confumed. Bless the Lord, then, O my foul, and all that is within me, blefs his holy name; bless the Lord, O my foul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgiveth all thine iniquities. He will not always chide, neither will he keep his anger for ever: he hath not dealt with us after our fins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities; for as the Heaven is high above the earth, fo great is his mercy toward them that fear him as far as the eaft is from the west, fo far bath he removed our tranfgreffians from us. Bless the Lord, O my foul, SERMON SERMON MATTHEW xi. 29. XIII. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye fhall find reft unto your fouls, IN the primitive ages of Christianity, there could be no inducement for any one to affume the character of a Chriftian, but his being perfuaded of the truth of the gofpel, and of its efficacy to procure falvation to those who obeyed its precepts. Men at that time very rarely engaged in any of the external exercifes of religion, but from a fenfe of the obligation they lay under to purity and integrity, the ultimate ends of all religion. But now the cafe feems to be much altered for the worfe. While the pious frequent religious affemblies out of devotion, regard the name of Chriftian as the most honourable appellation, and confefs that their profeffion of faith in in Jefus lays them under the strongest obli gation to obey his laws; a very confiderable number affemble with thefe from very different motives, confider the name of Chriftian only as a proper badge in a Christian land, and profess themselves believers only through custom, or to obtain fome temporal advantages with which the profeffion is attended, or to avoid fome inconveniencies which renouncing it altogether might occafion.Though they join in the forms of religion, they never confider this as laying them under an obligation to comply with the precepts of it, or seem to apprehend that they are guilty of hypocrify, or what the fcripture calls a mocking of God, for the pretence which they make of honouring him outwardly, when they feel no reverence for his perfections, and no regard for his will. There is, however, one inftitution of religion, a participation in which is ftill confidered, in this country at least, as a folemn avowal of the obligation to obferve the laws of Chriftianity; an inftitution from which the abandoned generally abftain, and in which while he rafhly engages, the heart of the hypocrite will fcarcely fail to fmite him. As you, you, therefore, of this congregation have it fo nearly in view, to celebrate this facred inftitution of the Lord's fupper, the participation in which is confidered as an acknowledgment that we are bound to receive the yoke of Chrift, I have made choice of the words now read, as a proper foundation for the prefent difcourfe. In the 27th verfe of this chapter, our Saviour had afferted his divine commiflion, his authority and power, and his intimate knowledge of his father, and near relation to him. All things are delivered to me of my father: and no man knoweth the fon but the father, neither knoweth any man the father, fave the fon, and he to whomfoever the fon will reveal bim. Then he who fo well knew how to unite the characters of juft dignity, and winning condefcenfion, immediately fubjoins one of the most affectionate invitations, which he ever addreffed to mankind. Of this my text is a part. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you reft: Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye fhall find reft unto your fouls. The The yoke of Christ is a metaphor to signify his laws and commandments; and the taking of this yoke upon us denotes a fubmiffion to thefe. To learn of Christ, comprehends a general attention to the doctrines he teaches, as well as to the precepts he enjoins, and has alfo a reference to the example he exhibits. The two following clauses, For I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find reft to your fouls, may be considered as motives to engage our compliance with the exhortation in the preceding part of the verfe. Our Saviour takes notice of his being meek and lowly in heart, both for the tendency which thefe difpofitions would have to conciliate affection and confidence, and for diftinguishing him from the Jewish doctors, who affected a difgufting pride and fuperiority; qualities which, to fay the truth, human learning, when it is not conducted with a fpirit of fober inquiry, and made fubfervient to the purposes of virtue and religion, is apt to infpire. By the rest of the foul, is meant that state of quiet compofure and serenity, which ought to be the chief pursuit of a wife man and this expreffion must have been eafily understood by thofe who heard our Sa viour, |