IT is Impossible to ask a more Weighty Questi­on! It is Deplorable, that we hear it ask'd with no more Frequency, with no more Agony. The spirit of Slumber which the Poison of the Old Serpent has bro't upon the Children of men, is to be deplored Exceedingly. Awaken us out of this wonderful Stupidity, O God of all Grace, lest we Perish wonderfully!

My design is to bring in a good & a full Answer to this Weighty Question. Oh! how Thankful ought we to be, for the Glorious Gospel of the Blessed God, that makes us able to Answer it! The Gospel which we have in our hands, tis a Gospel of such astonish­ing Mystery, of such Heavenly Majesty, and of such Consummate Purity, that it can be no other than the Word of God; It must be of a Divine Original. Oh! highly Favoured People, who know this Joyful Sound! Oh! Unavoidably, & Inexcusably Wretch­ed, if we disregard it!

The Devils knew, That those Excellent Mini­sters of the Lord, Paul and Silas, were come to Phi­lippi, with a Design to answer this Weighty Question. [Page 2] They could not bear it; they fear'd it would issue in a Destruction upon their Kingdom there. They stirr'd up the minds of some Wicked People, to Abuse and Revile these Ministers, and run them into Prison. Some Wicked People were afraid, lest they should lose a little Money, by the coming of such Ministers among them; and the Devils in­spired those Muckworms to use incessant Endea­vours, until they had made these Ministers uncapa­ble of Preaching any more unto them. Our Glori­ous LORD appeared for His Faithful Servants. They Glorified Him, in the midst of their Trials. They Sang His Praises, under the Stripes & the Stocks which the Satanic Party inflicted on them. Oh! Patient Servants of the Lord! What a symptom have you, that you shall one Day Reign in Glory with Him! These Poor men Sang unto the Lord; the Lord heard them, and sav'd them! A terrible Earth­quake at Midnight shook open the Doors of their Prison. The Keeper that had the now superseded Keyes of the Prison, was terrified. In his Conster­nation, he falls down at the Feet of his Prisoners; he treats them no longer as Prisoners, but rather as Angels. He fervently puts to them the Question, which, Oh! that it were often heard with an equal Fervency among us! What must I do to be Saved?

Some Learned men think, that the Gaoler had, from the Traditions of their Philosophers, conceiv­ed some Hope of a Better Life; and seeing his Life here in danger, he does, as Distress'd Wretches in the last minutes of their Life use to do, Cry out for some Help to make sure of a Better Life. Or, [Page 3] more probably, the late words of the Possessed Young Woman in the Town, about these Mini­sters; These men are the Servants of the most High God, who shew unto us the way of Salvation; might run in his mind, and mind him of that Salvation, and make him think, whether these men were not appointed of God for the Instruction of others, in the way to that Salvation.

There is a most important matter, which must now be undertaken to be Demonstrated; ‘That whereas there must be Something done, by every man that would be Saved, it should be the Sollicitous Enquiry of every man, What must be done by him, that he may be Saved.’

We will proceed upon the Awakening Demon­strations of this thing; Demonstrations more power­ful than any Thunderbolts. Oh! that the Issue might be, that the Hearers may be Awakened, with a mighty Impression upon their Souls, to make the Enquiry, What must I do to be Saved?

I. You must Know, That there is a Great Salva­tion proposed unto the sinful Children of men; And you must Know, and Think, That there is nothing of so Great Concernment for any man, as to obtain a part in that Great Salvation.

Indeed, Knowlege is the first Thing, that is necessary in order to Salvation; And it is Abso­lutely Necessary, Unspeakably Necessary. We read, Hos. 4.6. of, People destroy'd for the lack of Know­lege. [Page 4] Ah! Destructive Ignorance; what shall be done, to chase thee out of the world! A world, which by thee is rendred a Dark World, the King­dom of Darkness! The Oracles of Wisdom, have assured us; The Soul without Knowlege is not Good; They have Assured us; They who Know not God, shall have a Vengeance, in Flaming Fire, taken of them; They have assured us; Tis Life Eternal, to Know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath sent. An Ignorance of the Gospel is attended with a long Train of Unknown, but very Evil Consequences. Tis the Gospel of Salvation; They that are Ignorant of it, must needs miss of Salvation. Tis an Erro­neous and Pernicious Principle, That a Man may be Saved in any Religion, if he do but Live according to it. The Unerring and Infallible Gospel, has Ex­presly taught us otherwise: 2 Cor. 4.3. If our Gos­pel be hid, it is hid unto them that be Lost.

