1 Hosea vi. 3; 1 Thes. iii. 12, 13 ; 2 Pet. i. 5-10; Phil. iii. 14-16; 2 Pet. iii. 17, 18 ; 1 Thes. iv. 1. » Rev. ii. 10, 17 ; Jude 20 ; 1 Cor. ix. 24 ; Heb. xii. 1, 4. « ' Obstacles.'— G.
328 THE NECESSITY, EXCELLENCY, RARITY, [HeB. XII. 14.
holiness ? and shall wicked men persevere in their opposition to holi- ness ? and shall formalists persevere in their neglect of holiness ? and will not you persevere in your pursuit of holiness ? A good husband- man will not give over sowing till he has sowed all his land ; nor a good physician will not give over his patient till he has cured him ; nor a good workman vidll not give over his work till he hath finished it ; no more should a good Christian give over his pursuit of holiness, till he is come up to the highest perfection of holiness. Look, as God carried on the work of creation from day to day till he had finished it, Gen. i., and as Christ carried on the work of our redemption from day to day till he had completed it, John xvii, ; so Christians should look to a daily carrying on of the work of holiness in their hearts and lives, till that work be perfected and completed. The philosopher being asked in his old age, why he did not give over his practice, and take his ease ? answered, Wlien a man is to run a race of forty fur- longs, would you have him sit down at the nine-and-thirtieth, and so lose all his pains, and the prize for which he runs ? Surely no. 0 Christians, you are racers, and you must run to the end of your race, Heb. xii. 1 ; i it is not enough to begin well, and to run well for a time, but you must hold out in running till you come to the goal, or else you will lose all the pains and labour that ever you have taken in religion, you will lose all the prayers that ever you have made, and you will lose all the sermons that ever you have heard, and you will lose all the fasts that ever you have observed, and you will lose all the tears that ever you have shed, and you will lose all the alms that ever you have given, if you do not hold out to the end. If you do not per- severe in well-doing, you will lose your crown, and be undone for ever after all your doings. A progress in holiness is requisite not only to your consolation, but also to your salvation, Mat. xxiv. 13. But,
[4.] Fourthly, Evidence and declare the truth and reality of your holiness, by a resolute standing up for purity of religion, and for purity of loorship and ordinances, in opposition to all mixtures and corruptions iohatsoever. 0 sirs, the great God stands upon nothing more in all the world than upon purity in his worship, James i. 27. There is nothing that does so provoke and exasperate God against a people as mixtures in his worship and service, Mat. xxi. 12, 13 ; John ii. 15-17. Pollutions in worship do sadly reflect upon the name of God, the honour of God, the truth of God, and the wisdom of God ; and therefore his heart rises against them. The very spirit, life, and soul of the second commandment lies in these words, ' Thou shalt not make to thyself any graven image,' &c. In matters of divine wor- ship God abhors that men should mix their water with his wine, their dross with his gold, their chaff with his wheat, &c. When once men come to be so bold as to defile his worship with their mixtures, then God is resolved to be a swift and a terrible witness against them, as you may clearly see by comparing those notable places of Scripture together in the margin, 2 There is no sin that does so incense and
^ What had it availed Peter to have escaped the first and second watch, if he had stuck at the iron gate, and liad not passed through that also ? Finis coronat opm.
» Lev. X. 1, 2; Ezek. v. 11, 12, and xxiii. 38, 39; Jer, vii. 29, 30; Ezek. viii. 17, 18; Kev, ii. 22, 23; Deut. iv. 2, and xii. 32.
HeB. XII. 14.] AND BEAUTY OF HOLINESS. 329
provoke God to jealousy and wrath against a people, as mixtures in worship. God can bear with defilements anywhere rather than in his worship and service : and that,
First, Because mixtures in worship are cross to God's express commands ; and who art thou, 0 man ! that darest run cross to his commands, who can command thee into the dust, yea, into hell, at pleasure? &c.