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can bear, and who can cure?" He
healeth the broken in heart, and bind-
eth up all their wounds.”
"By his
stripes we are healed." In their cases
it is supposed that many died of a
broken heart; but here persons only
die of a whole one. If the heart is
broken, oh, it is well. He is nigh
unto them who are of a broken heart,
and saveth such as may be of a con-
trite spirit. He hath anointed me "to
heal the broken hearted."

year of the Lord." Now, my bre- | infirmities, but a wounded spirit who thren, in this statement, the fallen, sinful, perishing condition of mankind is necessarily implied. Indeed the admission of this fact is the direct ground on which the glory of the gospel is displayed to advantage; and if you deny this, the gospel has nothing to do with you, and you have nothing to do with the gospel. But happy and blessed are they, however distressing may be the discovery, and mortifying may be the experience, who have been led to see and feel that they are in the condition which the gospel supposes, and is designed to reveal to them. It will be glad tidings of great joy-it will be found to suit all their wants, woes, and weaknesses-it will be perfectly adequate to relieve all their miseries. Draw near for a moment and mention your complaints.

Are you poor, even in a worldly sense? While you feel your difficulties, you need not envy others. Let not your privations, though trying, drive you to despond. If you have not this world's goods, you have the riches of the gospel. The poor have the gospel preached unto them; and if they receive it, oh, its boundless treasures will come to their homes; and then their bread and their water are blessed, and their humble abode is turned into a heavenly palace.

Or are you poor in spirit, depressed with the conviction that you are driven from paradise that you have been stripped of your original righteousness-that you have been deprived of the image of God-that you have no dwelling place-that you have no health, no hope with regard to your souls? Oh, remember that "blessed are the poor in spirit"-they who feel their need, they who acknowledge that only by the grace of God they are what they are. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for they shall see the kingdom of heaven;" they have the unsearchable riches of the gospel. How blessed in prospect-how blessed in possession-how blessed in experience-how blessed in hope. "He hath anointed me to preach glad tidings to the poor."

And are you distressed-is your very heart desolate-is it even broken under a deep sense of the heniousness of your sins, in addition to your troubles? The spirit of a man may sustain his

Or are you enslaved? The body has no bondage like the bondage of corruption. There is no slave like the slave of sin; and he that committeth sin is the servant of sin, and is taken captive by the devil at his will. How degrading is the vassalage!—and perhaps sometimes you feel it to be so; and you have made resolutions, and you have made efforts to be free, but have been entangled again, and bound faster than before. "Turn to your stronghold, ye prisoners of hope." Look unto Jesus, who says to the prisoner, Go forth, to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves. I am sent, says he, "to proclaim the opening of the prison to them that are bound."

But are you not only bound but blind? This was the case with Samson; he was not only a captive, but blind. This was the case with Hezekiah; he was not only a captive, but blind. The eyes of both of them were put out.

I have known those who have been deprived of their bodily sight by accident and disease, who have clearly seen the things of God; and I have known those who had perfect bodily vision, who have been perfectly dark in the things of the Spirit. "The natural man understandeth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." But Jesus can open the eyes of the understanding

he can make you wise unto salvation-he can so teach you that the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein-he can enable you to say, "Whereas I was blind, now I see." Yes; he is anointed to preach "the recovering of sight to the blind."

Or are you bruised? Here is no tautology. You may not only be bound, but blind; and not only be bound, and blind, and imprisoned,

but you may be beaten, as Paul and | joiced in spirit;" I thank thee, O Silas were by the scourge, when Father, Lord of heaven and earth, bethey were led into the prison, and cause thou hast hid these things from their feet made fast in the stocks. the wise and prudent, and hast reYou may be tortured; you may be vealed them unto babes." Lo, what injured by your very situation, and by is here? Here we see the best means the fetters, as Joseph was. Joseph's rendered useless. What wonder if feet were hurt, it is said, with the ministers should complain of their fetters; and he lay in prison until the successlessness when he, even he, was word of the Lord came. Well, if this constrained to say," I have laboured be your condition, he has come to set in vain, and spent my strength for at liberty them that are bruised. nought."

