faint in our minds, and leave off; all our paft labour will be in vain. We cannot indeed keep to the fame pitch conftantly: but whenever the want of it hath betrayed us into a fault, we can recover and raise ourselves up to it again. And though a fresh repetition of the fame fault were to fucceed often; yet, recollection and fresh refolution may be repeated as often, till through the grace of God they become effectual.

But here people ufually object; they cannot refolve againft fin more ftrongly, than they have done; yet their former refolutions have flood them in no ftead and to what purpofe is it to make more! Now every one fees, how abfurd this way of thinking would be in the affairs of common life. Scarce any one fucceeds at the firft trial, ufually not till after many trials, in almost any thing they go about to learn. And yet what do they do? They endeavour on and though perhaps they cannot poffibly be more in earneft at last, than they were at first, yet infenfibly, themselves know not how, they overcome the difficulty fo intirely, that very often neither any feeling, nor any notion of it remains.

Let us therefore imitate their perfeverance; and not be impatient, and out of hopes, because of a few failures: always think lowly of what we have done; but always highly of what through God's help, we may do. Being uneafy at our paft inifcarriages, is indeed a duty, fo far as it teaches us to be humble, to aík pardon, and ftrive to behave better. But if we do nothing but dwell upon and aggravate our fault to our own minds; till we have fo little opinion of, and fo little liking to, ourfelves, that we have no heart to fet about amendment; a fenfibility, thus exceffive, defeats its own end; and becomes a new fin, added to all the former. We must therefore never defpair, and give up our cafe as incurable, and our fouls as loft; for they are not fo. God is our physician; and no disease is too inveterate for him. We have only to ftudy and follow his directions faithfully, and the final event is infallible. If we fail in our duty; we may, if we will, from that very failure get more ftrength and skill for the future: by observing, through what wrongness or weakness in our temper, what rashness or megligence in our conduct, the advantage against us was gained;

and

• Heb. xii. 3.

and thinking, what precautions will be most effectual against another trial. A moderate share of time and pains, honeftly fpent thus, would give us happy earnests of obtaining at length an intire conqueft: which however, though always poffible, will be much the eafier and furer, the earlier we prepare for and engage in the conflict; before we give the enemy leisure to ftrengthen himself, by further weakening and corrupting us. My fon, gather inftruction from thy youth up: fo fhalt thou find wifdom till thine old age. Come unto her as one that ploweth and foweth, and wait for her good fruits: for thou shalt not toil much in labouring about her, but shalt eat of her fruits right foon. My fon, if thou wilt, thou shalt be taught: and if thou apply thy mind, thou shalt be prudent.-Let thy mind be upon the ordinances of the Lord, and meditate continually in bis commandments: He ball establish thine heart, and give thee wifdom at thine own defire*.

But fuppofing the worft, that we have been negligent, or even grofly finful in time paft; yet not only reason and the promiles of fcripture, but experience proves the poffibility of our recovery. Did not David recover from adultery and murder, Manaffeb from idolatry, Zaccheus the publican from coveteuf. nefs and injuftice, Peter from denying Chrift, Paul from blafpheming and perfecuting? Have not multitudes in all ages, many in our own, fome perhaps known to us, recovered from the vilest acts, from the longest habits of fin? Why then cannot we do what they have done?

want.

It must be confeffed indeed, that fome have naturally difpofitions much more favourable both to innocence and repentance, than others. But God hath made none of his creatures incapable of what he made them for. And fince he condefcends to help us, we may be fure he will help us as much as we really The weakness of man, the force of temptation, the dif ficulty of duty, are of fmall account, where the Almighty is ready to interpofe. Our own ftrength indeed cannot increase, in proportion as our trials do: but that, which proceeds from him, can. And this is the great felicity of our dependance upon him, that while our sense of continually needing his aid is fitted, beyond all things, to keep us humble our affurance of having it, if we will ask and use it, gives us a comfort and a fpirit, that nothing elfe can equal.

• Ecclus vi. 18, 19, 32, 37.

