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work: the Spirit of God is put within them, to cause them to walk in the ftatutes of the Lord, and to keep his judgments and do them'. They are strengthened by him with all might in their inward man for this purpose. Befides, they are created in Christ Jefus unto good works; they are made new creatures in him, and by him for that end; they are branches in him the vine, and by virtue of union to him, and through abiding in him, bring forth fruit; without whom they can do nothing, though all things through him ftrengthening them: to add no more, they are believers in Chrift; and fo, as they are under obligation as fuch to be careful to maintain good works ", they are the only persons that can perform them in faith, without which a man can do nothing that is pleafing to God. Faith is an operative grace, it works by love, and is always attended with the fruits of righteousness and good works; for good works, as one calls them, are fecond acts neceffarily flowing from a life of faith.

Secondly, There are fome things particularly, which are to be done according to the times in which the Ifrael of God live, or are in prospect of. In the annual discourse for the last year, and which has been published, I obferved to you that the times in which we are, are thofe of the Sardian church, which represents the reformed churches; and the latter part of those times; in which that church, and those it is an emblem of, would have no more than the name of one, or the name of religion and chriftianity, without the life and power of it; and but few whofe garments would be undefiled; and when there would be a letting go, and departing from the doctrines of the reformation, before heard and received; and which exactly describe the times in which we live and therefore what is recommended to that church, as what ought to be done by them, should be observed by us; be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die:-remember therefore how thou haft received and beard, and bold faft, and repent. And,

1. We ought to be watchful. This concerns not only minifters of the word, whofe fpecial business it is to watch over themselves and others, to take heed to themselves, and to their doctrine, and to take care of the flock, over which they are placed as overfeers, and fee to it, that they are fed with wholesom food, and are not infected with falfe doctrine; but this is incumbent on members of churches alfo; what is here exhorted to belongs to them, as our Lord said to his disciples; what I fay unto you, I say unto all, watch *; against sin and the prevailing vices of the age, Satan and his temptations, falfe teachers and their pernicious doctrines; we live in enfnaring times, and therefore ought to be on our watch and guard. Times of great profaneness and immorality, in which not only the men of the world, but profeffors of religion, give themfelves

Eph. ii. 10.

12 Tim. ii. 21.
• Ezek. xxxvi. 27.
▾ Ames. Medulla Theolog. 1. 2. c. 7. § 35.

× Mark xiii. 37.

" Titus iii. 8.

selves great liberties, and indulge to a yain converfation; and the more wicked the times are, the more cautious fhould we be, that we are not drawn afide by ill examples; and the more fo, as they are fet by fuch that profess the fame name we do. Satan is very bufy in laying fnares in the way of a profeffing people, in using all devices, and wiles, and ftratagems, to decoy them from the paths of truth and righteousness; wherefore we ought to watch and pray, that we enter not into temptation: false teachers are every where lying in wait to deceive, and therefore we ought to guard against them, and be careful that our minds are not corrupted by them, from the fimplicity that is in Chrift; and that we are not carried away with the error of the wicked; and feeing the end of all things is at band, not only of the world, and the things of it in general, but of that church-state in which we are in particular; let us therefore be fober, and watch unto prayer.

The word here ufed in the exhortation to the church at Sardis, is by fome rendered awake; which fuggefts it to be a time of night, and fo of fleepiness, as indeed it is now with us; they that fleep, fleep in the night; night coming upon us, we are fallen afleep; we are like the virgins, wife and foolish, who while the bridegroom tarried, not coming fo foon as expected, all flumbered and Sept; very little lively exercife of grace, or fervent discharge of duty; great coldness, lukewarmness, indifference, and backwardness to spiritual exercises; much fluggishness and flothfulness, and a general contentment at moft in the outward form of religion; it is high time therefore to awake out of fleep, left the day of Christ fhould come upon us unawares. The exhortation of the apostle is very fuitable to us; awake thou that fleepest, and arife from the dead, and Chrift fhall give thee light which words are not spoken to dead finners, but to fleepy, drowfy profeffors, got into the company of carnal men, dead in fins, from whofe conversation, which encourages a drowsy frame, they are called. And now being called to awake, and being awake, we ought to keep fo, and not fall asleep again, and the rather, since the grand enemy of Christ and his churches, is bufy in fowing his tares of falfe doctrines, which to do is now his proper time and opportunity; while men flept, his enemy came and fowed. tares f.

