SERMON XII. The Principles on which a Profession of Religion should be made. No. 2........ 181 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye sepa- rate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daugh- Enemies of the Cross of Christ. No. 1..193 Phil. iii. 18. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. SERMON XIV. Enemies of the Cross of Christ. No. 2..208 Phil. iii. 18. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. SERMON XV. Enemies of the Cross of Christ. No. 3........221 Phil. iii. 18, 19. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ, SERMON XVII. The Blessings of a Benignant Spirit...252 Col. iii. 12. Put on, therefore, as the elect of God-kindness. Matt. vi. 6. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy PRACTICAL SERMONS. SERMON I. THE FREENESS OF THE GOSPEL. Rev. xxii. 17. And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst, Come. ever will, let him take the water of life freely. And let him THE obvious sentiment of this beautiful passage of Scripture is, that the offers of salvation are made freely to all men, and that the invitation is to be pressed on the attention by all the means which can be employed. To this sentiment, I propose at this time to invite your attention. The figure of "the water of life" which John employs in the text, is one that often occurs in the Scriptures to represent the mercy of God towards mankind. Thus Isaiah (xxxv. 6) in speaking of the times of the Messiah says, "Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert. And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water." And again (xli. 18), "I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the vallies: I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water." And again (lv. 1), "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price." The idea in all these passages is, that the blessings of the gospel would resemble fountains and running streams; as if in the solitary, sandy desert, streams of water, pure, refreshing, and ample, should suddenly break forth, and should fill the desolate plains with verdure, and should gladden the heart of the fainting traveller,streams of which each coming caravan might partake without money and without charge. In a world which in regard to its real comforts is not unaptly compared to a waste of pathless sands, the blessings of the gospel would burst forth like cooling, perennial fountains; and man like a weary and thirsty pilgrim might partake and be happy,-as the traveller sits down by such a fountain and slakes his thirst in the desert. In the text, however, the particular idea is, that men are freely invited to partake of the blessings of salvation. They are invited by the Holy Spirit, and by the bridethe church-to come. So free is salvation that even he who hears of it may go and say to kindred and friend, 'come.' They who thirst may come :- -they who are pressed down by the consciousness of the want of something like this to make them happy, who are satisfied that happiness can nowhere else be found, who thirst for salvation under the consciousness of sin, and the feeling that the "world can never give the bliss for which they sigh,' are invited to come; and all who choose may come and partake freely of the waters of life.-John saw in vision (ch. xxii. 1) "a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and the Lamb." To that pure and clear river of salvation, men are invited to come freely. There they may slake their thirst. There the desires of the immortal mind, where all earthly things fail, may be satisfied. It is not my purpose in this discourse-though my text might seem to invite to it-to dwell on the fact that the gospel is offered to all men; that the Redeemer died for all that the Eternal Father is willing to save all; or that ample provision is made for all who will come. On these points, it is sufficient for my present purpose to say, that my text declares that, "whosoever will may take the water of life freely;" that God has elsewhere said, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters;" that the Redeemer has said, "come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." It is enough that God has solemnly sworn, "as I live I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, 66 but that the wicked turn from his way and live;" that it is solemnly declared that Christ "by the grace of God tasted death for every man ;" that he is "the propitiation for the sins of the whole world," and that the Saviour has given the assurance that, every one that asketh receiveth, and he that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened." It would be sufficient to prove this, if there were nothing else, that the Lord Jesus when about to ascend to heaven, said to his disciples, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature-he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." I ask no higher proof that the plan of salvation is adapted to all, and that it contains ample blessings for all. I desire no other argument to show that the doors of heaven are opened wide, and that the Father of mercies waits to save men. I ask no other warrant for making the offer of salvation to as many of the lost children of men as I may ever be enabled to do, or of giving the assurance to man, wherever I may meet him, that God is willing to save him from eternal death. Taking our high stand, therefore, on these incontrovertible positions, and with these full and free offers of life clearly in view, my desire is, to press the invitation in the text on your attention. I wish to state some of the appeals which the gospel makes to you as individuals. I wish to come to you and reason with you, and show you why you should embrace it; and I shall be satisfied if I can so vary the form of the invitation that my beautiful text may find its way, as it ought to be allowed to, to the heart. Why then should you embrace the offer of salvation in the gospel? In what way is this invitation pressed on your attention? I answer, it is done, I. In the first place, by your own conviction of the truth and the obligations of religion. I mean that the convictions of the understanding are on the side of religion, and that Christianity makes its appeals to you with the presumption that its claims are seen and known to be right. We come to you, when we preach the gospel, with the assurance that we carry with us the decisions of the understanding, though we may fail in subduing the will or in winning the heart. We come to you as to those who have no disposition to cavil with the argument for the truth of religion; who are willing to be numbered among the supporters and the defenders of the gospel; and who are cherishing the purpose more or less distinctly formed, at some time to be Christians. I refer to facts such as the following. (1.) You believe that Christianity is true. You admit this as a truth which you are not disposed to controvert, and which you are willing should be understood by your children and friends to be one of the settled truths on which your mind has no doubt. You would be unwilling that a wife, a sister, a child, or a parent, should think otherwise of you than that this is the deliberate conviction of your minds, a conviction in which you purpose to live, and to die. You wish to be understood as having no sympathy with an atheist, an infidel, a scoffer. With them you have not been ranked; with them you purpose not to be found. When I say this, I mean that it is the conviction of the most of those to whom the gospel is preached. This conviction may be the result of education; or, it may have arisen from the habit of long and patient reflection; or, it may have been formed from the observation of the effects of religion on the minds and lives of others; or, it may be possibly a conviction whose origin you cannot well define; or, it may have been the result of an extended and patient examination of the evidences of the Christian religion. It is not material to my argument now, what is the origin of it, or by what arguments you would be disposed to maintain it. The fact is all that is of importance now; and that fact is, that the divine origin of Christianity is one of those truths which you do not presume to call in question, and which you do not wish to be understood as doubting. You feel that a part of your reputation is involved in holding the opinion that Christianity is true. I assume, therefore, that those whom I address at this time are disposed to admit that Christianity is true, and that it has a claim on their hearts, and lives. It is not to be presumed of any man, without proof, that he is an atheist or an infidel, any more than it is, that he is a liar or a murderer. It is not true that the mass of men in any community are infidels or atheists; nor is it to be presumed of any one that he is an infidel unless he gives |