encourage us to forfake our fins; they abuse his grace in that inftance, to encourage them to continue in them: Which is, to contemn the goodness of God, and despise the mercy they fhould adore. And fo Saint Paul himself fuggefts: Despiseft thou the riches of his goodness, and forbearance, and long-fuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

To which we may add, the great imprudence of the delay of reformation, whatever may be the occafion of it. For, that a man, who is born to die, and after death muft come to judgement, fhould put off repentance till the morrow, when for aught he knows he may die to-day, and eternally perish for want of it, is fuch an imprudence and neglect, as we could never believe any one would be guilty of, if we did not find it evident in experience.

The genuine ufe of that liberty, whereunto God hath called us by the gospel, is, to use the freedom that God hath given us from the many and fcrupulous laws of Mofes, as a motive to a freer compliance with the excellent precepts of the gospel; VOL. IV. H always

always remembering, that these precepts defign not our bondage, but our freedom. For, is it bondage, to live in the faith and hope of a world to come? Is it bondage to be juft and temperate? Is it bondage to be kind and innocent? And, in fhort, is it any bondage to love God with all our hearts, and to love our neighbour as ourfelves? No,' this is bondage, to ferve our appetites, and to lose the government of ourselves, and the command of our own actions, by their unreafonable importunities. There is no fuch' thraldom in the world, as to be denied the very liberty of purfuing that, which our own reafon, our own confcience approves as good, and avoiding that which it difal lows. And this is the liberty which our fins deny to us; namely, the liberty to ufe ourfelves for our own advantage, in things of the greatest weight and moment, in the concerns of the world to come.

And now, to conclude all: Let us make a right ufe of that liberty, in which our bleffed Lord hath placed us. Since God, through the mediation of Jefus Chrift, is pleased to admit us to repentance, and,

upon

upon repentance, to pardon of fin and eternal life; let us make acknowledgement of this his grace, by the diligent practice of that duty, which hath the affured promise of it: Neither refufing, nor delaying, where our duty to our fovereign Lord, and gratitude for his grace and mercy, and prudence and charity to ourselves, oblige us both to fpeed and diligence.

H 2 SERMON

SERMON VI.

The Juft fhall live by Faith.

[From Dr. OWTRAM.]

HEB. X. part of the 38th verfe.

T

The just fhall live by faith.

HE author of this epiftle tells us elsewhere, that faith is the fubftance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not Seen: for if they are seen, it is then not faith, but knowledge. For belief is of several kinds :

1. There is a belief grounded upon probable reason, upon likely and promifing arguments, which yet are not certain nor evident, but may poffibly be false though they seem true; and this belief is called opinion.

2. There is a belief grounded upon certain and evident reafons, wherein if a