jealous, left he should have provoked God entirely to withdraw his Prefence and Spirit from him; Therefore he expoftulated with him for the Return of his Favour, and that he would reftore thofe divine Confolations, which he had before experienced, but had lately loft. Pfal. li. 11, 12. Though we may not have been provoking God to withhold from us his special Prefence by the Commiffion of fuch open and public Sins as David, yet have we been too closely attached to the World? Have we neglected fome of the great and important Duties of the Christian Life? Have we been too proud, too careless and fecure in our Frame, our Walk, and Behaviour? Have we been trifling with God? It certainly becomes us to humble ourselves before him, if we We fhould draw near to expect his Return unto us. him with Weeping and Lamentation; fhould be often endeavouring to imprefs our Hearts with a Sense of our Ingratitude; fhould be often mourning before the Lord; and fhould fet a Mark upon those Things that have been the Occafions of our Decline, that we may watch against them for the future. Be often reflecting upon the Lofs you have had. Confider the fickly Con dition your Souls have been in, whilft the Spirit was withdrawn from you. Confider how justly God might have left you, had he been strict to mark your Backflidings: And oh! admire his infinite Patience, and earneftly pray for his Spirit to return and breathe upon your dry Bones. Let it be your daily Concern to beg of God, that he would keep your Hearts, your Affections, quicken your Souls, and not leave you to Coldness and Formality. When Ifrael were exhorted to return unto the Lord, after they had finned, they are directed to return by Prayer, and inftructed how to pray, or what to say.

Hof.

Hof. xiv. 2, 3. Take with you Words, and turn to the Lord. Say unto him, Take away all Iniquity, and receive us graciously; fo will we render thee the Calves of our Lips, &c. Prayer fuits all Cafes, and is never to be neglected. Is any afflicted? let him pray, James v. 13.. So, has any fallen, grieved the Spirit, and loft in some Meafure that Livelinefs and Vigour of Soul he once. experienced? let him return to God by Prayer. Take with you Words, even those Words which God has furnished you with, and come to him; take a Promise in your Hand, and come and plead it with God for the Return of his Presence and Spirit.

III. Often make use of your Covenant Relation to God, in pleading with him, and with your own Souls. The Person, that fent in the Cafe under Confideration, does not appear to doubt of his being a Christian. The very Form, in which the Question ftands, fuppofes it; and, upon this Suppofition, I proceed to give you this neceffary Direction. Some indeed may fay, they cannot plead a Covenant Relation; for they are greatly in the dark about it, and are therefore afraid to do it. In Answer to this, in general, obferve So long as you find your viewing and your pleading your Covenant Relation quickens you, humbles you, fets you against all Sin, and tends to fill you with Love to Jefus and his Service, look upon this as an Evidence of your Intereft in the Covenant. Plead therefore, my Friends, this Covenant Relation to God, if you would have it better with your Souls, and would be in fuch a Frame as to maintain Communion with God.

1. Plead it with God. A Senfe of it tends greatly to give you Faith and Fervency in Prayer, and to fill you with Hopes of the Divine Prefence, and Favour. Here is a glorious Argument to make ufe of with God;

Rejoice

Rejoice in it, my dear Friend, and make frequent Use of it. Often throw yourself at the Footstool of God's Throne, and addrefs him in fuch Language as this viz." Lord, am I not thine? Didft thou not, O "Father, chufe me from Eternity, and determine to "bestow Salvation upon me? Didft thou not, O "mighty God, undertake for me, agree to put my "Name in the Book of Life, and, in Confequence of "this, come and fuffer and die in my ftead? And "haft thou not renewed me, O eternal Spirit, and fet "the broad Seal of Heaven upon my Soul? If I 66 am not thine, Lord, what mean fuch Inftances of "Communion with thee? What means this Love to "Jefus, these Defires after a Conformity to his Image? "Are not these as so many Evidences of thine everlast"ing Love? And, oh! wilt thou leave me to wither "and languifh, to grow cold and formal? Wilt thou "not come and kindle this facred Spark afresh, and "carry on thy Work with an almighty Efficacy? I ac"knowledge, Lord, I am unworthy of thy Favour: "I have finned, and deferve thy everlasting Difplea❝ fure. But did it not please thee, of thine infinite "Grace, to enroll my Name amongst thy chofen Ones " in the Volume of Eternity? And wilt thou leave me ? "Lord, it was thine own Act, thy free Act; and I "would humbly plead it. Therefore come and visit "my Soul, fhed abroad thy Love in my Heart, par"don my Backflidings, and may I be enabled to rejoice " in thy Covenant Love, and walk and act as one who "has a real Interest in it." Thus plead with God, and follow the Example of the Pfalmift, who in all Difficulties, temporal and fpiritual, addreffed God as his God. Oh! the Sweetness, the Happiness, that is couched in those two Words, My God!

