or a greater intenseness on the carcase than life of duties, so far will the spiritual worshipper be disatisfied with himself, and with the duty, and reckon it lost duty with respect to the ends of worship; which must needs humble him, and make him groan as under a hurden which he longs to be rid of. (3.) In so far as there is flesh in him, there will be likewise a dissent from the petitions of the Spirit, Gal. v. 17, and its actings in worship; but in so far as there is Spirit in him, there will also be an answer to that dissent of the flesh, and a protestation of adherence to the petition, and that according to the law of grace it may be granted, notwithstanding the dissent of the flesh, Gal. v. 17. "The Spirit [lusteth] against the flesh." All these things we have, Rom. vii. 21-24.

2. The spiritual worshipper aims at the enjoyment of God himself in duties. Hence we have the declaration of the Psalmist, Psalm xxvii. 4, "One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple." And again, Psal. Ixiii. 1, 2, "O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is: to see thy power and thy glory, so as I have seen thee in the sanctury." He comes to the galleries of ordinances, public, private, and secret, because the King is held there; goes through the streets and broad ways of duties to find his soul's beloved. Thus as God in Christ is the object, so he is the end of their worship. I will offer four things to clear this.

1st, The spiritual worshipper has a spiritual aim in worshipping of God. It is a heavenly trade he is driving by divine ordinances, a trade with another world, to be enriched with the product thereof. This was the practice of the apostle, as we learn from Phil. iii. 20, "Our conversation (says he) is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ." He is carried above the little carnal designs that many narrow souls have in their religion, as that of a name, Matth. vi. 2, or some other carnal interest, as those who followed Christ for the loaves, and many others who make religion lacquey it at the foot of interest.

2dly, The spiritual worshipper aims at something in duties above self, even the enjoyment of God. O! it is sad to think how many duties to God are performed, so as they run all as Jordan into the dead sea (of self) in the end. Most men seek themselves, their peace, their security from wrath by duties, rather than God. They seek God, not for himself, but for themselves. But when the heart is spiritualized, it is unselfed; God himself becomes man's chief end,

the centre of the soul, to which it natively tends by virtue of the new nature, which is a grace called godliness, 2 Pet. i. 6.

3dly, The spiritual worshipper aims at himself, as well as his benefits, in his worship. They come to seek him in his worship, not only as a master, who must get work, and so will give wages; but as a husband who gives himself to his spouse, who gives herself to him. It is in the duties of his worship that the soul comes to be united more and more to God in this world; and they are appointed for that end, and used for it by saints.

4thly, The spiritual worshipper aims at the being partaker of the divine nature in his worship. For as the iron is laid in the fire that it may be all fired; so the spiritual worshipper lays himself before the Lord, that he may be transformed into his image. And this is most properly the enjoyment of God; while the soul being knit to him by faith, his Spirit acts in the soul thus to change it, 2 Cor iii. 18. See how God is enjoyed in heaven, 1 John iii. 2" We know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is." And this is a most distinguishing character of a spiritual wprshipper; for seeing the carnal mind, though never so much refined, is enmity against God, and all the attributes of God are not any thing distinct from him, the heart of the most refined hypocrite can no more be reconciled to his perfections, than light to darkness. Wherefore the soul seeking to enjoy God in his communicable perfections to be holy, as he is holy, seeks the enjoyment of God himself, and is a spiritual worshipper. Thus ye see the nature of this mark. And hence two things may be fairly inferred.

(1.) That spiritual worshippers look on external duties only as means to communion with God, and therefore will not rest in the work done. They are but the way to communion with God, and therefore are valuable only as means. They that look for no more of duties, but to get them done and by hand, and value their duties while they have no enjoyment of God in them, are carnal worshippers, that take up with the grave-clothes, while the Lord is not there. Have over by this sermon, prayer, &c. will the saint say; for he is not as he who is to sail for pleasure, and therefore seeks not to go over but as a passenger.

(2. That spiritual worshippers will not be satisfied with duties unless they enjoy God in them; as was the case with the spouse, Cant. iii. 2, 3, 4, "I will arise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him but I found him not. The watchmen that go about the city, found me to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth? It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my

soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me." What avail the galleries, while the King is not seen walking in them? And if this be so, few worship God in spirit, seeing so many can tarry without grief of heart at Jerusalem, come to sermons, go to prayers, &c and never see the King's face.

3. Spiritual worshippers act in their worship from a higher principle than their own spirits, even the Spirit of the Lord. Spiritual worship is a supernatural action, which carnal men are incapable of; and therefore there must be a supernatural principle of it. The most refined hypocrite doth but exercise a gift in worshipping the Lord, and is destitute of the sanctifying Spirit's influences; their own spirits at best do but exert their natural powers in the best duties by them performed. Jude ver. 19, carnal men are called sensual, (Gr.) soul-men, or men of soul, whose own souls are their highest principles; and so it is explained in the next clause, they have not the Spirit, which is necessary to spiritualize a soul. And so, ver. 20, in opposition to these they are bid pray in the Holy Ghost. And the performing of spiritual worship thus, says,

1st, The spiritual worshipper looks not and lippens not to his stock within him for the performance of duties, but comes to duty under a sense of wants and weakness. Hence says the apostle, 2 Cor. iii. 5, "We are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is of God." He dare not adventure on the Lord's work in his own strength; whereas the conceity hypocrite lippens to and works the duty out of the stock within him; for he is never poor in spirit, Matth. v. 3.

