begin to feel, I fee you concerned, I fee you weeping, and, was I to ask some of you, what you want to have done unto you? I know your answer would be, that we may receive our fight. And God forbid, that I fhould charge you to hold your peace, as though JESUS would not regard you! no, your being made fenfible of your natural blindness, and crying thus earneftly after JESUS, is a fign at least, that you are awakened by his holy Spirit (though it is poffible, that you may cry with an exceeding bitter cry, as Efau did, and be lost at last); however, chriftian charity induces me to believe and hope the beft; I will therefore, in the language of those who afterwards. encouraged Bartimeus, fay unto you, Arife, take comfort; for, I truft, JESUS is calling you; follow therefore the example of Bartimeus, caft away your garment; lay afide every weight, and the fin which doth most easily befet you, arise, and come to JESUS. He commands me, by his written word, to call to you, and fay, "Come unto him, all ye that are weary, and heavy laden, and he will refresh you, he will give you rest.” Be not afraid, ye feek JESUS of Nazareth; behold, he comes forth to meet you; ye are now on the highway fide, and JESUS, I truft, is paffing by; I feel his prefence, I hope many of you feel it too; O then, cry mightily to him, who is mighty and willing to fave you; lay yourselves at the feet of fovereign grace, fay unto him, JESUS, thou Son of David, have mercy on me," in the fame frame as Bartimeus did, and JESUS will answer you, he will not caft out your prayer; according to your faith, fo fhall it be done unto you. Blind as you are, you fhall, notwithstanding, receive your fight; Satan, indeed, and unbelief, will fuggeft many objections to you, your carnal relations will alfo join iffue with them, and charge you to hold your peace; one will tell you, that your blindness is too inveterate to be cured; another, that it is too late; a third, that though JESUS can, yet he will not have mercy upon fuch poor, blind, despicable beggars, as ye are; but, the more they charge you to hold your peace, do you cry out fo much the more a great deal," JESUS, thou Son of David, have mercy on us." JESUS, thou Saviour, thou friend of finners, thou Son of David, and therefore a Son of man! gracious words endearing appellations! be encouraged by them, to draw nigh unto him. Though David's Loid, yet

い

he is become David's Son, after the flesh, that ye through him may be made the fons of GOD: no matter what thou art, O woman, what thou art, O man; though thou art literally a poor beggar, think not thy condition too mean for JESUS to take notice of; he came into the highways and hedges, to call fuch poor beggars in; or, if you are rich, think not yourfelves too high to ftoop to JESUS; for he is the King of kings; and you never will be truly rich, until you are made rich in JESUS; fear not being defpifed, or lofing a little worldly honour: one fight of JESUS will make amends for all: you will find something fo inviting, so attracting, so fatisfying, in the altogether-lovely Lamb of GOD, that every fublunary enjoyment will ficken, and die, and vanish before you; and you will no more defire your former vain and trifling amusements, than Bartimeus, after he had received his fight, defired to go back again and fetch his garment. O that there may be many fuch blind beggars among you this day!

LEW 311

Here is a great multitude of people following me, a poor worm, this day. I rejoice to fee the fields thus white, ready unto harvest, and to fpread the gofpel-net amidit fo many; but alas! I fhall return home with a heavy heart, unlefs fome of you will arife and come to my JESUS; I defire to preach HIM, and not myself; reft not in hearing and following me. Behold, believe on, and follow the Lamb of God, who came to take away the fins of the world. Indeed, I do not despair of any of you, neither am I difcouraged, on account of my preaching in the highways and hedges; JESUS called Zaccheus; JESUS called Bartimeus, as he paffed through Jericho; that curfed, that devoted place; and why may he not call fome of you, out of these defpifed fields? is his arm shortened, that be cannot fave? is he not as mighty now, and as willing to fave, even to the uttermoft, all that come to the Father through him, as he was feventeen hundred years ago? affuredly he is; he hath faid, and he alfo will do it, "Whofoever cometh to me, I will in no wife caft out." In no wife, or by no means. O encouraging words! finners, believe ye this? arife then, be of good comfort, for JESUS is indeed calling you. Some of you, I trust, have obeyed this invitation, and have had a sight of him long ago; I know then, you will blefs and love him; and if he should say unto you, as he did unto Bartimeus, go

you

you your way; your anfwer would be, we love our mafter, and will not go from him. But fuffer ye the word of exhor

tation:

