Take notice then, 1. Your refignation of yourfelves must not be the act of mere nature, without much greater affiftance; but you must be urged and fweetly conftrained to it by the holy Spirit, making you willing by his power. Whatever profeffions you may make, whatever external forms of felf-dedication you may force yourselves to ufe, yet your hearts are by no means willing; nay, they are utterly averfe to this furrender, till they are changed by divine grace. This indeed should not discourage you from making the attempt; for it is while you are making the attempt, you are to hope for the affiftance of divine grace. But I mention the neceffity of divine power, left you should miftake the efforts of mere nature under the conftraints of perfuafion, or in a warm fit of paffion, for an hearty voluntary furrender of yourselves to God. The fame thing is to be applied to your future performance of your engagement. As you cannot of yourselves rightly devote yourselves to God, neither will you be able of yourfelves to perform your vow. Therefore be humble

and felf-diffident in this tranfaction. Entertain no fanguine expectations from yourfelves, or you will be furely difappointed. Truft in divine ftrength for all, for that alone is fufficient for you.

2. Your refignation must be unreferved and univerfal. God claims your all; Jefus bought all; your fouls and bodies, and whatever belongs to you, and therefore you must give him all. He will not fhare his property with fin and Satan: you must make no referve of this or that favourite luft or intereft, but part with all that is inconfiftent with your duty to him and you must give up what is deareft to you to your heavenly Mafter, to be disposed of as he fhall think proper. Here paufe, and inquire whether you are willing to be unreferved and univerfal in your furrender?

3. You must refign yourfelves to God at all adventures, refolving to be his whatever your attachment

to

to him may coft you; though it should coft you your reputation among men, a part, or even the whole of your estate; nay, though it fhould coft you your life. Bleffed be God, we are now in fuch happy circumftances, that our duty to him is not likely to do us much injury even in this world, where perfecution and tribulation is the ufual lot of his fervants. Refignation to him may indeed expofe you to a fenfelefs laugh or a fneer, to reviling and calumny; but who that has the spirit of a man within him would be fo meanly complaifant as to offend his God, and lofe his heaven, in order to fhun the ridicule and contempt of fools? Fools they are, if tried by the ftandard of true wifdom, however wife they may be in other respects. This is but a flight kind of perfecution to one that makes a proper estimate of things, which cannot fo much as make a finger ake, or raise the skin into a moment's pain. But times may yet change with us. The day may yet come when the fervants of Christ among us may be called to forfake father and mother, and wife and children, and lands, and even to lay down their lives for the fake of Chrift. This would be no unusual event; the fervants of the crucified Jefus have been a company of cross-bearers, if I may fo call them, from age to age; and their religion has coft them dear in the estimate of the world, though they are always immenfe gainers by it in the iffue. This perfecution, even to death, therefore you may perhaps meet with, and it is proper you should infert this article into the contract, that you will part with life for Chrift's fake. Perhaps your indulgent Mafter may not infift upon it, and yet perhaps he may; it is therefore neceffary you fhould confent to it. And what do you think of it? Does not this article caufe fome of you to draw back? Let me add,

4. Your dedication of yourselves must be fixed and habitual. It is not a formality to be performed only at a facramental occafion, nor a warm tranfient purpose under a fermon, or in a tranfport of paffion;

but

but it must be the fteady, uniform, perfevering difpofition of your fouls to be the Lord's at all times, and in all circumstances, in life, in death, and through all eternity.

