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SERMON XXVII.

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And he said unto them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me. Matthew xvi. 24.

My brethren, with what intent do you suppose we have ascended this pulpit? Is it to cover the gulf to which mistaken notions of religion lead with flowery and inviting verdure; or, in other words, to entertain the false hopes of our fellow Christians, by the concealment or softening of necessary truth? Do you expect to hear us say, that it is perfectly compatible with the Christian religion to idolize the world? Do you expect us to justify that breathless pursuit of pleasure, which reason alone declares to be unworthy of thinking beings? Do you expect, this day, to receive from us a license to diversify and give zest to an eternal round of emptiness? Do you expect us to persuade you, that a life of prayer, penitence, and self-denial, (if they mean any thing at all) are not applicable to Christians in our day; or,

if they are, that they consist well with a life of carnal pleasure? Do you expect us to teach you how to obtain an immortal crown, without following the footsteps of a crucified Redeemer? No, my brethren -As Balaam said, "If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord, to do less or more." We view, with horror, that temporal Gospel, if I may so speak, that is interpreted by the passions, and accommodated to the delicacy of semi-Christians.

My brethren, with a liberty which the Gospel allows to its ministers, and with an anxiety with. which it inspires them for the salvation of their fellow creatures, I appear before you to thunder those precepts or truths, which disown that misconception of the religion of Jesus Christ, at which we have glanced: truths which assure us, that the edifice of Christian salvation can only be erected on the wreck of crucified nature; assure us, that no man can serve God and the world; assure us, that those who are full, and laugh now, shall one day weep and mourn; assure us, that the world shall rejoice, but that his disciples shall be sorrowful, and that their sorrow shall be turned into joy: in one word, assure us, that if any man will go after him, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow him.

How is it, my brethren, that even the most zealous efforts of the ministry are unequal to induce practice in accordance with those truths with which the

Gospel building is edified? That building, which shall stand when this earth shall be sought for, but in vain? Is not the cause, when analized, expressed in this one word,—a misguided self-love? What else is the spirit of the world, which stands in opposition to the Spirit of Christ, but a spirit of pride and selfseeking? A scheme of happiness in which God is neither Alpha nor Omega? A scheme which dethrones Jesus Christ, and banishes him from the heart; while the unrenewed will usurps the sceptre, and exercises the most tyrannical dominion over the whole soul.

Jesus Christ, who came to deliver us from this yoke of sin, points out in our text the principles of the Christian's life; and the steps by which he is to attain to perfect liberty, and regain the image of God and his original dignity. This is to be done,

I. By getting the consent of his will. If any man will, &c.

II. By self-renunciation. Let him deny himself.

III. By embracing the conditions which God has appointed, and bearing the troubles and difficulties he may meet with, in walking the Christian road. Let him take up his cross daily.

IV. By imitating Jesus, and doing and suffering all in his Spirit. Let him follow me.

I. The first step in the attainment of religion, is the getting the consent of our will. Here, without any sort of disguise, I purpose to let you have what I consider a scriptural view of the agency of man. We conceive that all intelligent and accountable beings, were created with what is called a will: that is, a power whereby they freely choose or refuse objects. Milton expresses this sentiment very beautifully:

Ingrate! he had of me

All he could have; I made him just and right,
Sufficient to have stood, though free to fall.

Such I created all th' ethereal

powers,

And spirits, both them who stood and them who fail'd:
Truly they stood who stood, and fell who fell.

Not free, what proof could they have given sincere

Of true allegiance, constant faith or love,

Where only what they needs must do appear'd,

Not what they would? What praise could they receive?"

What pleasure I from such obedience paid,

When will and reason (reason also is choice)

Useless and vain of freedom both despoil'd,

Made passive both, had serv'd necessity,
Not me?

Of this liberty, however, man was deprived by the fall, and he became too blind to see, and too corrupt to choose, the good. To this power and light he is restored by that Day-Star from on high who hath brought life and immortality to light by the Gospel. Nor can we conceive that this expression of our Saviour, "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life," savours of unjust upbraiding. Nor

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are the terms of salvation incongruous to our nature, which say, "If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat of the good of the land; but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." Remark, my brethren, on what the condemnation of the sinner is founded: "This is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

You will not regard us as wishing to intimate, that man, since the fall, has power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ assisting him. We know that those who are in the flesh, cannot please God. But let us notice here the advantages of the covenant of grace. "Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find." So that we are left without excuse, and shall be speechless, if, at last, we are found without the wedding garment. A sentiment at variance with this, would destroy both the agency and accountableness of man; and go as near to prove that he cannot be sinful, as that he cannot be holy. I again repeat it, the first step in religion, is getting the consent of our will. And how is this to be effected? By getting a deep sense of the holiness of God, the sinfulness of sin, and the awfulness of standing before God in judgment. If through the aid of the Holy Spirit, by our earnest endeavours, we make the former discoveries, we shall not find it difficult to obtain the consent of our will to be religious.

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