ISS PATTERN POR A DISSENTING.PREACHER. etraitly charge and threaten these men, that they speak to no man henceforth in this name. There,were Ananias and Caiaphas. John andAlexander, kindred of the high priest, with the rulers, elders and scribes, as you find in the fifth verse ; and they summoned these new preachers to appear before them, and commanded them not to speak at all, nor teach in the nave of Jesus ; but Peter and John answered and said, whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken to you more than to God, judge ye; for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard, verses 19, 20. We that have had in our own souls a rich and divine expe- rience of the-power of these doctrines, and of this gospel, which we preach ; we have such a divine testimony to the truth of them, that we cannot but publish them, whether you commandor for- bid us. God owned them with power, when they had the pri- vate house shaken, where they were assembled together, verse 31. They were all ,filled with the Holy Ghost, and all spoke the word of God withboldness. Let us not therefore suffer ourselves to be imposed upon and terrified with the frightful name of schism, for our Lord Jesus Christ, and his apostles, had the same reproach. What if we do not worship according to the prescribed forms of those that are in power, yet if we worship according to the rules established by our Lord Jesus Christ, we can vindicate our consciences to him, and our conscienceswill not charge us another day, nor will our Lord reprove us. We have the example of our Lord Jesus Christ, and his followers, let us keep close to this pattern, and not be afraid. II. We may learn from hence " the distinguishing power of the Spirit of God when it accompanies his own word," that it reaches the hearts of some with powerful convictions, while others remain obstinate. Some say, he deceives the people, and some would have laidhands upon him, as in the verses before my text, but these officers were so struck withhit doctrine, that they could not do it. The grace of God that attends his own word is sovereign, and delights with glory to distinguish itself amongst the hearers : Sometimes servants are convinced and wrought upon with mighty efficacy, when masters shall remain ignorant, and stupid, or be provoked to wrath and enmity against the preacher. The rich mayblaspheme, while the poor receive the gospel. The rulers say, that he was a deceiver, but the officers, their servants, were satisfied there was something divine in his doctrine, for never man spoke like him. There are some, it may be, that go to the place of public worship, and hear sermons, in order to revile the doctrine and religion, and perhaps with a spiteful intent to do some mischief to those that publish it ; but Christ shall over-rule them to gain good by the sermon, and turn their curse into blessing. These
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