tural confcience prompts men to believe, Rom. i. ult, and ii. 15. But the promife of life in the gofpel, depending allenarly on revelation, the belief of it refts on the truth of God only; yea, nature rifes up against it. The corrupt mind looks on it as foolishness; the corrupt will rejects it; the corrupt affections.mufter themfelves up againft it; and the natural confcience, the more it is awakened, the more hard it makes the belief of it. So the truth of God has all these to drive over, and pull down. Hence fays the Apoftle, 2 Cor. x. 4. 5. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds; cafting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Chrift.

3. In oppofition to the falfehood, vanity, and lyes of the world, which finners naturally betake themselves to.

ift, The world fwarms with lyes, and has always fince Satan hatched the firft lye in it. The things of the world are lyes, 1 John ii. 16.; the men of the world are lyars, Rom. iii. 4.; yea, the best of them a lye, Pfal. lxii. 9. There is no trufting of them, Jer. xvii. 5. 6.

2dly, The world itself is one great lye, Eccl. i. 2. Its appearances are unfair and deceitful; it appears to vain man quite another thing than it is; its fhadows appear fubftantial, and fo catch the unwary heart, Hof. xii. 1. 8. Yet it is that which is not, Prov. xxiii. 5. It is not what it seems to be. Its promises are falfe, it never performs them: the good things of it are always greater in expec

tation than fruition; they disappoint, which is ly ing in fcripture-ftyle, Hab. iii. 17.

Secondly, How cne betakes himself unto God's truth, which is that we should aim to bring the rifing generation to. It lies in these five things.

1. In a conviction of the vanity of the world, and its deceitful lufts. Hence fays David, Pfal. cxix. 96. I have seen an end of all perfection; but thy commandment is exceeding broad. The falfe and vain world offers itself as a fatisfying portion to the rifing generation, as soon as reason begins to dawn in them. To the infant it makes its court by the luft of the flesh in meat and drink; to the child by that, and the pride of life in cloathing; and it is long ere they know there is any thing better than these. To the youth it fpreads out its all, the luft of the flesh, the luft of the eyes, and the pride of life; and whatever notions of religion they may have in their heads, till grace open their eyes, they will never truly fee any thing to be better. Now, of the vanity of the world, that it will n never fatisfy, nor afford a reft to the heart; that its lufts are deceitful, and there is a ruining hook hid under that bait.

we fhould labour to convince the better. Now,

2. In renouncing of the world for a portion, and its lufts for our way, as being a broken reed, that will only not bear our weight, but run through the hand that leans on it. Hence it is faid, Jer. xvi. 19.-The Gentiles fhall come unto the Lord from the ends of the earth, and fhall fay, Surely our fathers have inherited lyes, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit. It is natural to man, and therefore to the rifing generation, to stick by it, and not to give over the purfuit; but after a thousand difappointments ftill to hope for better from

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from it, lvii. 10. And the little experience youth has, makes them the more ready to do so. But we should endeavour to bring them to part with it, as a hopeless thing they will never mend themfelves of, Pfal. iv. 2.

3. In believing that there is an upmaking portion held forth in the promise of the gofpel. This is the finding of the treafure hid in the field, Matth. xiii. 44. The carnal mind looks on the promife of the gofpel but as idle tales; it is a treafure hid in a field, which men go over without noticing what is in it, because they fee it not. But Chrift is there, and in him the fulness of the Godhead, and with him all things, enough to fatisfy the boundless defires of a foul. And could we bring the rifing generation really to believe this, we would do a great thing.

4. In trufting to the promife of the gofpel allenarly for life and happiness, and a reft to the heart, upon the ground of God's faithfulness. Here is the nature of faith, a betaking one's felf unto God's truth, by trufting to him in his word of promise for all, Ruth ii. 12. It implies thefe three things. The foul feeing there is in the promise what is not in all the creation, enough to answer all its needs, and to make it compleatly happy,

ift, Believes its own common intereft in the promife, that itself, as well as others, has access to claim it with all that is in it, and to rely on it as held out to him in particular to trust upon for his upmaking in time and eternity, Heb. iv. 1. 2. For no man can embrace the promise of the gofpel, that does not first fee himself warranted fo to do. And the nature of the prómife warrants all, John iii. 16. God fo loved the world, that he

gave his only begotten Son, that whofoever believeth in him, fhould not perish, but have everlasting life.

2dly, The man thereupon lays the weight of his happiness wholly on it, trufting that it fhall be made out to him, and expecting all happiness from it. Thus he buys the field, takes poffeffion of it, and the treasure hid therein, Matth. xiii. 44. This is the embracing of the promife, Heb. xi. 13. as one takes an honeft man's word for his fecurity, refts there, and looks no further. So what truft was before placed in the vain world, is now placed in the promife.

3dly, The ground on which he bottoms this his truft in the promife, is not any thing in himself, but the truth and faithfulness of God, Tit. i. 2. The man fees the promife is not yea and nay, as the promises of fickle men are; but that it is the word of God which is furer than heaven and earth, Heb. xi. 11. and yea in Chrift, 2 Cor. i. 20. And to this truft we should labour to bring the rifing generation, which is to bring them unto a reft for their reftless hearts, by bringing them to Chrift, and by him to God. When we fee hungry infants moving about with their mouths for fomething to fuck, natural affection teaches to fet them on the breaft but as they grow up, ye might obferve their hungry fouls moving up and down among the creatures for a fill, and ftill reftless because they cannot get it. It would be as great charity in that cafe, to endeavour to bring them to the breafts of divine confolations in the promife of the gospel.

5. lastly, In hoping and waiting for their happiness from the promife of the gospel. Hence fays the Apo

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file, Rom. viii. 24. 25. We are faved by hope: But hope that is feen, is not hope: for what a man feeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we fee not, then do we with patience wait for it. There is much got out of the promise, for the prefent, in hand; but ftill there is more in hope, to be got on the other fide of death. The natural cry is, Whe will fhew us any good? It is hard to make children wait even for temporal good things; they would ay have all presently, whenever they take it in their head but it is harder to get them to wait in the matter of a portion for their hearts. So they greedily embrace the prefent world. But we fhould labour to get them off that, and wait for happiness in another world.

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II. The means to be used with them for that end. That is, to make God known to them. He is to ny of the aged among men an unknown God, as to any faving aquaintance with him: but to young ones, be is an unknown God, fo much as by report or hearsay, till the aged do tell them of him. The faving knowledge of himself God only can give : but there is a doctrinal making of him known to the rifing generation: and that is our duty, Pfal. xxii. ult. They shall come, and fhall declare his righteoufnefs unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this.

Now, ye are to make him known to the rifing generation, as a God in Chrift, John xiv. 9.: for as fuch only he is the object of a guilty creature's truft for falvation, 2 Cor. v. 19. The blind world pretend to trust in God as an abfolute God, not eying him as in Chrift: but fo he is a confuming fire, Heb. xii. ult. And he is not honoured, but dishonoured