and fufferings of Chrift in a lively manner to our people,
in order to lead them to abhor all known fin, and to
love Chrift that firft loved us, and live to him that died
for us; and pray earnestly for the Spirit of regeneration
and fanctification which he hath purchased for us and
this is the most effectual way to promote morality and
holiness among them. 2. We must fet before the eyes
of our people the attractive charms and beauties of a
crucified Jefus in all his offices, that they may get a
view of his glory, as the "chief among ten thousand,
and altogether lovely," and as the "pearl of great
price;" that fo the defire of all nations may come to be
the defire of their hearts, and they may
ແ count all
things but dung and lofs" in comparison of a crucified
Chrift. And as we must recommend to them to clofe
with him as their prieft, and facrifice to atone for their
fins, fo alfo to fubject themselves to him as the lovely
King of Zion, whofe government is eafy, his fervice
pleafant, his commandments not grievous, and his re-
wards to obedient fubjects unfpeakably great. The
whole precepts of the moral law are the laws of this
King; but, to all his willing fubjects, he makes his
"yoke eafy and his burden light." 3. We muft en-
force duties from a principle of love, and of gratitude

to Chrift for his love. It should not be fo much autho-
rity, as grateful love to Chrift, that fhould constrain us
to live to his glory, to study holiness and conftant obe-
dience to his commands: and this we should do, as we
fhould approve ourselves to be Chrift's difciples, and as,
we would enjoy communion with him here, and be
accepted of him at his appearance to judgment.
4. We fhould direct our people to perform duties by
the grace and strength of the Lord Jefus Chrift our
Head, Surety, and Treasurer. We must be united to
him by faith, as our Head of Influences, and derive all
our life and ftrength for duty out of his fulness. Alas!
this direction is little minded by many of our moral
preachers, whofe difcourfes generally feem to proceed
upon the fuppofition of the ftrength of our natural
powers, as if we had no natural impotence or enmity
to what is good, nor been at all difabled by the fall.
VOL. IV.
3 K
5. We

5. We muft perfuade men to leave fin, and perform duty, by the terrors of Chrift's coming to judgment, and the wrath of the Lamb, that will then be intolerable to all who flight his grace and difobey his laws. 6. When we prefs duties, let us put our hearers in mind, that all our duties and good works have no worth or merit before God; they are not our juftifying righteousness, nor can they come in any way to fhare in this matter with Chrift's righteoufnefs; they are only accepted of God through the merits and mediation of Jefus Chrift: and that, after we have done all, we must say, we are but unprofitable fervants; and our main defire is to be found in Chrift, not having our own righteousness, which is but as filthy rags, and cannot be any fkreen or covert to us before God. 7. Let us inftruct our people, that though Chriftianity doth enforce morality by the ftrongeft arguments, yet unregenerate morality will never pleafe God. Till the heart be renewed, and the foul grafted in Chrift the true Vine, the fruit will be always four and unpleasant to God. A moral man, though he profefs himself a Christian, is not really fo, unless he be united to Chrift, and lock for daily influences from him to perform duties, and to the righteoufnefs of Chrift to cover him and all his duties; and be ftill faying, Though I could perform never fo many duties, I fhould be loft and undone for ever, if it were not for the righteousness and mediation of Christ my Surety and Saviour, in whom is all my hope and truft. For all true holiness and acceptable morality is the proper refult of the foul's union with the holy Jefus our living Head, who is the first and immediate receptacle of the holy Spirit and of all fanctifying influences for the use of his members; and out of Chrift's fulness we must by faith receive them for our fanctification.

Let us make every fubject we infift on point to Christ. If we difcourfe upon the attributes of God, let us confider them as they fhine forth in Chrift and his glorious undertaking; If upon the bleflings and promifes of the gofpel, let us confider them as the purchafe of Chrift's blood: If on the providence of God.

let

let us mind that the adminiftration is put in Chrift's hands, and he is Head over all things for the church; If we exhort to repentance and mourning for fin, let us direct our hearers to look to him they have pierced; If to prayer, let us direct them to look to Chrift, by whom only they can have accefs and fuccefs in this duty.

Ó how happy were it both for us and our hearers, if we did thus reduce every thing to Chrift, and make him the main fubject of all our fermons; and if the fcope of them all were to perfuade finners to come to Christ, and all that profefs him to live by faith on him, and make daily ufe of him! To this glorious perfon did all the prophets of the Old Teftament give witness, and much more fhould all the minifters of the New.

