Part 2

Part 2

upon his shoulders, upon which he was to be offered? Let this lead you

to mount Calvary (this very mount of Moriah where Isaac was offered, as

some think) and take a view of the antitype Jesus Christ, the Son of

God, bearing and ready to sink under the weight of that cross, on which

he was to hang for us. Do you admire Isaac so freely consenting to die,

though a creature, and therefore obliged to go when God called? O do

not forget to admire infinitely more the dear Lord Jesus, that promised

seed, who willingly said, "Lo, I come," though under no obligation so

to do, "to do thy will," to obey and die for men, "O God!" Did you weep

just now, when I bid you fancy you saw the altar, and the wood laid in

order, and Isaac laid bound on the altar? Look by faith, behold the

blessed Jesus, our all-glorious Emmanuel, not bound, but nailed on a

accursed tree: see how he hangs crowned with thorns, and had in

derision of all that are round about him: see how the thorns pierce

him, and how the blood in purple streams trickle down his sacred

temples! Hark how the God of nature groans! See how he bows his head,

and at length humanity gives up the ghost! Isaac is saved, but Jesus,

the God of Isaac, dies; A ram is offered up in Isaac's room, but Jesus

has no substitute; Jesus must bleed, Jesus must die; God the Father

provided this Lamb for himself from all eternity. He must be offered in

time, or man must be damned for evermore. And now, where are your

tears? Shall I say, refrain your voice from weeping? No; rather let me

exhort you to look to him whom you have pierced, and mourn, as a woman

mourneth for her first-born: for we have been the betrayers, we have

been the murderers of this Lord of glory; and shall we not bewail those

sins, which brought the blessed Jesus to the accursed tree? Having so

much done, so much suffered for us, so much forgiven, shall we not love

much! O! let us love Him with all our hearts, and minds, and strength,

and glorify him in our souls and bodies, for they are his. Which leads

me to a second inference I shall draw from the foregoing discourse.

From hence we may learn the nature of true, justifying faith. Whoever

understands and preaches the truth, as it is in Jesus, must

acknowledge, that salvation is God's free gift, and that we are saved,

not by any or all the works of righteousness which we have done or can

do: no; we can neither wholly nor in part justify ourselves in the

light of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is our righteousness; and if we are

accepted with God, it must be only in and through the personal

righteousness, the active and passive obedience, of Jesus Christ his

beloved Son. This righteousness must be imputed, or counted over to us,

and applied by faith to our hearts, or else we can in no wise be

justified in God's sight: and that very moment a sinner is enabled to

lay hold on Christ's righteousness by faith, he is freely justified

from all his sins, and shall never enter into condemnation,

notwithstanding he was a fire-brand of hell before. Thus is was that

Abraham was justified before he did any good work: he was enabled to

believe on the Lord Christ; it was accounted to him for righteousness;

that is, Christ's righteousness was made over to him, and so accounted

his. This, this is the gospel; this is the only way of finding

acceptance with God: good works have nothing to do with our

justification in his sight. We are justified by faith alone, as saith

the article of our church; agreeable to which the apostle Paul says,

"By grace ye are saved, through faith; and that not of yourselves; it

is the gift of God." Notwithstanding, good works have their proper

place: they justify our faith, though not our persons; they follow it,

and evidence our justification in the sight of men. Hence it is that

the apostle James asks, was not Abraham justified by works? (alluding

no doubt to the story on which we have been discoursing) that is, did

he not prove he was in a justified state, because his faith was

productive of good works? This declarative justification in the sight

of men, is what is directly to be understood in the words of the text;

"Now know I, says God, that thou fearest me, since thou hast not

withheld thy son, thine only son from me." Not but that God knew it

before; but this is spoken in condescension to our weak capacities, and

plainly shows, that his offering up his son was accepted with God, as

an evidence of the sincerity of his faith, and for this, was left on

record to future ages. Hence then you may learn, whether you are

blessed with, and are sons and daughters of, faithful Abraham. You say

you believe; you talk of free grace and free justification: you do

well; the devils also believe and tremble. But has the faith, which you

pretend to, influenced your hearts, renewed your souls, and, like

Abraham's, worked by love? Are your affections, like his, set on things

above? Are you heavenly-minded, and like him, do you confess yourselves

strangers and pilgrims on the earth? In short, has your faith enabled

you to overcome the world, and strengthened you to give up your Isaacs,

your laughter, your most beloved lusts, friends, pleasures, and profits

for God? If so, take the comfort of it; for justly may you say, "We

know assuredly, that we do fear and love God, or rather are loved of

him." But if you are only talking believers, have only a faith of the

head, and never felt the power of it in your hearts, however you may

bolster yourselves up, and say, "We have Abraham for our father, or

Christ is our Savior," unless you get a faith of the heart, a faith

working by love, you shall never sit with Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, or

Jesus Christ, in the kingdom of heaven.

But I must draw one more inference, and with that I shall conclude.

Learn, O saints! From what has been said, to sit loose to all your

worldly comforts; and stand ready prepared to part with everything,

when God shall require it at your hand. Some of you perhaps may have

friends, who are to you as your own souls; and others may have

children, in whose lives your own lives are bound up: all I believe

have their Isaacs, their particular delights of some kind or other.

Labor, for Christ's sake, labor, ye sons and daughters of Abraham, to

resign them daily in affection to God, that, when he shall require you

really to sacrifice them, you may not confer with flesh and blood, any

more than the blessed patriarch now before us. And as for you that have

been in any measure tried like unto him, let his example encourage and

comfort you. Remember, Abraham your father was tried so before you:

think, O think of the happiness he now enjoys, and how he is

incessantly thanking God for tempting and trying him when here below.

Look up often by the eye of faith, and see him sitting with his dearly

beloved Issac in the world of spirits. Remember, it will be but a

little while, and you shall sit with them also, and tell one another

what God has done for your souls. There I hope to sit with you, and

hear this story of his offering up his Son from his own mouth, and to

praise the Lamb that sitteth upon the throne, for what he hath done for

all or souls, for ever and ever.

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[1] Full Text: Genesis 22:1-12

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The Great Duty of Family Religion

Joshua 24:15 -- "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."

These words contain the holy resolution of pious Joshua, who having in

a most moving, affectionate discourse recounted to the Israelites what

great things God had done for them, in the verse immediately preceding

the text, comes to draw a proper inference from what he had been

delivering; and acquaints them, in the most pressing terms, that since

God had been so exceeding gracious unto them, they could do not less,

than out of gratitude for such uncommon favors and mercies, dedicate

both themselves and families to his service. "Now therefore, fear the

Lord, and serve him in sincerity and truth, and put away the Gods which

your fathers served on the other side of the flood." And by the same

engaging motive does the prophet Samuel afterwards enforce their

obedience to the commandments of God, 1 Sam. 12:24, "Only fear the

Lord, and serve him in truth, with all your heart; for consider how

great things he hath done for you." But then, that they might not

excuse themselves (as too many might be apt to do) by his giving them a

bad example, or think he was laying heavy burdens upon them, whilst he

himself touched them not with one of his fingers, he tells them in the

text, that whatever regard they might pay to the doctrine he had been

preaching, yet he (as all ministers ought to do) was resolved to live

up to and practice it himself: "Choose you therefore, whom you will

serve, whether the Gods which your fathers served, or the Gods of the

Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will

serve the Lord."

A resolution this, worthy of Joshua, and no less becoming, no less

necessary for every true son of Joshua, that is entrusted with the care

and government of a family in our day: and, if it was ever seasonable

for ministers to preach up, or people to put in practice

family-religion, it was never more so than in the present age; since it

is greatly to be feared, that out of those many households that call

themselves Christians, there are but few that serve God in their

respective families as they ought.

It is true indeed, visit our churches, and you may perhaps see

something of the form of godliness still subsisting amongst us; but

even that is scarcely to be met with in private houses. So that were

the blessed angels to come, as in the patriarchal age, and observe our

spiritual oeconomy [meaning not in dictionary, but

oecumenical=ecumenical, so oeconomy may be same as economy] at home,

would they not be tempted to say as Abraham to Abimilech, "Surely, the

fear of God is not in this place?" Gen. 20:11.

How such a general neglect of family-religion first began to overspread

the Christian world, is difficult to determine. As for the primitive

Christians, I am positive it was not so with them: No, they had not so

learned Christ, as falsely to imagine religion was to be confined

solely to their assemblies for public worship; but, on the contrary,

behaved with such piety and exemplary holiness in their private

families, that St. Paul often styles their house a church: "Salute such

a one, says he, and the church which is in his house." And, I believe,

we must for ever despair of seeing a primitive spirit of piety revived

in the world, till we are so happy as to see a revival of primitive

family religion; and persons unanimously resolving with good old

Joshua, in the words of the text, "As for me and my house, we will

serve the Lord."

From which words, I shall beg leave to insist on these three things.

I. First, That it is the duty of every governor of a family to take

care, that not only he himself, but also that those committed to his

charge, "serve the Lord."

II. Secondly, I shall endeavor to show after what manner a governor and

his household ought to serve the Lord. And,

III. Thirdly, I shall offer some motives, in order to excite all

governors, with their respective households, to serve the Lord in the

manner that shall be recommended.

And First, I am to show that it is the duty of every governor of a

family to take care, that not only he himself, but also that those

committed to his charge, should serve the Lord.

And this will appear, if we consider that every governor of a family

ought to look upon himself as obliged to act in three capacities as a

prophet, to instruct: as a priest, to pray for and with; as a king, to

govern, direct, and provide for them. It is true indeed, the latter of

these, their kingly office, they are not so frequently deficient in,

(nay in this they are generally too solicitous) but as for the two

former, their priestly and prophetic office, like Gallio, they care for

no such things. But however indifferent some governors may be about it,

they may be assured, that God will require a due discharge of these

offices at their hands. For if, as the apostle argues, "He that does

not provide for his own house," in temporal things, has denied the

faith, and is worse than an infidel;" to what greater degree of

apostasy must he have arrived, who takes no thought to provide for the

spiritual welfare of his family!

But farther, persons are generally very liberal of their invectives

against the clergy, and think they justly blame the conduct of that

minister who does not take heed to and watch over the flock, of which

the Holy Ghost has made him overseer: but may not every governor of a

family, be in a lower degree liable to the same censure, who takes no

thought for those souls that are committed too his charge? For every

house is as it were a little parish, every governor (as was before

observed) a priest, every family a flock; and if any of them perish

through the governor's neglect, their blood will God require at their

hands.

Was a minister to disregard teaching his people publicly, and from

house to house, and to excuse himself by saying, that he had enough to

do to work out his own salvation with fear and trembling, without

concerning himself with that of others; would you not be apt to think

such a minister, to be like the unjust judge, "One that neither feared

God, nor regarded man?" And yet, odious as such a character would be,

it is no worse than that governor of a family deserves, who thinks

himself obliged only to have his own soul, without paying any regard to

the souls of his household. For (as was above hinted) every house is as

it were a parish, and every master is concerned to secure, as much as

in him lies, the spiritual prosperity of every one under his rood, as

any minister whatever is obliged to look to the spiritual welfare of

every individual person under his charge.

