The works of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D. in nine volumes (volume 1 of 9) (part 3 of 4)

The works of the Rev. Isaac Watts, D. D. in nine volumes (volume 1 of 9) (part 3 of 4)

How was his patience tried to the utmost? And that not only in the fruitless and thankless labours of his life among a cruel and insolent race of men, but in the approaches of his bloody death. When the blessed Redeemer lay agonizing in the garden, or hung bleeding on the cross, to see him oppressed with the weight of the wrath of God due to our sins, conflicting with the rage of devils, forsaken by his friends, and surrounded with the profane insults of barbarous men: What a mournful and moving spectacle! And yet there is something divinely amiable in it, to behold him all over calm and patient, and meditating immortal and forgiving love. What unworthy followers are we of the blessed Jesus, the Lamb that was slain, when upon every occasion we take fire, and break out into an impatient fury?

But if I should enter upon the last instance of a lovely character, and begin the mention of love, how far beyond all example, and beyond all description, is the love of our Lord Jesus! How tender were the compassions of his heart! How extensive the benevolence of his soul! What melting language of love dropped from his lips hourly! And how were his mortal and immortal powers employed in procuring infinite blessings for sinful men, in distributing them amongst the rebellious! O that we could learn to think, and speak, and act like our blessed Saviour whose life and whose death was a rich and various scene of divine and human love!

III. I might draw further arguments from the examples, and from the writings of the apostles and holy men in the primitive days of christianity; when they were all of one heart and one soul, and did every thing to please and serve their fellow-christians. I would mention the epistles of St. John; what a divine spirit of love breathes in them! But next to our Lord Jesus, I should rather turn your eyes and thoughts to the temper and conduct of St. Paul, the greatest of the apostles, and the nearest to Christ. How did he please all men, not seeking his own profit, but their salvation, even as Christ pleased not himself? And he leaves us his own example in subordination to his Lord, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ; Rom. xv. 1-3. and give none offence, neither to Jew nor Gentile; 1 Cor. x. 32. Who is there sorrowful among you, and I sympathize not? Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is offended, and I do not share in the pain? 2 Cor. xi. 29. I bear and endure all things for the elect’s sake, that they may be saved; 2 Tim. ii. 10. How lovely was his behaviour in all respects? His epistles are full of it, it shines through every page: His character demands a volume to describe it, all worthy of our imitation and our wonder.

But I must hasten to the last motive derived from christianity, and that is the nature and design of the gospel itself. It is the most lovely of all religions. Wisdom, humility, peace, patience, meekness, moderation, and love, run through every part of the covenant of grace, like so many bright and beautiful colours joined together in the rainbow, that stretches its glory round the lower sky, and seals an ancient and everlasting peace between earth and heaven.

There is therefore the most sovereign and constraining obligation laid upon us christians, to do all things that are lovely, that we may make our holy religion appear like itself, and cause christianity to be beloved of men. Every christian is in some degree entrusted with the honour of Christ, and with the credit and renown of his gospel. Let us be watchful then to take all opportunities, and use all pious methods to make our hope appear glorious, and set the name of Christ in its own amiable light, and to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour.

How dishonourable and shameful a thing is it for a christian to have an unlovely carriage, or to shew any thing in his conduct that is rough and forbidding! What a blemish does it cast upon the gospel which he professes! Let us talk what we will of the sublimer glories of christianity, and profess an acquaintance with the deepest mysteries, yet with all our flaming zeal for the faith, we may become scandals to the gospel, if we abandon the practices of love. The world will judge of our religion by our temper and carriage. We give occasion therefore to the world to upbraid us, What do you more than others? If we, who pretend to be christians, who have professed the most lovely of all religions, are guilty of practices unworthy of the sacred name: When they see our carriage as bad as others, they will be ready to cry out, “What is your beloved more than another beloved?” What are your doctrines better than others, if your practice differs not from others! And are you willing it should be said of you, that you are the occasions of shame and scandal to the name and religion of Christ?

We should do all things that are amiable in the sight of men, that the gospel may have the glory of it: Shall I say, the gospel of Christ deserves it at our hands? If the gospel brings so rich a salvation to us, it is fitting we should bring a great deal of honour to it. How honourable is it to the gospel of Christ, when persons of a rough, crabbed, sour temper, are converted by this gospel, are become christians indeed, and are made all over amiable, and soft, and obliging in their deportments; when they carry it like new creatures, like persons that are changed indeed, that have much of the spirit of love in them, the temper of the gospel, and the temper of heaven! It is this gospel, as I have said before, that turns lions into lambs, and ravens into doves, the most savage creatures into mild and gentle.

While we are thus engaged in the practice of love, we have no need to abandon our zeal for the truth; but we should separate our divine zeal from all our own guilty passions, lest instead of honouring God, we should destroy his children. The servant of the Lord may be bold and stedfast in the defence of the gospel, but he must be gentle towards all men, ready to teach, and patient under injuries. He must not strive like a hero for victory, but when any oppose themselves to the truth, he must instruct them in meekness; 2 Tim. ii. 24. While we are peaceful and harmless, we may be at the same time prudent and wise; our Lord Jesus has joined these two characters; Mat. x. 16. And it is a very lovely inscription for a disciple of Christ to wear in all his public and private conversation, wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. Thus we may guard ourselves from the malice of the world, while we attempt to win them by all the sacred methods of humanity and divine goodness.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXVIII. Christian Morality, viz. a Lovely Carriage.

O ’tis a lovely thing to see A man of prudent heart, Whose thoughts, and lips and life agree To act a useful part.

When envy, strife, and wars begin In little angry fools; Mark how the sons of peace come in, And quench the kindling coals.

Their minds are humble, mild and meek, Nor let their fury rise; Nor passion moves their lips to speak, Nor pride exalts their eyes.

Their frame is prudence mix’d with love; Good works fulfil their day; They join the serpent with the dove, But cast the sting away.

Such was the Saviour of mankind, Such pleasures he pursu’d; His flesh and blood were all refin’d, His soul divinely good.

Lord, can these plants of virtue grow In such a soul as mine? Thy grace can form my nature so And make my heart like thine.

SERMON XXIX. Christian Morality, viz. Things of good Report, &c. PHILIP. iv. 8.—Whatsoever things are of good report,—think on these things. Οσα ευφημα, &c.

The value of a good name was so great under the Jewish dispensation, that the Spirit of God does not think it beneath his care to recommend it to his chosen people, by the mouth of Solomon, the wisest of men. It is better and more worth than precious ointment; Eccl. vii. 1. It was counted an ornament and entertainment at public feasts, to have rich oils poured upon the head; the price of some of them was exceeding great; they gave refreshment to the natural spirits, and spread a perfume through all the company. But a good name is of greater price, it is a rich ornament to the character of him that possesses it, and has a considerable influence toward his happiness; so that to use the words of Solomon again; Prov. xxii. 1. It is rather to be chosen than great riches.

The blessed apostle of the Gentiles is of the same mind, and he recommends to the christian world, the practice of those things that are of good report, which is the way, whereby a good name is to be obtained. He had just before recommended to us the things that are lovely in the eyes of men, and such as will render us well-beloved among our neighbours. Now he invites us to the practice of those things that are of good report in the world, such as will procure us reputation, and a good name, where we may live, especially among the wise and sober part of mankind. This hath some difference in it from the former, though it must be granted, that all things that are lovely, have also a tendency to obtain a good name.

There are many things in the conduct of life, which do not so directly offer themselves to us, as parts of necessary justice, piety, or goodness. But yet they are such as bear a good character in the world, and they give to the man that practises them, a good reputation among his fellow creatures: on the contrary, there are several other practices, which is not easy to prove directly sinful, yet they are of ill report, and they ought not to be indulged among christians. Among these practices of good report, some are changeable with the times and customs of the country, and they obtain a different character and esteem, according to the age and place wherein we dwell; others always and in all places among sober and wise men, obtain the same character; they have been in all ages and in all nations, esteemed things of good report: The nature of them seems to be unchangeable: And it is this sort of actions only that I shall take notice of. By various particulars this head will be better illustrated and improved, than it can be by any general descriptions.

It is a matter of good report to mind our own business, yet to be of a public spirit, to be regular in our conduct, to keep the best company, to abstain from the utmost bounds of things lawful, and in doubtful matters, to follow the practices of the wisest and the best. As I discourse upon each of these particulars, I shall observe what are those opposite practices of evil report, which we ought to avoid.

I. It is a thing of good report to mind our own business.—The holy apostle requires it; 1 Thess. iii. 11. That ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business. One would think there should be no need of study and application in order to be quiet; but some persons are of so turbulent and restless a temper, that they naturally intermeddle with everything: They had need take pains with themselves to keep themselves quiet, and busy only in their proper work. The word in the Greek φιλοτιμεισθαι signifies that we should be ambitious of quietness and diligence in our calling, for it is a matter of honour and credit. In whatsoever station we are placed, it is industry must gain reputation. There are other great and valuable advantages of it, but I confine myself now to this one, that is a thing of good report among men.

If persons are called to magistracy, let them attend to the work of their superior post. Let them rule and govern with all diligence, and fulfil that office well, with which God has entrusted them. Let them employ themselves much in their proper sphere, and not wear the honourable title in idleness, or bear the sword in vain, which hath been too frequent a practice in this great city, and thereby vice has grown rampant, and reformation of manners hath been shamefully discouraged.

These who are made ministers of the gospel, let them make it their business to win souls to salvation, to bring in sinners to faith and holiness, and to edify the saints by their exhortations, by their doctrine, by their example. We should be instant in season, and out of season, reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine; 2 Tim. iv. 2. Let him that ministers wait on his ministry: He that teacheth, on teaching; he that exhorteth, on exhortation; Rom. xii. 7. Let us not waste our time and our best talents in the pursuit of laborious trifles, in intricate and perplexing controversies, which are less necessary to the life of christianity, or on useless and angry squabbles, which divide and tear the church. Nor let us throw away these thoughts and hours, on pompous ornaments of learning, on critical or polite, studies, or curious and artificial works, which should be devoted to matters of more sacred importance.

If we are engaged in trades, manufactures, or merchandize in the world, let us shew all industry; and honest labour and care, and thus walk with God, every man in his calling, wherein he is called, till the providence of God evidently leads him to other work; 1 Cor. vii. 25. And thus we may refute the calumnies of those who would seek all occasions to reflect upon us for our stricter profession of religion. There are many encouraging promises given to diligence in the word of God. I shall mention but one at present that agrees with my present subject; Prov. xxii. 29. Seest thou a man diligent in his business, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men. That is, “his good report and his reputation shall grow and increase, that he shall be brought into more honourable company, and to a more exalted station.”

If we are servants, let us devote our time and thoughts to the business which our superiors have entrusted us with, and seek their interest with ah honest soul. If we are children and scholars, under instruction, let us apply our minds to learn the things we are taught, and attend to the instructions of those who teach us. Every one of us have our proper work, which demands our application to it. There are many enemies to this virtue, many practices inconsistent with the character of diligence, as it is celebrated and recommended in the word of God.

First, Sloth or laziness stands foremost in this rank. Surely the powers of our mind and body were never made to be useless. Go to the ant, thou sluggard, and learn industry of that little animal. Can we think we were born to be cumberers of the ground, and mere burdens of the earth we dwell on? Let us shake off this stupid and infamous humour, let us rise to an active life, and answer the ends of our creation. And for the same reason it is, that there ought to be a restraint put upon an excess of sleep, and slumber. You know the character of the drowsy wretch, that turns from side to side upon his bed, as a heavy door upon its hinges; and the sluggard, who with folded hands sits still and lets the weeds grow over his corn; but these men shall be clothed with rags; Prov. xxi. 14.

Secondly, Luxury and an intemperate love of pleasure, is another enemy to diligence in our callings. It is an odious character that is given to the inhabitants of Crete by one of their own poets; and the Spirit of God confirms the truth of it; Titus i. 12. The Cretans are evil beasts, slow bellies; so shamefully engaged in gluttony and the luxury of the palate, that they render themselves heavy, stupid, and unfit for business; A lazy generation of men, that have much more inclination to eat and drink, and live like brutes, than to employ themselves in any honest labour, that is worthy of human nature, or becomes a man.

Under the same reproof I may justly bring an excessive indulgence of sports or recreations, beyond what is necessary for the refreshment of nature, and the recruit of our spirits, in order to fulfil duty with more diligence: This was intimated in a former discourse. It is but a character of ill report, when a man is too often found in the place of sports and unnecessary diversions, while he ought to be in his shop, or in other proper business of his life. Prov. xxi. 27. “He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man; and he that loves wine and oil, feastings and entertainments, he shall not be rich.”

Thirdly, A tattling humour, excessive talking, and an idle inquisitive impertinence, are great enemies also to that industry, that is recommended to us. Solomon assures us, that though there is profit in all labour, yet the talk of the lips, tendeth only to penury; Prov. xiv. 23. And he redoubles it upon our ears, that a prating fool shall fall: Prov. x. 8-10. There are some persons that love to talk of any thing, or every thing, besides their own business; like foolish children that turn every page of their books, and flutter a little about every part of them, besides where their lesson is. Every moving feather is ready to seize the fancy of these triflers, this fickle and talkative race of men: They are but taller children. Every little story entertains their idle inclination, and gives them fresh employment to tell it over again. They had rather do any thing than the duty of the present hour; they spend their time like the inhabitants of Athens, in little else but hearing or telling some new thing.

Some of these persons are ready to intermingle themselves with every man’s concernments, uncalled and undesired: They search into the secrets of families, in order to gratify a wicked humour, to spread abroad and publish some private scandal. They creep into houses, to make mischief there, and by tattling and repeating matters of contest, they separate very friends, and raise angry quarrels in peaceful families; Prov. xvii. 9. Such persons seem to deserve the public censure of the magistrate, in the opinion of the apostle Peter; 1 Peter iv. 15. But let none of you, that are christians, suffer as an evil-doer, or as a busy body in other men’s matters. He himself once fell under the censure of Christ our Lord, for this inquisitive and needless curiosity. John xxi. 21, 22. When St. Peter had received a prophecy from his master concerning his own martyrdom, he had also an express notice what his own business was, viz. to follow his master. But Peter had a mind to know what should become of John too; “Lord, says he, and what shall this man do or suffer? What if I will, says our blessed Lord, that he tarry till I come again? What is that to thee? Is that thy business, Peter, to know what shall befal John? Mind thy own duty, and follow thou me.” A wise and divine rebuke from our risen Saviour! After this, St. Peter well knew how to censure such impertinence, and to reprove busy-bodies.

Of the same mind is the apostle Paul. He advises women how to behave themselves, that they may not fall under this charge. Let them guide the house, says he, and employ themselves in domestic affairs: for if they neglect this work, they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also, and busy-bodies, speaking things which they ought not; gathering up matter for slander of their neighbours at their next visit, where every one is ashamed to be silent, and therefore each is ready to furnish the company with their share. But this practice, in the opinion of the sacred writer furnishes the adversary with daily occasion to slander christianity, and to speak reproachfully of the gospel, and it is a thing of very ill fame; 1 Tim. v. 13, 14.

II. A public spirit is another thing of good report. Though christians must be diligent in their business, yet they should not confine all their cares within the narrow circle of self, but have a hearty solicitude for the welfare of the nation in which they dwell, for the neighbours among whom they inhabit, for the church of Christ in the world, and extend their concern to the happiness of mankind: The apostle directs Timothy to make supplications, prayers, and intercessions for all men, and to take such a satisfaction in the mercies they receive, as to give thanks to God upon their account; 1 Tim. ii. 1. He exhorts the Ephesians to prayer and supplication for all the saints; Eph. vi. 18. And what he taught, he also practised in an eminent and glorious manner; the care of all the churches came daily upon him: And you find him in the beginning of his epistles lifting up his petitions and his praises to heaven continually for the churches to whom he writes.

We should rejoice with them that rejoice, and weep with them that weep, and share with our fellow-christians in their joys and their sorrows, that we may thereby double their joys, and lighten the weight of their sorrows by a blessed sympathy. Rom. xii. 15. We should bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ; Gal. vi. 2. And in 1 Cor. x. 24. he saith, “Let no man seek his own, but every man another’s wealth, or welfare;” that is, “Let no man be so wholly swallowed up in his own profit and peace, as utterly to neglect the peace and profit of his neighbour.” But though this be so honourable and becoming a practice, yet it has ever been too much neglected, even among the professors of the gospel; for St. Paul tells the Philippians, that Timothy was a singular instance of this good quality; Phil. ii. 20, 21. I have no man like minded, who will naturally care for your state; for all seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ’s.

Some may be ready to raise an objection here, and say, “How is this consistent with the former character and practice which I recommended, namely, that every man mind his own business?”

I grant that this ought generally to be our first care, that we fulfil the duties of our own particular station well, and see to it, that ourselves and our household be supported: This is usually the loudest call of providence, for he that provides not for those of his own house, when it is in his power, does not answer the demands of christianity, but is worse than an infidel, or one that has denied the faith; 1 Tim. v. 8. But there are many sacred and civil services may be done for the neighbourhood, the church, and the nation, without any culpable hinderance to our own affairs. So much time may be easily redeemed from sloth and slumber, from useless and impertinent conversation, as the public may call for at our hands. And when there is a day of distress or trouble come upon our friends, upon the land wherein we dwell, or the churches of Christ in the world, when virtue and religion are in sinking circumstances, we are called sometimes to lay out a larger part of our time and strength, our interest and our substance, for the welfare of the public, which otherwise perhaps might be due to ourselves, and our own family. In such cases as these, christian prudence must direct us how to distinguish wisely, and determine how far this self-denial is to be exercised, in order to promote the happiness of mankind, and the public honour of Christ. This is a thing of good report in the church and in the world, and it will turn to our honour in the day of the Lord.

But let no man deceive himself, and vainly imagine that he may lay claim to the honour of a public spirit, because he spends half his days in places of public resort, and in fruitless enquiries and chatterings about the affairs of government, and the business of the state; perhaps he extends his care also to Muscovy and Persia, as well as Great Britain, while the care of his shop is a little thing with him, the business of his study or counting-house is forgotten, and his family complains of woeful neglect: Nor are public affairs mended by all his impertinence.

[If this sermon be too long, it is best divided here.]

III. Regularity in the conduct of our affairs is a becoming character, and will gain us a good name amongst men. As there are many and various duties that belong to the natural, the civil, and the religious life; it is a piece of eminent wisdom to appoint proper seasons and rules for the performance of them; nor should we think it beneath us, as far as possible, to govern ourselves by those rules, and keep to our own appointed seasons; otherwise all our affairs will be ready to run into confusion, one duty will be apt to intrench upon another, and some of the duties of life or godliness will be neglected, or quite forsaken, under a pretence of want of time.

One thing that intrenches upon the regular hours and orders of life, is a trifling and dilatory temper, putting off necessary business, whether it be work or devotion, till the last moment; and then, if the least accident intervenes, we have not left ourselves sufficient time to perform it. These are the persons who are frequently found in a hurry and confusion, because they have neglected to do the proper work in the proper season. Their business is always done in haste, and often unfinished. These are they who keep no appointments, who are seldom true to their hour, who make their friends wait for them upon all occasions, who often create uneasiness to all the company, and put a whole family out of order. What an unbecoming behaviour is this! What an ill aspect it bears! especially if these delayers are in any degree inferior, or the younger parts of a house. And yet it might easily be prevented, by taking the first opportunity for every business. O it is an excellent, a golden rule, “Never leave that till to-morrow, which may be done to-day, nor trust the business of this hour to the care of the next,” for the next is not mine.

When servants are of this dilatory and trifling humour, they waste their master’s time perpetually, and put their superiors to many inconveniences. They prevent one another’s business as well as neglect their own. You would wonder how they could spend three or four hours in a common errand, and make a family wait half a day for a message, that might be dispatched in half an hour. They cannot keep their eyes or their ears from attending to every object they meet; their endless curiosity of enquiry, and their irresistible inclination to talk of every thing that does not concern them, is an everlasting hinderance to their proper work. This active sort of idleness is much harder to be cured than that of the slow and stupid kind; and you see it belongs to the poor as well as the rich; though it is a matter of disreputation and infamy to both.

Persons of this unhappy conduct, whether of high or low degree, are in great danger of trifling in the most sacred and divine concernments, as well as in common life. They sometimes manage their spiritual and immortal affairs in the same dilatory manner, but with more dreadful and fatal consequence. They put off repentance from day to day, and delay their solemn transactions with God, till sickness seizes them, or till death approaches: Then what hurry of spirit! What dreadful confusion of soul! What tumults and terrors overwhelm them! And it is well if the matters of their salvation be not unfinished at the last hour, and themselves made miserable to all eternity, because they trifled away life and time.

A second enemy to this regular conduct of life, and which indeed is derived from the former, is this, an inversion of the order of nature, and a change of the seasons which God hath appointed for business and rest. I confess this is not now-a-days a matter of ill report in itself, however contrary it be to the laws of nature and the creation: But it is attended with many irregularities, and sometimes with infamous practices too: And therefore I would spend one page to give it an ill name; and to bring it into just discredit.

God has made every thing beautiful in its season; Eccl. iii. 11. The sun ariseth;—and man goeth forth to his work until the evening; Ps. civ. 22, 23. It is more natural and healthful to pursue the concerns of life, as much as possible by day-light. Midnight studies are prejudicial to nature: A painful experience calls me to repent of the faults of my younger years, and there are many before me have had the same call to repentance. Wearing out the lightsome hours in sleep, is an unnatural waste of sun-beams. There is no light so friendly to animal nature as that of the sun. Midnight assemblies, festivals, and entertainments, exhaust the spirits, and make a needless profusion of the necessaries of life: They carry a very ill appearance with them, even where no wickedness is indulged, they are practices of evil report, and deserve censure and shame.

It is no honour to our whole nation, that we have learned the fashion of doing nothing in the morning; among persons of mode the day often begins at noon: The hours of business are grown much later among us than our forefathers could bear. They knew the worth of day-light. In some things indeed we are bound to comply with custom, or we must forsake the world: for a few can never stem the general tide, or reform a degenerate age: And there are some few trades and employments which demand labour at night. But in our general conduct we should endeavour to act more agreeably to the laws of creation and nature, and to reduce families to a little better order, wheresover we have power and influence. Surely it can be no great hardship for any persons in health to begin their duty with the rising sun, for almost half the year. We should not think it sufficient to get up a little before noon, nor should we turn the morning of God and nature into midnight, nor make the decline of the sun serve for our morning work.

I would not be thought in this page to reflect upon the weak, the sickly, and the aged parts of mankind, whose nature may require longer sleep, and a larger degree of rest to recruit their spirits: Nor do I accuse those unhealthy persons, who can get no slumber till the night is half spent, and are thereby constrained, merely for the sake of health, to let their bed intrench upon so many hours of day-light: Yet I persuade myself, that if these last would but bear the inconveniences they complain of for a week or two, if they would break off their morning-slumber early, and early betake themselves to rest, nature would quickly learn a better habit, the reformation would soon grow easy: And perhaps this might advance their health in a sensible manner, beyond all their old indulgences, or their present expectations.

An excessive love of company, an affectation of going abroad, a delight in wine and strong drink, are the third sort of enemies to that regularity and order which I am now recommending. Such practices are censured in the word of God; I have called the prophet Isaiah, in a former discourse, to witness against the drunkard, but I must ask leave to cite the same text again, against the wasters of time in taverns, or meaner drinking-houses. Wo to them that go to their cups in a morning: This throws all the business of the day out of order; and sometimes they are tempted to continue until night, or at least they return thither again and stay till wine inflames them: then all the follies of life play their parts; but they forget religion, and regard not the work, nor the worship of the Lord; Is. v. 11, 12. How often has it been found, that the religion of the closet, as well as that of the family, hath been shortened and omitted, and by degrees thrust out of doors, and forgotten, for want of shaking off every impediment, and confining ourselves to proper seasons. We intend to fulfil our duties, but we intend it at random, without keeping any time for it: And thus some households, that would be called Christians, live without God in the world. They that tarry long at wine, or in any needless company, and lengthen put the hours of their needless absence from home, may count themselves guilty of the several disorders that are committed in the family; which would be rectified, or entirely prevented by the presence of the master.

I confess sometimes necessary business detains a person beyond his usual and appointed hour: there must also be some allowances made for the unhappy engagements which may attend some particular callings in the world. Our own consciences must be the final judges in this case: But let us be faithful and honest, and frequently make an enquiry, whether our conduct be regular or no: and whether it be the necessity of affairs that intrenches upon the seasons of duty, or whether it be a careless indifference of spirit. Good orders in a household, and regular hours for all the duties and enjoyments of life, give beauty and ornament to life itself: Like a musical instrument, where every string is wound up to strike its proper note, and the skillful musician keeps his time, how does it entertain the ear with innocent pleasure, and refresh the heart, when practised at proper seasons? Such a family appears like a Bethel, a house of God, and the Lord himself delights to dwell in it. O may it be my lot and portion always to inhabit in such a tabernacle, till I lay down this body in the dust, and my soul arises to the well-ordered family of heaven!

IV. Sorting ourselves with the best company is another beautiful part of Christian conduct, and procures a good report. By the best of company, I do not intend the greatest or the richest, nor the most ingenious and witty; for there are some of these that are vain and vile enough; but the best in my esteem, are those who are most virtuous, most pious, most knowing and wise, or those that are seeking after virtue, piety, and wisdom. Thus by conversation with the one, we may be always doing good, and with the other we may be always receiving some good. He that walketh with wise men, shall grow yet wiser, but the companion of fools shall be destroyed; Prov. xiii. 20. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, evil communications corrupt good manners. A heathenish poet, and an inspired apostle agree in these words; 1 Cor. xv. 33. If we are engaged much in converse with those that are light, and frothy, and vain, we shall gain the same levity of temper. If we talk much with the profane, we shall be tempted now and then to a profane expression too. “Can a man touch pitch, and not be defiled!” Can a man pass through the flames, and his clothes not be singed? Neither can those that walk frequently and delightfully amongst light, vain, intemperate persons, escape being defiled by them.

It is true, the apostle tells us, if we would utterly seclude ourselves from all manner of converse with persons of ill character, we must abandon society, and almost go out of the world; 1 Cor. v. 10. But the meaning of the apostle, when he bids us avoid evil companions is, as much as possible, to shun their company; see therefore that it is a necessary call of providence leads you amongst them; otherwise abstain. Those who give themselves up to be entertained by every one that will entertain them, those who will walk with every companion, and will herd with every drove, they are in danger of being corrupted with any vice, and of learning every ill principle. But if through the grace of God, we should escape the infection, of error or sin, yet we shall loose our good name by keeping ill company. A delight in base and worthless companions, will make the world judge that we are like them: Whereas we shall gain a part of the good character of our associates and acquaintance, and derive honour from them, if we are so happy as to have friendship and intimacy with persons of piety, learning and virtue. May these be the friends of my choice, and my companions for ever!

V. Abstinence from the utmost bounds of things lawful, is another practice of good report amongst men. It is but a narrow line in many cases, that divides, between a lawful and a sinful practice; and if we will venture, as near as possible to the very borders of what we think lawful, we shew too great an inclination to the bordering iniquity, and we shall often be in danger of treading on forbidden ground. If we indulge the love of pleasure, or give an unguarded loose to any unlawful passion, we shall find it difficult to with-hold the violence of corrupt nature from transgressing the lawful bounds. If a wild horse be indulged in his career, it is well if he does not break the reins, and fling the rider. It is a foolish fancy to walk upon the edge of a precipice, unless we could infallibly secure our head from giddiness, or our feet from stumbling. It is much safer therefore to keep a proper distance from fatal danger. The world will give us but an ill character, and say very justly concerning us, that we are not much afraid of vice, if we dare rashly venture into temptation.

It is the advice of the Holy Spirit, and St. Paul to the christian converts, Abstain from all appearance of evil; 1 Thess. v. 22. And the Apostle Jude requires us to hate even the garments that are spotted by the flesh; Jude, verse 23. Every thing that looks like guilt should forbid our approach; we should chuse to stand afar off, and withhold our desires, lest we defile our consciences, and bring a blemish upon our character. What an honour is it to any man, when it is said concerning him, “He has a tender soul, and a conscience that will not stretch, to the length of the loose customs and fashions of the times: he dares not allow himself all the liberties that are innocent and lawful, lest he should wound his own spirit, and his good name, by venturing too near to the borders of iniquity.” Let such a temper be our constant guard and ornament.

VI. Following the common practices of the saints in doubtful matters, is another thing of good report, and ought to be so among those that profess the name of Christ? Whether it be in our trade and business, in our apparel, or our visits, in our forms of address to our superiors, or common methods of conversation and civility, of recreation, or entertainment, let the general customs of the saints of the purest ages, or the customs of the purest churches, and the best christians in our own age, be a direction to our practice. Ask for the good old way, says the prophet Jeremy, and if we know not what part to chuse, let us go by the footsteps of the flock of Christ. Enquire what the followers of our Lord have done in past ages, and what the wisest and best of them do in our own age, and this will give us a considerable assistance to determine what ought to be our practice.

In 1 Cor. xi. 16. the apostle Paul seems to refer to this general head, for our determination in doubtful matters. When he had been proposing the law of nature, or the order of creation, to direct the man and the woman what sort of covering they ought to wear, viz. that a woman ought not to be uncovered, and that a man should not wear long hair, that is, should not nourish his hair to make it grow long, as women, nor manage it with a nice and effeminate curiosity, he concludes with this sentence, If any man seem to be contentious, that is, if any man be not contented with the arguments I have brought, but will carry on contention and dispute, let him remember this decisive argument, that we have no such custom, nor the churches of God; we the preachers of the gospel, and the apostles of Christ, have neither found nor approved such sort of customs among the christians where we have lived, nor are they practised in any of the churches of God, which we have heard of.

I will readily allow, that the strict professors of religion in some particular ages of the church, may have generally indulged either some unreasonable scruples, or some unreasonable liberties. There are some practices of evident and undoubted lawfulness, which have been forbidden in severe and dreadful language by some or other of our religious ancestors; such as wearing borrowed hair, or suffering our own to reach the shoulders; using any thing that borders upon lot or chance, except in matters of sacred or solemn concernment: wishing a friend’s health when we drink; practising any part of our civil calling after sun-set on Saturdays, or even calling the months, or the days of the week by names borrowed from the heathens, such as Monday or Tuesday; January, or February: Yet in such cases as these, had I lived amongst them, I would have conformed to their customs, and have given no offence; but I would have taken every proper occasion to shew that these were unnecessary scruples.

This was the conduct of St. Paul, in the controversy about eating meats offered to idols; 1 Cor. viii. 8. Meat commendeth us not to God; for neither if we eat, are we the better; neither if we eat not, are we the worse. There he declares how needless these scruples were; and 1 Cor. x. 25. to shew that christian liberty, where no scrupulous person was present and opposed it, he bids them, eat whatsoever is sold in the shambles, asking no questions for conscience-sake. But in both these places he cautions them against offending the weaker brethren, and shews also how afraid he was of giving offence, or acting in their presence contrary to their practices, even though they were built on needless scruples. Verse 13. I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, if it make my brother to offend; that is, if it tempt him to grow bold, and venture upon the same food against his conscience. And the apostle practised this self-denial, lest he should sin against his weak brother, lest he should grieve him by his uncharitable licence; as Rom. xiv. 15. This holy caution and tenderness of offending the weak, was the constant practice of that blessed saint, who had more knowledge than all of us, but he had more condescension and self-denial too. O that we might all make him our pattern, and practise the charity we preach so loudly, and profess with such a modern assurance!

There are other practices which might be comprised under this general character, and recommended as things of good report. But I must not draw such discourses out to a tiresome length, which perhaps may create but too much pain and uneasiness, by the very sense and subject of which they treat. Yet certainly it is a part of our duty and our interest to know, and meditate, and practise those things that may gain us a good name and reputation in the world, and may brighten our character among the churches of Christ; and to avoid every thing that would blemish our honour, or sink our esteem among wise and good men. What arguments may be drawn from the light of nature to enforce this exhortation, or what more powerful motives are derived from the gospel, to awaken and excite us to the practice of all that is honourable, shall be considered in the next discourse, when I treat of the matters of virtue and praise, which are recommended in the last words of my text.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXIX. Christian Morality, viz. Things of Good Report.

Is it a thing of good report, To squander life and time away? To cut the hours of duty short, While toys and follies waste the day!

To ask and prattle all affairs, And mind all business but our own? To live at random void of cares, While all things to confusion run?

Doth this become the christian name, To venture near the tempter’s door? To sort with men of evil fame, And yet presume to stand secure?

Am I my own sufficient guard, While I expose my soul to shame? Can the short joys of sin reward The lasting blemish of my name?

O may it be my constant choice To walk with men of grace below, ’Till I arrive where heavenly joys, And never-fading honours grow!

SERMON XXX. Christian Morality, viz. Courage and Honour; or Virtue and Praise. PHILIP. iv. 8.——If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. Ει τις αρετη και ει τις επαινος, &c.

Virtue is an honourable and extensive name: It is used by moral writers to include all the duties we owe to ourselves, or our fellow-creatures; such as sobriety, temperance, faithfulness, justice, prudence, goodness, and mercy; and the sense of it is sometimes stretched so far, as to comprehend also the duties of religion which we owe to God. But let us take notice, that the first and original signification of the word both in the Greek and Latin tongues is much more limited, and it means only power or courage. The Greek word αρετη, used here by the apostle, is derived from Αρες, the name of Mars, or the heathen god of war: And doubtless the most ancient meaning of it among the Greek writers was warlike valour, though in time the philosophers enlarged the sense of it to include every moral excellency.

The several places in the New Testament where the word is used, have chief reference to some work or glorious power when it is applied to God, or courage when it refers to men. I wish I could stay here to explain them all, but I must mention one of them, viz. 2 Peter i. 5. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge temperance, &c. Virtue is to be added to faith, that is, next to your belief of the gospel, get courage to profess what you believe: Is it not to be supposed, that in this place virtue can signify the whole of morality, because the particular virtues of temperance, patience, and charity are named also: And therefore this must signify some part of morality distinct from the rest, viz. a strength or fortitude of soul.

And for the same reason the word virtue in my text cannot signify the whole system of moral duties because St. Paul in the same verse had been recommending truth, justice, and purity or temperance, which are so many pieces of morality; and it is not reasonable to imagine that he brings in a general name that comprehends them all in the midst of so many particulars, which is contrary to the use of all writers, and to his own custom too. I confess if he had said, if there be any other virtue, as he does in the like case; Rom. xiii. 9. when he had omitted any particular, we might then have understood virtue in the general sense; but now it is evident, that he means a particular excellency, distinct from those before-mentioned; and the word itself requires us to understand a brave, bold, and generous spirit and practice. He recommends to them a great and excellent behaviour, wherein their holy courage may appear, when the call of providence gives a just occasion.

Courage is a virtue which stands in opposition both to fear and shame; and it guards the mind of man from the evil influence of both those passions. The man of courage has not such a feeling fondness for his flesh nor his estate, as to be afraid to profess his sentiments, or to fulfil his duty at every call of providence, though his estate may suffer damage by it, or his flesh be exposed to pain: Nor has he such a tenderness for his honour, as to secure it with the loss of his innocence. He is not ashamed to appear for virtue in an age of vice and scandal: He stands up boldly for the honour of his God, and ventures a thousand perils rather than wound his conscience, or betray his trust: He dares profess and practise temperance among an herd of drunkards, and purity in the midst of the lewd and unclean: The man of courage can despise the threatenings of the great, and the scoffs of the witty, conscious of his own integrity and truth. He can face and oppose the world with all its terrors; and travel onwards in the paths of piety without fear. The righteous man is as bold as a lion; Prov. xxviii. 1.

Now it is the apostle’s advice to the Philippian converts, that whensoever there is any just occasion given to exert their fortitude, whether it be in the defence of the rights of mankind, and the liberties of their country, or in vindication of the cause of God or virtue, let the christian take those opportunities to speak his mind, and shew his courage; let him make it appear that the meek of the earth may sometimes resist the mighty oppressors, that the followers of the Lamb dare to oppose the wild beasts of the age, and are ready to sacrifice all that human nature calls dear for the service of God, or the welfare of their fellow-creatures.

The heathen world may derive some arguments from the light of reason, and some perhaps from more corrupt and selfish principles, to awaken their valour, and to raise heroes amongst them: But there is nothing among all the writings of the philosophers, or the examples of their real or their fabled heroes, that can raise and support so illustrious and divine a courage, as the principles and the patterns with which the gospel of Christ has furnished us; whether we look to Jesus, the founder of our religion, the Son of God in our nature, or to his apostles, or to the primitive martyrs, among whom some of the weaker sex and the weaker age, have outshone the glory, and darkened the lustre of all the great men of heathenism.

What blessed views hath the gospel given us of heaven and future happiness, to animate our zeal, and to engage us to the boldest efforts of goodness! What promises of almighty power to assist us in our sacred attempts, and to bear up our spirits! What rich and infallible assurances have we in the word of God to support our highest expectations, that if we are faithful to the death, we shall receive a crown of life! Rev. ii. 10. And Jesus our forerunner hath already taken possession of all these prizes and glories to reward the conquerors.

Shall we sink and despond at any dark appearances? Shall our spirits fail us in the midst of duty, when we have so many divine motives to valour and holy fortitude? Methinks there should be nothing too hard for a christian to undertake or suffer, when God and providence call him to it. I confess that flesh and blood are frail and feeble: Animal nature overwhelms the soul with its shudderings, and forbids the execution of the bravest purposes. It is only grace, divine grace, that can strengthen the trembling christian, and make him venture through dangers and death in the way to the heavenly crown. It is this gives power to the promises, and makes the saint believe the performance. It is this sets heaven before his eyes, and gives it such an attractive influence, such a sovereign conquest over all his fears; it even braces the sinews of nature, and exalts the spirits to despise danger and pain. What wonders of holy fortitude might a christian perform, if the eye of his faith were kept always open, and firmly fixed on those bright and everlasting invisibles?

But I shall enlarge no farther on this argument of christian courage, and I am the more inclined to dismiss this subject at present, having reserved some discourses on it for another season[31].

I proceed therefore to the last exhortation in my text, If there be any praise, any actions that deserve honour amongst men, think on these things, engage yourselves in the practice, and obtain the honour. The praise which the apostle here recommends, may be described as Cicero, the famous Roman orator, describes glory; it is, “The concurrent and unanimous commendation of good men, or the general voice of wise and uncorrupted judges, concerning any eminent practice of virtue.”

The holy apostle had just before recommended things of good report, and now he exhorts them to the practice of laudable actions or things that merit praise. The difference between these two is this: a good report signifies a clear and unblemished character, fair reputation among men, a good name among those with whom our daily acquaintance lies, and our civil conversation and business. But praise implies a considerable degree of applause or honour, obtained by some eminent actions, or some extraordinary instances of wisdom, courage, or goodness. A man that has never attained to any great degree of excellence above his neighbours, may yet have a fair reputation in the world: But the word praise seems to imply a great and honourable name, as well as a good one.

I shall mention but two general instances, wherein we may suppose the apostle recommends to us the practice of those things that are laudable: One is, an extraordinary conduct in common affairs; the other is an improvement of the seasons, or occasions of extraordinary virtue.

I. It is a thing praise-worthy to labour after an extraordinary conduct and uncommon excellence in our common affairs of life, to excel all others in the things that relate to our station in the world. Let each of us search and enquire, what is it within our reach that shines brightest among men, and then pursue it with vigour.

If a person, who professes religion in the strictest manner, and in the purest forms, be made a magistrate or public officer, let him do something extraordinary for the public welfare, if it be possible, and merit the public thanks and praise of the community. So if a man be called to the ministry of the gospel, let him imitate the blessed apostle in zeal for Christ; as in 1 Cor. xv. 10. I laboured more—than they all. Let there be no bounds to our desires of excellence, and our zeal for the salvation of men. Covet earnestly the best gifts, says the apostle; 1 Cor. xii. 31. and animate them with the noblest graces. There is a holy emulation wherein we may vie with one another, and each of us get as near perfection as possible. This is praise-worthy. I told you before, that magistrates or ministers must be diligent in their work to gain a good report, but they must double that diligence to obtain special praise.

So in the most common employments of life, and the management of daily affairs abroad or at home, we should aspire to be patterns of every thing that is good and laudable, that we may all be able to say as St. Paul, Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ: 1 Cor. xi. 1. Am I a master? Let me have a holy ambition to be the best of masters, and by an excellent conduct constrain all my servants to praise and love me; except such vulgar and brutal souls that no kindness can engage, no merit can oblige, and no virtue can influence. Am I a servant? Let my zeal for my master’s interest exceed all my fellows, and my faithfulness and diligence in every duty extort honour even from those who envy me, and deserve the esteem and love of those that are above me. If I am an artificer, and God hath given me any superior talents or capacities, I should not employ those superior talents in trifles, but use them to some most valuable purposes, for the benefit of mankind, beyond what former ages have known. I should promote useful knowledge, if I am a philosopher, and carry it on farther than my fathers have done. These are some instances wherein we may perform actions of praise that are becoming a man or a Christian.

II. It is a thing praise-worthy to improve all the seasons and occasions of extraordinary virtue, to seize on those special opportunities which providence now and then may give us to exert uncommon degrees of wisdom or mercy, activity or courage.

We are always required to be faithful to our rulers, and kind to our neighbours and friends: But when our king or our country is in some imminent danger, when some threatening mischief hangs over a family, or a city, when our friend or brother, or even a stranger, is in immediate peril of life, there may be a glorious occasion for some great and generous exercise of loyalty, fortitude, compassion, or love, to save a friend or a stranger, a prince or a nation. All the world shall agree to praise the man who performs that noble service.

We are bound always to be liberal, and to give to the poor, but sometimes we have an opportunity to exercise that grace of liberality in a more ample and generous manner, so as to deserve and obtain an honourable name: As when a great number of distressed wretches come to the city or place where we dwell, or when some general calamity involves all our poor neighbours, and reduces them to great straits, then we should exercise bounty beyond the common measure: Thus a christian shall have the honour of relieving the poor more than heathens do, or those who make no profession of godliness.

So in the practice of charity and forgiveness, Jesus our Lord requires us to forgive our enemies, and to do good to those that hate, and abuse, and persecute us: But when it lies in our power to do a most considerable service to a person that has done us the highest injury, then there is a special providence calling us to perform a glorious action of praise. Such was the character of that great and good man Archbishop Cranmer, of whom it is said, if any man had done him an injury, he would ever afterward be his friend.

In short, whensoever an occasion arises to give an eminent and glorious proof of generosity or compassion, of gratitude or goodness, of zeal for God, or love to men, it is the apostle’s advice, that a christian should seize the golden hour, and not suffer a heathen to prevent or exceed him. And among christians, let those who profess the severest virtue, and the purest methods of christianity be the persons who seize most of these opportunities to perform actions worthy of praise. But when there is any thing mean and base, scandalous and sordid appears in the world, as it never should be said that a christian has done it, so neither would I ever have such a scandal fall upon any person who professes the strictest forms of godliness.

I come in the next place to consider, what arguments may be drawn from the light of reason, to excite us to actions of good report, and such as are worthy of special praises; for in the foregoing discourse I told you, that I should join the arguments or motives together, which belong to both these exhortations.

I. If a person practises things of good report, and acquires to himself reputation and praise amongst men, he does himself and his family a considerable kindness by it. If a man has not a good name, he can neither expect to be entertained in any society with pleasure, nor to receive any special benefits from the world. A person of ill report is rather hated than beloved, he is shunned and avoided rather than desired, and his neighbours will treat him with neglect rather than assistance. His very name is mentioned with disgrace instead of praise. Whereas, on the other hand, a man whose excellent character has deserved a good report and honour among his fellow-citizens, has every one ready to invite him to their company, and willing to reach out to him their friendly hand when he is fallen into danger or distress.

Besides, such a person lays up honour for his household, and provides the friendship of mankind for the help of his family in generations yet to come. It is confessed indeed, that the spirit of the world has too much baseness in it, and too great a neglect of real merit: Yet when a man has deserved exceeding well of his country, and acquired any special degrees of praise or renown amongst them, the world is not yet quite so brutal and degenerate, but that it has given many instances of bounty and goodness to the posterity of a man of honour. His name shall be had in everlasting remembrance, and the generation of the upright shall be blessed. Ps. cxii. 2, 6.

II. A man that has obtained a good report and honour in the world, by many reputable actions, is capable of much greater service both to God and his fellow-creatures. If we have gained esteem and reputation among men, they will be more ready to hearken to our counsel, and comply with our advice. We shall have more influence on mankind, both to promote the honour of God and the benefit of men. A word that we speak, will make deeper impression, and be attended with greater success. A word or a look of Cato among the Romans, would do more to restrain vice, and to shame the vicious, than the frown of an emperor.

III. There is so much real and inward satisfaction arises from a good character, obtained by a life of virtue and piety, that a man who knows the pleasure of it, would not renounce the practices which may attain it. I confess it is a more important matter to secure a good conscience than a good name, and to obtain praise in the sight of God, than in the lips of men: But where both these are joined together by the favour of divine providence, our virtue and piety has a larger reward, and our natures are so framed and composed, that we cannot help taking some satisfaction in it. Prov. xv. 30. A good report makes the bones fat; that is, as one expresses it, it revives the heart to such a degree, as renders the body more healthful and vigorous.

Methinks those persons have something very degenerate in them, and their conduct is a little unnatural who seem to have lost the very desire of a good name or reputation. I cannot but wonder to hear a person boast of his scorn and contempt of it in such language as this; “I will pursue my own designs, I will gratify and please myself, and I care not what the world says of me.” Surely if such language did become a christian, the scripture would not be so solicitous to recommend a good name and things of good report.

This naturally leads me to consider, what influence christianity has to excite us to the practice of reputable actions and such as deserve honour amongst men.

Here we may first take notice, how often the scripture proposes honour as a reward of goodness and virtue. Our Saviour promises it to those that are humble and condescending; if thou art ready at some entertainment to seat thyself in a lower place; Luke xiv. 10. The master of the feast shall exalt thee, and thou shalt have worship in the presence of those that sit at meat with thee; for he that humbleth himself shall be exalted. St. Paul tells the christians, do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise from the ruling power, for magistrates are appointed for the praise of them that do well; 1 Pet. ii. 14. Solomon proposes the same motive; Prov. iv. 7, 8. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom;—she shall bring thee to honour when thou dost embrace her. The apostle recommends often to the christians of his day a good name amongst infidels and heathens, a good report of them which are without; and he mentions it as an eminent character of a companion of Titus, that his praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches; 2 Cor. viii. 18. And it is recorded to the honour of Demetrius by St. John, that he had a good report of all men, even of the truth itself; 3 John verse 12. Christians and heathens speak well of him, and his good character is just and true. Nor must it be forgotten, that in this little collection of advices in my text the apostle twice recommends such practices as deserve honour among men, viz. things of good report, and things worthy of praise.

Surely if we did but consider how much our Saviour and his gospel gain by it in the world, we should ever be engaged in works of good report, and practising that which may redound to our praise, for hereby we spread a good savor of the name of Christ wide in the world, and our holy religion reaps sensible honour and advantage by it. When the name of any person is celebrated amongst men for something great and useful, when his deeds are mentioned with public praise, it is quickly enquired, “What religion is he of?” Is he a heathen? Then the glory will be ascribed to idolaters, and the honour perhaps be given to their idols. Is he a christian? Then the name of Christ our Lord will gain reputation by it, and men will speak more favourably of that doctrine which was adorned with such eminent virtue and piety. This did unknown service to the gospel in the first propagation of it, when it appeared in the world, that the characters and the lives of christians were lovely, that their works were all goodness, that they were persons of an excellent spirit, and obtained a good report among their heathen neighbours: they saw their good works, and were thereby led, by degrees, to glorify their heavenly Father, and their Saviour.

And where there is any separation made from the public worship of a nation, with a profession to reform any corruptions of doctrine or practice, how much honour would be done to these reforming principles, and how much service to this interest, if every one that is engaged in it were always practising things of good report, and aiming at some eminency and uncommon goodness in their various stations of life. If therefore we have any love for Christ our Lord, if we have any zeal for his glory, if we have any regard to the honour of the gospel, or if we would bring any credit to the particular profession we make, let us set a severe watch upon ourselves against every thing that would blemish our character in the world, and let us aspire to all superior excellencies that are within our reach, that we may be to the praise of the glory of his grace, who has made us accepted in the beloved; Eph. i. 6.

It is necessary here to remove two or three objections out of the way, that may seem to attend this exhortation of the apostle.

The first is this: If a good name be so valuable a thing, why should there be such a woe denounced by our Saviour against those that have the good word of all men: Luke vi. 26. Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you; for so did their fathers to the false prophets.

I. Answer. That the design of our Saviour is to shew, that no man in a degenerate and corrupt age, can attain the high esteem and hearty good word of all persons in the world, but those who are time-servers and hypocrites, who can suit themselves to every company, and comply with every change of the times; who can profess to be religious, and yet indulge themselves or others in the practice of their secret iniquities; such were the false prophets of old. Such a person as this may for a short season get all men to speak well of him: The drunkards will commend him, for he can get drunk as well as they, and the swearer, for he can join with them in swearing; and the men of piety may be deceived in him, and give him a good report, for his tongue is tipped with religious language, and he seems to be a saint; but in reality he is an universal hypocrite, and true to nothing. Our Lord Jesus hates and censures such a character as this is, and this is the design of his reproof. Again,

II. Let it be noted, that this sort of sinners can hold the good word of all men but for a very short time. The drunkards, the profane, and the lewd, may caress a man for a season who complies with their vices; yet when they hear that he pretends to be religious among persons of piety, they will speak evil of him in abundance, and brand him for an hypocrite, which is a more loathsome name; and his pious acquaintance, when they shall find out his practice of secret wickedness, they will justly fix the same odious character upon him: Thus he who before had the good word of all men, shall then be loaded with public scandal and infamy. I add further,

III. That a good report signifies a good character and honourable reputation among all wise and good men, upon the account of valuable qualities, and the exercise of virtue and goodness; and where a man manages his affairs with an excellent conduct in this respect, and keeps himself without a blemish, he will command some degree of esteem and reverence from the viler part of the world: His good name will be general, though perhaps not universal; and if the wicked world finds occasion to speak evil of him in any thing, it is only in the matters of his God, and his exemplary practice of piety. This thought introduces

The second objection, viz. if a good name amongst men be so desirable, why does our Saviour say, Mat. v. 11, 12. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and shall speak all manner of evil against you, falsely for my sake; then rejoice ye, and be exceeding glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so persecuted they the prophets that were before you.

Answer. It is supposed that the evil which men speak of you is false; for so our Saviour expresseth it, when they shall speak all manner of evil against you, falsely for my sake. They shall scandalize you as being ill men, merely because you are christians; and throw upon you many odiums, which your practice has never deserved, on purpose to expose the christian religion. The apostle Peter agrees with our Lord Jesus Christ in the same design; 1 Pet. iii. 16. Keep a good conscience, that whereas they speak evil of you as evil-doers, they may be ashamed while they falsely accuse your good conversation in Jesus Christ.

Now when it appears to be pure hatred of God and of goodness, of Christ and his gospel, for which you are reproached, then you have cause to rejoice, because Christ is on your side: So he was reproached in the days of his flesh, so the prophets that went before him, and the apostles that succeeded him; 1 Pet. iv. 14. The Spirit of God and of glory resteth upon you, for on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. Happy are ye, for Christ and you are joined together in the same cause: and you who have glorified him on earth, shall be glorified together with him in heaven.

The third objection is this; if praise amongst men be lawful to be sought, how comes it to pass that there are so many reproofs given to those who seek the praise of men? How can these scriptures be reconciled with some others that are cited before to encourage actions worthy of praise! How often does our Saviour severely rebuke the pharisees for this practice, that they do their good works to be seen of men? Mat. vi. 2, 5, 16. John v. 44.

Answer. It is evident that these hypocrites whom our Saviour reproves, neglected all inward piety before God, and practised the outward forms of godliness merely to gain the praise of men, they loved and valued it more than the praise of God; John xii. 43. They received honour of one another, and had no concern about that superior blessing, that divine esteem and approbation which God only can bestow, and which only would stand them in stead hereafter. Where the praise of God is inconsistent with the praise of men, there it is evident we must despise the censures or the praises of the world, and seek the divine approbation only: But where these two benefits may be happily conjoined, we are not bound to separate them. God never requires us to seek infamy and reproach, or to abandon that honour that belongs to truth and goodness.

But that I may more effectually guard every christian against all the dangers and temptations that may attend a good name, and honour in the world, I would conclude the discourse with these four advices:

I. Make not the praise of men your chief aim or design in any thing you do: But let it be your first and chiefest care to approve yourselves to God and your own consciences. Do those actions that are worthy of praise; and whether the world acknowledge it or no, your souls will find inward peace, your labour of love shall not be forgotten of God, he is faithful who hath promised; Heb. x. 23.

II. If you are so happy as to obtain the esteem of men, set a guard upon your soul, lest pride and vanity take occasion to arise and shew themselves. Have a care lest Satan the tempter gain an advantage against you by the fruits of your virtue and the eminence of your graces. Pride is such a cursed twining weed, it will sometimes root itself in virtue and honour, it will grow up to an equal height, and make its supporters wither and die.

III. Let all the honour you acquire among men, be improved to the honour of your God and Saviour. If you make your own applause your great end, Jesus will say to you another day, as he did once to the pharisees, Verily I say unto you, ye have your reward; Mat. vi. 2, 5, 16. The praise of men will be your whole recompence, and there is nothing more remains for you. Whensoever therefore you receive applause from the world, make the world know that it was not the man but the christian that practised the virtue, and gained the praise. Not I, but the grace of God, which was with me; 1 Cor. xv. 10. If you so manage all your laudable actions, that Jesus Christ and his name may gain some honour by them, this shall turn to your praise and glory in the day of Christ, as well as to the praise of God your Saviour.

