"mies abroad.” Quite the contrary. Joash the King of Ifrael conquered him in battle; took him prisoner; plundered him of all his treasures; and broke down the walls of Jerufalem. And afterwards, the fubjects of Amazial: confpired against him; and when he fled from them for his life, they followed him to Lachifh, and there flew him. "whence," you afk, "was this unexpected "refult. The hundred talents were refigned;

"But

yet Amaziah lives in calamity, and dies by " violence and treafon! Did the Lord God, "the God of goodness and truth, forsake "His fervant?" No. The Lord forfook Amaziah, because Amaziah drew back from being His fervant. Amaziah, when he had deftroyed the Edomites, brought with him to Jerufalem their idols; and with the infatuation which belongs to presumptuous wickedness, set them up to be his gods, and burned incenfe to them, and worshipped them. Yet the fword of divine juftice paufed in its scabbard. Where fin abounded, grace much more abounded. The Lord Jehovah, inftead of immediately cutting off the King in the midft of his ingratitude and impiety, was mercifully pleafed again to send a prophet to rebuke him and call him to repentance. And the prophet faid unto him;

Why haft thou

Sought

fought after the gods of the people of Edom, which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand (i)?” How did the King receive the message from God? When the former prophet had delivered his meffage, Amaziah obeyed the command. Did he now humble himself before His Maker? Mark how obftinately his heart was fixed in apoftacy. He charged the prophet with infolent obtrusiveness for daring to reprove him and ordered him to be filent, on pain of punishment. The King faid unto him; "Art thou “made of the King's counsel? Forbear. Why

fhouldst thou be fmitten?" Then the prophet, perceiving him not to be reclaimed, pronounced his doom. "I know that God hath "determined to destroy thee, because thou haft "done this, and haft not hearkened unto my "counfel." Hence followed the difaftrous refidue of his life, and his miferable end. Learn from this example that no former acts of righteousness, no former facrifices of present intereft for confcience-fake, will avail you as an excuse for indulging afterwards in fin. If you would reap the rewards which are provided through the blood of Chrift for those former acts of righteousness, for those former facrifices; feek the grace of the Holy (i) 2 Chron. xxv. 15, 16.

6

Spirit

Spirit that you may continue a consistent and zealous fervant of your God and Redeemer to the end of your life. Trust not in ftrength of your own. How were you

turned unto God from your original corṛuption? Entirely by the renewing influence of His Spirit. How are you to be enabled to perfevere? Entirely by the operation of the fame Sanctifier. But I befecch you, my brethren, that ye receive not his grace in vain. Be not you of the number of those who draw back unto perdition. If any man draw back, My foul, faith the Lord, shall have no pleasure in him. When I fay to the righteous that be fball furely live; if he trust to his own righteoufnefs and commit iniquity, all his righteousness fhall not be remembered, but for his iniquity that be bath committed he shall die for it. When the righteous turneth away from his righteousness and committeth iniquity, and doth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doth; fhall be live? All his righteousness that he hath done fhall not be mentioned: in his trefpafs that he hath trefpassed, and in his fin that be bath finned, in them fhall he die (k).

(*) 2 Cor. vi. 1. Hebr. x. 38, 39. Ezek. xxxiii. 13. xviii. 24.

SER.

SERMON X...

On CHRISTIAN BOUNTY.

DEUT. XV. II.

Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy.

THE

HE word of God, folicitous, while it commands obedience, to approve its precepts to the understanding, very frequently accompanies the injunction with a brief remark fuggefting the reasonableness of the duty. How manifeft is the obligation to love God, when we are instructed to love Him because He firft loved us (a)! How equitable the love of man, when we read that, if God fo loved us, we ought also to love one another (b)! How fatisfactory the argument for univerfal forgiveness of injuries: Even as Chrift forgave you, fo alfo do ye (c)! How decifive the plea for the reception of

(a) I John, iv. 19. (b) 1 John, iv. I.

(c) Col. iii. 13.

the

the stranger as a brother: The Lord loveth the franger in giving him food and raiment: love ye therefore the ftranger (d). How obvious to the man who feels the truth of the introductory memento, The Lord thy God blefeth thee (e), is the duty of opening the hand wide to the brethren, to the poor, to the needy!

What then if, for an inftant, we might fufpend the obligation to Chriftian bounty, in our own cafe, on the truth of that introductory memento as applicable to ourselves? What if, placing out of fight every other paflage in the Scriptures which can be fuppofed to bear, either in the way of commandment or of exemplification, upon the duty, we reft the authority of the precept before us as to ourfelves, the authority of the only precept, according to our present af fumption, which prefers a claim to our regard on the fubject of bounty, upon the refult of the enquiry, Has the Lord our God bleffed us? Be it

allowed, for a mo

ment, there to reft it! Has the Lord our God bleffed us? Be the enquiry propofed. What is he who fuggefts it? What are they to whom it is fuggefted? My brethren; What are we? We are intelligent beings; beings formed out of nothing; beings in

(d) Deut. x. 17-19.

(e) Deut. xv. 6.

vefted