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"law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not "a forgetful hearer, but a DOER of the WORK, this man fhall 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 destroy like poison; if it does not foften, it will harden; if it does not justify, 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 thofe fermons which you now fo eafily forget, will be perfectly revived in your recollection. The bible, from which you have been fo often addreffed, will be called forth, and you will be judged out of this book. In this judgment will rife up against you to condemn you, the queen of the fouth, "for fhe came from the uttermoft parts to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold a

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greater than Solomon is here." In this judgment will rise 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 same nature and paffions with yourselves, and never having heard truths more powerful than those which you have heard," turned at his reproof;" "fought 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 ministers who would gladly have faved not only themselves,

but you who heard them-While "the Saviour fhall "be revealed from heaven, with his mighty angels in

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flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know "not God, and that OBEY not the gospel of our Lord "Jefus Chrift." And can you fay his language will be unreasonable? "Because I have called, and ye refused, I have stretched out my hand, and no man "regarded, but ye have fet at nought all my counsel, "and would none of my reproof. I alfo will laugh "at your calamity, I will mock when your fear com"eth; when your fear cometh as defolation, and your "deftruction 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 loft to all fenfe of your own welfare; if you are not refolved to facrifice eternal life: if you have not "made a covenant with death," and with hell are not at an "agreement,' "fee that ye refuse not him "that speaketh." It is the voice of friendship, it is the voice of confcience, it is the voice of reafon, it is the voice of Scripture, it is "the voice of the archangel

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and the trump of God"-" IF ANY MAN HAVE "EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR.?

SERMON

VII.

THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR SAVIOUR NECES SARY.

HEB. ii. 10.

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 fufferings.

"FOR

my thoughts are not your "thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, faith the "Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, "fo are my ways higher than your ways, and my "thoughts than your thoughts." Thefe words, my brethren, contain a reflection always feasonable, always ufeful, always neceffary, when we would "re"gard the work of the Lord, or confider the opera"tion of his hand." It may be exemplified in numberless inftances, but in none fo easily and fo fully, as in the redemption of the world by means of a Mediator, "obedient unto death, even the death of the "crofs." The fun never beheld fuch a fcene. Hif tory records no fuch a tranfaction. The fcheme would never have entered the mind of any finite intelligence"It is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes." "The thing proceedeth forth from the Lord of Hofts,

"who is wonderful in counfel, 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 fublime contents, the more of their perfection fhall we difcover, 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 66 many fons unto glory, to make the Captain of their "falvation perfect through fufferings."

I. Behold the CHARACTER OF THE SUPREME BEING- ઃઃ FOR WHOM ARE ALL THINGS, AND BY "WHOM ARE ALL THINGS;" the original Cause, the final End of the whole universe of beings, material or fpiritual; "in heaven, or on earth; vifible, or invifi"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 defcribe, 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 fuperior claims, we can beftow deferved 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 "Tafk." My countrymen feel, when I utter, "the he"ro 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

what he does as our Creator and Governor; as one who owns us, and may dispose of us as he pleases; on whom we entirely depend, and to whom we are universally accountable.

But who can tell how far this "all things" extends? Who can imagine the dimenfions of his empire, the diverfity of his fubjects, the infinite number of his productions, each of which is an expreffion of his wifdom, power, and goodness, and a fource of revenue from which his glory is derived?

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And why this magnificence of defcription? To fill the mind with reverence, to raise our expectation, to remind us of the End and Author of our falvation, to fhew us the principle from which he acts; that it is not neceffity, but kindness; that he cannot ftand in need of us, or our fervices, being "exalted above all bleffing and praise," it is by a display of his majesty, to draw forth our admiration of his mercy. "Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above "the heavens. Who is like unto the Lord our God, "who dwelleth on high? who humbleth himself to be"hold the things that are in heaven and in the earth? "He raiseth up the poor out of the duft, and lifteth the "needy out of the dunghill, that he may fet him with

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princes, even with the princes of his people." Contemplate then a Being, whofe goodness equals his grandeur. Behold him seeking his glory in our welfare. See him, regardless of all our unworthiness, and before we had expreffed any defire, devifing means to rescue us from our ignorance, vice, infamy, and misery; and forming a scheme of pure compaffion, designed to raise us to a state of happiness, superior to

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