She looked up, lay down, and died! Would you wish to be the man, who refused that poor wretch a morsel of bread, or a cup of water ?— "Moreover, the dogs came, and licked his sores;" being more compassionate than their master." And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom." Hear this, all ye that are poor in this world. Ye that, many times, have not food to eat, or raiment to put on; ye that have not a place where to lay your head, unless it be a cold garret, or a foul and damp cellar! Ye are now reduced to "solicit the cold hand of charity." Yet lift up your load; it shall not always be thus. I love you, I pity you; I admire you, when "in patience ye possess your souls." Yet I cannot help you. But there is one that can: the Father of the fatherless, and the Husband of the widow. "The poor crieth unto the Lord; and he heareth him, and delivereth him out of all his troubles." Yet a little while, if ye truly turn to him, his angels shall carry you into Abraham's bosom. There ye shall " hunger no more, and thirst no more;" ye shall feel no more sorrow or pain; but "the Lamb shall wipe away all tears from your eyes, and lead you forth beside fountains of living waters." 4. But see, the scene is changed! "The rich man also died." What! in spite of his riches? Probably sooner than he desired. For how just is that word: "Oh, death, how bitter art thou to a man that is at rest in the midst of his possessions?" However, if that would be a comfort, he was buried." But how little did it signify, whether he was laid under a lofty monument, or among "Graves with bending osier bound, That nameless heave the crumbled ground?" And what followed? "In hell he lifted his eyes." This, it is certain, ye need not do. God does not require it of you: "He willeth not that any should perish." Ye cannot, unless by your own wilful choice, intrude into those regions of wo, which God did not prepare for you, but for "the devil and his angels." 5. See the scene change again! "He seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom." And he knew him; although, perhaps, he had only cast a glance at him, while he "lay at his gates." Is any of you in doubt, whether we shall know one another in the other world? Here your doubts may receive a full solution. If a soul in hell knew Lazarus in paradise, as far off as he was, certainly those that are together in paradise will perfectly know each other. 6." And he cried, and said, Father Abraham, have mercy upon me!” -I do not remember in all the Bible, any prayer made to a saint, but this. And if we observe who made it, a man in hell,-and with what success, we shall hardly wish to follow the precedent. Oh let us cry for mercy to God, not to man! And it is our wisdom to cry now, while we are in the land of mercy; otherwise it will be too late!" I am tormented in this flame!" Tormented, observe, not purified! Vain hope, that fire can purify a spirit! As well might you expect water to cleanse the soul, as fire. God forbid that you or I should make the trial! 7. And “Abraham said, Son, remember :"-mark, how Abraham accosts a damned spirit and shall we behave with less tenderness to any of the children of God, "because they are not of our opinion?""Thou in thy life time receivedst thy good things." Oh, beware it be not your case! Are not the things of the world "thy good things?" The chief objects of thy desire and pursuit? Are they not thy chief joy? If so, thou art in a very dangerous state; in the very condition which Dives was in upon earth! Do not then dream, that all is well, because thou art "highly esteemed among men;" because thou doest no harm, or doest much good, or attendest all the ordinances of God. What is all this if thy soul cleaves to the dust? If thy heart is in the world: it thou lovest the creature more than the Creator. 8. How striking are the next words! "Beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed; so that they who would pass from us to you, cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence." This was the text which occasioned the epitaph on a right honourable infidel and gamester : "Here lies a dicer; long in doubt If death could kill the soul, or not? But, blessed be God, your die is not cast yet. You are not passed the great gulf, but have it still in your power to choose whether you will be attended by angels or fiends, when your soul quits its earthly mansion. Now stretch out your hand to eternal life, or eternal death! And God says, "Be it unto thee, even as thou wilt!" 9. Being repulsed in this, he makes another request: "I pray thee, send him to my father's house: for I have five brethren; that he may testify to them."-It is not impossible that other unhappy spirits may wish well to the relations they have left behind them. But this is the accepted time for them, as well as for us. Let us, then, address them ourselves; and let us beg our living friends to give us all the help they can, without waiting for assistance from the inhabitants of another world. Let us earnestly exhort them to use the helps they have; to "hear Moses and the prophets." We are, indeed, apt to think, like that unhappy spirit, "If one went to them from the dead, they will repent." "But Abraham said, If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." III. I am, in the third place, to prove the truth of this weighty sentence: which I will do, first, briefly, and then more at large. 