The third sermon preach'd before the King and Queen in Their Majesties chappel at St. James's on the third Sunday in Advent, Decemb. 13, 1685.

THE THIRD SERMON Preach'd before THEIR MAJESTIES , On the Third Sunday in Advent .

Medius vestrum stetit quem vos nescitis .

There hath stood one among you whom you know not . John 1.26 .

Words spoke by St. John Baptist , and repeated by the Church in the Gospel of this Day ; taken out of St. John , &c. and rendred in our Vulgar English Translation ;

There standeth one in the midst of you whom you know not .

THE last time St. John Baptist stood in the midst of us ; that is , in the Gospel of last Sunday , Your Majesties beheld him sending Embassadors to Jesus , to inquire whether he were the Messias , to convince those he sent of what he had Preach'd from the Wilderness to the Prison , and to shew , that if the Word of God cannot be bound , 2 Tim . 2.9 . so neither can the Voice . John was in Chains , but not the Praecursor . No Fetters can detain the Voice from communicating with the Words , Ego Vox . But the Gospel of this Day shifts the Scene , and discovers St. John receiving an Embassy upon the same account . A Noble and Learned Train of Priests and Levites ; Priests , as Deputies of the Clergy ; and Levites , their Attendants ; selected Members of the Sanhedrim , and Representatives of the whole Body Ecclesiastick , with great Solemnity , and ( as St. Augustine thinks ) with no less Sincerity , address to him , with a Tu quis es ? Who are you ? In what Quality do you appear among us ? By what Authority do you Preach Penance ? And by what New Light do you foresee that the Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand ? We are the Ordinary Dispensers of the Word ; Who are you ? Your Mission is as Extraordinary as your Life ; But you must verifie your Patent by greater Wonders then a Hard Fare and Coarse Habit ; Quis es ? Indeed the Sanctity of your Conversation , the Vehemency of your Spirit , the Force and Excellence of your Doctrine , and your exact Timing it with our Expectation of the Messias , the Sceptre being now wrested from the Royal Tribe , of Juda , by the Hands of a Stranger , and the 70 Weeks of Years , the Term assign'd by Daniel for the Messias's Coming , being now expir'd , we begin to doubt , and come to ask , Are you he that is to come , or do we expect another ? What do you say of your self ? If you are Christ , tell us so plainly .

This ( according to the Fathers and Interpreters ) was the Sence of their First Question , which our Baptist , as sparing in his Words as in his Diet , abruptly Answers , Non sum , I am not he . Which short Reply serv'd for their following Interrogatories , I am not Elias , I am not a Prophet . Not Elias , but only in Spirit and Power , to prepare the First Advent of Christ , as he in Person shall do the Second ; Not a Prophet , because Prophecy consists in Discerning things absent , and Predicting the future ; but I am only an Index to point out to you what is already before your Eyes , to awaken your Attention , that There standeth one among you , whom you know not ; and therefore to put an end to your Enquiry , Ego Vox , I am only a Voice , a meer Organ , and Forerunner of the Word : John 1.30 . for He is coming after me who is made before me . For tho' the Voice be first by priority of Place , yet the Word is first by priority of Nature ; the Verbum mentis , or Conception , being antecedent to the Verbum oris , or Expression . And as when good News is brought you , ( Right Honorable and Religious Auditors ) you amuse not your selves with the Voice that delivers it , but attend to the Thing deliver'd ; so the Jew , so the Christian is commanded , so common Sence teacheth you , not to stop at the Voice , ( a meer Shadow ) but to carry your Attention to the Substance . So St. John , and so every one that after him announces JESUS CHRIST , exhorts you not to be offended with the plain and unartful Delivery of the Preacher , nor to expect that harmony of Words , those moving Gestures , those sweet Cadences in the Pulpit , which draw you to the Theatre , which are the Business , and make all the Beauty of the Stage . They were certainly other Motives that brought you hither : for unless you mistake Curiosity for Devotion , you come not to be charm'd with soft Numbers , and a Musical Air , but to be instructed in solid and severe Truths , such as a Baptist publishes in my Text , in Words as unstudy'd as his Gesture , as rough as his Clothing , and containing a Doctrine as mortifying and rigid as his Life : And such you are to expect within these Walls , from one that pretends not to mollifie , but to inforce his Doctrine , and as his Voice and Interpreter to carry home to you the bitter Reproach , that There standeth one in the midst of you whom you know not , that there is a God who is a consuming fire , who is a searcher of hearts , a God jealous of his Honor , and an Avenger of a Contempt to the Third and Fourth Generation ; that this God is in the midst of you ; 1. By the Immensity of his Nature and Being ; 2. By the Extent of his Power and Operation ; And 3. By the Infinity of his Wisdom and Knowledge ; ( Which shall make the three Parts of this Exhortation , ) and yet you know him not , and yet you cannot but know him ; your Ignorance is not real , but affected and wilful ; your Knowledge serves only to make your neglect of him more criminal ; and oh ! I tremble to say it , without more then an ordinary Repentance , unpardonable . But we need a Baptist to evince these Truths , or at least a double portion of his Spirit to rest upon , and to animate my Tongue . Let us apply our selves to him that chooses the weak things of this World , to confound the strong ; and as an instance , when he came to destroy the Kingdom of Sin , he did not abhor a Virgins womb , the Angel Gabriel being the Praecursor , and especially in this Holy Time of Advent , warranting our repetition of his Message , Ave Maria .

