draw the observation of men upon us? Have we been willing and ready to serve him in the congregation, to attend his ordinances, and to revere his sacraments? Have we dared to let the world see that we are not ashamed of the Cross of Christ 9? and that we glory in re membering him, as we are admonished to do, at his holy table? Have we no reluctance to let our friends, nay our servants, know that we live in a daily sense of our duty to him, and that we hope for all the blessings of this life and the next, only through his merits and intercession? Have we never heared his pretensions slighted, and his holy name blasphemed, without expressing a becoming zeal for the honour of our Redeemer? Have we testified our displeasure at freedoms of this sort by an open reprehension of them on all fit occasions; at least by a look and manner, which shewed how offensive they were to us? On the other hand, have we never, in such circumstances, by an assumed air of complacency, seemed to authorize what we secretly disapproved, and to yield our assent to propositions which we inwardly detested? In a word, have we none of us, at any time, given occasion to unbelievers to say q Public Baptism, disused. s Family Prayer, omitted. or think of us, that we were almost inclined to be of their party; or at least, that we had not the zeal, and firmness and resolution, which men ought to have, who profess themselves believers in Jesus? To these, and other questions of the like sort, it concerns us to think what answers we could honestly make. But of this be we assured: If we have not constantly and uniformly signified, declared, proclaimed our attachment to Christ; if we have not taken care to avoid alb irreverence toward our Lord and Master; nay, if we have not been enough upon our guard to let no man suspect us of indifference towards him-we certainly have not done our duty; we have virtually denied the Son of Man; we have, in effect, been ashamed of him. And THUS MUCH may suffice for a commentary on that part of the text, which more immediately respects the PERSON of Jesus Christ Whosoever shall be ashamed of ME-but our Lord goes farther, and says - Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of MY WORDSof him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, in the day of judgment. Here, then, is a new subject of discourse. I call it a new one; because, though the two topics run into one, and he that is ashamed of Christ's words, may not improperly be said to be ashamed of Christ himself, yet, for the sake of method, it may be convenient to keep these two points distinct, and to give to each a separate consideration. It remains, then, to set before you the principal of those ways, in which we may incur the guilt, especially, of being ashamed of our Lord's words, that is, his DOCTRINES, and LAWS: a copious and important subject! on which I shall reserve what I have to say to another occasion. In the mean time, let us lay to heart what we have now heard concerning the honour due to the PERSON of our great Redeemer. Be we not, therefore, ashamed of our Lord - but let us resolutely abide in him, that when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming". t 2 Tim. i. S. 1 John ii. 28. SERMON LI. PREACHED MAY 21, 1775, LUKE ix. 26. Whosoever shall be ashamed of me, and of MY WORDS, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he shall come in his own glory, and in his Father's, and of the holy Angels. THE text distinguishes between being ashamed of CHRIST, and being ashamed of his woRDS. And, though the two charges, in effect, run into one, yet I have found it convenient, in point of method, to observe that distinction. Considering the subject, in this double view, we shall see more clearly, what the crime is, which we are here cautioned to avoid, and when we are guilty of it, I have already gone through the first division of the text, and shall now enter on the second. If we have not formally disowned, or, in effect, at least, been ashamed of CHRIST, that is, of his name, dignity, and person, and of the relation, which we bear to him, as our SAVIOUR and REDEEMER, yet have we not felt in ourselves, and evidenced to others, something of that disposition in regard to his WORDS, that is, considering him in the light of our LORD and MASTER? Now, to do justice to this part of our subject, we must consider the words of Christ, first, in THEMSELVES, or as composing that form and manner of address, in which he thought fit to deliver himself to us: and, secondly, in the SUBJECT MATTER of them, that is, as comprehending both his doctrines and precepts, articles of faith, and rules of life, all that, as our heavenly Instructor, he requires us to be lieve, and, as our lawgiver, to put in practice, In both respects, I doubt, we shall, many of us, find that we have too much, and too often, been ashamed of Christ's words, I. Under the first consideration of the words themselves, that is, of his manner in addressing himself to us, let it be observed, that, though |