ETERNAL Salvation is a matter of the greatest Concern to every Sinner. And accordingly this In­quiry in the Text is usu­ally the first and great Inquiry of every one, that is thoroughly convinced of the mise­rable [Page 2] and wretched state he is in by Na­ture. The apprehensions he has of his own Sin and Guilt, fill him with the deepest Concern about the state of his poor Soul and another World: And he desires nothing so much as to know, what means he must use, or what course to take, to escape the Damnation of Hell, and come to enjoy the Happiness of Heaven. This is a Subject that employs his tho'ts day and night. And he frequently thinks with himself, What a miserable Condition am I in? What shall I do in this sad state? How shall I get out of it? What Course shall I take for this end? And he is ready to ask these Questions of every one whom he thinks able to give him any Light and Direction in a matter of so great Importance.

AND in hopes this is the Case with many of my Hearers at this day (having lately had the same loud call from GOD in His Providence, to awaken and rouse you as the Jaylor had in our Context,) I shall consider the Inquiry before us: And in the Prosecution of it, give the most full and satisfactory answer I can, to those who make it in earnest.

BUT before I come to the Point in hand, I shall briefly consider the Con­text; [Page 3] and so lead you to the Occasion of the Words themselves. And here if we look back to the ninth verse of this Chapter, we shall find the Apostle Paul had been called by God in a vision to go over into Macedonia: which call he im­mediately obey'd; and soon came to Philippi, the chief City of Macedonia, and a Colony, (ver. 10.12.) And being arriv­ed thither, he improved the first oppor­tunity he had to preach the Gospel of CHRIST, (ver. 13.) Whereupon follows an account of the success of his Ministry in the Conversion of Lydia, and his cast­ing out an evil spirit that had possest a Damsel in those parts, ( ver. 14,— 19.) But her Masters had made their Advan­tage of her heretofore by her Divination, ( ver 16.) they were enraged at the A­postle for the loss they sustained in her Conversion to Christianity; and so rais­ed a grievous Persecution against the A­postle and Silas, his Companion and Fellow-labourer. Upon which they were both cruelly scourged, and cast into Pri­son, by order of Government ( ver. 22, 23.) This being done; the Jaylor to make good his Trust, thrust them into the inner Prison, or Dungeon, where none were usually put but condemned Malefactors: but as if this were not enough, he made [Page 4] their feet fast in the Stocks; resolving to load them with all the indignity and misery he could do. Under this cruel treatment those Servants of CHRIST took Courage, and comforted themselves in GOD; rejoycing, no doubt, that they were counted worthy to suffer such shame for the sake of their dear LORD. And therefore we read in ver. 25. At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God; and with so loud and chearful a Voice that the Prisoners heard them. Whereupon GOD immediately appeared in a very awful and surprizing manner, both to vindicate the Innocence of his suffering Servants, and to testify his great Displeasure at their malicious Persecutors. For we read in ver. 26. And suddenly there was a great Earthquake; so that the foundations of the Prison were shaken. How far there might be the ministry of second Causes in this amazing Dispensa­tion, we know not: but yet this we are sure of, there was the Hand of Heaven remarkably in it; and something very extraordinary, if not miraculous, as ap­pears by the Effects, or rather the Atten­dants of it: For it is said in this same verse, And immediately all the doors were opened, and every ones bonds were loosed. It is pro­bable this opening the Doors of the [Page 5] Prison, and loosing the bands of the Pri­soners were not by the violence of the Earthquake, but by the ministry of an Angel; as in Peters case, Act. 5.19. But yet they were effected at the same Instant when the Walls of the Prison, and no doubt all the Houses in the Town were tottering and ready to tumble into Ruins, by the dreadful Quaking of the Earth un­der them: And by this means the Dispen­sation appeared more awful and amazing. And now as to the Effects of this surpri­zing Providence upon the Minds of Men: There is no Question to be made, but all the People in the City were thrown into an amazing Fright by it; as we were t'other Night by the like Dispensation. But my Text leads me to consider only the Case of the Jaylor; and the Im­pressions it made upon him. And accord­ingly we read in ver. 27th. That the Keeper of the Prison awaked out of sleep; 'tis likely by the great Shock of the Earth­quake; and seeing the Prison Doors open, he supposed at first, as well he might, that all the Prisoners were fied. And this fill'd him with new Terrors; for tho' the Earth had not opened her mouth and swallowed him alive, as a minute or two before he tho't it wou'd have done, yet now he ap­prehended himself in fresh hazard of losing [Page 6] his Life, and in a most ignominious man­ner, by the hands of the Magistrates; for the Roman Law was very severe in this case, and made it a Capital Crime for a Prison-keeper to let any of his Prisoners escape. And accordingly the Severity of it had, not long before, been executed upon the Keepers, out of whose hands the Apostle Peter had escaped, Act. 12.19. And therefore to avoid that kind of Death, the Jaylor at first attempted in a most un­natural manner to lay violent hands on himself: for he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself: See ver. 27. But Paul perceiving the intended Tra­gedy cried out with a loud voice, and said to the poor distressed Wretch, Do thy self no harm: for we are all here, ver. 28. This voice of the Prisoner was Life from the Dead to the Keeper of the Prison; whereupon he immediately laid aside his vile Purpose of murdering himself; and being at once convinced of the Innocency of Paul and Silas; of the truth of their Religion, and of the Almighty Power of that GOD who had so signally appeared for them, He immediately called for a Light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before these Servants of the most HIGH GOD, in token of Reverence and Respect to them, And being at the same [Page 7] time also convinced in a very wonderful manner of his own sinful and wretched state, and the hazard he was in of losing his Soul forever; He puts this most seri­ous and important Question to them in the words of my Text,— Sirs, What must I do to be saved? He was now in as great Concern for the Life of his preci­ous Soul, as just before he had been in, for the Life of his Body: And he knew of none so fit, as Paul and Silas, to apply to for Counsel and Direction in this most important Affair. And therefore apply'd to them, in the most respectful manner, for their speedy Help & Direction in this Case, Sirs, What must I do &c? He was willing now to take any Advice, and to do any thing; yea, every thing in his power for the Salvation of his Soul: and therefore how to obtain this, was become his first and chief Enquiry. Thus the Providence of GOD, that had just before like to have cost him and many more their Lives, prov'd a merciful Dispensati­on to him: GOD made it a means to awaken him to purpose; and brought him hereby to Inquire in earnest after Eternal Life. And since (as I hope) this is the very Case with a considerable Number both here and elsewhere, at this Time; [Page 8] I shall speak to this DOCTRINE from the Text, as a Word in Season to you,—

Namely,

DOCT. WHENEVER a Sinner is thoroughly Convinced of his Sin and Danger, he is won't to make this his first and great Inquiry, What must I do to be Saved?

So did the Jaylor in our Text; being brought into deep Convictions by the surprizing Providence of GOD, as you have heard. And so did the three thou­sand that were Convinced, at one time, by an awakning Sermon of the Apostle Pe­ter. The story of which we find in the second Chapter of the Acts: Where we have a brief account of the Sermon he preach'd to them, from the 14 th. to the 16 th. verse inclusively. And then we have an account of the impression it made upon them in ver. 27 th. Now when they heard this they were pricked in their heart, i.e. They were deeply convinced, by the Word, of their Sin and Guilt. And upon this it follows, They said unto Peter, and the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, What shall we do? That is, What shall we do to be saved? The Question is of the same import with that in the Text. [Page 9] They were now made sensible, they were sinful, guilty, undone Creatures in them­selves, and stood in infinite need of eter­nal Salvation: and upon this Conviction, the very first thing they inquire after, is, What they shall do to obtain the Pardon of their Sins, and the Salvation of their Souls. And we may observe the like Concern in the Apostle Paul, at his Con­version, in the ninth Chapter of the Acts. He was convinced of his sin and danger, by a voice immediately from Heaven, saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why perse­cutest thou me? ver. 4. And he was no sooner made sensible from whence the voice came, and what the design of it was, but with trembling & astonishment, at the prospect of his Sin and Guilt, he cries out, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? As if he had said, Lord, my way has been perverse before thee; I have greatly dishonoured and offended thee by my Sins; and exposed my self to thy dreadful wrath and vengeance; Oh, what shall I do? Lord, teach me what Course to take, to get my Sins pardoned and my Peace made with thee. Teach me how to live and walk that so I may glorify thee in this World, and enjoy thy Salva­tion in the World to come. And thus if you meet with any Sinner that has been [Page 10] once thoroughly convinced of his Sin and Danger, either by the Word or Providence of GOD, you will soon find, that this is the great Inquiry he is in pursuit of; and what he desires above every thing to be resolved in; namely, What shall I do be saved? What Course shall I steer? What Steps shall I take? What Means shall I make use of, that may prove effectual for this End? This is enough to prove the Truth of the Point.

HERE then in the Prosecution of this Subject, I shall observe the following Method.

I. I Shall show, when a Sinner may be said to be thoroughly Convinced of his Sin and Danger.

II. WHAT is implied in that Salvation, which such a Sinner so earnestly inquires after.

III. SHOW the Necessity and Impor­tance of the Sinners making this his first and great Inquiry. And then,

IV. SHOW what Steps a poor Con­vinced Sinner must take to obtain Eternal Life, in answer to that Inquiry in the Text, What must I do to be saved?

I. I Shall show when a poor Sinner may be said to be thoroughly Convinced [Page 11] of his Sin and Danger: or what this CONVICTION implies in it.

AND here there are these Four things principally included in it.

1. A deep sense of the evil and accursed Nature of Sin. Sin in it self is the very worst of Evils. There is nothing so odi­ous in the nature of it, as Sin is. 'Tis far worse than any Evil of Punishment can be: for tho' penal Evil be destructive of the Creatures Happiness; yet, as it is a Correction for Sin, and never inflicted by GOD but when Sins calls for it, there is both Reason and Justice in it. But Sin can in no sense be said to be good: For, in the very Nature of it, 'tis directly op­posite to all that is holy, just and good. It is contrary to the most pure and blessed Nature of GOD; contrary to His just and righteous Law; and is followed with the whole train of penal Evils, as the proper Demerit of it. And therefore he that has a due Conviction of Sin, has been a­wakened by the Spirit of GOD to see something of the odious and accursed Nature of Sin, as it is in it self. GOD has given him to see Sin in its horrid Con­trariety to His most holy Nature & Law; and that it deserves to be hated & ought to be abandoned on the account thereof. And accordingly, He is wounded to the [Page 12] Heart to think how injurious Sin is to GOD; How it opposes His holy Will; affronts His supream Authority; Disho­nours His sacred Name; and so how hate­ful it is to GOD on the account hereof. And from hence he can't but see and own the unreasonable and odious Nature of Sin: and is ready at the Prospect of it to cry out, ‘Oh, the accursed Thing! I hate the Name, I abhor the Nature of it: I now loath the Garments spotted with it; and if it were possible, I would not have my Heart, nor my Hands de­filed with it for ten thousand Worlds. Nay, in the Mind I am now in, I would suffer any Affliction and Pain rather than touch the accursed Thing.’ And so under this Conviction the Sinner is put upon flying from Sin as far as he can, and upon escaping as many of the Temp­tations to it as he can do: And makes that Prayer to GOD, which CHRIST has taught us in this Case, Math. 6.13. Lord, Lead me not into Temptation, but deliver me from Evil: from the Evil of Sin, which is so hateful in thy sight. Again,

2. IN this Conviction there is a just sense of the dreadful Demerit and Tenden­cy of Sin. For as Sin is a Transgression of the Law of GOD, and casts all manner of Reproach upon His Sacred Name and [Page 13] Ways: there is no Punishment too severe to be inflicted on the Guilty. For the Nature of Sin is such, "that it deserves the Wrath and Curse of GOD both in this Life, and in that which is to come". And accordingly, they that are guilty of it, are cursed by the Law of GOD, Gal. 3.10. Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things that are written in the book of the Law to do them. And they are doom'd to die on the account of it, Gen. 2.17. In the day thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. And Rom. 6.23. The wages of sin is Death. This Death includes in it all outward Evils & Miseries in this World, from the least Pain of a Finger to the Death of the Body. Again, it includes in it all spiritual Plagues and Judgments in this Life; such as the An­ger of GOD; the Frowns of His Face; the Stings and Lashes of the Sinners own Conscience; and GOD's delivering him up into the Hands of His spiritual Ene­mies, to be tyranized over, and hurried by them to Eternal Ruine. And therefore it also includes in it, the Everlasting De­struction of Soul and Body in Hell; which is eternal Death, and the thing principal­ly intended in the Threatning and Curse that is due for Sin. All this the convinced Sinner has an affecting Apprehension of; [Page 14] and can't but own the Justice and Righ­teousness of GOD in ordatning such a se­vere Punishment for the workers of Ini­quity. And therefore,

3. IN this Conviction the Sinner has a deep Sense of his own Guilt and Pollu­tion by Sin. For Sin is not only the most hateful Thing in itself, and so deserves the Curse of GOD: but we are all of us horribly infected with the Plague of Sin, and deserve the Vengeance of Heaven our selves. For as the Prophet observes, We are all of us as an unclean thing, Isai. 64.6. From the Crown of the Head even to the sole of the Feet, there is no spiri­tual soundness in us; nothing but wounds and bruises and putrifying sores, Isai. 1.6. And our Lives are naturally among the unclean. And being thus polluted with Sin, we deserve nothing but Wrath and Death on the account of it. And so are said to be by Nature, the Children of Wrath, Eph. 2.3. Now in true Con­viction, the Sinner has a deep sense of this his Pollution and Guilt by reason of Sin. GOD has set his Iniquities in order before him; and bro't him to see what a vile Transgressor he has been. And ac­cordingly the Convinced Sinner is sensi­ble of the Sins both of his Heart & Life▪ He sees in some good measure what an [Page 15] evil Heart He has in him; an Heart full of mity to GOD, of Indisposition to that which is Good, and inclined to all that is Evil. And as such an Heart can bring forth no good Fruit; so he sees that out of the evil Treasure of his Heart, he has brought forth nothing but Evil in his past Life and Conversation: He sees that his Days have been fill'd up with acts of Rebellion against GOD; that his Sins have been many and exceedingly aggra­vated; that he has sinned against the Light of his own Conscience; sinned a­gainst the Calls and Warnings of GOD, against His Mercies and Judgments, and the like. And so he stands ready to confess with the returning Prodigal, in Luk. 15.21. Father I have sinned against Heaven, and in thy sight. And as he sees himself so great a Sinner, so he appre­hends his own Pollution by Sin. He just­ly concludes himself a most vile and abo­minable Creature: and knows that GOD has infinite reason to abhor him forever And this sense of his own vileness makes him to loath himself for his own Iniqui­ties; and to confess with Job, Behold, I am vile — I abhor my self, and repent in Dust and Ashes, Chap. 40.4.42.6. And with this sense of Pollution he conceives his own dreadful Guilt by reason of Sin. [Page 16] He knows that he justly deserves Wrath and Hell on the account of his Trans­gressions: and sees all the Curses and Threatnings that are written in the Book of Gods Law standing in full force against him: and so apprehends himself a Misera­ble Condemned Wretch: one that has run a swift Race in Sin, and been ripen­ing apace for the Damnation of Hell. And so with the Jaylor in the Context, he trembles at the prospect of that Wrath that is due to him for his Sins; and can truly say with David, in Psal. 119.120. My flesh trembleth for fear of thee: and I am afraid of thy judgments. Thus in true Conviction the Sinner has a deep sense of his own Pollution and Guilt by Sin.

And then,

4. Lastly. IN this Conviction the Sin­ner is deeply sensible of his own utter Inability to Help and Save himself. For a true Conviction of the evil Nature and Desert of Sin will soon bring a Sinner to see, that it is not in his own Power nor in the Power of any meer Creature to a­tone the Wrath of GOD for his Sins, and obtain his release from the Condemning Sentence of the Law. And therefore when the Convinced Sinner makes that Inquiry of himself, as we find in Mich. 5.6, 7. Wherewith shall I come before the [Page 17] Lord, and bow my self before the high God? Shall I come before him with burnt offer­ings; with calves of a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousand of rams, or with ten thousand rivers of oyl? Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He presently makes answer to himself, ‘Oh, no! all this can never be a proper Atonement for Sin. Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor the beasts thereof for a burnt offering. Nay, such is the Nature of my Sins, and the Nature of that GOD against whom I have sin­ned; that a Sacrifice of the whole Creation, if I had it to offer, could not satisfy Divine Justice for the least of my Offences.’ And then besides, would GOD accept the least good at our hands as an Atonement for Sin; He that is thoroughly Convinced, sees that he has nothing of his own, that has the least value in it; and that he can do no­thing of himself, that is any ways worthy of GOD's Acceptance. And therefore, he looks upon his own Righteousness but as filthy Rags, and can see no Hope, no Help for him in the compass of the Crea­tion.

THUS I have given you something of the Nature of true Conviction of Sin, [Page 18] whether it be wrought more immediately by the Word, or by any remarkable Pro­vidence of GOD. And whenever a poor Sinner is brought into this state of Con­viction, his first and great Inquiry is that in the Text, Sirs, What must I do to be saved? And this would naturally lead me now, to show, what is implied in that Salvation which such a Sinner so earnest­ly inquires after: which is the second Thing I proposed under the Doctrine. But I shall not enter into the Considera­tion of this Point at present. But con­clude with a brief Reflection or two up­on the first general Head, which I have spoken to.

Infer. 1. DOES Conviction of Sin im­ply in it such things as we have heard? Hence learn that this Conviction is the Work of the SPIRIT of GOD. Some are ready to impute their own Convicti­ons of Sin and Danger, and the Convicti­ons of others, to the power of Melancholy within them, or to the Malice of Satan without them, and so are for shaking off, and discouraging such Convictions in the beginnings of them, as much as they can. But, Sinner, Art thou Convinced in any measure, of the evil and accursed Nature of Sin, — of the fatal Tendency of it, [Page 19] and of thy own Pollution and Guilt by reason of it: This can never be the Work of Corrupt Nature; for that is always in love with Sin: nor the Work of the Devil, for his main Business is to hide your Sin and Danger from you; that he may make the easier and surer Prey of you to your everlasting undoing. Well then, it must be the Work of the Spirit of GOD. And whatever were the Means of thy Convictions, the Holy Spirit is the Au­thor and Efficient of them; and they are appropriated to Him in the Gospel of Christ. Joh. 16.8. And when the Spirit is come he will reprove or convince the world of sin &c. And we should accord­ingly ascribe all our Convictions to the Holy Spirit, and make proper Acknow­ledgments to Him on the account of them.

Hence,

Infer. 2. IS every one that is thorough­ly Convinced of his Sin & Danger won't to make this his first and great Inquiry, What must I do to be saved? Convinced Sinners should then bless GOD for their Convictions, and pursue the Inquiry after Eternal Salvation, 'till they see where there Help is to be found, and are ena­bled to put their trust in CHRIST for E­ternal Life. Has GOD brought any of [Page 20] you to a deep sense of your sinful and miserable state by Nature? Has He a­wakened this sense in you by His Word or Providence, or by both? Oh! Bless GOD herefor as the most merciful Dis­pensation of your whole Lives hitherto. And are you now brought to make that Inquiry, What shall I do to be saved? Oh, keep on in the Inquiry, 'till you come to a comfortable Issue in the matter. Pur­sue the Inquiry by searching into the Word of GOD, which shews poor Sinners the Way to Eternal Salvation. And ask of your Ministers and Christian Friends that have found the Way, and are walk­ing in the way to Eternal Life, What you must do to be saved? And if you are but in earnest and constant in this Inquiry, GOD will in His own Time enlighten and lead you in the Way Everlasting.

II. I Proceed to the Second ge­neral Head under the Doc­trine, and this is to show what is imply'd in that SALVATI­ON which the Convinced Sinner so ear­nestly enquires after. Every Sinner, as I said, that is timely Convinced, is bro't in­to deep Concern for Eternal Salvation. This is what he longs for, Enquires and Seeks after, while his Convictions abide by Him. It is worth while therefore to Enquire a little into the Nature of this Salvation, to see whether such a Sinner be Rational in his Desires and Pursuits. And accordingly, if we consider the Point a while, we shall find He has infinite Rea­son for the utmost Concern about it. For there are these two things in general im­ply'd in it.

[Page 22]1. A Deliverance from the Curse of the Law, to which every Sinner is obnoxious, by the breach of the first Covenant.

