V.

ments as will bring on us more Pain, An- SERM. guish, and Mifery, than all fenfual Enjoyments in the World will make A mends for; and that, if we go on in our Sins, we shall certainly lofe the everlasting Joys of Heaven, and, by offending an infinite and eternal God, fhall undergo fuch Punishments, whofe Duration will bear an exact Proportion to the Rewards which He hath promised to those who obey his Laws.

4. THE Confideration of God's Eternity should engage us to put our Trust in him at all Times. For, fince God is always the fame, we may expect Relief from him at all Times, and in all our Neceffities. All other Things are fading and changeable, and very often forfake us when we have moft Need of them. Riches make themselves Wings and flee away; Strength of Body will decay, and the Favour of Man, yea, even of Princes, is vain and deceitful; but God is that Rock of Ages, upon whom we may furely build our Truft and Confidence; he is a very ready Help in the Time of Trouble, and never forfook any Man who put his Truft in him. My Days, fays the Pfalmist, are like a Shadow that declineth, and I am withered like Grafs; but thou, O Lord,

fhalt

V.

SERM.fhalt endure for ever, and thy Remembrance unto all Generations; and from hence he concludes, therefore thou shalt arife, and have Mercy upon Sion.

Pfal. cii.

12.

;

5. HENCE we may learn to have a mean Opinion of the good Things of this World, which are fleeting and tranfitory, and of little Duration; and to place our Happiness in the Enjoyment of God, who is everlasting. The good Things of this World are, indeed, the Gifts of our fupreme Lord, and proceed from the Bounty of our munificent Benefactor and therefore they ought to be received with a ready Hand, and a joyful Heart, and employed to thofe Ends and Ufes for which they were bestowed upon us. They are abfolutely neceffary to fupport our frail Bodies, and to make our Condition in this World eafy and comfortable. It is therefore our Duty to take the innocent Enjoyment of them, and to proportion our Love and Efteem of them, according to that intrinfic Worth and Value which they contain: Since therefore the good Things of this World are of fo fhort Continuance, and conduce only to our temporal Satiffaction, it ought to be our greatest Care to place our Affection on the most durable Object, and to make fure of our eter

nal

nal Happiness hereafter; to feek first the SERM. Kingdom of Heaven, and its Righteousness, V. and then all other Things will be added thereunto. The Enjoyment of the good Things of this World is certainly a very great Bleffing, if a Man has an understanding Heart, to make a right Use of them; and therefore Godliness has the Promife of the Life that now is, as well as of that which is to come. But the Vifion of God, the Enjoyment of an eternal Being to all Eternity, is as much beyond the poor and tranfitory Pleafures of this Life, as Finite is from Infinite; and bears no more Proportion to them, than a Drop of Water doth to the vaft Ocean, or a Duft upon the Balance to the Universe. Was it poffible for a Man to comprehend those Joys, which neither Eye bath feen, nor Ear hath beard; could a Man have any Notion of what it is to be happy for ever, he would not be long in determining which to chufe; the fading Enjoyments of this Life, or a never ending Felicity. Would but Men frequently retire into the Closet of their own Breafts, and confider with themselves, what those Rewards are which are promised to fuch as obey the Laws of God; what it is to be united to an eternal Being, and to behold the Light Ι

of

SERM. of his Countenance to all Eternity; fuch V. Meditations, as thefe, would inflame our Souls with an ardent Defire to partake of these Joys, which are at God's right Hand for evermore; and make us refolve with St. Paul, that neither Height nor Depth, nor Principalities, nor Powers, nor Things prefent, nor Things to come, shall separate us from the Love of God. How tranfporting a Contemplation muft it needs be, to reflect upon that State, where the Enjoyments of the Bleffed fhall be as fresh after many Ages, as they were at the firft, where their Affections fhall be placed upon fuch an Object, as fhall furnish new Matter of Delight to all Eternity? Such an Object is God, who is a continual Spring and Source of Content, Satisfaction, and Happiness; who can adminifter fuch Delights, as alone can fill and fatisfy the Soul; and can and will prolong them to all Eternity.

SERMON

SERMON VI

GOD is a Spirit.

JOHN iv. 24.

God is a Spirit, and they that worship him, muft worship him in Spirit and

in Truth.

IOR the better Understanding of SERM. these Words, it is requifite to look VI. into the Occafion of them, which

F

was this Our Saviour, going out of Judea into Galilee, paffed through the Country of Samaria, and arrived at a City called Sychar, the Metropolis of those Parts, fituated between the two Mountains Gerizim and Ebal; a Place which was very remarkable in the Sacred Hiftory, because of many Tranfactions which paffed there: For we read, that, Gen. xii. when Abram came out of Chaldæa, he paled through the Land unto the Place

6.