Now, this way of preaching is furely the moft excellent, and preferable to any other way; Why? 1. The preaching of Christ crucified is the mean which God hath appointed for gathering in elect finners to himself, and to which he promifes his bleffing. Hence it is that Paul faith, God makes the preaching of the crofs and of Christ crucified the POWER OF GOD to them that are called: and though natural men count this way of paeaching foolishnefs, yet it pleafes God by this way "to fave them that believe," i Cor. i. 18,

21, 24.

2. It was by this way of preaching among the Corinthians, that the apostle Paul had fuch wonderful fuccefs in bringing them to Chrift, 1 Cor. ii. 2. it was when Peter preached a crucified Jefus and the peculiar doctrines of Chriftianity to the people, that the Holy Ghoft fell on them, and converted multitudes of them; as Luke obferves feveral times, Acts ii. 36, 37. A&s X. 43, 44. It was not when he was preaching mora-, lity that the Spirit defcended and gave fuccefs to the word. Alfo he obferves, when thefe preachers from Cyprus preached the Lord Jefus to the people of Antioch, “the hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed, and turned to the Lord," Acts Ai. 20, 21.

3. It is the preaching of a crucified Christ, that God in his wisdom hath pitched upon as the way to reform men from their vices, and to bring in virtue, godliness and good order into nations, cities and congregations. The Heathen philofophers and wife men had, for fome thousands of years, tried all means, which the powers of nature or reafon could afford, to bring men to God and virtue, but in vain; for they remained ftill ignorant of God, and run farther away from him into all abominable impieties. Likewife in many places there are several masters of reason and eloquence, who excel, in a fort of rational and moral way of preaching, exclufive of Chrift; but what fuccefs have they in it for converting fouls? Alas! their people ftill fink in vice and corruption; all their fine reasonings cannot change the perverfe will of one finner. They may, perhaps, entertain two or three, or a few of their audience, who have a taste of the beauties of fine reafoning; but the body of the congregation remain untouched and afleep, fo that all they hear is loft to them. Surely the value and usefulness of things are to be reckoned from their capacity and fitness to answer the end they are defign, ed for now the end of preaching is to win fouls to Christ, so that these fermons are the most excellent that ferve this defign moft: and thefe, we fee, are the fermons which are fulleft of Christ. Alas! Chriftless moral fermons bring few off from their vices to the practice of morality, and far fewer into Chrift. Such a way of preaching is a longfome unfuccefsful method to reclaim and reform the vicious: whereas the short and effectual way to reform finners, and make them moral, is to preach Chrift to them; if you bring them to Jefus, you turn them from all their fins, and make them moral at once, yea, inwardly holy, which is more. O then, let us preach Chrift above all things!

:

4. If we look through the world, we will find it is only those ministers who preach Christ most, who have molt fuccefs and that the life and spirit of true religion rifes or falls among a people, according as a crucified Redeemer is faithfully preached among them

or

or not.

And those acquainted with church-history obferve, that when God is about to leave a people, and his glory to depart from his houfe, he ufually, gives them up to a lifelefs and formal miniftry, who neglect the preaching of Chrift and the peculiar doctrines of the gofpel, fuch as free juftification by the righteouf nefs of Chrift, and inward regeneration by the Spirit of Chrift; and do not inform their people that it is from a crucified Jefus the virtue must come for breaking the power of fin in the foul, and fubduing it to God. No wonder our flocks look poor and lean, when we take no care to lead them into thefe green pastures of evangelical truths, but fet before them the dry infipid ftuff of a Heathenish morality, which can never feed them nor keep them in good liking! How can we expect affiftance from Jefus Christ in our work, or the influences of his Spirit in preaching (upon which all our fuccefs depends) when we take no more notice of Christ in our fermons than the moral philofophers among the Heathens? Wo will be to this national church, if fuch a way of preaching fhall prevail in it, notwithstanding of the forefaid act of Affembly, and a found Confeffion of Faith, which all minifters fubfcribe to. God forbid that the church of Scotland become ever like the church of England in this refpect, who subscribe to found articles of doctrine, and never mind them more afterwards.

Likewife, as by the word of God minifters are bound to feparate between the precious and the vile, the clean and the unclean, the fincere and the formalift; fo, by the forefaid act 1736 concerning preaching, all minifters are appointed, in application of their fermons, to endeavour rightly to divide the word of truth, fpeaking diftinctly to the various cafes of their hearers, whether converted or unconverted, &c, Alas! it is to be feared, the making of this difference is too much neglected by many, both in difpenfing the word and facraments.

THESE and several other good things did the Affembly 1736, but it is to be regretted they were not fteady and uniform in their proceedings; for, while they dif

couraged