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knew what growth in grace was; which he not being able to answer at once, he was tempted to question whether he had experienced any work of grace at all; which threw him into great concern and diftrefs, until the Lord was pleafed to relieve him by a powerful application of these words, I have loved thee with an everlasting love; therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee": which filled his foul brimful of comfort, with a joy unspeakable, and full of glory, and which continued with him to his laft moments; when he fweetly and easily, without a figh or a groan, fell asleep in Jefus. And now give me leave to close this fervice with a few words to you, the members of this church, to which he was a pastor : and,

1. To the younger members of it; you that were converted under our brother's ministry, and were the firft-fruits of it, you have loft your fpiritual father indeed, who would have had a watchful eye over you, and a tender regard for you; but confider, Chrift your everlafting father still lives to care and provide for you, and supply all your wants; your prophet is gone, who, you might have expected, would have inftructed you more largely in the truths of the gospel, and in what would have made for your peace and comfort; but remember, that though the prophets do not live for ever, yet the word of the Lord lives and abides for ever, to nourish you up to everlasting life; your under fhepherd is no more to feed you, the lambs in Chrift's flock: but the great and chief fhepherd and bishop of fouls is ftill with you, and he will feed his flock like a shepherd, gather the lambs in his arms, carry them in his bofom, and gently lead thofe that are with young: he does not defpife the day of small things, nor will he break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoaking flax2; you may be confident of this, that the good work of grace begun in your hearts, shall be performed until the day of Christ: what one minister has been the inftrument of planting, another will water. But a few words,

2. To the elder members of this church, and the officers of it, who have been of long standing in it: you have seen various changes and alterations in it, the several steps and methods of divine providence towards you, and his hand upon you in many respects: your antient paftor', that was many years over you in the Lord, was forely afflicted for a long time; frequently interrupted in his work, and at last wholly laid afide; though before that a young man' of good abilities and promifing usefulness was fettled among you, and was foon snatched away from you by death; and now another young man in like manner; so that within these five or fix years you have loft no less than three paftors! An awful difpenfation this! It should put you upon fearch and inquiry what should be

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the reafon of the Lord's coming forth against you in fuch a manner, and of his controverfy with you; and it might be reasonably thought you would be saying one to another, Is there not an Achan in our camp? and that every one would be putting the question that the difciples of Chrift did in another cafe, Is it I? Is it I? Have you nothing to charge yourselves with? No difrespect to the doctrines of the gofpel? No want of attendance on the ordinances of it? No negligence in the affairs of the church and the difcipline of it? No unsuitable and unbecoming walk and converfation in any of you? No declenfions and backflidings among you, not taken notice of; and the laws of Christ against delinquents not put in execution? Something of this latter kind I understand. was matter of concern to your late paftor; who, as I am told, has left you his dying charge. May it be of use unto you to stir you up to be more active and diligent, to be stedfaft and immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord; and to recover backfliders, and bring them back to the fold, or put you upon doing your duty to them. And,

3. To the church in general, I clofe with a word or two: do not be discouraged in your melancholy circumstances; though the Lord has stripped you of one pastor after another, the refidue of the Spirit is with him: who knows but that a double portion of it may fall upon fome Elifba or another, that may be fent among you: our exalted Lord and King has received gifts for men, and he bestows them on them, to qualify them for paftors and teachers, that they may be useful in the work of the ministry, and for the edifying the body the church: and he has a fufficiency of these to give; pray to him for them: I understand you are a praying people, that there is a spirit of prayer of late among you; I rejoice to hear it; you may hope for a bleffing and expect it: go on praying to him who has promised to give pastors according to his own heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and with understanding; and confidering what a number of ministers have been removed by death, how few there are that are come forth in their room, how many churches are deftitute of paftors; it becomes us all to lay it to heart, and earnestly and fervently to pray the Lord of the harvest that he would fend forth labourers into his barveft", faithful, diligent, and useful

ones.

t Jer. iii. 15.

- Matt. ix. 38.

SERMON

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Occafioned by the Death of the Reverend Mr SAMUEL WILSON.
Preached October 14, 1750.

ACTS XX. 38.

Sorrowing most of all for the word which he spake, that they should fee his face no more..

BEING

your late paltor, in

EING defired by you, the brethren and members of this church, to affift in your forrow, on account of the death of dear which I fincerely bear a part with you; and no paffage of fcripture being left by the deceased, nor any given me by his furviving relative, or by you, I confidered with myself what would be moft proper and fuitable on fuch an occafion; I thought of one portion of fcripture, and of another, but none hung upon my mind fo much, and continued with me fo long as the words I have read unto you; and therefore I determined, through divine affiftance, to make them the fubject of the following difcourfe.