2. A sure Right and Title to the glo­rious and invaluable Priviledges and Be­nefits of the New-Covenant.

(1.) This Salvation comprehends in it, a Deliverance from the Curse of the Law, to which every Sinner is obnoxious by the Breach of the first Covenant. That God entred into Covenant with our first Parents before the Fall, is plain from the History of our Creation. For therein we find that as soon as God made man in his own Image, which consisted in Righte­ousness and true Holiness, He gave him a Law to walk by; a Law suited to the Dignity of the Great Law-giver and the State of the Subject. This Law was con­firm'd at the same time with the most for­cible Sanctions: with the Promise of Life on Condition of perfect and persevering Obedience, and with the Threatning of Death and Misery in Case of Disobedience. And these Terms, without Doubt were cheerfully submitted to by Man in a State of Innocency: and from hence resulted the Nature of a Covenant between God and Man. And this we call the first [Page 23] Covenant, or Covenant of Works. Now this Covenant was no sooner made be­tween God and Man, but it was broken on our part. The way and manner in which it was thus violated, is expresly declared to us in the Story of our shame­ful Apostacy from God: which you may read at large in the Third Chapter of Ge­nesis. This Breach of Covenant exposed poor Man at once to the whole Curse of the Law: For 'tis written Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things written in the book of the Law to do them, Gal. 3.10. The substance of this Curse, as I said be­fore, is Death of every kind. And there­fore the Evils contain'd in it are incon­ceivably great and dreadful. It implies in it a forfeiture of all the Good, the Sin­ner has in Possession, or ever had a Right and Title to; and a subjection to all Po­sitive Evil. For he that is under the Curse of the Law, has forfeited and lost the Fa­vour of GOD, and lies open to all the a­mazing strokes of revenging Justice. And therefore the Sinner deserves, and so the least he has any Reason to expect from the Hands of an holy Sin-revenging GOD, is eternal Indignation & Wrath, Tribula­tion and Anguish: and he has no other rational Prospect before him, but a certain [Page 24] fearful looking for of Judgment, and fiery Indignation, which shall devour the Ad­versary. See Heb. 10.27. This is the la­mentable Condition of every one that is under the Curse; and so the doleful state of every one of us by Nature. And it is upon this deplorable account alone, that we stand in need of Salvation. For had we never violated the holy Law of GOD, we had for ever been secure in the Favour and Enjoyment of GOD, which is Life Eternal. But by the most perfidious Breach of GOD's Covenant, we have brought our selves into the depth of that Misery, I have now described. And it is not possible we should ever be happy without a compleat Redemption from it. And therefore the Salvation we are speak­ing of necessarily implies this Redemption in it.

Here then I shall say,

1. THIS Salvation implies in it, a Deli­verance from Sin and Lust. As Man's A­postacy from GOD, & the miserable state he is fallen into, began with his Sin and Rebellion against GOD; so from that time Sin took a full Possession of our Na­ture, and set up an absolute Empire, in e­very unregenerate Sinner. And therefore [Page 25] all such Sinners are said to be the servants of Sin, Rom. 6.17. Now, tho' carnal Sinners themselves are not sensible of it; this subjection to Sin and Lust is the great­est part of the Misery we are plung'd in­to by the Fall. For as Sin at first brought down the Curse of GOD upon us; so this subjection to Sin keeps us still under the Curse; and there is no getting free from the Chains of it, but by getting loose from the Power and Dominion of Sin. And therefore a Deliverance in this res­pect is essential to the Sinners Salvation. And accordingly the Heirs of Salvation are said to be made free from Sin, Rom. 6.18. i.e. They are delivered from the reign­ing Power and Dominion of Sin, and in part from the Pollution of it, in their Re­generation and Sanctification by the Spirit of GOD, while they are in this World, and they shall be wholly freed from the Rage and Tyranny of Sin, from the Pollution and De­filement of it, and from the very in-being of it, in the World to come. And this is so glorious a part of our Salvation, that the Saint longs for nothing more than to be thus entirely and everlastingly set at Liberty from Sin, and therefore he daily groans out his Desires in that pathetical Language, Rom. 6.24. Oh, wretched man [Page 26] that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

Again,

2. IT implies in it a Deliverance from the Power of our spiritual Enemies. While Sinners are under the Curse of GOD's Law they are in slavery to the Powers of Darkness. And therefore are called the Children of the Devil, and said to do his Lusts, Joh. 8.44. And the Devil himself is called, the Prince of the power of the Air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of Disobedience, Eph. 2.2. Now this is a doleful part of that Misery which the Apostacy has thrown us into. For while Sinners are in this slavery to the Powers of Darkness, they are Enemies to GOD, and are hurried on by the Devil in their Rebellion against Heaven, and so are ripening apace for the vengeance of Eternal Fire; where, without timely Repentance, the wicked Spirits that now rule in them, will be their Tormentors for ever and ever. And therefore a De­liverance from the Power of these our spiritual Enemies, is a necessary part of the Sinners Eternal Salvation. And ac­cordingly the Saints of the most High, are said to be saved from the hands of their spiritual Enemies, and from the hand of all [Page 27] that hate them. And again, to be deliver­ed out of their hands, Luk. 1.71, 74. This Deliverance is begun in this World; and every true Believer is translated, by the Grace of GOD, out of the Kingdom of Satan into the Kingdom of his dear Son, Col. 1.13. And therefore tho' Satan may assault and buffet him, by his Temptati­ons, and sometimes foil him in his Com­bat with him, yet, he shall never more have Dominion over the Saint. For GOD will finally crown all His Children with everlasting Victory and Triumph in His eternal Kingdom, Rev. 3.21. Now this part of our Salvation is what eve­ry true Believer longs and prays for. For he meets with so great Opposition at pre­sent from the Powers of Darkness, and so much Difficulty and Distress from them in his Christian Race, that he would give ten thousand Worlds to be conducted safely beyond the reach of them.

And then,

3. THIS Salvation implies a deliver­ance from the Guilt of Sin and the Con­demning Sentence of Gods Righteous Law. Now the Guilt of Sin is nothing less than the Sinners Obligation to suffer the dreadful Penalty that is due for Sin. [Page 28] And accordingly while the Sinner is un­der the Power of Guilt, he is under the Condemning Sentence of God's holy Law, and doom'd to suffer all the Plagues and Curses that are written in it. And there­fore all unbelievers are said to be condem­ned already, Joh. 3.18. Now in the Sinners Salvation, this Guilt is removed by a Pardon, and the Condemning Sen­tence of the Law is taken off in his Jus­tification by the Righteousness of Christ. And agreeably, we read in Rom. 8.1. There is therefore now no Condemnation to them that are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. And this is so great and necessary a part of our Salvation that a poor convinced Sinner, who has a true sight and sense of his own Sins; and sees what a guilty Condemned Wretch he is, wou'd freely give all he has in the World, to have any Assurance that his Sins were Pardoned, and that he shall not be Condemned for them at the awful Tribunal of Christ at the great Day.

And accordingly,

4. Lastly, THIS Salvation implies in it everlasting security from the amazing wrath and vengeance of GOD in the World to come. As every unregenerate Sinner is under the Guilt of Sin and the Con­demning [Page 29] Sentence of Gods Law; so he is every Moment in infinite Hazard of fall­ing under the dreadful weight of His Eter­nal Indignation. And therefore such Sin­ners are expresly called the children of Wrath, Eph. 2.3. And what a fearful thing is it, thus to fall into the hands of the living GOD! And what wou'd not a poor Condemned Sinner give, to obtain full security from this tremendous Wrath to come? Now in that glorious Salvati­on which is offered to us in the Gospel, this Security is contain'd, and every Saint shall eternally be delivered from the Wrath of GOD, and the Torments of Hell in the World to come. This is cer­tain from the words of our Saviour Him­self, Joh. 5.24. Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death to life. And thus you see in these Particulars, what the Sinners Deliverance from the Curse of the Law implies in it; and how great and neces­sary a part it is of our Eternal Salvation. Nay, this Deliverance from the Curse is the first and most proper notion we have of Salvation. But then as this Salvation is apply'd to the Case of Apostate Man's Recovery by JESUS CHRIST; it compre­hends [Page 30] in it all the Happiness Believers shall ever attain to in and thro' Him.

And therefore,

(2.) THE other great and Comprehen­sive Article in our Salvation, is, a Right and Title to all the Priviledges contain­ed in the New Covenant. It is no more certain, That GOD entred into a Cove­nant of Works with Man at his Creation; the Priviledges of which we forfeited and lost by the Apostacy; than it is evident, He has graciously condescended to enter into a New Covenant with us, in & thro' a Mediator: which we usually call the Covenant of Grace. Now in this Cove­nant we have not only the offer of ever­lasting Security from all the Miseries of the Fall (which we spake to under the former Head:) but there are many other glorious and inestimable Priviledges con­tained in it: which we call the Positive Blessings of the New Covenant; and are essential to eternal Salvation.

And agreably I shall say,

1. OUR Eternal Salvation implies in it the Renovation and Sanctification of our Natures. For every Sinner that is bro't [Page 31] into a state of Salvation, is made a new Creature. All old things are done away, and behold all things are become new in him. Hence he is said to put off con­cerning the former Conversation, the old man, which is corrupt according to deceit­ful lusts: and to be renewed in the spirit of his mind; and to put on the new man, which after God is created in righteous­ness and true holiness, Eph. 4.22, 23, 24. And this is the Work of Almighty Power and Grace: and therefore they that are thus renewed are said to be born of the Spirit, Joh. 3.5. And that Work which is so happily begun in Regeneration, is daily carried on to greater Degrees of Perfection in the renewed Sinners Sancti­fication; and this also being wrought by the Spirit of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, Believers are said to be sanctified in him, 1 Cor. 1.2. Now this Renovation and Sanctification of a Sinner is the beginning of Eternal Salvation. For the Applica­tion of Redemption by CHRIST begins in it. And when a Sinner is thus Created a new in Christ Jesus, he is brought im­mediately to enjoy many of the Privi­ledges of Redemption, and obtains a sure Title to all the rest of them.

Hence,

[Page 32]2. THIS Salvation implies in it Peace with GOD, in and thro' JESUS CHRIST. For as the Fall set Man at an infinite Distance from God, and bred an Enmity between them; which proves fatal to every Sinner, that dies in his Natural Condition: so whenever a poor Sinner is brought into a state of Salvation, this Enmity between GOD and the Sinner is removed, and they are brought into a state of Reconciliation one to another. For the renewed Man, having the Image of GOD stampt upon him, has no longer any reigning Enmity in his Heart against GOD, but loves and delights in Him from that Day forward; and accordingly, GOD pardons and justifies, and so is at Peace with the Sinner, from the moment he is enabled to close in with Christ by Faith. Hence that in Rom. 5.1. Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God, thro' our Lord Jesus Christ. And there­fore this Peace is another glorious Arti­cle in the Saint's Salvation, and fills him with Joy unspeakable whenever he has a sense of it. And then,

3. THIS Salvation includes the Saint Adoption in it. For every one that is re­newed by the Spirit of GOD, and bro't in­to [Page 33] a state of Peace with Him, thro' Jesus Christ, is also taken into the Number of his Children. Joh. 1.12. But as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God: even to them that believe on his name. And this is a very comprehensive Article in the Saints Sal­vation: For as soon as ever the Believer is bro't into the Relation of a Child to GOD, he has the Nature and Spirit of a Child given to him: He has the Holy Fear and Love, the Reverence and De­light of a Child in him; and receives the Spirit of Adoption, whereby he is ena­bled to go to GOD as his Heavenly Fa­ther, and open all the Wants, and Fears, and Burdens of his poor distressed Soul before him. And on the other hand, GOD has the tender Compassions & Bow­els of a Father towards those whom he graciously Adopts. And accordingly, His Ear is always open to hear their Cries to Him for Mercy. He pities them under all their Distresses; Comforts them under all their Sorrows; Supports them under all their Weaknesses; and supplies all their Necessities for them: and has more­over provided a Glorious Inheritance for them in His Eternal Kingdom. This with much more of the like Nature is included in the Saints Adoption. And [Page 34] therefore this Article of Adoption is one of the most Glorious Privileges of the New-Covenant. And then,

4. THIS Salvation implies all that Grace and Strength that is necessary to help and assist the Saint to the end of his Christian Race. For as the Saint has a great deal to do in the way to GOD's Kingdom: many Difficulties to encoun­ter; many Temptations to resist; many Enemies to conquer; many great and difficult Duties to engage in, and go thro' with; and no strength of his own equal to the least of them: He needs the special Presence of the Holy Spirit, to direct, assist and carry Him thro' all, to the Ho­nour and Acceptance of GOD▪ And accordingly, this is secured to the Belie­ver in the New-Covenant. As we find in Isai. 41.10. Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. And in 2 Cor. 12.9. My Grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. And therefore tho' the blessed Apostle Paul expressed the greatest sense of his utter Insufficiency to perform any Duty aright in his own strength, as we find in [Page 35] 2 Cor. 3.5. yet elsewhere he is confident in this, Phil. 4.13. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

And therefore,

5. THIS Salvation implies in it the full and eternal Enjoyment of all the Glory and Blessedness of HEAVEN in the World to come. This is the last and principal Thing contained in Eternal Salvation, and the Perfection of it. And the Hap­piness of those that enjoy it, is so great that 'tis not possible for any one to des­cribe it: Nay, 'tis so glorious, that Eye has not seen, nor Ear heard, neither has it entred into the Heart of man, in this mor­tal state, to conceive of the Things which God has prepared for them that love him, 1 Cor. 2.9. I will therefore only say, That the substance of it consists in the immediate, full, and eternal ENJOYMENT of GOD and CHRIST, in the Kingdom of Heaven. And therefore the Happiness flowing from thence must needs be an infinite Happiness. And accordingly Da­vid expresses it, by fulness of Joy, and Pleasures for evermore, Psal. 16.11. And assures himself in the last verse of the next Psalm; As for me, I shall behold thy face in Righteousness: I shall be satisfied when I awake with thy likeness.

[Page 36]AND thus, upon the whole, I have given you a short and imperfect Account of that Salvation, which is the subject-matter of the Inquiry in our Text. And this was the second Thing I proposed to speak to under the Doctrine.

And therefore,

III. I proceed now to the next General Head: And this is to show the Necessity and Importance of the Sinners making this Inquiry after Salvation his first and great Inquiry. And here I shall apply my self chiefly to such Sinners as are yet in a state of Carnal Security; and endea­vour, by some proper Considerations, to awaken in them that Conviction, which was spoken to under the first Head: and hereby bring them to inquire in earnest after that Salvation, which I gave you some Account of in the next place; and so make way for their close and serious Attention to that Solemn Advice which is the principal Subject of these Discour­ses. And there are these two or three Considerations, which I shall briefly men­tion; and which, by the Grace of GOD, may very much serve my present Design.

[Page 37]1. THE Nature of Eternal Salvation is such, that 'tis richly worth a while for every Sinner to be chiefly concern'd about it. For do but consider the short and imperfect Account I have given of this matter, under the last general Head; and then judge Whether there is any thing in the World to compare with this Salvation: Whether there are any Evils in this Life to compare with those which this Salva­tion delivers us from: Or whether any of the good things here below may stand in Competition with those which the Saint shall enjoy in the Possession of Eternal Life. I am sure there is no reasonable or considerate Person will own there is any Comparison between them. For whereas the greatest outward Evils we are liable to in this World, are said to be but light and moment any; the spiritual Plagues and Judgments the Sinner is sub­ject to, are intolerable and eternal. And whereas, on the other hand, the best things of time and sense, are fading and transitory in their Nature, and unsatis­factory in the Possession and Enjoyment of them; the Spiritual Priviledges and Blessings of our Redemption by CHRIST are Eternal in their Nature and Duration, and afford infinite Satisfaction to the Possessors of them. And now since Men, [Page 38] from the sensible Experience they have both of outward Prosperity and Adversity, are agreed in this, as an established Law of Nature, that 'tis both their Duty and Interest to escape as many of the Evils of Life, and enjoy as many of the Com­forts of it as they can, while they live; and scarce think any Pains too much, to accomplish their desire in these respects: it must needs be a matter of vastly greater Importance to them to seek after Eternal Blessedness. And when they have once secured an Interest in it, this will beyond all Comparison more richly Recompence their utmost Labour and Cost in the Pur­suit of it. Nay, the very least of all the peculiar Privileges and Blessings of the New Covenant, will be of infinitely greater Advantage to the Sinner, than if he had all the Riches, Honours, and Plea­sures of this Life at his Command. Where then shall we find the Tongue that has Eloquence enough to describe, or the Understanding that has Largeness enough to conceive, what the Believers Gains are, when he has once past from Death to Life? and so comes to enjoy all the precious Privileges of a state of Grace in this World? and has the Covenant Truth and Faithfulness of GOD to rely upon, for the immediate Possession and Enjoyment [Page 39] of all the Glories of Heaven, in the World to come? Oh then, as you would be wise for your selves, and lay out your Time and Strength to your infinite Advan­tage, let this Salvation be the great Sub­ject of your best Inquiry & Endeavours: and keep that Direction of the wise man always in your eye, Prov. 4.7. Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting, get understand­ing. Again,

2. THE Absolute need we stand in of Eternal Salvation may serve to convince you of the great Necessity & Importance of making this Inquiry after Salvation your first and great Inquiry. For Eternal Life is a matter of so great moment to every Sinner, that unless he obtains an Interest in it, he is undone for ever. For, as you heard before, by the Apostacy of our first Parents, we all of us fell under the dreadful Curse of the Law, and im­mediately became slaves to Sin, and sub­jects to the Powers of Darkness, in this World; and obnoxious to the Eternal Vengeance of GOD, in the World to come. And there is no getting loose from the Chains of Guilt and Wrath, but by an Interest in that Salvation we are speaking of. For as long as any Sinner [Page 40] continues in his natural state, his Heart is full of reigning Enmity against GOD and Holiness: He lives in Sin, and de­lights in nothing but Rebellion against GOD: and so daily treasures up to him­self Wrath against the Day of Wrath, and revelation of the righteous Judgment of GOD. And if he should die in this state of Nature, he'l die under the full weight of the Curse, and sink under the intole­rable Load, into endless, easeless and re­medilous Torments, beyond all possibility or hope of Recovery. And therefore, if you can think it any ways necessary for you to escape the insupportable Miseries and Torments of the bottomless Pit, you must think it equally necessary to inquire and seek after Eternal Salvation. For 'tis this alone that can set you at Liberty from the amazing Curse of the Law, and secure you from that Wrath of GOD which is infinitely more bitter than Death. This we are sure of, from what I said was contain'd in our Redemption by Christ. And now, Sinner, what do you think of the matter? Is Sal­vation necessary for you, or no? Or, are you still indifferent, whether you are ever delivered or not, from the eternal Wrath and Curse of an Almighty Sin-revenging GOD? I am sure if you are not fast [Page 41] asleep in Sin, you must have such a sense of the dreadful Wrath of GOD, that hangs over your Head, as to make you concern'd, above all things, to get out of the reach of it. And if your Conscience is but a­wake, as it should be, you can't but cry out in agony of Soul, Oh, what shall I do to be saved? How shall I escape the ama­zing Vengeance that is ready to fall upon me? and sink me down into Eternal Per­dition? And the rather for what I shall observe to you in the last place, Namely,

3. THERE is no obtaining an Interest in Eternal Salvation without making the Inquiry after it our first and great Inquiry. And this shows us the vast Importance, yea, the absolute Necessity of this sort of Inquiry. For as Eternal Salvation is a matter of the most weighty Concern in itself; GOD will never bestow the Blessing upon any Sinners, unless they see the inestimable Worth of it, and have a due sense of the absolute need they stand in of it; and so are put upon Inquiring and seeking after it with the greatest Care and Diligence. For if GOD should bestow the Mercy upon any else, they would but despise, abuse, and even trample upon His Grace and Goodness therein; and so, in effect, He would but throw away the richest Gift [Page 42] he has to bestow, and not get the least Glory to Himself, in so doing. We must not therefore imagine that any Sinner, while he continues in a senseless, uncon­cerned frame of spirit, can ever obtain an interest in GOD's Salvation. No; the poor Sinner must first be deeply sensible of his own miserable state by Nature, and see the absolute need he stands in of Eternal Life; and so with fear and trem­bling inquire and seek in earnest after this Salvation. And when the Sinner is once come to this, we have all the reason in the World, to hope, it won't be long, before GOD will disco­ver to the miserable Creature, where his Help is to be found. Now this may serve to convince us all of the great Ne­cessity and Importance of being chiefly concerned about Eternal Salvation; and so of inquiring after it, as the One Thing needful. For I suppose there is scarce any Sinner under the Gospel to blind and stupid in his sins, but, in his cooler Thoughts, thinks, Eternal Life to be real­ly necessary for him; and hopes to come to the Enjoyment of it at last. But here­in lies the misery and deceit of the gene­rality of carnal Sinners. They think their Salvation may be obtain'd at an easy rate, at any time: and that they have no [Page 43] need to make it the main Inquiry and Business of their Lives; and so go on se­curely in their Sins, till the Day of Grace and Season of Salvation is over with them for ever. But, believe it Sinner, you must be made deeply sensible of the present need you stand in of Salvation, and in­quire and seek after it, with as great Con­cern of Soul, as ever you sought after any one thing in the World. And by this means, you'l soon come into a fair way to have the most important Inquiry ans­wered to the satisfaction and comfort of your Soul.

