in a corresponding manner those of others. If he have just views of the worth of his own soul, and the importance of his own salvation; he cannot but tenderly regard the souls, and the salvation, of others. If he comprehend, at all, his own infirmities, and the unceasing need, which he has of tenderness and patience from his fellow-men; if he remember, at all, how persuasive and efficacious candour and gentleness have heretofore been in influencing his own mind; he cannot but discern the importance of exercising them towards his flock.

Nor is it less indispensable, that the preacher should possess and exhibit, the same openness, boldness, and integrity. The possession of these things is absolutely necessary, in order to the appearance of them in his discourses, and in his life. All counterfeits will, at the best, be suspicious; and chiefly fail of their intended effect, after a little period. But a full conviction of the Preacher's unmingled integrity; which, if it exist, can scarcely fail of being distinctly perceived; will more powerfully persuade his hearers, than all the arts of reasoning and eloquence, attainable by the human mind. At the same time, this characteristic will aim at doing them good in ten thousand ways, unthought of by the insincere preacher. Beyond this, it will accomplish the good, where all skill and contrivance will fail. To an honest, open, undaunted preacher, thoroughly believed to be such, all men will listen, who will listen at all. By such a preacher all men will be moved, who, in the same circumstances, will be moved at all. His discourses will, of course, appear to be delivered in earnest: not, perhaps, with animation, or eloquence, properly so called: with respect to these his constitutional character may be unfavourable and his habits unhappy: but with seriousness, solemnity, and the appearance of a realizing conviction, that he is uttering the message of God. Such a message, so uttered, can scarcely fail of making some useful impression on the mind. If not; it will be because the mind is not in a state, fitted to receive useful impres sions.

3dly. The Preaching of Christ is a forcible reproof to Ministers. Ministers, if we may judge from the sermons which they publish, are, in some instances at least, guilty of sophistry. Every preacher, who indulges himself in this mode of reasoning, has failed to propose, or to remember, Christ as his pattern; and whenever he solemnly reviews this part of his conduct, must feel himselt powerfully reproved by the open, sincere, and exact argumentation of his Redeemer, his fair and candid statements of the opinions of his adversaries, and his solid answers to their cavils.

Ministers, at times, are petulant, angry, and contentious; not for truth, but for victory. Let him, who indulges any part of this spirit, look to the example of his Saviour, and be ashamed of his neglect to walk, as Christ also walked. Let him lay aside the spirit of a disputant, and a champion; and resume that of a disciple of his glorious Lord.

Not a small number of preachers, in one country and another, affect a strongly impassioned, fervid, and enthusiastic manner of writing and uttering their discourses. Their language is always intended to be vehement, bold, and highly figurative; their tones loud and violent; and their gestures accordant with both. No part of this character can be found in the preaching of Christ. Not the most distant resemblance to enthusiasm can be found in any thing which he said, or in the manner in which it was said; not an attempt to appear impassioned; not an effort to display what is customarily called eloquence. When the subjects, which he canvassed, inspired warmth, prompted imagination, and led to the adoption of figurative language; he indulged them, just as mere nature led. But he never summoned them to his assistance as a part of his scheme; nor, what is more to the present purpose, did he ever form the scheme, with an intention to give himself opportunity of calling in these auxiliaries to his discourse. A temperate manner; solemn indeed, and plainly earnest; far distant from that cold and uninterested mode, sometimes seen in the desk; but still temperate on all ordinary occasions, and raised only on extraordinary ones; was the characteristical manner of the Redeemer. His voice was pre-eminently the still, small voice of truth and piety; and he did not strive, nor lift up, nor cause it to be heard in the streets.

How different this pattern from the efforts of separatical preachers, and indeed of many others, in our own times! There is no small reason to fear, that by many men of modern days Christ, if now on earth, would be thought a very imperfect example of the best mode of preaching.

Ministers in some instances employ their discourses in minute, wire-drawn disquisitions. Such disquisitions can rarely be necessary in the desk; and, wherever they are not necessary, they are mischievous. No example of this nature can be found in the preaching of the Redeemer. The minds of hearers are lost in such disquisitions; their feelings blunted; and the truth and duty, recommended, are forgotten in the labour of following the ingenious discussions of the preacher.

The timidity of ministers is also forcibly reproved by that undaunted firmness, which Christ displayed in the midst of his bitter enemies; men, from whom he could expect nothing but hatred and violence. It is to be always remembered, that there are occasions on which some subjects cannot be urged with any hope of success, and only with a prospect of disadvantage. It will, therefore, not only be justifiable, but commendable, to withhold the communication of certain truths, and the injunction of certain duties, in peculiar seasons; because those who should hear, cannot (in the language of Christ) bear them now. But the preacher is bound to withhold them, only because he is fairly convinced, that the communication will do evil, and not good. Even here, great caution

is to be used; lest the preacher's own timidity, and not the performance of his duty, be the governing motive. In all cases, where this duty does not forbid, (and these instances are of course few) he is bound to speak the truth boldly and plainly, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. Let every timid preacher, who shuns to declare the whole counsel of God, under the influence of his timidity, fix his eyes on the example of his Saviour; and he will see himself most affectingly reproved, and most solemnly reminded, that the fear of man only bringeth a

snare.

