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THESE being the Reprefentations which are found in the Pfalms, relating to the many TRIALS and TEMPTATIONS which BELIEVERS have, and are to pafs through;

THE next Thing to be confider'd, is the proper USE that is to be derived from a due Contemplation of what the DIVINE SPIRIT has been pleafed to transmit to Mankind, upon a Subject fo contrary to the Inclination of human Nature; which is fo prone to indulge its own Eafe, and to be amufed with the Opinion of its felf-fufficiency in Matters of RELIGION.

IT is fad to obferve, how the Generality of those that call themselves CHRISTIANS, trifle in nothing fo much as in Matters of Religion, endeavouring to calm the Accufations of CONSCIENCE with the Performance of fome OUTWARD DEVOTIONS; with little or no regard to the INWARD HABITS and AFFECTIONS of the MIND.

SURELY the Christian Inftitution intended, and requires fomething far beyond this. The vicious PASSIONS which have poffeffed every Breaft, arifing from the LUSTS of the FLESH, the LUST of the EYES, and the PRIDE of LIFE, muft be fubdued; and all the DESIRES and AFFECTIONS of the SouL, must be terminated upon the ADORING, FEAR, and Love of the ALMIGHTY: the obtaining whose MERCY and FAVOUR, must daily be implored with the most intense Affections of the SOUL.

OUR Abode in this World is very SHORT and UNCERTAIN; all its Enjoyments are tarnished with VANITY, which always have, and will produce Vexation: But in the FAVOUR of GOD there is fulness of Joy, and PLEASURES too fublime for any thing in this World to equal. Shall we then think any DIFFICUL TIES too great, for obtaining an indefeasible Estate of Inheritance of PERFECT BLISS, and ENDLESS JOY for EVER; freed from all SORROW, (the Confequence of SIN?) Can any Thing here be acquired without

fome

fome LABOUR, CARE, and PAINS? Every morfel of Bread we eat, is produced by no less than feventeen Species of different Labours: the fame also may be faid of our Cloaths, and almost every Thing that belongs to human Life. No SCIENCE, or ART, was ever attained without much STUDY and APPLICATION = Shall we thus eagerly labour for what muft PERISH, and neglect the only Means of obtaining ETERNAL HAPPINESS?

OUR SAVIOUR compares those that SEEK the Kingdom of HEAVEN, to a Merchant-man feeking goodly PEARLS, for the Purchase of which he ventures all his Eftate, and chearfully undergoes all the HAZARDS and STORMS of the Seas.

SINCE we have fo many DIFFICULTIES and TEMPTATIONS to encounter, what can be a greater Relief and better Direction, than the EXAMPLE of fo holy a Prince, and the View of the METHODS he took, in his unwearied endeavours to obtain the CROWN of ETERNAL GLORY?

IN the Book of Job, is found a distinct Account of the great AFFLICTIONS and TEMPTATIONS, that excellent Prince endured with a moft admirable PATIENCE; which the Apostle St. James directs all BELIEVERS to imitate;

"James v. 1o. Take, my Brethren, the PROPHETS, "who have spoken in the Name of the LORD, for "an Example of fuffering AFFLICTION, and of PA

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11. Behold, we count them happy which ENDURE. "Ye have heard of the PATIENCE of Job, and have "feen the END of the LORD: that the LORD is very "PITIFUL, and of tender MERCY.

I AM. not infenfible, how very unpleafing a Subject this is. But fince Man is born to TROUBLE as the Sparks fly upward; it is the highest WISDOM to provide against thefe Affaults, that we may be able to STAND in the EVIL DAY..

THIS Subject is with great Accuracy treated by the learned Dr. South, in his SERMONS upon TEMP

TATIONS.

IN the Lord Chief Juftice Hale's MEDITATIONS upon the LORD'S PRAYER, is the following remarkable Paragraph, Pag. 261.

