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I know not how any serious confcientious minister of Christ, who fincerely wishes the falvation of the fouls committed to his charge, could have heart to preach under long-continued vifible ill fuccefs. With all the fupports and comfortable affurance which the word of God affords in the case to the faithful labourer, he oft feels the difcouragement fo great as almoft to fit down in difpondence, and in the anguifh of his foul bemoan his cafe in the plaintive language of the Prophet, Who bath believed our report, and to whom bath the arm of the Lord been revealed? I have toiled all the day; I have spent my ftrength for nought; they are not, they will not be gathered. He is hence led to ferious enquiry and deep humiliation, with refpect to his own views and conduct in the discharge of this great work; but when, upon careful and humble examination, he can, notwithstanding his Imany imperfections and defects, find that he does fincerely aim at, study and strive for the promotion of God's glory and the good of fouls; when, with Peter, he can fay, Lord thou knoweft that I love thee, and with Paul, That in fimplicity and godly fincerity, I have had my converfation in the world; then, upon the affurance of the word of God, he may have confidence, and take comfort in the darkest hour. Happy is the minifter, happy the Chriftian who has this teftimony of a good conscience towards God and man! It is worth more than the applaufe of the whole world without it. O! that we may all know its worth, by its comforting teftimony in our own fouls! 1, as the minifter or fower fent to fow the feed, to reap and gather in this spiritual harvest, and you as those to be gathered in.-This will be to our mutual comfort here, and our mutual everlasting joy hereafter. That this may be the cafe, is it not of importance that we all enquire how we have and do discharge the several

trufts

trufts repofed in us, and duties incumbent upon us? I, in fowing the feed of the word, and you in hearing, receiving and affifting in bringing it forward to the harvest. This is an enquiry proper and important for you as well as for me, and that in proportion to all the advantages you have had, and the number of labourers in or sowers of the word that have been among you. The feed of the word which was fown by Chrift and his Apostles, hath been continued down to you. Numbers have been fent in Chrift's ftead, from time to time, to fow and reap among you, who have been called one after another out of the field, and others sent to fucceed in their place and labours; and last of all, I also am fent to sow the word and labour in the vineyard of Christ among you. O that it may be the feed and favour of eternal life to many, to all your fouls! O that I may be able to say with my bleffed Mafter, when he beheld the forward and eager difpofition of these Samaritans preffing to see him, and hear his gracious word, Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are already white to barveft; that as your fields are now ripe for the fickle, and ye preparing to gather the joyful harvest into your barns, so there may be a willingness to hear, and a readiness or ripeness to be reaped and gathered in by the Gofpel of Chrift in every foul in this congregation, and a rich and glorious harvest enfue by my miniftry among you. I have already been

thefe

1. Rev. Thomas Hanford, who came from Old England, and fettled as minifter of this church, as near as can be determined by the town-records, in 1653, and died 1693.

2. Rev. Stephen Buckingham, installed 1697, dismissed 1726 or 1727. 3. Rev. Mofes Dickinson, installed 1727, died 1778.

4. Rev. William Tennant, ordained and inftalled as a colleague to Mr Dickinson, 1765, difmiffed and removed to Charlestown, SouthCarolina, 1772.'

