inherit the kingdom of God And so for all other Crimes and Vices as Lying and Swearing c. If you have contracted the Habit and Custom of Swearing and taking God's Name in vain then and then only you shall have repented when you shall have overcome that evil Habit and accustomed your self never to pronounce that sacred Name but with Adoration and Religion for God's Glory and Service If you have been careless and have neglected Religion then you shall have reason to think you have repented when you are become diligent when you pray frequently and fervently when you humble your self often in mourning for your sins and in fastings to subdue your sensual inclinations to keep your body under and bring it into subjection and when you are grown zealous of Good Works and constant in all Religious Duties For Repentance is a true and real change of Mind and a conversion from sin to God I say Repentance is a true change of Mind not some one bare Act of change but a lasting durable state of new Life Otherwise 't is not sincere it is but a mock Repentance Some Men think when at the Year's end or Quarter's end they go to the Lord's Table cry out against their Sins form a thousand Resolutions and force themselves into a Religious Posture of Mind after a long Habit of Sin and Carelesness These Men I say fancy that they have well repented that they are right Penitents and that after this they may safely begin upon a new Score with an intent to repent again as they call it at the time appointed So that after a day or two the pious fit is over or to speak more properly the hypocrisie ceaseth and they are themselves again They return to their old sins as the dog to his vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire 2 Pet. 2.22 But do you find a change in you Are you not the same you were five ten or twenty Years ago when you were led by Vanity and you committed those things whereof vertuous Men and true Penitents are ashamed Are you now of another Mind Do you find you self another Man a new Creature Have you now better Dispositions Have you not only ceased to do evil but also learn'd to do good For then and not else are you Penitents Having thus stated the true Notion of Repentance let us next consider II. What we are to understand by the Kingdom of Heaven and what the Nature of it is It was the Precursor of the Messiah exhorted Men to Repentance upon the account of the approach of the Kingdom of Heaven We may be sure therefore that by the Kingdom of Heaven then at hand is meant the Messiah's dispensation or oeeconomy It was an ordinary expression for it among the Jews They then looked for and were in expectation of the Kingdom of Heaven or the Heavenly Kingdom meaning the Coming of the Messiah in great Power and Glory They were us'd to call it so because they thought the Redeemer of Israel the promis'd Saviour was to be sent to them from Heaven and for the most part they little understood the Nature of his Kingdom or the true End and Design of his Coming But certain it is that 't is a most heavenly Kingdom as is manifest to any one that is acquainted with it not only because that Kingdom is not of this World but is seated in the Hearts and Spirits of Men but because it is a real Theocracy God himself is the King the Legislator and Governour and the Members the Citizens or Subjects of it are all heavenly Persons or Men that lead heavenly Lives agâ—eeable to the most holy most wise righteous and everlasting Laws of God That is Christianity 'T is therefore an heavenly Constitution or Heaven upon Earth God reigns in our Hearts and over all our Passions and his Will is the Rule of all our Actions And what is it the Lord requires of us but to do justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God As it is Micah 6.8 Or according to the Gospel-revelation To deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and live soberly righteously and godly in this present world Tit. 2.12 It is nothing but the state of Repentance continued and perfected that is a state of Holiness But some perhaps will say this is Morality And doth the Kingdom of Heaven consist in this Why are not these express Texts of Scripture And doth not the very Preparative to Christianity teach us wherein the Nature and Essence of it doth consist If Men must repent that is Cease to do evil and learn to do well before they can be fit to become Christians Doth not that teach us that the Christian Religion doth consist in an entire conformity to the Divine Laws And doth not the Apostle declare as much in the definition or description he gives us of it The kingdom of God says he is not meat and drink doth not consist of things in themselves indifferent but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost For doth he add he that in these things serveth Christ is acceptable to God and approved of men Rom. 14.17 18. And Gal. 6.15 In Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing nor uncircumcision but a new creature Nevertheless Men generally have strange odd Notions of the Christian Faith and of Morality We are apt to fancy that the improvement of our Knowledge and Speculations is the end of our Faith the ultimate end of the Gospel-revelation But St. James tells us the Devils then may be as good Christians as we for they also believe and tremble Jam. 2.19 And at the 26th Verse As the body without the spirit is dead so faith without works is dead also Good Works then are the very Life and Spirit of Christianity So that we are infinitely mistaken if we think that any one Article of the Christian Faith ends meerly in Speculation and has not a necessary influence upon Practice That Belief is good for nothing and that Revelation is not worthy of the God of Heaven which doth not tend to the reformation and perfection of Mens Lives and Manners That 's the only wise and reasonable End of all Religion That 's the only reasonable Service and therein the true Glory of God doth consist Pure Religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this To visit the fatherless and widows in their afflictions and to keep himself unspotted from the world Jam. 1.27 We are indeed to be very zealous of Faith so it be such a Faith as worketh by Love Gal. 5.6 For without that it is impossible to please God for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him Hebr. 11.6 But to him that hath such a Faith nothing is impossible as we find in that Chapter By Faith Abraham when he was tried offered up Isaac and he that had received the
