THREE SERMONS, PREACHED BY MR. JOHN WILKINSON, OF HIGH WYCOMBE, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE; THE FIRST AT THE FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE, LIVERPOOL, AND THE OTHER TWO AT THE FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE, MANCHESTER, IN NOVEMBER AND DECEMBER, 1834. LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO., PATERNOSTER-ROW; MDCCCXXXV. [Price One Shilling.] THREE SERMONS, &c. SERMON I. PREACHED AT THE FRIENDS' MEETING HOUSE, LIVERPOOL, "REPENT ye and believe the Gospel." [Mark I. 15.]-We are fallen creatures: we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Of what infinite moment is it, then, to every one of us that we truly repent, for God commandeth all men, every where to repent, because He has appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained, whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised him from the dead. On the one hand, therefore, we are warned, that we may be made sensible of our dangerous state,-on the other hand we are mercifully invited to believe the gospel. But it may be said, "how can we repent and believe the Gospel ?" O my beloved friends, nothing short of the influence of the Holy Spirit upon the heart can bring us to repentance, and to the belief of the Gospel. By nature we are dead in trespasses and sins. In us, that is in our flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. God by his Holy Spirit is able to renew us,-to give us life that we may repent and believe, and that we may have everlasting life. 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 who died for them and rose again. If, therefore, we have spiritual life communicated unto us by the Holy Spirit, and we be truly penitent and believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall not be living unto ourselves, but unto Him who died for us and rose again. In the love of the Gospel, therefore, do I offer this to my beloved friends as a test;-what are our affections set upon ? If they remain, as they have been, set upon the world and the things of the world, the treasures, the friendships, the recreations of the world, or any thing upon which we are setting our minds,—and these things be our chief joy,-on what ground do we suppose that we are born again, and what evidence have we that we are united to the Lord Jesus Christ by living faith?-and; if we have not this evidence, on what are we resting our hope of salvation? Is it upon the good purposes we occasionally form that we will do better for the future?-that when a more convenient season comes we will pay more attention to the things that are of infinite importance, but at present it is necessary for us to be engaged in the world ;—we have our way to make ;-besides there is time before us, and we fully purpose to devote our hearts to God, and to strive earnestly to do His will. Have we never entertained thoughts like these, my beloved friends? It has been to me an affecting consideration that men may really be purposing and intending to do what is right, whilst at the same time they are walking in the very way of destruction. How awfully does it exhibit the corruption of the human heart, when a man is disposed to put off as an " evil day" that day wherein he must feel himself to be more constrained-more limited, more bound by the love of God-when he must give up many things for His sake,-and therefore he wishes to keep himself for a while as at a distance from God. Under these circumstances is it not apparent, then, that the love of God is not in his heart, and therefore that all his endeavours to obey God in this thing or the other thing are merely the effect of constraint from fear-not that constraint which the Apostle so beautifully speaks of when he says "the love of Christ constraineth me." O my very heart is anxious for every one of us, that this may be the salutary, the delightful constraint which operates upon us, to induce us to strive to do the will of God; but we can never be wrought upon by this blessed constraint, unless we do truly repent and believe the Gospel. This is the way which God hath ordained;--there is no other. We may be working out our own schemes, and proposing to ourselves at a future day to be more obedient,-but, alas for us! by this means our minds may be continued in a state of slavery, which is directly opposed to the will of God. Is God served by those who are constrained by slavish fear? No;-He is served by those who are united to Him by a living faith in His beloved Son. There is no such thing as true faith without repentance; neither is there any such thing as repentance without some degree, however weak, of living faith. O, my beloved friends, we have little idea of the real nature of sin ;—we can have none but by the consideration of what God, in his infinite mercy, hath done to free us from sin. How slight are the notions of sin in the minds of those who have not faith in the Lord Jesus Christ! They look upon themselves as placed in this world by God, who hath given them passions and dispositions according to His mind;-they think that, in many respects, it is but likely they should err;-and therefore, such being the case, they ask, how can God severely mark transgressions, if it be only a probable thing that such weak, fallible creatures as we are, should commit many transgressions? How, they say, can God be severe with us if we transgress? And this is the way, from the blindness of our hearts, in which we are liable to be led deeper and deeper into the very pit of destruction. We are fallen creatures;-we have a grievous moral disease, of which it is absolutely necessary for us to be healed. If ever we experience joy in the presence of God, it is not for us, therefore, to suppose that we are placed, as it were, upon a level, and that we have nothing to do but just to walk watchfully along and take care that we do not fall. We are fallen. It is not merely necessary for us to consider how we should keep the enemy out of the citadel ;--he is already there. The matter is, how he is to be expelled. Let us not suppose ourselves to be safe, because we are looking to the right hand and to the left, and imagine ourselves to be going along with circumspection. Alas for us, if we be trusting to our own righteousness! if we think we may balance a sort of account with God,—in some things we have done wrong, in others right, and therefore on the whole, God may accept us! Is this repentance? Is this believing the Gospel? In what, then, does the Gospel consist? And if we do not repent and believe the Gospel, we are every day adding to our transgressions most fearfully, because we are most ungrateful in rejecting the very means of our salvation. Hath not God given his only begotten Son? Hath not God declared that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but shall have everlasting life? And are we going on from day to day-forgetful of this unspeakable gift, and putting off as an evil |