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vour indeed will fweeten and feafon all outward enjoyments. To the wicked God fays, "I will even curfe your bleffings, yea, I have curfed them already." But to his own children, every creature of God is good, being fanctified with the word of God, and prayer. What a happiness is it, when a man, by temporal enjoyments, as by the cords of love, is drawn nearer to the Giver of all good.

Learn to form a proper estimate of the outward bleffings of providence, and not to over-rate them. Surely you must be sensible that the enjoyment of God, the love of Chrift, and the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit, together with the bleffings of pardon of fin, peace of confcience, and an eternal weight of glory, are infinitely preferable to any thing of a worldly nature. There is no room for comparison here. The things which are feen are but temporal, but those which are not seen are eternal. Elevate your thoughts, extend your de fires, and fretch the pinions of your fouls above the perishable enjoyments of this tranfitory world; feek firft the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you, so far as to infinite wisdom may seem beft for you. *

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* A crown of everlasting glory is not surely fuch a trifle as to be thrown away on a carelefs creature,

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To excite you to what we are now recommending, the examples of the best and wifeft men that ever lived upon earth are fet before you. Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Ifaac and Jacob; Mofes, Joshua, Samuel and David; all the holy prophets, patriarchs and apostles; the noble army of martyrs and confeffors; the great cloud of witneffes with which we are compaffed about, renounced this world, and looked for their felicity in God's favour. Nor were they disappointed; they are now triumphing in his blissful prefence above. Be you a follower of

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who will not in good earneft purfue it. Though it is freely given, yet that we may not foolishly dream of enjoying it in the midst of a course of indolence and floth, we are exprefsly told in the word of God, that "the kingdom of heaven fuffers violence, and the violent take it by force." And we are therefore exhorted to strive, with the greateft intenfeness and eagerness of mind, as the word properly fignifies, to enter in at the strait gate, for this great and important reason, because many fhall, another day, feek to enter in, and fhall not be able. Nay, when our Lord makes the moft gracious promises to the humble petitioner, he does it in fuch a manner, as to exclude the hopes of those who are careless and indifferent. "Afk, and it fhall be given you; seek, and ye fhall find; knock, and it fhall be opened unto you." If therefore you do not ask, seek and knock, how can you expect the door of mercy to be opened unto you?

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of them who through faith and patience do now inherit the promises. Were the glorified faints in heaven to addrefs you, would they not, with one voice, invite you to follow them? Would they not say, "Seek the Lord and his ftrength; seek his face evermore?" They never repented of the happy choice they were enabled to make, when on earth they preferred the light of God's countenance to the increase of corn, of wine, and of oil; when they esteemed all the most flattering prospects the world can afford but drofs and dung, in comparison with the excellency of the knowledge of Chrift Jefus the Lord.

The Bereans are stiled noble, for their ready reception of that gospel which fhews how finners are reconciled to God, through the death of his Son. Men of a noble spirit afpire after great things; and what honour can be compared with that of friendfhip with the King of kings? The minifters of the gofpel, with one voice, pray you, in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God. Your godly neighbours and pious relations with this for you above every thing else. The conftant study and endeavour of thofe who hold forth unto you the word of life, is to bring you to God. This is the end of their prayers and their preaching. They travail in birth. with you, till Chrift be formed in you. They

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would think their toils fufficiently rewarded, if finners were brought to repentance, and engaged in feeking the divine favour, with their whole hearts. They are willing to spend and be spent ; if they may but, in fo doing, win fouls to God. As friends of the Bridegroom, they would rejoice greatly in the betrothing of finners to him.

To the examples of the best of men, to the earneft folicitude of relations, to the prayers, the tears, the entreaties and perfuafions of minifters, we may add the voice of the dying. Reader, could you be prefent with all thofe who lie on beds of languishing, and hear the cautions and counfels of enlightened fouls, who are juft going to launch forth into the eternal world, while capable of expreffing their fentiments, to what would they call your immediate and earnest attention? What would they recommend to you, as most worthy of your purfuit? Would they not all, as with one voice, cry, 'Make it your care to mind the one thing needful, to know Jefus Chrift, and him crucified. Make

your care to feek firft the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; to fly for refuge to the hope fet、 before you; to give diligence to make your calling and election fure; to renounce the world, with all its deluding vanities and vexatious cares; to look after the everlafting welfare of your foul, with ear

neft and unwearied folicitude, that you may know your interest in the divine favour, and be made meet to be a partaker of the inheritance of the faints in light?'*

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What if to the teftimony of the dying, we could add that of the dead? What if God were to turn aside the veil which feparates between us and the invisible world, and to permit the most carelefs finner among us to converfe for a few moments with the inhabitants of it? If you were to apply yourself to a happy spirit, that trode the most thorny road to paradife, or paffed through the most fiery trial, and to ask him," Was it worth your while to labour so much, and to endure fo much for what you now pos fefs ?" Surely, if the blessed in heaven were capable of indignation, it would move them to hear that it fhould be made a question.

'And, on the other hand, if you could inquire of one tormented in that flame below, though he might once be clothed in purple and fine linen, and fare fumptuously every day, if you could afk him, "Whether his former enjoyments were any equivalent for his prefent fufferings and defpair ?" What anfwer do you fuppofe he would return? Perhaps an anfwer of fo much horror and rage, as you would not be able fo much as to endure. Or if the malignity of his nature should prevent him from returning any answer at all, furely there would be a language even in that filence, a language in the darkness, and flames, and groans of that infernal prifon, which would speak

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