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we are zealous and very diligent to promote religion, but do not take good care to distinguish 'true from false religion, we shall be in danger of doing much more hurt than good, with all our zeal and activity.

I come now to the

IV. and last thing at first proposed, viz. to shew what im provement should be made of what has been said, by the peo ple of this church and congregation, who are now about sol emnly to commit their souls to the charge of him whom they have chosen to be their pastor, and who is now about to be set apart to that office.

And You, MY BRETHREN, as all of you have immortal souls to save, if you have considered the things that have been spoken, cannot but be sensible, that it not only greatly concerns your elect pastor to take heed how he behaves himself in his great work, wherein he is to act as a coworker with Christ for your salvation; but that it infinitely concerns you how you receive him, and behave towards him. Seeing that it is for your eternal salvation that he is appointed to watch and labor; and seeing his business is to do the work of Christ for you, it is natural and easy to infer, that your reception and entertain. ment of him should in some respect imitate the church's reception of Jesus Christ. Gal. iv. 14, "My temptation which was in my flesh, ye, despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus." Christ, in the text, commands those whom he sends, to follow his example, and then in the 20th verse following, he directs those to whom he sends them, how to treat them. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that receiveth whomsoever I send, receiveth me; and he that receiveth me, receiveth him that sent me." Secing the work of your minister is in some respects the same with the work of Christ, and he is to be appointed and devoted to do this work for your souls in particular, surely you should esteem him very highly in love for his work's sake, and do all that is in your power to help him, and put him under the best advantages to imitate his great master in this work, VOL. VIII. 3 A

to give himself wholly to his work, as Christ did during the time of his ministry, and to be successful in his work. And as it was observed before, that it is impossible that ministers should in any tolerable degree imitate the example of Christ in their work, if their minds are overcharged with worldly cares and concerns, you ought so to provide for him and sup port him, that he shall have no need to entangle himself with these things; otherwise you will not only bring a great tempt ation upon him, which will vastly tend to hinder him in the work of Christ among you, but will for the sake of sparing a little of your worldly substance to yourselves, foolishly and miserably starve your own souls, and the souls of your children, and will but cheat yourselves; for you will not be in the way to prosper either in your spiritual or temporal concerns. The way to have your houses filled with plenty, is to "honor the Lord with your substance, and with the first fruits of all your increase," Prov. iii. 9.

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And as it is your duty and interest well to support your minister, so it concerns you to pray earnestly for him, and each one to do what in him lies in all respects to encourage and help him, and strengthen his hands, by attending diligently to his ministry, receiving the truth in love, treating him with the honor due to a messenger of Christ, carefully avoiding all contention with him, and one with another. And take. heed in particular, that you do not forsake him to follow those, who under pretence of extraordinary purity, are doubtless doing the devil's work, in separating themselves, and endeav oring to draw off others from the ministers and churches in the land in general.

If you think. I have spoken something freely to you, L hope it will be considered, that this is probably the last time you will ever hear me speak from the pulpit, and that I shall never see you again till we see one another in the invisible eternal world, where these things will open to us all in their just importance.

And now nothing is left but to express my sincerest wishes and prayers, that the God of all grace would be with you,

and your elect pastor, and that he would give you in him a great and long lasting blessing, that you may enjoy much of the presence of Christ with you in him; that in him may be made up the great loss you sustained by the death of your former faithful and eminent pastor, whose praise was in all the churches; and that you may receive him as you ought to receive a faithful minister of Jesus Christ, and may be a great comfort to him, and may receive great spiritual and eternal benefit by his means; and that you may be each other's crown of rejoicing in the day of the Lord Jesus,

SERMON XXXI.*

The Sorrows of the Bereaved spread before Jesus.

MATTHEW xiv. 12.

AND HIS DISCIPLES CAME AND TOOK UP THE BODY AND BURIED IT, AND WENT AND TOLD JESUS.

CONCERNING these words I would observe

three things.

1. On what occasion that was, that we have an account of in the text....It was on occasion of the death of John the Baptist, who was a person whose business it had been to preach the gospel of the kingdom of God. He was a minister of Jesus Christ, and had been improved to do great service, was an instrument of much good to many in Judea and Jerusalem, in his life time. He was cruelly murthered by Herod, at the instigation of Herodias, having exposed himself to her mal. ice by faithfully reproving them for their incestuous wicked

ness.

* Preached at Hatfield, September 2, 1741, being the day of the inter ment of the Rev. Mr. William Williams.

2. We may observe who the persons were spoken of in the text; they were those that had been the disciples of John the Baptist, that had sat at his feet to hear him preach the gospel, that were his constant followers, that were with him as those that received great benefit by his ministry, and were as it were his children.

3. We may observe their behavior on this occasion, consisting in two things,

(1.) That whereby they shewed their regard to the remains of the deceased, They took up the body and buried it : It had been used in a barbarous manner by others, that had also been his hearers, and were under special obligations to have treated him with honor. They cruelly murdered him, by severing his head from his body; and his head was carried in a charger to Herodias, that she, instead of paying that respect that was due to the remains of so venerable a person, might have her malice and cruelty gratified by such a specta cle, and that she might thence take occasion to insult the dead. While that part of the dead body was thus used by Herodias, his disciples out of respect and honor to their mas ter and teacher, decently interred the rest.

2. That which they did, consequent on this, for God's glory and their own good, They went and told Jesus. Him they knew to be one that their master John, while he lived, had testified a great regard to. Jesus was he whose forerunner John was; whom he had preached, and of whom he had said, "Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world:" And, "This is he, of whom I said, after me cometh one that is preferred before me;" and whom he saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God. And probably they knew that Christ was one that had put great honor upon John their teacher in his life time. For he, though he was the Son of God, and John's Maker and Saviour, yet came to him to be baptized of him, and had said of him, that "among those that were born of women, there had not risen a greater than John the Baptist.

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