the farther I go in his writings, the more I am affur'd, that it must be so. But because the fermons themselves, to which I refer, are not yet all of them published, I must leave this to the judgment of the impartial reader, when the whole fhall be finifb'd, which is defign'd with all convenient speed. Lambeth, April 2, 1695. Ra. Barker. SER SERMON LV. of fincerity towards GoD and man. JOHN i. 47. Jefus faw Nathanael coming to him, and faith of him, behold an Ifraelite indeed, in whom is no guile. W LV. HO this Nathanael was, upon whom our SER M. his Preach'd name being but once more mentioned in the whole at Kingfton, July hiftory of the gospel: for certain, he was a good 29, 1694. man, who deferved this extraordinary commendati- the lait his on; and none but our SAVIOUR, "who knew what grace preach'd. "was in man, and needed not that any fhould tell "him," could have given it, especially of one whom he had never seen before that time; for when " JE"Sus faw him coming to him, he faith of him, "behold an Ifraelite indeed. " The whole nation of the Jews were Ifraelites by natural defcent, being the feed of Jacob or Ifrael; but in a special and more excellent fenfe, none are esteem'd the true pofterity of Ifrael, but those who refembled this father of their nation, in true piety and goodnefs; for (as the apoftle reasons) "they "are not all Ifrael, who are of Ifrael;" they only are Ifraelites indeed who refemble good old Jacob in the fincerity of his piety, and the fimplicity of his temper and difpofition; for our SAVIOUR feems SERM. feems here to allude to that character which is given LV. of Jacob (Gen. xxv. 27.) "That he was a plain "man, or, as the hebrew word fignifies, a perfect and "fincere man," in oppofition to his brother Efau who is faid to be cunning, fo that to be an Ifraelite indeed, is to be a downright honeft man, without fraud and guile, without any arts of hypocrify and deceit. man. In fpeaking of this virtue of fincerity, which is the highest character and commendation of a good man, I fhall confider it, as it refpects God and As it refpects GOD, so it imports the truth and fincerity of our piety and devotion towards him. As it regards men, fo it fignifies a fimplicity of mind and manners, in our carriage and converfation, one towards another: both these are included, and very probably were intended, in the character which our SAVIOUR here gives Nathanael. I. I fhall confider this grace, or virtue of fincerity, as it refpects GOD, and fo it imports the truth and fincerity of our piety towards him, that we heartily believe, and fear, and honour him, and that the outward expreffions of our piety and obedience to him are the genuine iffue of our inward apprehenfions of him, and affections towards him; and this no doubt, our SAVIOUR intended, in the first place, in the character of this good man, that he was a man of a real and fubftantial and unaffected piety, and in truth, what he appeared to be; that he did fincerely love GoD and his truth, and was ready to embrace it, whenever it was fairly propofed to him, as did plainly appear in his carriage towards our SAVIOUR; for when Philip invited him "to come "and LV. " and fee him," he did not conceal the prejudice and S ERM. objection he had against him, grounded upon a common, but uncharitable proverb," that out of "Nazareth ariseth no prophet; " but having an honeft and fincere mind, he was not fo carried away by a popular prejudice, as not to have patience to be better inform'd, and therefore was eafily perfuaded to go and fee our SAVIOUR, and to dif course with him himself, and being fatisfied that he was the MESSIAS, he prefently owns him for fuch, calling him" the Son of GOD, and the king of If"rael. " And because fincerity is the very heart and fubftance of religion, it concerns us not only to endeavour after this temper and difpofition, but to enquire into the nature and properties of it, that we may know when we have it, and may have the comfort of it. I fhall mention five or fix properties of a fincere piety, by which men may fufficiently know the integrity of their hearts towards God. 1. Our piety is then fincere, when the chief reafons and predominant motives of it are religious; and I call that a religious or rational motive, which regards God and another world, in oppofition to men, and to our present temporal advantages; when the principal and fwaying motives of our piety, are a sense of God's authority over us, and of our duty and obligation to him; a fear of his displeasure and threatnings, and the hopes of the glorious reward which he hath promised to obedience; these motives are properly religious, because they refpect GOD, and are the arguments to obedience, which he himself offers to us, to perfuade us VOL. IV. 7S to LV. SERM. to our duty; and that is a fincere piety, which is wrought in us by these confiderations, how unequally foever mixed, for even in the most of men, fear does many times prevail more than love, and, in cafe of great temptation, may preferve men from fin, when perhaps no other confideration will do it. On the contrary, that is an unfincere piety, to which we are moved meerly by the regard of men, and the confideration of fome temporal advantages. And when these have the chief influence upon us, it is eafy for any man to difcern in himfelf; for he that will carefully obferve himself, can hardly be ignorant of the true fpring and motive of his own actions but there is one fign whereby a man may certainly know that his heart is not right towards GOD, and that is, if when these motives are absent, our piety and zeal for the true religion doth either cease, or is fenfibly cooled and abated; as if impiety, or popery, or any thing else that is bad, begin to be in fashion, and to have the countenance of great examples; if thofe whom we fear, and upon whom we depend, do discover any inclination that way; if the garb of religion cease tobe for our intereft, or, in the revolution of things, happen to be contrary to it: if in any of these cafes, we let fall the profeffion of our religion, or neglect the practice of it, this is a plain and undeniable demonstration of the infincerity of our former piety. 2. A fincere piety must be rooted in the heart, and be a living principle within us: for as the apoftle reasons in another case, "he is not a Jew who is "one outwardly, but he who is one inwardly, and |