Use 2. Is caution.
1. Do not hazard your souls for things that perish. Let nothing
78 SERMON UPON ECCLESIASTES XII. 7.
entice us to forfeit or hinder our endless happiness : Heb. x. 39, ' We are not of them wlio draw back unto perdition, but of thera that believe to tlie saving of the soul ; ' Mat. xvi. 26, * What is a man profited if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul ? '
2. Do not betray the souls of others for a little pelf, as ignorant and careless ministers do, so they have the maintenance. Love to souls is the great thing we learn of our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself ' a ransom for them,' Mat. xx. 28. Ministers should have the bowels of Christ : Phil. i. 8, ' For God is my record how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Christ ; pity those that are going to hell, and ready to perish everlastingly.
Use 3. Is exhortation, to persuade you to make it your mark and scope to look after this immortal state of blessedness. Let us leave things that perish to men that perish : John vi. 27, ' Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth to ever- lasting life.' Surely this argument should persuade us to heavenly- mindedness. Earthly things are of short duration, and shall quickly leave us, and when they are gone, they are to us as if they had never been, a shadow, a dream, or something that is next to nothing ; but the fruit of godliness abideth for ever : 1 John ii. 17, ' The world jiasseth away, and the lust thereof ; but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.'
Motives.
1. You know more of the dignity of man, who is created after the most perfect pattern, the image of God himself : Gen. i. 26, ' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.' Kedeemed at the dearest rate, the blood of the Son of God : 1 Peter i. 18, 19, ' Forasmuch as ye are redeemed, not with corruptible things, as silver and gold, &c., but with the precious blood of Christ,' and designed and ordained to the highest end, the glorifying and enjoying of God : Kom. xi. 36, ' For of him, and through him, and to him are all things.' Surely they should be more sensible of their immortality, and serve God more than the rest of his creatures.
2. You profess that religion which hath brought life and immor- tality to light, and the end of which is the saving of the soul. Now, though you have the profession of christians, you have not the spirit of christians if this be not your daily business and scope. What have you done for the saving of your souls ? if all your business, cares, and fears are about the body and the interests of the bodily life, you have the spirit of the world, not of God, Are not your souls worth the look- ing after ? that which is the scope of your religion should be the business of your lives and actions, that a christian may correspond and answer to his Christianity, as the impress doth to the seal.
3. You are God's witnesses : Isa. xliii. 10, ' Ye are my witnesses, saitli the Lord.' What proof do we give of a reasonable immortal soul ? Heb. xi. 7, ' By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house ; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.' Do we propagate carelessness and atheism, or a mindfulness of the world to come ?
SERMON UPON ECCLESIASTES XII. 7. 79
4. If we are satisfied with present things, we have no more to look for : Ps. xvii. 14, ' From men of the world, which have their portion in this life ; ' Mat. vi. 2, ' They have their reward;' Luke vi. 24, ' Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation ; ' Luke xvi. 25, ' Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things.' It is sad to be put off with these things, with riches, honour?, favour of men, and a little temporal greatness.
SERMONS UPON REVELATION I. 5, 6.
SERMON I.
And from Jesus Chnst, luho is tlie faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and ivashed us from our sins in his 01071 blood, and hath made lis kings and priests unto God and his Father ; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. — Rev. i. 5, 6.
The sacrament is an abridgment of the gospel, and we sliall best suit the end of it when we lay before you the sum of the gospel in one entire view. This scripture presenteth us with the principal parts of it. It carrieth the form of a doxology or a thanksgiving; wherein observe —