communion of soul with him, and with the adoring saints and angels, our brethren and companions; what happiness can you possibly have in these exercises, if now they are irksome, your aversion, and your burden? If now your conversation be on earth, not in heaven, if now you are living in the enjoyment of the pleasures of sense, and not by faith; if now you are serving foolish and hurtful lusts,' instead of 'presenting your body, soul and spirit a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God;' (Rom. xii. 1.) if now you are seeking happiness in the vanities of time, instead of looking forward to the riches of eternity; if now the company of God's people and their employments you disrelish and avoid; if here you are content to take up your abode, and cannot say, that to depart and to be with Christ is far better;' (Phil. i. 23.) if earthly, sensual, devilish tempers now reign in you, instead of the pure, peaceable, holy, heavenly, Christ-like dispositions of the child of God; you may be assured there is no entrance for you into the presence of God; you are under an absolute incapacity of drawing near to him; you have, you can have no idea of or relish for the happiness of the saints; you can be no more sen sible to it than the blind to the beauties of vision, or the deaf to the powers of harmony. But, Eighthly. Without holiness you are not only incapable of seeing God and enjoying him, but you are actually and by express sentence excluded from it. 'When the Son of a man shall come, he shall send forth his holy angels, and gather out of his kingdom all things which offend, and which do iniquity, and shall cast them into a furnace of fire.' [Matt. xiii. 42.] 'No evil shall dwell with him.' [Psal. v. 4.] Sin and exclusion from his presence, are necessarily con

por

nected. They who obey not his gospel must be destroyed with the brightness of his coming.' [2 Thess. ii. 8.] 'He that committeth sin, is of the devil.' (1 John iii. 8.) By such disobedience against God he testifies what master he hath chosen to serve; and his wages will be as his work. · 'The wages of sin is death.' (Rom. vi. 23.) They who join with God's enemies will have their tion with them, in the 'everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' (Matt. xxv. 41.) All pleas in the great day of the Lord will be fruitless, if the heart hath been the servant of sin. To have cried, Lord, Lord, in his temple; to have heard the voice of Christ in our streets : yea, to have prophesied in his name, and done many wonderful works, will avail nothing, if holiness hath not been our temper and practice. He will say to every unholy soul in that day, Depart from me, I never knew you, ye workers of iniquity.' (Luke xiii. 27.)

These are clear and convincing proofs of the absolute necessity of being holy here, in order to be happy hereafter and should lead every man into the most serious inquiries into his state and temper. The righteous scarcely are saved; and where then shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?' (1 Pet. iv. 18.)

I shall conclude with these observations.

1. If personal holiness be so absolutely necessary, how few will be saved? Strait indeed is the gate, and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.' (Matt. vii. 14.) It is often charged as a matter of great uncharitableness, but to confess your faith in what God hath thus so solemnly declared. Every one hopes to be saved at last; and that, at least, those are safe who are not worse than themselves. But this is the blindness of the

unholy, and the false hope of the hypocrite which perisheth.' God's word is the only standard. To this must each man's state be referred. He requires of all real holiness, out of a pure heart, and good conscience, and faith unfeigned.' (1 Tim. i. 5.) And to this, it is evident, few can make any just pretensions. The unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards; nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.' (1 Cor. vi. 9.) Now were but these alone excluded, (and excluded they must be, as God is true) I fear the remainder who walk not in any of these things will be but few. More especially if we add unto them, all who walk in hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envying, murders, revelings and such like (Gal. v. 20.) we shall still reduce the number less. But there are other express exclusions from God set upon the fearful and unbelieving and abominable, and all liars.' (Rev. xxi. 8.) Nor are they less removed from him, who are lovers of their own selves, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God.' (2 Tim. iii. 4.) In short, the profaners of God's sabbath, the dishonourers of his name, the neglectors of his worship,' (Exod. xx. 7—10.) come under the same condemnation. Nor must we forget that numerous generation, who are pure in their own eyes, yet are not washed from their filthiness ;' (Prov. xxx. 12.) who have the form of godliness, but deny the power of it.'

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(2 Tim. iii. 5.) I might add, lastly, the unfaithful to their convictions, those who love the praise of men more than the praise of God;' (John xii. 43.) those who put their trust in man, and their heart departeth from the Lord.' (Jer. xvii. 5.) The lukewarm 'neither hot nor cold,' (Rev. iii. 16.) that halt between God and Baal; and every man who hath not learned 'to deny himself, to take up his cross and follow Christ,' (Matt. x. 38.) in all that holy conversation and godliness which you have heard described. And will not the conclusion from these premises be, that they are 'few which shall be saved?' (Luke xiii. 23.) A remnant, indeed, like that in the ark, or those plucked out of Sodom.

Let no man be offended at this truth, and attend to the infidel reasonings of his corrupt heart about unpromised mercy; but simply regard these express scriptures. They are God's word. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but one jot or one tittle of his word shall never pass away until the whole be fulfilled.' (Matt. xxiv. 35.) There are no secret exceptions. God cannot alter the thing which is gone out of his mouth.' [Psal. lxxxix. 34.] He must deny himself, if any soul, continuing and dying in any of these things, be ever finally saved. But God cannot lie.' (Titus i. 2.) "His truth abideth for ever in heaven.' (Psal. cxix. 89.) The unholy must be eternally unhappy. Without holiness What an awaken

no man shall see the Lord.' ing admonition !

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2. What reason then hath every man to look well to his heart ?' 'Be not deceived, God is not mocked; for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.' (Gal. vi. 7.) It is requisite that we strive for the mastery,' that we 'press to

wards the mark,' that we be temperate in all things, that we work out our salvation* with fear and trembling,' that we bring forth daily fruits meet for repentance, and make our profiting appear,' if we mean to come into the presence of the most High and most Holy.. It is not a hasty resolution, a warm impression, a partial reformation, a round of duties, or a name of godliness, which will bring us thither. God requireth truth in our inward parts; (Psal. li. 6.) he calls for our heart; [Prov. xxiii. 26.] and that chearful, universal, abiding continuance in well-doing, which shews 'his service to be perfect freedom;' and obedience our choice and delight.

And here, if we are sincere with God, we shall have abundant cause to humble ourselves, 'to strengthen the things which remain,' to examine ourselves closely, to watch against 'a deceitful and desperately wicked heart,' and to be looking up for continual supplies of grace, to perfect in us that which is lacking,' and to finish the new creation, until the Lord of our life 'shall present us before the presence of his glo1y, with exceeding great joy, without spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, in perfect conformity to his own blessed image.'

3. As many as have any attainments in Holi ness should, with humble acknowledgments of his grace to whom they are indebted for all, walk by the same rule, and mind the same things. (Phil. iii. 16.) For we have not yet attained, or are already perfect.' (Phil. iii. 12.)

Whilst we are on our pilgrimage, two things especially we need to abound in, humility and zeal. First, Humility. For what have we that we have not received? and if we have received it, why should we glory as though we had not re