demonstrations of geometry, and the inferences or corollaries that are drawn from them, wherein we have the clearest and fairest examples to teach us reasoning by the practice of it.

And as all arts and sciences have a connection with and influence upon each other, so for a divine as well as for a physician, it is needful there should be some knowledge of nature and the powers of it in the heavens and earth, in the air and water, that we may thereby learn and teach more of the glories of our Creator, and more easily distinguish between what is natural and what is miraculous. This will enable us also to think and speak more justly almost upon any subject which occurs in our private reading, in our public ministry, or in our daily conversation; and particularly it is useful, if not necessary for a minister to have some acquaintance with human nature, in the two constituent parts of it, soul and body, and in the powers and passions of mankind, that we may better distinguish how far particular actions are natural and mechanical, and how far they are voluntary and moral, virtuous or sinful; how far they are influenced by flesh and blood, and how far they are under the government of the will, which is of great importance in order to judge right in many cases of conscience, and to give directions for the moral or religious life.

It is needful also, and of considerable moment, that a divine should be acquainted with the arts of method and of oratory; the one to range our thoughts and discourses in due order, and to set the things of God before men in the plainest, the most conspicuous and convincing light; and the other to win upon the hearts of the hearers, and to lead them by a sweet and powerful influence on their affections, into the love and practice of religion. There are other parts of science which are necessary for ministers to be well acquainted with, and particularly those which are the foundations of all religion; such as the knowledge of God and his attributes by the light of nature and reason, the knowledge of man as a creature of God, in his natural dependance upon his Creator, and in his moral relations both to God and his fellow-creatures, together with the obligations to duty which are derived thence, and which branch themselves into all the parts of morality and religion. It is requisite to have some acquaintance also with the heathen writers, the folly and madness of pagan idolatry, the history and the customs of ancient ages and nations, and the history of the church of the Jews and of christians, in order to establish our faith in the doctrines of christianity, and to prove the religion of Christ to be divine, and that the Bible is the word of God.

When this great point is once settled, then our chief business will be to understand this Bible, and to find out the meaning of the holy scriptures; and for this end (as well as for the reading of ancient heathen authors) it is requisite that we should have some skill in the tongues; and particularly those wherein the scriptures were written, viz. Hebrew and Greek, that we may be able at least to judge a little for ourselves, concerning the translation of any text in our language. For this purpose also some knowledge of the customs of the ancients, both Jews and pagans, is necessary, in order to give us a juster idea of many things recorded in scripture; and we should get some acquaintance with geography and chronology, which will be of great service to set before our eyes, the distant places and times wherein those ancient affairs were transacted, which the scripture relates, and without which the history of scripture, as well as some of the prophecies, can never be well understood.

VOL. III.

Nor is it an unprofitable study to read some of the writings of the fathers, who lived in the very first ages of christianity, that we may know the sentiments and customs of those who lived nearest to the days of the apostles; this may give a little light to some expressions and phrases used in scripture, and enable us sometimes better to understand what the evangelists and apostles wrote. But it must be confessed, that immediately after the apostolic age, and indeed before the apostles were dead, there were so many corruptions and mistakes both in faith and worship, so many fancies and inventions of men crept into the church, that there is scarce one ancient writer perfectly free, and not one of them to be entirely trusted, as a director of our consciences, or as a regulator of our belief or practice. St. Paul himself tells us, that in his days the mystery of iniquity began to work; 2 Thess. ii. 7. The fathers, as they are called, have many weak and fanciful things in their writings; it is the Bible alone that must be our guide; the word of the Lord is pure and perfect.

Above all things therefore, the constant reading and study of the holy scriptures are necessary, in order to a larger and more complete acquaintance with our divine religion. Here our faith and conscience may rest safely, in all our enquiries about matters of belief or practice. The doctrines, the commands, the types and histories, the prophecies, the promises and threatenings of the word of God, are the brightest and noblest part of the knowledge of a minister. These are the things that are able to make us and our hearers wise unto salvation, and to furnish the man of God for every good word and work; 2 Tim. iii. 15, 16. Let us never imagine we know enough of divine things, while we dwell in flesh and blood. God and Christ, and the things of heaven, are fruitful and inexhaustible subjects of our enquiry and knowledge; they are so in this world, and they will be so for ever in the world to come. The angels of God pry further into them, nor shall the sons of men ever know them to perfection. These will be the glorious objects of everlasting study, and everlasting entertainment.

I might add in the last place, that there are some other parts of human knowledge, which, though they are not necessary, yet are greatly ornamental to a minister, in the present age, which is so much enriched with knowledge, viz. some further acquaintance with modern geography, the nations and kingdoms of this world; some general view of astronomy, the appearances, and seeming or real motions of the sun and moon, stars and planets, and of this earth, which is now generally agreed to be one of the planetary worlds; to which we may join some skill in philology, criticism on the writings of men as well as on scripture, and various parts of science which go under the name of the belles lettres, or polite learning. These are such sort of accomplishments of the mind as will embellish the character of a minister, and render his person and his labours more acceptable to the world.