It is not unseasonable here, and as Early as may be, to bring in that Admonition.

Knowlege, Knowlege; To get Good Knowlege, let that be the First Care of them that would be Saved. Knowlege, Tis a Principal Thing; My Child, Get Knowlege; with all thy might, Get Ʋnderstanding. Oh! That this Resolution might immediately be made in the minds of all our People; I will get as much Knowlege as ever I can!

The Word of God must be Read and Heard with Diligence, that so you may arrive to the Knowlege that is needful for you.

The Catechisms in which you have the Word of God fitted for your more easy Ap­prehension [Page 5] of it, must be diligently Studied

Unto all the other Means of Knowlege, there must be added, Humble and Earnest Supplications before the Glorious LORD. You must Cry to God for Knowlege, and lift up your Voice to Him for Understanding; Prefer it before Silver, before any Earthly Treasures.

There may be some so very Ignorant, that they know not how to Pray. I would advise them, to take the Hundred and Nineteenth Psalm. They will find in it, many a Prayer suited unto their Circum­stances. Take it, Use it, and particularly, those Petitions in it; Teach me, O Lord, the way of thy Statutes; and, Lord, Teach me Good Judgment & Know­lege; and, Lord, Give me Ʋnderstanding, that I may know thy Testimonies: Give me Ʋnderstanding and I shall Live. Take Encouragement from that word; and Plead it before the Lord: Jam. 1.5. If any of you lack Wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men Liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

And now, to pursue diverse Ends at once, I am to tell you; That the Main Things which tis neces­sary for you to Know, are the Things which concern Salvation.

More Particularly;

You must Know, First; From what you do need Salvation. And here;

First; You are to Know, That the One Eternal & Infinite God, who Subsisteth in Three Persons (or Aspects) which His Word calls, The Father & the Son, and the Holy Spirit; Created our First Parents, [Page 6] in an Holy and Happy State, at the End of the Six Days, in which He Created all thing.

But our First Parents hearkening to the Tempta­tions of Wicked Spirits, did Eat a Forbidden Fruit; and by that Sin, they Fell from God, and from their Holy and Happy State; And their Fall has brought their Children with them, into a State of Sin and Misery. Their Sin was Our Sin; From their Corrupt Nature we are Born into the world Envenom'd with such a Nature. The Death which the Broken Law of God threatned unto them, is due to us all: A Death which intends all Misery, not only in this World, but in Another, where our Souls continue Immortal, after they have left this world.

Then, You are to Know; That there is a Law given to us, which is the Everlasting Rule, according to which, God requires us to Glorify Him; a Law of Love to God and Man, contain'd in our Ten Commandments.

But, That you daily Break this Law; and that every Breach of it, incurs the Wrath of God, who is of Purer Eyes than to behold Evil, and cannot look upon Iniquity.

Lastly, You are to Know, That while you lie under the Guilt of Sin, you are also under the Reign of Sin; and under the Reign of Satan too; A most woful Oppression from the worst Enemies that can be. God is in Ill Terms with you; He Visits you not with His Great Consolations. All things are a­gainst you; The things that appear most for your Welfare, do but Ensnare you, do but Poison you, do but produce your further distance from God. [Page 7] Your very Prosperity hurts you; Your Adversity lays the Chains of Death upon you You are Every Mo­ment in danger, of being seised by the formidable Justice of God for Eternal Burnings. If you Dy Ʋnpardoned, you are sent among Devils, Damn'd unto Torments; must undergo a Strange Punishment, and a Long one, which is Reserved in a Future State, for the Workers of Iniquity.

Ah Sinner; This, This is thy Lamentable Case. And Knowing this, how canst thou do any other than make that Sollicitous Enquiry; What must I do to be Saved? Knowing this Terror of the Lord, Oh! be Perswaded.

You must Know, Secondly; By whom you may have Salvation.

And here;

You are to Know, The Great Mystery of Godliness, God manifest in Flesh ▪ Your Salvation depends, on your Knowing of such a Saviour.

