VII. of him, according to the capacity of their vessels. All the SERMON prophets that followed after, they also were partakers of the same grace, in another manner. But they that followed him, they, Gentiles as well as Jews, they above all "received, and grace for grace." Nay, I am persuaded that there was no man, no creature-there is no man, no creature, the devils only excepted-but receive some benefit or other from this fulness; the goodness of God, which is "not willing 2 Pet. iii. 9. that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance," and to everlasting life, would not suffer any to perish for want of receiving that without which they could not but perish: that first grace which might in some measure dispose him for a second, and so forward, were he but willing to work with it. Eph. 2. 1. Nay, even "we." And what were we? We that were his enemies, S. Paul tells us, we receive reconcilement by his grace; and why not any enemies as well as we? We that were "haters of God," and "hateful to men;" we that Rom. i. 30. were "dead in trespasses and sins," full of all abominable Tit. iii. 3. iniquities; we received pardon of them all, and were received to grace: and what reason have we then to exclude any?—who, be they what they will, cannot be worse than we were once, nor in less capacity to receive it. To be sure, omnes will reach them all; and God is gracious to all, not only to them that call upon him, but to them also that never seek him, nor call upon him. This is grace indeed, Isa. lxv. 1. and it is that makes up the fulness, that shows it full. VI. It is time we should know to whom we owe it. Look we back again once more to the ejus, and you have it. "Of "Grace Matt.iii.17. his fulness," that is, of Christ's, it is that we thus all receive; that we receive all this. "In the beloved" it is that we are Eph. i. 6. thus gratified, thus graced, thus begraced. And "the beloved" is he in whom "he was well pleased" with us all. and truth "—why, that is true grace, and that "came by Jesus Christ," in the verse next the text. We were all ungracious children; He the only gracious Son, who makes us gracious. "In him he chose us;" "in him he predes- Eph. i. 4tinated us to the adoption of children;" "in him he hath made us accepted;" "in him we have redemption, forgiveness, and the very riches of grace." All in him, and without him nothing. So get him, and get all; lose him, and lose 7. VII. SERMON all. There is " no other name " but his, no other grace but his, "by which we can be saved." From the grace he had Acts iv. 12. with his Father from the beginning, we have ours in time; from the grace he hath purchased with him, to which he was Phil. ii. 9. "exalted" by his obedience, we are also exalted to his grace. From the grace wherewith he loved us, are we made partakers of his grace. He designed it for us, he deserved it for us; he infuses it into us, he works it in us; and after all he has yet reserved a greater for us, an eternal glory for the reward of grace. VII. How can we now then, lastly, but render " grace for grace;" say grace, and bless him over this plenty and Zech. iv. 7. fulness; cry, "Grace, grace unto it," as the Prophet has it; proclaim and tell it to the world, fill our lips with songs and hymns of praise, fill the congregations with his glory, and the world with telling out his goodness? To do it the better, to do the greater right to his grace, let us take the grace-cup in our hand and do it—the cup which Christ blessed, and gave us to remember him and his grace in. We call it a receiving, let us then receive it; receive, and answer this receiving in the text with the receiving in the day; receive we him and his fulness, him and his graces, him with all thankfulness, reverence, and devoIsa. xii. 3. tion. Set we ourselves to do it, to "draw waters out of these wells of salvation," by the hand of faith and the bucket of humility, out of these fountains of our Saviour-so the Latin reads it-whose side runs out blood and water, full streams of grace and pardon, and all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, if we will but come hither to draw or drink them. We call it a receiving, and so it is, the most signal receiving that we have, a receiving him full and whole; body and blood, flesh and spirit, really though not corporally both; let us therefore receive it. Open we but our mouths wide, and he will fill them; open we our mouths to beg, and we shall receive; open them wide and full, and we shall be filled with fulness too, to-day at this full table, a table at this time full of all heavenly delicates and dainties. Yet, as we must open our mouths, so we must open our hands too our mouths to receive, our hands to give. We receive of Christ; it is fit we give somewhat out of our ceipts we receive of his fulness; it is but proportionable VII. that we give out of our fulness to those that are not full, SERMON that our abundance may be the supply of others' want, as Christ's fulness is of ours. It is a day of fulness; and all would be full, the poor as well as the rich, that all mouths might this day be filled with his praise. "This is not to eat 1 Cor. xi.20. the Lord's body, for one to be full," (I give it the easiest