Aict the Chastisements of a tender Father, but will be faithful to recompense those very Sufferings with the more liberal Bounty of a gracious Rewarder; and this fuggefts to us that other Character under which we confidered the Great Infpector of all our Actions. Now the setting God before us under the Character of our Great Rewarder, will be found an excellent Means of our avoiding all manner of Sin.

SIN is of a Nature truly odious and mifchievous; and under both these Circumftances the Senfe of God's Prefence will check every Tendency towards the Commiffion of it: Men generally fly to Privacies and Solitude for the Gratification of their Appetites, and as much as poffible avoid every Witness of their Vices: The meaneft of Men will awe us under the ftrongeft Temptations; the very Light of the Sun is too glaring to be trusted with fecret Offences, and the Darkness of the Night is fought for to conceal the Foulnefs of our Wickedness; but what Witnefs can be fo awful, and of fuch Importance, as that Holy and Great God,

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who is of purer Eyes than to behold Iniquity; who is the most powerful Avenger of all Unrighteoufnefs? It is the Principle of Atheism to endeavour, if poffible, to exclude God from the World, that Men may commit all manner of Sin; but this is generally done in effect by excluding Him from our Thoughts; it being the fame thing to us, with refpect to our Behaviour, whether God be removed far from us, or whether, tho' He be ever effentially present with us, we do not fuffer fuch his Prefence to influence our Conduct. Accordingly we find that the HolyScripture marks out the Wicked under the Character of those that forget God; because any thing of a lively Remembrance of that tremendous Being would curb the moft forward Propenfity to tranfgrefs his Commands. Shame indeed is the more ingenuous Method of deterring us from Sin; but if that will not prevail, the Fear of Punishment will force our Avoidance. Let us fuppofe a Man upon the Brink of Eternity with all the terrible Apprehenfions of eternal Torments about him; or let us fuppofe VOL. I. K him

him made fenfible of the Divine immedi ate Prefence by fome vifible Marks of his Glory, and we may venture to affirm how little the most powerful Temptation is likely to affect him. And this is the Cafe of those who have an habitual and lively Senfe of God's Prefence with, and Infpection over us; for they confider Him as ever before their Eyes, arrayed with the Awfulness of his eternal Majefty, the Severity of his Almighty Juftice, obferving every Circumftance of their Life, fearching every Thought and Inclination of their Heart, weighing every Action in the Balance, and preparing Judgment for all the Sons of Men. And impoffible it is for Perfons under these Sentiments to fall into of Satan's Deany lufions; and every Act of Sin, how beautiful foever it might otherwise appear, will under these Circumftance be found deformed and dreadful. Now this affecting Sense of God's Prefence is equally ftrong in every Place, because the moft private Offences are open to his all-searching Eye. When therefore the mighty Tempter purfues us to our Retirements,

nients, and prompts us to tranfgrefs under the Appearance of greater Secrecy and Security, then particularly let us remember, that the Clofet is to God as the HouseTop, the Darkness even as Noon-Day, and that the Almighty is a more intimate and tremendous Witnefs of our Iniquity than if thousands of our Fellow-Creatures were Spectators of it.

BUT, 2dly, this Senfe of God's Omnifcience, as He is our Great Rewarder, is an excellent Incitement to our attaining the Purity of Chriftian Holiness.

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Walk before me, fays GOD to Abraham, and be thou perfect: So that there is a Connection between the one and the other; and by walking before God, i.e. by behaving ourselves as Perfons under God's continual Notice, alone it is that we fhall arrive at true Perfection for if God, who is the bountiful Rewarder of all his Servants, be conftantly ready and prefent with us, obferving every Motion and Inclination of the Heart; what more affecting Inducement to a fincere and entire Obedience; if we have any Refpect to the Recompence of the Reward, how fhall

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we endeavour to keep up cur Pretenfions, to heighten and advance fuch our Reward, by, improving in every Virtue, and growing up in every Divine Grace, not one righteous Thought or pious Inclination, not one Act of Devotion, or Afpiration after Heaven, will be like Water fpilt on the Ground, but all Works of Faith; our Patience of Hope, and Labour of Love, every Circumftance of godly Obedience will be remembered to our eternal Glory and Happiness. So that this Argument takes in not only the overt Acts of our Duty, but extends to the Sincerity of our Thoughts and Intentions; God, who to reward, obferves them both with the Eye of Jealoufy, and our fecret Imaginations are as open in his Sight as our most publick Actions. Since Purity of Heart can alone recommend us to the Divine Acceptance, and Purity of Heart ought as naturally to flow from the habitual Senfe of God's continual Notice and Infpection over us as Purity of Action. Thus then, by fetting God always before us, by making the Almighty, as He is the conftant Observer, fo