Christ, that we perform sincere obedience to all his laws, and yet trust in him, and him alone, for pardon, acceptance, and salvation. And whosoever comes short of this, though he be called, we may be sure he is not chosen; though he come to the marriage feast with those that are invited, yet wanting his wedding-garment, he will be cast out again with shame and confusion of face. So that it is not our doing some, or many, or most of the things which the gospel requires, that will do our business, unless we do all to the utmost of our skill and power. But where shall we find the man that doth so? What ground have we to acknowledge that our Saviour had but too much cause to say, many are called, but few chosen ; which, I fear, is but too true, not only of others, but ourselves too.

I say not this to discourage any one. No; it is my hearty desire and prayer to the eternal God, that every soul of us might be chosen and saved. But my great fear is, that many think it so easy a matter to go to heaven, that if they do but say their prayers and hear sermons now and then, they cannot miss of it, and therefore need not trouble themselves any farther about it. But they must give me leave to tell them, that this will not serve their turn. If it would, most of those which are called would be chosen too; whereas our Saviour himself tells us in plain terms the contrary. And yet this should be so far from discouraging of us, that it should rather excite us to greater diligence about it than heretofore we may have used, as our Saviour himself intimates in his answer to this question, Luke xiii, 23, 24. And verily, what greater encouragement can we have than to consider, that though there be but few chosen, yet there are some? For why may not you and I be in the number of those few as well as others? Are not we all called to Christ? Are not we all invited, yea, commanded to believe in his name, and obey his gospel, that so we may partake of everlasting glory? Let us then all set upon that work in good earnest, which we are called to. Let us but fear God, and keep his commandments, and believe in his Son for his acceptance of us, and then we need not fear but though of the many

others which are called there are but few chosen, yet we few who are all called shall be all chosen; chosen to live with God himself and with Jesus Christ, and to sing forth his praises for evermore.

4

ON THE APPEARANCE OF CHRIST THE SUN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, OR THE BEATIFIC VISION.

So long as we are in the body, we are apt to be governed wholly by its senses, seldom or never minding any thing but what comes to us through one or other of them. Though we are all able to abstract our thoughts when we please from matter, and fix them upon things that are purely spiritual, there are but few that ever do it; but few, even among those also that have such things revealed to them by God himself, and so have infinitely more and firmer ground to believe them, than any one or all their senses put together can afford. Such are the great truths of the gospel, for which we have the infallible word and testimony of the supreme truth; yet seeing they are not the objects of sense, but only of our faith, though we profess to believe them, yet we take but little notice of them, and are usually no more affected with them, than as if there were no such things in being. Hence it hath pleased God, in great compassion to our infirmity, not only to reveal and make known such spiritual things to us in plain and easy terms, but likewise to bring them as near as possible to our senses, by repre senting them to us under the names and characters of such sensible objects as bear the greatest resemblance to them; that we who are led so much by our senses, may by them also be directed how to apprehend those spiritual objects which he hath told us of, on purpose that we may believe them upon his word.

Thus he often useth the words hand, eye, and the like, to signify his own divine perfections to us. And thus it was that our Saviour preached the gospel to the people by parables, and similitudes of things commonly seen and done among themselves. The prophets also fre

quently took the same course, as might be shown by many instances; but one of the most remarkable is that in Mal. iv, 2, where the prophet, in the name of God, speaking of Christ's coming into the world, expresseth it by the rising of the sun, saying, Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings. For that Jesus Christ is that Sun of Righteousness here spoken of, is so plain from the context, and whole design of the prophet, that I need not insist upon the proving it; but shall only observe, that this being the last of all the prophets in the old testament, he shuts up his own and all the other prophecies, with a clear prediction of Christ and his forerunner, John the Baptist, whom he calls Elijah or Elias, and concludes his prophecy with these words concerning him, Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers, lest I come and smite the earth, or rather the land, with a curse, Mal. iv, 5, 6. For that by Elijah is here meant John the Baptist, we are assured by Christ himself. And it is very observable, that as this prophet ends the old testament with a prediction of Elias, so St. Luke begins the new with a relation how John the Baptist was born, and so came into the world a little before Christ, as the morning-star that appeared before the rising of the Sun of Righteousness.

