forth It is the express Condition of all the Promises and without Faith it is declared That we cannot look for Mercy Pardon or eternal Life And this is not a new thing introduced by the Gospel But the Divine Oeconomy from the beginning of the World did require Faith which is a Second Proof of its being absolutely necessary now As it appears now to be the chief Condition required of Men under the Gospel so it was under the Law as St. Paul declares Heb. ii Nay before the Law as appears from Abraham and the other Patriarchs Of Abraham it is said That he believed in the Lord and he counted it to him for righteousness Gen. xv 6. Moreover Faith was exacted of Man even before the Fall while he was in a State of Innocence For the two Trees of Knowledge and of Life which God set apart in Paradise and the Interdiction of the First by that severe Sanction in that day thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die was to try and exercise Man's Faith Thus the Divine Oeconomy before the Fall and ever since before the Law under the Law and by the Gospel hath always required Faith as a necessary Condition to the obtaining God's Favour In respect to the certain and unalterable Order and Method of which Oeconomy it is that St. Paul saith without faith it is impossible to please God And tho' the Counsel of God be secret and his Methods for the most part unaccountable yet the Reasonableness of this doth appear from this that without Faith in this present State we neither can acknowledge all the Divine Attributes nor yet worship him with all our Faculties His Veracity Truth and Faithfulness cannot be owned otherwise than by Faith by believing his Word assenting to his Declarations relying on his Promises and trembling at his Threatnings And as all those Divine Attributes can only be acknowledged by Faith so it is only by Faith that we worship him with our Understandings It is reasonable that we worship God with the whole Man all our Faculties ought to pay him Homage But how can he have Homage from our Understandings unless we believe It is only by Acts of Faith that we declare the Submission of our Judgment to God for if we will admit or receive nothing but what is demonstrable and what we can clearly comprehend then we deny God's infinite Wisdom and Knowledge and refuse to own his Reason to be above our own which is intolerable Pride and Insolence For this Cause even to try our Faith and to give us occasion to pay him this due Homage of our Reason and Understanding it is that God proposeth to us Mysteries which are incomprehensible and hence it is also that he often absconds himself as it were he worketh not always in a God-like manner that is in a splendid glorious or such a visible Way as may force Acknowledgment from Men but often after a secret and covert manner under the Shadow of Means and Instruments of divers sorts that hereby it may be proved whether we believe him Almighty and the wise Disposer of all things and Author of all Events In the other World Faith shall cease there will be no place for it because there will be a present immediate Intuition of the Divine Nature and Attributes but now that we are absent from the Lord we walk by Faith Thus you see that as Faith is required here so it is necessary and why it is so I have also briefly laid before you And as the Text obliged us to speak of this so the times we live in make it necessary for Atheism and Infidelity are setting up their Heads and some have the Impudence in this licentious Age to dispute both the Reasonableness and Necessity of what God has clearly revealed As for you My beloved I beseech you build your selves up in your most holy Faith and let not the weak Efforts of insolent Wits shake your Faith Stand up and strive vigorously for the Faith of the Gospel which has been confirmed by so many Miracles and Prophecies by such evident Demonstrations of the Spirit and Power that if it be hid it is hid to them that are lost in whom the God of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not least the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ who is the Image of God should shine unto them Take heed Brethren saith St. Paul lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God When we let go Faith and entertain an Heart of Unbelief we depart from God lose the Promises forfeit Heaven render our selves uncapable of Mercy and give our selves to a reprobate Mind here and to Damnation hereafter He that layeth aside Faith may also put off the Name of a Christian and all the Pretensions which that Name may give to Blessings earthly or heavenly bodily or spiritual temporal or eternal For Faith is necessarily implyed in that Name and as requisite to him that would deserve it as the Skill of Law or Physick to one that sets up for a Lawyer or Physician or Philosphy to a Philosopher Seeing therefore we own our selves to be Christians that we may be worthy of so sacred a Name let us evermore pray God with the Man in the Gospel Saying Lord encrease our Faith and help our Unbelief But now it may be very pertinently asked what this Faith is which is thus required In answer to this St. Paul hath told us the first and lowest Acts of Faith when he saith He that cometh to God must first believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him We must begin with the Belief and