you may not drop down dead before you go out of the church-yard; and yet, perhaps most are strangers to the Lord Jesus Christ in their hearts. Perhaps curiosity has brought you out to hear a poor babbler preach. But, my friends, I hope I came out of a better principle. If I know any thing of my heart, I came to promote God's glory; and if the Lord should make use of such a worthless worm, such a wretched creature, as I am, to do your precious souls good, nothing would rejoice me more than to hear that God makes the foolishness of preaching a means of making many believe. I was long myself deceived with a form of godliness, and I know what it is to be a factor for the devil, to be led captive by the devil at his will, to have the kingdom of the devil in my heart; and I hope I can say, through free grace, I know what it is to have the kingdom of God erected in me. It is God's goodness that such a poor wretch as I am converted; though sometimes when I am speaking of God's goodness I am afraid he will strike me down dead. Let me draw out my soul and heart to you, my dear friends, my dear guilty friends, poor bleeding souls, who must shortly take your last farewell, and fly into endless eternity. Let me entreat you to lay these things seriously to heart this night. Now, when the Sabbath is over, and the evening is drawing near, methinks the very sight is awful (I could almost weep over you, as our Lord did over Jerusalem) to think in how short a time every soul of you must die—some of you to go to heaven, and others to go to the devil for evermore.

O my dear friends, these are matters of eternal moment. I did not come to tickle your ears; if I had a mind to do so, I would play the orator; no, but I came, if God should be pleased, to touch your hearts. What shall I say to you? Open the door of your heart, that the King of glory, the blessed Jesus, may come in and erect His kingdom in your soul. Make room for Christ; the Lord Jesus desires to sup with you to-night; Christ is willing to come into any of your hearts, that will be pleased to open and receive Him. Are there any of you made willing Lydias? There are many women here, but how many Lydias are there here? Does power go with the word to open your heart? and find you a sweet melting in your soul? Are you willing? Then Christ Jesus is willing to come to you. But you may say, Will Christ come to my wicked, polluted heart? Yes, though you have many devils in your heart, Christ will come and erect His throne there; though the devils be in your heart, the Lord Jesus will scourge out a legion of devils, and His throne shall be exalted in thy soul. Sinners, be ye what you will, come to Christ, you shall have righteousness and peace.

If you have no peace, come to Christ, and He will give you peace. When you come to Christ, you will feel such joy that it is impossible for you to tell. O may God pity you all! I hope this will be a night of salvation to some of your souls.

you

My dear friends, I would preach with all my heart till midnight, to do you good, till I could preach no more. Oh that this body might hold out to speak more for my dear Redeemer! Had I a thousand lives, had I a thousand tongues, they should be employed in inviting sinners to come to Jesus Christ! Come, then, let me prevail with some of you to come along with me. Come poor, lost, undone sinner, come just as you are to Christ, and say, If I be damned, I will perish at the feet of Jesus Christ, where never one perished yet. He will receive you with open arms; the dear Redeemer is willing to receive you all. Fly, then, for your lives. The devil is in you while unconverted; and will you go with the devil in your heart to bed this night? God Almighty knows if ever you and I shall see one another again. In one or two days more I must go, and, perhaps, I may never see you again till I meet you at the judgment-day. O my dear friends, think of that solemn meeting; think of that important hour, when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, when the sea and the grave shall be giving up their dead, and all shall be summoned to appear before the great God. What will do then, if the kingdom of God is not erected in your hearts? You must go to the devil-like must go to like-if you are not converted Christ hath asserted it in the strongest manner: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born again, he can not enter into the kingdom of God." Who can dwell with devouring fire? Who can dwell with everlasting burnings? O, my heart is melting with love to you. Surely God intends to do good to your poor souls. Will no one be persuaded to accept of Christ? If those who are settled Pharisees will not come, I desire to speak to you who are drunkards, Sabbath-breakers, cursers and swearers-will you come to Christ? I know that many of you come here out of curiosity: though you come only to see the congregation, yet if you come to Jesus Christ, Christ will accept of you. Are there any cursing, swearing soldiers here? Will you come to Jesus Christ, and, list yourselves under the banner of the dear Redeemer? You are all welcome to Christ. Are there any little boys or little girls here? Come to Christ, and He will erect His kingdom in you. There are many little children whom God is working on, both at home and abroad. O, if some of the little lambs would come to Christ, they

shall have peace and joy in the day that the Redeemer shall set up His kingdom in their hearts. Parents tell them that Jesus Christ will take them in His arms, that He will dandle them on His knees. All of you, old and young, you that are old and gray-headed, come to Jesus Christ, and you shall be kings and priests to your God. The Lord will abundantly pardon you at the eleventh hour. "Ho, every one of you that thirsteth." If there be any of you ambitious of honor, do you want a crown, a scepter? Come to Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ will give you a kingdom that no man shall take from you.