AND thus you see, in these Particulars, of how great Necessity and Importance it is, that every Sinner should make the Inquiry after Salvation his first and great Inquiry. And this was the Third general Head, I proposed to speak to, under the Doctrine. I shall therefore close this Discourse with a Reflection or two on what has been said.

USE. I. DOES the Salvation of a Sinner imply such Things as we have heard in it? Oh, How stupid and blind then are such poor Sinners who have little or no concern about this Salvation! Poor Souls! you see not the miserable Condi­tion [Page 44] you are in by Nature. You are upon the very brink of Eternal Ruine: There is but one short step between you and eternal Destruction; and yet you can eat, and drink, and sleep, and enjoy your selves, with as much ease and satisfaction as if you were out of all Danger. And tho' you stand in as much need of this Salvation, as ever any poor Souls did, or can do: yet, you slight and despise it, and mind the merest Trifles in the World, more than you do the great Concerns of your precious Souls and Eternity. Oh! the amazing stupidity, the blindness, and the hardness of your Hearts! You have no pity or concern for your selves. But alas! your Ministers and Christian Neigh­bours, they pity and pray for you: their Hearts tremble for fear of what is coming upon you. And Oh! that the infinite GOD would have pity upon you, for the sake of the great Redeemer, and pluck you as brands out of the Burning!

USE. II. HENCE learn that Con­vinced Sinners, in being so earnest in their Inquiry after this Salvation, have all the Reason in the World on their side; and do that which is well-pleasing in the sight of GOD. And therefore poor distressed Souls! tho' you may possibly [Page 45] meet with a great deal of Scorn and Con­tempt, of Reproach and Banter, and be accounted mere fools by the Men of the World, for this great Concern you ex­press for eternal Salvation: yet be not discouraged. For they are certainly the greatest Fools, in the World, who treat you, and Eternal Salvation, at this rate. And, believe it, you never began to be really wise till you began in earnest to make the Inquiry you are now upon. For the greatest wisdom, doubtless, consists in a due Concern for the one Thing needful. And then besides, the Inquiry you are upon is most pleasing in the sight of GOD. For it is in effect to Inquire, how you shall glorify GOD, and answer the great End of your Being. And therefore if you do but pursue this Inquiry with Earnest­ness and Diligence, never fear; GOD will, in due time give you an answer of Peace: He'l show you, by His Word and Spirit, what you must do to be saved, and make you wise to Eternal Salvation.

IN the former Discourses I have shewn you, First, When a Sinner may be said to be thoroughly Convinced of his Sin and Danger. Secondly, What is imply'd in that Salvation, which such a Sinner earnestly inquires after. And Thirdly, I have considered the Necessity and Importance of every Sinner's making this his first and great Inquiry.

And now,

IV. I proceed to shew what Steps a poor Convinced Sinner, who is chiefly concern'd about Eternal Salvation, must take to obtain this Salvation: And this is the principal Thing I have to Discourse upon: And I shall be the more particular in it. And here I shall not confine my self only to [Page 47] that answer to the Question in the Text, which we find in the next verse, viz. Be­lieve on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. For tho' Faith in Christ will certainly interest a poor Sinner in that great and glorious Salvation pur­chased by Christ; and is, at least, the prin­cipal Thing that is absolutely necessary to that purpose; yet, there are other things, besides an immediate and direct believing in Christ, which a poor convinced Sinner must give his Attendance to, if he means to be saved: and which indeed are ne­cessary to his closing in aright with Christ for Salvation. And therefor, I shall give my Answer to the grand In­quiry in the Text, under these three more general Heads: which I beg your most diligent attention to. And say,

1. YOU must carefully guard against all the Hindrances of a Sinners Salvation.

2. YOU must diligently attend to, and improve all the Means and Helps of Sal­vation. And then,

3. YOU must immediately and directly close in with Christ by Faith, that so you may be saved by Him alone.

I begin with the first of these impor­tant Heads at this time. And therefore, [Page 48] Sinner, if this be the great Inquiry you are now upon, and would gladly receive an Answer to, namely, What must I do to be saved? Then hearken to what I am to say to you, in the Name and Fear of GOD.

First. IF you would be saved, you must carefully guard against all the Hinderances of your Souls Salvation. And here, poor Soul, you have a great deal of Work to do; as much as ever you can turn your hand unto. Nay, more than ever you can do to purpose, unless you have the special presence and assistance of the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD with you in this Affair: For ever since the Apostacy, Earth and Hell are engaged in a War against us; and unite in their endeavours to ruine and destroy us for ever. Nay all within and all round about us, in the World, are in this dreadful Combination against us: so that you have innumerable Enemies to conflict with on every side. And if I should attempt to speak particularly con­cerning every one of them, I cou'd not tell how to begin, or where to end. How­ever I shall instance in four of the prin­cipal Hindrances of our Souls Salvation. And if you can but overcome these, in the Name of Christ, and by the Help of his Spirit, which you must humbly and [Page 49] earnestly ask of Him in the first place; never fear, the Salvation of your poor Soul will be accomplished in due time. And these Hindrances are Sin, Self, Satan, and this World.

1. YOU must carefully watch & guard against Sin, if ever you intend to be saved. Sin is the worst and most dangerous Ene­my we have to conflict withal, and stands more immediately, than any other, in the way of our Salvation. It was this that at first brought us into so wretched and miserable a Condition as to need Salvati­on. 'Twas this that violated the holy Law of GOD, and exposed us to the dreadful Wrath and Curse of GOD, which we now lie open to by Nature. And 'tis this that at present stands between the Sinner, and the Salvation of his Soul. And therefore, were it not for this, the other Enemies of our Salvation, cou'd do little or no hurt to us, in the great Con­cern we have in hand. But, Sinner, this being an Enemy within thy self, it is in league with all the other Adversaries with­out, and opens the passage for their more easy and successful Assault upon thee. And therefore your main Concern, upon this head, should be, How to watch and guard, and secure your self effectually a­gainst Sin. And to this end, you must [Page 50] get as well acquainted as you can with your own Heart; and here you will soon discover the bitter Root and Spring of all Sin. For as the Prophet observes, Jer. 17.9. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Yea, 'tis full of the most unnatural Enmity against GOD and his holy Law. Rom. 8.7. The car­nal mind is enmity against God; it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. And therefore the corrupt Heart is the Fountain of all those actual Sins which pollute our Thoughts, Lips, and Lives, Math. 15.19. Out of the heart pro­ceed evil tho'ts, murders, adulteries &c. which defile the man. You must therefore en­deavour to see & lay to heart the strength and treachery of Sin, that dwells in you; and cry out under the burden of it, as he did, Rom. 7.24. Oh, wretched man, that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And with this sense of indwelling Sin, you must earnestly apply to the Blood of Jesus to cleanse you from the Guilt and Pollution of this, and all your actual Transgressions; and you must carry the Body of Sin to the Cross of Christ, and plead importunately that it may be Crucified and Slain there and that by the help of GOD's HOLY SPIRIT you may from this time forward [Page 51] be deliver'd from the Reign and Tyran­ny of it. And when you have taken this method to mortify and subdue the Root and Fountain of Sin in you, then careful­ly watch against all the workings of Sin in your Heart, and the out-breakings of it, in your Life and Conversation. Keep thy heart with all diligence, and endea­vour to suppress the very first motions to Sin in it. And whatever particular Lusts you have been more peculiarly inclined to, and that have been as a Right Hand, or a Right Eye, set your self in a special manner against such Lusts; and Pray and Watch, and strive hard for the Mortifica­tion and Destruction of them. And in a word, see that you constantly Watch and Pray against all Sin, and all Temptations to Sin. So we are directed to do, in Mat. 26.41. Watch and Pray that ye enter not into Temptation. Thus you must care­fully guard and strive against all Sin, if you really intend and desire to be saved. And I pray, you would observe all that I have said here concerning Sin, and com­ply with the whole Direction. For ma­ny an Awakened Sinner, for want of due Conformity to this Rule, has at last fallen short of Eternal Salvation. For some Sin­ners when they have been under the Con­victions of the HOLY SPIRIT, and in [Page 52] great Concern about the state of their Souls, and another World, have been full of terrour on the account of some Hei­nous and Scandalous Transgressions they have been guilty of; and have taken a great deal of pains to reform themselves in such Particulars. And when they tho't they had done this, they concluded now they had done all that was necessary with respect to Sin; without ever coming to see the Monstrous Vileness and Wicked­ness of their own Hearts: and so have liv­ed all their Days, and Dyed at last under the Reigning Power and Guilt of In­dwelling Sin. This seems to have been a fatal mistake in the Scribes and Phari­sees of Old. And then again, many o­thers, when they have been in the like concern for Salvation, have confessed be­fore God, the Guilt, both of Original and Actual Sins, and begg'd of him the Par­don of both; and with their Confessions have reform'd a great deal that has been amiss in them: but then, they have had some secret Reserves, some beloved Lusts, that they cou'd never be prevail'd upon to part withal: and so they have finally fallen short of Eternal Life. A sad In­stance of this kind we have in that Young Man, who came to Christ, with that im­portant Question, Math. 19.16. Master, [Page 53] what good thing shall I do, that I may in­herit eternal life? He appears, by this In­quiry, to have been in some considerable Concern about his Salvation; and was willing to do, and had done, a great ma­ny things for the sake of it; but he cou'd not part with his Coveteousness for the sake of Heaven; and so fell short of Eternal Life at last; as appears from that Context. And therefore, as I said before, if ever you intend to be saved, you must set your self against all and every Sin: against Ori­ginal and Actual Sins; against the Sins of Heart, Lip, and Life &c. And if you can but get the victory over Sin, you'l remove the main obstacle in the way to your Eternal Salvation. Again,

2. As you must carefully watch and guard against Sin; so you must, with the like care, watch and guard against Self, if ever you intend to be saved. This is another inbred Enemy, and inveterately set against the Salvation of our Souls, in the way and method which the Gospel prescribes. I confess, indeed, every Sin­ner has a principle of self-love, whereby he truly desires his own Happiness, both in this World, and in that which is to come. But then, he has an accursed principle of Pride in him, whereby he can't bear to think of going intirely out of himself to [Page 54] another, for that Salvation he stands in need of. And therefore many a poor Sinner, when he has been greatly Awa­kened by the Spirit of GOD, and bro't into deep Concern about the state of his precious Soul, has been willing to do a great many things in Religion; yea, every thing which he tho't was required of him in the Law of God: and hence he has set himself, with a great deal of Care and Diligence, to re­form all known Evils, and to Discharge every known Duty. And, indeed, it is a great length which many an Awakened Sinner has gone in this way. And it would grieve any one to the Heart to think, that after so much Labour and Cost in Religion; so much striving against Sin, and unto Duty; after so many Prayers and Tears and Struggles, against many of the Enemies of our Salvation; and after an incredible deal of pains taken to ob­tain Eternal Life, the poor Sinner should in the End fall short of Heaven and Hap­piness. But so it has been with a multi­tude in the Christian World; and, I doubt, will be so with a great many more. For tho' they are willing to go all this length in Religion; yet, they can't be perswad­ed to go one step further, i.e. to go out of themselves to CHRIST, and rest upon Him alone for Salvation, which would [Page 55] effectually secure their Eternal Well-being. But their own Obedience must be the price of their Future Happiness. They are righteous in their own eyes: and think there is something worthy of God's acceptance in their own Persons and Performances; and will not be per­swaded that GOD can, with any Justice, cast them off at last, when they have done and suffered so much in his Cause and Service. This seems to have been the fundamental error of the Scribes and Pha­risees in the days of our Saviour: and therefore they are frequently condemned by him for their self-righteousness, and threatned with eternal Damnation, after all their fair show in Religion. And in­deed the generality of the more religious Jews split upon this Rock, in the days of our Saviour and his Apostles. See Rom. 10.3. — For they being ignorant of God's righteousness (says the Apostle) and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the Righ­teousness of God. And so fell short of the righteousness of faith, i. e. of Eternal Sal­vation; as we find in the close of the preceeding Chapter. And therefore, if ever you intend to be saved, you must di­ligently watch and guard against this Self-righteous Principle: and be not on­ly [Page 56] willing to do all you can in Obedience to the Law of GOD; but when you have done all, you must be willing to confess you are but an unprofitable Servant; and cast your self upon the free Grace and Mercy of GOD, and trust alone to the Righteousness of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, for Justification to Eternal Life. This (as I said before) is what eve­ry Sinner is very hardly brought to, thro' the reigning Pride of his own heart: and therefore there is so much the greater hazard, from this Quarter, of your falling short of the Grace of GOD at last. Well then, let me advise, and prevail with every Awakened Sinner, that is now inquiring in earnest, What he must do to be saved, to take special heed of Self: That is, of trusting in your own Duties and Righte­ousness, for the Salvation you are seeking after. And to this purpose, Let me far­ther advise and entreat you, to think se­riously with your self, That you have a GOD of infinite Justice and Righteousness, as well as a GOD of infinite Mercy, to deal withal: And that the strict Justice of GOD requires perfect Obedience to every Tittle and Iota of the Law, before any Person can be justified by the Deeds of it; and by consequence, that full Satis­faction must be made for the Sinner's [Page 57] breach of the Law, before he can be ac­quitted from the condemning Sentence of it. Again, Consider, what a vile Transgressor you have been: what Sin and Guilt you brought into the World with you; and how many thousands of actual Transgressions may be justly charg­ed to your own Account. Think also, how far short you fall of the strict De­mands of the holy Law of GOD; even when you have done your best in Obedi­ence to it: Think how many Duties you have totally neglected; and how defec­tive you have been in the manner of those Duties you have best attended: what wrong Ends you have many times had in them, and what sinful wandrings and distractions; what coldness, deadness, and formality in the Performance of them. And then think, whether a Righteousness made up of such lame and imperfect Ser­vices can have any thing of real worth or merit in it: whether GOD can be be­holden to the Sinner on the account of them; or, whether he may not justly con­demn him, after all he has done, or can do, of this Nature: nay, whether He is not in Justice bound to do so, if the Sin­ner have no other Righteousness than this maimed Righteousness of his own, to trust unto. If you do but closely pursue such [Page 58] Meditations as these, it will, by the Grace of GOD, quickly bring you to confess with those, in Isa. 64.6. We are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnes­ses are as filthy rags. And so make you afraid to trust to any Righteousness of your own; yea, wholly to renounce it in the great Affair of your Souls Salvation. And if you can but once come truly and thoroughly to conquer and renounce Self in this great Affair, you'l then get over one of the main Hindrances to the Salvati­on of your Soul. And now I proceed to say,

3. YOU must carefully watch and guard against Satan, if you intend to be saved. Indeed Sin and Self are the two most hazardous Enemies of our Eternal Salva­tion; because they have their Seat and Residence in us, and have wrought them­selves, as it were, even into the very Con­stitution of Man, in his fallen state; and so are present with us at all times, and in all places; and oppose every thing that tends to the Honour of GOD, and the Salvation of our Souls. But then Sa­tan and this Evil World are as inveterate Enemies to us as Sin and Self. And be­cause they are in strict League with the Enemies within, they have all the Ad­vantage, they can wish for to make the most successful assaults upon us; and we [Page 59] are daily in infinite hazard of being ruin­ed Eternally by them. And therefore if you mean to be saved in the World to come, you must be careful and diligent in your Watch and Guard against them. But 'tis the first of these I am to speak to under this Head. And here I shall observe, That Satan is a most Inveterate & Dan­gerous Enemy. He is full of the most Implacable Hatred, Rage, and Malice a­gainst the Blessed God: and has been so ever since his Apostacy, and Banishment out of Heaven. And in consequence of this, he has all along been carrying on a War against GOD, and doing all he can to Rob Him of the Glory that is due to His Name. And as he hates the Infinite GOD; so he hates every One that is in Favour with GOD, and envies the Happiness of their state. This mov'd him to assault our first Parents in their primitive state of Innocency; which proved so fatal to them, and to all their Posterity, as we find in the Third Chapter of Genesis. And when GOD, to shew forth the Infinite Riches of His Sovereign Grace, had con­triv'd and revealed the astonishing Me­thod of our Redemption, by the promised Seed, as we find in the 15th verse of that Chapter, this filled him still with greater Rage and Hatred against GOD, and Man­kind, [Page 60] whom, by his Subtilty, he had drawn into the grand Rebellion against GOD. And he has ever since imploy'd his ut­most Strength and Policy, to overthrow the method of our Redemption, and to keep poor Souls from enjoying that Sal­vation, which Christ has purchased for them. And therefore we read, in 1 Pet. 5.8. — Your adversary the Devil, as a roaring Lyon, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. And accordingly, we are in the utmost Hazard of being ruin'd for­ever by this most malicious Adversary. For he is implacably set against us, and bent upon our Eternal Destruction. And then besides, being of the Angelic Order, he is furnished with Powers vastly Supe­riour to Man, at his first Creation; and greatly exceeds us in Natural Strength, and in his Policy, which has been much improved by long experience, in contriv­ing and making use of such snares and stratagems, as have the greatest tendency to deceive and ruine poor Souls forever And more than all this, he has usurpt at Empire over Mankind in their Natural Condition; and Sinners are by Nature willing to submit to his accursed Rule and Tyranny. And therefore he is called, in Eph. 2.2. The prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in [Page 61] the children of disobedience. And many Millions of poor Souls daily run after him in the broad way to Eternal Destruction: All which may serve to convince us of the infinite Hazard we are in of being undone to Eternity by the malicious Powers of Darkness. And therefore every poor Sinner that desires and expects to be sav­ed, must stand upon his watch and guard against the Devil, and his accursed Legions. And let him appear in ever so beauteous a form, (as sometimes he transforms him­self into an Angel of Light, and puts the fairest Colours on the foulest Deeds, yet) you must renounce him, and all his works, and have nothing to do with the unfruit­ful works of darkness: for if you al­low your self in any of them, they'l be the bane of your Soul forever. Yea, you must watch against his Snares and Temp­tations of all kind. You must enquire into the Nature and Tendency of them, and not be ignorant of his Devices, lest he get an advantage of you. See 2 Cor. 2.11. And here I shall take liberty to warn you against two of his most Subtil and Comprehensive Devices, whereby he has ruined many Millions of poor Souls. And these are carnal Security on the one hand, and our horrid Despair of the Mercy of GOD on the other hand.

[Page 62](1.) YOU must watch and guard against carnal Security: against a tho'tless un­concerned frame of Spirit, about the state of your Soul, and another World. This is one of the most fatal Devices of Satan, whereby he has ruined the greatest part of Mankind already. He has led them on blindfold in the way to Eternal De­struction; without any sight of their Sin and Misery; without any sense of their Danger; and without any remarkable Concern about the World to come, till they have suddenly and unexpectedly been thrust headlong into Eternal Perdi­tion. And when any poor Souls are a­wakened by the Spirit of GOD and bro't into concern about their Spiritual state, (as the Sinners I am now speaking to, are supposed to be in) the Devil does all he can to stifle the Convictions they are under, and to bring them back again into their for­mer state of security. And thus if the convinced Sinner be Young and in Health, he'll tell him, 'Tis time eno' yet to pre­pare for Eternity; and so tempt him to lay aside this concern for the present. If he be still tho'tful about his Eternal state, he'll feed him up with tho'ts of the Mer­cy of GOD, and tempt him to think 'tis an easy thing to be saved; and so lead him, if he can, unto a vain presumption of [Page 63] the Mercy of GOD, without doing any thing considerable in Religion. And when this will not do, but the Sinner sees still he must labour and strive in Religi­on, if he intends to be saved, and so sets about the Duties of it with seeming ear­nestness and diligence. Then the Devil tempts him to place his Duties in the room of Christ, and to patch up a Righ­teousness of his own, and trust to this for his Justification to Eternal Life. And by these means he has deceived many an a­wakened Sinner, and lull'd him into his former carnal security, or into a vain confi­dence which has prov'd his Eternal ruine. And therefore you that are now Awaken­ed and Convinced by the Spirit of GOD, must expect to meet with such Tempta­tions as these: and you must carefully watch, and pray, and guard against them, or the Devil will certainly be too hard for you, and deceive & undo you forever.

And then again,

(2.) YOU must watch and guard against horrid Despair of the Mercy of GOD in CHRIST. This is another accursed Device and Snare of the Devil, whereby many an awakened Sinner has been ruined forever. For when the Adversary sees, that, by all his Strength and Subtilty, he can't reduce [Page 64] the poor Soul to its former state of Car­nal Security, then he shifts the Scene, and strives with all his might to drive the Sin­ner into utter Despair of the Mercy of GOD. He shoots his fiery Darts into the Soul, and fills the mind with blasphemous and unreasonable tho'ts of GOD: as tho' GOD was an hard Master; and as if the terms of Salvation, as they are laid down in the Gospel, were such, that 'twas im­possible for him ever to come up to them; yea, the Devil represents GOD to the poor Sinner, as an irreconcileable Ene­my and Judge, as one resolved upon his Eternal ruine: as one that will have no Mercy upon him, let him take ever so much pains, in any way, to make his Peace with GOD. And by the force of such Temptations many an awakened Sinner has, with Cain and Judas, fallen into the most Black and Outrageous Despair of Mercy, and in the height of this Despair, has with an Heart full of Enmity against GOD and CHRIST, and his Mouth full of Blasphemy against them, rushed headlong into Eternal Perdition. And therefore let every Convinced Sinner, when he finds his Convictions grow and press hard upon him, watch and pray against this ac­cursed Device of Satan; this horrid Des­pair of the Mercy of GOD. And labour [Page 65] to see that as great Sinners as you, have been saved (as doubtless, a multitude of such have been) and that the Door of Mercy now stands open to the greatest Sinner in the World, and stands open to you in particular, (supposing you are the greatest Sinner that has ever yet been) if you are but willing now to cast your self upon the free Grace and Mercy of GOD in JESUS CHRIST. For Christ dy­ed for the very chief of Sinners, 1 Tim. 1.15. And is able and willing to save to the uttermost, all that come unto God, in and through him. See Heb. 7.25. Joh. 6.37.

