speaks of a deliverance wrought in this world. For 
 he saith not, the blood of Christ will cleanse at the hour of death, or in 
 the day of judgment, but it " cleanseth," at the time present, " us," 
 living Christians, " from all sin." And ic is equally evident, that if any 
 sin remain, we are not cleansed from all sin : if any unrighteousness 
 remain in the soul, it is not cleansed from all unrighteousness. Neither 
 let any sinner against his own soul say, that this relates to justification 
 only, or the cleansing us from the guilt of sin ; first, because this is 
 confounding together what the apostle clearly distinguishes, who men- 
 tions first, to forgii^f. us our sins, and then to cleanse us from ail unright- 
 eousness. Secondly, because this is asserting justification by works, in 
 the strongest sense possible ; it is making all inward as well as outward 
 holiness, necessarily previous to justification. For, if the cleansing, 
 here spoken of, is no other than the cleansing us from the guilt of sin, 
 then we are not cleansed from guilt, i. e. are not justified, unless on 
 condition of walking in the light, as he is in the light. It. remains then, 
 that Christians are saved in this world from all sin, from all unright- 
 eousness ; that, they are now in such a sense perfect as not to commit 
 sin, and to be freed from evil thoughts and evil tempers. 
 
 29. Thus hath the Lord fulfilled the things he spake by his holy 
 prophets, which have been since the world began ; by Moses in 
 particular, saying, Dent, xxx, 6, I " will circumcise thine heart, and 
 the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and 
 with all thy soul ;" by David, crying out, " Create in me a clean 
 heart, and renew a right spirit within me ;" and most remarkably by 
 Fzekiel, in those words : " Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, 
 and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, and from all your idols?, 
 will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will 
 I put within you ; and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall 
 keep my judgments, and do them. Ye shall be my people, and I will 
 be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleanness. ' r hus 
 saith the Lord God, In the day that I shall have cleansed you from all youi 
 iniquities, the heathen shall know that I the Lord build the ruined pla 
 ces ; I the Lord have spoken it, and I will do it," Ezek xxxvi, 25, <fec. 
 
 30. " Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved," both in the 
 law and in the prophets, and having the prophetic word confirmed unto 
 Ub in the gospel, by our blessed Lord and his apostles ; " let us cleanse
 
 SEBMON XL.] THE PROMISE OF SANCTIFICATION. 407 
 
 ourselves from all filthiness of Mesh and spirit, perfecting holiness m 
 the fear of Giod." " Let us fear, lest fso many] promises being mau'e 
 us of entering into his rest, [which n that hath entered into, has ceased 
 from his own works,] any of us should come short of it." " This one 
 thing let us do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching 
 forth unto those things which are before, let us press towards the mark, 
 for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus;" crying unto 
 him day and night, till we also are " delivered from the bondage of 
 corruption, into the glorious liberty of the sous of God j" 
 
 THE PROMISE OF SA.XCTIFICATION. 
 
 Eznk. xxxvi, 25, &c. 
 BV THE KEV. CHARLES WESLEY. 
 
 1 Gon of all power, and truth, and grace, 
 
 Which shall from age to w* """Hiiro ; 
 Whoso word, when heaven ana earth shall paaa, 
 Remains, and stands for ever sure: 
 
 2 Calmly to tliee my soul looks up, 
 
 And waits thy promises to prove; 
 The object of my steadfast hope, 
 The seal of thine eternal love. 
 
 3 That I thy mercy may proclaim, 
 
 That all mankind thy truth may see, 
 Hallow thy great and glorious name, 
 And perfect holiness in iiiO. 
 
 4 Chooe from the world, if now I stand 
 
 Adorn'd in righteousness divine, 
 
 If, brought unto the promised land, 
 
 i justly call the Saviour inino ; 
 
 5 Perform the work thou hast beirun, 
 
 My inmost soul to thee convert : 
 Love me, for ever love thine own, 
 
 And sprinkle witn thy blood my heart. 
 
 6 Thy sanctifying Spirit pour, 
 
 To (jiiet)ch my thirst and wash me clean 
 Now, Father, let tli gracious shower 
 Descend, and make me pure from sin 
 
 7 Purge me from every sinful blot; 
 
 My idols all be cast aside : 
 Cleanse me from every evil tijcu^ht; 
 From all the tilth of self and pride 
 
 8 Give me a new, a perfect heart 
 
 From doubt, and fear, and sorrow free ; 
 The mind which was in Christ impart, 
 Arid let my spirit cleave to the. 
 
 9 Oh tnkc this heart of stone away! 
 
 (Thy rule it doth not, cannot own;) 
 In me no longer let it stay : 
 
 Oh take away this heart of stone ' 
 
 10 The hatred of my carnal mind 
 
 Out of my fler.h at once remove ; 
 Give mo a louder heart, rpsign'd 
 And pure, and lill'd with faith ami love
 
 THE PROMISE OF SANCTIFICATJON. fsERMOH XL. 
 
 11 Within me thy good Spirit place, 
 
 Spirit of health, and love, and power; 
 Plant in me thy victorious grace, 
 And sin shall never enter more. 
 
 12 Cause me to walk in Christ my way> 
 
 And 1 thy statutes shall fulfil ; 
 In every point, thy law obey, 
 A ad perfectly perform thy will. 
 
 13 Hast thou not said, who canst not lis, 
 
 That 1 thy law shall keep and do ? 
 Lord, 1 believe, though men deny ; 
 They all are false ; but thou art tru. 
 
 14 Oh that I now, from sin released, 
 
 Thy word might to the utmost prove! 
 Enter into the promised rest, 
 
 The Canaan of thy perfect love ! 
 
 15 There let me ever, ever dwell , 
 
 Be thoti my God, and I will bt 
 Thy servant : oh set to thy seal 
 Give me eternal life in thee. 
 
 16 From all remaining filth within 
 
 Let me in thee salvation have : 
 From actual, and from inbred sin, 
 My ransom'd soul persist to save. 
 
 17 Wash out my old original stain : 
 
 Tell me no more it cannot be, 
 Demons or men ! The Lamb was slain, 
 His blood was all pour'd out for me i 
 
 18 Sprinkle it, Jesus, on my heart . 
 
 One drop of thy all cleansing blood 
 Shall make my sinfulncss depart, 
 And fill me witli the life of God. 
 
 19 Father, supply my every need ; 
 
 Sustain the life thyself hast given; 
 Call for the corn, the living bread, 
 
 The manna that conies down from hetvm., 
 
 80 The gracious fruits of righteousness, 
 Thy blessings' unexhausted store, 
 In me abundantly increase ; 
 Nor let me ever hunger more. 
 
 91 Let me no more, in deep complaint, 
 
 " My leanness, oh my leanness," CFJT ! 
 Alone consumed with pining want, 
 Of all my Father's children 1 ! 
 
 22 The painful thirst, the fond desire, 
 
 Thy joyous presence shall remove J 
 While my full soul doth still require 
 The whole eternily of love. 
 
 23 Holy, and true, and righteous Lord, 
 
 I wait to prove thy perfect will ; 
 Be mindful of thy gracious word, 
 And stamp me with thy Spirit's seas. 
 
 24 Thy faithful mercies let m* find, 
 
 In which thou causes! me to trust j 
 Give me thy meek and lowly mind' 
 And lay my spirit in the dust.
 
 SERMON XL!.] WANDEUIKG THOUGHTS. 409 
 
 SERMON XLL Wandering Thoughts. 
 
 " Bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." 2 Cor. x. 5. 
 
 ANALYSIS 
 
 THE relation of perfect control of our thoughts to perfect 
 love. Practical importance of the questions. Mistaken views 
 lead to doubt and darkness. 
 
 I. What are the several sorts of wandering thoughts ? 
 Two classes. Thoughts which wander away from God ; and 
 thoughts that wander from the subject before the mind. By 
 nature all our thoughts wander from God, or are at enmity 
 against him. The secret of all these is want of love for God. 
 But these are carefully to be distinguished from the intellec- 
 tual infirmity which prevents continuous fixed thought. 
 
 II. What are the several occasions of wandering thoughtg ? 
 
 1. Thoughts that wander from God are occasioned by sii ful 
 tempers ; either negative, the absence of love, or positive, as 
 pride, anger, revenge, lust, covetousness. 
 
 2. The thoughts which wander from the subject in hand 
 may be occasioned by bodily disease or infirmity ; or by 
 association of ideas ; or by accidental pleasure or pain ; or by 
 diversion of the attention ; or by suggestions of evil spirits 
 
 III. What kind of wandering thoughts are sinful ? 
 
 1. Thoughts which wander from God and exclude him. 
 
 2. Thoughts which spring from evil tempers. 
 
 3. Thoughts which produce or feed sinful tempers. 
 
 4. Thoughts caused by the organization or weakness of the 
 body become sinful as they feed sinful tempers. So likewise 
 those suggested from without or by Satan. 
 
 5. But apart from these cases wandering thoughts of the 
 second class are not sinful any more than delirium or dream ; 
 hence not inconsistent with perfect love. 
 
 IV. From what kind of wandering thoughts may we expect 
 to be delivered ? 
 
 1. From those which wander from God, or are sinful. 
 
 2. But from the others we can only be delivered, as we are 
 delivered from their occasions. But in the present order these 
 will remain as long as we are in the body. Only with 
 immortality can we look for their removal. But we may 
 pray that they, with all other things, may work for our good.
 
 110 WANDERING THOUGHTS. [SEEJION XLI. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 The present sermon forms a most important supplement to Mr. 
 Wesley's definition of Christian perfection, and W.T.S inserted, seemingly 
 for that purpose, in the edition of 1770. The doctrine of Christian per- 
 fection of necessity leads to constant scrutiny of tiie inward life ; and, 
 as that life is known to us only in conscious thought, the discernment of 
 the moral character of every thought becomes necessary. So far as 
 thoughts are under the control of will, they come under the same law of 
 moral character as words or acts. It is only the involuntary or wandering 
 thoughts that need special consideration. These are judged of by their 
 relation to our tempers. The word temper (now almost obsolete in tin? 
 sense except as a vague general term, as good tempered, &c,,) was used by 
 Mr. Wesley to designate all those principles of our nature which contain 
 the element of desire, and which hence influence the will. In perfect love 
 t'.ie will is in perfect and continuous unity with the principle of love to 
 God, and all desire is fully subordinate to the control of this perfect will. 
 It is through desire that the will is reached from without ; and while 
 the will cannot prevent an approach from without, to permit that 
 approach to stir up an antagonism to the governing principle of divine 
 love would indicate a state of moral, as well as merely natural, imper- 
 fection. Mr. Wesley's doctrine seems to require, not the extinction, but 
 the complete subordination and control of all desire. 
 
 SERMON XLI. 
 
 1. BUT will God so " bring every thought into captivity 10 the obe 
 dience of Christ," that no wandering thought will find a place in the 
 mind, even while we remain in the body 1 So some have vehemently 
 maintained ; yea, have affirmed, that none are perfected in love, unless 
 they are so far perfected in understanding, that all wandering thoughts 
 are done away ; unless not only every arfection and temper be holy, and 
 just, and good, but every individual thought, which arises in the mind, 
 be wise and regular. 
 
 2. This is a question of no small importance. For how many of those 
 who fear God, yea, and love him, perhaps with all their heart, have 
 been greatly disfressed on this account ! How many, by not understand- 
 ing it right, have not only been distressed, but greatly hurt in theii 
 souls ; cast into unprofitable, yea, mischievous reasonings, such as 
 slackened their motion towards God, and weakened them in running 
 the race set before them ! Nay, many, through misapprehensions of this 
 very thing, have casl away the precious gift of God. They have been 
 induced, first to doubt of, and then to deny, the work God had wrought 
 in their souls ; and hereby have grieved the Spirit of God, till he with- 
 drew and left them in utter darkness ! 
 
 3. How is it, then, that amidst the abundance of books which have 
 been lately published almost on all subjects, we should have none upon 
 wandering thoughts 1 At least none that will at all satisfy a calm and 
 serious mind 1 In order to do this in some degree, I purpose to inquire 
 
 I. What are the several sorts of wandering thoughts 1 
 LI. What are the general occasions of them 1 
 
 III. Which of them are sinful, and which noli 
 
 IV. Which of them we may expect and pray to be delivered from J 
 I. 1. I purpose to inquire, first, What are the several sorts of wan 
 
 dering thoughts I The particular sorts are innumerable; but in general, 
 they are of two sorts : thoughts that wander from God ; and thoughts 
 that wander from the particular point we have in hand.
 
 SERMON XLI.] WANDERING THOUGHTS. 411 
 
 2. With regard to the former, all our thoughts are naturally of this 
 kind : for they are continually wandering from God : we think nothing 
 about him : God is not in all our thoughts: we are, one and all, as the 
 apostle observes, " without God in the world." We think of what we 
 love : but we do nol love God ; therefore, we think not of him. Or, 
 if we are now and then constrained to think of him for a time, yet as 
 we have no pleasure therein, nay, rather, as these thoughts are not only 
 insipid, but distasteful and irksome to us, we drive them out as soon as 
 we can, and return to what we love to think of. So that the world and 
 the things of the world, what we shall eat, what we shall drink, what 
 we shall put on, what we shall see, what we shall hear, what we shall 
 gain, how we shall please our senses or our imagination, takes up all 
 our time, and engrosses all our thought. So long, therefore, as we love 
 the world; that is, so long as we are in our natural state; all our thoughts, 
 from morning to evening, and from evening to morning, are no other 
 than wandering thoughts. 
 
 3. But many times we are not only " without God in the world," but 
 also fighting against him ; as there is in every man by nature a " car- 
 nal mind which is enmity against God :" no wonder, therefore, that men 
 abound with unbelieving thoughts ; either saying in their hearts, There 
 is no God, or questioning, if not denying, his power or wisdom, his 
 mercy, or justice, or holiness. No wonder, that they so often doubt of 
 his providence, at least, of its extending to all events ; or that, even 
 though they allow it, they still entertain murmuring or repining thoughts. 
 Nearly related to these, and frequently connected with them, are proud 
 and vain imaginations. Again : sometimes they are taken up with 
 angry, malicious, or revengeful thoughts; at other times, with airy 
 scenes of pleasure, whether of sense or imagination ; whereby the earthy, 
 sensual mind, becomes more earthy and sensual still. Now by all these 
 they make flat war with God : these are wandering thoughts of the 
 highest kind. 
 
 4. Widely different from these are the other sort of wandering 
 thoughts ; in which the heart does not wander from God, but the under- 
 standing wanders from the particular point it had then in view. For 
 instance : I sit down to consider those words in the verse preceding the 
 text : " The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through 
 God." I think, " This ought to be the case with all that are called 
 Christians. But how far is it otherwise ! Look round into almost every 
 part of what is termed the Christian world ! What manner of weapons 
 are these using ? In what kind of warfare are they engaged, 
 
 '\Vhile men, like fiends, each other tear 
 In all the hellish rage of war ?' 
 
 See how these Christians love one another ! Wherein are they prefera- 
 ble to Turks and Pagans ? What abomination can be found among 
 Mohammedans or heathens, which is not found among Christians also ? 
 And thus my mind runs off, before I am aware, from one circumstance 
 to another. Now all these are, in some sense, wandering thoughts : 
 fr although they do not wander from God, much less fight against him, 
 yet they do wander from the particular point I had in view. 
 
 II. Such is the nature, such arc the sorts (to speak rather usefully 
 than philosophically) of wandering thoughts. But what are the gene- 
 ral occasions of them ? This we are, in he second place, to consider-
 
 412 WANDERING THOUGHTS. [SERMON XLI. 
 
 1. And it is easy to observe, that the occasion of the former sort, of 
 thoughts, which oppose or wander from God, are, in general, sinful 
 tempers. For instance : why is not God in all the thoughts, in any of 
 the thoughts, of a natural man 1 For a plain reason ; be he rich or poor, 
 learned or unlearned, he is an atheist ; (though not vulgarly so called;) 
 he neither knows nor loves God. Why are his thoughts continually 
 wandering after the world ? Because he is an idolater. He does not 
 indeed worship an image, or bow down to the stock of a tree ; ytt is 
 he sunk into equally damnable idolatry : he loves, that is worships, the 
 world. He seeks happiness in the things that are seen, in the pleasures 
 that perish in the using. Why is it that his thoughts are perpetually 
 wandering from the very end of his being, the knowledge of God in 
 Christ ? Because he is an unbeliever ; because he has no faith ; or, at 
 least, no more than a devil. So al! these wandering thoughts easily and 
 naturally spring from that evil root of unbelief. 
 
 2. The case is the same in other instances : pride, anger, revenge, 
 vanity, lust, covetousness, every one of them occasions thoughts suita- 
 ble to its own nature. And so does every sinful temper of which the 
 human mind is capable. The particulars it is hardly possible, nor is it 
 needful, to enumerate : it suffices to observe, that as many evil tempers 
 as find a place in any soul, so many ways that soul will depart from God, 
 by the worst kind of wandering thoughts. 
 
 3. The occasions of the latter kind of wandering thoughts are exceed 
 ing various. Multitudes of them are occasioned by the natural union 
 between the soul and body. How immediately and how deeply is the 
 understanding affected by a diseased body ! Let but the blood move 
 irregularly in the brain, and all regular thinking is at an end. Raging 
 madness ensues ; and then farewell to all evenness of thought. Yea. 
 let only the spirits be hurried or agitated to a certain degree, and a 
 temporary madness, a delirium, prevents all settled thought. And is 
 not the same irregularity of thought, in a measure, occasioned by every 
 nervous disorder ? So does " the corruptible body press down the sou!, 
 and cause it to muse about many things." 
 
 4. But does it only cause this in the time of sickness, or preternatural 
 disorder '? Nay, but more or less, at all times, even in a state of perfect 
 health. Let a man be ever so healthy, he will be more or less delirious 
 every four and twenty hours. For does he not sleep ? A nd while he 
 sleeps, is he not liable to dream ? And who then is master of his own 
 thoughts, or able to preserve the order and consistency of them 1 Who 
 can then keep them fixed to any one point, or prevent their wandering 
 from pole to pole ? 
 
 5. But suppose we are awake, are we always so awake, that we can 
 steadily govern our thoughts ? Are we not unavoidably exposed to con- 
 trary extremes, by the very nature of this machine, the body ? Some- 
 times we are too heavy, too dull and languid, to pursue any chain ol 
 thought. Sometimes, on the other hand, we are too lively. The ima- 
 gination, without leave, starts to and fro, and carries us away hither 
 and thither, whether we will or no ; and all this from the merely natural 
 motion of the spirits, or vibration of the nerves. 
 
 6. Farther : How many wanderings of thought may arise, rrom those' 
 various associations of our ideas, which are made entirely without our 
 knowledge, and independently on our choice! How these connections
 
 SERMON XLI.] WANDERING THOUGHTS. 413 
 
 are formed, we cannot tell ; but they are formed in a thousand different 
 manners. Nor is it in the power of the wisest or holiest of men to break 
 those associations, or prevent what is the necessary consequence of 
 them, and matter of daily observation. Let the fire but touch one end 
 of the train, and it immediately runs on to the other. 
 
 7. Once more : Let us fix our attention as studiously as we are able 
 on any subject, yet let either pleasure or pain arise, especially if it be 
 intense, and it will demand our immediate attention, and attach our 
 thought to itself. It will interrupt the steadiest contemplation, and 
 divert the mind from its favourite subject. 
 
 8. These occasions of wandering thoughts lie within, are wrought 
 into our very nature. But they will likewise naturally and necessarily 
 arise from the various impulse of outward objects. Whatever strikes 
 upon the organ of sense, the eye or ear, will raise a perception in the 
 mind. And accordingly, whatever we see, or hear, will break in upon 
 our former train of thought. Every man, therefore, that does any thing 
 in our sight, or speaks any thing in our hearing, occasions our mind to 
 wander, more or less, from the point it was thinking of before. 
 
 9. And there is no question but those evil spirits, v/ho are continu- 
 ally seeking whom they may devour, make use of all the foregoing occa- 
 sions, to hurry and distract our minds. Sometimes by one, sometimes 
 by another of these means, they will harass and perplex us, and, so far 
 as God permits, interrupt our thoughts, particularly when they are 
 engaged on the best subjects. Nor is this at all strange : they well 
 understand the very springs of thought, and know on which of the 
 bodily organs, the imagination, the understanding, and every other 
 faculty of the mind, more immediately depends. And hereby they 
 know how, by affecting those organs, to affect the operations dependant 
 on them. Add to this, that they can inject a thousand thoughts, with- 
 out any of the preceding means, it being as natural for spirit to act upon 
 spirit, as for matter to act upon matter. These things being considered, 
 we cannot wonder that our thought so often wanders from any point 
 which we have in view. 
 
 III. 1. What kind of wandering thoughts are sinful, and what not, is 
 the third thing to be inquired into. And, first, All those thoughts which 
 wander from God, which leave him no room in our minds, are undoubt- 
 edly sinful. For all these imply practical Atheism, and by these we are 
 without God in the world. And so much more are all those which are 
 contrary to God, which imply opposition or enmity to him. Such are 
 all murmuring, discontented thoughts, which say, in effect, We will 
 not have thee to rule over us ; all unbelieving thoughts, whether with 
 regard to his being, his attributes, or his provjdence. I mean, his par- 
 ticular providence over all things, as well as all persons, in the universe ; 
 that without which " not a sparrow falls to the ground," by which " the 
 hairs of our head are all numbered ;" for as to a general providence, 
 (vulgarly so called,) contradistinguished from a particular, it is only a 
 decent, well sounding word, which means just nothing. 
 
 2. Again: all thoughts which spring from sinful tempers, are undoubt- 
 edly sinful. Such, for instance, are those that spring from a revenge- 
 ful temper, from pride, or lust, or vanity. " An evil tree cannot bring 
 forth good fruit :" Therefore if the tree be evil, so must the fruit 
 be also.
 
 414 WANDERING TUOUGHT3. [SEBMON XLI. 
 
 3. And so must those be, which either produce or feed any sinful tem- 
 per ; those which either give rise to pride or vanity, to anger or love oi 
 the world, or confirm and increase these or any other unholy temper, 
 passion, or affection. For not only whatever Hows from evil is evil ; 
 but also whatever leads to it ; whatever tends to alienate the soul from 
 God, and to make or keep it earthly, sensual, and devilish. 
 
 4. Hence, even those thoughts which are occasioned by weakness 
 or disease, by the natural mechanism of the body, or by the laws of vital 
 union, however innocent they may be in themselves, do nevertheless 
 become sinful, when they either produce or cherish and increase in us 
 iny sinful temper ; suppose the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, 
 01 the pride of life. In like manner, the wandering thoughts which 
 are occasioned by the words or actions of other men, if they cause or 
 feed any wrong disposition, then commence sinful. And the same we 
 may observe of those which are suggested or injected by the devil. 
 When they minister to any earthly or devilish temper, (which they do, 
 whenever we give place to them, and thereby make them our own,) 
 then they are equally sinful with the tempers to which they minister. 
 
 5. But, abstracting from these cases, wandering thoughts, in the 
 latter sense of the word, that is, thoughts, wherein our understanding 
 wanders from the point it has in view, are no more sinful than the 
 motion of the blood in our veins, or of the spirits in our brain. If they 
 arise from an infirm constitution, or from some accidental weakness or 
 distemper, they are as innocent as it is to have a weak constitution, or 
 a distempered body. And surely no one doubts but a bad state of nerves, 
 a feverof any kind, and either a transient or a lasting delirium, may con- 
 sist with perfect innocence. And if they should arise in a soul which 
 is united to a healthful body, either from the natural union between the 
 body and soul, or from any of ten thousand changes which may occur 
 in those organs of the body that minister to thought ; in any of these 
 cases they are as perfectly innocent as the causes from which they spring. 
 And so they are when they spring from the casual involuntary aesocia- 
 tions of our ideas. 
 
 6. If our thoughts wander from the point we had in view, by means 
 of other men variously affecting our senses, they are equally innocent 
 still : for it is no more a sin, to understand what I see and hear, and 
 in many cases cannot help seeing, hearing, and understanding, than it 
 is to have eyes and ears. " But if the devil injects wandering thoughts, 
 are not those thoughts evil ?" They are troublesome, and in that sense 
 evil ; but they are not sinful. I do not know that he spoke to our Lord 
 with an audible voice: perhaps he spoke to his heart only, when he 
 said, " All these things wiU 1 give thee, if thou wilt fall down and wor- 
 ship me." But whether he spoke inwardly or outwardly, our Lord 
 doubtless understood what he said. He had therefore a thought cor- 
 respondent to those words. But was it a sinful thought ? We know it 
 was not. In him was no sin, either in action, or word, or thought. Nor 
 is there any sin in a thousand thoughts of the same kind, which Satan 
 may inject into any of our Lord's followers. 
 
 7. It follows, that none of these wandering thoughts (w)iatever unwary 
 persons have affirmed, thereby grieving whom the Lord had not grieved) 
 are inconsistent with perfect love. Indeed if they were, then not only 
 sharp pain, but sleep itself, would be inconsistent with it : sharp pain :
 
 SERMON XLI.] WANDERING THOUGHTS. 415 
 
 for whenever this supervenes, whatever we were before thinking of, .' 
 will ir-.tL-rrupt our thinking, and of course draw our thoughts into anothei 
 channel ; yea, and sleep itself; as it is a state of insensibility arid 
 stupidity ; and such as is generally mixed with thoughts wandering 
 over the earth, loose, wild, and incoherent. Yet certainly these are 
 consistent with perfect love : so then are all wandering thoughts of this 
 kind. 
 
 IV. 1. From what has been observed, it is easy to give a clear answer 
 to the last question, what kind of wandering thoughts we may expect 
 and pray to be delivered from ? 
 
 From the former sort of wandering thoughts, those wherein the heart 
 wanders from God ; from all that are contrary to his will, or that leave us 
 without God in the world; every one that is perfected in love, is unques- 
 tionably delivered. This deliverance, therefore, we may expect ; this we 
 may, we ought to pray for. Wandering thoughtsof this kind imply unbe- 
 lief, if notenmity against God ; but bothof these he will destroy, will bring 
 utterly to an end. And indeed, from all sinful wandering thoughts we 
 shall be absolutely delivered. All that are perfected in love are deliv- 
 ered from these ; else they were not saved from sin. Men and devils 
 will tempt them all manner of ways; but they cannot prevail over them. 
 
 2. With regard to the latter sort of wandering thoughts, the case is 
 widely different. Till the cause is removed, we cannot in reason expect 
 the effect should cease. But the causes or occasions of these will 
 remain, as long as we remain in the body. So long therefore we have 
 all reason to believe the effects will remain also. 
 
 3. To be more particular: suppose a soul, however holy, to dwell in 
 a distempered body ; suppose the brain be so thoroughly disordered, as 
 that raging madness follows; will not all the thoughts be wild and 
 unconnected, as long as that disorder continues ? Suppose a fever occa- 
 sions that temporary madness, which we term a delirium, can there be 
 any just connection of thought till that delirium is removed ? Yea, sup- 
 pose what is called a nervous disorder to rise to so high a degree, as to 
 occasion at least a partial madness ; will there not be a thousand wan- 
 dering thoughts ? And must not these irregular thoughts continue as 
 long as the disorder which occasions them ? 
 
 4. Will not the case be the same, with regard to those thoughts thai 
 necessarily arise from violent pain 1 They will more or less continue, 
 whilo that pain continues, by the inviolable order of nature. This order 
 likewise will obtain, where the thoughts are disturbed, broken, or inter- 
 rupted, by any defect of the apprehension, judgment, or imagination, 
 flowing from the natural constitution of the body. And how many 
 interruptions may spring from the unaccountable and involuntary asso- 
 ciation of our ideas 1 Now all these are directly or indirectly caused 
 by the corruptible body pressing down the rnind. Nor therefore can 
 we expect them to be removed, till " this corruptible shall put on 
 incorruption." 
 
 5. And then only, when we lie down in the dust, shall we be deliv- 
 ered from those wandering thoughts which are occasioned by what we 
 see and hear, among those by whom we are now surrounded. To avoid 
 these, we must go out of the world. For as long as we remain therein, 
 as long as there are men nnd women round about us, and we have 
 eyes to see and ears to hear, the things which we daily see anu aear
 
 416 SATAN'S DEVICES. [SERMON XLH. 
 
 wil! certainly aiTect our mind, and will more or less break in upon and 
 interrupt our preceding thoughts. 
 
 6. And as long as evil spirits roam to and fro in a miserable, disor- 
 dered world, so long they will assault (whether they can prevail or no) 
 every inhabitant of flesh and blood. They will trouble even those 
 whom they cannot destroy : they will attack, if they cannot conquer. 
 And from these attacks of our restless, unwearied enemies, we must 
 not look for an entire deliverance, till we ate lodged " where the wicked 
 cease from troubling, and where the weary are at rest." 
 
 7. To sum up the whole : to expect deliverance from those wander 
 ing thoughts which are occasioned by evil spirits, is to expect that the 
 devil should die or fall asleep, or, at least, should no more go about as 
 a roaring lion. To expect deliverance from those which are occasioned 
 by other men, is to expect either that men should cease from the earth ; 
 or that we should be absolutely secluded from them, and have no 
 intercourse with them ; or that having eyes we should not see, neither 
 hear with our ears, but be as senseless as stocks or stones. And to 
 pray for deliverance from those which are occasioned by the body, is, 
 in affect, to pray that we may leave the body : otherwise it is praying 
 for impossibilities and absurdities; praying that God would reconcile 
 contradictions, by continuing our union with a corruptible body, with 
 out the natural, necessary consequences of that union. It is as if we 
 should pray to be angels and men, mortal and immortal, at the same 
 time. Nay ! but when that which is immortal is come, mortality is 
 done away. 
 
 8. Rather let us pray both with the spirit and with the understand 
 ing, that all these things may work together for our good ; that we may 
 suffer all the infirmities of our nature, all the interruptions of men, all 
 the assaults and suggestions of evil spirits, and in all be " more than 
 conquerors." Let us pray that we may be delivered from all sin ; that 
 both root and branch may be destroyed ; that we may be " cleansed 
 from all pollution of flesh and spirit," from every evil temper, and word, 
 and work ; that we may " love the Lord our God with all our heart, 
 with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength ;" that 
 all the fruit of the Spirit may be found in us, not only love, joy, peace, 
 but also " long suffering, gentleness, goodness, fidelity, meekness, tem- 
 perance." Pray that all these things may flourish and abound, may 
 increase in you more and more, till an abundant entrance be ministered 
 unto you, into trie everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ! 
 
 SEEMO.N XLII. Satan's Devices. 
 " We are not ignorant of his devices." 2 Cor. ii. 11. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 SATAN'S devices are numberless. We consider one especi- 
 ally. The babe in Christ is already partaker of the inward 
 kingdom of heaven. This is a great blessing, but God has
 
 SERMON XI.TI.] SATAN'S DEVICES. 417 
 
 greater things in store, even perfect love, perfect light, perfect 
 purity. Satan hinders or destroys the first work by expecta- 
 tion of the second. 
 
 I. The way in which this is done. 
 
 1. He damps our joy by consideration of our sinfulness. 
 
 2. He attacks our peace, urging that we are not fit to see 
 God. 
 
 3. Or he leads to doubt our forgiveness because we lack 
 fruit. 
 
 4. Especially is this the case in time of bodily weakness. 
 
 5. He then attacks our righteousness. Joy and peace are 
 an important means of maintaining both inward and outward 
 holiness. Servile fear weakens the soul. Closely connected 
 with this is assault of our faith, which is the root of all 
 holiness. The view of our defects leads us to lose sight of 
 God's love in Christ, and forget the recompense of reward. 
 Again the expectation of holiness may become an occasion of 
 unholy tempers, fretfulness, impatience, envy, and, perhaps, 
 prejudice against the doctrine of holiness. 
 
 II. How may we retort these fiery darts of the enemy? 
 
 Look from your sins to the free grace of Christ, who is 
 your advocate, keeping before you the hope of heaven, remem- 
 bering the great work already done, taking courage from the 
 example of others, redeeming the time, and pressing forward 
 to the attainment of the blessing. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 Having set forth the great privilege of full salvation in the two pre- 
 ceding sermons, in the present one, Mr. Wesley guard ^ the Church 
 against a very common abuse of the doctrine. This abuse was dis- 
 cussed in the Conference of 1745 as follows : " Q. Should we not have 
 a care of depreciating justification, in order to exalt the state of full 
 eanctification 1 A. Undoubtedly we should beware of this ; for one 
 may insensibly slide into it. Q. How shall we effectually avoid it 1 A. 
 When we are going to speak of entire sanctification, let us first describe 
 the blessings of a justified state, as strongly as possible. Q. In what 
 manner should we preach entire sanctih'cation '( A. Scarce at all to 
 those who are not pressing forward. To those who are, always by way 
 of promise, always drawing rather than driving." 
 
 1. THE devices whereby the subtle god of this world labours to destroy 
 the children of God, or at least to torment whom he cannot destroy, 
 to perplex and hinder them in running the race which is set before 
 them, are numberless as the stars of heaven, or the sand upon the sea 
 shore. But it is of one of them only that I now propose to speak, 
 (although exerted in various ways,) whereby he endeavours to divide 
 the gospel against itself, and by one part of it to overthrow the other.
 
 418 SATAN'S DLVICES. [SERMON XLII. 
 
 2. The inward kingdom of heaven, which is set up in the hearts of 
 all that repent and believe the gospel, is no other than " righteousness, 
 and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." Every babe in Christ knows 
 we are made partakers of these, the very hour that we believe in Jesus 
 But these are only the first fruits of his Spirit; the hanest is not yet 
 Although these blessings are inconceivably great, yet we trust to see 
 greater than these. We trust to love the Lord our God, not only as we 
 do now, with a weak though sincere affection, but " with all our heart, 
 with all our mind, with all our soul, and with all our strength." We 
 took for power to " rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in 
 every thing to give thanks ;" knowing, " this is the will of God in Christ 
 Jesus concerning us." 
 
 3. We expect to be " made perfect in love ;" in that which casts out 
 all painful fear, and all desire but that of glorifying him we love, and of 
 loving and serving him more and more. We look for such an increase 
 in the experimental knowledge and love of God our Saviour, as will 
 enable us always " to walk in the light as lie is in the light." We believe 
 the whole mind will be in us, " which was also in Christ Jesus;" that 
 we shall love every man, so as to be ready to lay down our life for his 
 sake ; so as, by this love, to be freed from anger, and pride, and from 
 every unkind affection. We expect to be " cleansed from all our idols," 
 " from all filthiness," whether " of Henh or spirit ;" to be " saved from all 
 our uucleannesses," inward or outward ; to be purified " as he is pure." 
 
 4. We trust in his promise, who cannot lie, that the time will surely 
 come, when, in every word and work, we shall do his blessed will on 
 earth, as it is done in heaven ; when all our conversation shall be sea- 
 soned with salt, all meet to minister grace to the hearers ; when, whether 
 we eat, or drink, or whatever we do, it shall be done to the glory of God ; 
 when all our words and deeds shall be " in the name of the Lord Jesus, 
 giving thanks unto God even [to God] the Father, through him." 
 
 5. Now this is the grand device of Satan, to destroy the first work of 
 God in the soul, or at least to hinder its increase, by our expectation of 
 that greater work. It is therefore my present design, first, to point out 
 the several ways whereby he endeavours this : and, secondly, to observe 
 how we may retort these fiery darts of the wicked one ; how we may 
 rise the higher, by what he intends for an occasion of our falling. 
 
 I. 1. I am, first, to point out the several ways whereby Satan endea- 
 vours to destroy the first work of God in the soul, or at least to hinder 
 its increase, by our expectation of that greater work. And, 1. He en- 
 deavours to damp our joy in the Lord, by the consideration of our own 
 vileness, sinfulness, unworthiness ; added to this, that there must be a 
 far greater change than is yet, or we cannot see the Lord. If we knew 
 we must remain as we are, even to the day of our death, we might pos- 
 sibly draw a kind of comfort, poor as it was, from that necessity. But 
 as we know we need not remain in this state, as we are assured there 
 IB a greater change to come, and that unless sin be all done away in this 
 life, we cannot sec God in glory, that subtle adversary often damps the 
 joy we should otherwise feel in what we have already attained, by a 
 perverse representation of what we have not attained, and the absolute 
 necessity of attaining it. So that we cannot rejoice in what we have, 
 because there is more which we have not. We cannot riqjhtly taste the 
 goodness of God, who hath done so great things for us, because- there
 
 SERMON xLii.J SATAN'S DEVICES. 419 
 
 are so much greater things, which, as yet, he hath not done. Likewise, 
 the deeper conviction God work? in us of our present unholiness, and 
 the more vehement desire we feel in our heart of the entire holiness he 
 liath promised, the more are we tempted to think lightly of the present 
 gifts of God, and to undervalue what we have already received, because 
 of what we have not received. 
 
 2. If he can prevail thus far, if he can damp our joy, he will oon 
 attack our peace also. He will suggest, " Are you fit to see God ! He 
 is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity. How then can you flatter 
 yourself, so as to imagine he beholds you with approbation 1 God i* 
 holy: you are unholy. What communion hath light with darkness? 
 How is it possible that you, unclean as you are, should be in a slate ol 
 acceptance with God ? You see indeed the mark, the prize of your high 
 calling; but do you not see it is afar off? How can you presume then 
 to think that all your sins are already blotted out ? How can this be, until 
 you are brought nearer to God, until you bear more resemblance to 
 him ?" Thus will he endeavour not only to shake your peace, but even 
 to overturn the very foundation of it; to bring you back, by insensible 
 degrees, to the point from whence yon set out first, even to seek for 
 justification by works, or by your own righteousness, to make some- 
 thing in you the ground of your acceptance, or, at least, necessaril) 
 previous to it. 
 
 3. Or, if we hold fast, " Other foundation can no man lay than that 
 which is laid, even Jesus Christ;" and, I am "justified freely by God's 
 grace, through the redemption which is in Jesus ;" yet he will not cease 
 to urge, " But the tree is known by its fruits : and have you the fruits 
 of justification ? Is that mind in you which was in Christ Jesus ] Are 
 you dead unto sin, and alive unto righteousness ? Are you made con- 
 formable to the death of Christ, and do you know the power of his 
 resurrection ?" And then, comparing the small fruits we feel in our 
 souls with the fulness of the promises, we shall be ready to conclude, 
 Surely God hath not said that my sins are forgiven me ! Surely I have 
 not received the remission of my sins ; for what lot have I among them 
 tliat are sanctified ? 
 
 4. More especially in the time of sickness and pain, he will press this 
 with all his might : " Is it not the word of Him that cannot lie, ' With- 
 out holiness no man shall see the Lord ?' But you are not holy ; you 
 know it well ; you know holiness is the full image of God ; and how far 
 is this above, out of your sight? You cannot attain unto it. Therefore 
 all your labour has been in vain. All these things you have suffered in 
 vain. You have spent your strength for nought. You are yet in your 
 sins, and must therefore perish at the last." And thus, if your eye be 
 not steadily fixed on Him who hath borne all your sins, he will bring 
 you again under that " fear of death," whereby you was so long " sub 
 ject unto bondage," and, by this means, impair, if not wholly destroy 
 your peace, as well as joy in the Lord. 
 
 5. But his masterpiece of subtlety is still behind. Not content to 
 strike at your peace and joy, he will carry his attempts farther yet : he 
 will level his assault against your righteousness also. He will endeavour 
 to shake, yea, if it be possible, to destroy, the holiness you have already 
 received, by your very expectation of receiving more, of attaining all 
 the image of God.
 
 *20 SATAN'S DEVICES. [SERMON XLII. 
 
 6. The manner wherein he attempts this, may partly appear from 
 what has been already observed. For, first, by striking at our joy in 
 the Lord, he strikes likewise at our holiness: seeing joy in the Holy 
 Ghost is a precious means of promoting every holy temper; a choice 
 instrument of God, whereby he carries on much of his work in a believ- 
 ing soul. And it is a considerable help, not only to inward, but also 
 to outward holiness. It strengthens our hands to go on in the work of 
 faith, and in the labour of love ; manfully to " fight the good fight of 
 faith, and to lay hold on eternal life." It is peculiarly designed of God 
 to be a balance both against inward and outward sufferings ; to " lift 
 up the hands that hang down, and confirm the feeble knees." Conse- 
 quently, whatever damps our joy in the Lord, proportionably obstructs 
 our holiness. And therefore, so far as Satan shakes our joy, he hinders 
 our holiness also. 
 
 7. The same effect will ensue, if he can, by any means, either destroy 
 or shake our peace. For the peace of God is another precious means 
 of advancing the image of God in us. There is scarce a greater help 
 to holiness than this, a continual tranquillity of spirit, the evenness of a 
 mind stayed upon God, a calm repose in the blood of Jesus. And 
 without this, it is scarce possible to " grow in grace," and in the vital 
 " knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ." For all fear (unless the tender, 
 filial fear) freezes and benumbs the soul. It binds up all the springs 
 of spiritual life, and stops all motion of the heart towards God. And 
 doubt, as it were, bemires the soul, so that it sticks fast in the deep 
 clay. Therefore, in the same proportion as either of these prevail, our 
 growth in holiness is hindered. 
 
 8. At the same time that our wise adversary endeavours to make 
 f>ur conviction of the necessity of perfect love an occasion of shaking 
 tur peace by doubts and fears, he endeavours to weaken, if not destroy, 
 our faith. Indeed these are inseparably connected, so that they must 
 rtand or fall together. So Ions as faith subsists, we remain in peace ; 
 our heart stands fast, while it believes in the Lord. But if we let go 
 our faith, our filial confidence in a loving, pardoning God, our peace 
 ts at an end, the very foundation on which it stood being overthrown. 
 And this is the only foundation of holiness, as well as of peace ; con- 
 sequently, whatever strikes at this, strikes at the very root of all holiness : 
 tor without this faith, without an abiding sense that Christ loved me, 
 and gave himself for me, without a continuing conviction that God for 
 Christ's sake is merciful to me a sinner, it is impossible that I should 
 love God : " We love him, because he first loved us ;" and in proportion 
 to the strength and clearness of our conviction that he hath loved us, 
 and accepted us in his Son. And unless we love God, it is not possible 
 that we should love our neighbour as ourselves ; nor, consequently, that 
 we should have any right affections, either towards God, or towards 
 man. It evidently follows, that whatever weakens our faith, must, in 
 the same degree, obstruct our holiness. And this is not only the most 
 eitlectual, but also the most compendious way of destroying all holiness. 
 Seeing it does not affect .any one Christian temper, any single grace or 
 fiu it of the Spirit, but, so far as it succeeds, tears up the very root of 
 the whole work of God. 
 
 9. No marvel, therefore, that the ruler of the darkness of this world 
 should here put forth all his strength. And so we find by experience,
 
 SERMON XLTI.] SATAN'S DEVICES. 421 
 
 For it is far easier to conceive, than it is to express, the unspeakable 
 violence wherewith this temptation is frequently urged on them who 
 hunger and thirst after righteousness. When they see in a strong and 
 clear light, on the one hand, the desperate wickedness of their own 
 hearts, on the other hand, the unspotted holiness to which they are 
 called in Christ Jesus ; on the one hand, the depth of their own cor- 
 ruption, of their total alienation from God, on the other, the height of 
 the glory of God, that image of the Holy One, wherein they are to be 
 renewed ; there is, many times, no spirit left in them ; they could 
 almost cry out, With God this is impossible ! They are ready to give 
 up both faith and hope ; to cast away that very confidence, whereby 
 they are to overcome all things, through Christ strengthening them . 
 whereby, " after they have done the will of God," they are to " receive 
 the promise." 
 
 10. And if they " hold fast the beginning of their confidence stead 
 fast unto the end," they shall undoubtedly receive the promise of God, 
 reaching through both time and eternity. But here is another snare 
 laid for our feet : while we earnestly pant for that part of the promise 
 which is to be accomplished here, " for the glorious liberty of the 
 children of God," we may be led unawares from the consideration of 
 the glory which shall hereafter be revealed. Our eye may be insensibly 
 turned aside from that crown, which the righteous Judge hath promised 
 to give at that day, " to all that love his appearing ;" and we may be 
 drawn away from the view of that incorruptible inheritance which i 
 reserved in heaven for us. But this also would be a loss to our souls, 
 and an obstruction to our holiness. For to walk in the continual sight 
 of our goal, is a needful help in our running the race that is set before 
 us. This it was, the having " respect unto the recompense of the 
 reward," which, of old time, encouraged Moses, rather " to suffer 
 affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for 
 a season ; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the 
 treasures of Egypt." Nay, it is expressly said of a greater than he, 
 that ' for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, and 
 despised the shame," till he " sat down at the right hand of the throne 
 of God." Whence we may easily infer, how much more needful for ue 
 is the view of that joy set before us, that we may endure whatever cross 
 the wisdom of God lays upon us, and press on through holiness to glory. 
 
 11. But while we are reaching to this, as well as to that glorious 
 liberty which is preparatory to it, we may be in danger of falling into 
 another snare of the devil, wherein he labours to entangle the children 
 of God. We may take too much thought for to morrow, so as to neglect 
 the improvement of to day. We may so expect perfect love, as not 
 to use that which is already shed abroad in our hearts. There have 
 nol been wanting instances of those who have greatly suffered hereby. 
 They were so taken up with what they were to receive hereafter, as 
 ullerly to neglect what they had already received. In expectation ol 
 having five talents more, they buried their one talent in the earth. At 
 least, they did not improve it as they might have done, to the glory of 
 God, ami the good of their own souls. 
 
