add any thing to him, nor the Blafphemies of Devils fubtract any thing from him; yet when he fo freely beftows his Benefits upon us, he expects the return of our Gratitude, both as it is highly juft and reasonable in it felf, and vaftly beneficial and advantageous to us. For he being infinitely reasonable himself, and loving himfelf infinitely for being fo, he cannot for his own fake but love what is fit and reasonable in others; and what he fo juftly loves in us, he justly expects of us. It is highly difpleafing to him to fee us ungrateful to others, as well as to himself; not that he fuftains any Damage thereby; for how can he be the worfe for our Ingratitude to others? But the Ground of his Displeasure is, to fee reasonable Beings fo grofly fwerve from the Canon of right Reason and Juftice, and act fo contrarily to the Laws of his Nature and their own. So again, he is as well pleated and delighted when he finds us thankful to our other Benefactors, as when we are so to him; not that he can reap the leaft Benefit or Advantage from the Thanks which we render to others; for how can he

be

A

SERMON

PREACHED

Before the Queen, May 22. 1692. upon occafion of the Victory obtained by their Majefties Fleet over the French.

them to us: When he shall see that his Favours are not fown upon a barren Soil, but that they fpring up in fuch Fruits as are most delightful to himself and moft beneficial to us, what a powerful Motive must this be to engage him to fow them more abundantly? There is nothing doth more oblige a generous Benefactor, than to fee a good Ufe made of his Benefits; and the beft Ufe we can make of them, is to gratifie him with fuch things as he moft delights in, and to improve them to our utmoft Advantage; which will render him so far from repenting of his Favours, and refolving to withhold them for the future, that it will be a mighty Gratification to himself to repeat and increase them whenever any juft occafion requires it. And therefore feeing God is the freeft and moft generous Benefactor in the World, we may depend upon it, that if we make that good Ufe of his Benefits for which he defigned them; if we render him fuch grateful Returns for them as are truly delightful to him and advantageous to our felves, he will be fo far from ftinting his hand

to

to us for the future, that he will rejoyce over us to do is good, and be as highly pleased to multiply his Benefits upon us, as we can be to receive them: in fhort, the greatest Obligation that can be laid upon a generous Goodness, fuch as God's is, is to do good with his Benefits, and to fare well upon them, both which a thankful Mind doth to the highest degree;' and therefore fuch, and fuch only, are the proper Soil for God to fow his Benefits in. Here they will grow with vaft Increase and Improvement, whereas in ungrateful Minds, they will either be foon washed away in a ftupid Oblivion of them, or foon wither away in a fordid Neglect of them, or elfe fpring up only into Weeds and Tares, into Pride or Luxury, or Vanity and Vexation of Spirit. This therefore is an eternal Reafon why we should offer up our Thanksgiving to God, because hereby we answer the great Ends for which he showers his Benefits on us, and thereby lay a powerful Obligation upon him to continue and increase 'em.'

IV. Thankfulness to God doth ve ry much promote and facilitate the Practice of Religion: for, as was fhewn before, all hearty Thanksgiving fprings out of a warm and vigorous Senfe of God's Goodness towards us, and as that naturally flows into Praife and Thanksgiving, fo this flows as naturally into a free and chearful Obedience. The more thankful we are for the Benefits of God, the more fenfible we shall still be of our Obligations to him; and the more fenfible we are of these, the more difpofed we fhall be to gratifie him by our ready Obedience to him. These things follow as naturally one another, as Heat follows Fire, and as Burning follows Heat. He therefore who by frequent Acts of Praife hath acquired a thankful frame and difpofition of Soul, hath furmounted three parts in four of all the Fatigue of Religion: For what can be too hard for a Soul that is infpired with an active Sense of the Divine Goodness? This will convert the mot painful Duties into the most delightful Recreations, and prove fuch an ever-flowing Fountain of Divine Rhetorick within us as will fuperfede

the