All the fore-mentioned graces are the gift of God; from Him we must ask them, and from Him we must receive them, if ever we have them. But then we must learn to ask them with the humility of creatures that know their wants; with the reverence of people who know their distance; and with the earnestness of christians who know they are undone unless their petitions are granted.

And whoever with these dispositions lays his wants before God, lamenting his own miseries, and earnestly begging the graces of God's Holy Spirit to support him in his Christian warfare, shall certainly find the good effect of his prayers.

For, saith our Lord Christ, "if ye, being evil, know how to Luke 11. 13. give good things unto your children; how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit" (and in that all good things) "to them that ask Him?"

And now, good christians, having explained to you a portion of Scripture, which ought to be very well understood and remembered, I would desire you to consider, whether you can imagine, that Christianity is an idle state of life, or that any man can hope to get to heaven without concern, and care, and pains, and striving,—without taking the armour which God has provided for our security?

You see what enemies you have to deal with: Satan, a very malicious and powerful spirit; the world, a very deceitful, bewitching adversary; and lastly, an heart desperately corrupt and wicked.

Verily, if our gracious God had not pitied our condition, and had not provided us with suitable security against such enemies, not one man living could have been saved. Shall we then, because God has been careful of us, be careless of ourselves? Shall we live as if there were no danger, because God has provided us with arms to oppose our enemies?

Believe it, good christians, it is not for nothing that the Apostle exhorts us "to work out our own salvation with fear [Phil. 2.12.] and trembling."

Whoever would continue Christ's faithful soldier and servant unto his life's end, and inherit eternal life after death, must watch, and pray, and believe, and hope, and strive, and patiently endure hardships, or his Christian profession will signify very little to him at the last.

SERM.
XXV.

It is not sufficient "to renounce the devil and all his works;" to profess to believe in God, and to promise to serve Him all our days; unless in good earnest we do so, and become christians in deed as well as in name, with which too many, God knows, content themselves.

Let me therefore set before you the character of a true christian-one who is in the way of salvation; that every one of us may see how far we come short of it, that we may amend what is amiss in us.

A true christian then is one whom the Spirit of God has awakened into a deep sense of his own misery; who can have no rest, until he knows what he must do to be saved; and being convinced that he must pass through a corrupt world, infinite errors, and powerful enemies, in his way to heaven, his heart is filled with a godly fear, and distrust of himself, (knowing, by sad experience, his own weakness,) till at last he finds he must perish, unless God assist him with means of overcoming his enemies. He sets himself therefore in good earnest to know the will of God; that is, by what means God will enable a poor, weak, sinful creature to get the better of so many adversaries, which he is sure to meet with in his way to happiness. And having learned, that the Gospel is the rule by which we must live, because by it we must be judged; that a firm faith in the power of God for overcoming of all difficulties; that a lively hope in His promises; that a sincere endeavour after righteousness, and a peaceable behaviour towards all men; that these are the means which God has ordained for our safety; he therefore labours, with all his might, to put his whole confidence in God, never presuming upon his own strength; to have always in his eye the prize of his high calling; to order his life according to the rules of the Gospel; and, as much as may be, to be at peace with all his fellow-travellers.

These are a christian's defence; with these he conquers his enemies, and with these he grows every day stronger in the Lord, and in the power of His might.

But then, to preserve and to increase his faith and other graces, he diligently reads or hears God's Word (for faith comes by hearing); he earnestly prays God to increase his faith, his hope, and his charity; he keeps a careful watch

(like a good soldier of Jesus Christ) over his appetites and passions, that Satan may not get an advantage over him; and by this means, and the aids of God's Spirit, he is secure from fear of evil.

And be assured, good christians, that it is well worth your while to be at this pains, whether you consider the happiness you shall attain, or the miseries you shall escape. Heaven and Hell are words in every body's mouth, while few lay it to heart what is meant by the one or the other. But one or the other of these two must be the portion of every man ; so that it mightily concerns every man to look to it, lest that be his portion which he least thinks of.

Now, God having mercifully furnished us with means of securing us against the worst that can happen, our duty and interest is, to make use of those means with the seriousness of people that hope to be saved; with the concern of people that see their danger among so many temptations; with the cheerfulness of people who hope for eternal happiness; and lastly, with the courage of christians who have the Almighty for their helper.

