In the former part of this address, I have already laid before you, in
the plainest manner I was able, my views of the gospel of Christ. And
as an experimental knowledge of this gospel is so very important, I
have endeavoured to press that importance upon your consciences.
Whether you have paid that attention to the subject, which it deserves
and requires, yourselves best know. I can only say, that if I did not
know it to be of great weight, I should not either speak or write of it
with so much earnestness. But being persuaded and assured, by the
express testimony of the holy scriptures, that these things are true;
and truths, the knowledge of which is essential to your present
and future happiness, I must be plain and faithful in declaring them.
I ought to be very indifferent what men of depraved morals, and corrupt
principles may say, or think of me, if I have the witness of a good
conscience, and the approbation of the God whom I serve. My concern
is for YOUR welfare and salvation; for I am certain, as I have told you
before, and now tell you again, that unless the gospel is made the
power of God to your souls, you must be miserable in time, and to
eternity.
I propose now to give you some advices, to assist you in understanding
the gospel for yourselves, which if you observe, I trust, you will
attain to the possession of those principles, and walk by those rules,
which will both afford you present peace, and secure your future
happiness. For godliness has promises pertaining to the life that now
is, and to that which is to come.
Let me then exhort you to attend seriously to what you are to
believe; and to what you are to do. These two points include the sum
and substance of the gospel, the whole of the christian life, and may
be comprised in two words, FAITH and PRACTICE.
I. You must learn from the word of God, what you are to believe. True
faith is the root and foundation of all real religion. Without this
inward principle, nothing that we have done, or can do, will be
acceptable to God [Heb. xi. 6.]. I have briefly informed you what you are
to believe--That you are sinners, that Jesus Christ is an all-sufficient
and willing Saviour--and that the word of God both warrants and commands
you to look to him for salvation. This looking unto Jesus, is what we
particularly mean by faith or believing. When we cordially and entirely
rely upon him, upon the invitation of the promises of God, for
pardon, peace, and eternal life, then we believe.
All who thus believe, through grace, are required and commanded to be
careful of maintaining good works [Titus. iii. 8.]. As our moral, and what
are often called, our virtuous actions, are to be tried by our religious
principles; it is equally true, that our religious principles or at
least the proof that they are indeed OUR principles, must be evidenced
by our moral conduct. These two are so inseparably connected, that you
may depend upon it, where one of them is wanting, what bears the name
of the other, is no better than pretended. If what we profess to
believe does not make us humble, honest, chaste, patient, and thankful,
and regulate our tempers and behaviour, whatever good opinion we
may form of our notions or state, we are but deceiving ourselves. The
tree is known by its fruits [James. ii. 17,18.; Matt. vii. 20.]. In this
way true believers are equally distinguished from profane sinners, and
from specious hypocrites. The change in their hearts always produces a
change in their whole deportment. Sin, which was once their delight, is
now the object of their hatred. It was once necessary as their food, but
now they avoid it as poison. They war, watch, and pray against it. And
their delight is to study the revealed will of God.
By these tests you may judge of your true state before God. Surely you
cannot suppose that your inward state is GOOD, while your outward
conduct is BAD. Hence you may be assured that no unclean person, or
profane swearer, no one who lives in direct opposition to the commands
of God, can be, while he continues in this course, a true christian.
Such a supposition would be no less absurd, than it would be to
suppose, that a man is a good and peaceable subject, though he lives in
open rebellion against the king. You may as well conceive of a
holy devil, as of an unholy christian.
I hope you will not mistake me. I do not mean that true christians are
without sin. But I affirm, that no true christian can live in an
habitual course of sin. No, sin is their grief, their burden
[1 John. iii. 8,9.; Rom. vii. 23,24.]; and when through temptation, or
unwatchfulness, they are drawn aside, like the dove sent out of the ark,
they can find no rest, till by hearty repentance, and true faith, they
obtain a new sense of forgiveness.
I now proceed to offer you some directions, with which if you comply, I
trust, that by the blessing of God, you will enjoy peace in your souls,
and be enabled to regulate your conduct and conversation, as becometh
the gospel of Christ.
