other things should be made subordinate and subservient to this great Design and be no further minded by us than they really are so For that which is our great End will subdue all other things and bring them into subjection to it and will reject them and throw them aside if they be inconsistent with it If Heaven be our utmost aim and in order to that it be our great study and endeavour to be Righteous and Holy this Resolution and Design sincerely entertained will over-rule all other Considerations and make all the things of this World to stoop and give way to that which is our chief End the Eternal Happiness and Salvation of our Souls And thus I have done with the Second Thing I proposed namely what is meant by seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness and what by seeking them first I proceed in the Third place to lay down some plain Rules for our Direction and Furtherance in seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness that is in the great business of Religion First Let us always live under a lively and powerful sense of another World that we are placed here in this World but for a little while and that wholly in order to our preparation for a better and a happier Life Let this thought be often in our Minds that Eternity is the most considerable duration and the next World the place of our Everlasting abode where we must dwell and continue for ever and therefore our present state is but of little Moment and Consideration to us but only in order to our future and Everlasting Condition We may please our selves here for a little while with Toys and Trifles with Dreams and Shadows of Pleasure and Happiness and may be exercised with some Troubles and Afflictions for a short space for a moment as the Apostle calls it our light afflictions which are but for a moment and so indeed it is compared with all Eternity but the substantial and durable Happiness or Misery remain for Men in the other World and will certainly be their portion according as they have demeaned themselves in this World Now the serious Consideration of this cannot fail to put us upon vigorous preparations for another World and to make us wholly intent upon our Eternal Concernments and to resolve whatever becomes of us in this World to take effectual Care that we may be Happy for ever He that firmly believes the Immortality of his Soul and a Life after Death which will never have an end must needs take into Consideration his whole duration and bend all his Care and Thoughts how he may avoid the greatest and most lasting Misery and secure to himself an Immortality of Bliss and Happiness Secondly Let us be always under a Conviction of the absolute and indispensable necessity of Holiness and Righteousness as the only way and means whereby the Kingdom of God is to be attained and that Holiness and Happiness are not to be separated the one being a necessary Condition and Qualification for the other and consequently that it is the vainest thing in the World for any Man to hope to enter into the Kingdom of God without endeavouring after his Righteousness there is so strong a connexion between them that a Man may as reasonably expect to be well and at ease without Health as to be Happy without Holiness for this makes us like to God and our Likeness and Conformity to God is that alone which can make us capable of the Blessed Sight and Enjoyment of God We must be Partakers of a Divine Nature in order to our participation of the Divine Blessedness And the Consideration of this will effectually engage us to seek the Righteousness of God without which we shall never enter into his Kingdom and to follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Thirdly Let us always remember that Righteousness is of a great extent and comprehends in it all goodness it takes in all the Duties of Religion and the Practice of all of them it is a Complication of all Graces and Virtues of all the Parts and Ingredients of all the Duties and Offices of a good Man To denominate a Man Righteous all Causes must concurr all the Essential Principles and Parts of Religion and Goodness must meet together Knowledge and Practice Faith and Good Works Right Opinions and Real Virtues an Orthodox Profession and a Holy Life abstaining from Sin and doing of Righteousness Purity of Heart and Unspotted Manners Godliness and Honesty the Bridling of our Tongue and the Government of our Passions and above all things Charity which is the Band of Perfection For Righteousness is our Conformity to the Law of God as Unrighteousness and Sin is the Transgression of it Now this if it be real and sincere will be uniform and universal equally respecting all the Laws of God and every part of our known Duty and will not content it self with an especial regard to one or two Precepts of the Law tho' never so considerable and then allow it self in the neglect and violation of the rest no nor with the observation of the Duties of one Table of the Law if it overlook the other no nor with Obedience to all the Commandments of God one only excepted St. James hath put this very Case and determined it that he that shall keep the whole Law save only that he offend in one point is guilty of all that is he is not sincere in his Obedience to the rest And therefore if we seek the Righteousness of God our Righteousness must be Universal as he that hath called us is holy so must we be holy in all manner of Conversation in the tenor of our Actions and the whole course