IV. When the providence of God and his grace have favoured you so far as to gain a good character in the world, have a care of every thing that may impeach your honour, or sully your reputation. Remember the lesson that Solomon teaches you from so contemptible a thing as a dead fly; a few of them will cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour; so does a little folly disgrace a man who is in reputation for wisdom and honour; Eccl. x. 1. The blemish that arises from one base or foolish action will darken a bright character, and cancel the honour that has cost the labour of many years to acquire; And the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ will suffer much by it also, it those persons once descend to folly and disgrace, who have risen high before in the regions of wisdom and public esteem.

Happy those christians who walk closely with God to the end of life, and keep their garments unspotted! When they die, they leave a perfumed name behind them to the churches, and to the families to which they have belonged; and perhaps they bequeath a lasting honour to religion as long as the world shall stand. Such has been the character of some of the saints in ancient ages of the world, such in the elder and later days of christianity: The brightness and savour of their good name abides to this day amongst us, as an ornament to religion, and a rich perfume to the gospel of our Lord Jesus. To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXX. Christian Morality, viz. Courage and Honour.

Do I believe what Jesus saith, And think his gospel true? Lord, make me bold to own my faith, And practise virtue too.

Suppress my shame, subdue my fear, Arm me with heavenly zeal, That I may make thy power appear, And works of praise fulfil.

If men shall see my virtue shine, And spread my name abroad; Thine is the power, the praise is thine, My Saviour and my God!

Thus when the Saints in glory meet, Their lips proclaim thy grace; They cast their honours at thy feet, And own their borrow’d rays.

Footnote 31:

See the two following sermons.

SERMON XXXI. Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear. 1 COR. xvi. 13.——Stand Fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

In the first ages of christianity, the professors of the gospel had great need of divine courage, that they might stand the many shocks of opposition, reproach and violence. The Corinthian heathens, though they were a polite and learned people, yet they were blind and obstinate in their own superstitions and idolatry, and rooted in the profane and vicious customs of their ancestors. It required a large stock of holy fortitude, to profess and practise a new religion among them, that ran counter to all their former opinions, and their manners. Therefore St. Paul, who planted the gospel in that city, calls upon his converts to shake off cowardice and fear, to stand firm and unmoved in the profession of their faith, to behave like men of war, like heroes, in the practice of christianity, and to exert all their strength of soul in this glorious work. Stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.

It is true, we live not in a heathen country, among lewd and barbarous superstitions: The land where our lot is cast, is honoured with the christian name, and professes the religion of Jesus: yet let me tell you, infidelity is a growing temptation of this age, the gospel of Christ hath plentiful ridicule thrown upon it, by many of our neighbours that go under the name of christians, and we may sometimes be called to put on courage for the defence of this gospel.

But besides this, there are many things occurring in the divine life, that require us to put on this holy fortitude of soul. The very nature of men is so corrupt and vicious, their hearts are so averse to the holy precepts of christianity, the multitude of sinners is so exceeding great in every nation, even where the gospel is professed, the customs of this world are so contrary to the rules of the gospel, and the malice and rage of Satan with his evil angels, is so constant and so violent against the religion and the name of Christ, that it is true at all times, as well as in the primitive age, that all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution; 2 Tim. iii. 12. When we become soldiers of Christ, and resolve to be religious in good earnest, we must reckon upon enemies and oppositions, we must be prepared to endure hardness; chapter ii. verse 3.

Our business therefore is, to seek for a spirit of power and holy fortitude, that we may be void of fear in the profession of our faith, and in the practice of our daily duties. Not the Corinthians only, but we also, must watch, and stand fast in the faith, we must quit ourselves like men, and be strong. If we are frighted at the sound of every reproach, or terrified by the fierce opposition of a wicked world, we shall be in danger of turning back from the paths of christianity, and of losing the heavenly prize. Such doctrines, and such practices as the gospel teaches, require the professors of them to be bold and valiant.

And besides the difficulties we shall meet with from a degenerate and sinful world, there are many other trials that attend the christian life. Sorrows and sufferings belong to human nature, in this fallen and unhappy state: Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward; Job v. 7. This earth is designed for a stage of conflict, a scene of probation, where each of us must act our parts, under the eye and notice of God our supreme governor, and our final rewarder. He expects that we should put on a sacred hardiness of soul; he requires that we should not indulge a spirit of fear, but be armed with power and courage, that we may endure to the end. And blessed be his name that he hath given us promises to raise our hope, that as he endued his people in ancient times with his grace, so he will bestow this spirit of holy fortitude upon us also, and that as our day is, so our strength shall be.

To cast my discourse into some method, I shall,

First, Briefly describe this divine temper of mind. In the next place, Secondly, I would represent the various occasions which we shall find for the exercise of it. Thirdly, I shall mention a few motives to incite us to acquire this holy fortitude, and to maintain it throughout our whole course of life. And Fourthly, propose some remedies against a spirit of slavish fear, which is directly opposite to this christian virtue.

The first thing proposed is, to describe what I mean by fortitude and courage; and to this end, we must distinguish it into that of the active and that of the passive kind. Active valour or courage, is such a temper of soul, as to attempt and venture upon any bold act of duty, which may endanger our present case, and worldly interest; and prompts us to pursue it with a becoming steadiness and bravery of mind, undaunted at every opposition we meet with, and unterrified at all the threatening dangers that stand in our way. Passive valour is such an habitual firmness and constancy of soul, as enables us to bear what sufferings we fall under, without repinings and inward vexations, and without any outward tokens of sinking and despondency. When we sustain heavy sorrows, or anguish of the flesh, without any wild and unreasonable groanings of nature, without rage and unbecoming resentment, without tumult and confusion of spirit. And this should be the temper of our souls, and our christian conduct, whether the sufferings which we feel, arise from the immediate hand of God, or from the injustice and violence of men.

In the second place, I come to represent the various occasions that we shall find in the christian life, for the exercise of this holy courage, and that under both kinds of it, viz. the active and the passive, or that which consists in doing, and that which consists in suffering; and I shall enlarge upon each of them in a practical way. Active valour is necessary for a professor of the christian faith: And when and wheresoever divine providence gives us any just occasions for the exercise of this sort of fortitude, let no christian refuse them, or shamefully withdraw from his duty. The occasions we have for it are such as these:

I. When we are called to profess and practise strict piety, even under the special view and notice of profane sinners. Perhaps our dwelling may be cast among profligate wretches, who live without God in the world; but we must not be afraid to own, that we fear the great God, and that we worship that awful name, which their blasphemies affront and vilify. Nor must we be ashamed to let the world know, that we cannot pass a day without calling upon our God, and that prayer is as necessary to us, as our daily food. It is strange and monstrous that it should ever be accounted a matter of shame among creatures to acknowledge the God that made them, or that it should ever need any courage to profess homage and adoration to our Creator! What degenerate times do we live in, that it should require some fortitude to tell the world, that we who are creatures confess a God! And yet sometimes even this very fortitude is wanting, and we are contented to look like atheists, lest we should be thought religious. Base cowardise! and degenerate times indeed!

II. When we happen into the company of infidels and apostates from christianity, who throw their impious jests on the gospel of Christ, we may find a plain call of providence to stand up for his name and honour.

It is true, there are few of us who are sent to travel beyond the seas, and to engage in necessary converse about religion with heathens; but I hinted before, that infidelity is a growing mischief of the present age, even in our own land. It seems to be a spreading infection, and how far the great God may suffer it to prevail, he only knows. There are multitudes already that have made shipwreck of the faith of Christ, and betake themselves only to the dim and glimmering light of nature, as a sufficient refuge for their souls, and their only guide in matters of religion: A poor doubtful guide, and a dangerous refuge! And yet these men are continually instructing one another to wage war against the blessed gospel, and rise in arms of defiance against the only Saviour. It is proper then for us to enquire, are we ready to declare ourselves christians if we are called to it, when deists and scoffers surround us with their abominable jests, or their wanton cavils? For though sometimes they argue against our creed with calmness and decency, yet it must be confessed that those are the most common weapons which this sort of men make use of. Dare we now make a profession of our faith among men of infidelity, and not value their banter, and their insolent reproaches? Let us remember, that christian courage must encounter mockery and slanders as well as other terrors: Courage must guard us against sinful shame, as well as against sinful fear. Can we glory in a crucified Saviour as the wisdom and the power of God, if we should be placed between the Jews on one side, and the heathens on the other, who load this doctrine with folly and scandal. St. Paul was a brave example; O that every soul of us could as bravely imitate him! But let us proceed to some more occasions of courage a-kin to this.

Perhaps we content ourselves to be christians in our closets, and to frequent the public assemblies of worship without shame or fear, because our neighbours do the same: But I would enquire of such general professors of christianity, why are you so backward to give up your names to Christ, and attend on the special ordinance of his holy supper? Is it not because you are ashamed to appear in such a strict profession of godliness, and to be known and observed by the world, as those that have devoted themselves to the Lord in his church? This is certainly the case of some younger converts. Let them here be put in mind of their former neglects, and their present duty. Be strong in the Lord, banish a shameful shame, and seal your covenant in the blood of Christ, his cross is your hope, and why should you not make it your glory too?

If you are ashamed of such a public profession in peaceful times, what will ye do if days of trial should come? Would you be ready to vindicate your separation from the church of Rome, and all its superstitions? Would you have courage enough to maintain the purity of your profession, and your close adherence to scripture, in opposition to all the inventions and traditions of men? Would your heart be strong to persist in your peculiar practices of religion, in the most scriptural forms of it, in an hour of persecution and danger? Blessed be God for a protestant king on the throne, and a glorious race of protestant princes to succeed him. May the blessings of heaven from above descend on them all, and render them in their successions an everlasting blessing to Great Britain and all the protestant churches! But a christian indeed should be so formed, and so furnished, as to be ready to profess and practise his religion in every nation, and in every age, in the midst of storms as well as under the shining sun.

III. When we are called to practise an unfashionable virtue, or to refuse compliance with any fashionable vice. This is another occasion that demands the exercise of christian fortitude. Let us survey a few instances of this kind.

It is an unfashionable thing now-a-days to introduce a word of practical godliness into company: The polite world will tell us, it spoils conversation: Mark, what a silence is spread over the room, when any person dares to begin so disagreeable a subject; there is none to second him, he may preach alone, and it is well if he escapes a profane scoff. This is a very true, but a very shameful account of things, according to the present mode. Any thing but religion is thought fit to entertain a friend. Even where persons of piety meet together in their visits, this sort of language is banished from company and the parlour, and it is confined only to God and the closet. Alas! we are ashamed to appear truly religious; but if we had holy courage enough, one person would not be afraid to begin, nor another to carry on such divine discourse. There are surely some happy moments wherein an useful word may be introduced with prudence and decency, to warm each other’s hearts, and to rekindle the holy fire of love and devotion that is almost expiring.

Again, perhaps we may be much engaged in the world among persons that make no conscience of speaking truth: But if we would be christians indeed, we must have courage enough always to shew a hatred of falsehood, and keep up a tenderness of spirit, lest we be drawn to the borders of a lie; nor must we be ashamed to let the world know that we are the devoted servants of truth. When some knavish or unjust practice has overspread a city or a country, and become almost universal, we must dare to be honest in a cheating world; we must maintain our righteousness, and let it shine in the midst of a deceitful age, though perhaps we may be called scrupulous fools. If we happen to be engaged in necessary business with persons who drink to excess, we must boldly deny the imposed glass, we must secure our own sobriety, even in the midst of drunkards, and as much as possible avoid their society: Nor should any scandalous names of puritan and precisian affright us from the paths of strict holiness. When we meet with gross affronts in the world, we may be made the scorn and jest of all the company, if we decline the modish customs of satisfaction and bloody revenge; we may be charged with cowardice among the ruffians of the age; but a man of honour must have courage to bear this charge, unless he will venture to run upon the sword of God which is drawn and pointed against revenge, duelling, and murder.

When the fashion of dress or visits, of salutations or entertainments, exceeds the bounds of modesty or temperance, or intrenches upon truth or religion, we must bravely dare to be unfashionable, and have no fellowship with any unfruitful works of darkness; Eph. v. 11. We must obey the great and holy God, rather than comply with the sinful customs of men.

“’Tis brave to meet the world, stand fast among Whole crowds, and not be carried with the throng.”

I grant that religion doth not consist in singularity, but there are some seasons when we must be singular, if we would be holy, and exert a sacred fortitude of soul, to secure ourselves from the defilements of the world. Come out from among them is the language of God in such cases, touch not the unclean thing, and be ye separate, saith the Lord; 2 Cor. vi. 17.

IV. Another instance of necessary courage, is, when we are called to undertake the cause of the oppressed, to plead for the poor against the mighty, or to vindicate the innocent against the men of slander or violence. It is a cowardly spirit, a spirit of shameful pride, or selfish meanness, to trample upon those that are lying upon the ground, to tread upon the poor and the distressed, and sometimes through fear of the mighty, as well as scorn of the poor, to neglect the cries of those that are injured. This indeed is the custom of the world; but if we be the disciples of Christ, we must have more courage than this, we must open our mouths for the dumb, and plead the cause of those that cannot speak for themselves; Prov. xxxi. 8.

When we happen into company that delight in scandal, and the slander goes round from tongue to tongue, we must first guard our lips from the infamous compliance, though we cannot defend our ears: And then we should have some compassion on the absent person, who perhaps may be loaded with calumny and lies: Nor should we be afraid or ashamed to put in a relieving word; to support the good name of those that are oppressed by malicious reproaches. And if the censure be never so just, yet where providence doth not plainly call us to join in that censure, let us not betray such an inclination to evil-speaking, nor shew such a base and mean soul, as to call names for company.

Where the life or the estate of our neighbour is in danger, we must venture something to secure it, as well as to defend his good name. This advice is given in Prov. xxiv. 11, 12. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn out to death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the heart consider? That is, if there are any persons drawn out to death, and ready to be slain by sinful oppression, and that thou had a just and reasonable power in thine hand to preserve them, it is not thy duty to stand still or hide thyself, and say, behold I knew it not. He that lets the ox or the ass of his neighbour go astray or sink under a burden, and passeth away regardless as though he did not know it, is under the censure of the word of God; and much more do we deserve the censure, if we abandon our fellow-creatures of human nature to perish, when we are able to save them. The all-wise and almighty God considers it, and he will not approve of such meanness of spirit, and such a shameful defect of christian charity.

V. It is a work which calls for courage to admonish our brethren when they depart from the ways of righteousness, and to reprove sin among those with whom we converse. The law of God requires it; Lev. xix. 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. It is expressed as though a neglect of reproof, where it is a duty, looks like a sort of hatred, or want of love. But for the most part it is want of courage forbids it. Let it be done with holy boldness; but without wrath and resentment, or selfish revenge; let it be expressed and managed with all love and gentleness, with all humility and compassion, and with a becoming exercise of those lovely characters of moderation and meekness, which I have elsewhere described.

Nathan the prophet ingeniously reproved David the king for his adultery and murder. And we should learn the most artful and obliging methods, and the softest language of reproof, that we may practise it with more courage, security, and success; and the more secret it is, it will generally be most successful. If at any time we are called by most evident providence, to give an open rebuke in the face of the world, together with courage, we must put on all wisdom and humility, lest we publish our own conceit and pride, and provoke wrath without hope of success. When we rebuke the profane and impious wretch, for the most glaring iniquity, we should use our best prudence in distinguishing proper seasons, lest we cast a pearl before swine, and it become useless, and be trodden under foot; Mat. vii. 6.

Sometimes it is hard to know what is our duty in this respect but thus far in general it may be said, This should be done whensoever there is a great and evident probability of doing service to God and souls by it: Whensoever a vindication of the name of God and his honour requires it, or when there is any just hope of doing good to men; there is indeed a time to keep silence in this case, and there is a time to speak. O may the word and Spirit and providence of God join together to give us direction in this difficult duty, and courage to perform it!

VI. Reformation of all kinds, whether in families or churches, in cities, or nations, demands a good degree of resolution and courage. It is a brave and daring enterprize, to stem the torrent of the age we live in, and to attempt to change the vicious customs of a city or nation. We must have a soul inspired with zeal for piety and goodness, if we would contest the point with the guilty, and cover them with deserved shame, or bring them to deserved punishment. Blessed be God there are societies formed in our age for this glorious purpose! May everlasting success attend their zeal, and may their heads be covered with divine protection in every hour of danger!

We have need of courage to stand up for truth and purity in the church of Christ, when it is over-run with corrupt doctrines, wicked heresies, superstitions, and false worship. We must use our endeavour to root out these evil weeds by all the sacred influences of reason and scripture; not by rage and violence, not by fraud and falsehood, not by slander and scandalous language, not by calling in the power of the magistrate and the sword of the state to assist us; Christ hath not allowed his followers such weapons as these against superstition and heresy; The sword of the Spirit is the word of God; Eph. vi. 17. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal; 2 Cor. x. 4.

And when we have endeavoured to reform the offenders by all christian methods, and find no success, we must dare to separate ourselves from the many and the mighty, who will not be reformed. This was the glorious practice of our fathers, the protestants and the puritans, in the several seasons of their reformation, when they were called to oppose the greater or the lesser corruptions of the christian church.

If our kindred or families are fallen into any foolish, vain, or sinful practices, or any civil society to which we belong hath departed from the rules of justice or truth, it belongs to a christian to become a public good, by using his influence, as far as it goes, toward the rectifying of every disorder. He should put on a divine fortitude, whensoever providence calls him to attempt a reformation amongst them. There is need of a noble spirit and a pious bravery, to rise up against any foolish or vicious customs, to combat any rooted principles or habits of error or iniquity, and to oppose any number of persons that are engaged in an evil course. Moses forbids us to follow a multitude to do evil; Ex. xxiii. 2. And there are seasons when we may be called to oppose a multitude of evil-doers: And though no man stand by us, yet we are bound to stand by the cause of God and goodness. So divine a cause deserves and demands such divine courage.

How glorious was the character of Caleb and Joshua, who spoke well of the land of promise, and encouraged the armies of Israel while all the rest of the spies which were sent brought an evil report upon the good land: Num. xiii. 31, 32. The people believed the evil report, and spoke of stoning Joshua and Caleb. But the glory of the Lord appeared in the tabernacle, and God himself gave a testimony from heaven to the sacred courage and honour of these Jewish heroes. What a brave spirit dwelt in Elijah, who attempted to reform Israel from idolatry! He would not fall down and worship Baal, though he thought he had been left alone, the only worshipper of the true God in the nation; 1 Kings xix. 14.

VII. There are some other, and very common occasions for the exercise of sacred courage, which attend persons especially in the lower ranks of life: As for instance; when a servant is called by providence to speak the truth, and yet he dare not do it without offending his master: When a poor man is required to bear witness in some important concern, and his rich neighbour frowns and looks sour upon him: When a person of an inferior character is tempted to join with the mighty in some unjust and dishonourable practices, and while his superiors invite him to it, his conscience forbids his compliance. It is a noble act of christian courage, in such instances as these, to follow truth, equity, and conscience, wheresoever they lead, in opposition to all the allurements, the frowns, and the threatenings of persons in an higher station. Let those who fall under such a temptation remember, there is an higher than the highest, and the great God, the Lord of heaven and earth, is the patron of truth and righteousness, the guardian of innocence, and the dreadful avenger of deceit and lying.

I might add other instances of a kindred nature in common life, wherein christian fortitude is greatly necessary, especially in this corrupt and degenerate age: As when a trader must look poverty in the face, and meet approaching ruin in his outward circumstances, unless he make some inroad upon his honesty, and practise falsehood and deceit. But if the case be thus, if a christian sees himself sinking in the world, by the frowns of providence, he must dare to sink rather than cheat his neighbour, and save himself by any base and dishonest methods. A man of religion and honour must stand firm to his word, must follow strict equity in all things, and neither enter into any methods of fraud, nor of violence, to retrieve his decaying circumstances.

O how many little knavish contrivances do persons often practise to secure a good bargain to themselves, and sometimes they support their dying credit in the world at the expence and loss of their innocent neighbour! They borrow what they know they are not able to pay: They draw up false accounts of their own estate: They impose upon the credulous with words of a double meaning, or with downright lies: They almost forget they are christians, for fear lest they should be undone, and practise the things at which an heathen would have blushed and started, because they have not courage enough to be honest and poor.

VIII. Christians have need of holy fortitude, to venture their lives at the demand of providence, and expose themselves to violence, and to a bloody death. Sometimes they are called to this glorious service in the cause of God and his church: So were many of the prophets, the apostles, and primitive christians, as well as the martyrs of later ages. Sometimes in the cause of our country, divine providence calls us to expose our blood, and to assist or guard the nation against invasions from abroad, or tumults at home, and to quell the rage of a brutal multitude. In a just and necessary war for our country, or in a defence of our natural or religious rights, we may fight with christian courage, when we have well surveyed the justice of our cause, and find it approved of God. And there are seasons when we may be called to venture our lives for our christian brethren; 1 John iii. 15.

But perhaps some of these things may come as naturally also under the head of passive valour and courage: And indeed the most active valour of the greatest heroes is built upon that which is passive. It is on this account they dare venture to expose their flesh to wounds, their names to reproach, or their bodies to death, because they can bear the wounds, the reproaches, or death itself with a noble serenity and fortitude of soul. All the active boldness in the world is but rashness and folly where such a hardiness and patience are utterly wanting. Of this passive valour I shall mention but two particular cases wherein christians must exert themselves.

I. When we are called to bear sickness, pain, shame, losses, disappointments, all the sorrowful changes of life, or death itself from the mere hand of God. This is to be done with a steadiness of spirit, with a firmness of soul, with christian fortitude, with a sacred and serene calm upon all our powers and passions, without fretting or vexing, or inward disquietude. It is a sign of a weak mind to be overset with every blast of wind. If thou faintest in the day of adversity, thy strength is but small; Prov. xxiv. 10. We must not indeed despise the chastening of the Almighty, nor must we faint when we are rebuked of him; Heb. xii. 5.

Let the men of this world that know not Christ, that are not acquainted with the gospel, and have not felt the powers of the world to come, let them fret and grow peevish at every disappointment that falls upon them in their earthly comforts, or when their flesh is visited with sore pains: But it does not become a christian to be sour and fretful under the afflicting hand of God, for it is the hand of his heavenly Father. To be overwhelmed and almost distracted with the crosses we meet with in the world, is not becoming the character of a child of God, one that is high born, that has his birth from heaven, and his family there; it is a shame for him to grow wild with impatience, or to run into desperate courses for relief. This is not courage, but mere cowardice of soul, to put an end to our own life in order to escape from our sorrows. The wisest among the heathens reproved it as a meanness of spirit; and surely it is much more unbecoming the religion of Christ, and that divine fortitude that every christian should be endued with. We are not to be affrighted, though the mountains should be turned upside down, and cast into the midst of the sea. The Lord of hosts is our shield and defence, he is a rock above all the waves, and if our feet are fixed upon this rock, what need have we for terror? The name of the God of Jacob, in the xlvi. Psalm, is a match for all our foes, and a sovereign remedy for all our fears.

Christian courage appears also upon a bed of sickness, when, at the call of God, we look death in the face with a chearful soul. When all our friends stand around us, and every one, by the lamentable air that sits in their faces, gives us notice of our approaching dissolution, then to look upon death with a serene countenance, and not be affrighted, but venture boldly into the invisible world; this is a glorious fortitude derived from the grace of faith.

II. Another instance of passive valour is, when we bear persecutions of all sorts from the hand of men with a holy courage, for the sake of God. When we can be plundered of our possessions in this world, and stripped of all our comforts, and yet be easy. Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, says the apostle to the Hebrews; chapter x. verses 33, 34. and ye endured the great fight of afflictions with chearfulness, knowing that in heaven ye have a better and more enduring substance. In Heb. xi. verse 36. when the apostle speaks of the ancient Jewish saints, they had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonments, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheep-skins, and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented: but they were men above this world, of whom the world was not worthy: They had a spirit of divine courage that made them too great for this world, although they were almost banished out of it, and wandered among the beasts of the earth. Let not christians then be guilty of base and mean compliances, to preserve their substance in the world, nor to cover their names from slanders and infamy, nor to secure their liberties or their lives when Christ calls us to part with them. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. If there be any call to the practice of such courage, for the sake of Christ, remember these exhortations, and be not afraid.

Thus I have given you variety of instances both of active and passive valour, as they are to be exercised in the christian life: I fear they are too many for the best and boldest of us to practise, even under all our advantages. But in order to render them a little more easy to christians, the following motives and directions may give some assistance under the influence of the blessed Spirit. And these shall be the subject of the next discourse.

Recollection.—And now, O my soul, it is time to turn thy thoughts inward, and enquire, how much of this discourse is suited to thy own case? Thou acknowledgest there is a God, but art thou not sometimes ashamed to call upon him in the morning for his presence all the day, lest thy companions should know thou hast been upon thy knees? Hast thou courage to ask a blessing on thy food in the place where others deride the practice?

Thou hast learned and thou hast believed the religion of Christ, but hast thou ever yet had courage enough to make a solemn and public profession of it? Hast thou ever yet publicly given thy name up to Christ as one of his subjects, and joined thyself to his visible kingdom amongst men: Or art thou only a believer in secret, ashamed to make profession of thy faith, by joining thyself to some christian assembly? If this be thy state, thou hast now a loud call to add fortitude to thy faith, and assume christian courage to profess the sacred name in which thou hast believed.

Or art thou a professor of this holy religion? Thou hast listed thyself under the banner of Christ, in these days of liberty and peace, and while thou dwellest among those who encourage thy faith and profession. But enquire into thyself, hast thou such a love to the gospel, as to glory in it even amongst infidels, who make it the object of their mockery and reproach? Has this divine religion so deep a root in thy heart, as to bear and resist the storms of the world, and to stand firm and flourish still? Hast thou courage to declare thyself a disciple of the cross, and a professor of a crucified Saviour, when thou shalt happen to be in the company of those who blaspheme him?

Hast thou obtained holy boldness enough to practise virtue when it is out of fashion, and canst thou refuse to comply with the warmest temptations to a fashionable sin? Hast thou got such a victory over thyself as to dare to be singular, if thy company would lead thee into any modish vice? This is an hard lesson to young and tender minds, but it must be learned. O my soul, if thou wilt be a christian indeed, hast thou courage to vindicate the innocent, when he is assaulted with slanders, and to frown upon those who delight in scandal? Or art thou so meanly spirited, as to join in a common jest, that is thrown upon the absent, and to mix with the odious tribe of back-biters? Remember this is a shameful baseness of spirit: but a christian must be a man of honour.

Canst thou see thy friends, thy companions, indulge a sinful course, and hast thou not one kind admonition for them? Hast thou not virtue and courage enough to warn thy brother, and to turn his foot from the path of iniquity, that leads to ruin and death? But remember also, that gentleness and love must attend thy rebukes, if thou ever desirest they should attain success. A reprover should have a bold, but a tender spirit. What zeal hast thou, O my soul, for reformation? Or canst thou bear with immoralities and corruptions of every kind? And rather than venture to displease man, wilt thou let thy neighbours go on for ever to displease God? What wouldest thou do, if thou wert called to face the great, and to profess religion before the mighty men of the earth? Is thy faith grown bold enough to shew itself in a court, in a palace, and to venture all thy earthly interests for the defence of it?

Thus far concerning thy active fortitude. But how stands the case with regard to passive valour, and enduring of sufferings? Is thy heart firm under sharp trials of providence? Canst thou resign thy health and thy ease into the hand of God without fretting or repining? Or doth thy courage faint, and thy impatience shamefully discover itself under the common pains and diseases of nature? I grant there is much of weakness derived even to a manly spirit, from the distempers of the flesh: When the nerves are unbraced, and the tabernacle of the body tottering, the soul partakes of the infirmities of this poor fleshly engine. O frail unhappy state of human nature, and souls that dwell in clay! But is it thy constant labour and prayer, that patience may have its perfect work, that thy spirit may be ever sedate under all the pains and disquietudes of this mortal flesh, and thy temper kept serene under all the frowns and clouds of heaven?

Art thou ready to face the king of terrors, and to descend into that dark valley? Thou must meet this adversary shortly, O my soul! Labour therefore daily to get courage and victory over death, by faith in a dying and a rising Saviour. Happy is that faith that has no carnal fear attending it, but is got above the frowns and smiles of this world. My soul longs after it, and reaches at it, as something within the power of her present attainment through the grace of Christ. I long to be armed with this sacred courage, and to have my heart fortified all round with these divine munitions. I would fain be calm and serene in the midst of buffetings and reproaches, and pursue my course steadily toward heaven, under the banner of faith, through all the arrows of slander and malice. Lord Jesus, I wait for thy divine influence, to bestow this grace, and thy divine teachings, to put me in the way to obtain it.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXI. Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear.

Am I a soldier of the cross, A follower of the Lamb? And shall I fear to own his cause, Or blush to speak his name?

Must I be carry’d to the skies, On flow’ry beds of ease; While others fought to win the prize, And sail’d through bloody seas?

Are there no foes for me to face? Must I not stem the flood? Is this vile world a friend to grace, To help me on to God?

Sure I must fight if I would reign; Increase my courage, Lord! I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain, Supported by thy word.

Thy saints in all this glorious war, Shall conquer though they die; They see the triumph from afar, And seize it with their eye.

When that illustrious day shall rise, And all thy armies shine, In robes of victory through the skies, The glory shall be thine.

SERMON XXXII. Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear. 1 COR. xvi. 13.—Stand fast in the Faith, quit you like Men, be strong.

Having described this holy temper of spirit, this fortitude both of the active and passive kind, and having set before you various occasions for its exercise in the christian life, I proceed now to the third thing which I proposed, and that is, to excite you by some engaging motives, to seek after this temper, which is so necessary for a christian. I shall not enforce this from the light of nature, and from the mere laws of reason, which have been joined with ambitious and selfish principles in some of the pagan heroes, and have influenced many a man, in the days of heathenism, to some great exploits of fortitude and fame. There is nothing in all the principles of natural religion, that makes the mind brave and noble but it receives high advancements and glorious efficacy from christianity. I would call you,

First, To cast your eyes on the noble patterns of courage that you find in the New Testament. I do not invite you to meditate the examples of heathen warriors, but consider the example of christian heroes, your predecessors, who have stood fast in the faith, who have quitted themselves like men, in numerous and shining instances of active and passive courage. Look at the blessed apostles, Peter and John, when they rejoiced to suffer shame for the sake of Christ their Lord, and boldly told the council of priests, that they must preach the name of Jesus, in opposition to their menaces: They must obey God rather than men. Look at St. Paul the most eminent christian hero: Behold him in the midst of the Roman soldiers, and a violent multitude of unbelieving Jews. Hear how he acknowledges his exalted Saviour before captains and centurions, before king Agrippa, before Felix and Festus, who were two successive governors of Judea! And with the same fortitude of soul he appeared before Cæsar, at Rome. I am not ashamed, says he, of the gospel of Christ; Rom. i. 16. for he whom I have trusted in is almighty to support me. Read that most generous and pathetic speech of his; Acts xxi. 13. when the spirit of prophecy had foretold that Paul should be bound at Jerusalem, and delivered captive into the hands of the Gentiles; his friends and strangers besought him not to go up to that city. Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep, and to break mine heart? For I am ready, not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. I know, says he, and the Holy Ghost is witness, that bonds and afflictions wait for me, but none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear to myself, that I may finish my course with joy, and the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God; Acts xx. 24.

Now when a special occasion calls us to the exercise of this virtue, and to confess Christ before the world, for us to be mealy-mouthed, and baffled, and frighted at the countenances of men, this is to forsake the example of the blessed apostles, and obey men rather than God. The prophets and the apostles, the ancient saints and the primitive martyrs have given us noble patterns of this virtue; and why should our spirits fail us, or our lips tremble, if we are called to the same glorious confession? Is not our religion divine? Is not the gospel still worthy of the same honour? Is not our God the same almighty? Is not our Redeemer the same Jesus? And does not a dying, a rising, and a reigning Saviour deserve the same homage of our tongues, and demand the same glory at our hands? Yes, surely he demands it of us, and he deserves it infinitely: And not only his apostles, but his own example teacheth us to practise this fortitude, both of the active and the passive kind. In the

Second place then, behold this perfect pattern of fortitude, Jesus the Son of God: When he came into the world in the midst of poverty, and made but a mean figure, as the son of a carpenter, he was called to oppose the whole nation of the Jews, and the priests and princes of Jerusalem; he was sent to reform the vicious customs of a wicked and degenerate age. How did he stand and face danger without fear? When he went into the temple, with what a sacred zeal did he scourge the buyers and sellers out of his Father’s house of prayer? Ye know what a noble testimony he bare to the truth, when he was called before the great men, the rulers of the church and state. You know again, what instances of passive courage our Lord Jesus manifested, when he was hatefully reproached, and suffered shameful indignities from a rude multitude: When he was persecuted, when he was buffeted, when he wrestled with many and mighty sorrows, when his friends left him alone in the hands of his cruel enemies.

It must be confessed, his spirit trembled within him, and he was sore amazed, when it pleased his Father to bruise him, and put him to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin; Is. liii. 10. These were unknown and inexpressible burdens, that made him groan indeed; and offered strong cries and tears to heaven, that the cup of terror might pass from him. If ever his courage seemed to fail him, it was in that agony in the garden, when he endured more than any mere man could bear. A formidable and a dismal hour, when the Father hid his face from him, and the powers of darkness fell upon him with angelic might and fury! But these are sorrows of atonement, which the saints are never called to suffer. And yet by secret divine supports, Jesus endured all these agonies, and upon the cross he triumphed not only over the malice of men, but over principalities and powers of hell, and made an open shew of them; Col. ii. 15. perhaps, before armies of the invisible world, and millions of applauding angels.

Read the sacred advice; Heb. xii. 1, 2, 3. Not only look ye, says the apostle, to the great cloud of witnesses that are gone before, but above all look to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your faith, who, for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is set down at the right-hand of the throne of God. Consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, that opposed a multitude, a legion, a world of sinners, lest ye be weary and faint in your minds, nor let your spirits sink while you behold his divine fortitude: Let such an illustrious scene animate your souls, and inspire the fainting believer with new courage. Consider,

Thirdly, What you are; if you are christians, ye are soldiers of Christ, ye have already entered the lists, with all the powers of hell, and are ye afraid of man that is a worm, and the son of man that is a worm? Job xxv. 6. Ye have ranged yourselves under the banner of the Redeemer, and the Redeemer’s army must fight against all the armies of darkness and their allies. You have set up to oppose sin and Satan, two powerful enemies, and are ye afraid to be brow-beaten by a fellow-worm, one who is weak and mortal like yourselves? Consider,

Fourthly, If ye are christians, what promises of the divine presence and help you have in the bible, and when the mighty God has given such divine encouragement, he chides his people into courage; Is. li. 12, 13. I, even I am he that comforteth you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be made as grass? And forgettest the Lord thy Maker, that hath stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth? and hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor? A generous and divine cordial to keep the soul from fainting! The presence of God is an effectual support. St. Paul found it so; for when all men forsook him, the Lord stood by and strengthened him; 1 Tim. iv. 16, 17. Alas! we are poor, feeble, trembling soldiers, our hands hang down, and our faces gather paleness: But we dare to confront the terrors of this world, if we taste and feel such divine encouragements. We know that a weak christian can do wonders with an almighty Saviour and an all-sufficient promise. When St. Paul had this word given him, My grace is sufficient for thee, he could glory even in infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon him; 2 Cor. xii. 9. The little feeble man, of a contemptible presence, could do all things through Christ strengthening him; Phil. iv. 13. And every believer has the same Almighty Helper, the same gospel, and the same promises.

In the last place, consider the large and never-fading crown of glory, that awaits the conqueror at the end of the christian conflict. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life; Rev. ii. 10. Consider the honour and triumph, those riches of glory, and that everlasting inheritance, that shall be your reward in the future world, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ; He that overcometh shall sit down with me on my throne, &c. Rev. iii. 21. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; chap. xxi. 7. Put all these together in the balances, with a few crosses and disappointments, a little trouble and uneasiness, nay, though you should add torture and death in the same scale, you may easily judge which will outweigh. Gaze at your crown of life, and your immortal hopes, till you feel your souls divinely animated to the combat: Learn from the apostle, and assume that glorious language; Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are scarce to be mentioned or named with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that shall be revealed; 2 Cor. iv. 17. Therefore we both labour and suffer reproach; therefore we bear all present sorrows with holy courage, because we look not at the things that are seen, little things that are temporal; but look at the great unseen things that are eternal; 2 Cor. iv. 18.

The fourth and last general head of discourse shall now furnish us with some sacred remedies against this slavish fear. The passion of fear in general, is wisely wrought by the great God into human nature: It is a disturbance both of our animal composition, and of the mind upon the apprehension of some approaching evil, or upon the apparent danger of it. This is an excellent provision, which the God of nature has made, to guard us from many mischiefs. It is innocent and useful when it is fixed on a proper object, and exercised in a proper degree. It becomes a part of our religion when God is the object of our fear, whereby we maintain such a holy awe of his majesty, as awakens a constant desire to please him, joined with a temper of holy love.

But when we suffer creatures to raise and influence our fears upon every occasion, so as to ruffle and disquiet our spirits to throw the soul from off its rest, and to turn us aside from the steady course of duty, then it becomes a sinful and forbidden passion, and we should make it our business to watch against it, and suppress it. There are some persons so feeble in their native constitutions, or their spirits are so weakened by the distempers of the flesh, that fear is a constant tyrant over them: Their case is to be pitied indeed, but they ought to stir up themselves as far as possible to shake off this bondage, lest it withhold them from the practice of necessary duties, and rob them of all the comforts of religion. This slavish fear is a disease of the mind, as well as a weakness of nature; and besides, our summoning together all the powers and precepts of reason, we should also apply the remedies of religion, in order to remove it: If the divine Spirit concur with his blessing, the following methods may be made happily successful:

I. See to it that ye are christians indeed, that you have the power of religion wrought in your hearts, otherwise you will never be able boldly to maintain the form and the profession of it, in an hour of danger. Fear will prevail over every thing but true faith: And if your religion be not inward and sincere and built on solid foundations, it will tremble and totter, and be in great danger of being utterly lost. One hard name, one biting reproach, one witty scoff or ugly slander, will dash the hypocrite out of countenance, and he dares not stand up for his God and Saviour.

And remember also that your faith must be always kept awake and lively. See to it that your hope be not only well established, but you must preserve your evidences for heaven ever clear, that ye may look upon yourselves as the care and charge of Christ, and under the special eye and protection of God your Saviour. This was the divine foundation on which the great apostle raised his courage in the gospel to so high a degree. I am neither afraid to suffer these things, says he, that is, bonds and imprisonments; nor am I ashamed of this gospel, for I know whom I have believed, I know him as my Saviour, and I am persuaded he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against the day of his appearance; 2 Tim. i. 12.

If you would raise your spirits to a sublime pitch of holy fortitude, brighten your faith and hope daily, by a frequent examination of the frame of your hearts, by watchful walking before God, by committing your souls afresh into the hands of Jesus and his Spirit, for pardoning and renewing grace, that you may believe on just and solid grounds, that you are the children of God, and that Jesus is your salvation. A lively faith gives divine courage. Faith is a noble shield to ward off fear, and our helmet is the hope of salvation.

Take heed of defiling yourselves with sensuality: Take heed of any false biasses on your spirit, and wrong designs in your actions, lest you bring fresh guilt upon your consciences. Guilt will create fear, and fill the soul with a perplexing tumult of thoughts. But when the terrors of this world assault you on every side, reproaches and threatenings, the frowns of your friends, and the rage of your enemies, you may be all serene and peaceful within, while you maintain a sacred consciousness of soul, that you have been seeking the light of truth, and pursuing the path of duty. When I can say, God is my witness that I am sincerely labouring in his service, when I can look up to heaven, though my friends scorn me, and say, my record is on high; I may imitate the faith and courage of Job in his best hours, and leave all my interests in the hand of my God. Let our faith be active then, and our conscience clear, that we may read our title to all the promises, and apply them to our own case with courage and assurance. The God of hope will fill us with all joy and peace in believing; Rom. xv. 13.

The covenant of grace is a blessed treasury: There is armour of defence to be found against every assault and danger. If the promises of the covenant be ours, we shall be secured of a happy final issue of all our sufferings: All things shall work together for our good; Rom. viii. 28. If God be for us who shall be against us? verse 31. If we behold God engaged on our side, we may defy a legion of adversaries in the name of the Lord our God. Thou art my glory, says the Psalmist, and my shield, and the lifter up of my head; Ps. iii. 3. The little word, my, shews his own interest in his God, and then he can grow brave in the very centre of a thousand deaths and dangers. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people that have set themselves against me round about; verse 6.

II. Get a large and general acquaintance with the promises of the gospel[32], that in every special time of need you may have some suitable word of refuge and support. From xl. to the xlv. chapters of Isaiah, there is a variety of rich encouragements against slavish fear: And there is another treasure of them from the l. to lv. Many a christian has been able to live upon them, in the most dangerous and distressing seasons. They are divine springs of courage, and they overflow with consolation. The assurances of holy David in the midst of his perils, have been a glorious support to the fearful soul. Several of his Psalms are filled with the same heavenly cordials. You can hardly find three of them together, without some triumphs of faith in them. In the writings of the evangelists, and in the epistles you may read many precious promises scattered abroad, to allay your fears. In the second and third chapters of the Revelation, they stand thick as the spangles of heaven: They sparkle like stars in the firmament at midnight, and they ever shine brightest in the darkest sky. It is with unknown pleasure that the soul of a christian contemplates and surveys those heavenly lights in the most gloomy and dismal hours, and they turn the shadows of death into morning.

Though it is of excellent use, to have the mind and memory well stored with the various promises of the covenant, yet in some special seasons of trial, it is of eminent advantage to keep the mind and thoughts fixed upon some single promise, that is most suited to the present danger or suffering; and to the present taste and relish of the soul. In such a season, the running speedily from one promise to another, and skimming over them with a slight survey, will not be so effectual a relief, as fixing upon some peculiar and proper word of grace, and living upon it for a whole day together. Thus every morning you may take some new comforter with you, and let it abide upon your heart all day, and it will whisper to your soul with divine sweetness in the dark and solitary watches of the night. When some special terror possesses your thoughts, and the heavy oppression returns often upon your spirits, or when any fresh assault comes on you from without or within, fly to the word you have chosen for your refuge; repeat it often, and cleave to it by meditation. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it and is safe; Prov. xviii. 10. And remember God has magnified his own word above all the rest of his name; Ps. cxxxviii. 2. Try this method, it has been successful and well approved, and I doubt not but that you will be able to attest the success of it through the aids of divine grace.

III. Preserve the spirit of prayer always in exercise, and the spirit of fortitude will descend on you. Address the throne of God with earnestness and faith, and cry to the Lord the God of your salvation without ceasing. It is he gives spirits to renew the battle, when we are almost tired and grow weary; Is. xl. 28, 29. He gives courage in the midst of terrors, for he can preserve and secure us in the extremest perils. We despaired of life, saith the apostle, and had the sentence of death in ourselves, but we were delivered, for we trusted in him that raiseth the dead; 2 Cor. i. 8, 9, 10. It is he that repels the most imminent danger, it is he that rebukes the spirit of fear, and gives us the spirit of power, and holy fortitude; 2 Tim. i. 7. Wait on the Lord, and be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thy heart; wait I say on the Lord; Ps. xxvii. 14.

But be sure in all your addresses to the mercy-seat, have an eye to Christ Jesus the Mediator, your advocate at the throne, and the Captain of your Salvation, who is engaged to see you brought safe to heaven. The Father has entrusted you as sheep in his hand, and he will not suffer you to perish. Look to him as your great High-priest and Intercessor in heaven; and since you have such a High-priest as Jesus the Son of God, who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, let us come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need; Heb. iv. 14, 15, 16. Many a feeble christian who has gone to the mercy-seat, trembling and terrified under huge apprehensions of danger, and almost overwhelmed with tumultuous fears, has risen up from his knees with a heavenly calmness and composure: The army of his fears has vanished at once, and he has gone out to face the most formidable of his adversaries, with divine resolution and courage. “I sought the Lord and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him and were enlightened, and their faces were not ashamed. The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: Blessed is the man that trusteth in him;” Ps. xxxiv. 4-8. “In the day when I cried, thou answeredst me: and didst strengthen me with strength in my soul;” Ps. cxxxviii. 3.

IV. Get a greater degree of weanedness from the flesh, and from all the delights and satisfactions that belong to this mortal life: Then as you will not feel so great a pain in being stripped of them, so neither will your soul be filled with terror, when you are in danger of losing them. Learn to put off a little of that sinful tenderness for self, which we brought into the world with us. One of the first lessons in the school of Christ, is self-denial; Mat. xvi. 24. If any man will come after me, that is, be my disciple, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

It is a certain tender fondness for our flesh that makes us afraid of pain. It is a fondness for our name and reputation that makes us afraid of reproaches. It is a fondness for our possessions, and our easy circumstances in the world that makes us afraid of poverty: And too great a fondness for life makes us afraid of dying. Whensoever therefore the cause of Christ plainly calls us to risk our name and honour in the world, to part with our wealth or our ease, and to venture and to expose life itself, we shrink from the command; slavish and sinful fear prevails mightily upon us, because we love earth, and self, and flesh better than we ought to do. We must subdue this self-love, and unmanly softness, if we would approve ourselves as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and gain a spirit of sacred courage and resolution. We must be dead to the things of flesh and sense, and gain a victory over the complaints and groanings of nature. We must go as far as we can toward parting with right-hands, and right-eyes, in every sense of the words, if we would be christians indeed.

V. Endeavour to keep yourselves always employed in some proper work, that your fears may be diverted when they cannot immediately be overcome. If our thoughts and hands are idle and empty we lie open to the invasion and tumult of our fears, and we give them leave to assault us on all sides.

The passion and principle of this slavish fear, is mingled with our flesh and blood, and therefore we must employ even our flesh and blood in some better business, that we may turn the current of animal nature, and leave the imagination no leisure to sit brooding over its own terrors. Want of occupation and engagement of the powers of nature, exposes the mind of man to the inroad of all the frightful images, that fancy can furnish out, and to all the terrifying suggestions of a watchful and malicious tempter. That wicked spirit has some strange and unknown methods of access to our souls: He will worry the sheep of Christ with terrors, when he is not suffered to devour or destroy them; and an unbusied mind is prepared to admit his worst temptations.

But while I am pressing you to find out some employment for yourselves, take care that it be such as may approve itself to God and your own consciences. We must be ever found in the way of duty, as I hinted before, if we would support a holy courage. It is only the righteous that has just reason to be bold as a lion. Be ready to meet Christ the judge, and his glorious appearance at all times, and then you need not fear all that earth or hell can do against you.

[If this Sermon be too long, it may be divided here.]

Let us proceed now to propose some further remedies against this slavish passion of fear.

VI. Keep your eye fixed on the hand of God in all the affairs of men. View his powerful and over-ruling providence in all things, even in those things that awaken your most troublesome fears. Think with yourselves, that you put creatures in the place of God, if you fear them more than God, as though they were the sovereign lords and disposers of all your comforts. Learn to see God in all things, and behold him in all things as your God, and then creatures will have but little influence to awaken any of the passions of the soul, or to raise distressing fears within you.

Are your spirits so weak, that thunder and lightning, and the storms of the air affright you? Think who it is that commands the tempests to arise, and quashes the storms at his pleasure. In whose hand is the thunder? Who kindles the lightning? Who directs the flashes, and guides every sweeping blast of wind or fire to its appointed place? Remember the disciples in the midst of the storm, and the language of Jesus walking upon the water, It is I, be not afraid; Mat. xiv. 27.

Or if the public commotions of the world awaken your fears, read the name and presence of God, even your God, in the xlvi. Psalm, and rejoice and stand firm amidst the tumult and shaking of the nations. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help, in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be cast into the midst of the sea, verses 2, 3. The heathen raged, the kingdoms were moved: He uttered his voice, the earth melted; verse 6. The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge; verse 11. Selah[33].

Or perhaps more particular and personal dangers and afflictions threaten your good name, your estate, your flesh, your life. Well, the name of God in his presence is an universal spring of comfort and courage, a wide spreading shield against every mischief.

Are you terrified at the thoughts of personal reproach and slander, know that the tongues of men are within the reach of the hand of God, and he can cast a bridle of restraint upon them, but if he take off that restraint, and leave them to their own perverseness and rage, learn to say as good David, when Shimei cursed him; the hand of the Lord is in it, God hath given him a loose to curse me: And thus sweetly compose yourselves to an acquiescence in the providential will of your heavenly Father.

Is poverty and want the thing you dread? But is not God your heavenly Father? And can you not trust him to provide for his children? Will he give the young ravens their food, when they cry, and will he not feed his sons and his daughters? It is true you may be reduced to bread and water, and brought down to the very lowest circumstances, and you must submit to his will: God will feed your nature, though he will not feed your pride.

Are you affrighted at the thoughts of sickness and pain? Remember diseases are the servants of our Lord Christ, he can bid pains and anguish of body go or come as he pleases; nor can they seize you without his commission, nor tarry with you beyond his appointed moment. Commit your flesh to him as well as your spirit: He is a wise physician, and he will deal tenderly with you: He has worn flesh and blood, and has a sympathising heart, nor will he grieve his own members beyond what his wisdom and his love sees needful.

Are you afraid of persecuting enemies, that hunt you from place to place, and would pursue you even to the death? Remember that they are but the slaves of Satan, and they and their master are all in a chain, under the sovereign dominion of Christ your Lord. The wicked of the earth, in this sense, are called the hand of God; Ps. xvii. 14. They are but as instruments to execute his divine purposes, and they cannot move nor act beyond his permission. He put a hook in the nostrils of Sennacherib, that Assyrian wild beast, and a bridle into his jaws; he suffered him to come and gaze at Jerusalem, then in one night the angel of death destroyed all his army, and the Lord put a song of triumph into the mouth of his people.

In a time of persecution in the last century, some pious ministers were met together, expressing their mutual fears, and consulting how to provide for their own safety: When one stood up in the spirit of faith, and said, We are all immortal till our work is done; whereby he declared his lively sense of the restraining power of God over the malice of men, and his assurance that God would preserve them in life, so long as he had any service to employ them in. This was in truth a sublime thought: A Roman orator or a Greek poet would have been admired and celebrated for it by all the critics: This was the language of faith, and it had a sublime and glorious effect, it dispersed their fears at once, and they went away rejoicing.

VII. Recollect your own experiences of the goodness of God in carrying you through former seasons of danger and sorrow. I will remember, says David, the works of the Lord, and his wonders of old; Ps. lxxvii. 11. I will remember the special deliverances I have obtained in times of most imminent peril. Think with yourselves how high the tempest of your fears has sometimes risen, and God has sunk them at once into silence. Think how extreme your danger has been, when you have been perplexed in a wilderness of thorns, and have seen no way for your escape, but the eye of God hath found a path of safety for you, a path which the eagle’s eye hath not seen: He has led you as one that was blind, by the way that you knew not, he has made darkness light before you, and crooked things straight, according to his promise; Is. xlii. 16.

And remember also, that sometimes when the very evil which you feared has fallen upon you, it has not been half so heavy and painful as your fears have represented it, and you have been enabled to bear that which you thought was intolerable. Remember the years of ancient time, and rejoice in that God who has often disappointed your fears of destruction, and has outdone all your hopes in a way of deliverance. I said, I am cut off from the earth, and shall go to the gates of the grave: I reckoned from night till the morning that he will cut me off with pining sickness, from day even to night, he will make an end of me: But in love to my soul, O Lord, thou hast delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. Perhaps your own experience may teach you to sing this song of Hezekiah, as it is recorded; Is. xxxviii. 10-17. Or to join with holy David, and repeat his hymns of praise. And thus, beside your own experiences you may review the happy experiences of the saints of old, or of Christians in later times, and encourage your faith in opposition to all your fears.

VIII. Charge your conscience solemnly with the authority of the divine command to suppress your fears. Remember that the exercises of faith, courage, and holy firmness of soul, are duties as well as blessings. Read how often the great God forbids his people to indulge their fears; Is. xl. 10-13, 14. xliii. 1-5. xliv. 2-8. Fear not, is a command perpetually repeated, because God well knew how prone our feeble natures are to be affrighted at every appearance of danger: And even when he calls his people Jacob a worm, and confesses the extreme weakness of their nature under that emblem, yet he insists on the same precept still, Fear not thou worm Jacob; Is. xli. 14.

Our blessed Lord joins frequently in the same prohibition of a slavish fear; Mat. x. 28. Fear not them which can kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but fear him rather, who can destroy body and soul in hell. And Peter, who once wanted courage, and denied his Lord, in his elder and better days, grew bolder for the name of Christ, and he forbids us to be afraid or troubled at the terror of men; 1 Pet. iii. 13. He repeats the charge of the prophet Isaiah, sanctify the Lord of hosts in your heart; Is. viii. 13. The Lord of hosts alone is the proper object of our supreme fear. This will over-rule and abolish all other fears, as the little noises of earth are lost in the thunders of heaven. The fear of God in a sublime degree will be an effectual cure of our sinful fear of creatures.

It is true, the principal of fear is a natural affection, it is rooted in flesh and blood, it grows high and domineers, especially in some constitutions, and when the natural spirits are enfeebled, it still gains the greater ascendancy over us: But if it be indulged and encouraged, it soon becomes sinful, for it seems to stand opposite to the grace of faith, and too often prevails over it. Therefore Christ chides his disciples, when they were affrighted in the storm while he was in the ship: Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? Mark iv. 40. And even when Peter was walking upon the water, and Christ was near him, he saith, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? Mat. xiv. 31. For a christian to give himself up to the wild tyranny of his fears, is contrary to the very spirit and design of the gospel of Christ; Rom. viii. 15. Ye have not received the spirit of bondage to fear, but the spirit of adoption. The spirit of power and love; 2 Tim. i. 7. Remember then you are the sons and daughters of God: It is below the dignity of your character to yield to this slavery, and your Father himself reproves, and your Redeemer forbids it.