The words manifeftly refer to a single expreffion used by the apostle Paul, in a very moving and pathetic addrefs, delivered by him to the elders of the church. of Ephefus at Miletus, where he had convened them for that purpose; but before I enter into a particular confideration of them, I shall take leave to make fume few remarks upon the address itself; and the rather, as it will not lead us out of fight of the text, but will open to us the true fource of the forrow expreffed in it, and furnish us with reafons accounting for it. And,

1. The apostle obferves what was his conftant work and employment whilst he was in Afia, and his manner of performing it, ver. 18, 19. His work was, ferving the Lord; not himfelf and his own belly; not feeking to gratify his sensual lufts, or to acquire riches and honour to himself, as the false teachers did; he was no time-ferver or man-pleafer, for then he would not have been the fervant of Chrift; but he ferved the Lord, Jehovah the Father, in the gofpel of his Son, with all his heart and foul; and he ferved the Lord Chrift by fully and faithfully preaching him; and in fo doing, became the fervant of the churches for Jefus' fake. His manner of performing this fervice was, with all bumility of mind; for though he was favoured with extraordinary gifts, and was called to an extraordinary office, by which he was fet not only above common

faints,

faints, but above ordinary ministers of the word, and was not behind the chief of the apostles; yet he was not lifted up with these things, but thought himself less than the least of all faints; being fenfible of his own unworthiness to be employed in fuch service, and his infufficiency for it; and well knowing it was by the grace of God he was what he was, and did what he did, he therefore walked humbly before God, and in the fight of men; not affuming a dominion over the faith of any, or lording it over the heritage of God. And it was with many tears that he went through his work; he fowed the precious feed of the word in tears, and watered it with them; grieved he often was at the hardness, impenitence, and unbelief of many that heard him, and was greatly affected with the troubles of the faints, both inward and outward: who was offended or afflicted, and he burned not? and would frequently weep over the fcandalous lives of carnal profeffors. And his fervice alfo was attended with temptations that befel him, not only from Satan, and his own heart, but from a wicked world, and especially by the lying in wait of the Jews, who fought to take away his life; and which were trials of his faith and patience, and of his courage and conftancy in the service of his Lord: and now a minister so conftant and laborious, fo humble, so compaffionate, and fo felf-denying, is it to be wondered at, that forrow fhould be felt and expreffed at parting with him?

2. The apostle goes on to take notice of the fubject-matter of his ministry, or of what he chiefly infifted upon in it, ver. 20, 21. In general it was what was profitable, fuitable, and convenient for them. He did not amufe his hearers with philofophical notions, or read lectures of mere morality to them, or deliver out fpeculative notions in divinity; but he taught them folid and subftantial truths, the doctrines of the everlasting gofpel, the whole fom words of our Lord Jefus, fuch as men are nourished up with unto everlafting life; things profitable for doctrine, and inftruction in righteousness; even fuch doctrines as relate to the knowledge of the divine Being, Father, Son, and Spirit, to the state and condition of man by nature, as a fallen creature; and to his recovery, both by redeeming and efficacious grace: and of these things he kept back nothing; he did not withhold them either in whole or in part; nor did he withdraw or fetch back, as the word ufed may fignify, what he had before faid to them; but abode by it, and pronounced an anathema on fuch who preached any other golpel than what had been preached and received already; and this he bewed unto them, and made it clear, plain, and evident; and taught them it publicly, and from boufe to house; first publicly in the Jewish fynagogue, then in the fchool of Tyrannus, chap. xix. 8-10. and in whatsoever public place of worship the people met together; and also privately in their own houses; which fhews his diligence, and

* Treaμer. See Heb. x. 38, 39.

and industry, and concern for their spiritual welfare and what he taught in the one place, and in the other, was uniform and all of a piece. In particular, the doctrines he chiefly infifted upon, or the whole of his miniftry, were reducible to these two heads, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus. God, against whom man has finned, is the object of the one; and Chrift, who is the Redeemer and Saviour, is the object of the other: repentance must be toward God, it lies in a true fenfe of fin, and godly forrow for it, in fhame and blushing at it, and in owning and forfaking it, flowing from a view of the love of God, and of pardoning grace and mercy through Chrift, attended with faith in him, and hope of falvation by him: faith has Chrift for its object; and it is a believing in his perfon, blood, righteousness, and facrifice; a looking to him, leaning on him, trufting in him, and expecting grace, life, and falvation from him. These two doctrines went together in Chrift's ministry, and are what he ordered his disciples to teach, and which they did; endeavouring first to bring men to a sense of fin, and then encouraged them to believe in Chrift: and this is the ufual order in the Spirit's work upon the foul, through the ministry of the word, first to convince men of fin, then to work faith in their hearts, and take of the things of Chrift, and fhew and apply them to their fouls for their peace and comfort: and thofe doctrines were taught by the apoftle without refpect to perfons; he testified them both to Jews and Greeks; and now a minister who made it his business to deliver out fuch interefting truths, doctrines of fuch moment and importance to the fouls of men, and was fo faithful and diligent herein; is there not good reason that thofe to whom he had miniftered should be filled with forrow and trouble, and fhew deep concern of mind at his departure from them?

3. The apostle declares the view he had of what sufferings he was to endure for the fake of the gospel, and which was not at all difcouraging to him, ver. 22-24. He fays, he was going bound in the Spirit unto Jerufalem; not in his own spirit, as being bound in confcience to perform a piece of fervice he had undertaken to do to the poor faints there from the Gentile churches; and much lefs as if he was compreffed, and ftraitened, and uneafy in his mind at what he was to suffer at Jerufalem, for this would be contrary to what he after fays; but in and by the Spirit of God, by which he was moved to go up to Jerufalem,, notwithstanding the perfuafions of his friends to the contrary, and what he should endure there; by which he knew he should be put in bonds there; and by the revelation of the Spirit he faw it as clearly as if he was bound already. Yet not knowing the things that should befal him there: that is, other things befide bonds, which are after excepted; or whether thofe would iffue in death there or elsewhere; as yet this was not made known unto him; fave that the holy Ghoft

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