We have not the least Intimation in the Book of God, That an Ʋnknown Saviour will be Ours. But it is dreadfully intimated, That if People have no Ʋnderstanding of Him, He that made them, will not have Mercy on them, and He that form'd them will show them no Favour.

You are then to Know; That the Son of God As­sumed the Blessed JESUS, the Sinless and Holy Son of a Virgin, into One Person with Himself.

And this Admirable Person, who is God and Man in One Person, has as our Surety, fulfill'd the Law of God for us; answered the Precept of it, in His Righteous Life; answered the Penalty of it, in His [Page 8] Grievous Death; Suffered the Cross, and Endured the Curse, in our stead.

You are to Know herewithal; That this Mighty and Matchless and Only Saviour of the world, who is also the Governour of the World, is Risen from the dead, and is Enthron'd in the Heavens, and will Re­turn to Rule and Judge the World; but He will Save unto the Ʋttermost, all that come unto God by Him.

Oh! Undone Sinner; Canst thou hear of such a Saviour, & not make that Sollicitous Enquiry, What must I do, that I may have an Interest in the Only Saviour?

You must Know, Thirdly; What shall be done for you, if you find Salvation. And here;

You are to Know, That no Good Thing shall be witheld from the Saved of the Lord.

Wonder, wonder; Be swallowed up with won­derment at this Grace, O self-Destroyed Ones!

There is Propos'd unto you, A Deliverance from all the undesirable Circumstances, into which you have run, by your Departure from God.

It is Propos'd unto you, That you shall no longer be the Children of Death, but be made the Children of God: That you shall be Forgiven and Accepted with a Reconciled God, and be follow'd with per­petual Testimonies of His Fatherly Love: That no Iniquity shall have Dominion over you; but you shall become the amiable Temples, wherein He will Dwell, with the sweet Influences of His Good Spirit forever irradiating of you.

It is Propos'd unto you; That you; Spirits, at your Dissolution, shall put on the Garments of Light, [Page 9] and enter into the Peace and Rest of an Heavenly Paradise: That your Bodies er'e long, by a Resur­rection shall be Restored unto your Spirits; but be the Lively, the Lovely, the most Agreeable and Everlasting Mansions for them: That you shall have a Joyful Portion in the City of God, and have His Marvellous Kindness forever doing unutterable Things for you, in that Strong City: There you shall at length be filled with all the Fulness of God, and have God become All in All unto you for ever and ever.

All this is contained in the Salvation whereof you have a Tender. Salvation, Tis a Comprehensive Word! an Incomprehensible Good! Eye has not seen, Ear has not heard, no Heart can conceive what is laid up in the Salvation of God.

Oh! Ruin'd Sinner; why does it not now be­come thy Sollicitous Enquiry; What must I do, that I may not lose the vast Things, whereto I am Invited by my Saviour?

These are the Things that must be Known. And if these Things be Known and Own'd, the plain Inference from them will be this; That the man is forsaken of Reason, unworthy to be called a Rea­sonable Man, who is not very Sollicitously Inquisi­tive; What must I do to be Saved?

But now, 'tis Time to answer that Great Enqui­ry. We will do it, by calling in a Second Proposition.

II. Something must be done by every man that would not Forfeit all Claim, Reject all Hope, of the Great Salvation.

[Page 10]And this also must be Known. You must Know what must be Done. And thereupon it shall be said unto you; Joh. 13.17. When ye know these things, Happy are you, if you do them. It is not E­nough, to Know; There must be Practice joyn'd with your Knowlege.

Something must be done; Else it had never been said, Heb. 5.9. Christ is the Author of Eternal Sal­vation, unto all them that Obey Him. Something must be done; Else we had never been told; Heb. 6.9. There are the Things that accompany Salvation.

We are often Instructed in the Sacred Writings, That there is a Way, wherein alone Salvation is to be Expected, A Way, called, The way of Life; and, The way of Truth; and, The way of the Lord; and, The way of Peace; and, The way of Good Men; and, The way of the Righteous. In this Way, Something must be done. There are Steps to be taken, that we may find this Way, and keep this Way; Tis the [...] Way; There is no Altering of it.

Something must be done; For, we are sure, All men are not Saved. There are some, who are Children of Perdition; There are some, who are Vessels of Wrath; There are some, who go away into Everlast­ing Punishment. Something must be done, to distin­guish you from that Crooked Generation. We Read, Mat. 7.14. Narrow is the way which leadeth unto Life, and few there be that find it.