2dly, He looks to the Lord for the influences of his Spirit, crying and spreading out his sails for a gale from above; as did the spouse, Cant. iv. ult., "Awake O north-wind, and come, thou south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out." He stretcheth out the withered hand to Christ. "Here is the word, Lord, send the Spirit to "make it effectual," &c. And this is the exercise of faith absolutely necessary to spiritual worship; for its work is to fetch the fire of the Spirit from Christ our altar, to set to the incense we offer. It is that which travels for ability for duty betwixt Christ's fulness and the creature's emptiness, setting down the blind and lame at Christ's door.

The worshipping of God thus by the Spirit is so necessary, that no worship is pleasing to God but what is thus performed. For Christ will not put in his censer of intercession, but what is the product of his own Spirit. Hence says the Apostle, Eph. ii. 18, "Through Christ we have both an access by one spirit unto the Father." And

it is the inwrought prayer (as that word, James v. 16, may be read; or a prayer with such vhemency, as one possessed by a spirit doth express himself) that availeth. And a groan thus delivered, is better than a prayer from our own spirits, merely adorned with all the flowers of oratory.

Here a grave question comes to be handled, viz. How we may distinguish betwixt exercising a gift in duty, and acting from the influences of the Spirit? Enlargement will not do it; for nature has its own enlargements, and there may be a straitening in a gift and enlargement in it too, as well as in grace, Zech. xi. ult. Thus God both enlarged and straitened Saul in his gift of wisdom, conduct, and courage. Delight in the duty will not do it either, Ezek. xxxiii. 32. Other folk's gifts may greatly delight us in the exercise of them; and an easy and neat exercise of a man's own gift, may be very pleasant melody in the man's own carnal ears. But,

1. All the influences of the Spirit are humbling; and always the more of them, the more humble and vile they make the man in his own eyes. This may be seen in the angels, who though they are without sin, yet being under the most abundant influences of the Spirit, do cast vile man a copy of humility, Isa. vi. 2, 3, "Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of his glory." Behold it in the man Christ, to whom the Spirit was given without measure, who was most exemplary in humility, Matth. xi. 29, "Learn of me," says he, "for I am meek and lowly in heart." And it may be observed of all the saints of God, that the more of the influence of the Spirit they had, they were always the more humble; as we may see from the instances of Abraham, Job, and Isaiah. Paul, after he was rapt up to the third heavens, was in his own eyes nothing, 2 Cor. xii. 11. And the reason is plain, for the influences of the Spirit do always carry up the soul to whence they came; as the waters of the deluge, the more they increased, they carried the ark still nearer heaven: and the nearer we come to the light of God's countenance, our wants, weakness, and nothingness, must still appear the more.

On the other hand, the exercise of a gift merely, leaves always the soul in the same unhumbled state it found it. For it is impossible that nature should work the soul into a gracious disposition; and nature's force is too weak to beat down the natural pride of the heart. Nay, nature will build up nature; and the better the gift is exercised, it will swell the heart the more: hence publicans and

harlots enter into the kingdom of heaven before Pharisees: Isa. lviii. 3, "Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge?" And thus many swell with the little gift they get, till they burst all bonds.

2. The Spirit's influences in duty fill the soul with a reverential fear of God in duty, Heb. xii. 28. which is excellent ballast to a light and frothy heart; and always the more of it, the more reverence of God, Gen. xxviii. 17. The reason is, because the Spirit is the Spirit of adoption, Gal. iv. 6; and so will work a child-like disposition in the soul towards God, as towards a father, and a heavenly father: so that the greatest familiarity with God will not work out, but work forward this reverence, Psalm xlv. 9, "Upon thy right hand did stand," in token of reverence, "the queen in gold of Ophir."

But the mere exercise of a gift in duty can never impress this holy reverence of God on the soul; witness that lightness and frothiness of heart which men, that way, bring with them from duty, Prov. vii. 14, 15. For gifts exercised without the Spirit, raise a cloud in the soul; are light in the inside, dark in the outside; whereby the more they see of themselves, the less they see of God; and so their deluded spirits seem the more to be near an equal level with him. To clear this further, I shall propose and resolve some questions: As,

QUESTION 1. May not a hypocrite have in duty a great fear of God on his spirit? ANSWER. A slavish fear of God as almighty and a judge, which casteth out love, a man may have, as Felix had in hearing Paul: but this filial reverential fear of God intermixed with love he cannot have, seeing he has not the Spirit of adoption; whose work it is to knit the saint's hearts to God as a Friend and Father, and to draw them after him with such child-like affections, as makes them delight in his commands and providences. Hence says the apostle, 2 Tim. i. 7, "God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind;" (Gr.) a healing of mind, viz. from that slavish fear.

QUESTION 2. But can saints have no such slavish fear of God? ANSWER. As all the graces of the Spirit are imperfect and mixed in the saints, so is their fear of God not without a mixture of that slavishness. Hence saith Jesus unto his disciples, Matth. viii. 26, "Why are ye so fearful, O ye of little faith? It is the same word as 2 Tim. i. 7. It is true, God never again gives them the spirit of bondage; but they may, through unbelief, take up a spirit of bondage again. But seeing they can never again lose the Spirit of adoption, neither