But {55} see the righteous drawing near the hour of his dissolution; then do the graces of faith, of patience, and of resignation, shine forth with the most resplendent lustre. Confidently relying upon the mercy of God through Jesus Christ, neither the debilitating pains of protracted sickness, nor the more excruciating agonies of acute disorders, provoke a murmur from his lips. At the prospect of that hour, the very thought of which is terrible to the unbeliever, his happy soul exults; and knowing that death is the gate to everlasting life, he longs for the moment of his dismission, when he shall enter into the joy of his Lord, and join the glorified spirits of the redeemed in songs of unceasing praise. How important is Religion, if such be it’s termination, and with how much justice are all our afflictions called light and momentary, seeing they work out for us an eternal and exceeding weight of glory! O my soul, let me die the death of the righteous, and let my latter end be like his! SERMON I. EVANGELICAL TRUTHS STATED, AND THE CHARGE OF NOVELTY AS A GROUND OF PREJUDICE AGAINST THE GOSPEL, REFUTED. [Preached at Nantwich, July 28, 1782.] “What new doctrine is this?” MARK, i. 27. IF you look back to the twenty-first verse of the chapter, you find our Lord teaching in a synagogue at Capernaum, and all his hearers filled with astonishment at his doctrine. Truth naked and unadorned has been known often to produce this effect. How irresistibly powerful must have been its efficacy, in the mouth of such a Teacher! whose manner was as engaging, as his wisdom was profound! What seems principally to have struck the audience, while listening to the incomparable doctrines of the Lord Jesus, was, “that he taught them as one that had authority, and not as the scribes.” For, as the origin of truth is divine, it claims the just prerogative of commanding obedience to its sanctions, and gives its advocates an authority in pleading her injured rights, which error can seldom counterfeit.