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5. The enjoyment of its consolations gives strength to obey its precepts. If you ask here, Does the gospel influence the temper and conduct? We can tell you that it takes you to Christ's banqueting house, where his banner over you is love; it places you at his table, where you hear him say, Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved!" and where you are abundantly satisfied with his presence, and drink of the wine of the kingdom. Sentiments of gratitude are then excited in your mind to the Founder of the feast; you feel thankful to him, and you rise from your seat animated by his favor, and sensible of his love. You evidence that you are not only refreshed by his bounty, but determined to execute his commands; and when you have enjoyed the most, you say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" So much life and vigor are imparted to our minds by a firm belief of the glad tidings of the gospel, that no duty appears too hard for us to discharge, no trial too heavy to bear; but our triumphant exclamation is, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!" Hence follows a cheerful acquiescence in the duties we owe to one another, to God, and to the world.

Our tempers, by those frequent and solemn interviews with which we are indulged, become spiritual, heavenly, and Divine; admiring spectators see that we have been with Jesus: like Enoch, we walk with God, and, like him, shall be wafted away to the world of purity and peace.

And are these the triumphs of the gospel? Does it indeed produce such a Divine change in the moral world? Then surely it is worthy of its Author; of Him, "for whom are all things, and

by whom are all things." Is it any disgrace to the wisdom that devised it, or the love that gave it to the nations? No: for in the gospel God has declared the glory of all his perfections, and particularly does his holiness shine in it with radiant lustre.

Is it the tendency of the gospel to refine and exalt the character; to make the temper and conduct such as God requires? then who would not long for its general diffusion; who would not exclaim with ardour, "Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel?" Who would not love those noble institutions which have in view its wider circulation, and which God has honored for the conveyance of its blessings to the children of men?

But O! are there not many who profess to love the gospel, and to feel its power, who are filled with envy, malice, and all uncharitableness? Yes, there are! But O thou blessed Jesus, are these thy disciples? Most glorious gospel! are these the men in whose hearts thy truths have made a deep impression? The Saviour and the gospel alike disown them and, "Depart from me, I never knew you," will hereafter be uttered to them by God the Judge of all.

I dare not persuade myself to leave this pulpit, without asking my hearers, What has the gospel done for you? In the presence of God, and all his holy angels, I would put this question to you, and leave you with all solemnity to consult God and your own consciences on the subject. But O, do remember, that you may hear the gospel; you may avow your attachment to it; you may liberally support its interests; and yet die, after all, without experiencing its blessings, and have a

neglected gospel rise up in judgment against you, to aggravate your condemnation.

Here, however, allow me to turn from man to God suffer me to express my wishes for all who compose this congregation; and, looking around you, permit me to say to the God of purity and the God of the gospel, "Sanctify them all through thy truth; thy word is truth."

*This Sermon was preached at the Anniversary of Hoxton College.

DISCOURSE XIX.

SIN AND DEATH BY ADAM, ETERNAL LIFE BY CHRIST.

PREACHED OCTOBER 7, 1810.

"As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly." 1 CORINTHIANS XV. 49.

"THE proper study of mankind is man ;" and the best science to which any of us can attain is, to know ourselves, for "all wisdom centres there." Human nature is a fit subject of investigation, and will well repay the mind's attention to it; it has frequently been represented in unjust and improper points of view; men have formed very mistaken ideas of themselves and of their condition, and have too often represented their case to be rather what they wished it, than what it really is. The testimony of the Bible, however, viewed in connexion with facts which we are every day called to witness, will appear to be the best teacher of what we are in our true character, our real condition, and our bounden duty. Here we learn what man originally was, what he now is, and to what standard of excellence he ought to attain. From the Bible alone, that fruit of heavenly wisdom, can we derive proper ideas of human nature. Here its past excellence, its present degradation, and the only means by which it can possibly be restored, are detailed with unquestionable veracity, and told by the Spirit of God. Here we learn that, as in Adam all whom he represented, the whole human race, fell and died; so in Christ Jesus, all to whom

he is a covenant Head, shall live for evermore ; and that as these characters, before conversion, gave awful evidence of fatal union to their head, so, by the grace of God, shall they now be made to resemble Jesus, who is given as a covenant of the people, who is the head of the body, the church. "As we have borne the image of the earthly, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Here, then, you perceive the depth of misery to which you fell, and the height of happiness to which you are raised. My text shows you the man, by whose disobedience you lost your peace, your happiness, your God. My text presents you also with that glorious Redeemer, who has "restored that which he took not away," and given you more blessings than your father lost. In discoursing upon this text, we must,

I. Confirm the lamentable fact, that, by nature, we all bear the image of the earthly.

II. Rejoice in the glorious truth, that, as believers, we shall bear the image of the Lord from heaven.

It is necessary,

I. To show that we all bear the image of the earthly Adam. So says my text; so says my experience, the melancholy experience of all ages and nations; so witness the shrieks, the groans of dying infants; so testify our own eyes, beholding the miseries that are abroad in the world; so witness our own feelings in the endurance of those ills to which mortality is subject. Here too, let it be remembered, that the mischief we lament is universal; that the evils we deplore are experienced all over the world; that all mankind suffer from their connexion with their first parent; that every individual on the globe bears the image of the earthly Adam.

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