What precedents men who neglect their duty in this particular, can

plead for such omission, I cannot tell. Doubtless not the example of

holy Job, who was so far from imagining that he had no concern, as

governor of a family, with any one's soul but his own, that the

scripture acquaints us, "When the days of his children's feasting were

gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and offered

burnt-offerings, according to the number of them all; for Job said, It

may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts: thus

did Job continually." Nor can they plead the practice of good old

Joshua, whom, in the text, we find as much concerned for his

household's welfare, as his own. Nor lastly, that of Cornelius, who

feared God, not only himself, but with all his house: and were

Christians but of the same spirit of Job, Joshua, and the Gentile

centurion, they would act as Job, Joshua, and Cornelius did.

But alas! If this be the case, and all governors of families ought not

only to serve the Lord themselves, but likewise to see that their

respective households do so too; what will then become of those who not

only neglect serving God themselves, but also make it their business to

ridicule and scoff at any of their house that do? Who are not content

with "not entering into the kingdom of heaven themselves; but shoe also

that are willing to enter in, they hinder." Surely such men are factors

for the devil indeed. Surely their damnation slumbereth not: for

although God, is in his good providence, may suffer such

stumbling-blocks to be put in his children's way, and suffer their

greatest enemies to be those of their own households, for a trial of

their sincerity, and improvement of their faith; yet we cannot but

pronounce a woe against those masters by whom such offenses come. For

if those that only take care of their own souls, can scarcely be saved,

where will such monstrous profane and wicked governors appear?

But hoping there are but few of this unhappy stamp, proceed we now to

the

Second thing proposed: To show after what manner a governor and his

household ought to serve the Lord.

1. And the first thing I shall mention, is reading the Word of God.

This is a duty incumbent on every private person. "Search the

scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life," is a precept

given by our blessed Lord indifferently to all: but much more so, ought

every governor of a family to think it in a peculiar manner spoken to

himself, because (as hath been already proved) he ought to look upon

himself as a prophet, and therefore agreeably to such a character,

bound to instruct those under his charge in the knowledge of the word

of God.

This we find was the order God gave to his peculiar people Israel: for

thus speaks his representative Moses, Deut. 6:6-7, "These words," that

is, the scripture words, "which I command thee this day, shall be in

thy heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children,"

that is, as it is generally explained, servants, as well as children,

"and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house." From whence we

may infer, that the only reason, why so many neglect to read the words

of scripture diligently to their children is, because the words of

scripture are not in their hearts: for if they were, out of the

abundance of the heart their mouth would speak.

Besides, servants as well as children, are, for the generality, very

ignorant, and mere novices in the laws of God: and how shall they know,

unless some one teach them? And what more proper to teach them by, than

the lively oracles of God, "which are able to make them wise unto

salvation?" And who more proper to instruct them by these lively

oracles, than parents and masters, who (as hath been more than once

observed) are as much concerned to feed them with spiritual, as with

bodily bread, day by day.

But if these things be so, what a miserable condition are those unhappy

governors in, who are so far from feeding those committed to their care

with the sincere milk of the word, to the intent they may grow thereby,

that they neither search the scriptures themselves, nor are careful to

explain them to others? Such families must be in a happy way indeed to

do their Master's will, who take such prodigious pains to know it!

Would not one imagine that they had turned converts to the Church of

Rome, that they thought ignorance to be the mother of devotion; and

that those were to be condemned as heretics who read their Bibles? And

yet how few families are there amongst us, who do not act after this

unseemly manner! But shall I praise them in this? I praise them not;

Brethren, this thing ought not so to be.

2. Pass we on now to the second means whereby every governor and his

household ought to serve the Lord, Family-Prayer.

This is a duty, though as much neglected, yet as absolutely necessary

as the former. Reading is a good preparative for prayer, as prayer is

an excellent means to render reading effectual. And the reason why

every governor of a family should join both these exercises together,

is plain, because a governor of a family cannot perform his priestly

office (which we before observed hs is in some degree invested with)

without performing this duty of family prayer.

We find it therefore remarked, when mention is made of Can and Abel's

offering sacrifices, that they brought them. But to whom did they bring

them? Why, in all probability, to their father Adam, who, as priest of

the family, was to offer sacrifice in their names. And so ought every

spiritual son of the second Adam, who is entrusted with the care of an

household, to offer up the spiritual sacrifices of supplications and

thanksgivings, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ, in the presence

and name of all who wait upon, or eat meat at his table.

Thus we read our blessed Lord behaved, when he tabernacled amongst us:

for it is said often, that he prayed with his twelve disciples, which

was then his little family. And he himself has promised a particular

blessing to joint supplications: "Wheresoever two or three are gathered

together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." And again, "If

two or three are agreed touching any thing they shall ask, it shall be

given them." Add to this, that we are commanded by the Apostle to "pray

always, with all manner of supplication," which doubtless includes

family prayer. And holy Joshua, when he set up the good resolution in

the text, that he and his household would serve the Lord, certainly

resolved to pray with his family, which is one of the best testimonies

they could give of their serving him.

Besides, there are no families but what have some common blessings, of

which they have been all partakers, to give thanks for; some common

crosses and afflictions, which they are to pray against; some common

sins, which they are all to lament and bewail: but how this can be

done, without joining together in one common act of humiliation,

supplication, and thanksgiving, is difficult to devise.

From all which considerations put together, it is evident, that family

prayer is a great and necessary duty; and consequently, those governors

that neglect it, are certainly without excuse. And it is much to be

feared, if they live without family prayer, they live without God in

the world.

And yet, such an hateful character as this is, it is to be feared, that

was God to send out an angel to destroy us, as he did once to destroy

the Egyptian first-born, and withal give him a commission, as then, to

spare no houses but where they saw the blood of the lintel, sprinkled

on the door-post, so now, to let no families escape, but those that

called upon him in morning and evening prayer; few would remain unhurt

by his avenging sword. Shall I term such families Christians or

heathens? Doubtless they deserve not the name of Christians; and

heathens will rise up in judgment against such profane families of this

generation: for they had always their household gods, whom they

worshipped and whose assistance they frequently invoked. And a pretty

pass those families surely are arrived at, who must be sent to school

to pagans. But will not the Lord be avenged on such profane households

as these? Will he not pour out his fury upon those that call not upon

his name?

3. But it is time for me to hasten to the third and last means I shall

recommend, whereby every governor ought with his household to serve the

Lord, catechizing and instructing their children and servants, and

bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

That this, as well as the two former, is a duty incumbent on every

governor of an house, appears from that famous encomium or commendation

God gives of Abraham: "I know that he will command his children and his

household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and

judgment." And indeed scarce any thing is more frequently pressed upon

us in holy writ, than this duty of catechizing. Thus, says God in a

passage before cited, "Thou shalt teach these words diligently unto thy

children." And parents are commanded in the New Testament, to "bring up

their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." The holy

Psalmist acquaints us, that one great end why God did such great

wonders for his people, was, "to the intent that when they grew up,

they should show their children, or servants, the same." And in Deut. 6

at the 20th and following verses, God strictly commands his people to

instruct their children in the true nature of the ceremonial worship,

when they should inquire about it, as he supposed they would do, in

time to come. And if servants and children were to be instructed in the

nature of Jewish rites, much more ought they now to be initiated and

grounded in the doctrines and first principles of the gospel of Christ:

not only, because it is a revelation, which has brought life and

immortality to a fuller and clearer light, but also, because many

seducers are gone abroad into the world, who do their utmost endeavor

to destroy not only the superstructure, but likewise to sap the very

foundation of our most holy religion.

Would then the present generation have their posterity be true lovers

and honorers of God; masters and parents must take Solomon's good

advice, and train up and catechize their respective households in the

way wherein they should go.

I am aware but of one objection, that can, with any show of reason, be

urged against what has been advanced; which is, that such a procedure

as this will take up too much time, and hinder families too long from

their worldly business. But it is much to be questioned, whether

persons that start such an abjection, are not of the same hypocritical

spirit as the traitor Judas, who had indignation against devout Mary,

for being so profuse of her ointment, in anointing our blessed Lord,

and asked why it might not be sold for two hundred pence, and given to

the poor. For has God given us so much time to work for ourselves, and

shall we not allow some small pittance of it, morning and evening, to

be devoted to his more immediate worship and service? Have not people

read, that it is God who gives men power to get wealth, and therefore

that the best way to prosper in the world, is to secure his favor? And

has not our blessed Lord himself promised, that if we seek first the

kingdom of God and his righteousness, all outward necessaries shall be

added unto us?

Abraham, no doubt, was a man of as great business as such objectors may

be; but yet he would find time to command his household to serve the

Lord. Nay, David was a king, and consequently had a great deal of

business upon his hands; yet notwithstanding, he professes that he

would walk in his house with a perfect heart. And, to instance but one

more, holy Joshua was a person certainly engaged very much in temporal

affairs; and yet he solemnly declares before all Israel, that as for

him and his household, they would serve the Lord. And did persons but

redeem their time, as Abraham, David, or Joshua did, they would no

longer complain, that family duties kept them too long from the

business of the world.

III. But my Third and Last general head, under which I was to offer

some motives, in order to excite all governors, with their respective

households, to serve the Lord in the manner before recommended, I hope,

will serve instead of a thousand arguments, to prove the weakness and

folly of any such objection.

1. And the first motive I shall mention is the duty of gratitude, which

you that are governors of families owe to God. Your lot, every one must

confess, is cast in a fair ground: providence hath given you a goodly

heritage, above many of your fellow-creatures, and therefore, bout of a

principle of gratitude, you ought to endeavor, as much as in you lies,

to make every person of your respective households to call upon him as

long as they live: not to mention, that the authority, with which God

has invested you as parents and governors of families, is a talent

committed to your trust, and which you are bound to improve to your

Master's honor. In other things we find governors and parents can

exercise lordship over their children and servants readily, and

frequently enough can say to one, Go, and he goeth; and to another,

Come, and he cometh; to a third, Do this, and he doeth it. And shall

this power be so often employed in your own affairs, and never exerted

in the things of God? Be astonished, O heavens, at this!

Thus did not faithful Abraham; no, God says, that he knew Abraham would

command his servants and children after him. Thus did not Joshua: no,

he was resolved not only to walk with God himself, but to improve his

authority in making all about him do so too: "As for me and my

household, we will serve the Lord." Let us go and do likewise.

2. But Secondly, If gratitude to God will not, methinks love and pity

to your children should move you, with your respective families, to

serve the Lord.

Most people express a great fondness for their children: nay so great,

that very often their own lives are wrapped up in those of their

offspring. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not

have compassion on the son of her womb?" says God by his Prophet

Isaiah. He speaks of it as a monstrous thing, and scarce credible; but

the words immediately following, affirm it to be possible, "Yes, they

may forget" and experience also assures us they may. Father and mother

may both forsake their children: for what greater degree of

forgetfulness can they express towards them, than to neglect the

improvement of their better part, and not bring them up in the

knowledge and fear of God?

It is true indeed, parents seldom forget to provide for their

children's bodies, (though, it is to be feared, some men are so far

sunk beneath the beasts that perish, as to neglect even that) but then

how often do they forget, or rather, when do they remember, to secure

the salvation of their immortal souls? But is this their way of

expressing their fondness for the fruit of their bodies? Is this the

best testimony they can give of their affection to the darling of their

hearts? Then was Delilah fond of Samson, when she delivered him up into

the hands of the Philistines? Then were those ruffians well affected to

Daniel, when they threw him into a den of lions?

