minant vanity and mifery of it. All Haman's honours were not able to feafon life to him, while Mordecai bowed not; neither could Ahab's kingdom, in the want of Naboth's vineyard; nor Belshazzar's festival joys and pleasures, while the handwriting was feen on the wall. That way is but feeking to allay one vanity with another; a dead fly will make the ointment itself slink; a day's pleasure will not balance an hour's pain; nor honour for years, blot out the difgrace that a moment fixes.

Laftly, Howbeit, the improving of life to the raifing a well-grounded good name, will balance the vanity and mifery of life effectually; fo that he who has reached that kind of living, has what is well worth the enduring all the miseries of life for. There is an excellency and good in it, that downweigh allthe evils attending life.

II. I SHALL fhew what is the well-grounded good name, that is the balance of the vanity and mifery of human life. It is the name of religion, raised from the reality thereof in the perfon that has the name. And it is, I fay,

1. The name of religion, and no lefs; for there is nothing truly good feparate from religion, Matth. vii. 18. Men have attempted to raise themfelves a name from other things, fome from their wealth, fome from their wit, valour, buildings, beauty, Ur But thefe may make a vain name, which at death › will go out with a ftink without religion. Only religion can make a good name, being the only thing of value with a good God, and among good men; without which all things elfe will be but cyphers, the name of nothing.

2. It is raifed on the reality of religion, and nò lefs; for a mere fhew of religion is but a vain and empty thing, which will dwindle to nothing with other vanities. That will make but a name before

men, not before God; "I know you not," said the Bridegroom to the foolish virgins, Matth. xxv. 12. They come under the name of virgins, but Chrift will not know them by that name.

We may take up that good name in three parts.

1. Friend of God, Jam. ii. 23. That is the part of the good name, that defigns the man's ftate of peace and reconciliation with God through Chrift. There is no good name without this, Jam. iv. 4. And this is the name put on all endowed with true religion, John xv. 14. a name better than fons and daughters, in whom mens name is preserved, Ifa. lvi. 5.

2. Faithful to the Lord, Aas xvi. 15. That defigns the man's temper and way towards God. He is a fincere and upright Chriftian, endeavouring to approve himself to God in all things. He makes the will of God his rule, the word of God his oracle, the love of God his principle, and the glory of God his chief end in life. A noble name, that God will know him by, in the other world, Matth. xxv. 21. "Well done thou good and faithful fervant," c.

3. Ufeful to men, ferving his generation, Acts xiii. 35. That defigns the man's temper and way towards his neighbour. He is not a common nuisance of fociety, enfnaring and nrifchievous to thofe about him, whereby fome make themselves a name that will rot, Eccl. ix. ult. Nor yet an ufelefs member of fociety, concerned for none but himself. Bút a profitable member, laying out himself to do good to others as he has accefs, Enh. x. ult.

This is that good name that is the best balance for the prefent, for the vanity and mifery of human life.

III. WE come next to fhew what is the improvement of life, whereby that good name may be raised. This is a weighty point that nearly concerns us all, to know those things that will make our life favoury before God and men. I fhall unfold it in the follow

ing particulars. If you would raise up to yourselves that good name in life,

Firft, Improve your life by a personal and saving entering into the covenant of grace, and uniting with Chrift, by believing on his name. Here are three things which we have accefs to in this life, as vain and miserable as it is, and in it only; and if we so improve it, we will be called friends of God.

1. Perfonally entering into his covenant, Ifa.lvi. 4, 5. "For thus faith the Lord unto the eunuchs that keep my Sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house, and within my walls, a place and a name better than of fons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that fhall not be cut off." The name of your father Adam's house, given you at your birth into this world, is ftranger and enemy to God, Eph. ii. 12. Rom. viii. 7. In the gospel God's covenant of peace is offered to you; confider while you are in life, what you are doing, and take hold of that covenant, with all the ferioufness and awful folemnity ye are capable of in life. So fhall ye get the good name, the new name, friend of God, as confederate with Heaven, Eph. ii. 12, 13. If ye afk how ye fhall do that? the answer is,

