I.

VOL. might juftly make them cry out, Aye! these are heavenly perfons indeed! Heaven was seen in their converfe, and all favoured of love to Go D. The LORD knoweth to what degree our religion is degenerated, and what it is like to come to at laft!

AND let us confider with our felves, that we fill up our days with calamities, and make our fouls defolate, and forlorn; we involve our felves in all manner of miferies by eftranging our felves from GOD, and not living in the actual exercife of love to him.

MOREOVER let us confider that we are not always to live in this world. A dying hour doth expect us. We are hovering upon the brink of the grave. And what! is it a good preparation for death to live ftrangers to Go D, as long as we live in this world? Oh! with what horror muft that thought ftrike a man in a dying hour, when his own heart fhall tell him, "Thou haft "not lived in the love of GOD!" Dare we, can we think, have we, I fay, the confidence to think of going to GoD at length! to one that we have never loved, and to whom we have lived ftrangers all our days. tion for death! when a

But, oh bleffed

But, oh bleffed prepara

man fhall be able, under

the expectation of expiring his laft breath, to reflect and fay, that his life hath been a continual walk with GOD. How eafy a death must that man die! Death conveys him to no stranger, to no unknown prefence; to die, in regard to him, is but to know that Being better, whom he knew before; and to love him better whom he loved before;

and

and to have those injoyments improved in degree, S E R M. with the nature and kind of which he had a for- XII.

mer acquaintance.

LET us then be ferious, and in good earnest in this bufinefs; and know, we can never do any thing to purpose in it, if we labour not to have our fpirits more intirely abftracted from the world. Alas! do we think we can ferve two mafters, GoD and the world? If we love the one, we fhall defpife the other; for as our Lord tells us P, we cannot love both. How often should these monitory, thefe weighty and wounding words be thought of, by them, whom they more especially concern? If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. Therefore faith the Apostle, Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. cutting word of our Saviour's to the Jews, I know you, that you have not the love of GOD in you? And would we be branded for fuch? We had need then to watch the more ftrictly over our felves, when we have to do with the affairs of this world, that our fpirits be not ruffled, nor fuffer a difcompofure by the amufements of fenfible things, or the variety of occurrences and affairs that we meet with in this our earthly pilgrimage. CONSTANT

Matt. vi. 24.

P 2

And is not this a

41 John. 11. 15.

John v. v. 42. See a moving difcourfe on thefe words by the Author in Vol. II. folio, p. 255, intitled, A Sermon directing what we are to do, after a ftrict inquiry, whether or no we truly love GOD? It is only one fingle difcourfe out of feven or eight upon the fame fubject; and feems to have been published without his full confent, on account of the great impreffions it had made upon the Audience.

VOL.

I.

CONSTANT watchfulness, and much dependence upon GOD, and having him still before our eyes, would be a great help to us in this mat

It might make you wonder to hear, what fome have profeffed to have attained unto, who were not of your religion. For instance, we are told of a nobleman of a foreign country, a Romanist, who profeffed to have had fuch times, that when he paffed along the streets of Paris, where continual diverfions might eafily have difturbed him, and could fcarce be imagined to do otherwife, his foul was fo taken up with GoD as to be no more moved, than if he had been in a defart. And Seneca himfelf, a Pagan, writing a letter to his friend fays to this purpose; for I remember not the very words, nor have lately feen the book." You write to me to give you an account "how I paffed yesterday. Truly you have a very good opinion of me, to think I fo pafs

a day, as to be able to give you an account of "what took it up. But fince you defire it I will "tell you. My window opens to the Theatre,

where are all the fhews, and the noife and "clamours that you well know the theatrical fports carry with them. Why (faith he) all "these things (fo much have I been taken up "with divine matters) have no more moved me, "than the whiftling of the wind among the "leaves ofthe trees in a wood &c.”

THESE things that I mention fhould be upbraiding to us, that we fo little mind our fpirits, and inward man, with the operative motions,

and

and reflections thereof, and never look after a SER M. composed spirit, that is employed in minding GOD XII. and taken up with the exercise of his love, through the worldly affairs and occurrences we meet with here. If we would do any thing to purpose in the exercise of love to GoD; if we would not be as those, that busy themselves about trifles; like the pharifaical hypocrites whom our Saviour speaks of, who were fo zealous in tithing of mint, anife,and cummin, that in the mean while they forgot judgment, and mercy and the love of GoD; I fay, if we would not be like them, but would do any thing to purpose, there must be times fet apart for us to quit the world, with the torturing and distracting thoughts thereof, and let us labour to do it fo totally as to forget that there is any thing in it but GOD, and MISERY.

SERMON XIII.

Preached November 15, 1676.

I JOHN IV. 20.

He that loveth not his Brother, whom he bath feen; bow can he love GOD, whom he bath not feen?

W

E have largely infifted upon a twofold truth from these words, and told

you,

FIRST, That there is a greater difficulty of living in the exercife of love to Go D than towards man, upon this account, that he is not the object of fight as man is. And

SECONDLY, That our obligation to the love of GoD is moft indifpenfible, notwithstanding that we fee him not; or, that the impoffibility of fecing GOD, is no cxcufe for our not loving him. There is yet another point which remains to be confidered, and which was at first propofed with the former; and that is

THIRDLY, That they do moft falfly, and abfurdly pretend to the love of an unseen Go D, who love not their brother whom they do fee. This point is full and direct in the eye of the text.