subject to it. I speak not this of myself; No, He Who alone can pardon your sins, hath passed His word for it; for thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Heaven and Earth, to all and every one here present, "Repent and turn Ezek. 18. yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin."

30.

2. But lastly; although, if you forsake your sins, God will be sure to pardon them, yet you must not think that He therefore pardons them because you forsake them, neither must you expect pardon upon any such account, but only upon the account of Christ, Who came into the world on purpose to save sinners, and was therefore called Jesus, because He came " to save His people from their sins;" and Matt. 1.21. it is only in " His blood that we have redemption, even the Eph. 1. 7. forgiveness of sins." And therefore, when you have so repented of your sins as to be turned from them, and have done all, or all you can, that is required of you, you must still believe in Christ, and Him alone, for pardon and acceptance; humbly confiding, that in and through the merits and Mediation of Jesus Christ, your former sins that you have now forsaken, shall be, or are forgiven, and both your persons and performances for the future shall be accepted before God. And whosoever of you shall thus repent and believe in Christ, I dare, and do in the Name of Christ pronounce them absolved from their sins, and assert them to be in the number of those blessed souls "whose transgression is forgiven, and whose sins are covered."

Thus have I shewn how great a happiness it is to have our sins pardoned; and how every one here present may attain unto it: which I should now endeavour to persuade you to, but that it would be too great a disparagement to your wisdom and discretion; as supposing you either so distracted in your brains, or debauched in your principles, that you must needs be incited to happiness, and courted into the way that leads to it, or else you will never mind it. But I hope there are none here present, but understand their own interest better than so. I know that you all know yourselves to be sinners, and therefore subject to the wrath of God, and eternal misery. And I have done my duty in acquainting you how you may so escape this your deserved

CXLIII.

SERM. misery, as to be invested with real and eternal happiness, by being indemnified from sins, and received into the love and favour of Almighty God. It is now your interest as well as duty, to use the means prescribed for the attainment of so glorious and great an end: even repent and turn from all your sins, and believe in Christ for the pardon for them. Which whosoever here present shall truly and sincerely do, I assure them in the presence of God, and in the Name of Jesus Christ, "their transgressions shall be forgiven, and their sins covered," their lusts subdued, and their natures cleansed, their persons accepted, and their souls blessed both here and for ever.

SERMON CXLIV.

OF GOOD WORKS IN GENERAL.

PSALM XXXvii. 27.

And do Good.

WE, "being all conceived in sin, and brought forth in [Ps. 51. 5.] iniquity," have ever since been doing nothing but conceiving mischief, and bringing forth vanity, our whole lives being nothing else but as one continued sin against Him in Whom we live. Neither is it possible it should be otherwise, so long as we continue such as we came into the world; for our natures being defiled with sin, all our actions cannot but be so too. Hence it is that we are so often commanded in Holy Scripture to depart from evil, and cease to do evil, because naturally evil is always present with us; and if at any time we be so assisted by the grace of God as not to sin, we may justly be said to depart from evil, and cease to do that which was wont to be our continual employment.

But, verily, it is such an employment, that, all things considered, we have all the reason in the world to leave it off as soon as we can; for, so long as we continue sinning, we are certainly the most miserable creatures upon earth; for, whatsoever our outward enjoyments may seem to be, we are still in a poor and slavish condition, continually employed in the Devil's drudgery. And howsoever comely the outward man may seem to others, our souls are not only ugly and deformed, but filthy also and loathsome in the eyes of God, Who, being a most pure and holy Being, cannot look upon them without abhorrence and detestation. And whatsoever parts or gifts

SERM. CXLIV.

[Job 15.

16.]

41.]

we may fancy ourselves to have, how cunning soever and subtle we may be as to the things of this world, we are still but fools and madmen in God's account, as "drinking down iniquity like water," though we know it to be poison, and preferring the toys and trifles of this deceitful and transient world before eternal happiness and the joys of Heaven. Whatsoever conceits also we may fondly entertain of ourselves and actions, all the while that we continue in sin, we do but act the part of devils incarnate, even carry on the same designs, and follow the same employments, as the fiends of Hell would do, were they in our circumstances, and had flesh and bones like us. And, by consequence, unless we depart from evil, we can expect no other but to depart from God, and to have our part and portion in that everlast[Matt. 25. ing fire which is "prepared for the Devil and his angels." All which being duly considered, I hope there is none here present but look upon themselves as highly concerned to leave sinning as fast as they can, and are steadfastly resolved to use all means which may any ways conduce thereto, as remembering that they are Christians, and the eye of God is always upon them, and that all their actions ere long will be reviewed, and judgment passed upon them accordingly. And, therefore, avoiding all occasions of temptations unto sin, sincerely doing as much as they can themselves, and humbly imploring God's aid and assistance to enable them to do more, firmly believing and trusting on the promises which God to that purpose hath made unto us in Jesus Christ; which whosoever doth, cannot miss of such influences of grace as he stands in need of, whereby he may be enabled to mortify his lusts and depart from evil.

But now we must know, that it is not enough for us "to depart from evil," but we must "do good" too; by the former we may escape Hell, but without the latter we shall never get to Heaven. Neither, indeed, is it possible for us to do the one without the other; no man can "do good," that doth not first "depart from evil;" and no man can "depart from evil," but he must of necessity "do good:" for we are commanded and obliged always to be doing good, and therefore all the while that we are not doing good, we are breaking the command of God, and by consequence are doing

evil; so that these two are inseparable companions, and it is altogether impossible they should ever be parted, seeing we cannot do good without departing from evil, nor depart from evil without doing good.

Hoping, therefore, or at least supposing, that, the premises being duly considered, you are all resolved already within yourselves, to do your best endeavour, by the assistance of God's grace and Spirit, to leave off, or depart from the several sins which you know yourselves to be guilty of, I shall now endeavour to explain unto you the other part of your duty, even doing good. And the first thing to be known concerning it, is what it is to "do good,” or how we may so do every thing as to make it a good work; and then, secondly, what necessity there is of our thus doing good, and what advantages we shall get by it.

I. The first question is, what it is to "do good?"

17.

A question, which I suppose there is none of you but look upon yourselves as infinitely concerned to understand, and be thoroughly resolved in it. And it is not so easy to understand it aright, as it is generally thought to be; for certainly there is a very great mystery in it, which we can never be thoroughly instructed in, without a great deal of pains, study, and care. Hence as we are here commanded to "do good," so elsewhere we are enjoined to learn how to do it. "Cease to do evil," saith the Prophet," and learn to Isa. 1. 16. do well;" so that doing well, or doing good, is an art, it seems, which we are all bound to learn, and doubtless it is the highest and most noble art that any mortal can ever attain to; and yet, I hope, by the blessing of God, to make it so plain unto you, that there is none of you but may understand it as well as you do the particular arts and trades which you are of in the world, so as to know how to manage and carry on your general callings as Christians, as well as the particular callings which you are of as men or citizens; which being a matter of such great importance to you all, I will endeavour to express it in as plain and perspicuous terms as possibly I can, that the meanest capacity in the congregation may apprehend it. For all persons, of whatsoever rank or condition they be in this world, are equally concerned and obliged to be always doing good; and most