 12. Thus does the subtle adversary of God and man endeavour to 
 make void the counsel of God, by dividing the gospel against itself, 
 and making one part ol it overthrow the other; while the first work of
 
 422 SATAN'S DEVICES. [SERMON XLIT. 
 
 God in the soul is destroyed by the expectation of his perfect wot k. 
 We have seen several of the ways wherein he attempts this, by cutting 
 off, as it were, the springs of holiness. But this he likewise does more 
 directly, by making that blessed hope an occasion of unholy tempers. 
 
 13. Thus, whenever our heart is eagerly athirst for all the great and 
 precious promises ; when we pant after the fulness of God, as the hart 
 after the water brook ; when our soul breaketh out in fervent desire, 
 " Why are his chariot wheels so long a coming ?" he will not neglect 
 the opportunity of tempting us to murmur against God. He will u*e 
 nil his wisdom, and all his strength, if haply in an unguarded hour we 
 may be influenced to repine at our Lord for thus delaying his coming. 
 At. least, hr will labour to excite some degree of fretfulness, or impa- 
 tience ; and, perhaps, of envy at those whom we believe to have 
 already attained the prize of our high calling. He well knows, that by 
 giving way to any of these tempers, we are pulling down the very thing 
 we would build up. By thus following after perfect holiness, we 
 become more unholy than before. Yea, there is great danger that our 
 last state should be worse than the first ; like them of whom the apostle 
 speaks in those dreadful words, " It had been better for them nut to 
 have known the way of righteousness, than, having known it, to turn 
 from the holy commandment delivered to them." 
 
 14. And from hence he hopes to reap another advantage, even to 
 bring up an evil report of the good way. He is sensible, how few are 
 able to distinguish (and too many are not willing so to do) between the 
 accidental abuse, and the natural tendency, of a doctrine. These, 
 therefore, will he continually blend together, with regard to the doc- 
 trine of Christian perfection; in order to prejudice the minds of unwary 
 men against the glorious promises of God. And how frequently, how 
 generally, 1 had almost said how universally, has he prevailed herein ! 
 For who is there that observes any of these accidental ill effects of 
 this doctrine, and does not immediately conclude, this is its natural 
 tendency; and does not readily cry out, ''See, these are the fruits 
 (meaning the natural, necessary fruits) of such doctrine ?" Not so : 
 they are fruits which may accidentally spring from the abuse of a great 
 and precious truth : but the abuse of this, or any other scriptural doc- 
 trine, does by no means destroy its use. Neither can the unfaithfulness 
 of man, perverting his right way, make the promise of God of no effect. 
 No: let God be true, arid every man a liar. The word of the Lord, it 
 shall stand. " Faithful is he that hath promised : he also will do it." 
 Let us not then be " removed from the hope of the gospel." Rather 
 let us observe, which was the second thing proposed, How we may 
 retort these fiery darts of the wicked one : how we may rise the higher 
 by what he intends for an occasion of our falling. 
 
 II. 1. And, first, Does Satan endeavour to damp your joy in the Lord, 
 by the consideration of your sinfulness> ; added to this, that without 
 entire, universal holiness, no man can see the Lord ? You may cast 
 back this dart upon his own head, while, through the grace of God, the 
 more you feel of your own vileness, the more you rejoice in confident 
 hope, that all this shall be done away. While you hold fast this hope, 
 every evil temper you feel, though you hate it with a perfect hatred, may 
 be a means, not ol lessening your humble joy, but rather of increasing 
 it. " This and this," you may say, " shall likewise perish from the
 
 SERMON XLII. 
 
 SATAN'S DEVICES. 423 
 
 presence of the Lord. Like as the wax melteth at the fire, so shall 
 this melt away before his face." By this means, the greater that change 
 is, which remains to be wrought in your soul, the more may you triumph 
 in the Lord, and rejoice in the God of your salvation, who hath done so 
 great things for you already, and will do so much greater things than 
 those. 
 
 2. Secondly : The more vehemently he assaults your peace, with 
 that suggestion, " God is holy; you are unholy; you are immensel) 
 distant from that holiness, without which you cannot see God: how 
 then can you be in the favour of God 1 How can you fancy you are justi- 
 fied !" take the more earnest heed to hold fast that, " Not by works 
 of righteousness which I have done, I am found in him : I am accepted 
 in the Beloved ; not having my own righteousness, (as the cause, either 
 in whole or in part, of our justification before God,) but that which is 
 by faith in Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith." Oh 
 bind this about your neck : write it upon the table of thy heart. Wear 
 it as a bracelet upon thy arm, as frontlets between thine eyes : " I am 
 'justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus 
 Christ.' " Value and esteem, more and more, that precious truth, " By 
 grace we are saved, through faith." Admire, more and more, the free 
 grace of God, in so loving the world as to give " his only begotten Son, 
 that whosoever believeth on him, might not perish, but have everlasting 
 life." So shall the sense of the sinfulness you feel on the one hand, and 
 of the holiness you expect on the other, both contribute to establish 
 your peace, and to make it flow as a river. So shall that peace flow on 
 with an even stream, in spite of all those mountains of ungodliness, 
 which shall become a plain, in the day when the Lord cometh to take 
 full possession of your heart. Neither will sickness, or pain, or the 
 approach of death, occasion any doubt or fear. You know a day, an 
 hour, a moment, with God, is as a thousand years. He cannot be strait- 
 ened for time, wherein to work whatever remains to be done in your 
 soul. And God's time is always the best time. Therefore be thou 
 careful for nothing: only make thy requests known unto him, and thai 
 not with doubt or fear, but thanksgiving; as being previously assured, 
 he cannot withhold from thee any manner of thing that is good. 
 
 3. Thirdly : The more you are tempted to give up your shield, to 
 cast away your faith, your confidence in his love, so much the more 
 take heed that you hold fast that whereunto you have attained. So 
 much the more labour to stir up the gift of God which is in you. Never 
 let that slip, " I have ' an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
 righteous;' and, 'the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, 
 who loved me, and gave himself for me.' " Be this thy glory, and crown 
 of rejoicing ; and see that no one take thy crown. Hold that fast : " I 
 know that my Redeemer liveth, and shall stand at the latter day upon 
 (he e;irth ;" and, " I now ' have redemption in his blood, even the for- 
 giveness of sins.' " Thus, being filled with all peace and joy in believ- 
 ing, press on, in the peace and joy of faith, to the renewal of thy whole 
 soul in the image of Him that created thee ! Meanwhile, cry continually 
 to God, that thou mayest see that prize of thy high calling, not as Satan 
 represents it, in a horrid, dreadful shape, but in its genuine, native 
 beauty ; not as something that must be, or thou wilt go to heh, but as 
 what may be, to lead thee to heaven. Look upon it as the most desi-
 
 424- SATAN'S DEVICES. [SERMON XLIT. 
 
 rable gift, which is in all the stores of the rich mercies of God. Behold 
 ing it in this true point of light, tliou wilt hunger after it more and more : 
 thy whole soul will be athirst for God, and for this glorious conformity 
 to his likeness ; and, having received a good hope of this, and strong 
 
 wnsolation through grace, thou wilt no more be weary or faint in thy 
 
 nind, but wilt follow on till thou attuinest. 
 
 4. In the same power of faith press on to glory. Indeed, this is the 
 Mime prospect still. God hath joined, from the beginning, pardon, 
 toliness, heaven. And why should man put them asunder 1 Oh beware 
 of this ! Let not one link of the golden chain be broken. " God, for 
 Christ's sake, hath forgiven me. lie is now renewing me in his own 
 image. Shortly he will make me meet for himself, and take me to 
 stand before his face. I, whom he hath justified through the blood of 
 his Son, being thoroughly sanctified by his Spirit, shall quickly ascend 
 to the ' New Jerusalem, the city of the living God.' Yet a little while, 
 and I shall ' come to the general assembly and church of the first-born, 
 and to God the Judge of all, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new 
 covenant.' How soon will these shadows flee away, and the day ol 
 eternity dawn upon me ! How soon shall I drink of ' the river of the 
 water of life, going out of the throne of God and of the Lamb ! There 
 all his servants shall praise him, and shall see his face, and his name 
 shall be upon their foreheads. And no night shall be there ; and they 
 have no need of a candle, or the light of the sun. For the Lord God 
 enlighteneth them, and they shall reign for ever and ever.' " 
 
 5. And if you thus " taste of the good word, and of the powers of the 
 world to come," you will not murmur against God, because you are not 
 yet meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. Instead of repining 
 at your not being wholly delivered, you will praise God for thus far 
 delivering you. You will magnify God for what he hath done, and take 
 it as an earnest of what he will do. You will not fret against him, be- 
 cause you are not yet renewed, but bless him because you shall be ; and 
 because " now is your salvation" from all sin " nearer than when you 
 [first] believed." Instead of uselessly tormenting yourself because the 
 time is not fully come, you will calmly and quietly wait for it, knowing 
 that it " will corne, and will not tarry." You may, therefore, the more 
 cheerfully endure, as yet, the burden of sin that still remains in you, 
 because it will not always remain. Yet a little while, and it shall be 
 clean gone. Only " tarry thou the Lord's leisure :" be strong, and 
 " he shall comfort thy heart ;" and put thou ihy trust in the Lord ! 
 
 6. And if you see any who appear (so far as man can judge, but God 
 alone searchcth the hearts) to be already partakers of their hope, already 
 "made perfect in love;" far from envying the grace of God in them, 
 let it rejoice and comfort your heart. Glorify God for their sake ! " II 
 one member is horroured," shall not " all the members rejoice with it?" 
 Instead of jealousy or evil surmising concerning them, praise God for 
 the consolation ! Rejoice in having a fresh proof of the faithfulness ol 
 God in fulfilling all his promises ; and stir yourself up the more, to 
 " apprehend that for which you also are apprehended of Christ Jesus !'' 
 
 7. In order to this, redeem the time. Improve the present moment. 
 Buy up every opportunity of growing in grace, or of doing good. Let 
 not the thought of receiving more grace to morrow, make you negligent 
 of to day. You have one talent now if you expect five more, so much
 
 IERMON XLII.I SATAN'S DEVICES. 425 
 
 .hen rather improve that you have. And the more you expect to receive 
 Hereafter, the more labour for God now. Sufficient for the day is the 
 frace thereof. God is now pouring his benefits upon you : now approve 
 yourself a faithful steward of the present grace of God. Whatever may 
 be to morrow, give all diligence to day, to " add to your faith, courage, 
 temperance, patience, brotherly kindness," and the fear of God, till 
 you attain that pure and perfect love ! Let these things be now " in you, 
 and abound!" Be not now slothful or unfruitful : " So shall an entrance 
 be ministered unto you into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesua 
 Christ !" 
 
 8. Lastly: If in time past you have abused this blessed hope of being 
 holy as He is holy, yet do not, therefore, cast it away. Let the abuse 
 cease, the use remain. Use it now to the more abundant glory of God, 
 and profit of your own soul. In steadfast faith, in calm tranquillity of 
 spirit, in full assurance of hope, rejoicing evermore for what God hath 
 done, press ye on unto perfection ! Daily growing in the knowledge of 
 our Lord Jesus Christ, and going on from strength to strength, in resig- 
 nation, in patience, in humble thankfulness for what ye have attained, 
 and for what ye shall, run the race set before you, "looking unto Jesus," 
 till, through perfect love, ye enter into his glory !
 
 426 SCRIPTURE WAY OP SALVATION. [sKRMOX XT.III. 
 
 SERMON XLIIL The Scripture Way of Salvation. 
 " Ye are saved through faith." Eph. ii. 8. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 THE simplicity of religion. Its end is salvation ; the 
 means, faith. 
 
 I. What is salvation ? 
 
 Not eternal happiness ; it is a present thing. In the widest 
 sense it includes prevenient grace. But specially it is justi- 
 fication and sanctification. Justification is pardon, the for- 
 giveness of our sins and our acceptance with God. This is 
 procured by Christ. It is followed by peace and joy. At the 
 same moment sanctification begins ; we are inwardly renewed 
 by the power of God. But this renewal is not yet perfect, 
 though often supposed to be so. From the moment of this 
 change a mortification of sin takes place, completed in entire 
 sanctification, which is perfect love, excluding sin, and filling 
 the heart. 
 
 II. What is that faith through which we are saved ? Faith 
 generally is a divine evidence or conviction ; including super- 
 natural light, and supernatural perception of that light. More 
 specifically, faith is a divine evidence or conviction that 
 Christ loved me and gave himself for rne. By this we receive 
 Christ. This implies both assurance from God, and adherence, 
 the latter following the former. By this faith we are saved. 
 
 III. How are we saved by this faith ? 
 
 1. As the condition, and the only condition of justification. 
 None is saved without this; every one who has this is justi- 
 fied. Repentance necessary, but not in the same sense, or in 
 the same degree. It is indirectly necessary, and its fruits 
 only conditionally. 
 
 2. As the condition, and the only condition of sanctifica- 
 tion. A repentance also precedes this, which is a conviction, 
 wrought by the Holy Ghost, of sin still remaining in our 
 hearts ; and hence still cleaving to all our actions ; and a 
 sense of our utter inability in ourselves. The fruits of this 
 repentance are all good works of piety and of mercy. But as 
 before these fruits are necessary only as there is opportunity, 
 and this repentance is only remotely necessary in order to the 
 exercise of faith. Hence faith is the immediate and only con- 
 dition. What is this faith whereby we are sanctified ? 
 
 (1) A divine evidence and conviction that God hath 
 promised this in his holy Word. 
 
 (2) A divine evidence and conviction that what he hath 
 promised he is able to perform.
 
 SERMON XLIII.] SCRIPTURE WAY OF SALVATION. 427 
 
 (3) A divine evidence and conviction that he is able and 
 willing to do it now. 
 
 (4) A divine evidence and conviction that he doeth it. In 
 that hour it is done. 
 
 It may be gradually wrought in some in this sense that 
 they do not advert to the particular moment. But there is 
 a moment, we may be conscious of it; and we should look for 
 it every day. Why not now ? 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 This sermon was first published in tract form in the year 1765, and 
 incorporated in the standard sermons in 1771. It, with the Plain 
 Account of Christian Perfection, published the year following may be 
 taken as representing Mr. Wesley's most mature views on this subject. 
 For tive years a remarkable outpouring of the Spirit of perfect love had 
 been in progress in the Methodist societies, giving Mr. Wesley abundant 
 opportunity to study the subject from every point of view, in the light 
 of living experience. It was during the progress^ of this work that 
 many important points in the definition of Christian Perfection were 
 guarded against Antinomianism on the one hand and enthusiasm on the 
 other ; and the important advices to those who are saved. from sin were 
 originally written. 
 
 The present sermon deals particularly with the way to the attainment 
 of Christian Perfection. Dr. Whitehead (and Mr. Tyerman queries with 
 him,) seems to think that it was only at this time that Mr. Wesley came 
 to believe and teach that this grace might be received in a moment, by 
 simple faith. Undoubtedly, as Mr. Wesley expressly states, he had 
 held the doctrine of Christian Perfection from the beginning of his 
 evangelical career. He had held also that it was attained by faith ; but 
 laid more stress upon the antecedent gradual work of mortification and 
 universal obedience. But at the period of the present sermon we thiuk 
 the following points became more perfectly clear in Mr. Wesley's teach- 
 ing, and probibly in his own experience, inasmuch as at the very com- 
 mencement (1760) he speaks of the work of God as being "very helpful 
 to his own soul." 
 
 1. The nature of sanctifying faith, which is as clearly defined in the 
 present sewnon, as is justifying faith in the first sermon. The relation 
 of that previous definition to his own experience may lead us to think of 
 a similar relation here. 
 
 2. The relation of the preliminary gradual work of the Spirit, in 
 what he calls the repentance of believers, to this definite faiflx and to 
 the higher state of grace is more clearly defined than ever before. The 
 sermon on the repentance of believers was written two years later. 
 
 3. The doctrine of the witness or assurance of entire sanctifi cation 
 given by the Holy Spirit was now clearly propounded in his farther 
 thoughts on Christian Perfection though only indirectly referred to in 
 the present sermon. 
 
 4. The entrance upon the conscious possession of this full salvation is 
 made a grand point, a crisis of religious experience, just as the conscious 
 entrance upon the conscious assurance of justification had been after the 
 experience of May 24th, 1738. This is not insisted on as indispensably 
 necessary to its attainment ; but Mr. Wesley has come now to think it 
 " infinitely desirable," that this crisis should be thus definitely marked.
 
 428 SCRIPTURE WAY OF SALVATION. [SKRMON XLIII. 
 
 5. The unity of the process of salvation in the first and the second 
 great crisis of experience is clearly apparent. Both rest upon the atone- 
 ment ; both are the work of the Holy Spirit in a process ot conviction 
 leading to submission and faith followed by a witness or assurance which 
 merges into a permanent faith. The first crisis begins the work, which 
 the second carries on to ptrfection. This parallel Mr. Wesley carries 
 out very fully. 
 
 6. Now, Mr. Wesley begins to press the second crisis upon believers 
 more strongly than ever before. He sometimes seems to go beyond the 
 drawing which he deemed expedient in 1745. 
 
 7. We note in this sermon that the same prominence and honour is 
 given to the Holy Spirit as in the doctrine of conversion. This dis- 
 tinguishes Mr. Wesley's teaching from all forms of .Antinomianisni. 
 There is an Antinomian perfectionism, which, like the corresponding 
 doctrine of justification, is merely assumed or imputed. Mr. Wesley 
 does not attempt to force religious experiences by any merely intellectual 
 processes or logical formularies. The " divine conviction " must prepare 
 every step. This important truth characterizes his teaching throughout, 
 and distinguishes it from many modern imitations. We cannot go on to 
 perfection but by praying for the Spirit, and being led by the Spirit. 
 No process of consecration and faith will avail, except that consecration 
 be the result of deep conviction of inbred sin by the Holy Spirit, and 
 that faith be of the operation of the Holy Ghost, a divine evidence and 
 conviction. Mr. Wesley, of course, does not exclude our co-operation 
 with the Spirit in the use of all means ; but he never falls into that 
 common error, which leads only to a superficial imitation of the divine 
 life. 
 
 SERMON XLTIT. 
 
 1. NOTHING can be more intricate, complex, and hard to be under- 
 stood, than religion, as it has been often described. And this is not 
 only true concerning the religion of the heathens, even many of the 
 wisest of them, but concerning the religion of those also who were, in 
 some sense, Christians ; yea, and men of great name in the ChVistian 
 world ; men who seemed to be pillars thereof. Yet how easy to be 
 understood, how plain and simple a thing is the genuine religion of 
 Jesus Christ ; provided only that we take it in its native form, just as it 
 is described in the oracles of God ! It is exactly suited, by the wise 
 Creator and Governor of the world, to the weak understanding arid nar- 
 row capacity of man in his present state. How observable is this, both 
 with regard to the end it proposes, and the means to attain that end ! 
 The end is, in one word, salvation ; the means to attain it, faith. 
 
 2. It is easily discerned, that these two little words, I mean faith and 
 salvation, include the substance of all the Bible, the marrow, as it were, 
 of the whole Scripture. So much the more should we take all possible 
 care to avoid all mistake concerning them, and to form a true and 
 accurate judgment concerning both the one and the other. 
 
 3. Let us then seriously inquire, 
 
 I. What is salvation '? 
 
 II. What is that faith whereby we are saved ? And, 
 
 III. How are we saved by it 1 
 
 I. 1. And, first, let us inquire, What is salvation ? The salvation which 
 is here spoken of, is not what is frequently understood by that word, 
 the going to heaven, eternal happiness. It is not the soul's goin^ to 
 paradise, termed by our Lord. " Abraham's bosom." It is not a bless-
 
 RFUMOV XLTII.l SCKIPTURE WAY OF SALVATIOK. 429 
 
 ing which lies on the other side death ; or, as we usually speak, in the 
 other world. The very words of the text itself put this beyond all ques- 
 tion : " ye arc saved" It is not something at a distance ; it is a pre- 
 sent thing ; a blessing which, through the free mercy of God, ye are 
 now in possession of. Nay, the words may be rendered, and that with 
 equal propriety, " Ye have been saved :" So that the salvation which is 
 here spoken of, might be extended to the entire work of God, from the 
 first dawning of grace in the soul, till it is consummated in glory. 
 
 2 If we take this in its utmost extent, it will include all that is 
 wrought in the soul by what is frequently termed, natural conscience, 
 but more properly, preventing grace ; all the drawings of the Father ; 
 the desires after God, which, if we yield to them, increase more and 
 more ; all that light wherewith the Son of God " enlighteneth every 
 one that cometh into the world ;" showing every man, " to do justly, to 
 love mercy, and to walk humbly with his God;" all the convictions 
 which his Spirit, from time to time, works in every child of man ; 
 although, it is true, the generality of men stifle them as soon as possible, 
 and after a while forget, or at least deny, that they ever had them at all. 
 
 3. But we are at present concerned only with that salvation which 
 the apostle is directly speaking of. And this consists of two general 
 parts, justification and sanctification. 
 
 Justification is another word for pardon. It is the forgiveness of all 
 our sins; and, what is necessarily implied therein, our acceptance with 
 God. The price whereby this hath been procured for us, (commonly 
 termed the meritorious cause of our justification,) is the blood and right- 
 eousness of Christ; or, to express it a little more clearly, all that Christ 
 hath done and suffered for us, till he "poured out his soul for the trans- 
 gressors." The immediate effects of justification are, the peace OT 
 God, a " peace that passeth all understanding," and a " rejoicing in 
 hope of the glory of God," " with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 
 
 4. And at the same time that we are justified, yea, in that very mo- 
 ment, sanctification begins. In that instant we are born again, born 
 from above, born of the Spirit : there is a real as well as a relative 
 change. We are inwardly renewed by the power of God. We feel 
 " the iove of God shed abroad in our heart, by the Holy Ghost which is 
 given unto us," producing love to all mankind, and more especially to 
 the children of God ; expelling the love of the world, the iove of plea- 
 sure, of ease, of honour, of money ; together with pride, anger, self 
 will, and every other evil temper ; in a word, changing the earthly, 
 sensual, devilish mind, into "the mind which was in Christ Jesus." 
 
 5. How naturally do those who experience such a change, imagine 
 that all sin is gone ; that it is utterly rooted out of their heart, and has 
 no more any place therein ? How easily do they draw that inference, 
 " 1 feel no sin; therefore I have none: it does not stir; therefore it 
 does riot exist : it has no motion ; therefore it has no being." 
 
 6. But it is seldom long before they are undeceived, finding sin was 
 only suspended, not destroyed. Temptations return, and sin revives; 
 showing it was but stunned before, not dead. They now feel two prin- 
 ciples in themselves, plainly contrary to each other ; " the flesh lusting 
 u?ainst the Spirit ;" nature opposing the grace of God. They cannot 
 deny, that, although they still feel power to believe in Christ, and to 
 love God ; and, although his " Spirit [still] witnesses with their spirits.
 
 t30 SCRIPTURE WAY OP SALVATION. [SERMON XLIII. 
 
 that they are children of God ;" yet they feel in themselves sometimes 
 piide or self will, sometimes anger or unbelief. They find one or more 
 ol these frequently stirring in their heart, though not conquering ; yea, 
 perhaps, " thrusting sore at them that they may fall;" but the Lord is 
 their help. 
 
 7. How exactly did Macarius, fourteen hundred years ago, describe 
 the present experience of the children of God ! "The unskilful, [or 
 unexperienced,] when grace operates, presently imagine they have no 
 more sin. Whereas they that have discretion cannot deny, that even 
 we who have the grace of God may be molested again. For we have 
 often had instances of some among the brethren, who have experienced 
 such grace as to affirm that they had no sin in them ; and yet, after all, 
 when they thought themselves entirely freed from it, the corruption that 
 lurked within was stirred up anew, and they were well nigh burnea up." 
 
 8. From the time of our being born again the gradual work of sanclili 
 cut ion takes phce. We arc enabled." by the Spirit, to mortify the deeds 
 of the body, ' of our evil nature ; and as \ve are more and more dead to 
 sin, we are more and more alive to God. We go on from grace to grace, 
 while we are careful to " abstain from all appearance of evil," and are 
 " zealous of good works," as we have opportunity of doing good to all 
 men ; while we walk in all his ordinances blameless, therein worship- 
 ping him in spirit and in truth ; while we take up our cross, and deny 
 ourselves every pleasure that does not lead us to God. 
 
 9. It is thus that we wait for entire sanctifrcation ; for a full salva 
 tion from all our sins, from pride, self will, anger, unbelief; or, as 
 the apostle expresses it, " go on to perfection." But what is perfection ? 
 The word has various senses : here it means perfect love. It is love 
 excluding sin ; love filling the heart, taking up the whole capacity of 
 the soul. It is love " rejoicing evermore, praying without ceasing, in 
 every thing giving thanks." 
 
 II. But what is that faith through which we are saved ? This is the 
 second point to be considered. 
 
 1. Faith in general is defined by the apostle, -n-pa/ixaTwv s\^X^ ou 
 /3X?-r.ousvojv : an evidence, a divine evidence and conviction [the word 
 means both] of things not seen ; not visible, not perceivable either by 
 sight, or by any other of the external senses. It implies both a super- 
 natural evidence of God, and of the things of God, a kind of spiritual 
 Kg lit exhibited to the soul, and a supernatural sight, or perception there- 
 of. Accordingly the Scripture speaks of God's giving sometimes light, 
 sometimes a power of discerning it. So St. Paul, " God, who command- 
 ed light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give us 
 the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 Christ." And elsewhere the same apostle speaks of " the eyes of [our] 
 understanding being opened." By this two fold operation of the Holy 
 Spirit, having the eyes of our soul both opened and enlightened, we see 
 the tilings which the natural " eye hath not seen, neither the ear heard." 
 We have a prospect of the invisible things of God ; we see the spiritual 
 world, which is all round about us, and yet no more discerned by our 
 natural faculties, than if it had no being : and we see the eternal world; 
 piercing through the veil which hangs between time and eternity. 
 Clouds and darkness then rest upon it no more, but we already see the 
 glory which shall be revealed.
 
 SERMON XLIII.J SCRIPTURE WAY OF SALVATION. 431 
 
 2. Taking the word in a more particular sense, faith is a divine evi- 
 dence and conviction, not only that " God was in Christ, reconciling the 
 world unto himself," but also that Christ loved me, and gave himself for 
 me. It is by this faith (whether we term it the essence, or rather a 
 property thereof) that we receive Christ; that we receive him in all his 
 offices, as our Prophet, Priest, and King. It is by this that he is " mado 
 of God unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and 
 redemption." 
 
 3. " But is this the faith of assurance, or faith of adherence ?" The 
 Scripture mentions no such distinction. The apostle says, "There is 
 one faith, and one hope of our calling;" one Christian, saving faith ; 
 " as there is one Lord," in whom we believe, and "one God and Father 
 of us all." And it is certain, this faith necessarily implies an assurance 
 (which is here only another word for evidence, it being hard to tell the 
 difference between them) that Christ loved me, and gave himself for 
 me. For " he that believeth," with the true living faith, " hath the 
 witness in himself:" " The Spirit vvitnesseth with his spirit, that he is 
 a child of God." "Because he is a son, God hath sent forth the Spirit 
 of his Son into his heart, crying, Abba, Father;" giving him an assu- 
 rance that he is so, and a childlike confidence in him. But let it be 
 observed that, in the very nature of the thing, the assurance goes before 
 the confidence. For a man cannot have a childlike confidence in God 
 till he knows he is a child of God. Therefore confidence, trust, reliance, 
 adherence, or whatever else it be called, is not the first, as some have 
 supposed, but the second branch or act of faith. 
 
 4. It is by this faith we are saved, justified, and sanctified ; taking 
 that word in its highest sense. But how are we justified and sanctified 
 by faith ? This is our third head of inquiry. And this being the main 
 point in question, and a point of no ordinary importance, it will not be 
 improper to give it a more distinct and particular consideration. 
 
 III. 1. And, first, How are we justified by faith 1 In what sense is 
 this to be understood ? I answer, faith is the condition, and the only 
 condition of justification. It is the condition: none is justified but he 
 that believes: without faith no man is justified. And it is the only con- 
 dition : this alone is sufficient for justification. Every one that believes 
 is justified, whatever else h; has or has not. In other words : no man 
 is justified till he believes ; every man, when he believes, is justified. 
 
 2. " But does not God command us to repent also 1 Yea, and to 
 ' bring forth fruits meet for repentance ?' To cease, for instance, from 
 doing evil, and learn to do well 1 And is not both the one and the 
 other of the utmost necessity, insomuch that if we willingly neglect 
 either, we cannot reasonably expect to be justffied at all ? But if this 
 be so, how can it be said that faith is the only condition of justification ?" 
 
 God does undoubtedly command us both to repent, and to bring forth 
 fruits meet for repentance ; which if we willingly neglect, we cannol 
 reasonably expect to be justified at all : therefore both repentance, and 
 fruits meet for repentance, are, in some sense, necessary to justification. 
 But they are not necessary in the some sense with faith, nor in the same 
 degree. Not in the same degree; for those fruits arc only necessary 
 conditionally; if there be time and opportunity for them. Otherwise 
 a man may be justified without them, as was the thief upon the cross; 
 (if we may call him so ; for a late writer has discovered that h was no
 
 432 SCRIPTURE WAY OP SALVATION. [SERMON XLTTT. 
 
 thief, but a very honest and respectable person !) but he cannot be just- 
 ified without faith; this is impossible. Likewise, let a man have ever 
 so much repentance, or ever so many of the fruits meet for repentance, 
 yet all this does not at all avail ; he is not justified till he believes. But 
 the moment he believes, with or without those fruits, yea, with more or 
 less repentance, he is justified. Not in thf same sense ; for repentance 
 and its fruits are only remotely necessary; necessary in order to faith; 
 whereas faith is immediately and directly necessary to justification. It 
 remains, that faith is the only condition, which is immediately and proxi 
 malely necessary to justification. 
 
 3. " But do you believe we are sanctified by faith ? We know you 
 believe that we are justified by faith ; but do not you believe, and accord- 
 ingly teach, that we are sanctified by our works ?" So it has been 
 roundly and vehemently affirmed for these five and twenty years : but 
 I have constantly declared just the contrary ; and that in all manner of 
 ways. I have continually testified in private and in public, that we are 
 sanctified as well as justified by faith. And indeed the one of those 
 great truths does exceedingly illustrate the other. Exactly as we are 
 justified by faith, so are we sanctified by faith. Faith is the condition, 
 and the only condition of sanctification, exactly as it is of justification. 
 It is the condition : none is. sanctified but he that believes ; without 
 faith no man is sanctified. And it is the only condition : this alone is 
 sufficient for sanctification. Every one that believes is sanctified, what- 
 ever else he has or has hot. In other words, no man is sanctified till 
 he believes : every man when he believes is sanctified. 
 
 4. " But is there not a repentance consequent upon, as well as a re- 
 pentance previous to, justification ? And is it not incumbent on all that 
 are justified to be ' zealous of good works ?' Yea, are not these so 
 necessary, that if a man willingly neglect them he cannot reasonably 
 expect that he shall ever be sanctified in the full sense ; that is, per- 
 fected in love ? Nay, can he grow at all in grace, in the loving know- 
 ledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ? Yea, can he retain the grace which 
 God has already given him ? Can he continue in the faith which he has 
 received, or in the favour of God ? Do not you yourself allow all thip, 
 and continually assert it? But, if this be so, how can it be said, that 
 faith is the only condition of sanctification ?" 
 
 5. I do allow all this, and continually maintain it as the truth of God. 
 I allow there is a repentance consequent upon, as well as a repentance 
 previous to, justification. It is incumbent on all that are justified to Uc 
 zealous of good works. And these are so necessary, that if a man will- 
 ingly neglect them he cannot reasonably expect that he shall ever be 
 sanctified ; he cannot grow in grace, in the image of God, the mind 
 which was in Christ Jesus ; nay, he cannot retain the grace he has 
 received, he cannot continue in faith, or in the favour of God. 
 
 What is the inference we must draw herefrom ? Why, that both 
 repentance, rightly understood, and the practice of all good works, 
 works of piety, as well as works of mercy, (now properly so called, 
 since they spring from faith,) are, in some seose, necessary to sanc- 
 tification. 
 
 I say, repentance rightly understood ; for this must not be confound- 
 ed with the former repentance. The repentance consequent upon 
 justification, is widely different from that which is antecedent to it
 
 SKHMON XUII ] SCRIPTURE WAY OF SALVATION. 433 
 
 This implies no guilt, no sense of condemnation, no consciousness of 
 the wrath of God. It does not suppose any doubt of the favour of God, 
 or any " fear that hath torment." It is properly a conviction, wrought 
 by the Holy Ghost, of the sin which still remains in our heart ; of the 
 cpovTj/uux ffa^xof, the carnal mind, which " does still remain, (as our 
 church speaks,) even in them that are regenerate ;" although it does no 
 longer reign; it has not now dominion over them. It is a conviction 
 of our proneness to evil, of a heart bent to backsliding, of the still con- 
 tinuing tendency of the flesh to lust against the Spirit. Sometimes, 
 unless we continually watch and pray, it lusteth to pride, sometimes to 
 anger, sometimes to love of the world, love of ease, love of honour, or love 
 of pleasure more than of God. It is a conviction of the tendency of 
 our heart to self will, to atheism or idolatry, and, above all, to unbelief, 
 whereby, in a thousand ways, and under a thousand pretences, we are 
 ever departing, more or less, from the living God. 
 
 7. With this conviction of the sin remaining in our hearts, there is 
 joined a clear conviction of the sin remaining in our lives ; still cleaving 
 to all our words and actions. In the best of these we now discern a 
 mixture of evil, either in the spirit, the matter, or the manner of them; 
 something that could not endure the righteous judgment of God, were 
 he extreme to mark what is done amiss. Where we least suspected it, 
 we find a taint of pride or self will, of unbelief or idolatry ; so that we 
 are now more ashamed of our best duties than formerly of our worst 
 sins : and hence we cannot but feel, that these are so far from having 
 any thing meritorious in them, yea, so far from being able to stand in 
 sight of the divine justice, that for those also we should be guilty before 
 God, were it not for the blood of the covenant. 
 
 8. Experience shows that, together with the conviction of sin remain- 
 ing in our hearts, and cleaving to all our words and actions ; as well as 
 the guilt which on account thereof we should incur, were we not con- 
 tinually sprinkled with the atoning blood ; one thing more is implied 
 in this repentance : viz. a conviction of our helplessness, of our utter 
 inability to think one good thought, or to form one good desire ; and 
 much more to speak one word aright, or to perform one good action, 
 but through his free, almighty grace, first preventing us, and then 
 accompanying us every moment. 
 
 9. " But what good works are those, the practice of which you affirm 
 to be necessary to sanctification ?" First, all works of piety ; such as 
 public prayer, family prayer, and praying in our closet ; receiving the 
 supper of the Lord ; searching the Scriptures, by hearing, reading, 
 meditating; and using such a measure of fasting or abstinence as our 
 bodily health allows. 
 
 10. Secondly, all works of mercy, whether they relate to tne bodies 
 or souls of men ; such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, enter- 
 taining the stranger, visiting those that are in prison, or sick, or vari- 
 ously afflicted; such as the endeavouring to instruct the ignorant, to 
 awaken the stupid sinner, to quicken the lukewarm, to confirm the 
 wavering, to comfort.the feeble minded, to succour the tempted, or con 
 tribute in any manner to the saving of souls from death. This is the 
 repentance, and these the " fruits meet for repentance," which are 
 necessary to full sanctification. This is the way wherein God hath aj> 
 pointed his children to wait for complete sa'vatioa.
 
 434 SCRIPTURE WAY OP SALVATION. [SF.RMON XLTTT. 
 
 11. Hence may appear the extreme mischievousness of that seem- 
 ingly innocent opinion, That there is no sin in a believer ; that all sin 
 is destroyed, root and branch, the moment a man is justified. By totally 
 preventing that repentance, it quite blocks up the way to sanctification : 
 there is no place for repentance in him who believes there i? no sin 
 either in his life or heart : consequently there is no place for his being 
 perfected in love, to which that repentance is indispensably necessan. 
 
 12. Hence it may likewise appear, that there is no possible danger 
 in thus expecting full salvation. For suppose we were mistaken, sup- 
 pose no such blessing ever was or can be attained, yet we lose nothing : 
 nay, that very expectation quickens us in using all the talents which 
 God has given us ; yea, in improving them all ; so that when our Lord 
 cometh he will receive his own with increase. 
 
 13. But to return. Though il be allowed, that both this repentance 
 and its fruits are necessary to full salvation ; yet they are not necessary 
 either in the same sense with faith, or in the same degree : not in the 
 same degree ; for these fruits are necessary conditionally, if there be 
 time and opportunity for them ; otherwise a man may be sanctified 
 without them. But he cannot be sanctified without faith. Likewise, 
 let a man have ever so much of this repentance, or ever so many good 
 works, yet all this does not at all avail : he is not sanctified till he be- 
 lieves : but the moment he believes, with or without those fruits, yea, 
 with more or less of this repentance, he is sanctified. Not in the same 
 sense ; for this repentance and these fruits are only remotely necessary, 
 necessary in order to the continuance of his faith, as well as the increase 
 of it ; whereas faith is immediately and directly necessary to sanctiS- 
 cation. It remains, that faith is the only condition, which is immediately 
 and proximate.li/ necessary to sanctification. 
 
 14. " But what is that faith whereby we are sanctified 1 saved from 
 sin, and perfected in love V It is a divine evidence and conviction, 
 first, that God hath promised it in the holy Scripture. Till we are 
 thoroughly satisfied of this, there is no moving one step farther. And 
 one would imagine there needed not one word more to satisfy a reason- 
 able man of this than the ancient promise, " Then will I circumcise 
 thy heart and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all 
 thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." How clearly 
 does this express the being perfected in love ! How strongly imply the 
 being saved from all sin ! For as long as love takes up the whole heart, 
 what room is there for sin therein 1 
 
 15. It is a divine evidence and conviction, secondly, that what God 
 hath promised he is able to perform. Admitting, therefore, that " with 
 men it is impossible" to " bring a clean thing out of an unclean," to 
 purify the heart from all sin, and to fill it with all holiness; yet this 
 creates no difficulty in the case, seeing " with God all things are pos- 
 sible." And surely no one ever imagined it was possible to any power 
 less than that of the Almighty! But if God speaks, it shall be done. 
 God saith, " Let there be light; and there [is] light!" 
 
 16. It is, thirdly, a divine evidence and conviction that he is able 
 and willing to do it now. And why not T Is not a moment to him the 
 same as a thousand years? He cannot want more time to accomplish 
 whatever is his will. Anil he cannot want or stay for any more worthi- 
 ness or fitness in the persons he is pleased to honour. We may there-
 
 SKRMON XLIII.] SCRIPTURE WAY OF SALVATION. 435 
 
 fore boldly say, al any point of time, " Now is the day of salvation !" 
 ' To day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts !" " Behold, 
 all things are now ready, come unto the marriage !" 
 
 17. To this confidence, that God is both able and willing to sanctify 
 us now, there needs to be added one thing more, a divine evidence and 
 conviction, that he doeth it. In that hour it is done : God says to the 
 inmost soul, " According to thy faith be it unto thee !" Then the soul 
 is pure from every spot of sin ; it is clean " from all unrighteousness." 
 The believer then experiences the deep meaning of those solemn words, 
 " If we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship one 
 with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from 
 all sin." 
 
 18. " But does God work this great work in the soul gradually or 
 instantaneously ?" Perhaps it may be gradually wrought in some ; 1 
 mean in this sense, they do not advert to the particular moment wherein 
 sin ceases to be. But it is infinitely desirable, were it the will of God. 
 that it should be done instantaneously ; that the Lord should destroy 
 sin " by the breath of his mouth," in a moment, in the twinkling of an 
 eye. And so he generally does ; a plain fact, of which there is evidence 
 enough to satisfy any unprejudiced person. Thou therefore look for it 
 every moment ! Look for it in the way above described ; in all those 
 good works whereunto thou art " created anew in Christ Jesus." There 
 is then no danger : you can be no worse, if you are no better for that 
 expectation. For were you to be disappointed of your hope, still you 
 lose nothing. But you shall not be disappointed of your hope : it will 
 come, and will not tarry. Look for it then every day, every hour, e\ery 
 moment ! Why not this hour, this moment ? Certainly you may look 
 for it now, if you believe it is by faith. And by this token you may 
 surely know whether you seek it by faith or by works. If by works, 
 you want something to be done first, before you are sanctified. You 
 think, I must first be or do thus or thus. Then you are seeking it by 
 works unto this day. If you seek it by faith, you may expect it as you 
 art ; and if as you are, then expect it now. If is of importance to 
 observe, that there is an inseparable connection between these three 
 points, Expect it by faith, Expect it as you are, and Expect it now! 
 To deny one of them is to deny them all. To allow one, is to allow 
 them all. Do you believe we are sanctified by faith 1 Be true then to 
 your principle ; and look for this blessing just as you are, neither better 
 nor worse ; as a poor sinner that has still nothing to pay, nothing to 
 plead, but Christ died. And if you look for it as you are, then expect 
 it now. Stay for nothing : why should you ? Christ is ready ; and he 
 is all you want. He is waiting for you : he is at the door ! I<et your 
 inmost soul cry out, 
 
 " Come in, come in, thou heavenly guest ! 
 
 Nor hence aarain renuve ; 
 But sup with me, and let the fnaot 
 Be everlasting love."
 
 4.36 ORIGINAL SIN. [SERMON XLIV. 
 
 SEKMON XLIV. Original Sin. 
 
 " And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that 
 every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continu- 
 .lly." Gen. vi. 5. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 FAIR pictures of human nature have been drawn by ancient 
 and modern writers. They are readily received, but agree 
 not with God's word; which declares, That by one man's 
 disobedience all were constituted sinners. That in Adam all 
 died. That he begat a son in his own likeness, since " who 
 can bring a clean thing out of an unclean." Thus we are by 
 nature dead in trespasses and in sins, being shapen in iniquity 
 and conceived in sin. Hence the absolute universality of 
 actual transgression. 
 
 I. Let us show what men were before the flood. The 
 account is of " man," the whole race. Every imagination 
 includes everything that is fabricated within. It is only evil, 
 without intermixture of good ; and continually, without 
 cessation. 
 
 II. Are men the same now ? So says David, Isaiah, and 
 the Apostles. Experience confirms this. We are Atheists, 
 without knowledge, love, or fear of God; idolaters, serving 
 pride, self-will, love of the world, the lust of the flesh, the 
 desire of the eye, and the pride of life. 
 
 III. Hence we see, (1) The difference between Christianity 
 and all other religions. They depend on natural goodness. 
 Christianity alone recognizes man's real state. (2) That no 
 religion is truly Christian which denies this fact. (3) That 
 Christianity is essentially a healing of the soul. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 Few subjects require more careful definition in the Arminian system 
 than the doctrine of original sin. We must carefully avoid Pelagian 
 and semi-Pelagian views on the one hand, and Augustinian determinism 
 on the other. The controversial character of Mr. Wesley's treatise on 
 original sin, while guarding the truth completely against the two former 
 errors, leaves it open to misconception on the side of the latter. We note 
 here what Mr. Wesley positively states, and further, what he omits to 
 state. He states 
 
 1. The absolute universality of sin, 
 
 2. That this universality arises from heart-sin, or a sinfulness in 
 nature or character. 
 
 3. That this heart-sin is a birth-sin ; not acquired, but inherited, born 
 with us.
 
 SERMON XLIV.] ORIGINAL SIN. 437 
 
 4. That this birth-sin is derived from Adam, and comes by a natural 
 law. 
 
 5. That it originated in the first transgression. Tlfite fundamental 
 points Mr. Wesley presents in the very words of Scripture. 
 
 6. He clearly states that this entire sin (actual sin, heart-sin, birth-sin, 
 and the original sin) exposes man to the wrath of God. But he does not 
 separate these four elements of our sinful estate, and assert with Calvin 
 that guilt is imputed on account of the original sin. Even in the treatise 
 on original sin, Mr. Wesley seems to avoid the expression, though it is 
 often used by the authors whom he quotes. When Dr. Taylor says, 
 " Punishment always connotes guilt," he replies, " It always connotes sin 
 and suffering ; and here are both. Adam sinned ; his posterity suffer ; 
 and that in consequence of his sin." So in discussing the proposition of 
 the Westminster catechism, " The guilt of Adam's first sin ;" when Dr. 
 Taylor says, " Adam's first sin was attended with consequences which 
 affect all his posterity. But we could not on account of his sin become 
 obnoxious to punishment." Mr. Wesley replies, " By punishment I 
 mean evil suffered on account of sin. And are we not obnoxious to any 
 evil on account of Adam's sin?" And when he omes to the final 
 proposition of the Westminster catechism, "And justly liable to all 
 punishments in this world, and that which is to come," Mr. Wesley says, 
 " That all men are liable to these for Adam's sin alone, I do not assert ; 
 but they are so, for their own outward and inward sins, which, through 
 their own fault, spring from the infection of their nature." Further on 
 he says " I believe none ever did, or ever will die eternally, merely for 
 the sin of our first father." In harmony with this Armiuian limitation 
 of the Augustinian doctrine are the excisions which Mr. Wesley made 
 from the ninth article of the Church of England, which compare with 
 article seven of the Discipline of our Church. 
 