Read and study the scriptures. This was our Lord's direction to the
Jews. Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have
eternal life, and they testify of me [John v. 37; Acts xvii. 11.]. The
Bereans were commended for their attention and diligence in this respect.
They received the word with all readiness of mind, not with a blind and
implicit faith in what they heard, even from an apostle, but they searched
the scriptures daily, to know whether what he taught them was agreeable to
the word of God.
The Bible is our only sure and infallible guide. It was given by
inspiration of God. All other books, however good and useful, are but
of human composition, and are therefore not perfect.
[2 Tim. 8-16.; Isa. viii. 20.]
This sacred book, as I have already observed to you, contains all that
is needful to make us wise unto salvation. It informs us of our
original, how pure and innocent; and our present condition, how
guilty, polluted and miserable! and the happiness or misery which
awaits us in a future state. From this book we may learn, the malignity
of sin, the holiness, spirituality, extent, and sanction of the law of
God; and consequently, the just and certain condemnation due to our
disobedience. It shews us, likewise, the way of our recovery. How
perfectly the mediation of Christ is suited to vindicate the honour of
the law, and to display the justice of God, in harmony with his mercy,
and thereby to give peace to the consciences of convinced sinners.
I intreat you, therefore, to read the word of God carefully. Many of
you have had Bibles or New Testaments given to you, and others might
have them, if they had but an inclination to read.
Some of you will perhaps object, and say, as you have already said to
me, We cannot read. Others, We have no time given us. If you
cannot read yourselves, you might prevail on some of your comrades to
read to you*. As to your having no time, I much question it. Rather you
have no inclination. Too many of you can find time to jest, to talk
obscenely or profanely, to read and sing idle songs; why might not
some, or rather the whole of this time be employed in reading, or
hearing the Bible? You might find time, if you could find a will. But
remember, that such excuses as you now make, will stand you in no stead
when you appear before God in judgment. There are few, if any of you,
but might have opportunity of attending to these things, if you
were but willing.
[*Footnote: Two or three hours thus spent on the Lord's day, in
instructing each other to read, would be a very commendable employment.
I have often expressed my longing desire that such a plan was set on
foot among you. And if there could be a convenient building created for
this purpose, I should think myself happy, not only to furnish you with
books, as far as I am able, but also personally to attend and assist
you, as much as my immediate calls of duty would permit.]
II. Observe and reverence the sabbath, or Lord's day. Remember the
sabbath-day, to keep it holy [Exod. xx. 8.], is a solemn and positive
command of God. To live in the neglect of this commandment, is absolutely
to despise God, and to defy him, as it were to his face. Consider, my
friends, you have orders frequently given you here, by your superiors,
which you know you must obey, or you know the consequences of
disobedience--judge then for yourselves, what have those persons to
expect, who, in defiance of the authority of the great God, presume to
neglect and profane the day which he has so expressly enjoined to be kept
holy?
It gives me a deep and continual concern to observe how the Lord's-day
is spent by many of you. What would a stranger think, who
regards the sabbath, if he visited every part of this colony on the
Lord's day? Ah! my brethren, I have seen and heard enough (alas! much
more than enough) to form my own judgment on this subject. If my duty
did not require my attendance on the public worship, and were I to
visit your different places and huts, I fear I should find some of you
spending the hours appointed for divine service in cultivating your
gardens and grounds, others indulging themselves in mere sloth and
idleness, others engaged in the most profane and unclean conversation,
and others committing abominations, which it would defile my pen to
describe. Now what must be the end of these courses? God says,
Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. But the language, both of your
hearts and actions, is, "We will not keep it holy. It is a day given us
for ourselves; and we wish, and we are resolved to spend it as we
please. We do not chuse to be confined, or compelled to hear so much
preaching and praying." Is not this the language of your hearts?
Your conduct too plainly proves it: but, my brethren, let me reason
and expostulate a little with you upon this head.
