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First.-How must such persons demean themselves?
Secondly.-How must others carry it towards them?

First. How must they demean themselves? I answer, first, With great humility. They may not indeed deny the gift of God, but they must think very meanly of themselves. And this is the best mark in the world of true grace, grace that will stand all weathers, and bear the shock of all temptations. Other graces make a greater show, but without humility they have only the name of grace. Zeal and charity are well bottomed when they stand upon this; and it is this which gives the engaging sweetness of modesty and meekness unto both. The servant of Christ must think meanly of himself, must not have a lie in his right hand when he says I am nothing, but must really mean what he says, and experience that he speaks the very truth. How nothing? Why nothing in respect of any righteousness he has in him to justify him, or any strength of his own to walk in the ways of God; nothing, because he is so corrupted, and all his best duties are so unprofitable; yea, nothing, because whatever he has of his own does but serve to hinder and defile God's work in him. Thus he must think himself nothing; and when he does he will easily esteem others better than himself, and then he will despise no weak brother; he will not be proud, and censoriously prone to mark out others' faults, because he knows so much of his own. This is the gracious man's great preservative against spiritual pride, which allowed would soon cause him to fall, and by his fall to bring so much the greater dishonour on his Master, as his profession had been more eminent. If you mean to shoot up and to show forth the fruits of an honourable profession, you must be sure that you go deep into your heart, and be truly lowly in the estimation you have of yourself.— And then,

Secondly.-You must use the grace God has bestowed on you to the benefit of others. How? Your life must be exemplary. You must look that your conduct do recommend the ways of God, and reprove the ways of darkness. This is the main step to usefulness. Your light must shine: shine not affectedly, not on purpose to be taken notice of, but your behaviour must be such as manifests the power of godliness to be in you. But is this all? Yes; nothing can be added more for what can

any do more than let the world see they love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and are heartily affected toward the good of all men? You must cause that men see it everywhere and in all things. You must endeavour always to speak and act like a Christian, and this from a real love of God and man; and, when you do so, you are in the high road of usefulness. If you speak like a Christian, your words will not be corrupt, but good to the use of edifying; and all with whom you converse may by the blessing of God be the better for you if they will; for it will not be your fault if you withhold not anything from them wherein you can be profitable to them. If you act like a Christian, you will in everything you do be reproving vice and recommending godliness. So that as the true servant of Christ does not understand God has given him grace merely for himself, but for the benefit of others, so his aim is to live, act, and speak continually in such manner as that others may be the better for him. Thus in humility and an edifying conduct lies the duty of those who have received that best of all God's gifts, his sanctifying grace. You will judge for yourselves how far you have come short, and I hope the consideration of that will serve to make you more humble. On the other part,

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Secondly. How must others carry themselves toward such as are blessed with this best gift, the grace of God? The answer is, they must lovingly esteem them, and follow their example.— They must esteem and love them. This they ought to do, and this they will certainly do, if they have any love towards God in them for Every one that loveth him that begat, loveth him also that is begotten of him."* No man loves God for nothing; it is for the mercifulness, goodness, holiness, truth, and faithfulness we see to be in God, that we love him. And if we love these properties in God, when we see any of these things in men we cannot but love them too. It is impossible we should hate holiness in the child, if we love it in the father: if we hate men for their holiness, we do most certainly, though we see it not, hate God for his holiness; for If we love not our brother whom we have seen, how can we love God whom we have not seen ?'+ Yet, notwithstanding this, our Lord has taught all his followers how little they must expect the love and esteem of the world + Ib. iv. 20.

* 1 John v. 1.

