to endeavour after that purity of heart which our Ps. xxiv. 3. apostle here recommends. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? and who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, saith the Psalmist, and a pure heart; .... he shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. For which blessing God of his infinite mercy prepare us all.

SERMON XXXVII.

THE SINFULNESS OF DOUBLE-MINDEDNESS.

....

JAMES iv. 8.

Purify your hearts, ye double-minded. No sort of men have afforded a larger field of raillery to those who have made it their business to laugh at the follies of mankind, none have more exposed themselves to the sharpest censures of such as have taken upon them to lash the vices of others, than those who have been remarkable for levity of mind, unsteadiness of resolution, unevenness of temper, and inconsistency in their actions. When the writers of comedy have endeavoured to divert their spectators with a subject thoroughly ridiculous, they have never better succeeded in this design than by drawing to the life the character of a fickle and unconstant person; and when those who have had a talent at satire have tried to provoke the choler and raise the indignation of their readers, they have never done it more effectually than by the severe reflections they have passed upon persons of the same uneven character. How often are we entertained by ancient wits with the images of those changeable persons who are always at variance with themselves; who despise what before they had valued, and then again

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value what they had just now despised; who hastily throw away what they had got with pains and difficulty, and presently grow fond of that which they had just before carelessly thrown away; who love solitude and retirement when they are in a crowd, and when they are retired are uneasy for want of company; who praise a married life when they are single, and a single life when they are married; who in their looks are sometimes jovial, and at other times demure; in their dress sometimes gay, and at other times sordid; in their expenses sometimes prodigal, and at other times niggardly; in their tempers sometimes airy, and at other times morose; in short, who are any ways, in their opinions, their designs, their actions, or their passions, disagreeable with themselves, and unequal.

And as this unevenness hath always been laughed at by witty men, and exposed by ill-natured men; so hath it also been much lamented by the best and wisest of men, as the great infirmity of human nature. If any one age, sex, or condition of men hath been looked on as weaker than another, this inconstancy hath been always urged as a sufficient proof of that weakness. Whatever schemes therefore have been contrived for making men better and wiser, for rescuing them from folly and from misery, and for perfecting their natures, constancy hath been always made one chief ingredient of virtue, wisdom, and happiness; and it hath been looked upon as utterly impossible that any one should be in any tolerable measure good, wise, or happy, who was not at the same time fixed, resolute, and steady.

But that variableness and instability which is so great a blemish to men's characters, and which exposes them to so many inconveniences in civil life, is much more scandalous, and much more pernicious, in

matters of morality and religion; and that constancy and steadiness, which are required in every one who would succeed in any design whatever which he undertakes, are much more requisite in that which ought to be the principal and main design of our whole lives, the working out our own salvation. Hence is it that

such great care hath been taken in scripture to press upon us the necessity of keeping this end always in our view, and of pursuing it with constancy and perseverance: we are required to be steadfast, unmoveable, always 1 Cor. xv.52. abounding in the work of the Lord: those who think 1 Cor. x. 12. they stand are warned to take heed, lest they fall: all

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are exhorted to watch, to stand fast in the faith, to quit 1 Cor. xvi. themselves like men, in opposition to the instability of children, and to be strong: to look to themselves, that 2 John 8. they lose not those things which they have gained; to be Rev. iii. 8. watchful, and to strengthen the things which remain: to run on, and not to be weary: to walk, and not to faint : having once put their hands to the plough, not to look Luke ix. 62. back, but to hold fast that which they have, that no man Rev. iii. 11. take their crown from them. Eternal life is promised Rom. ii. 7. only to such who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality: but against them which fall severity is denounced; towards them that stand the goodness of God is shown; but with this restriction, if they continue in that goodness; otherwise they also are threatened to be cut off.

Now, that we should thus persevere in our Christian course, that we should be thus watchful, steadfast, and unwearied in it, is utterly impossible, unless our intentions be wholly bent on this one necessary thing, unless the whole stress of our faculties be employed in this one great work, unless our heart be entirely fixed upon it, as our ultimate and main end, to which all our other designs ought to be subordinate. I thought

therefore I could not recommend to you any excellence more worthy your earnest striving after, any duty of greater weight and importance, than this singleness. of intention; or, which is all one, the making the salvation of your immortal souls that one great end, to which all your other actions, thoughts, and purposes should be subservient; so as that you should aim at no other end so eagerly as at this: you should stop at no other end short of this; you should propose to yourselves no other end, which might interfere with this; you should not allow yourself in the doing any one thing which might hinder your attainment of this; nor should at any time, upon any occasion or pretence, omit any thing which might further you in compassing this end, as being an end without the attainment of which you must be eternally miserable, though you should succeed in all other designs; and which if you do secure to yourselves, you will be finally happy, though you should be disappointed in all your other endeavours and undertakings.

In order therefore to press upon you this momentous duty, I proposed to show, and have already in great measure shown,

I. The folly of pursuing two such opposite ends, as the serving God and gratifying our lusts, that this singleness of heart, whereby we give up ourselves wholly and entirely to the service of God, might recommend itself to your choice, on account of the wisdom it argues.

II. The uneasiness of pursuing two such opposite ends, that this simplicity of intention might appear to you still further desirable, in regard of the pleasure that attends it.

III. The sinfulness of aiming at two such opposite ends, that this purity of heart might recommend itself