A 556881
Tappan Presbyterian Association
LIBRARY.
Presented by HON. D. BETHUNE DUFFIELD.
From Library of Rev. Geo. Duffield, D.D.
:
1
DEO REIPUBLICÆ ET AMICIS.
UZMAUTUS
Gorge Duffield A.M
In lali nunquam lassat venatio sylva.
A.D.1884.
i
BX
5133
.F82
1787
25-2 F8
SERMONS
ON
VARIOUS SUBJECTS,
AND
PREACHED on SEVERAL OCCASIONS.
BY THE LATE
Revd. THO. FRANCKLIN, D. D.
CHAPLAIN in ORDINARY to his MAJESTY, and RECTOR
of BRASTED in KENT.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. III.
THE THIRD EDITION.
LONDON:
Printed for T. CADELL, in the Strand.
M. DCC. XC,
1
gift
Tappan Prest less.
1-23-1932
ADVERTISEMENT.
NOTHING less than the very great
and extenfive approbation with which
the two former volumes have been received,
could have occafioned a third to be obtruded
on the public. It is hoped that the Sermons
which it contains, will not be leſs intereſt-
ing, or less worthy of patronage, than thofe
of the preceding. They are, however, pre-
fented to the public, with that diffidence,
which a real ſenſe of paſt obligations never
fails to infpire.
A 2
CONTENTS
OF THE
THIRD VOLUME.
SERMON I.
On Viſiting the Sick.
Matt. XXV. 36.
I was fick and ye vifited me.
SERMON II.
On Prayer.
Mark X. 38.
Page 1
Jefus faid unto them, ye know not what ye
SERMON III.
aſk
On Vanity.
Ecclef. II. 1.
p. 23
faid in my heart, go to now; I will prove
thee
vi
CONTENTS.
thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure,
and behold this aljo is—Vanity.
SERMON IV.
On the Choice of Company.
Pfalm XVIII. 25, 26.
P. 47
With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with a
perfect man thou shalt be perfect; with
the clean, thou shalt be clean; and with
ſkalt
the froward, thou shalt learn froward-
ness.
P. 67
SERMON V.
On a Future State.
1 Cor. XV. 19.
If in this life only we have hope in Chriſt, we
are of all men most miferable.
SERMON VI.
P. 93
On the Uncertainty of Human Happineſs.
Prov. XXVII. 1.
Boaft not thyself of tomorrow, for thou
knoweft not what a day may bring forth.
P. 115
SER-
CONTENTS.
vii.
SERMON VII.
On Pride and Self-conceit.
Prov. XVI. 5.
Every one that is proud in heart, is an abo-
mination to the Lord.
SERMON VIII.
On Unity.
Pfalm CXXXIII. 1.
P. 137
Behold how good and joyful a thing it is, for
brethren to dwell together in Unity. p. 147
SERMON IX.
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
Matt. V. 20.
Except your righteousness exceed the righte-
oufness of the Scribes and Pharifees, ye
ſhall in no wife enter into the kingdom of
heaven.
P. 181
SERMON X.
On following the Multitude.
Exodus XXIII. 2.
Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil.
P. 201
viii
CONTENTS.
SERMON XI.
On Vigilance.
2 Tim. IV. 5.
Watch thou in all things.
p. 219
SERMON XII.
On the Omniſcience of God.
Pfalm CXXXIX. 2.
Thou art about my path, and about my bed,
and fpieft out, all my ways.
SERMON XIII.
Against Hypocrify.
Luke XII. I.
P. 239
Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharifees,
which is Hypocrify.
SERMON XIV.
On the Sacrament.
I Cor. XI. 24.
P. 261
This do in remembrance of me.
p. 287
SER-
CONTENTS.
ix.
SERMON XV.
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
Luke VI. 38.
With the fame Meafure that ye mete withal,
it shall be measured to you again. p. 311
SERMON XVI.
On Peter.
Matt. XXVI. 75.
Peter remembered the words of Jefus, which
faid unto him, Before the cock crew thou
fhalt deny me thrice: and he went out and
wept bitterly.
SERMON
P. 331
XVII.
On the Thief upon the Crofs.
Luke XXIII. 43.
Verily I fay unto thee, to day fhalt thou be
with me in paradiſe.
b
P. 353
ON
VISITING THE SICK.
SERMON I.
MAT T. XXV. 36.
I was fick and ye vifited me.
WH
I.
HEN we ſeriouſly confider the SERM.
frail, corrupt, and diſtreſsful
ſtate of human nature, when we reflect
on the general lot and portion of mor-
tality, to what variety of evils we are
fubject, and how many enemies we have
to contend with, how few things there
are in this life which can impart real and
ſubſtantial happineſs; and on the other
hand, how many are pregnant with mi-
fery and forrow; we are naturally led
VOL. III.
B
to
•
2
On Vifiting the Sick.
I.
SERM. to imagine that it must be the bufinefs,
the intereft, and concern of every indi-
vidual to lighten as much as poffible the
general burthen; that every office of ten-
derneſs and humanity to our fellow-
creatures would of courſe be daily and
punctually performed by every one of
us; well knowing that all the poor aid
and affiftance which each particular could
lend, would ſtill be but little and infigni-
ficant prefervatives againſt univerſal ca-
lamity, as the moſt that we can do is
but to foften that diſtreſs which we can-
not prevent, and to foothe thofe forrows
which we cannot remove.
Amongst all thofe duties, therefore,
which are infpired by benevolence,
taught by natural, or commanded by
revealed religion, there is not one which
can lay a ftronger claim to our obferv-
ance than that which is inculcated in
my
On Vifiting the Sick.
3
1.
my text, the duty of vifiting the fick, SERM.
fo ftrongly and pathetically enforced by
our bleffed Saviour himſelf, who not
only recommended, but conftantly and
affiduouſly performed it: on the diſcharge
of this kind and friendly office he hath
more than once affured us, no lefs de-
pends than our eternal happineſs and
falvation; thofe who do it ſhall be fet
on his right hand, and thofe who neglect
it, on his left, when he fhall come in
his glory to judge the world, and theſe
fhall go away into everlaſting puniſh-
ment, but the righteous into life eternal.
[
Permit me therefore, in the following
difcourfe, to lay before you a few of
thofe arguments which will moſt ſtrong-
ly recommend to you the ferious confi-
deration of this neceffary and important
duty.
B 2
ift,
4
On Viſiting the Sick.
SERM.
I.
ift, By pointing out to you the many
benefits and advantages refulting from
it to our fellow-creatures; and
2dly, The manifeft tendency which
it hath to promote our own intereſt and
happineſs, both here and hereafter.
And first, therefore, I fhall take this
opportunity to confider the benefits and
advantages which will accrue to others,
the relief and comfort which we beſtow
on our fellow-creatures.
Whether it be owing to the falſe phi-
lofophy of fome pernicious writers, who
have rifen up of late years to confound
virtue and vice, and put religion out of
countenance, or to the natural depra-
vity of mankind, heightened and en-
flamed by bad example, or both toge-
ther, is hard to determine; but certain
it
On Vifiting the Sick.
5
1.
it is, that we are at preſent fo loft in the SERM.
idle amuſements, or corrupted by the
follies of the age, that almoft all the
ties of nature are broken through and
contemned, and focial love and affection
banished from the breafts of men. We
are fo deeply engaged in the vanities
and impertinencies of life, that we have
no time left for the duties of it; fo con-
ſtantly employed in vifiting thofe who
neither want nor defire it, that we to-
tally neglect thoſe who do; we partake,
in fhort, of every table but the table of
love, and go to every houfe but the houſe
of mourning; men are but too well ac-
quainted with the pleaſures, the vices,
and faults of their neighbours, and are
only ftrangers to their forrows and mif-
fortunes.
The loofe and unthinking manner in
which fo many fpend their irrevocable
hours
B 3
6
On Visiting the Sick.
1.
SERM. hours is not only the cauſe of half the
cruel diforders which fall upon them,
}
な
​but tends alfo, in a great meaſure, to
make the burthen heavier and more in-
tolerable; the more habituated we are
to pleaſure, the more impatient fhall
we be under the difcipline of pain or
fickneſs; and the greater the change is,
the more intenfe muſt be our fenfation
of it. How unhappy then muſt thoſe
be who fall from the fummit of health
and plenty into the melancholy ſtate of
fickneſs or adverfity, and who at the
fame time that they are depreffed are
generally deferted alfo! for thouſands who
are glad to partake of the joys and hap-
pineſs of others, will refufe to bear a
part in their fufferings and affliction.
The good and virtuous alone are ca-
pable of true friendſhip.
Obferve
On Vifiting the Sick.
7
Obferve the connections which arife SERM.
between the gay and diffolute; connec-
tions which ſpring from caſual ſcenes of
mirth, luxury, and intemperance; mark
how foon the knot is loofed, and how
quickly the union is diffolved. It
ſpringeth up in the morning, and in the
evening is cut down, dried up, and
withered; the fame change which pro-
duced, frequently deftroys and puts an
end to it; as the holy Pfalmift beauti-
fully expreffeth it, It is like the grass
which groweth on the house-top, wherewith
the mower filleth not his hand, neither he
that bindeth the jfheaves his bofom.
Whilft on the other hand,
No ties are ſo ftrong and binding as
thofe produced by fympathy and com-
paffion: forrow hath an attractive qua-
lity, which infenfibly draws together
the minds of the tender and humane;
B 4
and
I.
:}
8
On Vifiting the Sick.
I.
SERM. and when friendship thus calls in virtue
ཨ་ཡི to her aid, the union which they form
is lafting, the bands which they knit
are indiffoluble.
1
The duty of vifiting the fick, there-
fore, is always attended with this de-
firable confequence, that it confers obli-
gations which never can be cancelled,
and beſtows benefits that never are for-
gotten, cements friendſhips already made,
and creates new ones that are lafting and
permanent.
The duty notwithſtanding now before
us is too often neglected as uſeleſs and
unneceffary: a crowd, fays the unfeeling
man, at fuch times, is difagreeable, and
company fuperfluous; converfe then is
loathing, and cheerfulneſs impertinent:
but this is furely rather the weak excufe
of languid indifference, or the cold fug-
geftion
On Vifiting the Sick.
9
I.
geftion of unfeeling philofophy. Hath SERM.
not the wife man affured us, that even
the moving of the lips can affuage grief?
Experience muft convince us, that in
the bitterneſs of pain and fickneſs no
balm is fo efficacious as the balm of ten-
dernefs, no draught fo invigorating as
the cordial of friendſhip. The health
of the patient may depend as much on
the hand that adminifters, as on the
phyſician who prefcribes the remedy;
and I appeal to the hearts of all who
have languiſhed under any of thoſe cruel
diftempers our weak frames are liable
to, if ever the fight of thoſe they valued
and eſteemed was fo pleafing to their
eyes, or the voice of thofe they loved fo
grateful to their ears, as when they came
in that melancholy hour to vifit and
relieve them.
But
10 On Vifiting the Sick.
SERM.
I.
But fecondly, Though we might even
fuppofe it poffible (dreadful as the fup-
pofition is) to lay afide our humanity,
and utterly to forget and neglect our
duty towards our neighbour, let us at
leaft confider what I propofed to point
out to you as a moft powerful induce-
ment to the practice of this virtue,
namely, the manifeft tendency which it
hath to promote our own intereft, wel-
fare, and happineſs both here and here-
after.
And the first great benefit and advan-
12ge refulting from this humane and
charitable employment is, that it may
in a great meaſure ferve to wean our
affections from the things of this world
to humanife and foften our difpofitions,
difpofe our thoughts towards fuch ob-
jects as might otherwife feldom enter
;
into
On Vifiting the Sick.
II
1.
into them, call off our attention from SERM.
fcenes of gaiety and diffipation, and fix
them on that heaven where, and where
only, true joys are to be found.
Experience doth fufficiently convince
us that there is no ſchool like the ſchool
of affliction, that ficknefs is the beft of
mafters, and no inftructors fo well qua-
lified to teach morality, as pain and
forrow.
Let then the diffolute and abandoned
man quit the chambers of riot and de-
bauchery for a bed of fickness; convey
him from the palaces of joy to the re-
gions of forrow and affliction; let him
look upon his difconfolate brother, la-
bouring under fome fore difeafes, and
lamenting perhaps the guilty caufe of all
his fufferings: and then let him return,
if he can, to the fons of Belial, and go
011
12
On Vifiting the Sick.
SERM. on in the fatal purſuit of his deſtructive
I.
}
pleaſures.
{
To this ſcene let us fend the man of
vaunted learning and knowledge, who
boafts his fuperior wiſdom, and looks
down with contempt on the ignorant
and illiterate: fhew him one, perhaps
but a few hours ago much wiſer and
more learned than himfelf, now lan-
guiſhing in a ſtate of weakneſs and in-
fenfibility. Behold that mind which
was once fo rich deprived of all its trea-
fures, all its ideas obliterated and effaced,
all its knowledge vaniſhed away. Bid
the fcholar turn over this inftructive
page; bid him look over this moral trea-
tife, and be wife; bid him read this im-
portant leffon, and be humble.
Go to this ſchool, attend this duty,
thou that are ſwollen with ambition, or
enflamed
On Vifiting the Sick.
13
enflamed by avarice; afk the fick man,
where are the riches that can purchaſe
eaſe, or where is the power that can con-
quer pain? Then turn into thy own
bofom and aſk thyfelf, whether the
things thou art fo warmly in purſuit of,
are worth thy toil and affiduity? whether
thou wilt be fure of happineſs if thou haft
them, or muft of neceffity be miferable
if thou haft them not? And above all, re-
member to aſk thy felf this important
queſtion, whether fuch poor and tranfi-
tory bliſs as they can afford, ſhould be
purchaſed at the dear expence of thy in-
nocence and virtue?
But another and that no inconfiderable
advantage arifing from the practice of this
duty, is that inward complacency and
fatisfaction of our own minds, which it
never fails to produce.
SERM.
1.
The
14
On Vifiting the Sick.
SERM.
I.
The joy which arifeth from fenfual
gratifications is momentary and tranfient,
confined within the narrow limits of a
fhort fruition; whilst the performance
of this, and of every other focial virtue,
carries with it a pleafing reflection that
extends itſelf to futurity, and every time
it recurs, creates freſh pleaſure and added
fatisfaction; to a mind therefore rightly
difpofed, the houſe of mourning is a fairer
habitation than the gorgeous tents of
ungodlinefs: the kind and benevolent
repoſe themſelves with as much eaſe on
a bed of fickneſs, as on the couch of lux-
ury and intemperance; in the cup of
affliction there is always fomething ſweet
thrown in by the hand of Providence;
and the very tears of Virtue can admi-
nifter more true and folid fatisfaction,
than Vice and Folly have it in their
power to beftow.
Com-
On Vifiting the Sick.
15
Compaffion, we must acknowledge, is SERM.
a debt which we all owe to our fellow-
creatures when under the rod of afflic-
tion, and like other debts will always
leave an uneafinefs on the mind of every
honeft and confcientious man, till he has
faithfully diſcharged it. But when it is
paid as it ought to be, that ſelf-applaufe
and fecret fatisfaction which arifeth from
it will make us ample retribution.
But if the motives of reaſon and reli-
gion are not of themſelves (and too often
it happens that they are not) fufficient
to perfuade us to the practice of this
duty, that felf-love and felf-intereft
which reign in every breaft, will moſt
powerfully exhort us to the execution
of it.
I.
The tear which we refufe to fhed over
the miferies of others, God, and God
only,
16
On Vifiting the Sick.
SERM. only, knows how foon we may ourſelves
I.
ſtand in need of: how often doth an un>
expected ſtroke of fickneſs put an end to
the enjoyment of every human happi-
nefs, and change the cheerful ſcene of
joy and comfort into a melancholy ſtate
of mifery and defpair! In one day, nay
in one hour, the luftre of the eye ſhall
be extinguiſhed, the bloom of health
fhall wither, and the voice of mirth and
gladneſs fhall be fuppreffed. If there-
fore we do not vifit and compaffionate
thoſe who are in ficknefs and forrow,
when we ourſelves are overtaken by
them, who ſhall pity or compaffionate
us? Then fhall we call to mind perhaps
the afflictions of Jofeph, and fay as his
brethren did, when they came into
trouble: We are very guilty concerning our
brother, in that we saw the anguish of his
foul when he befought us, and would not
bear, therefore is this diftrefs come upon us.
How
On Vifiting the Sick.
17
How great an averfion foever the
SERM.
I.
gay
and unthinking part of mankind may
have to all that carries with it the ap-
pearance of grave or melancholy, it may
notwithstanding with truth be afferted,
that he who is a ftranger to forrow, is a
ftranger alfo to the best emotions, the
nobleft feelings which the human heart
is capable of receiving.
There is, we muſt have obferved, in
fome perſons a remarkable tenderneſs of
difpofition, and a delicacy of fenfation
which thoſe whom we falfely term the
brave and refolute never experience; a
difpofition which however we may fome-
times ridicule and defpife, is what in
the end will moft intimately unite and
endear them to us. Thofe qualities
which in the wantonnefs of health and
profperity are apt to raiſe our laughter
and contempt, in thehour of ſickneſs or
adver-
Vol. III.
C
18
On Vifiting the Sick.
SERM. adverfity, fhall meet with our eſteem and
I.
بها
approbation. The truth indeed is, the
value of this bleffing, like that of every
other, is found only by its abfence; and
we ſeldom know the true value of huma-
nity and compaffion, till we come to feel
the want of them.
But lastly, and to conclude.
If we are kind, tender, and affec-
tionate to our friends and neighbours in
the trying hours of fickneſs and adver-
fity, we ſhall not only meet in return
with their pity and attendance on us,
when we fall into the like calamity, but
we ſhall alſo find a better and more pow-
erful friend than this world can afford to
aid and ſupport us. Our bleffed Saviour
hath himſelf affured us, that in as much
as we fhew this tenderneſs and humanity
towards our fellow-creatures, we fhew it
unto
On Vifiting the Sick.
19
I.
unto him. If the naked whom we have SERM.
clothed fhould not remember the benefit
beſtowed, he will himſelf diſcharge the
debt, and repay us for them, If the
fick whom we have vifited, when re-
ſtored to health, ungratefully forget the
friendly vifitor, he will not forget, but
will come himſelf to return the obliga-
tion; the Lord himſelf will make our
bed in fickness; he will enable us with
courage to bear with ftrength, perhaps to
conquer, the diſeaſe, when we have
ftruggled through forrow, pain, fickneſs
and adverſity. He will lead us to a
bleſſed habitation, where there fhall be
no pain or adverfity, no diſeaſes to afflict
the body, no forrow to deprefs the mind,
where joys untainted and incorruptible
fhall meet, where health unimpaired and
uninterrupted fhall finally and everlaſt-
ingly reward us.
C 2
To
20
On Vifiting the Sick.
SERM.
I.
To thoſe glorious and eternal manfions
of celeſtial happineſs, after all our fick-
neſs, pain, and forrow here, may the
God of peace, health, and joy, conduct
us all, through the merits and mediation
of Jeſus Chriſt our Lord.
O N
PRAYER,
SERMON II.
MARK X. 38.
Jefus faid unto them, Ye know not what
ye aſk.
HESE words of our bleffed Sa- SERM.
TH
viour are a fevere rebuke on two
of his difciples. James and John, the
fons of Zebedee, came unto him, faying,
Mafter, we would that thou shouldeft do
for us whatſoever we shall defire; and he
faid unto them, what would ye that I
should do for you? and they faid unto
him, grant unto us that we may fit one at
thy right hand, and the other at thy left
hand, in thy glory. Not content, it
feems, with the humble hopes of future
happiness in the manfions of the bleft,
C 4
they
II.
24
On Prayer.
SERM. they were for afpiring to the higheſt and
II.
moft exalted ſtation, to be placed on each
fide the throne of glory, and next in
honour and dignity to their great Re-
deemer; a requeſt which he, no doubt,
thought highly unreaſonable. And, ac-
cordingly, fays St. Mark, he ſaid unto
them, ye know not what ye afk; by which
he gave them to understand, that he
thought their demands exorbitant; that
the kingdom of heaven was not a thing
to be acquired with fo much eaſe, or fo
readily to be granted, as their vanity and
felf-conceit ſeemed to flatter them; nay,
that it was not even his to give, but that
God the Father would prepare it for
them, and them only, whofe fuperior
merits ſhould entitle them to a participa-
tion of it.
Now, though theſe words were at that
time addreffed folely to James and John,
they
On Prayer.
25
they may, I think, with the utmoſt
pro-
priety be applied, and perhaps were at
firſt meant by our Saviour himſelf, as a
warning to all mankind; a deferved cen-
fure on all the exorbitant defires, extra.
vagant wiſhes, and idle prayers, which men
from time to time pour out before the
Divine Being.
As prayer, therefore, has always been
looked upon as the indifpenfable duty of
every Chriſtian, it may not be improper
in this place to endeavour to remove any
errors which may have crept into the
practice of fo important and folemn an
office of our religion, and to lead men
into a right method in the performance
of it.
As man is a being too infufficient of
himſelf to ſupply his own wants, fo is
he for the most part too ignorant even to
know
SERM.
II.
26
On Prayer.
SERM. know them; ever too folicitous for the
II.
=}
attainment of thoſe things which are moſt
uſeleſs and infignificant; too indolent and
remifs in the fearch of that on which his
happineſs does more immediately depend,
As a fervant, therefore, it is his duty to
intreat his Maſter's favour and protec-
tion; as a creature, it is his intereſt to
addrefs his Creator. And herein the na-
ture of thoſe gifts which we require at
the hands of God is carefully to be con-
fidered, left, if we aſk amifs, we receive
not.
We must be extremely cautious of re-
quefting any thing unfit for God to grant,
or for us to implore; for if we ſeriouſly
reflect on the divine mercy, and on our
own unworthiness, the proudeft and the
moſt ſelfiſh will be obliged to confefs,
that we have most of us, though not as
much as we defire, yet as much perhaps
as
On Prayer.
27
II.
as we really ftand in need of, and all of SERM.
us infinitely more than even the beſt
can deferve. We fhould never, there-
fore, apply to God for any thing which
we have not, without firſt thanking him
for what we have. Of the ten cripples
mentioned by the apoftle, nine prayed,
whilft the tenth praiſed God; and him,
we are told, our Saviour regarded moſt.
In regard to prayer and thankſgiv-
ing, which, though it is to be feared,
are not, yet ought always to be inſepa-
rable, it may be affirmed, that not to
acknowledge the enjoyments and privi-
leges we have received, and hold of
God, is in effect to deny that we receive
them from him; and not to apply to
him for what we ftand in need of, is to
deny either our own indigence, or his
power of removing it.
Were
28
On Prayer.
SERM.
IL.
Were our ſenſe of favours received
equal to our wants, our prayers perhaps
would be fewer, and our thankſgivings
in much greater number; but poverty
and neceffity is the common lot of all
mankind, whilſt gratitude and generofity
are confined to the few.
When men remove from the bufy
fcene of life, from the noife and buſtle
of the world, to retire into themſelves,
to confult their own breafts, and ad-
drefs themſelves in prayer to the Su-
preme Being; when they kneel before
their Maker, ſhould not the thought of
his prefence, of laying open our hearts
to, and converfing with our great Crea-
tor, ftrike an awe upon the mind fuffi-
cient to banish every wicked, and every
idle thought, and fit our tempers and
difpofitions for fo folemn an occafion?
But it is even then, perhaps, when the
fecret
On Prayer.
29
II.
fecret defires of men, which had been SERM.
long brooding in their minds, begin to
fhew and form themſelves into prayer;
it is even then too often that they are
moſt unguarded and extravagant, and
offend God the moſt, even in the very
act of worſhipping him.
Now in this great act of devotion
there are feveral ways by which we may
offend God, and prejudice ourſelves;
feveral methods, whofe effects duly
confidered, may ferve to convince us,
that becauſe we aſk amifs, we receive
not. We
We may ask for what we do not
want, for what we do not deferve, for
what may be hurtful to ourſelves, or
pernicious to others.
"As it aſketh fome knowledge,"
fays the great Bacon,
<< to demand a
queſtion not impertinent, fo it requireth
fome
30
On Prayer.
SERM. fome fenfe to make a wiſh not abfurd."
II.
Now, what is faid of wishes, which are
the fecret prayers of the mind, may
very properly be applied to prayer it-
felf.
Give us all good things unafked, and
avert from us every evil one, though we
beg for it, was a celebrated prayer of
the ancients; and in reality, to ask for
aſk
what we do not want, to point out every
particular bleffing we would have be-
ftowed on us, is an affront to that power
to whom we offer up our prayers; we
deny one of his attributes whilſt we ap-
ply to him for the exertion of another;
for what is it in effect but doubting his
omniſcience, not to ſuppoſe he is as well
or much better acquainted with our
neceffities than ourſelves?
Nothing
On Prayer.
31
II.
Nothing perhaps could more effectu- SERM.
ally conduce to our ruin, nothing would
in all probability render us more per-
fectly miferable, than the fuccefs of all
our vows, the completion of all our
fooliſh and unreaſonable defires; and it
is hard to determine whether the good-
nefs and mercy of the Almighty is moft
viſible in beſtowing on us that which
we do not aſk for, or denying us what
we do.
But that the vanity of human defires,
and the extravagancy of inconfiderate
prayers, may appear the more evident to
us, let us take a curfory view of the molt
frequent objects of them.
Riches and power are, it muſt be
allowed, the favourite, the darling blef-
fings moft generally in the mouths, as
well as in the hearts of the greateſt part
of
32
On Prayer.
SERM. of mankind, and yet, who but God can
II.
determine; who but he can poffibly
foreknow whether thofe riches will make
us happy, or that power truly great?
Nay, upon deliberation, are they not
much more likely to make us mifera-
ble? Our paffions, like the appetites of
fick men, are generally bent and fixed
on that which will be moft pernicious to
us. The covetous man implores God
by increaſing his revenues, to add fuel
to his avarice, and the prodigal wearies
heaven with prayers, to grant him an
opportunity of fhortening his guilty days,
and finking under the weight of fin and
mifery.
When life is fo full of real unavoid-
able ills, is it not ftrange that men
fhould, with fo much warmth and ea-
gerneſs, beg for miſery, and ſue for
ruin and deſtruction; that they fhould
thus
On Prayer.
33
II,
thus fruftrate their own defigns by the SERM.
very means they make ufe of to promote
them ?
But things are apt to dazzle at a dif-
tance, or to deceive us when nigh,
through a falfe glaſs, which, when
brought cloſe and examined, loſe their
form, and become a dead mafs without
colour or beauty.
Riches are often but a kind of wan-
dering fire, that leads us aftray into the
paths of vice and folly; and power given
to the weak, or to the wicked, is but
as a fword in the hands of a madman,
which for a while throws terror and de-
ftruction round about, and then is point-
ed againſt the breaſt of him that wears it.
Again, if we turn our eyes towards
the candidates for glory and empire
VOL. III.
D
among
34
On Prayer.
SERM. among the great, what poor and unfa-
II.
tisfactory pleaſures, what mean and tri-
fling rewards does ambition beftow upon
her votaries! Care encircles her crowns,
and terror haunts her palaces; her feaſts
are poiſoned with fear, and her triumphs
checked by confcience, and we cry out
with the wife man, furely this is vanity of
vanities, all is vanity.
But furely, fay fome, there are per-
fections, there are fome real and folid
pre-eminences in human nature, which
cannot but be the reaſonable object of
our wiſhes, the commendable and pro-
per fubject of our prayers; children,
health, long life, reputation, and know-
ledge, bid fair for this character. But
even theſe, I fear, without proper re-
ftrictions, will upon a clofer infpection,
and ſtript of the gaudy drefs our fancies
are pleaſed to beftow on them, appear
by
On Prayer.
35
by no means fo defirable as we were at
first inclined to think them.
Children and the fruit of the womb
are a bleffing; they are like the arrows in
the band of the giant, fays the Pſalmiſt;
happy is he that bath his quiver full of
them; but alas! what bitter waters have
flowed even from this fountain of de-
light! What if duty and affection change
to perverfenefs and difobedience; what
if thefe arrows turn againſt our own
breafts? Then where is the father's en-
vied happineſs; where are all his dreams
of promiſed pleaſure, when thofe who
fhould fupport his age, and bring ho-
nour to his name, difgrace his family,
wound his fair reputation, and bring his
grey hairs in forrow to the
But are not health and
grave?
long life to
be defired? are theſe alfo among the
SERM.
II.
D 2
things
36
On Prayer.
II.
}
SERM. things we ſhould not afk? are they not
the fource of every pleaſure, and pro-
ductive of every happiness? Health,
though the offspring of exerciſe and ſo-
briety, may become the mother of floth
and intemperance; it may indeed aid
and ſtrengthen virtue, but it may like-
wife heighten and inflame our paffions,
and lead us into the paths of vice. And
on the other hand, if it fhall pleaſe God
in his mercy to chaftife us, to lend his
gracious hand to stop us in our career of
folly and wickednefs, fickneſs may be
the greateſt bleffing he can beftow upon
us. Experience convinces us, that men
are much more likely to mend by feel-
ing what they are, than by being told
what they ought to be. When the king
of terrors, therefore, is approaching to-
wards us, fickneſs is fent to prepare the
before him, to fubdue our paffions,
way
to wean our affections from the world,
to
On Prayer.
37
11.
to give us time for reflection and re- SERM.
pentance, that we may not drop into
eternity with all our imperfections on
our heads, but flide into the grave with
a more eafy and infenfible motion, and
calmly refign our life into the hands of
him that gave it,
The love of life itfelf is indeed fo
ftrictly united to our nature, fo interwoven
as it were with our very frame and con-
ftitution, that the defire of prolonging
it is, we must own, by no means to be
wondered at; and yet the folly of man-
kind is not perhaps in any thing more
confpicuous than in their extreme tena-
cioufnefs of it. Length of days may be
far from a bleffing to the best of us; the
beauty of the circle doth not conſiſt ſo
much in the fize, as in the completeneſs
if it; and the fmalleft parts of nature
hew as much harmony in themſelves,
D 3
and
38
On Prayer.
SERM. and as much perfection in the Maker, as
II.
the largeſt and moſt confiderable: but
in this, as in all our actions, we fhew
our own weakness and inconfiftency. We
pray for age, and when it comes, com-
plain of its attendants, its melancholy
train of woes and mifery; years bring
forrow and heavinefs, the weight of
them is grievous, the burthen of them is
intolerable.
But one thing then remains to be con-
fidered, which the wife and witty of the
world will be loth to give up as an im-
proper object of our prayers, and that
is, knowledge. To excel the reft of
mankind in that which diftinguiſhes us
from brutes, is furely of all things the
moſt defirable; and if our gratitude
fhould riſe in proportion to the benefit
received, what imfinite praiſe and thankf
giving is due to God from thoſe whoſe
parts
On Prayer.
39
parts and underſtanding have
them above the common level!
placed SERM.
But it
But it
is not
mif-
is a melancholy truth, that God
more careful to make our greateſt
fortunes conducive to our
our happineſs,
than we are to change his bleffings into
curfes.
11.
Such is the lot of our nature, that we
are forced to be upon our guard even
againſt the perfe&ions of it. Thoſe whom
we falfely term the wifeft, are not always
the beſt of men; the little knowledge we
have to boast of, makes us vain and info-
lent; the fair fruits of learning and fci-
ence are eat up and deftroyed by the
cankers of pride and arrogance. Men
too frequently make ufe of their reafon
to vilify and degrade the Author of it,
and brandish the weapons of truth, reli-
gion, and virtue, in the caufe of vice,
falfehood, and infidelity.
