At that day, when all our great Undertakers and Contrivers of Mischief, all the cunning Practisers of Guile and Hypocrify shall lie down in Shame; when their fecret Arts and bafe Tricks, whereby they imposed on the World, fhall be detected and proclaimed, as it were, upon the House-top, and all their unworthy Projects and Designs fhall be laid open and naked, being stript of thofe fpecious Prctences they here disguised them with; when the hidden things of Darkness fhall be brought to Light, and the Counsels of all Mens Hearts fhall be made manifest as the Noon-day: at that day, I fay, the upright and righteous Man fhall ftand in great Boldness, and fhall lift up his Head with Joy and Confidence ; and then it will appear that he was the best Politician, and the only Perfon that either understood or regarded his true Interest.

To conclude all: Our Confciences are either our best Friends, or our greatest Enemies; they are either a continual Feast, or a very Hell to us. A Confcience well refolved and fettled is the greatest Comfort of our Lives, the best Antidote against all kind of Temptations, the most precious Treasure we can lay up against an evil Day, and our fureft and strongest Hold to fecure us from all Dangers, which can never be taken unless thro our own Folly and Negligence.

But an evil clamorous Confcience, that is continually twitting and reproaching us, is a perpetual Rack and Torment; it wastes our Spirits,

Z4

Spirits, and preys upon our Hearts, and eats out the Sweetnefs of all our worldly Enjoyments, and fills us with horrid Fears and ghaftly Apprehenfions; this is that gnawing Worm that never dieth, the neceffary Fruit of Sin and Guilt, and the neceffary Caufe of everlasting Anguish and Vexation,

A SER

A

SERMON

Preach'd at

WHITE-HALL.

The THIRTEENTH SERMON.

2 TIM I. 10.

And bath brought Life and Immortality to Light through the Gospel.

L

IFE and Immortality, by a Figure often used in the Holy Scriptures, is the fame with Immortal Life, which our Saviour hath brought to Light; that is, hath gi ven us undoubted Affurance of, by the Revelation of the Gospel.

For tho all Men by the Light of Nature have fome Apprehenfions of a future State, yet their Reasonings about it, when left to themfelves, are miferably vain and uncertain, and often very wild and extravagant. The best

Discoveries

Discoveries of the Heathens about the other Life were weak and obfcure, and the wifeft Philofophers fpake but doubtfully and conjecturally about it; nor even in the Books of Mofes, or Writings of the Prophets, are there contained any plain exprefs Promises of eternal Life: All the Knowledg Men had of it before, was but like the faint Glimmerings of Twilight, till the Sun of Righteoufnefs appear'd; till God was pleased to fend One from that invifible World, even his own most dear Son, to dwell here and converfe amongst Men, to make a full Discovery to us of this unknown Country, and to conduct us in the only true way of this everlasting Happiness; a Happinefs fo great, that we have not Words big enough to exprefs it, nor Faculties large enough to comprehend it: but yet fo much of it is clearly revealed to us in the Gospel, as is most abundantly fufficient to raife our Thoughts, and incite our fincereft Endeavours for the obtaining of it.

By which plain Revelation of this State of Immortality,

First, Is moft illustriously manifested to us the tranfcendent Goodness and Indulgence of our most merciful Creator, in that he will be pleased to reward fuch imperfect Services, fuch mean Performances as the best of ours are, with Glory fo immenfe, as that Eye hath not feen, nor Ear beard, nor can it enter into the Heart of Man to conceive the Greatness of it. There is nothing in us, nor any thing

done

done by us, that bears the least proportion to fuch an ample Recompence. Our best Actions ftand in need of a Pardon, fo far are they from deferving to be crown'd. All poffible Duty and Obedience we certainly owe to him, to whom we owe our Beings; and should God Almighty have exacted it from us only on the account of his fovereign Authority over us as we are his Creatures, we had been indifpenfably obliged to all Subjection to him; but that he fhould over and above promise to reward our Faithfulness to him with eternal Life, this is a most wonderful Inftance of his infinite Grace and Goodness.

Secondly, By this Revelation of immortal Life, is farther demonftrated the exceeding great Love of our blessed Saviour, who by his Death and perfect Obedience, not only purchafed Pardon for all our past Rebellions and Tranfgreffions, not only redeemed us from Hell and Destruction, to which we had all rendered our felves most justly liable, (which alone had been an unfpeakable Favour) but alfo merited an everlasting Kingdom of Glory for us, if with true Repentance we return to our Duty. And this, if any thing, fhews the infinite Value and Efficacy of our Saviour's appearing on our behalf, that by his most powerful Mediation he obtained not only Freedom from Punishment, but also unexpreffibly glorious Rewards for us vile and wretched Sinners on eafy and most reasonable Conditions. Thirdly,