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2.]

hath said, that He came to "save the world," that He John 12. 47. came to give His life a ransom for many." "That His Matt.20.28. blood is the blood of the New Testament, which is shed for ch. 26. 28. many, for the remission of sins." "That whosoever be- John 3. 15. lieveth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." And that He went to Heaven to "prepare a place for us." ch. 14. 2. Now by these and such like words of "Christ abiding in us," we clearly see, that He is "the propitiation for our sins, 1 John 2. and for the sins of the whole world;" and therefore, that for His sake, Almighty God will have mercy upon us, forgive us our sins, and receive us again into His grace and favour, upon our faith in Him, so as to bring us, at last, to everlasting life. And that He went to Heaven for that end and purpose, that when we leave this world, we also may go thither, and live with Him for ever. believe all this, and have it always in his strive all he can to be "holy, as He who hath thus called [1 Pet. 1. him is holy, in all manner of conversation?" St. John lays it down as a general and undoubted truth, "Every man that 1John 3. 3. hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure." And every one may well do so, seeing all that have the words of Christ, and therefore this hope in them, they have Christ Himself in them: His grace is sufficient for [2 Cor. 12. them, His strength is made perfect in their weakness, His ch. 3. 5.] power rests upon them; so that although they can do nothing of themselves, they can do all things through Christ [Phil.4.13.] that strengtheneth them, by His Spirit and words abiding in them.

Now who can mind, and not

And hence it comes to pass, that where the words of Christ abide, there all manner of virtue and good works spring up and flourish as He Himself also hath told us, in the verse but one before my text, saying, "I am the vine, ye are the branches; he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit." Whereby He hath given us to understand, that as a branch that hath the sap and juice of the vine in it, will certainly bring forth grapes; so every one that hath Him, and His words abiding in Him, will as certainly bring forth much fruit, even all such good works as are required to his obtaining eternal life, through

15.]

9.]

SERM. Him whose words they are, "The Author and Finisher of our Faith."

XXXVII. [Heb.12.2.]

Nothing now remains to be explained in these words, but the promise which is here made; that if ye abide in Christ, and His words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you: which promise being made by Christ Himself, we cannot doubt of the performance of it; for it cannot but be performed, when the conditions, upon which it is made, are so. For if ye abide in Him, and His words in you, your hearts, as we have shewn, will be so cleansed and purified, that ye can will nothing, but what God wills, and therefore ask nothing but according to His will, which is always performed. And as His beloved Dis1 John 5.14. ciple observes, "This is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth And as such always will only what God would have them, so having Christ's words always abiding in them, they ask what they would have, only in the way wherein He

us."

would have them ask it, according to those words of His, John 14. 14. “If ye shall ask any thing in My Name, I will do it." Having therefore His word for it, and asking accordingly in His Name, they can never fail of having any thing they would that is good for them; and if it be not so, they would not have it.

[1 Cor. 1. 30.]

Seeing therefore, that they who abide in Christ, and have His words abiding in them, may thus ask whatsoever they will, and it shall be done unto them; it follows in course, that they are as happy as the first Adam was in his first estate for they are as happy as they wish to be in this world, and shall be eternally happy in the next, through the last Adam, even Jesus Christ our Saviour and our Lord; "who, of God, is made unto us, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption;" every thing that is necessary to the sanctifying and saving of our souls.

Wherefore, in His Name, I beseech you to take all the care you can to lay up His words in your hearts, and to keep them there, that they may abide in you; or at least the sense and doctrine contained in them, that ye may have recourse to it, upon all occasions, to keep you steadfast in

His faith, and obedient to His laws. I know there are but few that mind these things, or ever think of them; but I would have you in the number of the few that take care of their souls, and love and honour Him, who alone can save them; so as to abide in Him, and to have His words abiding in you. You have now heard of what mighty advantage this will be unto you; but your hearing it will signify nothing, unless you do it: and therefore, in short, as ever ye desire that He should be your Friend and Advocate with the Father, deliver you from His wrath, and restore you to His favour, and receive you at last into His Heavenly Kingdom, remember the words of the Lord Jesus; and particularly how He said, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye [John 13.

do them."

17.]

SERMON XXXVIII.

BEARING MUCH FRUIT, THE CHARACTERISTIC OF CHRIST'S

DISCIPLES.

SERM. XXXVIII.

Acts 4. 12.

JOHN XV. 8.

Herein is My Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit ; so shall ye be My Disciples.

Of all the religions professed upon the face of the earth, there is none wherein men worship the true God aright, but only the Christian; neither is there Salvation in any other: "For there is no name under Heaven, given among men, whereby we must be saved, but the Name of Christ." And therefore it must be acknowledged to be a great blessing, to be born and bred where this, the only true religion, is publicly and generally professed. But we must take heed, that we do not take up with the bare profession, and so lose all the benefit of it, as many have done before us. When it was first planted by Christ, and propagated by His Apostles, it throve to admiration, although for near three hundred years together, it was nowhere received as the religion of the country, nor had any civil magistrates or laws made for it, but all against it: yet nevertheless, it then spread itself, increased, and flourished, and brought forth fruit abundantly, to the glory of God, and the benefit of mankind. They who then professed it, really were what they appeared to be, and appeared to be as they were, far better than all other sorts of people besides; more pious toward God, and zealous for His honour; more meek and humble in their own eyes; more sober, and modest, and just, and kind, and charitable towards others; every way eminent in virtue and good works. But when it was publicly received into the Roman

empire, and so by degrees became the religion of whole. nations, then it began sensibly to decay; for men generally took it up, as they do their habits, only because it was in fashion; and professed themselves to be Christians, for no other reason, than that which made them Heathens before, even because it was the religion of their country. Not but that there were still many who embraced it upon choice, and in good earnest; yea, doubtless, many more than there were before but these were so few, in comparison of those multitudes that came into it, upon other accounts, that they could scarce be seen in the crowd; the far greatest part of those who professed it, having no other design, but only to profess it as their prince and fellow-subjects did, without ever troubling their heads about believing, and acting according to the principles and rules prescribed in it.

And so it is to this day: we have infinite cause to bless God, that the Christian is the only religion generally professed in the kingdom, that it is established by our laws, that we, in our very infancy, were admitted by Baptism into it, and that we still continue to profess ourselves to be Christians, or the Disciples of the ever-blessed Jesus Christ. But how great a blessing soever this may be in itself, it will not be so to us, unless we make a right use of it, by living up to what we profess; as, God knows, very few among us do for being fully persuaded, as we ought, that we are of that religion wherein men may be saved, we take it for granted, that we shall be so, without taking any farther care about it; and therefore go on in the outward profession of our religion, or else run, perhaps, into parties and factions, spending our zeal in hot disputes about the circumstances of it, till we have none left for the main substantial duties required in it: and, by consequence, never so much as aim at, much less come to the end wherefore Jesus Christ revealed this religion to us, even that we may truly serve, honour, and glorify the Almighty Creator of the world, by doing the works, which He for that purpose hath set us; and so living, as becometh those who are His disciples in deed, as well as by profession.

This the great Founder of our holy religion foresaw, when He first laid the foundation of it upon earth; and therefore

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