 The omitted clause (" and therefore in every person born into this 
 world it deserveth God's wrath and damnation,") does not indeed take 
 the highest ground of Calvinistic imputation of Adam's sin. It does 
 not necessarily mean more than the mediate imputation of Placaeus. 
 But even this mediate imputation, Mr. Wesley would seem further to 
 define by attaching its guilt to our own personal fault in neglect of the 
 provided redemption. The universal provisions of the atonement enter 
 at every point into Mr. Wesley's Anthropology as well as into his 
 Soteriology. He knows nothing of a human race without a provided 
 salvation in Christ ; but under the present entire economy, by which the 
 race is alike related to Adam and to Christ, he certainly does hold (ftpd 
 in harmony, with Scripture.) tibe guilt of original sin. This guilt, how- 
 ever, IlTis no existence antecedent to the existence of the guilty sinner, 
 and hence cannot be the basis of any decree of predestination to wrath. 
 We are " obnoxious to evil on account of Adam's sin," but only under 
 an economy which brings us grace through Christ's righteousness, and 
 thus final condemnation must be the result of our personal fault in the 
 neglect of the provided grace. Every element of the Augustinian doc- 
 trine which can be proven from Scripture is thus not only taught by 
 Mr. Wesley, but is in harmony with his entire doctrinal system. 
 
 In regard to the extent of human depravity Mr. Wesley's teaching is 
 in harmony with the Augustinian Confessions ; it is a total inability to 
 good, " without the grace of God preventing us that we may have good 
 will, and working with us when we have that good will."
 
 438 ORIGINAL SIN. [SERMON XLIV. 
 
 SEKMON XLIV. 
 
 1. How widely different is this from the fair pictures of human nature, 
 which men have drawn in all ages ! The writings of many of the an- 
 cients abound with gay descriptions of the dignity of man ; whom some 
 of them paint as having all virtue and happiness in his composition, or 
 at least, entirely in his power, without being beholden to any other 
 being; yea, as self sufficient ; able to live on his own stock, and little 
 inferior to God himself. 
 
 2. Nor have heathens alone, men who were guided in their re- 
 searches by little more than the dim light of reason, but many 'ikewise 
 of them that bear the name of Christ, and to whom are entrusted the 
 oracles of God, spoken as magnificently concerning the nature of man, 
 as if it were all innocence and perfection. Accounts of this kind have 
 particularly abounded in the present century ; and perhaps in no part 
 of the world more than in our own country. Here not a few persons 
 of strong understanding, as well as extensive learning, have employed 
 their utmost abilities to show, what they termed, " the fair side of human 
 nature." And it must be acknowledged, that if their accounts of him 
 be just, man is still but " a little lower than the angels ;" or, as the words 
 may be more literally rendered, " a little less than God." 
 
 3. Is it any wonder, that these accounts are very readily received by 
 the generality of men ? For who is not easily persuaded to think favour 
 ably of himself? Accordingly, writers of this kind are most universally 
 read, admired, applauded. And innumerable are the converts they have 
 made, not only in the gay, but the learned world. So that it is now 
 quite unfashionable to talk otherwise, to say any thing to the disparage- 
 ment of human nature ; which is generally allowed, notwithstanding a 
 few infirmities, to be very innocent, and wise, and virtuous ! 
 
 4. But, in the mean time, what must we do with our Bibles ? for 
 they will never agree with this. These accounts, however pleasing to 
 flesh and blood, are utterly irreconcilable with the scriptural. The 
 Scripture avers, that " by one man : s disobedience all men were consti- 
 tuted sinners ;" that " in Adam all died," spiritually died, lost the life and 
 the image of God ; that fallen, sinful Adam then " begat a son in his own 
 likeness ;" nor was it possible he should beget him in any other ; for 
 " who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean ?" that consequently 
 we, as well as other men, were by nature " dead in trespasses and sin," 
 " without hope, without God in the world," and therefore " children 01 
 wrath ;" that every man may say, " I was shapen in wickedness, and in 
 sin did my mother conceive me ;" that " there is no difference," in that 
 " all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," of that glorious 
 image of God, wherein man was originally created. And hence, when 
 " the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men, ho 
 saw they were all gone out of the way ; they were altogether become 
 abominable, there was none righteous, no, not one," none that truly 
 sought after God : just agreeable this, to what is declared by the Holy 
 Ghost, in the words above recited, " God saw," when he looked down 
 from heaven before. " that the wickedness of man was great in the
 
 SERMON XLIV.j ORIGINAL SIN. 439 
 
 earth ;" so great, that " every imagination of the thoughts of his hearl 
 was only evil continually." 
 
 This is God's account of man : from which I shall take occasion, first, 
 To show what men were before the flood: secondly, To inquire, whether 
 they are not the same now ? And, thirdly, To add some inferences. 
 
 I. 1. I am, first, by opening t'\e words of the text to show what men 
 were before the flood. And we may fully depend on the account here 
 given : for God saw it, and he cannot be deceived. He " saw that the 
 wickedness of man" was great :" Not of this or that man ; not of a 
 few men only ; not barely of the greater part, but of man in general ; 
 of men universally. The word includes the whole human race, every 
 partaker of human nature. And it is not easy for us to compute their 
 numbers, to tell how many thousands and millions they were. The 
 earth then retained much of its primeval beauty, and original fruitful- 
 ness. The face of the globe was not rent and torn, as it is now ; 
 and spring and summer went hand in hand. It is therefore probable, 
 it afforded sustenance for far more inhabitants than it is now capable 
 of sustaining ; and these must be immensely multiplied, while men 
 begat sons and daughters for sev3n or eight hundred years together. 
 Yet, among all this inconceivable number, only "Noah found favour 
 with God." He alone (perhaps including part of his household) was 
 an exception from the universal wickedness, which, by the just judg- 
 ment of God, in a short time after brought on universal destruction. 
 All the rest were pai takers in the same guilt as they were in the 
 same punishment. 
 
 2. " God saw all the imaginations of the thoughts of his heart ;" 
 of his soul, his inward man, the spirit within him, the principle of alJ 
 his inward and outward motions. He " saw all the imaginations:" 
 It is not possible to find a word of a more extensive signification. It 
 includes whatever is formed, made, fabricated within ; all that is or 
 passes in the sou! ; every inclination, affection, passion, appetite ; every 
 temper, design, thought. It must of consequence include every word 
 and action, as naturally flowing from these fountains, and being either 
 good or evil according to the fountain from which they severally flow. 
 
 3. Now God saw that all this, the whole thereof, was evil ; contrary 
 to moral rectitude ; contrary to the nature of God, which necessarily 
 includes all good ; contrary to the divine will, the eternal standard of 
 good and evil ; contrary to the pure, holy image of God, wherein man 
 was originally created, and wherein he stood when God, surveying the 
 works of his hands, saw them all to be very good ; contrary to justice, 
 morcy, and truth, and to the essential relations which each man bore 
 to his Creator and his fellow creatures. 
 
 4. But was there not good mingled with the evil ? Was there not 
 light intei mixed with the darkness ? No ; none at all : " God saw that 
 the whole imagination of the heart of man was only evil." It cannot 
 indeed be denied, but many of them, perhaps ali, had good motions put 
 into their hearts ; for the Spirit of God did then also " strive with man," 
 if haply he might repent, more especially during that gracious reprieve, 
 the hundred and twenty years, vv hile the ark was preparing. But still 
 " in his flesh dwelt no good thing ;" all his nature was purely evil : it 
 was wholly consistent, with itself, and unmixed with any thing of au 
 opposite nature.
 
 440 ORIGINAL sm. [SERMON XLIV. 
 
 5. However, it may still be matter of inquiry, " Was there no inter- 
 mission of this evil ? Were there no lucid intervals, wherein some- 
 thing good might be found in the heart of man ?" We are not hereto 
 consider, what the grace of God might occasionally work in his soul ; 
 and abstracted from this, we have no reason to believe, there was any 
 intermission of that evil. For God, who " saw the whole imagination 
 of the thoughts of his heart to be only evil," saw likewise, that it was 
 always the same, that it " was only evil continually ;" every year, every 
 day, every hour, every moment. He never deviated into good. 
 
 II. Such is the authentic account of the whole race of mankind, 
 which he who knoweth what is in man, who searcheth the heart and 
 trieth the reins, hath left upon record for our instruction. Such were 
 all men before God brought the flood upon the earth. We are, secondly, 
 to inquire, whether they arc the same now ? 
 
 1. And this is certain, the Scripture gives us no reason to think any 
 otherwise of them. On the contrary, all the above cited passages ot 
 Scripture refer to those who lived after the flood. It was above a thou- 
 sand years after, that God declared by David concerning the children 
 of men. " They are all gone out of the way, [of truth and holiness,] 
 there is none righteous, no, not one." And to this bear all the prophets 
 witness, in their several generations. So Isaiah, concerning God's 
 peculiar people, (and certainly the heathens were in no better condi- 
 tion,) " The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the 
 sole of the foot even unto the head there is no soundness in it ; but 
 wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores." The same account is 
 given by all the apostles, yea, by the whole tenor of the oracles of God. 
 From all these we learn concerning man in his natural state, unassisted 
 by the grace of God, that " every imagination of the thoughts of his 
 heart is [still] evil, only evil [and that] continually." 
 
 2. And this account of the present state of man is confirmed by daily 
 experience. It is true, the natural man discerns it not. : and this is not 
 to be wondered at. So long as a man, born blind, continues so, he is 
 scarce sensible of his want : much less, could we suppose a place where 
 all were born without sight, would they be sensible of the want of it. 
 In like manner, so long as men remain in their natural blindness of 
 understanding, they are not sensible of their spiritual wants, and of thi? 
 in particular. But as soon as God opens the eyes of their understand- 
 ing, they see the state they were in before ; they are then deeply con- 
 vinced, that " every man living," themselves especially, are, by nature, 
 " altogether vanity ;" that is, folly and ignorance, sin and wickedness. 
 
 3. We see, when God opens our eyes, that we were before AScoi v 
 TCJ XO<TJAW, without G(td t or rather, atheists in the world. We had, by 
 nature, no knowledge of God, no acquaintance with him. It is true, 
 as soon as we came to the use of reason, we learned " the invisible 
 things of God, even his eternal power and Godhead, from the things 
 that are made." From the things that are seen we inferred the exist- 
 ence of an eternal powerful being, that is not seen. But still, although 
 we acknowledged his being, we had no acquaintance with him. As we 
 know there is an emperor of China, whom yet we do not know ; so we 
 knew there was a king of all the earth, yet we knew him not. Indeed, 
 we could not, by any of our natural faculties. By none of these could 
 we attain the knowledge of God. We could no more perceive him
 
 SERMON XLIV.] ORIGINAL SIN. 441 
 
 by our natural understanding, than we could see him with our eyes. 
 For " no one knoweth the Father but the Son, and he to whom the 
 Son willeth to reveal him. And no one knoweth the Son but the 
 Father, and he to whom the Father revealeth him." 
 
 4. We read of an ancient king, who, being desirous to know what 
 was the natural language of men, in order to bring the matter to a 
 certain issue, made the following experiment: Reordered two infants, 
 as soon as they were born, to be conveyed to a place prepared for them, 
 where they were brought up without any instruction at all, and without 
 ever hearing a human voice. And what was the event ? Why, that 
 when they were at length brought out of their confinement, they spake 
 no language at all, they uttered only inarticulate sounds, like those of 
 other animals. Were two infants in like manner to be brought up 
 from the womb without being instructed in any religion, there is little 
 room to doubt, but (unless the grace of God interposed) the event would 
 be just the same. They would have no religion at all : they would 
 have no more knowledge of God than the beasts of the field, than the 
 wild ass's colt. Such is natural religion, abstracted from traditional, 
 and from the influences of God's Spiri* ! 
 
 5. And having no knowledge, we can have no love of God : we 
 cannot love him we know not. Most men talk indeed of loving God, 
 and perhaps imagine they do ; at least few will acknowledge they do 
 not love him : but the fact is too plain to be denied. No man loves 
 God by nature, any more than he does a stone, or the earth he treads 
 upon. What we love we delight in : but no man has naturally any 
 delight in God. In our natural state we cannot conceive how any one 
 should delight in him. We take no pleasure in him at all ; he is utterly 
 tasteless to us. To love God ! It is far above, out of our sight. We 
 cannot, naturally, attain unto it. 
 
 6. We have, by nature, not only no love, but no fear of God. It is 
 allowed, indeed, that most men have, sooner or later, a kind of sense- 
 less, irrational fear, properly called superstition, though the blundering 
 epicureans gave it the name of religion. Yet even this is not natural, 
 but acquired ; chiefly by conversation or from example. By nature 
 " God is not in all our thoughts :" we leave him to manage his own 
 affairs, to sit quietly, as we imagine, in heaven, and leave us on earth 
 to manage ours ; so that we have no more of the fear of God before our 
 eyes, than of the love of God in our hearts. 
 
 7. Thus are all men " atheists in the world." But atheism itself 
 does not screen us from idolatry. In his natural state every man born 
 into the world is a rank idolater. Perhaps, indeed, we may not be 
 such in the vulgar sense of the word. We do riot, like the ido.'atrous 
 heathens, worship molten or graven images. We do not bow down to 
 the stock of a tree, to the work of our own hands. We do not pray to 
 the angels or saints in heaven, any more than to the saints that are 
 upon the earth. But what then ? We have set up our idols in our 
 hearts ; and to these we bow down, and worship them : we worship 
 ourselves, when we pay that honour to ourselves, which is due to God 
 only. Therefore all pride is idolatry ; it is ascribing to ourselves what 
 is due to God alone. And although pride was not made for man, yet 
 where is the man that is born without it ? But hereby we rob God o 
 his unalienable right, and idolatrously usurp his glory.
 
 442 ORIGINAL SIN. f SERMON XLIV 
 
 8. But pride is not the only sort of idolatry which we are all b/ nature 
 guilty of. Satan has stamped his own image on our heart in self will 
 also. " I will," said he, before he was cast out of heaven, " I will sit 
 upon the sides of the north ;" I will do my own will and pleasure, inde- 
 pendently on that of my Creator. The same does every man born into 
 the world say, and that in a thousand instances ; nay, and avow it too, 
 without ever blushing upon the account, without either fear or shame, 
 Ask the man, " Why did you do this?" He answers, " Because I had 
 a mind to it." What is this but, " Because it was my will ;" that is, in 
 effect, because the devil and I are agreed ; because Satan and 1 govern 
 our actions by one and the same principle. The will of God, mean 
 time, is not in his thoughts, is not considered in the least degree : 
 although it be the supreme rule of every intelligent creature, whethei 
 in heaven or earth, resulting from the essential, unalterable relation, 
 which all creatures bear to their Creator. 
 
 9. So far we bear the image of the devil, and tread in his steps. But 
 at the next step we leave Satan behind ; we run into an idolatry whereof 
 he is not guilty : I mean, love of the world ; which is now as natural 
 to every man, as to love his own will. What is more natural to us than 
 to seek happiness in the creature, instead of the Creator 1 To seek that 
 satisfaction in the works of his hands, which can be found in God only 1 
 What more natural than " the desire of the flesh ?" That is, of the 
 pleasure of sense in every kind ? Men indeed talk magnificently of 
 despising these low pleasures, particularly men of learning and educa- 
 tion. They affect to sit loose to the gratification of those appetites 
 wherein they stand on a level with the beasts that perish. But it is 
 mere affectation; for every man is consc.ious to himself that in this 
 respect he is, by nature, a very beast. Sensual appetites, even those 
 of the lowest kind, have, more or less, the dominion over him. They 
 lead him captive ; they drag him to and fro, in spite of his boasted 
 reason. The man, with all his good breeding and other accomplish- 
 ments, has no pre-eminence over the goat: nay, it is much to be doubted, 
 whether the beast has not the pre-eminence over him. Certainly he 
 has, if we may hearken to one of their modern oracles, who very 
 decently tells us, 
 
 " Once in a season, beasts too taste of love ; 
 Only the beast of reason is its slave, 
 And in that folly drudges all the year." 
 
 A considerable difference indeed, it must be allowed, there is between 
 man and man, arising (beside that wrought by preventing grace) from 
 difference of constitution and of education. But, notwithstanding this, 
 who, that is not utterly ignorant of himself, can here cast the first stone 
 at another ? Who can abide the test of our blessed Lord's comment on 
 the seventh commandment ? " He that looketh on a woman to lust after 
 her, hath committed adultery with her already in his heart?" So that 
 one knows not which to wonder at most, the ignorance or the insolence 
 of those men, who speak with such disdain of them that are overcome 
 by desires which every man has felt in his own breast; the desire of every 
 pleasure of sense, innocent or not, being natural to every child of man. 
 
 10. And so is " the desire of the eye ;" the desire of the pleasures 
 of the imagination. These arise either from great, or beautiful, 01 
 uncommon objects ; if the two former do not coincide with the latter \
 
 XLIV] OBIQINAL SIN. 443 
 
 for perhaps it would appear upon a diligent inquiry, that neither grand 
 nor beautiful objects please, any longer than they are new ; thai when 
 the novelty of them is over, the greatest part, at least, of the pleasure 
 they give, is over ; and in the same proportion as they become familiar, 
 they become flat and insipid. But let us experience this ever so often, 
 the same desire will remain still. The inbred thirst continues fixed in 
 the soul; nay, the more it is indulged, tne more it increases, and incites 
 us to follow after another, and yet another object ; although we leave 
 every one with an abortive hope, and a deluded expectation. Yea, 
 
 " The hoary fool, who many days 
 
 Has struggled with continued sorrow, 
 Renews his hope, and fondly lays 
 The desperate bet upon to morrow ! 
 
 To morrow comes : 'Tis noon ; 'Tis night ; 
 
 This day, like all the former flies: 
 Yet, on he goes, to seek delight 
 
 To morrow, till to night he dies !" 
 
 II. A third symptom of this fatal disease, the love of the world, which 
 is so deeply rooted in our nature, is " the pride of life ;" the desi r e of 
 praise, of the honour that coineth of men. This the greatest admirers 
 of human nature allow to be strictly natural ; as natural as the sight, or 
 hearing, or any other of the external senses. And are they ashamed 
 of it, even men of letters, men of refined and improved understanding ? 
 So far from it, that they glory therein ! They applaud themselves lor 
 their love of applause ! Yea. eminent Christians, so called, make no 
 difficulty of adopting the saying of the old, vain heathen, " Animidis- 
 soluti est et ncqudin negligcre quid de se homines sentiant :" " Not to 
 regard what men think of us, is the mark of a wicked and abandoned 
 mind." So that to go calm and unmoved through honour and disho- 
 nour, through evil report and good report, is with them a sign of one that 
 is, indeed, not fit to live : " Away with such a fellow from the earth." 
 But would one imagine that these men had ever heard of Jesus Christ 
 or his apostles ; or that they knew who it was that said, " How can ye 
 believe who receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour 
 which cumeth of God only ?" But if this be really so, if it be impossi- 
 ble to believe, and consequently to please God, so long as we receive or 
 seek honour one of another, and seek not the honour which cometh of 
 God only ; then in what a condition are all mankind ! The Christians 
 as well as heathens ! Since they all seek honour one of another ! Since 
 it is as natural for them so to do, themselves being the judges, as 
 it is to see the light which strikes upon their eye, or to hear the sound 
 which enters their ear ; yea, since they account it a sign of a virtuous 
 mind, to seek the praise of men, and of a vicious one, to be content with 
 the honour that corneth of God only ! 
 
 III. 1. I proceed to draw a few inferences from what has been said. 
 And first, from hence we learn one grand fundamental difference 
 between Christianity, considered as a system of doctrines, and the most 
 refined heathenism. Many of the ancient heathens have largely de- 
 scribed the vices of particular men. They have spoken much against 
 their covetousness, or cruelty ; their luxury or prodigality. Some have 
 dared to say, that " no man is born without vices of one kind or another." 
 But still, as none of them were apprized of the fall of man, so none o{ 
 them knew of his total corruption They knew not that all men were
 
 444 ORIGINAL SIN. [SERMON XLIV. 
 
 empty of all good, ami filled with all manner of evil. They were wholly 
 ignorant of the entire depravation of the whole human nature, of every 
 man born into the world, in every faculty of hjs soul, not so much by 
 those particular vices which reign in particular persons, as by the general 
 flood of atheism and idolatry, of pride, self will, and love of the world. 
 This, therefore, is the first, grand, distinguishing point between hea 
 thenism and Christianity. The one acknowledges that many men are 
 infected with many vices, and even born with a proneness to them ; 
 but supposes withal, that in some the natural good much over balances 
 the evil : the other declares that all men are " conceived in sin," and 
 " shapen in wickedness ;" that hence there is in every man a " carnal 
 mind, which is enmity against God, which is not, cannot be subject 
 to [his] law ;" and which so infects the whole soul, that " there dwelleth 
 in [him,] in his flesh," in his natural state, " no good thing ;" bul 
 " every imagination of the thoughts of his heart is evil," only evil, and 
 that " continually." 
 
 2. Hence we may, secondly, learn, that all who deny this, call it 
 original sin, or by any other title, are but heathens still, in the funda- 
 mental point which differences heathenism from Christianity. They may, 
 indeed, allow, that men have many vices ; that some are born with us; 
 and that, consequently, we are not born altogether so wise or so virtuous 
 as we should be ; there being few that will roundly affirm, " We are born 
 with as much propensity to good as to evil, and that every man is, by- 
 nature, as virtuous and wise as Adam was at his creation." But here is 
 the shibboleth : Is man by nature filled with all manner of evil ? Is he 
 void of all good ? Is he wholly fallen ? Is his soul totally corrupted 1 Or, 
 to come back to the text, is " every imagination of the thoughts of his 
 heart evil continually ?" Allow this, and you are so far a Christian. Deny 
 it, and you are but a heathen still. 
 
 3. We may learn from hence, in the third place, what is the proper 
 nature of religion, of the religion of Jesus Christ. It is @ega.<irKi YU^TK, 
 God's method of healing a soul which is thus diseased. Hereby the 
 great Physician of souls applies medicines to heal this sickness ; to 
 restore human nature, totally corrupted in all its faculties. God heals 
 all our atheism by the knowledge of himself, and of Jesus Christ whom 
 he hath sent; by giving us faith, a divine evidence and conviction of 
 God, arid of the things of God ; in particular, of this important truth, 
 " Christ loved me, and gave himself for me." By repentance and low- 
 liness of heart, the deadly disease of pride is healed ; that of self will 
 by resignation, a meek and thankful submission to the will of God ; and 
 for the love of the world in all its branches, the love of God is the sove- 
 reign remedy. Now this is properly religion, " faith [thus] working 
 by love ;" working the genuine meek humility, entire deadness to the 
 world, with a loving, thankful acquiescence in, and conformity to, the 
 whole will and word of God. 
 
 4. Indeed, if man were not thus fallen, there would be no need of 
 all this. There would be no occasion for this work in the heart, this 
 renewal in the spirit of our mind. The superfluity of godliness would 
 then be a more proper expression than the " superfluity of naughtiness." 
 For an outside religion, without any godliness at all, would suffice to 
 all rational intents and purposes. It does accordingly suffice, in the 
 judgment of those who deny this corruption of our nature. They make
 
 SERMON XLIV.] ORIGINAL SIN. 445 
 
 eery little more of religion than the famous Mr. Hobbes did of reason. 
 According to him, reason is only " a well ordered train of words :" 
 according to them, religion is only a well ordered train of words and 
 actions. And they speak consistently with themselves ; for if the inside 
 he not full of wickedness, if this be clean already, what remains, but to 
 " cleanse the outside of the cup ?" Outward reformation, if their sup- 
 position be just, is indeed the one thing needful. 
 
 5. But ye have not so learned the oracles of God. Ye know, that 
 he who seeth what is in man gives a far different account both of nature 
 and grace, of our fall and our recovery. Ye know that the great end 
 of religion is, to renew our hearts in the image of God, to repair that 
 total loss of righteousness and true holiness, which we sustained by the 
 sin of our first parents. Ye know that all religion which does not 
 answer this end, all that stops short of this, the renewal of our soul in 
 the image of God, after the likeness of him that created it, is no other 
 than a poor farce, and a mere mockery of God, to the destruction of 
 our own soul. Oh beware of all those teachers of lies, who would palm 
 this upon you for Christianity ! Regard them not, although they should 
 come unto you with all the deceivableness of unrighteousness ; with all 
 smoothness of language, all decency, yea, beauty and elegance of expres- 
 sion, all professions of earnest good will to you, and reverence for the 
 Holy Scriptures. Keep to the plain, old faith, "once delivered to the 
 saints," and delivered by the Spirit of God to our hearts. Know your 
 disease ! Know your cure ! Ye were corn in sin : therefore " ye must 
 be born again," born of God. By nature ye are wholly corrupted : by 
 grace ye shall be wholly renewed. In Adam ye all died : in the second 
 Adam, in Christ, ye all are made alive. " You that were dead in sin3 
 hath he quickened :' : he hath already given you a principle of life, even 
 faith in him who loved you, and gave himself for you ! Now, " go on 
 from faith to faith," until your whole sickness be healed, and all that 
 " mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus !"
 
 446 THE KEW BIRTH. |SFRMON XLV. 
 
 SERMON XLV.The New Birth. 
 
 "Ye must be born again." John iii. 7. 
 
 ANALYSTS. 
 
 JUSTIFICATION and regeneration are the fundamentals in 
 religion. The first what God does for us, the second what he 
 does in us; one in point of time, though justification precedes 
 in order of thought. 
 
 I. The foundation of the doctrine of the New Birth. God 
 made man in his moral image ; but nob immutable. By dis- 
 obedience he fell, and became dead to God. Hence all his 
 descendants are born in this state of spiritual death. Hence 
 we must be born again. 
 
 II. The nature of this new birth. 
 
 This does not propose a philosophical explanation. The 
 term used by the Jews of the outward form of adoption into 
 the family of Abraham by baptism and circumcision. But 
 here even Nicodemus understood by it something more than 
 the outward form. Analogy of our entrance upon the 
 spiritual life of faith to the entrance of a child into natural 
 life. Hence the new birth is that great change which God 
 works in the soul when he brings it into life, when he raises 
 it from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. 
 
 III. The necessity of the new birth. 
 
 It is necessary to holiness, to eternal salvation, and to 
 present and eternal happiness. 
 
 IV. We infer that baptism is not the new birth. The 
 Church catechism distinguishes the outward and visible sign 
 from the inward and spiritual grace ; and the same is evident 
 from the nature of the two, the one outward, the other inward. 
 Nor does the new birth necessarily accompany baptism. This 
 is evident from the fruits which follow. The new birth is 
 
 , distinct from sanctification. Sanctifi cation is a continuous, 
 progressive work ; the new birth is instantaneous ; the one 
 begins spiritual life ; the other is its growth. 
 
 Lastly, the baptized sinner must be born again or perish. 
 Whatever may be the grace of infant baptism, it avails noth- , 
 ing to him who is now dead in trespasses and in sins. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 We have already remarked the distinction between the Wesleyan 
 view of regeneration and the views of antecedent writers. Mr. Wesley 
 first clearly distinguishes regeneration as the instantaneous beginning of
 
 SERMON XLV.j THE NEW BIRTH. 447 
 
 the soul's conscious life of love to God. Although the view of the now 
 birth here set forth is precisely the same as that given in the eighteenth 
 sermon, two additional points of the doctrine are here proposed. First, 
 tlie relation of the new birth to original sin is denned. The fundamental 
 element in original sin being not original guilt but depravity, set forth as 
 spiritual death, the new birth is not an absolution but a new life. 
 Secondly, the relation of the new birth to sanctification is also denned ; 
 not as a process of which sanctification is a part, but as a starting-point 
 from which sanctification proceeds. These definitions are both charac- 
 teristic of Wesley an theology. 
 
 Touching the relation of the new birth to baptism, the present sermon 
 takes much the same ground as the eighteenth. About this time he 
 published a short treatise on baptism in which his own views are clearly 
 defined. In answer to the question What are the benefits we receive by 
 baptism ? we have the following heads : 
 
 1. Thje_washing away of the guilt of original sin, 
 
 2. By baptism we enter into the covenant of God. 
 
 3. By baptism we are admitted into the Church and consequently 
 made members of Christ its head. 
 
 4. By baptism, we who were the children of wrath are made the 
 children of God. " This regeneration " he explains to be not outward, 
 but "by adoption and grace." "A principle of grace is infused which 
 will not be wholly taken away unless we quench the Holy Spirit of God 
 by lung continued wickedness." 
 
 5. In consequence hereof we are heirs of the kingdom of heaven. 
 
 It thus appears that Mr. Wesley's own views as a churchman were 
 clearly defined, but that he. did not intend to impose those views on his 
 followers. Hence the peculiar mode of statement in these two sermons. 
 
 There is no contradiction of the doctrine of baptismal regeneration. 
 There is the distinct avowal of the doctrine as the doctrine of the 
 Church of England. But it is only as the doctrine of the Church of 
 England that it is so avowed. It does not, enter into this preaching, either 
 as the basis of appeal, or as a motive to duty, or as a ground of hope. 
 It is, in fact, mentioned only to guard against the dangerous results to 
 which it often led. We therefore conclude that baptismal regeneration 
 is in no part of the doctrine of these sermons. 
 
 SERMON XLV. 
 
 1. IF any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may he 
 properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two ; the doctrine 
 of justification, and that of the new birth : the former relating to that 
 great work which God does for us, in forgiving our sins ; the latter, to 
 the great work which God does in us, in renewing our fallen nature. 
 In order of time, neither of these is before the other ; in the moment we 
 are justified by the grace of God, through the redemption that is in 
 Jesus, we are also " born of the Spirit;" but in order of thinking as it 
 is termed, justification precedes the new birth. We first conceive his 
 wrath to be turned away, and then his Spirit to work in our hearts. 
 
 2. Ho\v great importance then must it be of, to every child of man, 
 thoroughly to understand these fundamental doctrines ? From a full 
 conviction of this, many excellent men have wrote very largely con- 
 cerning justification, explaining every point relating thereto, and open- 
 ing the scriptures which treat upon it. Many likewise have wrote ou
 
 448 THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON XLF. 
 
 the new birth : and some of them largely enougn : but yet not so clearly 
 as might have been desired ; nor so deeply and accurately , having 
 either given a dark, abstruse account of it, or a slight and superficial 
 one. Therefore a full, and at the same time a clear account of the 
 new birth, seems to be wanting still ; such as may enable us to give a 
 satisfactory answer to these three questions : first, Why must we be 
 born again ? What is the foundation of this doctrine of the new birth ? 
 Secondly, How must we be born again 1 What is the nature of the new 
 birth ? And, thirdly, Wherefore must we be born again 1 To what end 
 is it necessary I These questions, by the assistance of God, I shall beierly 
 and plainly answer, and then subjoin a few inferences which will natu- 
 ally follow. 
 
 1. 1. And first, Why must we be born again ? W T hat is the foundation 
 of this doctrine 1 The foundation of it lies near as deep as the creation 
 of the world ; in the scriptural account whereof we read, " And God," 
 the three-one God, " said, Let us make" man in our image, after our like- 
 ness. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God 
 created he him," Gen. i, 26, 27 : not barely in his naturcd image, a 
 picture of his own immortality ; a spiritual being, endued with under- 
 standing, freedom of will, and various affections ; nor merely in his 
 political image, the governor of this lower world, having " dominion 
 over the fishes of the sea, and over all the earth ;" but chiefly in his 
 moral image; which, according to the apostle, is "righteousness and 
 true holiness," Eph. iv, 24. In this image of God was man made. 
 '' God is love :" accordingly man at his creation was full of love ; which 
 was the sole principle of all his tempers, thoughts, words, and actions. 
 God is full of justice, mercy, and truth ; so was man as he came from 
 the hands of his Creator. God is spotless purity ; and so man was in 
 the beginning pure from every sinful blot ; otherwise God could not 
 have pronounced him, as well as all the other works of his hands, " very 
 good," Gen. i, 31. This be could not have been, had he not been pure 
 from sin, and filled with righteousness and true holiness. For there is 
 no medium : if we suppose an intelligent creature not to love God, not 
 to be righteous and holy, we necessarily suppose him not to be good at 
 all ; much less to be " very good." 
 
 2. But, although man was made in the image of God, yet he was not 
 made immutable. This would have been inconsistent with that state 
 of trial in which God was pleased to place him. He was therefore 
 created able to stand, and yet liable to fail. And this God himself 
 apprized him of, and gave him a solemn warning against it. Never- 
 theless, man did not abide in honour : he fell from his high estate. 
 He " ate of the tree whereof the Lord had commanded him, Thou shalt 
 not eat thereof.'' By this wilful act of disobedience to his Creator, this 
 flat rebellion against his Sovereign, he openly declared that he would 
 no longer have God to rule over him ; that he would be governed by his 
 own will, and not the will of him that created him ; and that he would 
 not seek his happiness in God, but in the world, in the works of his 
 hands. Now God had told him before, " In the day that thou eat- 
 est [of that fruit] thou shalt surely die." And the word of the Lord 
 cannot be broken. Accordingly, in that day he did die , he died to 
 God, the most dreadful of all deaths. He lost the life of God : he was 
 separated from him, in union with whom his spiritual life consisted.
 
 SERMON XI.V.] THE NEW BIRTH. 449 
 
 The body dies when it is separated from the soul ; the soul, when it is 
 sepai-ued from God. But this separation from God, Adam sustained 
 in the day, the hour, he ate of the forbidden fruit. Arid of this he gave 
 immediate proof; presently showing by his behaviour, that the love of 
 God was extinguished in his soul, which was now " alienated from the 
 life of God." Instead of this he was now under the power of servile 
 fear, so that he fled from the presence of the Lord. Yea. so little did 
 he retain even of the knowledge of him who filleth heaven and earth, 
 that he endeavoured to " hide himself from the Lora God, among the 
 trees of the garden," Gen. iii, 8 : so had he lost both the knowledge and 
 the love of God, without which the image of God could not subsist. Of 
 this therefore he was deprived at the same time, and became unholy as 
 well as unhappy. In the room of this he had sunk into pride and self 
 will, the very image of the devil ; and into sensual appetites and desires, 
 the image of the beasts that perish. 
 
 3. If it be said, "Nay, but that threatening, 'In the day that thoti 
 eatest thereof, thou shall surely die,' refers to temporal death and that 
 alone, to the death of the body only :" the answer is plain : To affirm 
 this is flatly and palpably to make God a liar ; to aver that the God of 
 truth positively affirmed a thing contrary to truth. For it is evident. 
 Adam did not die in this sense, " in the day that he ate thereof." Ho 
 lived in the sense opposite to this death, above nine hundred years after, 
 So that this cannot possibly he understood of the death of the body, 
 without impeaching the veracity of God. It must therefore be under- 
 stood of spiritual death, the loss of the life and image of God. 
 
 4. And in Adam all died, all human kind, all the children of men 
 who were then in Adam's loins. The natural consequence of this is, 
 that every one descended from him comes into the world spiritually 
 dead, dead to God, wholly dead in sin ; entirely void of the life of God ; 
 void of the image of God, of all that righteousness and holiness wherein 
 Adam was created. Instead of this, every man born into the world now 
 bears the image of the devil, in pride and self will ; the image of the 
 beast, in sensual appetites and desires. This then is the foundation of 
 the new birth, the entire corruption of our nature. Hence it is, that 
 being born in sin, we must be " born again." Hence every one that 
 is born of a woman, must be born of the Spirit of God. 
 
 II. 1. But how must a man be born again ? What is the nature of 
 the new birth 1 This is the second question. And a question it is of 
 the highest moment that can be conceived. We ought not therefore, 
 in so weighty a concern, to be content with a slight inquiry ; but to 
 examine it with all possible care ; and to ponder it in our hearts, till we 
 fully understand this important point, and clearly see how we are to he 
 born again. 
 
 2. Not that we are to expect any minute, philosophical account of 
 the manner how this is done. Our Lord sufficiently guards us against 
 any such expectation, by the words immediately following the text ; 
 wherein he reminds Nicodernus of as indisputable a fact as any in the 
 whole compass of nature, which notwithstanding the wisest man under 
 the sun is not ably fully to explain. " The wind bloweth where it list- 
 elh," not by thy power or wisdom; "and thou nearest the sound 
 thereof;" thou art absolutely assured, beyond all doubt, that it doth 
 blow ; " but thou canst not tell whence it cometh, nor jvhither it aoetiu" 1
 
 450 THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON TLV. 
 
 the precise manner how it begins and ends, rises and falls, no man 
 can tell. " So is every one that is born of the Spirit:" thou mayest 
 be as absolutely assured of the fact, as of the blowing of the wind ; but 
 the precise manner how it is done, how the Holy Spirit works this in 
 the soul, neither thou nor the wisest of the children of men is able 
 to explain. 
 
 3. However, it suffices for every rational and Christian purpose, that 
 without descending into curious, critical inquiries, we can give a plain 
 scriptural account of the nature of the new birth. This will satisfy 
 every reasonable man, who desires only the salvation of his soul. The 
 expression, being born again, was not first used by our Lord in his con- 
 versation with Nicodemus : it was well known before that time, and 
 was in common use among the Jews when our Saviour appeared among 
 them. When an adult heathen was convinced that the Jewish religion 
 was of God, and desired to join therein, it was the custom to baptize 
 him first, before he was admitted to circumcision. And when he was 
 baptized, he was said to be born again ; by which they meant, that he 
 who was before a child of the devil, was now adopted into the family of 
 God, and accounted one of his children. This expression, therefore, 
 which Nicodemus, being "a teacher in Israel," ought to have under- 
 stood well, our Lord uses in conversing with him ; only iti a stronger 
 sense than he was accustomed to. And this might be the reason of his 
 asking, " how can these things bo ?" They cannot be literally : a man 
 cannot " enter a second time into his mother's womb, and be born :" 
 but they may, spiritually : a man may be born from above, born of God, 
 born of the Spirit, in a mariner which bears a very near analogy to the 
 natural birth. 
 
 4. Before a child is born into the world, he has eyes, but sees not ; 
 he has ears, but does not hear. He has a very imperfect use of every 
 other sense. He has no knowledge of any of the things of the world, 
 or any natural understanding. To that manner of existence which he 
 then has, we do not even give the name of life. It is then only when 
 a man is born, that we say, he begins to live. For as soon as he is 
 born, he begins to see the light, and the various objects with which he 
 is encompassed. His ears are then opened, and he hears the sounds 
 which successively strike upon them. At the same time, all the other 
 organs of sense begin to be exercised upon their proper objects. He 
 likewise breathes, and lives in a manner wholly different from what he 
 did before. How exactly doth the parallel hold in a!l these instances? 
 While a man is in a mere natural state, before he is born of God, he 
 has, in a spiritual sense, eyes and sees not ; a thick impenetrable veil 
 lies upon them : he has ears, but hears not; he is utterly deaf to what 
 he is most of all concerned to hear. His other spiritual senses are all 
 locked up: he is in the same condition as if he had them not. lleuro 
 lie has no knowledge of God ; no intercourse with him ; he is not nl 
 all acquainted with him. He has no true knowledge of the things of 
 God, either of spiritual or eternal things ; therefore, though he is a 
 living man, he is a dead Christian. But as soon as he is born of God, 
 there is a total change in all these particulars. The ' eyes of his 
 understanding are opened ;" (such is the language of the great apostle ;) 
 and, he who of old "commanded light to shine out of darkness shining 
 on his heart, he sees the light of the g!ory of God," \\\? glorious I >,
 
 SERMON XLV.] THE NEW BIRTH. 451 
 
 " in the face of Jesus Christ." His oars being opened, he is now 
 capable of hearing the inward voice of God, saying, " Be of good cheer ; 
 thy sins are forgiven thee ;" " go and sin no more." This is the pur 
 port of what God speaks to his heart; although perhaps not in these 
 very words. He is now ready to hear whatsoever " He that te icheth 
 man knowledge" is pleased from time to time to reveal to him. He 
 " feels in his heart (to use the language of our church) the mighty 
 working of the Spirit of God ;" not in a gross, carnal sense, as the men 
 of the world stupidly and wilfully misunderstand the expression ; though 
 they have been told again and again, we mean thereby neither more 
 nor less than this : he feels, is inwardly sensible of, the graces which 
 the Spirit of God works in Ins heart. He feels, he is conscious of, a 
 " peace which passeth all understanding." He many times feels such 
 a joy in God, as is " unspeakable, and full of glory." He feels " the love 
 of God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto 
 him ;" and all his spiritual senses are then exercised to discern spiritual 
 good and evil. By the use of these, he is daily increasing in the 
 knowledge of God, of Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, and of all the 
 things pertaining to his inward kingdom. And now he may be properly 
 said to live : God having quickened him by his Spirit, he is alive to 
 God through Jesus Christ. He lives a life which the world knoweth 
 not of, a " life which is hid with Christ in God." God is continually 
 breathing, as it were, upon the soul ; and his soul is breathing unto 
 God. Grace is descending into his heart; and prayer and praise 
 ascending to heaven : and by this intercourse between God and man, 
 this fellowship with the Father and the Son, a? by a kind of spiritual 
 respiration, the life of God in the soul is sustained ; and the child of God 
 grows up, till he comes to the " full measure of the stature of Christ." 
 
 5. From hence it manifestly appears, what is the nature of the new 
 birth. It if 'hat great change which God works in the soul, when he 
 brings it into life ; when he raises it from the death of sin to the life of 
 righteousness. It is the change wrought in the whole soul by the 
 almighty Spirit of God, when it is " created anew in Christ Jesus," 
 when it is '' renewed after the image of God, in righteousness and 
 true holiness ;" when the love of the world is changed into the love 
 of God ; pride into humility ; passion into meekness ; hatred, envy, 
 malice, into a sincere, tender, disinterested love for all mankind. In a 
 word, it is that change whereby the earthly, sensual, devilish mind is 
 turned into the " mind which was in Christ Jesus." This is the nature 
 of the new birth : " So is every one that is borp of the Spirit " 
 
 III. 1. It is not difficult for any who has considered these things, to 
 see the necessity of the new birth, and to answer the third question, 
 Wherefore, to what end, is it necessary that we should be born again ? 
 It is very easily discerned, that this is necessary, first, in order to holi- 
 ness. For what is holiness according to the oracles of God ? Not a 
 bare external religion, a round of outward duties, how many soever 
 f.hey be, and how exactly soever performed. No : gospel holiness is no 
 less than the image of God stamped upon the heart ; it is no other than 
 the whole mind which was in Chiist Jesus; it consists of all heavenly 
 aftections and tempers mingled together in one. It implies such a 
 continual, thankful love to him who hath not withheld from us his Son, 
 his only Son, as makes it natural, and in a manner necessary to us, to
 
 453 THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON XLV. 
 
 love every child of man ; as fills us " with bowels of mercies, kindness, 
 gentleness, long suffering :" it is such a love of God as teaches us to 
 be blameless in all manner of conversation ; as enables us to present 
 our souls and bodies, all we are, and all we have, all our thoughts, 
 words, and actions, a continual sacrifice to God, acceptable through 
 Christ Jesus. Now this holiness can have no existence, till we are 
 renewed in the image of our mind. It cannot commence in the soul, 
 till that change be wrought ; till by the power of the highest over- 
 shadowing us, we are " brought from darkness to light, from the powe- 
 of Satan unto God ;" that is, till we are born again; which therefore 
 is absolutely necessary in order to holiness. 
 
 2. But " without holiness no man shall see the Lord," shall see the 
 face of God in glory. Of consequence, the new birth is absolutely 
 necessary in order to eternal salvation. Men may indeed flatter them- 
 selves, (so. desperately wicked, and so deceitful is the heart of man !) 
 that they may live in their sins till they come to the last gasp, and yet 
 afterwards live with God ; and thousands do really believe, that they 
 have found a broad way which leadeth not to destruction. " What 
 danger," say they, " can a woman be in that is so harmless and so 
 virtuous 1 What fear is there that so honest a man, one of so strict 
 morality, should miss of heaven ? Especially, if over and above all 
 this, they constantly attend on church and sacrament." One of these 
 will ask with all assurance, " What, shall not I do as well as my 
 neighbours?" Yes, as well as your unholy neighbours; as well as 
 your neighbours that die in their sins ! For you will all drop into the 
 pit together, into the nethermost hell ! You will all lie together in the 
 lake of fire ; " the lake of fire burning with brimstone." Then, at 
 length, you will see, (but God grant you may see it before !) the necessity 
 
 f holiness in order to glory ; and consequently of the new birth, since 
 none can be holy, except he be born again. 
 
