4thly. It will put us upon zeal for God and the honour of the gospel, that it may not suffer by reason of our miscarriages.
In one word, faith will do something ; but for our parts, we do
516 THE USE OF FAITH, ETC.
little or nothing. Faith will do something, I say, wherever it is, when it is stirred up to exercise ; but as to these special duties, in reference to these decays that all professors are fallen under, — 0 how little is it we do in any kind whatever ! Would we might advise with one another what to do under these decays, — to further one another in recovering ourselves from them ! This, then, is what we are called to, and is required of us, — namely, faith in the faithfulness of Christ, who hath built his church upon the rock, [so] that, be things never so bad, it shall not be prevailed against ;■ — faith in the fulness of the Spirit, and his promise to send him to renew the face of the church ; faith in apprehending the truth of God, who hath foretold these things; and faith putting us upon those especial duties that God requires at our hands in such a season.
POSTHUMOUS SERMONS.
PART IV.
SEBMONS PUBLISHED
M.DCC.LX.
PREFATORY NOTE.
The dedication and preface to these Sacramental Discourses sufficiently explain in what circumstances they were given to the world. The original publication of them was superintended by the Rev. Richard "Winter, B.D., an excellent and useful minister in London, the co-pastor and successor of the Rev. Thomas Brad- bury, in the Independent Church, New Court, Carey Street. An edition of them appeared in 1844, with a brief recommendatory preface by William Lindsay Alexander, D.D., of Edinburgh. We avail ourselves of an extract from it, as a just estimate of their character. Among works designed to promote the right observance of the Lord's Supper, these Discourses, he affirms, " by the venerated and learned John Owen, have long occupied a prominent place in the esteem of all competent judges. Though issued originally under the most unfavourable cir- cumstances,— having been not only a posthumous publication, but derived from notes taken from the author's spoken addresses, which were never, in any shape, subjected to his subsequent revision, — they contain so much valuable instruction, profitable exhortation, and pious reflection, in a small compass, that even had they appeared under the sanction of a less illustrious name, it would not have been surprising that they should have gained an extensive and permanent reputation." He commends this work of Owen to all " not already acquainted with its excel- lencies, as, upon the whole, one of the most useful and instructive companions to the Lord's table with which the literature of our country can supply them."— Ed.
TO MRS COOKE OF STOKE NEWINGTON.
Madam, — Four years ago the world was favoured, through your means, with a volume of Dr Owen's sermons which never before appeared in print; and it is at your instance that the following Sacramental Discourses of that same venerable divine are now made public. Hereby, madam, you at once express your high value and just esteem for the memory and works of that incomparable author, with your generous concern and prevailing desire of being serviceable to the cause of Christ ; — a cause much more dear to you than all the worldly possessions with which the providence of God has blessed you.
With the greatest sincerity it may be said, your constant affection to the habi- tation of God's house, — your steady adherence to the peculiar doctrines of Chris- tianity,— your kind regards to the faithful ministers of the gospel, — your extensive benevolence to the indigent and the distressed, — your affability to all you converse with, — and, in a word, your readiness to every good work, are so spread abroad, that, as the apostle says to the Thessalonians, " There is no need to speak any tiling."
That the Lord would prolong your valuable life, daily refresh your soul with the dew of his grace, and enable you, when the hour of death approaches, to re- joice in the full prospect of eternal life through our Lord Jesus Christ, is the prayer,
Madam, Of your affectionate and obedient servant,
Richard Winter.
Tooke*s Court, Cursitor Street, March 4, 1760.
PREFACE.
The preceding dedication is sufficient to acquaint the public that these Sacra- mental Discourses are the genuine productions of that great man of God, Dr John Owen, who was for some time, in the last age, vice-chancellor of Oxford. They enter the world through the same channel as his Thirteen Sermons on va- rious occasions, published four years since, — namely, they were at first taken in short-hand from the Doctor's mouth, and, by the late Sir John Hartopp, baronet, Mrs Cooke's pious grandfather, were transcribed into long-hand.
Mr Matthew Henry has this note in his annotations on 2 Kings ii., — " There are remains of great and good men, which, like Elijah's mantle, ought to be gathered up, and preserved by the survivors, — their sayings, their writings, their examples; that as their works follow them in the reward of them, they may stay behind in the benefit of them." Not that our faith is to stand in the wisdom of men; — the Bible alone is the standard of truth; and there we are bid to go by the footsteps of the flock, and to keep the paths of the righteous. There is a strange itch in the minds of men after novelties; and it is too common a case, that they who are for striking out something new in divinity, are ready to pour contempt on the valuable writings of those who are gone before them; and even the most learned, peaceable, and pious men, shall not escape their unrighteous censures. This is notorious in the conduct of those who embrace the new scheme.