1. And, first, to express the matter briefly: It is certain, that no human spirit, while it is in the body, can persuade another to repent; can work in him an entire change, both of heart and life: a change from universal wickedness, to universal holiness. And suppose that spirit discharged from the body, it is no more able to do this, than it was before: no power less than that which created it at first, can create any soul anew. No angel, much less any human spirit, whether in the body or out of the body, can bring one soul" from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God." It might very possibly fright him to death, or to the belief of any speculative truth; but it could not fright him into spiritual life. God alone can raise those that are "dead in trespasses and sins." 2. In order to prove more at large, that if men "hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be [effectually] persuaded [to repent,] though one rose from the dead;" I will propose a case of this kind, with all the advantages that can be conceived. Suppose, then, one that does not "hear Moses and the prophets," that does not believe the Scripture to be of God, to be fast asleep in his bed, and suddenly to awake, while the clock was just striking one. He is surprised to observe the chamber as light as if it were noon day. He looks up, and sees one whom he perfectly knew, standing at his bed side. Though a little surprised at first, he quickly recollects himself, and has the courage to ask "Are not you my friend, who died at such a time?" He answers, "I am. I am come from God, with a message to you. You have often wished you could see one risen from the dead; and said, then you would repent. You have your wish; and I am ordered to inform you, you are seeking death in the error of your life. If you die in the state you are in now, you will die eternally. I warn you in his name, that the Scriptures are the real word of God; that from the moment you die, you will be remarkably happy, or unspeakably miserable; that you cannot be happy hereafter, unless you are holy here: which cannot be, unless you are born again. Receive this call from God! Eternity is at hand. Repent, and believe the gospel!" Having spoken these words, he vanishes away; and the room is dark as it was before. 3. One may easily believe, it would be impossible for him not to be convinced for the present. He would sleep no more that night; and would, as soon as possible, tell his family what he had seen and heard. Not content with this, he would be impatient to tell it to his former companions. And, probably, observing the earnestness with which he spoke, they would not then contradict him. They would say to each other, "Give him time to cool; then he will be a reasonable man again." 4. Now it is constantly found, that impressions made on the memory gradually decay that they grow weaker and weaker in process of time, and the traces of them fainter and fainter. So it must be in this case; which his companions observing, would not fail to seize the opportunity. They would speak to this effect: "It was a strange account you gave us some time since: the more so, because we know you to be a sensible man, and not inclined to enthusiasm. But, perhaps, you have not fully considered, how difficult it is, in some cases, to distinguish our dreams from our waking thoughts. Has any one yet been able to find out an infallible criterion between them? Is it not then possible, that you may have been asleep, when this lively impression was made on your mind?" When he had been brought to think, possibly it might be a dream; they would soon persuade him, probably it was so; and not long after, to believe, it certainly was a dream. So little would it avail, that one came from the dead! 5. It could not be expected to be otherwise. For what was the effect which was wrought upon him? 1. He was exceedingly frightened. 2. This fright made way for a deeper conviction of the truth then declared: but, 3. His heart was not changed. None but the Almighty could effect this. Therefore, 4. The bias of his soul was still set the wrong way he still loved the world, and consequently, wished that the Scripture was not true. How easily then, as the fright wore off, would he again believe what he wished! The conclusion, then, is plain and undeniable. If men "hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded" to repent and believe the gospel, "though one rose from the dead." 6. We may add one consideration more, which brings the matter to a full issue. Before, or about the same time, that Lazarus was carried into Abraham's bosom, another Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, was actually raised from the dead. But were even those who believed the fact persuaded to repent? So far from it, that "they took counsel to kill Lazarus," as well as his Master! Away, then, with the fond imagination, that those who "hear not Moses and the prophets would be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." 7. From the whole we may draw this general conclusion: that standing revelation is the best means of rational conviction: far preferable to any of those extraordinary means which some imagine would be more effectual. It is therefore our wisdom to avail ourselves of this; to make full use of it; so that it may be a lantern to our feet, and a light in all our paths. Let us take care, that our whole heart and life be conformable thereto; that it be the constant rule of all our tempers, ali our words, and all our actions. So shall we preserve in all things the testimony of a good conscience towards God: and when our course is finished, we too shall be "carried by angels into Abraham's bosom." Birmingham, March 25, 1788. SERMON CXVIII.