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Ser. 248. be of real use and benefit to them, to improve those advantages and opportunities, which they were like to enjoy but a little while; Then faid Jefus unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you; walk while ye have the light, left darkness come upon you ; for he that walketh in darkness, knoweth not whither be goeth.

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Yet a little while is the light with you. This our Saviour speaks of himself, and his perfonal prefence and teaching among them Yet a little while is the light with you: for fo he frequently calls himself and his doctrine. John iii. 19. Light is come into the world. John viii. 12. I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but fhall have the light of life; that is, fuch a light as will direct him in the way to eternal life ; and John ix. 5. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Walk while ye have the light. Light is the opportunity of action, and going about our bufinefs, and therefore it is joined with walking and working, as in the text I mentioned before, I am the light of the world ; be that followeth me shall not walk in darknefs. And John ix. 4. where the continuance of this opportunity of light is called the day, and the ceafing or withdrawing of it, the night: I must work the works of him that fent me, fays our Lord, while it is day the night cometh, when no man can work. Therefore we fhould walk and work while we have the light.

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Left darkness come upon you. And this will be a difmal and fatal time, when all opportunity of walking and working will be at an end; for when the light hath left us, we fhall not be able to see what to do, or whither to go, as our Saviour adds to inforce his exhortation of making ufe of the prefent advantages and opportunities. Walk while ye have. the light, left darkness come upon you for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

All this our Saviour plainly fpeaks to the Jews, with relation to his own perfonal prefence and preach

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ing among them, which he tells them would fhortly ceafe, and be at an end. In which fense these words do not concern us, but only the Jews at that time, to whom they were fpoken; but by an equality of reason, the advice here given by our Saviour, first and immediately to the Jews, may be recommended to us, in the general reafon and intention of it us, I fay, who, though we do not enjoy the light of Chrift's perfonal prefence, yet we have the light of his doctrine, and the power and prefence of his Spirit going along with it, and fupplying the abfence of his perfon; fo that in effect we have all the advantages and means of falvation, which the Jews had; and we know not how long they may be continued, or how foon they may be taken from us ; and therefore the general reafon and intendment of this advice concerns us equally with the Jews, and confidering the uncertainty of the continuance of the means and opportunities of falvation, either to a particular people or perfon, we may very well ap. ply thefe words of our Saviour to ourselves, and as if they had been spoken by him to us as well as to the Jews; Yet a little while is the light with you; walk while ye have the light, left darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Abstracting then from the particular occafion and meaning of the words, I fhall profecute the general reafon and intention of them, as it may be accommodated to us, and that in these following par ticulars :

First, As we have the like means and opportunities of grace and falvation as the Jews had.

Secondly, In that the feason of their continuance is uncertain to us, as well as it was to them ; we know not how long they may be continued, nor how foon they may be taken from us.

Thirdly, In that the fame duty and obligation lies upon us, of improving the prefent advantages and opportunities which we enjoy. Walk while ye have the light.

VOL. X.

Fourthly,

Fourthly, In that we may juftly apprehend the like danger and difmal confequence of being deprived of thofe happy opportunities and advantages. Left darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

Fifthly, I fhall confider by what things God is more efpecially provoked, to deprive a people of the means and opportunities of grace and falvation. And then, laftly, What is the way and means to prevent fo difmal a judgment, and procure, if it may be a lengthening of our tranquillity. I fhall go over thefe particulars as briefly as I can.

First, That we have the like means and opportunities of grace and falvation, as the Jews had; not the very fame in kind, and all the circumftances of them, as I noted before, but the fame equivalently, and in fubftance, and to all the purposes of our eternal falvation and happiness, if we make a right use of them. The Jews had the perfonal prefence and preaching of Chrift among them; they did converfe familiarly with him, did eat and drink in his prefence, and heard him teach in their streets; which was a very valuable and fignal privilege, vouchfafed only to that people, and only in that age. For as to his perfonal prefence and converfation, he was not fent, but only to the loft sheep of the house of Ifrael.

