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knowlege, and against such solemn warning? We now see that, for the recovery of sinners to their senses, to their true temporal, as well as their eternal interest, God has sent his Son into the world, not merely to teach and instruct such misguided creatures as men, generally, are though That would be a kind purpose not unworthy of Heaven:-nor was it, merely, to set us a pattern of perfection in all the duties of life--though this would be Grace and Mercy to such beings as we are, who are more, effectually, led by our sight than by our understandings:-but He sent Him into the world to "die for us," and become "a propitiation for our « sins."

Let us then, seriously, lay these things to heart. Let every man, who lives in the habit or practice of any sin, consider what he is doing, and under what circumstances he is offending. God has now done all that His mercy called upon Him to do; has done all for reforming and saving sinners, which the most per fect goodness could dictate to Him. And is all this to be lost, because present pleasures, or riches, or honors, may chance to tempt, and allure us? Is the Blood of Christ to be thus, vainly, spent on us, on those of us, who stand covered with guilt, and have, therefore, no benefit from that great expiation? What are calls to repentance, if men will not hearken to them? They are but dead words, and useless sounds. What is even a Christ crucified for sin," to him that resolves to retain his sins under the very cross, the banner of his Saviour?

Let no man mistake the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. They promise no Saviour to the impenitent He is to be their Judge, and to "judge them in righte

ousness;"

ousness;" but righteous Judgment, in the great day of trial, will end in their heaviest sentence.

From those to whom much hath been given much "will be required." From the Heathens much; from the Jews more; but from Christians most of all, be cause the clearest knowlege of our duty, and the greatest assistance have been given to us. What then, can we expect, but that if, after we have been thus enlightened, and prepared, we fall away into the pollutions of the world, his Holy Spirit, whom we have grieved, will forsake us? And if Thou, O God, withdrawest thy Holy Spirit from us, what comfort, either present, or future, can we ever enjoy? Let us, therefore, obey the voice of Him, who once came upon earth to "call sinners to repentance;" who now, by his Holy Scriptures, renews that gracious invitation; and hath declared, that his Divine Father is ready to receive us with open arms upon our repentance.

SERMON

SERMON XV.

ST. MICHAEL AND ALL ANGELS.

THIS festival is celebrated by the Church, in thankfulness to God, for the benefits we receive by the Ministry of the holy Angels. And because St. Michael is recorded in Scripture. as an Angel of great power and dignity, and as presiding and watching over the Church of God with a particular vigilance and application, and triumphing over the devil; it therefore bears his name.

HEBREWS i. 14.

Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be heirs of Salvation?

HE Christian Church has, uniformly, preserved,

THE

with the utmost care, a just sense of the many, and invaluable, blessings she has received from "the "Author and finisher of her faith." In order to which she has appointed solemn days, commemorative

Never before printed.

of

of those signal deliverances she has been blessed withal; and, by adapting fit and proper services on each occasion-agreeably to what God directed Moses in the case of the Passover-instructs her children in the meaning of them. All Sundays are kept either in honor of the Trinity, or of one person in the Godhead; of our creation, or of our sanctification, and Redemption. Of holy days, some are observed in honor of our Blessed Saviour; others in memory of those excellent and distinguished men, who delivered the Sacred Writings down to our times, who died in the defence of the truths revealed, and the doctrines contained in them, and who adorned the profession, and recommended the precepts, of the Gospel, by an evangelical zeal, and an exemplary life. The Church, therefore, wisely determined to do all possible honor to their memories; partly, that all may be encouraged to embrace their doctrines, and imitate their examples; and partly, that virtue, even in this world, may not lose its reward, The Church has set apart, more especially, this day, to commemorate St. Michael the Archangel, and all other holy Angels, from a principle of gratitude, and acknowlegement to God, for appointing them to be ready in ministering at His command, not only to the support of the Christian Church in general, but to the several members of it in particular. "Are they not all ministering spirits," says the text, sent forth to minister to them, who "shall be heirs of Salvation ?”

I shall, in the following discourse, enquire into the nature, and offices, of Angels,

Their nature is described to us in Scripture, by their being called Spirits. God, says the Psalmist, "maketh

"maketh his Angels Spirits ;" declaring them, hereby, to be pure, incorporeal substances, not composed of corrupt matter, as the bodies of men are, and, conse quently, not naturally subject to the law of corruption; and for this reason they are immortal. The Scripture, it is true, sometimes speaks of them as having tongues, and other parts like those of an human body, which seems not to consist with their being incorporeal and void of matter. The Scripture speaks in the same manner of God; such passages, however, are not to be understood literally, but metaphorically; "For God," as the Sacred Writings declare," is a Spirit;" as also are the Angels; and a " and a Spirit," says our Saviour, "hath not flesh and bones, as ye "see me have." Angels, notwithstanding, appeared to Abraham; they accepted his invitation, and partook of his hospitality: for he dressed a calf for

them, set it before them, and they did eat." They assumed the appearance of men, in order that they might perform the business entrusted to them, And as God gave them bodies, so He gave them, at the same time, bodily faculties, to walk, to speak, to eat -which bodies were not essential to them, but calculated, merely, to render them the instruments of that purpose which Almighty Wisdom desigued, and Almighty Power alone could accomplish.

And if Angels are Spirits, incorporeal substances, then they are not to be discerned by our senses; which is another property peculiar to them; yet the Scripture tells us, that God may be seen of men: and if God is the object of our bodily sight, may it not be inferred, that Angels are also? Our Saviour promises, that "the pure in heart shall see God." But

such

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