of it, and endeavour to convince men of the equity of Chrift's commands, and to affure them of the certainty of the eternal happiness which the gofpel promifes to them that obey it, and of the eternal mifery which the gofpel threatens to thofe that are difobedient; all this is preaching faith in our Lord Jefus Chrift.

III. This may correct the irregular humours and itch in many people, who are not contented with this plain and wholesome food, but must be gratified with fublime notions and unintelligible myfteries, with pleasant paffages of wit, and artificial strains of rhetorick, with nice and unprofitable difputes, with bold interpretations of dark prophecies, and peremptory determinations of what will happen next year, and a punctual stating of the time when Antichrift fhall be thrown down, and Babylon fhall fall, and who fhall be employed in this work. Or if their humour lies another way, you must apply yourself to it, by making fharp reflections upon matters in prefent controverfy and debate; you must dip your ftile in gall and vinegar, and be all fatire and invective against those that differ from you, and teach people to hate one another, and to fall together by the ears; and this men call gofpel-preaching, and fpeaking of feafon

able truths.

Surely St. Paul was a gofpel-preacher, and fuch an one as may be a pattern to all others; and yet he did none of thefe; he preached what men might understand, and what they ought to believe and practife, in a plain and unaffected and convincing manner; he taught fuch things as made for peace, and whereby he might edify and build up men in their holy faith. The doctrines that he preached will never be unfeafonable, that men should leave their fins, and believe the gofpel, and live accordingly.

And if men must needs be gratified with difputes and controverfies, there are thefe great controverfies between God and the finner to be stated and determined; whether this be religion to follow our own lufts and inclinations, or to endeavour to be like God, and to be conformed to him, in goodnefs, and mercy, and righteoufnefs, and truth, and faithfulnefs? Whether Jefus Chrift be not the MeЛlias and Saviour of the world? Whether

faith, and repentance, and fincere obedience, be not the terms of falvation, and the neceffary conditions of happinefs? Whether there fhall be a future judgment, when all men shall be sentenced according to their works? Whether there be heaven and hell? Whether good men shall be eternally and unspeakably happy, and wicked men extremely and everlaltingly miferable? Thefe are the great controverfies of religion, upon which we are to difpute on God's behalf against finners. God afferts, and finners deny these things, not in words, but which is more emphatical and fignificant, in their lives and actions. These are practical controverfies of faith, and it concerns every man to be refolved and determined about them, that he may frame his life accordingly.

And fo for repentance; God fays, repentance is a forfaking of fin, and a thorough change and amendment of life; the finner fays, that it is only a formal confeffion, and a flight afking of God forgiveness: God calls upon us fpeedily and forthwith to repent; the finner faith it is time enough, and it may fafely be deferred to fickness or death; thefe are important controverfies and matters of moment. But men do not affect common truths; whereas thefe are most neceffary; and, indeed, whatever is generally useful and beneficial, ought to be common, and not to be the lefs valued, but the more efteemed for being fo.

And as thefe doctrines of faith and repentance are never unfeasonable, fo are they more peculiarly proper, when we celebrate the holy facrament, which was inftituted for a folemn and standing memorial of the Chriftian religion, and is one of the most powerful arguments and perfuafives to repentance and a good life.

The faith of the gofpel doth more particularly refpect the death of Chrift; and therefore it is called faith in his blood, because that is more efpecially the object of our faith; the blood of Chrift, as it was a feal of the truth of his doctrine, fo it is alfo a confirmation of all the bleffings and benefits of the new covenant.

And it is one of the greatest arguments in the world to repentance. In the blood of Chrift, we may fee our own guilt, and, in the dreadful fufferings of the Son of

God,

God, the just defert of our fins; He hath born our griefs, and carried our forrows; he was wounded for our tranfgref fions, and bruifed for our iniquities: therefore the commemoration of his fufferings fhould call our fins to remembrance, the representation of his body broken fhould melt our hearts; and fo often as we remember that his blood was fhed for us, our eyes fhould run down with rivers of tears; fo often as we look upon him whom we have pierced, we fhould mourn over him. When the Son of God fuffered, the rocks were rent in funder; and shall not the confideration of those fufferings be effectual to break the moft ftony and obdurate heart?