There is another image that he derives from the state of the Jews. Every fifty years was a jubilee. This was proclaimed by the sound of silver trumpets all over the country. Then it was said, Ye slaves, this day are ye made free from your masters and debtors, ye are this day discharged from your creditors-ye forfeitors of your inheritance, this day are they restored to you. What a proclamation! how it must have been longed for by those individuals! To this David refers when he says "Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound." And to this Jesus alludes here, when he says, "To preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” A year expresses all the time of the Gospel dispensation to the end of the world-a year: and a few hours, or a day or two, this is afforded to each of you-not more. "Behold, now is the accepted timenow is," not the year, but, "the day of salvation."

Finally, WHAT WAS THE EFFect of THE SERMON. They were struck with admiration; but admiration seems to have been all that they felt. "And they wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth; and they said, Is not this Joseph's son?" They did not really believe his declaration they did not seriously consider his doctrine they did not receive it as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation." If they had convictions, they were ineffectual ones; and if their feelings were excited for a time, they were overpowered by their worldly prejudices, and their worldly passions: and therefore they began instantly to cavil, not about his doctrine, but about the meanness of his extraction. Why, was not he lately one of us? Are we to bow to him as our teacher? Wisdom would have rejoiced in it; and our Saviour, on a similar occasion, re

Perhaps, however, there were a few, though they were overpowered by the evil majority, who wondered from better motives and principles. Perhaps wonder is the first emotion a convinced sinner ever feels in religion. If a man had been born under ground, passed all his days subterraneously, and then had been raised up, and allowed to look around him, and about him, on all the productions of nature, I presume the first emotion he would feel would be surprize and astonishment. And so it is in religion: when we are called out of darkness it is into God's marvellous light. The very doctrine is a novelty to many; but where it has not been a novelty as a doctrine, it is so as to experience; and though a man may have read of these things, and heard of these things, he now sees them in a new light-has other views of sin-other views of holiness-other views of himself, and other views of a Saviour.

What reception does Jesus Christ meet with from us? Are there not some who, as soon as they begin to hear, are ready to cavil, and urge objections which it would be vain to attempt to remove, till the state of the heart be changed? And with regard to others, is not the preaching of the Gospel now a matter of mere admiration, as it was to many of these Nazarenes a mere matter of amusement, as it was to Ezekiel's hearers, to whom he was as one who had a lovely voice, and could play well on an instrument, and who heard his words, and did them not? But you who love the Saviour, draw near, and see whether he be not worthy of all your regard. How glorious his person-how divine his condescension-how full of grace and truth! Is there not enough in the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth, to dispel all your fears,

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is there nothing here far more deserving of your attention? What is it that arrests the attention of angels? They desire to look into these things. The sufferings of Christ, and the glory which should follow-is there nothing in these to fix and to fill your minds? Is it nothing to you, all ye who pass by, and see him dying, to see him rising-to know that he is living now, as our intercessor, and as our advocate, and the head, and influ

and to encourage all your hopes, to fill you with the most powerful and lively motives in all Christian obedience. What shall we say to those who entirely disregard him-who instead of depending on him look to themselves who glory in their excellencies and performances, regardless of himwho would be saved without him if they could, but they cannot. Such a hope is vain; such a hope, if it were well founded, would be a frustration of the grace of God, and render our Saviour's | ence, and source of all grace ? Can you death in vain. There is salvation in live thus regardless of him? What none other. "In the Lord alone have can we think of your case? What can we righteousness and strength." But we think of your gratitude? Paul was what a change was there in the views the most compassionate man in the of the Apostle with regard to him world, and went about sustaining every who could say, "What things were kind of suffering, and exerting himself gain to me once, those I count loss for in every way of labour, in order to proChrist. Yea, doubtless, and I count mote the salvation of his fellow creaall things but loss for the excellency tures: but when he reflected on what of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my the Saviour was, what he had done, Lord." You may be eager to see what he had suffered, he made no wonderful things in nature-you may scruple to acquiesce in the determinabe eager to read whatever is eventful in tion of divine justice, and to say, "If history-you may wish to contemplate any man love not the Lord Jesus the wonders of nature, and to dive Christ, let him be Anathema Maraninto the mysteries of providence: but atha.' Amen.

