things only as coming from Him. I know I not only may but must rejoice in the mercies and blessings that God confers upon me; but it is still my duty to rejoice more in what God is in Himself, than in what He is pleased to communicate to me: so that I am not only bound to rejoice in God, when I have nothing else, but when I have all things else to rejoice in. Let, therefore, my riches, honours, or my friends, fail me; let my pleasures, my health, and hope, and all, fail me, I am still resolved, by His grace, to rejoice in the Lord, and to joy in the God of my Salvation. On the other hand, let honour or riches be multiplied upon me; let joy and pleasure, and all that a carnal heart (like mine) can wish for or desire, be thrown upon me, yet am I still resolved, that as it is my business to serve God, so shall it be my delight and comfort to rejoice in Him.

And as God shall thus be my chiefest joy, so shall sin be my greatest grief; for I account no condition miserable, but that which results from, or leads me unto sin: so that when any thing befalls me which may bear the face of suffering, and fill my heart with sorrow, I shall still endeavour to keep off the smart, till I know from whence it comes. If sin has kindled the fire of God's wrath against me, and brought these judgments upon me, oh! what a heavy load shall I then feel upon my soul! And how shall I groan and complain under the burden of it! But if there be nothing of the poison of sin dropped into this cup of sorrows, though it may perhaps prove bitter to my senses, yet it will, in the end, prove healthful to my soul; as being not kindled at the furnace of God's wrath, but at the flames of His love and affection for me. So that I am so far from having cause to be sorry for the sufferings He brings upon me, that I have much greater cause to rejoice in them, as being an argument of the love and affection He bears to me; "For whom the Lord loveth He Heb. 12.6. chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth."

And having thus resolved to rejoice in nothing but God, and grieve for nothing but sin, I must not be cast down and dejected at every providence which the men here below count a loss or affliction; for certainly all the misery I find in any thing extrinsical is created by myself; nothing but what is in me being properly an affliction to me, so that it is

my fancy that is the ground of misery in all things without myself. If I did not fancy some evil or misery in the loss of such an enjoyment, it would be no misery at all to me; because I am still the same as I was, and have as much as I had before. For it is God that is the portion of my soul; and, therefore, should I lose every thing I have in the world besides, yet, having God, I cannot be said to lose any thing, because I have Him that hath, and is, all things in Himself. Whensoever, therefore, any thing befalls me that uses to be matter of sorrow and dejection to me, I must not presently be affected with, nor dejected at it, but still behave myself like an heir of Heaven, and, living above the smiles and frowns of this world, account nothing matter of joy, but so far as I enjoy of God's love, nor any thing matter of sorrow, but so much as see of His anger in it.

RESOLUTION IV.

I am resolved, by the grace of God, to desire spiritual mercies more than temporal, and temporal mercies only in reference to spiritual.

Having rectified the balance of my judgment according to Scripture, when I would begin to weigh temporal things with spiritual, I find there is no proportion, and so no comparison to be made betwixt them. And will any wise man, then, that pretends to reason, be at a stand which of these to choose, which to esteem the best, or desire most? Alas! what is there in the world that can fill the vast desires of my soul, but only He Who is infinitely above me and my desires too? Will riches do it? No; I may as soon undertake to fill my barns with grace, as my heart with gold, and as easily stuff my bags with virtue, as ever satisfy my desires with wealth. Do I hunt after pleasures? These may, indeed, charm and delight my brutish senses, but can never be agreeable or proportionate to my spiritual faculties. Do I grasp at honour and popularity? These, again, are as empty and unsatisfying as the former; they may make me look high and great in the eye of the world, turn my head giddy with applause, or puff up my heart with pride, but they can

never fill up the measure of its desires. And thus, if I should have the whole world at my command, and could, with Alexander, wield both sword and sceptre over all the nations and languages of it, would this content me? or rather, should I not sit down and weep with him, that I had not another world to conquer and possess? Whereas God, being an infinite good, it is impossible for me to desire any thing which I may not enjoy in Him and His mercies let me, or any other creature, extend our desires never so far, still the graces and blessings of this infinite God will be infinitely beyond them all: insomuch that though ten thousand worlds are not able to satisfy one soul, yet one God is able to satisfy ten thousand souls; yea, and ten millions more to them, as well as if there was only one soul in all the world to satisfy.

