well as of your outward conduct, are matter of your continual grief and burden; what you continually watch, and pray, and strive against ? Can you doubt this, when it is your conftant experience, that there is nothing more grievous to you, nothing more contrary to the governing defires of your foul, than the prevalence of these corruptions, and the deadness, formality, and distractions, which accompany your holy duties; and when you experience that it is your most ardent and impatient purfuit, to gain further victory over the imperfections of your heart and life; and to obtain more uninterrupted communion with God, in your religious approaches to him? Or, to fum up all in a word, can this be doubted, when, (under the fharpeft conflict, you can meet with from this quarter) you are able fincerely to say, that tho' when you would do good evil is prefent with you; yet you delight in the law of the Lord, after the inward man?

You must befide this inteftine war, have the trial of another campaign. You will find the enemies from without, as well as within, to maintain a continual conflict with. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood only, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual wickedneffes in high places, Eph. vi. 12. This is what you have probably had no experience of. A prifoner in the hands of his enemies, led captive by them at their pleafure, has no acquintance with the progrefs of wars and conflicts, battles and fieges; makes no attempt for victory and triumph; but fubmits to the injunctions of his conquerors; and the more chearful his fubmiflion, the more ease and comfort he will find. This you muft acknowledge to be eminently true of fuch who without oppofition refign themselves voluntary prifoners into their enemies hands; as all careless and fecure finners do into the hands of fin and Satan. But when once perfons come to be, in good earnest, engaged in the caufe of Chrift, what violent oppofition do they meet with? What dreadful temptations do they often encounter, which carry their own evidence with them, from what quarter they come? This I warn you of before hand that when you come to the experience, you may not

be difcouraged; but established in the faith of that revelation, which you find experimentally true.

How frequently are Chriftians indeed called into this field of battle? How frequently are they affaulted with molt violent and impetuous temptations which will follow and hurry them, and sometimes foil them, notwithftanding all their good defires, godly refolutions, and most active endeavours after holiness? What horrid blafphemous thoughts are often injected into the minds of fuch, which though the greatest burthen and abhorrence of their diftreffed fouls, yet follow and haunt them wherever they go, and whatever they do, and efpecially at the feafons of their nearest approaches to God? What doubting apprehenfions, what fubtil furprifing reafonings, will be darted into the minds of fome, even the most established Chriftians, against the very being of God; and the truth of Chriftianity, notwithftanding their highest rational conviction, and fullest fatisfaction of the truth of these great fundamentals of religion? What horrible and amazing difpofitions and affections will feem to arife in the minds of fome of the most devout and heavenly perfons in the world; who, in the dreadful conflict, are fometimes made to roar by reafon of the difquietnefs of their hearts? What diftref fing darkness, dejections, and defpondings will fome Christians be exercised with, after clear and fatisfying evidences of God's favour, against all the comforting confiderations which can be propofed; and notwithstanding all the former manifestations of the love of God to their fouls? And do not these, and fuch-like fiery darts of the wicked one, as clearly discover the agency of Satan, as if we faw him make his attacks in a visible appearance ?

I am fenfible, that many of these temptations are ordinarily imputed to bodily disease ; because Satan frequently makes the fierceft attacks upon the weakest walls, where there is the greatest profpect of fuccefs. But though bodily disorder may expofe us to darkness of every kind, yet what blafphemy can there be in the spleen? How came infidelity by a lodging in the humours of the body? Or how can any difordered temperature of the body produce in the mind (contrary to the habitual

bent and bias of the renewed foul) fach fierce, impetuous and irresistible blafphemies against the glorious God, and the bleffed Redeemer of the world; if this be only from bodily disease, how comes it to pafs, that many. perfons of vigorous health of body, have met with the fame diftreffing trials? Herein then the truth of Chrif tianity is confirmed by experience, when the Christian meets with the very fame trials, which the fcriptures forewarn him of: and then the fierceness of the combat may not only establish him in the faith, but ftrengthen his hopes of victory. He fees the divine original of the Chriftian inftitution, by the enmity and oppofition of the infernal powers against it. He feels the warfare just such as the fcriptures describe; and may therefore conclude, that he has no temptation but what is common to men; and may confide in the captain of his salvation, that he is leading him on to victory.