Consider, what have been the consequences to many who have thus broken
God's commands. I have known, and you likewise have known, those who
have been brought to an untimely and disgraceful end, and who have
dated their ruin from this one evil, the profanation of the Lord's day.
Instead of spending it in the manner which he has enjoined, they kept
bad and profligate company. By this practice, all serious impressions
(if they formerly had any) have been driven from their minds. Their
hearts have become more and more hardened and insensible; till at
length, lost to all prudent reflection, they have regarded neither the
tender solicitations and tears of parents, relations, and friends,
the faithful warnings of ministers, nor the checks and rebukes of their
own consciences. And what has been the event? I need not tell
you, that having given way to their own wicked wills, the advice and
example of their ungodly companions, and the temptations of the devil
(for, be assured, that he is always at the bottom of these mischiefs)
they have, at length, committed some act of depredation and villainy,
which has brought them to an untimely grave.
Such, brethren, have been the free and ingenuous confessions of many of
those unhappy people who have suffered death. And if you were to
speak the sentiments of your hearts, I doubt not, but many of you, who
by the mercy of God are yet living, would make the like acknowledgment;
that breaking the sabbath was the first step towards bringing you
into that pitiable situation, in which you either have been, or still
are suffering. And will you still persevere in the road of misery?
Will you still prefer the chains of your own depraved inclinations, to
the service of God, which is perfect freedom? According to the
Jewish law, a man was stoned to death, for gathering sticks on the
sabbath day [Numb. xv. 32-36.], whereas you are doing a number of things
on the Lord's day, which might as well be done before, or left undone till
afterwards. But such is the long-suffering of the Lord, that though
others have been cut off, you are spared to this hour. May his goodness
lead you to repentance! Or otherwise, light as these things may appear
to you now, and though you may plead a necessity for what you do, I
tell you again, as I have often told you before, that a day is coming
when God will call you to a strict account.
Besides, If you would reasonably hope for the blessing of God to
succeed your labours, it is certainly your interest, as well as your
duty to obey his commands. And this in particular, Keep the sabbath day
holy. If, in direct opposition to this plain, precept, you will
work and labour, as on other days, what ground can you have to expect
that God will bless and prosper your undertakings? You have much
greater cause to fear that his curse will follow you in your affairs,
and blast and disappoint all your wishes and prospects.
Let then the misconduct and fatal ends of others, and the calamities
and troubles that you have brought upon yourselves--Let the gracious
promises of God, on the one hand, and his awful threatenings on the
other, induce you, in future, to remember the sabbath day, to keep it
holy!
And let me offer you a few plain directions, as to the observance and
improvement of the sabbath:
Begin the day with prayer; and for this purpose seek some place of
retirement, if you find it impracticable to meditate or pray, from the
interruptions you are exposed to in your dwellings*, from those
who ridicule and scoff at every appearance of religion. Retire from
them, and pray to him who seeth in secret; and praise him for the many
mercies you have received. Consider with yourself, how little you have
improved them. Humble yourselves before God, under a sense of your sins
and imperfections, and pray for pardon and repentance. Intreat him, to
enable you to watch over your hearts, words, and actions, throughout
the day, and that you may not be hindered or hurt by the snares and
temptations around you. Intreat God to assist your minister, and to
accompany what you may hear from him, with a blessing to your soul, and
to all who shall be present with you.
[*Footnote: Many complaints have been made to me on this head.]
If you have families, you should call them together, and pray with
them, and for them. There are many promises made to worshiping
families, and to those who, like Abraham, endeavour to teach
their children and household to know and serve the Lord.
[Gen. xviii. 19.; Prov. iii. 33.] And the neglect of this is one reason,
why many families live uncomfortably. They live without prayer, and
therefore without peace.