But amongst all these enquiries and studies, and these various improvements of the mind, let us take heed that none of them carry our thoughts away too far from our chief and glorious design, that is, the ministry of the gospel of Christ. Let none of them intrench upon those hours which should be devoted to our study of the Bible, or preparations for the pulpit; and wheresoever we find our inclinations too much attached to any particular human science, let us set a guard upon ourselves, lest it rob us of our diviner studies, and our best improvement. A minister should remember, that himself, with all his studies, is consecrated to the service of the sanctuary: Let every thing be done therefore with a view to our great end: Let all the rest of our knowledge be like

lines drawn from the vast circumference of universal nature, pointing to that divine centre, God and religion; and let us pursue every part of science with a design to gain better qualifications thereby for our sacred work. Forgive me, my friends, that I have dwelt so long on these general preparations for the work of the ministry. Though they are learned at the academy, yet I can by no means think it proper they should be left there and forgotten.

2nd. I come to speak of those particular studies which are preparatory for the public work of the pulpit; and here when you retire to compose a sermon, let your great end be ever kept in view, i. e. to say something for the honour of God, for the glory of Christ, for the salvation of the souls of men; and for this purpose a few rules may perhaps be of some service. One great and general rule is, Ask advice of Heaven by prayer about every part of your preparatory studies; seek the direction and assistance of the Spirit of God, for inclining your thoughts to proper subjects, for guiding you to proper scriptures, and framing your whole sermon both as to the matter and manner, that it may attain the divine and sacred ends proposed. But I insist not largely on this here, because prayers for aids and counsels from heaven belong to every part of your work, both in the closet, in the pulpit, and in your daily conversation. The particular rules for your preparatory work may be such as these:

I. In choosing your texts, or themes of discourse, seek such as are most suited to do good to souls, according to the present wants, dangers, and circumstances of the people; whether for the instruction of the ignorant; for the conviction of the stupid and senseless; for the melting and softening of the obstinate; for the conversion of the wicked; for the edification of converts; for the comfort of the timorous and mournful; for gentle admonition of backsliders, or more severe reproof. Some acquaintance with the general case and character of your hearers is needful for this end.

II. In handling the text, divide, explain, illustrate, prove, convince, infer, and apply in such a manner, as to do real service to men, and honour to our Lord Jesus Christ. Do not say within yourself, How much or how elegantly I can talk upon such a text, but what can I say most usefully to those who hear me, for the instruction of their minds, for the conviction of their consciences, and for the persuasion of their hearts? Be not fond of displaying your learned criticisms in clearing up the terms and phrases of a text, where scholars only can be edified by them; nor spend away the precious moments of the congregation, in making them hear you explain what is clear enough before, and hath no need of explaining; nor in proving that which is so obvious that it wants no proof. This is little better than trifling with God and man. Think not, How can I make a sermon soonest and easiest? but how I can make the most profitable sermon for my hearers; not what fine things I can say, either in a way of criticism or philosophy, or in a way of oratory and harangue, but what powerful words I can speak to impress the consciences of them that hear with a serious and lasting sense of moral, divine, and eternal things. Judge wisely what to leave out as well as what to speak. Let not your chief design be to work up a sheet, or to hold out an hour, but to save a soul. III. In speaking of the great things of God and religion, remember you are a minister of Christ and the gospel, sent to publish to men what God has revealed by his prophets and apostles, and by his Son Jesus; and not a heathen philosopher to teach the people merely what the light of reason can search out: You are not to stand up

here as a professor of ancient or modern philosophy, nor an usher in the school of Plato or Seneca, or Mr. Locke; but as a teacher in the school of Christ, as a preacher of the New Testament. You are not a jewish priest, to instruct men in the precise niceties of ancient judaisms, legal rites and ceremonies; but you are a christian minister; let christianity, therefore, run through all your composures, and spread its glories over them all.

It is granted, indeed, that reasonings from the light of nature have a considerable use in the ministry of the gospel. It is by the principles of natural religion, and by reasoning from them on the wonderful events of prophecy and miracle, &c. that we ourselves must learn the truth of the christian religion, and we must teach the people to build their faith of the gospel on just and rational grounds; and this may perhaps, at some time or other, require a few whole discourses on some of the principal themes of natural religion, in order to introduce and display the religion of Jesus. But such occasions will but seldom arise in the course of your ministry. It is granted also, that it is a very useful labour sometimes in a sermon, to shew how far the light of nature and reason will carry us on in the search of duty and happiness; and then to manifest how happily the light of scripture supplies the deficiencies of it; that the people may know how greatly they are indebted to the peculiar favour of God for the book of divine revelation.

