run into. And this we shall beft do, by con- SERM fidering them in their proper Light, of being VI. Inftruments or Means of forming a good Habit

of Mind in us, and engaging us to a virtuous course of Life; that therefore there can be no Sanctity in the external Performances themfelves, but that the whole Merit of them is derived from their being Acts of Obedience to the Will of God, and their Subferviency in promoting moral Goodness; that they are always to be kept in a due fubordination to this great End of Religion, which is a thing that has an intrinsick and immediate Worth in it, and is of neceffary and perpetual Obligation, prior to all Confideration of its Tendency and Confequences, and independently of all positive Commands: fo that whenever moral Virtues and inftrumental or positive Duties happen to interfere, the latter muft always give way to the former; and in our Attendance on inftru¬ mental Duties and pofitive Rites, we must ftill aim at improving ourselves in morally good Qualities, and never think that we have made the proper ufe of them, till we have found their Efficacy for reftraining us from Vice and Wickedness, and making us holy in all manner of Converfation. This Notion, which both Reason and Scripture suggest to us, about the Ufe and Subordination of the external

N 3

SER M. external Duties and Rites of Devotion, if well VI. fixed in our Minds, will be the best Preserva

'tive against those Corruptions of them, which have often rendered them not only vain and infignificant, but very hurtful and pernicious to Men; and have afforded the most plausible Pretence, to thofe who have wanted fuch a thing, for neglecting and difregarding them; and will prepare us for fuch a rational Attendance on them, as may both have a happy Effect upon ourselves, and remove the Prejudices of others against them, and give them a just Impreffion of their wife Design and beneficial Tendency.

3. Let us always attend to the external Duties of the Christian Worship, with an inward Seriousness and Devotion of Mind. This is a Qualification abfolutely neceffary for rendering our Performance of these Duties acceptable to God, and deriving any Benefit from it to ourselves. For notwithstanding the natural Aptitude of the inftrumental Duties of the Gofpel, to infpire good Sentiments, and to raise pious and virtuous Affections in us, the efficacy of them, as of all the other means which God employs for our Reformation, will certainly depend upon our own Difpofition to make a right Ufe and Improvement of them. If we content ourselves with draw

ing near to God with our Mouths, while our SER M. Hearts are far from him; if we engage in VI. the Duties of his Worship with a trifling and careless Temper of Mind, without any suitable Affections towards him, and without any Senfe of what we are about; if we perform them only from Cuftom; the most splendid Acts of our Devotion will be but dead Forms, a mere bodily Exercise, which will have no Virtue to recommend us to God, or to produce any good Effect in us at all: Nay, fo far will the fpecious Expreffions of Devotion, in which the Heart has no Concern, be from honouring and pleafing God, that he will rather deem them to be an impious Mockery and Contempt of him; and fo far will a mere customary Performance of the external Duties of Piety be from contributing to our Establishment and Improvement in Virtue, that it will be the means of hardening our Hearts, and rendering us infenfible to the most powerful Impreffions and Motives of Religion. So that

it

very much concerns us to bring a ferious and attentive Mind to our Devotions; to pray and give Thanks to God with earnestness and warmth of Affection, to read the Holy Scriptures and meditate upon them, and to attend to the several Institutions of the Gospel, with a fincere Intention of being farther informed

SERM.and improved in our Duty by them; to take VI. care that not only the inward Frame of our Spirits, but that our outward Appearance, be grave and compofed, while we profess to be employed in the Duties of divine Worship; to fhew no Signs of Levity in our Countenances, or in any part of our Behaviour, and to order all our bodily Motions and Poftures in the way that will be most likely to fix and raise our Minds. Thus may we hope that God will accept the fpiritual Sacrifices which we present to him, and that we fhall find the good Influence of our devotional Duties for our Inftruction and Edification in Religion, or 2 Pet. ii. for making us, as St. Peter speaks, to grow in Grace, and in the Knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jefus Chrift; to whom be Glory both now and for ever. Amen.

18.

SERMON

SERMON VII.

The Nature of Faith, Hope, and Charity; and the Excellency of Charity above Faith and Hope.

1 COR. XIII. 13.

And now abideth Faith, Hope, Charity, these three; but the greatest of thefe is Charity.

I

N the foregoing Chapter, St. Paul difcourfes largely of the various extraordinary Gifts, which the Holy Spirit at that time bestowed in great plenty upon the Church, and which were ufually held in a very high Esteem by the Perfons who poffeffed them. The Apostle does not difapprove the Zeal which the Corinthians expreffed for them, but declares that it was their Duty to value and improve them: But at the fame time he lets them know, that there was fomething that was far more excellent in its Nature, and