pattern of obedience to the will of God, as far as it was then made known. But Chrift as he made a fuller revelation of the mind of God to the world than ever was done before, fo he never failed in any one inftance of exemplifying the proper duty of man.

3. How inexcufable then must they be, who are not recovered to a godlike temper and converfation by this most excellent difpenfation? Where we have not only the most perfect and plain precepts, and the most exceeding great and precious promises, but also the moft full and lively, the moft fuitable and engaging example. If the word spoken by angels was ftedfaft, and every tranfgreffion and difobedience received a juft recompence of reward; how fhall we efcape, if we neglect fo great falvation, which at the firft began to be Spoken by the Lord ?" Heb. ii. 2, 3. Or if we neglect to comply with fo excellent a conftitution, which the Son of God himself not only taught us, but exemplified to us ?

4. With what care and attention fhould we tudy the life of Chrift, as it is drawn in the Gofpel-history? Indeed every thing which God hath thought fit to reveal, must be worthy of our diligent and ferious confideration.

All Scripture is written by inspiration of God; and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for inftruction in righteoufnefs," 2 Tim. iii. 16. And no part of Scripture must be magnified to the depreciating of others. But certainly none can be more ufeful and neceffary, more fit for our frequent fearch and meditation, than that which gives

as the picture of the mind and life of our mafter; that while we stedfaftly behold in the glass of the Gospel the glory of the Lord, we may be changed into the fame image, from glory to glory, as by the spirit of the Lord, 2 Cor. iii. 18. And that leads me to infer,

5. We fhould earnestly pray for the grace of the fame divine Spirit with which Chrift was anointed without meafure, in order to our being formed to the fame mind in our measure. In vain will the bright reprefentation of the holy mind of Chrift be fet before us in the Gospel, unless the bleffed Spirit open our eyes, and caufe the light of the glorious Gospel of Chrift to fhine into our hearts. But this we are directed to afk for, and encouraged to hope we shall not be denied, if we cry to the common Father for this great gift, Luke xi. 13.

6. Let us never allow ourselves to reft in any thing fhort of a real and growing confor mity to our Lord. By this we fhould judge of our relation to him, and of his complacency in us; and not merely by the name we су bear, or the notions that fill our minds. " If any man have not the Spirit of Chrift, he is none of his," Rom. viii. g. Study then fo to know him, as to be made conformable to him, Phil. iii. 10. Reckon every view you take of him, every thought you have of him, occafioned by reading or hearing concerning him, to be indeed of little fervice to you, if it has no transforming influence. Go on then still following after this, if that you may apprehend that, for which alfo you are apprehended of Chrift Jefus, ver. 12.

VOL. I.

I

7. As

7. As far as this is our aim and scope, we may take comfort from the difcovery of his prefent glory. For, as his heavenly mind and converfation ended in the heavenly glory; fo a prefent imitation of him by us, as he was upon earth, is indeed a pledge of our future conformity to him in the upper world. As if we fuffer with him, fo efpecially if we live with him and like him, we shall alfo reign with him. If, as he did, we live to God, are dead to fin, overcome the world, ferve our generation, and perfevere to the end in the exercise of chriftian graces, and virtues, fuitable to the conditions and circumstances of life, through which we pafs: we fhall, at the end of fuch a courfe," 'follow him into his kingdom.

SERMON V.

A carnal and a fpiritual Mind.

ROM. viii. 6.

For to be carnally-minded, is death: but to be fpiritually-minded is life and peace,

Ν

IN the former part of this epiftle the apoftle

defcribes the finful ftate, in which the whole world is involved, whether Gentiles or Jews: they are all become guilty before God, and obnoxious to his wrath. He then fhews, that

the

the way of falvation for both, which was always defigned in the counfel of God, and gradually made known to the world, but now moft fully in the Gospel, was not to be by the works of the law, or by any merit of our own, but by the gracious and free pardon of our fins for Chrift's fake, and upon faith in him.

But left this way of juftification by faith fhould be misinterpreted, and abused to encourage men in fin, and in the neglect of holinefs; the apostle in the fixth chapter comes to treat of fanctification, and to fhew, that the Gospel lays us under the ftricteft engagements to univerfal holinefs; that our faith in Chrift and our baptifmal dedication in his name bind as indifpenfably to this.

And in the first verse of the eighth chapter, he fums up both the great bleffing of which he had been treating, and the holinefs that he had been inculcating; and reprefents them as infeparably connected.. "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Chrift Jefus." This is a certain truth, that the fentence of condemnation no longer holds against real Chriftians, but all their fins are par doned. But who are fo in Chrift, that they may take the comfort of this privilege? They, and they only," who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." And after the apoftle hath fhewn, how effectual a provifion is made by the gift of the Spirit of life, and by God's fending his own Son into the world, both in order to our pardon, and our recovery to holiness, ver. 2, 3, 4, he proceeds more fully to explain

explain the character which he had given of Chriftians, and to urge the neceffity of it.

Would you know whether you are in Christ, and may be efteemed in the fenfe of the Gofpel to walk not after the flesh, but after theSpirit? The apoftle tells you, ver. 5. "They that are after the flesh, do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit." And to fhew that: it is of the utmost confequence to us, as ever we would efcape condemnation, to fee that we mind not the things of the flesh, but those of the Spirit; he adds in the text, "For to be carnally minded, is death; but to be spiritually minded, is life and peace."

In the words we have,

I. Two very oppofite characters; to be carnally minded, and to be fpiritually minded. Characters, which divide all mankind into two parties. Every man must be denominated either the one or the other of thefe. However people may agree or difagree in other things, here is the moft effential and wide dif ference that can be between man and man, that fome are carnally, and others fpiritually minded. And yet on the other hand, there is often fuch a mixture in the temper of those to whom these very different characters belong, that contributes not a little on both fides to darken the character, unlefs diligent care and ferious confideration be used to know, which in truth is our own. But then, to excite our concern for making this difcovery, and to convince us of the great preference due to the one above the other

II. The