that you are fully persuaded in your judgments and consciences, that it is better to be good and virtuous, than it is to be great and rich, and honourable in the world; that the greatest pleasure you can have, is to please God; and your highest honour, to honour him: "That to be righteous [Luke 1.6.] before God, walking in all His commandments and ordinances blameless," so as to be "numbered with His Saints in glory everlasting," is the "one thing needful" for all men to seek and labour for.

Now supposing that you are thus minded, you cannot choose but do all that lies in your power for the attainment of so great a good, the "one thing needful" to your obtaining real and eternal happiness. For which purpose therefore you must, in the first place, apply yourselves to Almighty God for it, who is the Author and Giver of" every good and [James 1. perfect gift," such as this is. And who hath passed His 17.] Word, that He will give the Holy Spirit, the Fountain and Principle of true holiness, "to them that ask Him." But Luke 11.13. you must ask Him for it, not only now and then, but constantly. You must pray always and not "faint." You must ch. 18. 1. "pray without ceasing." And that too, not in a careless 1Thes.5.17. and customary manner, as most do, but heartily, earnestly, importunately, as for your life: for your life, your eternal life depends upon it. But that ye may be sure to have what you ask, ye must be sure to ask it in the Name of Jesus, the only Mediator between God and men, who hath promised,

that if ye “ask any thing in His Name, He will do it." John 14. 13, Which promise ye must have an eye unto, and believe and 14; 16. 23. depend upon it in all your prayers: that ye may always pray in faith, nothing wavering or doubting, otherwise ye James1.6,7; will pray, as most people do, in vain; for if ye will not do 1Tim. 2. 8. Him so much right, as to take His Word, you have no ground to expect that He should fulfil it to you.

If ye thus pray every day to your Father in secret, "your Matt. 6. 6. Father which seeth in secret, will reward you openly," or in public. For then ye will be always ready and prepared to meet Him in His own house, and there sit as Mary did, at the feet of Jesus, and hear His Word. But But you will say, perhaps, How can that be? Jesus was then upon earth, in the very place where Mary was, and therefore she might

LII.

SERM. well sit at His feet, and hear what He said: but He hath now left the earth, and is gone up into Heaven, and there sitteth at the right hand of the Father, where we cannot so much as see Him, much less come near Him, if we would: how then can we sit at His feet, or hear what He saith? To that, I answer, It is true, our Saviour is now in Heaven; and it is well for us that He is there: for he is there interceding for those who believe in Him, that they may have all things that may conduce to their Salvation, and particularly the "one thing needful." But that they may be sure to have it, though His body be in Heaven, yet He Himself is with them upon earth too, whensoever they meet together in His Name to seek it: this we cannot doubt of, having His own Matt.18.20. Word for it, saying, "Where two or three are gathered

together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them." And if He be in the midst of you, as He most certainly is, at this, and all other times, whensoever ye meet together in His Name, you may well sit at His feet and hear His Word, as Mary did for though ye cannot see Him with your [Heb.11.1.] bodily eyes, yet ye may see Him by faith, "the evidence of

things not seen:" whereby you may and ought to be as certain as Mary was, that He is in the very place where you are; and as plainly hear His Word, though not as spoken immediately by Himself, yet as repeated after Him by those Luke 10.16. whom He sends to do it; to whom He therefore saith, "He that heareth you, heareth Me."

When I consider this, I cannot but wonder how people can carry themselves as they commonly do at Church, with no more reverence and devotion than they do at home, coming in, staying here a while, and then going out again, with no more concern upon them, than as if nobody was among them or saw them, but their fellow-creatures. But I beg of you to consider, do not ye believe what Christ said to be true? I hope ye do. Now, suppose you saw Him, the Eternal Son of God, your Lord, your Saviour, your Judge ; suppose you saw Him at this time standing in the midst of you, encircled with rays of glory and majesty about His head, and with all spiritual blessings in His hand, ready to distribute them to all that have a mind to them: if you thus saw Him, could ye be able to stand upon your legs? Would

not ye all fall down and worship Him? Would not your eyes be all fastened upon Him, and your ears listen to what He saith? Would not ye beseech Him, upon your knees, to have mercy upon you, to bless you, and give you the pearl of great price that is in His hand? I dare say ye would. And yet this is your case at this time, and at all times when ye meet together in His Name. If you truly believe the Gospel, ye cannot but see your Saviour with the eye of faith in the midst of you, as plainly as Mary did, when she sat at His feet. And then, how gravely, how modestly, how reverently would ye behave yourselves before Him, all the while you are in his house, and especially at His holy table, where you see Him coming to you, and offering you His most blessed body and blood, to preserve your souls and bodies to everlasting life! You would then not stand looking about you, but upon Him who is in the midst of you, and strive all ye can to do the business that He hath set you, so as that ye may please Him, and receive His blessing.