D 4
What
40
On Prayer.
SERM.
II.
What has been faid may, I think,
convince any impartial man, that in our
prayers for particular bleffings, which for
the reaſons above enumerated are per-
haps better laid afide, we cannot be too
cautious in ufing proper restrictions, left
we offend God and prejudice ourſelves.
If then we pray for knowledge, let it
be for the only true and valuable one,
the knowledge of our own little felves, our
weakneffes, our vices, and our ignorance,
that we may know how little can be
known, and that God will teach us to
know him, and our duty to him.
If we pray unto him for riches, let us
at the fame time make it our earneſt re-
queſt that thoſe riches may render us
humane, charitable, and beneficent to
our fellow-creatures; that if he gives us
power, it may be the power of doing
good;
On Prayer.
41
II.
good;
if he ſhowers down upon us fame, SERM,
health, and long life, that that fame w
may be an honeft fame, and may raife
the emulation of all good men to follow
and to enjoy it; that that health may
inſpire us with vigour and activity in the
execution of his commandments; and,
laftly, that as our days, our virtues may
increaſe, our paffions fubfide, our fol-
lies wear away, and our fouls become
day by day fitter for that bleft habita-
tion, to the enjoyment of which they
were at first created, and towards which
they are fo nearly approaching.
Befides the errors, and almoſt every
thing which has been urged on this fub-
jec, may ſerve to recommend to us the
great uſefulneſs, beauty, and neceffity,
of an eſtabliſhed form of prayer, to keep
the folly and extravagance of men's de-
fires within due bounds, and put a ſtop
to
42
On Prayer.
SERM. to all abfurd, frivolous, and wicked
11.
ཅ་བ
prayers; in our private devotions, there-
fore, if we do not make ufe of the words
of our own excellent liturgy, let us at
leaft endeavour to retain the fubject mat-
ter of it; and here I muſt obſerve, that
in reality, after all our acts of public
and private devotion, God will look upon
a good life as the moſt effectual prayer that
we can make to him: it is not every one,
fays our Saviour, that faith unto me, Lord
Lord, jhall enter into the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doth the will of my Father.
With the great Searcher of Hearts
there is more true, more perfuafive elo-
quence in one noble and difintereſted act
of goodneſs and beneficence, than all
the pomp of words which Rome and
Athens could ever produce,
The
On Prayer.
43
II.
The Lord, who feeth in fecret, will SERM.
reward us openly; he is our fhepherd,
therefore fhall we lack nothing; we
have in heaven a kind Maſter, and an
indulgent Father, the great Creator and
Preferver of us all; to whom our inte-
refts are much dearer, as well, as infi-
nitely better known than to ourſelves.
This thought muft adminifter the
greateſt and moſt folid fatisfaction to a
right mind in every ſtation and circum-
ftance of life; it is this alone which can
fupport us under forrow, want, pain,
or any other adverfity; the blaſt of public
cenfure, and all the malice of an ill-
natured, defigning world: this will foften
the rigour of flavery, give a charm to
health, and keep up our fpirits under
fickneſs and anguish, in the hour of
death, and in the day of judgment. This
will bring a man peace at the laſt, that
peace
44
On Prayer.
SERM. peace which neither the world, nor the
II.
}
importunate prayers of it, which none
in fhort, but our great and perpetual Be-
nefactor, can beftow.
On him then let us caft our care, for
he careth for us; let us not pretend to
guide the Moft High, or to direct the
hand of the Almighty, but in all hu-
mility fubmit ourſelves to his divine
will, and only afk of him that which
he in his wifdom fhall think moſt proper
and moſt convenient for us: He who
knoweth our neceffities before we afk,
and our ignorance in afking, will have
compaffion on our infirmities; and thoſe
things which for our unworthiness we
dare not, and for our blindnefs we can-
not afk; this, with all that we can want,
he will vouchfafe to give us, for the
worthiness of his Son Jefus Chrift our
Lord.
O N
VANITY.
SERMON III.
ECCLES. II. I.
I faid in my heart, go to now;
I will prove
thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleaſure,
and behold! this a'fo is-Vanity.
SOLOM
III.
MON having proved to man- SERM,
kind by fad example the vanity of
human learning, that in much wiſdom
there is much grief, and that he who in-
creaſeth knowledge increaſeth forrow, is
inclined to try fome other means of happi-
nefs; he is refolved therefore to change
the ſcene, to quit the perplexing labyrinths
of ſcience, the rough and thorny roads
which he had trodden fo unſucceſsfully,
and
88
On Vanity.
III.
SERM. and to turn afide into the inviting paths
of luxury and pleafure: in confequence
of this new determination we behold him
ſearching induſtriouſly after every object
that could amufe or divert him.
I fought in my heart, fays he, to give myself
unto wine: I made me great works: I builded
me houfes, I planted me vineyards, I got me
men fingers and women fingers, and all the
delights of the fons of men: he laid him-
felf open, in fhort, we may naturally
ſuppoſe, to every folly, and plunged in-
to every vice which his power gave him
the opportunity to commit, or his in-
clination prompted him to enjoy; and
what after all was the refult of this con-
duct, and the effect of this refolution?
Loft and bewildered in fearch of plea-
fures which he could not tafte, and
wearied in the purfuit of happineſs
which he could not obtain; he finds, after
all
On Vanity.
49
all his fanguine hopes, that he is
miferably deceived and deluded, and
concludes with the juft but melancholy
reflection, that this alfo was vanity.
Behold then the great idol of man-
kind, this beloved goddeſs, fo univer-
fally admired and fo zealouſly adored;
branded, by the wifeft of the fons of men,
with the name of vanity; declared not
only incapable of procuring happineſs,
but productive alfo of every error, and
pregnant with every calamity.
Will it not then, my brethren, high-
ly become us to pay fome regard to fo
noble an authority, and fome deference
to ſo illuftrious an example? will it not
become us, on this occafion, feriouſly to
confider what it was that could induce a
judge fo impartial to paſs ſo ſevere a ſen-
tence, and fo folemnly to declare, that
VOL. III
E
all
SERM.
III.
50
On Vanity.
SERM. all human pleafure was nothing but va
III.
nity and vexation of fpirit?
The judgment in queſtion then, did
moſt probably arife from a candid in-
quiry into, and a thorough conviction of
the following particulars:
First, The infufficiency of all human
pleaſures to anfwer the end propofed by
them.
Secondly, The dangerous and deftruc-
tive confequences generally attendant on
them; and
Thirdly, Their fhort, fleeting, and
tranfitory nature.
And first, therefore, with regard to.
the infufficiency of all human pleaſures
to anſwer the end propofed by them.
The
1
2
+
51
On Vanity.
III.
The temple of pleaſure is a kind of SERM.
enchanted palace; the profpect at a dif
tance never fails to invite the eye and to
allure the ſenſes: it feems adorned with
all the beauties of nature, and all the
improvements of art, with every thing,
in fhort, that can foothe the foul, or flat-
ter the imagination of man: but as we
approach nearer to it, the flowers around
it begin on a fudden to lofe their fweets,
and the earth its verdure; the pillars of
this fuperb edifice fink as it were imper-
ceptibly from our fight, the ornaments
decay, and the whole vifionary fabric
moulders into ruin.
Whatſoever mine eyes defired, fays Solo-
mon, I kept rot from them. I withheld not
my heart from any joy: for my heart rejoiced
in
my labour. Then I looked on all the works
that my hands bad wrought, and on the la-
bour that I kad laboured to do, and behold all
E 2
L'AS
52
On Vanity.
SERM.
III.
was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there
was no profit under the fun.
He gave himſelf, as he tells us, unto
wine, and what was the confequence?
The poifon of guilt dropped into his cup
of intemperance and embittered the de-
lightful draught; inftead of that focial
relaxation which he had fought, he was
infenfibly betrayed into riot and debauch-
ery, and the end of all his mirth was
heaviness. He builded himſelf houfes
and planted vineyards, and what was
the effect? the work once perfected, the
joy was at an end.
The fight grew
diſagreeable by repetition, and the plea-
fure palled by fatiety; and what Solomon
experienced hath fince been verified
and illuftrated by all mankind; every
builder of houfes, and every planter of
vineyards fince his time, has probably
made the fame reflection that he did, and
to
On Vanity.
53
ILI.
to the end of time, will make the fame, SERM.
that it is nothing but vanity and vexation of
fpirit. But befides what has here been
advanced, it may be added, on this oc-
cafion, that all human enjoyments are
in their nature unfatisfactory: there is
always a void left in the heart, which
cannot be filled up by any attainable
good whatſoever, a fomething ftill de-
fired and ſtill unenjoyed; fome tree of
life in the garden which is untaſted, pre-
vents the enjoyment of every thing elſe.
The bed, as the fcripture expreffeth it,
is ſhorter than that a man can firetch himſelf
thereon, and the covering narı cwer than that
he can wrap bimfelf withal. The feaſt of
life, as Solomon no doubt experienced,
even with all the dainties that nature can
afford, hath not variety enough to be-
ftow true and folid pleafure, its choiceft
delicacies are cloying, and we riſe from
it rather tired than fatisfied.
E 3
But
54
On Vanity.
SERM.
lil.
But if the weaknefs and infufficiency
of all human pleafures will not turn us
afide from the conftant purfuit of them,
let us endeavour to roufe up our lethar-
gic reafon, and alarm our felf-love, by
a view of what I purpofed fecondly to
confider-
The dangerous and deftructive con-
fequences which are generally attendant
on them.
If we could fet bounds to our appe-
tites and paffions; if we could fay unto
them, thus far fhall ye go and no fur-
ther; we might then perhaps enjoy our
pleaſures without guilt, and reflect on
them without vexation: but when we
are wandered into the delightful labyrinth
of error, we are loft in the agreeable
maze of folly, and every step we take
but involves us in more danger, and leaves
us
On Vanity.
5.5
II.
us in more perplexity. The allurements SERM.
of vice ſteal infenfibly on our hearts, and
lead us into the paths of fin and forrow.
If our pleaſures then can only be pur-
chafed at the dear expence of our inno-
cence and virtue, will Reafon permit us
to indulge in, will Religion warrant
our purſuit of them?
The inevitable confequence of guilt
we know is remorfe, forrow, and vexa-
tion; the wicked, as the prophet fays,
are like the troubled fea when it cannot refi;
there is no peace, faith my God, to the
wicked. The worst of men may in-
deed find out methods of deceiving
themſelves for a time, and lull their
fenfes into a fhort and momentary tran-
quillity. Mirth and gaiety may drown
for a while the voice of confcience, but
they will only make the return of it
louder and more diffonant.
Pleafure,
£ 4
L
that
56
On Vanity.
Iil.
SERM. that grand fpecific, is but a kind of
opiate, which numbs the diftempered foul
into a fhort flumber, and then awakens
it to horror and to madnefs; to remove
the cauſe is far beyond the powers of
medicines fo weak and infignificant.
Nothing indeed can adminifter true and
folid fatisfaction to a mind that is ſtained
with fin and blotted with corruption.
The defpifer of God's laws, the con-
temner of his word, the avowed diffolute
and abandoned man, cannot poffibly be
happy.
But, to increafe our forrows and on-
hance our misfortune, it will become us
to recollect, that not only that pleaſure
which arifes from an indulgence in fen-
fual gratifications, which partake of
guilt and folly; but even thofe which
have the fanction of reafon to authorize,
and the feal of innocence to protect them:
even
On Vanity.
57
III.
even thoſe alſo are chaftifed by danger, SERM,
and embittered by difappointment. How
often do our own truth and fincerity
make us dupes to the artifice and dif-
fimulation of others! and how often do
we enter into the ftriseft friendſhips,
the tendereft connections with fuch as
miferably deceive and betray us! It is
indeed the hard lot of mankind, that
though the commiffion of evil is gene-
rally attended with pain and forrow,
the avoidance of it is by no means cer-
tain to bring forth immediate joy or
pleaſure. Vice doth for the most part
make us miferable, but it is not always
in the power even of Virtue itfelf to
make us happy.
But, thirdly and laftly, let us remem-
ber, That all the pleafures of human life
are fhort, fleeting, and tranfitory.
Even
58
On Vanity.
SERM.
III.
Even if they could impart that true and
folid happiness which it is not in their
power to beſtow, they would farce be
worthy our acceptance, becauſe the pain
of quitting would more than compenfate
the fatisfaction of enjoyment.
In our earlier years, when almoſt any
thing will ferve to amufe and divert,
pleaſure may trick herſelf for a time in
borrowed charms, and allure the weak
and thoughtless; but as we advance in
the courſe, fhe generally lofes her daz-
zling luftre, and betrays her decaying
beauty.
Happineſs may indeed with propriety
be compared to a bird of paffage, which
vifits us for a little time in the fpring of
life; but when our winter approaches,
is glad to leave the joyless defart, and
wan-
On Vanity.
59
wander forth in fearch of other fprings SERM.
III.
and a warmer climate.
Have we not feen whole families one
day fmiling in the bofom of plenty
and profperity, funk down and oppreffed
the next by fome unexpected ftroke, and
weeping in bitterneſs and anguiſh? Wealth
in a moment changed to penury, health
to fickneſs, and life to death ?
Therefore, hear now this, as the prophet
faith, thou that dwelleft carelessly, thou that
art given to pleaſure, that fayeft in thine
heart, I am, and none elfe befides me; I fhall
not fit as a widow, neither shall I know the
lofs of children; but these two things fhall
come unto thee in a moment. In one day the
lofs of children and widowhood, they shall
come upon thee.
Are
60
On Vanity.
SERM.
III.
Are we doomed to toil through the
weariſome pilgrimage of this life, with-
out the leaſt remiffion from our cares, or
the leaft refreſhment on our journey!
without one medicine to foften the dif-
eaſe, or one cordial to fweeten the
draught? Hath the hand of nature dif-
fuſed her ſweets on every fide, and ſhall
not man be ſuffered to gather them?
Hath the God of nature formed us with
appetites that are never to be indulged,
and paffions which are never to be grati-
fied? Is there, in fhort, no pleafure with-
out vanity, no enjoyment without vex-
ation ?
This doubtless is an abftinence which
the beneficent Author of our being doth
not require; this is a facrifice, which a
God of mercy cannot be well pleafed
with: doubtlefs there are pleafures, even
in this life, which we may enjoy without
tranf
On Vanity.
61.
J
tranfgreffing his laws, or incurring his SERM.
divine wrath.
Many and delightful are thofe plea-
fures which have the fanction of reafon
to authorize, and the feal of innocence
to protect them; many are thoſe which
flow from the endearing ties and focial
connections of human life. Nature, ever
liberal and bounteous to thofe who walk
within her bounds, pours forth her
flowers with a laviſh hand; they fpring
up on every fide of us, adorn and beau-
tify every ſhort ſeaſon of our exiſtence,
and if properly cultivated and improved,
may be gathered even in the winter of
our days.
イ
​There is always left for us the exalted
pleaſure of acting up to the dignity of
our nature, and the happinefs which
arifeth from the uniform and fteady prae-
tice
III.
盘
​I
F
62
On Vanity.
III.
SERM. tice of religion and virtue: pleaſures
which can never be called vanity, and
joys which are never attended by vexa-
tion; pleaſures which are not palled by
fatiety, and happineſs that is not fubject
to decay.
Mirth indeed may boaft her charms,
and Luxury may glory in her allurements;
but there is no mirth like the cheerful
ferenity of innocence, no luxury equal
to the luxury of the benevolent heart,
which overflows with generous fympathy,
and pours itſelf forth in acts of mercy
and beneficence. Virtue has a thouſand
charms which the fenfualift hath never
experienced, and a thouſand beauties
which he hath never contemplated; why
then will the thoughtlefs libertine purfue
the beaten road of folly and intempe-
rance? why will he difguft himſelf with
the repetition of the fame tafteleſs plea-
fures,
On Vanity.
63
III.
fures, whilft there are joys which he SERM.
hath never felt to allure; whilft there
are fenfations which he has never known
to invite him; even fuch as his eye
hath
not ſeen, nor his ear heard; neither hath
it entered into his heart to conceive them?
Laftly, my brethren, there is always
left for us the fupreme pleaſure of doing
good, of leffening the calamities and re-
moving the wants of our fellow-crea-
tures.
To conclude:-Satisfied as we muſt
be, that all human pleafures are ever
vain, fruitleſs, and unworthy, that they
are nothing, in fhort, but vanity and vex-
ation, let us quit them for fomething
more durable and permanent.
God, of his infinite wifdom and good-
nefs, hath purpoſely made all the enjoy-
ments
64
On Vanity.
SERM. ments of this life, infufficient, danger-
JII.
ous, fleeting and tranfitory, that man,
finding by fatal experience that they
are all unfatisfactory, might fix his heart
where only true joys are to be found,
even on that God who is the fource of
true happineſs, and the inexhauſtible
fountain of pleaſure; that by a ſteady per-
feverance in the paths of religion and
virtue, he might render himfelf worthy
to obtain that reward which is referved
for him in thofe eternal manfions, where
uninterrupted blifs is difpenfed by him,
and pleaſures flow at his right hand for
evermore.
ON THE
CHOICE
OF
COMPANY.
VOL. III. F
SERMON IV.
PSALM XVIII. 25. 26.
With the holy thou shalt be holy, and with
a perfect man thou shalt be perfect. With
the clean thou shalt be clean, and with
the froward thou ſhalt learn frowardneſs.
C
IV.
ONVERSATION hath ever justly been SERM.
accounted a powerful inftrument
of good or evil; hath always had the
ftrongest influence on the conduct of
human life, and the vice or virtue of
the world hath ever, in a great mea-
fure, been owing to it.
The regula-
tion, therefore, of this important point,
did in all ages demand the utmoſt pru-
dence, and in none more perhaps than
in our own. Now, if ever, it is, no
doubt, highly expedient for us to exhort
F 2
all
68 On the Choice of Company.
SERM. all that have any concern for their own
IV.
..
fouls, to fhun the way of the finner,
and refrain their feet from the path of
the wicked; to exhort all that fear the
Lord to unite and combine themfelves,
to defend his honour, check the pro-
grefs of vice, and promote godlineſs in
this impious generation; in an age
when we have degenerated fo far from
the modefty, purity, and dignity of
chriſtian converfation, that the leaft
air of ſeriouſneſs or gravity begins to
look fingular and unfaſhionable, ſo that
whilft the wicked publish their fin as
Sodom, and hide it not, religion feems
as it were to diftruft its own caufe, to
be aſhamed of its own tenets, and to
thun the proofs of its own divinity.
With the clean, fays the Pfalmift, thou
fhalt be clean, and with the froward, thou
fbalt learn frowardness;-that is, men are
gene-
On the Choice of Company.
69
IV.
generally ſuch as their acquaintance and SERM.
familiars are. As man was originally
formed for fociety, there is implanted
in our natures, a kind of ſympathetic
quality, a mutual
a mutual attractive power,
which infenfibly draws us into an imi-
tation of, and correfpondency with, thoſe
perfons and manners, which we are moſt
intimately connected with. Even men
of tempers and difpofitions the moſt
op-
poſite and contradictory, will, by con-
ſtant and habitual union, affimilate with,
and reſemble each other, like thofe
liquors, which, though of contrary qua-
lities, may fo blend and incorporate,
as never, or at leaft without the utmoſt
difficulty, to be difunited; whence it
muſt inevitably happen, that we form
our ideas of men, and judge of their
characters, their principles, and con-
duct, from the manners of thofe with
whom they most frequently aſſociate,
and
F 3
70
On the Choice of Company.
IV.
SERM. and the judgment founded on this cri-
terion, is for the most part juſt and
warrantable: fome degree of confor-
mity, with regard to fentiments and in-
clinations, is indeed fo neceffary to-
wards the happineſs of fociety, that
without it, no familiarity can be entered
into, no friendſhip contracted, no con-
fidence eſtabliſhed.
But, that this truth, which is of the
higheſt confequence, may be the more
deeply imprinted on us, I fhall proceed
to confider the influence which fociety
muſt have upon us, either in making
us wife and good, or foolish, licentious,
and abandoned, which will divide itfelf
into that, which arifeth firft from con-
verfation, and ſecondly, from example.
And first then, what light, what
frength, and what pleaſure, might con-
verfation
On the Choice of Company.
71
IV.
verfation adminifter to a mind fitly dif- SERM.
poſed for the reception of it! How might
it awaken the confcience, and purify the
heart!
}
From the extraordinary change of
manners which has taken place amongſt
us of late years, I know of ſcarce any
thing which has fuffered fo much as
converfation; that refinement and good
breeding which we are grown fo fond of,
and which is fo univerfally eſtabliſhed,
has ſhut up all the avenues of know-
ledge and wiſdom, and placed the un-
learned and illiterate, the wife and the
fooliſh, the good and the bad, upon a
level. In this age the learned man never
attempts to inſtruct the ignorant, left
he ſhould be deemed pedantic; the wife
man never reproves the foolish one, left
he fhould be called ill bred; and the
good and religious man never rebukes
F 4
the
72 On the Choice of Company.
SERM. the profligate and abandoned, left he
IV.
fhould be ſtigmatized as an hypocrite or
enthuſiaſt: we hear nothing even when
in company with men of the beſt ſenſe
and underſtanding, but the common
hackneyed topics of converfe, the news
or trifles of the day, which afford nei-
ther pleaſure nor profit; and yet, if a
decent freedom, and a more ingenuous
intercourſe could, in fpite of faſhion and
folly, be once more eftabliſhed amongſt
men, what infinite advantages would
flow from it in fupport of religion and
virtue! The lips of the wife, as Solo-
mon obferves, difperfe knowledge: they
minifter grace to the hearers, edify
and build us up in our holy faith: when
God and our great Mediator, when the
moſt important truths of the goſpel dif-
penfation, are the fubject of our dif
courfe; when language flows from the
heart, when it has all the advantages
which
On the Choice of Company. 73
IV.
which true friendſhip and known inte- SERM.
grity can bestow upon it; fuch difcourfe
cannot fail in the moſt fenfible manner
to effect our minds, and to influence
our conduct.
But the principal advantage reſulting
from good company, by which I mean
not what is generally fo called, but the
honeft, the virtuous, and the fober, is,
fecondly, that power which it imparts
by the force of example.
Virtue never appears fo beautiful and
lovely as in action, and moſt indiſpu-
table it is, that it is reprefented with
much more life in the practice of a wife
and good man, than it can be in rules
and precepts. The notions we form of
duty from the lives of others, are gene-
rally more juſt and correct, than thoſe
which we form even from the fcriptures
them-
74
On the Choice af Company.
SERM. themſelves, becauſe we are apt to bend
IV.
and form the written rule a little, and
fometimes very much in favour of our-
felves, but we never do fo in favour of
others; the excellencies and perfections
of a friend are the ftrongeft incitements
to emulation, and the moſt fenfible
proofs of our own remiffneſs; whatever
beauty and loveliness there can be in
virtue, receives a new acceffion from his
example; as the eſteem and affection
we have for him begets in us a value
for every thing which he approves, and
an averfion to every thing which he
condemns. Add to this, that while we
behold our friends difcharging the parts
of good Chriftians, we fee in them not
only what we ought to do, but what we
may do; whatever is poffible to them, is
poffible to us alfo; they are fubject to
the fame frailties and paffions, expofed
to the fame temptations, and have the
fame affiftances as ourfelves.
Men
On the Choice of Company.
75
IV.
Men for the most part confidering SERM.
themfelves as individuals, are too apt
to imagine that their private manners
and character are of little confequence to
fociety; the contrary of which is, to the
laft degree, ſelf evident. It is not eaſy
indeed to conceive of what infinite benefit
and advantage to the community are the
good morals and converfation of one
truly pious and confcientious Chriſtian;
the worfe and more licentious the age
is in which he lives, the more ufe-
ful may be his example, and his influ-
ence the more extenfive; if he is cau-
tious in his words, chafte and pure in
his difcourfe, and ordereth his conver-
fation aright, he may correct the pro-
fligate, reform the wicked, and convert
the infidel.
But let us turn to the other fide of
this inftructive leffon, and mark how
dreadful
76
On the Choice of Company.
SERM. dreadful are the effects of bad example.
IV.
Human nature is fo prone to evil, that
it needs very little temptation or encou-
ragement to it; evil principles and prac-
tices are foon propagated, and if they
find any countenance and approbation
from thoſe whom we converfe with,
will eaſily bear down all the oppofition
which education, reaſon, or even the
principles of religion itſelf, can raiſe
againſt them. Can a man, fays Solo-
mon, take fire in his bofom and not be.
burnt? Sin is the cement of friendſhip
between finners; what but
what but polluted
waters therefore can flow from a pol-
luted fountain? How hard is it, even
for a good man to preferve the purity
and fobriety of his mind amidſt riots,
drunkenneſs, and intemperance! and if
a virtuous man can hardly ſtand on ſuch
flippery ground, how eafily are thoſe
thrown down who are of themſelves too
prone
On the Choice of Company.
77
prone to evil, and too fond of tempta- SERM,
tion!
IV.
Since then the friends whom we aſſo-
ciate with, and the company we keep, are
of the utmoſt confequence and impor-
tance to us, let us fee whether fome
uſeful rules may not be laid down on
this head, which may be of fervice to
us with regard to our future conduct.
Enter not, fays the wifem an, into the
path of the wicked, and go not into the way
of evil men, avoid it, paſs not by it, but,
turn from it, and pass away:-withdraw
yourſelves, fays the Apoſtle, from every
brother that walks diforderly; if any brother
be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater,
or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner,
with ſuch a one do not eat.
But
78 On the Choice of Company.
SERM.
IV.
?
But here it may perhaps be objected,
that in this cafe we may foon find our-
felves obliged to renounce the world,
and bid adieu to fociety; our fituation
will refemble that which St. Paul men-
tions: I wrote unto you, fays he, in an
epiftle, not to keep company with fornicators:
yet not altogether with the fornicators of this
world, or with the covetous, or extortioners,
or with idolaters, for then must ye needs go
out of the world. But even if we ſhould
grant that we muſt keep ill company or
none, doubtlefs it is far better to ab-
ftain from all fociety, than to be core
rupted with all the vices of it. Retire-
ment is not, ought not ever to appear
dreadful to a Chriftian; he need not com-
plain of folitude, who can converfe with
his Maker and his Redeemer; a good man
may meet God, like Ifaac, in the fields,
or like Mofes in the defart: he may
enjoy communion with him, like David
in
On the Choice of Company.
79
IV.
in his bedchamber, or Jofeph in the SERM.
dungeon. No folitude can be fo difmal
or ſo horrid as that fociety which infects
the heart, or darkens the understanding.
No provocation or infolence can be half
fo injurious as that converfation which
promotes vice and debauchery, and be-
trays us into a love of this world, and a
forgetfulneſs of God. There is, it muſt
be acknowledged, in men of wit, parts,
and genius, whofe converfation is fo
much fought after, a tendency towards
profaneneſs and debauchery; they are
too apt to give a looſe to their imagina-
tions, to let go the reins of judgment,
and ſport in the regions of fancy, riot,
and licentioufnefs. Such companions the
fober and ſerious Chriftian cannot too care-
fully avoid; the path indeed is ſtrewed
with flowers to all, but the fnakes of
vice and folly lurk beneath them, and
will
80 On the Choice of Company.
SERM. will render our way full of danger, and
IV.
pregnant with calamity.
If the true Chriſtian appears in every
thing we do or fay, if the beauty of
holineſs ſhines forth in our converſe, we
fhall foon fee that the good will feek
and love us; if we eftrange ourſelves
from the modes and habits of a vicious
world, their vanities and impertinencies
will infenfibly vaniſh from us, and only
real worth and goodneſs will adhere
to us.
But if, after all, the buſineſs and af-
fairs of this world irrefiftibly draw us
into the company and converſation of
the wicked; all that we can do, and all
that will be required of us, is not to
have any fellowſhip or communion with
them in their vices, but as far as we can
to diſcountenance and reprove them. We
ſhould
On the Choice of Company.
8:
iv.
hould carefully confider what ought to SERM.
be the true end and defign of fociety
amongſt Chriſtians. Surely not merely
to eat and drink together, to laugh and
trifle away our precious moments. The
Scripture points out to us much nobler
purpoſes and defigns of converfation,
which tells us, that our fpeech fhould
be fuch as may adminifter grace to the
hearers; that we ſhould build¹ up ´one
another in holy faith; comfort and ex-
hort one another continually; and fure-
ly it would be more delightful, as well
as more beneficial to us, if, inſtead of
cenfures and reflections, news and im-
pertinence, folly and vanity, our con-
verfation ſhould now and then take a
more ferious turn, and be employed on
fome nobler fubject, more becoming the
genius and hope of a Chriftian; if we
took ſweet counſel together, and walked
in the houſe of God as friends.
VOL. III.
Ꮐ
I would
82
On the Choice of Company.
SERM.
IV.
I would not by this be underſtood to
mean that all the common accidents and
affairs of life, or matters even of amufing
and divertive nature, fhould be totally
excluded from our difcourfe, but that
morality and religion fhould be the ge-
neral and chief tendency of it, and ſhould
always fo far preferve their influence
over it, as to prevent the intruſion of
every thing that is profane, licentious,
and immoral.
It is hard to conceive how a good
Chriſtian ſhould want either matter or
opportunity for pious difcourfe; he muſt
fuffer the courſe of God's Providence to
paſs without obfervation or remark; he
muſt be a ſtranger to the works of na-
ture, and utterly unread in the hiſtory
of human affairs; he must be unac-
quainted with the Book of God; he muſt
have reflected very little on the tempta-
tions
On the Choice of Company.
83
tions of the world, and the defects and SERM.
infirmities of his own nature, who could
want matter for good difcourfe. The
man of letters, the man of buſineſs, the
man of pleaſure, never wants matter;
it is ftrange that the Chriftian alone
fhould be thus barren, he who fhould
abound in wiſdom and underſtanding,
who has every hour matters of the
higheſt importance on his hands, and
who may be entertained with more and
richer pleaſures than the moft fortunate
Epicurean could ever boaft; and ſtill
lefs, one would imagine, could he rea-
ſonably complain of the want of oppor-
tunity, which every day and every hour
would conftantly afford him. But alas!
we are apt rather to fhun than to ſeek
occafions; all ferious and religious mat-
ters have long fince been baniſhed out of
faſhionable company and difcourfe, con-
fined
G 2
IV.
}
84
On the Choice of Company:
SERM. fined within the narrow and dirty chan-
IV.
nel of trifling and impertinence.
But is not this, my brethren, a very
near approach to being afhamed of Chrif
tianity? and if it be, how ſhall we eſcape
that dreadful fentence which is pro-
nounced againſt us in holy writ? Whofo-
ever ſkall be ashamed of me, and of my
words, in this wicked and adulterous gene-
ration, of him alfo fhall the Son of Man be
afhamed when he cometh in the glory of his
Father.
In the primitive times of the Gofpel
religious converfation had the moſt fur-
prifing efficacy on the minds of men:
next to the affiftance of the Spirit of
God, the Chriftians, in thofe ages, found'
no greater fupport under all their trials
than what they derived from their mu-
tual
On the Choice of Company.
