is from above; the man that is purified, is born of the Spirit, and born from above; he is God's workmanship, created in Chrift Jefus, unto good works. It is the Spirit of God that garnishes the foul with thefe fpiritual embroideries; they are fruits of the Spirit. Thefe that are no purer than when they were born, or than they are by nature, have no purity at all; they are not washed from their filthinefs.

2. It is not an hypocritical, but a real unfeigned purity. Many hypocrites there are, that draw near to God with their mouth, and honour him with the lip; but their hearts are far removed from him. Their hearts are not right with God. The faint is faid to have his heart found in God's ftatutes; and to have truth in the inward parts; and a spirit without guile, in oppofition both to gross and clofs hypocrify. The grofs hypocrite is one that knows he is juggling with God and religion; furely there is no purity there. The clofe hypocrite is deceiving himself, and is not aware of it..

But here a queflion may arife, May one be a hypocrite and not know it?

To which we may reply, No doubt of it; for many are playing the hypocrite, when they think they are very devout perfons; their hearts are divided; not up. right, but complex: and they have a complex portion; God and the creature make up a portion to them. The hypocrite gives God a part of his heart, and the creature a part of his heart; he gives heaven and duties a part of his heart and time; and he gives hell and idols another part of his heart and time. The worship of God, that gratifies his confcience; the way of fin, that gratifies his affections; and between the two he is pleafed. God alone doth not fatisfy him; the creature alone doth not fatisfy him; but he runs between the two. But the cloven foot is a mark of the devil; the heart is divided. But the pure, the upright man, is one who dares not regard iniquity in his heart, and who takes a God in Chrift alone for all his portion and happinefs; that fatisfies all the vaft defires of his foul; and, To whom fhall I go? faith he, Thou haft the words

of

of eternal life." God is the centre of the foul's reft: Return to thy reft, O my foul,” Pfal. cxvi. 7.

3. It is not a fpeculative, but an operative purity. Some have all their religion in their head, but nothing in their heart and life: all the knowledge they are mafter of hath no influence upon the fanctification of either. Many people are like rickety children, their heads are fwelled, but their backs are narrow and contracted: fo they have heads full of light, but they are empty of piety and purity; "They profefs that they know God; but in works they deny him." Indeed, if they had a true knowledge of God, it would lead to true fanctity; but they are the liker the devil, who hath much knowledge, but no purity. People may be like the toad, who hath a precious ftone in his head, but his belly is full of poifon : they may have a head full of notional knowledge; but they have an heart full of unmortified enmity.

4. It is not a common, but a special purity. People may have common influences of the Spirit of God; not only may their understandings be much enlightened, like thofe, Heb. vi. 4.; but their will may be renewed, toward many good purposes and refolutions, like Agrippa, almoft perfuaded to be faints: their affections may be feveral ways touched. There are common gifts and graces of the Spirit, that may both warm the affection, and fmooth the converfation; while yet the heart is not wafhed from its filthinefs, in the manner that I have described.

5. It is not a fuperftitious, but a fcriptural and regular purity. Many worship God vainly, while they worship him fuperftitioufly; in a manner not required in his word: fuch are all thefe forms of worship, and of divine. fervice, in thofe churches that are over-run with human inventions, and unfcriptural ceremonies: "In vain do they worship me; teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” The word of God is the ftandard of true piety and purity: "As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them," faith the apoftle, "and on the Ifrael of God. To the law and to the testimony; if they speak not according to this, it is because there is

no

no light in them." No man can do any thing in faith, unless he can fay, "So it is written;" or hath a "Thus faith the Lord," to warrant it: and whatsoever is not thus of faith, is fin. This purity is fcriptural, both with respect to the law and the gofpel: the law is the rule of purity, and the gofpel is the inftrument, even the word of grace: "Now are ye clean, through the word that I have spoken unto you. Sanctify them through thy truth, thy word is truth."

