greater purity and holiness, than under the more legal and imperfect dispensation of Moses. It is undoubtedly true, that those sins and imperfections, which were consistent with a state of grace under the Mosaic dispensation, are not so now under the Christian dispensation; wherein not only we have more light and knowledge, but Christians indeed do obtain more purifying and quickening influences of the Spirit than they then ordinarily did. There is, therefore, no room to extenuate our falls into sin, by the examples of the Jewish saints. For though that ministration was glorious, yet the ministration of the Spirit is more glorious, has a glory that vastly excelleth. By the "beholding of which glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory." Our enjoying the promises of the Gospel, lays us under the strongest and most indispensable obligations, to "cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God." God forbid that any of us should continue in sin, that grace may abound, or turn the grace of God into lasciviousness! This would determine us to be "ungodly men, who deny the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ." Thence it is, that the disobedience of Gospel sinners will bring upon them the greatest and most dreadful damnation. See Heb. x. 29.

4. Good works are necessary, as expressions of our gratitude to God for all his goodness to us, more especially for Gospel grace, and most especially for the gracious influences of his blessed Spirit. Impossible it is for us to have any due conception how great our debt of gratitude is to our

infinite Benefactor. we ourselves; his hands have framed and fashioned us round about." He has preserved us through innumerable difficulties and dangers; and all our lives continually followed us with loving kindness and tender mercies. He has made this mighty globe for our use, with all its amazing variety of furniture, fitted to supply us with whatever is necessary, convenient, comfortable, or delightful. He has distinguished us from very much the greatest part of our fellow-creatures, by the abundance of our enjoyments, and the greatness of our privileges. And if all these, and the innumerable other instances of the inexpressible kindness and goodness of God to us, be not sufficient to excite our gratitude, and to attract our affections to such an infinite fountain of benevolence, yet certainly our redemption by Christ, our enjoyment of Gospel ordinances, our advantages to live to God in this world, and to be eternally happy in the enjoyment of him in the future state of everlasting light and love, are enough to carry our minds beyond admiration, and even to overwhelm them with astonishment. And what returns does the glorious God expect from us for all this? No more than the love and obedience of our thankful hearts and lives. No more than to live to him, and delight in him; gratefully to receive, and faithfully to improve the benefits he is bestowing upon us. He requires nothing of us but that we should be ready to every good work, out of love and gratitude to God. How unworthy shall we therefore be for ever, of one smile of his countenance, or the least favour and kindness, if the infinite goodness

"He has made us, and not

of God, his infinite love and compassion in Christ, does not constrain us to renounce our lusts and idols, and make it our delightful endeavour to seek and serve him! He may well expostulate with such, as with his ancient people, "Will ye thus requite the Lord, O foolish people, and unwise!" He justly may, and certainly will exclude such from the glory and blessedness of his eternal praises, who have not hearts to love him, and serve him, and praise him here. They who have ever tasted that the Lord is gracious, and have any becoming sense of their obligations to him, will study what they shall render to the Lord for all his benefits; they will delight in endeavours to glorify him; they will be solicitously careful of a constant conformity to his will, and take a peculiar pleasure and pains in following after holiness.

5. As I have distinctly considered in my last, good works are necessary evidences of the truth and sincerity of our faith in Christ. And I need only add here, that it is a faithful saying, which cannot be too much insisted upon, that they who pretend to have believed in God, must be careful to maintain good works. All their profession of religion, all their imaginary faith in Christ, all their peace and joy, all their appearance in the cause of truth, all their seeming zeal for the glory of God, the interest of religion, and the conversion and salvation of sinners, or whatever else they may suppose evidences of their renewed state, will prove but as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, without a real life of good works. Such are greatly to be pitied, who can have peace from any supposed experiences

of grace, while they walk in the imaginations of their own hearts. The Lord Jesus Christ will own none as belonging to him, but those who are a peculiar people, in some measure zealous of good works. He will, in the day of accounts, declare to all others, that "he never knew them;" and sentence them to "depart from him, as workers of iniquity." But to this I have spoken particularly already; and therefore shall only subjoin here, that obedience is the genuine exercise, and therefore a necessary evidence, of faith unfeigned. What are good works, but works of faith; or faith in operation, exciting other graces to their proper action and exercise? Without we exemplify the obedience of faith, our faith is vain.

6. Good works are necessary to honour our profession, to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour, and to bring glory to his name. There is nothing infers a greater scandal upon our holy religion, than the unsanctified lives of its professors. This gives occasion to the enemies of the cross of Christ to blaspheme his name, and speak evil of the way of truth; to call religion itself a cheat, and judge all that make an appearance of holiness to be hypocrites and false pretenders. This casts a stumbling-block in the way of poor souls that are beginning to look Zion-ward, and proves a sad temptation to apostacy. This hardens secure sinners in their sinful courses; and pacifies their consciences, from the thought that such who make pretences to religion, are impious and wicked as well as they: and, what is still worse, if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners; this brings great dis

honour upon our blessed Saviour, as though he were the minister of sin, and has a dreadful tendency to render the means of grace ineffectual, to quench the Spirit, and to drive the very form, as well as the power of godliness, out of the world. You therefore see the necessity of good works and of a holy life, if we have any value for the interests of Christ's kingdom in the world, any pity to the precious souls of men, any regard to the honour of our blessed Saviour, and the holy religion which we profess; and any desire to escape having the guilt of other men's sins, as well as our own, charged to our account in the day of Christ. If there be any force in these, and many other like motives, to prompt us to a life of holiness, we, who profess ourselves Christians, should approve ourselves" a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people, to show forth the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light." Indeed the chief end of man is to glorify God. It is the design of our creation, and it is the design of our redemption. "For ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God, in your body and in your spirit, which are God's." It is the design of our baptism and profession, and of all our experience of the operations of the Spirit of grace; and should be the scope of all our conversation and practice. But how shall we act in correspondence to this design, unless "we care for the things of the Lord, that we may be holy, both in body and spirit, diligently following every good work." We should study, whatever we do, to do all to the glory of God. And to this purpose it is necessary that we