IX. Think of the many advantages that arise from a holy fortitude of spirit in the midst of dangers. This divine temper of mind will establish your feet on a rock in the midst of storms, it will animate you to practise every duty, and to prevent many of the mischiefs you fear. This will preserve the soul in a sacred serenity and calmness under all the gloomy and painful events of providence. Without this firmness of spirit you can never practise what Christ commands his disciples, and that is, to possess their souls in patience in the hour of their distress; Luke xxi. 19. But we may keep up the government of ourselves by a holy fortitude and calm submission to the will of God. This will make sorrows lighter, and the heaviest afflictions become more tolerable.

Whereas, if we give a loose to fear, it throws the whole frame of nature into a tumultuous hurry and confusion, it takes away the use of prudence to contrive the proper means for our escape, it cuts the sinews of our most active powers, and enfeebles our whole nature, so that we become an easy prey to every adversary. The more we are affrighted, the less able are we to defend ourselves.

Fear is a dreadful bondage of the soul, and it holds the man in chains: Therefore in the text just now cited, the spirit of fear is called a spirit of bondage. It is this that brings the soul down to taste the bitterness, and to feel the smart of those very evils which affright us at a distance, and which perhaps never come near us. Those very sufferings which are prevented by the mercy of God, we endure them in our thoughts, and feel the pain of them by an indulgence of an excessive fear. We suffer an affliction once, if we are overwhelmed with the terror of it: And if at last it does really overtake us, we double the suffering, and make the pain the longer. Oftentimes in cases of bodily distempers, the fear itself brings the disease, and aggravates all the symptoms. If we could read the records of the grave, we should find that many a person has been oppressed, and sunk down to death, by the excessive fear of dying.

The last remedy of fear which I shall mention, is this, suppose the worst that can come, and be calmly prepared for it: This will be a mighty relief against the tyranny of our fears.

You are afraid of losing your honour among men, afraid to bear the scourge of their tongues, and bitter reproaches. But think with yourselves, when slander and falsehood have done their worst, it is but the wind of the breath of man, and this cannot hurt your best interest, while you stand approved of God. Infamy amongst men is but a trifling evil if compared with praise honour and glory among the saints before the throne, and the applause of Jesus and his angels at the last great day.

You are frighted with the hideous appearance of poverty, because scorn attends it as well as want. But our blessed Lord had not where to lay his head; he was fed by the bounty of kind friends and pious women, who ministered to him of their substance. The great and the wise, the rich and the learned of that day, made him their mockery: The very finger of scorn pointed at him in the streets: And why should the disciple think it necessary that he should be above his Lord. Ye may be poor in this world, and at the same time rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom; James ii. 5.

You are afraid of sickness and pains of the flesh, and your life becomes a burden to you, by reason of your constant dread of some infectious distempers. You shift your dwellings, you hide yourselves at home, and yet you enjoy no peace. Suppose the distemper should seize you, has not sickness often brought your soul nearer to God? And if your outward man has decayed, your inward man and your best interest have had a rich advancement thereby.

You are terrified at the threatening of bloody men. It must be granted, that flesh has a strong empire over the soul where dangers of torment and death appear. But suppose men of violence kill the body, then you will be dismissed at once from all their fury, and from your own fears. Their terror cannot reach beyond the grave; that is a safe and peaceful hiding-place.

But perhaps you are frighted at the thoughts of dying, even in the common way of nature: It may be, the king of terrors dresses himself in formidable airs, and shakes your very frame: But would you live here on earth for ever? A christian who has hopes and interests, and possessions beyond the regions of time and sense, should not be afraid to enter upon them. Remember that death itself, even in its most formidable appearance, is ordained of God to open the door of heaven for you, and let your souls into the joy of eternal life: The grace of your Redeemer, and the epistle of St. Paul, join to teach you this song, O death, where is thy sting? And O grave, where is thy victory? 1 Cor. xv. 55.

Thus, by keeping your soul in a ready preparation for the worst events that your fear can imagine, you overcome this tyrant of the soul, and triumph over this slavish passion. Thus you transform your very terrors into joys, and gather honey out of the lion, as Samson did. The more fatal your dangers are, the nearer is your final deliverance. Say to yourself, Is my feeble flesh tottering into the grave? Then my soul is so much nearer to the gates of glory. This is the holy skill of turning evil into good. Such a faith, kept in lively exercise can make roses spring out of the midst of thorns, and change the briars of the wilderness into the fruit-frees of paradise. O what a state of divine and sacred peace does that christian enjoy, who can look stedfastly upon the face of danger, in its most frightful forms, and say through grace, I am prepared! Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for my God is with me, and he will be with me for ever.

Recollection.—What progress hast thou made, O my soul, in acquiring this sacred fortitude? The former discourse has taught thee the necessity of it, and the various occasions for the exercise of it in the course of the christian life. In this latter sermon thou hast heard the motives that should awaken all thy powers to obtain and practise it, and thou hast been informed what are some of the most sovereign remedies against thy foolish and sinful fears. Methinks I feel the want of this holy hardiness of soul, to walk through the midst of temptations unmoved, unterrified, and undefiled. My virtue and my religion have too often suffered by the prevailing power of a slavish fear: my conscience has lost its innocence and peace by too many sinful compliances. What shall I do to harden my spirit all over, that temptation and slavish fear may not find a place to enter.

For this end I review the glorious motives set before me. For this end I look to the noble army of martyrs, to the blessed society of the apostles, to the cloud of witnesses which have trod the same path before me, who have borne an undaunted testimony to the same religion which I profess. I would chide and shame myself out of my sinful cowardice, while I behold their illustrious examples of zeal. But above all I fix my eye upon Jesus, the divine author of this religion, the Author and Finisher of my faith; Heb. xii. 2. I would learn of the Captain of my salvation, who was made perfect through sufferings; Heb. ii. 10. I would learn of my divine Teacher, to endure hardships like a good soldier of Christ, while I fight under his banner, against those very enemies that he hath subdued.

Consider, my soul, what thou art: What is thy character and profession: If thou art a christian indeed, thou hast taken up arms against sin and Satan, and a world that is in rebellion against God: And shall the frown of a man make thee drop thy weapons, and discourage thee from the glorious service? Thou hast many rich encouragements to expect divine assistance: Many joyful assurances of victory are given to them that endure in the day of conflict, and a glorious crown stands ready for those that overcome. O may the crown of glory sparkle in my eye, and grow brighter and larger by a nearer view, and a perpetual contemplation of it! Make me forgetful of ease and health, O my God, and of all my mortal interests, while I press forward with sacred courage to lay hold on this crown! Blessed Saviour, make me triumph over every difficulty, till death the last of all my enemies, be subdued, and I have obtained the glorious prize.

I would shake myself out of my fears, and awaken my zeal by such motives as these. And O that I could treasure up in my memory the various remedies of which I have heard this day, to heal this infirmity of my nature, and to overcome these foolish and sinful terrors of spirit! I will review my faith, and the grounds of my hope, that I may know that I am a christian indeed, that I am one of the sheep of Christ, and under his divine care; and I would watch against every temptation, lest I contract a new guilt and defilement, and thereby darken my evidence and awaken my fears. I would survey with pleasure the gracious words of promise, which are scattered up and down in the book of God. O may the blessed Spirit print many of them on my heart, that they may be always present with me, and that I may find them within my reach, and ready at hand as a special cordial in every fainting hour! I would run to them as my sure refuge in every season of danger and conflict, and be animated to confront a sinful world.

Give, me, O my God, give me the spirit of prayer, and let me keep ever near to the throne of grace, that my soul may not come thither as a stranger, but that in every surprize I may address thee as a God near at hand, and that in the name of my great High-priest, Jesus the Son of God, I may find grace ready to help me in the time of need.

Wean me, O Lord, from all the delights and hopes of flesh and sense? Mortify me to all the humours and joys of a perishing life, and a vain world. Arm my soul all over with a religious hardiness, that I may venture into the field of battle, and may scarce feel the wounds which I receive, in thy cause. Give me the happy skill of diverting my fears, when I cannot at once subdue them, and lead me into proper employments of my heart and hand for this purpose.

I would live as under the eye of God. I would take notice of his hand in all the affairs of life, and all the dangers that attend me. I would learn of Moses to endure the fight of afflictions, as seeing him who is invisible. Let me hear thy voice, O Jesus, my Saviour, let me hear thy voice walking upon the waters; when I am tossed about upon the waves of distress and difficulty, speak to my soul, and say, It is I, be not afraid.

Surely I have had some experience of the Divine Presence with me in the midst of dangers: God has sometimes disappointed all my fears, and interposed his shield of power and love for my defence: Why should not I trust a faithful God, and that infinite goodness which I have already tasted of? I charge my conscience with the authority of thy word. O Lord, when thou forbiddest all my sinful fears, I would renounce them too, I would struggle to break these painful fetters, and fight against this inward slavery of the soul, these domestic tyrants. O that the spirit of power were always with me, to dispel the spirit of bondage.

I would be bravely prepared for the worst of sufferings, to which my circumstances in this life may expose me. I would be ready to meet contempt and scandal, poverty, sickness, and death itself. Jesus can support me in the heaviest distresses, though all the sorrows I fear should come upon me. He can bear me on the wings of faith and hope, high above all the turmoils and disquietudes of life: He can carry me through the shadow of the dark valley, and scatter all the terrors of it. Give me, O Lord, these wings of faith and hope, and bear me upon them through all the remains of my short journey in the wilderness: Make me active and zealous in thy cause while I live, and convey me safely above the reach of fear, through the valley of death, to the inheritance prepared for me in the land of light. Then my fears shall cease for ever, for enemies and dangers are not known in that land. There all our conflicts shall be changed into everlasting triumphs, while songs of honour and salvation ascend in a full choir to the grace that has made us overcomers. Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXII. Holy Fortitude, or Remedies against Fear.

When tumults of unruly fear Rise in my heart, and riot there, What shall I do to calm my breast, And get the vexing foe supprest?

What power can these wild thoughts control, This ruffling tempest of the soul? Where shall I fly in this distress, But to the throne of glorious grace?

My faith would seize some promise, Lord; There’s power and safety in thy word: Not all that earth or hell can say, Shall tempt or drive my soul away.

I call the days of old to mind, When I have found my God was kind; My heavenly Friend is still the same; Salvation to his holy name.

Great God, preserve my conscience clean; Wash me from guilt, forgive my sin; Thy love shall guard me from surprize, Though threat’ning dangers round me rise.

When fear like a wild ocean raves, Let Jesus walk upon the waves, And say, “’tis I;” that heavenly voice Shall sink the storm, and raise my joys.

Footnote 32:

A little book published lately by Mr. Samuel Clark, of St. Alban’s, is of excellent use for this purpose. The title of it is “A Collection of the Promises of Scripture under their proper heads.” 1720.

Footnote 33:

That is an excellent treatise which Mr. Flavel has published against sinful fear, especially in times of public danger and persecution: And his little book of keeping the heart, has some valuable chapters in it, containing rich preservatives against this weakness of the mind.

SERMON XXXIII. The Universal Rule of Equity. MAT. vii. 12.—All things whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the prophets.

When our blessed Lord took upon him the public office of a prophet or teacher amongst men, he found it was not only necessary to instruct them in the sacred mysteries of religion, and inform them of their duty to God his Father, and to himself; but he employed much of his ministry also, to teach them the practice of social virtue, and how they should behave toward their fellow-creatures. In the heathen world the rules of morality were lost in a great measure, as well as the rules of piety and worship; and the Jews, the peculiar people of God, had grossly corrupted both the one and the other. As our Saviour refined the practice of religion towards God, and raised it by his gospel, to a high and heavenly degree, beyond what mortals had known before, so he explained and established the rules of moral virtue, in a more glorious and convincing manner than the world had been acquainted with.

Read his life, and observe how often he takes occasion in the several seasons of his preaching, to give particular directions for our conduct toward our neighbours. But after all, he knew that the nature of man was corrupt, his passions strong, his memory frail, and that he would be ready to neglect, or forget his various sacred precepts, when there was most need to practise them; and therefore he thought it proper to give one short and comprehensive rule of equity to regulate all our conduct, that should be written as it were in our very souls: And this is contained in the words of my text, whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the prophets.

To dilate a little upon this subject, and refresh a living sense of it upon your memories and your consciences, I shall follow this method, and enquire,

I. What is the true meaning of this divine rule.—II. What is the special argument that our Lord uses in order to enforce it. III. Wherein the particular excellencies of it appear.—IV. I shall conclude with some reflections on this subject.

First, What is the true meaning of this rule?

In order to understand this rule aright, we must consider what it does not require, as well as what it does: For on the one side, some selfish necessitous and unreasonable persons may expect more from us than this rule obliges us to perform: And on the other side, a timorous and weak conscience may perhaps be led into a mistake, and think itself bound by this rule to perform some instances of kindness to others, which are utterly unreasonable and unrequired, and which might be injurious on other accounts to ourselves, or to our families, or to the rest of mankind.

We must remember then, that this rule does not mean to oblige us to give all that to another, or do all that for another, which we could possibly desire or wish to be bestowed upon us, or done for us; but whatsoever we could reasonably desire, and justly expect another should do to us, that we ought to do to him when he is in the like circumstances. All that in our calm and sedate thoughts we judge fit and proper another should do for us, that we should practise and do for him. Such requests as we could make to others, and could justify them to ourselves in our own consciences, according to the principles of humanity, the rules of civil society, and the rights of mankind, such we ought not to deny to others when they stand in need. Not all that a fond self-love would prompt us to ask, but all that our conscience tells us we might with reason expect.

I shall mention an instance or two, which will more fully explain what I mean.

A criminal under righteous condemnation for murder or robbery, may think thus with himself, Surely I would pardon the judge or the prince, if he were in my circumstances, therefore he ought to pardon me; Or the judge himself might think, I should be glad to be pardoned or not condemned if I were in the case of this criminal, therefore I will not condemn him. This sort of thoughts arising from unreasonable and unjust principles, either of a sinful self-love, or indulgence to iniquity, are not to be the measure of our actions nor expectations; these are not just and reasonable desires, nor can our own conscience in our sedate and calm enquiries judge so concerning them.

Again, if we were poor and starving, it may be we would be glad if our rich neighbour would settle upon us a competent estate sufficient to maintain us for the term of our lives; but this we cannot reasonably expect, or reasonably desire and demand; therefore we are not bound, be our circumstances never so large, to settle such a competency upon our poor neighbours, be their circumstances never so mean. We cannot rationally expect these things should be done unto us, we cannot equitably desire them of another, therefore we are not bound to do thus to another.

But if we are placed as criminals at the bar of judgment, we may reasonably expect that all the favourable circumstances which attend our accusation, should be well weighed, and all the kind allowances made, which the nature of the charge or crime will admit; for our consciences would think it reasonable to allow so much to any criminal, if we ourselves were placed in the chair of magistracy. Or if we, through the frowns of providence, are poor and starving, we may reasonably expect our rich neighbour should bestow upon us a little of his bread, a little of his clothing, to supply our extreme necessities now and then; and thus much our neighbour may expect from us, when he is fallen into decay by the providence of God, while our circumstances are large, and we are well furnished for such bounty.

Thus you see the true intent and meaning of this universal law of equity, viz. That we practise toward our neighbour in such a manner as our own hearts and consciences would think it reasonable he should practise towards us in the like case.

The Second enquiry was this. What special argument doth our Lord use to enforce the observance of this sacred precept?

When our Saviour had laid down this general rule, he adds, “This is the law and the prophets;” that is, this is the summary of all the rules of duty, which are written in the law of Moses, concerning our carriage to our neighbour, and of all the laws which are explained by the succeeding prophets, and sacred writers under the Old Testament. They are all comprehended in this short line; Do to others, as you would have others do to you. It is very nearly the same thing, in other words with the law of Moses, Love thy neighbour as thyself; Lev. xix. 18. but it is much plainer and more intelligible: And indeed this rule of Moses is to be understood and interpreted, and applied in practice according to this plainer rule of Christ, thus, “Let thy love to thy neighbour be as great as thou canst reasonably expect or desire thy neighbour’s love should be to thyself.”

When our blessed Lord gives an abridgment or abstract of the ten commandments, he doth it in these words; Mat. xxii. 37, 38, 39. Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and soul, that is, love God above all things: this is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it; love thy neighbour as thyself; that is, consider him as a piece of human nature, as a second self, and imitate thy love to thyself in thy conduct toward him: Or, according to my text, it may be explained thus; enquire of thy own heart how thou wouldst have him love thee, and let this be the rule and measure of thy love to him. All our duties to God or man, all the commands of the first and the second table, all the dictates of the law and prophets depend on these two commandments.

Then we answer the design of the law, then we obey the prophets, then we fulfil the commands of Moses, and of Christ, when we give to God our supreme love, and when we put ourselves in the room of our neighbour, and then carry it toward him, according to the love we expect he should bear us. This is loving our neighbours as ourselves, and this love is the fulfilling of the law; Rom. xiii. 10. When our Saviour delivers the words of my text, it is as if he had said to us, “If ye would practise all the duties that you owe to your fellow-creatures, and fulfil all the laws of the second table, in the most compendious and perfect manner, remember and practise this one general direction, deal with the rest of mankind as your conscience judges they should deal with you.” But this leads me to the:

Third enquiry, viz. wherein do the peculiar excellencies of this rule appear:

This golden rule hath many excellent properties belonging to it. I shall mention a few on purpose to impress it on your consciences with more conviction, pleasure and power.

I. It is a rule that is easy to be understood, and as easy to be applied by the meanest and weakest understanding. It is so plain, that what is said by Isaiah concerning all the precepts of the gospel, is more eminently true of this; it is a highway of holiness, and the wayfaring man, though a fool, shall not err therein; Is. xxxv. 8. The laws of man are often expressed in such obscure language and terms of art, that they puzzle us to find out the meaning of them: And the nice distinctions and subtle reasonings of men, oftentimes add to their darkness, and raise new disputes: But this is a law that every man understands; nor is it easy to be clouded by the comments and glosses of crafty men, if we are but sincerely resolved to judge and practise according to it. By the means of this rule, they who never studied the civil law, nor took pains in enquiring the moral dictates of the light of nature; they who never examined the statutes of a nation, nor the rules of natural justice, are all furnished with a law or rule of equity in their own minds, by which to manage their whole practice, with regard to their neighbours. Those who are not capable of long trains of reasoning, or of applying several general rules to all their particular cases: yet are able to look into their own hearts, and to ask this easy question, “Would I myself be content to have others deal thus with me? Why thou should I deal thus with another?”

II. It is a very short rule, and easy to be remembered: The weakest memory can retain it; and the meanest of mankind may carry this about with them, and have it ready upon all occasions. It is of admirable use, to solve a thousand cases of conscience that may arise on the sudden, and may perplex our minds with difficulty. “It lies ready,” says a considerable author, “for present use upon all exigencies and occasions. We can scarce be so far surprized by an immediate necessity of acting as not to have time for a short recourse to this rule, or room for a sudden glance, as it were, upon it in our minds, where it rests and sparkles always like the urim and thummim on the breast of Aaron.”

If we have no written cases of conscience, no books at hand to direct our practice, if we have no faithful minister near us, no wise and pious friend to consult on a sudden occasion, this one rule, written in the heart, may serve instead of all other helps. This blessed precept strikes a sudden and sacred light into the mind, where the case may seem intricate: It shines upon our way, and makes our path plain, where an honest and scrupulous conscience might be just before bewildered in the dark, and not know how to act. “Practise that, O man! toward thy neighbour, which thou art convinced thy neighbour should practise toward thee.”

III. This excellent precept of Christ, carries greater evidence to the conscience, and a stronger degree of conviction in it, than any other rule of moral virtue. As I said before, that a little reason will serve to apply it, so I say now, there is not much need of reasoning to find it out; for we fetch the proof of it from within ourselves, even from our own inward sensation and feeling. If we would know what is just and equitable to do to our neighbour, we need but ask our own inward sense, and our conscience together, what we would think equitable and just to receive from him? Thus there is but one and the same measure of justice, by which we must mete it out to ourselves and others; and that measure lies within us, even in the heart. We are very sensible of benefits and injuries that we ourselves receive, and this very sense of injuries and benefits, is, as it were, transcribed into our conscience, from the tenderest part of our own souls, and becomes there a rule of equity, how we should treat our neighbours.

It is a most righteous precept of the ancient Jewish law, and of universal obligation; Deut. xxv. 13, 14, 15. Thou shalt not have in thy bag, or in thine house, divers weights, and divers measures; a great and a small: That is, one wherewith to buy, and another wherewith to sell; but thou shalt have a perfect and just weight; a perfect and just measure shalt thou have. This precept as soon as it is mentioned, strikes the conscience with conviction of the justice of it: And what is said here of traffic and dealing, holds as truly of the general commerce between man and man, in all the ordinary and extraordinary affairs of life: That mutual exchange of good offices, whereby society is upheld, must be regulated in the same manner, and by the same rule; and the immediate conviction of the equity of it, doth as strongly strike the conscience. “There must be a perfect weight, and a just measure,” saith the author before-cited, “by which all men are mutually obliged to regulate their conduct, in acting and suffering, in commanding and obeying, in giving and receiving: and this can be no other than the equal and righteous rule of the text; the doing in all cases and to all persons, even as we would be done unto. There is no one so absurd and unreasonable, as not to see, and acknowledge the absolute equity of this command in the theory, however he may swerve and decline from it in his practice.” For, it is founded not only in the reason of things, and in the common share, and equal interest that we all have in human nature; but it is also written in the most sensible and the tenderest part of our constitution; and from thence it is derived to the mind and judgment, as a law of behaviour towards our fellow-creatures.

IV. Hence it comes to pass, that it is a precept particularly fitted for practice, because it includes in it a powerful motive to stir us up to do what he enjoins. This character of it, I borrow from the same author, who talks thus upon it: “Other moral maxims propose naked truths to the understanding, which operate often but faintly and slowly on the will and passions, the two active principles of the mind of man: But it is the peculiar character of this rule, that it addresseth itself equally to all these powers, even to the passions, and the will, as well as the understanding. It not only directs, but influences; it imparts both light and heat; and at the same time that it informs us clearly what we are to do, excites us also in the most tender moving manner, to the performance of it; for in truth, its seat is not more in the brain, than in the heart of man: It appeals to our very senses themselves, and exerts its secret force in so prevailing a way, that it is even felt as well as understood by us.”

“There is nothing that we know, that gives a man so true and lively a sense of the sufferings of others, or restrains him so powerfully from doing unrighteous and oppressive things, as his having smarted formerly himself under the experience of them. Now the supposing another man’s ill usage to be our own; is the giving ourselves a present sense, as it were, and a kind of feigned experience of it; which doth, for the time serve all the purposes of a true one.”

V. It is such a rule, as if well applied, will almost always secure our neighbour from injury, and secure us from guilt, if we should chance to hurt him. God will not impute guilt to us, if we should happen to mistake in a point of doubtful enquiry, and to hurt our neighbour by a conscientious obedience to this rule.

I say, it will almost always secure us from injuring our neighbour, I cannot say, it is always an absolute, infallible, and certain rule of right and wrong; for our knowledge of the eternal rules of right and wrong is but imperfect; neither our own heads or hearts, are furnished with all the various and particular principles of equity. A mere enquiry into our own hearts or consciences, can never give us a perfect knowledge of the abstracted rules of justice: Nor can it determine us to the certain practice of it, in all the most intricate cases, unless these perfect rules of justice were fully written in the heart of every man. But under the present circumstances of mankind, in this poor, ignorant, and corrupt state of human nature, it appears to be the best, the most righteous, the most secure, and the most universal rule that ever could be invented or given to men; for it will certainly secure and prevent every man from injuring his neighbour in all cases, except where he himself is willing and content to receive equal injury: And I am sure, self-love will tell us, that these cases are exceeding few.

It is evident therefore, that an honest man will scarce ever mistake in keeping close to this rule. And if I should then happen to do an injury to my neighbour, instead of strict equity, yet I can appeal to God, and say, I endeavoured to apply this rule to my conscience, in the present circumstances, with the utmost sincerity. I acted no otherwise to my neighbour, than I desired or judged it reasonable for my neighbour, to act towards me in the like case. And surely my unavoidable mistake will not be imputed to me as a crime, where I have honestly followed the rule my Saviour has given me, and acted therein according to the best capacity of my judgment.

VI. It is a rule as much fitted to awaken us to sincere repentance upon the transgression of it, as it is to direct us to our present duty. This rule abides in the bosom of a christian, it dwells so near him, that it is, as it were, mingled with conscience itself; and by this means it becomes not only a safe guide, but a sharp reprover too: It soon puts us in mind where either inclination or practice warps toward injustice and deceit. Have we never felt our conscience sting us with a bitter reflection derived from this rule, when we have neglected in any instance to fulfil our duty to our neighbour? I am sure if we kept it much in view, we could neither practise injustice with ease of mind, nor dwell long under this guilt, without some inward reproaches: If the precept had not power enough to restrain us from present sin, yet it would spur us on to serious and speedy repentance.

[Here the sermon may be divided, if it be too long to be read in a family at once.]

VII. It is a most extensive rule, with regard to all the stations, ranks and characters of mankind: for it is perfectly suited to them all: And I think it may be said, that it is equally useful to the rich and the poor, to the buyer and the seller, to the prince and to the peasant, to the master and the servant: They all come under the single rule of duty and justice: This should govern them in all their conduct. Be your condition, O christians, what it will in the world, do but put yourselves into the circumstances of one another, in your own thoughts, for a moment, and ask what is reasonable to be done to yourselves? And your consciences will return a speedy and easy answer what you should do to others.

Let the tenant say, “If I were a landlord, what should I think reasonable that my tenant should pay me?” And the landlord should ask himself, “Were I a tenant, what should I claim of my landlord?” I would have the master enquire, “What should I expect, if I were a servant, at the hand of my master?” And let the servant say, “What, if I were a master, should I expect from the hands of one that served me?” Parents should ask themselves, “if I had been a negligent child, and guilty of some trifling offence, could I think it just my father should be in such a passion with me?” And the son should enquire, “if I were a father, would I not think it reasonable my child should obey me in such particular instances or commands?” Thus the landlord and tenant, thus the master and servant, thus the father and the son may come to an adjustment of their mutual obligations.

The merchant should say to himself, “if I were an artificer, should I think it reasonable that the labour of my hands, and the sweat of my brows, should be screwed down to so cheap a price?” The seller of goods should say, “If I were the buyer, would I think it just to have such corrupt or faulty wares put into my hands? Am I willing to have my necessity, my ignorance, or unwariness thus imposed upon?” And the buyer should ask himself, “If I were the seller, should I bear to have my goods thus run down and depreciated below the just value?”

The learned professions may also learn their duty from this rule. The lawyer should say to himself, “What if I were the client should I think it equitable to have my cause so long delayed, by so many shiftings and escapes, from a determination?” The physicians and the surgeons should put themselves in the places of their sick and wounded patients, and say, “Do we prescribe never a potion, or use never a plaster more than we would think proper for ourselves, if we were languishing under the same sickness or wounds? Do we take the same safe and speedy methods of relief for others that we would have applied to ourselves?” And the preachers of the gospel should place themselves in the room of their hearers, and say, “Do we labour in our closets, in our secret hours of retirement, and in our public ministrations, for the conversion and salvation of those who hear us, as we would have ministers do for us, if we were perishing in our sins, and in danger of eternal death? Do we take such pains to awaken the slumberers upon the borders of hell, as we ourselves would have others take, in order to awaken us out of such fatal slumbers? Do we study and contrive with what divine cordials we shall refresh and comfort the mourners in Zion, even as we should desire to be comforted and refreshed?” Such sort of self-enquiries as these, will lead us to the practice of our present duty, and solve many a difficult case of conscience better than turning over the largest volumes.

VIII. This sacred rule is a most comprehensive one, with regard to all the actions and duties that concern our neighbours. It is not confined merely to the practice of justice, but it extends much wider and farther: It is of mighty influence in the direction and practice of meekness, of patience, of charity, of truth and faithfulness, and every kind of social virtue, and a most happy guard against every social vice. It would be endless to enter into all the special cases of vice and virtue, which relate to the social life, and to shew how much they are affected by this rule, and what divine advantages we may attain for the practice of morality, by keeping this one sentence ever upon our thoughts. Yet I cannot pass over so important a theme, without giving a short specimen of some of these advantages.

This golden precept would teach us how to regulate our temper and general behaviour in the world. Am I not willing to be treated in an affable and civil manner by those who converse with me? Let me treat others then with all becoming civility, and make it appear that christianity is a religion of true honour, and that a christian is indeed a well-bred man. Do I think it unreasonable that my neighbour, though he be my superior, should assume haughty airs and disdain me? Let me watch therefore against all such scornful speeches and disdainful airs, when I converse with one, who is inferior to me. Do I think it a grievous thing, that a man should break out into sudden passion against me, if I happen to speak a word contrary to his sentiment, or to set himself in a rage for a trifle? Let me set a strict guard then over all my passionate powers, and learn to bear opposition without impatience. Let me quench the first risings of sudden anger, lest they kindle into an ungoverned flame, and hurry me on to the practice of what I condemn in others.

This excellent rule would teach us tenderness and beneficence to those that are unhappy. We should never make a jest of the lame or the blind, the crooked or the deformed: we should never ridicule the natural infirmities of the meanest of our fellow-creatures, nor their providential disadvantages, if we did but put ourselves in the room of the blind and lame, the deformed and the poor, and ask whether we should think it just and reasonable to be made the mockery and the jest of those that behold us. We should certainly be inclined to visit the sick, and feed the hungry, to give drink to him that is a-thirst, and to secure the feeble and helpless from the oppression of the mighty, if we enquired of our own hearts, what treatment we should expect if we were hungry and thirsty, if we were sick and helpless.

This blessed command of our Saviour would incline us to reprove with gentleness, to punish with mercy, and never to censure others without a just reason, and a plain call of providence; for we ourselves desire and would reasonably expect this sort of treatment from others. If we carried this sentence always in our memories, should we blaze abroad scandalous reports before we know the truth of them? and publish doubtful suspicions of our neighbour’s guilt? Should we blacken his character to the utmost, even where there is a real crime, and make no reasonable allowances for him? Should we perpetually teaze children, servants, or friends with old faults, and make their follies and miscarriages the matter of our delightful conversation? Should we censure every little deviation from the truth, as heresy? Should we pronounce anathemas and curses upon him that leaves out of his creed a few hard words which men have invented, or that differs from us in the business of meats, and days, and ceremonies? We ourselves think it hard to have doubtful reports of evil published concerning us, and suspicions blown up into guilt: We think it hard if our crimes are aggravated to the utmost, and no reasonable allowances are made: We find it very painful to us, and think it unreasonable to be ever teazed with the mention of our former follies, or to have our little differences from another’s faith or worship to be pronounced heresy, and to be cut off from the church for it.

In short, if this blessed rule of our Saviour did but more universally obtain, we should never persecute one another for our disagreement in opinion, for we should then learn this lesson, that another has as much right to differ from me in his sentiment, as I have to differ from him. If this rule did but prevail amongst all that own the christian name; then truth, honesty and justice, meekness and love would reign and triumph through all the churches of Christ, and those vile affections and practices of pride, envy, wrath, cruelty, backbiting, and persecution would be banished for ever from amongst us.

IX. It is not only a rule of equity and love to direct our whole conduct toward our neighbours in the social life, but it is also a rule of the highest prudence with regard to ourselves; and it promotes our own interest in the best manner: For if we make conscience of treating our neighbours according to all the justice and tenderness that this rule will incline us to, we may reasonably expect the same kind and tender treatment from those that are round about us. Such a practice will naturally engage the greatest part of mankind on our side, whensoever we happen to be assaulted or oppressed by the sons of malice or violence. Happy is that person who has gained the love of mankind, by making the love of himself a rule and measure of his actions toward them, and has piously followed that precept of the law of God, Love thy neighbour as thyself.

Let us remember that we live in a changeable world, and the scenes of life are continually shifting. I am now a master, and in possession of riches, and if I treat my servant, or any poor man insolently, I may expect the like insolent treatment if my circumstances sink, and reduce me to a state of poverty or service. But if I follow this golden rule of our Saviour, in treating my inferiors, I do, as it were, hoard up for myself a treasure of merit and benevolence amongst men, which I may hope to receive and taste of, in the day of my necessity and distress. Thus in behaving myself toward others according to this holy rule of friendship, I not only please and obey my God and my Saviour, but I happily secure my temporal interests also.

X. In the last place, to mention no more. This rule is fitted to make the whole world as happy as the present state of things will admit. It is not to be described nor conceived what a multitude of blessings and felicities the practice of this single precept would introduce among all mankind.

If we were not thus wrapped up entirely in self, in our own party, or in our own kindred, but could look upon our neighbours as ourselves, and seek their advantage together with our own, every man would become a diffusive blessing amongst his neighbours, and the mutual benefits of mankind would scatter happiness through all the world. In such a beneficent state as this, every man would be, as it were, a good angel to all that came within the reach of his commerce; this earth would be a little image of heaven; and our present social life amongst men would be a foretaste of our future happiness among saints and angels. In those glorious regions, every one rejoices in the welfare of the whole community and they have a double relish of their own personal blessedness, by the pleasure they take in contributing to the blessedness of all their fellows.

Thus have I given a short and very imperfect account of the excellencies of this sacred rule of equity and love, and named some of the advantages it has above most other precepts of morality. It remains only that I make two or three reflections on so agreeable a subject.

Reflection I. In what a compendious method has our Saviour provided for the practice of all the moral duties enjoined by Moses and the prophets! For he has summed them up in a very few words, and reduced them to one short rule; but the extent and comprehension of it is universal, and almost infinite.—Though we should forget twenty particular precepts of love and righteousness, yet if this be fresh in our thoughts, and always ready at hand, we shall practise all those particular precepts effectually, by the mere influence of this one general rule. It is true, it is a real advantage toward our practice of virtue and justice, to have the mind stored with special precepts, suited particularly to every case; but where the memory is defective, or other rules are not learned, this golden one will do very much towards supplying the place of many. Our Saviour himself grants this truth, when he says; This is the law and the prophets.

II. What divine wisdom is manifested in making this golden rule of equity a fundamental law, in the two most famous religions that ever God appointed to the children of men; that is, the Jewish and the christian! Love thy neighbour as thyself, was a rule appointed to the Jews; Lev. xix. 18. This is repeated by our Saviour; Mat. xix. 19. And a happy explication or comment on it given in my text, Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the prophets. There were none of the heathen philosophers that delivered this as a general law, in so strong, so universal, and so comprehensive a manner as our Saviour has done, though one or two of them offered some occasional hints of the same kind. But our Saviour appoints it as the grand rule of social virtue, amongst all the subjects of his kingdom; and he tells us too, that this is the sum and substance of the directions given by Moses and the prophets for the conduct of men toward their fellow-creatures.

The wisdom of this precept eminently appears herein: Our blessed Lord well knew that self-love would be a powerful temptation to men, to turn them aside from the sacred laws of justice, in treating their neighbours; and therefore he wisely takes this very principle of self-love, and joins it in the consultation with our reason and conscience, how we should carry it toward our fellow-creatures. Thus by his divine prudence, he constrains even this selfish and rebellious principle to assist our consciences and our rational powers, in directing us how to practise the social duties of life.

It was Christ the Son of God who gave laws to Moses for Israel before his incarnation, and it is he who is come in the flesh, as a preacher of righteousness to men, in these latter days; and in both these seasons of legislature, he has manifested this sacred wisdom: Ye know the heart of a stranger, saith the Lord, in his dictates to Moses; Ex. xxiii. 2. for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt; therefore thou shalt not oppress a stranger. And he gives us still the same general rule for our conduct; “Look into your own hearts, consider what human nature is, you know you are men of like frailty with others, enquire what treatment you would reasonably expect from your fellows, and be sure you practise in the same manner toward them.”

III. Since the wisdom of Christ thought fit to teach us rules of equity and righteousness amongst men, and has, as it were, extracted the very soul and spirit of all social duties, and summed them up in this short sentence: Let not the disciples of Christ forget this rule; nor let the most eminent and exalted christians think it beneath their study and their practice. The love of God and Christ is not the whole of our duty, nor can we be christians indeed, if we neglect to love our neighbour. How vain are all our pretences to faith in Christ, and piety toward God, if we grow careless in our conduct toward men? All our fancied attainments in the school of Christ, how are they disgraced and destroyed, if we abandon this rule of moral virtue, and treat our neighbours contrary to this divine principle of equity and love.

What shall we answer in the great judgment-day to an enquiring God, when in flaming fire he shall put us in mind: “I gave you a plain and easy rule of righteousness in my word, I wrote it in your hearts also, in very legible characters: If you had but looked carefully into your consciences, you might have read it there: But you resolved to sacrifice all to your lusts: you have wronged and defrauded your brethren, and exposed yourselves to my righteous sentence, for your wilful practice of unrighteousness against so plain a law.”

It is a just remark which has often been made on this occasion: “The heathen emperor Severus shall rise up in the judgment with such a generation of christians, and condemn them: For he, by the light of nature, was taught highly to reverence this precept,” when he had learned it from the professors of christianity. You might read it upon the walls of his palace; it was engraven there to govern his court in the times of peace; and it is said, he carried it to war with him in the banners of his army, that it might regulate his conduct, upon all military occurrences. What a pity it is that Severus was a heathen! Or rather what a shame and sorrow it is, that there should be so few of this character in the courts, in the armies, in the markets, the shops, and the families of christians? When will that blessed day come, that shall bring this departed glory back again to the church of Christ? When shall the spirit of faith and charity be poured down from on high, and righteousness come from heaven to dwell among us?

Recollection.—Blessed Saviour, how great is thy goodness, to give us so complete, so plain, so easy, and so divine a rule to square all our actions in the social life! How happily hast thou comprized Moses and the prophets in two short lines, that is, the command of a supreme love to the Lord our God, and a love to our neighbour like that which we bear to ourselves?

Remember, O my soul, this short and comprehensive lesson; and amongst all thy duties and zeal toward thy God, forget not this rule of conduct toward thy fellow-creatures. I can never complain, it is too high and hard for my understanding to apprehend, or too tiresome and painful for my memory to retain, or too burdensome to carry it about always with me. I am convinced, fully convinced of the justice of it: It strikes upon my conscience with strong light and evidence, and sometimes I feel the force of it, like an inward motive, awakening me to the practice of all that it enjoins. O that I might ever live under its prevailing influences, and then I might humbly appeal to God, that I have transacted my affairs with men, by the principles of sincere godliness, truth and justice.

Forgive, O my gracious God, all the wretched instances of my departure from this sacred law of equity. This sacred law will awaken the soul to repentance, as well as direct it to duty; and whatever station of life I am engaged in, whatever rank, character, office, or relation I bear in the world, or in the church of Christ; let me form all my future conduct by this command of my Saviour, let me bring all my past actions to this holy test, and let my conscience repent or rejoice.

O how bright a lustre would be cast on the religion of Jesus, and on all the professors of it, if this rule were always in use! But alas! it lies silent in our bibles, and we hear it not; or it sleeps in our bosom and we awake it not, when we have most need of its assistance. We read and we forget even this short rule of righteousness, and thus we practice iniquity daily, and injure our neighbours without remorse. O wretched creatures that we are? How great is our negligence and our guilt, that we do not so much as ask our consciences honestly, how we should treat our fellow-creatures; but we ask our lusts and our passions, we enquire of our ambition and pride, our covetousness, our wrath and revenge, how we should behave to others.

Reflect, O my soul, how often thou hast turned aside from this blessed rule of thy Saviour, by consulting with the corrupt principles of flesh and blood. How often hast thou neglected this holy precept, to follow the vicious customs of a sinful world, and a degenerate age! A degenerate age indeed, that has forgot the practise of truth and love! Where shall we write this rule in large and golden letters, that the whole city might read it daily? Shall we engrave it on every door, that all who pass by may see it? Shall it stand fixed to every post of the house, that it may direct all your domestic conduct? Shall it meet us at the entrance of every shop, and thus guard our traffic from iniquity, and sanctify all our commerce? Shall we make a philactery of it, and wear it on the borders of our garments, that we may never put it off, unless we lie down to sleep, and cannot act? But the Spirit of Christ is the best writer of his own golden rule, and the heart of man is the best table to receive and bear this writing. O that the holy Spirit would write this sacred law of justice and love more deeply, more effectually in all our hearts, that the religion of our Saviour might look like itself, all amiable and holy; and that while we give glory to God on high, for his saving grace, we might find peace and truth spreading through all the earth, and good-will multiplied among the children of men. Thus the will of God would be done on earth, as it is in heaven, and the kingdom of our Redeemer come in its expected glory. Amen. Even so come Lord Jesus.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXIII. The Universal Rule of Equity.

Blessed Redeemer, how divine, How righteous is this rule of thine, “Never to deal with others worse, Than we would have them deal with us.”

This golden lesson short and plain, Gives nor the mind nor memory pain: And every conscience must approve This universal law of love.

’Tis written in each mortal breast, Where all our tenderest wishes rest; We draw it from our inmost veins, Where love to self resides and reigns.

Is reason ever at a loss? Call in self-love to judge the cause; Let our own fondest passion shew How we should treat our neighbours too.

How bless’d would every nation prove, Thus rul’d by equity and love! All would be friends without a foe, And form a paradise below.

Jesus, forgive us that we keep Thy sacred law of love asleep; And take our envy, wrath and pride, Those savage passions, for our guide.

SERMON XXXIV. The Atonement of Christ. ROM. iii. 25.—Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation——

It is one of the chief glories of the gospel, that it discovers a full atonement for sin by the blood of Christ, that it sets before us the reconciliation of sinners to an offended God, by the death of his own Son. One would be ready to wonder, that any of the guilty race of Adam should be unwilling to receive so divine a discovery, or should refuse a blessing so important.

But such unhappy principles have prevailed over the minds of some men, and particularly the Socinians in the last age, that they have been content to venture their eternal hopes on the mercy of God, without a dependance on the satisfaction made for sin, by Jesus the Saviour. They imagine Christ the Son of God came into our world chiefly to be a teacher of grace and duty, to be an example of piety and virtue, to plead with God for sinners, and in short to do little more than any other divine prophet might have been employed in, if the wisdom of God had so appointed it. They suppose he yielded to death that he might seal his doctrine with his blood, and might set us a glorious pattern of suffering and dying, and then he led the way to our resurrection, by his own rising from the dead.

It is granted indeed, these are some of the designs of the coming of Christ, some of the necessary parts of the blessed gospel: But it seems to me, that this blessed gospel is shamefully curtailed, and deprived of some of its most important designs and honours, if a proper atonement for sin by the blood of Christ be left out of it.

Forgive me, my fellow-christians, if I spend a discourse or two on this great article of our common faith. I think it of so high a moment, that I would fain pronounce and publish it aloud in an age that verges towards infidelity; I would glory in the cross of Christ, and endeavour to support this doctrine with all my power. O may none of those who bear the christian name, ever grow weary of it, or run back again to the mere religion of nature, as though we had no gospel!

I shall not spin out my thoughts, or employ yours in a laborious enquiry into the connection of the words, but take them just as they lie, and make this plain sentence the foundation of my discourse.

Doctrine.—God hath set forth his Son, Jesus Christ, to be a propitiation for the sins of men.

When the apostle says, God hath set him forth, Christ is plainly the person intended: and this greek word προεθετο, set forth, denotes either, 1. That God hath fore-ordained and appointed his Son to become our propitiation by his divine purpose in eternity, which purpose he executed here in time: Or, 2. It intends that God hath set him forth, that is, proposed and offered him to the world as an atonement for the sins of those who trust in the merit of his death; for so the following words intimate, God set him forth for a propitiation, through faith in his blood. I am not solicitous which of these senses the reader will chuse; either of them perfectly agrees with the design of the apostle.

I would just take a brief notice also, that some interpreters transpose the words of the text a little, and read them thus, whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation in his blood through faith, and thus they suppose the apostle, in this very verse, declares that Christ atoned for our sins by his own blood: And if this be the true sense of it, it does but more effectually confirm the design of my doctrine, which is to shew that Christ, by his bloody death, became a sacrifice to God, in order to make satisfaction for the crimes of men. My method of discourse shall be this:

I. To explain more at large the manner in which I conceive Christ to become an atonement or propitiation for our sins.—II. To give some reasons to prove, that he is ordained of God, and set forth or offered to the world under this character.—And, III. I shall shew what glorious use is made of this doctrine throughout the whole christian life.

First, Let me explain the manner wherein Christ becomes an atonement or propitiation for sin. And to render this point easy to the lowest understanding, I would draw it out into these propositions:

Proposition I. The great God having made man, appointed to govern him by a wise and righteous law, wherein glory and honour, life and immortality are the designed rewards for perfect obedience; but tribulation and wrath, pain and death, are the appointed recompence to sinners who violate his law.

This law is in a great measure engraven on the hearts and consciences of all men by nature; at least the general precepts of it are written in the conscience: And mankind, by the light of nature, has some notion also of these penalties, viz. the indignation and wrath of God on those that do evil. And such as have enjoyed the benefit of divine revelation, in patriarchal, Jewish, or christian times, have had much clearer discoveries thereof. This might be proved at large from the discourse of St. Paul; Rom. ii. 6-16. compared with Rom. i. 32. The heathens who are without the law, have the work of the law written in their hearts, and they know, or might know, that those who break it are worthy of death.

II. All mankind have broken the law of God. There is none righteous; no, not one; Rom. iii. 10. By sinning against God, we have lost all pretence to the reward of life, and immortality, and glory; Rom. iii. 23. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And we have also subjected ourselves to guilt and punishment; verse 19. Every mouth is stopped, and all the world becomes guilty before God. A sentence of wrath and death is passed upon all men, for that all have sinned; Rom. v. 12. and the best of saints were by nature dead in trespasses and sins, and the children of wrath even as others; Eph. ii. 1-3.

III. God in His infinite wisdom did not think fit to pardon sinful man, without some compensation for his broken law, some recompence for the dishonour done to his government. He did not see it proper to forgive all our guilt without some satisfaction for breaking his holy commands. I will not enter into that curious enquiry, whether God, considered absolutely as a sovereign, could have done it. It is enough for us that he hath, in effect, declared he would not do it, and that probably for such reasons as these:

1. If the Great Ruler of the world had pardoned the sins of men without any satisfaction, then his laws might have seemed not worth the vindicating. It might have been questioned, whether his statutes were so wisely contrived and framed, as to deserve a vindication, if he had freely forgiven all rebels that had broken them, without any consideration, without any satisfaction at all. It becomes a wise lawgiver to see that his wisdom in framing his laws, be not exposed to dishonour; and therefore his laws must be vindicated, when they are broken.

2. Men would have been tempted to persist in their rebellions, and to repeat their old offences continually, if there had been no vindication of the honour of the law, nor any of the threatenings of it had been executed. Therefore God requires a satisfaction for his broken commands, that his subjects might be kept in due obedience, by an awful fear of his governing justice. And it is on this account, viz. to deter and fright men from sinning, and breaking his laws, he hath given them an account in what a severe and terrible manner he dealt with angels that sinned, he spared them not; 2 Pet. ii. 4. but delivered them to chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day; Jude 6.

3. His forms of government among his creatures, might have appeared as a matter of small importance: His threatenings might have been counted a trifling and useless formality, and mere vain terrors, if he had given laws, and took no care whether they were obeyed or no: and if he let those creatures that broke them come off, without any tokens of his displeasure, without any reparation of the honour due to his law and government: Let not sinners deceive themselves with vain hopes, and dress up the great God in their own imaginations, as a being of mere mercy, as an Almighty Creator, that keeps no discipline or authority among his creatures; Gal. vi. 7. “Be not deceived, God is not mocked; He that soweth to the flesh shall reap destruction.”

4. God had a mind to make a very illustrious display, both of his justice and of his grace among mankind, which should be the solemn spectacle and the wonder of other worlds besides this, even the world of angels, principalities and powers; and therefore he hath designed his grace and his justice should mutually set forth each other, in his transactions with sinful man: On this account he would not pardon sin, without a satisfaction; but he thought fit to require and demand that sin be punished, and that the honour of the law be repaired to the full, that his justice might shine in full glory: And at the same time, in order to display his rich mercy, he would find out a way to save multitudes of these rebellious creatures.

These, and other reasons, infinitely superior to all our thoughts, might be in the divine mind, why God would not pardon sinners without a satisfaction.

IV. Man, poor sinful man, is not able to make any satisfaction to God for his own sins, by his utmost labours of future obedience: For all that he can do for time to come, is but mere necessary duty, if he had not sinned at all; and therefore this can never make any recompence to the governing justice of God, for his past transgressions.

It is a most strange vain doctrine of the papists, that some persons are such great saints, that they do works of heroic virtue beyond what they are required to do; and these they call works of supererogation, whereby they can merit some favours at the hands of God, not only for themselves, but for their neighbours too. Strange doctrine indeed, made up of folly, pride, and absurdity! Our best services are so much due to God, that if any man could practise complete righteousness, and fulfil the law of God constantly through all his life, it would not make amends for one past offence, nor merit any favour of God for a criminal creature.

But, alas! man is so far from being able to fulfil perfect righteousness for time to come, that in this fallen state, he can do nothing that is truly good: he broke the law of God in days past, and he goes on to break it daily and hourly. His understanding is grown so dark, his will so perverse, and his affections and appetites so corrupt and vicious, by his departure from God, that he cannot answer the present demands of duty; much less can he bring an offering of righteousness to atone for past iniquities. “We are by nature dead in trespasses and sins.”

V. Neither can this guilty, wretched creature man, make any satisfaction to the broken law of God by his sufferings, any more than by his doings. For the penalty of the law is tribulation and anguish of soul and body, the wrath of God and death: and how far this dreadful sentence reaches, what miseries are implied in it, and how long the execution of it must continue, who can tell? This we know, that God himself, who sees the full evil, and complete desert or demerit of sin, hath, in some places of scripture, threatened eternal punishment of sinners.

And if we may venture to judge concerning the greatness of the guilt, and demerit of our offences against God, by the same rules, by which reason teaches us to judge of the guilt and demerit of an offence against our fellow-creatures, we must say the guilt of sin is infinite; and therefore the punishment due to a sinning creature is everlasting, because he cannot any other way sustain punishment equal to his infinite demerit of sin. Among men the crime is always aggravated in proportion to the person, against whom it is committed: Therefore any offence against a father, or a king, has much more guilt in it, and is more severely punished, than the same offence committed against an inferior, or an equal. An attempt upon the life of a neighbour, is punished With imprisonment or a fine: But an attempt made on the life of a king deserves death.

Now the great God our Creator, being a king of infinite glory and majesty, infinitely superior to his creature man, every offence against this God, has a sort of infinity in it[34]: And God may demand satisfaction equal to the offence, that is infinite, which poor sinful man can never pay, so as to out-live the payment. On this account, he is exposed to the execution of the sentence of God for ever: His punishment has no end. Perhaps this will be counted an old-fashioned argument, and not so generally received in our day, as it was in the days of our fathers: Therefore I have examined it afresh with all the skill I have, and having surveyed the objections which are raised against it, I think they are not hard to be answered: And, after all, so far as I can judge in a may of reasoning upon what scripture has revealed, this argument seems to have weight and strength in it still.

Were it not for the supposition of the infinite guilt and demerit of sin, I do not so plainly see the justice or equity of God in preparing everlasting chains of darkness, and eternal fire, for the devil and his angels, as a proper punishment due to their first act of rebellion against him, and because they kept not their own first estate[35]; Jude 6. Nor indeed do I see such evident reason, why sinners among men should be threatened with eternal punishments, and punished with everlasting destruction, as a legal penalty due to past sins; Mat. xxv. 46. and 2 Thess. i. 9. which sins were done perhaps in a few days or hours, unless upon a supposition that all offences committed against the infinite majesty of God, have a sort of infinite demerit in them.

I beg leave to add this one thought more, and that is, if sin has not a sort of infinite demerit in it, I cannot see why man himself, by some years of penal sufferings, might not make full atonement for his own sins: But the language and current of scripture seems to represent sinful man as for ever lost to all hope in himself, and then the necessity of a Mediator appears with evidence and glory.

VI. Though man be incapable to satisfy for his own violation of the law, either by his obedience or his punishment, and so to restore himself to the favour of God, yet God would not suffer all mankind to perish. Therefore out of his abundant mercy, he appointed his own Son to undertake this work. His own, his only begotten Son, who is the brightness of his Father’s glory, and who lay in the bosom of the Father before all worlds, his Son who was one with the Father, by a communion of the godhead, and who is himself, on this account, called God over all, blessed for ever; this well-beloved Son of God is ordained and appointed to be the great Reconciler between God and man.

VII. Because God intended to make a full display of the terrors of his justice, and his divine resentment for the violation of his law; therefore he appointed his own Son to satisfy for the breach of it, by becoming a proper sacrifice of expiation or atonement: Now, both among Jews and heathens, the original notion and design of an expiatory sacrifice, is, when some other creature or person is put in the room or place of the transgressor, and the punishment or pain due to the transgressor is transferred to that other person or creature. Therefore beasts were slain for the offences of men, who were supposed to deserve death. And when any person became a surety for a city or nation that was defiled with sin, among the heathens, that person was substituted in their room, and so devoted to death. So the Son of God became a surety for sinful men: It pleased the Father to make him their sacrifice, and substituted him in their stead: God ordained that he should put himself into their circumstances, as far as was possible, with a due condescendency to his superior character, and that he should sustain, as near as possible, the very same pains and penalties which sinful man had incurred. Since tribulation and anguish of soul and body, a sense of the wrath of God, and death, were the appointed penalties of the sin of man; therefore he determined that his own Son should pass through all these: And since the law curses all that continue not in all the commands of it, therefore Christ was made a curse for us, that he might redeem us from the curse of the law; Gal. iii. 10-13. Hereby he gave a most awful and sensible demonstration to this visible world of mankind, and perhaps, much more to the invisible world of angels and devils, how dreadful a thing it is to break the law of a God, what infinite evil is contained in sin, and at what a terrible rate it must be expiated and atoned for.

