1/92] REV. WILLIAM SMITH, D. D. 35/ 



sacred duty on the part of the flock, on the other hand, that they listen 

 to the voice of the pastors ; that they strengthen their hands in their 

 labors for the good of the flock ; that they hear the voice of the shep- 

 herds with joy, and receive it as the voice of the Great Shepherd and 

 Bishop of their souls ! 



The flock, therefore, is to be under obedience and rule in this great 

 case. They are to keep in mind the words of St. Paul, speaking in the 

 character of a great and faithful pastor: 



"If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great thing, or 

 matter, that we shall reap of your carnal or temporal things? " For if 

 (by the grace of the gospel) the Gentiles have been made partakers of 

 these spiritual things, it is their duty also to minister unto them (the 

 pastors) in their carnal or temporal things ; while they call them to 

 happiness and salvation, in the language of God, from his great mercy- 

 seat : " Come up thither, and I will show thee the things that must be 

 hereafter. Come hither, and I will show thee the Bride, the Lamb's 

 Wife." 



My beloved brethren and hearers, pardon my zeal here, if it appears 

 warm ! It is by the joint efforts, bothof pastors and people, that the 

 chief obstacles to the advancement of religion and true practical holi- 

 ness, as taught by Christianity, can be overcome, and removed or sur- 

 mounted. 



I am persuaded that I address no person here, who will say to the 

 seers, " See not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things 

 — speak unto us smooth things — prophesy deceits ! " 



No, brethren, I know you love, and will endure, sound doctrine; and 

 that if any, even under the mask of an angel from heaven, were to 

 preach any other gospel to you than that into which you have been 

 baptized, and have received from Christ and his apostles through 

 divine revelation and the fathers of our church, according to its true 

 reformation, you would say, with St. Paul : " Let him be accursed ! " 



I know likewise, that the plea of many for those itching ears, that 

 heaping up of teachers, that seeking after new doctrines and new gospels 

 is pretended by these seekers to be of a conscientious nature. 



My charity forbids me to pry into the temple of another man's heart, 

 with the presumption of tracing what passes there ; I have only to say, 

 "Ye shall know them by their fruits." Nevertheless, it is not unchari- 

 table to inquire what may be the causes of the great difference in the 

 feelings and apprehensions of men, and whence spring the effects pro- 

 duced among them in hearing the preached word? Why it is that some 

 hear unto salvation, and others forbear unto destruction ? 



The reason appears to be, "That the former have submitted their 

 spirits to the teaching of the Spirit of God ; but the latter are buoyed 

 up by the spirit of this world, and the pride of their own unhallowed 

 wisdom." 



