and recover themselves again; and, after a while, are again intangled and overcome.

Now, the cafe of these perfons is really doubtful, both to themselves and others. And the proper direction to be given them, in order to their peace and settlement, is by all means to encourage them to go on and fortify their good refolutions; to be more vigilant and watchful over themselves; to ftrive against fin, and to refift it with all their might. And, according to the fuccefs of their endeavours in this conflict, the evidence of their good condition will every day clear up, and become more manifeft. The more we grow in grace, and the feldomer we fall into fin, and the more even and constant our obedience to God is, fo much the greater and fuller fatisfaction we shall have of our good eftate towards God for the path of the just, is as the shining light, which fhines more and more unto the perfect day; and the work of righteoufnefs fhall be peace, and the effect of righteoufnefs, quietness and affurance for ever.

I fhall only make two or three inferences from what hath been difcourfed upon this argument, and fo conclude.

1. From hence we learn the great danger of fins of omiffion as well as commiffion: Whosoever doth not righteoufnefs, is not of God. The mere neglect of any of the great duties of religion, of piety towards God, and of kindness and charity to men, though we be free from the commiffion of great fins, is enough to caft us out of the favour of God, and to shut us for ever out of his kingdom: I was hungry, and ye gave me no meat; thirty, and ye gave me no drink; fick, and in prifon, and ye vifited me not: therefore depart, ye curfed.

2. It is evident from what hath been faid, that nothing can be vainer than for men to live in any courfe of fin and impiety, and yet to pretend to be the children of God, and to hope for eternal life. The children of God will do the works of God; and whoever hopes to enjoy him hereafter, will endeavour to be like him here: Every man that hath this hope in him, purifies himfelf, even as he is pure.

3. You fee what is the great mark and character of a man's good or bad condition: Whosoever doth righte

oufness,

oufnefs, is of God: and whosoever doth not righteousness, is not of God. Here is a plain and fenfible evidence, by which every man, that will deal honeftly with himself, may certainly know his own condition; and then, according as he finds it to be, may take comfort in it, or make hafte out of it. And we need not afcend into heaven, nor go down into the deep, to search out the fe cret counfels and decrees of God: there needs no anxious inquiry whether we be of the number of God's elect. If we daily mortify our lufts, and grow in goodnefs, and take care to add to our faith and knowledge, temperance, and patience, and charity, and all other Chriftian graces and virtues, we certainly take the best courfe in the world to make our calling and election fure. And without this it is impoffible that we fhould have any comfortable and well-grounded affurance of our good condition. This one mark of doing righteousness is that into which all other figns and characters which are in fcripture given of a good man, are finally refolved. And this anfwers all thofe various phrafes which fome men would make to be fo many feveral and distinct marks of a child of God: as, whether we have the true knowledge of God, and divine illumination; for hereby we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments: whether we fincerely love God; for this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and whether God loves us; for the righteous Lord loveth righteoufnefs, and his countenance will behold the upright: whether we be regenerate, and born of God; for whosoever is born of God, finneth not whether we have the Spirit of God witne fing with our fpirits, that we are the children of God; for as many as have the Spirit of God, are led by the Spirit, and by the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the flesh: whether we belong to Chrift, and have an intérest in him or not; for they that are Chrift's, have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lufts thereof in a word, whether the promife of heaven and eternal life belong to us; for without holiness no man fhall fee the Lord; but if we have our fruits unto holinefs, the end will be everlafting life. So that you fee at last, the fcripture brings all to this one mark, holiness, and obedience to the laws of God, or a vitious and wicked life: In this the children of God are manifeft,

manifeft, and the children of the devil: Whofoever doth not righteoufnefs, is not of God.