And yet farther, since the whole of natural religion is contained and included in the gospel of Christ, it is proper sometimes to shew that reason as well as scripture confirms the same doctrines, and obliges us to practise the same duties. It is certain also that human reason, though it could not discover the religion of Christ, yet it is able to point out many admirable glories and divine condescendencies in this religion when it is discovered. It is good to impress the conscience, as well as instruct the understanding, by the two great lights that God has given us, viz. reason and revelation. Two such pillars will support the structure of religion better than one. And when we happen to hear any of our brethren occasionally insisting on the themes of natural religion, and enforcing the belief of truths, or the practice of duties, by the principles of reason, let us candidly suppose they are pursuing some of these designs which I have now mentioned, and that the principles and topics of revelation and christianity are in reserve, to be displayed at large in their following sermons.

In general, it is most safe and honourable for a minister of Christ, to make the gospel appear to be the reigning principle in his discourses, and make our hearers see how gloriously it has improved the religion of nature. If you speak of our natural knowledge of the attributes of God, and the truths of religion that reason dictates, shew how they are all exalted, how brightly they shine in the gospel of Christ, and what new discoveries and new glories relating to them are derived from the holy scriptures. If you speak of the duties which men owe to God, or to one another, even those which are found out by reason and natural conscience, shew how the gospel of Christ hath advanced and refined every thing that nature and reason teach us: Enforce these duties by motives of christianity, as well as by philosophical arguments drawn from the nature of things: Stir up the practice of them by the examples of Christ and his apostles, by that heaven and that hell which are revealed to the world by Jesus Christ our Saviour: Impress them on the heart by the constraining influence of the mercy of God and the dying love of our Lord Jesus Christ, by his glorious appearance to judge the living and the dead,

and by our blessed hope of attending him on that day. These are the appointed arguments of our holy religion, and may expect more divine success.

When you have occasion to represent what need there is of diligence and labour in the duties of holiness, shew also what aids are promised in the gospel, to humble and feeble souls who are sensible of their own frailty to resist temptations, or to discharge religious and moral duties; and what influences of the Holy Spirit may be expected by those who seek it. Let them know that Christ is exalted to send forth this Spirit, to bestow repentance and sanctification as well as forgiveness; for without him we can do nothing; Acts v. 31. John xv. 5.

As there are seasons and times proper to impress the mind with the glories of God our Creator, and to enforce the duties of morality, to teach men to govern their unruly appetites and passions, to bind all the rules of virtue on the consciences of men, and press them with zeal and fervour, according to the example of the apostles in the New Testament; so there are times and seasons to treat more at large on the peculiar truths of revelation and the glories of christianity, both for the honour of our Saviour, and for the welfare of souls. For this reason they are so largely insisted on by the holy writers, those blessed patterns of our ministry. There must be some seasons allotted to the descriptions of the sinful and miserable state of mankind as revealed in scripture; to the dignity of the person of Christ the Redeemer, the only begotten Son of God, and the Son of Man; to the covenant of grace, of pardon and salvation made with men, in and through this glorious Mediator; to the incarnation, life and death, the sacrifice and atonement, the resurrection, intercession, and universal government and lordship of Jesus Christ, and his coming to judge the world at the last day; and to the appointed methods of our participation of the blessings which he bestows. These illustrious doctrines are big with a thousand duties both to God and man; all the practices of faith and love, repentance and universal holiness flow from them by plain and easy deduction; all the sacred rules of piety and virtue, sobriety, justice and goodness, the holy skill of living and dying in the love and favour of God, are the most natural and happy inferences from these sublime truths of our religion. We preach the gospel in a very defective manner, if we neglect the moral or divine duties which are derived from the faith of Christ.

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If you would raise the hearts of your hearers to a just and high esteem of this gospel grace, and impress them with an awful sense of the divine importance and worth of it, be not afraid to lay human nature low, and to represent it in its ruins by the fall of the first Adam. It is the vain exaltation of ruined nature, that makes the gospel so much despised in our age. Labour, therefore, to make them see and feel the deplorable state of mankind as described in scripture, that by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin, and a sentence of death hath passed upon all men, for that all have sinned; let them hear and know that Jews and gentiles are all under sin, that there is none righteous, no, not one; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may appear guilty before God. Let them know that it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps; that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any good thing; that we are without strength, alienated from the life of God through the ignorance and darkness of our understandings, and are by nature children of disobedience, and children of wrath; that we are unable to recover ourselves out of these depths of wretchedness without the condescensions of divine grace, and that the gospel of Christ is introduced as the only sovereign remedy and relief under all this desolation of nature, this overwhelming distress; neither is there