BUT this for the 3 d. Particular; you must carefully watch and guard against Satan if you intend to be saved. And now I proceed to consider the last great Hin­drance of the Sinners Salvation, which I named unto you. And this is,

4. IF you intend or desire to be saved, you must carefully watch and guard a­gainst this Evil World, that we live in. Indeed, this World and the things of it, as they came out of the hands of GOD were very good. See Gen. 1.31. And GOD particularly created them for the use and comfort of Mankind. And therefore, if [Page 66] we had never sinned against GOD, we had never been in the least hazard of any in­jury from our enjoyment of this World. But by our Apostacy from GOD, and as a punishment to Man for the same, the Curse of GOD has fallen upon this whole lower World; whereby 'tis full of Snares and Temptations on every side: And has been a sad means to ruine many Millions of poor Souls forever and ever. And there­fore it it expresly called this present evil world. ( Gal. 1.4.) And Satan is called the God of it (2 Cor. 4.4.) and his Evil Angels are called, the rulers of the dark­ness of this world, (Eph. 6.12.) And ac­cordingly, this World is now one of the greatest Hindrances to the Salvation of our precious Souls. And Satan has, pro­bably, ruined more by the Snares and Enchantments of it, than by all his other Devices put together. And therefore we have many solemn Warnings in the Word of GOD against the Snares and Temp­tations of this Evil World. We are warn­ed against all inordinate Love to the World and the things of it, and are told that a prevailing Love to them is utterly incon­sistent with the Love of God, and so will certainly prove the Destruction of our Souls forever. 1 Joh. 2.15. Love not the world, neither the things that are in [Page 67] the world: If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Again, we are as solemnly warn'd against all Conformity to the sinful Manners and customs of this World, as having a most fatal tendency in them. Rom. 12 22. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, &c. And then besides, Christ is said to have given himself for our Sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. See the forecited Gal. 1.4. By these, and many other places of the same importance, it evidently appears this World is one of the greatest Hindrances that can be to the Salvation of our im­mortal Souls. And therefore if you have any true desires after Eternal Life, and are willing to do all that is needful to be done, that so you may be saved forever, you must & will look upon this Evil World as an Enemy in the way to Heaven: and you must diligently watch and pray a­gainst all the Evils, Snares, Temptations, and Hazards of it. And in particular, you must thus watch and pray against the Men and Things of this Evil World.

(1.) YOU must watch and pray, that you be not ruin'd by the Men of this Evil [Page 68] and Sinful World. It is sad, indeed, to think that any of our own Flesh & Blood; that any of the same Frame and make we are of, and who stand in need of the same Salvation that we do, should be so vain and foolish, as to neglect their own Spi­ritual good, and be an hindrance to all about them in the way to Eternal Life. But so it has always been, from the be­ginning of the World, to this day; and e­ver will be so 'till the Wickedness of the Wicked shall come to an end; which we may not expect 'till the Conclusion of time. And therefore, as you desire to be saved in the day of Christ Jesus, you must arm your selves against the Men of this World, and have as little to do with them as you can. Indeed, it is utterly impossible for us in the present state of things, to keep entirely at a distance from the Company and Conversation of the Men of this World; for we have oft times something or other necessarily to do with them, in the way of our lawful Calling. And he that would avoid this, as the Apostle observes, in 1 Cor. 5.10. must needs go out of the world. And therefore that which I intend here, is this, if you truly desire the Salvation of your precious Souls, you must not chuse such as are known to be Wicked Persons, for your [Page 69] intimate Companions: you must not take delight in their Evil Conversation: you must not hearken to their Wicked Coun­sels; nor follow the bad Examples they set before the World. For these things are strictly forbidden to you in the Word of GOD. Prov. 1.10, 15. My Son, if Sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Walk not thou in the way with them; refrain thy foot from their path. And again, Chap. 4.14, 15. Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. And if you will not hearken to these solemn Admoniti­ons, you are threatned with eternal De­struction, Prov. 13.20. A companion of fools shall be destroyed. And we find this awful threatning fulfilled in many sad instances in the Word of GOD. And how many have we known or heard of in our day, who when they came to lie upon a Sick-bed, and a Death-bed, and saw themselves just going into Eternity, then to cry out in the agony of their Souls, Oh! I am undone to Eternity! my evil Company which I have kept, and de­lighted in, has been the ruine of my poor Soul for ever! my wicked Companions have drawn away my Heart from GOD and Duty: They have been a means to [Page 70] stifle the Convictions of GOD's SPIRIT in me: and a means to draw me into all manner of Iniquity. And behold, now I must be separated from them for a little while, and be thrust down into Hell, in­to the doleful Company of Devils and Damned Spirits, there to endure the dreadful Wrath of GOD to all Eternity. Oh, Cursed be their Persons; Cursed be their Advice to me; and Cursed the Day that ever I saw the Face of any one of them. This has been the Heart-pier­cing Language of many a vain Company-keeper, as he has past out of this World into an amazing Eternity: And therefore, as you would escape the dreadful Doom of these Sinners, and be prepared for the Comforts of a dying Hour, and the Happi­ness of the future State; avoid the evil Com­pany and Conversation of the Men of the World; and see that you be able to say with David, in Psal. 26.4, 5. I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers: and will not sit with the wicked. And this will have a good tendency to prepare you for the Mercy of GOD. For such are pronoun­ced blessed, in Psal. 1.1. Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sin­ners, [Page 71] nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

And then,

(2.) YOU must with the like Diligence watch, and pray, and guard against the Things of this Evil World, if you intend to be saved. By these things, I mean the Riches, Honours, and Pleasures of this Life. For tho' they are not simply sinful in themselves; yet, when Men set their Hearts and Affections inordi­nately upon them, they prove a dreadful Snare and Temptation to them; and ma­ny thousands and millions have been e­ternally undone by them. And therefore you must mortify all inordinate affection to these things, or they'l be the Ruine of you forever. Particularly, (1.) You must guard against all inordinate affection to the Riches of this Life, and get this corrupt Affection mortified in you. For, this is that Lust of the Eyes which we are warn'd against, in 1 Joh. 2.16. And which has been the eternal undoing of many a precious Soul. For as the Apostle observes, in 1 Tim. 6.9, 10. They that will be rich, fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some have co­veted after, they have erred from the truth, [Page 72] and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. The sum of which is, inordi­nate Desires after the Riches of this World, have, tempted and prevailed upon many a poor Sinner to neglect the true Riches, for the sake of them; and push'd him on to many unwarrantable Practices for the gaining of them; such as Lying, Cheating, Stealing, and the like, which have involved him in a great deal of Guilt here, and crush'd him down into Eternal Perdition, in the other World. And thus they have proved a Snare to him, and his Ruine for ever. And therefore, if you would be saved in the World to come, you must carefully guard against this snare of Destruction. You must pray to GOD to show you the vanity of Earthly Riches; and often think how uncertain they are. For as the wise man observes, in Prov. 23.5. — Riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away as an eagle towards heaven. And therefore, when Men dote upon them, they set their eyes upon that which is not. As you may see in this same verse; and the poor Miser enjoys little else in them, saving the beholding of them with his eyes, Eccl. 5.11. Oh then, see that you don't neglect your poor Souls, and the Riches and Treasures of Grace and Glory, for [Page 73] such Trifles, as the Riches of this World are at the best. Again, (2.) You must guard against the empty Honours of this World, and learn to despise them. For, these are what the Apostle John calls the Pride of Life, in the forecited 1 Epist. 2.16. Because the generality of those who arrive to them, are proud and vain-glorious: They en­tertain too high an opinion of themselves, and too mean a conceit of the rest of mankind. And they prove a most dread­ful Snare and Temptation to Men, when they set their Hearts and Affections inor­nately upon them: For then they neg­lect the Honour of GOD, and the Ho­nours of Religion, for the sake of a lit­tle Worldly Glory: and if this can't be come at any other way, they are tempted to take the most indirect and sinful Cour­ses, by false Flatteries, by Bribery, and sometimes by Blood-shed, to obtain them. And thus while they are clambering af­ter the Honours of the World, their Souls are sinking, by this means into the very depths of Hell. And therefore, as you wish and long for the Salvation of your poor Souls, Oh! guard against this Snare of Destruction. Pray to GOD to shew you how empty the Honours of the World are, and think how vain they be: That they depend only on the Breath of [Page 74] thy Fellow-creatures, and are more in Name than in Reality; and that a few days, at farthest, will put an end to the outward Glory of the greatest Men on Earth. For we read, in Psal. 49.12. — Man being in honour abideth not. And in ver. 17. When he dieth he shall carry no­thing away: his glory shall not descend after him. And then (3.) lastly, You must carefully guard against the sinful Pleasures of this Life, & learn to contemn them. For, these are called, the Lust of the Flesh, in 1 Joh. 2.16. which I have named once & again al­ready. And this (says one) is, subjectively, "the Humour and Appetite of indulging Fleshly Pleasure: and objectively, all those things that excite and influence the Plea­sures of the Flesh". This Lust (says he) is usually called Luxury". And as these Pleasures, when they are inordi­nately desired and pursued, are all of them sinful Pleasures. (See Heb. 11.25.) So they have an immediate tendency to the Ruine of our Souls for ever. For while Sinners hunt after the Pleasures of Sense, and immerse themselves in them, they can have no true Desire after the Enjoyment of GOD, and the Pleasures of Heaven; nor find any time to take care of their precious Souls, and provide for the World to come. And agreably [Page 75] the Apostle James speaking to these Sen­suailists, says in Chap. 5. ver. 5. Ye have lived in pleasure on earth, and been wan­ton; ye have nourished your heart as in a day of slaughter. And thereby they treasure up to themselves Wrath against the Day of Wrath. See ver. 3. And therefore, poor Sinner, if you have any true desire after Eternal Salvation, and are willing to do all that is necessary for this pur­pose, you must mortify your inordinate Desires after the Pleasures of Sense, and get your Heart weaned from them. And to this end, Think how momentany these Pleasures are: they being but for a season, and a short season too. Think also how un­satisfactory they are; how unable to fill the enlarged and boundless Desires of your immortal Soul. And then beg of GOD, that He would reveal to you the true and substantial Pleasures of Religion, and give you to taste of the Comforts of His Holy Spirit, which will make sensual Pleasures the most insipid and unsavoury things in the World to you.

AND thus I have finished the first ge­neral Head in answer to that grand In­quiry, What must I do to be saved? namely, If you would be saved you must guard against all the Hindrances of your [Page 76] Souls Salvation: and more especially, a­gainst Sin, Self, Satan, and the World, in both the Men and the Things of it.

AND now to conclude at this time, Let me intreat every poor Sinner that is in deep Concern for the Salvation of his own Soul, to hearken to what I have said, and carefully Watch and Pray a­gainst these Hindrances of Eternal Salva­tion. For they are the main Obstacles you are like to meet with in the way to Eter­nal Life. And if you can but surmount these, you will be more able and ready to at­tend the Directions that follow: and you will find the Ways of Wisdom, that now appear so rough and difficult to you, to be Ways of Pleasantness, and all her Paths, the Paths of Peace.

I Am still upon the Answer to that grand Inquiry in the Text, What must I do to be Saved? This Answer I proposed to give you under these Three more general Heads. viz. (1.) If you intend to be saved, you must carefully watch and guard against all the Hindran­ces of a Sinners Salvation. (2.) You must carefully and diligently attend all the Means and Helps of Salvation. And (3.) You must particularly and directly close in with Christ by Faith, that so you may be saved by Him alone. I have spoken largely already to the first of these Heads. And proceed now to the next in order:

And this is,

Secondly. IF you intend or desire to be saved, you must carefully attend to, & im­prove, [Page 78] all the Means and Helps of Salva­tion. It is not sufficient that you only steer clear of the Rocks; avoid the Dan­gers; and surmount such Difficulties as lie in the way to Heaven, and have prov'd fatal to infinite numbers already: but you must set your Faces towards Hea­ven, and steer your Course, as directly as you can, in the way that leads to it. And this you must do, by attending and improving aright all the Means and Helps of Eternal Life. And these I shall consider either as Instituted, or Occasio­nal. By the Instituted means of Salvati­on, I intend such, as GOD has appointed in his Word, and therein required us constantly to attend them in the working out our Salvation. And these are the stated Ordinances of the Gospel. By the Occasional Means and Helps of Sal­vation, I design such Providences of GOD, which, in the Sovereignty of his Grace, He has frequently Blest for saving good to the careful Observers of them.

Here then,

1. IF you wou'd be saved, you must care­fully & constantly attend all the Instituted and Appointed Means of Salvation. Which, as I said before, are the ORDINANCES of the Gospel; and more especially the Word, [Page 79] Prayer, and the Sacraments of the New-Testament. Some of these are the Out­ward and Ordinary Means, of Divine Ap­pointment, to beget Grace in the Hearts of Sinners; and all of them are such means for the growth and increase of Grace in the Children of GOD. And every one that desires to be saved, must make a right Improvement of them according as his State and Condition may be.

And therefore,

1. IF you desire to get into a state of Grace, you must give the most Careful and Diligent Attendance to the Word of GOD. The Word of GOD is a special Means of Divine Appointment for the Conversion and Salvation of perishing Sinners. And agreably we read, in Psal. 19.7, 8, The Law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul: the Testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple — the Commandment of the Lord is pure, en­lightening the eyes. Indeed, the written Word of GOD is not sufficient, of it self, to give Life unto a dead Soul. But how­ever it has a moral tendency to Salvation; as it discovers to poor Sinners the mise­rable Condition they are in by Nature; the need they stand in of Salvation; and points out to them the SAVIOUR of pe­rishing [Page 80] Souls: together with the Means and Method to obtain an Interest in Him. And then besides, the Word of GOD is the ordinary Means which the Holy Spirit makes use of and blesses for the opening a Sinners eyes, and turning him from Darkness to Light, and from the Power of Satan unto GOD. And therefore, the Word of GOD is a Means you must carefully attend to, or you can never reasonably hope to be saved. And here, that you may improve the Word to your saving Advantage,

YOU must look upon the written Word which we have in our Bibles, to be in­deed the Word of GOD; or that Reve­lation of his Mind and Will to us, which contains in it, all that he would have us to Believe, and Practise to Salvation.

AND accordingly, you must use all the Helps we have to come to a right under­standing of the Mind and Will of GOD contained in his Sacred Word. To this end, you must beg of GOD, as David did, in Psal. 119.18. Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law. Pray to him that he would enable you to understand not on­ly the Letter, but the true Spirit and In­tent [Page 81] of his Holy Word. And with this Preparation, you must Daily Read and Meditate in the Sacred Scriptures of Truth. You must set apart some time every Day to look into your Bible, and read a Portion in it. And whenever you do so, you must not content your self with a bare Cursory reading of a Chapter or two, but spend a little time to exa­mine into the meaning of the Holy Ghost, and meditate on the Mind and Will of GOD revealed in it, 'till you find your Hearts warmed and affected with it. And besides this stated Reading the Scriptures; you must make them the Man of your Counsel at all times; and search into them particularly, that you may ob­tain that Light and Direction, which they afford in the great Concern of Eternal Salvation. Look into them, and see what they say, concerning the Miserable, un­done State the Sinner is in by Nature; how Obnoxious he is to the dreadful Wrath of GOD; how many Tremendous Curses stand in their full Force against him, and must certainly be Executed up­on him, if he lives and dyes in a state of Impenitency; and how unable the Sinner is said to be, to afford any Relief to him­self under the Ruines of the Apostacy. Look again into the Scriptures, and see [Page 82] what Discoveries they make of a Glori­ous Saviour for lost Sinners; what me­thod they prescribe, that we may obtain an Interest in him; and what gracious en­couragements are set before us in the In­vitations and Promises of the Gospel, to fly unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and put our Trust in him for Eternal Life. This searching into the Scriptures is expresly required of us, in Joh. 5.39. And the Blessed tendency of it is manifest from Psal. 1.1, 2. Blessed is the man —whose delight is in the Law of the Lord, and in his Law doth he meditate day and night.

AND as you must thus carefully Read and Meditate on the Word in private; so you must diligently attend to the Pub­lick Dispensation of it. For, the Preaching of the Word is an Ordinance of GOD. CHRIST, the Head of the Church, has instituted an Order of Men to explain and inculcate upon others the great Doctrines and Duties that are con­tained in the Sacred Writings. See Mat. 28.19, 20. And he has commanded us to give the most careful Attendance to the Word dispensed, Luk. 8.18. Take heed how ye hear. And this is one Ap­pointed Means to beget that Faith, and so the other Graces, which are necessary [Page 83] to Salvation. Rom. 10.17. — Faith com­meth by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. You must therefore, improve your Opportunities to hear the Word Preached. You must watch at Wisdoms Gates, and wait at the Posts of her Doors, Prov. 8.34. And whenever you go to the House of GOD, you must go with an humble heart, ready to receive Instruction. And there you must give the most reverent, devout, and diligent attention to what is spoken to you, in the Name of GOD, and according to his Will. You must be willing to have your Sins detected and reproved, and your Duty explained and inculcated upon you, in the Ministry of the Gospel; and receive with meekness the ingrafted word of God, Jam. 1.21. To such Hear­ers, as these, GOD has many times blest the Ministry of his Word, and made it the power of God to the salvation of their souls; as in Rom. 1.16.

AND here, I shall take leave to add, as one special means to understand the Will of GOD, and to receive farther light, in the great Affair of Eternal Sal­vation: 'Tis your Duty to go to the Ministers of CHRIST, whose great Work and Business it is, to direct and assist your [Page 84] Souls, from the Word of GOD, in the way to Heaven and Happiness. And therefore, when you are in Darkness and Distress about your Spiritual state, and don't receive that Light and Encou­ragement from the Preached Word, which you are waiting and praying for; go to your Ministers; acquaint them with the state and circumstances of your poor Souls. Don't be asham'd or afraid to do so, as many have sinfully been, lest you betray your own Ignorance: but go, and give them to understand, as well as you can, what your sad State and Fears are; and ask their Counsels and Prayers for you. So did the poor Jay­lor in our Context. He sprang in, and came trembling, with an Heart full of Conviction and Distress, to Paul & Silas, two eminent MINISTERS of JESUS CHRIST; and inquired particularly of them, what he must do to be saved? And GOD blest this method as a means for saving good to him. And many poor Souls besides have received unspeak­able benefit in this way. And for your Encouragement herein, I can assure you in the Name of every faithful Minister of JESUS CHRIST, that he will receive you with all Tenderness and Compassion, and give you the best Counsel and En­couragement [Page 85] he can, from the Word of GOD. And now by these means; that is, by this Prayer to GOD to give you understanding in His Word; — by this Reading and Meditation in private; by this publick attendance to the Word Preached: and by asking Counsel and In­struction of the Ministers of CHRIST, under your dark and distressing Circum­stances, 'tis to be hop'd you'l come to un­derstand the mind and will of God, as it is made known to us in the holy Scrip­tures.

AND when you have gain'd this Light and Instruction from the Word of GOD, you must resolve to make this WORD the RULE of your Faith, Worship, and Man­ners, in the World. You must submit your Reason and Understanding to the revelation of GOD, and receive the great Doctrines and Articles of Christianity, as true and faithful sayings, upon the autho­rity of GOD, who has revealed them to us: You must serve and worship GOD according to the directions of his holy Word: And you must strive with all you might to order your Conversation in all respects agreable to the Gospel of Christ, and herein keep a Conscience void of offence both towards GOD & towards man. By such a careful and diligent im­provement [Page 86] of the Word of GOD, it will, by the mighty influence of the Holy Spirit, become the Power of GOD to the Salvation of your precious Soul.

