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Behold his foes! they pour along,

Guilt, death, and hell are in their train, 'Tis Satan heads the impious throng, And would o'er all exalted reign.

Then let our courage and our might,
Our zeal and valour, all be shown,
To gain for heaven this glorious fight,
And hurl the tyrant from his throne.

For oh! remember, each must be
A friend, decided, or a foe;
Neither admits neutrality,

'Tis endless bliss, or endless woe.

Lord, make me thine, and let me wear
Thy armour, counting it no shame

Thy truth and mercy to declare,

And spread the triumphs of thy name.

ESSEX.

E. F. H.

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SHEARCROFT, PRINTER, BRAINTREE.

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CONTENTS.-A Sermon by the Rev. C. Berry, Hatfield
Heath :-An Important Question to be Answered-A Cate-
chism of New Testament Principles, respecting the Consti-
tution and Government of the Church of Christ, by the late
Charles Nice Davies-Historical Account of the Congrega-
tional Church, Bocking, Memoir of the Rev. Joseph Pitts,

(ECCLESIASTICS.) Reclaiming Dissenters-The Church
Member's Monitor-(POETRY.) An Address delivered to
the Teachers of the Rochford Independent Sunday-school,
January 17th, 1843.

SERMON.

WILL YE ALSO BE HIS DISCIPLES? John ix. 27.

THIS chapter records a signal miracle which our
blessed Lord wrought, in restoring sight to a poor
man, who had been blind from his birth; and all
the varied circumstances connected with this event,
are recorded with so much evident simplicity and
fairness, that we might safely rest the Divine
authority of our Saviour's mission, upon this
miracle alone. The blind man himself is positive
as to Jesus having effected his cure; and he was
not a partizan of the Saviour's, but an entire

stranger of him. The parents of the individual were obliged to admit the restoration of their son. The miracle is scrutinized by our Lord's most bitter enemies-the Pharisees, but in vain do they attempt to disprove the fact. The poor man, thus miraculously restored, persists in his statement, as to the reality of his cure-braves the threat of excommunication-and boldly reasons with his opponents on the event. The Pharisees confounded, ask him again to rehearse the particulars of the case; but he answers them, "I have told you already, and ye did not hear; wherefore would you hear it again? will ye also be his disciples?" It is not, however, my friends, the miraculous cure, which is to be the subject of our present discourse, but rather, the simple, yet all-important question proposed in the words just read :-"Will ye also be his disciples?" Some persons may think that the man, on whom this miracle of healing was wrought, put the question to the Pharisees seriously, as if anxious for a favorable reply;-others, perhaps, may consider that he proposed the question ironically, purposely to ridicule them. Whatever might have been the enquirer's motive in the text, the question is in itself of infinite importance, and as such we put it to you-my readers, upon the present occasion with the greatest solemnity. Observe attentively the question here proposed: and then remember an answer is expected.

I. Consider the question proposed :-" Will ye also be his disciples?" We must give the spirit

and the import of the enquiry.

Who is the Master, referred to? The Lord

Jesus Christ-that great and lovely Being-the brightness of the Father's glory-and the express image of his Person, who came down from heaven upon the kind errand of man's salvation. He is the great Teacher sent from God, and the only Saviour of a ruined world. Vast indeed the love he manifested, in giving himself "even to the death of the cross, that whosoever believeth on him, might not perish, but have everlasting life." He is described as "having all power both in heaven and upon earth"; He is the supreme Head of the Church; and will be the final Judge of all mankind. If such be the Master, what is required of us, that we may, with scriptural propriety, be ranked among his disciples? Reflect on the simple meaning of the familiar term here employed. A disciple is a scholar a learner. See a little child receiving instruction from an affectionate parent; conscious of his ignorance, and impressed with a conviction that his father knows almost everything-how attentively the boy listens-how implicitly he believes-and how prompt to act upon the information given him. Go into the Sabbath-school, observe an interesting group of little children; here is a kind teacher explaining to them in familiar language, some beautiful portions of the Bible; the children are ignorant, but they are inquisitive, they begin to exercise their minds, and having entire confidence in their teacher they cordially believe the truth as he explains it to them. Thus it is with the disciples of Christ. Deeply humbled on account of their own ignorance, and perfectly assured that Jesus Christ, and he alone, can teach them the good and the right way, they feel it a sacred duty, and a great privilege to learn of Him; and they are

not contented with merely listening to the words of Christ, they believe his doctrines, and obey his precepts, resolved and prepared to receive his truth in the love of it, that they might be saved. Thus simple and obvious is the meaning of the word disciple; yet, to prevent the possibility of mistake in an enquiry so interesting and important, let me enumerate some of the essential dispositions, or graces, by which the disciples of Christ are characterized, producing as my authority, the very words of Scripture. We begin with faith, because it is frequently urged as a duty, and so beautifully delineated as one of the sister graces. When the first miracle was wrought in Cana of Galilee, Jesus "manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." (John. ii. 11.) The principle of faith, moreover, must recognize the Lord Jesus in all the offices which he sustains. On him alone the disciples will depend for salvation; and to his supreme authority, they must ever yield implicit and entire obedience. In fact they live, as the Apostle Paul express it, "by the faith of the Son of God."

There is required also of the followers of Chrit, the constant exercise of self-denial. "Then said Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me." Matt. xvi. 24. The friendship of the world must be renounced; persecution, whether its forms be comparatively mild or severe even unto death, must be endured. Easily besetting sins, though dear as a right eye, or valued as a right-hand, must be entirely given up. In short every thing that is opposed to the will of Christ must be cheerfully sacrificed, or the divine master will not own us as his disciples. Nor can we ap

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