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fore God will justify them? No certainly; for SERM, then the more obdurate and stupid any finner XIII. is, the better would his condition be; but our most obvious notions of the holiness and juftice of God will not fuffer us to entertain fuch a thought. On the other hand, there are some too ready to condemn' themselves; melancholy religious perfons, through a prefent violent diftemper of mind, or rather perhaps a diftemper of body affecting the mind, and caufing vehement perturbation, pronounce a hafty and unjust sentence against themselves. Far be it from us to think that fuch a rash and wrong judgment hath any connection with the judgment of God. Surely the judge of the whole world will do right; he is not unrighteous to forget his fervants work of faith and labour of love, which they have fhewed towards his name, although under a cloud, and in the prefent confufion of their thoughts, they may not be able to fee their own integrity. But this whole cafe of mens erroneous judgments concerning themfelves gives occafion to these farther obfervations for explaining the point now under confideration.

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3dly, Then, that hope towards God which is laid on any other foundation than the testimony

SERM. teftimony of confcience concerning our finXIII. cerity in obeying the law which we are under, hath nothing to do with the present fubject. The apostle doth not fay in the text, or mean, that whenever men have con-, fident hope of the divine approbation and acceptance, however they came by it, and upon whatever ground, they fhall be accordingly approved or accepted; but that if their hearts do not condemn them for infincerity, or wilful tranfgreffion, impenitently continued in, they have well grounded confidence. The reason why I observe this is, because very often prefumptuous finners have strong expectations of the mercy of God; but their hope is built on quite another bottom than their hearts approving their moral difpofitions and behaviour, nay, in direct oppofition to the judgment of their confciences concerning them. Some lay great ftrefs on their religious profeffion, and the foundness of their faith; others rely on their exact obfervance of rites and ceremo, nies; the hope of the Pharisees was founded upon their fafting often, making long pray. ers, their ceremonial wafhings, their punctual tything of mint, annife, and cummin, and fuch like things. In like manner fome christians depend on their baptifm, their receiving

receiving the facrament of the Lord's fupper, SER M. their being members of the pureft primitive XIII. and apostolic churches; not to mention the groffer fuperftition of thofe who place their confidence in penances, pilgrimages, the merits of the faints, the absolutions, indulgencies, prayers, and facrifices of the church. Others, again, groffly mistake the true notion of repentance, which confifteth in an univerfal change of heart and converfation from evil to good, fubftituting in the room of it, forrows, confeffions, humiliations, and good difpofitions, which produce no real amendment of life. And, laftly, fome presumptuously truft in the merits of Chrift, even when their confciences accufe them of continuing to live in obftinate difobedience to his laws. Now, all thefe dangerous errors and falfe hopes are fo far from receiving any countenance from the text, that, on the contrary, it is the apoftle's intention to call us off from them, and direct us to a quite different way of trying our claim to the divine approbation, namely, by a diligent inquiry into our tempers and moral conduct, which I fhall afterwards endeavour to fhew you is much more just, and founded in invariable truth. By a parity of reason, the felf-condemnings of diftempered good minds

are

SERM. are not, according to the true design of the XIII. text, to be looked upon as any evidence

that God will condemn them; becaufe fo far as they have any appearance of a rational ground (for the most part, indeed, they proceed in a great measure from a disordered imagination) they are founded on a mistake, either of the terms of acceptance with God, or the nature of the offences with which the heart chargeth itfelf. If we imagine that God will be fo inexorably fevere, as to punish every the least deviation from his law, even though not allowed, or fincerely repented of; or if we magnify fuch infir mities, as the beft are not altogether free from in this imperfect ftate, into heinous unpardonable crimes; if the want of vehement emotions of mind be accounted want of love to God, though they are only accidental, depending on other caufes, and the love of God doth not confift in them, but in a calm deliberate efteem, with a fincere difpofition to keep his commandments; if blafphemous thoughts arifing in the mind, utterly abhorred, and earnestly refifted, are reckoned its heinous tranfgreffions, though really they are not imputed to it as its faults in any degree; in these, and fuch like cafes, the judgment of condemnation, which by mistake

mistake the heart paffeth against itself, God SER M. will not confirm; and the cure of the mif- XIII. takes, fo far as they are curable in a rational

way,

is by better information concerning the nature of God, his infinite goodnefs and righteousness, and concerning the terms of the gospel. Our prefent inquiry relateth to the calm judgment of the conscience or heart upon its own prevailing difpofitions, its deliberate purposes, and the general tenor of its actions.

4thly, As the judgment of our hearts concerning ourselves is of the last moment, and the most important confequences depend upon it; for it is plainly the defign of the text to teach us that the approbation or difapprobation of Almighty God is to be expected according as the heart doth or doth not condemn us; and therefore mistakes in this matter are infinitely dangerous; so, if we are not wanting to ourselves, they may be avoided. Fallibility is universally the character of the human understanding; no man who attendeth to what paffeth in his own mind, but must be convinced he hath in many inftances made a wrong judgment; and we have all reafon to believe that many errors remain with us. But errors are not

all

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