allow, the desire of riches, the passion and haste to be rich, has in these times become immoderate and unrestrained-so that men will make themselves slaves under all risks, sacrifice all principle to the one passion of obtaining wealth; which, when got, can only possess things visible, and indulge the sense in some way or other-then I conclude, without passing to particulars, that unrestrainedness in sensual enjoyments is as much the character of the times, as unrestrainedness in respect to opinions of the intellect, and tempers of the mind, and affections of the heart: and, in short, that from the highest to the lowest faculty of man, and through all the departments of society, there is that unrestrained and incontinent character which the text declareth is to prevail in the last times

I am not going to search into the secrets of religious communities, to expose the indulgence of envy and malice and all misrule, the indulgence of eating and drinking, and the vanity of dress, and other unrestrained dispositions, which reign there as in the outward world : nor am I to lay open the character of the religious world, as it is exhibited in open day, in the violence of their mutual recrimination, the greedy hunger and thirst of popular applause, and the unrestrained ambition of great patronage and wealth which reigns on every hand, These things I have no pleasure to hear of, and

still less to speak of; but, without any such laying bare of grievous sores on the body of Christ, I know that where the Spirit of God is not looked upon as the antagonist of the spirit of fallen nature, and the church as the antagonist of the world, there never will be, in the individual members or the collective body of the church, that holy restraint of the natural man, and harmless use of the world, which is the grace denied by our text to the church in the last times.

In conclusion, dearly beloved brethren, I pray you to give reverent heed both to the point of doctrine and to the matter of fact contained in this discourse. As to the former, guarding yourselves against thinking otherwise of the flesh and of the world than as inveterate enemies of God, which could not otherwise be overcome than by the incarnate God, and are not now to be bridled or held in check otherwise than by his Spirit dwelling in us, and uniting us to the all-powerful Head. His victory is our victory, his strength our strength, in which we shall overcome all his and our enemies. I exhort you to regard the devil as not otherwise to be driven from his posts in the flesh and in the world, than by the almighty power of Christ dwelling in us by the Holy Spirit: and that if we should for a moment give up our faith in the union which we have with Christ by the Spirit, that moment we lose our strength, and are liable to the breaking out of every evil

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purpose and malicious affection, and incontinent fleshly desire, and shall never be meek, gentle, nor abiding in the fellowship and communion of the Holy Ghost.-With respect, next, to the matter of fact: I earnestly exhort and entreat you to live under the continual sense of your holy vocation as the members of a holy body, as the communicants with Christ, who should have a holy conversation with one another: not as independent of one another, or of the governments and helps which Christ hath appointed in his church; but as being under a continual and abiding authority of superiors, and living as the responsible members of a visible church, as well as the responsible members of an invisible and spiritual church. Moreover, have a rein upon your thoughts and upon your words, and go not to think that the only evil is in a visible action. For if you suffer your thoughts to be ungoverned by charity, and your words to be ungoverned by wisdom, your actions also shall soon become licentious. And, finally, keep yourselves from all incontinence of the bodily desires and appetites; observing temperance and moderation in all things; and keeping yourselves pure and spotless in the midst of an evil and perverse generation, wherein you are placed as lights in the midst of darkness. Thus do, and you shall be blessed of God to be his faithful witnesses against the gluttony and drunkenness and worldliness which are to charac

terize the times of his coming. He must have, he will have, some to bear him faithful witness in the last and perilous days. I trust he may be pleased, of his free and sovereign grace, to take some from the midst of us. In this we labour, and in this hope we rejoice, waiting diligently for the day of his appearing.

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SERMON XI.

FIERCE.

2 TIM. iii. 1, 3.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be..... fierce.

THE word translated "fierce," is in the original unmeek, or untamed; and the positive term, of which this is the negative, is applied by classical authors to animals which have been broken in from the wild and savage state, and rendered tame and serviceable to the purposes of man. It is also used of plants and fruits which men are wont to sow and cultivate, in contradistinction from those which are in a wild state; and from thence cometh to be used of men in whom the violent passions, tempers, and humours of nature have been softened down, and put under government, by the operation of laws, of manners, and of religion: which condition conferreth the first degree of rank in all countries, being exactly what is named in the word gentleman, and gentlewoman. In the New Testament, the word occurreth no where but in the place before