2. Unite with Chrift, He is the head of the covenant, and we enter into it by uniting with him, John x. 9. "I am the door; by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." Ifa. xlix. 8. "I will give thee for a covenant of the people." Uniting with Chrift, thy soul shall be wrapt up in the bond of the covenant of grace, made with him, for him and his; even as thy relation to Adam wraps thee up in the bond of the covenant of works, made with him for him and his. Come then, thou art now in life, improve it to thy union with Chrift; fo fhalt thou have a ground whence the good name muft infallibly rife, Col.i. 27. "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Make this the bufinefs of

your

your life in the first place, to get Chrift in you. Live and travail for this, Gal. iv. 19. It alone is able to balance all the mifery of life. If ye afk, how ye fhall unite with Chrift, the answer is,

3. Believe on his name; that is the way to unite with him, Eph. iii. 17. “That Chrift may dwell in your hearts by faith." Believing on him, thou fhalt be in a ftate of union with him, as the branches with the vine, and the fuperftructure with the foundation; .fo fhalt thou be called by a new name, the good name. Johni. 12. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name."

Quef. But what is it to believe on his name?

Anf. 1. To believe the gofpel-report; namely, That Chrift is by his Father's appointment the Saviour of the world, and your Saviour to fave you from fin and wrath, Ifa. liii. 1. “Who hath believed our report?" compared with 1 John iv. 14. "And we have feen and do teftify, that the Father fent his Son to be the Saviour of the world." and v. 11. “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life; and this life is in his Son." Set yourself to believe this; ye will not find it fo eafy, as you imagine perhaps. But it is impoffible to receive Chrift, or believe on him, without believing this firft, John iii. 27. “A man can receive nothing, except it be given him from heaven."

2. To truft on him accordingly, that he will fave you from fin and wrath, freely by his grace, through his righteoufnefs, blood, and Spirit, Acts xv. 11. "We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jefus Chrift, we fhall be faved." Rom. i. 17. "Therein is the righteoufnefs of God revealed from faith to faith. Set yourself to this; for herein the uniting nature of faith lies, inafmuch as in this act of trusting on him, the foul is, (1) Divorced from fin, as well as care ful to efcape wrath; the heart being alienated from fin, fet to be rid of it and made holy, which is the im

mediate

mediate effect of faving illumination, the difcovery of Chrift made to the foul in the gofpel by the Spirit working faith, 1 Cor. ii. 4, 5. Matth. xiii. 45, 46. (2.) Carried wholly off its own bottom for thefe ends, felf-confidence, creature-confidence, law-confidence; i. e. confidence in any work or good qualification of our own, are all undetermined together by a touch from heaven's hand; fo that the foul has not one foot left to ftand on, not a twig without or within him to grip to before the Lord but Chrift alone, and what is in Chrift, his free grace, righteousness, blood and Spirit, Phil. iii. 3. (3.) Laid wholly on Chrift for thefe ends, as the ftones of the building on the foundation, cleaving and clinging to him, relying on him, who if he fhould fail it, all would come down together. But it is impoffible that fuch an event fhould take place, fince Chrift is the foundation ftone laid by his Father, to bear all the weight of finners laid on him; and therefore knits with the foul laid on him, and fecures it for ever, 1 Pet. ii. 6.

Improve your life then to a perfonal and faving en tering into the covenant of grace, and uniting with Chrift by believing on his name. So you fhall have the good name which ye fhall never lofe, that will balance all the vanity and mifery of life, and make your dying day better than your birth-day.

Secondly, Improve your life to a living a life of faith in this world; fo fhall ye get the good name, "Faithful to the Lord;" Gal. ii. 20," The life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God." Rev. xvii. 14. “They that are with him, are called, and chofen and faithful." All the improvement most men make of life, is to live a life of fenfe, eat, drink, do worldly bufinefs, fport, play, c. So all that they make of life, is the life of a beaft, which have the delights of fenfe in greater perfection than what they for their hearts can reach. And so their name fhall be written, in the earth, an ill name, a disgraceful