85
IV.
tual encouragements and exhortations of SERM.
one another. Doubtlefs this is a fpe-
cies of public devotion which God would
gladly accept from us, and which would
be as well pleaſing to him as that which
we offer up to him in the cloſet or the
temple. How can we more fully con-
vince the world of the excellency of re-
ligion; how can we more effectually
promote the love of it in others, than
by fhewing them, that it has taken po-
feffion of our thoughts, words, and ac-
tions; that it has purified our conduct,
and refined our converſation? whereas
on the other hand, if religion hath no
part in our difcourfe, we fhall foon learn
to think and act with the fame liberty
we talk; that which never enters into
our mouths will fcarce ever fink deep
into our hearts; and if we always con-
verſe with men that never think of God,
G 3
it
8.6 On the Choice of Company.
SERM. it is moft probable that we fhall live like
them alfo.
IV.
نہا
To conclude As our reputation,
health, and happinefs in this world, and
what is infinitely more valuable, our eter-
nal falvation in that which is to come,
depends ſo much on the choice of thoſe
whom we affociate with, permit me
moſt earneſtly to recommend to you the
ſtrictest care and caution in this impor-
tant particular: above all it will be in-
cumbent on us to be upon our guard in
our earlier intimacies and connections,
becauſe the habits and friendhips of our
youth will always maintain their in-
fluence over our riper age; and if we
fuffer the fpring of life to be corrupted
by loofe and vicious company, we fhall
fcarce ever be fond of fober and virtuous
fociety in the autumn and winter of our
days:
On the Choice of Company.
87
IV.
days: if therefore any of us are already SERM.
linked with the vicious and profane; if
we have already learned uncleannefs
from the unclean, and frowardness from
the froward, let us immediately diffolve
the guilty bond, and free ourſelves at
once from the fhackles of folly and in-
temperance; let us no longer hold fel-
lowſhip with the deceitful; let us not
know a wicked perfon; no worldly ad-
vantage whatſoever can make us amends
for incurring the wrath of God; no
temporal pleaſure, if any fuch we find
in it, can compenfate for the lofs of
eternal happiness. Laftly, let us call
to mind that, as the prophet Malachi
fays, The bock of remembrance is written
that a time will come when we fhall be
called to account for every idle word,
when it will be demanded of us, what
friendships we have cultivated, what con-
verfation we have been engaged in, whe-
G 3
ther
88 On the Choice of Company.
SERM. ther we have been clean with the clean,'
IV.
or with the froward have learned fro-
wardneſs little will it then avail to
produce the rich as our affociates, the
great and mighty of the world as our
friends and companions; at that tri-
bunal their affluence will no more pal-
liate our vices, than they can excufe
their own; little regard will be paid
to their influence, and little refpect to
their authority; by our own words and
by our own actions we must then ſtand
or fall; as our converſe has been in this
world, fo will it be alfo in the next; if
we have long affociated with the froward
and unclean, to the fociety of ſuch, and
fuch alone, we fhall be affigned, to la-
ment with them our folly, and to be
puniſhed with them for our guilt:
whilft on the other hand, if we have
always attached ourſelves to the good,
the virtuous, and the religious, there
we
On the Choice of Company.
89
IV.
we shall reap the bleffed fruits of. it, SERM.
and be rewarded by our admiffion to the
fpirits of good men made perfect, re-
fined from the drofs of fenfual objects,
from all frowardnefs and uncleanness,
from every taint of human error and
corruption, where we fhall be pure even
as they are pure, and holy as they are
holy.
To this bleſſed converfe and exalted
fociety may we all be one day admitted,
through the merits and mediation of our
great Saviour and Redeemer; to whom,
with the Father and the Holy Ghoſt,
be afcribed, as is moſt due, all honour,
might, majefty, and power, both now
and ever.
J
ON A
FUTURE ST AT E.
SERMON V.
I CORINTHIANS, XV. 19.
If in this life only we have hope in Chriſt,
we are of all men moft miferable.
TH
V.
HERE is nothing which the foul SERM.
of man doth reflect on with greater
pleaſure, or contemplate with more
real fatisfaction, than the dignity of its
own nature, and the delightful, though
diſtant profpect of its own immortality.
To have our ſelf-love gratified in fo
high a degree by the continuation of our
being, and our ambition by the exalta-
tion of it, cannot but be the most natu-
ral object of our wishes, the great and
ultimate end of all our hopes and defires;
to cheriſh and encourage theſe hopes, and
to
94
On a Future State.
SERM.
V.
to animate us in the caufe of truth and
virtue, a fecret conſciouſneſs is implant-
ed in the breaft of every man, which
never fails in his calmer moments to
}
fuggeft to him, that though the grofs
and earthly part of him, his corporeal
frame, may be liable to change, decay,
and diffolution; there is ftill within him
a more refined portion, which feems, by
its fuperior qualities, capable of much
greater perfection, points out its divine
original, and aſpires to immortality.
The partial and unequal diftribution
of things in this ftate, the uncertainty
and imperfection of all human bleffings,
the diftreffes and calamities, the vanity
and ſhortness of life, are among the moſt
powerful arguments which have been
made uſe of ever ſince the beginning of this
world to ſupport the belief of another.
But
On a Future State.
95
V.
But the conviction of this folemn and SERM.
important truth, was too great a conqueſt
for mere unaffifted, unenlightened rea-
ſon to attain unto: the heathen world
therefore could form but poor and imper-
fect notions of it: they had indeed the
ſtrong and repeated fuggeftions of their
own minds in its favour, but who could
inform them whether thofe fuggeftions
were not merely the delufive flatteries of
felf-love?
The councils and determination of the
Divine Being, in regard to a future ſtate,
could be known by none but himſelf,
and of confequence by him, and him
alone, muſt be declared; and to this end,
in the fulneſs of time, God of his mercy
thought fit to diſcloſe this great fecret
to mankind by the mouth of his beloved
Son, who defcended from the bofom of
his
96
Future State.
a
On & L
SERM. his father, to bring life and immortality
V.
to light by the goſpel.
But at the fame time, that the beneff-
cent Saviour of mankind conferred this
illuftrious privilege on his faithful fer-
vants and followers, he required of
them in return for fo ineftimable a'bene-
fit, and fo comfortable an affurance, an
implicit obedience to his will, and a
ſtrict conformity to his divine command-
ments: As the religion of Chrift there-
fore brings with it a nobler profpect and
promiſe of reward, it hath doubtless a
fuperior claim to our fubmiffion, and a
higher title to our esteem.
If we look back upon the ftate of
chriſtianity on the firſt promulgation of
it, we ſhall very readily acknowledge
that in regard to the things of this world,
it was by no means a ftate to be envied
or
On a Future State.
97
V.
or defired; that it was, on the other hand, SERM.
a ſtate of miſery, of pain and perfecu-~~~
tion; a continued fcene of uninterrupted
forrow and diftrefs; the unequal combat
of humility againſt pride, poverty againſt
riches, weakneſs againſt power to root
up the ſtrong prejudices of education, to
pull down and deftroy the great edifice
of paganiſm, whofe foundations were fo
deeply laid, and build a ſtructure on its
ruins fo different in every part, was a
task which required, and which there-
fore was endowed with more than hu-
man aſſiſtance in the execution of it.
Though our bleffed Saviour came as a
common friend to mankind, yet was he
rather received as a common enemy. To
the Jews, chriſtianity was a ftumbling
block, and to the Gentiles it was fooliſh-
nefs; the arm of the magiftrate was
lifted up, and the voice of people raiſed
againſt it: oppreffed therefore as it was
VOL. III.
H
on
98
On a Future State.
SERM.
V.
on every fide, by all the calamities which,,
this world could inflict; nothing but the
fure and certain hope of another, could
poffibly have fupported them under it.
With great reafon therefore ought the
apoſtle to ſay, in the words of the text,
That if in this life only they had hope, they
were of all men moſt miſerable.
I have often thought that the words
of my text carried with them a proof of
a future ſtate, which hath not been fuf-
ficiently infifted on, or illuftrated by the
preachers of chriftianity: for furely if
the gofpel's difpenfation requires more
ſelf-denial, more abftinence from worldly
pleaſures, a greater degree of patience,
long fuffering, and forgiveneſs; if it de-
mands a more conſtant exertion of active
virtue, and a more ftrenuous oppofition
to every evil, it muſt naturally, purſuant
to our idea of the divine juftice, intitle
us
On a Future State.
99
V.
ús to a greater and more durable reward; SERM.
åll that it takes from us in this life, it
will repay us in the next, and what it
denieth us here, will make ample re-
compenfe for hereafter.
Whoever takes a fair and impartial
view of the Chriftian fyftem, cannot fil
to obferve, that though the ground-work
is the fame as that of natural religion,
the colours laid on it are infinitely more
glowing and beautiful, its circle of du-
ties more extenfive, its doctrines more
refined, and its morality of a more ex-
alted nature.
The duties of felf-denial, of humility
and long fuffering have been inculcated
by the wife and good in all ages of the
world; but if we would fee them height-
ened, improved, and enforced in the
ſtrongeſt manner, we must have recourfe
to chriſtianity.
H 2
Mutual
100
On a Future State.
SERM.
V.
Mutual charity and forgiveneſs was a
virtue, which the ancient philofophers
and lawgivers, endeavoured to inftil into
the breafts of men; but to take in the
whole range of nature, to extend the
arms of mercy and compaffion, even to
thoſe who had injured and oppreffed us;
to embrace all with one univerfal and
godlike magnanimity, was a fentiment
referved to throw a peculiar luftre on
that religion which alone could infpire
it: it muſt be acknowledged that we are
not, as the firft Chriftians were, perfe-
cuted and oppreffed by the civil power;
but it is equally certain that we are per-
fecuted and oppreffed.
It is indeed the natural confequence
of the precepts which we are fworn to
obey, and the religion we profefs. Who-
foever shall fmite thee on thy right cheek, fays
our Saviour, turn unto him the left also.
Ye
On a Future State.
ΙΟΙ
V.
Ye have heard that it hath been faid, thou SERM.
Shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine ene-
mies; but I fay unto you, love your enemies,
bless them that curfe you, do good to them that
hate you, pray for them that defpitefully ufe
you, and perſecute you.
To forgive, therefore, to fuffer, to ab-
ftain, to be juſt even as God is juft, and
to be pure even as he is pure; to be uni-
form in our conduct, not to offend even
in one point, left we be deemed guilty
of all to be continually fubject to the
ridicule of the fcoffer, the malice of the
reviler, and all the thouſand indignities
to which he, if fuch a one there be, who
conforms exactly to the commandments
of the gospel, is expofed; this may well
(as in holy-writ it often is) be called a ſtate
of warfare; a very dangerous combat in-
deed it is, the combat which calls for all
our refolution to contend with, infomuch
that,
H 3
102
On a Future State.
SERM. that added to the natural calamities and
V.
:}
diftreffes of human life, it will fuffi-
ciently induce us to cry out with the
apoſtle, That if in this life only we have
hope, we are of all men moft mijerable.
From a previous confideration of that
which is expreffed in the text, we are
naturally led to that which is vifibly im-
plied in it, namely, that the hope of
Chriſtians is not in this life, but in
another.
If after the manner of men, fays St. Paul,
I have fought with beafts at Ephefus, what
advantageth it me, if the dead rife not? Let
us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.
Doubtless, as the apoſtle very plainly
intimates, if there were no morrow after
death, the Epicures were a profitable and
prudent reſolution: if this life were our
journey's end, who could blame us for
fitting
On a Future State.
103
V.
fitting down and enjoying it? if this SERM.
world is indeed our home, it becomes us
to beautify and adorn it, to render it, by
every method in our power, without re
gard to ftrict virtue,
and delightful to us.
more comfortable
There are ſpecies
of guilt which no human laws can reach ;
and there are actions to be performed
which no eye, but the eye of God, can
diſcover: from fuch guilt, and from ſuch
actions, what ſhall deter us but an here-
after? And if we have no hope of another
we can have no fear of it.
But the justice of the Almighty hath
not fo ordained it; God, we may reft
affured, will not leave the wicked un-
punished, nor the virtuous unrewarded.
The good and pious Chriftian, fo far
from being the moſt miferable, is the
moſt happy of men. I am willing to
H 4
be-
104
On a Future State.
V.
SERM. believe, fays the Philofopher, that I
have within me an immaterial and
immortal foul. Lam willing to ima-
gine that in another ftate I fhall again
fee my departed friends, who have trod
with me in the paths of honour and
virtue; it may be an error which I em-
brace, but if it be, it is an error which
I would not wish to be convinced of.
Thus fpake the good but doubting
heathen, whilft the happier Chriftian
with rapture, and with confidence crieth
out, I know that my Redeemer liveth; and
though worms destroy this body, yet in my
flefh fhall I fee God.
The hope of the heathen was like the
deities he worſhipped, powerleſs, incon-
ftant, variable, and imaginary; not to
be trufted, relied, or depended on; but
the hope of the Chriftian is like the God
he
On a Future State.
105
V.
}
he ferves, ſtrong, fixed, and immutable, SERM.
fteady in his promiſes, and able to per-
form them, fubject to no change, im-
perfection, or decay; but like the great
giver of all good, conftant and powerful,
and with whom there is no variableneſs,
nor ſhadow of turning.
I am the reſurrection and the life, faith
the Lord, and whofo believeth in me, ſhall
never die. If then, we are more happy
than the rest of mankind, let us be more
grateful alfo; by being thoroughly fen-
fible of our fuperior privileges, let us
fhew that we deferve them; nothing
can be more abſurd than to acknowledge
our firm belief of another life, and yet
to act as if we had no hope but in this.
If then thefe things are fo, what man-
ner of men ought we to be in all conver-
ſation and godliness? Surely the hopes
of
106
On a Future State.
SERM. of another, and much better world,
V
+
ſhould teach us to fet a true value on
every thing in this. Let us confider how
mean, trifling, and infignificant the little
low concerns of this life are, when
thrown into the balance with the great
affairs of eternity: the fmall and ſmooth
current which glides by us, the gentle
motions of its waters, and the beauty of
its banks, may afford us a calm and tran-
quil delight; but when we fit on the
fea fhore, and behold the vaſt and bound-
leſs ocean before us; when we contem-
plate the wonders of the great deep, does
it not fill our fouls with a nobler pleafure,
and far more exalted ideas? Do we not
then look back with contempt on the
inconfiderable ftream, and are even fur-
prife that the fight of it could give us
any pleaſure or fatisfaction? Juft in the
fame manner the pious believer when he
is departing from this narrow fcene of
L
things.
On a Future State.
107
things, looks back upon it with an eye
of contempt.
He wiſhes with the holy apoftle to be
diffolved and to be with God, to tafte of
thoſe pleaſures which it hath not en-
tered into the heart of man to conceive,
and which God hath prepared for the
righteous.
It is a very falfe notion, to fuppofe
thoſe who are miferable in this life are
defirous of another; or that only thofe
who have no hope here, entertain any of
hereafter; for furely the happieſt may
expect to be much happier, the wifeſt to
be more wife, than in this ſtate they can
poffibly be: they may expect gratifica-
tions much more fuitable to their nature,
and far more excellent both in value and
in duration.
SERM.
V.
Let
108
On a Future State.
SERM. Let us not then, when the glorious
V.
profpect is opening before us, wilfully
fhut our eyes againſt it, confining all our
views within the narrow circle that fur-
round us, till by degrees we become
like wretches fhipwrecked on a little
bank of fand, the fea continues gaining
ground upon, and threatening to over-
whelm us.
To conclude-If we have hope in
Chrift, let us act as if we had it: let
not the variety of worldly objects fo dif
tract our fight, as utterly to turn our
eyes away from their nobleft and moſt
worthy object; let us weigh and confi-
der the value of that treaſure which God
hath referved; thank him for that vic-
tory over death which he through Chrift
hath obtained for us. After ſuch ſtrong
and repeated affurances of eternal life
given us by the great author and finiſher
of
On a Future State.
109
份
​of our faith; what can we plead in SERM.
excufe for refuſing our affent to a truth
fo glaring and ſelf evident?
After all, moſt plain and indifputable
it is, that if we are not of all men the
moft happy, there can be but one reafon
why we are not fo, and that is becauſe
our fins will not permit us.
But let us,
I beseech you, remember that if we
have no hope of another life, we muſt
have the fear of it. How miferable and
how dreadful muft our fituation be,
when that profpect of a future ftate
which was graciouſly defigned to be our
chief comfort and fupport, fhall become
our moſt alarming terror and our bit-
tereſt affliction! What will our fituation
be, when at the laft and great day, he
before whofe judgment feat we are
to appear, even the bleffed Jefus fhall
lay afide the meeknefs of a tender
Redeemer,
V.
110
On a Future State.
SERM.
V.
Redeemer, and affume all the dreadful
majeſty of an offended Judge! when he
ſhall ſay to the trembling unbelievers,
"Was it for this, ye ungrateful and
ungenerous children of difobedience, that
I came unto you? Did my Goſpel bring
immortality to light, that you ſhould
walk ſtill in darkneſs? O ye of little
faith! I came unto you and ye regarded
me not; I promiſed and ye diftrufted; I
threatened and ye defied me: but fince
neither reaſon could perfuade you to
hope, nor revelation affure
you of
your
everlaſting exiſtence, inftead of rejoicing
in it as your reward, accept it now as
your puniſhment. Go ye accurſed of my
Father into eternal mifery, unto that
place where the fire is not quenched, and
the worm never dieth."
But let us turn our eyes from this fad
and
On a Future State.
III
V.
and melancholy profpect, and confider SERM.
how different his reception will be of
the good and pious Chriftian; let us
place him before our eyes, thus gra-
ciouſly condescending, in the great and
laſt day, to welcome his faithful fol-
lowers to the regions of blifs and immor-
tality: "Come," will he fay unto them,
"C
ye bleffed of my Father and receive
your reward; I promiſed and ye believed;
I ſpake and ye attended; I commanded and
ye obeyed; like me ye have fuffered the
pains of mortality, and like me ye have
tafted the bitterness of death; ye ſhall
be revived with the cordial of life; ye
did not place your hopes on that vain and
tranfitory world, but referved them for,
and they ſhall be fulfilled in, a better
and more durable one.
"Ye have been perfecuted, oppreſſed,
wearied
102.
On a Future State:
SERM. wearied and fatiated on earth, and now
V.
بہ
ye fhall be welcomed, refreſhed, delight-
ed, and rewarded in Heaven."
ON THE
UNCERTAINTY
OF
HUMAN HAPPINESS.
VOL. III.
I
SERMON VI.
PROVERBS XXVII. I.
Boaft not thyself of to-morrow, for thou
knoweft not what a day may bring forth.
A
VI.
MONGST all the various fpe- SERM.
cies of pride which corrupt the
heart of man, and which are all of them,
as is declared in holy writ, abominable
unto God; there is not perhaps one
more abfurd and ridiculous, or attended
with more fatal confequences than that
which the wife man hath pointed out
to us in the words of the text. Boaft
not, ſays he, of to-morrow, for thou knoweſt
not what a day may bring forth.
The folly of this particular kind of
pride doth not, we fee, confift merely in
1 2
the
116
On the Uncertainty
SERM. the exceffive and partial good opinion of
VI.
that which we poffefs; but extends it-
felf to an ill-grounded confidence in, and
dependance on that which may be re-
ferved for us; and carries with it both
an infolent fecurity in our own ſtate
and condition, and withal a pretence
to that knowledge of future events,
which is by no means the portion of
mortality. It is as it were incroaching
on the prerogative of God, and affuming
to ourſelves that peculiar privilege which
is referved for the Most High.
It is indifputable, that pride was not
made for man. If we have no reaſon
(and we most certainly have none) to be
proud of what we have, much lefs can
we pretend to it on account of that which
we have not.
One would indeed naturally imagine,
that
Of Human Happiness.
117
VI.
that the inſtability of all human bleffings, SERM.
the ſerious contemplation on the fhort-
neſs and vanity of this life, the various
viciffitudes of fortune, the uncertainty of
every thing which we behold, or are con-
verfant with, might be fufficient preferv-
atives against an infatuation fo ftrange,
a conduct fo unaccountable.
Were a being of fuperior rank and
order to our own, and at the fame time
unacquainted with our ſtate and condi-
tions, to come down amongſt us, what
ſtrange and erroneous notions would he
form concerning man, from the firſt
view of our conduct and behaviour!
Were he to obferve the affuming
haughtiness of power, the pride of health
and beauty, the infolence of riches and
profperity; were he to fee the kings and
mighty ones of the earth laying plans of
I
1 3
uni-
118
On the Uncertainty
VI.
SERM. univerfal empire; the ftatefman invent-
ing methods to enflave thofe who are yet
unborn; the great and wealthy building
fumptuous palaces that may laft for ages;
the wife and learned grafping at univer-
fal knowledge, and diving into the depths
of futurity! Would he not imagine, that
man was not, as the Pfalmifi fays, little
lower, but infinitely fuperior to the angels
in his powers and faculties; that we were
made to live and reign here for ever, and
that (as it is faid of our Creator) a thou-
fand years were nothing in our fight;
that our bodies were firm, folid, and in-
diffoluble, and our fouls never fubject
to change, or frailty! Would he not
think that wherever riches had chofen
their habitation, they could never de-
part from it, and where the fun of prof-
perity once fhone, the clouds of forrow
and adverfity could never over fhadow it;
that the roſes of youth could never be
plucked
Of Human Happineſs.
119
VI.
plucked by time, nor the bloom of SERM.
health impaired by fickness and decay?
How great then after all would be his
ſurpriſe and aſtoniſhment, to find upon
a cloſer inſpection, that man, proud and
felf-fufficient as he is, was but a fhort-
lived, poor, miferable, dependant being;
that he fadeth away fuddenly like the
grafs, which in the morning is green,
and groweth up, and in the evening is
cut down, dried up and withered; that fo
far from being able to look into futurity,
he was ignorant even of the things which
were before him; that every attainable
human good was fleeting and tranfitory;
and every evil almoſt certain and una-
voidable; that all the riches he could
amafs, might be fnatched from him in
a moment, and all the knowledge he
was ſo proud of eraſed and obliterated,
and leave not a trace upon his mind;
that in fhort, whilft he is boafting of to-
1 4
morrow,
120
On the Uncertainty
SERM. morrow, he is not mafter of to day, nor
VI.
even of an hour of it; and that in the
midſt of all his views, and all his pie-
tenſions, he may be called away, his
breath go forth, he return to his earth,
and all his thoughts perish! On ſuch an
occafion, what would be the thoughts of
fuch a being? With what an eye of
fcorn and contempt would he look down
upon us!
Thou knoweſt not, fays the wiſe man,
what a day may bring forth. When we
caft our eyes on fo apparently inconfi-
derable a portion of time, we are apt to
imagine it incapable of containing any
thing great or important; and yet what
a variety of good and evil may be crowd-
ed into this narrow circle! It hath not
only determined the fate of individuals,
but even of the largeſt bodies and focie-
ties of men; armies have been conquered,
king-
Of Human Happiness.
121
VI.
kingdoms ruined, and empires de- SERM.
ftroyed in it. And if we bring our re-
flections home to ourſelves, if we confi-
der how very much a few fleeting hours
may affect our private concerns, we fhall
be ſtill better enabled to judge what a
day may bring forth. Have we not ſeen
families one day ſmiling in the boſom of
plenty and proſperity; the next, cruſhed
down by fome unexpected ftroke, and
weeping in anguifh, and bitterneſs of
heart? Have we not feen, even in leſs
time than this, wealth changed to pe-
nury, health to fickneſs, and life to
death?
Joy and forrow, good and evil fucceed
each other, like light and darkneſs over
the face of the whole earth.
Therefore hear now this, as the Prophet
ſays, thou that dwelleft carelessly; thou that
art
122
On the Uncertainty
VI.
SERM. art given to pleasures, that fayeft in thine
beart, I am, and none elfe befides me-I
ſhall not fit as a widow, neither shall I know
the lofs of children. But these two things
fhall come upon thee in a moment, in one day,
the lofs of children and widowhood.
As man is himſelf a frail and imper-
fect being, it cannot fail but that every
thing which he produceth muft partake
of his imperfection, and that the flamp
of his own mortality fhould be imprinted
on all his works. The beft operations of
his weak hands moulder into ruin, the
nobleft productions of his mind perifh
and are no more. Yet, though the la-
bours of human art are but the conftant
though filent reproaches of human folly,
we hardly make any thing which does
not last longer than ourſelves; the build-
ing we know will often remain, when
he who raiſed, is buried under it; and
the
Of Human Happiness.
123
VI.
the garden fhall preferve its beauty and SERM.
verdure, when the hand that planted it
is withered and decayed. Look at that
builder (fays a fenfible writer) who in
the vale of years is carrying on the work
of youth, preffing the labourer to finiſh
that edifice which he fhall never live in,
furniſhing thoſe apartments which he
ſhall never inhabit! Turn thy eyes to
another who is fo proud of becoming a
father, who hath already pointed out
the magiftracy which his fon fhall ob-
tain, the feat of honour he ſhall poffefs!
If he knew that his beloved child ſhould
die almoſt as foon as he was born, would
he be ſo tranſported at his birth?
Man (fays the Pfalmift) walketh in a
vain ſhadow, and diſquieteth himſelf in vain;
he heapeth up riches and cannot tell who shall
enjoy them.
God
124
On the Uncertainty
VI.
SERM. God hath graciouſly ordained that the
miferies and difappointments we meet
with here, fhould prepare our minds for
hereafter. Pain, want, and adverfity,
are inflicted on us, that we may fit
more looſe to the things of this tranfi-
tory ftate.
Towards the clofe of our
fhort day, instead of being flattered with
delufive hopes of to-morrow's happineſs,
our evening is clouded over with forrow
and diſquietude; the lofs of fome whom
we loved and efteemed, the unkindneſs
and ingratitude of others, and the in-
fincerity and treachery of many more,
make us out of love with every thing
about us, and reconcile us to our necef-
fary and unavoidable change: and how
early even in youth) that change may
come, there is none can fay! How ri-
diculous is it then to depend on that
which we may never fee! Have we,
who boaſt of to-morrow, one hour at
our
Of Human Happineſs.
125
our own command? To-morrow may
indeed arrive, but who fhall tell us,
whether we fhall live to meet it? Or it
we do, whether it will come as a friend
or an enemy, and whether the fun will
fhine, or the day be overcaſt?
How often does it happen that where
we promife ourfelves the greateſt ſhare
of happineſs, we meet the leaft! where
the imagination is exalted, and we flat-
ter ourſelves with viſionary ideas of fu-
ture joy and pleaſure, the feaſt generally
palls upon the appetite, and the higher
we raiſed our hopes and expectations,
the more exquifite is our pain at the diſ-
appointment of them. And the fame
degree of certainty which we have of
to-morrow's pleafure, we have alfo of
to-morrow's conduct. We make refo-
lutions one day, which we want ftrength
to perform the next. It is very ealy to
talk
SERM.
VI.
126
On the Uncertainty
SERM. talk of virtue and religion, to promife
VI.
to be good, fober, charitable, and de-
vout; but when we are called upon to
put in practice theſe profeffions, there is
generally fome obſtacle to divert us from
it and yet this imaginary point, to-
morrow, is still fixed upon as the centre.
of our happineſs, and virtue alfo.
Afk the mifer, "who panteth after
the duft of the earth," and drudges with
unceafing toil and affiduity in the dirty,
flavish road of intereft, when he will fit
down and enjoy the fruits of his la-
bours? and he will answer you-to-
morrow.
Afk the ambitious man, who is hunt-
ing after power and preferment, when
his hopes will be fatisfied, and his de-
fires have an end? he will tell you he
has but one ſtep to the fummit of his
wiſhes,
Of Human Happineſs.
127
VI.
wiſhes, that to-morrow will put a period SERM.
to his views, and fix him in repoſe and
felicity.
Afk the idle and voluptuous, who is
throwing away his irreparable hours in
the unmeaning circle of fashionable de-
lights, when he will think of his duty
to his God and his fellow creatures, and
become a uſeful member of fociety? he
will deelare he has juft finished his courfe
of pleaſures, that he hath fufficiently
experienced the vanity and vexation of
them, and that to-morrow he intends to
quit the paths of folly and impertinence,
and ftrike directly into the road of vir-
tue —And what is (for the moſt part)
the confequence of all theſe folemn pro-
feffions? To-morrow comes! this great
reclaimer of finners, this univerſal re
former of mankind! and finds the mifer
at his treaſures, the courtier at his levee,
the
128
On the Uncertainty
SERM. the man of pleaſure at his diverfions!
VI.
All, in ſhort, engaged in the very fame
purſuits, making the fame promiſes, and
proteftations, and with juft the fame de-
gree of truth and fincerity.
Since fuch then is the inftability of
human happineſs, and fuch the uncer-
tainty of human virtue, ought we ever
to boaſt of, or depend upon either of
them? Had not the wife man but too
much reaſon to cry out, Boaſt not thyself
of to-morrow, for thou knoweft not what a
day may bring forth! Let us not then
flatter ourſelves that we are to depend
on to-morrow. Let him who is in the
pride of health call to mind, that fick-
neſs may come to-morrow, and put an
end to it. Let him that glorieth in his
riches remember, that poverty, like an
armed man, may come fuddenly and
feize on him. Let him that is wife
know,
Of Human Happiness.
129
know, that folly may in a moment over-
take him. And let not him that is
virtuous to-day, forget that vice may
take poffeffion of him before to-morrow;
if he ftand therefore, let him take heed
left he fall.
SERM.
VI.
In the common affairs of life better
advice cannot be given, than that what
we can do to-day, we fhould never defer
till to-morrow. In regard to our pur-
fuits after the tranfitory goods of this
life, it is certain that procraſtination is
the parent of diſappointment; the fault
puniſhes itſelf and they who depend
on futurity for their fhare of happineſs,
do very feldom obtain it; but when this
abfurd reliance on to-morrow is confirmed
into habit, when it induces by degrees
to neglect the great work of our falva-
tion, the folly fwells into a crime, and
may become the dreadful means of in-
volving
VOL. III.
K
130
On the Uncertainty
VI.
SERM. volving us in everlafting deftruction.
The bufinefs of a fincere repentance, is
a buſineſs which (if we hope for pardon)
muſt at ſome time of life be performed
by all; yet it is generally the very laſt
we think of. Youth is too idle, and
manhood too bufy and ambitious, old
age too feeble and decrepid, or too per-
verſe and obſtinate to engage in it. To-
morrow, that univerfal fponfor, whoſe
faith is plighted to pay every debt, is
appointed to diſcharge this alfo: and
this he moſt generally performs, like the
other offices committed to his charge.
As this debt increaſes, we for the most
part grow more unwilling to pay it: as
thought and reflection become more ne-
ceffary, they become more diftafteful
alfo: and when the difenfe of fin is
grown to fuch a malignancy, to-morrow,
even if it comes, can bring no medicine
to remove it. A death-bed repentance
15
Of Human Happineſs.
131
VI.
is by no means to be relied on, and yet, SERM.
in hopes of this to-morrow, we still go
on, forgetful of the great deſign for
which we were created.
As the confideration of the words be-
fore us may ferve to reprefs the pride of
the infolent, fo it may at the fame time
fmooth the rugged brow of adversity,
and turn afide the arrows of affliction.
