wards of men's souls, the great truths and doctrines of religion will come under no prejudice, men will not be shy and ashamed to entertain them, or afraid what the tendency of entertaining them will be, or what course they shall be thereby engaged in, that may possibly prove injurious to them in point of reputation or worldly interest one way or another.

These things being all taken together, it seems we have a pretty apt method, and a representation of fair and easy steps, in which we may suppose such a work to be carried on; when once there is that great effort of the almighty power of the Spirit, to cause somewhat general rousings and awakenings in the spirits of men, to make them a little bestir themselves and look about them, with respect to the concernments of the Maker of this world, and their relation and tendency to another world. And when we see how such a thing may be carried on from step to step, the apprehension of it should not be thrown aside as very remote and alien, and as if it were altogether unlikely that any such thing should ever be done in the world. You know that great inundations, as they gradually spread in circuit, so they increase and grow more copious by a continual accession of new rivulets and springs to them, whereever they spread: so it is in such a work as this of the Spirit of God. That Almighty Spirit, the further it goes, the more it engages and takes in the concurrence of the spirits of men, as so many rivulets into the great and common inundation. For the expression of pouring forth the Spirit seems to favour that metaphor and to look towards it; as the communications of the Spirit are frequently in Scripture spoken of under the same metaphor of streams of water, rivers of water. So it is also in a common conflagration; (the workings of the Spirit are represented by both these elements :) the further the fire spreads, still the more matter it meets with, the more combustible matter; and that way still more and more increases itself, even intensively, according as it spreads more extensively because it still meets with more fuel to feed upon. We might thus render this business very easy and familiar to our own thoughts, by considering how such a communication of the Spirit once begun and set on foot doth spread and propa gate itself, even in an ordinary and easy way and method further and further.

I shall only close at present with one hint, which may point out to us one thing more, as a way to make this apprehension most familiar to us. It would certainly be most clearly apprehensible, how such a work may be wrought, by getting as much of it as is posible exemplified in ourselves, upon our own souls. If once we come to find and feel the Spirit of the liv

ing God seizing our spirits, coming with an almighty and irresistible power upon us; if we can but feel the fire burn within, and find it refining us, consuming our dross, melting and mollifying us, new moulding us, quickening and enlarging us; it will be very easy to apprehend then, how such a work may be carried on in the world. For if I have but the notion of a unit in my mind, I can soon apprehend a bigger number; it is but adding one unit to that, and another to that, and so on, till I come to a greater number. If I can but find and experience such a mighty operation of that blessed Spirit upon my own soul, it is easy then to conceive thus; if it be so with another, and another, and another, religion will in this. way become a very lively prosperous thing in the world. It is but the multiplying of instances, and the thing is done and he that can do so by me, can do the same by another, and another, and so onwards. And methinks we should not rest ourselves satisfied, till we find somewhat, till we find more of this within ourselves. Oh what a miserable thing is a christian, when he is dead! we look with a great deal of compassion upon the death of any thing; but the case claims so much the more, by how much the life is more noble that is extinct or seems extinct; or when the life once supposed to have been, now appears as if it were quite extinct. Is the expiration of this natural life a thing to be beheld with pity? what is it to lose, or to appear at least deprived of the life of a child of God? to be destitute of such a life, which I have at least pretended to, and carried some appearance and semblance of? The death of a peasant is a considerable thing, and it were barbarous not to take notice of it with a resentment: but when it comes to be talked, A great man is dead, a nobleman, a prince; this makes a great noise and ring in the world; and such a person having been of any use and account in his age, his exit is not without a great lamentation. If I had but a finger dead, it would be an affliction: but if I look into myself, lo, there I behold the death of a soul, a reasonable, intelligent spirit; that ought to live the life of God, devoted to God, in commerce with God: I look into it, and it is dead. Oh! how intolerable a thing should this be to me! till I find some revivings, some stirrings, some indications of life; that is, till I find religion live; that I have somewhat more than an empty, naked, spiritless form of religion; that I can now go and pray, and have life in my prayer; go and hear the word and find life in my hearing. Of all deaths there is none so dreadful and so to be lamented, as that of religion, and certainly most of all in ourselves; that my religion is a dead thing: How impatient should I be, to find it revived! And if I will but be restless