But then again,

2. IF you desire to get into a state of Grace, you must be abundant in Prayer to GOD for this end. Prayer is a duty indispensably required of all Persons, both by the Light of Nature and Divine Re­velation. And it is an instituted Means for the Conversion and Salvation of mise­rable Sinners: And therefore the Apostle Peter, after he had plainly discovered the hypocrisy of Simon Magus, and so per­ceived that he was still in the gall of bit­terness, and in the bond of iniquity, gives him this direction, in order to his Con­version, Act. 8.22. Repent of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. For tho', 'tis very evident, there can be no real vertue in the Prayers of an unrege­nerate Sinner; yet GOD delights to ho­nour his own Institution, and has many a time bestowed saving Grace upon a poor Sinner, when he has, in agony of Soul, from an apprehension of his miserable state by Nature, cry'd to him for his Mercy. And 'tis one of the most hopeful Symtoms [Page 87] that GOD intends to give Grace to a poor Sinner, when, by the Convictions of his Holy Spirit, he has brought the Sinner to Pray earnestly to him. And therefore, as you who are now making that Inquiry in the Text, What must I do to be saved? are in deep Concern about the state of your poor Souls, and wan't to be directed in the way to Heaven, I can scarce give you a more proper Direction thin this, Pray humbly to GOD, for the Salvation of your poor Souls. And that you may improve this Ordinance so as to reap saving Bene­fit by it:

SEE that you do in the first place, hear­tily bless and praise GOD for what he has done for you already. That is, you must bless GOD, that he has preserved your Soul in Life, and not sent you down into Hell, as he might justly have done, long before now. Adore his sovereign Grace and Patience towards you, in this respect, and give him the glory of them. Again, Bless GOD for the Possibility there is of your Eternal Salvation, by his provid­ing such a glorious and almighty SAVI­OUR, for poor Sinners, as CHRIST is. And then again, Bless GOD for his distin­guishing Mercy in ordering your Birth and Being, not in a Land of Heathenish Darkness; but in a place where CHRIST [Page 88] is revealed, and the Means of Grace and Salvation are, or may be enjoyed, in great Plenty, by all sorts of Sinners. And then, in a particular manner, Bless GOD for the strivings of His Holy Spirit; and the gracious Effects of them: For the Con­victions and Awakenings you are under; and the deep Concern you are in at pre­sent, about the state of your Soul and a­nother World. Indeed, these Convicti­ons when they arise to any considerable Degree, are very oppressive and burden­some to Nature; and many an awaken­ed Sinner has look'd upon them only as the expressions of GOD's Anger; and so has been for shaking them off, as soon as he could: But believe it, poor Soul, There is a great deal of Mercy in them. They come with a gracious design to show you the need you stand in of a Christ, and put you upon flying to him in time, as your only sure Refuge for Eternity. And therefore they are a sufficient Ground for Praise. And you should in the most solemn and affectionate manner, bless and praise GOD, that he has not left you, as he has done thousands and millions of o­thers, to perish in a dead sleep of carnal security; but has in a great measure, shewn you your misery by nature; and discovered the wants of your poor Soul; [Page 89] and put you upon seeking after a remedy, if one may be found. And having thus blest GOD for what he has done for you already,

PRAY humbly and importunately to Him for what you stand in need of. Oh, Beg of him, that, as he has begun to shew Mercy to you, in the Convictions of his Spirit; so that He would carry on this good Work, and cause his Convictions to take such deep root in your Heart, that they may never wear off; but abide in the most lively Impressions, till the gra­cious end of them is answered in a tho­rough Conversion to GOD. Plead with Him to wash away the Guilt and Pollu­tion of your poor Soul in the Blood of Christ. Intreat Him to renew & sanctify you, by his Grace and Spirit, throughout, in Soul, Spirit, and in Body. Beg of Him to create a clean Heart, and to form a right Spirit in you. Pray, that He would enlighten your dark Mind; renew your stubborn Will; purge your defiled Cons­cience; and sanctify your disordered Af­fections. And for this purpose; Beg his Blessing upon all the means of Grace you enjoy. Pray that his Spirit may breathe in them; and in and thro' them, breathe Life into your dead Soul. And Oh, be in agony of Soul while you are in your [Page 90] Supplications to Him for Eternal Life; and use all the Arguments you can, in Prayer, to move his most tender Com­passions towards you. Lay open the Wants and Distresses of your poor Soul in the Duty. Lament the Miseries of your doleful state by Nature; and urge the Necessity of Eternal Salvation: Tell him what an undone Wretch you shall be forever; and how greatly you shall dishonour Him to Eternity, unless he have Mercy on you. Declare to Him, what a Desire you have after Eternal Life; and that you can't bear the thought of pe­rishing under the dreadful weight of his Eternal Wrath. Put Him also in mind of the great and glorious Provision He has made by CHRIST, for the Salvation of such miserable Sinners as you are; and how great his Glory will be forever in your Salvation thro' Jesus Christ. Again, Put Him in mind of the many gracious Invi­tations He has made to poor Sinners to come to Him in and through the Redee­mer, for Pardon and Salvation: Yea, urge this, that He has solemnly Commanded you to do so; and that 'tis in Obedience to his revealed Will, that you thus seek to Him, for the Mercy you need. And in a Word, Humbly declare to Him, that it is the stedfast Resolution of your [Page 91] Soul, to cast your self upon Him for his Grace in and thro' Christ; and that if you must perish at last, you will perish at the feet of his Mercy. And while you are thus begging for the Mercy of GOD in Prayer: Oh, Give up, and de­vote your self to Him in the same Duty. Say, Lord, I am thine; for thou hast made me, and dost daily preserve me; and hast paid down a price sufficient for my Eter­nal Redemption: And accordingly I desire to be thine for ever; and do here upon my bended knees, present my self, Soul and Bo­dy to thee, a living Sacrifice: and devote all I have, to be employed in thy Service and for thy Glory: 'This, I acknowledge to be but my reasonable Service: Oh, therefore, accept of me in the Son of thy Love; and save me for ever, according to the multitude of thy tender mercies in Him. Prayer thus improved can't but be very helpful to poor Sinners, in the great Concern of their Souls Salvation.

AND when you have thus improved the Word and Prayer; and GOD has Sancti­fyed them so, that you begin to feel a mighty Change in you; and do now hate your Sins, and loath your self for them; and find the Desires of your Soul drawn forth after Jesus Christ: and are [Page 92] heartily willing to receive and embrace Him in all his Offices, and take your greatest Delight in the Service of GOD and CHRIST. Then,

3. As you desire to grow and improve in Grace, and ripen for Eternal Salvati­on, you must carefully observe the Sacra­ments of the New-Testament. These are two, viz. BAPTISM and the LORD's SUPPER. And they are "holy Ordi­nances instituted by CHRIST, wherein by sensible signs, CHRIST and the Bene­fits of the New Covenant, are represent­ed, sealed and applied to Believers". And they are most admirable Means for growth and increase in Grace. And therefore when GOD has bless'd the Word and Prayer, or any special Providence, so as to bring you to the happy Frame and Temper but now hinted, 'tis high time for you also to improve Baptism and the Lord's Supper, as special Means for your furtherance in the way to Salvation. And agreably, if you are come to adult Age, and have never yet been Bap­tized, you must speedily give up your Name Publickly to GOD in that Ordi­nance; or if you were Baptized in Infan­cy, 'tis equally necessary that now you should in the most solemn manner Renew [Page 93] your Baptismal Covenant, and at the same time come up to the TABLE of the LORD: For if you can do one, you may do the other also, acceptably unto GOD. And therefore I put both together; and am grieved that so many weak Christians make such a groundless distinction be­tween them, as they do. I mean, as to their Qualifications for them. But to go on, you must, as I said before, come up to, and improve the visible Seals of the New Covenant, one or both of them, as your case may require. They are both Command­ed Duty. Baptism is so; and is of great Importance to Salvation: As we find in Act. 2.38. where says Peter to the con­vinced Jews, in answer to that great In­quiry of their's, in the preceeding verse, What must we do? You must, says he, Re­pent, and be Baptized every one of you in the Name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins. And the Lord's Supper is as strict­ly required as Baptism. Luk. 22.19. — Do this, i. e. Take and eat this Bread, and drink this Cup, in remembrance of me. And therefore for any to live in a care­less neglect of them under this pretence, that they are not necessary to Salvation, is a bold and daring affront to the Au­thority of GOD and CHRIST, and a cer­tain evidence of their unregenerate state. [Page 94] You must therefore say and do otherwise if you intend to be saved. That is, you must own the necessity of these Ordi­nances, and carefully observe them. And they are (as I said before) most admirable Means for a Christian's Growth and Improvement in Grace. for in these Ordinances the Believer does, as it were, set his Hand and Seal to the Covenant of Grace; and confirm the Dedication of himself unto GOD; and GOD at the same time makes over His CHRIST and all the Blessings of the New Cove­nant to the Believing Soul in them. And then besides, the Lord's Supper is a precious means of intimate Communi­on with CHRIST; and the Believer fet­ches new Life, Strength, and Nourish­ment from his Redeemer, every time he eats and drinks in Faith at the Table of the Lord. And this prepares him more and more the full Enjoyment of GOD and CHRIST in Eternal Glory. Thus I have considered the Instituted Means of Salvation; and shewn how you must improve them, if you mean to be saved.

But besides these,

2. THERE are the Occasional Means and Helps of Salvation; which you must carefully observe and [Page 95] improve, if you desire to be saved. And these are the REMARKABLE PRO­VIDENCES of GOD towards us in the World. And I call them Occasional Means: For, tho' GOD has not institu­ted them in His Word, as ordinary and necessary Means of Salvation; yet, He frequently makes use of them for the Conviction and Conversion of Sinners. And when we meet with such Providen­ces, GOD commands us to observe them, and improve them to our Spiritual Ad­vantage: as I could easily make appear, if need were. And therefore, whenever you meet with any remarkable Dispensa­tions of Heaven, whether by way of Mercy or Judgment, you ought to im­prove them so as to get Spiritual Good by them. Thus when you meet with any signal Mercies or Deliverances from the Hand of GOD, you should improve them so, that by His Goodness you may be led to Repentance; for this is the spe­cial End why GOD bestows His Mer­cies upon Sinners. Rom. 2.4. Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness, and forbear­ance, and long-suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repen­tance? And so when GOD sends his Judgments upon you, and awakens you by them; or, threatens you by any ter­rible [Page 96] Dispensation; as lately he threatned to destroy us all in a moment, when the Earth quaked under us, our Houses shook over us, and our Hearts were ready to fail within us: Such Providences you ought to set a special Remark upon. And as GOD does convince you of your Sins and awaken his Terrors in you by these Means: so you must hearken to the Call of GOD in them. You must Repent of, and turn from, those Sins, for which He is angry at you, and threatens you with such severity: and beg of Him that the good Impressions which such awful Dis­pensations are apt to make upon our Hearts, for the present, may not prove as the morning cloud and the early dew, which soon passeth away: but may prove abiding and saving Impressions: That the fruit of them may be to purge out Ini­quity, and take away Sin: and be instru­mental to bring you nearer to GOD and CHRIST. And then, you'l have reason for ever to bless GOD for them.

AND thus I have finished the Second general Head in answer to the most im­portant Inquiry in our Text. And now I go on to the last general Head in ans­wer to the same Question. And this is,

[Page 97] Thirdly. IF you would be saved you must particularly close in with the LORD JESUS CHRIST by FAITH, as He is of­fered to us in the Gospel. And now I come to the main Article I have to con­sider. For Faith in Christ is the very Hinge upon which the Eternal Salvation of a Sinner turns. And therefore, let a Sinner do ever so much in Religion: Let him be ever so diligent and constant in attending and improving all the other Means and Helps of Salvation; yet, if he neglects Faith in Christ, 'tis utterly im­possible he should be saved, according to the tenour of the New-Covenant: For our Saviour himself is very positive in this, Joh. 3.18. — He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And again in ver. 36 th. — He that believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. But on the other hand; If a Sinner is once brought to close in with Christ by Faith, upon Gospel Terms, this will ef­fectually and infallibly secure his Eternal Salvation. This is evident from what our Saviour himself asserts in the places but now mentioned. Joh. 3.18, & 36. He that believeth on him is not condemned. And again, He that believeth on the Son [Page 98] hath everlasting Life. And therefore, when the convinced Jaylor came to the Apostle Paul & Silas his Companion, with that most serious and important Questi­on in his mouth, — Sirs, what must I do to be saved? as in the Text: They were at no loss at all what Answer to give him, but immediately made that reply in the next verse, — Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. As if they had said to him, ‘Let your former Transgressions have been ever so many and great; your Guilt contracted by them, of ever so crimson and bloody a Dye, and your Fears and Prospects on the account of them ever so dark and distressing; yet, if you will but go to Jesus Christ, whom GOD has given to die and rise again for the Salvation of Sinners, and do but Believe in Him alone for Righteousness and Salvation, you need not fear; your Sins, which are many shall be forgiven, and the Guilt and Pollution of them wash'd away in His precious Blood: you shall be justified by His Righte­ousness; and saved with an everlasting Salvation, by His infinite Merit.’ And thus you see that Faith in Christ is abso­lutely necessary to Salvation, and that e­very one that does Believe aright in Him, [Page 99] shall certainly be saved. But now, since many Convinced and Awakened Sinners are very much in the dark about the Nature of saving Faith, and the Manner of a Sinners closing in with Christ by Faith for Salvation, I shall spend some Time in opening and confirming this great Point, for the Direction and En­couragement of all such as are in earnest seeking and inquiring after Eternal Sal­vation. And here, First, I shall give you a short Account of the Nature of Saving Faith. And then, Secondly, Show what course a poor Convinced Sinner must take, that so he may close in effec­tually with Christ by Faith for Salvation.

First; I shall give you a short Ac­count of the Nature of Saving Faith, as a proper Foundation to what follows.

AND here I shall lay down this as a general Description of it, viz.

SAVING Faith is that Grace of the Holy Spirit, whereby a Convinced Sinner, having had a true Discovery of CHRIST, as He is Revealed to us in the Gospel, high­ly Approves of the method of Salvation by Him, and so, Receives and Rests upon Him alone for Salvation, as He is made known, and offered, to us in the Gospel.

[Page 100]THIS general Description I shall briefly open to you in the several parts of it. And say,

1. SAVING Faith is a Grace of the HOLY SPIRIT. That is, Saving Faith is one of the free and distinguishing Fa­vours of GOD towards those that are endow'd with it: And 'tis wrought in the Heart, not by the Power and Virtue of any Means, in themselves, but by the immediate Influence and Agency of the HOLY SPIRIT of GOD. And therefore, Saving Faith is said expresly not to be of our selves: but the Gift of God, in Eph. 2.8. Again,

2. THIS Faith is wrought in the Heart of a Convinced Sinner. Not that every Convinced Sinner has saving Faith wrought in him: For many a one that has been Convinced and Awakened, for a time, has found means to shake off his Convictions; and so at length dy'd in a state of Impenitency and Unbelief: But however, the Sinner must be Convin­ced, and brought to a deep sense of his Sin and Misery by Nature, and the abso­lute need he stands in of Salvation, be­fore he can be willing to receive and em­brace a Saviour by Faith. For before [Page 101] this Conviction the Sinner sees no need he stands in of Salvation; and so, is rea­dy to slight and contemn the offer of a Saviour; as they did, whom our Lord upbraids, in Joh. 4.40. Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. And therefore, this Conviction is necessary to prepare the way for Faith in Christ. And agreably, such Sinners only are cal­led upon immediately to close in with Christ by Faith; as you may see in Matth. 11.28. Joh. 7.37, 38, &c.

But however,

3. BEFORE the Convinced Sinner actually closes in with Christ by Faith, he has a Discovery of Christ, as He is revealed and offered to us in the Gospel. For, the Holy Spirit, who first convinces the Sinner of his Guilt and Pollution by Nature, and of the need he stands in of Salvation, goes on to Reveal to him where his Help is to be found, and makes Christ known to his Soul. He shews the Sinner the glorious Contrivance of GOD for our Salvation by a Redeemer, and re­veals the only SAVIOUR to him in the Glory and Fulness of his Person, Offices and Benefits. This is plain from what our Saviour said to Peter upon his declar­ing Him to be the Christ, the Son of the [Page 102] living God, in Mat. 16.16. For upon this says Christ in the next verse, — Blessed art thou Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee: but my father which is in heaven. And when the Sinner has once gain'd a true Dis­covery of Christ, Then,

4. HE highly Approves of the Method of our Redemption and Salvation by Him. For the Convinced and Enlightened Sin­ner, beholding the infinite Wisdom and Grace of GOD in this Contrivance of Salvation by JESUS CHRIST; and seeing that it is wonderfully adapted beyond any other way whatever, to advance the great Ends proposed in the Salvation of a Sinner; which are the Glory of GOD, and the Happiness of the poor Sinner; he is bro't immediately to Receive this Revelation concerning Christ, as a faith­ful saying, and worthy of all Acceptation; as we find in 1 Tim. 1.15.

And upon this,

5. THE Sinner that has Faith wrought in his Heart, willingly Receives and Em­braces CHRIST, as He is revealed in the Gospel. That is, he freely accepts Him as His Lord and Saviour: He closes in with Him in all his Offices, as the Pro­phet, [Page 103] Priest and King of his Salvation; and embraces Him thus upon His own Terms; being ready and willing to be and do, all that Christ requires, that he may be saved by Him. And upon his thus receiving Christ,

6. THE Believing Sinner Rests and Relies upon Him alone for Salvation. That is, He wholly and forever Re­nounces all other Methods and Propo­sals of Salvation, and has no Dependance upon any thing but Christ for the Salva­tion he needs. And he sees such a suita­bleness in Christ, such an infinite Fulness and Sufficiency in Him, that he finds he may safely depend upon Him; and so casts the whole Burden, and leans all the Weight of his Eternal Salvation upon Him; hoping that Christ will be made unto him, of God, Wisdom, Righteousness, Sanctification and Redemption, as in 1 Cor. 1.30. "And whatsoever fears he hath, yet he resolves here he will lie, and go no whither else, for what he wants: say­ing, as Joh. 6.68. — Lord, to whom should we go? Thou hast the words of eternal Life."

THUS I have given you a short Ac­count of true and saving Faith, only as [Page 104] a Foundation to what I am to consider more largely under the next general Head. But I shall go no further at this time; but conclude this Discourse, with a short Reflection or two, on what has been said concerning the general Nature of Gospel Faith, and the Necessity of it for Salvation.

And,

1. Infer. WE hence learn that true and saving Faith, is quite another thing, than most Men take it to be. For the gene­rality, even of those who are favour'd with Gospel Revelation, are ready to i­magine, That Divine Faith consists only in a bare Belief, or Assent of their Un­derstandings to the Truth of this Reve­lation. And therefore, if you Discourse with them about the Nature of saving Faith; and inquire, whether they have any grounds to conclude they have this Faith in them? They'l readily reply; That they are no Infidels: For, they be­lieve that the Scriptures are the Word of GOD, and that the Doctrines revealed in them are the Truths of GOD: And, in particular, That they believe that Christ, who is so much spoken of in the Gospel, died for the Salvation of Sinners; and upon this, they express a Confidence, [Page 105] that God, who is a merciful GOD, will save them for His sake. And if you go on to Inquire, How they came by this Faith? They'l say, This is the Faith they were born and brought up in. And this is the best Account they can give of the matter: And therefore, this is all the Foundation they have to build their Hopes for Heaven and Happiness upon. But, believe it Sinner, if you have no other notion of true and saving Faith than this, your Faith is no better, than the Faith of Devils; for, doubtless, they have as clear an understanding of the Scripture-revelation concerning Christ, and as firmly assent to the truth of it, as you can do. (See Jam. 2.19.) And by con­sequence, all the Hopes you ground up­on this Faith are vain and presumptuous. And 'tis very lamentable to think, how many poor Sinners go on, all their days, in this groundless presumption; and won't suffer any one to rectify this fatal mistake for them, nor be at any pains to do it themselves, 'till they come to be convinced of their Error, in the Agonies of Death: And then their false Hopes vanish in a moment, and endless Despair seizes upon them: Agreable to that, in Prov. 11.7. When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of [Page 106] unjust men perisheth. O then! if you have any desire at all to be Saved, be­ware of this presumptuous Faith and Hope: And while you have Time and Means for it, search narrowly into the Nature and Grounds of true and saving Faith. Study the Holy Scriptures with care and diligence, to see what account they give of this Faith, and Pray to GOD to enlighten you in the knowledge of this Mystery: And then, I am perswaded you'l soon be convinced, that the Faith of God's Elect, contains much more in it, than the naked assent of their Under­standings to the faith of the Scripture-revelation concerning Christ: And in particular, that it also comprehends in it, the Souls delightful Approbation of the Method of our Redemption by Him: and the hearty Consent of the Will, to Re­ceive and Embrace Him, in all His Offi­ces, and upon His own Terms &c. as I hinted before, and shall more fully make out in the following Discourses.

And then,

2. Infer. SINCE this Faith is abso­lutely necessary to Salvation, you ought to be greatly concerned how to obtain it. And must take the same pains to become [Page 107] a sincere Believer in Christ, that you would to secure your Title to Heaven and Glory. For there is an inseparable Connection between them. That is, Faith unites the Soul to Christ; and this Union entitles the Believer to all the Benefits of Redemption by Him. And therefore, our Saviour assures us, in Mar. 16.16. He that believeth — shall be sa­ved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. Well then, since Faith is so essential to Salvation, let this be your next Inquiry, How shall I obtain this Faith? What Course must I take? What Means must I use for this End? And this will prepare the way, for a chearful Compliance with those weighty Directi­ons, which are the Subject of the follow­ing Discourses.