Having thus endeavoured to impress your minds with serious thoughts, in
secret or at home; attend constantly upon the public worship, and there
pay a close attention to every part of the service. Remember that the
eye of God is particularly upon you there. He has promised to be with
two or three that meet together to call upon his name [Matt. xviii. 20.;
John iv. 24]. He is to be worshipped in spirit and in truth; and whether
they assemble in a church, or in the open air, he can give them cause to
say with Jacob, This place is surely the house of God, and the gate of
Heaven [Gen. xxviii. 17.]. Attend the public worship again in the
afternoon, with your hearts lifted up to God, that you may not hear in
vain; and accustom yourself in the evening to recollect what you have
heard, concerning the miseries which sin has brought into the world, the
love of God in sending his own Son to redeem sinners from those miseries;
the sufferings, life, death, and resurrection of the Saviour; and that
eternal rest, which remaineth for the people of God--FOR YOU, and FOR ME,
if we are believers in Christ.
If, by the blessing of God, I can happily persuade you thus to observe
and improve the Lord's day, I am sure it will promote both your
pleasure and your profit. Can it be a question with you, whether the
God who made heaven and earth, or Satan, the god of this world, is the
best master? Indeed I too well know the indisposition and averseness of
the carnal mind to God and his ways. Hence the thought of many is, What
a weariness is it? And, When will the sabbath be ended? Hence that open
contempt and scorn, which is cast upon the sabbath, and upon
public worship by many, both high and low, rich and poor, bond and
free, old and young, men and women. To them the worship of God is
tedious and disagreeable. They neither find pleasure in it, nor
expect benefit from it. And therefore their attendance is not from
choice, but from constraint.
But the thoughts and the conduct of true Christians are very different.
No day is so welcome to them as the Lord's day; not merely considered
as a day of rest from labour; but because, having their heads and
hearts freed from the cares and incumbrances of the world, it affords
them opportunities of waiting upon God. And, brethren, you must allow
that these persons are best qualified to judge of the question I have
proposed, Whether is best, to walk in the ways of God, or in the ways
of sin? For they have experienced both sides of the question. They have
tried the pleasures of the world, and they have also tried the
pleasures of religion. And they will readily assure you, that in their
deliberate judgment, one day thus spent in devotion, and the exercises
of religion, is preferable to a thousand days wasted in the vain and
unsatisfying pleasures, which they sought in their former wicked
practices [Ps. lxxxiv. 10.].
I have written thus largely upon the due observance of the Lord's day,
because of that shameful, open, and general neglect, that daring
profanation of the Sabbath, which abounds amongst us. It is well known,
and it is matter of great grief and concern to me, that numbers of you
pay not the least regard to this day. Numbers of you will not come to
public worship at all, others but seldom, and then with much
reluctance. And when spoken to, different persons frame different
excuses, all which, when examined, amount to little more than a want of
inclination.
I have here a more special reference to those of you, who are
called Settlers and Free People. You think, perhaps, and some of you
say, That having served out your appointed term, you are now your own
masters, and have therefore a right to employ your time as you
please. But, indeed, it is not so. I must tell you, brethren, that my
commission from God, and my appointment from government, extend
equally and alike to all the inhabitants, without distinction. It is my
duty to preach to all, to pray for all, and to admonish every one. And
it is no less the duty of all, to come to public worship, to hear the
gospel, and to pray for me. These mutual ties and obligations between
you and me, are not lessened by any change in your circumstances. And
remember, that the slight you put upon the public worship, is not
properly a slight of me (if that was all, it would be a matter of utter
indifference) but upon the Lord himself; for I trust it is his message,
and not my own, that I deliver to you [Luke x. 16.]. I wish, therefore,
what I have said upon this subject, to be understood as addressed TO ALL,
whether of higher or lower rank, who are guilty of breaking the
sabbath. Whatever our station or calling may be, our obligations to keep
holy the sabbath-day, are precisely the same. If any are more
inexcusable than the rest, it must be those, who, from their station
and office, are peculiarly bound to set a good example to others. I
hope this friendly hint will be received in good part. I mean not to
offend. But I must admonish you, that whatever be your situation in
life, you will gain nothing in the end, by doing what God forbids, nor
will you be a loser by yielding strict obedience to his commands.
