glory 5." Where we may take notice also how he prays, or intercedes, for us, even by signifying his will to have it so, as I observed before, "Father, I will," saith he, "that they also whom thou hast given me be with me." And what could we ourselves have desired more, nay, what could Christ himself have desired more for us than this,-that we may live with him? For if we live with him, we shall live with the best Friend that we have in the whole world, and whom we love above all things in it; with him who loved us, too, and gave himself for us; with him who took all our sins upon himself, who bore all the shame and pain that was due unto us for them; with him who was derided, scoffed at, buffeted, scourged, crowned with crowns, arraigned, condemned, crucified; and all for us; with him who washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests to God and the Father; with him who saves us from our enemies, and delivers us out of the hand of all that hate us; with him who gives us all things necessary both for life and godliness, and enables us to make a right use of them; with him who is now interceding and preparing a place for us on purpose that we may live with him in heaven; in heaven, where he will fashion our vile bodies that they may be like his glorious body, and make our souls perfect like his own, that so we may be fit to keep him company; where he will always smile upon us, and manifest his special love and kindness to us; where he will shine forth in all his glory before us, and keep our eyes always open to behold it; where he will advance us to the highest degrees of honour that we are capable of, and fill us as full of all true joy and comfort as our souls can hold; in a word, where we shall live with him, our dearest Lord and ever blessed Saviour, not only for some time, but for ever and ever, as his apostle hath taught us, saying, that "we who shall be alive and remain" at 3 John xvii. 24. the last day, "shall meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord ";" and then adds, "Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words." And well may he add, that, for this certainly is the greatest comfort that a true Christian can ever have, insomuch that it hath prevented me in that which I promised to shew in the last place,—even that the consideration of these things should keep our hearts from being troubled at any thing we meet with here below for if we firmly believe, and duly consider, these words of our blessed Saviour, and what we have now heard upon them, how can we suffer either our heads or our hearts to be troubled about any thing upon earth, but only how to get to heaven? What if we should be deprived of all our temporal enjoyments, what need we be troubled when we have mansions above ready furnished to our hands with all the good things we can desire? What if it be difficult to get a place there? We have an almighty Harbinger gone before to prepare one for us. What if we have never so many enemies, yea, what if all the men upon earth, and all the devils in hell, should conspire to ruin us? What need we be troubled at that, when we have a sure Friend in heaven, who can abate their pride, assuage their malice, confound their devices, and make them against their wills do us good by all they design against us? What if we have nobody here below that minds or matters what becomes of us? What need we be troubled at that, when we have an infinitely wise, and powerful, and good, and merciful Saviour above, continually taking care of us, and providing all things necessary for us, and one who can aid and assist us in all conditions, upon all occasions, whatsoever? If we be in want, he can supply us; if in danger, he can deliver us; if in pain, he can ease us; if in disgrace, he can bring us to honour; if we be accused, he can acquit us; if sorrowful, he can comfort us; if weak, he can strengthen us; if sick, he can heal us; if dying, he can receive us to himself? Can, did I say? Yea, and will, too, if we do but obey and trust in him as we ought. Let us not, therefore, trouble our heads any more about any thing, but how to serve our great Lord and Master Christ, by doing all such good works as he hath set us, and putting our whole trust and confidence only on him, both for God's assistance of us in the doing them, and for his acceptance of them when they are done. Let us but constantly do this, and then we may be sure that he will guide, assist, and bless us through the whole course of our lives, and at length bring us to that blessed place which he hath prepared for us in his Father's house, that we may always live with him, who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, world without end. SERMON XX. FAITH IN CHRIST, THE ONLY MEANS OF OVERCOMING THE WORLD. 1 JOHN V. 5. "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?" UNBELIEF is not only a great sin of itself, but one great cause of all other sins: it may be truly called the mother of sin, as the devil is the father; for it was that which, by his instigation, brought forth sin at first into the world, and it is that which still maintains and keeps it. When the old serpent assaulted our first parents, the first attack he made was upon their FAITH; and when that was once shaken, he soon brought them down. God had said to Adam, and in him to the woman, which was not as yet taken out of him, "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die'." But when the serpent came to the woman, the first thing he did was to call God's word into question; "Yea," saith he, "hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" and so tempted her to doubt whether God had ever said so or no; or whether he really meant as he said. And the woman began pre Gen. ii. 16, 17. 2 Gen. iii. 1. Ee sently to make some doubt of it, as appears from her answer to the question; for she said to the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die3." In which answer she did not keep close, as she should have done, to God's words, but deviated from them in several respects. God had not said, "Ye shall not eat of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden," which was the tree of life; but, "Ye shall not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Neither had God said, "Ye shall not touch it ;" but only, “Ye shall not eat of it." Neither had he said, "Lest ye die;" but, "Ye shall surely die:" whereas that expression, "Lest ye die," implies as if it was a question whether they should or no: so that she plainly began to doubt of the truth of what God had said. This the serpent takes hold of; and perceiving her faith began to fail, to strike it quite dead, he said in plain terms, "Ye shall not surely die;" just contrary to what God had said; and he gives a reason for it too; for, saith he, "God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil," where he again contradicts the word of God, and yet hath the impudence to appeal to God himself for the proof of what he said. God had said, of that fruit;" and the serpent saith, "That in the day they ate of it their eyes should be opened:" yet, nevertheless, upon the serpent's peremptory asserting it, the woman believed him rather than God, and therefore," when she saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat "," which certainly neither of them would have done if they had firmly believed the word of God, when 66 "They should die in the day they ate 3 Gen. iii. 2, 3. 1 Gen. ii. 9. • Ver. 6. |