us the Aid and Assistance of his Holy Spirit Our Saviour affirms it Luke 11.13 He gives it to them that ask it viz. in devout and constant Prayers And sure his Grace is sufficient for us as God Almighty says it himself 2 Cor. 12.9 Whosoever therefore is buried with Christ in the Baptism of Repentance Sin shall have no dominion over him he is freed from it as we read Rom. 6. at the 7th and 14th Verses And whosoever is born of God overcometh the world 1 John 5.4 Those that walk in the spirit do not fulfil the lusts of the flesh Gal. 5.16 But like St. Paul they keep under their bodies and bring them into subjection lest they should be cast away 1 Cor. 9.27 They baffle Hell and the Devil they resist him till he begon from them Resist the devil says St. James and he will flee from you Jam. 4.7 In a word The weapons of their warfar are mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of God as it is 2 Cor. 10.4 5. So that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present northings to come nor height nordepth nor any other Creature is able to separate them from the love of God Rom. 8.38 39. And if this be true if nothing hinders but they may then surely they are obliged ever to continue in his Love that is as I have proved from the 21st Verse of the 14th Chapter of the Gospel according to St. John in the constant Practice and Observance of his will For they and they only that endure unto the end shall be saved as it is Matt. 24 13. But no man we are told Luke 9.62 having put his hand to the plough and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God Our blessed Saviour in Matt. 7.24.25 compares him that learns his will and doth it to a wise man who builds his house upon a rock which stands firm and will never fall tho' the rain descend and the flouds come and the winds blow and beat upon that house From all has been said we may draw the following Inferences I. No Doctrine can be more Antichristian than such as encourage Vice and a loose way of living For nothing can be more contrary to the Nature and Constitution of the Kingdom of Heaven Whatsoever doth so is directly opposite to the very design of Christianity tends to the Subversion of it and conspires the Ruine and Overthrow of the Kingdom of God among Men. Nothing then can be vainer or more ridiculous than to take that for a true Christian Doctrine which allows Men in or encourageth them to Sin Whosoever doth not righteousness is not of God 1 John 3.10 So that though our Righteousness doth not reach unto God so as to add to his Happiness yet are we obliged to be righteous Though when we have done all we must say We are unprofitable servants yet we must do all Though we must not be proud and indeed we have no reason to boast for all our good works yet we are obliged to do all good works Though we can do nothing without the Grace of God yet we must believe he affords us sufficient Strength and we are to act upon that Supposition and do our Duty diligently otherwise our Neglect and Folly is inexcusable Though our Saviour died and made a full and sufficient Satisfaction for us yet it was in order to our Reconciliation to God and Holiness He has not purchased for us a Licence to sin but except we repent purifie our selves from all Iniquity and grow zealous of all good works we shall still perish we shall receive no Benefit by his Sacrifice For though the Ceremonial or Judaical Law be abolished yet the Natural Law the everlasting Law of Holiness of Reason and Equity or Conscience stands firm and can never be repealed Could you imagine that that Law was made void through Faith God forbid says the Apostle yea doth he add we establish the Law Rom. 3.31 And though we are justified freely and saved by Grace yet it is through Faith and that not a dead Faith such as the Devils may have but such an one as worketh by Love as we have seen Cal. 5.6 Let us not then object any thing against our Duty but set about it instantly knowing that we are to expect no Grace no Favour no Mercy at God's Hands upon the Account of our Faith if it doth not purifie us from all iniquity and that it will avail us nothing at all to have believed in Jesus Christ if we do not believe in him so as to forsake all our Sins and become pure and holy and fruitful in all good Works and frame our Lives perfectly according to his Will and the Precepts of his Gospel submitting our selves wholly to his Government and his most heavenly Kingdom and letting him rule us and reign over us Otherwise our Faith is a dead Faith no better than that of Devils who believe and tremble Jam. 2.19 We are therefore inexcusable if we are so impertinent after this as to wrest either through our Ignorance or Instability any Saying in the Bible to favour our Lusts and so flatter us in our own Destruction Some Men are very fond of these and the like places Be not righteous overmuch And What I would that I do not but what I hate that I do It is no more I then that do it but sin that dwelleth in me As if by these or the like they were discharged from the Duty and Necessity of Holiness But either these Words are capable of a good sence reconcâ—leable with our strictest Duty or else they are not the Dictates of the Spirit of God nor the Sence of the Holy inspired Men themselve but the Proverbs or Sayings of dissolute Men who are there personated which lie under the Dominion of sin and are brought into captivity to the law of sin We are little verst indeed in Scripture if we know not there are some things obscure in it Yet we must be blind if we do not plainly perceive that it doth indispensably exact of us a righteous and just and a vertuous and holy Life agreeable to the heavenly and everlasting Laws of the Kingdom of Heaven Our God has no pleasure in wickedness neither shall any evil dwell with him Such as be foolish shall not stand in his sight for he hateth all them that work vanity He shall destroy them that speak leasing The Lord will abhor both the blood-thirsty and deceitful man as the Psalmist has it Psal 5.4 5 6. And God is not of another Mind under the Gospel but if the Christian Faith did indeed make void the Necessity of being truly righteous and holy and allowed its Professors the Liberty of living in Immorality and Sin it ought to be rejected of all sober
