"the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat ἐσ upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall "of it." Such according to our Saviour will be the fatal disappointment of all those who entertain a hope of safety separate from holiness; who have been lulled to sleep by an unsanctified attendance on ordinances; who hear "these sayings of his, and no them not."

Shall I remind you of the precarious tenure of your privileges, and say with our Saviour, "Yet a little "while is the light with you; walk while ye have the “light, lest darkness come upon you." There are no calls of mercy beyond the grave; and "what is your "life? it is even a vapour that appeareth for a little "time, and then vanisheth away." The Jews had distinguished privileges; but "the kingdom of God was "taken from them, and given to a nation bringing "forth the FRUITS thereof." Where now are the churches of Asia? Your candlestick may be removed. You may be rendered incapable of hearing. Efficacy may be withheld from the means; and surely if any thing can provoke the Supreme Being, to take away ordinances, or to make them useless, it must be your awful abuse of them.

Shall I mention the happiness of those who receive the gospel, "not in word only?" "And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of " the company lifted up her voice and said unto Him, "blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps "which thou hast sucked. But he said, yea, rather "BLESSED are they that hear the word of God, and "KEEP it." "If ye know these things, HAPPY are ye if "ye Do them!" "Whoso looketh into the perfect

"law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not "a forgetful hearer, but a DOER of the WORK, this "man shall be BLESSED in his DEED.

Need I inform you, that these means when unimproved will be found injurious; that the word of God is one of those things, which if unprofitable, become pernicious; that if it does not nourish as food, it will deftroy like poifon; if it does not soften, it will harden; if it does not juftify, it will condemn.

For remember the awful account which you will be required to give of all your hearing, when called to appear before the bar of God. Then those sermons which you now fo eafily forget, will be perfectly revived in your recollection. The bible, from which you have been so often addreffed, will be called forth, and you will be judged out of this book. In this judg ment will rife up against you to condemn you, the queen of the south, "for she came from the uttermoft "parts to hear the wifdom of Solomon, and behold a

greater than Solomon is here." In this judgment will rife up against you to condemn you, "the men "of Nineveh, for they repented at the preaching of "Jonah, and behold a greater than Jonah is here." In this judgment will rise up against you to condemn you, all your fellow-worshippers, who having the fame nature and passions with yourselves, and never having heard truths more powerful than those which you have heard," turned at his reproof;" "sought the "Lord while he was to be found, and called upon "him while he was near." In this judgment will rise up against you to condemn you, those minifters who would gladly have saved not only themselves,

but you who heard them-While "the Saviour shall "be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels in "flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know "not God, and that OBEY not the gospel of our Lord "Jesus Christ." And can you say his language will be unreasonable? "Because I have called, and ye re"fused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man "regarded, but ye have set at nought all my counsel, "and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear com"eth; when when your fear cometh as desolation, and your "destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress' "and anguish cometh upon you!" If you have never heard to purpose before, begin to-day; "to-day, if “ "ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts." If you are not lost to all sense of your own welfare; if you are not resolved to sacrifice eternal life; if you have not "made a covenant with death," and with hell are not at an "agreement,' ""see that ye refuse not him "that speaketh." It is the voice of friendship, it is the voice of conscience, it is the voice of reason, it is the voice of Scripture, it is "the voice of the archangel "and the trump of God"-"IF ANY MAN HAVE

SERMON VII.

THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR SAVIOUR NE

CESSARY.

HEB. i. 10.

FOR IT BECAME HIM, FOR WHOm are all thinGS, AND BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, IN BRINGING MANY SONS UNTO GLORY, TO MAKE THE CAPTAIN OF THEIR SALVATION PERFECT through sufferings.

ઃઃ

FOR my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the "Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, "so are my ways higher than your ways, and my "thoughts than your thoughts." These words, my brethren, contain a reflection always seasonable, always useful. always necessary, when we would "regard the work of the Lord, or consider the opera❝tion of his hand." It may be exemplified in numberless instances, but in none so easily and so fully, as in the redemption of the world by means of a Mediator, "obedient unto death, even the death of the "cross." The sun never beheld such a scene. tory records no such a transaction. The scheme would never have entered the mind of any finite intelligence"It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eye." "The thing proceeded forth from the Lord of Hosts,

His

"who is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in work"ing." "It is the wisdom of God in a mystery;" and the more we are enlightened from above to examine its sublime contents, the more of their perfection fhall we discover, the more worthy of God will they appear. "For it became Him, for whom are "all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many fons unto glory, to make the Captain of their "falvation perfect through sufferings."

66

BEING

I. Behold the CHARACTER OF THE SUPREME cr FOR WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, AND BY WHOM ARE ALL THINGS;" the original Caufe, the final End of the whole universe of beings, material or fpiritual; "in heaven, or on earth; vifible, or invisi"ble; whether they be thrones or dominions, princi"palities or powers; all things were created By Him, "and FOR him." Nothing is more common for speakers and writers, when they wish to mention esteemed perfonages, than to describe, rather than to name them. By feizing in our representation fomething which has endeared or distinguished them; by availing ourselves. of fome qualities or actions, which have given them peculiar and superior claims, we can beftow deserved honour, and aid the impreffion we defire to make on the minds of those we addrefs. The admirers of poetry understand me, when I fay "the author of the "Task." My countrymen feel, when I utter," the he"rò of the Nile." The ingenuous youth yields, when I befeech him by the tears of her "who bare him," We cannot defcribe God by what he is in himself, but by what he is in his relations, and in his works; by