3. But Thirdly, If neither gratitude to God, nor love and pity to your

children, will prevail on you; yet let a principle of common honesty

and justice move you to set up the holy resolution in the text.

This is a principle which all men would be thought to act upon. But

certainly, if any may be truly censured for their injustice, none can

be more liable to such censure, than those who think themselves injured

if their servants withdraw themselves from their bodily work, and yet

they in return take no care of their inestimable souls. For is it just

that servants should spend their time and strength in their master's

service, and masters not at the same time give them what is just and

equal for their service?

It is true, some men may think they have done enough when they give

unto their servants food and raiment, and say, "Did not I bargain with

thee for so much a year?" But if they give them no other reward than

this, whet do they less for their very beasts? But are not servants

better than they? Doubtless they are: and however masters may put off

their convictions for the present, they will find a time will come,

when they shall know they ought to have given them some spiritual as

well as temporal wages; and the cry of those that have mowed down their

fields, will enter into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

4. But Fourthly, If neither gratitude to God, pity to children, nor a

principle for common justice to servants, are sufficient to balance all

objections; yet let that darling, that prevailing motive of

self-interest turn the scale, and engage you with your respective

households to serve the Lord.

This weighs greatly with you in other matters: be then persuaded to let

it have a due and full influence on you in this: and if it has, if you

have but faith as a grain of mustard-seed, how can you avoid believing,

that promoting family-religion, will be the best means to promote your

own temporal, as well as eternal welfare? For "Godliness has the

promise of the life that now is, as well as that which is to come."

Besides, you all, doubtless wish for honest servants, and pious

children: and to have them prove otherwise, would be as great a grief

to you, as it was to Elisha to have a treacherous Gehazi, or David to

be troubled with a rebellious Absolom. But how can it be expected they

should learn their duty, except those set over them, take care to teach

it to them? Is it not as reasonable to expect you should reap where had

not sewn, or gather where you had not strawed?

Did Christianity, indeed, give any countenance to children and servants

to disregard their parents and masters according to the flesh, or

represent their duty to them, as inconsistent with their entire

obedience to their father and master who is in heaven, there might then

be some pretense to neglect instructing them in the principles of such

a religion. But since the precepts of this pure and undefiled religion,

are all of them holy, just, and good; and the more they are taught

their duty to God, the better they will perform their duties to you;

methinks, to neglect the improvement of their souls, out of a dread of

spending too much time in religious duties, is acting quite contrary to

your own interest as well as duty.

5. Fifthly and Lastly, If neither gratitude to God, love to your

children, common justice to your servants, nor even that most

prevailing motive self-interest, will excite; yet let a consideration

of the terrors of the Lord persuade you to put in practice the pious

resolution in the text. Remember, the time will come, and that perhaps

very shortly, when we must all appear before the judgment-seat of

Christ; where we must give a solemn and strict account how we have had

our conversation, in our respective families in this world. How will

you endure to see your children and servants (who ought to be your joy

and crown of rejoicing in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ) coming out

as so many swift witnesses against you; cursing the father that begot

them, the womb that bare them, the paps which they have sucked, and the

day they ever entered into your houses? Think you not, the damnation

which men must endure for their own sins, will be sufficient, that they

need load themselves with the additional guilt of being accessory to

the damnation of others also? O consider this, all ye that forget to

serve the Lord with your respective households, "lest he pluck you

away, and there be none to deliver you!"

But God forbid, brethren, that any such evil should befall you: no,

rather will I hope, that you have been in some measure convinced by

what has been said of the great importance of family-religion; and

therefore are ready to cry out in the words immediately following the

text, "God forbid that we should forsake the Lord;" and again, ver. 21,

"Nay, but we will (with our several households) serve the Lord."

And that there may be always such a heart in you, let me exhort all

governors of families, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, often to

reflect on the inestimable worth of their own souls, and the infinite

ransom, even the precious blood of Jesus Christ, which has been paid

down for them. Remember, I beseech you to remember, that you are fallen

creatures; that you are by nature lost and estranged from God; and that

you can never be restored to your primitive happiness, till by being

born again of the Holy Ghost, you arrive at your primitive state of

purity, have the image of God restamped upon your souls, and are

thereby made meet to be partakers of the inheritance with the saints in

light. Do, I say, but seriously and frequently reflect on, and act as

persons that believe such important truths, and you will no more

neglect your family's spiritual welfare than your own. No, the love of

God, which will then be shed abroad in your hearts, will constrain you

to do your utmost to preserve them: and the deep sense of God's free

grace in Christ Jesus, (which you will then have) in calling you, will

excite you to do your utmost to save others, especially those of your

own household. And though, after all your pious endeavors, some may

continue unreformed; yet you will have this comfortable reflection to

make, that you did what you could to make your families religious: and

therefore may rest assured of sitting down in the kingdom of heaven,

with Abraham, Joshua, and Cornelius, and all the godly householders,

who in their several generations shone forth as so many lights in their

respective households upon earth. Amen.

__________________________________________________________________

Christ the Best Husband: Or an Earnest Invitation to Young Women to Come and See

Christ [2]

This psalm is called the song of loves, the most pure and spiritual,

the most ear and delightful loves; namely, those which are between

Christ the beloved, and his church, which is his spouse; wherein is set

forth, first, the Lord Jesus Christ in regard of his majesty, power,

and divinity, his truth, meekness and equity: And then the spouse is

set forth, in regard of her ornaments, companions, attendants and

posterity; and both in regard of their comeliness and beauty. After the

description of Christ, an invitation to his espousals, is given the

children of men, called by the name of daughter; and therefore,

particularly applicable unto you, my dear sisters, as being the

daughters of men, yet not so as excluding the sons of men.

I shall now, therefore, consider the words, as spoken to you in

particular, and containing this doctrine;

That the Lord Jesus Christ doth invite the daughters of men to be his

spouse; and is exceeding desirous of their beauty; who, forgetting

their people and father's house, do hearken, consider and incline to

his invitation, and join themselves to him in this relation.

I shall show,

I. How Christ doth espouse himself unto the children, but, more

especially, unto the daughters of men.

The Lord Jesus Christ, doth espouse himself unto the children of men,

in the world, but the public solemnization of the marriage, is reserved

until the last day; when his spouse shall be brought forth to him, in

white robes, and a raiment of perfect righteousness, more rich and

curious, my dear sisters, than any of your needle-work; and the

marriage feast will be kept in his Father's house, in heaven, when they

shall be received into the nearest and closest embraces of his love.

The marriage knot is tied here, in which are included four things:

First; Mutual Choice,

Secondly, Mutual Affection,

Thirdly, Mutual Union,

Fourthly, Mutual Obligation.

First, my dear sisters, there is a mutual choice, which is not only in

Christ, as Mediator, but also by Christ as the eternal Son of God, yea,

God himself; notwithstanding all that the polite Arians and Socinians

say to the contrary. The Lord Jesus Christ, my dear sisters, doth

choose you merely by his free grace; it is freely of his own mercy,

that he brings you into the marriage covenant: You, who have so

grievously offended him, yet, the Lord Jesus Christ hath chosen you;

you did not, you would not have chosen him; but when once, my dear

sisters, he hath chosen you, then, and not till then, you make choice

of him for your Lord and Husband.

The Lord Jesus Christ when he first comes to you, finds you full of sin

and pollution; you are deformed, defiled, enslaved, poor, miserable and

wretched, very despicable and loathsome, by reason of sin; and he

maketh choice of you, not because of your holiness, nor of your beauty,

nor of your being qualified for them; no, the Lord Jesus Christ puts

these qualifications upon you, as may make you meet for his embrace;

and you are drawn to make choice of the Lord Jesus Christ because he

first chose you.

Secondly, In this espousal of yours, my dear sisters, there is a mutual

affection; this doth accompany the choice. Your hearts are drawn out

after Christ; your souls pant and long for him; you cannot be at rest

until you are engaged to this Jesus: You are ready to cry out

continually, none but Christ, none but Christ: this is the language of

your hearts, if you are truly sensible of your need of him. The more

acquaintance you have of this Lord Jesus, the more pleased you are with

your choice, and the more your affections are drawn towards him. And

where can you place your affections better than upon that Jesus who

shed his blood for your sakes? Surely he deserves both your loves and

affections: Go on, go on, my dear sisters, that your affections may

grow stronger and stronger.

Thirdly, There is not only mutual choice, and mutual affection, but

likewise mutual union: And here doth the marriage lie chiefly, in this

union; Christ and souls are contracted, and the knot is tied so fast,

that neither men on earth, how great soever they be, nor devils in

hell, though they should combine all their wrath and rage together,

still they cannot dissolve, they cannot untie it; no, my dear sisters,

it is indissolvable, for the union is, by the spirit, on Christ's part,

and by faith on yours: By the spirit, Christ doth lay hold on you; and

by faith, you do lay hold on him; and thus the match is made; Christ

becomes yours, his person, portion, and all his benefits are yours; and

you become Christ's, your persons, your hearts, and all that you have

is resigned up unto him, and O that they may be so more and more.

Fourthly, There is a mutual obligation between Christ and his spouse.

Christ obliges himself to love you here, he will not, indeed he never

will leave you, he will protect you from the malice of the Pharisees of

this generation, he will provide for you in all difficulties; he will

live with you here, and at last he will take you to himself, to live

with him forever. And you are engaged to him to be loving, loyal,

faithful, obedient; and you are to stick close to him as long as you

live; and then you will find yourselves to be married to the best

advantage, both for soul and body, for time and for eternity.

II. Christ doth invite all of you to be his spouse.

And it on this account that he sends forth his ministers to preach. It

is this, that makes me thus come among you; that you would accept of

this invitation, to which, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I do

call and entreat you to take him, on his own terms. He calls all of

you, my sisters, whether elder or younger, whether married or

unmarried, of higher degree, or of the meanest quality, the poorest

servants, yea, the rabble of this world, as the world calls you, who

are willing to be espoused unto the Lord Jesus Christ. I say, the poor

are as welcome to be Christ's spouse as those that are rich. He

regardeth not the rich more than the poor; he chose a mean virgin,

espoused to a carpenter, to be his mother; and he chooseth and calleth

all such to be his spouse; then be not discouraged at your being

despised in the world; for if you are but loved by Christ, and espoused

to him, it will be an over-sufficiency for all the trouble that you

have met with here.

III. Those who would be espoused unto Christ, must hearken, consider,

and incline to his invitation, and forget even their father's house.

Such as would be espoused unto Christ must hearken. "Hearken, O

daughter." Many amongst you, my sisters, stop their ears against the

calls of the gospel; they shut their ears like the deaf adder, which

will not hearken unto the voice of the charmer, though he charm never

so wisely. You will not hearken unto the invitations of Christ; you can

hearken unto the vanities of the world, and be delighted with the

espousals of the world, but never think or are delighted with the

espousals of Christ.

It was by the ear, that the temptation of sin was received by the first

man, when he departed from God; and by the ear, the invitation to be

Christ's spouse must be received, before the heart will be opened to

receive Jesus Christ in this conjugal relation.