VIII. The Son of God being immortal, could not sustain all these penalties of the law which man had broken, without taking the mortal nature of man upon him, without assuming flesh and blood: Thus his incarnation was necessary, that he might be a more proper surety, substitute, and representative of man who had sinned; and that he might be capable of suffering pain, and anguish, and death itself, in the room and stead of sinful men. It was because the children who were given to Christ; Heb. ii. 13, 14. because these children were partakers of flesh and blood, therefore he himself also took part of the same, that through death he might redeem them, that by his own dying he might make atonement for their sins; Heb. x. 5. Sacrifice and offering of beasts, thou wouldst not accept as equivalent for the sins of men: But a body hast thou prepared me, saith our Lord, that men might be redeemed by the offering the body of Christ, once for all; ver. 10.

It was in the prospect of the Son of God becoming man, by taking flesh and blood upon him, that God spake thus to David; Ps. lxxxix. 19. “I have exalted one chosen out of the people; that is, out of mankind: I have laid help upon one that is mighty: And when he was found in fashion as a man;” Phil. ii. 10. God laid on him the iniquities of us all by imputation; Is. liii. 5, 6. even as the sins, and iniquities, and trespasses of the children of Israel were laid on the head of the goat of old, by the confession and hand of Aaron; Lev. xvi. 21.

When the guilt was thus transferred to him, as far as it was possible for the Son of God to sustain it, he then became liable to punishment; and indeed that seems to me to be the truest and justest idea of transferred or imputed guilt, viz. when a surety is accepted to suffer in the room of the offender, then the pain or penalty is due to him by consent: And as this is the true original and foundation of expiatory sacrifices, as I have shewn before, so this seems to be the foundation of that particular manner, wherein scripture teaches us this doctrine: “He that knew no sin was made sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him;” 2 Cor. v. 21. “His own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree;” 1 Pet. ii. 24. “The chastisement or punishment of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed;” Is. liii. 5. And in many other places of scripture we read the same sort of language. This doctrine is supported with great strength, by the most learned and pious Dr. Owen, in his short treatise of the satisfaction of Christ.

Upon this account, though God the Father was never truly angry with his beloved Son, yet it pleased the Father to bruise him, when he stood in the room of guilty creatures. The Father himself put him to grief, and made his soul an offering for sin; Is. liii. 10. Then the Son of God began to be sore amazed, and very heavy at the approaching deluge of this sorrow; Mark xiv. 33. The Father forsook him for a season, withdrew his comfortable influences, and gave him some such exquisite sight and sense of that indignation and wrath that was due to sin, as filled his holy soul with anguish, “his soul was exceeding sorrowful even unto death;” Mat. xxvi. 38. While his body sweat drops of blood in the garden: And at last he poured out his soul to death, and “gave his life a ransom for many: he reconciled us to God by the blood of his cross;” Col. i. 20.

Though we allow the human nature of Christ to be the highest, the noblest, and best of creatures, and in that sense might be worth ten thousand of us: yet if sin has an infinite evil in it, then no mere creature, by all his sufferings, could make complete and equal satisfaction for sin: But when the Son of God, who is one with the Father, takes flesh and blood upon him, and becomes God manifest in the flesh, here God and man are united in one complex person, and hereby we enjoy an all-sufficient Saviour, a Reconciler beyond all exception, a Sacrifice of atonement, equal to the guilt of our transgressions. And so far as I can judge, it is on this account one apostle says; Acts xx. 28. “God redeemed the church with his own blood; and another asserts, Hereby perceive we the love of God, that he laid down his life for us;” 1 John iii. 16.

And I do not yet see sufficient reason why that expression of St. Paul; Heb. ix. 14. may not be referred to the same sense. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience, &c.” If the eternal Spirit signify the divine nature or godhead, which dwelt bodily in the man Jesus, then the dignity of his complete person is made the foundation of the value of his blood. This dignity of the godhead which was personally united to the man who suffered, spreads an infinite value over his sufferings and merit: And this renders them equal to that infinite guilt and demerit of sin, which would have extended the punishment of man to everlasting ages. The infinite dignity of the person suffering, answers to the infinite dignity of the person offended, and so takes away the necessity of the everlasting duration of it.

Thus our blessed Mediator, the man Jesus Christ, in whom dwells all the fulness of the godhead bodily, fulfilled the righteous demands of the law, and suffered the penalties due to our sins. He magnified his Father’s law in this manner, and made it honourable, beyond what all the sons of Adam could do by their utmost sufferings. Thus the justice of God shines most gloriously in the sufferings of his Son Jesus Christ: Thus the great God vindicated his own character, as a wise and righteous law-giver, before the face of men and angels, in the anguish and death of his own Son: He gave a most awful and formidable assurance, that he was not a God to be trifled with, and that the sin of his creatures should not go unpunished. He that spared not his own Son, when he stood in the room of sinners, will never spare guilty rebels that persist in their rebellions. Thus far we see how Christ became a sacrifice of atonement.

IX. God, the great Ruler of the world, having received such ample satisfaction for sin, by the sufferings of his own Son, can honourably forgive his creature man, who was the transgressor. There is so glorious a reparation made to the honour of his righteous and broken law, that he can pardon sinners without dishonour to himself, and his government. He can glorify his justice and his mercy, at once, in a most exuberant and illustrious manner, since his own Son has become a priest of atonement, and offered up himself as a sacrifice, to make propitiation for sin: He can declare his righteousness, though he passes by a thousand offences that are past, and can shew himself, just to his own law and government, at the same time that he forgives millions of sins; and is a justifier of him who believeth in Jesus; Rom. iii. 25, 26.

X. I might add in the last place, since my text intimates it, that as the great God in his eternal counsels, appointed his Son Jesus Christ to undertake this difficult and glorious work, for the salvation of sinful men, so in the days of the gospel he has, in the most plain and explicit manner, offered this reconciliation to sinners who return to God by the mediation of Jesus Christ: He has proposed peace to those who are sincerely desirous to be reconciled to God, and to have all enmity done away on both sides; to those who trust in the virtue of the blood of Christ, as the foundation of this divine peace between God and them, or in the language of my text, to those who have faith in his blood.

But let it be remembered, that this desire to be reconciled, must proceed from a painful sense of sin, that makes a separation between God and the soul: This implies sincere repentance in the nature of it. It must be such a faith in Jesus and his sacrifice, as works powerfully by holy love, and produces all the good fruits of religion in the heart and life. All faith is useless to attain peace with God, unless it carries in it the springs and seeds of love and holiness. Though we are justified by faith, yet it must not be a mere bold presumption, but a living faith, which will appear in its fruits.

Thus I have endeavoured to perform the first thing I proposed, and that was to shew in what manner I conceive of the Son of God becoming an atonement for the sins of men. Far be it from me, to imagine that every one must believe these things just after the same order, and in the same manner in which I have learned to conceive of them: Several learned and pious men have explained the manner of this atonement in another way: But they agree in the doctrine of a proper satisfaction for sin. Different persons behold the representation of these great and important things of christianity in different lights: And though, according to my measure of knowledge in the scripture, this manner of conception of the atonement of Christ seems most agreeable to the word of God, yet, I am fully persuaded, God has never made salvation to depend upon a nice exactness of sentiment about the mere order of ranging these divine discoveries, or about the precise logical relations of the sufferings of Christ, to our sins, or to our pardon. Whosoever sincerely confesses and repents of sin, and trusts in the all-sufficient atonement and sacrifice of Christ, to remove the guilt of it, has abundant assurance from scripture, that the blood of Jesus Christ will cleanse him from all sin, and that the Son of God has been, and will be his High-priest, to reconcile him to God the Father.

The Recollection.—It becomes me now to reflect on what I have heard this day. The atonement of Christ is one of the chief glories, and most surprising wonders of my religion: It is the ground of my hope, it is the very life of my soul. Here I have been learning the several transactions of the great God, the Creator and Ruler of the world, with all the children of men from the beginning of their creation. The light of nature informs me in an imperfect manner, and the scripture with much brighter evidence assures me, that I was made under the law, and not born to live at random, according to the wild dictates of appetite and passion. I am informed also, my Creator has guarded the honour of his law with indignation and wrath, with pain of the flesh, and anguish of the mind, and death itself, as the penalties to be inflicted on those that break it. A law divinely wise and righteous, and a sanction of solemn and divine terror!

But, alas! I am one of the sinful guilty race of man. My very nature is corrupt, my powers of action are unholy, and I have broken the law of my God in a thousand instances. My conscience condemns me, my mouth is stopped, I am guilty before God, I lie under the sentence of his condemning law by nature, and am by nature a child of disobedience, and a child of wrath. It is a glorious instance of divine mercy and forbearance, that he has not executed the severities of his law upon me long ago: It is rich mercy and adorable patience that my flesh and spirit have not been filled with all these terrors, that I am not made as wretched as I have been rebellious.

Nor can I expect, that the great and terrible God, who sent his indignation upon angels when they sinned, turned them out of heaven, and chained them in darkness, should forgive all my infinite offences, without some reparation made for the honour of his broken law. He is a great God indeed, his majesty is tremendous, and every thing that belongs to him must have its due honour.

If I labour with all my powers to make him some recompence for my past iniquities by new obedience, I find it is impossible. The best of my righteousnesses are all defective: My holiest services want some forgiveness as well as my wilful sins. Nor can I suffer the punishment due to my iniquities, without being for ever miserable. All the doors of hope are shut against me, nor by the utmost effort and labour of my own powers, can I find a way to escape: If I am left to myself in this state, I must despair and perish. But blessed, for ever blessed be the mercy of my God, that he has sent his own Son to take flesh and blood upon him. He has sent him in the likeness of sinful flesh to become a sacrifice for sin, to sustain the sorrows which I could never sustain, and to provide a laver of his own blood to cleanse us from all sin. Lord, I humbly approach this sacred laver, to wash away the defilements of my soul.

Christ is become a sacrifice to divine justice, in the room and stead of men. And he is also our great High-priest: For he offered himself up to the strokes of justice, and the penal demands of the law of God, and thereby he hath shewn himself to be a priest of reconciliation. How adorable is this contrivance! How amazing is this love! How should sinners be surprized with a sense of this abounding grace! Here I behold the Son of God stooping down from the height of his glory, to become a mortal man, surrounded with flesh and sorrows: I behold the first favourite of heaven, the first beloved Son leaving the bosom of his Father, and the fulness of celestial joys, that he might unite himself to our feeble nature, and taste the anguish and the smart that our rebellious had deserved. I behold him forsaken of his Father, and lying under the weight and terror of some unknown discoveries and impressions of that divine indignation and wrath that was due to sinners; unknown impressions indeed, that struck the Son of God with amazement, and made his soul exceeding sorrowful even to death.

And was all this for my sins, O my Saviour; Didst thou sustain these heavy sufferings from the hand of God, that such a rebel as I might be reconciled? Yes, all this for my sins, if I am found a sincere believer on the Son of God.

Enquire now, O my soul, dost thou believe in Christ? Hast thou seen thy heavy guilt, and thy danger of eternal death? Hast thou been weary and heavy laden with a sense of thy past iniquities? Hast thou been pained at thy heart under the present power of indwelling sin: And hast thou fled for refuge to the hope set before thee in the gospel? Hast thou joyfully received Jesus the Saviour by faith in his blood? by a living and active faith? Hast thou committed thyself to him, to be delivered from the reign of sin, as well as from the condemnation of it? Then mayest thou join with the blessed apostle, and speak in the language of faith, He loved me, and gave himself for me? Gal. ii. 20.

Let me meditate again the sorrows and agonies of my dear, my adored Redeemer. Infinite agonies and sorrows, beyond all the powers of language. Is my heart made of stone, that it can hear such an history and not melt within me, have I no tender part within me to bleed at the rehearsal of such anguish, and such love? Blessed Jesus smite the rock of my heart, and let it pour out new streams of repentance and affectionate gratitude. I was dead, and the Son of God gave himself up to death, in order to raise me to life again. I was a traitor and an enemy, and he hath sustained the arrows of the Almighty to reconcile me to his Father, and turn away his infinite indignation. My great High-priest has offered up himself a bloody sacrifice for me, that my guilt might be forgiven, and cancelled for ever.

Think, O my soul, study, contrive, speak, what wilt thou render to the Lord for such astonishing condescension, and such unexampled grace. How wilt thou show thy inestimable value of his atonement? What does he require of thee, but to keep those garments clean, which he has washed in so rich a fountain as his own blood? And shall I ever wilfully indulge the practice of sin again, and return to my old defilements? Shall I ever consent to break the law of my God? Have I not seen the dreadful nature and dismal effects of it, in the agonies and death of my dearest Lord? What shall I do that I may never sin more? Lord, I cannot preserve myself from the fatal infection, while I dwell in a world where sin reigns all around me, in a world that lies in wickedness; and while I am so nearly allied to flesh and blood, where folly, vice, and sin run through every vein to my heart. Jesus, I commit myself afresh to thy care, thou wilt save the soul that thou hast purchased at so dear a rate; thou wilt accept and save a returning penitent. Here I devote my life, my self, my flesh and spirit, and all my powers to thy obedience, and the purposes of thy glory for ever and ever: My soul looks up to thee with an eye of humble confidence, and my faith and hope rest on thy everlasting love. Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXIV. The Atonement of Christ.

How is our nature spoil’d by sin! Yet nature ne’er hath found The way to make the conscience clean, Or heal the painful wound.

In vain we seek for peace with God By methods of our own; Jesus there’s nothing but thy blood Can bring us near thy throne.

The threat’nings of the broken law Impress our souls with dread: If God his sword of vengeance draw, It strikes our spirits dead.

But thy illustrious sacrifice Hath answered these demands; And peace and pardon from the skies Come down by Jesus’ hands.

Here all the ancient types agree, The altar and the lamb: And prophets in their visions see Salvation through his name.

’Tis by thy death we live, O Lord: ’Tis on thy cross we rest: For ever be thy love ador’d, Thy name for ever blest.

Footnote 34:

Every circumstance that aggravates any crime, must aggravate it in a degree proportionable to that circumstance; otherwise we could never determine what is the degree of this aggravation, nor adjust the punishment in proportion to it. On this account, if the crime he committed against God, an infinite being, the guilt must be infinitely aggravated.

Footnote 35:

I grant, 1. That their continual persistence and obstinacy in sinful practices, may naturally render them continually miserable; and 2. This continued obstinacy may also, in a legal sense, merit continual new punishment. And perhaps, on these two reasons, the actual eternity of hell may be justly supported. But unless we suppose every wilful rebellion against the infinite Majesty of God, to have also a sort of infinite evil in it, I do not see that everlasting chains, and eternal fire, are a proper deserved punishment, legally due to their first rebellion, that is, to one act of sin.

SERMON XXXV. The Atonement of Christ. ROM. iii. 25.—Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation——

Having explained the manner in which Christ is a propitiation for sin; I come in the second place to propose some reasons to evince the truth of this doctrine, namely, That God hath ordained his Son Jesus to be our propitiation or sacrifice of atonement. And here I shall proceed by degrees, from some apparent probabilities, to more evident and convincing proofs.

I. The first reason I shall give for it is this, that an atonement for sin, and an effectual method to answer the demands of an offended God, is the first great blessing which guilty mankind stood in need of: but the powers of nature could never procure it, nor could the light of reason ever shew them how to obtain it: Now it is the design of the gospel of Christ to supply the wants and deficiencies of guilty nature, that is both impotent and blind; it is to introduce an effectual reconciliation between God and sinners; it is to point out an atonement to them, answerable to their guilt, which they wanted, and to discover a solid foundation for peace. This is done in the death of Christ.

A few easy reflections of natural conscience, will acquaint all the thinking part of men that they are sinners, that they have offended the great and glorious God who made them: And those that have read the histories of mankind, and have surveyed distant nations and past ages, have found this to be almost the universal enquiry of men, “What shall we do to pacify the anger of that God, against whom we have sinned?” The heathen world had an awful notion of the vengeance of heaven. Hence arose endless forms of superstition: How many long and costly ceremonies, what painful and bloody rites of worship have been invented and practised by men, to make some compensation for their crimes? All the craft and contrivance of their priests, could never have prevailed with the bulk of mankind, to take such yokes of bondage upon them, if there had not been something in natural conscience, which wanted an atonement and peace to be made with heaven, from a sense of their own guilt.

The prophet Micah introduces this general language of an awakened conscience, Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, or bow myself before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings?—Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Micah vi. 6, 7. Alas! All these are vain and fruitless proposals: But the gospel makes the enquiring conscience easy, when it proposes the blood of the Son of God, appointed by the Father as a satisfactory offering for the sins of men: This is what the guilty world wanted, but could never find out. This the gospel hath revealed and set in an open light.

And indeed, if the great God who is offended, did ever send down a Peace-maker to reconcile heaven and earth, it is very reasonable to suppose that he should answer the universal cry of nature distressed with guilt; and that he should furnish sinful creatures with such an atonement for sin, and such a solid foundation for their acceptance with himself, as might fully satisfy their reason and their awakened consciences. And this is no where to be found in so evident and complete a manner, as in the death of Christ.

II. The very first discoveries of grace, which were made to man after his fall, implied in them something of an atonement for sin, and pointed to the propitiation which Christ has now made; Gen. iii. 15, &c. The first appearance of grace was the promise given that the seed of the woman should bruise the head of the serpent, that is, he should abolish the guilt, mischief, and misery that sin and the tempter had introduced: But in order to do this, the woman’s seed must have his heel bruised, must sustain some personal sufferings.

Immediately after this, sacrifices of beasts were instituted[36] as a type and prefiguration of some future glorious sacrifice and atonement that should be made to God for the sins of men. Now it is the very notion of an expiatory sacrifice, as I have shewn before, that some creature is provided to stand in the room of the original transgressor and to bear his guilt and suffer punishment in his stead, that thereby the transgressor having his guilt taken away, may be delivered and saved. And when Adam was ordered to put a beast to death which had not sinned, in order to worship or honour God by it, and when he found that he himself who had sinned, was not put to death, it was not hard for him to understand that the beast was put to death in his room and stead: And it is not unlikely that God told him so.

Let us consider further, that it is exceeding probable, when the Lord God made coats of skins for Adam and his wife; Gen. iii. 21. these were the skins of the beasts that had been put to death in sacrifice: And thus God made it appear to them, that their nakedness was covered, and the shame of their guilt removed, by a blessing derived from the beasts that were slain. The skins of the sacrifices being put upon their bodies, might abate something of their former fear, and encourage them to appear before God, who were terrified a little before, at the thoughts of their guilt and nakedness. Their deserved death was transferred to the sacrificed animal; and the skin of the animal sacrificed, was transferred to them as a covering for their guilt and shame. These are no obscure intimations of benefit and safety to be derived to sinners, from some atonement to be made for sin.

If we will hearken to St. Paul, he explains the first promise, when he says, Heb. ii. 14. that Christ took flesh and blood upon him, that he might, by his own death destroy the devil, who had the power of death, or had introduced it into the world. Here the Saviour’s heel was bruised, and the head of the serpent broken; nor can it be well supposed, how the death of Christ should destroy the works of the devil, but by making an atonement for the sins of men; for which sins divine justice had put them under his power or tyranny.

I will not presume to say, that Adam himself could read so much gospel as this in those first words of promise; or that he knew in so explicit and distinct a manner, the designs and ends of a sacrifice, when God taught him the practice: Yet it is very probable, that the great God condescended to give a much farther explication both of the first words of comfort concerning the seed of the woman, and of his own appointment of sacrifices, and of the reason of them, than Moses has written, or than we who live at this distance of time can ever certainly know.

III. Suppose what I have yet offered, be too obscure a foundation for this doctrine, yet let us consider that the following train of ceremonies, which were appointed by God in the Jewish church, when he separated a peculiar people to himself, are plain significations of such an atonement for sin as our Lord Jesus has made, and they confirm the meaning of the first institution of sacrifices.

I will grant indeed, that many of the ceremonies of the Jewish church, had also some other intendments, viz. To distinguish the nation of Israel from the Gentile world, and to keep them in subjection to God, who was their political head or king, as well as their God, to preserve them as a nation in his favour, and restore them when they had offended him as their governor and king: But a few considerations will give us sufficient evidence, that these are mere subordinate designs of God in the Jewish law, and especially in his institution of the ceremonies of atonement and priesthood.

First Consideration.—The Jewish ceremonies are often represented as types or figures of gospel-blessings by the apostle Paul; 2 Cor. iii. Gal. vi. Col. ii. Heb. vii, viii, ix, x. The levitical ceremonial rites were but the letter, of which the gospel of Christ is the spirit or meaning: Those were but as a veil to cover the good things of the gospel; they were but weak and poor rudiments or elements of learning, to lead us into the knowledge of gospel-blessings. “The law was our school-master to bring us to Christ. They were but a shadow of things to come, whose substance or body is Christ; They served but to the example and shadow of heavenly things: that is, the things of the gospel: They were a figure for the time present; a shadow of those good things to come, which the Holy Ghost signified by them.” The great end of these Jewish ceremonial appointments in the sense of this inspired writer, was, that they should stand but as types and figures of things under the gospel; as emblems of the various offices of the Messiah that was to come, and eminently of his priesthood and propitiation. Now the substance is superior to the shadow.

Second Consideration.—This is more evident still, if we consider that many of the defilements which were to be removed by these sacrifices and purifications, were of an external and corporeal nature, which, considered in themselves, were generally innocent as to moral guilt, and did not want such sort of bloody purgations[37]. Thence we may reasonably infer, that these external defilements of the body, did typify and represent the moral and sinful pollutions of the soul: and consequently, that the external and corporeal forms of atonement and purgation were chiefly designed as types and figures of the blood of Christ, which was a real propitiation for the sins of the soul.

Third Consideration.—The most exact and happy resemblance and conformity, between the method of atonement by the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ, and the appointed rites of the levitical priesthood and atonement, very naturally leads us to suppose, that one was designed to figure out and foretel the other; especially since the scripture gives us such frequent hints of it. The great God, to whom all his own works are known from the beginning of the world, had the sacrifice and priesthood of his Son Jesus ever in his eye, when he ordained the Jewish forms of atonement. He kept in view Jesus the high-priest, who was hereafter to enter into heaven in the virtue of his own blood, when he appointed Aaron to go into the holy place, the figure of the true, with the blood of the yearly expiation. He kept in view the merit of Christ’s death, which was to be applied to our souls and consciences by faith, when he appointed the people to be sprinkled with the blood of the sacrifices: And therefore the blood of Christ is called the blood of sprinkling; Heb. xii. 24. And when he ordained the morning and evening lamb for a continual burnt-offering, he pointed, though afar off, to the Messiah, the Lamb of God, that must take away the sins of men.

These resemblances might be shewn in a multitude of other instances: but I cannot omit this one, viz. As the killing of the beast was designed to hold forth the violent and bloody death of Christ, the great sacrifice; so the burning of the flesh and entrails on the altar by that divine fire, which was always kept alive there, and which was kindled at first from heaven, seems plainly intended to foretel those sacred divine impressions of the indignation of God due to sinners, which were to be made upon the holy soul of Christ himself, when it pleased the Father to bruise him, and put him to grief: For the indignation of God is often represented by fire.

We must not imagine therefore, that these levitical ordinances were first in the design of God, as proper statutes for the Jewish nation, and then that the Son of God came into the world, and passed through such special scenes of life, death, and resurrection, merely in order to copy out these Jewish ordinances: But we must conceive the Son of God, first designed as our great Atonement and High-priest on earth, and in heaven: And in the view and foresight hereof all those levitical ordinances were given to the Jews as figures and emblems, to give early notice before-hand, of the blessings of the great Messiah. Surely the atonement of the Messiah, which was to be a real relief for the guilt of all nations, was of much more importance, and held a higher rank in the ideas and designs of God, than the mere ceremonies given to a single nation.

If it should be objected still, that those Jewish rites have been plainly proved by some learned men to be political services done to God as their King and Governor, for he dwelt in Jerusalem as their king, and kept his court among them in the tabernacle and the temple. I answer:

1. This may very well be granted as an inferior and subordinate design of God: For the consideration of God, as the civil or political ruler of the Jewish nation, is much inferior to the consideration of him as the Creator, and the Lord of the souls and consciences, not only of the nation of Israel, but of all mankind, who were to derive benefit from the sacrifice of Christ. The supreme intent and meaning of any constitution, does by no means destroy those which are subordinate. It may be allowed also:

2. That the sacrifices duly offered, did make a real and proper atonement for the political guilt of the Israelites in the sight of God, considered as their peculiar king, and continued them in his political favour, or restored them to it, after some breach of the Jewish laws. This seems to be the sense of the apostle, Heb. ix. 13. The blood of bulls and goats sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh, as well as of many expressions in the books of Moses. And yet these same sacrifices might make a typical atonement for their moral guilt in the sight of God, considered as their God, that is, as the Lord of conscience, and the God of the souls of men: And all this with a direct aspect upon the sacrifice of Christ, the great and real atonement that was to come: And indeed, the next words; Heb. ix. 14. intimate so much, How much more shall the blood of Christ purge your consciences from dead works? that is, from works of sin which deserve death in the sight or judgment of God, considered as the supreme Lord of souls and consciences.

These sacrifices, I say, could make but a typical atonement for moral guilt in the sight of God, considered as their God; for it is sufficiently evident to any thinking mind, that it was not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin, as committed against a God; Heb. x. 4. And therefore the Jews themselves, when they had offered their chief sacrifice of yearly expiation, had not so clear, so full, and so satisfactory a peace in their consciences, as the gospel of Christ bestows on christians; The apostle says, verse 1, 2. The comers thereunto were not made perfect; for if they had the worshippers once purged, would have no more conscience of sin, or sense of guilt. Wherefore, when Christ came into the world, he saith, sacrifice and offering, that is, of bulls and goats, thou wouldst not, for they were not sufficient, but a body hast thou prepared me; and for what end this was done, the following verses tell us, that sinners might be purified from the guilty defilements of sin, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all; verse 10.

Thus the blessed God, who designed in due time to make his own Son an atonement for sinners, did early give some emblematical notices of this divine atonement to those few who were taught to understand them: And in this manner he kept alive in the world the hope of some such glorious future transaction, which should be the ground-work of peace between God and men, by the appointed death and sacrifice of beasts throughout all ages, ever since he made the first promise, and gave the first hope of grace to fallen man.

And indeed, all the souls that were pardoned, and all the sins that were remitted under the several ancient dispensations of Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses, must be referred to the virtue of this great sacrifice of the Son of God, though all who were pardoned might not distinctly know the ground of it. Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation for the remission of sins that are past in far distant ages, as well as for sins that are yet to come; Rom. iii. 25. His sacrifice has a most extensive efficacy, it reaches through all nations, and all ages, from the beginning of the world to the end of it. It was this sacrifice of Christ, that gave virtue to all other institutions and rights of atonement that were appointed by God himself. In themselves they were weak and insufficient, but they were made powerful through the blood of Christ, to speak pardon and peace in some measure, to the guilty conscience, though since Christ is come, we hear the joyful sound of peace and pardon more distinctly.

IV. Nor was this doctrine manifested only in the ancient forms of worship and sacrifice which God had ordained, but some of the noblest of the following prophecies confirm and explain the first promise, and shew that Christ was to die as an atoning sacrifice for the sins of men. I will mention only the words of those two great men, Isaiah and Daniel. By Daniel we are told, that the Messiah shall be cut off, but not for himself, and the design of this is, to finish transgression, to make an end of sin, to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness; Dan. ix. 24, 26. Isaiah speaks the same thing more largely, in his liii. chapter, verses 5, 6, 10, 11. Christ was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his stripes we are healed: We like sheep have gone astray, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.——It pleased the Lord to bruise him, and to put him to grief, and to make his soul an offering for sin.—By the knowledge of him shall he justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. How exceeding plain and strong is this language to support my doctrine, and how exceeding hard to construe it to any other sense!

It may not be amiss to subjoin the witness of John the Baptist, who was more than a prophet, and the very fore-runner of the Messiah; John i. 26. Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world. Now a Lamb takes away sin in no other way than by dying as a sacrifice. Thus our blessed Redeemer who, once in the end of the world, appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, as a great High priest, was, as it were, ushered into his office by a long train of types and prophecies: All these went before him, that when his great sacrifice was offered, it might not seem a strange thing, but might be more easily received by all the world, who stood in so much need of him, and to whom the tradition of sacrifices had been conveyed from Noah; and especially by the Jews, who had so much notice of him before, by more express revelations beyond what the heathens could learn by their broken traditions of sacrifice.

V. Our Saviour himself, among the rest of his ministrations as a prophet, taught us the doctrine of atonement for sin by his death, and that in these three ways:

1. He did speak of it, though but sparingly, in plain and express language to his own disciples in private. Mat. xx. 28. The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many: And this he spoke a little after he had foretold his sufferings, his crucifixion, his death, and his rising again the third day.

2. He preached this doctrine publicly to the multitude in parables and figures of speech; John vi. 51. The bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you: Which can signify nothing but his dying as a propitiation for sin, that we might live by our feeding upon his sacrifice, or partaking the benefit of it. John xii. 24. The hour is come that the Son of man must be glorified. Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. Verse 32. If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me: This he said, signifying what death he should die. His being lifted up on the cross should draw many souls to him as their way to the favour of God. Once he spoke it in a little plainer language, in public; John x. 11. where he represents himself as the good Shepherd, who lays down his life for his sheep.

3. He taught the same doctrine both in types or emblems, and in plain language, just before he died, at the institution of the holy supper; Luke xxii. 19. He took bread—and brake it, saying, This is my body which is given for you. And of the cup he said, This cup is the New Testament in my blood which is shed for you; or as St. Matthew expresses it, This is my blood of the New Testament which is shed for many, for the remission of sins. These things put together, make it evident that Christ himself taught this doctrine.

Objection. But it will be said, How can we suppose that this doctrine of atonement by the death of Christ, should be so considerable a part of the gospel, if our blessed Redeemer, the great Prophet of his church, spoke so seldom of it in public, and that in so obscure a manner?

Answer 1. This doctrine of atonement for sin by his death, and the acceptance of it with God the Father, could not be so well preached in public till he died, and rose again; for his death was the foundation of this atonement; his resurrection and his ascension to heaven were the proofs of its being accepted of God. Now it was divinely wise and proper for our Lord not to preach such doctrines too freely in public to the multitude, till these events should appear in the world. If he had spoken all these things, concerning himself it would have probably amazed and confounded the common people, and raised their rage or their ridicule; so ignorant and so full of prejudice as they were in that day.

2. If Christ had publicly and plainly preached up the atonement of his death, he must thereby have foretold openly that he must die as a sacrifice; and this might have had very ill effects on the malicious Jews, either, 1. To provoke them to kill him, before his hour was come, and pretend that they only obeyed his own prophecy and commission when they put him to death: Or, 2. They might lay hold on him, and keep him prisoner without killing him, to endeavour to falsify his prophecies of his death, and thus attempt to make void his doctrine of atonement.

It is true, God, by his immediate influence on the wills of men, could have prevented these effects: But it is not the manner of God’s conduct in providence to answer and accomplish his own predictions by such immediate, divine, and over-ruling restraints upon the wills of men, if it may done otherwise. And therefore indeed, the prophecies, and especially such as are accomplished in the same age in which they are spoken, are usually given forth in metaphors and parables, that men may not so clearly and perfectly understand them, and that God, in his moral government of the world, may not be constrained to go out of his common and ordinary methods, in order to bring these prophecies to pass.

3. It is evident, from many expressions in the evangelists, that it was not the design of Christ, in his own life-time, to publish the grace and glory of the gospel, in so clear, so distinct, and so complete a manner, as he designed to have it published by his apostles after he was gone to heaven. The design of his own public ministry was rather to prepare the way for the setting up of his own kingdom in the world, than to set it up in the full glory of it in his own person. According to this view of things, his preaching was formed; Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand; Mat. iv. 17. That is, the gospel state approaches, or hath approached to you. The prayer he taught his disciples stands on the same foot, wherein they are instructed to pray, Thy kingdom come; Mat. vi. 10. Therefore when he spake to the multitude, of the special glories of his gospel, and especially of his atoning sacrifice, it was generally in parables; and when he instructed his disciples more particularly in private, he gave them but hints of it, and told them that they should publish these things upon the house-tops after the Son of man should rise from the dead, but not before.

Even just before his death, his own disciples themselves could not bear many things that he had to teach them; John xvi. 12. These things were reserved therefore for the forty days communication with them after his resurrection, when he spake with them of things pertaining to the kingdom of God; Acts i. 3. and more especially for the teachings of his own Spirit, which he poured out upon them after he went to heaven. By these means they were more completely furnished for their ministry, and learned the doctrines of the gospel, in a more perfect manner than ever our Lord himself taught them in his life-time. Thus it appears that though Christ was the founder of a new religion among men, yet there is good reason to be given, why he did not teach plainly and publicly some of the chief doctrines of this religion, during his own life on earth, viz. because these doctrines were built on his death, his rising again, and ascending to heaven, which events were then unaccomplished[38].

Thence we may infer, as we pass along, that if we would learn the plainest and fullest account of the gospel of Christ, it is not enough for us to consult merely his public sermons, or the histories of his life, which are called the four gospels, but we must read carefully the writings of the apostles after he went to heaven; for, during the life of Christ, neither did he preach, nor did the apostles themselves learn this gospel in the complete extent and glory of it. But this is only an inference by the way.

[This is a proper pause in the middle of this sermon, when it is read in families.]

Let us proceed to the next reason to prove that Christ was a propitiation for our sins in his death.

VI. The terrors of soul, the consternation and inward agonies which our blessed Lord sustained a little before his death, were a sufficient proof that he endured punishments in his soul which were due to sin. These were vastly greater than the persecutions of bloody men, and the mere fears of dying: Can it ever be imagined, that the Son of God, whose virtues and graces, whose patience and holy fortitude sparkled with divine lustre in the various parts of his life, should have shewn so much natural fear, and innocent disquietude of spirit, at the mere thoughts of death by the hands of men, as if he had nothing else to encounter with? When this dreadful hour was come, and the powers of darkness were let loose upon him, he began to be sore amazed, and very heavy; Mark xiv. 23. He told his disciples, My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death; He went forward a little, and fell on the ground, and prayed, that if it were possible that hour might pass from him. He entreated his Father, with prayers and supplications, with strong cries and tears; Heb. v. 7. Such a terror was upon his spirits, that three times he repeated the same petition, that he might be excused if possible from drinking that cup of sorrow. The agonies of his soul pressed great drops of blood through the pores of his body, and bathed him in a crimson sweat. These cries and tears, these agonies and these sweats of blood preached the doctrine of atonement with dreadful power, and uncontested evidence. And as upon the cross, so in the garden, it is probable his Father forsook him, or hid his face from him, so that he had need of an angel to be sent down from heaven on purpose to comfort or strengthen him; Luke xxii. 43. It was here that he learned feelingly what was the curse of the broken law, what was that indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, that were due to the sin of man. Here the seed of the woman maintained a combat with that great serpent, the devil, and had his heel bruised; that is, his lower nature filled with anguish. And it is most probable, that his nature being worn out with this load of distress, was the true reason why he expired on the cross much sooner than was expected, so that Pilate marvelled to hear that he was already dead; Mark xv. 44.

I think it is impossible for the Socinians, who represent the death of Christ chiefly as a martyrdom for the truth of his doctrine, and an example of patience in suffering, to support their scheme against this argument, or to give any tolerable account of this amazement which possessed his spirit before his enemies came near him, and of these agonies of soul which our blessed Lord sustained. Surely such sorrows and such terrors demonstrate the work of propitiation and the dreadful labour of reconciling an offended God and sinful man.

VII. This doctrine of satisfaction for sin by the death of Christ is declared, and confirmed, and explained at large by the apostles in their writings, when they were fully furnished for their ministry, by the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Read St. Paul’s letters to the churches, and you find them abounding in such expressions as these: Christ died for our sins; 1 Cor. xv. 3. He gave himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity; Tit. ii. 13. We have redemption through his blood; Eph. i. 7. God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses to them. He was made sin; 2 Cor. v. 19, 21. And he was made a curse for us; Gal. iii. 13. He is our propitiation and atonement; 1 John ii. 2. He appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; Heb. ix. 26. When we were enemies we were reconciled to God by his death; Rom. v. 10. He made peace by the blood of his cross; Col. i. 20. He was delivered for our offences, and raised again for our justification; Rom. iii. 25. By the righteousness of one man, the free gift came upon all men to justification of life. By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous; Rom. v. 18, 19.

Now in the writings of St. Paul on this subject, we may observe three things.

1. He speaks this language, when in a plain doctrinal way he is teaching the gospel of Christ, therefore these expressions of his are to be understood in the common sense and meaning of the words. It would be a very great force and torture put upon these expressions, if we construe them only to mean, that God promised forgiveness to penitent sinners by Jesus Christ, as a messenger of grace, and that Christ died as a martyr to bear witness to this truth. Read his epistles to the Romans, the Ephesians, the Colossians, and the Hebrews, where he treats of these subjects, and you will find that the apostle in his doctrine of atonement, means much more than this; for he talks in a plain rational and argumentative style and method, to inform the minds of men, of the true design of the death of Christ, and give them the clear knowledge of the truth.

2. He not only represents the death of Christ as our atonement for sin, but he declares this to be the great end of his appearing in the flesh. Heb. ii. 14. Because the children were partakers of flesh and blood, he himself also took part of the same, that through his own death he might destroy the devil. Heb. x. 5. Sacrifices of bulls and goats were insufficient, but a body hast thou prepared me.—ix. 26. Once in the end of the world he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. This was the design of his incarnation.

3. He makes the cross of Christ, and Christ crucified, to stand for the gospel itself, and glories in it; 1 Cor. i. 23, 24. Christ crucified is the wisdom of God, and the power of God;—ii. 2. I desired to know nothing among you but Christ, and him crucified. Gal. vi. 14. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Christ: And many such expressions he uses, as though the public sermons of Christ, the example of Christ, and the duties that he prescribed, were all as nothing without the atoning virtue of his death, and his sacrifice on the cross; for all these would not save us without his dying. This is eminently the gospel.

Nor is the apostle Paul singular in declaring this doctrine of atonement, or different in his sentiments from the other apostles. You find Peter and John saying the same things in their epistles: 1 Pet. i. 18, 19. “Ye were not redeemed with silver and gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish.”—ii. 24. “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. Ver. 21. Christ hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring us to God.” 1 John i. 7. “The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.”——ii. 1, 2. “Jesus Christ the righteous is the propitiation for our sins.” iii. 16. “Hereby perceive we the love of God, that he laid down his life for us.” Rev. i. 5, 6. Unto him that loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood be glory and dominion for ever. These apostles take every occasion to publish the same gospel and the same promises and hopes of salvation, by the death and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

VIII. To sum up many arguments in one, These were the doctrines that were witnessed to the world by those amazing gifts of the Holy Ghost, which attended the gospel[39]. The gifts of tongues, the wonders of prophecy, the powers of healing and destroying, communicated to men in such a manner as the world never saw, and astonished the spectators, all confirmed the truth of this atonement which the apostles preached. These were the discoveries that were made so gloriously successful for the conversion of nations. These doctrines subdued kingdoms to the belief of them, and triumphed over the souls of men: These were the truths that changed the corrupt natures of men into virtue, piety, and goodness, that turned sinners into saints in multitudes, and raised a church for Christ in the world, in spite of all the rage of enemies, the superstitions of the priests, the learning and sophistry of the philosophers, the wild prejudices of the people, and the tyranny of princes.

The primitive christian writers who were converted to the faith, teach us these same doctrines of the grace of God, through the atonement of Christ, the pardon of sin through his blood, which had so much power over their own souls. In the faith of these doctrines, and the hope of eternal life by them, they became the glorious confessors and martyrs of a crucified Christ, and cast down the tempter and the accuser by the blood of the Lamb. This is the doctrine that has been delivered down to us through all ages of the christian church; and though the antichristian powers have mingled it with many of their superstitions, yet the gates of hell have never been able to prevail against it, so as to root it out. This is the religion which, two hundred years ago, was reformed from popish corruptions, and while our blessed reformers laboured to recover and convey it to us in its primitive glory, many of them were called to witness and seal it with their own blood.

An occasional Remark.—Since these were the truths that the last, and brightest, and best revelation of God communicated to men: since this propitiation of Christ was the doctrine which the inspired apostles taught, and in which all the foregoing revelations centre, even from the beginning of the world: It is by this therefore, that all the former and darker discoveries are to be explained; all the types and shadows of ceremonial worship, and the obscure language of prophecy, must have their true light cast upon them by this doctrine. This is the clue to guide us into the mysteries and deep things of God, which lay hid under the veils for so many ages. The great apostle St. Paul shews us how to penetrate and unfold all the ancient dispensations, by the doctrine of the Son of God coming into the flesh, by his dying as a sacrifice for sin, by his rising and ascending to heaven, by his appearing there as a priest to intercede for sinners in the virtue of his sacrifice, and by his sitting there as a king, to reign over all things for the salvation of his people, whom he has purchased with his own blood.

The Recollection.—What a variety of supports has this blessed doctrine of our reconciliation to God by the atoning death of Christ? What a train of arguments to confirm it are drawn down from the very first entrance of sin into the world? Guilty nature urges us on to enquire after such an atonement, and the bible reveals it to us in a long succession of types, promises, and prophecies, in narratives and plain instructions, in darker or brighter discoveries from the beginning of mankind.

If I forsake the gospel of Christ, and his atonement for sin, whither shall my guilty conscience fly to find a better relief? This is the doctrine that supplies the chiefest wants of a guilty creature, and the chief defects of natural light and reason. Nature shews me no way to recompense the justice of God for my innumerable sins. Nature shews me nothing which God will accept in the room of my own perfect obedience, or in the room of my everlasting punishment. If I leave thee, O Jesus, whither should I go? Thy sufferings are the spring of my hope of pardon, and my eternal life depends on thy painful and shameful death.

I see and obtain in this gospel of atonement all that the heathen world laboured for in vain, by many wild inventions, and painful superstitions. The anger of the God of heaven is pacified by the sufferings of Jesus his Son. O my God, let my soul never run back to infidelity and heathenism, and rove abroad among the foolish inventions of men, in quest of any other methods of atonement. The blood of Jesus is all my hope.

Here I see the gracious promises of ancient times fulfilled, even the first promise of mercy that was ever made to fallen man. Here I behold the accomplishment of the predictions of the holy prophets since the world began; 1 Pet. i. 11. “It was the Spirit of Christ spake in them, concerning the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow;” Gen. iii. 15. Here I see “the seed of the woman breaking the head of the serpent;” 1 John iii. 8. The Son of God manifested, and by his own death, destroyed the works of the devil. Here I behold; Dan. ix. 24, 26. the Messiah cut off, but not for himself. I behold him here on his cross, finishing iniquity, transgression, and sin; and bringing in everlasting righteousness. I see, Is. liii. 10. his soul made an offering for the sins of men: And the prophets Isaiah and Daniel conspiring with the blessed apostles to point to Jesus as an all-sufficient Saviour.

I see the types and shadows of the Jewish religion so happily answered in this doctrine of the priesthood and sacrifice of Christ, that I am well assured that this is the substance, for it bears the shape and lineaments of the shadow. This is the great original; for if carries the exact resemblance of the types and pictures that went before. The ancient religion of emblems and figures was confirmed by the amazing wonders of Moses; but the religion of Christ, which contains in it the substance and true glory of all former dispensations, is not only attested by the miracles of the Son of God, but he himself also appears in the midst of it, in so divine a correspondence with the typical ordinances of Moses, as gives a double and most undoubted confirmation to his own blessed gospel, and his own atonement for sin. Every thing that established the religion of the Jews, serves to establish me in the religion of Christ. Their lavers and washings, their altars and sacrifices were divine; but they were divine only for a season. These ancient veils which covered the gospel, were of God’s own contrivance; and when they were exhibited to the people, especially in the days of Moses and Solomon, they made a bright and sacred appearance; but now the gospel stands forth unveiled, and in perfect light, God himself hath folded up these veils as an old garment, and laid them aside. The substance is come, and the shadows disappear. Blessed be the Lord that I was brought forth since the Sun of Righteousness is risen upon the earth, and the morning clouds are vanished away.

I hear Jesus, my great Prophet, preaching this doctrine of propitiation for our sins by his death, in his own ministry; though he was content to do it in a more obscure and imperfect manner: And I now see the reason why he taught this truth chiefly in parables, because it was not proper in that age to be published to the multitude in plain language, till he had actually died and rose again.

I behold his terrible agonies in the garden, before he came near the cross. I see the blessed Son of God labouring under the burden of our guilt, wrestling, and sweating blood, under the unknown impressions of that tribulation and wrath, that indignation and anguish which was due to my sins. What else could make so glorious and divine a person discover such dreadful distress of soul? Again, he cries out on the cross with anguish of spirit, he bleeds, he groans, he dies. I acknowledge the truth of the doctrine of his atonement. I read it in all his agonies. These are such sufferings, and such sorrows as are beyond all that men could inflict, or that a mere man could bear, beyond all the common terrors of death and the grave. My Saviour sustained a heavier burden, and was engaged in harder work; a labour more dreadful and more glorious. He was then making atonement to divine justice for my sins. And blessed be his name for ever and ever.

I read the same doctrine of atonement for sin, by the death of Christ, in the writings of his holy apostles. This was the gospel which they preached to the Jews, and to the rest of the nations. This they delivered down in the sacred records of the New Testament, whence we derive our religion and our hope. The language in which they expressed our reconciliation to God, by the death of Christ, carries with it such evidence, and such strength, that if I believe these books to be divine, I cannot but receive this doctrine as the truth of God; and I would learn of St. Paul; Gal. vi. 14. to glory in the cross of Christ; and—ii. 20. to live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

When I read the astonishing gifts of the blessed Spirit, communicated to the first preachers and professors of the gospel, when I survey these gifts in all their extensive glory, and in all their force of argument, I look upon all of them as a heap of united wonders, conspiring to support this doctrine of the propitiation of Christ, which was every where taught by these inspired favourites of heaven. Every strange tongue which they spoke, teaches me this blessed truth. Every disease of body which they healed, assures me, that the stripes which Christ sustained, were for the healing of our souls. Every unclean spirit which they cast out, establishes my belief, that by the atoning death of Christ we are delivered from the power of the devil. Every surprising wonder which they wrought, gives me a firmer persuasion of this wondrous doctrine, that the Son of God died to give us life.

Blessed Saviour, let the same spirit, by whose influence they healed the sick, they cast out devils, and wrought all these wonders, write this holy religion, and this doctrine of thy atonement for sins deep in my heart. O let me make it my daily food, the support and the life of my soul. Teach me to apply it to all the holy purposes for which so glorious a doctrine was revealed to the world. In the faith of this atonement, by the blood of Jesus, let me join in the songs of angels, and pronounce with joy; Luke ii. 14. Glory to God in the highest, peace on earth, and good-will to men; Glory to God my Father, and my Saviour: Pardon, life, and salvation to dying sinners. Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXV. Faith and Repentance encouraged by the Sacrifice of Christ.

Where shall the guilty conscience go To find a sure relief? Can bleeding bulls or goats bestow A balm to ease my grief?

Will popish rites and penances, Release my soul from sin? What insufficient things are these To calm the wrath divine!

God, the great God, who rules the skies, The gracious and the just, Makes his own Son our sacrifice: And there lies all our trust.

O never let my thoughts renounce The gospel of my God, Where vilest crimes are cleans’d at once In Christ’s atoning blood.

Here rest my faith, and ne’er remove; Here let repentance rise, While I behold his bleeding love, His dying agonies.

With shame and sorrow here I own How great my guilt has been; This is my way t’ approach the throne, And God forgives my sin.

Footnote 36:

Though we have no express revelation in scripture, that sacrifices were now instituted, yet there is abundant reason to believe it: For, 1. Abel offered bloody sacrifices. Now we can hardly suppose that Adam or Abel would ever invent such a strange ceremony to please God with it: Nor could reason ever dictate to them, that God, their Creator, would be pleased with such a bloody practice, as cutting his living creatures to pieces, and then burning them with fire. Nor would God who is jealous of his prerogative in matters of worship, ever have shewn his acceptance of these rites, if he himself had not appointed them. 2. Though we do not read that Adam offered sacrifice, yet it is plain he was not permitted to eat flesh; and therefore it is more probable, that when he killed beasts, it was for sacrifices: And God taught him to make cloathing for himself out of their skins. This was immediately after the fall.

Footnote 37:

It may be worthy our notice here, that blood is no very proper liquid for purification of any defilements, unless it be, as it represents death to be an atonement for the guilt of sin, which is a moral defilement of the soul. And yet Heb. ix. 22. Almost all things under the law are purged by blood: One would think water should be a much better cleanser: But we find this purging or cleaning signifies atonement for sin, when the very next words give us the reason why blood is appointed, viz. because pardon or remission is the thing sought; for without shedding of blood is no remission.

It is plain therefore, that to a guilty and defiled soul or conscience, every thing is defiled; as Tit. i. 13. But when both the people and their sacred utensils were sprinkled with blood, it denotes that all things are sanctified and pure, to those whose souls partake of the atonement of Christ, and whose sins are remitted through his bloody death.

Footnote 38:

I grant there are some other ingenious and probable reasons offered by the author of Miscellanea Sacra, why Christ did not communicate his gospel so completely to his disciples in his own life-time; Essay 1. p. 156-159, but what I have mentioned is sufficient for my purpose.

Footnote 39:

It was generally agreed that these gifts of the Holy Ghost were never set in such an illustrious light, for the defence of christianity, as in a late treatise, entitled Miscellanea Sacra, Essay I. especially from page 141 to the end.

SERMON XXXVI. The Use of the foregoing Sermons, with intermingled Reflections. ROM. iii. 25.—Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation——

This glorious doctrine of the propitiation of Christ, has been explained and proved at large in the former discourses. It remains that we shew the proper uses of it. If we would set our thoughts at work to draw inferences, we might derive thence many truths, as well as duties. But as my chief design is to promote practical godliness, I shall content myself with mentioning two doctrinal inferences, and all the rest shall more immediately direct our practice.

First doctrinal inference. How vain are all the labours and pretences of mankind, sinful, guilty mankind, to seek or hope for any better religion than that which is contained in the gospel of Christ! It is here alone, that we can find the solid and rational principles of reconciliation to an offended God. This doctrine of atonement for sin by the sufferings of Christ, is a substantial ground for our establishment in christianity, and should be an effectual persuasive, to continue in the profession of the gospel; Heb. iv. 14. Having such a High-priest as Jesus the Son of God, who after he had died for our sins, rose again, and entered into heaven, let us hold fast our profession. All the religions that God ever appointed for fallen man, meet and centre here. If you have any regard to reason and argument, if you would follow the dictates of revelation, or if you would seek the peace and happiness of your souls, never, never forsake the religion of Jesus.

Reflection.—“My soul, hast thou heard this doctrine of the propitiation of Christ, and the arguments that support it in the last discourse? Dost thou receive, dost thou believe this great article of faith? Hold it fast then, and live upon it continually. Never hope to find a surer spring of pardon, nor a sweeter relief for a guilty conscience. Maintain this hope, and hold fast thy bible, where this blessing is discovered to men. Keep upon thy spirit a due sense and relish of this atonement for sin: It will be a blessed guard against infidelity, and assist thee to stand in an hour of temptation, against the cavils of men, who have renounced the gospel of God.

“But remember, O my soul, that if thou sin wilfully against this gospel, that is, if thou abandon this grace, and reject it utterly with contempt and opposition, after thou hast received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries;” Heb. x. 26, 27. This scripture seems to stand like a divine engine, charged with vengeance and eternal death, and pointed not only against the primitive apostates, but against some of the profane infidels and scoffers of our age, who have renounced, reproached, and ridiculed the gospel which they once professed. Remember also, that it carries in it a very dangerous and threatening aspect, upon those who continue to profess the religion of the bible, but cancel out of it the doctrine of the atonement of Christ; for there remains no other sacrifice. Have a care, therefore, O my soul, and stand at a distance from their company, who deny the propitiatory virtue of the blood of Christ! Let them find a better ground to build their hopes of pardon upon: But do thou lay thy foundation on this rock, and the powers of hell shall not prevail against it.

Second doctrinal inference.—How strange and unreasonable is the doctrine of the popish church, who while they profess to believe the religion of Christ, yet introduce many other methods of atonement for sin beside the sufferings of the Son of God, and the atonement which Jesus has made.

Every time they celebrate the Lord’s-supper, and the priest communicates the consecrated bread to his deluded followers, they suppose there is a fresh propitiation made for sin: Therefore they call it the sacrifice of the mass, and imagine that their unscriptural representation of this holy ordinance, is a real propitiation, not only for the sins of the living, but for those that are dead also. Whereas St. Paul assures us; Heb. ix. 28.—Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. Heb. x. 14. By one offering he hath for ever perfected them that are sanctified. I confess, this practice, of theirs in the mass, looks something like a pretence of honour, to the name and death of Christ; because, they declare, the mass is but, as it were, a repetition of the very sacrifice of Christ himself: Though that is expressly contrary to the language of scripture; for “this man Jesus, after he had offered one sacrifice for sin, for ever sat down at the right-hand of God;” Heb. x. 12. because his single sacrifice was all-sufficient, and needs no repetition.

But, besides this, they have many other methods of atonement which men perform, and which they add to the atonement of Christ. What are all their imposed penances, their pilgrimages on bare feet, the scourgings of their own bodies, the garments of hair worn upon their flesh, and their multitudes of repeated Latin prayers? What are they all but toilsome and painful labours, invented by men, to make atonement for the sins of the soul?

