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to the rule of his doctrine! If we had been told that Christ, the Son of God, came into the world at such a time and place, long ago, to recover mankind to God, and show them the way to heaven; that he spake as never man did, and that, wherever he went, great multitudes followed him, and were very attentive to hear him; what an unspeakable loss should we have thought it, if all his words had died with him, and nothing that he said and taught had ever come down to us; and how earnestly should we have wished to know the will of God as declared by him, and what that way of salvation was which he discovered to the world! Need I tell you, do you not know, that by the same goodness and mercy of God which sent him to seek and to save us, the doctrines he taught, the discourses he delivered, the way of salvation he preached, were committed to writing for the benefit of all succeeding ages; that we have them now before us in this blessed book; and that all the four Gospels conclude with a particular account of his death, as the sole means of our redemption and restoration to life; that in the belief of so great à mercy, and in the sense of his love, we might listen to his instructions, study his will, receive all his commands, bind his law upon our hearts, and take him for our Lord and King to reign over us: he taught a pure morality; he convinced the world of sin in coming short of it; he established it as the rule of duty to all his disciples; he demonstrated, by his miracles, that he was ordained of God to save us, and that our help is in him; but the generality of those, who saw and heard him in his life-time, and were the best disposed to profit by his doctrine, knew no more of him than that he was a prophet, or divine teacher; they did not know all the love that was in his heart; they did not know, as we do, that the great design of his coming

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was to suffer death upon the cross for our sins. I would, therefore, desire you to consider what advantage we have in this knowledge and belief, for a willing and full subjection to him.

Christ says, "If ye love me, keep my commandments;' meaning, that no one who knows what obligations he has to him, believes in him as his Saviour, and loves him on that account, will either be ignorant of his commands, or refuse obedience to them. He reads every chapter of this Gospel in connexion with the three last, has a suffering Christ always in his eye, and whenever any command seems hard to him, puts the cross to it. Here then, I say, is your ground as Christians, and the proof of a Christian state. The consideration of Christ's love in dying for us, has a mighty force in it to engage us to his service, and bind us to God in a sacred bond of love and gratitude; but if it has not this effect upon us, if it does not constrain us to live unto him in the way of his prescribing, we are not his disciples, we are not his friends, we do not love him, whatever we pretend, we do not believe in him. You may do many things for the sake of decency and reputation, and because natural conscience has some check upon you, and will not always suffer you to do as you list; but this at best is only a natural state; and, if you would be Christians, you must have Christ's tie upon your hearts, do all your works for his sake, abstain from all evil, and abound in all good, with a view to please God, and because it is his will.

In the portion of Scripture which has now been read, Christ confirms the law of marriage given to our first parents in paradise, and declares it to be binding for life, except in the case of adultery; and, accordingly, that case excepted, no divorces are allowed in Christian countries. But husbands and wives, truly Christians,

look beyond the bare letter of the law, hear Christ saying that they are one flesh, and consider the marriage state both as a sacred union of hearts, and a perpetual lively figure of the spiritual marriage and unity that is betwixt Christ and his church. What peace would there be in families, and how much more happiness in the world than there is, if all did so, received the command from his mouth, and endeavoured in simplicity and godly sincerity to live up to it for his sake. And if we were thus faithful to him, not only in this, but all other instances of duty, teachable and singlehearted, and desiring nothing so much as to please our Saviour and Master, we should be those very little children whom He would not have forbidden to come unto him, but receives with all possible marks of goodwill and affection, puts his hands upon them, puts his spirit into them, takes them into his heart, prays for them, and concerning whom he declares, that of such is the kingdom of heaven; meaning, that no others can belong to his kingdom of grace here, or be received into his kingdom of glory hereafter. That we may be of this happy number, be taken into the arms and heart of Christ, be lively members of his kingdom upon earth, and have him interceding for us in heaven, and sending down his blessings upon us from thence, let us all devoutly pray.

PRAYER.

Almighty God, who hast taught us by thy Son Jesus Christ, that except we be converted, and become as little children, we cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven: convince us of our natural blindness, and make us thankful for thy holy and heavenly instructions. Bring us to him in repentance and faith, that, rejoicing in him as our God and Saviour, we may yield ourselves unto thee as alive from the dead, and walk worthy of the

mercy thou hast showed us. Let thy peace ever rule in our hearts, and make us to walk suitably to the grace of forgiveness. Thou who didst deliver up thy own Son for us all, and wilt also with him freely give us all things; give us a lively sense of thy love, and grace to keep it; give us understandings to know thee, hearts to love thee, and wills to obey thee, and crown all thy gifts with the everlasting fruition of thy blessed self; which we humbly presume to beg of thee, in the name and for the sake of our great High Priest, Mediator, and Advocate, Jesus Christ. Amen.

SECTION XLI.

ST. MATTHEW, xix. 16.

AND behold, one came and said unto him, Good master. It is plain he had conceived a high opinion of his wisdom and goodness, if not divine authority; and seemed desirous that Christ should put him upon some great task, thinking nothing too hard for him. Our Lord saw him through and through. And it may be proper to observe, in order to understand what follows, that he does not give him the answer he gave to some others, "thy faith saves thee," or the same St. Paul gave to the awakened jailor, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved;" but such an one as his case required, and knowing that no other, at this time, would have suited him.

What good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?-He spoke every natural man's thought; he was, and would be self-saved, and go to heaven with the price of it in his hands.

Ver. 17. And he said unto him, Why callest thou me

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good? As thou dost not know who I am, why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is God-Not thou, whatever thou thinkest. It was a home stroke levelled at the pride of his heart; and might have darted a ray of light into him, as to man's goodness, and the conceit he had entertained of his own.

Ver. 17. But if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. He asked, "What good thing shall I do, "that I may have eternal life?" Not questioning but that it might be had by doing, nor suspecting any want of goodness in himself. Well then, says Jesus, "If thou "wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Be good. Look to it, be sure that thou fail not in any one tittle of thy obedience.

Ver. 20. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up. It was a wretched mistake; not one of them, when rightly understood.

-What lack I yet? - Nothing, if he had spoken the truth. See whether something like this is not lurking at the bottom of your hearts, to keep you from Christ.

Ver. 21. Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfectIn thy obedience; on which alone thou buildest for salvation.

-Go and sell, &c. This was an absolute command, suited to the person's case and circumstances, and what Christ knew to be necessary for him; but not given to all.

Ver. 21. And thou shalt have treasure in heaven. · Be as rich in reality, as now thou art poor.

And come and follow me - By taking up the cross; and to learn of him more perfectly the way of righte

ousness.

Ver. 22. But when the young man heard that saying, he

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