Perswasion of God's Existence Power Wisdom Providence and what else Reason and the Light of Nature teacheth of him But then that our Faith may be perfect we must add to it Knowledge and extend it to all the Manifestations which God hath made of himself from time to time we must embrace all the Divine Revelations and what they contain All the Declarations Laws Promises and Threatnings in God's Word are proposed as Objects of Faith and by Faith we ought to receive them that is we must own and acknowledge them to be of God and by a constant regard to them in all our Actions testifie the Firmness and Sincerity of this Belief and Perswasion More particularly our Faith must respect the Person Offices Doctrine and Actions of the Lord Jesus Christ we must receive him as the Person who was promised to Adam Abraham and the Patriarchs who was foretold by the Prophets prefigured by the Law expected by the Jews and even waited for by the Gentiles we must receive him and rely upon him as the Son of God and Saviour of the World we must embrace him as the Person whom God hath set forth to be a Propitiation for Sin and the Mediator by whom and through whom only we have access unto
Mens Hearts is only Sin and Wickedness God saw that the wickedness of Man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually Naturally Mens Hearts are hard and averse to all good The natural Man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for they are foolishness unto him neither can he know them because they are spiritually discerned But as hard and bad as they are they may through the Grace of God be changed and improved to the better if due Pains be taken on them The Evil and Naughtiness of our Hearts will not excuse us from being or doing good tho' many pretend it What a silly Excuse were it for an Husband-man to turn his back upon his Labour that his Ground of it self yielded nothing but Briars and Thorns and other Weeds Should he not labour for all that and by Art and Industry make it do what of it self it cannot do So though our Hearts be as fallow Ground yet let us break them up and weed them let us by continued Care and Diligence bear down their natural Growth and render them susceptible of better things let us pluck up the Prejudices of our Nature throw away the choaking Cares of this Life and break off the Course of Sin Let us ply our Hearts continually with Prayer Meditation on the Word Use of our Reason the serious Consideration of our Ways and an Attendance on those Means and Ordinances God hath appointed and in Process of time through the Grace of God our Hearts will be broken and changed from their natural Barrenness to be fruitful in Holiness and good Works This is the way to break up our fallow Ground to make our Hearts tractable and obedient capable of receiving and nourishing the good Seed of the Word and unless this be done our Hearts will be as a Wilderness barren and altogether unfruitful in good Break up your fallow ground says Ieremy and sow not among Thorns What a Folly is it to sow in a Ground overgrown with Thorns and Briars and what can be expected from Men whose hearts are as hard as an Adamant who refuse to hearken and pull away their Shoulder and stop their Ears that they should not hear As the Prophet Zechariah speaks There are many Complaints now a-days against the Sower but there is more Reason to retort them upon the Ground I mean to cast the Blame of not profiting upon the People themselves rather than the Preacher you are oft-times indisposed your Hearts are not duely prepar'd therefore it is that the Word Preached hath so little effect in you Mortifie therefore your Lusts subdue your Passions daily cultivate your Hearts with Acts of Repentance and Contrition and the fore mentioned Exercises of Prayer Meditation c. That they may be softned and fitted for the Seed of the Word and that it may prosper and spring up and bear Fruit. Thus you see your Task and that we may be excited with all Speed and Diligence to go about it and also encouraged with Assurance of Success it is added For it is time to seek the Lord until he come and rain Righteousness upon you By seeking the Lord is meant the seeking his Favour which is the Ground of all our Comfort and Happiness or his Help and Assistance without which we labour in vain and all we do is ineffectual And we then seek both the one and the other when we heartily practise the Duties enjoin'd us for his Favour returns upon our Repentance and Obedience and his Grace and Assistance is bestowed as we labour and endeavour he worketh together with us Now saith Hosea It is time thus to seek the Lord which implieth first a proper Season or Opportunity for it Opportunity should be laid hold on every thing should be taken in its time and Men are encouraged to work and labour so long as the time of doing it is not past The Season for sowing and breaking up is all the time of Life while God allows the Use of Reason the means of Grace while he makes offers of Salvation and calls by his Providence it is time to seek him Seek the Lord therefore while he may be found and call upon him while he is near If any have been negligent if hitherto he has loitered and slept away his time neither laboured nor sown but let his Heart lie all this while fallow that it is quite overgrown with Weeds it is a great Fault and calls for mourning but it is no ground to despair nor Reason to lay aside the Thoughts of this necessary Work Art thou sensible that thou hast been too long a beginning Doest thou wish that thou hadst been more wise Arise the Day is not yet done work while it is Day the Season is not wholly past lay hold on it and double thy Diligence to recover mispent time which if thou dost it shall be yet well with thee according to the common but wise Proverb Better late than never Remember they who wrought but one Hour had their Hire If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed and keep all my Statutes and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live he shall not die saith the Lord. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord and he will have mercy upon him and to our God and he will abundantly pardon But secondly by saying it is time the Prophet lays before them that it is full time and so not to be let slip it is now time but it will not be always so it is time but this time is ever running and will once be at an end and therefore Delays are dangerous It is indeed time yet but not to sleep and stand loitering it is high time to awake out of Sleep to gird up our Loins and to set about our Work lest the Night come in which no Man can work It is the great Folly of many that they think they have Times and Seasons in their own hand at least they act as if it were so But we neither have always Time and Opportunity nor can we always Command Grace to use it aright and therefore should take it when it may be had and fear to deferr and put it off Sometimes Men come to that that they can neither seek nor work have neither Strength of Body or Mind no Use of any Faculty so much as to desire what is good for them Sometimes they seek and find no Acceptance desire and endeavour but have no Success It is hard to tell peremptorily the precise time when it is so with any but the Scripture forewarns us of this and bids us fear it When you spread forth your hands I will hide my face from you yea when you make many prayers I will not hear I will bring evil upon them which they shall
hid from us till the event declare them and then we are forced to approve and applaud what before we were ready to condemn As Fines Imprisonments and other Punishments are necessary to a Common-Wealth so Calamities Troubles and Afflictions are now necessary to the World By them God keeps up his Authority defends his Laws curbs Sin prevents some from going astray and reclaims others who have already erred from the ways of his Commandments Hereby he exercises his Peoples Virtue Integrity Faith Patience and other Graces and makes them to acquire the Growth Stature Vigour and Understanding of perfect Men which they would not do if softness and ease and plenty were always indulged them As Winds serve to purifie the Air and Frost and Snow and Rain to moisten and fatten the Earth that it may be fruitful so God sendeth Calamities and Afflictions that they who are barren may be made to bear fruit and that others may bring forth more fruit If an ignorant and unskilful Person saw a Gardiner pruning his Trees and lopping off the Branches with Axes and Knives he would perhaps suspect him of madness or think he intended the destruction of the Garden Whereas he thereby prevents their overgrowing and undoing one another and renders his Garden both more comely and more profitable So God by Afflictions prunes his People he keeps down those Corruptions and Disorders which otherwise would break out amongst them and disposeth them to bear proper fruit in their season It is good for me that I was afflicted said David The Psalmist was once tempted to think that God was unkind to his Church and People because he afflicted them But on second thoughts he checks himself and concludes that truly God is good to Israel even to such as are of a clean heart That is such dealing with his People do not prove that he has no kindness for them For he is still good to them and their Afflictions testifie it and such as are of a clean heart shall certainly find it so Now seeing these things are so let us not complain of the present Providence of God let us not murmur against nor bear impatiently those Evils which are upon us For we have truly sinned against God and he doth justly punish us whatever may be said of many of the Instruments of our Trouble and Calamity I must not flatter you certainly our Princes our Nobles and Great Ones the Pastors and People and all Ranks amongst us have corrupted themselves and done wickedly and therefore God hath justly brought Evil upon our Land And they who have smarted by this Revolution have suffered justly at the hands of God Let us therefore humble our selves before him acknowledge our Offence and the Justice and Righteousness of his Judgments and then he will be ready to plead our Cause I beseech you in the words of Hosea O Israel return unto the Lord thy God for thou hast faln by thine iniquity take with you words and turn to the Lord say unto him take away all iniquity and receive us graciously so will we render the Calves of our Lips and then we shall hear him saying I will heal your backsliding I will love them freely for mine anger is turned away from him And as he saith in another place Come and let us return unto the Lord for he hath torn and he will heal us