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PREFACE.

THE following Sermons, as to the substance, (for most of them are considerably abridged,) were preached to a public and numerous assembly; and, therefore, an accurate and logical discussion of the several subjects was not aimed at. They are rather popular discourses, in which the author, though he wished not to treat the politer part of his auditory with disrespect, thought it likewise his duty, so to adapt his manner to the occasion, as to be intelligible to persons of weak capacities, and in the lower ranks of life. He conceives himself to be a debtor to every class of his hearers, and that he ought to endeavour to please all men, with a view to their edification; but further than this, not to be greatly affected, either by their approbation or by their censure.

Many of the subjects are so nearly coincident, that repetitions could not be always avoided, without the appearance of affectation. Besides, as it may be expected, that in a large congregation there are always some persons present for the first time; with respect to these, an observation may be new, though, perhaps, the more stated hearers may recollect its having been mentioned before. For a similar reason, such repetitions are not improper in print. Many persons read part of a book, who may not have opportunity or inclination to read the whole. Should any one, by opening these Sermons at a venture, meet with a passage which, by a divine blessing, may either awaken a careless, or heal a wounded spirit, that passage will be exactly in the right page, even though the purport of it should be expressed in several other places. Further, since we do not always so much stand in need of new information, as to have what we already know more effectually impressed upon the mind; there are truths which can scarcely be inculcated too often, at least until the design for which they were mentioned once be effectually answered. Thus, when the strokes of a hammer are often repeated, not one of them can be deemed superfluous; the last, which drives the nail to the head, being no less necessary than any of those which preceded it.

From those readers, whose habits of thinking on religious subjects are formed by a close attachment to particular systems of divinity, the author requests a candid construction of what he advances, if he ventures in some instances to deviate a little more from the beaten track. If he is sometimes constrained to differ from the judgment of wise and good men, who have deserved well of the church of God, he would do it with modesty. Far from depreciating their labours, he would be thankful for the benefit which he hopes he has received from them. It is a great satisfaction to him, that in all doctrinal points of primary importance, his views are confirmed by the suffrage of writers and ministers eminent for genuine piety and sound learning; who assisted him in his early inquiries after truth, and at whose feet he is still willing to sit. Yet, remembering that he is authorized and commanded to call no man master, so as to yield an implicit and unqualified submission to human teachers; while he gladly borrows every help he can from others, he ventures likewise to think for himself. His leading sentiments concerning the grand peculiarities of the Gospel were formed many years since, when he was in a state of almost entire seclusion from society; when he had scarcely any religious book but the Bible within his reach: and had no knowledge, either of the various names, parties, and opinions, by which Christians were distinguished and divided, or of the controversies which subsisted among them. He is not conscious that any very material difference has taken place in his sentiments since he first became acquainted with the religious world; but, after a long course of experience and observation, he seems to possess them in a different manner. The difficulties which, for a season, perplexed him on some points, are either removed, or considerably abated. On the other hand, he now perceives difficulties that constrain him to lay his hand upon his mouth, in subjects which once appeared to him obvious and plain. Thus, if he mistakes not himself, he is less troubled with scepticism, and at the same time less disposed to be dogmatical, than he formerly was. He feels himself unable to draw the line, with precision, between those essential points which ought to be earnestly contended for, (in a spirit of meekness,) as for the faith once delivered to the saints; and certain secondary positions, concerning which good men may safely differ, and wherein, perhaps, we cannot reasonably expect them to be unanimous during the present state of imperfection. But if the exact boundary cannot be marked with certainty, he thinks it both desirable and possible, to avoid the extremes into which men of warm tempers have often been led.

Not that the author can be an advocate for that indifference to truth, which, under the specious semblance of moderation and candour, offers a comprehension, from which none are excluded, but those who profess and aim to worship God in the spirit, to rejoice in Christ Jesus, and to renounce all confidence in the flesh. Moderation is a Christian grace: it differs much from that tame, unfeeling, neutrality between truth and error, which is so prevalent in the present day. As the different rays of light which, when separated by a prism, exhibit the various colours of the rainbow, form, in their combination, a perfect and resplendent white, in which every colour is incorporated; so, if the graces of the Holy Spirit were complete in us, the result of their combined effect would be a truly candid, moderate, and liberal spirit towards our brethren. The Christian, especially he who is advanced and established in the life of faith, has a fervent zeal for God, for the honour of his name, his law, and his Gospel. The honest warmth which he feels, when such a law is broken, such a Gospel is despised, and when the great and glorious name of the Lord his God is profaned, would, by the occasion of his infirmities, often degenerate into anger or contempt towards those who oppose themselves, if he was under the influence of zeal only. But his zeal is blended with benevolence and humility: it is softened by a consciousness of his own frailty and fallibility. He is aware that his knowledge is very limited in itself, and very faint in its efficacy; that his attainments are weak and few, compared with his deficiencies; that his gratitude is very disproportionate to his obligations, and his obedience unspeakably short of conformity to his prescribed rule; that he has nothing but what he has received, and has received nothing but what, in a greater or less degree, he has misapplied and misimproved. 'He is, therefore, a debtor to the mercy of God, and lives upon his multiplied forgiveness, And he makes the gracious conduct of the Lord towards him. self a pattern for his own conduct towards his fellow-creatures He cannot boast, nor is he forward to censure. He considers himself, lest he also be tempted*; and thus he learns tenderness and compassion to others, and to bear patiently with those mistakes, prejudices, and prepossessions in them, which once belonged to his own character; and from which, as yet, he is but imperfectly freed. But then, the same considerations which inspire him with meekness and gentleness towards those who oppose the truth, strengthen his regard for the truth itself, and his conviction of its importance. For the sake of peace, which he loves and cultivates, he accommodates himself, as far as he lawfully can, to the weakness and misapprehensions of those who mean well; though he is thereby exposed to the censure of bigots of all parties, who deem him flexible and wavering, like a reed shaken with the wind. But there are other points nearly connected with the honour of God, and essential to the life of faith, which are the foundations of his hope, and the sources of his joy. For his firni attachment to these, he is content to be treated as a bigot himself. For here he is immoveable as an iron pillar; nor can either the fear or

Gal. vi. 1.

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