"and to whoin men have committed much, of him

O consider this, ye that

forget God, lest he tear you in pieces, and there be none to deliver," Luke xii. Psalm 1.

Finally, Let those who through grace have attained to worship God" in spirit and in truth," be careful to adorn and hold fast their profession. "You see your

"calling, brethren :" let the name of Christian always remind you of your high obligation to, and continual dependence upon, the Author of your faith. Use it as a means to animate and regulate your whole behaviour; and if, upon some occasions, you find undeserved ill offices, or unkind constructions, wonder not at it: thus it must and will be, more or less, to all who would "exercise themselves in keeping a conscience 66 void of offence," Acts xxiv. Yet be careful to model your actions by the rule of God's word. Our Lord says, "Blessed are ye when men revile you, and

say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my "sake," Matth. v. Observe, first, the evil spoken of you, must be false and groundless; and, 2dly, the cause must be "for the sake of Christ," and not for any singularities of your own, either in sentiment or practice, which you cannot clearly maintain from Scripture. It is a great blessing when the innocence and simplicity of the dove is happily blended with true wisdom. It is a mercy to be kept from giving unnecessary offence in these times of division and discord. Endeavour that a principle of love to God, and to mankind for his sake, may have place in all your actions; this will be a secret, seasonable, and infallible guide, in a thousand incidents, where particular rules cannot reach. "Be sober, be vigilant;""continue "instant in prayer;" and in a little while all your con

flicts shall terminate in conquest, faith shall give place to sight, and hope to possession. Yet a little while, and "Christ, who is our life, shall appear," Col. iii. to vindicate his truth, to put a final end to all evil and offence; and then we also, even all who have loved him, and waited for him, "shall appear with him in glory." Isa. xxv.

66

SERMON IV.

ON ALL THINGS REING GIVEN US WITH CHRIST.

ROM. VIII. 32.

He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?

VARIOUS have been the disputes, and various the

mistakes of men, concerning the things of God. Too often, amidst the heat of fierce contending parties, truth is injured by both sides, befriended by neither. Religion, the pretended cause of our many controversies, is sometimes wholly unconcerned in them: I mean, "that pure religion and undefiled," that "wis"dom which coming from above," abounds with proof of its divine original, being " pure, peaceable, gentle, "and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good "works, without partiality, and without hypocrisy ;" James iii. Religion is a serious and a personal concern. It arises from a right knowledge of God and ourselves; a sense of the great things he has done for fallen man; a persuasion, or at least a well-grounded hope, of our own interest in his favour; and a principle of unbounded love to him who thus first loved us.

It consists in an entire surrender of ourselves, and our all, to God; in setting him continually before us, as the object of our desires, the scope and inspector of our actions, and our only refuge and hope in every trouble finally, in making the goodness of God to us the motive and model of our behaviour to our fellowcreatures, to love, pity, relieve, instruct, forbear, and forgive them, as occasions offer; because we ourselves both need and experience these things at the hand of our heavenly Father. The two great points to which it tends, and which it urges the soul, where it has taken place, incessantly to press after, are, communion with God, and conformity to him; and, as neither of these can be fully attained in this life, it teaches us to pant after a better; to withdraw our thoughts and affections from temporal things, and fix them on that eternal state, where we trust our desires shall be abundantly satisfied; and the work begun by grace, shall be crowned with glory.

Such is the religion of the Gospel. This the life and doctrine of our Lord, and the writings of his apostles, jointly recommend. An excellent abridgment of the whole we have in this eighth chapter to the Romans, describing the state, temper, practice, privileges, and immovable security of a true Christian. Every verse is rich in comfort and instruction, and might, without violence, afford a theme for volumes; particularly, that which I have read may be styled evangelium evangelii; a complete and comprehensive epitome of whatever is truly worthy our knowledge and our hope. The limits of our time are too narrow to admit any previous remarks on the context, or indeed to consider the subject according to the order of an exact division; therefore I shall not at present use any artificial method; but

taking the words as they lie, I shall offer a few practical observations, which seem naturally and immediately to arise from the perusal of them, making such improvement as may occur as I go along. And may the Father of mercies, who has put this treasure into our hands, favour us with his gracious presence and blessing.

I. From the words, "He spared not his own Son," we may observe, in one view, the wonderful goodness, and inflexible severity of God. So great was his goodness, that when man was by sin rendered incapable of any happiness, and obnoxious to all misery; incapable of restoring himself, or of receiving the least assistance from any power in heaven or in earth; God spared not his only begotten Son, but, in his unexampled love to the world, gave him, who alone was able to repair the breach. Every gift of God is good: the bounties of his common providence are very valuable; that he should continue life, and supply that life with food, raiment, and a variety of comforts, to those who by rebellion had forfeited all, was wonderful: but what are all inferior blessings, compared to this unspeakable gift of the Son of his love? Abraham had given many proofs of his love and obedience before he was commanded to offer up Isaac upon the altar; but God seems to pass by all that went before, as of small account in comparison of this last instance of duty. "Now "I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not "withheld thy son, thine only son, from me," Gen. xxii. Surely we likewise must say, " In this was manifested "the love of God to us, because he gave his Son, his

only Son, to be the life of the world." But all comparison fails: Abraham was bound in duty, bound by gratitude; neither was it a free-will offering, but by the express command of God: but to us the mercy was un

desired, as well as undeserved. "Herein is love; not "that we loved God;" on the contrary, we were enemies to him, and in rebellion against him, "but that "he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation "of our sins," the sins we had committed against himself. My friends, ought not this love to meet a return? Is it not most desirable to be able to say with the apostle, upon good grounds, "We love him, be66 cause he first loved us?" Should it not be our continual inquiry, "What shall we render to the Lord for "all his benefits?" especially for this, which is both the crown and the spring of all the rest? Are we cold and unaffected at this astonishing proof of divine love? and are not our hearts grieved and humbled at our own ingratitude? Then are we ungrateful and insensible indeed!

The justice and severity of God is no less conspicuous than his goodness in these words: as he spared not to give his Son for our sakes, so, when Christ appeared in our nature, undertook our cause, and was charged with our sins, though he was the Father's well-beloved Son, "he was not spared." He drank the bitter cup of the wrath of God to the very dregs: he bore all the shame, sorrow, and pain, all the distress of body and mind, that must otherwise have fallen upon our heads. His whole life, from the manger to the cross, was one series of humiliation and suffering, John xviii. Observe him in the world, despised, vilified, persecuted even to death, by unreasonable and wicked men; ridiculed, buffeted, spit upon; and at length nailed to the accursed tree! Consider him in the wilderness, Luke iv. given up to the power and assaulted by the temptations of the devil! Behold him in the garden, Luke xxii. and say, "Was "ever sorrow like unto his sorrow, wherewith the Lord