Indeed there is Nothing to be done by us, to Merit our Salvation. But Something must be done to Secure our Salvation.

[Page 11]Indeed there is Nothing to be done by us, in our own Strength. But Something must be done by us, thro' Christ who strengthens us.

More Plainly. Our Blessedness now comes not unto us, on the Terms of a Covenant of Works. Tis not properly our Doing, that is the Condition of our Blessedness. We are to be Saved by Taking, rather than by Doing, The Condition is, Receive and be Saved. Or Be willing to be Saved. We speak of Doing, in the Largest sense of the word; and we still say, Something must be done, that we may be Saved.

Let the QUESTION then come in. And, Oh! Bring it in, with all the Sollicitude, which were proper for, The Greatest Concern in the World; ‘What must I do to be Saved?’

I have seen this Question Scandalously answered. in Pamphlets, that have been dispersed about our Nation. The One Thing that is Needful has been left unregarded, unmention'd; Perhaps, the obser­vation of certain Superstitious Holidays, has been re­commended instead of that One Thing. Alas, How have the Souls of men been Betray'd, by men Ʋn­skilful in the Word of Righteousness! How Unskil­fully, and Unfaithfully have the Methods of Salva­tion been declared, by many who Pervert the Gospel of Christ! Not so now, I hope! A Pure Gospel, a Sound Doctrine, must be pursu'd. You are now to be treated with nothing but wholesome Words; nothing but the Faithful Sayings of God.

[Page 12]I. And what Better, what other Answer can be given, Other Foundation, can no man Lay! to this QUESTION, but what the Apostles of God gave to it of old? When the Poor man said, What must I do to be Saved? We read, They said, BELIEVE ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST, AND THOU SHALT BE SAVED. This is the Sum of the Gospel; This is the Charge given to the Mi­nisters of the Gospel; Mar. 16.15, 16. Preach the Gospel to every Creature; He that Believeth shall be Saved. Faith in the Lord JESUS CHRIST, who is the Only Saviour; This, This must be found in all that will be Saved: The FAITH, which is, A Sa­tisfaction of the mind in the way of Salvation by a Glori­ous CHRIST, Revealed in the Gospel: The FAITH, by which we Deny our selves, and Rely on a Glorious CHRIST, for all Salvation: The FAITH, by which we Receive a Glorious CHRIST, and Rest on Him for Salvation, as He is Offered unto us.

But how must this FAITH Operate in all that would be Saved?

Oh! Set your Hearts to these things; they are not Vain Things; Your Lives, the very Lives of your Souls are concerned in them. If your Hearts may now fall in with these things, and be form'd and shap'd according to the Evangelical Mould of them, lo, This Day Salvation is come unto your Souls. Glo­rious LORD, Incline the Hearts of our People, to do what must be done, that so thy Salvation may be bestow'd upon them.

[Page 13]First; This must be done; You must come to be bitterly sensible, that you want a Glorious CHRIST for your Saviour. We read, Joh. 7.37. If any man Thirst, let him come unto me. Truly, no man will come to a CHRIST, until a Thirst, or a Pungent and Painful sense of the Want of a CHRIST, be raised in him. You must feel the Burden of your Sin, lying on you; and Cry out, Oh! Tis an heavy Burden, too heavy for me! You must see GOD Angry with you Sin Binding of you, Hell Gaping for you; and utterly Despair of Helping your selves out of the Confusion that is come upon you. You must be fill'd with Sorrow, for what you have done; with Horror at what you are Expos'd unto. The Cry of your Uneasy Souls must be that; Rom. 7.24. O wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me!

You must be no strangers to such Soliloquies as these; ‘I have Sinned, I have Sinned; And, Wo is unto me, that I have Sinned. I have Lost the Know­lege of GOD, and Lost the Image of GOD, and Lost the Favour of GOD. My Sin renders me obnoxious to the Vengeance of GOD. Lust En­chants me, Enslaves me; Satan Tyrannizes over me. I am in Hourly Hazard of an Eternal Banishment from GOD, into Outer Darkness, into the place of Dragons. Oh! Wretched man that I am: I can do nothing to deliver my self. I Perish, I Perish, except a Glorious CHRIST be my Deliverer.’

