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O! be sure, then, that you are indeed living members of Christ's body, the church; so shall you have a title to the forgiveness of sins; you may lie down on your beds in peace, you may meet death with an hope full of immortality, you may look forward to the day of judgment with a transport of delight, and shall at last join the glorified saints before the throne in their songs of praise, saying “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever."

Now for a few words respecting the unbelief contrary to this article.

And, First.-There can be no true belief in this article, where the evil, abominable, nature, and dreadful guilt of sin is not seen, nor consequently lamented. No man ever fled to the blood of Christ for the grace of remission, till he saw the damnableness of all sin, till he felt a sentence of death in himself, till he loathed himself for all his abominations, and for all his iniquities, and till he was made truly weary and heavy laden with his guilt and corruptions: a person who has never seen himself and sin in this light, may indeed talk about putting his trust in Christ for the remission of his sins, but in truth he has never seen his need of Christ; he can no more apply to Christ, than a man in health can apply to a physician. Are you, therefore, my brethren, strangers to true penitence and abasement of soul for sin? Have you never found to your sorrow and confusion that you are fallen under the curse and condemnation of the eternal law of God? Are you from day to day living at your ease, unconcerned about the dishonour you are doing to God, never mourning over the corruptions of your hearts, thinking yourselves in as good a condition as your neighbours, and never troubling your heads about anything more? Now, if your consciences testify against you, if you cannot deny but it is thus with you, you may be sure that you are yet in your sins, unwashed in the blood of Christ, involved in the curse of the fall: depend upon it, no fair appearance in the flesh, no outward regularity or decency of behaviour, no punctuality in attending church and sacraments, can be of lasting service to you, so long as you remain insensible of the misery of an apostate state, blind to the

deadly accursed nature of sin, unaffected with the guilt and power of your corruptions, and unacquainted with the work of repentance; you that are in this state are altogether under the power of that unbelief, which is contrary to the article under consideration: the law has not yet done its office upon you as a schoolmaster in bringing you to Christ; you are not real members of the holy catholic church, and, therefore, it is plain you can have no interest in the forgiveness of sins; you value not this inestimable privilege, because you have not felt the guilt and burden of sin. But, is it nothing that you perish? You have sinned, you know, and will God never reckon with you? or will a little crying for mercy on a dying-bed do the business? You are sure your sins are not forgiven, because you live in them; and, worst of all, you are quite easy.

But, I observe, Secondly.-That he is under the power of that unbelief, which is contrary to this article, who does not daily take sanctuary under the covert of Christ's blood, from the curse of the law, the stroke of justice, the challenges of conscience, and the fears of death and judgment to come. For it has been shown, that the forgiveness of sins is obtained by grace alone, through faith in the sacrifice of the death of Christ; so that in the very nature and reason of things it must follow, that he who is destitute of such faith is yet in his sins, and consequently under the wrath of Almighty God; yet, what numbers of those who call themselves Christians are destitute of the precious faith of the Gospel! What numbers, even of the better and more decent sort of persons, apprehend that, in order to attain the forgiveness of their sins, they must repent, reform their lives, be sorry for what is past; read and pray more diligently, and do the best they can, and then, no doubt, all will be well with their souls! But know, my brethren, you, who are thinking to go upon this plan or foundation, are altogether in the dark; and if this be your case at the hour of death, be assured, that you shall never obtain remission of your sins, neither in this world, nor in that which is to come. In short, the true Christian faith, the faith which unites the soul to Christ, the faith whereby we alone obtain remission of our sins, is a real belief of God's testimony concerning his Son. It is not acquired by argument, by tradition, or by speculative inquiry. On account of our pre

judices and love of sin, it requires the exertion of that same power which raised Christ from the dead, to implant this vital principle in the heart. O! begin then to pray for it; be convinced that notwithstanding your Christian name and profession, you are entire strangers to it: this would be a great point gained, for then you would no longer sleep in carnal security, but be stirred up to inquire in earnest, what you must do to be saved; and would seek of him who is ever ready to give to them that ask, that precious gift of faith, and so would obtain it. God grant this may be the case with you all, for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

SERMON IV.

ST. JOHN v. 28, 29.

For the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

ALL that remains of the Creed to be spoken upon, is this, viz. "The Resurrection of the Body, and the Life Everlasting." That is, in other words, the glorification of the saints; and the glorification of the saints will consist in a final justification, a glorified body, a perfect sanctification, and a most perfect and satisfying sight of God. I will not speak of these doctrinally, but solely by way of application to believers and unbelievers; consequently the plan of this discourse will be somewhat different from that which I have hitherto gone upon in the former discourses upon these articles of the Christian faith. My desire in this concluding discourse is, to set before believers the glory of their hope, and thereby to quicken their diligence and animate them to patience; and if at the same time I may be so happy as to awaken any sinner lying fast asleep in the bewitching enjoyments of a vain, perishing world, my expectation and aim in this address will be graciously answered.

Brethren, I would now, agreeably to the design of this last article of the Christian faith, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting, carry you forward to future things; I would engage your attention to what is higher and nobler than this poor earth and its perishing glory. Let us take a view, then, of what shall be hereafter, when earthly greatness shall be no more, and earthly misery shall have slept in the grave; when all these things shall have been dissolved, when the heavens shall have passed away, when the earth and all that is in it shall be burnt

up, and a new heaven and a new earth shall be brought forth. The believer's hope is beyond all that which is subject to decay; into eternity, I would carry your meditations. There, believers,

I say, First, you shall have a full and final justification, which will consist in the Redeemer's solemnly declaring you fully discharged from all the penalties of sin, which are the death of the body, the destruction of the whole man, body and soul, in hell, and the loss of God's favour for ever: from these, the Redeemer will declare you fully discharged when he cometh in the glory of the Father, with the holy angels! Then thou shalt hear the voice of the trumpet, He hath said it, "O death, I will be thy plagues! O grave, I will be thy destruction!" Thy scattered dust, O believer, shall be assembled, and thy body come forth, but so changed that thy soul shall hardly know its own partner! Thy soul took leave of it in death, left it to moulder in the dust, out of which it was taken like other creatures; left it in a most contemptible condition, to be trodden under foot and eaten up even of worms; left it helpless, motionless, without sense, and dead as the clods of the earth in which it was laid; left it a mere animal thing, fit only while alive for the purpose of this life, and to encumber the soul, and when dead, to consume in the grave like other animal bodies ;-but now the soul finds it incorruptible, glorious, powerful, spiritual; for thy body steps out of the grave incapable of disorder, pain, or death, glorious as the sun in the firmament in light and beauty, furnished with almost angelic vigour, strength, and activity, and formed with a noble superiority over the gratifications of this imperfect life, being spiritualized and fitted for the services of the soul in glory. Yes, thou real Christian believer, the Almighty Jesus will then ransom thee for ever from the sentence passed of old on thy body-"Dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return;" yea, he will fashion thy vile body, that it shall be like unto His glorious body; and then when death shall have been swallowed up in victory, thou wilt be carried up to meet thy Lord in the air, to receive the final and eternal absolution, and to be solemnly and everlastingly invested with the favour of God; ministering angels shall introduce thee before the Lord, and place thee upon His right hand. And for what? to be tried, to be charged with thy sins, to be upbraided with the worthlessness

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