A Sermon

DELIVERED BY THE REV. R. NEWTON,
(OF LIVERPOOL)

AT GREAT QUEEN STREET CHAPEL, SUNDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 3, 1830.

1 Tim. iv. 8.—“ Godliness is profitable unto all things, having promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come.'

WHENEVER We hear any thing very | perficial observer, who is incompetent, strongly recommended on account of after all, to give an opinion concernits value and utility, we are naturallying that which he so highly extols? and immediately led to enquire concerning the character of those by whom such recommendation is given The passage I have just read contains a very high eulogium on Christian piety. It may indeed be asked, if it were possible in so small a compass of language to express more than the text contains. "Godliness is profitable unto all things." But then we are led to inquire, By whom is this eulogium pronounced?-by what authority is this maxim enforced ?-is it the language of some partial and su

Or, on the admission of his competency, is he a person of questionable integrity has he, by possibility, a design to impose upon the credulous, and to deceive the unwary? Far otherwise, my friends; you know whose language this is-the language of the great apostle, St. Paul-the language of the greatest of all the great men. Consider his natural talents-consider his acquired attainments-consider his extensive observation; and this is the language of a great and wise and learned man. This is the language of

a truly, and, after his conversion to Christ, uniformly Christian man. This is the language of a Christian minister, of an apostle and martyr in the Christian cause. Certainly, then, his testimony has very high claims on our respectful attention and regard.

But the language of the text speaks to us with an authority infinitely higher. This is not the language of a man, however wise, however competent. This is the language of the Spirit of God, recorded by the pen of an inspired apostle: for the text was written by the authority, and under the direction, of the inspiring Spirit of infallible wisdom, and truth, and holiness. The maxim of the text, therefore is, certainly true. Godliness is profitable-Godliness is profitable unto all things; and it has the promise, not only of the life that now is, but of that which is to come. As though the apostle has said, Be not alarmed at the progress of Christianity; fear not to embrace it: it is not merely an innocent thing that will do no man any harm it is a most beneficial thing; it is universally advantageous: it is profitable, not to a few things, not to many things, but to all things. it is all profit, and it is no loss. Indeed it comes to this:-if there be any truth in this book, if in this book the God of eternal truth hath spoken to manand in this book there is truth, and in this book the Lord hath spoken; for all Scripture was given by inspiration of God, and every word of God is true; -why, then, it follows by consequence, that the religion which is here highly recommended to the attention and acceptance of mankind, must be every thing; it must be our life, our understanding, our wisdom, our happiness, our all; it must invole the best interests of man for time and for eternity.

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Be it our endeavour, then, this evening, first, to inquire into the nature,— secondly, to mark some of the advantages of Christian piety.

THE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN PIETY. It is designated godliness; that is to say, the religion that has a supreme regard to God-the religion that comes from God-the religion that conducts man to glory and to God-the religion of which God is the author, the object, and the end.

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Godliness always comprehends a genuine fear. We mention this in the first instance, because we believe that all piety begins here. Of the wicked

it is affirmed by the authority of this book, that "there is no fear of God before their eyes." What a sad and awful description of character is this. They live without God in the world: God is not in all their thoughts; not in the thoughts that are properly their thoughts, but in the thoughts they love to indulge. There may, indeed, be occasions when thoughts concerning God, and eternity, and moral obligation would suggest themselves; but, they are unwelcome visiters; and the men while they pursue such conduct industriously strive-and it is a striving, and a laborious striving, too,-to keep all these thoughts out of the mind. And thus they live without God in the world, practically atheists. This is one great reason why men live as they do. They would not act as they do if they would but think of God, of eternity, of their responsibility to that great and awful Being whose eye is always upon them, who will bring every work into judgment, and every thing they do. Hence we believe that the fear of God is one of the first principles of piety implanted in the heart of man by the Spirit of God. Therefore, in this book we read, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." A man does not even begin to be wise for himself, to be wise for God, to be wise for eternity, until he begins to fear God.