III. Be constant and diligent in prayer to God. Intreat him to give his
blessing to what you read and hear, and to all your concerns. As we are
weak and needy creatures, always dependent upon God, and
always receiving mercies and favours from him, we ought to be frequent
and earnest in prayer. Daniel was accustomed to pray three times in the
day [Dan. vi. 10.; Ephes. ii. 12.]. I hope you will be punctual in prayer,
morning and evening, at least. So long as any of you live without prayer,
you live without Christ, without hope, and without God in the world.
They, who do not pray to God while upon earth, will not be admitted to
praise him in heaven. When the rich careless man who had fared sumptuously
every day, for a time, lifted up his eyes in torments, he only desired
and prayed for a drop of water to cool his tongue, but it was not
granted to him. Oh! if you value your souls, pray earnestly to God.
Consider your obligations to do so. He is your Creator, Preserver,
Benefactor. In him you live and move, and have your being. And
therefore not to acknowledge, by prayer, your dependence upon him,
would manifest the greatest ingratitude and insensibility.
Consider, likewise, the encouragement you have to pray. Though you
are by nature sinners, and by practice enemies and rebels, he gives you
free and sure promises, that whoever is disposed to return to him, and
seek him by earnest prayer, shall not seek him in vain. Oh! my
brethren, that there was less cursing and swearing, and more prayer
among you!
After these positive directions what you ought TO DO, I proceed to some
necessary cautions, against what you ought to avoid.
I. Profane swearing is one thing against which I am especially bound to
warn you, because it is an evil which so much abounds amongst you.
God has said, Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain,
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless, that taketh his name in vain.
Our Saviour likewise has said, Swear not at all [Exod. xx. 7.;
Matt. v. 34.]. But how can you reconcile these prohibitions to
your conduct; or your consciences? When instead of not swearing
at all, many of you seldom open your lips, but the first and last
words which you utter, are blasphemous oaths, and horrid imprecations?
Is this acting like rational or accountable creatures? Who gave you the
powers of reason and speech? Was it not God? And can you think that
he gave them to you, that you may blaspheme his holy name, and to use
the most profane, obscene, and desperately wicked language your hearts
can invent; a language only fit for incarnate devils, and shocking
to the ears of the ignorant heathens? This is a dreadful evil which
you may be assured, will not pass unpunished. This sin has often
brought heavy judgments upon individuals, families, and kingdoms.
Because of swearing the land mourneth [Jer. xxiii. 10]. Shall not I visit
for these things, saith the Lord?
As a proof of the enormity of this sin, you read, that Moses, by
the command of God, ordered a man to be stoned to death, for cursing
and blaspheming [Lev. xxiv. 10-16.]; and it would be well, both on their
own account, and for the good of others, if magistrates would strictly
discharge their duty, by enforcing the laws of our land, which are
engaged against this horrid practice. And in few places, perhaps in no
place, such strictness would be more needful, or more salutary,
than in this colony.
Our Lord assures us, that for every idle word that men shall speak they
shall give an account in the day of judgment! [Matt. xii. 36] How dreadful
then will be the case of those persons, who during their whole life
have employed their tongues in cursing, swearing, lying, and all
manner of vile and unclean conversation. Oh! think of this in time,
and tremble and repent, and learn to use your tongues to better purpose in
future! Read carefully the third chapter of James, and pray to God for
his grace, and use your best endeavours to bridle your tongues which,
if you do not subdue and conquer, will surely destroy and ruin you.
II. Consider, also, what must be the consequence of that unclean and
adulterous course of life, which many of you follow. Common as this
wickedness is in our colony (I believe no where more so) do not
suppose, that the frequency will take away, or in the least abate the
criminality of it. Neither suppose that this sin is less odious in the
sight of God if committed in Port Jackson, than in England. You may
frame excuses or plead necessity, for what you do, or permit to be
done; but the word of God by which you must be at last judged, admits,
of no plea, or excuse. The command is positive and absolute. The
declaration of God, Thou shalt not commit adultery [Exod. xx. 14], is
equally binding upon persons of all ranks to whom it is known, at all
times, and in all places. Think not, that the holy and just God will
dispense with his law, or relax the sentence he has denounced against the
breach of it, that you may with impunity indulge your corrupt desires. No;
it is written, whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. The apostle
declares that no fornicator, adulterer, or unclean person, can enter
into the kingdom of God; he repeats this warning nearly in the same
words, a second and a third time. The heavens and the earth shall pass
away; but not one jot or tittle of his word can fail. All shall be
fulfilled [Heb. xiii. 4.; Gal. v. 17-21.; Eph. v. 3-5.]. And therefore,
however this sin may be connived at by some, and committed by others, God
will severely punish offenders, unless they repent of their wickedness
and forsake it.
