hearts to true repentance, lest at length these blessings should be taken from us, and given to a people that will bring forth more fruit.

There is an ambiguity in the original word χρηματίσαι, which our translation renders called: for though that is the more general sense it bears in Heathen writers, wherever it occurs in the New Testament, except in this passage, and in Rom. vii. 3. it signifies to be taught or warned by a revelation from heaven. Thus it is spoken of Joseph and the wise men, Matt. ii. Simeon, Luke ii. Cornelius, Acts x. Noah, Heb. xi. and elsewhere. It does not, therefore, appear quite certain from the text, whether the disciples chose this name for themselves, or the wits of the time fixed it upon them as a mark of infamy; or, lastly, whether it was by the special direction of the Spirit of God that they assumed it. But I incline to the latter supposition; partly, because in those happy days it was the practice and the privilege of the disciples to ask, and to receive, directions from on high in almost every occurrence; but, chiefly, on account of the excellent instructions couched under this emphatical name, sufficient to direct and to animate those who were to be known by it, in their duty to each other, to God, and to the world. Some of these I propose to infer from the other proposition contained in the text, that the first name by which the followers of the Gospel were generally known was that of Christians.

Hitherto, as they were separated from the world, so they had been divided among themselves! and so strong were prejudices subsisting between the members of the same body, that we find, in the beginning of this chapter, some one of the party contended with the apostle Peter only for eating with those of another. Hence we read the phrases, we of the Jews, they of the Gentiles. But henceforward they are taught to blend and lose the greater distinction of Jew and Gentile, and the lesser divisions of Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, in a denomination derived from him who alone was worthy to be their head, and who was equally rich in mercy to all that call upon him' in every place.

And as they thus were taught union and affection among themselves, so their relation to God, the way of their access to him, and their continual dependence upon him, were strongly implied in this name. A Christian is the child of God by faith in Christ: he draws near to God in the name of Christ : he is led and supported by the Spirit of Christ: Christ is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending of the faith, hope, and love of every believer. From him alone every good desire proceeds: by him alone every good purpose is established; in him alone

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of our best performances are acceptable. Let us beware (it is a necessary caution in these days) of a Christianity without Christ. I testify to you in plain words, that this is no better than a house without a foundation, a tree without a root, a body without a head, a hope without a hope: a delusion, which, if persisted in, will end in irremediable destruction: ' for other foundation can no man lay, than that which is laid, Christ Jesus' he is the corner-stone, chosen of God, and precious.' Alas, for those who are offended with him in whom God is well pleased! but those who trust in him shall never be ashamed. This is another important lesson comprised in the word Christian.

Nor is this all; but in the name of Christian they might, and we may, read the terms upon which we are to stand with the world. If I was asked what the words Platonist or Phythagorean signified, I should say they expressed certain persons who embraced the sentiments, submitted to the institutions, and imitated the conduct of Pythagoras and Plato; and in order to describe them further, I need do no more than give an account of the lives and writings of their respective masters. Could I thus, in some distant, unknown country, where the name of Christianity had been only heard of, have an opportunity of declaring the history, the doctrines, and the laws of Jesus Christ; how he lived, how he taught, how he died, and upon what account; what usage he himself received from the world, and what he taught his followers to expect after he should leave them: if I should then describe the lives and the treatment of his most eminent servants, who lived immediately after him, and show, that as he was, so were they in the world,' 1 John iv. that, pursuing his pattern, they found exactly the same opposition; would not the inhabitants of such a country conclude, even as the Scripture has assured us, that the temper of Christianity, and the temper of the world, must be exactly opposite; and that, as it is said, Whoever will be a friend of the world is an enemy of God,' James iv. so, whoever had boldness to profess himself a friend of God, must necessarily be an enemy to the world, and would be sure to find the world, and all in it, at sworn enmity with him? But if I should further tell them, that though the same laws, the same warnings, and the same examples, still subsist: yet that fierce opposition I have spoken of is, at length, nearly over, so that none are better pleased with the world, or more agreeable to it, than many of those who speak most honourably of the Christian name; would not these people immediately infer, that one of these contending powers must have yielded to the triumphant genius of the other? that either the whole world were become such Christians as those who were first styled so at Antioch, or

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that modern Christians must be, for the most part, so only by profession, and have neither right nor pretence to their ancient spirit? And could we suppose, further, that after this information, some of these remote people were to land at Dover, and make the tour of this kingdom, can you think they would be long in determining which of these is indeed the case?

