feriously and duly weighed, little more need be faid to fhew, in the

IId Place, their Importance and the Neceffity of our partaking of them.-Is any thing upon Earth fo defireable, or of fuch Importance to a wife Man, as Peace with God, the gracious Affistances of his Spirit, and an assured Title from himself to his heavenly Kingdom? -What are all outward Advantages, but gaudy Trifles and vain Amusements, without this inward Peace and Confolation of Spirit?When Afflictions or Sickness comes, or when Death approaches, and Men must think; then what would they not give for these invaluable Comforts?-And yet there is no fure Foundation upon which they can be built, but Faith in our Redeemer, and a good Life; and that good Life itself is not to be obtained without the Affiftances of his Spirit.-And where and how are we to endeavour to obtain those Af fiftances, but in the Way and Manner which he has himself appointed for the Conveyance of them?-Or rather, how great is the Bleffing, how ineftimable the Goodness, of beftowing on his Church ftated Means for our attaining them?-And if then the Ends to be attained are fo defireable and invaluable, the Means of attaining them must be fo too.-It muft be, to good Men, Matter of inceffant Praises and Adorations, that these Means are vouchfafed them; as it will be Matter of great R 4

Guilt

Guilt and fevere Punishment to the bad, that they despise or neglect them.-And therefore I add,

Laftly, That the Participation of the Sacraments is not barely Matter of the greatest Importance to us, but that we are under a Neceffity of partaking of them.-By which Neceffity I mean only a general Neceffity on fuch as are bleffed with Opportunities of fo doing; not fuch an abfolute one, as to affign over to Punishment, or at leaft exclude from Happiness all who never partake of them, whether they have Opportunities or no.-And this general Neceffity arifes not only from the Benefits of duly obferving these Ordinances, but from our Lord's Commands to obferve them; which Commands muft oblige wherever they are promulged and known.-He has not only made it our Intereft, but Matter of pofitive Duty.-The Command is very express, not only to teach, or make Difciples of all Nations, but to baptize them; and furely no Law was ever more clear than Do this, blefs, break, diftribute, eat, drink, in Remembrance of me; and that, fays the Apoftle, till our Lord's coming again.-And if they then, to whom the Knowledge of thefe Precepts is come, do wilfully and knowingly neglect or defpife them, and yet flatter themselves with Hopes of Safety here, and Happiness hereafter; this is making for themselves new Terms of Salva

tion, and not accepting of those which were offered them from Heaven.-By those Terms of Salvation which our bleffed Lord has vouchfafed us, it is very evident, that no one who can have, and defpifes his Baptifm, has any Right or Title from him to his Redemption; his Promife is only to thofe who believe and are baptized; and that only an Heathen Morality, upon Heathen Principles, will not be fufficient without Faith in him, and Obedience to the Ordinances which he has enjoined.-For his own Declaration expreffly is, that they only are his Difciples indeed (John viii. 31.) who continue in his Word, and obey his Commandments. And that Men who have the New Teftament before them should be able to perfuade themselves (if they are fo perfuaded) that they do keep his Commandments, when they openly defpife and even revile them; that they fhould be able blafphemously to imagine, that the Holy Spirit of God, who dictated the Holy Scriptures, can direct them to act contrary to thofe Scriptures, under Pretence of refining upon them; this indeed would be hard to be accounted for, if an Apostle had not told us, that Men may be given up to ftrong Delufions.

But, bleffed be God, we have not fo learned Christ. We have been regularly admitted into the Communion of his Church by those whom he has fent, and in the Manner which he has prescribed; and in fo doing we have not only obeyed his Law, but followed his Example,

Example. An Example which, if rightly confidered as stated in the Text, cannot have less Force with confiderate Christians, than the most express Command.--For if he, who knew no Sin, thought it incumbent upon him to receive the Baptism of John; how can finful Men escape, who defpife the Baptism of Salvation? And if we attend not only to what he did, but to the Reason he is here pleased to give us for it, it will be evident, that as we are not to neglect this, fo neither are we to stop here; but to proceed in due Time to his other Institution, and to be content with nothing less than the labouring earneftly all our Days to discharge all the other Parts of our Duty, by keeping a Conscience void of Offence both towards God and towards Man; or, in our bleffed Lord's own Words, by doing all that in us lyes to fulfil all Righteoufnefs.- -Which that we may do in fuch a manner as to be accepted by him, God of his infinite Mercy grant, through our Lord Jefus Chrift; to whom, &c.

SERMON

SERMON XIV.

Preached at the Bishop's Vifitation, 1734.

MATT. xxviii. 20.

Teaching them to obferve whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am you always, even to the End

with

of the World.

I

N this and the preceding Verfe are contained our Lord's last Inftructions and Commiffion to his Apoftles.-They are allowed to comprehend the ordinary Duties of the Paftoral Office; they refer us to that Authority, from which the Powers of all those that officiate in Sacred Things are, or ought, if poffible, to be derived; and they direct us to that most gracious Promife, with which he is pleased to fortify them in the Execution.And as then they cannot but afford Reflections very fuitable to this Occafion, I purpose to confider, what they obviously point to us,

Ift,