ceit of his own importance, on account of the distinguished favours he had received, his heart was lifted up.' [2 Chron. xxxii. 25, &c.] In such a disposition he was ill prepared to resist a temptation which flattered his vanity. The king of Babylon, probably to court his friendship, sent ambassadors to him with large presents, and letters of congratulation on his very extraordinary restoration from sickness. Hezekiah might have shown them all proper civility and kindness, without violating any principles of religion. But he seems to have been carried away by pride, and foolishly to have exulted in the honourable notice taken of him. Instead of instructing these idolatrous princes in the knowledge of Jehovah, he made a display of his own grandeur before them, and, with much selfflattery and conceit, exhibited his palaces and treasures. Ah! how prone we are to assume a consequence to ourselves, and to rob God of his glory! Are you not in danger of being lifted up, especially when God prospers you, and of forgetting to whom the praise is due? This is highly displeasing to him and may bring upon you the heaviest calamities. Be afraid, then, of looking on your houses, your furniture, and possessions, except with devout thankfulness to God, and a holy suspicion of yourselves.

Does it appear strange, that he, who had discovered such a firmness in religious principles, should be overcome by the smiles of a Pagan monarch? Alas! Man, being in honour, hath no understanding.' But, waiving this consideration, we are never secure without the support of divine grace. If that good influence be withdrawn, the most eminent states will fall from their steadfastness. Thus the sacred historian has explained the declension of Hezekiah: God left him to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart.' Probably, he had not conceived himself to be so vain and foolish; and this sad experience of the depravity of his heart might have a salutary effect, by producing more genuine humility, faith, and love.

Thus also we account for some awful instances of misconduct in very excellent persons among ourselves. Their attainments and perseverance in righteousness are to be ascribed to the continual assistance of the Spirit. But if he desert them, they are liable to be carried away by every temptation. He will not, indeed, leave them utterly, or with any other view than to

promote their greater good. Yet this representation abases our pride, convinces us of our need of the blood of sprinkling,' and teaches us to walk humbly with our God.'

The least deviation from holy principles is hateful to God; and therefore Hezekiah's vanity did not pass unnoticed or unpunished. Isaiah was despatched with a solemn reproof and denunciation of wrath against him and his people. It is frequently observed, that offenders are chastened even by those things and persons, which have caused them to transgress. Thus it was declared, that the very men to whom he had paid his court, should seize upon all his boasted treasures, and reduce his descendants to the meanest captivity. What an unwelcome message to an ambitious mind! Yet we rejoice to see the meek behaviour of the king under this rebuke. He humbled himself before God, and thus obtained a respite. He was then assured, that the threatened desolation should not come in his days; which constrained him to cry out, in admiration of the distinguished mercy extended to him, Good is the word of the Lord concerning me.' What other evidence of contrition can we give, but an unreserved confession of our guilt,—an acknowledgment of the justice of the sentence by which we are condemned; and earnest cries for the remission of our sins? Have we such proofs of the truth of our repentance?

Hezekiah, then, was almost instantly recovered; and sincerity appeared not more before than after his fall. We adore the grace which can pardon and restore a backslider. From that time he continued uniformly steadfast in the practice of righteousness, and increased in power, riches, and honour, during the sequel of his reign. The nation enjoyed singular prosperity under his government; and when he was taken from them at the appointed period, they felt his loss. They bore testimony to his exalted worth; for they buried him in the chiefest of the sepulchres of the sons of David, and did him honour at his death.' A better recompense awaited him in the world of glory; and at the resurrection of the just, he will receive the public approbation of men, of angels, and of God. Who does not say, 'Let me die the death of the righteous?' Then, be followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises,' and 'give diligence to make your calling and election sure.'

VOL. II.

[ROBINSON.]

N

SERMON CIV.

TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER TRINITY.

THE LETTER AND SPIRIT.

2 COR. iii. 4.Such trust have we, through Christ, to God-ward. 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God. 6. Who also hath made us able ministers of the New Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. 7. But if the ministration of death, written and graven on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which glory was to be done away; 8. How shall not the ministration of the Spirit be rather glorious? 9. For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.

[Epistle for the Day.]

