dials, we don't want marks, we know what it is o'clock without any. If the marks upon the soul of a believer are like the sun-dial, there are marks to prove that we are upon the right foundation : if the sun does not shine on the sun-dial, there is no knowing what o'clock it is: but let it shine, and instantaneously you know the time of the day; this is not known when it is cloudy; and who dare to say but that a child of God, for want of the sun of righteousness shining upon his heart, may write bitter things against himself. A good man may have the vapours, as one Mr. Brown had, that wrote a book of good hymns, who was so vapourish, that no body could make him believe he had a soul at all. Let the sun shine, the believer can see whether the sun is in the meridian at the sixth, ninth, or twelfth hour. O that there might be great searching of heart. I have been looking up to God for direction; I hope the preaching of this may be to awaken some, to call back some back-sliders, to awaken some sinners that don't care whether their souls prosI don't mean the Tabernacle comers, per or no. . or the Foundery comers, or the church, or dissenters, but 1 speak to all of you, of whatever denomination you are; God of his infinite mercy give you his Spirit. You that are believers, come, let us have that common name among us all; if we have got it, we go off well. If you want to know, whether prosper; let me ask you how it is between you and God, with respect to secret prayer? Good Mr. Bunyan says, if we are prayerless, we are Christless. None of God's people says he, come into the world still-born. Good Mr. Birket (whose commentary has gone thro' five or six and twenty editions; and yet I

your souls

think if he was now alive, and to preach once or twice a day, they would cry, Away with his commentary, and preaching and all) speaks to the same purpose. Come into the world still-born ! what language is that in a preacher's mouth? but it will do for those that like to use marks and signs. I will pour out a Spirit of grace and supplication, says the Lord; and I will venture to say, if the Spirit of supplication will not be wanting. Persons under their first love dare not go without God; they go to God, not as the formalist does, not for fear or going to hell, or being damned. It is a mercy any thing drives to prayer; and a person under the spirit of bondage, that has been just brought to the liberty of the sons of God, goes freely to his heavenly father, under the dis-coveries and constraints of divine love. Come I will appeal to yourselves; did not you, like a dear fond mother, if the child, the beloved child, made but the least noise in the world, O, says the mother, the dear child cries, I must go and hush it so time was, when many hearkened to the call of God, and could no more keep from the presence of God in secret, than a fond mother from the presence of God, and could no more keep from the presence of God in secret, than à fond mother from the presence of her dear child. Now if your souls do prosper, this connection between you and God will be kept up; I do not say that you will always have the same: fervour as when you first set out; I do not say you will always be carried up into the third heavens; the animal spirit's possibly will not admit of such solace; but you should enquire with yourselves, whether you would be easy to be out of God's company? Steal from behind your counter, and

go and converse with God, Sir Thomas Abney, who was observable for keeping up constant prayer in his family, being asked how he kept up prayer that night he was sworn in Lord-Mayor ? Very well, says he, he got the company into my room, and entertained them, and when the time came, I told them I must leave them a little, while I went and prayed with my family, and returned again. God grant we may have many such Lord-Mayors. If our souls prosper, the same principle will reign in us, and make us cons cienciously attend on the means of grace. It is a most dreadful mark of an enthusiastic turn of mind, when persons think they are so high in grace, that they, thank God they have no need of ordinances. Our being the children of God, is so far from being the cause of our wanting no ordinances, that, properly speaking, the ordinances are intented for the nourishing of the children of God; not only for the awaking the soul at first, but for the feeding of the soul afterwards. If the same nourishment the child receives before, feeds it after it is born; and as the manna never failed, but the children of Israel partook of it daily while in the wilderness, till they came to Canaan, so we shall want our daily bread, we shall want the God of grace and mercy to convey his divine life into our hearts, till we get into the heavenly Canaan. There faith will be turned into vision, and then we shall not want ordinances; and let people say what they will, if our souls pros per we shall be glad of ordinances, we shall love the place where God dwells; we shall not say, such a one preaches and I will not go, but if we are among them we shall be glad of a good plain country dish, as well as a fine garnished desert;

and if our souls prosper, we shall be fond of the messengers as well as the message: we shall admire as much to hear a good ram's-horn, such as blowed down the walls of Jericho, as a fine silver trumpet. So in all the ordinances of the Lord, that of the Lord's supper for example; if the soul does not attend thereon, it is an evidence that it does not prosper. It is a wonder if that soul has not done something to make it afraid to meet God at his table. Adam, where art thou? says the eternal Logos to his fallen creature, and every time we miss, whether we think of it or no, the Redeemer puts it down; but if our souls prosper, how shall we run to the table of the Lord, and be glad to come often to the commemoration of his death.

I will venture to affirm farther, that if your souls prosper, you will grow downwards. What is that? why you will grow in the knowledge of yourselves. I heard, when I was at Lisbon, that some people there began at the top of the house first. It is odd kind of preaching that will do for the Papists, resting merely in externals. The knowledge of ourselves is the first thing God implants Lord, let me know myself, was a prayer that one of the Fathers put up for sixteen years together; and if you have high thoughts of yourselves, you may know you are light-headed, you forget what poor silly creatures you are. As our souls prosper we shall be more and more sensible, not only of the outside, but of the inside; we first battle with the outward man, but as we advance in the divine life, we have nearer views of the chambers of imagery that are in our hearts; and one day after another we shall find more and more abomination there, and consequently we

shall see more of the glory of Jesus Christ, the wonders of that Immanuel, who daily delivers us from the body of sin and death; and I mention this, because there is nothing more common, especially with young Christians, I used formerly to have at least a hundred or two hundred in a day, who would come and say, O dear, I am so and so, I met with God; ah! that is quite well: a week after they would come and say, O, sir, it is all delusion, there was nothing in it; what is the matter? O never was such a wretch as I am, I never thought I had such a wicked heart. Oh! God cannot love; now, sir, all my fervour, and all that I felt is gone; and what then? does a tree never grow but when it grows upward ? some trees I fancy grow downward; and the deeper you grow in the knowledge of God and his grace, that discovers the corruptions of your hearts. Do not you find that aged men look upon some former states. I know some people can't look back to see how many sins they have been guilty of; but if grace helps us to a sight of our inherent corruptions, it will make us weary of it; and lead us to the blood of Christ to cleanse us from it; consequently, if your souls prosper the more you will fall in love with the glorious Redeemer, and with his righteousness. I never knew a person in my life that diligently used the word, and other means, but as they improved in grace, saw more and more of the necessity of depending upon a better right. ' eousness than their own. Generally when we first set out, we have got better hearts than heads; but if we grow in the divine life, our heads will grow as well as our hearts, and the Spirit of God leads out of abominable self, and causes us