CXXXVI.

SERM. some of you heard in your life! What sin is there but you have sometimes heard it reproved? What duty but hath ofttimes been pressed upon you? And therefore what can you have to answer for yourselves, who live in the frequent commission of any one sin, or in the constant neglect of any one duty whatsoever? Neither do you think that you do God any service at all by such hearing as this is what cares He for your coming to His house, and making a shift, though it be something tedious, to hear a sermon out? Is this an acceptable service unto God, or any way advantageous to yourselves? Not at all, unless you therefore only hear that you may practise, and practise faithfully what you hear; otherwise, profess what you please, and hear what you can, you will not enter into the kingdom of Heaven.

Nay, you may go further still, and pretend much love to Christ, not only by praying often to Him, and hearing as often from Him, but also by speaking in His behalf, writing, yea, perhaps fighting for Him too, and yet neither truly love Him here, nor come unto Him hereafter: for all this is no more than what the Jews would do for Moses, or the Turks for Mahomet, or what the Papists do for the images which they worship and adore; and have wrote ten times more in their behalf than ever they did for Christ. So may [2 Cor. 12. we "spend and be spent" for the Gospel, and use the 15.] utmost of our power for the defence and propagation of it, and yet receive no benefit from it, because we may do it upon the same grounds, and from the same principles, that the professors of all other religions strive to maintain and propagate the several religions which they do profess; because it is the religion of our country, and that which our forefathers both lived and died in. But he that hath no better reasons than these are, to use his tongue, his pen, or strength for the Christian religion, is as far from the kingdom of Heaven as those who never yet heard of it.

There is still another thing behind; which, if seriously considered, would make our ears to tingle, and our hearts to tremble; and that is, that a man inay make so great a progress Matt. 7.22, in the Christian religion, as to prophesy in Christ's Name, in Christ's Name to cast out Devils, and in Christ's Name many wonderful works, and yet be rejected by Him for

23.

do

ver. 23.

ever. How safe should we think ourselves, how confident should we be of happiness, could you and I pretend and plead so much as this is for it! That we have not only preached, and heard, and prayed, but prophesied too in His Name! And that our faith hath been so strong as to cast out Devils, and work miracles in His Name! But this we may do, and yet come short of Heaven, as our Saviour Himself here intimates unto us; where we may observe, how our Saviour supposes that men may cast out Devils, and do many wonderful things in His Name. And so verily they frequently did for the first three centuries, nothing being more common in those days than for men to command Devils in the Name of Christ to depart out of possessed persons, and to work many other miracles for the propagation of the Gospel, which then was necessary; for if the Gospel had been propagated without miracles, that would have been a greater miracle than all the rest. Yet, howsoever, we may further observe, that our Saviour here makes the working of miracles in His Name no true sign of a real Christian; but that a man may use Christ's Name for the working of miracles, and yet not partake of His merits, for the salvation of his soul: yea, while our Saviour Himself was living, there were some that cast out Mark 9. 38. Devils in His Name, and yet were none of His followers or disciples. And if the working of miracles be no infallible sign of a true Saint, much less is it of a true Church. So that if we should grant all the forgeries of the Church of Rome to have been really done as they pretend they were, this could be no certain argument of their being a true Church, no more than the working of miracles is that a man is a true Christian, which our Saviour Himself plainly denies; asserting, that a man may do it and be damned; which certainly no true Christian shall ever be. And by consequence he that would be a real and true Christian hath a great deal more to do than the casting out Devils, or working miracles in Christ's Name; neither is this at all necessary in order to our eternal happiness.

Thus we see how near we may come to Heaven, and yet come short of it; how much we may do, and yet not do enough; you may be baptized in Christ's Name, and acknowledge Him to be the only Saviour of the world; you may

CXXXVI.

SERM. hear till your ears, and pray till your tongues, be worn to the stumps; you may dispute, you may write, you may fight for Christ and His religion too: yea, you may cast out Devils in His Name, and in His Name do many wonderful works, and yet not work out your Salvation, nor make your calling and election sure. And therefore all such amongst you as really desire to come to Heaven, must look higher, and do more than all this amounts to; you must not take up with fair pretences instead of saving faith; nor with an outward profession instead of true religion; neither think yourselves any whit the better for being called Christians, unless you be so. For assure yourselves, that your profession of the Gospel, unless you live up to it, will be no diminution, but rather the greatest aggravation of your sins imaginable. For what will Christ say to you when you come to stand before His tribunal? What! you profess My Name, and yet neglect My precepts! Call Me Lord, and yet not serve and honour Me! What! acknowledge My supremacy, and yet not My laws! Believe Me to be your King, and yet rebel against Me! Expect happiness and Salvation from Me, and not perform obedience to Me! 'Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity," that have not only sinned, but sinned against the clearest light, the highest love, the greatest mercies that ever were vouchsafed to the sons of men. You have been a reproach to My Name, a shame to My Gospel, a scandal to My Religion; and thereMatt.25.41. fore "depart from Me into everlasting fire prepared for