What can be more proper when we come to this facrament, than the renewing of our repentance? When we partake of this paffover, we fhould eat it with bitter herbs. The moft folemn expreffions of our repentance fall short of thofe fufferings, which our blessed Saviour underwent for our fins. If our head were waters, and our eyes fountains of tears, we could never fufficiently lament the curfed effects and confequences of thofe provocations which were fo fatal to the Son of God.

And that our repentance may be real, it must be accompanied with the refolution of a better life; for if we return to our fins again, we trample under-foot the Son of God, and prophane the blood of the covenant, and out of the cup of falvation we drink our own damnation, and turn that which should fave us into an instrument and feal of our own ruin.

SER

SERMON CLX.

Of confeffing and forfaking fin, in order to pardon.

Preached on Afh-Wednesday.

PROV. xxviii. 13.

He that covereth his fins fhall not profper: but whofa confeffeth and forfaketh them, shall have mercy.

S

Ince we are all finners, and liable to the justice of God, it is a matter of great moment to our com fort and happiness, to be rightly informed by what means, and upon what terms, we may be reconciled to God, and find mercy with him. And, to this purpose, the text gives us this advice and direction, Whofo confeffeth and furfaketh his fins, fhall have mercy.

In which words there is a great bleffing and benefit declared and promised to finners, upon certain conditions. The bleffing and benefit promifed is the mercy and favour of God, which comprehends all the happy effects of God's mercy and goodness to finners: and the conditions upon which this bleffing is promised are two, confeffion of our fins, and forfaking of them; and these two contain in them the whole nature of that great and neceffary duty of repentance, without which a finner can have no reasonable hopes of the mercy of God.

1. Here is a bleffing or benefit promifed, which is the mercy and favour of God: and this, in the full extent of it, comprehends all the effects of the mercy and goodnefs of God to finners, and doth primarily import the pardon and forgiveness of our fins. And this probably Solomon did chiefly intend in this expreffion; for fo the mercy of God doth most frequently fignify in the Old Testament, viz, the forgiveness of our fins. And thus

the

the Prophet explains it, Ifa. lv. 7. Let the wicked forfake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

But now, fince the clear revelation of the gofpel, the mercy of God doth not only extend to the pardon of fin, but to power againft it; because this alfo is an effect of God's free grace and mercy to finners, to enable them, by the grace of his holy Spirit, to master and mortify their lufts, and to perfevere in goodnefs to the end.

And it comprehends alfo our final pardon and abfolution at the great day, together with the glorious reward of eternal life, which the Apoftle expreffeth, by finding mercy with the Lord in that day. And this likewife is promised to repentance, Acts iii. 19. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your fins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the prefence of the Lord, and he shall fend Jefus Chrift, who before was preached unto you; that is, that when Jefus Chrift, who is now preached unto you, fhall come, you may receive the final fentence of abfolution and forgiveness.

And thus much fhall fuffice to have spoken of the 'bleffing and benefit here promifed, the mercy of God; which comprehends all the bleffed effects of the divine grace and goodness to finners, the prefent pardon of fin, and power to mortify fin, and to perfevere in a good courfe, and our final abfolution by the fentence of the great day, together with the merciful and glorious reward of eternal life.

2. We will confider, in the next place, the conditions upon which this blefling is promifed, and they are two, the confeffing, and forfaking of our fins. Whofo confeffeth, and for faketh his fin, fhall have mercy; and these two do contain and conftitute the whole nature of repentance, without which a finner can have no reasonable hopes to find mercy with God. I begin with the

First, The confeffion of our fins; by which is meant a penitent acknowledgment of our faults to God; to God, I fay, because the confeffion of our fins to men is not, generally fpeaking, a condition of the forgiveness of them, but only in fome particular cafes, when our fins against God are accompanied and complicated with

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