rule of our life; and of the promises and threaten- SERM ings of the gofpel, as arguments to our duty, to CLIX. encourage our obedience, and deter us from fin. So that he that believes the LORD JESUS, believes him to be the great guide and teacher fent from GOD, to bring and conduct men to eternal happiness, and that therefore we ought to hearken to him and follow him; this is to believe his prophetical office. He believes that he is "the author of falvation," and hath purchased for us forgiveness of fins, ranfom from: hell, and eternal life and bleffedness upon the conditions before mentioned, and therefore that we ought to rely upon him only for falvation, to own him for our SAVIOUR, and to beg of him his holy Spirit, which he hath promised to us, to enable us to perform the conditions required on our part; this is to believe his priestly office. And lastly, he believes that the precepts of the gofpel, being delivered to us by the Son of GOD, ought to have the authority of laws upon us and that we are bound to be obedient to them; and for our encouragement if we be fo, that there is a glorious and eternal reward promised to us, and for our terror if we be not, there: are terrible and eternal punishments threatened to us; to which rewards, the LORD JESUS CHRIST at the day of judgment will fentence men, as the great judge of the world; and this is to believe the kingly office of CHRIST. And this is the fum of that which is meant by "faith toward the LORD JESUS "CHRIST," which the apostle faith was one subject of his preaching.

And the proper and genuine effect of this faith is to live as we believe, to conform our lives to the doctrine, to the truth whereof we affent. Hence it is that true Christians, that is, those who fashioned their

CLIX.

SER M. lives according to the gospel, are called believers; and the whole of chriftianity is many times contained in this word believing, which is the great principle of a chriftian life. As in the old teftament all religion is expreffed by " the fear of GoD ;" fo in the new, by "faith in CHRIST."

And now you fee what is included in repentance and faith, you may easily judge whether thefe be not the fum of the gospel, that men fhould forfake their fins and turn to GoD, and believe in the revelation of the gospel concerning JESUS CHRIST, that is, heartily entertain and fubmit to it. What did CHRIST preach to the Jews, but that they fhould repent of their fins, and believe on him as the Meffias? And what did the Apostles preach, but to the fame purpofe? When St. Peter preached to the Jews, Acts ii. the effect of his fermon and the fcope of it was to perfuade them "to repent and be baptised in the name of Jefus," that is to profefs their belief in him, v. 38. And fo Acts iii. 19. This is the conclufion of his discourse," repent therefore and be "converted," and then he propounded CHRIST to them as the object of their faith, being the great prophet that was prophefied of by Mofes, who fhould "be raised up among them," v. 22. So likewife St. Paul when he preached to the Jews and Gentiles, these were his great fubjects, Acts xvii. 30. This is the conclufion of his fermon to the Athenians, to perfuade them to repent by the confideration of a future judgment; and to perfuade them to believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST, who was to be the judge of the world, from the miracle of his refurrection; " But now he commands all men every "where to repent, because he hath appointed a day,

&c. whereof he hath given affurance unto all men,

*in that he hath raised him from the dead."

So SERM..

that you see that these are the great doctrines of the CLIX. gofpel, and were the fum of the apostles preaching;

all their fermons were perfuafives to these two duties of repentance and faith.

Secondly, for the neceffity of these doctrines. They are neceffary for the escaping of eternal mifery, and attaining of everlasting happiness. And this will appear by confidering the nature of them, and the relation they have to both thefe.

For the avoiding of eternal punishment, it is ne ceffary the guilt should be removed, which is an obligation to punishment, and that cannot be but by pardon; and fure we cannot imagine that God will ever pardon us without repentance; he will never remit to us the punishment of fin, so long as we tell him we are not at all troubled for what we have done, and we are of the fame mind ftill, and will do the fame again; and till we repent, we tell GoD this, and we may be fure God will not caft away his pardons upon those that defpife them; fo that repentance is neceffary to the efcaping of hell.

And faith in CHRIST is neceffary to it; for if this be the method of God's grace, not to pardon fin without fatisfaction, and JESUS CHRIST hath made fatisfaction for fin by the merit of his fufferings, and if it be neceffary that we should believe this, that the benefit hereof may redound to us; then faith in CHRIST is neceffary to the obtaining of the pardon of fin, by which the guilt of fin is removed, that is, our Obligation to eternal punishment.

And then for attaining falvation. CHRIST having in the gospel revealed to us the way and means to eternal happiness, it is neceffary that we should believe this revelation of the gospel by JESUS CHRIST,

SERM. in order to this end. So that you fee the neceffity CLIX. of faith and Repentance, because without these we can neither escape mifery, nor attain to happiness.

I fhould now come to draw fome inferences from this discourse, but I will first give fatisfaction to a query or two, to which this difcourfe feems to have given occafion.

1. Query. You will fay, why do I call repentance a doctrine of the gospel? it is a doctrine of nature. Natural religion tells us, that when we have offended GOD, we ought to be forry for it, and refolve to amend and reform.

Anf. I do not make the doctrine of repentance proper to the gospel, as if it had not been revealed to the world before; but because it is a doctrine which the gospel very much preffeth and perfuadeth men to, and because the great motives and enforcements of it are peculiar to the gospel. So that the doctrine of repentance, confidered with those powerful reasons and arguments to it which the gospel furnifheth us withal, is in this fenfe proper to the gofpel, and not known to the world before.

There are two motives and enforcements to repentance which the gospel furnisheth us with.

1. Affurance of pardon and remiffion of fins in cafe of repentance, which is a great encouragement to repentance, and which, before the gofpel, the world had never any firm and clear affurance of.

2. Affurance of eternal rewards and punishments after this life, which is a ftrong argument to persuade men to change their lives, that they may avoid the mifery that is threatened to impenitent finners, and be qualified for the happiness which it promifeth to repentance and obedience. And this the apostle tells us in the forementioned place, Acts xvii.

30, 31.

30, 31. is that which doth, as it were, make repen- SERM

tance to be a new doctrine that did come with the CLIX. gofpel into the world, because it was never before enforced with this powerful argument; "the times "of that ignorance GOD winked at; but now he "calls upon all men every where to repent; be"caufe, &c." When the world was in ignorance, and had not fuch affurance of a future ftate, of eternal rewards and punishments after this life, the arguments to repentance were weak and feeble in comparifon of what they now are, the neceffity of this duty was not fo evident. But now GOD hath affured us of a future judgment, now exhortations to repentance have a commanding power and influence upon men; fo that repentance, both as it is that which is very much preffed and inculcated in the gofpel, and as it hath it's chief motives and enforcements from the gofpel, may be faid to be one of the great doctrines of the gospel.

Query 2. Whether the preaching of faith in CHRIST, among those who are already Chriftians, be at all neceffary? Because it seems very improper, to prefs those to believe in CHRIST, who are already perfuaded that he is the Meffias, and do entertain the history and doctrine of the gospel.

Anf. The faith which the apoftle here means, and which he would perfuade men to, is an effectual belief of the gofpel; fuch a faith as hath real effects upon men, and makes them to live as they believe: fuch a faith as perfuades them of the need of thefe bleffings that the gospel offers, and makes them to defire to be partakers of them, and in order thereto to be willing to fubmit to thofe terms and conditions of holiness and obedience, which the gofpel requires. This is the faith we would perfuade men to, and VOL. IX.

D

there