-The difference between walking by sight, and walking by faith. "We walk by faith, not by sight," 2 Cor. v, 7. 1. How short is this description of real Christians! And yet how exceeding full! It comprehends, it sums up the whole experience of those that are truly such, from the time they are born of God, till they remove into Abraham's bosom. For, who are the we that are here spoken of? All that are true Christian believers. I say, Christian, not Jewish believers. All that are not only servants, but children of God. All that have "the Spirit of adoption, crying in their hearts, Abba, Father." All that have "the Spirit of God witnessing with their spirits, that they are the sons of God." 2. All these, and these alone, can say, "We walk by faith, and not by sight." But before we can possibly "walk by faith," we must live by faith, and not by sight. And to all real Christians our Lord saith, "Because I live, ye live also:" ye live a life which the world, whether learned or unlearned, “know not of." "You that," like the world, were dead in trespasses and sins, hath he quickened," and made alive; given you new senses, spiritual senses,- senses exercised to discern spiritual good and evil." 66 3. In order thoroughly to understand this important truth, it may be proper to consider the whole matter. All the children of men that are not born of God, "walk by sight," having no higher principle. By sight, that is, by sense; a part being put for the whole; the sight for all the senses;-the rather, because it is more noble and more extensive than any, or all the rest. There are but few objects which we can discern by the three inferior senses of taste, smell, and feeling and none of these can take any cognizance of its object, unless it be brought into a direct contact with it. Hearing, it is true, has a larger sphere of action, and gives us some knowledge of things that are distant. But how small is that distance, suppose it were fifty or a hundred miles, compared to that between the earth and the sun! And what is even this in comparison of the distance of the sun, and moon, and the fixed stars! Yet the sight continually takes knowledge of objects even at this amazing distance. 4. By sight we take knowledge of the visible world, from the surface of the earth, to the region of the fixed stars. But what is the world visible to us, but "a speck of creation," compared to the whole unierse? to the invisible world? that part of the creation which we cannot ee at all, by reason of its distance? In the place of which, through the imperfection of our senses, we are presented with a universal blank. 5. But beside these innumerable objects, which we cannot see by reason of their distance, have we not sufficient ground to believe, that there are innumerable others of too delicate a nature to be discerned by any of our senses? Do not all men of unprejudiced reason allow the same thing, (the small number of materialists, or atheists, I cannot term men of reason,) that there is an invisible world, naturally such, as well as a visible one? But which of our senses is fine enough to take the least knowledge of this? We can no more perceive any part of this, by our sight, than by our feeling. Should we allow, with the ancient poet, that "Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep ;" · Should we allow, that the great Spirit, the Father of all, filleth both heaven and earth; yet is the finest of our senses utterly incapable of perceiving either him or them. 6. All our external senses are evidently adapted to this external, visible world. They are designed to serve us only while we sojourn here,— while we dwell in these houses of clay. They have nothing to do with the invisible world: they are not adapted to it. And they can take no more cognizance of the eternal, than of the invisible world: although we are as fully assured of the existence of this, as of any thing in the present world. We cannot think death puts a period to our being The body indeed returns to dust; but the soul, being of a noblet nature, is not affected thereby. There is, therefore, an eternal world, of what kind soever it be. But how shall we attain the knowledge of this? What will teach us to draw aside the veil-" that hangs 'twixt mortal and immortal being?" We all know," the vast, the unbounded prospect Ees before us :" but we are constrained to add,-" yet clouds, alas! and darkness rest upon it." 7. The most excellent of our senses, it is undeniably plain, can give us no assistance herein. And what can our boasted reason do? It is now universally allowed, nihil est in intellectu quod non fuit prius in sensu: "nothing is in the understanding, which was not first perceived by some of the senses." Consequently, the understanding, having here nothing to work upon, can afford us no help at all; so that, in spite of all the information we can gain, either from sense or reason, both the invisible and eternal world are unknown to all that "walk by sight." 8. But is there no help? Must they remain in total darkness concerning the invisible and the eternal world? We cannot affirm this. even the heathens did not all remain in total darkness concerning |