Thirdly, Thofe Threatnings which are contain'd therein, the Salvation which they aim at, is evidently this Deliverance from our Sins, which are thofe very things they are all denounced to. The Gospel tho' it breath out nothing but Grace and Mercy to the Penitent, is yet the feverest Dispensation that ever was to all incorrigible Men. For therein God declares himself an utter Enemy to all that will not be reformed, and that he will inflict a moft terrible Punishment, and exemplary Vengeance on them; the Author of Grace and Mercy, Christ himfelf hath spoken it, That except we repent we shall all perish, Luk. 13. 3. And St. Paul tells us plainly, That at the last Day, God will render to all that obey not the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, and that upon every foul of man, whether he be Few or Gentile, Rom. 2. 6, 8, 9, 10. Our fins then are plainly thofe Evils, which the Threatnings of the Gospel would fright us from; and our Deliverance from them is that Salvation which they would enforce upon us. Their end is evidently to make us leave all evil ways, for fear leaft they should be inflicted on us for our perfeverance in them.

As

As for that Salvation then, which Chrift came to purchafe for us, from what I have deliver'd it appears, I fuppose, most evidently what it is. The Declarations of the Prophets, of Christ and his Apostles, the prime end of the Precepts, the Promises, and the Threatnings of the Gospel, the Nature of God, of Heaven and Happiness; in a word, the Defign of our whole Religion, and Christianity, make it clear to us, that it is our Reformation; or, as the Angel expreffed it, our Deliverance from our fins. He fhall be called Jefus, because he fhall fave his people from their fins.

And thus having reprefented what that Salvation is, which Chrift came to purchase for us,and fhewn, I think clearly, that the great Deliverance defign'd us by him, and promoted by his Gospel, is our Reformation, and a Freedom from our Sins. I proceed now,

Secondly, To note fome Ufes, and particular Improvements of this Difcourfe.

1. Then from what has been difcourfed upon the Nature of the Chriftian Salvation we may plainly understand, what Faith, what Repentance, what Grace,

what

what Preaching, what Ordinances are faving. For if Salvation mainly confifts in our Deliverance from our Sins, as we have evidently feen it doth; then that is a faving Faith which makes us obedient; and that a faving Repentance which works our Amendment;and that is faving Grace, which enables us to a pious Practice; and that is faving Preaching, which is fitted, not to fill us with vain Delights, or learned Niceties, or abftract Speculations, or mysterious Notions, but to awaken our Consciences, and reform our Lives; and those are faving Ordinances, which are powerful and proper means of our Converfion, and vertuous Performances. This is to be the end of all the helps of Religion, and this the Excellency of all the means of Grace, that they tend ftrongly to make us leave our fins, and rescue us from Difobedience. Our Salvation is a Deliverance from our fins, and then any thing is faving when it delivers and frees us from them.

2. A fecond Ufe which I fhall note of this Discourse, is for the Tryal of our State; to know whether we are indeed of the number of the faved or no; for if Salvation confifts in our Deliverance from our fins, then they are not faved

but

but loft men, who ftill live in them, and are enflaved to them. Is any man then a contemner, or prophaner of God, of his dreadful Name, or of his holy word? Doth he spend his time in Luxury and Wantonnels, Pride and Covetousness ? are his hands full of violence? or is he a stranger to the ways of Peace? In fine, if he doth not make it his business and care, to fear God and keep his Commandments, to be humble, chafte and temperate; to do all men Justice, and to speak the Truth, and love all, even his Enemies, and employ himself in all the inftances of Duty, which muft at the last and great Day be the matter of his Account, he has either no fhare at all, or not enough, in Christ's Salvation. The chiefeft Grace which they enjoy, is the Grace of forbearance. God doth not fnatch fome of them away in their de plorable, nor others in their insecure Condition, but allows them time and opportunities of Reformation; and the only advice which I can give them, is to renounce their evil Courses, and to live as new men; and then they may comfortably conclude; that they are in a fafe ftate, and are not without their part in that Salvation which Chrift came to procure for them.

3. A

3. A third Ufe and Improvement, which I fhall make of this Difcourfe is for the directing of our Charity; in showing what things we ought moft chiefly to defire and endeavour after for our Brethren. For if our greatest Happiness, and the great Salvation which Chrift came to procure for us, confift in our Deliverance from our fins, and we are to love our Brethren, as Chrift loved us; then 'tis plain, that the great benefit which we are to feek for them, is their vertuous Life and Reformation. Holinefs is the greatest Kindness which they can receive, or we can endeavour to promote in them: And therefore, among all thofe endeavours, which are very commendably used for our Brethrens good, whether in their Bodies, good Names, or Fortunes, let us ftill be fure to have an Eye to their highest good of all, their increase in good Living, and their Deliverance from their fins; let our greatest care be to make them better, rather than richer, and more honourable than they were. For this is true Kindnels and Love indeed to show our selves moft concern'd for that whereby they will be infinitely most advantag'd.