2

2. Often

2. Often make use of the fame Argument, and plead this Covenant Relation with your Souls. When you find your Souls in Danger through Sin; when you have loft your Frame, and feel a Coldness and Formality, and the Hurries of the World tempting you to a Carelessnefs in and a Negligence of Duty; plead with your Souls in fome fuch Manner as this "O Soul! am I my "acting like an Heir of Glory, to be thus incumbered, "thus anxious, and thus careless? What, did the Fa❝ther love me from Eternity, and give me to his Son? "Did Jefus fuffer, and die for me? And has the Spi"rit actually renewed me? In Confequence of all this, "is Heaven my Portion? Am I born to Glory? Oh! " and what, fo cold, fo formal? I will not leave thee, "O my Soul, in this withering Condition. I will plead "with thee the Father's everlasting Kindness: I will "beseech thee by the tender Compaffions of the Son "of God, who gave himself for thee: I will prefs

upon thee the infinite Love of the Spirit, who faid " unto thee, Live. I will not leave thee, till I find "Things better with thee. May not the Father juftly "complain of thee? Hear, O my Soul, what he fays "What, did I look upon thee from everlasting "with infinite Kindness, and are these the Returns thou "art making? Is this like one of my chofen Veffels? "Did I pafs by thousands, and look upon thee? and "is this all the Sense thou haft of thy Obligations to "me? Hear Jefus gently chiding thee, O my "flothful Soul; faying, What, did I love thee fo as to die for thee? Was the Day of thy Redemption

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upon my Heart from everlasting? and shall my Cause, << my Glory, lie fo little upon thine? Behold my "wounded Soul, fee my bitter Agonies, and all to re"fcue thee from everlasting Death: And wilt thou not

“love

"love me more?-Hear the Spirit bringing in his "Charge against thee, and expoftulating with thee "Have I not, in Confequence of the Father's everlast❝ing Love, and the Mediator's Purchase, come and "brought thee out of Darkness into Light? What "Evidences have I given thee of Covenant Love? "How have I calmed thy troubled Confcience, fhed ❝ abroad a Saviour's Love in thy Heart, been a Spirit " of Grace and Supplication in thee, and a Spirit of "Adoption too? And what, art thou fo ungrateful, fo

cold, and fecure? Thus may God the Father, "Son, and Holy Ghost upbraid and chide thee, O my "Soul And shall not this move thee? Lord, my "Heart begins to melt; it foftens, it yields to so "much Love! Oh, come and do with me what thou "pleafeft! May I hate Sin; may I love thee with "greater Fervency, and view every earthly Enjoyment "with Indifference, and use all to thy Glory."-Thus plead your Covenant Relation to God, and all the Confequences of it, with your Souls. Do it frequently, and you will find it, through the Divine Bleffing, a happy Means of enabling you to live above this World, whilft you are in it; of humbling you for Sin; of quickening you under all Decays; and of bringing you into a fpiritual and heavenly Frame, fo as to maintain fome Communion with God, amidft the Hurries of Life.

IV. If you would keep up Communion with God, whilft you are engaged in the Affairs of the World, take Care and watch over your Frame, your Ends, and Views. You may lawfully follow the World with Diligence; but take Care that you purfue thofe Measures, that are neceffary to keep your Hearts at a proper Distance from the World, left they should be too much carried away with it, and entangled in it. Improve what Time you