Such may our hopes be, my fathers and brethren, and such our triumphs in the near views of death and eternity. Our days are passing away apace, and no secular powers or advantages can prolong them; nay, perhaps, were we in the number of the richest and greatest of those that call themselves the ministers of Christ, life might run out only so much the sooner, while on the one hand the baits of luxury, and on the other, the cries of the oppressed, might concur to shorten it. When this scene of vanity is closing, when we are to exchange every ornament for the dress of death, and all the amusements and cares of mortality, for the solemnities of the eternal state; in that awful hour, I say, it will be no grief of heart to us, that we have chosen in all humility to serve Christ and the souls of men, rather than to make our names great, and our families wealthy: And when we come to appear in the presence of that great Redeemer, who hath been witness to all our conduct, and all our designs, we shall really find that we have lost nothing by whatever we have sacrificed to his cause and interest. The applause of thousands is but an empty sound when compared with that of Well done, good and faithful servant*, and all the honours and possessions which the greatest princes could bestow, would be lighter than vanity, when laid in the balance with that unfading crown of glory, which every faithful minister may expect, when Christ the chief Shepherd shall appear †.

I have dilated so much on these pleasant and copious topics, that I have hardly left myself time,

III. So much as to mention the reflections which may naturally arise from what we have been hearing. You will easily apprehend they are such as these;

How greatly is the truth of christianity confirmed by the character of those who were first employed in the publication of it; who gave the greatest evidence that can possibly be imagined of their being entirely devoted to the sacred cause of truth and piety, and expressed, as we have heard, the most disinterested and self-denying zeal in the service of both.

How happy is it for the christian cause, that these original monuments are still preserved, and that we are not left to form an idea of its ministers merely from the general history of succeeding and distant ages, or by the canons and decrees of the greatest part of ecclesiastical councils; which are commonly drawn up with so different a spirit, that, were we to judge by them alone, charity would have inclined us to hope,

that those who called themselves the chief successors of the apostles, had never heard of the character of those holy men ; but had rather formed their conduct, and even their maxims too, I will not say by the jewish, but by the heathen priesthood.

Nevertheless let us bless God, that in the midst of so general a depravation, there have been in all ages, and particularly in our own, a select remnant, who have not defiled their garments, nor prostituted their sacred character and office to those idols of jealousy, which have been so shamefully erected even in the house of the Lord. Persons, so far as I can judge, of all denominations, both of established and separate churches, at home and abroad, who have been, and are in their respective spheres, burning and shining lights; men of God, who however differing in opinion, in discipline, or in worship, have agreed to love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, to bow their hearts and souls to the obedience of his laws, to value the souls committed to their care, serving them in humility and love, candidly excusing the frailties of their brethren, praying, that Wherein they were otherwise minded, than reason and scripture directed, that God would in his own time and way reveal it unto them, and in the mean time labouring, that whereunto they had already attained, they might walk by the same rule, and might mind the same thing *.

Let us daily bow our knees in the most importunate supplications to the God of grace and of peace, that this happy number may be increased; and as he is from time to time laying those in the dust, who were once the joy of our assemblies, and the glory of their profession, let us tenderly feel, let us deeply lament the desolations of his sanctuary †. And let us earnestly pray, that he would raise up in all the churches a generation of faithful and laborious, serious and spiritual, candid and evan

*Phil. iii. 16.

+N. B. This sermon was preached a few days after the death of that great man of God, the truly reverend and excellent Mr. David Some of Harborough, whom God was pleased to favour with a serene and cheerful exit, suited to the eminent piety and usefulness of his life. His dying command hath silenced the attempt which some of his surviving friends would gladly have made, to embalm his memory for the instruction of those that are yet to come; but I am well satisfied, that considering how very generally he was known, he has left a most honourable testimony in the hearts of thousands, that he was one of the brightest ornaments of the gospel and the ministry which the age hath produced; and that all who had any intimacy with him, must have esteemed his friendship amongst the greatest blessings of life, and the loss of him amongst its greatest calamities. He died May 29, 1737, in his 57th year; and surely I have never seen greater reason to cry out, My Father, my Father! the chariots of Israel, and the horsemen thereof.

gelical ministers, that Instead of the fathers there may be the children, by means of whom a people that are yet to be born may see the salvation of our God in its genuine glories.