Suffer me to ftir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, fhew that you have indeed feen him, and that you do indeed love him, by following him in the way; I mean, in the way of the cross, the way of his ordinances, and in the way of his holy commandments; for alas! the love of many waxeth cold, and few there are that follow JESUS rightly in the way few there are that caft away their garments fo heartily as they fhould; fome idol or another hangs about us, and hinders us in running the race that is set before

Awake therefore, ye fleepy, though, it may be, wife virgins. Awake, awake, put on ftrength; fhake yourfelves from the duft; arife and follow JESUS more closely in the way, than ever you did yet. Lift up the hands that hang down, and ftrengthen the feeble knees. Provide right paths for your feet, left that which is lame be turned out of the way, but rather be ye healed. For though the way be narrow, yet it is not long; "though the gate be ftraight, (to use the words of pious "bishop Beveridge) yet it opens into everlasting life." O that ye may get a freth fight of him again this day! That would be like oil to the wheels of your graces, and make your fouls like the chariots of Aminadab. "It is only owing to your lofing fight of him, that you go fo heavily from day to day. A fight of JESUS, like the fun rifing in the morning, dispels the darknefs and gloominess that lies upon the foul. Take therefore a fresh view of him, O believers, and never reft until you are tranflated to see him as he is, and to live with him for evermore, in the kingdom of heaven. Even so, LORD JESUS, Amen and Amen!

SERMON XXVIII.

om11.ad of of dicbarom your 912. 10 7 10 Dund bora Directions how to hear Sermons. S

THE

C

LUKE viii. 18.

Take heed, therefore, how ye bear.

HE occafion of our LORD's giving this caution, was this. Ferceiving that much people were gathered to

gether to hear him out of every city, and knowing (for he is GOD, and knoweth all things) that many, if not most of them, would be hearers only, and not doers of the word; he fpake to them by a parable, wherein, under the fimilitude of a fower that went out to fow his feed, he plainly intimated, how few there were amongst them, who would receive any faving benefit from his doctrine, or bring forth fruit unto perfection.

The application one would imagine fhould have been plain and obvious; but the difciples, as yet unenlightened in any great degree by the Holy Spirit, and therefore unable to fee into the hidden myfteries of the kingdom of GOD, dealt with our Saviour, as people ought to deal with their minifters'; they difcourfed with him privately about the meaning of what he had taught them in public; and with a fincere defire of doing their duty, afked for an interpretation of the parable. Our bleffed LORD, as he always was willing to inftruct thofe that were teachable, (herein fetting his minifters an example e to be courteous and easy of accefs) freely told them the fignification. And withal, to make them more cautious and more attentive to his doctrine for the future, he tells them, that they were in an efpecial manner to be the light of the world, and were to proclaim on the houfe-top whatsoever he told them in fecret: and as their improving the knowledge

already

already imparted, was the only condition upon which more was to be given them, it therefore highly concerned them to "take heed how they heard."

From the From the context then it appears, that the words were prithat th marily spoken to the Apoftles themselves. But as it is to be feared, out of thofe many thousands that flock to hear sermons, but few, comparatively speaking, are effectually influenced by them, I cannot but think it very neceffary to remind you of the caution given by our LORD to his difciples, and to exhort you with the utmost earnestness, to "take heed how you hear."

In prosecution of which defign I fhall,

Firft, Prove that every one ought to take all opportunities of hearing fermons. And, Secondly, I fhall lay down fome cautions and directions, in order to your hearing with profit and advantage.

First, I am to prove, that every one ought to take all op portunities of hearing fermons.

1

That there have always been particular perfons fet apart by GoD, to inftruct and exhort his people to practise what he fhould require of them; is evident from many paffages of fcripture. St. Jude tells us, that "Enoch, the feventh from Adam, prophefied (or preached) concerning the LORD's coming with ten thousand of his faints to judgment." And Noah, who lived not long after, is ftiled by St. Pater," a preacher of righteoufnefs." And though in all the intermediate space between the flood and giving of the law, we hear but of few preachers, yet we may reasonably conclude, that God never left himself without witnefs, but at fundry times, and after divers manners, spoke to our fathers by the patriarchs and prophets.

But however it was before, we are affured that after the delivery of the law, GoD conftantly feparated to himself a certain order of men to preach to, as well as pray for his people; and commanded them to enquire their duty at the priests mouths. And though the Jews were frequently led inta