his forfaking us, as the greatest evil that can befal us. Lift up your beads, Oye gates, and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors: and the king of glory fhall come in: awake, Omy foul, raise thy felf above this world and flefh, that thou mayeft be fit for the king of glory to dwell in thee: Who is the king of glory? the Lord ftrong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battel; that Holy Spirit that fubdues our enemies, that ftrengthens us with might, and fills us with courage and holy alacrity, Pfal. xxiv. 7, 8. Nor does the Pfalmift prepare his foul for God by meditation only, and fpiritual recollection and foliloquies; but by a careful and circumfpect regulation of all his actions, Pfal. ci. 2, 3. I will behave my felf wifely in a perfect way: O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my houfe with a perfect heart. I will fet no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn afide, it fhall not cleave to me. And how earnestly does he pray against God's forfaking him? Pfal. li. 11. Caft me not away from thy prefence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. The refult of all this, muft needs be ftedfaftness and growth in holiness and goodness. For, firft, This is the natural influence of fuch a dependance upon God; it places us always before him, and makes us walk humbly and circumfpectly, as becomes thofe that are awed by the presence of

holy a Majefty: I have fet the Lord always before me; because he is at my right-hand, I fhall not be moved, Pfal. xvi. 1. Secondly, We cannot doubt but that God will plentifully beftow his grace on those, who thus rely upon him For where can He bestow it with more advantage to his glory, or to the propagation of holiness both of which are fo dear to him? Who is a fubject more capable of it, or who can be better entitled to it, than he who thus depends upon God? As he begs it humbly, and receives it thankfully; fo he will husband it carefully, and employ it zealously.

;

6. 3. In prayer, meditation, and other inftrumental duties of religion, we are to aim at one or all of these three things.

1. The quickening and enlivening the Confcience. 2. The confirming and strengthening our refolutions of obedience. 3. The railing and keeping up holy and devout affections. Great is the benefit of each of these. Tenderness of confcience will keep us not only from evil, but every appearance of it; increase of spiritual strength will render us ftedfaft and unmoveable in all the works of God; and holy passion will make us abound in them. To fpiritual paffion we owe the zeal and pleasure; to fpiritual strength and liberty, the con

stancy

ftancy and uniformity of an holy life; and both ftrength and paffion are generally owing to a tender and enlightened confcience. For while the confcience preserves a quick and nice fenfe of good and evil, all the great truths of the gofpel will have their proper force and natural efficacy upon us. These then are the genuine fruits of meditation, the eucharift, pfalmody, and fuch like. If they do not add life and light to the confcience; if they do not augment our ftrength, nor exalt our paffions; if they do not increase our deteftation of fin, and our love to God and goodness; if they do not quicken and excite devout purposes; if they do not engage and refresh the foul by holy joy and heavenly pleasure; if, I fay, they do not in fome degree or other promote these things, we reap no benefit at all from them, or we can never be certain that we do. But tho' the ends I have mentioned, be of this great use to all, and confequently all are obliged to aim at them, yet may the different defects and imperfections of different Chriftians, render one of these ends more neceffary than another; and by confequence, it will be wisdom more immediately and directly to intend and purfue that For example; if a man's temper be fuch, that his paffions do foon kindle, and foon die again; that he is apt to

form

form wife and great projects, and as unapt to accomplish any thing; in this case, it will be his duty to aim efpecially at the increase of strength. But if on the other hand, a man's temper be cold and phlegmatick, flow and heavy; it is but fit that he fhould particularly apply himfelf to the awakening and exciting devout affections in his foul. For as excellent purpofes do often mifcarry for want of conItancy and firmnefs of mind; fo fteadiness and firmness of mind doth feldom effect any great matter, when it wants life and pallion to put it into motion. Again, if one's past life has been very finful, or the prefent be not very fruitful, it will behove fuch a one to increase the tenderness of confcience, to add more light and life to its convictions; that, by a daily repetition of contrition and compunction, he may wash off the ftain, or, by the fruitfulness of his following life, repair the barrenness of that paft. Having thus in few words, both made out the usefulness of those three ends I propofed to a Chriftian in the performance of inftrumental duties of religion, and fhewed in what cafes he may be obliged to aim more immediately at one than another; I will now enquire, and that as briefly as I can, how these three ends may be fecured and promoted.

ift, Of

ft, Of tenderness of confcience, or the full and lively convictions of it.

To promote this, the first thing neceffary is meditation. No man, who diligently fearches and ftudies the Book of God, can be a ftranger to himself, or to his duty. Not to his duty; for this book reveals the whole will of God in clear and full terms; it gives us fuch infallible characters of good and evil, right and wrong, as render our ignorance or error inexcufable: it points out the great ends of life fo plainly, and conducts to them by fuch general and unerring rules, that there is no variety of circumftances can fo perplex and ravel our duty, but that an honest man by the help of this may easily discover it. For this reafon 'tis, that the Word of God is called light, because it does diftinguish between good and evil, right and wrong; and like a lamp does manifeft the path which we are to chufe, and difperfes that mift and darkness, with which the luft of man, and the fubtilty of hell has covered it. And for this reafon 'tis, that the good have fuch a value, and the wicked fuch an averfion for the Book of God. For every one that doth evil, hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, left his deeds Should be reproved. But be that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifeft, that they are wrought in

God,