and promifed us fuch Things, as never enter'd into the Heart of Man to wish; and given us fuch Affurance, that it is thy Intentions we should live with Jefus, and reign with him in his Eternal Kingdom? And yet thou expecteft no Requital for this great Bounty; but only that we would. believe thee, and love thee, and be made like thee, and place our Hope in thee; and rejoice evermore in the Holy Comfort of this Faith, and Love, and good Hope, which thou haft given us by Chrift Fefus. O God, what new Obligations are thefe, which thou layeft on us; that after thou haft done so much for us, thou askeft nothing of us, but that we would be contented; and art well pleafed, if we be but pleafed and fatisfied with thy Bounty and Liberality towards us? There is infinite Reafon, that we should be more than well pleafed and contented: We ought to rejoice, and be exceeding glad in thee, who haft appeared. to us in Chrift Jefus, the Brightness of thy Glory, and the exprefs Image of thy Perfon; by whom thou hast given us the Title of thy Children, and made us the Companious and the Care of thy Holy Angels and promoted us to be Heirs of thy Glory; and given us the Holy Spirit, for an Earneft of the Immortal Inheritance. O fill my Mind with the Knowledge of thy Will, in all Wifdom and Spiritual Understanding: Fill me with a Senfe of thy marvellous Love; and infpire my Will with the most ardent Love back again to thee. Fill me with all the Fruits of the Spirit, that they may be in me, and abound; fo that I may abound in Hope, and be filled with all Foy in believing. O

that

:

that my Heart may be fo poffefs'd with this Heavenly Wifdem, Love, Goodnefs, Hope and Foy in the Holy Ghoft; that difcontented and troubled Thoughts may never find any Place there; but I may rather in every thing give Thanks, and employ my Time in meditating on thy Mercies; and think I can never enough praife and acknowledge thy Grace towards me, (tho I should do nothing elfe,) in calling me to be so happy, and intending to make me everlastingly bleed. Difpel all the Clouds of Darkness, Melancholy and Sadness, that at any time overcaft my Mind, by the Brightnefs of this Celeftial Light fining perpetually there And preferve it in its full Strength and Power, that they may never return again; but ..I may rejoice in our Lord alway, and be fill praising thee, whofe Mercy endureth for ever. Tea, give me the Grace to rejoice in the Good of others, as if it were my own; especially in their Spiritual Welfare, and Growth in Godliness; and to make a good Ufe of all the Inftructions, Counfels and Exhortations of thy Minifiers; that they may be Helpers forward of my Foy, and we may all rejoice in the Day of Chrift, to find that our Labour is not in vain in the Lord. Now to him who is able to make all Grace abound towards us; that we always, having all Sufficiency in all Things, may abound in every good Work; be Glory, Honour, Thanksgiving and Praife, by Chrift Fefus, throughout all Generations. Amen.

SER

SERMON II.

I

HEB. XIII. 5.

Be content with fuch Things as ye

have:---

Thath ever been the Study of all Mankind, how to attain Satisfaction of Mind, and Contentment of Spirit, as the most defirable Good on which they could fet their Hearts. There is no other End of all Mens Thoughts and reftlefs Contrivances, of all their Labours and bufy Endeavours, but only this; That at laft they may be quiet, and come to rest. The Scepticks themselves, who were thought of all Men the most unreasonable, have left this Teftimony of their Philofophy, that it defigned nothing else but this: Which they imagined could not be compaffed, but by fufpending their Judgments about all Things whatsoever, and forming no Opinion of them; fo as not to account fome Things good and others evil, as we

do,

do, but to forbear to pronounce any Sentence at all concerning them. So Sextus tells us in thefe Words: The End of the Scepticks we afirm to be, * τω ἐν τοῖς κατὰ δόξαν αταραξίαν, an untroubled State of Mind, about all thofe things which fall under our Opinion; en Tois naτων ναγκασμένοις μετριοπάθειαν, and in thofe things we are neceffitated to fuffer a Moderation of our Paffions, and patient enduring of them. For though it be impoffible for any Man to be wholly free from Molestation, but Cold, Hunger, Thirst, and fuch like things, will pinch him; yet the Scepticks forbearing to make any Opinion of thofe Things, as the rest of the World do, fuffer them with a more equal Mind, than they who account them fuch great Evils. Thus he. Which I mention to fhow, that tho' Men differ never fo widely from the Senfe of the whole World in other Things; yet they agree in this, That they would not be troubled and disturbed; and study by the moft contrary Means to come to the fame End that their Neighbours feek, Repose and Tranquillity of Spirit.

Now Emptiness and Want of fomething that we defire, being the common Cause of our Difquiet; I have begun to fhow, that there is fuch a Fulnefs of Divine Bleffings, which our Saviour hath bestowed on us, as may very well be fufficient for our Satisfaction, and make us obey this Apoftolical Exhortation, to be content with fuch Things as we have, or with our present

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Condition; if we will not refuse to receive it, nor fhut it out of our Hearts.

For thus, you know, I defcribed the Nature, of Chriftian Contentment: That it is fuch a Fulness in our Souls, as makes us fo well pleased in the Condition wherein we are, that we do not fuffer the Defire of a Change to trouble our Spirit, or difcompofe our Duty. Every Word in this Description is worthy to be confidered; and therefore I refolved to take it in Pieces, and fet before you, by Parts, this Leffon, which the Apofle himself, he tells us elfewhere, had learned, and here endeavours to teach others.

I began with the firft Word, and declared, as far as I cou'd at once, wherein that Fulness confists, which will make us fay, as St. Philip did to our Saviour, apre, it fufficethe

4

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And I fhewed you, (1.) What a Fulnefs there is of Divine Wisdom and Heavenly Knowledge, wherewith our Lord has replenished us. And (2.) What a Fulnefs of Love, called by the Apoftle the Fulness of God, this is apt to infpire us withal. And (3.) How this makes us to abound in good Works, and to be filled with the Fruits of Righteoufnefs. (4.) What Fulnefs of Hope alfo, and (5.) Fulnefs of Joy, which. fprings from feveral Heads, the Grace of our Lord Jefus Chrift hath communicated to all those who understand, and believe, and obey his Holy Gospel.

6. There is a Sixth Thing remaining to compleat this Fulnefs, which we also find there mentioned, arifing from the Society and sweet

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