people are diftinguished from all others. God is good and kind to all. His tender mercies are over all his works. He is kind to the unthankful and the evil; but his own children are partakers of bleffings of a more exalted nature than those which are bestowed on men in general. He bleffeth them with all spiritual bleffings in heavenly things, in Chrift Jefus. The Lord maketh his fun to shine promifcuously on the just and the unjust; but on those who fear his name, he caufeth the Sun of righteousness to arife, with healing under his wings. To those who acknowledge him not, he gives rain from heaven, and fruitful feasons, filling their hearts with food and gladness; but his falvation is nigh them that fear him. Can you be satisfied with the former without the latter? Do you crave nothing more at his hands than health and wealth, earthly honours and outward comforts? Do you not know, that many have had a large fhare of these things, who have lived without God in the world, died in their fins, and gone down to the regions of darkness? Dives fared fumptuously every day; but what was his end? He died, he was buried, and in hell he lifted up his eyes. *

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*The fading nature of all those things on which worldly men place their affections, is fet forth to us

བཅད་ཅེཁོར་རས

It is recorded concerning Martin Luther, that he ufed to fay, I will not be put off with a worldly portion.' And is fuch a portion all that you desire? Sup

in the fcriptures, under the expreffive image of a dream. A dream is fleeting and tranfitory, a whole night paffeth away in it as one hour, or one moment, fince, during fleep, we have no idea of the fucceffion of time. "Knoweft thou not this of old," fays

Zophar, in the book of Job, "fince man was placed upon earth, that the triumphing of the wicked is fhort, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment? Though his excellency mount up to the heavens, and his head reach unto the clouds, yet he fhall perish for ever like his own dung; they who have seen him shall fay, Where is he? He fhall fly away as a dream, and fhall not be found; yea, he shall be chafed away as a vision of the night."

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"How are they brought into defolation," fays David, as in a moment; they are utterly confumed with terrors! As a dream when one awaketh, fo, O Lord, fhalt thou make their image to vanish." Such a state of delufion is the state of the world; so vain, fo incoherent, so tranfitory, are the fchemes and defigns of worldly men. And however important they may appear to the projectors of them, at the time, yet most certain it is, that what the scripture faith of Pharaoh, may be faid with equal truth of every man when he comes to die, whofe chief thought and care have been taken up about the things of this world, "He awoke, and, behold, it was a dream!"

Supposing your wifhes were gratified with riches in abundance, houses and lands, and all manner of earthly profperity; what would all these avail in that awful hour which is approaching, when your foul must be fummoned to appear before the judgment-feat of Chrift? Will the fuperior advantages you have enjoyed in this world procure you favour in that court? Will the Judge fupreme be a refpecter of perfons, regarding the rich more than the poor? No; all worldly diftin&tions will then be over. Little do thofe confider this, who are eagerly grasping after what the fcriptures call filthy lucre, and violating conscience to acquire it. But let them know, that " as the partridge fitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not, fo he that getteth riches, and not by right, fhall leave then in the midst of his days, and at his end fhall be a fool.".

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Let me entreat you, reader, to direct your aims. to fomething higher than such a portion as a man may poffefs in this world, and yet be miferable in the next. Look, with earnest folicitude, for that of which death cannot deprive you. Godliness is profitable to all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." In the favour of God is life everlasting. "This is life eternal, to know thee the only true God, and Jefus Chrift whom thou haft fent." His fa

No. XV. 2.

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your 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 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 fenfible 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 seen are but temporal, but those which are not seen are eternal. Elevate your thoughts, extend your defires, and ftretch the pinions of your fouls above the perishable enjoyments of this transitory world; feek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things fhall be added unto you, so far as to infinite wisdom seem beft for may

* 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 apoftles; the noble army of martyrs and confeffors; the great cloud of witnesses 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 blifsful prefence above. Be you a follower of

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who will not in good earnest purfue it. Though it is freely given, yet that we may not foolishly dream of enjoying it in the midft of a courfe 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 greatest intenseness and eagerness of mind, as the word properly fignifies, to enter in at the ftrait 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 most gracious promifes to the humble petitioner, he does it in such 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 shall 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?