 3. For the same reason, except he be born again, none can be happy 
 even in this world. For it is not possible, in the nature of things, that 
 a man should be happy who is not holy. Even the poor ungodly poet 
 could tell us, Ne mo malusfelix : no wicked man is happy. The reason 
 is plain : all unholy tempers are uneasy tempers : not only malice, 
 hatred, envy, jealousy, revenge, create a present hell in the breast, but 
 even the softer passions, if not kept within due bounds, give a thousand 
 times more pain than pleasure. Even " hope," when " deferred," (and 
 how often must this be the case?) " maketh the heartsick;" and every 
 desire which is not according to the will of God, is liable to " pierce 
 [us] through with many sorrows :" and all those general sources of sin, 
 pride, self will, and idolatry, are, in the same proportion as they prevail, 
 general sources of misery. Therefore, as long as these reign in any 
 soul, happiness has no place them. But they must reign till the b<jnt 
 of our nature is changed, that is, till we are born again; consequently, 
 the new birth is absolutely necessary in order to happiness in this 
 world, as well as in the world to come. 
 
 IV I proposed in the last place to subjoin a few inferences, which 
 naturally follow from the preceding observations. 
 
 I. And, first, it follows, that baptism is not the new birth : they are 
 imi one and the same thing. Many indeed seem to imagine that they 
 urc just the same ; at least, they speak as if they thought so ; but I do
 
 SERMON XLV.] THE NEW BIRTH. 453 
 
 not know mat this opinion is publicly avowed by any denomination of 
 Christians whatever. Certainly it is not by any within these kingdoms, 
 whether of the established church, or dissenting from it. The judgment 
 of the latter is clearly declared, in their large catechism :* Q,. " What 
 are the parts of a sacrament? A. The parts of a sacrament are two: 
 the one, an outward and sensible sign ; the other, an inward and spiritual 
 grace, thereby signified. Q,. What is baptism ? A. Baptism is a sacra- 
 ment, wherein Christ hath ordained the washing with water, to be a 
 sign and seal of regeneration by his Spirit." Here it is manifest, 
 baptism, the sign, is spoken of as distinct from regeneration, the thing 
 signified. 
 
 In the church catechism likewise, the judgment of our church is 
 declared with the utmost clearness: "What meanest thou by this 
 word, sacrament ? A. I mean an outward and visible sign of an inward 
 and spiritual grace. Q,. What is the outward part, or form, in baptism 1 
 A. Water, wherein the person is baptized, in the name of the Father, 
 Son, and Holy Ghost. Q,. What is the inward part, or thing signified ? 
 A. A death unto sin, and a new birth unto righteousness." Nothing 
 therefore is plainer, than that according to the church of England, 
 baptism is not the uew birth. 
 
 But indeed the reason of the thing is so clear and evident, as not to 
 need any other authority. For what can be more plain, than that the 
 one is an external, the other an internal work ; that the one is a visible, 
 the other an invisible thing, and therefore wholly differenc from each 
 other ? the one being an act of man, purifying the body ; the other a 
 change wrought by God in the soul : so that the former is just as dis- 
 tinguishable from the latter, as the soul from the body, or water from 
 the Holy Ghost. 
 
 2. From the preceding reflections we may, secondly, observe, that as 
 the new birth is not the same thing with baptism, so it does not always 
 accompany baptism : they do not constantly go together. A man may 
 possibly be " born of water," and yet not be " born of the Spirit." There 
 may sometimes be the outward sign, where there is not the inward 
 grace. I do not now speak with regard to infants : it is certain our 
 chinch supposes, that all who are baptized in their infancy, are at the 
 same time born again ; and it is allowed that the whole office for the 
 baptism of infants proceeds upon this supposition. Nor is it an objec- 
 tion of any weight against this, that we cannot comprehend how this 
 work can be wrought in infants. For neither can we comprehend how 
 it is wrought in a person of riper years. But whatever be the case with 
 infants, it is sure all of riper years, who are baptized, are not at the 
 same time born again. " The tree is known by its fruits:" and hereby 
 it appears too plain to be denied that divers of those, who were children 
 of the devil before they were baptized, continue the same afte.r bap- 
 tism ; " for the works of their father they do:" ihey continue servants 
 off- in, without any pretence either to inward or outward holiness. 
 
 3. A third inference which we may draw from what has been ob- 
 served, is, that the new birth is not the same with sanctification. This 
 is indeed taken for granted by many ; particularly by an eminent writer, 
 in his late treatise on " The Nature and Grounds of Christian Regene- 
 ration." To waive several other weighty objections which might be 
 
 Q. loa, !(>.
 
 454 THE NEW BIRTH. [SERMON XLV. 
 
 made to th;u tract, this is a palpable one : it all along speaks of regene- 
 ration as a progressive work, carried on in the soul by slow degrees 
 from the time of our first turning to God. This is undeniably true of 
 sanctification ; but of regeneration, the new birth, it is not true. This 
 is a part of sanctification, not the whole ; it is the gate to it, the entrance 
 into it. When we are born again, then our sanctification, our inward 
 und outward holiness, begins; and thenceforward we are gradually to 
 " grow up in him who is our Head." This expression of the apostle 
 admirably illustrates the difference between one and the other, and far- 
 ther points out the exact analogy there is between natural and spirituaj 
 things. A child is born of a woman in a moment, or at least in a very 
 short time : afterwards he gradually and slowly grows, til! he attains to 
 the stature of a m&o. In like mariner, a child is born of God in a short 
 time, if not in a moment. But it is by slow degrees that he afterwards 
 grows up to the measure of the full stature of Christ. The same rela- 
 tion, therefore, which there is between our natural birth and our growth, 
 there is also between our new birth and our sanctification. 
 
 4. One point more we may learn from the preceding observations. 
 But it is a point of so great importance, as may excuse the considering 
 it the more carefully, and prosecuting it at some length. What must 
 one who loves the souls of men, and is grieved that any of them should 
 perish, say to one whom he sees living in sabbath breaking, drunken- 
 ness, or any other wilful sin ? What can he say, if the foregoing obser- 
 vations are true, but, " You must be born again ?" " No," says a zeal- 
 ous man, " that cannot be. How can you talk so uncharitably to the 
 man ? Has he not been baptized already ? He cannot be born again 
 now." Can he not be born again? Do you affirm this? Then he can- 
 not be saved. Though he be as old as Nicodemus was, yet " except 
 he be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." Therefore in 
 saying, " he cannot be born again," you in effect deliver him over to 
 damnation. And where lies the uncharitableness now ? On my side, 
 or on yours? I say, he may be born again, and so become an heir of 
 salvation. You say, " he cannot be born again :" and if so, he must 
 inevitably perish ! So you utterly block up his way to salvation, and 
 send him to hell, out of mere charity ! 
 
 But perhaps the sinner himself, to whom in real charity we say, " You 
 must be born again," has been taught to say, " I defy your new doctrine ; 
 1 need not be born again : I was born again when I was baptized. 
 What ! Would you have me deny my baptism ?" I answer, first, there 
 is nothing under heaven which can excuse a lie ; otherwise 1 should 
 say to an open sinner, If you have been baptized, do not own it. For 
 how highly does this aggravate your guilt ! How will it increase your 
 damnation ! Was you devoted to God at eight days old, and have you 
 been all these years devoting yourself to the devil ? Was you, even before 
 you had the use of reason, consecrated to God the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost? And have you, ever since you had the use of it, been 
 Hying in the face of God, and consecrating yourself to Satan ? Does 
 the abomination of desolation, the love of the world, pride, anger, lust, 
 foolish desire, ana a whole train of vile affections, stand where it 
 ought not ? Have you set up all these accursed things in tha.. soul, which 
 was once a temple of the Holy Ghost ; set apart for a " habitation of 
 God, through the Spirit ;" yea, solemnly given up to him ? And do you
 
 SKKMON XLV.] THE NEW BIRTH. 455 
 
 glory in this, that you once belonged to God ? Oh be ashamed ! Blush ! 
 Hide yourself in the earth ! Never boast more of what ought to fill you 
 with confusion, to make you ashamed before God and man ! I answer, 
 secondly, you have already denied your baptism ; and that in the most 
 effectual manner. You have denied it a thousand and a thousand times; 
 and you do so still, day by day. For in your baptism you renounced the 
 devil and ail his works. Whenever, therefore, you give place to him 
 again, whenever you do any of the works of the devil, then ycu deny 
 your baptism. Therefore you deny it by every wilful sin ; by every act 
 of uncleanness, drunkenness, or revenge ; by every obscene or profane 
 word ; by every oath that conies out of your mouth. Every time you pro- 
 fane the day of the Lord, you thereby deny your baptism ; yea, every time 
 you do any thing to another, which you would not he should do to you 
 I answer, thirdly, be you baptized, or unbaptized, *' you must be born 
 again ;" otherwise it is not possible you should be inwardly holy ; and 
 without inward as well as outward holiness, you cannot be happy, even 
 in this world, much less in the world to come. Do you say, " Nay, but 
 I do no harm to any man ; I am honest and just in all my dealings ; I 
 do not curse, or take the Lord's name in vain ; I do not profane the 
 Lord's day ; I am no drunkard ; I do not slander my neighbour, nor live 
 in any wilful sin." If this be so, it were much to be wished that all men 
 went as far as you do. But you must go further yet, or you cannot be 
 saved : still, " you must be born again." Do you add, " I do go far- 
 ther yet ; for I not only do no harm ; but do all the good I can." I 
 doubt that fact; I fear you have had a thousand opportunities of doing 
 good, which you have suffered to pass by unimproved, and for whicb 
 therefore you are accountable to God. But if you had improved then* 
 all, if you really had done all the good you possibly could to all men, 
 yet this does not at all alter the case ; still " you must be born again." 
 Without this, nothing will do any good to your poor, sinful, polluted 
 soul. " Nay, but I constantly attend all the ordinances of God : I keep 
 to my church and sacrament." It is well you do : but all this will not 
 keep you from hell, except you be born again. Go to church twice 
 a day; go to the Lord's table every week ; say ever so many prayers in 
 private; hear ever so many good sermons; read ever so many good 
 books ; still, " you must be born again." None of these things will 
 stand in the place of the new birth ; no, nor any thing under heaven. 
 Let this, therefore, if you have not already experienced this inward 
 work of God, be your continual prayer : " Lord, add this to all thy 
 blessings, let mo be born again ! Deny whatever thou pleasest, but 
 deny not this ; let me be ' born from above !' Take away whatsoever 
 secmeth thee good ; reputation, fortune, friends, health ; only give me 
 this, to be born of the Spirit, to be received among the children of 
 God ! Let me be born, ' not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible, by 
 the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever;' and then let me 
 daily ' grow in grace, and iu the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour 
 Jesus Christ ! '
 
 456 THE WILDERNESS STATE. [SERMONS XLVI, XLVII- 
 
 SERMONS XLVI, XLVII. 
 
 SUPPLEMENT TO DOCTRINE OF THE INNER LIFE. 
 
 SERMON XLVI. The Wilderness State. 
 
 "Ye now have sorrow : but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoic 
 and your joy no man taketh from you." John xvi. 22. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 ISRAEL in the wilderness may be taken as a type of certain 
 Christians who are in a diseased spiritual state. 
 
 I. The nature of this disease. 
 
 It is a loss, (1) of faith, (2) of love, (3) of joy, (4) of peace, 
 (5) of power. 
 
 II. The causes of it. 
 
 1. Sin. Sometimes presumptuous sins of commission, bring- 
 ing sudden darkness. More frequently sins of omissiun, 
 gradually obscuring the light ; such as neglect of prayer, 
 neglecting to reprove sin. Inward sin, such as pride, anger, 
 lust. Neglect of diligence and earnestness of spiritual life. 
 
 2. Ignorance. Of God's word. Of God's work in the 
 soul ; such as the Romish mystics. 
 
 3. Temptation ; unexpected by the young Christian ; especi- 
 ally if we have thought too highly of ourselves. 
 
 III. The cure of this darkness. 
 The cure will vary with the cause. 
 
 If it is sin we must search out and put away the sin, ques- 
 tioning conscience for sins of commission, asking if there be 
 any neglect of duty, looking within for sinful tempers, and 
 guarding against spiritual sloth. 
 
 If it is ignorance we must understand the true meaning of 
 misread passages of God's word ; such as Isaiah 1. 10 ; Hosea 
 iii. 14 ; John xvi. 22 ; 1 Pet. iv. 12. We must also avoid the 
 mistaken notion that darkness is necessary or profitable. 
 
 If it be temptation we must expect temptation, consider the 
 imperfection of our religious state, and hold fast to the 
 promises. 
 
 SERMON XLVII. Heaviness through Manifold Temptations. 
 
 "Now for a season if need be ye are in heaviness through manifold tempta- 
 tions. " 1 Peter L 6. 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 RESEMBLANCE between darkness and heaviness; but still 
 wide and essential difference. 
 
 I. The kind of persons who were in heaviness.
 
 SERMONS XLVI, XLVII.] THE WILDERNESS STATE. 457 
 
 They had living faith, peace, hope, and joy. They had' 
 conscious love to God and maintained their holiness. 
 
 IT. The nature of their heaviness. Grief severe and long 
 continued. 
 
 III. The causes of this heaviness. 
 
 Temptations, many in number and in kind. Such as bodily 
 disorders, poverty, the loss of dear friends ; the sin of those 
 who are dear to us. But not the arbitrary will of God with- 
 drawing the comforts of his Spirit. Nor necessarily that 
 knowledge of ourselves by which we are prepared for higher 
 attainments. 
 
 IV. The ends of this heaviness. 
 
 The trial, and thereby the increase of our faith ; the glory 
 of God, and the advantage of others by our example. 
 
 V. Lessons. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 The two sermons at which we now arrive complete Mr. Wesley's 
 doctrine of the inner life. The special doctrines of assurance and of 
 inward holiness and perfect love tended to turn the thoughts of his 
 hearers in upon themselves, and to lead them in the direction of 
 mysticism. While there were important truths to be learned in this 
 way, there were also serious errors to be avoided. A little before the 
 publication of this sermon, the English mystic, Mr. Law, had pub- 
 lished a treatise in which the objective facts of Christianity seemed 
 to be completely obscured, if not replaced by subjective frames or 
 states of mind. One of his doctrines was that it is better and more 
 profitable for the soul to lose its sense of the love of God than to 
 Keep it. To this treatise Mr. Wesley replies at length in a published 
 letter to the author ; and his private letters show that such senti- 
 ments had been widely disseminated, and that he took great pains 
 to guard his followers against them. It was especially the Antinomian 
 tendency of such a doctrine which Mr. Wesley dreaded. He says in his 
 reply to Law, " It tends to make believers easy while they are sliding 
 back into unbelief," " to obstruct if not destroy the work of God in the 
 heart," " by causing men to imagine they are considerably advanced in 
 grace, when they have grieved, yea quenched the Spirit." To one of his 
 correspondents he says, "You look inward too much, and upward too 
 little." " Legality with most who use that term really means tenderness 
 of conscience." " I think it highly advisable for Methodists to lay it 
 quite aside." The present sermon is intended to help those who are in 
 danger of resting in a false comfort in their inward struggles. Tliis he 
 does by leading them to renew the penitent faith by which alone their 
 forfeited pence can be restored. 
 
 The next sermon is evidently the complement of the forty-sixth. 
 While that guards against an Antinomian delusion, this preserves the 
 over-sensitive spirit from unnecessary discouragement. These are pre- 
 eminently sermons for the class-leader, as almost every form of mental 
 distress may be referred to the one or the. other of the classes here 
 designated as darkness and heaviness.
 
 4:58 THE W1LDEENESS SrATE. [SEEMON XLVI. 
 
 SERMON XLVI 
 
 1. AFTER UOQ im-i v/rougnt a great aenverant-o tor Israel, Dy brmg- 
 ttijr them out of the house of bondage, they did not immediately enter 
 urn the land which he had promised to their fathers; but "wandered 
 wut of the way in the wildoruoss," and were variously tempted and dis- 
 tressed. In like manner, after God has delivered them that fear him 
 from the bondage of sin and Satan ; after they are " justified freely by 
 his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus," yet not many of 
 them immediately enter into " the rest which remaineth for the people 
 of God." The greater part, of them wander, more or less, out of the 
 good way into which he hath brought them. They come, as it were, 
 into a " waste and howling desert," where they are variously tempted 
 and tormented : and this, some, in allusion to the case of the Israelites, 
 have termed, " A wilderness state." 
 
 2. Certain it is, that the condition wherein these are, has a right to 
 the tenderest compassion. They labour under an evil and sore disease; 
 though one that is not commonly understood ; and for this very reason 
 it is the more difficult for them to find a remedy. Being in darkness 
 themselves, they cannot be supposed to understand the nature of their 
 own disorder ; and few of their brethren, nay, perhaps, of their teachers 
 know either what their sickness is, or how to heal it. So much the 
 more need there is to inquire, first, What is the nature of this disease ? 
 secondly, What is the cause 1 and, thirdly, What is the cure of it ? 
 
 I. 1. And, first, W'hat is the nature of this disease, into which so 
 many fall after they have believed ? Wherein does it properly consist; 
 and what are the genuine symptoms of it ? It properly consists in the loss 
 of that faith, which God once wrought in their heart. They that are 
 in the, wilderness, have not now that divine " evidence," that satisfac- 
 tory conviction, " of things not seen," which they once enjoyed. They 
 have not now that inward demonstration of the Spirit which before 
 enabled each of them to say, " The life I live, I live by faith in the Son 
 of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me." The light of heaven 
 does not now " shine in their hearts," neither do they " see him that is 
 invisible ;" but darkness is again on the face of their souls, and blind- 
 ness on the eyes of their understanding. The Spirit no longer " wit- 
 nesses with their spirits, that they are the children of God ;" neither 
 does he continue as the spirit of adoption, " crying" in their hearts, 
 " Abba, Father." They have not now a sure trust in his love, and a 
 liberty of approaching him with holy boldness. " Though he slay m< , 
 yet will I trust in him," is no more the language of their heart; but 
 they arc shorn of their strength, and become weak and feeble minded, 
 even as other men. 
 
 ? Hence, secondly, proceeds the loss of love; which cannot but 
 rise or fall, at the same time, and in the same proportion, witii true, 
 living faith. Accordingly, they that are deprived of their faith, are 
 deprived of the love of God also. They cannot now say, " Lord, thou 
 knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." They are not now 
 happy in God, as every one is that truly loves him. They do not delighi
 
 SE11MOX XLVI.] THE WILDERNESS STATE. 459 
 
 in him as in time past, and *' smell the odour of his ointments." Once 
 all itieir " desire was unto him, and to the remembrance ofhis name ;" 
 but now even their desires are cold and dead, if not utterly extinguished. 
 And as their love of God is waxed cold, so is also their love of their 
 neighbour. They have not now that zeal for the souls of men, that 
 longing after their welfare, that fervent, restless, active desire of their 
 being reconciled to God. They do not feel those " bowels of mercies'' 
 for the sheep that are lost, that tender " compassion for the ignorant, 
 and them that are out of the way." Once they were " gentle towards 
 all men," meekly instructing such as opposed the truth, and, " if any 
 was overtaken in a fault, restoring such a one in the spirit of meek- 
 ness :" but, after a suspense, perhaps, of many days, anger begins to 
 regain its power ; yea, peevishness and impatience thrust sore at them, 
 that they may fall ; and it is well if they are not sometimes driven, even 
 to " render evil for evil, and railing for railing." 
 
 3. In consequence of the loss of faith and love, follows, thirdly, loss 
 of joy in the Holy Ghost. For if the loving consciousness of pardon be 
 no mare, the joy resulting therefrom cannot remain. If the Spirit does 
 not witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, the joy that 
 flowed frorrt the inward witness must also be at an end. And, in like 
 manner, they who once " rejoiced with joy unspeakable," " in hope of 
 the glory of God," now they are deprived of that " hope full of immor- 
 tality," are deprived of the joy it occasioned; as also of that which 
 resulted from a consciousness of" the love of God," then " shed abroad 
 in their hearts." For the cause being removed, so is the effect : the 
 fountain being dammed up, those living waters spring no more, to 
 icfresh the thirsty soul. 
 
 4. With loss of faith, and love, and joy, there is also joined, 
 fourthly, the loss of that peace, which once passed all understanding. 
 That sweet tranquillity of mind, that composure of spirit is gone. Pain- 
 ful doubt returns ; doubt, whether we ever did, and perhaps, whether 
 we ever shall, believe. We. begin to doubt whether we ever did find 
 in our hearts the real testimony of the Spirit; whether we did not rather 
 deceive our own souls, and mistake the voice of nature for the voice of 
 God ; nay, and perhaps, whether we shall ever hear his voice, and find 
 favour in his sight. And these doubts are again joined with servile 
 fear, with that fear which hath torment. We fear the wrath of God, 
 even as before we beiieved : we tear, lest we should be cast out of his 
 presence; and thence sink again into that fear of death, from which we 
 were before wholly delivered. 
 
 5. But even this is not all ; for loss of peace is accompanied with 
 loss of power. We know every one who has peace with God, through 
 Jesus Christ, has power over all sin. But whenever he loses the peace 
 of God, he loses also the power over sin. While that peace remained, 
 power also remained, even over the besetting sin, whether it were the 
 sin of his nature, of his constitution, the sin ofhis education, or that of 
 his profession ; yea, and over those evil tempers and desires, which, till 
 then, he could not conquer. Sin had then no more dominion over him; 
 but he hath now no more dominion over sin. He may struggle, indeed, 
 but he cannot overcome ; the crown is fallen from his head. His ene- 
 mies again prevail over him, and more or less bring him into bondage. 
 The glory is departed from him, even the kingdom of God which was
 
 460 THE WILDERNESS STATE. fSKRMON XLVI. 
 
 in his heart. He is dispossessed of righteousness, as well as of peace 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost. 
 
 II. 1. Such is the nature of what many have termed, and not impro- 
 perly, " The wilderness state." But the nature of it may be more fully 
 understood by inquiring, secondly, What are the causes of it 1 These, 
 indeed, are various. But I dare not rank among these, the bare, arbi 
 trary, sovereign will of God. He " rejoiceth in the prosperity of his 
 servants : he delighteth not to afflict or grieve the children." His inva- 
 riable will is our sanctification, attended with " peace and joy in the 
 Holy Ghost." These are his own free gifts ; and we are assured " the 
 gifts of God are," on his part, " without repentance." He never 
 repenteth of what he hath given, or desires to withdraw them from 
 us. Therefore he never deserts us, as some speak ; it is we only that 
 desert him. 
 
 [I.] 2. The most usual cause of inward darkness is sin, of one kind 
 or another. This it is which generally occasions what is often a com- 
 plication of sin and misery. And, first, sin of commission. This may 
 frequently be observed to darken the soul in a moment; especially if it 
 be a known, a wilful, or presumptuous sin. If, for instance, a person, 
 who is now walking in the clear light of God's countenance should be 
 any way prevailed on to commit a single act of drunkenness, or unclean- 
 ness, it would be no wonder, if, in that very hour, he fell into utter 
 darkness. It is true, there have been some very rare cases, wherein 
 God has prevented this, by an extraordinary display of his pardoning 
 mercy, almost in the very instant. But in general, such an abuse of 
 the goodness of God, so gross an insult on his love, occasions an imme- 
 diate estrangement from God, and a " darkness that may be felt." 
 
 3. But it may be hoped this case is not very frequent ; that there are 
 not many, who so despise the riches of his goodness, as, while they 
 walk in his light, so grossly and presumptuously to rebel against him. 
 That light is much more frequently lost, by giving way to sins of 
 omission. This, indeed, does not immediately quench tho. Spirit, but 
 gradually and slowly. The former may be compared to pouring water 
 upon a fire; the latter to withdrawing the fuel from it. And many times 
 will that loving Spirit reprove our neglect, before he departs from us 
 Many are the inward checks, the secret notices he gives, before his 
 influences are withdrawn. So that only a train of omissions, wilfully 
 persisted in, can bring us into utter darkness. 
 
 4. Perhaps no sin of omission more frequently occasions this than 
 the neglect of private prayer ; the want whereof cannot be supplied by 
 any other ordinance whatever. Nothing can be more plain, than that 
 the life of God in the soul does not continue, much less increase, unless 
 we use all opportunities of communion with God, and pouring out our 
 hearts before him. If, therefore, we are negligent of this, if we suffer 
 business, company, or any avocation whatever, to prevent these secret 
 exercises of the soul, (or, which comes to the same thing, to make us 
 hurry them over in a slight and careless manner,) that life will surely 
 decay. And if we long or frequently intermit them, it will gradually 
 die away. 
 
 5. Another sin of omission, which frequently brings the .soul of a 
 believer into darkness, is the neglect of what was so strongly enjoined 
 even under the Jewish dispensation : " Thou shalt, in any wise, rebuke
 
 SERMON XLVI.] THE WILDERNESS STATE. 4G1 
 
 thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him: thou shall not hate thy 
 brother in thy heart." Now if we do hate our brother in our heart, if 
 \ve do not rebuke him, when we see him in a fault, but suffer siii upon 
 him. this will soon bring leanness into our own soul ; seeing hereby we 
 are partakers of his sin. By neglecting to reprove our neighbour, we 
 make his sin our own : we become accountable for it to God : we saw 
 his danger, and gave him no warning : so, " if he perish in his ini- 
 quity," God may justly require " his blood at our hands." No wonder 
 then, if by thus grieving the Spirit, we lose the light of his countenance 
 
 6. A third cause of our losing this is, the giving way to some kind of 
 inward sin. For example : we know, every one that is " proud in heart, 
 is an abomination to the Lord ;" and that, although this pride of henrt 
 should not appear in the outward conversation. Now how easily may 
 a soul, filled with peace and joy, fall into this snare of the devil 1 How 
 natural is it for him to imagine, that he has more grace, mo r e wisdom 
 or strength, than he really has 1 To " think more highly of himself than 
 he ought to think ?" How natural to glory in something he has received, 
 as if he had not received it ? But seeing God continually " resisteth the 
 proud, and giveth grace only to the humble." this must certainly obscure, 
 if not wholly destroy, the light which before shone on his heart. 
 
 7. The same effect may be produced by giving place to anger, what- 
 ever the provocation or occasion be ; yea, though it were coloured 
 over with the name of zeal for the truth, or for the glory of God. In- 
 deed, all zeal, which is any other than the flame of love, is " earthly, 
 animal, and devilish." It is the flame of wrath : it is flat, sinful anger, 
 neither better nor worse. And nothing is a greater enemy to the mild, 
 gentle love of God than this : they never did, they never can, subsist 
 together in one breast. In the same proportion as this prevails, love 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost decrease. This is particularly observable 
 in the case of offence; I mean, anger, at any of our brethren, at any of 
 those who are united with us either by civil or religious ties. If we 
 give way to the spirit of offence but one hour, we lose the sweet influ- 
 ences of the Holy Spirit ; so that, instead of amending them, we destroy 
 ourselves, and become an easy prey to any enemy that assaults us. 
 
 8. But suppose we are aware of this snare of the devil, we may be 
 attacked from another quarter. When fierceness and anger are asleep, 
 and love alone is waking, we may be no less endangered by desire, which 
 equally tends to darken the soul. This is the sure effect of any foolish 
 desire, any vain or inordinate affection. If we set our affection on 
 things of the earth, on any person or thing under the sun ; if we desire 
 any thing but God, and what tends to God ; if we seek happiness in any 
 creature ; the jealous God will surely contend with us, for he can admit 
 of no rival. And if we will not hear his warning voice, and return unto 
 him with our whole soul, if we continue to grieve him with our idols, 
 and running after other gods, we shall soon be cold, barren, and dry; 
 and the god of this world will blind and darken our hearts. 
 
 9. But this he frequently does, even when we do not give way to any 
 positive sin. It is enough, it gives him sufficient advantage, if we do 
 not " stir up the gift of God which is in us ;" if we do not agonize con- 
 tinually " to enter in at the strait gate ;" if we do not earnestly " strive 
 for the mastery," and "take the kingdom of heaven by violence." 
 There needs no more than not to fight, and we are sure 1o be conquered.
 
 4G2 THE WILDEKNESS STATE [SERMON XLVI. 
 
 Let us only be careless or " faint in our mind,' let us be easy and indo- 
 lent, and our natural darkness will soon return, and overspread our 
 soul. It is enough, therefore, if we give way to spiritual sloth ; this 
 will effectually darken the soul : It will as surely destroy the light of 
 God, if not so swiftly, as murder or adultery. 
 
 10, But it is well to be observed, that the cause of our darkness, (what- 
 soever it be, whether omission or commission, whether inward or out- 
 ward sin,) is not always nigh at hand. Sometimes the sin which 
 occasioned the present distress may lie at a considerable distance. It 
 might be committed days, or weeks, or months before. And that God 
 now withdraws his light and peace, on account of what was done so 
 long ago, is not (as one might at first imagine) an instance of his seve- 
 rity, but rather a proof of his long suffering and tender mercy. He 
 waited all this time, if haply we would see, acknowledge, and correct 
 what was amiss ; and in default of this, he at length shows his displea- 
 sure, if thus, at last, he may bring us to repentance. 
 
 [II.] 1. Another general cause of this darkness, is ignorance; which 
 is likewise of various kinds. If men know not the Scriptures, if they 
 imagine there are passages either in the Old or New Testament, which 
 assert that all believers, without exception, must sometimes be in dark- 
 ness ; this ignorance will naturally bring upon them the darkness which 
 they expect. And how common a case has this been among us ! How 
 few are there that do not expect it ? And no wonder, seeing they are 
 taught to expect it; seeing their guides lead them into this way. Not 
 only the mystic writers of the Romish church, but many of the most 
 spiritual and experimental in our own, (very few of the last century 
 excepted,) lay it down with all assurance, as a plain, unquestionable 
 Scripture doctrine, and cite many texts to prove it. 
 
 2. Ignorance also of the work of God in the soul, frequently occasions 
 this darkness. Men imagine, (because so they have been taught, par- 
 ticularly by writers of the Romish communion, whose plausible asser- 
 tions too many Protestants have received without due examination,) 
 that they are not always to walk in luminous faith ; that this is only a 
 lower dispensation ; that as they rise higher, they are to leave those 
 sensible comforts, and to live by naked faith; (naked indeed, if it be 
 stripped both of love, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost!) that a 
 state of light and joy is good, but a state of darkness and dryness is 
 better ; that it is by these alone we can be purified from pride, love of 
 the world, and inordinate self love ; and that, therefore, we ought 
 neither to expect nor desire, to walk in the light always. Hence it is, 
 (though other reasons may concur,) ,hat the main body of pious men in 
 the Rot iish church generally walk in a dark uncomfortable way, and, 
 if ever they receive, soon loose the light of God. 
 
 t lll ] I- A third general cause of this darkness, is temptation. When 
 the candle of the Lord first shines on our head, temptation frequently 
 flees away, and totally disappears. All is calm within ; perhaps with- 
 out too, while God makes our enemies to be at peace with us. It is 
 then very natural to suppose, that we shall not see war any more. And 
 there are instances wherein this calm has continued, not only for weeks, 
 but for months or years. But commonly ii is otherwise : in a short 
 Ijnie " the winds blow, the rains descend, and the floods arise" onew. 
 They who know not either the Son or the Father, and consequently
 
 SERMON XLVI.] THE WILDERNESS STATK. 463 
 
 hate his children, when God slackens the bridle which is in their teeth, 
 will show that hatred in various instances. As of old, " he that was 
 born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even 
 so it is now ;" the same cause still producing the same effect. The 
 evil which yet remains in the heart, will then also move afresh ; anger, 
 and many other roots of bitterness, will endeavour to spring up. At 
 the same time, Satan will not be wanting to cast in his fiery darts ; and 
 the soul will have to wrestle, not only with the world, not only " with 
 flesh and blood, but with principalities and powers, with the rulers of 
 the darkness of this world, with wicked spirits in high places." Now 
 when so various assaults are made at once, and perhaps with the utmost 
 violence, it is not strange if it should occasion, not only hea\iness, but 
 even darkness, in a weak believer ; more especially, if he was not 
 watching ; if these assaults are made in an hour when he looked not 
 for them ; if he expected nothing less, but had fondly told himself, 
 "the day of evil would return no more." 
 
 2. The force of those temptations which arise from within, will be 
 exceedingly heightened, if we before thought too highly of ourselves, as 
 if we had been cleansed from all sin. And how naturaMy do we ima- 
 gine this, during the warmth of our first love ? How ready are we to 
 believe, that God has " fulfilled in us the [whole] work of faith with 
 power?" That because vie feel no sin, we have none in us; but the 
 soul is all love ! And well may a sharp attack from an, enemy, whom wt 
 supposed to be not only conquered, but slain, throw us into much hea- 
 viness of soul ; yea, sometimes, into utter darkness : particularly when 
 we reason with this enemy, instead of instantly calling upon God, and 
 casting ourselves upon him, by simple faith, who " alone knoweth how 
 to deliver [hits] out of temptation." 
 
 1 1 1. These are the usual causes of this second darkness. Inquire we, 
 thirdly, What is the cure of it ? 
 
 1. To suppose that this is one and the same in all cases, is a great and 
 fatal mistake ; and yet extremely common, even among many who pass 
 for experienced Christians, yea, perhaps take upon them to be teachers 
 in Israel, to be the guides of other souls. Accordingly they know and use 
 but one medicine, whatever be the cause of the distemper. They begin 
 immediately to apply the promises ; to preach the gospel, as they call it. 
 To give comfort, is the single point at which they aim ; in order to which 
 they say many soft and lender things, concerning the love of God to 
 poor, helpless sinners, and the efficacy of the blood of Christ. Now 
 this is quackery indeed, and thai of the worst sort, as it tends, if not to 
 kill men's bodies, yet without the peculiar mercy of God, " to destroy 
 both their bodies and souls in hell." It is hard to speak of these " daub- 
 ers with untempered mortar," these promise mongers, as they deserve. 
 They well deserve the title, which has been ignorantly given to others : 
 they are spiritual mountebanks. They do, in effect, make " the blood 
 of the covenant an unholy thing." They vilely prostitute the promises 
 of God, by thus applying them to all, without distinction. Whereas, 
 indeed, the cure of spiritual, as of bodily diseases, must be as various 
 as are the causes of them. The first thing, therefore, is, to find out the 
 cause ; and this will naturally point out the cure. 
 
 2. For instance : Is it sin which occasions darkness ? What sin 1 
 TB it outward sin of any kind ? Does your conscience accuse you of
 
 464 THE WILDERNESS STATE. [SERMON XLVI. 
 
 committing any sin, whereby you grieve the Holy Spirit of God ? Is it 
 on this account that he is departed from you, and that joy and peace 
 are departed with him 1 And how can you expect they should return, 
 till you put away the accursed thing ? " Let the wicked forsake his way ;" 
 *' cleanse your hands, ye sinners ;" " put away the evil of your doings ;" 
 so shall your " light break out of obscurity ;" the Lord will return and 
 " abundantly pardon." 
 
 3. If upon the closest search, you can find no sin of commission, 
 which causes the cloud upon your soul, inquire next, If there be not 
 pome sin of omission, which separates between God and you. Do you 
 " not suffer sin upon your brother ?" Do you reprove them that sin in 
 your sight 1 Do you walk in all the ordinances of God 1 In public, 
 family, private prayer ? If not, if you habitually neglect any one of these 
 known duties, how can you expect that the light of his countenance 
 should continue to shine upon you ? Make haste to " strengthen the 
 things that remain ;" then your soul shall live. " To day, if ye will hear 
 his voice," by his grace, supply what is lacking. When you hear a 
 voice behind you saying, " This is the way, walk thou in it," harden 
 not your heart ; be no more " disobedient to the heavenly calling." 
 Till 4he sin, whether of omission or commission, be removed, all com- 
 fort is false and deceitful. It is only skinning the wound over, which 
 still festers and rankles beneath. Look for no peace within, till yon 
 are at peace with God ; which cannot be without " fruits meet for 
 repentance." 
 
 4. But perhaps you are not conscious of even any sin of omission, 
 which impairs your peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Is there not, then, 
 some inward sin, which, as a root of bitterness, springs up in your heart 
 to trouble you ? Is not your dryness, and barrenness of soul, occasioned 
 by your heart's " departing fiom the living God ?" Has not " the foot 
 of pride come against" you ? Have you not thought of yourself " more 
 highly than you ought to think ?" Have you not, in any respect, " sacri- 
 ficed to your own net, and burned incense to your own drag?" Have 
 you not ascribed your success in any undertaking to your own courage, 
 or strength, or wisdom 1 Have you not boasted of something " you have 
 received, as though you had not received it ?" Have you not gloried in 
 any thing, " save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ 1" Have you not 
 sought after or desired the praise of men ? Have you not taken pleasure 
 in it ? If so, you see the way you are to take. If you have fallen b y 
 pride, " humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and he will 
 exalt you in due time." Have not you forced him to depart from you, 
 by giving place to anger 1 Have you not " fretted yourself because of 
 the ungodly," or " been envious against the evil doers ?" Have you not 
 been offended at any of your brethren, looking at their (real or ima- 
 gined) sin, so as to sin yourself against the great law of love, by estrang- 
 ing your heart from them 1 Then look unto the Lord, thai you may 
 renew your strength ; that all this sharpness and coldness may be done 
 away ; that love, and peace, and joy, may return together, and you may 
 be invariably kind to each other, and " tender hearted, forgiving one 
 another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you." Have not 
 yon given way to any foolish desire ? To any kind or degree of inordi- 
 nate affection 1 How then can the love of God have place in your heart, 
 till you put away your idols ? " Be not deceived : God is not mocked "
 
 SERMON XLVI.J THE WILDERNESS STATE. iG5 
 
 he will not dwell in a divided heart. As long, therefore, as you cherish 
 a Delilah in your bosom, he has no place there. It is vain to hope for 
 a recovery of his light, till you pluck out the right eye, and cast it from 
 you. Oh let there be no longer delay ! Cry to him, that he may enable 
 you so to do ! Bewail your own impotence and helplessness ; and, the 
 Lord being your helper, enter in at the strait gate ; take the kingdom 
 of heaven by violence ! Cast out every idol from his sanctuary, and the 
 glory of the Lord shall soon appear. 
 
 5. Perhaps it is this very thing, the want of striving, spiritual sloth, 
 which keeps your soul in darkness. You dwell art ease in the land ; 
 there is no war in your coasts ; and so you are quiet and unconcerned. 
 You go on in the same even track of outward duties, and are content 
 there to abide. And do you wonder, meantime, that your soul is dead ? 
 Oh stir yourself up before the Lord ! Arise, and shake yourself from 
 the dust ; wrestle with God for the mighty blessing ; pour out your soul 
 unto God in prayer, and continue therein with all perseverance ! 
 Watch! Awake out of sleep; and keep awake! otherwise there is 
 nothing to be expected, but that you will be alienated more and more 
 from the light and life of God. 
 
 6. If upon the fullest and most impartial examination of yourself, 
 you cannot discern that you at present give way, either to spiritual sloth, 
 or any other inward or outward sin, then call to mind the time that is 
 past. Consider your former tempers, words, and actions. Have these 
 been right before the Lord ? " Commune with him in your chamber, 
 and be still ;" and desire of him to try the ground of your heart, and 
 bring to your remembrance whatever has at any time offended the eyes 
 of his glory. If the guilt of any unrepented sin remain on your soul, 
 it cannot be but you will remain in darkness, till, having been renewed 
 by repentance, you are again washed by faith in " the fountain opened 
 for sin and uncleanness." 
 
 7. Entirely different will be the manner of the cure, if the cause ot 
 the disease be not sin, but ignorance. It may be, ignorance of the 
 meaning of Scripture ; perhaps occasioned by ignorant commentators; 
 ignorant, at least, in this respect, however knowing and learned they 
 may be in other particulars. And, in this case, that ignorance must be 
 removed, before we can remove the darkness arising from it. We must 
 show the true meaning of those texts which have been misunderstood. 
 My design does not permit me to consider all the passages of Scripture 
 which have been pressed into this service. I shall just mention two or 
 three, which are frequently brought to prove, that all believers must, 
 sooner or later, " walk in darkness." 
 
 8. One of these is, Isaiah 1, 10, " Who is among you that feareth the 
 Lord, that obeyeth the voice of his servant, that walketh in darkness, 
 and hath no light ? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay 
 upon his God." But how does it appear, either from the text or con- 
 text, that the person here spoken of, ever had light? One who is con- 
 vinced of sin, " feareth the Lord, and obeyeth the voice of his servant." 
 And him we should advise, though he was still dark of soul, and had 
 never seen the light of God's countenance, yet to " trust in the name 
 of the Lord, and stay upon his God." This text, therefore, proves 
 nothing less than that a believer in Christ " must sometimes walk in 
 darkness."
 
 465 THE WILDERNESS STATE. [SERMON XLVI. 
 
 9. Anotlier text which has been supposed to speak the same doctrine, 
 is Hosea ii, 14, " I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, 
 and speak comfortably unto her." Hence it has been inferred, that 
 God will bring every believer into the wilderness, into a state of dead- 
 ness and darkness. Bui it is certain, the text speaks no such thing : 
 for it does not appear that it speaks of particular believers at all : it 
 manifestly refers to the Jewish nation ; and, perhaps, to that only. But 
 if it be applicable to particular persons, the plain meaning of it is this : 
 I will draw him by love ; I will next convince him of sin ; and then 
 comfort him by my pardoning mercy. 
 
 10. A third scripture, from whence the same inference has been 
 drawn, is that above recited, " Ye now have sorrow : but I will see you 
 again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from 
 you." This has been supposed to imply, that God would, after a time, 
 withdraw himself from all believers; and that they could not, till 
 after they had thus sorrowed, have the joy which no man could take 
 from them. But the whole context shows, that our Lord is here speak- 
 ing personally to the apostles, and no others ; and that he is speaking 
 concerning those particular events, his own death and resurrection. 
 " A little while," says he, " and ye shall not see me/' viz. whilst I am 
 in the grave : " and again, a little while, and ye shall see me ;" when 1 
 am risen from the dead. " Ye will weep and lament, and the world will 
 rejoice : but your sorrow shall be turned into joy." " Ye now have 
 sorrow," because I am about to be taken from your head ; " but I will 
 see you again," after my resurrection, " and your heart shall rejoice ; 
 and your joy," which I will then give you, " no man taketh from you." 
 All this we know was literally fulfilled in the particular case of the 
 apostles. But no inference can be drawn from hence, with regard to 
 God's dealings with believers in general. 
 
 11. A fourth text (to mention no more) which has been frequently 
 cited in proof of the same doctrine, is, 1 Pet. iv, 12, " Beloved, think it 
 not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you." But this is 
 full as foreign to the point as the preceding. The text, literally ren- 
 dered, runs thus : " Beloved, wonder not at the burning which is among 
 you, which is for your trial." Now, however this may be accommodated 
 to inward trials in a secondary sense ; yet, primarily, it doubtless refers 
 to martyrdom, and the sufferings connected with it. Neither, therefore, 
 is this text any thing at all to the purpose for which it is cited. And 
 vvc may challenge all men to bring one text, either from the Old or 
 New Testament, which is any more to the purpose than this. 
 
 12. " But is not darkness much more profitable for the soul than light ? 
 Is not the work of God in the heart most swiftly and effectually carried 
 on, during a state of inward suffering ? Is not a believer more swiftly 
 and thoroughly purified by sorrow, than by joy ? by anguish, and pain 
 and distress, and spiritual martyrdoms, than by continual peace ?" So 
 the mystics teach ; so it is written in their books ; but not in the ora- 
 cles of God. The Scripture no where says, that the absence of God 
 best perfects his work in the heart ! Rather, his presence, and a clear 
 communion with the Father and the Son : a strong consciousness of 
 this, will do more in an hour, than his absence in an age. Joy in the 
 Holy Ghost will far more effectually purify the soul, than the want of 
 that joy : and the peace of God is the best means of refining the soul
 
 SERMON XLVJI.] HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. 467 
 
 from the dross of earthly affections. Away then with the idle conceit 
 that the kingdom of God is divided against itself; that the peace of God, 
 and joy in the Holy Ghost, are obstructive of righteousness ; and that 
 we are saved, not by faith, but by unbelief, not by hope, but by despair ! 
 
 13. So long as men dream thus, they may well " walk in darkness :" 
 nor can the effect cease, till the cause is removed. But yet we must 
 not imagine it will immediately cease, even when the cause is no more. 
 When either ignorance or sin has caused darkness, one or the other 
 may be removed, and yet the light which was obstructed thereby, may 
 not immediately return. As it is the free gift of God, he may restore 
 it, sooner or later, as it pleases him. In the case of sin, we cannot 
 reasonably expect that it should immediately return. The sin began 
 before the punishment, which may, therefore, justly remain, after the 
 sin is at an end. And even in the natural course of things, though a 
 wound cannot be healed while the dart is sticking in the flesh ; yet 
 neither is it healed as soon as that is drawn out, but soreness and pain 
 may remain long after. 
 
