ver. 17. and prescribes a cure for it in ver. 18; so that the words resolve themselves into two parts-a faithful discovery and a proper remedy of the disease of Laodicea.

1. Their disease is faithfully discovered to them, both in its symptoms, cause, and aggravations.

Its symptoms; an unconcerned, indifferent, regardless spirit in matters of religion, neither hot nor cold; the true temper of formal-professors, who never engage themselves thoroughly and heartily in the ways of God, but can take or leave as times govern, and worldly interest comes to be concerned.

Its cause and root; which is the defect and want of the truth, and power of inward grace, noted in these expressions, "Thou art wretched, and miserable, poor, blind, and naked;" thou art destitute of a real principle, a solid work of grace. These five epithets do all point at one and the same thing, the defectiveness and rottenness of their foundation. The two first, “wretched and miserable," are more general, coucluding them in a sad condition, a very sinful and lamentable estate; the three last, "poor, blind, and naked," are more particular, pointing at those grand defects and flaws in the foundation, which made their condition so wretched and miserable.

"Poor," that is, void of righteousness and true holiness before God. These are the true riches of Christians; and whosoever wants them is poor and miserable, how rich soever he be in gifts of the mind, or treasures of the earth.

"Blind;" without spiritual illumination, and so neither knowing their disease nor their remedy, the evil of sin nor the necessity of Christ.

"Naked;" without Christ and his righteousness. Sin is the soul's shame and nakedness; Christ's pure and perfect righteousness is its covering or garment; this they wanted, how richly soever their bodies were adorned. These were Laodiceans; that is, a just or righteous people, according to the meaning of that word; whose garments with which they covered themselves, were made of the home-spun thread of their own righteousness.

The disease of Laodicea is here opened to them in its aggravations; "Thou saidst, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; but knowest not that thou art wretched." &c.; To be really graceless and Christless, is a miserable condition; but to be so, and yet confidently persuaded of the contrary, is most miserable. To have the very symptoms of death upon us, and yet to tell those who pity us, that we are as well as they, is lamentable indeed. O the power of a spiritual delusion! This was their disease, gracelessness; and the aggravation of it, was their senselessness. 2. We have a proper remedy prescribed; "I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye-salve, that thou mayest see." In which we have to consider, first, what is prescribed for the cure; secondly, where it is to be had; thirdly, how it is to be obtained.

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What are the remedies prescribed? They are three; gold, white raiment, and eye-salve. First, "gold," the cure of poverty, yea, "gold tried in the fire;" that is, grace which has been variously proved already; and the more it is proved, the more its truth will be conspicuous. The next is "white raiment," the remedy against nakedness. And, lastly, eye-salve," the effectual cure of blindness. Under all these choice metaphors, more choice and excellent things are shadowed, even spiritual graces, real holiness, more precious than gold. Christ's imputed righteousness, the richest garment in all the wardrobe of heaven; and spiritual illumination, the most excellent eye-salve that ever was, or can be applied to the mental eye or understanding of man in this world.

Where may these precious remedies be had? You find Christ has the monopoly of them all. "Buy of me," says Christ in the text. He is the repository of all graces. Angels, ministers, ordinances cannot furnish you with them, without Christ.

How may they be obtained from him? "Buy of me." On this place Estius and others build their doctrine of merit; which is to build a superstructure of hay and Div. No. XVIII.

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stubble upon a foundation of gold. The exigence of the very text itself destroys such conceits: for what have they that are poor, wretched, miserable, and in want of all things, to give as a price, or by way of merit, for those inestimable treasures of grace? Buying therefore in this place can signify or intend no more than the acquisition, compassing, or obtaining these things from Jesus Christ, in the use of such means and methods as he has appointed; and in the use of them we merit grace no more than the patient merits of his physician by coming to him, and carefully following his prescriptions in the use of such medicines as he freely gives him. And that place Isa. lv. 1, from which this phrase seems to be borrowed, fully clears it; "He that hath no money, let him come and buy wine and milk without money, and without price."

