CONTENTS. SERMON 1. GEN, i. 1. "In the Beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth." JOHN xiv. 2. - SERMON II. "In my Father's house are many SERMON III. JOHN XIV. 2. -"In my Father's house are many man- SERMON ÍV. LUKE Xxiii. 34.- -" Then said Jesus, Father, forgive SERMON V. 1 Cor. xv. 51.—" Behold, I shew you a mystery; We SERMON VI. Ps. xxxix. 9.- SERMON VII. MATT. viii. 11.-" And I say unto you, that many shall MATT. viii. 11.- SERMON VIII. "And I say unto you, &c.” SERMON IX. GEN. viii. 22.-"While the earth remaineth, seedtime Page. 1 23 41 51 65 81 111 122 136 SERMON X. 1 TIM. vi. 7.-"For we brought nothing into this world, 155 MATT. vii. 29.-"For he taught them as one having SERMON XII. GEN. xlv. 5.—“Now therefore be not grieved, nor angry SERMON XIII. PHIL. ii. 13.-"For it is God which worketh in you both SERMON XIV. ACTs iv. 13." Now when they saw the boldness of SERMON XV. LUKE XX. 61.-"And the Lord turned, and looked upon SERMON XVI. ACTS xxiv. 14.-"But this I confess unto thee, that SERMON XVII. 1 PETER ii. 21.-"For even hereunto were ye called : SERMON XVIII. JOB. V. 6.—“Although affliction cometh not forth of the SERMON XIX. 170 187 217 238 259 291 291 314 MATT. vii. 13.-" Enter ye in at the strait gate: for SERMON I. GENESIS i. 1. In the Beginning GOD created the Heaven and the Earth. THIS sentence stands with the utmost propriety, at the head of Revelation. It introduces us immediately to the knowledge of God, and teaches us, that every thing we behold, that every thing which we possess and enjoy, comes immediately from God; that the world had a beginning; that the heavens, the earth, and all creatures, are his workmanship, dependant absolutely upon him. Here then we find a cause, equal to this mighty work; and a solution to all the difficulties which men have created, relative to the origin of this universe. We are assured here, that this world is not from eternity, but formed in time; that it was not produced by the accidental concourse of atoms, which is the ridiculous doctrine advanced by some philosophers, but that it was created by a Being of infinite wisdom and power. This doctrine strikes at the root of all infidelity, by introducing God as the creator of all things in heaven and in earth; the former of our bodies, the father of our spirits; B and, by this assurance, introduces us to the numerous and important relations in which we stand to him, and the duties arising from these relations. God is our maker, and from him we derive all the powers and faculties we possess ; to him we owe homage, gratitude, and obedience. On reading this passage, I might have remarked on the beautiful simplicity of this narration. Matter so highly interesting, is crowded into the smallest space: the language is neither far fetched nor laboured, but perfectly easy and plain. No ornament is sought for, and no ornament is required. The importance and dignity of the subject, support its interest; the greatness of the work commands our attention, and raises the mind to the greatest sublimity, that seeks for no foreign ornament to command our thought. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Every word here is of the highest importance. The beginning of time is the period when this mighty work was effected. The Greatest of Beings is the workman; the effect is, the CREATION, making all things of nothing; the extent of this creation is the heavens and the earth, the whole universe; and not only all which we see, but every thing also that we can conceive. The performance was not a long, laborious, and tedious exercise, but produced instantaneously. By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth; and all things were perfect; for at the end of each day's work, God saw every thing, and behold it was very good.-After making some remarks on the words themselves, I shall offer some arguments for establishing our belief in this important doctrine, and shew the uses to which we should apply it. It may be, in the first place, observed, that no particular time is fixed for this great work of creation. It is not said how long the world had existed, at the time that the historian records this great event; whether it had endured 3000 or 4000 years: this is a point on which this history is silent. We are left to compute the age of the world from circumstances. Men calculate the duration of the old world from the lives of the Patriarchs, recorded with seemingly a considerable degree of attention, in the former part of Genesis, more particularly in the 5th chapter, where their genealogy is carried down from Adam to Noah. But this calculation is not entirely free from uncertainty; first, because learned men are not perfectly agreed with regard to the length of the lives of the antediluvians; and secondly, because there is some difference in the Hebrew original and the Greek version, regarding the numbers. Again, the period from the Flood down to Moses, is computed in a similar manner, and errors here will add to the general error. I might add, that the computation |