There hath stood , or standeth , {αβγδ} . one in the midst of you , whom you know not .

THE great Praecursor of our Lord knew very well , that one of the most efficacious Means to keep us within the bounds of our Duty , or when we have stept aside , to cast a rub in our way , and make us fall back by a timely Repentance , ( the Subject of his Preaching ) was to put us in mind , that God , whom we so supinely neglect , and so carelesly offend , is in the midst of us ;

First , By the Immensity of his Nature and Being . For the Omnipresence of God , or his being in all Places , is so necessarily included in the Notion which all Men have of the Deity , that a doubt of it wou'd sap the very Foundations of Religion , and shock the First Principles of Reason : for , That is nothing where God is not , says the most ancient of the Heathen Philosophers . And in effect , take away the Presence of the Divinity to all Things , and in all Places , his Infinity and Immutability , the unquestionable Attributes , and ( as I may say ) the constitutive Perfections of the Godhead , are no more , and the Fool may truly say in his heart , There is no God .

For , 1st . That which is Infinite can suffer no Limitation ; and yet if he were not Immense , the being in one Place wou'd exclude him from being in another . And , 2ly . That which is Immutable can never change , or shift its place ; yet if God were not Immense , that is , if he were confin'd to one determinate Space , he cou'd not be in another , without ceasing to be where he was before ; whence it is evidently concluded , that he is every where , and reaches all Places , and all Times ; by his Eternity all Times , by his Immensity all Places .

