SERM. God hath appointed to make them better, are so generally neglected by people of all ranks and qualities in it?

CXXII.

But is this the way to enjoy the benefit of our Reformation any longer? Or rather, is it not the ready way to lose it? God grant, that may not be the consequent, the sad consequent of our making so little use of it! I am sure we have [Gen. 6. 3.] too much cause to fear it; for the Spirit of God will not always strive with men.

No nation under Heaven hath had the means of seeking the Lord, and His grace, more duly and powerfully administered, than this for a long time hath had, and of His infinite goodness as yet hath; but if we, notwithstanding, still refuse to seek Him by them, but disregard and abuse them, so as to be no way the better, but rather the worse for them, what can we expect, but that He should take [Matt. 21. them from us, and give them to a nation that will bring 43.] forth the fruits thereof? Which God knows we have not, and therefore may justly deprive us of them, and punish us too for the contempt that we have thrown upon them. Let us hear what He Himself saith, "Because I called, and ye refused; I have stretched out My hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all My counsel, and would none of My reproof: I also will laugh at your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon Me, but I will not answer; they shall seek Me early, but they shall not find Me."

Prov. 1. 24-28.

Wherefore, brethren, it is now time, high time, to look about you, and to seek the Lord while He may be found; you do not know how soon He may hide His face, and then it will be in vain to seek Him; and therefore be advised to 2 Cor. 6. 2. do it now; for He saith, "I have heard thee in a time

accepted, and in the day of Salvation have I succoured thee: Behold, now is the accepted time: behold now is the day of Salvation." "To-day," therefore, "if ye will hear His voice, harden not your hearts," but set yourselves in good Zeph.2.2-3. earnest to seek the Lord, "before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord come

upon you. Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought His judgment; seek righteousness; seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger," as the Prophet speaks.

Seek ye the Lord, therefore, while ye may; seek Him with all your hearts, above all things in the world besides; for if ye seek Him, ye seek all the good things ye can desire, and shall have them too: "The young lions do lack Psal. 34. 10. and suffer hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not 7. want any good thing."

2 Chron. 14.

If ye seek Him, ye seek His mercy to pardon all your sins, His wisdom to direct you in all your ways, His power to defend you from all your enemies, His Holy Spirit to support you in all conditions: ye seek "righteousness and peace, [Rom. 14. 17.] and joy in the Holy Ghost:" ye seek the truest riches, the highest honours, the greatest pleasures that men or Angels can ever have. These are glorious things, indeed, for a man to seek! Who would not seek them if he might? And who may not find them if he will? Blessed be God, He may yet be found, if we do but seek Him as we ought.

5.

Let us, therefore, by His assistance, now resolve to do so. Let others, if they please, seek the little things upon earth, let us seek the Lord, the greatest, the only good in all the world. Let us seek Him this, and all the rest of our days. This is not a work to be done only now and then, but through the whole course of our lives. It is said of Uzziah, King of Judah, “As long as he sought the Lord, God made him to 2 Chron. 26. prosper." And as long as we heartily seek Him, we shall as certainly find Him. We shall find God the Father, our health, and strength, and tower; our sun and "shield, and [Gen.15.1.] our exceeding great reward." We shall find God the Son, our "wisdom and righteousness, our sanctification and re- [1 Cor. 1. demption." We shall find God the Holy Ghost, our Light, and Life, and Joy; our guide and direction what to do, and our assistance in the doing of it. We shall find this one Almighty Being, the Lord of Heaven and earth, our constant Friend, our Father, and our God; we shall find that He will make His abode with us, cause His face to shine upon us, and so manifest His special love and favour to us that He will put away from us all hurtful things, and give us all

30.]

CXXII. [Rom. 8. 28.]

SERM. those things which are profitable for us: that He will preserve us from all evil, and "make all things work together for our good:" that He will bless and sanctify all occurrences to us, so that whatsoever happens we shall be some way or [2 Pet.1.3.] other the better for it: that He will supply us with “all things necessary for life and godliness:" that He will hide us under the shadow of His wings, that the destroying angel may not come near to touch us: that He will keep us by His Almighty power through faith unto Salvation. In short, upon our seeking the Lord heartily upon all occasions, while we are upon earth, we shall find that He will carry us through all the changes and chances of this mortal life, so as to bring us at last to Himself in Heaven, where we shall seek Him no more, but enjoy Him for ever: and all through the merits and intercession of His only Son, our only Mediator and Advocate, Jesus Christ: to Whom, &c.

SERMON CXXIII.

THE WAY OF PLEASING GOD.

1 THESS. iv. 1.

Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more.

ALTHOUGH We may differ, perhaps, about some things, there is one thing, I dare say, we all agree in; we all agree in this, that the world did not make itself, but that it was made by Almighty God, Who is therefore called Jehovah, Essence, or Being itself, because as He existeth in and of Himself, so He gives essence and existence to all things else:-all things else subsisting so continually in Him, that as nothing could be made, so nothing can continue in its being one moment without Him. And seeing we all agree in this, we cannot but likewise all acknowledge, that this Almighty Being, Who made and upholds the world, doth likewise govern and dispose of all and every thing that is in it; for, seeing all things depend continually on Him, all things must needs be continually subject to His Divine will and pleasure; Who is therefore said to do "whatsoever He Ps.115.3,6. pleaseth;" and that too, "in Heaven and in earth, in the Ps. 135. 6. seas and all deep places;" that is, in the whole world. The whole world is His, He doth what He will with it, and with every thing that is in it. He hath all the Angels in Heaven at His beck, and all the devils in hell at his foot: He gives bounds to the sea; He balanceth the clouds; He governs the winds; He weighs the mountains, and numbereth the

CXXIII.

SERM. very hairs of every man's head; He exalteth one man, and He depresseth another; He makes rich, and He makes poor; He preserveth health, and He bringeth sickness; He gives life, and He takes it away when He pleaseth: so that we and all things in the world are entirely under His command, and at His disposal: He may do with us what He [Acts 17. will; for it is in Him that "we live and move and have our 28.] being."

And if so, how happy must they needs be, who are in the favour of this supreme and all-glorious Governor of the world, so as to have Him well pleased with them, and with what they do! This is so great a happiness, that none can apprehend it but they who have it: but they know, they feel it to be not only the greatest, but the only true felicity their nature is capable of. And yet, blessed be God for it, we all, as yet, are capable of it, and may most certainly attain it too, if we do but take the right course in order to it; for St. Paul here puts the Thessalonians in mind, that they had "received of him how they might so walk as to please God:" which plainly shews, that it is not only possible for us little mortals upon earth to please the great God of Heaven, but that St. Paul knew it himself, and had taught the Thessalonians how to do it; and therefore we need not despair, but that having so many of his writings, and others too of the same Divine stamp, we also may from thence learn the true art and method of pleasing God.

An art of such mighty use, so necessary for all Christians to learn and practise, that we never find the Apostle pressing any thing more earnestly upon them than he doth this; he calls them brethren, to shew, that what he now said to them proceeded merely from his brotherly love and kindness to them he prays, he beseecheth, he exhorteth them, not in his own name neither, but in the Name of Jesus Christ; in His Name That loved them so, as to give Himself for them; in His Name, Who was so great a Friend to them, as to lay down His Own life to redeem theirs; in His Name Who is their only Mediator and Advocate in Heaven; in His Name he beseecheth and exhorteth them, that as they had received of him how they ought to walk, that is, how they ought to order the whole course of their lives, so as to