Sermons, upon the ministry, worship, and doctrines of the Protestant Episcopal church, and other subjects

Front matter

Jm 4 ^^ sermons, 4*ik«#u^

UPON THE

MINISTRY, WORSHIP, AND DOCTRINES

Preface

IN submitting this volume to publick inspection, my motives appear in the body of the discourses, and to them the reader is referred, instead of being solicited to wade through a tedious preamble. Had I consulted mere literary reputation, their publication would have been delayed. My parochial and academical* duties have made such large demands upon my time, that to the composition of each discourse, I was unable to devote more than the labour of a single day, and the whole have been committed to the press with no alterations, and very few additions. I do not present them as faultless specimens of style. In this aspect, neither do I challenge the severity of criticism, nor do I deprecate it. As no man is compelled to become an author, if he will write, let him be prepared to meet the consequences. It is better, that he should receive a little wholesome chastisement, than that his works should contribute in any degree to vitiate the publick taste. The writer makes no humiliating appeals to the sympathy or forbearance of reader or critick.

It was at the suggestion of a highly valued friend, that the sermons upon the Church were prepared, and their delivery was accompanied with repeated requests for publication. I have complied. With what judgment, time will show. It has not been with reluctance. A mind, unstable as water, may well sit down and count the cost,- attending the utterance of dubious speculations,- but he must be the veriest coward, who is afraid to preach and to publish what he solemnly believes to be true, lest, for combating the errours, he should be obliged to endure the censures, of the many. I know not, that the present discourses will be deemed worthy of a reply. Care however has been taken to notify me, in a formal manner, that such was the intention. Be it so. When a temperate answer appears, I hope to embark in the subsequent discussion with benevolent and charitable feelings. I know, that I shall do it, in all the confidence of a certain faith, that the leading facts and arguments, presented in this volume, are utterly incapable of being refuted. Every thing

V* plausible, that can be alleged in opposition, is perfectly familiar to my mind, and I have no difficulty in pledging myself to its exposure, wherever reason is permitted to triumph over prejudice, and reli 7 gion over party. I only ask of my worthy Christian brethren of other denominations ; those, whom I esteem for their piety, I only ask, that they raise not the shout of victory, until the battle is won.

The miscellaneous discourses have been selected in haste, from a large number written at different periods. I am apprehensive, that the choice of subjects may not have been as judicious as my friends could wish j but such as they are, let them be considered the humble offering of my head and heart in the glorious cause of Christ. If a favourable opinion should be formed of them, by the publick, they will, with the divine permission, be followed by others^ embracing more extended views of Christian faith and practice.

Lexington, Qct. 29, 1828 v

I

CONTENTS*

SERMON I— XX.

Isaiah lxii. 1— For Zion's sake will I not hold my £eace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burnetii. Page 1 — 258

SERMON XXI.

2 Corinthians Hi. 17.— Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 259

SERMON XXII.

Romans xiv. 22. — Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. 270

SERMON XXIII.

Acts xxvi. 28. — Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. 280

SERMON XXIV.

Luke xiii. 24. — Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. 289

SERMON XXV.

I Corinthians vii. 29, 30, 31. — But this I say, Brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; And they that use this world, as not abusing it: for the fashion of this world passeth away. 301 viii

SERMON XXVI.

Acts xxvi„ 8.— -Why should it be thought a thing incredible with you, that God should raise the dead? 312

SERMON XXVII.

Acts xvii. 11. — These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. 323

SERMON XXVIII.

Revelation ii. 4. — Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee. 333

SERMON XXIX.

Amos vi, 1. — Wo to them that are at ease in Zion. 344

SERMON XXX.

Matthew xi. 28. — Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 355

SERMON XXXI.

2 Timothy iii. 4.— Lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God. 365

SERMON XXXII.

James ii. 19, 20. — Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well : the devils also believe, and tremble. But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead? 375

SERMON XXXIII.

