TO THE

TREASURER, THE TRUSTEES, AND COMMITTEE

OF

THE CHARITY SCHOOL OF LANGBOURN-WARD,

This Sermon,

PUBLISHED AT THEIR REQUEST,

IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED AND PRESENTED

BY THEIR OBEDIENT SERVANT,

JOHN NEWTON.

ADVERTISEMENT.

THE Preacher cannot publish this Sermon as an exact copy of what he delivered from the pulpit. Some interval passed before he was desired to print it. His recollection is much impaired by age; and he had no notes to assist it; but the plan is the same. He hopes and believes that none of the leading sentiments are omitted, and that the additions, if any, are but few. As it is, he commends the perusal to the candour of the reader, and the blessing of Almighty God.

THE

CONSTRAINING INFLUENCE OF THE

LOVE OF CHRIST.

CORINTHIANS, v. 13-15.

:

For, whether we be beside ourselves it is to God or whether we be sober, it is for your cause. For, the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them and rose again.

The

THE apostles, and first preachers of the Gospel among the heathens, exhibited to them a phenomenon perfectly new. Greeks and Romans had known persons, among themselves, who had strenuously exerted their talents and activity in the pursuit of fame, power, or wealth; but they now saw men no less indefatigable and persevering in prosecuting a design which, far from procuring them either honour or profit, exposed them, wherever they went, to contempt, stripes, imprisonment, and death. Their professed aim was to make others as happy as themselves in the possession of an unseen Good. For the attainment of this end, they willingly gave up all prospect of worldly advantage, though they were generally treated with scorn and cruelty by the most of those whose best interests they wished to serve. This was a disinterested benevolence, of which the philosophers, the pretended friends of wisdom and virtue, had no idea; nor were the means they employed better understood. They preached Jesus Christ, and him crucified! 1 Cor. ii. 2. For endeavouring to persuade their hearers to place their whole hope and dependence upon one whom they had never seen, but who had been publicly executed as a malefactor; and to affirm that this Jesus, who died upon the cross, was yet alive; Mark, xv. 31. that he, who could not save himself from an ignominious death, was the author of eternal salvation to those who believed on him; for these strange assertions, they were pitied or despised as visionaries, by those who did not revile them as hypocrites. Thus Festus, who seemed to have a favourable opinion of St. Paul's integrity, when he heard him relate the manner of his conversion, thought that no man, in his

sober senses, could talk so; and therefore he said, with a loud voice, "Paul, thou art beside thyself," Acts, xxvi. 24.

But his Lord and Master was treated thus before him, and upon similar grounds. His zeal for the honour of his heavenly Father and his compassion for the souls of men, carried him so far, that we read, his friends, that is, his relations according to the flesh, and who really wished him well, sought to lay hold of him. and restrain him; for they said, he is beside himself, Mark iii. 21. The apostle Paul was not mad; he spoke the words of truth and soberness; he knew whom he had believed; he knew the worth of immortal souls, and the importance of eternity. He had once fiercely opposed the Gospel, breathed out threatenings, Acts ix. and slaughter against the disciples, and not content with the mischief he had done in Jerusalem, was hastening to Damascus to vex and wrong the believers there; but he was arrested in his journey by a light and a voice from heaven; he found himself in the power of that Jesus whom he had persecuted, and who is pleased to consider all that is done, either for or against his people, as done to himself. The furious Paul, of Tarsus, was humbled, pardoned, and, in a few days, commissioned to preach that faith which he had so pertinaciously laboured to destroy. From that hour, renouncing all connexion with his former friends, the chief priests and council, and all expectations from them; renouncing likewise that righteousness of the law in which he before had boasted, he devoted himself to the service of his Lord and Saviour, and of the cause which he had opposed. His ardour was astonishing and exemplary. Unwearied by labour, undismayed by danger, unaffected by hardship and suffering, but supported and cheered by the presence of him whom he served, he preached the Gospel in season and out of season, publicly and from house to house, in Judea, in Asia, in Greece, in Italy, and many other parts of the Roman empire. For this zeal in seeking to promote the good of others, of strangers, of enemies, at the expense of all that was dear to himself as a man, he found, as he expected, in almost every place which he visited, open oppositions, and secret conspiracies against his life: he was scourged by the Jews, beaten with rods by the Romans, and confined in prisons and chains. He was likewise the marked object of general contempt; the wise men of the times despised him as a babbler; he was regarded by many as the filth of the world, and the offscouring of all things; many said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth, it is not fit that he should live!" Acts, xxii. 22. But when, in defiance of all discouragements, he still pressed forward, as if he had done nothing,

while any thing more remained to be done, accounted the disgrace he met with his honour, and gloried in his chains, Actsxxviii. 20. we cannot wonder if the more moderate of his observers, who knew not his principles, thought that he was surely beside himself.

The only apology he saw fit to make, is expressed in my text. The bulk of mankind in Christendom, by whatever name they are distinguished, pay little more regard to the Gospel than the Jews or heathens did in the apostle's days. The heart of man, in its natural state, is the same in all ages, devoid of either taste or inclination for the things of God, till visited by power from on high. Faithful ministers are still liable to be thought beside themselves, by some, for the subject-matter of their discourses; by others, for the importunity and freedom of their addresses to the consciences of their hearers. We are, however, encouraged by St. Paul's example, and we adopt his apology: If we are beside ourselves, it is to God. We speak in his name, and the message we deliver so far as agreeable to the Scripture, is from him, and to him we are responsible. If we are sober, if we expostulate and reason with you, in familiar language, upon the uncertainty of life, the certainty of death, and a future judgment, and other truths, which none but infidels will venture to deny, it is for your sakes.

The word enthusiasm is often used by the same person, in two very different senses. It is a term of commendation when applied to orators, poets, painters, or sculptors, and expresses the energy of genius. No one is expected to excel in the fine arts without a portion of enthusiasm; and it is supposed essential to military prowess. But it has quite another acceptation in religious concerns. If a minister of the Gospel is warm and earnest, he is frequently stigmatized as an enthusiast, that is, as the imposers of the name would have it understood, a person of a weak mind and disordered judgment, if he be really sincere; for many are willing to suppose that his enthusiasm is no more than a mask or veil, assumed to cover the artful views of a designing hypocrite.

For myself, it is a small thing for me to be judged by man's judgment, 1 Cor. iv. 3. At my time of life, nearly the close of my seventy-fifth year, it behoves me to think it very possible, yea, not improbable, that every time I appear in the pulpit may be my last and, when I look round upon this respectable congregation, I doubtless see some persons before me who will never hear me again. Perhaps we shall meet no more in this world; but we shall certainly meet before the tribunal of the Great Judge, to whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hidden. Then I must give an account of my ministry,