works, or howsoever doth not sincerely endeavour at least, unto the utmost of his power, to be so, he may conclude his faith to be defective, and that he doth not really believe in Christ as he should do; for, did he really believe, he could not but have all the promises of the Gospel fulfilled to him, and by consequence" be holy in all manner of conversation," [1 Pet. 1. is.] as it is necessary all such should be that go to Heaven.

But not to insist any longer upon that, we need go no further to prove this, than to the nature of faith itself; which being, as I have shewn, "the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen," even such an act or habit of the mind whereby the soul is so fully persuaded of the truth of all the promises of God, that the Christian looks upon them as certain as if they were already fulfilled; and as clearly sees what God foretells, as if he had it before his eyes; and so is as much assured of every thing that he meets with in the Gospel, as he is or can be of any thing in the world besides, be it never so plain and obvious unto him:- he that hath such a faith as this is, it cannot but have that influence upon him, as to sway and bend his mind to the performance of whatsoever duties the Gospel requires of him. For Faith cannot but have as much force and power upon the mind in spiritual, as it hath in natural things. Now suppose you were all thoroughly persuaded, that if you go out of this place within this hour, you would be no sooner out, but you would immediately drop down dead; would not such a persuasion as this is, prevail upon you all to stay here until the hour is fully expired? I dare say it would. Or if you did really believe, that if you went to such an house this night, you would most certainly be killed there, would any of you venture to go? I dare say you would not. Or suppose you were sure to lose all that you have in the world, unless you solemnly begged of God upon your knees to continue your estates to you: would not you all strive which should be upon their knees first? You cannot but believe you would. Would not the covetous man be liberal, if he really believed, that by giving of a penny, he should gain a pound? Would the drunkard himself drink that cup wherein he believes there is deadly poison? Would the profane swearer dare to take the name of the

CXXXI.

SERM. Eternal God in vain, did he really believe that the next time he did it he should be struck dumb, and never speak more? Would not the luxurious person abstain from his unclean dalliances, if he was sure he should die in the very next act that he committed? Or would not the most obstinate rebel throw down his sword immediately, if he was really assured that it would otherwise be sheathed in his own bowels? I dare appeal to all your consciences, whether you do not really believe that such persuasions as these are, would have the several effects which I have now mentioned. I am confident you all believe it. And if an human faith hath such power in natural, a divine faith surely cannot but have as much, if not much more, in spiritual affairs : which that I may clear up the better to you, I shall instance in several particulars.

1. First, therefore, you all know that our Saviour said, "But I say unto you, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Now were you all thoroughly persuaded of the truth of this proposition, so as really to believe that except you were so sensible of, so humbled for, so resolved against, and so converted from your sins, as for the future to observe all the commandments of God, as near as possibly you can, otherwise you must never know what true happiness, joy or comfort is, but must suffer the most exquisite torments that it is possible for a creature to undergo; I say, did you really believe this, would any of you dare to live in the wilful commission of any known sin, or else in the wilful neglect of any known duty? I cannot believe it. A thorough persuasion of this truth would not suffer you to do it.

2. Again; both the Law and the Gospel do frequently assure us, that the great God that made us is every where Heb. 4. 13. present with us; that "all things are naked and open unto the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do." Now, did you all believe this as you ought to do, even that the Supreme and All-glorious Being, that created and preserves the world, is continually with you wheresoever you are, and strictly observes you whatsoever ye do, taking special notice of every thought, word and action that comes from you, whether it be according to His laws or no;-did you really believe this, would it not have a strange awe upon your

spirits? Would it not make you fear and dread the thoughts of doing any thing which you know to be offensive to Him? Or, to bring it closer to you, did you firmly believe, that at this very moment the Eternal God, the Judge of all the world, is as really in this place as yourselves are, that He knows both every word that I have spoke, and every thought that hath come up in any of your hearts as really as I have spoke it, or you have thought it; yea, that He observes at this very moment what every one of you is now thinking of, as really as you heard me speak these words; I say, did you believe this, would not you startle and be affrighted at it? Would you not abhor yourselves, and repent in dust and ashes before Him? Would you dare to suffer your thoughts to be running up and down the world, while your bodies are in His presence and service? I dare say you durst not.

