selves safe in the bosom of their church, without exa nining the reason why. And that they may be certain they shall not miscarry, some spiritual undertaker shall pass his own word for their Salvation, though the word of God is silent in the case.

Let those who please, quit their hold which God himself has given them in the Gospel, and trust in such airy hopes: but, certainly, no wise man would let a matter of so great importance, as the Salvation of his own soul, depend upon so slight a thread, as the authority of another man and I believe, many of those who commit all their spiritual concerns to the direction of their spiritual guide, would be unwilling to trust either his honesty, or his understanding, with the management of their temporal estate,

But the truth is, understanding is grown to be a great fault in some men's religion; and well it may, because their religion is not consistent with understanding; and that is the reason why, instead of answering our arguments, they make it their business to call us names, to posses their disciples' minds with groundless prejudices, and fill their heads with enthusiastic conceits; and instead of giving them a reason of their faith, they tell them it is not their business to judge, but to believe; and when they have persuaded men out of their judgment, it is no hard matter to persuade them out of their senses too: and so, instead of wisdom and understanding, we have seen a Religion grounded upon malice, supported by ignorance, and made up of absurdities and contradictions.

But after all," the fear of the Lord" is the only evident, and certain, means of Salvation, and the only infallible sign of the true Christian Church; and in

such

such a Church I am sure we live, where these means

are duly offered, and easy to be had.

Here we may,

work out our

indeed, be saved; but then we must "Salvation with fear and trembling:" if these terms will not satisfy us, we may go to other Churches, where we shall be promised better, and fare worse: And after we have flattered ourselves with a little groundless confidence, it will end in this "fear and "trembling" at last, and, perhaps, "without Salva❝tion."

For when all is done, when we have examined the pretences of the several Churches upon earth, their inward assurances, and outward boasts; if we would be entitled to Salvation, we must fulfil the conditions of it; we must have" repentance towards God, and "Faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ."

And for our progress in the paths of Salvation, there are no means wanting in our Church. Here we have a pure form of worship, where all virtues are inculcated into our minds, all graces are prayed for, and our very prayers are instructive: where God, and only God, is the object, and a universal charity to all mankind is the subject, of our devotion.

Here the word of God, that unerring rule of life, is read for our information, and explained for our use, and pressed upon us," with line upon line, and pre"cept upon precept."

The conclusion of all is this, that "the fear of the "Lord and the keeping of His commandments" are the two only essential parts of the true Religion, and nothing but the true Religion is desirable to an understanding man. This is a tree of knowlege, whose fruits we may, freely, eat of, and establish ourselves in para

dise by doing so; a treasure of riches, which God has given us to live upon, and the more plentifully we live upon it, the richer we shall grow.

This is the greatest blessing that ever God bestowed upon us; it is a beam of the Divinity shining upon our hearts; the glory of God on high, inhabiting this lower world: it is the very Shechinah of His presence, by which He still appears to the sons of men; and however it may be abused by the superstitious, or slighted by the profane, yet, take it in its genuine simplicity, its native beauty, and it is the noblest prerogative of our nature, the richest propriety, nay, the very property of man: "the perfection of the fear of the Lord "is wisdom."

It was the saying of a great statesman, dying in disgrace, That if he had served his God, as faithfully as he had done his king, he should not have been so miserably forsaken.' It was well considered, but it was too late and this is the case with many other men. Had they been less worldly, they had been more wise; had they shewed more regard unto their souls, and less unto their bodies, it had been the preservation of both their bodies and souls.

And now we may follow our own devices still; but this is a truth, of which, if we are not persuaded at present, we shall be convinced at last, when death will correct our error, but not amend it: consider this before the season is past, and be wise betimes, for "there is neither device nor wisdom in the grave whither ❝ thou goest."

VOL. III.

L

SERMON

SERMON XIII.

SAINT BARTHOLOMEW THE APOSTLE.

ST. BARTHOLOMEW is reckoned in the catalogue of the Apostles, which is given by St. Matthew (x. 3), by St. Mark (iii. 14), and by St. Luke (vi. 14; Acts i. 13). But his name not being mentioned by St. John, whilst several things being recorded by him, of another disciple who is called Nathanael, of whom there is a perfect silence in the other Evangelists, some think that Nathanael and Bartholomew is the same person: some of their reasons are thesebecause the Evangelists, who wrote the catalogues, join Philip and Bartholomew together, as John does Philip and Nathanael; because the vocation of all the Apostles being recorded, there is no calling of Bartholomew mentioned, unless, that of Nathanael be it; because the other three Evangelists make mention of Bartholomew and not of Nathanael; and St. John makes mention of Nathanael and not of Bartholomew, which is hardly to be accounted for, unless they were the same person.

He is recorded by the Evangelists to have preached the Gospel in the Greater Armenia, and to have converted the Lycaonians to Christianity. Others say, he preached to the Albanians, a people upon the Caspian Sea; others, again, that he preached in India. Pantænus, the famous Christian philosopher, who took upon him the office of a missionary, and preached the Gospel in India; and, after some time, returning to Alexandria, where he had been master of the Christian University, about the year 180, made this report concern

ing his mission that he found in the hands of some of the Indians, St. Matthew's Gospel in Hebrew, which was brought among them by St. Bartholomew, and that the ori ginal book was kept among them to that day.

Some more modern authors relate, that he was crucified, like St. Peter, with his head downwards; others, that he was flead alive; which last account is the most probable, crucifixion being a Roman punishment and since it is not recorded that he ever returned from among the barbarous Indians, excoriation is a death which was most likely to be inflicted by the rude cruelty of those savages.

JOHN iii. 8.

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

(See the Collect.)

HE doctrine, which is taught by our Saviour, in

THE

this chapter, sometimes extorts the question of, Nicodemus, "How can these things be?" How is this consistent with human liberty, and moral virtue? But what is the reply of our Lord, " Marvel not that "I said unto thee, ye must be born again;" there is an absolute necessity for something more than what is conveyed by a natural generation, in order to renew and restore your nature: for " that which is born of

* Dr. Horberry. Vide Second Sermon for Tenth Sunday after Trinity, Vol. II.