Thirdly, Another inftance, wherein the truth of Christianity is brought to be a matter of fenfible experi- ' ence, is the comfort, peace, and joy of a religious life. Our bleffed Lord has told us, that his yoke is easy, and his burthen light, Matth. xi. 30. Peace he leaves with his difciples; his peace he gives unto them, and this in a manner which the world cannot give, John xiv. 27.. And the apoftle reprefents Chriftians, as rejoicing in Chrift Jefus, without confidence in the flefb, Phil. iii. 3. and as having the love of God shed abroad in their arts by the Holy Ghoft, who is given unto them. Now what doubt can remain in the heart of a Chriftian, of the truth and faithfulness of these promifes, when he feels them actually fulfilled unto him; when he fenfibly feels, that Chrift does not leave him comfortless, but manifests himself to him, so as he doth not unto the world; and when he joyfully feels the Spirit of God witnessing with his fpirit, that he is a child of God?

You may perhaps efteem this to be all cant and `delufion, enthusiasm, or heated imagination: but is it reafonable in a man that was born blind, to conclude, that because he himself has no idea of light and colours, therefore no man ever faw the fun; but all pretences of delight from the beautiful appearances of the creation, are mere chicanery and deceit ?

F

I hope, Sir, you'll quickly be led forward by the Spirit of God into these bleffed paths of joy and peace: and then you'll need no other argument, to convince you of thefe glorious truths, than your own happy experience. Then with furprizing delight, you'll be able to feel the exercise of faith in the Son of God; and to apply the gracious promife, that him who comes to Chrift he will in no wife caft out. Then you'll feel a most humbling and foul abafing fenfe of your own vileness and unworthinefs; and with facred rapture, admire, adore, and praise the riches of that fovereign grace, by which you are pluck'd out of the hands of fin and infidelity, and out of the jaws of death and hell, and become accepted in the beloved. Then a ray of (before unexperienced) light will break into your foul, and give you fuch a fpiritual view of the divine perfections, as you never before had, fuch a discovery of redeeming love, as will fill you with wonder and praife. Then the world with all its empty pageantry will vanish out of fight; and you will be no longer emulous of the riches and grandeur of the greateft men in the world; nor of the pleasures of the most fenfual epicure. Your foul will then be folaced with more pure and fubftantial joys, with delights more anfwerable to its defires, and more fatisfying to its taste, than its poffible it fhould find from any of the vain amuse. ments of time and fenfe. Then you'll obtain fuch a fenfible and affecting discovery of the future glory, as will put your foul upon the wing; and excite your most ardent defires after the more intimate and eternal enjoyment of that bleffed hope. In a word, then the light will fine out of darkness, and give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God, in the face of Jefus Chrift. And if you are favour'd with this delightful view, when you come to encounter the king of terrors, you will be able to ftand the fhock with courage, with comfort, and joy (as I have seen many do) from a delightful profpect of your future inheritance; and breathe out your Taft breath with that triumphant fong, O death, where is thy fling! O grave, where is thy victory!

It is true, this is not always the happy frame of every fincere Chriftian. We are here in a militant flate, and

must often meet with fore conflicts from our fpiritual enemies, as was before observed; but when these more exalted joys and comforts are wanting, believers have yet meat to eat which the world knows not of. The promifes will fill prove an anchor for their fouls, to keep them fure and stedfaft, in the most tempeftuous feafons. They will find delight and comfort from the ordinances. of God; and at least find occafional returns of fenfible communion with him, which will make them rejoice more than when corn, and wine, and oyl increase. And often in the midst of their greateft darkness, they will have fudden and furprizing gleams of light and joy break into their fouls, by which they will, before they are aware, become like the chariots of Amminadab. At least they will be able to look unto Jefus, as the author and finisher of their faith; and comfort themselves by committing their fouls to him, and venturing their eternal interests in his hand.

The fcriptures speak much of these sealings of the Spirit, the earnest of our future inheritance. The Spirit of God helps his children to fenfible experience of their undoubted truth and reality; whereby they are established in the faith, ftrengthened for their fpiritual encounters, and supported under all the difficulties and trials they meet with, in their way to the future inheritance. How light foever you may make of what has been faid, I hope (Sir) you will live to rejoice in the delightful experience, as thoufands of others have done; and thereby find occafion to fay with them, We are witnesses of thefe things, and fo is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Fourthly, I may yet add another inftance, wherein the truth of Christianity is made matter of experience, which is the manner how the great change is wrought, and carried on, in the heart of every fincere Christian. There is, I confefs, a vaft difference, with respect to a variety of incidental circumstances, in the methods of the divine operation, in turning finners from the power of Satan to God: and yet the fcripture account of this change, as to the substance of it, is always found to be exactly verified in all thofe, who at adult years are the