reveres and honoars God, in a way suited to that high and incommunicable character. Genuine piety expresseth itself thus; “ Whom have I in heaven but thee, O Lord? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.” We are not godly, whatever we profess or seem, if in our most deliberate and affectionate choice, we do not prefer the one true God, and the enjoyment of his favour, to all that can be found throughout the wide extent of his works; if we make not his will the measure of ours, his law the sovereign guide of our conduct, and his glory the ultimate end of our obedience. But more particularly, in the

First place, Godliness includes a supreme love to God himself, and a constant prevailing desire to please him, mixed with a holy reverential awe, or fear of of. fending him. I have joined these together, because they appear to be of equal necessity and use, to constitute that frame and temper of mind whereiu the essence of piety or true godliness doth consist. Fear is necessary to keep God in our eye: it is the office of love to enthrone bim in our heart. Fear cautiously avoids whatever may offend : love yields a prompt and liberal service. Fear regards God as a witness and judge; love cleaves to him as a friend, nay a father. Fear maketh us watchful and circumspect: love renders us active and resolute. In short, they go hand in hand, and mutually assist each other: Love keeps fear from being servile and distrustful; and fear keeps love from being forward and secure: and both spring from one root, namely, Faith in God, as a being possessed of infinite perfection,

, and related to us as our Creator and Governor, our Redeemer and our Judge.

This distinguisheth true godliness from every counterfeit, or false appearance of it. The seeming righte

ousness of the formalist, is either assumed to impose upon the world, without any regard to God at all, or else it flows entirely from a tormenting fear of future wrath : in his heart there is an aversion from God and his service, at the very time he is professing to honour him with bis body; reluctant and hesitating at every step, he proceeds no farther in the road of duty than he thinks may suffice to escape damnation : he doth more than he would do, were he not forced by necessity; and if left to his own choice, he would rather live at large like the beasts that perish, and render no homage to God at all.

Secondly. The power of godliness consists in the conquest of our corrupt and rebellious passions. These in. deed still live and fight within us, and will continue to do so in one degree or other, till death pull down these earthly tabernacles: but if we are truly sanctified, their strength shall gradually languish and decay: victory is sown in that new nature we have got; for “ whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world :” Jesus our Lord shall ere “ long deliver us from the body of this death, and the God of peace shall in due time bruise Satan un. derneath our feet.” — Whereas the formalist is altogether carnal; corruption prevails against reason and conscience; the flesh gives law; and every faculty of the mind, every member of the body, is a willing slave to its usurped authority. Perhaps he has cunning enough 66 to wash the outside;" to refrain from those sins wbich would stain his reputation, and render him contempti. ble in the opinion of the world : But all the while he feels no hatred of sin in his heart; his conformity to the law doth not flow from an inward principle of holiness, but is purely an artificial thing, calculated to please VOL. I.

H

others; and he cares for no more of it than is absolutely necessary for attaining that end.

Thirdly. The power of godliness ennobles the soul with a boly indifference to all earthly things. The godly man is one whose treasure is in heaven. He hath seen through the deceit and vanity of this world, and therefore esteems it but dross and dung in comparison of God and things eternal: he is hastening to the promised land of rest, and will not eagerly contend for an inheritance in this wilderness, nor be greatly dejected when it is either withheld or taken from him. Faith hath so far annihilated this world, that it is become as nothing in his eye, and hath no bribe to offer that is sufficient to seduce him from the service of his God, or the care of his precious and immortal soul. This holy indifference to earthly things, this divine elevation of sentiment and affection, is an eminent part of the godly man's character, and one of the most striking effects of the power of religion in his heart. The formalist may, no doubt, put on the appearance of this; he, too, may talk of his contempt of the world; but when a trying time comes, his hypocrisy and earthly-mindedness will soon discover themselves: "Demas bath forsaken me (said Paul) having loved this present world.” Affliction, and especially persecution for the sake of Christ, makes a wide and visible distinction betwixt the truth of grace and all the counterfeits of it. This is a test which the formalist cannot stand : the predominant interest must then appear, and can no longer be concealed. In that day, all mere speculations about religion vanish ; nor can any thing support the sufferer but what he firmly believes and feels in his heart. The unsound professor may look big for awhile, and part with many lesser things; but when matters are brought to this crisis, “ Sell all that thou

hast, and take up the cross ;" renounce every present sensible enjoyment for the sake of distant invisible bles. sings; then he must throw aside the mask, and confess that the world is supreme in his heart, and that heayen was never valued by him but as a secondary good, which he wished to have in reversion, when he could keep his hold of this earth no longer.

Fourthly. The soul that is under the power of godliness hath a vehement thirst after the enjoyment of God himself. It is God in Christ whom the godly man seeketh in the ordinances of religion ; either to know more of bis will, or to have nearer communion with him, or to receive from bim fresh sapplies of grace, for cleansing and quickening, and comforting his soul. These are to him like the tree unto wbich Zaccheus climbed up that he might see Jesus: and he useth them only for that end. Doth be go to the sanctuary? it is, " that he may behold the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his temple.” Doth he approach the altar? it is, that he may meet with "God his exceeding joy." As the “ hart panteth for the brooks of water, so pants his thirsty, longing soul for God, even the living God;" and he always prefers “ the light of his countevance" to the greatest increase “of corn and of wine," or whatever else this earth can afford. Now the formalist is an utter stranger to these exercises of the heart : he feels no anxiety after communion with God: he prays, but never troubles bimself with inquiring if his prayer is accepted : he goes to church, not that he may wait upon God, or receive spirilual pourishment from the word preached; but merely to gratify his curiosity, and to get some addition to his stock of notional religion ; he grows weary of the necessary bread of life: he loathes that dry manna, and reckons every Sabbath and sermon lost in wbich he is not

a

amused with variety and change. In short, he looks upon the duties of religious worship merely as a task im. posed on him by an arbitrary master, who is too strong for him to contend with; and therefore he performs them for his own safety, and is always glad when they are over, and thinks that God hath nothing more to require at his hand.

Once more, in the fifth place, The power of godliness is manifested by a steadfast course of holy living, by an uniform and unreserved obedience to all God's commandments. I observed, in the entrance, that godliness is the subjection or devotedness of the soul to God himself: and in vain do we pretend to this, if we object against any of his laws; for the Apostle James hath assured us, that “whosoever shall keep the wliole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” “ It is not the calling Christ Lord, Lord, but the doing the things which he says," that proveth us to be Christians indeed: “Yea, in this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil. He that doeth not righteousness is not of God.” The formalist, as I have already admitted, may go a considerable length in an outward reformation of manners; he may abstain from pollutions of the grosser kind, and even do many things that are materially good: but still he hath his exceptions: some sips are so dear to him, that he will by no means consent to part with them; and some duties are so displeasing to the flesh, that he cannot be reconciled to them at any rate: he therefore endeavours, either to suit his opi. pion to his inclination, by persuading himself that they are no duties; or, if the evidence of their authority is too strong to be evaded, he may attempt to do something like them in a cold and superficial manner; but the things themselves he will not do. Whereas the godly