portion of a believer, without which all is nothing to him; and for which he trades and travels here, as worldlings do for worldly things, Matth. 6. 20, 21. Col. 3. 1. Phil. 3. 20.

5. A true Believer doth all his life prepare for a day that is yet to come, and for an account of all the paffages of his life, though he hath nothing but the Word of God, to affure him of it. And therefore he lives as one that is hafting to the prefence of his Judge; and he contriveth his affairs, and difpofeth of his worldly riches, as one that looks to hear of it again, and as one that remembreth the Judge is at the door, James 5. 9. He rather asketh, [what life, what words, what actions, what way of using my eftate and intereft, will be fweeteft to me in the review, and will be beft at last when I muft accordingly receive my doom?] than [what is most pleasant to my flesh? and what will ingratiate me most with men? and what will accommodate me beft at present ? and fet me highest in the world?] And therefore it is, that he pittieth the ungodly even in the height of their profperity, and is fo carneft (though it offend them) to procure their recovery, as knowing that how fecure foever they are now, they must give an account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead, I Pet. 4.5. and that then the cafe will be altered with the prefumptuous world.

6. Lastly, A true believer is careful to prevent a threatned mifery which he never felt; and is awakened by holy fear to flye from the wrath to come, and is induftrious to escape that place of torment which he never faw, as if he had seen it with his eyes. When he heareth but the found of the trumpet, he takes warning that be may fave his foul, Ezek. 33.4. The evils that are bere felt and feen, are not fo dreadful to him, as those that he never faw or felt. He is not fo careful and refolute, to avoid the ruine of his eftate or name, or to avoid the plague, or fword, or famine, or the fcorching flames, or death, or torments, as he is to avoid the endless torments, which are threatned by the righteous God. It is a greater mifery in his efteem, to be really undone for ever, than feemingly only for a time, and to be caft off by God, than by all the world, and to lie in Hell, than to fuffer any temporal calamity. And therefore he fears it more, and doth more to avoid it; and is

morc

more caft down by the fears of Gods difpleasure, than by the feelings of these prefent fufferings. As Noah did for his prefervation from the threatned deluge, fo doth the true Believer for his prefervation from everlafting wrath, Heb. 11. 7. [By faith Noab being warned of God of things not feen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an Ark, to the faving of his house, by the which be condemned the world, and became beir of the righteoufnefs, which is by faith.] God first giveth warning of the flood: Noab believeth it: not with a lifeless, but a working faith: that firft moved in him a felf-preferving fear: This fear moveth Nak to obey the Lord in the ufe of means, and to prepare the Ark; and all this was, to fave himself and his houfe from a flood, that was as yet unften,and of which in nature there was no appearance. Thus doth God warn the finful world, of the day of judgement, and the fire that is unquenchable, and true believers take his warning; and believing that which they cannot fee, by fear they are moved to flye to Chrift, and ufe his means to scape the threatned calamity. By this they become the beirs of that Righteousneß which is by faith, and condemn the unbelieving careless world, that take not the warning, and use not the remedy.

By this time you may fee that the Life of Faith is quite another thing, than the lifelefs opinion of multitudes that call themselves believers. To fay [I believe there is a God, a Christ, a Heaven, a Hell,] is as eafie as it is common. But the faith of the ungodly is but an uneffectual dream. To dream that you are fighting, wins no victories: To dream that you are eating, gets no ftrength. To dream that you are running, rids no ground: To dream that you are plowing, or fowing, or reiping, procureth but a fruitlefs harveft. And to dream that you are Princes, may confift with beggery. If you do any more than dream of Heaven and Hell, how is it that you ftir not, and make it not appear by the diligence of your lives, and the fervour of your duties, and the seriousness of your endeavours, that fuch wonderful unexpreffible overpowering things, are indeed the matters of your belief? As you love your fouls, take heed left you take an image of faith. to be the thing it felf. Faith fets on work the powers of the foul, for the obtaining of that joy, and the efcaping of that

mifery which you believe. But the image of faith in self-deceivers, neither warms nor works : it conquereth no difficulties; it firs not up to faithful duty. It's blind, and therefore feeth not God, and how then fhould he be feared and loved? I feetb not Hell, and therefore the fenfelefs foul goes on as fearlefly and merrily to the unquenchable fire, as it he were in the fafelt way. This image of faith annih lateth the most porent objects, as to any due impreffion on the foul. God is as no God, and Heaven as no H aven, to thefe imaginary Chriftians. If a Prince be in the room, an image reverenceth him not: If mulick and feasting be there, an image finds no pleasure in them. If fire and fword be there, an image fears them not. You may perceive by the fenfeless negle&tul carriage of ungodly men, that they fee not by faith the God that they should love and fear; the Heaven that they should feek and wait for, or the Hell that they should with all poffible care avoid. He is indeed the true Believer that (allowing the difference of degrees) doth pray as if he faw the Lord; and fpeak and live as alwaies in his prefence; and redeem his time as if he were to die to morrow, or as one that feeth death approach, and ready to lay hands upon him; that begs and cries to God in prayer, as one that forefeeth the day of judgement; and the endless joy or mifery that followeth: that beftirreth him for everlasting life, as one that feeth Heaven and Hell, by the eye of faith. Faith is a ferious apprehenfion, and caufeth a ferious converfation; for it is instead of fight and prefence.