But of the day which shall come at the rising of that glorious Sun, the prophet saith, that it shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch, Mal. iv, 2. It will be a terrible day to those that shall obstinately refuse to walk in the light of it; they shall be all consumed, as we read the unbelieving Jews were at the destruction of Jerusalem, that happened soon after that Sun was up. But then turning himself, as it were, to his own people, Almighty God here by his prophet cheers and comforts them, saying to them But, unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise, with healing in his wings. He shall arise to

all, but to the other with such a scorching heat as shall burn them up; to these with healing in his wings or rays, so as not to hurt, but heal them of all their maladies.

Now that, which I chiefly design, by God's assistance, to show from these words, is what thoughts they suggest to us concerning our blessed Saviour, by calling him the Sun of Righteousness. But to make the way as plain as I can, we must first consider to whom he is here said to arise with healing in his wings, even to those that fear the name of God; that is, to those who firmly believing in God, and being fully persuaded of his infinite power, justice, and mercy, and also of the truth of all his threats and promises, stand continually in awe of him, not daring to do any thing willingly that may offend him, nor leave any thing undone that he would have them do. Such and such only can be truly said to fear God. And therefore the fear of God in the scriptures, especially of the old testament, is all along put for the whole duty of man; there being no duty that a man owes either to God or his neighbour, but, if he really fears God, he will ens deavour all he can to do it. But this necessarily supposeth his belief in God and his holy word, or rather proceeds originally from it; for he that cometh unto God, so as to fear and obey him, must believe that he is, and: that he is a rewarder of them who diligently seek him. So that as no man can believe in God, but he must needs fear him; so no man can fear God, unless he first believes in him. From whence it necessarily follows, that by those who are here said to fear the name of God, we can understand no other but only such as are possessed with a firm belief in him, and with a full persuasion of the truth and certainty of those divine revelations that he hath made of himself and of his will to mankiud, and therefore live accordingly.

Of these, and these only, it is here said, that to them shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings-not to any other; no other being able to see his light, nor capable of those healing influences that proceed: from him; for though he be a sun, he is not such a sun as we see with our bodily eyes in the firmament, but the Sun of Righteousness, shining in the highest heavens,

beyond the reach of our senses, visible only to the eye of faith, the evidence of things not seen; insomuch that although he be risen and darts down his beans to this lower world continually, yet they who have not faith can neither see him, nor enjoy any more benefit by him, than as if he were not risen or did not shine at all. As if a man be born stark blind, though the sun shines never so clear about him, he sees no more than he did before, but lives in the dark at noon-day as much as at midnight; neither can ye ever make him understand what light or colors are, for having not that sense, by which alone such things can be perceived, he can never understand what you mean by such things, so as to form any true notion of them in his mind-so it is in our present case : though the sun of righteousness be risen, and shines most gloriously in the world, yet being the object only of our faith, without that a man can discern nothing of him. He may perhaps talk of him, as a blind man may talk of light, but all the while he knows not what he means by the words which he useth about him; for he useth them only as words in course, taken up from those he talks with, without having any effect or operation at all upon his mind. Whereas they who really believe God's word, and what is there revealed concerning the Sun of Righte ousness, they see his light, they feel his heat, they experience the power and efficacy of his influences. And therefore, although they who have not faith, as few have, can be no way profited by what they shall hear or read of him, yet they who have and exercise it upon what they hear or read out of God's holy word concerning him, they will. find their thoughts and apprehensions of him cleared up, and their affections inflamed to him; so as to love and honor him for the future, as the fountain of all that spiritual life, and light, and joy they have; for to them he will arise, with healing in his wings.

He did not only arise once, but he continually ariseth to those who believe in God, and fear him; for thus saith the Lord, Unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings. It is true, he speaks more especially of his incarnation, or visible appearance in the world; but by this manner of