just and even amiable in making them the vessels of his everlasting wrath; and that, without being reconciled to his amiable sovereignty, they cannot be happy either in this world, or the next. It is vain and dangerous, therefore, to say or do any thing, which tends to make sinners believe that they can find any path to heaven, in which divine sovereignty will not meet them, and in which they can arrive at heaven, without being cordially reconciled to it. This, however, is too often attempted, by those who deny the doctrine of divine sovereignty, and by those who profess to believe it, but never plainly and fully preach it. It is easy to bring sinners out of any darkness but that which arises from divine sovereignty; for it is easy to make them see that there is no difficulty in the way of their salvation, but what, with their natural hearts, they can surmount, if they are not obliged to exercise unconditional submission to divine sovereignty. They are often willing to do any thing and every thing else rather than to be for ever miserable; but this they say and feel that they cannot do. But it is vain and dangerous to tell them that they need not, and ought not, to do this. Whether they see it, or their teachers see it, or not, they are in the sovereign hand of God; and they must see, and believe, and love this truth, or they can never truly love and enjoy God. If they finally stumble at this truth, they stumble never to rise again. And no means that men can use, and no light that they can exhibit, can prevent their stumbling and perishing.

5. Since sinners are walking in darkness and blind to every thing which is insensibly leading them to destruction, it is owing to the distinguishing and astonishing grace of God that any are saved. Their darkness is irremovable by any human means, and all external objective light serves to increase it. Their eyes have they closed, and will not open them, and God might justly leave them to walk in their own chosen way of darkness. It is, therefore, mere sovereign and distinguishing grace in God, who caused the light at first to shine out of darkness, to shine in their hearts, and give them the light of the knowledge of his glory, in the face of Jesus Christ. When God calls any out of darkness into his marvellous light, they never fail gratefully to acknowledge his undeserved and distinguishing mercy. It looks astonishing that they should be taken, while others are left.

6. This subject now calls upon all to inquire whether they have ever been made the subjects of God's special grace. Have they ever found themselves walking in darkness? Has their darkness ever been removed? And is their present path, like the shining light, shining more and more unto the perfect day? Does the present state of sinners here appear to you very

dangerous and deplorable? Do you take pains to remove stumbling blocks? They are thrown in from every quarter.

7. Let the blind and deaf immediately perform the duty, which God expressly enjoins upon them. "Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see." This command you are bound to obey, and if you refuse to obey, God will eventually say, "Bring forth the blind people that have eyes, and the deaf that have ears," that they may hear their sentence of final condemnation, and see and take the place of their eternal punish

ment.

SERMON XIX.

FEEBLE MINDED CHRISTIANS.

A BRUISED reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. -MATTHEW, Xii. 20.

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In order to understand these words, it seems necessary to read a number of the preceding verses with which they are intimately connected. After Christ had healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath day, " Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence; and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all, and charged them that they should not make him known that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles. He shall not strive nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory." Something like this seems to be the true sense of the passage: "You Jews, imagine that the Messiah will come to set up a temporal kingdom in this world, to aggrandize your nation, and save them from the oppression and tyranny of the Gentiles, to whom you have so long been subjected. But in this you are greatly deceived. I, who profess to be the promised Messiah, am not come to gain temporal, but spiritual victories. I am not come to execute vengeance, but to display mercy, agreeably to the predictions concerning the promised Messiah, which you have often read in the prophecies of Isaiah and other prophets. I am come to seek that which was lost,

to strengthen that which was weak, and to heal that which was sick. I will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax; but I will bind up the broken hearted, and comfort the feeble minded, until I have obtained a spiritual victory and triumphed over both Jews and Gentiles. My kingdom cometh not with observation, or with tumults and convulsion, like other kingdoms, but silently and irresistibly, in the hearts of men. I have cured the withered hand, I have healed multitudes that followed me, and I am now ready to heal the minds as well as the bodies of men, and perform the whole work which I was sent into the world to perform." The spirit of the text in this connection, justifies us in saying,

That Christ is ready to receive and comfort the feeble minded. I shall,

I. Describe the feeble minded;

II. Consider how it comes to pass that they are feeble minded; and,

III. Show that Christ is ready to receive and comfort them. I. I am to describe the feeble minded.

These are certainly such as resemble the bruised reed and smoking flax. They are those of a broken and contrite spirit, and essentially different from the stout hearted. Their carnal mind has been slain, and their stony hearts softened. They have experienced a saving change, but still are in darkness and difficulty. They feel their need of comfort, and their unworthiness of it. This is the general character of the feeble minded, in distinction from those who are strong in faith. But it may be proper and useful to give a more specific description of the feeble minded; for they do really differ in various respects, though they are essentially alike. Here it may be observed,

1. That those are feeble minded, who have submission to God, without faith in Christ. This is often the case with young converts. Their enmity to God is taken away; their objections are removed; they cease to contend with their Maker; they justify him and condemn themselves; they realize that they are in his hand, as the clay is in the hands of the potter; and they are willing that he should dispose of them as shall be most for his own glory. While they lie here submissively at the foot of divine sovereignty, their past fears and distresses leave them in a solemn calm that they cannot account for, but are apt to conclude that God has given them up to stupidity. Though they really submit to God, yet they do not believe in Christ. They' realize that God may justly destroy them, but do not see how he can justly and consistently save them. They are still ignorant of the way of salvation through the atonement of Christ; and, being ignorant of this, they do not exercise faith in the

only and all sufficient Mediator; which leaves them in darkness. In such a weak, feeble and comfortless situation, many have continued not only for days and weeks, but even for months, if not for years. These persons resemble the smoking flax before it begins to blaze.

2. Those are feeble minded, who have submission and faith, but no hope. Submission and faith may both exist in the heart, without creating a hope of salvation. Those who have submitted to divine sovereignty, and seen the way of life through Christ, may not know nor think, that their submission and faith are genuine exercises of grace, and entitle them to the promises of the gospel. Though they are conscious of love to God and love to Christ, still they imagine that they do not feel as they have always supposed that true converts feel. The change of views and feelings in their minds does not appear to them like what they have supposed a saving change to be.. Though they are sensible that they feel differently from what they once felt, yet they durst not indulge a hope that they have passed from death unto life, and are in a renewed, pardoned and justified state. They sensibly desire to obtain pardoning mercy, and feel determined to seek and strive for salvation as long as they live. There are a great many such persons in the world, who appear to others, by what they say and do, to be real christians, and yet entertain no hope themselves of their own. good estate. Their hearts appear to be broken like the bruised reed, their consciences appear to be enlightened and tender, and they discover sparks of grace, which resemble the smoking flax before it bursts into a flame.

3. There is another class of the feeble minded; I mean such as have submission, faith and hope, but yet have little confidence in their gracious state. They sometimes hope, and sometimes fear, but generally doubt. They are never confident that they have received the grace of God in truth. They mean to be conscientious and punctual in the performance of all religious duties, and to seek and strive for greater light and confidence; but yet they live somewhat easy upon their feeble and slender hope of being the children of God. They are almost continually under what they consider the hidings of God's face, which strong as well as weak christians sometimes experience. I must not omit to observe,

4. That backsliding christians are weak and feeble minded. There are some sincere professors who lose their first love, neglect their first duties, and grow languid and dull in running the Christian course. Such instances are mentioned in scripture; and such instances are to be found at the present day. This may be owing, in many cases, to a change of circum