 14. Lastly : If darkness be occasioned by manifold, and heavy, and 
 unexpected temptations ; the best way of removing and preventing this, 
 is, to teach believers always to expect temptation, seeing they dwell in 
 an evil world, among wicked, subtle, malicious spirits, and have a 
 heart capable of all evil. Convince them, that the whole work of sanc- 
 tification is not, as they imagined, wrought at once ; that when they 
 first believe, they are but as new born babes, who are gradually to grow 
 up, and may expect many storms, before they come to the full stature 
 of Christ. Above all, let them be instructed, when the storm is upon 
 them, not to reason with the devil, but to pray ; to pour out their souls 
 before God, and show him of their trouble. And these are the persons 
 unto whom, chiefly, we are to apply the great and precious promises ; 
 not to the ignorant, till the ignorance is removed, much less to the 
 impenitent sinner. To these we may largely and affectionately declaie 
 the loving kindness of God our Saviour, and expatiate upon his tender 
 mercies, which have been ever of old. Here we may dwell upon the 
 faithfulness of God, whose " word is tried to the uttermost ;" and upon 
 the virtue of that blood, which was shed for us, to " cleanse us from all 
 sin :" and God will then bear witness to his word, and bring their souls 
 out of trouble. He will say, " Arise, shine ; for thy light is come, and 
 the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." Yea, and that light, if thou 
 walk humbly and closely with God, will " shine more and more unto 
 the perfect day." 
 
 SEEMON XLVIL 
 
 1. IN the preceding discourse, I have particularly spoken of thai 
 darkness of mind, into which those are often observed to fall who once 
 walked in the light of God's countenance. Nearly related to this is 
 ihe heaviness of soul, which is still more common, even among believers. 
 Indeed, almost all the children of God experience this, in a higher or 
 lower degree. And so great is the resemblance between one and the
 
 468 HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. [SERMON XLVII. 
 
 other, that they are frequently confounded together ; and we are apt to 
 say, indifferently, such a one is in darkness, or, such a one is in heavi- 
 ness; as if they were equivalent terms, one of which implied no more 
 than the other. But they are far, very far from it. Darkness is one 
 thing ; heaviness is another. There is a difference, yea, a wide and 
 essential difference, between the former and the latter. And such adiffer- 
 ence it is, as all the children of God are deeply concerned to understand : 
 otherwise, nothing will be more easy, than for them to slide out of heavi- 
 ness into darkness. In order to prevent this, I will endeavour to show, 
 
 I. What manner of persons those were, to whom the apostle says, 
 ** Ye are in heaviness :" 
 
 II. What kind of heaviness they were in : 
 
 III. What were the causes: and, 
 
 IV. What were the ends of it. I shall conclude with some inferences. 
 
 1. 1. I am, in the first place, to show, what manner of persons those 
 were to whom the apostle says, " Ye are in heaviness." And, first, it 
 is beyond all dispute, that they were believers at the time the apostle 
 thus addressed them. For so he expressly says, verse 5, " Ye who 
 are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." Again, 
 verse 7, he mentions " the trial of their faith, much more precious 
 than that of gold which perisheth." And yet again, verse 9, he 
 speaks of their " receiving the end of their faith, the salvation of their 
 souls." At the same time, therefore, that they were " in heaviness," 
 they were possessed of living faith. Their heaviness did not destroy 
 their faith : they still " endured, as seeing him that is invisible." 
 
 2. Neither did their heaviness destroy their peace ; the " peace which 
 passeth all understanding ;" which is inseparable from true living faith. 
 This we may easily gather from the second verse, wherein the apostle 
 prays, not that grace and pence may be given them, but only, that it 
 may " be multiplied unto them ;" that the blessing, which they already 
 enjoyed, might be more abundantly bestowed upon them. 
 
 3. The persons to whom the apostle here speaks, were also full of 
 a living hope. For thus he speaks, verse 3, " Blessed be the God and 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, 
 hath begotten us again," me and you, all of us who are " sanctified 
 by the Spirit," and enjoy the " sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ," 
 " unto a living hope, unto an inheritance," that is, unto a living 
 hope of an inheritance, " incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not 
 away." So that, notwithstanding their heaviness, they still retained a 
 hope full of immortality. 
 
 4. And they still " rejoiced in hope of the glory of God." They 
 were filled with joy in the Holy Ghost. So, verse 8, the apostle having 
 just mentioned the final "revelation of Jesus Christ," (namely, when 
 he cometh to judge the world,) immediately adds, "in whom, though 
 now ye see him not, [not with your bodily eyes,] yet believing, ye 
 rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." Their heaviness, 
 therefore, was not only consistent with living hope, but also with joy 
 unspeakable : at the same time they were thus heavy, they nevertheless 
 rejoiced with joy full of glory. 
 
 5. In the midst of their heaviness, they likewise still enjoyed the love 
 of God, which had been shed abroad in their hearts; "whom," says 
 the apostle, " having not seen, ye love." Though ye have not yet seen
 
 SERMON XLVII.] HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. 469 
 
 him face to fare ; yet, knowing him by faith, ye have obeyed his word, 
 u My son, give me thy heart." He is your God, and your love, the 
 desire of your eyes, and your "exceeding great reward." Ye hav 
 sought and found happiness in him ; ye " delight ill the Lord," and h 
 hath given you your " hearts' desire." 
 
 6. Once more : Though they were heavy yet were they holy ; they 
 retained the same power over sin. They were still " kept" from this, 
 '-' by the power of God ;" they were "obedient children, not fashioned 
 according to their former desires ;" but " as he that had called them is 
 holy," so were they " holy in all manner of conversation." Knowing 
 they were " redeemed by the precious blood of Christ, as a lamb with- 
 out spot and without blemish," they had, through the faith and hope 
 which they had in God, " purified their souls by the Spirit." So that, 
 upon the whole ; their heaviness well consisted with faith, with hope, 
 with love of God and man, with the peace of God, with joy in the Holy 
 Ghost, with inward and outward holiness. It did no way impair, much 
 less destroy, any part of the work of God in their hearts. It did not at 
 all interfere with that " sanctification of the Spirit," which is the root 
 of all true obedience ; neither with the happiness, which must needs 
 result from grace and peace reigning in the heart. 
 
 II. 1. Hence we may easily learn what kind of heaviness they were 
 in ; the second thing which I shall endeavour to show. The word in 
 the original is, XuTTjdEvrEj, made sorry, grieved ; from Xuirrj, grief, or 
 sorrow. This is the constant, literal meaning of the word: and, this 
 being observed, there is no ambiguity in the expression, nor any diffi- 
 culty in understanding it. The persons spoken of here, were grieved : 
 the heaviness they were in was neither more nor less than sorrow or 
 grief; a passion which every child of man is well acquainted with. 
 
 2. It is probable our translators rendered it heaviness, (though a less 
 common word,) to denote two things: First, the degree, and next, the 
 continuance, of it. It does indeed seem, that it is not a slight or incon- 
 siderable degree of grief which is here spoken of, but such as makes a 
 strong impression upon, and sinks deep into the soul. Neither does 
 this appear to be a transient sorrow, such as passes away in an hour ; 
 but rather such as, having taken fast hold of the heart, is not presently 
 shaken off, but continues for some time, as a settled temper, rather than 
 a passion, even in them that have a living faith in Christ, and the 
 genuine love of God in their hearts. 
 
 3. Even in these, this heaviness may sometimes be so deep, as to 
 overshadow the whole soul ; to give a colour, as it were, to all the affec- 
 tions ; such as will appear in the whole behaviour. It may likewise 
 have an influence over the body ; particularly in those that are either of 
 a naturally weak constitution, or weakened by some accidental disorder, 
 especially of the nervous kind. In many cases, we find " the corrupt- 
 ible body presses down the soul ;" in this, the soul rather presses down 
 the body, and weakens it more and more. Nay, I will not say that 
 deep and lasting sorrow of heart may not sometimes weaken a strong 
 constitution, and lay the foundation of such bodily disorders as are not 
 easily removed : and yet all this may consist with a measure of that 
 faith which still worketh by love. 
 
 4. This may well be termed a " fiery trial :" and though it is not the 
 same with that the apostle speaks of in the fourth chapter, yet many of
 
 470 HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. [SERMON XLVII. 
 
 the expressions there used concerning outward sufferings, may be 
 accommodated to this inward affliction. They cannot, indeed, with any 
 propriety, be applied to them that are in darkness : these do not, can- 
 not, rejoice ; neither is it true, that " the Spirit of glory and of God 
 resteth upon" them. But he frequently doth on those that are in heavi- 
 ness ; so that, though sorrowful, yet are they always rejoicing. 
 
 III. 1. But to proceed to the third point, What are the causes of 
 such sorrow or heaviness in a true believer ? The apostle tells us clearly : 
 " Ye are in heaviness," says he, " through manifold temptations ;" 
 iroixiAoij, manifold, not only many in number, but of many kinds. 
 They may be varied and diversified a thousand ways, by the change or 
 addition of numberless circumstances. And this very diversity and 
 variety make it more difficult to guard against them. Among these, we 
 may rank all bodily disorders ; particularly acute diseases, and violent 
 pain of every kind, whether affecting the whole body, or the smallest 
 part of it. It is true, some who have enjoyed uninterrupted health, and 
 liave felt none of these, may make light of them, and wonder that sick- 
 ness, or pain of body, should bring heaviness upon the mind. And 
 perhaps one in a thousand is of so peculiar a constitution, as not to feei 
 pain like other men. So hath it pleased God to show his almighty 
 power, by producing some of these prodigies of nature, who have 
 seemed not to regard pain at all, though of the severest kind ; if that 
 contempt of pain was not owing partly to the force of education, partly 
 to a preternatural cause, to the power either of good or evil spirits, 
 who raised those men above the state of mere nature. But, abstract- 
 ing from these particular cases, it is, in general, a just observation, that 
 
 " Pain is perfect misery, and extreme 
 Quite overturns all patience." 
 
 And even where this is prevented by the grace of God, where men do 
 " possess their souls in patience," it may, nevertheless, occasion much 
 inward heaviness ; the soul sympathizing with the body. 
 
 2. All diseases of long continuance, though less painful, are apt to 
 produce the same effect. When God appoints over us consumption, or 
 the chilling and burning ague, if it be not speedily removed, it will 
 not only " consume the eyes," but " cause sorrow of heart." This is 
 eminently the case with regard to all those which are termed nervous 
 disorders. And faith does not overturn the course of nature : natural 
 causes still produce natural etfccts. Faith no more hinders the sinking 
 of the spirits (as it is called) in an hysteric illness, than the raising of 
 the pulse in a fever. 
 
 3. Again : When " calamity cometh as a whirlwind, and poverty 
 as an armed man ;" is this a little temptation ? Is it strange if \\ 
 occasion sorrow and heaviness 1 Although this also may appear but 
 a small thing to those that stand at a distance, or who look, and 
 " pass by on the other side ;" yet it is otherwise to them who feel 
 it. " Having food and raiment," [indeed the latter word, rfx.sira.a^a.ra. t 
 implies lodging, as well as apparel,] we may, if the love of God is in 
 our hearts, " be therewith content." But what shall they do. who have 
 none of these ? Who, as it were, " embrace the rocks for a shelter ]" 
 Who have only the earth to lie upon, and only the sky to cover them? 
 Who have not a dry, or warm, much less a clean abode for themselves 
 and their little ones ; no, nor clothing to keep themselves, or those they
 
 SERMON XLVII.] HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. 471 
 
 love next themselves, from pinching cold, either by day or night 1 I 
 laugh at the stupid heathen, crying out, 
 
 Nil liabet infelix paupertas durius in se, 
 Quatu quod ridiculos homines facit ! 
 
 Has poverty nothing worse in it than this, that it makes men liable to be 
 laughed at 1 It is a sign this idle poet talked by rote of the things which 
 Jae knew not. Is not want of food something worse than this ? God 
 renounced it as a curse upon man, that he should earn it " by the 
 sweat of his brow." But how many are there in this Christian country, 
 that toil, and labour, and sweat, and have it not at last, but struggle 
 with weariness and hunger together ? Is it not worse, for one after a 
 hard day's labour, to come back to a poor, cold, dirty, uncomfortable 
 lodging, and to find there not even the food which is needful to repair 
 his wasted strength? You that live at ease in the earth, that want 
 nothing but eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts to understand how well 
 God hath dealt with you, is it not worse to seek bread day by day, 
 and find none ? Perhaps to find the comfort also of five or six children, 
 crying for what he has not to give ! Were it not that he is restrained 
 by an unseen hand, would he not soon " curse God and die ?" Oh want 
 of bread ! Want of bread ! Who can tell what this means, unless he 
 hath feit it himself? I am astonished it occasions no more than heavi 
 ness even in them that believe ! 
 
 4. Perhaps, next to this, we may place the death of those who were 
 near and dear unto us; of a tender parent, and one not much declined into 
 the vale of years ; of a beloved child, just rising into life, and clasping 
 about our heart; of a friend that was as our own soul, next the grace 
 of God, the last, best gift of heaven. And a thousand circumstances 
 may enhance the distress. Perhaps the child, the friend, died in our 
 embrace! Perhaps, was snatched away when we looked not for it! 
 Flourishing, cut down like a flower ! In all these cases, we not only 
 may but ought to be affected : it is the design of God that we should. 
 He would not have us stocks and stones. He would have our affections 
 regulated, not extinguished. Therefore, "Nature unreproved may 
 drop a tear." There may be sorrow without sin. 
 
 5. A still deeper sorrow we may feel for those, who are dead while 
 they live ; on account of the unkindness, ingratitude, apostasy, of those 
 who were united to us in the closest ties. Who can express what a 
 lover of souls may feel for a friend, a brother, dead to God ? For a 
 husband, a wife, a parent, a child, rushing into sin, as a horse into 
 the battle; arid, in spite of all arguments and persuasions, hasting to 
 work out his own damnation ? And this anguish of spirit may be height- 
 ened to an inconceivable degree, by the consideration, that he who is 
 now posting to destruction once ran well in the way of life. Whatever 
 he was in time past, serves now to no other purpose, than to make our 
 reflections on what he is more piercing and afflictive. 
 
 6. In all these circumstances, we may be assured, our great adversary 
 will not be wanting to improve his opportunity. He, who is always 
 
 ' walking about, seeking whom he may devour," will then, especially, 
 use all his power, all his skill, if haply he may gain any advantage over 
 the soul that is already cast down. He will not be sparing of his 
 fiery darts, such as are most likely to find an entrance, and to fix 
 most deeply in the heart, by their suitableness to the temptation
 
 472 HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. [SERMON XLVII. 
 
 that assaults it. He will Jabour to inject unbelieving, or blasphemous! 
 or repining thoughts. He will suggest, that God does not regard, does 
 not govern the earth ; or, at least, that he does not govern it aright, not 
 by the rules of justice and mercy. He will endeavour to stir up the 
 heart against God, to renew our natural enmity against him. And il 
 we attempt to fight him with his own weapons, if we begin to reason 
 with him, more and more heaviness will undoubtedly ensue, if not utttr 
 darkness. 
 
 7. It has been frequently supposed, that there is another cause, if not 
 of darkness, at least, of heaviness ; namely, God's withdrawing himself 
 from the soul, because it is his sovereign will. Certainly he will do this, 
 if we grieve his Holy Spirit, either by outward or inward sin ; either 
 by doing evil, or neglecting to do good ; by giving way either to pride 
 or anger, to spiritual sloth, to foolish desire, or inordinate affection. 
 But that he ever withdraws himself because he will, merely because it is 
 his good pleasure, I absolutely deny. There is no text in all the Bible, 
 which gives any colour for such a supposition. Nay, it is a supposition 
 contrary, not only to many particular texts, but to the whole tenor of 
 Scripture. It is repugnant to the very nature of God : it is utterly be- 
 neath his majesty and wisdom, (as an eminent writer strongly expresses 
 it,) " to play at bo-peep with his creatures." It is inconsistent both with 
 his justice and mercy, and with the sound experience of all his children. 
 
 8. One more cause of heaviness is mentioned by many of those who 
 are termed mystic authors. And the notion has crept in, I know not 
 how, even among plain people, who have no acquaintance with them. 
 I cannot better explain this, than in the words of a late writer, who 
 relates this as her own experience. " I continued so happy in my 
 Beloved, that, although I should have been forced to live a vagabond in 
 a desert, I should have found no difficulty in it. This state had not 
 lasted long, when, in effect, I found myself led into a desert. I found 
 myself in a forlorn condition, altogether poor, wretched, and miserable. 
 The proper source of this gnof is, the knowledge of ourselves ; by which 
 we find, that there is an extreme unlikeness between God and us. We 
 see ourselves most opposite to him ; and that our inmost soul is entirely 
 corrupted, depraved, and full of all kind of evil and malignity, of the 
 world and the flesh, and all sorts of abominations." From hence it 
 has been inferred, that the knowledge of ourselves, without which we 
 should perish everlastingly, must, even after we have attained justifying 
 faith, occasion the deepest heaviness. 
 
 9. But upon this I would observe, 1. In the preceding paragraph, this 
 writer says, " Hearing I had not a true faith in Christ, I offered myself 
 up to God, and immediately felt his love." It may be so ; and yet it 
 does not appear that this was justification. It is more probable, it was 
 no more than what are usually termed, the " drawings of the Father." 
 And if so, the heaviness and darkness which followed, was no other 
 than conviction of sin, which, in the nature of things, must precede 
 that faith whereby we are justified. 2. Suppose she was justified almost 
 the same moment she was convinced of wanting faith, there was then 
 no time for that gradually increasing self knowledge which uses to 
 precede justification : in this case, therefore, it came after, and was 
 probably the more severe, the less it was expected. 3. It is allowed, there 
 will be a far deeper, a far clearer and fuller knowledge of our inbred
 
 SERMON XLVII.] HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. 473 
 
 sin, of our total corruption by nature, after justification, than ever there 
 was before it. But this need not occasion darkness of soul : I will not 
 say, that it must bring us into heaviness. Were it so, the apostle would 
 not have used that expression, if need be; for there would be an abso- 
 lute, indispensable need of it, for all that would know themselves; that 
 is, in effect, for all that would know the perfect love of God, and be 
 thereby " made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in 
 light." But this is by no means the case. On the contrary, God may 
 increase the knowledge of ourselves to any degree, and increase, in the 
 same proportion, the knowledge of himself and the experience of his 
 love. And in this case there would be no " desert, no misery, no forlorn 
 condition ;" but love, and peace, and joy, gradually springing up into 
 everlasting life. 
 
 IV. 1. For what ends then, (which was the fourth thing to be con- 
 sidered,) does God permit heaviness to befall so many of his children 1 
 The apostle gives us a plain and direct answer to this important ques- 
 tion : " That the trial of their faith, which is much more precious than 
 gold that perisheth, though it be tried by fire, may be found unto praise, 
 and honour, and glory, at the revelation of Jesus Christ," verse 7. There 
 may be an allusion to this, in that well known passage of the fourth 
 chapter : (although it primarily relates to quite another thing, as has 
 been already observed :) " Think it not strange concerning the fiery 
 trial which is to try you : but rejoice that ye are partakers of the suffer- 
 ings of Christ ; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may likewise 
 rejoice with exceeding great joy," verse 12, &,c. 
 
 2. Hence we learn, that the first and great end of God's permitting 
 the temptations which bring heaviness on his children, is the trial o. 
 their faith, which is tried by these, even as gold by the fire. Now we 
 know, gold tried in the fire is purified thereby ; is separated from its 
 dross. And so is faith in the fire of temptation ; the more it is tried, the 
 more it is purified ; yea, and not only purified, but also strengthened, 
 confirmed, increased abundantly, by so many more proofs of the wisdom 
 and power, the love and faithfulness of God. This, then, to increase 
 our faith, is one gracious end of God's permitting those manifold 
 temptations. 
 
 3. They serve to try, to purify, to confirm, and increase that living 
 hope also, whereunto " the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ 
 hath begotten us again of his abundant mercy." Indeed our hope 
 cannot but increase, in the same proportion with our faith. On this 
 foundation it stands : believing in his name, living by faith in the Son 
 of God, we hope for, we have a confident expectation of, the glory which 
 shall be revealed ; and, consequently, whatever strengthens our faith, 
 increases our hope also. At the same time it increases our joy in the 
 Iord, which cannot but attend a hope full of immortality. In this view 
 the apostle exhorts believers in the other chapter ; " Rejoice, that ye 
 are partakers of the sufferings of Christ." On this very account, " happy 
 are you ; for the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you :" and 
 hereby ye are enabled, even in the midst of sufferings, to " rejoice with 
 joy unspeakable, and full of glory." 
 
 4. They rejoice the more, because the trials, which increase their 
 faith and hope, increase their love also ; both their gratitude to God for 
 all his mercies, and their good will to all mankind. Accordingly, the
 
 474 HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. [SERMON XLVII. 
 
 more deeply sensible they are of the loving kindness of God their Sa- 
 viour, the more is their heart inflamed with love to him who " first loved 
 js." The clearer and stronger evidence they have of the glory that shall 
 be revealed, the more do they love him who hath purchased it for them, 
 and "given them the earnest [thereof] in their hearts." And this, the 
 increase of their love, is another end of the temptations permitted to 
 come upon them. 
 
 5. Yet another is, their advance in holiness ; holiness of heart, and 
 holiness of conversation ; the latter naturally resulting from the former ; 
 for a good tree will bring forth good fruit. And all inward holiness is 
 the immediate fruit of the faith that worketh by love. By ihis the 
 blessed Spirit purifies the heart from pride, self will, passion ; from love 
 of the world, from foolish and hurtful desires, from vile and vain affec- 
 tions. Besides that, sanctified afflictions have, through the grace of God, 
 an immediate and direct tendency to holiness. Through the operation 
 of his Spirit, they humble, more and more, and abase the soul before 
 God. They calm and meeken cur turbulent spirit, tame the fierceness 
 of our nature, soften our obstinacy and self will, crucify us to the world, 
 and bring us to expect all our strength from, and to seek all our happi- 
 ness in God. 
 
 6. And all these terminate in that great end, that our faith, hope, 
 love, and holiness, may be found [if it doth not yet appear] unto praise, 
 [from God himself,] and honour, [from men and angels,] and glory," 
 assigned by the great Judge, to all that have endured unto the end. 
 And this will be assigned in that awful day to every man, " according 
 to his works ;" according to the work which God had wrought in his 
 heart, and the outward works which he has wrought for God ; and like- 
 wise according to what he had suffered : so that all these trials are 
 unspeakable gain. So many ways do these " light afflictions, which are 
 but for a moment, work out for us a far more exceeding and eternal 
 weight of glory!" 
 
 7. Add to this, the advantage which others may receive, by seeing 
 our behaviour under affliction. We find by experience, example fre- 
 quently makes a deeper impression upon us than precept. And what 
 examples have a stronger influence, not only on those who are partakers 
 of like precious faith, but even on them who have not known God, than 
 that of a soul calm and serene in the midst of storms; sorrowful, yet 
 always rejoicing ; meekly accepting whatever is the will of God, how- 
 ever grievous it may be to nature ; saying, in sickness and pain, " The 
 cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it 7" in loss or 
 want, " The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away ; blessed be 
 the name of the Lord !" 
 
 V. 1. 1 am to conclude with some inferences. And first, how wide 
 is the difference between darkness of soul, and heaviness ; which, never- 
 theless, are so generally confounded with each other, even by experi- 
 enced Christians ! Darkness, or the wilderness state, implies a total 
 loss of joy in the Holy Ghost: heaviness does not; in the midst of this 
 we may " rejoice with joy unspeakable." They that are in darkness 
 have lost the peace of God : they that are in heaviness have not ; so 
 far fiom it, that at the very time "peace," as well as "grace," may 
 " be multiplied" unto them. In the former, the love of God is waxed 
 cold, if it bu not utterly extinguished; in the latter it retains its full
 
 SERMON XLVII.] HEAVINESS THROUGH TEMPTATIONS. 475 
 
 force ; or, rather, increases daily. In these, faith itself, if not totally 
 lost, is, however, grievously decayed : their evidence and conviction of 
 things not seen, particularly of the pardoning love of God, is not so 
 clear or strong as in lime past ; and their trust in him is proportionably 
 weakened : those, though they see him not, yet have a clear, unshaken 
 confidence in God, and an abiding evidence of that love, whereby 
 all their sins are blotted out. So that as long as we can distinguish 
 faith from unbelief, hope from despair, peace from war, the love of God 
 from the love of the world, we may infallibly distinguish heaviness 
 from darkness ! 
 
 2. We may learn from hence, secondly, that there may be need of 
 heaviness, but there can be no need of darkness. There may be need 
 of our being in " heaviness for a season," in order to the ends above 
 recited ; at least, in this sense, as it is a natural result of those " mani- 
 fold temptations," which are needful to try and increase our faith, to 
 confirm and enlarge our hope, to purify our heart from all unholy tem- 
 pers, and to perfect us in love. And, by consequence, they are need- 
 ful in order to brighten our crown, and add to our eternal weight of 
 glory. But we cannot say, that darkness is needful in order to any of 
 these ends. It is no way conducive to them : the loss of faith, hope, 
 love, is surely neither conducive to holiness, nor to the increase of that 
 reward in heaven, which will he in proportion to our holiness on earth. 
 
 3. From the apostle's manner of speaking we may gather, thirdly, 
 that even heaviness is not always needful. " Now, for a season, if need 
 be :" so it is not needful for all persons ; nor for any person at all times. 
 God is able, he has both power and wisdom, to work, when he pleases, 
 the same work of grace in any soul, by other means. And in some 
 instances he does so ; he causes those, whom it pleaseth him, to go on 
 from strength to strength, even till they " perfect holiness in his fear," 
 with scarce any heaviness at all ; as having an absolute power over the 
 heart of man, and moving all the springs of it at his pleasure. But 
 these cases are rare : God generally sees good to try "acceptable men 
 in the furnace of affliction." So that manifold temptations and heavi- 
 ness, more or less, are usually the portion of his dearest children. 
 
 4. We ought, therefore, lastly, to watch and pray, and use our utmost 
 endeavours to avoid falling into darkness. But we need not be solicit- 
 ous how to avoid, so much as how to improve by heaviness. Our great 
 care should be, so to behave ourselves under it, so to wait upon the Lord 
 therein, that it may fully answer all the design of his love in permitting 
 it to come upon us ; that it may be a means of increasing our faith, of 
 confirming our hope, of perfecting us in all holiness. Whenever it 
 comes, let us have an eye to these gracious ends for which it is permit- 
 ted, and use all diligence, that we may not " make void the counsel of 
 God against ourselves." Let us earnestly work together with him, by 
 the grace which he is continually giving us, in " purifying ourselves, 
 from all pollution, both of flesh and spirit," and daily growing in the 
 grace of our Ix>rd Jesus Christ, till we are received into bis everlasting 
 kingdom !
 
 476 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. [SERMONS XLVIlI-LII. 
 
 SERMONS XLVIII-LII. 
 
 SUPPLEMENT TO THE CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 
 
 ANALYSIS. 
 
 1. Self-denial, or the control of our desires. 
 
 2. The Cure of Evil-speaking, or the right method of deal- 
 ing with those who have wronged us. 
 
 3. The Use of Money, or the right Christian relation to 
 property. 
 
 4. The Good Steward, or our relation to God regarding all 
 our endowments. 
 
 5. The Eeformation of Manners, or the Christian's relation 
 to public and wanton sin. 
 
 SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 This is a universal duty, and of the very essence of religion. Yet 
 mistakes are common with regard to the nature, extent, or necessity of 
 it. It is sometimes made so general as to be indefinite, or placed in such 
 particulars as to not apply to all men. 
 
 I. The nature of self-denial. Antinomian prejudices against it. It is 
 founded on the supremacy of the will of God. Hence applies even to 
 the angels in heaven. But it applies especially to man, whose will by 
 nature is averse from God. Self-denial is the subordination of our will 
 to that of God. Taking up our cross goes further, and not only denies 
 our will, but endures the positive pain. Sometimes we bear the cross 
 which we do not willingly take up. It is not a disciplining of ourselves, 
 as scourging and such like practices ; but the embracing God's will as 
 revealed in his word, or manifest in his Providence. 
 
 II. The lack of this is the common cause which prevents our being 
 fully Christ's disciples. The convicted sinner is unwilling to deny him- 
 self of sin, hence loses his convictions ; or if they remain, he finds no 
 peace. The child of God has neglected to deny some pleasing sin, and 
 hence has grieved the Holv Spirit ; or he has not taken up his cross, 
 using all the means, and devoting himself entirely to God, hence he 
 does not go on to perfection. 
 
 III. Hence we learn the mistake of those who oppose self-denial ; 
 the cause of spiritual delusion ; the importance of making this Chris- 
 tian duty prominent ; and the danger of neglecting it. 
 
 THE CURE OF EVIL-SPEAKING. 
 
 Evil-speaking, distinguished from lying or slandering. The prevalence 
 of this sin, and difficulty of avoiding it. Danger of being betrayed by 
 holy indignation against sin. Our Lord's method. 
 
 I. Private expostulation, in the spirit of love, in person, by a trusty 
 messenger, or by letter. This first step absolutely imperative, except 
 when the life, property, or important interests of others are at stake. 
 
 II. Expostulation in the presence of witnesses. These must be care- 
 fully chosen. Method of proceeding. No permission to neglect this 
 step.
 
 SERMONS XLVIII-L1I.] CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 477 
 
 III. Appeal to the Church. In its proper officers. This step cannot 
 be neglected, and must come in proper order. 
 
 Exhortation to walk by this rule and put away all evil-speaking. 
 
 THE USE OF MONEY. 
 
 The context of our Lord's teaching. The importance of the subject so 
 presented. The irrational treatment of the subject by heathen poets 
 and orators. The important functions of money as an instrument of 
 doing good. Hence the following rules : 
 
 I. Gain all you can. Without injury to your life, or health, or soul ; 
 or to your neighbour in body or soul. Gain all you can by honesty, 
 industry, and good sense. 
 
 II. Save all you can. Do not waste on desires of the flesh, or the 
 eye, or on pride ; and if not on yourself, no more on your children ; nor 
 should you leave it to them to waste. 
 
 III. Give all you can. 1. Provide what is needful for yourself, 
 conscientiously as before God. 2. For all those who depend upon you, 
 including all in your employ. 3. Give according to good judgment all 
 that remains to God. Remember that not a tenth, or a fifth, or a third, 
 or a half, but all is God's. 
 
 THE GOOD STEWARD. 
 
 The suitability of this representation of the relation of man to God. 
 
 I. In what respects are we God's stewards ? The steward is not a 
 proprietor, but only in trust with goods to be used under the Master's 
 direction. God hath made us stewards : 
 
 I. Of our immortal souls with their powers and faculties. 2. Of our 
 bodies, with their senses, speech, members, &c. 3. Of worldly goods. 
 And 4. Of various talents, as health, influence, time, and especially 
 divine grace. 
 
 II. The short and uncertain duration of our charge. Death dis- 
 possesses us of worldly goods, of our bodies with all their faculties, of 
 many mixed talents, and though our souls continue, our stewardship of 
 them has ceased. 
 
 III. The account to be rendered. Once for all, at the general judg- 
 ment. Particular, of all that hath been committed to our trust. 
 Followed by eternal sentence. 
 
 IV. Hence we learn : The preciousness of time. That no work of life 
 is indifferent. That there can be no works of supererogation. That we 
 should walk in wisdom and fear. 
 
 THE REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 
 
 After speaking of the importance of combination and organization io 
 all good works, Mr. Wesley 
 
 I. Recites the history of this society. 
 
 II. He shows the excellency of their design. This is to make an open 
 stand against ungodliness and unrighteousness thus : 
 
 1. Preventing dishonour to God's name. 2. Promoting the good of 
 the victims of sin ; and 3. Of the entire community. 
 
 It is objected that this is not our concern, but that of the officers of 
 the law. But they need to be stirred up to their duty. That the design 
 is impracticable. Not with God. That this is not the way to retorm 
 sinners. It at least does outward good, and very much good has been 
 done. 
 
 III. What manner of men should these be ? Not merely rich, or 
 numerous, or harmless. But men of faith, courage, patience, steadiness, 
 love, and meekness.
 
 478 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. [SERMONS XLVIII-LII. 
 
 IV. It should be pursued with a single motive to the glory of God 
 and the good of man ; in the spirit described above ; in simplicity, 
 prudence, and without triumph over the sinner. 
 
 V. Exhortation and advice to the members of the society. 
 
 INTRODUCTORY NOTES. 
 
 While carefully guarding against the dangerous elements of Mr. Law's 
 mysticism, Mr. Wesley was ready to adopt those elements which were in 
 harmony with his common-sense views of the ethical teachings of God s 
 word. Self-denial was very prominent among these as may be seen from 
 the treatise on Christian perfection which devotes four chapters to this 
 subject. The texts here, as in Mr. Wesley's previous ethical sermons, are 
 all selected from our Lord's teachings. The principles of the forty- 
 ninth sermon have been thoroughly incoporated into the Discipline of all 
 the VY^sleyan churches. The fiftieth sermon takes the very highest 
 ground in regard to the rights and responsibility of property, and is 
 opposed as much to communism as to selfish profligacy. The fifty-first 
 sermon introduces into the Christian ethical life all the intense motive 
 power of conscience and of future judgment. 
 
 The subjects of the fiftieth and fifty-first sermons were also favourite 
 topics of discourse with Mr. Law, and to them he devotes several chap- 
 ters in his Serious Call to a Holy Life. " We should be religiously exact 
 in the use of our estates: First, because the manner of using our money, 
 or spending our estate, enters so far into the business of every day, and 
 makes so great a part of our common life, that our common life must be 
 much of the same nature, as our common way of spending our estate." 
 " Secondly, another great reason for devoting all our estate to right uses, 
 is this, because it is capable of being used to the most excellent purposes, 
 and is so great a meand of doing good." " If a man had eyes, and hands, 
 arid feet that he could give to those who wanted them ; if he should 
 either lock them up in a chest, or please himself with some needless or 
 ridiculous use of them, instead of giving them to his brethren who were 
 blind and lame, should we not justly reckon him an inhuman wretch 1 " 
 Many such extracts might be made from Mr. Law's works quite as closely 
 parallel as these with the views advanced by Mr. Wesley in these 
 sermons. They establish the fact to which we have before, more than 
 once, called attention, that Mr. Wesley introduced into his view of 
 Christian perfection all the ethical principles of the English mystics. 
 The devout spirit, the self-denying consecration, the perfection of inward 
 motive, were all no less essential in Wesley's view than in that of Mr*. 
 Law. And to Law and his predecessors in the English church, Meth- 
 odism owes a debt for their very important contribution to her theology. 
 But both Law and Wesley owe all to that grand fountain of Christian 
 ethics, our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 The fifty-second sermon presents a duty almost lost sight of in the 
 good-natured easy going religion of the present day. The examples and 
 precepts .both of the Old Testament and of the New impress upon us 
 the duty of manly, courageous, public spirited opposition to all public 
 evil. 
 
 Tn the same volume with the last of these sermons we have included 
 in Mr. Wesley's edition, a biographical sermon on the death of the Rev. 
 George Whitetield, and also " Thoughts on Dress," and some extracts 
 from Mr. Law. These, however, are not supposed to be included in the 
 legal designation of the Wesleyan standards, " The four volumes of 
 Sermons ;" and we therefore conclude with the fifty-second sermon.
 
 SERMON XLVIII.J SELF DENIAL. 479 
 
 SERMON XLVIIL Self Denial. 
 
 "And lie said to them all, if any man will come after me, let him deny himseli 
 and take up his cross daily, and follow me," Luke ix, 23. 
 
 1. IT has been frequently imagined, that the direction here given 
 related chiefly, if not wholly, to the apostles ; at least, to the Christiana 
 of the first ages, or those in a state of persecution. But this is agriev 
 ous mistake : for although our blessed Lord is here directing his dis- 
 course more immediately to his apostles, and those other disciples who 
 attended him in the days of his flesh ; yet, in them he speaks to us, and 
 to all mankind, without any exception or limitation. The very reason 
 of the thing puts it beyond dispute, that the duty which is here enjoin- 
 ed is not peculiar to them, or to the Christians of the early ages. It no 
 more regards any particular order of men, or particular time, than any 
 particular country. No : it is of the most universal nature, respecting 
 all times, and all persons, yea, and all things ; not meats and drinks 
 only, and things pertaining to the senses. The meaning is, " if any 
 man," of whatever rank, station, circumstances, in any nation, in any 
 age of the world, " will" effectually " come after me, let him deny him- 
 self" in all things ; let him " take up his cross," of whatever kind ; 
 yea, and that " daily ; and follow me." 
 
 2. The denying ourselves, and the taking up our cross, in the full 
 extent of the expression, is not a thing of small concern : it is not expe- 
 dient only, as are some of the circumstantials of religion ; but it is abso 
 lutely, indispensably necessary, either to our becoming or continuing 
 his disciples. It is absolutely necessary, in the very nature of the thing, 
 to our coming after him, and following him ; insomuch that, as far as 
 we do not practise it, we are not his disciples. If we do not continu- 
 ally deny ourselves, we do not learn of him, but of other masters. II 
 we do not take up our cross daily, we do not come after him, but after 
 the world, or the prince of the world, or our own fleshly mind. If we 
 are not walking in the way of the cross, we are not following him, we are 
 not treading in his steps, but going back from, or at least wide of him. 
 
 3. It is for this reason, that so many ministers of Christ, in almost 
 every age and nation, particularly since the reformation of the church 
 from the innovations and corruptions gradually crept into it, have wrote 
 and spoke so largely on this important duty, both in their public dis- 
 courses and private exhortations. This induced them to disperse abroad 
 many tracts upon the subject ; and some in our own nation. They 
 knew both from the oracles of God, and from the testimony of their 
 own experience, how impossible it was not to deny our Master, unless 
 we will deny ourselves ; and how vainly we attempt to follow him thai 
 was crucified, unless we take up our own cross daily. 
 
 4. But may not this very consideration make it reasonable to inquire, 
 if so much has been said and wrote on the subject already, what need 
 is there to say or write any more ? I ansv/er, there are no inconsidera- 
 ble numbers, even of people fearing God, who have not had the oppor- 
 tunity either of hearing what has been spoke, or reading what has been 
 wrote upon it. And, perhaps, if they had read much of what has been 
 wri*ten, they would not have been much profited. Many who have 
 wrote, (some of them large volumes,) do by no means appear to huv
 
 480 SELF DENIAL. [SERMON XLVIIT. 
 
 understood the subject. Either they had imperfect views of the very 
 nature of it, (and then they could never explain it to others,) or they 
 were unacquainted with the due extent of it ; they did not see how 
 exceeding broad this command is ; or they were not sensible of the 
 absolute, the indispensable necessity of it. Others speak of it in so 
 dark, so perplexed, so intricate, so mystical a manner, as if they de- 
 signed rather to conceal it from the vulgar, than to explain it to common 
 readers. Others speak admirably well, with great clearness and strength, 
 on the necessity of self denial ; but then they deal in generals only, 
 without coming to particular instances, and so are of little use to the 
 bulk of mankind, to men of ordinary capacity and education. And if 
 some of them do descend to particulars, it is to those particulars only 
 which do not affect the generality of men, since they seldom, if ever, 
 occur in common life ; such as the enduring imprisonment, or tor- 
 tures ; the giving up, in a literal sense, their houses or lands, their 
 husbands or wives, children, or life itself; to none of which we are 
 called, nor are likely to be, unless God should permit times of public 
 persecution to return. In the mean time, I know of no writer in the 
 English tongue, who has described the nature of self denial in plain 
 and intelligible terms, such as lie level with common understandings, 
 and applied it to those little particulars which daily occur in common 
 life. A discourse of this kind is wanted still; and it is wanted the 
 more, because in every stage of the spiritual life, although there is a 
 variety of particular hinderances of our attaining grace, or growing 
 therein, yet are all resolvable into these general ones, either we do 
 not deny ourselves, or we do not take up our cross. 
 
 In order to supply this defect in some degree, I shall endeavour to 
 whow, first, what it is for a man to deny himself, and what to take up 
 his cross ; and, secondly, that if a man be not fully Christ's disciple, it 
 is always owing to the want of this. 
 
 I. 1. I shall, first, endeavour to show, what it is for a man to " deny 
 himself, and take up his cross daily." This is a point, which is, of 
 all others, most necessary to be considered and thoroughly understood, 
 even on this account, that it is, of all others, most opposed by numerous 
 and powerful enemies. All our nature must certainly rise up against 
 this, even in its own defence ; the world, consequently, the men who 
 take nature, not grace, for their guide, abhor the very sound of it. And 
 the great enemy of our souls, well knowing its importance, cannot but 
 move every stone against it. But this is not all : even those, who have in 
 some measure shaken off the yoke of the devil, who have experienced, 
 especially of late years, a real work of grace in their hearts, yet are no 
 friends to this grand doctrine of Christianity, though it is so peculiarly 
 insisted on by their Master. Some of them are as deeply and totally 
 ignorant concerning it, as if there was not one word about it in the 
 Bible. Others are farther off still, having unawares imbibed strong 
 prejudices against it. These they have received partly from outside 
 Christians, men of a fair speech and behaviour, who want nothing of 
 godliness but the power, nothing of religion, but the spirit ; and partly 
 from those who did once, if they do not now, " taste of the powers of 
 the world to come." But are there any of these who do not both prac- 
 tise self denial themselves, and recommend it to others ? You are little 
 acquainted with mankind, if you doubt of this. There are whole bodies
 
 SERMON XLVIII-] SELF DENIAL. 
 
 of men, who only do not declare war against it. To go no farther than 
 London : look upon the whole body of predestinarians, who, by the free 
 mercy of God, have lately been called out of the darkness of nature into 
 the light of faith. Are they patterns of self denial ? How few of them 
 even profess to practise it at all ! How few of them recommend it 
 themselves, or are pleased with them that do ! Rather, do they not 
 continually represent it in the most odious colours, as if it were seeking 
 " salvation by works," or seeking " to establish our own righteous- 
 ness ?" And how readily do Antinomians of all kinds, from the smooth 
 Moravian, to the boisterous, foul-mouthed ranter, join the cry, with theii 
 silly, unmeaning cant of legality, and preaching the law ! Therefore 
 you are in constant danger of being wheedled, hectored, or ridiculed 
 out of this important gospel doctrine, either by false teachers, or false 
 brethren, (more or less beguiled from the simplicity of the gospel,) il 
 you are not deeply grounded therein. Let fervent prayer then go before, 
 accompany, and follow, what you are now about to read, that it may be 
 written in your heart by the finger of God, so as never to be erased. 
 
 2. But what is self denial ] Wherein are we to deny ourselves ? And 
 whence does the necessity of this arise ? I answer, the will of God is 
 the supreme, unalterable rule for every intelligent creature ; equally 
 binding every angel in heaven, and every man upon earth. Nor can it 
 be otherwise : this is the natural, necessary result of the relation between 
 creatures and their Creator. But if the will of God be our one rule ol 
 action in every thing, great and small, it follows, by undeniable conse- 
 quence, that we are not to do our own will in any thing. Here, there- 
 fore, we see at once the nature, with the ground and reason, of sell 
 denial. We see the nature of self denial : it is the denying or refusing 
 to follow our own will, from a conviction that the will of God is the 
 only rule of action to us. And we see the reason thereof, because 
 we are creatures ; because " it is he that hath made us, and not we 
 ourselves." 
 
 3. This reason for self denial must hold, even with regard to the 
 angels of God in heaven; and with regard to man innocent and holy, 
 as he came out of the hands of his Creator. But a farther reason for it 
 arises from the condition wherein all men are since the fall. We are all 
 now " shapen in wickedness, and in sin did our mother conceive us." 
 Our nature is altogether corrupt, in every power and faculty. And our 
 will, depraved equally with the rest, is wholly bent to indulge our natu- 
 ral corruption. On the other hand, it is the will of God, that we resist 
 and counteract that corruption, not at some times, or in some things 
 only, but at all times, and in all things. Here, therefore, is a farther 
 ground for constant and universal self denial. 
 
 4. To illustrate this a little farther. The will of God is a path lead- 
 ing straight to God. The will of man, which once ran parallel with it 
 is now another path, not only different from it, but, in our present state, 
 directly contrary to it : it leads from God. If, therefore, we walk in 
 the one, we must necessarily quit the other. W T e cannot walk in both. 
 Indeed, a man of faint heart and feeble hands, may go in two ways, 
 one after the ether. But he cannot walk in two ways at the same time : 
 he cannot, at one and the same time, follow his own will, and follow the 
 will of God : he must choose the one or the other ; denying God's will, 
 to follow his own ; or denying himself, to follow the will of God.
 
 482 SELF DENIAL. [SERMON XLVIII. 
 
 5. Now it is undoubtedly pleasing, for the time, to follow our own 
 will, by indulging, in any instance that offers, the corruption of our 
 nature : but by following it. in any thing, we so far strengthen the per- 
 verseness of our will ; and by indulging it, we continually increase the 
 corruption of our nature. So. by the food which is agreeable to the 
 palate we often increase a bodily disease : it gratifies the taste, but it 
 inflames the disorder: it brings pleasure, but it also brings death. 
 
 6. On the whole, then, to deny ourselves, is to deny our own will, 
 where it does not fall in with the will of God ; and that however pleasing 
 it may be. It is, to deny ourselves any pleasure which does not spring 
 from, and lead to, God : that is, in effect, to refuse going out of our way, 
 though into a pleasant, flowery path ; to refuse what we know to be 
 deadly poison, though agreeable to the taste. 
 
 7. And every one that would follow Christ, that would be his real 
 disciple, must not only deny himself, but take up his cross also. A 
 cross is any thing contrary to our will, any thing displeasing to our 
 nature. So that taking up our cross goes a little farther than denying 
 ourselves; it rises a little higher, and is a more difficult task to flesh 
 and blood ; it being more easy to forego pleasure, than to endure pain. 
 