There is, indeed, a branch of piety designated the fear of God which is peculiar to those who are under religious awakenings and convictions, under enlightened views of the character of the Divine Being, his majesty, his power, his justice, his truth, his holiness, as that God who hateth all manner of iniquity. And then, when they reflect on their conduct and character in reference to this Divine Being-how they insult his Divine majesty, how they trample on his authority, how they cast his fear behind their backs-they begin to stand in awe before him; and under the influence of this fear, they begin to depart from iniquity. AÍ. though it is true that this kind of fear is somewhat servile and painful in its nature; yet is it most salutary in its

tendency, as it leads those who are under its influence to turn to the Saviour, to flee to God in Christ as their only refuge from despair, perhaps to cry in the very language of the Publican, "God be merciful to me a sinner."

There is another branch of piety designated fear-a holy fear-an affectionate, duteous fear of God-a filial fear, which accompanies the Christian in every step of his religious progress, through all the stages of his experience. In this respect "blessed is the man who feareth always." With all our attainments in piety, we are to "have grace"-or, as the word means, "to hold fast grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear."

Genuine piety comprehends the saving knowledge of God. How appropriate and significant was the advice which David gave to his son, under circumstances of great solemnity. He called his son to his dying bed and what said he to him? Just what every pious father would ay to his son, under similar circumstances, as his last address :-"Thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and with a willing mind." To know the God of our fathers implies more knowledge and persuasion than that there is a God. A man may have a persuasion that there is a God, and yet have no proper, religious, saving knowledge of God. The true, saving knowledge of God is far more than that merely speculative notion which, for instance, a philosopher has acquired concerning the Divine Being, in the exercise of his natural faculties, in the contemplation of the various works of God, when he sees the wisdom, and contrivance, and design of the Great Creator, in the harmony, the magnitude, the diversity, the beauty, the utility of his works. I wonder not that a great philosopher is said, from the contemplation of the works of the Creator, to have uncovered his head in an act of devotion to that great Being, the Creator and sustainer of the universe. Yet we read not that this had any saving, salutary, lasting influence on his mind and heart. The saving knowledge of God of which we speak is something more than that knowledge

which is peculiar to penitents: they know that there is a God; they fear before him; but the great point is, to know him as their God, to know him as God in Jesus Christ, to know they are accepted of him in the beloved, to know him as the God of pardoning mercy, as the God of forgiving love, as the God of salvation. Now, how is this? Let an inspired apostle reply. "He that believeth knoweth God and loveth God." He that believeth in Jesus with his whole heart unto righteousness, as the only Saviour of lost men, as the Saviour who loved him and gave himself for him

he that thus believeth, knoweth God. What does he know of God. He knows that God for Christ's sake has blotted out his iniquity; and can say with confidence and joy," God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid." Oh, how does this saving, experimental knowledge of Christ as our God, fill the heart with gratitude, and humble the soul in the very dust of abasement at his footstool.

Godliness and piety always comprehend supreme love. God is love; infinitely amiable in his perfections and character; therefore, he ought to be loved. It is true, God has laid men under everlasting obligations to love him in the dispensations of his Providence, in calling us into life, in placing us so high in the scale of being, in the bounty of his hands from day to day, giving us all things richly to enjoy, in supplying our wants, in preserving our lives; but above all things, in the bestowment of his Son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for the redemption of men. But still, though God is infinitely lovely, and deserves to be loved, and though in the dispensations of his providence and grace he has laid men under everlasting obligations to love him, to my mind it is most clear that no fallen child of Adam will ever love God with a pure, divine affection, till he first knows and feels that God loves him.

(To be continued).

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