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should we have it? "In him we live, and move, and have our being; and of him, and by him, and for him, are all things, and therefore to him must be the praise for ever;" Rom. xi. 36. Not therefore to ourselves, but unto him

must we give the glory; Psal. cxv. 1. Though nature cannot lead us to Christ, it may tell us that we are creatures, and have nothing but from the bountiful hand of our Creator. It is therefore against this nature and reason to glory in ourselves.

Use. See then that you abhor all self-advancing thoughts. And receive no doctrine that gives the glory of Christ unto yourselves. They are miserable that are made irreligious by their pride. But they are more miserable, because more incurable, that make themselves a religion by their pride; and frame to themselves both doctrines and devotions, whose tendency and use is to keep alive this devilish sin. You do not believe well, nor repent well, nor pray well, nor do any Christian duty well, if you be not more humble in and after it, than you were before. It is a sad case for a man to preach himself and pray himself into hell, and to strengthen the bonds of sin and satan by his devotions. And yet proud devotions are as ready a way to this as you can devise. If you read, or confer, or preach, or pray, with a mind that is lifted up, and glorieth in itself, you do but serve the devil, with the name of God and his holy ordinances. And therefore we have seen by sad experience, in a multitude of sects, and horrible delusions of late in this land, that none run to such dreadful outrages in sin, nor go so far against the Lord, as proud, self-conceited professors do. As you love your souls, take heed of being conceited of your own understanding or worth, and of being proud of your supposed holiness or abilities. What fearful ends have we seen of such! If indeed thou art a Christian, thou must become as a little child, and learn of Christ to be meek and lowly, and be a servant to all. And lay thyself still at the feet of Christ, as sensible that all the sin is thine, but the good is his, from whom thou didst receive it. Thou canst destroy thyself, but in him is thy help. Thou hast the skill and ability to set thy house on fire, but it is he that must quench it or repair it. Thou art wise to do evil, but thou hast no knowledge to do good, but what he giveth thee. Thou hast the art of stabbing thyself, but not of curing thyself. He must do that for thee, or else it must be undone.

You can snarl, and ravel the state of your own souls, but it is he that must untie the knots which thy folly and carelessness have tied. Thou canst with Jonas raise the storm and cast thyself overboard; but it is he that must provide the whale to receive thee, and bring thee to the land. Remember therefore that though thou be a vessel of mercy, it is the fountain that filleth thee, and not thyself. Thou canst scarce more dishonour thy qualifications, and actions, and consequently thyself, than to say they are thine own, and originally from thyself. For sure all that is thine, and from thee, will be like thee; and therefore must be weak and bad as thou art. Whenever therefore thou gloriest in thy graces, do it but as the beggar glorieth in his alms, that ascribes all to the giver; or as the patient glorieth in his cure, that ascribeth all to God and the physician; or as a condemned rebel doth glory in a pardon, which he ascribeth to the mercy of his prince. I durst not have told you as I did before, of the duty of glorying in your crucifixion to the world, without adding this caution, to tell you whither all must be referred, and how little you are beholden for it to yourselves. Meet every thought of self-exalting with abhorrence, and give it no other entertainment in your souls than you would give the devil himself, who is the father of it. For casting down Christ, will prove the casting down of yourselves, and he that exalteth himself shall be abased.

3. I come now to the third and last branch of the observation; viz. that To glory in any thing save the cross of Christ and our crucifixion thereby, is a thing that the soul of a Christian should abhor.

Here I shall shew you what it is that is not excluded from our glorying in these words. And then what it is that is excluded; and conclude with some application.

1. It is none of the apostle's meaning in these words, that we may not glory in God the Father. For his love to the world was the cause of their redemption. And his pleasure and glory is the end of redemption; and was intended by Christ, and must be intended by us. As Justin Martyr saith, he would not have believed in Christ himself, if he had led them to any but the true God, so I may say, Christ had not done the work of Christ, if he had intended any end but God, and had not brought up all to God.

2. When it is said that we must glory only in the cross of Christ, the meaning is not that we must not also glory in

his incarnation, and holy life, and resurrection, and intercession, and every part of his mediatorship; for the cross is not here put as contradistinct from these; but all these are implied in his cross, as having their share as well as it, in the work of our salvation.

3. Nor is it the meaning of the apostle, to forbid us to glory in the promise that Christ has made us, and in the glad tidings of the Gospel. For this brings the blessed news to our ears; this is the joyful sound; the voice of love; the charter of our inheritance; and therefore sweet to all the sons of life.

4. Nor is it any of the apostle's sense, that we may not glory in the Spirit of Christ, as magnifying him for the work of illumination and sanctification. As it was a high sin in Ananias and Sapphira, to lie to the Holy Ghost; and as it is the unpardonable sin to blaspheme the Holy Ghost; so it must needs be a great duty to honour and magnify the Holy Ghost. And therefore it should make us tremble to hear some profane men abuse the Holy Ghost in deriding his works, saying, These are the holy brethren; these are the saints; these have the Spirit.