Numbers are deceived by restraining many passages in the New Testament to the times in which they were delivered, though it seems to have been the great care of the apostles to prevent, if possible, our making this mistake. St. John having expressly said, 'If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him,' immediately explains what he means by the world, namely, 'The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life,' 1 John ii. If high distinction, vain show, and sensual pleasure, make no part of the world at this day, I must allow that we have no part in the apostle's decision, nor any cause to observe his caution; but if these things are as highly prized, as eagerly, and almost as universally pursued now in Britain as they were sixteen hundred years since at Rome and Antioch, surely we bear the name of Christians in vain; if our hopes and fears, our joys and sorrows, our comforts and our cares are not very different from those of the generality among whom we live. 'If any man,' says St. Paul, have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his,' Rom. viii. Now, whatever more is meant by the phrase of 'having the spirit of Christ,' it must certainly mean thus much at least, a disposition and turn of mind in some degree conformable to the mind that was in Christ Jesus, to be evidenced by a life and conversation suitable to his precepts and example. He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners: he went about doing good,' Heb. vii. He was gentle and compassionate, meek and patient under the greatest provocations: so active for the glory of God that his zeal, by a strong and lively figure, is said to have eaten him up,' John ii. so affected with the worth of souls, that he wept over his bitterest enemies so intent on his charitable designs towards men, that an opportunity of helping or instructing them was as meat and drink when he was hungry, John iv. and made him forget weariness and pain: so full of devotion towards God, that when the day had been wholly consumed in his labours of love, he would frequently redeem whole nights for prayer! Luke vi. But I must stop. No pen can describe, no heart conceive, the life of the Son of God in the flesh! Yet, in all these things he was our great exemplar; and no profession or appellation can benefit us, unless we are of those who copy closely and carefully after him. For thus saith the beloved apostle, He that saith he abideth in him ought himself so to walk VOL. II.

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even as he walked. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him,' 1 John ii.

I shall conclude with a short address to three sorts of persons. And, first, If there are any such here, (would to God this part of my labour may prove needless,) I would recommend this subject to the consideration of those who have almost, if not altogether, cast off the honourable name into which they were baptized; who, trusting to what they call the light of nature, and the powers of human reason, venture to determine the fitness of things by their own standard, and declare in their words, as well as by their actions, they will not have this man to rule over them,' Luke xix. Is not this an unaccountable event upon your plan, that the name which first went out from Antioch, under the greatest disadvantages, should so soon overspread the world, without arts or arms, without any force, or any motive of an external kind? Is it possible that any kind or degree of enthusiasm could influence, not a few at one time, or in one place, but multitudes, of all ages, sexes, tempers, and circumstances, to embrace a profession which, in proportion to the strictness wherewith it was followed, was always attended with reproach and suffering? Those places which were most noted for opposition to this way, have been long since buried in the dust: but a succession of those whom the world counted not worthy to live,' and 'of whom the world was not worthy,' Acts xxv. Heb. xi. has always subsisted, and still subsists. Had you lived in those days when Jesus Christ assured a company of poor, disregarded fishermen, that neither the power nor the policy of the world, nor the 'gates of hell should ever prevail against them,' Matt. xvi. you might have been less inexcusable in refusing to believe him. But now, when you have the accomplishment of this promise before your eyes, and well know (for you are book read) what various attempts have been made, with what steadiness and formidable appearances they have been for a while carried on, to render these words vain, but how, at length, all such attempts have totally failed, and ended in the confusion and ruin of those who engaged in them-what tolerable reason can you assign for the part you act? Does the tendency of the Gospel displease you? Is it an enemy to that virtue you are so fond to talk of? On the contrary, we are ready to put it to the proof, that here are not only the sublimest maxims of true virtue, but that the practice, or even the real love of virtue, are quite unattainable upon any other scheme; and that the most specious pretences, independent of this, are no more than great swelling words of vanity,' 2 Pet. ii. I speak the more freely upon this point, because I speak from experience. I was once as you are.

I verily thought that I ought to do,' (or at least that I might do,) many things against Jesus of Nazareth,' Acts, xxvi. None ever went further than I, according to the limits of my years and capacity, in opposing the truths of the Gospel. But the mercy of God spared me; and his providence having led me through various changes and circumstances of life, in each of which I had a still deeper conviction of my former errors, has at length given me this opportunity to tell you, (O that I could speak it to your hearts,) that at the name of Jesus every knee,' sooner or later, 'must bow,' Phil. ii. before him every heart must either bend or break that he is full of mercy, love, and pardon, to all that submit themselves to him; but that, ere long, he shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, to execute judgment, and to convince ungodly sinners of all the hard speeches they have spoken against him,' Jude.

I would, 2dly, address those who, while they profess to believe in the Lord Jesus, do, in their works, manifestly deny him, Tit. i. This is, if possible, a worse case than the other; yet how frequent! You believe that Jesus Christ came into the world, both to be a propitiation for sin, and also to give us an example of a godly life, and yet continue contentedly in the practice of those sins for which he poured forth his soul, in the pursuit of those vices which the Gospel disallows, and in the indulgence of those desires which your own consciences condemu. Think, I entreat you, of these words in the 50th Psalm: Unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do, that thou shouldst take my covenant into thy mouth seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee?' This question is now proposed to our consciences, that we may be aware, in time, of the danger of insincerity; and not perish with a lie in our right hands,' Isa. xliv. If we cannot answer it now, what shall we say in that awful hour when God shall speak it in ten thousand thunders, to all who, in this life, presumed to mock him with an empty outside worship, drawing near him with their lips,' when their hearts were far from him?' Isa xxix. For the day is at hand, the day of the Lord,' when God shall bring every hidden thing to light,' when every man's work shall be tried and weighed ; tried in the fire of his purity, weighed in the balance of his righteousness; and as the issue proves, so must the consequence abide to all eternity: a trial and a scrutiny which no flesh could abide, were it not for the interposing merits of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and our Judge. But he has already told us, that he will then own none but those who were faithfully devoted to his service here. To the urgent cries and strongest pleas of others, he will give no other answer but 'I know you not; I never knew you,' Matt. vii. 'de

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