It may afford fome confolation to the
poor and deftitute, to thofe who are op-
preffed by forrow and misfortune, to
reflect that fuch is the viciffitude of hu-
man affairs, fo uncertain is the lot and
portion of mortality, that we know not
what a day may bring forth: a fudden
and unexpected change may happen,
that from a ſtate of bitterneſs and mi-
fery, fhall raiſe the drooping heart to
joy and gladneſs. When the poor and
needy feek water and find none, and their
tongue
K 2
132
On the Uncertainty
SERM.
VI.
tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will
bear them, the God of Ifrael will not for-
fake them. Let not then the poor be
oppreffed, and the wretched give them-
felves up as a prey to deſpair and me-
lancholy, but let them rely on him
who is both able and willing to relieve
them: they know not what a day may
bring forth; forrow and difquietude may
endure for a night, and joy and peace
may yet falute their morning.
To conclude then--Whatſoever thy.
band findeth to do, do it with all thy
might, for there is no work, nor device,
nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave
whither thou goeft. Our ſhort day of
life is all that is allotted us for work,
the morrow brings the reward, whether
it be for good or evil; work therefore
whilst it is day, before the night cometh
wherein
Of Human Happiness.
133
wherein no man can work.
It will be SERM
too late for thee, O man! when thy feet
are stumbling upon the high mountains, and
the shadows of the evening have overtaken
thee.
Let the deceived procraftinator then
remember, that his delays are dangerous
and deſtructive; that what he fondly
expects may never come; that he who
hath promiſed pardon to our repentance,
hath no where promifed life till we re-
pent; that the morrow therefore which
he hath fo little reafon to hope, he may
have but too much reafon to fear; fince,
if it doth not bring forth our repent-
ance, it muſt heighten our condemna-
tion, which may God of his mercy avert,
and give us grace to make the beſt uſe
of to-day.
VI.
K 3
ON
PRIDE AND SELF-CONCEIT.
SERMON VII.
PROVERBS XVI. 5.
Every one that is proud in heart is an abo-
mination to the Lord.
FRO
VII.
ROM a ſerious and impartial view SERM.
of the ſtate of man here on earth,
from a few reflections on his fituation
and end, his powers and faculties, from
a confideration of him as a creature
formed out of the duft, and ſpeedily to
return to it; attacked on every fide by
evil and corrupt affections; befet with
dangers and calamities; at beft but par-
tially and imperfectly happy; one would
not ſuppoſe that fuch a vice as pride
could poffibly fubfift in the univerſe,
and much leſs that it was full of very
little
138 On Pride and Self-conceit.
VII.
SERM. little elfe; that it had ſpread itſelf over
the whole face of nature, corrupted (in
fome degree every heart, and become
the plague of all mankind!
Since, however, we are but too well
convinced, that pride is univerfal, let us
endeavour to trace the fecret fprings of
it; let us fee what broad and extenſive
foundation there is for fo large and
magnificent a ftructure. The principal
columns which fupport this mighty edi-
fice will be found, on the cloſeſt exami-
nation, to ariſe from an opinion of ex-
alted merit.
ift, From a ſuperiority of affluence
and power.
2dly, From fuperior parts, genius,
wiſdom, and knowledge.
3dly,
On Pride and Self-conceit.
139
3dly, From a notion of fuperior virtue. SERM.
If, from a candid examination into
each of theſe pretenfions, they fhould
be found wanting in the balance, it`
might furely teach us to behave with
meekneſs and humility, and not (as the
Apoſtle fays) to be wife in our own con-
ceits.
VII.
And firſt then, amongſt all thoſe ad-
vantages which conſtitute a fancied pre-
eminence amongſt men, and tend to
nouriſh and increaſe the pride of the
human heart, riches and power have a
claim to the higheſt and moſt exalted
ſtation from the general conduct of the
rich and great towards their inferiors,
from the pride and infolence of their
behaviour, one would imagine that they
were a higher order of beings, adorned
with nobler faculties and accompliſh-
ments,
140
On Pride and Self-conceit.
SERM. ments, poffeffed of many more virtues
VII.
and perfections than thoſe whom they
trample on, and deſpiſe; that they were
not liable to accidents, fickness, and
misfortune, or, in ſhort, fubject to the
common laws of mortality: we cannot
eafily bring ourſelves to fuppofe, that
fuch affumed fuperiority is owing merely
to the caprice of a deluded multitude,
or the fmiles of fortune; that the pof-
feffors are indebted for it to the vigilance
(at beft) of lucky industry; or it may
be to the undeferved fuccefs of active
vice; and hence it arifes that pride is
fed and nourished by flatterers ; the
haughtiness and vain-glory of one half
of mankind is fupported by the igno-
rance, meanness, and fervility of the
other.
There is certainly no reaſon to be
proud of that which neither beftows real
merit
On Pride and Self-conceit.
141
VIL
merit nor implies any. If riches and SERM.
power could beſtow real happineſs, if →→
they were a mark of fuperior excellence,
or a certain token of the divine favour;
they would not be beſtowed fo frequent-
ly as they are, on the worſt and moſt
abandoned of mankind. Shall we then
be proud of that which is given to thofe
whom we defpife and abhor? of that
which is dangerous, fleeting, and tranfi-
tory? of that which has no intrinfic
value, or certainty of duration ?
Paſs we on then to the 2d part which
I propofed to confider; namely, fupe-
rior knowledge and wifdom: and with
regard to this it may with great truth
be obferved, that there is no part of
mankind more fubject to pride and vani-
ty, than thofe favourites on whom na-
ture hath conferred theſe ſo much en-
vied,
142 On Pride and Self-conceit.
SERM. vied, fo much boafted privileges.
VII.
It
muſt indeed be acknowledged, that to
be wiſer than our fellow-creatures, to
excel in that which fo eminently diftin-
guiſhes us from the inferior part of the
creation, muſt be of all things the moſt
defirable but what degree of know-
ledge, after all, can man arrive at, that
ſhould make him proud? If we could
look around us without prejudice and
partiality, if we could dive a little deeper,
than we generally do, into the hearts
and minds of others, we ſhould moſt
certainly diſcover that our God is much
more equitable in the difpenfation of his
gifts, than the pride and petulance of
man will allow him to be; and that
knowledge, as well as happineſs, is more
equally divided amongst us, than we
were at firft inclined to think it. It
hath always been matter of reproach
againſt
On Pride and Self-conceit.
143
·
VII.
against the learned, that. they are vain, SERM.
and ſelf-ſufficient, great admirers of
themſelves, and great contemners of
others. The truth is, we are too apt to
imagine, that becaufe we are conftantly
pouring in, our veffel muſt be fuller
than our neighbours; but do not at the
fame time reflect that we are pouring
into a fieve, which lets as much through
as it can poffibly retain: our bodies, we
know, undergo perpetual change, fome
particles every day go off by perfpira-
tion, and other fresh ones fucceed; and
fo it is with our minds alfo, one branch
of ſcience is feldom learned but another
is forgotten, and as much perhaps is loft
as acquired. Were it poffible for an in-
habitant of the earth to place himſelf in
the very centre of the univerfe, from
whence he might behold all the planets
moving round him, what improvements
might
144
On Pride and Self-conceit.
SERM. might he make! how well acquainted
VII.
would he be with the whole glorious
fyftem! As it is, his gueffes muſt be
very imperfect, and his knowledge very
fuperficial; and all for this plain reaſon,
becauſe he does not ftand in the right
place. And as it is with the natural, fo
it is alſo in regard to the moral and in-
tellectual world; we do not ſtand in the
middle of things, our eye cannot take
in the whole, but is confined to an in-
confiderable part. The limits of human
knowledge are much contracted, her
zones quickly terminated, and all our
wiſdom is comprehended in a very nar-
row circle. The wifeft will, upon fe-
rious and mature reflection, find them-
felves but a little lefs ignorant, and the
moſt innocent difcover themſelves to be
only a little leſs guilty than their fellow-
creatures.
There
On Pride and Self-conceit.
145
VII.
There is a knowledge indeed which SERM.
makes many very wife in their own
conceits, and which is very greedily
fought after, though we have no reaſon
to glory in it; and that is, the know-
ledge of the world; but of this, when
we glory, we may be truly faid to glory
in our fhame: for what is this know-
ledge? and wherein does it confift?
To know the world, is only to have ar-
rived at a greater proficiency than others
in fraud and diffimulation, to be fo well
acquainted with the tempers and difpo-
fitions of men, ás to make them fubfer-
vient to our own intereft and advantage;
to know the deformities and imperfec-
tions of human nature, and thus to con-
tract a difguft at, and abhorrence of it:
to fee the good fuccefs of thoſe who
thrive by treachery and vice, and from
thence to form a defire of imitating
them; it is but to know, in fhort, what
VOL. III.
a good
L
146 On Pride and Self-conceit.
SERM. a good man would wish to be ignorant
VII.
of, and to fee that, which a wife man
would wish to fhut his eyes against.
After all, the only real and valuable
knowledge which we acquire, is that
which is gained by experience: but how
dearly this is bought, we need not be
reminded. Our fortune, our fame, our
peace, and happineſs, even our inno-
cence and virtue are too often facrificed
in the purfuit: this is an acquifition,
therefore, which, whilft it promotes our
intereft, reproaches feverely our folly;
and where we ought to blufh at the ex-
pence of our purchafe, we have furely
very little reafon to be proud of the
bargain.
The laſt kind of felf-conceit I pur-
pofed to confider, is that which ſprings
from the notion of fuperior virtue.
That fo frail and finful a creature, as
man,
On Pride and Self-conceit. 147
1
VII.
man, fhould lay claim to any merit on SERM.
this article; that fuch unprofitable fer-
vants as we are, fhould boaſt of our
labour, is both impious and abfurd, and
muft doubtlefs fubject us to the difplea-
lure of our great Lord and Maſter. Yet
fuch is our pride and prefumption, that
every audacious hypocrite, who has but
the appearance, demands that refpect
which is not due even to the reality of
virtue. Every felf-fufficient enthuſiaſt
who abſtains from vices which have no
temptations for him, or performs duties
which give him no trouble to comply
with, will boaſt his fuperior goodness
and piety, and, like the proud Pharifee,
thank God that he is not like other men.
To fay the truth, the triumphs of
human knowledge over human igno-
rance; of human virtue, over human
frailty; are like many other triumphs,
L 2
more
148 On Pride and Self-conceit.
SERM.
VII.
more eaſy to be gained than deferved.
They are not fo much owing to the
bravery of the conqueror, as to the want
of it in the vanquished. But whilft
every thing about us feems to reproach
our weakneſs, we are boafting of our
ftrength: like thofe abfurd Stoics, who
pretended to ſmile in the midſt of an-
guiſh, and even whilft they felt the in-
conveniencies of pain, had the folly to
deny its exiſtence.
It would become the man, who is
proud of his knowledge, to reflect, that
the wiſeſt of men, after he had toiled
through the whole round of ſcience, and
had ſeen all things under the fun, con-
feſſed his knowledge to be vanity, and
felt it to be vexation alſo.
And no leſs would it become the man
who is proud of his virtue, to call to
mind
On Pride and Self-conceit.
149
VII.
mind what our bleffed Redeemer faid SERM.
when he was faluted by the name of
good, Why call you me good? faid he,
there is none good but one.
Shall we, my brethren, be proud of
knowledge, when he who had the beſt
title to the name of wife, acknowledged
himſelf ignorant? or fhall we be proud
of our virtue, when he who alone de-
ferved the name of good, refuſed to be
called fo?
God graciouẞy implanted in the mind
of man, a capacity of knowledge to im-
prove and adorn it, and fowed the feeds
of virtue in his heart, that they might
yield the future harveft of felicity. To
be proud, therefore of knowledge, is
to be blind with light; and to be proud
of virtue, is to poifon ourſelves with the
antidote. Is it not ſtrange that fuch
L 3
fou
150
On Pride and Self-conceit.
SERM. foul ftreams flow from fountains fo
VII.
pure? and that what was doubtlefs de-
figned by the Almighty to render us
meek and lowly, fhould fill us with
pride and infolence?
But there is a fpecies of pride very
different from thofe already mentioned,
and far more aftonishing; and that is,
the ftrange and unaccountable pride of
our follies, vices, and imperfections.
What is it after all, that men will
not be proud of, when we fee fuch as
value themſelves on their knowledge of
mankind, make no fcruple to boaſt of
their fuccefs in the art of fraud and
treachery? as if there were any real me-
rit in deceiving their fellow-creatures,
and that no qualities were fo amiable as
falfehood and diffimulation.
What
On Pride and Self-conceit.
151
VII.
What is it men will not be proud of, SERM.
when we fee them degrade piety into
weakneſs, and brand compaſſion with the
name of folly; when we hear them
boafting of their apathy as a perfection,
and exulting in their inhumanity ?
Such is the fatal power and influence
of example, that a time may come
(and perhaps is not far from us) when
idlenefs may be fo fashionable a vice,
that induſtry ſhall be looked upon as a
reproach, and to do nothing, and think
of nothing, fhall be ranked amongſt the
greateſt privileges of our nature.
Pride is of all vices the moſt unfor-
tunate, and always fails of its end. The
covetous man gains his point when he
has amaffed his treafures, and is brood-
ing over his mammon: the fenfualift
gains his when he revels in the plea-
fures
L 4
152
On Pride and Self-conceit.
SFRM. fures of fenfe, and, at leaſt for a time,
VII.
enjoys himſelf: whilft the proud man,
inſtead of that deference and refpect
which he is in perpetual fearch of, is
for the most part rewarded with nothing
but contempt.
To make us cheerful and happy in
each other, there must be an equality of
condition; a kind of common chain, to
link and unite the affections; the ground
muſt be levelled, before we can walk
together with any tolerable eafe or fa-
tisfaction. But where there is pride,
there muſt be diftance and dependancy;
and where dependance is, freedom can-
not enter. The proud man, therefore,
cuts himſelf off from the body of focie-
ty, and is excluded from all the mutual
endearments of focial converfe; he can
keep company with none but thoſe he
muſt hate; aſſociate with none but ſuch
1
>
as
On Pride and Self-conceit.
153
VII.
as he muſt defpife. If he fets himself SERM,
up as an idol, if he will have worship
and adoration, he can receive it from
none but fools or knaves; from fools
who do not know what he is made of,
or from knaves who do. What is it
then to be proud? To live the life of an
idol of wood or ftone, and to be like
unto it; to loſe all the privileges and
all the pleaſures of our nature; to fa-
crifice every real bleffing, for ſuch as
are merely imaginary; to be above the
wants and neceffities, and at the fame
time alſo above the joys and comforts of
life; to be laughed at by our fellow-
creatures, and deſpiſed by our Creator;
to be the fcorn and derifion of men,
the hatred and abomination of God!
And yet, as the Prophet fays, we call the
proud happy.-If they are wife, it is a
wiſdom we ought to be ashamed of; if
they
154
On Pride and Self-conceit.
SERM. they are happy, it is a happineſs we
VII.
have no reaſon to envy.
Let us then attend the commands of
our God; he fpeaks to us every day by
the voice of Death, that great teacher
of mankind; commiffioned by him to
rule over the children of pride; to bind
their kings in chains, their nobles in
links of iron. He is the great leveller
who fubdueth all beneath his feet; from
him who fitteth on a throue of glory,
to him that is humbled in earth and
afhes. Alas! when the thought of our
final diffolution ftrikes our imagination,
how do all the idle diftinctions amongſt
us vaniſh and difappear! Where are the
votaries of ambition, or the heroes of
the war? Where are the rich, the
powerful, the wife, and the learned?
The fmall and great are there! they shall
lie
On Pride and Self-conceit.
155
lie down alone in the duft, and the worms
fball cover them.
Let us therefore already imagine our-
felves to be, what in a little time we
inevitably muft be, all upon a level,
high and low, rich and poor, one with
another. Theſe confiderations will moſt
probably induce us to behave with hu-
mility towards each other, not to think
more highly of ourſelves than we ought
to think, but to love juſtice and mercy,
and to walk humbly with our God. To
lend our knowledge to inftruct the igno-
rant; our power to protect the weak;
our riches to relieve the poor and needy.
If we would be efteemed the followers
of Chrift, we must act like him; we
must stoop to imitate his meeknefs, if
we would rife to inherit his favour;
for he hath declared, that in the laſt
day,
SERM.
VII.
156 On Pride and Self-conceit.
SERM. day, he that exalteth himself, shall be
VII.
- abafed, and he that humbleth himſelf, and
he only, fhall be exalted.
ON
UNITY.
SERMON VIII,
PSALM CXXXIII. 1.
Behold how good and joyful a thing it is for
brethren to dwell together in unity.
A
all
MONGST
traces, the glorious marks of di-
vine wisdom and power in the formation
of the univerſe, nothing hath perhaps
more awakened the minds of men to a
contemplation on the omnifcience and
goodnefs of their Creator, than the
ferious confideration of that conftant
union and harmony, which the Supreme
Difpofer of all things hath diffuſed over
all his works.
all the indelible SERM:
VIII.
Unity is the great chain which firſt
combined, and ftill holds together the
frame
160
On Unity.
VIII.
SERM. frame of nature, which bids diffèrent
elements confpire, and different ſeaſons
join in ſweet variety to make our habi,
tation here pleaſant and commodious;
and promote the general eafe and hap-
pineſs of mankind.
It is obfervable that the fame ſcheme
of providence which God thought fit to
conftitute in the natural world, hath he
alſo appointed in the moral one.
That man was made for union and
fociety, doth fufficiently appear both
from the frame and ftructure of his body,
and all the qualities and paffions of his
mind; he was purpoſely made too ig-
norant to know, and too indigent to
fupply his own neceffities; and is driven
in fpite, of himſelf to afk the aid and
afſiſtance of his fellow creatures.
There
On Unity.
161
VIII.
There is ſcarce a pleaſure, or fatisfac- SERM,
tion in life, which the higheſt and moſt
exalted amongſt us does not often ſtand
in need of; nor any ſtate ſo low or con-
temptible, but has its comforts to enjoy,
and fome benefits or advantages to be-
ftow on others.
Men, indeed, at firft lived in a wild
and confuſed ftate of barbarous freedom
and independency, without laws to re-
ftrain, or rulers to govern them; but
experience foon taught them that order
and harmony were neceffary to guard,
and fubordination to preferve their lives
and liberties. Mutual complaints there
fore were ſoon made, and mutual fub-
jection complied with, till by degrees
they had learned to fhelter themſelves
from tyranny and oppreffion, under falu-
tary laws and wholeſome reſtrictions,
and to ſtrengthen that by union which
VOL. III.
M
nature
162
On Unity.
SERM. nature had left weak and defenceless.
VIII.
As ftates rofe, and kingdoms were eſta-
bliſhed, the clouds of ignorance began
to diffipate, arts and fciences grew up
and flouriſhed, and have from time to
time been ſtrengthened and improved.
In the fubfequent difcourfe therefore,
calculated to raiſe in you a defire of
unity, of charity, and brotherly love,
that ye may be kindly
be kindly affectioned one to
another, I propofe to lay before you the
advantages of union, as it may affect us
in the various circumftances and con-
nections of human life, whether we
confider ourſelves,
Firſt, As Members of Society.
Secondly, As Friends and Relations.
Or, thirdly and laftly, As Chriftians.
And
On Unity.
163
VIII.
And first, therefore, I fhall confider SERM.
it in regard to that influence which it
fhould maintain over us, as members of
that community to which we belong.
If we look back on the hiftory of paſt
times, and take a review of the rife,
growth, and declenfion of thoſe great
ſtates and empires which once ſhone fo
illuftriouſly, and are now buried in ruins,
it will be worth our obfervation to re-
mark, that as they rofe by piety and
virtue to power and ſplendour, they funk
again into oblivion by vice and folly.
While Greece and Rome continued;
while every private man's ambition was
centered in the public welfare, their
lands were bleft with plenty, and their
battles crowned with conqueft. While
they were unanimous, they were fuc-
ceſsful, and while they were virtuous
they were free. But no fooner had prof-
A 2
perity
164
On Unity.
SERM. perity debauched, and luxury and intem-
VIII.
perance enervated them, than they were
quickly corrupted by floth and avarice,
and foon after enflaved and fubdued by
civil broils and diffentions.
How often, and how grievously our
own nation hath fuffered from domeftic
feuds; in what ſcenes of defolation and
bloodshed the hath been many times in-
volved by religious and civil commo-
tions, and how miraculously the gracious
hand of Providence hath delivered us
from the enemy and avenger; I need
not, I believe, call to your remembrance.
To thofe difcords and divifions, which
but a few years fince difturbed the
peace and tranquillity of this nation, we
were in a great meaſure indebted for the
poor and contemptible figure we fome
time made, and for that almoft univerfal
depra-
On Unity.
165
VIII.
depravity and corruption which had well SERM.
nigh overwhelmed us; whilft, on the
other hand, to our prefent harmony,
agreement and unanimity, we may rea-
fonably attribute no inconfiderable ſhare
of our late fucceffes and of our prefent
happineſs; therefore it may be of fer-
vice to us to recollect, that whenever
diſtreſs and calamity attacked us, it was
not fo much our ftrength and numbers,
as our Unity which faved us,
As fubjects therefore, it is apparent
our public peace and happiness muft de-
pend on public unity; and as it happens
in ftates and kingdoms, fo will it ever
do in private focieties: in thofe which
have been established in almost every
country, for the carrying on, and im-
provement of trade and commerce, and
the mutual intereft of the members of
them; or fuch as are meant only to re-
M 3
lax
166
On Unity.
SERM. relax the mind in the cheerful amufements
VIII.
of friendſhip and converfation; and in
regard to both, it is an indifputable and
an invariable truth, that the profit and
the pleaſure will always rife, or decay,
in proportion to that union and harmony
from whence they originally fprung, and
on which alone they totally depend.
Men, confidered as focial creatures, de- ·
rive their happineſs from each other;
and yet fuch is our pride, that it is with
the utmoſt difficulty we are perfuaded to
rely on others for that which we would
fain draw from ourſelves only: we would
all gladly be what in this world we were
never defigned to be, all fufficient, inde-
pendent beings; and though it is a felf-
evident truth, and which one would
think were obvious to every capacity,
that all private fafety, and the property
of every individual, is founded on the
wel-
On Unity.
167
VIII.
welfare of the public; yet fo blind is SERM.
felf-love, that with the bulk of man-
kind we fee recourſe muſt be had to law
and authority; they look on every en-
deavour to ſerve them, as fo many acts
of violence and oppreffion, and will not
be eafy, fafe, or happy, unleſs compel-
led to it.
So neceſſary is mutual good-humour
and complacency in converfation, and
the common affairs of life, that men,
confcious how feldom real good-nature
is to be met with, have fubftituted good-
breeding in its room, which does indeed
in fome meaſure anfwer the end pro-
poſed, by checking that petulancy, which
would otherwife difturb the peace of fo-
ciety; but after all, it is but a falſe
jewel, which yields a faint momentary
luftre: the true one will coft us but a
very little more, which is of infinitely
greater
M 4
168
On Unity.
SERM. greater value, and fo much longer dura-
VIII.
ration. How much better then is the
fubftance than the fhadow! If it is ami-
able but to appear pleaſed and happy in
each other, how much better is it to be
really fo!
But it is not being in the fame place,
faying or doing the fame things which
will make us of the fame mind one to-
wards another; this is by no means the
union recommended by the holy pſalmiſt,
the bond which he would unite us in,
the bond of charity. The harmony
which he would teach us, is the har-
mony of the mind. The union which
he fo warmly enforces, is the union of
the heart; where that is wanting, the
profeffions of the tongue are but as
founding brass, and as the tinkling
cymbals.
But
On Unity.
169
But if a fincere and undiffembled SERM.
·
union of ſentiments, if mutual compla-
cency and good humour are fo abfolutely
neceffary in our public commerce with
mankind, how much more fo muft they
be, in our private and more intereſting
concerns, which will appear ftill more
evident, when we come to
to confider
ourfelves. Secondly, As relations and
friends, where union becomes abfolutely
neceffary to our joy and happineſs, and
where the want of it is attended with
fuch fatal confequences.
God hath implanted in every breaſt
the principles of love and benevolence,
but left that principle ſhould, like a drop
of rain falling into the ocean, loſe itſelf
in a multiplicity of objects; he hath
graciouſly thought fit to direct it, as it
were, into proper channels; to confine
it by infeparable connections, by the ties
of
VIII.
170
On Unity:
SERM. of kindred and the bond of natural affec-
VIII.
tion. From this fountain flow all thoſe
domeftic fweets which alleviate the cares
and enhance the bleffings of life. Thofe
focial duties, thofe tender relations,
which act a double part, and whilſt they
make us happy here in the diſcharge of
them, recommend us at the fame time
to the Almighty, and fecure our future
and everlaſting happineſs.
Here then, how joyful a thing it
muſt be to dwell together in unity! and
on the other hand, how fatal muſt be
the effects of difcord and divifion! How
careful fhould we be, left at any time
envy ſhould unravel, jealoufy loofen, or
anger diffolve the tie! Where there is,
or where there ought to be much love,
there fhould be much forgiveneſs alſo;
becauſe the ſtronger the connection, and
the more folemn the engagement, the
wider
On Unity.
171
wider is the breach and the greater is SERM.
the averfion: and how horrible is it to t
•
fee thoſe whofe blood, whofe fame, for-
tune, and interefts fhould be united,
torn to pieces by hatred and animoſities ;
to ſee the father divided againſt the ſon,
and the fon againſt the father; the mo-
ther againſt the daughter, and the daugh-
ter againſt the mother! to fee all thoſe
tender ties of nature, which were de-
figned to foften the ills of life, and leffen
its cares, become at laſt its bittereſt mif-
fortunes!
This can only give us an image of a
rude, uninformed world, a chaos of mat-
ter, as it ſtood before the creation, where
all the elements were mixed together,
and nothing reigned but difcord, dark-
nefs, and confufion.
Whereas on the other hand, a well-
VIII.
regu-
172
On Unity.
SERM. regulated family, where order and har-
VIII.
mony are preſerved, all obliging, and
obliged by each other, where they are
all bleft by love and unity, is an image
of the frame of nature after God had
pronounced it good; an emblem of the
univerſe, where each part is perfect in
itfelf, and contributes at the fame time
to the beauty, magnificence, and dura-
tion of the whole.
Therefore, if we would live eafily and
happily with each other, to union of
blood, intereſt and fortune, we muſt add
alfo, union of fentiments of heart and
foul. To benevolence we muſt add, for-
bearance and mutual complacency. In a
world like this, fo full of evils and fo
full of ignorance, intereſts muſt jar and
opinions muſt differ; but as we are all
liable to error, and all ſubject to paſſions,
we muſt bear the faults, and pardon the
weak-
On Unity.
173
weakneſſes of each other, becauſe it is a SERM.
bleſſed and a joyful thing to dwell to-
gether in unity.
Come we then to the laft and great
relation in which I propofed to lay be-
fore you, the indiſpenſable duty of Union
as Chriſtians.
Our gofpel is the gofpel of peace; it
becometh all men; but above all men
it becometh Chriftians; it becometh
thoſe who walk in the houfe of God to
walk as friends; not by our practice to
contradict and give the lye to our doc-
trines, not by difcord and animofities to
fubvert that religion which we are ſworn
to protect. By this, fays our Saviour,
Shall men know that ye are my difciples, if
ye love one another. Alas! that diſtin-
guifhing mark is, I fear, almoft erafed
and worn out amongſt us. Our church is
VIII.
fo
174
On Unity.
SERM. fo overrun with herefies and fchifms, fo
VIII.
torn by jarring fects and difcordant fac-
tions, as to make her a bye-word unto
the heathen, and to thofe who have no
knowledge of her laws.
Nothing can ſo much debaſe religion,
as the ill-placed zeal of its outrageous
followers, who hate all that will not
agree with them in all, even in things
where it is of no confequence whether
they agree or not. There are men who
fhew their love to God, by oppreffing
thoſe whom he hath made, who never
confent but to deftroy; never unite but
to perfecute.
It cannot be expected, it never was
defigned by our Creator, that all men
ſhould think alike; but furely it may,
it will be required of us, that we all
endeavour to promote the unity of the
church,
On Unity.
175
church, the glory of God, and the reli- SERM.
gion of our Saviour Chriſt.
Let me then, above all things, recom-
mend Unity to you as Chriftians. A
houſe divided againſt itſelf can never
ftand. In the laft age there were fects
enough among us, and yet, as if difcord
were ſtill ambitious of fowing more tares
amongst us, freſh parties are every day
fpringing up and increafing. To the
fanatics and vifionaries of the laft cen-
tury, whofe decaying fabric ftill fubfifts,
have fucceeded a race of modern enthu-
fiafts, whofe tenets are more ridiculous
as well as more anti-fcriptural than any
of their predeceffors, as the notions
which they endeavour to inculcate, are
abfolutely deftructive of all religious
union, and directly oppofite both to the
laws of Chrift, and all the moral and
focial purpoſes of human fociety. For
fhame,
VIII.
176
On Unity.
SERM. fhame, my brethren! let us
VIII.
though late, unite and conquer;
at laft,
the par-
the
tition ſtill fubfifting between fome of us,
is built of very flight materials; infen-
fibly moulders away, and might eaſily be
thrown down by the hand of charity and
mutual love: let us hope, my brethren,
to ſee that good work perfected, and let
every one lend his neceffary aid and affift-
ance towards it.
aſſiſt-
Let not any difference of opinion in
matters not effential, alienate our affec-
tions, or hinder us
or hinder us from kind and
friendly offices. Let us be friends to all,
of what fect, party, or profeffion what-
foever, who are the friends of honour
and virtue; and have no enemies, but
the enemies of God and his Son Jefus
Chrift. Let us reflect, that it was to
their union and harmony we were in-
debted for the exertion of that truth on
which
On Unity.
177
which our religion depends: let us con-
fider what light and luftre they throw
on each other, and how exactly, and
how bleffedly all their predictions were
fulfilled.
If then we would be happy in our
alliances, in our focieties, our relations,
our friendſhips, and all our mutual en-
dearments, let us pray to that God who
maketh men to be of one mind in one
houſe, to pour into our hearts that ſpirit
of unity and godly love, of benevolence,
patience, and charity, and which may
bless us with all the good things of this
life, and bring us to thofe feats of reſt
and peace, of unity and concord, of
tranquillity and happinefs, which he
hath prepared for the good and righteous
in that which is to come.
VOL. III.
N
ON THE
PHARISAICAL CHRISTIAN.
SERMON IX.
MATTHEW V. 20.
Except your righteousness exceed the righte-
oufness of the Scribes and Pharifees, ye
fhall in no wife enter into the kingdom of
heaven.
HE Scribes and Pharifees, whom SERM.
ΤΗ
our bleffed Saviour doth in the
words of my text fo feverely reprehend,
were men of ſuch high rank and eſteem
amongst the Jews, as to command the
deepeſt reverence, refpect, and, venera-
tion from the multitude, who confidered
them, eſpecially with regard to religious
matters, as the most perfect examples of
purity and virtue; to doubt therefore
their truth, and to call in queftion their
integrity; to unmaſk their ſophiſms, de-
tect
N 3
IX.
182 On the Pharifaical Chriftian.`
SERM. tect their frauds, and expoſe their hypo-
IX.
crify, was a taſk which few would have
the courage to enter upon, and ftill
fewer the fteadinefs and refolution to
execute: our Saviour notwithſtanding,
who came down upon carth to eſtabliſh
truth, without the leaft regard to any
ill confequences that might arife to him-
ſelf from fuch a conduct, boldly, ftre-
nuouſly, and perpetually oppoſed them.