Reflection.—“Blessed be the name of our God, who has delivered our nation from this bondage of iniquity, from these foolish yokes and burdens of superstition; these profane dishonours done to the sacrifice and atonement of Jesus our Saviour. We are ready to look on popery now as lying afar off, across the seas, as an evil thing at a great distance, and are not so much impressed with a grateful sense of our preservation from it. We are too soon forgetful of our narrow escape from this mischief, by the late revolution, and the protestant succession; by the arm of God, and by the two best of kings, William our deliverer, and George our defender. Had it not been for these providences of heaven, and these princes on earth, our land might have been filled with these superstitions, and they might have been imposed on us, under the penalties of imprisonment and poverty, torment and death. And how could we stand in the fiery trial? Awake, O my heart, and let my tongue awake into songs of praise and salvation, that I am not tempted or compelled to disgrace the blood of my Saviour by having other atonements for sin imposed on my conscience. And in the midst of thy praises to God, O my soul, drop a tear of pity on thy brethren, who dwell in the midst of these temptations, and in the language of christian sympathy, lift up a groan to heaven for them, and say, How long, O Lord, how long?”

But let my thoughts return home from the popish countries and their superstitions. It is not enough for me to renounce the inventions of men, as any part of my righteousness, to procure my pardon and acceptance in the sight of God, but even the duties which God himself has required, the duties of faith and love, of repentance and new obedience, must never stand in the room of the atonement of Christ. They are all poor defective works, and want to be sprinkled with the blood of his sacrifice! They were never designed to join with the obedience of Christ, in procuring the favour of an offended God. Have a care, therefore, O my soul, of resting in the best of thy holy services, or of making them a matter of merit, to introduce thee before his presence. When thou art raised nearest to heaven in the practice of christian graces and duties, fall down before the throne, confess thy unworthiness, and say; Ps. cxxx. 3, 4. If thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities, who can stand? But there is forgiveness with thee, and plentiful redemption by the blood of Jesus. There lies all my hope.

Thus I have finished the two inferences for instruction, I proceed now to those which more immediately relate to our practice. This blessed doctrine of the atonement of Christ, runs like a golden thread through the whole of our religion: It unites the several parts of it in a sweet harmony, and casts a lustre over them all. Let us then particularly survey some of the various practical uses to which it may be applied.

1. It is a solid foundation, on which the greatest of sinners may hope for acceptance with God, when they return to him: It is a sufficient ground for their firm trust in Christ as a Saviour, and a reviving cordial against sinking in despair.

Let the crimes of a creature be never so great and heinous, yet the atonement of the Son of God is equal to them all. Let the defilements and stains of the soul be never so deep and crimson, the blood of Christ has a strange and divine virtue to wash them away, and to make the sinner white as snow, even in the sight of a holy God. Rev. vii. 14. They washed their garments, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. This is a faithful saying, as St. Paul tells Timothy, and worthy of all acceptation, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief; 1 Tim. i. 15. And our Saviour assures us, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven to men; Mat. xii. 14. because that he knew that he could make compensation to divine Justice for all this guilt. Therefore all sorts of blasphemers and criminals shall be forgiven, but those who blaspheme the Holy Spirit in his highest attestations to this gospel, and utterly refuse this atonement of Christ. 1 John i. 7. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin; it is a divine sacrifice, and all-sufficient propitiation, extensive as our iniquities.

Jesus is an able and an almighty Saviour, so that the vilest of sinners need not despair, if they are but willing to return to God, and come unto him, that they may be saved in his own way. The deepest wounds that were ever made in the conscience by sins, against light, and against love, sins of long continuance, sins of old obstinacy and repeated backslidings, sins of the blackest aggravations, may all be healed by applying the blood of Christ. Awake, arise, O sinner, fly to the hope that is set before thee? In vain will you try a thousand remedies, this is the only relief. A soul stung with the guilt of sin, as with a fiery serpent, must look up to Jesus hanging on the cross, there alone can he find healing and life.

Reflection.—“And what is my state? and what is my present case? Am I a sinner under the first awakenings of conscience? Is my spirit filled with dreadful apprehensions of an offended God, and of a law that pronounceth curses and death? Am 1 enquiring, What shall I do to flee from the wrath to come? Does the load of all my past offences lie heavy upon me? Are my sins gone over my head as a heavy burden, too heavy for me to bear? Does Satan the tempter and the accuser, terrify and hurry me with despairing thoughts? Does he tell me that my crimes are too big to be forgiven? But Satan is a liar from the beginning. The gospel of Christ is divinely true. I come to Jesus as a great High-priest in the blood of his atonement: I come weary and heavy laden, under a sense of the guilt of past sins, and the remaining power of them in my soul. O Jesus fulfil thy promise, and give rest to my labouring and wounded spirit! Speak a word of peace and pardon to a sinking creature, and raise and receive him to hope and salvation. I am worthy to perish for ever, but thy death is worthy to procure life for me. Here I rest my heavy-laden soul, and with humble hope I wait for thy mercy.

“Or, am I a professor of religion that have fallen under great decays and wretched backslidings? Are old terrors and agonies returned upon my conscience with redoubled smart and anguish? Do I see my guilt? My shameful wanderings, my loathsome iniquities? Do I seem as it were to be cast out from God? And does he seem to shut the door of heaven against my prayers? Yet I will not despair: I will come in the name of Jesus the great atonement. Wash my guilty soul, O blessed Redeemer, with thy blood, and I will look again toward the holy temple. I will lift up a humble eye toward an offended God. Thy sacrifice is ever fresh in the power and virtue of it. The Lamb as it had been slain, appears in heaven with the marks of his sacrifice. I return with a broken heart to my heavenly Father: I return trembling and hoping in the merit of that everlasting atonement, and wait for restoring grace.

“Or, am I endeavouring to walk closely with my God, in all the duties of holiness, but daily infirmities break out, daily follies and guilt attend me? I make sore complaints indeed, because of the perpetual workings of indwelling sin; yet I will not despair. I love the word of God, and I read it to keep me from sinning: But St. John assures me if any man sin through the weakness of nature, and the prevalence of daily temptations, we have an advocate with the Father, even Jesus the righteous; 1 John ii. 1, 2. And he is an effectual Advocate, because he is a propitiation for our sins; and he pleads in the virtue of his own blood. O may I ever maintain a constant exercise of faith on the Son of God, as my great High-priest! May I keep up a lively and delightful sense of the all-sufficiency of his atonement upon my spirit, that this which is the glory of my religion, may also be the daily life of my soul.”

II. This doctrine of atonement for sin, should be used as a powerful motive to excite repentance in every heart where sin hath dwelt. Repentance and forgiveness are joined together in the commission of our exalted Saviour; Acts v. 31. Grace is a sweet and constraining motive to duty. There is abundant encouragement for sinners to repent and mourn before God for their past transgressions, because the blood of Jesus has provided pardon for them. 1 John i. 9. If we confess our sins, God is faithful to his own word, and just and true to his Son Jesus, to forgive such offenders, and his blood will cleanse us from our sins. The fallen angels are not called and encouraged by divine mercy, to repent of their heinous rebellions; for there is no Saviour, there is no atoning sacrifice provided for them.

Reflection.—“And is there such an atonement made? And are there such pardons provided for such guilty wretches as I have been? Is God reconciling himself to men, and reconciling men to himself, by the blood of Jesus? Then let my soul mourn for all her follies, all her past iniquities. Let me be covered with shame, and lie in the dust at the foot of God. O let him speak peace and forgiveness to me, through the blood of Christ. I remember my guilt, and am confounded, and open my mouth no more to vindicate myself: I am overwhelmed with this amazing instance of divine love: God has sent his Son to die for me, and is pacified toward me, for all that I have done against him. O wretched creature that I am, that ever I should rebel against a God of such compassion! Against a God, who all this while had such kind designs towards me, and was making his own way to reconciliation and peace, through the blood of his own Son! I find now by sweet experience, what I have been often told by other christians, that the most kindly workings of true repentance, arise from the sense of a forgiving God, and a dying Saviour.”

III. Let us use this atonement of Christ, as our constant way of access to God in all our prayers. This is the only safe method of address to the mercy-seat: It is ordained for this very purpose, to help a sinner near to God; Heb. x. 19, 21, 22.—Having therefore, brethren, boldness to come into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,—and having a High-priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart. He is ascended to heaven before us, he is entered within the veil in virtue of his sacrifice: he has bespoke acceptance for our persons before the throne, and a favourable audience for all our prayers. Whatsoever we ask of the Father, we must ask it in his name, and especially in the name and virtue of his great atonement: All the blessings that God has to bestow, are purchased by his sufferings.

Reflection.—“Remember, O my soul, and be humble; remember thou canst not be a welcome guest even at the throne of grace, unless thou art sprinkled with the blood of Jesus. The God whom thou hast offended, is a great God, and a terrible, a God of holiness, like a devouring fire; a God of awful majesty and severe justice, who will by no means clear the guilty, without some recompence for his broken law. Dare not to approach him therefore, but under the protection of the blood of his Son: Christ is set forth as our propitiation through faith in his blood. If thou bring the atonement of Christ in the hand of thy faith, thou shalt find sweet and easy access: And when thou art filled with inward sorrows, thou mayest pour them all out, and spread thy complaints and thy burdens before the eyes of thy God, with inward consolation and hope.

“Lord, I have sinned, but thy Son has suffered: I come to the throne of grace in his name. My offences cry for vengeance, but the blood of Jesus speaks better things, and cries louder for peace and pardon. Let the voice of that blood which has made full satisfaction for the vilest sins, prevail over all my unworthiness. Let the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne be honoured this day, by introducing a guilty creature with all his complaints and sorrows into thy awful presence, and thy divine favour. Let me obtain grace in the hour of my distress and necessity: And, O that I may find such success, and such ease of soul, in drawing near to God by the blood of Christ, that on all occasions I may run to this refuge, and maintain humble and constant communion with God my Father, in this new and living way of access. May this earthly and foolish spirit of mine, never be such a stranger as it has been at the mercy-seat, since the door of approach is always open, since I have so glorious an introducer.”

IV. We should use this atonement of Christ, as a divine guard against temptation and sin; 1 Pet. i. 15, 18, 19. As he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation—for ye are redeemed with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot.

Reflection.—“And has this soul of mine, which was in slavery to sin and the power of Satan, been redeemed by the death of the Son of God? and shall I run back to my old slavery, and give myself up again to the reign and tyranny of sin? Has this guilty and polluted soul been washed in so precious a laver as the blood of the Son of God? And shall I defile myself again? Shall I return with the dog to his vomit, or with the swine that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire?” 2 Pet. ii. 22. It was sin that cost my Redeemer so dear, that cost him agonies and death: And shall I indulge such an enemy in my heart, and obey it in my practice? God forbid! How shall I that am dead to sin, by my interest in a dying Saviour, live any longer therein? Rom. vi. 2. It is a scandal and reproach to this blessed doctrine of atonement, if I should ever dare give a loose to my iniquities, while I profess faith in the blood of Christ. Grant, O Jesus, that I may never turn this adorable grace of thine into wantonness.

V. The atonement of Christ is an argument of prevailing force to be used in prayer, when we plead for the aids of the blessed Spirit; when we ask for his sacred influences to enlighten, to sanctify, or to comfort our souls. The Spirit flows down to us in the blood of Christ.

Reflection.—“Holy Father, thou hast not withheld thy Son Jesus, but hast given him to die for me, and wilt thou not give me thy Spirit to live in me, and to raise me to a divine life? Even when I was dead in trespasses and sins, my blessed Saviour poured out his own soul to death, that I might be recovered to thy favour; and shall I not have thy image impressed upon me by the Spirit, that I may appear before thee in the beauty of holiness? Shall I be sprinkled with the blood of Christ, and have my errors forgiven, and shall I not have divine light bestowed upon me, that I may not wander afresh in the ways of error and darkness! Is my guilt cancelled, and are my iniquities removed by the great atonement of the Son of God, and wilt thou not bestow thy sanctifying Spirit upon me, to guard me from renewed guilt and fresh iniquities? Lord, have I not fled to lay hold on the hope set before me? Hast thou not forgiven all my sins? And shall not the Spirit the Comforter, speak peace to my soul, and fill me with hope and joy in believing? Wilt thou deny thy Spirit to any creature, for whom thy Son has poured out his invaluable life and blood?”

[If this sermon be too long, here is a proper pause.]

How great and desirable are the advantages that we have found already to be derived from this gospel of atonement? May our souls possess and improve them all? But there are still more treasures of divine grace to be dug out of this golden mine: It is an inexhausted fountain of duties and blessings. I proceed therefore to point out more of them to the eye of faith.

VI. We should use this doctrine of propitiation for sin by the death of Christ, as an everlasting spring of holy love to God the Father, and to his Son Jesus Christ. Great and unspeakable was the love of God the Father; 1 John iv. 10. “Herein is love; not that we loved him, but he hath loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.” Great and unspeakable is the love of Jesus the Saviour; “it has heights, and depths, and lengths, and breadths in it which pass our knowledge;” Eph. iii. 18. For, “when we were enemies, he died to reconcile us to God;” Rom. v. 10. The great and blessed God had no richer gift than his Son, and he bestowed his Son upon us. Christ Jesus himself made his flesh and soul an offering for our sins. It was a spring of divine love that arose from the bosom of God, and runs through all this sacred transaction in many blessed streams: It runs through all the length of time into a long eternity. How should this melt and soften our hearts, into returns of love to the great God, and to his Son Jesus Christ. We love him, saith the beloved apostle, because he first loved us; 1 John iv. 19.

Reflection.—“And what shall I do to raise my love to God my Father, and my blessed Redeemer? When I was a stranger and an enemy, God reconciled me to himself, by sending his Son to die for me. How hard is this wretched heart of mine, that it feels no more powerful impressions from this amazing love and compassion of God to a rebel creature? What sorrows, what indignities, what bitter scoffs, what loads of reproach, what inward and unknown agonies of soul, what a shameful and painful and cursed death, did the blessed Son of God endure for my sake: And can I forbear to love him? Alas! how cold are my affections! How feeble and languid is my zeal! What poor sorry returns do I make for these infinite condescensions of divine love! Warm my heart, O Jesus with this love, and inflame all my affections. O may all the powers of my soul exert their utmost diligence in the service of the Son of God, that has redeemed me! His love was stronger than death: and shall it not constrain me to love him? Did he lay down his life for my sake, and shall I not lay out and employ my life with all my talents and capacities to his honour? Blessed Jesus, I grieve, I mourn, I am confounded that I feel no more of the constraining influences of thy dying love, to make all my duty and obedience easy and delightful.”

VII. This doctrine carries in it a strong persuasive to that love and pity which we should shew on all occasions to our fellow-creatures. When the apostle John had magnified the love of God, in that he had sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins: He makes this inference, Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another; 1 John iv. 11. And in the foregoing chapter, iii. 16. he raises this inference of love to a sublime degree: Because God hath laid down his life for us, we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But how can any person make a pretence to christianity, who hath the goods of this world, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him? verse 17. How can such an hardened and cruel heart pretend that the love of God dwells there?

This blessed truth of the forgiveness of sin through the propitiation of Christ, demands of us the duties of forbearance and forgiveness, of kindness and tenderness to men. “Be ye kind one to another, and tender-hearted, forgiving one another even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you;” Eph. iv. 32. Shall Christians bite and devour each other, shall they rage against each other with bitter reproaches, shall they quarrel, and grieve, and wound each other who were once fellow-slaves in the chains of guilt, and death, and were redeemed together by the voluntary death of the Son of God? Shall they who have known and tasted such divine compassion, imitate the rage, and malice, and envy of hell, rather than the heavenly example of the blessed Jesus?

Reflection.—“And hast thou never felt the influence of this divine truth, O my soul, this blessed doctrine of atoning love? Dost thou swell with anger? Dost thou resent every supposed injury? Dost thou indulge a spirit of revenge? And do thy thoughts contrive mischief to men, while the thoughts of the Son of God are all tenderness and compassion towards thee? Had he resented all thy iniquities, had he meditated vengeance for all thy crimes, he had never laid down his life to rescue thee from hell, and thy state and thy case had been miserable without hope.

“Hast thou no pity for the poor, when their necessities and groans cry aloud for thy relief? The Son of God did not deal thus with thee: He expended the riches of his love upon thee, even his unsearchable riches of grace: And when no other price was sufficient to redeem thee from death, he gave up himself for thee, and made his own soul an offering for thy sins.—Remember therefore, when provocations to anger are set before thee, and thou feelest the inward rising passion, remember the death and love of the Son of God, remember the price of thy forgiveness.”

VIII. Patience under heavy afflictions, is another divine lesson that we should learn from this doctrine of the atoning death of Christ; and not patience only, but holy joy in the midst of earthly sorrows may be derived from the same spring. Rom. v. 1, 2, 3, 8. “Being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;—we rejoice in hope of the glory of God; and not only so, but we glory in tribulations,—because God has commended his love towards us at this rate, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

Reflection.—“Why then should my spirit be overwhelmed under the troubles of this life? Surely the mercies which I enjoy are infinitely greater than all my sorrows. God has redeemed my soul from hell by the blood of his Son. Lord, I would suppress all repining thoughts; I am humble, I am thankful; and though thou visitest me with chastisements, to reduce me from my follies, thou hast not laid on me the burden of my sins, nor called me to the hard and dreadful work of answering the severe demands of thy broken law. This burden thy own Son has borne; this work he has performed. The cup of common sorrows which my heavenly Father puts into my hand, shall I not drink it! It is not a cup of such anguish and terror as the Son of God drank up for my sake. Why should a creature saved from hell, be impatient and uneasy at any of the little sufferings which he sustains here on earth!

“This is not only a powerful argument to compose my soul to resignation under troubles, but even to raise me to holy joy. Surely he that has loved me, and has given his own Son up to death for me, does not afflict me willingly, nor grieve my spirit beyond what he sees necessary. He transacts all his affairs with me according to that covenant of love whereby he ordained his Son to die for me; and he will bestow upon me every good thing in its proper season: He that spared not his own Son, but gave him up to die for us, shall he not with him freely give us all things; Rom. viii. 32.

“Bless the name of thy God, O my soul, let my heart be filled with thankfulness, and my lips with praise: He has distinguished thee, my soul, by peculiar blessings. He has made no such preparation of an atonement for angels, those heavenly creatures, when they sinned against him, but they are cast down into chains of darkness, and why am not I cast into chains of darkness too? He has not revealed this grace to several large heathen nations: They know nothing of a Redeemer: But he has revealed his Son to me, in the glory and grace of his atonement He has raised me to the hope of eternal life, by the death and the resurrection of Jesus his Son. Let all my murmurings and impatience be silent for ever. The worst of my present sufferings are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed, the glory purchased by the sufferings of Christ;” Rom. viii. 18.

IX. The doctrine of the atonement of Christ gives us a blessed invitation to the Lord’s-supper, where Christ crucified is set forth before us in the memorials of his propitiation.

The propitiation of Christ is of so constant and universal use in the whole of our religion, that our blessed Lord would not suffer us to live without some sensible tokens and signs of it, and these are to be frequently repeated to the end of the world; and therefore he has given a most express and positive command; Luke xxii. 19. This do in remembrance of me. And the apostle Paul; 1 Cor. xi. 29. where he teaches the Corinthians this ordinance, assures them, As often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. Our blessed Lord has not given us such a peculiar memorial of any of his other actions or offices as he has of his priesthood and sacrifice.

Reflection.—“And shall I not do honour to the memory of my dying Saviour? Shall I refuse to remember my great High-priest, and his propitiation for sin, in the way and manner in which he has enjoined me? Do I not trust in the death of Christ for my salvation, and shall I not glory in his cross, and profess it before the world? Do I not stand in daily need of this bread of life which was broken for my sake, and shall I reject the memorials of his broken body, when his flesh and spirit were made an offering for my guilt: Do I not hope for forgiveness through his blood, and shall I not drink this cup of reconciliation which he has mingled! I have learned by the gospel, the excellency and virtue of the propitiation of Christ, to cancel my iniquities, and shall I not receive this propitiation in all the methods of his own appointment? Shall I dare to say, it is enough for me to read it in the bible, and to hear it in the ministry of the word, and to meditate on it in private, when my Lord has given me an express command to receive it also in those emblems and sensible figures of bread and wine, and has sanctified them for this very purpose? Is this a kind return to him that died for me?

“Blessed Redeemer, forgive all my omissions, my delays my careless or slothful neglects of this holy ordinance of thine, and all my sinful indifferency about it. O scatter all my doubts, banish all my excuses, and bring me to thy holy table as a penitent and humble disciple, as a worthy and joyful receiver; there let me join with my fellow-christians and remember thy dying love.”

X. We may use this doctrine as our most effectual defence against the terrors of dying; and as our joyful hope of a blessed resurrection.

The atonement of Christ is a divine support in the agonies of death. At such a season a thousand past iniquities will sometimes crowd in upon the memory, and fill the soul with horror, and perhaps Satan the accuser makes a dreadful assault upon the conscience at the same time, and torments the spirit with painful agonies: But the most formidable terrors, the sharpest agonies find a relief here, the very sting of death is taken away by the death of Christ; 1 Cor. xv. 56. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin to condemn us is the law of God: but thanks be to God through Christ Jesus, who hath answered the demands of the condemning law, and taken away the sting of death by his atoning sacrifice.

We may now venture into the presence of a holy and righteous God, laying fresh hold of the atonement in a dying hour by a living faith, and having our departing spirits sprinkled with the blood of Christ. It was this very blood in the virtue of which Jesus himself was raised from the dead; Heb. xiii. 20. The God of peace brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant. It was in the virtue of this blood that he ascended and appeared before God in heaven; Heb. ix. 12. Christ by his own blood entered into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

Did the cursed guilt of our sins bring the Son of God down from heaven to earth, did it smite him to death, and lay him low in the grave? But the power of his complete atonement has broken the bonds of death and the grave; this has brought him back to life again, and has raised him from earth to heaven; and by the same blood of his cross he has opened an effectual way for our rising from the dead, and our final admission into the place of blessedness. As Aaron the Jewish high-priest might not dare to venture into the holy of holies without the blood of expiation, so Christ our great High-priest, when he had once taken our sins upon him, might not ascend to heaven into the presence of God, till in the language of scripture he could carry his blood with him, till he could shew a full atonement. Now that very same blood and sacrifice which gave Christ himself a joyful admission into heaven, who was the great Shepherd and the Representative of his people, will also give every one of his sheep a safe and glorious entrance into the presence of God. This we may hope for with a chearful heart, when our departing spirits are called away from this lower world. And for the further joy of our faith, we should remember also, that in the virtue of the same blood we shall be raised from the grave: The grave shall obey the voice of him that died for us; for he has ransomed us from the power of it. Then the soul and body of every disciple of Christ shall be introduced with divine acceptance to dwell where Jesus is, and to behold his glory; John xvii. 24.

Reflection.—“Why then art thou so terrified, O my soul, at the thoughts of dying? Why all these shudderings of the flesh, and these agonies of spirit at the apprehensions of death and the grave? Are the sins of thy life great and numerous? Do they throng in upon thy conscience, and fill thy thoughts with tumult and terror? Remember the time, the dark and dismal hour, when Jesus thy Saviour bore all those very sins in his own body on the tree: There the demands of Divine Justice were all answered, and sin has now no power to condemn the saint, nor has death power to hurt him in his best interests;” Rom. viii. 34. “Who shall condemn? It is Christ that died, yea, rather has risen again, as a complete conqueror over death.” And is not Christ thy Head, thy Redeemer and the Captain of thy salvation?

“Let me call to mind the solemn seasons of transaction between Christ and my soul. Have I not resigned myself to him as an all-sufficient Saviour, to deliver me both from the guilt and the power of every sin? Have I not trusted in the blood of his atonement, and felt the quickening power of his Spirit as the fruit of his blood? Has he not raised me to a new life? What if the mortal body must die, because it has sin in it, yet my Spirit shall live because Christ is my righteousness. Fear not then, O my soul, but go chearfully through the gates of death when he calleth thee. Jesus has taken away the terrors of that dark passage. He has deprived death of its sting, and sanctified the grave for a sweet sleeping place. Awaken all the powers of thy faith, and triumph over the conquered enemy. The justice of God is become thy friend, and death can do no mischief to the friends of God, reconciled by the blood of Jesus. Look forward and behold thy great Fore-runner ready to introduce thee into the presence of his Father and thy Father, his God and thy God, with exceeding joy. Bid a joyful farewell to flesh and sense, those busy tempters; farewell to time and this world, and all things that are not divine and holy. Turn thy back on all visible objects, close thine eyes with a smiling countenance, forget earth for ever, and enter into the heavenly mansions.”

XI. The view of Christ as our propitiation, is not only a safe defence against the terrors of death, but it is a divine allurement toward the upper world. There lives our dear Redeemer, our blessed and beloved Lord, who ransomed our souls from sin and hell. There he reigns on the throne as king of glory, who once hung on the cross as our sacrifice of atonement: The Lamb of God in the midst of the throne, with the signals of his death upon him. The sight of these signals shall open all our springs of love: Joy, love, and gratitude shall fill the departed spirit: As soon as we are absent from the body, we are present with the Lord who died for us.

Reflection.—“O happy day and happy hour indeed, that shall finish the long absence of my beloved, and place me within sight of my adored Jesus! When shall I see that lovely, that illustrious Friend, who laid down his own life to rescue mine, his own valuable life to ransom a worm, a rebel that deserved to die. He suffered, he groaned, he died: but he rose again, the blessed Saviour arose, he lives, he reigns exalted over all the creation. Faith beholds him risen, and reigning, but it is through a glass, it is at a distance, and but darkly. I wait, I hope for a more divine pleasure; it is a delight worth dying for, to behold him face to face, to see him as he is, to converse with his wondrous person, and to survey his glories. Alas! my soul is too patient of this long distance and separation. O for the wings of love, to bear my spirit upward in holy breathings! Methinks I would long to be near him, to be with him, to give him my highest praises and thanks for my share in his dying love. I would rise to join with the blessed acclamations, the holy songs of the saints on high, while they behold their exalted Saviour. How sweet their songs! How loud their acclamations! This is the man, the God-man who died for me! This is the Son of God, who was buffetted, who was crowned with thorns, who endured exquisite anguish, and unknown sorrows for me, who was scourged, and wounded, and crucified for me! This is the glorious Person, the Lamb of God, who washed me from my sins in his own blood. Blessing, honour, and salvation to his holy name forever.” Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXVI. Christ’s Propitiation improved.

Lord, didst thou send thy Son to die For such a guilty wretch as I? And shall thy mercy not impart Thy spirit to renew my heart?

Lord, best thou wash’d my garments clean In Jesu’s blood from shame and sin? Shall I not strive with all my power That sin pollute my soul no more!

Shall I not bear my Father’s rod, The kind corrections of my God, When Christ upon the cursed tree Sustain’d a heavier load for me?

Why should I dread my dying day Since Christ hath took the curse away, And taught me with my latest breath To triumph o’er thy terrors, death?

O rather let me wish and cry, “When shall my soul get loose and fly To upper worlds? When shall I see, The God, the man, that dy’d for me?”

I shall behold his glories there, And pay him my eternal share Of praise, and gratitude, and love, Among ten thousand saints above.

SERMON XXXVII. The Christian’s Treasure. 1 COR. iii. 21.—All things are yours.

It is a peculiar delight of this apostle to survey the blessings we derive from Christ, and to run over the glories of the gospel in flowing language. At the end of this chapter he reckons up the privileges of the saints, and tells them, they have an interest in all things: “It does not become you, says he, to enter into parties, and to glory in any single man, no, not in Paul, Apollos, nor Cephas, for all things are yours, whether life or death, whether this world or the other, whether things present or things to come, all are yours.”

To improve this proposition, and to bring it down to some practical purposes, let us consider,

I. What we are to understand by this extensive privilege of true christians, contained in this expression, All things are yours; and what is the true limitation of the sense of it.—II.—It shall be proved, that notwithstanding the limited sense of these words, yet the saints have a richer treasure in them, than the greatest riches of a sinner.—III. We shall enquire how christians come to possess such a treasure. And,—IV. See what use may be made of this doctrine:

First, What are we to understand by this expression, All things are yours? To answer this enquiry clearly, I am constrained to introduce these two negatives:

1. We are not to suppose here that all things are in the possession of true christians, and under their power. This truth every man is a witness of, that the saints have neither heaven nor earth in their present possession. The sun and stars are not at their command, nor the riches of this world in their chest, nor the kingdoms of this world under their government. No, by no means, for they are most times poor and mean in this world, many of them destitute of the common supports of nature, and the comforts of life. Christ himself their Lord and Master had not where to lay his head: And the apostles, who were the chief of christians, suffered “hunger and thirst, were naked and buffetted; they had sometimes neither food nor raiment, neither rest nor peace, nor any certain dwelling-place;” 1 Cor. iv. 11.

2. And as all things are not in their possession, so neither are we to understand that all things in a civil sense are their right and property. They have not a just claim and demand of the good things which their neighbours possess, nor ought they to take possession of them, though they had power to do it. It is a very wicked principle which has no countenance from scripture, and has been abused to most unrighteous and bloody purposes, that dominion is founded in grace, or that the saints have a present civil right to all the earth, and the good things of it. From this sort of doctrine, some men of furious zeal and enthusiasm have been tempted to rise and seize on the property of their neighbours. And indeed, all the persecution in the world upon the account of religion, is built on this principle, “that the saints alone have a right to peace and liberty, to honour and money, and all the good things of this life; and that the heretic and the sinner have no right to any thing.” And though persecutors are very much ashamed to own this doctrine in words, yet they confirm it and comment upon it, in all their oppressive and bloody practices.

But the christian religion knows no such principles; it allows every man’s property and interest in the goods of this world, whether he be a Turk or a Jew, a heathen or a christian, a saint or a sinner. It is providence has disposed of these outward things in the civil life, and men become entitled to them, by the laws and agreement of civil society: And thus a rich wicked man may be righteously possessed of a fine house, and purple raiment, may have a well spread table, and large lands, and dominions, while a saint may happen to lie at his door destitute of bread and clothing.

But in what sense than can it be said, that “all things are theirs.”

To give a just answer to this enquiry, we must take notice, that the apostle’s first design here, is to shew, that believers need not be so fond of assuming to themselves a peculiar interest in one minister or another, for they may enjoy the gifts of all; all are for their sakes: And from this single hint he rises high into the privileges of the saints. Not ministers only, as Paul and Cephas, are designed for their benefit; but all are theirs: All things in heaven or earth, in time, or in eternity, are appointed to do some service to them. This therefore I take to be the true sense of my text, viz. “That all things in the creation of God, all things in all his vast dominions, which a christian can or shall at any time have to do with, shall as certainly serve to promote his true interest, and his final happiness, as though he himself had sovereign dominion over them, or present possession of them:” Always supposing that the christian maintains his character, and acts in his station becoming the dignity of his holy and heavenly calling.

The plain meaning of the words is, that all things shall work for the good of the saints. But the apostle chuses to express this in a noble manner here, and by such an exalted figure of speech as aggrandizes the character of the saints, and raises their dignity: And therefore he represents them as having a property in all things, and speaks sublimely of them, as though they were possessors of heaven and earth. Now the ground on which he builds this manner of speaking, may be set in a just and easy light. We can properly be said to possess nothing but what turns to our account, what is of some service or advantage to us; and therefore in the common language of life, we say, concerning a rich covetous man, “he is a poor wretch, he has nothing, because he receives benefit from so small a part of his estate: And in truth, he has no more than he enjoys or uses.” Now the true christian reaps the benefit of all things; and God, the great God, the Possessor of heaven and earth, makes all things work together for the benefit of his people; and in this sense it is that all things are theirs.

All things shall turn to their advantage, either, 1. for the support and comfort of their temporal life; or, 2. for the beginning and improvement of their spiritual life; or, 3. for their possession and enjoyment of life eternal.

But instead of collecting all the treasures and riches of the saints under these three general heads, I shall chuse rather to make a paraphrase on the whole verse of my text, and thus discover the interest that a christian has in the persons and things of earth and heaven. “Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come, all are yours.”

I. The ministers of the gospel are yours.

Is Paul appointed an apostle separated to the gospel by the immediate call of Christ; it is for your sakes, O ye Corinthians, that he was chosen and called! Christ had you in his eye, and upon his heart, when he stopped him in the midst of his fury and persecution; when he overwhelmed him with glory, in the road to Damascus; and from a persecutor, made an apostle of him, and a preacher of the cross of Jesus: For he designed then to send him to Corinth, to call you from heathenism, and to save your souls.

Is Paul a man of learning and of bright parts? Is he endowed with profound knowledge of divine mysteries above his brethren? Is he fit to preach for the conversion of the heathen world, and to write the great things of God for the church, in all future ages? It is for your sakes, O christians, that he is thus endowed: It is for you, O believers in Great Britain, though you live as it were at the ends of the earth, and in the old age of the world; it is even for you that he was appointed and inspired to write his epistles to Rome, Corinth, and Ephesus, and the rest of the early churches. It is by his writings, that you have been enlightened in the mysteries of Christ, and the wonders of the gospel. Almost seventeen hundred years ago was he made the apostle of the gentiles, and that partly for your sakes. Paul himself is yours.

Was Apollos an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures? It was for you, O primitive christians, that he had the gift of oratory bestowed on him. Has any minister in our age and place of abode a peculiar talent of eloquence, hath he a vivacity of fancy, a strength of expression, a sweet accent, and a commanding voice? It is designed for the conviction and salvation of your souls. Can he thunder like the voice of God on mount Sinai, and flash the terrors of the law, like lightning, upon your consciences? It is to awaken you out of your carnal slumber and security in sin, to make you fly from the wrath to come, and cry out, What shall I do to be saved? Can he set the blessings of salvation in a glorious and convincing light? It is to persuade you to accept them. Has he the art of striking the passions, and touching the inward springs of the soul? Can he spread the invitations of grace before you, in alluring language? Can he dissolve his thoughts in the tenderest accents of speech, and moisten his words with his tears? It is all designed as a means, in the hands of the Spirit, to melt your hearts to repentance, and to soften your souls to receive the impressions of the gospel. Has he the holy skill of displaying the glories of our blessed Saviour? Can he set off the miracles of his life? Can he talk of his bleeding and his dying love in the most affecting manner? Can he paint him in the honours of his resurrection, his triumph and his exalted state, in most magnificent colours? It is all for the assistance of your faith, the kindling of your love, and the advancement of your joy. Not Paul only, but Apollos is yours.

Is Cephas or Peter a man of boldness and courage to defend the truths of the gospel, or to speak for Christ amongst infidels? It is to lead you onward as the soldiers of Christ, through the midst of dangers, and to encourage you to face the persecuting world bravely in the profession of the cross.

Or is the character of Cephas, as an instructor of the young, and a condescending preacher to babes? He has this talent given him for your sakes too, to feed you while you were babes in Christ, with the sincere milk of the word, to set before you the first principles of the oracles of God, and assist you to imbibe the rudiments of christianity, before you were fit to receive the more exalted doctrines, and be fed with stronger meat. Thus not only Paul and Apollos, but Cephas is yours. All the officers in the church, both ordinary and extraordinary, are appointed for your sakes. It is for you that Christ ascended on high, and gave gifts to men. Read and believe it; Eph. iv. 11, 12. “And he gave some apostles; and some prophets; and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.”

And as the gifts and graces of the ministers of the gospel are designed for the benefit of the church, so the outward circumstances that attend them, their sorrows, and their joys are ordained for the advantage of christians: And St. Paul rejoices in it; 2 Cor. i. 3, 4, 6. “Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort, who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God;—And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which appears to be effectual, when ye endure the same sufferings which we also suffer. Or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation,” that is, we preach more effectually from our own experience.

Thus whatsoever be the characters, or the talents, or the circumstances of life that attend your ministers, they are ordained of God for some valuable purposes to you.

II. This world is yours. Not only the ministers of the gospel but the world, and the things of it are yours. It is for your sakes, O believers, that the world stands! For when sin entered into it by Adam the first man, there was a curse spread over it; and perhaps immediate destruction had attended it, but for the sake of the children of God, who were appointed to be born in successive ages, amongst the posterity of Adam, among the children of men. It is for the sake of the elect, who were given to Christ before the world was, that this earth and these lower heavens are continued in being. This earth abides as a stage of action, proper for a state of trial for the saints, and when the last saint is born, and his state of trial is finished, the world and the works of it shall be burned up together.

It is for you, O christians, that these heavens, or, shall I say, this globe of earth rolls round in its daily and yearly courses, and the sun and the moon send out their brighter or paler beams, to light you onward in your way to glory. The morning breaks for you to give you day-light, that you may work for God: And the evening spreads its long thick shadows over the nations, to determine a time for your repose and refreshment. The darkness and the light are yours, during your continuance in the flesh. When all your work here is done, these lower “heavens shall be folded up like an old garment, as a vesture shall they be changed;” they shall flee away and be no more.

Survey the trees and the fields, how they bring forth food for you. The beasts of the earth grow and are nourished for your conveniency; they were born and live, and die for your support and nourishment. The winds blow to purge the air for you, and to keep it wholesome, while God has appointed you to breathe in it. The fountains bubble, and the rivers flow to quench your thirst. Flax and wool are ordained for your covering, and the silk-worm is set to his shining task, that some of your garments may be soft and easy: The beasts of the earth are at peace with you, and you are in league with the stones of the field; Job v. 23. O happy and glorious state of the children of God!

Christ, in his providential management of all things in this world, has a chief regard to his own people. The wicked of the earth who dwell among the saints, come in for a share of the common good things of life, chiefly as they are instruments of the providence of Christ, for some known or unknown benefit to his church.

I might tell you also, that if you are christians indeed, then though your ungodly neighbours may have a rightful civil property in many good things of the world, yet you have a better and sweeter interest in the earthly blessings which you possess. You can taste the love of a Father in them, and the kindness of a reconciled God. They are common benefits to the world, but they are made as it were special blessings to you. They are put into your hand by a better covenant: They are sanctified to your use: The world itself becomes a means to raise your heads towards God. And whereas wealth, and honours, and the plenteous enjoyments of life, become a temptation and a snare to the wicked; and, through the corruption of their natures, divide their souls from God and heaven, the same things are made happy instruments in the hand of the Mediator, to furnish you out for eminent service, and to help you onward to a better world.

III. Life and death are yours. Life, with all the comfortable attendants of it; or even with all its difficulties and vexations, it is still designed for your advantage: And death, as terrible as it is in itself, shall appear to be a benefit to you. But I insist no longer on this head at present, because I design it to be the subject of following discourses.

IV. Things present, whether visible or invisible, and things to come, are all yours.

1. Visible things present are yours. I have shewed you in part already, how the wheels of nature are rolling for you. This lower creation stands and moves for your sakes, for your relief and support, while you are travelling to heaven. The present posture of things in this world, the daily scenes of life are continued or changed and still over-ruled by divine providence for your good. Kingdoms, and laws, and governments, are established among men for your safety: If the world were without all government, and all things run into confusion, the saints, with all their earthly comforts, would become the plunder and property of the wicked continually. The princes of the earth, and the political constitutions of nations, are designed to be a screen and defence to the people of God, who dwell among them: For if these foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do; Ps. xi. 3. The wicked would bend their bow, and make ready their arrow upon the string; and they would not only in private, but publicly shoot at the upright in heart; verse 2. There would be neither life nor safety for a christian. Yet, on the other hand, when Christ, in the course of his providence, brings confusion on states and kingdoms, and when he suffers the wicked of the earth, like wild beasts of the wilderness, to spoil, devour and destroy, it is usually designed by his wisdom, as a season of proper trial for his own people, and that country becomes a scene of their glorious sufferings. Christ, who is the head over all things, sets up and pulls down tyrants or good princes, as may best serve the counsels of his Father’s mercy, and his own kind designs for his chosen and redeemed people.

And as the whole world of nature, and the present affairs of nations are managed by Christ, for the good of the church; so the world of grace, and the affairs of his sanctuary, and his kingdoms on earth, are all ordained for the benefit of the saints. Christians, why did he separate you from the world, and call you out of the wilderness, and make you a chosen nation, and a peculiar people? Was it not for your advantage? Why did he write his word? Why did he ordain ministers and holy institutions? Was it not for your edification? Were not the seals of the covenant given to assist your faith, by the aid of your senses, and by this means to inflame your love, and exalt your joy? Are not the precepts of the word written to direct you in the way of duty? Are not the threatenings pronounced to awaken your fear, and guard you from sin and folly? And are not all the promises of the gospel given to comfort your souls, to support your spirits, and give a sweet taste of glory before-hand.

Whatsoever temporal circumstances attend you in this present life, whether they are painful or pleasant, they are all the appointments of your heavenly Father for your real interest. Are you at peace in the midst of plenty, and does every thing around you smile upon you? It is that your hearts may be raised to thankfulness, and your lips tuned to praise. Do you labour under pain or sickness? It is to wean you from flesh and blood, to put you in mind, that this tabernacle is falling, to awaken your hearts to insure a better habitation on high. Do you want food or raiment? It is to make you remember that you are in the wilderness, and to call your meditations upward to your Father’s house, where there is bread enough, and to spare. Are you scorned and reviled by the basest of men? Are you persecuted or imprisoned and treated with rudeness or cruelty? It is to try and prove your suffering graces, that your faith, courage, and patience may shine as gold that has passed through the furnace; are you called to seal the truth and testimony of Jesus with your blood? It is to prepare you for the crowns of glory that are laid up for martyrs.

This thought leads me onward in the survey of this rich inventory of a christian, and carries my thoughts into the invisible regions, and into far distant futurities.

2. Not things present only in this visible world, but things invisible in other worlds are also yours, and were appointed for your benefit. These are numbered by the apostle among the riches and possessions of the saints. Is there a heaven built on high, with many palaces of light in it? They were built and furnished for your reception. It is, “the inheritance of the saints in light;” Col. i. 12. Are there mansions of unknown glory, well prepared by our Lord Jesus Christ, since his ascent to heaven? He assures us in his last words, that they are prepared for you; John xiv. 2, 3. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you; I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. Each of these mansions stands waiting for those saints, for whom they are provided; and they are all adorned with rich magnificent furniture, in the perfect beauty of holiness.

The angels, in their shining orders, are ordained to be your attendants: Those holy inhabitants of the upper blessed world, encamp round about those that fear the Lord; Ps. xxxiv. 7. and are appointed as guards to his children, by their heavenly Father. Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of salvation; Heb i. 14. They wait upon your dying beds, and convey your souls to the bosom of Abraham; Luke xvi. 22. Happy souls, who have so illustrious a guard, so secure a convoy to the far distant and unknown regions of light and joy.

The very hell that is provided to punish impenitent sinners, though we cannot say it was built for you, christians; yet it has been of glorious and terrible service, to awaken your souls out of a natural and guilty state. When the Spirit of God in the ministry of his word has opened the mouth of hell, and brought the flashes of that furnace into your face; it has awakened your consciences in time past, and driven you to seek refuge in the arms of Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. Thus hell itself is constrained to pay a tribute towards the salvation of the saints.

And the devils themselves who dwell there, with all their fiery temptations, have been but as underworkers for our final good; they are as slaves to Christ, the great Refiner, who designed to purify your souls by those very methods of temptation, which those evil spirits made use of on purpose to destroy you. Thus the ministers of divine wrath to sinners are become instruments of your benefit. When Satan has desired to winnow you as wheat, Christ has prayed for you, that your faith fail not: Luke xxii. 31, 32. and he has care that by this winnowing you might be purified, that nothing might fly away but the empty chaff: that you might appear in the sight of Christ as purer corn. Now if hell, and the wicked inhabitants of it, may be constrained to serve your interest, and to promote your happiness, surely there is nothing in all the creation, but may turn to your advantage. O divine privilege, when the creatures that are under the deserved curse of God, are thus made to subserve your blessedness!

3. But not only present invisibles, but even all future unseen things are yours too. The morning of the resurrection is appointed for your glory; and the great trumpet is put into the hands of the arch-angel, to awaken your sleeping dust into immortality. Jesus the Lord himself shall descend from heaven to call you from the grave: And though ye were dead, ye shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live; John v. 35. The great day of judgment, and all the solemnities of it, are ordained for your honour, to publish your victories over sin and Satan, before the face of the whole creation, to pronounce you openly acquitted and justified before men and angels, to proclaim you the sons and daughters of the Most High God, and determine your state to everlasting blessedness.

Are there crowns of infinite value laid up in heaven? Are there rewards of glory there, immense rewards, and of endless duration? It is to crown your labours, your conflicts, your christian race; it is to reward your sufferings, your patience, and your conquest: And the day of glory is stretched out to all everlasting, that your happiness may know no end. Thus things present, and things to come are all yours; and there is nothing in time or eternity, which can come within the reach or notice, but in some of these senses shall subserve your interest, and turn to your advantage. This is the genuine sense, and this the true limitation of these words, all things are yours.

The second thing proposed in this discourse, was to prove that notwithstanding the limited sense of these words, yet the true christian has a richer treasure in them, than all the worldly wealth of the sinner. And without multiplying particulars the proof of it will sufficiently appear in these four things:

I. The treasure of the meanest saint is vastly more large and extensive, than that of the richest sinner. Let the wicked man point to his heaps of money, and run over the names of his farms and manors, and call himself the lord and master of them all; it is but a narrow and poor survey, that a few pieces of shining earth can give us; or the fields that lie within the prospect of a mile or two, when compared with this vast and universal treasure, all things are yours! It is true, christians, that you have not the civil property and power over the earth, or the heavens; but you receive a divine advantage from all things, and that is more than the sinner can say concerning any one thing that he possesses in the way of civil property.

II. This treasure of the saints is more secure, and more durable than any thing that a sinner enjoys; therefore the apostle calls the wealth of this world, uncertain riches, that cannot be trusted in; 1 Tim. vi. 17. Riches make to themselves wings, and fly away as an eagle towards heaven; Prov. xxiii. 5. and leave the owner poor and destitute: Many a wealthy man who flourished yesterday, in abundance of ease and plenty, may be stripped of all to-morrow, and want the common supports of nature. What possessions soever are built upon the foundations of civil property, may be taken away from the saint or the sinner, by robbing and plunder, by cheating and knavery, by inundations of water, or the rage of fire, or by the invasion of a foreign enemy, but the beneficial interest that a christian has in all things is preserved to him by the covenant of grace. He may be stripped of all earthly possessions, but the loss of his temporal estate shall turn to his real benefit, as well as the possession of it. Losses and crosses, as well as plenty and peace, are numbered among the items of his inventory, and make up his treasure; so that though the outward scenes of things on earth are perpetually changing, his real and everlasting treasure is the same; for all things that appear in nature, that occur in present providence, or shall arise in future ages, shall work for his advantage: He may lose money or lands as well as a sinner; but that very loss shall turn to his gain.

This sort of treasure he cannot be dispossessed of by death itself for when he quits his visible interest in all things in this lower world, he enters into a new world of spirits, which he has never seen: and yet all things in that world are his too: All things in those unknown regions, where the departing spirit goes, are made over to the saint, by the same covenant as the things of this world; they shall all administer some divine profit to him, and be a part of his happiness in the world to come.

III. This treasure of a christian is ever growing, at least in the possession; for the occurrences of every day make some addition to it; whereas the wealth of sinners is impaired with using. The largest earthly estate may be wasted: Money decreases daily by procuring the supports of life; but a christian’s treasure still improves. He lives upon it every day, and yet it grows still.

The providences of God here on earth, present us daily with some new affairs, new occurrences: Whether they be pleasant or painful, still the spiritual man finds his interest in them; and when he reviews his account in the evening, if his heart has been in a proper frame, he may write himself gainer. He has possessed and enjoyed the very crosses and sorrows of his former days: He has treasured up a store of divine experiences, in the midst of plenty and want, health and sickness: New scenes of life arise, new appearances of things; he is still like the bee, ready to suck honey from every flower that blows: He gathers his food and his riches from weeds that are unsavoury, as well as from the blossoms of perfume: If he is by this means adding daily to the number and strength of his graces and virtues, he is, as it were, treasuring up a good foundation for time to come, and, shall I be bold to say, adding beauties and ornaments to his robes of glory, and lustre to his heavenly crown.

IV. This large inheritance of a christian is all sanctified, which is more than can be said of any part of a sinner’s estate. The riches of this world may be abused to luxury and debauchery, to iniquity and sore vexations. They may be abused to profaneness and impiety, to dishonour God, and corrupt the conversation of men, and to ruin their souls for ever: But this large and extensive treasure of a christian, is designed for his real happiness, as well as for the honour of his God; whatsoever he has to do with in the world, he uses it to the glory of his God, to the honour of his Saviour, to the benefit of his fellow-creatures, and to his own sublimest advantage. And concerning this sacred treasure, it may be said, that it is the property, or in the possession of a christian, no farther than it is sanctified to him, or than he receives it with a sanctified mind. To the pure all things are pure; Tit. i. 15. for every thing is sanctified by the word of God and prayer; 1 Tim. iv. 5. The exercise of piety among the saints puts a sort of consecration upon all creatures, so far as they use or enjoy them.

Thus it is made sufficiently evident, that the treasure of a saint vastly exceeds all the richest possessions of a sinner. I cannot enter now upon the third branch of my design, which was to shew, how a christian comes to be made heir and possesser of all things. Let us therefore shut up the present discourse with this one reflection:

Reflection.—“How unreasonable is it for a christian to forsake his profession, or his practice, for any thing which this world can tempt him with? For his treasures and enjoyments already are greater than any thing he can hope for in the ways of sin.

“What a powerful motive may be drawn hence, to persevere in faith and holiness? Christians, all things are yours; every thing you converse with shall turn to your benefit; this world, and the other, things present and things to come, life and death are yours.

“What valuable pretences can the world make, to tempt you to lose this inheritance, to quit these hopes, and to part with these possessions? Can you, by complying with any temptation, provide yourself with such riches as these; or with any thing that shall answer the loss of them? Sin and the world can promise you but a little, narrow share of good things: The gospel of Christ gives you a most extensive treasure, for it bestows all things upon you. The world can make nothing secure, but the treasures of christianity are everlasting; they reach beyond the grave, into unknown worlds and ages. All the wealth and pleasures, and enjoyments of this life perish with the using; but your inheritance is ever upon the increase: As fast as time and providence bring forth days, and seasons, and new scenes, so fast this treasure grows; and you may receive the daily profit of it. What can sin and the world give you but what hath a secret curse in it? These your treasures are sanctified blessings, and the foretastes of them are designed to assist you onward in the ways of holiness and peace, till you arrive at the brightest and sweetest part of them, the full enjoyment of God and happiness in the upper world.

“Go on then, christians, with zeal and courage in the profession of your faith: Go on with constancy in the practice of duty: Feed daily upon that portion of your inheritance, which your heavenly Father appoints to sustain you in your travels homeward; and expect the rest in your Father’s house. When the world would tempt you to forego your sacred interest in the gospel, by the alluring offer of any temporal enjoyments, tell the world, that life and death, things present and things to come, are yours already: Let the world know that Christ has engaged and secured your heart for ever to himself, by outbidding all that the world can offer; for he has written down and sealed your title to a larger and richer inheritance, and annexed it to his own: Ye are joint-heirs with Christ. And he has appointed it to stand recorded in his holy book to the view of men and angels, that all things are yours.”

The Recollection.—“And is it possible that so worthless a creature as I am, should be really entitled to all these blessings: Can it be true, that so rich an interest in the good things of time and eternity belongs to me? To me, who am less than the least of all the mercies of God? To me, who in the days of sin and ignorance, have abused all things, O my God, to thy dishonour? To me, who have provoked thy justice to strip me of all the common blessings of nature and life, and to make me for ever poor and miserable? Is the mercy of God so vast and overflowing, as not only to forgive these provocations, and to admit me into his favour, but to bless me also with so rich an inheritance? Fall down prostrate, O my soul, at the foot of sovereign and all-sufficient grace. Remember thy guilt, thy poverty, and thy wretchedness, and be ever humble before God thy infinite benefactor. Mourn over all thy unworthiness, and maintain a constant temper of penitent love, and self-abasing gratitude. I deserve to be cut off for ever, O Lord, from thy house, from thy family, and from all the blessings of thy children: But thou hast called me to the knowledge of thy Son Jesus, thou hast taught me to lay hold on the arm of thy salvation, thou hast made me willing in the day of thy power to renounce every sin, to subject myself to thy sceptre of righteousness, and to accept the grace of thy gospel. Thou hast opened the treasures of thy love, treasures that contain in them the good things of earth and heaven, things visible and invisible, things present and things to come: And while these treasures stood open to my view, in the voice of thy gospel thou hast told me, All is yours.

“O for an enlarged exercise of faith, to survey this inheritance! to rejoice in this extensive bounty of the Most High! to read the blessed language of this text, and to believe it with a humble claim and appropriation! Surely here is enough for faith to live upon, through all the remaining years of my pilgrimage, and my hope, till faith shall be turned into perfect sight, and hope into full and final enjoyment. I would not change my portion with the richest sinner on earth: My estate is larger, and my interests are more extensive. His gold and silver, his houses and lands can reach no farther than this world and time; but my inheritance runs into eternity, and my enjoyment of it has no period.

“My treasures are secure against all the invasions and plunder of enemies, against all the rage of the winds, and waves, and fire; against all the confusions of the world, against all the overwhelming changes of time and nature; even against death itself, and the last conflagration. These lower heavens may be dissolved, the elements may melt with fervent heat, and the earth, and the works thereof, with all the fields, and the palaces, and the treasures of it, may be burned up, but my inheritance stands ever secure, for God himself, who is the original Creator and Possessor of all things, has secured life and happiness to me in his covenant: He has secured a possession of every thing that can be necessary to my happiness, or to my eternal life.

“O that I were taught to enjoy these blessings daily; and to observe the daily accessions that are made to my treasures, by all the new scenes of providence that are ever rising! May I be instructed to make a sanctified improvement of them all, and thus add something hourly to my best interest, to my everlasting hope! May life itself, with all the daily comforts and crosses of it, minister to me some sacred meditations, some holy and heavenly thoughts! May a divine consecration come down on all my affairs and concerns in this present state! and by a wise improvement of all those parcels of my inheritance, which my heavenly Father puts into my hands here on earth, may I be trained up and grow fitter daily for those brighter talents, those more glorious enjoyments, which he keeps in reserve for me when time shall be no more. Amen.”

