would be unnatural, and almost ridiculous; which is a great argument, that μtrávola, to which forgiveness of sins is promised in the gospel, is not only sorrow for sin, but conversion from sin.

And yet, if it be not so, but that heaven may be purchased at easier, and cheaper rates; how comes it to pass, that in the New Testament we are so plainly, and so frequently, assured, that without actual and effectual amendment, and newness of life, without actual and effectual mortification, regeneration, sanctification, there is not hope, no possibility of salvation?

Every tree, that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire." (Luke iii. 9.) So St. John Baptist preaches repentance. It is not then the leaves of a fair profession, no, nor the blossoms of good purposes and intentions; but the fruit, the fruit only, that can save us from the fire: neither is it enough not to bear ill fruit, unless we bring forth good. "Every tree, that bringeth not forth good fruit, is hewn down, and cast into the fire."

"Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doth the will of my Father which is in heaven:" so our Saviour, Matt. vii. 21. And again, after he had delivered his most Divine precepts in his sermon on the Mount (which sermon contains the substance of the gospel of Christ), he closeth up all with saying, "He that heareth these sayings of mine, and doth them not (and yet these were the hardest sayings that ever he said), I will liken him to a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand (that is, his hope of salvation upon a sandy and false ground); and when the rain de-.

scended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, it fell, and great was the fall of it.

They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts:" so St. Paul, Gal. v. 24. They then that have not done so, nor crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts, let them be as sorrowful as they please, let them intend what they please, they, as yet, are none of Christ's and, good Lord! what a multitude of Christians then are there in the world, that do not belong to Christ?

"The works of the flesh, says the same St. Paul, (Gal. v. 19-21.) are manifest, which are these; adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings; of which I tell you before, as I have told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God." He doth not say, they which have done such things shall not be saved, but manifestly to the contrary. Such were

some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified:" but he says, they which do such things, and without amendment of life shall continue doing them, shall not be excused by any pretence of sorrow and good purposes: they "shall not inherit the kingdom of heaven."

And again, in another Epistle, Know ye not, that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, shall inherit the kingdom of God."

"In Christ Jesus (said the same St. Paul in other places) nothing availeth but faith: nothing but a new creature: nothing but keeping the commandments of God." It is not then a wishing, but a working faith; not wishing you were a new creature, nor sorrowing you are not, but being a new creature: not wishing you had kept, nor sorrowing you have not kept, not purposing vainly to keep, but keeping his commandments, must prevail with him.

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness (saith the Divine author of the Epistle to the Hebrews), without which no man shall see the Lord."

St. Peter, in his Second Epistle, commends unto us a golden chain of Christian perfections; consisting of these links; "faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, charity;" and then adds" He that lacketh these things, is blind, and knoweth not that he was purged from his old sins." Let his sorrow be never so great, and his desires never so good, yet if he lack these things, he is blind; and was purged from his old sins, but is not.

Lastly, St. John; "He that hath this hope, purifieth himself, even as he is pure:" the meaning is not, with the same degree of purity, for that is impossible; but with the same kind, the same truth of purity; he that doth not purify himself, may, nay doth, flatter himself, and without warrant presume upon God's favour; but this hope he hath not: and again, "Little children, let no man deceive you; he that doth righteousness, is righteous, even as he is righteous;" and thus you see all the Divine writers of the New Testament, with one consent, and with one mouth, proclaim the neces

sity of real holiness, and labour together to disenchant us from this vain fancy, that men may be saved by sorrowing for their sin, and intending to leave it, without effectual conversion and reformation of life; which, it may well be feared, hath sent thousands of souls to hell in a golden dream of heaven.

But is not this to preach works, as the papists do? No certainly, it is not; but to preach works, as Christ and his apostles do: it is to preach the necessity of them, which no good protestant, no good Christian, ever denied; but it is not to preach the merit of them, which is the error of the papists.

But is it not to preach the law in the time of the gospel? No certainly, it is not; for the law forgives no sins, but requires exact obedience, and curseth every one, which from the beginning to the end of his life "continueth not in all things which are written in the law to do them;" but the gospel says, and accordingly I have said unto you, that there is mercy always in store for those who know the day of their visitation, and forsake their sins in time of mercy; and that God will pardon their imperfections in the progress of holiness, who miscall not presumptuous and deliberate sins by the name of imperfections, but seriously and truly endeavour to be perfect: only I forewarn you, that you must never look to be admitted to the wedding feast of the King's son, either in the impure rags of any customary sin, or without the wedding garment of Christian holiness; only I forewarn you, that whosoever looks to be made partaker of the joys of heaven, must make it the chief, if not the only business of his life, to know

the will of God, and to do it; that great violence is required by our Saviour for the taking of this kingdom, that the race we are to run is a long race, the building we are to erect is a great building, and will hardly, very hardly be finished in a day; that the work we have to do of mortifying all vices, and acquiring all Christian virtues, is a long work; we may easily defer it too long, we cannot possibly begin it too soon. Only I would persuade you, and I hope I have done it, that that repentance, which is not effectual to true and timely conversion, will never be available unto eternal salvation. And if I have proved unto you, that this is indeed the nature of true repentance, then certainly I have proved withal, that that repentance, wherewith the generality of Christians content themselves, notwithstanding their great professions what they are, and their glorious protestations of what they intend to be, is not the power but the form, not the truth but the shadow, of true repentance; and that herein also we accomplish St. Paul's prediction, "Having a form of godliness," &c.

And now what remains, but that (as I said in the beginning) I should humbly intreat, and earnestly exhort, every man, that hath heard me this day, to confute in his particular, what I have proved true in the general; to take care, that the sin of formality, though it be the sin of our times, may yet not be the sin of our persons; that we satisfy not ourselves with the shadows of religion without the substance of it, nor with the "form of godliness" without the power of it?

To this purpose I shall beseech you to consider, that though sacrificing, burning incense, celebrat