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shame, losses, disappointments, all the sorrowful changes of life, or death' itself from the mere hand of God. This is to be done with a steadiness of spirit, with a firmness of soul, with Christian fortitude, with a sacred and serene calm upon all our powers and passions, without fretting or vexing, or inward disquietude. It is a sign of a weak mind to be overset with every blast of wind. If thou faintest in the day of adversity, thy strength is but small, Prov. xxiv. 10. We must not indeed despise the chas tening of the almighty, nor must we faint when we are rebuked of him. Heb. xii. 5.:

Let the men of this world that know not Christ, that are not acquainted with the gospel, and have not felt the powers of the world to come, let them fret and grow peevish at every disappointment that falls upon them in their earthly comforts, or when their flesh is visited with sore pains; but it does not become a Christian to be sour and fretful under the afflicting hand of God, for it is the hand of his heavenly Father. To be overwhelmed and almost distracted with the crosses we meet with in the world, is not becoming the character of a child of God, one that is high-born, that has his birth from heaven, and his family there; it is a shame for him to grow wild with impatience, or to run into desperate courses for relief. This is not courage, but mere cowardise of soul, to put an end to our own life in order to escape from our sorrows. The wisest among the heathens reproved it as a meanness of spirit; and surely it is much 'more unbecoming the religion of Christ, and that divine fortitude that every Christian should be endued with. We are not to be affrighted though the mountains should be turned upside down, and cast into the midst of the sea; the Lord of hosts is our shield and defence, he is a rock above all the waves, and if our feet are fixed upon this rock, what need have we for terror! The name of the God of

Jacob, in the xlvi. Psalm, is a match for all our foes, ' and a sovereign remedy for all our fears.

Christian courage appears also upon a bed of sickness, when at the call of God, we look death in the face with a cheerful soul. When all our friends stand around us, and every one, by the lamentable air that sits in their faces, gives us notice of our approaching dissolution, then to look upon death with a serene countenance, and not be affrighted, but venture boldly into the invisible world; this is a glorious fortitude derived from the grace of faith.

2. Another instance of passive valour is, when we bear persecutions of all sorts from the hand of men with a holy courage, for the sake of God. When we can be plundered of our possessions in this world, and stript of all our comforts, and yet be easy. Ye took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, says the apostle to the Hebrews, chap. x. ver. 32, 34. and ye endured a great fight of afflictions with cheerfulness, knowing that in heaven ye have a better and more enduring substance. In Heb. xi. ver. 36. when the apostle speaks of the antient Jewish saints, they had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonments, they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword, they wandered about in sheep skins and goat skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; but they were men above this world, of whom the world was not worthy; they had a spirit of divine courage that made them too great for this world, although they were almost banished out of it, and wandered among the beasts of the earth. Let not Christians then be guilty of base and mean compliances, to preserve their substance in the world, nor to cover their names from slanders and infamy, nor to secure their, liberties or their lives when Christ calls us to part with them. If there be any virtue, if there be any praise, think on these things. If there be any

call to the practice of such courage, for the sake of Christ, remember these exhortations and be not afraid.

Thus I have given you a variety of instances both of active and passive valour, as they are to be exercised in the Christian life; I fear they are too many for the best and boldest of us to practise, even under all our advantages. But in order to render them a little more easy to Christians, the following motives and directions may give some assistance under the influence of the blessed Spirit. And these shall be the subject of the next discourse.

RECOLLECTION.

And now, O my soul, it is time to turn thy thoughts inward, and inquire, How much of this discourse is suited to thy own case? Thou acknowledgest there is a God, but art thou not sometimes ashamed to call upon him in the morning for his presence all the day, lest thy companions should know thou hast been upon thy knees! Hast thou courage to ask a blessing on thy food in the place where others deride the practice?

Thou hast learnt and thou hast believed the religion of Christ, but hast thou ever yet had courage enough to make a solemn and public profession of it? Hast thou ever yet publicly given thy name up to Christ as one of his subjects, and joined thyself to his visible kingdom amongst men? Or art thou only a believer in secret, ashamed to make profession of thy faith, by joining thyself to some Christian assembly? If this be thy state, thou hast now a loud call to add fortitude to thy faith, and assume Christian courage to profess the sacred name in which thou hast believed.

Or art thou a professor of this holy religion? Thou hast listed thyself under the banner of Christ,

in these days of liberty and peace, and while thou dwellest among those who encourage thy faith and profession. But inquire into thyself, hast thou such a love to the gospel, as to glory in it even amongst infidels, who make it the object of their mockery and reproach? Has this divine religion so deep a root in thy heart, as to bear and resist the storms of the world, and to stand firm and flourish still? Hast thou courage to declare thyself a disciple of the cross, and a professor of a crucified Saviour, when thou shalt happen to be in the company of those who blaspheme him.

Hast thou obtained holy boldness enough to practise virtue when it is out of fashion, and canst thou refuse to comply with the warmest temptations to a fashionable sin? Hast thou got such a victory over thyself as to dare to be singular, if thy company. would lead thee into any modish vice? This is an hard lesson to young and tender minds, but it must be learnt, O my soul, if thou wilt be a Christian indeed.

Hast thou courage to vindicate the innocent, when he is assaulted with slanders, and to frown upon those who delight in scandal? Or art thou so meanly spirited, as to join in a common jest, that is thrown upon the absent, and to mix with the odious tribe of back-biters? Remember this is a shameful baseness of spirit; but a Christian must be a man of honour.

Canst thou see thy friends thy companions, indulge a sinful course, and hast thou not one kind admonition for them? Hast thou not virtue and courage enough to warn thy brother, and to turn his foot from the path of iniquity, that leads to ruin and death? But remember also, that gentleness and love must attend thy rebukes, if thou ever desirest they should attain success. A reprover should have a bold, but a tender spirit,

What zeal hast thou, O my soul, for reformation? Or canst thou bear with immoralities and corruptions of every kind? And rather than venture to displease man, wilt thou let thy neighbours go on for ever to displease God?

What wouldest thou do, if thou wert called to face the great, and to profess religion before the mighty men of the earth? Is thy faith grown Is thy faith grown bold enough to shew itself in a court, in a palace, and to venture all thy earthly interests for the defence of it?

Thus far concerning thy active fortitude. But how stands the case with regard to passive valour, and enduring of sufferings? Is thy heart firm under sharp trials of providence? Canst thou resign thy health and thy ease into the hand of God without fretting and repining? Or doth thy courage faint, and thy impatience shamefully discover itself under the common pains and diseases of nature? I grant, there is much of weakness derived even to a manly spirit, from the distempers of the flesh; when the nerves are unbraced, and the tabernacle of the body tottering, the soul partakes of the infirmities of this poor fleshly engine. O frail unhappy state of human nature, and souls that dwell in clay! But is it thy constant labour and prayer, that patience may have its perfect work, that thy spirit may be ever sedate under all the pains and disquietudes of this mortal flesh, and thy temper kept serene under all the frowns and clouds of heaven?

Art thou ready to face the king of terrors, and to descend into that dark valley? Thou must meet this adversary shortly, O my soul; labour therefore daily to get courage and victory over death by faith in a dying and a rising Saviour.

Happy is that faith that has no carnal fear attendit, but is got above the frowns and smiles of this world. My soul longs after it, and reaches at it, as something, with the power of her present attainment