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXVII. _A Christian’s Treasure:—All things are yours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, &c._

How vast the treasures we possess! How rich thy bounty, King of grace! This world is ours, and worlds to come: Earth is our lodge, and heaven our home.

Paul is our teacher: while he speaks, The shadows flee, the morning breaks; His words like beams of knowledge shine, And fill our souls with light divine.

Cephas is ours: he makes us feel The kindlings of celestial zeal: While sweet Apollos’ charming voice Gives us a taste of heav’nly joys.

The springing corn, the stately wood, Grow to provide us house and food: Fire, air, earth, water, join their force; All nature serves us in her course.

The sun rolls round to make our day, The moon directs our nightly way; While angels bear us in their arms, And shield us from ten thousand harms.

O glorious portion of the saints! Let faith suppress our sore complaints, And tune our hearts and tongues to sing Our bounteous God, our sovereign King.

SERMON XXXVIII. The Christian’s Treasure. 1 COR. iii. 21,——All things are yours.

There is nothing that a wise man can wish for in order to make him happy, but the gospel proposes it to encourage the faith and practice of christians. What honour is there to be enjoyed among the sons of men, that is wont to gratify our ambition, but the gospel assures us of higher honours than this, when it makes us the sons of God? What pleasures are there to be tasted in the satisfaction of animal nature, but the gospel invites us to more refined, and more lasting pleasures, which are to be derived from the love of God, and the company of our Saviour with all his saints? What riches can be possessed or desired by the most covetous mind, but the gospel proposes a far more extensive, a more durable, and more useful treasure, when it tells us in the words of my text, all things are yours?

The former discourse has made it appear in what sense these words are to be understood: Not that we have a present possession of till things, a power over them, or a civil right to seize and enjoy them; but the meaning is this, that so far as a christian can have any thing to do with the things of this world, or of another, things present or to come, they shall all be made to work together for his real good. It has been also proved in the second place, that this inheritance of the saints is incomparably richer, and more valuable than any thing which sinners can possess. I proceed now to the:

Third general proposition, and that is, to enquire how christians come to be partakers of so fair and rich a treasure.

I. It is the kind and eternal purpose of God their Father, that it should be so. Christians, God has created all things in the world of nature with this design, that you should derive some benefit from them, as far as they can come within your reach or notice, your service or use: He appointed all things in the counsels of his providence, to bear some blessing for you. He has ordained all things in his kingdom of grace for your advantage: and there are unknown regions of light and glory which he has provided for you. His elect were ever nearest to his heart, next to the man Christ Jesus, next to his only begotten Son; for they were all chosen in him before the foundation of the world; Eph. i. 4. Whether creation or providence, whether nature, grace or glory, all things are for your sakes; 2 Cor. iv. 15.

I would caution you again, that you are not to understand it in such an incredible sense, as though God made every particular creature in the upper and the lower worlds, only to give the possession of them to the saints, or that he manages all his providential kingdom, merely for the sake of his own people without any other view. No, this is stretching the words into an extent too large and unreasonable; for there are millions of creatures, millions of plants and animals in earth and sea, that are born, and grow, and live, and die again, which the saints of God never saw, nor know, nor shall know; nor can they receive any immediate benefit from them. But the meaning is this, that all things whatsoever the saints can or shall have to do with in this or other worlds, were intended to yield some profit to them, and especially while they maintain their character as the children of God, and walk as becomes their dignity and their profession. In all God’s general counsels of creation, and providence, and grace, he kept his eye, as I may say, still upon his saints: He designed their good in ten thousand instances, in his great and glorious works, and resolved that nothing in all his kingdoms should interfere with their last and best interest.

Though what he has written down in the book of his decrees, is read only at large by his Son Christ Jesus, yet he has written out a sweet abstract of it in the book of his promises, that the saints on earth might read and know it; Rom. viii. 28. And we know that all things work together for good, to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. It was for their sakes the promises were written, that they might have not only a present relish of divine blessings, but a sweet foretaste of joys long to come. The blessings of the children of God were numbered up, and written down originally for them, in the book of God’s everlasting counsels; and in the book of his word has he copied out for them, the blessings of heaven from above, and of the deep from beneath; the precious things brought forth by the sun, and under the influence of the moon; the chief things of the ancient mountains on earth, so far as is needful for them here, and the precious things of the everlasting hills of paradise hereafter.

Does the great Creator and Lord of all keep the wheels of nature in their settled courses? It is for his people’s good. The stars in their courses shall fight for Israel: Or does he countermand nature in any of its motions, and bid the sun stand still in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon? It is that the armies of his people may have long day-light, to subdue their enemies. Hail-stones and thunder shall break out of the clouds to destroy the Canaanites, when Israel is at war with them: But if Israel want bread in the wilderness, the clouds shall drop down manna, and give them bread from heaven. The Lord gave up Egypt with her armies to the waves of the Red-sea, for the ransom and redemption of his people: He gave Ethiopia and Seba to the sword for the safety of his servant Jacob; Is. xliii. 7. I have loved thee, O Israel, therefore I gave men for thee, and people for thy life. And it is no wonder that God has given all things to his children, since he has given himself to them, and told them, I am your God: It is no wonder he has bestowed all things upon them, since he has bestowed his Son upon them: His own, his only Son, who is dearer to him than all the creation; Rom. viii. 32. “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”

II. The saints have an interest in all things, for Christ is made Lord over all things for his people’s good; Eph. i. 22. “God hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to his church.” Thus the names of the saints are, as it were, inserted into that divine patent that exalts and constitutes Christ Lord of all.

And indeed, Christ has not only a right to all things by the mere donation of the Father, but it may be said, he has purchased all things for his own honour, and his people’s good. “Because he was obedient unto death, therefore God has so highly exalted him;” Phil. ii. 8. “and made him Lord of the dead and the living;” Rom. xiv. 9. And perhaps it is in this sense, that the inheritance of the saints may be called “the purchased possession;” Eph. i. 14. Now, christians, since all the affairs of nature, grace, and glory, are put into the hands of such a friend in trust for you, that they may be managed and employed for your advantage, it is as well, nay, it is much better than if all things were at present in your possession, that is, under your present state of weakness and folly; for his wisdom and goodness shall govern all for your truest interest. Ye are Christ’s, so the apostle expresses it in the verse next to my text: And Christ, who has all in his hands, will take care of you who are his own.

“Christ is made heir of all things;” Heb. i. 2. And if ye belong to Christ, then are ye heirs of God, and joint heirs of Christ; Rom. viii. 17. And the express promise of the Father confirms it, that all things are yours; Rev. xxi. 7. “He that overcometh shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son;” 1 Cor. xii. 27. “Ye are the members of the body, and Christ is the head.” Now the members must in their measure become sharers of what the head possesses. In your proportion, O christians, you shall have communion with Christ your Lord, in his royalties and his wide dominion: for he hath promised that “ye shall sit down on his throne, when ye have overcome your enemies, even as he overcame, and is set down on the throne with his Father;” Rev. iii. 21. Ye are one with Christ, and therefore in your measure, O believers, and according to your capacity, ye shall possess and enjoy all things which he possesses, so far as is requisite for your benefit in this world, and your truest happiness for ever.

III. The saints are actually invested with this privilege, by believing on the Son of God, by accepting the covenant of his grace, by receiving Christ Jesus the Saviour, according to the appointed methods of the gospel. When a poor, destitute, guilty, and perishing creature is made willing by divine grace, to give up himself to Christ as his Saviour and his Lord, he is divested of his guilt, he is clothed with the robes of salvation, he is translated out of a state of sin, poverty, and wretchedness, into a state of rich grace, and becomes a child of God, and an heir of all things. A living faith, which has all the springs of holiness in it, is ordained to carry in it all the springs of treasure and felicity. This unites the soul to Christ, this gives a humble claim to all the blessings laid up in the eternal decrees and purposes of God; blessings purchased by the blood of his Son Jesus; blessings promised in the word of the gospel, wherein all things are given for a possession to the children of the Most High.

IV. All things may be said to belong to the saints, or shall turn to their advantage, because the blessed Spirit is given them, to teach them to improve all things for their own benefit; 1 Cor. ii. 12. We have received—the Spirit, which is of God, that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God: And that not only that christians might know what their treasures are, but learn how to make a right use of them too. They are taught by the Holy Spirit, to receive the common blessings of nature from the hands of God, as a Father and a Friend, and a God in covenant: And they rejoice in them as such, with humble thankfulness; they are instructed to derive useful meditations from the sun, moon, and stars; and to read the wisdom, the power, and the glory of their Creator, and their Father there, and to rejoice in his goodness. The peaceful state of kingdoms, or battles, wars and earthquakes, and the convulsion of nations, are all made useful lessons to a child of God; and he gains something from all of them, by the teachings of the blessed Spirit.

The saints are led into an acquaintance with the word of God by the same Spirit too: They receive the promises and directions of the gospel, through the influences of this Spirit. They derive light, holiness and comfort from every part of the book of God; that is, from the law and the prophets, the histories and the epistles, and from all the ordinances of the sanctuary: He teaches them to borrow some food and delight from Moses and David, as well as from Peter and John. He leads them through the sweet fields of gospel grace, and directs them to gather many a flower there for their refreshment, and to feed on the fruit of the tree of life for their support. He shews them how to profit by the ministry of a Paul, and to learn the deep mysteries of Christ: He impresses on their souls the warm and pathetic words of an Apollos, and fires their hearts thereby with zeal and love: He teaches his younger disciples over again the first lessons of grace, which a Cephas had just taught them. Thus Paul and Apollos, and Cephas are theirs.

He instructs them how to converse with things invisible and future by faith, and to make use of the unseen and distant glories of eternity, for their present comfort and joy. “It is the God of hope, who by his Spirit fills them with all peace and joy in believing:” Rom. xv. 13. And I might add also, that the Holy Spirit is given them, and dwells in them as an earnest of their inheritance of all things, 2 Cor. v. 6. till the redemption of this purchased possession, that is, till it shall be redeemed, and freed from all the present incumbrances of sin and Satan; Eph. i. 13, 14. Then in a happy hour shall this purchased possession be disclosed in the fairest light, and proclaimed to be the property of the saints.

To sum up all in a few words, a christian’s interest in all things is well founded, and well confirmed. They are his by the original purpose of God the Father, when he created all things; it was his design that his chosen people should receive benefit from them. They are his by the appointment of divine providence, that all things shall work together for his good. They are his; for Christ the Son of God has purchased a dominion over all things, that he may manage them for the service of his redeemed ones. They are his, because the Spirit teaches him to derive some advantage from all things by faith and holy meditation. God has given himself to the saints as their portion for ever: He has given his own Son for them as a ransom from death; he has given his Spirit to them, as the principle of their life: And in this view, we may rise in the language of faith, and say in the words of the blessed apostle, “How shall he not herewith freely give us all things;” Rom. viii. 32.

Thus having made it appear in what sense all things are yours, and upon what foundations this glorious privilege is built, I proceed in the

Last place, to consider what use may be made of this discourse.

First Use.—It affords a word of mourning and terror to obstinate and impenitent sinners. Are all things made beneficial to the saints? Think with yourselves then what you lose, because you are not of that number. If you live and die in this sinful state, you have a comfortable interest in nothing: Nothing works for your real benefit. Your abuse of all things that you have any thing to do with, takes away the true pleasure and enjoyment of what you possess, and turns them into a curse to you instead of a blessing. Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or this world, or life or death, or things present, or things to come, nothing is yours: for ye are not Christ’s. And ye shall reap no final and lasting advantage from any thing, if you persist in a sinful and impenitent state; for ye are without God in the world, without Christ, and without hope.

Do you sit under the ministry of Paul, who spreads the glorious light of the gospel around you? But the God of this world hath blinded your minds, that this divine light should not reach them: Even the preaching of Paul is a savour of death unto you, if you live and die without the faith and love of Christ. Do you hear the zealous and pathetic language of Apollos? But your heart perhaps grows the harder under it: You resist the affectionate entreaties of the gospel, from the lips of that eloquent preacher. And even Apollos, whose soul is wont to melt with compassion for perishing sinners, shall rise up in judgment against you. And as for the plain and condescending ministry of Cephas, you despise the man and his sermons together; therefore you can get no benefit by them. Neither Paul, nor Apollos, nor Cephas is yours.

Well, if spiritual things are not yours, you hope, however, that you have a property in things temporal: If the blessings of the church do not belong to you, yet you claim a good share in this world, and the blessings of it: You feed deliciously, you are dressed in gay colours and gold, and you have wealth laid up in store for many years to come. Poor vain creatures! What is all your treasure? What is your property in it? A sorry property in lands, and a large estate, when not a clod of the earth, nor a penny of the money shall turn to your real and lasting benefit! I grant that you possess some of the good things of this world indeed. But your riches and plenty are not real and proper blessings, while you are afar from Christ, and strangers to him: Your own unbelief and impenitence, and rebellion against God, turn all the comforts of the world into curses: It is only the grace of Christ can take off the curse, and sanctify this world into a blessing.

Life is not yours; it is not for your final advantage, while you waste it in vanity and sinful amusements: A long life spent in this manner, shall but add to your guilt, and aggravate your condemnation. Death is not a benefit, but a dreadful hour to you, for it delivers you over to the full power of Satan that cruel tormentor, and opens the scene of your everlasting sorrows.

Things present are not blessings to you, while you resolve to continue in this sinful state. You abuse the day-light, and waste it in trifles or in crimes; or at best you spend it in an eager pursuit of the things of the world, with the neglect of God. The night is given to recruit nature for new services, but you seize the shadows of the evening to make a screen for your secret iniquities, and hide your sins behind the curtains of midnight.

You feed on the fruits of the earth, and other rich provisions of divine bounty; but perhaps you make them instruments of shameful intemperance: Or at best you lay out the strength of them in empty follies, or in low earthly designs, without a thought of God or heaven. The morning and the evening wait upon you in long successions, but you are heaping up iniquities from morning to evening. You walk daily in the paths of death, and the suns-beams do but light you onward to everlasting darkness. You are nourished by your food for the day of slaughter. Daily and hourly you abuse the goodness of God, and even these abused blessings of his goodness shall call for greater degrees of vengeance at his awful judgment seat. Thus neither the light of the sun, nor the fruits of the earth, neither day nor night, are yours; for you abuse them to sinful purposes, and they yield you no real profit.

And if things present are not yours, if ye have no solid and lasting benefit by them, much less can you pretend to claim any comfortable share in the things that are to come. There is a heaven of happiness provided for the saints, but you are utterly unprepared to fulfil the business of it, or to taste the blessedness. There is no room nor place there for you. There is nothing glorious and delightful among all the promises of God, or all the joyful scenes of the world to come, that you can claim any title to, nor have you any interest in them. When hell shall open its mouth indeed, to receive millions of the damned, according to the final sentence of the Judge, there you will find a place and room provided for you; but it is an uneasy and dreadful one. Hell is yours, the vengeance of God is yours, endless misery is yours; you have been treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath; and you can claim nothing but this painful portion, this dismal and everlasting inheritance.

And can you be content with such a portion as this is, while the saints are inheritors of all that is holy and happy, both in this world and the next? O may your busy thoughts be awakened betimes, and make you ever restless and uneasy in your present wretched estate! Return to the Lord in humble mourning for all your past iniquities: Return to God speedily, from whom you have wickedly departed: Loath yourselves because of your abominations, and abandon every idol: Say to him, my Father, in the spirit of faith and penitence, and he will put you among the children, and give you a goodly heritage; Jer. iii. 19.

Seek acquaintance with Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour, the Lord and Heir of all things; commit your souls to his hands, resign yourselves entirely to his grace, that he may change your unholy natures by his Spirit, that he may cleanse away your guilt by the blood of his atonement, that he may give you an interest in his own riches; then the covenant of his love shall sanctify to you all the enjoyments of earth and time, and make you possessors of all the good things in heaven and eternity.

Second Use.—This doctrine discovers to us the glory of the new covenant. A blessed covenant indeed that has given so rich a treasure to creatures so unworthy! We are sinners, and deserve nothing, yet when we believe in the Son of God, the gospel gives us in our measure the inheritance and possession of all things.

Adam was made Lord of this lower world; this earth and the creatures that dwell on it were put into his hands, all things below were given him for his use, his support, and his delight. Thus mankind considered in the first Adam, in his innocent estate, were lords of all. But by one man sin entered into the world; Rom. v. 12. and by that sin, Adam has forfeited his sovereignty and dominion, with all his large possession of the creatures, both for himself and for us. When the sentence came forth from the mouth of God, Cursed be the ground for thy sake; Gen. iii. 17. the curse fell on all this lower world, and did, as it were, make a seizure of the creatures out of the hands of Adam the great sinner. They are no more his in that sanctified manner for his real and final benefit, as they were before: They now become instruments of temptation and sin, pain, and sorrow and misery. But the covenant of grace restores all back again to us in and by the second Adam, who is the Lord of the new world, and under this character, is possessor of all things: And a sanctified use of all things is given to us again, in and by Christ Jesus. O glorious covenant, that can take away the curse from creatures, and make them become a blessing to the saints!

But there is a further glory in it still; for our possession of all things in the second Adam, is far more secure than it was in the first. This rich and extensive treasure is put into the hands of Christ our Mediator, our Head, and our Surety for us, that we may not abuse our possession by sin to our own ruin; and that we may not forfeit our inheritance the second time, and so lose it for ever.

Third Use.—This doctrine yields sweet consolation to a poor afflicted saint, who is taught to make a right improvement of it. The gospel should teach a christian in these circumstances, such divine language as this: “Am I poor and despised by the great and rich in this world? yet I trust I am made a child of God by his renewing grace, and the promise gives me a right to all things. God my Father has engaged that all things shall work together for my good. He has made me a joint-heir with his best-beloved Son Jesus, and has given me a fair and large inheritance. I shall be possessor of every comfort among the creatures that is necessary to my supreme interest, and my final happiness, and God himself is my eternal portion.

“What if I cannot read my name and my title to lands and houses, to green fields and palaces, in large conveyances and writings under the seal of men? but I can read my name as a christian in the covenant of grace, under the seal of God, and the blood of his Son, and there I find that all things are mine. While I survey the gardens of a rich sinner, every herb and flower there gives me more sweetness than he can find in them all: For I can converse with God my Maker, and my Father, in every herb, and every flower. While I walk amongst the trees of my neighbour’s fields, they yield me their refreshing shade, and compose my thoughts to divine meditation. I can lift up my eyes to the stately building where my neighbour dwells, and raise my thoughts thence to the mansions of glory: Then I rejoice to think how much my inheritance and my mansion there exceeds the most magnificent structure on earth. Thus his fields, and his gardens, and his stately dwelling, afford a divine light to me, which perhaps the earthly possessor of them knows nothing of: And though I have almost nothing that I can call my own on earth, yet, in this sense, I possess all things. My God hath given me so much of the good things of this world, as he saw needful and proper for my real interest: and surely if I might have had all things within my immediate reach, and under my sovereignty, I would not lay hold of more of them (if I were truly wise) than would promote my welfare.

“Do I sit at the footstool of the rich in the house of God; or am I but a door-keeper in the sanctuary, yet I can there hear Paul declare the sublime mysteries of the gospel, and while he reveals the wonders of God’s eternal love, my heart within me believes, and adores, and rejoices. Apollos entertains me with most affectionate discourses of the grace of Christ and his glory: my faith rises high, my love is kindled to him whom my eyes have not seen; I believe in him, I love him, and my joy grows almost unspeakable. I remember the former instructions of Cephas, who taught me the first principles of this divine religion; and I take pleasure in those sacred foundations. Blessed be God, they are unshaken, and my faith and hope, which were begun under his ministry, stand for ever firm. Paul, and Apollos, and Cephas are mine.

“It has pleased my heavenly Father indeed, to lay many sorrows upon me in this wilderness; but I have learned to think and speak like a christian, and say, Though I appear as dying, yet behold I live; though I am chastised, yet I am not killed: Every stroke of his rod is given by the hand of his love. His rod, like the rod of Aaron, blossoms with divine blessings, and brings forth holy fruit. These wounds that I feel let out the blood of pride, and cure the distempers of my soul. Thus the very sufferings of nature, and the sorrows of life are mine; I have learned to reckon my afflictions among my blessings; they work for my profit. Whether peace or pain, are all mine. Besides, I solace myself in the midst of my poverty and distress with this sweet meditation, that the less I enjoy of temporal comforts, and the delights of this world, if I improve my sufferings and sorrows well, there is the more joy and glory laid up for me in the world to come. My light afflictions which are but for a moment, are working for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; 2 Cor. iv. 17. Is my life on earth stretched out to a tiresome age? Heaven will be much the sweeter, and after many toils, I shall have the stronger relish of an eternal rest. Or does death make haste toward me in younger years, and bring my body quickly down to the dust? My soul then is but dismissed the sooner to the building on high that is prepared for me; for whether life or death, all are mine.”

“When I cast my eyes around, and survey the present frame of things, the sun in his daily circuit, and the moon and stars in their nightly courses, my faith assures me they are all employed in rolling the months and hours away, that stand between me and immortal happiness: And when the morning of the resurrection dawns upon the earth, the gospel tells me, that I have a share in all the rising glories of that day. Should the heavens and the earth be shortly set on fire, if I have but my faith awake within me, I shall have no fear nor surprize; I myself, and all my best interests are out of the reach of these flames; my treasures are of an unperishing kind. The period of all things here below shall but usher in my brightest hours, and begin the years of my eternal pleasure; for the book of God assures me, that things present and things to come are mine. Make haste then, all ye remaining revolutions of nature; and days, and months, and ages make haste: Time cannot fly too fast for me, who have such an eternity in view. My Lord hath told me in his word, surely I come quickly, and my heart echoes to that voice of my beloved, Amen, even so come Lord Jesus.”

Fourth Use.—This doctrine requires the believer to be found in the constant exercise of faith, that so he may be able always to survey his inheritance, and take solid delight in it. Otherwise, when he sustains loss in temporal things, and sickness and trouble attend him in the flesh, he will be ready to judge by the mere principles of sense, and to think his comforts all gone, and that he has nothing left. It is faith alone can teach a believer to rejoice in this treasure given him by the covenant of grace, when the world has taken almost all sensible comforts from him. The natural man with an eye of sense looks on things just as the eye of a brute-animal beholds them, and sees nothing more than according to the common impressions they make on flesh and blood: But the eye of faith is aided by the divine glass of the covenant, which as a microscope discovers many beauties where the natural eye unassisted, can see nothing but roughness and deformity.

It is nothing but faith fixing its eyes on sanctified losses and crosses, sanctified pains, and sickness, and distresses, that can enable us to reckon these among our treasures. It is nothing but the spirit of faith that can instruct us to think ourselves rich, because we are heirs of the kingdom, while we are poor and destitute in this lower world; James ii. 5. It is the spirit of faith that taught the Apostle Paul to triumph under all his infirmities, in such language as this; As dying and behold we live; as sorrowful, and yet always rejoicing; as poor, and yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things; 2 Cor. vi. 9, 10. And if we have the same spirit of faith we may believe and speak the same language.

Fifth Use.—This doctrine forbids all murmuring at the hand of God, though his dispensations may have something painful and severe in them. He has given us all things indeed, by the promise of the gospel, but he has not put this treasure into our own hands, lest we should abuse and forfeit it; but he has put it into the hands of Christ for us; and it is Christ our Lord who distributes out such parcels and portions of our estate to us daily, as his perfect wisdom sees most proper to promote our real interest.

The christian under sickness, perhaps will say, Is not life and health writ down in the inventory of my inheritance? Yes, but sickness and death are written down there too, and thy Saviour knows that sickness is better for thee at this season than health. Do not murmur at his hand, for God the Father has intrusted him to manage and govern all his own vast dominions; and canst not thou entrust him to manage thy estate, to dispose of thy concerns, and to allot thy daily portion to thee?

The saint surrounded with distress and poverty, or naked, and hungry will say, Is not food and raiment, and peace specified in the articles of the covenant, and numbered among my treasures? Yes, but poverty, and hunger, and cold, and nakedness are there also: And thy heavenly Father sees it best to withhold peace and plenty from thee at present, or to give thee thy food and raiment but in a scanty measure, to mortify thy flesh, to humble thy pride, to wean thee from the creatures, to teach thee immediate dependence on himself, and to fit thee for a departure to the heavenly world.

When thou art deprived therefore of one earthly comfort after another, and the remaining good things of this life seem to be leaving thee, have a care of murmuring against thy God. Dare not take up the words of Jacob and say, “Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and will ye take Benjamin also? Surely all these things are against me;” Gen. xlii. 36. But Jacob was made to know, by sweet experience, that all these things wrought for his real advantage, and were made the means of preserving himself and his family too in a day of spreading famine and desolation.

Sixth Use.—This doctrine forbids all contention and envy at our fellow-creatures, as well as repining against God.

Is my brother healthy and strong, while I am sick and feeble and languishing? Does my brother possess more of the good things of this life than I do? It is because our common Father sees it proper to keep me shorter, and to withhold so full an allowance from me. I have an interest in the same large inheritance: I am a child of the same family; and therefore all things are mine as well as his: But I have committed it entirely to the wisdom and goodness of our heavenly Father, to put into my hands what part he pleases of my large inheritance. He is wisest, and will distribute the several portions that he sees fittest for his children, and for this reason I cannot envy my brother. It is the same kind and faithful hand that weighs and measures out my grains and scruples, and little handfuls of earthly blessings, that gives my brother his loads and his full barns.

Has the ministry of Paul been blessed to me, and not that of Apollos? Have the labours of Apollos been more blessed to my fellow-christian, or the plain and familiar instructions of Cephas? Well, I will never make any parties in the church upon this account: for all the ministers of the gospel are appointed for our edification; and I will rejoice in them all, and bless God for the service they do the family of Christ. If my portion of spiritual food be distributed to me by the hands of Paul, it is our common Father that conveys the same sacred food to another, by the hands of Cephas or Apollos; and the world shall never hear me say, “I am of Paul, in opposition to Apollos or Peter; though I must confess, God has blessed his ministrations most eminently to my soul.”

Seventh Use.—Has God given all things to the saints by the covenant of grace, surely then they should return all things back again to him, in a way of gratitude, duty and service. Has he promised to make every thing which we have to do with, concur to promote our best interest, and our final happiness? Let us then apply ourselves with zeal and diligence, to make every thing within our reach subserve his divine interests, and the glory of his kingdom.

Has my gracious God withheld nothing from me, but together with his own Son given me all things, why then should I withhold any thing from him? Why should I not devote my heart, my head, my hands, my whole self, and all things that are within my power, to the honour of his name? Does God bestow life or health or riches upon such a worthless creature as I am? Let holiness to the Lord be written upon them all. And if my fellow-creatures are poor, needy, cold, and starving, let me chearfully minister to them of my substance, which the great Lord of heaven and earth has so richly bestowed on me. My God honours me indeed, when he makes me the dispenser of his blessings among his creatures, and especially among his saints. I lose nothing by this benevolence, but am rather enriched by this very distribution. I become rich in good works, and rich in divine promises: “He that gives to the poor lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay him.” Alms are as money laid out to the best interest, and are a growing treasure.

But should I hope for no new beneficial return of all my kindness to men, the very benefits received of God my Father constrain me to this bounty. Has he given all things to a poor worthless creature, and shall I give nothing to the poor, or the unworthy? Shall I not rather imitate the profuse bounty of my God, who commands his sun to shine, and his rain to descend both on the evil and the good. It is a divine excellence to love and to distribute as God does.

The name of Jesus my Saviour has yet a further power to oblige me to use all my earthly possessions for his honour. Has Christ Jesus purchased this large and fair inheritance for me with his blood, has he given me much on earth, and the hopes of greater treasures in heaven, then I will be my own no longer, but give my whole self up to him, with all my powers and talents, and possessions! They are thine, blessed Saviour, they are thine for ever. It is the solemn and deliberate wish of my heart, that I may never possess or enjoy any thing from which Christ has no revenue of glory. O that his grace may enable me to employ things present for this holy purpose! And when I arrive at the actual possession of things to come, they shall be improved in an unknown but a nobler manner, for the everlasting glory of my God, my Father, and my Saviour.

The Recollection of the doctrinal part.—“In this discourse, O my soul, thou hast not only been called to survey the riches of thy inheritance, but thou hast learned also, in what manner this inheritance is made over to thee, if thou art a sincere christian, and a believer on the Son of God.

“Look backward, my soul, to eternal ages, before the world began, when God marked out the bounds of this creation, and the limits of these heavens, and this earth, he designed them with all their treasures, for the service of his holy ones, for the benefit of his children, angels and men; and thy name and thy share was written down amongst them. The great God, in those early days of his eternity, has provided a rich sufficiency for thy present and future blessedness. O may my faith take this delightful and distant retrospect, and rejoice in God’s eternal love?

“God has given all things into the hands of his own Son Jesus, whom he hath ordained Lord of all, that he might govern and dispose of all things for the good of his people. Christ is risen from the dead, and hath taken possession of all the blessings of grace and glory, in the name of his saints, that he may make them possessors in their season, and according to their measure: That he may make thee, O my soul, a rich possessor of so fair an inheritance; and that he may keep every part of it secure for thee, till in succession of times and seasons, both in earth and in heaven, thou art fit to receive and enjoy it. If thou art made a joint-heir with Christ, thou art heir of all things.”

But remember, it is a living faith in Christ that must entitle thee to this rich inheritance. It is of infinite importance then, to search often and enquire, Am I a christian indeed? A sincere convert, a believer in Jesus? And does my faith evidence itself in all the fruits of repentance, love, and holiness? O may I feel my soul to live daily this divine life by the faith of the Son of God, that I may maintain a humble claim to these treasures of mercy laid up in the gospel, treasures committed to the hands of Christ to be kept safe for me.

“And may the blessed Spirit instruct me daily to improve all things to my spiritual and eternal benefit, that I may not be like a fool, who has a prize put into his right-hand, and knows not how to make use of it! May I be taught to draw some sacred advantage, some holy delight and refreshment from the continual new scenes and occurrences of life! May I derive knowledge, and love, and heavenly sweetness from the surprizing works of God, as the God of nature, and from the more surprizing wonders of his grace! May I learn something divine and holy from all the transactions of his providence, and the various turns and changes of this present state, till I am prepared and made meet for a more fit and ample possession of the everlasting inheritance of the saints in light!” Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXVIII. All things working together for Good.

My soul survey thy happiness, If thou art found a child of grace, How richly is the gospel stor’d! What joy the promises afford!

“All things are ours;” the gift of God, And purchas’d with our Saviour’s blood, While the good Spirit shews us how To use and to enjoy them too.

If peace and plenty crown my days, They help me, Lord, to speak thy praise; If bread of sorrows be my food, These sorrows work my real good.

I would not change my bless’d estate With all that flesh calls rich or great; And while my faith can keep her hold, I envy not the sinner’s gold.

Father I wait thy daily will, Thou shalt divide my portion still, Grant me on earth what seems thee best Till death and heav’n reveal the rest.

SERMON XXXIX. The right Improvement of Life. 1 COR. iii. 22.—Whether life or death,—all are yours.

It is a large and fair inheritance that belongs to the children of God. They have no need to divide themselves into little parties, and to quarrel about their particular interest in one minister or another, in one blessing or another; for whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, whether life or death, all things are theirs.

My former discourses have explained in what sense christians possess all things, and that is, that all things present or to come, that can any way affect or concern them, shall certainly turn to their benefit, and subserve their great and final interest. I proceed now more particularly to enlarge on the words, which I had chiefly in my design, whether life or death, all are yours. The first doctrine arising from the words is this, “Life itself, and the continuance of it to the saints, is for their advantage.” Now to improve this proposition to practical purposes, I shall do these things:

I. I shall make it appear under a variety of instances, that life is designed for the benefit of christians.—II. I would amplify and confirm the doctrine yet further, by discovering what a variety of graces may be exercised on earth, which can have no place in heaven; and make it appear, that in some respects, a saint below hath advantage above the saints that are on high.—III. I shall answer a considerable objection or two that seems to rise against the doctrine, while I am treating of it: And, at last some inferences will be drawn from the whole discourse.

First let me shew wherein life appears to be a benefit to true believers. Life is yours, O christians, for

1. This is the time that was given you for your reconciliation to God, and securing your everlasting interest. All the elect of God are born into this world sinful and miserable, by their relation to the first Adam, therefore St. Paul seems to include himself, as well as the heathen infidels, when he speaks of the iniquity of their nature, and the guilt of their state. Eph. ii. 2. We all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath even as others. Now this life is the time given to seek deliverance from the wrath to come, to fly to the hope that is set before us; now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation; 1 Cor. vi. 2. Now while we are in our state of trial, before the gates of the grave have closed upon us, and before the gates of hell have been opened to receive us.

We are all, by nature, strangers to God, enemies in our minds by wicked works, and under sentence of condemnation: Remember, O sinners, this is the time to get acquaintance with God, to return to his service, and obtain his special favour. We are defiled and guilty creatures: This is the hour of cleansing while the fountain of the blood of Christ stands open, to wash us from sin and uncleanness. We are, by nature, utterly unfit for heaven, and all the works and the joys of it, because of the vicious inclinations that govern us. This is the day of repentance as well as pardon: This is the day given to us to insure those blessed mansions on high, and to obtain preparing graces. This temporal life is the only season, wherein the sentence of our condemnation can be reversed, and wherein we may obtain eternal forgiveness, and a right to life everlasting. The blood and righteousness of the Son of God, are not proposed nor offered to guilty creatures in the other world. Now is the time to acquire a meetness for the inheritance in light through the sanctifying influences of the blessed Spirit.

After death there is nothing of this kind to be done: There is no work, nor device, no knowledge, nor wisdom, no faith or repentance to be exercised, no such duty to be performed among the dead, no opportunity to rectify, the mistakes of life: There is no grace to be obtained for sinners in the grave, whither we are all travelling; Eccl. ix. 10. What is left undone at that awful moment, must be for ever undone. At the voice of the summons we must go, whether pardoned or unpardoned, whether holy or unholy, whether hoping or despairing. And a dreadful spectacle it is, as your eyes ever beheld, to see a sinner expiring in full and raging despair.

But O what infinite advantage has it been to christians, that they have enjoyed, this golden hour of grace, and been taught to improve it well! What, had become of you, O believers, if ye had been arrested some years ago by the messengers of death, and hurried away into eternity? Where had your portion been, if ye had been sent down to the grave in the midst of your sins, before you were awakened or convinced of your folly and danger, before you had felt inward repentance, or had been acquainted with Jesus that bought and bestows forgiveness; before ye had known the virtue of his reconciling blood, or seen the face of a God reconciled? While your hearts and life were all unclean and unholy, your death must have been dreadful, and your soul for ever unhappy. What infinite honours are due to the patience and long-suffering of your God, and to the mercy and mediation of Jesus your Saviour? Glory be to divine patience, and divine grace, for life prolonged, and a sinner saved!

II. Life is yours; it is your opportunity of doing much service for Christ, and manifesting your gratitude for his redeeming love; 2 Cor. v. 15. They who live, should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him that died for them, and rose again.

Here on earth, you may speak of the wonders of his grace that has saved you, and publish his love that is unspeakable: You may tell sinners of the infinite dimensions of this love, to invite them to partake of the same salvation. Here your lips, and your tongues may be delightfully employed, in declaring what you have tasted of the blessings of the gospel, and the grace of Christ; and call others to taste and see that the Lord is good, and how blessed the man is that trusteth in him! Ps. xxxiv. 8. Here you make it known, for the support of poor convinced wretches that are ready to despair, what heights and what lengths, what breadths and what depths there are in the love of Christ; for it reached your soul even at the borders of hell, it spread wide to cover all your great and heinous iniquities; it rises high, for it has lifted your hopes to heaven, and it stretches its sweet and sovereign influence beyond the length of time, and provides for your life and happiness that shall measure out eternity. Here you may proclaim the praises of your Redeemer to an ignorant world, you may promote his interest a hundred ways on earth, and thus glorify your Saviour which is in heaven.

This is not to be done in the same manner, nor for the same blessed purposes amongst the saints above. When the body lies senseless and mouldering in the grave, the tongue cannot praise the Lord: The living, the living, they praise thee as we do this day, as Hezekiah did when he was recovered from sickness, and had a sense of pardoned sin. Is. xxxviii. 17, 18. In love to my soul, thou hast delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. The grave cannot praise thee, the dead cannot celebrate thee; they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth. This is the proper work of the living saint, to make known to sinners the grace of salvation.

Life is the only time of such work and service. “Opportunity, (saith a writer on this subject) is like a golden instrument to dig for heavenly treasure: Do not wear it out as many have done in digging for pebbles, and at your latter end become a fool. Plead not your mean capacity: Kings of the earth, and all people, old men and children may praise the Lord; Ps. cxlviii. 11, 12. Serve your age according to your talent; Mat. xxv. 15. He that had but one talent, but a single capacity, was called to account for it, and cast into outer darkness. Think how many opportunities you have out-lived, which will never have their resurrection: Redeem lost time, by improving what remains. Project improvements of life, since your light is near extinguished. Make up in affection what may be wanting in action. If you cannot do much, yet love much. If our servants should work no better for us than many have done for God, we should turn them out of doors. Stir up others to work for God, that you may do by their hand what you cannot do by your own.” Thus this pious author.

Let us consider what glorious services have been done for God, by the long continuance of saints in this world. Survey the labours and the sufferings, the ministry, the zeal and the success of the blessed apostles, who planted the first christian churches. What monuments of honour did they raise among Jews and strangers, among Greeks and barbarians, the savage and the polite heathens, to their crucified and exalted Saviour! What multitudes of subjects were brought to bow the knee to Jesus by their preaching! What a large harvest of souls was gathered unto Christ, when the apostle scattered the seed of the gospel all round the countries, from Jerusalem, through the provinces of the lesser Asia, and through the southern parts of Europe, as some have supposed, as far as Spain! And the Redeemer was glorified by his labours where the name of the true God the Creator was hardly known before. What an extensive blessing to the world was the life of Paul? It is to this, that the following ages of christianity, as well as the primitive saints, owe the unspeakable benefit of his writings; and it is to this, that Great Britain owes the blessing of his divine epistles. How honourable was it for St. Paul himself, and how happy for us, that he was made an instrument of such service to Christ, such a glorious service, as spread itself around the nations, and reached to distant ages of mankind. His long life was an illustrious blessing both to himself and to the christian world.

III. Life is yours, O christians, for it allows many a proper season for giving examples of holiness to mankind. And it is a honour to a saint, to be made an example of religion amongst a nation of sinners, or a pattern of holiness, among the churches of believers. Herein you become followers and imitators of the blessed Lord your Master: He is the first pattern, he is the most glorious example; for in all things he must have the pre-eminence.

If you become a public and a shining example of virtue, and piety, and goodness, you may attain these four very valuable ends at once:

1. By this means you pay great and just honours to the blessed gospel whereby you are saved, and confound and silence the impious accusations and slanders of the wicked: And especially if your station and rank in the world make you the object of more public notice, either in a city, in a village, in a neighbourhood, or in any society of men, then like a candle or a torch set on a hill, you diffuse light and honour far around you, and God and the gospel are glorified on your account. And not only in the higher stations of life, but even servants of the lowest character, if they are but saints, may adorn the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things; Titus ii. 10. It is greatly for the credit of our holy religion, when the men of this world seeing our good works, are forced to confess that there is something divine in christianity, that God is amongst us of a truth; and by these means they are constrained to glorify our Father, and our Redeemer, and our holy religion. This is the command of Christ; Mat. v. 16.

2. Hereby sinners are not only convinced that there is a power and glory in the doctrine of Christ, but many a soul has been converted to the faith of Jesus, by beholding the pious conversation, the heavenly graces, the holy love, the divine zeal, the constancy, the patience, and the sufferings of christians. The good women in St. Peter’s days were exhorted to invite and draw their unbelieving husbands to the faith and love of the gospel, by beholding their chaste conversation, coupled with religious fear, and the ornament of a meak and a quiet spirit; 1 Pet. iii. 1-4. Look forward, O christians, to the last great day, and think with what a pleasing joy you shall hear those who have been converted by your example, and reformed from a licentious course of life, declare this to your public honour before men and angels: Your holy example though buried long in silence, shall have a glorious resurrection in that day, and the Judge himself shall proclaim it to your praise, that he used your piety here on earth, as an instrument of his grace to enlarge his kingdom.

3. Hereby christians of a lower form, and those that are babes in Christ, are awakened to a holy imitation of your superior virtues and graces. It was the continuance of St. Paul in this life, through the various stages of it, that recommended him as a pattern to the believers of his day, in all the various circumstances of their lives; and the longer he lived, the more glorious example he left behind him, for the benefit of the saints, that they might be followers of him as he was of Christ; 1 Cor. xi. 1. And I may add in the

Fourth place, Where a christian of shining virtues and of diffusive goodness is blessed with a long life, the memory of his example, and the sweet savour of his graces, remain the longer on earth, after his own departure to heaven. It is like a rich perfume that has lain some considerable time among garments, it communicates a pleasant fragrancy to the apparel long after the perfume itself is removed. Thus many a saint, by the sweet odour of his name, has done honour to the gospel in the place where he lived, while his bones are mouldering in the dust: The history of his various virtues has dwelt long on the lips of the surviving neighbours, and perhaps, hath awakened others to an imitation of such a pattern many years after his decease.

Whether example be of any use in heaven, or whether the saints of lower rank there may be excited to holy imitation, by the superior graces or glories of more eminent saints, is not so well known to us; but this we may be well assured of, that the example of christians can have no use in that happy world, to guard the doctrine of Christ from profane reproaches, or to convince or convert sinners and infidels. It is the living, and the living alone, that can do this service for Christ, and glorify his gospel in such instances as these:

But I proceed to another advantage of our continuance in this world.

IV. Life is yours; for it gives opportunity for abounding in good works to the great benefit of mankind. The longer a saint lives, if he maintains his character with honour, he becomes so much a greater blessing to the world. But what a deal of good ceases with the life of a good man!

Christians, ye are required to maintain good works for the honour of your Father, and for the glory of your Saviour, who hath purchased you to be a peculiar people, zealous of good works: But there is another reason for them too, and that is, “these things are good and profitable to men;” Titus ii. 14. compared with the third chapter, verse 8. Every day of life opens some new scenes, wherein you may be serviceable to your neighbours, your relatives, your fellow-creatures, and so make the world the better for you.

The days and years of life should be numbered by the multitude of good works, as much as by the revolutions of the sun and moon: For lost and wasted time should not come into the account of life. But if this were our way of counting, what should we say of thousands, who have lived to no other purpose but to eat and drink, and to make up the number of mankind? O it is a mean and pitiful thing only to be old in time, and not in duties to God, or benefits to men. And, as an author speaks on this subject, All the good works of many who are stricken in years will lie in a very little compass: To be an ancient man or woman of two or three years old, sounds like a contradiction, and it is, indeed, a matter of great shame, and ought to awaken deep repentance.

How many are there that live to no purpose at all, and the world will not miss them when they are gone? How many that live to wicked purpose, and the world is glad to be rid of them? Some are mere cumberers of the ground, and some are perfect nuisances, and public mischiefs. Such should never pretend to the name of christians. Let us remember it was the character of our blessed Lord, that he went about doing good; and he was willing to work those works while it was his day of life; for the night was coming on him wherein he should have no such sort of work to do; John ix. 4. O may our Saviour be our pattern, and let us be followers of the holy Jesus! Alas! what a noble pattern! what slow and distant followers.

It was this desire of service to the world, that put the great apostle into a strait betwixt two, as in Philip. i. 23. He knew not what to ask for; Shall I pray for death and glory, my heart hath a wish that way? It is far better for me to depart, and to be with Christ: Or shall I desire to continue in life? This is for the service of your faith, and furtherance of your joy; therefore I am content, saith he, to have my crown and glory deferred, that my longer life may be your advantage. O what an illustrious spirit of zeal and love reigned in the heart of this apostle!

Ye are the light of the world, saith Christ to his disciples; Mat. v. 13, 14. What a dark dungeon would this world be, if it had never a saint in it? Ye are the salt of the earth; What corruption of manners would overspread the face of the earth! What vile communications, and odious practices would defile the world in a few years, if every christian were dead! What shameful and abominable works had over-run the heathen nations, before Christ and his gospel appeared, and the idolaters were made christians! A saint in a family, is like the ark of God in the house of Obed-edom; 2 Sam. vi. 12. For the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertained to him, because of the ark of God. A pious soul is a Joseph in the family of Potiphar; Gen. xxxix. 5. When the Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake; and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in the house and in the field.

A number of saints in a city, or a nation, are many times like Noah, Daniel, and Job, in the midst of them. They guard the public by their prayers from mighty ruin and wide desolation. Sodom itself had been saved, if there had been ten righteous souls in it. And I am persuaded, Great-Britain had been a kingdom of idolaters and slavery, or a heap of confusion and slaughter, and a field of blood long ago, because of the provoking wickedness in the midst of it, had it not been for the few righteous that have always stood in the gap: There have been always some powerful pleaders at the mercy seat, when the wrath of God and the destroying angels have been breaking in like a flood upon us, some Moses and Samuel to withhold the desolation, when popery and tyranny have been just at our gates, and ready to overwhelm us.

O how many unknown blessing do these sinful nations enjoy, because of the lives and the prayers of the saints that are in it! Holy souls, who though they are divided into different parties, and practise their different forms, yet worship the same God, through the same Mediator, and by the same Spirit, who are ever welcome to the throne of grace, who are all saints in the esteem of God, and in the language of scripture. Strange, that the name of a saint should be used as a term of reproach amongst us, and cast upon one party in a way of scorn, when these are the persons of every party who are the most excellent in the earth; these are the guards and walls of defence to the nation, the chariots of our Israel, and the horsemen thereof; 2 Kings ii. 12. xiii. 14.

V. Life is yours; for it affords means for brightening your evidence for heaven, and improving your own preparation for glory. Surely you are not willing to depart from this world, till you have good hope of an interest in a better state, and a comfortable expectation that it shall be well with you for ever. Does God prolong your days on earth? See then, that the principles of piety and goodness be well rooted in your hearts, and that your graces grow up under the influences of heaven. See that they bud and blossom with fair flowers, to the honour of your profession, and to the joy of your own consciences. Let the sacred fruits of your love and zeal break out upon all just occasions: Shine brighter in holiness every day of your mortal life, and bring forth fruits meet for life everlasting, that ye may know and be assured that the seeds of glory are sown within you, such divine seeds as will bear a rich and blessed harvest in the great day.

He that has this hope will purify himself as Christ is pure; 1 John iii. 3. and his increasing purity will confirm his hope. Believe it christians, as your life and practice grows more divine and undefiled, the image of Christ will appear in you with fairer evidence, and raise your hopes of dwelling with him to the joys of assurance. Many a soul has gone to heaven as in a chariot of triumph, after some years of their practice of christianity, who, at their first profession of it, were oppressed with many doubts and fears, and were often trembling upon the borders of despair. Life was their blessing indeed, when it taught them to die with faith and honour, and enter into the world of spirits with divine joy.

Let it be said then concerning you, O christians, that you sensibly approach nearer to heaven every month of your continuance upon earth, and that you look more like the inhabitants of that upper world, by how much the longer you continue in this lower state; that when you depart hence, you may be assured of a joyful admission into paradise. May your graces shine bright, and your evidences for heaven appear so glorious and incontested, that there may be no tremblings about your heart in that solemn and important hour; no doubtful flutterings or frights on a deathbed, but that you may find the gates of glory open before you, that you may see your way clear through the dark valley, and have a rich and abundant entrance into the kingdom of your God on high.

VI. Life is yours, that by a due improvement of it your crown of glory may be enlarged, and your seat advanced in heaven.

That there are different degrees of honour and joy conferred on the saints above, according to their different characters and capacities, is a doctrine that hath so much countenance and evidence from scripture, that we can no longer justly doubt of it: And, I think, I have made this appear by incontested proofs in another place[40]. If you are zealous for the cause of Christ, and active in his service through all the stages of life, and your old age be crowned with abundant fruits of righteousness, your reward in glory shall bear a proportion to these labours, and the length of your time on earth shall give a glorious addition to your recompence in the heavenly world; 1 Cor. xv. 58. Be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; for as much as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. What a shame and pity is it that you or I should have a long life on earth, and but a low rank or a little portion of reward in heaven!

But to animate your zeal, I would humbly propose yet a more surprizing advancement in glory, to the diligent improvers of life and grace. What if the services you do for God on earth should still bring forth new fruit among men long after your death? and if your happiness should be ever increasing in this proportion? When the great Judge comes, he will surely reward every one according to their works: But in Jer. xvii. 10. it is said, God will not only give to every man according to his ways, but also according to the fruit of his doings? What if our labours, our prayers, our pious works and words, or our examples on earth should go on to produce this divine fruit, even the conversion of souls when we are in heaven? And what if the rich and overflowing grace of God should reward us on this account with growing glories? And those who turn many to righteousness in this manner, should shine as stars with increasing lustre?

Some divines have supposed, that the mischievous influence of the works and lives of the wicked shall increase their torment: And perhaps, Jeroboam, who set up the calves at Dan and Bethel, and who made the land of Israel to practise idolatry for some hundreds of years after his own death, might feel yearly more intense agonies of conscience, and his hell grow seven times hotter. This is a dreadful thought, and should terribly awaken and impress those sinners who have diffused their iniquities far and wide, who have corrupted whole families, and cities, and nations, and spread their poison through succeeding ages. And why may not the joy and crown of St. Paul increase and brighten by the conversion of sinners, through sixteen hundred years, by the influence of his holy writings amongst all the christian nations? And thus not the Thessalonians alone, but the inhabitants of Great Britain, shall be the matter of his glory and joy! O it is a blessed thing to multiply good instructions, and counsels, and exemplary practices of holiness; and to hear of them after we have gone to heaven, either by ministering angels, or by souls newly arriving there, that they still yield on earth a further crop and harvest of honour to Christ, and profit to men. Such tidings as these cannot but raise and advance our own joys.

As your zeal and labour in active service shall find a retribution every way answerable, so your patience under sufferings shall meet with a proportionable reward; 2 Cor. iv. 17. For our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, are working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Life is the only season, as I shall shew afterwards, for this sort of exercise; and the longer we endure sorrows here honourably, the richer shall our reward be hereafter, though the reward is not of merit but of free grace.

How many saints are there in heaven exalted to eminent stations in that upper world, and some who wear, perhaps, the crown of martyrdom, and enjoy the prizes of victory over a thousand temptations, after they have run a long race in christianity? And yet many of these, it may be, would have possessed but a low station, and a little share of honour and happiness in those heavenly regions, if they had been cut off from the earth in their younger days, and been called away to heaven immediately after their conversion. Surely, if you have spent many years in public labour for Christ, and zealous devotion, you have endured cruel mockeries, imprisonments and sharp sorrows, for the sake of Christ and his gospel, and through the course of a long life, have borne a constant testimony to the faith of Jesus, there are superior glories suited to your character in heaven, which wait your arrival there.

Thus I have made it appear, in various instances, that temporal life itself, and the continuance of it, becomes a real advantage to a true christian: which was the first thing I proposed. But here is an objection which may be raised against this doctrine, viz. “Do not some true christians fall into grievous sins, when their life is prolonged, whereby their conscience is wounded, their garments defiled, their profession blemished, and the holy name of God and Christ blasphemed? Is long life therefore any blessing to christians, since we are so uncertain how we shall behave, and especially if we behave ill?”

Answer 1. The great and natural design, and tendency of our continuance in life, is to do more service for God and men, and obtain more blessings for our own souls; to grow more fit for heaven, and to raise and enlarge our crown. If we abuse the time given us for these blessed purposes, and indulge to sinful lusts or follies, it is highly criminal in us, and we alone must bear the blame.

2. Sometimes those very sins have been so impressed upon the conscience by the convincing spirit, as to become a means to awaken degenerate christians to greater watchfulness, greater tenderness of conscience, and greater degrees of humility, of spirituality, and heavenly-mindedness: Those very falls have been made an occasion of their rise and growth in christianity by the grace of that God, who turns darkness into light, and a curse into a blessing.

But where it is not so, God is not to be charged with injustice, in not raising us to higher degrees after our falls; our negligence and criminal indulgences of temptation, have justly forfeited his peculiar favours: And it must still be confessed, it is our own fault where length of life is not attended with growth in grace, and meetness for superior glory.

I should now proceed to the second general head proposed; but not having room to finish all my design at once, I shall conclude this discourse with these two reflections:

First Reflection.—What a rich advantage is put into the hands of a young convert! When a sinner, in his younger years of life is changed into a saint, what a blessed privilege is granted him by divine grace? And what a glorious opportunity is afforded him, the improvement whereof may reach to everlasting ages!

Happy soul, who art reconciled to God betimes, and a thousand sins in the following course of thy life are hereby prevented! Happy soul, to whom Christ has manifested his love in the beginning of life, and saved thee betimes from eternal death! According to the course of nature, thou hast a prospect of doing long service for thy Lord and thy God. Awaken all thy thoughts; consult, contrive, and seek divine advice what thou shalt do for his honour, who hath given thee so early a salvation. Pray for the direction of the blessed Spirit, to mark out the paths of thy feet, and to employ thy head, thy hands, and thy tongue, in the most honourable manner for thy God, and the most useful for the good of men.

Remember, every hour of thy time is a part of thy treasure: Let it not be said at last, it was a prize put into the hands of a fool that had no skill nor heart to use it. God, even thy God, expects a daily revenue of glory, as the just improvement of this treasure. Let a holy zeal be kindled within thee, to do glorious services for thy Creator and thy Saviour, and to shew thy large returns of love to him who hath first loved thee. Let a pious ambition set all thy powers at work to do some uncommon good for men, and to be made an extensive blessing to all that are near thee, arise, and shine long, as a fair example of holiness in a dark and wicked world, and let every year of life brighten thy character on earth and enlarge thy reward in heaven. Be not content merely to get safe within the walls of paradise; the thief on the cross, who was called at the last hour of life, obtained this privilege; but let thy ambition rise higher, and reach at some of the more exalted stations in that kingdom. Then shall it appear that life is thine in the sweetest sense, when every stage and period of it shall add new honours to the name of thy God, give new blessings to the world, and advance the joys of thy own eternity.

