2. Not to conclude every thing impossible, which to our reason is unintelligible, 132.

3. Nor by a vain presumption to pretend to clear up all mysteries in religion, 133.

SERMON XXXI.

THE LINEAL DESCENT OF JESUS OF NAZARETH FROM DAVID BY HIS BLESSED MOTHER THE VIRGIN MARY.

Rev. xxii. 16. —1 am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star. P. 136.

In this book of mysteries, nothing is more mysterious than what is contained in these words, the union of the divinity and humanity in our Saviour's person, 136. He is,

I. In his divinity, the root of David, having a being before him, 137, a being which had no beginning, equal to his Father: though his divinity is denied by the Arians and his preëxistence to his humanity by the Socinians, 137.

II. In his humanity, the offspring of David, 141, being in St. Matthew's genealogy, naturally the son of David; and in that of St. Luke, legally the king of the Jews, 142.

III. The bright and morning star, 149, with relation,

1. To the nature of its substance; he was pure, without the least imperfection, 149.

2. To the manner of its appearance; he appeared small in his humanity, though he was the great almighty God, 150.

3. To the quality of its operation, 151, open and visible by his light, chasing away the heathenish false worship, the imperfect one of the Jews, and all pretended Messiahs, 151, secret and invisible by his influence, illuminating our judgment, bending our will, and at last changing the whole man, 154.

SERMON XXXII.

JESUS OF NAZARETH PROVED THE TRUE AND ONLY PROMISED MESSIAH.

John i. 11. He came to his own, and his own received him not. P. 156.

No scripture has so directly and immovably stood in the way of the several opposers of the divinity of our Saviour, as this chapter, 157, whereof this text is a part in which we have,

I. Christ's coming into the world, 158, who,

1. Was the second Person in the glorious Trinity, the ever blessed and eternal Son of God, 158.

2. Came from the bosom of his Father, and the incomprehensible glories of the Godhead, 161.

3. Came to the Jews, who were his own by right of consanguinity, 162.

4. When they were in their lowest estate, 164, national, 164, and ecclesiastical, 165. In which we may consider the invincible strength and the immovable veracity of God's promise, 166.

II. Christ rejected by his own, 167. For the Jews'

1. Exceptions were, 1. That he came not as a temporal prince, 167. 2. That he set himself against Moses' law, 168.

2. The unreasonableness of which exceptions appears from this: 1. That the

Messiah's blessings were not to be temporal, 169, and he himself, according to all the prophecies of scripture, was to be of a low, despised estate, 171. 2. That Christ came not to destroy, but to fulfil and abrogate Moses' law, 172.

3. The Jews had great reasons to induce them to receive him. For, 1. All the marks of the Messiah did most eminently appear in him, 173. 2. His whole behavior among them was a continued act of mercy and charity, 174.

Lastly, the Jews are not the only persons concerned in this guilt, but also all vicious Christians, 176.

SERMON XXXIII.

THE MESSIAH'S SUFFERINGS FOR THE SINS OF THE PEOPLE.

Isaiah liii. 8. For the transgression of my people was he stricken. P. 179.

There are several opinions concerning the person here spoken of by the prophet, 180. But setting aside those of later interpreters, who differ even among themselves, 180, we may safely with all the ancients affirm him to be the Messiah, 183, and this Messiah to be no other than Jesus of Nazareth, 183. In these words we may consider,

I. That he was stricken; his suffering, 183, in its latitude and extent, 184, in its intenseness and sharpness, 186, and in its author, which was God, 188.

II. That he was stricken for transgression; the quality of his suffering was penal and expiatory; he was punished for sins past, not to prevent sins for the future, 190. He bore our sins, his soul was made an offering for sin, 192. He was qualified to pay an equivalent compensation to the divine justice, by the infinite dignity and the perfect innocence of his person, 193.

III. That he was stricken for God's people; the cause of his suffering, 194. Man's redemption proceeds upon a twofold covenant; one of suretyship, the other of grace, 194, and, without any violation of the divine justice, Christ suffered for men; upon the account of his voluntary consent; and because of his relation to them, as he was their king and head, and their surety, 196. Thence we should learn also to suffer for Christ,

1. By self-denial and mortification, 196.

2. By cheerfully undergoing troubles and afflictions in this world, 197.

Acts ii. 24.

SERMON XXXIV.

UPON THE RESURRECTION.

Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death; because it was not possible that he should be holden of it. P. 200.

The necessary belief of a future state has been confirmed by revelation and exemplification, 201, chiefly in that of the resurrection of Christ, 202, whom I. God hath raised up; such an action proclaiming an omnipotent cause, 203. And,

II. The manner of his being raised was by having loosed the pains of death, 204, with an explication of the word pains, 204. And,

III. The ground of his resurrection was the impossibility of his being holden of it, 207, which impossibility was founded upon,

1. The hypostatical union of Christ's human nature to his divine, 207.

2. The immutability of God, in respect of his eternal decree, 209, and of his promise, 209.

3. The justice of God, 211.

4. The necessity of Christ's being believed in as a Saviour, 212.

5. The nature of Christ's priesthood, 213.

The belief of Christ's resurrection affords us,

1. The strongest dehortation from sin, 214.

2. The most sovereign consolation against death, 215.

SERMON XXXV.

THE CHRISTIAN PENTECOST, OR THE SOLEMN Effusion of THE HOLY GHOST, IN THE SEVERAL MIRACULOUS GIFTS CONFERRED BY HIM UPON THE APOSTLES AND FIRST CHRISTIANS.