But withal we must acknowledge , that he is in a peculiar , more excellent manner , present to the Rational Creature , which bears his Image , and for whose sake he made all other things contain'd in that we call Place . For his Presence to other parts of the Creation , is only necessary in order to preserve them in Being ; but his Presence to Man is necessary in order to his Well-being . Other Creatures operate by the Necessity of their Natures , Man by the Election and Liberty of his Will . Other Creatures cannot swerve from the Position which was assign'd them , nor stop the Motion which was impress'd on them , when they first began to exist ; the Sun cannot start from his Sphere , nor the Earth burst from its Centre : But you are not only eccentrique to the State in which you were created , you have not only stifled and suppress'd the Impulse of Original Innocence , and deaded the action of Justifying Grace within you ; but you also stand in need of a strong Rein , to keep you from rushing into an endless Series of Irregularities and Transgressions . And therefore you must be often warned , that The rod is upon your back , Prov. 26.3 . ( as the wise King speaks ) or as the Baptist more forcibly , Luke 3.9 . that The ax is laid to the root of the tree ; that the Eye of your Maker is in every place open and fix'd upon you , that his Hand is stretch'd out to cut you down in your greener Sins . And when the Tree is fell'd , we know the consequence , it lives no more : Eccles . 11.3 . but that 's not all ; In the place where the tree falleth , there it shall be , saith the Preacher . In what place soever you meet this fatal Blow , your Eternity depends upon it ; your Eternity , that 's the Blow : 't is the Hand of God that strikes , Death is the Ax , your selves are the Tree ; and what is the End ? In ignem mittetur , Cast the fruitless Tree into unquenchable Flames . Et quis poterit habitare de vobis cum igne devorante ? And tell me , you that cannot endure the sight of a Mortification , the approach of an Affliction , the want of a Repast , or a Superfluity , no nor of an Excess ; Isai . 33.14 . Who among you can dwell with the devouring fire ? who among you can dwell with everlasting burnings ? But what could raise the Indignation of our God to such a Flame against his Creature ? against his own Likeness , the Likeness of a God , who cannot forget to be gracious , Psal . 77.9 . nor in his anger shut up his tender mercies ; but because he is in the midst of us , and we know him not ? Ah , Christians , let us enquire no farther , our Guilt is too evident .

That God is in the midst of us , is common to us with other Creatures ; 't is the Excellence of his Divine Nature , as well as the Subsistence and Advantage of the Created : But that we know him not , is the specifique Crime of Man , an Apostacy that discriminates you from all other Creatures , which by an in-born tendency to fulfil the Will of their Creator , who said , Let there be light , and there was light ; or by an Obediential Power , execute those Orders which they do not understand ; as , Isai . 1.3 . The Ox knows his Owner , and the Ass the Crib of his Master ; Israel autem non cognovit ; but Israel knows not me : You that excel all other Creatures , because you have the Power of Knowing , know not me that gave you that Power ; the Faculty that makes you little less then the Angels , sinks you below the Condition of Beasts . But if your Blindness and Insensibility rested there , I that can command light to shine out of darkness , 2 Cor . 4.6 . might enlighten your Eyes , and melt down your Hearts : But that which raises your Crime to an unpardonable Enormity , is , that you are Israel , Populus meus , My People , my Inheritance , which I have separated from the rest of the World , chosen out of all Nations , seal'd with the Blood of the Testament , enrich'd with my Spirit ; and as I once told my Servant David , 2 Kings 12.8 . If all these things are too little , I am ready to add far greater : But that you , after all , should not know me ; that wilful , that design'd , that affected Ignorance , ties up the Hands of Mercy : I can no more , unless it be to cry to you like a Woman in travail , Isai . 42.14 . quasi parturiens loquar : And have I been silent ? Have not I exalted my Voice like a Trumpet ? And have you not stopp'd your Ears , either refusing to hear the voice calling after you , or churlishly replied to your God , Scientiam viarum tuarum nolumus ; We will not the knowledge of thy ways ; We will not know thee , lest we should be converted , and thou shouldst heal us ?

For , Christians , is it to know God , when your Life and Manners contradict your Belief ? Matth . 15.8 . or , to honor him with your Lips , when your Heart is far from him ? or , to hear his Word , like the Voice of an Inchanter , to go away pleas'd with the Harmony , without a design of submitting to the Doctrine ? If you do not believe the Presence of your God in the midst of you , I must send you to the Heathen for Instruction : But I am afraid you are past that : Matth . 6.23 . If the Light that is in you by Nature , be turn'd into Darkness , by obduracy in Sin , Tenebrae quantae erunt ? 't is more then Egyptian Darkness ; 't is that of Hell , from which there is no redemption . But if you believe there is a God who in all Places beholds the Good and the Bad , you do well , says the Apostle ; James 2.19 . but the Devils also believe , Daemones credunt ; yet 't is a dead Faith , unless you believe and tremble : Daemones contremiscunt , the Devils too believe and tremble ; but they do not repent . And what Name will you give those who neither believe , tremble , nor repent ? For , assure your selves , if you do not tremble , you do not repent ; and if you do not repent , you do not believe either the Presence of God in you by the Immensity of his Nature , nor his Presence with you by the Extent of his Power and Operation : Which is my Second Point .