And this, in connection with the subject before.us, might also lead us farther to reflect, how important a part of an education for the ministry it is, to endeavour to lead young people into the knowledge of this Jesus, whom their office obligeth them to preach and to serve. Polite literature is not by any means to be neglected, nor will it be despised by any but those who know not what it is, yet surely it is not the one thing needful. The sacred scriptures are the grand magazine whence the most important, and therefore I think by far the greatest number of academical lectures are to be drawn. And they who are honoured with a charge of so great importance to the church should surely be concerned, that those of the rising age, in whose hands this invaluable treasure of the gospel is to be deposited, may not rest in a cold speculative acquaintance, either with the evidences, or contents of it; but may feel its vital transforming power, and speak of this great Redeemer as of one on whom they have themselves believed, and whom their own souls do most cordially love.

But I must wave the prosecution of these copious reflections, to conclude with two, which are yet more immediately the concern of those who attend the gospel ordinances; and which I would particularly recommend to you my friends of this society, who are now, through divine providence, so well settled with a workman that needs not be ashamed, and one whom you so highly and justly esteem.

Think how solicitous you should be to know and acknowledge Christ Jesus as your Lord.

I know you think it your happiness often to hear of him, O let it not be in vain. Own his anthority in your lives as well as your assemblies, or those who have most frequently preached him to you, will be the swiftest and severest witnesses against you in that dreadful day, when all that have not bowed to his sceptre must fall by his sword.

And, to add no more, think also how willing you should be to use the assistance of your ministers, as your servants for Jesus sake.

Do not neglect to attend on their ministrations, and thereby shut out wisdom and piety at its first entrance. Do not increase their burden by any unkind usage, lest, by weakening their spi

+ Psal. xlv. 16.

rits, you may injure yourselves, and disable them from doing you that service, in which they are cheerfully spending their lives, though perhaps they apprehend they are thereby shortening them.

And, once more, be not unwilling to use a proper freedom with them in your religious concerns. Officiously to pry into the secrets of families and persons, is a meanness which a generous man will scorn; and particularly to know them is a burden, and often a snare too, which a wise man will gladly decline but some knowledge of your spiritual state and experi ence is necessary to our knowing how to address you, and to address God on your account. Nor can you expect such suitable assistance from your spiritual physicians, as might otherwise be hoped for, if you will not communicate to them some particulars of your complaints.

On the whole, my dearly beloved, Fulfil you our joy *, and let it be your great care so to receive our message, and so to improve it, that it may be the delight of our souls now to proclaim the honours of our Redeemer amongst you, as your servants for Jesus sake, and that the more tenderly we love you, the more abundant satisfaction we may find in our present labours, and our future account. Amen.

*Phil. ii. 2.

1

SERMON II.

A CHARGE

Delivered at St. Ives, Huntingdonshire, on August 12, 1742, at the Ordination of the Rev. Mr. John Jennings.

MY DEAR FRIEND AND BROTHER,

I DOUBT not but your own sagacity has prevented me in ob

serving, that the discourse we have been just now hearing is in effect a charge, though with great dexterity couched under the form of a popular address. Your general work has been well represented to you, and you have been instructed as to the authority by which you are to act in it, the subject on which you are chiefly to insist, and the end which you are to pursue. The particular offices in which you are to endeavour to serve Christ, in serving the souls of men, have also been happily touched upon; and the grand arguments which should engage you to attend this service, with diligence, resolution and delight, have been powerfully suggested. It would therefore be easy for me to go over all the most natural branches of it, in an application of it to you, by which I might well answer the whole purpose of the province particularly assigned to me, in the work of this day. But lest by such a repetition I should seem unseasonably sparing of my own labour, as well as a sense of my inability to express these things in a more agreeable manner, than that in which they have already been handled, I shall now attempt a method something different; only observing, that the hints I am now to address to you will appear with some peculiar advantage, when considered in their connection with the preceding discourse.

I am willing to believe, Sir, that in consequence of what my reverend brother has been laying before you, your heart is now glowing with a vigorous, yet humble resolution, that, in the divine strength, you will emulate the character and conduct of the great apostle, and will preach not yourself, but Christ