1 Cor. xii. 4.- Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. P. 216.

The Holy Ghost, the design of whose mission was to confirm Christianity, did it by an effusion of miraculous gifts upon the first messengers of it, 216. In which we consider,

I. What those gifts were, 217, either,

1. Ordinary, conveyed to us by the mediation of our own endeavors, 218, or, 2. Extraordinary, immediately from God alone, 218, such as the gift of tongues, of healing the sick and raising the dead, of prophecy, 219, the continuation of which miraculous gifts in the church was but for a time, 220.

II. The diversity of those gifts, 223, which consisted,

1. In variety, 223.

2. Not in contrariety, 229.

III. The consequences of their emanation ftom one and the same Spirit, 229, which are,

1. That this Spirit is God, and hath a personal subsistence, 229.

2. That every one of us may learn humility under, and content with his own abilities, 231.

3. That it affords a touchstone for the trial of spirits, 232, as in the gift of prophecy, 233, of healing, 233, of discerning of spirits, 233, of divers tongues, 233, of interpreting, 234. By which trial we may discover some men's false pretenses to gifts of the Spirit, 234.

4. That knowledge and learning are not opposite to grace, 235.

SERMON XXXVI.

THE PECULIAR CARE AND CONCERN OF PROVIDENCE FOR THE PROTECTION AND DEFENSE OF KINGS.

Psalm cxliv. 10. It is he that giveth salvation unto kings. P. 237.

The relation between prince and subject involves in it obedience and protection; and the same relation is between princes and God, who gives salvation unto kings, 237, whose providence over them,

I. Is peculiar and extraordinary, 238, besides the usual operation of causes, 238, contrary to the design of expert persons, 239, beyond the power of the cause employed, 240.

II. Making use of extraordinary means, 240, as,

1. By endowing them with a more than ordinary sagacity, 240

2. By giving them a singular courage and resolution, 242.

3. By a strange disposition of events for their preservation, 244. 4. By inclining the hearts of their people towards them, 245.

5. By rescuing them from unseen and unknown mischiefs, 246.

6. By imprinting an awe of their authority on the minds of their subjects, 247.

7. By disposing their hearts to virtue and piety, 249.

III. The reason of this particular providence is,

1. Because they are the greatest instruments to support government; to the ends of which monarchy is best adapted; and the greatness of which most depends upon their personal qualifications, 252.

2. Because they have the most powerful influence upon the concerns of religion, 254.

IV. Hence, 1. Princes may learn their duty towards God, 256, And, 2. Subjects may learn theirs towards their prince, 256.

SERMON XXXVII.

THE SCRIBE INSTRUCTED, &c.

Matthew xiii. 52. - ·Then said he unto them, Therefore every scribe which is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which bringeth forth out of his treasure things new and old. P. 261.

Christ here gives the character of a preacher or evangelist, 261, in these words; where we are to consider,

1st, What is meant by the scribe among the Jews, either as a civil or a churchofficer, 262.

2dly, What it is to be instructed for the kingdom of heaven, 264.

3dly, What it is to bring out of one's treasure things new and old, 265.

And then, by applying all this to the minister of the gospel, we are to examine,

1st, His qualifications, 267, namely,

1. A natural ability of the faculties of his mind, 267, judgment, 268, memory, 268, invention, 269.

2. An habitual preparation by study, 270, in point of learning and knowledge, 271, of significant speech and expression, 274.

2dly, The reasons of their necessity, 276, namely,

1. Because the preacher's work is to persuade, 276.

2. Because God himself was at the expense of a miracle to endow the first preachers with them, 280.

3. Because the dignity of the subject, which is divinity, requires them, 281. 3dly, The inferences from these particulars, 282.

1. A reproof to such as discredit the ordinance of preaching, 282, 288, and the church itself, 288, either by light and comical, 282, or by dull and heavy discourses, 283.

2. An exhortation to such who design themselves for the ministry, to bestow a competent time in preparing for it, 289.

SERMON XXXVIII.

PROSPERITY EVER DANGEROUS TO VIRTUE.

Proverbs i. 32. The prosperity of fools shall destroy them. P. 293.

The misery of all foolish or vicious persons is, that prosperity itself to them becomes destructive, 293. Because,

1st, They are ignorant or regardless of the ends wherefore God sends it, 294. 1. To try and discover what is in a man, 294,

2. To encourage him in gratitude to his Maker, 296.

3. To make him helpful to society, 296.

2dly, Prosperity is prone,

1. To abate men's virtues, 297.

2. To heighten their corruptions, 300, such as pride, 301, luxury and uncleanness, 302, profaneness, 303.

3dly, It indisposes men to the means of their amendment, 304, rendering them,

1. Averse to all counsel, 304.

2. Unfit for the sharp trials of adversity, under which they either despond or blaspheme, 305.

Therefore, that prosperity may not be destructive, a man ought,

1. To consider the uncertainty of it, 305. And,

2. How little he is bettered by it, 306.

3. To use the severe duties of mortification, 307.

SERMON XXXIX.

SHAMELESSNESS IN SIN THE CERTAIN FORERUNNER OF DESTRUCTION.

Jeremiah vi. 15. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. P. 308.

Shamelessness in sin is the certain forerunner of destruction, 308. In the prosecution of which proposition we may observe,

1st, What shame is, 309, and how it is more effectual than law in its influence upon men, with respect to the evil threatened by it, 312, and to the extent of that evil, 313.

2dly, How men cast off that shame, 314.

1. By the commission of great sins, 315.

2. By a custom of sinning, 316.

3. By the examples of great persons, 317.

4. By the observation of the general practice, 317.

5. By having been once irrecoverably ashamed, 319.

3dly, The several degrees of shamelessness in sin, 319.

1. To show respect to sinful persons, 319.

2. To defend sin, 320.

3. To glory in it, 322.

4thly. The reasons why shamelessness is so destructive, 323.

1. Because it presupposes those actions which God seldom lets go unpunished, 323, and,