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of the divine nature; (as 2 Pet. i. 4. is commonly expounded, and it seems more agreeable to that which followeth, than to expound it of a relative participation of the Divine nature in Christ without us.) This is given to them that escape the corruption that is in the world through lust;" 2 Pet. i. 4. And will you overlook the Divine nature and refuse to honour it, and this on pretence that it is a wrong to Christ? Take heed lest by your doctrine you make Christ an enemy to God and holiness, who came into the world to do his Father's will, and to recover sinners by sanctification from the world to God.

6. It is the great sin of the devil and wicked men, to wrong and dishonour Christ in his saints; and when he himself is out of their reach, they persecute him in his members; and those that love not and relieve not these, shall be judged as not loving and relieving Christ. It is certainly our duty then to do contrary to them, and to love and admire God's graces in the saints, and to observe and honour Christ within them.

7. What comfortable use can we make of the promises, if we must not look at those evidences in ourselves that prove our interest in them? God hath promised, that "if we confess with the mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in the heart that God raised him from the dead, we shall be saved;" Rom. x. "And that he that believeth shall not perish, but have everlasting life;" John iii. 16. If you say with the Papists, that no man can tell whether he be a true believer or not, then you make the promise vain; for what good will it do any man to know that heaven is promised to believers, if it cannot be known whether we are believers or not? But if you confess that it may be known, why should we so despise the comfort of the promise, as not to search after and observe the qualification which must evidence that it is ours? Will you apply this promise to all, or to some, or to none? If to none, then it is made in vain: if to all, you will deceive the most. I mean if you absolutely promise them the benefit: for it is not all that are believers, nor all that shall have everlasting life. You dare not absolutely tell all men in the world, that they shall not perish. It must needs therefore be the proper benefit of some; and how will you know, but by the text, who those are? There is no way of applying it, that the text or common reason will allow of,

VOL. IX.

but by discerning that we are believers, to conclude thereupon that we shall not perish. If you say that all are bound to believe that they shall not perish, I answer, then most should be bound to believe a falsehood, which cannot be. They are only bound to believe the truth of the Gospel, and accept of Christ as offered therein, and then discerning this faith in themselves, to conclude that they shall be glorified.

8. Should we not observe the lower mercies that we possess, it were great unthankfulness; much more to overlook the special mercies that accompany salvation. We must bless God for the very health and strength of body that is within us; for our understandings and memories; how much more for the graces that are within us?

9. Our mortification is part of our salvation; and our holiness is a beginning of our happiness; and when we come to heaven we shall be perfected herein. If, therefore, we may not take comfort in this, we may not take comfort in heaven itself, which is the perfection of it.

10. Lastly, consider, that sanctification is that mercy that makes us capable of glorifying God for the rest of his mercies, and receiving the comfort of them. An unsanctified man cannot give any honour sincerely to Christ. And may we not observe and glory in that mercy that enableth us to give God the glory of all mercies? Can it be a wrong to Christ, to rejoice in that, without which we can do nothing to wrong him? And to take comfort in that, without which we are incapable of true comfort?

By this time I hope it is evident to you, that it is an injurious dealing against Christ and his saints, for any to reproach them for glorying in God's graces, even that they are crucified to the world, and the world to them.

Use 2. From hence also many disconsolate Christians may see their error, who cannot glory in a mortified state. They can see matter of comfort in a state of exaltation, when they perceive themselves prosper in all that they undertake, and find a present answer of their prayers, and enjoy the sense of the love of God; but to be crucified to the world, and the world to them, doth seem to them but an uncomfortable state, and they cannot see the greatness of the mercy. It is easy to perceive the excellency of those mercies that participate of the ultimate end, and are known by proper fruition, and have nothing in them but pure sweetness and delight; and therefore a state of joy declareth itself; but as for those

mercies that have the nature of a means, whose excellence is in order to their end, and those that have some wholesome bitterness mixed, because they are less grateful to sense, and valued only by faith, therefore we are too prone to overlook their worth, and to neglect the comforts which the consideration of them might afford us, and so to deny God the thanks that are his due. Every sensual man can rejoice in the having and enjoying of outward prosperity; and every Christian can rejoice in the fruition of God, whether in foretaste here, or in fulness hereafter; but to rejoice in the absence of worldly prosperity, in that we are dead to it, and have learned to set light by it; and to rejoice in the absence of God, in that we have hearts that are set upon him, and cannot be satisfied without him, and are desiring after him, and in progress towards him, and hope ere long that we shall be with him; this is the joy that must be expected by believers here on earth.

Though an enjoying foretaste may now and then afford them a feast, yet it is this believing, desiring, seeking joy that must be their ordinary sustentation; and if in this world they have no other, they have cause to be abundantly thankful for this.

