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fore, whosoever divides himself from a Church, where the pure Word of God is, orthodoxly, taught, and devout Prayers to God are, duly, made, and God's Holy Sacraments are, regularly, administered, that man, effectually, cuts himself off from the body, and so deprives himself of that spiritual nourishment which, by these offices, should be conveyed unto him: and then, "Can these dry bones live?"

Indeed, by the extraordinary power of God, they may. All God's promises of Grace and Salvation are made in general, only to the Body of Christ; and in particular, to those that are in communion with it. And, therefore, he that forsakes the communion, does, in effect, renounce the promise. All the ordinary current of God's mercy runs in the channel of his Church; there we may drink of living waters, and be satisfied; but, it is ill trusting to extraordinary showers, and by-streams, and " broken cisterns, that can hold no water."

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By the Church, we mean the body, or society of men, that are, regularly, united under Christ their Head, and their Pastor lawfully constituted under Christ; professing the true Christian faith, and performing the true Christian worship; holding all things that are necesary to Salvation, and holding nothing as necessary to Salvation, but what, really, is so.

And such a one, blessed be God, is the Church, whereof we are members; a Church, where the truth, and nothing but the truth,. is made the object of our faith; where God, the true God, and only the true God, is made the object of our worship; and is, reverently, worshipped, with excellent unexceptionable Prayers, and regular uncorrupted Sacraments. Our

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worship is primitive and pure; and our doctrines, by our enemies' own confession, are all apostolical: and, therefore, there is no reason for any man to leave the communion of this Church, upon account of her principles, and constitution.

And, as for those who separate from us, upon a pretence that they cannot edify, cannot profit by us; all the world will bear us witness, that this is a pretence indeed, but nothing else. If we do not profit under all these advantages, the fault is not in our Religion, but in ourselves. From such a Church, as we can go no where for purer worship, so we need go no where for better edification. If we do not profit by all these means of Grace, nor find the spiritual nourishment ministered unto us, it is nothing but prejudice, and fancy, that debauches our appetite, and depraves our judgment; and such a prepossession of mind may make the most delicious, most nourishing, food in the world, insipid.

At this rate, a man may except against our Saviour's most admirable Sermon on the Mount, and say, that it does not edify; or, against Hk most excellent Form of Prayer, and say, that it does not move us nothing like those repeated cries, and af

To the Church of England, no man, however great his obligations to her, is more attached, than myself: but I am here, from conviction, and a sense of duty, compelled to declare my dissent from the reasoning of this zealous, and eloquent writer edification, when the Clergyman is not reverent in the discharge of his ministerial functions-independent of the service being tedious and redundant, from the circumstance of three services being united -was never, I believe, yet actually felt, and is not, reasonably, to be expected.

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fectionate groans of the priests of Baal, who call upon their god from morning till the evening; and yet, it is all but the same tone still, "O, Baal! hear us."

This is what, mightily, affects some sort of men; and yet, this is the very thing which our Saviour forewarns us, in our prayers, to avoid. So dangerous a thing is it for men to indulge their fancies, and conceits, in matters of Religion: for worship is not a fanciful, but a rational, institution. And yet, there are too many among us, who seem resolved, either to go to Heaven their own fantastic way, or not to go thither at all.

To conclude. Let none of these groundless pretences persuade us to forsake a Church, which furnishes us with all things necessary to Salvation; neither let us give ear to those forward undertakers, who pretend to carry us a nearer, and easier, way to Heaven; but, by the stedfastness of our faith, let us shew forth our gratitude towards God, for those means of Grace, and hopes of Glory," which, by His blessing, we now, abundantly, enjoy.

But, above all, let us take especial care, that our negligence, and perverseness, do not make these hopes and means ineffectual. For, if we do not find the benefit of our Church by the reformation of our manners; if our holy Religion does not teach us to amend our sinful lives, we have something more than our sins to answer for, even all those hopes of "Glory," which we have neglected; and all "those "means of Grace," which we have abused.

For, though "false doctrine, heresy, and schism" do cut us off from the body of Christ, and are very dangerous, destructive things; yet, "hardness of heart, ❝ and

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"and contempt of God's word and commandments," are much worse. And, though we do continue in the body, yet sin, unrepented of, will cut us off at last, as effectually as any schism; and, "to hold the faith in "unrighteousness of life," is the most pernicious heresy of which we can be guilty.

O, Almighty God, who hast instructed thy Holy Church with the heavenly doctrine of thy Evangelist St. Mark; give us Grace, that, being not like ⚫ children, carried away with every blast of vain doctrine, we may be established in the truth of thy Holy Gospel, through Jesus Christ our Lord.'

AMEN!

SERMON

SERMON VIII.

ST. PHILIP AND ST. JAMES.

TWO saints are commemorated by the Church this day, the first whereof is St. Philip.

St. Philip was born at Bethsaida, a town of Galilee, a barren

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country of Judea, near the sea of Tiberias (John i. 44). Our Saviour, living in this obscure, remote place, was pleased to choose His disciples out of the plain ordinary men of this neighborhood, who were mostly fishermen, by reason of the nearness of the sea of Tiberias, which was a great lake, well stored with fish, and which, therefore, invited many of the neighboring inhabitants to take upon them that occupation. He was the next, after St. Andrew and St. Peter, called to the Apostleship, and, as some think, before them; the other after their first call, returning to their employment. He was the person to whom the Greeks applied themselves, that they might have some knowlege of the Messias (John xii. 20). It was he, whose curiosity led him to know more of the Divine Nature, than our Saviour was willing to reveal unto him, in his address to Him, "Lord, shew us the Father,

and it sufficeth us." To whom our Saviour returns this gentle rebuke," Have I been so long with you, and yet "hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, "hath seen the Father." After our Saviour's Ascension, he is recorded to have preached the Gospel in the higher Asia. His last preaching, before his death, was at Aleppo, in Asia Minor, where he underwent martyrdom.

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