The Degree of this Distress, on the minds of them that shall be Saved is Various. There is a Variety in that Preparatory work, which does Distress the [Page 14] Elect of God, in their coming to a Saviour. Converts do sometimes needlesly Distress themselves, and even Deceive themselves, by insisting too much on the Measure of this Preparation. But so much of this work, as will render us Restless without a CHRIST; so much of this work, as will render a whole CHRIST Precious to us; Be sure, there must be so much in our Experience, if we would be Saved.

Secondly, This must be done, You must Confess your selves Unable to do any thing Effectually of your selves, in coming to a Glorious CHRIST, as your Saviour. With a Fearful Trembling of Soul, you must make this Profession; Lord, Thou workest in us to Will and to Do, of thy own Good Pleasure! Your Pro­fession must be that; Eph. 2.8. By Grace are ye Saved, thro' Faith, and that not of your selves: it is the Gift of God. Your Profession must be that; Joh. 6.65. No man can come, except it be given to him. Oh! Ly at the Foot of Sovereign Grace, Confessing and Imploring; ‘Lord, I am justly Destroy'd, if I do not sincerely Renounce my Sin, sincerely Embrace my Saviour. But I cannot, Oh! I cannot! I have Deadly Fetters upon my Soul. I shall never answer thy Gracious Calls, except thy Sovereign Grace Ena­ble me. Oh! Quicken me: Oh! Strengthen me: Oh! Enable me; Turn thou me, & I shall be Turned.’

Your Impotency must not now be made an Excuse for your Impenitency. Your Inability must Affright you Exceedingly, Affect you Exceedingly; It may not Excuse you in a slothful Negligence. You must not remain Careless of doing any thing, because you [Page 15] can thoroughly do nothing. Having first Cry'd un­to GOD, that He would help you to do, what you have to do, you must now Try to do it; Now Try, whether He do not help you to do it.

Thirdly; This must be done; You must Admire, You must Adore, You must Address, a Glorious CHRIST, in all His Offices, for all His Benefits. Oh! Hear a Compassionate Redeemer calling to you, Isa. 45.22. Look unto me, all ye Ends of the Earth, and be ye Saved. Comply, Reply; Lord I look unto thee: I will be Thine, save me!

And here, You are to Remember, that the First Thing you want, is, Atonement and Acceptance with GOD. For this purpose, You must Behold a Glorious CHRIST, as a Priest, bringing a Sacrifice, and making a Righteousness for you. Accordingly, Your First Address to Heaven must be this; ‘Lord, Let my many and horrid Sins be Forgiven me, for the sake of that Great Sacrifice, which thou hast had in the Blood of Jesus Christ thy Son, which Cleanseth from all sin. And, Lord, Let me, who am a poor Sinner, utterly hopeless of work­ing out for my self a Righteousness, now stand be­fore thee in the wondrous Righteousness, of that Lord who is the Head of His Church, & who has wro't out a Spotless Righteousness for us.’

But, Remember to Depend on this most suffici­ent Sacrifice and Righteousness, not as Qualified for it by any Good Thing to be observed in your selves. Do not stay from it, on a prospect anon to come Recommended unto it, by some Commendable Goodness in your selves first attained. No, Depend and [Page 16] Venture upon it, as Encouraged by no other Quali­fication but this; A most Miserable sinner; yet Invited, yea, Compelled unto this Mercy of the Lord!

Well; If the Faith which has got thus far, be not a Counterfeit, it won't stop here. You must Behold a Glorious CHRIST, as a Prophet and a King. Faith has other Errands unto the Saviour, besides that of, A Desire to be Justified. A true Believer will not count himself Saved, if he be not Sanctified, as well as Justified.

The Saviour puts this Demand unto you; Mat. 20.32. What will ye that I shall do unto you? You Answer; ‘O my Great SAVIOUR, I come unto thee, that by thy being my Sacrifice, & my Righte­ousness, and my Advocate, Everliving to make In­tercession for me, I may be Saved unto the Uttermost.’

But this must not be All. There must be This in the Answer; ‘O my Saviour, I come unto thee for Instruction: Let thy Spirit with thy Word, cause me to Know the Things of my Peace, and keep me from all Delusions.’