of our Lives and any one Reigning Sin and Vice any gross and notorious defect in the Virtues of a good Life will spoil all our Righteousness and will effectually shut us out of the Kingdom of Heaven Fourthly Let us wisely subordinate the several parts and duties of Religion to one another according to the intrinsical worth and value of them that so we may mind every part of Religion in its due place and according to the true nature and importance of it Knowledge and Faith are in order to Practice and a good Life and signifie nothing unless they produce that the Means of Religion such as Prayer and Fasting diligent Reading and Hearing of the Word of God Reverent and Devout Receiving of the Blessed Sacrament are of less account and value than that which is the End of all these which is to make us inwardly and really good and fruitful in all the works of Righteousness which by Jesus Christ are to the Praise and Glory of God And therefore the Means of Religion which I have mentioned are to be regarded and used by us in order to the attaining of these Ends without which they are meer Formalility and Hypocrisie and instead of finding acceptance with God they are an
a Divine Nature First We will consider the Promises which are here spoken of whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious Promises And because the chief Promises of the Gospel are here intended I shall take occasion from this Text to handle the Doctrine of the Promises which is frequently discours'd of in Divinity but not always so clearly stated And to this purpose it will be proper to take into Consideration these four things 1. What the Promises are which are here spoken of whereby are given unto us Promises 2. Why they are said to be so great and precious exceeding great and precious Promises 3. We will Consider the Tenour of these Promises 4. When Men are said to have a right to them so as they may apply them to themselves These four Heads will comprehend what I have to say upon this Argument 1. What the Promises are which the Apostle here speaks of whereby are given unto us Promises And no doubt the Apostle here intends those great and excellent Promises which Christ hath made to us in the Gospel So that to satisfie our selves in this enquiry we need only to consider what are the Principal Promises of the Gospel Now the great Promises of the Gospel are these three 1. The Promise of the free Pardon and Forgiveness of our Sins upon our Faith and Repentance 2. The Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to assist our Obedience 3. The Promise of Eternal Life to Reward it 1. The Promise of the Pardon and Forgiveness of our Sins upon our Faith and Repentance The Gospel hath made full and clear Promises to this Purpose that if we believe the Gospel and will forsake our Sins and amend our wicked Lives all that is past shall be forgiven us and that Christ died for this end to obtain for us Remission of Sins in his Blood The light of Nature upon consideration of the Mercy and goodness of God gave Men good hopes that upon their Repentance God would forgive their sins and turn away his wrath from them But Mankind was doubtful of this and therefore they used expiatory Sacrifices to appease the offended Deity The Jewish Religion allowed of no Expiation but for legal impurities and involuntary transgressions such as proceeded from ignorance and inadvertency but not for Sins of Presumption and such as were committed with an bigh hand If Men sin'd wilfully there was no Sacrifice appointed by the Law for such Sins But the Grace of the Gospel justifies us from the greatest Sins upon our Faith and sincere Repentance So St. Paul tells the Jews Acts 13. 38 39. Be it known â—nto you therefore men and brethren that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins And by him all that believe are justified from all things from which ye could not be justified by the Law of Moses There was no general Promise of Pardon nor way of Expiation under the Law perfect Remission of Sins is clearly revealed and ascertain'd to us only by the Gospel 2. Another great Promise of the Gospel is the Promise of God's Grace and Holy Spirit to assist our Obedience Our Blessed Saviour hath promised that our Heavenly Father will give his Holy Spirit to them that ask him 'T is true indeed there was a peculiar Promise of the Holy Ghost to the Apostles and Christians of the first Ages which is not now to be expected namely an Extraordinary and Miraculous Power whereby they were qualified to publish the Gospel to the World and to give Confirmation to it But now that the Christian Religion is propagated and setled in the World the great End and Use of these Miraculous Gifts is ceased but yet the Spirit of God doth still concur with the Gospel and work upon the Minds of Men to excite and assist them to that which is good And tho' this Operation be very secret so as we cannot give an account of the manner of it yet the effects of it are very sensible and this influence of God's Holy Spirit is common to all Christians in all Ages of the World This Proposition is Universally true and in all Ages and Times If any Man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his It must be acknowledged that the Spirit doth not now work upon Men in that sudden and sensible manner as it did in the first times of Christianity because then Men were strongly possest with the prejudices of other Religions which they had been brought up in and therefore as