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ty acts. The former generation of the righteous, by keeping the law, contended with the wicked, and maintained the honour of God in the world; they rowed against the stream of an ungodly crew, in the face of perfecution, fining, confining, banishment, violent death, till they fell by death holding up the ftandard for the honour of God: and then they gave it to you, faying, The living, the living, he hull praife thee, as I do this day; the father to the children shall make known thy truth. On this I would fay,

ft, Ye must answer for the standard now. If it go now while ye live, your life fhall go for ever for it, though ye were left alone to hold it up: Pfal. Ix. 4. Thou haft given a banner to them that fear thee that it may be difplayed because of the truth. Mark viii. ult. Whofoever therefore shall be afhamed of me, and of my words, in this adulterous and finful generation, of him alfo fhall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels. Take heed then,, there is a facred truft committed into your hands; the generations of martyrs all along have conveyed it to you at the expence of their blood, it having been fet up firft at the expence of the blood of Chrift.

2dly, Ye muft either hold it up, or treacherouf ly defert into the enemies camp, formed to dif honour God. Hence fays our Lord, Matth. xii. 30. He that is not with me, is against me: and he that gathereth not with me, feattereth abroad. Many fet up for neutralifts; they go not into all excefs with the openly profane, but they are as far from making it the bufinefs of their life to honour God. God will rank fuch with his ene

mies: Pfal. cxxv. ult. As for fuch as turn afide un to their crooked ways, the Lord fhull lead them forth with the workers of iniquity.

3dly, The faints of former generations will condemn you, as a fpurious brood of treacherous men, that made fo little account of what they wared their all on to tranfmit to you: 1 Cor. vi. 2. Do ye not know that the faints hall judge the world? Ye do by your ungodly lives, difhonouring God, declare them fools: the day will come, that they will declare you fools, worthy to perifh for ever, though ye have come out of their loins: Rev. xix. 3. And again they faid, Alleluia. And her fmoak rose up for ever and ever.

3. The bufinefs of honouring God in the world. ye are to tranfmit to the fucceeding generation, fince it is the living, all along in a fucceffion of generations to the end of the world, that have accefs to the praifing of God. Hence fays the Pfalmift, Pfal. Ixxviii. 2. 3. 4. I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark fayings fold: which we have heard and known, and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, fhewing to the generation to come, the praises of the Lord; and his ftrength, and his wonderful works that he hath done. As ye have received the ftandard from the former, ye are to hand it down to the fucceeding generation; that when ye are gone, instead of the fathers, there may be the children. See to it then, what ye do, that God may be honoured when ye are in the duft.

If, It lies on every one of you to do for it something: Rom. xiv. 7. For none of us liveth to himfelf, and no man dieth to himself. Love to God

and

and your neighbour binds it on you; and none of you can want occafion for it, while ус live among perfons, fome of whom may live after you, and have a tongue to speak, and hands to act.

2dly, If ye do it not, the honour of God is far from your heart. They that have nothing of God to communicate to others fucceeding them, have nothing of God within themfelves. Grace is a fire, and fire will go about to fet on fire whatever is next it; fo that if it do not buin, it is because it is not combustible. In the creation of plants, every tree was made with its feed in itfelf: fo it is in the new creation of the trees of righteoufnefs, John iv. 29.

3dly, If ye do it not, ye lay a ftumbling block before the fucceeding generation, which they may be ruined by. The generation of Jews in Chrift's time rejecting the golpel, as they murdered Chrift, they have murdered fixteen or feventeen generations of their offspring fince. What will come of the fucceeding generation that looks to you, that live not to the honour of God? When God calls for the ftandard for his honour at their hand, they will fay, they never faw it; though that will not excufe them, it will aggravate your condemnation.

4. Know, that ye muft honour God in the world now or never: Eccl. ix. 10. Whatfoever. thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wifdom in the grave whither thou goeft. Now is the accepted time, wherein ye may act for your own falvation; mifs this time, and the door will be fhut on you never to be opened again, Prov. i. 24. &c. Now is the working time for the honour of God, wherein ye may do fomething for

God;

God; mifs it, and the occafion you will never more have. I would ask you,

ift, Does it concern you to honour God? or is it none of your bufinefs? If the Father created you, certainly ye are bound to live for his honour, Rom. xi. ult. If the Son redeemed you, there is a double tie on you to live for him who died for you, Philip. i. 21. If the Holy Ghost has fanctified you, he has dedicated, fitted, and difpofed you for it.

2dly, When will ye lay out yourself for it then? It is not a work to be done at any time, but confined to one time, the time of life. Hence faid

our Saviour, John ix. 4. I must work the works of him that fent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. Now the glass is set up to you there is much of it run, as ye may fee by looking to the lower end, the time ye have lived: the upper end ye cannot fee, what time ус have yet to live; bow foon it may run out then, ye know not. But it will never be turned for you. When the laft fand runs out, the word is given, The Mafter allows no more time for his work to you, Give account of your ftewardship.

5. laftly, Life is valuable, as giving accefs to honour God in the world. Hence fays Hezekiah in the text and context, H. xxxviii. 18. 19. The grave cannot praife thee, death cannot celebrate thee they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praife thee, as I do this day; the father to the children fhall make known thy truth. There are many impreffions of vanity on life. In itfelf by fin it is become a puff of wind, that paffeth away; a vapour fuddenly vanishing: it is like a poft for fwift paffage,

paffage, a dream for vanity, and a dunghill for vilenefs. It is the place of rendezvous for innumerable troubles and afflictions; and is a low ftation for an immortal foul, with much meannefs about it. There are only two things which it is valuable for, viz. that there is accefs in it, 1ft, To act for eternal falvation to ourselves, which the dead can no more do: 2. Cor. vi. 2.Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of falvation. And in this refpect' an hour's life may be worth a thoufand worlds, because eternity may depend on it, and heaven be fecured.

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2dly, To act for the honour of God in the world, John ix. 4. forecited, which the dead have no more access to. To a good man an opportunity of doing good is valuable, as to an ill man to do mischief. What folk love, they will value accefs to ferve: fo the finner values accefs to serve his lufts; and the faint to ferve his Lord, and his neighbour. So, on this confideration,

(1.) Life is carefully and honourably to be preferved, as a valuable thing; and not to be thrown away, by neglect of the means of its prefervation, or expofing it wilfully to means of deftruction: Exod. xx. 13. Thou shalt not kill.

(2.) The access to honour God in life, is to be laid in balance with the troubles of life, that' the former may downweigh the latter, by that overweight that God's honour bears to our ease: Philip. i. 20. According to my earnest expectation, and my hope, that in nothing I fhall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, fo now also Chrift hall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or by death.

(3.) It is nicely to be improven to its proper

ends,

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