And there must be This in the Answer. ‘O my Sa­viour; I come unto thee for Government: Let thy Spirit of Grace, Conquer the Enmity of my Heart a­gainst the things that are pleasing to God; & make me a Conqueror over all my spiritual Adversaries.’

This is that Faith, whereof the End is the Salva­tion of the Soul. Believe after this manner, and you Believe to the saving of the Soul.

II. But we may carry on the Answer, without being Reproved, for Adding any thing unto the Words [Page 17] of God. A true Faith, will always have Repentance accompanying of it. Repentance unto Life; Tis a Dead Faith which cannot show it; A Dead Soul that has it not. A Genuine Faith is always a Repenting Faith. We see the Two Sisters hand in hand; Act. 20.21. Repentance toward God, and Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. We constantly see it in the Ex­perience of all the Faithful. Tis the Denomina­tion of Repentance; 2 Cor. 7.10. Repentance to Sal­vation. It must be found in all the Candidates of Salvation. Well then;

First; This must be done; You must heartily and bitterly Bewayl all your Sins. Your Original Sin, your Actual Sin, the monstrous Aggravation of your Sin; You must be Convinced of it. A Contrition must follow this Conviction; With a Broken Heart you must Cry out, Psal. 38.18. I will declare my Iniquity, I will be sorry for my Sin. You must Mourn for your Sin; and Mourn for the Offence given to God by your Sin as well as for the Mischief done to your selves: Mourn, Mourn, and never count that you have Mourned Enough.

Secondly; This must be done; You must make a Penitent Confession of your Sins; a Remorseful Con­fession of them. All your Known Crimes, you must as Particularly as you can, Enumerate with shame and grief before the Lord. You must be able to say; Psal. 51.3. I Acknowlege my Transgressions, and my Sin is ever before me. Your Acknowlegement of your Secret Sins, must be only to the LORD: But where your Sins are Known, where your Neigh­bours have been either Sufferers by, or Witnesses of [Page 18] your Miscarriages, They also should Know that you Acknowlege them.

Thirdly; This must be done ▪ Every way of Sin must be Abhorred, must be Avoided, must be For­saken. Amendment is Essential to Repentance: Ex­cept you Reform, you don't Repent. So you are warned of God; Prov. 28 13. He that Confesseth and Forsaketh shall find Mercy. If you go on in any Evi­dent way of Sin, you will find it a Way of Death, a Path of the Destroyer; it will bring to a Damnation that slumbreth not. Very Tremendous Things will be done to those Enemies of God, who, Go on still in their Trespasses. Have you done Amiss? You must say, I will do so no more. You must not Persist in what you have done.

And hence, If you have Wrong'd another man in what you have done, you must Vigorously En­deavour all possible RESTITUTION. Restitution, a Thing too little Understood, too little Exhort­ed, too little Practised; Restitution, without which there can be no Right Repentance.

This is the Repentance, which is found in every True Believer; It must be found in every one that would be Saved.

III. And, Holiness, Holiness; A Patient Continu­ance in Well-doing. There is no Life in the Faith, which is not Productive of an Holy Life; Tis not a Faith, which will bring to Everlasting Life. If the Grace to Believe on the Lord JESUS CHRIST, be infused into the Soul, the Habit of every other Grace is at the same Instant infused. I will show you [Page 19] the Motto on the Golden Gates of the Holy City; Heb. 12.14 Without Holiness no man shall see the Lord. An Holy Life, a Life pressing after Universal and Perpetual Conformity to the Rules of Holiness; This, This is the Royal Path leading to Salvation; Yea, tis no little Part of our Salvation.

Wherefore, This must be done; You must Resign your selves up unto the Holy Spirit of the Lord; Consent, Request, Entreat, That He would Eter­nally take Possession of you. From the Dust, Cry unto Him; Psal. 141.10. Thou art my God; Thy Spirit is Good; Lead me unto the Land of Rectitude. Cry unto Him; ‘O SPIRIT of Holiness, Raise me out of the Ruines that my Sin has brought upon me. Possess me for ever▪ Cause me to Fear God, and Love Christ, and Hate Sin, and Sleight this world, and know my self, and make me meet for the Inheritance of the Saints in Light: Bring me to be one of Them, I Pray thee, I Pray thee!’ There is a Good Foundation of Holiness, laid in this Resig­nation.