more outward means of Conviction were then necessary so likewise a more powerful internal Operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men to Conquer and bear down those prejudices and to subdue them to the Obedience of Faith But now the Principles of Religion and Goodness are more gradually instilled into the Minds of Men by the gentle degrees of Pious Instruction and Education and with these means the Spirit of God concurrs in a more Humane way which is more suited and accommodated to our Reason and offers less violence to the Nature of Men. So that this Promise of God's Holy Spirit is now made good to us as the Necessity and Circumstances of our present State do require God does not use such extraordinary Means for the producing of those Effects which may be accomplish'd in a more ordinary way The assistance of God's Holy Spirit is still necessary to Men to encline and enable them to that which is good but not in that manner and degree that it was necessary at first Because the prejudices against Christianity are not now so great and many of those Advantages which were necessarily wanting at first are now supplied in an ordinary way and therefore it is not reasonable now to expect the same extraordinary operation of the Spirit of God upon the Minds of Men which we read of in the first beginnings of Christianity 3. There is likewise the Promise of Eternal Life to Reward and Crown our Obedience And this the Scripture speaks of as the great Promise of the Gospel 1 Job 2. 25. This is the promise which he hath promised us even Eternal Life And upon this account the new Covenant of the Gospel is preferred before the old Covenant of the Law because it is establish'd upon better Promises All the Special and Particular Promises of the Law were of Temporal good things and these were the great Encouragements that were given to Obedience under that imimperfect Dispensation but now Godliness hath not only the Promise of the Life that now is but of that which is to come as the Apostle tells us 1 Tim. 4. 8. The Gospel hath clearly revealed to us a happy State of Immortality after this Life of which Men had but very obscure and doubtful apprehensions So the same Apostle tells us 2 Tim. 1. 10. That it is now made manifest by the appearance of our Saviour Jâ—sus Christ who hath abâ—lisbed Death and hath brought Life and Immortality
God is said to give over the abominable Heathen to a Reprobate Mind As they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to an Injudicious and Undiscerning Mind When Men abandon themselves to Wickedness and Impiety God withdraws his Grace from them and by his secret and just Judgment they are deprived of the Faculty of discerning between Truth and Error between Good and Evil. 2 Thes 2. 10 11 12. It is said that the Man of Sin should come with all deceiveableness of Unrighteousness in them that perish because they received not the love of the Truth that they might be Saved And that for this Cause God would send them strong delusion that they should believe a Lye that they all might be Damned who believed not the Truth but had pleasure in Unrighteousness And it is just with God that Men of Vicious Inclinations and Practices should be exposed to the Cheat of the grossest and vilest Impostors God's Providence is concerned for Men of honest Minds and sincere Intentions But if Men take pleasure in Unrighteousness God takes no further care of them but delivers them up to their own hearts Lusts to be seduced into all those Errors into which their own vain Imaginations and their foolish hearts are apt to lead them Thus have I endeavoured as briefly as I could to shew that an honest Mind that sincerely desires and endeavours to do the Will of God is the best security against fatal Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion both because it disposeth a Man to make a true Judgment of Divine Things and because the Providence of God is more especially concerned for the security of such Persons There remains â—an Objection to be answered to which this Discourse may seem liable but this together with the Inferences which may be made from this Discourse I shall referr to another opportunity The Second SERMON ON JOHN VII 17. If any Man will do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self I Made entrance into these words the last Day in which our Saviour declares to us that an honest and sincere Mind and an hearty Desire and Endeavour to do the Will of God is the best Security and Preservative against dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Matters of Religion 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 if any Man desire to do his Will he shall know of the Doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self Now there are I told you two great Mistakes in Religion To reject any thing which really is from God and to receive and entertain any thing as from God which is not really from him And therefore I proposed from this Text to shew how a sincere Desire and Endeavour to do the Will of God is a security to Men against both these Dangers namely upon these two Accounts First Because he who sincerely Desires and Endeavours to do the Will of God is hereby better qualified and disposed to make a right Judgment of Spiritual and Divine Things and that for these two Reasons I. Because such a Person hath a truer Notion of God and Divine Things He that resembleth God most is like to understand him best because he finds those