us in the righteousness which is imputed, and not in the sins which we have committed. And this righteousness makes us appear most holy, most pure, most unblameable before him.

of

To make a wicked and sinful man most HOLY, through his believing, is more than to create a world from nothing. O that our hearts were stretched out like a curtain, and that the eyes our understanding were as bright as the sun, that we might thoroughly know the riches of the glorious inheritance of the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power towards us, whom he accepts for pure and most holy, through our believing! O that the Spirit of the Lord would give this doctrine entrance into the stony heart of the Jew, who follows the law of righteousness, but cannot attain unto the righteousness of the law! O that God would cast down the eyes of the proud, and humble the souls of the high-minded! that at length they might abhor the garments of their own flesh, which cannot hide their nakedness, and put on the faith of Christ Jesus, as he did put it on, who said, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. O that

God would open the ark of his mercy, in which this doctrine is enshrined, and set it wide before the eyes of those who fly up and down upon the waters of affliction, and can see nothing but the gulf and deluge of their sins, in which there is no place for them to rest their feet! And. O may the God of pity and compassion give all who are here present, strength and courage, every day, and every hour, and every moment, to build and edify yourselves in this most pure and most holy Faith!

My brethren, when ye look upon those who have taken upon themselves the charge of your souls, and know how few there are that tread in the steps of their predecessors; ye are easily filled with indignation, easily persuaded to think that they who lived in the days which now are gone, were happy in comparison of us that have succeeded them. Were not their Bishops righteous, holy, temperate? Were not their Pastors able and willing to exhort with wholesome doctrine, and boldly to reprove those who wilfully opposed the truth? Did their teachers leave their flocks over which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers ? Did their Prophets enter upon holy things as spoils, without a reverend calling?

Do the faults of your ministers offend you? ? It is your fault if they be thus faulty. Accuse yourselves, and not them. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; and I will give you Pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with

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knowledge and understanding. So that, in regard to this spiritual building of our most holy faith, the only way to repair all ruins, breaches, and decays in others, is to begin the reformation in yourselves. Which that we may all sincerely, seriously, and speedily do, God the Father grant, for his Son our Saviour Jesus Christ's sake, unto whom, with the Holy Ghost, three Persons, one eternal and everlasting God, be ascribed, &c.

SERMON VII.

FROM ANDREWES*

Be

JAMES i. 22.

ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

THERE is not any time to which this caution of St. James may not be applicable; but it is more especially so at present, when the hearing of the word is grown into such comparative request as to have gained the ascendancy over all the rest of God's service. As a proof of it, come but into this house of God when divine service is unaccompanied with a sermon, and you will find it in a manner desolate. And when there is a sermon, how many, by the lateness of their attendance, show how indifferent to them is the rest of the service! Well, therefore, may I say with St. James, My brethren, these things ought not so to be: nor, indeed, can they be, without a manifest im

* Lancelot Andrewes, Bishop of Winchester, was born 1565, and died 1626.

peachment of the wisdom of God, who has appointed all the rest as well as this. is not all that is expected of you:

Surely hearing

And thus much we must, and do, testify unto you, though our witness be not received.

Without, therefore, further adverting to that part of your duty which you neglect, I shall proceed to the consideration of that which in some measure still engages your attention. I will even allow you to plead for yourselves, that you are SWIFT to hear; that you receive the word with all gladness; that you never miss a sermon. All this is commendable. But, to use the words of our blessed Lord, Take HEED how ye hear. At any rate, be not a hearer only. Yet such there were in Ezekiel's time, (and too many, I fear, at present) who called to one another, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord. And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they HEAR thy words, but they will not do them.

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Hearing and doing are both of them necessary; each in their several proportion. So, therefore, must the FORMER be done, as not to leave the latter UNDONE. St. James, by enjoining us to do, means not that we should cease to hear; but only cautions us not to consider the latter as all that is required of us. He who (two verses before) commands us to be swift to hear; and (in the very next verse) meekly to receive the word; could not pos

6.