But I need not enlarge upon this subject, I have told you my
thoughts of it again and again with faithfulness. It seems the
plainness of my language has hurt the delicate feelings of some, and the
faithfulness I have used has excited the censure and ill-will of
others. But why am I blamed, if I have only affirmed and proved from
the scriptures, that no fornicator, adulterer, or unclean person can
go to heaven WHEN HE DIES, unless he repents of his evil practices, and
turns from them, WHILE HE LIVES?
But whether you will hear, or whether you will forbear, I must repeat
the unwelcome truth. My conscience, my duty, and my compassion, all
urge me to deal faithfully with you. I mean and desire to be understood,
and therefore I must speak plainly. It is my intention and
desire to awaken and alarm your consciences: but alas! after all I can
say or do, I am too little understood or regarded. But I must deliver
my own soul, whether you will regard me or not. The day is
coming when the Lord himself will judge between you and me. Oh, repent,
repent, before it be too late.
III. The conduct of too many of you induces me to exhort and caution
you farther against theft, and all kinds of dishonesty and villainy.
I have often told you, both publicly and privately, that honesty is the
best policy. None have more reason to be convinced of this, than you
who come hither as convicts. You have known by bitter experience, the
unhappy consequences of dishonesty. Have not many of you, for the sake,
perhaps, of a few shillings, unjustly obtained, plunged yourselves
into misery for the remainder of your lives? Several have made this
acknowledgment to me, in their dying moments. Learn therefore,
strive, and pray to be honest. Honesty has its present advantages. An
honest man, however poor, can face this world with confidence.
But a dishonest behaviour, with its constant attendant a guilty
conscience, will always fill the mind with fear and dismay.
[Job. xxiv. 16,17.]
I do not mean, my friends, to reflect harshly upon you for what is
past, and cannot be recalled. I pity your past misconduct; I
sympathize with you under your present sufferings. And therefore I
admonish and caution you to abstain from this course for the time to
come. Let then the troubles and afflictions you have brought upon
yourselves be a warning, to regulate your future behaviour. Learn to be
thankful for what God in his providence gives you, whether it be more
or less. Attend to what our Lord says, Whatsoever ye would that men
should do unto you, do ye even so unto them. And to his apostle's
direction, Let him that hath stolen, steal no more, but rather let him
labour, working with his hands the thing which is good, that he
may have to give to him that needeth [Matt. vii. 12.; Eph. iv. 24.].
Follow this advice, and you will soon experience the benefit.
IV. Beware of idleness. This is the forerunner of many evils.
Poverty, disease, disgrace, misery, and too often an untimely death,
are the consequences of sloth and indolence. Yield not to idleness; if
you indulge it, you will find it grow upon you. Therefore, be diligent
and industrious in your lawful callings. It is written in the Bible,
and confirmed by experience and observation, The idle soul shall
suffer hunger, but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
[Prov. xix. 15. & xiii. 14.]
V. Be careful also to pay due respect, submission, and obedience to
your superiors. It is the good pleasure of God that some should be
placed in more exalted, and others in a more humble station. And
it is a proof of his wisdom and goodness. The present state of the
world, and the general good of mankind, render such distinctions
necessary. But whether we are high or low, whether called to command,
or required to obey, our duties and obligations are mutual. It is in
society as in the human body. There are many members, and every member
has its proper place, and its proper office. Let every soul be subject
to the higher powers [Rom. xiii. 1.].