Second Reflection.—If life be such a privilege to a christian, and be a part of his treasure in this sense, then what a dismal account hath an old sinner to give, who hath wasted life and time in folly and guilt, and no part of it hath been improved for his eternal happiness.

O miserable creature! Neither life nor death is thine. Bethink thyself a little, and review the dismal scene: Say to thy soul, “What have I been doing these fifty or sixty years? I came into life guilty and unclean, and am now upon the borders of death unclean and guilty still. I was born a child of wrath, and am a son or daughter of wrath still. I was by nature an enemy to God, and I am an enemy to God still, and have no interest in his love. Life was given me that I might seek reconciliation and grace; but I have neglected and abused offered grace, and am not yet reconciled to my almighty and offended Maker. The Judge is just at hand, methinks I hear the sound of his chariot-wheels, and a dismal account have I to give of all my wasted life. I have done no real service for God, nor have given an example of holiness to men: but alas! I have been a pattern of iniquity, or at least, I have followed a multitude to do evil: Every year have I heaped up to myself new treasures of wrath in hell, instead of securing a crown in heaven, and advancing my station and my joy there. Is there any hope for me in the poor remains of life that may yet be allotted me? Is the grace of the gospel sufficient to save such a wretch as I am?”

“Yes, O sinner, it is sufficient, for Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, even the very chief of them. There is grace in the heart of the Father to receive thee; there is sufficient virtue in the blood of Christ to cleanse away all thy guilt; there is influence enough in the blessed Spirit to soften thy heart, and renew thy nature, though thou art an old hardened rebel, and a transgressor from thy very infancy. Lose not a moment more, but set about the work in good earnest; trifle no longer with grace, thou who art on the borders of the grave; fly to the hope that is set before thee; beg salvation of God with daily and nightly tears, and give him no rest till he hath heard thee. Such an importunity is like to be successful; and then, though thy temporal life hath been no benefit to thee hitherto, yet the last moments of it may possibly be accepted, and prevent thy everlasting death. God who is rich in mercy, may bestow on thee some humble place in heaven, but thou canst not expect to shine amongst the brightest saints. Thou mayest be blessed among the dead who die in the Lord, and rest from thy sorrows and thy sins; but thou hast scarce any good works to follow thee. Thy works in all the sprightly years of thy life, have been matter of guilt and shame, and it is infinite mercy, that they shall be remembered no more, But if thy heart be broken for sin, and healed by the blood of Christ, thy humble repentance, and thy holy faith in the few remaining days of old age, and death, shall be accepted through the abounding grace of the gospel. The dying thief on the cross forbids thee to despair utterly, though thou hast run a terrible risk, and ventured on the borders of destruction: And if thou art saved at last, it is so as by fire, it is like a brand plucked out of the burning, or as a man escaping naked out of the flames, and passing on the very brink of hell into everlasting life.”

The Recollection of the doctrinal part.—“And is life the only space given me to be reconciled to God, and am I still a stranger and an enemy? Have I wasted away so many years of this golden season of hope, this day of mercy, and have I not yet received this mercy, nor laid hold on this hope set before me: Search, examine, enquire, what is thy state, O my soul? And if thou art yet a child of wrath, and unreconciled to God, make haste and fly for refuge to the grace of the gospel. Cry mightily for repentance and forgiveness in the name and blood of Jesus. Let no more days of thy life pass away in such a dangerous and dreadful state, lest life should come to a speedy period, and then thou art banished from grace and hope for ever.

“But if the character of a sincere penitent, and a holy christian be found with thee, if thou art partaker of the love of God, through the grace of Jesus, then bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me praise his holy name, that he has not cut me off in the days of my enmity to God, unsanctified, and unpardoned; that he has lengthened out my life and the seasons of his mercy, till he has changed my sinful nature, and secured me in the covenant of his grace.

“Is life given me as an opportunity of service to my Lord Jesus? It is he that has redeemed me: it is he that has laid out his valuable life for me, what shall I do, O my Saviour, to make some humble returns of acknowledgment and love? O let my useless and unserviceable years be forgiven, and let the remains of life, whether long or short, be all devoted to the interests and honours of my Redeemer. Were it possible for the saints, after they have dwelt some time in heaven, to come down and dwell on earth again how would they multiply their labours, and lay out their new life in more activity and service for their God and Saviour? When they have found and tasted what a heaven of happiness succeeds the short labours of life, how would they double all their zeal and diligence, and be grieved they could do no more? When they have seen and conversed with their beloved Lord, and beheld him face to face, with how much warmer love would they engage in his service? Surely they would all cry out, that the longest life on earth is much too short to shew their zeal, affection, and gratitude to so divine and glorious a friend. Think of this, O my soul, and remember, if thou ever arrive safe at heaven, thou wilt wish thou hadst done more for thy beloved Lord here on earth.

“Is this mortal life continued to me that I may spread a savour of piety amongst my fellow-creatures, and set a religious example to men? Lord, suffer me to do nothing that may lead sinners astray from thee. Pardon all the evil examples I have ever given, and let my future conduct shine in holiness, as a pattern to those that are round about me. Methinks, I would convince the world that religion has something excellent and divine in it, and encourage them to the practice of strict godliness.

“Is life prolonged that I may be profitable to mankind, and have I lived thus long already to so little purpose? Though my goodness extends not unto thee, O Lord, yet I entreat that my fellow-creatures may be the better for me while I continue amongst them. O may the God of Abraham bestow on me that rich favour which Abraham received in those divine words of promise, I will bless thee, and I will make thee a blessing; Gen. xii. 2. I would fain live useful and beloved, that I may die desired and lamented. What a shameful thing is it when I go out of the world, that my acquaintance should say, He is gone, but there is no loss of him.”

“Have my days been prolonged thus far that my hopes of heaven might be daily increasing, that my evidences of adoption might grow stronger daily, and my soul be more prepared for heaven: Look inward then, O my soul: Hast thou acquired a more divine and heavenly temper than in years past? Art thou wrought up to a greater meetness for the inheritance on high? Are thy desires, thy appetites, and all thy powers more fitted for the business of heaven, and attempered to the blessedness of the upper world? Art thou growing fitter still for the sight of God, for converse with Christ, for the company of saints and holy angels? How are thy days and months, and years run out to waste, if thou art so much nearer death, and yet art not so much riper for heaven?

“And is it possible that a length of life should be so improved, as that my crown of glory, and my portion of happiness may be enlarged hereafter? Let my holy ambition awake at such a hint as this, and let me aspire to a superior rank among the blessed, by employing every part of life to the most noble and excellent purposes for which life is granted. Let me ever abound in the work of the Lord, since I am assured that no part of my labours shall be in vain in the Lord, or want its proper recompence. Though it is the blood of my Redeemer that has purchased all the prizes and crowns in heaven; yet if I am a swift runner in the christian race, and the race itself be long, I am fitted to receive the fairer prize: And if I am an active and victorious soldier in the army of Christ, and have served faithfully through a tedious war, I may have reason to hope for a brighter crown. We may humbly wait for a reward in proportion to the work, according to the encouragements of the bible, while we still acknowledge that it is free and sovereign grace both enables us to hold out working, and bestows the rich reward.” Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XXXIX. The Right Improvement of Life.

And is this life prolong’d to me? Are days and seasons given? Shall I not then prepare to be A fitter heir for heaven?

I’ll never let these moments pass, These golden hours be gone; Lord, I accept thy offer’d grace, I bow before thy throne.

Now cleanse my soul from ev’ry sin, By my Redeemer’s blood; Now let my flesh and heart begin The honours of my God.

Let me no more my soul defile With sin’s deceitful toys; Let chearful hope encreasing still, Approach to heavenly joys.

My thankful lips shall loud proclaim The wonders of thy praise, And spread the savour of thy name, Where e’er I spend my days.

On earth let my example shine; And when I leave this state, May heaven receive this soul of mine To bliss divinely great.

Footnote 40:

Treatise on Death and Heaven, discourse II. sect. 2.

SERMON XL. The Privilege of the Living above the Dead. 1 COR. iii. 22.——Whether life or death,——all are yours.

When these words were explained, this doctrine was drawn from the first part of them, viz. “When life is given or continued to the saints, it is for their advantage.”

The first thing proposed, in our meditations of this truth, was to make it appear by a variety of instances, that life is designed for the benefit of christians. I proceed now to the

Second, viz. to amplify and confirm this doctrine yet further by representing what various graces may be exercised on earth, which can have no place in heaven; and to discover in what respects, a living christian may be said to have some advantage over the saints that are dead.

1. The first grace I shall mention, which belongs only to this life, is, faith of things unseen, whether present or future; for in heaven this sort of faith is ended and lost; it vanishes into sight; 1 Cor. v. 7. Here in this world we walk by faith, and not by sight; but in the world above, we shall live by sight, and not by faith. Blessed are those souls on earth, who have not seen, and yet have believed; John xx. 29.

Hereby the living christian doth much honour to God, and offers him a revenue of such glory, as can never be offered to him among all the saints and angels on high. To believe that there is a God who made all things, among a world of atheists, that deny him that made them; to carry it toward an unseen God with a solemn awe of his majesty, and deep reverence and submission to his will, in the midst of thoughtless sinners who deride religion, and live without God in the world; to believe that the bible is the word of God, notwithstanding all the difficulties contained in it, and all the bold and subtle cavils that infidels have raised against it, to make this word the ground of our religion, the rule of our practice, and the foundation of our hopes, in the midst of an age of deists and heathens, that laugh at our bible and our belief together: These are noble instances of a militant faith in a world of infidelity. To believe that Jesus of Nazareth, who was hanged upon a tree without Jerusalem, and died there, is the only begotten Son of God, the Maker and the Saviour of the world, to believe that he now lives and governs all things at the right-hand of his Father, and to trust in him who died upon the cross to give us a crown of eternal life; these are such exercises of the grace of faith, as have no place in the world of sight, where every saint beholds him face to face: Such acts as these, are only suited to our present state of absence from the Lord, and yet they are highly honourable to God and our Redeemer, whom having not seen we love, and in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable:—2 Pet. i. 8.

To believe that there is a heaven of glory far above the clouds, where our Lord Jesus Christ has dwelt in his human nature almost two thousand years, and where ten thousands of his blessed saints and angels are for ever enjoying divine consolations; to maintain a firm belief that there is a reward for the righteous laid up on high, while they are here trodden to the dust; to believe there is a hell, an unseen world of misery and torture, where damned spirits are punished for their rebellion against the great God, and shall for ever suffer the weight of his indignation; and to walk through this world with a holy negligence and contempt of it under the influence of these future invisibles, these eternal joys and eternal sorrows: This is a faith that gives much glory to God, while we live, and speak, and act, while we suffer and endure, as seeing him who is invisible, and firmly believing all the joys and terrors of another world, which are hidden from us by the veil of flesh and blood.

This was the faith of the ancient patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; this was the faith of Noah and Moses, and many other heroes, whose names shine with honour in St. Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews; and great and blessed God received daily honours from this their faith. In heaven all these invisibles are seen, all these futurities become present, and they are no longer matters of faith. O that this faith might overspread the earth, as sight is found all over heaven!

II. Hope and expectation of future blessings, either here or hereafter, under all present darknesses and discouragements, is another grace which may be exercised by the living saints; but among the saints that are dead there is no room nor place for it; for in heaven our hope is turned into enjoyment; hope that is seen or enjoyed, is not hope; what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it, Rom. viii. 24. And this patient and chearful expectation under discouraging difficulties, is a glorious homage paid to God, such as the saints in heaven cannot pay him.

The living christian knows not what honour he brings to his God, when his hope for promised mercies bears itself up, while there are no appearing prospects to the eye of sense, and in opposition to a thousand rising dangers; when he can live upon the naked promise, and be assured of the full performance, merely because his God hath spoken it. Then we give honour to God, such as the souls in heaven cannot give him, when under the renewed exercise of faith and repentance we maintain a humble hope of the pardon of sin through the promises of his gospel, even though our iniquities have been exceeding great, and though sin is every day working and striving against our best purposes, and too often bringing us under fresh guilt.

Then we glorify our blessed Redeemer so as the saints in heaven cannot glorify him, when we feel our consciences burdened with sin, and yet maintain faith and hope of acceptance with a great and holy God, through the death, righteousness, and intercession of a person whom we never saw. This is an illustrious honour done to the name, and sacrifice, and mediation of the Son of God.

Then we give glory to the blessed Spirit our enlightener, and our sanctifier, when in the midst of our own errors and darknesses, and in the midst of difficulties and cavils raised by men, we trust in his promised guidance into all necessary truth; when we walk on in the midst of temptations waiting and hoping for fresh sanctifying influences, while we feel and groan over the deceitfulness and the weakness of our own hearts, that are too ready to start aside from God like a broken bow.

Then we honour God and his gospel indeed, when we hope for our own final salvation through the blood of the everlasting covenant, having fled for refuge to the hope that is set before us, though by the wiles of the devil, we have been under strong temptations to despair, and sometimes have seemed to be forsaken of God, as Christ Jesus was when hanging on the cross: It was then that he glorified his Father and his God, by the constancy and courage of his hope, in such a manner as he was never capable of doing after that great and dreadful day; and herein his poor tempted followers have been noble imitators of their Saviour and their Lord, and have held fast their confidence in divine mercy in the midst of sore temptations, and given great glory to their God and Father.

Nor is this hope a vain presuming confidence, or a bold fit of enthusiasm, for it evidences its own heavenly and divine original, by keeping the soul pure, and holy, and humble, in the midst of all this darkness, and this disconsolate state: He that has this hope will purify himself, even as Christ is pure; 1 John iii. 3. A presuming hope that carries no spring of holiness in it, can neither honour God nor profit men.

But there are other occasions also in this life, for the exercise of the grace of hope, viz. amidst huge and threatening difficulties, that relate to the public interests of religion. When the feeble and doubting christian sees the affairs of the church of Christ sinking daily, he is almost ready to sink and die too, and to despair for Zion; and it is the language of his unbelief, by whom shall Jacob arise, for he is small? But the stronger christian, who knows how to live upon a promise, can reply, that the God of Jacob is almighty, the king of Israel is the true God and everlasting king, and the interest of the church shall rise again, even though it were drowning; for not all the floods on earth, nor even the gates of hell shall prevail against the church that is built upon Jesus the rock of ages: And Jesus himself receives his special tribute of glory from his saints on earth, while they triumph in this hope.

There are also some seasons wherein a living saint honours God in this world, by maintaining his hope in the midst of various trials that attend him in his private affairs, and especially when poverty and distress overtake him like an armed man, and he hath no other help nor hope left, but in some gracious words of promise, and some unknown appearances of providence in his behalf. Blessed are the poor who can live by faith! A christian honours God also greatly in the days of sickness, and the hour of death, when he feels nature sinking, and flesh dissolving; yet he can look upon his withering limbs without dismay, in the hope of the resurrection, and speak in the language of holy Job, “Though after my skin worms devour this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God;” Job xix. 26.

I grant that the saints who are in heaven, the spirits of the just made perfect, wait also, and hope for the resurrection of the body, and all the promised blessings of that day; but they have a bright and sure prospect of it by the light of glory, in which they read all the promises; and they have a pledge and pattern of it in the body of Jesus Christ raised from the dead, and glorified in the midst of them. Their hope lies under no darkness, no discouragement. The saints on earth therefore, in the exercise of this their hope, give a greater glory to God than those in heaven; for it struggles with mighty difficulties, and overcomes them all. It is such a hope as Abraham built on the mere promise of God, that he should have a son when he was a hundred years old, and his wife Sarah was ninety. “He hoped in God who quickened the dead, and called those things which be not as though they were; who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the Father of many nations, according to that which was spoken; so shall thy seed be. He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;” Rom. iv. 17, 18-20.

III. Liberality and compassion to the poor is another exercise of grace, for which this life only gives opportunity. The objects of our bounty on earth are both saints and sinners; for we are charged to imitate our heavenly Father, who commands his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and his rain to fall and refresh the just and the unjust; Mat. v. 45. But in the world to come, the saints are raised far above the want of our compassion, and condemned sinners in their long everlasting misery are forbid all refreshment.

It is in this life only, that we can shew our love to Christ himself, by refreshing the bowels of his saints. It is here that we may treasure up matter for divine approbation and solemn applause, in the great judgment-day, when the alms that have been given in a private corner, where the left-hand has not known what the right-hand did, shall be published with honour before that innumerable assembly. “I remember,” says our blessed Lord, “I well remember, when in yonder world ye fed my hungry saints, then ye fed and nourished me; when ye gave drink to them, ye gave drink to me, and relieved my thirst; when ye bestowed garments on them, it was I that was naked, and ye clothed and covered me; and when ye visited them in sickness or in prison, I was the prisoner, I was sick, and I take it as kindly as though ye had visited and comforted me.” Astonishing condescension of the Son of God! Surprizing honour put on the liberal christian! But here is the only place for acquiring these honours, though they are published hereafter.

There is no poor christian to be supplied in heaven out of the stores of your bounty, no naked saints to be clothed there. All the regions of heaven cannot afford any such object of your compassion and love. Many a saint on earth is hungry, and thirsty, and naked, and exposed to sore hardships and necessities, but necessities and hardships are unknown in heaven. Many a widow, and orphan, and poor destitute christian, lies sick and groaning as it were at the gates of glory: Let us seize the opportunity to feed, to support, and to comfort them; for there is no destitute creature, no sick, or poor, no needy widow or orphan, within the gates.

Life is given to some persons for this very end! Good Dorcas was even raised from the dead, and had her life lengthened out to make more coats and garments for the poor. Ministering to the saints is a delightful labour, and a business worth living for. In this world the rich christian has the honour of being a steward for God to feed his children; but in the world above, there are no earthly treasures to receive such a sort of consecration as this is, no alms to be offered up as an acceptable sacrifice to God the Father, or to his Son Jesus. See then that ye practise this virtue as often as providence gives a proper occasion, and thus consecrate your substance to the Lord of the whole earth. Lend a little to the Lord in this manner, and it shall be paid with large interest: “He that hath pity on the poor lendeth to the Lord, and he will repay him;” Prov. xix. 17.

Perhaps another week, or another day shall divide you from all your earthly riches; no more of them can be laid out for God: Perhaps death may send you into the invisible world, and ye shall have no more objects of your pity for ever; whatsoever thy hand then finds thee to do, do it with all thy might; Eccl. ix. 10. You that are rich in this world, be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to communicate, laying up in store a good foundation against the time to come, that ye may lay hold on eternal life; 1 Tim. vi. 18, 19. And remember that he that sows sparingly, shall reap sparingly; but he that soweth bountifully in his distributions to the poor, for the sake of Christ, shall also reap bountifully of the riches of glory, in the great day of reward; 2 Cor. ix. 6.

IV. Another grace which only the living can exercise, is, charity to our fellow-creatures under their mistakes, or infirmities, and a charitable and loving frame of spirit to our fellow-christians who differ from us either in principle or practice.

Infirmities and mistakes belong only to the present state: This life is the only time when a fellow-saint can be overtaken in a fault, and when we are capable of restoring such a one in the spirit of meekness. It is here only that the proposed motive has any room or place; consider thyself lest thou also be tempted; Gal. vi. 1. And though we are bound to maintain an everlasting aversion to every sin, yet we should imitate and honour the forgiving mercy of our God, by speaking peace and consolation to a returning sinner.

Be not too severe in your censures, you who have been kept from temptation, but pity others who are fallen, and mourn over their fall. Do not think or say the worst things you can of those who have been taken in the snare of Satan, and been betrayed into some grosser iniquities. When you see them grieved and ashamed of their own follies, and bowed down under much heaviness, take occasion then to speak a softening and a healing word. Speak for them kindly, and speak to them tenderly. “Have compassion of them, lest they be swallowed up of over much sorrow;” 2 Cor. ii. 7. And remember too, O censorious christian, that thou art also in the body, it is rich grace that has kept thee hitherto, and the same God, who for wise ends has suffered thy brother to fall, may punish thy severity and reproachful language, by withholding his grace from thee in the next hour of temptation: and then thy own fall and guilt shall upbraid thee with inward and bitter reflections, for thy sharp censures of thy weak and tempted brother. This life is the only time wherein we can pity the infirmities of our brethren and bear their burdens. This law of Christ must be fulfilled in this world, for there is no room for it in the next; wherefore bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ; Gal. vi. 2.

This world is the only place where different opinions and doctrines are found amongst the saints; Disagreeing forms of devotion, and sects, and parties, have no place on high: None of these things can interrupt the worship or the peace of heaven. See to it then, that you practise this grace of charity here, and love thy brother, and receive him into thy heart in holy fellowship, though he may be weak in faith, though he may observe days and times, and may feed upon herbs, and indulge some superstitious follies while thou art strong in faith, and well acquainted with the liberty of the gospel. Let not little things provoke you to divide communions on earth; but by this sort of charity, and a catholic spirit, honour the Saviour and his church here in this world; for since there are no parties, nor sects, nor contrary sentiments among the church in heaven, this christian virtue can never find any room for exercise there. This kind of charity ends at death.

V. Sympathy with mourners, and pity and relief to those that are oppressed with many sorrows, is a virtue that belongs only to the saints on earth. There are no sorrowful christians in heaven, and the various methods of comfort, which we practise toward our suffering brethren here below, are therefore impracticable in the upper world. “The God of all comfort is he who comforteth us in our tribulations, for this reason, that we may be able to comfort those that are oppressed with their heavy afflictions;” 2 Cor. i. 4. “This is pure religion and undefiled; to visit the fatherless and the widows in their afflictions, as well as to keep yourselves unspotted from the world;” James i. 27. But it is the religion of the church on earth, not the religion of heaven.

Go, then and visit thy brother in distress, visit poor afflicted and suffering christians: Go mention the promises of divine grace that belong to them in a suffering state, and lead them to rest upon some happy promise: Go teach them the benefit of afflictive circumstances: Let the twelfth chapter to the Hebrews be your text, and raise many a sweet inference for the support of sufferers. Tell them of the fruits of holiness that grow upon the bitter tree of earthly sorrows; and that the wood of the cross blossoms with grace and glory. Put them in mind of the examples of divine deliverance, when there has been no outward prospect of help and hope. Lead them to a meditation of the heavenly state: Point their thoughts upward: Direct their faith and their hope thither: teach them to look at the things that are unseen and eternal, that they may be able in the language of faith to say, “These light afflictions which are but for a moment, are working for us an eternal weight of glory;” 2 Cor. iv. 17.

There are no sorrows among the inhabitants of heaven, no sufferings there, no pain, no complaint; nor is there any need of your consolations: This is a work you cannot do in paradise, but God delights to see his children here comfort one another in their travels through this valley of tears, this tiresome wilderness; 1 Thess. iv. 18. Then let us give our fellow-christians their due of consolation, and offer to our God the sacrifice of his delight.

VI. Forbearance and forgiveness of real or supposed injuries, is a grace to be practised only by the living christian.—Christ Jesus our Lord demands it, and lays a bar upon your hopes of the forgiveness of God, if ye refuse it to your fellow-creatures; Mat. vi. 14, 15. And the great apostle entreats you to practise it. Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long-suffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man hath a quarrel against any: Even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye; Col. iii. 12, 13. Charity, or love, as it should be translated, suffers long, beareth all things, and hopeth all things; and though considered in the general notion of love to the saints, it lives for ever in heaven; yet these special exercises of it belong to this world. Charity or love is not easily provoked, it thinketh no evil, gives every thing the best turn that it will bear, and puts the best sense upon all things that are spoken. O that every living christian might adorn his profession with the exercise of this virtue; 1 Cor. xiii. 4-8.

Meekness is a grace which has no place in the upper world, in this respect, that it has no trials there. Glorify God your Saviour therefore in the days of your trial here below, and be ye meek and lowly as he was; be ye slow to anger, and swift to forgive, as God your Father is. When you hear a word of offence or reproach spoken, and feel the rising ferment of the blood, watch against it, subdue it: This is the hour of battle, see that ye come off conquerors. When there is a word of bitterness upon your tongue, stifle it, and keep silence, subdue the temptation, and prevent that sin; give glory to God in this manner, which the saints in heaven cannot do. “Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: Be not overcome with evil; but overcome evil with good;” Rom. xii. 19-21.

Love is a virtue that flourishes in heaven, it grows high, it spreads wide, and it shines bright in the upper world. Love is a grace that out-lives faith and hope, and endures for ever. There is no such union of hearts, no such sacred bonds of affection, as are found among the saints on high. Heaven is the very element and region of love; but it is all love to God, love to Christ, and to our fellow-saints: For love to enemies is not known in that country, because there is no enemy there. To love them that hate us, to bless them that curse us; to pity, and forgive, and pray for those that injure us; these are not only noble singularities of the christian religion, which are not known amongst all the catalogues of heathen virtues, but neither are they practised in the heavenly world. As glorious and sublime as they are, yet they are never found among the spirits of the just made perfect: Those holy souls, are all far above the reach of malice, hatred, and enmity; there are no objects there for them to exercise these divine virtues upon. Love to enemies therefore dwells only amongst the living saints: To forgive injuries, is the glory that is peculiar to christians in this mortal state, and our blessed Saviour has a most peculiar revenue of honour from it.

But besides the honour that Christ and his gospel receive from such a kind and charitable conduct, there is a pleasure in this victory over resentment, that far exceeds the pleasure of revenge which is the delight of the wicked: And it is a pleasure also, which the saints above cannot partake of; for there are no offences, no injuries, no provocations there: This life alone is the time to forgive, and to be forgiven. Now who is there among us, that would not seize the opportunity of every injury and offence to practise a glorious duty, and enjoy a pleasure which the blessed in heaven cannot taste?

VII. Self-denial and mortification of sin, belongs also to this life alone. It is the first lesson in the school of Christ, to deny ourselves daily, if we will be his disciples; Luke ix. 23. but it is the lesson of the school and not of the palace; a lesson for earth and not for heaven; for in the world above, our duty is all delight, and there is no need of contradicting our own pleasure, or our interest, in order to please or serve our God, or our brother. In those holy regions every part of our work is congenial to our sanctified natures, and with resistless appetite and inclination we shall pursue all the duties that belong to that happy state.

Nor are there any sins to be mortified there: The body of death is buried with the body of flesh in the grave, and earth is the place where the members of it must be put to death. Mortify your members which are upon the earth, fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry; Col. iii. 5. Let us be daily engaged in the zealous practice of this duty, and subdue all the unruly appetites that make an assault upon our virtue, that defile our conscience, and subdue our peace. Now, now is the time to set ourselves at work to fight against our vicious inclinations and our irregular desires: Now let us multiply our victories over sin and self. Earth is the field of battle with sin: In heaven our desires shall all be pure and holy, there is no sinful wandering appetite, no perverse affection; no irregular thought or wish amongst all the saints above: There is no contest with indwelling corruptions, no such conquests are to be gained in all that holy and happy world. There are no new honours of this kind to be given to Jesus, the Captain of our Salvation, nor any new triumphs to be obtained over sin, to the glory of divine grace. Come then, let us bestir ourselves, and awake to the battle, let us bravely resist the workings of flesh and blood, by the aids of the blessed Spirit; let us be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and maintain the glorious warfare, like soldiers who fight for the honour of their general, and who hope for a crown of immortality.

[If this Sermon be too long, it may be divided here.]

VIII. Repentance and godly sorrow for our past offences, belong only to this life. Converting grace works only on earth; we are called to repent in order to be forgiven: Repent and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out; Acts iii. 19. And the exercise of this grace is not only necessary at first conversion, (though it most eminently appears at that season) but it must run like a thread through the whole course of this mortal life, till death shall put an utter end to sin. Let every known sin therefore which we are guilty of be attended with some new and sensible exercise of shame, and sorrow, and holy indignation against ourselves. Let us live in a daily, constant, penitent frame, for we are daily sinners. This painful sense of sin, this holy mourning, is an honour done to the law of our God. It is the living, the living who are called to this work; for there is no repentance in the grave: Shew your hatred of sin therefore continually, and your sincere love to the law of holiness by such an humiliation as becomes an imperfect saint.

You will ask me, “Do no saints in heaven repent that they have ever sinned here on earth?”

I answer, that whatsoever regret they feel in the memory of their past transgressions, it is not attended with such sensible shame and inward pain at the heart, as are necessary to that duty of repentance that is required here on earth; for there is nothing must break in upon their perfect peace or joy in heaven. As God is said not to remember their iniquities, because he does not remember them in order to punish, so the saints above are not said to repent of sin, because they have no such shame and grief accompanying it as whilst they dwelt upon earth, and which are some of the most remarkable ingredients in our repentance.

But we may suppose there is among them some sort of holy self-displicency, and something of a sacred regret, that ever they offended such a God, and such a Saviour? There will be surely an inward and hearty disapprobation of their former sinful ways whenever they think upon them: And, indeed, without some reflection on their former guilt and misery, they can never give due glory to Christ their Redeemer, who rescued them from their sorrows and their sins. But all the painful and shameful attendants of this grace of repentance must be banished from heaven, because it is a state of perfect joy and peace.

IX. Patience and submission to the will of God under all manner of painful providences, gives glory to God here on earth, such as the saints in heaven cannot give him. We are taught indeed to say, Lord, thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven: But it is the preceptive will of God, or the will of his commands, which is here signified, not his providential will, whereby he punishes; for there is no affliction in heaven, and therefore there is no such sort of submission, no exercise of patience there: They obey the will of his commands in perfection there, and God himself has no will that they should suffer, or endure sorrow.

Shew then, O believers, your submission to the will of God, here, as dear and obedient children, when your heavenly Father sees it needful to chasten you; Heb. xii. 6-11. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the Father chasteneth not? Give him reverence therefore when he corrects you, and be ye in subjection to the Father of spirits and live. It is only children under age that their earthly fathers scourge and chastise; such are christians in this world, the sons of God in their infant state: but when the children are grown up to manly age, they have no more chastisement; such are the saints in heaven, who are grown to the fulness of the measure of that stature which God designs for them in Christ. This life therefore is the only time when you can honour the sovereignty and the wisdom of God your Father, when he sees fit to take his rod in hand, and to instruct you in righteousness.

X. A sacred compassion for perishing sinners, and longing desire and labour for the conversion of souls, is a business that belongs to this life only. When we are past the line of time, and entered into eternity, we can add no new subjects to the kingdom of our Lord: This is a service that can be performed no where but in the present state: It is the living, and they alone that have this work intrusted with them. When the lips are closed in the grave they cannot speak for God, nor exhort sinners to be saved.

Let ministers call up all their powers then to the blessed work of the gospel. Let them stir up all their gifts, and employ them all for the welfare of immortal souls. What is the furniture of human learning? What are their talents of oratory, their flowing language, and their art of persuasion? What is their vivacity of spirit, their sweetness of voice, their penetrating force of elocution? What are all these but weapons of warfare to fight against the kingdom of Satan among men, and instruments to build up the church of God on earth? What are they all but consecrated gifts to win souls to Christ out of the kingdom of this world? They are given only for service in the present life. Let us use them then with our utmost skill for these holy purposes: For, Whether there be tongues they shall cease: Whether there be knowledge and human learning, that shall vanish away? 1 Cor. xiii. 8, 9. These poor imperfect talents are not made for heaven. Let our zeal therefore employ them to the utmost on earth.

O let us be instant in season and out of season, and proclaim the terrors of the law to awaken the stupid and impenitent, to make them fly from the wrath to come. Let us publish the glad tidings of the gospel, and by all the methods of compassion and tenderness, let us beseech and intreat sinners to be reconciled to God. Let us set the unsearchable riches of Christ before them, the all sufficiency of his righteousness, and the power of his grace; and study and contrive how we may address their consciences in the most successful manner, till we have won their hearts over to Christ and salvation.

And let this not only be the labour of the sanctuary, and the work of our public offices in the church, but let the houses where we dwell, and the families where we visit, be witnesses for us in the great day, that we have instructed and warned the souls of men, that we have carried on the business of the pulpit in the parlour, and have spread the savour of the knowledge of Christ through all our conversation.

Let parents that are solicitous for the eternal welfare of their offspring, and love their sons and daughters as their own souls, let them seize the present opportunity for this sort of work. Let them make use of all the language of gentle authority, and of constraining love, to win the hearts of their children to God, to persuade them to accept of the grace of Christ, and snatch them as brands out of the burning. Let friends and dearest relatives, let masters and rulers of families, lay hold on every just occasion to speak of the things of God to those that are near them.—Life is the only time to express our zeal for God, and love to souls, in such a manner as this. When we pray, Thy kingdom come, we should awaken our endeavours to gain some new subjects to Christ.

Come, let us all engage our own consciences in this sacred and compassionate work, while we consider, that to-day is the accepted time, now is the hour of salvation. God may put an end to our own lives, or the lives of our friends to-morrow, and either their death or ours will prevent this sort of work for ever. Then we can speak no more, or they can hear us no more: They will be for ever out of the reach of our compassionate desires to save them. We may send our bitter sighs, and our fruitless groans, after them, when they are gone down to darkness without hope; and we may feel the inward anguish of a sharp and painful repentance, while, through our neglect, and their own folly and wickedness, they are cursing the day of their birth and crying out, in full despair, under the torture of divine vengeance.

XI. Another grace which can be exercised only in this life, is holy zeal, and boldness in the profession of christianity, with courage in suffering for Christ. These are virtues that belong only to our mortal state; these are made necessary to the saints, by the opposition that is raised against true religion by the men of this world. Here in this world, they that will live godly in Christ Jesus, must suffer persecution; 2 Tim. iii. 12. Our Saviour himself, in the first publication of his own gospel, endured the contradiction of sinners against himself; he sealed his doctrine with his own blood, and has given his followers a glorious example of a suffering zeal and holy fortitude. Imitate him who endured the cross, and despised the shame; Heb. xii. 2, 3.

This sort of virtues doth not belong to the heavenly state; for there is no opposition made to truth and holiness: There are no such trials of our zeal and courage in heaven; courage to speak boldly for Christ, and zeal to give him public glory, by maintaining his gospel in the face of terror and death; for there are no infidels, no sinners, no enemies in all the heavenly regions. There are no threatening tyrants, no persecuting powers, no penal laws in the upper world: No prisons, no fires, no gibbets nor axes there for the followers of the Lamb; no cruel mockings nor so much as a reproachful word: but the greater our zeal is for the service of God and our Saviour in the heavenly state, the greater shall be our honour and applause among the inhabitants of that country.

Endure then for a season, ye disciples of Christ, grow bold in the profession of his name, and exult with holy joy, that you are counted worthy to suffer shame for his sake; Acts v. 41. It is here on earth only, that it is in your power to shew, how much you love your Saviour more than your life, and that your love to your Lord is stronger than death with all its terrors. Upon this account shall I exhort you to practise what the apostle James expresses; James i. 2. Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into divers temptations; for the proof or trial of your faith shall appear honourable and glorious when Christ comes; 1 Pet. i. 7. It was a frequent and sacred ambition among the primitive christians to contend for the crown of martyrdom. This world is the only stage for such bloody conflicts, and this life is the only season wherein we can obtain the addition of this ornament to our crown of glory.

XII. May I add in the last place, that a calm and chearful readiness for a removal out of this world, is an honour done to Christ and his gospel here on earth, which belongs not to the heavenly state. Death, in the course of nature, as well as by the hands of violence, hath always something awful and formidable in it. Flesh and blood shrinks and trembles at the appearance of a dissolution, and Christ delights to see the grace that he has wrought in his saints gain the ascendency over flesh and blood, and conquer the terrors of death and the grave. He loves to see his followers maintain a serene soul, and venture upon the invisible world upon the merit of his blood, with holy fortitude and a chearful faith. It is only the living christian that can die, and glorify God his Saviour in that great and important hour. The saints, who are arrived at heaven, dwell in the temple of God, and shall go no more out; Rev. iii. 12. They are for ever possessed of life and immortality. There are no more deaths or dangers for them to encounter, no more terrors to engage their conflict. Death is the last enemy of the saints; and when the christian meets it with sacred courage, he gives that honour to the Captain of his Salvation, which the saints in glory can never give, and which he himself can never repeat. Dying with faith and fortitude is a noble conclusion of a life of zeal and service. It is the very last duty on earth; when that is done, then heaven begins.

Thus I have made it evident, in many instances, that there is a rich variety of virtues and graces to be exercised in this life, which have no place after death, and upon this account the living christian may be said to have some advantage beyond the dead. Here an objection or two will arise that may require an answer.

Objection I.—But is not heaven always represented as a state of perfection? Is not grace and holiness more complete there than ever they have been, or can be in the time of our mortal life? And yet how can it be a state of greater perfection, if so many graces are wanting there?

Answer.—These graces which belong to the living saint, and have no place among the happy dead, are but the various exercises of a sanctified mind, arising from some imperfections in our present state. Faith is owing to our want of sight: Hope is owing to our want of enjoyment: Patience, courage, compassion, forbearance, forgiveness, repentance, and such like graces, are owing to the sins, the sorrows, or the temptations that are found in this world only. The follies, the mistakes, the infirmities of ourselves, or our fellow-christians, or the wickedness of the world wherein we live, are the only things that give occasion for the exercise of such graces as I have now mentioned; therefore in a perfect state there is no room for them.

Yet every saint in heaven has a sanctified nature, which is the root and spring of all these graces, and they would appear in glorious exercise again, if there were any objects, or occasions, or seasons proper to excite them. Therefore the saints above are not defective in any virtue or grace, though they have no actual exercise of several of them in heaven. So God himself would not be in himself less merciful if he appeared in any province of his dominion where there was no creature in misery, and consequently no proper object for mercy. He is a God of infinite compassion and forgiveness still, though he has no immediate new exercises of them in heaven, in a world where no sinners are: for sin and misery are the only proper occasions of forgiveness and mercy. Thus the saints in heaven are perfect in grace and holiness, even though there are no proper objects or occasions, for this holiness or this grace to manifest itself in such peculiar instances as I have been describing in this discourse.

II. How can it be said, that a living christian has any advantage above the dead? Is not heaven better than earth? And upon that account, is not death often represented to us under most pleasing colours in the gospel, as it is an escape from the sins and sorrows of this present state, and as it conveys us into the world of blessed spirits, where there are infinite advantages above any thing to be enjoyed in this life!

Answer.—Though the living saint has some advantages which the dead cannot partake of, yet it is very true, that the honours, the pleasures, the joys, the perfections, and the advantages of heaven, when summed up together, are far more and greater, and are infinitely preferable to those on earth; but they are not at all of the same kind. When we compare the state of grace and the state of glory together, we may boldly say, the state of glory has vastly the preference; and St. Paul himself thought so, Phil. i. 21, 23. To be dissolved, and to be with Christ, is far better than to dwell in this sinful world. He asserts it, that death would be his own gain; yet still he allows there are some advantages of this life, which death would deprive him of; for, says he, for me to live in the flesh, will be for the honour of Christ in his churches; and I shall have this fruit of my life, even the furtherance of your faith and joy; verses 22, 25.

When we are encouraging christians to live above the fear of death, we represent to them all the glories and felicities of the future world, which are infinitely superior to all things we can enjoy in this life. But while we continue here on earth, under the difficulties and hardships of the present state, we have need of patience, that when we have done the will of God, we may receive the promises; Heb. x. 36. And we have need of all those peculiar advantages to be set before us, which can belong to our stations here on earth, on purpose to support our patience, to bear us up under present burdens, and make us active in present duties: Although it must be still confessed, that all those advantages of this life, joined with our present sins and sorrows, are much inferior to the actual taste and fruition of the joys of heaven, where sin and sorrow are known no more.

This thought very naturally leads me to the improvement and conclusion of my discourse, which I shall wind up briefly in these four practical inferences:

Inference I.—Since there are many virtues and duties which belong only to this present life, “let us lose no opportunity for the practice of them, for the next day, or the next hour, may put it for ever out of our power to practise them.” Eternity is a long duration indeed, but it will never afford us one season for visiting the sick, for feeding the hungry, or for charity and meekness towards those who injure us: Eternity itself will never give us one opportunity for the pious labours of love toward the conversion of sinful acquaintance and relatives. O let us not suffer this precious lamp of life to burn in vain, or weeks, and days, and hours to slide away unemployed and useless. Let us remember, that while we are here, we work for a long hereafter; that we think, and speak, and act with regard to an eternal state, and that in time we live for eternity. Let us call up all our powers to action and diligence, that not a day of our short lives may pass away, but what may turn to our account in the years of eternity. While God is pleased to delay our heaven, let our continuance on earth be filled up with the various exercise of such graces as are suited to our present stations. Let this be a new spring and motive to our zeal, that we are doing such honours to God and our Saviour here on earth, of which none of the saints above are capable, and for which this life is the only season: And let it appear in the day of retribution that the length of our life here on earth, has been a great, and real, and everlasting advantage to us, by preparing us for a higher station after death, and a fairer inheritance in that world which is everlasting.

II. “Though your hopes of heaven be never so well grounded, yet be not too impatient of dwelling longer on the earth: And though your burdens and sorrows may be very great in life, yet be not too hasty and importunate in your desires of death.” Support yourself under all the fatigues, trials and difficulties of the present state, with this consideration, that you are now employed in such service for God, and paying such a tribute of honour to him in your suffering circumstances, as all the saints in heaven cannot do. Some of the children of God in this world have been too impatient of life, and too eager in their importunities for death and the grave. Job and Elijah were great favourites of heaven, but they failed a little in this point: And God, in the course of his providence, afterward made it appear what eminent service he had for them both to do before they left this world. Elijah was designed to reform the whole nation of Israel from idolatry, and Job to be parent of a new large family, and give the world an example of God’s rewarding providence. If life be yours, O christians, and be numbered among your possessions, be not too hasty to part with it, nor to throw away that talent which may yet in days to come be employed to the signal honour of thy God and Saviour.

III. “If life be almost spent, and you have done little for God, see that in your last, your dying hours, if possible, you speak and act for his glory. Let not the whole season of life quite pass away, and be turned over like a blank leaf which has none of the praises of God[41] written upon it. A word of warning from a death-bed may make a deep and happy impression on those that hear it, and through divine grace may save a soul; and if so, thou shalt hear of it again with honour and applause in the great day. The thief that was converted upon the cross, spoke a word for Christ in his last moments, and it has been blessed to rescue many from the jaws of despair: That dying creature had done nothing for God in his life; a vicious life, and a wicked creature! But the profession of sincere faith and repentance which he made at his death, hath been richly honoured in the kingdom of grace; and I am persuaded it has helped many a fearful christian on toward the kingdom of glory.”

IV. If so many valuable works are done, and so many graces are exercised on earth, which have no place in heaven, then the lives of the saints are worth praying for. Precious in the eye of God is the life of his saints, and they should be precious in the eye of man too. When an active, useful christian, when a pious magistrate, when a zealous and faithful minister goes down to the dust, alas! how much good ceases from the earth for ever? The world knows not what it loses by such a death.

Let not children be impatient at the length of life which their holy parents enjoy: You know not, children, what benefit ye may reap from their example, their counsel, their earnest prayers, and secret wrestlings with God for your souls: Let us have a care that we do nothing, that may break the spirits of our pious friends, or that may hasten the departure of holy persons from this lower world, whose virtues and graces are of eminent use among us. Let us rather pray earnestly, that God would lengthen out the days of those, who speak and act with a useful zeal for the honour of Christ, and for the welfare of the souls of men. When death once has put a period to their days, all this sort of service is finished for ever; and we ourselves may sustain unknown loss by their speedy departure out of this world.

The Recollection.—“Is not this a strange doctrine which I have heard to-day, that a christian on earth has many privileges which can never belong to the saints in heaven? Is it not strange tidings to hear, that there are many graces to be exercised in this life, which neither saints nor angels can practise in the holy and heavenly world? And yet the evidence is so strong, and the truth is so plain and certain, that I see it, and I must believe it. Remember then, O my soul, thou hast one more motive to diligence in all the duties of life than ever thou hadst before; And thou hast also one more support under all thy sorrows, beyond what thy former days were ever acquainted with. A delightful support it is under sufferings, and a noble motive to duty. Awake, awake all my active powers, let every grace be in exercise, and every talent be employed to bring this revenue of honour to my God and my Saviour in this life, which the saints above cannot give him, and which, at the moment of death, must for ever cease.”

Blessed Spirit, lead me to the practice of the most useful duties, that my service may be of a large extent both to God and man. Now let me study and contrive, wherein I may best promote the interest of Christ and his gospel here on earth. Let me bear the burdens of life with a holy satisfaction: Let me endure the fatigues of labour with a sacred pleasure: Let me resist the temptations, let me sustain the sorrows of life like a good soldier of Christ in the present field of battle. Heaven will have other business for me, and proper work of its own: That is the place of joy and triumph.

“Forgive, O my God, all my slothfulness in duty, and my impatience of suffering. Let this new and glorious motive possess my spirit powerfully, and influence all my future conduct, that when the messenger of death shall tell me, I must be employed in this sort of work no more, I may look back from the borders of eternity, and rejoice that I have been assisted by divine grace, to do so much for God on earth; and when I am called away from the present stage of action, I may be received by my great Master at the gates of heaven, with a Well done good and faithful servant, come, enter into the joy of thy Lord. Amen.”

HYMN FOR SERMON XL. The Privilege of the Living above the Dead.

Awake my zeal, awake my love, And serve my Saviour here below, In works which all the saints above, Which holy angels cannot do.

My faith and hope may see the Lord, Though veils of darkness lie between: Hope shall rest firm upon his word, And faith rejoice in things unseen.

Awake my charity and feed The hungry soul, and clothe the poor; In heav’n are found no sons of need, There all these duties are no more.

Subdue thy passions, O my soul, Maintain the fight, thy work pursue, Daily thy rising sins controul, And be thy vict’ries ever new.

The land of triumph lies on high, There are no fields of battle there; Lord, I would conquer till I die, And finish all the glorious war.

Let ev’ry flying hour confess I gain thy gospel fresh renown, And when my life and labours cease, May I possess the promis’d crown.

Footnote 41:

It was a custom in former days for merchants in their books of accounts to have “Laus Deo, or Praise to God,” written in the beginning of every leaf, and it stood on the head of the page in large and fair letters, to put them always in mind, that in their human affairs they should carry on a divine design for the glory of God.

SERMON XLI. Death improved to our Advantage. 1 COR. iii. 22.—Whether life or death,—all are yours.

The chief thing which the apostle has in his eye in these verses, is to represent the glory and grandeur, the treasures and possessions that every believer is a partaker of, by virtue of his interest in Christ: and to shew, that whatsoever persons or affairs a christian has to do with in the natural, the civil, and the religious life, they shall all turn to his benefit some way or other. All the circumstances that attend him while he continues here in this world, and even his departure out of it too, shall work for his good. Death is numbered among his possessions as well as life. Death may be terrible to flesh and blood, for it is a curse in its original nature and design, and sinners will find and feel the curse of it; but it is transformed into a blessing to the saints by the abounding grace of the gospel.

I confess, it is a christian’s own death, that the holy writer seems chiefly and most particularly to design and intend here: And this I shall most largely insist upon. But since death in all its circumstances and attendants, in all the extent of its dominion, and with all its power, is under the sovereign management of God our heavenly Father; it is constrained to subserve his kind and gracious purposes to his own people, in all its forms and appearances. And I think upon this account, that I shall not transgress the apostle’s great and general design, if I take the dreadful name of DEATH, in its widest and most formidable extent of power, and with relation to all its victories, and shew how, even in this largest sense, it is appointed to subserve the glory of God, and the kingdom of Christ, and by the grace of the new covenant, it is rendered useful and beneficial to every true christian; on this account therefore it may be numbered amongst his possessions. Death is yours.

With this view I shall endeavour to run through these five general heads following, and improve each of them, in a few particulars, to the benefit of christians, agreeably to the design of my text.—Death is made useful to a saint, when we consider it.

I. As reigning over all mankind in general.—II. As seizing on impenitent and unpardoned sinners.—III. As taking captive the bodies of the saints.—IV. As depriving us of our dear relations and kindred. And,—V. As bringing our own bodies down to the dust.

I confess, I was very unwilling to leave the death of Christ out of this catalogue; for his death is not only the most eminent blessing to every christian, but it is also the price that purchased all other blessings in time, and in eternity. It is the death of Christ that may be called the christian’s richest treasure, for it procures for him all the treasures of grace and glory. It is the fruit of his death, that all things are ours, whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or things present, or things to come. It is his death that gives truth and virtue to the words of my text, and to all the rich and spreading comments upon it, that faith can make here on earth, and that our souls shall taste and enjoy hereafter in heaven.

Yet when I consider, that the death of Christ is more directly expressed in many other scriptures, and does not seem at all to have been the design of St. Paul in this text: and when I survey what a vast and copious subject I must enter into, if I recount the riches of blessing that are derived from this spring, I chuse to refer that subject to another season. I proceed therefore according to the order I have proposed, to treat of the various advantages to be derived from this proposition, Death is yours.

First, The death of mankind in general shall be made profitable to believers. The death of all the sons and daughters of Adam, shall promote the improvement of the children of God, in knowledge, grace, and holiness; for it instructs them in three most useful lessons.

1. It gives them a most powerful and sensible lecture on the vanity of man. A burying place filled with tombs, is a lively book of human frailty: It repeats the melancholy lesson in every leaf. Each little grave-stone becomes a preacher of vanity to the living, even in the profound silence of the dead. This is the doctrine of every rising hillock, this is the universal theme: And every stately monument there strikes the beholder with the same mortifying truth: though perhaps it swells with many pompous titles and images of honour. And this lesson of vanity stands written there still in fair and indelible characters, though the name of the dead, and all their praises be quite worn out. Dust and ashes, even without an inscription, and without a monument, are silent but powerful teachers.

Alas, what is man in his best estate! A poor and mortal dying creature! When we read the histories of past ages and foreign nations, and find that those whole nations and ages are all dead and mingled with the dust, and even those, who once made a great bustle and figure in this world, are now but an empty name, we cry out, “What vain creatures we are!” When we behold our neighbours and our acquaintance on the right-hand, and on the left, dropping away all around us; when we see one following another daily down to the grave of silence, it is a very natural and just reflection: “Alas, how frail is man!” When we behold the young, the healthy, the fair, and the strong, the rich, and the powerful, together with the poor, the feeble, and the slave, all yielding to the common law of death, and turning into earth and rottenness, we have just occasion to cry out, “What a vain empty thing is human nature, even the best of it: A piece of pretty mouldering clay: These bodies of ours are fine and curious engines but made of the dust, and to dust they return again.”

This is the common state, situation, and view of things in all seasons, and in every generation. But when we fix our thoughts on some special seasons or causes of mortality, when we think of a famine or a pestilence that sweeps away thousands in a few days, that empties the whole streets in a night or two, and lays towns or cities desolate; when we read of wars and battles that overspread the mountain with slaughter, and cover vast plains with human carcases; when we hear of storms at sea that drown many hundreds at once, and perhaps some thousands sink down to death in their floating habitations, then we are more feelingly penetrated with a sense of our vanity, then we sigh and groan aloud and break out into this mournful language? O Lord! hast thou made all mankind in vain? Ps. lxxxix. 49. How awful is thy government! How terrible are thy judgments, thou Almighty Sovereign of life and death! The ancient saints have made such remarks often, and mixed these scenes of mortality with their pious thoughts, and turned them into devotion: They have drawn many serious and pathetic inferences from such meditations on death, and vented their musings of thought in holy language.

(1.) “Shall man compare himself with God? Mortal man that dwelleth in houses of clay, whose foundation is in the dust, and who is crushed before the moth! Shall he set himself to contend with the eternal God his Maker;” Job. iv. 17-19. Again:

(2.) “What little reason have we to be proud and boastful! Poor dying mushrooms, who start up for a few hours, but cannot assure ourselves of to-morrow! To-day we swell and look big among men, to-morrow we are a feast for worms. Our days are as a hand’s breadth; verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity;” Ps. xxxix. 5. Again:

(3.) “How vain and fruitless a thing is it to put our trust in princes, or in the son of man in whom there is no help? His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth, in that very day, his thoughts perish; Ps. cxlvi. 3, 4. Man is too weak a thing to encourage or support our confidence.” And:

(4.) “What a necessary duty is it then to fix our constant dependance upon God, even in all the common affairs of life! Let us not say therefore, that to-day or to-morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy, and sell, and get gain; whereas ye know not what will be on the morrow? For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away; for that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live to do this or that; James iv. 13-15. And it is the same inference that holy David makes more than once upon a survey of the mortality of man, in the Psalms just before cited, Lord, what wait I for? My hope is in thee; Ps. xxxix. 11. Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, who keepeth truth for ever; Ps. xlvi. 5, 6. The Lord is an everlasting friend, he lives when creatures die, and fulfils his word of truth, when the words of princes perish with their breath.”

2. The death of mankind in general shews us the dreadful evil and desert of sin. It discovers to us the awful holiness and terrible Majesty of God; and it teaches us what a sublime value he puts upon his own law, and how fearfully he avenges the violation of it. I join these three things together, because they stand so nearly connected in the divine economy.

(1.) The universal death of mankind shews us, what a dreadful and heinous evil there is in sin, and, what wide destruction it has deserved. By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned; Rom. v. 12. For the wages of sin is death; Rom. vi. 23. Man was made innocent, and while he continued obedient, he was immortal: Transgression and death came in together: A formidable pair! Two dreadful names, big with mischief and ruin to human nature. When we see the dying agonies of poor mankind, our fellow-creatures, our brethren in flesh and blood, let us remember the sin of our common father, that first subjected him and all his posterity to death; and let us reflect upon the dreadful evil that is contained in the nature of every sin; for it deserves death at the hand of God. Alas, how often has the best of us deserved to die, for our transgressions have been multiplied without number.

