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BLeffed are they which do hunger and thirst after Righteousnefs: for they fhall be filled. Mat. v. 6.

This Leffon of Chrift fhews us, that a Zeal for Righteousness and Perfection, a Hatred of Sin, and the Defire of the fovereign and eternal Righteousness, ought to be the fole Hunger and Thirst of our Hearts. --- The falutary Hunger is after That alone which can nourish and satisfy our Souls according to God. The Hunger after every Thing else is a Disease of the Body, or a Folly of the Mind. May I hunger after nothing but Thee, O my God, because Thou alone canft feed me here on Earth, and fatisfy me in Heaven.

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Me with a restless Thirst infpire,
That facred infinite Defire,

And feaft my hungry Heart;

Less than thyself cannot fuffice,
My Soul for all thy Fulnefs cries,
For all thou haft, and art.

A ND if thy right Hand offend thee, cut it off, and caft it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy Members fhould perifh, and not that thy whole Body fhould be caft into Hell. Mat. v. 30.

This is to fhut the Gate against the Enemy, namely, to fhut our Senfes against dangerous Objects, to avoid the Occafions of Sin, and to deprive ourfelves of ALL that is most dear to us, in order to fave our Souls. Men often part with the Members of the Body, at the Discretion of a Surgeon, that they may preferve the Trunk, and die a little later, and yet they will not deprive themselves of a Look, a Touch, a fmall Pleasure, to fave the Soul, and fecure themselves from dying eternally. It is not enough to fhut the Eye, nor to stop the Hand; the one must be plucked out, and the other cut off. Neither is this yet enough, we must caft them both from us. Not one Moment's Truce with Luft, it must be rooted up and destroy'd.

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Forbid it, Lord, that I fhould strive

Mine Idols to conceal,
Or keep one Bofom-Luft alive,
And carry it to Hell.

Rather from all I leave behind,

My naked Soul shall flee,
And lofe its Life on Earth, to find
Its Heavenly Life in Thee.

WH

Hofoever heareth thefe Sayings of mine, and doth them, I will liken him unto a wife Man which built his House upon a Rock. Mat. vii. 24.

We must build upon the Rock, which is Jefus Chrift, doing that Good by Love which we know by Faith. --- True Wisdom confifts in working on the Building of our Salvation, in making it firm, by keeping close to the Word and the Maxims of the Gospel, and in conforming our Lives thereto. And when, in order to this, we lean upon nothing but the Grace of Christ, we then build upon a folid Rock.

Rock of everlasting Love,
Into thy Clefts I flee,
Never, never, to remove,

I build my House in Thee;

On thy dying Love I ftand,

I hear thy Words and keep them too,
Duteous to thy kind Command,
By Works my Faith I fhew.

A

ND the Rain descended, and the Floods came, and the Winds blew, and beat upon that House: and it fell not, for it was founded upon a Rock. Mat. vii. 25.

It is the Practice of the Word of God, which renders our Calling and Election fure, and which fecures our Salvation against the Divine Wrath and the last Judgement. There are three Kinds of Trials and Temptations. 1. Those of temporal Afflictions, which come from above like the Rain. 2. Those which proceed from the Paffions of Men, which are like Floods. 3. Those which, like impetuous Winds, arise from the Devil -- It is Love, and not Light alone, which can enable us to ftand against so many Temptations.

Let the Rain defcend, the Flood
And boift'rous Wind affail,

Built on the eternal God,

The House can never fail:

Built on CHRIST the Rock it ftands,

'Stablish'd in Obedience sure,

Man, who keeps his God's Commands,
Shall as his God endure.

A

ND every one that heareth these Sayings of mine, and doth them not, fhall be likened unto a foolish Man which built his House upon the Sand. Mat. vii. 26.

He who knows and does not, builds upon the Sand and is a Fool. How many Fools on Earth pafs for Men of Wisdom! and very often he who pities them is himself of the Number. --- It is a great Misfortune not to know the Gofpel; but it is a greater to know its Truths, and to make no Ufe of them. Render us faithful in this Matter, O eternal Wisdom, and give us that Wisdom which consists in knowing how to be saved.

Lord, tho' thou fill my Flesh withPain, I must thy Righteoufnefs declare,

With Bitterness my Cup,

And let me in my Sins remain

To fill the Measure up:

Whate'er on Earth 1 feel,
And less than my Deserts I bear,

Who am not yet in Hell.

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