Transcribed from the 1831 Roake and Varty edition by DavidPrice. Many thanks to the British Library for making theircopy available.
BY
THE REV. WILLIAM WOOD, B.D.
RECTOR OF COULSDON, AND VICAR OFFULHAM.
LONDON:
ROAKE AND VARTY, 31, STRAND.
1831.
p. 4LONDON:
ROAKE AND VARTY, PRINTERS, 31,STRAND.
p. 5TOTHE
INHABITANTS OF COULSDON,
THE FOLLOWING
SERMON,
INTENDED TO HAVE BEEN PREACHED IN THEIRCHURCH IN THE
AFTERNOON OF OCTOBER 23rd,
IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED,
AND PRINTED FOR THEIRINSTRUCTION,
BY THEIR FAITHFUL PASTOR.
The Sermon here presented to thePublic is below all criticism. It makes no pretensions tonovelty, or to merit of any kind; it is only one of the thousandswhich are preached every week by men, who, in the midst of evilreport, labour, nevertheless, with an anxious zeal for thesalvation of souls. It was composed in haste, with nointention of printing it, for a sequestered parish, where muchremains of ancient simplicity; but where the author lamented tosee, as he thought, a neglect of public worship, not occasionedby infidelity, or by profligacy, as in great towns, but byignorance of the subject, or thoughtlessness of conduct.
The inclemency of the weather having prevented him frompreaching it at the time intended, and no other opportunity beinglikely to occur for many months, he determined to print it at p. 8once for theuse of his parishioners; but some other little tracts of his,with the same limited object, having been called for by personsdesirous of doing good in their several spheres, and on a largerscale, he thinks it possible that they may wish to havethis also, and therefore he publishes it.
The subject of the sermon, in these days especially, is amomentous one. May God bless it, for the sake of thesubject, to his own glory, and to the benefit of men! Theauthor has no other wish.
Exod. xx. 8.
“Remember theSabbath-day, to keep it holy.”
This command, to remember theSabbath-day, in order to keep it holy, was given by Almighty Godhimself to the Jews. I say, it was given by himself. He did not order any prophet, or other holy man, to give it inhis name; He gave it himself in his own person; He spokeit aloud, in the ears of all the people, with his ownvoice. And this voice, as we are told, was so terrible,that the hearers of it were smitten with intolerable fear andtrembling, and began to entreat, with the most humble and urgentsupplications, that God would vouchsafe, in future, to make knownhis will to them by the voice of Moses rather than by hisown.
p. 10Nodoubt, we also, who are assembled here, should think it avery awful thing, and should