namely, whom you are called to receive; and how the moft part of the world are rejecting Chrift; and what you fhall receive if you receive Chrift; and what you muft receive if you receive not Chrift? Do you think all these things fancies, or realities? If the devil be tempting you to think they are but fancies: I tell you, in the name of the great God, that they are realities: and you fhall find them fadly to be fo, when death's cold fweat begins to break upon you; when your eye-ftrings begin to loofe and the union between the foul and body begins to be diffolved, and you called to go to the tribunal of God. O man then, to-day, while it is called to-day, harden not your heart as in the provocation. Do Do you know that you shall hear another offer of Chrift again? Nay, all the world cannot affure you, that you fhall have another Sabbath-day; nor certify you that you fhall have

a to-morrow.

I think there is as much weight in what hath been faid, as may, at least, engage you, when you go home, to go to your knees, and cry, Lord, what a fad cafe " am I in while without Chrift! O give me Chrift, or elfe I die! O give me the spirit of faith, that I may re'ceive Chrift! for I perifh eternally without Christ!'May the Lord himself awaken and quicken you.

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SERMON

COLOS. ii. 6.

XLII.

As ye bave received Chrift fefus the Lord, fo walk ye in bim.

[The Ninth Sermon on this Text.]

S it is not fafe walking clofe by the fea-fide, when the waves are tumbling out upon the fhore; so it is not fafe to walk in this world, according to the course thereof, when the deluge of God's wrath is certainly VOL. III.

breaking

breaking out upon it: it is the fafeft courfe to get into the Ark, and walk therein. In this golpel there is an Ark provided, even Chrift; and there is a window cpened in the fide of this Ark; yea, the hand of mercy put forth at this window, to pull in fhelterlefs doves, that can find no reft elfewhere. Many hover without, till the flood wash them off from the fidcs of the Ark, and they perish eternally: but happy they that are taught to fly in, by the wing of faith; and this is what here we are called to, namely, to receive Chrift Jefus the Lord, and fo to walk in him.

In the preceding difcourfe, we mentioned four motives to engage you to receive Chrift. We now proceed to the other two. The firft of which we fhall difmifs at the time.

[5.] The fifth motive we adduce is, Confider the malignity of unbelief in rejecting Chrift, or not receiving of him, as he is offered to us in the gofpel. Now, the malignity of unbelief will appear, if you confider both the finfulness and the hurtfulness of it.

(1.) The finfulness, of unbelief in rejecting Chrift, and not receiving him. If a man be guilty of murder, adultery, or the like, presently he is odious, and juftly looked upon as a monftrous finner; but yet your fin of unbelief goes a step beyond all thefe, if you duly confider it; for, when the Holy Ghoft is fent to convince the world of fin, John xvi. 9. he pitches upon this fin, as if there was no other that the world needed to be convinced of; "He will convince the world of fin, becaufe they believe not on the Son of God:" Why? becaufe there is more finfulness in it, than any other. Oh! what an abyfs of iniquity is in the bowels of unbelief! What made the old world fo fecure, before the deluge came and swept them away, but unbelief? And, how comes it that now, both wife and foolish virgins do flumber, before the coming of the Bridegroom, but from unbelief? Unbelief is virtually all fin. Scandalous fins have more infamy, but unbelief hath more of obliquity and guilt in it, it being against the greatest law, and strongest obligations. But, more particularly, we may take up

the

the finfulness of unbelief in the following particulars; fuch as thefe,

1. The finfulness of unbelief in rejecting Chrift will appear, if we confider it with refpect to God; for, unbelief doth difhonour God more than any other fin, by calling in queftion all his attributes, and cafting an af front upon all his perfections: no greater indignity can be done to the glory of God, than is done by unbelief; it hath a mouth full of blafphemy againft God.-Why? by unbelief we trample upon the authority of God that commands us to believe it is a proud contempt of the divine command, under the mafk of humility; for, unbelief doth ordinarily pafs vailed under the vizard of fome refined virtue; and that is one of the reafons why it is fo little feen, and that people are convinced of other fins and breaches of the commands of God, but not of this: befides that grofs fins, the conviction of them may arife from a natural confcience, but the light of nature doth not lead men to the conviction of unbelief; it being a gospel, and more fpiritual fin: however, the more fpiritual it is, the worfe, in trampling upon the authority of that God who is a Spirit.-By unbelief, as we defpife his authority, fo we deny his faithfulneís, and charge him with a lie; "He that believeth not, hath made. God a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave concerning his Son," 1 John v. 10. As he that be.. lieveth, fets to his feal that God is true; fo, he that believeth not, fets his feal to that dreadful untruth, that God is a liar. We may tremble to mention the evil of unbelief. To give the lie is reckoned the greateft injury among men; for, truth is the ground of commerce, and human fociety: fo that to fay that a man is a liar, is as much as to say, he is unworthy, and unfit to keep company with men : And, alas! what an injury is this to God, who ftands more upon his word than any other part of his name! Pfal. cxxxviii. 2. He bath magnified his word above all bis name: in fo much that we have more experience of God, in making good his word, than in any other thing.-By unbelief we deny the wif dom of God, and charge him with folly. All the treasures of wifdom are laid up in Chrift, and in the contrivance

