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interest, and his kingdom. All who profane the name of God, who make a mock of sin, who mind not his word, who regard not his worship, who observe not his day, who despise his ministers and his ordinances; these are people of no faith, no religion; have nothing to restrain them from the greatest wickedness, but the fear of man, or their own carnal interests.

And believe it, Christians, for an undoubted truth, that such as have no true faith in God, who do not shew it by their lives, have no true religion, no honour, no justice, no truth, no humanity, no sincerity, to be depended upon.

As for ourselves, for all such as profess to know God, to believe his word and to hope for his mercy; let us lay this down for a most certain truth, that he who does not shew his faith by his works, has no proof of his sincerity, or of his acceptance with God.

My God! if this be so, how few are there who truly believe the Creed they profess!

Vouchsafe, O God, by thy almighty grace, to awaken all such as hold the truth in unrighteousness; who have a form of faith and of godliness, but deny the power thereof. Preserve all Christians from such fatal blindness; and deliver all such as are under the power of it.

May these saving truths which we believe, be received in all the world, that thy glorious name may be adored by the heathens!

O God, the Creator of all, have mercy upon all whom thou hast made, for the Lord Jesus' sake, the Redeemer of all.-To whom, &c.

SERMON XXXV.

THE CREED PUT INTO PRACTICE.

O Jesu benigne! Colesti tuo verbo et spiritu illumina me, ut veram fidei indolem et naturam in corde meo persentiscam, et ex viva experientiâ gregem meum pascam. Miserere gentium quæ sedent in tenebris, miserere eorum qui fidem ore jactant, operibusque divinis destituti miserè seipsos decipiunt. Amen.

JOHN XVii. 3.

THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL, THAT THEY MIGHT KNOW THEE THE ONLY TRUE GOD, AND JESUS CHRIST WHOM THOU HAST SENT.*

LIFE Eternal is what we all hope for, what

all promise ourselves. Would to God, we could all be persuaded seriously to think how we may attain it; that we could be persuaded to believe, that none are ever like to attain eternal life and happiness, but such as make it their great concern to know and to love God; and that none can know and love God as they should do, but such as study to know Jesus Christ, and what he has done for us: the eternal lot and portion of every man living being in the hands of Jesus Christ: he himself assuring us of it; and that God has given him power over all flesh, that he may give eternal life to as many as God shall give him.

It behoves us therefore, as much as our souls are worth, not only to know the only true God the Father Almighty, but also Jesus Christ,

See Luke xiii. 26. John i. 12; viii. 24; ziv. 1; xvii 2. Acts xv. 9. 1 Cor. xvi. 22, 2 Cor. v. 7. 2 Pet. ii. 9. 1 John v. 4, 5. Jude, ver. 4.

whom he hath sent to seek and to save us. And this is that part of our Creed, which I shall at this time endeavour to explain to you; and after such a manner that you may see the necessity, not only of confessing with your mouth the Lord Jesus, but of leading a life answerable to such a profession, as you hope for eternal happiness.

I have, in a former discourse, endeavoured to shew how the knowledge and belief of God the Father Almighty ought to affect us; how his infinite power, his wisdom, his holiness, his justice, his faithfulness, ought to influence our practice. But then we are to consider, that to know God, without the knowledge of Jesus Christ, would only fill our souls with fearful apprehensions of what may become of us when we die.

For to know that God is infinitely holy, and infinitely just, as well as powerful; and at the same time to know that my nature is extremely corrupt, and prone to sin continually; that as such, so holy and just a God can take no pleasure in me; and that of myself I know neither how to please, nor how to appease him when offended; this must needs fill my soul with fear for myself. And this is the case, this the condition, of every man, without the knowledge of Jesus Christ; the case, not only of Jews, Turks, and Infidels, but of all Christians, who know not that they want a Redeemer, who are not sensible of the blessing of a Redeemer, and of God's infinite goodness in sending his own son-to shew us the way to eternal life, to teach us by his precepts and by his example, and to make atonement for our sins.

Now, it being impossible to make any Christian sensible of these things, until he is first made sensible of his deplorable condition by nature, I will first set before you, in as short and as plain a manner as I can, the true, that is, the very miserable condition of man, of every man living, without the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It is common, and it is easy, to say, We are all sinners, and to say this without being much concerned, without feeling our misery, without fearing the consequence, and even without any thought of amendment. And indeed there is nothing which more plainly shews the corruption of our nature, and the danger we are in, than this does, to own that we are sinners, and not to fear what must follow.

For to be a sinner, is to be at enmity with our Creator, with a most holy God, who cannot but hate sin; with a most just God, whose righteous laws we have broken; and with an Almighty God, who can destroy us both body and soul; who cannot but be highly displeased to see his own creatures, who know his will and his yet going on to provoke him.

power,

It is not material now to inquire, how we came to be such corrupt creatures: it should be enough, one would think, to awaken us, to know that we are such.

To know, for instance, that of ourselves we are prone to evil continually; that the laws of our Creator are grievous to us; that we find a pleasure in doing the very things which he has forbidden us:-to know, moreover, that every soul of us have, within ourselves, the seed of

every wickedness that ever any other man was guilty of; and a seed which will certainly spring up, and bring forth fruit, upon a suitable temptation, if not prevented by the power of God; we being all of one race and make with those who we are convinced are going headlong to destruction.

The consequence of all which is, that men need not take pains to go to hell; they will go thither of course, if they make not resistance; and resistance they will not make, without the grace of God.

All this is too plain to be denied; and daily experience should convince us, that there are no remedies within ourselves for these evils, and the fears they cause in us; since neither the anger of God who made us, nor the fear of everlasting misery, have, too often, had any power to restrain men, when they are eagerly bent either upon their pleasures, or worldly interests.

This, we say again, is the condition of every man living without the knowledge of Jesus Christ. And every man, whose eyes God has opened to see this to be his sad condition, can have no peace in his soul, till he can have some hopes of a way to escape the wrath of Almighty God, which he has so much reason to fear. It is then, and not till then, that he will see the blessing of a Redeemer; that is, of some one who can make his peace with God; who can obtain his pardon for what is past; and enable him to live in the favour of God for the time to come.

And this none but Jesus Christ could do; and Jesus Christ has done this for us; he has

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