Revelation xiv. 11. — And the smoke of their torment ascendb eth up for ever and ever, 38(>

SERMON I.

For Ziotfs sake will 1 not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

THE prophet, in the commencement of this chapter, breaks forth into the mos sublime eulogy, and indulges in the liveliest anticipation of the future glory of the Church of Christ. He predicts the arrival of the period, when all nations should have cause to rejoice in her. " The Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all Kings thy glory." He bestows upon her no fulsome or vain panegyrick. " Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God." He describes the final prosperity, which is to attend her. " Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken ; neither shall thy land any more be Desolate ; but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah : for," and he here gives the signification of these terms, " for the Lord delightef h in thee, and thy land shall be married." He foretells the ardent love, which should be borne her by the ransomed of the Lord, and the Lord himself. " For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee : and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." He unfolds the future anxiety of her ministers to extol and glorify her and her bridegroom Christ, until she become the praise of all the earth. " I have set watchmen upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night." The Lord hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy saK nation cometb j behold, his reward is with him, and his work before

A him. And they shall call them, The holy people, The redeemed of the Lord : and thou shalt be called, Sought out ? A city not forsaken."

These however, Brethren, are predictions, that as yet, are only" in part fulfilled. The bridegroom has indeed come, and with him his bride, the Church, She has put on her beautiful garments, and furnished abundant evidence, that she is " all glorious within." And still the world lieth in wickedness, still the great mass of mankind know nothing of the spouse of Jesus, they have not come to the wedding supper of the Lamb, they have not penetrated into her bridal chamber, her more brilliant triumphs, her more extended .conquests over the hearts of the sons and daughters of men have yet to ensue. They have yet to bow before her shrine, and enable her as a chaste bride to present unto her Lord, " the heathen for his inheritance 5 , and the .uttermost parts of the earth for his possession y

When these glorious things, which are spoken of her, the city of the living God, are to be fully realized, I know not, I pretend not to unravel that web of prophecy, which completely shuts out the future from the ken of mortal eyes, so far as precise dates, and times, and seasons are concerned. But this I know, that in con^ fident expectation of these things, such confidence as was produced by divine inspiration, Isaiah looked down the long track of intervening ages to their accomplishment, and even at the remote period, in which he lived, determined with the most ardent zeal to? contribute all in his power to effect it ; all in his power to hasten, as it were,, the approach of that truly auspicious era, when all from the greatest to the least should be pervaded with the knowledge of the Lord, and be able to " say unto Zion, thy God reign - eth." Hear his own solemn and impassioned vow. " For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burnem."

And I require no better authority to justify a similar vow on the part of the present watchmen upon the walls of the Church,. the present Stewards of the manifold grace of God. The lapse of time should inflame rather than cool their ardour in a cause, so holy • and so good. As every day brings us nearer and nearer the consummation devoutly implored by the faithful in Christ Jesus, when i the full-orbed splendour of the Sun of Righteousness shall shine upon the nations, and bring them out of darkness into marvellous light; so should there be greater and greater anxiety to be count* ed of God worthy of this calling, to fulfil all the good pleasure of iris goodness and the work of faith with power.

As one of the most important preparatory steps, I have ever con= sidered a closer union and harmony among Christians to be eminently desirable. For a long, long time they have exhibited to the wondering eye of angels a sad and melancholy spectacle, Their divine Lord and Master enjoined, that they should love one another: but no people wrangle more. It was his counsel, that they should attend to the weightier matters of judgment, mercy, and faith; but no Jews were more tenacious of the mint, anise, and cumin of the law. It was his command, that they should learn of him to be meek and lowly in heart; that they should not judge, lest they be judged ; but no Pharisee could have looked down upon a publican with greater disdain and self complacency? than the disciples of Jesus now do, upon each other's attainments in the graces of religion. " I am holier than thou," is their most prominent motto; the spirit it engenders enters into all their actions, and furnishes but too much reason to the enemy to blaspheme and say, " See those Christians 3 how they hate one another."

