Let me then, in conclusion, commend this liberty
to your acceptance —
[Think not, my Brethren, that the Gospel is a mere sys- tem of restraints : no, it is a "perfect law of liberty y:" and " all who are made free by Christ, are become free indeed2." O that religion were but understood in this view ! No captive would more delight to shake off his chains, than sinners would to emancipate themselves from the sore bondage in which they are held. Know then, Brethren, that I am authorised, in the name of Jesus Christ, to " preach deliverance to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bruised a." The jubilee trumpet now sounds in your ears, and proclaims to you a restoration to all that you have ever lost and forfeited. Did not the poor slave, think you, when called to resume his liberty and his inheritance, account the trumpet a joyful sound ? Let the Gospel, then, be such a sound to you : and, instead of re- garding God's service as a hard bondage, adopt the language of the Psalmist : " I will walk at liberty ; for I seek thy precepts." " Take upon you the yoke of Christ, and I pledge myself that you shall find it light and easy ; and you shall obtain everlast- ing rest unto your souls V]
y James i. 25. z John viii. 36. a Luke iv. 18, 19.
» Matt. xi. 28, 29.
Ps. cxix. 51, 52. The proud have had me greatly in derision ; yet have I not declined from thy Law. I remembered thy judgments of old, 0 Lord ; and have comforted myself.
THERE is not, throughout the whole Scriptures, any woe so little feared, so little thought of, so little credited, as that which was denounced by our blessed Lord, " Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you3! " But, in truth, there is no denunciation more certain to be executed than that : for there is nothing that can more infallibly prove us to be the enemies of God, than the approbation and love of an ungodly world. If it be asked, Whence this should be ? I answer, that " the things which are highly esteemed amongst men are an abomination in the sight of God ; and that the things which are pleasing to God are no less an abomination in the sight of
a Luke vi. 26.