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Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. 1 JOHN iv. 11. I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you; do good to them that hate you; and pray for them that despitefully use you. Matt. v. 44.

HYPOCRITES may

YPOCRITES may counterfeit the children of GOD in many things, but they cannot love their enemies from their hearts; and yet by this we must try and know ourselves, whether we are really children of GoD or not. The world very easily, but very falsely, suppose themselves to be God's children; but sincere Christians find it often very hard to believe it without a divine sense and assurance of it; it costs them many a sore conflict; for if Satan disputeth the Sonship of CHRIST, much less will he spare any of us. But since a true love to the children of GoD, and to our enemies, is a sure evidence of our state of grace, we have our title clear to it, though we shall walk in darkness, and be destitute of all pleasant sensations. Give us, then, O thou Father of our spirits, the heart filled with love, that is able not only to love those that are of the same mind with ourselves, but also to love those that are opposed to us, and even to love those sincerely that do us wrong. Give the meek, the lowly, and the loving heart which JESUS had. Now by the bowels of my GOD,

His sharp distress, his sore complaints;
By his last groans, his dying blood,
I charge my soul to love the saints.
Clamour, and wrath, and war begone
Envy and spite for ever cease;
Let bitter words no more be known
Amongst the saints, the sons of peace.
Tender and kind be all our thoughts,
Through all our lives let mercy run;
So GOD forgives our num'rous faults
For the dear sake of CHRIST, his Son.

And he said to his servant, Go up now, look toward the sea. And he went up and looked, and said, There is nothing, and he said, Go again seven times. 1 KINGS xviii. 43. JAMES. v.17,18. Seven times a-day do I praise thee, because of thy righteous judgments. Ps. cxix. 164. Daniel kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God. DAN. vi. 10. IX times Elijah's servant looked towards the

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sea before he could see anything; the seventh time he saw a cloud, but no bigger than his hand, yet that cloud, within a few hours, covered the heaven with darkness and the earth with rain. Just so may be the case with many a one when he is praying to his God, as Caleb's daughter did unto her father, Judges i. 15. Thou hast hitherto made me the owner of a dry, a barren heart; but give me now some springs of water, some feeling, at least, some sorrow for my sins. Well, though at six times bending of thy knees, GoD doth not grant it, and though at the seventh there appears but one small drop swimming in thine eyes, yet be not discomforted; that drop may prove a shower, the beginning of that thaw may at last dissolve thy whole heart to water; and as there is a full joy for the thorough conversion of a sinner, there may be a suitable measure of joy for one tear, nay, for one desire of a tear, of any one sinner that repenteth. Grant, O LORD, that I may be able to come unto thee at all times in holy confidence of prayer, and that my prayers may not only be unceasing, but that may with expectation wait upon an answer.

I

If six or sixty prayers are past,
Pray on and never faint;
A blessing surely comes at last,
To cheer a drooping saint.

Ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land, but if you will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall it come to pass that those which ye let remain of them, shall be pricks in your eyes and thorns in your sides, &c. NUM. xxxiii. 52, 55. See this fulfilled, JUDGES i. 27. Chap. ii. 14. Manasseh did not drive out the inhabitants of Bethshean, &c., and the Canaanites would dwell in that land; so that they (the Israelites) could not any longer stand before their enemies.

THE very same is to be observed in the holy

and spiritual battles of the LORD. He that fights only against outward sins, is but very little, if at all, acquainted with the dangerous enemies in his heart, or the deep corruption of original sin, and so the tempter may easily gain an advantage over him. Experienced Christians guard more against the inward assaults of wickedness; they are at peace with no sin, but keep up a constant war with all their most subtle and darling lusts. However, though the Canaanites, our inbred foes, must be conquered, they will dwell in the land, and cannot be wholly thrust out of the bosom, which makes the Christian warfare continue till death; yet give me grace, O LORD, never to spare my sinful lusts or tempers, but to look unto thee to destroy them without delay, as soon as they begin to move or stir, that I may not be destroyed by them.

O Prince of Peace, forgive my guilt,
Though more than I can tell ;

And from the power of sin release,
And from the host of hell.

Furnish me, LORD, with heavenly arms,

From Grace's magazine,

And I'll proclaim eternal war

With every darling sin.

TE

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth; and the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. GEN. i. 1, 2. We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus (Note) unto good works, which God has before ordained, that we should walk in them. EРH. ii. 10. THEREFORE, before we can really grow in holiness, we must be born again. How is it possible for a man to grow in sanctification, without a real change being first wrought in his heart? It is the Spirit's way first to strip us of our own righteousness and strength, to show us our nakedness and nothingness, to fill us with godly sorrow for sin, and then lead us to JESUS for pardon, sanctification, and justification. CHRIST being the Vine, we must first be planted in him, and draw nourishment and strength from him by faith. When it is fulfilled, "they shall feed and lie down " on his pasture," and none shall make them afraid," Zeph. iii. 13, then we shall be able to bring forth good fruits, and obtain victories; for it is GOD himself that thus makes us perfect in every good work, and prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies.

I ask not honour, pomp or praise,

By worldly men esteemed;
I wish from sin's deceitful ways
To feel my soul redeemed.

I wish, as faithful Christians do,
Dear LORD, to live to thee,

And by my words and walk to shew
That thou hast died for me.

O grant me, through thy precious blood,
Thy Gospel thus to grace;

Renew my heart, O Lamb of GOD,

Thus shall my works thee praise.

In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Isa. xlv. 24. 2 COR. ii. 14, and v. 19.

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USTIFICATION through faith in CHRIST, at first, is a very dark doctrine, hard to be understood; but afterwards we find, by experience, that it would be impossible to be saved in any other way, and that nothing can be surer than this, though all mankind should turn away from it. And when we are made to see that our best performances are unclean in the sight of GOD, and could not be accepted without the covering of CHRIST's righteousness, then we are brought to submit entirely to CHRIST, and at last to look upon ourselves wholly justified through him, which alone produceth rest, strength, and a gentle spirit, the true image of CHRIST.

In vain do we hope to procure this rest by any reasonings or strong resolutions of our own; for if we are sometimes able to master our affections by our own strength, this is yet a building of our own, and keeps us from earnest wrestling in prayer. We have now a form of godliness without its power, and are still deceiving our own souls; for nothing can be pleasing in the sight of GOD, and profit us in the last day, but what he works himself. Away, therefore, with all these doings of our own. Let us acknowledge the weakness and nothingness of our strength, and apply in our poor, blind, naked, lost, and miserable condition to the blood and righteousness of CHRIST; then we shall also find power and dominion over sin. Isa. xxxiii. 24.

Sinners shall hear the sound;

Their thankful tongues shall own,

Our righteousness and strength is found
In thee, the LORD alone.

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