"He

behalf; he died, and satisfied the penalty due to our sins; he arose from the grave as our representative; he is entered into heaven as our fore-runner. "has received gifts for men, even for the rebellious," Psalm lxviii. He is "exalted" on high, to "bestow repentance and remission of sins," Acts v. on all that seek to him. He has established his ordinances for this purpose: he has commanded his people not to neglect assembling themselves together." He has charged his ministers, at such seasons, to declare first the guilty, deplorable condition of mankind, and then to proclaim the glad tidings of salvation, "by faith "which is in him." He has promised to be with them in this work to the end of the world. He has promised that where his word is faithfully preached, he will accompany it "with a spirit and power," that shall bear down all opposition. He has promised, that while we are speaking to the ear, he will, by his secret influence, apply it to the heart, and open it to receive and embrace the truth spoken, as in the case of Lydia. Who would venture to preach a doctrine so unpalatable to the carnal mind, as Jesus Christ, and him crucified? Who would undertake so ungrateful a task, as to depreciate that noble creature, man, and arraign him publicly of insensibility, ingratitude, pride, and deceit ; were it not that we have, first a command, and that at our peril, to speak plain; and secondly, a promise that we shall not speak in vain? Not that we can expect to be universally received: the time is come, when many will not endure sound doctrine," 2 Tim. iv. 3.: but some there will be, whom God is pleased to save by the foolishness of preaching, so called. Some such I would hope are in this assembly. To such I say, think not to satisfy the divine justice by any poor

performances of your own; think not to cleanse or expiate the evil of your hearts by any of your own inventions; but "behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," John i. 29. He died, that you may live he lives, that you may live for ever. Put, therefore, your trust in the Lord; for with him is plenteous redemption. His sufferings and death are a complete final propitiation for sin. "He is

:

"able to save to the uttermost;" and he is as willing as he is able. It was this brought him down from heaven; for this he emptied himself of all glory, and submitted to all indignity. His humiliation expiates our pride; his perfect love atones for our ingratitude; his exquisite tenderness pleads for our insensibility. Only believe; commit your cause to him by faith and prayer. As a Priest, he shall make atonement for your sins, and present your persons and your services acceptable before God. As a Prophet, he shall instruct you in the true wisdom, which maketh wise to salvation; he shall not only cause you to know his commandments, but to love them too: he shall write them in your hearts. As a King, he shall evermore mightily defend you against all your enemies. He shall enable you to withstand temptations, to support difficulties, to break through all opposition. He shall supply you with every thing you need, for this life or a better, out of the unsearchable riches of his grace. He shall strengthen you to overcome all things; to endure to the end and then he shall give you a place in his kingdom; a seat near his throne; a crown of life; a crown of glory; incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away.

SERMON II.

ON THE SAVIOUR, AND HIS SALVATION.

1. TIM. i. 15.

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.

THOUGH the apostle Paul has wrote largely and happily upon every branch of Christian doctrine and practice; and, with respect to his writings, as well as his preaching, could justly assert, "that he had not "shunned to declare the whole counsel of God;" yet there are two points which seem to have been, (if I may so speak,) his favourite topics, which he most frequently repeats, most copiously insists on, and takes every oecasion of introducing. The one is to display the honours, power, and faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ; the other, to make known the great things God had done for his own soul. How his heart was filled and fired with the first of these, is evident from almost every chapter of his epistles. When he speaks of that mystery of godliness, "God manifested in the flesh," and the exceeding grace and love declared to a lost world through him, the utmost powers of language fall short of his purpose. With a noble freedom he soars beyond the little bounds of criticism; and, finding the most expressive words too weak and faint for his ideas, he forms and compounds new ones, heaps one hyperbole upon another; yet, after his most laboured essays to do justice to his subject, he often breaks off in a manner that shows he was far from being satisfied with all he

could say. This reflection is most obvious to those who can read him in the original: but no disadvantages of a translation can wholly confine that inimitable ardour with which he seems to pour his whole soul into his words, when he is speaking of his Lord and Saviour. And he who can read the first chapters of his epistles to the Ephesians, Colossians, and Hebrews, the second to the Philippians, or many similar passages, with indifference, must be, I say, not merely a person of small devotion, but of little taste and sensibility.

And how deeply his mind was impressed with the mercies he had received in his conversion and call, is equally conspicuous. He takes every occasion to aggrandize the goodness of God to himself; to exaggerate and deplore the guilt and misery of his former life, in which he once trusted; and to lament the small returns he was able to make for such blessings; even when he could say, without boasting, that he had "laboured more abundantly" than the most diligent and zealous of his fellow-servants.

: A powerful abiding sense of these two points upon the apostle's mind, have given rise to many sudden, lively, and beautiful digressions in the course of his writings. The context to the passage I have read is of this kind. Having incidently spoken of the Gospel in the 11th verse, he is suddenly struck with the reflection of his own misery while ignorant of it, and the wonderful goodness of God, in affording him the knowledge of salvation, and honouring him, who was before a blasphemer, with a commission to publish the same glad tidings to others. This thought suspends his argument, and fills his heart and mouth with praise. And having acknowledged, that "the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant" towards himself, he subjoins

the words of the text, for an encouragement to others; assuring us, that his case was not so peculiar, but that multitudes might be partakers with him in the same hope of mercy.

The words easily resolve into two parts:

First, A short, but comprehensive proposition, including the purport of the whole Gospel, "that Jesus "Christ came into the world to save sinners."

Secondly, A commendation of this doctrine in a twofold respect," as a faithful saying," and as "worthy "of all acceptation;" each of these illustrated by the instance of himself; when he adds, "of whom I am

"chief."

I. The apostle well knew the different reception the Gospel would meet in the world; that many poor guilty souls, trembling under a sense of sin and unworthiness, would very hardly be persuaded, that such sinners as they could be saved at all. To these he recommends it as "a faithful saying," founded upon the immutable counsel, promise, and oath of God, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners; sinners in general; "the chief of sinners;" such as he represents himself to have been. He knew, likewise, that many others, from a mistaken opinion of their own goodness, or a mistaken dependence on something of their own choosing, would be liable to undervalue this faithful saying. For the sake of these, he adds, "it is worthy of all ac

ceptation." None are so bad but the Gospel affords them a ground of hope: none are so good as to have any just ground of hope without it. There was a time when St. Paul could have made a fair profession of himself likewise: he could say, "circumcised on the

eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Ben"jamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews, as to the law