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CVII.

Heb. 12. 6,

7.

ver. 10.

SERM. punishment itself is a token of God's love: for "whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth. If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons." And certainly that is no small favour, that Almighty God Himself should treat us like His Own children. But why doth He ever chasten us? Not for His Own pleasure, but for our profit, "that we might be partakers of His holiness;" of His holiness, the greatest blessing that we can ever have; yet that is designed for us in every chastisement that God is pleased to lay upon us. He intends not only to do us good, but to make us good by it; to take off our minds from sin and the world, and to incline them wholly to Him, and His wise and righteous Laws; which David found to be the happy effect of all his Ps. 119. 67. troubles, saying, "Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I have kept Thy Word;" and therefore, "it is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I might learn Thy statutes." From whence it comes to pass, that, as St. Paul 2 Cor. 4. 17. assures us, "Our light affliction, which is but for a moment,

ver. 71.

worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory." And this hath been the constant experience of all that truly love and fear God in all ages. They have still reaped more spiritual profit and advantage from their troubles, than from all the outward comforts they ever enjoyed. And although we cannot always see it so plainly here, yet when we come into the other world, where God will discover to us the reasons of all His dealings with us here below, we shall then perfectly behold and admire God's goodness and mercy to us in every thing that befell us: we shall then clearly see, that the very troubles and crosses we have met with, were not only profitable, but so necessary for us, that but for them, we had been ruined and undone for ever, and therefore would not have been without any one of them for all this world. In short, we shall then see the truth Rom. 8. 28. of the Apostle's assertion, that "all things work together for

good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose," and by consequence, that no one thing ever happened to us, but what we have cause to give thanks for; and that too, in our spiritual estate, as well as temporal. For whilst we are in the body, we are subject, not

only to the troubles of the world, but likewise to temptations from the Devil. But whatsoever may be his end in tempting, be sure God's end in suffering it is only for our good; to make us more humble and vile in our own eyes, more sober and vigilant against our ghostly enemies, more fervent and sincere in our prayers to God, more frequent and devout in our addresses to Christ at His holy table, and more constant in the exercise of all such graces and virtues as are necessary in that case; as of meekness, and patience, and courage, and faith, and trust on the promises of God, and the merits and intercession of our blessed Saviour, to assist and enable us, not only to withstand but conquer the temptation, and grow better by it: by which means we have cause to give thanks, even in every temptation that assaults us: how much more, for every one of these spiritual mercies that God is pleased to vouchsafe unto us, for every motion of His Holy Spirit, for every check of our own consciences, for every reproof of His Holy Word, for every grace we have, for every good work we do, and for every bad one that we do not, for every truth that He hath revealed to us, for every promise He made us, for every command He hath laid upon us, for every advice and counsel that He hath given us to leave our sins, and to return to Him, to be holy and righteous in all our ways, and "in every thing to give thanks" to Him; as He doth this day!

For this is that which in His Name I now advise and beseech you all to do, that you would" not be only hearers, [James 1. 22.] but doers of the Word." Ye have heard that it is your duty to give thanks in every thing, and what cause you have to do it; go ye therefore, and do likewise. "In every thing give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." It is God's will, and therefore your duty. It is God's will in Christ Jesus concerning you, and therefore it must needs be your interest too. For now that Christ hath suffered all the punishments which were due to you, ye may be sure that nothing is either laid upon you, or required of you by God, but what is really for your good and profit: as this doubtless is as much, if not more than any other duty whatsoever: for to give thanks in every thing, is the way never to be discomposed or disturbed at

SERM. any thing; but always cheerful and pleasant, rejoicing in CVII. the goodness and love of God, manifested in every thing that happens to us. This is the way to turn all our seeming troubles into real mercies, and to make every thing that God either doth or gives to us, to be good for us: for, 1 Tim. 4. 4. as the Apostle says, " Every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving ;' so that by this means no evil can ever befall us; for, whatsoever befalls us, shall do us good. Yea, this is the way to antedate the joys of the other world; to live Heaven upon earth; to be fellow-commoners with the glorified Saints and Angels, even whilst we are in the body: for though we know but little else of what they do or have above, yet this we know, that they are always giving praise and thanks to God, and that it is their pleasure and delight to do it. For thus St. John beheld them employing and recreating themselves in singing hallelujahs to the Most High God, Rev. 4. 11. and crying out, "Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created." Ch. 7. 12. And again, "Amen. Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen." This is their work, and this is their pleasure too. And so far as we sincerely praise and thank God, so far we do as they do, and enjoy what they enjoy, before we come to them; and so shall be duly prepared and qualified to be admitted into their blessed society, and to join with them in adoring and magnifying the Almighty Creator, and most gracious Governor of the world, and in giving thanks to Him for every thing He ever did, either to us, or for us; through His only Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ: "To Whom, with the Father, and the Holy Ghost, be all honour and praise and thanks, for ever and ever."

SERMON CVIII.

ALL THINGS TO BE DONE TO THE GLORY OF GOD.

1 COR. X. 31.

Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.

As ever we desire to live well and do good in the world, we must take special care to direct our lives and actions all to a right and good end. For though a good end can never make a bad action good, yet a bad end always makes an action bad; be the matter of it never so plainly commanded by God, and the manner of our doing it never so agreeable to His revealed will; yet, after all, the action itself cannot be good, unless the end for which we do it be so. For it will fail in one of the most necessary causes and qualifications required to it: and that is one great reason that there is so little good ever done in the world, because men seldom make that which is truly good the end of any thing, much less of all things they do. All men, as they are understanding and free agents, propound some end or other to themselves in all their actions; and it is always something which they apprehend to be good and convenient for them, and think they may be better and happier with it than without it, otherwise they would not desire it, nor do any thing for it. But most men being led more by fancy, than by reason or religion, are apt to mistake that for good, which is not so; and through that mistake spoil all their actions, by directing them to a wrong end.

This is the case of all who labour only to get a livelihood

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CVIII.

96

SERM. in the world; of all who design nothing but to enrich themselves; of all who lay out themselves wholly to advance their families; of all who aim no higher than at sensual delights and pleasures; of all who aspire at the imaginary honour and grandeur of the world; of all who court the multitude, and strive above all things to be thought wise, or great, or good, or ingenious, or learned, or valiant, or any thing more than ordinary among men: this indeed is the case of all that make any thing in this world the end of their living and labours in it. Their labours are all lost, they live to no purpose; for they never do any one good work: those things they aim at in all their actions, having nothing of real worth and goodness in them; nothing of truth or certainty; nothing of happiness or satisfaction to the mind; nothing but what is below and inferior to them as men; nothing that can either make them, or do them good, or contribute any thing towards it.

Ye cannot but all acknowledge the condition of such men to be very sad and deplorable: for as they never do any good in this world, they can never receive any in the next; but as they spend their time in doing ill, they must spend eternity in suffering for it. And yet this is the case of most men in the world, and I fear of most here present. Neither is there any way whereby it is possible for any of us to avoid it, without turning our eyes for the future to their proper object, and making that the great end and design in all our actions which God Himself hath prescribed to us. What that is, we need not go far to seek, having it here under His Own hand, and delivered to us by His Apostle, saying, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." From whence it is evident at first sight, that it is the will and pleasure of Him that made us, that His glory be the end not only of the greatest, but of the least, not only of some, but of all the actions of our whole life. So that whatsoever is not done to this end, is not done according to the will of God, and therefore can never be good and acceptable in His sight.

This therefore being a thing that is not only very good in itself, but that without which nothing we do is good, we cannot but look upon ourselves as highly concerned to

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