}
When we conſider the great influence,
weight, and authority which thefe men
poffeffed, we cannot but be aftoniſhed at
the intrepidity of a private, indigent, and
friendlefs individual, who could thus ar-
raign the conduct, and condemn the
principles of the firſt and moſt reſpect-
able characters in the kingdom: but the
cauſe of religion, which had been fo
effentially hurt, demanded, the throne of
righteoufnefs, which had been fhaken by
fraud
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
183
fraud and diffimulation, and which was SERM.
to be re-eſtabliſhed by him, required this
conduct at his hands.
IX.
Of the fuperlative righteouſneſs of
the Scribes and Pharifees, the vulgar,
ever impofed upon by fhew, pomp and
parade, entertained fo high an opinion,
as to imagine, no doubt, that it could not
poffibly be exceeded: our Saviour, there-
fore, takes the firſt opportunity of unde-
ceiving them in this important particular,
and informs them, that if they could
not perform a taſk which they feemed to
think impracticable, that of exceeding
the Pharifees, they must never flatter
themſelves with the moft diftant hope
of the divine favour; or, as he strongly
and emphatically expreffes it, could in
no wife enter into the kingdom of God.
As the character of the Pharifee was
N 4
held
184 On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
IX.
SERM. held in fuch abhorrence by the great
founder of our religion, one would natu-
rally have imagined that his followers
would above all things have moſt care-
fully avoided it; it is notwithſtanding
moſt indiſputable, that from the days of
the apostles, there have been, and even
to this day there are amongst us but too
many of thoſe whom we may properly
ſtyle
PHARISAICAL CHRISTIANS:
Men who but too exactly reſemble that
hateful and contemptible fect, whom
our Saviour ſo often and fo feverely con-
demns, and who, he folemnly affures us,
can never enter into the kingdom of God;
and of this melancholy truth we ſhall
be fully convinced when I come, which
I propofe in the following diſcourſe, to
point out the peculiar marks by which
they may be known, and thofe fimilar
features
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
185
features by which they may fo eafily be SERM.
diſtinguiſhed.
The age we live in, is indeed an age
of pharifaifm; the morality of the Pha-
rifees ſeems to be the only morality, and
the righteouſneſs of the Pharifees almoſt
the only righteouſneſs that is to be found
amongst us. There is fcarce any zeal
left but fanaticifm; any religion but en-
thuſiaſm. Since a ſet of ignorant and
illiterate pretenders to piety and virtue
have ſet up their ſtandard and diſplayed
their gaudy colours; it is aftoniſhing to
confider what crowds of filly men and
women are daily flocking to it: the fol-
diers of Chrift, the great captain of our
falvation, are every hour deferting from
him; three parts of them are gone over
to Satan, his avowed enemy, and the
fourth are daily lifting under the banners
of methodiſm.
IX.
نہ
At
:
1
>
SERM.
IX.
186
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
At fuch a time therefore it may not
be improper to obferve that,fow
!
+
+
of,
The firſt ſtriking refemblance which
we trace, and which is vifible to every
eye, between the ancient and the modern
Pharifee. is a perpetual affectation
and pretence to extraordinary goodneſs
and piety. The Pharifaiacal Chriftian
openly declares that the kingdom of
God that kingdom which our Saviour
has allured us he will never obtain, is
the great object of all his views, the
end, he will tell you, of every word
and every action; to this he pretends to
facrifice every worldly concern, and fix-
ing his eyes on heaven, overlooks and
tramples upon every thing elfe. Reli-
gion in fhort, is his trade, and righteouf
nefs his profeffion; he imagines that all..
piety confifts in prayer, and that every
virtue is centered in devotion: the con-
fequence
1
On the Pharifaical Chriftian. 187
IX
fequence of this falfe and confined idea SERM.
of true religion is, that he is always in
a church or a tabernacle; like the old
Pharifee he waſhes his cups and platters
over and over, to fhew his purity and
attention at the fame time, but too often
neglecting the weightier matters of the
law; whilst he is doing that duty to
God which God doth not require of
him, he neglects perhaps that duty to
man which God doth, and will require of
him: he fings pfalms whilft he ſhould
be labouring in his calling, and ftarves
his family out of pure goodneſs and
devotion.
The next peculiar mark and characte-
riftic of the Pharifaical Chriftian, is that
fingularity that conſtant defire of appear-
ance not like other men, which diftin-
guiſhes him as much from the reſt of
the world as the broad phylactery and
1
long
2
land
IX.
188 On the Phariſaical Chriftian.
SERM. long garments did his brethren of Judea.
Vanity, or the love of praiſe and admi-
ration, that reigning univerfal 'paffion,
takes place in religion, as well as in
every other concern. The Pharifaical
Chriſtian therefore takes a particular
pride in departing from common and
vulgar forms; he is always prefcribing
to himſelf fome peculiar methods of act-
ing, that fhall draw upon him the ob-
fervation of others; even in circum-
ftances the moft minute and indifferent,
he affects to vary from thofe of his
neighbour: inſtead of complying with
eſtabliſhed rites and ceremonies, he in-
vents new modes of worſhip, and creates
new duties which he performs with ex-
traordinary zeal and alacrity: fo long as
he lives up to his own partial and im-
perfect rules of righteoufnefs, he thinks
himſelf at liberty to diſpenſe with every
other, and not unfrequently to break
through
On the Pharifaical Chriftian. 189
through every moral and focial obli- SERM.
gation.
The habit of his body, as well as that
of his mind, is generally diftinguiſhed
by ſome ſtiff and awkward peculiarity,
and by every motion and geſture he will
endeavour to convince you how fuperior
he is to all thofe forms and cuftoms, by
which the reſt of mankind is influenced
or directed.
With regard to points of faith and
doctrine, with regard indeed to all the
moſt effential parts of religion, the Pha-
rifaical Chriftian feldom confults that
great infallible code, the holy fcripture,
or the generally received interpretations
of it; but for the most part forms his
opinion intirely from the direction, and
under the guidance of fome favourite
paftor, fome darling enthufiaft of his
own
IX.
190
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
SERM.
IX.
own fet, fome Gamaliel of his own
choice; of theſe there is abundance
enough in the prefent age; to theſe he
implicitly fubmits, and if an angel from
heaven was to preach any other doc-
trines but fuch as he inftills, the Phari-
faical Chriſtian would never liſten to, ‘or
believe him.
In confequence of this blind attach-
ment, three parts of his religion confift
in the strict obfervance of certain little
infignificant forms and habits, infenfibly
contracted and pertinaciouſly adhered to;
the merit of which he has fo magnified
in his own eyes, as to think abfolutely
indifpenfable. With theſe men or wo-
men (for there are Pharifees of both
fexes amongst us), a thoufand noble and
difintereſted acts of true goodnefs and
benevolence, would fcarce atone for the
breach of one punctilio.
As
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
191
IX.
As religion, or what he thinks pro- SERM.
per to call fo, confifts of certain rules
and precepts which he has laid down as
the only terms of falvation, he deems
the leaft departure from them in others
as unpardonable. As his mind is too weak
to adopt and embrace univerfal and con-
fiftent righteouſneſs, fo is it too narrow
to comprehend univerſal charity; he is
well affured, that there is but one door,
and that of his own conftruction, by
which men can enter into the kingdom
of God; thofe therefore who will not
follow him through it, can never be
I
admitted at any other. The man who
doth not think with him, is in his opinion
incapable of thinking at all, and the man
who will not be faved his way, cannot,
he is morally certain, be faved at all.
Another infallible mark diftinguiſhing
the Pharifaical Chriftian, and which in
the
192
On the Pharifaical Chriftian:
SERM. the eyes of a meek and humble Saviour,
IX:
at once deſtroyed all their pretenfions to
righteouſneſs, is Pride, that high opinion
which they always entertain of them-
felves, with a fovereign contempt for all
the world befide. Pride of
Pride of every kind is
totally irreconcileable with Chriftianity;
but fpiritual pride is above all directly
oppofite and contradictory to it; it is
the dropfy of the mind, and like that
for the moſt part incurable. A prince
is never ſo proud as a pope; and a man
of the higheſt rank and fortune, will
not behave with half the fupercilious
oftentation of a monk or a methodiſt.
The Pharifaical Chriftian, therefore, is
of all beings the most pompous and the
moſt diſagreeable; he affumes an air of
confidence and felf importance, that
throws all humble merit at an infinite
diſtance from him; he confiders himſelf
as a creature of a fuperior order, and
paffes
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
193
IX.
paffes by the meek and lowly Chriftian SERM.
with contempt and indifference, or per-
haps, which is worſe, treats him with a
fneer of infulting pity; he commiferates
your loft ſtate, as irretrievably excluded
from the number of the elect, and is
concerned to find that you have no
chance of eternal happinefs; for like the
church of Rome he always confines the
goodness of God to the narrow limits of
his own fect, and charitably configns
the reſt of mankind to everlaſting per-
dition.
The Pharifaical Chriftian is always
feen in the beft pew of the church, as
his Jewish predeceffors took the first
places in the fynagogues; he affumes
the power of directing in fpiritual mat-
ters, however unfit he may be for it
takes the flock out of the hands of the
paſtor, is ever ready to direct him in his
VOL. III.
0
duty,
194
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
SERM.
IX.
duty, and to find fault with him in the
performance of it.
Thus in every pariſh where the per-
nicious tenets of methodiſm have gained
any influence, the minifter, however
irreproachable his conduct, however
found his doctrine may be, is held in no
efteem.
The laft diftinguishing mark of the
Pharifaical Chriftian, that leaven which
leaveneth the whole lump, is Hypocrify;
a vice moft abhorrent to the doctrine,
and moſt oppoſite to the character of our
bleffed Redeemer: this imitation of
ancient pharifaifm is indeed the moſt
glaring folly, as well as the moſt atro-
cious wickedneſs: to diffemble with
man may be venial, becauſe men dif-
femble with us; to diffemble with man
may be profitable, becaufe men may be
deceived;
On the Pharifaical Chriflian.
195
IX.
deceived; but to diffemble with the SERM.
Almighty, is both impious and unpro-
fitable. It is impious, becaufe God
never doth, or can diffemble with us,
and it is unprofitable, becauſe he is not
to be deceived, deluded, or impoſed on
by us. Man, however, the Pharifaical
Chriſtian can, and conftantly doth de-
ceive, by his pompous pretences to ex-
traordinary piety and goodneſs. To the
unobſerving and injudicious eye, the
falſe jewel appears with a more fpecious
and glaring luftre than the true; and fo
it is but too often with religion and
virtue. The kingdoms of men are too
often befieged and conquered by hypo-
crify; but it can never fubdue, never
fo much as enter into the kingdom of
God: it cannot be fuppofed that a God
of truth will ever permit thoſe to enter
into his prefence, who fupport the cauſe
of fraud and falfehood; it cannot be
ima-
0 2
196
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
SERM. imagined, that the proud and haughty
IX.
*
will ever meet in the fame place with
the meek and humble; that they will
ever be permitted, or if they were per-
mitted, that they would condeſcend to
rank with thofe whom they had infulted,
or to affociate with thoſe whom they had
deſpiſed.
If then, my brethren, the kingdom
of heaven is, as it doubtlefs ought to be,
the great object of your wishes and
defires, that feat of joy and happineſs
which you are all in purfuit of, do not
be led aſide into that broad but deceitful
path which our Saviour hath affured you
can never lead you to it. The road to
this bleffed habitation, lieth not, as the
Phariſees have falſely directed you, over
the lofty mountains of pride, but through
the lowly vale of humility; not through
the crooked and perplexing labyrinths of
fraud
}
On the Pharifaical Chriſtian.
197
IX.
fraud and falfehood, but along the SERM.
ſmooth and even plains of truth and
virtue.
Let therefore your righteouſneſs be
not only unlike, but totally different
from, and oppofite to that of the Phari-
fees; avoid all pretences to extraordinary
merit; contemn all idle fingularity and
affectation; deſpiſe hypocrify, and abhor
diffimulation. Never be proud of what
you are; never pretend to be what you
are not; place not your ill-grounded
hopes of future happineſs on the per-
formance of merely external duties, but
on the ſteady, uniform, and regular prac-
tice of your whole lives; fhew your zeal
in the cauſe of religion, not by profeffing,
but by proving yourſelves true Chrif-
tians; do not boaſt that you are not like
others, but endeavour ſo to ſpeak, and
fo to act, that others may wish to be
03
like
198
On the Pharifaical Chriftian.
SERM.
IX.
like
you; fo fhall your righteoufnefs far
exceed the righteoufnefs of the Scribes
and Pharifees, and ye fhall enter into the
kingdom of God: ye fhall enter into a
place where there fhall be no pride or
haughtiness to opprefs; no fraud or
hypocrify to deceive you; but where
truth and happineſs, joy and fincerity,
righteouſneſs and peace fhall kiſs each
other.
ON
FOLLOWING THE MULTITUDE.
SERMON X.
EXODUS XXIII. 2.
Thou shalt not follow a Multitude to do
So 8
Evil.
O great is the power of example, fo SERM.
dangerous its prerogative, and fo
extenfive its influence over the human
mind, that we can never be fufficiently
on our own guard againſt the evils which
it may create, and the inconveniencies
that may ariſe from it. The defire of
imitation is perceivable, even from the
moment of our birth, in all the faculties
of our fouls, and in all the actions and
emotions of our bodies, infomuch, that
every habit and gefture we acquire, and
every ſentiment we exprefs, is but the
copy or tranſcript from thoſe who are
about
X.
202 On following the Multitude.
SERM. about us; it is a long time before we
X.
begin to know and feel that we are free
and accountable beings, and that it is
incumbent on us to think and act for
ourſelves; nor even when we are arrived
at this neceffary truth, do we retain the
fteady and conftant conviction of it;
many have not the capacity, many have
not the inclination, and many more have
not that induſtry and vigilance which
are required in the difcovery of truth,
and in the practice of virtue: and hence
it arifes, that ſo many of the blind fol-
low their blinder leaders into fin and
mifery; that fo many are drawn away
infenfibly, and mifled by bad example
into the commiffion of thoſe things
which their reafon rejects as ridiculous
and abfurd, or their confcience condemns
as finful and unwarrantable; and the
danger of the feduction muſt always rife
in proportion to the art and power of
the
On following the Multitude.
203
X.
the feducer; the influence therefore of SERM.
an ill judging multitude is of all things
moſt to be feared and avoided. There is
fomething in union and fociety, which
ftrongly recommends and enforces what-
ever it would promote, gives a kind of
fanction to every thing which it would
patronife or protect; thoſe who follow
the multitude are too apt to imagine that
however a fingle judgment might be
miſed, numbers would not engage in
the ſupport of error, and thus are they
very eaſily miſled into the wilderneſs of
folly. Each particular traveller infers
that the path muſt be right which fo
many have agreed to tread in, and does
not at the fame time confider that the
man who went before him, was induced
by the very fame method of reafoning,
to ſtep into it: but furely before we fet
out on the short journey of life, it will
highly
204 On following the Multitude.
SERM. highly become us to confider under
X.
whofe direction we fhall place ourſelves.
Who is this guide whom we fo wil-
lingly follow? or who is this maſter
whom we fa implicitly obey? A guide
no doubt well able to direct; a maſter
very fit to command; but will reafon
acknowledge this, or will experience
confirm it? Do they not both warmly
affert the direct contrary? Will they
not tell us, that this guide is an igno-
rant and bold impoftor, and fo little able
to fave others from delufion, that it is
itſelf perpetually deluded? A maſter fo
unfit to rule, that it hath in all ages been
itſelf a flave to the worst of men, a mere
inftrument in the hands of the wicked,
to ferve in the caufe of vice and folly?
Shall we then be led by that which can-
not guide itſelf, and governed by that
which cannot govern itfelf? One would
think
On following the Multitude.
205
X.
think our pride alone were ſufficient to SERM.
fecure us from this danger; and that
men would not voluntarily fubmit to be
flaves of thofe whom they might com-
mand, and dupes to thoſe whom they
muſt deſpiſe.
There is not any thing which fo de-
baſes the human underſtanding, as a
tame, implicit fubmiffion to the will of
others, without the leaft previous trial
or examination; it is the infallible mark
of a timid and fervile, or of a weak and
lethargic mind; it is indeed little leſs
than at once to give up all the privileges
of our nature, and to degrade our very
being.
We ſhould confider, that by follow-
ing the multitude, we give up all pre-
tenfions to knowledge and underſtand-
ing; that we acknowledge our infe-
riority,
206 On following the Multitude:
SERM. riority, and bear witneſs to our own
X.
ignorance and incapacity; that if we go
wrong therefore we have no excufe, and
even if we go right we have no merit:
thus we are fure of puniſhment on the
one hand, and on the other can enter-
tain no hopes of reward.
Let us moreover reflect, that when
we have once joined the multitude, it is
not eaſy to ſeparate ourſelves from it.
Cuſtom rivets our chains fo faſt, that
they are not foon, or without difficulty
broken through or ſhaken off.
A mind feverely warped by prejudice,
and habituated to error, is like a body
bent and bowed down by age and infir-
mities, and neither can be reſtored to its
original reclitude, but by that divine
power which created them both.
The
On following the Multitude.
207
X.
}
The followers of fashion, and the SERM,
votaries of vice, by a perpetual diffipa-
tion of thought, by a conftant round of
vanity, make themſelves abfolutely unfit
to move in any other circle. By a per-
petual commerce and connection with a
corrupt world, we become too well
acquainted with its fraud and treachery;
we grow fo converfant with the works
of art and of men, that we forget
the far nobler productions of nature and
of God.
Men indeed are but too apt to flatter
themſelves, that fociety is the mother of
fafety, that there is always the beſt ſhel-
ter in a crowd, and that the authority
of millions is fufficient reafon for fiding
with them. But furely whatever ill-
grounded hopes we may place in the
number of our forces, we fhall find that
in
208
On following the Multitude.
SERM. in a bad cauſe they can never fecure us
X.
{
the victory.
The multitude on our fide is but a
poor excuſe for our follies when we
commit them, and will prove but an
indifferent confolation to us when we
fuffer for them; if we trample on the
commandments of God, and offend that
Almighty power who made us, it is
not the number of fellow criminals
which can fecure our pardon.
Have thoſe who rebel against their
fovereign, a ftronger claim to his indul-
gence, becauſe their allies are numerous,
and their armies formidable? Would it
not rather induce him with more feve-
rity to punish their pride, and chaf-
tife their infolence? Will the moſt
gracious fovereign pardon one rebel, be-
cauſe thouſands have engaged in the
fame
On following the Multitude.
209
fame caufe with him? or is the juſt SERM.
mafter obliged to forgive one fervant,
becauſe all the reft have equally dif
obeyed him?
What then ſhall we fay to our king,
or what ſhall we plead to our mafter?
If finners intice thee, fays the wife man,
confent thou mot-but we have con-
fented: Be not conformed to this world
-we have conformed to it in every
article: Love not the world-we have
loved it, and what is more unpardon-
able, neither loved nor refpected any
thing elſe, not even him who made it;
and can we then expect forgiveneſs,
becauſe ſo many have offended?
There was a time we know, when
all mankind were become abominable,
and all fleſh had corrupted its way upón
earth; and what was the fatal confe-
quence?
VOL. III.
P
210 On following the Multitude.
SERM. quence? It was ſwallowed up by an
X.
univerfal deluge.
God deſtroyed Sodom, becauſe they
were all wicked who inhabited, and
brought Ifrael to captivity, becauſe they
were all, as the prophet fays, grievous
revolters.
On the other hand, fo fond is man-
kind of running into extremes, we have
lately feen, and continue every day to
fee, a fet of frantic enthufiafts, who
under the pretence of avoiding the errors
of this faſhionable multitude, have them-
felves conftituted another multitude, per-
haps equally dangerous to fociety, and
the interefts of true religion; a multi-
tude who hold, or pretend to hold in
abhorrence the commiffion of evil; who
are fo over righteous as totally to con-
demn every innocent amufement and
cheer-
On following the Multitude.
211
up
X.
cheerful relaxation, and together with SERM.
the follies and impertinencies, have
fhaken off all the focial and relative
duties of life, to give themſelves
entirely, not to acts, but to fpecious
proteſtations of piety and devotion; who
make a merit of abſtaining from what is
forbidden, and at the fame time neglect
what is commanded.
I need not obferve to you how maný
follow this multitude, nor is it I believe.
lefs evident that the followers of it, what-
ever they may imagine themſelves em-
ployed in, will be found in the end to
do evil.
That tabernacles are crowded, and
churches thinned, by theſe pernicious
fectaries, is too notorious; but at the
fame time, it is no infallible fign that
they are in the right; for alas! if num-
bers
P 2
212 On following the Multitude.
SERM. bers were to determine in this point,
X.
how poor a figure would Chriſtianity
make in the known world, whilſt Popery,
Mahometaniſm, and even Paganiſm, are
in that point fo infinitely fuperior to it.
But it is perhaps in religion, as it is
in every thing in which we are concern-
ed; faſhion will dictate, example will
influence; pretenders ftart up in every
art and ſcience; quacks will be liſtened
to, and preſcribe in divinity as well as in
phyfic, and whatever confident impof-
tors affert, there are always fools enough
to believe them; but truth after all will
break through the clouds of error and
prejudice, and fhine forth in its native
fplendour.
Let us then, my brethren, redeem the
time; let not the force of bad example
influ-
On following the Multitude.
213
X.
influence, nor the power of fashion be- SERM.
tray us.
Surliness and contempt of the
world is not goodneſs or religion; and on
the other hand, a fervile compliance with
all its forms, is mean and unmanly; good
breeding was meant to heighten and em-
belliſh the charms of virtue, but not to
rival and fupplant her; and fuch as make
politeneſs alone the rule of their actions,
are like thoſe architects who prefer the
ornaments and delicacy to the ſtrength
and uſefulneſs of the building.
We are got into a fooliſh, frivolous.
way of ſpending time; let us get out of
it as fast as we can; he that defpifeth
little things, fays the wife man, fhall
fall by little and little : let us then ſhake
off the chains of that tyrant, cuſtom, and
think, and fee, and act for ourſelves; if
we want a guide, let us follow reaſon,
P 3
and
214 On following the Multitude.
SERM. and not a multitude; virtue, and not
X.
faſhion; God, and not Satan.
Let us no longer be miſled by an idle,
thoughtleſs crowd, who can only draw
us into the paths of fin and forrow, but
chooſe an able pilot who will conduct us
to the regions of peace and happineſs.
There is, my brethren, one great ex-
ample which we ought to follow, even
the great ſtandard of perfection, Jefus
Chriſt the righteous; if we follow a mul-
titude we muſt do evil, if we follow
Chriſt we must do good; here, and here
only, to give up our own judgment, muſt
be meritorious, to yield up our reaſon will
be an acceptable facrifice; here we may
part with our wifdom without fhame,
and our knowledge without regret, be-
cauſe his wiſdom is better able to guide,
his knowledge more extenfive to direct
us;
On*following the Multitude.
215
us;
let us intreat him therefore to enlift
us under his banner, to take us into the
number of his faithful followers, to lead
us into all truth here, and finally to con-
duct us to everlafting joy and happineſs
hereafter.
SErm.
X.
P 4
ON
VIGILANCE.
SERMON XI.
2 TIM. IV. 5.
Watch thou in all things.
I THESS. V. 6.
Let us not fleep as do others, but let us watch
THE
and be fober.
XI.
HERE cannot be an employment SERM.
more worthy of a grateful and
generous mind, than to trace the good-
nefs and power of the Almighty, conti-
nually diſplaying and exerting itſelf for
the benefit of mankind; to obferve the
fame active energy which created, ſtill
continuing to preferve and fuftain, the
univerfe; to remark that the eye of
God is always watchful over the works
of his hands; and that all the powers
of nature, in imitation of their divine
Author,
220
On Vigilance.
SERM. Author, are perpetually performing
XI.
the various parts affigned them, and
contributing towards the fupport of the
whole vifible creation. By that inſtinct,
with which God hath thought fit to
endow the animal world, every creature
knows how to guard and defend itſelf
against all that can diftrefs or annoy
it; hath an innate horror and averfion
to every thing that can be prejudicial to
it; is taught by nature to be upon its
guard against every foe, and to be al-
ways anxious and vigilant for its own
prefervation. As far therefore as inter-
eft and nature go, that is to fay, as far
as God, whofe inftruments theſe are,
doth guide and direct, fo far all is right.
The means are adequate to the end;
order, harmony, and proportion are ob-
ferved: but no fooner doth God let go
the reins of government, and man´is
left
On Vigilance.
221
XI.
left to act for himſelf, but all is diforder, SERM.
anarchy, and confufion: though he is
furniſhed with arms fufficient to defend
himſelf, yet doth he for the moſt part
either lay down thofe arms and become
a voluntary flave, or turns them with
ill-judged and ill-directed ftrength and ac-
tivity againſt himfelf; he is either not
vigilant, or vigilant to a bad end, or vi-
gilant to no end at all. He is induſtrious
in procuring that which can only be
pernicious to him, or he is totally idle
and unpardonably remifs in the ſearch
of that on which alone his intereſt and
his happineſs muſt depend.
When we ſeriouſly confider what va-
riety of accidents, temptations, and mif-
fortunes, we are all liable to, what
fnares are laid for us, what foes we
have to combat, and what dangers we
are every hour expoſed to,
we ſhall
doubtlefs
222
On Vigilance.
SERM. doubtlefs be obliged to acknowledge,
XI.
that the fhort but important advice of
the Apoſtle, in my text, cannot perhaps
be too frequently repeated, or too warm-
ly recommended to us.
In points of importance we can never
be too cautious; danger we know is the
daughter of fecurity, and prefumption
the parent of repentance; there is often
the most danger where the leaft is ap-
prehended, and the ftronger demand for
vigilance, where we allow the weakest
exertion of it.
We are attacked with heat and vio-
lence on every fide, and ſhould therefore
be armed at all points; and we may reft
afſured, that if there is the leaft opening in
our armour, the enemy will moft certainly
point his arrows at it. The fortrefs which
is not only invaded by foes from without,
but
On Vigilance.
223
but hath alſo traitors and rebels within, SERM.
can hardly eſcape; and this is, unfor-
tunately for us, the miferable condition
#
of our own hearts, fin and Satan at-
tacking, the world and our paſſions be-
traying us; do we not then, in fo defperate
a fituation, ftand in need of the utmoft
vigilance to fecure and to defend us?
Every day and every hour convinces
us how neceffary it is to be watchful
in regard to all our temporal concerns;
fraud and treachery are continually em-
ployed in finding out new methods of
deceit, to amufe the indolent and un-
wary, infomuch that it is almoſt as diffi-
cult to preſerve the good things of this
life, as it is to acquire them; the harm-
leffneſs of the Dove is by no means fuf-
ficient to protect, unless the wisdom of
the ferpent be called in to aid and de-
fend us.
Without
XI
224
On Vigilance.
SERM.
XI.
Without labour and exerciſe the
health of the body cannot poffibly be
preſerved; it is this which gives ſtrength
and agility to our limbs, maintains the
due balance in the powers of nature,
gives a glow, fpirit and beauty, to every
feature; and, in ſhort, animates and invi-
gorates the whole frame; and in like man-
ner vigilance is the exercife of the mind,
without which the knowledge it ac-
quires will foon be extinct, and the
ftores, which it hath laid in, will foon be
exhauſted; its powers will gradually fink
into inaction, and all its faculties in-
fenfibly decay.
Whereas on the other hand, if conſtantly
and regularly employed, it grows ftrong-.
er by labour, and extended by exertion ;
the more danger it encounters, the more
able is it to withstand them; fuccefs
increaſes, conqueft and confidence fe-
cures
On Vigilance.
225
XI.
cures victory; thus it continues to fub- SERM.
due, whilft there is an enemy to oppofe,
and never gives up the field whilft there
are the leaſt hopes to keep it.
Who is it that becomes learned?
He who is vigilant and induftrious; who
is ready to embrace the precepts of the
wife and fedulous, to procure the in-
ftruction of the learned; who applies
himſelf with diligence and affiduity to
the works of thoſe who have diftin-
guiſhed themſelves in paft times; who
ftudies with care and attention the vo-
lumes of antiquity: who never throws
away an hour on trifles, luxury, or ex-
travagance, but is always bufied in
knowledge, and employed in the gra-
dual improvement of his underſtanding.
To what then is the learned man
indebted for his treaſures alfo, but to
VOL. III.
е
his
226
On Vigilance.
SERM. his vigilance and affiduity in the acqui-
XI.
fition of it?
Who is it that becomes rich? - The
man who is watchful after all the means
of affluence; embraces every occafion;
lays hold of every opportunity; who
marks down every accident and occur.
rence by which his neighbour roſe to
profperity, and carefully avoids thofe
fhoals and quickfands on which the for-
tunes of others have been ſhipwrecked.
"
Who is it that becomes great and
powerful?—The man who watches the
motions, and knows the folds and wind-
ings of the human heart; whofe eye
can trace the infirmities; whofe under-
ſtanding can dive into the thoughts of
others who is always vigilant, active,
and induſtrious.
1
And
On Vigilance.
227
X1.
And what then is the fource of all SERM.
his fuccefs? who are his great guides to
power and ſplendour but vigilancé and
alacrity?
Thus ufeful, and thus falutary, is
the advice of the Apoftle in the com-
mon concerns of life. Let us examine
then, whether that induftry, which is
fo ufeful in our temporal and worldly
affairs, may not be ftill more fo in re-
gard to what is of infinitely more im-
portance and concern, our eternal hap-
pinefs. Whether the fame methods
which men make uſe of to become wife,
rich, and powerful, would not alſo en-
able them to become what is infinitely
better,-wife, and good. Whether that
vigilance which enfures pleaſure and
profperity, might not enfure to us the
far nobler poffeffions of wisdom and
virtue.
Q 2
That
228
On Vigilance.
SERM.
XI.
That induſtry, which for the moſt
part doth but contribute to make us the
flaves of fin, might, if rightly applied,
fecure our freedom from it, and half the
pains which men take to become guilty,
would be more than fufficient to keep
them innocent.
Let us not then, my brethren, fleep
as do others. And firft, I think, we
ſhould be extremely vigilant and careful
with regard to the ufe we make of our
time.
2dly, We should be vigilant and care-
ful with regard to the connections and
friendships we enter into.
And in regard to the employment of
our time, it will become us to confider,
time is a precious talent, intruſted to
our care; God will certainly one day
call
On Vigilance.
229
XI.
call upon and demand of us, in what SERM.
manner we have employed it; he did
not give it us, that we might fquan-
der it away in trifling amufements, in
a round of fashionable follies, but that
we ſhould lay it out in the improve-
ment of our faculties, in purchafing the
knowledge of his laws, and in the con-
ſtant and ſteady execution of his com-
mandments. Our glafs runs, as it were,
but for an hour, and we ſhould be care-
ful to watch every grain of fand.
Let not the force of bad example,
therefore, warp us from our duty; let
us be awake to all the offices of huma-
nity, all the acts of devotion, all the
functions of our profeffion and calling;
not liſtleſs, indolent, and inactive, but
like the divine Being, active and benefi-
cent, employing our time in fomething
Q 3
ferviceable
239
On Vigilance.