word,) "another to be hungry:" the poor must have their share; "they that have not," says the Apostle, that is, the poor. It is a communion; and all must communicate, one way or other, poor and all. It is a feast of fulness, both in the Church and in the house; all must communicate of this day's fulness, one way or other, in one sort or other and surely, when we have filled ourselves with the fulness of this house, we cannot but fill others with the fulness of ours. And yet there is one more ȧvrì xápiros, another fulness, to which this grace and fulness leads us to be filled henceforward with good works, to be filled with the fruits of righteousness, and all the knowledge of Christ. For this it is that this fulness is received, that this grace is received, that this grace-cup, the cup of salvation, is received, that all gifts and graces are received; that we increase in grace, go on in goodness, proceed in all kinds of holy virtues, till we come to the fulness of Christ, to the fulness of his grace here, and of his glory hereafter. Send down thy grace, O heavenly Father, that we may all receive this fulness at thy hand; empty us of our sins, empty us of ourselves, that we may henceforward be only filled with thee; fill us this day with the plenteousness of thy table, and reject us not, though too unworthy; fill us every day with the plenteousness of thy grace, and leave us not to our own weakness, that we may go on from grace to grace, from strength to strength, from virtue to virtue, till we come to be filled with the plenteousness of thy house, to the fulness of joy, and pleasure, and grace, and glory for evermore. Amen. Now to the God and Author of all this fulness, all our receipts, all our gifts and graces,-to the Father that gives, to the Son that purchased, to the Holy Ghost that conveys them to us, be all the fulness of thanks, and praise, and honour, and glory, for ever and ever. THE FOURTH SERMON ON CHRISTMAS-DAY. SERMON 1 TIMOTHY i. 15. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that "THIS is a faithful saying." And this is the day that made Turn the whole Scripture over, you will find no saying there more faithful, that speaks God more faithful, more to have kept his promise, than this, that tells us "that Christ Jesus is come into the world ;" He in whom all his promises are fulfilled. And run through the year, you will find no day more faithful than this, that presents us the ground of all our faith, "Christ Jesus come to save sinners." "Worthy of all acceptation," too, they must needs be both, both text and day, that bring salvation: above all, to "sinners," of which ye are a part, and the preacher “chief.” I cannot but with gladness preach it, nor you but with joy and attention hear it, especially to-day, the day he came in ; "in a time accepted, in the day of salvation," when text and time so happily meet. The day makes the text seasonable. The business of the text makes the day acceptable. The necessities of poor sinners make both comfortable. God make the sermon profitable, too! and we have all we can desire to-day. VIII. The text, to be sure, promises fair; and S. Paul himself SERMON finds so much comfort in it by his own experience of the truth and sweetness of it in the former verses, 12, 13, that he here commends it to us as a saying worthy all the respect that we can give it; worthy to be preached, worthy to be believed, worthy to be laid hold on, worthy to be laid up faithfully and remembered, "That Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners." After which saying, nor he nor we have any more to say than that we are the chief of them, so particularly to apply it. And that I hope we will to-day. For the whole end, both of the saying itself, and S. Paul's saying it, is but to dispose and move us worthily to accept Christ, now he is come, for whose coming the Church and we have been this month preparing. And the sum of it to put us in comfort, first, that how sadly soever things looked with us before his coming, by his coming now we may be saved, for "Christ Jesus came to save sinners ;" and to put us, secondly, in the way how we may; by believing, 1, this faithful saying for a truth; by accepting it, 2, for a word worthy all acceptance; by confessing, 3, lastly, ourselves the most unworthy of it, yet the chief that need it. Thus you have the full sense of the text, and both the doctrine and use of Christmas in it. The doctrine, "that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners"-the doctrine of Christmas. The use of it, to take it every one of us to himself; take himself to be the quorum primus, the chief of the quorum concerned in it-the chief of sinners; and therefore chiefly interested in Christ's coming. This the use both of the doctrine and the day; to apply them both, and cry out every one of us with S. Paul, It is I, and I, and I, for whom he came. In the doctrine, I. there are these particulars i. That "Christ Jesus came into the world." ii. That he came "to save sinners." iii. That he came to save "the chiefest of them," the very quorum primi of them. What is it else to S. Paul or us? or why does he bring himself in upon no better title? iv. That all these are "faithful sayings, and worthy of |