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But it will not avail us barely to eftcem or admire this temper: it is neceffary, my brethren, that we ourfelves be poffeffed of it. I fhall therefore proceed, as I propofed, in the

Second place, To illuftrate the importance of this excellent temper ;-the peculiar importance of it to the minifters of Chrift. And,

It, It is of importance to guard us against that felf-deceit to which, of all men in the world, we are most expofed. The office we hold removes us at a greater diftance than other men from any of thofe temptations to grofs and fcandalous fins, which wound the confcience, and divulge the fecret corruptions of the heart: so that mere decency of conduct may pafs with us for real fanctity; and what is purely the effect. of restraint from without, may be mistaken by us for the product of a new nature within. Befides, the stated duties that belong to our office frequently contribute to cherish this prefumption. God may enable us to deliver his meffage with becoming warmth and propriety, for the fake of thofe committed to our care; and his word, though uttered by unhallowed lips, may enter with power and efficacy into the hearts of our hearers. It is an awful truth, that if we measure ourfelves either by our manner of performing, or even by the effects that follow, our public miniftrations, we shall often be liable to err very fatally. Paul thought it poffible that one might preach to the faving of others, and after all be a cafl-away; and I can eafily conceive, that the preaching to others may, through want of atten

tion on our part, be in fome measure the caufe of it. The affiftance afforded us in our Master's work, may lead us to form a better opinion of our fpiritual condition than is either reafonable or fafe; and therefore we have greater need to look frequently and narrowly into our own hearts, left the gifts we receive for the ufe of the church, fhould pafs with us for those peculiar graces of the Spirit which prove our adoption into the family of God, and manifeft our title to the heavenly inheritance.

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But did our fouls burn with that fervent zeal for the glory of God, and that vehement thirst for the falvation of men, which fired the generous breast of this Apoftle, we fhould be in no danger of judging too favourably of ourselves. Such high aims would cause our most vigorous efforts to appear fo little in our own eyes, that, instead of yielding fuel to our pride, they would rather afford us matter of felf-abasement, as bearing no proportion either to the duty we owe, or the exalted felicity to which we afpire.-Confcious of our weakness, how earneftly fhould we then addrefs God for the influence of his Spirit, to aid us in our work, and to impart virtue and efficacy to the means we employ!--And, at the fame time, with what holy feverity fhould we examine the moft fecret receffes of our hearts, left any root of bitterness should find indulgence there, that might either unfit for fervice, or marr our usefulness, by provoking God to withhold that grace upon which both our ability and fuccefs depend!

2dly, The importance of this temper will further appear from the influence it would have

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upon our public miniftrations.It would make us better preachers, as well as better men.

We fhould never be at a lofs for proper fubjects of difcourfe.--This, you must be fenfible, is not always the cafe: most of us, I fuppofe, will have the candour to acknowledge, that we have frequently spent more time in feeking a text, than might reasonably have fufficed to compofe a fermon; and we fhall probably find, upon a fair recollection, that this waste of time has happened most commonly when we fet out preparing for our public work with no other view than to make a fermon.--Fancy is a roving capricious guide; but when neceffity prefcribes, it always speaks with precifion. We may know with certainty what our people need, when we can only imperfectly guess at what will please them: fo that did the neceffities of our hearers get the difpofal of our ftudies, we should feldom hefitate long in the choice of our fubjects; and give me leave to add, we should more frequently preach the fame neceffary truths, and prefs them from time to time with redoubled earneftnefs, till they appear to have obtained their full effect upon the hearts of those committed to our care.

Nor is this all:-The temper I am recommending would affift us in forming and pronouncing our fermons, no less than in choofing the moft profitable fubjects.-As it would reject all useless unedifying fpeculations, fo it would effectually banish thofe gaudy ornaments, which too often put the preacher in the place of his text; or, as one hath well expreffed it, ferve only to evapo

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rate weighty truths, and to make them appear as light as the ftyle.-Had we no other aim than to guide our hearers in the way to heaven, perfpicuity and perfuafion would then become the fole objects of our attention, and these, I apprehend, are more within every man's reach than is commonly imagined. I never knew any perfon much at a lofs, feelingly and intelligibly to impart to others what he greatly feared, or loved, or hated. Rules of art have their use: but though art have collected rules, it was nature that furnished them: both order and elocution are the offsprings of a warm and understanding heart. Let us only feel to propofe, and then we shall speak with propriety and energy.

Did we, like Paul, travail as in birth till Chrift were formed in the fouls of men, would not our tongue be as the pen of a ready writer?-Did we confider that we fpeak in the name of God; --that we speak to the creatures of God;-to them, I fay and not merely before them ;—that we publish those truths by which only they can be faved, and proclaim that law by which they fhall be judged;-did we confider, that they and we are faft haftening to judgment, and that neither of us can know how foon the fummons of removal may be put into our hands ;— what fhall I fay? would not Elihu's fituation become ours, when he thus expreffed himself,

I am full of matter, the Spirit within me conftraineth me: behold, my belly is as wine "that hath no vent; it is ready to burst like new "bottles; I will speak that I may be refreshed?" Job xxxii. 18, 19, 20. Nay my brethren, with

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fuch great objects in our eye, we should not only speak but we should speak as Elihu refolved to do in the following part of the quotation, we should speak with an honeft and impartial freedom; for thus he goes on: "Let me not I pray

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you accept any man's perfon, neither let me "give flattering titles unto man; for I know not "to give flattering titles; in fo doing, my Maker "would foon take me away.'

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3dly, This temper would likewise have a happy influence upon all the parts of our external conduct. -We fhould not think it enough to abstain from evil; we should carefully avoid every thing that had the appearance of evil, that our conduct might have nothing in it of a doubtful nature, nothing ambiguous, or that needed to be explained. He lives, alas! at a poor rate, and far below the dignity of his fa cred office, who is frequently put to it to vindicate his conduct, and to prove that he hath not exceeded his Chriftian Liberty. A Minifter of Chrift ought to go before his People in every thing that is true, juft, pure, lovely, and of good report. His light ought to shine in the eyes of men; nay, to fhine with fuch strength, that they may fee his good works, and be constrained to glorify his Father in heaven.

A holy life is the most perfuafive fermon, expreffed too in a language which men of all nations equally understand. It even explains what other fermons mean, instead of needing to be explained by them. Men will fee more beauty in a truly virtuous action, than in the most rhetori cal description we can give of it; and then they

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