And now I ask you for the cause ? The leading cause of this strange and unnatural antipathy existing among those professing the same faith, having the same common Master, and looking to him alone for the mercy of God unto eternal life ? You will reply, that it is to be traced to the region of the heart, to its still proverbial corruption, its wonderful inclination to retain something of its original taint; as if it were possible to be too wise, too holy, and too happy here below, And I acknowledge the justice of that reply ; I have no idea of attempting to controvert it. "Out of the heart," says our Saviour, " proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witnessj blasphemies ; These are the things which defile a man."

And yet it is apparent, that as in the natural, so in the moral world, secondary causes are continually producing their good and their bad effects. And in this point of view, was the question already suggested, proposed to me, I should and I do answer, that the immediate active cause of all that dissention and disunion^ so pre* valent among Christians, is to be referred to gross departures from primitive, Apostolick, and therefore divine institutions. They have proved the fruitful source of all errour in doetrine, and all errour in life and practice. They have made the multitude wiser than God, and the Christian part thereof wiser than Christ. How often, for example, do we hear natural religion preferred to revealed, by men who have found out, that while nature neve? contradicts herself, the scriptures, in the mouths of their warmest advocates, are made to speak variant doctrines and to inculcate opposing practices ! How often do we hear it asserted by men, of whom better things might be hoped, that the separation of Christians into different denominations is decidedly favourable to the advancement of religion, and the spread of the Redeemer's kingdom! I agree to the sincerity of their belief. I am far from intending to charge them with wilfully entertaining opinions hostile to the enlarged prosperity of Zion. But where do they get them ? Where have they thus found out the mind of God I To the law and the testimony : Show me some authority from them, and I may be induced to credit what I am now forced to consider visionary fancies and unfounded assertions. Show me, that God approved the separation of the ten tribes from those of Judah and Benjamin, and the establishment of a new Church, in which the priests of the house of Levi had no office and ministry. Show me, that Christ highly applauded the divisions subsisting between the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and other Jewish sects during his eventful life. Show me, that the Apostles commended the schism of the Gnosticks, the Nicolaitans, and those, who in their time perished in the gainsaying of Core. Show me this, and I will bow with reverence to the word of inspiration ; I will rejoice in the countless multitude of religious sects, which exist in the present age.

But every attempt to point out such commendation would be utterly fruitless and vain. It is no where to be seen in the sacred volume; it is no whereby anticipation applied to the future, to a state of things resembling our own. Christ Jesus our Lord never says, Divide ye yourselves, my Brethren, into divers parties and denominations. In this way, ye shall the more successfully build up my Church, and add to it daily of such as shall be saved. On the contrary, he tells them, that " there shall be one fold and one shepherd."" He directs this prayer to heaven in their behalf*

" Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are." He submits this strong and conclusive argument to prove the necessity of union and concord, " Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand."

Nor did the Apostles inculcate different sentiments. When they went about evangelizing the world, they did not set up, as our modern reformers, the Church of John, the Church of Peter, the Church of James, and from these names bestow distinct appellations upon their several disciples. All these things have been the result of a new flood of light, unknown to them, as it was to the Master whom they served. They rather discountenanced all schism with as much zeal as they discountenanced all heresy. Ye cannot fail to remember how solemnly St. Paul, in particular, re^ monstrated with the Corinthians on this subject. How affectionately and earnestly he delivered unto them this counsel ; " Now, I beseech you, Brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my Brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided ? Was Paul crucified for you ?" And in a subsequent chapter he rebukes them in these terms; "Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man ? I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. So then, neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth ; but God that giveth the increase,"

And do you desire better evidence than this, brethren, to convince you of the danger of schism, and the extreme fallacy of imagining that our numerous Christian sects have a happy tendency in promoting the interests of religion? Paul does not condemn those Corinthians for imbibing unsound and heretical doctrines; such as are contrary to the true faith of Christ in the judgment of the feiodern orthodox. He speaks of them as believers. He says to them " All things are yours. And ye are Christ's, and Christ is Crop's." But for this he does condemn them, For this he does call fheft) carnal. For commencing those very separations and divisions which are now so highly extolled. For doing precisely what Christians do in modern times; saying, lam of Calvin; and I ©f Minister; and I of Wesley; and I of Fox; with innumerable others. Christians, who in this particular, take no warning from the explicit language of Paul; who never hear his yet whispering voice, emphatically asking, — " Is Christ divided? Was Calvin, or Minister, or Wesley, or Fox, crucified for you?"

