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12 animate the doubting? here we may ſhew them promiſes, free promiſes, exceeding great and precious promiſes, ratified by the oath of Jehovah, and ſealed by the blood of his Son. And what cordials can be ſo reſtorative to the drooping Chriſtian?

In ſhort, the doctrine of the Croſs is ſuited to anſwer all the great ends of our miniſtry, and promote all the truly valuable intereſts of our people. By this the Holy Spirit delights to work: and this, O Satan, ſhall be thy plague; this, O Sin, ſhall be thy deſtruction.— However, therefore, the Croſs might be to the Jews a ſtumbling block, and to the Greeks fooliſhneſs: God forbid that we ſhould glory in any thing elſe!— Let this be the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and ending, of all our public miniſtrations.— Let us leave a favour of this knowledge, which is far better than precious ointment, in every private company. Let it appear, from all our converſation, that the affections of our heart, and the labours of our life, are devoted, wholly devoted, to our adored Redeemer’s Croſs.— Happy the people who are under the care of ſuch miniſters and bleſſed the miniſters who walk according to this rule!

2. Let me exhort all true believers; thoſe who are vile in their own eyes, and to whom Chriſt alone is precious.— Remember, brethren, what is written in the prophet: it is a deſcription of your ſtate; it is a direction for your conduct. In the Lord, the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, Shall all the ſeed of Iſrael be juſtified, and in him shall they glory.

Let none ſay that religion is a gloomy or uncomfortable ſtate; I call upon you this day to rejoice. Let none ſay that religion is a mean and deſpicable thing; I call upon you this day to glory: