red us, that if we do not speak to warn the wicked from the evil of his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood he will require at our hands. Would you then in good earnest desire that we should forfeit our own souls, and incur the wrath of Almighty God, from a false tenderness to your delusive peace. No, my brethren, this cannot be done; or if it be done, eternal woe will be our portion, eternal reproaches will pass between us. I had rather hear from one in the spirit of Ahab, " Feed him with the bread and water of affliction;" or from one in the spirit of Amaziah, 66 Forbear, why shouldst thou be smitten," than to hear from my own conscience, Thou hast betrayed souls to damnation; than to hear from an incensed God, "Their blood will I require at thine hands;" than to hear from the chief Shepherd, when he shall appear, " Cast the unprofitable servant into outer darkness, there shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." Let a man, therefore, so account of us in the spirit of candour and equity, "as ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God." II. Christians, you are required to entertain a just esteem for the office and character which we bear. I am aware how delicate a subject it is to talk of that estimation which we claim from you on this account. I am sensible that our highest glory consists in our humility, and our best dignity in stooping to be useful: "For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." We claim no obsequious homage, we arrogate not dominion over your faith, but we expect that no man should despise us; we account our office venerable enough to entitle those to respect, who do the duties of it with propriety. Indeed we have not diffidence enough to apprehend, in the least degree, that such respect will be denied, where the proper virtues of our station appear in our conduct; and we know it to be both vain and absurd to expect it on any other terms. Leaving therefore a theme, which cannot be pursued long to advantage, we are still more desirous, III. That you would make a proper improvement of the truths which we deliver. Take heed then, brethren, how ye hear. The time is coming, when we must all meet before the judgmentseat of God, to give an account of the advantages which we have enjoyed, and of the manner in which we have improved them. In what way this decisive trial shall be conducted, cannot be certainly known in the present time. We are told in general, that the great Shepherd, who shall then sit in judgment, will separate the sheep from the goats, placing the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. But besides this grand division, it seems probable, from the analogy both of reason and Scripture, that those who were i members of the same Christian society, and enjoyed the same ordinances and means of grace, shall then be brought together and confronted, that the evidence upon which the different sentences shall proceed, may be the more unexceptionable and convincing to all. The impenitent sinner shall then have nothing to plead in his own defence, when it shall appear that many of those with whom he lived have been converted and saved by those very means which he neglected and abused. It will be impossible for him to plead any singularity in his own case, when he shall behold some of those persons crowned with glory, whom he remembers to have seen in the same church he frequented, receiving the same ordinances of religion which he did, and who perhaps, in many outward respects, had fewer advantages for salvation than himself. This, my brethren, is a very solemn consideration, and, if duly attended to, can hardly fail to have a powerful influence on our minds. We who are entrusted with the care of your souls, shall then be called to give an account of our stewardship. But you, too, my dear friends, must then appear with us; and as we must declare the message we have delivered, so you must answer for the reception you gave it. Woe will be unto us if we did not preach the gospel; and if we did, woe will be to you if you did not receive it. In these views, it is no slight or transient relation which was solemnized so lately in this place; and happy indeed will it be, if the same sentence of the Judge shall acquit us both at the great day. In the mean time, remember, and lay it to heart, that my task is not to please or to amuse you, but to dispense to you the word of life, which is able to save your souls. Many, I doubt not, will come to this, as to other churches, merely to sit in judgment as critics of the speaker's abilities. But I hope God will save us from an undue respect to any of you in this capacity. I hope he will save you from that disdainful nicety which scorns to be instructed with plain exhortations. A professed declaimer may justly be censured if he fails to entertain his audience. For this purpose, it is his part to make what excursions he pleaseth into the regions of imagination. But we have a dispensation committed to us, a form of sound words, from which we must not depart; a doctrine which we must deliver with uncorruptness, with gravity, with sincerity. Permit us, therefore, to aim only at the praise of faithfulness, wishing indeed to please you, but at the same time to please you only to edification. Brethren, pray for us that we may be found faithful. Pray for yourselves, that ye may be able to suffer the word of exhortation, and to |