find fewer horrors about us at the thought of it, fewer desires of avoiding it.

Besides, by these vicissitudes of sinning and relapsing, our resolution at last is quite broken; and we sit down every time with less hopes of the mercy and forgiveness of God, and of his grace and assistance.

Much more might be said, to set out the great danger of such a state and the inconsistency of it with the terms of salvation, if this were not too plain a point to need any further proof; and therefore I choose rather, in what remains, to go on, as I proposed, from these several considerations,

II. Secondly, to persuade the man that is thus bewildered to retrieve himself by serious consideration, as soon as is possible; and to fix a sure principle of virtue in his mind, that may guide and govern him throughout, and make him uniformly wise and holy.

For which purpose I shall take leave to recommend two or three plain but useful considerations.

1. And first, he that sets about this work, must be sure that his belief is right and sound at the bottom. For 'tis generally the uncertainty and waveringness of this, that produces all that unevenness and disorder in the life and practice of mankind. A sudden heat of devotion, or the fear of what will become of a man in the other world, will carry him sometimes into mighty resolutions of quitting sin and living well for the future. But these wear off quickly and come to nothing; because they arose only from present passion, and were not built on any good foundation, on any strong and full conviction of the mind. They are the seed which fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth; and forthwith they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth: but when the sun was up (when an hot temptation presented itself afresh) they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away, Matt. xiii. 5, 6. Let him therefore, who would pursue this cure to purpose, look to himself, lest there be in him an

evil heart of unbelief, Heb. iii. 12. Let him inquire diligently of himself, whereon it is that his faith stands; how he comes to be persuaded of the truth of natural principles, and of those of revealed religion. And let him (if he has it not already) procure to himself such an evidence of these things, as is not to be shaken. For when this principle is once well fixed in his heart, virtue will go out from it into his life and actions; and it will work wonders towards making him all harmonious, and of a piece. When he has gone thus far, let him,

2. In the next place, consider well what that particular weight was, that in the days of his irresolution still hung upon him, and clogged all his virtuous endeavours. What it was, that when his soul had made some effort towards goodness, overbalanced it still, and swayed it secretly again towards nature's side: for that too is very often the case. There is some particular sin of our constitution, some great and ruling infirmity, that damps all our good motions, and spoils all our best resolutions; and will continue to do so, till by a direct opposition of ourselves to it, we have conquered and removed it. When we have cut off this right hand, plucked out this right eye, sacrificed the darling lust of our heart, we may then hope, that the greatest part of the difficulty is over, and that no less powerful temptation will be able to draw us aside. But till this be done, in vain are all our other attempts and designs. While the great offence has yet any hold upon us, nothing will be done to purpose; but he that has been divided in his opinion, and wavering in his practice, will be divided and wavering still.

3. When he has thus settled his faith upon good grounds, and armed himself well against that sin which does so easily beset him, Heb. xii. 1, he must take care (in the next place) not to suffer himself to come within reach of any thing that may any ways unfasten his resolutions, whilst they are yet young and tender. He must admit of no debate within him about a principle, but throw off all such thoughts, as enemies to the peace

of his mind. He must listen to no sceptical discourse; no loose reasonings of carnal men, such as pervert the truth. For these are the chief engines of Satan to draw him back again into his former unsettledness; and his good purposes may happen to be blasted in the bud, if they are ventured too soon amongst them. No, no; but let him root and ground himself in the faith first by an answerable life and conversation; so shall it happen, that as his good practice took rise at first from his good opinions, so shall his opinions be strengthened afterwards by his practice; till both being confirmed in him, shall enable him to stand in the evil day, Eph. vi. 13., and not to be afraid of whatever it is that would shake his steadfastness.

4. If to these endeavours he (lastly) joins fervent and unwearied prayer to Almighty God, for the aids and supports of his grace, he shall assuredly from thence be made perfect at last, be stablished, strengthened, settled. He shall have a new heart created in him, that shall enable him to be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, 1 Cor. xv. 58.

A

FAREWELL SERMON

PREACHED AT ST. BRIDE'S, DECEMBER 11, 1698.

OF LIVING PEACEABLY.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.-ROм. xii. 18.

THERE are many excellent precepts and rules of duty laid together by the apostle toward the end of this chapter; but none of greater moment to be earnestly inculcated upon Christians, and duly observed, than this which I have pitched upon for the subject of my following discourse. And I have the rather chosen it, at this particular time, because it is the last opportunity I shall have of bespeaking you under that character, which I have hitherto borne towards you. And it being likely therefore that the contest now on foot, may end in the same little animosities and misunderstandings, which are usual on such occasions; I thought I could not do better, than to discourse to you upon a subject that might be of some use to temper and allay them; and to dispose you towards such a peaceable state of mind, as becomes those, who are about to choose a minister of the Gospel of peace.

I shall discourse first to you of the argument at large, and then apply it to the particular occasion for which I have chosen it. What I have to say on these words, must naturally fall under these four heads following:

I. First, here is a command enjoined, to live peaceably. II. Secondly, the utmost limits and extent of that command are set down; we must live peaceably with all men.

III. Thirdly, the great difficulty of so doing, is allowed and expressed if it be possible, says St. Paul, and as much as in you lies; intimating, that in respect of some tempers, and in some circumstances, it is scarce possible, though we do all that in us lies, to effect it. Το which I shall add in the,

IV. Fourth and last place, some familiar helps and directions, that may be of use to assist us towards performing it.

I. As to the first of these, the precept here given of living peaceably, I need not use many words to tell you what it is; it is easily and universally understood: would to God, it were but as universally practised! And then such exhortations as these would be needless. But though an account of the duty may not be requisite, to inform even the meanest and most ignorant Christian, yet it may be of use to bring to his mind what he already knows, and to awaken in him sensible and lively impressions of it; and to that end, I shall, in a very brief and plain manner, describe it.

To live peaceably, is so to demean ourselves in all the offices and stations of life, as to promote a friendly understanding and correspondence among those we converse with so as to prevent, as much as we can, all outward contention and strife, nay, all inward mistakes and jealousies from arising, and to quench and allay them as soon as we can, whenever they are arisen; so as to disagree openly with no man in things of an indifferent nature, and of no moment; and, where the point is of importance enough to deserve to be insisted on, there to do it, with so much candour, and modesty, and sweetness, as not to offend even those we do not agree with. In a word, it is so to conduct our actions, discourses, and dealings, as to make ourselves and others as easy as is possible. Various are the instances of this duty; some influencing our behaviour with relation to the public, some towards private men; some regarding opinions, and some regulating our practice;