have the forgiveness of thy sins; thy pardon shall not only be sealed in heaven, but thou shalt have it in thy heart: these are only the pangs of the new birth, the first strugglings of the soul immersing into the divine life; he shall yet be the health of thy countenance: these poor cheeks, though bedewed with tears, shall by and by have a fine blush, when a pardoning God comes with his love; it shall even make a change in thy countenance, for as a heavy heart makes a man's countenance sad, so a cheerful heart makes the countenance pleasant: thou shalt know him to be thy God, thou shalt say, my Lord, and my God: Lord Jesus grant this may be the happy moment. Was Jesus here, was the Redeemer now in this metropolis, I am sure he would go about the streets, he would be a field preacher, he would go out into the highways and hedges, he would invite, he would run after them; Lord Jesus, take the veil from our hearts, and let us see to-night thy loving heart as the Son of God! Trust in God, you will say, it is very easy for you to say so, but I cannot trust in God; can't you, who told you that? that is the work of God; you are not far from the kingdom of God. Who convinced thee of thy inability to believe, do you think the devil did? no, it was the Spirit of God procured by the blood of the Lamb, that was to come to convince the world of sin. If thou canst not trust as thou wouldst, say, Lord I believe, help my unbelief: stretch out thy poor hand. I am thinking of Sunday last, when I was giving the sacrament, I observed there was one blind communicant that could not see, but he thrust out his hand; I observed several lame persons, but there were enough to give it to them; I saw also a poor barrow-woman, and I took particular care to give

the cup to her; so I put it up to the mouth of the poor blind man: if that is the case, what love must there be in God to the poor soul!

But, methinks, I hear some poor soul say, that is not my case, I am not cast down for that, but I am cast down because after that I knew God to be my God, after I knew Jesus to be my King, and after I had mounted upon my high places, the devil and my unbelieving heart threw me down again: would you not have me cast down? would you not have me disquieted? a person of an Antinomian spirit would say, don't tell me of your frames, I have learned to live by faith, I don't care whether Christ manifests himself to me or no, I have got the word and the promise, I am content with a promise now; so these poor creatures go on without any frame, because they will not live in it from such Antinomianism, good God, deliver me. How! how! how! not cast down at an absent God, not disquieted when God withdraws? where are you gone? you are gone far from your father's house; if nothing else will do, may your father whip you home again. But tender hearts when they reflect how it was once, are cast down; David says, My tears have been my meat day and night, for I had gone with a multitude to the house of God. Here he looks back upon his former enjoyments, his spiritual prosperity, (as Job looks back upon his temporal) and says, Why art thou cast down, Omy soul: it is because 1 don't meet God in his ordinances as I used to do; poor deserted, panting soul! poor disquieted soul! he must be the help of thy countenance, he will yet be thy God. Who was it sought Jesus sorrowing? what would you have thought of the Virgin Mary if she had said, I don't care whether I see

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my son or not; she sought him, and found him in the temple: God grant every poor deserted soul may find him to-night; I mean in the temple of his heart. And in the case of Mary, she says, They have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him: If they had not taken away her Lord, Mary would have been rich: so you may say your corruptions, your backslidings and ingratitude, have taken away your Lord: Lord grant thou mayst find him to-night. He that said, Mary, can call thee to night, and can make thee say, My dear Lord, I come to-night; he can call thee by thy name.

But, say you, I am cast down because I am wearied with temptation; not only my God is departed from me, but an evil spirit is come upon me to torment me: I am haunted with this and that evil suggestion, that I am a terror to myself. Come, come, hear what David saith in the beginning of the Psalm, As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. What say you to that? if you have a mind to see the beauty of this verse, read Mr. Hervey's Theron and Aspasio, which will live when its despisers are dead; and those that have endeavoured to disparage him will be obliged to own, that he was one of the greatest luminaries we ever had, and one that has laid down the doctrines of the gospel, in a manner to charm and allure the great and noble. Well is it the case that unbelief dogs thee go where thou will? well, still trust in God, thou shalt yet praise him for the help of his countenance: he will command his loving-kindness in the day, and his song shall be with thee in the night. Though it be night, there is some moon, blessed be God, or some stars; and if there is a fog

that you cannot see, God can quiet his people in the dark, he will make the enemy flee; fear him not, God will comfort thee, if thou trust in him.

But, say you, I am cast down and disquieted within me; why? because I have one affliction after another, no sooner is one trial gone, but another succeeds; now I think I shall have a little rest, the tormentor will not come nigh me to-day, but no sooner has the christian so said, but another storm comes, and the clouds return after the rain; then we think we must be cast down, and that we ought to be disquieted; this was David's case; what does he say? All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. I believe he found after that, there were more waves to come than he had yet felt; why? says a poor distressed soul, because I have been so long in Christ, and have got these cursed corruptions yet within. I thought to have been rid of them all long ago I thought I had no corruptions left thirty-three years ago, and that the Canaanites were all rooted out of the land, that Pharaoh and his host were all drowned in the red-sea; but I find the old man is strong in me. I look upon myself to be less that the least of all saints, God knows; and you that walk near God, and have made greater advances in the divine life, if you are honest must say, O this body of sin and death, if I shut this old man out of the fore-door he comes in at the back door. Come, come, come soul, trust in God, he will give power to the saint, he will give strength,and in due time deliver thee: go to God, tell him of them; beg thy Redeemer to take his whip into his hand, either of small or large cords, and use it, rather than your corruptions should get head again.

Time would fail to mention all that are cast

down on these accounts, but I must mention one more perhaps, some of you may be cast down with the fear not of death only, but of judgment. I believe there are thousands of people die a thousand times, for fear of dying once. Dr. Mather and Mr. Pemberton, of New-England, were always afraid of dying, but when they came to die, one or both of them said to some that were intimate with them, Is this all, I can bear this very well and I have generally found that a poor soul, that cannot act that faith on God it once did, or in old age when the body grows infirm, as they used to do, yet they go off rejoicing in God, as a good soul, that was buried at the Chapel the other day, said, I am going over Jordan. Therefore, O poor soul, leave this to God, he will take care of thy dying hour. If any of you are poor here, and I was to promise to give you a coffin and a shroud you would be easy; now can you trust the word of a man, and not that of God? Well, the Lord help you to trust in him; having loved his own, he loves them to the end; he is a faithful, unchangeable friend, that sticketh closer than a brother.

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Who would not be a christian, who would but be a believer, my brethren; see the preciousness of a believer's faith; the quacks will say, here buy this packet, which is good for all diseases, and is really worth nothing but this will never fail the soul. Now I wish I could make all angry; I am a sad mischief-maker; but I will I don't want to make you angry with assure you, one another; some people that profess to have grace in their hearts, seem resolved to set all God's people at variance; they are like Sampson's foxes with firebrands in their tails, setting fire to