To rejoice in the fruition of God, (especially when it is full) is the part of the glorified saints in heaven. To rejoice in the creature, as accommodating their flesh, is the joy of the carnal, unsanctified here on earth, (a remnant of which is in the imperfect saints). To rejoice in mere outward ordinances, and the false conceits of special grace, is the joy of hypocrites and common professors. To be without joy, is the part of some of the ungodly under the terrors of their consciences, and of true Christians that know not their own sincerity, or are under some great desertions of God. To be out of all hope and possibility of joy, is the part of the devil and damned men. But to rejoice in the true mortification of the flesh, and in the holy contempt of worldly things, and in the desires and hopes of the glory to come, this is the part of the saints on the earth, and the present joy that cometh by believing. And this kind of joy is most suitable to our present condition; as fruition is suitable to our heavenly end. The comforts of travellers are not of the same kind with those of a man that is at home. He that is at home would have his wealth about him; but you would not carry your houses with you in your journey, nor would you

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divide your cattle with you, or carry all your goods and riches with you. A traveller would have as fair a way as he can get, and as good a guide, and necessaries for his journey, and no more, but all the rest he would have at home, that he may find it when he comes thither. It is his benefit in the way to want no more, and to have no more; for the more he needeth, and hath, the more he must be burdened and troubled. Mark the descriptions of our present blessedness that you find in the Scriptures, and you may see that they consist in our present mortification to things below, and desires and hopes of things to come, rather than in a state of enjoyment here, whether it be of the world or of God. Though still the reason of our blessedness in a mortified estate, is the tendency that it hath to a glorified estate; because it is the way to that; "Blessed are the poor in spirit;" Matt. v. 3. It is not, Blessed are the worldly rich;' nor, 'Blessed are the glorified only.' But the reason is, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven;" that is, in title, but not in possession, ver. 2. "Blessed are they that mourn:" and why are mourners blessed? "For they shall be comforted." "Woe unto you that are rich, for ye have received your consolation. Woe unto you that are full, for you shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. Woe unto you when all men speak well of you," &c. that is, woe to you that place your comfort and felicity in riches, and fulness, and mirth, and the applause of men : yea, though you possess the things you desire, yet woe to you, because you shall miss of the true and durable felicity. Thus also run all the rest of the blessings in Matt. v. "Blessed are the meek. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness. Blessed are the merciful. Blessed are the pure in heart. Blessed are the peacemakers. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness sake. Blessed are ye when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake:" that is, when you are so firm in the faith, and so far in love with me, and the heavenly reward, that you can bear all these revilings, and slanders, and persecutions, you are blessed, even when the troubles are upon you. So that you see here, that our present blessedness consisteth in mortifi.. cation to present things, and hope of future: and from the future the reason of our present blessedness is fetched. "They that hunger and thirst after righteousness shall be

filled: The merciful shall obtain mercy: The pure in heart shall see God: The peacemakers shall be called the children of God: The persecuted shall have the kingdom of heaven." Indeed to the meek it is promised in present, that "they shall inherit the earth;" as Psal. xxxvii. 11. had before said; that is, it shall afford them accommodations for a traveller, which is all that is desirable in it, or can be expected from it; for "godliness hath the promise of this life, and of that to come;" 1 Tim. iv. 8. Yea, moreover there is a special promise to the meek, above those godly persons that are most wanting herein: for their passage through this world to heaven shall ordinarily be more peaceable and quiet to them than other mens: they do not so molest their own minds, and vex themselves; nor make themselves troubles, nor provoke others against them as the passionate do; and commonly they are either loved, or pitied, or more easily dealt with by all.

So that you may see throughout the Gospel, that our present blessedness is in mortification and hope, as the way to our future blessedness, which consisteth in fruition. And therefore it is a very great error in believers, when they overlook the blessedness of a mortified state, and can see little in any thing but sensible fruition and rejoicings. When you are low in afflictions and grieved for your corruptions, and fill the ears of God and men with your complaints, though you have not then the joyful sense of God, yet methinks you might easily perceive your mortification. And will that afford you no refreshment? Do you not feel that you are crucified to the world, and your desires after it are languid and lifeless? Can you not truly say that the world is crucified to you, and that you look on it but as a carcase ; as an empty, lifeless, and unsatisfactory thing? Would you not gladly part with it for more of Christ? Could you not let go credit, and wealth, and friends, so that the kingdom of God might be more advanced within you, and you might live more in the Spirit by a life of faith? Could you not be content to be poor in the world, so that you might but be rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which God hath promised to them that love him? Why do you not then consider what a blessed condition you are in, and that your mortification is a blessed mercy that leadeth to salvation, and as sure a token of the love of God as your most sensible joys? Did you ever mark and conscionably prac