stant diseases, the head-ach, and the falling-sickness. O the spiritual diseases that the active Christian overcomes! Among the Egyptians, idleness was a capital crime. Among the Lucani, he who sent money to an idle person, was to lose it. Among the Corinthians the slothful were delivered to the carnifex, says Diphilus. O the deadly sins, the deadly temptations, the deadly judgments, that idle and slothful Christians are given up to; therefore be active, be diligent, be abundant in the work of the Lord. Idleness is the very source of sin. Standing pools gather mud, and nourish and breed venemous creatures; and so do the hearts of idle and slothful Christians.

II. Now the second thing that we are to do for the further opening of this point, is to shew you the special ends that the gifts and graces which God has bestowed upon believers, should be exercised and improved to. they are these that follow ;

And

1. They are to be improved and exercised to the honour of God, to the lifting up of God, and to the keeping up of his name and glory in the world. He who improves not his gifts and graces to this end, crosses the grand end of God's bestowing such royal favours on him. Graces and gifts are talents that God has given you to trade with, and not to hide in a napkin. The idle servant, in Christ's account, was an evil servant. The idle soul, in Christ's account, is an evil soul, and Christ will deal accordingly with him.

Seneca calls sloth, The nurse of beggary, the mother of misery;' and slothful Christians find it so. Christians, God has given you grace, that you should give him glory. His honour should be dearer to you, than your jewels, than your crowns, than your lives, aye, than your very souls. Thou livest no longer than thou livest to his praise.

It is recorded of Epaminondas, the commander in chief of the Thebans, that he did not glory in any thing but this, that his father, whom he dearly loved and honoured, was living, when he won three famous battles against the Lacedemonians, who were then held for their valour to be invincible; regarding more the honour and content his father would receive of it, than his own. Shall a heathen thus strive to honour his earthly father? and shall not

Christians strive more to honour their heavenly Father, with all the gifts and graces that he has conferred upon them?

But you will say, 'How should we honour the Lord?' I answer, first, by a free and frequent acknowledgment, that all your graces flow from the Lord Jesus, the fountain of grace. Of his fulness have all we received and grace for grace. Every good and perfect gift cometh down from above. Thou must say, O Christian, I have nothing but what I have received. I have no light, no life, no love, no joy, no peace, but from above. The jewels that hang on my breasts, and the chains of pearl that are about my neck, and the golden crown that is upon my head, and all the sparkling diamonds in that crown, are all from above. All those princely ornaments by which I am made more beautiful and lovely than others, and all those beds of spices and sweet flowers, by which I am made more desirable and delectable, are from above. I am nothing; I have nothing of my own; all I am and all I have is from on high.' We have given thee of thine own, says David. So do thou say, 'Lord, the love with which I love thee, is thine own; and the faith by which I hang upon thee, is thine own; and the fear by which I fear before thee, is thine own; and the joy with which I rejoice before thee, is thine own; and the patience with which I wait upon thee, is thine own.' And therefore say, as David did, upon the receipt of mercy, Blessed be thou, Lord God of Israel, our Father, for ever and ever. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all that is in the heaven and in the earth, is thine. Thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. Both riches and honour come of thee, and thou reignest over all; and in thine hand is power and might; and in thine hand it is to make great, and to give strength unto all. Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

Secondly; you must honour him by acknowledging the dependency of your graces upon the fountain of grace; and that your strength to stand lies not so much in your graces, as in their dependence upon the fountain of grace, as in their conjunction with the God of grace. A man by

his arm may do much, but it is mainly by reason of its union and conjunction with the head. It is so between a Christian's graces and Christ. The stream does not more depend upon the fountain, nor the branch upon the root, nor the moon upon the sun, nor the child upon the mother, nor the effect upon the cause, than our graces depend upon the fountain of grace, Psalm cxxxviii. 3; Phil. iv. 12, 13.

Now that our very graces do thus depend upon the fountain of grace, and that our strength to stand lies not so much in our graces as in Christ, is clear by this, that the graces of the saints may and do most fail them, when they have most need of them. And he said, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? Mark iv. 40. When the wind was high, their faith was low; when the storm was great, their faith was little. So in Luke viii. 25; And he said unto them, Where is your faith? Are you now to seek it, when you should use it? Peter denied

Christ, when he had need by faith to have confessed Christ. Moses' faith failed him, when it should have been most serviceable to him, Num. xx. 12. And David's courage failed him, when it should have been a buckler to him, 1 Sam. xxi. 13, 14. And the disciples' love failed them, when it should have been most useful to them, John xiv. 28. And Job's wisdom and patience failed him, when they should have been the greatest supporters to him. By all which it is most clear, that not only ourselves, but also our very graces must be supported by the God of grace, the fountain of grace, or else they will be to seek when we most need them. Though grace is a glorious creature, it is but a creature, and therefore must be upheld by its Creator. Though grace be a beautiful child, yet it is but a child that must be upheld by the father's arms. This, Christians, you must remember, and give glory to God.

