VIII.

To him who vouchfafes to grant us a free accefs unto, SERM. a conftant intercourse and a familiar acquaintance with himself; to esteem and style us his friends and children; to invite us frequently, and entertain us kindly with those most pleasant delicacies of spiritual repaft; yea, to vifit us often at our home, and (if we admit) to abide and dwell with us; indulging us the enjoyment of that prefence, wherein the life of all joy and comfort confifts, and to behold the light of his all-cheering countenance.

Is there any thing more? Yes: To him who, to redeem us from mifery, and to advance our estate, hath infinitely debased himself, and eclipsed the brightness of his glorious majesty; not disdaining to affume us into a near、 affinity, yea, into a perfect union with himself; to inhabit our frail and mortal nature, to undergo the laws and conditions of humanity, to appear in our shape, and converse, as it were, upon equal terms with us, and at last to taste the bitter cup of a most painful and difgraceful deathfor us.

Yea, to him who not only descended from his imperial throne, became a fubject, and (which is more) a fervant for our fake; but designed thereby to exalt us to a participation of his royal dignity, his divine nature, his eternal glory and bliss; fubmitting crowns and fceptres to our choice; crowns that cannot fade, and fceptres that can never be extorted from us.

Farther yet, To him, the excellent quality, the noble end, the most obliging manner of whofe beneficence doth fur-、 pass the matter thereof, and hugely augment the benefits: who, not compelled by any neceffity, not obliged by any law, (or previous compact,) not induced by any extrinfic arguments, not inclined by our merits, not wearied with our importunities, not inftigated by troublesome paffions of pity, fhame, or fear, (as we are wont to be,) not flattered with promifes of recompenfe, nor bribed with expectation of emolument, thence to accrue unto himself; but being abfolute mafter of his own actions, only both lawgiver and counsellor to himself, all-fufficient, and incapable of admitting any acceffion to his perfect blissful- \

SERM. nefs; moft willingly and freely, out of pure bounty and VIII. good-will, is our Friend and Benefactor; preventing not

only our defires, but our knowledge; furpaffing not our deferts only, but our wishes, yea, even our conceits, in the dispensation of his inestimable and unrequitable benefits; having no other drift in the collation of them, befide our real good and welfare, our profit and advantage, our pleasure and content.

To him who not lately began, or fuddenly will cease, , that is either uncertain or mutable in his intentions, but from everlasting defigned, continues daily, and will (if we fuffer him) to all eternity persevere unmoveable in his refolutions to do us good.

To him whom no ingratitude, no undutiful carriage, no rebellious difobedience of ours, could for one minute wholly remove, or divert from his fteady purpose of caring for us: who regards us, though we do not attend to him; procures our welfare, though we neglect his concernments; employs his restless thought, extends his watchful eye, exerts his powerful arm, is always mindful, and always busy to do us good; watching over us when we fleep, and remembering us when we forget ourselves: in whom yet 'tis infinite condefcenfion to think of us, who are placed fo far beneath his thoughts; to value us, who are but duft and dirt; not to defpife and hate us, Pf. cxiii. 5, who are really fo defpicable and unworthy. For though he dwelleth on high, faith the Pfalmift truly and emphatically, he humbleth himself to behold the things that are done in heaven and earth.

6.

To him that is as merciful and gracious, as liberal and munificent toward us; that not only beftows on us more gifts, but pardons us more debts, forgives us more fins, than we live minutes; that with infinite patience endures, not only our manifold infirmities and imperfections, but our petulant follies, our obftinate perverfeneffes, our treacherous infidelities; overlooks our careless neglects and our wilful mifcarriages; puts up the exceedingly many outrageous affronts, injuries, and contumelies continually offered to his fupreme Majefty by us base

worms, whom he hath always under his feet, and can S ERM crush to nothing at his pleasure.

VIII.

To him yet, who, as St. James faith, giveth freely,and Jam. i. 5. upbraideth no man ; no man; who calls us neither very frequently nor over ftrictly to accounts; who exacts of us no impoffible, no very difficult, no greatly-burdenfome or coftly returns; being fatisfied with the cheerful acceptance of his favours, the hearty acknowledgments of his goodness, the fincere performance of such duties, to which our own welfare, comfort, and advantage (rightly apprehended) would otherwise abundantly difpofe us.

To him, laftly, whofe benefits to acknowledge is the greatest benefit of all; to be enabled to thank whom deserves our greatest thanks; to be fenfible of whose beneficence, to meditate on whofe goodness, to admire whose excellency, to celebrate whose praise, is heaven itself and paradise, the life of angels, the quinteffence of joy, the fupreme degree of felicity.

In a word, To him whofe benefits are immenfely great, innumerably many, unexpreffibly good and precious. For, Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can shew Pf. cvi. 2. forth all his praise? said he, who had employed often his most active thoughts and his utmost endeavours thereupon, and was incomparably better able to do it.

To this God, to this great, to this only Benefactor of ours, we owe this moft natural and easy, this most just and equal, this most sweet and pleasant duty of giving thanks. To whom if we wilfully refuse, if we carelessly neglect to pay it, I fhall only fay thus much, that we are not only monftrously ingrateful, and horribly wicked; but abominably foolish, and deplorably miferable. I fhall repeat this fentence once again, and wifh it may have its due effect upon us: To this great, to this only Patron and Benefactor of ours, if we do not in some measure difcharge our due debt of gratitude for his ineftimable benefits and mercies, we are to be adjudged not only most prodigiously unthankful, most deteftably impious, but most wofully ftupid also and fenfelefs, moft defperately wretched and unhappy.

SERM. I should now proceed to confider the circumftance of VIII. time determined in the word always; and the extenfion

of the matter, implied in those words, for all things: and then to fubjoin fome farther inducements or arguments perfuafive to the practice of this duty. But the time (and, I fear, your patience) failing, I fhall referve them to some other opportunity.

SERMON IX.

OF THE DUTY OF THANKSGIVING.

EPHES. V. 20.

Giving thanks always for all things unto God.

HAVING formerly discoursed upon these words, I ob- SERM.

served in them four particulars confiderable: 1. The subftance of a duty, to which we are exhorted, to give thanks; 2. The term unto which it is directed, to God; 3. The circumftance of time determined in that word always; 4. The extent of the matter about which the duty is employed, for all things. Concerning the two former particulars, wherein the duty confifted, and wherefore especially related unto God, I then reprefented what did occur to my meditation.

III. I proceed now to the third, the circumstance of time allotted to the performance of this duty, expreffed by that univerfal and unlimited term, always.

Which yet is not so to be understood, as if thereby we were obliged in every instant (or fingular point of time) actually to remember, to confider, to be affected with, and to acknowledge the divine benefits: for the deliberate operations of our minds being fometimes wholly interrupted by fleep, otherwhile preoccupied by the indispenfable care of ferving our natural neceffities, and with attendance upon other reasonable employments, it were impoffible to comply with an obligation to the per

IX.