Again; Diligent performance of good works, from the spirit above defcribed; will be a good fign that you belong to God's family-are of the household of faith, and heirs of the kingdom of glory. How many of you my friends, are this day defirous of being fatisfied in this important point. There are fome, who, it is to be feared, are more defirous of the honey of comfort, than to walk in the way of uprightness: all fuch defires are rather offensive, than pleasing to God! How is it with your fpirits? Are they fuch as the word declares God approves? Is the love of God fhed abroad in your heart, by the holy Ghost given unto you? If fo, you may gather great encouragement from 1 John iii. 18, &c. where the method, and matter of affurance are clearly stated. My little children, let us not love in word neither in tongue, but in DEED and in truth. And bereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall affure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. Try yourselves by this rule. Again; Good works are good and profitable to the party performing them, because their reward is with God on high, and moft fure! The fcriptures abound fo plentifully with teftimonies of this kind, that I need to fay very little. David tells us, That in the courfe of providence, God fhall fo take the faint's part, that others fhall cry out, Verily there is a reward for the righteous, Pfa. lviii. 11. His wife-hearted Son corroborates corroborates the foul-reviving truth, where he fays, The wicked worketh a deceitful (empty and ungodly) work: But to him that foweth righteoufnefs fhall be a fure reward, Prov. xi. 18. But a greater than Solomon hath fully affured us, that, Whosoever shall give to drink unto one of thefe little ones, a cup of cold water only, in the name of a difciple, Verily I fay unto you, he shall in no wife lofe his reward, Matt. x. 42. The angelic voice from heaven proclaims, Bleffed are the dead, which die in the LORD, from henceforth : yea, faith the Spirit, that they may reft from their labours; and their works do follow them. Obferve, their works do not go before to merit a manfion; that is the good gift, and it is the good pleasure of their Father to give it; but their good works will follow after, to appear in judgment, and be openly rewarded. For, The LORD himself shall defcend from heaven with a bout-The trumpet fhall found, and the dead fhall be raised-The God of nature fhall re-animate the flumbering duft, and cause it to start into existence again-The herald's voice fhall convene the ends of the world before the awful tribunal-The illuftrious Judge fhall mount the great white throne, with majefty more dreadful, and glorious; with retinue more numerous and fplendid, than the world ever faw! Then fhall those registers be thrown wide open, (viz.) The book of the law, the book of nature, and the book of conscience. There will all the works, words, and thoughts of every individual stand on record, in characters moft legible! Then fhall the righteous Judge enumerate : enumerate the good works of fuch as have followed him by faith in the way of duty and though they through modefty, and a sense of their own unworthiness are ready to disown them; yet fhall he pronounce them bleffed, and bid them enter into the kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world! See Matt. XXV. 34, &c. Thus I have gone through the few things propofed, and fhall draw to a conclufion, by making a few remarks. Firft, from this fhort account of believing in God, and the evidences of it; may we not, according to fcripture, and the appearance of things, fit down, and lament how few believers there are in the world? Perhaps fome may be ready to say, "If believing the fcriptures were faith, "that outcry might be fpared, for who believes "them not? This is the faith of the world, yea, of the drunkard and whore-monger, the "covetous, and all the blackguards in the na"tion: for my own part, I have had this faith, 66 yea, even from my infancy. I always believ"ed my bible was true, and that the fayings of "the LORD would ftand; and yet I remained "a carnal, stubborn rebel against God. Away "with fuch a dry, empty, worthless definition "of faith." Be not rafh, you believed the sayings of the LORD would stand, but did you know what he had faid? Did you believe what Jehovah hath faid of himself-of man-of CHRIST and falvation by him, and the consequences of believing, or not believing the record given of him, which are glory, or damnation? Where were the evidences that you thus believed? Were you afraid of being dealt with according to your crimes? Were you humbled before God because of your fhameful mifdoings? Were you fincerely seeking a sense of the LORD's favour, in the means he hath appointed? Did in heart reft on CHRIST for your acceptance you with God, and find a fecret pleasure in meditating upon the excellencies of a dear mediator? And did this cause you to hate, and flee from fin, in heart, lip, and life, and follow God in the way of obedience? Your confcience, nay, your words witness against you, and you know full well, that thus you did not give proof of your believing! Bleffed are you, if those marks are upon you now. It is as impoffible for a man, who believes the declarations of God, to live habitually in fin; as it is for a fifh to live on the land, or the ox in the fea. Believing the truth, will have its effects. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that JESUS is the Son of God? Again; Is it needful to exhort believers to maintain good works? This evincibly fhews, that the gospel hath not destroyed the law. The moral law abides ftill as a rule, though not as a covenant of life and death to the believer. Grace does not fuperfede, but rather calls for, the most voluntary obedience which & creature is capable of yielding to its creator. who flight the law, and take liberty to fin, because God is gracious; have juft caufe to confider themselves in the gall of bitterness and bonds of iniquity until this day. Those Again; Again; Not only the HOLINESS, but the GOODNESS of God appears in all his commands, when Tyrants iffue forth their mandamus, felf is often the end in view but when God commands, his goodness is evident, and there is special advantage attends the obfervance of his orders. None ever ferved God truly, and were forgotten of him! With this very confideration, St. Paul encourages the believers at Corinth,, 1 Cor. xv. 58. Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye stedfaft, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the LORD, forafmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the LORD. O believers! your days may be cloudy, and your nights dark; your hearts may be heavy, and your countenances fad, but the day, the everlasting day of glory fhall ere long open upon you; and then fhall you, not only reft from trouble, but receive a great recompence of reward! Be zealous then in maintaining good works, and commit the keeping of your fouls unto God in well doing, as unto a faithful creator. A word unto you who are yet unbelievers, and then I have done. Were you all obedient believers, this would be the most glorious congregation that british ground ever fupported: but I fear! I fear I am speaking to many, who are ignorant of, and confequently do not believe God's word of truth. "Unbelievers," say you, "what! Do you take us for heathens? Were not "our fore-fathers believers? And have not we "been taught to believe, even from our child"hood?" Greater the pity, that so much laH2 bour |