SERM. ferviceable to man, or expreffive of our
XI.
reliance on, and gratitude towards God.
When we confider the defpotic power
of cuſtom, and the extenfive influence
of example, we are no longer at a lofs
to account for the multitude of thoſe
who wander in the maze of error, or
tread the deceitful paths of guilt and
mifery; fo eafily are we induced to fol-
low the ſteps of thoſe whom we value
and eſteem; fo willing are we rather to
be miſled by others, than take the pains
ourſelves to find out the right way, that
we may perhaps even venture to affert,
that where one man goes wrong by
choice, hundreds do it from example,
and thouſands from indolence. To be
carried on our journey by our friends, is
a much pleaſanter way of travelling
than to take the reins into our own
hands; and to drive down the stream
is
On Vigilance.
231
is much eaſier than to ftem the tor- SERM.
rent.
XI.
---
Be fober, therefore, be vigilant-Let
us not fleep as do others, but watch and be
fober; our adverfary, the devil, goeth about
feeking whom he may devour; he need not
indeed feek long, for we are ready
enough to meet him half way; our
weakneſs, however, doth not in the leaft
abate or leffen his vigilance: he is per-
petually foliciting our paffions with
every thing that can pleafe and indulge
them, ſetting before us temptations of
every kind, finding out and foothing
the ruling appetite, and, in fhort, omit-
ting no artifice to delude and betray us,
Such is our hard lot in this world,
that all evil is in its nature pregnant
and fertile, and the little good we have
to boaſt of amongst us barren and un-
fruitful
Q 4
232
On Vigilance.
SERM. fruitful. Health is fingle, it doth not im-
XI.
part itſelf to others, or diffufe its ſweets:
whilft, on the other hand, plagues,
distempers, and difeafes, are dangerous,
from the infection they carry with
them; they ſpread their contagion on
every fide, and multiply the misfortunes
and forrows of mankind: and thus it
is too in regard to virtue and vice. With
what rapidity does error, when once
propagated, ſpread itſelf through all
ranks and degrees of men! how do cor-
ruption and iniquity, when they have
once crept into fociety, contaminate the
whole maſs of the people, and convey
their poiſon into every limb! The eye of
malevolence is ſharp and piercing, fpies
out the blemiſhes of a character with
wonderful acutenefs and fagacity, whilft,
what we generally term good na-
ture, can ſcarce ever, or if ever, with
the utmost difficulty, difcover and diftin-
guiſh
On Vigilance.
233
XI.
guifh any of thofe few perfections which SERM.
human nature is capable of attaining.
Falsehood will fly, as it were, on the
wings of the wind, and carry its tales
to every corner of the earth; whilft
truth lags behind; her fteps, though
fure, are flow and folemn, and ſhe has
neither vigour nor activity enough to
purſue and overtake her enemy.-Vice,
to ſay the truth, that mean and ſervile
thing, which has no right to command,
no authority to direct, doth by mere
dint of induſtry and vigilance prefide
over and direct; whilft virtue, which
fhould be the pilot, tamely refigns her
power, fleeps at the helm, and leaves
the ſhattered veffel to the mercy of the
ftorm.
Mark the induſtry, and obſerve the
pains which the profligate and licentious
man
234
On Vigilance.
SERM. man will take to draw over the good
XI.
and virtuous to his party, to make him
the companion of his follies, and lead
him into a participation of his guilt.
Obferve the free-thinker and the infi-
del, with what warmth he expreffes him-
felf, with what vehemence he exclaims
againft, with what rancour he abufes
Chriſtianity, with what zeal and ardour
he folicits new converts to his opinion,
and new followers of his doctrine; whilſt
the cold and languid believer wraps him-
felf up with careleffnefs in the integrity
↑
of his heart, and leaves the victory and
1
the triumph to his infulting rival. All
the ftores of ſcience are drained, all the
powers of eloquence are exhaufted to
point out and adorn the charms of folly,
vice, and atheiſm; whilft fcarce a hand
is ftretched out, or a voice heard, to
plead
On Vigilance.
235
plead the deferted caufe of truth, reli- SERM.
XI.
gion, and virtue.
Shall we not then, my brethren, on
our part, at leaſt endeavour to gain in-
duſtry over to the fide of truth? Shall
not man be as vigilant to promote his
own welfare and happineſs, as Sin and
Satan are to fecure his deftruction? Let
us not then fleep as do others, but let us
watch and be fober: let us watch the
motions, and be guarded against the
attacks of vice; let us watch the open
attacks of our bold and rebellious paf-
fions, and above all, let us watch the
fecret fallies, the dangerous frauds of
our own treacherous and delufive hearts
let us
us detect, fubdue, and puniſh,
or which is ftill more defirable, ftill
more glorious, win them over to our
true intereft, perfuade, convince, and
convert them.
We
236
On Vigilance.
SERM.
XI.
We ought not ſurely to be a moment
off our guard, when we confider what
frail and tranfitory beings we are, when
م
we confider that this day, this night,
this very hour, our fouls may be
be requir-
ed of us; fhould we not then be careful
to have our lamp ready trimmed when
the bridegroom cometh? We know not
the time when the Lord fhall appear: of
that day and hour, knoweth no man ; as a
fnare it fhall come on all them that are on the
face of the whole earth.
Watch ye therefore, and pray always,
that ye may be accounted worthy to eſcape all
things that ſhall come to pass, and to ſtand
before the fon of man.
ΟΝ ΤΗ Ε
OMNISCIENCE OF GOD.
SERMON XII.
PSALM CXXXIX, 2.
Thou art about my path, and about my bed,
and fpieft out all my ways.
T
HE holy pfalmift, in the words SERM.
of my text, hath with his ufual
elegance and propriety, pointed out to
us, in one fhort fentence, two of the
greateſt and moſt diſtinguiſhing attri-
butes of God, his Omniprefence and
Omniſcience; the ferious and devout
confideration of which united and infe-
parable perfections, cannot but confpire
to raiſe in us the moſt noble, worthy
and exalted idea of the Supreme Being.
It muſt indeed be confeffed, (the beſt,
though poor excufe for inattention to a
truth fo important) that confined as we
are
XII.
240 On the Omniscience of God.
XII.
SERM. are within the fmall compafs of this
~ fublunary world, and encircled by the
narrow bounds of human knowledge, we
are too apt to meaſure the powers of the
Almighty by the unequal fcale of our
own limited capacities. Our horizon is
quickly terminated, and becauſe we can-
not fee for ourſelves, we think it beyond
the power of Omnipotence itfelf to en-
large the profpect. We cannot easily
conceive a being extending itſelf through
all ſpace, yet whole and undivided;
prefent at every period of time in every
place; operating in every mode and
form without change, diminution, or
decay; comprehending at one view, all
the various parts of the vaft and bound-
leſs univerfe, and whilft it remains it-
felf invifible, diffuſing its influence, oper-
ating, enlivening and invigorating the
whole vifible creation.
It
On the Omniscience of God.
241
XII.
It is, notwithſtanding, at the fame time, SERM.
indifputable, that if there is a God, he
muſt be both omniprefent and omnif-
cient; he muft fee all things, or he can-
not poffibly be able to rule over, to go-
vern, and to direct them.
Amongst all thofe abfurd and perni-
cious notions, which were fo warmly
embraced and propagated in the heathen
world, there is not perhaps one fo ridi-
culous, and withal fo derogatory of the
divine honour, as the doctrine attributed
to Epicurus and his followers, who
were weak enough to believe, or wicked
enough to endeavour to make others be-
lieve, that the fuperiority of the divine
nature, confifted merely in an exemp-
tion from care and folicitude; in reft,
"flothfulneſs, and a total inactivity: in
purſuance of this ftrange opinion, they
repreſented their Gods as utterly uncon-
VOL. III.
R
cerned
242 On the Omniscience of God.
XII.
SERM. cerned about the happineſs or mifery of
mankind, not in the leaft intereſted or
folicitous in regard to their preſervation;
enjoying themſelves (if fuch could be
deemed enjoyment) in uninterrupted
peace, in a cold and lifeless tranquillity,
leaving at the fame time every thing
here below to the guidance of chance,
fate, or they know not what invifible
power which prefided over human affairs,
and kindly relieved them of the cares of
mortality.
That deities thus idle and unworthy
of the ſtation affigned them, fhould meet
with votaries as idle and as unworthy as
themſelves, will fcarcely afford matter
of furpriſe or admiration to us; nor can
we therefore wonder to find the heathen
world at that time funk in indolence and
luxury, careless of their conduct and
behaviour; the flaves, in fhort, of every
vice
On the Omniscience of God.
243
vice and folly that could degrade and de- SERM.
XII.
baſe human nature.
But that the children of the God of
Ifrael, that the enlightened followers of
a crucified Saviour and Redeemer, thofe
who acknowledge their ftedfaſt belief
in one unchangeable, active, beneficent
power, in whom, and through whom,
they move and live, and have their being,
who every day and every hour experi-
ence his goodneſs, and may if they will
be conſcious that he is ever prefent with
them that they alfo fhould forget that
he is omnipreſent and omnifcient, may
well indeed raiſe our wonder and aſtoniſh-
ment that they ſhould adopt, as fo many
do, theſe Epicurean principles, that they
ſhould imagine that their God alío doth
not concern himſelf in the conduct of
human affairs; that he is not about their
path and about their bed, and ſpying
R 2
out
244
On the Omnipresence of God."
SERM.
XII.
out all their ways, is, we muſt can;
what cannot eaſily be accounted for.
Our God, we know, is a God who
neither flumbers nor fleeps, a Being who
doth not leave the work of his hands to
the fuperintendance of chance or fate,
but prefides over, and protects that world
which he hath made; a Being to whom
all hearts are open, all defires known,
and from whom no fecrets are hidden ;
who therefore, whatever vain fuggef
tions pride may infpire us with, can
never be impoſed on, deceived, or de-
luded by us is it not ftrange then, that
whilft we buſy ourſelves in trifles, the
meanest and most inconfiderable, and
turn our eyes on every little fpectacle
which may amuſe and divert us, an object
fo noble, and a fpectacle fo glorious as
our Creator, and our God, fhould fo fre-
quently
On the Omnipresence of God.
445
quently as it doth, eſcape our obfer- SERM.
vation?
XII.
To what fhall we attribute fuch a
perverfe inattention to that which is
of the utmoft concern to us? To what
can we attribute it, but to that pride
and ſelf-ſufficiency, which is the cor-
ruption and diſgrace of human nature?
As man is a moſt proud, and moſt info-
lent being, as he doth himfelf look down
with fcorn, contempt, and infenfibility,
on the inferior part of the creation; it is
not impoffible but that he may judge of
the Almighty from his own weak and
imperfect nature; he may imagine that
God is too great and too exalted to look
down upon us, or take into his hands
the guidance of human affairs; that
therefore he is ſafe in the commiffion of
his crimes, for the Lord will not fee
them,
R 3
246 On the Omniscience of God.
SERM. them, neither fhall the God of Ifrael
XII.
regard them.
But it will highly become him to
confider, that a judgment fo rafh will
greatly heighten his guilt, and enflame
his puniſhment: it will become him to
confider, that God is a juft, merciful,
and beneficent being; that he thinks
nothing beneath his notice, whatever
we may think beneath our own; and
that though he is exalted above the
heaven of heavens, he doth, notwith-
ſtanding, humble himſelf to behold the
things which are done among the chil-
dren of men.
To forget that God is ever preſent
with us, is a certain and infallible fign
that we have no regard or eſteem for
him. When the affections are ftrongly
attached to any thing, the idea of that
darling
On the Omniscience of God.
247
XII.
darling object is perpetually offering it- SERM.
felf to the imagination, infomuch, that
how far foever it may be removed from
our corporeal view, no diftance of time
or place can feparate, or difunite it from
the mind, which dwells upon it conti-
nually with fecret joy, and contemplates
it with unfpeakable fatisfaction: objects,
on the other hand, which are either in-
different, or difguftful to us, we natu-
rally avoid when abfent, and when pre-
fent defpife; thofe whom we have no
love or value for, may talk to us for a
long time without being heard; affociate
and converfe with us, and at the very
time be neither feen nor regarded by us:
and in the fame manner, he who loveth
God, and he only, can behold him: the
beſt means therefore of bringing him to
our fight, is to referve a place for him
in our hearts; whilft he that either con-
temns,
R 4
248 On the Omniscience of God.
XII.
SERM. temns, or ftands in dread of, will always
ſhut his eyes againſt him.
The cafe then is plainly and indifput-
ably thus: God is to be feen in every
thing that is around us, heard in the
voice of every creature, felt in every
motion, and read, in fhort, in every page
of the great volume of the univerfe; but
men are weak, perverfe, obftinate, blind;
fome are unable, fome are unwilling,
thouſands are totally indifferent about
ſeeing him.
The foolish man hath not the incli-
nation: the guilty man hath not the
courage to look up to him; ambition
dazzles our eyes, pleaſure blinds, riches
impair and weaken them. Thoſe who
are in the purſuit of folly, do not wiſh
to ſee that God who would retard them
in their courfe; and thofe who have
already
On the Omniscience of God.
249
XII.
already overtaken it, are very unwilling SERM.
to behold a being who would punish
them for it. But what is ftill more ex-
traordinary, is, that the fame man who
diſbelieves, or is infenfible of his pre-
fence at one time, will yet be very wil-
ling to acknowledge it at another; when
we are engaged in the commiffion of fin,
we endeavour to remove him as far from
us as poffible; but when we are op-
preſſed by calamities, which perhaps are
the confequences of that fin, we expect
to find him near, and ready to relieve
us: we would have him blind to our
faults, but not to our neceffities; his
eyes ſhut on our iniquities, but his ears
open to our prayers; always abſent, in
ſhort, when we dread his diſpleaſure, and
always prefent when we ftand in need
of his protection.
But let us turn our eyes from the
con-
250 On the Omniscience of God.
SERM. confideration of thoſe motives which
XII.
induce men to difpute the omniſcience
of God, towards the advantages which
will refult to us from the conviction of
this important truth.
When the eye of the mafter is over
the fervant, he is for the moſt part du-
tiful and obedient; he is cautious of
offending, fedulous to pleaſe, and ready
to ſerve and oblige him; but no fooner
is he left at liberty, and the maſter de-
parted from him, but the fervant waxeth
flothful and remifs, neglects his bufi-
nefs, and becomes by degrees utterly
unconcerned about his intereſt or ſucceſs.
And again, Whilft the child is under
the tuition, and under the infpection of
his parents, he is feldom guilty of very
heinous crimes, or flagrant enormities;
he hath an awe and veneration of them,
which
On the Omniſcience of God. 251
which ferves to direct his conduct, and SERM.
preferves him from the fnares of vice
which are ſpread round about him: but
if he chances, like the prodigal, to leave
his father, guide, and directors, he
greatly deviates into the paths of error,
and finks into mifery and ruin.
Let us then apply the confideration
to the matter here before us: Is not
God the great Lord and Maſter, the
general parent and protector of all man-
kind? and are we not every one of us his
children and fervants? Hath he not
graciouſly condeſcended to guide us
through this dangerous life, where we
are beſet with fnares on every fide, and
walk, as Solomon fays, as it were on the
battlements of the city? Is he not therefore
always with us? Earthly mafters we
know may be tyrannical and oppreffive;
earthly parents, partial and unjuſt; if
willing
XII.
252
On the Omniscience of God.
SERM. willing, they may not be able, and if
XII.
able, not always willing to direct our
footſteps aright; they cannot be always
preſent, and may very eaſily be ſnatched
from us: but God can, and will, and
muſt be always prefent with us: nothing
can divide or difunite us from this great
patron, parent, mafter; neither death nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor
powers, nor things prefent, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any crea-
ture ſhall be able to feparate us from the
love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
When we confider how very few of
our actions will ftand the teft of human
examination, or bear the fcrutiny and
narrow inſpection even of our fellow
creatures, how can we bear the thought
of laying them open to our great Creator?
What
On the Omniscience of God. 253
XII.
What muſt be the alarming terrors SERM.
of the guilty, when he reflects, that
amongst all thofe evil actions which he
hath committed; all the idle, prophane,
impious words which he hath uttered;
all the loofe and finful thoughts which
he hath encouraged; there is not one
but that thou O Lord knowest them
altogether? when he comes to reflect,
that whilſt he took fo much pains to
conceal his crimes from the eyes of
mortals, thofe of God were all the while
bent and fixed with indignation upon
him?
That God, therefore, is about our path,
and about our bed, and Spieth out all our
ways, is one of thoſe few invariable
truths which it is in our power to attain,
and which we ſhould conftantly keep in
our minds; becauſe a ſteady and habi-
tual ſenſe of the divine prefence, could
not
254 On the Omniscience of God.
SERM. not fail of extending its influence over
XII.
our conduct and behaviour, and whilft
it procured us every comfort and bleffing
in this life, would recommend us alfo to
the divine favour and approbation in
the next.
Would the liar dare to affert and fup-
port any notorious abfolute falfehood to
promote his intereft and fuccefs in the
world, were he confcious at the fame
time, that the ear of God were liftening
to him?
Would the evil fpeaker venture to
aſperſe and calumniate his abfent friend,
if he imagined that the Father of Truth
were at that very moment before him?
Would the ſpoiler, the ruffian, the
murderer, ever dare to execute their
bloody purpoſes; would they encourage
them-
On the Omniscience of God.
255
XII.
themſelves with the delufive hopes of con- SERM.
cealment and impunity; would they rely
on the darkneſs of the night to ſhelter
and preſerve them; did they confider,
themſelves and their actions as open to
the eyes of that all-feeing God, with
whom, as David fays, the night is as
clear as the day, and to whom the darkneſs
and light are both alike?
But laftly, As the omniprefence and
omniſcience of God, muft, when feri-
ouſly reflected on, be the moſt afflicting
terror which the bad man can feel; fo
doth it open to the good and religious, a
profpect of unspeakable joy and felicity.
How great a fatisfaction muſt it be to
the good and virtuous man, to reflect,
that though he is afperfed and calumni-
ated by the cruel and malicious, there is
a candid and impartial judge, to whom
he
256 On the Omniscience of God.
XII.
SERM. he may appeal for the uprightneſs of his
intention, and the integrity of his heart;
that there is an eye, beholding him,
which doth not fee through the falſe
glaſs of prejudice, nor the deceitful me-
dium of felf-love!
He is about our path; can we defire a
better guide and director in it? He is
about our bed; and who is fo fit to
watch over our Qumbers, and guard
our repoſe, as that Being, who himſelf
doth neither flumber nor fleep? He
Spieth out all our ways; and can we
wiſh for a nobler protector than that
almighty, benevolent Power, who is
always watchful for our fafety, foli-
citous for our welfare, and always anxi-
ous for our preſervation?
Let us then always imagine (what
muſt be always true), that the Supreme
Being
On the Omniscience of God.
257
XII.
Being is ever prefent with us; to him, SERM.
therefore let us apply in every exigency;
aſk his approbation and confent to every
word and every action, before we ven-
ture to ſpeak, or to act at all; when we
rife up to labour, and when we lie down
to reft, let us implore his aid, and folicit
his protection.
Let us implore him to whom all hearts
are open, all defires known, and from
whom no fecrets are hidden, to cleanse the
thoughts of our hearts, by the infpiration of
his Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love
him, and worthily magnify his holy name,
through Christ our Lord.
VOL. III.
S
AGAINST
HYPOCRISY.
SERMON XIII.
LUKE XII. 1.
Beware ye of the Leaven of the Pharifees,
which is Hypocrify.
Ο'
UR Bleffed Saviour, who came
down from heaven to reform and
inſtruct mankind, and who never whilſt
on earth omitted any favourable oppor-
tunity of recommending virtue, and
ſeverely rebuking vice, having, as the
Apoſtle informs us in the beginning of
the verſe, affembled together a very
large concourſe of people, who crowded
from all parts to fee and hear him, be-
gins his addrefs to them in the words of
my text, Beware ye, fays he, of the lea-
ven of the Pharifees, which is Hypocrify.
S 3
The
SERM.
XIII.
262
Against Hypocrify.
SERM.
XIII.
The firſt vice againſt which he cautioned
them, was, that to which they were
probably most addicted, and which he
had himſelf the greateſt abhorrence of:
and as he ſpake at this time with autho-"
rity, and as the nature and extent of his
divine miffion required, he makes no
fcruple of openly attacking thoſe who
were moſt remarkably guilty of it, and
with great propriety ftiles it the leaven
of the Pharifees. The Pharifees were,
notwithſtanding, a fet of men at this
time held in great cftéem and veneration
by the multitude, whom they eaſily de-
ceived by a more than ordinary appear-
ance of fanctity and devotion; they faſted
often, made long prayers, gave alms
plentifully, tithed even mint and cum-
min; they dealt, in fhort, much like our
modern methodists, in works of fupere-
rogation, affected great aufterity, and
boaſted of more purity and integrity than
the
Against Hypocrify.
263
XIII.
the rest of mankind; but at the fame SERM.
time were deficient in many of the im-
portant duties; they were pleaſed with
the pomp and parade, the trappings and
ornaments of religion, but neglected the
weightier matters of the law, and were,
in ſhort, after all their pretences, no bet-
ter in reality, than downright hypocrites
and impoſtors; men who had (as is too
often the caſe} more wit than honesty,
more pride than merit, and more know-
ledge than virtue. By their fpecious
behaviour they had, however, gained
great influence and intereft, and were
generally employed in thoſe offices which
required the greateſt talents and abilities,
and on this very account our Saviour re-
buked them with the greater freedom,
becauſe no doubt he thought them capa-
ble of doing more injury to his cauſe
than any other fet of men whatever:
and accordingly we find that whenever
S 4
he
264
Against Hypocrify.
SERM. he ſpeaks of them, it is with a warmth
XIII.
of indignation and bitterneſs of reproach
which he very feldom makes uſe of on
any other
occafion;
occafion;
he
he always cen-
fures them with that zeal which it be-
came the God of truth to expreſs againſt
falfehood and deceit, and chaftifes them
with that ſeverity which they no doubt
highly deferved. And if we feriouſly re-
flect on what in the following diſcourſe I
propofe more fully to confider-the fatal
and deſtructive confequences of this vice,
we ſhall not wonder either at the warmth
of his refentment, the frequency of his
admonitions concerning it, or the heavy
judgments which he fo often denounced
againſt it.
Though, to every fober and thinking
man to be thoroughly fatisfied that any
action was forbidden by God, were doubt-
lefs fufficient to deter him from the com-
miffion
Againft. Hypocrify.
265
XIII.
miffion of it; yet, to thofe who are SERM.
notwithſtanding ſo obſtinate and ſo aban-
doned as to continue in the practice of
this vice, it may not be amifs to repre-
fent to them the fatal confequences of it,
at it affects the various relations in which
we ſtand towards God, our neighbour
and ourſelves, and to fhew how perni-
cious and deſtructive they are in regard
to every one of them.
{
And first then, Hypocrify is a breach
of our duty towards God, as it is a moft
daring and moft infolent contempt of
him; it is no leſs indeed than to doubt
his Godhead, and to diſpute his omnif-
cience, and this every hypocrite is guilty
of. The God of Ifrael, fays he, ſhall
not ſee it, neither ſhall the God of Facob
regard it; that is, he to whom all hearts
are open ſhall not know mine; that eye
which pierceth into every thing elſe, ſhall
not
266
Against Hypocrify.
SERM.
XIII.
not be able to difcern my fecrets. Can
any thing be more vile or impious, and
at the fame time more ridiculous and
abfurd?
One of the principal fources of incre-
dulity in all ages, has been the hypocrify
of thoſe who have pretended to acknow-
ledge the true faith. From hypocrify,
religion has ſuffered from the beginning
of time, and muft continue to fuffer even
to the end of it. Our Saviour himſelf was
always contending with it; he met in-
deed with little elfe than hypocrify from
thoſe who were about him, whilft hẹ
lived, and died at laſt a ſacrifice to fraud
and diffimulation. Even his difciples,
who had left all and followed him, we
are told, when he was in danger and
tribulation, forfook him and fled; his fol-
lowers were hypocrites and deferted him;
Peter
Againft Hypocrify.
267
Peter was a Hypocrite and denyed him;
Judas was a hypocrite and betrayed him.
But let us, to bring the matter clofer
to ourſelves, reflect a little on what I
propoſed, ſecondly, To confider the evil
confequences of this vice, in regard
to our relations and connections with one
another.
SERM.
XIII.
Mutual truft and confidence is the
great bond of Society, without which it
cannot poffibly fubfift; it is this on
which both public and private happineſs
muft more immediately depend; from
fincerity, uprightnefs, and integrity muſt
flow all the refined pleaſures and ſweeteſt
Endearments of life; this is the great
corner ſtone on which we must build all
our hopes, and when it is once removed,
they will ſtand on a very weak and tot-
tering foundation. The fearch of truth
is
268
Against Hypocrify.
SERM. is the great and important buſineſs of our
XIII.
lives, the end of all our words and
actions; the hypocrite therefore acts in
direct oppofition to God and nature, puts
a ftop, as far as in him lies, to the in-
tereſt and happineſs of his fellow-crea-
tures, enters into an alliance with Satan,
and counteracts the defigns of the Al-
mighty.
There is nothing which is more dif-
guftful to the open and ingenuous mind
at its first entrance into, and commerce
with the world, than that hypocrify it
meets with, and that diffimulation which
it is forced, as it were, to practiſe in com-
pliance with the modes and faſhions of
the age.
Cuſtom has indeed eſtabliſhed
and given a kind of fanction to it; but
there is fomething in it, notwithſtanding,
which greatly ſhocks the natural delicacy.
of chafte and unblemished youth. By the
force
Against Hopocrify.
269
force of example, and the influence of SERM.
the multitude, it is brought indeed at
laft, but too foon, to the practice of what
it at firſt abhorred; and hence it arifes,
that in the earlier part of life we meet
with an openness and freedom which
never fails to recommend itſelf to our
eſteem and approbation; but in the latter
feafon, fcarce any thing but doubts and
diffidence. Youth is gay, fearleſs, and
honeft; age ever wary and defigning,
too often hypocritical: thofe who know
mankind beft, have been ofteneft de-
ceived by them, and therefore repofe the
leſs truſt and confidence in others; this
naturally loofens the ties of friendſhip,
and the bonds of fociety, and, amongst
many other circumftances, perhaps tends
in a great meaſure to make the winter
of our days fo gloomy and uncomforta-
ble, as it is moſt generally found to be.
XIII.
Whilft
270
Against Hypocrify.
SERM.
XIII.
Whilſt we travel in a plain and ſmooth
track, without fear or apprehenfion of
danger or treachery, the paths of life are
agreeable and delightful; but when we
once come to be afraid, every step we
take, of falling into fnares and pit-falls,
there is very little pleaſure in the journey,
and we begin to wish ourſelves every
hour nearer to the end of it.
But another ill confequence arifing
from the practice of this vice, is, that it
deprives virtue of that praiſe and eſteem
amongſt men, which is fo juftly due to
her.
Amongst all the advantages which
ariſe from a ſteady and uniform obedi-
ence to the laws of God, and the prac
tice of religion, the tribute of eftèem and
veneration which they are for the moſt
part fure to meet with even from the
moſt
Against Hypocrify.
271
moſt vicious and abandoned, is by no
means the least confiderable; and it is this
which doth perhaps in a great meaſure
induce the hypocrite to put on the ap-
pearance of piety and goodneſs, that he
may acquire that reward which is fo fre-
quently beſtowed on the reality. The
original has ſo ſtrong and ſo indiſputable
a claim to our admiration, that even the
moſt lame and imperfect copy of it,
ſeldom fails of attracting our esteem and
veneration: thus virtue is ftripped of
her inheritance, vice tricks herſelf out
in her attire, puts in a falfe title to the
eftate, and bereaves her of her patri-
mony.
What altars of praiſe have been raiſed,
what divine honours have been paid,
what incenſe has been offered up to falſe
prophets, imaginary faints, and martyrs !
What pious frauds have been made uſe
SERM.
XIII.
}
of,
272
Against Hypocrify.
SERM
XIII.
of, to recommend and adorn the charac-
ters of frantic viſionaries and enthufiafts,
difigning hypocrites and impoftors, in
all ages and nations, from the priests of
Baal to the followers of Mahomet!
But hypocrify, even when difcovered,
always difcredits virtue, becaufe when
men have been often deceived, they
grow fcrupulous and cautious: becauſe a
falſe Eſau has impofed upon us, we be-
gin like Ifaac even to fufpect the true:
after we have fuffered for our credulity
on one hand, we run into a total unbe-
lief on the other; and becauſe the ap-
pearance of virtue betrayed us, we come
at laft to doubt the reality, and even the
exiſtence of it. Becauſe many do evil,
we are too apt to cry out with the pfal-
miſt, there is none that doth good, no not
one. It was this which made the moſt
virtuous of heathens fay, in his laſt mo-
ments,
Against Hypocrify.
273
ments, that virtue was nothing but a
name; it was this which almoſt per-
fuaded the good and patient Job to dif
truſt the providence of his Creator, and
it was this which raiſed fuch doubts and
deſpair in the breaſt of the holy pſalmiſt,
and cauſed him to cry out in anguiſh,
that he had cleanfed his heart in vain, and
washed his hands in innocency.
When thoſe who have for a long time
worn the diſguife of public fpirit, are at
laft detected; when the mean and mer
cenary views by which they are actuateď
are laid open;
when their zeal is found
to be felf-intereft, and their affected
patriotifm degenerates into avarice or
ambition; does it not greatly damp and
difcourage the friends of liberty, and al-
moſt extinguiſh that generous love of
their country, which is the natural in-
mate of every noble breaſt?
VOL. III.
T
But
SERM.
XIII.
274
Against Hypocrify.
XIII
SERM. But hypocrify, as it is the moſt hateful,
fo is it alſo the most dangerous enemy to
the peace and happineſs of mankind; the
ferpent who lurks unfeen and unfuf-
pected, is more formidable than the lion
who roams through the defert, and gives
us notice of his approach; fome of thoſe
evil affections to which we are ſubjected,
have a mixture of bravery and generoſity
in them, but hypocrify is the vice of
cowards. It is the plague which walketh
in darkneſs, and is afraid to walk at the
noon day; it is the bufinefs of pirates,
whoſe conſtant employment it is to plun-
der and deftroy, and who therefore hang
out falfe colours, and difplay the ban-
fiers of friendſhip to entice thoſe whom
they would devour.
Such and fo great are (amongst the
infinite number which might be men-
tioned) fome of the fatal confequences
of
Against Hypocrify.
275
XIII.
of this vice. And if fuch they are, it SERM.
will be but common prudence in us to
confider, in the fecond place, what the
confequences may be in regard to our-
ſelves what great and mighty advan-
tages will refult from it; what thoſe
treaſures are which hypocrify has to be-
ftow in recompenfe for that innocence
which we part with, and that integrity
which we facrifice in the purfuit of it; a
mine no doubt of inexhauſtible riches;
a fund of folid and permanent felicity.
Alas! fo far from it, that all which hy-
pocrify can give us, is barely this ;
Very poor and uncertain hopes of
fhort, tranfitory enjoyment here, and a
very difmal and dreary profpect of cer-
tain and unavoidable mifery hereafter.
For firſt, in regard to the evil confe-
quences from his fellow-creatures, it
T 2
will
276
Against Hypocrify.