If you would, my dear sisters, be espoused to Christ, you must consider

Christ's invitation. It is not a slight or bare hearing of Christ's

invitation, which will be of any service to you, or make up the match

between Christ and your souls; no, you must receive Christ in the

heart; you must consider the thing itself, the advantages of it, the

difference between Christ's invitations and the devil's temptations, or

any of the world's proffers.

Those who would be espoused to Christ, must be inclined to accept of

Christ's invitation. "Hearken, O daughter, consider and incline thine

ear." This is to incline your hearts: You must consent with your wills;

there must be a compliance to the motion of Christ, and you must have

desires after Christ, and then your hearts will say, "Lord, let us be

thy spouse, and be thou our beloved."

You must likewise forget your father's house. "Hearken, O daughter, and

consider, and forget thy father's house." You are not here to cast off

all affections unto natural relations; but you must forget all

relations, so as to be ready to forgo all their favor, when it standeth

in competition with that of the Lord Jesus Christ: and do not let your

carnal friends and relations hinder you from closing with, and

espousing the Lord Jesus. I earnestly beseech you to suffer the loss of

any thing, rather than to lose his favors; you must indeed forget your

own people, that is, you must forget all your evil customs which you

have learned in your father's house, and forsake all your vain

conversation, your reading of plays, novels, or romances; and you must

keep from learning to sing the songs of the drunkard; for Christ, if

you are his spouse, hath redeem you.

Such of you, my dear sisters, as are espoused to the Lord Jesus Christ

are very beautiful. I do not mean in respect of your bodies; you may

have less of external comeliness than others, in respect of your

bodies, but as to your souls you will exceed in beauty, not so much in

the eyes of man, as in the eyes of God; such have the most beautiful

image of God stamped upon them; none in the world beside them, have the

least spark of spiritual beauty. Such as are not married to Christ, are

unregenerated, they are not born again, nor brought from sin unto God,

which must be done before you be espoused to Christ.

And the Lord Jesus Christ desireth to see this beauty in his spouse,

for he cries out, "O my dove, thou are in the clefts of the rock, in

the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me

hear thy voice, for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely."

He calleth his spouse his love, being the dear object of his love; and

he admireth her loveliness; he repeats it twice in one verse, "Behold

thou art fair, my love, behold thou art fair." Thus you see he

describes their beauty. And then, my sisters, we have wonderful

expression of Christ to his spouse, "Thou hast ravished my heart, my

sister, my spouse, thou hast ravished my heart with one of thine eyes,

with one chain of thy neck." Thus you see how pleased the Lord Jesus

Christ is with his spouse; and will not you, therefore, be espoused

unto the Lord Jesus? I offer Jesus Christ to all of you; if you have

been never so notorious for sin, if you have been as great a harlot as

Mary Magdalen was, when once you are espoused to Christ, you shall be

forgiven. Therefore be not discouraged, at whatever slights and

contempts the world may pass upon you, but come and join yourselves to

the Lord Jesus Christ, and all your sins shall be washed away in his

blood; and when once you are espoused to Jesus, you are disjoined from

sin, you are born again. You are now, as it were, espoused unto sin;

sin is your husband, and you are too fond of it, but when once you are

married to Christ, when you are born again, then you may be said to die

unto sin; but till then, sin liveth in your affections; therefore, my

sisters, give sin its death-wound in your hearts; you have been called

by the word time after time, and it has had no effect upon you; but

when you are espoused unto the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will be

brought to him by his Spirit: You will then lay hold on him by faith,

his Spirit will draw you unto himself; he will make you to be willing

in the day of his power; he will give you faith in him. Faith is the

hand of the soul which layeth hold on Christ; therefore do not rest

contented till you have this grace of faith wrought in you with power;

do not be contented till you have received the Lord Jesus Christ.

Embrace Christ in the arms of your dearest love; then you love the Lord

Jesus Christ with sincerity, when you love and esteem him before

father, mother, or all the delights and pleasures of this life, but if

you do delight in any thing that this world can produce, more than in

the Lord Jesus Christ, you have not true love to him.

If you are espoused to Christ, you have acquaintance and converse with

him; you will endeavor to promote his interest, and advance his name in

the world; when others are going to the polite and fashionable

diversions of life, you will be laboring to bring honor to the Lord

Jesus Christ; you will commend your beloved above all other beloveds,

and endeavor to bring others into love to him. Can you, my dear

sisters, who are now assembled to worship God, show such evidence of

your espousals unto the Lord Jesus Christ? O! how joyful, how

comfortable an estate is this! Surely this is a marriage worth seeking

after; this is the only desirable marriage, and the Lord Jesus Christ

is the only lover that is worth seeking after.

Now, my dear sisters, I shall speak a few words to those of you who

have not yet espoused yourselves to the Lord Jesus. It is a great sin,

and surely you highly affront the Lord that bought you. It is likewise

your folly to refuse and neglect the gracious proffers of being the

spouse of Christ; hereby you forfeit all that love which he would

bestow upon you; hereby you choose rags before robes, dross before

gold, pebbles before jewels, built before a pardon, wounds before

healing, defilement before cleansing, deformity before comeliness,

trouble before peace, slavery before liberty, the service of the devil

before the service of Christ. Hereby you choose dishonor before a

crown, death before life, hell before heaven, eternal misery and

torment before everlasting joy and glory. And need there a further

evidence of your folly and madness, in refusing and neglecting Christ

to be your spouse.

My dear sisters, I should exceed the limits of your time, should I

particularize all the advantages which you would obtain by being

espoused to the Lord Jesus. This is your wisdom; they are foolish

virgins who refuse; but you are the wise virgins who have accepted of

the Lord Jesus Christ, and have disposed of yourselves to him; you have

made the wisest choice; and however the blind world may deem you fools,

and despise you as being methodically mad, yet you are wise in the

esteem of God, and will, one day, appear so in the esteem of them that

now despise you. It is your glory that you are espoused unto the Lord

Jesus; and therefore glory is your espousal; glory not in yourselves,

but in the Lord who hath thus freely and graciously bestowed these

favors upon you. It is your safety to be espoused unto the Lord Jesus

Christ, he will protect and defend you even from sin and Satan, and

eternal ruin; and therefore thus far you are safe; he hath a regard for

you in times of danger from men, and these times of danger seem to be

hastening; it is now arising as a black cloud no bigger than a man's

hand, and by and by it will overspread the heavens, and when it is full

it will burst; but if you are espoused to Christ, you are safe.

Now, my dear sisters, I shall conclude with an earnest exhortation to

high and low, rich and poor, one with another, to be espoused unto

Christ.

Let me speak unto you, young women, who are not yet espoused unto

Christ, in an especial manner. It may be to satisfy your curiosity, has

brought many of you here; though, perhaps, this may be the time when

you shall be brought home to embrace the Lord Jesus, and be espoused to

him. And O, that I may persuade you, by his Spirit, to espouse

yourselves unto the Lord of life.

And if you are but brought to close with the Lord Jesus Christ, I shall

attain my end, and then both you and I shall rejoice that I preached

this sermon to you.

Come virgins, will you give me leave to be a suitor unto you, not in my

own name, but in the name of the Lord? O! that I may prevail with you

for your affections, and persuade you to give them unto Christ! May I

be instrumental of bringing your souls unto Christ! May I be

instrumental to join you and Christ together this day!

Be not coy (bashful, shy; showing reluctance to make a definite

commitment), as some of you possibly are in other loves: modesty and

the virgin blush may very well come you, when proposals of another kind

are made unto you; but here coyness is filly, and backwardness to

accept of this motion, is shame: you have ten thousand times more

reason to blush at the refusal of Christ for your beloved, than at the

acceptance; when otherwise the devil and sin would ravish your virgin

affections. Never had you a better motion made to you; never was such a

match proffered to you as this, of being matched and espoused unto the

Lord Jesus Christ.

Consider who the Lord Jesus is, whom you are invited to espouse

yourselves unto; he is the best husband; there is none comparable to

Jesus Christ.

Do you desire one that is great? He is of the highest dignity, he is

the glory of heaven, the darling of eternity, admired by angels,

dreaded by devils, and adored by saints. For you to be espoused to so

great a king, what honor will you have by this espousal?

Do you desire one that is rich? None is comparable to Christ, the

fullness of the earth belongs to him. If you be espoused to Christ, you

shall share in his unsearchable riches; you shall receive of his

fullness, even grace for grace here, and you shall hereafter be

admitted to glory, and shall live with this Jesus to all eternity.

Do you desire one that is wise? There is none comparable to Christ for

wisdom. His knowledge is infinite, and his wisdom is correspondent

thereto. And if you are espoused to Christ, he will guide and counsel

you, and make you wise unto salvation.

Do you desire one that is potent, who may defend you against your

enemies, and all the insults and reproaches of the Pharisees of this

generation? There is none that can equal Christ in power; for the Lord

Jesus Christ hath all power.

Do you desire one that is good? There is none like unto Christ in this

regard; others may have some goodness, but it is imperfect; Christ's

goodness is complete and perfect, he is full of goodness and in him

dwelleth no evil.

Do you desire one that is beautiful? His eyes are most sparkling, his

looks and glances of love are ravishing, his smiles are most delightful

and refreshing unto the soul: Christ is the most lovely person of all

others in the world.

Do you desire one that can love you? None can love you like Christ: His

love, my dear sisters, is incomprehensible; his love passeth all other

loves: The love of the Lord Jesus is first, without beginning; his love

is free without any motive; his love is great without any measure; his

love is constant without any change, and his love is everlasting.

It was the love of the Lord Jesus Christ, my dear sisters, which

brought him down from heaven; and which veiled his divinity in a human

soul and body; for he is God over all blessed for ever: It was love

that made him subject to hunger, thirst and sorrow; he was humbled,

even unto death for you; for you who are espoused to him, he underwent

the painful, shameful and ignominious death of the cross: and can you,

my sisters, hear this, and not be concerned to think that the blessed

Jesus underwent all this for such sinful creatures as you and I are?

And when out of love he had finished the redemption on earth, as to

what was needful for satisfaction; it was his love that carried him

back to heaven, where he was before, that he might make application of

what he had purchased, that there he might make intercession for those

whom he had redeemed, and prepare a place for them, even glorious

mansions with himself, in the house not made with hands, which is

eternal in the heavens. It is out of love that he sendeth such tokens

to his people from heaven to earth, which he conveyeth through his

ordinances, by his Spirit unto them. Surely then none is so deserving

as the Lord Jesus Christ for you to espouse yourselves unto: if you be

espoused unto Christ he is yours, all that he is, all that he hath; you

shall have his heart, and share in the choicest expressions of his

dearest love.

The Lord Jesus Christ, my dear sisters, doth beseech you to be his

spouse. We ministers have a commission from the Lord Jesus Christ to

invite you, in his name, unto this very thing; and Christ's invitations

are real; general; frequent; earnest; free.

Christ's invitations of you, to be his spouse, are real: and as the

thing is real, so you, my dear sisters, are really invited unto it. The

Lord doth not mock and dissemble with you, as some pretending lovers,

who dissemble love unto virgins, until they have gained their

affections, and then falsely and basely relinquish them, never really

intending either to espouse, or marry them: but the Lord doth really

intend the thing, in his invitations of you; he never cast off any

whose consent and affections he had gained. Again,

Christ's invitations of you, my dear sisters, are general. All of you

are invited, none of you are excluded; all sorts of sinners are

invited; the most vile and abominable sinners, the most notorious

transgressors are invited to be Christ's spouse, and shall be as

welcome as any unto the embraces of his love.