IN the last Discourse I gave you a short Account of the Nature and Importance of Gospel Faith, as a Means to Salvation.

And now,

Secondly, I proceed to show what Course a poor Convinced Sinner must take, to obtain this Faith in CHRIST, and be saved by Him.

AND here I shall say, I. You must en­deavour to See and Know, what a Savi­our CHRIST is. Upon which, II. You must consent to Receive and Embrace Him, in all His Offices, and upon His own Terms. And when you have done this, III. You must have your whole De­pendance upon Him alone for Salvation. These are the three Principal DIRECTI­ONS, that are to be attended in this Case: [Page 109] And every Sinner that is enabled, by the Grace of GOD, to comply with them, is a Believer in Christ, and has a sure and unalienable Title to Eternal Life. I shall therefore speak something distinctly to each of these Heads. And say,

I. IF you desire to obtain a true and saving Faith in JESUS CHRIST, you must endeavour to see and know what a SA­VIOUR He is. For, without an agreable Knowledge of Him, there can be no sav­ing Faith in Him. This is evident from that of the Apostle, in Rom. 10.14. — How shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? The Apostle speaks here by way of Interrogation: "which is the more convincing; because it car­ries in it, a sort of appeal to the persons spoken to". And this kind of Interro­gation is equivalent to a negative Propo­sition: so that the sense of the words is plainly this, viz. Men must hear of Christ, and so come to the Knowledge of Him, or they can never Believe in Him, so as to be saved by Him. And the Reason is evidently this, That Faith, which is not grounded upon some proper Knowledge of the Object of it, is Faith without a Foundation; and so is but a mere Fancy, or vain Credulity, rather [Page 110] than true Faith. But, on the other hand, if the Sinner is once thoroughly acquain­ted with the Doctrine of Christ, and comes to know, in a spiritual sense, what a Saviour is provided for us, he'll soon be brought to Believe and Trust in Him for Eternal Life. For David assures us, in Psal. 9.10. They that know the name of the Lord will put their Trust in him. And agreably, this Knowledge is call'd Eternal Life, Joh. 17.3. And this is Life Eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. i. e. there is an inseparable Con­nection between the true Knowledge of Christ, and Salvation by Him. And that you may not be at a loss to know what I intend by this Knowledge of Christ, which is essential to true Faith, and lays the Foundation for a Sinners closing in immediately with Him for Salvation, I shall give you this short Description of it, namely, This Knowledge of Christ is that inward and spiritual Acquaintance with the Doctrine of Christ, as revealed to us in the Gospel, which gains the Assent of the Understanding to the Truth of this Revelation, and the Approbation of his Judgment to the Reasonableness and Ne­cessity of our Salvation by Him. In this Description there are two principal Ar­ticles [Page 111] contain'd; which (tho' you have had some Hints upon them, in the ge­neral Account of true and saving Faith) I shall more particularly open and explain in this place. And say,

1. THIS Knowledge supposes a thorow Acquaintance with the DOCTRINE of CHRIST, as Revealed to us in the Gos­pel. And therefore, every one that has this Knowledge, is so well acquainted with the Gospel Revelation, that he is able to give a good account of what the Scriptures say concerning the Person, the Nature, the Offices, the Benefits of Christ, and other Articles of this kind; which the Scriptures reveal, and have made necessary to be known to Salva­tion. And this is what we usually call, the Doctrinal Knowledge of CHRIST. And since these Lines may, probably, fall into the Hands of some awakened Ones, who are very ignorant of the Redeemer; and who, by reason of their unskilfulness in searching the Scriptures, and compar­ing one Text with another, must needs spend a great deal of Time and Pains, without some more compendious Help, to gain a competent Knowledge of Christ; I shall for the Information of these, give a summary Account of this [Page 112] Doctrine, as it is revealed and made known to us in the Gospel. And accordingly, you must know, That the Saviour, whom you are bound to believe in, "is both GOD and MAN in two distinct Natures and one Person forever". And therefore, He is sometimes called GOD. See Joh. 1.1. In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with GOD, and the WORD was GOD. And Rom. 9.5. CHRIST, who is over all, GOD BLESSED FOR EVER. And some­times He is called MAN, as in 1 Tim. 2.5. — The MAN CHRIST JESUS. And by the UNION of these two Na­tures, in one Person, He is called EMMA­NUEL, which, being interpreted, is God with us, or, God in our Nature, Math. 1.23. And as Christ is both God and Man in one Person; you must know, that according to His DIVINE NATURE, He is the Son of God, and the only begotten of the Father. See Joh. 1.34. Chap. 3.18. with many more places: and that this SONSHIP is by eternal and ineffable Ge­neration: For the Prophet Isaiah speak­ing of Him says, in Chap. 53.8. — Who shall declare his Generation? And being thus the SON of GOD, you must under­stand, that He is the Second Person in the adorable Trinity; the same in Sub­stance, [Page 113] and equal in Power and Glory, with the FATHER and the HOLY GHOST: For we read in Joh. 5.7. There are three that bear record in Heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are One. And concerning this WORD, we are taught in Phil. 3.6 That being in the form of God, he tho't it not robbery to be equal with God: being the brightness of the Father's Glory, and the express image of his Person: as we find in Heb. 1.3. And then, as for the HUMA­NITY of Christ, you must know, that this Glorious SON of GOD assumed, or took our Nature into, that which we call, a Personal Union with his Divine Nature: And the manner of it, was, by His being conceived by the power of the Holy-Ghost, in the womb of the virgin Mary, Math. 1.20. And by this means, He wholly escap'd the Guilt and Pollution we bro't into the World with us, in the way of natural Generation. This we learn from Luk. 1.35. And the Angel said unto her, i.e. unto Mary, the Mother of our Lord, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the Power of the Highest shall over shadow thee: therefore that HOLY THING that shall be born of thee, shall be called, the SON OF GOD. And agreably, He is said, in Heb. 7.26. — to be holy, harmless, unde­filed, [Page 114] separate from sinners. These are the things you must learn concerning the Nature and Constitution of Christ's Person. And by this means, you will soon un­derstand how admirably He is fitted to accomplish the great Work of our Re­demption. And accordingly, you must know, that this blessed Immanuel is the only Person, whom the Father has con­stituted to be the MEDIATOR of the New Covenant: As we find in 1 Tim. 2.5. For there is one God, and one Medi­ator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus. And by consequence, that He is the very Saviour that was promised to our first Parents, as soon as they stood in need of such an one, Gen. 3.15. And the Per­son, whom, when the fulness of time came, the FATHER sent into the world, made of a woman, made under the law to redeem them that were under the law; as we read in Gal. 4.4, 5. And that He might more effectually discharge this high Trust, you you must know further, that He is, more particularly, vested with a threefold Office of Prophet, Priest and King, "which He executeth as our Redeemer, both in His state of Humiliation and Ex­altation". (1.) With the Office of a PRO­PHET; as Moses foretold of Him in Deut. 18.15. The Lord thy God will raise up [Page 115] unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thy brethren like unto me, unto him shall ye hearken. Which words are interpreted of Christ, in Act. 3.22. And this Office He discharges "in his revealing to his Peo­ple, by his Word and Spirit, the will of GOD for their Salvation". Again (2.) He is vested with the Office of a PRIEST. Heb. 5.5, 10. So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high Priest: but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. — Called of God an high Priest. And in the Execution of this Office, you must know, that when He was here, in our Nature, He did, in his Obedience unto Death, offer up Him­self a Sacrifice, to atone the Justice of GOD for our Offences; a Sacrifice that had infinite Merit in it, and so was infi­nitely pleasing to the FATHER, Eph. 2.5. And that after He had made this Expiati­on for us, by His Sufferings and Death, He arose out of the Grave for our Justificati­on, (Rom. 4.25.) ascended into Heaven, leading Captivity Captive, (Eph. 4.8.) And is there seated at the Right Hand of GOD, where He ever liveth to make Intercession for us, (Heb. 7.25.) And then (3.) JESUS CHRIST is vested the Office of a KING. For He is the King whom the Fa­ther has set upon his holy hill of Zion, (Psal. [Page 116] 2.6.) And being exalted to that Dignity, you must know that He has a name given him above every name: that at the name of JESUS every knee should bow, of things in Heaven, and things in Earth, & things under the Earth; and that every Tongue should confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father, (Phil. 3.9, 10, 11.) And that, in the Execution of this Office, He now Over-rules and Go­verns all things in the Kingdom of Grace and Providence, for the good of His Re­deemed, ( Heb. 2.8.) And will finally come to Judge the World in Righteousness, (Act. 17.31.) And so render to every man ac­cording to his deeds: to them who by pa­tient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and Immortality; Eter­nal Life: But unto them that are conten­tious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness; Indignation & Wrath, Tribulation and Anguish— (Rom. 2, 7, 8, 9.) And as necessary Inferences from all that has been said concerning the Person and Offices of Christ, you must farther know, that this JESUS is an ALMIGHTY SAVIOUR; able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him, (Heb. 7.25.) Again, That He is a most WILLING and COM­PASSIONATE SAVIOUR; and will never reject any that go to GOD in and thro' [Page 117] Him, ( Joh. 7.27.) And finally, That He is the ONLY SAVIOUR of Sinners: For we read in Act. 4.12. Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is none other Name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved.

THUS I have given you a brief Account of the Principal Things, which are re­vealed to us in the Scriptures concerning Christ: And they are, every one of them, of very great Importance, if not of abso­lute Necessity, to be known, that so you may obtain true and saving Faith in Him. But then, as this saving Knowledge according to the Description I have given, implies something more than a Doctrinal Acquaintance with the Scripture Revelation concerning Christ, I add,

2. THIS Knowledge must be inward and Spiritual, so as to gain the Assent of the UNDERSTANDING to the Truth of this Revelation, and the Approbation of the JUDGMENT to the Reasonableness and Necessity of our being Saved by Christ. And herein consists the very Essence of true and saving Knowledge: or, that, whereby the Knowledge of the Believer, is distinguished from the Know­ledge [Page 118] of all other Men whatever. For many Unconverted Persons, under the Light of the Gospel, are as well acquaint­ed with the Scripture-revelation of Christ, as any of the Children of God; and can give a more distinct account of the Doc­trine of Christ, as it is taught us in the Gospel, than many true Believers can do. But then, They, either look upon all that is said concerning Christ, in the Gospel, to be but a mere Fable, and so believe not one word that is said concerning Him; as the Jews and Deists, and such like Infidels do: or else, they are deeply prejudiced against this way of Salvation by Christ; and can't bear to think that HE should have all the Glory, and Men so little of the Credit of a Sinners Salva­tion: And this is the Condition of all such who are building their Hopes for Heaven upon a Righteousness of their own. And therefore, this true and sav­ing Knowledge is something more than Speculative, which floats only in the Head and Imagination: it sinks deeper into the Heart, and takes fast hold of the superi­our and leading Powers of the Soul. And for this reason, I call it an inward acquain­tance with the Doctrine of Christ. And I add Spiritual, to distinguish it from that carnal Knowledge, which only puffs Men [Page 119] up with Pride, and because the Spirit of GOD is the Author of it; as you will presently here. And every one that has this Knowledge, gives in the real and unfeigned Assent of his Understanding, to all the great and fundamental Truths, which the Gospel has revealed to us con­cerning Christ, and is fully perswaded, not only of the certainty of their Reve­lation; but also that the Salvation of a Sinner is to be obtain'd only by Christ, as the Gospel asserts. And to this firm assent of the Understanding, he joyns the hearty Approbation of his Judgment; and is really Convinced, upon the most im­partial Consideration, that the whole Contrivance of our Redemption by Christ, as it is made known to us in the Gospel, is the most Wise and Reasonable, the most Just and Gracious, the most Ho­nourable to GOD, and the safest for the Sinner, that could possibly be thought on: And so receives it as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, 1 Tim. 1.15. And with the Apostle in Phil. 3.8. He accounts all other things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus our Lord.

AND thus I have given you the most clear and distinct Account I can, of that Knowledge of Christ, which is necessary to Faith and Salvation.

[Page 120]AND now, that you may gain this saving Acquaintance with Christ, You must be careful to improve the Appointed Means, which GOD has been won't to bless for the Communication of it, to Convinced and Awakened Sinners. And they are prin­cipally, the WORD and PRAYER. These, indeed, I consider'd before, as special Means, of Divine Appointment, to bring a Sinner out of a state of Nature into a state of Grace: but here I shall consi­der them only in their Aptitude or Fit­ness, to bring a poor Sinner to the saving Knowledge of Jesus Christ: or, to that spiritual Acquaintance with Him, which will bring the Sinner to Receive and Re­ly upon Him alone for Salvation, as He is offered to us in the Gospel. And therefore, I say,

1. IF you would know Christ so as to believe in Him, you must carefully Attend to the WORD of GOD, both in the Reading and Hearing of it. Now it ap­pears very plainly, from what I said be­fore, upon the Doctrinal Knowledge of Christ, That the SACRED SCRIPTURES contain the whole External Revelation of Christ, as a Saviour; and that there is no one Article, that is necessary to be known concerning Him, but what is [Page 121] therein clearly Revealed to us: And therefore, in themselves considered, they are the most proper and natural Means, we can make use of, to come to an ex­act Knowledge of the Doctrine of Christ. But then, as we can never justly expect to be the Masters of this Knowledge, un­less we take Pains for it, in the way of Divine Appointment; that is, by Search­ing the Scriptures, to see what they Re­veal and Testify concerning Christ: as God commands us to do, in Joh. 5.39. And by giving a due Attendance to the Publick Dispensation of the Word, as He also directs us, for this End. See Rom. 10.14. and onwards. I say here, if you would lay the very Foundation of this true and saving Knowledge aright, you must dili­gently apply your selves to the study of the Holy Scriptures, and carefully attend upon the Publick Dispensation of the Word, in the manner you were directed to do under a former Head: And by this means, you can scarce fail of gaining that Doctrinal Knowledge of CHRIST, which is necessary to Faith and Salvation. But since, as I said before, the highest De­grees of this Knowledge alone, will ne­ver bring a Sinner to close in with Christ by a true and saving Faith, I add,

[Page 122]2. YOU must humbly and earnestly Pray to GOD, that He would Reveal CHRIST to your Souls, and give you the inward and spiritual Understanding of that Way and Method of Salvation by Him, which is Reveal'd to us outwardly in the Gospel. For observe it, whatever Convictions and Terrors of Conscience you may be under, from that sight, which the Law may help you to, of your mise­rable Condition by Nature; you can ne­ver be brought to Receive and Rest up­on Christ alone for Salvation, 'till your Understandings are enlightened, and Christ be Revealed in you, by His Holy Spirit For we read in 1 Cor. 2.14. The natural man receiveth not the things of the spirit of God: for they are foolishness to him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. And there­fore, that you may gain that Knowledge of Christ which is Life Eternal, you must, particularly, Pray to GOD, That He would, by a powerful act of His Almigh­ty Spirit, First, open the eyes of your Understanding, that you may be able to discern spiritual things after a spiritual manner; and work such a mighty Change in your Heart, as to turn the corrupt byas of it from Sin to Holiness; and thereby enable you to Discern and Approve the [Page 123] things that are most excellent. And when you have Pray'd thus for the Illumination and Sanctification of the Faculties of the Inner Man: Then, Plead with GOD, That He would unveil the GLORY of CHRIST, and show you that sweet HAR­MONY there is in the way of our Re­demption by Him: that so your Hearts may be fill'd with Admiration & Praise, at the Wisdom and Grace of GOD ap­pearing in them. For, to this effect the blessed Apostle Paul pray'd, on behalf of the Christian Ephesians; as we find in Chap. 1. ver. 15. & onwards. Where­fore (says he) I cease not — to make men­tion of you in my Prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give unto you the spirit of wis­dom and revelation in the Knowledge of Him; the eyes of your Understanding being enlightened, that ye may know what is the hope of his Calling, and what the Riches of the Glory of his Inheritance in the Saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his Power to us-ward, who believe according to his mighty Power &c. And now, to close this Head, if, by such Means as these, you once come to know Christ, and the Power of his Resurrection, and the Fel­lowship of his Sufferings, you can no lon­ger with-hold the Consent of your Souls [Page 124] from Him; but you'l run to Him as your only Refuge, to shelter you from the Storm of Divine Vengeance which pur­sues you; and, with open Arms, you'll Receive Him in all His Offices; and, by an Act of Recumbency, cast all the Cares of your Souls, and lay the whole stress of your Salvation upon Him.

AND this leads me now to the next thing I proposed in Directing, what Course you must take, that so you may effectu­ally close in with Christ for Salvation. And this is,

II. IF you would believe in Christ to the saving of your Soul, you must hear­tily CONSENT to Receive and Embrace Him in all His OFFICES, and upon His own TERMS, as He is offered to us in the Gospel. For, the Faith of a Christi­an is not, like the Faith of the Philoso­pher, confined to the Head, but it ex­tends to the Heart also: It takes possessi­on both of the Understanding and Will; yea, 'tis eminently seated in the Heart. For tho' there can be no saving Faith in Christ without a Doctrinal Knowledge of Him; yet (as I said before) the largest Degrees of this Knowledge alone, will not secure a saving Interest in Christ. Whereas on the other hand, if any poor [Page 125] Soul, who has but a competent Know­ledge in the Doctrine or Christ, does but heartily Consent to take Him for his Sa­viour, as He is offered in the Gospel, he has that Faith in the Redeemer, which will immediately entitle him to Eternal Life. And therefore, this Consent of the Will, to receive and embrace Christ, is an Essential Act of SAVING FAITH; and of infinite Importance in the Salva­tion of a Sinner. And accordingly, we frequently read of it in the Gospel of God our Saviour. 'Tis express'd to us in one place under the notion of Receiving Christ, Joh. 1.12. To as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God; even to them that believe on his Name. This Receiving is a relative Term, and necessarily supposes a previous Offer of Christ to us. For, (as One ^† well observes) "what is not sent, or offer'd me, I may snatch at, or seize by violence; but I can't properly he said to Receive it". Now this offer of Christ is made to us in the Gospel, and the true Believer Receives Him, not physically but in a moral sense, i. e. He gives in the full Consent of his Will, that Christ should be his upon Gos­pel Terms. Again, This Consenting Act [Page 126] of Faith is expressed by Believing in Christ with all the Heart. Thus 'tis ex­press'd by Philip in his Answer to the Eunuch, when he requested Baptism of him, Act. 8.38. If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayst be baptised. And so 'tis express'd again, in Rom. 10.10. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness. And in many other places to the same purpose. And therefore, if you truly de­sire to be saved, you must and will give in the free and full Consent of your Soul to take Christ for your Saviour, just as He is made known and offered to us in the Gospel. And agreably, you must be heartily willing to Receive Him, (1.) In all His Offices. And (2.) Upon His own Terms: For so the Gospel reveals and offers Him to us.

(1.) YOU must be heartily willing to receive and embrace Him in all his OF­FICES. I observed to you, under the first Head, when I Discoursed of that Knowledge which is necessary to Faith and Salvation; that Christ is Revealed and Offered to us in the Gospel in a threefold Office, which He has taken up­on Himself, by the special Appointment of GOD the Father, and executeth as our Redeemer. And these (I said) are the Offices of a Prophet, Priest and King. [Page 127] And therefore you must heartily Consent to take Christ in all, and in each of these Offices.

