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things both in heaven and earth, you can find none like him, fo excellent in himself, and fo well adapted to your conditions and circumstances Paul was a learned man, and knew many things; a travelled man, and had seen and heard many things: Yet when he cafts up his counts of all he had ever seen, heard or known, he fays, "I count all but dung and lofs for the excellency of the knowledge of Chrift," Phil. iii. 8. 9.

V. Come with much hunger and thirft to this full feaft. See that your appetites be not glutted with the world, for the full foul lothes the honey comb: It is only the thirty that are welcome, Rev. xxii. 17. "Chrift fills the hungry with good things." When the defire opens the heart wideft, then he opens his hand largeft to fill it, Pfal. lxxxi. 10. O then, cry, "Give me Christ, and deny me what thou wilt; a crumb of mercy from thy table, or elfe I am gone for ever." Endeavour to fay, as Ifa. xxvi. "The defire of my foul is unto thee, and to the remembrance of thy name. O that I knew where to find him! When wilt thou come unto me?" O for further tokens of his love, and clear evidences of my intereft in him! O for the fmiles of his face, and the voice of joy and gladnefs! There are many heavenly dainties here; here are all the fruits of the tree of life, the comforts of the Spirit, the influences of his grace, the bread and waters of life; therefore come with enlarged appetites. The fpoufe cries, Cant. ii. 4. "Stay nie with flagons; as if he had faid, "My thirst is fo great, it is not a drop or a little cup that will quench it, I would have whole flagons." Fear not to wrong your neighbours For there is a river to every one of you. Obferve how earnest Christ was to feaft with us, Luke xxii. 15. "With defire (fays he) have I defired to eat this fupper with you," though he had no need either of you or it: And will not you, whofe needs are fo great, fay," with defire have I defired to eat this fupper with Chrift before I die; it may be my laft communion, O let me have fomething to carry my expence through the wildernefs; let me have fomething to comfort and fupport me, when I go through the valley and fhadow of death ?"

VI. Come with humility and felf-denial, content to be nothing, that Chrift may be all; and willing to fubmit to any thing for a blink of his countenance. Be fenfible of your ill-defervings, and acknowledge a crumb will be a great mercy. Be content, with the prodigal and woman of Canaan, to be taken into Christ's family, though it were in the meaneft itation and employment: Let me be the meaneft of Christ's fervants, though I be never fo ill used, or ill refpected, I will be thankful, if I be within Chrift's doors, have a relation to his family, and can call him Mafter. Again, come felf-deniedly, renouncing all confidence in yourself, your preparations, humiliations, or performances: Thefe may be good graces, and good duties; but they will be ill Chrifts, and ill Saviours. Freely own that it is not your own righteousness that faves you, not your own ftrength that quickens you; but only Chrift's righteousness, and Chrifl's ftrength. Say, "Bleffed Jefus, I fly to thee alone; I have no hope in myfelf, nor in any thing befides thee; all my confidence is in the freeness of thy love, the mercy of thy bowels, the merit of thy death, the worth of thy blood, the fufficiency of thy righteoufnefs, and power of thy interceffion."

VII. Come with charity and love to all men, even to your very enemies. Banish all malice and envy, pray for your enemies, forgive them, with well and do good both to their fouls and bodies, according to Chrift's example on the crofs: But especially, bring with you love and affection to God's people, delight in their fellowship above all others, for they are the excellent ones of the earth.

VIII. Come with honeft defigns to feal a marriage-covenant with Chrift. Confent frankly to Chrift to be your Prince and Saviour; do not think of halving it with Chrift, but be willing to take him intirely upon his own terms. Be content not only to be faved by him, but to ferve him, live for him, fight for him, and cleave to him, all the days of your life; refolving that all the pleasures of fin, temptations of fatan, and allurements of the world, nay, the hopes of enjoying ten thoufand worlds, fhall VOL. I. 3 T never

never prevail with you to part with Chrift. Come refigning yourselves, your hearts, and all you have to Chrift: Say," Lord, though I had ten thousand hearts, and every one of them ten thousand times better than they are, they should be all thine." Come with ftrong vows and purposes against fin, that murdered your Saviour; refolve never to harbour it, or make peace with it; but that you will fight against it to your last breath, and revenge the death of Christ on it.