Thirdly; you must honour him by uncrowning your graces, to crown the God of your graces; by taking the crown off from your own heads, and putting it upon his, or by laying it down at his feet, as they did their's in Rev. iv. 10; Acts iii. 12, 16; iv. 7-10. These scriptures are wells of living waters; they are bee-hives full of honey; see and taste. The Lord has often uncrowned himself, to crown his people's graces, as you may see in these follow

ing scriptures, Mat. ix. 22; xv. 28; Mark x. 52; Luke vii. 50. And why then should not his people uncrown their graces, to crown him? That which others attribute to your graces, do you attribute to the God of grace. You must say, Though our graces are precious, yet Christ is more precious; though they are sweet, yet Christ is most sweet; though they are lovely, yet Christ is altogether lovely.' Your graces are but Christ's picture, Christ's image; and therefore do not you worship his image, and in the mean while neglect his person. Make much of his

picture, but make more of himself: let his picture have your eye, but let himself have your heart. Your graces are but Christ's hands, by which he works; be you therefore careful that you do not more mind the workman's hands, than the workman himself. Your graces are but Christ's servants; therefore do not smile upon the servant, and look asquint upon the Master. Your graces are but Christ's favourites; therefore do not so stare upon them and be taken with them, as to forget the Prince on whom they wait. All I drive at is this, that not your graces, but Christ may be all in all unto you.

2. The second end to which you must improve your gifts and graces, is to the good of others. Come and hear all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul, Psa. lxvi. 16. O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in him, Psa. xxxiv. 8. God has given you gifts and graces to this very end, that you should improve them for others' good. It is the very nature of grace to be diffusive and communicative. Grace cannot be long concealed. The better any thing is, the more communicative it will be. Grace is as fire in the bones, as new wine in the bottles; you cannot hide it ;` you must give it vent. We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard, Acts iv. 20; as Crœsus' dumb son did for his father. Can the fire cease to burn all combustible matter into fire? Can the candle once thoroughly lighted, cease to spend itself for the enlightening of others? Then may the precious sons of Zion cease to give light to others by their examples, counsels, and communicating their experiences. No way to honour God, no way to win souls, and no way to increase your›

own gifts and graces, but to exercise them for the good of others. Grace is not like to worldly vanities, that diminish by distribution, nor like candles which keep the same light, though a thousand are lighted by them. Grace is like the widow's oil, which multiplied by pouring out; and like those talents, which doubled by employment.

&

It was a good saying of one, For insensible riches those who pay their money, do diminish their substance; and they who receive, are made richer;' but these not so, but both he who numbereth, does much increase his substance, and does add much to the riches of the receiver.

Again; by how much the more we pour out of these flowing spiritual things, by so much those spreading in abundance are greater to us; for in this case it does not happen as in money, for there they who tell out to their neighbour, diminish their own substance; and by how much the more he spends, by so much the less money he possesses; but in spirituals it is quite otherwise. No way to advance the kingdom of Christ in the world like this, of improving your gifts and graces to the advantage and profit of others. No love nor pity to the precious souls of men, like this. No to abound in grace, way to be rich in grace, like this. No way to be high in heaven, like this. Art thou, O Christian, bound to do good to others by communicating earthly things? And art thou not much more bound to do them good by communicating spiritual things? Surely thou art. Why are Christians so often in scripture compared to trees, but because of their fruitfulness and usefulness to others? And why are they called stewards of the manifold gifts of God, but to denote to us, that their gifts are not to be inclosed, but employed for the good of others? And why has Christ put a box of precious ointment into every Christian's hand, but that it should be opened for the benefit of others? Certainly he who is good, is bound to do good; for gifts and graces are given, not only to make us good and keep us good, but also to make us, yea, to provoke us to do good. therefore learn that we may teach,' is a proverb among the rabbins. And I do therefore lay in, and lay up,' says the heathen, that I may draw forth again, and lay out for the good of many.' I think they are no good

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