The Presence of God in all Things , and all Places , prov'd from the Extent and Universality of his Operation , was judg'd by the great Apostle , of sufficient strength to level all Infidelity at a Blow , to convince the most haughty Spirit , and to awaken the most heavy Heart into an awful attention to the Deity . Therefore he put no other Argument to the People of Athens , and their Learned Bench of Judges in the Areopagus : for having found an Altar with this Inscription , Acts 17.23 . To the unknown God , he reproaches their blindness , and shews , That the Divinity cannot be confin'd to Temples built with Hands , because he is not distant from any of us all ; and how do's he prove that ? Because in him we live , move , and have our Being .

A full , and just Conclusion : For every Agent must be present to the Thing it acts upon , that is , the Mover , and Thing Moved , must be together . Now that there is a First Mover , imparting Motion to every Creature , is evident to the light of Nature , and was acknowledg'd by the Gentiles . If there be a First Mover , there is a First Cause of all things ; therefore , ab ipso , from it , we live , and move , and have our Being ; But because God is a mover , not only , when he first gave us Being , but also , while he preserves us in that Being ( for Preservation is nothing , but the Creative Action continued ) therefore , in ipso , in him , we live , we move , and have our Being : as he is the cause efficient , we are from him ; omnia per ipsum facta sunt : as he concurs with all our Operations , giving us Faculties to act , Reason to discern , Liberty to chuse , Perseverance to accomplish , we are in him , and he in us , ( according to the Prophet ) thou hast wrought all our Works in us . Isai . 26.12 .

For this wonderful Operation of God in all his Creatures , is still more admirable in Man , a Creature of such excellent Endowments that nothing under a God cou'd be its Original , but a Creature so insensible of its own Perfection , so fallen from its native Beauty , and so continually tending to Nothing , and concurring to its own Ruine , that no less then an omnipotent Hand can stop him short on the brink of the Precipice , whither he is running to Self-destruction , by the dissolution of the Elements which compound his Body , but by a far worse dissolution of his Manners , which destroy his Soul .

To preserve this Creature , is a Province for a God , worthy an omnipotent Hand , and becoming the strong One of Israel . And in this he chiefly demonstrates , Deut . 20.4 . that there is a God in the midst of us . Portans , Implens , protegens , says St. Augustine . Bearing with , and supporting our Weakness , Portans ; Filling our Emptiness , and repairing our Decays , Implens ; Covering us with his Wings , and defending us from our selves , the worst of our Enemies , Protegens . Did he not sustain us , we shou'd at this instant return into our own Nothing , by the sole weight of our Infirmity ; Did he not bear with us , we shou'd be lost for ever ; Did he not fill our Emptiness , we shou'd be indeed but miserable ; Did he not repair our Decays , Salvation it self cou'd not save us ; And in fine , were he present to us as a meer Spectator , with an idle and unactive Presence , Darkness wou'd cover us , and Hell wou'd swallow us up . But his Presence is ( as the Prophet elegantly expresses it ) a tabernacle for a shadow in the day-time from the heat , Isai . 4.6 . and for a place of refuge , and for a covert from storm and rain ; a Presence of protection and succour . Do not fear , says he by the Mouth of the Priest , when the Israelites were upon the point of engaging the Enemy , Dominus vester , in medio vestri est , Deut . 20.4 . Your God is in the midst of you , and will fight for you against your enemies . The Victory is already in your hands , when the God of Armies is at your Head to lead you on , and do you fear the Success ? He is at your Side to support you , and do you shrink from the most fiery darts of Satan ? He covers you with his Shield , and wou'd any one in his right Senses throw away his Arms , and render himself a Slave to the Powers of Wickedness ?