DISCOURSE TWENTY-SIXTH.

ROBERT ROBINSON.

THIS distinguished preacher and author was born at Swaffham, in Norfolk, January 1735; where he received a tolerable education. He appears to have been converted under Whitefield's labors, as he always called him his spiritual father. His first efforts at preaching, in his native county, excited great admiration; and, upon the adoption of Baptist sentiments, he became pastor of a congregation, in the parish of St. Paul's, Norwich. From thence he removed to Cambridge, in 1759, where he became after two years' trial, settled pastor. By close application to reading and study, he here greatly improved his knowledge of the languages, translated his three volumes of the sermons of Saurin, and acquired wide popularity as a public speaker. Between 1770 and 1782 he published a large number of works; among others, his translation of Claude's well known "Essay on Sermonizing," and his celebrated "Plea for the Divinity of Christ," which has been generally considered exceedingly able and conclusive. But upon this subject, and some doctrines of a kindred nature, it is supposed that about this time his mind underwent a considerable change. His congregation still adhered to him, but the or thodox clergy, believing him to have adopted Socinian opinions, withdrew from him, and he also retired from them. It is matter of great uncertainty, however, as to the nature and extent of the commonly sup posed defection. That Robinson was not wholly orthodox, no one can question; but after the lapse of time, and more minute examination of facts, it is, to say the least, not certain that he died a Socinian. Such as are curious to pursue this point, will do well to examine an extended note in the works of Andrew Fuller, Phil. edit., A. B. P. Soc., 1845, vol. ii., pp. 221-23. Among other things, it is there mentioned that, a month before Robinson's death, in 1790, he said to his friend Mr. Feary, in an affecting conversation, "my dear brother, I am no Socinian. I am no Arian; my soul rests its whole hope of salvation on the atonement of Jesus Christ, my Lord and my God. My views of Divine truth are precisely what they were when I wrote my Plea for the Divinity of Jesus Christ." Robinson is said to have been unrivaled for pure and native eloquence. The following, which is one of his most characteristic discourses, was preached September 16th, 1781. It was reprinted entire, in the English Baptist Magazine of 1834.

OBEDIENCE THE TRUE TEST OF LOVE TO CHRIST.

If ye love Me, keep My commandments."-JOHN, xiv. 15.

"If ye love Me!" "If ye love Me!" O cruel "IF." why is this? Is it possible that this can be a doubt? Love Thee, "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person!" all my hope-all my joy; life of my life-soul of my soul. If I love Thee! why, it would be better for me to have my love to my wife, my children, my parents, my friends, my dearest enjoyments, doubtful, than to have this so; and is it possible Thou shouldst be in earnest, to preface such an expression as this with an "if?" Ah! my brethren, however deplorable the case, let us to-night enter into our own hearts: let us do Jesus Christ justice, and let us acknowledge, that if on the one hand there be the highest excellence in Him, which is the greatest reason of man's love to Him, on the other there is the deepest depravity in us; and it is matter of fact that though this should be the clearest of all things, it is, most of all things, with relation to man, that which may and ought to be doubted of. O this word "if" O that I could tear it out of my heart! O thou poison of all my pleasures! Thou cold, icy hand that touchest me so often and freezest me with the touch! "If! If!" Would to God we might all to-night be desirous with the whole soul, and determined by grace to get rid of it! Hear your divine Master, Christians; He does not mean to put your souls to shame; He is the skillful Physician, telling you the worst of the case, but with the kind intention of restoring you to health. "If ye love Me"-if you would put your love to Me out of all doubt, "keep My commandments." May God write this word upon our hearts in all its sacred import! Let us enter upon the subject.

You know this was a part of Jesus Christ's final address to His Apostles. There is something very affecting in this last discourse, and particularly in one word of it; no pencil can describe, the finest fancy can hardly imagine how Christ looked when He stood before. the twelve and said, "I have many things to say to you." Who can doubt it? He was an ocean of knowledge, and He loved dearly to impart it; why did He not then? "But ye can not bear them now." Accordingly, therefore, as Jesus Christ's disciples could bear, when He came to die He opened His heart to them, and gave them the fullest display of His inward love the nearer He came to the verge of life; and thus, in some respects, all His servants imitate Him, for they each begin, if I may so speak, with a ray, and, to use an ex