I pray God make the whole Nation deeply fenfible of the Folly and Wickedness, as well as of the Danger and dreadful Confequences of thefe Practices. And as for you who are here prefent, let me befpeak you in the Words of the Apoftle; Dearly Beloved, I beseech you as Strangers and Pilgrims, to abfrain from flefbly Lusts, which war against the Soul. I befeech you, as you have any Honour for your Lord and Mafter, as you have any regard to the prefervation of a fenfe of Religion in your Minds, as you have any concern for your Health, for your Eftates, for your Families; as you have any refpect to the Publick, that Effeminacy and Sottishness and Diseases may not be entailed upon our Pofterity; Laftly as you love your own Souls, and hope ever to fee the face of God in Heaven, learn to live Soberly, learn to live Chaftly, learn to practife Purity, and Temperance in all your Converfation. Avoid Whoredom and Drunkenness as you would the Plague, for certainly they are the worft of Plagues to them that use them: For other Plagues do only put ourBodies in danger, but thefe do endanger both our Souls and Bodies. Nay, as to the one (I mean our Souls) they will prove certain inevitable Destruction without Repentance and Reformation.

I know these things are made flight Matters of by a great many among us. But affure your felves God will not account them

fo; it is certain he will not, if we may believe his Word; for it is there told us exprefly, that Whoremongers and Adulterers God will judge. And withal, that neither Adulterers, nor Fornicators, nor unclean Perfons, nor Drunkards ball nor Drunkards ball ever inherit the Kingdom of God, or of Christ.

IV. I proceed to the laft Head of Advice that is given in my Text. The Apostle having inftanced in Three things neceflary to be daily thought upon and purfed by all Chriftians, viz. Truth, and Honesty, and Purity, leaves off to meddle any farther with parti culars, and fums up the reft of his Advice in generals. And that fum comes to this, That as we are Chriftians we should not only take care of the three forementioned things, but fhould make it our bufinefs to improve our felves in every other fort of Virtue; nay in every other fort of thing that is Praife-worthy, or that is well efteemed of among Mankind. So that really it fhould be the endeavour of our Lives, to render our felves as excellent and as exemplary for all forts of amiable Qualities as it is poffible for Men to be in this World.

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This I take to be the full meaning of those four expreffions that follow in my Text, Whatfoever things are lovely, whatfoever things are of good report; if there be any Vertue, "if there be any Praife, think on these things.

And

And now, Brethren, fee from hence what your obligations are, You that have fuch a glorious Light vouchfafed you; such unvaluable Promifes, fuch mighty Affiftances made over to you by the Gofpel of Chrift: You muft in reafon imagine that in return of these great Advantages, great things are expected from you.

It will not fatisfie your Engagements, that you do believe and profefs the Gospel, that you do no wrong to your Neighbours, that you are neither given to Lewdness nor Drunkenness, (though yet even thefe, as the World goes, are very great things, and could all Men that profefs Chriftianity truly fay this of themselves, we fhould foon fee Heaven upon Earth.) But your Chriftianity obliges you to afpire after greater things; you inuft get your felves poffeffed of the whole Circle of Virtues; you must be Kind and Charitable, as well as fust and Honest; you must be Modest and Meek, and Humble, as well as Temperate and Chast.

Nay, not only fo, but you are to labour after all these feveral Virtues in the full Latitude and Extent of them, even to that degree that every thing which hath but the appearance of Evil is to be avoided by you. You are not only to abftain from Acts of Injuftice, but even from doing a hard thing to any one; you are not only to keep your felves within the known Limits of Tempe

rance

rance and Chastity, but to avoid all thofe things that border upon the Vices oppofite thereunto, and fo as to all other inftances if any thing be of ill Report, and looks infa moufly to the fober part of Mankind, why that very Confideration is enough to deter you from the practice of it; For you are to recommend your Religion to all the Men in the World, by all the ways that are poffi ble.

In a Word, you are to endeavour to beas free from blame in your whole Converfation as you poffibly can, and not only fo, but to be as good, and to do as much good as your Circumftances will allow you.

This now is to be a Chriftian indeed; by thus endeavouring you truly walk worthy of that high and heavenly Calling wherewith you are called, and you do (as the Apostle advises) adorn the Doctrine of God in all things; and happy, extreamly happy are they that do thus,for great is their Reward: Great even in this World, in the folid Peace and Affurance of God's Favour which they here enjoy, and which indeed far exceeds all the Bleffings that the Earth can afford; but ex, ceedingly great in the Life to come, when Jefus Chrift fhall come with all the Powers of Heaven to do Honour to thofe that have thus here honoured him. od od

Thus have I gone through all the Patts of my Text, but I do not think that

I ought

fo

fo to leave it. I have given you an account of the things that St. Paul hath here directed us to, to be the main purfuit of our Lives. But I think likewife it will be proper to speak fomething of the Methods of that purfuit, or the means which we are to obferve, if we would practifethis Text; and here I am to begin anew with my Advices. Several things I have to reprefent upon this Occafion, and to exhort you to. I am not much folli citous, whether they ftrictly belong to my Argument or no. But I defire to leave them with you, as things that I judge to be very ufeful, and which I wifh may be ever remembred by you.

And the First thing I would exhort you to is this, That you would endeavour to poffefs your Minds with a hearty Senfe of God Almighty, and the abfolute Neceffity of being feriously Religious.

I do not mention this, as if I thought there was any need to caution you against Atheism or Infidelity, for I hope not many among us are inclined that way. Mankind are naturally difpofed to believe a God and Religion, and fince through God's Bleffing it is Christianity that is the Religion of our Country, and in which we have been all Educated: I look upon an Atheist or an Infidel among us, to be a fort of Prodigy, aftrange unusual Creature, vaftly different from those of his own Kind.

But