Christ's invitations of you are frequent: Jesus Christ calls on you

frequently; he hath waited on you time after time, one year after

another; and he doth now invite you, by me this day, to come unto Him.

Do not slight this invitation, but receive it with joy and

thankfulness. Come, I beseech you, to this Jesus, who thus, invites you

to be his spouse. Again,

Christ's invitations to be his spouse are earnest: he doth call upon

you, and not only call, but call earnestly too; yea, he useth many

arguments with you; he will press you to come unto him; he is loth

(loathe) to take any denial from you: he knocks, and knocks hard at the

door of your hearts for entertainment; and surely you will not deny the

Lord of life and glory who died for you, and gave himself for you: O my

dear sisters, let this be the evening of your espousals to the Lord

Jesus Christ.

He invites you freely to be his spouse, for all his invitations are

free; he doth not expect a portion with you, as worldly lovers do; He

wants nothing of you: nay, you must have nothing, if you be espoused

unto the Lord Jesus Christ. If you be poor, miserable, blind, naked,

Jesus Christ will supply all these defects of his own free mercy; he

will fill and supply you with all things out of his treasury; he will

make you meet for himself; he will prepare you to live with him for

ever.

Consider, if you be once espoused unto Christ, if once joined in this

relation, you shall never be separated from him; neither men nor devils

shall be able to separate you: none, none, shall disjoin you; and when

death doth break all other bonds, it shall not break the conjugal bond

between you and Christ, but bring you unto the most full and

everlasting possession of your beloved.

And what do you now say, young women? Shall I have a grant for my

master, or be sent away with a repulse and refusal; no, I cannot carry

such a message to my master; I hope better things of you, my sisters,

and things which accompany salvation: methinks by this time ye should

begin to have a mind unto Jesus Christ; you look as if you did desire;

you hearken as if you would consent. What do you say? Shall the match

be made up this evening between Christ and your souls? O that I may be

instrumental in joining your hands, or rather your hearts together: O

that I may be instrumental to tie that knot, which never can be

unloosed.

Some marry in haste, and repent at leisure; but if you were once

espoused unto Jesus Christ, you would never repent; nothing would

grieve you, but that you were not joined to him sooner; and you would

not be disjoined again for all the world.

Shall this be the day of your espousals? Some of you have stayed a long

time; and will you defer any longer? If you will not now, perhaps you

may never have another opportunity; this may be the last time of

asking; and therefore it is dangerous to refuse; some of you are very

young, too young for other espousals; but none of you, by dear sisters,

are too young to be espoused unto the Lord Jesus Christ: in other

espousals, you must have the consent of your parents; but in this you

are at your own disposal; you may give, and ought to match yourselves

to Christ, whether parents do consent or not.

But if any of you should ask, what you must do that you may be espoused

unto Christ? You must be sensible of your need of being espoused to

him, and until you are sensible of your need of the Lord Jesus Christ,

you cannot be espoused to him: You must have desires after this Jesus,

and seek unto him for an interest in him, you must cry nightly unto him

to espouse you to himself; put off the filthiness of sin and all its

defilements; and then, my sisters, put on the white raiment, and clean

garments, which Christ hath provided for you, the robes of his

righteousness; in these garments you shall be beautiful; and in these

garments you shall be accepted: you must have the wedding garment on;

you must put off all your own good works, for they will be but a means

to keep you from Christ; no, you must come as not having your own

righteousness, which is of the law, but you must have the righteousness

of Christ. Therefore, come unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and he will give

it to you; he will not send you away without it. Receive him upon his

own terms, and he is yours forever: O devote yourselves to him, soul

and body, and all, to be his for ever; and Christ will be yours and

then happy, happy you, that ever you were born! But if any of you die

before this espousal unto the Lord Jesus Christ, then woe, woe, unto

you, that ever you had a being in life; but if you go to Christ you

shall be espoused unto the Lord Jesus: though your sins have been never

so great, yea, the blood of Christ will cleanse you from them; the

marriage covenant between Christ and your souls will dissolve all your

sins; you will then be weary of your old ways, for all things will

become new in your souls.

Now, my dear sisters, I shall conclude by just speaking a word or two

to those of you, who are already espoused unto the Lord Jesus Christ.

O admire, admire the rich and free grace, which hath brought you to

this relation: Is not this an instance of the greatest of love, that

you should be the spouse of the Lord Jesus Christ? You that had no

beauty, you that had no comeliness, that was full of sin, that He

should embrace such as you and I are; that we should be taken into the

embrace of this Lord Jesus. O infinite condescending kindness! O

amazing love! Reverence, reverence, I beseech you, this Lord Jesus

Christ.

He is you Lord, and you must reverence him, love and be faithful unto

him, be subject to him, and careful to please him in every thing;

endeavor to keep up a daily communion with him; look, long and prepare

for Christ's second appearance, when the nuptials between you shall be

solemnized, and you live with him in mansions of everlasting joys,

where you shall love and live with this king of glory for ever and

ever.

I know not how to conclude; methinks I could speak to you till

midnight, if it would bring you unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and make

you be espoused to him, for indeed, that will be the espousal which

will turn to the greatest advantage, as you will find by experience, if

you will but make the trial; and that you may do so, my prayers and my

constant endeavor shall be used.

I will, my dear sisters, spend and be spent for you, and by the

assistance of God, will persevere in this that I have begun; and as

many of you may have opportunity some evening in the week, without

breaking in on the business of life; I shall therefore, my sisters,

either be here, or where you shall be publicly acquainted with: I will

not mind being reproached or despised: the men of this world may use

what language the please; they may say I am a Methodist. Indeed, my

sisters, I am resolved, by the grace of God, to use all methods I can,

to pluck you from Satan, that you may be as brands plucked from the

burning fire: this shall be my method, which I hope will be the means

of effectually having your precious and immortal souls.

And if I am the instrument of this, I shall rejoice, yea, and I will

rejoice in spite of what men, or devils, can say or do to the contrary:

and may the Lord Jesus Christ direct, and assist me at all times, to

act what will be most for is glory, and the welfare of your souls: and

may you all say a hearty Amen thereto.

"Now the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God over all, blessed for ever,

assist and watch over you, keep you from all evil and sin here, and

present you before his Father faultless at the great day of account! To

this Lord Jesus Christ, the Father , and the blessed Spirit, three

persons and but one eternal and invisible God, be ascribed all honor,

power, glory, might, majesty and dominion, now, henceforth, and for

ever more. Amen, Amen."

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the

fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all, to comfort under, and

deliver you from tribulation; to preserve you to your respective place

of abode; and when there, to keep you in his fear, that you may live to

his glory; that to live may be Christ's, and to die by your eternal

gain; so that you may live with him through eternal ages, and sing

Hallelujahs to him for ever. Amen."

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[2] Preached to a Society of Young Women, in Fetter-Lane

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Britain's Mercies, and Britain's Duty [3]

Psalm 55:45 -- "That they might observe his statutes and keep his

laws."

Men, brethren, and fathers, and all ye to whom I am about to preach the

kingdom of God, I suppose you need not be informed, that being

indispensably obliged to be absent on your late thanksgiving day, I

could not show my obedience to the governor's proclamation, as my own

inclination led me, or as might justly be expected from, and demanded

of me. But as the occasion of that day's thanksgiving is yet, and I

trust ever will be, fresh in our memory, I cannot think that a

discourse on that subject can even now be altogether unseasonable. I

take it for granted, further, that you need not be informed, that among

the various motives which are generally urged to enforce obedience to

the divine commands, that of love is the most powerful and cogent. The

terrors of the law ma affright and awe, but love dissolves and melts

the heart. "The love of Christ," says the great apostle of the

Gentiles, "constraineth us." Nay, love is so absolutely necessary for

those that name the name of Christ, that without it, their obedience

cannot truly be stiled evangelical, or be acceptable in the sight of

God. "Although, (says the apostle) I bestow all my goods to feed the

poor, and though I give my body to be burnt, and have not charity,"

(i.e. unless unfeigned love to God, and to mankind for his great name's

sake, be the principle of such actions, howsoever it may benefit

others) it profiteth me nothing." This is the constant language of the

lively oracles of God. And, from them it is equally plain, that nothing

has a greater tendency to beget and excite such an obediential love in

us, than a serious and frequent consideration of the manifold mercies

we receive time after time from the bands of our heavenly Father. The

royal psalmist, who had the honor of being stiled, "the man after God's

own heart," had an abundant experience of this. Hence it is, that

whilst he is musing on the divine goodness, the fire of divine love

kindles in his soul; and, out of the abundance of his heart, his mouth

speaketh such grateful and ecstatic language as this, "What shall I

render unto the Lord for all his mercies? Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me, bless his holy name." And why? "who

forgiveth all thine iniquities, who healeth all thy diseases, who

redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving

kindness and tender mercies." And when the same holy man of God had a

mind to stir up the people of the Jews to set about a national

reformation, as the most weighty and prevailing argument he could make

use of for that purpose, he lays before them, as it were, in a draught,

many national mercies, and distinguishing deliverances, which have been

conferred upon and wrought out for them, by the most high God. The

psalm to which the words of our text belong, is a pregnant proof of

this; it being a kind of epitome or compendium of the whole Jewish

history: at least it contains an enumeration of man signal and

extraordinary blessings the Israelites had received from God, and also

the improvement they were in duty bound to make of them, "Observe his

statues and keep his laws."

To run through all the particulars of the psalm, or draw a parallel

(which might with great ease and justice be done) between God's

dealings with us and the Israelites of old; To enumerate all the

national mercies bestowed upon, and remarkable deliverances wrought out

for the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland, from the infant state of

William the Norman to their present manhood, and more than Augustan,

under the auspicious reign of our rightful Sovereign King George the

second; howsoever pleasing and profitable it might be at any other

time, would, at this juncture, prove, if not an irksome, yet an

unreasonable undertaking.

The occasion of the late solemnity, I mean the suppression of a most

horrid and unnatural rebellion, will afford more than sufficient matter

for a discourse of this nature, and furnish us with abundant motives to

love and obey that glorious Jehovah, who giveth salvation unto kings,

and delivers his people from the hurtful sword.

