parated from me, ye can do nothing: as "the branch cannot bear fruit of itfelf, except it abide in the vine; no more、 can

.༦

ye, except ye abide in me. What is undertaken in felf-confidence, fhall certainly iffue in fhame and disappointment. The Apostle Peter, who boafted, that " though "all fhould forfake his Master, yet would "not he," not only forfook him, but with oaths and imprecations denied that he knew him. "He that trufteth to his own heart " is a fool:" Behold," faid the Prophet Habakkuk, "his foul which is lifted up, is not upright in him." Needful, then, most needful, is that caution," Let "him who thinketh he ftandeth, take heed "left he fall." At the fame time, in the

-

5th place, This diffidence of ourselves ought always to be qualified with a stedfast trust, an unfufpecting confidence, in the power and faithfulness of our great Redeemer. Paul, who difclaimed the ability of conceiving fo much as one good thought, independent of God, did not however hefitate to fay, "I can do all things through "Chrift that ftrengtheneth me." The fame

good

good fhepherd who found us when we were loft, is able to "lead us in the paths of

righteoufness;" and he will do it," for "his name's fake." He upon whom our help is laid, is ftyled "the faithful and the "true witness :" And these are his kind encouraging words to all who are returned to him as the bishop of their fouls: “My grace "is fufficient for thee:""Fear not, for I

'

am with thee; be not difmayed, for I

am thy God; I will strengthen thee; yea, "I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee "with the right hand of my righteous nefs."

Such, my brethren, is that temper of heart with which we ought to attend upon this great Christian folemnity: The deepest humility, and the warmest gratitude; godly forrow on account of our wanderings in time past, and holy purposes to walk circumfpectly for the time to come; a fenfe of our weaknefs, and of our abfolute need

of

grace from on high, joined with a firm unfufpecting reliance on the power and faithfulness of our glorious Redeemer, who hath promised the Spirit to them that afk VOL. I.

R

it,

it, and bids us" afk, and receive, that our "joy may be full.". Thus let us encompafs the altar of God, praying that this gofpel-feaft may prove effectual, through his bleffing, for confirming our faith, for inflaming our love, and enlivening our hope;

that, by the nourishment it affords, we may be strengthened to pursue our journey through this wildernefs, till, having paffed the dark valley and fhadow of death, we fhall enter into the promised land of reft, where, face to face, we shall behold the shepherd and bishop of our fouls, and, furrounding the throne of God and of the Lamb, bear our part in that grateful triumphant fong, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us "from our fins in his own blood, and hath "made us kings and prieits unto God, and "his Father; to him be glory and domi"nion for ever and ever," Amen.

SER

259

SERMON

HEBREWS iv. 16.

X.

Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

HE great atonement we are this day

TH

to commemorate, is the fole founda-. tion of that throne of grace to which the Apoftle invites us in my text; for it is only" in Chrift Jefus, that God reconcileth "the world unto himself." So that the fubject I have chofen hath an obvious and peculiar reference to that facred fervice in which we are shortly to be engaged.——In order to render it profitable for our inftruction and comfort, I propofe, in dependence upon divine aid,

Firft, To explain what is meant by coming boldly unto the throne of grace; and,

Secondly, To confider the errand upon which we are invited to come; namely, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to

belp in time of need. After which, I fhall, in

the

Third place, Illuftrate the motives, or grounds of encouragement, fuggested by the Apostle in the foregoing context, upon which the exhortation appears

founded:

And then direct you to the practical improvement of the whole.

I begin with explaining what is meant by coming boldly unto the throne of grace.

You will easily perceive, that the boldness here recommended, must be something entirely different from fearlefs prefumption, or headlong irreverence, in our approaches to God; for he hath exprefsly faid, and confirmed the truth of it by many awful examples, "I will be fanctified in them. "that come nigh me, and before all the people I will be glorified.". "God is "greatly to be feared in the affembly of "the faints; he is to be had in reverence "of all that are about him." We find this fame Apostle, towards the close of the epiftle, concluding a moft lofty and anima

ted