 8. Now in running " the race that is set before us," according to the 
 will of God, there is often a cross lying in the way ; that is, something 
 which is not only not joyous, but grievous ; something which is con- 
 trary to our will, which is displeasing to our nature. What then is to 
 be done ? The choice is plain : either we must take up our cross, or we 
 must turn aside from the way of God, " from the holy commandment 
 delivered to us ;" if we do net stop altogether, or turn back to everlast- 
 ing perdition ! 
 
 9. In order to the healing of that corruption, that evil disease, which 
 every man brings with him into the world, it is often needful to pluck 
 out, as it were, a right eye, to cut off a right hand ; so painful is either 
 the thing itself, which must be done, or the only means of doing it ; 
 the parting, suppose, with a foolish desire, with an inordinate affection ; 
 or a separation from the object of it, without which it can never be 
 extinguished. In the former kind, the tearing away such a desire or 
 affection, when it is deeply rooted in the soul, is often like the piercing 
 of a sword, yea, like " the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit, the 
 joints and marrow." The Lord then sits upon the soul as a refiner's 
 fire, to burn up all the dross thereof. And this is a cross indeed; it 
 is essentially painful ; it must be so, in the very nature of the thing. 
 The soul cannot be thus torn asunder, it cannot pass through the fire, 
 without pain. 
 
 10. In the latter kind, the means to heal a sin-sick soul, to cure a 
 foolish desire, an inordinate affection, are often painful, not in the 
 nature of the thing, but from the nature of the disease. So when our 
 Lord said to the rich young man, "Go, sell that thou hast, and give to 
 Ihe poor," (as well knowing, this was the only means of healing his 
 covetousness,) the very thought of it gave him so much pain, that " he 
 went away sorrowful ;" choosing rather to part with his hope of heaven, 
 than his possessions on earth. This was a burden he could not consent 
 to lift, a cross he would not take up. And in the one kind or the other, 
 every follower of Christ will surely have need to " take up his cross 
 daily."
 
 SERMON XLVIII.] SELF DENIAL. 483 
 
 11. The " taking up," differs a little from " bearing his cross." We 
 are ihen properly said to " bear our cross," when we endure what is 
 laid upon us without our choice, with meekness and resignation. 
 Whereas, we do not properly ' take up our cross," but when we volun 
 tarily suffer what is in our power to avoid ; when we willingly embrace 
 the will of God, though contrary to our own ; when we choose what it- 
 painful, because it is the will of our wise and gracious Creator. 
 
 12. And thus it behoves every disciple of Christ to take up, as well 
 as to bear, his cross. Indeed, in one sense, it is not his alone ; it is 
 common to him, and many others ; seeing there is no temptation befalls 
 any man, ei py avdpwmvocr, " but such as is common to men ;" such as 
 is incident and adapted to their common nature and situation in the 
 present world. But, in another sense, as it is considered with all its 
 circumstances, it is his; peculiar to himself: it is prepared of God for 
 him ; it is given by God to him, as a token of his love. And if he 
 receives it as such, and, after using such means to remove the pressure 
 as Christian wisdom directs, lies as clay in the potter's hand ; it is dis- 
 posed and ordered by God for his good, both with regard to the quality 
 of it, and in respect to its quantity and degree, its duration, and every 
 other circumstance. 
 
 13. In all this, we may easily conceive our blessed Lord to act as the 
 physician of our souls, not merely " for his [own] pleasure, but for our 
 profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness." If, in searching our 
 wounds, he puts us to pain, it is only in order to heal them. He cuts 
 away what is putrefied or unsound, in order to preserve the sound part. 
 And if we freely choose the loss of a limb, rather than the whole body 
 should perish ; how much more should we choose, figuratively, to cut 
 ofFa right hand, rather than the whole soul should be cast into hell ! 
 
 14. We see plainly then both the nature and ground of taking up our 
 cross. It does not imply the disciplining ourselves; (as some speak:) 
 the literally tearing our own flesh ; the wearing hair cloth, or iron girdles, 
 or any thing else that would impair our bodily health ; (although we 
 know not what allowance God may make for those who act thus through 
 involuntary ignorance ;) but the embracing the will of God, though con- 
 trary to our own ; the choosing wholesome, though brtter medicines : 
 the freely accepting temporary pain, of whatever kind, and in whatever 
 degree, when it is either essentially or accidentally necessary to eternal 
 pleasure. 
 
 II. 1. I am, secondly, to show, that it is always owing to the want 
 either of self denial, or 'taking up his cross, that any man does not 
 thoroughly follow him, is not fully a disciple of Christ. 
 
 It is true, this may be partly owing, in some cases, to the want of the 
 means of grace ; of hearing the true word of God spoken with power ; 
 of the sacraments, or of Christian fellowship. But where none of these 
 is wanting, the great hinderance of our receiving or growing in the 
 grace of God, is always the want of denying ourselves, or taking up 
 our cross. 
 
 2. A few instances will make this plain. A man hears the word 
 
 which is able to save his soul : he is well pleased with what he hears, 
 
 .acknowledges the truth, and is a little affected by it; yet he remains 
 
 " dead in trespasses and sins," senseless and unawakened. Why is this 9 
 
 Because he will not part with his bosom sin, though be now knows it is
 
 484 SELF DKNIAL. [SERMON XLVIII 
 
 an abomination to the Lord. He came to hear, full of lust and unhul} 
 desire ; and he will not part with them. Therefore no deep impression 
 is made upon him, but his foolish heart is still hardened : that is, he is 
 still senseless and unawakened, because he will not deny himself. 
 
 3. Suppose he begins to awake out of sleep, and his eyes are a liule 
 opened, why are they so quickly closed again? Why does he again sink 
 into the sleep of death 1 Because he again yields to his bosom sin ; he 
 drinks again of the pleasing poison. Therefore it is impossible that any 
 lasting impression should be made, upon his heart : that is, he relapses 
 into his fatal insensibility, because he will not deny himself. 
 
 4. But this is not the case with all. We have many instances of 
 those, who, when once awakened, sleep no more. The impressions 
 once received, do not wear away : they are not only deep, but lasting. 
 And yet, many of these have not found what they seek : they mourn, 
 and yet are not comforted. Now, why is this ? It is because they do 
 not " bring forth fruits meet for repentance ;" because they do not, 
 according to the giace they have received, "cease from evil, and do 
 good." They do not cease from the easily besetting sin, the sin of 
 their constitution, of their education, or of their profession ; or they ornit 
 doing the good they may, and know they ought to do, because of some 
 disagreeable circumstances attending it : that is, they do not attain 
 faith, because they will not " deny themselves," or " take up their 
 cross." 
 
 5. But this man did receive " the heavenly gift ;" he did " taste of 
 the powers of the world to come ;" he saw " the light of the glory of 
 God, in the face of Jesus Christ ;" the " peace which passeth all under- 
 standing" did rule his heart and mind ; and " the love of God was shed 
 abroad [therein] by the Holy Ghost which was given unto him ;" yet 
 he is now weak as another man ; he again relishes the things of earth, 
 and has more taste for the things which are seen than for those which 
 are not seen ; the eye of his understanding is closed again, so that he 
 cannot " see him that is invisible ;" his love is waxed cold, and the 
 peace of God no longer rules in his heart. And no marvel ; for he has 
 again given place to the devil, and grieved the Holy Spirit of God. He 
 has turned again unto folly, to some pleasing sin, if not in outward act, 
 yet in heart. He has given place to pride, or anger, or desire, to self 
 will, or stubbornness. Or he did not stir up the gift of God which was 
 in him ; he gave way to spiritual sloth, and would not be at the pains 
 of " praying always, and watching thereunto with all perseverance :" 
 that is, he made shipwreck of the faith, for want of self denial, and 
 taking up his cross daily. 
 
 6. But perhaps he has not made shipwreck of the faith : he has still 
 a measure of the Spirit of adoption, which continues to witness with his 
 spirit that he is a child of God. However he is not " going on to per- 
 fection ;" he is not, as once, hungering and thirsting after righteous- 
 ness, panting after the whole image and full enjoyment of God, as the 
 hart after the water brook. Rather, he is weary and faint in his mind, 
 and, as it were, hovering between life and death. And why is he thus, 
 but because he hath forgotten the word of God, " By works is faith 
 made perfect ?" He does not use all diligence in working the works of 
 God. Ho does not " continue instant in prayer," private as well as 
 public ; in communicating, hearing, meditation, fasting, and religious
 
 SERMON XLVIII.] SELF DENIAL. 48- r ) 
 
 conference. If he does net wholly neglect some of these means, at least 
 he does not use them all, with his might. Or he is not zeaious of works 
 of charity, as well as works of piety. He is not merciful after his power 
 with the full ability which God giveth. He does not fervently serve the 
 Lord by doing good to men, in every kind, and in every degree he can, 
 to their souls as well as their bodies. And why does he not continue 
 in prayer ? Because in times of dryness it is pain and grief unto him 
 He does not continue in hearing at all opportunities, because sleep \ a 
 sweet; or it is cold, or dark, or rainy. But why does he not continue 
 in works of mercy ? Because he cannot feed the hungry, or clothe the 
 nuked, unless he retrench the expense of his own apparel, or use cheaper 
 and less pleasing food. Besides which, the visiting the sick, or those 
 that are in prison, is attended with many disagreeable circumstances. 
 And so are most works of spiritual mercy, reproof in particular. He 
 would reprove his neighbour, but sometimes shame, sometimes fear, 
 comes between : for he may expose himself, not only to ridicule, but to 
 heavier inconveniences too. Upon these and the like considerations, 
 he omits one or moie, if not all works of mercy and piety. Therefore, 
 his faith is not made perfect, neither can he grow in grace ; namely, 
 because he will not deny himself, and take up his daily cross. 
 
 7. It manifestly follows, that it is always owing to the want either ol 
 self denial, or taking up his cross, that a man does not thoroughly fol- 
 low his Lord, that he is not fully a disciple of Christ. It is owing tc 
 thiri, that he who is dead in sin, does not awake, though the trumpet be 
 blown ; that he who begins to awake out of sleep, yet has no deep or 
 lasting conviction ; that he who is deeply and lastingly convinced of 
 sin, does not attain remission of sins ; that some who have received this 
 heavenly gift, retain it not, but make shipwreck of the faith ; and that 
 others, if they do not draw back to perdition, yet are weary and faint in 
 their mind, and do not reach the mark of the prize of the high calling 
 of God in Christ Jesus. 
 
 III. 1. How easily may we learn hence, that they know neither the 
 Scripture nor the power of God, who di-ectly or indirectly, in public or 
 in private, oppose the doctrine of self denial and the daily cross. How 
 totally ignorant are these men of a hundred particular texts, as well as 
 of the general tenor of the whole oracles of God ? And how entirely 
 unacquainted must they be with true, genuine, Christian experience ; of 
 the manner wherein the Holy Spirit ever did, and does at this day, work 
 in the souls of men ! They may talk indeed very loudly and confidently, 
 (a natural fruit of ignorance,) as though they were the only men who 
 understood either the word of God, or the experience of his children ; 
 but their words are, in every sense, vain words; they are weighed in 
 the balance, and found wanting. 
 
 2. We may learn from hence, secondly, the real cause why not onl} 
 man} particular persons, but even bodies of men. who were once burn- 
 ing and shining lights, have now lost both their light and heat. If they 
 did not hate and oppose, they at least lightly esteemed this precious 
 gospel doctrine. If they did not boldly say, Abncgationem omnem pru- 
 culcamus, intcrnecioni damns; "We trample all self denial under foot, 
 \ve devote it to destruction ;" yet they neither valued it according to its 
 high importance, nor took any pains in practising it. Hanc mystici 
 di>'-<iit t said that great, bad man : " The mystic writers teach self
 
 486 CUBE OF EVIL SPEAKING. [SERMON XL1X. 
 
 denial." No ; the inspired writers ! And God teaches it to every soul, 
 who is willing to hear his voice ! 
 
 3. We may learn from hence, thirdly, that it is not enough for a 
 minister of the gospel not to oppose the doctrine of self denial, to say 
 nothing concerning it. Nay, he cannot satisfy his duty, by saying a 
 little: in favour of it. If he would indeed be pure from the blood of all 
 .lien, he must speak of it frequently and largely ; he must inculcate the 
 necessity of it in the clearest and strongest manner; he must press it 
 with his might, on all persons, at all times, and in all places; laying 
 " line upon line, line upon line, precept upon precept, precept upon 
 precept :" So shall he have a conscience void of offence ; so shall he 
 save his ov/n soul and those that hear him. 
 
 4. Lastly : See that you apply this, every one of you, to your own soul. 
 Meditate upon it when you are in secret : ponder it in your heart ! Take 
 care not only to understand it thoroughly, but to remember it to your 
 lives' end ! Cry unto the strong for strength, that you may no sooner 
 understand, than enter upon the practice of it ! Delay not the time, but 
 practise it immediately, from this very hour ! Practise it universally, on 
 every one of the thousand occasions, which occur in all circumstances 
 oflife ! Practise it daily, without intermission, from the hour you first 
 set your hand to the plough, and enduring therein to the end, till your 
 spirit returns to God ! 
 
 SERMON XLIX. The Cwre of Evil Speaking. 
 
 " If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee 
 und him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. 
 
 " But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the 
 mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. 
 
 " And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church : but if he neglect 
 to hear the church, let him be unto thee as a heaUicn man and a publican " 
 Matt, xviii, 15-17. 
 
 1. " SPEAK evi! of no man," says the great apostle : as plain a com- 
 mand as, " Thou shall do no murder." But who, even among Chris- 
 tians, regards this command 1 Yea, how few are there, that so much as 
 understand it ? What is evil speaking ? It is not, as some suppose, the 
 flame with lying or slandering. All a man says may be as true as the 
 Bible ; and yet the saying of it is evil speaking. For evil speaking is 
 neither more nor less than speaking evil of an absent person ; relating 
 something evil, which was really done or said by one that is not present 
 when it is related. Suppose having seen a man drui.k, or heard him 
 curse or swear, I tell this when he is absent ; it is evil speaking. In our 
 language, this is also by an extremely proper name, termed backbiting. 
 Nor is there any material difference between this and what we usually 
 style tale bearing. If the tale be delivered in a soft and quiet manner, 
 (perhaps with expressions of good will to the person, and of hope that 
 things may not be quite so bad,) then we call jl whispering. But in 
 whatever manner it be done, the thing is the same ; the same iu sub- 
 stance, if not in circumstance. Still it is evil speaking ; still this com- 
 mand, " Speak evil of no man," is trampled under foot; if we relate 
 to another the fault of a third person when he is not present to answer 
 foi himself.
 
 SERMON XLIX. | CURE OF EVIL SPEAKING. 487 
 
 2. And how extremely common is tnis sin, among all orders and 
 degrees of men ! How do high and low, rich and poo-, wise and foolish, 
 learned and unlearned, run into it continually ! Persons who differ from 
 each other in all things else, nevertheless agree in this. How few are 
 there that can testify before God, " I arn clear in this matter ; I have 
 always set a watch before my mouth, and kept the door of my lip? I" 
 What conversation do you hear of any considerable length, whereof evil 
 speaking is not one ingredient 'I And that even among persons, who, in 
 the general, have the fear of God before their eyes, and do really desiro 
 to have a conscience void of offence, towards God and towards man. 
 
 3. And the very commonness of this sin makes it difficult to be 
 avoided. As we are encompassed with it on every side, so, if we are 
 not deeply sensible of the danger, and continually guarding against it, 
 we are liable to be carried away by the torrent. In this instance, almost 
 the whole of mankind is, as it were, in a conspiracy against us. And 
 their example steals upon us, we know not how ; so that we insensibly 
 slide into the imitation of it. Besides, it is recommended from within, 
 as well as from without. There is scarce any wrong temper in the 
 mind of man, which may not be occasionally gratified by it, and conse- 
 quently incline us to it. It gratifies our pride to relate those faults of 
 others, whereof we think ourselves not to be guilty. Anger, resent- 
 ment, and all unkind tempers are indulged, by speaking against those 
 with whom we are displeased ; and in many cases, by reciting the sing 
 of their neighbours, men indulge their own foolish and hurtful desires. 
 
 4. Evil speaking is the more difficult to be avoided, because it fre- 
 quently attacks us in disguise. We speak thus, out of a noble, generous, 
 (it is well if we do not say) holy indignation against these vile creatures ' 
 We commit sin, from mere hatred of sin ! We serve the devil, out of 
 pure zeal for God ! It is merely in 'order to punish the wicked, that we 
 run into this wickedness. " So do the passions" (as one speaks) " all 
 justify themselves," and palm sin upon us, under the veil of holiness ! 
 
 5. But is there no way to avoid the snare 1 Unquestionably there is. 
 Our blessed Lord has marked out a plain way for his followers, in the 
 words above recited. None, who warily and steadily walk in this path, 
 will ever fall into evil speaking. This rule is either an infallible pre- 
 ventive, or a certain cure of it. In the preceding verses, our Lord had 
 said, " Wo to the world because of offences ;" unspeakable misery 
 will arise in the world, from this baleful fountain : (offences, are all 
 things whereby any one is turned out of, or hindered in, the ways of 
 God :) " For it must be that offences come:" such is the nature of 
 things; such the wickedness, folly and weakness of mankind: "But 
 wo to that man," miserable is that man, "by whom the offence com- 
 eth. 1 ' " Wherefore, if thy hand, thy foot, thine eye, cause thee to offend;" 
 if the most dear enjoyment, the most beloved and useful person, turn 
 thee out of, or hinder thee in, the way, " pluck it out," cut them off, 
 nd cast them from thee. But how can we avoid giving offence to some, 
 and being offended at others 1 Especially, suppose they are quite in the 
 wrong, and we see it with our own eyes 1 Our Lord here teaches us how : 
 He lays down a sure method of avoiding offences, and evil speaking 
 together. " If thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him 
 of his fault between thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast 
 gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee
 
 488 CURE OF EVIL SPEAKING. [SEEMON XLIX. 
 
 one or IMIO more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every 
 word may he established. And if lie shall neglect to hear them, tell it 
 unto the church : hut if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto 
 thee as a heathen man and a publican." 
 
 1. 1. First, " If thy brother shall sin against thee, go and tell him of his 
 fault between thee and him alone." The most literal way of following 
 this first rule, where it is practicable, is the best : therefore if thou seest 
 with thine own eyes a brother, a fellow Christian, commit undeniable 
 sin, or nearest it with thine own ears, so that it is impossible for thee to 
 doubt the fact, then thy part is plain : take the very first opportunity 
 of going to him ; and if thou canst have access, " tell him of his fault 
 between thee and him alone." Indeed great care is to be taken that 
 this is done in a right spirit, and in a right manner. The success of a 
 reproof greatly depends on the spirit wherein it is given. Be not, there- 
 fore, wanting in earnest prayer to God, that it may be given in a lowly 
 spirit ; with a deep, piercing conviction, that it is God alone who maketh 
 thee to differ, and that if any good be done by what is now spoken, God 
 doeth it himself. Pray that ho would^ guard thy heart, enlighten thy 
 mmd, and direct thy tongue to such words as he may please to bless. 
 See that thou speak in a meek as well as a lowly spirit ; for the " wrath 
 of man worketh not the righteousness of God." If he be " overtaken 
 in a fault," he can no otherwise be restored, than " in the spirit of meek- 
 ness." If he opposes the truth, yet he cannot be brought to the know- 
 ledge thereof, but by gentleness. Still speak in a spirit of tender love, 
 ' which many waters cannot quench." If love is not conquered, it 
 conquers all things. Who can tell the force of love ? 
 
 " Love can bow down the stubborn neck, 
 
 The stone to flesh convert ; 
 Soften, and melt, and pierce, and break 
 An adamantine heart." 
 
 Confirm then your love towards him, and you will thereby " heap coals 
 of fire upon his head." 
 
 2. But see that the manner also wherein you speak, be according to 
 the gospel of Christ. Avoid every thing in look, gesture, word, and 
 tone of voice, that savours of pride or self sufficiency. Studiously avoid 
 every thing magisterial or dogmatical, every thing that looks like arro- 
 gance or assuming. Beware of the most distant approach to disdain, 
 overbearing, or contempt. With equal care avoid all appearance of 
 anger ; and though you use great plainness of speech, yet let there be 
 no reproach, no railing accusation, no token of any warmth, but that 
 of love. Above all, let there be no shadow of hate or ill will, no bitter- 
 ness or sourness of expression ; but use the air and language of sweetness 
 as well as gentleness, that all may appear to flow from love in the heart. 
 And yet this sweetness need not hinder your speaking in the most seri- 
 ous and solemn manner ; as far as may be, in the very words of the 
 oracles of God, ^for there are none like them,) and as under the eye of 
 him who is coming to judge the quick and dead. 
 
 3. If you have not an opportunity of speaking to him in person, or 
 cannot have access, you may do it by a messenger ; by a common 
 friend, m whose prudence, as well as uprightness, you can thoroughly 
 confide. Such a person, speaking in your name, and in the spjrit and
 
 SERMON XLIX.] CURE OF EVIL SPEAKING. 489 
 
 manner above described, may answer the same end. and, in a good 
 degree, supply your lack of service. Only beware you do not feign 
 the want of opportunity, in order to shun the cross ; neither take it lor 
 gi anted that you cannot have access, without ever making the trial. 
 Whenever you can speak in your own person it is far better. BUX you 
 shoultl rather do it by another, tnan not at all : this way is better 
 than none. 
 
 4. But what if you can neither speak yourself nor find such a mes- 
 senger as you can conh'de in ] If this be really the case, it then only 
 remains, to write. And there may be some circumstances which make 
 this the most advisable way of speaking. One of these circumstances 
 is, when the person with whom we have to do is of so warm and im- 
 petuous a temper, as does not easily bear reproof, especially from an 
 equal or inferior. But it may be so introduced and softened in writing, 
 as to make it far more tolerable. Besides, many will read the very 
 eame words, which they could not bear to hear. It does not give so 
 violent a shock to their pride, nor so sensibly touch their honour. And 
 suppose it makes little impression at first, they will, perhaps, give it a 
 second reading, and, upon farther consideration, lay to heart what 
 before they disregarded. If you add your name, this is nearly the 
 same thing as going to him, and speaking in person. And this shoold 
 always be done unless it be rendered improper by some very particu- 
 lar reason. 
 
 5. It should be well observed, not only that this is a step which our 
 Lord absolutely commands us to take, but that he commands us to take 
 this step first, before we attempt any other. No alternative is allowed, 
 no choice of any thing else : this is the way ; walk thou in it. It is 
 true, he enjoins us, if need require, to take two other steps ; but they 
 are to be taken successively after this step, and neither of them before 
 it : much less are we to take any other step either before, or beside 
 this. To do any thing else, or not to do this, is, therefore, equally 
 inexcusable. 
 
 6. Do not think to excuse yourself for taking an entirely different 
 step, by saying, " Why, I did not speak to any one, till I was so burden- 
 ed, that I could not refrain." You was burdened ! It was no wonder 
 you should, unless your conscience was seared ; for you was under the 
 guilt of sin, of disobeying a plain commandment of God ! You ought 
 immediately to have gone, and told " your brother of his fault between 
 you and him alone." If you did not, how should you be other than 
 burdened, (unless your heart was utterly hardened,) while you was 
 trampling the command of God under foot, and " hating your brother 
 in your heart?" And what a way have you found to unburden your- 
 self! God reproves you for a sin of omission, for not telling your brother 
 of his fault ; and you comfort yourself, under his reproof, by a sin of 
 commission, by telling your brother's fault to another person ! Ease 
 bought by sin is a dear purchase ! I trust in God, you will have no ease, 
 but will be burdened so much the more, till you " go to your brother, 
 and (ell him," and no one else ! 
 
 7. I know but of one exception to this lule: there may be a pe 
 culiar case, wherein it is necessary to accuse the gu.'lty, though absent, 
 in order to preserve the innocent. For instance : you are acquainted 
 with the det-ign which a man has against the property or life of his
 
 490 CUBE OF EVIL SPEAKING. [SERMON XL1X. 
 
 neighbour. Now the case may be so circumstanced, that there is no 
 other way ol' hindering that design from taking effect, but the making 
 it known, without delay, to him against whom it is laid. In this case, 
 therefore, this rule is set aside, as is that of the apostle ; " Speak evil of 
 no man :" and it is lawful, yea, it. is our bounden duty, to speak evil of 
 an absent person, in order to prevent his doing evil to others and him- 
 self at the same time. But remember, meanwhile, that all evil speak- 
 ing is, in its own nature, deadly poison. Therefore if you are sometimes 
 constrained to use it as a medicine, yet use it with fear and trembling ; 
 seeing it is so dangerous a medicine, that nothing but absolute necessity 
 can excuse your using it at all. Accordingly, use it as seldom as pos- 
 sible ; never but when there is such a necessity : and even then use as 
 little of it as is possible ; only so much as is necessary for the end pro- 
 posed. At all other times, " go and tell him of his fault between thee 
 and him alone." 
 
 II. 1. But what " if he will not hear ?" If he repay evil for good I 
 If he be enraged rather than convinced 1 What if he hear to no pur- 
 pose, and go on still in the evil of his way 1 We must expect this will 
 frequently be the case ; the mildest and tenderest reproof will have no 
 effect; but the blessing we wished for another, will return into our own 
 bosom. And what are we to do then ? Our Lord has given us a clear 
 and full direction. Then "take with thee one or two more:" this is 
 the second step. Take one or two whom you know to be of a loving 
 spirit, lovers of God, and of their neighbour. See, likewise, that they 
 be of a lowly spirit, and " clothed with humility." Let them also be 
 such as are meek and gentle, patient and long suffering ; not apt to 
 " return evil for evil, or railing for railing, but contrariwise blessing." 
 Let them be men of understanding, such as are endued with wisdom 
 from above ; and men unbiassed, free from partiality, free from preju- 
 dice of any kind. Care should likewise be taken, that both the persons 
 and their characters be well known to him. And let those that are 
 acceptable to him be chosen preferable to any others. 
 
 2. Love will dictate the manner wherein they should proceed, accord- 
 ing to the nature of the case. Nor can any one particular manner be 
 prescribed for all cases. But perhaps, in general, one might advise, 
 before they enter upon the thing itself, let them mildly and affectionately 
 declare that they have no anger or prejudice towards him. and that it is 
 merely from a principle of good will that they now come, or at all con- 
 cern themselves with his affairs. To make this the more apparent, they 
 might (.hen calmly attend to your repetition of your former conversation 
 with him, and to what he said in his own defence, before they attempt- 
 ed to determine any thing. After this they would be better able to 
 judge in what manner to proceed, " that by the mouth of two or three 
 witnesses every word might be established ;" that whatever you have 
 said, may have its full force, by the additional weight of their authority. 
 
 3. In order to this, may they not, 1. Briefly repeat what you spoke, 
 and what he answered ? 2. Enlarge upon, open, and confirm the reasons 
 which you had given ? 3. Give weight to your reproof, showing how 
 just, how kind, and how seasonable it was? And, lastly, enforce the 
 advices and persuasions which you had annexed to it ? And ihesc 
 may likewise hereafter, if need should require, bear witness of what 
 was spoken.
 
 SEBMON XLIX.] CURE OF EVIL SPEAKING. 
 
 491 
 
 4. With regard to this, as well as the preceding rule, we may observe, 
 that our Lord gives us no choice, leaves us no alternative, but exoressiy 
 commands us to do this, and nothing else in the place of it. He like- 
 wise directs us when to do this ; neither sooner nor later ; namely, qfltr 
 we have taken the first, and before we have taken the third step. It is 
 then only that we are authorized to relate the evil another has done, to 
 those whom we desire to bear a part with us in this great instance o 
 brotherly love. But let us have a care how we relate it to any other 
 person, till both these steps have been taken. If we neglect to take 
 these, or if we take any others, what wonder if we are burdened still ? 
 For we are sinners against God, and against our neighbour ; and how 
 fairly soever we may colour it, yet, if we have any conscience, our sin 
 will find us out, and bring a burden upon our soul. 
 
 III. 1. That we may be thoroughly instructed in this weighty affair 
 our Lord has given us a still farther direction. " If he will not hear 
 them," then, and not till then, " tell it to the church." This is the 
 third step. All the question is, how this word, "the church," is here 
 to be understood ? But the very nature of the thing will determine this, 
 beyond all reasonable doubt. You cannot tell it to the national church, 
 the whole body of men termed " the church of England." Neither 
 would it answer any Christian end, if you could ; this, therefore, is not 
 the meaning of the word. Neither can you tell it to that whole body of 
 people in England, with whom you have a more immediate connexion. 
 Nor, indeed, would this answer any good end : the word, therefore, is 
 not to be understood thus. It would not answer any valuable end, to 
 tell the faults of every particular member to the church, (if you would 
 so term it,) the congregation or society united together in London. It 
 remains that you tell it to the elder, or elders of the church, to those 
 who are overseers of that flock of Christ, to which you both belong, 
 who watch over yours and his soul, " as they that must give account." 
 And this should be done, if it conveniently can in the presence of the 
 person concerned, and, though plainly, yet with all the tenderness and 
 love, which the nature of the thing will admit. It properly belongs to 
 their office, to determine concerning the behaviour of those under their 
 care, and to rebuke, according to the demerit of the offence, " with all 
 authority." When therefore you have done this, you have done all 
 which the word of God, or the law of love, requireth of you : you are not 
 now partaker of his sin ; but if he perish, his blood is on his own head. 
 
 2. Here, also, let it be observed, that this, and no other, is the third 
 step which we are to take ; and that we are to take it in its order after 
 the other two ; not before the second, much less the first, unless in 
 some very particular circumstance. Indeed, in one case, the second 
 Btep may coincide with this : they may be, in a manner, one and the 
 same. The elder or elders of the church may be so connected with the 
 offending brother, that they may set aside the necessity, and suppJy the 
 place, of the one or two witnesses; so that it may suffice to tell it to 
 them, after you have told it to your brother, " between you and him 
 alone." 
 
 3. When you have done this, you have delivered your own soul. " If 
 he will not hear the church," if he persist in his sin, " let him be to 
 thee as a heathen man and a publican." You are under no obligation 
 to think of him any more ; only when you commend him to God in
 
 492 CURE OF EVIL SPEAKING. [SERMON XLIX. 
 
 prayer. You need not speak of him any more, but leave him to his own 
 master. Indeed, you still owe to him, as to all other heathens, earnest, 
 tender good will. You owe him courtesy, and, a& occasion offers, all 
 the offices of humanity. But have no friendship, no familiarity with 
 him ; no other intercourse than with an open heathen. 
 
 4. But if this be the rule by which Christians walk, which is the land 
 where the Christians live ? A few you may possibly find scattered up 
 and down who make a conscience of observing it. But how very few ! 
 How thinly scattered upon the face of the earth! And where is there 
 any body of men that universally walk thereby ? Can we find them in 
 Europe? Or, to go no farther, in great Britain or Ireland 1 I fear not : 
 I fear we may search these kingdoms throughout, and yet search in 
 vain. Alas for the Christian world ! Alas for Protestants, for reformed 
 Christians ! Oh, " who will rise up with me against the wicked ?" " Who 
 will take God's part" against the evil speakers 1 Art thou the man ? 
 By the grace of God wilt thou be one, who art not carried away by the 
 torrent ? Art thou fully determined, God being thj helper, from this 
 very hour, to set a watch, a continual " watch, before thy mouth, and 
 keep the door of thy lips ?" From this hour wilt thou walk by this rule, 
 " speaking evil of no man ?" If thou seest thy brother do evil, wilt thou 
 
 ' tell him of his fault between thee and him alone ?" Afterwards, " take 
 one or two" witnesses, and then only " tell it to the church ?" If this 
 be the full purpose of thy heart, then learn one lesson well, " Hear evil 
 of no man." If there were no hearers, there would be no speakers, of 
 evil. And is not (according to the vulgar proverb) the receiver as bad 
 as the thief? If then any begin to speak evil in thy hearing, check him 
 immediately. Refuse to hear the voice of the charmer, charm he never 
 so sweetly ; let him use ever so soft a manner, so mild an accent, ever 
 so many professions of good will for him whom he is stabbing in the 
 dark, whom he smiteth under the fifth rib ! Resolutely refuse to hear, 
 though the whisperer complain of being " burdened till he speak." 
 Burdened ! thou fool ! dost thou travail with thy cursed secret, as a 
 woman travaileth with child ? Go then, and be delivered of thy burden 
 in the way the Lord hath ordained ! First, " Go and tell thy brother of 
 his fault between thee and him alone :" next, " take with thee one or 
 two" common friends, and tell him in their presence : if neither of these 
 steps take effect, then " tell it to the church." But, at the peril of thy 
 soul, tell it to no one el. c e, either before or after, unless in that one ex- 
 empt case, when it is absolutely needful to preserve the innocent ! Why 
 shouldest thou burden another as well as thyself, by making him par- 
 taker of thy sin ? 
 
 5. Oh that all you who bear the reproach of Christ, who are in deri- 
 sion called Methodists, would set an example to the Christian world, so 
 called, at least in this one instance ! Put ye away evil speaking, tale 
 bearing, whispering : let none of them proceed out of your mouth ! See 
 that you " speak evil of no man ;"of the absent, nothing but good. If 
 ye must be distinguished, whether ye will or no, let this be the distin- 
 guishing mark of a Methodist : " He censures no man behind his back : 
 by this fruit ye may know him." What a blessed effect of this self 
 denial should we quickly feel in our hearts ! How would our " peace 
 flow as a river," when we thus " followed peace with all men !" How 
 would the love of God aboui.d in our own souls, while we thus confirmed
 
 SERMON L.] THE USE OF MONEY. 493 
 
 our love to our brethren ! And what an effect would it have on all thai 
 were united together in the name of the Lord Jesus ! How would bro 
 therly love continually increase, when this grand hinderance of it was 
 removed ! All the members of Christ's mystical body would then natu- 
 rally care for each other. " If one member suffered, all would suffer 
 with it;" " if one was honoured, ail would rejoice with it;" and every 
 one would love his brother " with a pure heart fervently." Nor is this 
 all : but what an effect might this have, even on the wild, unthinking 
 world ! How soon would they descry in us, what they could not find 
 among all the thousands of their brethren, arid cry, (as Julian the apos 
 tate to his heathen courtiers,) " See how these Christians love one 
 another !" By this chiefly would God convince the world, and prepare 
 them also for his kingdom ; as we may easily learn from those remark- 
 able words in our Lord's last, solemn prayer : " I pray for them who 
 shall believe in me, that they may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, 
 and I in thee, that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." 
 The Lord hasten the time ! The Lord enable us thus to love one another, 
 not only " in word and in tongue, but in deed and in truth," even aa 
 Christ hath loved us ! 
 
 SERMON L.The Use of Money. 
 
 " I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteous 
 ness ; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations,' 
 Luke xvi, 9. 
 
 1. OUR Lord, having finished the beautiful parable of the prodigal 
 son, which he had particularly addressed to those who murmured at his 
 receiving publicans and sinners, adds another relation of a different 
 kind, addressed rather to the children of God. " He said unto his dis- 
 ciples," not so much to the scribes and Pharisees, to whom he had been 
 speaking before, " There was a certain rich man, who had a steward, 
 and he was accused to him of wasting his goods. And calling him, he 
 said, Give an account of thy stewardship, for thou canst be no longer 
 steward," verses 1, 2. After reciting the method which the bad stew- 
 ard used, to provide against the day of necessity, our Saviour adds, " His 
 Lord commended the unjust steward ;" namely, in this respect, that he 
 used timely precaution ; and subjoins this weighty reflection, " The 
 children of this world are wiser in their generation, than the children 
 of light," verse 8 : those who seek no other portion than this world, 
 " are wiser" (not absolutely ; for they are, one and all, the veriest fools, 
 the most egregious madmen under heaven ; but, " in their generation," 
 in their own way ; they are more consistent with themselves ; they are 
 truer to their acknowledged principles ; they more steadily pursue their 
 end) "than the children of light;" than they who see "the light ol 
 the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ." Then follow the words 
 above recited : " And I," the only begotten Son of God, the Creator, 
 Lord, and Possessor, of heaven and earth and all that is therein ; the 
 Judge of all, to whom ye are to " give an account of your stewardship," 
 when ye " can be no longer stewards;" " I say unto you," learn in 
 this respect, even of the unjust steward, *' make yourselves friends,'
 
 494 THE USE OF MONEY. [SERMON L. 
 
 by wise, timely precaution, " of the mammon of unrighteousness." 
 " Mammon" means riches, or money. It is termed " the mammon of 
 unrighteousness," because of the unrighteous manner wherein it is fre 
 quontly procured, and wherein even that which was honestly procured 
 is generally employed. " Make yourselves friends" of this, by doing all 
 possible good, particularly to the children of God ; " that when ye fail," 
 when ye return to dust, when ye have no more place under the sun, 
 those of them who are gone before, " may receive you," may welcome 
 you, into " everlasting habitations." 
 
 2. An excellent branch of Christian wisdom is here inculcated by our 
 Lord on all his followers, namely, The right use of money; a subject 
 largely spoken of, after their manner, by men of the world ; but not 
 sufficiently considered by those whom God hath chosen out of the world. 
 These, generally, do not consider, as the importance of the subject 
 requires, the use of this excellent talent. Neither do they understand 
 how to employ it to the greatest advantage ; the introduction of which 
 into the world, is one admirable instance of the wise and gracious pro 
 vidence of God. It has, indeed, been the manner of poets, orators, and 
 philosophers, in almost all ages and nations, to rail at this, as the grand 
 corrupter of the world, the bane of virtue, the pest of human society. 
 
 Hence, nothing so commonly heard, as 
 
 
 
 Ferrum, ferroque noccntius aurum : 
 And gold, more mischievous than keenest steel. 
 
 Hence the lamentable complaint, 
 
 EfTodiuntur opes, irritamenta malorum. 
 Wealth is dug up, incentive to all ill. 
 
 Nay, one celebrated writer gravely exhorts his countrymen, in order to 
 banish all vice at once, to " throw all their money into the set.:" 
 
 In marc proximum, 
 Summi inateriem mali ! 
 
 But is not all this mere empty rant? Is there any solid reason therein 1 
 By no means. For, let the world be as corrupt as it will, is gold or 
 silver to blame ? " The love of money," we know, " is the root of all 
 evil ;" but not the thing itself. The fault does not lie in the money, 
 but in them that use it. It may be used ill : and what may not 1 But 
 it may likewise be used well : it is full as applicable to the best, as to 
 the worst uses. It is of unspeakable service to all civilized nations, in 
 all the common affairs of life : it is a most compendious instrument of 
 transacting all manner of business, and (if we use it accordir.g to Chris- 
 tian wisdom) of doing all manner of good. It is true, were man in a 
 state of innocence, or were all men " filled with the Holy Ghost," so 
 that, like the infant church at Jerusalem, " no man counted any thing 
 he had his own," but " distribution was made to every one as he had 
 need," the use of it would be superseded ; as we cannot conceive there 
 is any thing of the kind among the inhabitants of heaven. But, in the 
 present state of mankind, it is an excellent gift of God, answering the 
 noblest ends. In the hands of his children, it is food for the hungry, 
 drink for the thirsty, raiment for the naked : it gives to the travellei 
 and the stranger where to lay his head. By it we may supply the place 
 ot a husband to the widow, and of a father to the fatherless. We may
 
 L.J THE USE OF MONEY. 405 
 
 be a defence foi the oppressed, a means of health to the sick, of ea?e 
 to them that arc in puin ; it may be as eyes to the blind, as feet to the 
 lame ; yea, a lifter up from the gates of death ! 
 
 3. It is, therefore, of the highest concern, that all who fear God, know 
 how to employ this valuable talent ; that they be instructed how it may 
 answer these glorious ends, and in the highest degree. Asd, perhaps, 
 all the instructions which are necessary for this, may be reduced to three 
 plain rules, by the exact observance whereof we may approve ourselves 
 faithful stewards of" the mammon of unrighteousness." 
 
 1. 1. The first of these is, (he that heareth, let him understand !) 
 " Gain all you can." Here we may speak like the children of the world : 
 we meet them on their own ground. And it is our bounden duty to do 
 (his: we ought to gain all we can gain, without buying gold too dear, 
 without paying more for it than it is worth. But this it is certain we 
 ought not to do ; we ought not to -gain money at the expense of life, nor 
 (which is in effect the same thing) at the expense of our health. There- 
 fore, no gain whatsoever should induce us to enter into, or to continue 
 in, any employ, which is of such a kind, or is attended with so hard or 
 so long labour as to impair our constitution. Neither should we begin 
 or continue in any business, which necessarily deprives us of proper 
 seasons for food and sleep, in such a proportion as our nature requires. 
 Indeed there is a great difference here. Some employments are abso- 
 lutely and totally unhealthy ; as those which imply the dealing much 
 with arsenic, or other equally hurtful minerals, or the breathing an air 
 tainted with steams of melting lead, which must at length destroy the 
 firmest constitution. Others may not be absolutely unhealthy, but only 
 to persons of a weak constitution. Such are those which require many 
 hours to be spent in writing ; especially if a person write sitting, and 
 lean upon his stomach, or remain long in an uneasy posture. But what- 
 ever it is which reason or experience shows to be destructive of health 
 or strength, that we may not submit to ; seeing " the life is more [val 
 uable] than meat, and the body than raiment:" and, if we are already 
 engaged in such an employ, we should exchange it, as soon as possible, 
 for some, which, if it lessen our gain, will, however, not lessen our 
 health. 
 
 2. We are, secondly, to gain all we can without hurting our mind, 
 any more than our body. For neither may we hurt this : we must 
 preserve, at all events, the spirit of a healthful mind. Therefore, we 
 may not engage or continue in any sinful trade ; any that is contrary to 
 the law of God, or of our country. Such are all that necessarily imply 
 our robbing or defrauding the king of his lawful customs. For it is, at 
 leas't, as sinful to defraud the king of his right, as to rob our fellow sub- 
 jects : and fhe king has full as much right to his customs, as we have 
 to our houses and apparel. Other businesses there are, which, however 
 innocent in themselves, cannot be followed with innocence now ; at 
 least, not in England ; such, for instance, as will not afford a competent 
 maintenance, without cheating or lying, or conformity to some custom 
 which is not consistent with a good conscience : these, likewise, are 
 sacredly to be avoided, whatever gain they may be attci/dcd with pro- 
 vided we follow the custom of the trade ; for, to gain money, we must 
 not lose our souls. There are yet others wl.ich many pursue with per- 
 fee i innocence, without hurting either their body or mind; an.l jst,
 
 496 THE USE OF MONEY. [SERMON L. 
 
 perhaps, you cannot: either they may entangle you in that company 
 which would destroy your soul ; and by repeated experiments it may 
 appear, that you cannot separate the one from the other ; or there may 
 he an idiosyncrasy, a peculiarity in your constitution of soul, (as there 
 is in the bodily constitution of many,) by reason whereof that employ- 
 ment is deadly to you, which another may safely follow. So I am con- 
 vinced, from many experiments, I could not study, to any degree ol 
 perfection, either mathematics, arithmetic, or algebra, without being a 
 deist, if not an atheist : and yet others may study them all their lives, 
 without sustaining any inconvenience. None, therefore, can here 
 determine for another ; but every man must judge for himself, and 
 abstain from whatever he, in particular, finds to be hurtful to his soul. 
 
 3. We are, thirdly, to gain all we can, without hurting our neighbour. 
 But this we may not, cannot do, if we love our neighbour as ourselves. 
 We cannot, if we love every one as ourselves, hurt any one in his sub- 
 stance. We cannot devour the increase of his lands, and perhaps the 
 lands and houses themselves, by gaming, by over grown bills, (whether 
 on account of physic, of law, or any thing else,) or by requiring or 
 taking such interest, as even the laws of our country forbid. Hereby 
 all pawnbroking is excluded : seeing whatever good we might do there- 
 by, all unprejudiced men see with grief to be abundantly overbalanced 
 by the evil. And if it were otherwise, yet we are not allowed to " do 
 evil that good may come." We cannot, consistent with brotherly love, 
 sell our goods below the market price ; we cannot study to ruin our 
 neighbour's trade, in order to advance our own ; much less can we 
 entice away, or receive, any of his servants or workmen whom he has 
 need of. None can gain by swallowing up his neighbour's substance, 
 without gaining the damnation of hell ! 
 
 4. Neither may we gain by hurting our neighbour in his body. There- 
 fore we may not sell any thing which tends to impair health. Such is, 
 eminently, all that liquid fire, commonly called drams, or spirituous 
 liquors. It is true, these may have a place in medicine ; they may be 
 of use in some bodily disorders ; although there would rarely be occa- 
 sion for them, were it not for the unskilfulness of the practitioner. 
 Therefore such as prepare and sell them only for this end, may keep 
 their conscience clear. But who are they ? Who prepare them only 
 for this end ? Do you know ten such distillers in England T Then 
 excuse these. But all who sell them in the common way, to any that 
 will buy, are poisoners general. They murder his Majesty's subjects 
 by wholesale, neither docs their eye pity or spare. They drive them 
 to hell like sheep : and what is their gain ? Is it not the blood of these 
 men 7 Who then would envy their large estates and sumptuous palaces? 
 A curse is in the midst of them : the curse of God cleaves to the stones, 
 the timber, the furniture of them ! The curse of God is in their gardens, 
 their walks, their groves ; a fire that burns to the nethermost hell ! 
 Blood, blood is there : the foundation, the floor, the walls, the roof, are 
 stained with blood ! Arid canst thou hope, oh thou man of blood, though 
 thou art " clothed in scarlet and fine linen, and farest sumptuously 
 every day ;" canst thou hope to deliver down thy fields of blood to the 
 third generation 7 Not so ; for there is a God in heaven : therefore, thy 
 name shall soon be rooted out. Like as those whom th ni hast destroyed, 
 body and soul, " thy memorial shall perish with thec !"
 
