SERM. that ye may be "fervent in spirit," "zealous of good XXIII. works," "steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the [Tit. 2.14.] work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know, your labour is not in vain in the Lord."

Rom.12.11.

1 Cor.15.58.

Ver. 8.

Having thus shewn, that they only who have the Spirit of Christ are truly His, and likewise how ye may all have it, if ye will but seek it as ye ought, there will be no occasion, I hope, of persuading you to endeavour after it all ye can; I shall only desire you to consider, that unless you have the "Spirit of Christ, you are still in the flesh," that is, in your natural or carnal estate, no better than when ye came into the world, or rather much worse; and so long as such, you can never please God, nor do any one thing acceptable in His sight: you are enemies to God, and He is an enemy to you; you have nothing that you can truly call a blessing, for every thing you have is cursed to you; you have no interest in the merits of Christ's death, nor in the intercession that He makes at the right hand of God: for you are Eph. 2. 12. without Christ, "Aliens from the commonwealth of Israel,

and strangers from the covenants of promise; having no hope, and without God in the world." Ye are in continual danger of being condemned to hell-fire, and will certainly be so when ye die, unless ye repent and believe, so as to have the Spirit of Christ while ye live.

Whereas, if you have the Spirit of Christ, and so are His, what an happy condition will ye then be in! Ye will then be free from that bondage of corruption to which 2 Cor. 3.17. others are subject, for "where the Spirit of the Lord is, Rom. 8. 13. there is liberty." Ye will then, "through the Spirit, mor[Rom.6.4.] tify the deeds of the body," and live continually in "new

23.

ness of life." Ye will then bring forth the "fruit of the Gal. 5. 22, Spirit, love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance," and whatsoever else can adorn either your hearts or lives, and make you amiable in the sight of God. Ye will then partake of the Divine Nature, and be holy, as He who hath called you is "holy in all manner of conversation:" ye will then have Jesus Christ, whose ye are, always making intercession for you, and washing you from your sins in His own blood: ye will then be safe and secure under the protection of the Almighty,

[1 Pet. 1. 15.]

and need not fear any evil that can happen to you: ye will then live under the light of God's countenance, and have it shining continually upon you, cheering and refreshing your spirits, more than ye can imagine. Ye have already the earnest of the inheritance, and therefore need not doubt, but that, ere long, you will be possessed of it, "an inherit- 1 Pet. 1. 4. ance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you." And all because ye have the Spirit of Christ, and so are His, whose all things are: "To whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit, be all honour and glory now and for ever." Amen.

SERMON XXIV.

THE OBLIGATIONS OF SUPERIORS TO PROMOTE RELIGION.

SERM.

XXIV.

PSALM ii. 11.

Serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

ALTHOUGH these words were spoken by David, king of Israel, yet they were not his words, but the word of God Himself; as the same royal Prophet saith, in his last pro2 Sam. 23.2. phetical words, "The Spirit of the Lord spake by me, and His Word was in my tongue." So it was in his composing and uttering this Psalm; he did it not out of his own head, [2 Pet. 1. but as he " but as he "was moved by the Holy Ghost:" so that it was 21.] God Himself that spake it by him. This we cannot doubt of, having it so plainly attested from Heaven; for when St. Peter and St. John had told the rest of the Apostles and disciples how they had been threatened by the rulers of the Acts 4. 24- Jews, for preaching the Gospel of Christ, "they lift up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, Thou art God which hast made Heaven and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is; who by the mouth of Thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against His Christ. For of a truth, against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together," &c. And they had no sooner said this, and prayed for grace to preach the Word with boldness, but Ver. 31. immediately the "place was shaken where they were

27.

assembled together, and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the Word of God with boldness." The shaking of the house, and the coming of the Holy Ghost upon them at that time, being wholly out of the ordinary course of nature, could not have happened but by the immediate hand of God; who therefore did, by this means, set, as it were, His seal, for the confirmation of all that His Apostles had then said. But they had said, what He Himself had said by the mouth of His servant David, 'Why do the heathen rage," &c. Which being the very words wherewith this Psalm begins, God did thereby own Himself to be the author of it, and affirmed it by a miracle; which is more, I think, than can be said of any other particular place of Scripture, after the whole had been so confirmed.

Neither did He, in this extraordinary manner, signify His approbation only of what they had then said concerning this Psalm in general, but likewise of what they added for the explication of it: even that "His Holy Child Jesus,' whom He had anointed, was the Messiah or Christ here spoken of; and that the whole Psalm is therefore to be understood of Him, and of Him only: that it was He against whom the people raged; that He is that Lord, who, sitting in Heaven, "will have them in derision, and vex them Ver. 1-5. in His sore displeasure" for it. That it is He of whom God the Father saith, "Yet have I set My King," a King of Ver. 6. Mine own anointing, "upon My holy Hill of Sion," (where the ark then was, and He sat between the cherubims over the mercy-seat that was upon it:) and that it was He who said, "I will declare the decree, the Lord hath said unto Ver. 7-9. Me, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee. Ask of Me, and I shall give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession: Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; Thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel."

The Spirit of Christ being in "all the Prophets," par- 1 Pet. 1. 11. ticularly in this, Christ often speaks of Himself in the first person so plainly, that it cannot possibly be understood

of

any other: as where He saith, "Thou wilt not leave Ps. 16. 10. My soul in hell."

They pierced My hands and My feet." Ps. 22.16.

G G

SERM.
XXIV.

Ver. 18.

Deut. 6. 4.

"They part My garments among them, and cast lots upon My vesture." So here He saith, " I will declare the decree, The Lord hath said unto Me, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee." Whereby He hath declared to the world his Eternal Godhead. That He was from all eternity begotten of Jehovah the Father, and therefore must needs be of the same Divine nature with Him, the same Jehovah ; it being impossible there should be any more than one John 10.30. Jehovah, according to His own saying, "I and My Father are one." This He declares in the first place, as being the foundation of that religion that He hath revealed to the world, and of all our hopes of salvation in it. And therefore also in the New Testament this declaration is frequently quoted, always applied to Christ, and great use is made of it, for the confirming of his religion, Heb. i. 5; v. 5, and Acts xiii. 33, where it is expressly said to be written in the "second Psalm:" which is another undeniable argument, that this Psalm is to be understood wholly of Christ Jesus.

Having thus declared His eternal generation, as He was God, He then sets forth the great power that is given Him, as He is the "King" before spoken of, set upon "Sion," as He is the Head of the Church, the Saviour of the world, the Mediator between God and men; for it is only as He is such, that any thing can be given Him which He had not before but as He had undertaken to be born of the seed of the woman, and was so in the decree and promise of God from the beginning of the world, and was therefore anointed to be a Prophet, a Priest, and a King too, that He might be able to destroy the works of the Devil, and to save mankind; in this respect He there declares, that the Lord hath also said unto Him, "Ask of Me, and I will give Thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for Thy possession." Though He was then set upon "the Holy Hill of Sion" (which was therefore "holy" because He kept His residence there) yet His dominion Psal. 72. 8. was to be" from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth," so that "all kings shall fall down before Him, all nations shall serve Him." King David himself Ps. 110. 1. calls Him "his Lord," and "the Lord of the whole earth.” Ps. 97. 5. Which title can belong to none but Christ, and to Him only

Ver. 11.