And wherefore do you think I have been saying these things? Many, perhaps, may be ready to fay, To manifeft thy own vain-glory. But it is a small matter with me to be judged of man's judgment. He that judgeth me is the LORD. He knows that I have spoken of his miracle, only for the fame end for which he at first performed it, and which I at first propofed, that is," to fhew forth his glory," that you also may be brought to believe on him.

Did I come to preach myself, and not CHRIST JESUS my Lord, I would come to you, not in this plainnefs of speech, but with the enticing words of man's wisdom. Did I defire to please natural men, I need not preach here in the wildernefs. I hope my heart aims at nothing else, than what our LORD's great fore-runner aimed at, and which ought to be the business of every gospel minifter, that is, to point out to you the God-man CHRIST JESUS. "Behold then (by faith behold) the Lamb of GOD, who taketh away the fins of the world." Look unto him, and be faved. You have heard how he manifefted, and will yet manifest his glory to true believers; and why then, O finners, will you not believe in him? I fay, O finners, for now I have spoken to the faints, I have many things to say to you. And may God give you all an hearing ear, and an obedient heart!

The LORD JESUS who fhewed forth his glory above 1700 years ago, has made a marriage feast, and offers to espouse all finners to himself, and to make them flesh of his flesh, and bone of his bone. He is willing to be united to you by one fpirit. In every age, at fundry times, and after divers manners, he hath fent forth his fervants, and they had bidden many, but yet, my brethren, there is room. The LORD therefore now has given a commiffion in thefe last days to others of his fervants, even to compel poor finners by the cords of love to come in. For our mafter's house must and fhall be filled. He will not fhed his precious blood in vain. Come then, come to the marriage. Let this be the day of your efpoufals with JESUS CHRIST, he is willing to receive you, though other lords have had dominion over you. Come then to the marriage. Behold the oxen and fatlings are killed, and all things are ready; let me hear you say, as Rebecca did, when they afked her, whether she would go and

be a wife to Ifaac; O let me hear you fay, we will come, Indeed you will not repent it. The LORD fhall turn your water into wine. He fhall fill your fouls with marrow and fatness, and cause you to praise him with joyful lips.

Do not say, you are miferable, and poor, and blind, and naked, and therefore afhamed to come, for it is to fuch that this invitation is now fent. The polite, the rich, the bufy, felf-righteous Pharifees of this generation have been bidden already, but they have rejected the counsel of God against themfelves. They are too deeply engaged in going, one to his country houfe, another to his merchandize. They are fo deeply wedded to the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, that they, as it were with one confent, have made excufe. And though they have been often called in their own fynagogues, yet all the return they make, is to thrust us out, and thereby in effect fay, they will not come. But God forbid, my brethren, that you fhould learn of them; no, fince our LORD condescends to call firft, (because if left to yourselves you' would never call after him) let me beseech you to answer him, as he answered for you, when called upon by infinite offended juftice to die for your fins, "Lo! I come to do thy will, O GOD!" What if you are miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, that is no excufe; faith is the only wedding garment which CHRIST requires; he does not call you becaufer you already are, but because he intends to make you faints. It pities him to fee you naked. He wants to cover you with his righteousness. In short, he defires to fhew forth his glory, that is, his free love through your faith in him. Not but that he will be glorified, whether you believe in him or not; for the infinitely free love of JESUS CHRIST will be ever the fame, whether you believe it, and fo receive it, or the contrary. But our LORD will not always fend out his fervants in vain, to call you; the time will come when he will say, None of those which were bidden, and would not come, shall tafte of my supper. Our LORD is a God of justice, as well as of love; sandrif finners will not take hold of his golden fceptre, verily he will bruise them with his iron rod. It is for your fakes, O finners, and not his own, that he thus condescend's to invite you fuffer him then to fhew forth his glory, even the glory of the exceeding riches of his free grace, by believ

