deavoured only to retain you. "After ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of affliction," says the apostle to the Hebrews, chap. x. 32. But " cast not away your confidence," ver. 34. Remember his " grace is sufficient for you, and the God of peace will bruise Şatan under your feet shortly." Pharaoh and his Egyptians never made such a formidable appearance against the Israelites, as at the Red Sea, after they were brought out of Egypt: but then were the pursuers mearest to a total overthrow, Exod. xiv. Let not this case therefore make you raze your foundations: but be ye emptied of yourselves, and strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, and ye shall come off victorious.

CASE. "But when I compare my love to God with my love to some created enjoyments, I find the pulse of my affections beat stronger to the creature than the Creator. How then can I call him Father? Nay alas! these turnings of heart within me, and glowings of affection to him, which sometimes I had, are gone; so that I fear all the love I ever had to the Lord, has been but a fit and flash of affection, such as hypocrites often have." Answer, It cannot be denied, that the predominant love of the world is a certain mark of an unregenerate state, 1 John iii. 15. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." Nevertheless, these are not always the strongest affections, which are most violent. A man's affections may be more moved, on some occasions, by an object that that is is little re garded, than by another that is exceedingly beloved: even as a little brook sometimes makes a greater noise than a great river. The strength of our affections is to be measured by the firmness and fixedness of the root; not by the violence of their actings. Suppose a person meeting with a friend, who has been long abroad, finds, his affections more vehemently acting towards his friend on that occasion, than towards his own wife and children; will he therefore say, that he loves his friend more than them? Surely no. Even so, although the Christian may find himself more moved in his love to the creature, than in his love to God, yet he is not therefore to be said to love the creature more than God,

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seeing love to God is always more firmly rooted in a gracious heart, than love to any created enjoyment whatsoever; as appears, when competition arises in such a manner, that the one or the other is to be foregone. Would ye then know your case? Retire into your own hearts, and there lay the two in the balance, and try which of them weighs down the other. Ask thyself, as in the sight of God, whether thou wouldest part with Christ for the creature, or part with the creature for Christ; if thou wert left to thy choice in the matter? If you find your heart disposed to part with what is dearest to you in the world for Christ, at his call, you have no reason to conclude you love the creature more than God: but, on the contrary, that you love God more than the creature; albeit you do not feel such violent motions in the love of God, as in the love of some created thing, Matt. x. 37. "He that loveth father or mother more than me, is not worthy of me," Luke xvi. 26. "If any man come to me, and hate not his father and mother, he cannot be my disciple." From which texts compared we may infer, that he who hates, i. e. is ready to part with, father and mother for Christ, is, in your account, one that loves them less than him; and not one who loves father and mother more than him. Moreover, ye are to consider there is a two-fold love to Christ. (1.) There is a sensible love

to him, which is felt as a dart in the heart; and makes a holy love sickness in the soul, arising either from want of enjoyment, as in that case of the spouse, Cant. v. 8. "I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if ye find my beloved, that ye tell him, that I am sick of love;" or else from the fulness of it, as in that case, Cant. ii. 5. "Stay me with flagons, comfort me with apples, for I am sick of love." These glowings of affections are usually wrought in young converts, who are ordinarily made" to sing in the days of their youth," Hos. ii. 14. While the fire-edge is upon the young convert, he looks upon others reputed to be godly, and not finding them in such a temper or disposition as himself, he is ready to censure them; and to think there is far less religion in the world, than indced there is. But when his own

cup comes to settle below the brim, and he finds that in himself which made him question the state of others, he is more humbled, and feels more and more the necessity of daily recourse, to the blood of Christ for pardon, and to the Spirit of Christ for sanctification; and thus grows downwards in humiliation, self-loathing, and self-denial. (3.) There is a rational love to Christ, which, without these sensible emotions felt in the former case, evidence itself by a dutiful regard to the divine authority and command. When one bears such a love to Christ; though the vehement stirrings of affection be wanting, yet he is truly tender of offending a gracious God; endeavours to walk before him unto all pleasing; and is grieved at the heart for what is displeasing unto him, 1 John v. 3. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments." Now although that sensible love doth not always continue with you, ye have no reason to account it a hypocritical fit, while the rational love remains with you, more than a faithful and loving wife needs question her love to her husband, when her fondness is abated.

