SERMON XIV. PREACHED SEPTEMBER 10, 1809. 207 EXODUS Xxiii. 20.-" Behold, I send an angel before thee, SERMON XV.-PREACHED DECEMBER 3, 1809..219 ECCLESIASTES Viii. 11.-"Because sentence against an evil SERMON XVI.-PREACHED FEBRUARY 11, 1810.232 EPHESIANS iii. 20, 21.-"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us; unto him be ACTS xx. 9, 10.-" And there sat in a window, a certain young man, named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep; and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. And Paul went down and fell on him, and em- IT has been the characteristic of really faithful ministers of the gospel, in every age, to speak of those blessed truths, the power of which they have felt in their own souls. This was the case with the apostles: they one and all declared the power of *"At the vacation in June he returned to his father's house at Hertford. During his stay there he preached his first sermon in public. It was at the small village of Collier's End, six miles from Hertford. His auditory consisted of about thirty plain country people—and his text was 1 John, chap. i. ver. 7. The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.' Simple and unlettered, however, as his audience might be, they had sufficient penetration to discover the uncommon talents of their youthful preacher. These, together with the novelty and loveliness of his juvenile appearance, excited in that little village an astonishment and admiration, which have since circulated through all the districts of the great metropolis, and almost every town in Great Britain."-Extract from Dr. Raffles's Memoir of the Rev. T. Spencer. B that divine grace which had melted their frozen hearts, enlightened their dark understandings, and renewed their stubborn wills. We see this in the first verse of the chapter from which we have read a text; in which the apostle says, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled of the Word of life; "that which we have seen and heard declare we unto you." Thus he puts the saints in mind of the gospel he had written, in which he declared to them that "Word of life" who had been with the Father, and was manifested to the world; and whom he now declares again unto them, that they might have fellowship with him, and all the true apostles; assuring them, for a motive, that their fellowship was with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. The fellowship of the saints is with the Father, as the source and spring of eternal life and happiness; and with the Son, as Mediator, who has opened the way, removed every obstacle, and given them an access by one Spirit unto the Father. The design of the apostle in writing these things was, that their joy might be full. It was his earnest prayer, as well as the prayer of the apostle Paul, that the God of hope would fill them with all joy and peace in believing. He excites them to preserve fellowship and communion with God, by considering the transcendent excellence of the divine nature; "God (says he) is light, and in him is no darkness at all." How clear is his knowledge, for he is omniscient; and how unstained is his nature, for God is holy. Our conduct then is awful, if while we pretend to holy communion with God, we walk in darkness. For there can be no communion between purity and impurity; heaven and hell; God and the devil. God hath fellowship with saints in affection and delight. They have fellowship with him in salvation and happiness. He gives himself and all he possesses to them, and they are enabled to give themselves to him. He bestows grace and pardon on us, and we resign our hearts, our affections, and our all to him. But in order to our doing this, some important change must take place in us; for by nature we are averse to God, prone to wander from him, and having the greatest enmity to him; yet there is a way by which man can be brought nigh unto God, have his natural enmity subdued, and be reconciled unto the Father of spirits. Therefore, lest any should be excited to despair, by a view of the enormity of their crimes, let them hear the consoling language of our text: "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." When once our sins are pardoned by the blood of Jesus, we are admitted into communion with God, and with his Son. Oh! that our meditations on this passage may be profitable! You will observe, that these words speak of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the atonement of the Saviour; and we may consider them-as |