 SERMON L."| THE USE OF MONET. 497 
 
 5. And are not they partakars of the same guilt, tho.igh in a lower 
 degree, whether surgeons, apothecaries, or physicians, who play with 
 the lives or health of men, to enlarge their own gain ? Who purposely 
 lengthen the pain or disease, which they are able to remove speedily? 
 Who protract the cure of their patient's body, in order to plunder his sub- 
 stance ? Can any man be clear before God, who does not shorten every 
 disorder, " as much as he can," and remove all sickness and pain, " as 
 ?oon as he can ?" He cannot : for nothing can be more clear, than 
 that he does not " do unto others, as he would they should do unto 
 himself." 
 
 6. This is dear bought gain. And so is whatever is procured by 
 hurting our neighbour in his soul; by ministering, suppose, either 
 directly or indirectly, to his unchastity or intemperance ; which cer- 
 tainly none can do, who has any fear of God, or any real desire of 
 pleasing him. It nearly concerns all those to consider this, who have 
 any thing to do with taverns, victualling houses, opera houses, play 
 houses, or any other places of public, fashionable diversion. If these 
 profit the souls of men, you are clear ; your employment is good, and 
 your gain innocent: but if they are either sinful in themselves, or 
 natural inlets to sin of various kinds, then, it is to be feared, you have 
 a sad account to make. Oh beware, lest God say in that day, " These 
 have perished in their iniquity, but their blood do I require at thy 
 hands!" 
 
 7. These cautions and restrictions being observed, it is the bounden 
 duly of all, who are engaged in worldly business, to observe that first 
 and great rule of Christian wisdom, with respect to money, "Gain all 
 you can." Gain all you can by honest industry. Use all possible dili- 
 gence in your calling. Lose no time. If you understand yourself, and 
 your relation to God and man, you know you have none to spare. If 
 you understand your particular calling, as you ought, you will have no 
 time that hangs upon your hands. Every business will afford son:e 
 employment sufficient for every day and every hour. That wherein 
 you are placed, if you follow it in earnest, will ieave you no leisure for 
 silly, unprofitable diversions. You have always something better to do, 
 something that will profit you, more or less. And " whatsoever thy 
 hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." Do it as soon as possible : 
 no delay ! no putting off from day to day, or from hour to hour ! Never 
 leave any thing till to morrow, which you can do to day. And do it as 
 well as possible. Do not sleep or yawn over it : put your whole strength 
 to the work. Spare no pains. Let nothing be done by halves, or in a 
 slight and careless manner. Let nothing in your business be left undone, 
 if it can be done by labour or patience. 
 
 8. Gain all you can, by common sense, by using in your business all 
 the understanding which God has given you. It is amazing to observe, 
 how few do this : how men run on in the same dull track with their 
 forefathers. But whatever they do, who know not God, this is no rule 
 for you. It is a shame for a Christian not to improve upon them, in 
 whatever he takes in hand. You should be continually learning, from 
 the experience of others, or from your own experience, reading, and 
 reflection, to do every thing you have to do better to day, than you did 
 yesterday. And see that you practise whatever you learn, that you ma.y 
 make the best of all that is in your hands.
 
 498 THE USE OF MONEY. [SERMON L. 
 
 II. 1. Having gained all you can, by honest wisdom, and unwearied 
 diligence, the second rule of Christian prudence is, " save all you can." 
 Do not throw the precious talent into the sea : leave that folly to heathen 
 philosophers. Do not throw it away in idle expenses, which is just the 
 same as throwing it into the sea. Expend no part of it merely to gratify 
 the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life. 
 
 2. Do not waste any part of so precious a talent, merely in gratifying 
 the desires of the flesh ; in procuring the pleasures of sense of whatever 
 kind ; particularly, in enlarging the pleasure of tasting. 1 do not mean, 
 avoid gluttony and drunkenness only : an honest heathen would con- 
 demn these. But there is a regular, reputable kind of sensuality, an 
 elegant epicurism, which dues not immediately disorder the stomach, 
 nor (sensibly at least) impair the understanding ; and yet (to mention 
 no other effects of it now) it cannot be maintained without considerable 
 expense. Cut off all this expense ! Despise delicacy and variety, and 
 be content with what plain nature requires. 
 
 3. Do not waste any part of so precious a talent, merely in gratifying 
 the desire of the eye, by superfluous or expensive apparel, or by need- 
 less ornaments. Waste no part of it in curiously adorning your houses ; 
 in superfluous or expensive, furniture ; in costly pictures, painting, gild- 
 ing, books ; in elegant rather than useful gardens. Let your neighbours, 
 who know nothing better, do this : " Let the dead bury their dead." 
 But " what is that to thee ?" says our Lord : " Follow thou me." Are 
 you willing 1 Then you are able so to do ! 
 
 4. Lay out nothing to gratify the pride of life, to gain the admiration 
 or praise of men. This motive of expense is frequently interwoven with 
 one or both of the former. Men are expensive in diet, or apparel, or 
 furniture, not barely to please their appetite, or to gratify their eye, or 
 (heir imagination, but their vanity too. " So long as thou doest well 
 iunto thyself, men will speak good of thee." So long as thou art " clothed 
 in purple and fine linen, and farest sumptuously every day," no doubt 
 .many will applaud thy elegance of taste, thy generosity and hospitality. 
 But do not buy their applause so dear, Rather be content with the 
 honour that cometh from God. 
 
 5. Who would expend any thing in gratifying these desires, if he 
 considered, that to gratify them is to increase them. Nothing can be 
 more certain than this : daily experience shows, the more they are 
 indulged, they increase the more. Whenever, therefore, you expend 
 any thing to please your taste or other senses, you pay so much for 
 sensuality. When you lay out money to please your eye, you give so 
 much for an increase of curiosity, for a stronger attachment to these 
 pleasures which pe/ish in the using. While you are purchasing any 
 thing which men use to applaud, you are purchasing more vanity. Had 
 you not then enough of vanity, sensuality, curiosity, before ? Was there 
 need of any addition 1 And would you pay for it too? What manner of 
 wisdom is this ? Would not the literally throwing your money into the 
 sea be a less mischievous folly 1 
 
 6. And why should you throw away money upon your children, any 
 more than upon yourself, in delicate food, in gay or costly apparel, in 
 superfluities of any kind 1 Why should you purchase for them more 
 pride or lust, more vanity, or foolish and hurtful desires ? They do not 
 
 any more ; they have enough already ; nature has made ample
 
 SERMON L.] THE USE OF MONEY. 499 
 
 provision for them ; why should you be at farther expense to increase 
 Iheir temptations and snares, and to pierce them through with many 
 sorrows ? 
 
 7. Do not leave it to them to throw away. If you have good reason 
 to believe they would waste what is now in your possession, in gratifying. 
 and thereby increasing, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eye, rr 
 the pride of life ; at the peril of theirs and your cwn soul, do not g'.-t 
 these traps in their way. Do not offer your sons or your daughters unto 
 Belial, any more than unto Moloch. Have pity upon them, and remove 
 out of their way what you may easily foresee would increase their sins, 
 and consequently plunge them deeper into everlasting perdition ! How 
 amazing then is the infatuation of those parents, who think they can 
 never leave their children enough ! What ! cannot you leave them 
 enough of arrows, firebrands, and death ? Not enough of foolish and 
 hurtful desires ? Not enough of pride, lust, ambition, vanity ? Not 
 enough of everlasting burnings ? l*oor wretch ! Thou fearest where 
 no fear is. Surely both thou and they, when ye are lifting up your eyes 
 in hell, will have enough both of " the worm that never dieth," and of 
 {; the fire that never shall be quenched !" 
 
 8. " What then would you do if you were in my case? If you had a 
 considerable fortune to leave ?" Whether I would do it or no, I know 
 what I ought to do : this will admit of no reasonable question. If I had 
 one child, elder or younger, who knew the value of money, one who, I 
 believed, would put it to the true use, I should think it my absolute 
 indispensable duty, to leave that child the bulk of my fortune, and to the 
 rest just so much as wculd enable them to live in the manner they had 
 been accustomed to ('o. " But what if all your children were equally igno- 
 rant of the true use of money ?" I ought then, (hard saying ! who can 
 hear it ?) to give each what would keep him above want ; and to bestow 
 all the rest in such a manner as I judged would be most for the glory 
 of God. 
 
 III. 1. But let not any man imagine that he has done any thing, barely 
 by going thus far, by " gaining and saving all he can," if he were to stop 
 here. All this is nothing, if a man go not forward, if he does not point 
 all this at a farther end. Nor, indeed, can a man properly be said to save 
 any thing, if he only lays it up. You may as well throw your money 
 into the sea, as bury it in the earth. And you may as well bury it in 
 the earth, as in your chest, or in the bank of England. Not to use, is 
 effectually to throw it away. If, therefore, you would indeed " make 
 yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness," add the thiro 
 rule to the two preceding. Having first gained all you can, and secondly 
 saved all you can, then " give all you can." 
 
 2. In order to see the ground and reason of this, consider, when the 
 Possessor of heaven and earth brought you into being, and placed you 
 in this world, he placed you here not as a proprietor, but a steward : as 
 such he entrusted you for a season with goods of various kinds: but 
 the sole property of these still rests in him, nor can ever be alienated 
 from him. As you yourself are not your own, but his, such is, likewise, 
 all that you enjoy. Such is your soul and your body, not your own, but 
 God's. And so is your substance in particular. And he has told you 
 in the most clear and express terms, how you are to employ it for him } 
 in such a manner, that it may be all a holy sacrifice, acceptable through
 
 500 THE USE OF MONEY. '[SERMON U 
 
 Christ Jesus. And this light, easy service, he hath promised to reward 
 with an eternal weight of glory. 
 
 3. The directions which God has given us, touching the use of our 
 worldly suhstance, may be comprised in ihe following particulars. If 
 you desire to be a faithful and a wise steward, out of that portion of 
 your Lord's goods, which he has for the present lodged in your hands, 
 but with the right of resuming whenever it pleases him, first, provide 
 things needful for yourself; food to eat, raiment to put on, whatever 
 nature moderately requires for preserving the body in health and strength. 
 Secondly, provide these for your wife, your children, your servants, or 
 any others who pertain to your household. If, when this is done, there 
 be an overplus left, then " do good to them that are of the household of 
 faith." If there be an overplus still, " as you have opportunity, d-> good 
 unto all men." In so doing, you give all you can ; nay, in a sound 
 sense, all you have : for all that is laid out in this manner, is really given 
 to God. You " render unto God the things that are God's," not only 
 by what you give to the poor, but also by that which you expend in pro- 
 viding things needful for yourself and your household. 
 
 4. If then a doubt should at any time arise in your mind concerning 
 what you are going to expend, either on yourself or any part of your 
 family, you have an easy way to remove it. Calmly and seriously inquire, 
 
 1. In expending this, am I acting according to my character? Am I 
 acting herein, not as a proprietor, but as a steward of my Lord's goods ? 
 
 2. Am I doing this in obedience to his word ? In what scripture doe? 
 he require me so to do 1 3. Can I offer up this action, this expense, as 
 a sacrifice to God through Jesus Christ '? 4. Have I reason to believe, 
 that for this very work I shall have a reward at the resurrection of the 
 just 1 You will seldom need any thing more to remove any doubt which 
 arises on this head ; but, by this four fold consideration, you will receive 
 clear light as to the way wherein you should go. 
 
 5. If any doubt still remain, you may farther examine yourself by 
 prayer, according to those heads of inquiry. Try whether you can 
 say to the Searcher of hearts, your conscience not condemning you, 
 " Lord, thou seest I am going to expend this sum, on that food, apparel, 
 furniture. And thou knovvest, I act therein with a single eye, as a 
 steward of thy goods, expending this portion of them thus, in pursuance 
 of the design thou hadst in entrusting me with them. Thou knowest 
 I do this in obedience to thy word, as thou commandest, and because 
 thou commandest it. Let this, I beseech thee, be a holy sacrifice, 
 acceptable through Jesus Christ ! And give me a witness in myself, 
 that for this labour of love, I shall have a recompense, when thou revvard- 
 est every man according to his works." Now if your conscience bear 
 you witness in the Holy Ghost, that this prayer is well pleasing to God, 
 then have you no reason to doubt, but that expense is right and good, 
 and such as will never make you ashamed. 
 
 6. You see then, what it is to " make yourselves friends of the mam- 
 mon of unrighteousness," and by what means you may procure, "that 
 when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations." You 
 see the nature and extent of truly Christian prudence, so far as it relates 
 to the use of that great talent, money. Gain all you can without hurt- 
 ing either yourself or youi neighbour, in sou! or body, by applying hereto 
 with unintermitted diligence, and with all the understanding which God
 
 SERMON LI.] THE GOOD STEWARD. 501 
 
 has given you ; save all you can, by cutting off every expense which 
 serves only to indulge foolish desire ; to gratify either the desire of the 
 flesh, the desire of the eye, or the pride of life ; waste nothing, living 
 or dying, on sin or folly, whether for yourself or your children; and 
 then, give all you can, or, in other words, give all you have to God. Do not 
 Btintyourself, like a Jew rather than aChristian. to thisor that proportion 
 Render unto God, not a tenth, not a third, not half, but all that is God's, bo 
 it more or less ; by employing all, on yourself, your household, the house- 
 hold of faith, and all mankind, in such a manner that you rnay give 
 a good account of your stewardship, when ye can be no longer stewards ; 
 in such a manner as the oracles of God direct, both by general and par- 
 ticular precepts ; in such a manner, that whatever ye do may be " a 
 sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour to GOD," and that every act may be 
 rewarded in that day, when the Lord cometh with all his saints. 
 
 7. Brethren, can we be either wise or faithful stewards unless we thus 
 manage our Lord's goods 1 We cannot, as not only the oracles of God, but 
 our own conscience beareth witness. Then why should we delay ? Why 
 should we confer any longer with flesh and blood, or men of the world ? 
 Our kingdom, our wisdom, is not of this world : heathen custom is 
 nothing to us. We follow no men any farther than they are followers 
 of Christ. Hear ye him : yea, to day, while it is called to day, hear 
 and obey his voice ! At this hour, and from this hour, do his will : fulfil 
 his word, in this and in all things ! I entreat you in the name of the Lord 
 Jesus, act up to the dignity of your calling ! No more sloth ! Whatso- 
 ever your hand findeth to do, do it with your might ! No more waste ! 
 Cut ofl'every expense which fashion, caprice, or flesh and blood demand. 
 No more covetousness ! But employ whatever God has entrusted you 
 with in doing good, all possible good, in every possible kind and degree, 
 to the household of faith, to all men ! This is no small part of " the wis- 
 dom of the just." Give all ye have, as well as all ye are, a spiritual 
 sacrifice to him, who withheld not from you his Son, his only Son : so 
 " laying up in store for yourselves a good foundation against the time 
 to come, that ye rnay attain eternal life '* 
 
 SERMON LI. The Good Steward. 
 
 " Give an account of thy stewardship ; for thou mayest be no longer steward, 
 J/oke xvi, "2. 
 
 1. THE relation which man bears to God, the creature to his Creator, 
 is exhibited to us in the oracles of God under various representations. 
 Considered as a sinner, a fallen creature, he is there represented as a 
 debtor to his Creator. He is also frequently represented as a servant, 
 which indeed is essential to him as a creature ; insomuch that this appel- 
 lation is given to the Son of God when in his state of humiliation : he 
 "look upon him the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men." 
 
 2. But no character more exactly agrees with the present state of man, 
 than that of a steward. Our blessed Lord frequently represents him as 
 puch ; and there is a peculiar propriety in the representation. It is only 
 in one particular respect, namely, as he is a sinner, that he is styled a 
 debtor ; and when he is styled a servant, the appellation is general and
 
 502 THE GOOD STEWARD. [SERMON LI. 
 
 indeterminate : but a steward is a servant of a particular kind ; such a 
 jne as a man is in all respects This appellation is exactly expressive 
 }f his situation in the present world ; specifying what kind of servant he 
 is to God, and what kind of service his divine Master expects from him. 
 It may be of use, then, to consider this point throughly, and to make 
 3ur full improvement of it. In order to this, let us, first, inquire in 
 what respects we are now God's stewards. Let us, secondly, observe, 
 that when he requires our souls of us, we " can be no longer stewards." 
 It will then only remain, as we may, in the third place, observe, to 
 " give an account of our ste wardship." 
 
 1. 1. And, first, we are to inquire, in what respects we are now God's 
 stewards. We are now indebted to him for all we have : but although 
 a debtor is obliged to return what he has received, yet until the time of 
 payment comes, he is at liberty to use it as he pleases. It is not so with 
 a steward ; he is not at liberty to use what is lodged in his hands as he 
 pleases, but as his master pleases. He has no right to dispose of any 
 thing which is in his hands, but according to the will of his lord. For 
 he is not the proprietor of any of these things, but barely entrusted with 
 them by another ; and entrusted on this express condition, that he shall 
 dispose of all as his master orders. Now this is exactly the case of 
 every man, with relation to God. We are not at liberty to use what 
 he has lodged in our hands as we please, but as he pleases, who alone is 
 the possessor of heaven and earth, and the Lord of every creature. We 
 have no right to dispose of any thing we have, but according to his will, 
 seeing we are not proprietors of any of these things ; they are all, as 
 our Lord speaks, aXXorpia, belonging to another person ; nor is any thing 
 properly our own, in the land of our pilgrimage. We shall not receive 
 TO. (5ia, our own things, till we come to our own country. Eternal things 
 only are our own : with all these temporal things we are barely entrusted 
 by another ; the Disposer and Lord of all. And he entrusts us with them 
 on this express condition, that we use them only as our Master's goods, 
 and according to the particular directions which he has given us in his 
 word. 
 
 2. On this condition he hath entrusted us with our souls, our bodies, 
 our goods, and whatever other talents we have received : but in order 
 to impress this weighty truth on our hearts, it will be needful to come 
 to particulars. 
 
 And, first, God has entrusted us with our soul, an immortal spirit, 
 made in the image of God ; together with all the powers and faculties 
 thereof, understanding, imagination, memory, will, and a train of affec- 
 tions, either included in it, or closely dependant upon it, love and 
 hatred, joy and sorrow, respecting present good and evil, desire and 
 aversion, hope and fear, respecting that which is to come. All these 
 St. Paul seems to include in two words, when he says, " The peace of 
 God shall keep your hearts and minds." Perhaps indeed the latter 
 word, vorjfjwra, might rather be rendered thoughts ; provided we take 
 that word in its most extensive sense, for every perception of the mind, 
 whether active or passive. 
 
 3. Now, of all these, it is certain, we are only stewards. God has 
 entrusted us with these powers and faculties, not that we may employ 
 them according to our own will, but according to the express orders 
 which he has given us ; although it is true, that in doing his will, we 
 
 VOL. I. 29
 
 SERMON LI.] THE GOOD STEWARD. 503 
 
 most effectually secure our own happiness, seeing it is herein only thai 
 we can be happy, either in time, or in eternity. Thus we are to use our 
 understanding, our imagination, our memory, wholly to the glory of Him 
 thai gave them. Thus our will is to be wholly given up to him, and ail 
 our affections to be regulated as he directs. We are to love and hate, 
 to rejoice and grieve, to desire and shun, to hope and fear, according U 
 i'ie rale which he prescribes, whose we are, and whom we are to serve 
 in all things. Even our thoughts are not our own in this sense ; they 
 are not at our own disposal ; but for every deliberate motion of our 
 mind, w? are accountable to our great Master. 
 
 4. God has, secondly, entrusted us with our bodies, (those exquisitely 
 wrought machines, so " fearfully and wonderfully made,") with all the 
 powers and members thereof. He has entrusted us with the organs of 
 sense ; of sight, hearing, and the rest : but none of these are given us 
 as our own, to be employed according to our own will. None of these 
 are lent us in such a sense, as to leave us at liberty to use them as we 
 please for a season. No : we have received them on these very terms, 
 that, as long as they abide with us, we should employ them all, in that 
 very manner, and no other, which he appoints. 
 
 5. It is on the same terms, that he imparted to us that most excellent 
 talent of speech. " Thou hast given me a tongue," says the ancient 
 writer, " that I may praise thee therewith." For this purpose was it 
 given to all the children of men, to be employed in glorifying God. 
 Nothing, therefore, is more ungrateful or more absurd, than to think or 
 say, " Our tongues are our own." That cannot be, unless we have 
 created ourselves, and so are independent on the Most High. Nay, 
 but " it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves :" the manifest 
 consequence is, that he is still Lord over us, in this as in all other 
 respects. It follows, that there is not a word of our tongue, for which 
 we are not accountable to him. 
 
 6. To him we are equally accountable for the use of our hands and 
 feet, and all the members of our body. These are so many talents 
 which are committed to our trust, until the time appointed by the Father. 
 Until then, we ha"e the use of all these ; but as stewards, not as pro- 
 prietors ; to the end, we should " render them, not as instruments of 
 unrighteousness unto sin, but as instruments of righteousness unto God." 
 
 7. God has entrusted us, thirdly, with a portion of worldly goods ; 
 with food to eat, raiment to put on, and a place where to lay our head ; 
 with not only the necessaries but the conveniences of life, ^bove all, 
 he has committed to our charge that precious talent, which contains all 
 the rest, money : indeed it is unspeakably preciou?, if we are wise and 
 faithful stewards of it ; if we employ every part of it for such purposes 
 as our blessed Lord has commanded us to do. 
 
 8. God has entrusted us, fourthly, with several talents, which do not 
 pioperly come under any of these heads. Such as bodily strength ; 
 such are health, a pleasing person, an agreeable address ; such are 
 learning and knowledge in their various degrees, with all the othei 
 advantages of education. Such is the influence which we have over 
 others, whether by their love and esteem of us, or by power ; power to 
 do them good or hurt, to help or hinder them in the circumstances of 
 life. Add to these, that invaluable talent of time, with which God 
 entrusts us from moment, to moment. Add, lastly, that on which al!
 
 604 THE GOOD STEWARD. [SERMON LI. 
 
 the rest depend, and without which they would all be curses, not bless 
 ing's; namely, the grace of God, the power of his Holy Spirit, which 
 alone worketh in us all that is acceptable in his sight. 
 
 11. 1. In so many respects are the children of men stewards of the 
 Lord, the possessor of heaven and earth : so large a portion of his goods, 
 of various kinds, hath he committed to their charge. But it is not for 
 ever, nor indeed for any considerable time : we have this trust reposed 
 in us, only during the short, uncertain space that we sojourn here below , 
 'only so long as we remain on earth, as this fleeting breath is in our 
 nostrils. The hour is swiftly approaching, it is just at hand, when we 
 " can be no longer stewards !" The moment the body " returns to the 
 dust as it was, and^the spirit to God that gave it," we bear that charac- 
 ter no more ; the time of our stewardship is at an end. Part of those 
 goods wherewith we were before entrusted, are now come to an end ; 
 at least, they are so with regard to us ; nor are we longer entrusted with 
 them : and that part which remains, can no longer be employed or im- 
 proved as it was before. 
 
 2. Part of what we were entrusted with before, is at an end, at least 
 with regard to us. What have we to do, after this life, with food, and 
 raiment, and houses, and earthly possessions ? The food of the dead ia 
 the dust of the earth ; they are clothed only with worms and rottenness. 
 They dwell in the house prepared for all flesh; their lands know them 
 no more. All their worldly goods are delivered into other hands, and 
 they have " no more portion under the sun." 
 
 3. The case is the same with regard to the body. The moment the 
 spirit returns to God, we are no longer stewards of this machine, which 
 is then sown in corruption and dishonour. All the parts and members 
 of which it was composed, lie mouldering in the clay. The hands have 
 no longer power to move ; the feet have forgot their office ; the flesh, 
 sinews, and bones, are all hastening to be dissolved into common dust ! 
 
 4. Here end also the talents of a mixed nature ; our strength, our 
 health, our beauty, our eloquence, and address ; our faculty of plea- 
 sing, of persuading, or convincing others. Here end likewise all the 
 honours we once enjoyed, all the power which was lodged in our hands, 
 all the influence which we once had over others, either by the love or 
 the esteem which they bore us. Our love, our hatred, our desire is 
 perished : none regard how we were once affected towards them. They 
 look upon the dead as neither able to help nor hurt them ; so that " a 
 living dog is better than a dead lion." 
 
 5. Perhaps a doubt may remain concerning some of the other talents 
 wherewith we are now entrusted, whether they will cease to exist when 
 the body returns to dust, or only cease to be improvable. Indeed there 
 is no doubt, but the kind of speech which we now use, by means of 
 these bodily organs, will then be entirely at an end, when those organs 
 are destroyed. It is certain, the tongue will no more occasion any 
 vibrations in the air ; neither will the ear convey these tremulous mo- 
 tions to the common sensory. Even the sonus exilis, the low, shrill 
 voice, which the poet supposes to belong to a separate spirit, we can- 
 not allow to have a real being ; it is a mere Hight of imagination. In- 
 deed it cannot be questioned, but separate spirits have some way to 
 communicate their sentiments to each other ; but what inhabitant ol 
 flesh and blood can explain that way ? What we term speech, they can-
 
 SERMON LI.] THE GOOD STEWARD. 505 
 
 not have : so that we can no longer be stewards of this talent, when we 
 are numbered with the dead. 
 
 6. It may likewise admit of a doubt, whether our senses will exist, 
 when the organs of sense are destroyed. Is it not probable, that those 
 of the lower kind will cease, the feeling, the smell, the taste, as they 
 have a more immediate reference to the body, and are chiefly, if not 
 wholly, intended for the preservation of it 1 But will noisome kind of 
 sight remain, although the eye be closed in death ? And will there not 
 be something in the soul equivalent to the present sense of hearing? 
 Nay, is it not probable, that these will not only exist in the separate 
 state, but exist in a far greater degree, in a more eminent manner, than 
 now, when the soul, disentangled from its clay, is no longer " a dying 
 spark in a cloudy place ;" when it. no longer " looks through the win- 
 dows of the eye and ear ;" but rather is all eye, all ear, all sense, in a 
 mariner we cannot yet conceive ? And have we not a clear proof of the 
 possibility of this, of seeing without the use of the eye, and hearing 
 without the use of the ear ? Yea, and an earnest of it continually ? For 
 does not the soul see, in the clearest manner, when the eye is of no use ; 
 namely, in dreams ? Does she not then enjoy the faculty of hearing, 
 without any help from the ear ? But however this be, certain it is, that 
 neither will our senses, any more than our speech, be entrusted to us 
 in the manner they are now, when the body lies in the silent grave. 
 
 7. How far the knowledge or learning which we have gained by edu 
 cation will then remain, we cannot tell. Solomon indeed says, " There 
 is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither 
 thou goest.'' But it is evident these words cannot be understood in an 
 absolute sense. For it is so far from being true that there is no know- 
 ledge after we have quitted the body, that the doubt lies on the other 
 side, whether there be any such thing as real knowledge till then ? 
 Whether it be not a plain, sober truth, not a mere poetical fiction, that 
 
 " All thcs-i shadows, which for things we take, 
 Ars but the empty dreams, which in death's sleep we make?" 
 
 Only excepting those things which God himself has been pleased to 
 reveal to man. I will speak for one : after having sought for truth, 
 with some diligence, for half a century, I am, at this day, hardly sure 
 of any thing, but what I learn from the Bible. Nay, I positively affirm, 
 I know nothing else so certainly, that I would dare to staVe my salva- 
 tion upon it. 
 
 So much, however, we may learn from Solomon's words, "that there 
 is no" such " knowledge or wisdom in the grave," as will be of any use 
 to an unhappy spirit ; there " is no device" there, whereby he can now 
 improve those talents, with which he was once entrusted. For time is 
 no more; the time of our trial for everlasting happiness or misery is 
 past. Our day, the day of man, is over ; the day of salvation is ended ! 
 Nothing now remains but " the day of the Lord," ushering in wide, 
 unchangeable eternity ! 
 
 8. But still, our souls, being incorruptible and immortal, of a nature 
 " liltle lower than the angels," (even if we are to understand that phrase 
 of our original nature, which may well admit of a doubt,) when our 
 bodies are mouldered into earth, will remain with all their faculties. 
 Our memory, our understanding, will be so far from being destroyed, 
 yea or impaired, by the dissolution of the body, that, on the contrary,
 
 506 THE GOOD STEWARD FsERMON LI. 
 
 we have reason to believe, they will be inconceivably strengthened. 
 Have we not the clearest reason to believe, that they will then be wholly 
 freed from those defects, which now naturally result from the union 
 of the soul with the corruptible body ? It is highly probable, that, from 
 the time these are disunited, our memory will let nothing slip ; yea, 
 that it will faithfully exhibit every thing to our view, which was ever 
 committed to it. It is true, that the invisible world is, in Scripture, 
 termed "the land of forgetfulness ;" or, as it is still more strongly 
 expressed in the old translation," the land where all things are forgotten." 
 They are forgotten ; but by whom? Not by the inhabitants of that land, 
 but by the inhabitants of the earth. It is with regard to them that the 
 unseen world is '' the land of forgetfulness." All things therein are too 
 frequently forgotten by these ; but not by disembodied spirits. From 
 the time they have put off the earthly tabernacle, we can hardly think 
 they forget any thing. 
 
 9. In like manner, the understanding will, doubtless, be freed from 
 the defects that are now inseparable from it. For many ages it has 
 been an unquestioned maxim, Humanum est errare et nescire ; igno- 
 rance and mistake are inseparable from human nature. But the whole 
 of this assertion is only true with regard to living men ; and holds no 
 longer, than while " the corruptible body presses down the soul." Igno- 
 rance, indeed, belongs to every finite understanding ; (seeing there is 
 none beside God that knoweth all things ;) but not mistake : when the 
 body is laid aside, this also is laid aside for ever. 
 
 10. What then can we say of an ingenious man, who has lately made 
 a discovery, that disembodied spirits have not only no senses, (not even 
 sight or hearing,) but no memory, or understanding ; no thought, or 
 perception ; not so much as a consciousness of their own existence ! 
 That they are in a dead sleep from death to the resurrection ! Consan- 
 guineus let/ti sopor indeed ! Such a sleep we may call a near kinsman of 
 death, if it be not the same thing. What can we say, but that ingenious 
 men have strange dreams ; and these they sometimes mistake for realities ! 
 
 11. But to return. As the soul will retain its understanding and 
 memory, notwithstanding the dissolution of the body, so undoubtedly 
 the will, including all the affections, will remain in its full vigour. If 
 our love or anger, our hope or desire, perish, it is only with regard to 
 those whom we leave behind. To them it matters not, whether they 
 vveie the objects of our love or hate, of our desire or aversion. But in 
 separate spirits themselves, we have no reason to believe that any of 
 these are extinguished. It is more probable that they work with far 
 greater force, than while the soul was clogged with flesh and blood. 
 
 12. But although all these, although both our knowledge and senses, 
 our memory and understanding, together with our will, our love, hate, 
 and all our affections, remain after the body is dropped off; yet, in this 
 respect, they are as though they were not, we are no longer stewards 
 of them. The things continue, but our stewardship does not : we no 
 more act in that capacity. Even the grace which was formerly entrust- 
 ed with us, in order to enable us to be faithful and wise stewards, is 
 now no longer entrusted for that purpose. The days of our steward- 
 ship are ended. 
 
 III. 1. It now remains, that being no longer stewards, we give an 
 account of our stewardship. Some have imagined this is to be done
 
 SERMON LI. | THE GOOD STEWARD. 507 
 
 immediately after .leath, as soon as we enter into the world of spirits. 
 Nay, the church of Rome does absolutely assert this ; yea, makes it an 
 article of faith. And thus much we may allow, the moment a soul 
 drops the body, and stands naked before God, it cannot but know what 
 its portion will be to all eternity. It will have full in its view, either 
 everlasting joy, or everlasting torment ; as it is no longer possible for 
 us to be deceived in the judgment which we pass upon ourselves. But 
 the Scripture gives us no reason to believe, that God will then sit in 
 judgment upon us. There is no passage in all the oracles of God, 
 which affirms any such thing. That which has been frequently alleged 
 lor this purpose) seems rather to prove the contrary ; namely, Heb. ix, 
 27, " It is appointed for men once to die, and after this the judgment :" 
 For, in all reason, the word " once" is here to be applied to judgment 
 as well as death. So that the fair inference to be drawn from this very 
 text, is, not that there are two judgments, a particular and a general ; 
 but that we are to be judged as well as to die, once only : not once 
 immediately after death, and again after the general resurrection ; but 
 then only " when the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and all his 
 holy angels with him." The imagination therefore of one judgment at 
 death, and another at the end of the world, can have no place with those 
 who make the written word of God the whole and sole standard of 
 their faith. 
 
 2. The time then when we are to give this account, is, when the 
 " great white throne comes down from heaven, and He that sitteth 
 thereon, from whose face the heavens and the earth flee away, and there 
 is found no place for them." It is then " the dead, small and great, 
 will stand before God ; and the books will be opened :" the book of 
 Scripture, to them who were entrusted therewith ; the book of con- 
 science, to all mankind. The " book of remembrance," likewise, (to 
 use another scriptural expression,) which had been writing from the 
 foundation of the world, will then be laid open to the view of all the 
 children of men. Before all these, even the whole human race, before 
 the devil and his angels, before an innumerable company of holy angels, 
 and before God the Judge of all, thou wilt appear, without any shelter 
 or covering, without any possibility of disguise, to give a particular 
 account of the manner wherein thou hast employed all thy Lord's goods 
 
 3. The Judge of all will then inquire, " How didst thou employ thy 
 soul ? I entrusted thee with an immortal spirit, endowed with various 
 powers and faculties, with understanding, imagination, memory, will, 
 affections. I gave thee withal full and express directions, how all these 
 were to be employed. Didst thou employ thy understanding, as far as 
 it was capable, according to those directions ; namely, in the knowledge 
 of thyself and Me 1 my nature, my attributes ? my works ; whether 
 of creation, of providence, or of grace ? in acquainting thyself with my 
 word 1 in using every means to increase thy knowledge thereof? in 
 meditating thereon day and night? Didst thou employ thy memory, 
 according to my will, in treasuring up whatever knowledge thou hadst 
 acquired, which might conduce to my glory, to thy own salvation, or the 
 advantage of others ? Didst thou store up therein, not things of no value, 
 but whatever instruction thou hadst learned from my word ; and what- 
 ever experience thou hadst gained of my wisdom, truth, power, and 
 mercy ? Was thy imagination employed, not in painting vain images
 
 508 THE GOOD STEWARD. [SERMON LI. 
 
 much less such as nourished ' foolish and hurtful desires ;' but in repre- 
 senting to thee whatever would profit thy soul, and awaken thy pursuit 
 of wisdom and holiness ? Didst thou follow my directions with regard 
 to thy will 1 Was it wholly given up to me 1 Was it swallowed up i;i 
 mine, so as never to oppose, but always run parallel with it 1 Were thy 
 affections placed and regulated in such a manner, as I appointed in my 
 word ? Didst thou give me thy heart 1 Didst thou not love the world, 
 neither the things of the world 1 Was I the object of thy love ? Was 
 all thy desire unto me, and unto the remembrance of my name ? Was 
 I the joy of thy heart, the delight of thy soul, the chief among ten thou- 
 sand ? Didst thou sorrow for nothing but what grieved my Spirit 1 
 Didst thou fear and hate nothing but sin 7 Did the whole stream of thy 
 affections flow back to the ocean from whence they came? Were thy 
 thoughts employed according to my will ? Not in ranging to the ends 
 of the earth ; not. on folly, or sin ; but on ' whatsoever things were pure, 
 whatsoever things were holy ;' on whatsoever was conducive to my glory. 
 and to ' peace and good will among men T ' 
 
 4. Thy Lord will then inquire, " How didst thou employ the body 
 wherewith I entrusted thee 1 I gave thee a tongue to praise me there- 
 with : didst thou use it to the end for which it was given 1 didst thou 
 employ it, not in evil speaking or idle speaking, not in uncharitable 01 
 unprofitable conversation ; but in such as was good, as was necessary 
 or useful either to thyself or others ? Such as always tended, directly or 
 indirectly, to ' minister grace to the hearers ?' I gave thee, together 
 with thy other senses, those grand avenues of knowledge, sight and 
 hearing : were these employed to those excellent purposes for which 
 they were bestowed upon thee ? In bringing thee in more and more 
 instruction in righteousness and true holiness 1 I gave thee hands and 
 feet, and various members, wherewith to perform the works which were 
 prepared for thee : were they employed, not in doing ' the will of the 
 flesh,' of thy evil nature ; or the will of the mind ; (the things to which 
 thy reason or fancy led thee ;) but ' the will of him that sent' thee into 
 the world, merely to work out thy own salvation 1 Didst thou present all 
 thy members, not to sin, as instruments of unrighteousness, but to me 
 alone, through the Son of my love, ' as instruments of righteousness ?' " 
 
 5. The Lord of all will next inquire, " How didst thou employ the 
 worldly goods which I lodged in thy hands 1 Didst thou use thy food , 
 not so as to seek or place thy happiness therein, but so as to preserve 
 the body in health and strength, and vigour, a fit instrument for the soul ? 
 Didst thou use apparel, not to nourish pride or vanity, much less to 
 tempt others to sin, but conveniently and decently to defend thyself 
 from the injuries of the weather 1 Didst thou prepare and use thy house, 
 and all other conveniences, with a single eye to my glory ? In every 
 point seeking not thy own honour, but mine ; studying to please not 
 thyself, but me? Once more: In what manner didst thou employ that 
 comprehensive talent, money ? Not in gratifying the desire of tho flesh, 
 the desire of the eye, or the pride of life ? Not squandering it away in 
 vain expenses, the same as throwing it into the sea ? Not hoarding it 
 up to leave behind thee, the same as burying it in the earth ? But first 
 supplying thy own reasonable wants, together with those of thy family ; 
 then restoring the remainder to me, through the poor, whom 1 had 
 appointed to receive it ; looking upon thyself as only one of that num-
 
 SERMON LI.] THE GOOD STEWARD. 509 
 
 her of poor, whose wants were to be supplied out of that part of my 
 substance which I had placed in thy hands for this purpose ; leaving 
 ihee the right of being supplied first, and the blessedness of giving 
 rather than receiving? Wast thou accordingly a general benefactor to 
 mankind ? Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, comforting the 
 sick, assisting the stranger, relieving the afflicted, according to their 
 various necessities ? Wast thou eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame T 
 A father to the fatherless, and a husband to the widow ? And didst thou 
 labour to improve all outward works of mercy, as means of saving souls 
 from death 1" 
 
 6. Thy Lord will farther inquire, " Hast thou been a wise and faitli- 
 ful steward, with regard to the talents of a mixed nature which I lent 
 thee 1 Didst thou employ thy health and strength, not in folly or sin, 
 not in the pleasures which perished in the using, ' not in making pro- 
 vision for the flesh, to fulfil the desires thereof;' bat in a vigorous pur- 
 suit of that better part which none could take away from thee ? Didst 
 thou employ whatever was pleasing in thy person or address, whatever 
 advantages thou hadst by education, whatever share of learning, what- 
 ever knowledge of things or men, was committed to thee, for the pro- 
 moting of virtue in the world, for the enlargement of my kingdom ? 
 Didst thou employ whatever share of power thou hadst, whatever influ- 
 ence over others, by the love or esteem of thee which they had con- 
 ceived, for the increase of their wisdom and holiness ? Didst thou em- 
 ploy that inestimable talent of time, with wariness and circumspection, 
 as duly weighing the value of every moment, and knowing that all were 
 numbered in eternity ? Above all, wast thou a good steward of my grace, 
 preventing, accompanying, and following thee ? Didst, thou duly observe, 
 and carefully improve, all the influences of my Spirit? Every good 
 desire ? Every measure of light ? All his sharp or gentle reproofs ? How 
 didst thou profit by ' the spirit of bondage and fear,' which was pre- 
 vious to ' the Spirit of adoption ?' Arid when thou wast made a parta- 
 ker of this Spirit, crying in thy heart 'Abba, Father,' didst thou stand 
 fast in the glorious liberty wherewith I made thee free ? Didst thou from 
 thenceforth present thy soul and body, all thy thoughts, thy words, and 
 actions, in one flame of love, as a holy sacrifice, glorifying me with thy 
 body and thy spirit ? Then ' Well done, good and faithful servant ! 
 Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord !' " 
 
 And what will remain, either to the faithful or unfaithful steward ? 
 Nothing but the execution of that sentence which has been passed by 
 the righteous Judge ; fixing thee in a state which admits of no change, 
 through everlasting ages ! It remains only, that thou be rewarded, to all 
 eternity, according to thy works. 
 
 IV. 1. From these plain considerations we may learn, first, how impor- 
 tant is this short, uncertain day of life ! How precious, above all utter- 
 ance, above all conception, is every portion of it ! 
 
 " The least of these a serious care demands : 
 For though they are little, they are golden sands !" 
 
 How deeply does it concern every child of man, to let none of these run 
 to waste ; but to improve them all to the noblest purposes, as long as 
 the breath of God is in his nostrils ! 
 
 2. We learn from hence, secondly, that there is no employment 01 
 our time, no action or conversation, that is purely indifferent. All is
 
 510 REFORMATION OF MANNERS. [SERMON LIT. 
 
 food or bad, because all our time, as every thing we have is not our rwn. 
 All these are, as our Lord speaks, T<X aXXor^ia, the property of another ; 
 of God our Creator. Now these either are or are not employed accord- 
 ing to his will. If they are so employed, all is good ; if they are not, all 
 is evil. Again : It is his will, that we should continually grow in grace, 
 and in the living knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ : consequently, 
 every thought, word, and work, whereby this knowledge is increased, 
 whereby we grow in grace, is good ; and every one whereby this know- 
 ledge is not increased, is truly and properly evil. 
 
 3. We learn from hence, thirdly, that there are no works of supere- 
 rogation ; that we can never do more than our duty ; seeing all we have 
 is not our own, but God's ; all we can do is due to him. We have 
 not received this or that, or many things only, but every thing from 
 him : therefore, every thing is his due. He that gives us all, must needs 
 have a right to all : so that if we pay him any thing less than all, 
 we cannot be faithful stewards. And considering, " every man shall 
 receive his own reward, according to his own labour;" we cannot be 
 wise stewards, unless we labour to the uttermost of our power ; not leav- 
 ing any thing undone, which we possibly can do, by putting forth all our 
 strength. 
 
 4. Brethren, " Who is an understanding man and endued with know- 
 ledge among you ?" Let him show the wisdom from above, by walk- 
 ing suitably to his character. If he so account of himself, as a stew- 
 ard of the manifold gifts of God, let him see that all his thoughts, and 
 words, and works, be agreeable to the post God has assigned him. It 
 is no small thing, to lay out for God all which you have received from 
 God. It requires all your wisdom, all your resolution, all your patience, 
 and constancy ; far more than ever you had by nature ; but not more 
 than you may have by grace. For his grace is sufficient for you ; and 
 " all things," you know, " are possible to him that believeth." By 
 faith, then, "put on the Lord Jesus Christ ;" " put on the whole armour 
 of God ;" and you shall be enabled to glorify him in all your words 
 and works ; yea, to bring e\ery thought into captivity to the obedience 
 of Christ ! 
 
 Edinburgh, May 14, 1768. 
 
 SERMON LII. 
 
 Preached before the Society for Reformation of Manners, on Sunday, January 
 30, 17G3, at the Chapel in West Street, Seven Dials. 
 
 " Who will rise up with me against the wicked ?" Psalm xciv, 16. 
 
 1. IN all ages, men who neither feared God nor regarded man, have 
 combined together, and formed confederacies, to carry on the works of 
 darkness. And herein they have shown themselves wise in their gene 
 ration ; for by this means they more effectually promoted the kingdom 
 of their father the devil, than otherwise they could have done On the 
 other hand, men who did fear God, and desire the happiness of their 
 fellow creatures, have, in every age, found it needful to join together, 
 in order to oppose the works of darkness, to spread the knowledge of 
 God their Saviour, and to promote his kingdom upon earth. Indeed he
 
 SERMON LII. J REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 511 
 
 himself has instructed them so to do. From the time that imn were 
 upon the earth, he hath taught them to join together in his service, and 
 has united them in one body by one spirit. And for this very end he has 
 joined them together, " that he might destroy the works of the devil ;" 
 first in them that are already united, and by them in all that are round 
 about them. 
 
