bodies in temperance, soberness, and chastity! What a prodigious difference will this hour make betwixt good and bad livers! Will any man, in his right mind, persuade himself, that this body which he now defiles with whoredom, or debauches with continual drunkenness, or pampers with luxury, that such a body shall rise again to be happy? Oh! no: such a person can have no hopes-(miserable hopes, indeed!)-no hopes, but that God, and his Word, and their Creed, may not be true. A Christian will rather reason thus with himself:-What will it profit me to enjoy the short pleasures of this life, if the end shall be damnation? I will rather follow the example of an apostle: Keep under my body, lest I be a castaway. As I hope for God's favour I will endeavour to glorify him both in my body and my spirit, which are both his. And whereinsoever I have dishonoured him by any of my members, I will strive to make some amends. If my eyes have transgressed, I will now make a covenant with them; I will bless God with my tongue; I will refrain my feet from every evil way; I will open my hand to the poor and needy; and I will not make provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. This is to live by faith. And he who repeats this creed, and will not be persuaded to do so, the belief of a resurrection will be a plague and a torment to him as long as he lives. The concluding article of our creed is, the belief of a LIFE EVERLASTING-a life that is to last for ever, either in endless torments or in endless happiness, both of body and soul. Let us consider this as we ought to do: for now is the time in which we are to choose where and what we are to be to all eternity. There is therefore no time to be lost to make this choice: The night cometh (saith our Lord) when no man can work; no more can be done by ourselves, or by others for us; it will then be too late to repent, to resolve, to promise, to wish, or to do any thing. Let us therefore, every soul of us, while we have time, have our eyes and our thoughts upon eternity. This will wonderfully influence all our actions. What signifies it, a Christian will say to himself, what my portion is in this world, since I am so soon to leave it, and am going to an everlasting life. All the riches I treasure up here will stand me in no stead when I come to die; I will therefore endeavour to lay up my treasure in heaven, where I hope to be for ever. Why should I be apprehensive of the evils of this life, or complain too much under them, when I verily believe and hope for a better and an eternal life, and that these very afflictions are designed by a merciful God to make us more fit for that life? I will often remember, that the wages of sin is death, eternal death, if not repented of: I will therefore make no tarrying to turn unto the Lord, and make my peace with him by a true repentance. I am convinced, that without holiness no man shall see the Lord in peace; I will therefore, from this moment, endeavour to be as holy as, by God's grace, I can be, that I may be happy for ever. Thus, good Christians, I have gone through all the articles of your Creed, or Christian faith. You see the reason why we are required to repeat them so often; it is, that we may live like people who profess to believe such important truths. Few Christians, it is true, deny their creed; but too many live as if there were nothing in it which they need hope or fear. These What will this indifference end in? things are true, and will be found so, whether we mind them or not. And if a man perish eternally, what signifies it whether he perishes as a Christian or an Infidel? Let us therefore not think ourselves one jot the safer, because we are Christians, unless our lives be answerable. As for those who hate, and do not care to repeat the creed; the reason of this is plain: it puts them in mind of an almighty and just God, whose laws they have broken, and resolve to break them again; who sees all their ways; whose mercy in sending his own Son to save them, they have despised; and who has appointed a day in which he will judge them in righteousness: because the very sight of it upbraids them with the highest ingratitude, in despising the love of God in this dispensation, and all the means of grace and salvation, which he has ordained. Lastly; because it puts them in mind of a life everlasting, which they are not willing to prepare for; and of eternal death and torments, which they have too much reason to fear. But happy are they who think much of these truths; and who, by doing so, come to be fully persuaded of them, and close with them, and are thankful to God who has made himself and these things known to us, and who has done so much for us, in order to make us eternally happy. And be assured of it, good Christians, that a time is coming, (that is, when we come to die,) that we shall see the importance of a true faith; when we shall set a true value upon Jesus Christ, and what he has done for us; when no earthly thing can help or comfort us, but a firm faith in his merits. But then, let us consider, that we can have no assurance of this, but by living as if we did indeed believe the truths we profess to believe. Let us therefore put these questions every one to himself, and have a direct answer from our own heart : Is my life answerable to my faith? Does my faith purify my heart? Does it produce obedience to the commands of God? Does it make me sensible of my sin and misery? Does it make me seek for in earnest, and value a Redeemer? Do I find myself governed by the Holy Spirit of God? Do I labour to secure the forgiveness of my sins by a true repentance and amendment, where I have done amiss? Do these amazing truths, everlasting life and everlasting misery, awaken in me a concern answerable to what I am to gain or lose? I may then judge, whether my faith be saving, or whether it be only the faith of hypocrites. If the latter, these articles of our Creed will only be so many articles of our condemnation. |