Need I make an apology, before this auditory, if, in order to see the

greatness of our late deliverance, I should remind you of the many

unspeakable blessings which we have for a course of years enjoyed,

during the reign of his present Majesty, and the gentle, mile

administration under which we live? Without justly incurring the

censure of giving flattering titles, I believe all who have eyes to

see, and ears to hear, and are but a little acquainted with our public

affairs, must acknowledge, that we have one of the best of Kings. It is

now above nineteen years since he began to reign over us. And yet, was

he seated on a royal throne, and were all his subjects placed before

him, was he to address them as Samuel once addressed the Israelites,

"Behold here I am, old and gray-headed, witness against me before the

Lord, whose ox have I taken? Or whose ass have I taken? Or whom have I

defrauded? Whom have I oppressed?" They must, if they would do him

justice, make the same answer as was given to Samuel, "Thou hast not

defrauded us, nor oppressed us." What Tertulius, by way of flattery,

said to Felix, may with the strictest justice be applied to our

sovereign, "By thee we enjoy great quietness, and very worthy deeds

have been done unto our nation by thy providence." He has been indeed

Peter Patria, a father to our country, and though old and gray-headed,

has jeopardized his precious life for us in the high places of the

field. Nor has he less deserved the great and glorious title, which the

Lord promises, that kings should sustain in the latter days, I mean, "a

nursing father of the church." For not only the Church of England, as

by law established, but all denominations of Christians whatsoever,

have enjoyed their religious as well as civil liberties. As there has

been no authorized oppression in the state, so there has been no

publicly allowed persecution in the church. We breathe indeed in free

air? As free (if not better) both as to temporals and spirituals, as

any nation under heaven. Nor is the prospect likely to terminate in his

majesty's death, which I pray God to defer. Our princesses are disposed

of to Protestant powers. And we have great reason to be assured, that

the present heir apparent, and his consort, are like minded with their

royal father. And I cannot help thinking, that it is a peculiar

blessing vouchsafed us by the King of kings, that his present Majesty

has been continued so long among us. For now, his immediate successor

(though his present situation obliges him, as it were, to lie dormant)

has great and glorious opportunities, which we have reason to think he

daily improves, of observing and weighing the national affairs,

considering the various steps and turns of government, and consequently

of laying in a large fund of experience, to make him a wise and great

prince, if ever God should call him to sway the British scepter. Happy

art thou, O England! Happy art thou, O America, who on every side art

thus highly favored!

But, alas! How soon would this happy scene have shifted, and a

melancholy gloomy prospect have succeeded in its room, had the revels

gained their point, and a popish abjured pretender been forced upon the

British throne! For, supposing his birth not to be spurious, (as we

have great reason to think it really was) what could we expect from

one, descended from a father, who, when Duke of York, put all Scotland

into confusion; and afterwards, when crowned King of England, for his

arbitrary and tyrannical government, both in church and state, was

justly obliged to abdicate the throne, by the assertors of British

liberty? Or, supposing the horrid plot, first hatched in hell, and

afterwards nursed at Rome, had taken place? Supposing, I say, the old

Pretender should have obtained the triple crown, and have transferred

his pretended title (as it is reported he has done) to his eldest son,

what was all this for, but that, by being advanced to the popedom, he

might rule both son and subjects with less control, and by their united

interest, keep the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland, in

greater vassalage to the see of Rome? Ever since this unnatural

rebellion broke out, I have looked upon the young Pretender as the

phaeton (vehicle) of the present age. He is ambitiously and

presumptuously aiming to seat himself in the throne of our rightful

sovereign King George, which he is no more capable of keeping, than

Phaetan was to guide the chariot of the sun; and had he succeeded in

his attempt, like him, would only have set the world on fire. It is

true, to do him justice, he has deserved well of the Church of Rome,

and, in all probability, will hereafter be canonized amongst the noble

order of their fictitious saints. But, with what an iron rod we might

expect to have been bruised, had his troops been victorious, may easily

be gathered from these cruel orders said to be found in the pockets of

some of his officers, "Give no quarters to the Elector's troops." Add

to this, that there was great reason to suspect, that, upon the first

news of the success of the rebels, a general massacre was intended. So

that if the Lord had not been on our side, Great Britain, not to say

America, would, in a few weeks or months, have been an Akeldama, a

field of blood.

Besides, was a Popish pretender to rule over us, instead of being

represented by a free parliament, and governed by laws made by their

consent, as we now are; we should shortly have had only the shadow of

one, and it may be no parliament at all. This is the native product of

a Popish government, and what the unhappy family, from which this young

adventurer pretends he descended, has always aimed at. Arbitrary

principles he has sucked in with his mother's milk, and if he had been

so honest, instead of that immature motto upon his standard, Tandem

triumphant, only to have put, Sret pro ratient Vahmitat, he had given

us a short, but true portrait of the nature of his intended, but

blessed be God, now defeated reign. And why should I mention, that the

sinking of the national debt, or rending away the funded property of

the people, and the dissolution of the present happy union between the

two kingdoms, would have been the immediate consequences of his

success, as he himself declares in his second manifesto, dated from

Holy-read House? These are evils, and great ones too; but then they are

only evils of a temporary nature. They chiefly concern the body, and

must necessarily terminate in the grave.

But, alas! What an inundation of spiritual mischiefs, would soon have

overflowed the Church, and what unspeakable danger should we and our

posterity have been reduced to in respect to our better parts, our

precious and immortal souls? How soon would whole swarms of monks,

dominicans and friars, like so many locusts, have overspread and

plagued the nation; with what winged speed would foreign titular

bishops have posted over, in order to take possession of their

respective fees? How quickly would our universities have been filled

with youths who have been sent abroad by their Popish parents, in order

to drink in all the superstitions of the church of Rome? What a speedy

period would have been put to societies of all kinds, for promoting

Christian knowledge, and propagating the gospel in foreign parts? How

soon would have our pulpits have every where been filled with these old

antichristian doctrines, free-will, meriting by works,

transubstantiation, purgatory, works of supererogation,

passive-obedience, non-resistance, and all the other abominations of

the whore of Babylon? How soon would our Protestant charity schools in

England, Scotland and Ireland, have been pulled down, our Bibles

forcibly taken from us, and ignorance every where set up as the mother

of devotion? How soon should we have been deprived of that invaluable

blessing, liberty of conscience, and been obliged to commence (what

they falsely call) catholics, or submit to all the tortures which a

bigoted zeal, guided by the most cruel principles, could possibly

invent? How soon would that mother of harlots have made herself once

more drunk with the blood of the saints? And the whole tribe even of

free-thinkers themselves, been brought to this dilemma, either to die

martyrs for (although I never yet heard of one that did so) or,

contrary to all their most avowed principles, renounce their great

Diana, unassisted, unenlightened reason? But I must have done, lest

while I am speaking against antichrist, I should unawares fall myself,

and lead my hearers into an antichristian spirit. True and undefiled

religion will regulate our zeal, and teach us to treat even the man of

sin with no harsher language than that which the angel gave to his

grand employer Satan, "The Lord rebuke thee."

Glory be to God's great name! The Lord has rebuked him; and that too at

a time when we had little reason to expect such a blessing at God's

hands. My dear hearers, neither the present frame of my heart, nor the

occasion of your late solemn meeting, lead me to give you a detail of

our public vices. Though, alas! They are so many, so notorious, and

withal of such a crimson-dye, that a gospel minister would not be

altogether inexcusable, was he, even on such a joyful occasion, to lift

up his voice like a trumpet, to show the British nation their

transgression, and the people of America their sin. However, though I

would not cast a dismal shade upon the pleasing picture the cause of

our late rejoicings set before us; yet thus much may, and ought to be

said, that as God has not dealt so bountifully with any people as with

us, so no nation under heaven has dealt more ungratefully with Him. We

have been like Capernaum, lifted up to heaven in privileges, and for

the abuse of them, like her, have deserved to be thrust down into hell.

How well soever it may be with us, in respect to our civil and

ecclesiastical constitution, yet in regard to our morals, Isaiah's

description of the Jewish polity is too applicable, "The whole head is

sick, the whole heart is faint; from the crown of the head to the sole

of our feet, we are full of wounds and bruises, and putrifying sores."

We have, Jeshurun-like, waxed fat and kicked. We have played the harlot

against God, both in regard to principles and practices. "Our gold is

become dim, and our fine gold changed." We have crucified the Son of

God afresh, and put him to an open shame. Nay, Christ has been wounded

in the house of his friends. And every thing long ago seemed to

threaten an immediate storm. But, O the long-suffering and goodness of

God to us-ward! When all things seemed ripe for destruction, and

matters were come to such a crisis, that God's praying people began to

think, that though Noah, Daniel and Job, were living, they would only

deliver their own souls; yet then in the midst of judgment the Most

High remembered mercy, and when a popish enemy was breaking in upon us

like a flood, the Lord himself graciously lifted up a standard.

This to me does not seem to be one of the most unfavorable

circumstances which have attended this mighty deliverance; nor do I

think you will look upon it as a circumstance altogether unworthy your

observation. Had this cockatrice indeed been crushed in the egg, and

the young Pretender driven back upon his first arrival, it would

undoubtedly have been a great blessing. But not so great as that for

which you lately assembled to give God thanks; for then his Majesty

would not have had so good an opportunity of knowing his enemies, or

trying his friends. The British subjects would in a manner have lost

the fairest occasion that ever offered to express their loyalty and

gratitude to the rightful sovereign. France would not have been so

greatly humbled; nor such an effectual stop have been put, as we trust

there now is, to any such further Popish plot, to rob us of all that is

near and dear to us. "Out of the eater therefore hath come forth meat,

and out of the strong hath come forth sweetness." The Pretender's

eldest son is suffered not only to land in the North-West Highlands in

Scotland, but in a little while he becomes a great band. This for a

time is not believed, but treated as a thing altogether incredible. The

friends of the government in those parts, not for want of loyalty, but

of sufficient authority to take up arms, could not resist him. He is

permitted to pass on with his terrible banditti, and, like the comet

that was lately seen, spreads his baleful influences all around him. He

is likewise permitted to gain a short-lived triumph by a victory over a

body of our troops at Prestan-Pans, and to take a temporary possession

of the metropolis of Scotland. Of this he makes his boast, and informs

the public, that "Providence had hitherto favored him with wonderful

success, led him in the way to victory, and to the capital of the

ancient kingdom, though he came without foreign aid." Nay, he is

further permitted to press into the very heart of England. But now the

Almighty interposes. Hitherto he was to go, and no further. Here were

his malicious designs to be staid. His troops of s sudden are driven

back. Away they post to the Highlands, and there they are suffered not

only to increase, but also to collect themselves into a large body,

that having, as it were, what Caligula once wished Rome had, but one

neck, they might be cut off with one blow.

This time, manner, and instruments of this victory, deserves our

notice. It was on a general fast-day, when the clergy and good people

of Scotland were lamenting the disloyalty of their persidious

countrymen, and, like Moses, lifting up their hands, that Amalek might

not prevail. The victory was total and decisive. Little blood was spilt

on the side of the Royalists. And, to crown all, Duke William, his

Majesty's youngest son, has the honor of first driving back, and then

defeating the rebel-army. A prince, who in his infancy and youth, gave

early proofs of an uncommon bravery and nobleness of mind; a prince,

whose courage has increased with his years. Who returned wounded from

the battle of Dettingen, behaved with surprising bravery at Fontenoy,

and now, by a conduct and magnanimity becoming the high office he

sustains, like his glorious predecessor the Prince of Orange, has

delivered three kingdoms from the dread of popish cruelty, and

arbitrary power. What renders it still more remarkable is, The day on

which his Highness gained this victory, was the day after his birthday,

when he was entering on the 26th year of his age; and when Sullivan,

one of the Pretender's privy-council, like another Abitaphel, advised

the rebels to give our soldiers battle, presuming they were surfeited

and over-charged with their yesterday's rejoicings, and consequently

unfit to make any great stand against them. But, glory be to God, who

catches the wise in their own craftiness! His counsel, like

Ahitaphel's, proves abortive. Both General and soldiers were prepared

to meet them. "God taught their hands to war, and their fingers to

fight," and brought the Duke, after a deserved slaughter of some

thousands of the rebels, with most of his brave soldiers, victorious

from the field.