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ing on him, "For we are faved by grace through faith." It was grace, free grace, that moved the Father fo to love the world, as to "give his only begotten Son, that whofoever believeth in him fhould not perish, but have everlasting life!" It was grace, that made the Son to come down and die. It was grace, free grace, that moved the Holy Ghoft to undertake to fanctify the elect people of GOD: and it was' grace, free grace, that moved our LORD JESUS CHRIST to fend forth his minifters to call poor finners this day. Let me not then, my brethren, go without my errand. Why will you not believe in him? Will the devil do fuch great and good things for you as CHRIST will? No indeed, he will not. Perhaps, he may give you to drink at first of a little brutish pleasure; but what will he give you to drink at last? a cup of fury and of trembling; a never-dying worm, a felf-condemning confcience, and the bitter pains of eternal death. But as for the fervants of JESUS CHRIST, it is not fo with them. No, he keeps his beft wine till the laft. And though he caufe may to drink of the brook in the way to heaven, you and of the cup of affliction, yet he fweetens it with a fenfe of his goodness, and makes it pleasant drink, fuch as their fouls do love. I appeal to the experience of any faint here prefent, (as I doubt not but there are many fuch in this field) whether CHRIST has not proved faithful, ever fince you have been efpoused to him? Has he not fhewed forth his glory, ever fince you have believed on him?

And now, finners, what have you to object? I fee you are all filent, and well you may. For if you will not be drawn by the cords of infinite and everlasting love, what will draw you ?, I could urge, many terrors of the LORD to perfuade you; but if the love of JESUS CHRIST will not conftrain you, your cafe is defperate. Remember then this day: I have invited all, even the worst of finners, to be married to the LORD JESUS. If you perish, remember you do not perish for lack of invitation. You yourselves fhall ftand forth at the last day, and I here give you a fummons to meet me at the judgment feat of CHRIST, and to clear both my master and me. Would weeping, would tears prevail on you, I could with my head were waters, and my eyes fountains of tears, that I might weep out every argument, and melt you into

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love. Would any thing I could do or fuffer, influence your hearts, I think I could bear to pluck out my eyes, or even to lay down my life for your fakes. Or was I fure to prevail on you by importunity, I could continue my difcourfe till midnight, I would wreftle with you even till the morning watch, as Jacob did with the angel, and would not go away till I had overcome. But fuch power belongeth only unto the LORD, I can only invite; it is He only can work in you both to will and to do after his good pleasure; it is his property to take away the heart of stone, and give you a heart of flesh; it is his fpirit that muft convince you of unbelief, and of the everlafting righteousness of his dear Son; it is He alone must give faith to apply his righteoufnefs to your hearts; it is He alone can give you a wedding garment, and bring you to fit down and drink new wine in his kingdom. As to fpirituals we are quite dead, and have no more power to turn to God of ourselves, than Lazarus had to raise himself, after he had lain ftinking in the grave four days. If thou canft go, O man, and breathe upon all the dry bones that lye in the graves, and bid them live; if thou canst take thy mantle and divide yonder river, as Elijah did the river Jordan ; then will we believe thou' haft a power to turn to GoD of thyfelf: But as thou muft defpair of the one, fo thou must defpair of the other, without CHRIST's quickening grace; in him is thy only help; fly to him then by faith; fay unto him, as the poor leper did, "LORD, if thou wilt," thou canft make me willing; and he will stretch forth the righthand of his power to affift and relieve you: He will sweetly guide you by his wifdom on earth, and afterwards take you up to partake of his glory in heaven.

To his mercy therefore, and Almighty protection, do I ear

neftly, humbly, and most affectionately commit you: the LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD lift up the light of his bleffed countenance upon you, and give you all peace and joy in believing, now and for evermore!

SERMON

SERMON XXXVII.

The Duty of searching the Scriptures.

JOHN V. 39.

Search the Scriptures.

HEN the Sadducees came to our bleffed LORD, and

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put to him the queftion, "whofe wife that woman fhould be in the next life, who had feven hufbands in this," he told them they erred, not knowing the feriptures." And if we would know whence all the errors, that have over-fpread the church of CHRIST, firft arofe, we fhould find that, in a great meafure, they flowed from the fame fountain, ignorance of the word of God.

Our bleffed LORD, though he was the eternal God, yet as man, he made the fcriptures his conftant rule and guide. And therefore, when he was afked by the lawyer, which was the great commandment of the law, he referred him to his Bible for an anfwer, "What readeft thou?" And thus, when led by the Spirit to be tempted by the devil, he repelled all his affaults, with "it is written."

A fufficient confutation this, of their opinion, who fay, "the Spirit only, and not the Spirit by the Word, is to be our rule of action." If fo, our Saviour, who had the Spirit without measure, needed not always have referred to the written word.

But how few copy after the example of CHRIST? How many are there who do not regard the word of God at all, bot throw the facred oracles afide, as an antiquated book, fit only for illiterate men?

Such do greatly err, not knowing what the fcriptures are, or for what they are designed.

I fhall,