1. YOU must heartily Receive and Em­brace HIM in His PROPHETICAL OF­FICE. Jesus Christ is the Great Prophet that was foretold and promised in the forecited, Deut. 18.5. The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee &c. This Promise GOD has long since fulfilled, as we find in Act. 3.22. Where the Apostle cites this Predicti­on of Moses, and applies it particularly to the Lord Jesus Christ. And He is One every qualify'd to give the Know­ledge of Salvation to his People. He is perfectly acquainted with all the Secrets of GOD, and so knows His whole Will concerning our Salvation: For He came forth from the Father, as He testifies of Himself, in Joh. 16.28. Yea, He is the only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father; and so has seen Him, and makes One with Him in all His Counsels concerning us. Joh. 1.18. And being thus perfectly acquainted with the Mind of GOD, He is able to reveal to us, by His Word and Spirit, the whole will of GOD for our Salvation. And does by these Means enlighten every one of the Heirs of Salvation. Hence He is called, The [Page 128] Sun of Righteousness, in Mal. 4.2. And, The day-spring from on high, — to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace, Luk. 1.78, 79. And therefore, as you are by Nature full of Darkness and Ignorance, and need such an Instructor as Christ, you must be heartily Willing to Receive and Submit to Him, as a Teacher sent from GOD, to give you the Knowledge of Eternal Sal­vation. And you must give in the Con­sent of your Soul to take Him in His Pro­phetical Office after this manner,

O LORD, I am a poor miserable Crea­ture by Nature. And that which renders my Case the more so, is, I am naturally full of Blindness and Ignorance. I was born into the World in a state of Darkness; and so have by Nature no Power to behold any spiritual Object after a spiritual manner. Indeed, I have read in thy Holy Word, and been many times told by thy Ministers, that I am in a sinful, miserable, undone state by Nature: That there is no Hope nor Help for me in any but thy self: And that thou art a most Glorious Saviour, and every way able and willing to save poor Sinners to the uttermost: But such is the dread­ful darkness and ignorance of my mind, that I can't, of my self, see the evil of [Page 129] Sin, nor the miserable Condition I am in, on the account of my Transgressions: nor can I see the Glory, Beauty and Fulness, I have been told there is in Thy self: no, nor the need I stand in of an Interest in the Merits of thy Obedience unto Death, that so I may be saved: But on the other hand, I am exceeding apt from this Ignorance of mine, to entertain high thoughts of my self, and but low thoughts of the Grace of the Gospel. But after all, I am convinced, I need to have other and righter Apprehen­ons of these things, than I have ever yet had: And I know not whether else to go, but unto Thee, O LORD, for that spiritu­al Illumination and Instruction I want. For I have often heard that Thou art a great Teacher sent from GOD, and sent on purpose, to enlighten poor Sinners, that are willing to be taught by Thee, in the way to Salvation. I desire therefore now to come to Thee, and to put my self under the Teachings of thy Word and Spirit. I chuse Thee for my Prophet, Oh! Reveal to me the whole will of GOD for the Salvation of my poor Soul. Open my blind Eyes, and turn me from Darkness to Light. Renew and sanctify the Powers of my Soul, that I may be able to discern spiritual things after a spiritual manner. Give me a true sight of my own sinfulness [Page 130] and vileness: and help me to see, How wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked I am; and how unable to redeem and save my self. LORD, I desire to see and know the worst of my self. Oh! That all my Sin, and Guilt, and Misery, may be laid open before me! Give me also to see the Vanity & Empti­ness of this World, the false Glory of which has dazled my Eyes and captivated my Heart. But above all, Discover thine own Glory and Fulness to me. Give me to see what an Almighty and Compassionate Saviour Thou art: and help me to see the ab­solute need I stand in of an Interest in thy self. Give me such a sight hereof that I may go no whither else but to Thee alone, for Eter­nal Life. LORD, open to me the New Covenant way to Salvation. Thou hast plainly laid down the Doctrine of it in thy Holy Word: but I earnestly desire, and ap­ply to thee, to give me an inward, Spiritu­al understanding of the Reasonableness, Ne­cessity, and Excellency of that way of Sal­vation. And whereas, I am bound to Love, and Fear GOD, and keep all his Com­mandments, give me such a sensible disco­very of the Infinite Being and Perfection of GOD, that I may Love and Fear Him above all. And give me such a Spiritual understanding of the Mind and Will of [Page 131] GOD contain'd in His holy Word, that I may truly account his Precepts concerning all things to be right, and to desire no­thing in the World so much, as to lead a Life of New-Obedience to His sacred Commandments. And, LORD, I chuse Thee for my Instructor; Oh! Give me a spiritual Understanding in all these Things, and in every thing else that Thou seest needful for me to know; and mine Ear shall be open to all thy sacred Instructions. There are no Teachings like the Teachings of thy Word and Spirit; I am resolved therefore, by thy Grace, always to hear what my God and Saviour has to say to me.

AND now, if you do but thus heartily Consent to take Christ for the Prophet of your Salvation: If you do but humbly and earnestly apply to Him, after this manner, for spiritual Illumination and In­struction; and Resolve thus, by the Grace of GOD, to Hear and Receive all that He has to say to you, by His Word and Providences, by His Spirit and Ministers: then have you received Him aright in His Prophetical Office. And He'll teach you the whole Will of GOD, as far as 'tis needful for you to know it: and make you wise to Eternal Salvation. Again,

[Page 132]2. YOU must heartily Receive and Em­brace JESUS CHRIST in His PRIESTLY OFFICE. Jesus Christ is the Great High-Priest of our Salvation. See Heb. 4.14. And as such, He appeared once, in the end of the world, to put away sin, by the sa­crifice of himself, Heb. 9.26. And when He had thus paid down the Price of our Redemption, by His Obedience unto Death, He arose again from the Dead for our Justification; and is ascended into Heaven, where He ever lives to make In­tercession for us, Heb. 7.25. Now this Office of Christ is of the greatest account, both with GOD and the Believer. For herein is laid the very Foundation of our Eternal Redemption; and the other two Offices of Prophet and King, are built upon it: For hereby that Salvation is pro­cured for us, which Christ as a Prophet makes known to us, and as a King brings us to the Enjoyment of. And therefore it is of the greatest Necessity to Salvation, that the Sinner heartily Consent to take Christ in His Priestly Office. Without this there can be no Atonement for Sin, no Peace with GOD to be obtain'd; and consequently, no Salvation to be hoped for. And therefore, as you desire to be saved, you must chearfully Receive & Embrace Christ, as the High-Priest of your Salva­tion. [Page 133] And you must give in the Consent of your Soul to take Him in this Office, after this manner,

O LORD, I am a poor Guilty, Condemned Creature. I came into the World under the Guilt of the first Transgression, and deriv­ed a corrupt Nature from my first Parents, whereby my Heart is naturally full of En­mity against Thee, and thy holy Law. On these Accounts, I am by Nature a Child of Wrath; and lay open to the dreadful Wrath and Vengeance of GOD, from the first moment I had a Being. And as I was born in Sin, so I have lived all my Days in Sin and Rebellion against GOD: And been guilty of many Millions of Sins, of Heart, Lip and Life; of Omission & Com­mission; of Knowledge and Ignorance; and these against both the first and second Ta­bles of GOD's holy Law; and also against the very Gospel of our Salvation. And these Sins do all and every one of them de­serve the Damnation of Hell: and I am every moment exposed to that Damnation in the most amazing Aggravations of it. And I tremble at the thoughts of that Wrath that is ready to fall upon me. O LORD, How shall I make my Escape? I am no ways able to Atone Divine Justice for my manifold Offences. For, where­withal shall I come before the LORD for [Page 134] this end? Lebanon it self is not sufficient to burn, nor the Beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering. And therefore, if I could offer thousands of Rams or ten thou­sands of rivers of Oyl, if the fruit of my Body for the sin of my Soul, there would not be merit enough in all to procure the Pardon of the least Sin. No, nor could a Sacrifice of the whole Creation yield a sui­table Satisfaction for anyone of my manifold Transgressions. But, Oh Dear LORD JESUS, I have heard of thee, that Thou hast loved poor Sinners, and given thy Self an Offering and a Sacrifice to GOD, of a sweet smelling savour. Thou hast laid down thy precious Life for our Redempti­on; a Life that is worth infinitely more than the Lives of all the Angels in Heaven and Men on Earth. And therefore, that Sacrifice had infinite Merit in it; and ac­cordingly, Thou dost ever live to plead the Virtue of it on the account of all that be­lieve in Thee: and if ever I obtain Pardon and Salvation, it must be on the account of that Sacrifice alone. I fly to Thee there­fore, O LORD, for an Interest in thy pre­cious Sacrifice. I wholly renounce the Me­rit of my own Person and Services, and account my own Righteousness as filthy rags, and heartily submit to Thee as the Lord my Righteousness. Oh! that my [Page 135] Sins may be wash'd away in thy precious Blood! That the Merit of thy Sacrifice may be my Atonement! and thy Righteous­ness alone be the Covering and Ornament of my naked Soul! My great desire is to obtain Pardon of Sin, Peace with GOD, Accep­tance with Him here, and Eternal Salva­tion in the World to come, only on the Ac­count of what Thou hast done and suffer­ed, for the sake of such miserable Sinners as I am.

AND now, if you thus Consent to take Christ in His Priestly-Office, and can uprightly say with the Apostle, in Phil. 3.8, 9, 10. Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: and do count them but dung that I may win Christ; and be found in him not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellow­ship of his sufferings, being made confor­mable unto his death &c. I say, if you do but thus Consent to take Christ, you have truly received Him in His Priestly-Office: and you need not fear: you shall certainly obtain Pardon, Peace, and Eter­nal Life through Him. And having thus [Page 136] accepted Christ for the Prophet & Priest of your Salvation; I proceed to say,

3. YOU must heartily Receive and Em­brace HIM in His KINGLY OFFICE. For, JESUS CHRIST is not only the Pro­phet and Priest; but He is also the KING of our Salvation. Hence He is call'd a King; and a King by GOD's own Ap­pointment, Psal. 2.6. Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion. And as such, He has the Kingdoms of Grace and Providence put into His Hands: And in the Administrations of them, He gains Subjects over to Himself, and over-rules all things for the Glory of GOD, and the best Good of those that put their Trust under the shadow of His Wings. Now this is an Office you must own and submit to, if you expect to be saved by Christ. This is expresly required of you, in Psal. 2.11, 12. Serve the Lord, i. e. the Lord Christ with fear, and rejoyce with trem­bling. Kiss the Son lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little: Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. And here, you must give in the free and full Consent of your Soul to take Christ in His Kingly Office after this manner,

[Page 137] O LORD, Thou art King of Kings, and Lord of Lords: Thou hast the right of Dominion over all. The Angels in Hea­ven Worship Thee, the Saints on Earth Praise and Adore Thee: and all thy reasonable Creatures ought to serve and obey Thee. But alas! I am a poor sinful and rebellious Creature. I was born an Enemy to thee, and have play'd the Rebel against thee all my Days. I naturally belong to the Kingdom of Darkness, and have been a vile Slave to Sin and Satan: and was never better pleased than while I was serving them, and dishonouring thy Name. But now I plainly see I must shift sides, and change my Masters, or I am un­done to Eternity: For the Service of Sin and Satan, if persevered in, will certainly end in Death and Destruction. But Oh, What shall I do! The Powers of Dark­ness have fast hold on me: They have for a long time had the Dominion over me: and I am bound Hand and Foot with the Cords of Sin and Lust, and have no power of my own, nor indeed, any Inclination by Nature, to shake them off. But, LORD, Thou art stronger than the strong man armed: and art able to break the Yoke of Those, I would now account my spiritual Adversaries. Oh, Destroy the Power of Sin in me, and make me a Captive of thy [Page 138] Grace. And accordingly, I now renounce all other Lords, and chuse Thee this Day for the King of my Salvation. Oh! Con­quer that Enmity there is in this vile Heart against Thee, and set up thy Throne and thy Kingdom in me. Thou hast said in thy holy Word, That thy People shall be willing in the Day of thy Power ^†. Oh! That such a Day of Almighty Power may now pass over me! I Pray and long for it. Oh, when shall it once be! LORD, make me one of thy willing and obedient Subjects. Give me the Heart of a true Disciple, the Heart of a sincere Follower of thine; and make thy Yoke easy, and thy Burden light to me: so shall I delight to do thy Will at all times. And LORD, take me under thy special Care and Govern­ment. I desire to put my Trust under the shadow of thy Wings. Oh! Deliver me from the power and rage, and malice of my spiritual Enemies. Strengthen me against all my Temptations; Support me under all my Weakness; Comfort me under all my Sorrows. Assist me in a Course of Obedi­ence to thy holy Commandments; and lead me under thy Banner in the way to Eter­nal Life. O LORD, make bare thine Arm, and do all this, and much more, for [Page 139] me: for all my Desire is before thee, and all my Expectation from thee. And in Token hereof, I do this Day and at this Time, take my Oath of Allegiance to Thee, and Promise, by thy Grace, to be true and faithful to Thee all my Days.

AND now, if you can but thus acknow­ledge CHRIST, and give in the free and full Consent of your Soul to Him, after this manner, in His Kingly Office, you then close in with Him aright by Faith: and shall certainly be saved for ever un­der the Conduct of that Great Captain of our Salvation. For He is the Author of Eternal Salvation to all them that obey Him, Heb. 5.9. And thus I have shown, how you are to close in with Christ in all His Offices, if you would Believe in Him so as to be saved by Him.

AND now the next thing I am to ob­serve is, That this Reception of Christ in all His Offices must be also upon His own Terms. But this, with something more of the like importance, must be reserved for a concluding Discourse upon this Sub­ject.

IN the last Discourse I propound­ed three general Directions for the obtaining that Faith in CHRIST, which will entitle a Sinner to Eternal Life. And they were, I. You must See and Know what a Savi­our Christ is. II. You must Consent to Receive and Embrace Him in all His Offices, and upon His own Terms. And III. You must Rely upon Him alone for Salvation. The first of these Directions has been fully spoken to: and I have in part, considered the second of them; which I divided into these two Branches. And said, (1.) You must Receive Christ in all His Offices. And (2.) Upon His own Terms. And I have told you already, how you are to Receive Him in the first Res­pect. And therefore, the next thing I am to observe is this, viz.

[Page 141]2. You must be heartily willing to Receive and Embrace CHRIST, upon His own TERMS. There are indeed, many Sinners who would willingly accept of Christ and His Salvation, if they could but have them on their own Terms: But this can never be: because Christ has stated and fix'd His Terms in the Gospel, and will not be the Saviour of any Sinner, un­less he approves of, and Consents to them. And agreably, it is in the Nature of Sav­ing Faith to close in with Christ upon the Terms of His own proposing. For Faith sees these Terms to be absolutely best in themselves. And therefore if you would close in with Christ by Faith for Salvation, you must freely Consent to take Him for your Saviour upon His own Terms. And they are such as these,

1. YOU must Consent to take Him for your ONLY SAVIOUR. We read in Act. 4.12. Neither is there Salvation in any other: for there is no other name under hea­ven given among men whereby we can be saved. That is, There is no One else that has undertaken the Work of our Re­demption for us; nor any one else that GOD will accept in this Affair. And therefore, Christ proposes Himself to us as the only Saviour of miserable Sinners. Isai. [Page 142] 45.21, 22.— There is no God else besides me, a just God and a Saviour — Look un­to me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the Earth: for I am God and there is none else. And accordingly, if you would be saved by Christ, you must not share the Honour of your Salvation between Christ and another. No, not between Christ and your self; as the proud Sinner is ex­ceeding apt to do. But you must say as the Psalmist did, in Psal. 62.5, 6. My soul, wait thou only upon God: for my ex­pectation is from him. He is my rock and my salvation; He is my defence: I shall not be moved. Again,

2. YOU must be content to part with every thing in the World, that is dear to you, and patiently submit to any Hard­ships and Sufferings, when the HONOUR and INTEREST of CHRIST call for them. This is what the Gospel calls Self-denial and taking up the Cross, and our Saviour has made them a distinguish­ing Mark of his true Disciples, and so a necessary Condition of Eternal Life, in Mar. 8.34. — Whosoever will come after me, says Christ, i. e. Whosoever would become one of my real Disciples, and expects to be saved by me, Let him deny himself, and take up his Cross, and follow [Page 143] me. (1.) He must deny himself. "By which (as a noted Expositer ^† observes upon the place) we are not to understand the denying and renouncing our Senses in matters of Faith, not yet the renouncing our Reason in matters of Religion; but by Self-denyal is meant, that we should be willing to part with all our Earthly com­forts, and quit all our Temporal enjoy­ments, for the sake of Christ and his Ho­ly Religion." i. e. when the Honour of Christ and the credit of Christianity plain­ly calls us to do so. And then, (2.) He must take up his Cross. Which Expression (as the forecited Expositor observes) is, "an Allusion to a Roman custom that the Malefactor, who was to be Crucified, took his Cross upon his shoulder, and carried it to the place of Execution." And we find this exemplify'd in our Saviour Him­self, when He was unjustly Condemned to dye on the Cross. (See Joh. 19.17.) And therefore, the sense of the Phrase is evidently this, viz. That the Disciple of Christ, tho' he may not, by an intempe­rate Zeal, run himself into any needless Trouble, and so make a Cross for himself; yet, he must be disposed and firmly re­solved, patiently to bear any Affliction, [Page 144] which GOD in his Providence shall see meet to lay upon him: and in particular, if GOD sees it most for His own Glory, he must chearfully submit to the loss of all that is dear to him in the World; to the loss of his Earthly Estate, Friends, and Reputation among Men: and be rea­dy to endure any kind of Sufferings in the Body, even to the laying down of his Life, for Righteousness sake. And we have many very noble and Heroic exam­ples of this Self-denial and bearing the Cross, Recorded in the Sacred Scriptures; and particularly, of the Primitive Christi­ans, who took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, and suffered the loss of all things, for the sake of Christ, Heb. 10.34. But of all the examples of this kind, those of the Blessed Apostles were the most noted, and so the most worthy our Imitation; as we find by the account which one of them has given of the matter, in 1 Cor. 4.11, 12, 13. Even unto this present hour, we both hunger and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling place, and labour working with our own hands: being reviled, we bless: being per­secuted, we suffer it: being defamed, we en­treat: we are made as the filth of the world, and are the off-scouring of all things unto this day. And their Sufferings in these [Page 145] respects, were so many and great, that the Apostle draws this Conclusion from them in the 9 th v. of this Chapter. For I think that GOD hath set forth us the Apostles last, as it were appointed to death. For we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men. And tho' it does not fall to the share of every true Christian to endure such a Variety, and such Extremity of Sufferings, for the sake of Christ; yet, every one must endeavour to bring his Spirit to submit to them, if GOD should call him thereunto. For Christ has made it necessary that we should do so: and has plainly told us, that unless we have something of this holy Temper in us, we cannot be His Dis­ciples, Luk. 14.26, 27. If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, and wife and children, and brethren and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Which Hatred is not to be understood in an absolute but comparative sense. And accordingly, our Saviour ex­plains this severe passage after this man­ner, Math. 10.37, 38. He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not wor­thy of me: and he that loveth son or daugh­ter more than me, is not worthy of me. And [Page 146] he that taketh not his cross, and followeth After me, is not worthy of me. So that the meaning of both together is this, viz. We must love Christ and His Interest so much more than we do the dearest of our Enjoyments in the World, that we must be willing to part with them all, if He should call us to do so.

3. ANOTHER Term upon which you must Receive Christ is this, namely, You must chearfully submit your self to the Yoke of GOSPEL OBEDIENCE, and Fol­low the EXAMPLE of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. This is a Term of Christ's own proposing; as you may see, in Math. 11.29. Take my Yoke upon you, and learn of me. By the Yoke of Christ here, we are to understand Gospel Obedience to His holy Commandments: and to learn of Him, is to learn by his Example, to tread in his Steps, and be Imitators of him as dear Children. And this he propounds as a necessary Condition of Eternal Life, Math. 12.17. — If thou wilt enter into life, keep the Commandments. And again, Heb. 5.9. He is the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him. And, indeed, to none else: for we read in the Twelfth Chapter of this Epistle, ver. 14. Without holiness no man shall see the Lord. So that, you [Page 147] see, this Gospel Obedience is necessary to Salvation: Not as the meritorious Cause of it; for so Christ alone has purchased Eternal Redemption for us: but as it is the fruit and evidence of our Faith in Him. For, as I observed before, in Receiving Christ by Faith, you accept of Him in His Kingly Office; and therein take the Oath of Allegiance to Him, and sware to keep all his righteous Commandments, Psal. 119.106. And if you are sincere in what you do, that Faith, whereby you so receive Christ, will produce this holy Obedience in your Life and Conversation. And that you may not be at a loss to know what is meant by this Obedience, I shall say in a Word,

BY this Obedience, we are not to un­derstand a sinless and perfect Obedience to the whole Law of GOD: but a sincere Purpose and Endeavour, by the help of the Spirit, to reach as near to that perfect Obedience as 'tis possible for one in this state of Imperfection to do. So that in yielding this Obedience, the Heart is first fully Resolved upon the Duty; and this Reso­lution becomes a fix'd & governing Tem­per in the Mind. And agreably, in the next place, this Resolution is brought forth into Act, and is express'd in the Christians uniform, steady and diligent [Page 148] Endeavours to walk in all the Ordinances and Commandments of the LORD blame­less to his Heavenly Kingdom: And in all, he has dependance upon the SPIRIT of CHRIST, for the Pardon of his many defects in Duty, and for the Acceptance of his Person and Services with the FA­THER. And that you may not be at a loss to know what RULE to go by, in yeilding this Christian Obedience, you must be sure to make the Gospel of Christ the only Rule and Measure of it; and see that in all things your Conversation be as becometh the Gospel. And in particular, since Christ has left us a most perfect Ex­ample of holy Obedience to GOD, and Commanded His Disciples to be Followers of Him, (Math. 16.24.) you must be sure to have His spotless Example as much as possible in your Eye, and strive to imi­tate Him in all his imitable Perfections. And more especially, in His Meekness and Humility; in his Patience under Suffer­ings; in his Love and Compassion to Mankind, which express'd it self in his readiness to do Good to them upon all Occasions: In his Zeal against Sin, and for the Glory of GOD; in his fervent Devotion to the FATHER; in his entire Submission to His Will under all his Tri­als and Temptations; in his unshaken [Page 149] Faith and Dependance upon Him; and finally, in his unwearied Diligence to work the Works of Him that sent him while the Day of Life lasted.

