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THE READER.

IF Ir my reader inquires the reason of my preaching and publishing the Funeral of Arminianism while it is still alive in the world, and as likely to live as ever, &c. my answer is, I know that Arminianism must die, sooner or later, to make way for the everlasting gospel of Christ: and therefore I am come beforehand, not to anoint it to its burial, but to preach its funeral; for it is all the fashion, now-a-days, to preach funerals over great bodies, whether it be the body of the beast, or the body of Christ. The ancient Prophets were often beforehand with their funerals. The Prophet Isaiah preached the funeral sermon of the King of Babylon some hundred years before he was born: you have his funeral discourse in his fourteenth chap

ter.

The Prophet Nahum preached the funeral of Rabshakeh, the wicked counsellor; and of the King of Assyria, his master, and attended him by prophecy even to his grave, Nahum i. 14.

Daniel preached the funeral of the man of sin, and of his mystical body of Papists, Dan. vii. 11.

And the Lord Jesus Christ preached the funeral of all the scribes, pharisees, and hypocrites; and

he provided means for them to fill up their measure, declared they should never find him, and promised them the damnation of hell. And we know that all doctrinal lies, and all liars, must be buried, sooner or later; therefore any body may preach the funeral of a system of falsehood, if they do but stick close to the truth. I shall abide by my text; and I hope my reader will well weigh the subject,

Thy faithful servant in the gospel,

Winchefter Row, Paddington,

March 14, 1791.

W. H.

THE

FUNERAL

OF

ARMINIANIS M.

ISAIAH Xxxii. 5, 6, 7, 8.

"The vile person shall no more be called liberal, nor the churl said to be bountiful.

For the vile person will speak villany, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and to utter error against the Lord; to make empty the soul of the hungry, and he will cause the drink of the thirsty to fail. The instruments also of the churl are evil: he deviseth wicked devices, to destroy the poor with lying words, even when the needy speaketh right.

But the liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand."

THIS chapter begins with the glorious reign of

the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Behold, a King shall reign in righteousness!" The word, behold, is affixed to it, which stands as a hand-post to direct us to him that is the way, the truth, and the life. The use that is made of it is, in the general, to point us to something of the greatest importance: as, when the Saviour's con

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ception and incarnation are mentioned, they are ushered in with a

"Behold, a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son!" When salvation from sin, by his sacrifice, and the blood of his cross, is pointed at, it is with a

"Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!" At the first entrance of divine power into the heart of a sinner, or a backslidden saint, it is with

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock!" "A King shall reign in righteousness." Jesus is king over all the earth. His reign of Providence is universal. He is heir of all things. All power is given to him. And he has power over all flesh; and for this end, that he may give eternal life to as many as the Father has given him,

But, as king of grace, he reigns only in Zion: that is his metropolis, the city of the great king; and upon that holy hill it hath pleased God to set him.

He is a king that loves righteousness, and hates wickedness; and is sure to reward the former, and severely punish the latter. And, as he is a righteous king, so all his subjects are righteous persons: "Thy people also shall be all righteous; they shall inherit the land for ever; the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified." His kingdom is set up in the hearts of his people; and all his subjects are reconciled by his blood, justified by his righteousness, and re

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