tation to Flesh and Blood! And yet it is beyond all Queftion, that a Chriftian is bound to fuffer this, or any other unjuft Reproach, rather than offend Almighty God: For our Saviour has exprefly forewarned us, that whoever shall be ashamed of him and his Words, of him shall the Son of Man be ashamed, when he shall come in his Glory; that is, whoever fhall, through Shame or Fear of Men's Hatred or Contempt, conform himself to the finful Ways of the World, fhall at the Laft Day be difown'd by Christ.

However, the Trial is yet harder, when the World threatens a Chriftian not only with Derifion and Scorn, but also with Lofs of Liberty and Forfeiture of Goods, in cafe he refuses to comply with certain Propofals, as the efpoufing an unjust Cause, taking unlawful Oaths, and the like; which he cannot yield to, without wounding his Confcience mortally: For here a frightful Scene of Mifery and Want, the Ruin of Children and Family, the numberless Temptations of Neceffity, and a long Train of Sufferings, will prefent themfelves before his Eyes, and prefs hard upon him for a Compliance, as the only Means to prevent thefe Evils: And what then muft a Chriftian do in this hard Cafe? Our Saviour has fully anfwered the Que

stion in these few Words: If a Man cometh to me, and bateth not bis Father and Mother, yea, and his own Life alfo, be cannot be my Difciple. It is plain then what Part a Chriftian has to act; for he is certainly bound to give a deaf Ear to all the Solici tations of Intereft and Eafe alluring him on the one Hand, and the Terrors of Contempt and Poverty threatening him on the other: He muft imitate the heroick Virtue of Sufanna, who, being tempted to Adultery, chofe Death itself, rather than ftain her Soul with that Sin: It is better (faid fhe) to fall into the Hands of Men, than fin in the Prefence of Almighty God.

And tho' this feems a hard Leffon to Nature, 'tis no more than what Men practife daily upon Motives even merely human, or even finful: For how many expose themfelves every where in the Service either of their own or some foreign Prince, to all the Hardships and Hazards of a bloody War, in which Imprisonment, the Lofs of a Limb, or Death itself, may be their Lot? And can it then be hard for a Chriftian to fuffer as much for God's Sake, and with the Certainty of an eternal Reward, as Men undergo upon very trivial Encouragements for one another? Again, how many facrifice their Honour and Eftates, destroy their Health, shorten their Lives, and ruin

both

both themselves and their Families, merely to gratify an extravagant. Humour, or fome criminal Paffion? And ought not then a Chriftian to be at least as bold and venturefome to please God, as Sinners are: to please themselves? Ought he not to give as fignal Teftimonies of his Zeal in.. a good Cause, as Sinners do of theirs in a Wicked one? The Cafe admits of no Difpute, and it is a clear Proof of what I have faid, viz. that a Chriftian's Life is a Life of Combat and Trial; and that every one, who makes the Gospel his Rule, will have Sufferings enough to entitle him to the Honour of being a Martyr of it, tho. he neither sheds his Blood, nor dies under the Hand of the Executioner: His Martyrdom is a Death indeed; but a Death, which only destroys the Body of Sin: It is a Martyrdom, which (as St. Paul describes it) crucifies the World to us, and us to the World: Finally, 'tis a Martyrdom, whereof we ourselves are the chief Inftruments and Executioners, and which must last as long as we live.

I fhall conclude my Difcourfe with a ne ceffary Reflection in Reference to the Parallel I have made; viz. that whereas a corporal Death is incapable of Degrees, because one dead Body cannot be faid to be more dead than another; a fpiritual Tom. III. Death,

D

Death, on the contrary, admits of many Degrees, because it is perfected in us by the fame Degrees that the Life of Charity is improved in our Souls: It being certain, that the more we love God, the more we die to ourselves. We must therefore make a large Difference between what is of indifpenfable Obligation, and what only regards Perfection: As to what falls under indifpenfable Obligation, every Chriftian is bound to be fo far dead to himself and the World, as to be heartily difpofed to facrifice all rather than offend God mortally; for whoever has not this Difpofition in his Heart, (and God fees whether he has it or no) has not yet attained to that Degree of Charity, which confifts in an effectual Preference of God before all Things, and without which no Man can be faved.

But as to what regards the utmost Perfection of this fpiritual Death, we are not bound to attain effectually to it; for then there would be no Diverfity of Manfions in Heaven: We ought however to defire and endeavour it according to the Measure of our Strength, and to be ftill making fome nearer Approaches towards it; for if we be but still moving forwards, we cannot fail of attaining at length to the Happiness Almighty God has prepared for thofe that love him fincerely, and ferve him to the utmost of their Power.

The

The XLVIth ENTERTAINMENT.

Of Tempting GOD.

It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Matt. iv. 7.

TH

HIS was our Saviour's Answer to the second Temptation of the Devil, who being baffled in his firft Attempt upon Chrift, was permitted to take him up to the Battlements of the Temple, and there fuggefted to him to throw himself headJong down; pretending, that by fo doing he would fhew his Confidence in God, who had promised that his Angels would take care of him, and bear him up in their Hands, left at any time he should dah bis Foot against a Stone: But our Saviour foon filenced the Tempter with the abovefaid Answer, It is written, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God; inftructing us thereby, that tho' God has also charged his Angels to take care of us, this gives us no Privilege to neglect the ordinary Means of Safety; and that to do fo, is Tempting Ged.

Now this contains a Leffon both of great Importance and Extent; fince not only every Christian in the World is concerned