SERM. will become the hypocrite to confider,
XIII.
that he is no longer fafe than whilſt he
is concealed; he is in a perpetual ſtate
of enmity with mankind, and therefore
muſt expect to meet with perpetual oppo-
fition: if the maſk fall off and difcover
him, he finks immediately into the loweſt
and moſt deſpicable condition; he is
laughed at and defpifed by all. Every
word he utters will from that hour be
fufpected, and every action condemned,
even truth will not meet with credit
from his lips, nor virtue itſelf recom-
mend him to eſteem.
And this we know very frequently
happens, for when the varnish of diffi-
mulation is laid on by an awkward hand,
it is foon waſhed away; when the whi-
ting is rubbed off the fepulchre, to make
ufe of our Saviour's allufion, the rotten
bones are quickly diſcovered. Befides, that
in
Against Hypocrify.
277
in this cafe the features of the mind are SERM.
in an unnatural ſtate, and like thoſe of
the face when diftorted, will be conti-
nually endeavouring to reſume their ori-
ginal eafe and pofition. So that the hy-
pocrite's work is always beginning; his
houſe is built upon the fand, and is
quickly waſhed away; he walks, as Solo-
mon fays, as it were on the battlements of
the city, and the leaſt falſe ſtep throws him
head-long down to ruin and deftruction.
Happy were it for the hypocrite, if
the ignominy and contempt which he
may chance to incur from his fellow-
creatures were his only puniſhment; but
there is another judge to whom he muſt
give up his account; another and a hea-
vier fentence is reſerved for him.
It often happens that one weak finite
creature ſhall deceive and delude ano-
ther
T 3
XIII.
278
Against Hypocrify. .
SERM. ther; but who fhall delude or deceive
XIII.
the Lord and Creator of them both?
There is nothing covered which shall not be
revealed; neither hid that ſhall not be known:
be that made the eye, fhall be not fee? and
be that made the ear, fhall he not hear? He
is about our path and about our bed, and
Spieth out all our ways.
What then muſt
the hypocrite expect, what muſt be the
fate of theſe men? Doubtleſs that they
fhall fuddenly confume, perifh, and come
to a fearful end.
A time must come when the fecrets
of all men fhall be laid open, when
many of thoſe actions which have per-
haps fo dazzled, and aſtoniſhed us with
fpecious appearances of grandeur, will
be diſcovered to have fprung from the
meanest and moſt ſelfiſh motives: a
place muft one day be vifited, where
every
Against Hypocrify.
279
XIII.
every thing will put on its true and SERM
native colour, where the hypocrite and
his hope muft perifh together. The
time may come when he who has been
eſteemed and refpected for his goodneſs
and piety by weak and fhort-fighted
men, may be punished for his wicked-
neſs by the juſtice of an all-feeing God,
when many perhaps of thoſe who have
been canonized for faints in this world,
may inherit the portion of finners in the
other.
Since then, my brethren, the practice
of this vice is attended with fuch fatal
confequences both to others and to our-
felves; fince its advantages are fo few
and fo uncertain, and the guilt of it fo
heinous and offenfive, what remains that
can poffibly perfuade us to a continuance
in it?
What
T
I 4
280
Against Hypocrify.
SERM.
XIII
What but the fatal influence of a cor-
rupt world, and the bad example of a
licentious age? Hypocrify is faſhionable,
and therefore we purſue it; and for the
fame reaſon, we might be flanderers,
infidels, atheifts, murderers, adulterers,
guilty, in fhort, of every human vice; the
world indeed is fcarce any thing but
hypocrify.
The refinement and ingenuity of mo-
dern times, has invented as great a
variety of diſguiſes to hide the foul, as
of habits to cover and adorn the body;
the face is no longer the index of the
mind, nor the tongue the interpreter of
the heart; almoft every feature is ftudied,
and every gefture marked out, and de-
termined, and diffimulation is fo uni-
verfal, that were it not for that artlefs
fimplicity which youth fometimes pre-
fents to us, we ſhould be almoſt inclined
to
Against Hypocrify.
281
XIII.
to diſpute that ſuch a virtue as fincerity SERM.
were left amongst us, and be ready to
cry out with the holy pfalmift, that faith
and truth were departed from among the chil-
dren of men.
We are befet with falfehood and hy-
pocrify on every fide: what are all our
paffions, but fo many baſe, delufive hy-
pocrites, who pretend to beſtow pleaſure
and happineſs, and then miferably deceive
and betray us; who, like Satan, firſt
fawn upon and cajole, and when they
have us in poffeffion, deftroy and tor-
ment us?
But will this plead in our favour with
thofe men whom we have betrayed? Will
it procure our pardon from that God
whom we have offended? Whilft we are
fo proud of deceiving others, we are in
reality, only deceiving ourſelves. Inſtead
of
282
Against Hypocrify.
SERM. of amaffing a goodly treaſure, as we
XIII.
بهة
fondly imagine, we are only contracting
a debt, that debt which we owe to truth
and virtue, and which God, who is their
faithful fteward, will not fail one day to
require at our hands.
Let us then ſhake off the chains of that
tyrant, cuftom, and be no longer the
flaves of paffion and prejudice; the road
of truth and fincerity is fmooth and eaſy,
but the labyrinth of falsehood is full of
crooked and perplexing intricacies; her
ways are not ways of pleaſantneſs, nor
can they ever be the paths of peace.
Let us reflect that God is always fin-
cere towards us, and therefore we ſhould
be fo to him; that it would be ingrati-
tude to deceive him if we could, and that
it is the height of folly to attempt it when
we cannot.
Liet
Against Hypocrify.
283
XIII.
Let us then beware of the leaven of the SERM.
Pharifees, which is hypocrify: Let us al-
ways ftick to truth and fincerity; the
voice of nature requires it at our hands,
the God of nature demands it; it is un-
profitable to diffemble, and therefore we
fhould neglect it; it is mean, and there-
fore we ſhould deſpiſe it; it is wicked and
deftructive of our intereft, and therefore
we ſhould avoid and deteft it.
I cannot conclude this diſcourſe better
than by a caution againſt hypocrify:
In all our connections with each other,
be open, honeft, and ingenuous, never
appearing, or pretending to be what we are
not; never lie, flatter, or deceive; never
profeſs friendſhips which we do not feel;
boaſt of virtues which we have not;
deny or conceal thofe vices and frailties
which we have.
So
284
Against Hypocrify.
SERM.
XIII.
}
So ſhall we gain truſt and confidence
from our neighbours-an award fatif-
faction and complacency from ourſelves
-the eſteem, love, and affection of all
good men bere-the pardon, approbation,
the applauſe, and the reward of God
himſelf hereafter,
ON THE
SACRAMENT.
SERMON XIV.
I CORINTHIANS XI. 24.
As
This do in remembrance of me.
S a ſerious attention to, and fre- SERM.
quent participation of the Holy
Communion hath ever been confidered
as a very important article of our reli-
gious duty, and on which our eternal
falvation doth greatly depend, it cannot
I think be too often, or too warmly re-
commended to all, and by all, and efpe-
cially by thofe who are appointed by
their office and miniftry to deliver God's
holy word and commandments. As often
therefore, and as fully as it hath been
already ſpoken to by men of the greateſt
piety, learning and abilities, it is no
lefs my duty alfo, to exhort you to the
prac-
XIV.
288
On the Sacrament.
XIV.
SERM. practice of it. I propofe therefore in the
following difcourfe to lay before you,
firft, The great uſefulneſs and excellence
of this divine inftitution; and fecondly,
The obligations which we all lie under
to comply with it.
Firſt then, In regard to its great uſe
and excellency: Such is the amazing
bafenefs and ingratitude of mankind,
that though the leaſt and moſt trifling
injuries done to them, are very feldom,
even long after they have been done,
either forgot or forgiven; benefits on the
other hand, frequently conferred, are
for the most part quickly and eaſily
buried in oblivion. Our Saviour there-
fore, who well knew that nature which
he had affumed, after a life fpent in the
fervice of man, wifely forefaw that his
fervants, like others, when their maſter
was gone away from them, would be-
come
On the Sacrament.
289
XIV.
come every day more and more neglect- SERM.
ful of thoſe commandments which he
had left behind him, and in a long tract
of time, perhaps, utterly forget every
thing which he had done for them; to
the end, therefore, that we ſhould always
remember his exceeding great love in
living and dying for us; he inſtituted
and ordained holy myfteries as pledges of
his love, and for a continual remem-
brance of his death, to our great and
endleſs comfort, as often as we eat this
bread and drink of this cup, we do fhew
the Lord's death till he come; this do,
fays he, in remembrance of me.
The religion of Chrift, none can ob-
ject to, as loaded with pofitive inſtitu-
tions. Surely his yoke (if fuch we may
term it) is eafy; his burthen, if fuch
we will eſteem it, is extremely light.
He might have ſaid, ye fee how I afflict
VOL. III.
U
and
290
On the Sacrament.
SERM.
XIV.
and torment myſelf for your fakes; how
I have fafted and prayed: go therefore,
lah and torment yourſelves, abſtain from
food and nouriſhment, take no pleaſure,
receive no comfort, feek nothing but
forrow, acquaint yourſelves with nothing
but grief, do this in remembrance of me:
but inſtead of this, he only impoſeth on
us this light and eafy labour; a taſk
which even carries with it delight in
the performance, and pleaſure in the
execution of it; do this only in remembrance
of me;
now and then affemble your-
felves together, and partake of this feaſt
of love which I have prepared for you:
do this, as if he had faid to us, if I have
deferved any thing at your hands, if
whilft upon earth, my pleaſure and
my buſineſs was to go about doing
good to you; if in heaven, I am now
interceding for you, do not utterly for-
get your benefactor; do not lay aſide
all
On the Sacrament.
291
XIV.
all thoughts of your friend and mediator; SERM.
do not grudge a little time to converſe
with me; remember me, and I will not
forget, will not leave nor forfake you ;
forgive each other before you come to
this table, and when you rife from it go
home with cheerfulneſs, and be kind to,
and love one another.
Thus we may ſuppoſe him graciouſly
condefcending to reafon with us; this is
the utmoſt extent of his requeft, and
ſhall we dare deny a compliance with it?
This do, fays our Saviour, in remembrance
of me. Amongst all thoſe refined and
delicate fenfations which delight the
generous and grateful mind, there is not
one more productive of inward joy and
fátisfaction, than the pleafing recollec-
tion of thofe benefits which have been
conferred on us by our friends; with
what joy do we reflect on the gift, and
U 2
on
292
On the Sacrament.
SERM.
XIV.
on the giver, and with what pleaſure do
we place before our eyes every minute
circumſtance, every motion and geſture
that accompanied it! what then ſhould
be our praiſe and thankſgiving, what
fhould be our joy and pleaſure in calling
to mind in the holy facrament, the amaz-,
ing beneficence, goodness, and conde-,
fcenfion of our Divine Benefactor, whom
in this folemn office we affemble to com-
memorate! Is all that we ever received
at the hands of others, to be compared
with that love which he expreffed, or
with thoſe bleffings which he bestowed
upon us?
But befides the first and great defign
of the Holy Sacrament, namely, the
commemoration of our Saviour's life,
his fufferings and death, which must fill
every grateful heart with an adoration
of his goodneſs, and a veneration for
his
On the Sacrament.
293
XIV.
his laws, there are alfo numberlefs ad- SERM.
vantages flowing to mankind from this
divine inftitution; and among others,
this is by no means the leaft, or moſt
inconfiderable; namely, that if perform-
ed as it ought to be performed, it muſt
of neceffity tend to create mutual har-
mony, love, and affection among men:
we ſee every day what great and uſeful
defigns have been carried on even by
very ſmall focieties of men, whoſe views
and interefts have been the fame, and
who have heartily united to ferve and
fupport each other: the conditions we
have required in every worthy communi-
cant, are the previous laying afide all
ftrife and envying, all jealoufies, quar-
rels, and animofities: If any man fay
be loves God and hateth his brother, be
is a liar: And again, first be reconciled
to thy brother, and then come and offer
thy gift; and doubtleſs neither our gifts
U 3
nor
294
On the Sacrament.
XIV.
SERM. nor
nor we ourſelves, fhall be favourably
received at the altar, unlefs we first ba-
niſh malice and hatred from our hearts,
and fill them with love and charity.
The bleffed Sacrament therefore ſhould
be looked on by every worthy commu-
nicant, as the bond of unity; the exten-
five chain of love, which links us to
our fellow Chriftians, and which ſhould
naturally remind us of that general rela-
tion which we bear to each other, and
which should be conftantly and ſteadily
difplaying itſelf in acts of mutual love,
charity, and beneficence.
The Rubrick prefatory to the order of
adminiftration of the Holy Sacrament,
points out to us the exact duty both of
prieſt and people in this particular; the
miniſter is there, we fee, inveſted with
power to inquire into the character and
beha-
On the Sacrament.
295
SERM.
behaviour of all thoſe who would com-
municate, and to exhort them, if they
have been guilty of any flagrant and
confpicuous crimes, to repent and amend
before they prefume to eat of that bread,
and drink of that cup; he is there em-
powered alſo, to prevent thofe between
whom he perceiveth malice and hatred
to reign, to be partakers of that holy
communion: were he now to perform
this pious office, to exert this power, it
might perhaps prove beneficial to, fociety
in general, and advantageous to every
particular member of it; it might be a
means of preventing all thofe cruel di-
vifions which feparate families, break
friendſhip, and unloofe the bonds of
peace; it might promote private happi-
nefs, by reconciling friends and brethren,
and preferve public tranquillity, by end-
ing difputes amicably, without tedious
and unprofitable law-fuits: fo' true, and
XIV.
U 4
fo
296
On the Sacrament.
SERM.
XIV.
fo inconteftable is it, that in all nations
where true Chriftian religion is eſtabliſh-
ed, that aid and fupport which is by the
ftate afforded to the church, is amply
repaid by thoſe reciprocal benefits which
accrue to it from that fupport: fince the
beſt way to enfure obedience to human
laws, is to enforce the divine. For
were we punctually to perform the com-
mandments of God, the ordinances of
men would be almoſt unneceffary, and
our huge large body of laws, which has
fwelled to fo enormous a bulk, might
then be reduced to a very narrow com-
pafs.
With regard to the intrinfic excellency
of this inftitution, I fhall here beg leave
to obſerve, that it hath by a kind of in-
terfering providence, kept up and main-
tained its dignity and folemnity in fpite
of all oppofition, and even in an age
when
On the Sacrament.
297
XIV.
when ſcarce any other part of our reli- SERM.
gion has eſcaped the ridicule of ſcoffers
there is fomething, to which indeed we
are indebted partly to the great reformers
of our church, in the manner of the
celebration of it, which infpires an awe
and veneration even in the moſt profi-
gate and abandoned: it has indeed been
faid, (and what that is falſe and impious
has not been faid?) by the enemies of our
holy religion, that thoſe who frequent
the table of the Lord, are hypocrites and
diffemblers, that they are equally baſe,
corrupt, and uncharitable after, as they
were before the performance of this
duty; but this is an affertion without
proof or foundation; for furely we may
venture to affirm, and experience juſti-
fies it, that fuch as do frequently attend
the holy communion, are very feldom
convicted by the world of any flagrant
crimes, are very feldom men of bad
lives
298
On the Sacrament.
SERM. lives or characters. Weakneffes and im-
XIV.
perfections we are all liable to, but that
a man can often receive the bleffed facra-
ment, repent of any known fins, and
yet continue to commit thofe fins; his
confcience every time reproaching him,
as it must do for fuch behaviour, is an
inſtance of complicated, of continued
impiety, it is uncharitable to ſuppoſe
any man capable of; and it is withal
moſt ridiculous and abfurd, becauſe no
worldly views could influence him to
act thus, as every man at this time, and
in this nation, is left, perhaps too much
fo, at liberty in this point; and in an
age wherein piety is fo little regarded
or efteemed, and the want of it fo little
cenfured, the mere affectation of it could
anſwer no end or purpoſe whatever.
But further, men from the various
and neceffary diftinctions of life from
rank,
On the Sacrament.
299
*
SERM
rank, fortune, and profeffion, are fepa- XIV.
rated from each other, and there are
fome degrees of life which always keep
them fo: that is to fay, the very high
and very low and hence arifes this
misfortune, that the great are the proud
and infolent, the poor mean and mifer-
able; the former triumph and oppreſs,
the latter fink and defpair; the one
think themſelves above divine notice,
the other look on themfelves as beneath
it; extremes thefe, both equally dero-
gatory to the fupreme power and good-
nefs.
Here then is an inftitution, which,
like that great leveller we all muſt
feel, throws down diftinction; to this
feaſt all are invited, high and low, rich
and poor, one with another. There are
indeed but too many of thoſe, whom
fortune has placed in a fuperior rank,
who
300
On the Sacrament.
SERM.
XVI.
بها
who affect to defpife it; thoſe whom
gratitude calls on to be moſt thankful
for benefits received, are moft forgetful
of their benefactor; thoſe whoſe exam-
ple could moſt influence the reſt of the
world, are too careless of their beha-
viour; or if we do now and then fee them
at the holy table, it is becauſe they can-
not avoid it; they are drawn by intereſt
to a place where devotion could not
carry them, and readily comply with
human laws, though they have neglected
the divine.
It happens in this, as in that feaft
mentioned by our Saviour, that the rich
who are bidden, will not come; they
have farms, they have wives, they have
pleaſures, they have vices, they pray
the Lord of the feaft to have them ex-
cufed; whilft from the ſtreets and lanes
of
On the Sacrament.
301
of the city come in the poor, and the SERM.
houſe is filled with gueſts.
This is indeed the only table, where
all men of all orders, ranks and degrees,
can be admitted together, where none
but merit can gain us admittance, where
none but innocence can enfure our wel-
come, and where all are fure to meet
with that reward which they deſerve.
Let the confideration therefore of the
ufe, the importance, the excellency of
this injunction, induce us to reflect feri-
ouſly on what I purpoſed, ſecondly, to lay
before you, the obligations which we lie
under to perform it. And first then, This
is the abfolute and pofitive command of
our great Lord and Maſter, Jefus Chrift,
whom we all pretend to acknowledge as
our fovereign, that general under whom
we fight, and who hath therefore the
undoubted right to rule over us: to re-
fufe
XIV.
302
On the Sacrament.
XIV.
SERM. fuſe to obey his commands, is treafon
and rebellion, flying in the face of him
whom we have fworn to ferve; him
who hath power to punifh or reward us:
but his commands, however eafy to be
complied with, feem harfh and difa-
greeable to our perverfe and obftinate
difpofitions; let us fet the precept in a
milder light; let us confider it as the
laſt requeſt of a dying friend, who after
a wearifome and wretched life fpent in
our ſervice, begs us but now and then
to think of him, to call to mind his en-
deavour to oblige us: but this image,
as indeed all muft be, is far beneath
what it would reprefent, becauſe our
bleffed Saviour did more for us, for every
one of us, than any one man could pof-
fibly do for another, and has therefore
infinitely more right to our obedience.
Can we forget a friend whoſe wiſdom
is always ready to counfel, whofe power
is
On the Sacrament.
303
is always exerted to defend us? Can we
forget a friend who lived but to ſerve,
who died but to redeem us; whofe know-
ledge alone can make us happy here, and
on whoſe interceffion we muſt rely for
eternal blifs hereafter? Shall we not then
fet apart a few hours to a grateful e-
membrance of that bounty to which we
owe our whole lives? Can any table fur-
niſh us with fuch entertainment as the
table of the Lord? Can any feaft give
us fuch refined, and fuch exquifite de-
light? If two or three of us come toge-
ther on this occafion, our Saviour will
be in the midft of us; he will prefide
over the feaft, he will receive his gueſts,
he will promote every good thought in
us, baniſh every evil one, enliven our
charity, and make us worthy vifitants.
In
SERM.
XIV.
تها
304
On the Sacrament.
SERM.
XIV.
In the purer ages of chriſtianity, the
eucharift was always a daily part of the
common prayer; they who lived then
never omitted an opportunity of partaking
of it; and though I am far from think-
ing it neceffary to falvation, that we
ſhould exactly follow them therein, yet
furely fuch their zeal was infinitely pre-
ferable to the coldness and infenfibility
of theſe our days.
What are the moſt frequent cauſes of
this, it is perhaps very difficult to deter-
mine: fome I believe are unwilling,
fome are afraid, fome are afhamed to
commnnicate; the foolish man fets light
by it, the weak man dreads it, the
wicked man prophanes it. By daily con-
verfe with an idle, felfifh, luxurious
world, we contract fuch a levity and
diffipation of thought, that we cannot
without great difficulty bring back our
wan-
On the Sacrament.
305
XIV.
wandered thoughts to any thing fo fo- SERM.
lemn and fo ferious; that, befide the
ſelf examination required, is a difagree-
able work nothing is fo irkſome to an
unjuſt ſteward, as to be forced to look
into, and give up, his accounts; he would
fain put it off, and promife by and by to
fettle once for all; or perhaps he ſays,
he knows his own weakness; if he re-
pents now, and communicates, he fears
he fhall fin again, and receive to himſelf
greater damnation. Some again are of
jealous, bad, and unforgiving tempers;
they would approach the holy table, but
they have been greatly injured, unjuſtly
provoked, and they cannot fo readily
pardon.
Men, in fhort, never want excufes
either for doing what they ought not to
do, or leaving undone what they ought;
but thoſe things which appear right in
VOL. III.
X
our
306
On the Sacrament.
SERM.
XIV.
our eyes, may not do fo in thoſe of
God. If he gives us the opportunity
of reconciling ourfelves to him, and we
will not accept of it, doubtlefs, as the
Scripture expreffes it, he will repent him
of his goodneſs towards us.
Caft away then all unneceffary fears
and frivolous excufes, all malice and
hatred, all wicked and carnal defires,
repent ye truly of all your fins, and re-
folve to lead a new life, following the
commandments of God, and walking
from henceforth in his holy ways. Let
us but make the refolution, and God
will ftrengthen it: it is better to come,
imperfect and finful as we are, to the altar,
than not to come at all: God, we may
reft affured, will pardon our infirmities,
and compaffionate our weakneſs: let us
give him our hearts, and he will clean
and purify them. If any of us then, my
bre-
On the Sacrament.
307
XIV.
brethren, here affembled, are defirous, as SERM.
many of you I hope are, of receiving
the holy communion, let us, I befeech
you, prepare and fit ourſelves for this
folemn occafion; for as God loveth the
cheerful giver, fo he will animate our
lifeless faith, invigorate our lukewarm
zeal, remove all our doubts, and ftrengthen
all our good refolutions; if we once
approach his table, he will then confider
us as his gueſts, and will receive us with
tenderneſs and affection; and if we be-
have ourſelves there with becoming zeal,
piety, and devotion, will one day admit
us to a nobler feaft in the kingdom of
heaven, where all his faithful children
and fervants fhall meet to partake of one
bleſſed communion, in a ftate of unin-
terrupted joy and everlaſting happineſs.
X 2
ON
MEASURE FOR MEASURE.
X 3
SERMON XV.
LUKE VI. 38.
With the fame Meaſure that ye mete withal,
it ſhall be meaſured to you again.
A
MONGST all thofe glorious SERM.
attributes which confpire to form
our exalted idea of the Supreme Being,
there is not one which the mind of man
contemplates with more wonder and
adoration, than the divine juftice; as
it is that which doth eminently prefide
over and direct the reft, and without
which, omnipotence itſelf could only
be pernicious, and omnifcience of no
effect; to be convinced of which, we
need but turn our eyes on our own im-
perfect nature, where we ſhall eafily dif
cover, that the fmall fhare of knowledge
and power which men have when they
X 4
are
XV.
312
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
XV.
SERM. are not under the guidance of this nobler
perfection, only ftain and corrupt that
character which they were meant to
adorn.
The ftrength and wiſdom of the Al-
mighty, had of themſelves been fuffi-
cient to have made the univerfe, but it
muſt be his juſtice alone, which could
fo long ſuſtain and preferve it, as it is
this which holds the due balance, pre-
fides over the powers of nature, and
keeps together the various parts of the
great ftructure in their proper harmony
and proportion,
And the fame invariable rules, which
the Creator hath himſelf obſerved, did
he propoſe alſo to his creatures; he
hath commanded man to be juſt as he is
juft, and pure as he is pure; and the
more effectually to perfuade him to the
imi.
On Meafure for Meaſure.
313
XV.
}
imitation of his own divine conduct, he SERM
hath ordered that his happineſs or mifery
ſhall totally depend upon it; he hath de-
clared it as his fixed and unalterable de-
cree,
that as we behave towards each
other, he will act towards us; or, as it
is expreſſed in my text, that with the fame
meaſure that we mete withal, it ſhall be
meaſured unto us again.
But though the juftice of God is fo
manifeft, though it is fo effential to his
nature, that it is impoffible to diveſt him
of it; it is notwithſtanding an attribute
which from the unaccountable perverfe-
neſs of human nature, even the good
and pious have fometimes been weak
enough to diſtruſt, and the evil very
frequently wicked enough to call in
queftion.
To vindicate, therefore, the ways of
the
314
On Meaſure for Meafure.
SERM.
XV.
بہنا
the Almighty towards his creatures, to
direct the path of the wanderer, to fix
the refolutions of the doubtful, and turn
the hearts of the difobedient to the wif
dom of the juft; let us endeavour, as
far as the light of reafon can guide us
in our inquiries, to defend the juſtice of
God through fome of its various opera-
tions, and to convince the unbeliever
that it is diffuſed, like his mercy, through-
out all his works.
And to this end it may not be impro-
per to confider,
Firſt, In what manner, and to what
degree the divine juſtice is exerted in this
life:
And fecondly, What portion of it is
referved to fulfil the divine appointment
in that which is to come.
And
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
315
XV.
And firſt then, with regard to that SERM.
meaſure of the divine juftice which is
meted to us in this life, we may obferve,
that
As much as men generally repine at
the unequal diſtribution of things, the
good even here are the happieft, and the
evil the moſt miferable, for virtue is in a
great meaſure its own reward.
If health, honour, peace, reputation,
and truft, are pleafures, they are plea-
fures which the good man is feldom a
stranger to. Health is the true and
genuine offspring of temperance, and
tranquillity the infeparable companion of
innocence; the good man is always ho-
noured, though not imitated, even by the
moſt abandoned. Men will, in all their
affairs, repoſe truft and confidence in
thoſe whoſe reputation is unblemiſhed,
and
316
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
SERM.
XV.
and their behaviour upright. Wiſdom
always repayeth her children. Length of
days is in her right-hand, and in her left,
riches and honour. Great peace have they,
fays the pfalmift, that love thy law; a
peace which paffeth all underſtanding;
this peace which adds variety to wit, and
grace to wiſdom; that health of the foul
which pours its enlivening influence over
every faculty, heightens the bloom of
youth, imparts cheerfulneſs to ſickneſs
and anguish, and gives vigour, fmiles,
and activity, even to age, poverty, and
affliction.
But as virtue is faid, and in many
cafes truly faid, to be its own reward, fo
is vice alfo in fome meaſure its own
puniſhment. It is the character of Satan,
who is the father of fin, that he is firſt
the tempter and then the tormentor ;
and the features of his offspring bear
the
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
317
XV.
بہ
the ſtrongeſt reſemblance to him. Many SERM.
of our faults and follies carry with them
their immediate and unavoidable conſe-
quences; they walk hand in hand, and
the guilt is no fooner incurred, but it is
fucceeded by the reward. Thus, when
intemperance walks forth to the banquet,
fickneſs feldom fails to attend her steps,
and to adminiſter the wholefome draught
of forrow and repentance: when the
haughty and ſelf-ſufficient man boaſts of
his imagined fuperiority, he generally
meets with contempt and averfion:
whilft the covetous man withholds his
morfel from the poor, doth he not ftarve.
himſelf alfo? and whilft the angry and
revengeful endeavours as much as lies in
his power to deſtroy the peace and tran-
quillity of others, does he not at the fame
time deftr o his own?
But this manifeſtation of the divine
juſtice
318 On Meaſure for Meafure:
SERM. juftice is not, it ſeems, fufficient to ftop
XV.
the clamours of the diſcontented, and
reprefs the pride of the infolent. The
good (for fo they call themfelves) are
grieved to ſee the wicked in profperity.
Such is their impatience and indigna-
tion, that they will not wait to ſee the
end; becauſe the debt of the wicked is
not immediately demanded, they are too
apt to conclude them utterly diſcharged
of it; and becauſe the blow is fufpended
for a time, they fay it will never fall
upon them; becauſe fentence againſt an
evil work is not executed ſpeedily, there-
fore the heart of the fons of men is fully
fet in them to do evil; and yet were we
as careful to obferve the judgments of
God, as we generally are to watch the
faults of men, what frequent reafons
ſhould we meet with to adore his impar-
tial juſtice, and the execution of it!
Have we never feen thofe who were; in
their
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
319
XV.
their youth, ungrateful to their parents, SERM,
puniſhed themſelves by the difobedience
of their children? Have we never feen
the plentiful harveſt of fraud and rapine
blaſted on a ſudden, and undeſerved af-
fluence and fuccefs, changed to penury
and decay? Have we not fometimes feen
the deceiver deceived, the contemptuous
man funk into contempt, and the mag-
nificent structures of the proud and
haughty, drop down in a moment and
moulder into ruin? Can we not all of us
call to mind diſcoveries of long-concealed
guilt, fuch as no human means could de-
tect, and fuch convictions of injured in-
nocence, as nothing but the interpofing
hand of divine juftice could ever have
produced?
One would indeed be inclined to think
a few ferious reflections on the judg
ments of God against the wicked, even
in
&
320 On Meaſure for Meaſure.
SERM.
XV.
in this life, would be fufficient to alarm
and terrify thoſe who had no belief in
another; but if the meaſures of divine
juſtice, as it is exerted here, hath no ef-
fect on the thoughtleſs and difobedient,
let him reflect on what I propoſed ſe-
condly to confider, namely, what por-
tion of it is referved to fulfil the divine
appointment hereafter.
The unequal diftribution of things in
this world, is doubtlefs a very ſtrong
and powerful argument in favour of that
which is to come: it is impoffible that
God, who is the fountain of perfection,
fhould leave any thing imperfect; im-
perfect however muſt be his difpenfation
towards men, if that virtue which is
here neglected, doth not meet with its
reward, and that vice which is here fuc-
ceſsful, doth not inherit its deferved
puniſhment hereafter: but in this point
the
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
321
the holy Scriptures are fufficiently plain SERM,
and explicit. God hath there promifed
that he will one day reward every man
according to his works, and that with
the ſame meafure we mete withal, it
ſhall be meaſured unto us again. How
dreadful muſt be the apprehenſions of
the finner, when he hears this folemn,
this tremendous fentence pronounced
againſt him! when at the laft and great
day, the book of life fhall be produced,
where every action is marked down;
and every fyllable recorded; how dread-
ful will his fituation be in that awful
and tremendous hour, when all thofe
whom he had injured, or defrauded,
fhall appear face to face, and bear wit-
nefs against him! With how different
an eye will the fenfualift then behold
the object of his luft! With what an
altered countenance will the great and
powerful then look upon the object of
VOL. III.
Y
his
XV.
322
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
SERM. his ambition! How will the hypocrite
XV.
avoid the fight of thoſe whom he hath
deceived and betrayed! and how will
the evil ſpeaker dread the accufing voice
of those whom he hath calumniated!