I know, brethren, that I am now treading on tender ground, But the times require, that I should speak out plainly and directly. It can never with justice be said of me, that I would gladly lay an interdict on the indulgence of an)' doctrines, or on the expression of any sentiments. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind, and according to that persuasion, let him preach, rebuke and exhort. He shall receive no abuse, no molestation from me. And what I accord to others, I claim for myself. The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free. The liberty of honestly entertaining', and honestly and charitably publishing my own views of Christian doctrines and Christian institutions, without being accountable to any human being, but to God alone. I do not question the piety of numerous individuals, belonging to Churches of human origin and invention, I do not assert, for my own conscience would condemn me if I did, that they cannot become the heirs of eternal life. I am rather sensible, that the Apostle applies to those divisions and parties, which existed among the Corinthians this remarkable expression; "If any man's work shall be burned, he .->hall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire." And hence I abjure the thought of consigning to everlasting perdition large bodies of men, numbers of whom I am happy to believe ii\ r e under the influence of the divine grace, and evince great advances in faith and holiness. But at the same time, this does not convince me, that there is no such sin as schism, however ignorantly it may be indulged. It does not abstract from the scriptures nor from my faith, that memorable admonition of Paul, " there should be no schism in the body," and again, "ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular;" that body, which he elsewhere terms " the Church," and affirms of Christ, that " he is its head."

No, no, I have no conception, that liberality and candour towards others imply, that we must embrace their errours, and renounce m their favour truths, which have their foundation in the wisdom of God, and that are revealed to us and our children, that we may embrace them with a ready mind and in the confidence of a certain faith. I rather look for divine authority in things, which may have been originally indifferent, and when I discover this r it is as obligatory upon me, in relation to the external, as it is to the internal concerns of the gospel. If Christ directed water to be used in baptism, it is not to be relinquished for another fluid. If he employed bread and wine, as symbols of his crucified body and blood, and commanded them to be taken in remembrance of him ; they are not to be abandoned for other substances; although, in either case, I am not prepared to say, that a person baptized with milk, or communing upon flesh and milk could not therefore be received up into glory.

And this train of reasoning is equally applicable to the Church of Christ. If he, by his Apostles, has established one, giving it such distinct and characteristick marks, that it may be clearly discerned, and easily found, it is not for man to cast it aside, and relying upon his own wisdom to proceed in forming another and another, just as caprice inclines, and peculiar views and partialities preponderate. Nor is that a good and valid argument to justify such a course, which appeals to human sympathy and asserts, we are all aiming at the same result; all these different roads terminate in the same heaven; we shall agree there, however we may disagree here. I am rather of the prophets mind ; " Speak Lord, for thy servant heareth." I wish to learn what God himself hath ordained, and if the bible tells me this, I have no faith in the words or the things, which man's wisdom teacheth, I have no faith, that he can improve upon the gospel or upon the Church of Christ.

We are told by some, that there is no such being as the devil, and no such place as hell ; that the Son of God was but a mere man and that there is no virtue whatever in his alleged sacrifice and propitiation for sin. But with me, one word from God destroys all these human fancies, and I am ready to exclaim with an Apostle ° r " Let God be true and every man a liar/ We are told by others ; Our Church is as good, ay, it it is better than yours; it has discarded those higher orders of the clergy, which lord it over God's heritage, mid has banished all those popish forms and ceremonies^ which yqu g so perversely retain. But when I look into the bible, and find it to be the very Church established by the very God and the very Christ ; I call to remembrance the words of David ; "If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. If I do not remember thee, let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth ; if I prefer not Jerusalem above my chief joy." I am animated, as I trust, by the same spirit, which dwelt upon the lips, and glowed within the heart of Isaiah. "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the right 1 eousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burnetii."

