but are more than conquerors: they are great gainers, they gain what is better than all the world, fresh proof of his love, they gain experience of it. For they find that nothing can hurt them, now he has taken them under his protection. For this his divine support we are taught to pray daily, asking it as a matter of mere favour, and expecting it only through the grace and intercession of our great high priest.

We humbly beseech thee, O Father, mercifully to look upon our infirmities, and for the glory of thy name turn from us all those evils which we most righteously have de served, and grant that in all our troubles we may put our whole trust and confidence in thy mercy, and evermore serve thee in holiness, and pureness of living, to thy honour and glory, through our only mediator and advocate Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

When this is the prayer of faith, outward trials become inward mercies; for the Holy Spirit keeps the heart settled with its whole trust and confidence upon his promised help ; so that if the trials increase, he makes them

redound to the glory of God. If the outward man be a greater sufferer, even ready to perish, he renews the inward man day by day; he brings in abundant grace to sanctify abundant sufferings; whereby he satisfies the hearts of the sufferers, that these light afflic tions which are but for a moment, will work for them a far more excellent and eternal weight of glory. The hope of this keeps them patient and thankful. By the power of the Holy Ghost, they know this eternal triumph will be soon. Yet a very, very little while, they will be favoured with the sight of the king in his beauty. They shall sit down with him in his throne, and shall reign with him for ever and ever.

For the farther confirmation of our faith, he has set before us a cloud of witnesses, who testify, with one voice, that he sanctified all their troubles and turned them into covenant blessings. So one of them said"I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord, the humble shall hear thereof and be glad. O mag

ΙΟΥ

nify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord and he heard, and delivered me from all my fears. The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles." Their very troubles become matter of triumph. He shut them up in the ark, and they were saved, when he drowned the world of the ungodly. Peter speaking from experience says, the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of their troubles, as he did. righteous Lot when he overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. The more the Egyptians oppressed his people, the more they multiplied and grew. Behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. The fire of persecution raged against the church, but the blood of the martyrs was fruitful, and increased it both in number and in grace. The seed of the wicked. one have been at enmity with the children of the promise from the beginning, but these trusted in the Captain of their salvation, and he led them on conquering and to conquer.

Through faith they subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valient in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens, women received their dead raised to life again, and others were tortured not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection"-these and the other worthies mentioned, Hebrews chap. xi. did wonders through Christ, who strengthened them. They loved not their lives unto death, fully persuaded, that when he should call them to it, he would be with them, and would enable them to finish their course with joy. And he did, for they all obtained a good report through faith, leaving us an example to follow the steps of their faith, and encouraging us to do it with holy boldness, whatever troubles we meet with in our way. We may, we ought to rejoice in tribulation, for we have the same Jesus to look unto, the author and the finisher of their faith and ours, the same promises of his sup

port, the same almighty arm to make them good, and the same matter of triumph, which they experienced, whom he led on from strength to strength, until every one of them in Sion appeared before God. This is the certain heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness and salvation is of me, saith the Lord.

Of the same sentiments were our reformers, which they give us in these remarkable words in one of their prayers: "O God, who art the author of peace, and lover of concord, in knowledge of whom standeth our eternal life, whose service is perfect freedom; defend us thy humble servants in all assaults of our enemies, that we surely trusting in thy defence may not fear the power of any adversaries, through the might of Jesus Christ. our Lord. Amen."

And to the same purpose in one of their homilies they thus express themselves: "All correction which God sendeth us in this present time, seemeth to have no joy and comfort, but sorrow and pain, yet it bringeth with it a taste of God's mercy, and goodness,