tain a strong and lively hope, under all discouragements, that GOD does intend to preserve her for good, and to preserve in her, unto everlasting life, those that are found worthy. If from these tokens we are assured that CHRIST is within her, then, although He appears for awhile to be asleep, and the waters rage and swell, and we are "in jeopardy and almost covered with the

waves, yet this is no reason for despair.

6

But for people in general, how are they to know all these things, viz. how much safer their own Church is than those numerous sects that abound, than those who make seven sacraments, and those who have none at all;-how much nearer we are to all the early Churches, and to CHRIST's own institutions ?—how are they to learn, and understand how wisely, and mercifully GoD has ordered it for them, that they have been born in the Church of England? They cannot read and inquire into all these subjects. Certainly not: it is not at all desirable that they should; far otherwise. For practical holiness is much impaired or lost often in the midst of such inquiries. Their course is very simple and plain. Our LORD HIMSELF has given the rule of all wisdom and goodness. He that doeth the will shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of GOD"." If any one will take pains in fulfilling CHRIST'S Commands, he will ever hear a voice behind him telling him which is the right and safe course; it is the way of holiness, the wayfaring men though fools shall not err therein. A humble faith through the Sacraments, travels on from strength to strength, and has vouchsafed to it a much more true and Divine light than ever guides those who are 'given to change." All the new religions which abound are full of assurances ;-the Roman, which is quite as new as the rest, and in many points as different from the early Churches, all the strongest forms of dissent,- -are one and all of them quite certain that they are right, perfectly confident of their own way of salvation; and equally certain that none can be saved, but those that belong to them. So they say, and are ready to bear down any meek soul to the ground; exciting the selfconfident, terrifying the fearful, overwhelming the misgiving. The Church of England has never encouraged any thing of this kind all that it aspires to is a meek and humble faith, and a

5 Luke viii. 23. 1 Cor. xv. 30.

6 John vii. 17.

assurances.

quiet hope, and charity towards GoD and man: it has always considered such a frame of mind as best suited to us sinners; and has always been distrustful and afraid of high confidences and Such being the case, we have no chance of success, with these our insidious and overbearing adversaries, except by increasing our humility and our trust in GoD. Cast down, we shall be by them all; and they will appear to trample on us; but though cast down, not destroyed. Troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted of man, but not forsaken of GoD'. This was St. Paul's description of the Church in his own time; and if this description so closely applies to our own Church at present, this does not prove us to be no true Church. Yea; rather, St. Paul goes on to add, that this description of the Church was "always bearing about in the body the dying of the LORD JESUS, that the life of the LORD JESUS might be manifest in our body "." He means to say that this condition of the Church was only a conformity to CHRIST crucified; and that it was essentially necessary in order that the spiritual life of CHRIST might be manifested in the body that it bears about on earth. And, therefore, to say that our Church is no true Church, because it is oppressed and persecuted by the State, and despised and triumphed over by Romanists, disliked by Dissenters, and hated by the worldly-minded; and because it encourages no proud assurances and high confidences in itself and in its members; and would ever have us to walk in fear and humbly and near the ground; to say that on these accounts it is no true Church, is to say that it can be no true Church which bears in the body the marks of the LORD JESUS. Because it is on earth" despised and rejected of men" as He was, is no proof that it does not belong to HIM.

It is scarcely possible to speak of these our Sacraments, without alluding to our enemies, some of which would destroy them, and others deny them; but I would do nothing more than merely to allude to them, because all our danger is from ourselves—of not being true to ourselves, and our great privileges and blessings. What each one has to fear is his own heart; his own want of fidelity to the trust which God has assigned him.

7 2 Cor. iv. 8, 9.