Too much, indeed, of worldly wisdom appears to exist among Christians. The children of light have succeeded in becoming as wise, in their day and generation, as the children of this worlds Nothing is more common than to hear them talk of pleasing men. more by this method than by that, of adopting new paths rather than the old, because they harmonize more with the prevailing impulse of publick opinion. It is not so much what God says and Christ says ; but what will the publick say, how will the publick think, and what probability of success is to be entertained, not from relying upon God ; but from yielding, to a greater or less decree, to the known prejudices and infirmities of men. Our Saviour^ for example, enjoins upon his disciples ; " Take heed 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." " But when thou does! alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth ; That thine alms may be in secret : and thy Father, which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly." But now, as if entirely dissatisfied with this divine regulation, long lists of charitable donors to missionary and other societies, are continually published to the world, on the ground of expediency ; on the ground of encouraging others to give from the expectation of having their names as generally known and extensively circulated. But for my part, Brethren, I do most solemnly protest against these implied improvements of the word of God. It is doing evil, that good may come out of it. It is but a new version of the old doctrine ascribed to the papists, that the end sanctifies the means. I am the advocate of missionary, the advocate of bible societies; but let them be conducted in strict conformity to the plain injunctions of the scriptures,

Vnd without that manifest distrust of Providence, which such mca= sures do not fail to indicate.

Similar remarks apply to female exhibitions in publick. They are becoming more and more common, and are supposed to produce better and better effects. In vain does the Apostle in his epistle to the Corinthians require ; " Let you. women keep silence in the Churches : for it is not permitted unto them to speak ; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home ; for it is a shame for women to speak in the Church." The rule is often transgressed without fear and without compunction. Paul's authority is regarded as little as his Master's. We have enthusiasts, who arrogate to themselves the right of rejecting the express words of scripture. Policy is their plea, although every sober and reflecting mind must be satisfied, that the only true policy in religion is to be found in reverent obedience to the oracles of God, even when they give directions apparently inimical to its increased prosperity. " My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord."

And these sentiments I cherish to the same extent in relation to the primitive Church. Founded by its divine head, I can never consent to abandon it for any, that have grown up within the memory of man, or whose claims to antiquity are bounded by the history of two or three centuries. I can tell you the fallible men, by whom they were devised, the places where they were first established, and the gradual progress they have made in stealing away the hearts of the people from the one only Bride of Christ. But for her, if ye wish to learn her origin, ye must go to the gospels and epistles. She has her foundation upon the Rock of Ages, and other foundation can no man lay than that which is laid. She may be despised and rejected of men ; it was the fate of the bridegroom himself. But let them do this, or whatsoever else it may please them ; they can never induce him to repudiate her. They can never prevail with him to accept a second bride, in preference to " the Church," which " he loved and gave himself for it ; That he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word ; That he might present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."

From these observations, Brethren, you must perceive, that the

B to present discourse is merely introductory to a series upon the sami : subject, which I propose to deliver on the morning of as many sabbaths, as may be necessary to complete them, and in which I design to give as condensed a view as possible of the Apostolick Church, at whose altar it is my happiness to minister. Those features I mean, which serve to distinguish her from the various protestant denominations of our country. By the divine blessing, I will prove from the scriptures her divine origin. I will show, that her three orders in the ministry, and particularly the Episcopal order, spring from the same holy and unerring wisdom. I will endeavour to convince you, that in some other important particulars, such as the holy rite of confirmation, and the use of precomposed forms of prayer in the publick worship of God, she conforms closely to the pattern ot heavenly things, exhibited in the sacred volume.