he hath smitten and he will bind us up And as this is the only proper Advice for our selves so I would advise those to whom the present times seem a little more favourable I mean our Brethren of the Presbyterian Party whom I call Brethren though their usage and treatment of us have shewed them Enemies seeing they have overthrown the Church and treated her Bishops and Priests with Contumely and Reproach I say I would advise them not to be over vain and confident for they know not what a day may bring forth To rejoice at our Affliction and to insult over our Misery doth not favour much of Religion to which they make so high pretences And unless they could chain their present State by irreversible Decrees there is as little Prudence as Religion in despising us thus and trampling so much upon us For it may come to pass that they may yet be forced to seek shelter under the Shadow of our Vine They know it is not long since another Party I mean those of the Roman Communion boasted and bragged and aimed too at more than was fit or meet or what Discretion would have required which brought on their Ruine and which has occasioned their Loss of that Peace which otherwise they might and would have enjoyed Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall I believe that thou shalt arise O Lord and have mercy upon Zion when the time to favour her when the set time is come Though our Case were more desperate in the Eyes of the World yet I would not despair tho' we were at a lower pass and had fewer Friends I yet would not let go my Hope for God is able to do for us above what we can ask or think It is true we have provoked the Lord and tho' he leave us we cannot complain But we know also that our God is merciful and with him is plenteous Redemption He will not cast off for ever Therefore they who are his people should still hope in him And we are his People as much for any thing I know as any other Christians in the World can pretend to be for the Church of Scotland is a sound Member of the Holy Catholick Church professing the same Faith that the Churches in the most ancient and purest Ages did and hath the same Ministry and Government even that very Ministry and Government which in those times were thought necessary to the being of a Church and in and under that Ministry we also have the holy Sacraments purely administred by which we are bound to God by a Covenant which is more solemn and sacred than any of Man's inventing can be If therefore we return to the Lord and acknowledge our Offences he will have Mercy upon us and surely visit us with his Salvation For we are his Zion a part of his Catholick Church or peculiar People and he will not always be angry with us We may take up this Hope both by our own Experience and the Experience of others Have we not fallen heretofore And have we not risen again Have we not seen the Church invaded her Essential Order and Subordination demolished her Pastors exiled her Temples profaned her Beauty defac'd And have we not seen all these repair'd and restor'd again Is there any thing impossible unto God Can he not suddenly alter the securest State and put a stop to the most violent Career ANNO 58 and 59 neither King nor Royal Family durst be owned and then it was a capital Crime to pray for them And yet you all know that within a Year or
p. 123 SERMON VI. On Easter Day 1 Pet. I. 3 4. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Iesus Christ which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the Resurrection of Iesus Christ from the Dead To an inheritance incorruptible and that fadeth not away reserved in Heaven for you p. 166 SERMON VII On Easter Day 1 John V. 12. He that hath the Son hath life and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life p. 195 SERMON VIII On Easter Day 1 Cor. XV. 19. If in this life only we have hope in Christ we are of all men most miserable p. 228 SERMON IX Rev. II. 17. He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches to him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden Manna and will give him a white stone and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it p. 261 SERMON X. Luke VI. 46. Why call ye me Lord Lord and do not the things which I say p. 296 SERMON XI A Preparation to the Holy Communion Heb. X. 22. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of Faith having our hearts sprinkled from an evil Conscience and our Bodies washed with pure Water p. 340 SERMON XII Hosea X. 12. Sow to your selves in Righteousness reap in Mercy Break up your fallow Ground for it is time to seek the Lord till he come and rain Righteousness upon you p. 385 SERMON XIII Hosea V. 13 14 15. When Ephraim saw his sickness and Iudah saw his Wound Then went Ephraim to the Assyrian and sent to King Iareb yet could he not heal you nor cure you of your Wound For I will be unto Ephraim as a Lion and as a young Lion to the house of Iudah I even I will tear and go I will take away and none shall rescue him I will go and return unto my Place till they Acknowledge their Offence and seek my Face in their Affliction they will seek me early p. 416 SERMON XIV Micah VII 8 9. Rejoice not against me O mine Enemy when I fall I shall arise when I sit in Darkness the Lord shall be a Light unto me I will bear the Indignation of the Lord because I have sinned against him until he plead my Cause and execute Iudgment for me he will bring me forth to the light and I shall behold his Righteousness p. 446 SERMON XV. 1 Tim. V. 23. Drink no longer Water but use a little Wine for thy Stomachs sake and thine often Infirmities p. 479 SERMON I. On Matth. XI 28. Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest THESE words are worthy of all acceptation they ought to be listned to most earnestly and deserve our most serious Consideration if either we regard the Person who uttered them or the Matter contained in them For here is promised what all Men seek after here is a free and gracious Invitation to what all Men would be at to that which they toil and labour for with all their might The Wise and the Unlearned the High and the Low and all the World pursue this tho' they entertain different Sentiments and follow various Courses yet still they agree in this that they all would be at rest Rest to the Soul is a common End which all aim at for without this there is no happiness What is the true way to this has been the Enquiry of Philosophers and of all wise and thinking Men in all Ages The several Sects of Philosophers pretended to teach it and the same is done by all the Parties who now divide the World One alledgeth the way to rest and happiness is with them another saith it is with them But we may trust him who speaketh here we may safely rely on his Word and have reason to believe him with an implicite Faith for he neither can be deceived himself nor will he deceive others He who giveth this Invitation and maketh this Promise of Rest is the Blessed Jesus that is the greatest Person who ever appeared in Human likeness the very eternal Son of God Wisdom and Truth it self No Falsehood can come from him and he is willing that all come to the Knowledge of the Truth He loves us and wisheth our happiness more than we our selves do He had no other Errand to this World but only to procure our happiness and to direct us in the way to it We ought therefore to receive his Instruction and when he promiseth rest we have all reason to expect it and no cause to fear the missing it O! with what joy should we hear these words from him Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden c. First you see the Invitation is general to all Persons whatsoever Jesus Christ excludes none from his Mercy who do not exclude themselves by their contempt hardness and impenitency As his Benefits are highly to be valued and most desireable so they are freely and kindly offered to every one he is willing that all partake of them The Favours of Kings and Princes are reserved to a few special Friends and Favourites either because they would exhaust themselves if they bestowed many or because they are afraid of rendering them contemptible if they make them common But as Jesus Christ is an inexhaustible Treasure of all desireable riches as he is a Fountain which can never be drained so he doth not shut himself up he freely communicateth of his fulness to us If we be miserable we have only our selves to blame if we lack any thing it is because we do not ask if we cannot rest it is because we do not apply unto him We find him complaining of Mens backwardness to their own happiness but there was never any instance of his hard-heartedness Ye will not come unto me that ye may have life And to give all Confidence and Encouragement and to manifest his free and unlimited Goodness towards all therefore it is written by the Prophet Ho every one that thirsteth come ye to the waters and he that hath no money come ye buy and eat yea come buy wine and milk without money and without price Again And the Spirit and the Bride say come and let him that heareth say come And let him that is a thirst come and whosoever will let him take the water of life freely So here it is Come unto me all ye that labour c. The adding this doth not restrain the Invitation or make it less general for this Epithet may be made of equal extent with Mankind it self for saith the Son of Sirach great travel is created for every man and an heavy yoke is upon the Sons of Adam from the day that they go out of their mothers womb till the day that they return to the mother of all things Ecclus. xl 1. By the words of labouring and
and Consummation of this visible Frame at the last Day all these things I say and more than we know were designed for the Glory and Honour of Christ And as they have all a reference to him so the Beauty and Wisdom and Goodness of those Divine Transactions are not cannot be seen but by Establishing the Incarnation of the Son of God and Therefore to reject this great Mystery is to set at nought the Eternal Purposes of God and all those Glorious Designs which his Infinite Wisdom and Goodness have Devised This is to smother the Divine Wisdom and Goodness which is conspicuous in these things and to deny and deprive him of that Glory which so much Wisdom and so much Goodness and so many and so great Expressions thereof do bring unto him Wherefore not to acknowledge Jesus to be the Son of God our Lord and God as it is wilful and unaccountable Obstinacy there being so many Irrefragable Testimonies and unquestionable Proofs thereof so it is inexcusable Impiety and downright Rebellion against God He who doth not receive the King's Vicegerent nor will own him whom he Deputes and Entrusts with