If we then take a distinct view of this notable transaction, and trace

it in all the particular circumstances that have attended it, I believe

we must with one heart and voice confess, that if it be a mercy for a

state to be delivered from a worse than a Catiline's conspiracy, or a

church to be rescued from a hotter than a Dioclestan persecution; if it

be a mercy to be delivered from a religion that turns plough-shares

into swords, and pruning-hooks into spears, and makes it meritorious to

shed Protestant blood; if it be a mercy to have all our present

invaluable privileges, both in church and state secured to us more than

ever; if it be a mercy to have these great things done for us, at a

season, when for our crying sins, both church and state justly deserved

to be overturned; and if it be a mercy to have all this brought about

for us, under God, by one of the blood-royal, a prince acting with an

experience far above his years; if any, or all of these are mercies,

then have you lately commemorated one of the greatest mercies that ever

the glorious God vouchsafed to the British nation.

And shall we not rejoice and give thanks? Should we refuse, would not

the stones cry out against us? Rejoice then we may and ought: but, O

let our rejoicing be in the Lord, and run in a religious channel. This,

we find, has been the practice of God's people in all ages. When he was

pleased, with a mighty hand, and out-stretched arm to lead the

Israelites through the Red Sea, as on dry ground, "Then sang Moses and

the children of Israel; and Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron,

took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women went out after her. And

Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the Lord; for he hath triumphed

gloriously." When God subdued Jabin, the King of Canaan, before the

children of Israel, "then sang Deborah and Barak on that day, saying,

"Praise ye the Lord for the avenging of Israel." When the ark was

brought back out of the hands of the Philistines, David, though a king,

danced before it. And, to mention but one instance more, which may

serve as a general directory to us on this and such-like occasions:

when the great Head of the church had rescued his people from the

general massacre intended to be executed upon them by a cruel and

ambitious Haman, "Mordecai sent letters unto all the Jews that were in

all the provinces of the King Ahaserus, both nigh and far, to establish

among them, that they should keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar,

and the fifteenth day of the same yearly, as the days wherein the Jews

rested from their enemies, and the month which was turned unto them

from sorrow unto joy, and from mourning into a good day: that they

should make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one

to another, and gifts to the poor." And why should wee not to and do

likewise?

And shall we not also, on such an occasion, express our gratitude to,

and make honorable mention of, those worthies who have signalized

themselves, and been ready to sacrifice both lives and fortunes at this

critical juncture?

This would be to act the part of those ungrateful Israelites, who are

branded in the book of God, for not showing kindness to the house of

"Jerub-Baal, namely Gideon, according to all the goodness which he

showed unto Israel." Even a Pharaoh could prefer a deserving Joseph,

Ahasuerus a Mordecai, and Nebuchadnezzar a Daniel, when made

instruments of signal service to themselves and people. "My heart, says

Deborah, is towards (i.e. I have a particular veneration and regard

for) the Governors of Israel that offered themselves willingly. And

blessed above women shall Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite be; for she

put her hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workman's hammer,

and with the hammer she smote Sisera, she smote off his head, when she

had pierced and stricken through his temples." And shall we not say,

"Blessed above men let his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland be;

for through his instrumentality, the great and glorious Jehovah hath

brought might things to pass?" Should not our hearts be towards the

worthy Archbishop of Tirk, the Royal Hunters, and those other English

heroes who offered themselves so willingly? Let the names of Blakeney,

Bland and Rea, and all those who waxed valiant in fight on this

important occasion, live for ever in the British annals. And let the

name of that great, that incomparable brave soldier of the King, and a

good soldier of Jesus Christ, Colonel Gardiner, (excuse me if I here

drop a tear; he was my intimate friend) let his name, I say, be had in

everlasting remembrance.

But, after all, is there not an infinitely greater debt of gratitude

and praise due from us, on this occasion, to Him that is higher than

the highest, even the King of kings and Lord of Lords, the blessed and

only Potentate? Is not his arm, his strong and mighty arm, (what

instruments soever may have been made use of) that hath brought us this

salvation? And may I not therefore address you, in the exulting

language of the beginning of this psalm, from which we have taken our

text? "O give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his

deeds among the people. Sing unto Him; sing psalms unto him; talk ye of

all his wondrous works; glory ye in his holy name; remember his

marvelous work which he hath done."

But shall we put off our good and gracious benefactor with mere lip-

service? God forbid. Your worthy Governor has honored God in his late

excellent proclamation, and God will honor him. But shall our thanks

terminate with the day? No, in no wise. Our text reminds us of a more

noble sacrifice, and points out to us the great end the Almighty

Jehovah proposes, in bestowing such signal favors upon a people, "That

they should observe his statutes, and keep his laws."

This is the return we are all taught to pray, that we may make to the

Most High God, the Father of mercies, in the daily office or our

church, "That our hearts may be unfeignedly thankful, and that we may

show forth his praise, not only with our lips, but in our lives, by

giving up ourselves to his service, and by walking before him in

holiness and righteousness all our days." O that these words were the

real language of all the use them! O that these were in us such a mind!

How soon would our enemies then flee before us? And God, even our own

God, would yet give us more abundant blessings!

And why should not we "observe God's statutes, and keep his laws?" Dare

we say, that any of his commands are grievous? Is not Christ's yoke, to

a renewed soul, as far as renewed, easy; and his burden comparatively

light? May I not appeal to the most refined reasoner whether the

religion of Jesus Christ be not a social religion? Whether the Moral

Law, as explained by the Lord Jesus in the gospel, has not a natural

tendency to promote the present good and happiness of a whole

commonwealth, supposing they were obedient to them, as well as the

happiness of every individual? From when come wars and fighting amongst

us? From what fountain do all those evil, which the present and past

ages have groaned under, flow, but from a neglect of the laws and

statues of our great and all-wise law-giver Jesus of Nazareth? Tell me,

ye men of letters, whether Lycurgus or Solon, Pythagoras or Plato,

Aristotle, Seneca, Cicero, or all the ancient lawgivers and heathen

moralists, put them all together, ever published a system of ethics,

any way worthy to be compared with the glorious system laid down in

that much despised book, (to use Sir Richard Steel's expression)

emphatically called, the Scriptures? Is not the divine image and

superscription written upon every precept of the gospel? Do they not

shine with a native intrinsic luster? And, though many things in them

are above, yet, is there any thing contrary to the strictest laws of

right reason? Is not Jesus Christ, in scripture, stiled the Word, the

Logos, the Reason? And is not his service a reasonable service? What if

there be mysteries in his religion? Are they not without all

controversy great and glorious? Are they n9ot mysteries of godliness,

and worthy of that God who reveals them? Nay, is it not the greatest

mystery, that men, who pretend to reason, and call themselves

philosophers, who search into the arcana natura, and consequently find

a mystery in every blade of grass, should yet be so irrational as to

decry all mysteries in religion? Where is the scribe? Where is the

wise? Where is the disputer against the Christian revelation? Does not

every thing without and within us, conspire to prove its divine

original? And would not self-interest, if there was no other motive,

excite us to observe God's statutes, and keep his laws?

Besides, considered as a Protestant people, do we not lie under the

greatest obligations of any nation under heaven, to pay a cheerful,

unanimous, universal, persevering obedience to the divine commands.

The wonderful and surprising manner of God's bringing about a

Reformation, in the reign of King Henry the Eighth; his carrying it on

in the blessed reign of King Edward the Sixth; his delivering us out of

the bloody hands of Queen Mary, and destroying the Spanish invincible

armads, under her immediate Protestant successor Queen Elizabeth, his

discovery of the popish plot under King James; the glorious revolution

by King William, and, to come nearer to our own times, his driving away

four thousand five hundred Spaniards, from a weak (though important)

frontier colony, when they had, in a manner, actually taken possession

of it; his giving us Louisbourg, one of the strongest fortresses of our

enemies, contrary to all human probability, but the other day, into our

hands: these, I say, with the victory which you have lately been

commemorating, are such national mercies, not to mention any more, as

will render us utterly inexcusable, if they do not produce a national

Reformation, and incite us all, with one heart, to keep God's statutes,

and observe his laws.

Need I remind you further, in order to excite in you a greater

diligence to comply with the intent of the text, that though the storm,

in a great measure, is abated by his Royal Highness's late success, yet

we dare not say, it is altogether blown over?

The clouds may again return after the rain; and the few surviving

rebels (which I pray God avert) may yet be suffered to make head

against us. We are still engaged in a bloody, and, in all probability,

a tedious war, with two of the most inveterate enemies to the interests

of Great- Britain. And, though I cannot help thinking, that their

present intentions are so iniquitous, their conduct so persidious, and

their schemes so directly derogatory to the honor of the Most High God,

that he will certainly humble them in the end, yet, as all things in

this life happen alike to all, they may for a time, be dreadful

instruments of scourging us. If not, God has other arrows in his quiver

to smite us with, besides the French King, his Catholic Majesty, or an

abjured Pretender. Not only the sword, but plague, pestilence, and

famine, are under the divine command. Who knows but he may say to them

all, "Pass through these lands?" A fatal murrain has lately swept away

abundance of cattle at home and abroad. A like epidemical disease may

have a commission to seize our persons as well as our beasts. Thus God

dealt with the Egyptians: who dare say, he will not deal so with us?

Has he not already given some symptoms of it? What great numbers upon

the continent have been lately taken off by the bloody-flux, small-pox,

and yellow-fever? Who can tell what further judgments are yet in store?

However, this is certain, the rod is yet hanging over us: and I believe

it will be granted on all sides, that if such various dispensations of

mercy and judgment do not teach the inhabitants of any land to learn

righteousness, they will only ripen them for a greater ruin. Give my

leave, therefore, to dismiss you at this time with that solemn awful

warning and exhortation, with which the venerable Samuel, on a public

occasion, took leave of the people of Israel: "Only fear the Lord, and

serve him in truth, with all your heart: for consider how great things

he hath done for you. But if ye shall still do wickedly, [I will not

say as the Prophet did, You shall be consumed; but] ye know not but you

may provoke the Lord Almighty to consume both you and your king." Which

God of his infinite mercy prevent, for the sake of Jesus Christ: to

whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, three persons, but one God,

be all honor and glory, now and for evermore. Amen, Amen.

__________________________________________________________________

[3] Preached at Philadelphia, on Sunday, August 14, 1746 and Occasioned

by the Suppression of the Late Unnatural Rebellion

__________________________________________________________________

Thankfulness for Mercies Received, a Necessary Duty

Numberless marks does man bear in his soul, that he is fallen and

estranged from God; but nothing gives a greater proof thereof, than

that backwardness, which every one finds within himself, to the duty of

praise and thanksgiving.

When God placed the first man in paradise, his soul no doubt was so

filled with a sense of the riches of the divine love, that he was

continually employing that breath of life, which the Almighty had not

long before breathed into him, in blessing and magnifying that

all-bountiful, all gracious God, in whom he lived, moved, and had his

being.

And the brightest idea we can form of the angelical hierarchy above,

and the spirits of just men made perfect, is, that they are continually

standing round the throne of God, and cease not day and night, saying,

"Worthy art thou, O Lamb that wast slain, to receive power and riches,

and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." Rev.