Which therefore that ye may, and so never come altogether, as many do, for the worse, but always for the better; let me advise you all, that whensoever ye go to the house of God, consider whither you are going, and whom you are to meet there. And so soon as ever ye come into his presence, be sure to fall down upon your knees before Him, humbly beseeching Him to assist you in doing the work you come about. And then in an humble confidence of His assistance, set upon it with all your might; offering up your prayers and praises unto God, not only with your lips, but from the bottom of your hearts: receiving the word you hear, not as the word of man, but as it is in truth the Word of God, "which effectually worketh in them who believe:" and feed- [1 Thess. 2. 13.] ing upon the blessed body and blood of our Saviour, with such a quick and lively faith, that "His grace may be [2 Cor. 12. alway sufficient for you, and His strength made perfect in your weakness." I need not tell you, that you must be upon your knees all the while that you are praying to Almighty God: for that ye cannot but choose to be, if you pray in faith, and without that ye had as good be out of the Church

9.]

SERM.
LII.

[2 Pet. 3. 18.]

as in it, as to any good that you can either do or get there, as some here present have found, I fear, by long experience: but this I must put you in mind of, that as ye must thus use the means of grace continually, as often as ye can get an opportunity; so whensoever ye have used them, ye must always lift up your hearts to Christ your Saviour, and trust on Him for God's acceptance of what ye have done, and for His blessing upon it. And then ye can never come to Church, but ye will return home wiser and better than ye came. And so grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord every day, more and more, till ye arrive at that degree of righteousness or true holiness, which is the "one thing needful" to make you happy for ever.

For this is that good part which Mary chose; and which our Saviour therefore said, should not be taken away from her seeing she had chosen it, nothing should hinder or deprive her of it; but she should most certainly have it, and keep it; which is a great encouragement to us, to do as she and many others have done before us. There are many glorified Saints at this time in Heaven, which once were sinful mortals upon earth, as we are now. But when they were here, they laboured so as to get the "one thing needful," to make them eternally happy; they were cleansed, and sanctified, and justified, and reconciled to God, and made His faithful servants and children by adoption and [Matt. 13. grace, and are now "shining forth as the sun in the king43.] dom of their Father." And why then should not we as well as they? We have the same Gospel to direct us, the same Spirit to assist us, the same Mediator to intercede for us, and all the same means to obtain the "one thing needful," which they had. Why then should not we obtain it as well as they? Let us but resolve to labour for it as [Phil.3.14.] they did, by "pressing towards the mark for the prize of the high calling of God, in Jesus Christ," and we cannot miss of it.

This therefore, is that which I must now advise and beseech you all in the Name of Christ to do. And for that purpose desire you all to consider, first, that this is the "one thing needful." There are none, I suppose, here

present, but have some business to do in the world: many that like Martha are careful and troubled about many things.

But to what purpose is all your care and trouble, about many things, if they be such only as ye have no real need of, and not that one thing which alone can do you good? Is not this to labour in vain? Is it not to moil and toil, and all to no purpose? Or rather, is it not to very ill purpose? even to make yourselves miserable, both here and hereafter too: yet this is the case of most men; of all who "labour for the meat that perisheth," and not "for that [John 6. which endureth to everlasting life;" who apply their minds wholly to the affairs of this life, and not to the study of true piety, to be and to do good in the world, the "one thing needful," without which, whatsoever they get besides will avail them nothing; whereas with it, they might have all the good things they can desire.

27.]

For remember also the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His right- Matt. 6. 33. eousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Whereby He hath assured you, upon His Word, that if ye seek the "one thing needful" before all things else, ye shall have both that and whatsoever else ye have any real need of. Who then that are wise, and mind their own good, would not do so? And yet, after all, how few are in the world that will? But let others do what they please, and take what follows. God grant that we may be all in the number of those few, that make it their chief care and study to get the "one thing needful," that the rest of our life hereafter, may be pure and holy, so that at the last, we may come to His eternal joy, through Jesus Christ our Lord.