shouldst, it may be as mucli as thy life and tliy soul is worth ; if a man slip the opportunity of a favourable gale, he may lie wind-bound tiU all be spent. When the Spirit moves salvation, and all the glory of heaven stands waiting at thy door, if now thou will but open, the King of glory will enter in, and bless thee for ever. Saul, by neglect- ing his opportunity, lost an earthly kingdom. Take heed lest thou, by slighting the motions of the Spirit, comest to lose a heavenly kingdom. The letting slip one season when the Spirit moves may undo a man in both worlds ; and some think Felix found it so. Well, sirs, as ever you would be holy, you must labour for a spirit of holiness ; and for your encouragement remember this, that though the Holy Spirit be the great jewel of glory, yet God is more ready to give it than you are to ask it : witness that 11th of Luke, from the 9th to the 14th verse. But,
(3.) Thirdly, If ever you would be holy, then you must wait upon the word. The word of God faithfully preached, is the ordinary means by which holiness is wrought in sinners' hearts. The word is that triumphant chariot of the Spirit, wherein he rides conquering and to conquer the souls of men. The holy word is designed by God to be- get holiness in sinners' hearts, and to countenance, cherish, nourish, and strengthen holiness where it is begotten : John xvii. 17, ' Sanc- tify them through thy truth : thy word is truth.' And for their sakes, &c., ' I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth,' ver. 19. So chap. xv. 3, ' Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken to you.' The ordinary way of making unclean souls clean, unholy souls holy, is the ministry of the word, Phil. v. 26. As there is a cleansing virtue in the blood of Christ, 1 John i. 7, so there is a cleansing virtue in the word of Christ : Ps. cxix. 9, ' Where- withal shall a young man cleanse his way ? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.' Of all men, the young man is usually most Avild and wicked, most licentious and rebellious ; and yet the word of God is the power of God to his conviction and conversion, to his sanc- tification and salvation. Though the cleansing of a young man's heart be one of the hardest works in the world, yet this may be done by the word. There are no lusts so strong but the word can cast them down, nor no stains so deep but the word can wash them out. Three thousand sinners were made saints by one sermon, Acts ii. 41 ; and five thousand more were converted and sanctified by another ser- mon, chap. iv. 4, Here were eight thousand men cleansed, sanctified, and saved by two sermons, and doubtless most of them were young. O sirs, as ever you would have holy principles laid in your souls, and holy afi'ections raised in your souls, and holy ends aimed at by your souls, hear the word in season and out of season. Oh attend it ! oh wait on it I It wUl be soap to cleanse you, and fire to purge you, and ■water to wash you, and a wind to turn you from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to Jesus Christ, Acts xxvi. 16-24. The gospel preached hath been the power of God to the salvation of multi- tudes of souls, Rom. i. 16. The word is that immortal seed by which holiness, which is not only a grace but the conjunction of all graces, is formed in the soul, 1 Pet. i. 23. It is the word that gives a spiritual birth and being to men, Gal. iv. 19. The v/ord enlightens the eye,
HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OP HOLINESS. 217
Ps. cxix. 105 ; it softens the heart, Deut. xxxii. 2 ; it purges the con- science, and it converts the soul, Ps. xix. 7 ; it dethrones Satan, it casts down strongholds, 2 Cor. x. 4, 5>; it quickens the dull, Ps. cxix. 50 ; and it raises the dead, John v. 24, 25. Oh, therefore, hear it, and wait on it, and come to it, that you may be made holy by it. Many come to hear the word to censure it, others to mock at it, others to enrich their curious notions by it, and others come to catch the min- ister at it ; but do thou come to it that thou mayest be made holy by it, and doubtless first or last thou shalt obtain thy end. Yea, it is good for a man to come to the word, though his design in coming be bad ; it is good for a man to sit under that great ordinance of the word, though he sits upon thorns, as it were, all the while he is there. They that come to see who hath got the newest fashions, may have their hearts fashioned into a conformity with the word. They came to catch, but were caught in that, John vii. 46. Austin coming to Am- brose to have his ears tickled, had his heart touched and turned. ' Come,' saith old Father Latimer [1550,] in a sermon before king Edward the Sixth, ' to the public meeting, though thou comest to sleep, it may be God may take thee napping.' When thou comest, though it be but to taste the minister's spirit, yet then God may take hold on thy spirit, and make it the day of his power upon thy soul. Though thou comest with a heart full of prejudices against Christ, yet by the word thou mayest be brought to a love of Christ, to a liking of Christ, and to a choice of Christ, and to a blessed close and resignation of thy- self to Christ. They that came to surprise Christ, were so taken with Christ, that being filled with admiration they could not but proclaim his divine excellencies ; ' Never man spake like this man.' The word is the word of the Lord, let the hand be what it will that brings it. When gold is ofiered, men care not how noble or ignoble, how great or how base he is that offers it ; so men should not look so much at the hand that brings the word, as at the word itself. The word of the Lord was as much the word of the Lord in the hand and mouth of Amos, who was raised a prophet from amongst the herdsmen of Tekoa, as it was the word of the Lord in the hand and mouth of Isaiah, who, as some think, was a prophet of the blood-royal. Ambrose observes of the woman of Samaria, John iv. 7, that she came peccatrix to Jacob's well, but she went away prcedicatrix ; she came a sinner, but she went away a prophetess. 0 sirs, let nothing hinder you from coming to the word ! oh come to the word ! though you come sinners, yet come, for though you do come sinners, yet you may go away saints ; though the dew of heaven hath richly and sweetly fallen upon your hearts, and yet, like Gideon's fleece, you are still dry, yet come to the word still, for who can tell but that by the very next sermon God may make thy soul like a watered garden, and Hke a spring of water ' whose waters fail not,' Isa. Iviii. 11. It is reported of young king Edward the Sixth, that being about to lay hold on something that was above the reach of his short arm, one that stood by espying a great bossed Bible lying on the table, offered to lay that under his feet to heighten him, but the good young king disliked the motion, and instead of treading it under his feet he laid it to his heart, i Oh
^ Sir John Hayward in vita.