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ADVERTISEMENT.

THE Reader is requested to observe, that none of the following Sermons were composed with the most distant view to publication; and that owing to the great difficulty of deciphering the short-hand in which they were written, it was impossible to select from upwards of three thousand manuscripts those which were most fit to meet the public eye. If they appear deficient in correctness and polish, he will remember that they are published at the request and for the use of those who heard them delivered; and consequently, that any material corrections would have impaired their value as memorials of the preaching of the Author.

SERMONS.

THE OMNIPOTENT GOD THE JOY OF

THE CHURCH.

SERMON I.

[Preached at Kettering, April 29. 1792.]

EPHES. III. 20, 21.

NOW UNTO HIM THAT IS ABLE TO DO EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH IN US, UNTO HIM BE GLORY IN THE CHURCH, BY CHRIST JESUS, THROUGHOUT ALL AGES, WORLD WITHOUT END. AMEN.

THIS is what is called a doxology, or ascription of praise, at the close of one of the richest and most comprehensive prayers that was ever formed or offered. And a striking instance it is, how easily God can turn a prison into a spiritual palace, and give liberty of soul under the confinement of the body. Paul's imprisonment at Rome kept him at a distance from most of his friends, at a distance from his native home, at a distance from his usual sphere of usefulness; but it was the means of bringing him nearer than ever to his God. And it is evident that he never rose so high in spiritual devotion, or sunk so low in evangelical humility, or dug so deep into the mines of the

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