From all this you may cafily and certainly infer, 1. That true faith is a Jewel, rare and precious: and not fo common as nominal careless Chriftians think. What fay they, Are we not all believers? will you make Infidels of all that are not Saints? are none Chriftians, but those that live fo frilly? Anfwer, I know they are not Infidels by profeffion: but what they are indeed, and what God will take them for, you may foon perceive, by comparing the defcription of faith, with the infcription legible on their lives. It's common to fay, I do believe: but is it common to find men, pray and live as thofe that do believe indeed? It is both in works of charity and of piety, that a living faith will fhew it felf. I will not therefore contend about the name: If you are ungodly, unjust, or uncharitable,

uncharitable, and yet will call your felves Believers, you may keep the name, and fee whether it will fave you. Have you forgotten how this cafe is determined by the holy Ghost him. self, James 2. 14, &c. What doth it profit my Brethren, if a man Say, be bath faith, and bath not works? Can faith fave him? Faith if it bash not works is dead, being alone. Thou believ that there is one God: thɔu doft well: the Devils also believe and tremble. If fuck a belief be it, that thou glorieft in, it's not denyed thee! But wilt thou know, ob vain min, that faith without works is dead? &c. Is there life where there is no motion? Had you that Faith that is inftead of fight, it would make you more folicitous for the things unfeen, than you are for the visible trifles of this world.

2. And hence you may obferve, that most true Blievers are weak in Faith. Alas, how far do we all fall fhort of the love, and zeal, and care, and diligence, which we should have if we had but once bebeld the things which we do believe? Alas, how dead are our affections? how flat are our duties? how cold, and how flow are our endeavours? how unpro fitable are our lives, in comparison of what one hours fight of Heaven and Hell would make them be? O what a comfortable converfe would it be, if I might but joyn in prayer, praife, and holy conference one day or hour, with a person that had feen the Lord, and been in Heaven, and born a part in the Angelical Praises! Were our Congregations composed of fuch perfons, what manner of worship would they perform to God? How unlike would their heavenly ravishing expreffions be to these our fleepy heartless duties? Were Heaven open to the view of all this Congregation while I am (peaking to you, or when we are fpeaking in prayer and praise to God, imagine your felves what a change it would make upon the best of us in our fervices! What apprehenfions, what affetions, what refolutions it would raife! and what a pasture it would caft us all into! And do we not all profefs to believe thefe things, as revealed from Heaven by the infallible God? Do we not fay, that fuch a Divine Revelation is as fure as if the things were in themfelves laid open to our fight? Why then are we no more affected with them? Why are we no more tranfported by them? Why do they no more command

- our fouls, and Itir up our faculties to the moft vigorous and lively exercife? and call them off from things that are not to us confiderable, nor fit to have one glance of the eye of our observation, nor a regardful thought, nor the leaft affection, unless as they fubferve thefe greater things? When you obferve how much, in your felves and others, the frame of your fouls in holy duty, and the tenour of your lives towards God and man, do differ from what they would be, if you had feen the things that you believe, let it mind you of the great imperfection of faith, and humble us all in the fenfe of our imbecility. For though I know that the most perfect Faith, is not apt to raife fuch bigh affections in degree, as Thall be raised by the beatifical vifion in the glorified, and as prefent intuition now would raife, if we could attain it; yet feeing Faith hath as fure an Obje& and Revelation as fight it felf, though the manner of apprehenfion be lẞ affecting, it fhould do much more with us than it doth, and bring us nearer to fuch affections and refolutions, as fight would cause.

Ufe 2. If Faith be given us to make things to come as if they were at band, and things unfeen as if we saw them, you may fee from hence, 1. The reafon of that boly seriousness of Believers, which the ungodly want. 2. And the reason why the ungodly want it. 3. And why they wonder at, and diftate and devide this ferious diligence of the Saints.

1. Would you make it any matter of wonder, for men to be more careful of their fouls, more fervent in their requests to God, more fearful of offending him, and more laborious in all holy preparation for eternal life, than the holieft and precifeft perfon that you know in all the world, if fo be that Heaven and Hell were feen to them? Would you not rather wonder at the dulnefs and coldness, and negligence of the best, and that they are not far more holy and diligent than they are, if you and they did fee thefe things? Why then do you not ceafe your wondering at their diligence? Do you not know that they are men, that bave feen the Lord, whom they daily. ferve? and feen the glory which they daily feek? and feen the place of torments which they fly from? By Faith in the glaß of Divine Revelations they have feen them.