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Abraham to our Father.-They did think so, to the neglect of their own personal holiness; valuing themselves upon their descent from Abraham, as if they were secure in God's favour by it. Make the application for yourselves; trust not in your baptism, christian name, and profession, without a christian faith and life.

-For I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham-Men of other nations, though strangers from the covenants of promise, and how dead soever in themselves. You, if you will be God's children.

Ver. 10. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the tree. Now, if it be God's will, now hear, now pray that the axe may be laid to the root of all sin in you.

·Therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.-The sentence upon every unfruitful soul is here declared, and will certainly be put in execution. Therefore hear, and understand; judge, and be in fear for yourselves; come to Christ, and learn of him how to bring forth good fruit. Ver. 11. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. And that was all he could do: he could not make that repentance available to salvation; he preached it as the way to Christ.

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-But he that cometh after me is mightier than I.— To him therefore we must go, who alone is mighty to save, to give effect to all ordinances, and to the preaching of all his ministers.

Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear.- O Jesus, we are none of us worthy to be thy servants, in the meanest offices but thou sendest to man by man, and canst perfect praise out of the mouths of babes.

-He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire-Not with water only, washing from the guilt of sin;

but with the Holy Ghost, revealing Christ as the Lord our righteousness; and also as with fire, cleansing the soul, consuming its dross, and renewing it to the image of God in holiness. This was remarkably fulfilled at the day of Pentecost, is always fulfilling in the world, and must be fulfilled in every one of us.

It may not be improper here to observe the method of the New Testament. It opens with John Baptist, the preacher of repentance: John Baptist leads us to Christ; and Christ, having proved himself to be the Son of God, and fulfilled all righteousness, sends down the Holy Ghost to reveal the doctrine of the kingdom to his apostles. This blessed Spirit now speaks by them to us in the word, and acts in Christ's stead, to work faith in him, and purify our hearts. There is no occasion therefore to derogate, as some do, from the Acts and Epistles of the apostles, as if it was a lessening of Christ's teaching and authority, to put any other upon a level with it. The truth is, the whole glad tidings of Gospel grace were not, and could not, be fully opened till after his death. And therefore we must look for the doctrine of salvation by faith in a crucified Saviour, more especially in the preaching and writings of his apostles. He never said so plainly as St. Peter did," Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." And why? Because the time for it was not then come.

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Ver. 12. Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, &c. - John speaks of Christ's office from the beginning to the end of it, as setting up his kingdom in the world, ruling in it by his Spirit, and at last separating the bad from the good, and casting the unworthy out of it into fire unquenchable.

LECTURE.

It is the great design of Scripture to reveal to us the mercy and love of God in Jesus Christ, as the Saviour of sinners, to show us our want of such a Saviour, and stir us up to seek after him. And when we read the Scripture carefully and conscientiously, to learn what our condition is as therein represented; to know as exactly as we can what we must do to be saved, to resign our understandings, our wills, our hearts to it; we have an assured, comfortable proof within ourselves of our sincerity with God; and may depend upon it, that the same Spirit which has wrought in us this care and diligence to know the mind and will of God, will be with us in every step of our progress, to carry on and complete the good work he has begun in us, and make us wise unto salvation. He will teach us in particular, that he himself is the opener of all Scripture, to one as well as another; and that as "no man can say,” savingly," that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost;" so every man, let his station and business in the world be what it will, may say it by the help which is afforded him, and in the power of that grace which alone enables any to receive Christ into their hearts by faith, and is freely offered to all. Surely, my brethren, there is comfort and encouragement in this, to such corrupt, weak creatures as we are, who, when we have got a sight of our work, are ready to lose all heart, and sit down in despair; I say, there is a loud call and great encouragement in this, especially to the unlearned, busy part of mankind, to think that God has not only in mercy given the Scripture to point us to Christ, but gives the Spirit with it, to lead us to him as it were by the hand; and that as sure as we read it for this end, we shall never be disappointed of our hope; but may conclude against all our fears, that we are in God's way of

happiness and salvation. On the other hand, neglect of Scripture is a certain sign of a graceless spirit; and you cannot possibly have one proof to give of the goodness of your state, or any true concern for your souls, so long as you wilfully shut your eyes against the light. I am often reminding you of the falsehood of those excuses you allege, and of the deceitfulness of your hearts in this matter. Ask yourselves but one question; did God put this light into your hands on purpose that you might see your way to heaven? Then it is sufficient for this purpose, pretend what you will; and if you still continue in darkness, it is because you refuse instruction from God, and have no desire to reap the benefit of it. You will observe that I am not putting you upon reading the Scripture only as a task, or barely to rid yourselves of what you may think a duty, but to get life from it; to consider it as God's heart of love opened to you; to receive instruction from it with the simplicity of little children; to be confirmed by it in all saving knowledge; in a word, to find Christ in it. Whenever you do this in truth and sincerity, it will come home to you with a blessing; you will praise God for his word, and be earnest with him in prayer to make it light and truth in your hearts.

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My friends, let us come to the right conclusion with ourselves. I fear many of you are sadly ignorant of Scripture, and of the way of salvation therein revealed; but will you live and die thus, and still hope well of your condition? Will you think and call yourselves Christians without Christian knowledge, or any desire of it? Certainly, what God has told you for the life of your souls, you may, you must know. You can read the Scripture; you can come hither to hear it; you can ask yourselves questions concerning what you read and hear; you can beg of God to help you in the understanding of it, and

incline your wills to receive it. For instance, you have heard in the chapter which has now been read, that John Baptist was sent to prepare the way of Christ, by preaching of repentance. Then it is evident at once, that repentance is the way in which we come to Christ, and Christ to us; and you are farther told what repentance is, viz. laying the axe to the root of sin in the heart, and bringing forth suitable fruits. Now, if you are a serious reader of Scripture, you will of course ask the question, Must all repent? And the Spirit's answer in the heart will be, Yes, all; you yourself, whatever you are in your own opinion, or the esteem of the world, unless you can say truly that you have always kept, and do keep every one of God's commandments. This you will scarce affirm; it will certainly be found upon trial that you are a transgressor of them all, when rightly understood; and as Christ himself will teach you to understand them in his sermon on the mount. Well, but suppose we do repent, meaning by that turning from sin to God with a full purpose of obedience, is this all we have to do? May we stop here, thinking we have done enough to secure our pardon, and challenge favour at God's hands? No, sin is not so light a thing, nor so easily forgiven as you suppose; no repentance, works, or after-endeavours of your own, can wash out the foul stains of it. Take notice, therefore, that John Baptist is not Christ; he is only the first step in your Christian course, and he here sends you to one who is mightier than he, to Jesus, whose name and office it is to save his people from their sins, as you heard in the first chapter; and if you do not come under his baptism of the Holy Ghost, to receive him by a faith of the Spirit's working, for cleansing in his blood, and for power of the Spirit's giving to live unto him that died for you, you are ignorant of yourselves, ignorant of Scripture, ignorant of the will of God for your

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