AND thus I have finished the Second general Direction, I proposed to speak to, for the obtaining true and saving Faith in Jesus Christ; viz. You must heartily Consent to, Receive and Em­brace Christ in all his Offices, and upon his own Terms. And here I have parti­cularly shown you, How you are to Re­ceive and Walk in Him, in both these Respects. And now there remains but one Important Direction more of this kind: And this is,

III. IF you would believe in Christ to the Saving of the Soul, you must put your whole TRUST in, and RELY upon HIM ALONE, for Salvation. I am sensi­ble indeed, this Act of Reliance is treat­ed most unworthily by many in the World: And by those in particular, of the Pelagian and Arminian Principles, who make a Banter of it, both in the Pulpit, and from the Press; as they do of the whole Doctrine of a Sinner's Justifi­cation and Salvation by Faith in Christ without the Deeds of the Law: though [Page 150] therein, I think, they expresly contradict the inspired Apostle, in Rom. 3.28. And therefore, whatever any Men may say to the contrary, This Reliance upon Christ is a most noble and necessary Act of true and saving Faith. It is a most noble Act of Faith, and greatly glorifies the Lord Jesus Christ. "For in thus doing (as One says well) we practically declare, in despite of all Discouragements, that we are firmly perswaded of Christ's Love and Grace, Faithfulness and Power, — of the merits of His Blood, the value of His In­tercession, and the truth of His Promises▪ and set our Seal to the Record given of Him in the Word, that He is able to save to the uttermost, all that come to God thro' Him; and will not cast out any, that se­riously apply themselves to Him for Salvation". And as it is a most noble, so it is a most necessary Act of true and saving Faith. That is, Let Men think and say what they please of it, there is no obtain­ing Eternal Life, but by having our whole Dependance upon Christ for it, as we are directed to have in the Gospel. And therefore this Act of Faith is frequently spoken of, and great stress laid upon it, in the Holy Scriptures. And I shall en­deavour to give you some understanding of the Nature of it, by considering a few [Page 151] of the Expressions whereby 'tis made known to us▪ Particularly,

'TIS expressed by Trusting in CHRIST for Salvation. Psal. 2.12. — Blessed are all they that Trust in him. And so a­gain in Psal. 9.10. and in many other places. Now this supposes, that the Be­lieving Sinner, who has received Christ in all His Offices, sees enough in Him to answer all his Wants and Necessities: that is, He sees all that Pardon, Peace, Grace and Salvation in Christ, which, when once obtained, will make the most mise­rable Sinner in the World, happy for­ever; and so depends upon Him alone, as an All-sufficient Saviour, for all that he stands in need of. Again,

'TIS express'd in Heb. 6.18. by fleeing for refuge, to lay hold on the Hope set be­fore us. And this supposes, That the poor Sinner has, first, a deep sense of the im­minent hazard he is in of being seiz'd by the Justice of GOD, and Condemned to Eternal Death, which his Soul trembles at the prospect of: and then, that he has had a discovery of Christ as the only Saviour from the Wrath to come; and so hastens away to Him, as the Man-slayer of old fled to the City of Refuge, to save his Life, from the Avenger of Blood that [Page 152] pursued him. And so lays hold on Christ and Trusts in Him▪ as his only Hope and Refuge. Once more,

'TIS express'd by committing our Souls into the Hands of CHRIST. 2 Tim. 1.12. I know (says the Apostle Paul) that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. And agreably, Every poor Sinner has a precious and im­mortal Soul to take care of, and to pro­vide for, against the Time when it enters into the Eternal World: and it needs to be put into safer Hands than his own. And therefore, the Believer, having seen what a merciful and faithful Redeemer Christ is, he commits his Soul by Faith, and all the Concerns of it, that respect Eternity, into His Almighty Hands, and hopes that by His infinite Power and Grace He will preserve it, and bring it forth richly adorn'd with the Robes of Glory at the Great Day. And then,

Finally, THIS Act of Faith is express'd by Leaning upon Christ. Cant. 6.5. Who is this coming out of the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved. These words have doubtless a respect to Jesus Christ, and true Believers on Him. Christ is the Be­loved One here spoken of, and true Be­lievers are they that come out of the wil­derness leaning upon him. And here we [Page 153] have (1.) The natural Condition of a Sin­ner described to us: 'Tis a wilderness state. i. e. a lost, indigent and disconso­late state. And (2.) The Believers Reli­ance upon Christ to bring him out of this sad Condition: express'd by leaning upon Him. And accordingly, every true Be­liever, that is sensible of his lost estate by Nature, has also seen that there is no one can direct and lead him out of it but Je­sus Christ. And being ready to faint and die under the Apprehensions of his sad Condition, He lays hold on Christ by Faith, as one that is faint lays hold on the first Support he can meet with: and here he depends, both for Wisdom to direct, and for Strength to help him along thro' the Darkness and Difficulties that lie be­fore him. And this proves a Cordial to his fainting Soul.

AND now from these, and such like Expressions, whereby the Act of Reliance upon Christ is described to us, we may easily gather, that the Nature of it con­sists in the Soul's Adventuring it self by Faith upon Christ alone, for all that Sal­vation it needs. And so, on the one Hand, it shuts out all Confidence in others, either in whole or in part. And says to Christ at they did, Isai. 26.23. O Lord [Page 154] our God, other Lords besides thee, have had dominion over us: but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. And as they, in Psal. 20.7. Some trusts in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. And on the other hand, it shuts out that black and raging Despair, which some Reprobates have gone out of the World under the Anguish of; as Cain and Judas did.

INDEED this Act of Reliance is not al­ways so Strong and full of Comfort as the Saint could wish for; and as some Belie­vers have had experience of. For in some it has grown up to full Assurance; as it did in the Apostle Paul, as we find, in the forecited 2 Tim. 1.12. I know (says he) whom I have believed, and am perswa­ded, or assured, that he is able, and willing too, to keep that which I have committed to him against that day. And the like we read concerning many more of the Saints in Scripture. But in many others this Act of Faith runs at a very low ebb in­deed. It does so in most on their first Believing in Christ; "and sometimes a great while after, in an Hour of spiritual Darkness and Distress". But then, when the true Believer is reduced to the great­est Straits in his own Mind, and questions [Page 155] whether he has the least degree of sav­ing Faith in him, he is wont to express his Humble Reliance upon CHRIST by Faith after this manner,

O LORD, I am in a most miserable lost Condition by Nature. My Sins are many and greatly Aggravated. I deserve thy dreadful Wrath and Vengeance on the ac­count of them: and I am afraid I shall pe­rish forever under the intollerable weight of my Sin and Guilt. But I find, in thy Holy Word, with Thee there is Mercy, and with Thee there is plenteous Redemption, that thou mayst be feared. And thou hast shown forth the Riches of thy Grace, in providing an Almighty Saviour for perish­ing Sinners; yea, even for the chief of Sin­ners; such as I have just reason to account my self. But whether I have yet an In­terest in Him, or am ever like to obtain one, I am sadly at a loss. I meet with all manner of discouragements in the way, both from within and from without. Within I have a wicked and deceitful Heart, that opposes all that is good, and I am surround­ed with Spiritual Enemies, who are much too hard for me in my own strength; and I fear I shall one day fall and perish by the hands of them. But, LORD, Thou canst help me if thou pleasest; and I see eno' in thy CHRIST for my Relief and Salvation. [Page 156] Oh, that I cou'd once obtain a saving Inter­est in Him! Well, I will make what haste I can towards him, tho' I fear I shall pe­rish in the way: I am resolved, for this once, to try what Almighty, Sovereign Grace can and will do. And what tho' I am the vilest Sinner that ever was, and de­serve the very Hottest Place in Hell; yet, will not thy Mercy be so much the more magnify'd in my Salvation? Yea, LORD, it will: and Heaven will ring for ever with the Praises of it. I will therefore venture into thy Presence: I have no whi­ther else to go; and I will humbly cast my self down at the Feet of thy Merry, and wait upon thee for thy Mercy in Him. If I don't do this, I know I must Perish for­ever: for I am sure there is no other Savi­our but CHRIST; nor any other way to Salvation but by Him. And if I do this; who knows but there may be Mercy in store for me. But if not, I can but Perish after all. And if I do Perish, it shall be at the Foot of Mercy. Yea, I will trust in the LORD tho' he slay me.

THIS is the Language of a poor Soul relying upon Christ by Faith, when 'tis fill'd with the greatest Darkness and Di­stress about its everlasting State and Con­dition. And by this means the Believer is kept, at such times, from falling into [Page 157] utter Despair. And now, tho' this be a very uncomfortable state, for any one to be in; yet, every one that thus relies up­on Christ in his Distress, is in a safe Con­dition. For these are the Breathings of true Faith. And if he does but "conti­nue thus looking towards Christ, wait­ing upon him, and resigning to him, he shall be dealt with as a true Believer." And tho' he may seem to himself to have no Faith, and others may think he has but little of it; yet, since his Faith bears some proportion to his Discouragements, which are evidently great, his Faith also must be great, when it can thus prevail over them.

AND thus I have shewn you how or after what manner a poor Convinced Sin­ner must close in with Christ, and rely upon him by Faith, that so he may be saved by him. And now that you may obtain this Faith from GOD; (For as I told you before, Faith is a Grace of the Holy Spirit, and the gift of GOD to those that have it) and be able to exercise it to the saving of the Soul, you must wait upon GOD for the Bestowment of it, in the use of Appointed Means. That is, you must give your Careful and Diligent Attendance to the Word, for this End. You must improve all the Opportunities you [Page 158] well can to read the Word in Private, and to hear the Word Publickly dispen­sed to you. For says the Apostle in Rom. 10.17. Faith comes by hearing, and hear­ing by the word of God. And then be­sides, you must Pray humbly and earnest­ly to GOD to bestow this Grace upon you. For since 'tis the Gift of GOD, He justly expects to be sought unto for it: And since 'tis so eminent and useful a Grace, as we are all of us ready to own, we can never be too importunate in our Supplications to GOD for it.

AND if by these Means you can but obtain Faith, as no doubt you may; and can but exercise it in Receiving and Re­lying upon Christ, as you have heard; you will certainly obtain Eternal Salva­tion in this way. For this Faith in the very Condition of the New Covenant on Man's part, and gives the Sinner an Inte­rest in Christ, and a Title to that Salvati­on which He has purchased and wrought out for poor Sinners. And therefore, by the Grace of GOD, we are said to be saved by Faith, Eph. 2.8. And then besides, this Faith has, many times over, the Promise and Assurance of Eternal Salvation made unto it. But this one place may serve instead of all at this [Page 159] time, Joh. 6.40. And this is the will of him that sent me (says our Saviour) that every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day. And therefore, if you have but true Faith, tho' it be but small, like the grain of mustard seed, and but weak, like the bruised reed; yet never Fear: You are passed from Death to Life, and shall never come in­to Condemnation; but be saved in the Day of Christ Jesus.

AND thus, I have gone thro' the seve­ral general Heads I proposed to speak to, in Answer to that most important Enquiry in the Text, viz. What must I do to be saved? And have given such particular Directions under each of them, which if any Sinner in the World, can but find an Heart fully to comply with, Let his past Sins and Hazards be what they will, he shall certainly be saved with an Everlasting Salvation.

AND now I shall Conclude this Practi­cal Subject, with a few brief Reflecti­ons upon it. And,

1. Infer. MUST we do so many things, as I have said, to obtain Eternal Salva­tion? [Page 160] Then 'tis not so easy a thing to be saved, as Multitudes in the World are ready to imagine. Indeed, 'tis sad to think what vain and delusive thoughts carnally secure Sinners do forever enter­tain on this Head. But so it is; They don't see the worth of Eternal Salvation in it self, nor see the absolute need they stand in of it: but prefer the Service of Sin, and the forbid Pleasures of it, to the Service of GOD here, and the Enjoyment of Him forever. And when, at any time they are put in mind of Death and Eternity, and are call'd upon to prepare for the Happiness of the World to come, They think 'tis the ea­siest thing they have to do, to provide for it. They think that a few broken Prayers, and a little lifeless Devotion, in Old-Age, or upon a Death-Bed, when they can no longer enjoy the Pleasures of Sin, will effectually answer the end: And so wholly lay aside all their Care and Concern for the present. But, O vain and presumptuous Sinner, whose Case this is, Eternal Salvation is quite another Thing than you have ever yet taken it to be. For, it is of infinite worth in it self, as you have oft-times heard. And then besides, 'Tis the One [Page 161] Thing needful for us; and that without which you are like to be undone to Eter­nity. And as it is so excellent in itself, and so needful for us, 'tis richly worth all the Labour and Pains▪ you can take in securing an Interest in it. And accord­ingly, it is not to be obtained at so Cheap a rate as you vainly dream it is. But GOD expects and requires of every one that would be saved, that he make a Bu­siness of working out his Salvation; and the main Business too of his whole Life. Read and consider the following Places, Math. 6.33. Seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof. Luk. 13.24. Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many I say unto you will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. Phil. 2.12. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. Rom. 12.11. Be not slothful in business; but fervent in spirit; serving the Lord. And in 2 Pet 1.5. And be­sides all this, giving all diligence, add to your faith vertue, and to vertue knowledge &c. And in ver. 10. Wherefore the rather brethren, give diligence to make your cal­ling and election sure. And so in many more places: whereby you may plainly see that GOD calls for the Improvement of all your Time and Strength and Ta­lents in this Important Affair. And [Page 162] therefore, all such Sinners as entertain these light thoughts of Salvation, and think 'tis so easy a matter to be saved, are certainly great strangers to this Salvati­on: They have no Right or Title at all to it; and are every moment in hazard of falling into the Pit of endless Perditi­on. For so long as you continue per­versely in the state you are in, despising and neglecting Christ and his Salvation, those awful words may be apply'd to you. Math. 23.33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?

2. Infer. MAY Salvation be obtain'd upon such Terms as we have heard? How glorious and wonderful does the Grace of GOD appear herein? Eternal Salva­tion contains so many great and excellent Things in it, as you heard in a former Discouse, that there appears to be an in­finite worth and value in it. And by Consequence, there can be no propor­tion between the Gift of this Salvation, and what GOD requires we should do for the obtainment of it; and so there is a most glorious Display of Divine Grace, in the offer and Grant of Salvation upon these Terms. Indeed, if we consider all that has been done for the purchase of [Page 163] this Salvation, there has been a sufficient Price paid down for it. For Jesus Christ who has undertaken for our Redemption, has shed His most precious Blood, and laid down His most precious Life, for this End: And this is a Price of infinite value; and so worth all the Happiness the Believer can possibly come to the Enjoyment of: For Christ was an infi­nite Person. And, indeed, the Justice of GOD Required such a Satisfaction of our Surety, before He could, with Ho­nour to Himself, release any one Sinner from the Chains of Guilt, and advance Him to the Dignity and Priviledges of His Children. But then, as the Matter concerns us immediately, There is no manner of Proportion, between the weight and worth of Eternal Salvation, and all that GOD Requires and Expects from us, for the obtaining of it. For what are the best Services we can per­form in this sinful State, but mean and imperfect in themselves? And then besides, the Things which GOD re­quires of us for this End; such as part­ing with our Sins and Lusts, which have brought all our Ruine and Misery upon us; — Our turning our feet into the Paths of His Commandments, which carries its own Reward with it; and our [Page 164] closing in with Christ by Faith, where­by we are brought into a Life of Com­munion with Him: These Things, I say, in themselves, tend as much to our own Happiness, as they do to the Honour and Glory of GOD. And yet, These are all that GOD requires of us that so we may come to enjoy Eternal Life in Jesus Christ. Here then is a most marvellous Discovery of infinite Grace. And well might the Apostle say, as in Eph. 2.8. By Grace ye are saved. And this Grace will be the Subject of the Saints Admi­ration and Praise to Eternity.

But then,

3. Infer. HERE is Ground of great Encouragement to every Convinced Sin­ner that is ready to Despair of Salvation. For if Salvation is to be had upon such Terms as you have heard, then you may have it upon those Terms as well as any else. And to make you sensible of it, I shall offer two Things briefly to your Consideration.

1. 'TIS a very Remarkable Day of Salvation with you, and the Offer of Salvation is immediately made you. This your present Hears and Jealousies make [Page 165] you to call in question: And you are ready to think your Day of Grace is o­ver, and that the Door of Mercy is shut against you for ever. But, poor Soul, why such hard thoughts of GOD and His Grace! I am sure thou art infinitely mistaken in them: For GOD has said the direct contrary in His Holy Word. He has told us all plainly, in 2 Cor. 6.2. Behold, now is the accepted Time; now is the day of Salvation. And therefore, there is not one Sinner in this Assembly; no, nor one Sinner in the whole World, that has any Knowledge of Christ, and breathes after an Interest in Him, as you now do, but GOD is now waiting upon him in a way of Grace; and stands with the Arms of His Mercy open, ready to embrace Him, as soon as ever He gives in the Consent of his Soul to take Christ in all His Offices, and upon the Terms of the Gospel. And then besides, The Offer of Christ and Salvation by Him, is more immediately directed to you than to any other Sinners in the whole World, that have not yet actually embraced Him. For are you not weary and heavy laden with a sense of your Sins? Then that gracious Invitation and Promise, is directed to you, as tho' by Name, Mat. 11.28. Come unto me all ye that labour [Page 166] and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Again, Don't you thirst and long for an Interest in Christ, and the Grace of the New-Covenant. If so, that gra­cious Invitation is directed to you in par­ticular, Joh. 7.37. — If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink. And that in Rev. 22.17. And the spirit and bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is a-thirst come: And whosoever will, let him take the wa­ter of life freely. So that you never be­fore had such a remarkable Season of Grace as the present Day is.

And then,

2. GOD offers His HOLY SPIRIT to you, to assist you in all that He Requires of you to Salvation. This your present Distress makes you to doubt: and you are ready to think you have so long resisted and grieved the Blessed Spirit that He has taken His farewell of you. But there is nothing more evident to all that have a right Understanding of your Case, than that the Holy Spirit is now powerfully at Work upon your Heart; and by the Fears and Terrors you are in, He is every Day more and more humbling and emptying you out [Page 167] of your self. And if you do but cherish these strivings of the Spirit; and are thankful to GOD for them; and earnest­ly cry for the more plentiful Effusions of it, GOD stands ready to hear and answer your Request. See Luk. 11.13. If ye then being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him? So that upon the whole, every Convinced and Awakened Sinner, whose Sins are a Burden and Grief to Him, has all the Reason he can desire, to lay aside all Despairing tho'ts of the Mercy of GOD, and to follow the Directions that have been set before him; and in this way to Hope for Eternal Life.

And now,

4. Infer. WHAT we have heard should Awaken all Careless and Secure Sinners, and stir them up to Inquire and Seek in earnest after Eternal Salva­tion. You have heard what this Salva­tion implies in it, and how necessary 'tis for you. And can any thing more be said to awaken and rouse, and fill you with Concern about it? You have also heard what Course you must take [Page 168] if you intend ever to obtain it. And can't you be prevail'd upon yet to fall in with these gracious Directions? which are all plainly laid before you in the Word of GOD. Well then, I have but two Things more to offer to your Consideration; and so must leave you to the Mercy or Judgment of GOD.

1. WHILE you continue in your pre­sent careless and wilful neglect of Sal­vation, you every Day run further from it, and ripen more and more for the Damnation of Hell. For while you keep out of the narrow Way which leads to Life, you are in the Broad Way that leads to Destruction: and Satan and your own Lusts hurry you down Hill towards the Pit of endless and irremediless Misery. And therefore, those awful Words are spoken to you, and such as you are, Rom. 2.4, 5. Thou despisest the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-suffering; not know­ing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance. But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thy self wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.

[Page 169]And then,

2. Consider, YOUR Day of Grace passes swiftly away, and will quickly come to an end with you. Your Days are like a shadow that quickly passeth away; and you can have but a little while, at the longest, to live in the World; and you may Die before the Light of another Morning advances up­on us. And whenever you Die, whether sooner or later, this will put an ever­lasting Period to your Day of Grace. And if your Salvation is not then pro­vided for, you will be undone to Eternity, and the Damnation of Hell must be your Everlasting Portion. Oh, Then, awake thou that sleepest, and a­rise from the Dead, arise quickly, that Christ may give thee life. And hearken to that compassionate Call that is now renewed unto you, Ezek. 18.31, 32. Cast away from you all your Trans­gressions, wherewith ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart, and a new spirit; for why will ye die, O misera­ble Sinner? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the LORD GOD: wherefore turn your selves, and live ye. And to all that are [Page 170] willing to do so, I will leave that word of Encouragement, with which I con­clude these Discourses, Isai. 55.6, 7. Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the un­righteous man his thoughts; and let him turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. AMEN.