at by all God's Dispensations Let us always remember then to make it the end of our Faith Our Saviour tells us The kingdom of heaven is like unto a treasure hid in a field the which when a man has found he hideth and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he has and buyeth that field Matth. 13.44 That is they that will purchase the Kingdom of Heaven must part with all their darling Sins and all their beloved Lusts Christianity is not to be attain'd unto any otherwise O then how many dream of Divine Treasures and Kingdoms fancy they have found the Pearl of great Price and as we say Build Castles in the Air and are still errant Beggars as to the concerns of the everlasting Riches and in the sight of God How many are there in the World call themselves Christians and have nothing at all of it but just the Name They have nothing to shew for their Title to the Kingdom of Heaven but their own false and impudent Claim without any Grounds But we may as well call our selves Jews and Mahometans when we do not observe the Laws of Moses or of the Alcoran as call our selves Christians when we do not live according to the Precepts of the Gospel would you therefore know whether you are Christians Compare your Lives with the Laws of Christianity Our Saviour hath commanded us to let our light shine before men that they may see our good works and glorifie our father which is in heaven Matt. 5.16 And in the following Verses he adds a warning very necessary to this present Generation Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the propbets I am not come to destroy but to fulfil Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven For I say unto you that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time Thou shalt not kill and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment But I say unto you that whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment And whosoever shall say to his brother Racha shall be in danger of the Council but whosoever shall say Thou fool shall be in danger of hell fire Ye have heard that it was said Thou shalt not commit adultery but I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart If thy right eye offend thee pluck it out and if thy right hand offend thee cut it off It is better for thee that one of thy members should perish than that thy whole body should be cast into Hell Swear not at all Love your enemies Be ye perfect even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect All these we find in the 5th Chapter of St. Matt. and in the 11th of the same Gospel at the 29th Verse Take my yoke upon you says our blessed Saviour and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart We are infinitely unreasonable if we fancy that to be a Christian it is sufficient to own Christ by an outward Profession without actual Obedience to all his Commands He declares expressly Matt. 7.21 That 't is not every one that says unto him Lord Lord shall enter into the kingdom of heaven but he that doth the will of God Yet after all this we have but too much reason still to complain and cry out with the Psalmist Psal 82.5 They will not be learned nor understand but walk on still in darkness all the foundations of the earth are out of course Still Men will needs fancy themselves Christians that is members of the kingdom of Heaven when they are evidently the Subjects of the Kingdom of Darkness How many are there that commit Sin and yet pretend that they are born of God against the positive Declaration of the Apostle St. John 1 Joh. 3.9 But some will say If none were true Christians but those who keep the Commandments of God and do not commit sin who then can be a Christian I answer in the words of our blessed Saviour Matt. 7.14 Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life and few there be that find it Few God knows few they are especially in these our days that are true Christians indeed tho' there be many that call themselves by that holy Name But the mischief is the greatest part of them who name the Name of Christ depart not from iniquity and therefore the greatest part of them that call themselves Christans shall find by a sad Experience at the great and terrible Day of the Lord that they have no share in Christ Jesus For either we must not believe the Scriptures or we must be sure that all Drunkards Swearers unjust or uncharitable Persons c. are far from being Christians and yet how many such do we find among the Professors of Christianity What more frequent now a days than Wrath Malice and Revenge Fraud Injustice Drunkenness Swearing and all sort of Sin And still if you believe it we are all Protestants that is the purer sort of Christians But how few notwithstanding all this pretended Purity how few are there among us that are truly humble meek and lowly in heart charitable patient and of long suffering How few are there that do not to others what they would not others should do unto them How few do we see that will bear an affront or an injury without resentment and revenge How few can find in their Hearts to forgive their Enemies How few then love their Neighbours that is all other Men as themselves And yet we may be sure that without all this our Pretentions to Christianity are groundless vain and insignificant But is it then impossible to be a Christian No such matter we read of many in the holy Scriptures that they were just in their Generations and perfect in the sight of the Lord as of Noah Gen. 6.9 Job Job 1.1 David 1 Kings 11.34 14.8 Asa 1 Kings 15.11 Josias 2 Kings 22.2 and Zacharias and Elizabeth Luk. 1.6 Which shews that God doth not expect of us a perfect state of Impeccability but a perfect Sincerity I say a perfect Sincerity We must love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind Matt. 22.37 And therefore we must obey his Commandments and do his will with all the power of our Soul and all the sincerity of our Mind and sure that is not impossible But never flatter your selves that you have done all you can and that you are sincere as long as yon continue in a wicked course of Life Alas you are then worse then Heathens Don't you believe that God affords