-263 1VOXR EXCLUDED FROM RODE. your brethren already joined in the fellowship of this gospel Come, enter yourselves into the blessed fraternity. To thepoor thegospel is preached, and the poor receive it. But there are some noble, there are some great, there are sonic rich, that have felt the power of it too : There is Philemon the master, and his servant Onesiinus, joined in the same faith, andpartakersof the same salvation ; Philem. I6. Again, 4. It is not confined topersons whose intelleettial ex- cellencies are superior to their neighbours, or who' exceedothers in understanding and the acquirements of the mind. St. Paul was debtor both to the wise and the uprise ; to the learned Greek, and to the ignorant and unpolished barbarian ; Rom. i. 14. He preached the gospel to all of them : For Christ had a chosen number amongst them all. If the witty, and the wise, and the learned will Iay down their pride, and submit to the doctrine of Christ crucified, and not call it foolishness : Ifthey will humble their understandings to receive the sacred mysteries of our reli- gion, God manifest in the flesh, and put to death forthe sins of men, andwill place the concerns of their eternal welfare into the hands of him who hung bleeding upon the Cross : If they are willing to beconverted and become as littlechildren, there is adoor forthem to enter into the kingdom of heaven. And as for you, whose understandings are weak and unpolished with human learning, this is a doctrine and a gospel exactly fitted for your character : It is no business of great sagacity, no ingenious mat- ter to become a christian. Believe the truths that are plainly revealed concerning your own sin and misery, and the power of Jesus Christ to save you ; bewail your own wretchedness and guilt, and entrust yourselves in the arms of his grace, that ye may be made holy and happy, and ye also shall become pos- sessors of the same kingdom. Father, I thank thee, Lord of heaven and earth, that though these things may be hiddenfrom the, wise and theprudent, yet thou hast revealed -them to babes ; Mat. xi, 25, 26. But Ipursue the distributions of thisgrace yet farther : 5. No particular tempersorconstitutions ofmen, no different qualities of soul Or body, can exclude those that believe from the grace or blessings of this gospel. Let not the strong manglory in his strength, nor tge comely figures of humannature boast them- selvesin their beauty. Let not the weak be overwhelmed with despair, nor the deformed or uncomely stand afar off and abandon their hopes ; the same Saviour proposes the riches of his grace to all. Learn therefore to look upon all your natural advantages, and all your natural discouragements, with a negligent eye in the matter of your salvation. If you would be strong to
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