I have thus given you my best advice respecting what you ought to do,
or to avoid. Permit me to invite your serious attention to what I have
written. Consider it carefully FOR YOUR OWN SAKES. It concerns your
PRESENT comfort. For though no works of ours, or what are called, moral
virtues, can possibly procure us the favour of God, (for our best
services are imperfect and defiled, and need forgiveness) yet that
knowledge and experience of the gospel, which I have explained
to you in the first part of this Address, (and of which I earnestly
pray you may be made partakers) must be accompanied by a correspondent
conduct, such as I have set before you in the second part. And
this knowledge and this conduct will always be attended, though not
always in the same degree, with an inward settled peace, whereby the
mind is reconciled to support crosses and afflictions, however great,
or of long continuance, with a degree of fortitude and resignation.
Persons under this influence will say, when they meet with troubles,
I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned
against him [Micah. vii. 9.]. Should it please God, to answer the earnest
desire of my soul, by giving you an experience of the gospel peace, you
will thank and praise him, even for bringing you hither; and you will see
and confess, that your heaviest afflictions have, in the event, proved to
be your greatest mercies.
Your FUTURE comfort and welfare in this world, depends upon this
knowledge. For though no one knows what may befal him in this life, yet
the real christian has the comfort of knowing, that however it may go
with the wicked, or whatever may happen to himself of a temporal
nature, or whatever may become of his body, he is sure (because God
has promised) that it shall be well with his soul at death. Ah! my
brethren, then, more especially then, believers will find the advantage
of having made the word of God the foundation of their hope, and the
rule of their life!
Several of you, some to my knowledge, have left affectionate, tender,
and serious friends, husbands, wives, parents, brothers, sisters, or
children, in your native country, to lament your misconduct, the
sufferings you have brought upon yourselves, and the disgrace in
which you have involved your families. Let me intreat you, FOR THE
SAKE OF THESE, to consider your ways. Great comfort it will
afford to those who are now almost overwhelmed with grief on your
account, to hear of your reformation and conversion. These would be
glad tidings, indeed, from a far country. The hopes they might then
form of seeing you again, would be truly pleasing; it would be little
less than receiving you again from the dead. Or if they never see you
in this world, the prospect of meeting with you in heaven, would add
comfort to their dying hours. Oh! let not their prayers and their tears
be lost upon you!
Attend to these things, FOR THE SAKE OF OTHERS, who may follow you
hither, in the like unhappy circumstances. When they see your
reformation, and that in consequence of it, you are more comfortable
here than you were at home, they may be induced and encouraged to
follow your examples. Thus you will be instrumental in saving souls
from death.
I would farther plead with you, for the sake of the poor
unenlightened savages, who daily visit us, or who reside amongst us. If
these ignorant natives, as they become more and more acquainted with
our language and manners, hear you, many of you, curse, swear, lie,
abound in every kind of obscene and profane conversation; and if they
observe, that it is common with you to steal, to break the sabbath, to
be guilty of uncleanness, drunkenness, and other abominations; how must
their minds become prejudiced and their hearts hardened against that
pure and holy religion which we profess? Oh beware of laying
stumbling-blocks in the way of these blind people [Lev. xix. 14.], lest
the blood of their souls be one day required at your hands.
And yet I fear, yea, I well know, that they have already heard and seen
too much of such language, and such practices amongst us. Already some
of them have been taught to speak such language as they
continually hear, and though they do not yet understand the meaning of
the words they use, they can utter oaths and blasphemies almost as
readily as their CHRISTIAN instructors. By-standers divert themselves
with their attempts in this way, and think it is fine sport. But, my
friends, the scripture declares they are fools who make a mock at
sin.[Prov. xiv. 9.] But these things cause much sorrow to those who have
any reverence for God, or pity for their fellow creatures. I readily
profess my own deep concern for these proceedings, and my utter abhorrence
of them. And I most earnestly intreat you, if you cannot instruct them in
what is better, to have no communication at all with them. For if you make
them partakers of your sins, you must answer for it at the great day of
judgment; if they then rise up against you, for misleading them, it
will be much more tolerable for them than for you.