IX. Come with thankfulness and praife to God for redeeming love, and providing fuch a Saviour for you. Let the high praifes of God be in your mouths; fend up whole vollies of praise to your Redeemer, for undertaking your deliverance. Invite the angels, and all the creation, to aflift you in this work. Stir up your fouls, and all that is within you, to blefs his holy name: Your fouls (like Mary)" should magnify the Lord, and your fpirits rejoice in God your Saviour;" your hearts fhould afcend, like Manoah's angel, in the fmoke of thankfgiving and praise. Say, Lord, what shall I render to thee for all thou haft done and fuffered for me? Lord, what am I, that thou shouldft part with thy glory, yea, with thy blood, and with thy life, for fuch a wretch as me? I am ashamed that I can love and praife thee no more: Oh my heart is cold, my tongue is flow: Let heaven and earth, angels and men, join and extol his free grace and wondrous love: Let all the world ring with his praise."

X. Come with hope and expectation, depending on God's promifes and Chrift's merits. You ought greediTy to look to Chrift, expecting fomething from him, as the poor cripple did from Peter and John, Acts iii. 4. 5. Peter faid" Look on us: And he gave heed to them, expecting to receive fomething from them." We ordinarily receive little, because we expect little; " God's mercy is upon us, according as we hope in him," Pfal. xxxiii. ult. O raife your defires and expectations; for you come to a merciful and liberal God, that will not let the expectation of his poor creatures perish, Pfal. ix. 18. "The needy fhall not always be forgotten; the expectation of the poor fhall not perish for ever." Object.

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Object." Alas! I am a poor, weak, heartless creature: I have little ground to hope."

Anf. You have God's call and promife to encourage you. Groan under your deadness, and use the means; aim honeftly at your duty, and look to God for accomplishing his promife. Do as the Ifraelites did in the wildernefs, Num. xxi. 16. 17. 18 God had called them to the place where he promised them water, which was very much valued in that dry defert: Well, did they fit ftill idly, waiting till the water should fpring? No, the nobles put to their ftaves, and digged in expectation of God's fulfilling his promife, and fung, Spring up, O well, &c. Make an honeft mint, look up with hope, and cry for the springing of the well. Come, bring all your empty veffels to the fountain, in expectation of a fill: Do as the poor widow, a Kings iv. "bring not a few:" for I am fure the veffels will fail before the oil fail. Plead with God for the accomplishing of his word: Say, "Lord, though we cannot fay pour water on us, for we are thirsty, yet we can plead, pour floods on us, for we are dry ground: Lord, make us as hungry as we are empty, and thirsty as we are dry: Lord, if thou deal with us according to our fenfe of need, we will get little; but, Lord, we plead, thou wilt deal with us according to our real need, and thy royal bounty, and then we will be right enough."

O poor foui! Art thou longing for the fpringing of the well, faying, "O that I knew in what part of this valley of Baca the well would spring, what ordinance, what duty, would be the mean: There I would wait and lie, there I would dig and cry: One guth of these living streams would fatisfy my longing foul ?" Poor foul, thou shalt not die for want; you have the word of a king for it, ifa. xli. 17. 18. "When the poor and needy feek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirft, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Ifrael will not for fake them. I will open rivers in high places, and fountains in the midst of the vallies; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry-lard fprings of water." DIRECTION

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DIRECTION IV.

AFTER you have this morning meditated, dealt with your hearts, wrestled with God, read his word, and performed family-worship, with faith and fervency fuitable to this folemn occafion: You ought timeously to repair to the church against the folemn worship begin. And let your hearts be breathing forth many heavenly ejaculations by the way; fuch as that, Pfalm xliii. 3. 4. "Send forth thy light and thy truth: Let them lead me, and bring me to thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy." O, it were a pleasant frame this morning, to be going with joy to draw water out of the wells of falvation! Let us be very thankful, that the waters of life do flow so pleasantly and plentifully to us, betwixt the banks of gospel ordinances; blefs God, that has not made the barren wilderness our dwelling; But let us think, as we go, that as God rained down manna from heaven on his people, fo he rained down fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah. This ferves to teach us to rejoice fo in the mercies which God rains down upon us in the facrament, as to fear his judgments in cafe they be abused.

Again, think," I am now upon my way to mount Calvary Lord, forbide that Chrift's traitors be my attendants: Let all my lufts and idols be for ever banished from me: May they never find lodging in my foul any more: Lord, help me to go this day, with fuch a melted heart and weeping eyes, as the holy Virgin, Mary Magdalene, and the other tender-hearted women of Jerufalem had, when they went to mount Calvary, to behold Chrift crucified. Am not I going up to see the fame crucifixion reprefented before my eyes?"

As it was a part of your fecret work this morning, to plead earnestly with God to direct his meffengers to Speak fuitably to your cafe; so you ought by the way to be fending up ejaculations for this end, and frequently to be crying, Awake, O north-wind, and come thou fouth, blow, &c. The minifter's words will be but as wind, and a beating of the air, (unless the wind of the Spirit

blow)

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