These, brethren, are the qualifications of an acceptable furrender of yourselves to God; and are you willing to be his upon thefe terms? Or will you refufe and perifh? Deliberate upon the matter, and come to fome conclufion. Choose ye in this day whom ye will ferve. May I hope you anfwer me to this purpofe: We have weighed the case impartially; we fee difficulties before us, if we become the Lord's fervants; but notwithstanding these difficulties, we are refolved upon it: his we will be who bought us with his blood.' Is this your determinate refolution, my dear brethren? Then make the tranfaction as folemn and explicit as you can, and follow me; I fay, let all, white and black, old and young, follow me, while I fpeak for you; Lord, here is a poor finner, thy creature, redeemed by the blood of thy Son, that has long been a flave to other mafters, and withheld from thee thy juft and dear-bought property; here, Lord, I would now, freely and without reserve, devote and furrender myself, my foul and body, and my all to thee, to be univerfally and for ever thine. And let the omnipotent God, let angels and men, be witnefs to the engagement.'

Do you, my dear brethren, heartily confent to this formula? Then the contract is ready for fealing; therefore let us rife and crowd round the table of our Lord, and there annex our folemn feals, and acknowledge it as our act and deed. O! happy day! if we should be prepared to use this facred ordinance for this purpofe! Come, ye fervants of the Lord, take a refreshment to ftrengthen you for your Mafter's work. Come, ye redeemed flaves, commemorate the price of your redemption. Come, fee how your Mafter loved you, and how much he fuffered for you and O! let his love constrain you to live

not

not to yourselves, but to him that died for you and rofe again; rofe again to plead your caufe, and prepare a place for you in heaven, the region of immortal life and glory!

But if any of you refufe to comply with the propofal, or, which is much the fame, are careless and indifferent about giving yourselves up to God, not forming any express determination one way or other, heaven and earth will bear witness against you, that your refufal is not owing to your not knowing God's claim upon you. I have afferted it this day, in the prefence of God and his people; and if you ftill refufe to acknowledge it, I denounce unto you that you fhall furely perish, shall perish by the hand of divine juftice as wilful rebels against the highest authority, and as infolently and ungratefully denying the Lord that bought them. Think on your dreadful doom, and let your hearts meditate terror, till you be delivered from it by a voluntary furrender of yourselves to God, through Jefus Chrift your Redeemer. And now what account could fuch of you as have refufed your compliance give of the transactions of this day, even to one of your fellow-creatures? Suppose one should afk you upon your return home, 'What were you doing to-day? You must answer, "I was engaged in a treaty with the Proprietor of the univerfe, and the Redeemer that bought me with his blood, about becoming his fervant, and acknowledging his right in me." Well, and what was the iffue? Certainly you did not dare to refufe? certainly you are now the willing fervant of God.'-" No, I refused, and fo the treaty broke up."-O thou monfter! Could you bear the dreadful narrative? Would not every one that heard it gaze and ftare at you with horror, and ask in confternation, Were you not afraid? Had you no regard for your own welfare? Alas! what will you do with yourself now? What rock or mountain can you find to hide your devoted head? How will you answer for your refufal in the great and terrible day of the Lord ?' SERMON

SERMON XXXII.

THE CHRISTIAN FEAST.

1. COR. v. 8. Therefore let us keep the feaft, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of fincerity and truth.

A

S we have the agreeable profpect of celebrating the Lord's fupper on the next Lord's day, we cannot spend this day to better purpose than preparing for it. And no preparative can be of more importance than a right knowledge of the end and defign of that folemn ordinance, and the qualifications neceffary in thofe that would worthily partake of it. To this I would devote the present discourse: and fo important a defign certainly demands the attention of all, especially of fuch of you as intend to join in the participation of the facred fupper.

Though my text may be taken in a larger latitude, yet it is juftly fuppofed to have a particular reference to this inftitution, which has the fame place under the gofpel-difpenfation which the paffover had under the law. St. Paul had very naturally glided into the ftile of the Jewish law concerning the pafchal fupper, in the directions he had given concerning a fcandalous member of the Corinthian church: and he carries on the metaphor with a beautiful uniformity, when he comes to speak of the gofpel-difpenfation, and particularly of the Lord's fupper. He had directed the church of Corinth to caft the offender out of their communion, while he continued impenitent, because if they should tolerate fuch a corrupt member among them, it would tend to corrupt the whole fociety.