J

of falvation through him: here is the manifold wifdom of God; which the angels admire. Behold, unbelief imputes folly to the only wife God; and that in the molt figual inftance of it.-Again, by unbelief you deny the power of God, and queftion his ability: Can God furnish e table in the wilderness? Pfal. lxxviii. 19, 20. Can the Son of Feffe give you vineyards? fays unbelief. Though he be able to fave to the uttermoft; unbelief fuppofes there is fomething too hard for God, that he cannot do, and which his power cannot reach.-By unbelief we deny the love and mercy of God, and charge him with unmercifulness, and defect of goodnefs, as if he was an implacable Judge ftill, and not upon a throne of grace, nor a God in Chrift reconciling the world to himfelf. God fo loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son; that whofoever believeth in him, fhould not perish, but have everlasting life, John iii. 16. But unbelief contemns all the difcoveries that God makes of his love and goodwill to men in Chrift. God fays, you need my Son, you are damned if you take him not; and I freely offer him to you that you may be faved, and yet we reject this grace.-Yea, by unbelief we ftrike at the very being of God, and make an attempt upon God's life: fo much atheifm is in unbelief, that, at one ftroke, we thereby take away the fcriptures, God and Chrift, and all the good things that belong to our peace. So much blafphemy is in it, that every unbeliever, by his fecret and open murmurings against God, doth raife many black fcandals upon God. So much idolatry is in it, that every unbeliever idolizes himself, his own carnal wisdom, pride, will, common gifts, felf-fufficiency, legal righteoufnels, and feeming good duties, and by felf-dependency maketh himfelf his God. Thus doth he deify himfelf and undeify the true God. As faith honours God, fo doth unbelief difhonour him. What God doth to the creature, that faith doth to God: God juftifieth, fanctifieth, and glorifieth the creature; and fo faith doth juftify, fanctify, and glorify God.-Faith doth juftify God, Luke vii. 29.; acquit him from all the jealoufies that the carnal world, and the carnal heart doth caft upon him.-Faith doth fanctify God, Num. xx. 12.; by fetting him above all, and be

lieving

lieving that he can make good his word, when the courfe of all things feems to contradict it.--Faith doth glorify God, Rom. iv. 20.; declaratively giving him the glory of his excellencies: but unbelief, inftead of juftifying, doth accufe him; inftead of fanctifying his name, doth but profane it; inftead of glorifying, doth difhonour him. And therefore it is the moft heinous and hateful

fin.

2. The finfulness of unbelief will appear, if we confider it with refpect to CHRIST. Unbelief reproaches him, betrays him, kills him, and curfes him.-By unbelief, in rejecting Chrift, you reproach him as if he was a deceiver; for, the native language of unbelief is, he is not the Saviour of finners; he is but an impoftor, and fo we will have nothing to do with him: his words seem to you as idle tales, and you believe them not; as if he was like Naphtali, cheating you with goodly words.— By unbelief you betray him, faying, Hail, Mafter, under a pretence of friendship. Many eat his bread, wear his livery, call him Mafter, and yet lift up the heel against him. By unbelief you kill and crucify him afresh: know it from the Lord, Sirs, they may have a hand in crucifying Chrift, that never faw his face; Heb. vi. 6. They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh.-Yea, by unbelief you curfe him, and call him accurfed, whom God hath bleffed; and of whom it is faid, that Men fhall be bleffed in bim, and all nations fhall call him bleffed. It may be, you will ignorantly reject this charge and say, you never curfed Chrift, or called him accurfed all your days: but in vain do you excufe yourfelves, if you be an unbeliever under the gofpel; for, every one that hath heard the gofpel, do, either by faith fay, that Jefus is the Lord, receiving him as fuch; or elfe, by unbelief, do practically call him accurfed, and reject him as an horrible impoftor: yea, every unbeliever doth trample on the blood of the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, Heb. v. 29. All unbelief hath fomething of this in it. The apoftle fhews how all that hear of Chrift, do either by faith crown him, or by unbelief curfe him; Wherefore I give you to understand, that no man Speaking by the Spirit of God, calleth Fefus

M 3

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