Perfections in some measure in himself which he Contemplates in the Divine Nature and nothing gives a Man so sure a Notion of Things as Practice and Experience II. Because such a Person is more Impartial in his search and enquiry after Truth and therefore more likely to find it and to discern it from Error That Man only stands fair for the entertainment of Truth who is under the Power and Dominion of no Vice or Lust because he hath nothing to corrupt or bribe him to seduce him and draw him aside in his enquiry after Truth He hath no manner of concernment that the contrary Proposition should be true having the indifferency of a Traveller and no other Interest but to find out the right way to Heaven and to walk in it But if a Man be biass'd by any Lust and addicted to any vicious Practice he is then an interested Person and concern'd to make a partial Judgment of Things and is under a great Temptation to Infidelity when the Truths of God are proposed to him because whatever the Evidence for them be he cannot but be unwilling to own the Truths of those Doctrines which are so contrary to his inclination and interest Secondly Another Reason why they who sincerely desire to do the Will of God have a greater security in discerning Truth from Error is because the Providence of God is more especially concern'd to preserve such Persons from dangerous Errors and Mistakes in Things which concern their Eternal Salvation When Men are of a teachable Temper of an humble and obedient frame of Mind God loves to reveal himself and his Truth to them Psal 25. 9. The Meek will he guide in Judgment and the Meek will he teach his way The proper disposition of a Scholar is to be willing to Learn and that which in Religion we are to Learn is what is the good and acceptable Will of God that we may do it for Practice is the end of Knowledge If ye know these Things saith our Saviour happy are ye if ye do them It is necessary to know the Will of God but we are only happy in the doing of it and if any Man be desirous to do the Will of God his Goodness is such that he will take effectual care to secure such a one against dangerous and fatal Errors He that hath an honest Mind and would do the Will of God if he knew it God will not suffer him to remain ignorant of it or to be mistaken about it in any necessary Point of Faith or Practice Thus far I have gone I shall now proceed to remove an Objection to which this Discourse may seem liable and then draw some Inferâ—nces from the whole After all that hath been said some perhaps may ask Is every good Man then secure from all Error and Mistake in Matters of Religion This is a mighty Priviledge indeed But do not we find the contrary in Experience That an honest Heart and a weak Head do often meet together For answer to this I shall lay down these following Propositions First That if there were any necessity that a good Man should be secured from all manner of Error and Mistake in Religion this Probity of Mind and sincere desire to do the Will of God is the best way to do it because such a Temper and Disposition of Mind gives a Man the best advantages to discern betwixt Truth and Error and God is most likely to reveal his Will to such Persons But there is no necessity of this because a Man may be a good Man and go to Heaven notwithstanding a great many Mistakes in Religion about things not necessary For while we are in this
Heaven Every Man hath time to pray to God every day for his Mercy and Forgiveness for his Grace and Assistance for his Preservation and Support and to thank him heartily for all his Blessings and Benefits And a little time seriously employed in this kind would have the same acceptance with God as the more solemn and longer Devotions of those who have more leisure and opportunities for them To be sure we have all of us time to serve God upon his own Day and to employ it wholly in the Exercises of Piety and in the Care and Consideration of our Souls But this when all is said is the Case but of very few most of us have no colour for this Complaint non inopes temporis sed prodigi sumus as Seneca says we are not Poor but Prodigal of our time and lavish it away profusely upon Folly and Vanity Our Vices and Lusts our Pleasures and Diversions consume and divert those precious hours which should be employed to these better purposes nay many times Time oppresseth us and is a burthen to us and lies upon our hands and we know not how to get rid of it and yet we chuse rather to let it run waste than to bestow it upon Religion and the Care of our Souls insomuch that I fear this will be the Condition of many that when they were at a loss what to do with their Time and knew not how to spend it they would not lay it out upon that which was best and most necessary for this surely is the very best use that can be made of Time to prepare and provide for Eternity Thirdly Others pretend it will be time enough to mind these things hereafter But this as bad Excuses seldom hang together and agree with one another directly contradicts the former pretence which supposeth so much time necessary and more than many have to spare and yet now they would make us believe that a very little time will suffice for this Work and that it may be done at any time even just when we are going out of this World But this of all other is the strangest Interpretation of seeking the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness first to put it off to the very last This surely is a greater