From all which, these three observations fairly offer themselves to us

Doct. 1. That many professors of religion are under very great and dangerous mistakes in their profession.

Doct. 2. That true grace is exceeding precious, and greatly enriches the soul that possesses it. Doct. 3. That only is to be accounted true grace,

which is able to endure all those trials appointed or permitted for the discovery of it.

The first doctrine naturally arises out of the scope of the text, which is to awaken and convince unsound professors. The second, from the use which the Holy Ghost makes of the best and choicest things in nature, to shadow forth the inestimable worth and preciousness of grace. And the third, from that particular and most significant metaphor of gold tried in the fire; by which I here understand a real and solid work of grace, evidencing itself to be so in all the proofs and trials that are made of it; for whatsoever tries grace, and puts its soundness and sincerity to the test, is that to it which fire is to gold. In this sense it is used in scripture; "Thou hast tried us as silver is tried," Psal. lxvi. 10. And Zech. xiii. 9; "I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and try them as gold is tried." So that whatsoever it is which examines and

tries grace whether it be sound and sincere, that is the fire Christ here speaks of; and such grace as abides these trials, is the gold here intended.

CHAPTER II.

Doctrine 1.-Many professors of religion are under very great and dangerous mistakes in their profession.

SECTION I.

ALL flattery is dangerous; self-flattery is more dangerous; but self-flattery in the business of salvation is the most dangerous of all.

To pretend to the good we know we have not, is gross. hypocrisy; to persuade ourselves of the good we have not, though we think we have it, is formal hypocrisy; and this was the case of those self-deceivers in the text.

My design in this discourse is not to shake the wellbuilt hopes of any man, or to beget groundless jealousies, but to discover the real dangerous flaws in the foundation of many men's hopes of heaven: Every thing is as its foundation is, and that failing, all fails.

There is a twofold self-suspicion or fear in God's own people; the one is a fear of caution, awakening the soul to the use of all the preventive means for avoiding danger; this is laudable: the other is a groundless suspicion of reigning hypocrisy, tending only to despondency: this is culpable. By the former the soul is guarded against danger; by the latter it is betrayed into needless trouble, and debarred from peace.

Good men have sometimes more fear than they ought, and wicked men have less than they ought. The former sometimes shut their eyes against the fair evidences of their own graces; the latter shut their eyes against the sad evidences of their sin and misery. This is an evil in both, but not equally dangerous; for he who shuts his eyes against his own graces and privileges, loses but his peace and comfort for a time; but he who shuts his eyes against the evidences of his sin and misery, loses his

precious soul to all eternity. Of this latter sort of selfdeceivers the world is full, and these are the men I am now concerned with.

O that some men had less trouble! And O that some had more! If the foolish virgins had been less confident, they had certainly been more safe. If those glorious professors in Mat. vii. 22, had not shut their eyes against their own hypocrisy, Christ would not have shut against them the door of salvation and glory. Ananias and Sapphira, Hymeneus and Philetus, Alexander and Demas, with multitudes more of that sort, are sad instances and proofs of this point. It is said in Prov. xxx. 12, that "there is a generation that is pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness." Through what false spectacles do the men of that generation look upon their own souls! The men of that generation are multiplied in this generation. Never was any age overrun with such a generation of vain, self-deluding, formal professors, as this generation is.

Three things I shall here endeavour to do-to give evidence beyond contradiction to this sad truth, that among professors are found many self-deceivers-to assign the true causes and reasons why it is so-and then improve the matter by those practical inferences which the point affords.

SECTION II.

That there are multitudes of self-deceivers among professors, will appear,

1. By this, that there are every where to be found more professors than converts; unregenerate professors, whose religion is but the effect of education. Christianity, by the favor of an early providence, was the first comer; it first bespoke them for itself. These are Christians of a human creation, rather born than new-born believers. Now all these are self-deceived and hasting to damnation, under the efficacy of a strong delusion; "for if a man think himself "to be something when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself," says the apostle, Gal. vi. 3. Surely our birth-privilege without the new-birth, is nothing, yea,