But let us turn our eyes from a ſcene
fo dreadful towards its oppofite, towards
that confolation which the divine juſtice
will adminiſter to the good; an inex-
hauftible fountain of comfort and fatif-
faction to him in every ſtation and cir-
cumftance of life: whilft God is juft, the
good man need not fink under his afflic-
tions, becauſe he may reft affured that
they will one day be removed; whilft
God is juft, he need not repine at the
fuccefs of the wicked, becauſe he may
be certain that they will one day be
puniſhed here he hath always an ap-
peal from the partial determinations of
human
On Meaſure for Meafure.
323
XV.
human equity; here he hath an afylum SERM.
to flee unto from every human injury.
Virtue, we know, feldom appears in
public, without the veil of modeſty,
which though it heightens her charms
in the eye of the judicious, may yet con-
ceal them from the vulgar.
If therefore on the juſtice of God muſt
depend all our hopes of happineſs, both
here and hereafter; if we would enjoy
the benefits of this divine attribute, we
muft ourſelves afpire to the imitation of
it; if we hope to be bleffed, as God is
bleſſed, we muſt be just as he is juft,
and pure as he is pure.
In all our dealings therefore with each
other, we ſhould above every thing take
care to be ſtrictly and inflexibly juſt be-
fore we fuffer the will to give its decifive
Y 2
con-
324
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
SERM.
XV.
conclufion; we fhould try and examine
ourſelves by the great rule of action, the
infallible ſtandard and criterion of doing
as we would be done unto. Men for
the moſt part complain of the injuſtice
of others, and at the fame time do not
recollect their own. God hath graciouſly
implanted in the breaſts of all, a natural
juſtice, and a natural benevolence, and as
much as we murmur againſt the ingra-
titude of mankind, it is not, perhaps,'
after all, ſo often met with, as it is
complained of.
In the natural world, it is worth our
obfervation to remark, that like always
produceth like; trees, herbs, plants, and
flowers, partake of the fame qualities,
powers and perfections, as the roots and
ftocks from whence they fprung; and
if we rife from vegetable to animal life,
we ſhall ſtill perceive the fame invaria
ble
મ
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
325
XV.
ble fimilitude; and every creature by its SERM.
form, its motion, and its faculties, point-
ing out its different originals.
And fo it is in the moral world alfo ;
love will naturally produce love; pity
will beget compaffion; liberality is the
child of beneficence; knowledge the off-
fpring of wiſdom, and piety the parent
of devotion; and on the other hand,
from the feeds of hatred and animoſity,
fprings up a plentiful harveſt of difcord
and averfion; fraud is repaid by trea-
chery, injuftice by its oppreffion, and
hardneſs of heart is recompenfed by in-
humanity.
Man therefore, we fee, may be happy if
he will if we are kind and benevolent,
and affectionate to others, they will be
fo to us. There are very few diſpoſi-
tions fo four and implacable, but a con-
ftant
Y 3
326 On Meafure for Meaſure.
SERM.
XV.
ftant endeavour to ferve and oblige, will
foften them into complacency. God
hath directed the ftream of benevolence
towards the various ties and connections
of human life, on purpofe to embelliſh
it; from his goodneſs ariſe all thofe
mutual charities, thofe tender relations,
thoſe bonds of natural affection which
raiſe enjoyment into rapture, and plea-
fure into tranſport; all thofe engaging
duties, the due performance of which,
whilſt they make us happy here, recom-
mend us at the fame time to the divine
favour hereafter.
In all our connections therefore with
each other, let us be humane, charitable,
and benevolent; obliging if we expect to
be obliged, forgiving if we expect to be
forgiven. If the father expects duty
and obedience from his
children, he
muſt behave with parental tenderneſs
and
On Meaſure for Meaſure.
327
XV.
and affection towards them; if the mafter SERM,
would be ſerved with care and fidelity,
he muſt be juft, compaffionate, and kind
to his fervants; if the husband expects
love, conftancy, and affection from the
partner of his bed, he must be faithful,
tender, and affectionate towards her; if
from our neighbours, from thoſe who
are in the fame fphere of life with our-
ſelves, we expect kind and friendly
offices, we must on our part be always
ready to return them; if from our com-
panions and acquaintance, we expect
cheerfulneſs, good humour and compla-
cency, we muſt exert the fame focial qua-
lities towards them,
And lastly, As it is with regard to our
fellow-creatures, fo is it alfo in our re-
lation towards our Creator; as we act to
him, he will act to us,
Y A
If
328
On Meafure for Meaſure.
$ERM.
XV.
If therefore we expect favour or pro-
tection from our Almighty Friend and
Benefactor, we on our part muſt bę
diligent obfervers of his word, grateful
acknowledgers of his bounty, fincere
and pious followers of his doctrine; if
we expect that our bleffed Saviour and
Redeemer fhould intercede for us at the
throne of grace, we muft ftudy his
gofpel, embrace his holy faith, and
practiſe his divine laws; as he hath him-
felf informed us, that whosoever shall be
afhamed of him and of his words, of him alſọ
Shall the Son of man be ashamed when he
cometh in the glory of his father ;—for with
the fame meaſure that we męte withal, it
hall be measured unto us again.
ON
PET E R.
SERMON XVI,
MATTHEW XXVI. 75.
Peter remembered the words of Jefus, which
Jaid unto him, Before the Cock crow, thou
Shalt deny me thrice: and he went out,
and wept bitterly.
T is impoffible to read with any de- SERM,
IT
gree of attention, the account of our
Saviour's life and fufferings, without
being ſhocked at the inconftancy and
ingratitude of his difciples, who when
he was furrounded by dangers, oppreffed
on every fide, and juſt on the point of
being delivered up to his inveterate ene-
mies, inſtead of affifting and ſupporting
him in the hour of terror and diftrefs,
forfook him and fled; that thofe who
not long before had left all to follow
XVI.
him,
332
On Peter.
XVI
SERM. him, thoſe who had been fellow-travel-
lers and fellow-fufferers with him, fhould
thus tire at the end of the journey, and
totally defert fo good a mafter, was a
melancholy inſtance of human frailty
and irrefolution, that muſt greatly afto-
nish us whenever we ferioufly reflect
upon it.
But amongst all thefe ungrateful and
unprofitable fervants, Peter feems to
have acted in a manner the most inex-
cufable.
If we confider with any degree of at-
tention, the manner in which Peter was
called to the miniſtry, the extraordinary
truſt and confidence placed in him by
his divine maſter, the affection which he
conftantly expreffed for him, we muſt
acknowledge that he was in reality the
laſt of our Lord's difciples from whom
he
On Peter.
333
he had reafon to expect that ungenerous SERM.
treatment, which he afterwards received
from him.
XVI.
The first connection between Peter
and our bleffed Saviour, was occafioned
by a circumſtance of fo fingular a nature,
as muſt doubtless have left the ftrongeſt
impreffion on him, fuch a one we ſhould
indeed imagine as could never have been
effaced. The miraculous draught of fiſhes
had, we know, fo powerful an effect
on the mind of Peter, that after confef-
fing on his knees that he was a finful
man, he was immediately converted,
quitted his profeffion, attached himſelf
intirely to Jefus, forfook all, and followed
him; our Saviour, in confequence of this
behaviour, rewarded his firm adherence,
by taking every opportunity of diftin-
guiſhing him.
When
334
On Peter.
SERM.
XVI.
When the twelve were felected by
him, and called forth from the number
of his followers, to preach his gofpel to
all nations, we fee the name of Simon,
whom he firnamed Peter, ftanding fore-
moft in the lift; when Jefus went up
into the mountain to be transfigured, he
was accompanied only by Peter, and
two others, who were taken, as Scrip-
ture informs us, apart by themſelves, an
inftance, no doubt, of his partial regard
and affection for them, which fhould
never have been forgotten. Peter was
probably at that time not infenfible of
the obligations which he had received,
and made, we may ſuppoſe, the ſtrongeſt
refolutions of doing every thing in his
power to return them. But fuch is the
weakneſs of the human heart, that it is
never to be relied, or depended on; there
was a pride and inconftancy, and a timi-
dity and proneneſs to evil in the temper
and
On Peter
335
XVI.
and difpofition of Peter, which though SERM.
he was himſelf a ſtranger to, did not
eſcape the all-feeing eye of his divine
Mafter he had fo high an opinion, as
we read in St. Mark, of his own abili-
ties, that he even took upon him to teach
and reprove his great inftructor: when
our Saviour taught his doctrine openly,
Peter took him and rebuked him: but
he, when he had turned about and
looked on his difciples, in his turn, and
with much more reafon rebuked Peter,
faying, Get thee behind me, Satan, for thou
favoureft not the things that be of God, but
the things that be of men.
The feverity of this reflection could
only be equalled by the juftice and pro-
priety of it: he to whom all hearts were
open, and all defires known, was no
ftranger to thoſe peculiar weakneſſes and
imperfections, which his difciple was
moft
336
On Peter.
SERM. moſt fubject to the reproof, it is obſervà
XVI.
able, at the fame time that it condemned
his preſent behaviour, was prophetic alfo
of his future conduct; the fame cauſe
was naturally productive of the fame
effect: Peter favoured of the things that
were of men. We are not therefore ſo
much furpriſed to find, that he who
rebuked his maſter for preaching openly,
ſhould in the end deny and defert him.
So
great a regard, notwithſtanding, had
our bleffed Saviour for this apoſtle, and
at the fame time fo perfect a know-
ledge of his nature and difpofition, that
we find him on another occafion ſe-
verely reprehending him for a vice,
which perhaps he did not imagine him-
felf guilty of. When Peter faid unto
Jefus, We have left all and followed thee;
Jefus turned to him and faid, Simon,
Simon, Satan has defired to have you. The
in-
On Peter.
337
inftant that Peter began to boat of his SERM.
XVI:
friendſhip, our Saviour feems to have
fufpected the integrity of it: when once
pride enters into the heart of man, every
virtue ſhrinks and diminiſhes at the ap-
proach of it; and the moment we begin
to value ourſelves on the performance of
our duty, it ceafes, to be meritorious.
The truth of our Saviour's remark
was but too exactly verified in the be-
haviour of Peter; for when the day of
trial came, this confident and opinionated
fervant makes the ſtrongeſt profeffions
of friendſhip and attachment to his in-
jured and oppreffed after: Though all
men, fays he, shall be offended because of
thee, yet will I never be offended. Thei
Jefus, who knew him much better than
he did himſelf, replied, Verily, I fay unto
thee, that this night before the cock crew,
thou shalt deny me thrice; and Peter faid
VOL. III.
Z
unto
338
On Peter.
SERM. unto him, Though I should die with thee,
XVI.
yet will I not deny thee.
How faithfully
he kept his word, and how religiously
he fulfilled his promife, we are not now
to learn; for when our bleffed Saviour
was given up to his enemies, betrayed,
infulted, buffeted, and fpit on, this
zealous defender was afhamed even to be
feen with him; he followed afar off,
diſclaimed even the leaft knowledge of,
or acquaintance with him: A damfel
came to him, faying, thou also wast with
Jefus of Galilee; but he denyed before
them all, faying, I know not what thou
fayeft: and when he was gone out into
the porch, another maid faw him, and
faid unto them that were there, This fel-
low was alſo with Jefus of Nazareth; and
again he denied with an oath, I do not
know the man. How naturally, though
imperceptibly, doth one vice produce ano-
ther! Peter, not content with having
already
On Peter.
339
already denied his mafter, now adds per-
jury to falfehood, and to ftrengthen his
affertion, impioufly fwears that he knew
not the man; this; we cannot help ob-
ferving, is generally the confequence of
lying; thoſe who habituate themfelves
to the practice of one of thefe vices, are
feldom very careful of avoiding the
other. But, behold! whilft he was
pouring forth his execrations, the cock
crew.
ŠERM.
XVI.
The voice of thunder founding in his
cars, could not have ſtruck ſo forcibly
on his imagination, as this little circum-
ftance, which at once reminded him of
his falfehood, upbraided his breach of
promife, and fet the whole of his baſe
and inexcufable conduct, full before
him he was detected, astonished, abaſh-
ed, and confounded, and he remem-
bered the words of Jefus, which faid
Z 2
unto
340
On Peter
SERM.
XVI.
unto him. Before the cock crow, thou shalt
deny me thrice and he went out, and wept
bitterly.
}
Having thus traced the lineaments of
Peter's character, and illuftrated the
caufes of his behaviour, permit me in
the remainder of this difcourfe, to make
a few reflections naturally arifing from
a view of his conduct, which may per-
haps be of fome fervice to us with re-
gard to our own.
And first then, From the example of
Peter, we may learn that there is no de-
pendance to be placed on human friend-
fhips: no reliance on human virtue; but
that man is weak and unſtable in all his
ways. There is no doubt but that Peter
had contracted a real tenderneſs and
affection for our Saviour; but it is
equally indifputable, that he had by no
m eans
On Peter.
34I
XVI.
means all that friendſhip and regard SERM.
which he profeffed to have. We are
indeed, for the most part, fuch flaves to
our paffions, that we feldom know to
what degree we love or hate, till acci-
dent and circumftance give us the oppor-
tunity of proving it, and then we gene-
rally, when perhaps it is too late, dif-
cover the weakneſs of our nature, and
learn by experience what ftrangers we
are to our own hearts. When Peter faid
he would go with our Saviour to prifon
and to death, he very probably at that
time intended fo to do; when danger is
at a diſtance, it feems, like other objects,
fmaller and more inconfiderable than it
really is, and is confequently with the
greater eaſe ſet at defiance, but in pro-
portion as it advances, is magnified and
increaſed. When Jefus was purſued,
perfecuted, and betrayed, Peter began
to dread the confequences of his attach-
Z 3
ment
342
On Peter.
SERM. ment to him, and at the only time when
XVI.
his friendſhip for his mafter could have
been of any ſervice, he deferted and de-
nied him: muft we not therefore con-
clude that man, as I before obferved to
you, is weak and unftable in all his
ways; and nothing is fo uncertain as
human friendſhip, and human refolu-
tion?
When Peter made our Saviour fuch
folemn aſſurances, he little thought he
ſhould ſo foon and fo openly contradict
them: and thus it is with regard to
every vice and infirmity of human na-
ture. We are all of us perhaps, at ſome
time of our lives, guilty of follies, which
we did not think ourſelves capable of
committing: we cannot therefore en-
tertain too humble an opinion of our
own strength, powers, and abilities; we
cannot too carefully avoid temptations,
or
On Peter..
343
SERM.
XVI.
or whilst we ftand, take too much heed
left we fall.
But fecondly, From the example of
Peter, we may learn that confidence and
felf-opinion are feldom attendants on
real merit; that extraordinary profeffions
of friendſhip are by no means the in-
fallible marks of truth or fincerity, but
that on the other hand, they ſhould rather
be confidered as a juft caufe of fufpicion,
and the prophetic indications of future
falfehood. Thoſe who are really rich,
feldom boaſt of their riches; and thoſe
who are truly virtuous, as feldom boaſt
of their virtue: we cannot therefore be
too cautious of repofing confidence in
thofe, whofe more than ordinary zeal,
and extravagant pretentions, feem over
anxious to obtain it.
The circumftance before us, there-
Z 4
fore,
344
On Peter.
XVI.
SERM. fore, may ferve to put us upon our guard
againſt a moft pernicious doctrine, which
hath of late years been zealouſly propa-
gated amongst us, by the abfurd enthu-
fiafts of our age,-the doctrine of affur-
ance. The methodiſts tell us, that when
we are once entered into the number of
the elect, when we are regenerate and
born anew, Satan hath then no more
power over us, no temptations can then
overcome, no fins get the dominion over
us that we are then fafe from all the
tumultuous forms of paffion, and landed
in the harbour of innocence and felicity;
a doctrine equally deftructive of true re-
ligion with any of thoſe which are held
by the church of Rome, as it muſt ine-
vitably tend to put men entirely off their
guard, to encourage fpiritual pride and
arrogance, and withal greatly to endan-
ger their everlaſting falvation. The reli-
gion of Chriſt can never countenance of-
ſupport
On Peter.
345
XVI.
fupport fuch vain chimeras. God never SERM.
meant that a ſtate of humanity ſhould
be a ſtate of perfection; but admoniſhes
us if we ſtand ever fo firmly to take heed
left we fall. Peter, it is to be hoped
they will acknowledge, had as much
reafon to rely on his own firmneſs and
integrity, as any of theſe pretenders to
incorruptible virtue, and yet, we fee, all
his refolution failed, when he was called
upon to exert it, and all his pompous
profeffions of inviolable attachment end-
ed at laſt in the fhameful deſertion of his
friend and benefactor. Who fhall ever
glory in his fincerity, that remembers Pe-
ter's ingratitude? or who, on the other
hand, fhall give himſelf over to a ſtate
of reprobation or deſpair, that calls to
mind Peter's repentance?
Which naturally brings us to the
third and laſt remark, which will of
courſe
346
On Peter.
XVI.
SERM. courfe fuggeſt itſelf to us on this occa-
fion, namely, that the only part of
Peter's conduct worthy of our imitation,
is doubtless his repentance, which we
have reaſon to ſuppoſe was perfectly fin-
cere. The tears which he fhed, were
tears of unfeigned forrow and contrition,
of which his conduct after the death of
our Saviour was an indifputable proof;
we find him in the remainder of his life
acting the part of a diligent and faithful
fervant, endeavouring to atone for his
paſt failings, by the punctual and regu-
lar diſcharge of his duty; tried like the
reft of our Lord's difciples, by the bit-
tereft afflictions, but diftinguiſhed by the
interpofition of divine power, which
moft miraculously delivered him from
fome of them.
Let then, my brethren, the example
of Peter fink deeply into our hearts; let
us
On Peter.
347
us carefully guard againſt that pride and
felf-fufficiency which betrayed him into
the ſhameful deſertion of his great Lord
and Maſter. Never let us permit a vain
and deceitful world to have fuch an in-
fluence over our conduct, as to perfuade
us to relinquish all our nobler attach-
ments to religion and virtue. Let us
not, like Peter, neglect, defpife, or deny
our divine Mafter, becauſe he is neglect.
ed, deſpiſed, or denied by the reſt of the
world.
We have all of us, like Peter, made
large and mighty promifes to our great
Lord and Mafter; have promiſed to go
with him to priſon, and to death, and
though we die for him, not to deny
him. Let us not, like Peter, when the
day of trial comes, deſert and betray him;
let neither our words nor our actions,
after this, fay that we know him not.
But
SERM.
XVI.
}
348
On Peter.
SERM.
XVI.
}
But if, after all, born with the fame
weakneffes and imperfections, and liable
to the fame temptations as Peter was,
we have any of us, in any part of our
conduct and behaviour reſembled him; if
we have in ſpite of all our profeffions in
the general courfe of our lives, deferted
and denied him, let us at leaſt have the
merit of imitating him in his repentance
alfo: let us go out, and weep bitterly.
There is yet time, whilft we have life,
to atone, in fome meaſure, for our paft
conduct, by a hearty and fincere con-
trition to reconcile ourſelves to the divine
favour. If the remainder of our life is
entirely devoted to his intereft, and con-
fecrated to his fervice, he may graciouſly
forgive our offences, pardon our weak-
nefs, and paſs over our prefumption:
though we have hitherto been ungrate-
ful and unprofitable fervants, neglecting
his commands, denying his power, and
dif-
On Peter.
349
XVI.
difputing his authority, he may, not- SERM
withſtanding, on our fincere contrition
and amendment, take us once more un-
der his protection, employ us in the exe-
cution of his divine commandments, and
if we behave foberly, diligently, and faith-
fully, may yet reward our affiduity, and
in the laſt and great day, falute us with
Well have ye done, my good and faithful
fervants, enter ye into the joy of your Lord.
ON THE
THIEF UPON THE CROSS,
SERMON XVII.
LUKE XXIII. 43.
Verily 1 fay unto thee, to day fhalt thou be
with me in Paradife.
TH
XVII.
HERE is not perhaps in the SERM.
whole affecting narrative of our
bleffed Saviour's fufferings, as related by
the holy Evangelifts, a circumftance
more ſtriking or extraordinary than that
which is now before us; that a licentious
and abandoned profligate, condemned
for a crime the moſt atrocious, one who,
as he was to die the death, had moſt
probably lived the life of the unrighteous;
that he ſhould become fo fuddenly and
fo. unexpectedly the object of divine
mercy, and obtain a gracious promiſe
from his Redeemer, not only of pardon,
VOL. III.
but
A a
354
On the Thief upon the Cross.
SERM.
XVII.
but of immediate reward, muft doubtlefs
be the fubject of our admiration and
aftoniſhment; the fact notwithstanding,
however ſurpriſing it may appear to us,
is indifputable, nor hath indeed the truth
of it, unleſs by thofe who deny the
whole gofpel of Chrift, been ever called
in queſtion. Very different indeed have
been the inferences made, and the con-
clufions drawn from it, according to the
various prejudices, paffions and opinions
of men. I ſhall not waste your time and
attention by collecting and laying before
you the various interpretations of dif
ferent commentators with which theſe
words have been perplexed; but (which
will doubtleſs be a far more uſeful con-
fideration) take notice of the very im-
proper ufe which habitual finners have
made of this paffage, and the many idle
and frivolous excufes too often brought
for
+
On the Thief upon the Crofs.
355
for their miſapplication and miſinterpre- SERM.
tation of it.
XVII.
It is indeed aftonishing to reflect how
many wicked and impenitent finners fly
for fhelter to this facred afylum; how
many are miſled by this extraordinary
inſtance of a fudden converfion, to ima-
gine, that as their faults and follies do
by no means exceed, or even equal the
guilt of fuch a criminal, their repen-
tance and contrition, however late, and
however imperfect, muft confequently
be attended with the fame fuccefs: they
are even too often prefumptuous enough
to fuppofe, that as the malefactor on the
croſs was not only pardoned, but re-
ceived into Paradife, without the painful
taſk of repentance and reformation, that
the fame degree of favour and indulgence
may be granted them in the last period
of their existance.
A a 2
But
356
On the Thief upon the Crofs.
1
SERM.
' XVII.
But though this may have proved in
fome degree a matter (however ground,
lefs and unreafonable) of momentary
confolation to the profligate and aban-
doned, who have no other reed, to catch
at in their defperate fituation, never
could it afford any rational hope to the
fober and ferious Chriftian, becauſe there
are many and most important peculi-
arities in the cafe before us, which can-
not, by any fophiftry or mode of falfe
reafoning, be applied to any other.
And here, the first thing which, with
reſpect to a general compariſon, will na-
turally fuggeft itfelf to our imagination,
is, that the penitent mentioned in my
text, to whom the gracious promife of
pardon and reward was given, did, we
may fuppofe, embrace the faith of Chrift,
as foon as fufficient means of conviction
were laid before him. It has been the
opinion
<
羹
​;
í
19
វ
}
$
On the Thief upon the Cross.
357
opinion indeed of many learned writers
on this fubject, that this unhappy cri-
minal knew nothing of our bleffed Sa-
viour, but what he might have collected
from common report, and confequently
had no better opinion of him than the
unbelieving Jews, than his cruel per-
fecutors and oppreffors, who confidered
him, no doubt, as an hypocrite and im-,
poftor; and if fo he did, the more pow-
erful muſt have been his faith, and the
more exalted his virtue, in that at once
overcoming all his prejudices, in ac-
knowledging that wifdom which he had
contemned, and adoring that Saviour
whom he had been taught to laugh at
and deride; and our Redeemer might,
with reafon have faid unto him, as he
did unto the Centurion, I have not found
Jo great faith, no, not in Ifrael. His heart
we fee was open to the first impreffion
of grace; fo far, therefore, from being
י
A a 3
con-
1
SERM.
XVII.
358
On the Thief upon the Crofs.
XVII.
SERM. confidered as a late convert, he had
rather the glory of being an early peni-
tent; it was not inclination, but oppor-
tunity alone, that was wanting to render
him a zealous believer, and a true Chrif
tian: he might therefore have ſome title
to that pardon which he received, and
fome claim to that reward which his
divine mafter had here promiſed to be-
flow upon him; and to this judgment
we ſhall probably be more inclined, when
we come likewife to confider his very
uncommon and intrepid faith, in em-
bracing our Lord at that diſaſtrous criſis,
when even thoſe diſciples and followers
who had heard his bleffed doctrines, and
feen his divine miracles, when even
thoſe forfook him and fled; in this
wretched and ignominious ftate, in this
low and miferable condition, the un-
happy fellow-fufferer throws himſelf on
his protection, acknowledges his divi-
nity,
1
On the Thief upon the Cross.. 359
XVII.
nity, believes in him as the Lord and SERM.
giver of a future and better life, as the
great difpenfer of bleffings after death:
fo noble and fo bold a confidence at fuch
a period, could not perhaps be equalled.
It muft indeed, on the other hand, be
acknowledged as a moft extraordinary
event, that a public malefactor, con-
demned probably for fome atrocious
crime, to a fhameful and ignominious
puniſhment, ſhould thus be pardoned,
and rewarded by the promiſe of eternal
happineſs. This will undoubtedly ap-
pear, on the firſt tranfient view of it, an
event little to be expected: and
yet who
can fay what extraordinary circum-
ſtances, to us utterly unknown, might
have recommended him to the divine
favour? He might have been poffeffed
of qualities and virtues fufficient, in the
eye of a merciful Redeemer, to atone for
A a 4
all
360
On the Thief upon the Crofs.
SFRM.
XVII.
all his offences; he might even, perhaps,
for ought we know to the contrary, have
been perfectly innocent, like our bleffed
Saviour himſelf, of the crimes for which
he ſuffered. There are but too many in-
ftances in every age and nation, of men
who have been falfely accufed, and who
have paid with their lives, for crimes
which they have never committed. Such
we know was the power of an outra-
geous multitude, and the prujudice of
mifguided zeal, that the great Saviour of
mankind was nailed to the cross, whilſt
the impious Barabbas, who was a mur-
derer and a robber, eſcaped the puniſh-
ment due to his iniquities.
This, my brethren, may ferve as an
inftructive leffon to us, never too rigidly
to cenfure even thoſe whom the laws
have condemned, never to confider as
utterly forfaken by the Almighty, thoſe
who
On the Thief upon the. Crofs. 361
who are deſerted and abhorred of men,
becauſe too many amongst us, who, to
all outward appearance, have led good
and exemplary lives, may, notwithſtand-
ing, have been fecretly guilty of the
greatest crimes; and thofe on the other
hand, who, like the thief on the cross,
have been publickly branded for the moſt
heinous offences, may ftill be deferving
objects of divine mercy, and become the
heirs of eternal falvation.
"To day, fays our Saviour to the thief
on the cross, thou fhalt be with me
in Paradife; thou shalt change this
miferable and ignominious ftate, for a
place of uninterrupted joy and feli-
city, and as thou now partakeſt of my
fufferings, fhalt foon partake of my re-
ward alfo." This, no doubt, muſt admi-
nifter comfort and confolation to every
fincere penitent, who is pierced with a
hearty concern for his paft offences; this
wonder-
SERM.
XVII.
362 On the Thief upon the Crofs.
SERM.
XVII.
wonderful monument of divine mercy
muſt raiſe the hopes of the repenting
profligate, and induce him to improve
his laft moments to the beſt advantage;
but at the ſame time, it will highly be-
come us to remember, that there is no
refemblance between him who fubmits
to, and embraces the firft fuggeftions of
God's grace, and him who wilfully re-
fifts them; between him who obeys the
first call, and him who has continually
oppofed all the motions and folicitations
of God's holy fpirit.
Well would it be for thoſe who lay
fo uncommon, and fo unwarrantable a
ftrefs on this fingular and extraordinary
inftance, could they produce as uncom-
mon and indifputable evidence of their
imitation of his conduct, with regard to
their faith and conviction. The thief
on the cross acknowledged our bleffed
Saviour,
On the Thief upon the Cross
363
XVII.
Saviour, when fcarce any body elfe SERM.
would acknowledge him; in that diſtreſſ-
ful and ignominious ftate, when even
his own difciples had forfook him and
fled; whilft too many amongst us refuſe
to own him, even in his moft trium-
phant ſtate, and fitting at the right hand
of God.
Let us not then, my brethren, be fo
partial to ourſelves, from our Saviour's
conduct in this particular, when our
circumſtances are not the ſame, moft
unreaſonably to expect the fame indul-
gence: on one fide of our bleffed Re-
deemer, we behold a faint, on the other
a reprobate; why fhould not one there-
fore be as ſtrong an argument to warn us
of one danger, as the other is generally
made uſe of to delude us into a fatal
fecurity? The blafphemous and impeni-
tent behaviour of the one, is as manifeft
a fign
364 On the Thief upon the Crofs.
SERM.
XVII.
a fign of God's dereliction, as the prayers
and acknowledgments of the other can
poffibly be of converfion and acceptance.
God's grace, he has expreísly told us,
fhall be increaſed to thoſe who improve,
and withdrawn from thoſe who abufe it;
and thoſe who have impiouſly rejected
the means of falvation, who enter upon
the great taſk of reformation, at a time
when they are totally unable to perform
it this is doubtlefs nothing less than to
deſpiſe the riches of God's grace, not
confidering, as we ought, that his good-
nefs, instead of treaſuring up to us wrath
against the day of wrath, fhould lead us
to a Godly forrow for our fins, and a
fincere repentance of them.
Upon the whole then, if to day, whilft
it is called to day, we do the work of it,
and perform every moral and religious
duty
On the Thief upon the Cross.
365
duty that is required of us, we may then
receive fome confolation, from a review
of the circumſtance and fituation of the
example now before us: but if, on the
other hand, we poftpone our repentance
from day to day, and from year to year;
if every added period of life but brings
along with it a confirmation in evil ha-
bits, and an indifference with regard to
the one thing needful, we ſhall doubt-
lefs, by this unwarrantable delay, but in-
creaſe our guilt, and heighten our con-
demnation.
The preſent folemn feaſon feems to
demand of us a more than ordinary at-
tention to every religious duty, when
we are called upon, as it were, to attend
our divine Mafter to the croſs, to lament
his fufferings, and to partake them with
him.
SERM.
XVII.
Know-
366 On the Thief upon the Cross.
SERM.
XVII.
Knowing then, that it is now high
time to awake out of our fleep, let us
caft of the works of darkneſs, and put
upon us the armour of light,: the danger
and difficulty of a death-bed repentance,
we all fee and know, but the extent of
our lives we muſt all be ftrangers to;
we cannot depend, either on the power
or the will to undertake this great and
neceffary work; neither can we, after
all, reft affured that fo imperfect a re-
compenfe, fo unequal a fatisfaction, will
ever be accepted; the utmoft that we
can flatter ourfelves with the hope of, is,
that we need not totally deſpair.
Let then the wicked man forfake his ways,
and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let
him immediately turn unto the Lord, and he
will have mercy, and to our God, and he
will abundantly pardon.
That
On the Thief upon the Crofs. 367
XVII.
That repentance, which the thief on SERM.
the cross fincerely felt, may we ourſelves
immediately experience; that full and
implicit faith which he had in our blef-
fed Saviour, may we immediately em-
brace; thofe intentions of future piety
and goodness which he could only form,
may we live to execute; and that Para-
dife, which on the completion of our
Lord's gracious promife, he undoubt-
edly obtained, may we all in his good
time live to inherit, through the merits
and mediation of our bleffed Lord and
Redeemer.
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