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2. Strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: meaning not fo much good works, though these may be faid to be dying in our day, as to the performance of them, and may be faid to be strengthened, when men are diligent to do their firft works; nor the graces of the spirit, for however these in appearance may seem expiring, when not in exercise, yet in reality they cannot die, being the immortal incorruptible feed of the Spirit of God; befides, it is the Lord's work to ftrengthen thefe; rather the truths of the gospel, preached

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at the beginning of the reformation with great vigour and liveliness, but now almoft loft, dead, and buried; and therefore, fhould be reftored, established, and confirmed: but it seems best of all to understand the words of the members of this church-ftate, the Tao, the reft of them, thofe that are left of the great number of them that have apoftatized, and are yet in a fickly state, ready to give up their religion and profeffion; like those in the Corinthian church, of whom the apostle says, many are weak and fickly among you, and many sleep® : some were wholly gone, had entirely apostatized, and others were weak and tottering, and ready to give up all; now means fhould be used, and attempts made to recover thefe perfons, whilft there is any hope of them, to bring them back from whence they have partially departed, to invigorate them with zeal for Christ, and to establish them in the truths of the gofpel; as our Lord faid to Peter, when thou art converted, ftrengthen thy brethren".

3. Remember how thou haft received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. Call to mind the doctrines of the reformation, how they were received when first heard; with what attention and reverence they were liftened to; with what affection and joy they were received, though now defpifed, difcarded, loft and buried in forgetfulness; fuch as justification by the righteoufnefs of Chrift, pardon by his blood, and atonement by his facrifice: and you that know the worth and value of those truths, and still have them in esteem, bold them fast, do not let them go, do not part with them at any rate, no not the leaft branch of truth; give up nothing; if you would keep the enemy from within, preserve your outworks, ftand by them, quit not even fuch as may feem of the leaft importance; difpute every inch of ground; give not way in any thing, nor for any time, no not for an hour, that the truth of the gospel may continue with you': it is this giving up of one thing after another that is the ruin of us; what is the reafon that Deifm has had such a spread among us of late years? Among the reft, not only is it owing to the books wrote against chriftianity, but to the weak answers to them, and feeble defences of it; one truth of the Bible being given up after another, till at length there is scarce any thing left worth contending for. And so it is in other controversies among those that are called christians; fomething is generally given up on the fide of truth, for which the writer is complimented as an ingenuous man, and a man of good fenfe: this proves a fnare to him, and whenever he writes again, he will give up fomething more to confirm his character; or another will start up, and take the fame method, obferving which way the the stream of reputation runs; whilft those on the other fide fecretly laugh at them: and thus are we likely to be wheedled and cajoled out of truth, by artful and defigning men, on one hand, and through the weakness of fome, on the other and we fhall have more and more of this giving i Gal. ii. 5.

1 Cor. xi. 30.

Luke xxii. 32.

giving up of truth, as the night we are entered into grows darker and darker; what therefore we ought to do, is, to get what gofpel-light and knowledge we can, and keep what we have, and part with none; but repent of our coldness and indifference to gospel-truths, our inattention to them, forgetfulness of them, and unfruitfulness by them, and do our first works of faith, love, and zeal and to these things, we ought to do in the present times, may be added, what the apostle directs to, when he fays; watch ye, ftand faft in the faith, quit you like men, be strong; the former of these exhortations is the same as before given, and the reft agree. Wherefore,