"WE walk in the midft of Enemies and SNARES; "the PRINCE of the AIR hath his Inftruments, that "moft vigilantly take all Opportunities to draw us "into Sin, evil Angels and Men: And were there "not a Devil, or his Inftruments, without us, to TEMPT us to Evil, we have an OLD MAN within us, a Fountain, a Sea of Corruption, a DECEITFUL and wicked "Heart, a Body of SIN and DEATH, that can with "much Advantage, and doth with much Eafe draw "us into Sin: And the merciful God, that feeth these "SNARES, which the EVIL ONE lays for us in our way, "though we fee them not, fends out his own GRACE "and SPIRIT, and fometimes removes the Snare out "of our way, fometimes leads us another way, that we mifs the SNARE; he over-rules and restrains this "raging Sea of our own CORRUPTIONS; and as our "Saviour did to the Winds and Seas, commands them "PEACE, AND BE STILL: He doth by the fame SPIRIT "ftrengthen and enable our Hearts, to refift, and op"pofe, and fubdue thofe TEMPTATIONS that rife from "within, and come from without.

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FROM the above Texts relating to AFFLICTIONS, TRIALS, and TEMPTATIONS, it may be obferved:

1, THAT these are not the conftant Lot and Portion of BELIEVERS: For altho' there are certain Seasons, wherein their FAITH and PATIENCE is to be tried, fo are there Times of great Joy and SERENITY. For as in the .Courfe of Nature, there are fome very gloomy and tempeftuous Days, render'd terrible by Thunder and Lightning, so there are Days and Nights without Clouds or Storms.

2dly, BY

2dly, BY these AFFFLICTIONS and TEMPTATIONS, the FAITH, LOYALTY, and PATIENCE of BELIEVERS is tried, and hereby they are made more than CON

QUERORS.

3dly, Hereby we are brought to an HUMBLE Sense of our own SINFUL WEAKNESS, and to an entire Dependance upon the PROMISES of the Gospel.

Laftly, THESE AFFLICTIONS help to raise our HOPES and DESIRES after that Celestial BLISS, where all SIN and SORROW fhall fly away, where the Spirits of the JUST are made PERFECT, and where is fulness of Joy and PLEASURES for evermore. For we are affured by our SAVIOUR, in Rev. iii. 21. “To "Him that OVERCOMETH, Will I grant to fit with me " in my THRONE, even as I alfo OVERCAME, and am "fet down with my FATHER in his THRONE.

COLLECT for the xviiith SUNDAY after
TRINITY.

A PRAYER for STRENGTH to withstand
TEMPTATIONS.

LORD, we beseech Thee, grant thy People Grace to withstand the Temptations of the World, the Flesh, and the Devil, and with pure Hearts and Minds to follow Thee the only GOD, through Jefus Christ our Lord. Amen.

IV. OF SANCTIFYING GRACE.

THE fourth Evangelical Article contained in the Pfalms, is the Doctrine of FREE GRACE, whereby the DIVINE LIFE (infufed in the SOUL from above) is, through the fanctifying, enlightning, and comforting Influences of the HOLY SPIRIT, fupported in all its TRIALS and CONFLICTS, and finally enabled to overcome all TEMPTATIONS.

THESE the Royal Prophet with great Ardour and Elegancy implores.

IF thefe SUPPLICATIONS be compared with other' Parts of the SCRIPTURE, there is not a PRAYER in the Pfalms, to which fome EVANGELICK PROMISE may not be applied, without any forced Conftruction: But I will principally confine the Confideration of this to the cxixth Pfalm, which is called the Jewish ALPHABET, and may be look'd upon as an Abridgment of many of the other Pfalms: It begins as the Sermon on the Mount, with the Representation of the BLESSEDNESS of the RIGHTEOUS, and the HABITS and DISPOSITIONS of those that are really fo.

THE firft of which is defcribed by WALKING in the WAY of the Law of the LORD; which implies a Subjection, and refolved Obedience to the DIVINE PRECEPTS.

THE fecond Character of the RIGHTEOUS is, that they SEEK the DIVINE FAVOUR with their WHOLE HEART, and to the utmost of their Power endeavour to render an abfolute Obfervance of the WHOLE LAW.

THIS Phrafe of SEEKING, is by the Apostle to the Hebrews made the Character of the first Man that was TRANSLATED to Heaven, without paffing through the ftrait Gate and Grave of DEATH.

SEEKING implies an ABSENCE from the Thing defired; for no Man feeks for what he is poffeffed of. £ HERE

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