error on the other hand to think that the business of Religion is so quickly to be dispatched and that the great work of our Lives can be crowded into so narrow a corner of it that the time of Sickness and Old Age nay the hour of Death well employed to this purpose will be sufficient Alas what can we then do that is good for any thing that can in Reason be thought either acceptable to God or available for our selves When we have not Sense and Understanding enough to dispose of our Temporal Concernments and to make our Wills do we think we shall be fit to repent of the Sins and Miscarriages of our whole Lives and to make our Peace with God Every Man must not expect to have Saul's Fortune who when he was wearied with seeking his Father's Asses met with a Kingdom We must not think when we are tired with pursuing the Follies and Vanities of this World to retire into Heaven and to sit down with Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of God Our Saviour hath taken care to caution us against this desperate Folly by a Parable to this very purpose of the Foolish Virgins who having trifled away their time 'till the Bridegroom was coming and neglected to get Oyl into their Lamps by which we are to understand all those good Preparations and Dispositions which are necessary to qualifie us for the Kingdom of God I say having neglected their opportutunity of getting this Oyl while they were looking after it too late the Door was shut against them They thought to have repaired all at last by borrowing of others and supplying themselves that way And thus many deceive themselves hoping to be supplied out of another store when they have no grace and goodness of their own out of the Treasure of the Church from the redundant Merit of the Saints and their Works of Supererrogation of which some believe I know not for what Reason that there is a great stock which the Pope may dispose of to supply those who have taken no care to get Oyl into their Lamps But I know not for what Reason Works of Supererrogation are supposed the Wise Virgins knew not of any Merit they had to spare it was the Foolish Virgins only that entertained this senseless Conceit I am sure the Parable insinuates the quite contrary that the Best and Holiest Persons which are represented by the Wise Virgins have nothing to spare for the supply of others who have been careless of their Souls the Foolish said unto the Wise give us of your Oyl for our Lamps are gone out but the Wise answered saying not so lest there be not enough for us and you but go ye rather to them that sell and buy for your selves It seems they had no works of Supererrogation that they knew of but they do Ironically send them to a Market that was set up somewhere and where these things were pretended to be Sold but how they sped the Conclusion of the Parable tells us that whilst they were running about in great haste to make this purchase of the Merits and good Works of others the Bridegroom came and the Wise Virgins that were ready went in with him to the Marriage and the rest were shut out And there are those likewise among our selves who having been careless to qualifie themselves for the Kingdom of God hope to be supplied out of the infinite Treasure of Christ's Merits but this also is a vain hope For tho' there be Merit enough in the Death and Sufferings of Christ to save all Mankind yet no Man can lay claim thereto who does not perform the Condition of the Gospel Others think by sending for the Minister when the Physician hath given them over to receive in a few hours such Advice and Direction as will do their business as effectually as if they had minded Religion all their Lives long and that a few Devout Prayers said over them when they are just imbarking for another World will like a Magical Wind immediately waft them over into the Regions of Bliss and Immortality But let us not deceive our selves we may defer the Business so long 'till we shall get nothing by our late application to God and crying to him Lord Lord open unto us but that severe Answer Depart from me ye workers of Iniquity I know ye not whence ye are If we would not have this our Doom let us first seek the Kingdom of God and his Righteousness that so having our Fruit unto Holiness our End may be Everlasting Life A SERMON ON PSAL. CXIX 96. I have seen an end of all Perfection but thy Commandment is exceeding broad THis Psalm seems to have a great deal more of
elsewhere expresly makes it the Condition of our Eternal Salvation Heb. 5. 9. Christ is there said to be the Author of Eternal Salvation to them that obey him thereby implying that none shall be saved by Christ but those that obey the Gospel Heb. 12. 14. Follow Holiness without which no Man shall see the Lord. Rom. 2. 