Christians , I said you are gods , and all of you sons of the most High , the Image of his Likeness , the Master-piece of his Works , the Darling of his Providence , the Object of his Cares , of his Vigilancy , of his more then Paternal Solicitude . For Tho' a mother shou'd forget the child that hangs at her breasts , Isai . 49.15 . shou'd she have no compassion of the son of her womb , ( a thing very unlikely , but not impossible , ) Ego tamen non obliviscar tui ; yet I will never forget thee , 't is absolutely impossible . Behold , I have written thee in the palms of my hands , to have thee always before my eyes . Imo non tantum in oculis Dei sed etiam in sinu vivimus , says Minutius Faelix ; We live not only in the Eyes of our God , but even in his Bosom . And yet , ( O Prodigy of Ingratitude ! ) we can forget this God , this Benefactor , this Parent , this Friend ; and we do actually forget him as often as we sin : Alass ! when is it that we remember him ? all other things can find a place in our thoughts , and only He that ought to be the Subject of our whole Attention , is excluded . The meanest , and most trivial Accidents , idle Discourses , and impertinent News , never fail of a welcom ; but when the Name of God happens to crowd in , ( unless it be in Oaths and Imprecations ; ) when the Duties of Religion come into our Heads , ( unless it be to ridicule and blaspheme them ; ) when the Terrors of Divine Justice present themselves before us , the Door is presently shut upon them ; and if they forcibly press in , as sometimes they will , there is presently a damp upon our Spirits , we flie from the Reflection as from the face of a Serpent : Company , Divertisement , and even Debauchery , are sought to rescue us from the dangerous Temptation of remembring our Creator in the days of our youth .

Indeed , my Christian Auditors , it is thought a dangerous Temptation by the Powers of Darkness , and much apprehended by the Enemy of Mankind ; for the strongest Cords that he binds a Sinner with , are Oblivion , and Neglect of the Divine Presence . And we have an assurance of this from God's own Mouth ; for having enumerated in the 22th Chapter of Ezekiel , all the crying Sins , and abominable Impieties of the City Jerusalem , he concludes the Tragical Description with the greatest , the source and original of all the rest , Meique oblita es , Thou hast forgotten me ; Ezech . 22.12 . and if thou hadst not , thou cou'dst never have prostituted thy self to such Impieties . And whence , I beseech you , issue so many bloody Revenges , scandalous Reflections , black Calumnies , shameless Commerces , and unbridled Liberties , I do not say among the Africans and Tartars , but within the Pale of Christianity , in the very Bowels of Religion , among the chosen Generation , the Royal Priesthood , the holy Nation , the peculiar People ? what are the poisonous Springs of these Rivers of Death ? but Meique oblita es ; You have forgotten that your God is present to you , either by the Immensity of his Being , or by the Extent of his Operations ; and therefore you must be convinc'd , that he is present to you by his Wisdom and Knowledge , which is my last Consideration .

That God is Omniscient , or knowing all things , is evident as well from the Excellence of the Divine Nature , as from the Immensity of his Being and Operation : for since he is in all things , giving them existence and motion , we shou'd make him an irrational Agent , to question whether he knows the Works of his own Hands . Wherefore all those Productions which are so much in the dark to us , and so impenetrable to our Understanding , whether the secret workings of Nature , or the more difficult windings and recesses of the Heart of Man , lie open and expanded to the Eyes of God ; Hebr . 4.13 . Neither is there any creature ( says the Apostle ) that is not manifest in his sight , but all things are naked and open to the eyes of him with whom we have to do .