6. It is not a partial, but an extenfive, univerfal purity. It is not a part of the man, that is wafhed from filthinefs, but the whole man; the whole man is renewed after the image of God. "If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are past away; behold, all things are become new." There is a new ftate, a new difpofition: there is a new light in the understanding; the light of the knowledge of the glory of God: a new liberty in the will; being made willing in the day of God's power: a new order in the affections; they being fet upon things above: a new peace in the confcience; a peace that paffeth all natural understanding: a new luftre in the whole converfation; it being a converfation becoming the gofpel: a new trade of communion with God, and intercourfe with heaven: a new war against the devil, the world, and the flefh: "All things are become new." Think not you are holy enough, when free from the outward pollutions. of the world. New defires and new delights must be inlaid and implanted in the foul: new faith, in oppofition to the old dead faith; new hope, in oppofition to the old natural hope; new repentance, in oppofition to the old-covenant repentance; a new obedience, in oppofition to the old-covenant obedience. And fo,

7. It is not a legal, but an evangelical purity. Legal purity is built upon the ground of perfonal righteousness and inherent ftrength, like Adam's in a ftate of innocency; but evangelical purity is built upon the ground of Chrift's righteoufnefs and ftrength, Ifa. xlv. 24. The man that is evangelically purified, faith, "Surely in the Lord only have I righteoufnefs and ftrength." Gospelpurity acts upon the divine ftrength of Christ, for being to itfelf, and for all its affiftance and it acts upon the

divine righteoufnefs of Chrift, for acceptation to itself, and for all its acceptance. —Legal-purity acts by compulfion and conftraint, from fear of hell, and the like: but gospel-purity acts freely, and from love, Legalpurity levels at felf, and the magnifying thereof: gofpelpurity levels at fiee-grace, and the praife and glory thereof.-Legal-purity is mercenary, expecting God will make out his part, because the pure creature thinks he has done his endeavour, to perform his condition on his part; and fo imagines he has a right founded upon his purity and holiness: but gofpel-purity is humble, and takes all things freely; not in a conditional way, but in an abfolute manner, with respect to him; and expecting all things promifed in the covenant, only upon the condition performed by Chrift, his obedience to the

death.

8. It is not an evanishing, but a permanent purity; All the religion that many have is evanithing and fuperficial; it comes and goes like a flash of lightening. True purity is permanent and conftant; it continues and grows; for,He that hath clean hands fhall wax fironger and ftronger." The righteous holdeth on his way, like a veffel failing toward fuch a port,. though it meet with many blafts to drive it hither and thither, and, fometimes very far back; yet it goes on again, and makes out the harbour defigned: fo, though the believer may meet with blafts of temptation and corruption, that may fet him far back; yet he holds on his way. A God in Chrift is the centre of reft, to which he moves; yea, he hath taken up his reft in him, and there he refolves to ftay for ever: he hath chofen a God in Chrift for his portion, and he is determined to abide by his choice; "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none in all the earth that I defire befides thee," Pfal. Ixxiii. 25. As if he had faid, I have been ranging and ranfacking heaven, and looking to all the angels there; I have been traverfing earth, and viewing all the children of men; but there is none, worthy of my choice but thee alone; "Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none in all the earth that I defire befides thee." Here is a characteristic and diftinguifhing quality of a pure and upright man. A hypo

crite can go to a preaching and a prayer; but he can never fay, Now, I could live and die in this work; no, no: the man must be back to the world again, back to his idols again: there is fomething in the earth that is more his portion than God; fo his religion is vanishing. But,

III. It is proper now to speak a word of the neceffity of this purity. Here I would effay two things :1. Shew that it is neceffary. 2. Enquire for what it is neceffary.

Ift, We are to fhew that purity is neceffary. This will appear clear, if you confider thefe things following.

1. That purity is neceffary, will appear from all the typical works under the law; the legal wafhings and purifyings. What meant the great fea of brafs that was appointed for the high priests to wash in, before they made their addreffes to the throne, before they compaffed the altar? What needed all the wafhings of the people and of the facrifices? Certainly, if we look not to the fpirituality of it, but only to the letter, they feem a piece of pageantry, unworthy of the divine Spirit to concern himself in thefe outward washings: but having a further view, they point at a gofpel, fpiritual washing and purification.

2. The neceffity of it is evident from the facramental washing in the New Teftament. What means the facrament of baptifm? Doth it not fpeak forth the neceffity of our washing? Who no fooner enter on the threshold of life, than there is the laver of regeneration prefented for washing and purification,

3. The neceffity of it is evident from all the commands of the law. Every command hath a voice; and the general voice and cry of all is, "Wafh ye, make ye clean," Ifa. i. 16. "The end of the commandment

is love, out of a pure heart," 1 Tim. i. 5.

4. The neceffity of it is evident from the promises of the gofpel. The great promise of the new covenant is, "I will fprinkle them with clean water, and they fhall be clean; from all your filthinefs, and from all your