3. Furthermore, our Saviour saith, "Seek ye first the Matt. 6. 33. kingdom of God, and the righteousness thereof, and all these things," that is, all things necessary for life and godliness, "shall be added to you." These being the words of Christ, you may all think that you verily believe them; but I fear ye do not. For, did you verily believe, that according to this promise, if you devote yourselves wholly to the service of the living God, you need not trouble yourselves about any thing else, but God Himself would take care to provide for you, and give you whatsoever is truly good and needful for you: I say, did you verily believe this, would you be solicitous about the things of this life? Would your hearts be bent, or your souls inclined to any thing here below? Would not common prudence teach you to take the surest way for your subsistence, and not to suffer yourselves to be tormented with needless fears, and carking cares, about that which God Himself hath promised to provide for you. I know it would.

4. Moreover, our Saviour saith, "Ask, and ye shall Matt. 7. 7. have; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be

opened unto you;" and "whatsoever ye shall ask the Fa- John 16. 23. ther in My Name, he will give it you." Now did you all believe this, even that upon your solemn and sincere petitioning for it, there is no truly good thing but you may obtain it in the Name of Jesus Christ, would you need any

CXXXI.

SERM. other arguments to excite and stir you up to prayer? Would not this be of itself a sufficient motive unto you? Do you think you could be able to forbear praying for a whole day together? Or if you did but believe it to be true what Matt.18.20. Christ saith, that where but "two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them;" did you verily believe this, I say, even that whensoever we meet here on any day of the week to pray to the great God, to hear His Word, and to praise His Name, that then our blessed Lord is in a peculiar manner present with us; what flocking should we then have to prayers? How happy should we think ourselves that we can enjoy them! And therefore, so long as I see that you do not prize nor regard the opportunities you have of making your public addresses to Almighty God, and of performing your homage and devotion to Him, but either never come at all, or else absent yourselves upon any slight occasion, let me tell you, you give us too much cause to suspect, that for all your profession of the Christian religion, you do not really believe Christ's words, nor think that He meant as He said: for if you did, you would not look upon prayers as a burden, but as the greatest honour, privilege and happiness that you can enjoy. 5. Again; did you believe that "God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be Acts 17. 31. good, or whether it be evil;" that "God hath appointed a day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him 2 Cor. 5. 10. from the dead;" so that " we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad;" did you all believe that, according to these and the like Scriptures, you must all ere long be before Christ's tribunal, as really as ye are now in this place, that then your lives shall be all reviewed, and all your thoughts, your words and actions looked over again, and examined by the word of God; and that Christ accordingly will say either, "Come, ye blessed," or "depart, ye cursed," to every soul here present, as really as ever you heard a word spoken in all your lives:-did you believe

Eccles. 12. 14.

this, I say, would it not make you very careful of what you think, or speak, or do? Would it be possible for you to be so foolhardy and presumptuous, as wilfully to break the laws, abuse the mercies, despise the judgments, and blaspheme the name of the Eternal God, if you really believed that for all these things God would bring you into judg- [Eccles. 11. ment? No, you could not be so, it being impossible for a man that hath, and useth his reason, to do that which he knows and believes at the same time to be so evil, dangerous, and destructive to him.

9.]

46.

Lastly. Our blessed Saviour assures us, that the "wicked Matt. 25. shall go into everlasting punishment, and the righteous into life eternal." Now, did you verily believe this; first, that if you continue in your sins, without forsaking of them, or having a pardon for them, you are then most certainly undone for ever; and that the momentary pleasure you have in sin shall be punished with everlasting torments, and your seeming delights in time with real misery to eternity: did you verily believe, that if you live and die in sin, you shall ere long be amongst the fiends of hell and damned souls, weeping and wailing and gnashing your teeth in the bottomless pit, as really as you are here at this time: would not such persuasions and believing thoughts as these are, damp all the pleasure you used to take in sin, and convert it into hatred and detestation against it; and into sorrow and repentance for it? If you were sure to live in want, in disgrace, in pain, and all manner of misery all your life long, unless you spent one hour this night in prayer to God, and reading of His Holy Word, would any of you neglect so easy a duty, if you were sure by that means to prevent so long and certain troubles? I dare say you would not. But how much more then, if you was assured in your consciences, and thoroughly persuaded in your minds, that eternal torments are most certainly designed for all impenitent sinners, and that unless you be truly holy in time, you shall be perfectly miserable to eternity: how much more, I say, would such a belief as this awake and stir you up to "deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, right- [Tit. 2. 12.] eously and godly in this present world!" How fearful would it make you of offending, how careful to please God!