 2. This is the original design of the church of Christ. It is a body 
 of men compacted together, in order, first, to save each his own soul ; 
 then to assist each other in working out their salvation ; and afterwards, 
 as far as in them lies, to save all men from present and future misery, 
 to overturn the kingdom of Satan, and set up the kingdom of Christ. 
 And this ought to be the continued care and endeavour of every mem 
 ber of his church ; otherwise he is not worthy to be called a member 
 thereof, as he is not a living member of Christ. 
 
 3. Accordingly this ought to be the constant care and endeavour of 
 all those who are united together in these kingdoms, and are commonly 
 called, The Church of England. They are united together for this very 
 end, to oppose the devil and all his works, and to wage war against the 
 world and the flesh, his constant and faithful allies. But do they, in 
 fact, answer the end of their union ? Are all who style themselves 
 " Members of the church of England," heartily engaged in opposing 
 the works of the devil, and fighting against the world and the flesh ? 
 Alas, we cannot say this. So far from it, that a great part, I fear the 
 greater part of them, are themselves the world, the people that know 
 not God to any saving purpose ; are indulging, day by day, instead of 
 
 'mortifying, the flesh, with its affections and desires;" and doing, 
 themselves, those works of the devil, which they are peculiarly engaged 
 to destroy. 
 
 4. There is, therefore, still need, even in this Christian country (as 
 we courteously style Great Britain,) yea, in this Christian church, (if 
 we may give that title to the bulk of our nation,) of some to " rise up 
 against the wicked," and join together " against the evil doers." Nay, 
 there was never more need than there is at this day, for them " that fear 
 the Lord to speak often together" on this very head, how they may " lift 
 up a standard against the iniquity" which overflows the land. There is 
 abundant cause for all the servants of God to join together against the 
 works of the devil ; with united hearts, and counsels, and endeavours, 
 to make a stand for God, and to repress, as much as in them lies, these 
 " floods of ungodliness." 
 
 5. For this end a few persons in London, towards the close of the 
 last century, united together, and, after a while, were termed, The So 
 defy for Reformation of Manners ; and incredible good was done by 
 them, for near forty years. But then, most of the original members 
 being gone to their reward, those who succeeded them grew faint in 
 their mind, and departed from the work ; so that a few years ago, the 
 Society ceased ; nor did any of the kind remain in the kingdom. 
 
 6. It is a society of the same nature, which has been lately formed. 
 f purpose to show, first, the nature of their design, and the steps they 
 have hitherto taken : secondly, the excellency of it ; with the various 
 objections which have been raised against it : thirdly, what mariner of 
 men they ought to be, who engage in such a design : and, fourthly, with 
 what spirit, and in what manner, they should proceed in the prosecution
 
 512 REFORMATION OF MANNERS. [SERMON T.II. 
 
 of it. I shall conclude with an application both to tnem, and to ail thai 
 fear God. 
 
 1. 1. I am, first, to show the nature of their design, and the steps they 
 have hitherto taken. 
 
 It was on a Lord's day, in August 1757, that, in a small company who 
 were met for prayer and religious conversation, mention was made ol 
 the gross and open profanation of that sacred day, by persons buying 
 and selling, keeping open shop, tippling in ale houses, and standing or 
 sitting in the streets, roads, or fields, vending their wares as on common 
 days ; especially in Moorfields, which was then full of them every Sun- 
 day, from one end to the other. It was considered, what method could 
 be taken to redress these grievances ; and it was agreed, that six of them 
 should, in the morning, wait upon sir John Fielding for instruction. 
 They did so : he approved of the design, and directed them how to 
 carry it into execution. 
 
 2. They first delivered petitions to the right honourable the lord 
 mayor, and the court of aldermen ; to the justices sitting at Hicks's 
 Hall ; and those in Westminster ; and they received from all these 
 honourable benches much encouragement to proceed. 
 
 3. It was next judged proper to signify their design to many persons 
 of eminent rank, and to the body of the clergy, as well as the minis- 
 ters of other denominations, belonging to the several churches and 
 meetings, in and about the cities of London and Westminster ; and they 
 had the satisfaction to meet with a hearty consent and universal appro- 
 bation from them. 
 
 4. They then printed and dispersed, at their own expense, severaJ 
 thousand books of instruction to constables and other parish officers, 
 explaining and enforcing their several duties : and to prevent, as far as 
 possible, the necessity of proceeding to an actual execution of the laws, 
 they likewise printed and dispersed, in all parts of the town, dissuasives 
 from sabbath breaking, extracts from acts of parliament against it, and 
 notices to the offenders. 
 
 5. The way being paved by these precautions, it was in the begin- 
 ning of the year 1758, that, after notices delivered again and again, 
 which were as often set at nought, actual informations were made to 
 the magistrates, against persons profaning the Lord's day. By this 
 means they first cleared the streets and fields of those notorious offend- 
 ers, who, without any regard either to God or the king, were selling 
 their wares from morning to night. They proceeded to a more difficult 
 attempt, the preventing tippling on the Lord's day, spending the time 
 in ale houses, which ought to be spent in the more immediate worship 
 of God. Herein they were exposed to abundance of reproach, to insult 
 and abuse of every kind ; having not only the tipplers, and those who 
 entertained them, the ale house keepers, to contend with, but rich and 
 honourable men, partly the landlords of those ale house keepers, partly 
 those who furnished them with drink, and, in general, all who gained 
 by their sins. Some of these were not only men of substance, but men 
 of authority ; nay, in more instances than one, they were the very per- 
 sons before whom the delinquents were brought. And the treatment 
 they gave those who laid the informations, naturally encouraged " the 
 beasts of the people" to follow their example, and to use them as fellows 
 uot til to live upon the earth. Hence they made no scruple, not only to
 
 SERMON LII.j REFORMATION OP MANNERS. 51 J 
 
 treat them with the basest language, not only to throw at them mud or 
 stones, or whatever came to hand, but many times to beat them with- 
 out mercy, and to drag them over the stones or through the kennels. 
 And that they did not murder them was not for want of will ; but the 
 bridle was in their teeth. 
 
 6. Having, therefore, received help from God, they went on to re- 
 strain bakers likewise, from spending so great a part of the Lord's day 
 in exercising the works of their calling. But many of these were more 
 noble than the victualler!. They were so far from resenting this, or 
 looking upon it as an affront, that several, who had been hurried down 
 the stream of custom to act contrary to their own conscience, sincerely 
 thanked them for their labour, and acknowledged it as a real kindness. 
 
 7. In clearing the streets, fields, and ale houses of sabbath breakers, 
 they fell upon another sort of offenders, as mischievous to society as any ; 
 namely, gamesters of various kinds. Some of these were of the lowest 
 and vilest class commonly called gamblers ; who make a trade of seizing 
 on young and inexperienced men, and tricking them out of all their 
 money : and after they have beggared them, they frequently teach them 
 the same mystery of iniquity. Several nests of these they have rooted 
 out, and constrained not a few of them honestly to earn their bread by 
 the sweat of their brow, and the labour of their hands. 
 
 8. Increasing in number and strength, they extended their views, 
 and began, not only to repress profane swearing, but to remove out of 
 our streets another public nuisance and scandal of the Christian name, 
 common prostitutes. Many of these were stopped in their mid career 
 of audacious wickedness. And, in order to go to the root of the disease 
 many of the houses that entertained them have been detected, prose- 
 cuted according to law, and totally suppressed. And some of the poor 
 desolate women themselves, though fallen to 
 
 " The lowest line of human infamy," 
 
 have acknowledged the gracious providence of God, and broke off ihetr 
 sins by lasting repentance. Several of these have been placed out, am] 
 several received into the Magdalene hospital. 
 
 9. If a little digression may be allowed, who can sufficiently admire 
 the wisdom of divine providence, in the disposal of the times and sea- 
 sons, so as to suit one occurrence to another ? For instance : just at a 
 time when many of these poor creaiures, being stopped in the course 
 of sin, found a desire of leading a better life, as it were in answer to 
 that sad question, " but if I quit the way I now am in, what can I do to 
 live 1 For I am not mistress of any trade ; and I have no friends that 
 will receive me :" I say, just at this time, God has prepared the Mag- 
 dalene hospital. Here those who have no trade, nor any friends to 
 receive them, are received with all tenderness ; yea, they may live, and 
 that with comfort, being provided with all things that are needful " for 
 life and godliness." 
 
 10. But to return. The number of persons brought to justice, from 
 August 1757, to August 1762, is 9596 : from thence to the present 
 time, for unlawful gaming, and profane swearing, 40 ; for sabbath 
 breaking, 400 ; lewd women, and keepers of ill houses, 550 ; for offer- 
 ing to sale obscene prints, 2 ; in all 10,588. 
 
 11. In the admission of members into the society, no regard is had 
 to any particular sect or party. Whoever is found, upon inquiry, to be
 
 514 REFORMATION OF MANNERS. [SERMON LII. 
 
 a good man, is readily admitted. And none who has selfish or pccu 
 tuary views, will long continue therein ; not only because he can gain 
 nothing thereby, but because lie would quickly be a loser, inasmuch 
 as he must commence subscriber, as soon as he is a member. Indeed, 
 the vulgar cry is, " These are all Whitefieldites." But it is a great 
 mistake. About twenty of the constantly subscribing members are all 
 that are in connexion with Mr. Whitefield ; about fifty are in connex 
 ion with Mr. Wesley; about twenty, who are^of the established church, 
 have no connexion with either ; and about seventy are dissenters ; who 
 make in all, a hundred and sixty. There are indeed many more, who 
 assist in the work by occasional subscriptions. 
 
 II. 1. These are the steps which have been hitherto taken in prose- 
 cution of this design. I am, in the second place, to show the excellency 
 thereof, notwithstanding the objections which have been raised against 
 it. Now this may appear from several considerations. And, first, from 
 hence ; that the making an open stand against all the ungodliness and 
 unrighteousness, which overspread our land as a Hood, is one of the 
 noblest ways of confessing Christ in the face of his enemies. It is 
 giving glory to God, and showing mankind, that even in these dregs 
 of time, 
 
 "There are, who faith prefer, 
 Though lew, and piety to God." 
 
 And what more excellent, than to render to God the honour due unto 
 his name ? To declare, by a stronger proof than words, even by suffer- 
 ing, and running all hazards, " Verily there is a reward for the right- 
 eous ; doubtless there is a God that judgeth the earth?" 
 
 2. How excellent is the design, to prevent, in any degree, the dis- 
 honour done to his glorious name, the contempt which is poured on his 
 authority and the scandal brought upon our holy religion, by the gross, 
 flagrant wickedness of those who are still called by the name of Christ ? 
 To stem, in any degree, the torrent of vice, to repress the floods of ungod- 
 liness, to remove in any measure those occasions of blaspheming the 
 worthy name whereby we are called, is one of the noblest designs that 
 can possibly enter into the heart of man to conceive. 
 
 3. And as this design thus evidently tends to bring " glory to God 
 in the highest," so it no less manifestly conduces to the establishing 
 " peace upon earth." For as all sin directly tends, both to destroy our 
 peace with God, by setting him at open defiance, to banish peace from 
 our own breasts, and to set every man's sword against his neighbour ; 
 so whatever prevents or removes sin, does in the same degree promote 
 peace, both peace in our own soul, peace with God, and peace with one 
 another. Such are the genuine fruits of this design, even in the pre- 
 sent world. But why should we confine our views to the narrow bounds 
 of time and space? Rather pass over these into eternity. And what 
 fruit of it shall we find there ? Let the apostle speak : " Brethren, if 
 one of you do err from the truth, and one convert him, [not to this or 
 that opinion, but to God,] let him know, that he which converteth the 
 sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and hide 
 a multitude of sins," Jam. v, 19, 20. 
 
 4. Nor is it to individuals only, whether those who betray others into 
 sin, or those that are liable to be betrayed and destroyed by them, that 
 the benefit of this design redounds ; but to the whole community whereoi
 
 SERMON LII.] EEFOEMATION OF MANNERS. 615 
 
 we are members. For is it not a sure observation, " righteousness exalt- 
 eth a nation ?" And is it not as sure, on the other hand, that " sin is a 
 reproach to any people," yea, and bringeth down the curse of God upon 
 them ? So far, therefore, as righteousness, in any branch, is promoted, 
 so far is the national interest advanced. So far as sin, especially open 
 sin, is restrained, the curse and reproach are removed from us. Who- 
 ever, therefore, they are that labour herein, they are general benefac 
 tors ; they are the truest friends of their king and country. And in the 
 same proportion as their design takes place, there can be no doubt, but 
 God will give national prosperity, in accomplishment of his faithful 
 word ; " them that honour me, I will honour." 
 
 5. But it is objected ; " However excellent a design this is, it does 
 not concern you. For are there not persons to whom the repressing 
 these offences, and punishing the offenders, properly belong ? Are there 
 not constables, and other parish officers, who are bound by oath to this 
 very thing?" There are. Constables and church wardens, in particu- 
 lar, are engaged by solemn oaths to give due information against pro- 
 faners of the Lord's day, and all other scandalous sinners. But if they 
 leave it undone, if, notwithstanding their oaths, they trouble not them- 
 selves about the matter, it concerns all that fear God, that love mankind, 
 and that wish well to their king and country, to pursue this design with 
 the very same vigour as if there were no officers existing ; it being just 
 the same thing, if they are of no use, as if they had no being. 
 
 6. " But this is only a pretence : their real design is to get money by 
 giving information." So it has frequently and roundly been affirmed ; 
 but without the least shadow of truth. The contrary may be proved by 
 a thousand instances : no member of the society takes any part of the 
 money which is by the law allotted to the informer. They never did 
 from the beginning; nor does any of them ever receive any thing to 
 suppress or withdraw their information. This is another mistake, if not 
 wilful slander, for which there is not the least foundation. 
 
 7. "But the design is impracticable. Vice is risen to such a head, 
 that it is impossible to suppress it ; especially by such means. For 
 what can a handful of poor people do, in opposition to all the world ?" 
 " With men this is impossible, but not with God." And they trust not 
 in themselves but him. Be then the patrons of vice never so strong, 
 to him they are no more than grasshoppers. And all means are alike 
 to him : It is the same thing with God " to deliver by many or by few." 
 The small number, therefore, of those who are on the Lord's side, is 
 nothing ; neither the great number of those that are against him. Still 
 he doeth whatever pleaseth him ; and " there is no counsel nor strength 
 against the Lord." 
 
 8. " But if the end you aim at be really to reform sinners, you choose 
 the wrong means. It is the word of God must effect this, and not 
 human laws ; and it is the work of ministers, not of magistrates ; there- 
 fore, the applying to these can only produce an outward reformation ' 
 it makes no change in the heart." 
 
 It is true the word of God is the chief, ordinary means, whereby he 
 changes both the hearts and lives of sinners ; and he does this, chiefly, 
 by the ministers of the gospel. But it is likewise true, that the magis- 
 trate is " the minister of God ;" and that he is designed of God to be 
 " a terror to evil doers," by executing human laws upon them If this
 
 516 BEFORMATION OF MANNERS. [SERMON LII. 
 
 does not change the heart ; yet to prevent outward sin is one valuable 
 point gained. There is so much the less dishonour done to GoH ; less 
 scandal brought on our holy religion ; less curse and reproach upon 
 our nation; less temptation laid in the way of others; yea, and less 
 wrath heaped up by the sinners themselves against the day of wrath. 
 
 9. '* Nay, rather more ; for it makes many of them hypocrites, pre- 
 tending to be what they are not. Others, by exposing them to shame, 
 and putting them to expense, are made impudent and desperate in 
 wickedness: so that in reality none of them are any better, if they are 
 not worse, than they were before." 
 
 This is a mistake all ovor. For, 1. Where are these hypocrites? 
 We know none who have pretended to be what they were not. 2. The 
 exposing obstinate offenders to shame and putting them to expense, does 
 not make them desperate in offending, but afraid to offend. 3. Some 
 of them, far from being worse, are substantially better ; the whole tenor 
 of their lives being changed. Yea, 4. Some are inwardly changed, even 
 " from darkness to light and from the power of Satan unto God." 
 
 10. " But many are not convinced, that buying or selling on the 
 Lord's day is a sin*" 
 
 If they are not convinced, they ought to be; it is high time they 
 should. The case is as plain as plain can be. For if an open, wilful 
 breach, both of the law of God and the law of the land, is not sin. pray 
 what is 1 And if such a breach of divine and human laws is not to be 
 punished, because a man is not convinced it is a sin, there is an end oi 
 all execution of justice, and all men may Jive as they list! 
 
 11. "But mild methods ought to be tried first." They ought: and 
 so they are. A mild admonition is given to every offender, before the 
 law is put in execution against him ; nor is any man prosecuted, till he 
 has express notice, that this will be the case, unless he will prevent that 
 prosecution by removing the cause of it. In every case, the mildest 
 method is used which the nature of the case will bear ; nor are severer 
 means ever applied, but when they are absolutely necessary to the end. 
 
 12. " Well, but after all this stir about reformation, what real good 
 has been done 1" Unspeakable good ; and abundantly more than any 
 one could have expected in so short a time, considering the small num- 
 ber of the instruments, and the difficulties they had to encounter. Much 
 evil has been already prevented, and much has been removed. Many 
 sinners have been outwardly reformed ; some have been inwardly 
 changed. The honour of him whose name we bear, so openly affronted, 
 has been openly defended. And it is not easy to determine, how many 
 and how great blessings, even this little stand, made for God and his 
 cause, against his daring enemies, may already have derived upon our 
 whole nation. On the whole, then, after all the objections that can be 
 made, reasonable men may still conclude, a more excellent design 
 could scarce ever enter into the heart of man. 
 
 III. 1. But what manner of men ought they to be, who engage in 
 such a design 1 Some may imagine, any that are willing to assist therein 
 ought readily to be admitted ; and that the greater the number of mem- 
 bers, the greater will be their influence. But this is by no means true : 
 matter of fact undeniably proves the contrary. While the former society 
 for reformation of manners consisted of chosen members only, though 
 neither many, rich, nor powerful, they broke through all opposition,
 
 SERMON LII.] KEFORMATION OF MANNERS. 617 
 
 and were eminently successful in every branch of their undertaking ; 
 but when a number of men, less carefully chosen, were received into 
 that society, they grew less and less useful, till, by insensible degrees, 
 they dwindled into nothing. 
 
 2. The number therefore of the members is no more to be attended 
 to, than the riches or eminence. This is a work of God. It is under- 
 taken in the name of God, and for his sake. It follows, that men who 
 neither love nor fear God have no part or lot in this matter. " W-hy 
 takest thou my covenant in thy mouth '!" may God say to any of these ; 
 '* whereas thou [thyself] hatest to be reformed, and hast cast my words 
 behind thee ?" Whoever, therefore, lives in any known bin, is not fit 
 to engage in reforming sinners : more especially if he is guilty in any 
 instance, or in the least degree, of profaning the name of God ; of buy 
 ing, selling, or doing any unnecessary work on the Lord's day ; or 
 offending in any other of those instances, which this society is peculiarly 
 designed to reform. No : let none who stands himself in need of this 
 reformation, presume to meddle with such an undertaking. First let 
 him " pull the beam out of his own eye :" let him be himself unblama- 
 ble in all things. 
 
 3. Not that this will suffice : every one engaging herein, should be 
 more than a harmless man. He should be a man of faith ; having at 
 least such a degree of that " evidence of things not seen," as to aim 
 " not at the things that are seen, which are temporal, but at those that 
 are not seen, which are eternal :" such a faith as produces a steady fear 
 of God, with a lasting resolution, by his grace, to abstain from all that 
 he has forbidden, and to do all that he has commanded. He will more 
 especially need that particular branch of faith, confidence in God. It is 
 this faith which " removes mountains ;" which" quenches the violence 
 of fire ;" which breaks through all opposition ; and enables one to 
 stand against and " chase a thousand," knowing in whom his strength 
 lies, and, even when he has the " sentence of death in himself, trusting 
 in him who raiseth the dead." 
 
 4. He that has faith and confidence in God, will of consequence be 
 a man of courage. And such it is highly needful every man should be, 
 who engages in this undertaking : for many things will occur in tlte 
 prosecution thereof, which are terrible to nature ; indeed, so terrible, 
 that all who " confer with flesh and blood," will be afraid to encounter 
 them. Here, therefore, true courage has its proper place, and is neces- 
 sary in the highest degree. And this, faith only can supply. A believer 
 can say, 
 
 " I fear no denial ; no danger I fear ; 
 Nor start from the trial ; for Jesus is near." 
 
 5. To courage, patience is nearly allied ; the one regarding future, 
 the other present evils. And whoever joins in carrying on a design of 
 this nature, will have great occasion for this. For, notwithstanding all 
 his unblamableness, he \\ill find himself just in Ishmaers situation, "his 
 hand against every man, and every man's hand against him." And 
 no wonder : if it be true, that " all who will live godly shall suffer per- 
 secution," how eminently must this be fulfilled in them, who, not con- 
 tent to live godly themselves, compel the ungodly to do so too ; or, at least, 
 to refrain from notorious ungodliness ? Is not^this declaring war against 
 ali the world '} Setting all the children of the devil at defiance 7 And
 
 518 REFORMATION OP MANNERS. [SERMON LIT. 
 
 will not Satan himself, " the prince of this world, the ruler of the dark- 
 ness" thereof, exert all his subtlety, and all his force, in support of his 
 tottering kingdom ? Who can expect the roaring lion will tamely sub- 
 mit to have the prey plucked out of his teeth ? " Ye have [therefore] 
 need of patience ; that, after ye have done the will of God, ye may 
 receive the promise." 
 
 6. And ye have need of steadiness, that ye may " hold fast [this] pro- 
 fession of your faith, without wavering." This also should he found in all 
 that unite in this society; which is not a task for a " double minded man," 
 for one that is " unstable in his ways." He that is as a reed shaken 
 with the wind, is not fit for this warfare ; which demands a firm purpose 
 of soul, a constant determined resolution. One that is wanting in this, 
 may " set his hand to the plough ;" but how soon will he " look back 1" 
 He may, indeed, " endure for a time ; but when persecution, or tribu 
 lation," public or private troubles, arise, because of the work, " imme- 
 diately he is offended." 
 
 7. Indeed, it is hard for any to persevere in so unpleasing a work, 
 unless love overpowers both pain and fear. And therefore it is highly 
 expedient, that all engaged therein have " the love of God shed abroad 
 in their hearts ;" that they should all be able to declare, " We love him, 
 because he first loved us." The presence of him, whom their soul loveth, 
 will then make their labour light. They can then say, not from the wild- 
 ness of a heated imagination, but with the utmost truth and soberness ; 
 
 " With thee conversing, I forget 
 All time, and toil, and care : 
 Labour is rest, and pain is sweet, 
 While thou, my God, art here." 
 
 8. What adds a still greater sweetness, even to labour and pain, is 
 the Christian " love of our neighbour." When they " love their neigh- 
 bour." that is, every soul of man, " as themselves," as their own souls ; 
 when " the love of Christ constrains" them to love one another, " even 
 as he loved us ;" when as " he tasted death for every man," so they are 
 
 ' ready to lay down their life for their brethren ;" (including in that 
 number every man, every soul for which Christ died ;) what prospect of 
 danger will then be able to fright them from their " labour of love 1" 
 What suffering will they not be ready to undergo, to save one soul from 
 everlasting burnings ? What continuance of labour, disappointment, 
 pain, will vanquish their fixed resolution ? Will they not be 
 
 " 'Gainst all repulses steel'd nor ever tired, 
 With toilsome day, or ill-succeeding night ?'' 
 
 So love both " hopeth" and " endureth all things :" so " charity never 
 faileth." 
 
 9. Love is necessary for all the members of such a society on another 
 account likewise ; even because " it is not puffed up :" it produces not 
 only courage and patience, but humility. And oh how needful is this 
 for all who are so employed ! What can be of more importance, than 
 that they should be little, and mean, and base, and vile, in their own 
 eyes ? For otherwise, shouid they think themselves any thing, should 
 they impute any thing to themselves, should they admit any thing of a 
 pharisaic spirit, " trusting in themselves that they are righteous, and 
 despising others ;" nothing could more directly tend to overthrow the 
 whole design. For then they would not only have all the world, but 
 
 VOL. I. 30
 
 SERMON LII.] REFORMATION OF MANNERS. 619 
 
 also God himself, to contend with ; seeing he " resisteth tne 
 and giveth grace [only] to the humble." Deeply conscious, therefore, 
 should every member of this society be of his own foolishness, weak- 
 ness, helplessness ; continually hanging, with his whole soul, upon him 
 who alone hath wisdom and strength, with an unspeakable conviction, 
 that the " help which is done upon earth, God doeth it himself," and 
 that it is he alone who " worketh in us, both to will and to do, of his 
 good pleasure." 
 
 10. One point more, whoever engages in this design should have 
 deeply impressed on his heart ; namely, that " the wrath of man work 
 eth not the righteousness of God." Let him, therefore, learn of him 
 who was meek, as well as lowly ; and let him abide in meekness, as 
 well as humility : " with all lowliness and meekness," let him " walk 
 worthy of the vocation wherewith he is called." Let him be " gentle 
 towards all men," good or bad, for his own sake, for their sake, for 
 Christ's sake. Are any " ignorant, and out of the way ?" let him have 
 " compassion" upon them. Do they even oppose the word and the work 
 of God, yea, set themselves in battle array against it ? So much the 
 more hath he need " in meekness to instruct those who thus oppose 
 themselves," if haply they may "escape out of the snare of the devil," 
 and no more be " taken captive at his will." 
 
 IV. 1. From the qualifications of those who are proper to engage in 
 such an undertaking as this, I proceed to show, fourthly, with what 
 spirit, and in what manner, it ought to be pursued. First, with what 
 spirit. Now this first regards the motive, which is to be preserved in every 
 step that is taken ; for, if at any time " the light which is in thee be 
 darkness, how great is that darkness ! But if thine eye be single, thy 
 whole body shall be full of light." This is, therefore, continually to be 
 remembered, and carried into every word and action. Nothing is to be 
 spoke or done, either great or small, with a view to any temporal ad 
 vantage ; nothing with a view to the favour or esteem, the love or the 
 praise, of men. But the intention, the eye of the mind, is always to be 
 fixed on the glory of God, and good of man. 
 
 2. But the spirit with which every thing is to be done, regards the 
 temper as well as the motive. And this is no other than that which has 
 been described above. For the same courage, patience, steadiness, 
 which qualify a man for the work, are to be exercised therein. Above 
 all, let him " take the shield of faith :" this will quench a thousand fiery 
 darts. Let him exert all the faith which God has given him, in every 
 trying hour. And let all his doings be done in love : never let this be 
 wrested from him. Neither must many waters quench this love, nor 
 the floods of ingratitude drown it. Let likewise that lowly mind be in 
 h:m, which was also in Christ Jesus ; yea, and let him " be clothed with 
 humility," filling his heart, and adorning his whole behaviour. At the 
 enme time, let him ' put on bowels of mercies, gentleness, long suffer- 
 ing;" avoiding the least appearance of malice, bitterness, anger, or 
 resentment ; knowing it is our calling, not to be " overcome of evil, but 
 to overcome evil with good." In order to preserve this humble, gentle 
 love, it is needful to do all things with recollection of spirit ; watching 
 against all hurry, or dissipation of thought, as well as against pride, 
 wrath, or surliness. But this can be no otherwise preserved than by 
 " continuing instant in prayer," both before and after he comes into the
 
 520 REFOBMATION OF MANNERS. [SERMON LIT. 
 
 held, and during the whole actio.n ; and by doing all in the spirit of sacri 
 fice, offering all to God, through the Son of his love. 
 
 3. As to the outward manner of acting, a general rule is, let it be 
 expressive of these inward tempers. But to be more particular : let every 
 man beware, not to " do evil that good may come." Therefore, " put- 
 ting away all lying, let every man speak the truth to his neighbour." 
 Use no fraud or guile, either in order to detect or to punish any man ; 
 but " by simplicity and godly sincerity, commend yourself to men's con- 
 sciences in the s.'jht of God." It is probable that, by your adhering to 
 these rules, fewer offenders will be convicted ; but so much the more 
 will the blessing of God accompany the whole undertaking. 
 
 4. But let innocence be joined with prudence, properly so called ; 
 not that offspring of hell, which the world calls prudence, which is mere 
 craft, cunning, dissimilation ; but with that " wisdom from above," 
 which our Lord peculiarly recommends to all who would promote his 
 kingdom upon earth : " Be ye therefore wise as serpents," while ye are 
 " harmless as doves." This wisdom will instruct you how to suit your 
 words, and whole behaviour, to the persons with whom you have to 
 do ; to the time, place, and all other circumstances. It will teaeh you 
 to cut off occasion of offence, even from those who seek occasion, and 
 to do things of the most offensive nature in the least offensive manner 
 that is possible. 
 
 5. Your manner of speaking, particularly to offenders, should be at 
 all times deeply serious, (lest it appear like insulting or triumphing over 
 them,) rather inclining to sad ; showing that you pity them for what 
 they do, and sympathize with them in what they suffer. Let your air 
 and tone of voice, as well as words, be dispassionate, calm, mild ; yea, 
 where it would not appear like dissimulation, even kind and friendly. 
 In some cases, where it will probably be received as it is meant, you 
 may profess the good will you bear them ; but, at the same time, (that 
 it may not be thought to proceed from fear, or any wrong inclination,) 
 professing your intrepidity, and inflexible resolution to oppose and punish 
 vice to the uttermost. 
 
 V. 1. It remains only to make some application of what has been said ; 
 partly to you who are already engaged in this work ; partly to all that 
 fear God ; and more especially to them that love as well as fear him. 
 
 With regard to you who aie already engaged in this work, the first 
 advice I would give you is, calmly and deeply to consider the nature of 
 your undertaking. Know what you are about; be thoroughly acquainted 
 with what you have in hand ; consider the objections which are made 
 to the whole of your undertaking ; and, before you proceed, be satisfied 
 that those objections have no real weight : then may every rnan act as 
 he is fully persuaded in his own mind. 
 
 2. I advise you, secondly, be not in haste to increase your number : 
 end, in adding thereto, regard not wealth, rank, or any outward circum- 
 stance ; only regard the qualifications above described. Inquire dili- 
 gently, whether the person proposed be of an unblamable carriage, 
 and whether he be a man of faith, courage, patience, steadiness 1 
 Whether he be a lover of God and man ? If so, he will add to your 
 strength, as well as number : if not, you will lose by him more than you 
 gam ; for you will displease God. And be not afraid to purge out 
 from among you any who do not answer the preceding charactei By
 
 SERMON LIL] EEFOEMATION OF MANNERS. 621 
 
 thus lessening your number, you will increase your strength : you will 
 be *' vessels meet for your Master's use." 
 
 3. I would, thirdly, advise you, narrowly to observe from what motive 
 you at any time act or speak. Beware that your intention be not stained 
 with aoy regard either to profit or praise. Whatever you do, " do it to 
 the Lord ;" as the servants of Christ. Do not aim at pleasing yourself 
 in any point; but pleasing Him whose you are, and whom you seivc. 
 Let your eye be single, from first to last ; eye God alone in every woid 
 and work. 
 
 4. I advise you, in the fourth place, see that you do every thing in a 
 right temper ; with lowliness and meekness, with patience and gentle- 
 ness, worthy the gospel of Christ. Take every step, trusting in God, 
 and in the most tender, loving spirit you are able. Meantime, watch 
 always against all hurry and dissipation of spirit; and pray always, 
 with all earnestness and perseverance, that your faith fail not. And let 
 nothing interrupt that spirit of sacrifice, which you make of all you have 
 and are, of all you suffer and do, that it may be an offering of a sweet 
 smelling savour to God, through Jesus Christ ! 
 
 5. As to the manner of acting and speaking, I advise you to do it 
 with all innocence and simplicity, prudence and seriousness. Add to 
 these, all possible calmness and mildness ; nay, all the tenderness which 
 the case will bear. You are not to behave as butchers or hangmen, but 
 as surgeons rather, who put the patient to no more pain than is neces- 
 sary in order to the cure. For this purpose, each of you, likewise, has 
 need of " a lady's hand with a lion's heart." So shall many, even of 
 them you are constrained to punish, "glorify God in the day of visitation." 
 
 6. I exhort all of you "who fear God, as ever you hope to find mercy 
 at his hands, as you dread being found (though you know it not) "even 
 to fight against God ;" do not, on any account, reason, or pretence what- 
 soever, either directly or indirectly, oppose or hinder so merciful a de- 
 sign, and one so conducive to his glory. But this is not all : if you are 
 lovers of mankind, if you long to lessen the sins and miseries of your 
 fellow creatures ; can you satisfy yourselves, can you be clear before 
 God, by barely not opposing it ? Are not you also bound, by the most 
 sacred ties, " as you have opportunity to do good to all men ]'* And is 
 not here an opportunity of doing good to many, even good of the high- 
 est kind ? In the name of God, then, embrace the opportunity ! Assist 
 in doing this good, if no otherwise, yet by your earnest prayers for them 
 who are immediately employed therein ! Assist them, according to your 
 ability, to defray the expense which necessarily attends it, and which, 
 without the assistance of charitable persons, would be a burden they 
 could not bear ! Assist them, if you can without inconvenience, by 
 quarterly or yearly subscriptions ! At least assist them now ; use the 
 present hour, doing what God puts into your heart ! Let it not be said, 
 lhat you saw your brethren labouring for God, and would not help them 
 with one of your fingers ! In this way, however, " corne to the help of 
 the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty !" 
 
 7. I have a higher demand upon you who love as well as fear God. 
 He whom you fear, whom you love, has qualified you for promoting his 
 work in a more excellent way. Because you love God, you love your 
 brother also : you love, not only your friends, but your enemies ; not 
 only the friends but even the enemies, of God You have " put on, aa
 
 522 REFORMATION OF MANNERS. fSERMON LII. 
 
 the elect of God, lowliness, gentleness, long suffering." You have faith 
 in God, and in Jesus Christ whom he hath sent ; faith which overcome*!! 
 ihe world : and hereby you conquer both evil shame, and that " fear of 
 man which bringeth a snare ;" so that you can stand with boldness 
 before them that despise you, and make no account of your labours. 
 Qualified then as you are, and armed for the fight, will you be like the 
 children of Ephraim, " who, being harnessed, and carrying bows, turned 
 back in the day of battle ?" Will you leave a few of your brethren to 
 stand alone, against all the hosts of the aliens 1 Oh say not, " This is 
 too heavy a cross ; I have not strength or courage to bear it !" True ; 
 not of yourself : but you that believe, " can do all things through Christ 
 strengthening you." " If thou canst believe, all things are possible to 
 him that believeth." No cross is too heavy for him to bear ; knowing 
 that they that " suffer with him, shall reign with him." Say not, "Nay, 
 but I cannot bear to be singular." Then you cannot enter into the 
 kingdom of heaven. No one enters there but. through the narrow way ; 
 and all that walk in this are singular. Say not, " But I cannot endure 
 the reproach, the odious name of an informer." And did any man ever 
 save his soul, that was not a by-word, and a proverb of reproach ? Nei- 
 ther canst thou ever save thine, unless thou art willing that men should 
 say all manner of evil of thee. Say not, " But if I am active in this work, 
 [ shall lose, not only my reputation, but my friends, my customers, my 
 business, my livelihood ; so that I shall be brought to poverty." Thou 
 shall not : thou canst not : it is absolutely impossible ; unless God him- 
 self chooseth it : for his " kingdom ruleth over all," and " the very hairs 
 of thy head are all numbered." But if the wise, the gracious God 
 choose it for thee, wilt thou murmur or complain 1 Wilt thou not rather 
 say, " The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ]" 
 If you *' suffer for Christ, happy are you ; the Spirit of glory and of God 
 [shall] rest upon you." Say not, " I would suffer all things, but my wife 
 will not consent to it ; and, certainly, a man ought to leave father and 
 mother, and all, and cleave to his wife." True ; all tut God ; all but 
 Christ : but he ought not to leave him for his wife ! He is not to leave 
 any duty undone, for the dearest relative. Our Lord himself hath said 
 in this very sense, "If any man loveth father, or mother, or wife, 01 
 children, more than me, he is not worthy of me." Say not, " Well, I 
 would forsake all for Christ ; but one duty must not hinder another ; 
 and this would frequently hinder my attending public worship." Some- 
 times it probably would. " Go, then, and learn what that meaneth, I 
 will have mercy and not sacrifice." And, whatever is Jost by showing 
 this mercy, God will repay seven fold into thy bosom. Say not, " But 
 I shall hurt my own soul. I am a young man ; and by taking up loose 
 women I should expose myself to temptation." Yes, if you did this in 
 your own strength, or for your own pleasure. But that is not the case. 
 You trust in God ; and you aim at pleasing him only. And if he should 
 call you even into the midst of a burning fiery furnace, " though thou 
 walkesi through the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall the 
 flames kindle upon thee." " True, if he called me into the furnace ; 
 but I do not see that I am called to this." Perhaps thou art not willing 
 to see it. However, if thou wast not called before, I call thee now, in the 
 name of Christ : take up thy cross, and follow him ! Reason no more 
 with flesh and blood, but now resolve to cast in thy lot with the most
 
 SERMON LII.] REFORMATION OP MANNERS. 523 
 
 despised, the most infamous of his followers, the filth and offscouring 
 of the world ! I call thee in particular, who didst once strengthen their 
 hands, but since art drawn back. Take courage ! Be strong ! Fulfil 
 their joy, by returning with heart and hand ! Let it appear, thou " de- 
 partedst for a season, that they might receive thee again for ever." Oh 
 be " not disobedient to the heavenly calling !" And, as for all of you 
 who know whereunto ye are called, count ye all things loss, so ye may 
 save one soul, for which Christ died ! And therein " take no thought for 
 the morrow," but " cast all your care on him that careth for you !" 
 Commit your souls, bodies, substance, all, to him, " as unto a merciful 
 and faithful Creator !" 
 
 N. B. After this society had subsisted several years, and done unspeakable good, 
 it was wholly destroyed by a verdict given against it in the King's Bench, with 
 three hundred pounds damages. I doubt a severe account remains for the wit 
 nesses, the jury, and all who were concerned in that dreadful affair '
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Accountability 50ft 
 
 Adoption 86 
 
 Antinomianism 251, 345, 347 
 
 Assurance 92, 1U9, 177 
 
 Atonement, how made 1 93 
 
 What it has Secured for Man 44 
 
 Conditions of Application 48 
 
 Necessary to Perfect Christians 391 
 
 Impossible to Sinful Man 4, 67 
 
 Theory of not Necessary 190 
 
 Principles of Wesley's view of 190, 195 
 
 Awakening 83 
 
 Baptism and Regeneration 173, 179, 447. 453 
 
 Bigotry '. 370 
 
 Boehler's Agency in Wesley's Conversion 2 
 
 Bondage of sin, Freedom from 80, 87 
 
 Broad way Described 313 
 
 Care, Undue 301 
 
 Catholicity, Principles of true 380 
 
 Charity, Described 219 
 
 Christian character, Essential Elements of 206 
 
 Condemnation, How removed 74 
 
 Conscience, Denned 110 
 
 Rule of Ill 
 
 Foundation of a good 112 
 
 Conversion of Wesley 3 
 
 Peculiar Methodist view of 71 
 
 " Influence of on Methodist Theology 72 
 
 Covenant of Grace, Extent of 63 
 
 Covetousuess 285 
 
 Daily life, How Sanctified 282 
 
 Darkness, Nature, Causes and Cure of 459 
 
 Depravity, Nature of 440 
 
 " Extent of 437 
 
 Differences between Christians in non-essentials 374 
 
 Direction from God, How obtained 366 
 
 Doctrinal Minutes on Antinomianism 345 
 
 " " Justification 41,417 
 
 Doctrines, How tested 321 
 
 Doing good 229 
 
 Enthusiasm 361 
 
 Eternity of Rewards and Punishments 139 
 
 Ethical writers of Wesley's time 202 
 
 Ethics, Christian Defined 202 
 
 " " Wesley's method of 202 
 
 Evil speaking 486 
 
 Evil thoughts, Freedom from 405, 410, 413
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 False Prophets 319 
 
 Fasting, Nature of and Reasons for 271 
 
 Forgiveness a duty 267 
 
 Form of Religion Includes what 11, 13, 218 
 
 Freedom from Committing sin 87, 397 
 
 Golden Rule 311 
 
 Guilt, Freedom from 74 
 
 " In what sense Attaching to Believers 133 
 
 Heathen honesty 12 
 
 Heaviness described 469 
 
 Holiness defined 164, 170 
 
 Holy Spirit's Work in Religion 23, 30 
 
 " " Necessary 22, 25 
 
 " " Objections to 24 
 
 Gifts 29 
 
 Image of God in Man 448 
 
 Impressions not a Safe Guide 365 
 
 Imputation of Adam's sin 437 
 
 " " Christ's righteousness 118,127,189, 193 
 
 " " Perfection 118, 428 
 
 Inherent righteousness 196 
 
 Intention, Purity of 203, 259, 283 
 
 Inward Religion 15 
 
 Joy of the Christian 115 
 
 Judging forbidden 305, 307 
 
 Judgment, Doctrine of Final ; 138 
 
 Justification defined 40, 44 
 
 Tridentine Doctrine of 42 
 
 Calvinistic Doctrine of 42 
 
 Wo7-ks prior to 47, 346 
 
 Conditions of 48, 431 
 
 Should not be Depreciated 417 
 
 Kingdom of God, What 63 
 
 and His will 265 
 
 " " first 300 
 
 Latitudinarianism Condemned 387 
 
 Law, Permanency of the Moral 248, 336 
 
 Expresses the will and Nature of God 339 
 
 And Gospel in Harmony 249, 310, 354 
 
 To be Preached 358 
 
 Not lowered by Christian Doctrine 334, 358, 393 
 
 In Harmony with Supreme Reason 337 
 
 Lav Preaching and Orders 376 
 
 Legal state Described 83 
 
 Light of the World, Christians are the 241 
 
 Love 178 
 
 " Perfect 393 
 
 " Does not Supersede Law 393 
 
 Mammon, Service of 297 
 
 Means should be used 367 
 
 Means of Grace defined 152 
 
 " " Order of use 160
 
 INDEX. 
 
 PACE. 
 
 aleekness defined 214 
 
 Millennial Glory 34 
 
 Moral obligation, Nature of 333 
 
 Moravians Despise Means of Grace 150 
 
 Narrow way, The 316 
 
 Natural State of Man Described 19, 81 
 
 Original Estate of Man 43 
 
 Original sin 438 
 
 Outward Religion Necessary 242 
 
 Oxfo. d Formalism 37 
 
 Perfection, Christian defined 390 
 
 Evidences of 391 
 
 Witness of 391 
 
 " ' Not absolute 392 
 
 " ' Summary of Doctrine of 392 
 
 Philosophy of 393 
 
 " ' Comprehensiveness of Wesley's view 394 
 
 " ' Wesley's Experience of 427 
 
 " ' Wesley's fuller statement of Doctrine 427 
 
 " ' Parallel to Justification 428 
 
 " ' Work of the Spirit in 423 
 
 " ' Conditioned on Faith 431 
 
 " ' Conditioned on good Works 433 
 
 Persecution, How to endure 231 
 
 Prayer 155, 261 
 
 " The Lord's 262 
 
 Presence of God 227 
 
 Probation, Man's original 54 
 
 Probation, Present Gracious 55 
 
 Real 203 
 
 Property, How to use < 286, 478, 493, 499 
 
 ' ' Sinful Acquisition of 436 
 
 Purity of heart 225 
 
 Regeneration, New View Introduced by Wesley 173 
 
 Described ". 173, 451 
 
 Distinguished from Justification 182, 447 
 
 Wesley on View of 447 
 
 Baptismal 173, 179, 447, 453 
 
 Religion not to be Profaned *. . 309 
 
 Repentance Defined 66, 68 
 
 of Believers 128 
 
 Righteousness of Christ 192 
 
 " of the Pharisees 253 
 
 ' External and Internal Contrasted 257 
 
 Inherent 196 
 
 Romans vii. Chapter Explained 85 
 
 Sacraments 157 
 
 Salvation, What it Implies 6, 62, 172 
 
 Self-denial 479 
 
 Sermon on the Mount. A System of Ethics 203 
 
 Sin Defined 184 
 
 " Freedom from 3, 7, 183, 185, 397, 400 
 
 " Cleaving to all Our Actions 131 
 
 " In Believers 119, 129, 186
 
 INPEX. 
 
 PACK. 
 
 Sin in Believers, Scripture Proof of Doctrine 122 
 
 Sincerity 14, 113 
 
 Social Duties of Religion , 237 
 
 Stewardship 501 
 
 Swearing 228 
 
 Tithes 254 
 
 Tractarianism Predicted 4, 10 
 
 True Keligion 327 
 
 Uncertainty in Religious state 80, 89 
 
 Union with Christ, Results of 73 
 
 Unity of Christians, How Secured 387 
 
 University Sermons 1, 11, 17, 28, 168 
 
 " Effect of the last 28 
 
 Verbal Religion Insufficient 323 
 
 Wandering Thoughts 410 
 
 Will in Relation to Holiness 181 
 
 Witness of the Spirit, Direct 92, 95, 107, 112 
 
 " " " Relation of Faith to 92, 109 
 
 " "f our own Spirit 93, 109 
 
 " Distinguished from Presumption 97 
 
 " Scripture proof of Doctrine 103 
 
 Word of God 159 
 
 Works, Danger of Trusting in 55
 
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