against thee? As thou art a man, and upon the stock of natural principles, thou art obliged to repentance. The fame light of reason which discovers to thee the errors of thy life, and challengeth thee for thy impiety and intemperance, for thy injuftice and oppreffion, for thy pride and paffion; the fame natural confcience which accufeth thee of any mifcarriages, does oblige thee to be forry for them, to turn from thy evil ways, and to break off thy fins by repentance. For nothing can be more unreasonable, than for a man to know a fault, and yet not think himself bound to be forry for it; to be convinced of the evil of his ways, and not to think himself obliged, by that very conviction, to turn from it, and forfake it. If there be any fuch thing as a natural law written in mens hearts, which the Apoftle tells us the Heathens had, it is impoffible to imagine, but that the law which obliges men not to tranfgrefs, fhould oblige them to repentance in cafe of tranfgreffion. And this every man in the world is bound to, though he had never feen the bible, nor heard of the name of Chrift. And the revelation of the gofpel doth not fuperfede this obligation, but adds new ftrength and force to it: And, by how much this duty of repentance is more clearly revealed by our bleffed Saviour in the gofpel; by how much the arguments which the gofpel ufeth to perfuade men, and encourage them to repentance, are greater and more powerful; by, fo much is the impenitence of those who live under the gospel the more inexcufable.

Had we only fome faint hopes of God's mercy, a doubtful opinion and weak perfuafion of the rewards. and punishments of another world; yet we have a law within us, which, upon the probability of these confiderations; would oblige us to repentance. Indeed, if men were affured, upon good grounds, that there would be no future rewards and punishments, then the fanction of the law were gone, and it would lose its force and obligation; or, if we did defpair of the mercy of God, and had good reafon to think repentance impoffible, or that it would do us no good, in that case there would be no fufficient motive and argument to repentance for no man can return to his duty, without

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returning to the love of God and goodness; and no man can return to the love of God, who believes that he bears an implacable hatred against him, and is refolved to make him miferable for ever. During this perfuafion, no man can repent. And this feems to be the reason, why the devils continue impenitent.

But the heathens were not without hopes of God's mercy, and upon thofe fmall hopes which they had, they encouraged themfelves unto repentance; as you may fee in the inftance of the Ninevites, Let them turn every one from his evil ways, and from the violence that is in his hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not? Jonah iii. 8, 9. But if we, who have the cleareft difcoveries, and the highest affurance of this, who profefs to believe that God hath declared himself placable to all mankind, that he is in Chrift reconciling the world to himself, and that upon our repentance he will not impute cur fins to us; if we, to whom the wrath of God is revealed from heaven, against all ungodliness and unrighteoufnefs of men, and to whom life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel, if after all this, we still go on in an impenitent course, what shall we be able to plead in excufe of ourfelves at that great day? The men of Nineveh shall rife up in judgment againft fuch an impenitent generation, and condemn it; because they repented upon the terror of lighter threatnings, and upon the encouragement of weaker hopes.

And therefore it concerns us, who call ourselves Chriftians, and enjoy the clear revelation of the gofpel, to look about us, and take heed how we continue in an evil course. For if we remain impenitent, after all the arguments which the gofpel, fuperadded to the light of nature, affords to us to bring us to repentance, it shall not only be more tolerable for the men of Nineveh, but for Tyre and Sidon, for Sodom and Gomorrah, the most wicked and impenitent heathens, at the day of judgment, than for us. For, becaufe we have ftronger arguments, and more powerful encouragements to repentance, than they had, if we do not repent, we fhall meet with a heavier doom, and a fiercer damnation. The heaVOL. VIII. them

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then world had many excufes to plead for themselves, which we have not. The times of that ignorance God winked at: but now commands all men every where to repent; because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteoufness, by that man whom he hath crdained, whereof he hath given afsurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

SERMON

CLXXIV.

Of the immortality of the foul, as difcovered by nature, and by revelation.

But is now made manifeft by the appearing of our Saviour Jefus Chrift, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light, through the gospel.

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The firft fermon on this text.

