confidence in himself,
or the flesh, Phil. iii. 3, 8. It includes the soul and spirit, and all
the commands, but it denies them all, and embraces Jesus Christ by faith,
as the only object of glorying in and trusting in. All a man's self
becomes dross in this consideration. Now, the first of these is drawn from
the last, therefore it appears first--I say, an endeavour in walking in
every thing commanded, of conforming our way to the present rule and
pattern, is a stream flowing from the pure heart within. A man's soul and
affections must once be purified, before it sends out such streams in
conversation. And from whence doth that pure heart come? Is it the
fountain and original? No certainly. The heart is desperately wicked above
all things, and how will it cleanse itself? But this purity proceeds from
another fountain,--from faith in Jesus Christ, and it is this that lies
nearest the uncreated fountain Christ himself, it is the most immediate
conduit the mouth of the fountain or the bucket to draw out of the deep
wells of salvation. All these are conjoined in this order, 1 Tim. i.
5--"The end of the commandment is love." Ye know love is said elsewhere to
be the fulfilling of the law, and when we say love, we mean all duties to
God and man, which love ought immediately to principle. Now this love
proceeds from a pure heart, cleansed and sanctified, which pure heart
proceeds from faith unfeigned. So then, we must go up in our searching
from external obedience all alongst, till we arrive at the inward fountain
of Christ dwelling in us by faith, and then have ye found true religion
indeed. Now, ye may think possibly, we have used too much circumlocution:
what is all this to the present purpose? Yes, very much. Ye shall find the
Lord rejecting this people's public worship and solemn ordinances upon
these three grounds,--either they did not join with them the observation of
weightier commands, or they did not worship him in them with their
spirits, had not souls present, or they knew not the end and use for which
God had appointed these sacrifices and ceremonies, they did not see to the
end of all, which was Jesus Christ.

_First_, then, I say the people were much in external sacrifices and
ceremonies, commanded of God, but they were ignorant of the end of his
commands, and of the use of them. Ye know in themselves they had no
goodness, but only in relation to such an end as he pleased they should
lead to, but they stayed upon