of him, he hath seen thee and thy thoughts too; yea, at this very moment looks upon thee.

And what wilt thou answer him, the great Judge of the whole world, when he shall tell thee to thy face, and call his omniscience to witness, that he saw thee at this, as at other times, play the hypocrite with him, making as if thou servedst him, when thou servedst him not; and, instead of serving him "with a perfect heart and a willing mind," servedst him in neither heart nor mind. Let us all remember this when we approach God's house, and also bethink ourselves afterwards, whether we have not been guilty of this sin. If we have, we may be sure God knows it, and we shall know it another day. But, to prevent what justly may be our doom, let us repent of our former neglects of this kind; and, for the future, whensoever we are serving God, let us still look upon him as looking upon us, and fix in our hearts this one thing, "That God knows all things in the world." And therefore, let us not think to put God off with such careless and perfunctory services as heretofore too many of us have done; but if we desire to serve him at all, let us serve him "with a perfect heart and a willing mind."

Thus I have endeavoured to show, both what it is to serve God, and how we ought to do it. Now, let us not think it sufficient that we know how to serve God, unless we serve him according to our knowledge. Let us remember our Saviour's words : "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." Which happiness, that all who read this may attain unto, let me advise them, in the name of the eternal God that made them, to renounce and

forsake their former masters, sin, Satan, and the world, whoever may have hitherto been enslaved by them, and now dedicate themselves wholly to the service of him that made them for the very purpose that they may serve him; yea, and who hath composed our natures so, that the highest happiness we are capable of, consists in our serving him: and therefore, let us not think that he calls upon us to serve him, because he wants our service. No, be it known unto all that he is infinitely happy in the enjoyment of his own perfections, and needs not the services of such poor silly mortals as we are, who have nothing but what we receive from him: and therefore he doth not call upon us to serve him because he cannot be happy without us, but because we cannot be happy without him: not because he wants our service, but because we want it: it being impossible for us to be happy unless we be holy; or to enjoy God, unless we serve him.

Wherefore, all ye that desire to go to heaven, to have him that made you reconciled to you, and smile upon you; or that desire to be really and truly happy; set upon the work which God sent you into the world about. Put it not off any longer; make no more vain excuses: but from this day forward, let the service of God be your daily, your continual employment and pleasure. Study and contrive each day how to advance his glory and interest in the world, and how you may walk more strictly, more circumspectly, more conformably to his laws than ever. But whatever service you perform unto him, be sure to do it with a perfect heart and a willing mind. Think not to put him off with fancy instead of faith,

or with outward performances instead of real duties: but remember that he "searcheth the hearts, and trieth the reins of the sons of men," and observes the inward motions of the soul, as well as the outward actions of the life: and therefore, wheresoever you are, whatsoever you do, still bethink yourselves, that He that made you, still looks upon you; taking notice, not only of the matter of the actions which you perform, but also of the manner of your performing them; and therefore, be sure to have a special care in all your services for or unto God, that your "hearts be sincere before him, and your minds inclined to him," that so you may 66 serve him with a perfect heart, and a willing mind."

But, to conclude, whoever ye are that read this discourse, I have shown you the "things that belong unto your everlasting peace," have acquainted with the method and manner of your serving you God in time, in order to your enjoyment of him to eternity; how you are affected with what you have read, and whether you be resolved to practise it, yea or no, it is only the eternal God that knows. But this I know, that if you will not be persuaded to serve God, yea, and to serve him with a perfect heart and a willing mind, you will one day wish you had, but then it will be too late. And therefore, if you will put it to the venture, go on still, and, with the unprofitable servant, "hide your talents in a napkin," or lavish them out in the revels of sin and vanity; let thy belly be still thy god, and the world thy lord; serve thyself or Satan, instead of the liv ing God: "but know that for all this, God will bring thee into judgment;" after which, expect no

thing else but to be overwhelmed with horror and confusion to eternity.

Whereas, on the other side, such amongst you as shall sincerely endeavour from henceforth to serve God with a perfect heart and a willing mind, I dare, I do assure them in the name of God," their labour shall not be in vain in the Lord:" for God suffers not his enemies to go unpunished, nor his servants unrewarded.

And therefore go on with joy and triumph in the service of so great and so good a master, and devote yourselves wholly to his service, and employ your talents faithfully for his glory. Remember the time is but short: and Christ himself will receive you into eternal glory, saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant.'

THOUGH there be many in the world that seem to be religious, there are but few that are so: one great reason whereof is, because there are so many mistakes about religion, that it is a hard matter to hit upon the true notion of it. And therefore, desiring nothing in this world so much as to be an instrument in God's hand to direct men into the true religion, my great care must, and by the blessing of God shall be, to instil into them right conceptions of him, that is the only object of all religious acts; without which it is impossible to continue, or indeed to

be religious: the true nature and notion of religion consisting in the right carriage and deportment of our whole man, both soul and body, towards him that made us: whom therefore, unless we truly know, we can never be truly religious. And therefore, they that begin their religion with zeal and passion, begin at the wrong end; for indeed they begin where they should end: our zeal for God and love unto him, being the highest acts of religion, therefore cannot be the first: but they necessarily presuppose the true knowledge of God, without which our zeal will be blind, and our love both groundless and transient.

But as it is impossible to be truly religious, unless we know God, so it is very difficult so to know him, as to become truly religious. It is true that there is such a supreme Being in and over the world, as we call God; the very light of nature teaches, and reason itself demonstrates it to be the most certain and undeniable. But what he is, and what apprehensions we ought to have of this glorious Being, none but himself is able to describe and manifest unto us; so that our conceptions of him are still to be regulated by the discoveries that he hath made of himself to us; without which, though we may have some confused notions of him, yet we can never so know him, as to serve him faithfully, and, by consequence, be truly religious.

Hence, therefore, if we would know God, we must search the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments, wherein God hath been pleased most clearly to manifest and discover himself unto us; I say, both the Old and New Testaments: for other