fery, is a confideration of that weight, as one would think, could not fail of its efficacy upon us, to put all temptations to fin out of countenance, and to bear down before us all the difficulties and difcouragements in the way of our duty. And if this make no impreffion upon us, if heaven and hell be of no weight with us, it will be in vain to ufe any other arguments, which, in comparison of this, are but as the very small duft upon the balance. For if, on the one hand, the hopes of perfect comfort, and joy, and felicity, perpe◄ tual in duration, and vaft beyond all imagination, fuch as eye hath not feen, nor ear heard, nor hath entered into the heart of man to conceive; and if, on the other hand, the dread of the terrible wrath of God, and of the vengeance of eternal fire, together with the infupportable torments of a guilty confcience, and the perpetual ftings of bitter remorfe and anguifh for the wilful folly of our wicked lives, and the rage of horrible defpair of ever getting out of fo miferable a ftate; if neither of thefe confiderations, if both of them, will not prevail upon us to cease to be evil, and to refolve to be good, that we may obtain one of these conditions, and may escape the other; there is no hope that any words that can be used, any arguments and confiderations that can be offered, should work upon us, or take place with us. He that is not to be tempt ed by fuch hopes, nor to be terrified by fuch fears, is proof against all the force of perfuafion in the world.

And thus I have done with the two things which I propofed to confider from thefe words; the nature of thefe promifes, and the influence they are apt, and ought to have upon us, to raife us to the perfection of virtue and goodness, which the Apostle here calls our being partakers of a divine nature. All that now remains is, to make fome ufeful reflections upon what hath been difcourfed upon thefe two heads.

First of all, If we expect the bleffings and benefits of thefe exceeding great and precious promifes of the gofpel, we must be careful to perform the conditions which are indifpenfably required on our parts. It is a great miftake, and of very pernicious confequence

to

to the fouls of men, to imagine that the gospel is all promises on God's part, and that our part is only to believe them, and to rely upon God for the performance of them, and to be very confident that he will make them good, though we do nothing elfe but only believe that he will do fo. That the Chriftian religion is only a declaration of God's good-will to us, without any expectation of duty from us; this is an error which one could hardly think could ever enter into any who have the liberty to read the Bible, and to attend to what they read and find there.

The three great promifes of the gofpel are all very exprefsly contained in our Saviour's firft fermon upon the mount. There we find the promise of bleffedness often repeated; but never abfolutely made, but upon certain conditions, and plainly required on our parts; as repentance, humility, righteoufnefs, mercy, peaceablenefs, meeknefs, patience. Forgivenefs of fins is likewife promised; but only to thofe that make a penitent acknowledgement of them, and afk forgiveness for them, and are ready to grant that forgiveness to others, which they beg of God for themfelves. The gift of God's Holy Spirit is likewife there promised; but it is upon condition of our earnest and importunate prayer to God. The gospel is every where full of precepts, injoining duty and obedience on our part, as well as of promifes on God's part, affuring bleff ings to us; nay, of terrible threatenings alfo, if we difobey the precepts of the gospel. St Paul gives us the fum of the gofpel in very few and plain words; declaring upon what terms we may expect that falva tion which the gospel offers to all men, Tit. ii. 11. 12. 13. 14. The grace of God, which bringeth falvation,hath appeared to all men; teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lufts, we should live foberly and. righteously, and godly, in this prefent world, looking for that bleed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jefus Chrift; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. And then he adds, Thefs things fpeak and ex bort, and rebuke with all authority; intimating, that

though

though men were very averfe to this doctrine, it ought to be inculcated with great authority and earneftness, and thofe who oppofed and defpifed it, to be feverely rebuked; and with great reafon, because the contrary doctrine does moft effectually undermine and defeat the whole defign of the Christian religion. 2. From hence we learn, that if the promises of the gospel have not this effect upon us, to make us par takers of a divine nature, it is our own fault, and becaufe we are wanting to ourselves. God is always ready to do his part, if we do not fail in ours. There is a divine power and efficacy goes along with the gofpel, to make way for the entertainment of it in the hearts of men, where they put no bar and obftacle to it. But if men will refift the motions of God's bleffed Spirit, and quench the light of it, and obftinately hold out against the force of truth, God will withdraw his grace and Holy Spirit from them. The gofpel would raife us to the perfection of all virtue and goodness; and the promises of it are admirably fitted to relieve the infirmities and weakness of human nature, and to renew us after the image of God, in righteoufnefs, and true holiness; to take us off from fin and vice, and to allure us to goodness, and to affist and encourage us in the practice of it: But if we will not comply with the gracious defign of God in the gofpel, and fuffer thefe promises to have their due influence and efficacy upon us, we wilfully deprive ourselves of all the bleffings and benefits of it, we reject the counfel of God against ourselves, and receive the grace of God in vain; and by rejecting and defpifing his promises, we provoke him to execute his threatenings up

on us.

3. And lastly, If the promises of the Chriftian religion are apt in their own nature to work this great effect upon us, to make us like to God, and to bring us so near a resemblance of the divine perfections, to make us good, and juft, and merciful, and patient, and holy in all manner of converfation, to purge us from our iniquities, and to make us a peculiar and excellent people, zealous of good works; I fay, if this be the proper tendency of the gospel, and the promifes

of

it, how doth this upbraid the degenerate ftate of the Christian world at this day, which does fo abound in all kind of wickednefs and impiety! fo that we may cry out, as he did, upon reading the gofpel, Profectò aut hoc non eft evangelium; aut nos non fumus evangelici; "Either this is not the gofpel which we read, " and the Chriftian religion which we profefs; or we are no Chriftians." We are fo far from that pitch of goodness and virtue which the Chriftian religion is apt to raise men to, and which the Apostle here calls the divine nature, that a great part of us are degenerated into beafts and devils, wallowing in abominable and filthy lufts, indulging ourselves in thofe devilish paffions of malice and hatred, of ftrife and difcord, of revenge and cruelty, of fedition and difturbance of the public peace, to that degree, as if the grace of God had never appeared to us to teach us the contrary. And therefore it concerns all thofe who have the face to call themselves Chriftians, to demean themselves at another rate; and for the honour of their religion, and the falvation of their own fouls, to have their converfation as becometh the gospel of Chrift; and by departing from the vicious practices of this prefent evil world, to do what in them lies to prevent the judgements of God which hang over us; or if they cannot do that, to fave themselves from this untoward generation.

SER

XCIX.

SERMON

The fupport of good men under their fufferings for religion.

I PET. iv. 19.

Wherefore let them that fuffer according to the will of God, commit the keeping of their fouls to him in welldoing, as unto a faithful Greator.

T

The first fermon on this text.

His epiftle was written by St Peter, who was the Apostle of the circumcifion to the difperfed Jews, who were newly converted to Christianity; and the defign of it is to confirm and establish them in the profeffion of it; and to inftruct them how they ought to demean themfelves towards the Heathen or Gentiles among whom they lived; and more parti cularly to arm and prepare them for thofe fufferings and perfecutions, which he foretels would fhortly overtake them for the profeffion of Chriftianity, that when they should happen, they might not be furprifed and startled at them, as if fome ftrange and unexpected thing were come upon them; at the 12th verfe of this chapter, Beloved, think it not ftrange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you; that is, do not wonder, and be not astonished at it, as if fome ftrange thing happened unto you.

And then he inftructs them more particularly how they ought to behave themselves under thofe trials and fufferings, when they fhould happen; not only with patience, which men ought to exercife under all kinds of fufferings, upon what account and caufe foever; but with joy and chearfulness, confidering the glorious example and reward of them, ver. 13. But VOL, V.

P

rejoice,