in this, and make it my daily business importunately to supplicate the Father of spirits, "Take pity of thine own offspring, let me not lie languishing still in death; and I at last obtain a merciful audience, (as it is plainly said, that the heart shall live, that seeks God;) then I have such an exemplification in my own soul of the matter we have been discoursing of, as that I can easily represent to myself; "When such a work is done in others, as is done in my own soul, and comes to be made common amongst others; then will religion be a very lively, prosperous, flourishing thing in the world." And that certainly is the best way of all others to make this thing apprehensible to ourselves, to get the thoughts of it familiarized to us, in how easy a way religion should grow and spread among

SERMON VII*.

IT was thought requisite to lay before you some considerations, that might facilitate the apprehension and belief of the revival and prosperous state of religion in the world. Three were mentioned to that purpose.

First. The consideration of what hath been done in this kind heretofore, when the Spirit was so eminently poured forth at first.

Secondly. The consideration, by how easy steps and in how apt a method it is supposable, that such a work may be done. These have been spoken of.

If once it please God to say, he will do such and such things, we need not to be told how. "Is any thing too hard for me? saith the Lord." That should be enough for us: but we find, that commonly it is not enough; experience doth too commonly shew that. And therefore the supposition of such a gradual progress, as hath been mentioned, doth much facilitate the apprehension of such a thing: though we do not imply or suppose in all this, that any thing the less power is exerted; but only that it is put forth in a way more familiar to our thoughts. As in the creation of the world there was an exertion even of absolute power, the almightiness (as I may

Preached June 19th, 1678

speak) of power: but that absolute power soon became ordinate; and that order and chain of causes, and the method of their operations and peculiar virtues, which we are wont to call by the name of nature, universal and particular nature, soon came to be fixed and settled; according whereto God hath since continued the world, and propagated the individuals of every sort and kind of creatures, or propagated the kind in those individuals. This is not to suppose more and less power, but is only a various exertion of the same power. But when power is exerted in this latter way, it is more apprehensible by us, how it goes forth to do such and such things. It is said in Heb. 11. 3. Through faith we understand, that the worlds were framed by the word of God. By faith: how is that? Why, faith is said, in the clause a little before, to be the "evidence of things not seen." We were none of us at the making of the world, we saw not how things were done then; but we have the matter imparted to us by God himself, we have a divine testimony in the case; the history committed into sacred records; by which we are informed, not only that the world was made, but how it was made, by what steps and by how gradual a progression the great God went on in the doing of that stupendous work. And hereupon it is said, "by faith we understand," П; that is, as that word signifies, by faith we come to have the formed, explicit notion in our minds, to have distinct thoughts and apprehensions how such a work was done. Thus we learn, how much was done such a day, and how much such a day; light created the first day; the second, the firmament; the third, the earth, dry land, and the seas or the gathering together of the waters into one place; and then herbs and trees and beasts, &c. according to their several kinds; and so on. Now this begets a clearer and more distinct apprehension in our minds of the way of making the world, than if it had been only said, that the world was at first made by God. We understand it by faith, have a notion begot in our minds clear and distinct by faith; inasmuch as, or so far as the testimony is distinct and clear, which we have concerning this matter. Though it is true, reason would go far to demonstrate, that this world had a beginning; yet reasoning could never have helped us to you, distinctly to understand, in what steps or in how easy and fit a method that great work was carried on. So now in making the world anew, erecting the new heavens and the new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, wherein it shall dwell; we certainly can more distinctly apprehend how that work is done, if it be represented as done by such a kind of gradation as you have heard of, than if we were put to it to conceive it done all at once.