the Government both affronts the King's Authority and reproacheth his Conduct he reflects alike on his Prudence and Authority And is he not guilty of the same Crime Is he not equally wicked against God who rejecteth his own Son whom he hath sent into the World for to this purpose God hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every name that at the name of Iesus every knee should bow of things in Heaven and things in Earth and things under the Earth and that every tongue should confess that Iesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father Now this owning and acknowledging of Jesus Christ the receiving him as the Son of God is what the Apostle calls the having the Son as appears from the following Verse where he expounds it by believing on him And in the following Epistle Verse 9. he makes it to be the abiding in his Doctrine He then hath the Son who believes in him who receives his Gospel who gives a full and hearty assent to the truth of all that is said of him either as to his Nature or Offices the Dignity of his Person or the Power and Privilege he hath received from the Father In a word he hath the Son who stedfastly believes whatever he has Revealed concerning God or Man our present Condition or Original State our Duty here or Reward hereafter for if we believe him to be the Son of God we will believe also whatever he hath delivered and will not fail to adhere to this Belief and Perswasion Thus we see That it is Faith in Christ to which Life is here promised But we deceive our selves if we think it any kind of Faith a bare knowledge or naked Speculation of Gospel Truths a mere and simple assent to them which rests in the Brain and Understanding and goes no farther No this is not that Faith which is so magnified in Scripture and to which so many glorious things are promised Many may have all that this comes to and yet fall short of Life Many will say to me in that day saith Christ Lord Lord have we not prophecied in thy Name and in thy Name cast out Devils and in thy Name done many wonderful Works And then I will profess unto them I never knew you depart from me ye that work iniquity True Faith is always Lively Active and Operative it is not barren and Unfruitful it ever worketh by Love and keepeth the Commandments it purifieth the heart of Pride and Lust and casteth down Imaginations and every high thing that exalteth it self against the knowledge of God and bringeth into Captivity every thought to the Obedience of Christ it rectifies all inward Disorders and makes us New Creatures framed according to the Image of God in Christ it so renews us to the Spirit of our Minds and so conforms us to the Son of God that our Thoughts are his Thoughts his Ways our Ways we love what he loves hate what he hates believe what he Promises and obey what he Commands so that our Life is hid with Christ in God And of every true Believer it may be said as St. Paul saith of himself I am Crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me and the life which I live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me Look what those Saints and Worthies recorded in the Epistle to the Hebrews did through Faith they subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopt the mouths of Lions quenched the violence of Fire escaped the edge of the Sword out of weakness were made strong waxed valiant in fight turned to flight the Armies of Aliens c. Was not this a strong and a noble Faith Now such must our Faith be for as our Apostle tells us Verse 4. of this Chapter it must overcome the World he that believeth that Iesus is the Son of God he it is that overcometh the world and all that is in the world viz. the lust of the Flesh the lust of the Eyes and the pride of Life Thus you see what Faith is that it is no mean and silly thing that it is no dull lazy unactive Principle but that it is strong and mighty quick and powerful in its operation Be not deceived then my Friends Examine well whether you believe in Christ whether or no you have the Son of God dwelling in you by Faith and do not flatter your selves with the conceit unless it be so indeed Consider O Man and tell me Art thou sensible of thy Misery by Nature of thy guilt thrô thy manifold Transgressions Dost thou feel the Necessity of a Saviour Dost thou run to that Fountain which is opened to the House of David and to the Inhabitants of Israel for Sin and for Uncleanness Dost thou hope in the Mercy of God and rely upon the Merits of Christ And art thou therefore humble and penitent and ready to forgive and resolved to amend thy Life Dost thou or art thou sincerely resolved to resist the Devil and wrestle against all Temptations not in thy own but in the Name and Strength of Christ Can'st thou despise the Vanities of the World all sublunary Riches and Pleasures can'st thou freely quit them rather than offend thy God Is thy Heart with God and can'st thou confidently trust him with thy self and all thy Concernments and wait for the accomplishment of his Promises Is thy Care are thy Thoughts and Endeavours chiefly employed about the Kingdom of God and the Righteousness thereof how to grow in Grace and the Knowledge of Christ how to abound in good Works and to bring forth Fruit unto Holiness that thy End may be Eternal Life Can'st thou answer to those things positively Dost thou find