Let us then deal impartially with ourselves, and bring our lives and actions to this trial, and never be at reft till the matter be brought to fome iffue, and we have made a deliberate judgment of our condition, whether we be the children of God or not: and if, upon a full and fair examination, our confciences give us this testimony, that by the grace of God we have denied ungodlinefs and worldly lufts, and have lived foberly, and righte oufly, and godly in this prefent world, we may take joy and comfort in it; for if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. But if, upon the search and trial of our ways, our cafe appear clearly to be otherwise, or if we have juft caufe to doubt of it, let us not venture to continue one moment longer in fo uncertain and dangerous a.condition. And if we defire to know the way of peace, the fcripture hath fet it plainly before us: Wafb ye, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes, ceafe to do evil, learn to do well. Come now and let us reafon together, faith the Lord: though your fins be as fearlet, they fhall be white as fnow. Let the wicked forfake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Though our cafe be very bad, yet it is not defperate: This is a faithful faying, and worthy of all men to be embraced, that Jefus Chrift came into the world to fave finners. And he is ftill willing to fave us, if we be but willing to leave our fins, and to ferve him in holinefs and righteoufnefs the remaining part of our lives. We may yet be turned from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God. We who have ventured fo long upon the brink of ruin, may yet, by the infinite mercies of God, and by the power of his grace, be re fcued from the base and miferable flavery of the devil and our lufts, into the glorious liberty of the fons of God.

And thus I have endeavoured, with all the plainnefs I could, to reprefent every man to himself, and to let him clearly fee what his condition is towards God, and how the cafe of his foul and of his eternal happiness stands. And I do verily believe, that what I have said in this

matter

Ser. 16. matter is the truth of God, to which we ought all gladly to yield and render up ourselves: for great is truth, and mighty above all things. She is faithful and impartial in her counfels; and though the be not always welcome, yet it is always wife to hearken to her; for in great kind nefs and charity fhe lets men know their condition, and the danger of it, that they may take care to prevent it : With her is no accepting of perfons, and in her judgment there is no unrighteoufnefs. I will conclude all with that excellent advice of a Heathen philofopher: "Make it no "longer a matter of difpute what are the marks and "figns of a good man, but immediately fet about it, and endeavour to become fuch an one," Antonin. lib.10.

SERMON

XVI.

Of the joy which is in heaven at the repentance of a finner.

LUKE Xv. 7.

Ifay unto you, that likewife joy shall be in heaven over one finner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine juft perfons, which need no repentance.

A

Fter many attempts made in vain to reclaim fin

ners from their evil ways, and to bring them to the wifdom of the juft, it is hard for us, who are the meffengers of God to men, not to fit down in defpondence, and at laft quite to defpair of doing good upon them. But when I confider the infinite patience of God with finners, and how long his Spirit firives with them, why fhould we, we who are finners ourselves, think much to bear with finners, and patiently to contend with their obftinacy and perverfenefs? When I confider that our blessed Saviour, the great preacher and pattern of righteoufnefs, did not give over the worst of men, nor despair of their recovery; this methinks should make us,

whe

who are ambassadors for Chrift, unwearied in befeeching men in his fteau to be reconciled to God.

And of this we have a famous inftance in this chapter. The publicans and finners, as they had done feveral times before, came to hear our Saviour: he treated them very kindly, and converfed familiarly with them; at this the Pharifees were displeased, and murmured; and this unreasonable murmuring of theirs gave occasion to the three parables in this chapter.

In which our Saviour does at once answer the objection of the Pharifees, and give all poffible encouragement to the repentance of thefe great finners. He anfwers the Pharifees, by letting them plainly fee, that he was about the best work in the world, the most acceptable to God, and matter of greatest joy to all the heavenly inhabitants. Instead of a fevere reproof of their uncharitableness, he offers that calmly to their confideration, which ought in all reason to convince them, that he was no ways to blame for this familiar conversation of his with finners, having no other design upon them, but to reclaim them from their vices, and to make them fit company for the best of men; that he was a spiritual phyfician, and therefore his proper work and employment lay among his pa tients. And then, instead of terrifying thefe finners, who seemed to come with a good mind to be instructed by him, he gently infinuates the most winning arguments and the greatest encouragement to repentance; by fhewing how ready God was, after all their fins and provocations, to receive them to his grace and favour, provided they did fincerely repent, and betake themselves to a better courfe; and not only fo, but that the repentance of a finner is a great joy to the great King of the world, and to all that holy and heavenly host that attend upon

him.

From which method of our Saviour in treating fo great finners fo gently, I cannot but make this obfervation, for my own use, as well as for others, That it is good to give, even the greatest of finners, all the encouragement we can to repentance: and though men have been never fo bad, yet if they have but this one good quality left in them, that they are patient to be inftructed, and content to hear good counfel, we should use them kindly,

and