2 Cor. iv. 10.

We believe that these two Sacraments are " generally necessary to salvation"-generally necessary-not absolutely necessary in every case; because God is able to save without His own ordinary means of salvation if He pleases; and because some may be unavoidably, and by no fault of their own, cut off from one or both of these Sacraments; under which case we cannot limit God's grace and mercy. But what we here declare is, that where they can be had, and there is no reasonable hindrance, they cannot be wilfully omitted without peril of salvation. This is a very serious and awful statement; enough to make us all fear on the subject ;to make those who have entirely neglected either of these utterly to despair of their salvation, until they come to a better mind; and to render even those who do not neglect them, yet humbly apprehensive and careful, lest they fall short by unworthy partaking in them.

And

One word more in conclusion. Whenever the number two occurs in Holy Scripture, there is another wanted to make them perfect-to make them three that they may be sanctified. thus it is to be observed that St. John, when he speaks of these two, makes them three by joining to them the HOLY SPIRIT. "There are Three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the Water and the Blood: and these Three agree in One '.' Let us each strive and labour in all humility and earnestness, that in our case, the Spirit be not absent from the Water and the Blood of the two Sacraments. We have by Baptism been made children of GOD; we eat " 'the children's Bread" at the LORD's Supper; let the SPIRIT bear witness with our spirit, that we are the children of GOD 1.

91 Jolin v. 8.

1 Rom. viii. 16.

SERMON XIV.

THE OUTWARD VISIBLE SIGN.

JER. xxxi. 31, 32.

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt."

As all our life is in CHRIST, Who for our sakes hath become GOD and Man in One Person; so it has pleased GOD that our union with HIM should take place by means of Sacraments. And the meaning of these Sacraments, by which we are united to HIM, could hardly be described more fully and clearly than they are by our Catechism. A Sacrament is an outward sign which we behold of a spiritual grace which we see not: and it has a power and efficacy, not from any thing in the sign itself, but because CHRIST, Who is HIMSELF the only Giver of all grace, hath ordained that it should be so; and has made it to be the means by which He will impart the same to us, and also to be to us a pledge and assurance that we obtain that spiritual grace.

And since GoD always intended, since the fall of our first parents, thus to unite us to the Body of His Son by means of Sacraments or outward signs; so we may observe throughout the Scriptures, that God has from the beginning been preparing mankind for this, by continually speaking to them by sensible symbols, training them to obedience, and making a covenant with them by some outward sign. So much, indeed, had HE thus schooled and accustomed His own people of old by a religion of signs, that

M

when our Blessed LORD appointed His life-giving Sacraments, they were at once rightly understood in a way that they are hardly realized by ourselves.

Thus we find, immediately after the fall, that Abel was making an acceptable offering of "the firstlings of his flock';" and that "the LORD GOD made coats of skins, and clothed" our sinful parents. Now what was this but an outward sign, whereby GoD tried their obedience, and kept a covenant with them, and at the same time set forth the "Lamb without spot," and the covering of His righteousness which He was preparing for the penitent? It was with respect to this sign of a covenant with God that good and evil were even then shown.

The next remarkable teaching of GOD which we read of in Scripture was with Noah, who was called " a preacher of righteousness;" but all that we know of his preaching was by an outward sign, which God had appointed him to make, in building the ark. Indeed, St. Paul speaks as if it was all comprised in this visible sign by which he was himself saved, “being warned of GOD," and "moved with fear, he prepared an ark, by the which he condemned the world." No doubt he and his sign were mocked at and ridiculed, but nevertheless in awful and solemn silence it went on.

And no sooner was the world destroyed than God made haste, as it were, again to establish His covenant of mercy with mankind by an outward sign, which continues to this day. "I do set My bow," said GOD, "in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth"." Indeed, the rainbow is a sort of sacramental sign to the natural world, like Baptism is to the Christian Church, the great symbol and evidence of GOD'S mercy and therefore a rainbow is said in the Revelation to be "round about the throne" of GOD', in token that He remembers His covenant of mercy with mankind. As He had said in Genesis, "The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant"."

Again, when the world afterwards fell away to idolatry, and GOD would keep a peculiar people to HIMSELF, and through them

1 Gen. iv. 4.

2 Heb. xi. 7.

3 Gen. ix. 13.

4. Rev. iv. 3.

5 Gen. ix. 16: and see Is. liv. 9.