By this, good christians, we may, any of us, make a judgment of ourselves, whether we are in the way of salvation or not. If in truth we are, why then the care of our souls will take up much of our thoughts, and put us upon ways, and resolutions, and contrivances, for doing what we know is necessary for our eternal welfare. If, on the other hand, our hearts are full of the world, and all our thoughts and endeavours tend that way, why then depend upon it, we are not in the way of life, and we ought not to be easy under such circumstances.

And since we are encompassed on every side with dangers, and exposed to temptations both from within and from without, let us not depend on our own strength, but beg continually of God to keep us resolute and constant to the vows that are upon us and then God will increase our faith, our hope, our confidence, and all other graces, which are necessary to bring us to heaven; whither the good Lord bring us all, through Jesus Christ, &c.

SERMON XXVI.

THE NECESSITY OF COMING TO SOME CERTAINTY WHETHER WE
ARE IN THE WAY OF SALVATION OR NOT.

O Holy Spirit of Grace; I implore Thy assistance, that I may speak upon this important subject, so as to be understood, so as to touch the heart, so as to edify those that shall hear me. And grant that I may never forget to try and examine my own faith by those marks which I propose to others; and that I may be an example in faith and life; for Jesus Christ's sake. Amen.

2 COR. xiii. 5.

See Matt. Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; [that is, Whether ye be true christians, and in the way of salvation; whether your lives be according to your profession.]

7. 21, 22; John 14. 1; Acts 23. 1; Rom. 8. 16; 2 Cor. 5.7; Gal. 6. 3,4;

My Christian brethren, I am going to lay before you the 2 Tim.2.19; absolute necessity, as we hope for heaven, of coming to 1 John 3.21. some certainty, whether we are in the way of salvation

James 2.17;

or not.

Every body must own, that it is a matter of great concern for a man to know, whether his faith is such as it should be; such as will please God; such as will influence our lives, and fit us for heaven. I need not therefore use many words to prevail with you to attend very seriously to what you are going to hear.

One cannot, in charity, but conclude, that any one of you would part with his life, sooner than he would renounce his faith and his Christianity. This being the general persuasion of all christians, that whoever renounces his faith, renounces all hopes of salvation. And so indeed he does. We [Mark 16. have the word of the Son of God for it: He that believeth 16.] not shall be damned.

But then let us have a great care of deluding ourselves, by fancying, that because we would not for all the world renounce our Christianity, that therefore we are such christians as we should be. For he only is a true christian, who believes as he should do, and leads a life agreeable to his faith.

Now, this ought to put every one of us upon examining ourselves, in very good earnest, whether we be in the faith ; that is, in other words, whether we be christians in deed and in truth, as well as in name? By doing this, we shall either have the comfort of knowing that we are in the way of happiness; or else we shall see our danger, which, through the grace of God, may awaken us, and put us upon a new course of life.

In order to this, we need not examine into the many disputes among christians, to settle our faith and our religion. We have a rule of faith, which will infallibly lead us to heaven and happiness, if our life be but answerable to our Creed. But that which I would propose to you, is a much surer way of knowing whether you are sound in the faith; that is, by examining, whether your life and conversation be [Phil.1.27.] such as becometh the Gospel of Christ?

If a man's life is bad, his faith cannot be such as it should be; if a man's life is truly Christian, it is a good sign that his faith is so too; that therefore which I would most earnestly press upon you, and which I would charge myself with, is this: First; to examine every man himself, and consider the great truths which we know, and profess to believe. And secondly, to examine very particularly what effect this faith has upon our lives.

To begin with what we know and believe concerning ourselves; that is, that we are a race of sinful creatures, sadly fallen from the condition in which we were most certainly at first created; that we have within us the seed of every sin whatever; that we are prone to evil continually; that we are by nature the children of wrath; and that, as such, God can [Eph. 2.3.] take no pleasure in us.

Will it not be expected, that every one, who knows and believes this, should be very humble, and very thankful to God, who did not overlook lost mankind when they had brought themselves into this sad condition?