you weary sinners; and sure you will not stay from him, but accept of his invitation; do not delay; one moment may be dangerous death may take you off suddenly. You know not but that a fit of the apoplexy may hurry you from time into eternity; therefore, be not for staying till you have something to bring; come in all your rags, in all your filthiness, in all your distresses, and you will soon find Jesus Christ ready to help and to relieve you; he loves you as well in your rags as in your best garments; he regards not your dress; no, do but come unto him, and you shall soon find rest for your souls.

What say you? Shall I tell my Master you will come unto him, and that you will accept him on his own terms. Let me, my brethren, beseech you to take Jesus without any thing of your own righteousness: for if you expect to mix any thing of yourself with Christ, you build upon a sandy foundation; but if you take Christ for your rest, he will be that unto you. Let me beseech you to build upon this Rock of ages. O my brethren, think of the gracious invitation, "Come unto me," to Jesus Christ: it is he that calls you: and will you not go?

Come, come unto him. If your souls were not immortal, and you in danger of losing them, I would not thus speak unto you; but the love of your souls constrains me to speak; methinks this would constrain me to speak unto you for ever. Come then by faith, and lay hold of the Lord Jesus; though he be in heaven, he now calleth thee. Come, all ye drunkards, swearers, sabbath-breakers, adulterers, fornicators; come, all ye scoffers, harlots, thieves, and murderers, and Jesus Christ will save you; he will give you rest, if you are weary of your sins. O come lay hold upon him. Had I less love for your souls, I might speak less; but that love of God, which is shed abroad in my heart, will not permit me to leave you, till I see whether you will come to Christ or no. O, for your life receive him, for fear he may never call you any more. Behold the Bridegroom cometh; it may be this night the cry may be made. How would you bear this, if you were sure to die before the morning light! God grant you may begin to live, that when the king of terrors shall come, you may have nothing to do but to commit your souls into the hands of a faithful Redeemer.

Now to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, be all honour, praises, dominion, and power, henceforth and for evermore. Amen, amen.

SERMON XXII.

THE FOLLY AND DANGER OF PARTING WITH CHRIST FOR THE PLEASURES AND PROFITS OF LIFE.

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us; we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him! And when he was come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time? And there was, a good way off from them, an herd of many swine, feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine. And he said unto them, Go: And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine; and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing; and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus; and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.-Matt. viii. 23, to the end.

If we were but sensible of the great necessity there is, in this our day, of being real Christians, sure we should not be contented with being nominal ones; but we are sunk into I know not what; we are no better than baptized heathens: And how amazing is it, that we should profess the name of Christ, and yet so little converse about him; surely, this name, whereby we are called, should be the theme of our discourse here, and of our eternal hallelujahs in a world to come. But is it not more amazing, to consider, that instead of the name of Jesus, whereby we are to have salvation, we are taught to look for it in ourselves, and that there must be a fitness in us before God bestows his grace and favour upon us. But what doctrine is this? Not the doctrine of the scripture, not the doctrine of Jesus, not that of the primitive Christians, not that of the Reformation, nor that of the Articles of the church of England: No, it is the doctrine of the devil: this is making Christ but half a Saviour, and driving man into an error of the greatest consequence, in making him go to Jesus in his own strength, and not in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ: But, my brethren, unless you go in the strength of Jesus Christ; unless you depend only upon him for salvation; unless he is

your wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, he will never be your redemption. Our salvation is the free gift of God; it is owing to his free love, and the free grace of Jesus Christ, that ever you are saved.

Do not flatter yourselves of being good enough, because you are morally so; because you go to church, say the prayers, and take the sacrament, therefore you think no more is required: alas! you are deceiving your own souls; and if God, in his free grace and mercy, does not shew you your error, it will only be leading you a softer way to your eternal ruin; but God forbid that any of you, to whom I am now speaking, should imagine this; no, you must be abased, and God must be exalted, or you will never begin at the right end; you will never see Jesus with comfort or satisfaction, unless you go to him only on the account of what he has done and suffered.

Is it not plain to a demonstration, that we are acting the part of the Gergesenes, who came and desired Jesus to depart from them? Let us consider the words, and then we shall see how exactly we are performing the part of these men over again.

And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him. Christ had been working of many miracles, as we may read a few verses before; and as he continually went about doing good, so now he was going to the country of the Gergesenes, to dispossess two, who were possessed with devils; and his disciples followed him: No doubt, they were reproached and pointed at, for following such a babbler, as the scribes and Pharisees esteemed the Lord Jesus Christ: Doubtless they were pointed at, jeered, scoffed, and esteemed madmen, enthusiasts, and a parcel of rabble; but still they followed the Lord Jesus Christ, they did not mind a little reproach; no, they loved their Master too well to forbear following him for the sake of a little persecution. And if you do but love the Lord Jesus Christ, love him above all, you will follow him in spite of the malice of all the scribes and Pharisees of this generation.

And behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea.

The presence of Christ in the ship, did not preserve the disciples from fears and troubles; they were filled with uneasiness, although Christ was with them: this was only for a trial of their faith, to see if they would stand fast for the Lord in a persecuting time. My dear brethren, if the Lord is trying of you, do not give out; no, stand fast in all that the Lord may call you to suffer. It is easy to follow Christ when all things are safe; but your love to Jesus Christ would be seen more, if you must lose your lives, or deny your Jesus; it would be a trial of your love, when fire and faggot was before you, if you would rush into that, rather than fly from the truth as it is in Jesus. Though all things are calm now, the storm is gathering, and by and by it will break, and then you will see whether you are sound Christians or not. Persecution would scatter the hypocrites, and make nominal Christians afraid to worship God; they would then soon turn unto the world and the things of it.

Q

And his disciples came to him, and awoke him, saying, Lord, save us, we perish. And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!

Here we may see the great compassion of the Lord Jesus Christ; no sooner had the disciples awakened him, and he saw their danger, but he rebuked the winds and the seas, and all things were calm: Thus it was in a natural way, and will be so in a spiritual one; for no sooner does Jesus Christ speak peace to a troubled soul, but all is calm and quiet: Now, none but God could have performed this great miracle, and therefore it is no wonder that his disciples, and the men of the ship, were amazed to see the wonders he performed; and they could not forbear to express their sense thereof, by inquiring, "What manner of man is this!"

And when the Lord has brought you out of trouble, you will be amazed at the gracious dealings of the Lord with you, and wonder that he would so easily remove your troubles from you, when you have deserved nothing but wrath and destruction, and to be punished to all eternity.

And when he was come to the other side, into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way. And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? Art thou come hither to torment us before the time?

Two men, who were possessed bodily with that evil one who is going about seeking whom he may devour, met Jesus; as soon as they saw him, they were afraid, and cried out: though they made every one afraid of them, yet they no sooner saw Christ, but their power left them, and they cried out, "What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God?" We know that thou art God; we do not want thec, we have no power over thee, but thou hast over us, and we fear thou art come to torment us before our time; we know that we are to be brought to judgment, and therefore we would not be tormented until that time

come.

And there was, a good way off from them, a herd of many swine, feeding. So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go into the herd of swine.

The evil spirits were sensible that Christ was come to dispossess them, and that their time was now come, when they must leave the bodies of these two men; for when Christ comes, who is stronger than the strong man armed, all must fall before him; they could not stand against the power of Christ: and here we may observe, that though the devil be an enemy, yet he is a chained one; he cannot hurt a poor swine, until he have a power given him from above: and we may likewise see the malice of the devil, that he would hurt a poor swine, rather than do no

mischief; and the devil would, if in his power, destroy each of your souls, but Christ, by his mighty power, prevents him.

And he said unto them, Go; And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine; and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters. And they that kept them fled, and went their ways into the city, and told every thing, and what was befallen to the possessed of the devils. And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.

Here observe, that no sooner had Christ given the devils permission to enter the swine, but they did; and their malice was so great, that the swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and were drowned.

What poor spite was here, that the devil should disturb poor swine! And the city, therefore, was so grieved for the loss of a little wealth, that they came and besought Christ to depart: they did not want his company; they preferred a few poor swine before the company of Christ; a few worldly goods, a little pleasure, or any thing, rather than Christ,-part with Christ before any thing: but one who is sensible of the love of Christ, will part with all, rather than with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Thus far the letter of the story goes; perhaps you think there is nothing to be learned herefrom, and that this is all you are to understand by it: but if so, my brethren, you are much mistaken; for here is an excellent lesson to be learned, and that you will see, by considering the words again, in a spiritual sense.

And, behold, there arose a great tempest in the sea, insomuch that the ship was covered with the waves: but he was asleep. And do not you frequently experience great tempests in this world? does not the sea of temptation beat over your souls? you are afraid lest you should be overcome by them; you can see no way to escape, for your souls are covered with waves, and you expect to be swallowed up in the tempest; you are afraid lest you should fall into the hands of the evil one. O do not fear, for Jesus Christ, though he may be asleep, to your thinking, yet will keep you, he will preserve you from the raging of the men, of the Pharisees, of this world; they may rage and spit forth all their venom against you, still Christ will deliver, preserve, and protect you; if you but seek unto him in a sense of your own helplessness and unworthiness, you will soon find he is a God ready to pardon and forgive. O that all that hear me would be persuaded to bow their knee, and their hearts, as soon as they go home: but, alas! how many of our Christians go to God, day by day, and call him Father, which is but mocking of God, when the devil is their father: None have a right to call him Father, but those who have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby they have a right to call him, "Abba, Father." Could the brute beasts speak, they might call God father, as well as some of you; for he is their Creator, to whom they owe their being: but this will not entitle you to call God father,