5. Nor yet are we forbidden to glory in the effects of the cross of Christ upon us; for these you find are included in the text, even our crucifixion to the world thereby. And the other effects of it, even our justification, adoption, and the rest may be gloried in, as well as this that is here named, as the apostle doth Rom. viii. 30-33. to the end, yet still referring all to God in Christ.

6. Nor are we forbidden to glory in the helps of our salvation, the ordinances of God, and the means of grace, so we give no more to them than their due, and look at them but as the pointed means of God, that can do nothing but by him.

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7. No, nor is it unlawful so far to glory in our teachers, as God hath sent them and qualified them for our good, and as they are the messengers of God, and instruments of the Spirit. So did Cornelius glory in Peter; when the apostles brought the Gospel to

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Acts x. Samaria, there

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"was great joy in that city;" chap. viii. 8. tle commandeth the churches "to know them that are over them in the Lord, and submit themselves, and esteem them highly in love for their work's sake;" 1 Thess. v. 12.

8. Nay, we may glory even in honour, and riches, and other outward things, as they are the effects of the love of

God, and the blood of Christ; and as they reveal God to us, or furnish us for his service, and the relief of his people, and any way further the ends of our holy faith. In a word, we may glory in any thing that is good, as it stands in its due subordination to Christ, ascribing to it no more than belongs to it in the relation, and not separating it in our thoughts or affections from Christ, but carrying all the glory ultimately to God, and making the creature but the means thereto. And thus may we not only praise the physician, but the medicine, the apothecary, the handsome administration, the glass that it is brought in, the silver spoon in which we take it; and all this without any wrong to the physician, or danger of displeasing him, if we respect every thing but as it stands in its own place. So much to shew you what is not excluded.

II. But what is it then that we may not glory in? As I told you in the beginning, not in ourselves, or any creature, as opposite to Christ, or separate from him, or any way pretending to be what it is not, or do what it cannot. But let us enter into some particulars.

1. Have you dignities, and honours, and high places in the world? Do others bow to you, and have you power to crush them or exalt them at your pleasure? Glory not in it as any part of your felicity. A horse is stronger than a man. The great Mogul, and the Turkish emperor, and many another infidel prince, is a thousandfold beyond the greatest of you, in power and earthly dignity; and yet what are they but miserable wretches! Your power will not conquer death, nor keep off sickness, nor keep the stoutest of your carcases from corruption. When a man shall see you gasping for breath, and yielding yourselves prisoners to irresistible death, and closing those eyes that look so haughtily, then who can discern the glory of your greatness? Who then will fear you, or honour, or regard you, further than your deserts, or their interests lead them? Your flatterers will then forsake you, and seek them a new master. When they are winding your carcase, and laying it up for rottenness in the dust, what signs of your power will then appear? Will your corpse have any reverend aspect ? How many have been spurned when they were dead, that were bowed to while they were alive? There are many in hell, and there will be for ever, that were greater men than you on earth. The higher you climb, the lower you have to

fall. If the breath of a thousand applaud you now, perhaps a million may reproach you when you are dead. However, it is not the applause of men that will carry you to heaven, or abate the least of your pain in hell. Glory not then in worldly honours or greatness. But rather rejoice that you have enough without all this, in God. How well, thinks the Christian, can I spare all these tedious, troublesome employments, these compliments, these applauses, this sumptuous provision and retinue, and all this stir that they make in the world! How easily can I spare their titles and obeisances! When I look up at them as on the pinacle of a steeple, I bless myself that I am below them on safer ground. I have more leisure to converse with God in solitude, than they have in a crowd. Rejoice that you neither need nor desire such a state, but find Christ enough for you in a lower condition, and nothing without him enough in the highest. That you are above these empty childish honours, when those that possess them may be enslaved under them. That you have the dignity of a son of God, a member of Christ, and a heir of heaven, and have a heart that can contentedly let other men take the dignities of the earth. It is more to have the world, and the kingdoms and glory of it under your feet, by the spiritual advancement of your souls, than to be the monarch of the world.

2. Have you abundance of earthly riches, and provision for your flesh, so that you want nothing, but have the world at will? Glory not in it, as the least part of your felicity. This will not keep your souls in your bodies, nor take away their guilt, nor open to you the gates of heaven. You may want a drop of water in hell, for all your riches on earth. If you escape that danger, no thanks to your riches. If ever you get to heaven, you must be beholden to Christ to save you from your riches. And when all is done, you will have a harder journey, and a greater load to burden you than others, and will be saved with very much ado. Glory not then in these; but rather glory that you have a taste of higher and sweeter things, which take off your minds, and make you look on these as chips. To have a heart that cares not for wealth or honours, but can rejoice in poverty, and daily reproaches, is a thousand times greater mercy than to have all the wealth and honour of the world.

3. Have you convenient habitations for buildings, and rooms, and walks, and lands, and neighbourhood? Glory

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