THE apostle, [ii. 14 to iii. 3.] having with great satisfaction mentioned the wonderful success, which attended the preaching of the gospel,-as in other places, and by the rest of his brethren and fellow-labourers,-so particularly by himself, and in regard of these Corinthians, does, at the beginning of the Scripture now in hand, declare his firm belief and expectation of the continuance and increase of that success. [Ver. 5.] Whereby, lest any one should suspect that he arrogated too much to himself, he declares this confidence to be entirely fixed on God, for the sake and merits of Jesus Christ; [ver. 4.] that the conversion of men to the true faith, is an undertaking to which the learning and labour of men, even when best accomplished to persuade, are in no degree equal; and that these are events entirely owing to the Spirit of God; partly by his extraordinary operations, enabling the ministers of the New Testament to make the most convincing evidence of the truth; [ver. 6.] and partly, by his ordinary and assisting graces, disposing the minds of their hearers to embrace the gospel, so delivered and attested. This grace St. Paul asserts to be a privilege peculiar to Christians; and, upon that account, contends for the glory and excellence of the gospel, so far above that of the law, as to represent that foregoing perfectly eclipsed by the surpassing brightness of this subsequent dispensation. To this purpose [2 Cor. iii. 6. ver. 7, 8, 9.] he styles the law the

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letter, but the gospel the Spirit; he affirms of the law, that it killeth,' and is the 'ministration of death and condemnation ;' of the gospel, that it giveth life,' and is the ministration of the Spirit and of righteousness:' he infers, [ver. 9, 10.] lastly, that the glory of the latter must needs exceed the glory of the former: both upon the account of its effects, which are more beneficial; and upon the account of its duration : for that is done away, but this remaineth. [Ver. 11.] These particulars deserve a little consideration.

I. First, Let us observe the different titles given to the law and the gospel, the letter and the Spirit,' and wherein the reason of that difference lies. Now the Apostle has sufficiently explained his meaning, and the significance of these titles, in this very chapter. For he hath told us, [ver. 7.] that the law was written and engraven in stones; that is, in the two tables, brought down by Moses out of Mount Horeb, where God had detained him forty days and nights together. The use whereof to the Israelites extended no further, than merely a declaration of their duty, and what would be the consequences of performing or transgressing it. On the other hand, the gospel is the Spirit, [Ver. 3.] because written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in the fleshly tables of the heart.' To understand the true force of that phrase 'fleshly tables,' let it be remembered, that God, by the prophet Ezekiel, promises to his people as a signal blessing, that he will take away the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh.' [xxxvi. 26.] And by Jeremiah, that he will put his law in their inward parts, and will write it in their hearts, and he will be their God, and they shall be his people.' [xxxi. 33.] The former promise imports a cure of their obstinacy, and bringing them to a temper, sensible and tender, and fit to receive good impressions; the latter denotes sufficient information in, and a good liking to, their duty. Thus the gospel here is called the Spirit,' because conveying to believers such illuminations and graces of the Holy Ghost, as do not only enable them to know, but dispose them to love and to practice, that which it commands. In short, the great difference between the letter and the Spirit, the law and the gospel, lies in this; that the letter, in requiring them, left men to their natural powers; but the Spirit does not only require them, but assist and enable men with grace, for the discharge of them.

II. This explanation ministers some light into the second difference here taken notice of, consisting in the different effects of these dispensations. The declared punishment of sin is death; consequently, the more precepts are multiplied, the more obnoxious to death the persons, obliged by them, become; for all sin is the transgression of some law. Now the letter is therefore said to kill,' to minister death and condemnation,' and the like, because it enacted commandments and brought men to a conscience of their guilt; for things, which in the corrupt state of nature, they were in no condition of escaping by their own strength. It propounded duties in themselves spiritual and good; it prohibited practices sensual and evil; but the parties, living under it, were carnal and enslaved to sin. Thus it was not the intent, but the accidental consequence, of the law, to minister to death and condemnation: the true cause was the wickedness and weakness of the persons living under it. For this the law provided no remedy; since it promised no pardon; and it is therefore said to kill those whom it left liable to die but the law is not to be blamed; for, when the malefactor suffers, though the judge, the evidence, the executioner, and the statute upon which he is tried and convicted, be, each in their degree and manner, instruments and occasions, yet himself, and his crime, are strictly and properly the causes of his death-all which agrees punctually with the account of this matter, reasoned at large in the seventh chapter to the Romans. The gospel again is said to give life,' to be the ministration of the Spirit,' and of righteousness;' which effects have, all three, a natural and necessary dependance upon each other. Death, as was just now argued, follows from sin as its meritorious cause to this, therefore, every man is liable, and, in the eye of the law, actually dead, while guilt continues upon him. Now the gospel, by promising pardon to the sinner, absolves him from that sentence; and this is the justifying grace of the gospel, called here the ministration of righteousness,' as opposed to condemnation.' [ver. 9.] But, the frailty of nature not being able to sustain itself, the same penalty and misery must needs return, by reason of daily sins and infirmities; and therefore here again the gospel relieves us by the communications of sanctifying grace, in which respect it is called the ministration of the Spirit,' as inclining and enabling us to please God; and thus it is opposed to the ministration of

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