and estate, christian, in heaven, that shall never be taken away, that you shall never be robbed of.

I will conclude thus, is it not matter of praise and thanksgiving, that by this mud you shall be more cleansed. Beloved, this is Christ's way: he suffers men to be tempted, that they may be freed from more temptations, and he suffers this dirt to be cast upon them, that they may be the more cleansed. "Simon, Simon, (says our Saviour,) Satan hath desired to winnow thee as wheat." How so? Satan "goes up and down like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." True, that is his intent in his temptations; Satan's intent in the temptation, is not to winnow, that is Christ's intent. Satan's intent in the temptation is to devour, but Jesus Christ's intent in all those temptations is to winnow. And who more knowing, who more gracious, who more humble, who more thankful than those that have been most assaulted with a temptation? Pray observe what is said in 2 Cor. xii. 7. Says Paul," Lest I should be exalted above measure, through the abundance of revelations, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger Satan, (so it may be read, without of, the messenger Satan,) to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure," again. See how that goes before and follows: it begins the verse and ends the verse: "Lest I should be exalted above measure," at the beginning of the verse; "Lest I should be exalted above measure," at the latter end of the verse. As if now, that these temptations were special preservations against spiritual pride; it is set down twice, “Lest I should be exalted above measure;" again and again. Spiritual pride indeed is very dangerous. It was Mr. Fox's speech, As I get good by my sins, so I get hurt by my graces : in regard of that spiritual pride he was guilty of upon the receipt of them. By temptation God uses to keep men humble. The Hebrew word for lees, the lees of wine, comes from the root that signifies, to keep, because the wines are kept by the lees. And so God is pleased to keep men humble by these temptations; in these lees, and in these dregs, God keeps men's graces. Temptations do you no hurt, until ye yield to them. The greater the temptation, and the more your flesh does tremble at it, the greater the affliction, but the lesser the sin. Temptation is the soul's rape; it may

deflower your soul, offer violence to your soul: it cannot take away your innocency. Now, is it not a great mercy to be kept innocent and chaste unto Jesus Christ? Austin hath a notable speech: If ye praise God under good things, ye are paid your debt; if ye praise God under evil, ye have made God your debtor. The truth is, we can never pay our debt to God, neither are we able to make God our debtor; but God is pleased to call himself so: when men praise him under temptations, and under persecutions, and under desertions, God is pleased to call himself our debtor. Surely therefore, it is good for a christian to bless God, and to praise God in every thing; in all things to be thankful; in affliction, in persecution, in desertion, under temptation. This is the will of God our Father, that we should be thankful to him in every thing, in every condition.

And if so, then what great cause have we to be very thankful to God in these times. Had the Lord let in the enemy upon you, ye should have been thankful: had ye been plundered of all your estates, ye must have been thankful: had ye lien at the mercy of the merciless enemy crying for quarter; yet you must have been thankful: how much more now? Had ye been emptied of all ye must have been thankful. Oh, shall we not be thankful then unto God now, that hath given us such deliverance, and such victories as these?

You will say unto me; what special thing is there that we should be thankful unto God for in these times ?

Hath the Lord done such great things for England, and art thou only a stranger in Israel? Did ever England hear of such a year as this last year hath been? Can any records tell us of such a year? May I not say, stand out, O all ye ancient records from your dust, and tell us from the first day of England's birth, did ever England see such a year as this hath been, wherein the power and mercy, and free grace of God hath rode in triumph throughout the kingdom?

Yet that I may not be wanting to you, to your question: look I pray into Psalm cvii. 1, 2., ye shall find it written: "O give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures for ever: let the redeemed of the Lord say so; whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." See who are to say so: "let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy." Be

loved ye know that not long since we were in captivity: I mean a spiritual captivity: we sat down by the waters' side, and said, How shall we do to sing a christian song? The Lord hath redeemed us, he hath redeemed us out of the hand of our enemies. And if the Lord hath not redeemed you out of the hand of your enemy: do not say so: but if he have, let the redeemed of the Lord say so.

Besides, Is it not worth our thankfulness, that we have had so many days of thanksgiving together? A day of fasting and prayer, is a sweet day; a thanksgiving day sweeter, if I may make compare: for in a day of fasting and prayer, we deal with the anger and wrath and displeasure of God: in a day of thanksgiving with the love of God, and the mercy of God. In a day of fasting and prayer, we exercise grief: but in a day of thanksgiving, we exercise joy and love; in a day of fasting and prayer, your eye is upon your sins; in a day of thanksgiving, upon your graces, to be thankful for them. As the fish swims upon the top of the water when the sun shines, which in a storm lay at the bottom: and wood, and sticks tumbled up and down, and those were seen. So in a day of thanksgiving, there ye see and take notice of your own graces, to be thankful for them. In a day of fasting and prayer, sometimes, ye are so humbled for sin committed, as the sense of your justification is quite shattered: but in the day of thanksgiving, your assurance for heaven is sealed: they are sweet days. And, beloved, you have had many of them of late; and surely this is worth our praise.

But give me leave a little to enumerate: for enumeration is one kind of argument: hath not the Lord from heaven owned his own cause in the hands of his servants, our brethren in the field? Hath not the Lord heard your prayers? Hath not the Lord opened many mines of precious truths that ye never knew before ? Hath not the Lord delivered you from the hand of a savage enemy ? Those that lay among the pots, brought forth with doves' wings: victory after victory; one treading upon the heel of another, overtaking one another? Does he not daily load you with his benefits? I cannot say as David in Psalm ix. 1., " I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will shew forth all thy marvellous works." The former part, " I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart," you will say, but the latter

part, "I will shew forth all thy marvellous works ;" who can say? they are beyond us.

And now, beloved, if it be our duty to praise God, to be thankful to him in every condition, when we are low: shall we not be thankful to him now, that the Lord hath raised us, and filled us thus ?

You will say, there is one thing that hinders us in the work of praise and thanksgiving in these times: a reformation is now begun, and things do not succeed according to our desires in the matter of reformation: should we, can we be thankful now?

Yes; if the Lord give me a child, should not I be thankful for it, because it is not born a man ? When the Jews built the temple, did not they shout, and praise God that the foundation was laid? When the Israelites had overcome their enemies, in Samuel's time; though the enemies were round about them, they set up a stone, and called it Ebenezer, "Hitherto the Lord hath helped us," 1 Sam. vii. 12. Beloved, in our thanksgiving we are to be like unto Jesus Christ: he did not only praise God when he had the mercy, but before he had it, in the entrance upon it. When he raises up Lazarus from the dead: "Father (says he) I thank thee that thou hearest me always :" John xi. 41, 42. and then he commands Lazarus to come out. But first he gives thanks to God. In the Scripture, the Holy Ghost hath commanded us, " to honour the Lord with our substance; and with the first fruits of all our increase." Prov. iii. 9. Either ye have the first-fruits of reformation or not. If not, what mean all those precious ears and fruits which ye have been gathering in these latter times? And if ye have the first fruits, though ye have not reaped the harvest yet: then “honour the Lord with your substance, and with your first fruits; so shall your barns be filled with plenty, and your presses with the new wine of the gospel." God does give one mercy as a seal unto another; a first as a seal to the second: the second as a seal to the third: the lesser as a pledge of the greater. God does give a lesser mercy to try us whether we will be thankful, that he may give a greater. Beloved, these are trying times, God tries us whether we will be thankful for what we have. A reformation is now on foot: what though things do not suc

ceed according to your desire, shall we not be thankful for what we have, because we want something of what we would have? when then shall we thankful?

Aye, but it is not only want of reformation, but many errors that are risen up among us in these times and should we be thankful now in this condition?

Yes, shall I not be thankful for some grace, because it is mingled with much corruption; shall I not be thankful for my field of corn, because divers weeds are mingled therewith; shall I cast away the kernel, because it is compassed about with a shell? Luther, in the beginning of the reformation, met with many errors, and he comforted himself with this; When the corn is grown, the weeds will die alone. Meaning this; when reformation is come to greater strength, errors would die alone. It is said of our Lord and Saviour Christ, "He was numbered among transgressors:" Isa. liii. 12. Should not I love Christ, or own Christ, or be thankful for Christ; because he was numbered among transgressors? The errors of the time, you say, are the transgressors of the time. Shall I not love the truth, and own the truth, and be thankful for the truth because it is numbered among the transgressors, the transgressors of the time? Blessed is the man that can see a beauty in truth when it hath a scratched face. And indeed every truth hath a beauty; and the Lord hath given you out many truths in these times that ye were ignorant of before. Beloved, I do not say that ye should be thankful for any error, we ought to be grieved for any error. But shall we be so mindful against error, crying out against error, error; as not to be thankful for any truth we have? If the whole world were spread with error; that one truth living: "Jesus Christ died for sinners;" there were matter of praise. The more error does prevail, the more mercy it is, that you are kept. And truly the only way, or a special way to be kept from error, is to be thankful for truth. As a way to be kept from sin, is to be thankful for grace: so a special way to be kept from error is to be thankful for truth. So then, notwithstanding all this; yet you are to be thankful thankful even in this condition, though many errors, yet ye are to be thankful, to be in all things thankful, in every thing thankful. Thankful when ye are straitened, as well as when ye are most enlarged. Thankful when ye