(2.) The death of all mankind makes a solemn discovery to us of the terrible Majesty of God and the justice that attends his government. He will not pass by the guilt of his rebellious creatures, without a due resentment of their crimes. And even though he pardons the sins of his own people, so as to secure them from eternal vengeance, yet they must pass through death, that they may learn what an evil and bitter thing it is to have offended against their Maker and their God.

When we see a church-yard filled with little hills of mortality, the ruins of a parish, or a spacious town, and the dust of many generations, we naturally cry out, as in Deut. xxix. 24. “Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land, and what meaneth the heat of all this great anger?” The next verse will give you an answer to it; yea, every man may answer himself, because they have forsaken the Lord their God; they have forsaken his covenant of life and sinned against him. Those dreadful words, In the day thou eatest, thou shalt die; have been putting into execution almost six thousand years, and the Lord’s anger is not yet turned away, but his hand is stretched out still; Is. v. 25. the vengeance of the Lord is not yet fully executed according to the just demerit of sin. Though saints are saved from the dismal consequences of death, yet God would not rescue them from dying, that they might always remember what sin deserved. Thus the death of all mankind discovers to us the awful Majesty of God our Maker, who will not be affronted by his creatures, without terrible resentment; he is a holy and jealous God.

(3.) It teaches us the high value that God has for his own law, that he will rather dash a whole creation to pieces, than suffer his holy law to be insulted and broken, without some reparation of the honour of it. The race of Adam is doomed to death, for the sake of sin against this law, and mortality and a curse spread over this lower world. Let us inure our thoughts to such reflections as these, that we may ever keep our souls in awe of the Majesty of God, and dread the thoughts of breaking his law, which he values above a whole world of men. O that sin may become the most hateful object in our eyes; it is this that has laid cities desolate, and fills the graves; it is this that has corrupted and destroyed our natures; it has turned millions of strong and well-formed bodies into dust: It has ruined the most beautiful part of God’s lower creation, and is sending thousands daily to the pit of corruption and noisome darkness. It is sin has filled our nature with diseases, and sown the poisonous seeds of mortality and death in every son and daughter of Adam. A malignant and fatal poison, that has destroyed all the nations upon earth, and buried them under ground, heaps upon heaps, in above a hundred successions! But I now go on to another distinct lesson, that the death of all mankind teaches us.

3. It informs us, in a very sensible and affecting manner, that we ourselves must shortly die, and awakens the soul to actual preparation for its departure. Heb. ix. 27. It is appointed for all men once to die, and after death the judgment, Joshua and David, saints and kings, tell us they go the way of all the earth: “The grave is the house appointed for all the living;” Job xxx. 23. When we behold one after another, made of the same flesh and blood as we are, going down to the dust in a long continual succession, we have a solemn warning, that we must shortly follow: There is no ransom in this case, no hope of safety, no door of escape, and as Solomon expresses it, there is no discharge in this war; Eccl. viii. 8.

A true christian takes notice of this with a pious awe upon his spirit; and when he is ready to grow drowsy and secure, the sight of a funeral, or a grave, shall rouse him out of his sleepy temper, and awaken religion into life again: When he hears of a neighbour’s death, he asks his own soul, “Art thou ready? For the next summons may come to call thee away into the world of spirits, to stand before God the Judge of all.”

Thus a child of God reaps some advantage by the spreading empire of death over all mankind; he makes a sacred improvement of the terrible waste that the king of terrors has made over all the earth: He learns the vanity and emptiness of man in his best estate: He grows humble and dependant on the eternal God: He reads the dreadful evil of sin on every tomb-stone: The death of every man calls him aloud to prepare for his own, and to be in actual readiness for his entrance into the invisible world. Happy souls, who take this warning, and stand ever prepared!

But I proceed to the next general head which I proposed;

Secondly, As the death of mankind in general, gives these divine lessons to a saint, so the death of impenitent sinners, which hath something in it very terrible, may be turned to the advantage and profit of believers, these three or four ways:

1. If we are true christians, and persecuted and injured here on earth, then the death of the wicked delivers us from our enemies, and releases us from the wrath of our oppressors. In the grave “the wicked cease from troubling, as well as the weary are at rest;” Job iii. 17.

Look back to the distance of three thousand years, and see the children of Israel on the banks of the Red-sea, rejoicing in the Lord their deliverer, when an army of Egyptian carcases floated on the waters, or were cast up in heaps upon the shore: These were the cruel oppressors of the people of God: They were drowned in the evening, and the morning light discovered the havoc that death had made, and the salvation it wrought for Israel, in the xiv. and xv. of Exodus. See the whole city of Jerusalem, and Hezekiah at the head of them, triumphing in the Lord, when he sent the angel of death, and destroyed the besiegers: “A hundred and four score and five thousand Assyrians lay dead on the borders of the city;” Is. xxxvii. 36. “By terrible things in righteousness God answered the prayer of his saints;” Ps. lxv. 5. And at the death of Herod, the father and mother of our blessed Lord were glad, for they returned from their flight; they came from the land of Egypt, and dwelt in their own land again; and the child Jesus was saved from the murderous designs of that cruel man; Mat. ii. 19.

Such examples of advantage which the saints receive from the death of the men of violence, their impious and bloody enemies, are frequent in sacred history: And we may remark in our day, how many a time God hath saved us in Great Britain, when we have been on the borders of destruction, by the death of persecutors at home and abroad. The monarchs of the earth, have been turned down to their graves, one year after another, and the churches of God, in many nations, have found rest and deliverance.

2. The death of impenitent sinners has been many a time, the happy occasion of the conversion of a saint. There is many a holy soul, now in heaven, that was first awakened to fly from the wrath to come, by the death of some of his wicked companions in his younger years. When a snare falls suddenly, and seizes a little bird or two of the flock, the rest take wing toward heaven, and fly for safety. And happy are those souls, who take the terrible warning, who fly to the sacred refuge, and lay hold on offered grace.

When a vile wretch is seized in the midst of his companions, and his sins, and sent down to hell and destruction in a moment, the very gates of hell seem to open before our faces, to receive the rebel; such a spectacle fills the hearts of those that are near him, with amazement and terror, and hath often been the first means of sending them to the throne of grace; and, by degrees, to the gates of heaven. The story of Peter Valdo is famous on this occasion, who was a rich merchant at Lyons in France, but had no sense of inward religion, or true piety. When in the midst of feasting and merriment, he saw one of his companions struck with sudden death, he was awakened to serious thoughts of eternity: Upon this he applied himself to study the scripture, and discover the errors of the Roman church; he acquainted his friends with them, and instructed the poor, who were continual partakers of his bounty. Then being excommunicated by the popish clergy, he retired, with some of his disciples, to the vallies of Piedmont, where he found some christians of an ancient and primitive stamp, and joining with them, established those churches which are called the Vaudois, and are famous in history, even to this day.

Bishop Burnet also tells us, in the life of the Lord Chief Justice Hale, that in his younger years he gave himself up to much frolic and vanity, till one of his loose companions fell down on a sudden, and they thought him dead: which surprizing providence sent Mr. Hale to his knees, to pray earnestly for the recovery of his companion, and laid a foundation for that life of eminent virtue and religion, which is described in those memoirs. Thus not only the death of profligate sinners, but even the appearance of their death, has been blessed to gracious purposes, for the conversion and salvation of others.

3. The death of the wicked gives the children of God glorious matter for praise to his distinguishing grace. When they see or hear of a hardened and impenitent sinner cut off in his guilt and obstinacy, and in the pursuit of his lusts, the holy soul cries out with thankfulness and zeal, “Glory be to that grace which has made the difference betwixt him and me!”

And this is still more remarkable, when a sinner dies with all the terrors of God upon him, when the sting of death enters into his heart, and sharpens all his last agonies, when conscience is awakened with all its horrors, and the soul is plunging with its eyes open into a gulf of everlasting misery. O how sensibly does this affect the heart of a true christian! He stands and wonders, and adores that rich mercy that has snatched him as a brand out of the burning. “What am I,” says he, by nature more than another, that God should have called me by his grace, and given me repentance unto life, while this poor wretch continued obstinate and impenitent? We were both sons of Adam the sinner, alienated from the life of God, and enemies to all that is holy: We were both favoured with the means of grace, and sat under the ministrations of the same gospel. Who, or what am I better than my neighbour, that God should powerfully incline my heart to accept the offered salvation! That he should have prepared me as a vessel of mercy, to be filled with glory, while my old companion has now made himself a complete vessel of wrath, and fitted himself for swift destruction; Rom. ix. 22, 23. By nature I was a child of wrath, as well as he, a rebel, and a vile transgressor, without God, without Christ, and without hope: And why was not I seized by divine justice, in those days of my rebellion, and made a sacrifice to the indignation of God? What merit was there in me, that I should be spared, while my companion suffered under speedy vengeance? Let the freedom and riches of grace be adored for ever: It was rich and sovereign grace that spared me. And now, through the abounding mercy of God, I hope I have fled to lay hold on the refuge set before me; my heart is, in some measure, sanctified, my nature renewed, and my sins pardoned. Blessed be the Lord who hath given me hope in death, while the wicked are driven away in their wickedness, driven far away from hope and heaven; Prov. xiv. 32.

4. The death of impenitent sinners does another service also for the saints, in that it sensibly excites their pity and their prayers for the living. It awakens the exercise of pious charity for the souls of their friends, that are yet in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. A true christian, that has tasted of the grace of God, can hardly be supposed to see his impenitent neighbour seized with sudden death, and sent away to darkness, but it touches the springs of holy tenderness within him, and constrains him to speak a word to others in the same danger, and to lift up a cry to God upon their account for grace and salvation. Surely that christian is not in a right temper of mind, who can see or hear of impenitent and guilty souls seized away from his neighbourhood or his acquaintance, and plunging into eternity with horror and despair, and yet have no compassion awakened in him, no bowels of pity moving for those of his acquaintance that are involved in the same iniquities, and are yet in the land of the living, and on this side hell. Such an awful providence is like a warning-word which heaven puts into our mouths, that we may echo it with solemn horror round the neighbourhood, and try to rouze stupid sinners from their dangerous and fatal lethargy.

[Here is a proper pause in this Sermon, if it be too long to be read at once.]

But it is time now to leave this general head, and go on to the next.

Thirdly, If the death of hardened sinners turns to the advantage of the saint, the death of fellow-christians shall certainly work for his benefit too.

You will be ready to say, “What! Can the loss of good men from the earth ever be turned into a benefit? Can the death of saints bring any advantage to the survivors?” Yes, surely, if they die like christians indeed, in the lively exercises of faith and hope, and this will appear in these four particulars:

1. It confirms our faith in the gospel of Christ, and supports our holy profession. It gives us an assurance of the truth and power of our religion, above all other religions in the world, when it enables a poor feeble dying creature to face death with courage, to look beyond the limits of life and time, and venture into an unseen world with holy joy and triumph. It gives us a glorious evidence, that the principles of christianity are such, as will justify all the labours of a holy life, and will bear us out in the profession of it, in the midst of ridicule and mockery, of persecution and martyrdom. This surely must be a religion coming down from God, that can give the weak and unlearned such a courage, as to encounter death itself without fear: and that not from a stupid and senseless temper of spirit, not from a brutal hardiness, such as carries the horse and the hero into the battle, but with a clear and full discovery of God and his holiness, of our own sins and his forgiving grace, this religion can enable us to venture into his immediate presence. How glorious is our gospel, how divine a doctrine is this! It has wrought ten thousand such wonders by faith in the blood of Christ, as the great atonement for sin, and the only way to the Father.

A saint leaving this world, and putting off mortality, with the light of heaven breaking in upon his soul, and the beams of glory shining round about him, with divine joy and transport in his countenance, and the language of heaven upon his lips, brings the invisible world into present view: The pious spectators grow up to a sensible assurance of the glories and felicities of that invisible world; each of them sits on the borders of paradise, each of them gets a glimpse of the new Jerusalem, and all the heavenly country, and this adds new strength to his faith and hope.

2. The glorious death of our fellow-christians greatly encourages the imitation of their holy life. To see a child of God die from amongst men, leave this world with a holy contempt and sincere pleasure, and enter into the presence of his heavenly Father with a filial confidence; to see him finish his race with joy, and, as it were, lay hold on salvation, and put on his heavenly crown: This calls aloud upon us to tread in the same steps, to pursue the blessed prize, and to be followers of them, who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises; Heb. vi. 12. When we mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, and see that his end is peace; Ps. xxxvii. 37. we are animated to walk with God in the same uprightness, and to press after the same perfection. Having such a cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, and Christ our Lord at the head of them, we run with patience the race that is set before us, till we arrive at the promised glory; Heb. xii. 1.

To stand near the bed of a dying saint, and observe the sweet serenity of his soul under the agonies of his flesh, would force Balaam himself to say, Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his; Numb. xxiii. 10. But the christian goes further, and with holy zeal, and humble dependance upon divine grace, establishes himself in the ways of holiness: He resolves that he will live the life of the righteous too, and tread in the paths of piety with utmost watchfulness and care that he may lay a foundation for the same peaceful reflections on his death-bed, and the same joyful prospect.

3. The death of fellow-saints is for our benefit, as it weans us from this world, as it makes earth and this life less pleasant to us, and heaven more desirable. Every holy soul that leaves the world, carries away so much grace and goodness from it. What would this world be if all the saints had left it, but a cage of unclean birds, a nest of serpents, a wilderness of savage beasts, a habitation of Satan, and his sons and daughters; a dwelling of devils, and a region of darkness a-kin to hell? Did not converting grace turn sinners into saints, and make a constant succession of christians, this would be the dismal character of this world in the space of one generation. But, blessed be God, as bad as this world is, divine grace is still at work, and makes it a sort of nursery for heaven by new conversions.

Yet still the death of the saints is the loss of so much of heaven out of our sinful world; and the fewer friends God has here, there will be the fewer communications between heaven and earth. The absence of Christ and his saints, spreads a sort of dim shadow over all the fairest colours of this lower creation; the beauties of it fade, and the flowers of it, in our esteem, languish and hang their head, because Jesus, and so many of his holy ones, are departed. When we see one pious friend after another, taking their leave of us, and ascending to the upper world, we are ready to say, “What should we stay here for? Our God is on high, our Saviour is on high, multitudes of our friends are departed from us, and dwell on high. Farewell earth, and time, and sensible things: We long to be with our best friends, and with our God; we are ready, O Jesus, for thy first summons; take us when thou pleasest into heaven and eternity.”

4. The comfortable death of a saint instructs us how to die, and makes death easy. When we see and hear a fellow-christian examining his heart, searching his soul to the bottom, turning all his secret thoughts outward, and looking over the past conduct of his life; when we behold him reviewing his own follies and iniquities, and recalling to mind also all his sacred transactions with God; when we see him surveying all these most important concerns in the light of the last judgment, and, as it were, under the piercing rays of the great tribunal; when we hear him abasing himself to the dust in the most vilifying expressions, because of his sins, and yet rejoice in the evidences of his graces, and repeating the promises of the gospel with a pleasant hope; this teaches us to converse with our own souls in a more lively manner, about sin and forgiveness, about death and eternity; for it brings these awful themes into open view, and sets them before us in their infinite importance. This reads us a glorious lecture upon the gospel of Christ, and pardoning grace, and the sanctifying Spirit, and the hope of glory, beyond what we ever found before in the best of sermons, and under the warmest preachers.

Come, my friends, come into the chamber of a dying christian, come, approach his pillow, and hear his holy language: “I am going up to heaven, and I long to be gone, to be where my Saviour is. Why are his chariot-wheels so long a coming? Then with both arms stretched up to heaven, I desire to be with God. I hope I am a sincere christian, but the meanest, and the most unworthy: I know I am a great sinner; but did not Christ come to save the chief of sinners; I hope I shall find acceptance in Christ Jesus. I have trusted in him, and I have strong consolation. I have been looking into my own heart, what are my evidences for heaven? Has not the scripture said, He that believeth shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life; John iii. 16. Now, according to the best knowledge I have of what faith is, I do believe in Christ, and I shall have life everlasting. Does not the scripture say, He that hungereth and thirsteth after righteousness shall be satisfied; Mat. v. 6. Surely I hunger and thirst after it, I desire to be holy, I long to be conformable to God, and to be made more like him; shall I not then be satisfied! I love God, I love Christ, I desire to love him more, to be more like him, and to serve him in heaven without sin. I have faith, I have love, I have repentance, yet I boast not, for I have nothing of myself, I speak it all to the honour of the grace of God, it is all grace; I say then, I have faith, and repentance, and love; but faith and repentance are all nothing without Christ; it is he makes all acceptable to the Father, and I trust in him. My friends, I have built on this foundation Jesus Christ, he is indeed the only foundation: Have you not built on the same foundation too? This is my hope. Is it not your hope also? Dear brother, I shall see you at the right-hand of Christ: There I shall see our friends that are gone a little before: I shall be with them first before you. I thank you, my friends, for all your offices of love; you have prayed with me, you have refreshed me. I love and honour you now, but I shall meet you in heaven, I go to my God and your God, to my Saviour and your Saviour[42].”

Would one think there could be so much pleasure in the dying chamber of a beloved friend? Surely this makes good the words of my text; if we are christians, death is ours. O this is a divine entertainment that refreshes our spirits! And while sorrow trickles from our eyes for the loss of a departing christian-friend; there is a sympathy of joy that works powerfully at the heart, and the heaven within us breaks out and shines through our tears. Then, with a wondrous mixture of the painful and the pleasant, with a sweet confusion of pious passions, we bid our dying brother, “Farewell.”

At such a season as this, our thoughts are led upward to heaven, and forward to the great resurrection. We open the eye of faith, and see the holy soul ascending to God; we behold the weak and languishing body rising glorious out of the grave, shaking off the dust, and putting on its immortality: While our faith attends the spirit of our departing friend to heaven, we grow willing and desirous to be gone too; and being brought so near to the gates of glory, we would fain take our leave of mortal things, and accompany the expiring saint to the joyful world of spirits. The memory of such a scene, and such a hour, will dwell upon our thoughts long, and support our own hope of victory, when we shall be called to conflict with the same enemy. Having such a witness gone before us, we shall not only run our race with patience, through all the stages of it, but finish our course with joy.

There is a sacred courage derived many times to a weak believer, by attending the last moments of a dying saint ascending to the upper world. I was afraid of death, says a feeble christian, till I saw my neighbour die: He was once a sinner as well as I, and he had his imperfections and failings in this life, as I have mine; I humbly hope I have practised the same repentance as he has done, I have trusted in the same Saviour, I have ventured my all upon the same gospel, and travelled on in the same path: surely there is forgiveness for me too; surely the sting of my death shall be taken away also; and, through grace, I shall join in his triumph; O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory; 1 Cor. xv. 55.

This observation has been most gloriously exemplified in the death of martyrs: When the spectators that have been heathens, or but almost christians, have been strangely animated to profess the gospel boldly, while they have seen the most amazing courage of these glorious sufferers for Christ. And those that have been doubtful and trembling believers, whose faith was wavering, and who were ready to let go their profession, have ventured through blood and torments, and death, with a divine resolution, when they have beheld the martyrs meet the same death and torments with a sacred bravery of soul.

A multitude of fearful christians may be animated and encouraged to travel through the dark valley, and to cross the cold flood of death, by the example of a single saint, who has passed that important hour with success and honour. So you have seen a flock of sheep stand doubtful and delaying on the bank of some little brook; but when the first and second have made their way through it, the rest venture over in multitudes, and leap the ditch with the greatest ease, the difficulty and the danger vanish at once, when they have seen a forerunner leading the way.

Thus it hath been made evident in several instances, that the death of fellow-christians is ours. It shall turn to our great advantage, through the influences of the gospel, and the Spirit of grace, where christians die like themselves, in the exercise of a joyful hope. It confirms our faith in the gospel of Christ, it encourages our imitation of their holy life, it makes earth and this life less pleasant to us, and heaven more desirable, and it instructs us how to die.

But if a saint go out of this world under much darkness and terror, this is commonly to be supposed a divine chastisement for the criminal indulgence of some temptations, or some unwatchful steps he has taken in the course of his life; for God will make his own people know, many times by painful experience, that it is an evil and bitter thing to backslide and depart from him. A wise and pious spectator upon this occasion, will take warning by the terrors of the Lord, and by the punishment of his fellow-christian, to avoid that guilt, and those criminal indulgences, which have provoked God to leave his brother to darkness, even in the hour of death: And this may be a means to awaken him to a most watchful course of holiness, lest he fall under the same strokes of anger from his heavenly Father, and suffer his displeasure in that awful moment, when he would most earnestly wish for the sweetest sense of his love. Thus I have finished the third general head, and shewed that the death of the saints may be richly improved to the advantage of the living.

The Recollection.—“Come, my soul, who art daily conversing with the affairs and concerns of life, come now, and meditate on the name of death: It is a name that carries much terror in it to nature; come, and see whether thou canst not derive a blessing from it, by the instructions of the gospel, and the aids of grace. Thou hast heard the lessons that the death of mankind in general should teach thee: Enquire now what thou hast learned of them: Hast thou seen the vanity of man as a mortal dying creature? It is an easy matter to say, Alas, we must all die: But hast thou felt the penetrating force of this truth? And does it influence thy whole conduct? Art thou not still, at every turn, putting thy confidence in one creature or another, whose breath is in his nostrils, and whose death disappoints thy hope? Or hast thou removed thy dependance from all creatures to God, and fixed thy hope in him that lives for ever? O blessed effect of the meditation on death?”

“Again, Hast thou seen the heinous evil of sin in the spreading desolation that death has made over this lower world? Remember that it received its commission from the justice of God, almost six thousand years ago, and from his law which sin had broken: The dreadful execution proceeds to this day, and it will proceed till there be no sinner upon earth. Sin is the spring of all this havoc of the lives of men. It is sin that has deserved all these tremendous executions of wrath: And yet, O my soul, how often hast thou indulged this mischief, to play about thy bosom, like a harmless thing! Come, view the dismal effects of it, in the death of millions, and learn to hate and renounce it for ever. It is no small evil that could awaken the indignation of God at this rate, and diffuse it so widely, over so large and so glorious a part of his creation, as the whole nature and race of man.

“Again, I would enquire, has the death of mankind taught me effectually, that I must shortly die? And have I been excited, to make a suitable provision for this awful and important hour, since I must not, I cannot escape it? Not only the death of mankind in general, but the death of wicked men may instruct me in some useful lessons too. Here I learn how God rescues his children from the rage of oppressors, when he smites them down to death, and lays all their fury silent in the dust. Thus death itself becomes a deliverer to the saints, by destroying their cruel persecutors. I learn also, that when early or sudden death has seized a bold sinner, it is a loud warning-word to all his companions. When I see such terrible examples in the course of providence, let my soul stand in awe and fear.

“And if God has distinguished me by his mercy, if he has pardoned my guilt, and sanctified my corrupt nature, if he has made me one of his own children, and prepared me for dying, when he summons others away unpardoned, unsanctified, unprepared, let all my powers be excited to bless the name of the Lord for his saving love. I was also a child of sin and wrath, but divine grace has made the difference. It is grace that has snatched me from the very brink of the pit of hell, and is training me up for heaven. And while I adore thy distinguishing mercy, O my God, to me, I would pity and pray for poor heedless and regardless sinners, that are following one another in a dismal succession, down to the gates of death. O may their eyes and souls be awakened in their day of life and hope, lest death seize them, and send them farther down to everlasting darkness and despair! But if such lessons, as these, be derived from the death of sinners, how much more benefit may be drawn from the dying hours of a sincere christian, especially if his heart be strong, and his faith lively!

“Here, I see the gospel of Christ in some of its power and glory, when I see a christian under all the weaknesses and languishings of nature, meeting death without terror, and overcoming his last enemy by the blood of the Lamb. I see the saint all serene and peaceful, even in the agonies of dying nature, and amidst the sorrows of lamenting friends. He has heaven in view, and he bids farewell to earth with holy joy: Shall I not imitate the faith and holiness of his life, which laid a foundation for so peaceful and glorious a death? Do I not feel my soul a little more weaned from the world, since such a pious friend has left it? Has not death lost some of its frightful appearances, since I have actually seen it conquered? Do I not feel my heart panting and breathing toward the society above, since I have another friend gone thither? Does it not seem a more easy thing to me to lay down this tabernacle, to part with flesh and blood, and to venture into those unseen regions, since I have beheld my fellow-christian go before me? He has made the great and solemn experiment, and surely I should have courage to follow: He has given evident proof, that there is a sacred power in the gospel, the promises and the grace of Christ, to convey the soul safe through the dark shadow of death, without surprise and consternation: And has not my soul the same rich encouragements, the same promises of grace, and the same gospel of hope?

“O my Redeemer, and my Lord, hear a humble suppliant, influence my soul by thy rich grace, to keep my faith awake, my conscience undefiled, and my evidences for heaven ever bright and clear; And when my appointed hour comes, that solemn and final hour, let me die the death of the righteous, and my departure be like his; Num. xxiii. 10. Is death an enemy to nature, and does it carry terror in the name? Yet since thou hast subdued this enemy, and taken it captive, to serve the purposes of thy love, since thou hast numbered it, and written it down among the possessions of thy people: since thou hast taught so many of thy followers to triumph over it; let me also, blessed Jesus, let me be enabled to meet it with holy fortitude, and a lively hope. O let me follow the footsteps of the flock, into the world of spirits, with a sacred pleasure, though it be through a dark passage. And as those, who went before me, have taught me to dare to die, so let my dying moments encourage those who come after me, to venture into death, at thy call, without terror and without reluctance.” Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XLI. Death of Mankind, Saints and Sinners, Improved.

Has death such vast destruction made? Does every hour increase the dead? Here I behold the guilt of sin, That brought this spreading mischief in.

Great God! How awful and how just! Thy law, that turns our flesh to dust! O let me learn how frail am I, And all my life prepare to die.

When impious wretches yield their breath, And go unpardon’d down to death, Awake my soul, adore the grace; That gave thee a repenting space.

But when a saint with chearful air Meets his last foe, and feels no fear, Our faith, our hope, and courage grow; We learn to face the tyrant too.

We could renounce our all things here, And wish that moment would appear, When we shall leave this world and rise To meet the joys above the skies.

Footnote 42:

These are some of the dying words of the Reverend Mr. Samuel Rosewell, when, with some other friends, I went to visit him two days before his death, and which I transcribed as soon as I came home, by their assistance.

SERMON XLII. The Death of Kindred improved. 1 COR. iii. 22.——Whether life or death,——all are yours.

Happy and immortal had Adam been, and all his children, if he had not ventured to break the command of his Creator: Life had been theirs in the most glorious sense of it; and death had not been known. But when sin entered into the world, death followed close behind it, according to that just and solemn threatening, In the day thou eatest, thou shalt surely die; Gen. ii. 17. And what a dismal havoc has this enemy made amongst the inhabitants of our world! It has strewed the earth with carcases, and turned millions of human bodies into dust and corruption. The very name of death spreads a terror through all nature: But as dreadful and formidable as it is in itself, the grace of Christ makes a blessing of it, and sanctifies it to the advantage of his own people.

In the former discourse on this subject, we have learned some divine lessons from death, in its widest extent of dominion. The death of all mankind yields some special advantage to a saint: He is taught to reap some benefit from the death of impenitent sinners, though it carry along with it, such a fearful train of attendants, and draw after it a long eternity of torments. He knows how to derive some advantage from the death of his fellow-christians; and whether they die in the joy of faith, and serenity of spirit, or whether their sun sets in a cloud, and fears and doubts attend them, in that important hour, still he is taught to profit by it. In these three instances, it appears that death is ours: Death is in this respect made the treasure and property of a christian, as he is instructed to improve it, to his own sacred interest, and to the welfare of his soul. We proceed now to the

Fourth general head, and shall endeavour to shew how the death of our relations and kindred in the flesh shall turn to our benefit.

I. It shews us the emptiness and insufficiency of our dearest created comforts, of all blessings that are not immortal.

We have lost, perhaps, an inferior relation, a son, a daughter, a nephew, a pleasing entertainment and comfort of life: But death tells us, it was a poor dying comfort, a pretty piece of brittle clay, broken and dissolved, and mouldering to the dust. Our love and our grief, it may be, join together, to recal the past days of fondness and delight, short-lived delight, and empty vain fondness, that ends in tears and long mourning? We have lost a superior relation, or perhaps, an equal, a father, a wife, a husband, or a brother: We have lost a guide, a support, a helper, a dear affectionate friend, entirely loving and entirely beloved.

He was a kind and skilful guide, but death teaches us the insufficiency of his guidance, who left us in the mid-way, and lets us travel through all the remaining part of this dark wilderness alone. He has given us sweet counsel and direction in days past, but he can now direct us no more, we can consult him no more: Those lips of advice, on which we hung, are closed and silent in death: That voice will be heard no more: We must walk without this counsellor all the rest of our way, be it never so long, and never so dangerous.

He was our helper, and our support under daily difficulties; but it was a weak support, that could not stand itself, when death shook him: A poor helper, and a sorry defence, that could not resist the powers of disease and mortality, nor defend himself from the assaults of death.

He was a friend, and a faithful one too; but it was a feeble, a failing friend, even in the midst of his love and faithfulness; for he was called away, and constrained to depart from us in a dark and sorrowful minute, and hath left us to mourn alone.—He could not abide with us a moment beyond his summons; he forsook us while we were drowned in grief, and could give us no more consolation. Our fathers where are they? Our prophets, our instructors, our guides, and helpers are gone down to the land of silence, they lie asleep in the dust and darkness; Zech. i. 5.

Thus death is made of advantage to us, even when it strikes us in so tender a part: For it teaches us this sacred lesson, how vain and empty are all our hopes in creatures! The dart of death is like a pen of iron in his hand, and he writes emptiness and vanity on every friend, on every relative that he takes from our family, from our side, from our bosom: He writes it in deep and painful characters, and holds our souls to the solemn lesson. The same truth stands written in many a part of the book of God, in divine and golden letters; but perhaps, we would never have learned it, had not death copied it out for us in letters of blood.

II. The death of our kindred drives us to a more immediate and constant dependance on God. When the stream is cut off, what should we do but run to the fountain? If the stars vanish, we seek the sun-beams. And O may the sun arise, and shine upon our souls with growing light and comfort as the stars disappear!

While our friends or kindred were alive, we made them our refuge in every distress; we have trusted in them perhaps too much; we have lived too much upon them, with the neglect of God. A parent, a brother, or perhaps a dearer relative; these were our high tower, our defence, our sun, and our shield: These assumed that station in our hearts, and that high place in our esteem, which is due to God only. But, when this tower is battered down to dust, when the shield of clay is broken to pieces, and this dim and feeble sun turned into darkness, then we make God alone our sun, our shield, and our high tower of defence. Then we search out earnestly, what kind and condescending characters, and relations God has assumed in his word; and we read and survey the gracious titles of our Lord Jesus Christ, with new and unknown delight.

Have any of you lost your earthly parents? Then you read with pleasure those words of the Psalmist, If my father or my mother forsake me, as they must do at the hour of death, then the Lord will take me up; Ps. xxvii. 10. And you rejoice in that glorious promise, Be ye separate from idols, saith the Lord; that is, separate yourselves from the sinful practices of the world, and I will receive you, and I will be a Father to you, and ye shall be my sons and my daughters, saith the Lord Almighty; 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. Has death entered into a family, and taken the head, the husband away? The words of Isaiah grow sweeter than ever; Is. liv. 5. Thy Maker is thy Husband, the Lord of Hosts is his name, even the God of the whole earth. Are the widows and the fatherless children in danger of oppression, because they have lost their defender? They run to the lxviii. Ps. and live upon the 5th verse of it; A Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows, is God in his holy habitation. Is a brother summoned away by the stroke of death? But the Lord Jesus is alive still: He that took flesh and blood upon him, that he might be made like the rest of the children of God, He is not ashamed to call them brethren; Heb. ii. 11. This is a brother that was born for the day of our adversity; this is the friend that sticks closer than a brother, and abides with us when a brother departs, according to the expression of the wise man; Prov. xvii. 17. and xviii. 24. Thus the names, and characters, and relations of God the Father, and of our Lord Jesus Christ, acquire a new sweetness, and appear with greater love and glory in them, at the death of our earthly relatives.

There is many a christian can speak feelingly, and say, “Never did I live so much upon my God, I never knew nor loved my Saviour so well, never conversed so much with his word, never did I find such sweetness in his names, nor his promises, nor such pleasure in secret converse with him, as I have done since the day I lost such a friend, or such a dear relation by the stroke of death: I have learned now to put no trust in creatures; for their breath goeth forth, and that very day their thoughts of kindness perish; Ps. cxlvi. 3-8. Now refuge fails me, no man seems to be concerned for me, since the death of such a friend; I say, therefore, to my God, thou art my refuge; Ps. cxlii. 4, 5.”

III. The death of our dearest friends calls us to a noble trial of our love to God, and our submission to his sovereignty. Human nature indeed is afraid of trials; but when the present aids of divine grace give us the victory, then blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him; James i. 12. And upon this account, he exhorts christians in the second verse, to a very sublime and difficult practice, My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations, knowing this, that the trial of your faith worketh patience, and if it endures the trial, it will be found unto praise, and honour, and glory, at the appearing of Jesus Christ; 1 Pet. i. 7.

When God sends his messenger of death, and takes a dear and beloved creature from our arms, or our bosom, the divine question is like that of our Lord to Peter, Simon, lovest thou me? John xxi. 15-17. Christian, lovest thou me more than thou lovest this creature? Art thou willing to resign this comfort at my call? Hast thou not given thyself to me, and does thy heart refuse to give up thy son, thy brother, or thy dearest friend? Hast thou not called me thy sovereign? I am come now to enquire into thy sincerity. Dost thou resign thy most beloved objects to my disposal? I gave up my Son to death for you; and have you any thing so dear to you as my Son was to me? What says your heart in answer to these solemn questions? Do you love me above all things, or no? Is your will bowed down to my foot? Can you now repeat from your very souls the same language, in which you have often addressed me in your closets, and in my sanctuary, “I am thine, Lord, I am thine; all that I have is thine?” Or do you murmur and quarrel at my providence, when I send my servant death to your house, to try whether these professions of yours were sincere or no?

Happy the christian that comes off with honour in this hour of trial, and who can say heartily, Lord, I resign what thou demandest, and am angry with myself that I should find so much reluctance in my heart, to surrender any thing at the call of God! What a shining evidence of our sincerity is obtained at such a season? What a noble proof of our supreme love to God? And it shall be recorded in heaven for our honour, and produced in the day of the Lord Jesus?

There is nothing in all the history of Abraham, the father of the faithful, that gives him a more shining character on earth, or, perhaps, in heaven, than that he gave up his son Isaac, at the command of God, and took the wood, and the fire, and the knife, in his hand, and devoted his beloved, his only son to death; though it was in a way so terribly painful and so shocking to nature, that he himself must be the executioner. He had offered the precious sacrifice already in his heart, when the angel of the Lord came down and stopped his hand: Now I know that thou fearest God, and I know that thou lovest him too, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thy only son from me; Gen xxii. 9-12.

Thus the death of the dearest relation turns greatly to our advantage, when it gives us so bright an evidence of our own graces, and assures us that we are hearty lovers of God.

IV. The death of a beloved relative, has often wrought for the good of a saint, when the long and painful sorrow which has attended it, has shewn us how dangerous a thing it was to love a creature too well.

“O! What a wound do I feel at my heart, says a christian, since the death of so near a relation: It pains me all the day: It fills my eyes with tears, and forbids my rest in the night: I am so troubled that I cannot sleep: It unfits me for the present duties of life, and hangs too heavy upon me, in the midst of the duties of religion. Surely, that creature dwelt too near my heart, and was joined in too close a union, since my heart bleeds and smarts so long after the parting stroke. Let me watch my affections for time to come, and set a guard upon my love, that it never, never tie my soul so fast to a creature again. Come down, blessed Saviour, and take faster hold of my heart; let thy own hand heal the wound that death has made, and let thy mercy pardon the guilt of my excessive creature-love: Dwell thou in my soul, my Lord and my God, and fill up all the unhappy and painful vacancy: Keep my affections for ever true to thee, and let my love to thee be supreme and unrivalled; nor let the softer passions of my nature wander and lose themselves amongst creatures again, lest they contract new guilt: lest they provoke thee to repeat the same smarting tragedy, and to renew these scenes of mourning.”

V. The death of our kindred is for our advantage, when it awakens us to review our own conduct toward them, whether we have behaved aright or no, and when it quickens our duty to surviving relatives.

While they are alive, and present with us, our neglect of duty towards them does not so soon strike our consciences; but when the stroke of death divides them from us in this world for ever, we are ready then to bethink ourselves, whether our carriage toward them has been just and kind: And if our enquiry finds out our guilt, our hearts are tender at that season, and we soon yield to the conviction. “Did I pay that duty to a father, which he well deserved, and which God required? Did I treat a mother with that filial affection, and submissive tenderness that became a child? Did I pay that just deference and honour to the counsels and advice of my parents as I should have done? Did I treat my sisters with that decent affection and respect that became me? And did I exercise brotherly love toward all my equal relatives? Or has my conduct been undutiful, unkind, and unbecoming?”

And especially if we have this to charge ourselves with, that we took no care for the welfare of the souls of those that are dead. Such thoughts as these will hang heavy about the heart, and press hard upon the conscience in that day. “Did I not see my child or my brother walk in the ways of sin: and yet did I ever give him a hint of his dreadful danger? Did I fear that he was a stranger to the grace of God, and yet did I not neglect to invite him to receive the gospel? Had I not reason to question whether he was a sincere convert or no? But how little have I done toward his conversion?

“Or if he was ever concerned about the affairs of his soul, and awakened and thoughtful about death and hell, did I direct him in the way of peace? Did I endeavour to lead him to Jesus the Saviour? Or did I let him go on without instruction, and without comfort, till death laid its cold hands upon him, and he plunged into the eternal world at a mournful uncertainty? O my heart! my heart! The anguish of it pains me beyond what I am able to bear. O that I could recal my brother, or my son from the grave! How would I follow him with counsels and intreaties? And neither give him nor myself any rest, till I had good hope, through grace, that he had fled for refuge to lay hold on Christ and his salvation. I would never be at ease, nor would I cease pleading for him at the throne of grace, till I had found some evidences of a new nature in him, and a change of heart from sin to repentance and holiness.

“Or suppose my departed relative was a true christian, what did I do toward the increase of his faith? Did I ever allure him to holy conversation? Did I take occasion now and then to introduce religious discourse? Did I converse with him ever about the matters of our common salvation, that as iron sharpens iron, so we might have quickened each others zeal and love, and helped each other onward in our way to heaven?

“Surely I have found myself too guilty, in some of these instances. Forgive my criminal negligence, O my God, and through thy grace, I will apply myself to double diligence, with regard to my relatives that yet survive: I will enquire, as far as it is proper, into the state of their souls: I will seek the most powerful and the kindest methods, to awaken the thoughtless sinners amongst them; and I will study, and pray, and ask God what I shall say to make a deep impression upon their hearts: And though I have no office in the church, yet what I have learned there, I will talk over at home: I will preach Christ crucified, and all his gospel to them, as God shall give me proper opportunity. I will converse more freely with my pious kindred about the things of God, and learn their inward sentiments of religion and experimental godliness. Thus will I bring holy discourse into the parlour and the chamber; and every soul in my house shall be a witness of my endeavours to promote the eternal welfare of those that are near me.”

Now when the death of a near relation attains such an end as this, and raises our repentance and holy zeal at this rate, we cannot doubt but that we receive sensible advantage by it.

VI. The death of our friends, who were truly religious, inclines us to review their instructions and their virtues, and sets them before our eyes, in a fresh and lively manner, to influence our own practice.

We are too ready to forget their advice, while they are living and daily present with us, and we take too little notice of those virtues, in which they were eminent. We beheld their humility toward God and men, their condescension to their inferiors, their love and hearty friendship toward their equals, and their sweetness of temper toward all around them. We beheld it, and perhaps we loved and honoured them for it; but we took but little pains to copy after them. We saw their pity to the poor and the miserable, their charity to persons of different sects and sentiments in religion; their readiness to forgive those that offended them, and their good-will and obliging carriage to all men. There was a beauty and loveliness in this conduct, that rendered them amiable indeed, but how little have we transcribed of their example, either into our hearts or our lives? We observed their constant tenderness of conscience, their devotion toward God, and their zeal for the honour of Christ, and his gospel in the world. O that we had made these graces the matter of our imitation! What can we do now more to honour their memory, than to speak, and live, and act like them?

It may be we have got their pictures drawn by some skilful hand, and their images hang round us in their best likeness, as tender memorials of what we once enjoyed, to give us now and then a melancholy delight, and awaken in us the pleasing sadness of love. These we call our most precious pieces of furniture, and our hearts rate them at an uncommon price. But it would be much richer furniture for our souls, to have the best likeness of our pious predecessors and kindred copied out there. Let us now and then reflect what were their peculiar virtues, and the remarkable graces that adorned them; and if we could imagine the spirit of each of them to look down upon us, through those eyes which the pencil has so well imitated, and to speak through those lips, each of them would say, in the language of the softest and most sacred affection; Be ye followers of me as dear children, so far as I was a follower of Christ.

And this thought I would more especially impress on those who were most unhappily negligent of the pious counsel of their ancestors, or ran counter to their holy advice and example in their life-time. “I was too regardless, may a young christian say, of the wise and weighty sayings of my father deceased, they return now upon my thoughts, with a fresh and living influence. I have been too ready to neglect what a kind mother taught me; but the instructions that I received from her dying lips, had such an air of solemnity and tenderness in them, that they have made a deep impression upon my heart; and I hope I shall never forget them. The prudent and pious rules that my elder relations have often set before me, recur to my thoughts with double efficacy since their death: I shall hear them speak no more, I shall see their holy examples no more: I will gather up the fragments of their religious counsels, and make them the rule of my conduct: I am w ell assured their souls are happy, and by the grace of God I will tread in their steps, till I arrive at those blessed regions, where I hope to meet them.”

This thought leads me on to the last instance of benefit which we derive from the death of our kindred in the flesh.

VII. The death of dear and near relations calls our thoughts in a more powerful and sensible manner, to converse with the grave and eternity.

When our neighbours, or our common acquaintance die, we attend the funeral, and cast an eye into the grave; we spend a thought or two on the pit of corruption, and the mouldering dust: We awaken a meditation or two on things heavenly and the world to come; and we return quickly, and busily to this world again: But when God sends death into our chambers, and it makes a slaughter there, it awakens us more effectually from a drowsy frame, and it nails our thoughts down to our most important and everlasting concerns. “Part of me is gone to the dust already, it is not long ere the surviving part shall go also. Death has smitten the desire of my eyes, and the partner of my joys, it will strike me ere long, and am I ready?” This thought dwells upon the heart of a true christian at such a season, and while the Spirit of God assists the work, it is not in the power of all the trifles in this earth to banish the holy thought, and carnalize the mind again. As when a man is seized with the dead palsy, or has a limb cut off, and buried in the dust, how sensibly does this awaken in him the thought of death and futurity? “The sentence of death is begun to be executed on me already, and the whole execution will be quickly fulfilled; it is time now to be ready, for death is in good earnest, and has begun his work.”

And if our departed relative were a christian indeed, and gave us comfortable hope in his death, then it leads our thoughts naturally to heaven, and most powerfully touches the springs of our heavenly hopes. It raises our pious wishes to the upper world and we say, as Thomas did at the death of Lazarus, Let us go, that we may die with him; John xi. 16. Let us go to our God and our holy kindred, and enjoy their better presence there. Let us not sorrow for the dead, as those that mourn without hope; 1 Thess. iv. 13. but look upward to things unseen, and forward to the great rising-day, and rejoice in the promised and future glories that are beyond life and time.

Every dear relative that dies and leaves us, gives us one motive more to be willing to die: Their death furnishes us with one new allurement toward heaven, and breaks off one of the fetters and bonds that tied us down to this earth. Alas! we are tied too fast to these earthly tabernacles, these prisons of flesh and blood. We are attached too much to flesh and blood still, though we find them such painful and such sinful companions. We love to tarry in this world too well, though we meet with so many weaning strokes to divide our hearts from it. O it is good to live more at a loose from earth, that we may be ready for the parting hour: Let us not be angry with the sovereign hand of God that breaks one bond after another; though the strokes be painful, yet they loosen our spirits from this cottage of clay, they teach us to practise a flight heaven-ward in holy meditations and devout breathings; and we learn to say, How long, O Lord, how long?

The Recollection.—“Have any of us lately felt such parting strokes as these? Have we lost any of our beloved kindred? God calls upon us now, and enquires, What have you learned of these divine lessons? I would ask myself this day, Have I seen the emptiness and the insufficiency of creatures, and recalled my hope and confidence from every thing beneath and beside God? Have I past through this solemn hour of trial well, and shewn my supreme love to God, and my most entire submission to his sovereignty, by resigning so dear a comfort at his demand? Have I been taught by the inward pain which I felt at parting, and by the smart which still remains, how dangerous a thing it is to love a creature too well? Have I duly considered my past conduct toward my relations deceased, and does it improve itself to my conscience at the review? Or have I found matter for self-condemnation and repentance? Have I treasured up the memory of their virtues in my heart, and set them before me as the copy of my life? Have my thoughts followed the soul of my dear departed friend, and traced it with pleasure to the world of blessed spirits; and does my own soul seem to fix its hope and joy there, and to dwell there above? Are my thoughts become more spiritual and heavenly? Do I live more as a borderer on the other world, since a piece of me is gone thither? And am I ready for the summons, if it should come before to-morrow?”

“Happy christian, who has been taught by the Spirit of grace to improve the death even of the dearest relative to so divine an advantage! The words of my text are then fulfilled experimentally in you: Death is yours: Death itself is made a part of your treasures. The parting stroke is painful indeed, but it carries a blessing in it too; for it has promoted your heavenly and eternal interest.” Amen.

HYMN FOR SERMON XLII. Death of Kindred improved.

Must friends and kindred drop and die? Must helpers be withdrawn? While sorrow, with a weeping eye, Counts up our comforts gone.

Be thou our comfort, mighty God, Our helper and our friend: Nor leave us, in this dang’rous road, Till all our trials end.

O may our feet pursue the way, Our pious fathers led? While love and holy zeal obey The counsels of the dead.

Let us be wean’d from all below; Let hope our grief dispel; Death will invite our souls to go, Where our best kindred dwell.

SERMON XLIII. Death a Blessing to the Saints. 1 COR. iii. 22.—Whether life or death,—all are yours.

We have already seen many divine comforts, and a rich variety of blessings derived from the formidable name of DEATH: One would scarce have thought that a word of so much terror should have ever been capable of yielding so much sweetness; but the gospel of Christ is a spring of wonders: It has consecrated all the terrible things in nature, even death itself, and every thing beside sin, to the benefit of the saint.

Death, in all its appearances, may furnish the mind of a believer with some sacred lesson of truth or holiness. When it appears in the extent of its dominion, and bringing all mankind down to the dust; when it lays hold on an impenitent sinner, and fills his flesh and soul with agonies; when it assaults a saint, and is conquered by faith; when it makes a wide ravage among our acquaintance, when it enters into our families, and takes away our near and dear relatives from the midst of us, still the christian may reap some divine advantage by it.

But can our own death be ever turned into a blessing too? Nature thinks it hard to learn such a strange lesson as this, and has much ado to be persuaded to believe it. How dismal are its attendants to flesh and blood! What languishings of the body! What painful agonies! What tremblings and convulsions in nature frequently attend the dying hour even of the best of christians! Can that be a blessing which turns this active and beautiful engine of the body into loathsome clay; which closes these eyes in long darkness, and deprives us of every sense? Can death become a blessing to us, which cuts us off from all converse with the sun and moon, and that rich variety of sensible objects which furnish out such delightful scenes all around us, and entertain the whole animal creation? Can that be a blessing which divides asunder those two intimate friends, the flesh and the spirit, that sends one of them to the noisome prison of the grave, and hurries away the other into unknown regions? Yes, the gospel of Christ has power and grace enough in it to take off all these gloomy appearances from death, and to illuminate the darkest side of it with various lustre. So the sun paints the fairest colours upon the blackest cloud, and while the thick dark shower is descending it entertains our eyes with all the beauties of the rain-bow; a most glorious type and seal of the covenant of grace, that can give a pleasing aspect to death itself, and spread light and pleasure over the darksome grave.

If we are believers in Christ, death is ours as well as life. These two contrary states may each of them derive peculiar benefits from the new covenant. The christian may be taught so to value and improve life, that he may be not only patient, but chearful and thankful in the continuance of it. This has been made evident in a large discourse already: And yet it must be confessed, that the advantages which death brings to a believer are still greater and more glorious, and this will appear in the following particulars:

I. Death finishes our state of labour and trial, and puts us in possession of the crown and the prize. St. Paul was appointed to die by the sword of Nero, and to end his labours and his race in blood; yet he rejoices to think that his race was just at an end, and triumphs in view of the glorious recompence; 2 Tim. iv. 7, 8. I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith, henceforth is laid up for me a crown of righteousness. There is a voice from heaven that proclaims the dead happy; upon this account, that their toil and fatigue is come to an end. Rev. xiv. 13. Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, for they rest from their labours, and their works follow them; that is, the prize of everlasting happiness which Christ has promised to his labouring saints. Rev. ii. 10. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. So the weary traveller counts the last hour of the day the best; for it finishes the fatigue and toil of the day, and brings him to his resting-place. So the soldier rejoices in the last field of battle; he fights with the prize of glory in his eye, and ends the war with courage, pleasure, and victory.

II. Death frees us for ever from all our errors and mistakes, and brings us into a world of glorious knowledge and illumination. The vale of death is a dark passage indeed, but it leads into the regions of perfect light. Now we know but in part, says the apostle; 1 Cor. xiii. 12. Now we see but through a glass darkly, then we shall see God and our Saviour face to face, and know them even as we are known; not in the same degree of perfection indeed, but according to our measure and capacity, we shall know them, in a way of vision, or immediate sight, as God knows his creatures, as one man knows his friend, whose face he beholds with his eyes; or as one spirit knows another, by some unknown ways of perception which belong to spirits.

O what a new and unspeakable pleasure will it be to the disciples of Christ, and the ministers of the gospel, that have been tired and worn out in tedious controversies in this world, and sorely perplexed amongst the difficult passages of scripture, when they shall arrive at that region of light and glory, where the darknesses of the mind shall be all scattered, the veil shall be taken off from sacred things, and doubts and difficulties shall vanish for ever!

Alas! What desolation and mischief has the noise and clamour of controversy brought on the church of Christ in all ages! What quarrels and sharp contests has it raised among fellow-christians, and especially, where zeal and ignorance have joined together, and brought fire and darkness into the sanctuary! This has banished charity and love out of the house of God, and made the Spirit of God himself to depart grieved. Surely death carries a considerable blessing in it, as it delivers us from these disorders, these bitter quarrels, and appoints us a place in the temple of God on high, where the axe and the hammer never sound, where the saw of contention is never drawn, where the noise of war is heard no more, but perfect light lays a foundation for perfect and everlasting love.

III. Death makes an utter end of sin, it delivers us from a state of temptation, and conveys us into a state of perfect holiness, safety, and peace. The spirits of the just are made perfect in holiness, when they leave this sinful and mortal flesh, they stand without spot or blemish, without fault or infirmity of greater or lesser size, and appear pure and undefiled before the throne of God; Rev. xiv. 5. Their robes are washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb; and they serve him without sin, day and night, in his temple; Rev. vii. 14, 15. When death carries them away from this world, it carries them out of the territories of the devil; for he has no power in that land whither happy souls go: And all the remaining lusts of the flesh, that had their death’s wound given them by renewing grace, are now destroyed for ever; for the death of the body is the final death of sin, and the grave is, as it were, the burying-place of many unruly iniquities, that have too often defiled and disquieted the spirit.

And as the corrupt affections which are mingled with our flesh and blood, and which are rooted deep in animal nature, are left behind us in the bed of death, so when we ascend to heaven, we shall find no manner of temptation to revive them. There is no malice or angry resentment to be awakened there, no incitements to envy, intemperance, or the cursed sin of pride, that cleaves so close to our natures here on earth. When we are encompassed with those blessed creatures, angels and saints made perfect, we shall meet with no affront, no reproach, no injury to provoke our anger, or kindle an uneasy passion. Most perfect friendship is ever practised there; it is a region of peace, a world of immortal amity.

Nor shall we find any temptation to envy, in that happy state; for though there are different ranks of glorified creatures, yet each is filled with a holy satisfaction, and hath an inward relish of his own felicity suited to his own capacity and state, and they have all a general relish of the common joy, and a mutual satisfaction in each others happiness. Envy, that fretful passion, is no more. In heaven there are no provocations to those unruly appetites, which break in upon our temperance, and pollute our souls.

Pride and haughtiness of spirit have no room in that blessed world: The superior order of saints, which are nearest the throne, shall not despise the meanest; for the nearer they approach to the perfect image of Christ, the more intense and diffusive is their love. Besides, every saint in glory shall see himself in his own nothingness, and infinitely indebted to divine grace for all things: This shall for ever forbid all vanity and conceit of merit. In heaven we shall see God in the fulness of his glory, and shall have so penetrating a sense of his saving grace, that a creature rescued from hell cannot be proud there.

Rejoice then, ye poor feeble christians, that have been long wrestling with your indwelling sins, and maintaining a holy and daily fight, with strong and restless corruptions in your nature: Lift up your heads at the thoughts of death, for the day of your redemption draws nigh; Luke xxi. 28. Death is your deliverer. It is like the angel that Christ sent to Peter, to knock off his fetters, and release him from the prison; it may smite and surprize you, and it has indeed a dark and unlovely aspect; but its message is light and peace, holiness and salvation.

IV. Death is ours, for it takes us away from under all the threatenings of God in his word, and places us in the actual possession of the greatest part of the blessings, that God has promised us. The saints that are dead are thus described; they are those, who through faith and patience, inherit the promises; Heb. vi. 12.

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