The love of applause may be said to be instinctive in the mind of man; and has, of course, a seat in that of Preachers, as well as of other men. Against this seductive passion, always ready to operate, and operating almost of course with an unhappy influence, every Preacher will find the strongest guard in the example of the Redeemer. No instance can be produced, in which this passion appeared in him. To teach truth, and enforce duty on his hearers, was plainly the whole end proposed by him in all his instructions. Such ought to be the only end aimed at in the discourses of every Minister of the Gospel.

Finally; all persons who assemble to hear the Gospel, are here taught the manner in which they are bound to receive the truth. They are bound to receive it in its purity and simplicity, just as it was taught by Christ. They are bound to hear it with a reverential, ready, and obedient mind; as the law of life, and the only means of salvation. The Jews, who would not thus receive it, perished. Those, who at the present time will not receive it in this manner, will, unless they assume a new character, perish also.

SERMON XLVIII.

CHRIST A PROPHET.-PREACHING OF THE APOSTLES.

MARK XVI. 15, 16, 20.—And he saith unto them, Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel unto every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And they went forth, and preached every where; the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen.

IN a former discourse, I proposed to consider the prophetical character of Christ, as displayed,

1st. In his Personal Preaching; and,

2dly. In his Preaching by his Apostles.

The former of these subjects I have accordingly considered at large. The latter I shall now examine with some attention. In the text we are presented, among other things, with a Commission, given to his Apostles, and others, to go into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; and with an account of the fact, that under this Commission they went forth, and preached every where. Their preaching, therefore, was a business of mere delegation, and a mere performance of a duty, enjoined by Christ. In other words, Christ preached the Gospel by their Instrumentality.

In the consideration of this subject, it will be proper to show, I. The Fact that the Apostles actually preached the Gospel of Christ; or were inspired:

II. The Necessity of their preaching the Gospel:

III. The Things which they preached: and,

IV. The Consequences of their preaching.

I. I shall endeavour to show, that the Apostles actually preached the Gospel of Christ; or were inspired.

Many Unitarians, who have admitted that Christ himself was inspired, have, nevertheless, both questioned, and denied, the inspiration of his Apostles. As this is a subject of vast importance in the Christian scheme; it cannot but be necessary, in a system of Theology, to settle, as far as may be, just opinions concerning this subject. I shall, therefore, consider it at some length. It will be remembered, here, that we are not at issue with Infidels. The persons, with whom we contend, however unfavourable to the Scriptures their opinions on this or any other subject may seem, are yet professed believers in Divine Revelation. We are, therefore, at full liberty to bring whatever arguments we please from the Scriptures themselves. Nay, the Scriptures are, in the present case, peculiarly proper sources of evidence: sources to which our antagonists can make no objection. When Dr. Priestly denies what he calls the particular inspiration of the several books of the

Bible, he alleges, as his warrant for this denial, that they do not pretend to any such inspiration. Whether this doctrine is true, I shall now proceed to examine. In the

1st place, The Commission, and the Fact, recorded in the text, prove that the Apostles were inspired.

In the text, the Apostles are commissioned to preach the Gospel, or good news of Salvation. In other words, they were commissioned to declare the terms, on which God will forgive sin, and restore sinners to his favour and blessing. These terms it was impossible for them to know, except by means of immediate revelation to themselves, or information from a person, to whom they were revealed. The Gospel, it is agreed by all who believe it, discloses the Will of God concerning this subject. But this Will cannot be known, except by direct communication from God. The knowledge of it, therefore, must terminate, of course, in ultimate revelation. If, then, it was not revealed immediately to the Apostles, it was communicated to them, verbally, by Christ. But no power of human memory could enable them to retain such a mass of communications, for any length of time; much less for such a length of time, as intervened between their reception of them, and the publication of those writings, in which they were conveyed to the world. If we consider the numerous events in the life of Christ, which they have recorded, and still more the numerous discourses, which they have professed to recount; we must either admit, that these records are very imperfectly true, because necessarily not exact; or that the Apostles had such supernatural assistance, as to make them exact, and in this manner true. This assistance can be no other than Inspiration. The Gospel of St. Matthew was written, according to the earliest calculation, eight years after the death of Christ; that of Mark, and that of Luke, about the year 64; more than twenty years after the death of Christ; and that of John, to say the least, at a much later period. Nothing can be more evident, than that these writers could not, for such a length of time, retain by the mere natural force of memory the things, which they have recorded. Particularly is this impossibility manifest with respect to the numerous discourses, recorded by St. John; of which in so great a proportion his Gospel consists; discourses, differing from all others, ever known in the present world; strongly characteristical, and therefore fairly presumed to be genuine; discourses, raised up by events distinctly recorded, and perfectly suited to those events; composed of questions and answers, arguments and objections, so minutely specified, as to wear the appearance of having been taken down on the spot, and at the moment, with uncommon skill and felicity. He who believes, that St. John could have remembered these things in his old age, by the mere natural force of memory, certainly can find no difficulty in admiting any proposition, because it asserts something miraculous; for no miracle involves a more absolute counteraction of the known VOL. II.

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