5:12.

That then, which was man's perfection when time first began, and will

be his employment when death is swallowed up in victory, and time shall

be no more, without controversy, is part of our perfection, and ought

to be our frequent exercise on earth: and I doubt not but those blessed

spirits, who are sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of

salvation, often stand astonished when they encamp around us, or find

our hearts so rarely enlarged, and our mouths so seldom opened, to show

forth the loving- kindness of the Lord, or to speak of all his praise.

Matter for praise and adoration, can never be wanting to creatures

redeemed by the blood of the Son of God; and who have such continual

scenes of his infinite goodness presented to their view, that were

their souls duly affected with a sense of his universal love, they

could not but be continually calling on heaven and earth, men and

angels, to join with them in praising and blessing that "high and lofty

one, who inhabiteth eternity, who maketh his sun to shine on the evil

and on the good," and daily pours down his blessings on the whole race

of mankind.,

But few are arrived to such a degree of charity or love, as to rejoice

with those that do rejoice, and to be as thankful for other mercies, as

their own. This part of Christian perfection, though begun on earth,

will be consummated only in heaven; where our hearts will glow with

such fervent love towards God and one another, that every fresh degree

of glory communicated to our neighbor, will also communicate to us a

fresh topic of thankfulness and joy.

That which has the greatest tendency to excite the generality of fallen

men to praise and thanksgiving, is a sense of God's private mercies,

and particular benefits bestowed upon ourselves. For as these come

nearer our own hearts, so they must be more affecting: and as they are

peculiar proofs, whereby we may know, that God does in a more especial

manner favor us above others, so they cannot but sensibly touch us; and

if our hearts are not quite frozen, like coals of a refiner's fire,

they must melt us down into thankfulness and love. It was a

consideration of the distinguishing favor God had shown to his chosen

people Israel, and the frequent and remarkable deliverance wrought by

him in behalf of "hose who go down to the Sea in ships, and occupy

their business in great matters," that made the holy Psalmist break out

so frequently as he does in this psalm, into this moving, pathetical

exclamation, "that men would therefore praise the Lord for his

goodness, and declare the wonders that he doeth for the children of

men!"

His expressing himself in so fervent a manner, implies both the

importance and neglect of the duty. As when Moses in another occasion

cried out, "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they

would practically consider their latter end!" Deut. 32:29.

I say, importance and neglect of the duty; for out of those man

thousands that receive blessings from the Lord, how few give thanks in

remembrance of his holiness? The account given us of the ungrateful

lepers, is but too lively a representation of the ingratitude of

mankind in general; who like them, when under any humbling providence,

can cry, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" Luke 17:13. But when healed

of their sickness, or delivered from their distress, scarce one in ten

can be found "returning to give thanks to God."

And yet as common as this sin of ingratitude is, there is nothing we

ought more earnestly to pray against. For what is more absolutely

condemned in holy scripture than ingratitude? Or what more peremptorily

(absolutely, emphatically) required than the contrary temper? Thus says

the Apostle, "Rejoice evermore; in every thing give thanks," 1 Thes.

5:16, 18. "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and

supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto

God," Phil. 4:6.

On the contrary, the Apostle mentions it as one of the highest crimes

of the Gentiles, that they were not thankful. "Neither were they

thankful," Rom. 1:21. As also in another place, he numbers the

"unthankful," 2 Tim. 3:2 amongst those unholy, profane person, who are

to have their portion in the lake of fire and brimstone.

As for our sins, God puts them behind his back; but his mercies he will

have acknowledged, "There is virtue gone out of me," says Jesus Christ,

Luke 8:46 and the woman who was cured of her bloody issue, must confess

it. And we generally find, when God sent any remarkable punishment upon

a particular person, he reminded him of the favors he had received, as

so many aggravations of his ingratitude. Thus when God was about to

visit Eli's house, he thus expostulates with him by his prophet: "Did I

plainly appear unto the house of thy fathers, when they were in Egypt,

in Pharaoh's house? And did I choose him out of all the tribes of

Israel, to be my priest, to offer upon mine altar, to burn incense, and

to wear an ephod before me? Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice, and at

mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation, and honorest

thy sons above me; so make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the

offerings of Israel my people? Wherefore the Lord God of Israel saith,

I said indeed, that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk

before me for ever; but now the Lord saith, Be it far from me, for them

that honor me will I honor, and they that despise me shall be lightly

esteemed" 2 Sam. 2:27-30.

It was this and such like instances of God's severity against the

unthankful, that inclined me to choose the words of the text, as the

most proper subject I could discourse on at this time.

Four months, my good friends, we have now been upon the sea in this

ship, and "have occupied our business in the great waters." At God

Almighty's word, we have seen "the stormy wind arise, which hath lifted

up the waves thereof. We have been carried up to the heaven, and down

again to the deep, and some of our souls melted away because of the

trouble; but I trust we cried earnestly unto the Lord, and he delivered

us out of our distress. For he made the storm to cease; so that the

waves thereof were still. And now we are glad, because we are at rest,

for God hath brought us to the haven where we would be. O that you

would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness, and declare the

wonders that he hath done for us, the unworthiest of the sons of men."

Thus Moses, thus Joshua behaved. For when they were about to take their

leave of the children of Israel, they recounted to them what great

things God had done for them, as the best arguments and motives they

could urge to engage them to obedience. And how can I copy after better

examples? What fitter, what more noble motives, to holiness and purity

of living, can I lay before you, than they did?

Indeed, I cannot say, that we have seen the "pillar of a cloud by day,

or a pillar of fire by night," going visibly before us to guide our

course; but this I can say, that the same God who was in that pillar of

a cloud, and pillar of fire, which departed not from the Israelites,

and who has made the sun to rule the day, and the moon to rule the

night, has, by his good providence, directed us in our right way, or

else the pilot had steered us in vain.

Neither can I say, That we have seen the "sun stand still," as the

children of Israel did in the days of Joshua. But surely God, during

part of our voyage, has caused it to withhold some of that heat, which

it usually sends forth in these warmer climates, or else it had not

failed, but some of you must have perished in the sickness that has

been, and does yet continue among us.

We have not seen the waters stand purposely on an heap, that we might

pass through, neither have we been pursued by Pharaoh and his host, and

delivered out of their hands; but we have been led through the sea as

through a wilderness, and were once remarkably preserved from being run

down by another ship; which had God permitted, the waters, in all

probability, would immediately have overwhelmed us, and like Pharaoh

and his host, we should have sunk, as stones, into the sea.

We may, indeed, atheist like, ascribe all these things to natural

causes, and say, "Our own skill and foresight has brought us hither in

safety." But as certainly as Jesus Christ, the angel of the covenant,

in the days of his flesh, walked upon the water, and said to his

sinking disciples, "Be not afraid, it is I," so surely has the same

everlasting I AM, "who decketh himself with light as with a garment,

who spreadeth out the heavens like a curtain, who claspeth the winds in

his fist, who holdeth the waters in the hollow of his hands," and

guided the wise men by a star in the east; so surely, I say, has he

spoken, and at his command the winds have blown us where we are not

arrived. For his providence ruleth all things; "Wind and storms obey

his word:" he saith to it at one time, Go, and it goeth; at another,

Come, and it cometh; and at a third time, Blow this way, and it

bloweth.

It is he, my brethren; and not we ourselves, that has of late sent us

such prosperous gales, and made us to ride, as it were, on the wings of

the wind, into the haven where we would be.

"O that you would therefore praise the Lord for his goodness," and by

your lives declare, that you are truly thankful for the wonders he had

shown to us; who are less than the least of the sons of men.

I say, declare it by your lives. For to give him thanks, barely with

your lips; while your hearts are far from him, is but a mock sacrifice,

nay, an abomination unto the Lord.

This was the end, the royal Psalmist says, God had in view, when he

showed such wonders, from time to time, to the people of Israel, "That

they might keep his statutes, and observe his laws," Psalm 105:44 and

this, my good friends, is the end God would have accomplished in us,

and the only return he desires us to make him, for all the benefits he

hath conferred upon us.

O then, let me beseech you, give to God your hearts, your whole hearts;

and suffer yourselves to be drawn by the cords of infinite love, to

honor and obey him.

Assure yourselves you can never serve a better master; for his service

is perfect freedom, his yoke, when worn a little while, is exceeding

easy, his burden light, and in keeping his commandments there is great

reward; love, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost here, and a crown of glory

that fadeth not away, hereafter.

You may, indeed, let other lords have dominion over you, and Satan may

promise to give you all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of

them, if you will fall down and worship him; but he is a liar, and was

so from the beginning; he has not so much to give you, as you may tread

on with the soul of your foot; or could he give you the whole world,

yea, that could not make you happy without God. It is God alone, my

brethren, whose we are, in whose name I now speak, and who has of late

showed us such mercies in the deep, that can give solid lasting

happiness to your souls; and he for this reason only desires your

hearts, because without him you must be miserable.

Suffer me not then to go away without my errand; as it is the last time

I shall speak to you, let me not speak in vain; but let a sense of the

divine goodness lead you to repentance.

Even Saul, that abandoned wretch, when David showed him his skirt,

which he had cut off, when he might have also taken his life, was so

melted down with his kindness, that he lifted up his voice and wept.

And we must have hearts harder than Saul's, nay, harder than the nether

millstone, if a sense of God's late loving kindnesses, notwithstanding

he might so often have destroyed us, does not even compel us to lay

down our arms against him, and become his faithful servants and

soldiers unto our lives end.

If they have not this effect upon us, we shall, of all men, be most

miserable; for God is just, as well as merciful; and the more blessings

we have received here, the greater damnation, if we do not improve

them, shall we incur hereafter.

But God forbid that any of those should ever suffer the vengeance of

eternal fire, amongst whom, I have, for these four months, been

preaching the gospel of Christ; but yet thus must it be, if you do not

improve the divine mercies: and instead of your being my crown of

rejoicing in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ, I must appear as a swift

witness against you.

But, brethren, I am persuaded better things of you, and things that

accompany salvation, though I thus speak.

Blessed be God, some marks of a partial reformation at least, have been

visible amongst all you that are soldiers. And my weak, though sincere

endeavors, to build you up in the knowledge and fear of God, have not

been altogether in vain in the Lord.

Swearing, I hope is, in a great measure, abated with you; and God, I

trust, has blessed his late visitations, by making them the means of

awakening your consciences, to a more solicitous inquiry about the

things which belong to your everlasting peace.

Fulfill you then my joy, by continuing thus minded, and labor to go on

to perfection. For I shall have no greater pleasure than to see, or

hear, that you walk in the truth.

Consider, my good friends, you are now, as it were, entering on a new

world, where you will be surrounded with multitudes of heathens; and if

you take not heed to "have your conversation honest amongst them," and

to "walk worthy of the holy vocation wherewith you are called," you

will act the hellish part of Herod's soldiers over again; and cause

Christ's religion, as they did his person, to be had in derision of

those that are round about you.

Consider further, what peculiar privileges you have enjoyed, above many

others that are entering on the same land. They have had, as it were, a

famine of the word, but you have rather been in danger of being

surfeited with your spiritual manna. And, therefore, as more

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