Come, therefore, my dear Lord and Saviour, whilst Thy servant is breathing after Thee, and possess my heart with the spiritual blessings of grace and faith, peace and charity; and let none of these empty and transient delights of this world stand in competition with them. Thou art the source and centre of all 66 wishes and desires; even my as the hart [Ps. 42. 1.] panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee, O God." Oh! when shall I appear in Thy presence? When, when shall that blessed time come, that I shall see Thy sacred Majesty face to face? This is a mercy, I confess, which I cannot expect whilst imprisoned in the body; but howsoever, though I must not yet appear before Thee, do Thou vouchsafe to appear in me, and give me such glimpses of Thy love and graces here, as may be an earnest of the bliss and glory I am to enjoy hereafter.

RESOLUTION V.

I am resolved, by the grace of God, to hope for nothing so much as the promises, and to fear nothing so much as the threatenings, of God.

My soul being inflamed with holy desires after God, my heart cannot but be big with the hopes and expectations of Him: and, truly, as there is nothing that I can absolutely

R

[Heb. 14.

6.]

desire, so neither is there any thing that I can assuredly hope for and depend upon, but God Himself, and the promises He has made to me in His Divine Word. For as all things derive their being and subsistence from Him, so they are all at His beck and command, and are acted and influenced as His wisdom and pleasure sees fit to order them. All the secondary causes are in His hand, and He turns them which way so ever He will; so that however improbable and disproportionate the means He uses may appear to be, He never fails to accomplish the end, or whatever He wills and decrees to be done. And therefore wherever I meet with any promises made over to the faithful in His sacred word, (since they are the promises of One Who is infinitely just and true, Who can neither dissemble nor deceive,) I cannot in the least doubt but they will be punctually fulfilled; and if I am of that happy number, (as I trust, through the merits of Christ, and my own sincere endeavours, I shall approve myself to be,) I have as much assurance of being partaker of them, as if I had them actually in possession, or as any of the faithful servants of God, who have already experienced the accomplishment of them.

But suppose God should not favour me with the bright part of His promises, but, instead of the blessings of health and prosperity, should visit me with crosses and afflictions: yet I have still the same grounds for my hope and confidence in Him, and may say with the Psalmist, "The Lord is my Helper; I will not fear what" the devil or " man shall do unto me." For though their spite and malice may sometimes cross, afflict, and persecute me, yet since I am assured they are only as instruments in the hand of God, that cannot go beyond their commission, nor make me suffer more than I am able to bear, I may comfort myself under all these afflictions by the same Divine promise that St. Paul had Rom. 8. 28. recourse to on the like occasion, to wit, "That all shall work together for good to them that love God, who are the called according to His purpose." The Devil could not touch the possessions of Job, till he had received a commission from God; nor could he come near his body till that commission was renewed; and so neither can he, or any creature whatsoever, throw any evil upon me, without the

Divine permission; and even that, though it seems to be evil, shall really, in the end, turn to my benefit and advantage. Oh! what a sovereign antidote is this against all despondency and despair, even under the deepest and severest trials! Permit me, O my God! to apply this sacred promise to myself, and say, I am assured of it by my own experience. For I can For I can hardly remember any one thing that ever happened to me, in the whole course of my life, even to the crossing of my most earnest desires and highest expectations, but what I must confess, to the praise of Thy grace and goodness, has really, in the end, turned to my advantage another way. Oh! make me truly sensible of all Thy promises to, and dealings with me, that whatever storms and surges may arise in the tempestuous ocean of this transient world, I may still fix the anchor of my hope and happiness in Thee, Who art the source and spring of all blessings, and without Whom no evil or calamity could ever befall me.

And as the promises of God, upon all these accounts, are to be the object of my hope; so are His threatenings to be of my fear and aversion: as the former are of excellent use to raise and revive the most drooping hearts, so the latter are of weight enough to sink and depress the stoutest and most undaunted spirits, and make them lick up the dust of horror and despair. Not to mention any thing of the exquisite and eternal miseries denounced against the wicked in the next world, with which the Scriptures every where abound, there is one punishment threatened to be inflicted here, which is, of itself, sufficient to do this; and that is in Mal. ii. 2: "If ye will not hear, and if ye will not lay it to heart, to give glory to My Name, saith the Lord of Hosts, I will even send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings." Most dreadful sentence, which none that consider aright can be able to read without trembling and astonishment. Alas! if God should curse me, where should I seek for blessing, since He is the only Fountain from which it flows, and by which it is conveyed and communicated to me? And if He should curse my very blessings, what could I hope for but misery and despair? My health, my wealth, my preferments, my relations, nay, my very life itself, would all be accursed to me: and what is yet worse, even my