But we have ftill the fame means and advantages in fubftance, which they had; the gofpel is preached to us, as well as to them; we have all the light and direction concerning our duty, and all the encouragement to holinefs and obedience which they had; and there is ftill the fame inward operation and concurrence of God's Holy Spirit, accompaaying his word, and making way for the entertainment of it; if there be but the fame obfequioufnefs of faith in us, and readiness to receive the truth in the love of it, that we may be faved.

Nay we have feveral advantages above them; that the Chriftian religion does not ly under those prejudices in refpect of us, which it did with them; it hath been now for many ages received and establish

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ed among us, and the prejudice of education is on its fide; and it hath had great and manifold confirmation given to it, fince our Saviour's time, by the wonderful fuccefs and prevalency of it in the world, notwithstanding all the difadvantages it lay under, and the mighty oppofition that was raised against it, by the remarkable fulfilling of many of Our Saviour's predictions concerning the final deftruction of the temple at Jerufalem, and the defolation of that city, and the difperfion of the Jewifh nation over the world, and their being hated of all nations, which hath now continued for above fixteen hundred years, and we fee it at this day, as if the providence of God had ordered it on purpose, for a ftanding monument and teftimony in all ages, of the truth of the Chriftian religion.

So that, bleffed be God, there is no want of means to bring us to the knowledge of the truth, that we may be faved; no want of evidence to confirm to us the truth of this religion; there is nothing wanting on God's part; if there be any failure and de fect, it is on ours, who will not walk in the light, while we have it; nor know in this our day the things which belong to our peace, before they be hid from our eyes.

Secondly, The feafon of the continuance of these means of grace and falvation, which are afforded to us, is uncertain to us, as well as it was to them. We know not how long they may be vouchsafed to us, nor how foon they may be taken away from us : Yet a little while the light is with you, faith our Saviour to the Jews, meaning, that he himself fhould fhortly be put to death, and removed from them. This is not juft our cafe but thus far it agrees, that the light of the gofpel, and the bleffed oppor tunities which thereby we enjoy, are of an uncer tain continuance, and may be of a leffer or longer duration, as God pleafeth, and according as we make use of them, and demean ourselves under them. I remember there is is a very odd paffage in Mr. Herbert's poems, which whether it be only the prus

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prudent conjecture and forefight of a wife man, or there be fomething more prophetical in it, I cannot tell; it is this:

Religion ftands on tiptoes in our land,

Ready to pass to the American ftrand,
When Seine fhall fwallow Tiber, and the Thames,
By letting in them both, pollute her streams,
Then fhall religion to America flee :

They have their times of gospel, even as we.

The meaning of it is this, that when the vices of Italy fhall pafs into France, and the vices of both fhall overfpread England, then the gofpel will leave thefe parts of the world, and pafs into America, to vifit thofe dark regions, which have fo long fat in darkness and the shadow of death. And this is not fo improbable, if we confider, what vaft colonies in this laft age have been tranfplanted out of Europe into thofe parts, as it were on purpofe to prepare and make way for fuch a change. But however that be, confidering how impiety and all manner of wickedness do reign among us, we have too much caufe to apprehend, that if we do not reform and grow better, the providence of God will find fome way or other to deprive us of that light, which is fo abused and affronted by our wicked and lewd lives. and God feems now to fay to us, as our Lord did to the Jews, Yet a little while is the light with you i walk while ye have the light, left darkness come upen you. I proceed to the

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Third particular, that there is the fame duty and obligation upon us, that was upon the Jews, of improving the prefent advantages and opportunities of falvation, which we enjoy and our Lord fays to us, as well as to them, Walk while ye have the light. He expects from us, that we should make use of thofe bleffed opportunities, and answer those manifold advantages, which are afforded to us, above most nations of the world; that we fhould improve our knowledge in religion, and advance daily in the practice of it; that we fhould work while it is day,

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