7 8 9. To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for Glory and Honour and Immortality God will give Eternal Life but to them who are contentious and obey not the Truth that is the Gospel but obey Unrighteousness Indignation and Wrath Tribulation and Anguish upon every Soul of man that doth Evil. I cannot well imagine what can reasonably be answered to such plain Texts but I will tell you what is commonly answered namely That God gives the Condition which he requires and therefore though these Promises run in a Conditional Form yet in truth they are absolute because he that makes a Promise to another upon a Condition which he will also perform doth in effect make an absolute Promise As if a Man promised another such an Estate upon Condition he pay such a Summ for it and does promise withal to furnish him with that Summ this in effect amounts to an absolute Promise of the Estate And this is very well argued if the Case were thus But God hath no where promised to work the Condition in us without the concurrence of our own Endeavours God may and oftentimes doth prevent Men by his Grace but he hath no where promised to give his Holy Spirit but to them that ask it of him And he hath no where promised to continue his grace and assistance to us unless we will use our sincere Endeavours nay in case we do not he hath threatned to take away his grace and assistance from us And if this be so then the Promises of the Gospel do not only seem to be Conditional but are really so And it is a wonder that any Man should doubt of this who considers how frequently in the New Testament the Gospel is represented to us under the notion of a Covenant since a Covenant in the very nature of it doth imply a mutual Obligation between the Parties that enter into it But if the Gospel contain only Blessings which are promised on God's part without any thing required to be done and performed on our part in order to the obtaining of those Blessings then the Gospel is nothing else but a Promise or Deed of Gift making over certain Benefits and Blessings to us but can in no propriety of Language in the World be called a Covenant But if there be some things required on our part in order to our being made partakers of the Promises which God hath made to us as the Scripture every where tells us there is then the Promises are plainly Conditional To instance in the Promise of Forgiveness of Sins Repent that your Sins may be blotted out that is upon this Condition that ye Repent of your Sins they shall be forgiven and not otherwise Can there be any plainer Condition in the World than is in those Words of our Saviour If ye forgive Men their Trespasses your Heaâ—enly Father will also forgive your Trespasses but if ye forgive not Men their Trespasses neither will your Heavenly Father forgive your Trespasses This is so far from being any prejudice to the freeness of Gods grace who is infinitely gracious in offering such great Blessings to us upon any Condition that we can perform yet it were one of the absurdest things in the World to imagine that God should grant to Men forgiveness of Sins and Eternal Life let them behave themselves as they Will. Fourthly The last thing I proposed for the explaining of this Doctrine of the Promises of God was to consider when Men may be said to have a right to these Promises so as to be able upon good grounds to apply them to themselves And the Answer to this is very plain and easie namely when they find the Conditions of these Promises in themselves and not till then When a Man hath truly repented of his Sins so as to forsake them and lead a new Life and when he does from his heart forgive those that have offended him and hath laid down all animosity against them and thoughts of Revenge then hath he a right to the Promise of Pardon and Forgiveness and may apply to himself in particular what the Scripture saith in general that God will blot out all his Transgressions and remember his Iniquities no more When a Man doth constantly and earnestly implore the assistance of God's Holy Spirit and is ready to yield to the motions of it and does faithfully make use of that strength and assistance which God affords him then he may expect the continuance of his grace and further degrees of it When a Man makes it the constant and sinsincere endeavour of his Life to please God and to walk in all the Ordinances and Commandments of the Lord blameless and is effectually taught by the grace of God to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly and righteously and godlily in this present World then he may with comfort and joy wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ then he may with confidence depend upon God in sure and certain hope of that Eternal Life which God that cannot lie hath promised When he can say with St. Paul I have fought a good fight I have finished my course I have kept the faith then he may likewise triumph as he did henceforth there is laid up for me a Crown of Righteousness which God the Righâ—eous Judge shall give me in that day Upon these terms and in these Cases Men may upon good grounds apply to themselves these exceeding great and precious Promises of the Gospel and so far as any Man is doubtful and uncertain of the performance of the Conditions which the Gospel requires so far he must necessarily question his Right and Title to the Blessings promised And if any Man think this Doctrine too uncomfortable and be willing to reject it upon this account I shall only say this that Men may cheat themselves if they please but most certainly they will never find any true and solid Comfort in any other This is a plain and sensible account of a Mans Confidence and good hopes in the Promises of God but for a Man to apply any Promise to himself before he finds the Condition in himself is not Faith but either Fancy or Presumption And therefore it is a very preposterous course which many take to advise and exhort Men with so much earnestness to apply the Promises of God to themselves and to tell them that they are guilty of great unbelief in not doint it That which is proper to exhort Men to is to â—ndeavour to perform the Condition upon which God hath promised any Blessing to