thefe three years and more labouring in the ministry of the word among you. What increase have ye yielded? What fruit have ye borne to the Master of the vineyard, the heavenly Husbandman? I blame you not, nor charge you with any want of attention or refpect to myself or miniftry. Nay, on this account, I have reason hitherto to speak well of you as a congregation; ye have ever treated me with respect, and regularly attended upon my public inftructions ;-but yet, this notwithstanding, may I not ask, have these my inftructions and labours among you answered their defigned end? Have they been the means of any ingathering? Have they been bleffed to awaken, convince, convert, and bring home any foul to the divine Husbandman? This is furely a question of great importance to you all, and which I affure you fometimes feriously exercises my own mind.-What will it fignify that ye treat me with refpect, and in general attend regularly upon my ministry among you, which is indeed pleafing, and merits commendation from me, if after all ye be not gathered into Christ, by a cordial acceptance of and fubmiffion to him in the characters and offices in which he is exhibited in the Gospel? Shall I study, labour and toil for your falvation, and yet be the honoured and happy inftrument of faving none of you? Where then will be my crown, which ye must be in the Lord? Will the bare civility and refpe&t with which you treat me, or the fupply of my neceffities which you grant me, fatisfy me without any further wish or concern for your good? I must be bafely ungrateful to, and unworthy of that all-gracious Mafter, whofe fervant I am, if this can be the cafe. I truft I have a witness in your consciences, that it is not the cafe; and I think I can truly fay, that my heart's defire and fervent prayer to God concerning you is, that you may all be faved. On this

occafion,

occafion, when your ripened harvest, the ears loaded with grain, bend down their heads in your fields to invite the sharp fickle of the ingatherer, I cannot but express a wish,-I cannot but devoutly pray, that so your hearts might yield to the impreffion of God's word, which is the sword of the Spirit, and that there may be a glorious harvest or ingathering to Jefus Chrift among you. This would rejoice my heart, even mine; and believe it, my friends, you must be gathered to Chrift, with his friends in this world, or with his enemies in the world to come; for there is a very different, an awful harvest approaching, in which, if you are not reaped and gathered in mercy and joy, you must in judgment, forrow, and pain, to be burned and tormented for ever:-they who are not reaped and gathered to Christ, by the miniftry of his word and fervants in this world, the Scripture informs us, fhall be finally reaped, bound in bundles and burned as chaff in unquenchable fire. Read the account, and let every finner who has never yet been gathered into Ghrist, or become a true member of his kingdom, tremble. And in the time of harvest, faith our Lord, I will fay to the reapers, Gather ye together firft the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them; but gather the wheat into my barn. The tares are the children of the wicked one. The enemy that fowed them is the Devil,-the harveft is the end of the world, and the reapers are the Angels. As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so shall it be in the end of the world, the Son of Man fball fend forth his Angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity, and be fball caft them into a furnace of fire; there fhall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous fhine forth as the fun in the kingdom of their Father. Who bath ears 19 bear, let him bear. Let thefe folemn truths fink deep

into

into all your hearts. Let them dwell with you in your houses; carry them with you into your fields, and when you are plowing and sowing; when you are reaping, binding up, and carrying your harveft into your barns, remember the time is faft approaching when you must all take your part in a far more important and interesting harveft; when you must be bound up in bundles for eter. nal life, or fevered as chaff from the wheat for eternal burnings. Let me then intreat you now, while you fland in the field, where the feed, the bleffed word of life, is fown, the culture of divine ordinances, and the influences of the Holy Spirit are offered and afforded, that ye fee to it that ye remain not ftill tares, but that the feed of the word take deep root in your hearts, and bear fruit unto eternal life; fo fhall ye, as good wheat, be gathered into the garner of the heavenly Hufbandman, and with the righteous shine like the fun in the kingdom of your Father, for ever and ever. And while you are thus careful for your own intereft and falvation, in that folemn day, forget not, I pray you, the concern you ought to have for the interest and salvation of others alfo. You are in fome refpects to be fellow-labourers with me in the field of Chrift. Though it is my work principally and more publicly to fow the feed, to cultivate and gather in the precious harvest for the divine Husbandman, it is yours alfo, according to your feveral places and abilities, in a fubordinate way, to affift me herein. Ye who are placed in families, whom God hath bleffed with children and fervants, are in an especial manner called to this important work, to bend the tender mind, and "teach the young idea how to shoot." Much depends upon your aid in this particular, to prepare thefe young and tender growths for fruitfulness in the garden of God, by early feafoning their minds with religious inftruction, training

them

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