the Devil and his Angels." And doubtless, if there be any one place hotter than another in those infernal flames, that will be reserved for the hypocritical professors of the Christian religion; for such as profess Christ with their mouth, and yet deny Him in their hearts and lives, as Christ Matt.24.51. Himself intimates. Wherefore, let me advise you all not to rest contented any longer with the bare profession of the Gospel; but if you desire to partake of what is promised, be sure to perform what is commanded in it; and think not within yourselves that Christ will save you whether you repent or no; or whether you obey His Gospel or no. Luke 13. 3. Himself hath told you, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish:" and that it is not your speaking of Him, or praying to Him; it is not your calling Him, "Lord,

Lord," will bring you to Heaven, but you must do the will of God: "Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven: but he that doth the will of My Father which is in Heaven."

Thus, therefore, having seen how far we may go, and yet not come to Heaven, we are now to consider how far we must go, if we desire to come thither. A question, which you will all grant to be both pertinent and necessary to be resolved. For I dare say there is none of you but desire to be happy, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And let me tell you for your comfort and encouragement, you are all as yet in a capacity of being so. For you still enjoy those means of grace whereby, if you be not wanting to yourselves, through the mercies of God, and the merits of Christ, you may all ere long be so many glorified Saints in Heaven, perfectly free from all, both sin and misery, and perfectly happy in the enjoyment of the chiefest good. Yea, He that made you, as yet is so merciful unto you as to call upon you, and invite you all to partake of those celestial joys which He hath prepared for all those that love and fear Him. And to manifest to all the world how desirous He is to have your company in Heaven, Himself was pleased to come down to shew you the way thither; which He hath done so plainly, that none of you can miss of it that will but sincerely endeavour to look after it before all things else. And that you may not be mistaken, but may be sure to hit upon the right path that leads to life, He hath acquainted you in express terms, both how you may not, and how you may come thither; assuring you, that the external profession of religion, and the frequent using of Scripture language, saying, "Lord, Lord," will never bring any of you to the kingdom of Heaven; but that, if you ever desire to come thither, you must do the will of that God that is in Heaven: "Not every one," saith He," that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven : but he that doth the will of My Father which is in Heaven."

And I desire you to observe, that these are the words of Him that came into the world on purpose to save and conduct you to Heaven, and by Whom alone it is possible for you to come thither; and therefore you must not think

CXXXVI.

SERM. there is any way imaginable to evade them. But if ever you desire to know what Heaven is, you must of necessity observe whatsoever is ordered and prescribed you in these words. But that you can never do, unless you first understand them and therefore I shall endeavour to give you the true meaning and purport of them in as plain and perspicuous terms as possibly I can, being desirous that every soul here present, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, may apprehend what our blessed Saviour means by these words, and by consequence may know what they must do in time, that so they may be happy for ever.

Now, therefore, for the right understanding of these words, there are three things to be considered: first, what is that will of His Father which our Saviour here speaks of; and then how, and why we must do that will, if we desire to come to Heaven.

As for the first, I suppose I need not tell you whom it is that our Saviour means by "His Father which is in Heaven,” even the Most High Supreme Governor and Possessor both of Heaven and earth; which glorious Being having made all things by His Almighty power, and still preserving and ordering all things by His infinite wisdom and goodness, His will must needs be a law to all the creatures in the world: that is, all creatures are bound to do whatsoever they know to be the will and pleasure of Almighty God, or rather, whatsoever is revealed to them to be so, whether they take notice of it or no: for it is God's revelation of His will that obligeth us to the performance of it. Now God hath been pleased to make use of several means whereby to discover His will to mankind. To Adam He revealed His will by immediate inspiration: to Noah, Abraham, and the rest of the Patriarchs by vision and appearances, discoursing with them: to the Jews by the Prophets; and to all the world by His Son Jesus Christ, and after Him by His Apostles. Which several revelations of God's will are by His wonderful providence gathered together, and preserved in the Books of the Old and New Testament, which by consequence contain the whole will of God, which it is necessary for men to do, in order to their attaining everlasting happiness.