4. Stand faft in the faith; in the grace of faith, and in the doctrine of it, and in the profeffion of both: do not depart from the faith of the gospel, though you live in times that others do; and have lived to see the times foretold, that fome fhould depart from the faith, giving heed to feducing fpirits'; but in these departing times let it be your honour to stand faft without wavering; be not moved away from the hope of the gospel; from the gospel itself, and that hope which it gives of falvation by Jesus Christ, and eternal life through him; stand faft in one SpiritTM: let your whole foul and spirit be in the gospel, and be zealously affected to it, and be united in your endeavours to promote it; ftriving together for the faith of it against the common enemy; contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the faints"; which is attempted to be wrefted out of your hands, and is in great danger of being fo. Let none of those things move you from your close adherence to it, which are objected to it, or you meet with on account of your profeffion of it. Abide by it, though the greater number of men is against it, and those the rich, the wife, and learned; and though it may be charged with novelty and licentioufnefs, and attended with reproach and perfecution. 5. Quit ye like men; play the man; behave like men of courage and valour; be valiant for the truth upon the earth; do as the guard about Solomon's bed did; let every man have his sword upon his thigh because of fear in the night : it is a night-season with you already, and it will be darker ftill; you will hear the noise of the enemy, be not terrified at it; guard against the fears that may seize and furprize you; fight the Lord's battles manfully: if the foundations be deftroyed, what can the righteous do? What indeed will they have to work or build upon, or even stand on, when the foundation of all faith, hope, peace, and joy is removed? But then they should not look on as idle and unconcerned spectators of these things: what can the righteous do? They fhould build up as fast as the others pull down; do as Nehemiah and his people did, work with one hand, and hold a weapon with the other; a trowel in one hand, and a sword in the other.

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6. Be strong; not in yourselves, but in the Lord, and in the power of his might, in the grace that is in Chrift Jefus; go to him for ftrength under every trial and exercife, to carry you through every service and fuffering for his namefake; and to oppofe every enemy, and to maintain your ground against them. Go not forth in your own ftrength, but depend on him, and his grace, which is fufficient for you; encourage yourselves in the Lord your God; let not your fpirits fink, your hearts fail, and be discouraged; but take heart, be of good courage; confider you are engaged in a good cause, fight under the great captain of your falvation; you may be sure of victory in the end, and that the iffue will be a crown of life and righteousness: wait on the Lord; in the way of his appointments, which is your duty, with patient fubmiffion to his will, until the time of your deliverance and falvation comes, and he will ftrengthen your heart'; fortify your minds against fear and danger.

7. Keep close to the word of God; make that the rule and standard of your faith and practice; believe not every Spirit, or every man that pretends to be a spiritual man, and to have the Spirit of God; do not believe every thing he says under that pretence, but try the fpirits whether they are of God; try the fpiritual doctrines he profeffes to deliver by the word of God; do as the noble Beraans did, who fearched the fcriptures daily whether these things were fo", as they were represented by the apostles; and the more reason there is for fuch care ant caution, because many false prophets are gone out into the world, and deceive men, and destroy their fouls by their falfe doctrine; to the law, and to the testimony, to the doctrine of the gospel teftified in the facred writings, bring every thing they fay, and examine it by: if they speak not according to this word; if their doctrines do not agree with it, cannot be proved and confirmed by it, it is because there is no light in them"; though they may pretend to great light, and even revelations from the Lord, yet if what they deliver cannot be seen by the light of the divine word, their light is but darkness: the word of the Lord is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path; and you would do well to make use of it; and when is a lamp or light more proper for use, than in a night-feafon? The night is coming on, therefore take your lamp and light in your hand, the word of God, and walk by it: this is the more fure word of prophecy, by which you may fafely go; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that fbineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-ftar arife in your hearts; whilft the night you are in continues, and until the morning comes, and the day breaks by the glorious appearing of the Sun of righteoufnefs; or, in other words, until the fpiritual reign of Chrift begins."

8. Abide

• Pfalm xxvii. 14.

w Ifai. viii. 20.

t 1 John iv. 1. * Pfalm cxix. 105.

Acts xvii. 11. y 2 Peter i. 19.

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