Now certainly , the only presence of a Great Prince , must needs put us upon our Guard , and make us study our Behaviour , our Gestures , and our Words , if we had nothing to do with him , and tho' he did not seem to regard us . But when he casts his Eyes towards us , and seems to attend to what we say or do , we cannot but have a greater concern upon us , we cannot but add more than an ordinary Solicitude , tho' he stands but as a meer Spectator , without a design to reward or punish , or so much as nicely to examin our Words , or our Deeds ; but when he sits upon the Judgment Seat , surrounded with all the Pomp , and Terror of Justice , observing all our Motions , studying our Looks , weighing our Words , canvassing our Actions , diving into our very Intentions , demanding account of the Talents left in our Hands , and all this with Life and Death at the point of his Tongue : Good God! what a concern wou'd you be in if this were your case ? wou'd Riches , Honors , Voluptuousness , Greatness , or Ambition , work any more upon you than they do upon a Criminal that is dragg'd to Execution ? Wou'd you send for the Musician , or the Comedian to divert your Mind , least you shou'd become too serious in his presence ; or wou'd you expose your self to his Indignation by foolish Dalliances , and Indecencies , in your Postures and Behaviour ? But if the Prince shou'd bid you draw near , and with a gracious and serene Aspect , encourage you to discourse familiarly with him , to expose your Grievances , and ask whatsoever might be conducing either to your Ease or Happiness ; Is it possible you shou'd so far forget your own Concern , that your first Address shou'd be to Defame your Innocent Neighbour , or spend those blessed Moments in idle , or impertinent , or prophane Discourse , or even blaspheme the merciful Hand that affords them , and flie in the Face of your Royal Benefactor ?

This indeed the unprofitable Servant did , when in lieu of begging Pardon for neglecting to improve his Talent , he tells his Master , that he knew him to be an Austere Man , and as falsely , as impudently charg'd him to his Face , Luc . 19.21 . That he exacted what he did not deposit , and reap'd what he did not sowe ; what cou'd folly utter more absurd , or Impudence more provoking , or Ingratitude more injurious to his Lord ? I know , Beloved Christians , you conceive the greatest indignation against such wretches , that you have already pronounced Sentence in your Heart upon them , To be bound Hand and Foot , and to be cast into outward darkness .

But to draw the matter home , and this Discourse to a Conclusion ; Christian , this is your own case ; this is no more than you commit every Day ; no more did I say ? 't is infinitely short of your Folly , your Insensibility , your Ingratitude , who dare sin in the Face of your Judge . For , pray what Perfection , or Advantage wou'd it be to God , if his Knowledge of our Actions were meerly speculative , without a Power to take an Account of them , to punish or reward them ? Who of us wou'd not be glad to want such a steril Perfection ? When Nature it self instructs every Creature to fly from that violence and Ill usage which we cannot remedy , and to shut our Eyes against that Suffering , which becomes double by being seen . And hence we conclude , that Epicure destroy'd the very Being of a God , when he limited His Concerns to the Heavens , without caring what pass'd in the neather World .

For the Knowledge of God is inseparable from his Power ; the Schools teach us , that he is a Pure Act ; his Knowledge , therefore is his Judgment , and wheresoever his Eyes are open , his Tribunal is erected . He do's not expect the general Summons to meet us in the Vale of Josaphat , nor the particular , to Answer before him at the hour of Death ; no , not so much as the Place where thou hast committed that Theft , that Injustice , that Extortion ; but because In medio vestrum stetit , Because he is in the midst of you , because he dwells in your Heart , and sees your Wickedness in the Spring-head before it break out into Practice ; there he passes the first Sentence , Luc . 13.3 . Nisi poenitentiam habueritis , omnes simul peribitis ; Unless you repent , not only of the Sins you have committed in the Eyes of Man , but also of every irreligious and indecent Thought , of every unlawful Desire , of every Unchristian Design , you shall inevitably perish . Faciam in medio tui Judicia ; Ezech . 5.8 . I will do judgment in the midst of you : Partly because Sin takes its birth in the midst of us , the Heart being the Womb where it is generated ; and partly because in the very moment of its conception , it prides it self in the very Eyes of God , who dwells there , flies in his Face , wishes his Destruction , upbraids his Knowledge , defies his Thunder , and in fine , ejects the presence of his Grace , and leaves only that of his Severity . And do you wonder that Patience thus provok'd can turn into Fury ? As I live , Ezech . 5.11 . saith the Lord God , surely because thou hast defiled thy Heart , my Sanctuary with all thy detestable things , and with all thy abominations , I will also destroy thee , neither shall my eye spare thee , neither will I have any pity on thee . Numerabo vos in gladio , says he by another Prophet , Isai . 6.5 , 12. & omnes in caede corruetis ; I will put you all to the sword , you shall wallow in your own Blood , as Victims to my just Indignation : And why ? Because you did evil before mine Eyes ; Because tho' you knew I am always in the midst of you by the Immensity of my Nature , by the Extent and Concurrence of my Operations , by the Infinity of my Wisdom and Knowledge , yet you have so little respect for my Presence , that you have the Impudence to assault me upon my Throne , and daily , nay hourly act what Lucifer but once and in vain attempted : You wrest the Glories from my Temples , and place your selves on the Mount of the Testament ; you entertain an unlawful Desire , you are pleas'd with it , it comes out an Idol , here you offer Incense , and your self in Sacrifice ; And these are your Gods , O Israel ! Yes , they are the Gods that lead you back into Egypt , into the House of Bondage ; But Israel knows not me , and my People will not consider .

