40,r, .4[ q.I 8 Knoll, ledge and Prac`ilce nece/Jary in Religion. ld the Chara&er which the Apoftle gives of thole Perfons, who he foretell wou appear in the latt days, z Tim. 3. 2. he fays they Should be Lovers of their awn felves, Covetous, Heady, High-minded, Lovers of Pleafure more than Lovers of God, having aform ofGodlinefr, but denying the Power of it. Now thefe Mendo not love Religion, but they have occafion tomake ufe of it, and therefore they will have no more of it than will juft ferve their Purpdfe and Defign. And indeed he that hath any other Defgn in Religion than to pleafe God, and fave his Soul, needs no more than fo much knowledge of it, as will ferve him to áEí apart in it upon occafion. I come to the Third and latt Obfervation, viz. That the Pra&ice of Religion, and the doing of what we know not tobe out Duty, is the only way to Happinefs ; Ifye know theft things, happy are ye ifye do them ; not ifye know thefe things happy areye ; but ifye know and do them. Now to convince Menof fo important a Truth, I {ball endeavour tomake out thefe two things : Firfi, That the Gofpel makes the PraEtice of Religion a neceffary Condition of our Happinefs. Secondly, That the Nature and Reafon of the thing makes it a neceffary Qualifi- cation for it. Firfi, The Gofpel makes the PraEticè of Religion a neceffary Condition of our Happinefs. Our Saviour in his firlt Sermon, where he repeats the Promife of Bleffednefs fo often, he makes no promife of it to the meer knowledge of Religi- on, but to the Habit and PraElice of Chriftian Graces and Virtues., of Meek- nefs, and Humility, and Mercifulnefr, and Righteoufnefs, and Peaceablenef and Purity, and Patience under Sufferings andPerficutions for Righteoufnefs fake. And Matth. 7. 2. our Saviour doth moft fully declare, that the happinefs which he promifes did notbelong to thofe who made profeffìon of his Name, and were fo well acquainted withhis Do&nine, as to be able to inftrnEt others, if themfelves in the mean time did not-pra&ice it : Not every one that faith unto me Lord, Lord, fhall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ; but he that doth the willof my Father which is in Heaven. Many will fay unto me in that day, Lord, Lord, have roe not Prophefr- ed in thy Name, and in thyName calk out Devils, and done many wondrous works? and then willIprofefr unto them, Inever knewyau, depart fromme ye workers of Ini- quity. Tho' they profefs to know him, yet becaufe their Lives were not anfwera- ble to the Knowledge which they had of him, and his Doctrine, he declares that hewill notknow them, but bid them departfrom him. And then he goes on toPhew, that tho' a Man attend to the Do&rineofChrift, and gain the knowledge of it ; yet if it do not defcend into his Life, and govern his A&ions, all that Man's hopes of Heaven are fond and groundlefs ; and only that Man's hopes of Hea- ven are well grounded, who knows the Do&rine of Chrift, and does it, Ver. 24. whofoever heareth theft Sayings ofmine, and doth them, Iwill liken him to a Wife Man, who built hishoufe upon a rock, and the rain defcended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that houfe, and it fell not, for it wasfounded upon a rock ; and every one that heareth thefe fayings ofmine, anddoth them not, (hall be liken'd to a foolifh Man, who built his houfe upon the fand, and the rain defcended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that houfe, and it fell, andgreat was the fall of it. Tho' a Man had a knowledge of Religionas great and perte&as that which Solomon had of Natural Things, large as the fand upon thefea-fhore ; yet all this Knowledge feparated from Pratïice, would be like thefand alto in another re fpe&, a weak Foundation for any Man to build his hopes ofHappinefs upon. To the fame purpofeSt. Paul fpeaks, Rom. 2. 13. Not the hearers of the Law arefuß before God ; but the doers of the LawJhall bejufiifred. So likewife St. fames, Chap. I. 22. Beye doers of the word, andnot hearers only, deceiving your ownfelves and ver. zg. iffhofo looketh into the perfelt Law of Liberty (that is, the Law or Do- &rine of the Gofpel,)and continueth therein, he being not a forgetfulhearer but doer of the work, this Man (hall be_bled in his deed ; and therefore he adds; that the truth and reality of Religion is to be meafured by the effe &s of it, in the go- vernment of our words, and ordering of our Lives, Ph-. 26. If any Man a. mong you feem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart
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