CASE 5. "The attainments of hypocrites and apostates are a terror to me, and come like a shaking storm on me, when I am about to conclude from the marks of grace, which I seem to find in myself, that I am in the state of grace." Answer, These things should indeed stir us up to a most serious and impartial examination of ourselves; but ought not to keep us in a continued suspense as to our state. Sirs, ye see the outside of hypocrites, their duties, their gifts, their tears, &c. but ye see not their inside; ye do not discern their hearts, the bias of their spirits. Upon what ye see of them, ye found a judgment of charity, as to their state; and ye do well to judge charitably in such a case, because ye cannot know the secret springs of their actings: but ye are speaking, and ought to have a judgment of certainty as to your own state; and therefore are to look into that part of religion, which none in the world but yourselves can discern in you; and which ye can as little see in others. In hypocrites religion may appear

far greater than that of a sincere soul: but that which makes the greatest figure, in the eyes of men, is often least worth before God. I would rather utter one of those groans the apostle speaks of, Rom. viii. 26. than shed Esau's tears, have Balaam's prophetic spirit, or the joy of the stony ground hearer. "The fire that shall try every man's work," will try, not of what bulk it is, but of" what sort it is," 1 Cor. iii. 13. Now ye may know, what bulk of religion another has: and what though it be more bulky than your own? God doth not regard that; why then do ye make such a matter of it? It is impossible for you, without divine revelation, certainly to know of what sort another man's religion is : but ye may certainly know what sort your own is of, without extraordinary revelation; otherwise the apostle would not exhort the saints to "give diligence to make their calling and election sure," 2 Pet. i. 10. Therefore the attainments of hypocrites and apostates should not disturb you, in your serious inquiry into your own state. But I will tell you two things, wherein the meanest saints go beyond the most refined hypocrites, (1.) In denying themselves; renouncing all confidence in themselves, and their own works, acquiescing in, being well-pleased with, and venturing their souls upon God's plan of salvation through Jesus Christ, Matt. v. 3. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." And chap. ix. 6. "Blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in me," Phil. iii. 3. "We are the circumcision which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." (2.) In a real hatred of all sin; being willing to part with every lust without exception, and to comply with every duty the Lord makes, or shall make known to them, Psal. cxix. 6. "Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments.". Try yourselves by these.

CASE 6. "I see myself fall so far short of the saints mentioned in the scriptures, and of several excellent persons of my own acquaintance; that when I look on them, I can hardly look on myself, as one of the same family with them." Answer, It is indeed matter of humiliation, that we do not get forward to that measure of grace and holiness which we see is attainable in this life. This should make us more vigorously "press towards the mark:" but surely it is from the devil, that weak Christians make a rack for themselves, of the attainments of the strong. And to yield to this temptation, is as unreasonable, as for a child to dispute away his relation to his father; because he is not of the same stature with his elder brethren. There are saints of several sizes in Christ's family; some fathers, some young men, and some little children," 1 John iii. 13, 14.

CASE 7. "I never read in the word of God, nor did I ever know, of a child of Cod so tempted, and so left of God, as I am; and therefore no saint's case being like mine, I cannot but conclude I am none of their number." Answer, This objection arises to some from their unacquaintedness with the scriptures, and with experienced Christians. It is profitable in this case, to impart the matter to some experienced Christian friend, or to some godly minister. This has been a blessed mean of peace to some persons; while their case, which appeared to them to be singular, has been evinced to have been the case of other saints. The scriptures give instances of very horrid temptations, wherewith the saints have been assaulted. Job was tempted to blaspheme: this was the great thing the devil aimed at, in the case of that great saint, Jobi. 11. "He will curse thee to thy face." chap. ii. 9. "Curse God and die." Asaph was tempted to think, it was in vain to be religious, which was in effect to throw off all religion, Psal. Ixviii. 13. “Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain." Yea, Christ himself was tempted to cast himself down from a pinnacle of the temple, and to worship the devil, Matt. iv. 6, 9. And many of the children of God have not only been attacked with, but have actually yielded to, very gross temptations for a time. Peter denied Christ, and cursed and swore that he knew him not, Mark xiv. 71. Paul, when a persecutor, compelled even saints to blaspheme, Acts xxvi. 10, 11. Many of the saints can, from their sad experience, bear