Ah! Christian , it is enough , ah ! it is too much , let us at last fix a period to our Crimes , and , as St. Augustine advises , Set our selves before our own Eyes , ( it is the Business of this holy and penitential Time ) and then we shall see our Gold turn'd into Dross , the most beautiful Creature distorted into the most hideous Deformity ; while the advantage of our Being has made us even Monsters in Nature , because God hath stood in the midst of us , and we knew him not . You know and believe that you are , and Exist meerly by the Hand of his Power , that you Subsist by that of his Providence , and that you have deserv'd to be cut off by that of his Justice ; And did God extract you out of Nothing for a meer Experiment , to try how Ungrateful you cou'd be ? how much better had you never been ? Do's he perpetuate your Being , meerly to exercise his Patience ? how much better wou'd it be for you to perish this moment ? But if you were made to Serve him , and live to repent that you have not done it , lay hold on this acceptable time , this day of salvation .

You know and believe , That you not only live , but also move in him ( as the Apostle speaks ) ; That he gives you Powers to act , and concurs with the Exercise of them : And shall I make his Concurrence subservient to my Injustice ? Shall I turn his own Weapons against him , and corrupt the Means of doing well , into the Instruments of my Crimes ?

In fine , You are fully perswaded , that you not only live , and move in him , but also , that he is in the midst of you , as a King in the midst of his Dominions , as a Judge in the midst of Criminals , not only discerning all your Proceedings , but nicely observing all your Motions , weighing every Circumstance in the Ballance of the Sanctuary , searching Jerusalem with Candles , numbring all the Hairs of your Head , and pronouncing upon every idle word ; and that there is but a very small interval between the Sentence , and the Execution , a short flux of Time , an Accident , a Fever , an Apoplexy , or perhaps a more sudden Death .

Now go on , and sin without fear , or Conscience ; give the Reins to your Appetites , and freely abandon your selves to such abominations as the very Gentiles trembled to commit , tho' they knew not God . But 't is impossible you should Act thus , and believe ; but if you Act thus , — I will not , I am ashamed to make the Inference to those who have the reputation of being Christians , and what is now a day's thought something more , Men of Reason . All that I desire of you , is to take St. Bernard's Advice along with you , Ibi pecca , ubi nescis Deum esse , chuse that place to offend in , whence God is excluded ; an attention to whose most piercing Eyes will quench the most fiery Darts of the Enemy , a sense of whose adorable Presence will keep a Rein upon the most unruly Appetites , and in fine , an apprehension of whose severe Judgments will make you conceive , and bring forth the Spirit of Salvation , which is to prepare a way for a Saviour , whose presence will be the comfort of this Life , and the happiness of the next . Which I beseech , &c.