But then; This must be done; You must Livelily pursue the Death of every Sin. You must fly to the Death of your Saviour, as the Purchase and the Pat­tern of so Great a Blessing. But you must count it a very Great Blessing; Count no Trouble too much to be undergone, that you may come at such a Blessing. This is that Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

This must be done; You must set before your selves the Example of your Saviour; Study how He was in the world; Study to walk as He walked; [Page 20] mightily Delight in every stroke of Resemblance unto Him; Yea, tho' it be in Sufferings that you Resemble Him. This is that Holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

This must be done; You must by a solemn Dedica­tion of your Selves and your All unto the LORD, be­come the Lords. It must therefore be your Desire to have all your Talents, all your Possessions, and En­joyments and Interests, Employ'd for the Honour of the Lord: And owning the Lord, as the Great Giver, and Owner, the Lord-Proprietor of all that you have, you must be ready to submit unto the Will of God, when He pleases with afflictive Dis­pensations, to take any of it from you. This is that Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

This must be done; You must Remember, That the Eye of the Omnipresent GOD is upon you. You must often bring this to Remembrance, God sees me, hears me, knows me, is acquainted with all my ways. A sense of your being under the Notice of God, and of the Account unto which you shall be called by God, must make you Afraid of incurring His Displeasure; Afraid, even of Secret Miscar­riages. This is that Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

This must be done; You must make it your Exercise to keep a Conscience clear of Offence towards God, and towards Man. You must labour to be acquainted with your whole Duty; And your Acquaintance with the Will of God, must be follow'd with proporti­onable Desires and Labours after Obedience to it. You must Pray always, with all Prayer; with Secret [Page 21] Prayer, with Houshold Prayer, with Publick Prayer: You must have an high Value for those Two Sacraments of the New-Testament; the Baptism and the Supper of the Lord. You must Religiously Observe the Lords Day. You must preserve your own Place, & Life, and Bed, and Wealth, and Name; You must with the same sincerity befriend your Neighbours also in Theirs: Love your Neighbours as your selves. And, Do as you would be done unto. You must be especially and mightily Conscientious of Relative Christianity: Carry it well in all the Relations, where­in the Lord has placed you, whether Superiors, or Inferiors, or Equals: with such a Carriage, as may adorn the Doctrine of God your Saviour; Such a Car­riage, as may render your Correlates the better for you. Briefly, You must Deny all Ungodliness and Worldly Lusts, and live Godlily, and Soberly and Righ­teously in the World. This is that Holiness without which no man shall see the Lord.

Methinks, A most Obvious Inference may be drawn from these Things; That the Ministry of the Gospel must be Attended, and not Neglected, by them who would not Neglect the Great Salvation; A most awful Inference, That it is a Dangerous Thing to Live without the Means of Salvation, which are in the Ministry of the Gospel; ordinarily to be met withal. The Wells of Salvation are kept open in such a Ministry. Oh! Do not undervalue the Bles­sings of those Upper Springs; There are men, who by the Command of a Glorious CHRIST, give them­selves up unto the Service of the Evangelical Mini­stry, and are the Preachers of the Gospel unto the rest [Page 22] of the world: An Order of men concerning whom our Glorious Lord has promised, Mat. 28.20. Lo, I am with you, always to the End of the world. If an Angel should come from Heaven unto you, as unto Cornelius once, to speak unto this Question, What must I do to be Saved? He would unquestionably say, Repair to such a Ministry; Don't think to live without it.

We have settled the Point; Without Faith we can have no Salvation. But I assume; Rom. 10.14, 17. How shall they Believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a Preacher? Faith comes by Hearing, & Hearing by the Word of God. Oh! That the Ʋngospellized Plantations, which Live, I should rather say, which Dy, without the Means of Salvation, would Consider of it!

Your Question is Answered. O Souls in Peril, I may now say unto you; 1 Cor. 15.2. You are Saved, if you keep in memory what I have Preached unto you. And yet I must say unto you, That if after all, you Trample upon these things, it will be Good for you, that you had never been born; the very mention of them will dreadfully increase & inflame your Con­demnation. But the Success of all, must be left with the Glorious ONE. And, O Father of Mer­cies, Do thou Mercifully Look down upon the Soul that has heard these things; Dispose and Assist that Soul, to do those Good Things, upon which thou hast Promised the Salvation of the Soul; I Pray thee, I Pray thee!