God

God will certainly enable us to do every thing which is neceffary to be done. And though he may poffibly fuffer us to ftrive against fome of our fmaller faults, much longer and more ineffectually, than we could wish; yet we may be affured, he hath wife and good reafons for exercifing us with such difficulties; and provided we continue the good fight with patience and courage, whatever labour and pain it may cause us now, it shall not hinder, but increase our reward hereafter; and the profpect of that is abundantly fufficient to make us happy in the mean while. No that we can ever fit ourselves to appear before God, and be juftified in his fight, on the footing of a covenant of works. Far be from us the haughty imagination. We defire to be accepted, not for what we have done, but for what our bleffed Redeemer hath done on our account: and to be found in him, not having our own righteousnefs, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Chrift, the righte oufnefs which is of God by faith*. After this we are to bunger and thirst both as the means of perfonal righteousness, and the ground of God's accepting it. In this alone we are to hope firit, and rejoice afterwards.

Yet ftill, if in this life only we had hope in Chrift, we might fometimes be of all men moft miferablet. Not but that, even then, a fteady courfe of virtue and religion would in general be evidently for the intereft of mankind, and, almost of every individual. But after all, there would be cases too often happening, in which the trouble of combating evil inclinations and habits would be fo great, the progrefs in goodness fo imperfect, and the enjoyment of it fo precarious and short-lived; that human refolution must be fuppofed likely to stagger and faint, under fuch trials. But fince we are affured of enjoying to eternity in perfection, whatever graces we have cultivated here with fincerity; the toilfomeness of the work, and the flowness of the fuccefs, ought not to deter us in the leaft. Let the watchfulness over our conduct, the restraint of our paffions, and wrong defires, be ever fo uneafy; let this uneafiness last ever fo long; let our advancement, after doing our best, be mixed with ever fuch mortifying failures and frailties: yet, if we be faithful unto the end, every one of these seemingly difcouraging circumftances will have full allowance made for it,

and

* Phil. iii. 9.

t1 Cor. xv. 19.

and be most equitably confidered to our advantage. We have only to take care of our duty; and the goodness of our Maker will be fure to take care of our happiness. Nor is it indeed, could we but think aright, of very great confequence, whether we begin to taste that happiness, in any contiderable degree, during our momentary life on earth; which however truly good persons, almost, if not absolutely without exceptions, do; or whether it be referved for that approaching time, when all they, that have hungered and thirfted after righteousness here, Shall be abundantly filled with the plenteoufnefs of God's boufe, and made to drink of the river of his pleafures. For with him is fulness of joy, and at his right hand there are pleasures for evermoret. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfaft, unmoveable, always bounding in the work of the Lord: forafmuch as ye know, that your labour is not in vain in the Lord‡.

SERMON. LXXIV.

THE ESSENCE OF TRUE RELIGION.

JAMES i. 27.

Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.

To understand the meaning of these words fully, it must be obferved, that St. James wrote his epiftle to the Jewife believers in Chrift; many of whom were not yet fufficiently ap prized, how grievously the traditions of their elders had cor rupted religion. For long-received errors are feldom entirely caft off, till fome time after the truths, which, by evident confequence, prove them to be errors, are embraced. These new converts therefore, being accustomed from their infancy to think very highly of that purity of faith and worship, which was their principal diftinction from the heathen world, continued even after they were chriftians, to give it an undue preference to the weightieft duties of common life. Their opinion of ceremonial worship indeed the gospel hath probably lowered: but it must have increased their efteem of faith. And though it was easy to understand that no faith could be valuable, unlefs it brought forth the good fruit of universal obedience; yet wrong inclinations led many to mistake the matter: who accordingly contenting themfelves with a fpeculative belief, and formal devotion, thought and fpoke ill of thofe, who either differed from them in religious tenets, or laid any great firefs on moral practice, Now had the apoftles indulged imaginations and behaviour fo agreeable to corrupt nature, undoubtedly they would have gained by it a much larger number of dif ciples. But they had not so learned Chrift*. Each, as oppor

Eph. iv. 20.

tunity