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Lord is, and how feverely he punishes, and fo fet forwards to reformation of life, you may affure yourselves you will see these things more to your coft, when you yourselves fhall be made to groan under the heavy hand of the Lord.

Alas! for the fecurity and impenitency of Scotland; nothing of all we have yet met with, will roufe us out of it. Take heed that God do not create a new thing amongst us, which whofo fhall hear of, their ears fhall tingle, and thus groans of another fort from houfes and fields fhall be heard.

O that we were shewing ourselves ferious Chriftians, by our being deeply affected by the groans of the creation under fin! If we were fo, we would be,

(1.) Groaning under a fenfe of our own fin, and the fins of the land; mourning for the difhonour done to God by ourselves and others, by which we have grieved the Spirit of God, and burdened. the very earth that bears us.

(2.) We would be weaned from, and in a holy manner wearying of the world, which is a compound of fin, mifery, and vanity.

Laftly, We would be longing for the glorious day of the great change abiding the world, when. our Lord's kingdom fhall be fully come,-the mystery of God finished,―fin and misery swept out of the world, and the faints and the creatures perfectly delivered. Amen.

FAITH

FAITHFULNESS TOWARDS GOD EXEMPLIFIED

AND REWARDED*.

SERMON XXIX.

NUMB. xiv. 24. But my fervant Caleb, because he had another fpirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went, and his feed shall poffefs it.

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HE Lord being provoked with the murmuring of the people, in confequence of the ill report of the land brought by the spies, though he did not deftroy the people all at once; yet, justly difpleased, he threatened to cut off the whole generation of murmurers, so that not one of them fhould come to Canaan. His anger at the rebels, however, did not make him forget his faithful fervant Caleb, who had acted a totally different part from the rest of the spies, together with Joshua, who is not named here, because now he was not numbered with the people, being for the present the attendant * Delivered after the difpenfation of the Lord's Supper, July 1712.

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attendant of Mofes, and afterwards his fucceffor, as captain to lead the children of Ifrael into Canaan. This intimates to us, that God's own people may get special intimations of his love in a time when God is angry with the generation. However great the darkness may be, fome select ones will always have a Gofhen, a land of light to dwell in. Joys may be their portion, while God is diftributing forrows to others.

There were twelve spies, all of them noblemen or gentlemen, heads of the children of Ifrael, Num. xiii. 3. There were two, and but two of them, faithful to God and their country. Ten of them brought up an ill report of the land, difhonoured God, and ruined both their countrymen and themfelves. They that are false to God, will never be true friends to their country. Hence we fee, though not many noble are called, yet fome are. Greatness and goodness met in Caleb.-Goodness, that he would not defert the cause of God, notwithstanding of all the ill company with which he was affociated. They have little religion, that will not endure the fhock of ill company, be they never fo great. In the text there is,

1. Caleb's character.-More generally, God owned him as his fervant. This honour God put upon him. It is an honour to the greatest to be God's fervants; though the greater part will rather be the devil's flaves, and count that their honour. But blackness is beauty among black men.- More particularly, Caleb was a man of a truly gallant and generous fpirit. His name fignifies all heart, and his difpofition correfponded with his name. He had another fpirit than that of the world, another than his own, another than the rest of the fpies. He poffeffed a fpirit from heaven, calculated for the work to which he was appointed;

and

and that Spirit infpired him with courage, with undaunted refolution, while the rest were misled by a base, mean, fneaking fpirit. He was truly courageous in his actions; his other spirit made him behave himself otherwife than the reft. He followed the Lord fully; he walked with the Lord, kept close by his duty, in opposition to all difficulties and difcouragements. He was not afraid of the Anakims, nor did his undaunted heart fhrink at the fight of their high walls. He knew that towns, walls, armies, and giants, must fall before the Lord, when his promife was engaged for it. His companions deferted and contradicted him in his good report. The people threatened him with ftoning, but he was all heart, would not yield, but followed the Lord fully. (Hebrew, fulfilled after the Lord). Whatever way the Lord led, he followed. In the text there is,

2. The gracious recompence which God promifed to his fteadinefs and faithfulness; that is, the poffeffion of that good land, while the carcases of the reft fell. Piety is the best policy. They who are careful of God's honour, he will fee to their intereft. Caleb was to fight for the land, but God fays, I will bring him into it. The praise of the fuccefs of our endeavours is due to the Lord only; this promise fecured his through-bearing over all difficulties. --From this fubject, we may draw the following doctrines, which we fhall at tend to in their order, viz.

DOCT. I. That the honeft fervants of Jefus Chrift must distinguish themselves from others, by following the Lord fully.

Docг. II. That they who would follow the Lord fully must have another spirit, another than the

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fpirit

fpirit of the world, another than their own spirit naturally is.

DocT. III. That thofe who, by following the Lord fully in the time of great declining, diftinguish themselves from others, God will diftinguish them, by fpecial marks of favour in a time of great calamity. The fcripture affords many inftances in proof of this, as Noal, Lot, Jeremiah, &c. We begin with

DOCT. I. That the honest fervants of Jefus Chrift muft diftinguish themselves from others, by following the Lord fully.- -For illuftrating this doctrine, it is intended,

I. To fhew what it is to follow the Lord fully. 1. To give the reafons of the point. And then, III. To improve the subject.We are then,

I. To fhew what it is to follow the Lord fully. 1. It is to follow the Lord only as our great guide and leader: Heb. xii. 2. "Let us run the race fet before us, looking unto Jefus, the author and fiifher of our faith." They that follow not the Lord only, do not follow him fully, Hof. x. 2. "Their heart is divided." Their heart was going, one part after the Lord, another after their idols. He must have the whole man. Now, this implies two things.

(1.) The foul's ceafing to follow all others who do not lead in fubordination, but in contradiction to him. We have eaten our gospel-paffover, and must now fet forwards on our journey. We stand as in a place where two ways meet, and at the entrance to these ways there are falfe guides, who cry, Follow us; the Lord fays, as in Song, iv. 8. Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse.".

We

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