modefty, and humility; he thinks foberly of himself according to what he ought to think: but he doth purfue his faith with vigour and activity; he does those things that become a man to do, that profeffes himself to be fatisfied and fully perfuaded; his. profeffion and principle and practice, they are all right and uniform, all rational, and confiftent one with another, and there is no interfering. But L have been all this while in generals, and I remember in philofophy, we have a good rule that faith, all fallacy lies in univerfals. There is no man prickt in his confcience by telling him only that he is a finner at large, and in general. Therefore this being a practical point, you fhall give me leave to inftance in certain particulars, and they fhall be but few : but main and principal, and fuch which are of that importance, and indifpenfible neceffity, that I cannot abfolve any man from the leaft of them, be he of any capacity or under any dispensation whatfoever. I fay I cannot abate him any of them. Therefore these three things I charge upon every living foul in pursuit of his faith of the refurrection ; and if he fail in these, he is a pretender to the faith of the future ftate, and not serious in his religion, or really confcientious. The firft of the three is this:

1. In the fear of God, carefully to avoid all known evil; for this I find to be a character that God himfelf gave of Job i. 1. That he did fear God, and efchew evil And if fo be through temptation, or affault, or mistake, or through human infirmity, or occafional indifpofition, a man be disturbed; yet then he doth after a time, when he is at leisure, re

cover himself, and renew himself by repentance. This is the first it is necessary upon account of religion and confcience, that every body that pretends to the faith of the gofpel, or makes profeffion of it, that he do live exactly according to the difference of good and evil; that is, that which he doth know to be evil, he do carefully and confcientiously avoid. But,

2. As he muft avoid that which is evil ; fo out of love to God, and in compliance with his nature and will, he must do all known good. Out of fear of God, he must decline evil; and out of love to God, and defire to fulfil his will, and to comply with him, and to please him, he must charge himfelf to do all known good, and to perform all known duty and this is, in fcripture-language, to walk with God and to live in all good confcience.

then,

But

3. To fubmit, and refer the ordinaries of life, things that may lawfully be done in time and meafure, to ferve and advance our future eftate, which is our great concernment. These three, are the fundamentals of religion; and confequently, are all of them indispensably neceffary; they are of univerfal concernment, and they take in all and every one; and ought to be obferved in all times, and all places, and by all perfons: and a man that is not throughout in these three, that cannot acquit and approve himself to God in them, he is not qualified, not capable to move a question about uncertain and difputable matters: but he is as ridiculous as he was in the sense of the great philosopher, that being in a deep and deadly disease, came to the

physician

physician to know how he might be cured of the reduvia or little loose flesh about his nail: fo is every man that troubles himself with queftions, and disputes about matters of religion, that is not thorough-paced in thefe three: he deceives himself, and that which he faith is naufeous, fulfome, and troublesome to any fober chriftian. And I cannot account any man a right believer or true chriftian, that is not found in the practice of these three things, viz. carefully to avoid all known evil; and to perform all known good and a watchfulness over himfelf to fubordinate the lawful affairs of life, things that may be done in measure and degree; to fubordinate thefe to that which is main and principal, viz. The faving of the foul in eternity. For thefe three are the things that we understand when we fpeak of religion, and confcience in the subject, and without violation of the rules of charity, we may fay, that he which fails in thefe, falls fhort of the deferved repute or efteem of an honeft and confcientious believer. And thus I have brought generals to particulars, and fhewn that it becomes every man that profeffeth the faith of the gofpel, the faith of the refurrection, to charge himself with all those things that are pursuant in thefe. It becomes him

to have a modeft fenfe of himself, but in the use of means to charge himself with great diligence, and to live in attendance upon God, and expectation of his influence, and affiftance; and particularly he is to charge himself with these three things, moft religiously and conftantly to avoid all known evil, and perform all known duty, and the doing of that good

that

that his judgment and confcience tells him he ought to do; and in the ordinaries of life, things that may lawfully be done in measure and degree, to fubordinate thefe to ferve and advance the intereft of his foul in eternity, which is his main and great concernment; and this is unqueftionable, indubitable, and indispensible in religion; and if there be a failure

in

any of these, a man cannot approve himself, for a man of honefty and integrity to God; a man of good confcience ; a man that is in a temper and in order to eternal life, nor in a true ftate of religion. And fo I have done with the fecond propofition, and Come to the third.

III. Which was this, where he profeffeth his humility, there he engageth himself to industry and diligence and where he doth this, he doth acknowledge the grace of God: that I may apprehend that for which I am aprehended; which words import three things concerning the grace of God.

First, They intimate the priority of God's grace; that his grace doth first lay hold of us, and prevent

us.

Secondly, They intimate the freeness of God's grace; for he was apprehended before he did apprehend, therefore he had no antecedent merit, nothing on his part that did procure: and,

Thirdly, The efficacy of God's grace, that he was apprehended. And what shall Isay more? if God be first in his grace, and do all voluntarily and freely without antecedent merit, or after recompence; and on purpose for our good; are we not then behalden to him, and may we not fay with the a

poftle,

poftle, By grace I am what I am, 1 Cor. xv. 10. and that I live, yet not I, but Chrift liveth in me? Gal. ii. 20. I formerly fpake fomewhat to this; but now it comes more directly in my way. I shall endeavour to fatisfy all men.

The grace and favour of God expreffeth it self in a way of benevolence and compaffion, or in a way of love and complacency. That of benevolence and compaffion prevents all our application to God and converfion to him; for God fo loved the world, that he gave his only begotten fon, that whofoever believes in him, should not perish, but have everlasting life, John iii. 16. When we were in a state of fin and unregeneracy, God did bear us good-will, to wit he bare the affection of benevole nce, he had compaffion for us. But the love of complacency and delight, that is fubfequent to our regeneration; for it is repugnant, that God fhould take pleasure in us, till we do harmonize with him, which is by our regeneration, and being made like him, and comformable to him. And the grace of God is taken, both for his favour and good inclination towards us, and alfo for his divine affiftance; and the former is that which is the cause of the latter; for out of God's benevolence and com. paffion, he doth afford aid and affistance: upon that score he doth awaken us, call upon us, and excite us; he doth both begin, go on, and confummate. The Very first beginning of a good mind is from the grace of God; we are not only prevented, but promoted by him, and every good work is perfected by the continuance of divine grace. We cannot acknowledge the grace of God too much, provided we do

it