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for their piety and godliness. Marvel not if the world hate you, you know it hated me before it hated you:' and then he adds the reason of this hatred of the world toward them, If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.'* Now therefore, brethren, have you loved or hated Christian godliness wherever you have seen it? Has your heart risen with delight or with disgust toward those who would not live as others do? Have you been ready to cover their infirmities, or sat as a spy upon them, to discover some flaw in their conduct for your own quiet's sake? Judge for yourselves; but, since the world began God never raised up a single man to himself, bestowing upon him the heavenly gift of true grace, but all graceless persons were immediately set against him, charging him with hypocrisy, ostentation, and what not? for no other reason than because he would serve the God of his fathers. The true cause of which has always been, that the venom of the serpent lies unmortified in such graceless persons, who cannot therefore endure the servants of God, and the followers of him who came to destroy the works of the devil. However, all those who bear the image of God in their hearts and lives, ought for that reason to be esteemed and loved. And then also we must endeavour to follow them as far as they follow Christ. Has God sent light into the world merely to be looked at? No, but that we might be provoked thereby to good works. We should observe the conduct one of another, to imitate it if we see in another a greater measure of humility, meekness, zeal, heavenly-mindedness, and deadness to the world, that he is striving more earnestly to enter in at the strait gate, this should provoke and stir us up, not to envy, but to follow such an one. It is a great aggravation of our sin that we are lazy and sit still, while we see others running in the race who have but the same helps that we have: and by so doing we disappoint God's design in setting the examples of others before

us.

The more shining example of my neighbour I should regard as God's call to me; and while I see such an one outstripping me, I should suppose God is saying to me by his good works," Up, awake, sleeper; be doing, the time is at hand, the

* John xv. 18, 19.

work is practicable, the enemies of your soul may be vanquished, heaven is set open, come, run, strive, enter, let no man take thy crown." And it is only so far as I hear and obey this call that I honour and reverence the grace of God in those whom God has distinguished by it.

And thus now at last we are come to an end with the fifth commandment, upon which I have insisted the longer, both because it is least regarded, and also demands a conduct that is most expressive of the power of godliness. It is then Christ appears in his glory upon earth, when he does influence and sway our hearts to a religious observance of relative duties. But, brethren, how sadly have we, do we, come short! If after any commandment we have cause to humble our souls and cry for mercy, pleading the righteousness of Christ in our favour, it is after this. And it will behove us to make diligent search hereupon to prove and try ourselves, that we may sue out the pardon in season, and obtain grace for the keeping this law. Happy, yea, beyond expression blessed shall we be, if when the Lord cometh he shall find us so doing!

And now I dismiss these discourses on the law for the present, having already much outrun my design of speaking to them only in Lent: but I thought it unadvisable to stop in the midst of the social duties. If God permit, we shall resume this subject with the return of the year. But who knows what may be in the counsels of God ere that time come? where you or I may be? We know nothing of to-morrow; this day is only ours. Let us work then to-day, for we hasten to our end; we are passing off the stage, and doubtless many of us are at the very end of our part; perhaps I am speaking the last words of mine. If so, my last words are, "May the Lord Almighty bless you, direct you into all truth, and bring you to everlasting life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Amen.

SERMON XLI.

GALATIANS iii. 24.

Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.

THE season * is now returned wherein we are to prosecute the explanation of the Ten Commandments in that view wherein the text doth partly at least represent the law; namely, a schoolmaster to make known our sins, and by the terror of its curse and scourge to drive us to Christ. The five first commandments have been fully spoken to; and I now go forward to open before you the sixth, Thou shalt do no murder.

There are two things you know in every commandment— something required, and something forbidden; and these two always contrary the one to the other; which do in such manner go together, that we cannot omit what a commandment requires but thereby we do what it forbids; or do what it forbids but we omit what it requires; as, if a man murders his neighbour, he not only does what this commandment forbids, but most manifestly slights all those duties of love and kindness it enjoins upon him. And so, on the other part, if he neglect to give of his ability to his distressed brother, as this law commands, he is therein guilty of that cruelty which it plainly forbids.-And further it must be observed, that as respective sins, according to the nature of the commandment, are forbidden, so to come short in any measure or thing of that duty which a commandment requires and enjoins is to be guilty of a trespass against it; so that as far, for example, as we come short of that love to others, both in temper and conduct, which this commandment directs, we are guilty of breaking it.-With these observations

Preached at Truro, Feb. 26, 1758.

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