But consider, on the other hand, what may be the happy effects,
were the natives to see, hear, and observe in you, and in all the
Europeans here; in ministers and people, high and low, a conduct
answerable to the doctrine and precepts of the gospel. This might, by
the blessing of God, be one of the most effectual means, to bring them
to reflection, and to engage them to seek an interest in the
blessings of the gospel for themselves.
Shall I beg and intreat you, FOR MY SAKE, to attend to the things
pertaining to your true peace. My dear people, I will again declare (I
can appeal to the great God, who searcheth the hearts, that I speak the
truth) to see you converted from your evil ways, and seeking the
salvation of God, Yes, to see you pay a due regard to these most
important concerns, and to have reason to hope and believe, that you
were brought to a saving acquaintance with the truths which you hear
of, or might hear, as often as the Lord's day returns, would
indeed greatly rejoice my soul. But to see so many of you turn a
careless and deaf ear, this, my dear friends, is a cause of great,
constant and increasing grief to my soul. It wounds me to think, that
any (alas! what numbers) should thus refuse and reject their own
mercies; and risk the ruin of their immortal souls, for the prospect of
a small gain, or a short sinful gratification.
My brethren, what shall I, what can I say more. I neither know what to
add, nor how to leave off: once more, I beseech you, for God's sake,
for the sake of Jesus the Saviour, who shed his precious blood to
redeem sinners, and for the sake of your own souls: by the holy
incarnation of the Redeemer, by his agonies, temptations, death and
resurrection, by all the terrors of his frown, and by all the
blessings of his love, by the joys of heaven, by the torments of hell,
and by the solemnities of the approaching day of judgment; by
all these considerations, I most earnestly, affectionately, and
faithfully admonish and intreat you, carefully to weigh what I have now
set before you. And oh! that the holy angels may carry to heaven the
joyful news [Luke xv. 10.] of some sinners being awakened and born to God,
by reading or hearing this little book. O gracious God, do thou, by the
power of thy Holy Spirit, make it thus effectual to the salvation and
happiness of this people!
And now to this gracious Lord, and to his care and blessing, I commend
you. May he enable you to examine your hearts, principles, and
practice, by the standard of his holy word. If you are still ignorant
and careless, it is a proof that you are, as yet, in the state of
nature, which is a state of darkness, guilt, condemnation, and death.
Will you not pray to be delivered from it? You must, at least, allow,
that perhaps what you have read, MAY BE the truth. And even, of
a possibility of these things being true, they deserve your earnest
attention. For should they be found so at last, what will become of
you, if you live and die impenitent? Therefore, read this plain,
affectionate Address seriously. Read it a second, a third, and a
fourth time, till your hearts are affected by it. Remember, this is the
advice of a friend, of one who sincerely seeks, wishes, and longs for
your happiness. It is the advice of your minister, expressly appointed
to watch over your souls, and who must shortly give an account of his
mission to the Great judge of all. Whether I shall die amongst you, or
be separated from you while living, we shall, at last, meet before him.
Then I must answer for my preaching, and you for your hearing. Oh that
this awful day of judgment may be often, yea, always, present to your
thoughts, and to mine! that we may live in constant expectation of its
approach! So that when the last loud trumpet shall sound, we may
stand with acceptance and boldness in his presence, and be admitted as
believers in the great Saviour, into his heavenly kingdom, with a
'Well done, good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy
Lord.'[Matt. xxv. 23.]
This will be my daily prayer to God for you. I shall pray for your
eternal salvation, for your present welfare, for the preservation,
peace, and prosperity of this colony: and especially for the more
abundant and manifest success of the Redeemer's cause and kingdom,
and for the effusion and out-pouring of his Holy Spirit, not only
here, but in every part of the habitable globe. Longing, hoping, and
waiting for the dawn of that happy day, when the heathen shall be given
to the Lord Jesus for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the
earth for his possession: and when all the ends of the earth
shall see, believe, and rejoice in the salvation of God.
[Ps. ii. 8. & xcviii. 3.]
I am your affectionate Friend and
Servant in the Gospel of Christ,