HE defign of the Apoftle in these two epiftles to Timothy, is to direct him how he ought to demean himself, in the office which he bore in the church; which he does in the firft epiftle: and to encourage him in his work; which he does here in the fecond in which, after his ufual falutation, he endeavours to arm him against the fear of thofe perfecutions, and the fhame of thofe reproaches, which would probably attend him in the work of the gofpel, ver 8. Be not thou therefore afhamed of the teftimony of the Lord, nor of me his prifoner; but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel, according to the power of God, who hath Javed us, and called us with an holy calling as if he had faid, The God whom thou ferveft in this employment, and by whofe power thou art ftrengthened, is he that hath faved and called us with an holy calling, that is, it is he who, by Jefus Chrift, hath brought falvation to us, and called us to this holy profeffion; not according to

our

our works, that is, not that we, by any thing that we have done, have deferved this at his hand, but according to his own purpose and grace, that is, according to his own gracious purpofe, which was given us in Chrift before the world began, that is, which from all eternity he decreed and determined to accomplish by Jefus Chrift; but is now made manifeft by the appearing of our Saviour Fefus Chrift; that is, which gracious purpofe of his is now clearly difcovered by our Saviour Jefus Christ's coming into the world, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.

Which words exprefs to us two happy effects of Chrift's appearance: 1. The abolishing of death; and, 2. The bringing of life and immortality to light. In the handling of these words, I fhall,

First, Open to you the meaning of the feveral expref

fions in the text.

Secondly, Shew what our Saviour Jefus Chrift did towards the abolishing of death, and bringing to light life and immortality.

For the firft, I shall fhew,

I. What is here meant by the appearing of Jefus Chrift.

II. What by the abolishing of death.

III. What by bringing to light life and immortality. I. What is here meant by the appearing of our Saviour Jefus Chrift. The fcripture ufeth feveral phrafes to exprefs this thing to us. As it was the gracious defign of God the Father, fo it is called, the giving of his Son, or fending him into the world. John iii. 16. God fo loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son. Gal. iv. 4. In the fulness of time God fent his Son. As it was the voluntary undertaking of God the Son, fo it is called, his coming into the world. In relation to his incarnation, whereby he was made vifible to us in his body, and likewife in reference to the obfcure promifes, and prophecies, and types of the Old Teftament, it is called his manifefation, or appearance. So the Apoftle expreffeth it, 1 John iii. 5. Te know that he was manifefted to take away our fins; by which we are to understand primarily

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his

his incarnation. his appearing in our nature, whereby he Decame visible to us. As he was God, he could not appear to us, dwelling in light and glory, not to be approached by us in this ftate of mortality, and therefore he cloathed himself in flefh, that he might appear and become manifeft to us.

I fay, by his appearing we are primarily to understand his incarnation: yet not only that, but likewife all that was confequent upon this, the actions of his life, and his death and refurrection: becaufe all thefe concur to the producing of these happy effects mentioned in the text.

II. What is meant by the abolishing of death. By this we are not to understand, that Chrift, by his appearance, hath rooted death out of the world, fo that men are no longer fubject to it. For we fee that even good men, and thofe who are partakers of the benefits of Christ's - death, are ftill fubject to the common law of mortality : but this expreffion of Chrift's having abolished death, fignifies the conqueft and victory which Chrift hath gained over death in his own perfon, in that after he was dead, and laid in his grave, he rofe again from the dead, he freed himself from the bands of death, and broke loofe from the fetters of it, they not being able to hold him, as the expreffion is, Acts ii. 24. and confequently hath, by this victory over it, given us affurance of a refurrection to a better life. For fince Chrift hath abolished death, and triumphed over it, and thereby over the powers of darkness; (for fo the Apostle tells us, that by his death, and that which followed it, his refurrection from the dead, he hath deftroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. The devil, he contributed all he could to the death of Christ, by tempting Judas to betray him, and engaging all his inftruments in the procuring of it; as he had before brought in death into the world, by tempt ing the first man to fin, upon which death enfued; thus far he prevailed, and thought his kingdom was fafe, having procured the death of him who was fo great an enemy to it; but Chrift, by rifing from the dead, defeats the devil of his defign, and plainly conquers him, who had arrogated to himself the power of death;) I fay, fince Chrift hath thus vanquished death, and triumph

ed